Episode 1: Leto

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I heard a loud thump and a massive pain spread throughout my head, a crimson colour blinded my eyes and the beautiful blue sky faded into darkness. a fog enveloped my mind, I grasped at it, trying to pull it towards me to no avail. I could only remember the beautiful sky that stretched out above me, everything else was a blur, except the face of a beautiful woman with golden locks. She walked away from me and when I reached out towards her a dark hand dragged me towards the ground.

My eyes shot open and I felt my airways fill with water. I Began to panic and flail about, the water stinging my blurry eyes. I heard some kind of voice call out to me but it was muffled, I thought I would die but suddenly I felt a warmth throughout my entire body. My eyes slowly adjusted to my surroundings and I came face to face with a man. He was a giant around 6’6, his hair was a dirty blonde and his eyes were plain black. His relaxed face was littered with a few scars and his body was covered in muscle from head to toe. 

“Who the fuck-” I was rudely interrupted. “I'm Ben! I picked you up after I found you in a seaweed Forest that was sucking all your mana away. You seemed to have a few injuries so I brought you here and fixed you up.” I took a moment to process the information he gave me. My head still somewhat hurt and the bandages around my head were poorly wrapped, allowing blood to flow down my face. I couldn't focus at all, my body ached as if telling me not to trust the man but my head was like a thousand pieces of broken glass. “What do you want with me?” I asked, placing a hand over my forehead to check my temperature. My hand fell to my side, slightly warm and bloodied. “What do you mean? I don't want anything from you. I saw you injured and felt the urge to help you out.”

I couldn't tell if this man, Ben, was lying or not and kept to myself for now. The silence was loud. Even the slight echo made from the man's boots was audible. The silence didn't last very long, a roar pierced through it and made my ears ring. I covered my ears as fast as I could but the man seemed unfazed by it. He simply grabbed his sword and unsheathed it. Turning to face a sharpening stone that was carefully set up above a few sets of drawers. He began sharpening the blade, running the edges across the stone in a calm manner.

He finished sharpening the blade and inspected it, sheathing it and walking towards the door. “You must be hungry right? Come with me.” I reluctantly got up and walked towards the door. The man opened it and the outside world shined brightly through my eyes.It was a beautiful sight that caught me completely off guard. The air… no the water outside the small house rippled, unmoving unable to get past the force Ben was exerting. Another force, along with a deafening roar pushed against him and blew the house away along with it. The water finally collapsed, crashing down on me, Ben lunged towards me. Grabbing my ripped up shirt, the moment he came into contact with me something coursed through my veins. I became able to breathe even under the suffocating water, not only that but my body felt full of energy. I felt light on my feat and powerful, my mind was perplexed with this sensation but my body accepted it as if it was normal. Confusing me further.

It was then that I noticed the threat in front of us, I creature about 15 metres in length resembling an eel, except it had 3 sets of razor sharp teeth, was making its way towards us at incredible speeds. My body moved on its own, assuming a stance my body wasn't aware of. My hands were clenched as if I were holding a weapon in both hands despite my lack of weaponry. But before my body could move any further Ben stepped in front of me. He unsheathed his blade and held it up high with one hand, A sudden pressure flooded the area, Withdrawing immediately as if being sucked into the blade he held. Then with one incredibly fast slash, the water parted and the eel was completely split in two 5 metres away from us. The force of Ben's attack had pushed me to the ground and my body still felt frozen in place. Ben calmly sheathed his blade and walked towards his prey, he kneeled next to it and grabbed a small knife from his pockets, picking out specific parts of the monster that were edible, or at least that's what I assumed he was doing.

