Ben once again calmed his mind, although a large amount of excitement mixed with fear still bubbled inside of him. Before he became too distracted by the spectacle before him, ben quickly collected his thoughts, he moved his body to half kneel, and blurted out in a slightly panicked voice.

“This Lowly one greets your majesty!” almost as if by instinct Ben shouted out a phrase he never planned to say nor planned to ever say in his life, but not more than a second later found the reason, this being in front of him possessed an indescribably powerful strength, giving him an aura that made everyone’s primal instincts force them to submit to him.

[Ah, my apologies little one. It has been many centuries since I last materialised, so my power became momentarily unrestrained. Please, stand. One such as yourself should not bow before one such as me.]

Before King Allon’s speech ended, the pressure on Ben’s body was lifted, and a gentle pressure surrounded his body forcing him off the floor and onto his feet.

“What do you mean?” back on his feet Ben looked towards the King, the last few words from the king confused Ben, he thought to himself “Why does everyone seem to put me on such a high pedestal? I’m just a normal guy…”

[You underestimate yourself little one. You are far beyond being ‘normal’, even I dare not offend you, haha]

“Far beyond? Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Ben was becoming more and more confused as time went on, why did everybody treat him like an important figure, he’d never done anything worth such respect, this couldn’t all be because of his core could it?

[That is something you must find out for yourself; I can only tell you that you possess a core that shouldn’t be able to exist, and as such, even we do not know what it is capable of]

Ben could tell he wouldn’t be able to get any more information out of them so with a sigh he sought to find out what was going to happen to him next.

“I guess it can’t be helped then… so, what do I do now?” Ben looked towards King Allon with curiosity in his eyes.

‘This boy…’’ King Allon praised Ben’s ability to keep a calm head despite his current situation.

[Well, that choice lays with you, little one; You may stay within my domain, and train among many other young aspiring Void Gazer’s, or on the other hand, you may pass onto your next life, being re-incarnated upon a random world… Which shall you choose?]

Ben already knew he would be sent to another world sooner or later, but he became surprised when told he could stay and train, Merlin never mentioned that he would be able to stay within the Index to train.

The benefits of even some basic training would help Ben immensely, giving him a better start in the next world, but something about it seemed fishy to him, so he tested to see if his instincts spoke true.

“What’s the catch?”

[Pardon?] King Allon became confused over Ben’s question.

“About training here, what part aren’t you telling me?” looking at the king’s confused expression, Ben began to doubt his assumptions.

That doubt became short lived, after Ben re-phrased his question, there was a violent fluctuation of power that birthed from the king’s body, although it only lasted for a split second it was enough to scare Ben, making his face turn pale.

[Mm, you really catch on fast, don’t you? Looks like I was too hasty] Somehow a disappointed expression appeared upon the king’s featureless face, making Ben’s fear level rise once again.

[Indeed, there is a catch. Training in the index requires one to surrender their soul to me, essentially leaving their lives within my hands, you truly are a sharp one, I would have liked to have you, but it looks like it is not to be] the king let out a deep sigh as he finished his explanation, causing a chill to run down Bens spine, giving him the feeling that he’d just escaped a calamity.

Before Ben could speak the king spoke up once more.

[It is time for you to leave, your only option now is to re-incarnate unto another world, much to my displeasure, maybe one day we will have the chance to converse once more]

Before Ben could respond, the king clicked his fingers causing a black sphere to appear before Ben’s body, it quickly engulfed his entire body before shrinking into nothingness.

A long silence befell the room before a sigh resounded thought-out.

[He’s interfering again]

The kings body exploded into millions of motes of light before fading into the surroundings, as his body faded away his voice once more sounded out.

[No-one is to know what has occurred today]

[Yes, my king!]

…

…

[Hey! Wake up!]

With a crisp slap to the face, Ben’s body jolted up and his eye’s shot open as he let out a scream.

“Ahhhhh!” though it was quickly silenced as another slap crossed his face, he looked around and caught the familiar old, wrinkled face of Merlin, causing a wave of relief to roll through his body as it slumped back down to the ground.

[You’re lucky I like you… I managed to pull you out before you passed through the Ignition gate]

“W-what happened?” Still in shock from what happened Ben stammered his words as he tried to calm himself down, but to no avail, he had never experienced anything so terrifying in his life, he may have already died, but the fear he just experienced had already taken root in his mind, wiping away his past traumas, only to be replaced with a new one.

Heavy breathing could be heard as Merlin spoke, a clear indication that he had just performed some sort of strenuous action, most likely being the act of pulling Ben from this ‘Ignition gate’.

[It’s… complicated, I’ll explain later but for now I need to get you somewhere safe]

Like before, Merlin gently waved his hand, creating a tear mid-air, grabbing Ben and once again walking into the open space.

Ben’s eyes blurred then refocused to see himself within a garden, if he could call it that… if he could use anything as a reference it would be the ‘Eden Project’, a large man made conservation area, covered with hundreds of vibrant plants and home to numerous small creatures, but this ‘Garden’ was on a much larger scale, it easily covered several hundred square miles, thousands of plants and trees he had never seen before littered the area, and situated at the centre of it all sitting atop a large hill, an incredibly large flower resembling a lotus in full bloom.

Each leaf was larger than a house, and coloured the purest of white, the tips were coloured blue and blue glowing veins ran throughout each leaf, almost like an electric current pulsed within the leaf’s structure.

Seeing Ben stare wide-eyed at the scenery, Merlin became proud as his work was being admired, letting a small smile crawl onto his lips.

He raised a finger and pointed towards the giant lotus.

[That there is my pride and joy, as well as what will keep you safe, the flower of the tree of origin, or more accurately, Gaia’s Lotus… Allon will not be able to find you here]

“Gaia’s lotus…” Ben muttered the name of the flower softly as he quickly wound down from his earlier predicament, it seemed this flower could not only block King Allon’s senses but also calmed and soothed the mind.

[It would be a shame to see one so young to pass on in such a way, so please, accompany this old man and stay here for a while, I’ll make sure you are prepared for when you cross over]

The tone of Merlin’s voice softened slightly when talking to Ben, he seemed to have become attached to this young man before him, making him want to try his best to nurture him into someone who will accomplish many great things, although that will take a long time to achieve.

[I must rest for the time being, pulling you from a stream containing trillions of other souls isn’t easy to do… since you will be here for a little while go and explore, familiarise yourself with the place]

Before he left Merlin pointed towards the Hill which the Lotus sat upon, and situated underneath one of the many petals was a simple log cabin which he called home and told me to call for him if I required anything, after which he once again opened a tear and stepped through.