What is the meaning of life, when you've tried everything? No matter how much you studied, no matter what you practice, yet you're still weak…
It's one of the things that people hate feeling. It's a thing a certain boy once felt. No matter how much he practices different sports, and fighting techniques. It never changed his life and how he was.
Truly a powerless situation
This man tried to make it up with intelligence yet, in contrast to how the world is, it was useless. A world where criminals can attack and kill you unless you defend yourself. How do you fight? Even fighting methods sometimes are useless against common weaponry. Let's say you're surrounded by a group of trained military soldiers. You would most likely die
A better example is what if a nuke fell on your face?
You could never stop a nuke nor survive it, no matter how smart, or strong you are.
How could one become powerful enough to survive a nuke? Well, after pondering the question, it became simply obvious.
Magic
Magic was the only way to truly stop a nuke . It was also the only way to make up for the weakness he had.
So he did that. He investigated the world for magic. Traveled to many places, and looked for any evidence of it. Temples, artifacts, religion. Any possible medium, which could be imbued with magic, he looked for it.
However...it led to nothing. He was still a weakling...he could never hope to be someone amazing in this world...
That's right. So long as he remains in this world, it was not wrong for him to be called...the weakest human to ever live.
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(No pov)
Currently, in Hanazaka Senior High, a lot of teens wearing white blazers were exiting the school grounds. After a long day of studying, they were finally allowed to have their own free time, for the rest of the day. While some people were heading home, others were heading into either club activities, extracurricular lessons, hanging out with friends, or anything to pass the time.
Among them, there was an interesting group forming, all leaving the school at the same time.
Among them was a tall girl with long raven-hair that went down to her ankles. She had striking deep violet eyes that could be considered looking into the night sky itself. The aura of an esteemed and educated individual flows around her. Her look truly made her stand out. She wore the standard white school coat shirt,skirt, stocking,and bow tie. This was one of the most popular girls in Hanazaka Senior High, Akeno Shimizu
Her mere presence already brought attention to wherever she was going and her unique and kind personality made wonders for others.
To say that, as long as you remained close to her, attention was unavoidable. A person would never be considered a mob character if she were to interact with her.
Among these members, a group of 4 girls were also walking with her, along with other known males in the school.
One of them had blond hair that was held back in a ponytail with bangs hanging on the left side of his forehead and bright orange eyes. He was also wearing the same uniform as Shimizu but the male version of it, with the uniform, opened up, showing a red shirt beneath it. The aura that this man displayed was that of a playboy, someone who could get ladies easily. The girls looked at him with hearts in their eyes, while some boys glared. This was of the most famous students at the school, Motoyasu Watanabe.
As they kept walking, Motoyasu put his hands around a classmate nearby, while grinning.
" What an interesting assignment, right forming groups of ten and hanging out?" Motoyasu turned to the group nonchalantly, letting go of his classmate as he placed his hands behind his head.
Hearing his nonchalant, response, some sighed at his antics, while the other male in the group smiled
" Yeah. Spending time with friends, just doing whatever we want, and reporting back our results. It's easy to work." A black haired boy states.
You see, for some reason, the school had decided to promote a certain exercise. One which required students to spend time together. Of course, these activities replace what some students wanted to do, yet they were necessary. They claim it was for the students' well being, so they couldn't really whine.
" I knew you'd get it, Yuuichi." Motoyasu stated while grinning.
The boy that had responded to Motoyasu's rant, was one who had black hair and black eyes. He had a kind smile on his face. When people looked at him, they thought about how this person was really kind. This was Katagiri Yuuichi, a person who always talked about friendship and how he was always supporting his friends and fellow classmates.
Hearing the remarks of people, another person in the group sighed annoyed. It seems like he wasn't really motivated by this, especially since it seemed like he had something planned.
" I'm missing my club practice because of this... Can't we just make it up?"
The boy who had said that was one who had a similar hair color to Yuuichi. However, unlike him, he had blue eyes. His uniform was also open but instead of red like Motoyasu, he had a white shirt, with blue and black markings. He had a good physique and an aura of cool around him, while also giving off a loner vibe. This was Ren Akaba, a high standard student, captain of the kendo team, and a guy that respects people's strength
": Come on Ren. This is part of the school curriculum. We have to do it."
"Tck. Keep those thoughts to yourself, Itsuki." Ren, annoyed by the boy's antics, turned away from him.
