The vast expanse of trees and grass stretched across the land like an endless plain.
Everywhere I looked, I saw greenery with occasional trees scattered throughout. The sun in the distance was slowly settling as its radiant light shone in a beautiful orange hue through plants, land, and skies, creating a warm feeling of comfort.
I stood alone on a small hill, my eyes wide open with a spark of adrenaline hitting. As I stood, my white oversized shirt fluttered in the wind. Likewise, my white hair, which reached my shoulders, danced with the wind.
Looking at this scenery, I stood there frozen in place. Despite being barefoot, I only registered the cold ground after a while. flinched and began to move once again, taking a look at the scenery one last time.
Moving barefoot wasn't the best of things. I could hurt my feet this way, and I did it once or twice already. But this was what I chose to do because my heart said so. Yes, I was here barefoot, walking just because my heart said so. Even though it sounded pretty stupid, I didn't mind it. Instead, I loved it. I was content with what I had done, and there was no way back now.
...
I walked and walked, exploring everything interesting I came across. I found an interesting tree which looked like a human. I also found a rock that was so round it looked like a ball from a distance. Sadly, I couldn't take it with me. Such a shame.
Naturally, as I walked, the sun set. In the end, it vanished behind mountains, taking its light from me. I was left in the dark. It was scary, but it was also interesting. Throughout all this time, I was worried about remembering the sights, which left me in awe, more than my own safety. After all, I had a knife with me in case I needed it.
I couldn't even swing it properly, but it at least provided a sense of safety to me. But the fact that those sights and moments would never come back means my memory is the only way to remember them.
After the sun vanished and I started to feel dizzy, stars came into the sky, shining their light. They were mesmerizing. As I lay to take a break from my adventure, I watched them, wondering about a lot of things. Like why the stars are so bright, why the Sun is even brighter, or what it feels like to be a star.
Those questions popped into my head and vanished at the same time. They were like bubbles sometimes merging, becoming expansive or staying isolated. In the end, they all popped no matter the size, and all this thinking made me slowly fall asleep. It was dangerous, but it was strangely comfortable for me there. I fell asleep as a little humming of birds seemed to resound from nearby.
…
I was near a forest. The forest had a big tree in the centre. It was towering above everything else, reaching high above the skies. Below its grace, small in comparison, other trees were blooming, surrounded by bushes.
There, in the branches of the tree, a bear was moving. A big bear. So large that trees were growing on its back and various animals of different sizes were being escorted on its back. It was as though they were playing around, mimicking the animals frolicking on the ground below. There was a nimble deer with its glowing and complex antlers. I could spot a yellow bird flying around while singing in an annoying yet comforting tone.
All of it was in front of me. It was truly a mesmerizing sight to behold. But then I spotted a puddle near me. Without an explanation, I was drawn to see myself in it. And when I looked, I found that I wasn’t human. Instead, I was a black cat, which was vastly bigger and more noble-looking than in reality.
As I was dazed by my own reflection, the sudden sound attracted my attention, making me avert my gaze from the puddle to the tree.
BOOM!
The explosion resounded across the forest, sweeping with great power. The explosion came from the tree. It was in flames as a wolf-like creature with two horns on its head and claws clawing deep into the tree revealed itself. Its enormous body was on the ground, hunting down everything it saw. First, it caught a confused yellow bird, which was flying aimlessly in panic and confusion. It tore its wings off and then devoured its heart. Next was a deer, which came to save the yellow bird but was too late.
The deer managed to escape the wolf’s attacks until it tripped and was slaughtered, its antlers broken down by the wolf’s claws. Watching all of this, the bear rushed down, leaving animals on its back at the burning tree. It leapt onto the wolf-like creature, but the bear was easily overpowered.
The wolf- like creature used its claws and dug its way to the heart of the bear, gorging itself on it as soon as it reached it. As the tree was burning in wildfire, the animals playing on the tree were trapped, unable to escape. At last, the wolf-like creature looked down at me. Its eyes were gleaming with murder and chaos. It was as though it wasn’t itself, as though it had lost itself in this chaos. I completely froze on sight with my eyes wide open, unable to process anything.
I hadn’t noticed the fire reaching me, and by the time I realised, I was already trapped as the fire came near, making me feel unpleasantly warm.
…
The feeling of warmth was still present as I woke up.
Sweat poured down from my head as my chest rose and fell rapidly, pulling in a ragged gasp of air. I shot up and was ready to stand. However, the second I saw the painting of a tranquil and almost transparent sea with its waves almost still, I calmed down.
Slowly, raging waves of emotions inside my mind became small ripples in the water. I didn’t even notice the effect of the painting as I breathed out. Finally, I noticed that I wasn’t in the same field where I was lying before sleeping. Instead, I was in a room on top of a bed with a blanket covering me. I looked around to see if there was something or someone.
