《Coordinators》 World: Arcana In another universe far far away, there was a world that¡¯s inhabitable just like ours. Creatures from fantasy lived in this world, yet the difference of it all is mana being present. Yes, this fantasy-like world was filled with such, and due to that, different intellectual beings aside from what you call humans arise in these world. Races of different origins, a world of magic, it was a beautiful sight to behold. But, it came with a price, due to having a diverse amount of races, such beings alienate themselves from each other, time passes up to a point where conflicts and discrimination arose. This world started their first world war, though some remained neutral, other races fought, allied, and killed each other during these times. Their technology wasn¡¯t that developed, so they fought with either their fists, clubs, or magic. These skirmishes lasted of hundreds of years, until at some point they stood to a bottleneck. The remaining factions were left with four, those with the forest, those in the mountains, those in the sea, and those on the fields. Those of the forest were races reliant to the forest, such races like elves, dryads, treants, and such are on this faction. Same can be said on the others, the mountains are where the dwarves, beastmen, harpies and golems, while the sea was merfolks, nagas, scyllas, or lamias, and lastly on the fields are those of humans, although with them are the orcs and goblins. As the war has turned into a stand still due to resources and massive amounts of deaths, the neutral faction emerged and pacified the fight, one of the strongest races, the dragons, has become the pacifist of the war, and thus declared the end of war and has convinced all factions to sign a treaty. The other factions obliged, although there are some slight conflicts due to their discrimination still strong, they accepted the treaty of peace. This united all the factions onto one banner, as the dragons are the pacifists, they are considered the observers. Though it may seem like they just took the spotlight, they really have grown tired of seeing the battles, thus they put matters onto their hands to end it. Each factions are deemed to have representatives to be sent as emissaries to each other, learning another¡¯s race, environment and culture. The treaty of peace started with mishaps here and there, but eventually a hundred years later, it¡¯s purpose has finally bore fruit, you could truly say there was harmony. The factions long gone, now all merged and united as one. Each faction have learned their mistakes and amended their faults, apologies and forgiveness were made to each other, mutual understanding was established and peace has finally arrived on this world. In this era, the dragons were chosen as their leaders as they were the ones who pacified the endless battles, and they were wise and equal in judgement. The dragons accepted their plea, and became the kings on each country. Of course, after accepting the position, they made the law and passed it down to each country. Although the leader would be called king, but this king would be chosen by the people, a democratic republican society. A society for the people, and by the people. A few more years has passed, peace and order lived true. Until, beings from the center of this world emerged, these beings have no intelligence, they are like parasites that consumes everything into pitch black, controlling the things they consume and devour more. The races united once more to suppress this enemy. They named these beings devourers, they all came from the very center of the continent, the place where all life began, how ironic that what gave birth to this same place was the ones that would bring extinction. In a nearby forest, there was a settlement of orcs. If you would think of orcs, they are savages but in this world, they have reason, although their intelligence aren¡¯t that much. The peace treaty had made these race docile enough, although it¡¯s true that they have high vitality in their body, and they do tend to get wild when blood rushes in their heads. This settlement, or should I say, village is the village of Gronk. Gronk is a young warrior orc, he is the son of the chieftain in this village. He was usually shun by the mass because of his diligence of knowledge which is weird for an orc. Though the kid doesn¡¯t really mind it though. Gronk loves books and of course, love battle, yet people shun him just because he likes reading, orcs are really weird that way. It was just a normal day for this young orc, but suddenly things have turned to worse. Those beings that devour anything reached into their village. The chieftain called for arms, and ordered some men to bring the elderly and kids to safety. But it only took an instance for the devourers to end the fight, everything was consumed. Gronk was the only orc left, a devourer almost killed him but his father shielded him at the last moment. Fatigue, fear, and sadness, all kinds of negative feelings welled up on this young orc as he tried to fend off the devourers. The devourers who some had faces of his loved ones, even his father, was there, snickering, crying, shouting, as they chase him. Gronk evaded, parried, and attacked clumsily, he was lucky he could still survive this long, he was cornered like a rat at this point. Until suddenly, a light from the heavens bursts down onto him and everything around it, purifying the land with the intense heat, though it seemed like everything except Gronk was burned to oblivion. A tattoo was formed on the face of Gronk, near his eye, it glowed and then turned black. