52 A New Mission (1/2)

Images, colors and flashing lights disturbed Shura's vision and mind prior to his awakening. They gradually disappeared as his consciousness surfaced from a deep slumber, but the formless feeling of unease persisted after his awakening.

Shura felt horrible all over his body. It was an inexplicable feeling of discomfort. His mind was also disturbed. Both mind and body alike didn't feel all 'right'.

An unfamiliar scenery greeted his sight as he opened his eyes. He was staring at a ceiling, where there should be none...

The ceiling was of made of stone. There were intricate patterns and designs on the ceiling, the kind that took craftsmanship and skill to make. It looked strange and exotic. Shura had never seen such design nor texture before.

The odd appearance of the ceiling wasn't what caught his attention, it was the presence of the ceiling itself. Although his mind didn't feel quite fine at that instant, he still remembered that there shouldn't have been a ceiling here. He simply shouldn't have been staring at a ceiling.

There was supposed to be a sky, a vast and boundless sky that was as free and at ease as his feelings had been when he fell asleep under it. Both the sky and that feeling of ease and freedom were sorely lacking.

Shura closed his eyes and tried to recall what happened. Had he procured some intoxicants somehow and drank an unwise amount to the point where he didn't even know how he got where he was?

He tried to recall his last memories. Like dreams, they came to him in bits and pieces that took more effort the deeper he went. And like dreams, it caused him headaches as he attempted to wrestle some semblance of memory from the deep recesses of his mind.

He remembered being at home, in his room. He wrote a letter to the girl and imbued the last of his soul powers into a sword. The act had completely had rendered his own soul strength inert and useless. He then bade a maid to send it to the girl.

He had regretted his earlier thoughts and decided that this was the best that he could do for the girl. As soon as the maid had left he immediately bolted up and fled from the residence he had been living in for the past eighteen years.

He ran and ran. He didn't know how far, and while he doubted that he had reached the edge of the world, he really was far away from home. All of the unpleasantness of the past was behind him and only the bright future remained, one lived with contentedness and peace of spirit. He closed his eyes just as the sun had set.The right temperature of the haven in the wilderness enveloped his body and he fell asleep to the peaceful sound of the natural world.

That was all that he had remembered, and all that should have been.

Shura immediately got up from the bed. He surveyed his surroundings. Yes, this was most odd and peculiar. Who had brought him here, and where was he?

The room and everything within it was foreign to him. He had never seen such designs, such decorations at all. They weren't present in his present life either, and he had seen much as a cultivator.

There was a table in the corner of the room and on it were a piece of paper and a sheathed long blade. Shura went up to the paper, unfurled it and read it.

It was in a language that he recognized and it read thus:

”I have watched you for some time. I believe that it is a waste of your potential to retire from the world so early and put your talents to waste. A happier fate exists, and I shall give you the chance to pursue it.I truly want to see what you are made of. You've always believed that that which you sought was beyond your reach and grasp. I have put it on a platter in front of you now.

”A grand competition is taking place, the winner will become what you would call a 'Supreme'. You will have no woes or ills when you become such a being. The opportunity that you lamented that was not yours is now before you. Will you take it?

”In order to bring you to this time and place to participate in this grand battle your body had been discarded as only your soul could travel here.I have constructed a new body for you that will nourish your soul and grant you great and mighty strength. I have also provided you with a great weapon. Both will become your assets and make you the equals of any of the great geniuses or those who had powerful backgrounds. You will face no small number of such opponents.

”The tools are before you. The victory you seek can only come from your own efforts. Hurry and get used to your new body and weapon. The time for the beginning of the competition is most near.”

Shura continued to hold the letter up long after he was done reading it. He was thinking in silence.