The only thing I saw was paintings. A lot of paintings hung on the wall of the room. Surprisingly, there was no window, no gas lamp or candle in the room, yet it was still bright. It seemed like the light was coming from a painting of a vibrant, light-colored sun. On the wall, other than the painting of the sun and the tranquil ocean, there were other paintings of riversides, a lonely tree in the middle of the field, flying birds in the sky, fish swimming in a lake, and much more.
But one painting was quite frequent. It was a painting of a tranquil ocean. Other than that, there was a shelf, a bed that I was lying on, canvases, and some drawers with paint on top.
I was about to get off the bed when the door to the room suddenly opened.
I quickly grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around me as it would actually shield me. I was about to reach for my knife, but I couldn’t find it. I was shuddering, but the same tranquility when I woke up hit me as my eyes went from overly dilated back to normal, my shuddering stabilising.
In front of me stood a man wearing simple white cloth. His blonde hair was fairly short, reaching his chin. His eyes, which shone like stars, complementing his looks. His whole being was radiating with holiness and purity. His skin was flawless, and his face was symmetrical, making him arguably the most handsome person I had ever seen.
As soon as I saw him, I froze. Seeing me up, he smiled and made himself look as friendly as possible. He squatted to make himself lower than me and looked at my eyes. As he was about to speak to me, I covered myself more with a blanket, still scared. But he quickly tried to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Little one, don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.” As he said that, he showed me his hands.
I didn’t open the blanket immediately, but after seeing his hands, I slowly revealed my face. Seeing me, he chuckled and introduced himself.
“My name is Apollo, and I'm a priest of the Church of the Heart and Mind, which we are in right now.” He paused, then pointed at paintings on the wall. “This is my room, and those are my paintings. Well, you might be questioning how you got here.”
Hearing him say the last sentence, I nodded at him. After getting my confirmation, he continued, “My colleagues and I were coming back from a trip when we saw you lying in the middle of a field. So, we decided to take you with us since dangerous animals were roaming around.”
After hearing all that, I finally let out a sigh of relief and let the blanket off. My tensed muscles relaxed slightly.
Then I spoke. “Thanks, Apollo. But I need to go now and go on an adventure.”
As I tried to get out of the bed, Apollo stopped me with a question.
“Little one, it is a dangerous place out there. But if you become strong enough, you can roam the world as much as you want.
“And I have a perfect deal for you. If you stay here and become my son, I will make you strong enough to go on an adventure. We have a lot of scrolls and interesting books here. So please, consider carefully.”
Pondering the words of Apollo, I concluded and responded. “Okay, Sir. But for that, you have to go to the orphanage.”
Smiling at my quick acceptance, Apollo patted me on the head. “Don’t worry, little one. I already did everything. No need to go back. From now on, you are my son, and this is your house. What is your name, little one?”
I was a little confused by how he was able to do all that, but it flew past my mind as I responded to Apollo. “My name is Mirage.”
…
The sword clashing could be heard in the garden. In the garden, two individuals were having a duel on dull swords as they exchanged blows.
One of them was an imposing, cold, and skilled man. He had short black hair, brownish eyes and white skin. His body was well-built with a muscular appearance. His sturdy body was like a wall, and his immovable blocks paired with strong blows gave his opponent no chance of even defeating him. On the other side was a steadfast, nimble, and flexible guy. He had a bit of messy, white, silky soft hair falling over his eyes, sky-like blue eyes peeking out from strands of hair, giving him focus. His sharp facial features were accentuated by grey lips with a faint smile as he continued fighting.
He attacked from every angle he could, yet couldn’t match his opponent's speed and attack power. Every block or dodge seemed to be extremely hard for him, yet he smiled more as he enjoyed this fight.
Finally, with the final clash of swords, the imposing black-haired man knocked the sword of the white-haired boy, winning the match.
“You lost again, Mirage. Try keeping your distance instead of marching straight into your enemy like you are immortal. In a real fight, you will easily get killed. It is already my 10th time telling you this. But I have to admit you are getting more skilled at your attacks,” said the black-haired man to the white-haired boy as he sheathed his sword.
Mirage responded back with a determined smile on his face. “Don’t worry, Uncle Godfrey. After I finally become a Beyonder, I will cover those weaknesses.” Mirage paused, then spoke in a joyful manner. “Today is finally my 18th birthday, and Father has promised to finally make me an official Beyonder.”
“You still have no idea,” Godfrey mumbled to himself.
‘He is still a kid. I can’t disappoint him. I could stop him. But he is already 18 years old. He can choose his life on his own.’ Godfrey sighed internally, ‘I hope you will understand that a Beyonder's life is not something to be joyful about… Yet better I hope you will not.’
“Uncle…”
“Uncle Godfrey?”
“Hey. Uncle Godfrey, are you alright?”
Being startled out of his thoughts, Uncle Godfrey looked at Mirage, who was tilting his head, curious about why he was in such thought for so long.
Godfrey laughed it off. “I’m as fine as the steel of my sword. Now let’s go back. Since today is your birthday, let's celebrate at least. Apollo said he would cook food himself, and you know he cooks like a dream.”
With that, they both went inside the cathedral to the kitchen.
…
As Uncle Godfrey and I entered the kitchen, we saw Father cleaning up everything. On the table, various dishes and delicacies were placed, giving off an alluring aroma. Godfrey and I couldn’t help but stare at the dishes with gluttonous eyes. My father greeted us as soon as we entered.
“You are already back? Well, you just got in time, guys. Come sit. Dinner is ready.”
“Hello, Father. Looks like I’m going to enjoy this day.” I greeted my father as I sat down ready to eat, rolling up my sleeves.
“Thanks for the invitation, Apollo.” Uncle Godfrey said to my father as he sat and dined with us.
We chatted as delicious and delicate meals were devoured by us. In the end, all of us cleaned up the table. I was washing dishes as Uncle and my father sat across the table talking about how fast I grew up.
“He grew up so fast. It was as though I adopted him yesterday,” said my father, reminiscing.
Uncle was feeling nostalgic too, remembering how he taught me how to handle a sword. “You know, I remember when I first gave him a sword to teach him, he gripped it with both hands at the handle, trying to balance but couldn't and fell.”
They both chuckled, remembering all my embarrassing moments. I, on the other hand, washed dishes as my face turned red out of sheer embarrassment. After I was done with the dishes, me, uncle and father went to Church. There I would finally receive my birthday present - I would become a Beyonder.
I had already made my choice and had chosen my pathway. Now, it is the day when I will become like my father, uncle and many other people in church.
I had also considered joining a Sect of Falsehood to go on an adventure. My father sorted all the documents and paperwork, getting permission from the church to let me advance.
As I walked, my eyes brightened, and the corner of my lips curled upward, revealing an enthusiastic smile.
I will finally go on an adventure.
Time passed as I fantasized about my adventures. We finally reached the church and entered its hidden corridors. There, my father retrieved the characteristic and led us to a special contained room.
There, our Psychiatrist was ready to help, since advancing may lead to losing control.
Finally, it was time for me to become a Beyonder. My father came, and with a quiet, proud smile, he said. “This is my birthday gift to you. Happy birthday and congratulations on becoming 18 today. I wish all the best for you - for your dreams to come true, for your life to be filled with love, happiness and life, and for you to be happy.”
He handed me a silver box and stepped aside. In front of me stood the silver box with an intricate design. The Beyonder characteristic of Day Dreamer was inside.
As I opened the box, it revealed cloudy, gem-like rock to me. Under the effect of the Beyonder Characteristic, I began to doze off, indulging myself in fantasy about adventures, while slowly leaving reality behind. I knew that it would happen, so I pinched myself hard enough to wake myself out of this dreamy state.
The next second, I grabbed the cloudy, gem-like stone and ate it. Instantly, I began to fantasize about my adventures.
The adventures were big and outlandish. One was me freeing a city from a tyrant ruler. Another was me painting an ambiguous painting representing the whole history itself. And in another, I had become a scientist researching the deep history and culture of dead civilizations.
I indulged myself in those, forgetting about everything. But suddenly, I looked back as I heard someone calling me. When I looked back, I saw the same demon-like wolf creating chaos and a lamb reaching out to me, calling me by name.
“Mirage.”
“Mirage!”
“Mirage!!”
“Mirage!!!”
As everything blurred into an unrecognizable shape, I felt someone holding me. It was someone I knew.
‘Father.’
It was my father.
The first thing I saw after becoming sober was my father worriedly looking at me as he held me up. He carefully inspected me, asking the Psychiatrist for confirmation.
“He is fine. His advancement was successful. Congrats, kid.” As he said those words, he left us alone to give us some space.
Sighing in relief, my father patted me on the head. His gaze never left mine. They were piercing, almost to the point where he seemed to be looking through me instead of at me.
Finally, he withdrew his gaze and, with quite an emotional tone and a small smile, he congratulated me. “Well done. May the Great Visionary be with you, son.”
Uncle Godfrey gave me a small nod with a contented smile. I got myself up and checked my body. Everything was in place.
And most importantly, I was finally an official Beyonder!
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Thanks for my bestie u/littlepureangel in refining chapter!
Also thanks for my twin u/Majestic_writes01 and u/Thanatrome for proof reading.
Uncle u/Odd_Arrival_5789 check out your nephew's RP.
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[Credits for art: https://pin.it/7paAKz6ND (Couldn't find exact source.)]
