The words escaped Arlo’s lips in disbelief, bubbles drifting from his mouth as he stared at the fragment floating before him.
There were only three Black Sun Shards in existence, each being held and protected by Umbrasol’s Three Great Kingdoms.
They were the very foundation upon which each kingdom stood, bestowing unique powers on the people.
The Eclipsion Kingdom possessed one such shard, granting its descendants the power of the Black Sun’s inheritance.
Yet now, resting before him on the ocean floor, was another Black Sun Shard!
Something powerful enough to start a new kingdom and award millions of its inhabitants new powers unique to them alone.
Almost without thinking, Arlo reached toward it.
The instant his fingers drew close, the colossal fragment began to shrink, its immense form steadily condensing until it became no larger than a smooth gemstone.
It gently floated into the palm of his hand as though it had been waiting for him all along.
"...You really do exist."
VROOOOOOOOOOOM!
All of a sudden, the sea itself began to change as the colossal gateway behind the shard slowly awakened, releasing a deep vibration that rippled through the surrounding waters.
Its great doors slowly swung open, and the darkness within twisted into a vast vortex that released a terrifying suction force, pulling everything into it.
Arlo’s first instinct was to flee, turning to swim away, but his body suddenly stopped.
The tiny Black Sun Shard resting in his palm became unimaginably heavy.
Its weight multiplied in an instant until it felt as though he were carrying ten fully grown men, forcing his arm downward.
The current seized him immediately before he could drop it, and he spun helplessly through the endless spiral, the world around him becoming nothing more than blurred streaks of light and darkness.
Every attempt to resist was meaningless as his consciousness slowly began slipping away.
Then the shard broke free from his grasp, and like a shooting star, it flew toward him.
Before Arlo could even blink, it struck the center of his forehead, directly upon the Nine-Shard Crest.
A blinding light consumed everything, then...darkness.
Moments later, the colossal gateway slowly ceased its rotation before sealing itself once again, as though nothing had ever happened.
_________________
"Move your asses! Get in your mech suits and get to your stations! This is war!"
The furious roar crashed through the air, accompanied by metal boots striking steel.
"...Where..."
Arlo slowly opened his eyes.
"...Where am I?"
The world was blurry at first, but slowly it began to clear and what he saw first was young men and women, seemingly in their twenties sprinting past him in perfect formation.
"Move! Move! Move! Get in your mech suits and get to your stations!"
The same commanding voice thundered again.
Still dazed, Arlo forced himself to his feet.
The people rushing past cast him puzzled glances, yet none slowed their pace.
All of a sudden, a pair of brilliant blue eyes met his own, and a chill shot down Arlo’s spine.
"And just what in the seven hells are you standing around wearing nothing but a pair of pants? Planning to make me admire that scrawny excuse for a body until I start believing some cursed sorcery turned you into the prettiest little man I’ve ever seen?"
Arlo stood frozen.
The voice did not belong to the scary warrior he expects it to have come from.
Instead, standing before him was a lady who appeared no older than twenty.
She possessed long crystalline-blue hair with gleaming sapphire eyes that burned with piercing fury.
She wore the same tightly fitted armor as everyone else, only somehow, she looked even more intimidating.
"Get to that room," she barked, pointing toward a nearby doorway. "Climb into a mech, grab the biggest gun you can carry, then pray it’s enough."
A vicious grin spread across her face.
"Because you’re going straight to the front lines."
Arlo did argue nor even say a word.
His body moved before his mind could catch up, carrying him toward the room she had pointed out.
The woman watched him disappear inside before clicking her tongue in annoyance.
"...Which idiot enlisted a kid?"
________
HISSSSSS
The heavy metallic door slid open with a deep mechanical hiss.
Arlo instinctively ran his hand along its surface.
It was metal, yet unlike any metal he had ever touched before.
Its texture was impossibly smooth, lacking the roughness of forged steel while somehow feeling far sturdier than anything created through ordinary means.
Stepping inside, he found himself in an enormous chamber lined with rows upon rows of identical compartments.
Young soldiers moved efficiently through the room, each approaching a transparent glass case that held what appeared to be a single metallic boot.
Confused, Arlo watched as one of them removed the strange object from its stand and slipped it onto his foot.
The moment it made contact, Pieces of gleaming metal unfolded from within the boot, racing upward to envelop the soldier’s entire body with astonishing speed.
Layer after layer locked perfectly into place until, within seconds, the young man stood fully encased in the same armor worn by every soldier outside.
"W-What..."
Arlo stumbled back a step,
"What kind of magic is this?!"