Pitch black clouds creep in an already gloom filled sky. The only source of light were liquid fires that continue to spew through the apertures in the ground. Bones litter the floor and plants are nowhere to be seen. In this world seemingly devoid of life, deathly silence was only broken by the sounds of fighting.

In one corner of this place, five humanoid figures could be seen. At their front were hordes of enormous and grotesque creatures that marched incessantly. The creatures' strides shook the ground and their roars pierced the sky. At their back was the wall of the abyss which caged this whole world and anyone fearless enough to come close to it were never found again. In this seemingly hopeless situation, there was no despair that could be seen in the eyes of five young men.

"Just a little bit more! Hold them off!" Cyziel's black hair was disheveled. His golden eyes, which were normally appealing, was covered with fatigue. Bruise and scratches covered his body. He knew that his body was badly injured but currently, he cannot rest. Bit by bit, the energy that he stored was being depleted. His arms were stretched, hands opened wide and rays of light were coming out of it, bombarding the wall of abyss in front of his body. Consequently, his focus was also divided. "Raxus! On your right!"

"Cyziel! Don't worry about us!" Slash! Stab! Slash! Raxus was continuously swinging his sword. Each slash would cut a dozen. Each stab would pierce a hundred. But the enemies were endless. Soon, his body would not be able to keep up. His clothes were badly torn. His scars were fully visible. His hands were shaking and his own blood was flowing through his skin. He knows that their only hope was to escape. "Focus on opening the rift!"

The battle was getting harder for the five. The enemies were not only limitless but they were even getting stronger. Each wave of enemies would only be replaced by an even stronger wave of enemy after they are killed. The encroaching dark clouds would definitely spell death for them.

*Riiiiip* A rift appeared in the wall of the abyss. It was like a blinding light in this dark filled world. It was something that the five of them gambled. Their last hope to survive.

"Success!" Cyziel knew that their gamble paid off. Everyone's life depended on him. He wanted to swipe the sweat flowing through his head but he knew there was no time for that. He needed to give his all until everyone was safe. "Everyone escape! This is the last bit of my energy! I do not know where this would lead but I am pretty sure that it is better than here!"

"RAAAAAA! KRRRSSAAA! ZZZAAAGA! ASCALA!!!" Just as Cyziel opened a rift, an incomprehensible voice that was so full of power and hatred shook the sky but what came with it is an even scarier premonition. In the sky, another rift was opening but this time, it was a symbol of death instead of hope. Three figures can be seen peeking from the crack. Suddenly, two enormous hands came out of the black rift and it latched on the sides of the crack and it was trying to forcefully widen the black rift.

"Hurry! You guys go first!" Barlek, the tallest and biggest of the five who symbolizes pure strength, was currently looking like a child. In front of him were gargantuan creatures of darkness. His muscles were all sore and his movements were sluggish. He was close to collapsing but the light behind him gave him a sudden spark of power. He shivered as he looked at the sky but it only lasted for a second. He knew that they had won. Cyziel was successful. He pushed his arms forwards and a semi spherical barrier appeared. "I will block them all!!!"

The three other youths started to run towards the rift that Cyziel created.

Raxus, who was still holding his sword, was the first to arrive by the rift. "Thank you Cy! Whether I get my revenge or not! I owe you a lot."

"Hey boss! Our time with each other might not be that long but I really consider you my brother!" Another youth arrived before the rift. He has a reddish brown hair and tattoos were glowing around his body. He gave Cyziel a small punch near the shoulder before leaving.

*I did not deserve to live but you still saved me. I will live this life to repent my sins and if there is a chance, I would like to serve you.* A hooded figure with a very pale complexion appeared by the side of Cyziel. He did not speak but he seemed to be able to convey his thought mentally before disappearing.

Finally, Barlek has also arrived. In spite of his currently bad appearance, his face was full of gratitude.

"I have always thought that I am strong enough for anything but compared to you, I only have respect. Without you, we would all be dead here." After saying his goodbye, he gave a nod then left.

Relief filled Cyziel as he saw his friends leave one by one but as soon as he was the only one left, some tinge of sadness was shown in his face. He knew that this might be the end of their journey together.

"Everyone of them was too dramatic! Its not as if I am dying here. Oh well! Time for me to go! Oh before I forgot. Hey large vermins! You guys have always wanted to kill me but unfortunately, you probably never will. " Cyziel looked one last time at the black rift in the sky where sounds of roaring anger can be seen, then he looked at the hordes of creatures that have just destroyed the barrier. "Goodbye ugly meatheads!"

Cyziel finally decided to enter the rift and left the world of darkness.

*Crash!*

Cyziel fell inside a ruin of some sort. It was quite dark and around him are full of shattered pillars and crushed stones.

