The Arrival

" When there is no hope and no refuge. Where shall you look to? The darkness or to the, even though it is very small, ray of hope..."

In an unknown time and location:

"Oh... how the times have changed. Just when I thought things were finally quiet," said a voice coming from a deep underground cavern?

"I wonder... will this time... be different than the others?"

"I feel, there is something different than the other times! Maybe, just maybe, this time will be different," said the voice hopefully, as it slowly faded away.

Location: Unending Primal Forest

Time: Year 11 of the Era of Change Era: Era of Change

"Hmmm... what this?" said an old man with a smile.

The old man was looking at a golden egg, the size of a coconut. It gave a feeling of warmth and excitement to whoever was in its presence.

"As the old man stared at the egg, he suddenly heard something coming from the egg.

"Whaaaat…"

The faint sound of someone trying to say something could be heard, but it was so quiet and weak that the old man could not fully hear what the voice from the egg was trying to say.

"Hmmm... What should I do?" questioned the old man as he was uncertain about what he should do with the egg.

"Hmmm... yes that might work!" said the old man as he suddenly thought of an idea.

This decision of his, would come to haunt him much later in his life. Because this decision would put things into motion, that he never thought he would ever encounter.

Location: River of Greed, Steven's location

Time: Year 11 of the Era of Change Era: Era of Change

"You got to be kidding me! Can't they at least have the decency to give me some freedom before I become a slave?" complained Steven with a depressing tone as he slowly walked back to his bed and laid himself on his bed.

"I wonder if I'm the only one? I can't be right... that would really be too depressing." said Steven as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what was to come.

As Steven was saying this he felt something was wrong with his room. It felt as if something had scanned through his room and his body. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. The feeling he was experiencing felt as if his body was being scorched to ashes.

Steven felt as if he was about to die. But then the pain suddenly disappeared. It was as if it was never there. Yet, just when Steven thought it was over he was suddenly overwhelmed with a strong feeling of dizziness.

"Ugh! I feel like I'm gonna throw up!" choked Steven as he felt like his stomach was about to empty itself. He felt as if something wanted to come out and if it didn't he would somehow regret it.

"Ugh! Oh... Oh... Blegh!" At that moment when Steven was puking, he noticed that the colour of his puke had a gold/black colour to it. As Steven wiped his mouth, he wondered what that weird liquid was and where it came from.

"Knock"

"Knock"

The sound of a person knocking on Steven's door could be heard. The knocking continued for a while until it suddenly stopped. After a while, a voice could be heard.

"Oye! Shut ya trap! Otherwise, you'll regret it!" grunted a rough sounding voice from the other side of Steven's cabin door.

"Uh sorry... I guess?" muttered Steven sarcastically. As he wasn't really sorry and he definitely wouldn't apologise to the people who were going to make him a slave.

But as to avoid unnecessary problems, he conceded and apologised, so that he wouldn't have to deal with even more headache-inducing concerns.

"You little..." just as the man wanted to scold Steven once more. He felt that someone was behind him.

"Ahhh! Sir... Sir Colin!"

"What can I... I do for you?" quivered the man with a frightened voice as he saw Colin standing behind him giving him a cold smile

"Hmmm, what are you doing all the way over hear Poko?" asked Colin while glaring at Poko.

"Ah... uh no... nothing sir!" answered Poko quickly as he was very afraid of Colin

"Hmmm... If that's so... why don't you get back to your post... okay?" threatened Colin with a bright smile.

"Heeee! Yes, sir!" shouted Poko with a horrified expression as he ran back to the deck.

"Sorry for that Steven, sometimes the crew members get a feeling of superiority for no reason. Thinking they can do whatever they want without us knowing." explained Colin with an irritated expression, as he was clearly annoyed with how Poko had previously acted.

"Uh, no problem. But if possible could I ask a question?" asked Steven not really caring about why the crew members did what they did, because to him they were all scum, except maybe for Colin, as he felt Colin was different than the rest.

"Ja sure," nodded Colin, thinking it was the least he could because apart from this there wasn't really anything else he could do for Steven.

"Um, did anything happen today?" asked Steven while staring at the golden-black coloured puddle before him.

"Hmmm... yeah, something did happen today. We have arrived at the factions mining border. We just went past the border and were scanned and imprinted by the array. So basically, in a few days' time, we'll arrive at the harbour and you'll finally find out about what you will be doing," remarked Colin with a slightly sad but neutral expression.

"Wait... you mean we've arrived?" asked Steven.

"Yeah, you could say that. Welcome, Steven! To a place where death is not a choice and hope is nothing but a dream," snarled Colin with a grim expression.

"Wha...?" as Steven was trying to process what he had heard, Colin said something unexpected.

"But... if it's you... you might be able to escape this dark prison," revealed Colin with a slight smile.

"Uh... thanks... but could I ask one more question?" inquired Steven as even though he was still confused, he wanted to prepare himself as much as possible for what was to come.

"Sure go ahead." conceded Colin with a chuckle, not understanding how Steven could still keep on asking questions at a time like this.

"Alright, what did you mean by saying we were scanned and imprinted by an array?" asked Steven.

"Array. Eh... where to begin? I guess I should first start with the grading of factions." responded Colin. With this, Steven would find out vital information about factions, that normal people would never find out about.

This information would later on his "adventures" be very helpful.