Something. The sound of footsteps of something. Someone is moving inside a dark and cold cave. His steps are slow, and his breaths are dragged. His hand is broken, and his body is covered in blood. He is trying to send a message to get help.
"This is the second day... My squad was completely killed by a giant monster that looks at least like it is rank A... There shouldn't be a monster like it inside a rank C magic cave."
Fire came out of his hand to burn the message, which would deliver it to the nearest person to the cave.
But a stormy wind extinguished his flames.
The wind monster was chasing him.
The man stood on his trembling feet and tried to escape, but the wind monster was faster than he could run.
He tried to move faster, but a muscle cramp struck him. The man fell to the ground.
He looked behind him and saw his inevitable death.
He screamed, "I don't want to die here!" and closed his eyes and put his hands in front of his face.
He was expecting the monster's attack at any moment.
The monster screamed at the top of its lungs, but it wasn't a scream of dominance — it was a scream of weakness and pain.
The injured man opened his eyes to see the back of a man in front of him.
His cloak was completely black and empty, unlike his black hair that had a slight shine.
He noticed his hand that was holding a sword, but he couldn't see it clearly because of the fear consuming him.
The standing man looked at the injured man.
The injured man opened his eyes wider to see the face of the man who saved him, but he saw only a white mask.
The masked man said, "If you don't want to die, run."
The injured man was at the edge of his consciousness.
He said before losing consciousness, "You... the Ghost of Luxaria."
And with the darkness retreating inside the cave because of the light of the flames, the memories of the white-masked man returned to the past when he saw the man's condition.
It returned to the beginning of everything.
---
A boy sitting in the market working in his shop of sweets.
He sat on his chair and looked at the shop window.
His skin was white, his black hair had a slight shine, and his eyes were brown leaning toward honey-colored.
His jaw was sharp, His body was normal, like any 15 year old boy.
Ethan Lumiere
Man... no one is buying today. Two birthday cakes at the beginning of the day, and no one came after that.
At this rate, I won't be able to buy the stuffed bear my sister wanted... Maybe the shop is dirty?
That's what I thought until I saw the shop was shinier than my room....
Man, damn this.
I looked at the street to see the other shops, but it was the same.
Since that day when a magic cave appeared under this area, no one has come.
I don't blame them for being afraid, but I need money!
My phone rang at that moment. It was my foolish childhood friend, Alex.
Our personalities don't match; all he thinks about is women, but I talk to him because I have no other friend.
I don't blame the elementary kids when they gave me the nickname "the arrogant bat" — I'm the worst at making friends.
I answered him, and we talked a lot.
My mother called, but I ignored her call and continued talking with him.
I noticed after a little while that the sun was setting.
I said goodbye to my friend and ended the call.
I closed the shop and walked home.
On my way, I saw a 25% discount on the ice cream my sister loves, so I bought her some and continued my way.
I reached the house and opened the door.
"I'm back," I said a bit loudly so my mother, who usually sits in the last room of the house at this time, could hear me.
But the situation was strange.
The house was very quiet.
I called my sister's name and my mother's name, but no one answered.
I called my mother, and she answered immediately.
Her voice was shaky and weak as if she had been crying heavily.
I asked her what was wrong, and she said,
"Your father passed away, Ethan."
I found myself at the hospital before I could feel it.
It was as if my body moved on its own and brought me there.
The hospital doctors received me with a bed carrying a dead person covered with a white sheet, and my mother was following them while crying, and my sister clinging to her clothes.
Tears fell from my eyes without me realizing, and I went near the bed.
I lifted the cover to see my father's face pale and lifeless.
They gently pushed me aside and took my father to the morgue refrigerators, and I stayed with my mother and sister to process what I had seen.
My little sister looked at me with tearful eyes and angry eyebrows,
"Why did you come?! Daddy died and you weren't here!"
I tried to hug her out of helplessness, but she slapped my hand.
Silence consumed me.
A day passed after my father's funeral.
I hadn't returned home since the day he died.
I slept at the shop and left the money I earned at the house door after knocking and then leaving.
I couldn't look at my little sister's face anymore...
I kept only enough money for myself for one day...
What strange traditions that make us bury the dead a week after their death.
I think it's eight o'clock now or something like that.
At least I can sit on this hill quietly.
"Damn, damn, damn! Why did everything flip so suddenly?!
Sure, Dad was sick since the end of my third middle school year, and I was forced to work in the shop and never complained, and everything was going almost fine, and now suddenly everything is destroyed!!"
I lay on the grass after saying this.
"Damn this unfair world... If only I could control Despaye like those knights, I would have gotten a lot of money, healed my father, and we would have lived a happy life..."
I did not realize my nap until I woke up. But the atmosphere was suffocating. I opened my eyes but I did not recognize the place around me, this is not the hill I was on. A place of pure whiteness and completely empty, and a single voice said in my head: "Ethan Lumiere, welcome to the world of Despaye."
Despaye is the spiritual power of a person in the world. A small number of people have the ability to use it, and these are called "Despainors."
Despaye grants you the ability to control many elements. That is if you are talented of course, as a normal person can control one element. And if he is exceptional, he might be able to use more than one element.
However, every person has one element that is stronger than the rest for him and he can control it more easily. This applies only to the four main elements, as there are other developed elements that only truly exceptional ones can use.
Anyway, what I know is that this is the Despaye test, and quite simply it will determine whether I will be a Despaye user or not. And of course, this test happens only for the selected few. Selected by whom? We do not know. But what I know now is that I have been selected.
Each person has a different test from the others and therefore there is no specific way to finish the test. I think it is time to read between the lines.
Suddenly I felt my body becoming light. No, my body was floating slowly. But in a moment, my body started flying at high speed and the place around me changed. It became like a long tube with strange colors, and I was flying inside it at an incredible speed that made me feel my heart would be ripped out of its place.
Suddenly the tube expanded into a wide space full of distant and faint lights. It reminded me of space. I looked behind me and, I felt nothing except that my eyes widened to the maximum and I screamed "A black hole??!"
I was sucked inside it, me and my thoughts before I could even arrange them.
I feel dizzy. I feel pain in my stomach. I feel that... I feel @#$$@$...my brain...is melting.. [Error] [Error] [Error] What...?
Finally, I realized where I am, I am directly in front of the sun!
What does this mean now?! How will all of this make me use the Despaye??!
The sun exploded and the place changed entirely. I found myself in the hospital, in front of me my mother and sister and... me? This must be the memory of the day of my father's death. No need to remind me of this..
The voice spoke in my head again, "You were in a state of deep sadness here, Ethan. But this is not the deepest despair you felt."
The place around me changed to a place I know very well. The voice spoke again, "This is the place where you killed your brother."
At that moment everything disappeared again and I returned to the place of pure whiteness. I said loudly, "You want to bring me to the deepest point of despair, don't you?" My voice carried nothing but seriousness.
Then I felt extreme lethargy. I closed my eyes involuntarily. I opened my eyes again. The atmosphere was suffocating, and something was burning. I looked around to find my hand and the grass under it burning! I immediately jumped from my place and tried to extinguish my hand but noticed that it was not actually burning. Are these flames from me?
I looked at the sky, puzzled. "Am I a superhero now?"