《Modern Deity》 The Prologue + Chapter 0.5 Completely revised Prologue and Chapter 0.5. (Reading Chapter 0.5 is required.) I apologize for the mild inconvenience. Due to the website''s problems, my prologue and Chapter 0.5 were replaced with my most recent chapter. It has now been fixed. Enjoy.
Prologue Spoiler : In the dark of night, a young man was seen sprinting down various streets. His movements were abnormally fast; greater than that of a human. A faint red energy could be seen escaping his shoes as he frantically weaved his way across several blocks, desperately searching for a place to hide. High in the sky were two helicopters with search lights attached to their noses. Those intense beams of light traveled across the ground in search for the young man. The pilots hastily maneuvered their helicopters to cover large distances and they moved in opposite directions of each other so they would have a higher chance of discovering their target. The young man continued to search for a safe haven. However, who in their right mind would let a random person in their home during a police chase? Besides, the man would prefer not to involve innocent people if all possible. Due to his frantic state of mind, the man failed to notice the approaching vehicle blockade. Police cruisers were lined trunk to hood across the entire street, blocking the path forward. Police officers exited the cars and quickly grabbed their firearms within their hands. The officers, after seeing the man''s speed increase, abandoned the hope of a negotiation. That hope was already incredibly faint to begin with, however, there''s always a chance. Now, that hope was ripped apart as they watched the man decrease the distance between them. Most of the officers noticed the man''s emotionless visage which, coupled with a sudden strange suffocating pressure, caused chills to creep up their spines and fear to grip their hearts. "FIRE AT WILL!!" Flashes of light and loud bangs spread throughout the vicinity as bullets sped through the air toward the man. A barrier of red energy manifested just before him, stopping all of the bullets that managed to be aimed directly at him. Regardless of this, the onslaught of bullets continued. When the man was about five meters in-front of the blockade, he leaped over the vehicles to reach the other side. He roughly landed on the street, slightly crushing the ground beneath his feet. The officers turned around and their faces instantly turned pale. They watched as the man slowly turned around as a murderous light shined within his eyes while the rest of his expression remained expressionless. The man raised both his palms toward the officers. A full second later, red palm-shaped energy blasted toward the men. The energy made the officers explode into globs of gore that splattered across the ground and vehicles behind them. The remaining officers, screaming in fear, began to wildly unload their ammo into the man''s body. The man instantly shot energy toward those men and blasted their bodies apart into clouds of blood and intestines. The bullets lodged within his body popped out, letting blood drip out of the holes. All the blood in the area began to swarm toward the man''s body before disappearing within it. The various wounds on his body instantly healed, leaving not even a scratch behind. While the man was pondering that question, a bright light blinded him in its brilliance. Snapped out of his thoughts, he quickly turned around and resumed his seemingly meaningless escape. "If I can just get out of this city, I can possibly lose the helicopters and other police forces. However, what would I do after that...?" After losing the helicopter and entering an even darker section of a neighborhood, the man slowed down to a walk. Just before he was going to hide within a thick group of bushes, a sudden burst of pressure knocked him to his knees. It was as if a mountain crashed down on his shoulders, shocking him to the extreme. Despite this, he forced himself to look up to the creator of such an immense pressure. In-front of him stood a tall, slender woman. She wore black clothing which was quite tight upon her body, revealing her natural curves. The black clothing was emphasized by her long, silver hair that stretched down to her waist. It contained a natural shine while emitting a mysterious but faint energy. Her black eyes glared down at the man which sent a chill up his spine. The pressure was suddenly lifted, allowing the man stand. He discovered he could do nothing as the woman took long strides toward him. He tried to speak, however, he lost the ability to do that as well. He watched the woman clench her hand into a fist and smash it into his stomach. The last thing he saw was a glow of silver before darkness covered his eyes. Chapter 0.5 Spoiler : -Two months earlier, on a route home from a High School...- "Heeeey, look it''s little Bitch over there. Hey, Bitch!" "Why isn''t he turning around?" "He''s ignoring you, man! Bitch thinks he can get away by just ignoring? Ha!" A group of four guys walked over to a single young man, Kyte. Kyte knew he was being bullied, but he thought that it''s fortunate the bullies never went over the line. Or at least he hoped they didn''t. The bigger of the four put his hand on Kyte''s left shoulder and turned him around. A disdainful expression covered his face as he opened his mouth to speak: "Hey, BITCH. I was calling for you, and I couldn''t help but notice...you ignoring my calling?" "I''m sorry, are you speaking to me? My ears render the voices of assholes inaudible." The three other guys covered their mouths to try to hide their snickering, however, Asshole noticed it anyway. His face instantly changed from one of contempt to anger. "Ohhh, I see, you think you''re tough shit just because you¡¯re valedictorian? Well, can''t you see around you? No one fucking likes you, all the so called ''friends'' you had all abandoned you because you''re a fucking bitch!" "If a bitch repels people, then I guess pricks attract people. I guess that''s why you have so many douche-bag ''friends''." Asshole''s anger reached a boiling point when those words entered his ears. Without hesitation, Asshole gripped the front of Kyte''s shirt with his hands. He lifted him up above his head before slamming him down onto the hard concrete below. Kyte grimaced from the pain of his back smashing against the sidewalk. He immediately felt small traces of wetness on his back, indicating that the assault gave him several scratches. He clenched his jaw, keeping in the painful groan that he almost released. "Bitch, don''t forget that I''m able to break you like snapping a twig in half. Your smarts are nothing compared to real strength." "Heh...in ten years, you''ll be the one below me, licking my shoes when I make a hundred times more money than you ever will, considering the fact that you barely passed senior year. What college are you going to? HA! What college wants to accept a fucking retard!" Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Asshole instantly frowned as a dangerous feeling emerged from him. He let go of Kyte and stood up, stepping away from him. "Guys, bring Bitch and follow me." "Where we goin'', Jay?" "Shut up! Just bring him and follow me!" ~~~ -Twenty minutes later- The sounds of rough impacts spread throughout an old room within an abandoned home. Asshole smashed his fists across and directly against Kyte''s face. However, he didn''t stop there. He would even use his elbows to deal blows to Kyte''s body, leaving deep gashes wherever he was hit. "You think you''re tough now, huh?!" Asshole slammed his fist against Kyte''s face, making blood spray onto the dirty floor. Kyte''s nose leaked that thick red liquid, his cheeks stained with crimson, his lips were busted, even the areas around his eyes weren''t given mercy. Asshole''s three friends began to feel awkward watching the scene continue. Clearly uncomfortable, one of them scratched the back of his neck before he stepped forward and said: "Yo, Jay...I think that''s enough..." Asshole got up and glared back at the guy who spoke. Asshole was full of pent up anger and the only way he could get rid of it was lying on the floor with a battered face. "Shut up! I''m not done yet! If you want to leave, then leave! I''m not going anywhere till I beat this chicken shit into a pulp!" The three guys stood there, continuing to watch the brutal beating. Asshole turned his attention back to Kyte. He glowered down at him, clearly intent on continuing his assault. He lifted his leg up and slammed it down on Kyte''s stomach. He maintained this action for a few more kicks before one of his friends stepped in and grabbed Asshole''s shoulder. "Jay! Stop it man! He''s gonna fuckin'' die!" The other two, after seeing their friend move forward, immediately followed and carried Asshole away from Kyte. The three friends had frightened expressions on their faces, as if they couldn''t believe what they witnessed. Their disbelief turned into heart-gripping fear after thinking of the consequences if word of what occurred got out. Asshole was breathing heavily as some spurts of saliva flew out of his mouth onto the floor. Blood painted his arms and several spots were seen on his torso. His knuckles were torn with blood dripping off his hands onto the ground and his elbows, albeit suffering less damage, also leaked small spots of blood. "Let''s go. I''m done here. Once we graduate, we¡¯ll never see this trash again." Asshole shook his friends off before stumbling for a few steps as he speed walked out of the old home. His friends gave small glances at Kyte as he lay sprawled against the floor before they quickly followed behind Asshole. Kyte was left alone within the dark and lonely home. The damage he sustained around his eyes caused those areas to swell which hindered his ability to see. He struggled to sit up as a stabbing pain pierced through his upper body. Blood slipped down his face due to his new position, however, he barely noticed because the pain blocked most of the feeling of touch. Shit, I didn''t know Asshole was such a sadist. Heaving large breaths, Kyte struggled to stand. Fortunately Asshole didn¡¯t damage his legs. However, although Kyte didn¡¯t do anything, he was still exhausted from the beating. His legs continually shook as he almost tumbled over himself trying to travel next to a wall. He managed to make the distance to the wall which he planted his hands against for support. With his feeble limbs, Kyte started his long journey to his original destination: his home. That whole occurrence lasted about an hour, mostly because it took some time to travel to the abandoned house. He slowly made his way to the front door as sweat had eventually appeared, mixing with the drops of blood on his face. Just as his right foot moved across the threshold, a strong feeling of longing pulled at Kyte¡¯s back. He instinctively looked back, however, there was nothing there. He felt confused at the suddenness of the feeling, as if it happened on purpose. He didn¡¯t know why he felt that way nor did he know why it was directed at him. All he could do at that moment was do his best to travel home. His injuries were on the serious side so he wanted to make it home to apply first aid to himself. He didn¡¯t want to go to a hospital because he didn¡¯t have that kind of money, and, he¡¯s capable of aiding himself. He brushed off that mysterious feeling and continued on his way. Once his entire body exited the house, that longing disappeared. To Kyte, it wasn¡¯t something that would be labeled as creepy. Curiosity instantly grew within him more strongly than before. Despite the horrible experience within the home, he decided to visit once more after he bandaged himself. His resistance to curiosity can only go so far. Fortunately there were fences lined up in-front of every house along the long streets that led to Kyte¡¯s home. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve had a much more difficult time. The sky had already begun to change when the sun started to slowly drop to the horizon. Soft clouds littered the sky and they grew darker as dusk went into full swing. It wasn¡¯t a creepy feeling but rather a calming one, especially when the sun changed the clouds¡¯ original grey colors to shades of orange and purple. Kyte admired the sky as he made his way home. He loved the natural world and more so to discover the secrets as to why such things are possible. His interest was not only limited to that, however. What he strived for the most were the answers to the vast cosmos. Unfortunately, despite modern times, science had yet to create a way to leave the planet. Whether it was a lack of ambition or something else, Kyte didn¡¯t know. It had taken about an hour and a half to reach his home. Originally, he didn¡¯t live far away from his high school. Due to his injuries, he was forced to find support so he could walk. Crossing from one side of the street to the other was a significant challenge for him, though he eventually managed to cross them. Fortunately there weren¡¯t any vehicles that passed through. After he entered his two-story home, Kyte immediately traveled to the bathroom. He searched through the various drawers and pulled out several different items. Bandages, water, gauze, and other things that were necessary to clean his wounds. It took him a while to completely apply aid to himself, however, it was worth it. He also took a quick rinse in his shower before fixing himself up just to get the dirt and grime off his body. His wounds intensely stung when water flowed over them but Kyte knew he just had to pull through. Afterward, he exhaustingly traveled to his room. Unfortunately for him, his room was located on the second story of the house. Although that was the case, he had enough support from the walls and railing to help him. He had also rested for a few minutes before beginning to head toward his room which gave him a small amount of energy. Once he saw his bed, he instantly gained a small spurt of energy. He practically ran toward it and rolled on top of the soft blankets that covered his already comfortable bed. The last thing he remembered before sleep claimed him was a small portrait that was placed on a bookshelf next to his bed. Chapter 1: Transference This is the new chapter 1! Please leave your thoughts. Unfortunately, I do not have all the time in the world to completely rewrite my entire story. So, this high quality will only appear later in the story. Thanks for reading :) (Reading chapter 0.5 is required to know what''s going on.) (This chapter is 4900 words long. Yes, this is necessary.)
The brilliant sun''s intense rays shined down on the large city. It''s size was about seventy-three miles squared; fairly small compared to other cities. Despite this, the city''s population was rather large. With just over eight-hundred thousand people, almost every house and apartment was full. One area in particular was a bit hotter than other places. It was at the end of the school year so the temperature would increase even more over the next month or two. It was also at this time that Kyte and his parents would take a picture together, signifying another school year complete. Kyte and his parents stood in-front of their house with a camera and a tripod, ready to capture a picture. Well, Kyte''s parents were ready. "Kyte, just stay still and smile." Kyte''s said as he firmly gripped Kyte''s shoulder. "I know, I know. I''m just excited for summer vacation, that''s all." Kyte replied. "Well, the faster we take the picture, the sooner you can enjoy yourself." His father emphasized the last part of the sentence, hoping to get some sense into Kyte''s head. "That''s true..." "Kyte, what''s wrong? You''re the one that suggested we take these pictures in elementary." Kyte''s mother looked up from the camera. "It''s just, really hot out here and we''ve done it every year now. Couldn''t we just stop until my Senior year?" "Come on, after this we only have to take three more pictures until you go to college. What''s the big deal? Besides, you might not get the chance to take a picture like this with us once this is all over." Kyte''s dad looked down at him. "Why not?" Kyte asked. "Because, in just a few years, you''ll be an adult. That little kid your mother and I used to watch run around the house in just his underwear will be going to college." "Dad!" Embarrassment appeared on Kyte''s face as he looked at the ground. "Hahaha, nothing to be ashamed of, you were just a little kid! We even have pictures, too..." "Delete them! Burn them!" Kyte yelled as he looked up at his father. Although Kyte was legitimately embarrassed, he knew his father was teasing him. He didn''t feel angry, just slightly annoyed, as he went along with his father''s teasing. "Alright you two, the camera''s ready!" Kyte''s mother said as she jogged over to them. Kyte''s mother stood to his left while his father stood to his right. Kyte felt happy as he and his parents posed for the camera, awaiting the flash... CRASH Kyte''s vision flashed with a white light before it began to flicker between one of happiness and one of horror. A full second passed before the flickering stopped on a scene of devastation. In-front of Kyte was a cruel sight to his eyes. Among the burning flames, which blew hot air against his face, were pieces of metal strewn about. It vaguely created a trail that led to a car that looked to be ripped into three separate pieces. The windows were shattered and bloody hand prints could been seen on a random head cushion. Next to the destroyed car parts were two puddles of blood that joined together to make a single puddle in between them. On either side were two mangled corpses; their arms and legs were twisted in odd directions and both of their necks were contorted to allow their faces to be turned toward Kyte. He instantly recognized them to be his parents despite their horrified and confused expressions. If only they had eyes for Kyte to make contact with. Streams of tears glided down Kyte''s cheeks as he fell to his knees. The raging fire around the crash burned with an intensity that threatened to destroy everything in its path. It slowly crept toward Kyte, blowing an increasingly ferociously hot air against his bloody body. He closed his eyes, awaiting the flames and their destruction... -THUMP- Slightly moaning in pain, Kyte opened his eyes and realized he fell off his bed. He felt sweat drip off his forehead and stream down his cheeks as he propped himself up onto his bed. Untangling himself from his blankets, Kyte traveled to the restroom where he went to wash his face and calm himself down. After he entered the restroom and looked into the mirror, he discovered dry tear marks under his exhausted eyes. He hurriedly turned on the water and splashed his face to get rid of them. Looking back at the mirror, a feeling of emptiness covered him as he began to sense that he could barely recognize himself. Unable to withstand that feeling, he drooped his head and heavily breathed out. "Fuck, that was the second time this month." Although that was the case, it was still a lot better than two years ago. He would have the same nightmare constantly, to the point where he was terrified to go to sleep. Due to this, he was diagnosed with severe sleep deprivation, and even though he wouldn''t see the nightmare in his sleep, his mind would automatically play it out if he wasn''t preoccupied with something. Because of his lack of sleep, he broke away from other people. His best friends, which he had since the beginning of middle school, slowly stopped trying to help. Eventually, not even his grandfather tried to help him. However, none of this directly affected Kyte. That was because of his computer. Since his computer was quite powerful, Kyte used it all the time. School work also helped to keep his mind off of the bad things, so much that he actually liked to do school work. Kyte left the restroom and slowly traveled back to his bedroom. He checked the time and found that he had only been asleep for three hours. He still had four more until he had to start the new day, so he was glad about that. He lazily walked to his bed and straightened the disordered blankets. Just as he was about to climb under the covers, an image flashed before his eyes. Kyte slightly jumped back on his bed. He immediately grew confused as his heart rate increased. The image that was shown was the old house he was beat up in. He didn''t know why his heart beat faster at that moment, however, his curiosity was magnified. That similar pulling feeling returned and with it a desire for answers. Kyte didn''t know why but he immediately searched through his closet for clothing. He wore a thick black hoodie and black sweats before exiting his room. As he walked down the stairs he realized that his injuries didn''t seem so bad like before. He could walk without feeling pain in his torso and his vision was much clearer. He wandered into his restroom again and looked at his face. He didn''t notice it before but the swelling around his eyes appeared significantly less than before. It had only been several hours since the beating, so he couldn''t understand how he had healed so quickly. He breathed out a small sigh, deciding that he may have been hit hard enough for his brain to go all wacky. However, there was that small thought in the back of his mind that he couldn''t help but think of... Walking out of his home and locking his front door, Kyte began his journey back to the old home. He brought a flashlight with his because it would definitely be pitch black in that house because it had no electricity. He also carried a few extra batteries just in case something happened. The cool night breeze brushed past Kyte''s face as he quickly walked down the sidewalk. The street lights lined down the several roads brought little comfort in the darkness. It was deathly silent as Kyte traveled and the small amount of light from the lamps created an other-worldly atmosphere. Kyte finally arrived in-front of the old house. The longing feeling only increased as he moved closer. Kyte took out and turned on the flashlight before looking around at the overgrown weeds, broken windows, and rotting wood. He looked up at the starry sky, taking in the majesty of the universe that was visible to his naked eye before stepping over the threshold. Once inside, the longing feeling abruptly vanished. It was replaced by a slight pulling sensation coming from Kyte''s left. Before he moved in that direction he surveyed the entire one-story house. He felt the eerie atmosphere change into a mix between creepy and unpleasant the longer he snooped around. He wasn''t expecting to discover anything so, after he finished searching around, he returned to the original room. The pulling feeling seemed to originate from a lone bookshelf across the room. Kyte moved toward it, examining it while searching for anything weird. It was, as expected, blanketed with dust and several rotting books were strewn about its shelves. However, there was one book that stood out from the rest. It was placed at the left wall of one of the shelves, making it stand straight up with its spine facing Kyte. It was a regularly sized book, probably about three hundred or so pages thick. The peculiar feature was that there was only one word on its spine, which read: "Drop". The moment Kyte''s eyes landed on that word was when that pulling feeling intensely increased. He almost instinctively reached his hand out to touch it, however, he immediately brought himself back to his senses. He stared curiously at the book, noting the abnormal atmosphere that encompassed the entire room. This is so obvious that it hurts. What, am I going to shy away now of all times? I got the shit beaten out of me earlier. What''s the worst that can happen? He reached his hand out an used his index and middle finger to make the book fall onto its spine. A click sound entered Kyte''s ears, causing him to instantly jump back from the bookshelf. With a soft clunk, a large section of the floor disappeared underneath the bookshelf. A gaping hole in the floor presented itself to him, as if it wanted him to enter. Kyte observed the hole several feet away, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Well, the whole situation was already abnormal so he was searching for something more peculiar than the hole. His eyes landed on the bookshelf itself and how half of it was on the floor while the other half was above the hole. He imagined there was something within the wall keeping it from tilting due to the weight imbalance, but honestly that was the least interesting thing at the moment. A few seconds later, Kyte suddenly felt something grab onto his body. He spun around, expecting someone to appear, however, there was no one. He turned back to face the hole, confused by the force which acted upon his body. He looked for signs of grab marks on his clothing but discovered nothing. That sensation was still present and it only grew stronger. What the Hell... His feet began to glide across the floor toward the hole. "Woah, wait!" Kyte instantly lost his balance, making him fall onto the floor with a bang. His body started to slide across the old wooden boards, making his hoodie roll up. His exposed skin slid across the floor, causing splinters to pierce into his back. Silently swearing, Kyte bounced his body up just enough to force his hoodie back down. He held it down with his hands, hoping the way down wouldn''t damage him like the rotting wood floor had. He quickly slid over the side of the hole, falling into the darkness. His loud cursing was drowned out by the fall and, after a few seconds, the floorboards moved back into place. The rotting floor looked just like it had before. ~~~ After several seconds of sliding on a downward slope, Kyte popped out of the exit onto a pile of old mattresses. Fortunately, the hole was shaped in a way that slowed Kyte down as he descended so he didn''t come out like a rocket being blasted off. However, unfortunately, the mattresses were quite old so they didn''t offer much cushioning. "Oof! Damn this stupid thing..." Kyte said as he tried to get up. "That''s not a nice thing to say, I put in some hard work on that thing." A mysterious, old voice sounded out further in the room. Kyte jumped from the suddenness of such a voice, mostly because he wasn''t expecting someone alive down there. He was expecting to see an old corpse or something along those lines down there. He also didn''t expect clean air, either. Kyte surveyed the room before he responded. It was illuminated by a strange, orange light coming from the opposite side. It was a bit cooler than room temperature and the whole layout seemed to be put together in an orderly fashion. Several tables lined up against both walls to Kyte''s left and right, which had neatly stacked papers across them. Posters were pinned on the walls, detailing very complex designs of equipment Kyte had never seen before. In-front of him, about ten feet or so, was a chair and table. The back of the chair was facing Kyte so he wasn''t able to see who or what was seated on it. He calmed himself before he spoke: "Who are you?" "Me? Oh, I''m just some old man patiently waiting. Hm, I should''ve used past tense there." Kyte watched as a figure stood up from the chair. It turned around and, although it was slightly shadowed because of the light, revealed its features. It looked like an old man with a long, white beard and hair. He wore a white robe that reached the floor; it was completely spotless and clean as well. All together, he looked like an old grandfather that you would visit every now and then. "You''re quite, uh, anti-climatic." Kyte said, still on guard. "What is that supposed to mean? I thought I had planned this out perfectly..." "I''ll ask again: Who are you?" The old man sighed before saying: "You don''t have to be so tense. I''m not gonna hurt you. Come, sit down with me." A chair appeared out of thin air and was placed on the opposite side of the table, however, Kyte still didn''t move. "Oh alright, I''ll take the chair on the other side then. Geeze..." The old man walked to the opposite side and sat down. When he noticed that Kyte didn''t move, he motioned with his hand toward the other chair. Kyte slowly walked toward it, examining it as he moved closer. He saw nothing wrong with it, mostly because it was just a normal wooden chair. He sat down and crossed his arms in-front of his chest, staring directly at the old man. "I assume you have some questions, and I have the answers. Go ahead." The old man said. "Alright, then I''ll ask a third time. Who are you?" Kyte asked. "My name is Sol''keer, and I am the founder of the Bloodrage Sect. Also, I''m dead." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Don''t joke around, there''s no way you''re dead." "Ah, that''s what you think. You see, there''s so much more to the world than what''s presented. Sometimes you have to look beyond the physical to reach an understanding." "Right, that sounds all well and good but that still doesn''t explain anything. I''ll go one thing at a time so try not to joke around, alright?" "I wasn''t joking in the first place." "Anyway, you said you''re the founder of something called the Bloodrage Sect? What is that, exactly?" "My Bloodrage Sect was one of the most powerful and revered Sects in the whole universe. Well, my original universe anyway. It was an extraordinary place. Only the most elite would practice my technique, otherwise they would perish. Unfortunately, I was betrayed by my most loyal student. I was cornered with no way out, so I sacrificed myself to save my sect. Hopefully it worked, anyway." "That''s a lot of information and I still can''t come to believe you. If this is some new bully technique, I don''t want any part of it-" "Stay right where you are. I predicted this would happen, so I have no choice but to just show you." "Show me what?" Sol''keer lifted his hand and pointed toward Kyte''s head. White flashed by within his mind, and he was suddenly taken somewhere else... ~~~ -Unknown Location, Unknown Time- "You better hurry up and show me, Estis. I need to hurry back and prepare for the Heaven Diamond Sect''s arrival. Miss Lasron is quite the impatient one, you see." Sol''keer stated. "Yes, Sect Head, I know. It''s just a bit further now." Estis replied. Sol''keer was following his best disciple, Estis. He taken Estis in when he was just a child and personally trained him after seeing his abnormally high talent. It had only taken a fifth of the time for Estis to reach Sol''keer''s level than Sol''keer himself. Not only this, but Estis was also incredibly popular among the ladies and he also had large amounts of luck. His potential was enormous. They were flying through the air toward a place that Estis reported to have held an incredibly valuable treasure. It was so powerful that only Sol''keer could obtain it, even though Estis was just a bit weaker than him. Reason being was that Sol''keer''s foundation was much more stable and powerful than Estis. They had traveled for about half an hour before Estis slowed down to a stop. Sol''keer immediately stopped as well before looking around at the terrain. They were in-front of a massive mountain that was about three million miles high. Although it sounded impossibly high, they were in another realm that allowed for such possibilities to exist. "So this is the place you found the artifact? What was the name again?" Sol''keer said as he observed the mountain. Estis turned around and looked at Sol''keer. Instantly, numerous figures began to appear all around them. There were hundreds of them, all facing Sol''keer and Estis. Sol''keer immediately noticed this and turned around to face the figures. He stood in-front of Estis as if to guard him. "Estis, I''ll try to make an opening so you need to escape-" Sol''keer felt something pierce straight through his chest. He looked down to find one of his most precious treasures that he gifted to Estis sticking out of his chest. Blood dripped down his robes and the spear''s head glistened with its crimson brilliance. Sol''keer turned his head to look at Estis and was dumbfounded at what he saw. "Don''t tell me, you actually didn''t suspect something like this? You''re truly naive, Sect Head." Estis said with an evil smirk. "Urgh, Estis, you..." Sol''keer tried to speak, however, the spear''s power was too intense. It stopped his healing ability, rendering him unable to talk or breath. Estis let go of the spear and his figure flickered before reappearing next to a woman in white robes. Miss Lasron...?! Sol''keer stared wide-eye in disbelief. He saw Lasron slightly smile at Estis before turning her gaze toward Sol''keer. She lightly waved her hand and said: "Kill him." Instantly, all the figures surrounding Sol''keer launched powerful attacks. Blasts of different colored light shot toward him at unimaginable speed. Faced with such an assault, and a betrayal, Sol''keer knew what had to be done. He pulled out the spear and activated his suicide technique. He lifted his face and roared: "Blood God''s Punishment!!!" A crimson ripple emanated out from Sol''keer, stretching far to encompass all the figures within. Cracks appeared across Sol''keer''s body as it was ready to be destroyed. Lasron and Estis were both trapped within the sphere of blood where no light could be discovered. Enormous amounts of energy gathered around Sol''keer body before it surged outward, crushing everything against the first sphere. Sounds of pain and despair echoed throughout the lightless world as Sol''keer was abruptly sucked into a small crack in reality. ~~~ Kyte instantly stood up from his chair, almost knocking it backward. He couldn''t believe what he had just witnessed. Everything felt so incredibly real. The wind against his face, the pain from the spear, the deep feeling of sadness from Estis''s betrayal. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek as he sat back down and calmed himself. "Do you believe me now?" Sol''keer asked. After a brief moment of silence, Kyte replied: "Yea, I do." "Great! Now that you won''t take me for a joke any longer, we can continue our discussion. Allow me to go first." "Alright, go ahead." Kyte focused on Sol''keer''s next words. "I was spit out here by a wormhole about a hundred years ago. I''ve been researching this planet because, for some reason, my power is continually being sucked out. I don''t know why and unfortunately I haven''t been able to create a solution to my problem. So, I decided to create a different solution. However, I needed to find someone suitable for such a procedure." "Are you implying that I''m that person?" "Yes." "Out of all these other people?" "Well, there have been others. Two to be exact. However, I decided not to use them in case someone else came along with a better affinity. And look who I found!" Sol''keer pointed at Kyte as he said those last words. "Me? What affinity are you talking about? My physical ability is incredibly low, I barely passed my P.E. classes in school. I don''t know how I could-" "Oh, don''t worry about that. It is guaranteed that your body as it is now will have no effect on the you in the future." "Really? And how does that work?" "The power I shall give you will make you incredibly powerful. You''ll be able to get revenge quite easily with it." "...Revenge? I''ll be able to get revenge with this power?" "Yes, I know for certain you''ll be able to." "Alright then, I''m in." "I thought you would-, wait, what?" "I''ll take it. If that power will let me deal with that asshole, I''ll take it. Simple as that." "You don''t understand. You''ll continually grow stronger and there''s more than just that bully that will get in your way." "More than the bully? Like what? Giant monsters?" "Not just that. I''ve discovered a technology on this planet that is highly advanced. For some reason my sense is being blocked so I can''t figure out what it is exactly. Like I said before: there''s always more than what meets the eye." "You didn''t say that." "I know, but it''s similar in a way. Whatever. So, are you still in?" "Yea. Originally, I was just going to spend my days living like a normal person. Go to college, get a degree, work for the rest of my life. But for what? For the benefit of mankind? What has mankind done for me? Mankind doesn''t deserve anything from me, so I''ll choose what I want to choose." "Hm, good answer. Alrighty then, let''s get started." A piercing cold stabbed into Kyte''s body. "Ow, what the Hell?!" "Oh shut it, will you? This all part of the process." "What process?" "Giving you a new skeleton of course! What else?" "A new-, what the fuck?! You''re gonna fucking kill me-mmff, mmhhh!" "Sorry, I had to seal your mouth. I can''t listen to you blabber during the procedure. Besides, you won''t be able to talk anyway." Instantly, Kyte''s clothes were torn off by an invisible wind. He was in utter disbelief at what happened. He didn''t anticipate what happened next, either. A dark green skeleton suddenly appeared from within the light source. It moved in-front of Kyte and faced him. it was exactly the same size as he was. Height, width, thickness, everything. Th-this is...but, what?! That piercing coldness''s intensity instantly increased. Lines of red began to appear on Kyte''s skin all around his body. These red lines weren''t normal, however. They were due to cuts in Kyte''s skin that went just deep enough to reach the flesh underneath. The pain from that invaded Kyte''s mind as he tried to struggle. He was met with great resistance so he could do nothing as the pain continued to increase. His skin slid off his body, revealing the red flesh underneath. However, no blood dripped and none of his organs slipped out. His beating heart was seen pumping blood through his pulsating veins and arteries. Then, Kyte felt his flesh being cut into. The same action that was applied to his skin happened to his flesh. About halfway through, the pain abruptly disappeared. Before, it was so intense that Kyte had began to black out. After the pain was gone, however, he instantly regained consciousness. He watched as his red flesh was taken off his bones. His organs, veins, eyes, everything was neatly separated. His skull had to cracked open for his brain to be pulled out, though. He expected himself to be dead at that point but he was still consciousness. Unfortunately, once his eyes were pulled out, he lost his sight. All of his flesh was hovering in the air just behind his skeleton. After all of his flesh was separated, his skeleton flew to a corner of the room and dropped to the ground. The other skeleton moved in-front of his flesh where everything started to reassemble itself. First was the brain that slid down into the skull, then the eyes, tongue, heart, lungs, stomach, everything. It was all put together much more quickly than it was taken apart. After several seconds, everything had come together on the new skeleton. Kyte dropped to the ground, unable to move. He discovered that his senses were slowly returning. "There we go, finished!" Sol''keer said. "Urgam adfjai uwak." Kyte mumbled complete nonsense because his ability to speak hadn''t returned. "Hahaha, what? I didn''t understand you." Damn you, old man.. "Don''t worry, your senses will return in a few seconds." Several, instead of a few, seconds passed before Kyte was able to stand. He slightly wobbled before balancing himself, feeling his renewed sensation of feeling. After having his skeleton replaced, he didn''t feel much different. Actually, he felt exactly the same as before. Except now he was naked. "Old, man. Lend me...some clothes, will ya?" Kyte spoke. "Ah, right." The same clothing Kyte had worn to the abandoned house appeared on his body. He was stunned by this because just before the procedure they had been torn to shreds. Then he remembered that he just got a new skeleton so he dismissed his surprise. Kyte looked toward Sol''keer and asked: "So, now what?" "Now I tell you some information you''ll need." Sol''keer motioned toward the chair. Kyte sat down while Sol''keer sat down on the opposite end, just like before. Sol''keer spoke: "So, now that you''re following my technique, I should tell you about it. There is something called the Inheritance which I installed within the skeleton. Once I activate it, you''ll gain information based on your power level. Each new level you''ll obtain more information. I won''t go into detail about this since you''ll learn about it anyway." "Ok, so how many power levels are there? I assume there should be a lot, right?" "Yes. I reached the fifteenth stage myself. Anyway, there''s also a storage artifact that I will give to you. It holds all my items that I''ve gathered over the years and you''ll unlock a new level of items each time you increase in power. Just like the Inheritance. I did this because if something it too powerful it could vaporize you instantly. I''m sure you understand." "Yea, no problem. I wouldn''t want my successor to be killed by my own equipment either. So, how long will it take me to reach your level of power?" "Oh, a long time. Don''t worry, your life span will increase as your power level increases. Otherwise, no one would be able to reach high power levels." "I see. I expect more questions to come to mind in the future but I know they''ll eventually be answered. Are you coming with me or no?" "Nope. I used up the remaining part of my power to help you. I am a sort of...''projection'' of the Inheritance but nothing can last forever. You can see your way out with that ladder over there." Kyte looked behind him and saw a ladder come out from the wall. It was quite old looking but it was metal so hopefully it would hold. Kyte looked back at Sol''keer and said: "Thanks for helping me." "No problem. It''s to keep to my Bloodrage Sect in existence. I''ll activate the Inheritance once you''re in your home." "Alright. Then...cya." Kyte got up, walked to the ladder, and climbed it. He didn''t look back nor did he hesitate to climb. He looked up and saw an opening at the top, to his relief. He climbed out and into what he assumed was the backyard of the abandoned house. The overgrown vegetation was even worse back there, so Kyte immediately left. He decided to rush home, mostly because he needed to sleep. It was still dark out so he hoped he had enough time to rest. He would check on his newly gained information in the morning. He discovered he still had a few hours of night left so he immediately went to sleep. Before sleep fully claimed him, a sudden white flash went through his mind. However, Kyte didn''t seem to notice as he was already in dreamland. Chapter 2: Bloodrage Technique: First Stage After waking up, Kyte decided to not go to school. It was the end of the school year anyway so he wasn''t necessarily required to attend school. So, after finishing his morning routine, he arrived back in his room. In his bedroom, Kyte started to think about the information that was given to him by the Inheritance. The power levels are like a steady progression, however, there are always exceptions to everything. There are fifteen stages to the Bloodrage technique, but only the first six stages were revealed. There are three levels to every stage, being low, mid, and high. Each progression to the next stage requires more and more time, so the higher stage Kyte is, the longer it will be to get to the next stage. The first six stages are: Novice, Knight, Earth, Spirit, Sentinel, and Champion. According to the Inheritance, Sol¡¯keer himself named each stage. Kyte just thought that he may have just put random words together that sounded alright. Well, Kyte didn¡¯t complain. He wouldn¡¯t even have cared if the stages were numbered rather than named. After that, apparently the storage necklace was able to store almost an unlimited amount of space. It isn¡¯t unlimited, it¡¯s just that the space is so large that it doesn¡¯t even matter. Besides, it¡¯s not like Kyte is going to go steal a giant building or anything. The only available items Kyte could use were simple medicines and small gemstones that apparently help with training. Only after Kyte advances in the stages will better medicines, gemstones, and weaponry be available for him to use. Now for the training knowledge. To reach the start of the Novice realm, all Kyte had to do was meditate in a certain position and breathe a certain way. If he does it correctly, Kyte should be able to feel energy flow into his body. The faster it happens, as well as the amount of energy being absorbed, depends on Kyte¡¯s innate talent. Kyte was actually quite confident with himself, although he was only really smart. That doesn¡¯t necessarily mean he¡¯ll be good at anything else. Kyte was also a little hesitant to begin because of what Sol¡¯keer had said about this world. Apparently, there was no ¡®ethereal¡¯ or higher power. According to the Inheritance, that doesn¡¯t really matter. Kyte learned that because he already has the very basic foundations for the Bloodrage technique, it should work no matter what. Although the energy may be different from Sol¡¯keer¡¯s world, it¡¯s still energy nonetheless. Kyte was also hesitant to start trying to practice because he wanted to use his computer. But, knowing the astronomical benefits he could obtain, Kyte decided against using his computer. He weighed the benefits, and obviously training in the Bloodrage technique was far better. The Bloodrage technique itself actually isn¡¯t about going into a rage at all. This technique utilizes the life force inside an organism¡¯s body. Not the spirit energy, the life force. What is the life force exactly? The blood inside an organism¡¯s body. Without blood, that living thing will definitely die. Although, of course, not all living things need blood to survive. But, since a majority of living things do indeed have blood, the Bloodrage technique focused on them. And since the only real threat to Sol¡¯keer was other humans, the Bloodrage technique was quite effective. The Bloodrage technique doesn¡¯t control the blood within the body of something, it only makes it possible to absorb the life force from the blood. However, it mainly only works on dead organisms, since they can¡¯t fight back. Absorbing the life force of living things requires Kyte to be significantly stronger, by at least four or five realms. Otherwise, the only way to get the life force would be to kill the thing. However, that doesn¡¯t really matter in Kyte¡¯s world. The life force gained from blood quickens the rate at which someone is able to increase their power. For example, if it took a year to train from the Earth realm to the Spirit realm, then it would only take roughly nine months to train from the Earth realm to the Spirit realm when using the Bloodrage technique. Of course, this technique is not only for absorbing life force. It also strengthens Kyte¡¯s Realm power by a noticeable amount, and the higher stage Kyte is at, the bigger the power bonus. There is also more power bonus from more life force, obviously. There are certain skills for the Bloodrage technique, however, since Kyte hasn¡¯t even entered the Novice stage, he hasn¡¯t gained any knowledge on any of them. Also, the Inheritance clearly states that the first Bloodrage exclusive skill unlocks at the Knight stage, so Kyte still has a while to go. Sitting on his bed, Kyte got into the required position. The position reminds him of the lotus position which originated from ancient India, but Kyte only thought that might be similarities between two intelligent races that looked exactly the same. After about ten minutes of breathing in and out, Kyte felt no change in his body or his surroundings. I know I¡¯m doing this right...how long does this freaking take? If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Kyte got up and went to the restroom before starting over again, and this time he turned out all the lights to get into the right mood. After fifteen minutes, Kyte suddenly felt the air around him surge toward his body. It swirled around him like a whirlwind, and faint electric sparks appeared throughout the vortex. Without losing focus, Kyte continued his breathing. The small electric sparks grew larger in size until they started to connect with one another. Then, one by one, they flew into Kyte¡¯s body. The electricity would spread over his skin, and his cells would absorb the energy like they were starving animals. His skeleton started to faintly vibrate as if it was alive, soaking up a weird energy that was released from the cells after they devoured the electricity. Three hours later, Kyte was absorbing massive amounts of electricity, to which he could physically feel his skeleton shaking as it was being bombarded by large amounts of energy. The air vortex around him was no longer air, it was replaced completely by electricity. It gave off a strong glow that brightly illuminated his room and heated the area around his body greatly. The vortex slowly calmed and disappeared, until finally all that was left was Kyte sitting in the same position. He finally opened his eyes to see his normal dark room, seemingly untouched by the supernatural event that just occurred. He could feel the energy swirling around his body, and when it finally settled, Kyte inwardly celebrated: He had reached the middle Novice stage! However, according to the Inheritance, the first few times Kyte does this practice are when the highest amounts of energy will appear. However, it only stated that the first time Kyte should¡¯ve only reached the early Novice stage, not the middle Novice stage! ¡°This is amazing! Haha, I knew I had it in me. When Sol¡¯keer first practiced, it took him a full two hours to just start the wind vortex, and then another fourteen hours for him to finish. And he didn¡¯t even reach the Novice stage! Heh, I wonder what he would say if he knew what just happened...¡± ¡°Oh believe me, it¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°...Huh??!!¡± ¡°I was joking back at the underground room. I''m actually connected to the Inheritance, mostly because it was formed from my essence and all.¡± ¡°Gosh damn, you scared the shit out of me.¡± ¡°HA! Consider that your punishment for slapping me in the face like this! It took me three days to reach the early Novice stage. And look at you! It took you three hours to get to the middle Novice stage!¡± ¡°Hahaha! Look who¡¯s laughing now old man! I didn¡¯t expect your talent to be so trashy, geeze.¡± ¡°What did you just say?! You should be grateful that I gave you this power!¡± ¡°Heh, of course I¡¯m grateful! How else am I gonna beat those assholes to a pulp?¡± ¡°Assholes? Who?¡± ¡°They¡¯re just the garbage of society. Believe me, I wish I could ignore them. But, they¡¯ve done so much to me that I just feel the need to bring it all back to them.¡± ¡°Hmph, well don¡¯t think you can do anything yet. Just because you¡¯re at the Novice level doesn¡¯t mean that you¡¯re strong. If you couldn¡¯t even resist before you got this power, even if you¡¯re at the middle Novice stage you might not be able to beat them. You can most definitely defend yourself, but since you don¡¯t even have any experience, I doubt you¡¯ll be able to do any real damage.¡± ¡°Yea, that makes sense. Like I said before, my physical body wasn¡¯t exactly the best. Because of that, I didn¡¯t go out of my way to train in sports or any type of fighting. Although I¡¯ve seen fights and fighting techniques, what good does that do if I can¡¯t actually do them in real life?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re smart. I¡¯ve seen too many young men biting off more than they can chew, and they pay the price for it. Sometimes running away is the only option.¡± ¡°That comes from a guy that got killed in the middle of battle while taking seventy others with him?¡± ¡°Hey, I was trapped you know? There was nothing I could do. Some of those guys were even stronger than me.¡± ¡°Yea yea yea, whatever. Anyway, when do you think I¡¯ll be able to really beat those guys up?¡± ¡°Hmm, definitely Knight stage. It¡¯s possible at late Novice stage, but since you have no experience in fighting, you can at least win with superior defense and power at early Knight stage.¡± ¡°Alright, good. Then I¡¯ll just practice every single day. I¡¯ll get to Knight eventually.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you remember?! You can¡¯t rush your practice. You need to give time to your body to adjust to your new power. If you get too much, your body won¡¯t be able to handle it.¡± ¡°Ohhhhh right. Yea, I forgot about that. It¡¯s gonna take about twelve hours for my body to fully adjust, so I guess I should go to sleep.¡± After that, Kyte finished up his daily routine, and of course he used his computer for a little bit as well. Eventually, he went to sleep, quietly anticipating the next time he will gain more power. Chapter 3: Going Outside --The next day-- After doing the breathing technique once again, Kyte reached the High Novice stage. He was very excited and Sol''keer was astonished at his quick progress. However, only the first few times allow Kyte to gain the most energy, so he knows that his progress will definitely slow down. Especially in the higher stages, it will take much, much longer than just a day to improve by three stages. Walking in his backyard to get some sun, Kyte was talking with Sol''keer. "Alright kid, you really surprised me. I didn''t expect you to be such a good match for the Bloodrage technique." "Heh, so what? Besides, the first few times are fast like this anyway. Those medicines and pills in the necklace will definitely be of help." "Don''t forget, if you take too many pills at once, you can damage your body. Just like how absorbing too much energy without letting your body adjust to the energy will damage it." "Yea yea, whatever." "Once you reach the Knight stage, you''ll be able to absorb your first amount of life force. This will greatly improve your overall power. Besides, you don''t have to absorb life force just from humans." "Hmm, so just regular birds and other common animals will suffice?" "Of course. Anything with blood will be your prey. But, humans will naturally give more life force, even if they don''t have more blood than bigger animals like bears and the like." "Why is that?" "Even I don''t know. Maybe it''s because you''re human too? I never figured it out." "So what''s the first fighting skill I can use like?" "Don''t worry about it until you unlock it." "Come on, the Inheritance won''t give me any information on it. What''s it like?" "You''ll know when you get there." "You....stupid old man." "Heh, even if you do improve fast in your cultivation, that doesn''t mean you''ll be good at fighting skills right?" "What do you know? I''ve never even tried to do any fighting techniques in my whole life. Plus, the skills from your world are different from the ones in this world. You can''t compare the two." "Yea, just keep being confident. I''m going to laugh in your face when it takes you a year to just complete the first skill!" "You won''t be here for another five weeks or so though." ".....Well, that''s true." "Ahaha, sorry." "What are you apologizing for? If you feel like you need to, then just walk around outside. I haven''t really seen the outside of this world." "Alright, I''ll do that. I have nothing better to do yet so I might as well take you around. But, won''t people see you?" "Don''t worry about that. My power is so weak right now that I can''t even manifest myself anymore." "Oh, I see. Well then, let''s get going." After leaving his house, Kyte walked around outside for a while. He passed by a public park where he saw several children playing with the park equipment. Their innocent laughter rang out into the surroundings while their parents created several conversations with one another. Kyte silently watched the children play without a care of the world as he walked past. He wondered if he would ever have children of his own, but after realizing what he thought, Kyte immediately cast it away. After that he went to several grocery stores, occasionally picking out a snack to take with him. He walked along the major intersections that had gas stations near them, and he walked even further to reach a movie theater. Many people were waiting in line, and some were walking in and out of the building. While Kyte was walking on a sidewalk to go to an ice cream store, Sol''keer said: "Look at these people, completely oblivious to the great technology their government is hiding from them." "You making fun of them? Heh, I was like that a day ago as well. And, it''s not only technology of this world. It''s the fact that other worlds exist too." "Yea, and in them are godly beings that far surpassed even me. It''s a good thing this world doesn''t have any of those guys, otherwise...this planet would be a barren place." Kyte, a little surprised and confused at Sol''keer''s words, just silently continued forward to enter the ice cream shop. There were several people inside, all enjoying their cold treats with their friends or family members. The line to buy ice cream was actually quite long, so Kyte asked: "Sol''keer, do you remember your family?" "...What kind of question is that?" "Oh, uh...you know...I was just curious.." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Haaa, of course I do. Even if I wasn''t the family genius, they didn''t treat me badly. In fact, all the great geniuses died in battle, and I ended up as the strongest in my generation. Although one or two in a younger generation did surpass me, I had greater experience. If only I had a bit more innate talent, I probably would''ve survived that ambush." "You said your family was wealthy right? How much do you imply?" "Oh, my family was one of the richest on my home planet. My family was part of the Big Five, and we were the third most powerful out of the five families. If I had even a little bit less talent, I probably would''ve been bullied. Thankfully I wasn''t the weakest in my generation." "You have quite some luck, don''t you." "It''s quite ironic actually. I didn''t have much talent, but I had large amounts of luck on my side. I only survived some situations due to miracles that only have less than a one percent chance of happening. And that happened several times." "Hahaha, you''re gonna have to tell me them sometimes." "Yea, I guess that would fine. And, well, I guess my luck ran out when I was ambushed." It was finally Kyte''s turn to buy ice cream, and when he saw the cashier... "...Kyte?" "O-ohhh, Eli. I would like to buy-" "Dude, what happened to you man? You suddenly stopped hanging out with us. Sarah missed you a lot when you stopped." "Eli, look...I just want to buy some ice cream...ahaha..ha." "...Right. Well, what do you want?" "A large cup, mint and chocolate ice cream." After buying the ice cream, Kyte quickly left the shop and began to walk home. However, when he rounded the corner around the shop, he saw a familiar face get out of a car. It''s Asshole. Wanting to beat him to a pulp, Kyte started to speed up toward Asshole but Sol''keer quickly said: "Wait! Get back, you don''t want to do anything yet." "What the fuck do you mean, he''s right there!" "You''re only at the high Novice stage! Wait until you reach the Knight stage until you do anything. Plus, once you reach the Knight stage, you will get other skills along with the Bloodrage skill." Kyte quickly turned around and walked home. "What do you mean, ''other skills''?" "You may not know, but there are many, many other skills aside from the Bloodrage skills. You don''t know about them because you haven''t unlocked them yet." "What kind of skills are these?" "The first ones are from my family. Skills that pertain to fighting are everywhere inside the Inheritance." "Why didn''t you tell me?" "You would''ve found out anyway. Besides, I didn''t know you were going to try to attack that guy the first time you saw him." "He deserves to be killed." "Heh, that''s the spirit. Don''t have mercy when you''re fighting. However, it''s still a good thing to keep you morality. Just as long as you don''t lose yourself in the slaughter, you''ll do fine." Kyte hurried home while eating his ice cream, which quickly melted due to the heat outside. I have to hurry and get to Knight stage so I can train in the new skills. I''m gonna be the most powerful being on this planet! As Kyte quietly motivated himself, Sol''keer gave a satisfied smile. He didn''t know if his legacy would be able to be successfully passed down onto younger generations by Kyte, but he was Sol''keer''s only choice. ______________________________________________________________ -Inside An Apartment- "Hey, Akina, have you found out who the new guy is?" "Yea, tell us! We''re really curious!!" Three young teens were asking the same question over and over as a single woman was sitting on a couch. On either side of her was an older looking male and a young female who looked to be an early college student. "Quiet down you guys! I can''t think when all of you are blabbering on and on." The woman in the middle, Akina, quietly sighed and she relaxed in the soft couch. "Don''t worry, I know exactly who he is. The only hard part is finding a reason to meet with him. He''s always up in his house all the time, there''s never any chances to meet with the kid. Since there''s only two days left until graduation, he doesn''t even need to go to school." Akina lifted her right hand and looked at what she was holding. In her hand was a picture of Kyte. Chapter 4: One More Breakdown A great wave of wind exploded out from Kyte''s body as he opened his eyes. Getting out of the breathing position, he stood up and stretched. A flash of white light appeared in his mind, and he realized... "Low Knight stage, finally!" "Good work. I''ll let you sort out your new information, haha." "Yup! Just two days and I''m already at Knight stage...awesome!" Kyte did a small celebration before he settled back down onto his bed. Currently, it was the day after Kyte took his walk around the neighborhood. It was about noon, and there was only one day left until his High School graduation. However, he doesn''t necessarily care about that. Although he is forced to go. According to the Inheritance, as well as Sol''keer, when Kyte reaches the Knight stage, he will gain the information necessary to learn the first Bloodrage skill. Not only that, but he will also learn a regular skill as well, which is a plus. Closing his eyes, Kyte focused on his new information. The first Bloodrage skill is called Blood Thirst, and it''s exactly how Sol''keer had described it. Kyte is able to absorb the life force out of living things that have blood. Doing so increases the rate at which he improves in training, as well as his overall power. However, the power boost isn''t that noticeable in the beginning. It only becomes a real help in later stages. With the more life force Kyte absorbs, the more power he will obtain basically. The other skill, which is just a normal skill, is called Raging Palms. It sends out Internal energy which violently vibrates, causing anything to touch it to be blown apart. Also, the power of Raging Palms increases with Kyte''s improvement, which is quite obvious. It won''t necessarily kill anything that is about Kyte''s own level in power, and of course the power of the skill decreases if used against more powerful enemies. "Hmm, Raging Palms seems quite useful. I can''t wait to try it out." "Hmph, of course it is! It''s one of the higher-tiered skills in my family''s vault." "Alright! Well first I want to try out Blood Thirst. So, I''m gonna have to check the back yard first...thankfully there''s lot of space back there. There''s a couple of trees and bushes as well, so hopefully something will pop up." After waiting in his backyard for about ten minutes, he finally saw his first chance. First thing to do is kill the bird... He reached his hand out toward the bird and tried to control his Internal energy. During the time he was waiting he was practicing this same technique, and fortunately he successfully did it on his first try. Although he wasn''t able to control it very well. A white energy spilled out from Kyte''s hand and fluidly surged together to create a fist. He controlled the fist, moving it close for him to grab the bird. It didn''t notice the energy at all for some reason. Either that or it was naturally scared stiff. Kyte made a grasping motion, to which the Internal energy instantly grabbed the bird. He instantaneously increased the power in his grip and crushed the bird, making blood spray out from it''s body. He dropped the corpse and let blood collect around it before beginning to train the Blood Thirst skill. He hovered his Internal energy above the blood, trying to send the signal to absorb it. However much he tried, he couldn''t absorb the blood. Huh? What am I doing wrong... After a few more tries, Kyte decided to solidify his energy while it was in the blood and take it out that way. So, he controlled his Internal energy to enter the blood before he solidified it. After doing so, Kyte once again tried to absorb the blood. The dark red liquid suddenly disappeared into the Internal energy, signifying Kyte''s success. So the Internal energy has to be solidified in order to take out the blood. What a nuisance. I guess it gets easier with practice. Anyway, next step. Slowly, Kyte transferred more energy over, around, and inside the blood. Suddenly, his energy started to soak up the blood, just like his cells and skeleton did when he practices with the breathing technique. This time, however, there was no wind vortex or electricity. Originally, Kyte''s Internal energy was white. However, Kyte could see traces of a red color beginning to form. He could also feel a small amount of energy forming in his body, however, at the moment it was so small that it was almost unnoticeable. Every long journey starts with the first step. Now time for Raging Palms. Standing up, Kyte went over the information for Raging Palms before he started. Apparently, all Kyte had to do is send out his Internal energy and condense each individual thread of energy as much as possible before finally exploding the energy forward. Well, easier said than done. Forming a small ball of Internal energy in-front of his palm, Kyte tried to condense it as much as possible. However, doing so dries up his energy fairly quickly, so he tried to do it as fast as possible. Then, he quickly let out a burst of energy to shoot the ball forward. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. -BANG- The ball moved forward, and Kyte unconsciously made it into a palm shape. However, it only moved forward about four feet before disappearing. ...What? This is more difficult than I thought... "Hahaha! Of course it is! But at least you got it to move forward on your first try. It''s better than nothing." "Can''t you help me out here?" "No, are you stupid? It''s not possible for me to tell you the secrets of skills like this. Besides, even if I could, I still wouldn''t. It''s much better to learn it yourself. That is the only way that you will truly grow stronger." "I guess you''re right..." As Kyte waited for more birds or other animals to show up, he practiced Raging Palms. Although after a few tries he ran out of energy, so he had to rest before trying again. However, the good thing was that every time he ran out of energy and rested to regain energy, Kyte felt that his energy quantity and quality improved by a very small amount. Every single improvement matters. After about four hours, Kyte had killed nine birds. Every time he killed one he would dispose of the corpse because if a bird sees another bird corpse, it would definitely fly away. He improved the Raging Palm technique quite a lot, although he definitely knew he was still missing something. There were several palm imprints in the ground in his backyard, and Kyte only looked at them with pride. Thinking back to how he could barely send out a stream of Internal energy just about four and half hours ago, he quietly approved of his progress. -DING- Suddenly, from his backyard, Kyte heard the the doorbell of his house ring. "Who?...Me? Oh, it''s probably the package dude. I remember ordering something a week or two ago.." Quickly brushing off any dirty that was on his clothes, Kyte quickly went to the front door and looked through the peeking hole. On the other side he found... Sarah? The last time she visited was last year...what the Hell does she want? Kyte contemplated if he would open the door or not, but just as he was about to walk away... "Kyte, I heard you walking to the door. You can''t just leave me standing here." -!...You sly bitch.. Opening the door, Kyte gave a faint smile before asking: "What do you want?" "I want to know why you left and why you haven''t been to school for the past two days." Kyte''s smile quickly faded, and he said: "You haven''t even come talk to me for two years, yet you think it''s fine for you to come to my house ask me why I haven''t been to school? For two days? Who do you think you are? I have no need for your concerns. You can leave." "Wait! The only reason why I haven''t visited you is because the last time I came here, no one answered! I was convinced you left with your grandfather. So you''ve been purposefully avoiding me and the others this whole time?" "You won''t understand even if I told you. I don''t need anyone to console me, I''m done with that. Nothing and no one helped me in my time of need, so I found out that I don''t need anyone at all!" "You only think like that because you didn''t LET ANYONE HELP YOU!" "Wha-! Shut the fuck up! You have no clue how I felt AND you will never know how I feel now!" With rage building up in his chest, Kyte stretched his hand out to push Sarah away, but something more powerful came out instead... A wave of Internal energy swept toward Sarah and pushed her off the ground back toward the street. Shit! "Sarah! Are you ok?!" Kyte ran toward Sarah, but before he could reach her... "Get away you freak!" Kyte immediately stopped in his tracks. "Wha...t?" Sarah looked at Kyte with eyes full of fear and confusion. A small scratch had appeared on her left cheek, and blood could be seen on her hands and elbows. "I was wrong about coming here. You''re a lunatic!" Kyte just stood there completely dumbfounded. His mouth gaping wide in utter confusion, he didn''t know how to react to this sudden outburst at all. This person... Is this who she really is? "Don''t ever come near me again! You should stay in that house just like you have been for the past two years!" Oh shit...I forgot about what happened to her that year... "No wonder even your grandfather left you...I''m leaving." Kyte only stood there, taking in everything that had happened. Sol''keer just silently sighed, and silently laughed a little too. Putting on a half smile, with a hint of a weird light in his eyes, Kyte thought... It doesn''t matter anymore. Since she experienced my power, I should kill her. Something like this would''ve happened eventually. Chapter 5: Breakthrough Within an outside stadium was a large stage that had a giant audience facing its front. The bright sun shined down its piercing rays of light onto the groups of people on the ground. Directly in-front of the large stage, which had various decorations like balloons plastered across it, sat the Senior class of Kyte''s high school. Seated behind them were their family members and friends, all watching them receive the ''diplomas'' as they crossed the stage. "Sarah Goldsman!" After the principal said her name, many students and people in the audience clapped and cheered. Currently, Kyte was seated near the end of the rows of chairs. There were several more students before it was Kyte''s turn to receive his diploma. Also, Kyte had turned down the opportunity to read a speech before the Graduation ceremony began. Unfortunately, he didn''t have any guardians to help him with the process of buying the required attire for graduation. Although Kyte''s grandfather is his legal guardian, he only gives Kyte enough money to live. Of course, Kyte asked him for some extra money in order to buy the graduation attire, and his grandfather complied. However, Kyte had to complete the required procedure in order to purchase his graduation gown and hat. About fifteen minutes had passed by, and now... "Kyte Stone!" Absolute silence. If it was only a normal silence then it wouldn''t have been that bad. Aside from a few faint, pitiable claps that only lasted a couple seconds, there was no other sound. Kyte stood up and leisurely walked down the predetermined path, up the steps, and toward the principle. The principle was a older man that had graying hair, which was almost entirely grey, and he also seemed to be getting wrinkles as the skin on his face was faintly sagging around his cheeks. He eyed Kyte as he nonchalantly walked toward him and held out his hand. The principle gave a sincere smile before meeting Kyte''s hand with his own. Finding this quite amusing, Sol''keer couldn''t help but say: "Looks like no one likes you haha!" "You know what they say. If you have nothing good to say, don''t say anything at all. You should really learn from that." "Heh, whatever." As Kyte shook the hand of the principal, he looked directly in Kyte''s eyes and said: "Kyte, have my sincere congratulations." Kyte let go of his hand and replied with a faint smile: "Thank-you." Kyte proceeded on to shake the hands of the board directors and exited the stage to travel back to his assigned seat. He could feel a hard stare in his back, however, he didn''t want to turn around to look because he already knew who it was. It was Asshole. "Don''t worry kid, you''ll get your chance soon enough. You''re almost at the mid Knight stage." "Yea, I know. But my patience is wearing thin." What Kyte didn''t realize was that Asshole was not the only one staring at him. And, these stares weren''t filled with anger, except Asshole, but filled with small amounts of confusion. Because in Kyte''s pitch black hair were small streaks of red. It was so small that some people thought that there might be something wrong with their eyes. Most people dismissed it as the lighting, and others just didn''t blame Kyte if he wanted to change something about himself. Other than what he already has, of course. As he sat down, Kyte felt an abnormal presence in the giant room. It''s mostly due to his new powers, and partly due to a weird chill that swept through his body. He swiftly looked over the audience but he didn''t see anything unusual. The heck was that?... What he had missed in the audience was a group of three people. The one in the middle had silver hair that reached down to her waist, and looked as if it reflected all light from its surface. To the right of the woman was a man with light brown hair. He wore a pair of glasses, but even without them he would probably be able to have the vision of a hawk. The left of the silver-haired woman was another young woman that looked to be in her early twenties. Her hair was red like a rose, her eyes as sharp as she looked at the young man in the graduation seats. She licked her red lips with her moist, pink tongue as she carefully reminded herself to not forgot why she was here. "Rose, why can''t you calm down whenever you see a cute boy?" "You''ll neeeeever understand a young woman like me. Probably ''cuz you''re just an old woman." The light-haired man laughingly smiled as he said: "Watch what you say to Boss. She has much more appeal than you do, kid." "I''m not a kid! I''m twenty-two and I have plenty of sexiness!" "Yea, to immature little kids! You''re leagues away from Boss." "Haaaa, can you two shut up please? I''m trying to figure out exactly what this kid''s power is." "Does it really matter? I doubt it will be as powerful as Shadow''s, and that''s saying something." "Old man Dan, you''re only saying that because you''re stronger than Shadow. Plus, I bet Shadow could beat you if you were the same age. Too bad he''s like, what, a hundred years younger than you?" "Do you want your face bashed in, slut?" "What did you call me?!" The silver-haired woman only softly face-palmed as she was glad she had put up a sound barrier just in case something like this happened. "If you two don''t shut up right now, I''ll take away both of your allowances!" ""HUH?! I''m sorry!"" The two quickly apologized, although all three of them knew that the two of them would never really stop. The silver-haired woman was quite perplexed by Kyte in all honesty. When she first saw him, she noticed that his power was very small compared to her and the others in the orphanage. But now, it seemed like his power had at least tripled! This was inconceivable to her! In just one day, this kid had improved so much! I absolutely have to hook him in. But how do I do that? Rose could...no, this kid is different from the other horny teenagers. Wait...is he? Who knows what he does all day long in his house...But, we are in desperate need of help... The silver-haired woman stood up and said: "Come on you two, lets go. There''s nothing more for us here." "Alriiight!" The trio left, and Kyte was still quietly sitting, waiting for graduation to be over. -One hour later- Kyte was patiently waiting amidst the cars in the parking lot, carefully watching Asshole and his friends. Gosh, how many friends does this douchebag have? "You just have to patiently wait for the right moment to strike!" Yea, I''m not stupid. "You sure seem like it sometimes." Kyte only rolled his eyes and continued to watch Asshole. Eventually, Asshole joined several other people in a car and they drove off away from the school. "Gosh damn it." "Haha, good luck next time." "I guess so." Suddenly, Kyte felt a weird presence around him. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. This feels exactly the same as during Graduation! Kyte quickly began to run home. Swerving through the mass of cars, Kyte retrieved a mask from within the storage necklace. Putting the mask on, Kyte''s body suddenly grew three inches, his hair turned light brown and grew shorter, and his clothes turned from a dark sweater into a blue overcoat. His pants and shoes also turned into something different. The mask disappeared the same time his appearance changed as well. His graduation gown grew with him as well. What Kyte used was a Concealing Mask, a very common item inside the storage necklace. Along with other items like medicines and pills that help with practice, the Concealing Mask was one of the things the things that Kyte unlocked in the Novice stage. He just never had any reason to use any of the items until now. The Concealing Mask not only changes Kyte''s total appearance, but it also hides his power. Hence the name ''Concealing Mask''. With the influx of students filling the parking lot, Kyte quickly merged with the crowd. After about three minutes, the mysterious presence disappeared. "Whew." After waiting around other students for several more minutes just in case, Kyte walked home. More like speed walked but he still traveled back home. Once he got into his room, he collapsed onto his bed. "Well, that was quite interesting." Sol''keer exclaimed. "Yea, that weird presence is pretty-" "No, not that. I was talking about the...''graduation'' ceremony. My world never had anything like that for education from what I can recall." "The people from your world must be stupid then." "Hey! At least the people from my world are able to travel to other planets! Ha! You can''t do that with your silly technology!" "What?! You guys can do that?!" "Of course, it''s not that hard." "Uh huh, and how long did it take for a a low-talent pig like you to be able to do that?" "The Hell did you call me?! It only took me eight hundred years. It wasn''t that long." "Yea, EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS. You have to remind yourself that you''re talking to an eighteen year old here." "And you have to remind yourself that you''re talking with a four millennium year old man! How about that, huh?" "That doesn''t change anything. I bet I''m still smarter than you." "Oh yea? Try me." "What''s the square root of two eighty nine?" "Um..uh..squair?...What?" "I told you you''re stupid." "Shut up! I''m still older than you!" "And you act like a kid." "I...can still have fun if I want to. Doing everything so seriously takes too much of a toll." "I guess so. Just don''t turn into a baby, alright?" "I won''t go that far. I still have my dignity." "Anyway, what do you think that weird presence was back at graduation?" "That was someone purposefully showing you their power. Basically they''re showing themselves to you in a very open manner." "Oh? Then I''m not the only one?" "When did I say you were?" "Hmph, whatever. So? What''s that person''s power like?" "I don''t know. I don''t recognize what sect that person is from." "Huh? What do you mean by sect? You''re saying there''s someone out there that has a technique similar to mine?" "Not similar in skills and what not, but yes, that is one hundred percent possible. That''s the only explanation I have. I could never forget the feeling of someone''s Internal pressure." "And? What''s your guess to what stage that person is in?" "I dunno. But comparing it with yours, I would have to assume that person is in a power stage equivalent to Bloodrage technique''s stage seven." "Stage seven?! I don''t even have stage seven''s name unlocked! How the heck am I gonna defend myself against that?!" "Don''t worry! If you get attacked by that person, I''ll use my remaining Spirit power to forcefully take out a defensive equipment from the storage necklace and make you able to use it for a short time." "No! I doubt that person knows where I live. Or maybe they do, and they are just waiting for me to come out. I haven''t bought actual groceries in about a week...Sheese man, I don''t want to go out there!" "Holy shit, I didn''t expect you to be such a scared-y cat! Besides, the energy you receive from practicing should be enough to last you for about a month, two at the most. Sorry kid, you''re gonna have to wait on that Asshole guy for later." "Yea. I''m gonna have to train seriously this whole month. Those pills are gonna be a great help." --Three weeks later-- Small *bang* sounds could be heard coming from Kyte''s home. His backyard has been thoroughly destroyed, and there are palm imprints everywhere. There was a faint smell of death around the area as well, which made the atmosphere seem deadly. A single white and red colored energy shaped like a palm exploded forth from Kyte''s right hand. It shot forward as if it wasn''t restrained by the air around it, and it hit the ground with a loud boom. A deep imprint was left in the ground as dirt was sprayed up and out from where the palm had landed. "I can''t seem to get it right." "Don''t worry, you just need one more final step and you will have mastered the first stage of Raging Palms." "Wait, first stage?" "Yes, first stage. You''ll only unlock this information once you complete the first stage, but I might as well tell you know. The second stage allows you to manipulate several energy bursts at once, basically dealing double, triple, and even quadruple the regular damage. The more skilled you are at Internal energy manipulation, and the familiar you are with the Raging Palms, the easier it will be." "That''s good. Time to practice Windwalker now." Kyte took one step, and controlling the Internal energy at his feet, an air current quickly followed as he lightly stepped in each direction. He moved very fast, almost being so fast that if you blinked you would miss it. Kyte unlocked his first movement skill, Windwalker, when he broke through into the low Earth stage. It allows very fast movement, and it was actually created as a quick escape skill. That is, once Kyte is proficient enough with it it will be. It took Kyte a week and a half to break through into the Earth stage, and another week and a half to break through to the middle Earth stage. It seems the early massive energy absorption rate finally cooled down once he reached late Knight Stage. After Kyte was done practicing the Windwalker skill, he went back inside to drink some water and rest. "I have about a week of food left at best. Luckily I have basically unlimited water." "Don''t worry. In a month''s time, you''ll definitely be at least low Sentinel stage." Yea, but you''ll be gone in a week... After Kyte rested, he started his breathing technique until he absorbed enough energy to edge ever so closer to the late Earth stage. Chapter 6: Finding a Way For the next two days, Kyte quickly improved. He was almost ready to break through into late Earth stage, and currently he was practicing the Raging Palms technique. -BOOM- "Gosh damn it, what the Hell am I doing wrong?!" Kyte scratched his head with an annoyed expression. "You don''t have to get so worked up on it. At least it didn''t take you like three years to even get where you are. You should be grateful." "You old man, I bet you''re laughing since you know exactly what I''m getting wrong." "How''d you know? HAHAHAHA! It''s great! Seeing a genius like you struggling really lets me get out a good laugh." Kyte sat down with his back against the back wall of his house. He stared at his backyard and just sighed. Closing his eyes, he was slowly drifting off into sleep when suddenly... -flap- -flap- The sound of wings moving through the air entered his ears. In his half-asleep mode, Kyte lazily raised his right hand and shot out a palm of Internal energy which soundlessly and mercilessly destroyed the bird. Using the Internal energy from the palm, he absorbed the blood that had exploded from within the corpse. "...Uh...Kyte. Do you realize what you just did?" "Yea, yea. I''m too lazy to get all the blood..." "No, you idiot. You just completed the first stage." "The first?....The....the FIRST STAGE?!" Kyte jolted up onto his feet. Recalling what had just happened, Kyte sent out another palm of energy, however, it made a popping sound when it blasted forward. "You''re messing with me, aren''t you." "No, of course not. Just focus on remembering what you did when you killed that bird just now." Playing back the moment when he shot out the palm of energy, Kyte felt himself getting closer to the answer. While he was trying to remember, he would shoot out energy palms to test out different methods. And then finally... A silent palm of energy shot into the ground, creating a much deeper dent than the ones before. "I see...it''s not about exploding it forward." "Heh, you finally got it. I didn''t expect you to accidentally accomplish it the first time when you''re half asleep!" "Haha, what was that about me struggling? You think this is hard? HA! It''s pretty easy." "Yea, keep saying that when you get in the higher stages." After Kyte shot out several more Raging Palms to get it just right, a flow of new information entered his mind. "Pfft, this is basically saying that I should be in the Spirit stage before I even try it." "You don''t have to be in the Spirit stage. It''s just the recommended stage to start the second level of Raging Palms." "I''m guessing I get something new when I breakthrough into the Spirit stage?" "I guess you''ll find out." "Yea, I guess so..." Laying down on the ground, Kyte looked up into the clear blue sky. The hot sun was shining down with intense heat, but it felt refreshing to Kyte for some reason. "Hey, Sol''keer." "...What. Your tone of voice sounds a bit weird." "Is there a way I can make you unable to disappear?" After about ten seconds of silence, Sol''keer finally replied: "No, there isn''t." "You''re lying." "I''m not lying, there really isn''t." "You know there''s a quote that some dude said in this world. It goes: ''Impossible is nothing.'' What do think about that?" "If you''re trying to convince me that there''s a way-" "I know there''s a way. You''re just not telling me." After a deep sigh, Sol''keer said: "Of course there''s a way. However, you''ll need to be at least stage ten before you can even try to attempt to do it." "What do I need to do?" "Kid, are you even listening to me? I said STAGE TEN. Do you even realize what that implies?" "I do. But what does that have to do with anything? You have to know something: This is not the same universe that you were born in. Something that''s impossible in your universe may be possible in this one." "The way to keep me ''alive'' deals with the soul. You have no knowledge whatsoever when dealing with souls. What can you do? Become an expert on something in a few days?" "I''ve done it before, and I can do it again. Did you forget? Originally, I''m a genius. It''s not that I gather information faster than others. The reason why that even I recognize myself as a genius is because I ''understand'' faster than others. I can gather information faster, sure, but my real genius ability is being able to understand that information. We will never know until we try." "............Alright, fine. I''ll let you see the first level of knowledge regarding the soul. You were supposed to unlock this when you breakthrough into the Spirit stage, but I guess it doesn''t matter right now." Suddenly, a flash of white light went through Kyte''s mind. "Woah..." The soul. The thing that differentiates a living thing and an inanimate object. It gives life to everything that is living. It is the essence of a living thing, the very root of its existence. Without it, there is no consciousness. Without it, there is no life. It can be said that people who are experts with the soul are the ones that decide the life and death of living things. They can manipulate a soul in a way that was never supposed to be found. A forbidden skill that the laws of the universe never expected to be discovered. However, when one person learns of it, it naturally starts to spread. From one to two, from two to three, from three to five, and so on and so forth. And now, Kyte has gained the information on the very most basic training in the soul. This training came from a complete master of the soul, Sol''keer himself. Training with the soul requires a sharp and solid focus. It requires monumental amounts of effort. And of course, through all of these hardships will come skills that may decide the life and death of Kyte, as well as others. Training with the soul is not only a great way to find ways to fight, but it also helps to strengthen the foundations of practice. A stronger soul means a stronger Internal energy and a stronger mind, which leads to faster perceivable levels. The only real way to train the soul is to first be able to manipulate the soul. Being able to manifest the soul and manipulate it is the first step to training the soul to become stronger, as well as absorbing the spirit power and/or energy from other living things. However, just like with practicing Internal energy, gaining too much Spirit energy can disrupt the natural flow of Kyte''s Spirit energy, which will cause serious consequences to appear. In the worst case scenario, Kyte''s soul could explode from being unable to handle so much Spirit energy, thus erasing Kyte''s soul from existence. Of course, there are always exceptions. Apparently, in Sol''keer''s world, there were some ultra-geniuses that did not have limits to how much their soul could grow. They would continuously kill others for their Spirit energy, increasing the power of their soul so much that they didn''t even need a physical body anymore. However, throughout the trillions of years that Sol''keer''s world has existed, individuals like those could be counted with your ten fingers. Although, even if Kyte''s universe is different, the chances of an individual like that appearing is still possible. Opening his eyes, Kyte was astonished with the new knowledge he had obtained. "This stuff seems a little overpowered, don''t you think?..." "Ha! That''s the best part! Now, the first thing you need to do is sense your soul..." "Yea, I already got it." "What?!" "Even when I first got the Bloodrage technique, I could feel a slightly different energy within me. Though at the time it was so small I didn''t really pay attention to it." "Holy cow...It might be because you were either born with a rather strong soul to begin with, or your mind is more advanced than others." "I did say I understand things easier than others, didn''t I?" "A-alright, um..yea then next step is to manipulate the Spirit energy inside your body." Kyte sat down in his breathing position and began to try to manipulate the surging Spirit energy in his body. "Wait, why do I have so much Spirit energy?" "You what?" "I have loads of Spirit energy, what the Hell is this? Did you do something without me noticing?" "No, of course not! I can''t even feel any Spirit energy coming from you. I just thought your soul was weak." "What the deuce is going on?" "It''s YOUR Spirit energy, you tell me." "I have no clue what it could be." "Well, maybe something huge had impacted you which made your mentality and way of thinking change very significantly." "...Huh?" "What, you didn''t know that everything you experience in life changes your mind?" "Of course I knew that! So that''s what it was. I guess that explains it." "What, did you do something super awesome before you met me or something?" "No, nothing much. Just...a little something happened and well, here I am living by myself. Alone." "...I see. Well, don''t dwell on it too much. Look on the bright side, at least you naturally have a strong soul!" "Heh, I guess that''s good. Well, enough chit-chat, let me focus." "Alrighty-o." Kyte began to move his Spirit energy around inside his mind, trying to create a shape from it. A hand, a square, a triangle, pretty much anything. Just as long as he was able to create something, he will have accomplished the next step. Not even ten minutes go by and Kyte has already began to create multiple shapes at the same time. He even felt his Spirit energy becoming stronger the more he played around with it. After another ten minutes of this continuous practice, Kyte thought... This isn''t enough. I need something more...like an actual soul. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Standing up, Kyte decided to go outside. Of course, using a Concealing Mask so he won''t be caught by that other person. After changing his appearance, Kyte used the Windwalker technique to leave his house. Quickly traveling along the sidewalks, jumping high to move from the tops of houses to the next, he moved farther away from the central city. -Thirty minutes later- Softly landing on the ground, Kyte looked in-front of him to see a giant farm. In the fields were several cows, pigs, horses, and other farm animals. Well, sorry to whomever these animals belong to. Jumping onto the large field full of animals, Kyte appeared next to a cow. Putting his hand on its body, he focused on searching for its soul. Are all souls in the mind? Sure enough he was correct. After finding the cow''s soul inside of its mind, Kyte quickly injected his own Spirit energy inside. This only works if Kyte''s soul is stronger than whatever he is trying this technique on, so he has to first figure out how strong each soul is. Although, being a cow, its soul wouldn''t be very strong to begin with. After using his own Spirit energy to destroy the cow''s soul, all that was left was its Spirit energy. Kyte''s own Spirit energy, being far more powerful, naturally soaked up the Spirit energy that was lingering in the dead cow''s mind. After successfully retracting his Spirit energy from the cow, Kyte stepped back. The cow was already on the ground, no longer moving. Kyte then inserted his Internal energy into the corpse and absorbed all of the blood. Holy shit. There''s like a hundred times more blood in a cow than a bird. Why didn''t I do this sooner?! After absorbing the cow''s life force, Kyte felt a significant increase in his power relative to the increase from absorbing the life force from a bird. Like Kyte had guessed, the amount of life force from a cow was astronomically higher than that of a small bird. According to the new information I got, killing something and letting its soul escape is a much faster method, but it''s almost impossible to do correctly on the first few tries....but hey, I don''t have time on my side. Moving from animal to animal, Kyte used Raging Palms to completely decimate each one. He would spread out his Spirit energy to sense the animal''s soul, and then he would trap it inside of his own Spirit energy. He failed the first few times, but he started to succeed over and over again. Probably because his soul is so much stronger. After about thirty minutes, all the animals in the field were dead. There were body parts lying everywhere. If a normal person saw this, they would''ve thought that someone put explosives inside every single animal and blown them up. Except, there was no blood. In total there were two fields of animals. The other field only had horses, and there were roughly a third of the amount from the first field. Kyte quickly traveled to the other field and mercilessly wiped them all out. Suddenly... "Kyte, watch out!!" Looking behind him, Kyte saw a circular blade flying toward him at a very fast speed. Kyte quickly surged his Internal energy outward to form a wall in-front of himself. The blade, which looked like a chakra, smashed into Kyte''s wall of energy. The blade stopped, but Kyte''s wall had several cracks all over it. As if it was on a string, the blade retracted back toward a tall metallic-like figure. "What the fuck is that?" Standing about thirty meters away from Kyte was a tall figure about a foot taller than Kyte. It was completely metallic in nature, and the sun shone off of its surface. "This energy....Kyte, that''s one of the hidden weapons that belongs to this country." "What?! They''re hiding something like this?" The figure jumped toward Kyte and once again threw its blade, except this time there were two. "Shit." Kyte used Raging Palms to knock the blades off-course, and he quickly began to run. If those things can almost break my defense wall then how am I supposed to defeat it?! "Kyte you coward why are you running?! This is a great opportunity to test out your fighting talent!" "Are you crazy?! I''m not fighting against that thing!" "I guess I was wrong about you. You say that you want to become the most powerful being in this world, yet you don''t want to fight? You''re the biggest coward I''ve ever known!!" Kyte stopped in his tracks. "You...fuckin'' old man." Turning around, Kyte used Windwalker to move closer to the figure. This time, three blades appeared from its grip, flying toward Kyte from different directions. Shooting out Raging Palms several times, Kyte shot the blades away from his direction again. He moved closer to the metallic figure and covered himself in Internal energy. "Ahhhh!" Punching toward it, Kyte''s fist smashed into the figure''s chest and blasted it tens of meters backward. The blades that were flying toward it started to fly without direction, aiming toward the ground. "It''s a fucking robot!" As Kyte punched it, he got a good look at what the thing was. He clearly saw only metal, no flesh whatsoever. Those mechanical eyes that looked at him were void of life. Still looking in its direction, Kyte watched it stand up. When it had stood up, it unbent its arms which then transformed into two long blades. Kyte could see an indent in its chest, so clearly he had done some damage. The robot jumped toward Kyte once again. This time, Kyte''s Internal energy remained on his body, and he shot out several Raging Palms toward the robot. The robot used its blades to slice the palms in half, although its blades took noticeable damage by doing so. Kyte jumped backward while continuously shooting out palms of energy toward the robot, and it kept slicing through the energy. Even though Kyte was moving away from it the whole time, the robot was clearly faster than him as it crept closer and closer. Damn, I''m not fast enough. Guess I''m gonna have to do hand-to-hand combat...for the first time in my life. Kyte suddenly stopped moving away, and instead blasted toward the robot. As if it was waiting for this moment, the robot''s forehead opened and a small gun appeared. A green energy accumulated in its barrel, and a small laser shot out from it. "Kyte, dodge!" Quickly moving to the side, the laser just skimmed Kyte''s outer defense. The laser cleanly shot through the defense, barely missing Kyte. Holy fuck! I''ll die if I get hit by that! Continuing to use Windwalker, Kyte sprinted toward the robot and shot out a powerful palm of energy. However, this time, the Raging Palm had a trace of Kyte''s Spirit energy woven into it. Slicing at Kyte''s energy with its blade once again, the Raging Palm smashed the blade to pieces and continued forward to directly hit the robot in the shoulder. The shoulder was cleanly destroyed as it was dislocated from the robot''s body. A green liquid flowed out from the destroyed shoulder, and the robot knelt down on one knee. Suddenly, the bottom of its feet opened as it stood up, blasting itself backward as it wanted to flee. Without giving it a chance, Kyte quickly utilized Windwalker and jumped forward to grab the robot''s head in his right hand. Quickly using his Spirit energy to search around in it, Kyte was not surprised to find no soul or Spirit energy of any kind. However, he could feel that green liquid circulating around just like a normal body''s heart would circulate blood. Kyte shot a point-blank Raging Palm which was infused with his Spirit energy directly onto the head of the robot. The head exploded, spraying green liquid everywhere. Kyte fell to the ground with the robot''s body. After he landed, he dispelled the Internal energy around his body, thus making the green liquid all over it to fall to the ground. "Kyte, it would be best to get out of here. I felt a pulse of energy come from the robot just before you destroyed its head. It probably signaled for back-up." "Yea, you''re right. Plus, I got what I came here for anyway. Some battle experience is always good too." Quickly swallowing a pill from the storage necklace, Kyte traveled back to his home as fast as he could. He ended up using another pill from the storage necklace, as well as another Concealing Mask to change his appearance once again. ___________________________________________________________ --Betty''s Orphanage-- "Akina, you have to look at this!" "Hm? What do you want now? Didn''t I already give you your allowance?" "No, it''s not that! I was searching around the perimeter of my assigned area today, and, well...I found this." The young teen handed Akina a picture of the farm fields, and the body of the robot. "Jol, did you do this?" "No, I swear! I didn''t do it! I found it when I was looking around the perimeter..." "You don''t have to lie to me you know-" "Please believe me! It wasn''t me I swear!" "...Well, you are right. I couldn''t imagine you committing a massacre. It might be that boy..." "...That boy? Who''s that? Did you find someone new?" "You don''t have to worry about it right now, alright? Just keep training so you don''t accidentally go out of control, like last time. I don''t want to have to keep fixing all the plates and dishes." "Ahahaha, yes Akina." "Good, then you can go rest for today." "Yay! See you later~!" Akina smiled as she watched the young boy skip away to the other young teens. She looked back at the picture and had a bad premonition that...maybe, this boy isn''t as kind-hearted as she may have thought. Chapter 7: Horror and Murder After arriving home, Kyte plopped on top of his bed and sighed. "Hey, lazy ass. Aren''t you gonna check and see your improvements?" "At least let me take a five minute rest gosh damn it." "No! You need to do your breathing technique and circulate all the energy that is currently surging around in your body." "Ugh..." Getting into the breathing position, Kyte found that there was massive amounts of life force and Spirit energy inside of his body. Oh my goodness I didn''t expect so much to be here. The life force in his body was like a huge lake, waiting to be soaked up. Likewise, the Spirit energy Kyte absorbed was like an ocean compared to the life force. First, Kyte decided to control the raging Spirit energy inside his soul. After about a hour of continuous absorbing and controlling, the surging Spirit energy calmed down inside of his soul. What Kyte found at the center of his soul was a small golden ball, about the size of a marble. It was the manifestation of his Spirit energy inside of his soul, signifying the success of achieving at least high Champion stage Spirit energy. Next, Kyte started to control the life force in his body. He had absorbed the blood of about a hundred large animals, so there was a lot of life force energy circulating around in his body. Once he finished controlling of the surging energy, suddenly he felt a burst of stronger energy emerge from his body. He had broken through into the late Earth stage! "Wow, I didn''t expect myself to break through like that." "What do you expect? That''s supposed to happen the first time you gain a large amount of life force. Especially if you go from a few small birds to a hundred large animals. Honestly, I didn''t know you could be so hungry." "What is that supposed to mean?" "What? Nothing, I''m just saying." "Uh huh, whatever. Well time to do the actual breathing technique. Shut up for a bit, will ya?" "Yes, yes Your Majesty, a~nything for you~!" "What the fucking fuck was that supposed to be." "If you didn''t notice, I was trying to pay respects to All Mighty Master." "I wish I was able to slap you right now." "Too bad....aren''t you going to do the breathing technique?" Kyte refused to continue the conversation any further as he started the breathing technique. After he started, he could feel the difference between how much energy he was absorbing compared to yesterday. Much more energy was appearing, and the wind vortex visibly grew in size as well. I''m gonna have to move from my room to outside if this thing gets any bigger. ---Two Days Later--- During these two days, Kyte improved in the soul so much that it was mind-boggling. For Sol''keer anyway. Kyte was able to multi-task like it was child''s play, and he was able to visibly see his own Spirit energy when he manipulated it outside of his body. Also, Kyte had asked Sol''keer about how he will be able to save him from disappearing. Apparently, the hardest method would be to create a body that would act as Sol''keer''s new body. Of course, considering that making a new body would require monumental amounts of resources and time, that was out of the question. The easiest method would be to create a contract between Sol''keer and Kyte. However, considering Sol''keer''s current state, Kyte would need to give him Spirit energy so Sol''keer wouldn''t disappear. The amount of Spirit energy needed was at most three times the amount that Kyte has currently, but thankfully, the storage necklace has many treasures inside of it. The variant of the easiest method would be to seal Sol''keer''s soul inside a treasure. That would require large amounts of Spirit energy, however, Soul Seals are not the most difficult things to create. At the rate that Kyte is growing, it would only take about a week for him to have enough Spirit energy to complete the process. However... Sol''keer told Kyte that he only has enough power to last another four days at the most. It''s not that Sol''keer''s overall power is getting weaker, it''s that the world is sucking away his power every second, slowly depleting him of all of his power. Although his soul is connected to the Inheritance, which is Kyte''s new skeleton, the skeleton only applies to Kyte. That is because Sol''keer made the skeleton FOR Kyte, and the Inheritance itself chose Kyte as its new host. Sol''keer is only attached to the Inheritance, not sealed to it. The good thing about Soul Sealing Sol''keer inside a treasure from the storage necklace is that his power won''t be sucked out by the world. The treasure acts as a form of barrier that literally seals Sol''keer inside of it. Kyte asked Sol''keer if he was able to just swallow several pills during the procedure, however, Sol''keer said that the pill''s only help recover Internal energy, not Spirit energy. So, Kyte decided to go out and search for another farm. He eventually did find one, however, the one he found did not have that many animals on it. It also had very frequent human activity, and Kyte wasn''t comfortable killing random people. So, he did the only thing he could really do. And that is to try to find Asshole. Even Sol''keer said it himself. Human''s had massive amounts of energy, much more than regular animals. Why is it that way, Sol''keer doesn''t even know. Kyte planned to kill Asshole and absorb all of his energy. If his friends were with him, he would kill all of them and absorb all of their energy as well. Kyte has no remorse for him nor anyone ''close'' to him. Kyte probably wouldn''t even feel anything if he murdered Asshole''s family. Along with Sarah, whom Kyte also wants to kill. If Kyte sees her, he will follow her and kill her to absorb her energy. Although killing them sounds a bit awful, especially Sarah, Kyte feels no remorse for those that want to hurt him or has betrayed him. Since the world hasn''t punished them, Kyte might as well do it. Walking along the roads after using a Concealing Mask, Kyte set off to find Asshole or Sarah. Also, before he left, Kyte hacked into the school''s information center and found Asshole''s address and Sarah''s as well. To a guy like Kyte that studied almost endlessly, along with having a computer that he absolutely loves, a school firewall is almost child''s play. Now...where do douchebags usually hang out once school is over? Kyte swiftly disappeared like the wind as he hid inside a tree near Asshole''s house. After two hours of just sitting there, Kyte felt very disappointed. However, just as he was about to leave... A car drove into the driveway of Asshole''s house. Kyte focused on the car and saw three people get out. The first two looked like Asshole''s parents, and the third looked like his younger brother. Oh my, it''s not their lucky day. Suddenly appearing next to the car, Kyte spread out his Spirit energy as he instantaneously used Raging Palms to utterly destroy Asshole''s parents and his little brother. Quickly condensing his Spirit energy around their souls, for the first time he killed another human. Watching their souls emerge from their bodies, Kyte saw a terrible sight... Their souls looked like they were in writhing in horrifying pain, and what looked like to be a face could be seen in the mass of Spirit energy. The face looked twisted in horror and pain, as if it was shouting and screaming for everything to stop. Kyte quickly absorbed their Spirit energy and disappeared before reappearing far away. He used another Concealing Mask to change his appearance once again. Kyte was in utter horror after replaying that terrible sight. He wanted to throw up but he kept everything down through sheer will power. "Sol''keer, what the fuck was that..." "I...I don''t even know...it was never like that in my own world. That was the first time I saw something like that." Kyte could sense the confusion in Sol''keer''s voice as he spoke, so Kyte believed what he had said. "Kyte, listen. This IS a different world, so the souls could be vastly different than the ones from mine. What we just witnessed is definite proof of that. Also, weren''t you a bit cruel to just kill those three?" This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "I think my emotions are getting to me...also, you said there''s no higher power right? Then what the fuck was that? Why the Hell did it look like their souls were still conscious?! I could see their pain and horror and it was so strong that I could almost feel it." "Don''t ask me that, idiot! How could I know? For all we know there could be a God in this world so unfathomably powerful that not even someone as powerful as me is able to sense even a tiny bit of his power. Of course, there''s also the possibility that there is no God like that in this world, but the energy of belief and prayer from billions of people have somehow distorted reality into creating an actual Heaven and Hell." "Yo, that sounds like bullshit to me." "Yea I know, it was just a random theory. I highly doubt something like that actually happened. Anyway, since you''re going to kill even more people in the future, it''s best if you get used to seeing that. Also, how much Spirit energy did you get from them?" Kyte disappeared into a dense pocket of trees before searching in his soul for the Spirit energy. "Woah, the amount of Spirit energy from them is almost double the amount I got from all of those animals combined." "What?! That much? The souls here are definitely different..." After controlling the surging Spirit energy, the golden ball in Kyte''s soul visibly increased in size. He could feel the overpowering energy flowing through his soul and mind. Opening his eyes, it seemed like everything around his became even clearer. When he focused on certain objects he would be able to clearly see the smallest details, even from more than ten meters away. Kyte appeared on the opposite side of the street, and just by looking around he could feel the large change that had happened. The random people walking on the sidewalk had small auras covering their bodies, some weaker and some stronger than others. "Ah, you finally see it, huh? Don''t worry, once you get used to your Spirit energy being so strong you''ll be able to control how much you see. With your level of Spirit energy, I would guess your soul should be...in the low seventh stage." "Hahaha, I see, I see. Well since I''ve achieved that, shouldn''t you let me know what the later stages are?" "That''s not needed until your Internal energy breaks through into the seventh stage. Even if your soul is as powerful as a seventh stage expert, you won''t be able to be as powerful as them because your Internal energy is too weak." "...Well, that makes sense. Heh, so this is one of the things that happen when breaking through to the seventh stage...awesome." Kyte felt like he could sense the smallest of details in everything around him. And suddenly... "AHHHHHHHHHH!!" He heard the deathly screams of people from the direction of Asshole''s house. It''s about time. Kyte was about to turn away until he noticed, not too far away from him, was Asshole and two other people that were with him. Asshole was running toward his house, and the two people followed closely behind. A wicked smile appeared on Kyte''s face as he disappeared into thin air. Reappearing in the crowd around the driveway to Asshole''s house unnoticed, Kyte changed his appearance to that of a black hoodie which cast a shadow over half of his face. He wore black pants and black shoes, and black gloves covered his hands. On the driveway ground were the gruesome remains of the three bodies that belonged to Asshole''s family. It was so bad that they were unrecognizable. Asshole and his two friends ran up to the driveway. The two friends couldn''t help but look away and throw up while Asshole just stood there covering his mouth with his sleeve. Kyte slowly walked out from the crowd, seemingly going unnoticed. As if he had sensed something, Asshole turned around and stared at Kyte. "Was it you?...DID YOU DO THIS?!" As if the crowd was snapped out of their daze, they all started at Kyte. He slowly spread his Spirit energy out to cover the whole crowd, and then he filled it with his Internal energy. Then, he put his full power into emitting a pressure to make everyone fall to their knees. About fifteen people, along with Asshole and his two friends, slammed to the ground. Kyte slowly walked toward Asshole as he slowly got to his knees. This guy really is strong. But, not strong enough. Kyte got on one knee to look at Asshole straight in the eye. He purposefully uncovered his face and let Asshole get a good look at who he was. "You...Bitch? What the fuck?!! I''ll fucking kill you!!" Kyte only softly laughed as he smiled. Then, using his Internal energy, he created sharp drills that began to pierce into Asshole''s flesh. Starting from his shoulders, then to his arms, his back, his thighs, his feet... Kyte made sure Asshole suffered before he killed him. He could feel rage gathering in his chest, and he flipped Asshole over onto his back. "You beat me up, spit on me, called me names, humiliated me. For what reason? What did I ever do to you?" Kyte spoke with a deep tone, recovering half of his face as he looked down at Asshole. "...You......" "Hahahaha, what? What did you say? I couldn''t hear you!" Kyte began to spin all the drills that were inside Asshole''s body as he moved them deeper into his flesh. A pool of blood was already underneath his body, but Kyte didn''t stop. "Oh, I have a great idea. I''ll take away your vision so you''ll only see a black void before you die from all the pain. Hahaha! That sounds great!" Kyte guided two more streams of Internal energy above Asshole''s eyes. "Noooo! NOOOO!!!!" Ignoring his screaming, Kyte drilled into Asshole''s eyes as blood and white flesh spurted out from his eye sockets. Ripping the shredded eyes out, Kyte stomped on them before finally beginning to want to kill Asshole for real. "Just a bit more...hahaha..." However, suddenly, Kyte felt a presence coming closer to his location at a very fast pace. Turning around, Kyte saw a metallic figure jumping from house to house to his location. "Ah! Here to enjoy the show huh?! You came just in time you piece of shit...gosh damn it I was just about to kill this douchebag but you decided to show up." Three blades flew toward Kyte, but he only stood there and used Internal energy to block the blades. When his Internal energy, which had Spirit energy woven with it, touched the blades, he grabbed them and crushed them into balls before making them fall to the floor. The robot dove down toward Kyte, but he didn''t move. Reaching his hand out, Internal energy and Spirit energy surged out and covered the robot before manifesting into sharp knives that began to slash into the robot''s body. Before it could even try to attack Kyte with its blades, it fell to the ground in several pieces with green liquid spraying everywhere. "Tch, I''m not in the mood anymore. Better to finish this up quickly." Turning around, Kyte finished Asshole off before decapitating his two friends. Trapping and absorbing their souls and their blood, Kyte quickly disappeared while changing his appearance. The crowd of people that were present only looked on in horror and confusion at what had just happened. Seeing something that looked like it came from a movie happen right before their eyes made some of them unable to accept what they had just seen. Sol''keer felt a little guilty toward all of this. He didn''t tell Kyte because he never thought that he would do something to this extent, but the Bloodrage Technique influences the emotions of whoever uses it. The more blood a person absorbs, the more influenced they may be. It all depends on the person themselves whether or not they are consumed by their emotions. Although he wasn''t able to torture Asshole any longer, he still got his revenge. While Kyte was using Windwalker to his up-most abilities, a sad smile appeared on his face. It wasn''t a sadness that he felt for others, rather it was a sadness that he felt for himself. Letting himself torture and kill his bully, while murdering his two friends took a larger toll on Kyte'' sanity than he would expect. Chapter 8: The Seal When Kyte entered his home, his rage was now gone and it was replaced with a disgusting feeling that spread out through his whole body. His legs started to tremble as he walked to the restroom on the first floor. Strongly swinging the door open, Kyte fell to his knees and crawled to the toilet. Lifting the seat, Kyte proceeded to puke into the toilet bowl. Over and over again, Kyte puked until there was nothing left in his stomach. For some reason, Kyte would picture his two parent''s dead bodies. That image would mix with the exploded bodies of Asshole''s family, and Asshole himself. The decapitation of Asshole''s two friends made it even worse. Two streams of tears fell down his cheeks and his body continually wanted to puke, even if there was nothing left to throw up. The urge to puke was uncontrollable, along with the unending fall of tears. Gasping for air, Kyte felt the burning sensation in his throat. Swallowing made the flesh in his throat roughly rub against each other which made the pain many times worse. Sending out his Spirit energy, Kyte found water bottles inside his fridge and used his Internal energy to grab them and bring two of them. He gulped down the cold water which soothed his throat, although some of the pain still remained. His stomach felt like it had been torn apart from his muscles contracting so violently many times. His back ached from the pain that was brought by the roughly ten minutes of continuous puking. His face was stained with tears, and the area around his eyes was a red color. With his eyes bloodshot, Kyte turned to look up and poured a stream of water on his face. The refreshing cold water made him quickly gasp for air, and after a couple of seconds he began to calm down. Putting the water bottle down and opening his eyes, Kyte wiped away the water on his face with a towel before trying to calm his breathing down to normal. While huddling in the corner of the restroom with the towel in his arms, tears gradually fell down his cheeks once more. Kyte stuffed his face in the towel and let out a few screams before finally reaching a rather calm state of mind after another ten minutes. Suddenly, Sol''keer asked in a soft voice: "Have you calmed down yet?" "......Yea." "I didn''t expect you to react so harshly. You were pretty ruthless when you were killing them." "I guess so...I even wanted to kill all those people in the crowd as well...what kind of fucking monster am I...?" "...........I knew this would happen sooner or later. It''s time I told you the drawbacks of the Bloodrage technique." "The drawbacks?" "Yea. You were supposed to learn of this in the Champion stage, however, I didn''t expect you to react so severely. Anyway, the only real, I guess you can call it, drawback, is that the more blood or life force you absorb the more you thirst for blood. Some of my disciples in my world were consumed by it, and others were able to control it." "That sounds...actually I''m not sure how I should react to that." "It''s kind of ironic, don''t you think? Sometimes, attaining great power comes at a cost. Sadly, not everyone can afford that cost. The Bloodrage technique consumes the weak ones, and in turn, it gives power to the strong ones. Even I, the creator of the Bloodrage technique, was almost consumed by it. Luckily I wasn''t." "Heh, I guess so." "I think it would be best to rest for today. Go ahead and get to your bed to sleep. Besides, you got a lot of Spirit energy and life force." "Yea, I think so too." As Kyte was climbing the stairs to his bedroom, he said: "Hey, Sol''keer." "What?" "Thanks." "....Get some sleep." "Yea." As Kyte drifted off to sleep in his bed, he of course wouldn''t know that Sol''keer faintly smiled before unlocking a section in the Inheritance. ________________________________________________________ Opening his eyes, Kyte sat up in his bed. Sunlight shown through his room, lighting it up while Kyte squinted his eyes. After washing up, Kyte did his daily practice with his breathing, Raging Palms, and Windwalker. He also trained his Spirit energy, which slowly improved the more he trained it. Eventually, a couple hours go by and Kyte suddenly notices something... "Hey, Sol''keer. You''re awfully quiet today right you?" ... No answer. "Sol''keer. Hey. Stop joking around, I know you''re there." ... "Sol''keer? Dude, answer me. Sol''keer?..." ... "H-hey, Sol''keer...why aren''t you answering? Come on, stop joking with me..." ........ "SOL''KEER! Answer me!" ........ At this moment, a single tear slid down Kyte''s cheek. "Sol....Sol''keer, please answer me..." ....... "...Gosh damn it...." Sliding down onto his bottom, Kyte put his back against his room''s wall and began to quietly cry. A towering feeling of loneliness smashed down on his shoulders as tears continued to fall down his cheeks. However, suddenly, Kyte had a flash of go through his mind. "Huh?...This information wasn''t in my memory before...what?" As if remembering something he had forgotten long ago, all the information regarding Soul Sealing appeared in his mind. Following this information, Kyte started to sharply focus on his inner Internal and Spirit energy. Among the vast ocean of Internal and Spirit energy, Kyte could faintly sense a different kind of Spirit energy. This was Sol''keer''s soul. It''s not that he didn''t want to talk, it''s just that he doesn''t have the energy to do so. Heh, so that''s how it is. Time to get to work. Since Sol''keer had unlocked the section regarding Soul Seals, Kyte assumed that he also unlocked at least one treasure that is suitable for Soul Sealing. And of course, Sol''keer did just that. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Taking out the treasure, it ended up being a pure white ring with black stripes. Kyte had no clue what it was able to do, and even when he probed it with his Spirit energy he couldn''t find anything out. So, this ring is definitely a treasure that is far above him at the moment. Anyway, after Kyte took the ring out he went to his backyard and drew a small formation on the back patio. The formation itself looked quite complex if you just looked at it, but actually drawing it was quite easy. Also, since Kyte already had all the information required, it was even easier. Although, it is Kyte''s first time attempting a Soul Sealing, so he doesn''t know what will happen. He just hopes that it will be successful. After Kyte finished drawing the small formation, he placed the ring in the middle of it. Sitting down next to it, he searched for Sol''keer''s soul and tried to drag it out from his body. Why was it in Kyte''s body? Well...where else would it be? Besides, the Inheritance isn''t exactly ''linked'' with Sol''keer anymore. Kyte greatly struggled to remove Sol''keer''s soul, almost taking up half of his available Spirit energy to take it out. He quickly made a ball of Spirit and Internal energy around Sol''keer''s soul while proceeding to poke his finger with a small needle, letting a drop of blood fall onto the formation. The formation soaked up the drop of blood and it began to faintly shine with a red glow. A small hole-like apparition appeared on the side of the ring, and guiding Sol''keer''s soul to the hole, Kyte tried to insert it inside. Right when Sol''keer''s soul touched the opening, it suddenly started to react violently. Almost losing control of his Spirit and Internal energy, Kyte regained his calm composure and used even more energy to hold Sol''keer''s soul in place. After making a tunnel for it to go through into the ring, Kyte used Spirit and Internal energy to move Sol''keer''s soul forward. It started to react even more violently, and by this time Kyte''s Spirit and Internal energy were depleted. However, through the golden ball in his mind, more Spirit energy surged forth. Unfortunately, in exchange, the golden ball started to shrink in size. However, Kyte didn''t care as he used all his available Spirit energy to push Sol''keer''s soul into the ring. Several beads of sweat dropped from Kyte''s body and he felt incredibly weak. He continued the Soul Sealing, not letting a single chance appear for Sol''keer''s soul to escape and disappear. Suddenly, Sol''keer''s soul entered the ring. The formation on the ground instantaneously moved and covered the hole-like apparition, completely sealing the whole ring with a Soul Seal. It was a success! However, some successes come with a price. Kyte''s golden ball had shrunk by nearly two times it''s size, and it was even smaller than when it had first appeared. Likewise, the Internal energy in his body was almost non-existent. When the Soul Seal completed, Kyte immediately fell on his side and fainted. ______________________________________________________________ --Several hours later-- Opening his eyes, Kyte''s felt like his body was on fire. He could barely sit up there was so much pain racking his body. However, when he caught sight of the ring with a smaller version of the formation on it, he smiled. "Success! Hahaha!" Kyte wanted to fist bump in the air, but when he lifted his arms he felt incredible pain soar through them. "Ahaha, I should definitely just rest. Luckily there''s some pills to restore Internal Energy." Picking up the ring and putting it on his right middle finger, Kyte literally crawled back into his house and up to his room to lay on his bed. It took him about twenty minutes to do so, and he was very tired when he finally climbed onto his bed. Taking out a pill, he swallowed it and instantly felt it take affect. A cool, soothing sensation spread throughout his body. Luckily, after searching through his body, Kyte discovered that his Internal Stage did not drop. In fact, the quantity and quality was increasing. The only bad thing that occurred was the huge drop in Spirit energy power. The golden marble had decreased in size so much, that the change that happened with his eyes and how his body felt had reverted back to normal. This sucks. But, it''s worth it. Just as long as Sol''keer is safe. Plus, it''s not like Kyte can''t actually help him. Sure, Sol''keer would naturally recover his Spirit energy and his overall power after a while. However, the amount of time that would require is monumental. Possibly over a hundred years. The good thing is that Kyte is able to feed Sol''keer''s soul with his own Spirit energy through the ring. Although, with Kyte''s current state, his Spirit energy wouldn''t do much. All he could do right now is rest to recover his Internal and Spirit energy. Once he had recovered, he would then start to practice again. It would take a while to regain all the lost Spirit energy, but at least he could still train. Just that is enough motivation to Kyte. Plus, even if his Spirit energy was vastly stronger than his Internal energy, it would not improve his strength by a lot. Of course, it would increase his strength to a certain degree. However, without his Internal energy being at least close to his Spirit energy level, then the benefits wouldn''t be as much. Right now, Kyte has almost no food left. He still has several weeks before his time limit will have been reached. Although, he is confident with his ability to hide himself out in the open. But, he doesn''t want to take any chances. He decided to only go out once he has regained his lost power at the most. Thinking that, Kyte drifted off to sleep... Chapter 9: Fight to Survive ---One month later--- A large vortex of wind suddenly spread out and vanished among the perimeter of Kyte''s backyard. Standing up, Kyte threw a Raging Palm at the ground which destroyed the earth, leaving a palm-shaped indention in the ground. Small cracks surrounded the indention, signifying a boost in power. "Mid Spirit stage!" Kyte had a huge smile on his face when he realized that he had broken through once again. "Now, Energy Manifestation and Blood Ripper should be about twice as strong." Manifesting his Internal energy into his hand, Kyte created a dark red sword. A faint humming came from it, and the red aura surrounding the blade gave off a dreadful feeling. However, to Kyte, this aura was his own. It didn''t give him a dreadful feeling at all. In fact, he liked this feeling. Although, when birds would come near, they would faint and sometimes die just from the aura alone. Then again, birds are very weak, normal animals. Of course they wouldn''t be able to survive inside the heavy dread-filled pressure. That is Energy Manifestation. It gives Kyte the ability to create any type of weapon he wants almost instantly. The weapon carries the full-force of Kyte''s Internal energy, however, it uses a certain technique to to use less energy even when using full-power. Although, it only works with the weapons he creates from Energy Manifestation. The other skill Kyte unlocked once he broke-through into the Spirit stage is Blood Ripper. This skill gives Kyte the ability to ''rip'' the blood out of a living thing''s body. However, to actually forcefully take the blood out of their body, Kyte has to be quite a bit stronger than the target. Kyte can absorb right then and there or warp the blood into a weapon, which Kyte can then use to attack the enemy with. This also works with Energy Manifestation, and the aura that Kyte produces can cover the weapon he creates from Blood Ripper. Although, the blood weapon is significantly lower in power compared to the pure energy weapons. Also, Kyte finally obtained his first treasure from the storage necklace. It is a weapon-type item that''s made from top-quality Earth rock. Kyte tested its durability and power against his own energy weapon, and his energy weapon was cleanly sliced in half. The sword itself is white in color with two different formations drawn onto it. The first one controls the weight of the blade, making it heavier or lighter. Kyte tested out its limit and found out that he can increase its weight by two tons. Likewise, his was able to make it as light as a feather. The second formation allows Kyte to insert his Internal energy into the sword, increasing its overall power by a certain percentage. Kyte doesn''t have anything to test it out on so he doesn''t know how much of an increase it really is. The sword''s name is Heavy Air, most likely referencing to its ability to increase in weight as well as decrease. Kyte decided to only use it if he was in a dire situation since his energy weapons have a larger variety of use, as well as being quite powerful as well. Even though Kyte has this sword, as well as his sword from Energy Manifestation, it''s not like he has any experience with sword play. He has zero experience with swords, however, he would swing Heavy Air and his energy weapons around all the time so at least he got used to how they feel. Also, Kyte can still sense Sol''keer''s soul inside of the ring, to which he feels relieved about. Although Kyte''s spirit energy did drop significantly, he managed to recover about half of the lost Spirit energy. About a week after he started training again, he had to go out and buy food. Fortunately, Kyte found it quite easy to hide himself. The Concealing Masks are very helpful in that aspect. "It''s about time to get more food. I ate the last of my ice-cream last night too..." Retrieving a Concealing Mask from the storage amulet and using it, Kyte''s figure shuddered before disappearing from his backyard. __________________________________________________________________ While he was walking down the street on the sidewalk to his house, Kyte noticed something weird. It was as if all sounds had been silenced. Sensing something was wrong, Kyte decided to quickly get back to his house using Windwalker. After entering his house, he felt a lot better. He could feel a small hint of warmth in his body, probably because the atmosphere outside was a little too weird. After retrieving all the food from the storage necklace and arranging everything, Kyte went up to his room and decided to sleep. However, before he could climb into bed... -CRASH- A large hole opened up in the ceiling of his room, and two robots were currently staring at Kyte. Wait....while I''m undressing? Instantly, both of the robots sprinted toward Kyte with their arm blades ready to slice down towards him. Kyte created a wall out of Internal energy while calmly putting his clothes back on. The robots continuously sliced at his wall of energy, but they were not able to pierce through it. "Haaaaa, you guys just don''t know your own limits huh?" Waving his hand, a thin wave of energy shot out and through both of the robots. Their top halves cleanly fell off of their waists, and green liquid gathered on the floor. If two of them came directly into my house, then that means...I''ve been caught. Several more crashing sounds rang out from all over Kyte''s home. The whole building shook before becoming calm once again. Kyte sent out his Spirit energy and found that there was thirteen robots inside his house. He could hear their footsteps hurriedly moving toward his direction. Then suddenly... -BANG- A robot crashed through the wall and leaped toward Kyte. He quickly raised his arm and slashed horizontally with his energy sword which cleanly cut through the robot, disabling it immediately. Several more robots smashed through the floor and wall. Kyte simply created another sword in his left hand and began to massacre the robots. Each one was either decapitated or cut in half. Green liquid stained the floor and walls, every portion of Kyte''s room was splattered with the disgusting ooze. Kyte covered himself with Internal energy long ago, and he quickly jumped out of his house through the hole in the ceiling. Outside, he saw that there was an almost uncountable amount of robots surrounding his home. "Heh...hahaha....Ohhhh man, now this is a party! Let''s turn this into a massacre!!!" A wild smile grew on Kyte''s face, as he leaped into the air. Following his action were several robots that helped others jumped into the air to slice at Kyte. Seeing this, Kyte changed his two energy swords into long whips. He waved his arms and the two whips followed his motion. The whips leaped out and slashed through the robots, completely shattering and destroying their bodies. Kyte would retract his whips and quickly elongate them to pierce through the metallic bodies of the robots, and then he would swipe his arms horizontally or vertically to quickly slice them apart. As Kyte landed, green liquid rained down from the air. Robots continued to jump toward Kyte to try to slice him, and some even shot their head lasers at him. Kyte willing jumped into the large group, sending out his whips and sometimes he would shoot out Raging Palms which would completely smash the robots apart. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Each step Kyte took, the ground beneath his feet would slightly indent and cracks would roll out on the street. Switching his weapons from whips, to swords, to gloves, to claws, Kyte would rip the robots apart. After about ten minutes of the continuous slaughter, all of the robots were destroyed. It seemed like a river of green liquid was around Kyte as it flowed down into the gutters on the street. Suddenly, a single robot appeared in-front of Kyte. It''s appearance was quite similar to the others, however, the color of its body was of a darker shade. It was also visibly shorter than the others. The overall atmosphere of this new robot made Kyte unconsciously wary. Suddenly, it shot toward Kyte. It moved so fast that Kyte was barely able to see it move. Kyte put up an energy barrier just in time, however, the robot''s fist smashed the barrier like glass and slammed directly into Kyte''s chest. Getting all the air in his lungs forcefully pushed out, Kyte''s body flew back and smashed through the front wall of his home. His body smashed through the back wall and landed in his backyard, which still had many palm imprints in the dirt. Shit...I wasn''t expecting it to be so strong...! Feeling his chest with his hand, Kyte felt a deep indent. Blood continuously leaked out of his mouth, and he could feel his body getting weaker. However, he could also feel that his chest was slowly changing back to normal. The robot landed in-front of Kyte and struck out its fist once again. This time, Kyte was more prepared. He gripped Heavy Air from his storage necklace and swung it out to hit the robot''s fist. A loud bang rang out, just like metal hitting metal. However, the robot was pushed back several steps. Likewise, Kyte was thrown back several meters. Using Heavy Air to support himself, Kyte stood up and looked at the robot, just to see that it disappeared. Using Windwalker to shoot forward, Kyte turned around and slashed Heavy Air out again. The blade met with another metallic fist and Kyte was blasted back to the front of his home. Quickly getting up, Kyte used Windwalker to the best of his abilities. Swallowing two pills, as well as a healing pill, Kyte spread out his Spirit energy and could clearly sense the robot getting closer. However, Kyte could hear a helicopter approaching from the distance. As if it was afraid, the robot behind Kyte stopped and turned around before speeding away. Slightly confused, Kyte didn''t stop moving as he continued forward. The sound of sirens entered Kyte''s ears, and another helicopter entered his vision. Now I''m being chased?! What the Hell is this?! "There he is!" What?!! Kyte could see several police vehicles everywhere. They all had their guns pointed toward him. "Fire at will!" HUUUHH?!! All of the officers shot their guns to Kyte''s surprise. Being too surprised at the sudden development, only when the bullets shot through his body did he snap back into reality. Due to not being on the defensive, the bullets penetrated his skin and created holes in several places on his body. Kyte''s face contorted in pain and he quickly surged his Internal energy around his body. The bullets popped out of the wounds they created, to which the wounds quickly closed. Quickly jumping toward the group of police, Kyte blasted out a wave of energy that sliced through everything: the police officers and their cars. The cars, as if ignited by Kyte''s energy, exploded. The loud sounds of the explosions resounded throughout the area. The explosions themselves decimated the bodies of the police while shaking Kyte''s body back and forth between each explosion. A huge fire resulted from the explosions; the surrounding street and sidewalks charred black from the intense heat. The bodies of the police officers were blown to pieces. Body parts were scattered around the area, and blood was splattered across the ground. Kyte pushed his body onto his knees. His clothes were burnt to a crisp and his skin charred black. The necklace around his neck was reflecting the light of the fires, seemingly untouched by the destruction. All the blood, regardless of it being dry or still wet, quickly surged toward Kyte''s body. It entered through his whole body, and his skin started to quickly heal. It began to change back to the usual light-colored skin, some-what pale since he liked to stay inside all the time. A new change of clothes suddenly appeared on his body from within the storage necklace. Standing up, Kyte looked around him as the light from the fire danced around his body. "At least I got one of their souls. Sheese, I forgot about the cars...haaaa." Sighing, Kyte began to use Windwalker to move through the town. The helicopters were still pursuing him relentlessly. Kyte passed several police vehicles, not stopping to deal with them unless they shot at him. "Damn.....this all started because of Asshole and his friends..." Kyte was sure the situation with the police resulted because of the murders of Asshole and his family. Although Kyte doesn''t really know how they found out it was him, he guessed it was probably because he was the victim of Asshole''s bullying. Suddenly, while Kyte was thinking, he arrived in-front of a blockade. A large group of police were gathered, all aiming at Kyte. The helicopters weren''t far behind, quickly moving toward Kyte''s location. "FIRE!!" Kyte created a membrane of energy around himself and he charged forward into the blockade. He used Raging Palms to kill the few police around him while simultaneously using Blood Ripper to tear the others apart. This time, he didn''t let any of their souls get away. He absorbed fourteen souls, along with of all the blood from their bodies. Kyte felt his Spirit energy increase by quite a bit. Just several more and he would possibly be back to the seventh stage. The blood from the corpses rejuvenated him while also increasing his strength by a certain amount. A helicopter spot light landed on Kyte which snapped him out of the moment. He quickly shot forward using Windwalker as fast he could go, turning through the several streets as he slowly lost the helicopters. Slowing down, Kyte began to walk and calm his mind down. The sudden development of police coming after him was a surprise regardless of what he had done. Even if the police were suspecting him, he didn''t expect them to open fire at first sight of him. Alright, first things first, I have to find a new place to sta- Suddenly, a large amount of pressure fell onto Kyte like a mountain. Caught by complete surprise, Kyte immediately fell to his knees. Breathing become extremely difficult, and he was barely able to get back up onto his feet. In-front of him appeared a woman. She had long snow-like hair that reached down to her waist. She wore all black clothing; from her top to her shoes she wore only black. Her eyes were also black, and they stared into Kyte''s eyes full of interest. The corners of her mouth lifted upward, and she quickly appeared right in-front of Kyte. Punching him directly in the stomach, Kyte bent forward and he felt his vision turning dark. Before he completely blacked out, he heard faint words next to his ear... "You''ll be safe with me." Chapter 10: New Atmosphere "....moved!" "...re right!" "...waking up!" Hearing several different voices, Kyte slowly opened his eyes. He sat up and looked down at his body, and noticed that he was sitting up on a brown couch. Looking to his left, he saw seven people sitting around, and three of them were kneeling right next to him. Everyone went silent as they watched Kyte look around at them. Then, the only thing Kyte did was lay back down facing away from the people. "...Is he going back to sleep?" "You assholeee!!!" Suddenly, Kyte felt his body lifting up into the air. He opened his eyes and saw that he, and the couch, were launched into the air. Before it could land, Kyte used Windwalker to push off the couch. He reappeared next to the exit on the other side of the room. "What?! How did he move so fast?!" Three of the people that were sitting around only sighed. They knew that even if they tried to control this little kid''s outbursts, they would fail. "Jol, quiet down alright? You probably scared him." "It''s his fault for ignoring us!" "I don''t think he expected to be launched into the air, right? What did I say about launching people?" "...People don''t like to be launched into the air, yea I know." "Good. However, it seems like you still haven''t learned your lesson..." "No, no! I have! I was just caught by surprise that''s all!" The kid''s face showed a strange type of fear, but everyone else just laughed. Kyte was still standing at the exit, half-way out the door... "Where do you think you''re going?" A line of red energy wrapped around his waist and he was pulled backward about five meters in one second. He landed on the lap, princess carry mode, of an older woman with red hair. She put her right hand under his head and her left on his upper thigh. Looking down at Kyte, she licked her lips... -SMACK- The room went silent after Kyte slapped the girl in the face. He rolled out of her lap onto the floor and backed away slowly. The woman stood up and... "YOU DARE HIT ME?!!" "Rose, calm down. It was your fault." A woman with snow-like hair stood up and walked in-front of Kyte. The woman with red hair had gathered a small stream of red energy around her arm, and Kyte looked at it knowing that it could definitely break his defense like a knife cutting through warm butter. "Nnnnnn, ugh...fine." The woman in-front of Kyte turned around, grabbed his shoulder, and threw him behind her. He landed perfectly on the couch on the other side of the room. This...seems like a huge hassle.. "So, Kyte, before we get into things-" "How do you know my name?!" "...I''ve been stalking you for...the past month and a half or so? Something like that." "What? So you''ve..." "Naturally I wouldn''t be able to see inside your house." Kyte breathed a small sigh of relief before looking back up at the woman. "So? What do you want with me?" "We...want you to join us." "Hmm, yea, you''ve already lost me." "We really need your help. We''re one of the weakest branches in this League so-" "Uh huh, yea. Well, you''re not going to get anywhere with me unless you explain what exactly are you?" "Don''t worry, we''re not the police or anything. Although there''s still rules-" "Just, just get to the point." "If you would let me speak." "..." "Good! Now, let me explain in the simplest way I can. I kidnapped you because my group here needs your help. Naturally, you''ll come to learn some things the longer you''re here. However, you need to remember this: You are not the only one with power. You see everyone in this room? They all have powers, just like you. Although, your power is a lot different from theirs. Anyway, people that have these kinds of powers are called Gifted. There is a variety of powers, and you''ll see that some people share the same type of power. There are those with the ability to increase their power, and there are those that are not able to increase their power. The people that do not have that ability are naturally a lot stronger than the others. However, those that are not able to increase their power fall in the lower category of the hierarchy, most of the time. Those that are able to increase their power are called Special Gifted. There are two people that do not have that ability, however, they were born with such large amounts of power that their bodies were unstable. Both of their mothers died while giving birth because of it. The first has the strongest telekinesis. Some say he''s able to move and concentrate sunlight, and that it''s able to completely destroy whole cities. The second one, which is apparently the strongest Gifted on the entire planet, is able to control the laws of space and time within a certain radius. Of course, that also includes the laws of physics, gravity, time, you know all that good stuff." "Huh. So even with those guys, you still need help?" "You didn''t let me finish. Of course, with all of this power comes a price. Some of the Gifted were shunned, bullied, and ridiculed in their respective areas of living. Most of them turned into murderous criminals that killed for fun. We even got a nickname, it''s quite cliche really. They call us demons to be exact." "Who''s ''they''?" "''They'' are the Association of Humans Against Demons. In short, AHAD. You''ve fought against some of their toys. The robots? Well, naturally those have names. They''re called Guardians, and they literally ''guard'' the normal people from the Gifted. They have special sensors that are able to detect the energy Gifted give off. They have been very careful in keeping all of this a secret, however, recently things have been getting out of hand." "...Don''t look at me...I didn''t know..." "I''m not blaming you, don''t worry. Anyway, the Guardians have their own ranking system as well. It starts from rank D and goes up to rank S. Of course, us Gifted also have our own ranking system. And, just to keep everything easier to remember, we use the same ranking that we use for the Guardians." "So, how strong is a rank S?" "About five times stronger than I am. I''m just a Silver A rank. Ah, right. Basically there''s three sub-ranks within each rank. It''s kind of like....low, mid, high. But instead of that, it''s bronze, silver, and gold. It''s just kinda better sounding in my opinion." "Yea, that makes sense. Also...give me more details about the Gifted. I''m assuming the Gifted have their own name for...everyone together?" "You''re right. Well, I wasn''t the one who picked the name. Anyway, the name for us is Guild of the Gifted. GG for short. There is a large group of Gifted for each state, which are called Leagues. Each League has several branches for each city, sometimes one branch has control over multiple cities. The number of Gifted per branch is around five to fifteen depending on the Sector the League has occupied. Of course, the central branch of each League has the strongest Gifted in it that are within the Sector." "I see. Well I''ll get used to it after a while." "So you''re staying?" "First of all, you kidnapped me. Secondly, I''m basically wanted. Thirdly, I don''t really have a choice do I?" "Correct. At least you''re smart." "Right, so introduce yourselves already. I''m certain I don''t need to introduce myself." "...Yea. Well, my name is Akina. I''m the leader of this branch in Sector 31, which is this one. The one with the red hair is Rose, she''s a Bronze A rank. She''s a little weird but you''ll get used to it." "What was that!" "The man sitting next to her is Dan. He''s also a Bronze A rank. The twins over there are Shadow and Light. Both Bronze B rank. I think you can tell which one is which because of their hair." Kyte looked over at Dan who just gave a slight nod. Looking over at the twins, one had black hair and the had blonde. Both were male, and looked to be about eighteen. Light waved while Shadow only nodded as well. "The girl to your left is Lucy. She''s going to be a sophomore at the local high school. She''s Bronze B rank." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Hi." "...Yo." "Lastly, the one that launched you into the air. His name is Jol, and he''s going to be a freshman in high school. He''s Silver C rank." "I see. You look like a little kid so I thought you were still in middle school..." "What?! Akina I''m already being bullied!!" Jol quickly jumped over and held onto Akina''s leg, but she only shook her leg and Jol went flying back to his original spot. Which almost made the couch tip over. "Hmmm, alright so what are their powers?" "Dan, how about you start off." "Allllright." After he stood up, a white mist gathered his body until his body was covered. "What does it do?" "It increases my defense by several times. You wouldn''t think that just this mist can deflect a tank missile, but it can actually defend against much more." "Ah, I see. So is that it?" "It''s great for smashing things I guess." "Fair enough." "I''m next then! I create red energy that I can manipulate at will. Obviously a lot better than Old Man over here." "Says the woman who can''t keep her legs shut." "The fuck did you-" -SMACK- Rose was knocked out cold but Akina''s sudden slap to the face. Rose''s body slumped back into her chair and didn''t move an inch. "Shadow and Light, your turns." "Yes, ma''am. I''m able to create a black substance from my body that corrodes everything it touches. Obviously, it doesn''t hurt me." "And I create a white substance from my body! You would expect me to be able to heal and stuff but my power is the complete opposite. Really, my power is able to penetrate through high defenses. Except, right now I can only shoot straight lines..." "Lucy." "Yes. I''m able to manipulate every gas on this planet. It does not matter if it''s oxygen, hydrogen, or anything else. Anything that''s a gas, I can control. I can almost control liquid as well." "Jo-" "MY tuuurn! I have telekinesis!! Although it''s not as strong as that other dude..." After breathing out a long sigh, Akina slumped back in her chair. "Right, well. Dan is able to increase his power. Rose can''t, the twins can''t, Lucy and Jol can. I can also increase my power. I''m certain you can do the same." "Interesting. Oh! You haven''t told me your power. What is it?" "...I can''t say." "Awwwww, Akina!!! Why can''t you tell us??!!" "Jol, shut up." "Well, it doesn''t really matter. As long as you''re strong enough. Also....what rank do you think I am?" "Hmm, considering the fact that a C Rank Guardian defeated you...I would estimate you to be Bronze C rank." "......I''m the weakest one here?!" "Seems like it." "This little kid is stronger than me?!" "WHO''S A LITTLE KID?!" Just as Kyte felt his body being lifted up, he created an energy sword with the full power of his dread aura. Immediately, everyone in the room jumped back a bit. Rose came back to consciousness, Jol ran behind Akina, as well as Lucy. Shadow stood in-front of Light with a weird light in his eyes. That terrifying aura spread from Kyte''s sword to en-cloak his body and fill his immediate surroundings. "Hmmm? You don''t seem very strong to me." Kyte spit out those words that were laced with his Spirit energy. His voice resounded in the room and was very loud in the ears of Lucy and Jol, as well as the twins. "...Oh? Looks like your power increased once again. I guess I was wrong, you''re not Bronze C rank. More like...almost Gold C rank." Thanks to the souls I got anyway. I''m not able to refine them immediately. "Of course, I don''t know all of your techniques so even if you are Gold C rank, you could possibly beat a Silver B rank. Of course, you would have to test out against Guardians to get your actual rank." "Yea, that makes sense. Also, what''s the situation around here.....?" Kyte noticed Rose who was staring at him with weird eyes. Her face was flushed red and her breathing was slightly quickened... -SMACK- "Ow!" "Rose, you were drooling." "Ugh...sorry..." "Haaaa, Kyte don''t let her get to you. She''s always like this when she sees someone powerful. Or maybe she just likes what your power is in general...right, what is your power?" "...Well, as you know I''m able to increase my power. My power is to absorb blood and souls from all living things. I''m also capable of absorbing the...weird energy that is around this planet and in this universe." "..." "...So cool! Kyte you''re so cool!!" Jol started jumping up and down while continuously saying that over and over again. Akina had to smack him to get him quiet. Kyte looked over at Rose and saw that she was even worse than earlier. That''s...actually kind of creepy... Akina only stared at Kyte for several seconds before standing up. "Alright! Everyone welcome Kyte into our team!" "Yay!!" "Woohoo." "Congratulations!" Everyone stood up and looked at Kyte. Dan and Shadow both gave a deep nod of approval, while Rose was actually unable to stand up for some reason... This is kinda cheesy... "Come on, stand up lazy bum!" Jol ran over and grabbed Kyte and forced him to stand up. Gathered in a circle, everyone said... "Welcome, Kyte!" Looking at this scene, Kyte didn''t really know what to do or say. The last time he was part of a group that had fun together like this was before his parents had died. Although, seeing this didn''t bring up any good memories, it didn''t necessarily bring a bad feeling. This feels like it''s going to be such a pain... Watching Jol excitedly hugging Akina. Lucy looking down at her phone, weirdly smiling at something. Shadow having a smug look while Light expressing his happiness by jumping over to Jol and joining him. Dan with his satisfied smile, he sat back down and just relaxed. Rose...well she was curled up into a ball in her chair. Suddenly thinking of something, Kyte couldn''t help but ask: "Oh, right. Where am I going to sleep?" Everyone turned silent as they turned their heads toward Akina in sync. "There''s no more room where we are staying." Shadow said as he plucked Light off of Akina. "Lucy and I can''t have another person in our apartment..." Dan suddenly stated. "Wait, what?" "Oh, yea. Lucy is Dan''s daughter." "...I, I see." After looking around, Akina said: "And then, since my room is also full...you''ll be staying with Rose!" "...What?! No!!" "Just kidding, you''ll be staying with me." "Whew. That''s a lot better than staying with...whatever that thing is." "....Just ignore her when she''s like that. Even I can barely escape." Taking a second to take in what he just heard, Kyte was reminded of something. "Ew." "What?" "What''s with that look?" Kyte, suddenly snapping out of his dreamy-realm, sat back down. "It''s nothing." "Heeeeey, Akina, are we getting cake this time?" Jol, who was still clinging onto Akina, still had a big smile on his face. "No, we aren''t getting cake. You''ll get fat and lazy if you eat any of that stuff." "Awwwwwww, but I don''t eat as much cake as you do!!" "That was a special occasion, there was no helping it." Well, I''ll get used to it eventually. However, I''d really like to get out and get more souls. Just about twenty was able to boost my Spirit energy so much. But... Looking at the people in the room... I doubt they''ll let me. Chapter 11: More Power! One thing: This will not be a harem. I repeat, no harem. If it seems like it at first, don''t trust your judgement. I''m sick of that genre at the moment. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ "This is where you''ll be sleeping." Looking around the room, Kyte noticed two separate beds on each side of the room. There was a small desk on the wall in-between the two beds, and at the foot of both beds were clothes dressers that held clothes. Since Kyte got his house smashed open, especially his room, he doesn''t have any other clothes except the ones he has in his storage necklace and the stuff that he''s wearing currently. However, Kyte had several pieces of clothing in his storage necklace. In case something happened, he always had several extra shirts, pants, underwear, socks, shoes, stuff like that. He also has food items in his storage necklace, and strangely none of them have gone bad. It might be because the storage necklace holds the items in a separate space, but Kyte doesn''t really know. "So you''re sleeping in here with me?" Kyte turned his head to look at Akina, whom had a calm expression on her face. "Of course. Since you''ve only been inside this place, and you haven''t even looked around, you don''t know how small this place is. Of course, Dan and Lucy have their own apartment which I''m grateful about. There really are no other rooms left, unless you want to sleep on the floor." "Or the couch, but I really don''t want to sleep on either of them. A bed is just fine." "Hmmm? You seem pretty calm considering you''re going to be sleeping in the same room as a woman." "It''s not like we''re in a relationship or anything. Plus, I don''t get the feeling that you would attack me in my sleep. What''s there to worry about?" "...I see. Well, whatever. If you don''t mind then that makes things easier. I''ll be out getting some food, so go ahead and look around for a while." "Uh...what time is it?" "It''s five-thirty." "In the evening." "Correct." "How long was I out?" "A day. I didn''t hit you that hard." Didn''t hit me that hard? What kind of freakish strength is that?...Well, considering she has seventh stage-equivalent power.... "...Alright, see you around then." "Bye~." Akina tapped Kyte''s shoulder before turning around and leaving. Kyte could smell the fragrance from her body while she was standing there, but it didn''t really effect him. Although, Kyte has been away from women for quite a while. He felt something from her, especially since she''s a very mature women, both mentally and physically. However, Kyte was able to keep calm. A little bit. Testing out his bed, Kyte looked around the bedroom for a few minutes before walking out into the hall. To his left was a doorway that led to an open room. Kyte saw a kitchen and a large dining table. Nothing else was really in there except for those two things. Of course, the normal necessities like a fridge and freezer were present as well. The hallway had five doors total. On the right side was Kyte''s bedroom and another bedroom as well. There were also two doors on the left, and the one furthest away from Kyte was the room he woke up in. Checking the first door on the left side, Kyte found a small room. It was almost two times bigger than a closet, and a sweet fragrance wafted out when Kyte opened the door. Along with the fragrance was a different odor, and Kyte had no clue what it was. Looking around the inside, he saw many girly-looking clothes hanging around, as well as a few panties laying next to the bed on the other side. This must be Rose''s room...why is it so small? And why does she sleep by herself-...Oh. Slowly backing out and closing the door, Kyte breathed a sigh of relief. The air outside Rose''s room was naturally better since it wasn''t full of different strong scents. Luckily no one was in the hallway with him, and if Rose had happened to be there, he didn''t know what could''ve happened. The others are still in the room that Kyte had woke up in. They were currently discussing recent reports of Guardians and other things. Jol, however, was in his room since he was too young to fully understand what the others were talking about. The second door on the left had two beds. One of the beds was visibly larger than the other. Inside, Kyte saw Jol laying on the smaller sized bed. "Oh hey! It''s you!.....what was your name again?" "My name is Kyte." "That''s a pretty weird name." "I think my name is normal considering your names." "What?! I think my name is hecka cool! I picked it myself!" "Heh, did you not like the name your parents gave you?" "..." Silence filled the room after Kyte said that sentence. However, it wasn''t Kyte''s fault. How could he have known? Jol sat up on his bed and put his legs over the side. Looking a little distant while staring at the other bed, Jol said: "I don''t have parents." "-!" Surprised by what Jol had said, Kyte didn''t know what to say at first. A few seconds later, Kyte walked over and sat next to Jol. "Well, then we''re the same." "...huh?" "I don''t have parents either. I don''t know about your circumstances; you could''ve been without parents your whole life and I wouldn''t even know. But don''t worry. Just because you lost your parents doesn''t mean you''re alone, right? I''m pretty sure you already know that. Shadow, Light, Dan, Lucy, Rose, and Akina. You have a whole group of people. Besides, eventually in life you''ll lose someone you care about. Whether or not you''re ready for it, well that''s up to you. To be honest, I don''t think anyone can be ready for it. It just...kinda happens." They sat in silence for several seconds before Jol poked Kyte on the cheek. "I didn''t know you could talk so deep for a guy that looks like a loser." "...The fuck did you just say?" "Ooooooh!! KYTE SAID A CUSS WORD!!" Quickly putting his hand over Jol''s mouth, Kyte pushed him down on the bed with his hand and said in a hushed voice: "Shh! Why do you have to be so loud?!" -BANG- "WHO''S SAYING WHAT?!!" Hearing heavy feet quickly moving toward the door, Kyte felt that this is going to troublesome. Looking back at Jol, Kyte said: "You''re dead meat." -BANG- The bedroom door swung open and Dan walked in with his arms crossed across his chest. Seeing that, Kyte had a tired expression on his face. He used Windwalker to speed out of the room, but right when he was at the door he felt a hand grab his shirt at his chest area. -SLAM- Kyte was slammed against the floor by Dan''s hand. Although the floor didn''t get cracked, Kyte still felt the wind move out of his lungs. "Who told you that you can leave?" Dan grabbed Kyte and dragged him into the big room with the couch. He threw Kyte onto the couch and sat down in one of the chairs next to it. Rose also sat down on the opposite side of Dan. "I''ll let you off this time since you just got here, but we have simple rules in this place. Now, I have to take Lucy and head back to our apartment in a couple of minutes so I''ll keep things simple: Number one, don''t say or write any bad words. I don''t like hearing them and I don''t want these younger ones to hear them. Number two, you can''t eat anything you want out of the fridge or freezer. There are several people living here so you can''t just take however much you want. Number three, don''t be stupid and bring random people in here. Last thing we need is someone not involved in this war to suddenly be involved in it....I feel like I''m missing something but I can''t remember right now. Anyway, I have to go. Rose and I are the co-leaders here, so whenever Akina or I are gone, Rose is in charge." "Seems simple enough. And, I don''t really think this whole thing is a war..." "That just what it seems like on the surface. Once you actually get out there into missions, you''ll understand exactly what I mean. It''s not pretty. Sometimes, innocent people are involved and the only way to stop them from telling anyone is killing them. I''d hate to leave that to you younger ones." "Hahaha, don''t worry about that. I''ve already killed many people. My power kinda requires me to do so." "....Well if that''s the way it is, then I won''t go any further. Akina should be coming back in about half an hour, so she''ll tell you the rest. For now, I''ll see ya guys tomorrow." "Mm." "Bye~." With that, Dan got up and went to find Lucy. After he left, Rose turned to look at Kyte. ".........what are you looking at me for?" "If you don''t want to kill yourself, then you better control whatever it is eroding your brain." "What does that mean?" "Don''t play dumb with me. When I use my energy with my eyes, I''m able to see things others can''t. And I can see clear as day that thing inside your brain." "...I see. Well I don''t know what you''re talking about but I''ll try to control whatever it is." "Hm. I might not be seeing it clearly, but that''s never happened before. Where did you say you came from?" "I was born here." "Hmmm? Did you just get your power recently?" "No, it''s just that I didn''t realize I had a power till a little while ago." "...................Ok~! I''ll believe you~." Rose stood up and walked over to Kyte. Bending over so her face was above his, she caressed his cheek while saying: "But if you''re lying to me I''ll have to punish you~." Letting out a soft breath of air onto his face, she licked her lips and walked out of the room. I couldn''t even move! Kyte breathed out a sigh of relief after she left. There''s just something about her that gives me chills. I dunno if it''s good or bad... Kyte left the room and went into the kitchen. After looking around a little bit, he put a note down on the table stating that he was going out for a little bit. Then, Kyte left. ____________________________________________________________________ ---Twenty minutes Later--- Far away from the residence of Akina''s group, Kyte continued to use Windwalker to move further. The residence where everyone was located in is a large building. It has many different apartments in it, but mainly it''s for the more well-off people. Outside of the main building, Kyte saw pretty expensive cars parked. Just from that, he could tell that there are many wealthy people there. He began to think, where did Akina get her money? Anyway, Kyte left because he went out searching for criminals. It wasn''t for a ''hero'' or a ''justice'' cause, it was purely for his own benefit. Plus, he didn''t feel too good about killing random people. Even if he has nothing to do with them, they''re still people with their own lives. Of course, criminals are like that as well, but Kyte felt a lot better killing them than killing random citizens. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. So far he''s found four criminals. He was hoping to find more than that but he was disappointed. This was the only time that he wished people were out stealing or other things. While he was moving from rooftop to rooftop, he silently laughed at the irony. Before long, Kyte stumbled upon large warehouses that looked to be abandoned. There were four lined up in a row and a fence with barbed wire on top of it surrounded the perimeter. ".........Well, why not." After stealthily landing in the courtyard in-front of the warehouses, Kyte jumped up and softly landed on the one farthest to the left. There were many holes on each of the roofs to the warehouses from old age and Kyte used that to look into them. The first warehouse was pitch black inside. However, Kyte was still able to see fairly well inside of it. Even if he couldn''t see, he would just spread out his Spirit energy to see what was inside. Continuing on, he found nothing in the second or third warehouses. However, when he looked down at the fourth warehouse... Inside was a large delivery truck that had its back door open. There were about twenty people situated around it, moving boxes from the inside to the black vans parked next the truck. There was one man that stood out from the rest. He wore a short-sleeve polo shirt and grey pants. His hair was short and he had sunglasses covering his eyes. It seemed like he was overseeing the whole operation. He stood there with a seemingly arrogant stance, as if he was looking at slaves. Kyte had used a Concealing Mask a while ago, and right now he was wearing what he wore when he had killed Asshole and his family, as well as his two friends. All black, with a hoodie and gloves. The hood cast a shadow over the top half of his face, and since it was created from the Concealing Mask, it made the top half of Kyte''s face completely dark. Silently landing on the warehouse floor several meters away from the group, Kyte just watched them for about two minutes. Walking forward, Kyte deliberately let the sound of his footsteps resound throughout the warehouse. Suddenly, everyone turned around and brought out guns aimed directly at Kyte. "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing?!" The man in the polo walked in-front of the group of men and loudly demanded Kyte to answer. Kyte walked forward a few more steps before coming to a stop. What bullshit should I say here? Eh, screw it I''m too lazy. While Kyte was silently thinking, the group of men became slightly uneasy. The man in-front stood there and said: "I asked you a fuckin'' question and you better answer it!" He quickly walked forward and when he was in-front of Kyte he reached out his hand to try to grab his hoodie from the chest area. When his hand touched Kyte''s hoodie, he was delighted that he would be able to torture another person, however... His hand slipped right through Kyte''s image. "Huh?" Before he could even react, Kyte had appeared behind him. By then, the man''s throat was already sliced open and blood was currently spilling out onto his clothes. Turning around, the man wanted to strangle him. However, the next thing he realized was that he was hovering above Kyte. Tendrils of blood had pierced through his body, and the man took his final breath seeing his own blood dripping to the ground while being engrossed in large amounts of pain. After Kyte had absorbed the blood and the man''s soul, he ripped his body apart and threw the pieces to the ground. However, no blood gushed out from the man''s body, as all of it was already gone. Seeing that scene, the group of men open fired on Kyte. His body became riddled with holes and huge chunks of flesh were ripped off of his body by the force of the bullets. However, none of his bones were broken since by this time, his bones were stronger than steel. All the blood that came from Kyte''s wounds smoothly lifted from the ground and entered back into his body. New flesh quickly grew back, and in less than ten seconds Kyte stood there like nothing had ever happened. "It''s....a fucking demon!" One of the men snapped out of his shock and started to run to the back exit. However, before any one of them could move more than five steps, they were all pushed to the ground by an invisible pressure. Hm? Are they related to AHAD? Kyte indifferently walked forward. His footsteps rang in the ears of the men and fear gripped their hearts as they heard Kyte''s footsteps getting closer. Suddenly, Kyte stopped. He crushed the head of one man, then he sliced another down the middle. He simultaneously slaughtered the men by slicing them open, decapitating them, or crushing them with the pressure of his Internal energy. Kyte absorbed all of the blood and the men''s souls. He felt a huge surge of energy within his body and he felt like he was going to breakthrough into the Sentinel stage. However, the surge stopped just at the end of the Spirit stage. Kyte felt his soul consume the men''s souls like mad. Their Spirit energy entered the golden ball, making it almost double in size once again. At this time, Kyte felt a sudden blast of electricity in his mind. He had re-entered the seventh stage for his soul. Kyte quickly sat down and started to focus on controlling his new energy. Since he had broken through into the seventh stage once before, it was much easier this time around. He had quickly settled the surging energy in his soul and calmly opened his eyes. Everything was a lot more clearer, cleaner, and sharper. If his vision was like bat''s, now it was like a hawk''s. Or something like that at least. He could clearly see the far corners of the warehouse that used to be pitch black. He could also zoom in his vision a certain amount, and the quality of his vision wouldn''t lessen at all. Feeling that the wall to the Sentinel stage was already cracked, Kyte couldn''t wait any longer and decided to breakthrough right there. Staying in his current position, a large vortex suddenly appeared around Kyte. The corpses around him were picked up and thrown around the warehouse. There was no blood, since Kyte had already absorbed all of it. Thanks to his soul achieving the seventh stage once again, the amount of energy he could absorb practically doubled. Thirty minutes later, a large burst of energy surrounded Kyte. The ground around him cracked under the pressure, sending out small cracks to the edges of the large vortex. The vortex quickly shrunk and spun wildly around Kyte''s immediate surrounding. Then, it abruptly surged out to the warehouse walls and dissipated a few seconds later. Kyte opened his eyes, and he felt the new power surging through the body. A much stronger energy was within his bones and flesh. The Internal energy he had from the Novice to the Spirit stage had completely transformed when he finally entered into the Sentinel stage. This new energy was at least two times more powerful than the energy Kyte had before. Standing up, Kyte created an energy sword in his hand. The dread aura emitting from it had doubled in intensity. He could also hear a faint hum coming from the sword. Then, a flash of light went through his mind. Sentinel stage skills! With a higher stage came more advanced skills. This time, Kyte had unlocked three new skills. Eagerly searching through his memories, Kyte found them and went over the information. The first skill is called Fire Touch. By learning Fire Touch, Kyte will be able to create and manipulate fire by will. Of course, the power of the fire corresponds with his own power, so the more power he has the stronger the flame. The flames also have levels. The starting is a red flame, then orange, dark blue, light blue, white, then finally black. The flame changes every other stage, so Kyte estimated that his flame would turn black after several stages. The second skill is Iron Body. It actually isn''t able to create iron. It only advances the technique of using Internal energy to cover the user''s body for defense. When it''s learned to mastery, it''s able to cut the cost of energy down by half and raise the defense by two times. Kyte felt that this was very necessary for him, since there are Guardians out there that are far more powerful than he is right now. The final skill is called Sonic Blade. It can be used on any weapon Kyte chooses, but it works directly with and for Energy Manipulation. This skill was actually created by Sol''keer to contemplate the Energy Manipulation skills and to increase his overall attack power by many times. If Kyte learns Sonic Blade to mastery, he will be able to create slashes of energy that travel past the sound barrier easily. It carries the Internal energy and enhances it by several times. If it''s used with the aura from an energy weapon, Sonic Blade''s power increases by three times. Kyte was shocked with these new skills. They were what he needed! Two new offensive skills and an easy defensive skill! If he learns these new skills to mastery, his power would increase exponentially! Not only did he unlock new skills, but a portion of the storage necklace was unlocked. Various new pills and medicinal items were found. A few other weapons were placed among the pills, and there was one defensive equipment in there as well. Kyte took it out and examined it closely. It was a pair of gauntlets that fit on his hands perfectly. They were black in color with different formations drawn onto them. The right gauntlet increases the offensive capabilities of Kyte while the left one increases his defensive capabilities. Not only that, but they make laying formations much, much easier. They take about three-quarters of the hardship away from Kyte, lessening the amount of energy he has to use. Although, since Kyte doesn''t really have any knowledge on formations whatsoever, this doesn''t really help. The gauntlets, once bound to Kyte, would enter into his body. So, he could take them out and equip them whenever he wanted to. However, the benefits of the gauntlets only work if he has them equipped, not if he has them stored in his body. Then name of gauntlets is Shadow Twins. It may not be the most awesome of names, but it didn''t really matter to Kyte. Just as long as they benefited him, it was fine. "Hahaha, this is awesome!...Ohhhh crap. I completely forgot about the others. Haaaa, gosh damn it. Well, time to go back..." Kyte silently jumped out of the warehouse and traveled back to Akina''s residence. Kyte could feel the huge difference in his speed. Before, when he was in the Spirit stage, it took him about twenty five minutes to reach the warehouses. It took Kyte seven minutes to reach Akina''s residence. His speed increased exponentially. Chapter 12: New Impressions After reaching the door and walking inside, Kyte looked around and noticed that only one light was on. Looking to his left he saw the large table, and he could see Akina seated at the head of it. "Where''d you run off to?" "I just had to check some things, that''s all." "Then how come your aura has grown by about two times?" "My aura?..." "Yea, your aura. It''s a natural immaterial energy that a person emits. The stronger that person is, the more powerful their aura is. There are ways to control it, but you definitely don''t know how. Before I left, your aura was like a flimsy sheet of copper. Now it''s like an iron wall." "That''s..." "Tell me. What exactly did you do?" "......Haaaaa. You don''t have to worry about anything. I just went out to get some fresh air. Meanwhile, I had a sudden burst of enlightenment. Then this happened." "I see. Well, if your definition of enlightenment is exterminating a twenty-man team of AHAD ''smugglers'', then I can believe you." A guilty expression unexpectedly appeared on Kyte''s face when he realized that he had been caught. "Don''t look at me like that. I can understand why you would go out and slaughter them. I watched you the entire time. I think I understand your power a bit now." "What do you mean by that?" Akina only faintly smiled. "Well, the mission to exterminate those AHAD smugglers was supposed to be Shadow''s job, but I guess he doesn''t have to do that anymore. Plus, I wonder why no Guardians appeared at that time..." Oh yea...now that I think back to it, there were no...''Guardians''. "Is that weird?" "Of course. Usually AHAD has a few Guardians stationed near by..." "What if they followed me back?" "That''s impossible. I didn''t find any Guardians in the vicinity." "Then I guess it''s just one of those lucky times." ".....I''m gonna have to ask Dan to keep a closer eye on things around here." "Right, so what about these ''missions''?" "Oh! Yes, I was going to tell you after I returned. But, since you left, I didn''t get a chance to." "Well, here I am." Kyte walked over and sat on the other end of the table. "Why are you sitting so far away?" "...Does it matter?" "Of course it does! We''re going to be living together so you better get used to being close with everyone, especially me!" What is with these weird people... "Come on, sit right here." An invisible force pushed the chair out next to Akina. Sighing, Kyte got and sat down next to Akina. "Alright, now that that is done, time to inform you on what GG is doing. Currently, there are forty sectors in this country. Each sector has an AHAD headquarters, and each sector is situated around each headquarter. These headquarters are usually located in remote parts of the country. Some of them are even disguised as normal companies, which makes it even harder for us in GG to take them out." "So, let me just ask this now. What exactly is the relationship between GG and AHAD?" "Well, it''s quite simple really. For many years we have been at war with each other. It''s only gotten worse with the advances in technology, and GG has no idea how Guardians are created. Gifted have been in existence since about two thousand years ago, but at those times they were not hindered. Except, those Gifted back then had only very small amounts of power compared to now. So most of them were called devils and demons, forcing the others to stay quiet about their abilities. Some Gifted were even thrown out by their families..." "Yea yea, horrible stuff. Enough backstory already, I want to know what''s happening now. Not what happened a couple thousand years ago." "Haaaa, you''re not interested in what happened before the war started?" "I guess it''s somewhat interesting, but it doesn''t really help me. That can be saved for another time, can''t it?" "I guess you''re right. Alright, getting back to the main topic. There is a war between GG and AHAD. Although it''s called a war, it''s more of GG defending themselves while AHAD hunts us down. The normal Guardians are just there to attack any Gifted that was caught using their power. The higher ranked Guardians, like rank B and above, are for assassination-type missions. S rank Guardians are for taking out the leaders of Leagues or a Gifted with a similar amount of power. The last League leader that was attacked by a Guardian was about ten years ago. GG sends out some of their Gifted on missions to take out AHAD traders and suppliers. Sometimes, when large groups of Guardians are for some reason traveling across a distance, a group of Gifted will be sent out to destroy them. Then finally are the sieges. That''s when GG goes all out to destroy an AHAD headquarter. There are been several sieges in the past, but only two of them have been successful. Right now, GG is weakening due to the younger Gifted being killed off before they have the chance to grow and develop their powers." "Hmmm, I think I understand a bit more. Heh, so it was like that! No wonder you guys are like this. But, that makes even less sense that there were no Guardians at that AHAD smugglers location..." "Yes, that matter is a little troubling. However, I''ve seen some similar events happen in the past and all of them weren''t serious matters. We just have to be more cautious right now." "Yea, I think that''s the best thing to do." ... "By the way." "What is it?" "Is it alright if I go out whenever I want? My practice requires me to have a...wide area to move around in." "...That will be a little troublesome. Now that you''ve slaughtered a small group of AHAD smugglers and destroyed a group of Guardians, it will a lot more dangerous for you to go outside and use your power." "You don''t have to worry about that. Every single time I gain more power, I get a lot stronger. And now that I made a major breakthrough, I need some time to adjust to my new power. Of course, I have new skills in mind to use as well. I''m gonna need a while to be able to use them well." "Hmmm, you do seem powerful enough to be Bronze B rank now. Alright, I''ll allow you to go out. However, you can''t stay out for too long. You will have to go out on mandatory missions every once in a while so I can''t have you missing out on them-" "It''s fine, it''s fine! Besides, I''ll try not to do anything rash while I''m out there. I''m only going into Lakewood Forest to practice some things, that''s all." "Lakewood? You do know that Guardians are quite likely to be stationed there?" "Of course! Besides, what can measly D rank Guardians do to me?" "No, C rank Guardians are likely to be stationed there as well. Each Guardian rank can usually carry over one rank stage. So, D rank Guardians can usually battle against Bronze C rank Gifted. C rank Guardians can battle against Bronze B rank Gifted, and they are also known to put up a fight against Silver B rank Gifted." "What? These ranks are getting confusing..." "Not all Guardians are like that, only some. There are few out there that can battle outside of their rank. Of course, if you encounter a B rank Guardian, you need to leave as quickly as possible." "Can you tell me the appearance of a B rank Guardian?" "I might as well. You know well that D rank Guardians are taller than humans while having a shiny metallic surface. C ranks are usually a bit shorter with a darker shade. B ranks are about the same size as C ranks, but they are completely black. B ranks also have the ability to camouflage and hide into the background. They were obviously first created for stealth. However, they give off a certain energy pulse. If you''re able to detect that pulse, then you need to leave immediately." "What''s that pulse like?" "It''s difficult to explain, but you''ll know when you feel it. It''s noticeably different from what you''ve felt so far." "Sounds simple enough. Well, I''m gonna go to bed...wait." "What?" "Where''s the shower in this place?" "It''s the door at the end of the hall." "Alright, I''m gonna go take a shower first." "Ok. Also! You won''t be able to hear the shower from outside the door, so make sure to knock first." "That''s a little scary. Isn''t there a lock on the door?" "No..." "......Why isn''t there a lock?" "No reason..." "I see. So why isn''t there a lock again?" "...." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Kyte stared at Akina, who for some reason avoided eye contact. "What, are you a bunch of perverts or something?" "No...it''s just..." "Just what?" "We''re...too...um....too lazy to put a lock on the door so the person inside usually uses one of the drawers to block the door." "...." Kyte only softly face-palmed as he walked away. I feel like this is going to be quite annoying... Kyte suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back and Akina before saying: "So, the bathroom never had a lock in the first place?" "...No, it didn''t. I got this place for cheap from a married couple...All I can really say is that, even though they didn''t go the gym, they were quite active..." "I see. And you were too lazy to put a lock on." "Yes." "You know, this is why locks were invented in the FIRST PLACE! Ugh, even my leader is a good for nothing." "...." "Yea, that''s right, you better stay silent. Sheese...too lazy...whatever.." Kyte mumbled to himself as he walked down the hall. Akina only sat there with a blank expression, as if she did not expect that kind of response. Well, she really didn''t. Upon arriving at the bathroom door, Kyte knocked quite loudly on it. He received no answer so when he opened the door he didn''t expect to firstly, notice that there was in-fact no drawer blocking the door, but there was even someone using the shower. The bathroom was unexpectedly large. The shower space looked big enough to hold five people easily. The toilet was located on the opposite wall, and there were three sinks with a mirror placed above them. The floor was a milky white and the walls were soft to the touch. However, moisture didn''t accumulate on them for some reason. Kyte stood there, frozen. The person in the shower poked their head out from behind the foggy glass door, and that person happened to be Rose. "Oh, Kyte, hello there. Do you want to join me?" She stepped half of her body out from inside the shower, revealing skin soft and smooth like silk. Small amounts of light shone off of the water on her body, making her slightly-tanned skin have a luring brightness. Her drenched red hair flowed down across her shoulders and to her narrow waist. The left side of her body was entirely exposed, including her left breast which showed a masterful shape. It wasn''t too big but it wasn''t too small either, and the soft pink tip that rested on it was in full view of Kyte. She locked her eyes with his and faint red glow surrounded her body that made it so much more enticing... Without out a word, Kyte slowly backed out while closing the door. After he left and closed the door, he got down on one knee... Holy crap I thought I was gonna die! Don''t girls usually ruthlessly attack people when that happens?!....Oh, right. Rose is different. BUT STILL! What the heck am I gonna do?! She definitely wants to slap me, or kick me, or punch me...wait. Did she say what I think she said? /"...Do you want to join me?"/ ..............what? But, I''ve only just got here! What about the first date, then the...the... Slowly standing up, Kyte walked to his bedroom and sat down on his bed. I should just go out and kill some people to calm down. Yea, that''s a great idea...wait, wouldn''t that be bad? What if I keep thinking about it while I''m killing people...wouldn''t I get aroused by killing? That would be weird. Huh? Why am I brooding over something like this? But then again this is a first...but I''ve seen female bodies so many times...wow, it''s really different in real life. At that moment, Akina walked into the room. Seeing Kyte with his face in his hands, she only sighed. "I assume you walked in on someone?" "Yea." "Was it Rose?" "Yea." "What''d she do?" "She asked me if I wanted to join her." "Why didn''t you?" "Why would I!" "Why wouldn''t you?" "Wha-...weren''t you the one smacking Rose around because she was acting weird?!" "That''s only because Dan and the younger ones were there. Dan is pretty scary when it gets to serious stuff." "...huh? What does that mean?" "Heh, don''t worry! Rose has never lost her purity before, so you can be her first. Besides, she''s infertile. So there''s no way any mistak-" "I get it already! Holy shit you changed a lot since Dan left." "Hmph, that''s only because Dan created those rules. I could care less." "Your stronger than Dan though, so why do you follow those rules?" "Well...Dan gets....angry when someone doesn''t follow his rules. Really, it''s quite scary." Kyte was just absolutely dumbfounded. Is everyone here like this when Dan leaves? "If you''re wondering if everyone is like this when Dan leaves, then that''s a yes. We eat a lot of ice cream in this household, so don''t hold back." "I...I''m going to sleep." "Mm, good night then. I''ll cya in the morning." Kyte, without care, went under his covers and tried to go to sleep. However, he heard footsteps coming closer to his bed... "Don''t crawl into my bed!" The footsteps stopped and suddenly he heard them moving to the other side of the room. Damn, this is annoying. I''ll probably get used to it eventually but right now...gosh this is slightly too much. ____________________________________________________________________ The next morning, Kyte found a half naked Akina next to him in his bed. Nothing happened aside from Kyte literally punching Akina out from his bed which woke her up immediately. "Can you not get into my bed?!" "Ehhh? I didn''t even realize I did.." "Uh huh, sure..." Looking at her beautiful complexion, Kyte couldn''t help but stare. Akina''s black bra and panties in full view for him to look at, complete with her snow-like hair that reflected the sun brightly. Her white, smooth skin complimented her hair, and her thin waist was approved by her medium sized voluptuous breasts. And then her well proportioned face and her thin lips that.....had drool dripping from it.... Kyte sighed at this scene and got out from his bed. Stepping over Akina like she was some piece of road-kill, Kyte quickly changed his clothes to clean ones from his storage necklace. "I''m going out to Lakewood Forest. There''s no need to send me off." Like that, Kyte disappeared from the apartment building before anyone else could meet him. About an hour later Kyte appeared outside a giant forest. It was almost as big as the city itself. Inside the forest were three great lakes that were lined up next to each other. Many people would come through and hike inside Lakewood Forest to enjoy nature. Sometimes, elementary and middle schools would send students on field trips into the outer areas of the forest. Not only that, but there are also small hiking companies situated around Lakewood Forest, so if someone or a group of people did not have the necessary supplies, they could buy them at those small stores. They could also hire a professional to take them through the forest, but most people just bought compasses and maps. The majority of people did not go too deep into the forest, especially during the heart of summer or winter. Getting lost inside Lakewood Forest could be deadly because the size of the forest was so large. However, the chances of that happening are a little low since there are many hiking trails that are present throughout the forest. To Kyte, these public trails and areas around the lakes weren''t to his favor. However, there are definitely large enough areas where people have not really explored, or some areas are just not interesting enough. There are many areas like that in the forest, and it''s quite difficult to find people in the deepest areas. As he was traveling through the trees in the forest, Kyte would see various people on trails. Laughing and chatting with each other as if oblivious to their surroundings. Family and close friends would often go through the forest together. Kyte felt a small spark of loneliness appear in his heart, but he didn''t hover on that feeling too long. Moving his eyes from the groups of people, Kyte continued deeper into the forest. Chapter 13: Difference Between Two Universes This chapter was late today, sorry about that. I didn''t have time to post it during school and I had my last water polo game today. But now it''s posted, yay. __________________________________________________________________________________________ After reaching a remote area without any people, Kyte softly landed on the forest floor. His feet pushed down on the soft, grassy ground. Sounds of birds and other small animals echoed throughout the area. The trees, bushes, and other vegetation wasn''t necessarily thick, however, it was more densely packed than other areas with people hiking through. Kyte used Internal energy to clear out all of the vegetation. The clearing he created was about half the size of baseball diamond, and all of the vegetation he moved acted as a sort of pseudo-wall around it. Just in case, Kyte laid down some alarm formations on paper around the wall. Although Kyte does not have a lot of knowledge pertaining to formations, alarm formations are one of the most basic formation. By inserting his own Spirit energy, the formations create a linked wall around the clearing. If anything passes through the wall, the Spirit energy ''alarms'' Kyte. Since the Spirit energy used is Kyte''s Spirit energy, he''s able to sense basically everything that moves through the thin wall. Of course, not only the alarm formation, Kyte has also learned a few others that are part of the most basic group of formations. Basic trap formations, basic sealing formations, and just low-level ability formations that are capable of producing, for example, a small flame. That''s the extent of Kyte''s knowledge on formations, and since he''s not entirely interested in formations, he doesn''t really mind. Standing in the middle of the clearing, Kyte went over the skill Fire Touch. It describes that by sensing the surrounding fire element in the world energy, the fire element could be drawn out and used to create fire. With higher levels of expertise, and natural talent, one may be able to produce destructive amounts of fire that could incinerate entire cities. Something like that would take a while, though. Kyte sat down and began to calm his mind while rhythmically breathing. The weird energy, which is completely invisible, started to gather around Kyte. A large whirlwind gradually appeared as it swirled around Kyte. The wind was so strong that it was almost blowing away the wall of vegetation. ....This thing is too big. I wonder if I could...make it smaller. Instead of focusing on breathing, Kyte focused on centering the vortex just on him. At first nothing happened, even after a full five minutes of him trying to contain it. He decided to spread his Spirit energy out to the perimeter of the vortex to try to bring it closer. As he did that, the vortex grew smaller. The Spirit energy acted like a firm wall that was pushing the wind vortex closer and closer to Kyte. In turn, the vortex increased in intensity as electrical sparks appeared to jump around Kyte. Forcing the vortex into a smaller space allowed the world energy within it to greatly condense, and it was almost visible to the naked eye. A faint black light started to appear and disappear, as if it was jumping into reality and then jumping out. When Kyte brought the vortex just five feet from his body, he felt like he was going to be torn apart. The wind was so strong that he wasn''t able to shrink the vortex any longer. That black light was clearly visible and it swirled around Kyte''s body like liquid. Kyte''s Spirit energy was almost running out just from shrinking the vortex. No wind was escaping from the wall of Spirit energy that he created, and because of that, all of it was swirling around Kyte''s body with great intensity. It looked like a swirling dome of doom, and the vortex was moving so fast that the wind itself was completely visible. Suddenly, the black light around Kyte surged into his body. Actually, Kyte thought of absorbing that black light, and it freely entered his body. When he absorbed that black light, he was completely shocked at the intense and powerful energy that was within it. It was far beyond what he normally absorbed during this exercise. The black light immediately surged around his entire body like lightning before it was completely absorbed by his skeleton. The amount of energy he absorbed from the black light was incomparably higher than how much he would usually absorb in ten hours. Holy crap! If I do this about ten more times, I might reach mid Sentinel stage! If Sol''keer had seen what just took place, he would be flabbergasted. This was the first time in history that that black light had been manifested. The world energy had condensed so greatly that it was refined into a black light that absorbed all light that came into contact with it. Not only that, but it smoothly moved around Kyte as if it was completely undisturbed by the powerful miniature vortex surrounding his body. Finally, Kyte''s Spirit energy was depleted, and since he didn''t want to harm his soul again, he decided that enough was enough. The wall of Spirit energy around the vortex disappeared and the vortex disappeared as well. Everything was quiet as Kyte stood up on his feet. Sol''keer never mentioned anything like this before. I guess this is one of the differences between two universes. Without delaying any further, Kyte started to practice Iron Body. Since Iron Body and Sonic Blade only used Internal energy, Kyte could deplete his Internal energy while practicing one of them as well as waiting for his Spirit energy to build back up again. Kyte''s Spirit energy would actually increase in quantity and quality as well, which is always good. Kyte also never forgets to give his Spirit energy to Sol''keer''s soul to help him recover. Since it actually helps Kyte, he really doesn''t mind doing it. Although, even if it didn''t help him, he would still do it. However, Sol''keer''s soul was still far off from being interactive again. After ten hours of continuous training, Kyte decided to head back. Luckily he didn''t encounter any Guardians, and he made big improvements. He trained Iron Body to a basic level, and since he was training Iron Body the whole time he didn''t get to Sonic Blade yet. However, he almost reached the mid Sentinel stage after absorbing that black light five more times. Right now, Kyte is just focusing on practicing his new skills to the utmost quality. Since he''s already at the last bottlenecks for his other skills, mainly Raging Palms and Windwalker, he''s really only focusing on his new ones. He''s also put off Fire Touch for the moment as well, as he really needs higher defense if he wants to survive longer. Sonic Blade as well sounds very beneficial, especially while using an energy weapon. After returning to the apartment, it was now about eight in the evening. Currently, Kyte doesn''t have many responsibilities yet since he just joined. He also doesn''t have much to do with GG yet as well. After seeing that Akina wasn''t in the bedroom, Kyte went into the bigger room down the hall. Inside, Jol and Light were playing around with their powers. "Wooah!" Light smashed into the ceiling, but luckily it didn''t crack. "Jol, I think you need to tone down the throwing, right?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Kyte said as he walked in. "Kyte, you''re back!" Jol quickly jumped through the air and tackle-hugged Kyte. "What the- Get off me!" Kyte used Internal energy to throw Jol away onto the couch on the opposite side of the room. Light already landed on the ground, and at that moment... A yellow beam of energy shot straight through Kyte''s chest. "...." "..Oh...oh my goodness...Akina''s gonna kill me..." That beam of energy was so powerful that it instantly disintegrated Kyte''s flesh. No blood dripped out since the hole was already cauterized. However, the flesh quickly grew back into perfect condition. Although, now there was a hole in Kyte''s clothes where the beam shot through. Kyte slowly created an energy weapon, fully revealing the dread aura from within. He looked directly at Light... "You know, most people don''t like having a giant hole in their chest." The dread aura emitting from Kyte''s energy weapon was three times more powerful than when he was in the Spirit stage. Since the last time they felt this aura was at the Spirit stage, the difference between Kyte''s energy weapon then and now is like the ground and sky. "I-I-I-I''m s-s-s-sorry!!" Light immediately fell to the ground, and Jol looked like he was suffocating just from the aura alone. Ah- Noticing the state they were in, Kyte quickly withdrew the energy weapon. The aura disappeared, and to Light and Jol, that was like a blessing. Recalling that dreadful aura, Light continued to apologize until Kyte had to personally grab him and say that it was fine. He even showed how great his healing powers were after cutting his arm off. A new arm grew back and the one he cut off just turned to ash that quickly disappeared. As if seeing some atrocity, Light just fainted. "Huh? What''d I do?" Jol caught him with his telekinesis and brought him over to the couch. "Kyte, you just can''t cut your arm off and assume they won''t react." Suddenly stepping into the room, Rose wrapped her arms around Kyte''s chest. Ugh.. Kyte immediately created an energy weapon, although this time reducing the dread aura, and stabbed himself through the chest. Rose quickly jumped away before the sword could touch her. Jumping forward, Kyte pulled the sword out of his chest which healed immediately. "I didn''t know you would be willing to go that far, geeze." "It''s nothing really, you just creep me out a bit." "Hehe, how so?" "If I would have to take a guess, well.....you seem to open your legs to any guy you see!" Kyte pointed at Rose with his finger. Rose''s face suddenly darkened. A thick stream of red energy spread out onto her arms, and she whipped her left arm toward Kyte''s direction. A red line of energy wrapped around Kyte''s waist so fast that Kyte could barely see it. He couldn''t even react to it fast enough, that''s how fast it moved. "You''re the only guy I want in my pants..." Suddenly pulled directly onto Rose''s body, Kyte could feel her soft breasts against his chest. Not only that, but her scent filled his nose which almost made him lose his focus. Her face was slowly drawing toward his... Kyte released the dread aura to it''s max, even weaving some of his Spirit energy into it as well, which was actually a first for him. The aura completely enveloped both him and Rose, and the aura stopped her in her tracks. Incomparable fear flashed in her eyes before she quickly released Kyte from her grip. "I-I...I knew you had grown in power...but I didn''t think you would''ve grown that much." "Heh, thank you. I have some tricks up my sleeve." Kyte withdrew the energy weapon again, and Jol let out a sigh of relief. Although I didn''t even use Heavy Air or Shadow Twins, which would''ve increase my power but about two or three times... "Hmph....you''ll be wanting me soon enough. I''ve made lots of men fall at my feet..." "Even though you''re still a virgin?" "-! What?! Who told you that?!" "Heh, so it was true!" "Hey, what''s a virgin?" "Jol, you don''t have to worry about that right now. Anyways, you think you can seduce me? Heh, I''d like to see you try. Every day I grow in power, and soon enough, I''ll be far above you, so even if you do try, you''ll fail!" "Hmph! We''ll see about that. Just you wait..." After Rose stormed off, Kyte just sighed and sat in a chair. He asked Jol: "By the way, where''s Akina?" "She went on a mission with Shadow. Since you stole Shadow''s mission last time, Akina had to compensate somehow. Dan would''ve gone, but something came up with Lucy so he had to go with her." "I see..." "Also, what did you guys mean? Seduce? What is tha-" "Really, Jol, you don''t have to worry." "Ehhhh, I want to know!" "Too bad! You''ll know later in life." "When will that be?" "When you graduate from high school." "What?! That''s way too long!" "Like I said, too bad! Plus, you just need to focus on controlling your power for now. Don''t worry about those other things." "I''ll still eat ice cream though..." "Yea, well, that''s different." "Mm...Hmmmm..." Light sat up from his position, looked around a few times, then sat back in the couch and closed his eyes. "...Don''t they ever do anything else?" "Yea, but they just like to be lazy. Especially Light." "I see...I''m gonna go take a shower. Hopefully Akina will be back by then." "Of course! Usually missions don''t take this long though..." "What do you mean?" "Well, she left at about three o''clock." "And?" "She should''ve returned an hour or two ago." "Hmmm...well hopefully nothing has happened. By the way...what rank is Akina?" "She''s a Gold A rank." "Ah, then I guess she should be fine." "Just as long as an S rank doesn''t appear." "Huh? But don''t S ranks only go for League Leaders?" "That''s what their main objective is. But, don''t you remember? Guardians just care about killing us Gifted. If they can take out a powerful Gifted, then they will try." "I see...alright, cya later Jol. Look after Light all right? Try not to launch him in his sleep." "Hahaha, I''ll try my best!" Sighing, Kyte left the room. He walked back to his room and opened the door to lay down and rest for a bit, but when he opened the door... He found Rose laying on his bed, with her hand down South... They made eye contact, and Rose froze. Kyte slowly backed out and closed the door, trying to get that image out of his head. Haaaa, well...I really don''t have anything better to do. Might as well go out and look for Akina and Shadow.....I''m gonna have to buy new sheets as well. After mentally sighing, Kyte left the apartment for the second time that day. Chapter 14: Trouble Now we''re catching up to where I left off. It takes one day to a few days to write a chapter, but there''s still 5 more chapters until I actually catch up. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ -BOOM- After being blasted back by a surge of energy, Akina crashed against the ground and skipped across it while making indents each time she hit the earth. Lifting her head, she looked at the metallic figure roughly fifty meters away from her. Even if Dan was here...there''s no way we could win.. The metallic figure''s body shuddered before disappearing and re-appearing in-front of Akina. It raised its foot and smashed it down onto Akina''s back. Giant cracks rolled out from underneath her body, and she spat out a mouth full of blood. Looking over to the side, she saw Shadow lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Damn it...hopefully the second branch gets here in time. During the time when Akina was still battling with the Guardian, Kyte was quickly searching through the city to try to find her and Shadow. He had been searching for about ten minutes before he expanded his search perimeter. He had spread out his Spirit energy to the maximum, which encompassed a range of two miles. He could sense everything within his Spirit energy, so that saved a lot of time. However, he was unable to find them. After another ten minutes, Kyte decided to search on the outskirts of the town. Besides, if Akina and Shadow were having trouble or were in a long-lasting battle, they would mostly likely not be fighting within the inner city. As he drew closer to the city borders, Kyte decided to to his right and searched around the perimeter. Although this may seem slow, Kyte right now has a surplus supply of pills in the storage necklace. The pills and medicine from earlier stages have no effect on him now, however, he''d rather not throw those away just in case. Anyway, Kyte is traveling at full speed which consumes quite a bit of Internal energy. Therefore, because of the pills, he''s able to keep going his max speed. Still, the city is pretty large with a population of about eight-hundred thousand. It would take him a good two hours at max speed to circle the entire city if he wanted to. However, Kyte was determined to find Akina and Shadow. Even if Akina was being beaten, he hoped there was something he could do. After thirty minutes of traveling, Kyte felt a huge pulse of energy enter the range of his Spirit energy. It was so much greater than rank C or D Guardians, and it made Kyte flinch out of surprise. The pulse of energy came from his left, outside of the city. Kyte quickly changed his course of travel and headed toward the source of the energy. As he got closer, he could hear the sounds of explosions and the visible shock-waves emanating from the battle. The battle was in a large field behind a farm. Well, what was left of the farm anyway. Kyte landed by the farm and hid himself near the piles of rubble everywhere. From there, he could see the battle unfolding. He also noticed...this was the farm that he first went to when he slaughtered all that livestock. It''s Akina!...but where''s Shadow? Currently, Akina was dodging with all her might. The speed of the attacks from the Guardian she was battling was insanely fast. Kyte could only see blurs moving back and forth in a type of slow-motion, however, it wasn''t actually slow-motion at all. The Guardian was moving so fast that Kyte''s eyes just couldn''t register everything that was happening. Away from the battle, Kyte saw two destroyed Guardians. They were crimson in color and were destroyed to such a state that Kyte wasn''t able to get a clear distinction of their body measurements. However, they were definitely not B ranks or lower. The one fighting Akina is pure white in color, and if that one is able to push Akina back... Those crimson ones must be A rank Guardians, then if that''s the case then...that white one is an S rank?! Kyte watched the battle unfold. Every time the Guardian would swing its arm a small crack would appear on the ground. Akina didn''t even have time to attack back as the Guardian''s speed was far above her own. The only thing she could do was defend. She was using a thin black sword that almost looked like a rapier, but it was still able to slice through the ground like butter. Shock-waves would roll out and almost blast Kyte backwards. Pieces of rubble were constantly being blown back by the exchanges between the Guardian and Akina. Then suddenly, the Guardian landed a direct blow against her stomach. She was blasted back several meters, and every time she would collide with the ground it would indent and several cracks would role out. Before Kyte could react, the Guardian disappeared for a split second before re-appearing in-front of Akina. It smashed its foot down onto her back, sending out a loud bang, with deep cracks surrounding the two of them. Kyte took out Heavy Air and immediately used Energy Manipulation with the energy formation of the blade to increase its offense by at least two times. Equipping Shadow Twins and using both left and right gauntlets, his offense rose even further. He wove Spirit energy into both of them, increasing their offense bonuses by at least two times as well. Using Windwalker, Kyte blasted toward the Guardian with the full power of his Internal energy being displayed. A huge wave of crimson-colored energy spilled all around him, and the dread aura surrounding Heavy Air was four times greater than normal. However, the dread aura seemed to have no effect on the Guardian, probably since it''s not even a living thing. Slashing toward the Guardian''s head, Kyte brought his arms down with all of his strength. In fact, Kyte was actually a little taller than the Guardian, making it a bit easier to swing down. However, to Kyte''s horror... The Guardian effortlessly blocked Kyte''s sword with its arm! The terrifying power transferred from Kyte''s sword onto the Guardian, smashing it down into the ground a full two feet which also greatly damaged the surrounding earth. This was Kyte''s ultimate attack with all of his available power put into one strike, and it was only able to do this much damage to the surroundings...the Guardian and Akina were creating several cracks by just swinging their arms. Compared them, Kyte was definitely much weaker. Once the great pressure from Kyte''s attack disappeared, the Guardian''s arm transformed into a blade. Before Kyte could react, the blade had slashed all the way from his shoulder to the bottom of his spine, almost cutting him in half. The blade was stopped by Kyte''s skeleton near the end of his spine, however, the ''bones'' in that area were broken into small fragments. Due to this, Kyte lost all feeling in his body. The blade was so far in his body that it actually propped it up. The Guardian lifted its arm higher, lifting Kyte''s body with it. Suddenly slicing its arm out the same way it slashed in, Kyte''s body was suspended in air just long enough for the Guardian to lift its leg and smash its foot into his stomach. Kyte was kicked into several piles of rubble, skipping several times before coming to a stop. With his spine completely shattered, Kyte couldn''t move his body, or even feel it, at all. A huge puddle of blood spread out from his body. Kyte desperately tried to take it all back in it, but for some reason he was unable to. Feeling panicked for the first time since he got his new power, Kyte quickly began to think of what to do. Meanwhile, the Guardian turned back to Akina. It quickly transformed its blade into a spear-like weapon which looked more like a drill than anything else. It stabbed its arm through Akina''s body. It slashed its arm out through her side, spilling guts and blood out with it. Akina clenched her jaw down and desperately tried to endure. A split second after it sliced through her side, the Guardian stabbed her again before sliced through the other side. Akina was almost completely cut in half by the Guardian''s weapon. Akina''s body lay in a large pool of blood, and her consciousness was ever so slowly drifting away. Kyte found out that by using his Spirit energy, he could pull out anything he wanted, within his unlocked items, anywhere within the range of his Spirit energy. He quickly used it to put a pill in his mouth which he swallowed immediately. He felt a small surge of power that accompanied a large wave of relaxing heat. His spine started to repair itself, however, it was quite slow. It had repaired enough for Kyte to move his head and look toward Akina, and what he saw horrified him. The terrible state that Akina was in made Kyte almost want to look away. But, he couldn''t. He was determined to help her as much as he could. He reached a thin stream of his Spirit energy into her mouth, and suddenly a small white pill appeared on her tongue. After she felt a small amount of weight enter her mouth, Akina was at first confused. However, seeing Kyte staring at her with determination in his eyes, she quickly understood what that pill was. She let her body absorb its healing properties, however, the pill wasn''t strong enough to do any real good to her. The pill was meant for Kyte at the Sentinel stage, only the fifth stage. As for Akina, she was at the seventh stage in terms of power. Two whole stages are between Kyte and Akina, and that weak pill was only able to keep Akina alive for a little while longer. However, that little amount of time was crucial. Just a few seconds later, a large yellow light flashed in the area. Suddenly, the Guardian that was about to stab Akina for a third time had an almost golden-like spear through its chest. Another golden spear pierced through the Guardian''s chest. The spears were very fast, clearly faster than the Guardian could react. To Kyte, the spears just suddenly appeared they were going so fast. That''s....definitely one of us. The Guardian ripped the spears out of its chest, and gave out a very low roar. The air visibly shook as the sound waves pierced through it. The sound was so loud and low that it was like having a gigantic speaker at full volume blasting in your ear. Except, the earth shaking and cracking under the pressure was a reality. Before the Guardian let out that low roar, a golden translucent barrier appeared around Akina. The sound waves hit it but luckily only small cracks appeared across it. When the Guardian stopped, the barrier quickly repaired itself. As for Kyte, he had to take on the full brunt of the sound wave. He was several meters away, however, the sound waves were just too strong. They passed through his body and shook it to such a degree that his insides began to melt under the pressure. His ears drums immediately exploded and blood dribbled down from his ears. His eyes began to droop down out of his eye sockets as blood was being emitted from his skin. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. By forsaking his flesh to defend his skeleton, Kyte miraculously survived. If Kyte was still at the Spirit stage, he would''ve been crushed into a meat paste. Luckily, his Internal and Spirit energy were just powerful enough to keep his skeleton safe. Thanks to that, he would be able to slowly regenerate his flesh. Although it would be a lot slower than if he was healing a severed arm or leg, or maybe a huge hole in his chest, he was still alive. Even if most of his flesh had slipped off of his bones, it was slowly being brought back together. When Kyte looked up toward Akina, he saw an older man standing in-front of her. The Guardian was currently repairing the holes in its chest as it sent out a very powerful pulse of energy. The older man quickly created a large golden barrier around the entire field which blocked the energy pulse, making it bounce back toward the Guardian. The older man quickly flipped his hands several times to which several golden spears pierced through the Guardian. It arms and legs were ripped off, it''s torso and head fell to the ground with a thud. The man flickered, appearing in-front of the Guardian and creating a large golden cube. He smashed the cube down onto the Guardian, completely destroying it. When the cube disappeared, all that was left was what looked like scrap metal in a pool of green liquid. The man turned around and appeared back in-front of Akina. By now, her sides were almost healed. She was standing straight, but with great difficulty. "Seeker, sir, I..." "Shut up!" The man slapped Akina in the face, making her fall down onto the ground. "You think that just because you reached Gold A rank, you can defeat S rank Guardians?! How delusional are you? I had to come all the way from Lailer City. You know how far that is?! If I was even a second too late, you would be dead right now!" "I...I didn''t know an S rank was going to appear-" "''Didn''t know'' my ass! If you still want your position as a Branch Leader, then start acting like one! If not...then you''re going to end up just like your previous Branch Leader." "......Yes sir." "Hmph. If this happens again, you''ll be transferred." The man only evilly smiled as he looked down on Akina. Then, he rose into the air, with small golden lights emitting from his feet, and sped off in the direction he came. Akina spit out a bit of blood and afterward she wiped her mouth with her hand. She turned her head toward Shadow and quickly moved to his side. She opened his mouth and put a small orange pill inside and helped him swallow. A faint orange radiance spread out from his body, and his pale face quickly regained color. Akina breathed out a low sigh of relief. She lightly smiled and quickly turned around to arrive at Kyte''s side, about forty meters away. "You crazy kid, what the Hell do you think you were doing?" When Akina saw Kyte''s bones with his flesh barely hanging on, she was a bit worried. She could even see inside Kyte''s back, where his lungs, heart, liver, stomach...all laid bare. Of course, a layer of melted skin and red muscle was around there too. Kyte could only awkwardly turn his head toward Akina as he gave a weird smile. "I get it, you can''t even speak right now. Here, take this." Akina put an orange pill into Kyte''s mouth, and he instantly felt the power within it. The pill dissipated and orange light traveled throughout his body. His flesh completely absorbed that orange light, which increased its healing rate by about three times. If she had this pill, why didn''t she use it?... About fifteen minutes later, Kyte''s flesh had almost completely healed. He sat up with little difficulty, although he still felt pain. "Thanks for that pill." "No problem, I got tons of them in my space ring." "Your what?" "Uh...nothing." "...So, that was an S rank Guardian huh?" "Yea. I didn''t expect one to show up after I destroyed those A rankers." "I see. Well, we should get going before more show up. I''ll get Shadow." "Wait." Before Kyte could leave, Akina grabbed his sleeve. "Thanks for trying to save me, and also..thanks for giving me that pill." Akina look downward after saying that, so even when Kyte looked down at her, he couldn''t see her expression. He could definitely see that her beauty was immeasurable, and her snow-white hair only amplified that. Aside from that, her clothes were all ripped up so it revealed some of her soft, beautiful skin. Although some of her body was revealed like that, Kyte wasn''t really moved by it. However, just catching a small glimpse randomly like this made him swallow his saliva. "Yea. No problem." After that, Akina released Kyte. Then, Kyte grabbed Shadow and they traveled back to the apartment. Also, before they left, Akina went over to the piles of metal on the ground and picked everything up in her space ring. Kyte was some-what confused by that, but he didn''t question it. Back at the apartment, when Light saw Shadow unconscious, he almost broke down in tears. Kyte brought him to his bed and laid him down, putting a soft pillow underneath his head. Akina brought everyone else into the room. Except Dan and Lucy who were at their own apartment. "Alright everyone, this time I had committed a major blunder. An S rank Guardian appeared." "What? S rank?" "Holy crap an S rank, did it look cool?" Only Rose and Kyte didn''t speak, and Jol looked at Akina with curious eyes. "This isn''t the time for the questions, Jol. Me, Shadow, and Kyte were almost killed by it. Luckily, Seeker from the Lailer Branch arrived. If he was a little slower, us three would have never come back." Jol immediately shut his mouth and looked at Akina seriously. Light did the same, but he had a bit of fear in his eyes. "We need to be extra careful. The reports I received did not include information about an S rank, so we don''t know if one will show up or not. Make sure to immediately leave after finishing a mission, understood?" """"Yes."""" "Now, I will go to Dan and Lucy''s place to tell them the same. Since it''s pretty late, I think you should go all go to sleep. Starting tomorrow, we have a small break from missions. So I think we''ll go into Lakewood Forest. Kyte, did you have any improvements while you there?" "Yea. I discovered something about this...well, never mind. None of you will understand even if I explained it. Anyway, it''s helped me a lot and I was going to go back to Lakewood tomorrow. So, I''m fine with everyone else going too." "Good. Lakewood Forest is gigantic, and there are many places big enough for all of us. We just need to pick the right location." "The place I chose as my spot was quite secluded from other people, and it was pretty large as well. There was a lot more space around my area too. I think that could be a nice place to begin." "Good! Then, everyone be ready to go to Lakewood tomorrow. I''ll being going now." ""Cya."" "Bye!" "Byyyyye Akinaa!" After Akina left, Jol turned to Light. "Light, want to continue our game?" "Ha, of course! You never beat me though, so it''s getting a little boring." "What?! I''m not that bad! I''ve won a couple times..." "Yea, like two weeks ago?" "Huh?! Yea right! Watch, I''ll beat you right now!" "You''re on then, pipsqueak!" The two rushed toward their room, leaving behind Kyte and Rose. Rose was currently looking at Kyte with a weird expression. Kyte could see a faint red glow from her eyes... "Hey, could you stop looking inside my body?" "Hmmm, why should I? Your body is so interesting, I''ve never seen anything like it. Just yesterday your aura was different than it is today....I can see a very small energy flowing through you. It''s so faint that it took me several seconds just to realize that I wasn''t just seeing something." "What do you mean?" "I don''t know, I''ve never seen it before." "Well, I don''t really know how to explain it, since I don''t know what it is either-" Rose pounced onto Kyte''s body, knocking him off of his chair to fall on the ground. Ow! "Your body is so weird. It''s as if it shouldn''t belong here, in this world...really, where did you come from?" "H, how would I know? I was b, born here..." "Hmmm?" Rose moved her face to Kyte''s right ear, and she breathed out a warm breath... "Ahhh..." Feeling that warm breath, that didn''t smell bad in the slightest, made Kyte stiffen his body. Rose''s right hand reached into his shirt and softly moved around Kyte''s left side while she rested on her left arm and began to lightly kiss and lick the side of his neck. Her soft voluptuous breasts pressed against the side of Kyte''s chest, fully revealing their smooth texture. Her curvy hips rotated, with both her legs wrapped around his right leg. Her left hand softly gripped Kyte''s right shoulder, and pressed down lightly. The scent from Rose''s body wafted around them, and Kyte fully breathed it in every time he breathed in and out. Rose''s right hand felt some-what ticklish against his side, and Kyte was being overwhelmed by Rose''s actions. Especially when a faint red glow appeared on her body, which transferred over to Kyte. That red glow was like a contagious disease, and it quickly went into Kyte''s body. Kyte immediately felt a wave of heat rise up in his chest and stomach, which even made his usually expression-free face blush a little. He wasn''t able to fight back against that red energy at all. It was as if it bypassed all of his defenses and easily made its way through his body. Rose lifted her face above Kyte''s, just an inch away from his. "Hey...want to kiss?" Kyte''s mind went completely blank. The situation he was in was just too overwhelming. He felt as if he lost control of his body. He didn''t move away in the slightest, and actually, he didn''t move at all. He was so overwhelmed that he was frozen in place. Chapter 15: Champion Late chapter today. I am so tired. All that candy and doughnuts was worth it though. I''m almost done with chapter 19, and there''s a little something that I need to look over again. I''ve already re-written it once and I may have to do it again. Oh well. ________________________________________________________________________________ The edges of Rose''s lips curved up slightly. She bent her face down and pressed her lips against Kyte''s. Kyte felt Rose''s moist, warm lips press against his. Her scent filled his lungs and just from that alone he was almost losing focus. Then, he felt a warm fleshy thing enter his mouth. The sensation of Rose''s tongue swirling around his made him almost lose the last thread of rationality. Kyte wrapped his arms around Rose''s back and hugged her tightly against his body. Feeling her warmth against him, Kyte couldn''t help but kiss Rose even deeper. Both of their breathing became a little rougher, and Rose grip on Kyte''s shoulder tightened a little more. This is the first time Kyte has ever felt something like this, and Rose being a mature woman makes it even harder for Kyte to control what he''s doing...although that''s pretty much out the of the window now. After several seconds had passed, Kyte felt a weird energy transfer from Rose''s mouth to his. Right when that energy entered his body, all of the black light that he had absorbed instantly jumped to that energy and instantaneously devoured it before spreading out through his body once again. After that black light had spread through his body, it also ate the red energy that Kyte''s body absorbed from Rose. As if it was awakened, that black light completely devoured all of the energy that Rose gave to Kyte. Due to that, that hot feeling in his chest and stomach gradually faded. Feeling himself come back into focus, Kyte stared wide-eyed. He still had his arms around Rose''s back and his lips pressed against hers. Rose was currently sucking on his tongue, and feeling something amiss, she opened her eyes... Slowly parting away from Kyte''s face, Rose realized that her energy was completely gone from Kyte''s body. She was quite surprised, but then she remembered what had happened a few seconds earlier. She got really into ''it'', but she clearly remembers the moment Kyte''s black light devoured her red energy. Looking down at Kyte, Rose slowly licked her lips. "I didn''t expect you to be so interesting...Hopefully you don''t disappoint me." After climbing off of Kyte, Rose lightly kissed his cheek and said: "I''ll be looking forward to next time." A small playful laugh escaped her mouth as she left the room. Kyte stayed lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. I...I feel so violated! When he raised his right hand to touch his cheek, he noticed that he was slightly shaking. He wasn''t shaking from fear or disgust, but excitement. Experiencing that type of thing between a woman for the first time left him in quite a daze. Mostly because of the situation he was in, and he was basically seduced too. That didn''t make him feel too well, but he could still feel the leftover excitement from it. He moved his hand and touched his lips, remembering the soft, moist and warm texture of Rose''s lips against his. Along with her sweet tongue, Kyte felt a little spark of warmth suddenly appear. It wasn''t warmth that belonged to love, but rather the other category... Kyte shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. Thinking back, he faintly remembered the black light he absorbed moving at its own will. He remembered that at that moment, the energy he felt that came from Rose had mysteriously disappeared. What the heck is this stuff anyway? I never did analyze it. Looking at his disheveled appearance, Kyte awkwardly smiled. Peeking out the door, he noticed Rose''s door was shut and the light was on. Seeing that, Kyte quickly entered the bathroom to take a shower. He placed an alert formation on the door and pulled out some drawers that were placed next to the door. After showering with no interruptions, Kyte felt quite relaxed. He quickly exited the bathroom and entered his own bedroom where he drifted off to sleep. ________________________________________________________ The next day, everyone headed out to Lakewood Forest. They didn''t use their abilities but instead used normal transportation by car. They used a large van and Dan was driving while Akina was in the passenger seat. Kyte felt a little awkward around Rose, and when they made eye contact Rose just playfully smiled and walked right up to him. Not only that but she also held on to his arm like it was a natural thing to do. Kyte desperately tried to get away, but since Rose was still stronger than him, he couldn''t get away from her. Thus, they ended up sitting next to each other as well. When Dan and Akina saw them being so close, they had a weird expression on their faces. Dan''s expression was especially serious after seeing Rose cling to Kyte. The one rule he forgot to tell Kyte was no sexual relations, and to Dan, this felt like a major blunder. Dan thought that, considering how Rose is, Rose most likely seduced Kyte into doing the do. Dan''s face went pale after thinking that, and he desperately wanted that thought gone. Of course, that never even happened. The most they did was twirl their tongues together, but that was mostly against Kyte''s will in the first place. Although he was partly to blame, his own power wasn''t sufficient enough to battle against Rose''s red energy. If the mysterious black light didn''t suddenly act on its own will to devour that red energy, well...Kyte felt a little scared as to what could''ve happened. The twins and Jol didn''t even think anything of it. In fact, they were making jokes about Kyte and Rose sticking so close together. They purposefully let Rose get close to Kyte in the van as well, thinking that it would be funny. Well, truthfully it was only Light and Jol that felt that way. Shadow could care less about what Rose and Kyte did and are doing, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep. The only reason why Shadow came along with them was mainly for safety reasons. Akina felt a little bad to leave him alone as well so she decided to bring him with everyone else. After they arrived at Lakewood Forest, Kyte led them to the area that he used the day before. The large area was the same as it was when he had left. His alert formations were still there, however, without Kyte there to proved Spirit energy, they were merely pieces of paper with a weird drawing on them. After Kyte opened up an entrance to the large area, everyone entered. "This is where I situated myself yesterday. As you can see, it''s not much..." "What were those pieces of paper lying around?" "Alert formations. If someone crosses over them, I''ll immediately be alerted. They''re quite easy to make." Jol and Light began to walk around the edges of the large area while Shadow and Lucy began to study the alert formations together. The other three were with Kyte as he told them about the area around the location. "Before I created this yesterday, I looked around the whole area and found that there''s plenty of space. However, I didn''t want to make this circle too big. There''s a lot more space around here for you guys to go." "Yea, that makes sense. By the way, do you really need this much space?" Dan asked as he walked forward and looked around at the tall plant walls. "To be honest with you, I don''t really know. However, there''s one thing that I do practice that could be a threat to you guys." "What do you mean?" "Well, I''m able to absorb this type of energy that''s present in this world. However, when I absorb it, a vortex of wind appears around me. At first it was pretty big but then I figured out how to shrink it down. The bad thing is that the smaller vortex is at least ten times more powerful than the larger one. I''m able to keep the wind within my immediate vicinity, but I don''t want to take any chances." "It would definitely be bad if you accidentally killed one of us. I doubt that you could injure me though. I would like to see you try, however..." "Actually, Dan, I was thinking of training with you. You see, I don''t have much experience with fighting or weapons. Since I can''t really go out and hunt Guardians, I was thinking that maybe I could fight against you? Just as practice." "Hahaha! That''s a good idea. I won''t deny your request. Besides, my defense with only increase if I get hit, so it''s beneficial to me as well. However! That woman needs to go." "What?! Why can''t I stay?" "Because you''re not a Special Gifted!" "All the more reason I should stay." "It''s all the more reason you should leave!" "I can just watch, come on!" "No! I don''t even want to see your face inside this circle!" "Hmph, watching is fine right? Right, Akina?" "Don''t bring me into this. It doesn''t really matter in the first place anyway." "See? She said I could stayyy." "No she didn''t-" Kyte face-palmed long ago, and when he lifted his face he said: "Dan, just let it go. It won''t cause any problems." "Kyte, you too?!...Fine. But she stays off at the edge!" "Hehe, that''s fine with me." Afterward, Akina called the others together. "Alright everyone. Dan, Kyte, and Rose will be staying in this area. Everyone else will follow me. Kyte, the alert formations." "Right. I''ve made more alert formations and I''ve already imbued my energy into them. Once you get into your area, just lay them around the perimeter and I''ll activate them when they''re ready. I programmed the formations to alert anyone inside the wall if something significant crosses over the wall and it will also alert me. Do you guys understand?" "Of course! Super easy!!" Kyte handed the alert formations over to Akina before she left with the other four to look for a different area. Akina would signal Kyte and then he would activate the formations, thus creating a wall of Spirit energy around wherever they were located. Of course, they didn''t know that it was the energy from Kyte''s soul. How could they in the first place? Now it was only Dan and Kyte that were standing in the middle of the circle. Rose was standing off on one side, though she looked like she would need a chair in a few minutes. "Now, let''s get started. Take out your weapon!" "Hmm, well first off I want to see how well you fare against one my skills." "Alright, take your best shot then." Kyte created an energy sword in his hand with the full power of its dread aura surrounding it. The aura spread out into the surroundings and the pressure it gave off was enough to suffocate a normal person. Dan, feeling that dread aura, was instantly shocked. The last time he felt the aura from Kyte''s sword was when Kyte was in the Spirit stage. Not even high Spirit stage! The difference between the two auras was enormous. "I can definitely see that your power has drastically improved. Here, attack this." Dan said as he created a wall of white mist in-front of Kyte. "I''m using my half of my power with this wall, so try breaking it." This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Kyte swung the energy sword down onto the white wall. When the sword made contact, Kyte felt like the sword slammed against a steel wall. His arms felt numb like they received a shock of electricity through them. "Come on, you can do better than that!" Frowning, Kyte wove Spirit energy into the energy weapon. The sword faintly shined and the dread aura greatly increased. "That''s more like it." Kyte lifted his arms up and swung down. However, he stopped mid-swing. He put his arms down and transformed the energy sword into large sledgehammer. Then, he took another swing. The sledgehammer smashed into the wall, creating several cracks around the impact point. Kyte still felt that numbing feeling in his arms but he definitely did a lot more damage than last time. "Ohhh, that''s what I wanted to see! Not only did you somehow increase your weapon''s power, but you also changed it into a more suitable weapon. That skill of yours is quite versatile." "Heh, thanks. I haven''t really tested all of my skills out to the point of perfection though. I still have things to learn about all of them. I also have three other skills that I need to learn." "So many?" "It''s a long story. Short of it is, I have many skills that I need to learn and practice. I just can''t learn all of them at once." "Ah, that makes sense. Biting off too much will backfire. Plus, you have lots of time to train your skills. Don''t rush it." "Yea, yea, I know. Anyway, let''s continue." "Of course!" Dan coached Kyte during his training, and Rose was still off to the side just watching. She eventually brought a chair as well. Kyte trained Iron Body and Sonic Blade during the time he was training with Dan. Of course, he also absorbed the world energy and the black light. When Dan and Rose saw that, they were completely dumbfounded. Especially Rose, since she actually experienced a part of the black light first-hand. When asked about it, Kyte said he didn''t even know what it was. Truthfully, he really didn''t know. He did know that it was a very condensed version of the world energy, but other than that, he had no clue as to what it was. The more black light he absorbed, the more weird he started to feel. He felt as if he was no longer practicing the Bloodrage technique, but a whole different practice altogether... However, Kyte didn''t pay much mind to it. He was gaining a lot more energy from the black light than he would normally obtain from regular world energy, so he was happy about that. Dan also helped Kyte with his sword techniques. Although Dan didn''t know any sword techniques himself, just him fighting against Kyte was doing more good than bad. By relying on his natural instincts, Kyte was able to greatly improve with the sword. He also used other weapons aside from the sword, however, the weapon he used most was a sword. Mostly because Heavy Air is also a sword, but also because he had a feeling that the more powerful weapons that were currently locked inside the storage necklace are most probably swords. ______________________________________________________________________ And like this, two months passed. During the two months, normal people would sometimes come close to their area of practice so Kyte would just use his Spirit energy to ward them off. His Spirit energy didn''t harm any of them, Kyte only used it to put an invisible pressure on them. That resulted in every person wanting to get away from that area as quickly as possible. -BOOM- "Kgh!" Dan''s wall of mist shattered and a crimson sledgehammer flew into his vision. He put up his hand and covered it with powerful mist and blocked the blow from the hammer. The hammer smashed against his hand, flinging Dan back several feet. A shock-wave emanated out from the impact of his hand and the hammer as it visibly rippled through the air. "Kid, you''re a lot better than you were two months ago." "Heh, you should be telling yourself that, old man." Both Dan and Kyte smiled as they walked toward each other. Suddenly, Kyte transformed the hammer into a great-sword and swung horizontally with both hands. A small sonic boom exploded outward as a crescent-shaped wave of energy rolled out from the sword. Dan exploded his fist forward, exuding white mist around it like waves. The two collided, creating a large explosion that burnt the ground around it to a crisp. Kyte split the great-sword in half, creating two smaller swords for both of his hands. This time, however, he wove some of his Spirit energy into the swords. Using Windwalker, Kyte disappeared and re-appeared behind Dan. He ruthlessly stabbed forward with both swords, but he met resistance as a white wall appeared just before the swords were going to pierce Dan''s flesh. Dan whipped around with his leg moving at fast speeds. Kyte, seeing the incoming attack, changed his right sword into a shield while applying Iron Body to it as well. Dan''s foot smashed against Kyte''s shield, blasting Kyte back several feet. After transforming the shield into a whip, Kyte flipped his wrist and the whip sped toward Dan''s head. Dan grabbed the whip with his hand and pulled on it, but before Kyte was pulled toward him, the whip dissipated into nothingness. Kyte shot several Raging Palms which shook the air as they sped toward Dan. The palms of energy smashed against a white wall, causing several cracks to spread out. Then, Dan covered his body in white mist, creating small spikes all around his body. The spikes on his knuckles were at least two times larger than the others. He jumped toward Kyte who was caught by surprise at the sudden charge. Seeing Dan jumping toward him, Kyte sliced his hand open and let the blood flow out of it. Controlling the blood, he rotated it around himself while spilling his Spirit and Internal energy inside of it. The blood revolving around Kyte shined with a crimson light before he absorbed the blood back into his body. His body then shined with the same crimson color, and his Internal energy rose by a significant amount. Kyte also covered his body in energy, instantly weaving Spirit energy together with it. He took out Heavy Air and changed its weight to one ton while also charging it with energy. Blasting toward Dan, Kyte swung his sword. Likewise, Dan shot his fist forward to meet with Kyte''s sword. Dan''s white armor around his fist shattered, leaving it wide open for Kyte''s sword to slash through. Which it did. Kyte sliced Dan''s arm right down the middle before lifting his leg and smashing his foot against his stomach. A blood trail left Dan''s arm and Kyte quickly absorbed it for himself. Taking the life force directly out of the blood, Kyte applied it to Heavy Air before once again leaping toward Dan. Dan was completely shocked at Kyte''s unwavering conviction. He could feel the small killing intent emanating from Kyte''s dark eyes. He quickly used his full power to cover his body with white mist before creating a sword and shield out of white mist. Kyte struck out with several Sonic Blades, all aiming for Dan''s injured arm. Dan raised his shield and blocked the Sonic Blades, and when he looked toward Kyte''s direction, he noticed that he was gone. Dan felt something smash against his back, but luckily this time he wasn''t holding back. Kyte''s sword made a small scratch against Dan''s armor, but the force behind his attack made Dan take huge steps forward. "What, I didn''t expect you to be so slow! What happened?!" Kyte''s crimson-covered face evilly smiled as he pointed the blood-red Heavy Air toward Dan. "Kid, you have too many self-buffing skills. You didn''t even use all of them and you still hurt me to this extent." "Heh, that''s just because I''m testing how much power I have with each new upgrade in power. My power was originally low on the offensive side, so to make up for that, I have quite a few buffs available to me." "Plus, you didn''t have to slice my arm in half, did you?" "Ah, yea...about that...ahaha...here." Kyte threw a small red pill toward Dan. He caught it and quickly popped it into his mouth. His arm quickly healed back to normal without a scar leftover. "I have to say...you''re just getting more mysterious the more I know you. You gain power so quickly...the only Special Gifted I''ve seen like this are in the Core Leagues of GG. I find it quite hard to believe that you weren''t recruited by them." "Don''t worry about it, old man. Even if they did come to get me, I wouldn''t go with them." "Hahaha! I like that about you, kid. Well, you''re going to have to go sooner or later." "What do you mean?" "I haven''t told you since it wasn''t close, but now that it''s getting close to the end of the year, I should tell you." "Yea, it is already November." "Anyway, every three years, each League has their own rank-up test. Basically it''s where GG members go to try to get a higher rank. Branch Leaders stay within their assigned locations, since their rank-up tests are at a different date. Once we get back to the apartment, Akina will tell you in more detail." "I see. I always wondered how you guys got your ranks. I''ll be looking forward to that. But, now I have to absorb world energy and then we''ll go back." "Ah, go ahead. I''ll start heading back right now. What about you, Rose?" "I''ll go back with Kyyyte!" "Ugh..." "Haaaa, you have it hard, kid. I was just like you back in the day. Except I had four girls instead of one! And thanks to that I...ah, forget it. I''m too old to brood over it now." Old man was such a player?!...I just don''t get this guy. "Anyway, I''m going to take Lucy and head back. Akina and the other three will most likely be waiting for you." "Alright, take care old man." Over the course of these two months, Dan and Kyte had formed a deep bond. It wasn''t a type of friendship that''s created over two months of talking or meeting with each other. It was the type of bond that''s created from fighting each other with brutal attacks and techniques. At first, Dan thought of Kyte as an immature little brat, but after sparring with him for two months, that image was gone. For the most part at least. Kyte sat down and began to create the black light to absorb. Kyte had broken through into the Champion stage long ago, and now he was in the high Champion stage. However, this was the last stage that Kyte knew of so far. Plus, with the addition of the black light, Kyte didn''t know if he was going to continue with the traditional Bloodrage Technique or somehow create a new path. He feels like the answer is within reach, but there''s something blocking him from getting there. He doesn''t know what it is so he can only hope for some type of enlightenment. The good thing is that there''s no limit to how much black light he can absorb. At least, as far he knows right now. The more he absorbs, the more powerful his Internal energy gets. However, he''s already began to feel a sort of boundary around his body, as if he''s a bubble ready to pop. Although he can still absorb the black light, Kyte has a little bad feeling about it. Chapter 16: The Foundation The skills that Kyte had unlocked upon reaching the Champion stage didn''t bring him too much joy. As he already has several other skills, obtaining more skills seems kind of redundant. Nevertheless, Kyte didn''t moan and groan about it. In fact, one of the skills was to his liking. The first one he unlocked is called Bloody Acceleration. By using Bloody Acceleration, Kyte is able to take the life force directly out of blood and infuse that life force with his Internal energy. The energy from the life force boosts the quality of his Internal energy for a certain amount of time, roughly a minute or so. He can also use his own blood for this skill as well. The second skill is Invisible Slash. It''s basically using Internal energy to make Kyte''s weapon lighter so he can move it faster. The third skill is Meteor Descent. By infusing his Internal energy with the ground, Kyte can rip chunks of earth up and form them into whatever his wants. Controlling the Internal energy in and around the chunks of earth, Kyte can move them around however he wants. The only skill that Kyte actually wanted to practice is Bloody Acceleration. The other two, well, he could really care less. Except, Kyte felt that Meteor Descent''s way of manipulating Internal energy to control the surroundings is some-what beneficial. Invisible Slash could benefit Kyte, but he just doesn''t have the time to practice several skills at once. He still needs one last leap to perfectly master Raging Palms and Windwalker as well, although he really just needs a sudden enlightenment to perfect those. For Fire Touch, well, he could also care less for that one. It sounds cool, but in practicality, he doesn''t need it. Energy Manipulation is already quite powerful, and the energy passively grows along with Kyte. He doesn''t really feel like learning a whole new skill just to be able to create flames. Kyte also felt that more could be done with Fire Touch, however, he hasn''t even begun practicing it so he can''t test out his idea. Regardless of all this, Kyte is still satisfied with what he has. Heavy Air, Shadow Twins, Energy Manipulation, Bloody Acceleration, Spirit energy...in total, he has five ways to increase his power. Of course, the black light comes into play as well. He''s only used it once as he unintentionally released black light outside his body. When it hit the ground it tunneled straight down into the Earth. It didn''t go too far because Kyte was able to absorb it back. He felt like he was figuring something out, but after trying to release the black light again, he couldn''t do it. After everyone was back at the apartment, Akina said to everyone: "Now that we''re back, we have one new mission that was sent to us by the main branch." "The main branch?" "Why would they send a mission out to us?..." "Just listen. This mission requires five people. We''re in charge of raiding a small factory situated in the southern section of the city. I''ll go over the details later, but apparently the main branch was meaning to take care of this sooner. But, seeing how we weren''t strong enough, they held it off. Now that Kyte has joined us, the main branch thinks we can go through with it." "Right. So this is one of the reasons why you wanted me to join you guys?" "Well, yea. But you would''ve gotten involved sooner or later. I''m just glad you joined when you did." "Heh, keep the compliments to yourself. I know I''m awesome." "...Right. Anyway, I want Rose, Kyte, and Shadow to come with me into the living room to discuss this. Dan should be here within five minutes." "Understood." ___________________________________________________________________ "Welcome back, Dan." "Hahaha, Kyte, didn''t expect to you see again after saying goodbyes." "You knew about this meeting though." "I just push things to the back of my mind sometimes, don''t worry about it!" Dan and Shadow sat across from one another while Akina sat between them. Kyte was sitting on the couch, with Rose next to him. Kyte has gotten use to her presence and it doesn''t really bother him anymore. "I''m going to brief you guys on the information regarding our mission. It''s a silver A group mission, meaning that all of us need to be extra careful. The factory is located within the southern section, as you guys know, and it''s disguised as a Toys R Us. We raid it during the night, but who knows who will be present at that time." "Well, it doesn''t really matter who''s there, right? They can''t talk if they''re dead." "Kyte, unlike you, we have morals." "Wha-! Damn, you got me there." "Anyway, the factory is located underneath the store and there are hidden elevators within the employee zone. B rank Guardians are standing guard all over the place, and there are also two A rank Guardians at the opposite end of the elevators. They assist the B rank Guardians if too many of them get destroyed. However....this is a raid. We destroy everything inside to the point where there''s nothing salvageable." "Oooh, sounds fun. I really want to go now-" "Hold on. You remember what happened two months ago? An S rank Guardian appeared. S rank Guardians appear after two A rank Guardians are destroyed." "How do the Guardians know if another is destroyed?" "They send out an energy pulse to notify-" "No, that''s what I''m talking about. What creates that energy pulse?" "...." "Ah, so you guys don''t even know. Do these lower branches really have no help at all? Geeze, what is the main branch doing." "Even if we did figure out what causes it, how would we stop it?" "Simple. Destroy the Guardians before they send out the pulse." "If it was really that simple then that S rank wouldn''t have shown up." "Hahaha, that''s where I come into play. You see, my power is a bit unique. I can send out some of my own energy and poke inside the Guardians'' bodies. They won''t feel a thing, even if they did have nerves." "....Well, seeing as how you really are quite weird, I won''t doubt your words. However, I''ll have Dan defending you while you try to stop them from sending out their signal." "No problem, just leave it to me." "Now then, Shadow, I brought you here because your ability to errode objects is quite powerful. You''ll be our support during this process, as well as being our main destroyer of evidence and destroying all the electrical equipment in the factory." "Understood." "Rose, you''ll be helping Dan defend Kyte when the A rank Guardians attack. Since your power is purely offensive, you''ll be dealing the most damage against the other Guardians as well." "Ok!" "Kyte, you''ll try to disarm whatever causes the energy pulses." "Alright, now, what''ll you do?" "I''m going to guard the outside to make sure no Guardians appear. If some do appear, I''ll destroy them. Does everyone understand what their roles are?" "Yep!" "Yes." "Piece of cake." "Not like I have a choice..." "Kyte can you stop with the negativeness? Thanks." "I can''t help it when there''s a pig hugging my arm-" -SMACK- "Ow! The Hell did you smack me for?!" "Calling a beautiful woman like me a pig...I should ask you what the Hell you''re doing!" "I''m saying the truth-" -THUD- "-! Now you''re headbutting me?! You''re crazy!" "Hmmm? I~''ll show you crazy." Rose tackled Kyte while still on the couch, and while Kyte was struggling to get free, Rose quickly closed the distance between their faces. "You two do realize we''re still here right?" Dan was currently standing in-front of them with a gaze that could kill. They both froze after seeing Dan''s glare, so Rose slowly crawled off of Kyte. "You always have to ruin the fun." Rose crossed her arms in-front of her chest with a disappointed expression covering her face. "You''re not supposed to be doing that in the first place!" "Hmph, you don''t even live here, so what''s the problem?" "The problem is that you''re breaking the rule!" "Yea, YOUR rule. Not mine." Dan started to release a chilling pressure that surrounded Rose, and she instantly froze up. "Huh? What happened? Done talking?" "Y...yes..." "You guys, just stop it. I''m going to bed. The mission will begin in two days. Make sure you''re well rested and ready to go when the time comes." Akina got up and walked out. Shadow did the same as he gave a soft sigh before he left the room. Dan angrily left the room, and before Kyte could leave as well... "Hey, where are you going?" "...To sleep? Where else am I going to go?" "Then, do you want to sleep with me-" "No." Kyte speed-walked out of the room and into his own. Although he left one distraction, after entering his room, he found another distraction. Akina was already undressing, with her top gone from her body. Her bra was still covering the important parts, but her beautiful figure was displayed nonetheless. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Ah..." "...Do you want to sleep with me-" "No!" Kyte wanted to face-desk instead of face-palm this time but he refrained from doing so. He only calmly went to his bed and instantly changed into some pj''s that were in his storage necklace. Taking one last peek at Akina''s lovely body, which was now fully unclothed except for her under garments, Kyte went to sleep. ______________________________________________________________________ After waking up and shoving Akina out his bed for at least the fifteenth time, Kyte set out for Lakewood Forest again. Since there''s only one day before the mission starts, Kyte wanted to test Fire Touch. It described a way to ''sense'' the fire element within the world energy, and if Kyte is able to comprehend that, then he''ll be able to create fire out of thin air. Possibly. After he reached his area he sat down in the middle and began to just sense the world energy around him. Compared to when the vortex appeared, the amount of world energy was almost non-existent. Kyte could faintly feel it moving around like flowing water. Strange...all I feel is the world energy, nothing else. What does it mean by fire element?....This skill is from a different universe so maybe elemental energies were present there. After another ten minutes of trying to sense the fire element, frustration began to build up inside Kyte. He began to think of different ways to sense the fire element. Then, he got an idea... He brought over a dry branch and used Internal energy to drill into it. He spun the Internal energy very quickly, and smoke started to emit from the branch. Kyte hurriedly tried to sense the world energy around the branch, and to his astonishment, world energy was actually being released from the small sparks of flames. A small fire sprang to life but it quickly died out because nothing was there to support it. However, Kyte got what he needed. Ha! I never really thought about this possibility! There is no fire elemental energy! That''s because everything is world energy! World energy is generated from the sparks and the flame. Even a tiny bit of it is released when the smoke appeared! Hahahaha! This is amazing! Instead of everything being organized into different categories.... everything is put into one type of energy! Everything clicked within Kyte''s mind. Of course, that''s only with fire. He still needed to make sure of his hypothesis before fully understanding. He would need to test it with water and earth, and there is plenty of it around him. Kyte gathered some water from the nearest lake, which took about five minutes, and traveled back to the area. He tried to sense world energy within the water, however, he felt that it was the same just as it was outside of water. He began to think about this while sensing the world energy. He felt it freely flow through everything--the ground, the water, the water bottle, the trees... The farther down he spread his Spirit energy, the more world energy he could feel. It seemed like world energy became denser the closer the Spirit energy moved toward the core of the planet. And that was only a few miles down. The crust to the core of the planet was a few thousand miles. Of course, there''s no way for Kyte to get down that far anyway. The pressure of gravity and the high temperatures would instantly destroy him. Regardless, Kyte felt like he was on to something. He felt his thinking was a little crazy, but his whole situation is crazy to begin with. He no longer doubted it; world energy comprises everything. It''s inside and moves around everything, it''s released when fire is created, it''s naturally formed from water and earth. However, what does this mean? And what does that black light have to do with any of it? Kyte only heavily sighed while thinking about. It was just too complicated for him at the moment. He knew that world energy is possibly the thing that''s responsible for the creating of everything, however, it could also be left-over power from whatever created the universe. Then again, there''s matter and anti-matter. It''s definitely possible that a negative version of world energy exists somewhere out there. Ugh, why am I thinking so far? I should just keep my thoughts down to earth right now. Thinking about whatever is out in space is not what I should be thinking of. Although it sounds pretty solid...Ahhhh, forget it. Kyte shook his head and decided to practice with world energy. Although the quantity of world energy was low, it was still there. Kyte began to try to move the world energy into his palm. At first nothing happened so Kyte tried to barely activate the breathing technique to draw it in. The world energy slowly began to move toward him. However, instead of his palm, it moved toward his whole body. Gosh damn it, move to where I want you to! The world energy refused to move toward his palm. It acted as if it was being pulled inside his body. Haaaa, it won''t move to my palm, just inside my body.....hm? Wait...inside my body? A small spark flashed inside his mind as he thought about it. That''s right! I absorb world energy itself! I don''t need to control it outside of body when it''s inside my body! Kyte focused on the inside of his body with his Spirit energy and found that the black light devoured all the world energy that Kyte had absorbed. Although the amount that he absorbed was completely insignificant, Kyte felt that this discovery was enormous. If he was able to freely control the black light inside his body, then....who knows about the possibilities! Kyte solely focused on the black light within his body. Now, it seemed to slightly react from Kyte''s influence. Before it wouldn''t acknowledge Kyte at all. But now, after he gained some knowledge on world energy, it began to move to his will. He slowly moved it toward his palm, little by little. Eventually enough gathered in his palm, and it was about the size of a small cookie. Kyte began to manipulate it into different shapes just to get some more experience with handling the stuff, just like he did when he first learned about Spirit energy. However, this black light was hundreds of times more difficult to manipulate. It took Kyte ten full minutes just to make a simple cube, and then another ten minutes to change it into a pyramid. Even after doing all of that, Kyte felt like his power with manipulation the black light raised only slightly. Maybe it would take him nine minutes and fifty seconds instead of ten minutes next time. However, despite the difficulty, Kyte was increasingly happy and excited. Just knowing that he can move the black light is a huge improvement from not being able to move it at all. After that, Kyte wanted to test out another idea. He filled his thoughts with images of fire and sparks that created fire. The next thing he saw was a giant inferno that spread out from his hand and completely destroyed everything within a fifty meter radius. The trees and vegetation just outside the inferno burst into flames that started to quickly spread outward. For some reason, Kyte wasn''t injured in the slightest. However, he quickly went into action. He spread his Spirit energy outside of the fire and laced Internal energy with it. After that he pulled his energy back toward him, which surprisingly brought all the fire toward him. The fire left the vegetation like it wasn''t even there...except for all the burn marks. With a raging fire all around his body, that didn''t hurt him at all, Kyte began to think. If he created the fire using world energy, then wouldn''t it be possible to do the opposite? Kyte felt like he achieved an even higher knowledge compared to before. Instead of just creating elements from world energy, why couldn''t he do the opposite? Everything is world energy, so Kyte began to try to transform the fire back into world energy. The fire slowly shrunk, and energy began to go back into Kyte''s body. The black light inside his body quickly devoured all the world energy that Kyte was absorbing again. After a few minutes the fire was gone. Kyte looked around and found that the entire area was burnt black. What does this all mean? How is this all connected?...what am I missing? Kyte hurriedly spread out his Spirit energy and found that multiple figures were quickly heading toward his direction. Sensing that, Kyte immediately used a Concealing Mask and left using Windwalker. Chapter 17: Sacrifice 2 more chapters and we will have caught up to where I am currently writing. I still have to re-write chapter 18 though. Hahaha...ahhh man can''t wait. Also, chapter 18 might be twice as long as this one...maybe. Depends on the final product. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Another day passed, and it was currently the day of the mission. The previous day, Kyte went back to Lakewood Forest to practice manipulating the black light. It was still difficult as ever, but he felt that he was making progress no matter how little it was. What Kyte is confident in doing is manifesting the black light outside his body. However, it just dances around randomly in-front of him. It takes a lot of concentration to get control over it. Regardless of that, Kyte was still in the high Champion stage. Then again, he wasn''t really looking to breakthrough into the seventh stage. It''s wasn''t too long ago that he achieved high Champion stage, so breaking through so fast would be impossible. After several hours of lazing around and playing with the black light, it was finally time for the mission. Akina gathered everyone at the kitchen table. "Alright everyone, there are no changes to the plan formation. Just keep calm and stay focused. We don''t need any more mistakes." "Yea, you got that right." "Let''s go." Everyone got up and left the apartment which only had Light, Jol, and Lucy left. After leaving, everyone quickly sped up toward the mission location. Kyte spread his Internal energy into the storage necklace and brought out a few blue-colored pills. "Here, everyone take one of these." "What are they?" "They are something like an energy recovery pill. Only take it if you feel really tired." "Did you make these?" "No, my...someone gave them to me." "Ah...I see." Sensing slight melancholy in Kyte''s voice, Akina held back her questions. She was very curious as to where Kyte was getting all of these things. Well, she was mostly curious about who gave them to Kyte. After traveling for about half an hour, everyone arrived in-front of the store. There were still some random cars in the gigantic parking lot, but other than that, there was no one to be seen. All the lights inside the store were off, showing that no one was inside. Just in case, Kyte spread out his Spirit energy throughout the store and discovered that there was really no one in there. It was a little past midnight when they arrived so it''s to be expected. Other than that, Kyte found an elevator inside a wall behind several boxes in the back storage. "Everyone, I found a hidden elevator inside a wall in the back storage." "Huh? How did you find that out?" "I already told you before right? I have this special thing that allows me to do that kind of stuff." "Alright. Everyone, go inside now. I''ll be staying out here to keep watch. I officially start the mission...now!" Everyone''s expression turned serious as they quickly sprinted toward the store. Shadow corroded the doors so that they could be easily pushed open and after that everyone sped inside. "Guys, don''t worry about the cameras, I''ve already taken care of them." Kyte said as he destroyed the electrical circuits inside the cameras with Internal energy. Hearing that, everyone continued toward the storage room while closely behind Kyte. They entered the storage and Kyte quickly found the wall that was covering the elevator. He focused his Spirit energy in the area and found a switch near the floor that was covered by the wall. Reaching down, Kyte put his hand through the wall, which was actually a very soft-type of material that easily let Kyte''s hand through. Feeling the switch, Kyte pulled and heard a small *chink*. The wall in-front of them opened up to reveal what looked like a stainless steal interior with hand-rails covered in a very soft fabric. Everyone went inside after Kyte closely examined everything with his Spirit energy and found nothing wrong. Not like he knows how elevators work, anyway. There were two buttons inside the elevator. One had an arrow pointing downward and the other pointing upward. Kyte pressed the downward arrow and the elevator began to quickly descend. It took about thirty seconds to finally stop. The doors opened, and to their surprise.... "Huh? Who are you guys?...!!" Kyte quickly reached out and grabbed the man that was outside the elevator. He slashed his neck and speedily absorbed all the blood in the man''s body. Afterward, Kyte searched around and found an I.D. card on the man. "Mark Sickerburg...Research Team." "There''s actually people down here..." "This mission just got a bit harder, but we''ll manage." Kyte stood up and walked outside the elevator. He could hear the voices of several people in different locations. By looking at the underground factory from his angle, he could see that the factory was indeed huge. It was approximately as big as the parking lot, except the ceiling was very high up. There were giant machines placed in long rows that seemed to go all the way down to the other side. Most of the machines were assembling different mechanical parts together while others looked to hold a weird green liquid. "Everyone, leave the humans to me. I''m able to silently kill them. I leave the regular B rank Guardians to you, Shadow. For now, Dan I want you to go with Shadow. Rose and I can handle everything else." "Who put you in charge, hmm?" "What, I''m just expressing my opinion." "Hmph...to be honest, I think that''s for the best. I can already tell that your defense is pretty high, although not as high as mine, it''s still good enough. I think Akina may have underestimated you. Remember, destroy everything." "Hahahaha, of course, of course." Kyte took a step forward and an unconscious smile appeared on his face. He felt tingly sensations all over his body which only elated the excitement he was feeling. He began to lightly chuckle as he tried to calm himself down. Is this the rage from the Bloodrage technique acting up again?...Ahhhh....hahaha... Kyte deeply exhaled, and the air that escaped his lungs was slightly shaken. "Ah, fuck! I can''t take it anymore!" Kyte explosively dashed forward, leaving behind several cracks in the ground with every step he took. He immediately created two energy swords for both his hands and began to crazily release surges of energy in every direction. The two swords danced around sporadically. Humans that were overseeing the machines working were instantly destroyed. Blood and organs continually sprayed out in every direction, and the blood would immediately be absorbed and disappear. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Seeing as they couldn''t do anything to stop him, the other three just went along with it. Besides, the mission is supposed to be a destruction mission, not a sneak-in-and-assassinate-type of mission. The giant machines were quickly being corroded by Shadow''s black energy and Dan was simultaneously protecting him from the B rank Guardians. However, what they didn''t expect was the amount of Guardians present. They completely underestimated the number of Guardians and so they were quickly continuing toward a disadvantageous position. Although Shadow''s offensive power is comparable to B rank Guardians, the corrosion process still takes several seconds to be effective. Dan''s white mist was originally for defensive purposes, however, his mist''s real power is its abnormal power of condensing itself into a very strong solid. The spikes and swords that Dan manifests are strong enough to effortlessly slice through the armor of B rank Guardians. Rose''s red energy seemed to be an energy that is very high in temperature. Although it''s mainly suited for use against biological enemies, the red energy is nonetheless very powerful. Besides, Rose''s innate born power is comparable to a Bronze A rank, so it''s already quite powerful. Likewise, Kyte''s level of power was immeasurable. Due to having several different types of techniques to increase his power, Kyte''s power could be at B rank and even go up to maybe Silver A rank. The reason why his body is able to withstand such a huge increase in power is mostly because of his skeleton, which evolves fairly quickly. The absorption of blood from living things also contributed to his body''s increase in durability. After creating a path toward the back of the factory, Kyte spotted two crimson colored Guardians quickly sprinting toward him. Kyte spread out his Spirit energy to encompass both of them, and it was at this time that they attacked. Kyte raised both of his energy swords and blocked the Guardians morphed blades. However, Kyte felt the intense pressure that transmitted from their blows. The strength of A rank Guardians are no where near the strength of an S rank Guardian, but they are still very strong...at least as strong as Dan when he uses his full strength. Feeling this, Kyte was thrown back several steps so he equipped Shadow Twins to instantly increase his power. He then took out Heavy Air and covered it with crimson-colored energy before activating Bloody Acceleration. Right at the end of Bloody Accel, two blades came rushing toward Kyte and he quickly raised both of his swords to block them. Kyte felt that the pressure from the Guardians'' attacks was lesser than before, although not by a large margin. Still, it reassured Kyte that his increase in strength wasn''t insignificant. Kyte flung the two Guardians away from him. His Spirit energy closed in on a small box inside the heads of the two Guardians. Found it. Kyte blasted toward the Guardian on his left and began to wildly attack it as he aimed for its head. "Everyone, just destroy the heads to get rid of the pulse-signal!" Kyte blasted a Sonic blade toward the Guardian as he felt the other swinging its arm toward him. The Sonic blade sliced the Guardian in-front of him in half, and as that happened, he used Heavy Air to crash down on-top of its head as he simultaneously used the momentum to raise his left arm in order to block the Guardian behind him. The blade smashed against Kyte''s energy sword and blasted him back into a giant machine. The side of the machine was visibly indented from Kyte''s impact, and afterward Kyte fell from the machine onto his feet. Looking up, Kyte saw another blade slicing toward his face. He quickly ducked and rolled to the side just to see the machine being sliced in half by the force of the swing. The Guardian quickly leaped toward Kyte as he sent out a Sonic blade toward its legs. Just as it was going to hit, the Guardian somersaulted in the air before projecting a small gun-like weapon from its chest. "Oh sh-" Right as a green laser slightly exited the weapon, a beam of red energy crashed into the side of the Guardian, making the laser go off course. The laser swept past Kyte and completely decimated the surroundings. It would penetrate through every single material in the factory, and as the Guardian flipped through the air, the laser was sent everywhere. It even shot through the ceiling out into the air of the night. Kyte quickly leaped toward the Guardian and used Heavy Air to smash its head. Pieces of metal went flying everywhere as the Guardian was smashed into the wall on the other side. However... "Everyone..." "What?" "I wasn''t able to stop it from sending out a pulse-signal." "...Now what?" "We get out of here as fast as we can!" There were still a lot of B rank Guardians left. Dan and Shadow hadn''t even finished destroying all of the machines, either. Kyte looked around and ground his teeth before saying: "Everyone, leave! I can take care of the rest!" "What?! We won''t leave you!" Dan shouted as he smashed a Guardian in half. "Yes you will! We have no other choice! The S rank Guardian will be here soon, you guys can still make it out. I can stay here and clear out the rest of them!" "You really think we could do such a thi-" "LEAVE!" Kyte mixed Internal energy with his voice which visibly shocked everyone. At that moment, Kyte leaped toward Rose and picked her up. He cleared a path toward the elevator with Heavy Air. Dan and Shadow followed closely behind him. Once they reached the elevator, Kyte threw Rose into it. "Kyte, I''ll stay here with you." Dan said. Kyte didn''t say anything as he picked Shadow up and threw him next to Rose. He pressed the up arrow and left the elevator. Just as the doors were closing, Kyte''s figure flickered before appearing before Dan. He swung Heavy Air toward him and blasted Dan back into the elevator. "Kyte-!" Half a second later, the doors closed. Kyte turned around and watched the numerous Guardians flooding toward him. Chapter 18: Way to Ones Heart I had to re-write this chapter 2 times until I was at least satisfied with it. Please, enjoy. ;) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Kyte deeply exhaled before activating Bloody Acceleration once again. The bad thing about Blood Accel is that, if he uses it consecutively without rest, Kyte''s loses his energy for a certain amount of time. He used Iron Body while integrating Spirit energy with every skill that he was currently using. After he was fully covered in a dense cloak of crimson energy, Kyte poured all of his power into Heavy Air and his other energy sword. Then, he leaped into the incoming group of Guardians. Kyte waved his swords crazily, slicing apart Guardians that tried to attack him. A few slashes smashed against his energy cloak, but the cloak was only dented and the attacks didn''t cut through it. However, the force behind each attack transferred through the cloak, pushing Kyte slightly off balance with each strike. Kyte already changed his energy sword into a long whip that reached out several meters around him. He would lash out with the whip and slice rows of Guardians in half while blasting out Sonic blades with Heavy Air. He even used his legs to smash against some of the Guardians, which only knocked them back long enough to allow him to take a single breath. Kyte began to feel his Internal energy supply nearing its end as he swept out another Sonic blade. There were about ten more Guardians left, and just as Kyte was going to lash out with the energy whip, he felt his left arm go numb from exhaustion. He clenched down on his teeth and bared through the pain and forcefully raised his arms to defend against the Guardians. It''s been only a few minutes but all of the remaining machines have been thoroughly destroyed by Kyte. Since Shadow had already destroyed most of them, Kyte didn''t have to worry about them too much. He mostly focused on destroying the remaining Guardians before the S rank Guardian appeared. Although, with his pace, Kyte fears that he won''t make it. While dodging an attack from a Guardian, Kyte accidentally tripped over some mechanical parts lying on the floor. He rolled on the ground before raising Heavy Air to clash against a solid blade. The force of the collision made Kyte smash against the ground and slide for several feet before bumping into a pile of debris. Another blade came rushing toward his head, to which Kyte quickly used all of his remaining strength to block. Kyte looked up to see several Guardians jumping toward him. "Well...I don''t have to worry about my surroundings this time...Heheheh...take this!" A giant ball of black light appeared within Kyte''s palm. He extended his hand forward, and just as the Guardians were going to strike his body, the black light exploded into a ferocious tsunami of light-blue flame which also created a gigantic shock-wave that cracked the ground as it pushed outward. The waves of fire forcefully pushed the Guardians back while completely melting them into pools of liquid metal. Everything that the blue fire touched was instantly melted. Kyte''s body fully relaxed after the remaining Guardians were destroyed. His Internal energy was completely depleted and he felt large amounts of pain in his muscles. It felt like he was being ripped apart there was so much pain coursing throughout his body. He swallowed a pill and felt that he was slowly recovering his energy. He also used the remaining amounts of his energy to unleash the power of the black light, and even though the quantity of black light is limited, he can just condense more world energy to create more black light. Propping himself up, Kyte leaned back on a pile of rubble and closed his eyes. He kept his Spirit energy spread out just in-case. He was so tired that moving toward the elevator would seem like a marathon. After a full minute had passed, Kyte still didn''t find anything unusual. Shouldn''t the S ranker have appeared by now?... Feeling a little better, Kyte stood up and began to walk toward the elevator. Strangely enough, everything was quiet. Kyte peacefully called the elevator down and got inside. After he arrived back inside the store, he traveled to the entrance doors. Once he walked out, he saw the giant parking lot. However, there were signs of a huge battle that took place. Large pieces of the ground looked to have been forcefully ripped up, the light poles were all gone, there were large indents in the ground every where, and long cuts in the ground were also present. Kyte looked around but he couldn''t find anything or anyone around. Kyte spread his Spirit energy out to its maximum range but still found nothing. "...I should go back first. I''ll keep my Spirit energy spread out just in case." Kyte began to travel back to the apartment, although it was very slow at first. After about half an hour, Kyte finally got the strength back to use Windwalker well enough to travel across houses and other buildings. Kyte also felt that his Internal energy was a little stronger this time, which is definitely from exhausting himself. It took Kyte almost two hours to arrive back at the apartment. He took out a spare key and opened the door. When he walked in, Kyte noticed all the lights were turned off except for the last room on the right. He saw a figure poke their head out from the room. "Kyte''s back!" Kyte heard several foot steps coming to the door of the room and immediately a few more figures appeared. One of them quickly ran toward Kyte and hugged him right on the spot. Kyte immediately knew who it was and a tired smile appeared on his face. "Kyte, what happened?" "Before that, shouldn''t you tell me what happened first?" "...Right. Follow me, I''ll show you." Rose got off of Kyte to let him follow Dan into the room, and what he saw shocked him. Akina was lying on bed in the middle of the room and there was a faint white aura surrounding her. Her face was deathly pale and her lips had a hint of blue. "What happened?" "The S rank Guardian showed up just like you said." "But isn''t Akina only a Gold A rank?" "Yea, even I don''t know how she survived. And actually, she destroyed the Guardian." "What?!" "Yea. Right when she was about to be decapitated, a weird white aura exploded from her body. She then completely destroyed the Guardian. Afterwards, she collapsed on the ground. She was already unconscious by the time we got to her." "...I see. So, how long do you think she''ll be like this?" "I don''t know. A week, a month, a year? I''ve never seen her like this, so I really don''t know." "Alright then. I guess it''s better to just leave her be for now. There''s nothing we can do, anyway." Kyte left the room and went into his bedroom. He plopped onto his bed and steadily closed his eyes from exhaustion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hm?..." Kyte felt a soft sensation on his body. He opened his eyes and saw a half-naked body clinging on to his side. Red hair flowed down her sides and a faint womanly scent wafted around her. However, the strangest thing was that Kyte felt like she was sucking energy out from inside him. The amount of energy wasn''t significant and it didn''t impact his quality of energy either, so even if he did lose some it would be the same as using energy in a battle and he would just have to rest a while to gain it back. Regardless of that, it seemed like Rose was doing it completely subconsciously because she was currently asleep. Her chest moved and pressed against the side of Kyte''s chest as she softly breathed in air. Kyte could also see a very faint red glow around both of their bodies. The way my energy is being drained is similar to a type of absorption. Is Rose really a regular Gifted? Without knowing why, Kyte began to feel a mysterious air around Rose. It wasn''t a bad premonition but rather a small spark of interest into Rose''s real power. Besides, Rose wasn''t a bad woman in general. Neither is her body... Kyte mentally sighed and just rested his head back down on his pillow. He didn''t know how or when but Rose had managed to sneak into his bed and even got him to wrap his arm around her. It was most likely due to his exhaustion that he felt before he fell asleep. Kyte grew a little curious as to what the effects may be if he intentionally gave her more energy. He increased the amount of energy around his body and Rose automatically began to absorb it. Kyte increased the amount of energy little by little, and the more energy Rose absorbed, the more restless she got. She tightly wrapped her legs around Kyte''s left leg while pressing her upper body even more tightly against Kyte''s. Her breathing got faintly quicker along with a small blush that appeared on her face. Rose slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet Kyte''s. "Yo." After realizing what was happening, Rose quickly let go of Kyte and tried to swiftly leave his bed. However, Kyte smoothly gripped the front of her bra with his index finger and pulled her back. This time her entire body was on top of him. "Why are you trying to leave?" "Why are you bring me back? I thought you didn''t like it." "Hm? When did I say that? Besides, I''ve gotten used to your games after a while. Plus, I wanted to ask you something." "...What?" Rose''s face turned slightly guarded after hearing Kyte. "Well, it''s nothing much, really. I just wanted to ask you why you''re able to absorb my energy is all." "I-I have no idea what-" "Don''t lie to me. You were absorbing my energy on your own even when your unconscious. Tell me, are you really a regular Gifted?" Kyte looked deep into Rose''s eyes while wrapping his right arm around her back. "....No." Rose looked like she was struggling to say that one word, but it eventually came out. Mostly because of her great interest in Kyte, as well as the fact that he was still giving her energy while she also still absorbed it. And one other reason as well. "I see. So the way you increase your power is by draining the energy of someone else, correct?" "Yea." Kyte could see the faint despair in her eyes as he correctly answered the obvious question. He faintly furrowed his brows and thought for a full second before asking: "What happened?" "...I can''t say." "Hmph, I''m guessing it has something to do with your ability to drain energy, right? I think you might be missing something here. First of all, my energy is different from a normal human''s. I also have a very large amount of energy. Nothing bad will happen to me." Rose''s expression slightly lessened, but then a single tear rolled down her cheek. "When I was younger..." "Hm?" "When I was younger, I had a family. It was only me and parents, but we were still a family. At that time I had no idea that I was a Gifted. Actually, my powers awakened when I was seven years old. Before that, my family was a normal family. After that...things turned bad. Plants would suddenly die after being around me for too long, my family dog died a month after my seventh birthday. It was at that time that my parents began to notice something might be wrong, but they chose to ignore it at that time, because who would suspect a seven year old girl of killing everything around her? A year later, both my parents were admitted to the same hospital. Their health steadily declined the more I saw them, and by that time, my parents were completely scared of me. They definitely knew I was the cause of everything but they didn''t know why. Everyone that would meet me would suddenly feel tired, and the ones that met with me the most ended up like my parents. And, sure enough, a year after that, both my parents died. By then I already knew that I was the cause of everything. I knew I had killed my parents and the other people that were admitted to the hospital died a few months after my parents. Everyone that came into contact with me long enough met the same fate. The few lucky people survived but they were always sick. I knew after all of these events that I was cursed and that I was born to feed misfortune to the people around me. However, that''s when I met Akina. She looked the same back then as she does now. She wasn''t afraid of me at all, and for some reason, I felt that she was different from everyone else. She was definitely different. No matter how much energy I took from her, she never grew tired. Her energy recovered the next day, and it was even stronger than day before. It was at that point that she slowly told me about the real world. What was happening out there between AHAD and the Gifted. She also helped me control my power, and thankfully I was able to overcome that hurdle. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. However, even with all that, it still wasn''t enough. Akina never told me anything about herself. I don''t know if she has family, I don''t know where she came from, and I don''t know what her power is. I was longing for someone to be close with. Someone to share my experiences with. Akina wasn''t that person. I''m still very thankful to have her, because if I didn''t, I would have most likely been killed by AHAD or starved on the street. When we left the store to look for Akina last night and we found her on the ground in her current state, I suddenly felt lost. The person that saved me from my demise looked like she was dying and there''s nothing I can do about it. I felt so alone when I looked at her and I can''t help but think that she might leave me forever." "...I see. That must have been tough. Thankfully you and Akina found each other and she was able to help you. Also, Rose....we''re practically the same." "Huh? The...same?" "Since you told me your past, it''s only fair I share mine, right?...It was a summer day and my parents wanted to take me to the amusement park in Lailer City. We were driving on the freeway, and my dad was in the driver''s seat. I was busy going through my phone until I found something really interesting. It made me laugh a lot, so I showed it to my mom, making her laugh too. I then called to my dad to make him look at it as well, but right when he looked away from the road... A truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. It was ruled that the position he was in made the truck drive into the opposite lanes on the left. My dad looked up to see the truck coming straight for our car, but...it was too late. It was a head-on collision, and worse yet, there was another truck behind us. The truck that collided head-on made my car shoot backward and spin just enough for the truck behind us to rip the car apart. Both of my parents were killed on impact, but somehow I managed to survive with only a broken collarbone and leg. It was a miracle that I survived, since I was supposed to have died either on impact with the first truck or when the car was ripped apart by the second. I was still conscious after the crash, and all I really remember is both of my parents'' dead bodies lying in-front of me. Their bodies were horribly disfigured, and the expression on their faces have haunted me ever since." Rose stared wide-eyed at Kyte. Tears just strolled down her cheeks, but her expression showed happiness rather than sadness. Kyte was confused when he saw that, much Rose opened her mouth to speak: "When I first saw you, I was surprised. You popped up out of nowhere. You gained power so fast that it was unbelievable. After you joined us, I looked inside your body and saw something very similar to Akina''s power. When I discovered that, I was immediately excited that I was barely able to hold myself together. I wanted to get close to you no matter what. And before, when you told me about how your parents had died, a sudden spark appeared in my mind. Your circumstances, even though for different reasons, were the same. I''m able to share what I''ve felt and what I''ve done with you, not because you like me or I like you, but because you are able to understand what I''ve done and what I''ve felt. Not only that, but you''re not effected by having your energy absorbed. It quickly regenerates itself and becomes stronger. I feet like I have finally found the person I''ve been looking for since I was a little girl. I...finally found you..." Tears began to stream down Rose''s cheeks as she buried her face in Kyte''s chest. Kyte was completely shocked at what Rose had just told him. Thinking back on Rose''s story, he expected her power to be unfortunate but not to that extent. When he thought about it, he concluded that it was definitely logical. Having a power that absorbed a thing''s energy when that thing can''t regenerate it back would have devastating consequences, which Rose experienced personally. Kyte felt that he was at fault for killing his parents, to which made Kyte make unfortunate decisions afterward, but when he compared that to Rose''s experience, when she unwillingly killed not only her parents but also the people around her, Kyte felt quite ignorant. He thought that he experienced the worst experience someone could go through. Kyte felt like slapping himself in the face one hundred times for thinking like that. Kyte also reciprocated Rose''s feelings toward understanding each other. He never thought that he would meet someone that knew it was their fault their own parents died, leaving them with no family. Even more so than that, Kyte would have never expected, if he did meet someone like that, that person to be a beautiful woman that apparently likes him. She''s older than Kyte by a few years but she''s still in her prime. Kyte softly stroked Rose''s red hair while hugging her more tightly against his body. "Well...I''m not really good at these things, but...I understand what you''ve said. We both inadvertently killed our parents, leaving us with no family. Although, I rejected my remaining family. In your case, everyone died. I can''t fully understand the true extent of what you felt back then, but I can understand your underlying feelings. And even that is enough for me. I''ve always felt like I deserved to be alone for what I did so I always rejected anyone that wanted to get close to or help me. I don''t know why but for some reason I couldn''t really reject you. At first I tried to, of course, but over time I just went with the flow. And now that I''ve learned that you''ve gone through a similar situation as me, and that you understand me, makes me feel like I''ve gained something that I lost. For that, Rose, I have to thank-you." [NSFW] Silence filled the room after Kyte finished talking. Kyte could feel the strong heat and attraction force around their two bodies, which caused Kyte to wrap his arms around Rose more tightly than before. He never stopped feeding her energy throughout the talk. Not only that, but something down under had been pressed against Rose the entire time... Only after realizing that did Kyte curse morning wood. Added to that was Rose''s apparel which consisted of a bra and panties. Her soft, well-rounded breasts which were pressed against his chest were displayed in full view. A faint scent was being emitted from her body that invaded Kyte''s nose and slightly intoxicated him. Maybe it was due to their simple connection with energy, but Kyte felt a huge urge to press her down. It was most likely because he was giving energy to her that made him want to give her more than just that. Besides, he could feel her absorbing his energy which felt like a small suction force on his body. To his surprise, a small tear landed on his chest. It was cold when it touched his skin, but after looking at Rose''s face, he was instead filled with a slight warmth. Rose''s face wasn''t one of sadness but rather one of happiness. Rose''s warm breath was softly landing on Kyte''s neck and mouth. Her breath didn''t smell bad at all, and it had a rather refreshing scent to it for some reason. That enticing heat along with Rose''s beautiful smiling face and enticing figure completely caught Kyte. Even if Kyte may be more mature, or maybe less mature, than other guys his age, due to all of the events that have happened to him, he is still a guy that only recently graduated high school. Being with an older woman like this, especially in the given situation, re-emerged Kyte''s desire to be with someone, even if it was a small re-emergence. Kyte quickly grabbed onto Rose''s soft, fleshy butt and pressed down as he lifted his head and kissed her. Rose let out a small sound of surprise, but she didn''t back away. She actually pressed against Kyte''s lips more as she gripped Kyte''s shoulders. Kyte squeezed his hands while sometimes pressing down harder. As he felt that soft sensation in his hands, as well as Rose''s body being pressed against his lower body, Kyte began to breathe more roughly. Kyte slipped his tongue inside Rose''s mouth. He could feel her small, soft tongue as he twirled his with hers. He noticed a sweet taste in her mouth that made him want even more. The heat coming from Rose''s body merged with Kyte''s, mostly because of the slight increase in energy that Kyte was giving Rose to absorb. Their lips separated and Rose pushed Kyte down. She lifted her upper body up and her breasts bounced upward in-front of Kyte''s face. Just as he moved his hands from Rose''s butt to her chest, Rose stopped him. "I..want you to touch them directly..." Those few words made the excitement in Kyte reach an even higher level. He watched Rose as she slowly reached behind her and unclipped her bra. With a click, the bra slowly fell off of her twin peaks and fell onto Kyte''s chest. In-front of Kyte were two perfect mounds with beautiful pointed pink tips. He glided his hands across Rose''s skin from her waist up to those two mounds and softly squeezed them in his hands. Rose softly bit her lower lip as a small sound escaped her mouth. For some reason, seeing Rose bite the corner of her lip with a little excitement in her expression made the flame inside Kyte grow a little more. Kyte gripped them more tightly as he pressed them upwards, fully feeling the soft elasticity in his hands. Rose slightly arched her back and heavily breathed out. She put her hands over Kyte''s and and moved them around on her breasts, and Kyte could feel Rose''s waist slightly press down and forward. Kyte could clearly feel her movements over the bump in his sweats which created spark-like reactions travel through his body. Feeling this, Kyte could no longer hold it in. He quickly let his hands go and gripped Rose''s right shoulder and the left side of her waist to spin her onto her back underneath him. Before Rose could even react, Kyte quickly deeply kissed Rose while gripping both of her twin peaks once again. He lightly played with the pink tips on-top of her two soft mounds while slipping his tongue inside her mouth. Kyte could feel her warm breath every time he parted from her lips. She quickly pressed Kyte''s head back down with her hand because she too could no longer hold herself back. While her left hand was running through Kyte''s hair, her right hand reached down into Kyte''s pants and tightly gripped his thing. An electrifying feeling shot through his body as he felt Rose''s soft, warm hand tightly grip it. She began to move her hand down and up while she sucked on his tongue with her warm, wet lips. Kyte felt like he was going to go crazy from all the stimuli he was currently feeling. Kyte was barely holding in the pent up feelings that he had been supressing this entire time, and he parted from Rose''s lips and whispered in her ear: "I want to fuck you so hard right now." Rose''s grip slightly tightened after having those words said to her. She let go of it and, while suppressing a light laugh, said: "We can''t do ''that'' yet, but I''ll let you do something else. Take off your pants." Kyte was a little surprised at first, but then quickly complied. After Kyte took his clothing off, Rose pushed him down onto his back. She laid down on-top of Kyte, however, what Kyte didn''t expect was that Rose put his thing in-between her breasts. Immediately, Kyte was able to feel the satisfyingly soft texture and heat from her breast being transmitted, and Rose could feel Kyte''s thick warmth transferring from his hard flesh. Kyte had a perfect view of Rose''s big breasts holding his thing, to which the head was sticking out at the top of her two mounds. Rose lightly licked the tip, making Kyte suck in air as he felt even more electric feelings go through his body. Rose began to move her breasts up and down and left to right as she continually played with the tip with her tongue. She tightly pressed her two soft breasts around Kyte''s thing and thoroughly massaged it. Kyte felt as if he was in heaven as he felt the elasticity pressing onto his thing while rubbing it all over, along with Rose''s small tongue wrapping around the head. It wasn''t long until a thick white fluid escaped that thing and sprayed all over Rose''s face. Some of it even got into her mouth as she was lightly sucking on the tip. "...And here I though it was going to taste horrible..." What? But I haven''t been eating pineapples lately... Kyte was breathing heavily and he relaxed on his back. His thing was still trapped between Rose''s twin peaks and it was still standing tall. He lifted his head to see Rose lick the left over fluid off of her breasts. When she saw Kyte''s thing not resting, a small smile grew on her face. She removed it from her breasts, but then she quickly moved her mouth toward it... Chapter 19: Arrival (1) Sorry for the super short chapter. This is how it ended up after my final re-write of chapter 18, and I didn''t want to conflict with chapters 20 and 21. Normal sized chapters will come back with chapter 20, with some occasional longer chapters. EDIT: Actually, I didn''t realize how short this chapter really was. I''ll be putting out chapter 20 in a few minutes. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ---One month later--- Dan entered the apartment with a few bags of groceries in his hands. Akina was still unconscious but some color had returned to her face. The white aura surrounding her body also diminished quite a bit. It was currently the last day of November and the air outside was beginning to be increasingly cold. People outside wore thick coats, hoods, gloves, scarfs, and other things to keep warm. In the mornings there would be frost on car windows, a shade of white would be covering grass, and small puddles of water would be frozen over. Kyte was currently in his bed sleeping in with three thick blankets on top of him. Wrapped in his arms was a similarly big figure with deep red hair. A continuous flow of heat and energy was being circulated between the two in a rhythmic beat, almost like a heart. Their steady breathing was also in tune, showing how much deep sleep and the energy connection can go. After that day one month ago, Rose stuck to Kyte like a moth to a flame. After finding what she had been searching for for the last several years, she was always happy. Everyone else found it quite weird that Rose would be happy all the time, but when they saw how close she and Kyte were, they guessed what happened. Dan, especially, felt quite troubled about it at first. He knew from personal experience how enchanting and manipulative women can be. However, after seeing Rose''s true happiness, which didn''t look fake at all, he relaxed a little. He knew Kyte was eighteen as well, so he couldn''t do much about it. He wanted to stop everything at first, but he thought it over before concluding that it''s better to just leave them alone. Besides, it''s not like Rose can get pregnant...though Dan would prefer the two of them not doing that kind of thing in the apartment. Kyte slowly opened his eyes and saw a head full of red hair in-front of him. He could smell the sweet scent of shampoo along with Rose''s regular smell which for some reason naturally attracts him. Besides that point, Kyte realized that it was way too warm under the blankets for him. Sure it was nearing winter and it was freezing outside, but sleeping with another person with so many blankets may be too much. "Hey, wake up." Kyte slightly shook Rose''s shoulder. "Hm...? Ah, good morning." Rose turned over to face Kyte and looked into his eyes. "Are you ready?" "For what?" "For...this!" Kyte quickly removed the blankets which made the colder air outside rush in to where they were laying. "Ah!" Rose sucked in air as the cold wind enveloped her body. Not only her though, Kyte also felt the abnormally cold air hit his body. "You''re so mean! Why would you do that!" Rose rolled over onto Kyte to try to reach for the blanket but her attempts proved to be futile. "Come on, just give me the blanket already!" "Heh, you''re gonna have to try harder than that." "Seriously, give me the freakin'' blanket back!" "Alright, alright." Kyte swiftly moved the blanket to cover them again. The warmth from the blanket was still there so it felt quite good after feeling that cold air. Rose quickly snuggled up into Kyte''s embrace, but then Kyte once again ripped the blanket off. "Why are you doing it again?!" Rose climbed over Kyte to reach for the blanket, but just at that time... "Hey, breakfast is ready so come on out-" Dan opened the door and saw Rose reaching for the blanket with her butt facing Kyte''s face. She was still struggling to reach for it and Kyte was just laying there with a weird grin on his face, seemingly satisfied. Rose saw Dan standing in the door way which instantly surprised her, making her fall off the bed and landing on her back. "...That wasn''t my fault." "Hahaha, don''t worry about it Dan. Only Rose would be stupid enough to fall off the bed-" Kyte felt himself being dragged downward, and the next thing he knew he was faceplanting on the floor. "Ow, the heck was that for?!" "You called me stupid." "Yea? Well I was speaking the truth-" Rose pushed Kyte''s face down onto the floor being turning to Dan and, while smiling, saying: "We''ll be right out." "...Right..." Dan had a weird look on his face as he slowly closed the door. He softly sighed as he scratched his head in a tired manner before walking back to the kitchen. Back in the room, Kyte was currently putting on some comfortable clothes before walking to the door. By the way, both Rose and Kyte were half-clothed while they slept. They rarely sleep naked, if at all. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "I''ll be having breakfast since I know how long it takes for women to get ready. I''ll probably be finished by the time you''re done." "At least I care about how I look." "Ha, what do you mean? I always look great." Kyte walked out and toward the kitchen. There were several plates full of eggs and hash browns, and the delicious smell was beginning to spread through the apartment. Dan had already taken his food and went to eat it in the room Akina was staying in. No one could do anything to her since the white aura was like a shield protecting her body. Also, no one dared to seriously try to attack the aura just in case. After breakfast was finished, Dan called everyone to the dinner table to discuss something important. "Alright everyone, this is mainly for Kyte since all of us have already done this before. Every three years GG creates a rank-up test. It''s technically a test but everyone thinks of it as a tournament, because multiple branches participate. The first test is a test within each League. Every branch within their own League participates in their own rank-up test. The top three winners will have the option of leaving for the core rank-up test to try to join a Core League." "Ok, hold on. How do these rank-up tests even work? Won''t there be any people left in each sector?" "That''s why the leader rank-up tests are on a different schedule. Each leader rank-up test is every five years instead of three. Plus, there are some people that won''t be participating in the rank-up tournaments. Also, it''s not like we have to defend against anything." "I have another question. What''s the layout of AHAD and GG? I don''t get how these all works out." "Oh yea, we never did explain it. Well, here''s a map but I''ll also explain it. Our country of Gaet has forty sectors drawn out. These are GG''s drawn sectors around each known AHAD headquarters. GG has the most power in the south and AHAD has the most power in the north. We still have Leagues stationed in the north, but those are usually the Core Leagues. Core League members are at least Silver A rank or higher. Only problem is that we don''t have enough Core Leagues in the north. GG only has four Core Leagues and each of them has five members." "So, that means that AHAD has less influence here in the south?" "Correct. GG''s main headquarters is in the city of Thest. There are no Guardians in Thest or in the surrounding cities. Thomas White and T.D. completely destroyed all of the Guardians in those areas. There were originally forty-five AHAD headquarters, but due to them taking some out, there''s forty." "Who''s Thomas White and T.D.?" "Thomas White is the Gifted that can control time and space. He''s the head of the White family that specializes in gravity control and a few of his descendants obtained his unique ability, although it''s not as strong. T.D. is short for ''The Destroyer'', and he''s the Gifted that has the strongest telekinesis. He''s the head of the Dawn family that specializes in manipulating the elements. Only very few Gifted have shown up with the power of telekinesis. Jol is one of those few, but he''s a Special Gifted so Akina and I don''t know how much his power can grow." "Wait, wait. There''s families? I don''t get that at all. Are Gifted powers hereditary?" "Yes, but only if both parents are Gifted. The chance of a child being Special or regular Gifted is equally the same, which is fifty-fifty. There''s also a chance of a child being born a Gifted if only one parent is Gifted, although the chance is quite low. The hereditary powers are the strongest. It''s sort of like a bloodline with the purest blood having the strongest power." "I see...alright, that all makes sense. Once I get out there I''ll naturally learn more about it." "Yea. You just have to watch out though. The young heads of the important families in this League are pretty arrogant. They were born into a very rich family and given the best training and resources. You can''t expect much else from someone born having everything given to them for free." "Hahaha, don''t worry, I have full confidence that I''ll be able to handle it." "...Well, we''ll see about that. Finally, we''ll be leaving tomorrow morning. Actually, I''ll be staying here to keep an eye on Akina. Rose will be leading you guys to the rank-up test." ""Ok."" "Also, Rose, try to focus during this time. Since Akina and I aren''t going to be there, you''re the temporary leader." "I know, don''t worry about me. I''ve been to the rank-up tests three times already. I know what I''m doing." "Alright, good...Kyte, when you guys get there, things will naturally be explained to you. The tests change every three years so it wouldn''t make a difference anyway." "Ok, so I''ll go ahead and take it easy for the rest of the day. Till tomorrow morning." Kyte walked back to his room with Rose sticking to his side. Chapter 20: Arrival (2) This should be at least a regularly-sized chapter. Sorry for that xD __________________________________________________________________________________ -The next day- It was currently morning and everyone was packing their things to go to the rank-up test. Dan was staying in the apartment with Akina, but everyone else was leaving with Rose. Apparently she''s done this three times now, although this will be her first time going as the representative instead of Akina. Everyone was taking suitcases and bags to hold their things because Rose had told everyone that rank-up tests are usually three weeks long, which leaves time for people to go back and celebrate Christmas or just to relax in general. "Alright everyone, you ready?" ""Yea!"" After everyone was ready, they all got into a van and drove off. Rose was obviously the one driving, although Kyte and Shadow could''ve driven. But, since Rose is the temporary leader this time, she decided it would be best for her to drive. It would take a couple of hours to reach the destination, so she might switch out with someone else. "So, you guys, how many of these have you gone to?" Kyte, who called shotgun, turned around and asked. "We''ve all gone to two." Shadow was the one that answered. The four of them had been together for years and Shadow naturally came out as the ''leader'' of the four. Mostly because the other three are too lazy and don''t care. "Hmm, so what''s the test like?" "It''s kind of random. My first year the test was surviving the assault of as many Guardians as possible. The second time the test was a stealth mission. It could be anything this year." "I see...it seems pretty straight forward." After that, they talked about various things on the way there. The rank-up test was taking place at the location of the hosting family - the Wux family. The Wux family, according to Rose, is the family that controls Sector 31. Their two eldest sons are within the main branch of Sector 31, and a few of their other children are within other branches. The head of the Wux family, David Wux, is the leader of Sector 31 and is currently the highest authority within Sector 31. This gives the Wux family a large amount of power not only in Sector 31 but also in other Sectors. Although other Sectors are lead by other families, each leading family has a lot of prestige and power. Of course, the Core League families like the White family and the Dawn family are exponentially more powerful. They''re only able to keep their power because their descendants are too powerful. Anyway, there are other minor families within Sector 31 as well. The family directly under the Wux family is the Tael family. They have actually been in a long struggle for power in Sector 31 but the Wux family has always come out on top. The family under the Tael family is the Cot family. And then other families are underneath them, and the authority just keeps diminishing. Rose also said that the Wux family has always taken first and second place in the tournament. Their family power is to create small needles that can paralyze, numb, and destroy the body. Apparently, the strongest children with the hereditary power have been able to create various kinds of poisons within their needles, which is very versatile. Shadow and the others also commented saying that the Wux and Tael family are both merciless when dealing with people that threaten their power as the top families, so be careful not to provoke them. Although Kyte turned a blind eye to that last part because he''s not the same person months ago. He will not just sit there and do nothing while he''s being beaten and cursed at. Plus, he doesn''t a family anyway. After a few hours of driving, and switching between drivers, they finally arrived at their location. It was actually a little ways off from the real rank-up test location because of security reasons regarding Guardians. So, everyone got out of the van and walked into a regular grocery store. Rose walked up to the counter and showed a small golden badge to the cashier. The cashier immediately understood and silently passed a key to Rose before pressing a messaging button underneath the counter, signifying the arrival of another group of participating Gifted. Rose signaled to the others to follow her and they walked past the rows of products to a door. Rose used the key on the door and walked inside. Inside the room were two people that had stopped talking when Rose and the others entered the room. One of them stood up and asked for Rose''s badge, to which Rose showed it to him. He nodded and asked for the keys which Rose gave him. On the other side of the room was an elevator, and everyone walked inside. Rose pressed the down arrow and the doors closed. After ten seconds the elevator doors opened and there were two more people stationed outside of it. Rose showed her badge once more, and one of the guards opened the door for them to pass through. Once through the door, Kyte saw a small subway train with the head of the train pointing to the left of Kyte. It had a steel-color which oddly didn''t reflect any light that passed onto it. As Kyte looked around he found a few other groups of people waiting in their own areas. All of them turned to look at Rose''s group, and a few expressed faces of disgust while others simply indifferently looked away. Kyte could see a few of them wearing shortswords and longswords across their backs, but he doesn''t know why and where they got them. Maybe some of them have powers pertaining to swords? Is that possible? "Hey, Rose, why did some of those people look at us like that?" Kyte obviously noticed those rude stares and he felt like doing something. However, he knows that that would not be the right thing to do. He silently reminded himself to only attack if he''s blatantly provoked. "Don''t worry about it, everyone that attends the rank-up tournament will naturally create a few enemies. Of course, we have as well. Shadow and Light are pretty lethal in their attacks so most of those stares are probably toward them." Kyte didn''t notice until now but everyone was wearing a sort of badge on their chest. There were different colors pertaining to each rank. For example, one person would be wearing a silver B badge while another would have a gold C badge. Kyte looked at Rose and the others to find that they too were wearing their own badges. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I feel kinda left out... Rose saw Kyte''s slightly disturbed gaze as he looked around. She slightly smiled as she stopped a laugh from escaping her mouth. She walked up next to Kyte and patted his shoulder, saying: "Don''t worry, you''ll get your rank soon. Besides, I highly doubt you''ll get a low rank." "Yea, I guess so. I just don''t know how strong the other participants will be. I don''t even know what the test will be like." "Hahaha, don''t worry about it. Everything will be explained in detail once we get there." "Right, so when do we go?" "There''s still one more group that has yet to arrive. The last branch is from Lailer city-" Just then, the door opened once again. Several people walked through the door and the person in front was a tall, muscular man. He had blonde hair and eyes that looked like gold. He wore regular jeans and shoes but he coupled that with an expensive-looking hoodie. His hair was short but it was long enough to for him to create a normal fo-hawk. It looked a bit weird at first, but the more Kyte looked at him the more it suited him. The man also looked to be in his twenties, not much younger than Rose. The people behind him all looked at Rose''s group with disdain. One or two of them didn''t even bother looking at them. "Hahaha, we''re here. Hm? Where''s Akina and Dan?" "Don''t worry about it." "Aww, is that how you treat me? We used to be best friends back in the day, Rose." "Yea, right. If you think harassment is friendship, then yea." "Don''t put it that way. I was just trying to have some fun!" "Trying to kidnap me isn''t a form of fun, Seeker!" "Oi, stop trying to antagonize me. You''re the one that came after me first, slut." Seeker stepped toward Rose but Kyte quickly moved in-front of her. "Hm? Who''s this kid?" "I should be the one asking that question." Kyte stared directly into Seeker''s eyes without a hint of fear. "What''d you say? Do you even know who you''re talking to?" "I have no idea. And actually, I don''t want to know. I can already tell that you''re an asshole." Seeker''s eyes shown a dangerous light that quickly disappeared. He knew that any fighting within the transportation area would be immediate expulsion out of the rank-up test. With the benefits that come with ranking up, he definitely did not want to waste the opportunity for his subordinates to rank up. "Hmph. Keep talking. That mouth of yours will be bashed in after you get beaten to the ground." "I''d like to see you try." "No can do, kid. Fighting in here means expulsion. Being too eager to fight can only be seen as a sign of immaturity." "I''d like to hear you say that again when I stomp you under my feet." Seeker emitted a terrifyingly strong aura that shot toward Kyte. He immediately felt pressure the size of a mountain crash down on his shoulders. He used all of his strength to stay standing and not fall to his knees. Rose put her hand on his shoulder and a faint red energy covered his body. Slight traces of a black light appeared among the countless particles of red, though they were too little to be noticed unless one was intensely focused. The pressure on Kyte suddenly felt a lot lighter. He could feel the warm, red energy smoothly cover his entire body. He also felt that similar energy from his black light within it. It was only natural that it was there, considering how much energy Rose absorbs from Kyte on a daily basis. Due to that, Rose''s energy greatly increased over the last month. The Rose now could easily defeat the Rose from back then. The strength of her energy increased that much, but on a broad scale its increase was quite small. When Seeker saw that red energy and the fact that Kyte was no longer feeling any pressure, he retracted his aura. He was actually surprised when he saw that Rose actually defended against him. He knew that Rose was a regular Gifted and that her energy never did increase over the time that he knew her. However, what he doesn''t know is that Rose is actually a Special Gifted. Due to absorbing all of the energy from people when she was younger, she accumulated a lot of power beforehand. That''s why she was at bronze A rank when she joined Akina''s group. What he didn''t know is that the energy from Kyte''s black light began to change Rose''s energy. But now, due to absorbing the incredibly strong energy from Kyte, Rose went up to silver A rank in power. She would have to attend the leader rank-up test in order to get her actual silver A badge though. Although Seeker had only used about half of his actual power, he was still surprised. He himself has a silver S badge, but in terms of power he should be a gold S rank. He had retracted his aura right when he felt it being blocked off by Rose''s energy, mainly out of pure surprise. Comparing Rose''s power from back then to now caused Seeker to be amazed. He thought that there might be a way to increase a regular Gifted''s power, but then he quickly threw that thought away. "Oh? That''s interesting...Hahahahaha, you''ve shown me something good, Rose. One surprise after another. I can''t wait to see what else you have, if you have anything at all. It''s always been so boring in the past, so weak. Hopefully there''s finally someone good in your group." Seeker and his group walked past Rose and Kyte. Rose had nothing to say because it was the truth. Besides, Seeker''s branch always came out on top within these few branches during the rank-up tournament. Kyte had never even experienced the rank-up tests so he didn''t have anything to say back at all. Plus, he has no experience with that sort of talking in the first place so he wasn''t confident at all. What he was confident in doing was stealing first place. He knew from the battles with Dan that he was in the A rank of power, just not which section. So, during this rank-up test, Kyte will definitely witness how much power he actually has. He also wishes to finally use his full power, along with using the mysterious black light. Chapter 21: Arrival (3) Sorry for the late chapter. Also, as a heads up, we have finally caught up with my current chapter. I''m dealing with a few things IRL at the moment so my writing has slowed down a bit. Chapter 22 is almost finished, so I should do that. Chapter should come out within 2 days. Late chapters, within 3 days. Otherwise I will post a notification explaining myself haha. ___________________________________________________________________________ After all of that, the doors to the subway opened and everyone quickly shuffled inside. The subway interior was quite high-class with seats that had soft cushions and tables situated at each section of seats. The cushions were red and the carpet on the floor was white. The walls was a milky color and was also slightly padded. Everyone sat with their own branch and only a few people got up to talk to some others. It was the same for Rose''s group as a few people walked over to speak with Shadow. The people that did talk to him looked close to his age, with all of them being male. It seems like Shadow has quite a reputation around here...I guess I underestimated him a bit. Though his erosion ability is quite strange. "Hey, Shadow, how are you so popular?" "I don''t know. I just do whatever I can to win against other people in the tournament. Most people get frustrated and mad when they fight against me but there''s a few that are good sports." "Really? Wow...I''ll look forward to watching you then." "Please do. Depending on how well you do in the rank-up test, you might be placed against me." "Seriously? Members of the same branch can get placed against each other?" "Yes. Everyone is randomly selected with a randomized generator within their own rank. Everyone wants to participate because the participants with the highest placing will get rewards." "Like what?" "The rewards change sometimes, but most of the time it''s like this: First place gets an A rank weapon and an A rank armor. Second place gets an A rank armor, third place gets a B rank weapon and a B rank armor, fourth place gets a B rank armor, fifth place gets fifty-thousand credits." "Huh? There''s weapons that are created and ranked?" "Of course. Why do you think we always collect the scrap metal from B rank and higher Guardians?" So that''s why! "I''m assuming those swords that some of the others have are ranked weapons?" "Yup. Although, ranked weapons don''t suit everyone. Some Gifted prefer using a sword or something else because their power compliments a weapon. Some Gifted don''t benefit at all with a weapon so they just use ranked armors." "Ah...so why don''t we have anything like that?" "I''m the only one that''s placed high enough and I won a B rank weapon and armor. I sold the weapon but I always wear the armor." "You''re wearing armor? But I don''t see anything." "That''s because it''s a long coat. Not all armors are plated. Most armors are light armors like robes or vests. The most popular and powerful are robe-type armors though." "What? Why are those the strongest? Wouldn''t they be the weakest?" "One of the Core Gifted families has the power to create special fibers called God Fibers. However, only the head of the Asrudos family can create one-hundred percent God Fibers. None of his descendants are able to create that high of a quality, and the most powerful son of his can only create ninety-five percent God Fibers. The Asrudos family has the most descendants that are spread everywhere as to mass-produce the God Fibers. B rank armors use sixty-percent God Fibers and A rank armors used seventy-percent God Fibers." "Wow...what a weird power. I''m assuming the rest of the armors are created with scrap metal from Guardians?" "Correct. However, GG has no idea how AHAD creates their metal. It''s completely foreign to us and the only thing GG can do with it is use it to fill the remaining space in armor." "Then, what about the ranked weapons?" "Haaa...why so many questions?" "I''m curious, that''s why." "Hey, Rose, take over for me please. I''m too tired to answer any more." Shadow pleadingly looked over to Rose for help. "Ahahaha, I guess I''ll do that. But~, you''ll have to get at least third place this time around!" "I''ll try, no promises. I unlocked another portion of my power so I''ll definitely win." "Wait, wait...Shadow, aren''t you a regular Gifted?" Kyte looked at Shadow with surprise. "Yes. And...?" "-And? Regular Gifted aren''t able to increase power, right?" "Correct. I''m a mutation though." "...What?" "I''m a mutated Gifted." "...Rose." "Well, the topic of ranked armors involved Gifted mutations so I was going to talk about it anyway. I''ll start with the family that creates the ranked armors. The family that has the power that creates the material necessary for ranked armors originated from the Asrudos family. The Penros family started when the eldest son of Amial Asrudos mutated. His power mutated the God Fiber power into a God Mineral. He no longer creates a fiber, he creates a mineral-like substance. He created a branch family of the Asrudos family and named it the Penros family. It''s not as strong as the Asrudos family, but being a branch family from a direct descendant of Amial Asrudos, it''s still qualified of being a Core family. That''s where ranked armors are from. The descendants of the Penros are more plentiful as well." "Wow...I didn''t know there were such weird powers. And the fact that Gifted powers can mutate?" "Yea. There''s something about mutations linked to Thomas White as well. Many say that Thomas was born only with the ability to control gravity, then later on his power mutated which gave him the power to control time and space. Then on, only a few of his descendants have the power to control time and space while all the others only control gravity. The same thing happened with Shadow. His original power was only the erosion of weak metals but he also mutated. Now, his power increased by at least ten times and he can also erode a Gifted''s energy. That means that any attack aimed at him can be erroded by his black energy." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Woah. Dang, Shadow, I had no idea." "Don''t worry about it. It was due to pure luck that I mutated. Due to my mutation, the more knowledge I have about my power the higher quality my energy will become." "Also, Kyte, mutations are very rare. The amount of known mutations that have happened can be counted with your hands. Of course, there are most likely many hidden mutations, and most of them want to stay that way." Rose said. "Why?" "Not everyone wants to live on the front lines of the Core Leagues. All mutated Gifted usually have a unique trait to their power that enables them to surpass their peers. All the Core Leagues want a mutated Gifted, even if they aren''t A rank." "I see..." So there are even more secrets regarding Gifted. How would a power mutate in the first place? There''s so much that I don''t know about Gifted and this world. If the Gifted are already this complicated, then what secrets does AHAD hold? Kyte only mentally sighed as he thought that. It doesn''t matter if he knew these secrets right now since there''s nothing he could do. He assumes that the only thing he can do when facing an S rank Guardian is successfully running away. If he can''t even defeat an S rank Guardian easily, then how will he ever be able to achieve anything? Thinking up to that point, a spark of determination was created within Kyte. A determination to become the most powerful being on this planet. He knows that S rank Guardians are not the end. How could it stop there? If there''s S rank Gifted here in the outer branches of GG, then what could the Core Leagues possibly hold? How in the world did all of these powerful humans and machines not be found out by the public? What if...there''s something deeper than what''s being presented? Kyte couldn''t help but to be so curious. Discovering these secrets, not only about AHAD and GG, but also about himself and his power. How can he breakthrough into the seventh stage? Is he really practicing the Bloodrage technique still? There are so many questions that he wants to answer but can''t. He can only continually increase his strength and hopefully gain some insights into the black light and discover the many secrets that it holds as well. Not only those, but also the secrets pertaining to the universe. Although discovering those secrets are far off, Kyte is very interested in his universe. Sol''keer traveled here through a worm hole or a different type of transportation from a different universe. Who''s to say that Kyte can''t do the same? Regardless of all these things, Kyte understands that the only way to discover the answers is power. Power to transcend everything. Without climbing above everything around him, there is no way he can understand these secrets. The thing I want to know most is...why are the souls of humans the way they are? "Hm?" While immersed in his thoughts, Kyte suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hey stupid, we''re here. Now get up." Kyte looked up to see Rose staring at him with a slightly annoyed gaze. Kyte turned his head and saw that everyone else was already getting off. "O-oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking about some things." Kyte said as he stood up. "Like what?" "Just some random things. It''s not very interesting." "Come on, tell me!" Rose walked with Kyte and hooked her arm around his. "Hmmm, well...I was only thinking about everything that i don''t know about this world. There are so many secrets that seem unanswerable. But that only piques my interest even more." "Really? Well, it is true that there are many secrets. However, there are some things that are better left unanswered." "You''re not interested in them at all?" "It''s not that I''m not interested, it''s just that I know my limits. Unlike you, Kyte, my power grows very slowly. Although my energy has increased quite a lot after absorbing your energy for a month, I''ve only barely increased by one section. And that was in a month. It would take me years of continually absorbing your energy to reach only gold S rank. I am certain that that is my limit. However, you, Kyte, don''t seem to have a limit. I refuse to believe that your limit is merely at the A rank. Your power was increasing so quickly, then it suddenly stopped. I believe you''re stuck at a bottleneck, but once you pass through, your power will increase explosively. I can already see you joining the Core Leagues not too far in the future." Kyte was a little surprised at Rose''s tiny speech. However, he couldn''t refute her words. Even if it takes longer to increase in power the higher he climbs, Kyte really needs only one step to breakthrough into the seventh stage. He has been accumulating a large amount of world energy for the past month or so so he''s confident in reaching at most the middle seventh stage. He also believes that breaking through into the seventh stage would qualify him for an S rank badge. Because, the breakthrough from the sixth to the seventh stage is a huge leap in power and understanding. There are definitely more items awaiting him in the storage necklace once he enters the seventh stage. "Don''t worry about it. I know you''re thinking that I might leave you once I pass this bottleneck, but I won''t. However, if I get invited into a Core League, I think I may accept the invitation." "Oh..." "Only if I''m able to bring you with me, of course." A happy smile grew on Rose''s face as she made her grip around Kyte''s arm a little tighter. She subconsciously increased the strength of her absorption as well, and Kyte was able to pick up on these little signs. He wondered if Rose was getting too attached to him, and if he couldn''t bring her with him to, possibly, a Core League, then he was a little afraid of how she would respond. He decided to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, mainly because he doesn''t want to see Rose face any more depressing situations... After everyone left the subway train they entered into a tunnel similar to the one before they entered the subway. Kyte moved forward with Rose at his side, along with the other four beside them, and left the tunnel. Chapter 22: David Wux I''m really busy at the moment so I couldn''t PR this, hopefully it''s not that bad. Anyway, seems things are finally going to slow down with chapters. But, I''m going to enjoy writing these chapters so hopefully it will go faster. __________________________________________________________________________________________ What Kyte saw amazed him. Not only was it huge, but it was brightly lit as well. An enormous underground city lay before them. It was at most a tenth of the size of Hester, the city that Akina''s branch is located. The city itself wasn''t large, no, it was the fact that it was underground that made it large. There was an enormous orb of light located at the ceiling of the underground settlement and it brightly illuminated everything. There was a very large building at the center of the city and it looked more like a fortress than anything else. There was a large, exquisitely built mansion surrounded by large stone walls. Surrounding the walls was several other large buildings that had at least three floors. Behind the mansion was a large stadium that looked to be as large as a small football stadium. In-front of the different branches were several people. Rose whispered into Kyte''s ear: "These people are sent to retrieve us. They will bring us to our housing area." Kyte slightly nodded with understanding. Those several people walked up to the different branches and each leader briefly talked with them. "You are Sector 31 Branch 4, correct?" One of the retrievers walked up to Rose''s group, and Rose let go of Kyte as she walked forward. "Yes, this is us." The retriever had an electronic tablet in his left hand and an electronic pen in his right. Oh, pretty high tech, huh. "Which members are not present?" "Akina and Dan Steele." "Confirmed. Please follow me to you housing area." The retriever responded after a few seconds of tapping on the tablet screen. Rose''s group followed the retriever down a long path along with the branches. The buildings weren''t too far away and it only took about ten minutes until the first branch walked down a different path that turned off to the left. Another five minutes had passed and about a third of everyone had turned off the main path. "Branch 4, this way." The retriever walked down a path to the right and Rose''s group followed right behind him. They walked ont he path for a few minutes before arriving before a large two-story house. It looked just like a normal residential building, though it had a few medieval touches to it. It had a nice light brown color and there were several windows on each floor. "This is where Branch 4 will be staying for the duration of the rank-up test and tournament. Here are the keys, and, before I leave, there are tablets in each bedroom which as all the information pertaining to the rank-up test. The rules and regulations are also stated within the tablet. Also, breakfast shall be served in the dining hall tomorrow at ten a.m. so please do not be late." With that, the retriever politely nodded to Rose and silently left. "Wow, it''s so big!" Jol jumped forward and ran toward the house. "It''s the same from three years ago, though." Shadow lightly stated. "I still can''t help but be excited! Such a big home for us to enjoy!" Jol unreservedly entered the house, with Light directly behind him, leaving the front door wide open. Everyone else followed suit and entered the home. Kyte entered last and closed the door behind him. "I call the room closest to the restroom!" Light yelled as he climbed the stairs. "What?! No fair! I wanted that room!" Jol flung Light down the stairs using telekinesis. "Ehhh! Jol, you''re cheating!" "Hahaha! There''s no cheating when it''s- Urgh!" Before Jol could finish, his foot slipped on the last step and his face directly slammed against the floor. Thankfully it wasn''t a hardwood floor, it was carpet. It still made a loud thump noise, though. "Owwww...." Jol laid at the top of the stairs hugging his face while groaning in pain. "Heeey, Kyyyte....could you give me a pill please?" Jol looked up at Kyte, who had climbed the stairs, and asked with pleading eyes. "No." Kyte flatly declined and walked toward one of the rooms on the far end, opposite to the restroom. "Wha-! That''s so mean!" "Ha! That''s what you get, Jol!" Light gave a hearty laugh before jumping over Jol and leaping into the room closest to the restroom. "Nooo!! My roooooom..." Shadow just walked over Jol and, before he left for his room, he lightly chuckled. "Even Shadow?! Someone help me, please!" Lucy silently took a picture of Jol''s teary-eyed face before leaving for her own leave. Rose had already left with Kyte to his room, leaving Jol alone at the top the stairs as he rolled around, still hugging his face. Meanwhile, inside Kyte''s room... "Oi, so soon?!" Rose had basically thrown him against the bed and was steadily taking his pants off. "It''s been about a whole day and I''m super stressed from driving around the whole time. I just want to let out some steam." Rose responded by deeply kissing Kyte and rubbing her hands up into his shirt. "If that''s the case, then let me do the work." Kyte grabbed Rose and flipped her underneath him. He then proceeded to quickly lift her shirt and bra up off her breasts and began to roughly kneed them. "Hn!...I didn''t expect you to be so rough all of a sudden..." "Well, how do you expect me to react when you suddenly attack me like that?" "Oh, right...but still." "I''m still new to this stuff; you can''t expect me to be able to fully control it when you start groping and kissing me." Kyte began to suck on Rose''s right nipple while pinching and rubbing her left with his fingers. He would lightly bite down and roll his tongue around it while massaging both breasts with his hands. Rose had stealthily moved her hand down to Kyte''s thing and tightly grabbed it, making Kyte grab Rose and move her further onto the bed. He smoothly removed Rose''s pants and panties, fully revealing her beautiful pink secret place.... __________________________________________________________ The next morning, everyone got ready and left for the dining hall. The dining hall was located further down the path and to the left of the central mansion. It looked like a giant gym from the outside, but the inside was even better. It was like a five-star restaurant. The carpeting inside was red and there were many tables set up all around. Small carts full of different foods were present in varying locations around the tables to make it easier to navigate around for food. When Rose''s group entered the dining hall, they saw that almost every other branch had already arrived and were eating. When they walked further in, almost everyone turned to look at who had entered. A few people indifferently went back to their conversations, a few threw unfriendly gazes while others slightly nodded. A couple of people from all around got up and walked toward their group, and surprisingly most of them walked over to talk with Shadow. "Hey, Shadow! Haven''t seen you in a while! How''s it been over in Branch 4?" "The usual hunt and destroy missions. Nothing major has happened." "Hm? Then, where''s Akina and Dan?" "They''re doing something important at the moment." "Ahh, the usual calm and cold Shadow. Lighten up for once, will ya? You and Light are like polar opposites." "I can''t do much about my personality." "Hahaha, I guess that''s true." Shadow walked off with three other guys to a distant table that two other people were sitting at. Jol and Light ran off to find their favorite foods with Lucy directly behind them. "Well...let''s find a spot, shall we?" Kyte awkwardly smiled before walking forward to get some food from a stall. "So, what''s it like at the leader rank-up test?" Kyte asked as he was filling his plate with food. "Hmm, it''s not much different from this really. It''s just on a much smaller scale than this. The rewards are also greater than the regular rank-up tests, although we''ve never ranked high enough to get any." "Really? What''s the highest reward?" "First place gets one S rank weapon and armor. It''s quite one-sided, really. The strong gets stronger while the weak gets weaker. But, that''s just the way it is." "Yea...there''s not much you can do about that. The only thing we can do is just try as hard as we can." Kyte and Rose finished getting their food so they walked to an unoccupied table and sat down. Kyte, being the incredibly kind and gentle man that he was, pulled out a chair for Rose to sit on and properly helped her. Well, that''s what he thought of doing, anyway. For some reason he felt a pinch of embarrassment when he thought of it. Probably because he''s never been ''gentlemanly'' before. