Chapter 2 - A New Life
"Your son has no pulse again. He is dead. I am wholeheartedly sorry for your loss." A physician in the room said with unhappiness in his tone.
The boy's father was quiet for sometime before he spoke in a tone that radiated sorrow. "Thank you, physician. You have done your best. I can only say it's his fate."
The physician nodded his head. Then he went ahead to spread a large cloth over the boy to cover his lifeless body.
Once he did so, he packed his instruments into a pouch that he came with and prepared to leave the room filled with sadness.
Abruptly, the boy's mom who was held by some people, rushed in with a few others with these other people being the boy's older sisters, Nailah and Lylla Splintstone.
"Physician, please tell me. Would my son be okay?" The boy's mom asked with tears uncontrollably streaming down her eyes.
The physician looked at the boy's father who immediately understood what the gaze meant. He then went to meet his wife and tried to hold her in his arms.
But before he could so, she pushed him away and rushed to where her son was covered with a large spread. Flinging the spread aside, she saw the cold lifeless body of her son.
Her mind shook, then she collapsed on the ground. Her husband, Taryell and two girls who were the boy's sisters, immediately rushed over to her. Then they helped her up and made her sit on the bed.
"Why would this happen to me?" The boy's mother named Lenna, broke into tears that streamed down her cheeks and wetted her cloth.
Her husband, Taryell quickly came over and tried to console her as she was the one who was impacted the most by their son's death. Only he understood that if it were possible to exchange a live for a life through any mystical mean, she would undoubtedly exchange her life for that of her son to give him that chance to live again.
She had always believed her five-year old son would scale through his illness but this was reality in front of her. She cried so much that her tears seemed to be never ending.
She drew closer to the boy and touched his face which she began to rub affectionately. She recalled those smiles of his and the cute way he called her mom. But this made her heart grieve the more and caused more tear beads to rapidly form in her glistening eyes before rolling down her reddened cheeks.
Her husband who held the other girls back, left Lenna to cry and didn't try to approach her to give her a comforting shoulder. He understood that letting her cry, was the only way that the pain in her heart would lessen. So, it was best to let her cry all the grief away, he thought.
But all of a sudden, the air in the room became turbulent for a couple seconds before an extremely blinding flash of resplendent light appeared. The harsh brightness of the light that suddenly manifested, was akin to standing right before an exploding miniature sun. Everyone in the room had to close their eyes or the brilliant colorful light that abruptly appeared would irreversibly ruin their eyes.
When their eyes opened some moments later, however with subsiding burning sensations and aches that they all felt within their eyes, they couldn't help but look around with faces that had expressions of strangeness written over them.
There was no thunderstorm that could have caused that exceedingly blinding flash of light. Besides, it didn't reflect from outside. It manifested right inside the room they were in.
While wondering where the light had come from, they suddenly heard a loud sneeze.
Atchu!
Everyone quickly looked towards the source of that sneeze and their minds were sent reeling in great shock.
They all saw as color slowly returned to the face of the boy that was declared dead. Lenna was the most impacted. With great unbounded joy instantly blooming in her heart, she carried him off from the bed and began to laughingly spin around with him.
Tears still streamed down her reddened face. But this time, they were not tears of sorrow but tears of joy.
Taryell too felt a surging emotion of happiness within him. He was tremendously glad and joyful. Nailah and Lylla were also not left out. Their eyes glowed with both amazement and elation. The world had heard their prayers. It had mysteriously brought their sweet little brother back to life.
While the mother of the boy happily spun around with her little kid and sang songs that brought goodness to her heart, the boy who they were happy had revived and had recovered from his illness since his previously sheet-white body had regained both color and warmth, couldn't help but look around in shock, bedazzlement and alarm.
Where the hell was he?
Who were these people?
And what was he doing in the body of a kid?
They were questions that he asked himself as he scanned the room with the eyes of his new body.
As he looked around, trying to make sense of what was really happening, he suddenly recalled the earth-trembling blast that occurred, and then the blinding blue light that surfaced and phased everything from their individual states to gaseous states.
"I guess the government made them drop an atomic bomb that will wipe out everything in the city, including the zombies. Ugh! What wicked people. Is that a responsible course of action? Damn you all!" Maxmillan said and cursed in his heart.
