Chapter 1: Awakened

In the still night, the wind howled across the trees of a forgotten forest. Few visitors bothered to explore this land, taken by nature and proclaimed as its own. The trees stood tall, bearing the force of any rain or storm, protective of the land and creatures beneath. This, too, meant that light equally struggled to reach its ground.

Creatures scuttled in the dark with remarkable speed. A red-tanned wolf with a white hare in its mouth darted between trees, each leg exploding with power from its strengthened muscles. The crimson flowing from the rabbit’s pelt only further fueled its energy. Every print it pressed into the hard dirt beneath was the length of a human forearm and its width no shorter. Shrouded in the night, the wolf continued its sprint.

However, something felt off. This feeling attacked the wolf’s senses and forced its legs to a momentary halt. Head swiveling around its neck, the wolf began checking every direction for the source of the unease. Then, the tracks in the ground caught his eyes. Entering a low stance, it dropped the rabbit from its maw in a silent motion and walked along the tracks.

The wolf walked for nearly twenty minutes, but its aggressive nature pushed it onward. From the sounds of the forest, it heard an unusual amount of activity. Daytime creatures exited their slumbers to run in every direction other than the one the wolf walked towards. However, it shook off any fear, only focusing on its bloodlust. Its presence in this part of the forest was unmatched, and ever since its cowardice cost him dearly as a pup, he resolved himself to never back down from potential prey. Thus, the wolf ignored the easier prey scuttling past him and kept its pace.

Another twenty minutes passed until the point where the unease was entering every pore of its body. A low growl emerged from its lips in an effort to stave off the shaking of its legs. Finally, after following the tracks that got ever more visible in the dirt and shrubbery, it came to a visible hole in the ground in an area with an irregular volume of trees. It was hidden behind various shrubbery native to the land, but the odd placement of the plants did not escape the wolf’s eyes. Curiosity overtook the fear as it walked over to the hole. Stone steps led down into its depth and even the dark vision of the wolf trained over many years of hunts in the night could not penetrate further.

Staring as it waited for an enemy to emerge, the wolf held onto its patience. But what it waited for never happened. Bored, it finally listened to its instincts as it left its stance and began to turn away. It was then that a flash caught the wolf’s eye. Looking back towards the hole, the shimmer only became brighter and more dazzling. Panic settled in the wolf’s stomach as it jumped back with its quickest speed, but not even the dire wolf’s strong muscles were powerful enough to save it from the rushing blaze. A conflagration settled over the area, taking the wolf’s life and the surrounding trees with him.

A swirling inferno razed the area but expanded no more past that. Nothing was set ablaze farther than the border and swaying leaves that touched the flames only lost a branch or two. Only ten minutes passed after the initial explosion and the fire disappeared like a dream, receding from whence it came. However, in the hole’s place was a small, square structure of limestone, a heavy door that guarded the stone steps to its depth. Each stone had a rune carved into it, giving off an ancient, mechanical feeling. The stairs down the hall each had this design as well, as they continued down for a few hundred steps. As one walked down, the yellow color of the stone disappeared and a pure white took its place. A door, as white as the walls to each of its sides, led to a living chamber. Rather, it would be more apt to call it a bedroom.

No wider than six by six meters, the room was a blinding alabaster with decorations to match the very same color. An empty bookshelf of wood and to its side a wide table built with the intent for reading or other activities. Sturdy chairs surrounded this table, all with an ancient design, not seen anywhere else in this world. In the middle of the room, almost as a centerpiece, lay a white bed whose fluffy comforter covered a male figure that rested between its sheets. Transparent, frosted curtains fell from the roof of the four-poster bed, guarding his body against the outside.

His skin was almost as fair as the very bed he laid upon, which worked well with the sharper features of his face. His medium-length, black hair bore an extreme contrast towards the rest of the room as it rested against his forehead and pillow. Dressed in an elegant white robe, his arms were crossed atop his chest, which fluttered softly every other minute. As the interval between each rise of his chest shortened, the man’s eyes eventually opened, revealing black pupils, indistinguishable from his iris.

At first, his eyes were still unfocused and groggy, but as the clarity returned, his face contorted in surprise. With a gasping, sharp intake of breath, he sat up with a hand on his chest. Confusion spread to his eyes and he looked left and right in an attempt to put together his surroundings, but his memory returned nothing.

“Where… where am I?” He choked out these words in a raspy voice. “I can’t… recall.” These simple words caused him much difficulty to speak, but he couldn’t stop himself from letting them out.

He had no memories, regardless of how hard he tried to think. As he looked at the bed or any other object in the room, its name came to mind in an instant. Only when the subject came to himself did he lack the ability of recollection.

In frustration, he brought his hands to his face. Burrowing his eyes into his palms, he massaged his skull as he calmed himself down. Minutes passed before he brought his hands down, but not before he noticed marks upon each of his wrists. They were only two black dots, one for each arm, but a flash surged into his mind. Before he could think for a second longer, a word involuntarily left his mouth.

“Initialize.”

[Initializing, ‘&%#@#%&.’]

A soft, female voice entered his ears. Every syllable she spoke was said with an encompassing gentleness. Each word was spoken with care and precision that seeped into his mind, unconsciously comforting him. Although the voice had startled him, it did not feel unnatural or invasive. Only a few moments later, the silence was broken once more.

[‘&%#@#%&’ has been processed. Proceed?]

The man still had no clue what was going on. Just a single word from his lips caused this supernatural phenomenon to occur. Part of him was scared to respond to the voice, but another part urged him forward. Whether it was his curiosity or the same force that brought the last voice from his lips, he opened his mouth again.

“Proceed.”

In front of his eyes, the world changed from the clear white of his bedroom to a blue as an odd sound assaulted his ears. Vectors of white filled his eyes, whether it highlighted around the other objects in the room or floating still in the air. It became too much to bear as he held his hand up to cover his eyes, but he noticed an incongruity. While the rest of the world was painted in blue, his body remained unchanged.

Before long, the sound ceased its humming and his vision returned to normal. With bated breath, he waited for the voice to reappear.

[Activation succeeded. Data required: What is your name?]

An odd face appeared on the man. Of course, he had already tried to remember his name, but just like everything else, he couldn’t find anything. Melancholy fluttered through his heart as he gave a wry smile, but then an idea popped into his head. He once more raised his arm, bringing the black dot eye-level.

“Eluc. My name… is Eluc.”

That same helpless feeling surfaced as the words left his mouth involuntarily. But at least now he knew something about himself. Bringing his hand down, the voice spoke again as he lifted his eyes forward. Something else beyond his imagination had appeared.

[Welcome, Eluc. This is ‘The World.’]