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.After a bit of rest, Gronk became conscious, and started running again from the place. Almost reaching his limit, he heard something. ????¡¯s groan could be heard. *pant* *pant* "?" *pant* *pant* *pant* "What''s that sound?" Curious at the sound of panting, I tried to move yet unable to. It feels like everything is restricted except my sense of hearing and my thoughts. "Ugh, who there?" Another voice came out, yet I can''t see nor feel him. As soon as I wanted to reply, light suddenly came out of nowhere, showing my surroundings. It seems like I am in a forest. "Where are you?" I asked the other person, though it''s weird how I can''t turn or look around. All of a sudden, my line of sigh moved left and right, as if looking for something. "Here, me no see you." Huh, something is wrong. "Hey, try moving checking your left." As if complying with my request, the other person looked left, and suddenly my view moved also to the left. ¡°Where?¡± The person again asked. ¡°Well¡­I think I am inside you.¡± Hearing what I said, the said person soon look around his body trying to find me. His body¡¯s color seemed to be green and I can smell his scent with his nose and other senses. For now, I¡¯ll ignore the his appearance and give him a suitable answer. ¡°No, no, no. Not physically. I mean, mentally. I am in your mind. It seems like we are linked together.¡± ¡°My mind? Linked? Who?¡± It seemed like this guy has below average intelligence, I¡¯m now curious as to what he is. Hmm, it seems like my memory is a bit hazy. ¡°I am linked to you. Think of it as a ghost talking to you.¡± Soon as I said the word ghost, he seemed to jolt and tried to get up and run away but fumbled down. Ouch, I can feel his pain. It seemed like he is in pain. I need to stop his movement before gets any more injuries. ¡°Stop! I¡¯m just trying to compare it, I¡¯m not a ghost or anything. If you think of another term, I might be your guardian or something.¡± Still a bit spooked, contemplating a bit, he then give a nod, as he slowly sat down to ease his pain. ¡°Okay. First off, it seems like I¡¯m stuck with you for a short time. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Name?¡± Asked the person. ¡°Oh, right. I need to introduce myself first, where are my manners.¡± Though I still don¡¯t remember anything, I¡¯m still a bit embarrassed that I made such a mistake. ¡°Let¡¯s see. I don¡¯t have any memories of anything of my past, so I guess you can call me Void, may I what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Me, Gronk. Nice meet you.¡± ¡°Okay, Gronk. Sorry to ask you this but, may I ask where are we?¡± ¡°Me only know this forest. Live here with same like me, but devourers attack home, and me run from them.¡± Devourers? ¡°Then what are you?¡± ¡°Orc.¡± ¡°Orc? Is that a race? Nevermind, I guess we¡¯ll stick together for a long time Gronk. ¡± Reminded by the fact that he was injured and was running away from the attackers, I asked if he was okay. ¡°Just need rest, orc heal fast.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds nifty. Is that a trait of you guys?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡­ Crap. I¡¯m running out of discussions. Although, his verbal skills feels lacking, it seems like I can convey myself to him properly. Hmm? That¡¯s weird, how do I know their language then? This is another answer that I need to find. Getting lost to my own train of thought, Gronk seemed to fidget a bit, and finally opened his mouth. ¡°Uh, Void.¡± ¡°Hm? Yes? What is it?¡± Snapping back to reality I replied. ¡°What do now? Me hate die.¡± Oh right, attackers. ¡°How about we find a place to rest, like a hole or an empty cave where we can hide for now?¡± ¡°Smart.¡± Acknowledging my idea, he now proceeds with caution and walks through the woods. There seemed to be a big tree with a crevice that he can fit in. ¡°I think that looks good, check and see if there is anything inside, if it¡¯s safe, get in and cover yourself with leaves and branches or get a bunch of shrubs if you can pluck them up and cover it with that.¡± Nodding, Gronk checked the inside, there are a bunch of insects here and there but it looked safe. ¡°Wait, what are you doing? You¡¯re eating the insects?¡± ¡°Food. Hungry.¡± Soon as he said that he got a clump full and jam it in his mouth and then starts chewing it. ¡°No, wait. I¡¯m not rea¡ªAaaaaagh!¡± The slimy and crunchy feeling from eating insects and other little critters I suddenly felt as I am also linked with him. I don¡¯t know why, but it feels disgusting. ¡°Gronk, you should¡¯ve given me a heads up first before doing that! First time in my life have I eaten such things!¡± Wait, first time? ¡°Need food, find food, eat.¡± He shrugged as he said that. Seriously, is that part of the meals an Orc have to eat? This is way too weird for me. Having an imaginary sweat as I am troubled as the future seemed bleak. This guy needs to be educated¡­ ¡°Sleepy.¡± Gronk crawled inside the crevice as soon as he finished the temporary hideout. ¡°Hmm, I am getting sleepy too, I guess let¡¯s call this a night then, good night Gronk.¡± Covering the entrance, he lay curled up and yawns. ¡°Night.