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Anyway, they sat down and began to enjoy their meal while having a nice chat. The subject was just simple things like funny stories or events that have happened. However, due to both of their social situations, they don''t really have anything. Well, Kyte surfed the internet every single day so he has funny stories from his multiple experiences there. They both understood this problem but, nevertheless, they continued to talk. Even if it was about something completely out of the blue, at least there may be something. "Ah, Rose!" Suddenly two people appeared at their table. The first, who called out to Rose, was a young woman about the same age as Rose. She had long brown hair and a tight but fit body. The other was also a woman of the same age, but instead of having long hair, she had short, black hair. However, both of them were equally beautiful. "Mary! It''s been a while! Nikki, too." Rose responded with a natural smile. "Hehehe, it has. Who''s that next to?" Mary asked with a weird smile. "Oh, this is Kyte. He''s the newest member of Branch 4." "Hmm? Is that all??" "Well, he''s..." "You''re boyfriend, am I right?" Nikki said. Rose questioningly looked at Kyte, and Kyte looked at her. He mentally sighed before saying: "That''s right, I''m her boyfriend." ".......Wow! I can''t believe Rose actually got a boyfriend!" "Right? So, how far have you two gone?!" "Huh? Is that really a necessary thing to discuss?" Rose looked slightly embarrassed at the sudden question. Huh? Rose is embarrassed? But she''s never embarrassed when we''re alone-...ah, so she''s embarrassed because she''s in-front of people? Kyte hiddenly smirked before replying: "Hmm, well, we''ve gone pretty far. You can say that we''re pretty serious." "Wha-! Kyte, what are you saying?!" Rose frantically whispered into Kyte''s ear. "Really! I never would have expected that! For how long?" Mary asked with an interested expression. "We''ve been...together...for about a month now. However, even if we''ve been together for a rather short period of time, that doesn''t make her any less energetic..." Kyte replied while looking at Rose out of the corner of his eye. "Haah??!" Rose was completely shocked as her face slowly showed a small shade of red. "Hahaha! Look at her! She''s getting embarrassed! Quick, Kyte, tell us more. Where is she most sensitive?" Nikki quickly threw a question up into the air. "Well, in my experience, it has to be her beau-mmph!" "H-how about we talk about something else? Ahahaha..." Rose said as she covered Kyte''s mouth with her hand. "Awww, Rose you didn''t have to do that~." "Yea, it was just getting good, too." Both women replied while shaking their heads and sighing. They both silently laughed too, because, as both of them have husbands, they too remember the first few times they played around. After several years, they just got used to it. Talking about it isn''t as bad anymore either, especially with their best-friend. "So, what Branch are you two from, and how do you know Rose?" Kyte asked as he took Rose''s hand off of him. "We''re both from Branch 5. We actually met Rose the first year she attended the rank-up tests, way back when she was thirteen. She was so cute and small!" "Yea, she was so short back then. Hard to believe she grew up to be so tall. But hey, that''s puberty for you." "She was that small? Dang..." "Hey, don''t start thinking weird stuff." Rose said. "Oi, I''m not a pedo. It''s just weird to think of you being so short. " Kyte lightly laughed. "Well, I''m not short anymore, so you don''t have to worry about it." "I guess so." At this moment, a man began to walk out onto the stage which was situated in-front of the tables. Everyone noticed him walking out, mostly because of the majestic aura surrounding his body. His lush, long, golden hair flowed down to his shoulders. His eyes shone like gold pearls, and a faint golden aura surrounded him. He wore a long, red robe with gold trim down to his knees. The sound of his footsteps resounded throughout the dining hall, filling everyone with a type of awe. Rose tapped on Kyte''s shoulder and whispered in his ear: "That''s David Wux, the head of the Wux family that controls the entirety of Sector 31." Kyte could feel David''s powerful aura just from where he was sitting. It felt like an invisible mountain was atop his shoulders just by looking at him. That majestic aura, those clean, sharp eyes that shone with intelligence. Kyte immediately knew that this man...surpassed the S rank level! Then, he spoke: "Hello and welcome everyone to this year''s GG rank-up test and power ranking tournament. Just like years prior, you will all find the information tablets within your Branch''s housing. I assume all of you have already looked through the rules and regulations, so I shall skip that part. Now, as I do at every first breakfast before the rank-up tests start, I shall announce the rank-up reward to anyone that achieves a higher ranking. Starting from C rank and achieving B rank, the reward is one bronze B rank weapon of your choice. If you directly achieve a Silver B rank or higher, then you may choose a silver B rank armor of your choice. From B rank to A rank, the reward is as follows: One bronze A rank weapon. Upon directly achieving silver A rank or higher, you may choose one silver A rank armor of your choice. From A rank to S rank, the reward is as follows: One bronze S rank weapon. Upon directly achieving silver S rank or higher, you may choose one silver S rank armor. Anyone that achieves S rank will also get an additional gift of ten thousand Credits. Are there any questions?.....................Alright then everyone, please enjoy your meals. The first rank-up test will begin at two p.m. The schedule is shown within the tablet as well. Now, everyone, I must take my leave." Just as quickly as he came, David left. His voice was as powerful as his aura, which only added to his firm and resolute expression. A few seconds after he left, everyone resumed their meals and conversations. "So that was the Wux family head. The aura around him was so powerful." Kyte said. "Yea, of course. He''s the only Fighter here in Sector 31." Rose replied. "Fighter?" "Yea, Fighter. It''s the rank directly after S rank. GG feels that, once someone''s power exceeds the S rank, they deserve something more. So, they named the ranks after S rank. The only two ranks I know of past S rank is Fighter and King. Apparently there''s two more after that." "What? That many?..." That''s a lot stronger than I imagined. "I assume it''s the same with AHAD, right?" "Of course. Although, the Guardians that exceed S rank are highly classified. Since they only show up within the Sectors of the Core Leagues, GG doesn''t bother sharing that information with us. However, rumors still leak out here." "Really? What are they?" "They say that the first Guardian that exceeds S rank is a complete demon. Not only are they three times stronger than S ranks but they also mess with your mind. Not many people have strong defenses against mind attacks. At least, there are none here that are capable of offensive mind attacks, and vice-versa as well." This...this is inconceivable. What is going on in the Core Sections? How is this not getting out? Kyte only sighed at the thought of it. S ranks are already so terrifying, and the Guardian one rank higher than that is three times stronger? Isn''t that too insane? And there''s supposedly three more ranks after that? How far can AHAD''s technology advance? "Kyte, try not to think about it too much. We''re here in the outer Sectors, far away from those monsters. We, or at least you, still have a while to go." "Yea, I know. I just can''t help but wonder. Anyway, I''m finished here. Wanna head back now? I want to read through the rules and stuff." "Sounds good to me. Mary, Nikki, see you two later." ""Bye~."" Kyte and Rose left the dining hall together and headed back to Branch 4''s housing. Kyte felt anticipation toward the coming competition. Chapter 23: Testing Hall Finished this chapter about an hour ago. The rank-up test and tournament arc is finally officially starting, along with something else. Look forward to the tournament is all I can say. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ After Kyte arrived in their housing and entered his room, he immediately picked up the tablet placed on the night stand next to his bed. It was about the size of a normal hard-back book but it was as thick as about thirty pieces of paper. He turned it on by pressing the power button on the side of it. It powered up and showed a white screen before two letters appeared in bold lettering: "GG". Underneath the two letters was a line that showed: "Rank-up test and tournament information." A small button appeared underneath that line of text which had the words "Log-in" on it. Kyte pressed that button, since he saw from others that the tablets were touch-screen, and the screen changed to show a small box in the center of the screen. A few words appeared above the box, stating that the box was a finger-print analyzer. So, Kyte pressed his thumb within the borders of the box and it scanned his finger-print. A loading icon replaced the small box, and about ten seconds later a new screen appeared. It listed different sections pertaining to information regarding the rank-up test and tournament, as well as the schedule. The schedule tab was listed first, with information tabs explaining the rank-up test continued down the list. The last few tabs displayed the current rankings within the tournament, and there is a separate ranking within each rank. So, there is a ranking for C rank up to S rank. Kyte first selected the introduction to the rank-up test, and after he was done with that, he went to the next tab one by one. When he finished, he thought back and summarized what he had read. Basically, a rank-up test is held within each Sector. Each rank-up test is held within a simulation in which each participant uses head gear to enter. The head gear scans the participants brain and analyzes their understanding on their own power, then the system applies that understanding to the participant''s simulated avatar. The simulation administrators then begin the simulation. The strength of the Guardians within the simulation depend on the participant, and if the participant is able to destroy all of the Guardians, they can request to either quit the simulation or to continue with stronger Guardians to try to increase their rank. If a participant does not have a rank, then the strength of the Guardians will begin at D rank in power and will increase in strength with each new wave. After completing the rank-up test, the participant will receive their possible new rank upon leaving the simulation. The system will already have been updated with the information regarding the completed simulation, so the participant just has to go back to their Branch''s housing and log-in on the tablet to select their reward. The reward, if the participant increases in rank, will be sent to their Branch''s housing and can only be opened by the participant that it was sent for. That''s basically it for the rank-up test, and the tournament is quite different. The tournament is held within the stadium behind the capital building. Each rank is divided within the remaining weeks, with the B and A ranking tournament being held within the second to last week and the S ranking tournament is held within the last week. The S rank tournament is only one week because usually the S rankers are all leaders. However, there''s a few S rankers that are regular branch members. "Well, it doesn''t seem too bad. It''s a bit simpler than I thought. And since the schedule shows that the lower ranks start first, I''m going to one of the first ones because I have no rank." Kyte was actually one of two people just like him. Apparently there is someone else that had yet to obtain their rank aside from Kyte. Although, Kyte only cares about getting his rank and getting out and waiting for the tournament to start. He''s also quite curious about the God Fiber and Mineral, but he has to wait until the tournament is over to really examine it. Assuming that he''ll at most take first place in the tournament. Kyte was actually going to start his rank-up test today at one p.m. He and the other no-ranker were going to take their test at the same time, since each rank group would take their tests separately. Also, the type of test that they will have to pass was a survival-type test. Survival tests are mainly for no-rankers to just test their power. Although this year everyone will be taking the same test. A few hours later, Kyte left Branch 4''s housing and made his way to the testing hall, which is located to the left of the capital building. When he entered the building, he saw a few people that had already arrived early. There were also people with white coats that hung down to their ankles and each one had an I.D. card attached to their breast pocket. They walked around with tablets in their hands, going back and forth between rooms in the long hallway that branched off to the left and right. Directly straight from the front entrance was a large desk with several workers on computers. "Hello, are you here for the rank-up test?" One worker in white walked up to Kyte. What else would I be here for? "Yes, I am." Kyte replied, not showing his inner thoughts on his face. "What is your name?" "Kyte Stone." "Kyte Stone...ok. Your test will being in ten minutes so please be ready." "Alright, thank you." The man faintly smiled before walking back to his station, waiting for the next participant to enter the facility. Kyte walked toward a chair that was lined up against the walls and sat down. He looked around and saw that there were five people other than him waiting in chairs. One in particular caught his eye; she had long, golden hair that flowed down to her waist. Ample breasts protruded from her chest and her red shirt looked a bit tight. However, her smooth curves were hidden by a long, red coat that reached down to her knees. She also wore tight, red pants and red shoes. For the finishing touch, everything was golden trimmed. Just like the Wux family. Hmm? So a Wux family member is ranked so low? While he was thinking that, the girl suddenly stood up and began to walk toward him. Huh? Does she think I''m a pervert or something? "Hey, you! You''re Kyte Stone, right?" The girl sat down in the chair next to Kyte''s. "Umm...yea, if you didn''t hear the dude that just checked me in." Kyte replied in a slightly confused tone. "Sassy, are we?" "I was just saying." "That''s what they all say. Anyway, are you Kyte Stone or not?" "YES, I''m Kyte Stone. What do you want?" "Hm?...Are you not afraid of me?" "Why would I be?" "I''m David Wux''s daughter, that''s why." "You are?!...Well, I assumed you were from the Wux family, but not David''s daughter." "Ahaha, that''s the reaction I wanted. Most people talk to me with the utmost respect when they see me or find out I''m David''s daughter. It''s really tiring. Only my direct older siblings talk to me normally. Although I have to talk to them with some respect because they''re older than me." "Is that so...well, you don''t feel like you''re more powerful than me, so why should I give you so much respect?" "Huh? What does that mean? Are you saying I''m weak?" "Well, not exactly....I''m saying that you don''t feel strong. Of course, I may be judging a book by its cover." "Hmph, that''s exactly what you''re doing. I bet I''m stronger than you, because you don''t look that stronger either." "Hahaha, well then you''re wrong as well. I''m confident in taking first place in the rank-up tournament." "Heh, for what, C ranks?" "Stop talking about yourself, will you? I''m going to enter the A rank tournament." "Hnnng, you''re starting to piss me off." "Cool." "That''s not cool!" "Haaa, listen, why did you even come over here to talk to me?" "Because I''m also getting my rank for the first time." "Oh, really? I thought you would''ve had at most a C rank already." As the two of them were talking, everyone overheard their conversation. Everyone was shocked to see a complete random talking so leisurely without respect with the Wux family head''s youngest daughter. Not only that, but she seemed to be enjoying the conversation without caring about it. Three of the people waiting for their test, all men, felt extreme jealousy and anger. Jealousy toward Kyte for being able to talk with the family head''s daughter, and anger for being so disrespectful to her. Two of the three were able to barely keep their emotions in check, but for the third... "Hey! You better show respect to her this instant!" The third man, who looked to be in his early twenties, stood up and shouted at Kyte. "Hm?" Kyte turned his head to look at the man that stood up and shouted, but a split second later he completely ignored him and continued to talk with the girl. The man got even angrier after knowing that he was completely ignored, not only by Kyte, but by the head''s daughter as well! Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "I''m talking to you!" The man quickly walked toward Kyte. Ugh, this is so annoying. Kyte mentally sighed and, after giving the girl an annoyed look, stood up to face the man walking toward him. "What do you want?" Kyte asked. "Show respect to her right now! Do you even know who she is?!" The man yelled directly at Kyte just four steps in-front of him. "Actually, no, I don''t. I don''t even know her name. Besides, what does this have to do with you? Hey, girl, do you who this is?" Kyte turned and asked the girl. "No." She replied. "See, there you have it. She doesn''t even know you, so what right do you have to interrupt our conversation?" "You...! She''s David Wux''s youngest daughter, Azali Wux! Not showing respect in-front of her is equivalent to disrespecting the whole Wux family!" The man yelled out, clearly controlled by his angry jealousy. "The whole Wux family? Hahaha! You, a mere silver B rank, dares tell me that I''m being disrespectful?! Who do you think YOU are, voicing your words like you know what Azali herself is thinking?!" Kyte''s voice grew colder the more he spoke. "-! Hmph, you think a random no-ranker like yourself can talk to me like that? I''ll show you what it is to show respect!" The man suddenly threw a punch toward Kyte''s face. Seeing this, Kyte silently laughed in his heart. -BANG- The sound of the man''s fist hitting Kyte resounded throughout the room. The people in the surroundings were expecting Kyte to blasted back by the man''s punch, but to their complete surprise, Kyte effortlessly blocked the man''s punch with his open palm! "Wha-" Before the man could finish, Kyte gripped the man''s fist and whipped his body around, throwing the man behind him. The man''s body flew through the air and slammed into the wall of the other side of the room. Cracks rolled out across the wall, and after a few seconds the man''s body fell to the ground, not moving. Kyte had actually infused a small bit of his Spiritual energy into the man''s mind and let it run rampant, thoroughly damaging the man''s soul. The reason why the man was unconscious was because of this. However, no permanent damages could be caused by such a small amount of uncontrolled foreign Spiritual energy attacking him. If Kyte wanted to, he could''ve completely destroyed the man''s soul. He would''ve never woken up again, with no physical external or internal injuries, and no one would know why. Kyte had began to develop this technique when he and Rose started to sleep together. Because she would absorb his energy from his body, Kyte grew interested in her soul as well. So, he experimented a little bit. Surprisingly, Rose never felt a thing, even when Kyte surrounded his Spiritual energy around her''s. Of course, this was the first time he let his Spiritual energy be hostile. He would never hurt Rose intentionally, and the only experiment he did was to see if he could plant his Spiritual energy within another thing''s soul. And, it worked. However, Kyte hypothesizes that it would only work if the target does not know Kyte is planting his Spiritual energy, along with the fact that he would most likely not be able to plant it if the target was significantly stronger than him. Anyway, the man was completely unconscious and would wake up in about a day. Kyte was actually quite surprised at the outcome of his small experiment. He didn''t think that such a small amount of Spiritual energy would cause the man to become unconscious. Then again, Kyte was at least silver A rank without his buffs activated and that man was only a silver B rank. The difference in strength was too much. "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?" The two other men stood up and walked toward Kyte. "What do you mean?" "Fighting is forbidden within the city!" "...Hahahahahaha! Oh man, are all you people complete idiots?" "-!...What did you say?!" "I said, are all of you idiots? You clearly saw that I defended myself due to that man assaulting me. If you want to say that I was the one assaulting him, and that I should be punished, then you are all delusional." Kyte released a dread aura that is actually the same as the aura from the energy swords. The aura spread out and completely surrounded the two men. To other people that are not as strong as Kyte, all they feel is the intense pressure and dread from the aura. For people that are as strong or stronger, they can clearly see the aura disturb the air with a slight crimson color. It''s much more obvious when used with the energy swords. The two men felt indescribable fear when faced with that dreadful aura. When they looked straight into Kyte''s black eyes, all they saw was a deep, icy, emotionless killing intent. That coldness pierced into their minds and made their legs shake from fear. It was as if the shadow of death loomed over their entire soul and was slowly intertwining itself with them. "Sit back down and don''t think about opening your idiotic mouths in-front of me again." The two men quickly and furiously nodded their heads as they went back to their seats and sat down. When he saw that, Kyte made the dread aura disappear and took away his Spiritual influence from within the two men''s minds. His Spiritual energy was the cause of the men''s complete and utter fear, since Kyte''s soul was infinitely stronger than theirs. He had actually used them for another small experiment, and it was successful once again. Turning around and sitting back down himself, Kyte sighed as he looked at the girl, Azali. "That was quite a show." Azali lightly laughed. Her golden-like eyes shined with amusement as she remembered the terrified expressions of the men. The two men felt extreme shame when they saw and heard her laughing. However, they could do nothing about it. When Kyte saw that beautiful expression, his heart slightly fluttered for a reason unknown. Maybe it was due to her very attractive face and body, or maybe it was her apparent friendly nature. He didn''t know, but what he did know is that he had to be on guard around this girl. He already had Rose, and the rule of having one woman has always been carved in his heart. "Well, I won''t show mercy to anyone that provokes me like that. Besides, they had no reason to do so, which only amplified my annoyance. Someone that lets their emotions take control of them are-...well, let''s just say they didn''t know who they were dealing with." Kyte stopped himself mid-sentence because he suddenly felt a little shameful. Knowing that he, too, let his emotions take control over him didn''t leave a good feeling. Let alone his feelings, he didn''t want his libido to take control over him as well. "Hahaha, you''re also not as weak as I thought you were going to be. Also, I should finally introduce myself. My name is Azali Wux, and I''m also the youngest daughter of David Wux." "Hmm, that''s a nice name. You say you''re the youngest daughter of the Wux family, but I don''t see any guards?..." "Oh, trust me, they''re here. You just can''t see them." "Ah, I see. Well, are you looking forward to the test? It''s your first time, after all." "Yea, I''m actually pretty nervous. I don''t actually know what my true power level is, so the test will give me a rough estimation. The tournament is where I''ll be able to show my true power, since the simulation isn''t real life. I''m just afraid I won''t live up to my father''s expectations." "That''s true. I''m actually curious as to how GG created the simulation and head gear. It''s quite mysterious." "I don''t know that either. But, it''s as good as it gets. The tournament is where you can really let your skills loose and spread your name." "Hm? Do you really need to spread your name? Ms. David Wux''s youngest daughter." "Ahaha, that''s true. But, my name is only famous because of my father and family. If I wasn''t born into the Wux family, I would be a nobody. Just like you." "Come on, you don''t have to put it like that. Besides, just because I come from an unknown family doesn''t mean-" "Azali Wux and Kyte Stone, please report to the nearest simulation chamber to being your rank-up tests." A sound from an intercom sounded out in the hall. "Ah...well, let''s go then." Kyte stood up and began to walk toward the corner. "Hey, wait up!" Azali stood up and quickly walked by Kyte''s side. Haaa...this girl is most likely sticking to me because it''s lonely to be so high in status. She could''ve talked to anyone else, but I guess she''s able to differentiate the good from the bad.....That was a bit narcissistic there, wasn''t it. Kyte silently sighed as he stepped into the simulation chamber, with Azali right behind him. Chapter 24: The Test Inside the simulation chamber were several different beds lined up against each wall. The room itself was pretty big, and each bed was seven feet long. There were six beds lined up against each wall, and placed on each bed was a silver helmet. "Please go to the first two beds and put the simulation helmet on. You will be notified when the simulation will start." A man in white said. Kyte nodded as Azali happily replied. They both walked toward the two closest beds and laid down on them. Kyte put on the helmet and found that the inside was very soft. "Hey, Kyte." "What?" "Good luck!" "Right..." "You''re not gonna say it back?!" "Good luck?" "There you go." Kyte silently sighed as he waited for the notification. He didn''t have to wait long as just a few seconds afterward, the notification appeared: Brain Scan complete, simulation will begin in five seconds. Please, close your eyes now. The countdown started, and it slowly counted down to zero. When it did, Kyte felt like he was being sucked out of his body. He felt like his mind was being sucked out from the top of his head, however, just a split second later, he opened his eyes. Kyte looked around and found himself to be within an abandoned city. Broken and destroyed buildings surrounded him; it was as if the city was bombed for hours on end during a war. There were even small fires and occasionally an explosion would sound off. This is really post-apocalyptic. A robotic voice sounded out in Kyte''s ears and faint flashes of light appeared in random locations around him. Kyte spread out his Spiritual energy and encompassed all of the D rank Guardians within it. After lacing it with Internal energy, Kyte destroyed the heads of every single Guardian, thoroughly completing the first wave in a split second. The Gifted that were overseeing the simulations were surprised at this sudden advancement. They weren''t surprised that Kyte was able to pass the first wave; they were surprised that he passed the first wave before one second had passed. Something like this has never happened before. What surprised them even more was that Kyte did the same thing with the next wave of C rank Guardians. The round was over in a split second. Kyte didn''t even move one inch, but all of the Guardians'' heads were completely crushed. The B rank Guardian wave began, and to their astonishment, the same thing happened for the third time in a row. Kyte didn''t even move but all of the Guardians were destroyed. It had taken about ten seconds to reach the A rank Guardian wave. When the A rank Guardian wave started, Kyte spread out his Spiritual energy once again. The crimson Guardians began to quickly navigate toward Kyte. He quickly tried to crush their heads, but his Internal energy was just too weak. His Spiritual energy was indeed very strong, almost at the high seventh stage. However, his Internal energy is too weak. Even if his Spiritual energy is significantly strong, if his Internal energy isn''t as strong then the powerful Spiritual energy won''t do much. However, he did damage them quite a bit. His Internal energy may be weaker than his Spiritual energy, but that doesn''t mean it''s weak. The Guardians had several dents across their metallic bodies, but other than that they weren''t damaged at all. Right when Kyte noticed that his Internal energy attack did nothing, he sprang into action. Leaping up onto a building to the left, Kyte created two energy poles in each hand. When the first Guardian appeared in his vision, Kyte lifted his hand and extended the pole to pierce the Guardian within the fraction of a second. The energy stabbed directly through the Guardian''s body and slashed upward. The energy cleanly sliced through the metal and destroyed the top half of its body. A second Guardian appeared, and Kyte lifted his left hand and destroyed it in the same way. Then another, and another, and another. The Guardians continued to jump toward Kyte from every direction, but he still only extended the energy and slashed through their bodies. Eventually the amount of Guardians got to an uncontrollable amount. Instead of bringing the energy back to him, Kyte kept it extended and continued to wildly slash the Guardians apart. Kyte was moving so fast that there was only a blur of crimson energy moving back and forth between Guardians. The blur would move and three Guardians would instantly be destroyed. Although Kyte calmly proceeded, he was still only human. A few Guardians got close enough to launch attacks toward him. Kyte used Iron Body while switching his weapons to two energy swords. What is this? These Guardians are merely throwing themselves at me. A few hits landed on Kyte''s armor, but they did nothing at all. He still didn''t use his various buffs to increase his power because he simply didn''t need them at the moment. As he continued to slash the Guadians apart, Kyte noticed the number of them was dwindling. One Guardian was left, and as it jumped at him, Kyte simply extended his sword and slashed it in half. Kyte deeply exhaled and looked around him, but no voice sounded in his ears. Kyte moved to a higher building and surveyed the surroundings, and even used Spiritual energy, but he still found nothing. Suddenly, he heard the faint sounds of movement behind him. Right when he turned around, a metallic blade smashed against his chest. He was sent flying off the top of the fifteen-story building. What? How was I not able to sense them? When Kyte was a few stories above the ground, several blurs jumped through the air toward him. A pincer attack! Kyte twisted his body and quickly extended his energy out into two long spikes. He furiously spun his body to create a raging whirlwind, making himself look like a crimson tornado. Huge gusts of wind surrounded the area and the few blurs slightly slowed down, however, the decrease in speed was small. Kyte successfully destroyed three of the Guardians, but three more still slashed at him. He felt huge bursts of pain engulf his body as he was blasted down into the ground, creating a gigantic crater that caused cobweb-like cracks to spread out across the ground. Kyte''s arms and legs were broken into weird shapes and blood oozed out of his several injuries. However, his broken bones quickly popped back into place with loud cracking sounds and all the blood seeped back into his body. The Guardian''s group attack shredded his outer layer of energy defense, which caused so many injuries on his body. The force behind the combined attack of the three Guardians caused more damage than Kyte thought. Kyte quickly stood up while creating another layer of energy around himself. He saw the three Guardians land and quickly leaped to attack him, however, these three were more cautious than the ones before. One would attack form the front while the other appeared behind Kyte in his blind spot as the third attacked from the side. Right when Kyte blasted out several Sonic Blades, the Guardians jumped back. They turned into blurs as their feet touched the ground and they once again group attacked Kyte. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Kyte quickly extended his energy sword to try to intercept one of the Guardians, but to his surprise, the Guardian immediately stopped. The second Guardian flew up behind it and the first Guardian grabbed onto the second, using its momentum to launch it toward Kyte. All of this happened with a fraction of second, and the second Guardian''s propulsion made it move even faster than before. Kyte immediately disintegrated the energy sword and created an energy shield to cover himself. The Guardian slammed its fist directly into Kyte''s shield, thoroughly destroying it and blasting Kyte off the ground and through two entire buildings. The two buildings collapsed under the intense destruction, and Kyte bounced off the ground several times which created small craters with every impact. Kyte eventually smashed into a wall that was hard enough to stop his deteriorated momentum. His body was even worse than before. A huge gaping hole was visible in his chest and all of his bones were broken. Blood was quickly escaping through the hole in his chest and Kyte did all he could to heal himself. His Spirit energy detected the three Guardians quickly approaching his position, and it would only take a few more seconds for them to arrive. I guess this is my limit without any buffs. Kyte''s body was almost half-way healed as he spotted the Guardians leaping over the piles of rubble. They quickly leaped toward him, but before they could attack...two pitch-black gloves appeared on Kyte''s hands as he gripped a pure-white long sword while simultaneously activating the buffing functions in the three formations. His Internal energy was quickly excited as a surge of power integrated with it, increasing its power by three-folds. Kyte manifested a thick shield of Internal energy around himself while also pouring Internal energy into Heavy Air. All of this happened with an instant, and in the next instant the Guardians'' attacks landed. This time, their attacks didn''t destroy the shield. The shield still had a few cracks here and there, but it protected Kyte long enough for him to fully heal himself. With that, Kyte exploded his Internal energy outward, pushing back the three Guardians. He created an energy sword for his left hand and interlaced Spiritual energy within both of his weapons, as well as the Iron Body technique. Kyte''s offensive capabilities had increased by at least four-folds now, and his defensive by at least two-folds. Feeling the increase in power in his body, Kyte unhesitatingly leaped toward the Guardians. He moved too fast the first Guardian to react. He slashed it in half and his figure flickered before appearing behind the second Guardian. He smashed Heavy Air down on its head as he increased its weight by two tons just before it impacted. Heavy Air completely destroyed the Guardian and the earth beneath it. The last Guardian sprang into action as it slashed toward Kyte with its blades. Kyte intercepted its attack with his own swords. The last Guardian was easily sliced into three pieces just like that. Kyte deeply exhaled as he stretched out his shoulders. "Man, that really hurt." Kyte sighed and released his energy. Cracking his fingers one by one, Kyte walked around to release some of the stress on his joints. Although he has an incredible healing speed, his body still builds up stress. It''s mostly mental stress, however, Kyte feels as if his bones were creaking with stiffness. He looked at the destruction around him, lightly thinking of the past when he could barely complete a mile in under thirteen minutes. Thinking of the past, Kyte didn''t remember if he had ever set a real goal for himself. He knows he wants to become the strongest, but...what will he do once he accomplishes that? How long will he even survive? Kyte''s interest with the many mysteries in the world only increases in each passing day. What he really wants right now is to join a Core League and discover for himself what''s out there. As Kyte was thinking this, he was completely unaware of a small flash of metallic luster move behind him. A second later, Kyte felt fear well up inside him. He began to panic because he wasn''t aware of anything that could make him feel this fear. Thinking back to the earlier battle, Kyte remembered that he battled against those six Guardians and had destroyed them all. However, what became of the one that attacked him on top of the building? Before Kyte could react, he felt a metallic coldness slice through his body from his right shoulder. It cleanly cut through his flesh and slashed his body in half. The force from the attack blasted Kyte''s body forward several hundred feet, and both halves of his body smashed into several different hills of rubble and walls. His lower half disintegrated into dust as his top half slowly began to create his new lower body. His upper body landed within a corner of a destroyed building and a small puddle of blood was becoming more apparent underneath him. The reason why Kyte took so much damage was because he was completely unprepared. He didn''t set up any type of defense, therefore the Guardian''s blade cleanly sliced through his body including his bones. If he had set up some defense beforehand, Kyte probably wouldn''t even have been pushed back. Although Kyte was currently missing more than half of his body, he was still alive. His healing power, that comes from the large amounts of life force that he absorbed, was quickly trying to heal his severe injury. Every time Kyte''s heart would pump, blood would spurt out the right side of his body. His lungs were slightly hanging out and his intestines were draped across the ground. Blood was splattered everywhere and was quickly oozing out of his body. The only thing Kyte could do was put two healing pills into his mouth and wait. The pills quickly dissolved into huge amounts of healing energy that circulated through Kyte''s body. His healing power increased by two times, but even then it was slow. Healing cuts and what-not was easy, but creating an entire half of his body would take time. Kyte had already spread out his Spiritual energy and discovered the last Guardian quickly getting closer. Two seconds later, Kyte saw the Guardian land a few meters away from him. Lifting its blade, it leaped toward Kyte while raising its arm. Kyte only put on a mocking smile as a black light escaped from his left hand. A split second later the entire area within two hundred meters turned into a sea of light-blue fire. Waves upon waves of fire rolled out from the epicenter of the explosion, completely destroying everything within its radius. Chapter 25: Rank? Sorry for the delay. I''ve been a bit under the weather lately and I''m also starting winter swimming. So that''s going to take a good 3-4 hours out of my day (week days). I''ll still try to write as much as I can. Enjoy. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few seconds later, the ocean of fire slowly disappeared. Kyte''s eyelids were slowly drooping down his eyes as he felt his vision darken. He didn''t realize it but using the black light in that situation took the last of his strength. However, despite this large exhaustion, Kyte gripped a small rock and slammed it against his almost-healed leg. Pain soared through his body which quickly snapped his eyelids back up. Kyte used two more pills, one being an energy recovering pill and the other being a healing pill. He tried to re-position himself but his hand slipped in the puddle of blood and his head hit the wall behind him. Ow ow ow... Kyte, this time, slowly re-positioned himself against the wall. The right side of his body was slowly healing back to normal. The skeleton had already reappeared and red flesh began to manifest around the bones. Due to him missing his entire right lung, he could barely get enough oxygen into his body. He spit out a mouthful of blood which then slowly seeped back into his flesh. In the simulation chamber, the simulation administrators were currently watching Kyte''s simulation test with great interest. They never imagined someone would appear with such a strange power. They''ve seen a large range of different powers over the several years they worked for the Wux family but they''ve never seen something so abnormal before. Right after they saw Kyte unleash the power of his black light, one of them turned to the other. "Sir, this is..." "Yea. We might be able to see another Gifted that will directly qualify for a Core League. According to this Gifted''s records, he was picked up by Branch 4 a few months ago. He lived with his parents until his freshman year in high school when they got into a horrible car accident. Both his parents died and the man miraculously survived with just a few broken bones. However, the weird thing is that there are no reports of any Gifted-related activities around him until a few months ago." "What? Maybe he awakened late?" "That can''t be it. Everyone that awakens always accidentally use their power at least once. Especially if it''s a regular Gifted. Since their power is originally quite high, Guardians will immediately come and kill them at the right moment. That''s why GG is weakening; we lose a lot of great talent before they even have the chance to improve and defend themselves. This is especially so in the north." "Sir, should we stop the simulation? Just look at him, he''s missing the whole right side of his body." "No, don''t stop it. Didn''t you already see his extraordinary healing abilities? I''ve never seen something like that before......Just give him the normal end-wave notification." "Yes, sir." The man pressed a button, signaling the end-wave notification. The voice sounded in Kyte''s mind, making him slightly tremble. As the two men and a few other assistants watched the giant screen, they heard Kyte say: "Continue." That one word mad a few of the assistants shocked. Everyone else just thought that it was normal. He had already made it that far and he was quickly healing. If he had more of that black light, then wouldn''t he be able to pass straight into S rank? Just as the man was going to press a button, the lead administrator stopped him. "Sir?" "Give him a minute." "But, sir, that''s against the-" "I don''t care about the rules! I''m the head administrator here, aren''t I? I make the rules. We wait one minute before you press that button, understood?" "...Yes, sir." "Good. I''ve had enough of letting such good talent go to waste." The head administrator mumbled under his breath as he closely watched Kyte lying in the corner. He could clearly see the speed at which Kyte''s body was healing. The skeleton, instead of being white in color, was a deep blue that shined under the omnipresent light within the simulation. This unusualness spawned even more questions within the older man''s mind. The voice range out in Kyte''s mind as he silently leaned his back on the wall. He looked at his skeleton and its beauty was very apparent. The otherworldly shine gleamed brightly, as if it was wanting to breakthrough its outer shell and begin anew. Heheheh, I know, I know...just a bit more and I''ll be able to breakthrough into the seventh stage. Then, you''ll evolve into top-grade Earth rock. I wonder when my skeleton will transform into low-grade Heaven rock... After a full minute had passed, flashes of light appeared in random locations in the area around Kyte. His body was at most half-way done healing and the only thing he could do what sit there and wait. Every second that passed felt like an eternity; it was as if he was waiting for the wooden floor underneath his feet to disappear, thus breaking his neck from which it was hung. Kyte already had several S rank Guardians within his Spiritual energy. There were about fifteen of them around his immediate surroundings and more were moving closer. Suddenly, one entered his vision. Kyte''s left hand was already raised with a black light glistening in the omnipresence of the simulation light. It was as if it was absorbing the light around, turning the area it occupied into a black hole. Kyte locked his eyes with the Guardians life-less "eyes". He immediately let loose a pillar of fire directly into the Guardian. The flame was the same light-blue color as it completely decimated the Guardian. Heh, this stuff is really powerful. Kyte silently laughed because he knew that this black light was the only way for him to pass through into S rank. His Internal energy and skeleton were just too weak to battle S rank Guardians like he had battled A rank Guardians. That is one of the reasons why Kyte wants to breakthrough into the seventh stage. Breaking through this large bottleneck would grant him an enormous increase in strength. Not only that, but another section of the storage necklace would be unlocked. One second after the first Guardian was destroyed, every single other Guardian leaped toward the destroyed room that Kyte was in. When he felt all of them move, Kyte knew that this was his last chance. His last chance to show everyone, and himself, just how powerful this black light really was. Kyte moved all of the black light left within him above his body. It morphed into a single large black sphere. It looked like a spherical black hole that sucked in any light that came near it. Even looking at it proved a bit difficult, and this was in a simulation. What would the real thing be like? Not only that, but anyone that looked at it suddenly got a strange feeling. They felt that they were looking at an authority that was far above anything they had ever seen. This authority was unlike any other; it was if a God was staring into their very souls. It made them have a sudden urge to kneel down in-front of it as they felt the unworthiness well up within them. However, everyone that did see it held back those feelings. They didn''t even know why they felt it at all. They all thought that this black light was within a simulation. How could it make them so strongly feel the way they do? Even Kyte was a little taken back by the power of this black sphere. However, he didn''t have the feeling of kneeling to this great power. Instead, he felt like he had gained the power to be the one who forces others to kneel. The longer he stared into the black hole, the more bewildered he became. That didn''t last long though. The first Guardian smashed onto the floor in-front of Kyte as if it was unaffected by the black sphere. However, once it saw what was above Kyte, it slightly hesitated. Kyte took this small chance to unleash the power of this giant black sphere. This sphere is at least ten times bigger than what he usually used, so he was hoping it would destroy everything inside this simulation. Kyte looked at that Guardian and just slightly waved his hand. "Bye~." Then, the screen within the simulation chamber went white. The screen was completely bathed in white light for several seconds. The white light then slowly dimmed, and the workers watching were completely shocked. The head administrator was utterly stunned to the point that no sound came out of his mouth. When the light dimmed enough for everyone to see what exactly happened, they all saw a giant mushroom cloud billow into the sky within the simulation. A raging light-blue fire covered the entire simulation perimeter, completely destroying everything that was created within it. Fire was continually spreading out from the epicenter of the large explosion as if there was a never-ending supply of energy. After a full minute of continuous waves of fire spreading out, it began to calm down. After another full minute, the fire was quickly disappearing and the mushroom cloud within the simulation also began to fade. When everyone was able to see the aftermath, they were all flabbergasted. Nothing remained within the simulation. All that was left was a flat plain of nothingness. The cloud suddenly and quickly disappeared, leaving behind a single speck within the vast nothingness. The head administrator quickly zoomed in on that one speck and found Kyte silently laying there on his back. The right side of his body was still healing, although it was almost done. All that was remaining was the last fibers of muscle and layers of skin. Kyte felt a supreme emptiness within himself. He felt as if he had just lost a huge part of himself as the last specks of black light had disappeared. He felt that overpowering might disappear with the black sphere. He slowly sat up and looked around himself, just to see absolutely nothing. Just a vast white space was left over from the ultimate destruction. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. It was completely silent. No one in the simulation chamber could speak a single word to describe what had just took place. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Sure, there have been instances when an abnormally powerful Gifted would charge straight into S rank without too much of a sweat. However, no one has ever completely destroyed the entire simulated world. This was completely unprecedented and greatly surpassed everyone''s expectations. After a few moments, the head administrator spoke. "Immediately bring this recording to David Wux." "Huh?" "Now!" "Yes, sir!" The assistant administrator quickly got up and took a small metallic chip along with his tablet. He immediately left with quick steps out of the testing hall and directly to the capital mansion. The head administrator then leaned over and pressed a button. A voice range out inside Kyte''s head. The space around him began to distort and he once again felt like he was being sucked out through his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, and the in the next he felt soft padding around his head and underneath his body. Opening his eyes, he lifted the helmet off and sat up to looked around. He saw that Azali was still within her simulation, though he has no clue as to what Guardians she was fighting. He looked toward the large group of workers and noticed them all staring at him with shock and bewilderment. "So, what''s my rank?" Kyte asked as he stood up with a slight wobble. "...It...hasn''t been decided yet." The head administrator stood up and replied. "What do you mean?" "What you just did surpassed all of our expectations. Something like this has never happened before. So, I took a recording of your simulation to David Wux for him to decide." "...Straight to David Wux?! But, what is going to happen now?" "I don''t know. I don''t have the authority to determine your rank." "What do you think will happen?" "...I think Mr. Wux will enter your recording into the Core League Recruitment test, or CLR test. If you pass, you''ll be able to enter into the CLR competition. Only the top five will be able to enter a Core League." "I see. Well, thank for the information. Is it fine for me to stay and watch her simulation?" "Hm?...Uh, sure, I guess. There''s no rule against it so why not." ___________________________________________________________________ -Capital Mansion- -Video Viewing Room- An older man with golden hair and eyes, with a long red golden-trimmed robe walked into a large room with a huge screen. The golden aura around his body exuded a sense of majesty, and the power from the aura some-what suffocated those around him. "You better not disappoint me, Zack." David Wux said as he sat down in a chair. "Yes, sir, no problem. You will definitely not be disappointed. I promise." "Hmph." Why should I waste my time coming here. The last time this happened I was extremely disappointed. David silently sighed to himself as he remembered that scene several years ago. However, that was long gone now. "Start the recording." "Yes, sir." The recording appeared on the giant screen in-front of David and the assistant administrator, Zack. The first twenty seconds played which showed Kyte effortlessly destroying all the Guardians from D to B rank. Kyte never moved; he never took a single step but all of the Guardians were destroyed. David watched with great confusion after seeing this. Not only that, but he also felt a slight bewilderment after seeing Kyte destroy the Guardians. Then, the A rank Guardian wave started. David was slightly disappointed to see that Kyte wasn''t able to destroy the Guardians like he previously did, but he still continued to watch. He saw Kyte slash apart the Guardians one by one with his crimson energy and he could clearly tell that Kyte didn''t have much combat experience. David thought that if it was him in Kyte''s position, he would''ve never let any of those Guardians hit him, let alone get close to him. He saw Kyte get group attacked by the six Guardians. Kyte turned into a tornado of crimson energy and three of the Guardians were destroyed as the other three smashed Kyte down into the ground. Hmph, such recklessness. Does this kid even know how to fight? After seeing Kyte''s severe injuries heal almost immediately, David felt somewhat impressed. But, in the next moment, that disappeared. He watched as Kyte was blasted through two entire buildings and into a thick concrete wall that still cracked from Kyte''s impact. Kyte''s injuries were even worse than before but they were still healing very quickly. "Zack, if this is what I''m supposed to be impressed with, then I''m disappointed. This kid doesn''t seem like he''s been in real combat at all." "Please, sir, keep watching. The best part has yet to come." "..." David silently kept watching the screen. Suddenly, two black gloves appeared on Kyte''s hand while a white sword manifested in his right. The aura around Kyte instantly changed as the three pieces of equipment faintly shined. The Guardians relentlessly attacked Kyte''s wall of energy, but they weren''t able to break through it. Then, Kyte blasted them back with the wall of energy and instantly charged forward. The Guardians only had seconds before they were destroyed. As Kyte relaxed and let all of his defenses down, David heavily sighed. He watched as the last Guardian sliced Kyte in half. Kyte''s body flew hundreds of feet away and crashed through several piles of rubble before his top half stopped in a corner of a destroy building. "So, that''s what you wanted me to see?" David was about to get up but he was stopped by Zack. "Sir, please, with all due respect, keep watching." "...Fine." David only sighed again as he continued to watch. He could visually see Kyte''s body repairing itself with incredible speed. The last Guardian landed a few feet away from Kyte, and Kyte lifted his left hand. David saw the small ball of black light and he was immediately stunned when he saw it. The next thing that appeared on the screen was an explosion and waves of light-blue fire that spread out to cover a large radius. "That was..." "Sir, that isn''t all." "What? But he''s practically half dead, what''s left to show?" "There''s still the S rank wave, sir." "...Right." David watched as Kyte''s body healed itself. The shining skeleton also caught his attention, but not as much as the black light. I''ve seen that somewhere...but where? There''s no Gifted that has that type of power, so where did I see it? David tried to remember, but his memory was failing him. He might have only seen it once within his whole life. Silently, the S rank wave began. David focused his attention back onto the screen. The first S rank Guardian appeared before Kyte but it was quickly destroyed by a pillar of fire. A second later, a large amounts of black light escaped Kyte''s body and morphed together to create a large black sphere. David felt fear as he stared at that sphere. A feeling of powerlessness enveloped him as he felt the urge to get off his seat and kneel. He felt the overpowering authority that exuded from that sphere as it devoured all the light around it, creating a black hole that was devoid of all light. David forced himself to stay calm. On the outside he looked completely normal, but on the inside he was slightly panicking as confusion struck him. The screen went white. A few seconds later, the white light began to dim. David watched as the light dimmed to the point where he could see the aftermath of what just happened. A gigantic mushroom cloud billowed to the simulated sky as waves upon waves of fire flowed out from the epicenter. After several more seconds, everything calmed and the mushroom cloud disappeared. All that was left was a single speck: Kyte. David was completely speechless. He looked on with amazement and bewilderment. His excitement exceeded that of when he found out his favorite robes were being sold on a special deal. He had never felt this feeling before, and he couldn''t even describe what he was feeling. "So this is what you actually wanted to show me." "Yes, sir. Mr. Tael did not know what to do, so he sent me to show this recording. We wish you will be able to decide his fate." "I see. Well, he was right. He doesn''t have the authority to rank this Gifted." "Also, sir, there''s something else you need to know." "What is it?" "This Gifted''s name is Kyte Stone. He was picked up by Branch 4 a few months ago. However, the most confusing thing is that Kyte''s records show no Gifted activity until a month or so before Branch 4 took him in. He just suddenly...appeared." "What? So you mean he was hiding?" "No, sir, that''s not what I mean. I''m saying that he was a regular human until a few months ago. Every single Gifted within GG''s records have at least one incident involving their powers, but Kyte has none. He''s also a Special Gifted." "Hmm...well, I''ll look into that later. Considering his raw power, he''s far above S rank. However, that''s only with that black light he has. Excluding that, he''s a Gold A rank." David grew silent for a few moments before finishing: "Give him a bronze S rank badge. Also, don''t show this recording to anyone else. I will be taking it myself." "Yes, sir." "You may leave." "Thank you, sir." Zack left as David slouched back in his chair. "Haaaa, I hate putting on that mask all the time." David sighed as he scratched his head. "...This simple Outer Branch...definitely can''t contain this kid." Chapter 26: Reward (1) Would''ve had this out earlier but my yard work took 2 hours to complete. Not fun, I don''t recommend it. __________________________________________________________________________________ "Wow." Kyte was watching Azali''s simulation test and was amazed at what he saw. Not only was she fighting, and winning, against S rank Guardians but she was also almost done with the last wave. However, instead of golden needles, Azali was using golden chains that had large curved blades that ran along each individual chain. She would whip the chain outward in a swinging arc or link the several chains together to form different weapons. Kyte also noticed that some of the Guardians that were hit but not destroyed immediately began to act weirdly. Their limbs would go weak or they would suddenly turn on their fellow Guardians. Azali would usually turn her back on the ones she hit, as if she knew they wouldn''t attack her. Poison?...No, wait, how can Guardians be poisoned? Suddenly a larger Guardian appeared behind her. Azali quickly spun around and formed a barrier with one of her chains while sweeping the other behind her. The Guardian punched onto the chain shield and completely destroyed it. The fist didn''t stop and continued toward Azali''s chest. She tried to dodge but the the Guardian''s attack was just too fast. The fist landed directly against her chest and blasted her back dozens of meters. A few Guardians began to attack the bigger one, but to avail. The smaller ones were all destroyed until there were only normal Guardians left. Azali stood up, however, there was a severe injury on her chest. It looked like she could barely breath as blood oozed out form her chest. Suddenly, two more chains appeared behind her and morphed with the other two to create a giant sword. The sword had multiple curved edges on each side and it emitted a strong golden glow. The smaller Guardians leaped toward Azali as she swept the sword horizontally. An energy crescent exploded from the blade and effortlessly sliced through the Guardians. It continued toward the bigger Guardian, however, it jumped over it and quickly moved toward Azali. She slashed her sword toward it but the Guardian smoothly tilted its body, causing the sword to swiftly slide past. Using the momentum from the sword, Azali quickly spun and put the sword up to block against the Guardian''s strike. A loud bang resulted from the Guardian''s fist smashing into the sword, blasting Azali back several meters. She coughed up blood and it sprayed against the ground while also landing on her clothes. Her usual beautiful appearance was long replaced by a look of savagery. She instantly leaped forward and swung her giant sword. The Guardian effortlessly dodged and grabbed Azali''s leg, spinning around and throwing her with so much force that she crashed through an entire building. The building collapsed but Azali quickly jumped out from the falling rubble. Before she could take a breath, the Guardian was already rushing toward her. Seeing that, Azali faintly sighed and relaxed her arms. "I give up." Instantly, everything within the simulation froze. The Guardian was about ten feet from her with its arm already extended. That cold, life-less look from the armor-plated visage sent slight shivers down her back. The simulation began to break apart and Azali felt herself being sucked out from her head. Everything blacked out and the next thing she saw was the dark inside of the helmet. When she took the helmet off, she heard the sound of excitement, praise, and wonder. Never did they think that a young girl like her could be such a monster. "She''s only sixteen yet she''s a Silver S rank..." "Yea, it''s amazing. First time I''ve seen something like this." "Well, she lives up to her father''s name." "What a monstrous genius..." Several forms of praise entered her ears. It took a few seconds for her to regain her senses and balance after exiting the simulation, but she finally stood up straight and heard the small conversations here and there. She looked around in the small crowd behind the head administrator and saw Kyte standing there. A light smile appeared on her thin lips, but before she could walk over to him, the head admin stood up and walked over to her. "Azali Wux, congratulations on achieving Silver S rank. Here is your badge, and your rewards will be sent directly to your Branch''s housing." He handed a small silver badge that had an S imprinted on it to Azali. She took it in her hands and looked at it in amazement for a few seconds before putting it on. The silver S badge was very noticeable amongst her red clothing and it lightly shined in the light in the room. "Alright everyone, regular testing starts now. Bring in the first few groups and put them in the testing chambers." ""Understood."" The head admin quickly barked out orders to his subordinates and began to start the actual rank-up test. Just seconds later several Gifted entered the room and were getting ready for their simulations. There were about ten beds in that first simulation chamber, and there were four more rooms. Each Outer Branch can have up to twenty members, same as the Inner Branch. However, some Branches don''t have that many members. Since there''s multiple cities within each Sector, there could be up to approximately twenty different Branches all apart of one Sector. Some cities are smaller or bigger than others so the size of the Branch usually depends on the size of the city. For the biggest cities the Branches are allowed of up to forty members, and the smallest cities only require at most fifteen. The main reason why GG even bothers to do this is to stop AHAD''s influence from spreading. Along with that, GG wants to stop AHAD from building more factories and other manufacturing sites. Some cities require more Gifted to handle the situation while others...not so much. Anyway, that''s why there are five rooms with fifty beds. Everything moves along a strict protocol, and depending on the length of the simulations, a single rank could take all day or even longer. Adding to that the amount of people within each rank that are attempting the rank-up test, a couple of weeks is enough time for everyone to finish. "Hey, good job." Kyte said as Azali walked up to him. "Hehe, thanks! I wish I could''ve beaten that last guy, then I would''ve gotten a Golden S rank instead of Silver." Azali said disappointingly. "At least you got S rank, right? That''s a lot better than I thought you would do." "Well, my dad wanted me to get at least a Silver S rank, so I''m glad I passed." "Really? That''s some pretty high standards..." "Is it?" "Uh, yea. I was expecting at least like...Silver A rank or something." "Hmm, well everyone says that getting S rank is normal. Maybe it''s just my family." "Yea, it most definitely is your family." Kyte turned to look at the head admin that was walking toward him. "Kyte, this is your rank. It was decided by David Wux himself, so I don''t dare question his judgement." The head admin handed Kyte a Bronze S badge that shone with a dark luster. It looked some-what weird being worn over a black hoodie, but Kyte didn''t really complain. Just having an S rank badge would make others respect him, excluding other S rankers. An S ranker, here in an Outer Sector, garners quite a lot of respect. Usually the highest rank within a Branch is Gold A but sometimes it could be at least a Bronze S rank. For example, Seeker. He''s one of the few S rank Branch leaders within Sector 31. Most of the S rankers are within the Inner Branch. "You got a Bronze S badge? No way!" Azali exclaimed with a confused expression. "What''s with that reaction?" Kyte said. "No...well, it''s just that...when I first saw you, you felt as if you were as strong as a normal A ranker. You still feel the same, so I was wondering how you got an S badge? And my father directly judged you too? Isn''t this too weird?" "Hahaha, it doesn''t matter. You''ll find out during the tournament why I have this badge." "That smug look of your''s is annoying..." "Heh, well, how do you expect me to look? I didn''t really expect it to be like this." "Really?" "Yes, really. Thought I''m quite happily surprised about it." "Then that''s good. GG needs everything it can get to wipe out AHAD." "Hmmm, I guess so." An awkward silence permeated around them as they looked around. Kyte was the first one to break the silence. "Well, I have to go now. I''ll walk with you to the front though." "Yea, ok." They both walked out, and upon entering the main hall they garnered a lot of attention. The main hall was filled with people awaiting their turn, so seeing two S rankers walk through caught everyone''s eye. Particularly because these two S rankers only just took their first rank-up test. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "That''s them?" "Yea, the girl is Azali Wux, Mr. Wux''s youngest daughter. To be able to achieve Silver S rank on her first try..." "It''s something to be expected. All of Mr. Wux''s children are like that, though Azali would be the first to directly get Silver S rank." "She''s a freakin'' monster." "Who''s that next to her though?" "Isn''t that the guy that flung Kyle like a rag-doll?" "Really? And he''s Bronze S rank on his first try too? Man, Kyle is not a lucky man." "They''re both monsters..." Among the many different conversations, Kyte felt a little embarrassed. He''s never heard people talk about him like he''s some ultra-powerful being. Though the conversations about him were dim to the one''s about Azali, Kyte didn''t feel bad. Actually, Kyte expected Azali to catch most of the attention because of her status as well as her power of a Silver S ranker. Not only that, but she''s also very beautiful, which mostly catches the eye of the numerous men around. Well, we''ll be on completely different levels once I reach the seventh stage. I estimate my power to increase three-folds, and adding on the new equipment from the storage necklace and my skeleton evolving into Top-grade Earth rock. I wonder if my black light will be able to evolve too? Kyte thought to himself about the matters concerning his breakthrough, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t think of a solution. He would just have to wait for a random enlightenment or maybe train with the black light for who knows how long. As they reached the door and stepped out of the testing hall, Azali turned to Kyte. "Hey, wanna get something to eat?" "Hm? Why?" "Well...I''m kinda hungry and I don''t want to go alone." "Ah..." Kyte looked at Azali for a few moments, which slightly confused her, before responding. "I guess I can come with you. It''s not like I have anything better to do. My rewards will probably come in at a later time too." "Yay! Then, let''s go!" Azali smiled before quickly turning and walking down the path toward the dining hall. "Woah, wait for me, geeze." "Hahaha, you''re too slow." Kyte swiftly caught up with Azali and they went toward the dining hall together. ____________________________________________________________________ "Sir...? Why did you stop?" Zack asked. "Didn''t you see?" David replied. "See what?" "..If you didn''t see then I''ll just tell you.-" David mentally sighed as he remembered his power level was far above Zack''s. "-My daughter, Azali, just walked into the dining hall." "What''s wrong with that?" "Kyte was with her." "-! You mean..." "Yea." "That Kyte, what does he think he''s doing?!" "Don''t blame him. It was obviously Azali that invited him." "How do you know?" "Are you questioning whether or not I know my own daughter?" "No, sir, I''m not." "Good. We won''t be meeting with Azali today. We''ll congratulate her tomorrow. She''s never really had any friends or had contact with people outside, so she must''ve brought forth a lot of courage to ask Kyte." Though it''s my fault her childhood was full of loneliness. "Why didn''t her guards try to stop it?" "I called the guards off. Do you really think a Silver S ranker needs guards among Gifted that are at most Gold A rank?" "...Right, sir. I forgot." "Plus, Azali is old enough to know how to take care of herself. Though she always wants to get her way and is very stubborn about certain things." "Just like you, I presume, sir?" "Was that a joke, Zack?" "I-I apologize, sir. I don''t know wh-" "Don''t worry about it. Lighten up a little. Also, just call me David like I''ve told you to. It feels weird and exhausting when even you call me sir." "...Yes, sir-" "Zack." "Yes, David." "Good. Now, follow me. There''s someone I have to meet before the tournament starts." ____________________________________________________________________ A few days later, Kyte heard knocking at the front door of Branch 4''s housing. That must be my reward. "I got it!" Kyte yelled as he quickly moved down the stairs to the door. Opening the door, Kyte saw a man standing there with a briefcase in his hand. "Are you Kyte Stone?" "Yes, that is me." The man showed Kyte his tablet and, looking at the screen, Kyte saw that it was a finger-print scan. Kyte pressed his thumb against the screen and information pertaining to him appeared. The man quickly looked at it and then handed Kyte the briefcase. "Here is your reward for achieving Bronze S rank. The additional ten thousand credits is within a credit card inside the case, as well as an additional gift for directly achieving S rank. As it takes time for the storage and treasury crew to sort out the many orders for weapons and armor, you will have to wait at most a day." "Thank you." "Have a good day." Kyte closed the door and swiftly went to his room with the briefcase in his hand. He sat down on the bed and felt two arms wrap around his chest. "So, this is the reward? It''s pretty large." Rose said as she rested her chin on Kyte''s shoulder. "Yea, but I have to pick my weapon first. The information is within the briefcase, and there''s also a reward of ten thousand credits." "Oooh, sounds fancy." "Yep! There''s apparently another gift because I directly achieved S rank. Hopefully it''s good." "Alright, open it, open it~." Rose pressed her soft breasts up against Kyte''s back and began teasing him. "Ok! Stop! I can''t open it if you''re tickling me!" Kyte had already let go of the briefcase and was squirming underneath Rose as she relentlessly tickled him. They wrestled each other while playing around for a few minutes before Kyte was thrown off the bed by Rose. He landed hard on the floor, and when he put his hand down he touched the briefcase. "-Ah. Rose, we forgot about the brief case." "Oh. Ahaha, right, sorry." "No problem. Let''s open it right now before we forget again." Kyte got up on the bed and placed the case on his lap. Rose once again grabbed him from behind, but this time she didn''t tease him. Kyte opened the case, and inside was a tablet and a small blue card. Kyte picked up the card and looked it over to find a bar-code on the back. A small screen appeared on the front, indicating that it was a finger-print scanner. It was an easy safety measure so not just anyone can steal your credit cards and use them freely. After he scanned his thumb, a number appeared on the top right-hand corner of the card. The number was ten thousand, which indicated how many credits remained on the card. The global currency within Gaet, the only known continent, is the credit. The symbol for a credit is a capital C with three lines through it: one at the top, one in the middle, and one in the bottom. Most things within Gaet are very cheap. For example, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, two cartons of milk, and two boxes of cereal might cost five credits all together. A regular stable job would probably be about six credits per hour. Most jobs'' pay ranges are between four and seven credits per hour while the really good jobs are usually six to twelve credits per hour. Of course, there will always be those really crappy jobs and the really good ones, too. Most merchandise can be bought quite cheaply too. There are somethings that can only be found in certain areas within Gaet which makes them a lot more expensive. However, most things are affordable. The giant nation on Gaet is actually doing quite well despite being alone and having a great hidden war. So, ten thousand credits is actually a large amount. It''s to be expected from a very powerful family, though. Putting the card in his wallet, Kyte then took out the tablet from the case and then set the case down on the floor. After turning it on, Kyte had to scan his thumb once again to gain clearance into the system. After that, many options came forth onto the screen. A single interface appeared above the options, displaying a message that surprised Kyte. Ranking System So I''ve seen a comment(s) about the ranking system within GG (and I assume overall). I know that the ranking system hasn''t been specifically explained within the story (and I do not plan on making an info. dump about it). So I''m going to go ahead and show you readers what I use for the ranking system. It''s not set in stone for right now (because story reasons) so just take it with a grain of...salt? I dunno, something. Anyway, here it is. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Power Ranking: Modifier that shows how much more power (on average) one rank has than the previous. (For example, C rank is 2x stronger than D rank, on average.) GG Ranking D rank: Lowest power level within GG. Anyone that is D rank is at most two times stronger than the average human. Power Ranking: N/A C rank: First official rank within GG. C rankers are usually weak Gifted or recently awakened Special Gifted. Power Ranking: 2x B rank: Second official rank within GG. B rankers are usually average-leveled Gifted and older Special Gifted. Power Ranking: 3x A rank: Third official rank within GG. A rankers are usually powerful Gifted and older or regular genius-level Special Gifted. Power Ranking: 5x S rank: Fourth official rank within GG, also grants authority within the Outer Sectors. S rankers are usually very powerful Gifted or genius-level Special Gifted. Power Ranking: 7x Fighter: Fifth official rank within GG, usually Sector Leaders within Outer Sectors. Fighters are usually regular genius-level Gifted or monstrous genius-level Special Gifted. Power Ranking: N/Ax King: Sixth official rank within GG, N/A. Kings are usually - N/A Power Ranking: N/Ax N/A: N/A Power ranking: N/Ax N/A: N/A Power ranking: N/Ax Guardian Ranking System D rank: Normal Guardians that merely survey certain areas for energy pulses from Gifted. Kills any Gifted within its strength parameters. Usually two times the strength of a human. Power Ranking: N/A C rank: Leaders of the D rank Guardians. When enough D rank Guardians are destroyed, one C rank with appear. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Power Ranking: 2x B rank: Leaders of the C rank Guardians, stealth-type. When enough C rank Guardians are destroyed, one B rank will appear. Power Ranking: 3x A rank: Leaders of the B rank Guardians, offensive-type. When two B rank Guardians are destroyed, one A rank will appear. Power Ranking: 5x S rank: Leaders within each Sector, aggressive-type. When two A rank Guardians are destroyed, one S rank will appear. Power Ranking: 7x N/A: N/A, N/A. N/A. Power Ranking: N/Ax N/A: N/A. N/A Power Ranking: N/Ax N/A: N/A Power ranking: N/Ax N/A: N/A Power ranking: N/Ax Bronze, Silver, Gold Bronze: 1.0 - 1.3x power (approximately) Silver: 1.31 - 1.6x power (approximately) Gold: 1.61 - 1.9x power (approximately) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Please take note that I randomly put out some numbers while putting a little bit of thought into it. When the time comes you''ll naturally know the difference between each rank (the higher ones anyway). Also, please tell me if I missed anything. Any questions about the ranks or anything I missed or didn''t explain properly, please comment and I''ll either add it to the ranking or simply answer your question. Chapter 27: Reward (2) Here''s the second chapter that I said I would do. Time to get serious. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Upon directly achieving S rank, you are rewarded with one Gold S rank weapon and armor?!" Kyte flinched as he read those words. At most someone would only get a Silver S armor from getting to S rank, but Kyte was able to choose a Gold S rank weapon and armor. This was simply fantastic. Rose was completely flabbergasted. She never thought that the gift would be this. She''s never once seen a Gold S ranked weapon or armor. The most she''s seen is only a Bronze S rank weapon, and even that was super powerful. A Gold S weapon is at least four times stronger than a Bronze S weapon. Pairing that with Kyte''s buffing abilities, well, the strength of that weapon would multiply. "Kyte, that''s amazing!" Rose instantly began to kiss Kyte repeatedly on the cheek. "Hey, stop, hahaha, stop it. Gosh." "Eheheh, sorry." "Anyway, I didn''t expect the reward to be so good. This is way better than a stupid Bronze S rank weapon." "Hey, a Bronze S weapon is nothing to laugh at. The most we''ve been able to get is a Gold B rank weapon." "Hahaha, well, you''re right. Even if it wasn''t Gold S I would still be grateful. Just getting S ranked equipment is nice." "Check what else is there." "Right, right. Hmm, swords, axes, spears, great swords, plated armor, cloaks, robes, there''s so much to choose from." Kyte was scrolling through the list. There were a lot of different types of weapons and armor that he didn''t feel like looking through them all. Of course, Kyte was also hesitant to even choose anything. He wondered what he would get from the storage necklace once he broke through. But then again, how long would it take for him to accomplish that? Gaining more power sooner rather than later is always the best choice. So, Kyte scrolled up to the sword category. Several sub-categories appeared but Kyte already knew exactly what he wanted. The energy swords that he creates, as well as Heavy Air, are all thick-type broadswords. Kyte didn''t have to make his energy swords that big of a size, but since they are literally weightless to him it doesn''t matter much. So, Kyte chose a broadsword for his weapon. He chose it mostly because he has the potential to make it even stronger than it already is. With his Internal energy, Spirit energy, even life force energy, Kyte would be able to increase the strength of the sword to an unimaginable degree. Thinking that far, Kyte remembered formations. He was particularly reminded of them because Heavy Air used two formations which allowed its weight to be manipulated as well as directly infusing his Internal energy with it. If he could learn how to set up formations onto equipment, then wouldn''t his power increase even a step further? Along with all of the skills, techniques, and other power-ups, Kyte also gained knowledge on formations. However, he never utilized this information, mostly because he was too preoccupied with training his skills and trying to reach a higher understanding with the black light. When he realized the opportunity that he missed, Kyte suddenly felt at a loss. Although he can still continue to learn from where he left off, he thought back on the few months that he missed when he could''ve learned higher and more powerful formations. Kyte told himself to start learning again. Although he has the information on every formation that is available to him, he doesn''t have the practice on actually laying them down and manipulating them. Because of his very strong and sturdy foundation at the peak Champion stage, it will be easier to lay down his available formations. Though he''ll still need sufficient practice. After he chose his weapon, he moved to the armor categories. He swiftly chose a robed design, however, because he was choosing an S ranked armor, he could personally design it himself, to an extent. Since Kyte is a huge fan of video games, he knows a lot of different clothing models and outlines. His favorite games were actually two game series from about a decade ago. They were precisely the Assassin''s Conviction and Paragon game series. With the multi-layered robes that went down to the shins and triple-layered coat covering the torso, Kyte also added the original hood and inserted the collar to guard his neck. Although the hood could also guard his neck, the collar, while not being too present, could have a thicker design with more God Fiber woven in with it. That''s mostly why Kyte decided to make the robes multi-layered as well. Of course, that''s not the only reason why. Since Kyte decided to begin learning formations again with more vigor, he began to think of different ways of implements the formations within the robes. Since there are three layers, Kyte could lay different formations within each layer which could connect with each formation and form one, single mega-formation. This would not only greatly increase Kyte''s power but it would also increase his experience with formations. Since he would be able to erase any formation, that he himself created, with a single thought, he could replace old formations with a new and improved version. Thinking this far, Kyte got greatly excited inside. He could become a super soldier. A tank with incredible agility. Since he''s never seen any Gifted with a formation-related power, or anything related to formations, then he would be the first to appear with their power. And, since he could modify the formations to only allow him to activate them, no one else would be able to use them. "Hey, Rose." "Yea?" "I''m going to be training very hard now. I just realized that I''ve missed out on a big opportunity, so I need to vigorously train." "Huh? But, why now?" "Because I only now just realized my mistake. With this new technique, my power will increase to a very high level. Not only that, but I can improve my technique for later when my foundation is much more powerful." "Oh...well, good luck then. I''ll be here with the others." "Hey, don''t worry, I''ll still spend time with you. I just need to prepare for the tournament, and more importantly, the future. I don''t know what dangers await me...await us. So, I need the power to destroy anything that obstructs my path. The best defense is the best offense." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Yes...that''s it. Having the strongest attack will grant me the power to destroy anything that comes to me. I''ll completely let go of defensive measures, except for the basics, and fully concentrate on offensive techniques and formations. The S rank armor will definitely help me with that. I''ll become the strongest attacker, only by leaving behind my defense. After completing his order, Kyte put the tablet back into the case and left it on the floor. Turning back to Rose, he said: "I''ll be going now. This training requires a large amount of concentration, and if I''m going to at least try to win, I have to do this non-stop." "...Ok. I don''t have the right to stop you." Kyte looked into Rose''s eyes, only seeing a faint loneliness within them. "Hey, what''s wrong?" Kyte sat down next to Rose. "Nothing''s wrong." "Don''t say that. I know there''s something, what is it?" "...I just...it''s...I don''t know..." Rose covered her face with her hands as her voice slowly began to choke. "Rose, calm down. Take in a deep breath and relax, then try talking." Kyte moved and slowly removed Rose''s hands from her face, revealing her teary eyes. Rose felt the warmth within Kyte''s hands and the concern in his voice, making her emotions almost go out of control. She continued to think her thoughts and tears began to fall down her face. "I keep..thinking...that you''re...going to leave me." Rose couldn''t control herself anymore and she endlessly shed tears and tightly gripped Kyte''s hand. Kyte, with his free hand, pulled Rose into him embrace. He caressed her hair as she tightly held on. Shit. Kyte realized earlier on that Rose was some-what obsessive, but he didn''t think it was to this degree. He completely underestimated her feelings of attachment, and even ignored part of it. Although he does like her, he''s not obsessed with her. Besides, his feelings for her spawned from an understanding between their depressing pasts, not their current characters. Usually, normal couples would fall for each other''s characters and personalities instead of one''s past whether or not it was depressing or happy. Kyte''s feelings began from just that: an understanding of their past, not primarily their present. Likewise, Rose had been searching for someone like Kyte for a majority of her life while Kyte had changed and completely given up only about three years ago. The sincerity and deepness of their feelings were completely different from each other. Kyte had been giving his energy while Rose had been taking. To have her source of love, energy, and attachment pulled away would greatly impact her. Kyte thought that all of this might have been a mistake. Was he merely slowly seduced by her beautiful and sexy appearance, and her past only made his emotions overtake him? Was his feelings the product of lust, romance, or a mixture of both? Kyte had no idea. All he did know was that Rose was important to him. He wouldn''t let anyone or anything hurt her. He would destroy anything that would harm her. But, what if the only thing that could harm her is himself? Rose is powerful enough to defend herself from physical attacks, but what of emotional attacks? What would he do when the time comes to let her go, what would she do? How would she handle him leaving her? "Rose, don''t worry. I won''t leave you. I''m only going to train with a new technique that will greatly increase my power. However, it will also greatly increase your''s." "...Really?" Rose looked up at Kyte with red eyes. "Yea. I can apply this new technique to your equipment and you''ll be able to gain a lot of power from it. So don''t worry, I''ll make sure I won''t leave you." "...Hehe, thank you, Kyte." Rose brightly smiled and continued to hold herself within his embrace. ________________________________________________________________ -Two hours later- After a session with Rose, Kyte headed out to the training hall within the small city. The training hall was a giant building that held many different rooms for different purposes. Since there are a variety of different Gifted abilities, there are certain rooms for specific abilities. More destructive-type abilities would use defensive rooms while less-destructive powers would use more normal rooms. Of course, because of this, the more defensive rooms would cost more to use. They would be approximately ten credits per hours while normal rooms would be about five per hour. The cost to make each room was very high since the used God Mineral to reinforce them so they wouldn''t be destroyed. Anyway, Kyte was using a normal room since he wouldn''t be destroying things with his formations. Besides, he''s not studying destruction-type formations yet, only the basics as well as buffing formations. He has already created multiple security formations, basic elemental formations and defensive formations. The information that he has on formations expands all the way to highly advanced. The highly advanced formations requires extensive experience with manipulating and laying formations, so there is no way that Kyte can utilize those yet. He''s already failed multiple times trying to create the most complex basic formation that he has. It would take quite a while to perfect these formations, however, he''s only been doing this for about thirty minutes. Besides, he still has about three weeks till the S rank tournament. Kyte''s confident that he will be able to complete semi-powerful formations that will help him. Although he has no clue how to formulate several formations to create a single formation. He still has ways to go. Also, he has plenty of credits to supply him till the tournament starts. Ten hours is only fifty credits so Kyte isn''t worried about losing all of his money. Thinking of this, Kyte thought about why Akina would always gather all of the Guardian scraps left over from battles. The money from selling the Guardian scraps was actually quite a lot and the money from it could be used by the Branch that sold it. Though the apartment takes up quite a bit, there''s still a lot left over. And so, Kyte began to harshly practice formations. Chapter 28: Mutated Gifted Before the chapter begins, I would like to state somethings. Firstly, I am very busy right. I have two finals (along with normal curriculum finals) as well as a concert (which I''m performing in) which I need to practice for. Secondly, I have a girlfriend (don''t call me a real lifer plz xD) and she also takes up some of my time (not complaining). Then swim practice, about 2 hours gone. Lastly, I got into a new game that I love to play. No excuse there lol. This chapter is about twice as long as usual, clocking in at 3900-something words. My usual chapters are from 1800-2300 words, so it''s about double. Now, I have to apologize for my absence. I didn''t intend to prolong it so greatly. My bad. My eyelids are about to drop any second. Anyway, enjoy. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ -Two weeks later- The room that Kyte was within began to brightly shine with a white radiance. It calmed down after a few seconds and Kyte stood up to admire his work. There was a large formation on the ground that seemed to have several different formations built into its structure. "Finally! Hahaha! I finally completed it...after three whole days." During these two weeks, Kyte managed to climb all the way up to the end of the intermediate formations. He had unlocked information about beginning advanced formations, but even the "easiest" advanced formation is two times harder than the most "complex" intermediate one. Kyte decided to not continue and to increase his experience with what he can actually do. The formation he just finished was a combination of four different offensive formations with a defensive formation as the base. The offensive formations are able to create large amounts of energy form out of the air and Kyte is able to use that energy to his advantage. It could turn into lightning, fire, earth, water, wind, pretty much anything that could be lethal. The defensive formation creates a very thin barrier around whatever it''s protecting. However, that thin barrier''s defense is so powerful that Kyte can''t even break through it, and its only an intermediate formation. Now that it''s been combined with four different offensive formations, its power has multiplied. When formations are structured together to form one formation, the power they have is merged and thus is increased. It doesn''t matter if it''s a defensive and an offensive merging, their power will increase regardless. This is also the first combined formation that Kyte had completed with these two weeks. He''s made several different formations, which he could use on his armor, but they wouldn''t be able to merge and form a single formation to increase in power. Kyte also decided to use defensive formations as his base for a merged formation because that would take care of his basic defensive measures. Probably. It''s not that Kyte doesn''t want defense, it''s just that he''s hungry for more attack power. Using a defensive formation for the base is a good choice because that sets up for a stronger structure and allows more formations to be merged together. Defensive formations are usually more solid while offensive and other formations are more wild. That''s why a defensive formation''s structure is better to use as a base than any other. Anyway, Kyte had been working on this merged formation for three days. Kyte could tell that the four offensive formations increases the defensive''s power by at most three times. Adding on to that the defensive power of the S rank armor, Kyte should be safe. Although, he has to reduce the formation''s size before applying it to the armor. That process could take another few days to complete but, since Kyte has another week until the S rank tournament starts, he still has time. "It''s almost time for the A rank tournament to start. Shadow got ranked up to an A rank so he''ll be participating in this one. I''m curious to see him up against other people." Kyte stood up and stored the big formation within the storage necklace before leaving the training hall. It was quarter to noon so Kyte only had minutes before the tournament started. Shadow wasn''t competing at the start so he had some extra time but it still takes a bit to walk all the way to the stadium. Also, Kyte went and watched the others'' matches as well. He''s only mainly watching them because he has hope that he''ll get a certain insight watching others fight. Though most of his time has been spent practicing with formations, and his hard work is beginning to bear fruit. He''s also supposed to meet up with the others on the way to the stadium but he unsuspectingly spent more time on his formation than he wanted to. However, he managed to actually finish it even if he was a few minutes late. While he was walking along the wide path the began to turn left toward the stadium, someone tapped his shoulder. I wasn''t able to sense them at all?! Kyte turned his head to look and saw an unexpected face behind him. "Azali? What are you doing here?" Kyte asked in a confused voice. "Ehehe, my father told me that I can go and watch the matches with friends if I wanted to." Azali brightly smiled up at Kyte. "Really? Then, why don''t you go with your friends?" "Eh?...Well, the thing is...um...I don''t have any friends." -Ah. I slipped up. "...If that''s the case, then you can just come with me." "Really?" "Yes, really." "You''re not going with anyone else?" "I am. My Branch is waiting for me." "Oh..." "What, you wanted us to be alone or something?" "Ehhh? No, I didn''t want that all..." "What are you looking embarrassed for? I''m just teasing you. Come on, let''s go." "A, alright." Kyte turned back around and continued toward the stadium. Azali quickly caught up to him and walked by his side. Before she went up to him she already noticed the Gold S rank armor that Kyte was wearing. Along with that, she felt a slight change in the air around him, as if it turned even more intelligent than before. Little did she know that there were already multiple formations laid on the first robed layer and second robe layer. The Gold S rank robes that Kyte acquired at least a week ago fit him perfectly. The outer layer was black and was the shortest. The middle layer was crimson in color and was a bit longer than the outer layer. The bottom layer was golden in color and was a bit longer than the middle layer. The outer layer was the only clearly visible one; the middle and bottom layers were only visible at the bottom and near Kyte''s neck. Only the outer, black, layer was made into an open collar near Kyte''s neck while the other two layers cut off at the base of his neck. The hood was also black and Kyte had already laid a formation within it. The bottom of the robes reached the bottom of his shins while being shorter and slightly parting in the front. The robes themselves were actually quite thin, so wearing three of them sewn together didn''t make it heavy or uncomfortable. Plus, God Fibers were originally very light weight so an S rank armor would naturally be easy to carry and move around it. At first Kyte wanted something more bulky, but he decided against it because it would only hinder his movement. Unlike a heavy armor-type, the light weight robes were easy to maneuver in. Kyte also preferred to not carry around too much on his body, mostly because he has the storage necklace which has a crazy amount of space in it, even with most of it still locked. Azali would occasionally steal glances of Kyte on their way to the stadium, though she was still confused on his real power. She could still only feel his power being at around the Gold A range, not any higher. How was he able to get an S rank? Along with that was the slight change in his atmosphere and the mysterious air surrounding his robes. Just these few things made Azali curious as to what Kyte''s secret or secrets were. While they were walking they began to talk about the previous matches and what they were expecting to see with the A rank tournament. They naturally edged away from the tournament subject and smoothly entered other conversations as they continued toward the stadium. _________________________________________________________________ Rose was currently waiting outside the stadium for Kyte. He was already ten minutes late, and it turned out that Shadow''s first match was moved from a later time to one of the earlier times. The first match was already completed and Shadow''s match is scheduled after the current one. Rose couldn''t help but think about Kyte''s supposed harsh training in the training hall. As she was thinking of that, she looked up and saw Kyte slowly walking around the corner on the path to the stadium. A smile quickly appeared on her face and she began to walk forward, however, a second figure entered her view. A beautiful, young woman with long, golden hair wearing red and golden-trimmed robes was walking next to Kyte. Not only that, but it looked like they were having an intimate conversation as they walked toward the stadium. Rose''s smile slowly faded and she stood in place, watching them walk towards her. Kyte finally noticed Rose several seconds after he turned the corner and he naturally produced a smile. Seeing that, Rose couldn''t help but put on a smile as well, although she was feeling a bit weird on the inside. "Hey, you''ve been waiting for me?" Kyte said as he hugged Rose. "Yea, you''re more than ten minutes late. Shadow''s match got moved up." Rose said, enjoying Kyte''s embrace. "Really? Sheese, at least text me about it." "I didn''t want to interrupt your training, that''s all." "Ah, alright. Well, take us to where the others are." "Oh, right. Kyte, who''s this?" Rose stood next to Kyte with his arm around her shoulder, and she unconsciously tightened her own grip around Kyte''s waist. "Oh, her. Well, her name is Azali Wux." "What?! You mean...she''s..." "Yea, she is." "Woah..n-nice to meet you, Ms. Wux." "A-ah, please don''t speak like that. Just call me Azali, please." Azali replied with a slightly uncomfortable expression. "Then...Azali." "Yes." "Alright. Also, why are you here?" "My father let me watch the matches with my friends." "So you''re with Kyte, why?..." "He''s my friend." Rose took a peak at Kyte. He sensed a slight disturbance and immediately said: "Well, we''ve only met once before and that was in the testing hall. This is our second time seeing each other in two weeks. Besides, aren''t we going to miss Shadow''s match? We should get inside already." Rose slightly squinted her eyes at Kyte but she let it go in the end. She walked by Kyte''s side into the stadium and Azali followed slightly behind Kyte. Azali felt a little awkward about what had happened, but she didn''t let it get to her. Besides, she was more confused about Rose''s behavior because she doesn''t have any experience with matters concerning romantic relationships. She has no clue why Rose was acting weird, and Azali sincerely thought of Kyte as her new friend. When he got inside, Kyte looked throughout the giant stadium. It looked like it could hold a large crowd of a thousand people, and all the seats situated around the center arena seemed to be expertly crafted. Each chair had red cushioning and arm rests. Not only that but there was actually some space between each chair so everyone isn''t so cramped. "Holy crap, this whole thing looks incredibly expensive." Kyte said. "Really? This is normal for us, though." Azali lightly replied. "Ah...well, I guess so. Rose, where''s everyone else?" "Follow me, I''ll show you." Rose said as she walked ahead of Kyte. They walked for a few minutes before arriving at one of the higher rows of chairs. Kyte saw Lucy, Jol, and Light sitting with two chairs them. "Kyte! You''re late!" Jol said. "Yea, yea, I know." Kyte replied with a light sigh. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere."Hey, Kyte, who''s that? Will she be added to your newly forming hare-" Just as Light was going to finish his sentence, Kyte sent a weak slap of Internal energy across his face. "Light, shut up. She''s a new friend I met a while ago. Also, can you scoot down one chair? She needs a seat." "Oww....fine." Light rubbed his cheek as he scooted one seat down. "Ah, you didn''t have to do that." "Azali, it''s not a problem. Light could sit far away from us and he still won''t care." Kyte said. "Hey, that''s a bit mean." Kyte cleared his throat and said: "Azali, go ahead." "Ahaha, thanks..." There were three empty seats that were now open to them, so Kyte sat in the middle while Rose and Azali on either side of him. Rose was feeling slightly on guard around Azali, even though she has a high degree of trust in Kyte. Regardless of that, she felt that keeping an eye on that girl would be the right thing to do. "So, Rose, when is Shadow''s match?" Kyte asked. "He should be up in less than five minutes. The last match just ended so his should be starting." "Alright." Confirming that, Kyte looked around at the audience. There was about four hundred people within the stadium, and that''s not counting the ones that aren''t watching the matches or participating in them. There was roughly fifty or so Branches within Sector 31, with the amount of Gifted within each Branch differentiating between high and low. Kyte saw many different colors within the sea of people, signifying the many diverse powers, armors, and weapons. There were a few existences that Kyte could particularly sense, which made him realize that those are the S ranked Gifted. The S rankers'' auras were naturally more intense and majestic so Kyte could easily notice them. There was one section specifically blocked off from public entrance. It was located above the regular seats, connected to the wall which was left of Kyte. It looked like an open-air balcony with seats arranged with a perfect view of the entire arena. Kyte could see a few people up there, and they all wore red, gold-trimmed robes. He immediately realized that everyone up there were part of the Wux family. Kyte wondered why Azali wasn''t up there with them, or at least someone that knew why it wasn''t a commotion that David''s daughter wasn''t up there. Maybe it''s because she''s his daughter that she can do whatever she wants. Plus, she''s not weak either, so there''s only a very small number of people that are able to stop her. Kyte then noticed a giant holographic screen appear in the middle of the arena. It showed: ~~~ Rank A Tournament Shadow vs. Lanzer ~~~ A bunch of people cheered while a majority just lazily clapped. A lot of people in the audience were there to watch the fights and gain some insights into battle techniques. This is especially true for any Special Gifted or Mutated Gifted, because any amount of enlightenment could exponentially increase their power. "Shadow''s coming out!" Light said excitedly. "Woohoo! Go Shadow!!" Jol and Light began to loudly cheer. Kyte only sighed as the others weirdly smiled. Shadow and another man appeared in the middle of the arena from below as the ground opened up and revealed the two of them. They walked forward off the platform they were on, and the ground quickly closed. They faced each other as the countdown began. Kyte could see that they were talking to each other. The man named Lanzer was clearing showing disdain toward Shadow, as if he viewed him as an insect. However, in contrast to Lanzer''s clear provocative expression, Shadow''s face was clear and unmoved. He merely stared at Lanzer with a clear murderous aura, with the intention to kill the first chance he gets. Kyte had never seen Shadow show so much emotion before. There must be some really bad blood between the two for Shadow to feel so much anger. Kyte could see that Shadow really wanted to kill Lanzer; just seeing him standing there sent a slight chill down his back. The countdown ended, and Shadow immediately shot toward Lanzer. The air in-front of Lanzer suddenly violently vibrated and quickly moved to block Shadow. He hit the vibrating air, which instantly knocked him back several meters. The vibrating air then shot toward Shadow. He put a barrier of black energy which neutralized the vibrations. "What''s Lanzer''s power?" Kyte turned to Rose and asked. "He''s able to manipulate sound. He can manipulate any type of sound, even if it''s the smallest amount movement. For example, he can manipulate the sound created from merely blinking and transform it into a very powerful pulse of energy." "What?...Holy crap." Kyte looked back toward the arena. Shadow once again tried to close the distance between him and Lanzer, but Lanzer continued to blast powerful sound waves to block him. Every time that happened, Shadow would defend himself with his black energy. When Kyte watched closely, he noticed that the sound waves weren''t neutralized immediately when they contacted Shadow''s energy. The energy within the sound waves were instead being eroded away very quickly. Kyte understood what Shadow was talking about when he said his power had mutated. It went from normal inanimate objects to powerful forms of energy and other material objects. _______________________________________________ I can''t get close to him! Shadow once again neutralized the destructive sound waves coming toward him. He created a spear of black energy and threw it at Lanzer''s chest, however, a wall of sound waves bent the energy off course, making it fly off into a wall. "Hahaha, Shadow, is this all you got? Your Silver A rank is very undeserved!" Lanzer sneered and shot two surges of sound waves toward Shadow. The waves completely surrounded Shadow as he brought up a wall of black energy to deflect them. The waves slowly dissipated into nothing, and Shadow took a single step forward, making a small sound on the ground. Before he could react, the ground underneath his foot exploded as a strong pulse of energy shot up from it. The blast directly hit Shadow, shattering the bones in his right leg and throwing him into the far wall. A large cloud of dust was whipped up from the explosion, and Lanzer calmly walked into it. Shadow put his back against the wall and covered his mouth to stop the dust from getting into his lungs. He couldn''t feel his leg, so he reached out to touch it. He could feel his jello-like leg with the bones protruding out from it. Blood continuously seeped onto the ground, and after confirming the existence of his leg, pain gradually began to set in. His leg was completely shattered all the way up to his knee. Shadow ground his teeth as the pain began to increase in intensity. He couldn''t hear Lanzer approaching, but he could feel a sense of danger becoming increasingly apparent. He looked down at his leg again and clenched his jaw. Black energy seeped out from his leg and completed covered it. Shadow stood up and put pressure on the leg, however, he couldn''t feel anything from it. Then, he spread the black energy to cover his entire body. He made the black energy thicker and thicker as it covered him. Since I can''t move my leg, I''ll use my energy to move it for me. Shadow leaped forward out of the fog, barely dodging a blast of sound waves. The waves of sound carried the dust cloud away from the two of them, completely revealing Shadow and Lanzer. Interested chatter began to spread throughout the audience when they saw a large black figure appear from the dust. Shadow looked like an impenetrable tank. "So, that''s what you resort to, huh?" Lanzer while using the sound from his voice to bombard Shadow. The ground around Shadow slightly cracked under that pressure, showing just how powerful a small bit of Lanzer''s power is. However, even under that power, Shadow''s energy completely deflected the sound waves. Then, he jumped toward Lanzer. The speed that Shadow showed had actually increased from before. This shocked Lanzer and confused him, because he though Shadow''s speed would have slowed down rather than speed up. Lanzer quickly blasted himself away using a sound wave explosion while simultaneously using the sound from his finger snaps to smash against Shadow''s armor. However, the sound waves simply disintegrated into nothing when they touched Shadow''s energy. Lanzer stopped and clapped his hands together, greatly focusing on the sound that came from it. He shot the large pulse of energy toward Shadow, and this time the sound wave was significantly more powerful. The air trembled as the sound waves smashed against Shadow, stopping him in his tracks and even shaving off a few pieces of his armor. However, that only lasted for a second. Shadow immediately continued toward Lanzer and his armor also regenerated itself. The ground underneath Shadow''s feet would turn into ash whenever he touched it, leaving a trail of black ash behind him. Lanzer continued to blast large and powerful sound waves at Shadow. The waves of sound would smash against his armor and pieces of black energy would fly up into the air and quickly disappear. It seemed like the supply of his energy was endless as his armor would only immediately regenerate after being damaged. Lanzer on the other hand was getting visibly exhausted from the running and continuous use of his mental power. Continually blasting sound waves caused his hands to go numb, and he began to hear a ringing in his ears despite his control over sound. He was breathing heavily and his back was drenched with sweat. A small emergence of fear welled up inside him, but he forcefully suppressed it. Suddenly, he saw Shadow arrive directly in-front of him. Shadow''s right arm transformed into a drill and he stabbed toward Lanzer. Lanzer opened his mouth and yelled, putting all of his strength into his attack. The sound wave blasted Shadow back several meters while destroyed the ground within its path. Large sections of Shadow''s armor was missing, but they quickly disappeared as his armor regenerated. Shadow calmly stood up and once again leaped toward Lanzer. Seeing this, Lanzer fell into despair. That attack had his full strength within it, but it looked as if nothing had happened to Shadow. Lanzer desperately tried to get away, however, his exhaustion made it extremely difficult to move. Shadow didn''t slow down in the slightest. Rather, his speed increased as he gave one last push. He arrived behind Lanzer, raised his arm, and swiped it down on top of him. Shadow''s arm smashed against Lanzer''s shoulder, because he managed to move his head out of the way just in time. Shadow''s arm didn''t stop. It continued down, slamming Lanzer''s body into the ground. a giant indention appeared as cracks spread out across the ground around Lanzer''s body. He was on the ground, face down, with Shadow''s arm drilling into his shoulder while pieces of flesh were being ripped out from under his skin. Shadow wouldn''t kill him. Besides, it''s forbidden to do so within the arena. However, there''s no rule against venting anger. Shadow engulfed himself with his intense anger and crazily pounded Lanzer''s body while torturing him. However, before he could get into it, a bell sounded. A giant screen appeared above the arena, showing: ~~~ Rank A tournament Shadow vs. Lanzer Shadow Wins! ~~~ Shadow looked up and saw the screen, taking his arm away from Lanzer''s body. He looked down at the mangled body below him, and silently stepped out of the puddle of blood underneath his feet. The black energy around his body disappeared, revealing a blood-soaked body with a shattered leg. Shadow took a single step before collapsing on the ground from completely exhaustion and severe mental power depletion. As Kyte watched Shadow take his single step, a small smile appeared on his face. A mutated Gifted...how powerful. They can win against someone that has a higher power level than them. Chapter 29: Meeting An Old Friend Woah, been a while. Winter break is here. You know what that means! More procrastination! More laziness! Hopefully I pull through and write more. Anyway, here you guys go. