Chapter 10: Nightmare and Worries

"Nak! Wake up! It's time for school!"

(Note: "Nak" is a casual term for "Anak" that translates to "Son/Daughter". This is usually used by parents or aunts/uncles to their children.)

"Ugh..."

Xerel woke up and checked the time on the digital clock. It was 6:30 in the morning. He stretched his tired body and went to the bathroom to wash.

He then wore his uniform and grabbed his backpack as he went downstairs where his mom was tidying the plates on the table and his sister eating while looking at her phone.

"Good morning Kuya..."

(Note: "Kuya" is the Tagalog word for "Big brother". It can also be used to call any male that is a bit older than you as a sign of respect.)

"Good morning Shiela."

Xerel grabbed a plate and placed the rice and scrambled eggs and started eating.

"Nak, stop fiddling with your phone, your food is already getting cold."

"Sorry, ma..."

(Note: "Ma" is just a shortened version for "Mama" which I don't need to explain to you right?)

Shiela placed her phone in her pocket and continued eating.

After they finished eating, they left the house, and at the gate were three familiar faces.

"Guys? When did you get here?"

Xerel asked confusingly. The three simply smiled at Xerel and pulled them to their shoulders. Shiela went ahead and ride a tricycle since she had a different School.

(Tricycle- is a three-wheeled bicycle that is usually used as means of transportation in local areas of the Philippines.)

"Dude, let's hurry up! There's still time for the Mobile Bang-Bang season 21 tournament to start. Let's watch it before class starts."

"Mobile Bang-Bang? Isn't that an old game? It's already irrelevant."

"Psh, so your playing Drift of The Wild now huh? So you're gonna backstab us?"

"What? No!"

"Backstabber..."

Xerel and his friends continued to chat as they walked on the streets. One of them opened their smartphone and checked on the latest news which popped up on the screen.

"Guys, have you seen the news lately?"

"What news?"

"They said that they found sightings of blue light hovering in the air. I think it's the sign of Aliens."

"No way, that's probably a scheme from the government to scare the public."

"Duh, don't you know where it's showing up? It's in Atlanta, USA. It's another one of those antics from Kanye West to promote his album."

"But one has been found in Dipolog just nearby the City Mall. Where in Galas right now so it should be near right?"

"Oh, let's check it out!"

The three started to walk faster to try and look for the blue light but Kal halted in deep thought.

'Galas? Dipolog? Isn't that in Mindanao, one of the main islands of the Philippines?'

"Guys, where are we right now?"

Xerel asked. His friends stopped and looked at him confusingly as one replied.

"Where in another world bro. Now, hurry up or we won't see that blue light!"

"No guys, I'm serious. Where are we? What country are we in?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Where in the Philippines dumbass."

Dududduududududgdudgugud.....

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently as everyone started to panic. Xerel and his friends stabilized themselves in the middle of the road so nothing would fall through their heads.

Bang!

The asphalt started forming cracks and exploded as rubbles flew everywhere causing one of them to hit Xerel in the head and bleed as he lay on the ground.

"Ow!"

"Dude are you okay?"

"I'm fine.."

"W-w-what is that?"

One of his friends pointed at the foggy area and as the dust cleared out, from the standpoint of where the explosion had occurred, there was a ten feet long bull with sharpened 2 set horns, fanged teeth, and grey hide.

"It's a C-class monster, Minos Buffalo. Somebody call 841! Tell them to dispatch hunters in this location before the monsters get loose and start attacking civilians!"

Xerel screamed and called out at his friends but they all looked at him with stupefied expressions.

"What nonsense are you talking about? There's no such thing as 841 hotline or Hunters and what's with the classed monsters you're saying? Run!!"

Everyone started to run in different directions due to the panic while Xerel lay on the ground confused.

'Why did they respond like that? Don't they know the existence of monsters and hunters?... Wait!..now that I think about it, the Philippines has already ceased to exist but why am I here? Who are those guys and why did they look strangely familiar? What the hell is happening?'

Mooooooooo!

The monster waled at Xerel as it stared at him with its red eyes, ready to charge at him at any time.

'Let's not think about that first, I have to deal with this monster and quickly go home and take my mom to safety.

Xerel opened his backpack and pulled out a red-covered notebook. He also pulled out a lighter on his pocket and broke its cap as he started pouring all the fuel inside the lighter to the red notebook.

'Minos Buffalo is short-sighted but is very keen on the color red. They also have a sensitive nose and hate the smell of gas like Butane.'

