Chapter 26: Chapter 25 – Ethros

The world was pure white. A searing white that blinded Yuki, scarring his eyes. And with the white came the sensation of his body burning and being turned into nothing but ashes.

 

‘So this is how it feels to die,’ Yuki thought to himself before his eyes closed, the afterglow of the explosion echoing in his eyes.

 

And there he laid somewhere in something for what felt both like seconds and hours. Slowly Yuki realized that something was off. If he was truely dead, then how was he still thinking?

 

‘Is the afterlife this dark?’ he wondered. ‘Where am I?’

 

Then Yuki opened his eyes. Or at least he felt as if he had opened his eyes. But instead of pure white angels or the flames of hell, a black nothingness greeted him. It wasn’t an abyss but rather a calming emptiness. An emptiness that somehow felt familiar, like how his mana had felt familiar.

 

‘This is a part of me?’ Yuki thought as he turned his head to observe the blackness. Nothing but darkness stared back at him.

 

Yuki

 

A sound. A sound permeated through the nothingness that surrounded Yuki. He twisted his head, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. But that was impossible. The sound was all around him. It was surrounded him just like how the emptiness surrounded him.

 

As he turned around in circles, something caught his eyes. Something that stood out in the black background. A thing that seemed to glow as it tried to fight off the darkness around it. Yuki crept closer to it until the thing could be discerned. It was a glass box.

 

It was a lonely star in the an empty universe. It shined warmly and shivered as it felt the presence of Yuki come closer. With a hesitant hand, Yuki reached out to feel the box. And when his hand touched the small vibrating box, a pulse of what was both light and something else.

 

Then Yuki saw the image of his parents standing behind the box. His parents, bathed in a warm shine, who smiled at him with kind eyes. But when he tried to reach out to grab them, they dissolved into a sweet mist that blew past him, the sound of his mother’s gentle laugh passing by him. Yuki’s chest constricted, a tight pain squeezing it as he watch the mist fade away.

 

After the mist was gone, another being replaced it. Standing in front of him, was a girl in a white dress. A girl that was staring at him with warm brown eyes and surrounded by a comforting light, with her hand reaching out to him. A girl that was mouthing unheard words.

 

Yuki reached out and touched the outstretched hand. A torrent of images followed it. He could see himself standing in a grassy plain, looking at himself with cool grey eyes. Then sitting next to himself, leaning on himself. Fighting with himself, smiling as he gazed into those grey eyes. Laying side by side with himself, warmth and comfort running through his body.

 

As Yuki watched this, he felt as if someone was carressing his heart, holding it ever so gently with warm hands. And for the first time in years, Yuki’s mouth moved to create something that resembled a smile. A smile that was pure and true.

 

The images changed. It showed Yuki, far away, fighting with a mysterious person. A cutting pain went through his chest as he saw Yuki get blown away in a hit. Relief when Yuki stood back up. Fire when he could hear the words of the man in black. Confusion when Yuki was fighting back. Then warmth again when Yuki won.

 

Then the explosion. As the body of the dead man detonated, a wrenching pain that felt as if someone had ripped his heart out shot through Yuki. And with the pain came a crushing feeling of hopelessness and despair.

 

Yuki looked at the image of the girl in white and the cracking glass box in his hand. And now he could hear the words that she was screaming. Pleading.

 

YUKI, WAKE UP!

 

Yuki’s shot opened, gasping heavily, and he laid there, somewhere, panting. His eyes unfocused, he clutched his chest. The echoes of his confusing experience were still reverberating inside.

 

Slowly Yuki began to focus on his surroundings. The soft bed beneath him. The white blankets that covered him. A small cozy room around him. The sleeping body of someone, most likely a woman, sitting on a chair with her head on a desk.

 

‘Where am I?’ Yuki thought confused. ‘This doesn’t look like heaven.’

 

It seemed that Yuki’s gasping had awoken the woman that was resting on the desk. She lifted her head and analyzed Yuki with a critical expression.

 

‘She’s not human,’ Yuki analyzed with narrowed eyes. ‘Her body structure is different. And the mana around her is much higher than that of a human.’

 

She came toward Yuki and sat down next to him, continuing to analyze him.

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked in gently. “Is there any pain or discomfort anywhere?”

 

‘I can understand her. Must be the translator,’ Yuki thought to himself.

 

“I’m feeling fine,” Yuki replied out loud. “May I ask as to where I am currently?”

 

The woman looked at him with clear confusion, her eyebrows drawn together in a look of worry.

 

“You don’t know where you are?” she asked.

 

Yuki shook his head.

 

“You are in the village of Reyna,” she answered. “Where are you from sir?”