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Wow, Shadow is so powerful!" Jol exclaimed. "Hahaha, of course! Who do you think my brother is?" Light responded happily. Looking over at Rose, Kyte saw that she had wide smile on her face. He didn''t question it, though. For Shadow to jump in power so greatly after mutating, and he hasn''t even unlocked the full mystery to his mutation, is like a heaven-sent gift to their Branch. Not only that, but Shadow jumped from a Bronze B to a Silver A rank. That huge leap in power is very rare within GG. However, Shadow didn''t try to hide it all. The reason is mainly because Lanzer caused a lot of pain to him and primarily his brother, who he deeply cares for. However, before, they couldn''t do anything about it. Shadow always refused to ask for help, determined to take care of Lanzer himself. And now, thanks to the mutation, he was finally able to take revenge. "Well, it''s time for me to go. Shadow''s match was pretty entertaining, but I didn''t really get anything out of it. If you guys need me, I''ll be in the training hall." Kyte stood up and began walking away, lost in his thoughts. Because he began thinking back on Shadow''s battle, he completely forgot about Azali. She watched him get up and begin to walk away, so she got up as well and caught up with him. However, someone else was faster than she was. Rose had immediately stood up right behind Kyte while giving Azali a weird look. Rose knows best that Kyte never usually pays much attention to the things around him when he''s contemplating serious things, so she took the initiative to guard him from Azali. Although Azali only had pure intentions, she suddenly felt at a loss at what to do about Rose''s behavior. So, she simply tried her best to ignore it. There''s not much she can do without straightforwardly asking Rose about it, but how could she? She knows about certain "do''s" and "dont''s" just from the experiences within her own family. Most people don''t like others who pry. After walking out of the stadium, Kyte continued on the path toward the training hall. Both Azali and Rose were with him as he leisurely talked with Rose. He exchanged a few words with Azali, and, as she couldn''t stand the awkwardness, she parted ways from Kyte and Rose. Rose followed Kyte all the way to the entrance of the training hall. "Rose, you don''t have to be so mean to her, you know." Kyte said. "What, do you like her?" Rose asked. "No, why would I?" "You''re oddly close to her¡­ "Rose, you''re just scared. Azali and I have only met twice, and we''ve not even really talked much either. Besides, she''s David''s youngest daughter. How is someone like me even going to become real friends with someone like her?" "...Alright. But I better not see you two becoming so friendly with each other." "Rose. I know you''re concerned, but I won''t let you limit my freedom. If you think otherwise, then maybe you just need to take a break at our housing?" "Ah...sorry." "Haha, don''t worry about it. Your mind is just making up random things that aren''t true. I''m going into the training hall now, so we''re going to have to part ways here." Kyte said with a light laugh. "Alright." Rose quietly replied as she moved into Kyte''s embrace. After a long hug, the two separated and Kyte walked into the training hall to continue his formation training. He still had a week until his first match, so he¡¯s confident in being able to improve his formations by then. Also, he doesn¡¯t know who he will be battling against first, so it will be a surprise when he gets there. Once inside his room, Kyte brought out the large combined formation and sat down to think. Does he really need the formations he¡¯s using? There¡¯s a lot of different formations just within the intermediate and basic levels, and there are even more combinations. Certain formations compliment the other. For example, a wind formation and a speed formation would naturally go together. The formations that Kyte had used in this combined one don¡¯t exactly help each other. Besides, this first one was basically for practice. He hasn¡¯t even tried to compress it down into a smaller form in order to lay it within his robes. Now that I think about it, can¡¯t I compress these formations down to the point where I can lay multiple combined formations within my robes? Although that theory is true, the amount of energy required to activate that amount of formations would be enormous. Unless Kyte had an unlimited source of energy, there¡¯s no way for him to actually use so many formations. There¡¯s the strategy of using certain formations at the right moment, but even then it would be detrimental. What¡¯s the point of having those formations if he can¡¯t use them after a few uses? However, there is a single solution to that problem. Kyte suddenly felt a large mountain of dread fall on his shoulders after thinking about the solution. Killing innocent people to absorb their life force for energy would make Kyte forever hold a feeling of enormous disgust and guilt within himself. He doesn¡¯t want to resort to enacting that solution. Maybe Sol¡¯Keer would be able to, but Kyte? Although he¡¯s killed several people before, innocent people that have nothing to do with him are a different story. Kyte may be able to look down on regular humans like a God, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that Kyte is still human himself. At least he thinks he is, anyway. He was a regular human not too long ago. Getting back on track, Kyte decided to create a new formation. He discarded the one before him but used the same defensive foundation, as it was currently his strongest defensive formation. The new offensive formations that he wanted to use would improve the quality of his energy and also gather the energy from his surroundings for him to use. Although this energy can¡¯t be used to power the formations, and it¡¯s quality is quite low, it can still be used to help increase the power of Kyte¡¯s attacks. As it¡¯s only an intermediate level formation, it¡¯s not that powerful. However, it¡¯s the only thing Kyte can use at the moment. Besides, every increase in strength mattered. Kyte¡¯s original offensive power wasn¡¯t that strong without all of his buffs, so these offensive formations will definitely help him. Only higher leveled formations will prove to be significantly useful. Kyte has no idea how powerful they will be, but judging by how difficult the beginning Advanced formations are, they must be quite powerful. However, Kyte doesn¡¯t have the time to worry about them before the S rank tournament, so he tossed it to the back of his mind and focused on creating and compressing a new combined formation. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ______________________________________________________________________________ --The Same Day-- --The Apartment-- Dan was relaxing on the couch and reading a book when he heard a knock on the apartment¡¯s door. ¡°That must be the mail.¡± Dan got up and reached the door, opening it. After opening the door, Dan was extremely surprised to see who was on the other side. ¡°Uhm...Mr...Wux, sir.¡± Dan slightly stuttered. ¡°Good afternoon, Dan. How have you and the others been? Also, just call me by my name.¡± David Wux calmly asked with a smile. ¡°Yes, David. We¡¯ve been doing very well recently. Uh, please, come in.¡± ¡°Ah, thank you. That¡¯s good that you guys have been doing increasingly good work. AHAD is persistent in creating Guardians, and it¡¯s only a matter of time before the Core gets even more out-numbered.¡± ¡°I agree. There¡¯s just too few Gifted that actually push through the first boundary of their mind. Even I have yet to do so.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dan. Even though the first boundary may be the hardest, it¡¯s still possible. Plus, you have still have plenty of time to break through.¡± ¡°Heh, not many people have your kind of talent though, David.¡± ¡°Well, that may be true, haha¡­.Now, why aren¡¯t you and Akina at the rank-up tournament?¡± ¡°...About that,...something has happened to Akina.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°During our most recent group mission, an S rank Guardian appeared. Akina sacrificed herself to destroy it. Now, she¡¯s in a weird unconscious state. Follow me.¡± Worry grew on David¡¯s face as he listened to Dan speak about what happened. They entered into the room where Akina lay, and David saw Akina surrounded by a white cloud-like substance. The area around her body had become riddled with random sparks of electricity. Akina¡¯s body itself could barely be seen through the thick clouds of energy. ¡°What did she do?¡± David asked. ¡°From what I saw, Akina must have used a forbidden technique that sacrificed her own life force in order to defeat the S rank Guardian. When it activated, her body was covered in a layer of light until the Guardian was destroyed. After she won, she collapsed on the ground and the light disappeared into her body.¡± ¡°Hmm...interesting. Well, let me take a closer look.¡± David walked right next to Akina, completely ignoring the small sparks around her. He moved his hand directly through the cloud of energy, as if it didn¡¯t effect him at all. He placed his hand above her stomach and released a string of energy into her body. After searching throughout her whole body, he retracted his hand and stepped back. ¡°How is she?¡± Dan asked. ¡°Well...it¡¯s not bad, I can tell you that. I don¡¯t know what she did, but her strength is actually steadily increasing. I couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with her body, physically. I know nothing about the soul...the only person I know that has some knowledge is within the Core right now. The Core needs everyone they can get. There¡¯s no way she¡¯ll come back to look at a mere Gold A ranker.¡± ¡°I see...also, you said that her strength is increasing?¡± ¡°Yea. I estimate by the time she returns, she¡¯ll have reached Bronze S rank or higher. I can help her recover faster by a few days, but I¡¯ll have to use one my Soul Recovery Pills.¡± ¡°What? No, David, I wouldn¡¯t allow you to use such a valuable item-¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t allow me? Dan, you do know how laughable you sound?¡± ¡°Ah...sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡± ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s quite alright, Dan¡­..If only I had one of these back then. You wouldn¡¯t be here if I did.¡± ¡°David, don¡¯t. It¡¯s not your fault. Just get on with it.¡± ¡°...Alright.¡± David stepped back toward Akina and reached into his front robe pocket. In his hand appeared a small, white pill that gave off a weird, invisible energy. He slightly opened Akina¡¯s mouth and slipped the pill inside. Once the pill entered her mouth, it instantly broke down into energy that rushed toward her brain. There, the energy simply disappeared into nothingness. However, a lingering feeling of power wafted from Akina¡¯s head. ¡°With this, Akina should recover by the end of the week. She should also enter at most Silver S rank. Of course, that¡¯s just my estimation. I actually don¡¯t exactly know what¡¯s happening, so take my word with a little leverage, haha.¡± ¡°Alright. We¡¯re already greatly indebted to you, and with this¡­¡± ¡°Dan, don¡¯t worry about the things I¡¯ve done to help you. This is nothing compared to my life, which you saved.¡± ¡°...If you say so, David. Thanks again for your help.¡± ¡°No problem. This is but a small matter. Now, I have somewhere to be, so the next time we¡¯ll see each other is at the S rank tournament? I hope you two can make it. You¡¯ll be in for a sweet, sweet surprise.¡± ____________________________________________________________________________ --One Week Later-- Within Kyte¡¯s training room was a loud vibrating sound that shook the entire room. A blinding light shone around Kyte as a small octagonal drawing seeped through the two top layers of his robes and rested on the bottom layer at his chest. A bead of sweat slowly dripped off his face and onto the ground as Kyte began heavily panting. ¡°Holy shit, I didn¡¯t expect it to be so difficult.¡± Kyte had barely been able to compress the formation and lay it within his robes. It was only one combined formation, but its power was far greater than regular intermediate formations. Rather, it could possibly be on the level of basic Advanced formations. For a formation being able to jump through in power to a higher level, or rather a pseudo-higher level, is a great feat to accomplish. Of course, the easiest way to do this was to create a combined formation. Just laying that formation down took a great deal of energy from him. Actually using it in combat is another story. The first thing he had to do, however, was to lay better formations across all layering of his robes. So, Kyte took off the other formations that he had already laid and began to create new ones. There was only one day before the S rank tournament started, so Kyte had to be quick and decisive about which formations to use. If he had a few more weeks he could¡¯ve probably learned the first Advanced formation. But alas, there was no time. Chapter 30: Battle, Begin! Had thought of putting out two chapters within christmas weekend. I don''t think that''ll be possible, but hey, I can try. Anyway, here''s the next chapter after a long time. Finally coming to the climax. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Several hours later, Kyte returned to Branch 4¡¯s housing. It was around midnight and Kyte had already finished laying down the formations within his robes. Now all he wanted was some sleep to take away the extreme fatigue that had already spread throughout his body. Getting almost no sleep for the past week has taken quite a large toll on his body. After arriving in his room, Kyte plopped down on his bed. He felt movement on the other side, and he looked up to see Rose looking at him. ¡°Welcome home.¡± Rose sweetly smiled. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Kyte lightly sighed. ¡°Did you finish what you were doing in the training hall?¡± ¡°Yea. I made sure everything was correct before I left. I only wish I had more time. Oh well.¡± Rose crawled next to Kyte and whispered into his ear: ¡°You need help letting out some stress?¡± ¡°....Actually, Rose, this time, I¡¯m too tired. I¡¯m not in the mood. I just want to get some sleep.¡± ¡°...Alright. But, if you change your mind, I¡¯m right here~.¡± Kyte smiled and lightly kissed Rose before taking off his robes. He climbed underneath the blankets and closed his eyes, hoping to get enough for the matches tomorrow. The thing that worries Kyte the most is the actual strength of an S ranker. He fears that he may not even have a chance to fight back against them, considering that his actual power was only at the level of a Gold A ranker. The only reason why Kyte completed the rank-up test is because the Guardians within the simulation were quite unintelligent. Their power levels were also perfectly scaled to match the average strength of each rank. If it wasn¡¯t for the black light, Kyte probably would¡¯ve been defeated by the last A rank Guardian. Even if he did somehow defeat it without the black light, there was no way for him to even scratch an S rank Guardian. That¡¯s how powerful the black light is. Of course, when Kyte has only the most basic understanding of it. If Kyte had broken through into the seventh stage, there¡¯s no doubt that he would¡¯ve put up a fight against the S rank Guardians. However, Kyte doesn¡¯t know the true extent of his power after breaking through into the seventh stage, so he can¡¯t really judge how well he would¡¯ve done. Besides, it doesn¡¯t change much. Since Kyte had used the black light inside the simulation, it had not depleted the quantity outside the simulation. So, Kyte still basically had all of the black light he originally had. Thanks to that, Kyte can use the black light to defend and attack. Since that¡¯s the only way to even harm the S rankers with Kyte¡¯s current power. However, there¡¯s nothing Kyte can do about that. He can¡¯t break through no matter what he¡¯s done. So, he thinks that the problem is most likely linked with the black light. His body is at the complete limit in power at the sixth stage. If he gains any more, it would be detrimental to his practice. However, once he reaches the seventh stage...even Kyte doesn¡¯t know what will happen. Maybe the pent up energy within himself will release in an explosive manner that may injure those around him or even himself. Holding in energy for a month or so after reaching the peak of a stage is already too much, but more than that? Kyte¡¯s body is ready to burst open like a bomb. Then again, Kyte actually doesn¡¯t know. His universe and Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe are completely different, from what he can tell. Plus, Kyte has the black light within himself, which can¡¯t be explained at all. The black light itself acts like it has some level of sentience, only allowing a certain amount of its power to be used by Kyte. The more Kyte understands the black light, the more power he can use. That¡¯s what Kyte thinks, anyway. He may be thinking too much into it, or he may not be. Only time will tell. Kyte only hopes for something to happen during his matches, enlightening him and thus helping him breakthrough. Of course, if Sol¡¯keer¡¯s soul had recovered to the point of speech, Kyte would ask him for some guidance. However, due to Sol¡¯keer¡¯s situation, Kyte is all alone. As far as he knows, he is the only cultivator on his planet. He doesn¡¯t doubt the possibility of others like him being present, though. Thinking up to the that point, Kyte felt the ever-so increasing feeling of fatigue finally take over as his mind fell into the world of dreams. ________________________________________________________ -Next day- -One PM- Kyte was currently strolling along the paved path toward the stadium for his first match. He saw many people walking on the same path to the stadium as well. He felt that it was only natural, since everyone would want to see S rankers fighting each other. This is especially true for Special Gifted and Mutated Gifted, because even a small bit of enlightenment could help them increase their power. Regardless of that, the only participating person in the S rank matches that was walking to the stadium was Kyte. Probably because all the others were already at the stadium, or maybe some had matches at a later time and couldn¡¯t be bothered to watch the earlier matches, much like Kyte. However, when people saw him leisurely walking by, they could definitely tell that Kyte was an S ranker. If Kyte¡¯s powerful robes weren¡¯t enough already, the mysterious power from his formations within them created a majestic aura surround him that they couldn¡¯t understand. Of course, when they saw the S rank badge on his robes, they were completely convinced to not somehow provoke Kyte. So, everyone along the path would quickly get out of Kyte¡¯s way to not anger him. Kyte secretly laughed at this. It¡¯s not like he would actually get mad over such small things. Besides, his power wasn¡¯t even legitly at the S rank level. His black light was the only thing that qualified him to be an S rank. His robes provided some defense, but Kyte doesn¡¯t know how well it will fare against legit S rankers. Kyte doesn¡¯t even know if he¡¯ll stand a chance at all. Regardless of all that, Kyte won¡¯t back down. Just because someone or something is stronger than him doesn¡¯t mean that failure is the only option. If Kyte had backed down in-front of all his enemies that were stronger than him, he wouldn¡¯t be here today. After reaching the stadium entrance, the two managers at the giant door noticed Kyte¡¯s strong, mysterious aura that surrounded him. They were both shocked for a moment before seeing the S rank badge that was slightly illuminated against Kyte¡¯s robe. ¡°You¡¯re here to participate in the S ranked matches, sir?¡± The first manager spoke. Kyte looked at the man and noticed a silver A rank badge on his chest. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m participating in the match at two P.M.¡± Kyte replied respectfully. ¡°Ok. Please follow the path on the left and the first door on the outside stadium is the one you should enter. Your match begins in just under an hour, sir.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Kyte lightly waved and began to walk down the path. The man heavily breathed out before going back to his post. The other manager laughed at the man and jokingly said: ¡°What, he scared you?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t scare you? You couldn¡¯t feel that weird aura around him? These S rankers are all the same. They all have something unique about them that makes them so powerful and suffocating.¡± ¡°Hahaha, well...you¡¯re right about that. However, the one just now didn¡¯t seem...comparable to the others.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably what he wants you to think. Remember, don¡¯t judge a book by its cover. Just because an S ranker may not seem strong...they all have something that carried them to where they are.¡± Kyte walked for about five minutes before finally finding a single door along the path around the stadium. The path split off toward the door, so Kyte leisurely walked up to the door and tried to open it. The badge on his robe lightly shined just before Kyte grabbed the doorknob, and afterward Kyte heard a small clink sound. Kyte turned the doorknob and walked inside. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Kyte saw a large room brightly illuminated by several lamps. There were four corners to the room, and it was as large as a small grocery store. Along the walls were couches, chairs, and tables evenly spread out between each other. Sitting in those furniture were several people ranging from young to old. And actually, the youngest within the room wasn¡¯t Kyte. ¡°Ah, Kyte!¡± Hearing a familiar voice, Kyte turned his head to see Azali walking toward him. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re participating too?¡± Kyte asked, revealing a light smile. ¡°Of course! Father wanted me to completely reveal my strength this year, so I had to come and fight against the other S rankers.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense. But why this year? What¡¯s so special? Why not next year, or in two years?¡± ¡°Hmm...I actually don¡¯t know. My father suddenly came to me a month ago and told me that he wanted me to participate. He looked a little happier than usual, too.¡± ¡°I see. Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter anyway. So, when¡¯s your first match?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already fought~!¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Kyte and Azali walked to one of the couches and sat down next to each other, chatting away about the different matches that had already taken place. When Kyte first walked in, the other S rankers were flabbergasted to see such a weak Gifted. In their eyes, Kyte was like an ant. Which, without the black light, is completely true. Even if the aura around Kyte was mysterious, it wasn¡¯t even slightly powerful in their eyes. They thought that Kyte had somehow cheated or bribed his way into S rank, because without sufficient strength, how the heck would he be able to get S rank? Then, they saw Azali, David Wux¡¯s youngest daughter, happily walk right up to Kyte after he entered the room. They watched and listened as the two of them suddenly got into an intimate conversation, and then they even moved to their own couch and continued to chat? What in the world? Who the hell is this guy? Although most of the other S rankers were quite troubled by the sudden turn of events, none of them chose to speak out. Even if Kyte did bribe his way through into S rank, the only way to do that would be if he had a very powerful person supporting him from the shadows. That person would have to be far more powerful than David Wux, the leader of Sector 31. Who knows who that person could be, and more importantly, why would someone who has that sort of backing be here, in an outer Sector? Of course, that¡¯s not true at all. It was either that, or Kyte has a secret power that allowed him to reach S rank. However, all the S rankers present in that room couldn¡¯t believe that such a thing was possible. How could an ant like Kyte possess a power that allowed him to close the gap between ranks? Such a thing has only been done by the most powerful Mutated Gifted and the most powerful geniuses from the Core families. How could someone like that be here, in Sector 31? Regardless of that, Kyte even has an apparent close relationship with David Wux¡¯s youngest daughter. Only someone incredible could possibly do something like that, is what they all thought. Of course, they were wrong again. Azali was the one to come to Kyte, not the other way around. Besides, it¡¯s not like Kyte was looking to befriend her. Azali had only greeted Kyte because he was the only other Gifted that didn¡¯t have a rank at the time. They only naturally connected and continued to chat about different things, thus making them easily become friendly with each other. ¡°So, Azali, where do we go when the match starts?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°There¡¯s elevators within the walls that go vertically and horizontally, so all you have to do is step into them and they bring you to your destination. Cool, right?¡± ¡°Yea, that is pretty neat. I¡¯ve never heard of an elevator that does that.¡± ¡°Hahaha, of course! Something like this is nothing to my father.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t doubt that one moment.¡± Kyte and Azali continued to chat and laugh with each other when the door to the room suddenly opened. However, the door was on the opposite side. ¡°S rank participants Kyte Stone and Terris Jack, please proceed to the transportation elevator.¡± A butler-type middle-aged man poked his head out of door to give the announcement before swiftly leaving and closing the door. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s me.¡± Kyte said to Azali and he stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll be in the audience with the others, good luck~!¡± Azali stood up walked with Kyte until the end of the room which had three doors. The middle door was the one Azali walked into as she left for the audience seats. When Kyte got to the door on the left, he saw a middle-aged man step to the door on the right. When Kyte looked at him, he could tell that this man was definitely an experienced warrior. He was probably at the S rank level for several years, and had most likely fought in many different battles. The man wore a single, long, black robe that reached down to his ankles. It wasn¡¯t connected in the front, like an unbuttoned coat. There was a long, thin blade hung at his waist. The blade itself was releasing a gentle yet sharp energy that seemed like it could cut through the robes that Kyte was wearing with ease. The blade was pure white in color, and the hilt was a deep black that seemed to absorb any light that touched it. The man wore his hair in a ponytail that reached to the middle of his back. His hair was gray with random streaks of black that seemed to be fighting to not disappear. When the man looked at Kyte, Kyte could sense a fierce energy that wasn¡¯t previously there before. The look in the man¡¯s eyes made Kyte suddenly tense up, because Kyte felt like he was looking at a pair of blades that was ready to pierce his heart and kill him instantly. ¡°Good luck.¡± The man said before opening his door and walking inside. Kyte subconsciously gulped before opening his own door and walking inside. The inside of the elevator was silver in color, just the subway-type thing that Kyte and the others took to get into the small city. The amount of space in the elevator was quite small, but since only one person uses it at a time, it¡¯s really an issue. Kyte was actually surprised at how fast time went by when talking with Azali. He had more than forty minutes to wait but it felt like five minutes had gone by when talking with her. Kyte was beginning to feel a bit worried about it, but since his first match was going to start, he decided not to think too much about it. Kyte felt the elevator begin to move. He felt nervous, anxious, and excited for the match. It was very possible for him to breakthrough. Actually, that¡¯s the only thing he cares about. He could care less about the fame and possible fortune from the matches. The most important thing is his own strength. Without enough strength, it isn¡¯t possible to reach the highest point possible. When the elevator stopped and the doors, opened, Kyte walked out on the large field inside the arena. The giant holographic screen displayed Kyte¡¯s and Terris¡¯s faces and ranks. The crowd cheered, but mostly for Terris. This was because almost no one knew who Kyte was, even though he was one of the rare people that jumped straight into S rank. So, it was only natural for people to not know of a very recent addition to the S rankers. The elevators went back underground, leaving the arena behind. Kyte faced Terris, who had already unsheathed his blade from his waist. A gentle yet sharp energy filled the entire area, causing Kyte to feel suffocated because of its power. The countdown started to the start of the match. ¡°10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,...fight!¡± Terris¡¯s figure instantly flickered before disappearing from Kyte¡¯s vision. Chapter 31: First Match, Finish Got this one out faster that I expected. Don''t worry peeps, this isn''t the only match that Kyte has. If he wins, of course. Anyway, enjoy. (Any grammar mistakes? Point those nasty dudes out. I''ve gone over this twice now so hopefully there isn''t any left. Hopefully.) EDIT: I laugh whenever I click back to this chapter. It''s quite amusing because I know the full picture while the readers don''t. You don''t realize that I wrote this on purpose, not just to show that Kyte was a power-hungry and power-drunk idiot. There''s more than one reason to everything. Sometimes it takes more than a simple thought to figure everything out. Apparently Kyte doesn''t know this. Also, Kyte is only a ''genius'' in comprehension. You know, experiments, theories, puzzles and what not. If you think about his past, you''ll know that he has almost no social skills nor the emotional capacity to feel remorse toward someone he doesn''t even know. Think about it. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ An immense sense of danger welled up within Kyte, and he instantly activated the defensive formation around his robes while stepping to the left and bringing out Heavy Air. A swift shadow appeared behind Kyte and a white light flashed across his back. The barrier around Kyte instantly shattered and Kyte felt a weight like a mountain slam onto his back. The impact hit his robes, however, they weren¡¯t punctured. Kyte was blasted forward at a weird angle across the entire arena before smashing into one of the walls. The wall greatly indented when Kyte impacted, with large pieces of rubble flying in every direction. Terris stood in his position, with a slightly confused expression on his face. He expected at least a little retaliation from Kyte, but all he got was a frantic and quick panic. In Terris¡¯s eyes, Kyte could do nothing against him. A few seconds went by, and Terris only sighed. He looked up at the announcer section, which was placed opposite of the private balcony for the Wux family, hoping for the match to end. However, he was given a simple shake of the head. Confused, Terris looked at the dust cloud where Kyte had impacted. It was mostly gone now, and Terris could see a dark figure standing in the cloud. A red light spun around Kyte and then it seemed to be absorbed by him. Terris felt a sudden change in the area around Kyte, and to his surprise, he suddenly saw Kyte¡¯s dark figure disappear. That was only for a split second, as Terris was slightly surprised at Kyte¡¯s sudden increase in power. He immediately got into his stance and calmly waited for Kyte to arrive as he silently watched him move. Kyte¡¯s figure instantly appeared in-front of Terris, and he watched Kyte swing down his blade toward his head. Terris effortlessly moved his blade to block Kyte¡¯s attack while kicking his leg out toward Kyte¡¯s side instantly after parrying Kyte¡¯s blade. Terris¡¯s foot connected, pushing Kyte back several meters before he was able to stabilize himself. Terris moved first. Kyte only saw a smooth blur move toward him and small white flash of light. Kyte instinctively lifted his blade and used the several different formations within his robes and on Heavy Air to block Terris¡¯s attack. However, Terris¡¯s frontal attack was merely an afterimage, and Kyte reacted too slowly to block the sword slicing his back. His robes once again defended him, however, the force from the attack wasn¡¯t diminished. Kyte flew forward and bounced several times on the ground, creating large cracks in the earth with each impact. Heh, at first I wasn¡¯t able to see him at all. After using all of my buffs, I¡¯m able to see a blur. I can¡¯t even do anything against this guy. Terris silently landed on the ground and calmly looked toward Kyte. He watched as Kyte once again stood up, and he visually saw the bent bones quickly snap back into place. A look of surprise appeared upon Terris¡¯s face, but he quickly returned to normal. This time, instead of close combat, Terris stood his ground. A white light shrouded his sword as he lifted it above his head and instantly swung it down. A crescent wave of white light soared toward Kyte. The ground beneath revealed cracks and even steam lifted off its surface. As Kyte watched the energy moving toward him, he faintly smiled and lifted Heavy Air. Crimson energy poured out from Heavy Air which had Kyte¡¯s Spiritual Energy woven inside it. When the white light smashed against Kyte¡¯s sword, a loud explosion sounded off as the sound waves visibly spread outward. Kyte felt the incredible pressure, however, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as Terris¡¯s physical attacks. Kyte swiped his arm to the right, forcefully pushing the white light around and into the wall behind him. The entire wall was crushed under the immense force, though fortunately the barrier around the area stopped the energy from passing all the way through. After seeing this, Terris felt even more surprise. Even if that attack was his most basic energy attack, it still held the power of a Silver S rank. If his suspicion was correct, then Kyte wouldn¡¯t have been able to even deflect his attack. That made Terris think that maybe Kyte really was a genuine S ranker, albeit a Bronze S ranker, that was skilled with energy attacks rather than close combat. To Terris, this what a bad thing. Considering that he mainly trains in close combat, only his physical attacks and defenses are strong. In comparison, his energy attacks and defenses are rather weak. Terris and Kyte were basically opposites, if Terris¡¯s thinking was correct. And actually, he is correct. Kyte¡¯s close combat and physical attacks aren¡¯t his most preferred type of combat. His energy, mainly because of how powerful his Spiritual Energy is, is much more powerful than his physical side. That¡¯s also because his physical strength is limited at its very peak amount of power for the sixth stage. Unfortunately, Kyte hasn¡¯t been able to breakthrough yet. Along with the physical limit, Kyte could also feel that the speed of his Spiritual energy practice was slowing down, which is definitely not a good thing. Kyte looked at Terris as if he had sensed something. Crimson energy once again flowed out from Heavy Air, moving in waves around Kyte. Spiritual Energy was already woven within it, thus increasing its power by several folds. Kyte slashed his hand, revealing blood that rose into the air and expanded outward just to shine and quickly spin around his figure. It flowed back into his body, and the crimson energy¡¯s power rose by one more level. Shadow Twins were already upon his hands, and Kyte slowly relaxed his arm to point Heavy Air toward the ground. The crimson energy around it destroyed the ground it touched like a destructive wave of malice. The ground would turn to ash and then be destroyed even further as the energy sucked it in, never to be seen again. Kyte waved his left hand, releasing a gentle energy which created a large turbulent of wind in the arena. Terris was a little confused about this, however, Kyte just faintly smiled. Then, his figure seemed to slowly blend with the wind. He suddenly disappeared and instantly reappeared a few meters behind Terris. Using the flow of the air current, Kyte¡¯s arm followed the air direction and slashed toward Terris, releasing a large wave of crimson energy that quickly swept through the air. Kyte immediately disappeared directly after releasing the energy, flowing along the air currents in the arena. Terris immediately turned around and lifted his sword, which was enshrouded with a white light. He also lifted his left hand, which had a white glove covering it, and pressed it against the blade of his sword. Instantly, the white light grew increasingly stronger right before the crimson energy impacted. The crimson energy smashed into the white light, causing the wind around Terris to dangerously distort as a shock-wave exploded out and destroyed the crazy wind currents. An invisible energy swept through those pockets of silent air, causing the atmosphere to once again be full of wild currents of wind. The energy released from Kyte surprised Terris, as he didn¡¯t expect it to be so powerful. However, he isn¡¯t an S rank for nothing. He also reinforced his defense with another piece of equipment just in case, fortunately for him he actually needed it to help defend. The energy pushed him back a few feet, leaving marks on the ground where his feet dragged across it. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. However, the power within the crimson energy slowly faded until it eventually disappeared. Terris stood up straight and looked around to try to find Kyte. However, it was as if he had disappeared with the wind. In fact, Kyte had just thought of this idea when he was thinking of Terris¡¯s defense against energy attacks. He thought that he should try it out, and fortunately for him, he mastered Windwalker the moment he disappeared with the wind. Though, instead of being WITH the wind, it was like he WAS the wind. A complete fusion between Kyte and the wind allowed him to freely move in every direction the wind allowed him to. And, actually, Kyte controlled all the wind in the arena because of his sudden mastery of Windwalker. Even though that¡¯s the first skill that Kyte has fully mastered, just that one skill can hold so much power. It¡¯s only a movement skill to begin with, so Kyte felt excited for complete mastery of his offensive skills. Kyte once again reappeared behind Terris and released crimson energy. The two of them exchanged multiple energy clashes before the wind eventually died down. The ground in the arena was almost completely destroyed by this time. Kyte softly landed on a destroyed piece of earth with small drips of sweat falling off his face. He of course already activated the cooling formation within his robes, but the sweat was mostly due to his increasing exhaustion. ¡°You¡¯re pretty skilled. However, you¡¯re not really an S rank, are you?¡± Terris calmly asked. ¡°...Why do you say that?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°I can tell. Usually a Bronze S ranker can keep up with me for longer than this, and even physically injure me. However, I¡¯ve barely wasted any energy and you are clearly tired. Tell me, how did you get your S rank?¡± Kyte remained silent for several seconds, seemingly catching his fast-paced breath. Terris asked him another question: ¡°What¡¯s your secret?¡± Kyte faintly smiled, ¡°I guess I¡¯ll show you.¡± During these several seconds, Kyte was going over the several different clashes he and Terris had. The several times when he would launch an attack, the movement of his body with the wind, the way energy was released from his body, everything. However, just several seconds wasn¡¯t enough time. So, Kyte decided to use the black light to test its power and other hypotheses. Standing up, Kyte calmly looked at Terris. A smooth, water-like black light escaped from Kyte¡¯s body and wrapped around Heavy Air. Kyte was trying to fuse the black light with anything that he could. Crimson energy exploded from Heavy Air, however, it seemed to pass through the black light like it wasn¡¯t even there. Kyte once again created large wind currents in the arena and began to move. As he was moving along the wind, he tried using his Spiritual Energy to fuse with the black light. To his great surprise, his Spiritual Energy actually didn¡¯t go through the black light, but was actually blocked by it. Kyte decided at that moment to stop everything else and continue to only use Spiritual Energy to fuse with the black light. Kyte reappeared in-front of Terris. ¡°Hey, Terris. I have to thank you.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Terris asked confusingly. ¡°You helped me realize something that I didn¡¯t realize before. I honestly can¡¯t believe I never tried doing it.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°Anyway, I want to finish this match quickly so I have to practice my new discovery. So, goodbye, Terris.¡± Kyte formed a small sphere of black light within his hand and outstretched his arm. Kyte silently looked away, and transformed the black light into small spark of energy. Almost instantly, the spark transformed into a small ball of energy that simultaneously expanded. However, just as the ball of energy was going to explode, a dark figure appeared in-front of Kyte. The figure reached out its hand and grabbed the ball of energy, absorbing it. Thus, the energy disappeared, much to Kyte¡¯s to surprise. At first, Kyte thought Terris was the one in-front of him, but Kyte noticed that Terris never moved. When Kyte saw the figure in-front of him, he was confused because he felt like he had seen the man before, but couldn¡¯t place a name to his face. However, once Kyte saw the man¡¯s apparel, he instantly remembered. ¡°D...David Wux?!¡± David lightly smiled and pulled back his hand. ¡°Were you really go to kill Terris here, Kyte?¡± ¡°Uh-uh, ye..yes¡­¡± David sighed and continued, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t allow killing to happen in the arena, did you forget?¡± ¡°-Oh...yea, I forgot that¡­¡± Kyte¡¯s face suddenly turned even paler than it was before. ¡°Why were you going to kill him, Kyte?¡± ¡°Uh, because...I needed to, uh...end the match...so¡­¡± ¡°Kyte, you idiot. Killing someone isn¡¯t the easy way out. I guarantee that if you had killed Terris, you would not have left here alive. Terris¡¯s support is like a mountain while yours is like a pebble. Think carefully next time.¡± ¡°...Y, yes, sir.¡± David turned around and looked at Terris, simply nodding. ¡°The winner of this match is Kyte Stone! Is there anyone who thinks otherwise?¡± David stated. However, of course, no one dared to make a sound. Who would provoke David Wux, the only Fighter within Sector 31? The head of Sector 31? No one would. Therefore, Kyte won his first match against an S ranker, even though David himself interfered before Kyte did something that he would not be able to go back on. And, what David said is true. Kyte is new to GG, he has absolutely no backing at all. Terris on the other hand, has been an S ranker for several years. He¡¯s one of the strongest Gifted in Sector 31. He definitely has the full support of at least one of the top three families, if not all of them in general. The consequences to killing Terris would be, without a doubt, death. David turned back to Kyte and said: ¡°Follow me. I want to show you something. It¡¯s quite important, however...Actually, you can go see your friends first. I¡¯ll be waiting in the waiting room.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, sir.¡± Kyte nodded. David suddenly vanished, as if he wasn¡¯t even there to begin with. Kyte felt quite embarrassed, having just been reprimanded by David Wux himself. Kyte looked over at Terris only to find him releasing a cold, heartless aura around himself. After knowing that Kyte was going to kill him without hesitation, Terris¡¯s opinion of Kyte suddenly dropped to the lowest point. Terris knows that if David hadn¡¯t interfered, then he would¡¯ve left this world. Terris felt a small amount of hatred surface, mostly because there were many people that would be greatly saddened by his death. His own personal family, as well as his close friends that he¡¯s been fighting with for years. However, even though Kyte felt embarrassed, he felt no remorse. Firstly, he doesn¡¯t know Terris or anything about him. Kyte has no clue that he has a loving wife and children, along with close friends. Terris¡¯s influence stretches farther than Kyte knows, as he has helped multiple families and branches all across Sector 31. Kyte doesn¡¯t know any of this. This is precisely why Kyte would have never gotten out alive if he did kill Terris. Without enough information, Kyte won¡¯t have the necessary knowledge to deal with his opponents. Without enough power, he won¡¯t be able to deal with them by force. However, Kyte could care less of this at the moment. The thing he¡¯s focused on is the black light. His next match is the next day at five p.m., so he has time to thoroughly think it through. Kyte silently told himself to be prepared next time, because making strong enemies is the one thing that Kyte doesn¡¯t want to do. There¡¯s no way to get rid of the growing hatred that Terris has for Kyte. Kyte doesn¡¯t even know what to do about Terris except walk to the elevator, which just appeared, and step into it. Because of the embarrassment Kyte felt, he couldn¡¯t even look Terris in the eye as the elevator doors shut. Chapter 32: Well...Ok I couldn''t think of a chapter name so I just went ahead and put that. Woohoo. Some-what fits with the last part of the chapter. Also, I unintentionally made this chapter 500-600 words longer than usual. Just over 3000 words this time. Woohoo. Hopefully this addresses some problems? Maybe? I dunno, tried my dangity best. Enjoy. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Once Kyte arrived in the waiting room, he saw the other S rankers staring at him. A few had mocking faces, others had faces of pity, and about two or three merely smirked. Kyte quickly walked through the room to the door. ¡°What an idiot.¡± ¡°Hahaha, making Terris his enemy, who the Hell does he think he is?¡± ¡°A little brat, that¡¯s what he is.¡± The other elevator door opened the same time the middle door did. Terris and Azali simultaneously walked out, and both their auras were completely different. Terris had an ice cold, deadly air surrounding him as he walked back to his seat. Azali had a confused atmosphere around her. Her feelings were a little muddled, mostly because she¡¯s talked with Terris before. She¡¯s even sparred with him, so watching Kyte about to kill Terris, although she had no idea how that would be possible, some-what shocked her. ¡°Chasing after a piece of trash...what has Ms. Wux gotten herself into?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that too loudly, you idiot.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Azali caught Kyte in her sight as he opened the door to leave. She quickly made her way across the room and, after hearing several comments about what occurred, she began to feel a bit at a loss. On one hand, Terris was someone that she respected. However, the two of them weren¡¯t friends. On the other, Kyte was her first real friend that didn¡¯t make her feel like she was the daughter of the leader of Sector 31 but a normal girl. Although their meetings had been brief, she enjoyed her time with Kyte. After Azali left the room, she looked to her right to see Kyte quickly walking down the path. He had already moved quite a bit away from the waiting room¡¯s entrance. ¡°Kyte!¡± Azali called out to him, however, he didn¡¯t stop walking. Seeing that, Azali felt a little dejected. She removed that feeling from her heart and sped up to catch Kyte. From an outward perspective, it was like the two of them were having a fast-walking race which looked some-what comical...The two of them traversed a small distance away from the entrance of the stadium before Azali was a few feet away from Kyte. ¡°Kyte, why aren¡¯t you stopping?!¡± Azali quickened her pace, reached her hand out, and grabbed Kyte¡¯s arm. Kyte stopped walking but he tried to move his arm out of Azali¡¯s grip. Unfortunately for him, Azali was a legit S ranker. Her pure physical strength was actually greater than Kyte¡¯s. That fact made Kyte feel a bit dejected himself. ¡°What do you want?!¡± Giving up, Kyte turned to look at Azali. Seeing Kyte¡¯s angry expression, Azali was stunned for a split second before she continued. ¡°I...I wanted to see you, is there a problem?¡± ¡°You-, you what?¡± Kyte slightly wavered, but he pushed that light feeling down. ¡°I know that you¡¯re probably feeling mad about what happened, so...I wanted to see you.¡± ¡°Wanted to see me, huh? For what? To call me an idiotic brat?!¡± ¡°What? No! I would never call you that! I would never call you any bad names just because you made a mistake!¡± ¡°-! A mistake? Azali, you do know that I was going to kill that man? In cold blood, I was going to kill him!¡± ¡°I know that! But you didn¡¯t kill him. He¡¯s still alive and walking around. You didn¡¯t kill him!¡± ¡°So what? Now he hates me, just like everyone else does! Even you should hate me now, so why are you even here?!¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t hate you! I...I don¡¯t even care about that guy anymore! Everyone around me thinks of me as this perfect girl on an unreachable pedestal just because I¡¯m the daughter of David Wux and being an S rank at sixteen years old. Everyone thinks like that, except for you! Well, and my father and mother...but that¡¯s different. I¡¯ve never felt like I¡¯ve actually had real fun with another person in a long time. Even I¡¯m confused why, but I enjoy the time I spend with you. Just because you almost killed someone because you weren¡¯t supposed to won¡¯t make me hate you. Besides...even I have done things that I regret.¡± ¡°...How do you know I don¡¯t think of you like that?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t care about a person¡¯s status. Just because their social status is higher than yours doesn¡¯t make them stronger than you. That¡¯s the feeling I get from you, anyway¡­¡± ¡°Well, you are right about that. I have absolutely no social ranking at all. Now, thanks to what I just did, I¡¯m certain the other S rankers will try to stop me from getting one. I honestly don¡¯t care though. Social ranking? What do I need that for? At the end of the day, true power is what counts. However, I¡¯m starting to think a bit differently about everything.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Having a high social ranking grants you plenty of extra power. Various connections and help just because you have the backing of powerful people. It¡¯s not that bad of an idea-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to do that, please!¡± ¡°Uh...why?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to have a social ranking to be powerful. Did you already forget what you said before? True power is what counts.¡± ¡°-Ah...I''m such a hypocrite.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°What. Don¡¯t say what? That I¡¯m a hypocrite? Do you even know how many people I¡¯ve killed? Have you ever held the lives of innocent people in your hands? Have you ever had the innocent staring at you with eyes filled with terror and shock, as if they¡¯re looking at a monster? Even if I was a normal human not too long ago, I still look at them as mere ants! Am I still human? Do I have to care anymore?! Am I being forced to kneel to a moral obligation to spare livestock?!¡± ¡°Kyte¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know anymore! This...transition between a normal, less-physically capable human to this mighty and powerful form. I don¡¯t even have the same skeleton system anymore! Am I still human?! My bones aren¡¯t even bones, they¡¯re metal from a different fucking dimension! A few months ago, I wouldn¡¯t dare think about healing broken and shattered pieces of my skeleton in mere seconds. Or would I dare think that I would have the ability to destroy entire cities with my own, independent strength. What the Hell am I? I wasn¡¯t born with this power like you Gifted. That¡¯s right, I got this power only a few months ago! The Hell am I supposed to think? I¡¯m not some hero that upholds all the good moral obligations in the world just because I have the power to do so. Why should I? The world has only brought me sadness and despair, what else should I give back? I don¡¯t give a damn about this world-¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°...What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if you care about this world or not. You don¡¯t have to. The only thing you need to care about is the people that you¡¯re close to. Those innocent civilians you talked about? What about them? You don¡¯t have to save them from harm. You don¡¯t have to do anything. If they¡¯re in your way, move them! In fact, if anything is in your way, destroy it! The only thing holding you back right now is that you¡¯re too weak. You keep thinking that you¡¯re being forced to uphold these¡­¡¯obligations¡¯? I don¡¯t know what that words means, but I have a pretty good guess. All you need to do is follow your heart. If you don¡¯t have a heart, then follow your own moral standards. No one will stop you. If you have enough power...no one can stop you. T-that¡¯s what my father told me anyway, ahaha¡­¡± ¡°...I see.¡± Kyte faintly smiled, reached out his hand, and grabbed Azali¡¯s arm. He pulled her close and into his embrace as he tightly wrapped his arms around her. ¡°Wha-what¡¯re you doing-¡± ¡°Thanks, Azali. I need a bit more time to sort out my own thoughts. I¡¯ve only been pushing everything to the back of my mind. Also...I just had the sudden to urge to hug you. Just go with it.¡± Kyte lightly chuckled as he felt Azali move her arms and return his hug. Although she isn¡¯t in love with Kyte, she didn¡¯t think hugging him was too bad. In fact, this was the first time she hugged someone in a long time. Kyte was also the only person she¡¯s hugged that wasn¡¯t part of her close family. Once she reached a certain age, hugging others just naturally left her. So, this was quite a surprise. Kyte released his arms from around Azali, and she did the same as well. Making eye contact, both of them smiled. ¡°Oh, Kyte.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°What do you mean you got your power a few months ago?¡± ¡°-Ah...That¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t have to tell me. It doesn¡¯t really matter, anyway. So, I think you should go see your friends. I¡¯ll, um...go uh¡­¡± ¡°Just come with me. I know you have nowhere else to be.¡± ¡°...Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± ________________________________________________________________ I wonder what was wrong with Rose once I returned?... If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Before Kyte was going to open the door to the waiting room, he felt someone tap his shoulder. Turning around, Kyte saw David standing behind him. ¡°M-Mr. Wux.¡± ¡°Kyte. Come with me.¡± David grabbed Kyte¡¯s arm and the two of them disappeared without a sound. Kyte felt like he was flying at mach speed when David jumped off the ground. He couldn¡¯t see what was going on around him because everything was moving too fast. Eventually, after about ten seconds, it stopped. Kyte¡¯s feet touched solid ground, though his legs felt almost like jello. He was able to stand, but barely. ¡°Mr. Wux...why and where did you take me?¡± Kyte asked, a little out of breath. ¡°Well, someone wanted to meet with you. This should have happened after the tournament, however, this person insisted on meeting you. I can¡¯t say no to a higher rank, can I?¡± ¡°A higher rank?¡± ¡°Follow me. He¡¯s inside.¡± David began walking toward a large door. Kyte had just noticed the surroundings, and he noticed that everything was very...clean. No specks of dust or smudges anywhere. The floor was a pearly white and it extended behind Kyte to form a balcony. Kyte caught a small glimpse over the balcony; he saw the whole stadium from an obviously high place. Must be the giant castle-like building in the middle. Kyte followed David through the doorway. The doors were gilded, and the inside of the giant room Kyte entered had a multitude of different objects that were gilded. The furniture, which were numerous throughout the room, were all red. A large, circular, thick, red carpet was in the middle of the room. The furniture was perfectly and symmetrically situated around the circle. There were a lot of chairs, and one long couch. Sitting on that one couch was a young looking man, probably in his mid twenties. His hair was a deep blue, and it was short enough to cover half of his forehead. An aura much more powerful than David¡¯s surrounded this man. However, instead of being a majestic aura, it was more calm and sharp. David leaned a bit closer to Kyte and whispered: ¡°Don¡¯t let his looks fool you. He¡¯s actually more than a hundred years old.¡± ¡°What?...¡± More than one hundred? He looks like he¡¯s twenty or something. David led Kyte closer to the man, and when they were several steps from him, David stopped. It seemed like only when David stopped did the man even look up to see who entered. ¡°I¡¯ve brought him, Mr. Wake.¡± ¡°Good. You can go ahead and sit down now, Mr. Wux.¡± ¡°Thank-you.¡± David sat down on the couch, though not close to the young. The moment the man looked at Kyte, Kyte felt as if he was being suffocated. He couldn¡¯t move or breath because the pressure from just the man¡¯s gaze was frighteningly powerful. Kyte felt a calm energy moving throughout his body, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. ¡°Hmm...So, you¡¯re Kyte?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Oh, right, sorry, hahaha.¡± The energy within Kyte disappeared, but the man still stared at him. Kyte let out a sigh of relief before replying: ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°...David, were you lying to me?¡± ¡°No, Mr. Wake. Even I wasn¡¯t able to find out what it was.¡± ¡°I see. Kyte, would you mind showing me that black stuff you control?¡± ¡°...Why?¡± Suddenly, an enormous pressure smashed onto Kyte. He immediately fell to his knees from the surprise and he could barely breath. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a request, it was an order. Now, show me.¡± ¡°Why do I..have...to show you?¡± The man stood up and kicked Kyte directly in the face, making him fly to the side and smash into a wall. The wall shook but remained strong under the powerful impact. Kyte felt like all the bones in his body were shattered, and his jaw was loosely hanging from thin strips of skin and muscle. He then felt his body being lifted and brought back to his original position. The man watched as Kyte¡¯s injuries quickly and visibly healed. Kyte¡¯s hanging jaw fixed itself and the missing pieces of flesh appeared. Small cracking sounds were heard as Kyte¡¯s bones put themselves back together. ¡°Oh, so his healing ability definitely wasn¡¯t a lie. You don¡¯t see that everyday. Usually it¡¯s only Medics that can do that, though not to this ability. I¡¯m slightly impressed. The only thing I¡¯m not impressed with is his lack of discipline. Then again, he¡¯s only had a few months, I can¡¯t blame him. The new ones are always a pain in the ass to deal with. Don¡¯t worry kid, you¡¯ll know how to take orders soon enough.¡± The man knelt down on one knee and said: ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to ask one last time, ok? Show me your black light.¡± ¡°You know...I was kinda...forced into GG. I don¡¯t give two shits about you, Sonic.¡± The demanding look in the man¡¯s eyes quickly changed into anger and killing intent. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re asking for death, kid.¡± ¡°What I really want to ask is when you¡¯ll shut up?¡± A boom resounded through the room as the man kicked Kyte straight in the stomach. Blood sprayed from Kyte¡¯s mouth as he flew backward toward the door. David quickly appeared behind Kyte and caught him before he possibly smashed through the door. ¡°What are you doing, David?!¡± ¡°Mr. Wake, you do realize you¡¯re within my Sector, correct? GG law states that Sector Leaders hold absolute authority within their Sector, unless an Emperor rank or higher enters the Sector. Last I recall, you¡¯re only at the King rank.¡± Wake¡¯s eye slightly twitched when he heard those words. He quickly hid his extreme displeasure, but the frown on his face revealed much of his inner feelings. ¡°Mr. Wux, I hope you know you¡¯re making a mistake.¡± ¡°We were never friends to begin with, Mr. Wake. Besides, the Rayth family has already signed an agreement with my Wux family over the situation. You can¡¯t do anything about it anymore.¡± ¡°You...Fine. It was a waste of my time coming here. Wish that we don¡¯t meet again, Kyte.¡± Wake¡¯s figure instantly vanished without a sound. David laid Kyte down on the carpet and watched as Kyte¡¯s completely destroyed chest and stomach quickly healed. The blood on the carpet and floor moved toward Kyte¡¯s body to be absorbed again. A full minute later, Kyte turned his head over and coughed a few times to clear his throat. ¡°Thanks, Mr. Wux.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Mr. Wux¡­?¡± ¡°..Pfft HAHAHAHAHA! That was great! I can¡¯t believe you did that! Hahahahahaheheheh...oh man that was the best thing I¡¯ve seen in a while..hahaha¡­¡± ¡°Uh...um¡­.what?¡± ¡°Sorry..haha...I couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer..heheheh¡­¡± ¡°M-Mr. Wux...I don¡¯t..¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, kiddo. When a good show is put in front of me, I can keep my stoicism for only so long.¡± ¡°You mean¡­¡± ¡°Of course. What, did you think us guys above S rank didn¡¯t have personalities or something? Some of them are a bit dull though. The Core is quite a dangerous place.¡± ¡°Um...I feel like I have to apologize¡­¡± ¡°No worries, Kyte. That guy¡¯s main reason for coming here was for a contract that allowed the exploration of a new...ah, I can¡¯t say. You¡¯ll learn of this when you enter the Core.¡± ¡°Oh...So, is it fine then?¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s fine! I wouldn¡¯t want my daughter¡¯s boyfriend to get in trouble!¡± ¡°B-boyfriend? Mr. Wux, I think you¡¯ve misunderstood something-¡± ¡°Hm? What? I can¡¯t hear you over my awesomeness!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°It was just a joke.¡± ¡°Right...So, what now?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll return to your Branch¡¯s housing and wait for tomorrow. Oh, don¡¯t worry about what you did today. You didn¡¯t kill the guy, unlike me. Hate to say it but I was a pretty ruthless person before I met my wife. Anyway, you want me to take you or do you want to walk?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll walk, sir.¡± ¡°Hahaha, alright.¡± Kyte saw a small mischievous smile form upon David¡¯s lips, but he chose to ignore it because he didn¡¯t know why David would smile like that. That could be his natural smile for all he knows. ¡°Also, I have someone to show you the way out, so you don¡¯t have to worry about getting lost.¡± ¡°Thank-you, Mr. Wux.¡± ¡°Now go. I actually have some business to take care of.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Kyte walked to the opposite door, and before he opened it, he looked behind to find that David was gone. Turning back, Kyte opened the door and walked out of the room. The person leaning against the wall outside the room was, of course, Azali. When she saw Kyte walk out of the room, she quickly walked up to him. ¡°You¡¯re the person Mr. Wux sent?¡± ¡°Yup! Hello again~.¡± ¡°...Well, that¡¯s fine. No harm done. Come on, show me the way out of this place.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Azali winked and began to walk down the hall. When she noticed that Kyte didn¡¯t speed up, she slowed down to walk by his side. Chapter 33: Death from the Inside Woop, new chapter. Uh, I feel like I got this one out sooner than I thought. Hmm...maybe it''s because I have less things to do once swim practice starts again. Oh well. Oh yea, I created a very...simple and basic cover for this story. I made it in like 10 minutes lol. I also got my first profile pic. of one of my favorite game characters. Even if the game is shit now, I still really like Add from Elsword. Primarily Diabolic Esper. Unfortunately I don''t necessarily like the wallpapers made for him. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Next one is where...well, I think you guys can guess where the next chapter is gonna go ;). _______________________________________________________________________________________________ The next day, Kyte walked out of Branch 4¡¯s housing with everyone else. Their reactions to what Kyte did yesterday were kind of bland. Although a few of them have seen Kyte kill someone, they themselves also killed people during the raid on the AHAD factory. They have always felt a type of evil atmosphere around Kyte. It¡¯s not that Kyte is actually evil per se, but the others have never a felt a good aura from him. It might be the nature of Kyte¡¯s power, as the only thing they know is that Kyte uses blood as his source of power, but they don¡¯t actually know much about Kyte. He¡¯s never shared anything, and no one has asked. Excluding Rose, of course. As they were walking toward the stadium, Kyte could feel a disconnection with Rose. They didn¡¯t have an argument or anything, but Kyte could just notice that something was off. He thought back to when he hugged Azali the day before and wondered if that was the cause. Since he couldn¡¯t think of anything else, he assumed he was correct. Despite that, he didn¡¯t want to bring it up. Because, Kyte accepted the fact that¡­ ...he did not like Rose. Kyte didn¡¯t know if it was because of Azali¡¯s words the day before or his own sudden deep thinking that led him to this conclusion. However, he knew for a fact that he had no romantic feelings for Rose whatsoever. Rather than romantic, he was filled with lustful feelings for Rose. What made Kyte a little depressed was that he discovered only a small part of him found Rose to be important as a person. To put it in perspective: eighty percent was lust, twenty percent was true feeling. He didn¡¯t know when it started. He thought it may have started that day on the bed in the apartment, when the two of them shared each other¡¯s past. Kyte believed that his feelings of lust were masked by a feeling of companionship as the feeling of loneliness was no longer present within him. Because of all this, Kyte was some-what stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should he bring Rose with him to the Core just because of what they¡¯ve done? Should he leave her here? Kyte never expected to have to make this type of decision. Oh how naive and ignorant he felt when he realized he had made a great mistake. However, he couldn¡¯t do anything about it at the moment. He had his next match that day, so he couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted. When they reached the stadium entrance, Kyte departed from the others. Rose didn¡¯t want to separate from Kyte, but there was nothing she could do. Only S rankers could enter the waiting room during the S rank tournament. Rose had a slightly dark expression and her eyes were a little out of focus, but she let go of Kyte anyway. While Kyte was walking away, he thought that staying with Rose any longer would lead to unwanted scenarios. As Kyte was nearing the waiting room entrance, he saw a familiar figure standing near the door. ¡°...Azali!¡± Azali, hearing her name being called by a familiar voice, immediately looked up and saw Kyte quickening his pace. ¡°Good afternoon~!¡± ¡°Good afternoo-¡± Kyte replied, though, right at the end of his sentence, Azali suddenly wrapped her arms around his back and rested her head on his shoulder. Of course, he was able to fully feel the the large softness against his chest as Azali pressed up against him. This time he was aware of it, unlike last time when his mind was busy processing his disorganized thoughts. ¡°Uh¡­¡± After not feeling Kyte reciprocate her hug, Azali slowly released her arms from Kyte and looked at his face. She saw that Kyte was a little shocked but there was more confusion than anything else. ¡°Oh, sorry...I don¡¯t know what came over me.¡± I guess she thought, since I hugged her yesterday, that I¡¯ll hug her everyday? Is that how this works? ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I just didn¡¯t expect it, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°...Right, well, let¡¯s go inside, shall we?¡± ¡°We shall!¡± Kyte opened the door to the waiting room, letting Azali enter first. He followed behind her and closed the door in an unhurried manner. When Kyte entered, everyone in the room looked toward him. There were different expressions all around however, when they saw Kyte with Azali, there were mostly confused expressions. Most of them thought that Azali would definitely leave Kyte after what had happened. They never expected Azali to actually stay with Kyte, and the two of them looked to be closer than they were the day before. The person who had the most confused and intense aura was definitely Terris. He wouldn¡¯t have expected Azali to stay with Kyte either, mostly because he¡¯s known Azali since she was young, although not very well. He knows that she isn¡¯t very social, and, at that point, he wondered how the two of them even became acquainted. However, even with all of that, no one dared to speak up about it. They can¡¯t control Azali even if they wanted to. She was a legit S ranker and the daughter of David Wux. No way they would be willing to throw away their status just because of some words. Kyte and Azali sat down next to each other and began to silently talk to each other. It was kind of awkward at first because the other S rankers had stopped conversing once Kyte entered the room. However, they eventually began their discussions once again. Although Terris has a naturally good relationship with most of the other S rankers, not all of them have a favorable opinion of him. These S rankers, and a few others, couldn¡¯t care less if Terris and Kyte became enemies. Actually, they liked the fact that they were enemies, because that¡¯s one more addition to their side of the camp. ¡°Alright, so tell me about these S rankers. I¡¯m curious as to who they are. I¡¯ve actually been meaning to ask you this earlier, haha.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. Well, it would take too long to go through all of them. They all have their unique traits and interesting stories. Every single one of them is important to the Sector. Losing even one of them would decrease our total strength quite significantly.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Really? That much? Alright then, who¡¯s the most powerful?¡± ¡°The most powerful S ranker would have to be...John Tael. He became a Gold S ranker before I was born. Although he¡¯s been within Sector 31 for a long time, the last time he participated in this tournament was when he defeated the previous strongest S ranker. After that, he never appeared here again. Some say he got sent to the Core, but people have seen him around Sector 31 multiple times. No one knows what he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°I see. Guys like him usually have important things to take care of. I wouldn¡¯t doubt he¡¯s doing something secret. Who¡¯s the second strongest?¡± ¡°Second strongest is Seeker Wux.¡± ¡°Seeker is part of the Wux family?¡± ¡°...Yes. I don¡¯t know much about it, but he was disowned by my father. Seeker is my eldest brother. I¡¯m pretty sure everyone knows already that my power is mutated. After Seeker was disowned by father, his power mutated as well. Since father isn¡¯t allowed to have rogue Gifted, especially mutated ones that have lots of power, he was forced to bring Seeker back and give him a position.¡± ¡°I thought Mutated Gifted were rare?¡± ¡°They are. Though, more seem to be appearing for some reason. Aren¡¯t you a Mutated Gifted too?¡± ¡°Me? No, I¡¯m not. My power is just...a bit special, that¡¯s all. I¡¯m actually at a very important and difficult part of my progression. I¡¯ve been stuck for at least a month or two now. I think I have the solution, but there¡¯s not enough time to fully concentrate.¡± ¡°You do know that you can forfeit the matches, right?¡± ¡°Of course I do. However, I don¡¯t want to do that. There¡¯s a possibility for an insight that may help me breakthrough. The only reason I¡¯m participating is for that, and only that. The rewards from the matches, heh, I couldn¡¯t care less. What¡¯s a few measly items going to do against someone that¡¯s far above me in power?¡± ¡°Well...I guess you¡¯re right. Depending on how fast you increase in power, these items could be useless. It¡¯s better to have the best equipment you can get, even if you are going to increase in power though.¡± ¡°Hmm...I understand that. But, I¡¯d rather have-¡± ¡°Next match: Kyte Stone versus Jill Cot.¡± ¡°Ah-, that¡¯s me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll walk with you to the elevator.¡± Kyte and Azali stood up to walk to the door as one other person got up as well. Kyte didn¡¯t really care about the person as he continued his conversation with Azali. That person, Jill Cot, felt angry over Kyte¡¯s indifferent attitude. She felt like she was given no respect as his opponent which only added to her dislike from his actions the day before. ¡°Alright, see you when it¡¯s over?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Yup! I¡¯ll be watching~.¡± Azali slightly hesitated as she looked at Kyte, but she quickly broke eye contact and passed through the door to the audience. Haaa¡­.The Hell am I going to do about this? I don¡¯t like Rose, and Azali seems to be too perfect. Am I setting myself up for another failure?... Kyte calmed down himself before facing the elevator door. He heard someone walk up to the elevator on the other side. He didn¡¯t care much about who he was fighting, but the curiosity was too much for him. He looked to his right and saw a tall woman with her eyes closed. She had long, dark brown hair and a full set of S ranked robes. The robes were more like regular jeans and a long sleeve shirt, but there were extra layers in certain areas. The robes were red with a black trim instead of a golden trim, which actually didn¡¯t look too bad in Kyte¡¯s opinion. She had a broadsword across her back that looked a bit big for her build, but Kyte knew not to judge by appearances. Jill felt Kyte looking at her, so she looked back at him. ¡°...Good luck.¡± Kyte said as the elevator doors opened. ¡°G-good luck.¡± Jill was surprised by what Kyte had said. She definitely did not expect him to wish her good luck after yesterday. She was so surprised that she stuttered a little as she replied. Kyte walked into the elevator and waited as he felt himself being brought upward. After a few seconds, the elevator doors opened and the arena was once again presented in-front of him. Kyte stepped out of the elevator onto the rough ground, and the first thing he did was take out Heavy Air. As Jill stepped out into the arena, Kyte had already activated all of his buffs. A red light shined around him before a large circle of blood was absorbed by his body. A crimson electricity danced around his blade as he activated the formations within his robes, causing his robes to faintly glow. ¡°-...3...2...1...Fight!¡± Just as Kyte lifted Heavy Air, Jill grabbed the hilt of her sword which unclicked from her back. She moved her arm and slashed downward as a large wave of blue energy manifested from her blade. It shot forward so quickly that Kyte barely moved his sword to block in time, even though he had already raised it up halfway. Kyte¡¯s sword was enveloped by crimson energy and electricity. The blue energy smashed into Kyte¡¯s sword which immediately pushed Kyte back several meters. After a full second, the energy around Heavy Air broke apart, making the energy crash into the blade itself. Cracks spread across it like glass until it shattered under the immense pressure brought forth by the blue energy. There was just too much power behind the energy. It smashed against Kyte¡¯s robe, completely annihilating the defensive barrier around it. The power quickly diminished as a scratch appeared on the first layer of Kyte¡¯s robes. However, because of the force that crashed against him, he was flung back straight into the outer wall of the arena. A large, smashed crater appeared as cobweb-like cracks spread out from the epicenter of the impact. Although his robes weren¡¯t damaged from the impact, Kyte felt like all the bones in his body were shattered. His body had penetrated so far into the wall that it couldn¡¯t even fall out by gravity. Kyte used Internal energy to move his body outside of the crater, where he forcefully used Spirit energy to help heal himself. As he was doing this, he could feel the trapped power within him. Holding back all of this power by being at the peak Champion stage has become increasingly painful. His bones felt like they were going to burst open and the veins inside his flesh were throbbing in pain. A gush of blood escaped his mouth as even his organs were being injured by the internal struggle of power within him. I can¡¯t...I¡¯ll die if I keep everything in longer than a day. I need to start trying to forcefully fuse the black light with my Spirit energy! Chapter 34: Breaking Reality Hey! I didn''t expect myself to write another chapter, and this one is 3500 words long! Holy crap! That''s 1200 words longer than yesterday lol. I really went all out on this one. I''m not gonna spoil anything, but if you have questions you would like answered, I''ll do my best. I couldn''t think of a chapter title because too much happened. I still can''t think of one. Oh well. :D Enjoy. EDIT: I think I may have thought of a name. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Kyte immediately began to try to forcefully break the barrier between his Spirit energy and the black light. He waved his arm, causing the wind in the arena to pick up and surge around in several different waves. Although he forcefully healed himself, the pain hadn¡¯t left him. For some reason, it was getting more intense the more he tried to break the black light. The large, golden ball within Kyte¡¯s soul began to slightly shake from an unknown pressure. Kyte looked through the dust cloud to see a blue light suddenly appear. He quickly jump to the right as the blue light completely destroyed the wall, crashing into the arena barrier. Kyte¡¯s figure silently disappeared with the wind. A crimson energy, accompanied by a dark electricity, began to fuse with the wind. Kyte released a wave of energy toward Jill as he appeared behind her. A wall of blue energy manifested from her sword, blocking the energy. Kyte¡¯s attack was completely nullified and it didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on her defense. Suddenly, Jill¡¯s figure flickered before completely disappearing. Kyte continually moved with the wind, however, he wasn¡¯t able to find her. He felt an increasing amount of fear grip his heart as he moved to the utmost limit of his speed. ¡°Stop, running!¡± A large wave of blue energy swept out in Kyte¡¯s direction. It was incredibly fast as it caught one of Kyte¡¯s legs and cleanly removed it from his body. Kyte continued to move around until he got back to his severed leg. He grabbed it and stuck back onto his body, which then completely healed within a second. Although it felt a little weird at first, the familiar feeling of his leg eventually returned. A crescent wave of blue energy surged toward Kyte. It was too fast for him to dodge, and he couldn''t do anything to defend himself. He instantly manifested black light in-front of him, creating a small wall to block the attack. The blue energy smashed into the wall of black light, which completely surprised Kyte. Usually anything that touches the black light passes through it like it isn¡¯t even there, however, now it actually blocks an attack? An energy attack that isn¡¯t even physical? He decided to try it, but for it to actually work? The Hell is that supposed to mean¡­? The blue energy flowed past the black light on either side of Kyte as it continually released a powerful pressure. The wind from the energy greatly ruffled Kyte¡¯s hair and robes as it completely decimated the earth within its proximity. Kyte could feel the immense pressure being transmitted from the black light, and a small crack appeared in the middle. The energy quickly diminished until there was none left, however, a shadow enveloped Kyte¡¯s figure. He looked up to see Jill already bringing down her blade. Kyte quickly moved the black light above him to block her attack, however, it never came. Instead, a blast of energy came from behind him, directly impacting his back and shooting him forward. Kyte¡¯s body smashed against the ground several times before he stabilized himself and rapidly healed himself. Kyte¡¯s expression was full of pain as he swallowed down a mouthful of blood. It keeps getting worse....The more injuries I take, the worse my internal state gets. My organs are gonna turn into meat paste unless I...go all out. She¡¯s too fast though, I can¡¯t even see her. An area effect attack would work, but that only thing that would injure her is the fire. I can¡¯t control the output well enough to risk that. However, if it gets down to it¡­Stupid, black light, just fucking break!! Kyte¡¯s entire being was shaking from the pain and pressure. Every so often, his heartbeat would abnormally beat off rhythm and send even more pain signals across his body. The golden ball within Kyte¡¯s soul began to crack as if it was going to be broken to pieces like a glass ball being destroyed by a sledge hammer. Kyte immediately enveloped his whole body in black light. He made two holes for his eyes, but underneath the black light was a layer of crimson energy fused with the Iron Body technique. Although Kyte hadn¡¯t mastered Iron Body, his defense was still significantly increased by using the skill. He also made room for his mouth for air. Kyte¡¯s primary attention was focused on the black light and his Spirit energy, and the actual fight was secondary. All he needed to accomplish was dodging, defending, and surviving Jill¡¯s attacks. Kyte decided to go on full defensive during this time, so instead of moving, he stayed where his was. However, he greatly increased the thickness of the black light around him. As Kyte was focusing on breaking the black light, he could feel powerful pounds across the black light surrounding him. Every time Jill would attack Kyte, he would be smashed into the ground even further. ¡°What the Hell are you doing?! Running and then hiding?! You¡¯re such a coward!¡± Jill¡¯s sword suddenly released a beautiful light as she raised it above her head. Blue energy gathered around his word like water in a whirlpool. Eventually, a giant blade of energy that was ten times bigger than her normal sword was created. Its power bent and distorted the air as the light pierced the eyes of the audience. ¡°Prepare to receive my strongest attack. I pray you live to see the light of day.¡± Jill furiously swung her arms down, and the large blade of energy descended upon Kyte¡¯s sphere of black light energy. A blinding light illuminated everything as a deafening boom resounded throughout the entire stadium. The ground within a hundred meter radius of Jill¡¯s impact with Kyte¡¯s sphere was completely crushed and obliterated underneath the incredible pressure. Waves upon waves of energy were unleashed upon the surrounding space, and the air was visibly being torn apart. Jill¡¯s sword smashed Kyte¡¯s sphere even further down into the ground as a gigantic crater was formed from the ravaged earth. Cracks spread out across the entire arena floor; the ground outside of the crater was ripped upward and distorted. It seemed like the entire arena floor was going to give way. However, Kyte¡¯s sphere of black light was still pulling through. Cracks were spread out across the whole sphere, however, nothing penetrated into the lowest layer. Within the sphere, Kyte was frantically trying to figure out the key. His body was ragged and blood filled the bottom of the sphere. Fuck, I can¡¯t even absorb my blood anymore. Why? Why?! I¡¯ve tried everything, why the fuck isn¡¯t it working!!! My soul is about to collapse and my body is already breaking down. The power I¡¯ve held within me is going to burst out, completely destroying me¡­.I....can¡¯t die...I can¡¯t¡­ Within Kyte¡¯s soul, the large golden ball suddenly disintegrated into powder. Following that, a whole new level of pain spread through Kyte¡¯s entire soul and body. It felt like he was being torn apart and burned with an intense, raging fire from the inside out. Blood gushed from his mouth as he involuntarily relaxed his muscles. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and ears. The skin on his body began to slowly slip off his red, bloody flesh. The hair on his head quickly began to fall down into the puddle of blood and dead skin beneath him. I¡¯m...dying...no...I...can¡¯t. There...has...to...be.........---- Among the blood from his eyes, tears began to slip down and burn his already deteriorated flesh. The light of life in his eyes slowly faded until there was only a darkness that belonged to a shell. The pressure exuded onto the sphere of black light disappeared. The sword in Jill¡¯s hands dropped to the ground as Jill fell to her knees, completely exhausted. After several seconds, she struggled to her feet after placing the sword back in her hands. She looked at the center of the gigantic crater and was amazed at what she saw. A black sphere with cracks all over it still remained after her strongest attack. It looked to be on the verge of collapse, as if just a tap would instantly shatter it. Everything was completely silent. Several seconds went by, and still nothing. The black sphere remained utterly motionless. Jill looked at the balcony behind her, but all she got was a shake of a head. She looked back at the black sphere and proceeded to slowly walk toward it. It was about twenty meters away from her position, so she took a few seconds to breath before continuing toward it. However, once she reached within thirty feet of the sphere, Jill suddenly felt a strange sensation around her body. It was as if a small amount of weight was suddenly lifted from her body. She felt around her body but discovered that nothing was wrong with it. She slowly continued forward, but with each step she continued to feel lighter and lighter. When she was within ten feet, she felt like she weighed nothing. She took a step forward, unknowingly hitting a small rock next to her foot. She watched as the rock silently flew up, bounced off the black sphere, and slowly moved away from it. The farther it moved away from the sphere, the closer and faster it got to the ground. "G-gravity control?..." Jill suddenly thought of the White family in the Core, but she quickly discarded that thought. How could a member of the White family be here, in an Outer Sector without anyone knowing? A dark figure appeared beside her. It grabbed her and disappeared from the arena, placing her at the Wux viewing balcony. ¡°M-Mr. Wux? What-¡± Jill started. ¡°Shh. You¡¯re very valuable to Sector 31, I can¡¯t have you dying on me. Zack, send an order down to the engineers: Increase the barrier¡¯s defense to maximum. This is something that only with my personal help will the barrier be able to pull through while at maximum power.¡± David had a serious expression as he commanded Zack. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Zack left after taking out his small tablet. ¡°Mr. Wux, what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too difficult to explain, just wat-¡± Suddenly, the entire stadium began to shake. It started as a small rocking, but after several seconds the shaking became incredibly intense. Even the air began to visibly shake under the unknown pressure. ¡°My goodness...evacuate the audience immediately!¡± David shouted. The shaking increased in intensity to the point where the entire stadium seemed about to be broken to pieces. An evacuation system had already been built within the stadium in case of serious situations. Each seat holds a certain amount of space beneath that allows the person to be moved far below the ground within seconds. A visible wave of an invisible force swept outward from the black sphere. It passed through every single thing: the ground, the arena barrier, the stadium. However, the force wasn¡¯t hurtful. Instead, it seemed to transform the area around the entire stadium into a zero-gravity zone. Pieces of rubble that were flung up from the ground were silently floating through the air. When they would bump into each other, they would silently bounce off into a different direction. David and Jill could feel that the blood circulation in their bodies had been thrown off. They felt a bit of pain in their bones, especially their spines. It seemed as though they suddenly grew taller by an inch or two. The weirdness of these sensations made their minds go a little fuzzy, but David quickly refocused. He had never seen something so unusual and abnormal before in his entire life. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The black sphere slowly lifted up from the giant crater until it was above David¡¯s and Jill¡¯s heads. It no longer had cracks along its surface, and a mysterious feeling permeated out of it. It was as if the chains of authority had tied them to the ground, and all they could do was look up and watch. Suddenly, the black sphere disappeared into the dark figure that was within it. As that happened, a whirlpool-like suction force was created around that dark figure. Sparks of electricity began to explode into existence around the figure as the space itself around it began to distort. Small cracks in reality began to form as a river of black light seeped through those cracks. After several seconds, the area around the figure looked as if it was a clear but distorted sphere. The sphere was very large, probably with a diameter of twenty meters. Outside of the sphere were dozens of streams of electricity that would periodically flash with power. The electricity itself seemed to hold every known color, thus rendering it a deep black. Inside the sphere were three large cracks in reality. Each crack had a seemingly unending amount of black light that poured out of them. The figure in the center was completely black, as if it was that black light itself. Within that figure was a small flicker of light. It was surrounded by black light, and several small streams of it were being absorbed by that small light. That small ember was Kyte¡¯s the leftover of Kyte¡¯s soul. After the golden ball had disintegrated, Kyte thought he had died. Technically, he did. His physical body wasn¡¯t able to sustain itself any longer. The pressure and energy it carried had destroyed it from the inside out. This process was greatly quickened by the battle with Jill, especially when she had used her strongest attack. By trying to break the black light with his Spirit energy, Kyte had completely exhausted himself until he could no longer take it. As if it was on instinct, Kyte¡¯s soul abandoned its physical body and receded deep into its own consciousness. There, it could do nothing as black light suddenly began to enter the upper levels of Kyte¡¯s soul. There, it finally discovered what it had originally felt when Kyte had first gained the Inheritance from Sol¡¯keer. That time when Sol¡¯keer first told Kyte about Spirit energy, Kyte had stated that he felt a different power within him. Kyte believed that power to be his Spirit energy; he was wrong. The small piece of Kyte¡¯s soul, even after discovering this power, couldn¡¯t understand what it was. It took the form of a black cloud, and it seemed to occupy its own individual space within Kyte¡¯s deepest level of consciousness. When that small soul saw that black cloud, it instantly understood that this black cloud had been within him since the day he was conceived. It was created inside his tiny soul and had been slowly growing alongside Kyte. The small soul tried to reach the black cloud, however, it was behind an impenetrable layer of subconsciousness. That small soul had no way of breaching through. However, when it ¡°looked¡± back up and saw black light breaking through each level of consciousness, it felt a mix of emotions. Fear, hope, regret, relief. It didn¡¯t know what to think of this black light that had invaded into its conscious. Finally, the black light reached the final wall. That small soul was suddenly pulled through the last level and into the black cloud, as if it was protecting the soul. The black light smashed into the final wall, creating cracks along it. Suddenly, the black cloud swirled into a dark figure. ¡°D??o???n''t?? ?b?e ??a???f??r???a??i???d???.?? ?I? ??a??m?? ?y??o?u?.¡± A raspy and distorted voice spoke out directly to the small soul. ¡­¡­ ¡°R?ela??x?? yo??u??r???s?e??lf???.? ??L?e?t? ?t??he??? ??V???o?i???d ?f?l???ow??? ??i??n??t?o? ??y???ou??.?.¡± ¡­.. ¡°I?,?? ???y??o??ur?se??l?f??,??? ?w?i???l???l? i??n??e?v?i?ta??b??l?y? ?m?ut?a?t??e??.? ??L??et?? ?Us?? fu??s?e w??i?t???h?? ???y??o??u??.??? ¡° The small soul instantly relaxed itself onto the bottom of its consciousness. The black light broke the final wall. It was instantly attracted toward the black-cloud figure and the two of them were like opposing forces. The cloud figure reached out its hand and grabbed the black light, exerting a strange force upon it. The cloud figure began to distort like a television glitch as it struggled with the black light. It reached out its other hand and tightly gripped the black light. Its figure began to heavily distort as black tendrils protruded out from the black light, wrapping around the cloud figure. ¡°A???????????????H????????????H??????????H????????????H?????????H??????????H????????????H???????????????H???????H??????????????H????????????H??????????????!???????????????!???????????? !!¡± The cloud figure started to scream in a greatly distorted voice as it crazily struggled against the black light. Seeing this, the small soul suddenly had a flash of insight. It lept up from the bottom and flew above the cloud figure. ¡°W???????????H????????????????A????????????T???????????? ?????????A????????????????R????????E???????????????? ?????????Y?????????????O???????????U????????????????? ???????????????????D???????????O?????????????????I???????????????N????????????G?????????????????!¡± The small soul then latched itself onto the cloud figure, intent on absorbing it for itself. It began trying to devour the black cloud as it began assimilating with it. The cloud figure, under the increased pressure, began to break down and be devoured by the small soul. A small hole opened in the middle of the small soul, sucking in the black cloud. ¡°Y?????????????????O?????????????U??????????? ?????????T??????????????R??????????????A????????????????I????????T??????????O???????R???????????!???????????????? ????????????I???????????? ????????W???????????????A?????S?????????????????? ????????????H???????????????E??????????L????????P???????????I????????????????N??????????G???????????????? ????????Y?????????????O??????????????????U???????????? ????B???????U???????????T??????????? ????????????Y????????????O??????????U??????? ???????B??????????????E???????????????T??????????????????R????????????A???????????Y??????????????? ???????????M????????????E???????????? ?!!¡± The small soul silently apologized, for this soul was going to follow down a path that he creates himself. ¡°Y???????O????????????????U???????????????? ??????????A????????R??????????E??????????? ??????????????????M????????????E????????????? W????????????H????????????????Y??????? ???????????????????W??????????O??????????U?????????????????L????????????????D???????????????? ??????????????Y?????O?????U????????????? ??????????B?????????????E??????T???????????????R??????????A??????????????Y??????????? ????????????Y????????????????O????????????????U?????????R????????????S????????E?????????????L?????????????F???????!!!¡± The black-cloud figure disappeared within the small soul, turning its color from white to grey. Then, without a force to hold the black light, it rushed into the hole in the soul. An unending amount of black light rushed into the deepest level of Kyte¡¯s consciousness and into the small hole. The small soul unceasingly absorbed the black light, changing the color from grey to a deeper and deeper black. Not only that, but the black cloud and black light began to merge together, forming a new type of black corporeal energy. The small soul began to dramatically increase in size the more black light it absorbed. After a full minute, it was already the original size it was before. After another minute, new walls of consciousness formed, allowing entry of the black light while also being reinforced by its power. After another, a golden ball appeared within the new and improved soul. It quickly grew in size as the ball itself began to absorb the black light. The golden ball started to go under a transformation as black light flooded into it. Instead of staying a golden color, it changed into a deep black. It seemed to transform into black light itself. Kyte¡¯s physical body began to quickly heal as his soul emerged from within the deepest level of consciousness. Within the cocoon of black light, Kyte¡¯s Internal energy had skyrocketed and directly broke the barrier between the sixth stage and the seventh stage. His bones shone with a blinding light as they completely transformed into an entirely new material, which is called Heaven rock in Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe. His skeleton was now a pure white color that shined with a brilliant radiance. That radiance increased the healing speed of his body by several folds. The skin that grew upon his body was smooth like a baby¡¯s, however, it¡¯s resistance and defense was higher than steel. His muscles were broken down and new muscles appeared from within the bright radiance, accompanied by the black light, and wrapped around the entire skeleton. Kyte¡¯s physical strength had increased by several folds. If he was able to lift a ten pound weight before, then now he can lift one hundred pounds. That means that, in comparison with his previous state, even a large truck going full speed, with cargo, wouldn¡¯t be able to impede him in any way. All of Kyte¡¯s flesh was reformed and strengthened. The transformation he went through has never been seen before. It was mostly due to the fusing of the black cloud and black light within his deepest soul and consciousness, but even if that didn¡¯t happen then he still would¡¯ve been extremely powerful. After about an hour, the transformation ended. A wave of invisible energy swept through the entire stadium, returning the space to its original state. The rocks in the air fell to the ground, the electricity quickly faded, and the sphere of spatial distortions disappeared. The only thing that was left was a figure covered in black light. Looking at that figure, David was utterly dumbfounded. He had never seen such an occurrence before. Something like this was even unheard of in the Core. Someone¡¯s increase in power causing large spatial distortions and causing a gigantic area to suddenly lose gravity? This was the first. Even members of the White family had never had something like this happen. Thomas White¡¯s mutation had been eye-catching, but it was leagues below what had just happened. Suddenly, the black light around the figure was sucked into its body. It was the same face, same body structure, however, everything about him was different. The aura he emitted in comparison to before was like a star in-front of a candle. However, there was one significant difference. Kyte¡¯s hair before the transformation had noticeable streaks of blood-red in it. Now, his hair was completely black. It was the same color as the black light and it was almost mesmerizing. His whole figure had taken the breath away from anyone that was still watching. Except, now he was naked. When David saw Kyte begin to fall, he was immediately brought back to reality and sped forward to catch Kyte. He landed on the ground with Kyte in his arms. He looked at his face and just silently sighed in amazement as he took off his outer jacket and put it around Kyte¡¯s figure. (If you guys want, I can put in parenthesis what the cloud-figure was saying. I know, it''s hard to read but I wanted to show how distorted and mysterious it really was.) Chapter 35: The New Path New chapter! Sadly I don''t have as much time anymore, Christmas break is over :(. That doesn''t mean that I''ll slack off! I still have about two hours everyday to spend time writing new chapters. Hopefully I use that time wisely. Anyway, enjoy. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Kyte woke up within an empty but large bedroom. It was clean and beautifully decorated, with even a thin screen of fabric hanging down the sides of the bed. Everything was red and gold trimmed, except for a few white objects. The bed Kyte was lying on was a king-sized bed with a multitude of pillows and blankets, though his body was placed on top of all the blankets. After sitting up, Kyte¡¯s memory quickly resurfaced. Everything that happened had suddenly returned. He looked down at his hands to see that they looked completely normal, aside from the fact that his skin was now exponentially higher in quality. His skin was very smooth and there were no blemishes anywhere. Instead of feeling power struggling to be free from within his body, Kyte felt a mysteriousness that exuded power. His perception had increased by several folds, and just getting used to his greatly improved cognitive abilities was going to take a bit. However, what Kyte felt was something much greater than he thought. It felt almost as if...he had too much power. Kyte silently laughed at himself for thinking like that, because what¡¯s wrong with having ¡°too¡± much power? It would take a while to get used to his new power level, and he doesn¡¯t even know what rank he would be at now. Despite this, Kyte chose to relax. Even though he felt full of life and energy, he didn¡¯t know where he was or what to do. Kyte looked down at himself and noticed a new set of clothes over his body. Huh? My...my S rank robes...Nooooo! I worked so hard on them!....Oh well. Kyte moved the fabric on the side of the bed and stood up. Looking around, he saw the door to his right and proceeded to walk toward it. His footsteps were a bit weird because he was still getting used to his stronger muscles. After opening the door, Kyte didn¡¯t see anyone in the long hallway. It was completely silent. Both ends of the hallway cornered off into a different path leading somewhere else. Kyte had absolutely no clue where he was. Though, he felt like he was inside David¡¯s home. Kyte spread out his Spirit energy to encompass a very large area, enveloping the entire building. Kyte noticed that his Spirit energy had greatly increased, though it hadn¡¯t broken through into the eighth stage. It was around the seventh late stage. After Kyte had encompassed the entire building, he could perceive everything within it. It was indeed David¡¯s home, and Kyte was currently on the top floor. He saw a group of people in a room not too far from his, and Kyte remembered that room to be where he met that Mr. Wake the day before. Was it a day before?...I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ve been unconscious. Kyte began to head down the hallway in the direction of that room. He recognized a few of the auras within the room, however, there was one that were not familiar. The ones he did recognize were David, Azali, Rose, and Shadow. The other, he did not know. After reaching the door, Kyte quickly opened it and stepped inside. Once he did, everyone within looked over in surprise. The first person to get up and run toward him was of course, Rose. Streams of tears were sliding down her face and Kyte could tell that she had taken it hard. He gave her a smile and opened his arms, where Rose slightly jumped into. Wrapping their arms around each other, Rose couldn¡¯t take it and instantly began to cry. When Azali saw that scene, a complicated feeling grew within her. She relaxed her tense muscles because she was about to get up and go to Kyte as well, but Rose had immediately jumped up from her spot. Azali just frowned as she averted her eyes down to her hands that were on her lap. Still holding Rose, Kyte looked up toward David who returned his gaze. Kyte had sensed something else within David¡¯s gaze which felt a little like confusion. Whether or not Kyte had assumed correctly, well, he would have to ask directly. There was one person that Kyte instantly recognized after seeing with his own eyes: Akina. Kyte was instantly surprised to see Akina within the room, mostly because he remembered her to be only a Gold A rank. This time, Kyte could sense a different aura around her than before. It seemed to be no weaker than his, though it may have been a bit weaker. Aside from that, it was like she completely changed. ¡°Um¡­¡± Kyte started. ¡°Hahaha, I knew you would be surprised. Come, sit down and we¡¯ll talk.¡± David said. Kyte looked down and patted Rose, signaling to move. They walked to a section of the couch close to the others and sat down. ¡°So, I know you have some questions. Go ahead, ask away.¡± David said. ¡°Alright...How long was I out?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°It¡¯s only been a day since you went unconscious actually.¡± ¡°I see. Why are you all in here?¡± ¡°We were discussing about the future.¡± ¡°Why is Akina here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s...a little difficult to explain. The last thing you remember about Akina is that she was unconscious, right?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± ¡°Well, I went and personally helped her. Thanks to that, she recovered quicker and her power even rose a bit. I honestly did not expect her power to jump so much.¡± ¡°Oh? Why would you go personally help her?¡± ¡°Well, Dan and I go quite a ways back. I¡¯d rather not talk about the circumstances, but Dan saved my life during a siege on an AHAD HQ. If Dan wasn¡¯t there, I wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± ¡°Wow¡­I would have never expected that. I guess I should be a bit grateful to Dan, then.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. Anyway, what...exactly happened in the arena?¡± ¡°That. Well, from the looks of it, you seemed to breakthrough a barrier in your power. Your aura is several folds stronger than it was before. Your entire being is...different. I don¡¯t even know what exactly happened. The entire stadium turned into a zero-gravity zone, and then you were enveloped in a sphere of spatial distortions. Inside that was...weird cracks around you where that black light poured out from. It all ended in about an hour, and everything turned back to normal. Though, the stadium is completely trashed at the moment.¡± Spatial distortions? Cracks? What?...I''ll just figure it out when I practice my new power. ¡°Oh...sorry about that.¡± ¡°Hahaha, no problem. It¡¯s taken damage before, though not to this extent. Anyway, is there anything else?¡± ¡°Hmm...not at the moment. However, I do want to be included in your conversation. Right now, what rank would you think I am?¡± ¡°You¡¯re most likely a Gold S ranker. A top ranking one at that. Since the tournament has been put on hiatus for the time being, an official ranking can¡¯t be given. You¡¯ll also need to wait three years to gain a new badge. Though, it¡¯s different in the Core so I guess it won¡¯t matter much.¡± ¡°Right, the Core. What exactly is it?¡± ¡°The Core is where the war between AHAD and GG is most prominent. You¡¯ll see when you get there that there are no regular humans. It¡¯s quite difficult to explain, but there¡¯s a giant illusion barrier around the entire Core. On the outside, it¡¯s a gigantic lake. The inside, it¡¯s like an entirely separate world.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°So that¡¯s what it is. I always thought that a giant lake of that size was weird. No one really questions it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because everyone is born seeing the lake. Besides, regular humans that go too far into the Core die from the atmosphere within it. Like I said before, it¡¯s an entirely different world in there. It¡¯s partially because the size of it is enormous, about ten cities put together. Also, we try preventing regular humans from passing through. It¡¯s just a giant lake from the outside, anyway.¡± ¡°That makes sense. So, how do you enter the Core? Or, uh...what do I do to get into it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re already qualified, just like everyone else in this room. Entering the Core can be said to be hard or easy. You just have to be a Mutated Gifted or under a certain age at A or S rank to enter your first time. For A rank, it¡¯s sixteen years or younger. For S rank, it¡¯s twenty years or younger. Anything above S rank has already been inside the Core, so it doesn¡¯t matter for them.¡± At this moment, Rose spoke up: ¡°But I¡¯m twenty-two and an A rank.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. However, you¡¯re also a Mutated Gifted.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed it yet, but your energy has traces of Kyte¡¯s black light. Those traces will get stronger and stronger until it reaches a point of significance. At that moment, you will become a true Mutated Gifted. Especially now that Kyte has apparently gained an enormous amount of that black light, your mutation process should quicken.¡± ¡°Something like that is possible?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Of course. There are some items in this world that have special properties. When used correctly, they give enormous amounts of potential energy. However, a Gifted¡¯s energy is different from the energy from these items, so sometimes a mutation occurs. Unfortunately, there¡¯s not a lot of these special items. They only form within areas that hold large amounts of natural energy given off by the-...Well, all of you will be briefed on the main objective in the Core once you get there. Kyte, that¡¯s why Mr. Wake came here. I found a small area that has a significant amount of these items, which is a rarity. That¡¯s why I was gone for a while. I was busying clearing the place out.¡± ¡°I see. So, that means that the Core has these items as well?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. However, AHAD and GG have already cleaned out the ones on the surface. I don¡¯t want to say anymore, it¡¯s Core Law to keep whatever the Core does a secret from Outer Sectors. GG Law in Outer Sectors is quite lenient, but in the Core, GG Law is absolute.¡± ¡°So, when do we go?¡± ¡°The closest date to send Gifted is three weeks away. You guys can prepare to depart. It may seem sudden, but I had already decided to input your information within the database. Also, Kyte, I know you definitely need time to adjust to your new power, so these three weeks is a good time period to do that. Don¡¯t forget, the Core is a very dangerous place. It is a place where neither AHAD nor GG hold back. Competition there is also quite intense, because the potential rewards from missions and other things are significant to your power. That¡¯s all for now. Kyte, I¡¯ll let you use the arena to train. I¡¯ll notify the construction workers that you¡¯re using it.¡± ¡°-Oh, thanks. That helps a lot. I definitely need the space.¡± ¡°Alright. You guys can go. Akina and Azali, you two stay behind.¡± The two of them were a bit confused, but nonetheless they stayed. Kyte, Rose, and Shadow left the room. ¡°I¡¯ll see you two later. I promised Light and Jol I would walk around with them. Also, there¡¯s a buffet dinner tomorrow night.¡± ¡°A dinner?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Yea. There¡¯s always a buffet dinner after the tournaments are over. Everyone goes, mostly because there¡¯s a lot...a lot of free food. And, it¡¯s all really, really good food. So, you guys should go.¡± ¡°Sure, free stuff is always welcome.¡± ¡°Alright then. See ya.¡± After Shadow quickly left, Kyte and Rose were left. Rose slightly increased her grip around Kyte¡¯s arm, and Kyte inwardly sighed. Due to that hellish, death-like event he had when he did technically die a physical death, Kyte¡¯s mentality changed. It wasn¡¯t a significant change. Rather, how he viewed the world and himself had slightly changed. Creating a path for himself with his own power, that¡¯s the way Kyte wants to proceed. However, not everything he wants can be achieved with just that. Although his resolve has been strengthened, his feeling of companionship had strangely not changed. Maybe it had increased, Kyte honestly doesn¡¯t know. It¡¯s only been several minutes since he woke up. He doesn¡¯t mind having friends, just as long as they were able to take care of themselves for the most part. All of a sudden, Kyte got slightly confused at what he wanted. Close friendships or push others away? Kyte silently laughed to himself. Of course he wants friends. To Kyte, there¡¯s a clear difference between loneliness and solitude. Just because he likes being alone doesn¡¯t mean he likes to feel lonely. Or, to be around people that make him feel lonely. Although he hasn¡¯t had that feeling since he graduated high school, he was still some-what anxious. Aside from relationships with others, Kyte hardened his heart against the normal morals and apparent moral obligations placed upon him for having power. He didn¡¯t care about normal people, why should he? Just because they¡¯re living humans that have friends and family doesn¡¯t make them any different from anything else. Animals have friends and family too. Some animals even have large ranges of emotions while others don¡¯t have as much. Everything feels pain, why are humans different? Because they have a higher intelligence? Get real. Kyte no longer cares about these things. The higher up the ladder of power you go, the less you care about the things beneath you. This also applies to other intelligent races that are far, far more advanced than humans. Those races only care about their own survival, why should they care about a tiny speck inhabited by ants in the vast cosmos? They don¡¯t. Going along this thinking, Kyte doesn¡¯t even consider himself fully human or human at all anymore. His body was reformed by a black light that escaped cracks in reality, his skeleton system is basically a heavenly material from an entirely different universe, and even his soul is filled with foreign energy that is not apparently supposed to be in his universe. The only thing left of Kyte that is actually human is his mind and memories. If Kyte was human, would he be able to create spatial distortions with an unknown, mysterious energy? Kyte definitely doesn¡¯t think so. At that note, Kyte just remembered. He had broken through into the seventh stage. However, it wasn¡¯t a breakthrough with the Bloodrage Technique. Kyte had created his own path, so the path of the Bloodrage Sect was no longer his to walk on. Although he can still use the Bloodrage skills, he wouldn¡¯t be using the Bloodrage abilities as his main focus. His new, main focus is the black light that seems to be endlessly flowing within him. Chapter 36: Being Together Hey peeps. Uh, this is sort of like an intermission chapter between arcs. This also has an NSFW scene so if you don''t want to read that, well...not much I can say. I had quite a hard time writing this one because I wasn''t really in the mood to write it like this but in the end I did it anyway. Now, I want to state that I do not care about most of what the comments say about Rose, Azali, and Kyte. Honestly, it''s messing up my thinking of how I want my story to go, so I plan on just not taking to heart most of those comments and sticking to my original plans. This is how I want my story to go, and this is how I am going to enjoy it. If I don''t even enjoy my story, why would I want to share it? Anyway, enjoy. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Due to waking up, Kyte felt like he should rest and start tomorrow. Besides, even if his power had completely solidified itself within him, he wanted to rest. The day was almost over, and, since Rose wouldn¡¯t dare to let go, he figured that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to spend the rest of the day with her. They had a few hours, and Kyte had a good idea of what to do. Actually, it was really the only thing he could think of that didn¡¯t involve a¡­¡¯high¡¯ amount of sexual intentions. What is that exactly? Movie night! Of course, Kyte thought at first that it was some-what lame. However, the more he thought of it, the more he began to realize that it may be the best option. He doesn¡¯t fully understand Rose, but he does understand that she likes to be alone with him; primarily in close proximity, too. Besides, although he and Rose had been together for more than a month, though not officially, they never did much together that didn¡¯t involve anything sexual related. Sure, they went around sometimes, but due to the situation involving Guardians and Kyte¡¯s continuous training, they never had the time. Now, however, since they have a few hours, Kyte felt like it was the perfect time to do so. ¡°Hey, what do you think about a movie night?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°A...movie night?¡± Rose replied slightly confused. ¡°Yea. We¡¯ve never really done anything together, and since I¡¯d rather relax for the rest of the day, I thought it would be the best time to do something.¡± ¡°Will it be...just the two of us?¡± ¡°Of course. That¡¯s what I originally had in mind.¡± A large, radiating smile appeared on Rose¡¯s face as she excitedly replied: ¡°Yay~! Then let¡¯s go start right now!¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Stop dragging me.¡± Kyte sped up his pace to match Rose¡¯s who naturally increased in speed. Having his arm locked in between her¡¯s made it seem like he was being dragged along. But, Kyte just smiled at Rose, causing her own smile appear even larger. After arriving at Branch 4¡¯s housing, Kyte and Rose immediately began to prepare their room and create snacks. Contrary to stereotypical belief, Rose wasn¡¯t the one making the snacks. Rather, Kyte was creating multiple different goodies. Since each house was equipped with all the basic needs and then some, Kyte was quite satisfied with how well everything was going. Also, of course Kyte knows how to cook and other things. He had been living alone for almost two years straight. Even if he was lazy about cooking, he would¡¯ve learned something sometime within two years. Besides, Kyte likes specific tastes. Most of all, he loves sweets. Primarily cookies and cupcakes, though the span of his dessert appeal is quite large. That doesn¡¯t include desserts that have coconut or oats, though. A good hour later, there were three full pans of different cookies: chocolate chip, chocolate cookies with mint chips, and peanut butter cookies with Hershey¡¯s kisses placed on top that were slowly melting. There were a lot of cookies and Kyte assumed that he and Rose wouldn¡¯t be able to finish all of them. Aside from cookies there was guacamole and chips, soft drinks, popcorn, even some hot chocolate powder and marshmallows. Kyte had thought about making rice crispies but decided against it, mostly because having sticky fingers like that would be annoying. Even though everything else he made would give either greasy fingers or sticky fingers to an extent, but he could just lick it off and use a napkin. Rose walked down the stairs and arrived at the kitchen doorway, watching Kyte finish the last few preparations. Kyte of course knew she was there, because how could he not, but he let her watch him. Mostly because he needed to finish the last touches, and breaking his main concentration would just waste time. After several minutes, Kyte stepped back to look at his creations. ¡°Perfect! I could¡¯ve taken a bit longer to make them, but I guess they¡¯re fine.