Prologue (past): The Arrival

[Eight years ago ]

BOOOM

Boian was slammed into the wall. His heavily injured body did not prevent him from standing up.

His eyes felt heavy, and he could not open them. He would not be able to see anything even with his eyes.

It was pitch black all around him as he was in the Energy Field of this powerful Evil being. Boian could only hear and vaguely sense movements inside the Field. He felt powerless against it.

With determination, he decided to use his last resort attack towards the person who was brutally thrashing him for the past few hours.

"50% Burs.."

Before he could even finish uttering his attack, an Energy wave sent him flying again.

"That useless suicide skill again? A skill that destroys oneself to injure another cannot be considered a skill at all." The attacker's prideful voice echoed around him.

"You are weak. You have no potential. Thus you are UNWORTHY."

Despite feeling angry, he did not rebuke. He could not even find a reason to disagree with the latter.

"You are a toy I brought here. You did your role well. You can continue to stay here just as a toy."

Boian wanted to yell back, but the last attack severely injured his ability to talk. But he mouthed with great difficulty. 'I will never be anyone's toy.'

Unimaginable pressure crushed Boian to the ground, and he could not even budge a muscle. He felt his soul was stripped and examined by some power. His memories were seen through. Even old memories from centuries ago, his childhood memories of his birthplace, were sought out.

He could sense great Energy collisions and the emergence of the chains that tear dimensional barriers. Before he could make sense of what was happening, a devastating blow blasted him away.

"Haha. Well said. But unfortunately, you do not belong here anymore. So go back to the shitty world you came from."

***************************

[A small rural town in the mountains of Ronia.]

"Srrrrrr."

Out of nowhere, lightning-like ripples spread from the dumpster site as its epicenter. As the thickness and ferocity of the ripples increased, it created a unique and attractive force that made a grey gaseous substance to separate from the atmosphere and move to the dumpster. The area got darker and darker along with the increased frequency of energy ripples.

"Why did it get so hot?" A clerk working in his air-conditioned office, could not help but ask while wiping away the flowing sweat on his forehead.

Similar questions and complaints arose in various parts of the town.

People stepped outside to figure out the reason behind this weird phenomenon.

It was a summer day, but the geography of the small town in the mountains made it appear similar to late spring. Neither too hot nor too cold. The perfect weather for spending quality time outside, a golden time for children to play with their friends, a budding time for romantic encounters and a peak time for parties.

The sudden change in weather startled many people who were engaged in their own activities, making them complain and whine. Even a drunk person could tell that the temperature was rising at an alarming rate.

Many people felt like their skin was burning. These people, who had no proper experience of a hot summer, could not cope with this sudden change of weather.

People soon noticed a cluster of dark grey cloud forming on the West side of the city. Some clever ones even noticed that their surroundings have turned brighter than ever before. The sun was still dim as usual with no change, and they could not find any reason for this bright up. As their vision somehow got brighter, some experienced hard-time adjusting their eyes. The discussion intensified as more people gathered.

"Ah. It's from the dumpster. Maybe someone stupid must have set it on fire. I hope no toxic gas is released."

Soon many others agreed with this reasoning. The cloudlike appearance could be a mix of mountain fog and smoke. It then also explains the increase in temperature.

"But this heat is too much." Said a young lady while fanning herself and her newborn child with a magazine. The weather change had startled awake the sleeping baby and made her cry. It pained and worried the young lady seeing that her precious darling cried suddenly. She could feel a burning sensation in her skin, and she could not help worry about her child. Perhaps her child was crying because of that.

The temperature had increased suddenly. Grey clouds formed in the cloudless sky seem to be so close to the mountains as if they are embracing them. This phenomenon that attracted regular people's attention had already grabbed the focus of people with power.

The city authority tried to contact the dumpster management and even requested the Police and Fire Department to visit the west area.

Meanwhile, in a bungalow top of a small mountain.

"Damn. Damn." Sounds of furniture breaking could be heard. A rich man with a stocky build wearing pajamas was acting as he would go on a rampage.

"Which bastard is drawing up all the Evil energy. All these energies. All these energies we gathered during the ceremony is drawn like this? I want to tear that bastard apart with my own bare hands." He paused his rampage and took a deep breath.

He could produce evil energy through other methods, other more gruesome methods. But the laws had made him hand-tied. He couldn't do anything against the treaty rules and survive later in this land. He might have great power in the city but that did not mean his action will go unnoticed. He will get marked and hunted down the moment he violated the law.

"We cannot do the ceremony soon. If this little amount Evil energy in my area is used up, we will get weaker. Some weak ones won't even survive. Did you find the hands behind this?" He turned his head and yelled at his servants who silently stood at the side, ignoring the damage their lord had done.

"Lord. We used our surveillance power on the west from here. It does not seem like someone is using a cheat technique or machine to gather energy. In fact, no powerhouses are even remotely close to the town. But.." An old and thin servant who wore a coat and tie moved forward to answer.

"But what." He thought it was someone playing against him. Most likely someone from a neighboring area who wanted to disgrace him or wanted to robe the evil energy of his land. The rules did not prohibit these kinds of actions against evil beings as long as they did not affect commoners.

