The Fallen Order
As the chill of the cold air slides though the floorboards and walls the duo start making supper for the next couple days. "Boy, your birthday is tomorrow..." The old man starts while cutting through the flesh of the rabbit. "Is there anything... in particular... that you want?" They both continue chopping away at the ingredients for a couple minutes. "How about a name... After almost eighteen years of calling me nothing but boy or kid you must get sick of it as well... right?" Keith stops cutting for a moment. Thinking carefully about his next words.
"Yes... I think that it is about time that I give you a name..." he says while continuing his cutting. "Is there anything that you want me to think of while picking a name or do you want it to be a surprise?" They both finish cutting up everything. "Hmmm... I don't care old man... just don't pick something stupid. I still want the chance to get married someday." The boy says while dumping the vegetables into the pot of boiling water above the fireplace. Inching as close as he can to the fire. "HAhahahaha... fine... fine I won't pick a stupid name for you. Bartholemew would have been a good one though, HahahahaHa *cough cough* ha." He says while almost falling over.
"Careful old man... can't have you falling over into your own grave just yet, can we?" He says, catching his father and siting him down on a chair to help stabilize him. "No... no we can't have that." They both sit in silence until the food is ready. "Soups hot" The old man says. "Thank you, father." the young man says. They both sit in silence again. The only sounds are hungry mouths devouring their bowls of soup.
"Your dying, aren't you father." The boy says quietly. "EHH, you have to speak up I'm too old for all this quiet shit!" His father yells. The boy stits quietly. "Yeah, so what, I'm dying. Not like I haven't seen this coming. Don't worry when death comes for me, I'll put up a fight." His father winks at him with playful curiosity. The boy starts walking back to his room. "HEY, DID YA HEAR ME!" His father yells at him. "YEAH, OLD MAN I HEARD YOU. BETTER KICK DEATH'S ASS, YOU HERE ME!" The boy yells as he heads back to his room. Hiding his tears from his father. Fearing he might receive another long boring talk. "DAMN RIGHT" The old man yells back, stopping a tear from falling.
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In another location 20 miles away from the village in the early morning
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"Have you found him yet." A figure clad in silver armor asked. "Not yet sir. He seems to be hiding. Probably scared because he lost most of his power after being forcefully separated from the ID-aggg." The young in similar armor grabs his neck as blood pours out. "What do you mean you haven't found him yet. He's definitely found us already... who among you recruit know the tale of the mad paragon? Hmm? Any of you? Well, I'll tell you. Even after he was separated from IT, he still had the power to challenge and beat the five grandmaster mages and knights of the Figst Empire. He left a trail of blood and mangled corpses for us to follow, and follow we did. He's been weakened to such an extent already with his old age and the curse given to him upon exile. Ex-paragon Lafer dies today. We must secure the holy item."
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"Boy... HEY BOY... wake up already!" Keith yells at his son. Groaning he gets out of bed and meets his father in the living room. "What father... what could possibly be so important that you need to wake me up in the early morning?" The boy slowly gets out of bed while looking at his father through his tired blurry eyes. "You shall be bestowed a name my child." His father said with the upmost seriousness. Looking at his father setting up papers with strange marking on them the boy started to worry. What was his father doing?
"Dad calm down. Explain what you are doing and how I can help. It's just a name not some knighting ceremony or something super important." The boy tries to intervene with what his father is doing but just received a hardened glare that he has never seen on his father before. "Don't step outside of the circle and relax your whole body." "Dad, I don't understa-" "JUST STAY IN THE DAMN CIRCLE" His father yells while coughing up some blood. "*cough cough*, We've run out of time. Their almost here. I can't let them find you. You're not ready yet. Not strong enough." His father paces around the circle of papers. The boy not understanding any of the strange markings, but they seemed... like they were spinning in a pattern. Similar to the one on his dad's chest.
The boy and his father stand there in silence for a while. Keith had his eyes closed and the boy trying to understand why everything was happening so suddenly. What was his father worried about? It was his 18th birthday, and he just woke up. Shouldn't they start the day partying and drinking like every other birthday? "Son, there is a lot more about this world than you've seen or heard of. Humans flying in the sky, raining meteors down, shooting literal fire out of their fingertips. Gatherings of powers unimaginable to you. At the age of eighteen everyone unlocks the ability to access the system. No one can skip the timer. Not commoners, royals, or gods. There are legendary monsters that hunt the things that go bump in the dark. Powers and magical artifacts that contain such power that the owners had no choice to destroy or seal them. All of this... all of this is waiting for you. I only ask one thing of you. Get stronger. Use everything and everyone to get strength. The only thing that matters is that you stay alive." The boy was shaken. What did his father mean he... he was just a human boy after all. He didn't have power.
"But father-" "LISTEN to me child. Once I start the transcription you MUST take in everything. No matter how much it hurts. No matter what happens to me. ONLY focus on getting stronger." The wind and the grass went silent. The dripping of their sink stopped. "GET READY BOY." As his father began chanting in a foreign language he couldn't stop thinking about what he said. "MUREN FLATXIS OPEIOUM... GREXIS JOUTEM KRALSA," When his father started chanting all sorts of glowing runes started appearing in front of them. Multi-colors of strange but beautiful markings began to connect and disassemble. Creating a beautiful pattern that looked like a glowing human outline. "MIRIUM DRACONUS INCANTUS!" Then the figure summoned elements that slowly merged into one distinct midnight black. His father finish loudly with a final line. Then the pain came. Like a crushing mountain everything fell onto his shoulders and flowed into his body. The pain was unimaginable. His body starts convulsing but something inside of him begins to slowly turn.
-System forceful reboot initiated-
-Host.... Unconscious...-
-Applying mental protection-
-ERROR Protection not strong enough-
-Applying physical protection-
-Forcefully evolving body-
-Error host undergoing dangerous awakening-
-Resetting system....-
His father standing up slowly. The pain in his face melting the years of experience that he's gained. Death can have him when he's saved his son. "As the ex-paragon of the Figst empire, I Keith Lafer, pour into you pure mana AND GIVE YOU THE HOLY SYSTEM OF ADVANCEMENT!"
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Five miles away from the village to the north
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"GENERAL, massive spikes of energy reported fluctuating three miles south of the village nearby. Starting charge enroute to the location now." The soldier reported to his superior. The general, closing his eyes in thought. "Hahahaha, HaHahaha, Finally, finally. I'll finally get revenge on that old man for crippling me." As he spoke the wind and water got pushed away from him like there were invisible shockwaves pushing off of him.
"DESTROY THE VILLAGE. FIND HIM. THEN DESTROY HIM." The general shouts causing all the soldiers to start packing up their stuff as fast as they can and ride their horses to the small settlement. Not caring for any of the lives that may be ruined in the process.