Wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead, Sylas glanced up at the sky above, the sun bearing down on his tanned skin as he leaned his body against the hoe in his hand for support. The day had been hot. Hotter than usual. Honestly, he wanted to take a seat and drink some water, but unfortunately, that was not an option at the moment. Today was an important day for his family. They had just obtained new land to set up another farm, and Sylas, along with his father and three brothers, was tasked with preparing it for planting. It was hard work, but like his dad always said. Honest. Much better than being something like a royal advisor. Sylas had heard rumors about people who took up such jobs; they were almost always unpleasant to the ear.
Regardless, none of that mattered to him. Turning his gaze over to his siblings, he could not help but smile seeing them all work together. He was the oldest of the bunch at seventeen, his eighteenth birthday only a day away. As for his siblings, the next in line after him was Adam, who was sixteen as of three weeks ago, followed by Jack, who was twelve, and finally Kale, who had just turned two days prior.
Being the older brother, he was Sylas always loved watching them. Whether it was when they were just roughhousing or playing ball, he found it gave him joy to see them interact. As for himself, he was rather closed off; he had never been the type of child to play with others much, even less so now that he was about to be an adult.
Adult.
Time really does fly… As he was lost in thought, his eyes having an almost far-off and distant look his farther finally looked up from his task and glanced around the field before noticing Sylas and letting out a sigh.
That boy… he thought. Always zoning out the second his mind started to wander. Smacking his hands together to get the dirt somewhat off, he waded his way over before flicking Sylas on the back of the head, making the young man jolt. "Sylas, stop staring off into space and get back to work. It won't be long before the sun starts to go down."
Rubbing the back of his head, Sylas turned around. "You didn't have to flick me, y'know?" He said with a slight grumble, to which his father just snorted before walking back over to where he was previously.
Seeing that Sylas just let out a sigh and started to move again, a low mumble left his lips. "Guess it's back to work."
***
Far, far away from Sylas and his family, inside the royal palace, sat the emperor, who was looking down at a man kneeling before him with an impassive gaze. He was a man of tall and lean stature, his body showing rippling muscles underneath his golden robes. Even being sixty years old, his body was still holding strong due to his regular exercise. Despite all that, he found himself quite annoyed looking at the kneeling man who was even older than himself, spotting a coat of white hair.
Nothing had been going his way today. Just earlier, he learned of a skirmish on his borders against the neighboring empire, Jutan. And now he had to listen to this old man who dubbed himself 'diviner' rattle off fairy tales. No one told him that being an emperor could be this exhausting. Shaking his head, he finally spoke to the man kneeling before him, who was covered in a light sheen of sweat, his body trembling.
"What do you have for me today, Fareth?" He asked, his voice impassive, hiding his irritation, something he learned to do having ruled for more than 30 years.
"Your Majesty." The man said with a slight pause before looking up, "I was going about my usual activities when my divinations suddenly went haywire."
"Haywire?" The emperor questioned.
"Yes." The diviner responded, "Never in my eighty years of life has such a thing happened… After my divination started to settle, something unsettling was left in the wake of whatever happened. It was not clear, but…"
"But…?" The emperor showed a face of annoyance at the diviners' pausing.
"... It showed the fall."
The emperor stared at the diviner, feeling an unsettling urge to call his guards and end the man right then and there! The fall! HAH. This damnable old man and his stupid divinations! Clenching the arm of his throne, the emperor took a deep breath before speaking once more.
"The fall of what diviner!" He said through clenched teeth.
The diviner who saw his majesty's irritation could only let out a tired sigh inwardly before saying what he was truly scared to utter. These words were likely to have him killed, but what was coming for their planet… Maybe it was better to die now.
"Of the world. Of the empires. Of everything."
…
"GUARDS!"
***
The sky cracked open.
We had just finished our work for the day and had started to head back towards the house when the entire planet shook, unlike anything ever before. At first, we had thought it was but a simple earthquake, only many magnitudes worse. Oh, how wrong we were. Now I, my father, and three brothers. Could only stare at the massive hold stretching across the sky in utter shock. With the crack came a booming sound that made my ears ring, forcing me to cover them desperately with my hands. Even worse was the wind after. It blew us all off our feet. I eventually managed to grip onto a root that was sticking out of the ground.
