A Strange Space? The All-Seer

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Nero had awakened to an unfamiliar space; one he couldn’t quite describe with words. A realm of colorful lights that stretched far out into an endless horizon. Brillant stars shone brightly from all directions, each carrying a unique charm. Yet, among them was the most prominent star that stood at the farthest region in the void, giving off an aura of aloofness.

Nero, who floated in this unusual space, looked around in surprise. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “What the heck? Where am I?”

He turned his head, looking around in a flustered manner, but no matter which direction he turned, everything was the same, his position relative to everything.

Nero soon felt worried, but he soon calmed down. He knew that acting in such a manner would get him nowhere, so he quickly arranged his thoughts.

How could I have appeared in such a place? Am I stuck in a dream?

Nero tried to assess his situation while pinching his cheeks with force, but the pain couldn’t wake him no matter how he tried.

From the looks of it, it doesn’t even seem to be a dream. That game-like screen and notification were weird. It mentioned something about a door. If I recall correctly, it should have sent me to some so-called Digiverse. Is this that place?

Nero frowned as he couldn’t make sense of everything, but as if it had done enough waiting, the most prominent star glowed in a radiant light that beamed from the firmaments towards his location.

Nero looked at this in surprise and remained on guard. The light swiftly stopped a few feet from him before it polymorphed into a small being less than half of his size.

It was an entity that gave off an overwhelming presence, a lifeform that transcended normality with one large eye that glowed in a divine light underneath the hood of its ancient robes.

As the one-eyed entity floated, its robes fluttered about due to the power of unseen energy that shrouded its body. It looked at Nero, its eye seeming akin to a window for all of its expressions.

As if to express a specific emotion, its eye bent into an upside-down arc, narrowing by an extreme degree as its red pupil stared intensely at him.

Nero felt uneasy by its stare, he was about to say something, but the entity soon spoke in a tone much like an elder to a child. 

“How bizarre? Your soul wreaks of death, yet here you are with such pureness in life. A curious one you are, or rather… a curious ‘two’ indeed.”

How could this thing tell that someone was in my mind? 

Nero grew astonished, but as if he didn’t want to share his emotions, he remained silent and stoic. Looking at Nero’s quiet manner, the entity’s eye bent into a more friendly arc.

“Come on out, don’t waste time trying to hide before me. Your soul can manifest in this realm of the Universe Ring.”

Silence reigned for a moment as Nero looked on with curiosity, but soon, a snort sounded from his mind snorted as a gust of wind blew, followed by a flash of silver-reddish light.

Suddenly, the figure of a much older Nero appeared, clad in his sinister-looking coat with even longer silver hair that flowed behind him as his red pupils shone in a freezing ray. He glared at the being and spoke, “Why don’t you just get on with it?”

Nero felt slightly startled as he saw the figure. From a simple glance, he felt as if he was staring at death itself, a being with a cold, ruthless nature.

Is he truly me? He felt perplexed, he didn’t believe the person’s words initially, but the looks were spot on and only more mature. The man’s coldness made Nero feel unsettled as if he would kill anyone over the slightest grudge, slaughtering all lives with no care.

Adult Nero naturally heard his younger self’s thoughts, but he didn’t care. Only he knew what he experienced. What his more youthful self will eventually experience would be for him to grow and accept.

The strange entity looked at the duo with his eyes curving again as if he were expressing a smile as he spoke, “Fascinating, truly fascinating. Your case is quite a unique one, even amongst the many other ‘abnormalities’ I’ve encountered as if late, but I suppose that’s that, there are more important things to address. Now then, let us begin.”

Adult Nero closed his eyes and sat down in the void showing no care in the world, but as for Nero, he looked at the being with serious eyes; everything for him so far had been a shock, and he was trying his best to make sense of everything.

The entity waved its hand as a magical staff appeared in his palms. It glowed in a bright magic power as he stomped its base on the ground, touching the emptiness as it released a water-like ripple. Suddenly, a rumbling echoed as a gigantic door of over a hundred meters rose from behind him, a mystical doorway with a card shape engraved on its surface.

A small sphere had materialized in the entity’s hand, glowing in luminous rays as it spun around. After finishing those tasks, the being looked at the two Nero and spoke pleasantly.

“I welcome you both to the Transmission Zone of the Universe Ring; I am the one that watches over this realm, the Guardian of the Digiverse, the All-Seeing Primal Seer. In short, you may call me the All-Seer. Usually, you’d have transferred directly to the Digiverse upon successfully awakening your consciousness. However, as you were an anomaly, I have summoned you here to meet you and grant you a special gift.”