"Yeeess!!!! *Cough! Cough!*" Cyziel immediately coughed some blood when he tried to shout.

My body is in whole. I still have my birth mark. I still got my rings. I am really alive! Wait! Where am I? This ruins! I'm back? I am starting to remember something. This place! This should be a temple. There was this hooded masked guy! He was trying to kill me... I was trying to escape... then there was an artifact. Yes! There was a black spherical artifact here! Then a black light appeared. After that, I remember floating half conscious in a dark space for who knows how long then when I woke up.. Yes that was the thing that transported me to that blasted dark world. I need to go back. I do not know how long I was missing. 1 year? 2 years? It doesn't matter. I have lots of things to ask my father. If I was not stuck in that place, I would probably still be an ignorant kid. Cyziel inspected himself as he verified that he was still alive then suddenly tons of memories started pouring back in.

Feeling Anxious, Cyziel hurriedly tried to run after standing up but not even having moved a single step forward. "Thud!" He immediately stumbled.

"Ughh! My body hurts and my energy is depleted! I can't even seem to gather energy! Am I that Injured? There should be some aether crystals in here. Any quality would do. There!" Cyziel observed his surroundings and after seeing few shining crystals nearby, he slowly crawled towards it. "These stones should have been used to power up this temple. There is very little left in each stones but I guess it would do."

Cyziel then took a few minutes of rest. He sat down beside some ruined pillar then clasped one of the 3 aether crystals that he found. The stone transformed into pure aether energy and was absorbed by him. He then forced himself to stand and walk towards the exit of the ruined temple.

Outside of the ruined temple, was a purplish forest. The grass were violet. The trees have a purple trunk with pink leaves. They grew more than 300 meters tall and could reach up to 20 meters in diameter. Moreover, variety of flowers grew everywhere. Some have petals as big as a person's hand while some flowers have patterns in a helix shape.

In contrast with the vibrant flora, the fauna were almost non existent. The few that could be seen were some kind of birds flying towards the south.

Cyziel continued walking north as he used the trees from time to time to support him. He also took breaks and has even fallen a sleep on some times. He once even saw a small lake and immediately took a quick dip. It was obvious that he has long wanted to do that. By the third day, He was already able to walk normally and his walking speed got faster.

"Am I really that lucky? I am almost out of the forest and I haven't encountered any aggressive animals." Cyziel wondered as he saw that there were only a few remaining trees in front of him.

Cyziel finally reached what seemed to be the end of the forest. He was standing between two large trees. The place were he was standing was overlooking a vast land which mostly consist of a plain with some few hills placed randomly in it. For him, it was a wonderful sight to behold. The land were fertile enough that the grass grew as far as he could see. The sky was visibly clear that no clouds blocked his view. It was a complete contrast from where he was at a few days ago.

"Run! Everyone Hide! The Aether storm is coming!" While looking at the horizon, Cyziel was interrupted by a loud shout seemingly originating from a nearby hill.

"Wait what? How could an Aether storm appear in this fine weather?" Cyziel, taken aback, started to panic. "I take back what I said! I am pretty unlucky. So this is why I haven't encountered any animals."

Cyziel went back to the forest and looked for old hollow trees. He finally found one and hid himself inside it. Just a few minutes after he found one, the sky that was once clear blue, turned into an abstract art. It was a mix of different colors that is similar to an aurora borealis. It was quite a sight to look at but what followed it were multiple black tornadoes that were so tall that its end could not be seen. It was no real tornado. It was actually an Aether tunnel but its ramifications were quite similar. Get close enough it and you would get sucked into it.

It took more than an hour until the black tunnels started to disappear and for the sky to return to normal. It went away one by one but what seems to be left inside it are creatures and damaged space ships of different kinds.

The creatures who appeared from the disappearance of the storm started to roar and more of them came out from their pyramid like space ships. Their skin looked rough like a stone and its color was gray. Their tall height and brutish appearance made them even more terrifying. They continuously secrete some kind of sweat that is more similar to an acid that would sizzle when it hit the ground.

Meanwhile, on another ship, a humanoid race came out. What made them distinct was the color of their skin. Half of their people are black as coal and another half were white as milk. Even their hair and clothing was not an exception .

At the same time, Cyziel just came out of the place where he had hidden then looked at the plains after him where the tornadoes were previously located.

"What the hell? Why are there living beings inside the aether storm? They don't even seem to be inhabitants of this world. What is happening?" It confused Cyziel as he never had experienced something like this before.

The non humanoid beings were observing their surroundings as soon as the dust clouds caused by the storm disappeared. They immediately noticed the other unfamiliar space ships some distance away from them.