Once Ben had carved out all the creatures meat he set up a campfire which i thought wouldn't work due to the water but to my surprise not only did the fire light but it looked stronger than an average fire, burning through the wood at a fast rate. Ben grabbed the meat he harvested and then put it in the fire without any care in the world, his hands did not burn, nor did they catch on fire. The meat weirdly came out without burns as well, it looked perfectly done. He did the same to another piece of the monster's meat and threw it to me. “Eat this. You must be hungry right?” I hadn't noticed before he mentioned my hunger, my stomach rumbled and I had no choice but to sit down and eat with this man I had just met. I still felt strengthened at this point and my curiosity got the better of me. “Ben, how were you able to split that monster in half without touching it, and how did you prevent the water from killing me?” Ben finished taking a bite of the meat before he answered me. “Magic of course. You've never heard of it?” I shook my head. “I see, that's odd. I don't see how anyone could survive down here without magic, is your memory screwed up?” I shook my head a second time. “No, I have a feeling I wasn't born here. Where I was born had a beautiful sky full of clouds when it was day and stars at night. I remember playing in fields of grass, and in forests with trees as big as a mansion.” Ben looked confused, more so than I thought he would be. He was silent for a while after that.

Ben suddenly broke the silence and turned to face me. “I believe you're from the surface world.” I looked at him with a puzzled face. “There are legends down here that there are lands above us that have beautiful horizons and greenery everywhere you look. Is that what you're explaining?” After a small amount of thinking I nodded. “That must be it! Do you know how I can get to the surface world?!” Ben finished the meat he was eating. “A legend is a legend for a reason, nobody knows how to actually get there and anyone who did is likely long gone by now. There are many down he that travel to find a way to get up to the surface though. Your best bet is to find people who can travel with you and find a way to the surface world. Hell, I'd be happy to tag along!” Ben let out a hearty laugh and it brought my mood up to know I had someone strong with me. Truthfully I at first was wary of the man but his strength and willingness to share his food stuck with me.

I finished off my piece of meat, slightly grimacing at the taste but forcing myself to swallow due to my hunger. Ben had patiently waited for me to finish my food, I decided that he was a good man that I didn't need to be wary around and so I got up and asked him what had been on my mind. “Ben. Can you teach me magic?” Ben simply smiled and nodded his head. “Of course I can, that would make things much easier for the both of us anyway. We should get started straight away!” Ben got to his feet and placed his hand on my shoulder. “First I'm going to teach you how to perceive mana, the energy we use to fuel magic. I want you to close your eyes, focus on your inner body and imagine your anatomy, specifically your heart. When your heart pumps blood through your body it spreads it throughout your body, mana accompanies that blood and will also flow through your body. To sense it you simply need to visualise the blood flowing through you, once you have done that you should be able to visualise your mana.” I nodded along with his words and understood them. Ben also explained that it can be dangerous for the first time so he's going to stabilise my mana. I didn't really get it but it made me feel less worried that he was doing it.

I shut my eyes, and visualised a beating heart. I then visualised the blood being pushed out from it and into my veins, coursing through my body, until it finally reached my brain. I started to see some blue coursing through the veins along with my blood and the circuit of blood flow was completed. My visualisation immediately stopped and I was thrown into a void of darkness. The crunch of an apple echoed throughout the void. Dissipating slowly and hurting my head. I turned my head and came face to face with the same beautiful woman I had remembered since I woke up here. She threw the apple in her hands away and it disappeared before reaching me. A seat suddenly appeared within the darkness and she sauntered over to it, taking a seat and crossing her legs. “You look pathetic.” Her voice shot through my ears, making them ring. “W-who-” My mouth suddenly snapped shut. “Who told you to speak?” I looked up to her face, a deep red glow stared back at me, despite my fears I attempted to fight back on the hold she had against me, my mouth opened but the words didn't come out. She had complete dominance over me as of right now. I wasn't sure how it was possible nor did I know where we were. “You're confused right, you want answers? Who am i? What am i? Where is this? Why am I here? The human brain asks so many questions, yet yours can't even answer simple ones. It must be frustrating, painful even. But that's what I want. You can suffer some more.”

“I'll make sure you go through hell Kurai Kioku”

Episode 1 end.