Nero listened keenly, marking down the names he heard to avoid asking pointless questions. The All-Seer nodded in satisfaction. He didn’t like to repeat himself, so meeting people like Nero was a blessing. He pointed his staff towards Nero. 

Instantly, the sphere that hovered before him showed various numbers at diverse locations. It spun at an alarming rate before it settled on number 104.

Upon seeing the number, the All-Seer’s eye flickered with surprise as it spoke, “Well now, number 104, it turns out your luck isn’t too bad, haha. Take it, and may it do you well.”

Following his words, a glowing object appeared from the sphere, which moved a ray of light toward Nero, falling into his body.

━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━

Ding!

You have received a unique item!

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

Nero was surprised, not by the notification, but by a stuffy feeling in his chest. He didn’t know what had happened. He looked at the All-Seer and spoke, “What is this?”

The All-Seer’s eyes curved, expressing a smiling look as he spoke again, “You shall know all in time, now then, I am sure you are confused about everything, and I doubt that broody fellow over there will be able to explain anything to you. Come, I shall guide you.”

Adult Nero opened his cold-looking eyes and glared at the All-Seer for a while, but he didn’t say anything. He merely closed them and kept silent.

Nero once more became attentive, as he felt things might just turn out to be quite interesting.

The All-Seer turned around and pointed his staff toward the door behind him, causing it to open with a loud creak. When this happened, a bright light flashed before receding, showing a fantastic backdrop.

Beyond the door was another world, one found only in fantasy. Mysterious creatures roamed the high skies while beauties like no other stood in grand palaces, even warriors did battle with incredible powers, and special abilities appeared in a sequence of images. Most were of mixed races, as though many looked like humans; they had far too many odd features.

Nero looked at the scene with wonderment; he was a bit attracted. Still, that interest soon after faded as he saw the blood and violence, people slaughtering each other like animals. He began to feel that this might be far more dangerous than he’d imagined.

The All-Seer ignored Nero’s changing expressions and spoke, “I believe that you had encountered some strange occurrence in your world, and from then, your fate was destined never to be the same again.”

Nero didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew his words were correct. He recalled his past growing up, the strange little entities that others couldn’t see but remained visible to his eyes.

The All-Seer chuckled as if he knew Nero’s thoughts; he spoke again, “It’s only natural you are a Digitizer, a rare lifeform amongst the many in the universe, as you have inherited a power that can only come from a Digitize Card. 

These cards are ancient artifacts stored in the governing treasure of the cosmos, the Universe Ring, a mystical construct since the age of Primal Origins. Digitizers can wield powers that exceed the world’s limits, but this gift does not come naturally. How does one go further in awakening these abilities? The answer is simple; you must fight and grow in battle. If you venture into the world beyond this door, you can aspire to become the greatest there is, and with that power, you’ll be able to accomplish many things.”

Listening to the grand speech, Nero ruminated the All-Seer’s words carefully. After a while, he spoke, “So let me get this straight. You say that this inheritance of yours can grant me strength and that I must travel to a strange world and risk my life against others simply for power, right?”

Adult Nero made a vague smile, not saying anything, but the All-Seer looked at Nero with a puzzled look and spoke, “Correct, is not power the desire all lifeforms seek? What could be more important than having the power to do anything you wish?”

Nero frowned as he turned around and spoke, “Since it’s that, then I don’t need it. I don’t need such a foolish thing.”

The All-Seer was shocked; it looked at Nero profoundly and spoke, “Huh? You’re saying that you’d reject the path to acquire limitless strength. Why would you do such a thing?”

Nero turned around and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, “Why else? What in this world could be more important than my mother? I don’t have time to play games; I only need to see my mother well again. As for strength and all this, I don’t care… send me back!”

Adult Nero’s smile widened further, but it soon turned into a frown as he looked at Nero and sighed helplessly. As he expected, the face of the All-Seer changed from shock to a new look. It was an odd and dark look of its eye curving upside-down as it opened slightly, revealing a sly red pupil that stared deeply at Nero.

After making a deep chuckle, the All-Seer spoke in a voice that sounded into Nero’s mind, “Oh, so what you seek is a wish. Then tell me, boy, what would you do if, in this world, all this fighting can grant you what you seek? The strength to save your dying mother?”

When Nero heard this, he felt a jolt as he turned around and looked at the All-Seer with wide eyes. His body now showed an emotion he hadn’t experienced in a long time as he trembled with excitement like no other.

Adult Nero looked at this with indifference, but the All-Seer’s expression changed to a smiling look as he spoke in a voice that beckoned Nero’s fate, “Allow me to explain.”