"My lord, it looks....it looks like, it is highly likely a portal for Arrival." The old butler hesitated but still said what he had in his mind. He had more experience and lived longer than this lord of his. He has seen a portal for Arrival and experienced its process before. Even though that was a properly organized arrival, which was not identical to the unannounced and the sudden one that is happening there in the town, he could instantly identify this phenomenon as Arrival. This kind of energy attraction and control can only be made someone who was extremely powerful. To control the evil energy to this extent from an entirely different plane itself? The butler could not even raise his voice thinking about this possibility.

"What?" The manor lord suddenly stood with a shivering body. 'Is this true? An arrival.'

Mumbling to himself, saying nothing to the old butler, he sprang out. He had to go see this himself. He had to receive the arriving person by himself. He had to meet this 'lord' before anyone else and get into that person's good grace.

To come from a direct portal from 'there' violating the treaty laws, he could not help but wonder how insanely powerful 'the arriving lord' is.

************************

An old man looked towards the direction of the energy gathering from a nearby city. His earring kept ringing making him frown. He then shouted.

"SON. Request the Lord Apostle's help. GO NOW."

"Father. What makes it this urgent? Something happened?" He questioned.

The father gave an angry stare at his son.

"Go fucking do as I told. The treaty was violated... And a strong evil being is arriving."

The young man could not help but open his mouth. 'To think the cowardly evil beings have someone who has the courage to violate the treaty laws in the open. That's something new.'

Feeling a deathly stare from his father with killing intent, the young man regained his composure and realized he has not set off. He at once went to communicate and ask for Lord Apostle's help.

********************

Near the landfill, the dumpster filled with all sort of trash materials and discarded things had slight grey color energy clashing in the air. The clashing of energy caused electric-like ripples to spread from the area. The flammable garbage caught fire from the rippling energy. Smoke rose from the fire. The burning plastic and other garbage made the grey surroundings even darker, thus making the area dark as if it was in the night.

The clashing got frequent and more violent as if they were compressing in a small area. After some time of clashing, the energy concentration in the small area had become dense, reverting to a dilute form visible with naked eyes.

A fierce clash erupted from the middle of the concentrated energy area and a ripple so huge formed from it. A crack seemed to appear in the space of the clashed area. Thick dark energy like two chains appeared from within and grabbed the crack tearing it apart.

After opening the crack, from the darkness inside, a figure came out with great speed as if it was thrown from inside. The figure crashed into the dumpster making a big crater among the garbage.

After the figure came out, the crack closed in a blink of an eye and the energy gathered dispersed. The people in the city felt the heat was reducing bit by bit as the dispersed Evil energy spread oblivious to them. But still, they felt it was still hotter than five minutes before.

The manor lord was sensitive to the energy and thus he could estimate the approximate location of the event. He was already driving his car at high speed giving no care about the consequences to reach there in time. He released a sigh, realizing not all Evil energy from the ceremony was used up. But he was late. He couldn't help feel bad as the person had already arrived.

From the crater in the dumpster, the figure slowly stood up. His legs were shaking, and he was struggling hard to stand up steadily. The sounds of his bones cracking could be heard. His body was injured with slashes everywhere. His right arm had disappeared. His left hand was broken and bent in a peculiar way. One of his legs was dislocated, making it hard for him to even stand. Despite having all these horrendous injuries, only a little amount of blood flowed from the wound.

His face looked crushed as his facial features were indistinguishable. His dress seemed to be torn apart revealing his lean but firm body and muscles.

He uttered none voice till the crack was completely gone. It was clear that he was waiting for the crack to close. Only after making sure that did he curse with his deformed mouth making a whining noise similar to a hurt dog.

"FOGE QU, ALTHAMAN." (Fuck you, Old Man)

Taking a deep breath, he relaxed. He did not know whether he should laugh or cry. He lost everything he gained from working all these days. But he was FREE now. He lost all the people he thought to be his family. But he gained freedom. He lost everything he thought belonged to him. But now no one can control him anymore. He wanted to laugh out as loud as he can, but soon depression overcame him as an image of a person he spent all these years with came to his mind.

What did I even have? He questioned himself.

All the years he spent.

All the tears he spilled.

All the pain he suffered.

All the insults he heard.

All the orders he obeyed.

All the adventures he had.

But what did he achieve? What did he own?

This area should be where he died. Or did he die at all? Wasn't it here where he started his second life. He could not remember anymore. It had been too long. Now, he just wanted to believe this was where he will start his life anew again. This time for himself.

Looking around, all he saw was materials in different shapes and colors accumulated together disgustingly.

'What the heck is this?' he frowned.

He did not remember something like this here from the time he knows this place. This used to be a beautiful grassy area near the mountains.

"DIS STHINQUES." (THIS STINKS)

Hearing his own deformed voice, he could not help but shake with hatred. But at least he could still smell.

'That bastard did a heavy job on me.'

He used his shoulder to push his dislocated jaw back in place. With a small click sound, his jaw was fixed. Then his body healed at an unimaginative rate. His right arm regrew. The bent arm and leg straightened up. His body healed without leaving behind any scars. Not even a bruise could be seen on his body. The fire in the dumpster area had attracted attention as some garbage disposal workers closed in wearing protective gears. He could sense more people approaching and some of them were special people like him with strength. He did not want to expose himself or let others disturb him because he wanted to try living a peaceful life.

He wanted to move away but thought it will be safer in a transformed state. Looking at the disgusting ground, he felt reluctant to transform into a land animal. He turned himself into a bat and flew away leaving behind a crater that no human could later explain and some words that only the burning trash heard.

"I, Boian, will be free from today onwards."