The father was approached by the physician who heartily congratulated him. But mystification shone in his eyes and radiated off the way he spoke, as he couldn't understand how a boy declared dead by him, suddenly came back to life.
He was supposed to be dead, since there was no longer a pulse or anything at all to indicate that he still had a bit of life or vitality in him.
In the end, he concluded that what he witnessed wasn't a normal event, but a paranormal event. And he was absolutely glad that he got to to witness such a spectacular supernatural scene.
After expressing his congratulatory words to the father of the boy, he made his way for the door and left the place. There was no point being there anymore. He had done his part and was time for him to leave.
After sometime of spinning around and singing songs that brought marvelous feelings to her heart, Lenna carefully dropped Maxmillan and asked, "Maxie, are you okay? Do you still feel any pain? Tell me if you still feel anything."
Maxmillan who looked at Lenna as she spoke, couldn't help but wonder how he still bore his name from earth in this world. It was a new world and should therefore be called a new name.
He was however glad it happened that way, as he wasn't ready for a name change. Besides, it would present a lot of issues to him. If they called him and he didn't answer, where he had forgotten the name given to him in this world, he could cause curious eyes to cast glances at him. And that was the last thing he would want happening.
Still looking at Lenna, Maxmillan finally nodded his head and said. "I am fine. I don't feel anything anymore."
Maxmillan only managed to say that since calling Lenna his mom, felt really odd to him. But he just had to ride with the flow, or they would begin to sense that something was wrong with him.
Lenna and her two daughters were shocked at the way he spoke. It was like he was a stranger to them. But they accepted it with the reasoning that he just recovered.
Lenna nodded her head to what Maxmillan said, knelt on one knee and sweetly kissed him on the forehead. Then she left him with his sisters and went to prepare what they would eat.
The atmosphere which had been gloomy for sometime, quickly returned to normal since Maxmillan had awaken and had fully recovered from his chonic illness.
Chapter 3 - FamilyOnce their mom had left, Nailah and Lylla came over to where Maxmillan stood with an incomprehensibly dazed expression in his face."Maxie, are you sure you are okay now? I don't want anything to happen to you again." Nailah, the older of the two girls, asked in a caring tone."I am fine." Maxmillan said.This time, he didn't say it in the odd way that he said it before.As a veteran soldier who had been trained to quickly adapt to every situation that he would find himself in, Maxmillan was quite swift in adapting to the unexplainably weird preternatural situation that he unexpectedly and inexplicably found himself in.Once he gave that reply, Nailah nodded her head in happiness.But Maxmillan at the moment, was having many thoughts flash recurrently within his head.Had he just transmigrated to a new world?Did his soul upon total annihilation on earth, reformed in the void and pierced through the interdimensional layer that separated their two alternate worlds to
Chapter 4 - Old Man GarrettAs soon as he appeared outside, he couldn't help but be shocked.There was no sign of technology anywhere, it was just small houses where people lived with their families and reared either cattle or livestock. Even the roads weren't tarred. They were just bare brown earth that were blackened by some substances that he couldn't really identify what they were.He however believed that this was so because it was a town, it would definitely be different for the cities which he believed would be a hundred times more advanced than the towns.After looking around for sometime, he climbed down the long wooden stairs to their house that was elevated far above the ground and was made from well-baked solid bricks.After climbing down the stairs made from some type of hard tree wood, he headed towards their gate in the distance. And as he did so, he looked around him and saw that his parent also reared cattle and livestock, which provided them with limited supply of me
Chapter 5 - Astra Spellcraft CommanderOnce Maxmillan got home, Lenna and her two daughters were surprised that Maxmillan had quickly returned."Maxie, you didn't find your friends? Or why is it that you quickly returned?" Nailah, Maxmillan's older sister asked."Not really, big sister. It's just that I saw something. Then I returned home to inquire about it from you, instead of my friends." Maxmillan replied."Oh. Okay. So, what's it that you want to inquire about, dear son?" Lenna gently asked with a beautiful smile in her face."Mom, there is this old man I saw at the beginning of our street. He was performing magic. Who is he?" Maxmillan asked, while Lenna and her two daughters looked at one another with a bewildered expression in their faces before looking back at Maxmillan who fixated his gaze on them with an innocent look appearing in his face."Maxie, that old man is your favorite performer. You are always there to watch him perform. Have you forgotten?" Lenna asked with a smi
