The Eldris Force

 Headmaster took a step forward and said; "Masir stand down." Masir confused but still calm, stepped back. "What just happened?" Ariel asked. Headmaster looked at him and answered; "That's my Prodigy. It's called Time Manipulation Prodigy."

"You can control Time? So, you just reversed time? Ariel asked the Headmaster, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. The Headmaster saw it coming;

"There are rules, laws, and restrictions to powerful Prodigies like mine."

"It's time for you to meet your Eldris, just like Anus said we are short on time. So, you can awake your Eldris's force."

"What is this Eldris, now?"

"Eldris is derived from the old English word 'Aeldrisa' which means spirit of fire. I don't want to throw more information about forces and other stuff you will learn in the academy. In short, Eldris is a being made out of pure energy and we harness that force or energy to use Prodigies."

Ariel with confusion asked; "So, Eldris is our power?"

Headmaster answered "Not exactly. Eldris are the beings or entities within us that give us powers. They are not power, they are the source, the beings made of energy."

"Okay. I'll pretend I understand what you just said. How do I meet my Eldris?" Headmaster pointed his finger towards Anus. "You haven't unlocked your Eldris force. Anus can unlock your Eldris by running his own Eldris force in you. When he does that you will meet your Eldris not in the real world but in your mind."

Ariel was confused about how many times the Headmaster used the word 'Eldris'. Ariel after listening to the Headmaster's explanation and understanding not even half of it said, "Ok, whatever let's start."

Anus walked towards him and advanced his hand towards Ariel.

"Put your hand on mine." Ariel placed his hand on Anus' without any question because he had enough explanations for one day. Anus asked Ariel to close his eyes. He closed his eyes. Anus also closed his eyes and said "Anadi Bik!" A layer of energy started getting transferred from Anus' hands to Ariel's.

 The second Anus said those words Ariel opened his eyes they were glowing with white light and suddenly his whole body started glowing. Anus left his hand and stepped back. For a whole minute, his body emitted white light and others just stood there watching him. Ariel's body was motionless, but when he opened his eyes he found himself in a garden and there were thousands of trees and heads of different people hanging on those trees. The sky was black and blood was raining down from it. A big mountain was shining brightly in that darkness. Ariel was standing in between all that confused and scared when he heard a voice.

"Finally, I am awake. Now I can conquer the world or maybe destroy it." The voice seemed confused and silly. Ariel followed and voice and turned back to see. When he turned around, he saw a boy, probably 4 years old or so, standing behind him. He was wearing a long dark red coat, black pants, and a dark red straw hat. Ariel couldn't speak because of shock but he looked calm. The kid looked at him carefully "Ah, man you scared of me? Isn't that cute? Been inside you for like 20 years- - that was double meaning- -" He didn't just have the face of a kid but his face was of a kid as well.

"I mean with you, not in you. And you are still scared of me. Well, maybe that's because we never met. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself I am your Eldris. Yes, I have a name but, I won't tell you because that will give a boost to your powers and we don't want that-." The Eldris stopped his blabbering and looked carefully at Ariel "Hey, are you fine? Oh, you are thinking that I saw you doing dirty stuff. I didn't see most of it. You see I can't just see everything you do. I sometimes hear voices, do you make silly voices when you jerk- -"

"Just stop speaking," Ariel shouted.

"So, you are that Eldris thing," Ariel said. The Eldris took his hat off and placed it on his heart while bowing to his "Yes, the one and only." Then he stood up and while putting his hat on his head "That was rude. I mean I'm not a thing. Well, I'm not human either, neither am I an alien or p-o-r-n-star. I am a being made out of energy- - ah I think that does make me a thing." He blabbered.

Ariel stepped back "So, how this meeting is supposed to go?"

"Ah, it's simple you make a contract with me."

"Okay, How?"

Eldris takes out a knife from his coat's left pocket, and suddenly his body turns into an adult. Now, he was 7'8 feet tall, and his clothes expanded as well.

"You want your Eldris force, give me something in return. I'll simply take anything of value from you."

Ariel seemed shocked, "You were a kid just a second ago," He asked with shock. The Eldris, with a heavy tone, said, "Rules of time, age, size, or anything doesn't apply to me. I don't even have a body, what you are seeing is just a hoax of your imagination. You should have imagined a girl as well, we could have doubled her down. You know what I mean."

"You said, I need to give you something valuable to me, right? But, the thing is I have nothing but, my life to give."

