The figure, pulsing white like a dimming light, and stood with its cracked outer shell as it watched the events unfold. It observed and analyzed them through the clear glass in the empty white sky with no clouds. When the figure touched it, the glass moved spiralled like a water and transformed into whatever it desired in the blink of an eye.
If some Terrans saw who or what it was, they would call it a Feranmuts, Elders, or divine creature.
A higher being who has godlike powers.
However, it was only able to observe Terra as punishment for having transgressed the limits of all existence.
Its failure to protect ancestors, its creators.
And tearing through other dimensions, including the fabric of reality, to gain knowledge beyond this damned universe and fix what had become of this world.
Desperate to fulfill its duty, it forcibly stole another human from another world without fully understanding the consequences; it was cursed and shattered by the almighty until this human completed the mission.
All it can do was to gave the final gifts for him to aid in accomplishing his task.
The divine figure watched as Adam evaded the sharp weapon and stood up quickly from the dirt, his blade aimed at the enemy as its gifts began to work. It could read his mind, and it knew he was a little bit panicking, but despite that, it could see his destiny had been changed so easily by those actions.
All creatures on Terra were bound by fate and destiny; the former could not be changed, while the latter was not an easy task to accomplish which was the problem in this apocalyptic world.
Yet, this human...
It whispered in astonishment, "So, this is why you were angry at me...?"
"Your true creations, truly are perfect."
Adam's brow was sweating as he spotted five Ursus soldiers, each armed with a machete or axe, marching toward him arrogantly across the grassy field. Their faces were hidden beneath masks like faceless soldiers, but the aggressive demeanor betrayed their concealed expressions.
'I- I can't fight, I don't- I cant kill people! What the hell should I do!?'
The shabby uniform Ursus soldier run at Adam with his hand gripping tight the machete, roaring and swinging his weapon at Adam in ferocity.
As if controlled by someone, Adam parried the incoming attack easily; the Ursus soldier was surprised, then he slashed at Adam again.
Adam dodged and repelled him.
'Huh...?'. surprised Adam at this event.
This made the Ursus soldier seethe in anger, before attacking in madness.
But each strike met by Adam's parry, all of them in accurate. His movements were swift, as he subconsciously maneuvered to disarm the mad soldier, knocking the blade from the soldier's hand before punching the madman in the face.
And knocked him out.
Silence lay over the field as Adam's face was bewildered as to what just happened.
'...What?'
The rest of the soldiers were surprised before surrounded him in rage after realizing Adam had just humiliated one of their own.
"Y-YOU-!"
As they prepared to battle again, there was something that no one had noticed from the very start of the fight. A ghostly white knight stood beside Adam, his own sword aimed at the enemy as if guiding the newborn warrior on how to fight.
"RRAHH!" shouted one of them in a battle cry.
The ghostly visage of a kuranta knight stood ready in his fighting stance as Adam found himself mimicking the action without conscious thought.
The first soldier charged forward, fueled by bloodlust, anger, and arrogance, the Ursusian swing his axe wildly. Adam reacted to the attack swiftly, parrying all of them accurately; the clash of metal resounded in the air before Adam sent a strike to his gut, staggering him back.
Without missing a beat, the second soldier lunged at Adam, his machete gripped tightly in his hand; anticipating the enemy, Adam sidestepped easily, evading the attack, before he spun around in fluid motion and delivered a powerful attack that sent the soldier sprawling to the dirt ground.
Undeterred by their fallen comrades, the remaining two attacked Adam simultaneously from both directions, attempting to overwhelm him, and their eyes promising of his death.
"DIE YOU CUR-!"
With a lightning reflexes, Adam parried the machete soldier while simultaneously dodging the axe wielder attack. He moved with a grace and elegance, the blade slicing through the air, creating a mesmerizing dance of steel.
Despite their initial overconfidence, the remaining Ursus soldiers began to falter as they couldn't keep up with Adam's newly acquired skills, while Adam himself didn't understand what was happening but he was grateful for it.
While the white knight ensured Adam maintained the upperhand in the battle; each movement was deliberate and calculated.
Then Adam maneuvered quickly, disarmed the machete-wielding soldier, and sent his weapon flying into the nearest tree. After that, he swiftly incapacitated the soldier.
As Adam's last opponent suddenly attacked him from behind, sensing an opportunity to kill him, without looking back, Adam spun around and deflected his attack effortlessly. Disarming him, then delivered a final powerful blow, leaving him disoriented and knocking him out cold on the ground.
As the dust settled, Adam stood victorious amidst the fallen soldiers; his face was confused and a little bit shocked, while the apparition of kuranta fading away in the background.
'...The hell!?'
The sound of an impressive whistle came from his right, and he looked in the direction of the forest knight who had been watching his fights the entire time, perched in the high trees above, her sniper crossbow resting in her hands.
"I thought you were just some innocent civilian; turns out you can fight after all..."