 

‘Sir? But I’m not that old?’ Yuki thought. And Reyna. Yuki had never heard of a village named like that on Earth. A small suspicion began to form in his mind.

 

“I’m from Earth,” Yuki replied carefully, gauging her reaction.

 

The woman’s eyes widened and she released a small gasp. She looked away from Yuki and stared at nothing for a bit before turning her attention back.

 

“Earth?” she whispered.

 

Yuki nodded.

 

“That’s the human world. Why were you in the human world?” she asked Yuki.

 

“Because I’m a human,” Yuki answered flatly.

 

Again the woman gasped.

 

‘This lady. I thought she would know all of this,’ Yuki thought. ‘She is a doctor, isn’t she?’

 

The lady was once again muttering to herself. Then she looked up again.

 

“Are you sure?” she asked.

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“I believe so,” Yuki replied.

 

“Hmmm,” she said contemplatively.

 

“Are you a doctor?”

 

The woman’s eyes snapped back toward Yuki.

 

“Why yes, yes I am,” she answered proudly. “The only one in this village.”

 

“Then shouldn’t you have been able to tell that I’m a human?” Yuki asked.

 

“That’s the problem,” she replied. “I should have. But I couldn’t identify who or what you are. I don’t know your name, your gender, your age, your race. None of that. The only reason I know your male was because I had to change you out of your burnt clothes.”

 

“You don’t have any information on me?” Yuki asked.

 

“None. But how did you get here? Humans cannot come to this place unless someone here takes them.”

 

“I was about to be incinerated by a magical explosion and then found myself here on this bed.”

 

The woman stared at him.

 

“Incinerated by a magical explosion,” she repeated. Yuki nodded. “What?”

 

“I was fighting,” Yuki clarified. “Anyway, where am I?”

 

“Don’t change the subject!” the woman exclaimed. “Who were you fighting? And how were you incinerated but are here now?”

 

“I was fighting the a member of the Shikaku,” Yuki answered plainly. “I don’t think I was incinerated. It’s more like I was almost incinerated but then was sent here somehow.”

 

The lady stared at him again.

 

“Why do I even bother?” she muttered to herself. She turned back to Yuki. “We are in the world of Ethros.”

 

“Ethros?” Yuki repeated.

 

“Yes, you were sent to a new world. Or really the old world,” the woman replied. “Ethros could be considered the original Earth.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” Yuki asked.

 

“I can’t answer that question very well. There are others how could give you more information,” she answered. “But this a world of magic. A world that humans can’t enter by themselves.”

 

“Humans can’t enter,” Yuki repeated slowly, considering the implications of this statement.

 

“Yes, you heard correctly,” she replied. “That is why I don’t believe you are what you think you are.”

 

Yuki understood what the doctor was implying. She was saying that he wasn’t human. And if what she was saying was all true, then Yuki would have to agree. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t already have suspicions that he was odd. His stats and the fact that he used the Universal Records instead of the Human Records all pointed to the fact that he wasn’t normal.

 

“I need more information,” Yuki said out loud, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

 

“Then I would recommend going to the capital,” the doctor replied. “You should enroll in the school there. I’m sure you’ll be able to do fine. I saw your mana pool when I was analyzing you.”

 

“Capital?” Yuki asked.

 

“Yes, the capital of this country. This country is the country of Libra,” she explained. “It is the largest of the five countries in Ethros. This country has a variety of species that live within it, making us the most diverse. Our capital is Junction, the center of our country.”

 

‘This world is quite large,’ Yuki thought.

 

“How do I get to the capital?” Yuki said.

 

“That is quite easy. Normally I would say take a transporter but this city is too poor to afford one. So you need to hop onto the train and get to the capital that way. We have a nonstop all the way to Junction so you’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

 

“How far away is Junction?”

 

“About twenty leagues away. Our train is quite slow since it’s an old one.”

 

Yuki did the mental calculations in his mind. Twenty leagues was equal to about a hundred and ten kilometers or sixty eight miles. That would mean that this “slow” train travels at about four hundred miles per hour.

 

“Alright,” Yuki said as he started to climb out of the bed. “Thank you for the information. I need to buy a ticket to get on that train now. Do you mind showing me where?”

 

“You are not going anywhere right now, sir,” the doctor announced loudly. She began to push Yuki back down on the bed. “You are staying here until I say you can leave.”

 

“But I need to get information,” Yuki repeated.

 

“You can get your information after I say you can go,” she said. “Just stay there like a good patient and maybe I’ll get you a ticket to reward you.”

 

“I would like a ticket, but I feel completely fine. There’s no need for me to stay here.”

 

“You lay there until I tell you otherwise,” she replied glowering. “I’m the doctor.”

 

Yuki decided to stay there until he was told otherwise.

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