Chapter Text
A new dream has occurred.
After years of living through the same images in his sleep, Flint Fasayan is entering into a brand new scenario, where he is sinking head first into a large pool of water. Sinking, until the water allowed him to breathe and walk at the bottom. One step uncovered the floor and revealed a shining glass-stained piece of art. Where it showed a small, but serious, mouse person. This was different from his dreams indeed. But will it be better than the rest?
An unknown voice called to him.
“You stand at the heart of Kingship. No other person is born with such riches and glory. They can only be given or earned. I can only give you what you desire first. Only then, can you earn what you desire the most.”
Three pillars rise from the floor. One with a sword, another with a shield, and the last with a staff.
“Choose what your heart desires first.”
—
Flint chooses the sword.
“This sword contains the power of the warrior. The warrior is one who pushes against all odds to achieve his goals.”
—
Flint chooses the shield.
“This shield contains the power of the guardian. The guardian puts priority over protecting his loved ones until the threat is neutralized.”
—
Flint chooses the staff.
“This staff contains the power of the mystic. The mystic looks for inner strength through knowledge and deep thinking.”
—
Once Flint chooses his weapon, the other two turn into light and go off into the distance.
“Do not be disappointed. You will have a chance to obtain either two once you earn the path you realize.”
A row of stained-glass rectangles forms a flight of stairs.
“Now walk towards the path with your new weapon. It’ll take you to your new foundation.”
As he walks halfway, he turns back and notices not only have most of the stairs disappeared, but the stained-glass floor with the mouse person had disappeared as well. Meaning, there’s no going back. He could only continue moving towards a similar looking stained-glass pillar.
When he takes a step on said pillar, he sees an image of a sleeping spiky haired boy. He walks closer towards the center, only for five shadows to surround him. But they weren’t of his own. They instead took the form of black imp-like creatures with yellow eyes. The voice speaks again.
“The first step into creating your foundation is to learn who you are now. I have given you the power to fight. Now let us see how you use it.”
Flint swings his weapon with great power, but blindingly so. One of the shadows flattens itself before Flint could even think to attack. He targets the shadow closest to him, but it keeps jumping around anytime he swings his weapon. He was so preoccupied with the one shadow, that he couldn’t counter against the others, and three of them scratched him, two from the side, and one from the back.
He ran a few feet towards the edge so he could see all five shadows at once and gain a wider view. As all of them creep up on him at once, he stands his ground and prepares himself. A few of them jump up again, but this time, Flint was able to guard all three of them, staggering them to the ground, giving him the chance to strike all three of them at once, then the fourth. The last shadow emerges, but Flint was able to slay it.
“You should remember this experience well. This foundation is the steppingstone to realizing your path.”
Flint sees the two weapons he didn’t collect in front of him. As he went closer, they separated into two paths, each with their own trail, like the one before.
“The next step is preparing to meet others like you. Some cross your path, but some will walk with you. But how many is enough? Do you prefer the splendor of that special one? Or do you wish to share your victory with as many friends as possible?”
—
Flint walks to the left, to the path of splendor.
There the stained-glass floor shows that of a red-haired girl.
“When you fill your path with splendor, you will find everlasting peace and love. Maybe even the path itself will be eternal. But it’s how you return that love that will determine if it continues.”
A treasure chest emerges from the light. When Flint walks towards it and opens it, it reveals a Friendship Charm.
—
Flint walks to the right, to the path of victory.
There the stained-glass floor shows that of a white-haired boy.
“Victory is something you achieve in a brief moment. But it can be achieved many times. Every time you do, the path grows longer, and more paths will cross. Don’t take it for granted. Cherish these moments.”
A treasure chest emerges from the light. When Flint walks towards it and opens it, it reveals a Victory Charm.
—
The Treasure Chest turns into a beacon of light and creates another path.
“Now it’s time to take the path to glory.”
He walks again to another stained-glass floor. This time of a blond spiky haired boy in a black cloak. Two pillars emerge with the weapons he didn’t pick before. Just as he was about to pick either one, the voice stopped him.
“Glory can be taken as a surface level positive. But misguided people take it as something to feel complete. Those people never realize that the glory they found from sins still makes them as hollow as ever.”
Flint sees white strings of cloth floating towards him. It turns out they are white creatures with a symbol on their head covering their eyes, and what appears to be a zipper for a mouth. There are three of them this time, constantly moving. One of them is in the air, so all Flint can do is do a “jump attack” to destroy it. As the other two creeped up closer, Flint suddenly got the natural instinct to dodge. Not by rolling, but by sliding out of their sight. They look so confused, giving Flint the upper hand in defeating them without taking damage this time.
“Your example of glory comes from learning what’s already within yourself and realizing how to prevent past mistakes. Now choose the next power to accompany you.”
—
Flint learns that he can equip two of the weapons at once.
So he takes the sword in his right hand and the shield in his left.
—
Flint learns that he can equip two of the weapons at once.
Not only that, but the staff and shield seemed to merge into a longer staff, so he could hold it in both hands.
—
Flint learns that he can equip two of the weapons at once.
The staff is as long as the sword, so he takes the sword in his left hand and the staff in his right.
