A New Place

'Hmm, what just happened!' The old man thought as he replied.

"Aria, a nice name. Let's go, follow me, or else you might get lost. This here, young man, is a space channel created by this old man. Very few people are able to create such a channel. Isn't this old man awesome? Hahahaha."

Turning his back he retracted his firm steps back as he boasted about his entry and laughed. Aria followed him silently. The old man did not mind this silence as he muttered.

"Although, considering your background I doubt you know more about this."

"Umm, old man, who are you and where are you taking me?" Aria asked, though he wasn't privy to what a space channel was, he felt a bit familiar with the concept.

"Ahh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. Then I shall talk while we complete our journey." He reached the black space from where space had folded like a fabric, stepping out he placed his left leg forward and entered the black channel.

Without any fear, Aria followed the old man in the black channel, unfazed.

The old man was surprised for a moment, but then quickly gathered his thoughts. According to him, Aria seemed like a man who was calm and collected in nature.

"Ahem, so where were we? Ah yes, my peers call me Old Seven. I could be considered a distant relative of your late family. As for where we are headed, you shall soon find out. Remember from this moment onwards your life will be different." The old man spoke moving steadily towards the end of the black channel, the source of the light that illuminated their path.

"I see." Aria frowned for a moment. But still, he did not voice out his suspicions. Right now he himself was confused a lot. The unknown voice in his mind, the jumbled memories and for some reason, he also felt a sense of weakness in his body.

Also, he remembered the violet pearl, and everything could be traced to it weirdly.

The old man kept blabbering and boasting about stuff all along the way, but Aria was more skeptical of the old man as everything that was happening with him till now was something that he had no memory of, or it was something that was hidden within that shrouded mist.

And every time he tried to force himself to remember the pain would recur.

Soon they reached the end of the space channel.

The old man exited the channel followed by Aria.

'Interesting.' Aria thought.

After exiting the space channel what greeted him was an open platform in the middle of what looked like a pond. The altar was connected to the shore which housed a number of structures. This entire structure along with the pond was located on top of a huge pillar made of wooden material. There were three huge trunks at the edges placed symmetrically, which pierced the sky. There were structures visible on the trunks as well.

***

[ DeTecTEd ENErgy ]

[ REplEniShIng SuSTenAnCE ]

***

The unknown voice was a bit weak and the text flickered on his pupils about to be erased as Aria hurriedly diverted his attention to the old man.

"Hold tight, kid." The old man warned, dragging Aria from his thought process.

He then proceeded to place his palm on a transparent plate.

{Identity confirmed. Welcome, Marshal Seven.}

The voice seemed like that of a kid, which emanated from the back of the small plate.

Suddenly, along with a short jolt, the platform rushed towards the shore, leaving behind a huge trail of waves.

Since Aria's body was still weak, he was hit by the immense momentum and fell down on his but.

"Hahahaha. Told you to hold tight." Old Seven laughed hard. His white hair danced around in the air as he enjoyed the ride.

Aria on the other hand was frowning.

When the droplets of water hit him--

***

[ Energy transfer successful ]

[ Current functional energy reserve 0.1% ]

[ Disabling assisting function ]

[ Initiating primary functionality ]

***

'Who the hell is this?'

Aria screamed in his mind and expected to be greeted by silence again. But something happened.

The text on his pupils dispersed as the blinking star zoomed out and a frame formed from transparent stars bordered his pupils as they rapidly disappeared.

Thankfully Old Seven was looking elsewhere or else he would be surprised by the change in Aria's pupils.

***

[ Initiating greeting procedure ]

[ Hello Host ]

[ Athenaeum at your service ]

[ As Energy reserves are at a bare minimum, the procedure is halted ]

[ Encouraging Host to increase Energy reserve ]

***

The voice disappeared and the number '0.1' appeared in the upper right corner of his pupils.

'Athenaeum? What are you? Who am I?'

While such thoughts ran through his mind while he lay down on his butt, they had reached the shore.

The view on the shore was totally different, there were trees everywhere which were surrounded by structures that were connected to the huge ring which bordered the pillar. The vegetation extended all the way to the three huge trunks piercing the sky, the same with the structures.

Old Seven alighted the platform and he was greeted by a young woman who seemed to be the same age as that Aria.

"Greetings Marshal." The young woman spoke.

"Hmm. Kid, come here, greet your Senior." Old Seven introduced her briefly.

Aria observed the young woman, she had short black hair. Her skin was as smooth as jade, her face was perfect with black eyes, cherry-red lips, and a perfect jawline.

The woman gazed at Aria and turned to Old Seven.

"Marshal, he is?" She asked in a curious tone.

"Oh, he is your new Junior from now on," He answered in an unbothered manner.

Hearing this, her interest in Aria deepened. Her gaze wantonly wandered around his body, trying to find what was so special about him. Then she extended her hand.

"Hello, Junior. You can call me Jasmine." Although she was smiling Aria could detect a hint of disdain in her eyes.

Without bothering, they shook hands.

"Great now that you have gotten along, Jasmine, explain to him everything about his duties and clear his doubts. After all, you are the eldest and he is new to all this. Then I will leave him to you." Old Seven's voice reverberated in the surroundings as his figure started to disappear.