Chapter 1: A Haven Far From Strife
"I've seen hell in my life, so now I live like I belong in it"
-Hell's Paradise
Somewhere beyond the reaches of light was a town that had become nest to Anulian-
A darkhold.
Not even air existed within its borders, almost as though the wind feared it… Yet a lone figure walked the streets.
Whenever an Anulian attacked, it would be finished off with one strike. Mana smashed it into the ground, absorbing it… A miracle, for it was meant to be the other way round.
"There you are." He muttered to himself, looking at the goal of his expedition, one he had spent weeks on.
He pulled the sword bathed in anti-matter from the ground. A sword with strange otherworldly engravings that seemed to command the null energy. He brandished it with a smile.
Roar!
"A queen." He looked towards the source of the roar, expressing no interest in combat.
Whoosh.
A golden door formed before him, then he walked in.
From the door, a gust of potent mana invaded the darkhold, mana potent enough not to be absorbed immediately.
"I told you he always comes here." A female voice muttered, her voice a bit shaky.
"Very strong," A male voice muttered.
"I don't think he'll be returning anytime soon," Another voice said, then she rose from her hiding spot, running towards the slowly closing gate "Let's go."
"Are you crazy?" The first voice's owner rose as well, a bit skeptical.
"Since when were you strong enough to fight that thing?" The boy pointed at the mass of null energy quickly approaching their location.
With nothing else to say, the three teenagers rushed into the door just before it closed, leaving no clue except the influx of mana and angry Anulian of its existence.
Soon, the scenery changed, they no longer stood in a city filled with the pungent scent of nothingness, rather they stood in a vast environment rich with mana. They looked around, trees rising as mountains, a blue sky containing one sun, then they wondered— where had they, a group consisting of a red elf, a southern gyn and a hybrid elf ended up.
This probably wasn't their home planet anymore…
"Well we can't go back now." Lira, the hybrid elf said, taking off her breathing mask. She brushed her blue hair to the side, squinting her silver eyes in deep thought.
Amy's ebony skin glimmered in the sun "I've mixed feelings about this."
{A/N: The only difference between a southern and northern gyn is their skin colour. The northern gyn in Westeria, Voldmore and the Theocracy have black skin, whilst the southern in the coastal nations have ebony skin.}
"Does that mean we are… free?" Jake the red elf asked, stunned.
The three had been subject to illegal activity in the Cascyn republic, dark mining. Cascyn was a coastal nation, which meant it was rich in energy. It had been blessed with oceanic mana, however, this blessing had turned into a curse.
The Anulian incursion targeted areas rich in mana, however, as bad as it was, it also brought about something good… Null gem. A resource used to build the illegal null bombs and guns. Null gems were only found in darkholds and other null energy concentrations.
Slaves became key miners of this resource, the three were part of those slaves
Roar!
The bellow of beasts echoed through the forest.
"We should get going." Jake rested his arm and his sword and started moving.
_ _ _
After 3 hours of wandering,
The three stood at the edge of a cliff, they had finally discovered civilization.
Below them was a golden city, one straight out of a fairytale.
It was covered by a mist of thick mana, which should be impossible: This amount of mana was like ringing Anulian… yet the civilization remained untouched.
The most eye catching feature of this city however was the floating tower at the centre.
_Swoosh_
A group of metallic balls flew toward them.
_/ Unauthorized individuals detected outside Haven.
No adventurer badge detected.
Facial recognition: negative.
Energy signature: foreign.
Strangers not found in Haven database.
Recalibrating...
Emergency protocol activated.
\_
After the mechanic voice ended, the drones turned red and begun vibrating furiously, then spun around the three, creating a red circle
The circle turned into a blue portal,
"Oh shit."
Then the group fell in.
When they opened their eyes, they looked down at the floor- though it looked more like a field of stars, a galaxy.
The three surveyed their surroundings until their eyes landed on the yellowish-dark skinned man sitting on the central throne.
He was a stranger, but they could at least tell he was dangerous.
"Where are we?" Lira and Jake pulled out their light-tinted swords whilst Amy took out her grimoire, preparing to cast a spell.
"A better world." He said as he rose, walking slowly to them, stopping only when the swords touched his skin.
Crank.
The door opened, and another man walked in, the man Lira had for weeks, the one they followed into this Utopia, his white hair neatly combed to the back, his sharp eyes observing his visitors… but they lingered on Lira for way too long.
"Chris." Adrian turned to Chris with a nod.
Then Chris smiled and stood behind Adrian.
"Hello, I'm Adrian."