Crimson Forest

"That, is a beautiful city," Sheldon said to himself, amazement shining in his words.

----(flashback)

"In your first Time Rift, the Song is more likely to reward you than with your second going forth. The Song will reward you with an item, tool, weapon, ability or a chance to upgrade anything based off your performance. The only way to receive the Song's appraisal is by saying, 'Elder Ones ~~' Fill in the rest with your desires. You listening?" Tenisha asked Sheldon while in the Solstice of Time and Space.

Sheldon then answered with:

"Yeah, in fact, that's pretty cool!"

This was right before he gripped his weaponry.

----(end of flashback)

Sheldon sat on a makeshift bench made out of a large stone and the leaves of the azure trees. Thinking about Teni's words, he looked down on his right hand, holding his KSG-12.

"So if I just say, 'Elder Ones, tell me who I am,' it'll tell me some sort of stats?" Sheldon wondered, "Well, there's no better teacher than experience!"

Sheldon prepared himself.

"Elder Ones, tell me who I am."

With those words, large shadows covered him as if he was being transported to another dimension. He couldn't see what was going on; the shadows obstructed his view. Sheldon remained calm and unperturbed. But something was wrong, something deeply disturbed his judgment. He felt as if he didn't possess a physical body. It felt somewhat similar to the nondescript feeling of being in the Solstice of Time and Space. As he continued being dragged, his senses dwindled, one by one, in terms of effectiveness. At first it was his sense of sight, then hearing, then his sense of touch, his sense of taste and finally, his sense of smell.

He came back to his senses when the movement came to a halt. He found himself on an especially large island, about the size of a continent; or at least that's what he thought it was.It seemed to be a large forest with tall blades of grass. The island's grass was dark, comparable to the colour vantablack. The grass was tall enough to reach the top of Sheldon's torso. There was a narrow cobblestone path in the midst of this vast expanse. The path bore similarities with the one's Pilgrims from different walks of life would use in Maryland.

One thing caught Sheldon's gaze the most. The tall trees in the island towered over him, making him comparable to an ant. The height of the trees was distributed evenly within the island. The trees's wood was black, the same dark colour as the grass. There were over a million branches on these trees. The trees's leaves were a glowing hue of magenta, making it feel like a dream. The sky was dark, as if it lacked a light source, like a sun or a moon. The only beacons of light were the beautiful leaves of the trees.

Sheldon decided to explore this enigmatic expanse. He walked and walked and walked, only to come to a pause at the sight of a body, standing before him.

'What is this?'

Sheldon inspected the body, only to come to a horrific discovery. A mixture of emotions clouded his judgment. He didn't know what to do; despite facing an exact replica of him.

'So that's where my body went when I was covered in shadow.'

However, the sight of his replica wasn't the horrific aspect of the situation; it was the large presence of blood around his replica. He was holding a longsword made of plasma with large stains of dried blood on it. This might have been a sign of Sheldon becoming a murderer in the future, but Sheldon's heart was too pure for that. Perhaps, it's the result of something tragic that might happen.

Sheldon tried to reach out to him, just to see if he's real. Sheldon's vision then crumbled. All he could see was darkness. This was way worse than when he was being dragged. Large shadows pulled him away, making it seem as if they were preventing him from seeing something.

"Ah! What is that irritating noise!?"

Loud screams and screeching filled Sheldon's ears. The constant, irritating noise of metal clanging and rubbing against each other made Sheldon's teeth hurt. It all sounded like dead souls crying for a second chance.

"You did this to us!" one of the dead souls screamed.

Immense pain entered Sheldon's body. His eyes felt like a metal that was recently put in a furnace was injected into his eyes. His eyes also felt like they were constantly being gouged out and put back in their sockets. He would feel cuts all over his body. The cuts constantly healed, just to be cut again. It was the worst type of pain Sheldon had ever experienced.

"FEEL IT, FEEL THE PAIN WE FELT!!!" the souls shouted in unison.

Before he was transported out of the realm, he got a glimpse of what seemed to be a woman playing a violin. Sheldon recognised the melody she was playing but just never remembered the name.

'Amend by j^p^n?!'

Right after that thought slipped through his mind, the lady started singing a different melody:

"Oh, don't deceive me! Oh never leave me! How could you use a--"

'I remember that from somewhere.'

Before the woman could finish her song, Sheldon was taken to a distant land by the shadows. His sense of sight was taken away again.

'Shouldn't the Song just tell me peacefully with a kind voice?'

Letters started filling Sheldons sight as if they were answering his thought:

Your name: [Sheldon Akashova]

Age: [12]

Parents: [unknown]

Siblings: [ERROR]

Sheldon then thought:

'Huh? That's all?'

"Elder Ones, tell me my Power Level."

Sheldon prepared himself for the worst. But unexpectedly, the Song just continued its peaceful whisper.

Power Level: [Grade 4]

Melody: [N/A]

Tempo: [27/120]

Weapon of choice: [Firearms (may change at any time)]

Potential: [Grade 2]

Potential Melody: [Flamecharm]

'A Grade 2 flamecharm manipulator, that sounds pretty cool!'

[Wake up, Sheldon Akashova.]

Right after he read these words, he found himself lying on his makeshift bench.

"Well, I'm back here again."

[You have gained access to your Innate Domain.]