Chapter 4: Past

Chapter 4: Past

Raven was sitting in a meditative position with his eyes closed and his spine straight. He was far away from the huge celestial rock.

Finally, He opened his eyes and exhaled heavily to release some tension from his body.

"How much time has passed? Five... six hours?" Raven stood up and started stretching his body.

"I don't think that preparing my mind alone will guarantee my safety from this, but there is nothing else I can do. It's not like I can build this body in such a short period." Raven started to take a stroll inside the crater. He got near the glass wall and saw that most of the fire had vanished. What little fire was left could go off at any time.

"Did the energy blast that made this dome reduce the fire?" Raven thought to himself.

Intrigued by this idea, Raven turned and looked at the rock that had led to all of these things happening around him. He made his way toward the rock.

"What exactly are you?" He raised his hand but hesitated to touch the alien rock in front of him.

"It is not made of normal material. This thing is too durable to be anything ordinary." Finally, Raven touched the surface of the asteroid, feeling the vivid texture of the rock. Suddenly, the rock glowed in a bright azure color and a jolt of energy came out of it.

"Shit!" Raven didn't have any time to react, but unlike the first burst, this one didn't pass through Raven. Instead, it blasted him away toward the boundary of the barrier.

Thud... A loud crash echoed inside the enclosed space. Raven hit the ground after bouncing off the mana wall like a ball.

His body became a mess. The skin of his face was peeled off like the skin of a banana. His right wrist was broken, with his wrist bending at an unnatural angle, and his legs had become something no kid could see. His thigh was punctured, and a part of the femur could be seen.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Ah ha!" Raven released a scream that shattered the stillness.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! Haaaaaa! Haaaaaaaa!" Tears started to flow, indicating the amount of pain he was in.

"Ha! Ha! Haaaa! Ha!" Raven's body convulsed with each breath, his muscles contracting and relaxing in painful spasms. He felt as though every inch of his body was on fire, burning with an intensity that he had never experienced before. The pain was so excruciating that his vision started to blur and his ears rang with the sound of his own screams.

He tried to move, but the slightest twitch of his muscles sent waves of agony coursing through his body. His limbs felt heavy and unresponsive, as though they were made of lead. Every breath he took felt like a knife being driven deeper into his chest, and he could taste blood in his mouth from where he had bitten his tongue.

As he continued to scream and pant, his throat became raw and sore, making it even more painful to breathe. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to keep himself conscious through the overwhelming pain. Raven knew that he was in serious trouble and that he needed help, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

"Wah…wa….wa..ter." Raven tried saying, but slowly his consciousness started to fade away.

"No, I won't die like this." Raven, who now had lost his strength to utter a single word, thought to himself.

"Will … Ahhhhhhhhh."

"I am the Ome… of Norv…. I won't die like Ahhhhhhhhh." He tried to say something, but the pain was increasing with every second that passed, and now the soil in front of his eyes started to get blurry every time he blinked.

"That's not how... I wi… di." As the heavy stone-like curtains of his eyelids descended over his eyes, Raven felt his grasp on reality slipping away. His mind became a muddled haze, and the world around him became distorted and hazy.

Raven's eyes slowly began to close, it felt as though the very fabric of the universe was collapsing around him. The moon seemed to grow larger and larger, blotting out the sun until there was nothing left but a dark and ominous void.

A sense of overwhelming dread washed over him as he felt a cold, clammy embrace from the darkness above. It was as if he was being swallowed up by an endless abyss, a place where no light could reach and no hope could survive.

At that moment, Raven felt as though he was completely alone in the universe, adrift in a sea of nothingness. The silence was deafening, and the only sound he could hear was the pounding of his own heart as it struggled to keep beating.

A body could be seen floating in pitch-black surroundings that didn't seem to have any end, like a void. It had no end and no beginning, just pitch darkness.

"Ra….ven."

"Rav…en."

"Rave…n."

His ears twitched, catching a voice that felt like it was coming closer with every step.

Raven tried opening his eyes, but it felt like heavy stones were put in his eyes.

"Hummmm," Raven made a noise that felt like trying to speak something.

"Open your eyes, Raven Whitelock." A voice that was neither male nor female could be heard throughout the pit darkness.

There was no indication of where the voice was coming from. It felt like the darkness itself was speaking.

"Open your eyes," again the voice said the same thing, but this time a reaction could be seen on Raven's face.

His eyelid twitches a little, and small gaps could be seen through which his white sclera was visible.

After trying countless times, Raven opened his eyes. He felt all the pain and heaviness from before had vanished the moment he opened his eyes.

Raven hurriedly touched his face, arms, and legs to see if everything was in its place or not, and everything was okay like nothing had happened. After seeing that his body was in one piece, Raven looked around himself, finding nothing but pitch-black darkness.

"You don't belong here, Raven Whitelock," the gender-inclusive voice echoed throughout the space.

"Aren't I lucky? The voice of the world itself is talking to me," said Raven with the innocent smile of a baby.

After Raven stopped talking, there was dead silence in the dark void.

"Do you know about us?" the voice of the world asked Raven without expressing any emotion.

"Yes, and perhaps the only existence that knows about your kind," Raven replied with utmost assurance.

"How do you know about me?"

"The voice of Norva?" the voice questioned in an expressionless tone.

Raven smiled but didn't say anything.

"All things aside, why did you call me here?"

