- Michael -

Before I knew it, I looked around to see darkness surrounding me, and it extended boundlessly in all directions. I don’t know where I am or how I got here, but I felt strangely calm contrary to the peculiar situation I was in.

“Greetings”

I turned my focus towards the soft voice, and I found a strikingly beautiful young woman standing in front of me, donning a long white dress cut and dyed with golden symbols and vibrant runes with a metallic sheen. She had long flowing black hair that fanned out around her and extended endlessly into the pulsating black void. Standing facing towards me, her eyes glowed a whimsical blue tint.

“Are you a god?” I asked.

“No-”

“Have I been summoned? Like to be a hero?” I sputtered.

This is SO awesome, man. There’ll probably be lush forests and expansive mountain ranges that I can explore. I’ve already lined out what I’d say to the court and everything, and I even have plans for the reforms I had to implement if I became president and the counter organizations I was going to found to control internal affairs and overseas relations.

“No, hear me out-”

“Oh, I know. I’m dead aren’t I? How did I die? Am I going to be reincarnated?”

That sucks; but it might be better this way. I can start fresh and experience the world from day one. Maybe It’ll be a world of adventurers and beautiful beautiful cat girls or-

“NO!”

I was knocked out of my fantasies when the woman bellowed impatiently at me. She abandoned her glorious aura and her eyes burned a furious dark blue, before slowly returning to their usual soft glow. The woman cleared her throat and fixed her posture.

“I’m not a god, and you’re not being sent to another world.” She said, making sure to emphasize the other-world part to get her point across. I plopped on the black ground, or invisible floor to be technical, and drooped my head in disappointment. This happens so often in novels that I legitimately wished on my stars that I was the supposed “Chosen One” that they always talked about. And if that wasn’t what I was brought here for, why am I here?

“That’s what I was getting to when you so rudely interrupted me.” The woman pointed accusingly at my face and I stared at her blankly. Can she read my mind?

“Yes, that is a part of the contract after all.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and… man she had some huge boobs.

“Don’t you humans call this sexual harassment?” I quickly covered my mouth, but then realized that it doesn’t matter what I do if she can read my mind. Fuck it, you wanna play this game? Tits, ass, aggressive tentacle porn…

“ALRIGHT, that is quite enough.” I clearly annoyed her thoroughly and I must say that I’m happy with the results. That’s what you get for stepping on my hopes and dreams as a proud otaku!

“Shall we move on to the next topic?” She tapped her foot impatiently and I decided that that was enough teasing for a day.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I responded.

“Alright good. As I was saying, I’m here to confirm the contact that we previously made.” She looked at me expectantly and I just stared back at her. I never signed any contract and I’m pretty sure I would remember a beautiful goddess if I met one.

“We met in the Guardian’s Tomb. I appeared before you in the form of a withered young lady in chains.”

Wait… Yeah, That did happen! The strange sword sucked me into that dark dungeon looking place and I met this woman behind a weird hand-eating door.

“The Cerberus Gate. It can only be unlocked by those of the Aldaroth bloodline, or in your case, with the blessing of their incarnation.” She spoke to me like I was supposed to know this stuff, but at least she told me. There were those people who’re like “You didn’t know?” and will make a big deal out of it instead of telling me what the fuck they’re talking about. She twirled her finger in the air and a piece of yellow parchment materialized in front of me.

“These are the terms of our agreement. The provisional contract will be voided after the official contract is confirmed.”

“What even was the provisional contract?” I asked.

“It binds a portion of my soul to yours, allowing me to share a fraction of your development and experiences. This is how I adapted my appearance and speech patterns to fit the society you live in.”

And also how you read my mind.

“That is a part of it, yes. You don’t have to worry though, this is a relationship of mutual benefit. Much like how I can share in your experiences, you can draw on a small manifestation of my power through our connection.”

I stared out into the cosmic black void and couldn’t help but wonder what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. This started out as just a casual road to getting stronger, going to school, and hanging out with friends on the weekend. We would improve over time, make friends, get enlisted into our respective divisions, and pursue our goals from there. But life is never that simple is it?