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, they¡¯re desserts. How bad could they be?¡± Kyte turned to look at Rose and smiled. ¡°Well, if someone accidentally, somehow, uses salt instead of sugar, that would be disastrous.¡± ¡°Oh, hahaha, yea that would be pretty bad.¡± Kyte walked over and wrapped his arms around Rose¡¯s waist. In turn, Rose wrapped her arms around Kyte¡¯s neck. ¡°Have you finished upstairs?¡± ¡°Yep! Everything¡¯s ready to go.¡± ¡°Are you sure? The bed and blankets are all together, the T.V. is set up, Fetflix is open?¡± ¡°Yes, I made sure to get everything ready, geeze. I¡¯m not stupid, alright?¡± ¡°Haha, I know. I was mainly concerned about the T.V. being set up. Properly.¡± ¡°Hey, I know how to use technology. Besides, I¡¯m older than you. You should be respectful to me, but all I get is your sass.¡± ¡°Sass? Heh, alright then¡­¡± Kyte slowly guided his hands down to Rose¡¯s ass. Then, he firmly gripped both of the soft and voluptuous cheeks in his hands. ¡°Eek! What¡¯re you doing?!¡± Rose said while glaring at Kyte with a pouting gaze. ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m grabbing your ass, what do you think I¡¯m doing?¡± Kyte put smirked laughingly. ¡°I know you¡¯re grabbing it, but wait at least till we get into the room¡­¡± ¡°What if I can¡¯t wait? And, of course, your ass isn¡¯t the only thing I want to grab.¡± ¡°Grrr...wipe that smirk off your face. Unless you want to lying alone in your room all night long.¡± ¡°Hey, you wouldn¡¯t do that, would you?¡± ¡°Duh, idiot. I¡¯m going to wrap my legs around yours; I¡¯m going to rub my hands all over your body¡­¡± Rose lifted her head and softly blew on Kyte¡¯s ear, then softly kissed his cheek. ¡°A-alright, alright. Before that, let¡¯s all of these treats on plates and bring them to the room. BAM!¡± Kyte smacked Rose¡¯s ass with his hand before picking her up and kissing her, moving over to the pans of treats. ¡°Mm! Hey¡­¡± Rose was a little surprised, but went along with it anyway. ¡°Hahaha, come on, help me.¡± Kyte put Rose down and opened up a cupboard, bringing out several plates. Rose felt happiness in her heart. It¡¯s been several weeks since she was close with Kyte like this, and she truly felt happy. Her worry of Kyte being taken away by Azali grew stronger every day, especially when she saw the two of them hug. That feeling of the person you¡¯re closest to being taken away by someone else is not a good one. Now, relief was spilling into her because Kyte was the one who suggested they spend this time together. Usually, Kyte would have gone off to train without a second thought. Rose was legitly and pleasantly surprised by Kyte¡¯s offer, and so of course she accepted. Just being held in Kyte¡¯s embrace makes her feel safe and at home, something she hadn¡¯t felt since before her power had first awakened. Sure, Akina was definitely important to Rose as well, but there¡¯s just something different about a male holding her versus a female holding her. Instead of a soft, open feeling from Akina, Rose would feel safe and closed off from everything else within Kyte¡¯s arms. He was like an impenetrable wall, blocking all harm from coming to her. Just this caused her to become a bit more dependent on him than she originally thought she would be, but at this point she couldn¡¯t do anything about it. After making three trips to the room, ultimately using more plates than Kyte had originally thought of using, Kyte and Rose climbed into their bed together. There were several big, soft pillows behind them so they could either sit up, half-lay down or just relax in general. About five layers of blankets were covering them, and because of that, they decided to just take off their clothes excluding under garments. This is mostly because both of them prefer to not have clothes on under so many layers of blankets, but they also like the feeling of each other¡¯s skin against their own. It created another sense of closeness, and they could feel each other¡¯s warmth directly. Plus, if they did get in the mood to do anything, they didn¡¯t have to waste time and possibly ruin the atmosphere by taking off their clothes. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. And so, the two of them spent their night together in each other¡¯s arms, enjoying the warm peacefulness. No matter how cold Kyte is, no matter how murderous or remorseless he is, a woman¡¯s warmth is able to calm his lonely heart. Maybe Kyte himself hopes for a single girl that is able to take hold of his heart to save him before he becomes the monster that even he fears. __________________________________________________ The next morning, Kyte awoke to see the shutters on the windows fully open, letting light flood into the room. In his arms was a warm, soft body that had its left arm loosely draped on his chest. A head full of red hair that smelled of shampoo was resting on his shoulder. Rose¡¯s eyes slowly opened as the bright light shined upon the both them. As Kyte stroked her hair, he said: ¡°Good morning.¡± ¡°Good morning~. How¡¯d you sleep?¡± ¡°Really well. It¡¯s a lot better with you here. Not as cold, haha. What about you, how¡¯d you sleep?¡± ¡°I slept really well too~. It¡¯s so warm, I don¡¯t want to get out.¡± ¡°Hahaha, you can say that again.¡± Kyte tightly embraced Rose against his body, fully taking in her warmth. For now...this is fine. I don¡¯t need to overthink things. Just because I get along with Azali really well doesn¡¯t mean I have to fall for her. Besides, there¡¯s something a bit off, but I can¡¯t quite place it. Oh well. ¡°Alright, I have to get up. I need to figure out what exactly happened with me.¡± Kyte said. ¡°Aww, five more minutes?¡± Rose replied while snuggling up to his side. ¡°Nope. It¡¯s already¡­eleven in the morning. I can¡¯t waste anymore time.¡± ¡°Hmmmm? Even if I do this?...¡± Rose lifted her head and placed kiss on Kyte¡¯s lips. ¡°.....Yes, even if you do that.¡± ¡°Hmph, fine then. I guess I¡¯ll let you go.¡± ¡°Well, first we have to clean up. Just look around.¡± After lifting her head and looking around the room, Rose replied: ¡°Shoot¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, come on, it¡¯s not that much. Also, you need to brush your teeth. Your breath is like a mix between buttery popcorn and chocolate. It¡¯s quite weird.¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s rude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying the truth, woman.¡± At that moment, Kyte quickly lifted the covers off of both of them, revealing their warm bodies to the colder air in the room. ¡°Noooo! Why¡¯d you do that?!¡± Rose yelled. ¡°Because we¡¯re getting up and going to clean, that¡¯s why!¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Rose got off of Kyte, fully revealing her voluptuous body to him. Kyte felt his desire rising, but he immediately calmed himself down. ¡°What are you staring at, hmm?¡± Rose asked. ¡°-Ah, nothing. Let¡¯s begin cleaning.¡± ¡°Huh? Are you avoiding me now~?¡± Rose climbed over Kyte, dangling her breasts in-front of his face. ¡°No, I¡¯m not. You¡¯re just...in...the way¡­¡± Rose grabbed Kyte¡¯s hand and placed it on her right breast. ¡°Hehehe, I am the way.¡± A mischievous smile appeared on Rose¡¯s face. ¡°You¡­¡± Kyte only stared into her seductive eyes before he finally gave in to his desire. He grabbed Rose and rolled over on top of her and removing her bra. He then tightly grabbed both of her soft and bountiful breasts, fully intent on playing with them. ¡°Ah! You always do that¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help myself if you¡¯re dangling them right in-front of my face.¡± Kyte deeply kissed Rose while thoroughly massaging her breasts, making sure not to forgot the two pink tops. Their tongues swirled around together while Rose guided her hand down Kyte¡¯s side to his tower which was standing erect. Kyte separated from Rose¡¯s lips and began to lightly kiss her cheek, moving down to her neck. Eventually, he reached down her breast. He put one of the pink tips into his mouth, rolling it with his tongue and lightly biting it with his teeth. Rose bit her lower lip, enjoying the pleasurable sensation brought forth from Kyte¡¯s hands and mouth. They¡¯ve done this so many times, but even then it doesn¡¯t get any less enjoyable. The warmth that spreads from Kyte¡¯s hands when he touches her is already enough to make her heart begin to beat faster. The energy absorption only makes it even more satisfying because it causes an even deeper connection between the two of them. Rose released her hands and gripped onto Kyte¡¯s side, flipping him over so she was sitting on top of him. ¡°What¡¯re you?-¡± Rose softly kissed Kyte and slid her tongue across his lips before sliding it inside his mouth. She pressed her breasts against his chest, fully enveloping it with her soft peaks. She could feel his quick heartbeat, obviously showing his increased excitement. She felt Kyte¡¯s hands glide down her sides and on to her ass before they squeezed tightly and pressed down. That warm, hard rod was firmly pressed against her lower stomach while half of it was pressed against her womanhood. Rose¡¯s hands were massaging Kyte¡¯s head out of subconsciousness, because the more intense her feelings the less she could control herself. Rose lifted herself off of Kyte and slowly took off her panties in full view of Kyte. His eyes watching her every movement aroused her even more. She reached her hands toward Kyte¡¯s underwear and slowly took it off, fully displaying his throbbing tower. Rose firmly grasped it, feeling the intense warmth and the rhythmic pulse that glided across her skin. She heard Kyte¡¯s breathing slightly intensify, which made a small, erotic smile appear on her lips. Rose shifted herself over Kyte so that her hips were right above his face. She could feel his breath blow across her wet ridge. After doing so, she felt a warm, wet sensation move across it. She slightly looked behind her and saw Kyte was fully enjoying himself as he began to use his fingers to play with her. Those intense sparks of pleasure spread across her waist and up to her stomach, causing her to subconsciously move her hips down onto Kyte¡¯s face. She didn¡¯t forget about what was in her hand, and so she raised her face and locked her lips around Kyte¡¯s second head. Moving it further into her mouth, Rose twirled her tongue around Kyte¡¯s rod while using her hand to slowly massage the lower half. After about thirty seconds, Rose slowly took it out of her mouth. She shifted her body around so that she was sitting on Kyte¡¯s waist. She pressed Kyte¡¯s rod against his stomach, directly placing her wet and warm lower lips against it. She began to move her hips forward and back, sliding her lower lips directly across Kyte¡¯s rod. Rose could feel that hot pleasure spreading across her area, and just feeling Kyte¡¯s thing directly against her¡¯s made her want him even more. She felt Kyte¡¯s hands firmly grasp her thighs as she began to gently rub around his second head with her fingers. This was actually the first time Rose did this with him, so having something new like this done to him made it even better. Staring at Rose rub her clit up and down his rod sent thoughts through his mind. He wanted to be inside her so badly, but he knew he couldn¡¯t do it. There¡¯s just something not right about going all the way in that situation. However, he could enjoy everything else as much as he could. After several more thrusts, Kyte felt the intensity of pleasure being to skyrocket. His grip on Rose¡¯s thighs tightened, and he finally climaxed. He felt his muscles instantly tighten as the intense tingly sensation reached its highest point for several seconds before calming down. Afterward, Kyte felt completely tired. He took a few heavy breaths of air before he heard Rose speak: ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing came out¡­?¡± ¡°.............Huh?¡± ____________________________ Author: (lol) Inb4 some of you complain about Kyte''s sudden, apparent, character change, let me tell you something. This is how Kyte acts with Rose when they''re alone all. the. time. I just never put it in because I don''t want to write about what they do every. single. day. Also, Kyte just woke up from technically dying. Anyone would have a change in mentality, even if it''s just a slight change. :) Chapter 37: Overloaded Yep, here I am again. The start of a new arc. I''m planning on making this one longer than the others COMBINED. Hopefully things go well. I might make the chapter a bit shorter, not too short, maybe around 1800-2100 instead of 2400+. I don''t know if I''ll ever write another 3800 word chapter again anytime soon ahaha...Anyway, sorry for the infodump-like chapter. It''s quite necessary, because the seventh stage is a huge jump (though there is a little sneak peak into what happened within his soul). There''s also some lore in there from Sol''keer''s universe. Don''t read too far into any of it, it''s not significantly important. I''m going to start writing the next one after I''m done posting this one, so hopefully chapter 38 will be out either thursday or friday. Enjoy. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ As Kyte was walking down the path toward the stadium, he silently sighed to himself. He never expected that he would become sterile after what happened. Or, maybe he isn¡¯t sterile, but his body just lost that function? Kyte doesn¡¯t know, and it doesn¡¯t matter to him at the moment. However, knowing that he possibly can¡¯t have children kind of depressed him. That¡¯s one of the most primitive and natural goals of everything in life - to create offspring. Now that Kyte knows that he won¡¯t be able to possibly have children, he felt like he lost something. It¡¯s not that big of deal to him, since he knows that once he reaches a high enough power level, he can create children without having to do the do. At least, that¡¯s what he thinks. He thought to himself that he¡¯ll get over it in a few days. It¡¯s not the end of the world, and it honestly doesn¡¯t affect him significantly. The only thing he wants to focus on right now is understanding all of the new information within his head. It feels like that one thing you just can¡¯t forget; it¡¯s stuck in his mind and it¡¯s quite hard to not let the information fully unlock. Now, however, he can let it all out and begin to sift through the information. Kyte has been waiting for this day for months, and now it has finally come. After entering the stadium, and passing through the guards at the entrance, Kyte used Windwalker to move to the middle. As he looked around, he could see the devastation within the arena. All of the spectator seats were cracked or destroyed, there were large indents in the ground throughout the arena. There was one gigantic crater off to Kyte¡¯s left, and Kyte himself could feel a residual energy wafting around it. Yeesh, I did this? I wasn¡¯t even physically conscious for any of it. Kyte slowly exhaled after he sat down cross-legged. He closed his eyes and finally released his restraint on the information brought forth from breaking through into the seventh stage. BOOM It was like a dam being destroyed as information flooded into his mind. Skills, names, abilities, items, and other information rushed into his head. Kyte began to sweat from the overload of information that swirled within his mind. It took about an hour until he finally calmed himself down and sorted the information. The seventh stage. It¡¯s known as the first real step into becoming an Immortal. In Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe, the universal name for the seventh stage was Saint. The name for the Bloodrage¡¯s seventh stage was Blood Knight, but Kyte knows that he no longer follows the path of the Bloodrage Sect. One of the most infamous abilities of a Saint is flight. Lower stages were also capable of flight, however, their energy wasn¡¯t powerful enough to sustain flight continuously for long periods of time. A Saint¡¯s flight ability is ten-fold stronger than a sixth stage¡¯s flight ability. Another great asset for a Saint is there large increase in life span. On average, a Saint¡¯s life span would increase by three hundred years. If a cultivator¡¯s foundation was strong, their life span would increase even further. However, with these new positives comes a negative. The work required to breakthrough into higher stages is many folds higher than before. If it took someone fifty years to reach the seventh stage, it would take them five hundred years to reach the eighth stage without any luck. That¡¯s how difficult it is to breakthrough if you don¡¯t have massive amounts of luck and natural talent. Another way to increase cultivation speed is by strengthening the soul. The more powerful a soul is, the faster one cultivates. However, the techniques to train the soul were extraordinarily rare in the Mortal plane. Only people that were supremely lucky to find a soul-practicing technique were able to train their souls. Other than that, an Immortal had to descend from the Heaven plane and give out the secret to soul-practice. Once someone reaches the twelfth stage, they wait for their time to ascend into the Heaven plane. There¡¯s a tribulation that they have to beat in order to ascend, though it isn¡¯t that powerful. However, if someone purposefully mocks the tribulation, adds more participants to the tribulation, or is incredibly evil, then the tribulation increases in power. If someone ends up failing the tribulation, they either die or their soul miraculously survives and is able to wander in the Mortal plane until it dissipates into nothingness. Kyte has no idea if there will be a tribulation once he reaches the twelfth stage. He¡¯s part of an entirely different universe, so he has no clue. He doubted that Sol¡¯keer would know, if he were awake to give an answer. People who breakthrough into the seventh stage all require the minimum amount of knowledge in the Laws of the world. There are many different Laws, for example, the Water Laws, Fire Laws, Darkness Laws, Energy Laws, and many others. Each Law are seemingly boundless. People who ascend have never been able to fully comprehend a Law because they are so deep and immeasurable. However, by understanding a Law, the user would be able to apply their understanding to their cultivation. That includes their attacks and defenses. People are also able to comprehend more than one Law, though it¡¯s better to train in only one because the more a Law is understood, the higher the power a person gains from it. The Law that Kyte gained enlightenment in? Even he doesn¡¯t know. If the same logic applies to his universe, then Kyte comprehended the beginning of a Law. If he does follow that logic, then that means that the black light most likely involves a type of Law within his own universe. Kyte¡¯s curiosity only deepened, so he went ahead and submerged himself within the deepest part of his mind. He gained this ability because he had already been to the deepest level of his consciousness, and the final wall was even shattered before being repaired. Within the lowest level was an ocean of black light. It spread out so far that Kyte couldn¡¯t even see the end surprisingly enough. It was actually quite freaky, although it was within his own soul, because looking at the sea of black light gave him a deep feeling of emptiness. It was as if a void had opened up within him, quickly spreading throughout his body. Kyte willed himself to move closer to the ocean of black light, and then he touched it. The black light behaved just as it normally did. Nothing happened, and of course Kyte couldn¡¯t actually feel anything. However, it was still eerie. Staring into that endless ocean, completely void of color. Instead of being white, however, the ocean¡¯s color was black. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Pushing down the small hint of fear within him, Kyte willed himself into the ocean of black light. Once he was submerged, he suddenly lost all sense of direction. The black light was completely dark and seemingly empty while being full; it was as if it was its own space within Kyte. Despite this, Kyte willed himself downward. If the direction he was going was downward. The deeper Kyte went, the denser the black light became. Despite the complete darkness he was within, Kyte suddenly saw a small distortion far away from him. He willed himself toward it, not daring to let it out of his vision. Once he finally approached it, he was confused at what he was seeing. In-front of him was a small sphere. It looked as if it was absorbing the black light, and the form of the sphere seemed to be either spatial distortions or just a weird reaction between it and the black light. As Kyte intensely stared at it, he saw a small, faint glow of light within the sphere. It was ever so faint, however, it was there. What this light was, Kyte had no clue. For now, Kyte only thought of getting out of there. The entire thing was too creepy for him, someone that didn¡¯t like large bodies of water. He knows there¡¯s nothing within the endless sea of black light, but his mind couldn¡¯t help but involuntarily think of different things. After a while, Kyte finally made it out. The ocean of black light was there, as still and silent as it could ever be. Its foreboding nature only made Kyte want to leave quicker. So, Kyte left his deep consciousness and began to go over the last parts of information. Another unique ability only available to the seventh stage or higher is weapon and armor refining. By first forging a piece of equipment, the forger could then start the long process of fusing their Internal energy with the equipment. If the forger knew how to manipulate their soul, they could infuse Spiritual energy with it as well, creating an even stronger weapon or armor. This ability was mostly used by cultivators that didn¡¯t have access to equipment that were forged by people of a higher stage. A cultivator¡¯s weapons and armor were all very precious to them, especially if they forged them themselves. However, Kyte doesn¡¯t really need that because of his new equipment in the storage necklace. The first significant equipment was the Bloodcursed armor. It was personally forged by Sol¡¯keer when he was at the ninth stage. In order to breakthrough into the tenth stage, he needed something that would greatly affect his Internal and Spiritual energy. When he finished the Bloodcursed armor, he directly broke through into the tenth stage. Thus, the Bloodcursed armor is a peak ninth stage armor. Though, Sol¡¯keer never used it because he ended up forging a new set of armor because his power was much higher than before. Regardless, he kept his first Bloodcursed armor despite the many more powerful versions he forged. The Bloodcursed armor gives supreme defense and offense capabilities. It has built-in formations that allow the Bloodcursed armor to harden itself by absorbing the blood within the user. Likewise, it¡¯s able to explosively increase the user¡¯s offense by absorbing the blood, purifying it, and then releasing the pure energy into the user. The more blood the user gives, the stronger the effects. Because of this, the fatigue builds faster within the user. The only way to counter this would be to use blood from an outside source. The easiest way is just to kill surrounding people and use all of their blood to increase the defensive and offensive capabilities many folds higher than normal. Of course, by doing so, the user would sacrifice their sanity for their own personal power. Within the information that was given to Kyte, apparently it¡¯s happened many times. People get too absorbed and drunk off their power that they finally snap, killing everyone around them. The most insane users murdered their entire families, their minds were completely consumed by the Bloodcursed armor. Another piece of equipment that was significant was actually a ring. By fusing Internal energy with it, the user would be able to create waves of invisible energy that acted upon any object. The ring¡¯s ability reminded Kyte of the Force, though the power from the ring is much more powerful. He can also use its power to interact with more than one object. Basically, the ring¡¯s power grows with the user¡¯s power, since with each higher stage the Internal energy becomes higher in quality. The ring¡¯s name is Divine Hand Ring, mostly because it¡¯s as if the user is grabbing objects with their hands. Other than those two, there were a few other items that didn¡¯t really suit Kyte. What surprised Kyte was that, instead of being gifted a weapon, he had to forge his own. However, the bad part about this was that it takes a long time to become proficient at forging. Even if Kyte was able to obtain some skill in forging, to create a weapon that suits his needs at the seventh stage would take too long. With all the information about basic, intermediate, and advanced forging, Kyte knew that there was no way he was going to become an advanced forger in order to forge his weapon. It would probably take a whole week just to be proficient at the basic level, let alone the advanced level. Kyte only has three weeks until he leaves for the Core, so there was no time. One thing he could do was begin advanced formations. Information regarding all the basic needs and practices for advanced formations was inside his head, so he could definitely benefit from obtaining advanced formations. Apparently, advanced formations are supposed to last Kyte until he reaches at least the tenth stage. The tenth stage is where the power of advanced formations begins to dip compared to cultivators. That¡¯s where Master formations begin; around the tenth stage and until ascension. There was no information about what came after ascension other than the name Heaven plane, so Kyte didn¡¯t dwell on that subject. Other than those items, and more formation information, there were three mysterious pills. When Kyte took one out of the storage necklace, he was completely shocked. The pill itself was a deep red and it looked like the inside was moving. On the pill casing was a black emblem in the shape a laughing demonic face. From the information, Kyte knew that this pill was called Inner Demon Pill. It¡¯s a type of forbidden pill, created by the most evil cultivators. It takes over the user¡¯s mind and makes their Internal energy go berserk, increasing their power by ten folds. If the user survives, they would drop a full stage without being able to absorb world energy for a whole year. The aura given off by the pill was suffocating. The dense evil and wickedness made Kyte¡¯s eyes slightly water, so he quickly put it back into the storage amulet. Kyte¡¯s eyes felt like someone had squeezed lemon juice over them; that¡¯s how bad the burn was. Beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face as it seemed like he was exhausted just from holding it in his hand. The power that single pill holds is immeasurable. Kyte doesn¡¯t know if he would ever use it, but if he had no other options, he would. Chapter 38: Void Seeker Here''s the next chapter as promised! This also begins the shorter chapters, though they aren''t THAT short. 1800-2100 words hopefully, and this one is a bit more than 1800 words. One of my shortest, but I''d rather have more chapters out for you guys than sitting on a giant chapter for a whole week. It''s quite rare for me to get into that sort of power-writing state, like when I finished chapter 34 one day (chapter 34 was about 3800 words). It still took me several hours though haha. Anyway, enjoy. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Last but not least was skills. There was only one skill that Kyte gained from reaching the seventh stage. The skill¡¯s name is Dementia. Basically, Kyte injects his Spiritual energy inside a target and lets it go out of control. Kyte had already experimented on an ability similar to Dementia, however, the actual skill was a lot better. It minimized the amount of Spiritual energy while giving the largest reaction. Not only that, but it gives the ability to inject several targets instead of just one. There were three different levels of Dementia, and the first was just explained. The second level would allow Kyte to just release a wave of Spiritual energy that disturbs targets rather than directly injecting them. The third layer allows Kyte control targets and or kill them with his Spiritual energy. This is actually a great asset to Kyte, especially because his Spiritual energy was so much stronger than his Internal energy. That is basically the end of what Kyte had gained. Now, he assumes that he has other secret abilities because of the black light, but he has no idea how to find them. Let alone finding them, creating a skill from scratch is significantly difficult. Finding someone to teach you everything would be faster and easier, of course. However, you can¡¯t have everything done for you. Besides, Kyte wouldn¡¯t be able to find anyone that has the black light anyway. Ktye put that thought to the back of his mind and decided to test his new equipment. The first thing he did was equip the Bloodcursed armor. Fortunately it worked exactly like Shadow Twins in the fact that it can be absorbed into Kyte¡¯s body and appear at will. The entire appearance of the armor was what you would expect. The whole thing was a deep crimson color. The appearance reminded Kyte of a type of armor in a game he used to play called The Older Scrolls. The armor in that game that resembled the Bloodcursed armor is the Zaedric armor. However, instead of a light-type build, the Bloodcursed armor was bulkier. The design was similar enough right down to the gauntlets and boots. Well, the torso actually quite different. The torso had tight but bulky layered plating up to the shoulders, where, instead of spikes, the shoulders were only slightly enlarged. Not too much to cause vision or mobility trouble, but there was definitely some extra armor there. Instead of a helmet, there was a hood instead. Of course, the hood was also crimson in color, though it was a slightly lighter shade. There were a few symbols that ran down the middle of the hood, which activates a function called Overdrive. The user can only last at most fifteen seconds with it active because it causes the armor to absorb almost all the blood in the user¡¯s body. After Overdrive stops, the user is usually just barely stepping over the line into death. Kyte doesn¡¯t know if he¡¯ll ever use that because it doesn¡¯t sound like such a good thing. The increase in power was about half as powerful as the Inner Demon Pill, so it wasn¡¯t that bad. Taking that pill and activating Overdrive...it would be certain death. Since Kyte doesn¡¯t have a weapon because Heavy Air was destroyed in his fight against Jill, he could only use Energy Manipulation. It¡¯s not like his energy is weak, especially with Spiritual energy woven into the weapon, but Kyte would rather have a physical weapon. He stood there in the Bloodcursed armor that brightly reflected the light. He simply looked like a blood angel, if there was such a thing. The only thing he needed were wings and it would be perfect. The hood naturally darkened the space within it, which made it quite hard to see the face of the person inside. Kyte created an energy sword within his right hand. Its aura spread around him, enveloping the entire area within a black mist. Wait, what? The color of the energy sword was completely black. The light around it seemed to bend. When Kyte swung his arm, he felt no air resistance. The black energy itself seemed to cut apart the space it passed through, completely unhindered. Kyte released some of his Internal energy around him and was surprised to find that it too was black. Its ¡°texture¡± was slightly different, however, it was definitely black. Just like the energy sword, the Internal energy seemed to be unimpeded by the space around it. Seeing and feeling this, Kyte shot out a Raging Palm. The blast of energy swept through the space without any resistance, as if it wasn¡¯t even within this space itself. So...the black light really is something that transcends this space. Does it transcend it or is it just something that doesn¡¯t belong in this space? Should I call it a dimension in this case? Are there even layered dimensions? I want to find out so badly. Kyte released several Sonic Waves which all acted the same way. They all moved without being impeded by the space around it. There were no spatial fluctuations or distortions. It was as if they weren¡¯t even there. But Kyte clearly saw the damage that was caused by these attacks. The ground was cleanly sliced through. There were no cracks created by the Internal pressure given off by the attacks. The energy was clean and precise. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. This is too weird. What does this mean? Kyte retracted his energy sword and the Bloodcursed armor before he sat on the ground. He began to go through what he¡¯s learned about the black light so far. Its properties include distorting light, it¡¯s able to be converted into different forms of energy, a type of mind-control ability, powerful healing capabilities, potential defensive and offensive capabilities, and now the ability of being unimpeded by the space around it. What is this stuff? Kyte brought forth the very thing he was questioning: the black light. It smoothly exited his body, and Kyte gathered it in his palm. Now, it took about three seconds to form a complex shape out of it. It used to take him nine minutes after he practiced for several weeks just to form a single complex shape. Now it only takes three seconds? Kyte was stupefied. Such a thing was actually possible. Though, it did make some sense. His soul and body were completely reformed because of the black light. If anything, my body should be able to move through space like my energy can-....Wait...what if that¡¯s possible? Kyte instantly stood up and tried to think of ways to accomplish what he thought of. First, he enveloped his entire body with black light. He normally walked in the area, waving his arms around. He felt somewhat comical while doing so, but it was necessary. After moving around for a bit, Kyte concluded that he was, in fact, not impeded by the space around him. That¡¯s while being covered with black light, though. After he took it off of him, he felt the air resistance when he moved his arms. What?...Maybe, instead of absorbing black light into my energy center, I use it to train my body? Kyte suddenly thought of an idea. He controlled some black light and made a giant sphere casing with a diameter of forty meters around himself. Kyte stood inside the sphere where no light could penetrate through. Because of this, Kyte spread out his Spiritual energy to ¡°see¡± everything around him. He swung his arm in-front of him, completing a part of his theory. He felt no resistance when he moved. He walked to the edge of the sphere and extended his arm halfway outside of it. His forearm was outside while the rest of it was inside the sphere. He only felt resistance on his forearm, not his upper arm. I see...I see! The black light isn¡¯t being impeded by space because it eliminates the space around it! Any space it passes through is either destroyed or rendered non-existent. He had only answered half of the ¡°how¡± and ¡°why¡± questions about the black light. The other halves are questions like: ¡®How does the black light do this?¡¯ and ¡®Why does the black light do this?¡¯ These two main questions completely confused Kyte. He thought back to what the black cloud had said inside his consciousness. It mentioned something like a Void? Kyte¡¯s memory of that time wasn¡¯t fully complete, mostly because his soul was on the very verge of collapse during that event. However, he definitely remembered a Void being mentioned. Kyte then thought back to what David had said about what was happening around Kyte. David had stated that it was like reality itself was broken apart around Kyte¡¯s body while a large sphere of spatial distortions and black lightning surrounded him. If what David said about reality breaking and that black light was pouring from those cracks was true, then that means...the black light really is from somewhere else. However, that doesn¡¯t explain why it had showed up the first time Kyte had compressed the air when he was absorbing world energy. Maybe it had something to do with the black cloud within his consciousness? What exactly was that anyway? It seemed to be sentient, so what could it be? It said it was me and that I betrayed it? Why did it say we would mutate? If...if that thing was inside me my whole life, wouldn¡¯t that mean that I¡¯m a Gifted? Aren¡¯t Gifted powers¡¯ hereditary? What the Hell¡­ Kyte deeply sighed at that thought. If he actually was born a Gifted, that would mean one or both of his parents were Gifted. But that only brings up more questions. Too many, in fact. Kyte wasn¡¯t in the mood to brood about these unanswerable questions. It was simply too much to think about. If all that was true, it would flip his understanding of his parents and grandparents completely. Kyte just focused back on the questions about now. The black light sphere was still up, so Kyte wanted to experiment on several things. Since he now knows that he can create a sort of Domain with the black light, he wanted to be able to use it to his total advantage. The first advantage that¡¯s, ironically, clear as day is that the visibility within the black light domain is absolutely non-existent. It also isolated the space within the sphere, making it completely separate from the outside. Kyte began to experiment within the sphere, intent on fully controlling the inside. With all these questions about the black light and the origin of the black light, as well as separating from the Bloodrage Technique, Kyte decided that he needed new names for the new stages. He put everything together, but what stuck out to him the most was what the black cloud had said. Therefore, he named the new seventh stage the Void Seeker stage. Chapter 39: Start of a Catastrophe Here I am again. Woohoo. 2200 word chapter this time. The start of the new arc! Uh, not much to say this time. Enjoy. __ Several hours later, Kyte exited the black sphere. He had concluded with the experiments he wanted to try out, with some positive results. The first thing he discovered is that he can control the space within the black sphere. Unfortunately, he can only create spatial distortions that bend anything in whichever direction he wants. He tried creating a hole that connects to a different area in space, but the moment he tried the hole collapsed. Fortunately no black hole was created, which was one of Kyte¡¯s ultimate fears while messing around with space. If a black hole somehow manifests, Kyte doesn¡¯t know what he would do. However, he¡¯s confident that a black hole will most likely not appear. The conditions for one to manifest are quite extreme. Plus, Kyte isn¡¯t smashing protons together or something. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t want to rip them apart either. A nuclear explosion wouldn¡¯t be very pleasant. Actually, Kyte wanted to study atoms. Electrons are apparently able to ¡°teleport¡± and ¡°be in two places at the same time¡± within the electron cloud, which greatly confused him. If he could somehow understand the principles behind this strange phenomenon, Kyte could potentially be able to freely teleport anywhere he wants. On that point, Kyte wondered if AHAD was doing tests pertaining to these type of theories. AHAD is far more technologically advanced than any other group that Kyte knows of. If they are doing these advanced experiments, Kyte would want to know about it. Let alone atoms, Kyte can¡¯t even see the individual protons and electrons. If AHAD is able to create Guardians that are far more powerful than S rankers, then who knows what else they¡¯re able to create. There¡¯s always more than one side to everything. For understanding the laws of space, there¡¯s the technological way and the personal, individual way. Advancing technologically may take longer or it may take shorter, depending on the scientists involved. It¡¯s the same with cultivating. The higher one¡¯s talent is, the easier it is to understand the laws of the world. However, what would happen if you combine the two? In Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe, there were indeed some planets that only used technology. However, they were less than ten percent of the entire universe. There were also no one that ascended with the power of technology; the only ones to ascend were cultivators. Even in Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe, no one tried to combine both paths. According to his memories, the highest any of the technological civilizations grew was interstellar space travel. They weren¡¯t able to break past the dimensional wall to ascend. They probably didn¡¯t even know there was one. That¡¯s one thing that¡¯s always stumped the scientists of Gaet. First, they thought their planet was flat; they were wrong. Second, they thought they were the center of the universe; they were wrong. Third, they thought they were the center of the solar system; they were wrong. Fourth, they thought they were the center of the galaxy; they were wrong. They thought they were the only galaxy; they were wrong. It grew to the point where the more they discovered, the more they saw and more questions were being asked. They weren¡¯t the only planet, they weren¡¯t the only solar system, they weren¡¯t the only galaxy, they weren¡¯t the only galaxy super cluster. Now, they¡¯ve reached another wall. They think they¡¯re the only universe. Once again, they¡¯re wrong. There have been numerous debates on whether or not they are alone on their planet. There have been no signs of extraterrestrial life. However, there have also been no signs that they are truly alone. Maybe it¡¯s because, in others¡¯ eyes, the humans of Gaet are too underdeveloped? Kyte sat there, pondering these questions. However, just thinking about them will get him nowhere. The first thing he needs is more power. Only then can he truly uncover the answers to these seemingly impossible questions. Kyte took out his phone and sent a message to Rose, telling her that he wouldn¡¯t be returning for a long time. He steeled his resolve to brutally train himself these three weeks in order to increase his power to the utmost limit with the time he has. He decided to split his days in half; first half would be formation training while the other half focuses on black light training. It was nearing the later hours, and since Kyte had already trained for hours with black light, he began training with formations. Learning the basic advanced formations would take a long time, especially since advanced formations are many times more difficult than intermediate. However, their power is also many folds higher. ____________________________________________________________________ --Two Weeks Later-- -2:50 AM- Kyte was currently busy physically training his body while integrating black light into it. It was incredibly difficult to create a way to do so, however, by basing the technique off of a physical training technique from the memories he gained, Kyte was able to begin fusing his body with the black light. It took five days until he finally succeeded, though the amount of black light he absorbed was miniscule. However, success is success. Every journey begins with the first step. The benefits Kyte gained by doing so? He actually doesn¡¯t know what changed. The amount that has been absorbed by his body is very small, so he doesn¡¯t know if there have been any changes. He will continue to train his body with the black light though, because, if there¡¯s a chance that he can increase his power over space, he wants to to do it. Kyte doesn¡¯t even know what will really happen, though. Anything could happen. Kyte doesn¡¯t know a lot about the black light, so this is another good way to understand it. At the expense of experimenting with his body, of course. Nothing bad can happen, right? Aside from that, the field Kyte has most improved in is, of course, formations. He comprehended the first several formations. He discovered that the formations all follow a certain algorithm, and by following that algorithm, Kyte was able to quickly understand the first several formations. The first few are: Terror Mist Formation, Frozen Blood Formation, Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse Formation, Execution Blitz Formation, and Surging Energy Formation. Terror Mist is a formation that brings out the terror within a victim¡¯s mind, which is only displayed to the victim. Frozen Blood creates a frozen atmosphere which pierces into the victim¡¯s body. Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse is a defensive formation that creates a smooth barrier of soft, blue energy around the user. Execution Blitz is an offensive formation and it absorbs energy from the user, strengthens it, and then releases the energy in an explosion when the user wants. Surging Energy is a timed formation mostly used for traps. It gathers energy over a set amount of time and releases that energy when activated. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. All in all, Kyte was quite satisfied with the formations that he comprehended so far. These were only the basics of the Advanced Formations, yet they were already several times more powerful than Intermediate Formations. It was often stated in Sol¡¯keer¡¯s world that the Law of Formations truly starts with Advanced Formations. Kyte had already noticed that when he discovered, mostly by luck, that certain algorithm that is used for Advanced Formations. There¡¯s always a trick to everything, it¡¯s just difficult to discover. Aside from those two things, Kyte advanced further in the Void Seeker stage. However, he was still in the early stage, and his soul was still in the late stage. It¡¯s foolish to think that he would breakthrough consecutively, especially in the later stages. It only gets exponentially more difficult the higher one climbs. However, that difficulty is met with great rewards. Kyte continued absorbing black light as it smoothly flowed around him. Small specks of black light would sometimes disappear into his skin, being completely integrated within his body. Everything was going well. The other Gifted in the underground district were busy with their own things. Mostly sleep, though. Only a few were up, and those few individuals were busy practicing. The light at the top of the underground place was greatly dimmed to symbolize night. Everything was calm. However, what happened next would change the entire continent of Gaet. ¡­¡­¡­. BOOM!!! A mighty sound like heavenly thunder crashing down into the earth exploded outward from the center of Gaet. At the very center of the continent was a gigantic city of ruins. In the center of these ruins was an enormous seal that had alien-like hieroglyphs placed within an intelligent picture. It was brightly shining, even more intensely than the moon in the sky. Just outside the seal were three figures. One of them was an old male that looked to be about sixty years or so. The other two figures looked like normal humans, except for their eyes that looked lifeless. Their pupils were greatly enlarged and a small white cloud could be seen within. The old male had a large, crazy smile on his face as he watched the seal begin to crack. The entire seal had a large crack directly down the middle of it. Smaller cracks began to spread out from this large crack until they reached the edge of the seal. Another large boom echoed out as the light from the seal faded and the ground caved in, revealing a large flight of stairs that led downward. ¡°HAHAHAHA!! Finally...finally!! After several hundred years it finally weakened enough to be broken! However, it will take several more years to reach the bottom...FUCK! FUCK YOU!...Ahhh, whatever. A few years of waiting won¡¯t change anything after this long. Just a few more years, and everything will come together. Then, this world will get it¡¯s rightful judgement for what it¡¯s done to me!¡± Distant, deep howls of terror echoed out from the darkness the stairs led to. The old man, after hearing them, started to laugh. The two figures next to him simply stared straight ahead, as if they had no control over themselves. ¡°You two, let¡¯s leave. I want to see how that DAMNED GG WILL SURVIVE THIS TIME!¡± The old man took out a small remote and pressed a single button. A small light flashed, which enveloped them, and they disappeared. --GG Capital City, Thest-- -White Family Mansion- Several people were rushing to-and-fro from room to room, frantically trying to find information on what had just occurred. In the main hall of the mansion was a young man walking down the steps that led from the bottom to a top balcony. He wore a clean, white suit with a black tie. He had short, white hair that was slightly spiked in the front. His figure was simply put as clean and cut. The space around him seemed to pulse with power as it moved around him with slight distortions. ¡°Mr. White, sir! Reporting to you, sir!¡± An information carrier knelt down at the bottom of the stairs. The man in the white suit was indeed, Thomas White. The apparent leader of GG. ¡°What have you learned so far, Reich?¡± Thomas replied. He voice was like thunder against Reich¡¯s ears, even after hearing it for many years. ¡°T-t-the seal has broken, sir!¡± ¡°What?!¡± Ripples of spatial distortions emanated out from Thomas¡¯s body, slamming right through Reich. Reich swallowed the blood he was about to puke, however, a small dribble escaped his lips. ¡°Y-yes, sir. The seal has been broken, and, and¡­¡± ¡°And what, Reich?! Speak!¡± ¡°Strange creatures have begun exiting the hole!¡± ¡°Damn that old man!¡± Thomas slammed his fist against the railing on the staircase, completely destroying it. Reich could no longer hold it in, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Thomas saw him do this, and he slightly frowned at his carelessness. He walked down the steps, past Reich, and stopped in the middle of the hall. Several people had filed into the main hall, all kneeling and waiting Thomas¡¯s orders. Thomas took a deep breath and closed his eyes for several seconds. ¡°Send out this order to all GG Branches: Abandon the Outer Sectors and travel to the Core Sectors and five surrounding Sectors. Anyone who disobeys this order will be convicted of high treason and will thus be executed on sight.¡± Everyone in the room took deep breaths after hearing Thomas¡¯s order. Abandon the Outer Sectors? AHAD¡¯s influence will exponentially grow if they pull out. Reich turned around and said: ¡°But sir, if we do that-¡± ¡°Silence! Do you know what happened the last time GG has faced an extermination event?! The leader at the time, Michael Dawn, let the Outer Sectors stay where they are. You know what happened next? They were all killed!¡± ¡°I-I apologize, sir.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Reich. I won¡¯t let the same mistake happen again. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice something to gain something.¡± After a full minute of silence, Thomas spoke again: ¡°The first few floors shouldn¡¯t be that bad. The first floor Dread Creepers should be as powerful as lower-tiered S rankers. GG as it is now can easily handle that. The second floor should be almost at the Fighter level of power. It¡¯s a good thing that only the first floor Creepers are able to exit into our world¡­..We must set out immediately! Stop all Dread Creepers from advancing farther than five miles from the Dread Entrance! Send that order to all available S ranks to Fighter ranks immediately!¡± ¡°¡±Yes, sir!¡±¡± Everyone in the hall responded in unison, quickly leaving to send out their leader¡¯s orders. Chapter 40: Distress Yikes, sorry for the absence. I found that I had hit a rather weak-ish writer''s block over the past week, which was only strengthened by the exhaustion brought forth by difficult swim practices. It''s unfortunate that the practices (which will be over in this week, then school swim practice) were placed from 5-7:30, and it took about 30 min. to drive to the dang place. Wrecked my schedule. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. I hope I''ll be able to write out another one by the end of the week or weekend. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The incredibly loud explosion resounded throughout the entire continent. It immediately broke Kyte¡¯s concentration, fortunately not damaging him in the process. He quickly stood up, looking toward the center of the continent. He could feel the disturbance in the atmosphere as a pulse of invisible energy spread out directly after the explosion. The energy enveloped everything, even several miles into the endless ocean beyond the mass of land. Kyte felt the entire air change, as if the invisible energy was now present within every single atom. He slowly moved his arms around, feeling the interrupted space. After a few seconds, Kyte concluded that the space within the energy was changed. The changes were very slight, however, they weren¡¯t able to be hidden from Kyte. What these changes would bring, Kyte doesn¡¯t know. What he does know is that these changes may most likely prove fatal to normal humans. Kyte¡¯s phone vibrated, so he checked his messages. A mass mail was sent to all Gifted within Sector 31. This mass mail instructed everyone within the underground district to immediately report to the dining hall, while Gifted that were not participating in the rank-up tests were to enter a code within their tablets to open a live feed to the stage within the dining hall. I wonder what happened¡­ Kyte quickly messaged Rose, telling her to wait in-front of Branch 4¡¯s housing. Dismissing the bad feeling within him, Kyte made his way to the housing. Along the way, he saw many Gifted walking down different paths toward the dining hall. Many of them looked frightened, mostly because the explosion¡¯s noise was incredibly loud. Not only that, but aftershocks were occasionally rumbling throughout the continent. Considering that they were currently underground, these aftershocks scared many of the Gifted. If the ceiling collapsed, wouldn¡¯t that be pretty bad? Though, GG would definitely have countermeasures against earthquakes. Once he reached the housing, Kyte saw Rose and the others waiting outside. Rose ran up to Kyte, wrapping her arms around him as he did the same. After a few seconds they let go of each other and Kyte looked toward the others. ¡°You guys alright?¡± Kye asked. ¡°Yea, we¡¯re fine-¡± ¡°IT WAS SO LOUD!!¡± Jol cut Shadow off mid-sentence with a wide grin on his face. ¡°Jol, why are you smiling? This is serious stuff!¡± Shadow said. ¡°But, it really was like, ¡®KABOOM¡¯, and then everything shook really hard and it woke me up and now I¡¯m tired...can¡¯t we just go back to sleep? The old guys will handle everything.¡± ¡°I agree with Jol. Why can¡¯t we just go back to sleep? It¡¯s not like the world is ending, right?¡± Light smacked Lucy¡¯s shoulder as he said that. ¡°What, now I get screen time?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°Screen...what?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Kyte continued with a slightly confused expression: ¡°Enough of that, let¡¯s go to the dining hall. Hopefully we¡¯ll know what¡¯s going on after David tells us.¡± They all walked toward the dining hall, merging with the incoming crowds. There were several conversations happening at once that it was hard to listen in on just one. For the most part, everyone was at least a little spooked. Even the few S rankers had serious expressions on their faces. Something like a continental occurrence has never happened within their lifetime. The previous event recorded in history was about a thousand years ago. History stated that a calamity befell the entire continent of Gaet when mysterious beings appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They slaughtered countless lives, bringing the total population down almost seventy-percent, until they suddenly disappeared. Their objective was never known, but within the millions of lives taken were the most powerful families. It was known that there were six families that ruled Gaet a thousand years ago. Although their names were apparently lost, history states that five of the families were wiped out and the last family completely disappeared. The bodies of the five families were found while no one from the last family were ever discovered. All official and legit documents pertaining to these six families were either destroyed or lost. The events that happened in the past have never come to light, and those mysterious beings never appeared again. Of course, some people think that those things never happened. There¡¯s always people on both sides and some that don¡¯t even care. However, another catastrophe may have begun. After Kyte entered the dining hall, he saw that it was completely filled with Gifted. The dining hall itself was quite large so it was able to fit everyone inside, but it seemed like not everyone had participated in the gatherings before this. As this was an emergency, there wasn¡¯t enough time to set out chairs so everyone had to stand. Conversations spread throughout the room as everyone waited for David to come onto the stage. After a full ten minutes had passed, and the last person entered the dining hall, the lights slightly dimmed as the stage grew brighter. The conversations died as footsteps were heard coming from the stage. Everyone shifted their eyes to the stage and watched David walk to the front. ¡°Hello everyone. First of all, I would like to apologize for whatever inconvenience this may have caused. Secondly, I want state that this is now a time of extreme danger. As all of you heard, earlier this morning, a loud explosion resounded throughout the continent. Unfortunately, this was no natural occurrence. This information was only divulged to Core Gifted, however, the situation has changed. AHAD has successfully broken the seal that held the Dread Ruins. Now, none of you know what this means. It is my duty to inform you all of what the Dread Ruins are and what will happen. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The Dread Ruin Entrance is located at the heart of the Core. No one knows its purpose, where it came from, or how it got there. What we do know so far is that the Dread Ruins hold terrifying abominations called Creepers, as well as a type of energy that naturally creates unique and powerful items. Sometimes, this energy escapes the Dread Ruins and creates veins of Dread Stones within the ground and sometimes on the surface. Over the years, these Dread Stones have become numerous. Therefore, the currency used within the Core are these Dread Stones. They may also be used to permanently increase your power, however, it is not a good thing to absorb too many. AHAD and GG have fought for control over the Dread Seal for many, many years. Unfortunately, AHAD finally prevailed and opened the Dread Ruins. The Dread Ruins, according to the ancient records found around the Dread Entrance, suggest that there exists several floors within the Ruins. The first floor is connected with our dimension, thus allowing the Creepers to freely exit and roam our world. We have yet to confirm, however apparently there is a type of monster that guards the gates that lead to lower floors. They¡¯re called Wardens, and hopefully they¡¯re not as powerful as we think they are. You all will have a more in-depth briefing about the intricacies of the Core, once you arrive. Thomas White issued out an order demanding all Gifted to retreat to the Core. Any Gifted that disobey this order shall be executed on sight. Considering the differentiating distances between each Sector, a time limit of two weeks has been given before any Gifted may be convicted of treason. Unfortunately, there is only one underground bullet train that leads to the Core here in Sector 31. It¡¯s quite small and it was built solely for Sector Leaders to travel. Therefore, there is not enough time to use it. The normal trains that depart for the Core will be used. We have Gifted within the highest ranks in different companies pertaining to travel, so it won¡¯t be difficult to make sure everyone makes it to the Core. The safety of these trains, however, is not guaranteed. To make sure everyone makes it to the Core safely, there shall be one or two S rankers assigned to each group. Departures will begin in several hours to give all of you time to gather your things. Those who are ready to board the first trains need to arrive at three P.M., no later than this. The locations of these trains will be available on your tablets, so don¡¯t miss them. This is an extreme emergency, so I expect every one of you to respect this order. Dismissed.¡± David walked off the stage, disappearing behind it. The entire crowd was silent for a few seconds before it erupted with conversations. Fortunately, only a very few people were freaking out. Everyone else was afraid, yes. However, they weren¡¯t panicking. Maybe it was their arrogance as a united group of Gifted, or maybe it was the reassurance of the S rankers that surrounded them. As for Kyte, he was surprised. Pleasantly surprised, actually. Contrary to to the fear and panic, Kyte felt excited. Fighting against a bunch of robots for the rest of his life would be boring. These Dread Ruins seemed absolutely perfect for him. Plus, the allure of the blood from monsters seemed...fascinating to say the least. At least now Kyte doesn¡¯t have to kill innocent people or other Gifted in a grave situation. Although there wouldn¡¯t actually be innocent, normal humans within the Core. Besides, the blood from these Creepers are most likely much more powerful than blood from humans. That alone made Kyte feel excited. Not only that, but the Creepers'' souls. Well, Kyte assumes they have souls. If they do, Kyte could just create massacre his way through the levels of the soul. Of course, that¡¯s what Kyte thinks will happen. He doesn¡¯t actually know if they have souls or how powerful they would be. He¡¯ll just have to find that out for himself. ¡°Alright guys, let¡¯s go. We need to first get Akina and then go back and get Dan.¡± Kyte took out his phone and messaged Akina. He doesn¡¯t know why but she didn¡¯t go to their housing area after they met, so he actually doesn¡¯t even know where she is. He assumes that she was staying in David¡¯s mansion, but he could be wrong. Fortunately there are multiple entrances to the underground district so the entrance that Kyte uses won¡¯t be packed. That can¡¯t be said for the trains that depart for the Core, though. It will most likely be packed in those since not every Gifted within Sector 31 traveled to the underground district. That also includes Dan, wherever he is. I wish I could have had more time to train. Whatever. It seems like I keep getting interrupted¡­ After Kyte and everyone else had packed their things, which actually wasn¡¯t that much, they headed off the bullet train to head up to the surface. Although Kyte felt a bit bad about not having his S ranked robes anymore, it wasn¡¯t necessarily bad. Since he himself grew quite significantly in power, he doesn¡¯t really need it anymore. His bones are low Heaven rock, which should only be obtained by cultivators at the tenth stage and higher. His skin and muscles were also reformed by the black light and then nourished by his greatly increased Internal energy. Although the black light helped reform his body, it was only the driving force that started the reformation. So, his flesh wasn¡¯t actually created from black light, only helped by it. That might be the reason why Kyte¡¯s body can even absorb black light in the first place. Since his affinity with black light significantly increased, he¡¯s able to manipulate the black light to a higher degree. Though he¡¯s definitely no where near the level of mastery, he can still be considered quite powerful while wielding it. Chapter 41: Tiny Taste of Triumph This will be the first chapter I put out today. You know what that means?....My first double release day! Woohoo! At least....hopefully. I''m pretty lazy but I''m already half-way done with chapter 42 so I think I can do it. No annoying swim practice at 5 pm to 7:30 pm so at least I have that. EDIT: Nvm, people just like to comment a thanks lol Anyway, I''m getting off track. Enjoy the chap. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ After reaching the train entrance, they saw Akina walking toward them. She had a hard look about her, like an unmovable rock. Her hair seemed to be resemble the most precious silver, and even her eyes had a blue-ish tint. She wore a slight smile that looked like she was greeting old friends. ¡°¡±Akina!¡±¡± Jol and Light both ran up to Akina, jumping onto her. Though they weren¡¯t capable of tackling her, having two people jump onto you made it hard to walk. Regardless, she continued to walk forward as Jol and Light were being dragged behind her. ¡°Welcome back, Akina.¡± Rose said. ¡°Mm! I¡¯m finally back.¡± Akina replied. Kyte suspiciously looked at Akina and asked: ¡°So, where were you and what happened? I would appreciate an answer.¡± ¡°Ahaha, well...we can talk on to the train. Most people are still asleep, aside from the early birds, so fortunately there¡¯ll be elbow room in here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. Well, it¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re back. The surprising thing is that you¡¯re now an S ranker. Though, not officially.¡± ¡°Yea. I doubt there¡¯ll be any more rank-up tests because of what¡¯s happening. Doesn¡¯t really matter anymore though-¡± ¡°Heeeey~, Akinaaa~, can we get some cake on the way home?¡± Jol asked. ¡°C-cake? Why do you want cake right now?...¡± ¡°Because I want cake~. You want some too, right Light?¡± ¡°Hahaha, of course! But I kinda want some old fashioned donuts...just thinking about it making my mouth water.¡± ¡°You two¡­we can try, just as long as any stores are even open. I doubt there will be, though.¡± ¡°¡±Awwww¡­¡±¡± ¡°Right, well, we should get on the train now. It¡¯s departing in about ten minutes.¡± Kyte stated. Kyte began walking through the open train doors with his arm interlocked with Rose¡¯s. Akina was a little surprised when she the two of them, though she then remembered about Rose¡¯s behavior before she went unconscious. Her surprise immediately subsided, and she only sighed as she followed behind them. The inside of the train already had several people within it. Fortunately the train was pretty big so there was enough room for a lot of people to enter. Though it wasn¡¯t enough for hundreds of people, it was able to hold a good amount. This is mostly because the level of comfort within the train was quite high, so the furniture took up some room. Kyte and everyone walked around a bit to find a big enough spot for all of them to sit; they naturally found one and sat down. ¡°So, care to tell us what exactly happened?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Yea, I should tell you guys, now that I¡¯m finally back. Well, where do you want me to start?¡± Akina said. ¡°Tell us about how you defeated that S rank Guardian.¡± ¡°Alright. Well, while I was outside the store, I was hoping you would be able to stop the pulse signals. Unfortunately, you didn¡¯t. An S rank Guardian showed up, which shocked me. Of course, I had to sacrifice myself. There was no other way for you guys to get out of there. After we shared a few blows, I was about to lose consciousness because of blood loss. It was then that I comprehended a new part of my power. The bad thing is that I had to forcefully activate it. The power I gained put an enormous strain on my brain, so I was only able to hold on for about ten seconds before I would be completely powerless. Fortunately I was able to destroy the Guardian a second before I ran out of time. My mind was completely clouded by the stress I put on it.¡± ¡°I see. However, I don¡¯t see how that allowed you to reach S rank?¡± ¡°Well, that part actually wasn¡¯t all me. Dan and David have a history together, believe it or not. Because of that, the both of them are actually quite close. David helped me by giving me a Soul Recovery pill. Those pills are very precious because there are only three people who are capable of creating them. Even then it takes about a whole week just to create one. Anyway, because of that, I managed to naturally break through into the next stage.¡± So there are people who work with the soul here? Interesting. ¡°I see...Do you know anything about what happened with Dan and David?¡± ¡°Of course I do. I have to know the backgrounds of the members of my Branch. However, Dan will tell you if he wants. Just ask him when we get back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable. I wouldn¡¯t want anyone to give out my past either.¡± Kyte took out his phone and began to read a book that he recently downloaded. Whether he got it legally or not wasn¡¯t a concern to him. As long as it interested him, he was willing to get it. It wasn¡¯t hard to bypass certain procedures. After a while, the train finally stopped. Everyone got off and each Branch grouped together. Apparently there were other entrances to this boarding area as Kyte saw other Branches opening other doors and entering them. Just as Akina pressed the button for the elevator, a voice entered her ears. ¡°Ah, Akina! I didn¡¯t expect a weakling like you to be here. Heh, last time I checked, you were unconscious.¡± Seeker walked over and arrived in-front of everyone. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Kyte¡¯s body flickered before appearing in-front of Seeker. Seeker¡¯s face slightly twitched when he saw Kyte as he thought back to what happened in the arena. However, he instantly smirked, thinking to himself. Heh, he was just a puny no ranker before. How far could he have climbed? ¡°Get out of my way, trash.¡± Seeker reached his hand out, but before he moved his arm any further, Kyte lashed out his fist. Seeker felt a large weight smash against his chest, making him land several feet back. His face instantly changed into one of anger and embarrassment. No one dared to touch him ever since he had mutated and reached S rank. More so, his identity as David¡¯s son made people respect him even more. His sudden and large rise in power made arrogance seep into his bones, as if no one could match him. He looked down upon others as if they were trash, ignoring the fact that he himself used to only be a C ranker before he mutated. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± Seeker growled. ¡°What do YOU think YOU¡¯RE doing? No one told you you could speak to her.¡± Kyte¡¯s words were filled with contempt. ¡°Heh, what are you, a mere Bronze S ranker, gonna do about it?¡± ¡°Hahahaha. The real question is this: What are YOU going to do about ME?¡± ¡°...You¡¯re really pushing it, kid. You¡¯ve already broken a rule, did you forget that?¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m scared of a puny rule? I would kill you right now and I still wouldn¡¯t care. But I know David would be mad at me for killing his piece of shit son who got his power through luck.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking as if you know my power. You¡¯re as ignorant as they come. You think I got this by luck? Heh, you¡¯ll need quite a bit of that if you¡¯re thinking of escaping from me.¡± Seeker threw a golden spear of energy straight at Kyte¡¯s chest, fully intent on striking him through. However, to his amazement, the spear stopped just as it hit Kyte¡¯s chest. A layer of black energy stopped the spear from moving any further. The spear disintegrated into particles of energy before moving back to Seeker. ¡°Hmph.¡± Two spears appeared in Seeker¡¯s hands which were strongly thrown in Kyte¡¯s direction. Two black energy swords appeared in Kyte¡¯s hands as he knocked the two spears away. Kyte¡¯s figure flickered and appeared just before Seeker as his two arms slashed downward. Seeker stepped back and a golden wall appeared in-front of him. Kyte¡¯s swords smashed down onto the shield, however, the shield held strong and prevented the swords from breaking through. ¡°Heh, even with your boost in power, you¡¯re still weak.¡± Seeker laughed. ¡°Oh? But what if I told you I wasn¡¯t even using half of my full power?¡± Kyte said as he grinned. Seeker¡¯s face slightly twitched as Kyte jumped back several feet. Kyte sliced his thumb and a stream of blood flowed out from it. The blood instantly spun around Kyte and it faintly shined before disappearing into his body. A pair of black gloves appeared on his hands and an intense Dread aura drifted out from his two swords, giving out a suffocating pressure throughout the whole area. Of course, he made sure the effects were only around him and Seeker. During Kyte¡¯s preparations, Seeker had already thrown out three spears. Although it only took Kyte half a second to complete everything, the spears were already a few feet from him. He instantly knocked two away but failed to fully dodge the third one as it sliced through half of his leg. Despite this, his leg fully regenerated within a second. Seeing this, shock appeared on Seeker¡¯s face. Kyte instantly burst toward Seeker and raised his right arm. Slicing it downward, he anticipated the sword to be blocked by a shield, which it was. Using the repelling force, Kyte angled his body over Seeker¡¯s. The force brought from the shield propelled Kyte over it and Kyte switched the grip on his left sword to a reverse-hold. As he soared over Seeker, Kyte continued to flip his body forward and used that momentum to thrust his left arm down. Kyte¡¯s head was now pointing down at the ground as his left sword was an inch away from Seeker¡¯s back. A golden shield appeared just before the sword was about to pierce into Seeker¡¯s back. When the sword slammed against the shield, a few small cracks spread out from the point of contact. Kyte landed on his feet as he completed the somersault-like flip and instantly turned around while weaving Spirit energy into his swords. Seeker simultaneously turned around and created several walls of golden energy to block Kyte¡¯s swords. The twin swords pierced through the first few layers before stopping just below Seeker¡¯s chest. ¡°You two, just stop already!¡± Akina walked over and released a burst of white energy at Seeker who blocked it with a shield. However, he was knocked back several steps as a look of shock appeared on his face. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me...you¡¯re also an S ranker?!¡± Seeker exclaimed. ¡°What do you think, moron!¡± Akina walked next to Kyte and looked at Seeker. ¡°If you ever make trouble for my Branch again, I won¡¯t stop Kyte. In fact, I¡¯ll join him in the act of killing you.¡± Akina¡¯s ice-cold piercing gaze locked onto Seeker. He felt a slight shiver run down his spine as he involuntarily avoided her gaze. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go. The elevator¡¯s here.¡± Akina said as she lightly tapped Kyte¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Alright.¡± Giving Seeker one last glare, Kyte dispersed his swords and his buffs. He nonchalantly walked behind Akina and into the elevator where the others were waiting. Chapter 42: Ocean of Blood I wasn''t able to make yesterday a double release. I had a splitting head-ache after swim practice (Yes, school swim has started), but fortunately I just finished it. I should get started on chapter 43 after catching up on the novels I''m reading...and stuff. Comments are always appreciated. Maybe make a joke about how chapter 42''s title references girl''s- *WACK* ........Right. I''m just tired. Anyway, enjoy. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ After reaching the outside, everyone was shocked at what they saw. The entire ground had cracks that ran along the streets and sidewalks. The streets were also deserted as not a sign of life could be seen. Other than other Gifted that were leaving, there were no normal humans. At least, any ¡°normal¡± humans. Despite the desertedness, there was blood everywhere. There were no bodies, just blood. Even though it¡¯s been several hours, there was still blood flowing down the gutters into the sewage system. This alone made the atmosphere suffocatingly eerie. ¡°Guys, this is...pretty creepy.¡± Jol said with a shaky voice. ¡°Shadow! You better protect me from the horribleness!!¡± Light was practically hanging onto Shadow as they walked along. ¡°Alright, I will. Just don¡¯t, freaking, hang, off, of, me!¡± Shadow replied as he tried to shake Light off of him. Jol saw Shadow and Light being quite close, so when he saw Akina walking in-front alone, he naturally tackle-hugged her. ¡°Akina!¡± Jol yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare copy Light.¡± ¡°Ah...sorry.¡± As they walked across the street to a large parking garage, Akina said: ¡°I¡¯ve already message Dan. He said that we wouldn¡¯t believe what happened up here, but it would be better if he told us when we actually meet.¡± ¡°Yea, an explanation about whatever happened up here would be nice.¡± Kyte said as he strode toward the van they used to travel. It was still there, just as they left it several weeks ago. However, there were blood stains splattered across the body and windows. Hand prints were stuck on the windows and it looked like something may have tried to get in. Seeing this, Kyte carefully looked at the surrounding vehicles. He wasn¡¯t exactly surprised to see that their van wasn¡¯t the only vehicle that was violated. It was just slightly unexpected. It reminded him of apocalyptic situations, and, considering the situation, it was highly likely that what was once a fantasy became a reality. Except, within this world, no normal humans were able to escape their impending doom. ¡°I¡¯ll clean this stuff off for you guys. It¡¯s pretty gross so I assume you girls wouldn¡¯t want...to¡­¡± Kyte started. Wait...why did I suddenly forget? I¡¯m able to absorb blood. Clean it? I¡¯ll take it all! ¡°Hm? What is it?¡± Akina asked. ¡°Ah, my bad. I just remembered that I can just absorb all the blood. I kinda forgot...ahaha¡­¡± ¡°Oh yea, you can do that. Hahaha, that means that you¡¯ll be having quite a feast, right?¡± ¡°Yup. I wonder if it will be of any help, though. Umm...I¡¯ll just be on top of the car while you¡¯re driving. That way I can absorb all the blood we come across.¡± ¡°On...on top of the car?...I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t you fall off?¡± Rose asked. ¡°Rose, think about it. How in the world could I ever fall off something like that.¡± Kyte said. ¡°Oh, right. Well, regardless, please be careful~.¡± Rose unlocked the driver¡¯s door, blew a kiss at Kyte and got in. The other doors unlocked and the others got in as well. All the blood in a hundred meter diameter of Kyte¡¯s surroundings began to move toward him. Before he was going to jump up onto the roof of the van, Kyte suddenly remembered another thing. He knocked on the driver-side window and Rose rolled it down. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Uh, I just remembered that I can fly now, so I don¡¯t need to be on the van.¡± ¡°Oh...wait, you can fly?!¡± ¡°Yup! I learned that ability after I broke through. It¡¯s not that hard, thought I can only fly for a few hours.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still cool though! I¡¯ve never seen anyone fly before.¡± ¡°Really? Not even other S rankers?¡± ¡°Nope. They don¡¯t have that capability.¡± ¡°I see...well, I¡¯ll just follow you while I¡¯m flying, so if you feel a random thump on the roof it¡¯s just me.¡± ¡°Alright! See you in a little while~.¡± Kyte lifted off the ground and, while flying out of the parking garage, began to wildly absorb all the blood around him. All the blood in the parking garage gathered together and was crazily absorbed. The blood-filled streets and gutters became blood-free after Kyte flew over them. There was even blood on top of buildings and on all the walls. Although it sounds disgusting that Kyte absorbed blood from these dirty places, it wasn¡¯t bad at all. He only controlled the blood, nothing more. That means that all the dirt and other nasty things naturally fell out of the blood. This gave Kyte ¡°clean¡± blood to absorb, rather than blood that had sewage in it. Besides, the technique to absorb blood automatically cleanses the blood of impurities before the user absorbs it. This gives Kyte confidence that the blood he was absorbing was definitely clean. Since the time it took to drive from the apartment to the underground entrance location was several hours, Kyte had a lot of blood to absorb. Of course, the amount of people decreased near farms and more rural areas compared to the city. However, surprisingly, there was still a lot of blood. Just in the city alone it look like a typhoon of blood behind Kyte. The roaring sound of blood rushing in a gigantic whirlpool behind Kyte was deafening. Kyte¡¯s figure was practically a speck compared to the amount of blood that he dragged along behind him. Since he couldn¡¯t exactly absorb all of it at once, he had to gather it all up and gradually absorb it. Besides, there was an enormous amount of blood for him to absorb. It would take him a while to absorb it all even if he sat down and fully focused on just that. This fact actually scared Kyte a little bit. He¡¯s never absorbed this much blood before, but he can definitely tell that it would give him practically thousands of more lives. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The more blood he absorbs, the stronger his own life force becomes. This also affects his regeneration ability, so the more blood he absorbs, the stronger his regenerative ability is. Kyte remembered small bits of information from the memories gained by breaking through that stated that some cultivators achieved the ability to regenerate from a single drop of blood. That level of regeneration is monstrous. However, that can¡¯t compare to the ability to regenerate from a single flake of skin or a single strand of hair. That type of regeneration is definitely god-like. Kyte knows that he is far from being able to regenerate from a drop of blood, so regenerating from a strand of hair is just a dream at that moment. Despite this, Kyte felt confident that he would be able to regenerate entire limbs and even an entire half of his body quite easily after absorbing all the blood. Not only that, but he could possibly break through into the middle Void Seeker stage. Though, since blood isn¡¯t really the best method to get Internal energy, Kyte wasn¡¯t expecting to break through. Blood is mostly only for life force, and there were shit loads of it just lying around. Kyte naturally took advantage of the entire situation. Along the way back to the apartment, Kyte saw several humans roaming around. However, they definitely weren¡¯t normal anymore. They looked like mutated humans that had weird limbs growing out of their bodies at weird angles. The first thing that came to Kyte¡¯s mind was zombies, however, these abominations were different. Kyte flew lower to see what would happen, and the result astonished him. The abominations showed power equivalent to a C ranker. That alone shocked Kyte, though C rankers are merely ants to him now. They also showed heightened senses and reactions. It seemed like their conscious minds were completely gone, however, what replaced that was terrifying. These abominations seemed to be created solely to hunt and kill. No wonder there¡¯s so much blood. These things kill and eat each other to get stronger. I really don¡¯t want to see stronger versions of these things. Before reaching the apartment, Kyte saw even more of those abominations. In some areas, they were everywhere. Massacres were widespread in those areas, and whoever was left would feast upon the dead¡¯s flesh. Kyte didn¡¯t know how they got stronger from doing so, but he assumed it was similar to him absorbing blood for life force. The more life force they absorbed, the more power they gained. When Kyte thought about it, a world like that would be truly horrendous. As Kyte couldn¡¯t really tap on the car, he decided to send a message to Rose telling her that it would take a while for him to absorb everything. He got a message back saying that it was ok and that he should take his time. Since it was no longer a problem for Kyte to conceal his powers, he rested on top of the giant apartment building. A gigantic ocean of blood was above him which casted a large shadow across an area of a hundred meters. Considering he absorbed a lot of blood on the way over, that ocean of blood wasn¡¯t even half of everything. He already felt himself creeping up on the middle Void Seeker stage, though he doesn¡¯t know if the rest of the blood would make him break through. Regardless of this, it would take a while before he finally finished. What Kyte does know is that, by absorbing that much blood, his regeneration strength with vastly increase. He hasn¡¯t really absorbed a lot of blood, and actually this was the most blood he¡¯s absorbed compared to the time before he broke through to the Void Seeker stage. Just this alone makes Kyte confident in his ability to stay alive, since he would be able to regenerate from almost any attack. Not only that, but he would regenerate almost instantly. The only real downside to absorbing this much blood, especially from creatures that were full of despair and suffering before they turned, is that it would influence his state of mind. Kyte already experienced this when his mind began to slowly slip into insanity when he murdered Asshole, his family, and his friends. Kyte would¡¯ve murdered Sarah too if Sol¡¯keer didn¡¯t help him. Actually, Kyte would¡¯ve killed a lot more people without Sol¡¯keer¡¯s help. If it wasn¡¯t for Sol¡¯keer, Kyte would be a murderous killer with only thoughts of killing. That brought Kyte to another thought. He doesn¡¯t know how much longer it would take for Sol¡¯keer¡¯s soul to recover. Considering that Sol¡¯keer¡¯s soul was at the fifteenth stage, Kyte¡¯s Spirit energy practically does nothing to help recover his soul. The only real way is to just wait for his soul to naturally recover within the sealed ring. However, Kyte doesn¡¯t know how long that would take. This universe is different than the one Sol¡¯keer was born in, so the recovery rate could potentially be vastly different. Besides, it would regularly take hundreds of years for his soul to recover normally. Kyte doesn¡¯t know where he would be in a few hundred years, since his life span is now literally hundreds of years long. Just as long as he isn¡¯t killed, of course. After several hours, Kyte finally absorbed the last drop of blood. He suddenly felt a small barrier shatter as his Internal energy rose a full level before stopping. He unexpectedly reached the middle Void Seeker stage. Although it was unexpected, it was a good thing. The more power Kyte has, the better. Besides, Kyte¡¯s regeneration strength was many folds stronger than before. Even if his life force drains the more he regenerates, he just has so much that he has practically thousands of extra lives within him. That¡¯s not really the case, since someone significantly stronger than Kyte could just destroy his heart or brain which would instantly kill him. Although Kyte may be able to regenerate his heart. He doesn¡¯t even know actually, but he doesn¡¯t want to find out. Seeing the sun¡¯s rays through the clouds, Kyte knew that is was approaching the early morning. He had stayed outside for the whole night absorbing blood, and although he didn¡¯t sleep, he wasn¡¯t tired. He dropped down from the roof and softly landed on the ground before walking inside the apartment complex. Chapter 43: Take a Rest I have no excuse. I''ve just been down in the dumps lately. Things happen IRL. Sad things happen IRL. Sometimes, nothing happens at all but you still feel like shit.......SURPRISE! I''m finally back! Ugh, I didn''t think it would take so dang long. I literally wrote this entire chapter in an hour and thirty minutes today. That''s how much procrastination can hurt you, peeps. And hot damn, this trap version of Agni Kai (Last Airbender for the fans out there) is boss. The bass is soothing, the violin is perfect...oh man, writing this chapter while listening to this was a breeze. (As requested, Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tePvnj1166E ) EDIT: Don''t think that because of how this new character acts is because of me IRL. Nope. Don''t worry, peeps. You''ll be seeing me in the future. Anyway, enjoy! Comments are always appreciated! And yes, the new..."character" will definitely be seen in the future... ________________________________________________________________________________________ After entering the apartment, Kyte heard the sound of voices coming from the big room. He looked around and felt a sense of comfort. It¡¯s good to be back. Kyte breathed a sigh of relief as he continued in the apartment. He saw a head poke out from the big room, and¡­ ¡°Kyte¡¯s finally done!¡± Jol exclaimed. ¡°Yep, finally. It took a bit longer than I expected, but I benefited quite a lot from it.¡± Kyte said as he arrived at the room. He saw everyone sitting around on the furniture just like the time when he woke up from unconsciousness on the couch. The memories of that time drifted through his mind before disappearing. ¡°Go ahead and sit wherever, Kyte.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Kyte sat down on the couch alongside Jol. It was just like before as everyone had their own seats. ¡°So, now that I¡¯m here, what are we going to talk about?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to listen to what Dan has to say about what happened on the surface. Dan?¡± Akina said. ¡°Alright! Well, first things first, welcome back everyone. I can see obvious improvements, especially with Shadow and Kyte.¡± ¡°¡±Thanks.¡±¡± ¡°Anyway, about what happened. It¡¯s quite difficult to explain, but I¡¯ll try my best. The first thing that happened was the enormous explosion. Windows shattered, buildings shook, the earth cracked. Then came a wave of energy. It didn¡¯t hurt, but it definitely felt weird. As far as I know, it passed through everything. I don¡¯t feel any noticeable changes within myself, but after a few minutes I felt as if something was trying to infiltrate my body. I stopped it before it did, but...it wasn¡¯t the same for normal people. I saw them all change into monsters. The began to just...slaughter each other. It was as if they were completely overtaken by demons as they devoured one another without a second thought. I could see the ones that devoured grew stronger. It may have not been a significant increase, but it was noticeable. The more they devoured, the larger they became. More limbs sprouted from their bodies. The stronger grew stronger as the weaker ones were slowly being left behind. Right now it¡¯s not that much of a threat. The strongest one I¡¯ve seen has only been at the C rank in power. However, it¡¯s only been less than a day. Who knows how much more they can grow. It¡¯s only a matter of time before Guardians aren¡¯t the only ones we have to worry about.¡± Silence gripped the room as everyone fell into thought. If what Dan said was true, then there could be an entire army of abominations that would only grow in strength the more they devoured. And, if it¡¯s not limited to humans¡­.animals could be transformed into monsters and devour each other as well. Imagine giant bears as strong as an S ranker. Eagles the size of small planes, primates that are three times the size of a normal gorilla, all the while having no remorse as they¡¯re transformed into killing machines. That could be even more terrifying than Guardians, mostly because natural evolution has always proven to be more lethal than artificial. ¡°Then, this is quite great for me. I can go out and slaughter however much I want without holding back. I can ruthlessly experiment all I want. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re human anymore, right? Who knows if they even feel pain anymore.¡± Kyte exclaimed. ¡°That may be so, but it¡¯s still dangerous. Who knows what could be hiding out there? Not only that, but there are Guardians scouting around as well. The Guardians have been avoiding this area because there¡¯s a dense population of Gifted around here. There¡¯s also three S rankers now, which is you two and someone else.¡± Dan explained. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Dan, you don¡¯t know how much power I¡¯ve actually obtained. I can easily defeat an S rank Guardian. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, too.¡± ¡°Is that so? Good for you. If you¡¯re confident enough, then I won¡¯t stop you. Plus, I understand that your power allows you to absorb blood from pretty much anything, so I won¡¯t disagree with what you¡¯ve said. If you want to go, then go.¡± ¡°Hahaha, alright! I¡¯ll leave right now then, actually. I know that we need to catch the train, but we have two weeks, right? Let me farm for a little bit, then we¡¯ll go.¡± Kyte said as he enthusiastically stood up and looked toward Akina. ¡°...I¡¯ll allow it. We¡¯ll stay for three days, no more than that. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have cleared out a majority of the abominations in the area by then anyway.¡± Akina said. ¡°Yes! Then, I¡¯ll see you guys later.¡± Kyte quickly walked across the room, however, he abruptly stopped at Dan¡¯s side. He bent down and whispered into his ear: ¡°I want to ask you something later, if that¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°...Sure?¡± ¡°Good!¡± Kyte then walked out of the room and the apartment. He looked out over the surrounding buildings, noticing various abominations jumping around and eating whatever flesh they could find. They would immediately attack if they saw another, and the winner would devour the loser. It was quite a brutal scene. ¡°They¡¯re definitely not human anymore...Heh¡­.neither am I.¡± Kyte jumped off the apartment building and onto the street where he began to effortlessly and mercilessly slaughtering anything he saw. ________________________________________________________________ (First Person POV) Leaning back in my chair, I stared up at the ceiling fan as it rotated around and around just like it always does. My computer screen dimly illuminated my room, though it was still quite dark. I popped my back and finished stretching my tight muscles before going back to my game. I quickly peeked at the time displayed at the bottom right of the screen. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. It¡¯s 2:50?! How did time go by so fast today¡­ Looking back at my game, I lazily saved and exited it. It was a singleplayer game, so it¡¯s not like I was playing with friends or anything. If I had any. Just as I was about to get out of my chair¡­ -BOOM- My entire room quaked as the windows shattered. My computer screen shattered as well, which sent pieces of glass into my face. It hurt. It hurt so bad. Having glass shot into your eyes and cheeks was not a good feeling. I fell to the floor and screamed. It was a bloodcurdling scream, mostly because it hurt. Did I mention that it hurt? I had never felt much pain before. I was always a very careful person. I never played sports and I never took chances. I never had a broken bone and the only scars I had were from when I was a little kid. This was the first time I had ever felt so much pain. I couldn¡¯t even see anymore because glass had shredded my eyeballs. I wish I could¡¯ve said that I defended my face with my hands, but let¡¯s be realistic here. There¡¯s no way a skinny, malnourished, nonathletic guy like me could react that fast. Besides, who would expect to have glass shot into their face? That wasn¡¯t even the worst part. That sound had blown my eardrums straight to high Heaven. I could feel blood dripping down my cheeks and as I reached my hands up to my ears, I felt blood spread across my finger tips. This was not a good situation. I was blind, deaf, and all I could feel was pain. I swear glass from my window made its way into the rest of body as well. But if it did, it wasn¡¯t as painful as my face. I wanted to die the pain was so bad. If I could commit suicide right now, I would. Not like I had anything to live for. I didn¡¯t have a reason to die, but I didn¡¯t have a reason to live either. Wait a minute...isn¡¯t that the perfect reason to die? Ah, I digress. My mind is a lot calmer than my physical body right now. I wonder why that is? Maybe I¡¯ve just been desynthesized to life. Regret and depression had their way with me, and this is what I¡¯ve come to. Well, it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t deserve it. I didn¡¯t even try to do anything about it. I let myself be eaten away by my depression. I wallowed in self pity and loathing. Strangely, I liked it. I would lay in my bed for a good hour every day just thinking about how worthless I am. It¡¯s my fifth year of doing that. I can say that I¡¯m addicted to it. Strange, right? I don¡¯t know when it started. I never got over my highschool sweetheart. I don¡¯t love her anymore, that trash emotion was replaced with lust. I swear, if I could, I would fuck that bitch for days on end. She was a beauty. But I let her slip through my fingers. I think about her everyday and about how badly I fucked up. I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked up. Ah, here I go again... I¡¯m such a dumbass. This physical pain isn¡¯t making it any better. I should¡¯ve killed myself years ago. Shit, I¡¯m going back to my self loathing again¡­ Well, I never thought I would die such a horrible death. I didn¡¯t even know what happened. Everything is black and I can¡¯t hear shit. Is this what it¡¯s like to have your head stuck up your own ass? I¡¯ve always wondered how those douchebags handled it. Good times, good times¡­ Anyway, it seems as if my situation isn¡¯t getting any better. I should really just make my way to my window and jump out. I¡¯m on the eighth floor so I should die on impact, right? Right? I sure hope so. Well, I¡¯m not going to get a better time to do it, so why not now. I slowly made my way over to the window as I dragged my hands across the wall to guide me. I felt the beginning of my window and felt the gap that was created since it exploded. I felt the air rushing in a lot more than I did before. I wonder if people were experiencing what I am. This pain. I wonder how many have tried to commit suicide already. I wonder how many have been successful. I wonder how many have been unsuccessful, writhing in pain on the ground because they thought their eighth story apartment room height would be able to kill them. Shit, now I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m nervous. I¡¯ve gotten closer than this trying to kill myself years ago but every time I try, I¡¯m overcome with nervousness. That horrible feeling in your stomach when you know you¡¯re about to do something you¡¯re not supposed to do. It¡¯s working overtime whenever I try to kill myself. It makes me wuss out when I get enough courage to get halfway. Not like anything would¡¯ve changed if I had killed myself years ago. Anyway, I was getting cold feet standing in-front of the window. I could feel shards of glass against my hands as I felt around me. This should be the right side of my room, facing the opposite apartment complex. Fuck those guys, they kicked me out when I couldn¡¯t pay rent. Thank goodness that whore gave me a job at McFonald¡¯s, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have been given my current room. At least I fucked her. I didn¡¯t get an STD and she didn¡¯t get pregnant so it was worth it. She was hot. Is my mind trying to distract me from the thought of suicide? I think it is. Scumbag brain, the Hell is wrong with you? I¡¯m trying to end our pain but you won¡¯t let me. I tried to cry but all that came out were tears of blood. Probably because my eyes have fucking glass stuck in them, stupid. Who are you calling stupid? Shit, stop talking to yourself. Let me commit suicide in peace, will ya?! I breathed out a large breath of air. I thought back to all the things I had done. All the things I regretted. All my missed opportunities. I had no purpose. I understood the moment that diploma touched my hand. I had no future. I still smiled that fake smile I always do. I laughed that same fake laugh I always do. I briefly glanced over that girl who silently smiled at me. It¡¯s not like we hated each other, we were friends. But in my mind, there was no mistake. I would never get over her. I lusted after her so much. Instead of porn I would just use my mind and think of her. I never attempted to do anything to her. I wasn¡¯t that type of person. Regardless of my lack of empathy, I still had my baseline morals. I faked everything. Even my family had no idea about my despair. They never would. I never told anyone. Maybe that¡¯s the reason why I became what I am. Now, I can rest assured that I won¡¯t have to feel this pain anymore. My pain and suffering was caused by me and me alone. And now, I have the power to end it all. With one single action, I can finally take a rest from this horrible thing known as life. I climbed over the opening in my window, and fell. It took a few seconds, but I fell. After a loud crunch, my consciousness blacked out. Chapter 44: They Meet Second chapter of the week. I wonder if I''ll be able to get out a third? Regardless, enjoy. I''m posting this in school so I won''t be able to PR it until later. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ --Two Days Later-- Slaughtering these guys is like slaughtering livestock. Kyte calmly walked down a street as he nonchalantly flicked his wrists in the direction of a few monsters. A split second later, the top halves of their bodies slipped off their bottom halves and fell to the bloody ground. All that blood quickly surged toward Kyte¡¯s body and disappeared within it. He also didn¡¯t forget to absorb their souls, which was incredibly important. Kyte noticed that the souls of these human-monsters were different than normal humans. They no longer had vague outlines of a visage on the soul and they wouldn¡¯t thrash about either. The strength of the souls were actually increased by a noticeable amount but, compared to the entirety of each soul, the increase wasn¡¯t that much. Regardless of that, Kyte took them all. Even with all these souls, he barely achieved late seventh stage for his soul. The ball within his soul had also slightly grown and it began to show slight signs of change. Kyte couldn¡¯t really ¡°see¡± the change, but he could feel it. By now, the entire area within a mile radius of the apartment building was almost wiped clean of the monsters. Though of course, monsters would randomly stroll inside from different locations so it wasn¡¯t totally wiped out. Kyte also noticed that there were a few stronger monsters located throughout the area. Those were the ones that completely ravaged their surroundings and effortlessly tore apart the weaker monsters. These stronger ones were always completely bald and had a few extra arms sprouting from their back which were at least twice as long as normal arms. Not only that, but those extra arms didn¡¯t even have skin. It was a creepy sight. Kyte had actually observed some of the monsters as they devoured each other. Sometimes he saw an extra limb grow from them as well, which was a gruesome sight. The limb would sort of just burst out of, let¡¯s say, the monster¡¯s back. There would be no skin on the extra limb and blood would continuously squirt out of it. The monster would be giving out bloodcurdling screams while writhing about on the ground. During that sequence, Kyte could feel the monster¡¯s power quickly increase. Once it calmed down, the increase stopped. That happened several times as Kyte was going around cleaning them out. Just a few hours earlier he saw one that reached the power of a B ranker. He assumed it roamed into the area from outside because how could a monster that powerful escape Kyte¡¯s Spiritual sense? Kyte looked up at the sky and saw that he still had several hours left until the day ended. Though, because it was slowly approaching spring, the sun would stay out longer day by day. There were still two months till spring actually arrived, but it seemed as if it was appearing faster than normal. Anyway, since he had quite some time till he had to go back, Kyte decided to roam out farther than the mile area that he cleared out. He quickly rose up into the air and flew above the numerous houses and streets. He still remembered the time when he could see normal people walking around. Parks filled with kids playing on swing sets and slides, lovers walking side by side...Now, however, it was like Hell decided. No one was spared. Kyte saw the clear distinction between his area and the area beyond. He could hear shouts and screams coming from the districts further away, which piqued his interest. Although there definitely wouldn¡¯t be any A or S ranked monsters, it¡¯s still interesting to see a new life form evolve. There could potentially be different types of monsters once they reach a certain power level. Along with that, variations and rare-type monsters were possible. Kyte just hasn¡¯t seen anything like that yet. Probably because the one mile area he cleaned out wasn¡¯t even a fraction of the entire city. Flying over several rows of houses, Kyte felt the different aura the new area emitted. It was a thicker aura of blood and death created by the rampaging monsters. Since Kyte was the only one he knew that used blood as a source of power, he assumed he was the only one who would willingly use free time to slaughter the monsters. Although the increase in power was slight. Kyte wondered if the quality of blood was what caused this. His own power was far above these monsters; he was on a completely different level. The blood of these lower forms naturally proved to be incredibly weak. If Kyte was at the fourth or fifth stage, the monster¡¯s blood could potentially be worth the time. Kyte, being at the seventh stage, naturally would benefit much. However, all the blood adds up. Plus, the main reason why Kyte was doing this wasn¡¯t for Internal energy but rather Spirit energy and life force. It would still be a while till he broke through with his Soul, but every bit counts. Every single body-worth of blood he absorbed was like another life gained. As Kyte was going over his thoughts, he didn¡¯t notice that he flew quite deep within the new area. He suddenly stopped and looked back, confirming the distance between the cleared and new area to be about two miles. Looking around, he spotted several groups of monsters all attacking each other. He lifted his hand, but just before he was about to release fire from black light, he felt a faint ripple of energy from his left. This energy definitely wasn¡¯t something rudimentary that comes from an unintelligent monster. Turning his head, Kyte saw small pieces of flesh flying into the air every few seconds. I guess I¡¯m not the only one out here. This place does seem like a good area to train if you¡¯re at most a B ranker. Kyte calmly turned back and just before he was about to snap his fingers, he remembered that using fire wasn¡¯t exactly the smartest choice. Of course, it was the quickest way to destroy the monsters, but what¡¯s the use if the blood just evaporates? Maybe he just likes to see them squirm from the flames as they die... Kyte sighed as he landed on the ground. He indifferently walked down the street as thin strings of energy flew through the air and sliced monsters into pieces. Their blood quickly disappeared, and it actually looked like Kyte was a cleaning service as he absorbed all the blood from the monsters and the surroundings. Everything used to be completely blood red until Kyte walked through. It then looked like normal, except for the several corpses lying around. Kyte headed in the direction of the energy pulse mostly because he was curious to see who was killing these guys off. Kyte doubted that he would be the only one, though he didn¡¯t doubt that he would be the only S ranker killing them. He didn¡¯t think S rankers would lower themselves to slaughter weaker life forms. Like he did. Though, Kyte did have a reason to do so. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As he made his way down, Kyte continuously felt energy pulses roughly thirty meters away. It didn¡¯t feel like normal energy from any Gifted and the only pulse of energy that comes from a Guardian that Kyte knows of is the help signal. Kyte knows that there will always be oddities within the Gifted community; Shadow is one of them. What kind of mutation allows a Gifted¡¯s power have the ability to repel any type of Gifted energy except its own? After traveling about twenty meters, Kyte turned a corner on a street and looked at who was causing so much ruckus. The energy pulses had calmed down by now, but Kyte could still sense the person roaming around in same area. When he turned his head to see, he was quite surprised to find a completely normal looking person going from corpse to corpse. Though, what happened next was quite disgusting. The person would rip off a chunk of flesh before stuffing it in his mouth. However, it was only ever one chunk. Once they were done, they would move to another corpse and get another chunk of flesh. Kyte saw this and immediately thought of a variant-type of monster. Kyte could tell that this one was close to an A ranker in power, but not quite. Kyte silently moved toward it while erasing his presence to see if it could notice him. It couldn¡¯t, so Kyte continued to observe as it took another chunk of flesh. What happened next was a little confusing though¡­ ¡°Hmm, nothing new this time. I think I¡¯ve absorbed most of the abilities from the guys in this area..¡± What? It can speak? Absorbing?... Kyte quietly watched as the monster started walking forward as it continued to talk to itself. ¡°I should be leveling up soon. Too bad I can¡¯t find anyone higher than level twenty.¡± Is this guy crazy? Leveling up? Is this dude on drugs? Is it even a dude? Kyte continued to silently follow the monster as it would pick off any stragglers it saw. Once the monster moved on, Kyte would absorb all the blood behind it. Strangely, it never noticed anything. After about half an hour of following it, Kyte suddenly felt a small jump in its power. ¡°Geeze, finally. These lower levels just don¡¯t cut it anymore.¡± I think I¡¯m getting the gist of what¡¯s going on¡­.Either this dude is forever high on some new drug, or he really is a variant-type. Would it be better to call him a rare-type? Hmm...Well, not like he can do anything to me. Might as well just ask. Kyte stopped hiding and openly walked forward as his shoes made light tapping sounds on the ground. ¡°Hm? One snuck up on me?...¡± It turned around, and when it saw Kyte, fear covered its face. Kyte leaked out about twenty percent of his Dread aura, which completely covered the monster. ¡°W-w-wh-who are you?!¡± The monster yelled as it fell on its butt. ¡°Just a passerby. Though I¡¯d like to ask something. You see, I¡¯ve been cleaning out the areas around here but I haven¡¯t seen any monsters that were different than the rest. So, might I ask what you are?¡± ¡°I-I-I am...My name i-is...uh...Mark¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask who you are, I asked what you are.¡± Kyte increased the intensity by one percent. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!! I a-am a u-unique-type Apis¡­¡± ¡°Apis?...What¡¯s an Apis?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I thought as much. So, what¡¯s your power exactly? I¡¯ve following you for the past half hour but I¡¯m still confused.¡± Though I do have a hunch. ¡°I-I have t-t-the abilities Gamer and Absorption¡­¡± Really? REALLY? What? How? Why? ¡°So, you have a power like a game or something?¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± Kyte released his Dread aura since it was getting annoying. The dude breathed a sigh of relief once the pressure disappeared. ¡°And your absorption?¡± ¡°It allows me to absorb any ability from something I eat.¡± Woah, that sounds..nice. ¡°I see. So, tell me what happened with you. Are you one of them, or no?¡± ¡°Them? Oh, you mean the Dread Walkers. No, I¡¯m not one of them per se. I just remember waking up with a blue screen in front of my face. I was in a pile of corpses, though.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem too bad. Well, I¡¯ll let you do your thing. However, before I go, I¡¯ll give you a piece of advice.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The world is a much bigger place than you think. Right now, you¡¯re just a frog looking up a well. Although you¡¯re some-what powerful right now, don¡¯t act recklessly. Good luck out there.¡± ¡°Ah...thanks.¡± Kyte lifted up into the air, however, just before he was about to leave, he looked back down at Mark. Mark was slightly confused as he looked up at Kyte. He didn¡¯t expect for him to suddenly fly up into the air. Kyte lowered himself until he was about ten feet above Mark. ¡°Here, take this.¡± Kyte threw a small sphere down to Mark. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a Signal Sphere. If you¡¯re ever in too much trouble, just crush it. I¡¯ll receive a message detailing your location. I¡¯ll come if I have the time. However, just because you have my back up doesn¡¯t mean you can act recklessly. Only use it if you¡¯re certain you can¡¯t get out of a scenario.¡± ¡°But...why?¡± ¡°Because you interest me. I don¡¯t want to see a guy like you die so early. One last thing: Head over to the East Train Station. There will be trains being sent out to the Core. If you make it, ask around for Branch 4 Sector 31. See ya.¡± This guy has too much potential. It would be a waste for him to silently disappear. It''s better if I take him before anyone else. Kyte flew off into a different direction to find more hordes of monsters, leaving the surprised Mark behind. A new flash of surprise appeared on his face as he looked in the area in-front of his face. ¡°A...quest? That guy¡¯s level was displayed as question marks...I wonder what it was. Oh well. I guess this is already a lot more exciting than my previous life.¡± Mark turned around and moved the sphere in the air. It suddenly disappeared with a small flash. He turned around and continued to jog forward with renewed excitement. Chapter 45: Unexpected Results Third chapter of the week! Holy crap I''m on a roll! This one is longer than the other two as well. Writing during school is more efficient than I thought. Anyway, enjoy. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ (First Person POV) Wow, that was intense. I never felt something like that before. What a guy. I feel as if I was an ant looking up at a giant foot that was crashing down on top of me. No wonder his level only showed question marks. Actually, his level wasn¡¯t the only thing. His name, race, and class all showed question marks. What the Hell does that mean? Maybe I¡¯m just not high enough level yet. Speaking of which... [tr] [tr][tr] [tr][tr] [tr][tr]
ProfileSkillsInventoryAbilities
Name:MarkLevel:40
Class:NoneRace:Unique Apis
Strength:57(52)Dexterity:41(37)Endurance:38(34)Intellect:15(14)
I¡¯m level forty, huh. I¡¯ve been farming these Walkers for the past two days. They¡¯re all around level twenty to thirty. I was pretty lucky to kill my first one, which was killed by a trap I created with some rubble. I also swooped in and finished off some injured Walkers too, which gave me free XP. I did almost get killed a few times, but I¡¯m past that now. Once I reached level thirty I couldn¡¯t find any Walkers that could harm me. Which was probably a good thing, since I can sleep- Wait, I don¡¯t even need to sleep anymore. What¡¯s up with that? Anyway, you wanna know what happened, right? Well, when I heard that crunch after I fell out the window, I blacked out. Obviously. I woke up and I could barely breath and it was pretty dark, too. I thought I was under some collapsed rubble or something but it turns out there were corpses on top of me. Why? I have no idea. All I know is that it smelled horrible. I wanted to kill myself it was so bad. Ah...that¡¯s kind of ironic. I was disappointed that I was still alive, to be honest. I was hoping for some rest after I blacked out, but that wasn¡¯t the case. In fact, my situation was worse than before I flung myself out of my apartment. Why the Hell were there corpses on top of me? Then, the next thing that caught my eye was this thing: [tr]
Congratulations
Due to a certain interference, you have been given the ability Gamer.
