People scampered like a colony of ant all over the town’s meager plaza. Adults were running with all they have while carrying their children, not even caring about their houses’ doors being left wide open. Screams of terror and hopelessness rang out from all direction, while some just kept their fear-filled eyes on the flaming sky.

“Gods have mercy…” an elderly muttered to himself.

The source of this townspeople’s fear came from the red sky. Up there, a giant ball of flame can be clearly seen-- it increasing in size as if to consume Heaven itself. What could cause such a phenomenon, if not the wrath of gods? The feeble mind of humans, drowned in their faith to the benevolent divine beings, could not comprehend such an idea. Fortunately, their animalistic instinct of self-preservation was enough for them to understand what was happening.

Death was upon them.

And so the chaos began. The once peaceful Town of Beginnings was reduced into a cacophony of cries; a pandemonium of despair. It would have been a normal occurrence if it was one of the cities near the treacherous lands of the demons, but the Town of Beginnings is one of the farther— if not the farthest— location from the said place. Just what had they done for this to happen to them?

Among the raging flow of people running away from the town, the clanking of metal footsteps boldly opposed it.

“First mage squad, to the middle of the plaza! Second mage squad, to my left! Knights, sweep the nearby buildings for remaining people!”

Youthful yet charismatic, a beautiful blonde girl barked out a string of orders to the knights and mages accompanying her. An artistic silver staff was strapped on her back, while her long, white and emerald robe flowed gracefully through her feminine figure. A golden circlet with a fragment of Orb of Wind can be seen on her head.

“Commander Stella, barrier spells are ready to be cast at your command!” two mages shouted from their respective group.

She raised her left hand, fist closed tightly. “Keep charging. Wait for my signal.”

The young wizard narrowed her eyes at the approaching hunk of burning rock. The entire capital was flabbergasted when they heard that a level 140 fire spell, Meteor Call, would be cast on a town under their rule. The one who had foreseen it, the only Prophet that can be found in the entire country, had never been wrong in her previous prophecies, thus speaking for the credibility of the said divination.

And so the Order of the Sylphus was hastily deployed to help protect the defenseless town. It was a grueling and hard journey, but they reached the locale right on time.

The blonde girl grabbed her trusty staff, the ‘Wind Caller’. Green magical energy began to accumulate around the tip, followed by the huge emerald magic circle that materialized right in front of her. Light pulsed through the runic markings all around it, while its rhythmic glowing became clearer and faster.

“Mages, now!” She dropped her raised arm, followed by the chorus of spells activating all at once.

“Greater Wind Barrier!” all of the robed mages yelled in unison.

Layers upon layers of thin, transparent green force fields appeared all over the entire area. Its size expanded until it covered the whole actual town, ensuring that no amount of damage will be taken when the meteor finally hits.

Stella opened her eyes. She finally finished casting her ultimate shield spell. A small, thin layer of wind covered her whole body, while dust flew all over around her. Stella tapped the end of her staff on the bricked ground and yelled.

“Heavenly Final Barrier!”

Turbulent, the tiny layer of wind suddenly expanded…

Several flashing bulbs echoed inside the crimson room. His feeble limbs continually tapped on the hovering screen in front of him, with each contact resulting on a tiny beep. His shapeless body was quivering from the rapid movement his two short appendages were doing.

[Hull damage has reached over 85%. Emergency ejection advised.]

The creature paused upon hearing the robotic, disembodied voice of his ship’s artificial intelligence. He doesn’t know what’s happening. The landing should have gone through without a hitch. The coordinates were exact, and no strong energy levels were within the safety radius of five kilometers.

But after he reached the planet’s atmosphere, the gravity began to increase tenfold, resulting in the pod crashing down much earlier than what was previously premeditated. The hard outer layer of the ship would have endured the friction against the air if it was just that alone, but then there’s that shield energy that appeared all of a sudden. If the creature doesn’t do anything, the ship would prematurely crash, thus spelling out his end.

It was unthinkable. The habitants of this planet somehow predicted that he was going to invade their planet right at this moment.

“Burururu…”

His gurgled voice pierced through the sounds of metal being crushed— a mystery, seeing as there are no visible mouth, let alone any orifices, anywhere on his small body. Piece by piece, the whole ship got torn asunder, shaking the small creature all over.

It looks like he doesn’t have any choice. He would have to eject himself before hitting the barrier.

He glanced behind his tiny body, unto the darkness covered corners of the room. His twenty indiscernible eyes, hidden inside his body, stared at the stacks of cases containing the necessary materials for his survival. Food, DNA capsules, the Builder-tool, everything, all neatly tucked inside each of their rectangular containers.

“Kururu.”

Raising a stubby tentacle towards a cased button, he let out a small squeak, before finally mashing it down.

[Ejection command received. Estimated time of activation: ten, nine, eight…]

He crawled over towards a particular container. After touching something on the side of the metallic case, smoke came out from the hinges, and then it opened up with a snap. The alien reached out a tentacle inside and grabbed a small, oval piece of white metal. He retreated back the tentacle inside his body, along with the unknown equipment.

He concluded that he can survive without the foods and capsules, but not without the Builder-tool. Without it, his survival rate would undoubtedly drop to zero.

[three, two…]

With haste, his last tentacle quickly snatched a single case of food.

… Of course, food is important too. He just hopes that he’ll still be able to eject with this much extra weight.

A circle plating slid to the side at the top of the meteor. With a quiet swish, the creature flew through and into the sky, followed by a wriggling case entangled on his remaining limb. His soft, fleshy body twisted and turned against the air, even reflecting some sunlight off of his glossy hide.

“Zururururuuu!”

He tried to look down below him. For a glancing moment, a set of emerald eyes stared back to his own gaze, downwards where his ship was supposed to land. Through the raging spherical storm and the transparent green barrier, a female human with a shining blonde hair stood firm.

So this planet is populated by humans, he thought. He’ll have to check the information about this particular species back at the ship… which is just a bunch of crumpled metal now.

He glanced back at his former vessel. It had finally hit the barrier, and as expected, it was destroyed in an instant. Sparks and flare exploded in all direction, while some even almost reached the soaring alien.

He promised to himself that he will never forget that girl. Someday, when they meet again, he’ll be sure to pay her back.

The whole scene became smaller as he flew farther away.

He was humiliated. He lost almost everything before anything even started. Now he’s flying to parts unknown, with only a week-worth of food and a portable Builder-tool. He’s just a mere [Red Fleshing], the weakest variant of his species. Who knows what other terrifying lifeforms could be living on this planet? For all he knows, his life was fated to be as someone’s snack right from the start, not the amazing planet invader he was trained for.

“… Mururu.”

No, that isn’t right. As long as there’s a chance, it’s possible. He just needs to think, adapt, and survive. Maybe he should even start doing the first step now, too. Since he’s so small and light, he predicted that he’d be flying for a few more minutes before landing. Might as well start planning now rather than doing nothing.

The first step would be to find— or build— a home. He’ll need a base of operation if he’s planning on ‘staying’ in this world for a while. After establishing a base, he’ll also need to get stronger. For that, he’ll need to mutate, or better yet, evolve…

“Nururuu…”

The alien soared over the sea of trees while deep in thought.