《tales of a Nephalem》


 prologue

    drip drip drip


    A youth was running in the middle of a narrow street, pulling his jacket''s collar to cover his head.


    there was a heavy downpour in Giza and the neighboring governorates, all radio stations advised everyone to cease All activity and stay indoors.


    "damn it, damn it, damn it!"


    "damn the weather forecasts! where the hell is the ''sunny for a week straight'' in this rain?!"


    "this is the damn first day!"


    Most of the time, if the youth wasn''t in university, he would be in his room playing on his pc. mother couldn''t even scold him because somehow he mostly got straight A''s.


    The lowest grade he got on a course was B-. so even if his mother attempted to turn the game off and tell him to study or do something useful, he would just pull out the recent grades he got and continue whatever he was doing.


    That''s why she decided to give him money and tell him to get out and have fun outside, It took few months to finally convince him to take a walk to the nearby pastry shop and chill outside.


    he even listened to her and didn''t wear the hoodie he wears every day.


    ........not even halfway when he found the previously clear sky get filled with grey clouds and a sudden downpour to fall on his head.


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    ''what kind of mother wants her son to leave the house? she should be more grateful! where other kids use their vape every minute of the day or always get in fights, I am obediently staying in my room. such an age we live in....''


    The youth turned and went up the short stairs while getting the keys out of his pockets.


    Soon, he opened the door to the building where his parent''s apartment is. the light of entrance showed the youth who entered.


    he had a fair skin with brown eyes, he had messy black hair -messy even before the rain- with short sides. he wore a loose black jacket and black wide jeans.


    even though he didn''t go outside a lot, he always liked to wear nice clothes.


    his fashion sense was all about wearing comfortable and loose bland clothes, if he got out then at least he wants to feel free and comfortable in his outfit.


    ''It is a good thing, I suppose, that it rained because I got to avoid spending even 30 minutes outside and gained some good son points! I can''t wait to make some coffee and game until sunrise! oh wait, I have a lecture tomorrow......''


    without him noticing, a faint golden symbol started forming under him and started to grow intense.


    as he closed the door and took a step forward, the symbol fully martialized and blinding light filled area.


    ''actually, rainy weather equals a cup of tea with mint! professor wafde is such a pain in the butt. but if i arrive early and doze off, the 1 hour will fly by a-''


    "AUGH!"


    the blinded him as soon as him took the step and he fell on his knees.


    he managed to take a glimpse down to the floor to see a golden symbol with weird symbol underneath his feet shining with intense light.


    ''w-what is th-''


    loud uncoherent whispers started entering his ears, and weird runes started floating out of the glowing circle.


    suddenly the already intense light grew more and it appeared as the world appeared as thought the world became dyed in white.


    with it, the youth felt a strong headache followed by tingling all across his body.


    not even moment passed that the light vanished, and the entrance of the building grew normal again.


    .....only that the youth vanished as well.

 unbound

    ...emptiness


    pure nothingness


    The youth did not know where he was.......matter of fact, he was not capable of thinking about anything.


    Nothing was in his mind, filling it. making him in an almost stasis state. The only thing that that was....not nothing was the faint feeling of being pulled somewhere.


    The feeling was so faint that at the start it did not even seem to exist. only getting slightly stronger as time went on.


    He did not know how long it took for the pull to be strong enough for it to be felt. for there was no time in this, nor was there space in this.......space for him to know where he was being pulled to.


    It seemed the rate the pull was being stronger. Suddenly, he felt himself flying at such a high speed that it seemed weird he did not get turned into a thin thread yet. He was not even sure what he was right now. but he was sure he still existed


    ....almost sure.


    His speed was even getting faster and faster. If he had experienced light speed, he would have known he had long exceeded it.


    After an eternity, maybe even more. He seemed to cross some kind of threshold, for abruptly nothingness seemed to cease. There was time and space once again. Sadly, it seemed the space he was in had no source of light, so he could not check the state of his body. but he felt he was still himself, humanoid.


    There was no need to fear being turned into a thread after all!


    He was still in an almost dazed state. and it seemed the journey made him tired. He almost went to slumber when he felt a pull.


    He actually forgot about the pull till now. He does not know why he thought he came to a stop, he still felt like he was being pulled at a very high speed.


    It seemed that the infinitely fast speed made him think of mere light speed as a stop. Maybe that speed was the limit for people who....exist?


    ''........What the.......actual fuck......... am I thinking about right now???''


