In the bunker of a NQSC police station, there was a boy taller than average. With his blue eyes, he watched as officers restrained him and strapped him to a bulky chair that looked like a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. As they moved around him, the air currents flowing through the bunker caused his reddish-brown hair to sway slightly. That boy had a name: Arthur Leywin.
Minutes later, the room was occupied by only two people, Arthur and an officer. The latter was explaining procedures and protocols, offering a few pieces of advice along the way, while the former did everything he could to stay awake just a little longer.
'As I wait for sleep to embrace me, I can't help but think about how I ended up here.'
(Arthur POV)
It had been a normal day at school, until suddenly it wasn't. Alarms started going off everywhere, from my classmates, from the teachers, from the school itself, and finally from my own communicator.
EMERGENCY ALERT
EMERGENCY ALERT
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR PROXIMITY
ESTIMATED TIME: 7 MINUTES
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY
That was the first day I felt fear and helplessness. I couldn't stop thinking that it could very well be my last day alive if something went wrong.
Fortunately, there were a couple of Masters nearby, and they cleared the gate before it could get out of control. One of those Masters was my father. After the protocols were completed, the first thing he did was come to see me, and that was the day I realized that, at any moment and without being able to stop it, I could lose him. The exhaustion on his face when I saw him walking down the hallway was unmistakable. His eyes reflected monsters, terrors no human should ever have to witness, and the moment he looked at me, that exhaustion faded, those terrors stopped mattering, replaced by unconditional love for his son.
Coincidentally, that was also the day I realized that being weak in this world was a sin, and that if you wanted to protect something, you had to be strong. From that day on, the way I perceived the world changed, and I began living with a purpose: to protect my family.
From that moment forward, my routine changed. I started training more than any legacy, more than anyone else. In the mornings, I went to school, and during classes I learned how to make connections, how to relate to people who might have potential. One of them turned out to be a girl named Cassie. Our parents worked together, and through that connection, our families grew close.
She was a bit shorter than me, with charming blue eyes and blonde hair that fell down her back like a waterfall, along with a smile that seemed to light up the world. I got along well with her. We trained together, and at first our sparring matches were more even than I would have liked, but as months and years passed, my talent began to make a difference, and from that point on she no longer had much of a chance. My father, a Master of great renown within the government branches, said I had even more potential than he did.
Over time, training became part of my daily life, nothing exceptional. I went to school every morning like any other kid my age, paid attention in class, performed well, and met expectations. I didn't stand out much or draw attention to myself; I preferred to stay unnoticed. While many worried only about passing exams or what they would do on the weekend, I used every free moment to learn something that might be useful later. You could say I was obsessed.
I read everything I could get my hands on. Survival manuals, old records of secured zones, reports of failed and successful missions that my father left around the house without realizing it. I listened to the stories my parents told at the table, tales that were just work anecdotes to them, but that I analyzed carefully, memorizing mistakes, decisions, and consequences. No one ever forced me to do it; I simply understood that knowing those things was better than ignoring them.
Some afternoons I trained in a forest on the outskirts under the supervision of my father or a Master they hired. These weren't heroic or extreme training sessions; they were about learning how to orient myself, ration supplies, stay calm when things didn't go as planned, and recognize my own limits. Other times, I trained in combat, first with my father and later with other Masters who were willing to correct me when they could. I wasn't looking for flashy techniques or recognition, only efficiency and consistency.
Even so, not everything revolved around training. I had friends, went out with them, talked about normal things, and took breaks whenever I needed them. Cassie was the one I spent the most time with. We trained together, but we also talked about school, our families, or anything trivial. She had a calm way of observing everything, and even when she noticed that I pushed myself harder than necessary, she never pressured me or asked unnecessary questions.
At home, life went on. Quiet dinners whenever my parents' work allowed it, simple conversations, and shared moments that didn't need to be special to have value. My parents never asked me to be strong or to shoulder responsibilities that weren't mine, and I never fully explained why I trained so much. There was no need. As long as we were together, that was enough, and for my parents and my sister to be safe, I would do whatever was necessary.
Over the years, that routine became normal to me. Studying, training, resting, living together. I didn't see it as a sacrifice or anything extraordinary; it was simply the most logical way to live in a world where things could spiral out of control at any moment. A world where, from one second to the next, a gate could open right in front of you, and if there wasn't someone strong nearby, you wouldn't see tomorrow. Protecting my family wasn't a promise or a vow; it was a natural consequence of everything I did.
And like that, almost without realizing it, that path brought me here.
When I came back to myself, I was still strapped to the "bed". The officer had finished explaining the protocols and watched me in silence as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I felt the accumulated exhaustion of the past few days, heavy and constant, but there was no anxiety or panic, only a sense of calm.
I didn't know what awaited me on the other side, but I did know why I was here. And for now, that was enough.
With that final thought, the world went dark, and from that darkness, a voice echoed.
"[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]"