The final male member at the moment was Itsuki Rin. a boy with good grades, short light dirty blonde curly hair, and green eyes. He had an honest personality, with a sense of justice. His uniform consisted of the normal one, with a red tie.
As the group started to move, Akeno suddenly stopped walking a bit. At first, the group was confused but when they looked back, they saw wh. The girls whisper to each other, while the guys look back with intensity.
At the back of the bunch, following them , was a boy. This boy had white hair and was walking to them slowly. He had dark eyes and bandages around his face. On his face, there was a sad expression. His attitude was that of, sad, and tired. He had a blue hoodie on his person over his school uniform.
Akeno approached the down kid with a smile.
"Ara~ ara~ is something wrong Kai?" She asked the white haired boy softly as she placed her hand over her mouth.
This was Kai Kayaba, the final member of the group of ten.
"N-No, nothing. I'll try to increase my pace." Kai stuttered out as his face flushed.
" Ara~ ara~, He is so cute when he is embarrassed. ufufu. She thought as she giggled to herself and decided to tease him.
"Ara~ ara~ Kayaba-kun…Are you okay? See something you like? fufu." She asked him playfully as she leaned in close to tease him.
" Y-yeah." Kai stutters out as he looks away in embarrassment.
"Although she wasn't really convinced, she would giggle as she decided to go on ahead."
" It was really weird, for me, a guy considered an introvert to hang out with many people who are very popular."
" I felt out of place in this group and in this world."
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It was around midday, now that their activities were finished. The group was walking together talking a bit before finally leaving in their own separate way.
" Well that was fun!" Itsuki states excitedly.
" Speak for yourself." Ren dismissively waves Itsuki off.
" Come on Ren. It was fun." Yuuichi says, trying to lighten up the mood.
As the teens kept talking, Akeno had once more slowed down her pace to talk to Kai.
"Ara~ ara~.What's wrong?" She asked him in concern.
"N-Nothing Shimizu-san" Kai stutters out
"Ara~ ara~,Kayaba-kun. I'm asking this because I'm worried."
"Don't worry. I've just been-"
However before I could finish both Akane and Kai had reached the group as they were just standing there
They both looked ahead and noticed something which confused them and the rest.
It was a massive door. In the middle of the street. It had a blue mainframe and gold lines around the outside.
"What the fuck..." Ren said in absolute wonder
Girl 1: A door? One of the girls would ask
Girl 2: Are people filming around here? She asked the group as she looked around searching for a film crew.
Seeing how they got no answer, Yuuichi started to get closer.
"Yuuichi?" Motoyasu asks in worry
"Ara~ara~, Hey be careful." Akeno
As Yuuichi got closer, he started to place his hand on the door.
"Don't worry Nishimura-san. It's just a d-" Yuuichi smiles before he could finish, his hand finally reached the door. As soon as he touched it symbols appeared on the door, causing the door to tremble.
As everyone stood back, Kai noticed something.
("It's opening...")
Before anyone could say anything the door fully opened. The teens just stay looking at this confused.
Before they could question everything, a blue light started to shake from inside the door.
The light was becoming very strong, blinding them. As this happened, for some reason, they fell down.
As Kai was the last one, he looked towards the door, where he thought he saw something. A massive figure clad in black before disappearing into the darkness.
Finally, Kai also fell unconscious as the world went black.
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(Kai pov)
"Kayaba-kun! Kayaba-kun!" I hear a voice that sounds like Akeno calling me as my body slowly begins to wake up.
"Shimizu, let's just leave. We have to find a way out!" I heard a voice that suspiciously sounded like Ren would tell Akeno to leave me where I lay.
??? 3:What's going on! What happened! I think that was one of Akeno's friends but I can't be too sure.
Hearing the numerous voices, I opened my eyes. When I do, I see Akeno,Ren and the other girls standing around me.
"Finally. He woke up. Let's go then." Ren said as he walked away with the other girls, as Shimizu helped me up.
"Where are we?" I asked as I looked around. To only see a long tunnel, of stone, was the only thing present.
" Ara~ ara~, Kayaba-kun can you stand?" She asked me as she looked over me for for injuries
"Huh Y-yeah." I responded as I gently stopped her frantic search, I stood up and looked around. What I saw was a very large hallway. I looked behind me and saw the same door as before.
It's not going to open. I heard someone say behind me.
I turned around and saw that it was Yuuichi speaking as he walked towards me and Akeno.