—
“It takes its own skill to master and balance both powers, but once you do, it will become something of your own. But how will you figure it out?”
The last weapon splits into two lights creating new paths.
“Will you learn with the power of the body? Or the power of the mind?”
—
Flint chooses the left path, to obtain the power of the body.
The floor’s image this time is of a rebellious, tall, red-haired, young adult in a similar black cloak.
“It takes self-discipline to give your body strength. If you stop now, your goal will keep moving away from you until you can’t see it anymore. So, keep up the work.”
The separated light from before moves closer to him until it bonds with him. Now he feels stronger and healthier.
—
Flint chooses the right path, to obtain the power of the mind.
The floor’s image this time is of a girl with black, short hair in a similar black cloak.
“The mind isn’t all about logic. The mind also contains your emotions. And kindness towards others will let your path open to new possibilities on how to achieve your goal.”
The separated light from before moves closer to him until it bonds with him. Now he feels smarter and more energetic.
—
Flint already knows a path is coming and runs as the path is being made. When he walks towards another floor, he realizes, there’s nobody depicted there. There’s not even any colorful circles or backgrounds. It’s just a blank white glowing canvas.
“It seems that you don’t have the full knowledge of yourself to see what lies below. Maybe there’s still some selfishness that needs to be resolved.”
Two more paths are created, the voice yet again gives him the choice between the two.
“How will you plan to resolve this? Through the path of understanding? Or the path of wisdom?”
—
Flint believes it’s through understanding, so he walks the path to the left. The stained-glass image this time shows another blond-haired boy, like the one from before. Is this the same person? He grabs a green light just floating there and he gains an extra attack to add to his combo.
“People share similar emotions, experiences, and trauma. Some of them like yours or could even happen to you. Only through understanding and empathy can your heart be full.”
Flint sees blue blobs like the shadows from before, but when they emerge, they have a sharper shape and have red angry eyes. There might be three of them, but they are led by two larger creatures with a fully defined body, a helmet-like head, and white gloves. But Flint is ready, with his new ability, he’s able to stop them one by one. His extra attack means that when one enemy is slain already, he could continue the combo on the next, and if the enemy is defeated with the standard three hit combo, it would continue the next enemy, chaining his moves.
—
Flint believes it’s through wisdom, so he walks the path to the right. The stained-glass image this time shows a blue haired woman. He grabs a blue light just floating there and he gains a new finishing attack to replace the one he already has.
“Overtime as we grow older, we know more about what’s around us and within us. It’s that wisdom that guides others to a better life. Your wisdom could grow by going to new places yourself and finding a point of view you never thought possible.”
Flint sees blue blobs like the shadows from before, but when they emerge, they have a sharper shape and have red angry eyes. There might be three of them, but they are led by two larger creatures with a fully defined body, a helmet-like head, and white gloves. But Flint is ready, with his new ability, he’s able to stop them one by one. His strong finisher means that when one enemy is slain already, he could continue the combo on the next, and if the enemy is already defeated with two hits, he could finish his combo on the next and be defeated by one.
—
Once all of them are defeated, Flint starts to feel tired from all the battles. Even when one of the enemies dropped a potion, he couldn’t bear to use it yet. A green circle appears in the middle and Flint walks towards it, recovering his health, and “saving his progress.”
Afterwards, he sees another creature at his side. But this one is much friendlier. It was a periwinkle-colored cross between a cat, dog, and from its size, a loaf of bread, with a unicorn horn. It playfully runs to the edge and creates the path for Flint as he chases it to one more stained-glass pillar. The creature seems to have disappeared as he made it.
Flint takes a closer look at the brown-haired young adult depicted in the artwork. It gives him a strange familiar feeling. But before he could process it, a duplicate of Flint with orange eyes and black sclera suddenly appeared behind him. It grows larger as it transforms into something worse. The transformation was as if the skin was a weak layer as red fingers pop out of the normal human hand, the leg and foot separate revealing more red skin, and the head and hair start to shed and melt.
Flint is horrified and almost runs, but stops almost immediately, aware that there is nowhere to run or hide. All Flint could do was to push on and see the monster in his true form. Which was of a giant cyclops-like monster, no mouth or ears, and skin looking more like muscle and sinew.
Flint gets out his two weapons and assumes that his weakness could be the eye. Once the monster attacks with both hands hammering the floor, he jumps on the hand, runs on the arms, and starts slashing it until it gets weaker.
At first, he thought he defeated it, but the weapons in his hands had disappeared as the monster attacked with his hand. It not only breaks the stained glass, but veins start growing out of the floor. Flint tries to make a leap of faith over the edge, but the veins catch him and start dragging him to the hole in the floor. He tries to hang on to that edge, but even when only one hand lets go, Flint’s strength on the other causes the edge to break off and drag him faster to the monster. All he could see was the eye as the voice spoke to him one last time.
“I have guided you for so long, but there are moments where I can’t be with you. Whatever sin you hold in your heart, whatever circumstances keep you from progressing, is something you must figure out yourself. Sometimes, it’ll be by starting all over again…”
“To a new Rising Dawn.”