Chapter 1: A World Without Fantasy

Chapter 1: A World Without Fantasy

Within a large city bustling with activity. One building stood out amongst the rest. Its majestic structure made all that looked upon it gasp in awe. The building's name was boldly displayed for the whole world to see. With Large characters artistically designed in a beautiful style, it read "Adventures Guild".

The guild was unusually busy today. All staff members and adventurers were constantly moving from place to place. They had to make sure that everything was ready. After all, today was the day that their guild master and vice-master would be returning to Earth after such a long time being stuck in Nexus.

"All guild members gather at the main Realm tunnel, they're back guys, they're back" an excited female voice came from all the speakers within the guild.

With all arrangements mostly complete they all stopped all other activities and hurriedly gathered before a large futuristic construct. After waiting for a few seconds, the realm tunnel lights up as a massive portal appears.

Four figures walk out from the portal. Everyone started to tear up seeing the middle-aged man in the lead. "Guild master!! Welcome back!!" they all shouted in unison. Jack Wild was stunned for a few seconds by such a reception. A wide smile appeared on his face as he replied to them "It's good to be back".

Seeing their guild master accompanied by some of the main raid team members made everyone excited. They all wanted to hear about their adventures in Nexus. " how was the journey!" "Did everyone survive, where are the rest of the team" "What happened".

Jack and the others were bombarded with questions. "Guys calm down. It was dangerous but nothing too crazy" said a beautiful young lady. She was the only woman in the group that had exited the portal. Her amazing-looking armor complimented her black and golden colored hair.

"There is no need to be in such a rush, everyone. We will tell you what happened during the party" said a tall man with a blue horn on his head said. "No! Everyone needs to know how amazing Big Brother was." Said a young boy. He looked no older the 13 years old. Yet no one would ever dare to underestimate him.

His reptilian eyes glowed with a power so ancient and primal it made those he gazed at feel like prey before a predator.

" you guys should have been there. We fought powerful warriors from other races, we nearly died so many times. The islands there were alive, we fought dragons and a whale…" The boy kept going.

' A whale?...' they all thought to themselves in confusion. Everyone was eager to hear the story but, he wasn't the best at explaining such an epic tale. Only one man knew how to captivate the hearts of the people with such tales of valor and adventure.

"Enough Daniel, let the professional do the talking" a man's voice escaped from the portal. Everyone's focus immediately went to its source. Excitement clear in their eyes as their gazes landed on the figure emerging from the portal.

No one on earth did not know this man. His legend is used as a source of inspiration for everyone whether rich or poor. His tale started from humble beginnings. Yet he now stands before them as the greatest legend to ever walk the face of the Earth.

Wait a second I think I started this story a bit too far off in the future. Sorry for the confusion. How about I restart this all over again, from the beginning?

…

The sun shone brightly on a beautiful morning. The people of Hunter State's 9th sector went about their day. Men and women of all backgrounds headed towards their destinations whether that was their workplace or a date with a loved one. Everyone went on living their lives with the joys and sorrows that accompany it.

In a humble 2 story house, a father-son pair went about their day cleaning their home."Haaaaaa!" the voice of an 8-year-old boy echoed through the house. With a mop in hand, he cleaned the entire living room with an excitement most children wouldn't have for house chores.

In the kitchen, a man wearing gloves and surrounded by cleaning products lets out a sigh." Samuel stop all the screaming, it won't make you clean faster" Jack Wild shouted towards his son in an attempt to make the boy stop his screaming.

Sadly his attempts were unsuccessful, not only did the boy not stop. The screaming got louder and louder as if the source was getting closer to Jack. And there he was, shooting into the kitchen. The boy slid across the kitchen tiles towards his father.

Jack seeing his son heading on a crash course towards him raised his hand and grabbed the boy by the face. "mmhh, mmhh!" The boy made muffled sounds when he got grabbed. Jack noticing the boy had something to say shifted his grip just enough to let the boy speak.

With a thumbs-up gesture and a wide grin, the child said "Mission accomplished. The living room is now spotless". Doubting the boy's words Jack maintained his grip as he brought him towards their living room. When he entered it he was surprised by how well his son performed.

He releases the boy's face. The child lands on the ground with a triumphant smile. " Good job Samuel not bad, for once you actually did it right," Jack says. Samuel then proceeds to spin the mop in his hand like a weapon as he says "I told you I would do it. Now only one last chore and I'm out of here old man". With an irritated expression, Jack replies "Who are you calling old man I'm only 32"

" I call it as I see it. Don't you dare go back on our deal?" Samuel says with a cheeky smile. Jack was left speechless, how did he raise such a creature? But then his expression changed as he smiled. "Ok since you're in such a rush to go play at the park. Follow me to your last chore."

Samuel followed his father slowly. For some reason, he felt that the smile on his father's face meant that he was about to get set up. Jack soon opened a particular door in the house. Upon seeing that the basement was the place he was supposed to clean. Samuel felt like screaming.

Samuel knew his father had set him up. " I think you'll need more than that mop," Jack said as he handed Samuel some additional cleaning tools. With a betrayed look on his face, Samuel could only grit his teeth and take the additional cleaning tools and products. "Well played old man, well played," Samuel said as he walked into the basement to get the job done.

