Chapter 3: Chapter 2 : The Day of the "New Dawn"
Part 1
A gentle breeze was caressing Mikuo's cheeks and the cold feeling woke him up from his good night sleep.
He looked at his surroundings but there was something very weird about it. He rubbed his eyes to confirm that it was not just due to a vision problem or an after-effect of his sleep.
And when he confirmed it, he suddenly stood up and his eyes widen as if he saw something scary or unbelievable. Well, that is natural, because the interior of his room where he slept last night was not the place where he was staring at, but rather it was vast grasslands. The field of grass was dancing gracefully to the blow of the wind.
"What is this? Where am I?"
He examined everything around him but there was nothing but grasslands and forests across the horizon.
"Hmmm... I must be dreaming. Yeah, that's it. This is just a dream, and if I pinch my cheek, I will escape this horrible nightmare. Right right. That must be it." he told that to himself to calm his self. He looked crazy at the same time.
The sky was clear, but he saw something weird; there were also some floating islands at a distance. And even though it was barely visible, there were two moons.
"This is definitely a dream."
"Okay. All I need to do is to close my eyes, and when I open it, I'll be in my room again. Yeah, that's right."
He closed his eyes, but nothing changed when he opened it; he's still there.
He did it repeatedly, but nothing happened.
"Hmmm…. What's with this dream? Maybe it's a nightmare. Yeah. Yeah, that must be it."
"But how am I supposed to wake up from a nightmare?"
Several moments of silence took place when suddenly- "Ahah!"
He then put both his hands on both side of his face, and with all his strength, he pinched it and pulled it to the opposite direction. But---
"Uwahhhh...…...!!!!" he let out such a loud scream due to the pain he was experiencing on his cheeks. He looked like blushing because of his red cheeks that were swelling because of what he did moments ago.
"Ughh… That hurts. (T.T) But where am I exactly? I don't remember this place. Huh?" and he made such dumbfounded reaction because his sight was focused on his clothing. It was different from what he was wearing last night, and to be more accurate; it looked like the clothing of newbies in Role Playing Games and looked like a low-class set of armor with a dull color.
"What's with this dress, or armor?" he glanced around to look for anyone but there was nothing but grass and trees as far as his eyes can reach.
He was busy inspecting his dress when something on the ground caught his attention. It was the book Tales of Alfiorre.
"Huh? What's this book doing here? Hmmm…" he tried flipping the pages of the book but it's still blank." Hmmm…I guess I'll just take this book with me, maybe I can use this later." he stood up carrying the large book and started walking with no particular dictation in mind.
He spent some time walking through the vast grasslands until he reached a forest. He entered and continued walking and walking for several hours.
The trees and the plants in the forest were all new to him. He never saw them in any botany books he read before. There were also some flowers that the size was bigger than his.
"Honestly, even though this forest is weird and I'm not sure if these plants and trees are real, it feels refreshing and relaxing.", he was still walking with amusement for the plants written all over his place.
"Honestly, where am I? If this is a prank, it's not funny anymore." he said that with an irritated expression on his face.
After some hours of walking in the seemingly endless forest, Mikuo's knees felt sore so he took a break under the shade of a big tree.
He was still busy thinking about his situation and flipping the pages of the book when suddenly he heard some noise coming from the other side of the tree, it sounds like footsteps and growls that he never heard before.
Because of his curiosity, he peeked to the other side of the tree but what he saw made him wish that he never peeked in the first place.
"What the------"
What he saw was out of this world. If he was to tell anybody about it, they will;
Surely;
Definitely;
Absolutely won't believe him.
Well …. It's understandable because what he saw were creatures that looked like raptors, but what makes it different was that it has horns on its head and long spines on its back. It stood approximately 7 meters high and possessed both razor sharp teeth and claws. This kind of creatures normally existed only in fiction stories especially in anime.
When the monster looked to his direction, he suddenly hid and large drops of sweat were coming out from his forehead. He was also rattling due to fear.
"Wh-wh-wh-what are tho-tho-those creatures? I've never seen them before even in TV or books. This is bad. This is very bad, if those things see me, I'll end up as lunch for sure. I have to get as far as possible."
He started tiptoeing away little by little to escape but before he got far, he accidentally stepped over a twig and it made some noise [Oh-Ow] that caught the attention of the monsters.
He tried to make a run for it but they suddenly formed a circle around Mikuo with the intention to eat him written all over their faces. He fell to the ground because his knees felt numb and forceless because of utmost fear.
"I-i-i-is this the end already? Am I going to die now? Is this my fate? Ending as lunch for these monsters? If this is a nightmare I really need to wake up right now." some tears were starting to race out of his eyes.
One of the monsters came closer and opened its mouth in front of him, slowly moving its mouth to bite off his head.
He closed his eyes tightly to prepare for what will happen next but—
"Huh?" seconds have passed since he closed his eyes but still nothing was happening to him, no sharp teeth were piercing through his head.