Chapter 6 - Magical Feats!Immediately Maxmillan asked that, Lenna couldn't help but look at him with surprise in her face, as he was speaking too intelligently for his age.Was this another miracle because he awakened? She pondered without revealing anything on her face.Before the real Maxmillan in this world died, all he cared about was play, eat and sleep. But now, she felt that things have changed monumentally, since her son was beginning to sound much more intelligent than his peers, and seemed deeply curious about things that he shouldn't be contemplating about at his age."Son, I can produce magical effects. But not up to the level of old man Garrett who is an Astra Spellcraft Commander. I am only an average caster of Astra Mystralis. So, comparing me to old man Garrett is like comparing a burning charcoal to the sun. We are worlds apart." Lenna said.She then continued with a slight smile in her face, "Everyone in this town are capable of producing magical effects. But many o
Chapter 7 - 13 Years LaterMaxmillan had grown into a fine young man with an admirably impressive physique. However, he had a problem that kept him awake most night since he was a child. And this was because of his inability to sense Astra Mystralis and enter into a state of harmony with it. So, not being able to harmonize with Astra Mystralis, greatly bothered him a lot that he couldn't leave home to go anywhere else, since almost all the kids in his particular neighborhood who had grown into good-looking adults, had become talented casters of Astra Mystralis. Besides, Maxmillan felt really bad that he couldn't make his parent in this world proud of him. Although they loved him deeply, regardless of whether he was a caster of Astra Mystralis or not, he still however felt bad and terrible. So, these thoughts filled him with nothing but sadness and caused him to feel very useless and worthless. One day while sitting outside in the verandah of their home, where he was lost in his ble
Chapter 8 - Worries and Fears"I understand mom." Maxmillan said with a smile in his face that made his mom develop a bleak feeling in her heart.He then said further, "Mom, I am going to my room to rest. We'll talk later." As soon as he said that, he left his mom's presence and headed for his room to ponder more about the next line of action that he planned to take.But not quite long, while seated on his bed and lost in deep thought, he suddenly heard gentle knocks rap against his door.Immediately understanding that this person could be anyone of his sisters, he produced a smile in his face and said, "Come in."The door creaked open to reveal Maxmillan's younger sister, Lylla. Then accompanying her into the room was Nailah with a mean look in her face, which caused Maxmillan to be befuddled.'Hope my older sister hasn't come to make trouble with me?' He asked himself internally."Sisters, what brings you to my room? Are you both here to grace this dashing majesty?" Maxmillan asked
Chapter 9 - Going for the entrance exam.In the early hours of a particular day in which the entrance exam was fixed at a venue in the Floating Lotus academy, Maxmillan, with the help of his sisters and mom, had finished packing all that he needed for his tiring journey to the faraway city."Maxie, remember. If anything goes wrong over there, immediately return home." Lenna said with a gloomy expression in her face, which anyone could tell that she was really worried."I understand mom." Maxmillan said with the nod of his head.Then he went forward to hug his mom who embraced him back with a tear bead rolling down her left cheek from her glistening left eye. She wished she could dissuade Maxmillan, her only son from going to the city. But since he had fully made up his mind, there was no point in doing so. Besides, she wanted him to be happy and didn't want to get in his way, or he might get furious at her as time goes on for causing him to be absent at the exam venue and therefore r
Chapter 10 - Exam Begins!'This is really amazing. How I wish I could sense Astra Mystralis and enter into harmony with it, I will surely do a million and twelve hugely amazing things with it.' Maxmillan said within himself and heaved a deep sigh.'Well, I am here now for the exam. Let me see the kind of fate that is waiting for me at the Floating Lotus Academy." He said further and deeply exhaled . Then he began to look around for where he would take a carriage that would convey him to the Floating Lotus Academy.Without needing to ask anyone, since he simply followed the kids that got into carriages that would convey them to the Floating Lotus Academy, he got into one which drove off after it was filled with passengers.As the carriage moved on the way at a high speed, along with many others that could number in the hundreds, Maxmillan was able to take in more sights of wondrous and marvelous things in the city. 'This is one hell of a grand city.' Maxmillan said within himself and