The young swordsman glared at her as she dropped to the ground, "So you just stood there and didn't help me at all, Firewatch?"
The forest knight raised her eyebrows at the latter word, "I was thinking that, until you swept them out easily. Besides, I don't want to bother your fun. Also, 'Firewatch'?"
Adam opened his mouth to reply but stopped immediately...
Why is he calling her that name again?
Then the memory resurfaced as he saw a man in a dark blue coat standing in defiance toward his enemies with determined eyes, and ordering a squad composed of Operators to fight against an army of Reunions sometime in the future on some war-torn city.
He remembers one of those Operators had a same face as her.
It was Firewatch...
"Oh, that? I thought it'd be cool you know? Since you watched over and protected me from Ursus back in the cave, and you had a crossbow like sniper that fired bolts, I was thinking 'Watchfire,' but it sounded sucks, so why not 'Firewatch', cool right?"
Adam sweated around at his dumb explanations.
"...I don't know how you got that idea; but it's my group name... or rather, it was my group name..." she said bitterly, her eyes filled with anger as she thought of her friends who were still alive out there and trying to escape this nightmarish war.
"Ah... I'm sorry," Adam screamed in frustration inside his head, realizing why the abilities seemed to be automatically used at the wrong times and places.
Back on the unknown lands, the figure stood solemnly at his troubled thoughts. The divine creature could not give him the training, much less a fullest explanation, since they did not have enough time – it was either that or Terra would be destroyed for the last time.
She took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking in a monotone, "...It's alright, you don't know about that..."
"...We will find them along the way; they are still alive, and I'm sure of it." said Adam slowly and assuredly.
Firewatch smiled bitterly at his comforting words as she slung her weapon back to its place before walking towards him, "Thanks, but we're pretty much disbanded and I only met one of them before I found you, so I don't think the rest of them are still alive by now..."
Adam could only sigh at her answer; he couldn't blame her after seeing the pile of dead bodies back there. "Well, yeah, but you wouldn't know about it..."
The elafia girl paused upon hearing his answer, it was true she didn't know if they could be alive right now, but maybe, maybe they would find them in the future; then her smile turned optimistic.
"Yeah... I'm sure they're still alive..."
The chosen nodded in approval, "That's what I'm talking about..."
With that they resumed the journey into the unknown...
"Uh... how long till we get there?" Asked Adam at Firewatch who arrived with branch or log of trees as the sun begins to set.
"Tomorrow, it's not far from here, there's a group of refugees being picked up by the Kazimierz knights; their government has allowed the refugees to stay with them, away from the sudden aggressive Ursus." she said as the young man prepared the bonfire.
Adam was really glad he still remembered all the Scout training; most of his friends had joined just for fun, and they didn't know it would be useful. He found a flint and used it to start a fire. He tried it several times before finally getting the sparks to catch on the wood.
Yes, he tried several times - more than one hundred times to do it. The fact that he had to grind it like a caveman made him feel almost embarrassed.
"...Why are you using that?" Firewatch tilted her head at him.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" The girl pulled out a lighter from her pocket before a grin appeared on her face; Adam just looked at her blankly.
Did she just?
She put her hand over her mouth as she suppressed a laugh.
Nice, yeah sure, laugh while you still can.
"Yeah, yeah. Now, I know why you just stood there." Adam's expression was plain.
"Pft! Sorry, I'm sorry, it's just your face; it's funny because you're so focused on it."
Adam threw the flint into the bushes then sat and leaned against the nearest tree as the crackling bonfire lit up the night. "Mhm, that's nice. Can we forget about that?"
"...No, I don't think so..." she said with a wide grin. The young man just snorted and shook his head.
"Whatever... So, what's going on? Why are there so many Kazimierz knights here?" He said as the girl began to sit down.
For real, he doesn't know what's going on. it's either his ability broke or there's a limit to it.
"...Right, I forgot you're a foreigner. Ten years ago, there was a vision from the shaman on our land, about the appearance of someone in this year.
"The Guider, the Sage, or the Mudrets', as we liked to call them, would emerge near the border between Sami and Ursus or Kazimierz and Ursus. They would guide Terra to its rightful path.
"For several years, there has been a debate among us about their appearance and which nation they belong to. While most nations around Terra, except for the three, have dismissed them as fake.
"Surprised - surprised, after we gained more clues, there's an indication that the Sage will appear on Sami. The Ursus don't like it, so they send an army to invade us. The Kazimierz saw this and didn't want the warmongers to get their hands on the Sage, so they helped us to thwart the Ursus invasion." she ends her explanation, not realizing that the Sage has been right in front of her, all along.
Adam, by now, his mouth just shut after hearing that. Ain't that nice he got really famous?
Of course not. It means he got more problems to deal with. The fact that they think he will become one of their pet mascots is...
A little bit pissed him off.
Not only that, one of them was a bit fanatic and would do anything to achieve their goals, even resorting to bloodshed.
Wasn't this supposed second life, nice, slow and peaceful?