Awakening

Ace Kaiser was an ordinary young man with a rather unique name, he was smart but not a genius, he was good-looking but not very handsome, he was in good shape but not a bodybuilder; He was born and raised in a middle-class family so he was not rich but not poor either; He was a college student and helped his father with his work when he was free. Overall, he was what society considered good for someone his age.

However, that was all the surface of his life, what others saw and judged him by did not mean that he was limited to those things.

Ace hated his life!

Perhaps it was due to the many restrictions society had put on people, especially his age, or the many expectations of his parents, and the fear of letting them down.

Maybe it was due to the way society grew more stupid with time; What was once considered good and virtuous had become a joke and what was once called Sin and evil had become commonplace and praised. The world was growing darker and darker and he could see it.

The rich grew richer and the poor poorer; The powerful and wealthy greedy for more as the weak and poor drowned in despair and debt. Many felt fear and that gave birth to hatred which created more hatred and anger. Most willing to lose their freedom for safety... An endless loop of self-destruction was slowly coming to life for human civilization.

Ace knew that the world was doomed but he was not one to give up so he strived for whatever success he could achieve and that was why he was not a shut-in boy who had left society like some of his friends; Not that something was wrong with them, everyone was free to do what they wanted and Ace knew better to judge others like that.

That, however, didn't change his hatred for his life which was why he tried to somehow immerse himself in something else to forget it all even if for a short time.

And that was how he found works of fiction and fantasy; He loved reading novels, watching movies and anime, playing video games, etc. He sometimes learned from the stories and sometimes he was inspired by them to become a better person.

A few times, he was consumed by anger and hatred, he wanted nothing more than to destroy the world when that happened but those were rare occurrences.

One ordinary day, he woke up but not in his bed. He didn't think much of it since his mind was not clear and regarded it as a blank dream but as time stretched on and his mind grew clearer, he realized it was not.

Ace looked at the infinite darkness before him with unease, 'What is going on?! What happened to my body? I don't feel anything! What kind of dream is this?' he thought.

He was filled with growing fear and didn't know what to do, he was stuck in the situation; he couldn't help but conclude, 'This must be a very realistic nightmare of sorts...' It was not wrong of him to think so. The darkness was deafeningly silent and it caused him to feel a profound sense of terror. He could only define it with a nightmare.

His terror only grew and he decided to do something as he somehow felt that he would die if not, he tried his best to wake up. It didn't work and so he grew desperate, he struggled as he tried to do anything possible.

'Move! WAKE UP! SOMETHING!!' He cried out in his mind and finally felt something within him.

It was a feeling he had never felt before as if electricity had come to life from within him, it moved in his being and gave him a rush of power. But that didn't diminish his growing terror and fright at the darkness before him which is why he still desperately tried to wake up or move as his instincts, if that is the right word, screamed at him.

Something happened within him. He felt a spark come to life and the surrounding darkness cracked; The cracks glowed a pure white and expanded. A moment later, he disappeared along with the cracks from the darkness.

If he had stayed for a second longer, he would have seen an eldritch tentacle covered with eyes pass by the place he had been floating in.

He blinked and found himself in the middle of a Metropolis! He was shocked, 'Where the hell am I now?!'

He saw pyramids like those of Giza floating in the sky making a shadow on the entire city, their bottom glowing with magical colors and symbols. The city was futuristic as if straight out of a science fiction movie and yet many things defied physics which made it look magical and mysterious.

He looked down and saw he was a humanoid being made of light, he had no physical body. He observed the nearby surroundings and saw other beings and most of them were humanoid and made of light like he was. 'Just what is going on?'

"Can you move? You are blocking the way!" said an annoyed voice behind him. He turned around and saw a cat looking at him. He searched but found no person, 'Who talked to me?'

"Hey, I am talking to you!" Said the cat with anger. Ace looked down with shock, 'A talking cat?!'

He tried to communicate but realized he couldn't so he just stared at the cat dumbly, the cat seemed to realize something. "Judging from your dumb look, you must have just awakened and found your way here by luck..."

The cat sighed, "Follow me, I will help you. Remember, you owe me for this and I plan to collect later..."

Ace who was extremely confused about the surreal situation felt quite numb, 'First that terrifying place and now this... I can't talk to anyone either... Whatever, I will just go with the flow to see what happens. Panicking won't help.'

He followed the cat in the magical streets, they passed by strange buildings lit up with magical crystals and sometimes with unknown technology, 'This city is the fusion of magic and technology... I am 100% sure this is not a dream, it feels too real to be one. I must figure out what is going on.'

The cat said as it walked, "I will explain a little since you are new... This place is called The Planar Metropolis, a safe heaven for Planeswalkers to trade, complete missions, etc. A capital of sorts... The currency is Aether Crystals. You can farm them in Blind Eternities which is very dangerous or get them by completing quests or working. As for what planeswalkers are... They are beings who can walk the planes, worlds, etc."

It stopped and looked at Ace's face and nodded to itself, "You have indeed been to the Blind Eternities, anyway, I will bring you to a Planar guild and let them handle the rest. You have to pay me an Aether Crystal later..."

Ace listened to everything with rapt attention and the moment he heard the cat mention Planeswalkers, he froze.

'Really?! I have awakened as a Planeswalker of all things? This is like a dream come true! but if planeswalkers are real, could other fictions be real too? I need to investigate...'

He was excited beyond measure. This was the type of thing he always wanted but at the same time he realized something, 'There seem to be differences between what I know of planeswalkers and what exists here...'

He followed the cat who remained silent for the rest of the journey to a massive building that looked extremely majestic. An enormous dragon statue was before him, its mouth the entrance to the building and its body the building itself. The dragon had 9 heads and each went to an unknown part of the city, one was to his front.

The eyes glowed an intimidating red color and Ace felt a little uneasy, the cat said, "Don't be shy, this is the planar guild I am part of. It is called Lerna. Follow me, we accept new blood, unlike most others..."

He followed the cat inside the maw of the dragon and once he went inside, he felt a shift as if he had jumped in the water and out without getting wet. The surroundings changed and he found himself someplace else... 'Did I just Teleport?' he wondered.

He saw a luxurious lobby, it was very big, much much bigger than he thought possible based on the size of the dragon statue. The cat said as it walked forward, "Yes, yes... It is bigger on the inside... Space magic and technology... Now to the important matters."

The cat approached the only other being in the lobby that was also a cat, it said to the other, "I brought new blood, the kid must have just awakened based on the unstable spark. Let him join and put a debt of 1 Aether Crystal under his name to me."

The other cat was white while the one that helped Ace was black; The white one said in exasperation, "Fine, this is the 9th one you bring in today Rumniss... What is 1 Aether crystal even worth? might as well do this for nothing..."

The black cat ignored the white one and said to Ace, "Goodbye, kid. Soni will take care of you... See ya'!" It abruptly left...

Ace was a bit taken aback as he turned to look at the white cat that seemed to be shrugging in annoyance, "Whatever... Let me explain how you can talk first..."

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'Thoughts'

"Speech"

(Author Notes/Explanations)

[Extra Details of something like systems, etc.]