The AetherLink, a powerful and advanced device, capable of storing millions and billions of information all at once, for the user to look through, also allowing the user to talk to people a million light-years away in a second. It was the first of its kind. No one has ever dared to own one, as it comes with its dangers...
Except for a boy, named Wayne.
Wayne could hear a roar in the distance of the woods. It sounded close, echoing around the forest. It was almost evening, as the sun set, and the moon took over. Suddenly, Wayne heard a howl nearby. It sounded like a pack of wolves, lurking and stalking him, preying on its next victim.
That's when he heard footsteps right behind him. He turned his head, trying to get a glimpse of what was there, and he saw three gleaming eyes, breaking the darkness. It was a pack of brown-colored wolves, staring right at him. You could tell they were starving for his flesh.
Wayne kept his hand on his sword, getting ready to fight them, but suddenly, the wolves backed off. Their face looked scared, and nervous, like there was a monster right before them. But then, Wayne felt a hand, gripping onto his shoulder. The hand was thick and strong, with many scars on them. Wayne felt his strength, he was strong, maybe even stronger than one of the Neophytes.
"Stay back kid!"
The man dashed forward, hurdling right at the dire wolves, uppercutting one of them in the jaw. The wolf went flying in the air, instantly killing it, with its dead body on the ground. He was really strong. To kill a wolf with one punch was almost impossible in his old world. Wayne knew this world was way stronger than Aetherion.
There it was again; the man used magic, but this time, it wasn't fire, it was him using the dirt and rocks in the ground, grabbing them, and crushing the wolves one by one with the ground and earth.
"Earth magic?" Wayne thought so.
The guy was bulky, but it was all muscle, but he was fast, very fast. He moved from one spot to another, faster than you blink your eyes, and suddenly, all the wolves were laying on the floor, with a pool of blood, soaking out their bodies.
The guy had no blood on him like he never fought them. He was too fast for the wolves to even react. He walked toward Wayne, with a menacing face. Wayne clenched his mouth, taking a few steps back, thinking the mystery man was going to kill him, but then suddenly, his face lit up.
"Hey kid, sorry for the mess. I heard some roars and screaming. I thought someone may be in trouble."
Wayne stuttered, shocked by the amount of power this guy had, but was still polite to him, almost reminding him of Arthur.
"Oh-oh no, not a problem at all. But good thing you came, because I happened to be lost in the forest. Do you know where is the exit?"
"Yeaaa, I do happen to know where it is. Just follow me there, it's only a few miles away."
Wayne didn't like the way he answered that. Did he catch on? Wayne kept his suspicion on him for the duration of the walk.
15 minutes later
The end was near, he could see a beaming light, coming out of the forest, lighting up the night sky. There it was, a town filled with old-fashioned street lights, wooden houses, and people walking around the streets.
"Kid, welcome to Gloomsbury, the place we call home!"
They both entered the city, Wayne noticing a vast majority of the people looking at the man.
A lady from a crowd yells to everyone, "Hey everyone, Mr. Thorn is back from the forest!"
Mr. Thorne greets everyone, shaking hands and patting kids on the head. He must've been an important man to the city.
Suddenly, Wayne gets two beeping sounds from his head. It must be the AetherLink. His memory suddenly memorizes two things, this city and Mr. Thorne. But one more thing appears, a green waypoint on a map he imagined in his head.
It was The Path, alerting him on the missions. He just arrived in the city, but his mind already knew the places he needed to be.
Then, Mr. Thorne tapped at me, getting my attention.
"Kid, follow me, I'll bring you to a motel where you can stay. I wouldn't recommend you traveling in the dark."
"Oh yes, thank you, Mr. Thorne."
Wayne thought to himself, "I need to finish these missions quickly" before it's too late.
Mr. Thorne brought Wayne to the hotel. The motel was small, with only four floors, but it was busy, with people waiting in line to get a key to a room. But Thorne ignored that, skipping to the front.
"Sir, can you please lend me a key for this young gentleman? Sorry, what was your name kid?"
"You can call me Wayne sir."
"Wayne it is! One room for Wayne sir!"
Thorne patted Wayne's back, telling him to have a good stay at Gloomsbury. He handed Wayne the key, and it looked like Wayne's room was on the third floor.
Wayne took the stairs to the floor, walking the long hallways to his room. He unlocked Room 32, the door making a loud creaking sound. The motel was old, with dusty corners and wood planks creaking every time you took a step. Wayne looked at the old clock in front of the bed, showing 11 pm. Wayne got onto the bed and covered himself with the blankets.
The Next Day...
The windows reflected the bright sun rays, pointing right at Wayne, waking him up. It was 8 in the morning. Wayne's face turned serious, it was time to complete the two missions The Path gave him in Gloomsbury. Wayne had no idea what the missions were going to be like, but he had a bad feeling about it.
Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. Wayne quickly got out of bed, put back on his shirt, and quickly opened the door.
There, he saw a dark glooming man standing in front of him. It was Thorne.
"Hey kid, I need to talk to you about something." His voice seemed quiet and gloomy, rather than the loud and amused voice he would regularly talk in.
Something was wrong.
Thorne suddenly grabbed Wayne's collar, lifting him. He carried Wayne to a building, which looked like a station.
He threw Wayne onto a chair, where he then proceeded to tie up Wayne's arms to the chair.
"Kid, who are you? You're not from this place at all!"
"What? What do you mean? I already told you, I got lost in the woods."
"Not that. I mean you are not from this world at all. When I first met you, I didn't sense a single bit of Essence in you."
Essence? What's Essence?
"Don't tell me you don't know what Essence is. Everyone from this world should know what Essence means." Thorne laughed, catching onto Wayne's secret.
Wayne was in complete silence, processing what just happened. Wayne didn't know what to say or do, as he knew nothing about this world. Suddenly, Wayne's head beeped, slowly seeing a faded image of a green icon, right above Mr. Thorne's head.
Wayne saw a message, it was The Path, aborting all the missions, except one:
"Kill Lucian Thorn"
Wayne's eyes opened wide. He couldn't believe that The Path ordered him to kill Mr. Thorne. But looking at the situation he's in right now, that's the only option that made sense. But the problem was, he was tied up in a chair and he didn't have his sword on him.
And Thorne could use earth magic.
Wayne and Thorne stared at each other's gaze. Then Thorne leaned forward, with his hands connected under his chin, squinting his eyes in a menacing view.
"You're not from this world, are you? Rumor has it that if an Outlander is caught, they'll kill them. And I'm certainly not going to protect you, so why don't I just kill you!" Thorne laughed, calling in his guards, pointing at Wayne.
"Kill him." Thorne's voice was cold, final. The guards stepped forward, their weapons gleaming in the dim light.
"Shit"