" It's not going to open. Motoyasu already tried to open it before but it didn't budge. He decided to go with Itsuki to check the other way." Yuuichi said as he stopped in front of me and Akeno.
" I see. Was I the last to wake up?" I said while nodding at him as I looked over at Akeno to see her giggling at me I was about to ask what she was giggling about but that when Yuuichi spoke up.
" Yep. Shimizu-san wouldn't leave you alone; it made Motoyasu quite jealous." Yuuichi says playfully but why do I feel like he isn't telling the whole truth.
" I didn't mean to worry you guys." I replied apologetically as I bowed my head.
"Hey don't worry. It's not your fault." Yuuichi says while smiling but there's that feeling again, maybe I'm just seeing things.
Putting it to the back of my mind , I nodded but kept looking at him.
" There's something wrong,with his eyes they feel off." I think to myself as I see him and Akeno talking but why does it look like he's looking at me with the corner of his eye.
Before I could question it any further, a voice rang out. It was both of the guys that were gone. Motoyasu and Itsuki had returned.
"We've found another door. Further down." Itsuki tells them.
" The same as before." Motoyasu adds to what Itsuki said as he and Itsuki walked over to us.
" Ara~ ara~,Does it open?" Akane asked him as she finger under chin and tilted her as she did what I've come to know as her thinking pose.
Motoyasu and Itsuki looked at each other.
"We don't know. We wanted to reach you guys first to check together." Itsuki replied.
Hearing how it was our only choice, our group did just that. We started to head in that direction, albeit a bit slower than before.
Girl 3: Hey, how long did we walk?
Girl 4: A few minutes at least.
"We're almost there." Itsuki told the other two girls in our group.
How do you know for sure? Everything looks the same. The light from our phones isn't doing us any favors. Ren would question Itsuki but he didn't get a reply.
As they kept walking, Akeno looked back. Seeing the same thing before they got here. Kai was still behind them, however there was something different about him.
His eyes. Almost as if they have gotten a glint. When she looked at it, she felt confused. It was a similar feeling she had gotten from another guy. She always thought they were weird, yet similar.
Both usually had the same look. One of dissatisfaction on their faces. However, now, it was only Kai because the other person, Minoru Nagano...had died just a week ago.
However there was something different about the two teens. While Minoru seemed disinterested in things, Kai looked infuriated.
Kai had a reputation in school. No matter how much he practiced something, he couldn't be good at it. When it came to any physical work, his body just didn't work.
This led to them coming up with a name that fitted him perfectly.
" The weakest teen alive..." She thought to herself but she didn't agree with them. He was one of the strongest, most hardworking guys she knew she got reminded of when she first met him.
Before she could reminisce about the past the group found the door. The same one that transported them before, yet no one could even act brave enough to open it. What if something bad happened again? They would have to try their luck.
Seeing this, Ren stood up and got our attention.
"We're not gonna be able to do anything." Ren said in irritation as he then went forward to the door and grabbed the handles. Taking a deep breath, he then pushes the door open. When it did, a creaking sound was heard.
"Huh. It opened easier than I thought it would. Let's go alr-" Ren says in surprise however, he didn't finish because we got a full look at the room
It was like a giant sanctuary. Many stone statues were present, with the biggest one, easily topping an apartment building. Lights were already on, yet they had a blue color. However, there were signs that no life has been present because of the moss on the statues. The statues were all holding unto items that looked like weapons and instruments.
The group actually started to look around.
" It feels like...we're being watched." Yuuichi says in nervousness as he looked around searching for what was looking at us.
Girl 3: Eh! Don't say that!
However my eyes were on the different statues until they landed on the biggest ones. They seem to be looking at me intently, maybe I'm seeing things.
As they were watching, Akeno walked towards the center, when she felt something hard. She looks down and sees what appears to be a magic circle of sorts
"Ara~ ara~, What's this?" Akeno as she crouched down as she traced the outline of the outer layer of the magic circle.
As everyone looked at her, I was actually looking at the walls. Usually, places like this, which are very old, would have signs of previous civilizations such as drawings and languages, like the pyramids. And this place was no different.
On the walls, images were depicted. On one side, there was an art style of many angels all kneeling in front of something or someone.
On another, a couple of creatures, such as dragons, beasts, demons, and insects all seemed to be fighting angels.
On another, a mural of three people...a man with pointy ears, a beast, and a human fighting against a massive demonic-like beast, however on top of them, behind their watchful gazes, a demon lord with large horns holding a sword, while riding a dragon watched them with... amusement.