“With my power, I can help you triumph over your difficulties and worries.” The woman said.

“You are one of my worries. I don’t know who or what Aldaroth is, but making a pact with a Guardian Behemoth is unheard of.” I scratched my head like I always did when I was worried. It starts itching when I’m stressed and it’s become a habit to assault my scalp whenever I’m in distress. “Are there any tricks to this contract? Like you taking over my mind or me going insane or something?”

“I cannot guarantee your safety if you overuse my power but besides any privacy concerns you may have, your being should not be in danger.”

I thought over the terms of the contract again, going over the pros and cons in my head. There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding this agreement but there aren't any striking downsides to it besides less me time at night.

“What happens if I refuse?”

“You’ll lose your connection with me and will no longer be able to contact my host. Of course, your soul is already merged with a fragment of my soul so while our contact may be severed you’ll still have access to my inherent affinities.”

This is a lot of information and I’m not sure I’ll remember all this. Honestly I have no idea whether I should accept this offer or not. But if one thing’s for sure, I need power, and she doesn’t look like an evil god of destruction so I think it’ll be fine.

“Then I’ll make my decision based on this question. What’s in it for you? What are you hoping to gain from this contract and how does this help or connect to me?” Thinking past all the logistical details, a person's motives are the most important pieces of information in a partnership. Someone with clear desires and motives is more trustworthy than an anonymous samaritan who claims to act out of benevolence or simple curiosity.

“I had once served the Aldaroth. I labored under them for hundreds of years… and they left me behind to rot in a grave of stone. But when I had almost lost all hope of salvation, you showed yourself before me.” She gave me a smile of sincere gratitude. “I want to know whether I was really abandoned in the lower realm, or if they sent you to fetch me. Either way, I can show you to the upper realm, leading you closer to the truth behind your past.”

So she knows that much. Two years ago, my city of birth was destroyed and I lost my family, friends, and the place I call home. The public was told that there was an anomaly in an experiment involving wormholes, causing a concentrated explosion of force to destroy everything in a 100 mile radius.

But that’s not all there was to it. I was there within the facility when it exploded. There was something there, an entity unlike anything I’d ever seen. Whatever it was that came out of the void didn’t have a shape, pigmentation, or form. The only word I could use to describe its indiscernible appearance was otherworldly.

“Was that Aldaroth?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I cannot say.”

After I lost my family, I decided to become a mage to unveil the mystery behind my city's destruction. Edward enlisted me into this school for that purpose. But as it stands, I don’t have any leads on my father’s disappearance besides this woman. If she can lead me to the truth, then there’s no reason to hesitate.

“I accept your contract. Lead me to the truth.”

“Very well. I, Artemis Aldaroth, declare the official contract with Michael Magus formed as of this moment.”

The darkness around us began to radiate a grandeur plethora of colors and I felt a strong updraft sweep me off my feet. We were now floating, or should I say there wasn’t any gravity pulling us down, and the universe of vibrant energy began to gravitate, fuse, and form around us.

“The binding process between our souls is now complete. I look forward to your exploits, Michael Magus.”

My family was neither royalty nor a strong military power. Even so, my parents were geniuses that turned the world on its head. My father was the genius who invented the modern magic form. Together with my mother’s technical expertise, they saved humanity from the brink of extinction after we began getting pushed back in 2082, founding weaponry and techniques to combat the elements that threatened our existence. The geniuses who led humanity when they were on their last legs are now gone, taken by the heavens and the monsters that lie within. But I’m still here. I’m still alive and I’m not ready to go down just yet. I am the prodigal son of Kelvin and Martha Magus, and I’m going to save humanity no matter what it takes.

The vision of the woman named Artemis faded, and my consciousness returned to darkness; albeit briefly.

“Get up you twerp.”

I awoke from my sleep by a painful stab to my forehead. I opened my eyes to see Julia leaning towards me and- OW!

“Stop it! You know I’m awake.” I rubbed my forehead as she retracted her flicking hand.

