Prologue

It knows all, and it knows nothing. It thinks but doesn’t really think. It acts on instinct. It is alive while also not being alive.

It permeates all that it can, only pockets are free. It creates cracks in those pockets to slowly inter and widen the crack. It changes the pocket to accept It when it also permeates this pocket. Once the cracks widen enough, the pocket bursts and It can enter unhindered.

One such pocket is about to burst.

Chapter 1-The Beginning

Eric King was on the train enjoying the view of the countryside flying away through the window. Eric King is 19 years old, of average height and quite skinny, he has dirty blond hair and looks very average and unremarkable. Except he has deep blue eyes which truly stands out on his otherwise unremarkable features giving the impression that he is wearing a mask, and only the eyes can be seen.

Eric prefers traveling by train more than other forms of transportation. He always gets sick when on a boat, and whenever he was on a plane he somehow has the luck to always have either a screaming baby behind him or obnoxious neighbors that either wouldn’t stop bothering him in one way or form. Traveling by car is not bad per say but simply so boring, and a life of playing video games and reading books has not left him in the best of condition for any form of exercise.

He is currently on his way to University, Eric decided to travel the last distance by train instead of flying because once university started he wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so for a while. Truthfully though he can't thoroughly enjoy the countryside because since this morning he has a constant headache which only seems to be getting worse with every hour that passes. It feels as if a little dwarf is in the back of his brain and slowly grinding it into powder. Eric is worried that there is something wrong with him because it doesn’t decrease even after taking two aspirins.

Eric realizes that he needs to go to the bathroom, standing up he goes to the end of the car to the empty bathroom. Just as he reaches the door, someone grabs his shoulder from behind and pulls him away from the door.

“Move kid.” Says the older man with a rough voice.

Before Eric has the chance to respond the man has already entered the bathroom and locked the door.

“Sorry about that, my father is not the nicest of people, and he currently has a large headache making him even more of an ass.” Says a middle-aged man behind Eric.

Turning to the other man Eric says, “Doesn’t excuse him from being an ass, I also have a headache that hasn’t gone away since morning.”

“You are right, nothing excuses him for being an ass, he simply isn’t usually quite this bad. It is odd though, I also have had a headache since this morning, and so does my entire family. It is putting everyone in a bad mood.”

“You too?” a woman sitting close by exclaims. “I have also had a headache for a few hours now, I have already thought that there are some bad fumes in the wagon, but I don’t smell anything.”

“Bad fumes wouldn’t have affected us since morning. It is late afternoon and the train left the station 2 hours ago.”

At that moment the bathroom door opens and while the old man pushes his way past. Eric quickly slips into the bathroom to relieve himself of not only bodily fluids but also of the conversation about this mysterious headache that others seem to also have. Eric isn’t particularly good conversing with others, nor is he interested in continuing that particular discussion.

His headache seems to be growing even stronger now by the minute to the point where it seems unbearable. Sitting down on the toilet, Eric is unaware that outside in the wagon everyone’s headache increases with some people groaning in pain. Suddenly there is a massive spike in pain as if someone his head with a pickaxe while his entire body is set on fire from the inside, just before passing out a moment later.

About 10 minutes later Eric slowly wakes up, realizing that his body feels both fantastic and horrible at the same time. The next thing he realizes the screams, growls and crashing noise outside the bathroom. It sounds like a pack of wolves are tearing people apart in the wagon and throwing them through the windows.

He knows he would be of no help out there, so he doesn’t even try to leave the bathroom, in reality though, he doesn’t leave because he doesn’t want to die for strangers.

‘What is happening, how did wolves enter the moving train, I didn’t think that wolves lived in this area. Wait…, the train isn’t moving.’ For some inexplicable reason, the train wasn’t moving, nor where the lights or the emergency lights in the bathroom on. This is the moment when he realized a floating screen at the bottom of his vision. Focusing on that and not the screams outside brought the screen to the front of his vision.

Hello citizens of Earth,

You have likely had a headache for the past few hours and are currently confused about this screen floating in front of you or you are being attacked by another being or thing for reasons you do not understand.

You are not going crazy.

After millennia of your world not having any form of mana the barrier preventing large amounts of mana entering your world has finally broken down. For the past few hours, the mana that did manage to enter your world before the barrier broke has been adapting your mind and body for the introduction of mana.

The mana that suddenly entered your world is now not only everywhere, changing everything from materials, to plants and animals (including you), but it also weakened the fabric of space, allowing creatures of different worlds to enter yours.

A few hours are still necessary for you to be able to interact and use any of the mana and the benefits that it brings, but the creatures that entered your world do not have this problem and most likely will attack you.

Because mana has now permeated in everything a lot of physical and chemical properties of materials are now different, meaning a lot of your technology will not work.

Until you can interact with mana it is recommended that you do not try and fight, but simply try and survive for a few hours.

Please enjoy the rest of your day and do try not to die.

‘What. The. Actual. Fuck.’