Chapter 1: Between clouds
In a white room where only a bed and a desk next to its respective chair could be seen, a fair-skinned young man watched with an emotionless gaze through the only window in the room. Beyond the window was the blue sky along with cottony white clouds floating slowly high and low.
The young man watched in silence for a long time before touching the window with his hand for a second before withdrawing it with some resistance.
While the young man was lost in thoughts of him watching the clouds pass and recede over the horizon, the bedroom door slid to the side, fully open.
A woman in a white lab coat entered the room before stopping and looking at the young man who was silently staring out the window.
Noticing that someone had entered the room, the young man turned and looked at the brown-haired woman who was giving him an impatient look before walking towards her.
"Is it time yet?"
The woman nodded and read from a clipboard that she carried under her shoulder.
"Yes, it is scheduled for in half an hour. But it is necessary to make adjustments… again"
The young man walked past the woman and left the room with some irritation.
"It's always the same…"
The woman could only shrug.
"You know how it is, I work hard at it but it's not easy"
The young man looked at the woman who was walking behind him and sneered.
"You are the scientists, I am the test subject. That's supposed to be your job."
The woman sighed, visibly annoyed, but not by the young man's hurtful words.
"I'm just an assistant, my job is to keep you sane"
The young man looked straight ahead again as they walked through the white hallway, just like the room where they were, and he added with the same emotionless flat tone as before:
"But you have a white coat"
The woman just shrugged and didn't continue the conversation.
Soon after, the young man and the woman reached the end of the hall where there was a large double door. The woman took the ID card from her and placed it on a black access device on the side of the door.
The door opened and they both walked slowly inside before the door closed behind them.
A man who worked in a machine near the door, turned when he noticed that someone had entered and quickly his eyes lit up.
"Ohhhh! Shin I was waiting for you!"
The man approached and began to press the shoulders and arms of the young man named Shin.
'Ughh, this old man is always the same'
Shin internally complained about the old man who was examining him as if he was checking that he did not have any visible wounds or injuries.
The old man moved away from Shin when he finished inspecting him superficially before nodding with his arms resting on his hips.
"Good, perfect"
The old man quickly went back to working on the machines before pointing to a capsule in the center of the room.
"You already know what to do"
The woman went ahead of Shin and with a serious expression bowed her head respectfully towards the man.
"Yes, Dr. Rada"
Shin sighed when he saw this and walked towards the center of the room in which he had been thousands of times.
The room was full of machines Shin had no idea how they worked or what they were for. But in contrast to the rest of the room, in the center of it were five pods made of wood forming a circle between them, each one the perfect size for one person to enter.
Shin only gave him a quick look at the wooden capsule before entering it and making himself comfortable.
The woman approached and began to type something on a raised keyboard in front of the capsule where Shin was.
"Are you nervous?"
The woman asked as she kept typing.
Shin nodded before looking at her.
"It would be a lie to say no"
The place where he was going to be sent was a largely unknown place of which only ancient stories are known, some considered myths and even some legends.
The world under the Axis.
"The Axis..."
Shin murmured causing the woman to look at him out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the keyboard.
"Axis, the great tree of the world. Which extends its branches to different worlds, one in which we find ourselves."
Shin listened in silence to the woman's words and looked at the ceiling in silence.
"I still don't understand... why do we have to go?"
Although they had been planning this moment for many years, Shin still did not know the reason why they had to go to the world below.
The world they were in right now had enough resources for people to live well for at least more than 5 decades. In addition, it could turn out that the stories they told were lies and there was no world apart from the one they were in.
Shin remembered the views that stretched out through his window and that he observed every day.
What they called the world where they were was a large floating continent, and if someone reached the edge only clouds could be seen below and above it.
Apart from the huge log that could be seen in the distance, and which was impossible to reach. The only way to touch the great tree that covered the world was through the great branch where the continent was attached.
Part of the branch was collected, and capsules were built, one of which was Shin.
"Government Secrets"
The woman shrugged her shoulders again, unable to answer Shin's question thanks to the contract she had signed.
'They won't even tell me why I will die... ungrateful' thought Shin.
"Well, well!"
Doctor Rada began to yell euphorically as he raised his arms in the air.
"It's ready! We are connected!"
The doctor looked at Shin that he was lying in the capsule and that he had closed his eyes, which he kept quiet for a few seconds before asking:
"When will the others arrive?"
Shin was not going to be the only one sent, the other four still empty capsules already had an owner.
"They will go after you, you will be the first one"
The woman had stopped typing and now she was connecting several cables to Shin's body to monitor him.
"Good…"
Shin looked at the doctor who was still screaming euphorically into the air before ignoring him and looking at the woman who was sticking a needle into her arm.
The woman also looked at him and they both fell silent before the woman smiled kindly.
"Good luck"
Those were the last words that Shin heard before a liquid flowed through a tube connected by a needle to his arm, quickly falling asleep.
***
Everything was dark around Shin, who was in the center of the darkness, still looking into space.
"What is this?"
Shin examined his body, from his hands to his legs. For some reason, even though everything was completely dark, he could see himself perfectly.
"Is it a dream?"
Although Shin had never dreamed, he had heard about what dreams were. Imaginary events that sometimes faded from memory upon awakening. That's why Shin confused what was happening right now with his first dream.
Suddenly, at the moment that Shin began to worry about his situation. A root began to grow from the floor made of darkness.
The root grew until it reached the height of Shin's torso and stopped.
"This…is not what he expected"
Even though he was in a dream. Shin curiously approached the root before touching it.
Shin put his hand on the root, and it reacted by growing even more before wrapping his hand completely.
"Ugh! Let go of me!"
Shin panicked and began to struggle in an attempt to free himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't let go of the root's grasp.
When Shin's arm began to hurt, the root retracted, releasing his hand. Shin quickly withdrew his hand and walked back a few meters.
He held his hand as he rubbed it and noted how on top of his hand was a circular symbol with a leaf in the middle of it.
"What is this?"
Shin rubbed the symbol with his other hand in an attempt to erase it but no matter how hard he tried the symbol didn't seem to have any signs of disappearing, it was like a permanent tattoo.
Shin began to rub the symbol harder when a headache invaded him forcing him to stop and hold his head with both hands.
Thanks to the severe pain, Shin fell to the ground on his knees while his body began to sweat excessively.
Shin felt as if his entire body was on fire for a few minutes before the pain gradually began to subside.
"W-what was that?"
The pain was gone in a second as if it had never been.
Shin got back up before looking at the symbol in his hand again with a little fear. Although he didn't know if the pain he had was thanks to the symbol, he decided that it was better not to do anything bad against it… like trying to erase it.
Shin began to study the symbol more thoroughly, it had nothing stranger apart from its strange circular shape and the leaf. When suddenly the symbol began to light up in a light green color making Shin have to close his eyes.
When Shin opened her eyes again, he couldn't help but rub them.
In front of him was a floating screen.
Shin rubbed his eyes again several times before reading what the screen said.
Name: [Shin]
[-------]
Stage: [Mortal]
Soul: [Mortal]
Core: [0/100]
[-------]
[-------]
Shin tried to touch the screen in front of him, and to his surprise he was able to touch it. The screen that appeared to be non-physical was actually solid.
Intrigued by the information that appeared on the screen. Shin began to play with it. However, no matter how much he touch it, the screen didn't change.
Shin carefully read the information displayed on the screen but before he could even think about what it meant, the solid-appearing floor completely disappeared.
"Wh-what's going on!?"
Shin began to fall into the void before falling asleep unable to resist the sudden wave of sleep that washed over him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone