Now that Arran had gotten all the details down it became so much easier to proceed. All that was left to do now was to open the box.
All across the surface of the box, there were a series of white dotted spots that looked like jewel encrusting's. These were flowing along the lines of the river drawn along the length of the box. They represented the bone that lay in the depths of Iylls and their numbers varied.
In order to open the box then, Arran was going to have to trace the spots with a very defined amount of varying strength. Too much strength and the spots would just depress into the box without achieving anything, too little and the spots would not even budge. All this would have to be done following a special sequence.
After a little thought, Arran figured out the sequence. It was one in which he and his parents use to communicate on special occasions like when they were separated on missions in order to relay their situation to each other.
Without spending too much time mulling over things Arran went ahead to open the box. When he was done Arran hesitated for a little while. He was having this foreboding feeling, like something bad was about to happen once he opens the box.
Arran had always trusted his feeling because it was developed in a lot of life and death situations but in this case, he had no use in hesitating because this was his only chance to find out the cause of his parent's disappearance.
So clamping down on his feelings and resigning himself to the inevitable, Arran opened the box.
Immediately after he did so, an intense light burst out from the box, flooding his entire surroundings for a few kilometers.
Following the light was the heat. It was so hot that Arran felt like he was back in the Somalian desert with temperatures reaching above 40°.
This sudden burst of light spread immense panic to the sparse amount of passersby who were directly covered by it, lighting up the once dark park.
For a few miles… with Arran as the center… everywhere was covered in bright and dazzling lights that every other person ignored, taking it as another new year event. But unknown to Arran and everyone else, this phenomenon attracted more than just a few entities.
….
Elsewhere, somewhere spanning countless galaxies and dimensions across space.
This was a space that was filled with darkness.
The entire space was filled with countless dim specks of twinkling starlight blinking on and off like they were about to disappear at any time now. The ground was bare and dry with red hot flames rising to consume anything that was above the surface of the earth.
There were a few shadows of creatures making their way across the surface looking cruel and menacing and all around there were traces of conflict and intense fights going on.
Somewhere in this space in a very deep trench where no light could reach, a presence was stirring awake from his slumber and his consciousness was spreading outwards to penetrate through the layers of space to land on a particular cerulean blue planet in one of the desolates corners of the known universe.
"This intense flow of energy, it is either the birth of a supreme treasure or the uncovering of one that was lost a long time ago."
"Judging from where this energy is coming from, it is safe to say that a supreme treasure cannot be born in a place like that. So that means a lost one has been uncovered by accident".
"Hahaha, I had better make my way over there immediately before it attracts more attention from other forces and this becomes an intense competition".
Saying so the presence stepped out from his resting place and punching a hole in the fabric of space in the surrounding area.
Alongside him, the countless shadowy creature on the ground, upon sensing his presence flooded towards the open hole in space that led to another corner of the universe.
….
In another corner of the universe, in a building that closely resembles a massive tower, inside, there were various futuristic-looking devices that gave off a very intense sci-fi vibe.
There were various screens flashing with streams of data and uniformed personnel checking these packets of data. In the center of the room, there was a gigantic screen that was displaying massive amounts of text data that was being analyzed and if one were to look outside they would notice that the tower was floating outside a region of chaotic space.
Suddenly alarms started going off on all screens in the building and all the uniformed personnel started bustling about trying to find out the cause of the alarms.
A short while later, the door to the main control center where all the major operations occur slid open, and a group of people strode inside. At the lead was a tall woman who carried with her the air of a person of authority.
She was clad in a pure white uniform that bore the marks of her rank that fit tightly to her streamlined and hot body showing a provocative amount of her curves. She was walking briskly with a frown on her face that did nothing to mar her beauty.
Immediately as she made her way into the room, she made her way to the front where there was a bespectacled man of average looks who was franticly going through a set of data, and inquired in a crisp but sharp tone,
"Report, what is the cause of all this commotion".
"Reporting to the captain," the man said and continued.
"The scanners suddenly picked up an intense flood of a tremendous and powerful energy signature and it has been going haywire ever since then" the spectacled man reported.
"Do we know what is causing this and where it is being generated from?" the captain asked.
"No we do not know what is causing this but we have been able to pinpoint a general location where the energy is coming from, but it is going to take a little while more to get the exact location in that region of space".
Noticing the troubled look in the eyes of the man, the captain asked, "what's wrong. Why is it taking too long to find an exact location"? "and why exactly are the scanners causing so much commotion over this. Even the birth of a supreme grade treasure would not cause this kind of reaction, right".
The man after hearing the captains question replied,
"You're right, not even the birth of a supreme treasure will cause this level of disturbance but the most baffling thing is the direction in which the energy signature is coming from".
Pausing slightly, he continued "we are currently located on the edge of the desolate universe, but even then we are still located in one of the upper realms. The energy signature is coming from one of the lower realms and that is the truly confusing things".
"Normally this level of energy has no business being in the lower realms and should not even be felt remotely at all because the lower realms are not capable of giving birth to a treasure of this level".
"The only explanation to this is that a long lost treasure that has been lost since the age of exploration has been uncovered by the natives. Honestly speaking the only reason that we're even getting any readings is that we are close to the boundaries of the lower realms".
The captain thought for a while before saying "I understand. So do you know what it is since it is likely a lost treasure and considering the commotion, there should be records in our database, correct?"
"That we do not know currently. We will have to wait for…" before he could finish, he was interrupted by someone else.
"Professor, sorry to interrupt but the results are out." The person said in an obvious panic.
Not paying attention to the person, the professor took the report and quickly glanced through it. After a short while, his expression morphed into one of shock as he started to seriously doubt whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Noticing his intense reaction, the captain asked hurriedly
"What is it? What does it say?"
"I think it's better you see this for yourself." Saying so, the professor handed the report over to the captain.
Taking the report, the captain also hurriedly looked through it before showing a similar reaction to the professor.
"Is this true?" She asked with a very shaky voice.
"We are not sure but it is likely to be. "
"But I feel that it is better to be safe than sorry." The professor said.
"You are right" the captain replied.
Saying so she shouted at the top of her voice so that it reached the entire tower.
"Attention to everyone, listen up."
"We are now getting ready for an urgent operation and all relevant personnel should be on standby and prepare for immediate action."
"We are now in a state of emergency." Saying so she turned to the professor and said to him.
"Come with me, we have to report this to the higher-ups. Hopefully, we are not too late in our actions or we'll never hear the end of it."
….
Arran was unaware of in ripples he set off by opening the box and what impact it would have on the rest of his life and his future. At the moment he had other concerns.
Right now the flood of light and heat had ended and Arran was feeling intense excitement and pleasure all over his body.
It was the kind of pleasure you feel when you are enjoying a warm and relaxing bath with delicious food or when having an orgasm during sex or even from living on the edge of danger in some cases.
At this moment now, he was looking forward to knowing what was contained in the box.
Inside the box was a bracelet.The kind that was big and bulky and could cover up your whole wrist. It was a big round creamy white bracelet that had a few jewels that looked like diamonds encrusted in it. The jewels sparkled like stars as they twinkled on and off.The entire bracelet shone with a soft glow as compared to the previous blinding brilliance it gave off and there was a metallic luster on it. Overall it was very beautiful.As soon as Arran saw it, his blood started flowing quickly and his heart was beating franticly as if he had just taken a hundred-mile jog. Arran felt like he always did whenever he had just finished an intense workout with his dad.Arran was frozen for what seemed like a very long time which in reality was a very short few seconds but in that time, he saw a lot of things that baffled and confused him.He saw scenes of raging battles filled with blood and slaughter, of wars being fought over and over again. Scenes of v
The pain that one feels when their skin was being torn open was one that was very difficult to describe.If a comparison had to be made, it would feel like how it felt to have a vat of burning hot oil poured all over one's body. The kind of feeling where the heat of the oil penetrates into your flesh in order to cook your insides until nothing could be felt but endless pain.That was how Arran was feeling at the moment.The wings growing from Arran's back were causing him to be drowned in a flood of pain and the only way for him to escape the pain was to destroy all the enemies in front of him.Arran lunged forwards with a great leap and crossed a hundred meters that separated him and Kasack in two seconds. Raising his hands to strike him down, a shimmer of light manifested in his hands.The light took the form of a sword and everywhere it passed, all obstacles would be cleaved apart like a hot knife through butter.Kasack felt a threat comi
Arran woke up to bright lights overhead and a wet and sticky feeling all over his body.Looking all over at his surrounding, he saw all sorts of machines and apparatus that he did not know the functions of and some that while they were in various weird forms, he could still infer the functions of.Arran came to the conclusion that he was in what seemed to be a hospital ward. After checking his surroundings, he decided to check his own condition. That was when he was surprised to find out his own situation.Arran found out where the wet and sticky feeling came from.As it turned out, Arran was wrapped up and submerged in a small liquid bubble that was floating suspended in the air. It was through this bubble that Arran was seeing all that he had seen.Arran could also make out a group of people in uniforms who were making their rounds in the ward he was settled in. One of these groups came to check up on him, only to find out that he was awake.
Arran was not overly worried. One reason was that he possessed something that they wanted and another being that he was currently a mystery to them, and everyone like to solve a good mystery.It did not take long for someone to come for him.Three days after he woke up, he received a visit from a bespectacled man in a tight-fitting tracksuit that looked so clean that It gave an impression that he always took a lot of time to make sure to remove the creases on his clothes. His eyes were also sharp, so much so that Arran felt that he wore those glasses not because he had a problem with his eyes, but because it was to prevent people from being intimidated by his intense gaze.The two of them stared at each other for a long time while trying to see who would break eye contact first.Arran was feeling a lot of pressure from their minor contest and he felt like at any time now the man was going to remove his glasses, and as for whatever was going to happen afte
After Rommel left Arran's ward, he made his way down the long hallway and climbed a fleet of stairs to arrive at the main command room. The room was already occupied.There were already a couple of people waiting for him in the room out of which captain Mei was a part of them, but compared to the rest of the people seated around the room, she was the least important person there. This was shown by the fact that she was not even entitled to a seat in the room even though this was her office and she was the base commander of this particular outpost.Rommel made his way to the head of the room where the winged warrior from before was seated. At this moment there was no sign of her wings on her body now. For that matter, Arran's wings were also nowhere to be seen ever since he woke up in the ward.As soon as he stopped in front of her, she asked, "well, how was it?"Rommel did not answer, instead, he placed the bracer that had now lost its glow on the table.<
It had been five days since the visit from Rommel. Arran was now located in a white room with soft paddings on the floor and walls. The room was fitted with various equipment ranging from a wooden rack filled with different weapons and also training dummies used for practice.Arran was currently in a training room used by the staff here.According to the description he received, the room offered a wide range of functions for its occupants to use. The functions included were but not limited to a gravity system, an obstacle course, and a battle simulation function.Unfortunately, Arran was told that he did not have sufficient authority to use these functions. That was why as much as he would have liked to try out all of those, he was currently only going through regular training.On the other side of the room where Arran could not see, there was a transparent one-way mirror that a few people were using to watch Arran as he was training. Unbeknownst to Arran
Seeing the group make their way into the training room, Arran had to clamp down on the sense of foreboding that he was feeling. When they had all gotten to him Arran finally had a chance to get a good look at them all.Apart from Rommel, who Arran recognized, the rest all gave Arran a mixture of various feelings. Arran was able to sense that all of them had very different opinions about him, chief of those being a strong dislike that Arran was feeling coming from the eyes of a particular well-muscled gorilla.As the group reached Arran, beating Rommel to the chase, Stock wasted no time in saying, "boy come over here, we have a little test we want you to participate in."Rommel, who was about to say something, shot a glare at Stock but ended up keeping his words to himself. It would not be good to look divided in front of an outsider who did not know of the rivalry that existed between them.What he failed to realize was that Arran did not miss this partic
The expression on the faces of Stock and the rest of his companions were a sight to be seen and Arran had to admit that he enjoyed the feeling he got from seeing them embrassed. He could almost hear a resounding slap that seemed to echo across the room.Stock's face was unsightly to look at and as he looked at Brendell who was passed out on the ring, he started to wonder as to who was the smart guy that came up with this idea in the first place. He had not only lost face in front of Rommel and his peers but had also done so in front of the mortal.At the time it seemed like a brilliant idea but now... not so much.It was at this moment Rommel spoke up. As much as he did not get along well with Stock, he had to at least spare him some face in front of outsiders."You did well."Arran nodded before asking again, "if it's possible, may I ask what purpose this test served to achieve?"Stomped for a moment, the faces of everyone changed once more