"Rrraaaa!! Kill those petty beings!" As the brutish creatures saw the humans coming out of their own ships, they started to attack.

"Kill the monsters! Protect the humanoids!"

Without enough time to process what is happening, he heard another shout from somewhere and what followed it were the appearance of a militia composed of different humanoid species. The militia seemed to come out from behind the hills surrounding the plains. They seem to be targeting the non humanoid creatures who appeared from the remnants of the aether storm.

A battle abruptly broke out. It was chaotic due to the number of the unknown species but it was not hard fought. Fire balls. Wind blades. Lightning cannons. Restrictive nets. The humanoids who wielded advanced magic and technology easily suppressed the alien species.

As Cyziel was still trying to understand what happened, someone approached him. It was a short guy who flew with his wings made of magic. He was wearing some kind of leather jacket and a brown chainmail pants. He seemed to have noticed Cyziel who was injured and thought that he was trying to hide in the nearby forest.

"Welcome to Venturia fellow human! You must be confused of what had happened. Where is the rest of your people?" The man flew down in front of him.

This guy! No! Thinking about it. Even the guy who shouted before. Everyone here does not seem to be a native. Their language is different. I don't remember any language like that from the surrounding kingdoms but it seems the magic "harmony of speech" is still in effect since I also understood what that brutish creature shouted. This means that this is really my home world. Cyziel thought to himself as he looked through the sky to verify that he was really back.

There were two sun-like objects in the sky. One was yellow in color and shone like any other star but the other one was dark blue in color and almost seemed invisible.

"You probably have lots of questions. Well, it is expected. For the language, no one is sure yet but there seems to be some translation magic going on here. Everyone who entered this planet was suddenly able to understand each other. For the suns, it is also really weird." The short man pointed at the suns with his open right hand. "What I could tell you is that after some time, the yellow sun would lose some light and the blue one would shine with a dark light. That is how we get night and day here. The light from the other stars are not able to reach this planet."

I already know those things..Are there other info? Cyziel was smiling at the guy before him as he was patiently waiting for the guy to finish.

"Anyway, I am Volare. My people arrived here a 100 years ago. We are from the planet Teeny. How about you?"

Finally! I was already so bored.. Wait! What?...100 years??? How long was I missing?? Calm down Cyziel! Calm down. All your brothers are over a 100 years old. Your father and uncles are more than a 1000 years old. Some elders are nearing 10000 years old. What is a 100 years? Cyziel mind was suddenly jolted and it was clear that he was surprised with what he just heard. Fortunately, Volare thought that those reactions are normal for new arrivals.

"Huu.. Huu..." Cyziel took a little breather to calm himself down. "I am Cyziel. I came from Daraksta. It was a harsh planet and killing was the norm to survive. When some of us saw that we have a chance to escape to this planet, we took it but I really don't know what happened to the rest." Daraksta was what my friends and I named that dark world and technically I did just come from there so I am not lying.

He thought at first if he would say that he was a native here but decided not to.

"I am sorry. How unfortunate but you should come with me." Volare felt bad as he heard Cyziel's story. "If there are other survivors of your race, I am sure they would be found by the group of explorers. There is a village relatively near here. Luckily, there seems to be another humanoid race who just arrived and they probably would be lead there too so there probably would be some sort of celebration later or tomorrow. The last humanoid race that arrived was actually ours so this is quite a blessing. Anyway take this first."

Volare took out a very small cylindrical object.

"What is that?" Cyziel asked curiously. "Sweets?"

"Hahaha! No no... This is a medicine. It would help you cure your wounds and regenerate your energy." Volare chuckled.

"Ah okay! Thanks." Cyziel took the medicine, crushed it and absorbed its energy. Some of his external wounds started to disappear. "This is actually quite effective."

"Uhmm.. You are actually supposed to eat that but I guess that also works." Volair said with a suprised face. "So can you use magic? Can you also fly? It is fine if you don't. I could help you. The ancestors of most humanoid race here only learned magic after living here for some time."

"Ah yes, I could. No worries." Cyziel replied casually.

"That's really surprising! That Daraksta world must really be harsh if it required your people to learn magic. You probably also used it to travel inside the aether storm tunnel." Volare praised.

Don't even make me remember. I thought I was already a prodigy but in Daraksta, I was almost always running and hiding to survive. If I didn't awaken or if I didn't meet my friends then ... Ahhh! I just escaped that place. Let me forget it at least for today. I'll just rest for a bit in this village then continue back home. Cyziel remembered the hardships that he had this past few years.

"Come on! Fly with me." The winds suddenly got stronger and Volare left the ground. "By the way, I said nearby but it is actually quite far. If you need help then just tell me."

Cyziel then followed Volare towards the nearest village.