The deafening sound of lightning mercilessly striking slowly subsided as a tremulous voice came to be. Keristis was relocated to a fairly dim-lit chamber, making whatever was in front of him difficult to see.

"Five hundred and seventy-two years old, that's a new record." laughed an unseen character.

He slowly came into view. The young man had a voice that was cold, smooth and quiet. From what could be seen, he had dark brown, medium length and slightly messy hair that fell behind his neck and ears. His face revealed intrigue towards the happenings around him promoted by his glowing, observant golden eyes that inspected every inch of Keristis' being and had a tall, well-built figure wearing clothes that were definitely not from Keristis' time.

"Hmm," he looked at the towering suit of armour before him, "I wonder if you still have your actual body inside there."

He peered into the cracks of the cold metal, inspecting every one of its flaws.

"Nope, as empty as can be."

Keristis kneeled before the smaller figure, a greeting gesture that was the first to come to mind.

The stranger enquired, “Firstly, I want to know if you can understand me. Hold you hand up.”

Keristis raised his hand. The first thing he was told to do in this unusual place was certainly underwhelming for him.

"Oh, you do understand me? That's a surprise."

His eyes widened. "Can you speak?"

Keristis emitted a distorted noise, one that couldn't be understood by anybody. The sensation brought with it was unusual, like someone was holding his voice captive.

"Sadly not, eh? I guess I won't be able to learn your name until later. Anyways, let me explain who I am. My name is Aurelius Malint and I have summoned you back to this world."

Back to this world?  Keristis didn't catch on and tilted his head slightly.

"Ah, I get it. You actually go to another realm when you die, we don't really have a name for it though so I just call it the Afterlife. Honestly though, not many know that."

Keristis was taken aback by his directness.

"No no, don't worry. This is the same world you lived in when you were alive, just five hundred and something years in the future. We account for your living age, hence why it isn't exactly five seventy-two."

Upon closer inspection, the large hall they were in had a window above the two. They were in the centre, atop an altar surrounded by strange, foreign crystals. Through the window there were two figures that quickly turned and walked away when Keristis made eye contact with them. He pointed at where they were.

"Oh them? That's just the Overseer. Just checking if your summoning was successful, one of them oversees each summoning.

Keristis shook his head and made a 'V' with his fingers.

"There were two of them? Strange, not a big deal though."

Curiosity crept into Keristis' mind but he quickly swept away the conclusive thoughts. As thought-provoking as they were, they weren't necessary in his current situation. His primary objective was to find out what was going on, where was he? Why was he here?

"Anyways, you've returned to this world because of my summoning abilities. I'd love to explain my backstory but right now you are due for a combat assessment, just so I can see how well you perform fresh out of the grave."

One of Keristis' objectives was partially complete.

Aurelius' hands had a golden aura, he lifted his arm and behind him rose an unusual being that quickly emerged from the floor.

"This is who you'll be fighting, Fallantis the Shapeless. Don't worry if you lose, it's just a test. But, y'know, if you do win I'll be surprised because I'm quite certain that they're leaps and bounds stronger than you, I think."

Already fighting? Keristis had only just been back from the dead and now he needed to prove himself in combat? He dismissed these thoughts and readied himself. In his left hand remained the spear he pried from the ground, and raised it in front of him. He felt some past knowledge come back to him as the atmosphere became tense.

Fallantis' form was ghastly and without form: it swirled around in a perplexing manner. With the space around it distorted, you would struggle to focus on it, never mind telling where its actual position was. Clearly it had no regard for cohesion and understanding. 

They tried to communicate with Keristis, with Aurelius being none the wiser,

".ǝuo pǝʇɐʇsɐʌǝp 'sƃuᴉʇǝǝɹפ"

Its broken and unintelligible speech made no sense.

A countdown was signalled by Aurelius.

"3."

"2."

"1."

"Fight!”