High in the embrace of an ancient tree, a boy sat quietly, holding a giant branch, afraid to fall from this great height. His small black hair fluttering, and his body shivering because of the cold breeze.
In front of his somber black eyes lay a screen filled with a weird concoction of words and meaning.
******
Name: Nolan Reeve
Age: 18
Rank: ....
Desire: ...
Ember: ....
Remnant: ...
******
After looking at the new screen for a few seconds, Nolan couldn't help but have a slight hint of confusion.
'Isn't this like a stat screen of video game characters... have I fallen into some sort of virtual world?'
He thought, not truly buying the idea.
First of all, he wasn't even playing any video game at the moment... or didn't really like playing games that much, for that matter. And most of all, nothing of what happened seemed fake or virtual.
There were no reset buttons, and his classmates weren't reviving.
Everything was as real as it could be.
Not wanting to remember the horrifying ordeals that had happened since this morning, Nolan distracted his thoughts and instead looked at the screen in front of him.
The screen consisted of 6 unique pieces of information, of which two were self-explanatory.
'So, it knows my name... full name even. The age—well, it isn't truly accurate... but what are these other things...?'
Rank??… Desire... Ember..?... Remnant...?
Nolan had a bit of an idea about Desire, but still, he looked at the Rank and moved his finger to click on it. To his surprise—or more like not—his finger went right through the screen, like nothing lay there.
'Ohh! I can't touch it... then how can I know more about it...' He was thinking of another way but stopped, seeing that the screen had already expanded itself and now presented the information he desired.
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[Rank: Primor]
[Rank Description: Like everything else, you are a spark left of the primordial. Now, charged with purpose, you are to traverse your own path, guided by the force of Desire.]
[Trail: A trial awaits you, but before that, grow yourself.]
[Growth: 0%]
******
His eyes squinted, with a hint of shock and excitement. Previously, there wasn't much information on the screen, but now it seemed there was too much, and Nolan was finding it hard to digest all of them at once.
Calming himself, he began to digest them one by one.
Primor... a spark left of the primordial?... Primordial... huh! Old? God, perhaps...
Even coming from a slightly religious family, Nolan didn't consider himself to be a religious type. He wasn't really what one would call an atheist, but still, instead of following faith, he liked to believe more in logic and reasoning.
But considering how things had turned out, it made him forced to believe there existed something magical in nature. Something of a higher existence. Something godly.
Now the question remains—whether this god was of the benevolent kind, the way it was taught to him, or the complete opposite... well, only time can answer this, it seems.
No... the description can't be the literal meaning. I mean, I was born... so I can't literally be a spark of the primordial, and doesn't primordial mean old... Sigh! Let's think about it later.
More than the description, Nolan was curious and a bit taken aback by the next two pieces of information.
'A trial awaits me... huh! What type will that be... my growth is at 0%, seemed about right to me...' he thought, trying to find a reason for these uncertainties.
As it was already mentioned, there wouldn't be any trial before his growth, so there wasn't any point for him to fear it. Instead, he was more interested in finding a way to increase his growth.
Even after thinking for a while, no viable route appeared in his mind. Nolan tried to ask the reason to the screen, but nothing came up. So, in the end, he gave up on that and moved to the next section.
It was time to see and learn about his desire.
He was about to learn about the information, but stopped as something happened to his body.
A feeling of ecstasy overwhelmed him as a current suddenly ran rampant in his body, moving through every corner of it like a hungry beast.
The current made rounds throughout the body multiple times before coming to the center of his forehead and stopping. Despite how quickly everything had happened, the feeling ingrained itself in Nolan's mind.
'W-what was that?'
Feeling bewildered by what had just happened, Nolan couldn't help but look at his entire body. No matter how much he looked through it, there appeared to be no change... or any that he could see, at least.
Sighing, he turned and looked at the screen. There lay new information about his desire.
******
[Desire: Return]
[Desire Description: Return is what you desire, and it will what you get.]
[Desire Rank: Exist]
[Desire Abilities: [Echo Of The Past], [Rebound]]
[Progression: Strengthen your ability to exist.]
******
"What's with all this poetic description?" Nolan couldn't help but frown, seeing that the description didn't really explain anything.
Yes, I had screamed about returning things from the screen, but was that really my true desire... for that matter, w-what even is my desire…?
A silence prevailed upon him as he couldn't help but question himself.
What truly was his purpose? Was there really something that he desired from deep within his heart?
He wanted to do good for his family... his mother, father, and his two siblings. Yes, he wanted to graduate with good marks and get a relatively nice job, but was that it?
Was that truly it? Was there nothing more to life than that?
As Nolan thought more... trying to get answers from deep within himself, going even back to his past self, trying to find any answer—but it all came down to...
Nothing.
Unlike those with clear goals... purpose... and desire, there was nothing like that for him.
Now suddenly, he felt like a machine. A program that did what was asked of him... as if devoid of any free will.