"This is not your body, and this is not your world. What are you doing here, Raven Whitelock, the omen of Norva?" the monotonous voice rang again in the void.

"The omen who changed the world of Norva, killed thousands, if not millions, of people. The one who overthrew countless emperors; you destroyed the balance of your world, and I don't want this to happen to my Earth," the voice said with a sprinkle of sadness and worry.

After listening to the voice, Raven didn't respond immediately, but he was staring at the endless darkness. His pearly eyes were fixed in one direction, but they were not looking at anything. It was as if he could see beyond the darkness.

"Ahem, sorry to doze off, you reminded me of something," Raven said to the voice. His words had a hint of melancholy.

"But I am sorry to inform you, I have no clue how I ended up in this world or this body, so I cannot answer your question."

No response; seeing that waiting was futile, Raven continued speaking.

"The name is Earth, huh? I was very eager to know the name of this world, but as you may know, I was trapped in a mana barrier, so I didn't get any chance to explore," Raven said, nodding his head in understanding.

"Yes," the voice said.

"You didn't give a clear answer to my question, though. Why did you call me?"

"It was to warn you. Don't try to do anything like what you did on Norva. I won't sit idly if you harm this planet," this time the words came with a huge vibration as if the voice was threatening Raven.

"I won't," Raven said with a charming smile.

"You also know that this body is very weak. Even if I wanted to do something, I can't."

"Don't try to fool me, Omen of Norva. I know what you are capable of even if you are weak now; you can always get stronger," the voice said.

"So you don't believe me. Then let's do it this way: I pledge in the presence of the voice of Earth that I won't do anything extreme in this world, but in return, I want three wishes."

"Are you aware of the consequences?"

"Yes, my soul and my life will be yours to do anything with if I fail."

"What do you want?" the voice said, shaking the whole void.

"First, information; second, an ability."

"Third?"

"I'm gonna save a wish for the future. Thank you," Raven said in a polite tone.

It wasn't as if Raven could win against the voice if it wanted to attack him, but Raven knew that the voices of worlds were obsessed with the balance of the world as if that were the only purpose of their existence, a voice will only act if the balance is threatened.

It is important to understand that breaking the balance of an entire world is not a simple thing to do. Even mass destruction cannot break a world's balance permanently because a time of recovery will always be there to overcome the mayhem.

"Ask," the voice said.

"Tell me about this world or just tell me the important thing I need to know before stepping in between people," Raven said in a serious tone.

"This world's name is Earth, and I am the voice of Earth. The language here is different in different continents, unlike Norva where the whole world spoke the same language."

"Umm, can I ask for one small favor without using my third wish?" Raven hesitantly asked.

"Yes, I can grant you the ability to understand the language without using your third wish."

"Thanks!" Raven smiled happily.

"How did mana react to the creatures of the planet? Has it spread evenly, and for how long was I unconscious?" asked Raven.

"One-third of the population is dead. Mana changed the rest of the remaining survivors as it saw fit, The Mana has completely settled in the atmosphere and is now slowly healing the damage dealt with by its emergence. Surprisingly, your body is still alive even after getting hit by mana waves every couple of hours, and you are still unconscious outside this space, taking today it will be forty-five days."

"What! Forty-five days" Raven screamed out loud, he was shocked by this revelation but still managed to regain his sanity back after some time.

"Sigh" Raven mulled to himself, "nothing can be remedied for what has already transpired."

"As for my second wish, I want…

Moments later…

"Remember, do whatever you want, but keep your vow." while saying this the voice felt a little annoyed

"As a final gesture to our deal, I will teleport you to a location where you can come across other individuals."

Raven just nodded his head solemnly. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was in an unfamiliar scenery, and the pain was back, but it was diminishing every second. His wounds were healing at a heaven-defying pace, and after some time, they were completely gone.

"Haa…Ha…Haa…" Raven panted his heart out as he felt the relief and comfort that came

after the torment.

"Let's see," Raven touched his body and felt the alterations the mana had brought to his physique. His body was now more robust, with refined muscles.

Raven extended both of his arms outward and closed his eyes, Several mana particles started gathering around him.

"Hm..hm," Raven nodded his head, and he examined his body more carefully, focusing on his hands.

Raven glanced around and found himself atop a verdant hill, surrounded by lush foliage. Looking down, he spotted tiny structures and roads teeming with miniature figures below.

"*Sigh* let's see what this world has in store for me but first"

"Status" As raven said this word his metallic eyed showed a dim azure glow for a second and a blue hologram-like screen appeared floating in front of him.

{User Information}

[Name: Raven Whitelock]

[Age: 24]

[Level: 1(0/1000)]

[Health:100/100]

[Mana: 1000/1000]

[Strength: 21+2]

[Agility: 10+2]

[Stamina: 20+2]

[Intelligence: 45+2]

[Defense: 15+2]

[Ability(s)]

[Perfect pitch (C): Allows to identify and replicate sounds accurately, which can help with learning and pronouncing unfamiliar words in foreign languages.(Passive)]

[Intuition (A+): Allows to see the status of another person. (Can be evolved after reaching level 10)]

[Harrowed(B): When activated all stats would be doubled, except intelligence.]

[Cost: 40 mana per second]

[Harrowed: You have endured an incredible amount of unrefined mana, because of which every stat is permanently increased by 2 and will be doubled when the skill is activated.]