I was so confused...Though, I felt excitement building up within me. Oh how much did I long for something like this. My life before felt like a waste of an existence. I barely had enough money to pay my rent, I was eating noodles all the time, and I only had a part-time job at McFoodle¡¯s. McFoodle¡¯s! I was a college graduate for pete sake. Well, maybe not an actual graduate, but...I had experience! Thankfully the manager there liked me enough to let me fuck her every day. I don¡¯t know if logic was present within her mind. I had merely helped her out for a few days and when she found out that I didn¡¯t have a job: Poof! I got a job! I¡¯m pretty sure she only gave herself to me was because she was depressed from a breakup or something. That¡¯s what I assumed, anyway. Still. She was hot, pussy was good, nothing bad happened, it was worth it. I¡¯m kinda sad I couldn¡¯t take her to pound-town again, though. If she was still ¡°alive¡±, she would most definitely be a Walker. I don¡¯t want to fuck a zombie-thing. Now that I think about it...I was pretty desperate to fuck a McFonald¡¯s (what¡¯s the name again?) manager. Got me a job, though. Anyway, back to where I was. Right, my life before this all happened was a waste. I had nothing going for me. I just delaying my inevitable suicide. Which I actually did do, if it weren¡¯t for this new stuff. That blue screen was a like the light at the end of a tunnel. If I ever wanted to fuck good pussy again, this was the way to go. You may think that finding good pussy is a stupid goal, but hey, you gotta look at it from my perspective. I¡¯m a lonely dude whose only type of close contact with a female was sex. It was nice too. I¡¯d rather have sex than smoke a pack a day. Just as long as there¡¯s no STDs or babies involved...Am I even able to impregnate still? I wonder. I keep getting off track. Ah, the life of a wanderer. That dude told me to go to the East Station. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that is. Hahaha, funny, right? East is in the name. Problem is, I don¡¯t know where or how far east to go. If that made sense. I wonder if my Gamer ability comes with a map or something? That would be great. Well, right now I¡¯m just walking around looking for some higher level Walkers. Haven¡¯t found a single one over level thirty yet. If my hypothesis is correct, then these Walkers gain strength from devouring each other. Unfortunately I only gain abilities by eating. I gain XP by killing, that¡¯s it. I wonder if there¡¯s more animal monsters? I¡¯ve seen dogs and cats that have turned, but nothing else so far. Maybe I should go to Lakewood Forest. Is that even the name? Hmm, but that dude did say to go to East Station...nah, let¡¯s go to the forest first. Sounds funner. I mean, more fun...Hopefully I¡¯ll be able to get some nice stuff from the monsters there. ____________________________________________________ (Original POV) Along the way back to the apartment, Kyte slaughtered any monster he came across. If someone looked down from above, they would be able to see a clear path of cleanliness among the blood-red districts. It stretched from the clean area around the apartment to at least two miles out. Kyte was actually quite satisfied by this, since being clean was something he cared about. Surprisingly, there were no attacks from Guardians during this time. That Kyte knows about, of course. It¡¯s just that he didn¡¯t sense any Guardians within the areas he was traveling. There could have been Guardians attacking the trains heading to the Core, or they could be ambushing the different Branches before they board it. Ironically, probably, the first thing Kyte noticed when he saw the apartment building from afar was a lot of destruction. It looked like the building itself was attacked as there were giant holes throughout its structure. Amazingly enough, it hadn¡¯t fallen yet. Kyte increased his speed as he flew through the air. After reaching the building, he took out his phone and messaged Rose. Although, a second later he heard someone calling for him from the ground. ¡°Kyte! Down here!¡± ¡°Hm? Oh...they¡¯re down there.¡± Kyte looked down and saw everyone standing in the street. He quickly landed on the ground and approached them, asking: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Guardians. They suddenly attacked us out of nowhere. There were two S rank Guardians as well. Thankfully I was able to destroy them.¡± Akina replied. Kyte looked over the others and saw they had multiple injuries. Even Dan had a long cut down his arm. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°What about those pills you have?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°For some reason, I¡¯m temporarily unable to access them. It¡¯s been like this since I woke up.¡± ¡°I see¡­Guys, take these.¡± Kyte walked over and gave everyone a single pill each. Of course, he didn¡¯t give them his strongest pills because if a pill was too powerful it could be detrimental. After taking the pills, everyone¡¯s injuries quickly healed without even a scar. ¡°Thanks, Kyte.¡± ¡°No problem. I have more than I need. So, I¡¯m guessing we should head over to East Station, right?¡± ¡°Yea, we were waiting for you to get here. Before that, go and collect the materials from the Guardians. Only take the S ranked ones.¡± Akina said. ¡°Alright.¡± After collecting the Guardians¡¯ remains, Kyte rejoined the group before they made their way to East Train Station. The next train wouldn¡¯t be arriving for a few hours so that gave them enough time to stroll toward the station. Of course, along the way Kyte would remove any monsters they encountered. Sometimes he would save a few for Jol or Lucy to practice on, since the two of them didn¡¯t really get a lot of combat experience. As the East Station came into view, everyone breathed out sighs of relief. Just as Kyte was about to give a sigh of relief, a small surge of information entered his head detailing the location of Mark. Kyte stopped mid-sigh to change it from relief to annoyance. ¡°Guys, I¡¯ll be right back. I got involved with something and I have to go check it out.¡± Kyte said. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Rose asked. ¡°Looks to be...not that far from Lakewood Forest. I¡¯ll be back in a little. See ya guys.¡± Kyte flew off into the air in the direction of the signal. Honestly, Kyte was quite annoyed. He had given Mark that sphere not even a full day ago and he already used it. How troublesome would this guy be? As Kyte flew toward the destination, he wondered if taking Mark to his side was a good idea. After flying at full speed for a few minutes, Kyte finally saw Mark¡¯s figure. Unfortunately, he was completely surrounded by a horde of monsters who all looked to be at least close to A rank in power. What in the world? What the Hell did this guy do to attract so many strong monsters? Is this guy stupid? Kyte sighed again before arriving above Mark. He was about ten meters high and he looked down at the depressed figure beneath him. The monsters were at least ten feet from him, so Kyte wanted to wait a few seconds before doing anything. Well, he wouldn¡¯t take action until it was necessary, at least. ¡°Hey, Mark. How stupid do you have to be to get surrounded by these guys?¡± Kyte said. ¡°Huh?! You¡¯re here!! Please, save me! I¡¯m surrounded!¡± Mark¡¯s eyes sparkled with hope when he saw Kyte floating in the air. ¡°Try not to sound so pathetic. Also, I know you¡¯re surrounded. Try to get out.¡± ¡°What?! Are you insane! All these guys are at least level thirty-eight! I can¡¯t do that!¡± ¡°Hm? I thought you were looking for monsters like this. I mean, if you didn¡¯t want them, why are you here?¡± ¡°Can you stop being a smart ass and help me!¡± ¡°Umm...No.¡± ¡°Why?!¡± ¡°You got yourself into this mess. Get yourself out.¡± I say that, but if he actually has no chance, I¡¯ll have no choice but to save him. Mark had already swatted away a few monsters as they were speaking, and now the monsters were endlessly coming at him. His only weapon was a large baseball bat that he got from somewhere, and every time he hit a monster it would suddenly explode into pieces. ¡°Say, I¡¯m assuming you have a blunt weapon proficiency or something, right?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Haa...yea..why?¡± ¡°Hmm...nothing.¡± Kyte was slightly laughing at the show in-front of him. It was quite entertaining to watch someone go through such a difficult tribulation. It was a first to see someone actually surrounded by monsters, though it seemed like Mark was doing fine. Well, for now at least. Kyte could see that Mark was getting tired as his swings were becoming less frequent. He probably had a stamina bar or something and once that runs out, he¡¯s done for. However, Kyte still didn¡¯t move. Mark had managed to clear a path up to a higher elevated area due to fallen rubble, which gave him a little leeway. Despite this, he still had numerous injuries from the many attacks he had to force himself through. The monsters were still throwing themselves at him and he was barely holding them off. However, one managed to get through. It latched onto his left leg and tried to drag him down. Its extra hand formed a fist and smashed Mark¡¯s leg, making him involuntarily scream out in pain. Another grabbed his right leg and did the same. Just before a third was about to slam its fist down onto his stomach, a small flash of determination appeared in Mark¡¯s eyes. To Kyte¡¯s astonishment, the world energy around Mark swarmed toward the baseball bat before he desperately swung it horizontally across the monsters in-front of him. A force completely destroyed the monsters in-front of him, saving him from their grasp. Kyte clearly saw world energy change into a different form of energy than the elements, which then blasted the monsters into smithereens. World energy can be changed into other forms of energy other than the elements? No wonder...HAHAHA! Wonderful! That¡¯s right, if world energy is everything, then why can¡¯t it be changed into something other than the elements? This is amazing! I never would have thought of this on my own! Kyte began to laugh quite loudly in the air over his new discovery. This completely changes his own understanding of world energy and the black light. Kyte could feel a sudden surge of power within his body, directly pulling him into mid seventh stage! The black light within him slightly stirred, as if it reacted to something. Small waves in the ocean of black light within Kyte¡¯s soul began to swerve back and forth in a certain rhythm. The small sphere within the ocean slightly grew as it began to suck in even more black light. The light within the sphere grew in intensity, however, even then it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to be seen unless you were right next to it. I just broke through? Right, once I reached the seventh stage, just increasing my Internal energy won¡¯t allow me to break through. Kyte looked at Mark with even greater interest than before. He watched as Mark swung the baseball bat and destroyed the surrounding monsters. There were only a few left, but Kyte could see that Mark¡¯s condition was deteriorating. He gave one last swing, which killed the remaining monsters, before collapsing on top of the rubble pile. Kyte flew down, grabbed Mark, and took him into a random house. He placed him on a bed after forcing a pill down his throat. Kyte brought over a small wooden table from a different room and placed it by the side of the bed. He took out a few items from the storage necklace and placed them on the table, along with another Signal Sphere. Kyte stepped back to look at the items, and pondered whether or not he should leave single drop of his blood. He would only put in information pertaining to the first six stages of the Bloodrage Technique, nothing more. The only things within the information would be the skills and technique detailing how to cultivate. If Kyte did so, that would mean that he and Mark would be linked. Not mentally or physically, but by fate. Kyte would directly link Mark to him by fate, and basically Mark would be his disciple. That would be quite interesting, however, there¡¯s also risks involved. What if Mark didn¡¯t want to be underneath Kyte? Would Mark betray Kyte? After thinking for a full ten minutes, Kyte decided not to leave a drop of his blood. Giving Mark access to the Bloodrage Technique was too risky. Besides, Kyte assumed Mark¡¯s Gamer ability allowed him several different paths to take. Adding on to that is his Absorption ability, which may have even more potential than the Gamer ability. If the Absorption ability isn¡¯t limited to biological organisms, then he could eat anything and gain its ability. He could eat any of the rings from Kyte¡¯s storage necklace and gain its power. That¡¯s a scary thought. Kyte decided not to put in too much with Mark, so he took away one item from the table. Feeling satisfied, Kyte silently left the house and flew back to East Station. Chapter 46: Travel (1) First chapter of the week. I wonder if I''ll be able to get out 3 chapters this week? Probably not, but I can try. This one is pretty short, too. Hopefully next one will be longer. Anyway, enjoy. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ It had taken about twenty-five minutes to find Mark and then come back to the station. It wasn¡¯t that long, so the others were fine with waiting for a bit. ¡°I¡¯m back, guys.¡± Kyte said. ¡°Oh, welcome back. You look like you¡¯re in a good mood.¡± Akina said. ¡°Hahaha, yep. I just made a small break through, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Really? How?¡± ¡°Ah, I just got a small enlightenment about the black light. Sometimes just going out and observing can be a great help.¡± ¡°Well, congratulations on that. Now, the train arrives in an hour, so we still have time. Also, since Kyte and I are both S rankers, one of is going to have to board a different train. There¡¯s this one, East Station, and South Station. Which one do you want, Kyte?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take South Station. If there¡¯s already an S ranker there, I¡¯ll go to Lakewood Station. Ultimately I might have to wait for the next batch of trains. I guess...I¡¯ll see you guys in the Core?¡± ¡°Yea, I guess so¡­¡± Kyte looked at the group. They had been together for only a few months but it felt like much longer than that. At first, Kyte didn¡¯t want to be in a group or with other people in general. Now, however, his thinking changed. Over the course of these months, especially in the ranking tournament, he realized that there is always someone stronger. Having people on your side that are equally as strong is the best way to ensure your survival, aside from increasing your own strength. Also, it¡¯s never good to just provoke random people. However, as time goes on, Kyte cares less and less about that. If he allows himself to fear others then how will he ever rise above them? He will also not hesitate to protect his allies, especially the people actually close to him. After being alone for two whole years, and feeling completely lost, he finally found people who wanted to be with him. Or, at least wanted to be his ally. This naturally created an unnoticed sense of companionship between him and the others. Which may bring about impulsive actions, which Kyte sort of fears¡­ Despite this, Kyte knows that he has to be decisive with his actions. You have to finish whatever you start. Kyte doesn¡¯t know what that may bring, but confidence is definitely key. After saying their goodbyes, and after Kyte gave Rose a kiss, Kyte rose up into the air and flew off to South Station. He of course eradicated the monsters he came across. He also found several other Gifted the closer to the station he got. He noticed that the ones fighting the monsters were at most an A rank and they usually formed groups. It wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to go out alone unless you had sufficient strength. Besides, if Mark was able to be surrounded, others would too. It took about ten minutes of continuous flying to reach South Station. Once there, Kyte asked around if there was an S ranker assigned there. Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t. Either that or the Gifted there didn¡¯t know, since they obviously wouldn¡¯t be given the details to an S ranker¡¯s whereabouts. Kyte remained in the air as he waited. As the sun¡¯s rays bore down on him, the Gifted on the ground were watching him with fascination. Kyte was wearing what he usually wears: a black hoodie, jeans, and black shoes. However, just that didn¡¯t give the Gifted any fascination. It was the fact that Kyte was an S ranker. They also had never seen anyone fly before, so seeing Kyte just float there like he was standing on solid ground as sunlight hit him was quite an amazing sight. Besides, the aura Kyte naturally gave off put a bit of pressure on the weaker Gifted. Kyte could retract it, but he was too lazy so he just relaxed in the air. At that moment, Kyte received a message on his phone. It detailed the station he was assigned to, which was South Station. Convenient. Although he can¡¯t stay in the air forever, Kyte can still hover for a long period of time. Even more so now since he broke through into the mid seventh stage. After about thirty minutes, Kyte called back all the Gifted. He used his voice which was projected out quite far. He shielded the Gifted below him just in case but he still saw them flinch a bit when he used his voice. Within ten minutes, all the Gifted had arrived back at the station. He saw their surprised expressions when they looked at him in the air, but he was already used to it. He floated down a little bit so he wouldn¡¯t have to speak so loudly when he asked: ¡°Do any of you know the route this train takes?¡± They murmured amongst themselves for a bit before one spoke out: ¡°Here¡¯s the map for the multiple routes, sir.¡± Seeing the map in the Gifted¡¯s hand, Kyte used Internal energy to move it to his own hand. Looking over the map, Kyte memorized the whole thing. He realized that the route the train is going through has a more dense number of suspected Guardians. Because of this, Kyte realized why he was chosen for this particular station. Most likely, this station is assigned to at least Silver S rankers or higher. Though Kyte is officially only a Bronze S ranker, his real power is beyond that. Besides, it¡¯s not like Kyte has nothing to use to defeat Guardians. Sure, Heavy Air was destroyed but its usefulness was limited. Kyte would¡¯ve needed a new weapon after reaching the seventh stage anyway. Kyte did want a new weapon, but he just didn¡¯t have the time to learn forging. It would take months before he would be able to create a suitable weapon for himself. By that time, who knows what would have happened. A bit more than ten minutes later, the train arrived. It looked just like the one from the underground district, thought this one wasn¡¯t as clean. The doors opened and the Gifted that were waiting began to file inside. Kyte was keeping a continuous watch over the entire area, making sure there were no surprise attacks. Which was easier for Kyte, considering he had Spirit energy which could spread out and detect any movement. Kyte landed on the top of the train and sat down. A few minutes later the train began to move. The air resistance wouldn¡¯t hinder Kyte as he relaxed because he used Internal energy to block it. Plus, it wasn¡¯t hard to keep himself steady if he tried. It would take at least a day to reach the Core while the train is going full speed, which is about four hundred miles per hour. However, there could always be mishaps along the way. Kyte can go several days without sleep or the other necessities, though it would definitely be uncomfortable. Besides, he can kind of pass the time by meditating or by analyzing formations. Either way, it would take a while until they reached the Core. _________________________________________________________________ (First Person POV) My head hurts so fucking much. I can barely remember what happened. Every time I barely move my head, it bursts with pain. This is worse than my worst hangover. I hope my natural healing kicks in, otherwise I¡¯m gonna kill myself if this continues. I keep saying that but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna do it...again. It wasn¡¯t a fun feeling. Anywho, I laid there for like, an hour before the migraine was a little alleviated. You know, just enough so I could move around on my...bed? Why am I on a bed? Wasn¡¯t I on a pile of rubble? Oh, right. That one dude was there. Guess he isn¡¯t THAT much of an asshole. I wish he would¡¯ve given me his name though. It would help if I¡¯m asking around for him, rather than asking around for a Branch 4 Sector something-something. Sector 31, that¡¯s what it was. How confusing. Would be better if it was just like Group so-and-so. Shit gets too confusing if you add so many different names. Right, so as I looked around, I first noticed a few blue screens in-front of me. I was expecting them to be there, mostly because, well...I was kinda preoccupied fighting monster zombies so I couldn¡¯t get a good look at them. I was expecting some disappointing stuff, and I was right. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Level decreased by 6.
All stats decreased by 40%
Time Remaining: 163 H
[tr]
Ability Unlocked[tr]Primeval Energy (Level: 1) (0%) Skill level of using Primeval Energy
[tr] [tr][tr] [tr][tr] [tr][tr]
ProfileSkillsInventoryAbilities
Name:MarkLevel:34
Class:NoneRace:Unique Apis
Strength:34Dexterity:25Endurance:23Intellect:9
Well, it could¡¯ve been worse I guess. Actually, this is still pretty bad. I lost six levels! It took me forever to get those six levels!...Ok, well it only took me a few hours, but still! And my stats have been decreased for a few days. Terrific. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m making it to Lakewood Forest like this. If my hypothesis is true, then there are definitely animal monsters in the forest. That would not be fun. Animals like bears and stuff were naturally stronger than humans, so who knows what they turned into. I guess the only real option I have is to go to East Station. I wonder how long it¡¯s been since I was out. Probably a whole day, who knows. The Gamer ability is kinda weird with recovery so I really don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll wait a few more hours till my migraine alleviates some more until I head out. It¡¯s no fun fighting monsters with a headache. I laid back and closed my eyes, slipping into a small nap. I woke up however long later and oh my goodness did it feel good to finally not feel pain in my head. Like I said, the Gamer ability¡¯s recovery rate is weird. I don¡¯t know how to describe it. Anyway, I looked to my left and discovered a table right next to my bed. Turns out there were a few items on it. Oooooh hoo hoo hoo! This is exciting! My first real items! Though there isn¡¯t a weapon or armor unfortunately¡­ I examined the items and I was a bit surprised to discover that these items were better than I imagined. [tr]
Aleric Pill
Sixth Stage Healing Pill Instant HP Recovery: +50% HP Regeneration: +40%
Blood Mercury PIll
Sixth Stage Defensive Pill Creates a barrier around the user. Able to block up to late Seventh Stage. Breaks one second after impact.
Signal Sphere (Single Use)
Crush to send signal.
White Thunder Ring
Sixth Stage Offensive Ring When Primeval Energy is inserted into the ring, the user will be able to control lightning. Offensive Power of lightning: 130% of Strength
Ring of Brutality (Single Use)
Sixth Stage Offensive Ring Sacrifice your sanity temporarily. User temporarily gains: +50% Strength, +50% Dexterity, +50% Endurance, Loss of Sanity Aftereffects: -20% Strength, -20% Dexterity, -20% Endurance for 12 hours.
Hmm...well, looks like a small good harvest. I can¡¯t really compare these items to items that I could get from these monsters or the ones that I could make myself. I guess I¡¯ll...just have to equip these two rings now¡­ Mwahaha! Yeaa!!! I can feel tha¡¯ powa¡¯!!!...Sort of. Well, it¡¯s not like I was expecting some God-tier equipment or something. I was kinda hoping for something like a sword¡­ Anyway! I¡¯m much safer now that I have these items. That¡¯s better than not having anything to protect myself. I¡¯m not sure if these pills can significantly help me since my recovery ability is...weird. Haha, I¡¯m not complaining though! Oh well. It¡¯s time to set out for East station. Hopefully I can get a ride to...the Core? What a weird name. Chapter 47: Travel (2) Second chapter of the week! This one is full-on combat so hopefully it makes up for the dialogue-filled last chapter. This one is also a few hundred words longer than last chapter. Enjoy! __________________________________________________________________________________________ Kyte was focusing on analyzing multiple formation theories. He hasn¡¯t gained much progress in the past several days, mostly because of everything that was happening. However, every bit counts. Besides, Kyte doesn¡¯t really know how effective these formations would be. It would be great if he could proficiently use them. They could potentially be a life-saving power as well as a nice trump card. As the train sped down its track, several figures appeared within Kyte¡¯s Spirit energy. They were quickly moving toward the train at inhuman speeds. Kyte opened his eyes and stood up to look toward the approaching figures. Kyte saw several metallic surfaces that reflected sunlight. It was quite easy to see, mostly because the sun was brightly shining down. The quality of metal between the train and the metallic figures was quite apparent. The train was like copper compared to gold. Kyte doesn¡¯t care though. If it works, it works. As I thought, they¡¯re Guardians. There seem to be three S rankers and quite a few A rankers. As the Guardians were coming closer, Kyte discovered even more approaching from the opposite direction. However, the new group comprised of even more S rankers. In total there were eight S rankers and more than twenty A rankers. Kyte shouted, amplifying his voice: ¡°Everyone stay inside! There are several S rank Guardians approaching.¡± The atmosphere inside the train suddenly grew dim. Some people thought they were going to die. How could one S rank Gifted defeat several S rank Guardians? Besides, most of them barely knew of Kyte from the tournament. They only saw him being pummeled into the ground by Jill, and his match against Terris was practically the same. They didn¡¯t see Kyte as a real S ranker at all. Despite this, Kyte was their only hope. Kyte knew all of this, but again, he couldn¡¯t care less. Besides, he¡¯s wanted to show how powerful he really is compared to S rank Guardians. During the virtual test, Kyte was almost defeated by the last A ranker. Granted he wasn¡¯t paying attention, but still. Now that his power had increased by tenfold, he was eager to test it out. Kyte waited a few more seconds until the Guardians were within one hundred meters. Several black tendrils of Internal energy spread out from Kyte and spread out to reach the Guardians. He controlled the tendrils to swipe through the two groups, slicing apart several Guardians. Unfortunately, the only Guardians that were destroyed were a few A rankers. Due to the length of the tendrils, it was quite difficult to accurately control them. As Kyte watched the Guardians getting closer, he felt a bit depressed. These Guardians were easily catching up to the train, but Kyte¡¯s fastest speed isn¡¯t even close to the train. Right now, that technology is even stronger than him. Speed-wise, anyway. Even while using Windwalker, Kyte isn¡¯t faster than the Guardians. This is especially true because their energy source allows them to continuously fly for a very long time. The S rank Guardians suddenly launched several lasers toward the train. The lasers were aimed at various locations along the train, to Kyte¡¯s dismay. There was no possible way to block all the lasers, especially when he can¡¯t even fly fast enough to keep up with the train. However, he knew he had to try. Black light rapidly escaped Kyte¡¯s body which began to wrap itself around the train. He made an inch of space between the train and the black light¡¯s domain, which made it possible for more black light to cover more of the train. Instantly, a rudimentary amount of the space within the black light went under Kyte¡¯s control. He controlled the space to distort into a repelling force, which would bend the lasers around the train. A split second later the lasers hit. A muffled boom rumbled outward as the lasers impacted and then were forcefully redirected across the spatial distortions. Unfortunately, Kyte¡¯s control over the black light space was very limited due to the amount of time he had available to train. Thus, several lasers swept through the top of the train, shaving off several sections. Fortunately the damage wasn¡¯t too bad as it didn¡¯t hinder the train¡¯s movement too much. However, this attack gave the Guardians enough time to land on the train. Kyte instantly retracted the black light and brought out several strands of Internal energy. He also wove his Spiritual energy with the Internal energy to try to damage the insides of the Guardians, as well as their overall structure. It didn¡¯t do much, but every bit helps. Kyte was pretty much powerless as he watched two of the Guardians slip inside the train through the broken roof. He was already lashing out several attacks toward the surrounding Guardians as he began to hear screams coming from inside the train. The frown on his face grew deeper as he instantly activated Bloody Accel and equipped the Bloodcursed armor. His power simultaneously increased three fold as he quickly blasted toward the nearest Guardian. A black sword materialized in his right hand which he used to slash horizontally at his target. The Guardian swiftly raised both its arms to block the incoming sword. Upon impact a loud bang blasted through the air as the Guardian was launched off the train and smashed into the earth. A small flash of understanding moved through Kyte¡¯s mind as he turned to advance toward the next Guardian. He lashed out with a black whip in his left hand while simultaneously releasing a sonic wave toward another. The sonic wave, which was materialized from Kyte¡¯s seventh stage energy, was many folds stronger than the last time he used it. It easily broke the sound barrier, sending out a deafening boom as it smashed into a Guardian. It tried to dodge, however, even the energy around the sonic wave was enough to blast it off the train while sustaining light injuries. The other Guardian easily dodged the whip. After missing, Kyte hardened the whip and swung it horizontally toward the Guardian, however, it still dodged. The whip barely grazed its frame as it swerved around it and flew toward Kyte with its sword arm outstretched. Kyte let it come to him as he converted his sword into a whip and lashed out at a different Guardian. The whip smashed an arm off an approaching Guardian as the Guardian on Kyte¡¯s left finally sliced down its arm. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Kyte lifted his hand and caught the sword within it. A loud bang resounded out that sounded like steel smashing against steel. Kyte felt his entire arm go numb as the force from the impact shook his flesh. The armor covering Kyte¡¯s hand, however, barely had a small scratch. Kyte gripped the sword in his left hand and crushed it through pure force. The Guardian¡¯s mangled arm was still within Kyte¡¯s grasp as he swung the Guardian in-front of him and smashed his fist into its head. Green liquid splattered out as the Guardian¡¯s figure went limp. Kyte stored it inside the storage necklace for later. Kyte felt quite excited after testing the Bloodcursed armor. Its defense was better than he originally thought. The Guardian¡¯s attack left a smudge against his hand. Though he still felt the force behind the attack, which made his arm go numb. The armor itself basically wasn¡¯t damaged at all. This all took time to explain but in reality it happened within a few seconds. Kyte turned his attention to the remaining Guardians and instantly blasted toward them. He used the force from the train to exponentially increase his speed as he traveled in the opposite direction. Even he barely saw the area change as he crashed into a Guardian, completely destroying it. He quickly stopped himself and leaped toward another one. Slashing down with his sword, Kyte threw his left fist toward the Guardian¡¯s side. Another Guardian appeared behind him and slashed toward his back as the Guardian Kyte was attacking dodged backward. Another one fired a laser toward his side and he saw the Guardian in-front of him being firing its laser. Determination flashed through Kyte¡¯s eyes as he twisted his body to avoid the attack from behind. He grabbed the outstretched sword-arm and flipped the Guardian in-front of him just as both lasers were fired. Kyte moved backward and to the side as the lasers shredded the Guardian within his grasp. Even the green liquid was evaporated from the intense energy. Kyte looked at the two remaining Guardians, one of which had an arm missing, and instantly created a black light domain around them. It was pitch black inside the sphere, however, Kyte was able to perfectly tell where the two Guardians were. He could also tell that the two of them were disoriented within the sphere of black light. It was probably due to the different space within the sphere or maybe just the darkness. Kyte controlled the space within the sphere to crash into the two Guardians. It was a failure but it still somewhat constricted their frames as Kyte noticed that their mobility was significantly hindered. He quickly appeared next to one of them, with the help of space, and crushed its head. He smashed the head of the other as well. Afterward, the sphere of black light disappeared as Kyte swiftly moved into the train. Upon entering, Kyte saw several corpses in puddles of blood. He deeply frowned as he quickly continued in the train. He heard metal smashing against metal as his figure flickered in the different train sections. Finally he arrived at the sight of the remaining two Guardians slicing a Gifted in half down the middle. Behind that Gifted was a group of other Gifted that had despair covering their faces. There seemed to be about twenty or so left from the entire train. Kyte silently sighed at what was presented before him. There was nothing he could¡¯ve done to save the ones that were already killed. There was only one of him and eight S rank Guardians, two of which instantly entered the train. At least he¡¯ll be able to save some of the Gifted. Kyte¡¯s figure flickered before reappearing behind one of the Guardians. He instantly reached out and smashed his fist through its back. He lifted it up and tore it in half before crushing its head under his foot. The other Guardian instantly reacted by leaping toward the remaining Gifted, intent on killing as many as possible. Kyte activated Blood Accel again before manifesting a sword in his right hand and blasting toward the Guardian. It was if it happened in slow motion. The Guardian¡¯s sword-arm was piercing toward a Gifted¡¯s chest as Kyte¡¯s sword was only a few inches away. Kyte¡¯s sword was moving upward to deflect the Guardian¡¯s sword up and away from the Gifted¡¯s chest. The Guardian¡¯s sword barely pierced the Gifted¡¯s skin as Kyte¡¯s sword smashed it upward. A straight line of red appeared on the Gifted¡¯s chest up to his shoulder as the Guardian¡¯s sword was deflected upward. The force from the two swords blew back the few Gifted that were close by, making blood leak from their mouths as they were thrown to the ground. They had fear but also a bit of relief written over their faces as they intensely watched Kyte and the Guardian. They had never seen the Bloodcursed armor before so seeing something that looked so dreadful and dominating made them automatically feel lesser. After deflecting its blade, Kyte gripped the Guardian¡¯s left arm and grabbed its head. He pierced its head with Internal energy needles which continually destroyed it from the inside. It immediately went limp and suddenly disappeared because Kyte used the storage necklace. Kyte looked at the remaining Gifted and began to walk toward them. He felt nothing after seeing their terrified expressions. The only reason why he was getting angry was because he would be responsible for the deaths of so many Gifted, since the train was under his jurisdiction. He couldn¡¯t care less about their feelings. ¡°Whoever is injured, come sit down on my left side. I will administer aid to you. The others, just take a seat and relax. It¡¯ll still be several hou-¡± Suddenly, the train began to stutter and the wheels began to screech. Kyte kept his Spirit energy spread out just in-case. He flew out of the train and found that the train stopped in a forest-y region. It looked as if they were on the outskirts of a forest that the train was supposed to go through. Unfortunately, they were on the entrance side instead of the exit. This means that they have to either go around or travel through the forest. Chapter 48: The Forest (1) First chapter of the week! My Calculus teacher isn''t here today...mwahaha! I can write however much I want! Yes, I''m posting this in math class. Two more chapters and I''ll have hit my second milestone. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Kyte stared at the tall treeline in-front of him. The train track went straight through which made a clear path through the forest. Kyte sifted through his memories for information pertaining to this forest, but he couldn¡¯t find anything. He took out his phone and tried to use the internet, however, he discovered that there was no connection. Usually, everyone with a phone can connect to the ''interwebs'' because of the technology available during the current times. Areas where people couldn¡¯t connect were the abnormal areas that naturally interrupted the connection. To think that this forest naturally interrupted the almost perfect connection made Kyte think that this forest was not normal. Even more so now because of what¡¯s been happening. The trees reached up far above a hundred feet each. Their branches naturally spread out and sometimes connected to other trees, forming a ceiling of branches that blocked sunlight. The trees themselves were a deep brown with various spots of red throughout their trunks. They gave off a creepy feeling that didn¡¯t necessarily harm anyone or thing. Maybe it was because there wasn¡¯t a lot of sunlight or just the eerie silence which was prevalent throughout the area. Kyte looked at the broken train and saw that about the front fourth was entirely inside the forest while the rest was outside. The train itself had sustained too much damage to be repaired. Plus, if Kyte even had the expertise to repair it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to. The train had been moving at full speed during the previous battle. The two S rank Guardians inside the train had destroyed more than just the Gifted. It was a miracle that the train wasn¡¯t forcefully derailed. Kyte destroyed the wall within the train cabin and said: ¡°Everyone get out. I¡¯ll explain our situation once everyone¡¯s outside.¡± Kyte unequipped the Bloodcursed armor and landed on soft ground. It seemed like the vegetation growth was slowly creeping up on the tracks. Mostly from the forest, but since the train was used a few times every year, the vegetation wouldn¡¯t grow all the way onto the track. Kyte¡¯s clothes underneath the armor weren¡¯t damaged at all, fortunately. He watched the Gifted file out the side of the train and gather around him. There were exactly thirteen left. There were originally about one hundred and forty total. Seeing only thirteen survivors made Kyte feel quite defeated. Although he doesn¡¯t care about their lives, just knowing that he didn¡¯t have the power to save them made him feel a bit angry. When S rank Guardians are ordered to kill, they kill. Efficiently. They killed over one hundred Gifted in under thirty seconds. Some of which were several A rank Gifted that had a little bit of power to resist. Kyte saw the fear and despair covering their faces. There were three A rankers, eight B rankers, and three C rankers. None of them were Special Gifted, either. Kyte wanted to kill the B and C rankers so they wouldn¡¯t slow him and the A rankers down, but he decided against it. First of all, that would only add even more bad reputation to his name once he reaches the Core. His reputation would already be bad as it is and making it worse is something he doesn¡¯t want to do. Secondly, he can¡¯t guarantee that the A rankers would stay silent. Even if the A rankers agreed with Kyte, he wouldn¡¯t want anyone to know that he killed them. Kyte thought about what their situation would be like at the Core. A rankers were plentiful there; even S rankers weren¡¯t rare at all. What would happen to C and B rankers? In one situation, they would be relentlessly bullied their entire lives. In the other, they would be protected and helped. However, which situation was more realistic? Forcing C and B rankers with S rankers? It¡¯s like making a kitten play with lions. Plus, there¡¯s always those people that take advantage of others. They couldn¡¯t care less about the shit people live through, just as long as they don¡¯t. ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m pretty sure you vaguely know of the...situation we¡¯ve been forced into. I can¡¯t remember there ever being a forest located here. Considering that we¡¯re still several hours away from the Core, it will likely take us several days to travel through. Depending on what happens in the forest, we could possibly be delayed even longer. Furthermore, the forest itself disrupts any signals. So, that means that our phones don¡¯t work.¡± Kyte paused to see their reactions. Unfortunately, they followed his expectations. Two of the A rankers were still calm, but Kyte could tell that they others were slowly coming to the realization that they would never come out alive. ¡°No need to be frightened. I know you¡¯ve seen what¡¯s happened with the normal humans and other animals. It is very possible that there could be real monsters in the forest. However, the strongest monster we¡¯ve run into so far has been at most A rank. I highly doubt there could be any monster as strong as I am, so rest assured. I will not let any of you die while I¡¯m here.¡± Kyte¡¯s words seemed to some-what help them calm down. However, the real threat of monsters in the forest kept the feeling of fear within them. After seeing their friends slaughtered before their eyes by the S rank Guardians, they were still in shock. Hopefully after a few hours their minds would calm down. Probably after a night¡¯s sleep would they finally be calm enough for Kyte to explain their best course of action. ¡°For now, I want all of you to follow me. We need to make some headway into the forest and create our campsite before the sun goes down. We have at most four hours of light left, so we need to hurry.¡± Kyte began to walk into the forest with the Gifted following behind him. The temperature noticeably changed. It was an abnormal change, to say the least. It grew humid, however, instead of being warm, it was almost freezing cold. The water in the air, on the plants, and the ground, wasn''t frozen. The cold was a piercing cold, though Kyte was fine walking through it. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°It¡¯s..s-s-s-so c-c-c-cold¡­¡± Kyte looked back at the other Gifted and remembered that their power wasn¡¯t like his. The one that had spoken was one of the C rankers. Kyte could see frost starting to form on their bodies, and even the B rankers were having a hard time. Kyte mentally sighed as he spread out a thin strip of black light around the group. He then converted it into fire to keep the others warm. He was careful not to accidentally catch anything on fire as they walked through the forest. Fortunately, the vegetation on the forest floor wasn¡¯t that thick so it was easy to travel through, even with the circle of fire. Plus, they were walking next to the train track so naturally there wasn¡¯t much vegetation around it, aside from some grass. After three hours had passed, the sun was hovering just around the horizon. Though Kyte couldn¡¯t actually see it, he could tell that the remaining light was fading. Peculiarly, the natural temperature was beginning to rise instead fall. The abnormality of the forest was quite interesting to Kyte. He thought about the possible reasons as to why it was freezing during day and warmer during night. He couldn¡¯t figure out an answer, though. After about twenty minutes, the temperature was noticeable warmer than before. Kyte had to take away the fire ring because it was getting too hot. The humidity felt like it had increased, mostly because the temperature was warmer. The resilience of the water in the air was quite high. It didn¡¯t freeze or evaporate in those temperatures. Maybe it wasn¡¯t even water? Kyte took a few more steps until he discovered movement on the far edge of his Spirit energy. The thing just suddenly appeared without warning, as if it had teleported. Kyte stopped in his tracks, signaling the others to stop. They all looked at him weirdly until they heard a sound. The noise was like a deep clicking that echoed out throughout the forest. The clicking was quite fast and would stop after a few seconds. Then, the same noise would echo out again. Fear gradually grew on the Gifteds¡¯ faces as more than one clicking began to appear. Kyte picked up several different figures popping up within his Spirit energy. They traveled across the ground with irregular movements. They would sometimes disappear and then reappear in a different area. None of them came closer than thirty meters of their group, so Kyte closely observed them. They just suddenly appear and disappear...they¡¯re moving as if...wait...Oh no. After several seconds, Kyte realized his blunder. It¡¯s not that they were teleporting or anything, those creatures were just digging underground. Kyte didn¡¯t have his Spirit energy spread in the earth below; he only had it spread throughout the forest floor and a few meters above it. Kyte slowly breathed out before sending his Spirit energy below the ground. After seeing what was below, Kyte talked under his breath. ¡°...Holy shit.¡± Underneath the forest floor was an entire colony of creatures. The reason why Kyte didn¡¯t find anything above ground was because everything was below! Kyte assumed that these creatures lived below because the freezing temperatures didn¡¯t pierce far into the ground. Therefore, the earth below was warmer than above during the day. Now that it was night and the temperature was warmer, they would be coming up to the surface to search for food and water. There were so many creatures in that one small area that Kyte searched that he didn¡¯t even want to count. Kyte discovered a labyrinth of tunnels that stretched further down than his Spirit energy could reach. There were large pockets of space within the tunnel system which held more than one of those creatures. They weren¡¯t any type of insect that Kyte recognized. They probably weren¡¯t insects at all. Kyte first thought of ants and the tunnel systems they create, however, these creatures were at least four times bigger than he was. The system spread under the train track and reached farther than Kyte¡¯s Spirit energy could detect. Kyte heavily sighed. Should I tell them? They¡¯ll probably panic if they know there¡¯s giant monsters living underneath their feet. How would I explain a giant monster coming out of the ground if I don¡¯t tell them?.....No. For the time being, I won¡¯t tell them. They don¡¯t need the extra stress. I¡¯ll just have to deal with anything that appears. ¡°What¡¯s that noise?¡± One of the Gifted asked. Kyte lightly sighed before replying: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. For now, let¡¯s stop here. I¡¯ll deal with anything that approaches. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s out there, so let¡¯s assume they¡¯re hostile. However, that doesn¡¯t mean you attack them on sight. We are going on the defensive during this time. Also, I have several traps at my disposal so all of us can sleep easy tonight.¡± The weaker Gifted visually looked a bit calmer than before, but a few of the B rankers and the A rankers looked a bit skeptical. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®traps¡¯?¡± ¡°I mean exactly what I say. I am very well versed in traps-...Haaaa, none of you will understand. This is something only I can practice. You all will be safe during this time. That¡¯s all you need to know.¡± It¡¯s better to not tell them too much. Giving out unnecessary information could potentially bring trouble. Besides, once they see my formations for themselves, they¡¯ll trust me a bit more. ¡°I¡¯m going to go set up my traps now. Go ahead and set up something the best you can. It will take some time for me to complete my own setup, but don¡¯t worry. I will still protect you guys if anything comes.¡± ¡°Wait, y-you¡¯re leaving us?¡± A weaker Gifted said. ¡°What? No, I didn¡¯t say that. I just have to set up my traps. I¡¯ll still be in the immediate vicinity. I won¡¯t let you guys out of my sight.¡± Geeze, this is why fear is such a dangerous emotion. Especially the fear of the unknown. Though, I¡¯ll admit that I have a small bit of fear toward these creatures. I feel..nervousness more than anything. I wonder how strong they are¡­ Chapter 49: Forest (2) ; Blood Second chapter of the week. Personally, 1800-1900 words seems too small. I like to sit back for several minutes and enjoy some music while I read a chapter instead of finishing a chapter in one minute. Doesn''t mean I''ll be making chapter more than 2400 words, though. This one is almost 2100. I wonder when I''ll make another 4000 word chapter...Hahaha, anyway, enjoy. ______________________________________________________________________________ Kyte left behind a large flame to illuminate the surroundings for the other Gifted before moving away. He traveled about twenty meters until he stopped. He kept his Spirit energy spread out at all times just in case one of the creatures decided to come close enough. He began laying down formations around the group of Gifted. Unfortunately, Kyte doesn¡¯t have enough energy to create single large formation that would be able to encompass the entire group and the surrounding perimeter. Otherwise, the amount of the time Kyte had to use would be a fourth of what it was. The main formation he was using was the Frozen Blood formation. Since it creates a coldness that attacks an intruder, it was perfect against the creatures. He also put down alert formations around each Frozen Blood formation. Once he was finished with that, he laid down a Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse formation around the small area that the Gifted were in. If any creature made it past the other formations, the Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse would create a barrier that would hopefully stop them. Kyte stored energy within each formation so they had the ability to activate themselves if anything moved over them. He also configured them to not trigger if any of the Gifted walked over them. He wouldn¡¯t want any of them dying because of his carelessness. Just as he was going to relax, he suddenly remembered that these creatures primarily maneuver underground. Kyte sighed as he once again moved toward the outside perimeter. He set down another layer of alert formations about twenty meters below the earth before reconfiguring them to add a single layer of a defensive membrane around them. This would act as a barrier against the creatures if they hit the formation or try to destroy the earth the formation was laid on. Next, he copied the same configuration onto the other formations under the ground. Of course, he had to make a few adjustments because all formations were unique in their own way. However, the fortunate part of this uniqueness was that formations had the potential to designed with different properties. Kyte had only touched the tip of the gigantic mountain known as formations. There was still much more for him to learn. After he was finished laying down the formations, he traveled back to the group. He noticed several new objects placed around the fireball that looked similar to beds. Each bed was quite large and there even pillows. ¡°Who made the beds?¡± Kyte asked. Several of the Gifted screamed in surprise at Kyte¡¯s sudden appearance. For him to silently appear out of nowhere startled them, excluding the A rankers who had noticed his presence before he spoke. ¡°Uh¡­sorry?¡± Kyte said in a confused tone. They just looked at Kyte with faces full of relief as they breathed out a heavy sigh. ¡°So? Who was it?¡± ¡°It was me, sir.¡± A C ranker walked forward with a bit of nervous covering his face. He was a bit scrawny and looked to be about fifteen. ¡°I see...well, thanks for doing that. I won¡¯t inquire about your power. However, I would like to ask about the quality of these beds?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you, sir. I created them so that they will be soft while not leaving dirt or grime on your clothes.¡± ¡°Good job. Now, everyone, I just finished creating the traps. I¡¯ve also created some underground, so those creatures shouldn¡¯t be able to come within twenty meters of us. Well, it¡¯s actually a bit more than that because my traps are quite large.¡± An A ranker stepped forward at this moment and asked: ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t see any traps. There¡¯s nothing there.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. Quite observant of you. My traps are traps because they can¡¯t be seen. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be traps. Don¡¯t worry, I set them up in a way that they won¡¯t activate if any of you step on them.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The man stepped back with a slightly reddened face. ¡°Now, everyone get some rest. It¡¯s been a hectic day so I assume you¡¯re all quite tired.¡± ¡°¡±Yes, sir.¡±¡± They began to moved their things around and picked a bed. It was pretty much all the A rankers together, B rankers together, and C rankers together. It¡¯s not really discrimination since people tend to gather around others similar to them. Then again, lower ranked Gifted usually respect and sometimes fear higher ranking ones, so that¡¯s part of it as well. ¡°Also, I have quite a bit of food stored with me so we don¡¯t have to worry about that stuff. Unless we¡¯re stuck here for more than four weeks.¡± Kyte once again saw relief cover their faces. Since this was similar to an emergency situation, Kyte felt that it was necessary to use his food and water rations within the storage necklace. Since they¡¯re practically non-perishable while inside the storage necklace, which Kyte tested of course, he filled a certain area within the necklace to store quite a lot of food and water. He took out a bunch of useless elixirs and medicines that belonged to the lower half stages and just used that space for other things. Besides, Kyte also managed to get some of the food and drinks from the front of the train as they passed by it. There wasn¡¯t much there anyway so it added maybe a few days to the total limit. As Kyte was busy thinking of his next plan, a single Gifted walked up to him. It was the only female C ranker within the group, and she was pretty scrawny. ¡°U-umm¡­¡± ¡°Hm? What do you want?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°I-I just wanted to..um...thank you, for..uh...helping us.¡± ¡°...Right. You should be pretty tired, right? Go get some rest.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ...Being thanked feels weird. Even if it was from an ant. Kyte watched the small girl quickly walk toward a bed. He dimmed the fire above the group and split it up into smaller fireballs, to which he spread out to the perimeter of the circle. The soft glow of orange light flickering around the area created a warm and cozy atmosphere that allowed the group to rest a bit more easily. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Kyte didn¡¯t bother with sleep that night. He was busy high up in the air looking down at the many formations he laid down around the group. He wondered whether or not he could create a grand formation containing the alert, Frozen Blood, and Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse formations. It just took way too long to lay down all those formations just to leave them in the morning. Then, he would have to do the same thing again and again. Thinking of that, Kyte let out a heavy sigh. Doing that would just be completely unnecessary, especially when he could just create a grand formation containing all of them. It would save so much time and, if he¡¯s every a in similar situation, he could always use the same grand formation again. Plus, it would be nice practice to create one. So, Kyte began to create a grand formation containing those three individual formations. It was easier said than done, primarily because combining two or more formations requires one to reconfigure the formations being used. There¡¯s two ways to combine formations. The first way is to simply combine them by creating gateways on one side of the two formations and then connecting them via the gateways. The second way, which is the more difficult version, is to fuse the formations together which creates a new formation, or a grand formation. Now, by comparing these two ways one would think that the first way would be more efficient. However, that¡¯s wrong. What if a formation master wanted to combine several formations into one? They would have to create a significant amount of gateways on each formation just to connect them together. This would generate more work than creating a grand formation. Also, the more gateways there are, the more ways for the formation to be broken. This is even more troublesome the higher a formation master climbs the formation mountain as they get even more complex and numerous. That¡¯s not the only reason why grand formations are better. A grand formation¡¯s existence is to be more powerful than other formations, naturally. Regardless of how many layers a formation master uses, a grand formation will always triumph. A grand formation fuses formations together into one formation. It can be as large as needed as well. However, the work needed to be proficient at creating grand formations is astonishing. The benefits by doing so far outweigh the cost, though. Kyte himself is merely at the most basic proficiency with grand formations. Although Kyte is an advanced formation master, he¡¯s still only at the basic level while looking at the whole scope of formations. His skill is quite powerful for the stage he¡¯s at, though. While Kyte had his full attention on creating a grand formation, he failed to notice something moving in the background. It stealthily moved through the trees like a serpent in water. A single high-pitched click resounded throughout the area. However, no one was capable of hearing such a noise because their ears weren¡¯t powerful enough to register the sound. The creature moved with a ghost-like agility as it moved closer to the light created by the fireballs. It unknowingly stepped directly on the outside ring of alert formations. The moment it made contact, a string of Spiritual energy that was connected to Kyte instantly broke. He woke up from his intense focus just to see a large, thin creature slowly creeping further into the ring of formations. Kyte¡¯s vigilant expression suddenly changed into one of curiosity. This creature was actually different than the one Kyte saw within his Spiritual energy earlier than night. Unlike the other creatures which were bulky and muscular, this one was long and thin. Not only that, but it had thirty legs, fifteen for both sides of its body. Its body itself was about twenty feet long. Kyte immediately thought of centipedes, but after confirming the rest of its body, Kyte shook that idea. Instead of a defensive carapace, the creature was covered in fur. It legs were the only things that weren¡¯t covered with fur. Its legs were completely bone and they came to a sharp point. Kyte observed it move with its legs and discovered that it could control the hardness of its legs. It would make them softer when creeping and surprisingly it didn¡¯t hinder its movement. Kyte carefully observed as it inevitable traveled directly onto a Frozen Blood formation. Only about half of the creature¡¯s body was within the formation, however, even that was enough. A continuous bust of cold enveloped the entire formation as small droplets of water shot out onto the creature¡¯s underside. The cold paired with the water increased the freezing capability significantly. To Kyte¡¯s surprise, the creature instantly reacted and suddenly shot backward. It was still injured by the formation as a half second had passed when it was inside. A thick layer of frost covered the front half of its body which made it lose balance. When it shot backward it didn¡¯t give attention to its surroundings, causing it to smash directly through a tree and slamming into another which broke the frost off its body. It squirmed around for several seconds before Kyte flew down and manifested an energy sword. He instantly slashed off what he believed to be its head. Its body spasmed for a few more seconds before it slowly calmed down. A strange blue blood gushed out of its decapitated corpse, creating a puddle next to it. Intrigued by the color, Kyte knelt down to observe it closer. The smell was definitely different from normal blood, though it still wasn¡¯t pleasant. It also wasn¡¯t as thick as normal blood either. Kyte tried to absorb it, which he could, however, an abhorrent feeling washed over him the moment the first drop of blood entered him. Kyte quickly moved several steps away and puked onto the forest floor, emptying his entire stomach. Even after his stomach was empty his body still slightly convulsed as his stomach churned from the disgusting feeling. After his body calmed, Kyte took out a water bottle and washed out his mouth. He slowly sipped the water over several minutes until half of it was gone before emptying the rest of it on his face. He leaned his back against a tree as he breathed out a sigh of relaxation. ¡°Last time this happened was when I slaughtered Asshole¡¯s family¡­Haaah. I think I¡¯ll stick to red blood.¡± Chapter 50: Forest (3) ; Grand Understanding Chapter 50! Finally! Woohoo! 50 chapters into my story...wow, never thought I would ever write this much. I wonder how many words I''ve typed so far. My chapters are usually 1.9k-2.4k, with a few chapters above 3k words. So I think I''ve typed over 100k words? That''s a crap ton! Well over 300 pages (at least on Gdocs and Wordpad). Yay! Anyway, I created a thread in the "Promote Your Webnovel" section in the forum, so if any of you readers have any questions regarding me or the story, feel free to drop by and ask! I''ll answer to the best of my abilities. Here''s the link: Link! Now for the chapter. Enjoy!
After resting for a few minutes, Kyte stood up and walked back over to the creature¡¯s corpse. He examined its legs more than anything else merely because he wasn¡¯t interested in the rest of its body. The creature must have hardened its legs before I killed it. Kyte used his Spirit energy to focus on the bone structure in the creature¡¯s legs. He traced the bone up into the body and noticed that the bones were exactly the same as the legs. So the entire skeleton system can harden and soften to allow for greater maneuverability. How does this work though? Honestly, Kyte wasn¡¯t expecting to discover anything from the creature. He just thought it was interesting, and, since Kyte quite liked knowledge, he wanted to at least understand the creature even slightly. It wasn¡¯t to create countermeasures against them or anything, since he can just kill them without much difficulty. It¡¯s just the feeling of understanding that Kyte likes so much. Kyte breathed out a sigh of slight exhaustion. He could still feel small specks of that repulsive blood. That happened with just one drop. I can¡¯t imagine the reaction if I absorbed all of it. I need to be careful from now on. He destroyed the corpse by burning it before reappearing above the camp to continue his work. Kyte estimated that it would take a few days to complete the grand formation, unfortunately. He just didn¡¯t have enough skill with formations to create grands fast enough. He felt a bit depressed that he had to waste about half an hour every night setting up all of those formations again. And, he would have to do that for the next few nights. At least it would give him some practice. By the time faint rays of sunlight pierced through the dense tree branches, everyone was awake. It may be due to the stress from their predicament or how early they went to sleep, but everyone seemed prepared to advance. Of course, a couple of them were quite lazy, mainly the weaker B rankers, but in reality everyone wanted to leave that forsaken forest. The temperature was beginning to noticeably decrease, so Kyte descended and created another ring of fire around everyone. As Kyte destroyed the surrounding formations, he felt a bit depressed. He wished there was a way to carry the formation with him, but that was impossible for someone of his skill level. At that thought, Kyte discovered the idea of pre-laying the formations on paper and then expanding them onto the landscape around the campsite. However, he threw that idea out. Sometimes it was better to tough things out and get experience than take the easy way out. Besides, Kyte knew he needed more experience if he wanted to gain power. He received his power from Sol¡¯keer almost half a year earlier. Only half a year. Kyte¡¯s combat experience can¡¯t be described as...extensive. He wishes that he had more time to sit down and thoroughly research and train himself in order to prepare for the future, however, there seems to always be something that interrupts him. He really wants to learn how to forge equipment but that process would take way too long. Maybe when he reaches the Core he¡¯ll have more time to train his techniques. Hopefully. Anyways, Kyte led the group through the forest once again. His Spirit energy was always spread out, covering about half a mile around them and a good thirty meters below them. That wasn¡¯t its limit but it was good enough for the situation they were in. Plus, half a mile was plenty of space for Kyte to notice anything. The group¡¯s peregrination was quite uneventful for the next two days. The only real occurrence was when one of the underground creatures, which Kyte gave the unoriginal name of Digger, suddenly popped up during the night and decided to sprint toward their group. Of course, before it could get to their group it was killed by a Frozen Blood formation. Kyte examined its corpse and hypothesized that it may have been sick from something. The color of its skin was the complete opposite of the normal Diggers and its eyes were a bright red rather than a clean white. Kyte wondered if it may have been a mutated type of Rabies or something along those lines. Because of that, Kyte immediately transported the corpse far away from the group and thoroughly burned it to ashes. He positioned himself about twenty meters away from the corpse when he burned it and he used wind to blow the smoke up and in the opposite direction of the group. Since he mastered Windwalker, he obtained a slight proficiency of wind control. That and he could convert black light into wind and then use that. For some reason he had greater control over the wind converted from black light than just normal air. He was quite confused over this phenomenon but he couldn¡¯t really question it at the moment. It was a good idea to blow the smoke away because any trees or branches that came into contact with it began to melt. Apparently it was either highly acidic or corrosive so the trees didn¡¯t stand a chance. It was quite a weird scene, actually. Because the tree branches were interwoven with branches from other trees, the trees actually wouldn¡¯t fall. For example, if a tree was melted in half, the top half would just hang there because the branches were strong enough to support the weight. ¡°Hopefully that¡¯s the only one.¡± Kyte sighed as he mumbled those words under his breath. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. He traveled back to the group and told them to keep moving. He didn¡¯t tell them about the creature¡¯s ¡°sickness¡± because, if there really was only one, there would be no reason to tell them. Besides, the creature was actually a bit weaker than normal because of it. The only danger it posed was probably its blood and other secretions. Kyte didn¡¯t feel the need to test it because he assumed it was unnecessary. Only time will tell. Anyways, the group continued onward for the next few hours until the sun started to set. It was no longer a bright yellow shine but rather a low orange glow that permeated through the branches. Only a small amount of light successfully penetrated into the forest below because the sun was no longer high in the sky but resting on the horizon. Despite the decrescence of sunlight, the temperature within the forest began to rise once again. Kyte still wasn¡¯t able to figure out why this phenomenon was occurring so he just decided to drop the pointless investigation. Besides, if he ever did figure it out, how would that help him? After arriving at a new area, the group settled down for yet another night. Kyte laid down even more formations which, because of the previous practice, was completed slightly faster. Still took more than twenty minutes, though. The group silently went to sleep as Kyte once again refused to rest. He was almost finished with the grand formation and he had the feeling of enlightenment which was on the tip of his tongue. He began to discover similarities between the partially-completed grand formation and the separate formations. Several characters begin to resemble certain aspects of the characters from each individual formation. It seems as if...the characters themselves are coalescing. It¡¯s not just the characters but also the structure. The line thickness and design insinuate the idea that the various different lines and drawings merge together to form...a new formation. Kyte quickly flew down to a patch of open landscape and laid down the three formation on top of each other. He configured them to shine with a different color: Alert was green, Frozen Blood was blue, and Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse was red. Kyte intensely studied the three formations as they gleamed in the darkness. He took out the paper which had the partially-completed grand formation design and compared it with the three formations on the ground. I see it...I see it!! I see which lines merge! I see the different characters that combine! I understand now! ¡°Hahaha!!! Yes! Yes! I did it! Hahaha!¡± Kyte did a small little dance of joy from being able to understand the theory behind the grand formation. That feeling of understanding something after so much hard work just fills him with energy and happiness. Although, collectively, it took him more than a month to reach this point, Kyte still felt ecstatic about his discovery. The longer it takes him to understand something, the happier he feels when he finally does. However, even though he understood the theory, putting that understanding into practice is easier said than done. He still has to work out a set of guidelines to follow so that he would be able to create grand formations more easily. Once he accomplishes that, he¡¯s pretty much already reached home base. With that, Kyte began to work on finishing the grand formation. It became much easier to complete it now that he gained enlightenment regarding formations. He flew back over the camp to get a good view of the entire network of formations in the area. And like this, two weeks passed. Along the way through the forest, the group encountered almost nothing. They still did not know how much farther they had to travel to get out. However, the persevered through the stressful journey. Fortunately, due to Kyte¡¯s continual show of power, the group had significantly calmed down compared to the start. The further in they trekked the more frequent attacks became. At first it was the same weird centipede-like creatures that would move about in the area mainly due to curiosity. However, after several nights, they began to attack. Fortunately, the grand formation protecting the group defended them from all of the intruders. The grand formation¡¯s power was at most double that of the individual formation network, so that made everyone feel a bit more security throughout the night. Those weren¡¯t the only creatures, however. About a week after Kyte gained enlightenment, he noticed that the group left the territory of the Diggers. From then on, he discovered a new type of creature that he dubbed Stalkers. These Stalkers would literally do just that, stalk. They looked like giant mammal-type praying mantises, though they don¡¯t have scythe arms. In fact, their arms are opposite of a praying mantis. Instead of hooking or grabbing they stab with their sword-like arms. Aside from that, they have four black, beady eyes. Two in the front and two in the back. Their fur is regularly dark green but since they can change the color of their bodies and hair they usually try to match their surroundings as much as possible. Fortunately their running speed isn¡¯t very fast. Their attack speed is frighteningly so, though. Kyte searched the storage necklace and estimated there to be about another two weeks of food and water left. He became slightly dispirited because even now he was giving up his share almost every single day. Most times he was using his life force, which was a ginormous amount, to sustain himself. He still had loads of life force to use so it didn¡¯t really matter much, but he still misses real food sometimes. Aside from those things, the only thing that Kyte had been doing was researching formations. He had created the first half of the guideline with the help of a few other grand formation experiments. He still needed time to complete and polish it enough to confidently wield it as his first tool created solely from his own hard work. This is the biggest reason why he had been skipping out on eating. He was focused on his formation theory and guideline. Kyte thought of breaking through the layer of branches to see how much further they need to travel but when he tried to do so he was met with a powerful force of resistance. It seemed like the trees themselves were blocking Kyte from directly harming them. Chapter 51: Forest (4) ; Memories Wow, I can''t believe I actually managed to push out a chapter even with my exhaustion. Swim practice this week was super hard. I practically wanted to sleep forever after yesterday haha. Anyway, I think I''m getting in to a bit of a schedule here. One chapter Monday or Tuesday and then one on Friday. I''m not saying I am creating schedule, but this is just how I''m writing it right now. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Don''t forget to leave a comment for me, thanks! (Any questions you have, refer to my thread in "Promote Your Webnovel".)
Kyte manifested an energy sword before he attacked the wall of branches. To his amazement, an invisible barrier nullified his attack. He tried several more attacks, even a new Sonic Blade, but they were all futile. The energy just seemed to disappear. Frowning, Kyte landed back on the ground. ¡°What happened?¡± An A ranker asked. ¡°The branches nullified my attacks. I can¡¯t break through it.¡± Kyte replied. ¡°What? How is that possible?¡± A different Gifted spoke up with a hint of fear in their voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It seems like there¡¯s a barrier layered over the branches that blocks anything from touching them. Or maybe it blocks anything that has the intent to harm...Anyway, there¡¯s no way to break through it at the moment. We just need to focus on getting out of here.¡± Kyte began to walk forward through the trees. The group followed close behind him with the fire ring simultaneously moving with them. The intensity of the cold was increasing the farther they traveled and a faint layer of mist began to slowly manifest on the forest floor. As Kyte walked through the forest, he suddenly felt a bit lost. This feeling was slowly growing stronger over the past couple of days and now Kyte was beginning to grow worried. He felt like he was forgetting something important, something that he and the group used before. What he didn¡¯t notice was that, along with the feeling of being lost, the train track had silently disappeared. __________________________________________ -Two weeks later- Kyte sat down on the inner edge of the campsite. The grand formation encompassed about thirty meters in every direction, making sure that nothing attacked them while they were sleeping. The frequency of attacks seemed to increase every day, and Kyte was growing tired of it. Plus, the creatures were growing in power as well. The weakest was at least equivalent to a Bronze A ranker. Not only that but the food and water supply had nothing left. Even when Kyte himself didn¡¯t take any of it, the supply still ran out. These three factors, including the fact that they¡¯re still stuck in the forest, made worry endlessly grow within Kyte. He would have to make the announcement about the food and water supply being gone in the morning. He didn¡¯t think he would be able to successfully deter the group¡¯s fear of starvation and dehydration but he¡¯ll think of something. Hmm, I wonder if the water created from black light is drinkable? I¡¯ve never tried it before. Haaa....I still have this feeling of forgetting something. The group had long forgotten about the train track. By now, the layer of mist had expanded up to their knees. Not only that but the atmosphere throughout the forest shifted from clear and light-filled to a tenebrous ambience. However, it seemed as if no one noticed this transformation. Only Kyte took notice of the eerie environment, as well as the increased frenziness of the creatures attacking them. Kyte observed the creatures and he concluded that they may have completely lost their minds. Their eyes were beet red while any of their blood proved to be acidic or corrosive in nature. The intensity of blood was dependent on whichever creature it originated from, but at this stage any of that blood is dangerous. Thinking back, Kyte tried to remember where he saw such behavior. His muddled memories played back in his mind but they were just too disordered. Faint images of his past fluttered through his recollection but he couldn¡¯t make any sense of it. Pieces of scenes swam past his mind¡¯s eyes and look as if they were merging together to create a blend of meaninglessness. Images of him standing with two older people taking their last picture together. A car ripped to shreds as the occupants went with it. A man throwing Kyte to the ground and continually smashing his fists against Kyte¡¯s face. A red-haired beauty, naked, lying next to him. The warmth from their bodies interlock and form a strange cycle of reciprocation. That warmth being ripped away as the ground around Kyte began to rip apart, destroying the image of inconsequential happiness as a new image took form. Lined up in-front of Kyte was a group of people whose faces were darkened by their hair. Red hair, white hair, black hair, brown hair, blonde hair. Even two older people that looked similar to Kyte were standing with the others. Suddenly, Kyte somehow understood that all of their expressions changed into ones of disdain and disappointment. They turned around and began to walk away from him. He suddenly felt a considerable amount of pain that seemed to pierce straight through his heart. Two streams of tears glided down his cheeks as he could do nothing but watch them disappear. After a full five seconds, a black figure appeared in-front of the line of people. A cloudy mist drifted off its frame. The black mist spread out to encompass the entire realm of Kyte¡¯s dream as faint whispering began to proliferate throughout his mind. The distinct black figure began to walk toward Kyte. ¡°Y??????????O?????U????????????¡­¡± It disappeared before manifesting itself directly in-front of Kyte. ¡°...B????????????E???????????T?????????R???????????A?????????Y????????E????????D??????????? ?????????M???????E??????????????!!¡± Kyte instantly awoke, gasping for air as sweat glided down his face over his eyes. It was still night and the others were calmly sleeping it away. Kyte stood up and flew into the air and began to cycle wind throughout his clothing to air it out, as well as to cool himself down. He breathed out a long sigh as he looked up at the wall of branches above him. Utter confusion filled him as memories flooded into his mind. Clarity slowly began to return to him as he sorted the memories. After a full minute Kyte recovered everything he had lost. He remembered everything, even the days when his memory was slowly being sealed away. He spread out his Spirit energy and discovered that the train track was indeed gone. He had slowly led the group away from the track over the last two weeks without anyone noticing. This was due to the fact that everyone''s memories were carefully sealed over time. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Shit¡­¡± Kyte spread his Spirit Energy in the direction of the train tracks. At least, the direction he thinks it¡¯s located. Unfortunately, his Spirit energy did not discover the tracks. Kyte silently floated to the ground and tried to calm himself down. The worry he felt before he regained his memories grew even stronger. Kyte knew that he and the group was still lost, all because of him. Fuck...damn it! If only I wasn¡¯t so weak. I really let my memories get sealed away?! I¡¯m such an idiot! I wonder how much time has actually passed? I need to get to the Core. I¡¯m sure Thomas would increase the deadline. Not everyone can make it in two weeks, especially with the Guardian ambushes. What a stupid idea, putting on a deadline! Who the Hell does that?! Kyte laid back on the ground and closed his eyes. At least he didn¡¯t squander his formation research when his memories were sealed. Although he was a bit slower because of it, he did manage to create two new grand formations. The first one being comprised of Frozen Blood and Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse, which excluded the alert formation, and the second one was created from Execution Blitz and Surging Energy. Both of those formations absorb energy in a certain way and release it as an attack, which is great for a hidden attack. Since Kyte can create multiple grand formations, though not at the same time, he would be able to set up an enormously powerful trap. He decided to name the two formations. The first one named Frozen Eclipse while the other is Energy Blitz. Frozen Eclipse is a fully defensive formation. A shield appears while emitting a piercingly cold wind outward while the shield is active. Energy Blitz absorbs energy from the surroundings and from Kyte himself, which decreases the amount of time needed for it to charge. It creates a surge of energy that explodes toward the direction Kyte wants. He also used a defensive base structure for both of the formations to block any attacks aiming for the formations themselves. These two formations made Kyte quite happy. They seemed to perfectly complement each other, and, because they¡¯re grand formations, their power is far higher than they were individually. Kyte was trying to create a configuration where the formations could absorb energy from any source, not just the atmosphere and Kyte himself. He can use the two formations to increase the Bloodcursed armor¡¯s power as well as any weapon he obtains. Kyte also began to study the formation on the Bloodcursed armor that allowed it to absorb blood. Since Kyte doesn¡¯t know how to create brand new formations from scratch, he needs examples to help guide him. He was trying to create a formation that would allow him to absorb blood from anything at his will. He especially wanted this when fighting an opponent. When he drew blood, he would absorb it. This was actually a great idea that could potentially save him. After thinking this far, Kyte wanted to sleep. After he regained his memories, he wanted to get a good night¡¯s rest so that he could be fully functional the next day. Thankfully the mist was non-existent within the grand formation, otherwise that Gifted would have to alleviate the beds. And so, Kyte fell asleep. _____________________ ¡°ROHHHHHH!¡± Kyte woke up to the sound of non-human, heart wrenching screams. His eyes snapped open as he instantly rose to his feet to survey the surroundings. Surrounding the group was a crowd of winged creatures that gripped onto the trees. They were crazily screaming at the group and Kyte noticed a few corpses lying within the grand formation. A few of the creatures were just out the diameter of the grand formation as they barbarically pounded the ground. They looked like over-sized goblins with large, feathery wings that savagely protruded out from their backs. Whenever they screamed they would open their jaws incredibly wide, revealing several rows of razor sharp teeth. Everything about their appearance was simply vicious. The other Gifted were wide awake as the weaker ones began to scream out of fear. Kyte mentally sighed before he walked into the outer reaches of the grand formation. All the creatures suddenly huddled around in that one area just outside the formation. Kyte knelt down next to a corpse and quickly examined it to find any weak points. He primarily searched with Spirit energy to discover any softer areas in the body, like the throat. Apparently these creatures¡¯ wings were incredibly fragile so they only use them for flight. However, when Kyte slashed a wound onto the corpse it quickly healed. These creatures probably evolved fast regenerative abilities rather than strong defense. Doesn¡¯t really change much, though. Kyte used the strong wind currents in the air to suddenly disappear from sight. He reappeared behind the crowd of creatures, creating a small ball of black light in his hand. The creatures, once Kyte disappeared, frantically searched around for him. When he reappeared they all instantly rushed toward him with their sharp claws outstretched. Kyte stood there in the air, waiting for their claws to strike into his body. The weaker Gifted, after seeing Kyte stand there, let out small screams of despair as the group of creatures surrounded Kyte. Kyte just stood there as the first claw struck. The nails easily slashed straight through his flesh, making blood spray out onto his clothes and the creature itself. That one attack almost severed his arm from his shoulder. Seeing this, Kyte was instantly shocked at the sharpness of the creature¡¯s claws. He immediately converted the black light into a giant fireball that spread out to cover the entire cluster of creatures. The fire instantly vaporized everything within it, including a few portions of a tree that got caught. Kyte stopped the fireball from expanding any further than several meters, which was just enough to destroy the creatures present. He then retracted the fire into another small ball of black light which evaporated into nothingness. Piles of ash fell to the forest floor as Kyte himself slowly floated downward. The Gifted that were watching let out breaths of relief as some fell to their knees. Kyte walked back into the camp and noticed that a few of the Gifted were wearing confused expressions as they looked around in a puzzled manner. Kyte carefully watched those few Gifted, which were the strongest Gifted of the group, as they slowly began to realize their memory-less minds. Chapter 52: Forest (5) ; Memories (2) I actually finished this chapter yesterday and I wanted to get a head start on chapter 53 but I got sidetracked. I also finally saw Deadpool, which was an awesome movie. Also, please leave a review, comment, and whatever else might be important for me. You guys may not know, but comments and stuff are very motivating and they help us authors write more chapters, faster. Reviews do the same. The logical ones, anyway. You can''t just give a low rating without explaining why (That''s a dick move). Anyway, enjoy.
Kyte watched those Gifted as they suddenly fell to the ground, gripping their heads. They seemed to be silently screaming with their eyes shut tight. Of the five Gifted on the ground, two had streams of tears falling off their faces. The others were just rolling around with pained expressions. It was quite a weird scene, mostly because there was no noise. However, it was because of that silence that made it seem even more horrifying. Watching it play out, Kyte didn¡¯t really know what to do. He wondered if the same thing happened to him, but when he woke up he was still in the same position as he was before he went to sleep. It seemed like only his tears in the dream was connected to reality, and this was the first time he experienced such a incident. Kyte was also using this event as a sort of experiment. The results would show whether or not the unsuccessful unsealing of memories led to delirium seen with the creatures. As the Gifted watched the other five undergo their unsealing, they began to grow a bit agitated themselves. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Why are they¡­?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just stand back and watch. It¡¯ll take some time for it stop.¡± Kyte said as he walked forward in-between the Gifted and the other five. He moved the normal Gifted farther away from the five to make sure they wouldn¡¯t try anything stupid. He kept his Spirit energy spread throughout the entire area, just in case something other than the Gifted tried anything stupid. Next, Kyte asked that one Gifted to make a chair for him. The Gifted, mainly out of fear, ¡®happily¡¯ complied and immediately created an earth chair for him. Thus, Kyte sat down and began to observe the entire process. _________________________________________ -Several hours later- While the other Gifted were unable to do anything, thus their incredible boredom, Kyte was quite interested in the unsealing process. He doesn¡¯t know why the sealing and unsealing occur so he wondered if he could obtain some sort of enlightenment regarding the ability to manipulate mental states, mainly memories. He still doesn¡¯t know the origin of the mist or the sealing of memories. He can¡¯t remember when the sealing started or where it started ironically enough. By now, three of the five Gifted were completely asleep. They stopped thrashing around and were calm, however the other two were still gripping their heads in pain. Kyte recorded the elapsed time between the start and now, and the three calm Gifted had stopped their wild mannerisms exactly four hours after they started. It was now five hours and forty minutes after the start of their tribulation. About twenty minutes later, the two remaining Gifted suddenly stopped their wild movements. Kyte intensely watched them. A few seconds later, both of them stood up and snapped their eyes open. Seeing their eyes, Kyte immediately stood up and placed binding formations on their arms and legs which made them fall to the ground. They intensely convulsed, trying to break free of the bindings but they ultimately failed. They crazily screamed in anger and frustration and continued to writhe around on the ground. ¡°What happened to them?!¡± A Gifted yelled. Kyte stood up and said: ¡°Calm down! I have them bound so they can¡¯t move around. Other than moving their bodies around, which can¡¯t do much anyway. Leave the other three alone, they¡¯re fine. I¡¯ll personally take care of these two who are...unsuccessful.¡± ¡°But, what if the other-¡± ¡°Like. I. Said. Those three are fine. Leave them alone, they¡¯ll wake up when they do. I won¡¯t let these other two harm you guys, either.¡± Now, I wonder how I¡¯ll study these two. I wonder if I inject some of my Spirit energy I¡¯ll be able to feel around inside their minds¡­? Hmmm, I¡¯ve never tried that before. I should start with safe subjects first, like the other three that successfully unsealed their memories. Kyte looked over to the three gifted silently lying on the ground and then back at the two that were struggling in his binding formations. Yea, definitely safer to use mentally stable subjects first. Kyte breathed out a sigh of annoyance because of the constant screaming. He inserted some Internal energy into their throats and severed their vocal cords before reconstructing them and healing them. It¡¯s not like Kyte is a professional with the human body so he was basically winging it when he reconstructed and healed their vocal cords. Though, since they weren¡¯t making any noise and they weren¡¯t suffering, Kyte assumed it was a success. Mostly. Anyway, Kyte got straight to work on his research. He implanted a piece of Spirit energy into one of the three calm Gifted and sent his consciousness into it. That process was actually significantly more difficult than Kyte had originally surmised. So, instead of sending his entire consciousness into another person¡¯s mind, he decided to insert a piece of his consciousness. Instead of the word consciousness, Kyte referred to it as his Will. Kind of like he was sending an intelligent message that could act out a process which could lead to the objective goal, almost acting like a sentient being on its own. Of course, it actually wasn¡¯t sentient per se. It was only a piece of Kyte¡¯s Will that acted out his plans. It¡¯s quite complicated. Kyte used that piece of Will to observe the inside of the Gifted¡¯s mind. This process was only possible because Kyte¡¯s soul was exponentially more powerful than the Gifted¡¯s. Otherwise, Kyte would be blocked by the naturally existent walls within a person¡¯s soul. Of course, the Dementia skill gives Kyte the ability to forcefully break those walls because his Spirit energy wouldn¡¯t have his Will to guide it, thus rendering it a foreign and berserk existence. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Using that piece of Will as a proxy, Kyte delved into the Gifted¡¯s soul. It felt as if his mind was sucked through a tunnel of white colorlessness that took away all the senses that composed his existence. After what felt like eternity, which was actually an instantaneous action, Kyte found himself standing in a space devoid of color. However, it was a different colorlessness than the black light. This, instead, was white rather than black. Looking around, Kyte noticed that the space he was in seemed endless. He couldn¡¯t even sense a beginning or an end to this bizarre expanse. However, he discovered something within it. Behind Kyte was a clear sphere that had a tint of light blue covering it. Along with that, there were several layers within the sphere. Kyte walked toward it, taking notice that all of his senses were nonexistent. Instead of sight Kyte felt as if he could perfectly ¡®sense¡¯ everything around him. Once he was closer to the sphere, Kyte saw what looked like a small, dense ball of light. It faintly shined with a brilliance unlike anything Kyte had ever seen before. It seemed otherworldly, like a mystical sun was illuminating the inside of the sphere. However, it seemed strangely...mechanical in nature. Kyte was instantly intrigued by that ball of light, so he reached out and pushed against the outer layer of the sphere. Instantly, the entire white realm convulsed and shook. A roaring sound entered Kyte¡¯s mind as he slid through the outer sphere. The outer sphere shattered, causing the realm¡¯s shaking to intensify. Kyte took several steps back and noticed that the ball of light¡¯s brilliance slightly dimmed. Cursing, Kyte sat down and began to think. So my conjecture was right. These spheres are a type of wall preventing outside powers from getting in. If that¡¯s the case, then souls should be created with the intent to protect themselves? From what? And this is assuming every soul has this defense system. And why did the ball dim? Its nature doesn¡¯t seem natural enough either...Well, what exactly is natural? Maybe this is normal for souls. What is this place anyway? It¡¯s completely different from my experience of my own soul. Maybe there¡¯s a difference between the soul and consciousness? Ugh, this is pretty complicated. Kyte sat there pondering these many mysteries before trying to experiment once again. The first thing he tried was sending some of his Will through the next sphere. That completely failed so he switched to his second idea. He created a thread of Spirit energy and controlled it to move toward the sphere. It was mildly obstructed, however, it passed through the barrier without shattering it. There were four layers total so, now that two were bypassed, there were only two left. Kyte directed the Spirit energy further through the sphere. Soon it reached the third barrier. After releasing a deep breath, Kyte led the thread into the barrier. The realm slightly shuddered as the thread forced its way through the third sphere. Hooo, ok. Time of the last one. The moment the thread touched the last barrier, the entire realm violently shook. Trying his best to ignore the constant rumbling, Kyte pierced right through the final barrier. The Spirit energy thread slowly entered the space around the ball of light. The shaking¡¯s intensity instantly increased. Kyte was using all his strength to stay still and focus on the operation. He moved the thread forward and touched the ball of light. Instantaneously, memories began to ceaselessly flood into Kyte¡¯s mind. Memories of childhood, high school, kidnapping, torture, revenge, friendship, and love overwhelmingly entered and overlapped with Kyte¡¯s own memories. Sensing extreme danger, Kyte instantly pulled out and exited the Gifted¡¯s soul and returned to his own body. He blasted up into the air and crazily flew in every direction, smashing into trees and thrashing about on the ground. He ravaged his throat by incessantly screaming at the top of his lungs. Kyte savagely tore open the ground with his fists; he smashed his feet into the earth, creating giant craters that caused long and deep cracks to spread out into the surrounding area. The Gifted that were watching this scene grew dumbfounded. One second Kyte was completely silent, the next he was behaving like those creatures. In reality, the amount of time Kyte spent inside that Gifted¡¯s soul was equivalent to a split second in the real world. The flow of time is always different when inside a different space, and it¡¯s up to the person involved whether or not they can control that flow. Of course, in order to do so, one must be proficient in spatial abilities and practices. Due to having almost thirty years of memories, that didn¡¯t belong to him, flood to his mind, Kyte was having an existential crisis. He wondered whether he was the Gifted named Laken Blake or the abnormality named Kyte Stone. The memories were so vivid it was like he himself were there experiencing it. The reason why he was going mentally insane was because the amount of memories he unintentionally obtained spanned a longer time period than Kyte was alive. Kyte was only eighteen and a half while he got almost thirty years worth of memories from that Gifted. Those memories were overpowering his own due to their greater strength in quantity and emotions. However, Kyte¡¯s subconsciousness wouldn¡¯t let something so stupid defeat him. It temporarily pulled Kyte¡¯s consciousness back into the deep recesses of the mind, keeping Kyte¡¯s memories safe. Due to this, the memories he obtained were allowed to run rampant through his mind. Chapter 53: Forest (6) ; Memory Manipulation Second chapter of the week! Reason why I was even able to get this out was because I wrote about half of it after I finished last chapter. I''ll be starting the next chapter right now too, so that''s good. Hopefully I''m able to get it up before Saturday. So, Friday hopefully. Please don''t forget to leave a comment and review (if possible). I know how hard it is to click down in that box and leave a few words for me. It''s almost world-changing how difficult that is. I''m joking. Edit: I guess it is hard. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Immediately, Kyte¡¯s soul subconsciousness reacted. A black, primordial cloud surged outward to encompass the entirety of Kyte¡¯s mind. It trapped and secluded those foreign memories, causing his physical body to suddenly drop to the ground. It lay there amidst the destruction and mayhem that it caused. A deathly silence filled the entire area, leaving the Gifted shocked without knowing how to react. Back inside Kyte¡¯s soul, that black cloud suddenly stopped moving. The subconsciousness carefully let Kyte take control once again as it remained cautious of any dangers. That clump of memories detained by the black cloud struggled to be free, however, all its efforts were futile. Kyte slowly regained focus. He was currently within his mind, looking around for those memories that threatened to end his existence. He was intrigued by the black energy surrounding the area he was positioned, but he knew it came from the black figure he absorbed during his breakthrough. He assumed it was ¡®controlled¡¯ by his subconscious, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about it revolting or anything. If it could, anyway. However, Kyte wanted to know how to consciously control that black energy. That black figure had existed within him even before he obtained the Bloodrage technique and he still doesn¡¯t know what it is. Or what it was capable of. Because he was inside his own mind, Kyte had the ability to perfectly sense everything within it. He strode toward a certain region that housed the foreign memories and proceeded to look through the black cloud surrounding them. What he saw were just lumps of light that had differentiating colors. He kept the black cloud in place surrounding the memories and, due to the fact that Kyte was within his own mind, he was able to see through it. He carefully observed the memories, searching for a way to at least order the memories. He didn¡¯t want to reach in because that would most certainly backfire immediately. The only other thing he could think of at the moment was¡­ ¡°Separate the memories into emotions.¡± Kyte¡¯s voice echoed out like an omnipotent God. It spread throughout the entire realm and seemed to continue on forever. What he did was more of an experiment rather than a command. He was speaking to the black energy so he was a bit skeptical whether or not anything would happen. Surprisingly, something did happen. The black energy instantly pierced into the lump of memories, ripping it apart and spreading throughout the contents to give order to the chaos. The memories seemed to be struggling against the black energy, however, it was no match. They were quickly spread apart into a line in-front of Kyte and the black energy displayed the memories in order. Kyte noticed the first color was white, the second yellow, third orange, fourth pink, fifth blue, sixth red, so on and so forth. He moved in-front of the white clump and peered into it, trying to discover anything. He saw indistinct images that displayed two large people looking down at something. Kyte immediately thought of that white clump to be the Gifted¡¯s earliest memories, which are to be during the time he was a baby. Kyte named the white Innocence and continued toward the next clump. He named the other colors, but this isn¡¯t a list of about naming colors, right? Anyway, Kyte discovered that this Gifted and his sister had been kidnapped and tortured because their powers were discovered. The Gifted was forced to watch the assailants take turns raping his sister and cutting off small pieces of flesh every new round. There were several D rank Guardians around, and the Gifted and his sister were about twelve at the time. The Gifted did not have sufficient experience to defend him or his sister. However, after seeing his sister mercilessly raped and tortured before being beheaded, his mind snapped and he lost control of his power. He wiped out everyone and thing there, turning everything into ash. He even disintegrated his sister¡¯s corpse, though it was for the better. Most of that was contained within a deep red clump. The part when the Gifted lost control was within a black clump instead of the red clump. He appropriately named the black clump Insanity, though Kyte created the criteria for Insanity to be quite wide. It contains several emotions into one which breaks a person¡¯s mind¡­ Wait...did¡­.did I just figure it out?! The way the unsealing makes the creatures behave the way they do. It¡¯s because the unsealing doesn¡¯t disorder the memories, it let¡¯s them run rampant within the subject¡¯s mind! It¡¯s up to the victim to order their memories themselves. I see...but that still doesn¡¯t explain how to seal or unseal. Maybe the seal just wears off after a certain amount of time? I should experiment on the sealed Gifted to find out... Kyte went along the Gifted¡¯s memories and searched for specific scenes. He was mainly looking for anything that involved training techniques or other skills pertaining to fighting. Since Kyte himself has limited time and hasn¡¯t had a lot of experience, he looked for a possible alternative. Adding the memories of fighting techniques to his own could potentially help solve this problem. Of course, if the experiment was a failure then there¡¯s nothing he could do about it. He found several memories that involved years of training with swords and hand-to-hand combat. There were many memories that held the secrets to the Gifted¡¯s power, but those weren¡¯t interesting to Kyte whatsoever. ¡°Find any memories specifically pertaining to fighting techniques.¡± The black energy instantly surged forth and searched through each clump to find what Kyte ordered. After a split second, several clumps appeared in-front of Kyte. He searched each one and discovered that the Gifted¡¯s ability with swords was rather lacking but his hand combat was better than Kyte¡¯s. Therefore, Kyte reached out and¡­ Wait. What if... This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Take out the emotion.¡± The color of that one clump disappeared, leaving behind faint images surrounded by a delicate distortion. Seeing this, Kyte reached out and touched it. Nothing happened. Hm? Oh, maybe because it¡¯s now under my control it can¡¯t act all willy-nilly? Kyte willed the memories to enter him. Instantly, the clump disappeared and Kyte suddenly gained years worth of memories about hand combat. It wasn¡¯t much since the Gifted didn¡¯t actually practice it in real combat but it was better than nothing. Kye stood up and punched out exactly how he ¡®remembered¡¯. The punch came out perfectly, just like in the memory. There were no detrimental side affects to his experiment from what he could see, so he came to a conclusion. If there are no emotions within a memory, there can be no influence on the person. If a memory filled with rage suddenly lost that emotion, could it still influence a person? No. Hmm, so emotions are the reasons why memories can influence people. It wasn¡¯t that the memories were in disarray. It was the emotions that were in chaos. The emotions are the reason why those creatures and the two Gifted went insane. I see. My previous conclusion was incorrect. This is why it¡¯s always important for more than one experiment. Kyte breathed out a sigh, which was technically a mental sigh. ¡°Destroy the memories. If foreign memories ever invade my mind again, detain them.¡± The black energy responded by surrounding each clump and crushing them. Loud wails of anguish echoed out around Kyte before they disappeared without a sound. Kyte watched the entire process but was still unable to comprehend what and how it happened. Destroying memories seemed like a dangerous thing to do, but Kyte was gambling on whether or not the memories he received were a copy. Kyte didn¡¯t think he would steal memories from someone by merely touching whatever the ball of light was, so he assumed they were copies. He hoped they were. Kyte willed himself to be brought back to the physical reality. His vision went black before all of his senses were suddenly returned to him. He felt the rough burnt dirt below him as he opened his eyes. He found himself on the side of a small crater next to a tree that had a few roots protruding out from the ground. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Kyte put one hand on his face as pain assaulted his head. He wondered if the pain was a side effect of either returning to the physical realm or the manipulation of memories. Either way it was a result of what had occurred, although the pain was bearable. He stood up and looked around, taking in the destruction surrounding him. Yikes. He then turned his gaze toward the group of Gifted. He saw several expressions of fear that stared back at him, as if they were unable to look away. Taking a few steps in their direction, Kyte watched their reactions as he got closer. A few took a couple steps back as they almost fell on their butts. He got a sudden idea, so Kyte decided to use Windwalker to quickly traverse the distance between him and the group. For the group, it seemed like Kyte disappeared and reappeared in-front of them. Several of the Gifted fell backwards and screamed in despair as they closed their eyes and tightly held their heads. Kyte turned his head to look over his shoulder before... ¡°Pffft...hahaha.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± A few of the Gift abruptly stopped screaming as a couple others slowly stopped. ¡°Y-...you tricked us?!¡± ¡°Hahahahaha! Oh man, that was great! I haven¡¯t had a good laugh like that in a while. You should¡¯ve seen your faces!¡± ¡°You, you, you...asshole!¡± The Gifted that spoke turned around and walked away several feet before stopping just on the inside perimeter of the formation. A few of the Gifted let out sighs of relief and fell to the ground as if they grew weak in their legs. The rest either had blank expressions or faces of annoyance. Kyte couldn¡¯t help but laugh a bit more to let out the rest of his steam. ¡°Alright you guys, we¡¯ll leave right now. Don¡¯t worry about those five over there, I¡¯ll be transporting them. Let¡¯s go!¡± Kyte used Internal energy to lift those five¡¯s bodies into the air and began to walk forward after destroying the formation. The Gifted had tired expressions on even though they had several hours of rest. It was getting dark but they still had a few hours remaining. Kyte wanted to get the Hell out of the forest as quickly as possible. Mostly because they ran out of food and water. He didn¡¯t want to try eating the creature meat because it had different blood than normal. Also, their blood would just destroy the body from the inside because of its destructive properties. Despite being able to sustain himself, although it has its limits, the other Gifted don¡¯t have that ability. Kyte could try to use that ability on them but he doesn¡¯t have much hope. If he doesn¡¯t leave the forest in a few days, Kyte assumes most of them will die. His reputation would already be horrible as is so adding even more to it may not do anything, however, Kyte would rather not make it any worse. He would¡¯ve rationed the supplies but due to the memory sealing that wasn¡¯t exactly possible. Besides, Kyte doesn¡¯t even know the real amount of time that passed. Although his memories were unsealed he still had fuzzy recollections of the time spent inside the forest. The Gifted had already been deprived of food and water for almost a full day from what Kyte could remember. The only things he found in the forest were trees, bushes, grass, and more trees. He hadn¡¯t found a single water source, and, since the creatures weren¡¯t consumption-friendly, he couldn¡¯t find any food source either. With all these factors, Kyte couldn¡¯t find a solution to the problem. As long as he found a water source everyone would be able to survive a bit longer than they would have originally. The chances of that happening? Not very high. However, Kyte didn¡¯t expect for that very thing to happen. Two days later, while the Gifted were about to collapse from dehydration, they chanced upon a large lake with a gigantic, oddly-shaped tree right in the center of it. Chapter 54: Forest (7) ; The Lake Third chapter of the week anyone? Yeaaaa! This will most likely be the last chapter this week. I am incredibly busy starting tomorrow but hey, I can try! Anyway, thanks to the two or three people that have actually commented! Those comments are 10000x better than a "thanks for the chapter". You guys don''t know how annoying those are. They don''t help at all. I get it, alright, you''re commenting. It''s better than nothing. But you have to look at it from the author''s perspective. You would want your readers to actually been visually interested in your story, rather than stealing posts by posting "thanks for the chapter". /rant Edit: IRONY Lol, anyways guys. Enjoy the chapter. (Also, this chapter is exactly 1,999 words according to WordCounter.)