Moooooooooo!

The monster bull angrily moo'd at Xerel as it stared intently at the red notebook in his hand. It began scratching its hooves on the ground and its nose let out a stream of vapor.

"You hate this smell and color right? We'll come and get it!"

Xerel threw the notebook in a nearby tree and the monster bull immediately charged at it.

Dug!

The bull crashed to the tree which cracked and toppled down to the monster bull as it continued to charge at the notebook.

'Let's run while it's busy!'

Xerel ran away back to his house where he arrived at their front door panting profusely. He quickly opened the door to find his mother but no matter where he look around the house, he couldn't find her.

"Ma? Where are you?"

Xerel called his mother out but she didn't respond. So he started opening the doors upstairs. He tried to open the door in his mom's room but it was locked so he didn't hesitate and break it open by bashing it with his kick.

Bang!

The door opened and Xerel found his mom staring at the window motionlessly.

"Ma? What are you doing?"

As Xerel went near his mom, she fell out of balance and he caught her in his arms. Xerel was shocked at the sudden state of his mother.

"Ma? What happened to you?"

His mother had turned into a dry husk and the black hair was now full of grey ones as if she had grown 30 years older. Her nose was bleeding heavily as she stared at Xerel with fading eyes.

"Nak, I'm tired...Please....take care of your sister for me."

As soon as she spoke those words, her eyes were drained out of life and his body fell cold.

"Ma? Ma! Wake up! Mama! Please wake up! You can't leave us! Please!.....I beg you..."

Boom!

The housefront exploded to bits as the rampaging bull arrived. Xerel held his mother's lifeless body as he placed her comfortably on the bed. He closed her open eyes as tears flooded his own.

"You can rest now ma, I promise to take care of everything."

Xerel walked downstairs as the bull locked gazes with him. Tears continued to fall on his eyes.

Moooooooooo!

The bull charged right at him cussing a massive wave of impact in the air. To the bull's surprise, Xerel didn't blast away from the momentum but seemingly stood straight, not even moving an inch.

Xerel had grabbed one of its horns that stopped it from moving. It tried to back away from his grip but it couldn't free itself from him.

"Open inventory, summon Rafiery."

Ting~

[RAFIERY HAS BEEN EQUIPPED]

"Die..."

With one diagonal wave of the Sabre. The giant bull was slashed in half as its body burst into flames and everything on the line had been melted causing all the houses nearby to be sliced in half like butter on a hot knife.

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

"Puhaaaah!!"

Xerel gasped in the air as he woke up sweating profusely. He looked around and saw himself laying on a cradle made out of roots and Vine.

Estophel appeared at the door and saw Xerel awake.

"You're awake! I found you lying half-dead outside so I brought you here to cure your wounds."

"How long was I asleep?"

Xerel asked. He stood up from the cradle and went to a mirror pane where he saw his reflection. His body was perfectly fine there weren't any scratches in his body and all there was is his average-looking body. Not muscular but pretty lean. He didn't contain any of those bulgy biceps but he did have a slightly toned abs. He has the body of an average person so there wasn't anything special to look at his body.

"You were asleep for 2 days. It seems to me that you had nightmares because I could feel your heartbeat beating fast and you're also sweating a lot."

"So it was a nightmare huh? Estophel, is there any way to look at the situation in my world?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have the power to do that. Only the high creator can peek through the 8 worlds, I am merely a servant of his."

"How can I find him?"

"It's simple, you just have to reach the top floor to meet him."

"Then I'll do that."

Xerel put on his equipment and walked up the checkpoint. He wanted to enter the 11th trial but Estophel stopped him.

"You've just woken up, your body is still fatigued because you haven't eaten anything in 2 days. Despite being strong, you're still a mortal man, you will be deprived of hunger and weaken if you don't eat anything.

"Forget about that! I need to see the high creator and check the state of my family!"

"I understand, please calm down."

"Understand? You were born on a tree! How can you understand the worries of a son to his mother?!"

"I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries, but it's dangerous out there. Death is imminent if you continue in this way."

"Then kill me!"

"What?"

"You said it didn't you? When I die, I'd return to my world. Then kill me!"

"Is that really what you want?"

"Yes! I need to see my family right away!"

"If that is what you wish then I'll give you a swift death."

Swipe!

Estophel's hand turned into a leaf blade and in a quick slash to Xerel's neck. His head was lopped off and a window panel appeared in his view.

Ting~

[YOU HAVE DIED]