¡± Soon as he said that, his eyelids are slowly closing, going into dreamland. I too am getting sleepy, so I am dozing off afterwards too. World: Earth For a while now, I¡¯ve been on this space after Gronk went to sleep. Is this a dream I¡¯m having? With no one to answer, I began floating around this white space until I see a scene from afar. There was a single boy sitting on the bed, with some kind of string attached to his arm, and a cover on his face that¡¯s connected to a machinery. He looked cheery for a kid in bed, he looked thin, and malnourished from my perspective. Is this me? Even though I know it¡¯s a rhetorical question but still that thought popped in my mind. As the scene continues to play, someone comes in, a person covered in white coat, followed by a pair, a male and a female, they went near to the kid, and soon they conversed to each other. Not long, I realized these are the parents of said kid. Though I couldn¡¯t see their faces, I can see sadness mixed with happiness as they conversed with the boy. Soon after, they all turn to the box and clicked something, and small people are moving inside. I think this is what they call television, I think. The kid was excited, watching the so called television with his parents. It was his favorite show, it seems. It looked like a fighting show that portrays prowess in melee battles. Two men are fighting each other, although it wasn¡¯t a fight to the death, it was still a brawl. A battle to become the best, the strongest. Ah, yes. I think I remember a bit of this. It was an exciting fight. The kid was all fired up, yet he¡¯s feeble, and cough from time to time. This worried the parents every now and then, but they still watched together with him. After the battle, the winner, made a speech. Yes, this speech was important to me. I saw the face of the kid, he was crying, yet his eyes was still glued to the television. His parents are startled at this fact, and tried to see what¡¯s wrong. His father jumped out to the room to call for assistance while his mom was caressing the child. I know this scene. This was the reason I came this this far in life. This was the push that I needed to live my life to the fullest. At some point, I could hear the voice of the man in television, although it was just fragments. The important parts are still there. My eyes are now glued to the television too, just like the little kid. Tears also welled up in my eyes, as I remember the words. I also spoke the same time as the man, the words that spur me to live stronger. ¡°-----no matter how great the setback, how severe the failure, you never give up.¡± "You never give up, you pick yourself up, you brush yourself off, you get up and move on and over come." I closed my eyes, as those words penetrated me. I remembered myself from before. I was a child born with an incurable disease that drains ones vitality quickly. I was expected to die at a young age of 10. My parents still loved me for that. I smiled for them, in order to ease their worries, but I still can see sadness in their eyes, as they also smiled back to me. Although the medicines and technology hurt, I still endured for their sake. At the age of 5, I knew I was already dying. I had no hope for my future, but I still lived on for my parents, the television was my only sense of entertainment. Watching different kinds of shows, to see how life was in the world outside this room. Yes, I was bedridden since the day I was born. My body was already weak since the time I was born, it¡¯s even a miracle that was delivered safely, or even managed to survive the delivery. Anyways, there was this one favorite show that I always watch. It¡¯s a show about fighting, and I loved every second of it. A battle of strength, to become the best. This riled up my already tired spirit, and somehow it made me cheer up whenever I feel down by my predicament. Of course it doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not cheered up with my parents. I¡¯m also being taken care by the nurses here, but still, being unable to do anything due to your sickness, is disheartening. So, the show has truly helped me cheer up whenever I¡¯m by myself at night. I was at the age of 7, my expected time of death nearing, I felt despair and helplessness more, but I try to be cheery, because I don¡¯t want anyone to be sad. I want to show them that I am not bothered that I lived short. Yet still, I want to live longer. I want to live the way I want to be, but how? I¡¯ve been thinking, and thinking, but my young mind couldn¡¯t find any possibilities. Until that day, that is. It was just your normal day, a normal visit by your parents. We watched the television as usual after our talk about how our days went. After the fight, my favorite fighter gave a speech. This speech shook me from the inside. ¡°Never give up.¡± These three words, gave me encouragement. To pursue any means necessary to achieve my goal. You can laugh all you want if you think that this encouragement was cheap. I don¡¯t care. People always cling to hope, no matter how small. These small things called hope could change one¡¯s view, be it good or worse. And this was mine. After that, I talked to my parents, with a resolute face. I want to surpass my weakness. I want to overcome this sickness They tried to persuade me that it¡¯s useless and it would do me more harm than it could help me. But medicines didn¡¯t work, or even the technology that our world could have. So, my solution was this. I will train my body, learn martial arts, and overcome this weakness through tempering my body. I pleaded my parents, convinced them. ¡°It¡¯s better to do it and die trying than to wait for my death in this room.