"if you work extra fast you could still make it to the park with 2 hours of playtime," Jack said as he left his son to his own devices. But Samuel was not discouraged. He knew that he could still finish this chore with time to play at the park. So he had to clean fast.

Dusting, wiping and just cleaning the basement in its entirety. Samuel did his chores. Luckily for him, the basement wasn't too much work for an 8-year-old. There weren't too many things to clean and pack up. Within the next hour, he got the job done and was ready to leave.

Yet something caught his eye. He saw an old box that he had never seen before. Lead by his curiosity he opened it and found 4 data chips inside. Samuel didn't know what to do with them so he brought them up to his dad.

Jack, seeing Samuel out of the basement instantly knew the boy was done with his chores. But before he could talk to him about it, he noticed the box in Samuel's hands. "Hey, Dad I'm done with the basement. But I found this box. Do you know what these data chips are for? Is it for your job?"

"ohhh! These guys, I thought I lost them years ago can't believe their still around" Jack says as he takes the box from Samuel. " Are they important?" Samuel asks. "No they aren't really important. These chips here have stories, games, movies and other stuff from the old era before the federation. My dad gave them to me when I was in high school but I never really had the time to get into them"

As soon as Samuel heard it was from the previous era. He got really curious. " ohh let's take a look. I wanna see" Samuel said. "Aren't you supposed to meet up with your friends at the park today?" Jack questions him.

"I can spare 30 minutes, now let's go watch old some people movies," Samuel said as he dragged his father to the living room. Jack soon inserted the chips into their TV. After navigating the system Jack entered one of the chips named "#1".

They were soon brought to a menu that presented them with tons of anime. It wasn't their first time watching an animated show, so they weren't surprised. "how about we try that one? It's marked as 'favorite' so it must be at least decent right?" Samuel said to his dad.

"Ok," Jack agreed not caring much. So he chose this anime. Its cover showed a young blonde-haired man with whiskers on his face wearing an orange and black jumpsuit.

Yes, they had seen animated films and movies before. But they had never seen a story quite like this. For you to get a better understanding of what I mean, let me explain to you about the world they live in.

Their Earth is not like ours. Unlike ours with its 7 continents and very recognizable land masses. Theirs changed, more specifically the people changed it. Hundreds of years ago Humans brought themselves to the verge of extinction. The world wars that people once feared would happen, actually did and their consequences were long-lasting. But during this time of chaos, a particular organization rose to power.

They single-handedly conquered the whole planet. All borders were removed and the whole human race was for once ruled by a single power. That was the start of the era of the Starlight Federation. But sadly the damage done to Earth had forever changed its landscape.

Leaving it with only 5 continents, these continents were later given new names. The federation made the people of Earth progress at a rate never before achieved. They even expanded their reach into the Milky Way galaxy. Conquering it and making it the federation territory.

Yet the federation wasn't all good. With their power, they erased all forms of media that supported or represented any sort of fantasy. All the stories of magic, monsters and more were all erased. All the religions of the world were soon erased as well.

Science became the only driving force that led humanity. So most people in the present have never seen stories of magic or fantasy. Little did the federation know that someone still has records of this forbidden knowledge.

And little did Jack and Samuel know how much these stories would impact them. Today marked the single most important moment that would forever change the course of Samuel's life.

That day Samuel and surprisingly Jack as well were captivated. None of them left home they binged that series as much as they could. Despite the sloppy animation in comparison to what they are used to. The new concepts shown by the show kept them entertained.

At the end of the day, it was time for Samuel to go to bed. He fell asleep on their couch. Although Jack wanted to go sleep a nagging feeling kept him up. ' Why were such stories no longer being produced. Did they lose popularity, no that's impossible. The way I know humans. Such mediums of entertainment would have nearly limitless possibilities of how they can be adapted

His curiosity drove him to find the truth. Jack tapped a black object wrapped around his wrist. It lit up with a gentle light. Soon a glowing user interface projected itself as 2 panels in front of Jack's face.

One panel is a keyboard while the other is the display screen. Jack proceeds to search for the show he and his son were watching. But the search came up empty. "that's impossible, the internet should have every piece of media and information through all human history even those from before the Federation…unless.

Shit what have I done" Jack said out loud. Panic is clear in his voice. He immediately deactivated his wristwatch. By exerting his will a gentle silver-golden light escaped from Jack as a weird computer appeared in front of him. Its shape was strange, with multiple floating screens and other unidentified technological parts.

A few cables from the strange computer attached to his wristwatch. Soon streams of data flashed past Jack's eyes and the floating screens. " I knew it" With some fear in his voice he pushed his mind to its limit deleting and covering all tracks that he had ever searched for that series today.

' if there is no information about something that should be accessible on the internet. Then that means the Federation doesn't want it known. Luckily my Karna is tech-based or else I wouldn't have known that the moment I searched. I was instantly put on a watch list.' Jack thought with some blood trickling down his nose.

Jack hacked into the federation network and deleted all traces that would lead to him. As soon as he confirmed that they couldn't track him he felt slightly at ease. " why would the federation not want people to watch or even know about something as insignificant as an anime from the old era?

Whatever their reason may be I want nothing to do with it. Samuel must never talk about this with anyone" After saying that he went to his room. With a wave of his hand, the strange computer was absorbed back into his body.