2 Arlos and his World

When John woke up, he is laying down on a transparent plane, with an endless beautiful sky full of cute puffy clouds, and small pigeon-like birds flying across the horizon. It looks like it's daytime, however, there is no sun seen anywhere. Confused, John stood up and looked around. He saw nothing interesting besides the beautiful scenery laid before him. When he looked at himself, he saw that he is still wearing his desert camouflage uniform, but when he was about to question himself about how in the world he is alive, a shiny orb the size of John's head appeared in the sky. The shiny orb slowly descended in front of John and slowly and steadily transformed into a handsome elderly man wearing those medieval knight armours John read about in the past.

"Dear human, your talent is wasted in that world of yours. I have used some of my God Magic to bring your soul here, and I'm willing to give you a second chance in the world my brothers and sisters created", said the elderly man with a beaming handsome smile.

John replied with a confused but suspicious reply, "You mean, I can start over and leave my military life?"

"Yes, and not only that, you can explore our world too. Our world is named Coraline, and it is 10 times bigger than your world called Earth. Coraline contains 4 mega continents that took 60% of the Coraline world."

"How will this benefit you?", replied John with even more suspicion as he hears the elderly man praised his "world".

"Oh, that's because of your unawakened talent that can flip Coraline upside down."

"Uh, what is your motive for making me live one more time?"

"My motive? Will none really, I'm just a kind elderly man who has seen a youngster's talent being wasted."

Getting a little understanding, John became quiet as he sunk down in deep thought. With what that old man is saying, he can restart his life, but wait.

"If I have a second chance and a second life, then how old will I be once I start?"

"There is no 'if' since you already have a second chance and life. And the age? Well, you'll be about 15 or 16 years old. That's the furthest I can make your age go back to."

"Oh okay, then when do I start my new life?"

Confused, the old man asked, "Aren't you going to question about it? Or at least deny this 'reality'?"

"I have bathed in my enemies blood for too many years, even though I'm young, I still want to go back to my hiking and camping adventures before my parents passed away."

Understanding a little bit, the elderly man replied with a raised eyebrow, "Well then, I will send you now. But I must first give you some more information about our world."

"Please do." Replied John with some eagerness in his voice.

"Very well. As you know, Coraline is 10 times bigger than your Earth. But what Coraline have that Earth does not magic. Yes, magic. Every living creature has a Mana Pool within them. Some species have a larger Mana Pool while some species don't. Those that have little to no Mana Pool are either regular beasts or unlucky humans that are born without a single Mana Pool within them."

John asked, "Oh? Why do some humans don't have this Mana Pool?"

The elderly man replied, "That's because of a flaw when my brothers and sisters were creating this world. We did not have many powers back then and once we used all of them, we were unable to create enough Mana Pool into the first batch of humans we created. This also affects their generations of descendants as everyone has a specific gene, which can be inherited."

"Oh, I see. Then please continue with your explanation about your world."

"Currently, Coraline is still in the age where the humans on Earth called the Medieval Age. However, here's the catch." When John heard that, he raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"There are firearms. How are there firearms when the technology in the Medieval Era does not match with your Modern Era? Well, strong iron and metal ores are located underground, within mountains, or deep inside caves. And most importantly, they're actually common compared to the strongest and durable metal and iron ores from your world! Not only that, there are variants occupations in which humans created when they discovered the existence of Mana Pool. They have created Alchemist, Blacksmith, Mages, Enhancers, Magic Knights, Puppeteers, "

Hearing this, John's eye brightened and widened with shock and a little bit of easiness swept over his body.

Noticing John's change of emotion and expression, "Although you want to leave your military soldier life, firearms are actually common weapons used by some of the wealthy common people, knights, mercenaries, warriors, guards, and private guards. Since swords and bows are cheaper than firearms, some small business organization will use those 'cold weapons' instead of the firearms. However, be aware of bandits, they have stolen many goods and weapons, and that includes firearms."

John relaxed his expression knowing that he won't go down the path of being a soldier and can just do whatever he wants.

The elderly man continued, "Now back to magic. When I summon you to the lands of Coraline, I will grant you some necessary equipment and supplies in your Spacial Storage. To know what's in your Spatial Storage, or view the Spatial Storage List, just chant the word Spatial Storage List and that's it. The list will show you what you have in your storage and lists the qualities and quantities of your item. And once you decided on what to take out, just reach out your hand as if you're taking something out of thin air and chant the word Spatial Storage with the item that you're thinking about in your head. I think that's all I have to say. You can gain more information about Coraline when you start your adventure. What's the point of an adventure when you already know what's ahead?"

"I see, thank you for the information," John replied.

"It is alright. Now I will send you now, farewell."

"Goodbye. Oh right, what is your name?"

The elderly man smiled, "My name is Arlos, the God of War and Death. Now do have a good time."

His last sentence gave a small chill down John's spine. He did not know why he had that chill, but that last sentence has a deeper meaning.

Soon, Arlos smiled strangely and said, "Well, we will meet again."

Before John had the chance to ask what he meant about meeting again, his body shined and ancient glyphs appeared around him, circling him. Soon his body turned into a beam of light and stroke down through the transparent plane.

Arlos laughed evilly seeing the streak of light gone. Well then, let the games begin, Zeun, Arlos thought as he transformed back into his previous state as a shiny orb and launched off into the skies.