¡± These were the words I told them. They were shocked by what I said, I know they are being overprotective to me, that¡¯s why they won¡¯t let me out, of this hospital. They didn¡¯t want me to die earlier than expected, their beloved son. I know it sounds presumptuous of me to say as if I know. Well, yes, I did know, but at that time I didn¡¯t. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.They final accepted my plea. And that very day, I was sent to my parent¡¯s home. You couldn¡¯t really call it a home, it¡¯s more like a skyscraper. I just realized how rich my parents are. It¡¯s funny, because the hospital was just next door. Anyways, they hired a couple of the nurses that took care of me, the veterans that were nursing me since I was a baby and were still nursing me in the hospital up to today. I¡¯m a bit shocked at how fast things were progressing. As soon as I reached to the room that they gave me, it was filled with books that was freshly bought, and equipment for training, up to a ring for matches. Oh, and the ¡°room¡± I told you about, it¡¯s one whole floor of the building. It was divided into three areas. The bedroom, the training room, and the reading lounge, though the reading lounge looks more like a mini-library. Truly doting parents, I love them so much. For the first time, I ate together with my parents, of course, I was spoon fed by the nurse. But still they were not bothered by it, and we continued our conversation with smiles plastered on our faces. The next day, I read books on how to train, martials arts, breathing methods, and meditation. My first few days were hard. First, I am training to stand up properly. The exhaustion was great, I even collapsed a couple of times from overexerting my really weak body. My parents would rush to me and carry me to the doctor and get myself checked up right away. But I stopped them, I took a rest a little bit, and continued my practice, raising my wobbly feet again. Their faces were filled with worries and at some point my mother ran out of the room, father watching me intently with a tear on his right eye. Really, they love me too much. I keep repeating the training, day in day out. I collapsed, vomit, and crawl to the ground, but I still will try to stand up. Until I could finally do it, they praised me, and had a feast when I finally could walk, and for the first time, I was really happy. I don¡¯t know if this would increase my already small life span, but I have no regrets. ¡°Never give up.¡± These three words. I keep chanting them every day, convincing myself, to the point of exhaustion, that one day, I would surpass my limits, and become stronger. Weeks later, my parents have hired an expert to teach me. At first I thought it would be better not to, but as soon as the expert told me some mistakes I made, I realized how it is important to have someone with more knowledge to teach you properly, being self-taught is hard. Thus started the training. Weeks turned to months, months turned years. I honed my body, trained them, nurture them. My body grew sturdier, my vitality is still weak due to the corrosion of my health, yet I still persevere, my appetite also persevere, in order to supply the nutrients to my body, the needed strength and such. My parents also sent a couple more experts a couple of times, teaching me. As soon as I learned enough, they would switch another expert, giving me more knowledge on how to build my body stronger. Of course I met the fighter I idolized at one point, it was on my 9th birthday, I was really surprised, I tip my hat to my parents. It seemed that he already knew about my disease since my parents had actually talked to him to visit me, since I was one of his fans. We ate together, conversed about his previous matches, and laughed at some of the funny parts of it too. He even taught me some of his moves, and such and it was really fulfilling. The day ended, and he had to leave, it was sad, but I know, maybe someday, we¡¯d meet again. I promised to go to one of his matches when I could finally be strong enough to go great distances. He raised his hand to me, I thought he was gonna pat my head, but it stopped midway and he spread out his hand. A hand shake, he looked at me in the eyes. And said. ¡°It¡¯s a promise then.¡± He saw me as a man, I was acknowledged by my idol. Happiness was spreading through me, I almost broke down into tears. I controlled my surging emotions, held my head high. With a smile, and eyes cloudy, almost on the verge of tears. I also raised my hand clenching his receiving hand. ¡°Yes, a promise.¡± It was hard to speak those words as I was really on the verge of crying. But I still was able to express my feelings. After that he left. With renewed vigor, I went back to my room and trained diligently. I trained, surpassed my limits, I even learned Ki, after learning from one of my teachers. These training was done in a private land that my parents had bought, it turned into a wild life sanctuary, and was kept off from society. There I honed my body, traveling the forest, meditating in the waterfalls, and eating from vegetation. The teachers has taught me all about survival in these woods, and after achieving all that they could teach me. Having learned from these teachers, I feel nothing but great respect from them, and also great love from my loving parents. I went back to self-training, living in the woods, honing my body once more. I¡¯ve become independent already at the age of 9. Days go by, and my 10th year arrives. ----Real Talk------ Any criticism is accepted. Need some feedback on this.