My father and siblings were not so lucky, and I could only watch helplessly as they were blown around by the insane winds. Luckily, they did not last long. Unfortunately, I was unable to check on them or gather myself as I felt something… A shift. It was like my body was being changed. Improved. My once dense muscle started to compress, my body becoming leaner, sleek. As I stared at my arms in wonder, I was suddenly disoriented as my senses seemed to go all wack for a moment. Panic overtook as my vision swam and my ears seemed to go deaf.
JUST WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?!? I could not help but yell inwardly.
After a long moment of thinking I was going to be almost blind and completely deaf. Everything returned. At once! That was even worse than losing them in the first place! Do you know what it's like to suddenly regain the ability to hear and see, but not just regain them? But to do so at the same time. When. They. Are. Vastly. IMPROVED!?!? If I did not already have a busting headache, I was sure it would have come quickly then, as my head felt like it might implode from the sudden sensory input.
I could hear my siblings' cries of confusion even though they were quite far due to the wind. Even more insane, I could see the sweat, worry, and confusion on my father's face as his gaze moved around between us all. Whatever was happening, it was clear to me that it was going to change how the world worked. Abilities like this were sure to cause problems… The only issue is that I was unsure if it only affected certain people, everyone, or just me.
Only one way to find out.
Standing up and brushing myself off, I noticed how light my body felt. Even though I was young, things were clearly different from just a few hours ago. Before, my body felt good, youthful, but used to hard work and tired from the long day in the fields. Now? I felt strong. Extravagantly so. Not only that, but I was also no longer feeling tired! If anything, I felt like I could run for days without exhausting myself.
With that, a sudden thought appeared in my mind. Why walk to my father when I could run and also test out my newfound strength? Surely this body upgrade comes with an increase in speed, no? Letting a smile form on my lips and trying to ignore the craziness of the whole situation, I took off. My foot leaving a slight impact in the ground. Suddenly, however, I felt regret for my sudden interest in testing out my new body. I was faster. That was for sure. But what did not seem to note that increase was my brain. Almost immediately after taking off, I lost control, not used to moving at such speed, and tripped, crashing into the ground feet away from my father, who was now standing next to all of my siblings.
"Ow," I mumbled with my face planted into the dirt.
Rolling over and spitting out the dirt in my mouth, I noticed my father and brothers looking down at me with varying expressions. My siblings, of course, found it funny and were holding back laughter. My father, however, only held a look of seriousness as he pulled me up. His strength surprised both me, as I was all but yanked into the air.
"Okay, I don't know what in the bloody hell is happening, but we need to get back to your mother. Now. So enough goofing off, and let's get moving." Those words snapped my brothers and me into silent action as we all started moving towards the house, our father leading the way with hurried but also cautious steps. Now that we were moving and I was not so intrigued by my newfound abilities, I realized how out of character I had just acted. I was not normally so impulsive… I was usually the type of person to study something before acting, going through every step I felt needed. Shaking my head, I looked at the house that was now much closer and saw my mother standing outside, hurrying towards my father with a pale face. Now was not the time for wayward thoughts and self-loathing.
My father's steps increased as he wrapped his arms around my mother in a hug, with my brothers and me joining in as well, taking a moment of silence in the chaos that I was sure would ensue. After a long moment, we all separated, and my father looked at us with a hard expression.
"We need to prepare. Sylas." He said, his blue eyes locking onto mine. "You are to stay and watch over your mother, Jack, and Kale while Adam and I get everything needed for what might come." Nodding my head, I watched father and my brother walk off towards our barn before ushering my mother and two brothers inside. Right as I got them inside and closed the door, and looked out from the porch at the still cracked skyline, something filled my vision.
"Energy (Ather) Integrated into planet Kalos."
"Welcome, Sylas, to the primal system."
"Would you like to integrate the system?"
Staring at the shimmering blue panel that floated in my vision, my jaw slowly dropped, and only one thing ran through my mind.
Yeah, I am definitely going insane.