“Now that you know your family is real, what’s next?” Ilec asked, observing my too thoughtful face. “You need to act, Tim Walker. Or all will be lost.”

“I know!” I mumbled trying my best to keep a poker face. “But what should I do? If Kali is coming then the plotline is already broken. My story does not exist anymore.”

“Who said that?” Ilec responded by intertwining his fingers and resting them on his lap. “Did you see anything that suggested the plot is going sideways or the protagonist losing his characterization?”

“But Anniliese…”

“That is an unknown exception.” Ilec sighed with a dejected look in his eyes. “Even if she is not with the protagonist, her role is not lost. She will be a lance. It is set in stone.”

“I don’t know man,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I honestly didn’t know what would happen to Arthur without the female lead. She played a key role in his life and in absence of her, things could really go south.

If the main character won’t be the main character, then who would take his place.

“What do you mean?” Ilec questioned.

“I mean, her relationship with Arthur has gone nowhere. According to the plot, they should be a little closer by now but I don’t see that happening here.” I reaffirmed the obvious issues I had found so far. “These little things could break the entire story along with a little phenomenon called the butterfly effect.

“Ah-, butterfly!” He nodded, gasping silently and I continued in an aggravated tone.

“If she won’t end up with him then who would fill the gap? What would happen to her? What if Arthur loses his will to fight? What if Kali takes over his mind? There are a billion things. Every little action could throw the plot a thousand miles away, ruining everything, ultimately destroying me and my family.”

I uttered a deep breath, picked another glass, and poured some water before gulping everything in one go.

“You are overthinking Tim.” Ilec let out a gentle smile. “Why don’t you live your life a little? You are here for that reason, right?”

“But I can’t ignore…” I wanted to counter his words as they only worked on paper. The reality was something else altogether.

“Just focus on yourself!” Ilec’s voice turned heavy as his expression went calmer. “Everything will fall on its place once you walk on the right path.”

“What is the right path then?”

“The path you see ahead of you.” He gazed outside the window keeping the same smile on his lips. “Do whatever you want to do. Let the story move on its own and you on your own. No need to fight or save it. Save yourself.”

“Like you just said, there is always a difference in saying and doing.” I leaned forward with a dry face. “Even if I don’t want to, me getting dragged into some mess is a guarantee. Avoiding that is an impossibility.”

“Then break your way through it.” Ilec snorted but I did not feel any anger from him. “Don’t forget, it is your world, Tim Walker. Be the strongest and kick that Kali’s ass.”

I chuckled, noticing his remarks. “You want me to live the way I want, inevitably breaking the story.”

“Well, who knows!” He raised his hands as if accepting some sort of defeat. “You have written Arthur’s clunky story, now write yours.”

I heaved a deep sigh, quitting my derailed thoughts and accepting his words. I must prepare myself to act, to focus on what I would consider a new chapter of my life.

It may not be the best one but would definitely be better than the forty years I had spent chasing after the unattainable dream.

“Anyway, what happened to the rod I touched yesterday?” I questioned, falling back on the chair, with a broken smile resting on my mane.

“Don’t you have it?” Ilec replied with his question.

“Nope.” I shook my head sideways. I would have known if I had that nightmare in my pocket. “Besides what the hell it is?”

“Well kid, you are the owner of that blade, summon it by yourself.” He smirked, staring at my hand where the black ring was.

“Blade huh!” I chuckled, extending my hand, and thinking about it or in other words, summoning it.

The air became heavier as the rod materialized in my hand out of thin air. No extensive display was seen, it just appeared like sand, then took the form of a solid black rod.

Grasping the road and caressing the all-black top, I looked up to Ilec for any possible explanation.

“It is yours! Do whatever you want with it.” He responded with a wink.

“I don’t know what it is.” I queried with an awkward smile, dangling the stick with my hands.

“Find then. Try it. See for yourself.”

“I…”

Leaving the chair and standing in the middle of the room, I held the rod closer to my face for a careful inspection.

The stick had a matte coat to it, not reflecting any light at all, and was smooth to touch.

While unnoticeable at first, I could see intricate indentations that formed a design throughout the pole. But other than that, I could not find anything special about it.

Ilec continued gazing at me and the rod in my hands, his oceanic blue eyes twinkling in anticipation as if some sort of magic was about to happen.

Finding nothing remarkable, I tried swinging it.

It felt good.

The weight was distributed in a way where it was balanced like a sword. Taking another swing made me confident that this rod's balance was too purposeful for it to be just used as a walking stick or a staff.

Excitement growing, I willed mana into my eyes. I hoped to notice something with enhanced vision and my hopes came to light.

Even more faint than the indentation markings over the pole, was a small line that seemed to separate two parts of the stick.

“…”

This was a sword.

I immediately tried to pry open the sword out of its scabbard, but it wouldn’t budge. Even with my body reinforced with mana, I was not able to muster the strength to pull it out.

‘Don’t tell me this is some sort of Excalibur that I have to be worthy of…’

Pushing away the silly thought, I infused Earth attribute mana into that sword, but still no use.

“You know how to manipulate mana huh…” Ilec spoke up, breaking my chain of thoughts. “Even though it is just the third day of you being here.”

“I am the Goddamn author; I came up with these.” My answer was bluntly obvious as I was the one who wrecked my brain to produce these effects. Thus, I clearly remembered what to do or when to do with mana or my non-existent powers.

“Not everything!” He shook his head in what seemed like disappointment. “Anyway, do whatever you were doing.”

“Yeah yeah!”

I got into action again, doing the same thing over and over but with no results whatsoever. And after half an hour of attempts, I realized elemental attribute mana was not the answer.

It had to be something else. But what the hell was it?

I hammered my memories to remember something but nothing came out. It was completely foreign to me.

Soon I saw Ilec raising his hands from the corner of my eyes. My attention shifted as he rubbed his fingers.

Snap!

“What?”

Crack!

The world broke into a million pieces as I stumbled backward falling into the floor. The surface beneath me cracked and I fell into the dark pit of obscurity.

“Why do I always end up like this…” I blared on top of my lungs descending onto the endless sea of darkness.

Crash!

The nothingness before me fractured as a plethora of lights devoured my eyes and shortly, I found myself heading towards an enormous rock.

Deducting no chance except an impact I braced myself. Channeling mana into my arms and putting them forward, I closed my eyes.

But no impact ever happened.

Hearing nothing or feeling no pain I slowly opened my eyes to discover a too enormous and too odd cavern before my eyes as I was now on my feet gazing at the surroundings.

Lowering my hands, I looked around in both confusion and awe.

Lots of glowing gravels were scattered across the area illuminating and warming the whole place, creating a mysterious ambiance.

The ground and walls were covered in greenish moss, with lots of ferns and other small herbs growing all over, filling the space with an invigorating herbal aroma.

On one side of the wall through a small hole, water kept gushing out, cascading down the steps of shining rocks, creating a narrow stream.

The steady burble of the stream brought out the perfect atmosphere of the forest, as it scribbled along the underground floor and finally opened to a lake.

The water of the lake shone brightly as the mist drifting over the lake added an enigmatic vibe.

“Stunning…” I mumbled observing the area. It was beautiful, really beautiful, something I had never seen in my life.

“It’s good right?”

I tilted my head towards the noise and upon contact, I felt the blood drain from my face as my mouth gaped open and eyes bulged. Feeling lightheaded my legs failed to support me, and I crumbled down onto my butt.

“W-What are you?”