I was glad that the blue-winged eyeball set off because I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle talking to two eyeballs at the same time. I was now left alone with the eyeball that went by the name Be.  

Although I was slowly growing depressed by the situation, I felt glad when I heard that Be would make an effort to give me some sort of clarification. Or at least I hoped they would.

I didn’t waste any time. Here was someone, or something, that knew I did not belong in this world. I asked the question that had been bothering me ever since I opened my eyes and found myself in this crappy place. “What am I doing here?”

They didn’t seem startled or confused by the unusual question, so I took it as a positive sign.

“I don’t know either.” And just like that, whatever hope I had remaining was crushed in an instant.

I bit the inner part of my mouth in frustration. ‘Then who else would know?’

“But I do know that as long as you remain here, you will need our help, human.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the eyeball’s response. “Help…?”

“Yes. You’re a foreigner in this world, so there’s a lot you need to know about its system and people,” they continued, “and about yourself.”

It’s not like I didn’t believe them—well, who was I kidding? I didn’t believe anyone, whether in this damn place or outside. It was like I was in an alien planet.  

But I also knew that there was something suspicious about the odd (friendly?) eyeball. Something that they were hiding from me.

“You’re acting weird. You didn’t come here just to ‘help’ me, did you?” I tightened my jaw. “Do you need something from me?”

It was difficult to read the ‘face’ of just an eyeball so at that moment, I didn’t know what they were thinking. Were they coming up with a lie?

“Yes, and no; I didn’t expect you to also be cautious,” Be responded. They were surprisingly answering all my questions. “You’re right, I originally didn’t come here to help you.”

Maybe it was the way that we were approaching night time, or the fact that there was barely any firewood to keep us warm in the basement that I was locked in, but I felt an icy chill run though my entire body as I stared back at the eerie eyeball.

“The guards aren’t the only ones that want you dead,” they started, their initially awkward tone now absent from their voice. “Did you know that up there, an order has been issued to eliminate you?” 

My face went pale as the grim words registered in my head. Eliminate? Was I going to die a second time?

“… Are you going to do it?” I didn’t care what ‘up there’ meant, but just by the short conversation we had, the species of flying eyeballs looked like they were capable of wiping out my existence without lifting a finger. So for some reason, they were stalling… for now.

Noticing my growing uneasiness, Be, in their own way, tried to appear less threatening by enveloping themselves with their bat wings. Now, they looked like they were an orb floating midair. I didn’t think that helped, but the simple gesture was welcomed nonetheless.  

“I changed my mind,” they finally replied and I let out a short exhale, my shoulders relaxing, just for a little bit. I knew that at any minute now, I could be hit with new, mentally-damaging information. “Ce also agrees, so you don’t have to worry about them either.”

I thought about the situation for a second. “Won’t your boss, or whatever, be mad at you for disobeying their orders?”

“That’s something for us to handle, you don’t need to worry about it,” Be waved off the matter like it was nothing, almost confident that they could, indeed, pull it off. I didn’t know whether I found their confidence consoling or stressful. “Is that what you really want to know though? I thought you might’ve been interested in an explanation.”

That eyeball’s words really didn’t really bring me any comfort, but I nodded without another comment. After all, what else could I do?

“Let’s talk about yourself; or more accurately, the body you’re currently overtaking at the moment,” they slightly spread their wings, clearly starting to sound excited about the topic. “Flick your hands.”

Huh?

“Like this?” I held out my hand without hesitation and gave a short flick with the tips of my fingers, not really thinking much of it. Until now, all I’ve seen were some of the most absurd things.

And another one joined the list just now. I flinched in surprise when an orange bubble suddenly appeared in front of me, a bunch of bolded text written on there. Be looked pleased.

“Knew it would work!” I didn’t bother questioning what they meant by that.

[Human Summary]

Name: Raphael Cicolleros

Age: 18 – May 22

Gender: Male

Element: Earth [Sey] <expand>

Skills: Knowledge [Lv. 9], Mana Capacity [Lv.8], Swordsmanship [Lv.5], Agility [Lv.3], <expand>

Summary: You are the son of Marquess Cicolleros; you are well-knowledgeable and deemed worthy of preceding the title, however, it is highly advised that you change your behaviour. You are a difficult, stubborn man with many insecurities and traits that need to fixed. Also, please work on your relationships with others, as they might lead you to your downfall one day.

Reputation: -55

Note(s): 1) This human possesses unusual traits. <expand>

2) This character is dead.

“I guess this must be me now,” I muttered as my eyes scanned the summary until I landed on something critical. I didn’t really think of asking questions about the other unusual things because all I could focus on now was the last sentence. “What the… what the hell does it mean by dead?” Was I a ghost now?

I pinched my cheek to check in case and cringed when it hurt more than I expected it to; was I slapped beforehand or something?

“As far as all of us know, you’re alive and well. That’s the abnormality that we’re investigating,” the eyeball commented but refused to elaborate further, floating around the panel. “Why don’t you focus on the other stuff? I’ll give you a minute to read through and then you can start asking questions.”

I frowned, but didn’t persist. I looked back on the orange bubble again that casted a light in the dim dungeon I was in. “Raphael…” I quietly whispered to myself. That was his name— or I guess my name now. Apparently the ‘character’ was dead.

… Character? The name sounded familiar somehow, like I’ve heard it constantly, but its impression seemed to leave a sour taste on my tongue. Maybe an old acquaintance with the same name? But that didn’t sound right either… I shook my head and decided to bookmark the thought for later.

Next, I looked at the age; at least that was one thing we had in common, with even our birthdays being the same. But the similarities ended at that because the next few lines made me think that I was in a fantasy video game; all the various skills and stats written beside them made me dizzy.

I didn’t bother checking what was left in the expand button as I turned to face Be. “The element, what is that supposed to be exactly?”

I thought I saw the eyeball smile for a second. “Let’s start with this; have you heard of something called alchemy?”

I nodded slowly. “It’s basically just old chemistry, right?” The two words I knew meant the same thing, but I recalled that despite it not being practiced anymore, it must not be the case for fantasy worlds that heavily relied on magic.

“… Old chemistry?” they tilted their head in surprise. “Is that another word for alchemy? If so, then you should know the 4 elements that the world functions by; we use them daily, some more than others and—“

“Wait, wait!” I quickly interrupted them. “Ha… maybe I didn’t make it clear but our chemistry is a little different,” I rubbed my forehead, already anticipating an upcoming headache. “If by 4 elements, you mean fire, water and the rest—then we don’t use them in the way you guys do… which I assume is ‘magic’. Our chemistry is a little more scientific.”

Be listened to my short explanation before shaking their ‘head’. “Oh dear… you have a lot to learn then.”

I cringed. “Learning this is necessary, right…?” I was not curious enough to stay in this world and dedicate myself to learning a whole other new subject; I almost dropped chemistry back in school if my mom hadn’t forced me!

“Yes, that is, if you want to stay alive.” I didn’t retaliate any further after that, letting them begin their little crash course episode.

“You may be already familiar with this, but I’ll teach you the very basics that even newborns are expected to know,” Be flew over to my open summary board and tapped its wing on the ‘element’ section. “As I was saying before, our world revolves around 4 major elements; fire, water, earth and air. If you’re lucky, you’ll be blessed with either of these elements at birth and be given the chance to develop your mana capacity so that you’re able to handle your own elemental power,” they explained. “The more your body and mind can handle, the better control you’ll have over your mana.”

‘Hmm, I think I’ve heard of this before,’ I thought.

“The rest are born with either the light or shadow element, which is the weakest among the 4 other elements,” they paused. “And perhaps, the most dangerous. If you’re an extraordinary individual, there’s a possibility that you could use either element at birth, or acquire it in the future at its greatest potential.” They added. “Dear human, you might encounter a few of those who are able to cross the vigorous barrier, which will allow the individual to become even stronger than most—to be precise, stronger than any of the 4 natural elements combined.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “So basically, light and shadow elements are useless to those born with it, unless they’re prodigies?”

“That’s correct. Moreover…” they seemed a little hesitant to continue. “Those with the shadow element usually die at birth, so there aren’t many in the world who wield it, let alone, are capable of using it.”

‘Death rates must be higher than the birth rates here.’ I shuddered at that thought before looking back on my open panel. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have earth as my element. I drew closer to get a better look at what was written beside it. “What does ‘sey’ mean?”

Be excitedly fluttered its wings. “Unlike ‘skills’ which allow you to continue developing to even over a 100, elemental powers have limits to them, from 1 to 5,” they said. Before I could comment, 5 stars appeared one by one using the eyeball’s magic and I watched in awe as they rotated around me in unison.

“Yek.” One star.

“Du.” Two stars.

“Sey.” Three stars.

“Char.” Four stars.

“And finally, the strongest, Benj.” The last star glimmered. Once Be was finished, the mini stars floated in front of me, twinkling brightly in the dark cell. “Currently, you are at Sey, which I would say is a very good level to be at.” I rolled my eyes at the intentional pun. “In fact, you are considered stronger than half of the population in this world.”

I hadn’t noticed I was smiling from the little star display until the eyeball said the last thing, and the smile fell off my face. “What’s the point of being strong when I’m a criminal?” I sigh. “And it’s not like I’d choose to fight in the first place.”

Be stared at me with an incredulous expression. “You don’t usually have a choice,” the stars traveled back to their owner, their shine beginning to darken. “I don’t know what world you come from, but from what I’ve heard from you so far, it’s definitely different from ours; and in a variety of ways.”

Their voice got more serious as they spoke. “You’re lucky to have enough mana and social power to defend yourself against the other humans that wish to hurt you. Many don’t have that luxury and would, in worst case scenario…well, die.”

I wasn’t really paying attention to the eyeball now. “It’s not like I asked to be sent here either,” I mumbled, averting my eyes. Be seemed to have heard it as they bore their singular eye at me.

“Which is why you need to learn everything you could about here,” they snapped back to their cherry attitude in an instant. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you know even more than the original Raphael.”

“Ha… I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Without realizing, I had started biting on my fingernail out of frustration, an old habit of mine. “Then, please continue.”

***

Bogdana

It might be frustrating right now to deal with all this information, but I hope you guys bear with me :') I'll try to speed it up while laying out the foundation.