Orb Masters

1,000,000 light-years away from Earth, hidden from the knowledge of men, a world named Armira existed. A peculiar planet, wherein the inhabitants similar to human beings were able to harness the power of Orbus Major - a mysterious plane full of spirits called Ankhs. These two dimensions were connected by a gigantic Crystal Pillar, like that of Babel's Tower depicted from the Christian Bible, extending from Armira's inner core to the outer atmosphere, reaching Orbus Major's entrance.

According to the scholars, each Armiran had his or her Ankh counterpart living in Orbus Major. Armirans represented the physical matter while Ankhs were the spiritual matter. When they combine, they became complete, which then awakens the true potential of a being. This phenomenon was called the Orbitalization Effect. The awakened ones were named as Orb Masters.

Different Orb Masters had their Fusion Status. Those with a hundred percent Fusion Status could exhibit their full potential, regardless of their classification and occupation. After decades of investigating the past Orbitalization Effect, they discovered that 10-year-old Armirans had the best result when they undergo the Orbitalization Effect. During this year, an Armiran body was very receptive to the powers emitted by their Ankh counterparts, with a bigger possibility of completely fusing to become perfect Orb Masters.

That was the sole reason why the Lorenz Kingdom was populated every 5th day of Helios, which was the 3rd month of the year. On this particular day, the connection between these two dimensions was at its peak, and all Ankhs awaited their Armiran counterparts to contact them via touching the totem to become complete, turning into Orb Masters.

And at this very moment, families of different backgrounds would bring their 10-year-old children with them on a journey to the center of the world of Armira, the Lorenz Kingdom, where the Crystal Pillar was located.

And one of those hopefuls was a family from a tribe of carpenters, the Argos clan, who was on their way to let Archer Argos become an Orb Master.

"Dad! When will we arrive? We've been inside this train for three whole days..." Archer pouted, his hands cupped on his chin as he leaned on the window. He saw several monkeys playing atop the trees, "Hah! Silly animals! Did you see it, Dad?"

Melek, a 30-year-old man, followed his son's gaze and laughed. "Yes, son. They act like you, right? No wonder your mom's always scolding you to stop acting like a monkey."

Archer grumbled. "No way! Look how foolish they are, just waiting for the fruit to fall. If I was a monkey, I would climb up the highest peak to pick up the sweetest fruits to eat."

Melek massaged his stiff neck, his black eyes still fixated outside the window. "But monkeys never steal their mother's sweets and candies."

"You are not around with the monkeys all the time, so your statement is not valid," Archer refuted while popping candy into his mouth. At once, his expression became lighter. "This taste good!"

Melek chuckled. "Well, let's stop talking about them. Are you excited to become an Orb Master, son?"

Archer bobbed his head, his face full of smiles. "Of course! I wanna become like you, Dad! I wanna listen to your story about your experience here, please tell me."

When Melek saw his son's pleading eyes, he grinned and ruffled his son's brown hair. "Hmm, what do you want to know?"

"Tell me what happened when you became an Orb Master!"

"Sure," Melek replied, paused a bit, before continuing, "it was when I was ten years of age, still innocent and young, that I joined my friends to visit the Leronz Kingdom, our destination. Your grandpa did not have enough money to send me to the Crystal Pillar, that is why they advised me to become a carpenter and continue the family's legacy. But I insisted, so I started working part-time while studying at the same time to save for my transportation and lodging. To make the story short, I eventually arrived at the Holy Place where the Crystal Pillar is located."

"Wait, Dad!" Archer scampered to the nearest drawer, pulled out a jug filled with candies, and sat down. "Continue, Dad."

Melek chortled. "What did I tell you about eating lots of candies?"

"They should be taken in moderation," Archer snickered, chewing another candy. "Come on, Dad. Don't let me hanging."

"Ah, whatever. Where did I stop?"

"At the Crystal Pillar."

Melek snapped his fingers. "Yes, the Crystal Pillar. You see, I was falling in line together with my friends, all excited and giddy, the whole day only to find out that we need to register before we proceed with the Orbitalization Ritual."

Archer's eyes narrowed as he looked at him suspiciously. "Isn't it a common thing to ask the important things like what to do first before doing anything that grand?"