A figure confronting the demon lord, with the image behind him rising.
And finally, one that was the weirdest one. A group of 9 figures. However, one was crossed out, almost as if he was no longer recognized as part of the group.
"Is this a record of an old civilization? Is it history? But then monsters, angels could this mean that magic exists?" I murmured to myself before my question could be answered, I heard a voice.
Girl 1:Hey everyone! Look at this!
Everyone turned their attention towards the voice and looked. When they gathered around the girl, they saw what she was pointing at.
It was a statue, different from the others. From a point of view, everyone has a clear role. They were warriors,musicians, and finally a king/god. However, this winged individual didn't make sense to anyone. He was holding a stone tablet, which had some type of runic text
Text:
C𐌀𐌓𐌕𐌇𐌄𐌍𐌏𐌍 𐌕𐌄𐌌𐌐𐌋𐌄'𐌔 𐌂𐌏𐌌𐌌𐌀𐌍𐌃𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌕𐌔, 𐌅𐌉𐌓𐌔𐌕 W𐌏𐌓𐌔𐌇𐌉𐌐 𐌕𐌇𐌄 L𐌏𐌓𐌃. S𐌄𐌂𐌏𐌍𐌃, 𐌘𐌓𐌀𐌉𐌔𐌄 𐌕𐌇𐌄 L𐌏𐌃𐌓𐌃 𐌈𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌃, 𐌐𐌓𐌏𐌖𐌄 𐌅𐌀𐌉𐌕𐌇 𐌈𐌇𐌏𐌔𐌃 w𐌇𐌏 𐌃𐌏 𐌍𐌏𐌕 𐌅𐌏𐌋𐌋𐌋w 𐌕𐌇𐌉𐌔 𐌂𐌏𐌌𐌌𐌀𐌍𐌃𐌌𐌄𐌍𐌕 w𐌉𐌋𐌋 𐌍𐌄𐌖𐌄𐌓 𐌓𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌓𐌍 𐌀𐌋𐌉𐌖𐌄.
"Ara~ ara~,This is in Runic text." Akeno said to the rest of us.
"Runic?" Ren asked her as he looked over her shoulder.
"Such a shame that no one understands R-." Before Yuuichi could finish his sentence, the stone table let out a bright light before disappearing. When it did, the text had changed and now, it was in Japanese.
"What happened?" Motoyasu would ask us in disbelief.
"I don't know but that looked like-" Itsuki replied in disbelief before I cut him off.
" Magic..." I say in disbelief and excitement as I had a shit eating plastered on my face but before I could get carried away I would shake those thoughts away, Akeno would walk closer and begin to read the inscription
'Carthenon temple's commandments, First Worship The Lord. Second, Praise the Lord.' Akeno would read the "commandments" of the temple.
As Akeno reads this, something comes over me. A feeling that was very familiar to me. I turned around and saw the giant statue.
'Third, prove your Faith.' Akeno reads the third "commandment" to us.
As I kept looking at the giant statue, the feeling itself increased.
"This feeling. It got so quiet,so chilly." I thought to myself as I looked around to find the source of this feeling but then I heard Akeno speak again.
'Those who do not follow these commandments will never return alive.' Akeno would read the final sentence on the stone tablet the feeling would increase again.
As Akeno finished her sentence, a loud bam was heard. Everyone turned around and looked towards the entrance. The other door was closed.
" Come on! Give us a fucking bone god!" Ren yells out at the door in anger.
"The door closed." Motoyasu said to himself in defeat.
Girl 4: What do we do now?
Girl 2: maybe it's still open!
As the girl said that, she began to run towards the door. When she was right beside the door, she was about to grab the handle.
" Ara~ ara~,Wait! We should go together so that no one gets..." Before Akeno could finish her sentence, the girl touched the handle.
When she did, one of the statues close to the door raised its weapon and attacked the girl.
When it was done, it returned to its position casually.
For a few seconds, everything was quiet.
It wasn't until the other girls screamed that they really fell on the rest.
The girls kept screaming. Akeno was too shocked to speak. Itsuki was in denial, seeing how someone just died. Motoyasu fell on the floor, Ren flinching and Yuuichi's eyes were shadowed by his hair.
While that happened, I kept thinking to myself.
"This feeling. Of course. It's always the same one." I thought I knew this feeling all to well.
My eyes then traveled back to the statue that had one eye look at them, while it was glowing.
"This is the feeling of death." I thought to myself in terror