He tried to open his eyes slowly to see what happened, but it suddenly became wider because what of he saw.
The monsters stopped moving but what caught his attention was the book that was lying on the ground. It was the Tales of Alfiorre, it was glowing in crimson red light and almost looked like it was burning. It looked like its light kept the monsters at bay.
He doesn't understand, but he has this weird feeling that he wants to touch the book as if it was calling to him.
Slowly, he stood up and went to where the book was lying.
Slowly, he extended out his hand to the book, it was rattling, and he was doubtful, but he still picked it from the ground.
And by the time he touched it; flames suddenly rushed out from the book and engulfed his body. It's hot, he can feel his body was being burned, but the feeling was surprisingly comfortable despite of the flames. The warm feeling from the flames was slowly killing the fear inside his heart.
Also, the book started to turn into red light particles and slowly changing its form into something different.
After a few seconds, it was done, and its new form was a wooden great sword covered with flames and the flames that engulfed his body also subsided.
The appearance of the wooden great sword because the surface of the blade was filled with cracks. Even though it was made from wood, the surface of the blade was fiery red due to the intense heat.
He tried to sway the sword as if trying to get used to it.
"Hmmm… This is weird. I was burning but I'm still alive. And this sword, I never held one before, but I feel like I already mastered using this one. I feel so calm right now that it feels like the fear earlier was just a lie."
And the hair waving on his forehead was not the hair in his memories; its color was crimson red like those flames earlier. It seems that his hair-color was altered too because of that mysterious power he received.
"Damn, this nightmare is starting to become some crazy anime plot."
He was still examining his self and his sword when he heard the growling of the monsters in his front and that was when he remembered his current situation.
"Hmmm… I almost forgot, maybe it's the perfect time to test this weird sword." he lowered his hips and prepared a sword stance.
One of the monsters attacked but he just dodged it with swift and light footsteps.
"Ooohhh…. My movement, I feel like I'm light as a feather. Feels like I've been doing this for years. Haha."
After dodging the attacks, he tried to sway the sword to slash through the monster's flesh and after the attack; the monster was split into two and was engulfed with flames until it was reduced to ashes.
"Cool… Very cool! It's just a wooden sword but its sharpness rivals those of steel swords." he looked to his sword with utmost admiration and glittering eyes.
One of the monsters growled and that brought him back from fantasizing his sword.
He pointed the tip of his sword towards the remaining monsters and twisted the side of his lips to make a very malicious smile while releasing a violent aura. His killing intent towards the monsters can be seen clearly on his eyes and smile.
"Hey… You want to follow that one? Come here, I'm willing to test this sword on you monsters and I can do it all day without getting bored. I will surely enjoy slicing, dicing and burning that worthless flesh in your bodies." a sadistic laugh followed that sentence and he started to walk towards the remaining raptors.
It looked like they were intimidated by his actions because they panicked and fled away as fast as they can.
"Ahahahaha… I thought they were brave, looks like I'm really scary with that act."
He's still laughing until he remembered something important.
"Hmmm. . .. I guess this is not a nightmare nor a prank after all. It was all too realistic. I wonder what world this is. And why do I have this kind of power, and why I kind of have this nostalgic feeling that I've used this power before. It feels like I've been doing it all my life, but I don't recall anything about this power at all."
He's making a bewildered face because of this sudden turn of events.
And that day, his fate, along with all the otakus inside Japan, changed.
Part 2
In the middle of a dark room, a man was standing, the same man who used a magic circle to start something.
"Ahahahahaha. . . . . .At last. At last, it has started. My dreams, it's almost in my reach. I just need to wait some more, and the time will come when I can reach that goal. Ahahahahaha." his face was filled with his desires and his laughter echoed inside the room.
Particles of light started to gather around him and once again, the room was filled with nothing but blinding light.
Part 3
There's someone standing in the middle of a vast grassland, a boy around 16-18 years old. Wearing a helmet that hides half of his face, revealing only his nose and mouth; armor that was painted in black and has intricate designs on it and looked like it was made to give the wearer good mobility; and a black scarf that was filled with tears.
"Oh well, what a drag, he already started it. (Sigh)" he took a deep breath to release a sigh.
"Damn, if I'm just earlier. Well, there's nothing I can do. I'll just have to deal with the reception. Better be prepared, because I will be busy again starting this day. But before that—"
He surveyed his surroundings.
"I guess I need to clean myself first." and both sides of his lips rose up to form a smile. His whole body was stained with lots of blood as if someone poured it unto him.
And his surroundings were filled with countless numbers of corpses of different fierce-looking monsters, of different shapes and sizes. It looked like a total massacre or a one-sided fight or as if a butcher just came here and slaughtered those creatures mercilessly.
He clicked his fingers and a magic circle appeared on top of his head. The circle passed down his body cleaning away the blood and innards stucked on him.
Then, he walked away and suddenly disappeared into thin air leaving nothing, but the pile of butchered monsters scattered everywhere.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone