Earth Is Not The Same

At night, illuminated by the distant bright stars, a 30 meters pillar beam of white light shot from a sea whose surface was covered with glaciers. The light shot into the outer space and after about forty seconds, the night regained its serenity.

——— 

Blake woke up from the glaring sunlight and found himself floating at the shore of a sea. He looked behind him and found out that it was a clear blue sea. In front of him was a snow forest, but he saw numerous men and women dressed in strange clothes. They also carried weapons like swords, spears, and bows. Not the guns he used to see.

"So I survived after that meteor smashed me," Blake muttered.

Just then, a strange string of words flashed in his eyes.

[UNIVERSAL SYSTEM BOOTING…]

[Progress: 10%...]

[Progress: 50%...]

[Progress: 90%...]

[Progress: 100%…]

[Primary host: Blake Shaun]

[System binding to Primary host and approval: Access denied

Reason for rejecting primary host: Weakling.]

[Approving secondary host…]

[Secondary host: Remnant soul of Empress Hecate.]

[Body possession starting!]

[Progress: 10%...]

Blake started feeling his consciousness slipping and his eyes shutting. He felt he was losing control of his body.

'What the hell! What kind of prank is this? Body possession? Where I'm I? The last thing I remember…' Blake's thought was interrupted by the system warning notice.

[Warning! Body possession!]

[Note: If body possession completes, the primary host will become a wandering ghost soul for eternity.]

[Progress: 20%...]

Suddenly, the most beautiful and bewitching woman who Blake had ever set his eyes on came out of his body. His gaze was captivated by her curves, strange clothes, and ruby iris. He was about to appreciate her beauty when another warning popped up. 

[Warning! Body possession!]

[Progress: 30%...]

The beautiful woman started whispering something strange. Blake suddenly felt the urge to sleep accelerate. He abruptly felt warm and comfy.

'What if I sleep and never wake up? What if it's neither a prank nor a dream? I haven't exerted my revenge. All those sons of bitches are still living their life!' After multiple 'what if' thoughts emerged in Blake's head, he thought of his revenge; the faithful setup.

Without hesitation, he tried his best to stay awake. Abruptly, a strong headache that caused him dizziness originated from nowhere. He felt like someone had smashed a hammer directly into his brain. The headache was so painful that he nearly passed out. He held his head and fell to the ground. Screaming aloud, he attracted the attention of the people around. They merely stared at him and continued with their activities. 

When Blake felt the headache subsided, he relaxed, only to be suddenly attacked by a gut-wrenching pain. He felt all his body, veins, and organs being squeezed, stretched, and pulled apart. The pain can make someone pray for a quick death. He spasms uncontrollably on the ground due to the pain. However, he couldn't scream because he felt a constriction in his throat. 

He looked from the corner of his eyes and saw the beautiful lady staring at him.

"Hel… Help." Blake made a rough, throaty, almost inaudible sound.

"Then sleep and the pain will be over." She said while smiling sweetly, displaying her pearl-like teeth. Her scent nearly made Blake obey.

Blake shook off the stupor by hitting his tongue. After an hour of enduring the torture, the interface appeared in his eyes again.

[Body possession: 

Status: Failed.

Reason: Will of adamant.]

He relaxed, but still kept his guard up for any trickery. After a while, nothing unusual happened, then he finally loosened up his tensed body. His ragged breathing steadied.

After about ten minutes, he started feeling the cold of lying in the snow for a long time, which prompted him to stand up.

The people who saw him continued like nothing happened.

"Weren't they supposed to help? What kind of psychos are they?" Blake muttered, but at that moment, he saw something that made his jaw drop. He saw a person flying. He flew without any equipment like a jetpack. The person wore only a strange metallic armor, with his long hair swaying in the wind. The man suddenly landed behind a young boy with fiery orange hair.

"Hey, pretty boy!" the young man accompanied by the flying man called out. Three men and one woman, who had her face veiled and a strange neck bangle, also tagged along behind him.

"Pretty boy?" Blake questioned with his eyebrow raised.

"If not a pretty boy, who would spray or dye their hair blue in this transcendent era?" The man said with sarcasm.

"What about yours?" Blake asked with contempt. 

"You have big guts. Well, I can tell you that mine is the sign of the gifted. Forget about that, I need a scout." the young waved at a man behind him dismissively, who stared at the confused Blake angrily.

"Sorry kid, I'm busy," Blake said, trying to walk away.

"It wasn't a request. It is an order. And who the hell do you call a kid? Teach him how to obey," the young man barked.

One of the men following the kid behind suddenly hurls a bolt of lightning at Blake.