“You were sleeping so soundly, I had to take emergency measures.”

“Emergency measures my ass, you’re just jealous of my trained sleeping habits.”

I noticed I wasn’t in my room and looked around. I was on the couch in the student council office. Classes were so exhausting, I hadn’t even noticed falling asleep. It didn’t look like anything in the room changed besides the dome going into night mode.

“I’m guessing we aren’t allowed to spend the night here?” I asked.

“Hmph, not with you around. You’d probably break something in your sleep.”

She picked up her bag and headed towards the door. We walked down the empty halls of the academy, our footsteps echoing loudly through the quiet building.

“Oh yeah, Michael. One of the senior members of the student council stopped by the office. They told me that Edward assigned them to train us.”

“Train?”

“Yeah, tutoring to be exact. For the next two weeks we’ll be training with our respective tutors after lunch. Your teacher is Eric Kaiser, and mine is a third year named Stella Acidite.”

“Eric’s that dude that we tried to recruit before right?”

“Yep. He still hasn’t agreed to join, but he’s training you to get credits for graduation.”

“Perfect.” If I fight that guy, I can see how far I’ve come with my physical enhancement algorithm and how well I’d do against a skilled opponent. At least he looked strong because of how built he was. It was hard to tell because of his uniform and how slim he was, but I could still tell that he was well toned under his clothes.

We continued on in silence until we reached the elevator. Stepping in, Julia pressed the button directing us to the first floor. The back of the elevator was made entirely out of glass, with small framing lining the panes. I stared down at the campus grounds and the city lights seeping out from the buildings and street holotech. I was reminded of the incident that happened only two days ago.

We stood on either side of the window facing away from each other. I continued looking out at the city before deciding on something to break the silence.

“Any news on the investigation?” Part of me was curious, but I mostly wanted to see if Julia was okay. She was Emi’s closest friend and really took to her despite their differences. I could see that she held herself responsible for her kidnapping and was trying to bear that burden by herself.

“No. The investigator hasn’t gotten back to me since that day.”

The chamber became awkwardly silent and I decided not to dig further. In the end, what could I do for her? I couldn’t tell her things were going to be okay or that Emi will be fine. I didn’t know any of that and Julia knew that too…but still. Even if the future looked bleak and I can’t do anything to change that, I wanted to help her.

“...you alright?” I whispered. I couldn’t muster up the courage to say anymore. We’ve always been there for each other since the very beginning, silently sharing in each other's sadness and worries. We both lost our families without warning and were thrusted into a life of loneliness. We’ve both been silently confiding in each other, and distracted ourselves from our misgivings with useless banter and conversations.

That’s why Julia was bottling up her emotions. To maintain the atmosphere or progression and hopefulness for a bright future. If I brought that doubtfulness out into the open, I would be disregarding the environment she was protecting. I couldn’t bring myself to say another word to her.

Thanks

I turned my head towards Julia, but she was still looking the other way. Was it just my imagination? I can’t tell. The elevator doors opened and Julia quickly stepped out.

We exited the building and met Mary at the front gate, climbing into the hovering vehicle like it was any other day. The ride home was dark and silent, almost like that night at the shopping district. Calm yet foreboding, inviting unending thoughts and worries of our futures, and detailed recollections of our past. I lost my parents, was orphaned, and was taken in by Edward. That was my past I thought. But that wasn’t quite right. The truth was that I was raised by an amazing family that loved me, met reliable friends like Julia to keep me in check, and had a challenging yet hopeful future that kept me moving forward.

My eyes began to sting. I couldn’t help but remember the days when my father would take me out to visit his workplace and his coworkers, or the stories my mother would tell me before bed to help me fall asleep. The happy times when I would play with friends after school and return home to be scolded by mom and be coddled by dad. I wiped my tears with my fingers and hid my face from Julia. There’s no rush. The future is uncertain, and that uncertainty gives us time to improve. We’ll grow stronger together, conquer the challenges that stand in our way, and reach the truth behind the towers.

Whoever you may be, Aldaroth or God, you better be ready.

We’re coming for your head.