"You have plenty to give, believe me. If you can't choose yourself, I'll give you two choices, but before that, you need to say 'Anadi Bik'. It means you start now and after saying it you will have to choose one of those choices. But you can reject me by just saying anything that means 'No' or 'I reject' just don't use curse words or the N-word." Eldris blinked, and his body color turned black from white.

 Ariel stood there and thought things through "So, I have to give something valuable that you decide; to get Eldris force? Give me some examples of what you might take."

Eldris was playing with his knife when he suddenly threw it up in the sky and caught it before it hit the ground, and his body had turned into a teenage boy now. "It can be anything like your sight, your sense of smell, or your taste."

Ariel didn't even pretend to think about it, "Small price to pay." Ariel smiled, "Anadi Bik!" he shouted.

Eldris looked happy, he grinned like a total freak of nature.

"Life or Emotions, you choose. And so that you know what your choice will determine your type of Eldris force."

"My life, but giving my life for Eldris force doesn't sound fair. What am I going to do with Eldris's force if I'm dead?"

"Giving up your life doesn't mean dying. Let me elaborate on both choices that you have, if you choose to give up your life you will live but, your body will be in consistent pain, you will be hungry but no matter what you eat or how much you eat you won't be able to get rid of hunger, you will be sleepy all the time but you won't be able to sleep. Thirsty but won't be able to quench it. In short, you won't be alive, you will be like a walking-dead, zombie who has his mind. On the other side, you have emotions. If you choose it, you will lose your emotions, you won't feel pain, and you won't feel pity, anger, or anything of that sort. Just like a machine. No emotions, no feeling…"

Ariel didn't answer or even speak for some time, maybe it was fear of losing his life or leaving emotions that gave him life. Or maybe he was thinking of which one is less valuable. Eldris threw the knife into the ground right in front of Ariel. There was a number written on it '10'. "If you choose emotions stab your head and if you choose life put it in your heart. You have ten seconds to pick that knife and choose what you want to stab. If you don't stab your head or heart, it will choose automatically. You can't say I don't want to choose and if you do, it will choose automatically and your time starts now. Stabbing the heart means you want to keep your emotions while putting it in your head means you want to keep your life."

Ariel rushed and picked the knife up without even figuring out what was Eldris saying. Eldris grimed again. "It won't hurt." The knife showed number 3, 2 Ariel swiftly stabbed his heart with that knife without thinking much about anything. The second the knife touched his chest, the knife became smoke and flew away. He had a hole in his chest now. Suddenly, everything around him started fading into the air, the mountain, the garden, and the sky. Eldris was turning into the air when he said; "Be careful, you are in danger." Ariel frowned as blood started flowing from his chest and everything around him vanished. His body in the real world fell on the ground. His body stopped glowing. Anus rushed towards him with a glass of water in his hand. Laid Ariel's head in his hand and glued the glass to his lips. "My head, it's spinning. Everything is spinning." Ariel said with a distorted voice. Anus pulled the glass back; "It's nothing just a minor headache. Your body and soul are transforming. And what you gave to your Eldris has started to fade. It's going to take time but you will lose whatever you gave him."

Ariel's eyes started shutting down. "He needs sleep," Masir said as he picked Ariel up in his arms. The Headmaster asked Masir to carry him to his room.

Masir walked out of the room with Ariel in his arms. Headmaster looked concerned; "What did he give away?" He asked. Anus shocks his head, "He gave away his ability to eat, sleep, drink, and other stuff that makes us feel alive. It's the last time he will be sleeping."

"He chose eternal pain. What was the other choice?" The headmaster looked even more concerned.

"His emotions,"

"He had a choice to be a Zombie or a machine and he chose to be a Zombie." The headmaster walked backward to his seat and sat on the chair.

"He gave something of value and he will be experiencing pain and restlessness for his whole life. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power. I think his vessel for Eldris Force should be great."

"So, he might become a Prodigy Knight."

Ihaan walks towards the door. "If he doesn't kill himself before that. You gave him Eldris force so, he could join the war. It will be on you if he commits suicide. He won't be able to control his body, constant pain is something not everyone can live through."

Ihaan opened the door and walked out. The headmaster stayed seated on his chair and didn't say a word. While Anus walked out as well,

"I think something big is coming, we are surrounded by enemies, Rebel Army might join the war against us, and now this. Why it all had to go to hell when you weren't here, my friend?" Headmaster said to himself.