New World

Chapter 1 - A New World

As my eyes slowly opened, they were suddenly blinded by the sharp rays of the sun. Trying to block the light, I moved my hand and brushed against the grass under me, and the scent of a forest entered my nose. My mind was in a haze as if I were just abruptly woken from a dream.

I stood up and realized I couldn't remember how I got here—or where here even was. I started to scan my surroundings, and as I did, I noticed a man sitting on a rock at the edge of a cliff behind me.

He was just sitting there. His eyes were almost glued on the blue sky—it almost seemed like he was waiting for something to happen... Or waiting for someone?

"Looks like you finally decided to wake up from your nap. You've been asleep here for at least two hours, probably longer telling by the way the grass had been indented. Have to say you should thank me for not leaving you and for letting you rest instead of just waking you up," the man said, chuckling to himself.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I asked, still cloudy about my situation.

He sighed a little standing up and turning to face me, and I could finally see who I was talking with—he seemed to be in his early twenties. He wore a long black coat and black pants, with a dark red shirt. His hair was as dark as midnight.

I stepped back, seemingly out of instinct, when I noticed the claw-like scar running down his right eye.

The man noticed I had taken a step back. He laughed to himself a little as he grabbed something off the rock, and threw it at me. It glinted in the air for a moment and fell at my feet. My eyes were drawn to it—to the sword still hidden in its sheath.

"Mind picking that up for me. I have to test your strength before we go any further, and I'd recommend having a weapon. We're going to have a quick fight—think of it as a test," the man casually declared.

"What! Why would I fight you? I'm not going to pick up that sword!" I yelled out, taking a step back from his insanity.

"You don't have to pick it up if you don't want to, but I will still test you. So, unless you like to end up in two—pick up the sword."

Out of concern of what he might do to me, I grabbed the sword. It was lighter than I would have thought, and when I pulled the sword out of the sheath, I noticed writing in a weird text along the blade.

May these flames guide you to your future.

I couldn't read the text but felt like it had just spoken to me—but I had no time to process it as the man had unbuttoned his coat and had pulled out long twin silver katanas.

"Okay, all I need you to do is make sure you don't die. You can start when you want," the man said in a tone as if this was merely a joke.

I froze while staring at him with my blade raised—my body wasn't shaking out of fear as I would have thought it would be. My mind was racing—but my body remained calm. And the longer I stared at him, the more aware I got about my body. My breathing was even, and my heart pounded in my chest, but it didn't feel like fear—it was like I was excited.

"Yeah... I'm not going to wait all day for your attack. So, let's see how you do with defenses!" the men yelled out as he lifted his foot.

He moved with the speed of fire. Each step towards me felt like he would burst into flames at any moment. And for a moment my mind cleared away everything, and I rose the sword up, blocking the attack he swung down at me.

The force alone nearly brought me to my knees, but I held out and remained on my feet. My body and mind had reacted, almost like it was out of instinct—it was strange, but it also seemed incredibly natural to me.