191.
More than a decade ago, a man stood up against what seemed to be the fate of everyone. Ashe-blonde hair in a man-bun, fairly fit, medium-tanned skin, and is around 6 feet tall. He is the King of Kemitopia, the Catman who saw the future of everyone. Only a selected few knew about it since most of the Kemis wouldn't understand him even the slightest He has plenty of time to accomplish what's needed, but he must do it alone for the betterment of the future, thus the lone journey of a King started.
Just like the story goes, it all began when King Luke fused with a Forbidden Rune, but it wasn't a normal one. Each Runecrystal has blood infusions encrypted inside, when a production shows inconsistency, it will be labeled as a Forbidden Rune. The difference in color makes it easier for the Sentient Kemis to spot which is which. But then, out of all the fusible Runes out there, King Luke stumbled into a Forbidden Rune with the blood of the considered as one of the highest ranked Guardian Kemis of their time. The Cosmic Serpent that represents the cycle of destruction and rebirth, Ouro, the Ouroboros of the Guardian Kemis.
Upon fusing with the Forbidden Rune, King Luke saw the past destruction of Oceanaia, the rebirth at the present, and then the impending doom in the future, though this time, there are 3 different outcomes depending on which path King Luke would take. The first one is set in stone, an inevitable ruination just like the cycle, while the other two options could be the hope of the UniPaws, but at an extremely low rate of possibility.
It was a daydream that King Luke could never forget, the details were vivid, and King Luke experienced enlightenment about the cosmos itself. He is clueless about how to use this new talent, or up to when his body can handle the corruption, but it's clear that he is either the only hope or the destruction of all realms.
Usually, there are no early signs when a Kemi fused to a Forbidden Rune. Mysteriously in King Luke's case, he is the first one to be fully corrupted right from the get-go. Not only that, King Luke is still in full control of his consciousness. Mastering his new talent from Ouro is the only thing that he should work on.
Later on, King Luke met up with his followers. The scholars were shocked to see King Luke's state, and it became more baffling when the King explained his visions. None of them could even comprehend the current situation, but since they knew King Luke very well, the scholars collectively put their faith in the King despite the questionable quest. It was already afternoon when the conversation ended, they decided to help the King prepare for his journey for now and he would leave by the next daylight. It was a silent night for everyone, even Iberx the village chief, didn't want to intervene in this situation.
As the morning rose, King Luke woke up catching his breath. It turns out, his talent was working the whole night while he was asleep. King Luke saw 15 different possible timelines of what might happen for the next 3 days. The timelines are usually 10 more times but the King's talent only showed him the integral outcomes with distinct differences, removing those with almost similar aspects. Now it's sorted from numerous timelines into 15 notable ones depending on his movement. But of course, these are only the future of his actions. The Kemis around him are usually set to act accordingly since they don't know what's ahead of them, only the King's influence could change their course of path.
The King looked around, anticipating if the visions were correct. Shortly, Shiin entered the room to check on him, just like the visions showed him. "Did I wake you up? I was just going to check if you are fine. The chief also mentioned that you should move early before the snowstorm." Shiin said.
Those words sent chills down the King's spine, all of the 15 outcomes were exactly as the first sequence of events by the moment he opened his eyes. Now the next movement he will do means it's the timeline he chooses. Even if he does nothing, that is still part of the choices. Having all the possible variables in mind, King Luke acted normal and proceeded as planned. He believed that it was the best course of action at that moment. The King moved swiftly, reassured his followers, and started to venture toward the mountains.
Knowing the possible timelines gave King Luke vital information on where to go and what to do. The 15 different outcomes were all about him finding a specific mountain and only 3 of those attempts were successful. Gaining this information, King Luke saved a lot of time as he tracked the location. The King was still clueless about why he was looking for a specific cave, but it was clear that he was threading on a timeline different from his dreams. The majority of the current timelines are connected to impending doom, it's up to the King's action to pave the way toward the other outcomes.
Later on, King Luke reached the cave way faster than the 15 outcomes. But the problem is, he doesn't know what to do next. Finding the cave for 3 days was the only path he saw, and reaching the place within a few hours left the King clueless about his next step. King Luke decided to scan the cave for now, thinking there might be some sort of a clue lying around the corner. Luckily for him, the cave only had a single path toward the dungeon. It took less than an hour to reach the entrance, mainly because he carefully scanned every inch of the route. That's when King Luke realized he finally found what he was looking for. The sudden change of the pathway indicated that it was not just a simple cave.
Knowing the possible danger of the place, King Luke sat down for now to analyze his options. Doing anything recklessly puts the fate of the Kemis in danger, it is a tall ask after all. Good thing he has an ample amount of time, and using it effectively is the utmost priority. With that, King Luke tried to meditate, hoping it was the key to his timeline-seeing talent.
Hour after hour, King Luke spent his whole day trying to tap into his talent. He tried different positions to relax his mind but none worked, his talent wasn't as simple as emptying his thoughts, it was within his subconsciousness. The whole day was wasted on doing things the wrong way despite with the right intentions in mind. Ironically, all those meditating attempts only exhausted him since he was forcing it. The King decided to rest for now and try things differently by the next morning.
Just like what happened to him the other night, King Luke once again dreamt of different outcomes. This time, there are 20 timelines for the next 5 days and each one of those led to finding a certain artifact. King Luke wasted no time and pursued the successful timeline, though he was curious about why he was angry in all of those scenarios.
King Luke doesn't know what's going on, nor why the area that he saw won't open, and it's making him mad. It took him 5 days to finally figure things out and acquire his first Mystical Runekey. He failed to outdo the timelines this time, only following the path of the successful one. The unknown spirit was meddling with his progress, he must know more about it to outpace the timelines.
Days after day, King Luke has been traveling while mastering his talent. Up to now, he doesn't know why the corruption hasn't completely taken over his body, though King Luke believed that a greater purpose is what keeping him alive. King Luke must enter the UniPaws several times to travel to the next realm. Sadly, he can't afford to visit his homeland while doing so due to his limited resources, forcing King Luke to be efficient with his voyage.
The King's talent helped him navigate the best ocean current and wind direction that would speed up his travel. Eventually, the King reached BijouTerra where he spent more than a couple of months studying the spirits. He discovered the spirits' purpose and its real name, the Templarites.
Traveling, camping, and most importantly, surviving, have been the activities of King Luke toward the best outcome. A lone journey of collecting the Mystical Runekeys starting from Blizshore, to BijouTerra, Nesuto, Underworld, Euchamberisa, Hachtile, and all the way to Noctambulist Land. It took King Luke a decade of sheer determination to finally unlock the gates of the Realm Sanctuary. Since then, King Luke has been fixing the Realm Sanctuary's core. His efforts were indeed commendable, but he wasn't the only one who had been entering the realms in the cosmos, and it looked like both of them entered the end game.
End of Chapter 7