Melek coughed lightly. "Now, now, let's not focus on such trivial things. Anyway, we decided to go to the Orbus office to list our names. After doing several interviews, our applications were accepted and stayed at an inn to spend the night. The next day arrived and we became Orb Trainers. That's it."

Archer scratched his head. "But Dad! I wanna know how it felt, you know when the actual Orbitalization happened. You're just saying the obvious ones."

Melek laughed boisterously for a few seconds, before replying, "That's a secret. It is part of the beauty of meeting your Ankh counterpart."

Archer pondered for a moment before asking, "Is it true that our own Ankhs counterpart have bodies like us? My friends keep telling me that they looked exactly like us. Even that stupid Eric boasted that his Ankh spirit was as good-looking as him. The nerve!"

Melek stared at him for about five seconds in silence before guffawing for another one or two minutes.

"Dad! I'm serious! I'm just curious about them..." Archer pouted, his arms folded on his chest.

Melek wiped the tears off his eyes. "You gave me a good laugh, son. That was pretty funny. The thing is, Ankhs have their forms. It can be an animal, a thing, or even a creature with noncorporeal bodies but they never look like us."

"But why is your Ankh an orb?"

"Oh, this," Melek grinned, his hands lifted in the air. At once, a crystal orb with a pink hue hovered beside him. "Lovely, ain't it?"

Archer nodded, stepped forward, and pointed his fingers. "Why is it pink?"

"I'll explain it later after I answer your question," Melek opened his palm and the orb rested on his hand. "Weren't you curious why my Ankh is an orb? In reality, their bodies can't survive in Armira because they need aether from the Orbus Major to survive. That is why they enclosed themselves within the crystal orb, full of aether particles, once they are summoned outside Orbus Major. But most of the time, they reside within an Amiran's body when they are resting because our bodies act as insulators."

Archer's eyes lit up, his smile getting wider. "Now, I get it. That is why they...you, are called Orb Masters, because of the orb-shaped thingy. But you're still not answering my question!"

"Getting impatient, aren't we?" Melek released the orb and mumbled some indecipherable words before pointing at the vacant chair before them. At once, the orb vanished and a bald, blue monkey of about 2 meters tall appeared right at the spot where he was staring. His chest puffed up while heading to the creature and patted its head. "Meet my summon, Orang!"

Archer sized up his dad's summon, inspecting closely while circling its body. "Dad, it's a plain, bald, tall, and blue monkey, right?"

Melek wagged his fingers. "Nope, son. This is Orang, a spiritual monkey variant who specializes in strength. Can't you see how strong it is?"

Archer snickered while his hands akimbo. "But it's still a monkey, right?"

"You're wrong, son. They're higher than the monkeys that you see in Armira, much stronger and more intelligent than the one you saw back then."

"But I'm right when I say that it's still a monkey, right?"

Melek sighed. "Well, if that makes you happy. Anyway, let's go back to the topic, right, the colors of the orbs. Their colors represent what type of power the Orb Master has. With my case, pink denotes summoning and Orb Masters having pink orbs are called Orb Conjurers. Even summoning has its subcategory, depending on its species variant, summon's attributes, and style of fighting, whether they are defense, offense, or support. For your information, mine is leaning more on the offense with a bit of defense. It's still early for you to know. You will learn all of this once you enter the Orbital Academia."

When Archer traced his hands on its hairy arms, he took his hand away and placed it on his cheeks. "Dad, why does Orang feel cold to touch?"

Melek smiled. "It's because of its nature, son. Mine is an Ice-typed Orang."

"Is it safe for me to assume that there are Fire-typed Orangs as well?"

"Yes, son." Melek heard the train's whistling signal, noticing that its speed was slowing down. "Looks like we're about to arrive."

Archer peeked out the window and saw several concrete buildings with different colors. He let the breeze hit his face, clearly enjoying the cold winds. "Ah! The air's fresh!"

"That's one of the perks when you live beside the Crystal Pillar," Melek explained while unsummoning Orang and started packing up. "Better get your things ready, son. We don't want to be caught unprepared by the sudden rush of people exiting outside the train."

Archer lifted his clenched fist, shouting, "I will become a great Orb Master. Crystal Pillar, wait for me! I'm coming for you."

His son's actions reminded him of his youth. Looking up, he had a reminiscing look. "Danica..."