Blake, who was ready to exchange blows, was caught off guard by the lightning. Moreover, his body still aches over the 'possession torture'. Blake fell face-flat, bleeding through his mouth, ears, nose, and other orifices, dying the snow red. The lightning was like the catalyst to erupt his injuries from the torture.

"I did not say you should kill him," the young man barked at the man who hurled the lightning. 

"Young master, I never knew he was this weak," the man hurriedly apologized. While Blake felt like he fell into an unknown planet full of psychos.

'Young master? Who the hell uses those terms to address people in New York? Hurling lightning? When did Zeus or Thor reincarnate?'

"Fine, Lucian, bring him and her along. Where is the cave?" The young man spoke to the wing guy called Lucian authoritatively.

"At the southeast of the forest. Young master, don't you think it is a bad idea to bring her? I can only carry three people." Lucian said calmly. 

"Don't worry, she has an elemental binder on her neck. So, I will be fine," the young man said.

"But—" 

"Who is in charge, Lucian?" The man barked, cutting Lucian's complaint.

"You," Lucian said calmly. 

That was how Lucian carried and tied the fallen Blake on his back, the young man and the veiled young woman in each hand. He flew away. The wind brushed against Blake's face, making him slightly open his eyes.

Blake, who heard their conversation, already settled his heart to accept anything, even if he hears oxygen suddenly whisper to him. When he looked down from Lucian's back, he saw tiny beings walking about the forest; humans the size of ants. He shut his eyes quickly because the height was no joke. Falling off spells his death.

After flying for three minutes, Lucia landed on the ground, in front of an ice cave that was connected to a mountain covered in snow.

After Lucian dropped Blake, he whispered in the young man's ear to be careful, before flying to bring the rest. 

"You see that cave, you will go in and find something for me," The man said while playing with the whip hung on his waist. Blake stared at the cave. His vision was obscured by white, icy mist like white fumes oozing from chemicals in a beaker. However, he felt a chill that did not originate from the snow or mist. It made his heart race.

Just then, Blake heard the man groan, which disrupted him from his study of the cave. When he turned around, he saw the man, with a knife protruding from his chest. He was stabbed in the back. The quiet veiled girl stabbed the man. This made Blake shudder. The girl then turned and ran into the forest.

Blake stared in shock at the forest which the girl disappeared into.

"Growl!" A loud distant growl interrupted him, followed by the quaking of the mountains and the powerful vibration of the ground.

"What again?" Blake cursed angrily. This place was filled with different frightening and mythical things, and it was affecting his mental health.

When he turned around, what greeted him were two large red lanterns. When he peered deeply into the white mist, he noticed the two red lanterns becoming bigger. The tremor was increasing. Squinting his eyes, Blake noticed two gigantic, opposing saw blades gleaming with a black sheen.

"The sh*t couldn't get any crazier. Is this some ritual? As the blood of this young idiot flowed onto the snow, those things appeared," Blake muttered with his hands rubbing against the side of his jaw in contemplation. 

"Growl!" 

However, an abrupt growl changed his mentality, as a powerful shockwave hit him, making him close his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he saw the outline of a snow-white gigantic figure. 

Without hesitation, he bolted into the forest filled with scattered rocks of different sizes. What Blake saw made his heart gallop like a wide horse. He saw an ape, three times the size of the normal adult apes he sees in the zoo. Moreover, the red lanterns were the eyes, while the two opposing saws were the hand-length crystal teeth. 

He even prayed he could grow extra legs to aid his escape.

While running, he turned around only to see a stream of frost shooting at him. It came from the ape's mouth. Instantly, he jumped out of the way. The frost stream passed him and struck a rock, turning it into an ice crystal. Although Blake jumped out of the way, just the air around the flying frost stream froze the blood leaking from his orifices. Even his hair and eyebrows have snow on them. He was shivering from the intense cold, waiting for his death. He was hearing growling, followed by trees and rocks flying about. After a while, his surroundings became silent.

When he mustered the courage and turned around, he saw the ape walking back into the cave, which made his hanging heart drop. However, his heartbeat raced again when he saw the squashed, frozen flesh of the young master. 

"Phew! I just grazed past the door of the underworld," Blake muttered, as he lay in the snow quietly, afraid of waking another harbinger of death.

Three minutes later, the cold was unbearable for Blake. He sat up, only to see a beauty with long waist-length silver hair. He was lost for a second, but the blade in her hand jerked him awake. The blade was coated with frozen blood. However, he wouldn't forget it. The blade pierced the young man. She suddenly squinted her sapphire-clear eyes and started walking slowly toward him, leaving a trail of footprints on the snow behind her. 

'I thought I escaped death,' Blake thought.