As Kael stepped through the door of the old woman's home, he felt soft gusts of air brush his face, along with the faint smell of dust and herbs. He looked up and noticed the old woman signaling for him to take a seat, so he did. He pulled out an old, small wooden chair from the table.
Kael proceeded to ask the old woman "Why are you so... inviting towards me?"
The old woman let out of small chuckle under her breath "Heh heh".
"Ever since my daughter passed, I've had to take care of her two children--Jared and Jess." She said, her voice warm but with a tinge of sadness.
She paused, and smiled gently "You just remind me of her late husband--Josiah, that's all."
"So boy, what may your name be?"
"Kael..." He muttered quietly, still nervous about his surroundings.
"Quite the intriguing name boy, do you happen to know what it means?" She asked him.
"Honestly, I don't know, I never had the chance to ask my parents before they passed..."
Kael said quietly, his mind drifting away from the conversation. The thoughts of his parents reminded him of when he was a happy child with no worries on his mind.
"Mm, I see, sorry for your loss. And anyways, you aren't from around here are you boy?" She said, quickly bringing his mind back to the conversation.
Kael looked up "Thank you, and is it really that obvious?"
"Of course it is!" She exclaimed while letting out a chuckle after. "You have no shirt on, and weird pants I have never seen around here!"
"I'm going to be super blunt with you." Kael said. "I'm not even from this world, I just went to sleep and--POOF--! I appeared in a black box, no windows, no doors, nothing. And I was confused out of my mind! Then suddenly, I ended up in the grass fields right outside of this shack."
"Wow, that's quite the story you have boy, but it's not super rare to hear about someone from another world here... but your story is different. Normally people are brought using summoning rituals to fight in wars and whatnot. But you just appeared here didn't you?" She said, with a mix of confusion and excitement.
Kael leaned back in his chair without responding, just trying to process what happened to him. The old woman than closed her eyes, looked at the candle sitting at the middle of the table, pointing a finger at it and--BOOM--! The candle was lit, just out of nowhere.
"What the fuck was that?!" Kael exclaimed, with curiosity taking over.
The old women didn't flinch "Just basic mana manipulation, what did your world not have mana or something dear?" She said, with a casual experienced tone.
"Mana?--I don't know, I mean it's a common source of energy in things like games and fantasy novels. But where I'm from, there's nothing like it."
"Allow me to explain mana to you boy." She said, sounding like a professor about to give Kael important knowledge. "Here, mana is in everything. Each and every atom of this world has mana imbued into it, from ancient times. It can be manipulated to do almost anything you please! But its not so simple."
"Wow that's awesome! It's like a fantasy novel or something!" Kael said, excitement starting to take over and overwhelm him.
"Fantasy novels? What's that?" She asked, seemingly confused. "No matter, allow me to see your mana manipulation ability." She said, her voice releasing overwhelming amounts of curiosity, wanting to know about his mana.
Kael hovered his hand towards the candle, closed his eyes, imagined flames and --POOF--! The candles wick was burning. "I-- did that?"
"Mm, yes, impressive boy. Most people can't even conjure a small spark when using mana for the first--"
BOOM!
Kael and the old woman rushed outside, the kids Jared and Jess were no where in sight. Buildings were burning everywhere, there were dead bodies of civilians scattered across the gravely roads. "BOY, RUN! IT'S THE SURPEME'S!" The old lady yelled.
Kael, not knowing what was going and not knowing who the Supremes' were, was hesitant as he didn't want to leave this old women to fend by herself, and he was unaware of the location of the children.
"NO! YOU RUN! I'LL FIND THE KIDS!" Kael exclaimed, his only thought was to save the kids.
Kael frantically ran around the grasslands around the shack. The kids were nowhere in sight. In the corner of his eye he noticed a bright light, for a second he thought it was the sun. But then he realized, it was a fireball heading straight towards the old woman.
"LADY! WATCH OUT!" Kael yelled, while running towards the old woman to try and push her out of the way.
"Hm?" The old women said as she turned around.
Splat.
The fireball pierced the old woman's chest, she fell to the ground. As life left her eyes she told Kael "It's the supreme's, the absolute rulers of this world. Kael... I have a mission for you boy."
"Wha-what are you talking about? What is the mission? Who are the supreme's?" Kael said, frustrated that he could not save the old woman.
"I have no time to explain the supreme's, just take this mission. Kill all the supreme's boy." She whispered quietly as the life left her body.
"What--why? Are they evil?!"
"I have no time to explain, you don't have to do it, maybe you will do it. It's your choice Kael. I can sense your limitless potential to take down the supreme's. You can do this Kael."
Kael thought to himself, "Should I do this? Why should I? I guess I'll find out in the future."
The old woman's life continued leaving her body. "You can do this Kael." She said as her dying words.
Her eyes closed. She was dead.
Kael laid her body on the ground gently. He sprinted towards the city in search of answers for what was going on, then he frantically stumbled into a bar.