    It seemed what was pulling him was a string, not a weird gravity force, for he felt a tug from it. he did not know what it was being attached to. It did not seem to be attached to him but rather going into him. pulling him from within his chest.


    from his existence. from his self.


    He felt another tug. finally recognizing them. He misunderstood them for tugs, for they were vibrations. it seemed he was still confused from being in nothingness since his sense of time was so messed up.


    The vibrations were getting stronger and more frequent. suddenly stopping as he felt a tug stronger than all the rest.


    he heard a whisper, sounding so familiar yet not. coming from a place far away, making it almost hearable yet filling his ears. waking him up.


    it sounded so burdened and heavy. as though the speaker was carrying a heavy load for a long time.


    ".......Now"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    That tug was the last as the sound of glass breaking filled the world.


    It seemed as if the string was made of glass. The sound was so loud if he had eardrums, they would have ruptured. Maybe the vibrations were strong enough to simply break his bones and liquefy him.


    It seemed that sound was the only thing capable of finally waking him up fully as he opened his eyes. It seemed he had never opened them in the first place.


    ''WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!''


    He looked at himself, not finding his body. It seemed that he was now made of light. barely looking humanoidly shaped. finally getting the reason as to why he still had his ear and why he did not simply die moments before he looked around.


    ''.........huh.''


    A wall of great golden brilliance greeted him. stretching endlessly in all directions, except to the right, as there was a similar wall of pure darkness and vileness. He has gotten a feeling of true dread from simply gazing in its direction. There was a weird region between the two walls, in constant movement and full of turbulence. It seemed both walls were in a constant struggle in said region. he seemed to have been pulled to the center of the golden wall.


    Looking behind him, he found nothing. not even a black void, but instead pure nothingness. it seemed his mind could not comprehend such a concept that he got an intense headache from gazing upon it.


    fearing for his mind. he did not focus on it but rather paid attention to what was coming out of it.


    It seemed he was not the only victim here. there were hundreds of weird, humanoid-looking beings of light too being pulled. Except they were not being pulled to the center of the wall. some were pulled to the edges, even coming close to the area of turbulence between the two walls. But those were a minority, most were being pulled....above the door? it seemed once again, his concept of space and time was so messed up he mistook the walls as endless. they were really, really big though.


    They simply passed through the edge, barely getting grazed by the Great Wall of Brilliance. all the wall touched had a weird change to their bodies, as they took on a weird golden color. even the people getting simply grazed by the wall had their hue turning barely golden hue. properly the more someone was close to the center, the more golden they became.


    ....he ignored the weird blobs of vileness that seemed to be spat out from the wall of darkness each time someone was changed by the brilliance.


    all of them had weird, barely visible strings pulling them, all of them with varying colors and hues. all who passed through the door had a golden thread, shining more the more someone was close to the center.


    speaking of strings...


    ''that seems problematic.''


    his string remains seemed to be pulled to him. getting unstrung from wherever it was leading and going back to him. as though a rubber band is being unstrung from one side after being stretched and rushing to the other. He does not know what came first, the unattachment or the string shattering, but all the remains of the string seemed to rush into him and be absorbed by him.


    A myriad of whispers seemed to rush around him, countless images and scenes passed him like a blur. which he did not pay attention to for he noticed something troubling.


    it seemed the shattering had somehow pushed him away from the center of the wall, and suddenly he felt a strong pull from the black wall.


    ''huh''


    His trajectory started taking a sharp turn from the wall of brilliance. he collided with all of the people on the way. for some reason, all of them got moved in the direction of the center, not farther. one lucky guy even got pushed to a place almost as close as the youth was originally in. he collided with some others. before finally having his turn of diving into the walls.


    it seemed that he had enough inertia to not have reached the black wall or the area around it. but he got so far away that he did not make it to the great golden wall.


    ''.....fuck''


    as he dived in, he felt a great feeling of euphoria. a great feeling of......bliss. which would have been pleasant if not followed by a great feeling of pain.


    the pain was so strong and sudden that it made him crash out. it seemed the pain was strong enough not to let him ever rest, but the feeling of bliss lessened the pain, making it possible for him to become unconscious once again.


    before going to slumber. he had absorbed the last of Sting''s fragment. followed by a whisper of the unknown person once again.


    "....Oh, who was meant to be. you shall be unmeant to be. Oh, who was destined for greatness, you shall be undestined to be. oh, whose road and path was once filled with roses at the gates and thorns at the end, you shall find and forge another. Oh, who was the gods'' strongest hammer and sharpest blade, you shall point your edge against them. oh....."


    the voice seemed to be reluctant before saying its last word.


    ".....me"