In the past, the world was plunged into chaos because of an otherworldly entity known as the Nether.
This being contradicted the very nature of Aether, and it corrupted everything it touched. As a result of this, it brought unstoppable darkness and destruction to the world.
All hope seemed to be lost!
However, thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of the heroes of legends and founders of Magic—the Apostles of Aether—the Nether was cast out of the world and sealed away forever.
Order was restored to the world, and the nefarious plans of the evil one were foiled.
But, how could they know… that this threat would return once more?
One equally powerful being, however, was well aware of this!
Aether.
She knew of the return of the Nether, so she chose yet another for the task. The one whose Soul had been blessed from his conception, and whose thoughts far exceeded the realm of reason.
Neron Kaelid.
As one who oversaw the existence of the world, she could see all the branches that sprung from the same stem that came from the Root. She could observe all the realities that could spring forth from every singular point.
She could see the variants in her tree of reality.
Unfortunately, there was something she could not control—even if she could see it.
'Free will'
The fact that a person was bound by choice and they could choose the path they would ultimately embark on. In that vein, her new avatar could as well choose the path of evil or that of good.
But what did that matter anyway?
For every good choice he would make, there existed yet another where he would not make that choice. As long as that likelihood existed, she could prune the undesired choices and ensure the right reality became the central stem that connected the many branches of her reality.
However, there existed a major oversight—a problem even she didn't perceive. It existed beyond even the reason of a primordial entity such as herself.
It was an anomaly!
The Singularity known as Neron suddenly became beyond her reach. Something interfered with her supervision and the little control she had over the events.
At a particular juncture, Aether became unsure of the safety of her reality.
And then, the great tragedy occurred!
The world ended, and everything she sought to protect came into ruin.
It would have been preferable if there had been a reality where Neron had taken a different path that led to the world's salvation, but she could find none.
The whole tree had been in the process of being consumed by Nether, and it had been too late to cut off the infection as it had already spread past the branches—reaching the stem and heading for the root.
The more the Nether consumed, the more powerful he would be. The more powerful he was, the weaker she would become.
It had only been a matter of time before she was completely immersed in the corruption of the very opposite of her purity.
To Aether's surprise, however, the very one who had brought doom to this world was the same one who saved it!
Neron Kaelid actually rose up and utilized his connection with Aether to face off against the Nether—defeating him and halting his advance on the tree of existence.
Unfortunately, it had been too late.
The damage had been done. Everything that was wrought had taken so much toll that it had already swept a huge portion of Neron's universe into despair.
Still, it hadn't been the end.
Neron Kaelid utilized his Original—no, his Primeval—Magic, and completely reversed the state of the world.
He rebooted existence, dating everything back to the very beginning of his conception.
However, for reasons known only to him, he chose to erase his memories and seal away the powers of his potential future. He chose to alter the choices he made in the past and instead made unconscious alterations in this new reality.
As a result, things became very different in this new world.
However, that had still not been enough to stop the disaster to come—neither had it been enough to completely repel the cause of his initial deviation.
And… that was why he'd had to bring forth another element.
An element that would completely alter his destiny—as well as the fate of the world.
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"Of every single soul in history, he chose you, Lewis. He was quite confident that you would be perfect for the role of a Singularity." Aether explained.
Honestly, after hearing everything, I was too awestruck to speak. I had no idea Neron had carried such a burden and that even he did not know the effects of his past—no, rather his future—actions.
"Why would he choose me?" I asked in a whisper.
"It is as you said before. No one is as gifted in the art of studying Magic and as passionate in the art as you. You might consider yourself similar to Neron, but you have no idea how different you two are. He knew he couldn't fulfil it alone, so he chose you."
Despite all the overwhelming information, I finally understood something crucial. Something I had been feeling for some time now.
'I am not that special. But at the same time, I am.'
Even though I hadn't been chosen by the essence of the world, I was the one selected to save it—to save everyone.
It was something I had to accept, despite all my questions and reservations.
"May I ask more questions? It's about everything you told me, but less about my Reincarnation."
Aether nodded slowly, her face a gentle stream of light.
Based on her tale from earlier, the stakes seemed much higher than the effects of the Nether on my world. It seemed far more serious than that.
The Tree of Existence—what exactly did that mean?
"These branches you referred to in your story. They're what exactly?"
I had to know!
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[A/N]
I really need to know if I should make a Neron spinoff. There's a lot of information and interesting stuff that I'm glossing over so we don't deviate from the main plot.
It would be really nice to hear your thoughts.
DO YOU WANT A NERON SPINOFF?
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