???
Chapter 1 - A Crack In Time
A being in black floated above a town in the desert, staring down at the people in the town as they did their daily routines, beside him was a girl in black clothing with a touch of red lining in the design of a flower on the sleeves. As well, with red, long hair. As the being in black stared down at the city, they lifted up their hand and summoned a black orb. They held it in their hand and then dropped it, the black orb descended slowly towards the town below them. “Look mommy!” said a child, “What is that?”. The mother turned to look at what her child had been pointing at, upon witnessing what her child was pointing at she began screaming, everyone else in the town turned to look, only to begin screaming and panicking as well. All the humans began running and panicking, trying to escape the black orb. The black orb touches the ground finally, and a massive explosion erupts from the orb, obliterating the entire town. Nothing was left of the town except for a crater where it once stood.
“And that makes 215.” said the girl in black, “How long do you plan to continue this? All it will do is bring unnecessary attention that may cause us problems.”. The being in black looks over at the girl and shrugs. “I see, you still have no care.”, she sighs “At least you thoroughly erase these towns, I’d hate to find out what would happen if someone was to survive your massacre…”. The being in black opens a portal and heads through it. ”Ah! Wait for me!” she said as she chased after the being in black. They walk through the portal and the portal vanishes behind them.
In the crater below, a portal opens up and a boy drops through the portal onto the ground. A couple hours later, a scouting regiment arrives at the crater and inspects the area. “No survivors, eh?” says the Commander as he looks around. “Doesn’t look like it, as usual, the person who did this seems to be thorough in leaving no witnesses of their carnage.” Said the Lieutenant beside the Commander’s side.
“To erase so many towns with ease...I’d love to know who has the power to do this by themselves.” the Commander said, with a snarky grin.
“Why would that be? Would you like to challenge them, sir?” the Lieutenant stared in confusion.
“No, not in the slightest. In fact, I’d love for them to join us. Raw power like this is quite fascinating, just imagine all the land we can conquer with power like this!” the Commander’s grin turns into a malicious smile.
“He is still the same old creepy bastard I remember him as.” the Lieutenant thought to himself as he noticed the Commander’s malicious smile.
A soldier runs up to the Commander, surprised and shocked. “Sir! There is a survivor!!!”. The Commander’s eyes widened and the Lieutenant had a puzzled expression. “A survivor? Are you certain???” said the Lieutenant, he refused to believe there was a survivor.
“Yes! He is unconscious inside the crater!” said the soldier.
“What?! Impossible!” said the Lieutenant, “A survivor?! How could there be one...countless towns have been obliterated, all of them with no signs of survivors...so why is there one now?”.
“Don’t worry about the details Lieutenant, we finally have a lead to the powerhouse that caused so many towns to vanish. Why not just be proud we finally got something to report back to our king on?” said the Commander, still grinning.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The Lieutenant felt unease, “Very well then sir, shall we contain him?”.
“Of course! He is our only lead after all. We don’t want to let our prize slip from our fingertips now do we?” said the Commander.
“No, sir! You heard him soldier, go detain that boy and bring him back to the kingdom for investigation!”.
“Understood!” said the soldier, as he hurried to inform the other soldier’s about the orders for the survivor.
???
Two weeks later the boy awakens inside a strange room, he lies up and looks around. The room is empty and there is only a bed and a door that seems to be locked from the outside. “Where am I?”. The boy stared out the only window in the room, noticing the kingdom below him, filled with buildings and people all going about their day. “This isn’t my world...what happened to me?!” the boy walked up to the door banging on it “Open up, please! Let me out!” the boy pleaded. The door is unlocked from the other side, and it swings open, the boy stares up to notice a man dressed in a military outfit with a hat, and a man dressed in a fancier military outfit behind him, however this man did not have a hat. The boy assumed that this was possibly a high authority in charge. “S-sir, could I ask as to why I am locked in here?” The boy asked, a bit intimidated by the presence of the two.
“Are you startled, boy?” said the Commander.
“A bit, I’m not sure what is happening to me...or why I am here...and my memory is fuzzy…” the boy stated while holding his head.
“Oh? So you may have suffered brain damage from the explosion possibly…” the Commander strokes his chin thinking. “So then you can’t recall how you survived?”.
“Survived what?” said the boy.
“The town being blown to smithereens along with all the villagers inside it, you were found unconscious in the middle of the crater, wounded but not dead.” The Commander looks in confusion. “You don’t recall how you survived? No magic abilities? No defensive armor? Nothing?”.
“No, I don’t recall having magic...and I'm not certain I have anything strong enough to withstand a force that can annihilate a town, if what you are saying is true, I should be dead...unless…”
The Commander stared in shock. “Wow, boy. For someone who can’t remember why they were in the situation they were in, you seem to have a pretty calm thought process.”.
The boy feintly giggled. “Is that a bad thing?”.
“No, as a matter of fact, I’d love to recruit you into our army, with me as your Commander of course! What do you say? We can use a soldier like you.” The Commander stared, awaiting the boy’s answer. The boy sat, pondering the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the condition he is currently in and the unknown events that have transpired thus far, while pondering these thoughts the Commander continues to stare at him, impatiently awaiting his answer. “So what will it be, boy?”.
“Hm, while there are benefits and downsides, I don’t think I have any experience in magic or swordsmanship…” the boy says, a bit disappointed in his own incapabilities.
“Bwahahahaha! Worry not boy! I’ll make sure you find out what you are skilled in, our kingdom has a training program that lets you know what you are proficient in!” the Commander said with pride, as if he was proud of his kingdom’s teachings.
“Really? So I would know what I can be capable of if I was a part of the training?”.
“Yes! However, I’ll only let you find out if you join us. So, what do you say?”. The Commander smirked, his Lieutenant sitting silent, nervous and seemingly confused by what his Commander had said thus far. The boy looks up at the ceiling, then back at the Commander.
“I accept!” The boy said confidently.
“Smart choice, boy! I expect great things from you!” The Commander laughs out loud as he walks away.
“I’m sorry about my Commander, he can seem a bit strange. But I promise you, he is a good man.” The Lieutenant bows and quickly follows the Commander.