¡°What is this place?¡± A Gifted walked forward, asking that rhetorical question as he looked around. ¡°I have no idea. For right now, everyone get some water. Use the empty water bottles so we¡¯ll have some stored for when we leave.¡± Kyte said. I¡¯m gonna have to boil all of them just in case though. He took the empty bottles out of the storage necklace and placed them on the ground. All the Gifted took two or three each and began to fill them up with water. Kyte looked up at the tree, trying to figure out anything he could just by examining it. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t. Either he was too far away or maybe there really wasn¡¯t anything. Because there was only one tree around the lake, being the one in the center, there was no longer a wall of branches blocking the sky. However, the branches from the center tree did spread out quite far so there was only a small ring of sunlight reaching through to the ground. When Kyte saw this he was immediately filled with joy. These rays of sunlight were the first they had seen in over two weeks. He flew into the air and popped out the top of the tree line. Fresh air filled his lungs as he felt the free, peaceful breeze brush past his face. He enjoyed the warm sunlight that covered his entire body. After several seconds, Kyte finally remembered the real reason why he flew up there. He flew significantly higher so he would be able to see farther outward. He stopped once he was a good mile high in the sky. Looking down, Kyte saw the vast expanse of the forest that spread outward from the center. The giant center tree looked like the pupil of a giant green eye. Kyte could see the entire forest and he concluded that the shape of the forest was a perfect circle. He knows eyes aren¡¯t actually circles but it gave him the feeling of staring at one. About half a mile out from the center tree was a section that looked off. It surrounded the center and was about five miles wide on all sides. Kyte could see this because the tops of the trees looked as if there were old, dead cobwebs laid on them. When Kyte closely observed the mysterious substance he noticed that it was actually moving. He watched the whole ring and saw that it was indeed moving. That was when Kyte discovered that it wasn¡¯t cobwebs, it was mist. A thick, white ring of mist revolved around the center of the forest. As for the reason why, Kyte doesn¡¯t know. After flying around for a while, Kyte finally found the train track. It would¡¯ve been impossible to find on the route they took because the track curved around the white mist area. Once he traveled close enough, Kyte could see the clear treeline that was created because of the track. He noticed that the activity of creatures about a quarter mile around the track was greatly reduced compared to other areas. He couldn¡¯t discover the reason why this was happening but just as long as it persists, it¡¯s fine. Kyte created a mental map of the forest before flying back to the center. He slipped through the opening and quickly found where the group was located. He could see them boiling the water somehow. Kyte thought of the earth manipulating-Gifted and, since they were boiling water, he assumed there was a Gifted in the group that could manipulate heat. Anyway, he landed next to the group and walked toward them. ¡°I¡¯m glad you guys decided to boil the water first.¡± Kyte said. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± A few gifted welcomed Kyte back as he joined the group. ¡°Yep. I just flew up above the forest to create a mental map of it.¡± ¡°What¡¯d you see?¡± ¡°Well, I saw that there is a ring of white mist the revolves around this center. Aside from that, I discovered where the train track is.¡± ¡°Train track? What¡¯s that?¡± Shit. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. To say it simply: I found a way to get out of here.¡± ¡°You did?! Yay!¡± The Gifted started growing excited after hearing Kyte¡¯s words. He didn¡¯t know what they were getting excited for since their memories were sealed, but Kyte didn¡¯t dwell on that. He looked at the those three Gifted that woke up a few hours after Kyte discovered that secret about memories. Right when they woke up, Kyte stopped everyone and brought those three Gifted away. He first asked them if they remembered everything, and they did. He closely observed the Gifted that he obtained memories from and it seemed like nothing was wrong. After confirming they actually did recover their memories, Kyte told them to act like they didn¡¯t. He divulged the information about their memories being sealed and, since they experienced it themselves, they instantly believed Kyte. So, they did their best to act like the others. Concerning the other two Gifted, Kyte still had them bound. He didn¡¯t feel confident enough to tackle the challenge they presented, so he decided to practice on the sealed Gifted. What he found was quite intriguing. Of course, he only tried this when they were asleep. Inside their souls, Kyte found the same sphere with several layers protecting that ball of light. However, instead of the white realm being empty, it was filled with white mist. That mist was capable of slipping through the spherical barriers to surround the ball of light. Kyte closely observed the mist as it seemed to be entering that ball. The light emitted from the ball was incredibly dim, almost to the point where there was no light. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Kyte tried to clear out the mist but everything he did was futile. It seemed to just freely drift throughout the space without hindrance. He also tried to use some of the black energy but he was unable to transfer it through a piece of Will. He guessed he would have to learn how to either send himself into the soul or send the black energy inside by itself. He didn¡¯t know what would happen if he did that, mostly because he never used that black energy on anyone before. It came from the fusion of the black figure and black light after they were absorbed by his soul. He didn¡¯t even know the properties of the black figure or black light, so how the heck would he figure out this new black energy? Everything that¡¯s happened to him has been one abnormality after the next. Anyway, he didn¡¯t discover anything new after that nor did he want to take the risk of the white mist retaliating if he did do anything. So, he left that Gifted¡¯s soul and pondered the mysteries he¡¯s observed. Afterward, he entered one of the Gifted¡¯s soul that was unsealed. He once again, carefully, pierced through the barriers and touched the ball of light. He obtained more memories which were instantly detained by the black energy within his own soul. He ended up destroying all of them since not one was useful to him. Kyte was specifically looking for certain styles and weapons, so if none of those were there he would just destroy the memories. Also, he didn¡¯t go berserk because of the black energy. He wanted to observe his own soul too but he just didn¡¯t have the time. It only took two days to reach the lake after the memory complications but he¡¯ll have more time in the future. Speaking of the lake, Kyte noticed that it was eerily calm since they arrived. The water was crystal clear so they could even see the dirt and sand underneath it. Kyte grew curious so he decided to fly over it. He brought a large flame to illuminate the surroundings because sunlight was unable to pierce through the thick branches that protruded out over the lake. Kyte saw the lake¡¯s depth steeply increase the closer to the tree he moved. It descended so deep that Kyte couldn¡¯t even see the bottom once he was about twenty meters away from the tree. Looking at the tree, Kyte was confused by its structure. The trunk was split into several different sections that were arranged in a spiraling form down into the water. The spiraling only began about five feet above the water¡¯s surface so from then upward the tree was a regular tree. However, Kyte couldn¡¯t see where the trunk ended because it was so deep. The space between each individual spiral was rather large, so Kyte decided to slip through and travel to the middle of the spirals. Kyte had assumed that the trunk above the water was not hollow, and he was correct. Only from the beginning of the spirals and below was it hollow, allowing entrance all the way down, as far as Kyte could see. Concerning the depth at which Kyte was unable to see, that was about one hundred feet. His vision was limited because the light from the fireball wasn¡¯t strong enough to pierce down into the water that far down. It was just a fireball, not a tool that focuses light in one direction. However much he wanted a tool that could do that, there wasn¡¯t anything like that even in the storage necklace. There was an instrument that produced light, however, that was a stage five equipment. That wouldn¡¯t help him at all. Also, Kyte was careful not to catch the tree on fire. He produced a layer of defense on the trunk so the fire doesn¡¯t burn it. He was being as careful as he could because he would rather not harm anything in the forest anymore, aside from the crazed creatures. He doesn¡¯t know what could be hiding within the forest or even the lake itself. That¡¯s why he wants to find out. However, actually going into the lake is a different story. Kyte absolutely hates deep bodies of water precisely because of the fact that anything could be down there. Especially now since the Dread Ruins spread a weird energy around the entire continent AND the forest was already weird to begin with. Finding a large, incredibly deep lake with a weird tree in the center just spells ¡®giant monster¡¯. Despite this, Kyte¡¯s curiosity was overwhelming. The saying ¡°Curiosity killed the cat¡± wasn¡¯t actually the complete version. Instead, it should be: ¡°Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.¡± Of course, whether or not Kyte comes back may be something he¡¯s not in control of. Kyte stared at the water for several minutes, considering whether he should go into the lake or not. Since the spiraling trunk goes down into the abyss, he assumed it could act like a sort of barrier blocking anything from the outside. Of course, if there was anything. And, if there really was, then there¡¯s also the question about whether or not it cares about harming the tree. Though Kyte doubts it would damage it. Kyte spread his Spirit energy an entire mile down yet he was unable to reach the bottom. He also sensed that the spiral trunk didn¡¯t end there either. The lake floor was like a giant funnel; the outer edges slowly descended before steeply plummeting down toward the center. He couldn¡¯t sense any creature down there either, so he assumed it was somewhat safe. He¡¯s never encountered an enemy that¡¯s been able to block his Spirit energy nor has he experienced the strength of natural pressure, mainly from water. Kyte created a bubble of oxygen, converted from black light, around himself. He kept the fire burning but he created a system which would cycle out the bad air and convert black light into oxygen. At least then he¡¯ll be able to see with his eyes. Just in case there is something that can block his Spirit energy, Kyte needs to see what it could be. Chapter 55: Forest (8) ; Secret of the Lake (ANs now down at bottom)
Kyte plunged into the water. His entire body submerged underneath its surface as he pierced into another world. The transition from the world of air to the world of water caused Kyte to inadvertently take in a deep breath. He could sense the denseness of water around his large bubble of air. The pressure was basically nonexistent at his current depth, however, that would surely change. Kyte mentally prepared himself for several minutes before he opened his eyes and began to move downward. He saw the water part and curve around his sphere of air as he moved downward. The spirals seemed to move with him as he sped along. He was moving quite fast, about twenty miles an hour, though he didn¡¯t want to move any faster. He knows he would eventually come across something down here and if he was going too fast, he might not be able to react quickly enough. Although he¡¯s confident in being able to defend himself, there¡¯s always that thought in the back of his mind about whether or not he would come across something stronger than anything he¡¯s ever seen. Anyway, as far as Kyte could tell, there¡¯s nothing down there. So, he continued to speed downward. Bubbles were coming out of his air sphere as he continually converted black light into oxygen. He increased his speed by double because he was getting impatient. The depth was even greater than he thought it would be. The pressure around the air sphere was getting more intense as every minute passed. Kyte wondered if he would even be able to support the sphere if the depth just keeps increasing. Outside of the air bubble, the light from the fire pierced into the water. However, the pressure was so intense and Kyte was so deep that the light seemed to be meeting resistance. The murky, pitch-black water was obstructing light from entering it. It was just too dark for any light to even exist at that depth. Not only that, but it looked like a ball of light was descending down the spiral trunk from outside of it. Kyte was like a beacon in a sea of darkness. Kyte guesstimated that he was about a two miles beneath the surface. The spiral trunk had, at about the one mile mark, started to continually expand outward. When he saw his barrier spread away from him, Kyte began to slowly feel insecure. He was able to expand his air bubble as he descended, but that didn¡¯t really change much. About ten minutes later, Kyte¡¯s Spirit energy met a barrier. It was half a mile below Kyte and, no matter how much he tried, his Spirit energy couldn¡¯t pierce through it. The spiral trunk also stopped on this barrier, so Kyte assumed his energy reached the bottom of the lake. The diameter of the trunk had increased from fifty feet at the top of the lake to four hundred feet at the bottom. The only reason why Kyte was able to descend in a straight line is because he could perfectly align himself with the help of his Spirit energy. The individual spirals of the trunk grew increasingly large the deeper Kyte traveled. Before they were about as thick as his head, but now, at the bottom, they were practically as thick as small buildings. Unfortunately the light from the fire was unable to illuminate the entire perimeter of the spiral trunk, so Kyte had to ¡®see¡¯ mainly with his Spirit energy. At last, Kyte arrived at the bottom. As he descended onto the lake floor, the air sphere transformed to envelop a wider area. Kyte also decided to bring out a pre-created Moonlight¡¯s Eclipse formation page and used it on himself. Kyte discovered that he was only able to use formations on himself when he had stable ground. For some reason it wouldn¡¯t work while in the air or in water. He would have to test it out and reconfigure the formations to make them work. Anyway, a light blue barrier encompassed a wide area of about twenty meters around Kyte. He expelled the water inside and filled the vacuum with oxygen before creating a larger flame. Kyte could feel that if the water pressure was at least one point five times greater than it was, the formation wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it. It was probably because the formation was powered by energy from the seventh stage rather than the sixth stage. From the larger flame came more light. However, a flame¡¯s illumination can only bring so much at the bottom of a lake. Kyte was able to see about thirty feet more than before but nothing new showed up. He looked down at the solid ground he stood on and noticed that it wasn¡¯t dirt but rather a weird type of stone he had never encountered before. He knelt down on one knee and softly touched the stone with his bare hand. It felt cold and metallic despite having a dark and scabrous appearance. It was unlike anything Kyte had ever seen or felt before. As he moved his hand to the right, he felt an indention in the floor. Perhaps he didn¡¯t notice it before, but when he looked up to examine the ground he discovered several other indentions. They looked to be in the form of lines that swerved in different directions, and some even overlapped with others. Kyte began to walk along one of the lines and followed its path around the floor. As he was following it, he had taken out a pencil and paper. He drew that single line he followed, however, he also included all the other lines he encountered. After reaching just thirty meters away from the spiral trunk, Kyte noticed that the line he followed was perpendicularly intersected by another line. That new line stopped the old line and Kyte saw that it slightly curved when he observed its behavior farther away. He drew that new line with a slight curve in its form. After he finished, he looked beyond the new line and discovered other perpendicular lines that connected with large, alien-like symbols that extended farther outward. Kyte furrowed his brows as he looked back down at his drawing. He got a small idea before he drew that new line to curve around his entire drawing, creating a circle. He closely studied the various lines he drew inside the circle and a small bulb of light suddenly turned on inside his head. This is...a formation circle? Kyte took a few steps back as his eyes swept from his drawing to the floor several times. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. No, no no no no...that can¡¯t be. What? How...why would there be a formation down here? I¡¯d recognize a pattern like this anywhere. Then those symbols! It just...makes sense. But, why? My formation knowledge originates from Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe. Why would there be a formation with the same structure type be down here? Unless...formation knowledge isn¡¯t just UNIversal, but MULTIversal? Wait, ta-take a step back here. If formations don¡¯t belong to just one universe, that means the laws of formations aren¡¯t limited to one universe. So then...there¡¯s cultivators on this planet as well? No, cultivators aren¡¯t the only ones in existence. If it wasn¡¯t cultivators, then who? This planet¡¯s Gifted is a sign that other powers exist as well, but...how long have Gifted existed? When did they come in existence? Were they always here? If there¡¯s a formation here, that means Gifted have knowledge of formations, but who? When? Ok, ok. There¡¯s too many questions right now. The question I should be thinking of right now is...what does this formation do? Kyte moved toward the alien symbols on the floor and closely examined them. They didn¡¯t belong to any teachings he had learned from, so he assumed they were either not from Sol¡¯keer¡¯s universe or they were too complex for him to understand. He couldn¡¯t make any sense of them. Just the first one seemed more complicated than the most difficult formation he¡¯s ever learned. As he tried to get a closer look, he noticed about the last fourth of the formation¡¯s outer perimeter was underneath something. He looked to the left and right, noticing that it curved along the inside perimeter of the trunk. He moved the fire a bit closer which brightly illuminated the surroundings. Upon closer inspection, Kyte noticed¡­ These are...scales?!!! What the fuck! Kyte instantly backed away and extinguished the fire. Everything changed to utter darkness. The only sound heard was Kyte¡¯s erratic breathing. He was absolutely terrified. His Spirit energy did not discover anything scaly down at the bottom so that means whatever it is, it¡¯s capable of blocking Spirit energy. Kyte intensely listened with his ears for any movement sounds. He stared directly in-front of him as if he was trying to see something. In truth, he was just scared stiff. Imagine discovering the one thing you fear most at the bottom of a pitch-black lake? He instantly equipped the Bloodcursed armor and applied Frozen Eclipse and Energy Blitz two times each to his armor before sending energy into them. He stored the energy within the formations and began to prepare for the worst. He sort of expected something like this would have happened, but when it actually did he just couldn¡¯t believe it. Kyte took deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. He turned around to look behind to check if there was anything there. Of course, he couldn¡¯t actually see since everything was pitch black. He just felt panic rising within him even as he tried to calm down. His mind began imagining different monsters as he gazed into the darkness. He tried to stop but it just didn¡¯t work. Well...a fear isn¡¯t called a fear because it can be overcome immediately. A deathly silence permeated throughout the area. It was like an endless void of nothingness that surrounded Kyte. Suddenly, Kyte felt something move. It was the slightest movement that was only able to be noticed by him because of how silent it was. That movement was like a bomb going off in Kyte¡¯s head. That sound signified that whatever was down there with him had moved. A few seconds later, Kyte felt a crushing pressure force him down to his knees. This pressure was different than the water pressure that was continuously pressing down on his air sphere. This pressure felt as if it originated from a living thing. It was a controlled phenomenon used by one to pressure another. This type of control came from an intelligent creature with the capacity to comprehend their existence, just like humans. As Kyte looked in-front of him, he saw something he would never forget. An eye slowly appeared as if an eyelid was lifting up. The eye glowed with a golden light and the pupil was a vertical slit that was directly facing him. Lines of red spiraled around the golden iris which seemed to radiate an intense brightness. Kyte stared at that eye for several seconds, as if it was the only thing that existed. Technically, in that world of pure darkness, that brilliant eye was the sole existence he could perceive. Kyte crawled a few spaces backward. Suddenly, his formation bubble popped the moment he sensed it touch something. Water instantly surrounded him underneath the extreme strength of pressure. Fortunately the Bloodcursed armor helped negate some of the pressure, otherwise Kyte would have had to use his full strength to resist it. Then, a voice that felt like it came from an almighty being resounded throughout the entire area: ¡°No matter what silly costumes you adorn yourself with, I will always discover your smell, Human.¡±
I apologize for no chapter yesterday (I actually would have released this on Sunday.), as I had been quite busy. I had no access to a computer for the last two days so I had to finish and post this chapter today. Fortunately I was able to finish it. Also, it seems to backfire whenever I ask you readers to give me some motivation (for the most part), however, I appreciate the readers that did indeed comment and review my story. Thanks to those few! Also, I created a guide on how to edit your fiction description just like mine! Here''s the link: Link! It''s not that difficult. Of course, it''ll take you some time, but if you want a nice, colorful description then I suggest checking it out! Chapter 56: Forest (9) ; Secret of the Lake (2) It can speak?! Kyte¡¯s expression was a mix of fear, amazement, shock, and interest. So many thoughts were bouncing around in his head that he almost forgot he couldn¡¯t breath. He immediately created an air bubble around his head, giving enough room for him to breathe for a few minutes before recycling the air. He still couldn¡¯t see the creature in-front of him; only that one eye was visible as it shined with a brilliance that seemed to stare into Kyte¡¯s soul. ¡°U-umm...hello?¡± Kyte managed to mutter. ¡°....That the best you could do?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Right, right. I forgot how weak humans are. You always cower in fear in the presence of something greater than you. You fear the unknown. You fear change. Whether it be laziness or just downright unwillingness, you humans can never change because you don¡¯t have the desire to.¡± ¡°...Well, you¡¯re not wrong. However, you¡¯re not completely correct, either.¡± Kyte struggled to his feet. He barely managed to stand up straight and stare directly into the creature¡¯s eye. ¡°Oh? How so?¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming you haven¡¯t seen human civilization in its entirety or humans in quite a long time, so you¡¯re opinion on us as a species is quite biased, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Biased? MY opinion is biased? Human, I have the capability to discover your age. You¡¯re not even a hundred years old yet you¡¯re talking to me about opinions? About civilization? You¡¯re lucky to to even be in my presence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m only eighteen. Does that disqualify me from having a decent conversation with you? You¡¯ll never know about what¡¯s happened in the outside world if you don¡¯t speak with me, you know.¡± ¡°You¡¯re quite confident in yourself. Even if you did know what was happening, do you have the capability to comprehend it?¡± ¡°...What do you mean?¡± ¡°What do I mean? Haha, laughable! You truly don¡¯t know? Well, that¡¯s what happens when the old don¡¯t educate their young.¡± ¡°Stop playing around and just tell me.¡± ¡°Even if I told you, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Your insignificant power is truly too weak to even be in the presence of the truth. Speaking about power, what are you doing down here? Someone as puny as you shouldn¡¯t even know of this place.¡± ¡°Should or shouldn¡¯t, it doesn¡¯t matter. You think I¡¯m weak? I know things that you don¡¯t even know. You see, there¡¯s always two sides to everything. Maybe even three. You just sit here, in this darkness, without a care in the world for what¡¯s happening. You know the truth? So what? This isn¡¯t the only universe.¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, I see. Now that you know you¡¯re insignificant, you play the ¡®more than one universe card¡¯. What, next you¡¯re going to say there¡¯s always something stronger? There¡¯s something stronger than me? What do you know? You don¡¯t know the slightest about the real essence of this world. What do you know?! Were you ripped from your home and forcefully placed in a world of darkness for thousands of years?! Was your family slaughtered in-front of you while you were forced to watch?! How about your entire planet being destroyed just because you¡¯re special?!!¡± The eye¡¯s golden brilliance changed into a deep red that resonated a profound hatred. The red lines that spiraled around the iris transformed into black and they seemed to move along with the pulsating energy of anger. Kyte instantly fell to his knees underneath such intense pressure. He could feel that deep hatred. It was stronger than any emotion he ever felt before. The eye returned to its normal golden brilliance a couple seconds after the outburst. ¡°My apologies. Having a conversation with another intelligent species after thirty thousand years has quite a profound effect.¡± ¡°I probably would¡¯ve done the same. You said you¡¯ve down here for thirty thousand years? Why?¡± ¡°.........I can sense that you mean no harm. At least you have no ulterior motives. I can sense a sort of...scientific wonder inside you. You yearn for answers that you may never be able to obtain.¡± ¡°Ok...that still doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°The reason why I¡¯m done here? It¡¯s quite simple, really. You see this array on the floor?¡± ¡°Array? You mean formation?¡± ¡°Formation, array, same thing. I know you¡¯ve noticed it. You want to know what it does?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Heh, it¡¯s sort of...shameful to say. This formation leeches my power. It takes away just as much as I recover. However, I was reduced to one percent of my full power a long time ago. This tree prevents me from leaving. Did you try to break the wood?¡± ¡°Um...no, I did not.¡± ¡°Well, even if you did, you wouldn¡¯t be able to. This tree doesn¡¯t originate from this planet. I¡¯m not sure where it came from, actually. All I know is that it¡¯s my cage. It keeps me here, locked away in the bottom of some lake on some part of this planet. I have my energy continuously sucked out of me for tens of thousands of years. For what? I don¡¯t even know the purpose of this torture.¡± ¡°...You sound like you¡¯re in quite the pinch here, Mr. creature-sir. Would there be a way to get you out of here?¡± ¡°....HAHAHA! That¡¯s what you want to know? Besides, why would you want me to be uncaged? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I would kill you and then go on a rampage in this world?¡± ¡°Well, you haven¡¯t killed me now. Plus, I believe you to not be the type of being that would slaughter the innocent.¡± ¡°And how do you know that?¡± ¡°Because of what you told me earlier. You told me that your family was slaughtered. Your planet destroyed. Why would someone who witnessed the slaughter of the innocent, against their will, want to repeat that action? Besides, I also believe the powers that caged you are much more powerful than the ones I know of.¡± ¡°...Hmph. You¡¯re quite intelligent, aren¡¯t you? That¡¯s right. I would never repeat the action used by the ones that destroyed my people. Although I have a deep hatred, I have no desire for vengeance. The only desire I have is to know the truth behind my people¡¯s eradication." A bright light manifested into being in the middle of the floor. It emitted light that spread to the perimeter of the spiral trunk. The entire body of the creature was presented within that light, however, Kyte was unable to perceive the full length of its body before it suddenly flashed with light. The long serpent-like body disappeared. In its place was now a humanoid body. It was a bit shorter than Kyte. It had long, deep blue hair and it seemed to be...wait¡­ ¡°Why are you a female?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°...Are you gay?¡± ¡°What? No, of course not! I only asked why you¡¯re female. Your voice from before was obviously that of a male¡¯s.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t have a gender. Well, to be precise, I don''t remember what my gender was. I took this form solely based on your own interpretation of beauty. You see, I at least want some dignity when I present myself.¡± ¡°Your other body was quite fear-inducing but now you¡¯re just really great to look at. Especially since you¡¯re naked¡­?¡± ¡°Ah, I forgot about that. Taking the form of a Sea Emperor means you don¡¯t need clothing.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I see...so why are you still naked?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have clothes.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Kyte walked forward and pulled some clothing out from the storage necklace. He was trying his best not to stare at the magnificent body that was presented to him. It was even more difficult knowing that the creature purposefully chose it based on Kyte¡¯s own image of beauty. He didn¡¯t know why it had transformed nor why it suddenly grew more intimate. Actually, he was incredibly confused at the developments that took placed. Originally, he was just going with the flow of the conversation like he usually does. He didn¡¯t expect things to take such an unexpected turn. ¡°Why are you giving me clothing? Don¡¯t you prefer me without them?¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s true, but I would be too difficult to concentrate when you¡¯re naked.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡¯m not originally human so I forgot about their insatiable lust.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not insatiable. Some people are different than others. Fortunately, I¡¯m able to keep myself under control. There¡¯s a difference between actually performing the action and just observing. Sometimes the only thing you can do is observe.¡± ¡°Hm. It was a bit different back when I was visited often by humans. The men always had several wives and for some reason the women were alright with that. The men would have approximately twenty children but I doubt that¡¯s how much they actually copulated.¡± ¡°Really? Wow, times have changed. Of course, there is a certain area that I haven¡¯t traveled to yet. I don¡¯t know if those same practices are occurring in that place or not.¡± The creature took the clothes Kyte handed to it and put them on. The clothing was just regular sweatpants and a t-shirt and, although they were immediately wet because of the water situation, they managed to cover what should be. You would think the clothing would be see-through, right? Wrong. Why would clothing Kyte stored have the deficiency of being see-through? That¡¯s just stupid. ¡°Thanks for the clothes, I guess?¡± ¡°...That should be fine. So, are you going to tell me a way to get you out of here?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the real reason you want to help me? I know it¡¯s not because of an act of chivalry. You don¡¯t really care about honor or upholding justice.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t give a damn about chivalry. It¡¯s a waste of my time. I¡¯ll only give respect to someone or thing that earns my respect. Doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re stronger than me or not. Anyway, the reason why I want to get you out is because...well, I just want you help me. It¡¯s like a compromise. I help you, you help me. Everyone¡¯s happy.¡± ¡°As much as I want to leave this prison, it is impossible to break me out. This tree has a natural sealing effect which is perfectly paired with the array. Not only that, but the array itself is far beyond anything you¡¯ve ever seen before. I can tell, because this array doesn¡¯t originate from this world.¡± ¡°I see. So, I¡¯ll just have to come back when I¡¯m strong enough to destroy this place. Before I leave, I want to ask you a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°What exactly are you?¡± ¡°Hmph...you mean what was I. Right now I¡¯m just a spirit of my former self. I¡¯ve retained all of my memories and power. I don¡¯t know how they did it. It¡¯s like they stripped away my physical body and somehow created a way to stop my spiritual self from fading away. Although, thanks to that, I¡¯m able to shapeshift.¡± ¡°Interesting...stripping away the physical body without losing the spiritual body. Does that include both the consciousness and soul or just one of them?...¡± ¡°What are you mumbling about over there? You do know you¡¯ll never figure it out, right?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt to try. You see, that¡¯s one thing that I¡¯ve learned. There¡¯s always more than one path to a goal. If one way doesn¡¯t work, choose another. If there is no other path, create one. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. I¡¯ll be leaving now, creature.¡± ¡°My name is Sistaina.¡± ¡°Sistaina? That¡¯s a pretty feminine name.¡± ¡°Really? It was pretty normal for...I can¡¯t remember anymore. It¡¯s been too long.¡± ¡°-Ah, two more questions.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Why are you so open with me?¡± ¡°Why¡­? That¡¯s a good question. Maybe it¡¯s because you¡¯re the first intelligent being I¡¯ve encountered in tens of thousands of years. Along with that, you don¡¯t have any malicious intentions toward me. Although I can sense your growing lust the more you look at this form. Lastly, you¡¯re my only hope I have to ever leave this place. That sounds a bit shameful coming from my mouth, however, I have nothing else.¡± ¡°I see. Now for my last question. What do you know about the Dread Ruins and the surge of energy that spread through the continent?¡± ¡°Dread Ruins?...So that¡¯s what disrupted the forest. This tree naturally blocked the energy from reaching me and the lake. The Dread Ruins existed even when I was first brought here. I don¡¯t know anything else, except that it was opened once before.¡± ¡°Really? What happened at that time?¡± ¡°Nothing good. I can¡¯t be certain because I was locked away down here, but the effects of the energy naturally faded away ten thousand years after the Ruins were sealed again. Unfortunately I do not know of the events that occurred during that time.¡± ¡°...I was kinda expecting that. Thanks for the info., Sistaina.¡± ¡°Glad I could be of some help. I wish I could give you more, however, I am extremely limited as I am.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be back. I don¡¯t know when, but I will. Now, could you lift your pressure so I could fly out of here?¡± ¡°Ah, right. Sorry about that.¡± ¡°No problem. I¡¯m leaving no-¡± ¡°Wait, let me see your face before you go.¡± ¡°?...Well, it¡¯s only natural.¡± Kyte took off the hood which cast a shadow over his face. His deep, void-like black hair drifted down. It was long enough to cover his eyes so he slicked it back with one hand, keeping it from hiding his face. His black eyes stared into the creature¡¯s own as they locked eye contact. ¡°Your hair and eyes...they seem to be influenced by something. I¡¯ve never seen something like it before.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s something that even I don¡¯t know about. Anyway, you satisfied?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good enough. I won¡¯t forget your face or the feeling you give off. I¡¯ll be waiting here.¡± ¡°Not like you have anywhere else to go. I¡¯ll be leaving now. See you when I get back.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Kyte lifted off the floor and began to ¡®fly¡¯ upward. He noticed Sistaina¡¯s deep longing and sadness when she spoke the word ¡°bye¡±. For a creature to have been stuck in a world of darkness for about thirty thousand years with little or no contact with any other living thing...it¡¯s quite terrifying if you think about it. Kyte also decided to cut his hair when he arrived in the core. Having such long hair isn¡¯t that good of an idea. Out of all the people she could have chosen, she chose to look exactly like Akina. She stated she transformed into my own interpretation of beauty?...Now that I think about it...Ah, stop that. First I have to get out here. Second, I have leave this stupid forest. I¡¯ll take care of my women problems when I get to it.
No, there is no April Fool''s joke. I was thinking of making one but I''m too lazy haha. Anyway, this chapter is apparently longer than the previous ones. I didn''t think I had typed that much until I checked on WordCounter and discovered that this chapter is more than 2400 words. Mainly dialogue, but that was inevitable. And no, there is no harem. Don''t even ask. To be clear, my definition of a harem is when 3 or more girls are romantically involved with one man. If it''s sexual then it doesn''t really count. That''s just the dude being a baller. Anyway. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The spirit at the bottom of the lake may be a lot more important than you might think... Chapter 57: Forest (10) ; Exiting A large wave rippled out from tree¡¯s trunk as Kyte surfaced from the lake. He carefully slipped through the spirals and flew toward the group gathered at the water¡¯s edge. Kyte approximated the time he spent inside the lake to be about an hour. He moved at his fastest speed when he exited mostly because the darkness still gave him the chills. Even if he knew there was nothing there, his mind couldn¡¯t help but conjure imaginative horrors in his mind. The group warmly welcomed Kyte back once he was within yelling distance. He cut through the air as his armor sliced through the space surrounding him. He put on his hood when he left the lake after taking the water out of it, mostly because he likes the feeling of hoods and he thinks he looks cool. He may or may not, who knows. Imagination is a powerful thing. ¡°Did you find anything down there?¡± One of the Gifted asked. ¡°...No. There¡¯s nothing down there from what I could see.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad there wasn¡¯t a giant monster¡­¡± Another Gifted spoke up and everyone mumbled in agreement. Kyte just innocently smiled when he heard that comment. He took a step forward and spoke: ¡°I don¡¯t know about you guys, but I¡¯d like to get out here. I can fly us all above the forest now that we have an opening. I take it all of you don¡¯t want to trek through the forest for weeks on end again, right?¡± Everyone agreed. Kyte sneakily looked over at the Gifted whose memories were still sealed. He wondered if they would go through the same process once they left the forest. Maybe I¡¯ll have to somehow take care of it myself? It would be nice experience but...hmmm. Maybe it would be better to witness the unsealing process? Would that pose a danger to me? I don¡¯t think it would. Huh. I¡¯ll have to experiment with that. ¡°You all have enough water?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°We filled all the water bottles we have.¡± One of the A rankers spoke up. ¡°Good. You all ready?¡± ¡°¡±Yes!¡±¡± ¡°Alright then. Don¡¯t resist this when you feel it. Let¡¯s go!¡± Kyte surrounded all of them in his Internal Energy. Immediately after, he jumped into the air with such force that cracks spread out across the ground. He shot out into the open air above the treeline, feeling the fresh breeze flow around his head. The brilliant sun shone down, creating a blanket of yellow light that covered the entire forest and beyond. The other Gifted appeared afterward and the weaker ones seemed to be in a daze about the sudden increase in height. Flying really is a rarity then. As far as the Outer Sectors go. The distance to the edge of the forest was still incredibly large so it would take a long time to travel that far, even while flying. Plus, it wasn¡¯t just Kyte flying this time. He had to use energy for multiple other people, which would increase his energy usage tremendously. After flying for a bit to reduce the distance, Kyte decided to fly toward the train track. It was the most logical decision, mostly because the track naturally repelled most of the creatures around it. Not only that, but Kyte didn¡¯t feel safe landing on top of the trees. He¡¯d rather play it safe than create unnecessary problems for himself, especially with other people which were his reluctant responsibility. He wondered why the sealed Gifted forgot about the track. It¡¯s within the forest, so why would they forget? Maybe the effects of the memory sealing is only present within the white mist region? Kyte pondered these questions as he flew closer to the track. He looked down and noticed they were flying over the region of mist so he looked back at the sealed Gifted. It didn¡¯t seem like any symptoms were occurring, however, Kyte kept his Spirit energy around them just in-case. If there were any noticeable changes, Kyte would just have to hold on until they reached the train track. Due to this potential event, Kyte decided to fly the shortest distance to the track. It forced the group to increase the time they would spend leaving the forest, however, Kyte felt it was a necessary action to take. He really didn¡¯t any more mess-ups after everything that had happened up till that point. After flying for about an hour, the group finally passed the mist region. Fortunately there were no avian creatures, otherwise they would¡¯ve had a rough time traveling through the air. Kyte had already began to feel tired as his energy reserve was continually being drained. He didn¡¯t know how much longer he could go for. They were quite close to the tracks, about half an hour''s distance away. He concluded he would have to force himself to waste some life force. Unfortunately, there were no flying devices in the storage necklace. No matter how much he wanted one, and no matter how many times he looked through the necklace, there were no flying machines. It would¡¯ve been significantly easier to fly multiple people with a flying device. Kyte wondered if there was an easier way to carry people across distances. Otherwise, he would have to create his own flying equipment. That would grant him some experience in other types of crafting and give him a flying device, which would vastly increase his flying efficiency. Half an hour later, the group finally reached the track. Kyte used his last spurt of strength to create a careful landing for the others while he himself smashed into the ground. Fortunately there wasn¡¯t too much force behind his impact, otherwise the ground would¡¯ve been destroyed rather than his body. The few unsealed Gifted quickly ran over to Kyte and helped him sit up. This was one of the rare times that he overexerted himself and completely exhausted his energy supply. He could forcefully recover by using up life force, however, he¡¯d rather not do that. He needs every last bit of life force because it greatly increases his physical recovery ability as well as his life span. By now, the amount of energy given by life force is practically insignificant so the previous two reasons are the only ones that Kyte had concluded to be enough. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°You ok?¡± One of the Gifted asked. ¡°Yea, just exhausted. Haah, we¡¯ll rest here for a few hours. I can barely move.¡± Kyte replied while taking deep breaths. Kyte reached up and motioned for the unsealed Gifted to move closer. ¡°Watch the sealed ones carefully. I don¡¯t know whether or not any unsealing symptoms will emerge.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± They helped Kyte to his feet before he gave them directions for where he wanted to be placed. He¡¯d much rather have moved himself, however, he wouldn¡¯t say no to someone¡¯s help. Especially when he can barely move, like before. After Kyte found a comfortable position, he looked up at the three Gifted that helped him. ¡°Hey.¡± Kyte said. ¡°Hm?¡± The three Gifted looked back at Kyte. ¡°What¡¯re your names?¡± ¡°Our...names?¡± The Gifted were quite surprised with Kyte¡¯s question. Usually Kyte would be silent; not even a thanks would leave his mouth. However, this time, instead of a thanks, he asked for their names? They couldn¡¯t understand this behavior. They didn¡¯t want to question it either, mostly because Kyte is an entire rank higher than them. Usually lower ranks would completely respect higher ranks. Exceptions to this would be if the higher ranker was a family member. However, they would still have to give respect in public. ¡°What are you guys just standing there for? Answer me.¡± ¡°R-right, sorry. I¡¯ll go first. My name is Syrus, Silver A ranker.¡± The left-most Gifted spoke up first. ¡°My name is Gaister, Bronze A ranker.¡± Kyte looked at the last A ranker and said: ¡°Laken Blake, Silver A ranker. I guess I should tell you now. You were the one that I experimented with first during the unsealing process. I know your name, rank, and I also took a few memories pertaining to combat. I discarded the others ones so I can¡¯t remember anything about your life.¡± ¡°Ah...That¡¯s a bit scary¡­¡± Laken said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I paid a price for doing so at first but now I¡¯m fairly certain I have a countermeasure for memories. I plan on experimenting with the sealed ones during our breaks so I would prefer you three to keep an eye out on the surroundings during that time. I will have my trap set up so I doubt anything will get through. For right now, I don¡¯t have enough strength to even stand, so it¡¯s up to you three to keep watch. I want you three to separate into three different areas surrounding our camp.¡± ¡°¡±Understood.¡±¡± The three of them agreed before walking back toward the group. They drank some water before creating a plan if anything went wrong. Afterward they split up and remained vigilant throughout the hours that Kyte rested. Kyte had wanted to only take a light nap to rid himself of some unneeded drowsiness, however, he underestimated the amount of stress within his body. He hadn¡¯t slept for who knows how long AND he had been researching formations the entire time. It was a miracle he even made it to the track carrying a group of people with him in the first place. Now that he had finally laid down to rest, he almost instantly fell under the spell of sleep. ~~~ --Twenty hours later-- Kyte¡¯s eyes snapped open before he bolted upright. It was dark out but he didn¡¯t know whether it was dusk or dawn. He looked around and found that all of the Gifted were sleeping with the exception of the three A rankers. They still cautiously observed the surroundings whenever they heard a sound or saw movement within the forest. Kyte spoke with a whisper to the A rankers: ¡°Hey, come over here.¡± At first they were startled to hear that voice. When they looked over, they saw Kyte standing up from his original position. The three of them immediately moved toward Kyte, curious as to what he wanted to tell them. When they eventually reached Kyte, he began to speak: ¡°How long was I asleep for?¡± ¡°About twenty hours or so, sir.¡± Syrus stated. ¡°I see...Were there any complications with creatures or the other Gifted?¡± ¡°No sir. No creatures traveled closely to us and none of the Gifted seemed to be showing signs of unsealing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good thing about the creatures but unfortunate for the Gifted.¡± ¡°Uh, why is that, sir?¡± ¡°I wanted to experiment with them during the unsealing process. I can¡¯t do anything while they¡¯re sealed because I don¡¯t have the ability to manipulate the mist. I need to observe the white mist in the unsealing state in order to gain some knowledge on how to manipulate it.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kyte decided he should stop there after seeing their confused expressions. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve continued on with his boring theories pertaining to his analysis of the mist. He lightly sighed before he changed the subject. ¡°So, is it morning at night right now?¡± ¡°It is currently morning, sir.¡± ¡°Alright. Anything new with the crazy Gifted?¡± ¡°No, sir. They are still behaving normally for their condition.¡± ¡°Good. You three will rest the next time we stop. Wake up the others, let¡¯s start our journey once again.¡±
Shorter chapter this time. Time for the unfortunate news! I will be completely rearranging AND rewriting the first couple chapters. I''ve already completed the first half of the prologue, so I need to finish that. It will take several days until I''m finished so I will NOT begin writing the next chapter during this time period. Fear not! I will not hold off on writing for too long. I plan on only rewriting the prologue, 1st and 2nd chapters. Maybe the third I dunno haven''t looked at it yet. Anyway, due to IRL stuff I have about an hour less of time to complete these things so hopefully I''ll be able to not procrastinate. No promises haha. Cya next time. Chapter 58: Ripples of the Cosmos ""Yes, sir."" The three replied. "Also, you can rest for the time being. I''m fully rested by now so I''m capable of guarding the area. I''d rather not have my officers sleep deprived. Dismissed." Kyte stated. ""Understood."" I still can''t get used to this military-like behavior. I don''t know if I should be completely formal or what. The three Gifted moved toward their respective sleeping area and laid down. Kyte created two grand formations, with the alert formation included, around the group before flying into the air. He soared above the treeline up into the night sky. Fortunately there were no clouds to block the stars'' light from reaching the planet. Kyte flew at his fastest speed into the sky. He traveled a few miles before stopping because of the low oxygen levels and silently observed space. Due to his greatly enhanced vision, he was able to see farther than a normal telescope if he focused. He observed the moon and the distant planets that shined with the reflective light of the solar system''s sun. I can just fly right out there and leave everything. I can fly out there and perish in space if I wanted to. I wonder how far I could go? How long would I last? Would the black light be able to defend against the vacuum of space? I don''t have an unlimited supply but I could always create more. Could I create black light while in space? So many questions... Kyte slightly moved higher before stopping himself. His curiosity almost drove him to fly out of the planet''s atmosphere into space. He wanted to travel through space so badly yet he was incapable of doing so. His desire to gain power only grew stronger as he stared into the vast cosmos before him. The only thing he could do was fly back down into the forest. It would be so easy to just leave these Gifted here, too. I could travel to the Core so much more quickly without them. However, I can¡¯t leave them here. Besides, I could potentially use them for my own information network. They¡¯re only A rankers and below but it¡¯s always better to have more eyes and ears. Also, I don¡¯t know who they¡¯re related to. I could be lucky or unlucky here. After he landed around the group, he laid down within his own area and began to research formations. Well, instead of researching, he was more like lazily studying. Since he didn¡¯t gain any information about formations higher than the Advanced level, he was sort of stuck. He could try to further his knowledge himself but that would be incredibly inefficient. However, Kyte didn¡¯t feel like waiting such a long time until he achieves the eighth stage; whatever that could be. On that point, Kyte doesn¡¯t actually know what the next significant step in understanding the black light could be. It could be anything, really. Kyte had several ideas but putting those ideas into practice is easier said than done. Unfortunately, he doesn¡¯t have a lot of time to even experiment with his ideas. Sometimes, he just wishes he could be alone for a year to study himself. Sadly that¡¯s not entirely possible. At least he was able to train at all, with results. He¡¯s seen Gifted that have trained for years without any progression. Some have trained their entire lives without being able to advance, yet Kyte had trained for about half a year and he was already an S ranker. He predicted his normal power was about the low Silver S rank level, while with all of his buffs activated he would probably be around the high Gold S rank level. Of course, the GG system of power was quite complicated and Kyte¡¯s power is completely different from the system anyway. It was almost wrong or inefficient to use GG¡¯s system for himself. His power also originated from a different universe and Kyte was pretty much convinced that the black light originated from somewhere else as well. At first the black light appeared when Kyte compressed world energy down into a very concentrated amount. It was almost out of his control that it had happened; he had no idea why the black light appeared. It¡¯s been a mystery to him the entire time. Adding on to that the event of the cloud figure trying to suppress the black light to do something that Kyte didn¡¯t know of. In the end, he absorbed both of them and they merged together. However, one weird factor remained unexplained to Kyte. After the two combined, the cloud figure disappeared while there was still black light that Kyte was capable of using. Why did the black light remain while the cloud figure disappeared? It appeared in his dream when his memories were being unsealed, so it must have not disappeared entirely. If the black light was able to remain, then at least a small part of the cloud figure survived. Also, the fact that the cloud figure had originated from within Kyte had baffled him. That means he was born a Gifted and he didn¡¯t even know it. If that¡¯s the case, what about his parents? It¡¯s some-what strange for two large trucks to perfectly shred a car to pieces and for Kyte¡¯s car to be the one caught in the accident among all those other cars only added to the strangeness. Kyte had never really given much thought about the event. It¡¯s kind of ridiculous to think there¡¯s a big conspiracy surrounding his parents but he couldn¡¯t help but conclude that that¡¯s the case. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to gain any information on the event. It was too late to return to the city, look for a police department, search through all the files, and find the report about the crash. The mayhem brought from the Dread Ruins opening basically destroyed all normal civilization so Kyte doubts he would be able to find anything at the moment. Plus, it was mandatory for him to reach the Core so he couldn¡¯t go back anyway. Kyte had stopped studying formations and just gazed at the night sky. It was truly a beautiful sight to see and being able to witness such a thing was wondrous. The pollution from man¡¯s machines caused the sky to be blocked sometimes and other times natural clouds blocked the view. It was at rare times when the sky was clear and the light from the stars shined through the atmosphere. To know that the light from those stars traveled hundreds, thousands, or even millions of light years to reach his eyes caused Kyte to encounter a sort of other-worldly feeling. Gazing up at the stars, knowing that he¡¯s essentially looking into the past, made him enter a strange state of enlightenment. It wasn¡¯t an immediate transition but rather a sense of slowing becoming aware of the profundity and immenseness of the world. Maybe it was due to the new experiences he had gone through since he encountered Sol¡¯keer. The secrets he discovered since then have been intriguing to say the least. Also, if Kyte had never met Sol¡¯keer, he would probably be dead right now. He doesn¡¯t know if the cloud figure would¡¯ve protected him when the Dread Ruins opened but he wasn¡¯t very optimistic about it. While Kyte was completely focused on gazing into space, far away into the deepest reaches of the cosmos were three gigantic black holes. They had been drifting for hundreds of millions of years on a collision course toward one point of space. Time and space around these three black holes had been destroyed and warped to such a degree that it was almost unfeasible to witness. The three had reached a point where their effects on the fabric of spacetime began to fuse. They inched closer and closer together until finally¡­ If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They collided. The three black holes ripped each other apart. The unfathomable strength of gravity instantly escalated over a type of universal barrier. The gravity was so intense that it completely extinguished the fabric of spacetime. However, the area that was destroyed was so small that you would need a magnifying glass to see. If you could see what was beyond that hole in the universe, you wouldn¡¯t be able to believe your eyes. That hole was instantly repaired, however, the effects of the collision spread out through the universe. The fabric of spacetime rippled with great intensity for an uncountable distance. The ripples traveled through galaxies, solar systems, stars, and planets. Everything that was capable of observing such a phenomenon, did. None of them were able to detect the adverse effects of the result of space being destroyed. That is because, after the hole in the universe had repaired, the destroyed spacetime around it had not. This created an opportunity unlike any other. What came of that opportunity may not been seen by most of the life existent throughout the universe. Kyte was still gazing up into space as this all occurred. The ripples passed through the planet unimpeded. Due to Kyte¡¯s unusual and profound mental state, maybe even because of the mysterious energy within him, he noticed these ripples. However, he was not the only one. There were a few others on the planet that observed these ripples, though whether or not they were capable of discovering something because of them was unknown. There was one other being that had been in the process of gaining enlightenment about space and its mysteries, just like Kyte, as the ripples spread through the planet. The ripples passed straight through Kyte¡¯s body. Because his mind was fully in tune with the space around him, he felt the spatial ripples as they slightly distorted space around him. He felt the ripples pass through his mind, his energy, his everything. That tangible feeling of space within and around him was branded within his mind. He unconsciously closed his eyes to fully experience the extremely rare event. In his mind he could still feel those ripples reverberate inside and around him. A small image of the fabric of spacetime being shaken began to form. He started to dissect the event and information he obtained. His abnormal state of mind consisted throughout the process, allowing him to naturally proceed without interruption. Space isn''t something that can''t be manipulated. Actually, there are several different ways to wield the power of spacetime. For the White family to be naturally gifted with controlling space is a miracle and a wonder at the same time. I wonder how their brains are wired to allow something like that to happen... Anyway, it seems like my original understanding of space is wrong. I thought space had to be forcefully manipulated by using unfathomably large quantities of energy. However, now I see there''s other ways. Not only can space be warped but also time. These two concepts naturally coexist with each other. Without time, space is frozen and unable to expand, thus rendering its existence a waste. Without space, time has nowhere to exist. When one manipulates space they also manipulate time, and vice-versa. Slowing or stopping time is equivalent to locking space. Expanding, contracting, and warping space also distorts time. I''m not exactly sure how I''ll be able to wield this knowledge, but...wait. I''m already able to slightly manipulate the space within the black light domain. But the space created by the black light is different than the space in this reality. Would it be possible for me to influence space with black light? At this moment, the small light submerged in the black light sea within Kyte instantly expanded. It started to unceasingly absorb black light, making it grow larger and larger. Naturally, Kyte noticed this event occurring. He was extremely surprised at the suddenness of the event and he had no idea what to do about it. He decided to leave it alone for the moment and went back to contemplating his enlightenment. A few seconds later, the light had completely devoured the sea of black light. It glowed brilliantly within that empty space, awaiting its creator to choose the next step. I see now...I know what that light is. It''s not something weird or abnormal to only me. This light has appeared before, but I don''t know how when or how many times. I understand this light to be an Origin Point, the object that creates space. But if this only creates space, where does all the matter come from? Is time naturally included as well? Kyte observed the light and noticed that time did not exist within it.. Only the fabric of space was contained inside the light. Wait, but...space can''t exist without time though?...Unless I''m wrong once again. If space can exist without time, then what use would it...Oh, I get it now. This is just like the storage necklace. The storage necklace is a separate space without the laws of time applied to it. This is the same exact concept, though the Origin Point is on a different level. If I create a space within myself, what would that do? I already have the storage necklace, so I''m not quite sure what the capabilities of the space would be. However, if I instead merge the light with my own body, what would that create? Would my body become a separate entity altogether? That would only be my physical self, so my soul would stay the same. But if I merged it with my soul... What should I do? Create an entire space within myself, merge it with my body, or merge it with my soul?
This chapter is a bit longer than usual. I was going to release this yesterday but I fell asleep for a few hours. Oh well. So? What do you think would happen to Kyte if chose whichever option? Would he destroy himself in the process? Who knows... You don''t have to answer. My question was some-what rhetorical. You can if you want, though. SUPER IMPORTANT!! I completely rewrote and revised the first chapter + prologue. Check it out if you want a high quality and MUCH better version of the beginning prologue and chapter! I guarantee it''s significantly better than before. Chapter 59: Origins This is a very important opportunity that I can¡¯t let go to waste. Kyte contemplated the three options. If he created a space within himself, like the storage necklace, he would just add more space which he already had. However, the Origin Point was a level higher than the storage necklace¡¯s space. He didn¡¯t know what the space would allow inside it. Considering it¡¯s a higher level, it could potentially have the capability to store living things on top of inanimate objects. Not only that, but it could also give Kyte other abilities as well. For example, it could give him the ability to use the spatial energy within it to teleport anywhere the energy is spread or even teleport himself inside it. However, since the laws of time were not within the Origin Point, he wouldn¡¯t be able to accelerate or decelerate time. If the Origin Point did have the laws of time, he could have the ability to go within its own personal space and manipulate time, allowing him to train for a hundred years when only one year passes in reality. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case. Considering that the laws of time weren¡¯t there means that it wasn¡¯t a legit Origin Point. Kyte doesn¡¯t really know what a legit one would be like but he definitely had the feeling that there were missing components. This is also why Kyte felt a bit hesitant to use it. If he could somehow acquire the missing elements and create a complete Origin Point, how much more powerful would that be? Adding the laws of time would grant him even more control over the overall laws of spacetime. Of course, the method that would allow him to do such a thing are currently beyond him. He doesn¡¯t even understand anything concrete about the spatial laws in his own universe, so trying to access an even broader range of difficulty was too much. The laws of time weren¡¯t the only components. There¡¯s also the mystery of matter and energy. Spacetime can be considered a type of energy but it needs a driving force to get started. It needs something to govern or give purpose to. Kyte has no clue how to obtain matter but he does have an idea about energy. It was quite simple, really. Since black light can be transformed into different types of energy, Kyte thought he would be able to create different laws pertaining to each energy. So, instead of an all-encompassing energy, there would be several different energies and laws. For example, the laws of fire, water, earth, etc. Kyte didn¡¯t know whether that would decrease the overall power, increase it, or change nothing at all. So now he had two factors out of the four figured out. Granted, the space laws were practically given to him. Anyway, all he needed now was a way to integrate the laws of time and matter into the Origin Point. Kyte also had no idea just how much more power the Origin Point would receive by merging with the other components. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t increase at all or maybe it would increase beyond Kyte¡¯s control. This was a very serious and important object. It had the potential to change Kyte into a master of space and time or something more. All he needed was time, something that he didn¡¯t have a lot of. He also wanted to study the process of how such a thing had formed in the first place. He guessed it was all connected with the black light and the cloud figure. However, he had a sneaking feeling that the cloud figure was the perpetrator of everything. I won¡¯t merge the Origin Point with anything right now. The temptation is quite strong, but I know I shouldn¡¯t. The potential a future Origin Point has is far greater than this one. I shouldn¡¯t even call this Origin Point. For the time being I¡¯ll call it Space Origin. That¡¯s practically what it is, anyway. There are too many things for me to worry about. Right now I should be heading to the Core. Kyte opened his eyes just to see rays of sunlight piercing through the tree line. The surroundings were illuminated by the bright glow of light that signified morning. A cool, soft breeze brushed across the forest floor. It was a relief to wake up to fresh air entering your lungs instead of a hot and humid air. Adding on to that were the rays of light that spread throughout the area which were much better than a gloomy, mist-filled atmosphere. Kyte didn¡¯t feel as though waking up to see time had passed was abnormal. It had happened quite a few times before so he was used to seeing a change of light. Whenever he was deep into his research or enlightenments, time would always seem to pass by too quickly. He stood up and walked closer to the group before waking them up by shouting at them. They all awoke with confused or frightened expressions that quickly changed to understanding when they noticed Kyte. ¡°It¡¯s finally morning. I¡¯ll start flying in a few minutes so hurry up and gather your things.¡± Kyte said. They all immediately stood up and began to put together their items before awaiting Kyte¡¯s call. Meanwhile, Kyte gathered the three A rankers. ¡°Did you three get some sleep?¡± Kyte asked. ¡°Yes, I managed to get some in.¡± Laken said. ¡°The earth beds aren¡¯t exactly the best, but they¡¯re fine for now.¡± Gaister stated with a slightly annoyed tone. ¡°I slept like a rock. I don¡¯t know about you two but I like my sleep.¡± Syrus added. Kyte looked at the three before saying: ¡°Good. From now on, try not to be so formal around me. It¡¯s fine when lower ranks are within the vicinity, however, if we¡¯re alone like this then it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The three were slightly confused at his words but they quickly replied with their understandings. They were a little excited about getting closer to an S ranker; plus, they wouldn¡¯t dare object in the first place. They knew now that they would carry out Kyte¡¯s every command. Following a powerful S ranker yields a large amount of benefits so they immediately decided to do so. After everyone was ready, Kyte spread his energy around them and lifted off above the trees. He followed the track because there was no way he would be able to fly across the incredibly large distance, even by himself. Plus, the track acted as a safe zone most of the time so it was naturally the better choice. Also, Kyte didn¡¯t plan on exhausting himself every single time he flies so after about two miles he would land and rest. It didn¡¯t take long for him to recover his energy; this was mostly due to the fact that his soul had reached the eighth stage. Stolen story; please report. While he was flying he noticed his energy had lasted longer than before. He immediately checked and discovered that his soul had risen from the high seventh stage to the eighth stage. He didn¡¯t notice any significant differences but his energy¡¯s quality had definitely increased. His Spirit energy¡¯s range increased by a full two miles as well. It may not seem like much at first, compared to the enormous size of the cities and continent itself, but every increase counts. Besides, the quality also increases its effectiveness and ease of control. After several hours of traveling and resting, Kyte decided to stop for the day. They had covered a significant amount of ground by the time they had stopped, though they still had a few more days according to Kyte¡¯s calculation. During the night Kyte once again stared up into the clear sky to observe space. Unfortunately he wasn¡¯t able to enter that special mental state, however, he did lay out plans for the Space Origin. He decided to he would start the next time they stopped to rest for the night. ~~~ -The Next Night- Everything was the same as the day before. They traveled, rested, and traveled some more. They crept ever closer to the edge of the forest and Kyte began to see small signs of memory unsealings in the other Gifted. Fortunately none of them went into the complete unsealing, though it was quite evident that their confusion stemmed from their missing memories. Kyte decided to ignore that for the night. He would deal with it just like he did before. If any of them failed, he would bind and use them as experiments. Considering that the one''s who failed are unable to return to sanity, rendering them non-humans within Kyte''s terms, they would be used for other experiments. What these other experiments would be, well, Kyte would figure it out. One thing he already wanted to test was the effects of space distortion within the black domain. He would trap one of the subjects inside the domain and manipulate the space around it to see what would happen. Unfortunately the only manipulation Kyte was capable of using was distortion which could redirect or block attacks. However, if those distortion happened inside the body of a subject, what would happen then? There''s many things Kyte wants to experiment on but the one thing he was interested in the most was the Space Origin. That night, he decided to begin trying to separate the black light into individual energies. The first element he tested was fire, mostly because he was most familiar with that energy. He transformed black light into a fire ball above his palm and closely observed it. He furrowed his brows in confusion before extinguishing the fireball. He moved around and grabbed some sticks from the branches nearby to create a normal fire. Because of his power, it was simple to do so. Also, he used only his physical power just in case Internal energy created another variable he would have to deal with. After completing the elementary fire, Kyte once again transformed black light into fire on his palm. He intensely focused on comparing the two to try to discover any differentiating constituents. If he detected a difference in the two fires, then the experiment would be a success and he would be able to go from there. However, if there wasn''t, he would be back at square one. Unfortunately, there was no difference. It was a sort of petty wish to assume their would be such a difference between two fires that can be transformed into the same type of energy. Kyte lightly sighed before extinguishing both fires. He moved back to his original position and created another fire, this time a bit larger than before. He changed the fire to water, then to dirt, then lightning, then back to fire. What makes me capable of changing fire to water, or water to dirt? What''s the component that allows me to transformed dirt into lightning? There''s something I''m missing. I just can''t think of it to change it. I have to understand the element and its properties to create it. I just can''t create a blob of plasma all will-nilly. I''ve never seen plasma before...oh wait, lightning is actually a form of plasma. There''s many different forms of plasma. Usually, the denser plasma becomes the higher the temperature. But how would I increase the temperature? Well, I''m not trying to create a star here, so that''s out of the question for now. I wish I could remember everything I read about plasma. My soul gives me a better memory but I''m not at the point to which I am capable of remembering every detail in my entire life. The only thing I can remember about plasma is that it''s everywhere in the universe. Stars, black holes, lightning, auras, and other things. The only difference is how it was made, the density, and temperature. I think I''m beginning to understand. How is it created? What''s the origin of its creation?...Wait, origin? Origin...origin... "That''s it!" Kyte abruptly stood up as he almost shouted those words. Recognizing his sudden outburst, he instantly flew up without a sound. He landed on top of some branches in the trees and calmed himself down. I get it now. It''s the same concept as the Space Origin. I just have to create a Fire Origin, Water Origin, and other Origins and then merge them into the Space Origin.
This is the first chapter of a double release! The second chapter today with come out in a few minutes so start pressing that refresh button! Chapter 60: Realization But, how am I supposed to create those Origins? Kyte pondered this question for quite a while. About half an hour passed before he created an idea. The space where the black light ocean originated...I wonder if it''s still there? Kyte peered into his soul and searched for that space within it. Sure enough, it was still there. The reason why was because the Space Origin was still there. Kyte mentally face palmed before continuing. He didn''t dare touch the Space Origin in case it automatically merged itself with him. So, with but a thought, the Space Origin disappeared into his mind. He commanded the black energy within his mind to encase the Space Origin into a secluded section before he returned to the other space. The entire space was empty. However, he could sense the walls within it. He was confused as to how the space was created but he didn''t dwell on that subject. It was there so it was better to use it rather than do nothing with it. Kyte tried summoning black light into his palm. He was curious if whether or not he would be able to do so, which he was. A sphere of black light manifested above his palm. Well, this is inside my soul so I guess I should''ve expected this. Next, he transformed the black light into a fire ball. He let it float out in-front of him as he watched it. It didn''t extinguish or flicker; it was a perfect sphere of fire. However, other than that, nothing happened. Hmm...what do I do? Before the Space Origin was created, this entire space was filled with black light. Maybe I just need to fill it fire? But then how does the creation of the Origin begin? Maybe it''s automatic? Isn''t that kinda cheating?...Isn''t this whole thing cheating anyway? Kyte mentally sighed. He stared at the ball of fire before concluding a decision. He instantly filled the entire space with black light before transforming all of it into fire. The deep void of the black light was replaced by an orange glow of fire. He decided to make the fire orange instead of any stronger fires mostly because they''re all fire to begin with so it doesn''t really matter. Anyway, the fire wasn''t capable of harming Kyte while he was engulfed within it. He observed everything around him, trying to find any signs of an Origin coming into existence. He moved to the perimeter of the space and examined it. The barrier separating the space from the outside was just a thin silver membrane. He pushed his hand against and, to his surprise, his hand passed through it unimpeded. He then moved his entire body through the barrier to reveal a shocking discovery. Outside the barrier was a layer of black cloud that surrounded the entire space. It continuously streamed around the space like a flood. Kyte was instantly confused at the sudden discovery of the source which created the space. The cloud figure is responsible? But, how? Why? It created a space to create the Space Origin? Why did...huh? During the time when I first encountered it, I remember it trying to subdue the black light while protecting me. Maybe it was trying to direct the black light into that space? If it was, it succeeded. I''m still able to wield black light though. So, if that''s the case, then this space definitely creates Origins. My hypothesis is that I need to use the cloud''s power in order to create Origins. However, what if the space passively uses its power to create Origins? I''m pretty sure I''ve never used the cloud''s power before-...wait... No way...the cloud figure may be responsible for everything?! The first time I created black light, my ability to wield black light, my breakthrough...what if it was behind my encounter with Sol''keer? If...if that''s the case, then the cloud figure has been helping me this whole time? My whole life? But, why would I encounter such misfortune if it was? No, I can''t think of the cloud figure as an omnipotent entity. That''s impossible. If it was, I would be completely invincible. Why...why would it help me? Is it because it was born within me? Was created alongside me? Did I inherit it from my parents? Where did it come from? It helped me the entire time yet I betrayed it...I took away the only thing that truly cared about me and helped me...? It''s been with me my whole life, but I ended up absorbing it just because I could? It''s been with me...the whole time...it shared everything I experienced? What would it feel like to have your other half, who you trusted with all your existence, betray you? What...what have I done... It was like having a twin you had lived your entire life with, shared everything with, suddenly betray you because they could. To have your most trusted person back stab you when you were protecting them, what would that feel like? Kyte, while staring at the cloud surrounding the space, looked down at himself. A single tear streamed down his cheek as he looked back up at the cloud. A sense of loss suddenly engulfed him. It reminded him of the time when his parents were killed; that kind of feeling of losing people close to you, all because of you. They were taken away from him because of what he did. And now, he had done the same exact thing again. "...Damn it..." Tears glided down his cheeks, rolled off his jaw, and disappeared into the darkness around him. ~~~ -One Week Later- After that event, Kyte immediately left that space and decided to fall asleep. The formations were already placed around the group so he didn''t have to worry about any stray monsters attacking. He placed himself in a certain spot on top of a tree so the rising sun would shine light onto his face, causing him to wake up. He slept quite well up there, probably because of the fresh air or maybe because the vastness of space peering down on him comforted him. To know that he was created from the same elements within the universe itself gave him a unique home-like feeling that he didn''t expect. Anyway, the few days following were filled with the same traveling and resting. Occasionally, monsters came running out of the forest trying to attack the group during their resting periods. Fortunately they were no match for Kyte''s grand formation. Also, the other Gifted had long become accustomed to such happenings so they no longer freaked out when something weird happened. Kyte didn''t know if it was because they were still relatively close to the mist or not but there were no more symptoms. He hypothesized that the farther away they moved from the mist, the more the sealed Gifted would react. Eventually they would all go through the unsealing process, which Kyte would obviously observe and experiment with. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Aside from that, nothing new happened. Kyte had decided to try the simplest method of creating an Origin: waiting. Unfortunately nothing changed within that one week of time, so he tried something else. He moved to the outside of the silver membrane in the space. He then tried to command the cloud to change the fire but nothing happened. He silently stared at the cloud for several seconds before forcing him to refocus. He wondered whether or not he was capable of controlling the cloud''s power. He didn''t even know what its ability was in the first place. He never had the chance to discover its secrets because he didn''t know it was there. He couldn''t do it anyway because he absorbed the cloud figure. He would have to somehow discover a method to use the cloud or find someone with the capability to help him. Now that I think about it, shouldn''t my grandfather know something? He''s from my mother''s side, so surely he knows what''s happened. But, why didn''t he say anything? If he knew about everything, why would he just leave me? Haaah...the fuck is wrong with my family, honestly... I guess the only person that can help me is my grandfather. I''m certain he''s still alive if he was involved with whatever I''m connected to. But, where could he be? There must be a reason he left me. His last deposit in my bank account was rather large as well, at least six months worth. I guess the only place I can find him is the Core. I''m assuming he knows what the cloud is, so he definitely is no ordinary person. Well, I''ll worry about it when I actually reach the Core. Kyte only speculated as to why his grandfather left. He would have to secretly gather information about it when he reached the Core. Hence why he wanted to use the A rankers for the start of his information network. Also, Mark, the guy with the Gamer ability, would also be a very helpful addition to Kyte''s network. If Mark lived up to Kyte''s expectations, Kyte would have some very powerful back up if things got too hairy. Of course, if Mark didn''t evolve into a helpful comrade, Kyte would kill him. Better to have him on his side than not. Also, if Mark had somehow met with a future enemy and joined his side, that would be horrible. If Mark wasn''t with Kyte, he wouldn''t be with anyone. It''s unfortunate but that''s the way it is. Aside from these things, Kyte and the group didn''t do much. Kyte tried different things with the Origin Creator, which is what Kyte called it, but nothing seemed to work. He decided to work on refining his formation theory during the travels. The faster he can create and use them, the more efficient he would be in offense and defense. Unfortunately he wasn''t capable of creating his own formations at his skill level. He would have to wait till he reached the eighth stage before obtaining information about formations in the Master level. Then he would have to wait until probably the tenth or eleventh stage for Grandmaster formations. He would have to work with what he has. And so, they traveled like for one more week. They had moved quite far from the mist region and were very close to the edge of the forest. The sealed Gifted had begun to grow more confused as time went on, so Kyte kept a close eye on them. Kyte estimated that they needed at most two more days until they exited the forest. Once that happened, all they had to do was travel in a straight line directly to the Core. One problem Kyte would have to face is the real amount of time they spent inside the forest. They clearly traveled for over two weeks. The mist region had sealed their memories for who knows how long. Meanwhile... ~~~ -The Core- "General Rayth, we''ve successfully cleared the second level of the Dread Ruins." A man said. "Good. Keep the defenses around the Entrance as tight as possible. We do not want another break in our line due to unforeseen attacks by Guardians." Rayth said. General Rayth, or Durald Rayth, was currently sitting in his tent within the heart of the GG front lines. They were guarding their side of the Dread Entrance to keep the Guardians at bay. It was quite weird because one side was filled with tents while the other was completely empty. However, this did not cause any GG members to lower their guard. They all knew the Guardians were there, even if they were unable to see them. In order to enter the Dread Ruins, General Rayth would have to personally move and help defend. He was one of two King rankers on the front lines, however, Rayth felt that he would have to call for reinforcements. He himself was only a middle King ranker while his right hand man was a low King ranker. Both of them even had to join forces against one Guardian just to keep the total casualties to a minimum. Due to their combined strength, GG was able to clear the first two levels of the Dread Ruins. What came with that was all the loot available within the Ruins. Dread Stones were plentiful, Dread Equipment appeared everywhere, and new technology was also discovered. Well, the technology was technically old, but it was different from what GG had seen before. The God Fiber and Mineral families were set to overdrive as they worked incredibly hard to create new weapons and armor with the increased amount of Dread Equipment. Along with this, the quantity of Dread Stones increased. However, only Gifted who had participated in the defense and offense around the Dread Ruins were capable of obtaining large sums of Dread Stones. With this came more business and more equipment. Everyone wanted to fight in order to gather Stones, however, unfortunately only high S rankers could participate. That doesn''t mean everyone was excluded, though. Overall, the first two levels of the Dread Ruins vastly increased GG''s power. More opportunities arose from within GG and many Gifted sought different paths of power. The three Gifted that specialized with souls even took a few more disciples because of the large increase in morale. However, not everything can last forever.
And that''s the end of the double release today! Woohoo! Second time I''ve done one of these I believe. Anyway, I did a double release today because there was only 1 chapter last week. Sorry about that! It''s practically guaranteed that there will be a third chapter this week. I don''t know when, though. So, this chapter pretty much ends the travels through the forest. I wonder why Sistaina was trapped at the bottom of the lake for 30,000 years?....I wonder when she''ll be relevant again...mwahaha. Anyway...hope you guys enjoyed these two chapters. Chapter 61: You Know Who It Is ~~First Person POV~~ -Some time ago- You know, traveling is good and all but being surrounded by guys at least twice your level isn¡¯t too fun. It would¡¯ve been different if they were women, but even then I would¡¯ve been intimidated. I guess that¡¯s what happens when you just suddenly walk up to the train with no identification. Ah, good times, good times¡­ Anyway, it had been several hours since I woke up to find those items on the table. I¡¯m glad that asshole left something for me but it would¡¯ve been soooo much better if he left actual equipment. I mean, a few pills is good and all but an actual weapon or armor is a lot better than pills. I do appreciate the several healing pills though. I¡¯m not complaining. Maybe. So, after that I made my way to the East station place. I met some people along the way that said they came from the fifth Branch. I wondered if everyone was as ¡®friendly¡¯ as that asshole was so I told them about what I¡¯ve been doing. I didn¡¯t tell them my power or anything, only what¡¯s happened during the past few days. In the end, I was captured. I¡¯m so stupid sometimes. If I was in their position I would¡¯ve done the same thing, though. I don¡¯t blame ¡®em. Fortunately they didn¡¯t tie me up or knock me out. I just got free of my headache so having another one would¡¯ve made me go insane. I also wasn¡¯t able to gain any experience since I was surrounded the whole time. I even tried pleading with them to let me kill a few but they stubbornly refused. I say that but they were actually quite polite. I think I started to trust them more than that asshole. Maybe it¡¯s just because similar people come together? Like, these people are all alive so they want other people who are alive to come with them...or something like that. I didn¡¯t have objections about that so I let them take care of me. Even if I didn¡¯t really need anything because of my Gamer ability, I still appreciated it. I¡¯m still a human. I think. Anyway, I boarded the train they were on. I asked them about Branch 4 and, for the most part, I got angry gazes. I guess not everyone gets along in paradise, right? Well, this is the opposite of a paradise¡­.I just wanted to use that phrase at least once in my life. Right, so they told me that the fourth Branch¡¯s Head was a woman named Akina. No last name for some reason but I¡¯m getting used to that. I asked for these people¡¯s names as well and they didn¡¯t give me last names most of the time. Oh well. Anyway, apparently the fourth Branch has some history among the other branches. It mainly pertains to Akina and the previous Head of the fourth Branch. The previous Head was a really popular guy that helped everyone that needed it. During a raid or whatever, he ended up dying trying to save Akina. He was a Gold A ranker, whatever that means, and then an S ranker, whatever that means, appeared and killed him. Akina managed to get away, yadda yadda people blame her. It kinda went like that. At least, that¡¯s what I got when I listened to them explain. Apparently it was quite well known that this happened so they didn¡¯t mind telling me about it. Honestly, I don¡¯t understand this thinking. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s Akina¡¯s fault, right? It¡¯s that old dude¡¯s fault that he died. Sounded like he had no other choice and it also doesn¡¯t seem like his death really caused anything substantial. Woah, big words, big words...Anyway, I probably would¡¯ve done the same. I dunno, kinda depends. So that¡¯s what happened during the train ride. Nothing much happened other than a small-scale attack from robots. Honestly, I don¡¯t even know what to think anymore. First everyone turned into zombie monsters and now robots? I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if there was a giant dragon at the bottom of lake somewhere. The train ride itself took about three days. Yea, three days. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t enough time for my debuff to go away. I still have to suffer this horrible debuff; it¡¯s quite sad really. I was doing so well and then right when I meet that asshole everything goes to shit. He even hovered there and just watched me while I was surrounded! Who does that? I really want to fly after watching him, though. Sounds like fun. Considering I can see these people¡¯s levels even when they¡¯re about level 80 means that that asshole¡¯s level is a lot higher. If I had to guess I would probably say about 150. I¡¯m assuming I can¡¯t see levels that are three times my own, which is some-what evident by the people around me. I haven¡¯t seen someone higher than level 90 so far but these guys keep saying there¡¯s an S ranker escorting them. I finally put the pieces together and realized that those are apparent power levels. These guys are A rankers, so maybe an S ranker starts at level 90 or 100? I¡¯ll have to see for myself. Also, the names of the robots that I saw were ¡°Guardian: A rank¡± and ¡°Guardian: S rank¡±. The A ranks were all around levels 50-80 but I couldn¡¯t see the S ranks¡¯ levels. Seems about right. My own level is only 36 at the moment so I guess I¡¯m either a strong B ranker or a really weak A rank. I¡¯ll go with B rank, because those A rank robots are at the lowest level 50. The S rank dude on our side was capable of handling those robots, fortunately. His name was John...tail? Tale? I dunno how it¡¯s spelled but that¡¯s what I heard. Apparently he was the strongest in this Sector. They called him a peak S ranker...I wonder what blocks people from gaining strength? Hm. I don¡¯t really have that problem because of the Gamer ability. If I keep farming monsters for XP, I can continue to grow stronger indefinitely. Maybe. Of course, after a while a monster¡¯s XP would become insufficient so I would be forced to move on to a stronger one. That reminds me. That new skill I acquired, ¡®Primeval Energy¡¯. I tested it out a few times and unfortunately I got head-splitting pains in my head. I did gain about 30% XP in it so at least there¡¯s progress. All I can remember from the first time I used it was my vision going black and loud laughter all around me. It was quite traumatic and I¡¯m not sure why I heard laughter¡­ This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Anyway, I made progress on that. I also continued to train my crafting skill by taking items out of my inventory and just taping things together. I was kinda bullshitting the skill at the time but I still got XP from it so...yay! I planned to seriously craft when I obtained the correct materials to do so. My crafting skill was level three even when I was completely bullshitting it. After the train finally stopped, everyone inside was ordered to get off. Of course, I did so as well and I was quite excited about a change of scenery after several days of just the inside of a train. When I stepped off onto solid ground, I looked around and took in my surroundings. Everything was so huge and clean! The buildings were at least three stories high and were shiny clean. They had signs on the front of them showing what kind of building they were as well. All of them were called vendors for some reason, but hey, at least they don¡¯t have separate names for every single building. Anyway, there were weapon vendors, armor vendors, stone vendors, and...potion vendors? I guessed alchemy wasn¡¯t just fantasy anymore. Nothing¡¯s really a fantasy anymore. I looked around at all the people and discovered that almost all of them were higher than level 50. There were several people with question marks so I don¡¯t know the range of their levels. There was one person among the crowd that had a slightly suffocating aura around them. I didn¡¯t really prefer being near that person so I stayed real close to the group I was with. When I noticed them starting to move, I followed them and asked: "Hey guys, where should I go?" "Just follow us for now. We''re going to a sign-in station near here." The leader, from what I''ve seen, of the group replied to my question. I bet you if it was that asshole it would''ve been a completely different response... Anyway, we didn''t travel very far until we reached the station. It had a sign above the door with the words "sign-in" so it was kinda hard to miss unless you''re naturally stupid. Trust me, I''ve met people like that before...Ah, the hardships of working in fast food. Stupid people...stupid people everywhere! Ahem, right, so after we entered the building we immediately went to the, what I''m assuming, front desk. They asked what branch and sector, my group replied. However, the leader told the dude at the desk that I was an apparent stray that randomly popped up. The receptionist kinda looked at me weirdly before motioning me forward. "What''s your name?" The dude asked. "Mark." "Just Mark? Nothing else?" "Uhm, Mark...Apis. Mark Apis, yea." "Mark Apis Yea..." "No, no no! Just Mark Apis." "Right." "Now, since Branch 5 of Sector 31 discovered you, you will be under their jurisdiction for one week before you have to join a Branch on your own. You may choose to stay with Branch 5 or join a different Branch. It''s up to you." "Alright, thanks. Nice hair, dude." "..." So, with that I waited along Branch 5. I honestly didn''t know whether or not I wanted to stay with the fifth branch or go join the fourth one. On one side, Branch 5 doesn''t have assholes, but the asshole from Branch 4 is pretty strong. Man, such a difficult decision. I wonder if I could just create my own Branch? That''s pretty unrealistic of me. Yea, I should probably just stay in Branch 5. I don''t like having unnecessary difficulties and that guy really is an asshole. Like, come on man, give me something more than just some pills I''ll use up in a week. Oh shit. Oh, woah woah woah wait. I have the Absorption ability! I can just eat the pills, gain the ability to use the same exact effect the pills have, and use it indefinitely! Woohoo! Go me! That''s pretty far-fetched since I expect the cooldown on the ability to be a long time. Also, the energy needed to use the ability will probably be quite high too. I wonder if my Intellect stat is even high enough to give me sufficient energy. Energy, mana, qi, chi, whatever you wanna call it. It''s all energy so energy just sounds better in my opinion. I can do the same for the other pills too! I can also eat that stupid ring! I need Primeval Energy to use it anyway so it''s better to just get the ability personally. It''s going to take a long time before I become efficient with using Primeval Energy, though. Oh well. Everything''s going A-O.K.! Now I just need a way to level up again! Where in the Hell will I do that. Bah, it doesn''t necessarily matter right now. What I really need to do is train my skills and abilities. Yes, there is a difference between the two! I get abilities from the Absorption Ability! Skills are from discovering different ways to do things, like crafting. I plan on, hopefully, learning some alchemy so I can create my own potions. Maybe even some pills, too? I should ask that asshole if he knows how. I wonder, where is that asshole right now anyway? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ So yea. In order to show what''s been happening to the gang and this guy (Mark) I need to switch over to him. Also, I enjoy writing him in 1st person POV. There''s quite a bit that needs to be shown and explained so I don''t have to write several info-dumps on you guys. I know how much people hate info-dumps (like me), but trust me! There is something I''m planning with Mark that is quite cool. I''m not sure how long the POV change will last but it probably won''t last more than several chapters. I think. Kyte won''t be gone long! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. This is also a small way for me to relieve my steam from writing in 3rd person omnipotent (or is it...?). Writing about Mark is fun to me so I hope reading it is fun. Gets me in the mood to not want to do shit. Oh wait, that''s me all the time. Chapter 62: Looking Around Bah, it doesn¡¯t matter. I doubt he would be die from some robots. I still need him to help me get some equipment. Actually, screw that. It¡¯s nice and all to have someone that can just give you stuff for free, but there¡¯s a certain satisfaction from obtaining items yourself. I¡¯ve learned that from playing so many video games. Grinding for hours on end to finally get that OP-as-fuck weapon, and then destroying other players in PvP...Ah, it feels so good! It¡¯s a bitch to actually do the work, though. I¡¯m certain the same logic applies here. I understand that this is reality and not a video game, my Gamer ability makes me feel otherwise, but there are some correlations between the two that I can connect with. Kill monsters, gain XP, sell stuff, get money, buy equipment. Easy!...Not so much. You know, I¡¯m not gonna jump into the fray like before when I got surrounded by the Walkers. To be honest, the more they evolved the more they started looking like human spiders...eugh, creepy. I¡¯ve played several zombie games before so seeing one of the monsters from them evolve in real life is just on a whole ¡®nother level of disturbing. Anyway, I have to find a place where I can level up. Seeing as how normal A rankers are about level 50, and I¡¯m only level 36, I really need to farm some XP. If I¡¯m unable to do that, then I need to find a way to farm my skills and abilities. If I can make up my level difference with skills then I¡¯ll be set to go. However, the first thing I need to do is get some money. How the Hell will I do that? So, I asked the leader dude. ¡°Hey, do you know how to make money around here? I¡¯m completely broke.¡± ¡°Yea, everyone who came in on the trains is broke. Don¡¯t worry though, administration will give us our weekly wages today. Each rank has a fixed income so there¡¯s always a way to get money, even if you don¡¯t try.¡± ¡°I should¡¯ve expected something like that. Now, how do I make money after that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to figure out. You see, I¡¯m just a Gold A ranker. I only have a limited amount of opportunities. If I was an S ranker, I could probably make three times more than I can right now.¡± ¡°Holy crap, that much?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how highly administration values strong Gifted. Plus, S rankers are in high demand. Did you know that, just in Sector 31, the number of S rankers is only about thirty while there are hundreds of A rankers?¡± ¡°No¡­?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s a large amount of A rankers that can¡¯t reach S rank. Therefore, administration gives the most likely to succeed A rankers the possibility to reach S rank. That¡¯s also why S rankers are so valued. It must be great being born with the power of an S ranker.¡± ¡°Yea, totally.¡± As if I need to care about that. Leader dude continued: ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve only just arrived. There¡¯s a credit-stone exchange bank next door so let¡¯s move there next. Collectively, we should get enough stones for us to find a decent place to stay.¡± Leader lead the way as the rest of us followed him. I wondered why he was fine with me tagging along. Maybe it was due to regulations or maybe he was just a good guy. I was a B ranker as of then so that may be another factor. Whatever it was, I digged it. I didn¡¯t complain, mostly because I honestly had no where to go. And I was broke, so I was kinda forced to follow him. I don¡¯t know anything about the credit exchange so I just idled by as Leader did his thing. Actually, no, I didn¡¯t just sit idle. I observed the several buildings outside to formulate a plan. I wanted to look through everything so I have an idea of the prices and what-not. Also, I wanted to ask the owner of the Alchemy vendor if they could teach me. I¡¯m certain I¡¯ll need money for that, too. After Leader was done, we walked for about an hour before stopping in-front of some old, one-story building. Something like this was kinda expected. Leader is only an A rank, and from what I¡¯ve gathered, an A rank isn¡¯t much around here. S rankers are plentiful in our previous area so we may just be in the bottom of the bucket. I expected the weakest Branch leaders to be A rank so the weaker Branches shouldn¡¯t have it too bad. These buildings must be quite old to look so rough. They¡¯re not that bad; my apartment was so much worse. Basically the only thing wrong with our¡¯s was that it looked as if it hadn¡¯t been cleaned in months. The water worked and the electricity was fine, but the furniture was covered in dust. Thankfully they weren¡¯t eaten into oblivion by moths and other insects, otherwise we wouldn¡¯t have had anything. Leader told us we had enough stones to last for a few weeks. In that time we would need to find a method to get more. He said he would wander around looking and that everyone else should do the same. I¡¯m not quite sure what I should have done. Leader gave me a hundred stones just so I had something. I assumed he gave the others much more because I wouldn¡¯t trust me if I was him. I say that because I¡¯ve only been with them for several days, not because I¡¯m not trustworthy. So, because there was still several hours until night came, I told the others that I would travel to search for stuff. Of course, I had my own agenda to fulfill. The first place I went to was the Alchemy vendor. The inside had a lot of weird vegetation strewn about the shelves which were lined up against the walls. The mixed aroma of plants drifted throughout the inside, though it smelled really good. I naturally felt better after arriving inside which I assume was due to that fragrance. ¡°Welcome to the Alchemy vendor, what do you need?¡± In contrast to my image of the stereotypical old dude, a younger man came out from a door leading to a back room, which I assumed was either storage or a separate work place. ¡°I¡¯m here to ask about an available¡­¡¯apprenticeship¡¯?¡± I asked with a slightly unsure tone. ¡°Ah, many people do. More so now than ever. You, uh, don¡¯t have a badge?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Badge? Oh, right. I noticed that everyone around here has a badge somewhere on their torso or shoulder. They were basically just letters in different colors so I guess my assumption was correct. Those are rank thingies. ¡°Right, well, due to certain circumstances, I only just joined with this place recently. I was unable to get my badge.¡± ¡°Hmm, is that so. You¡¯re the first no-ranker to walk in here so far. Do you know what your power rank would be if you had one?¡± The man looked me over quite creepily for several seconds as he waited for me to answer. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t be bothered by it that much but the abnormal feeling of him being able to see through all of me made me uncomfortable. However, instead of really needing this job, I wanted this job. Especially if I get paid. ¡°About a high B rank I would guess¡­¡± I answered. ¡°Mm. At least you¡¯re not lying. Well, I¡¯ll talk to my master about it. Right now all I can tell you is to come back in tomorrow. Currently, the only spare time we have right now is to sell items.¡± ¡°Oh, I understand¡­¡± The man looked at me for a couple seconds before he spoke: ¡°Listen, if you¡¯re really desperate, go into the more suburban area. There¡¯s a few vendors there, one of which is an Alchemy vendor. The owner of that one started losing money because everyone began to buy items from the more¡­¡¯clean¡¯ vendors over in this area. Though, with the influx of Gifted I doubt she¡¯ll be losing much money at the moment. Still, give it a try.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks for the info. Hopefully I¡¯ll get that one. Cya.¡± ¡°Have a good day.¡± I quickly left the vendor and, once I was outside, started asking around for directions to that other area. After several tries I finally got concrete directions, thankfully. Most of the people here aren¡¯t assholes. Well, I understand that everyone¡¯s currently impatient with coming over to the Core. Also, there¡¯s a lot of people like me that have no idea where they¡¯re going. So, I followed the directions I was given. It took a while to travel through the groups of people everywhere but I finally managed to arrive at a less-dense location. It seemed as if I had finally made it to the suburban area so I just had to find that damn vendor. I walked around for a long time before I even found one vendor. Unfortunately it wasn¡¯t the one I was looking for but I still entered it. It was an old-looking weapon vendor and the inside had many different weapons on display. It ranged from swords, spears, and axes. It didn¡¯t like as if there were that large of a variety, but it may be just the thing for people with a smaller budget. There was an older looking dude sitting behind the main counter. He was had a smoking pipe in his mouth and his gray hair fell down to his shoulders. I would guess that he was in his later sixties but I could be wrong. That''s why I never did drugs. Shits bad, yo. Then again, the only thing I did when I tried drugs for the first time is sit in a corner and contemplate all my mistakes in life. It wasn''t fun. So, I never tried using drugs again. I don''t need drugs to not feel depressed. Well, I can''t really say anything because I substituted drugs with sex so...I''m just as bad. Anyway, enough of that. Back to the task at hand, I walked up to the counter and asked the dude: "Where''s the Alchemy vendor?" The man looked up from a book in his hands to stare at me in the eye. I noticed a silver A badge on his shoulder. His gaze seemed to penetrate my own and it began to make me feel uncomfortable. Honestly, what is with the people here and staring? "Alchemy vendor, heh? What''re you lookin'' for that place for?" Smoke puffed out of his mouth as he spoke. "I want to learn Alchemy. The Alchemy vendor near the train station was too busy for hiring anyone so I was directed here." "Well, that''s what I expected. Ya know, that Alchemy vendor only hires Gold A rankers and higher." "Really?! Haaah, at least they were nice enough to tell me the location of a different vendor." "Haha, don''t worry, kid. There''s only been a few Gifted that have come in here asking for the Alchemy vendor. You can find it by walking a quarter mile down this street. Take the first left and travel about thirty meters and you''ll see the sign." "Thank you." I turned to leave but I remembered something so I turned back and asked: "Do you take apprentices for forging?" The man looked at me with surprise on his face. I guess he wasn''t expecting a question like that. After a couple seconds, the man''s expression changed back to its normal indifference. "You''re the first person to ask me that in a long time. To answer your question: Yes, I do." "...Alright. I''ll come back after I''m finished with the Alchemy vendor." "I ain''t going anywhere." I left the vendor and started walking down the street. Even if this area is the more suburban place, it''s still not bad.
Sorry for no chapters in the last few days. However! The next chapter will be released tomorrow guaranteed. I''m also working on a new story as well! Considering my writing ability has improved so much after so long, the quality of this new fic. will be much higher than this one; especially in the beginning. I''m already half-way done with the prologue, but I''ll only release it once I''m finished with the first chapter. There''s a secret connecting these two stories but it will only be revealed at the end of Modern Deity. The secret will only be relevant in the new story once it reaches a certain point. And with that, I''m out. Hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned for tomorrow''s chapter. Chapter 63: Searching After walking for several minutes, I finally arrived a 4-way road section. I turned left and began to make my way down the road. I could already see the Alchemy vendor''s sign so I hurried my steps to get there faster. I finally arrived in-front of the vendor, so I entered. The inside was similar to the first Alchemy vendor I visited, though the one I just entered was on a smaller scale. A similar aroma drifted throughout the inside which made me feel relaxed. There were plants and vials filled with liquid situated on different shelves on either side of the interior. There was a young man sitting at the counter with a bored expression on his face. Standing in-front of the counter was a women with long, red hair. I was only able to see her back but...whew, even then it was an amazing sight. If that McFonald''s manager had that body, I wouldn''t care if she lowered my pay, I would still fuck her. Well, to be honest, I would probably leave...Money! Ah, money! I needed to fund my video games. Yep. "I''ll be right with you." The man behind the counter said. I guess I''ll just have to wait and observe dat ass from back here. I''ve never really seen many women with red hair before. This wasn''t even ginger hair, it was pure red. It looked like she dyed her hair, but considering these super powers and stuff, I could be wrong. Heck, I bet there''s even women with silver hair around here. You never know. Also, I tried not to be distracted by her. I only stared at her for a good several seconds before turning my attention to the items on the shelves. My Gamer ability was able to label the items and, fortunately, they were just normal video game items like health potions and what not. After a few minutes, the two people''s conversation ended. The women turned around and proceeded to walk out. I was stunned at her beauty at first but I was reminded of how attractive the women are in this place. Seriously, it''s like a jackpot here. Anyway, that woman looked pretty distressed about something. She was beautiful and all but I was able to tell that she was incredibly stressed. I wonder why. Anyway, after she left, I walked up to the counter. "Are you guys hiring for an apprenticeship or something?" I asked. "Depends. Are you fine with working as an errand boy?" "Errand boy? What would you need that for? Can''t you do that?" The man sighed before replying: "Listen, I''m in charge of the store while Master is busy concocting Alchemy stuff. I can''t leave it unattended, otherwise this place would be picked clean by the more needy Gifted. We''re only in need of an errand boy, but if you show promise in Alchemy, Master may take you in." "Ok...so, how would your master know if I was skilled or not? Besides, it''s not like I can just learn it without any instructions." "That''s the thing. I can sell you a Beginner''s Alchemy handbook for about 50 stones; 40 stones if you take the job. You''ll have to teach yourself and get your own resources, though." "Hmm...how much is the pay?" "I dunno...depending on how many and how quickly you bring in resources, the pay could range from, let''s say, 100 to 500 stones per day?" Personally, I have no idea if that is decent pay or not. I should''ve researched a bit before coming here. But, this is really the only opportunity I have at the moment. Besides, by becoming an errand boy, I can create relationships with people I interact with. It''s always good to build up a network. I can do the same with the Weapon vendor on the other street as well. I don''t have other options. Plus, I can start practicing Alchemy which will greatly help me. Also, it''ll be easier for me since it''s a steady progression and accumulation of XP. It''ll still be quite difficult, though. I can''t expect everything to be easy, considering this is real life. "Alright, I''ll take the job. And the handbook." I said. The man lightly smiled as he reached underneath the countertop. "You can start today or tomorrow, whichever''s better for you." "I''ll begin tomorrow. I still have a few things I need to finish." I took out my card, which is just like credit cards before everything went to shit, and gave it to the man. He swiped it through a small machine that deducted 40 stones from my card before giving it and the handbook to me. "Thanks, you''ll see me tomorrow." "Take care." The man sat back down as I turned around and left the store. Now that I have an Alchemy handbook, all I needed were resources. However, before I buy any, I need to find out the prices of the resources in every Alchemy vendor and compare them. That way I''ll know which vendor I can buy cheaply from and then give to my Alchemy vendor. For example, if one vendor sells a plant for 50 stones and a different vendor sells the same plant for 45 stones, I''ll obviously buy the cheaper one. That way I won''t be losing too much money. I''m assuming we''re able to venture out into the surroundings areas to search for plants and other ingredients. I can probably gather some and then sell them to the vendors that buy those certain resources for a higher price. I could buy some of one certain plant at a vendor that sells it cheaper then sell that plant to a vendor that buys it for more. If that''s possible. That''s what I did one of the video games I played, but instead of a few miles of difference between the stores it was a few cities. Also, in that video game, I was capable of something called Fast Travel which allowed me to teleport between cities. Video games are so much easier. Anyway, I headed down the street to the Weapon vendor. I quickly entered the building and walked up to the counter once again. "Oh, you''re already back?" The old man asked. "Yea, it was easier than I thought. I got a job as an errand boy, plus I got a Beginner Alchemy handbook for a discount." I replied. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Heh, an errand boy. Well, I would''ve offered you the same job at first." "Really? I don''t want to do the same job at two different vendors though..." "Don''t worry about that, mine is easier than an Alchemy''s errand boy. All you have to do is gather some ore. My current apprentice has been doing the errand job on and off for a while now because I have no one else to do it. He can show you where to go and what places are the best. Plus, there''s a few monsters in the surrounding plains. GG allows them to populate the areas around Thest City so the weaker Gifted have a chance to improve themselves. Plus, a lot of them are a great source of materials so you could mine some ore or kill monsters, or both." My eyes suddenly shined with expectation. Holy crap! This job was way better than the Alchemy job! Oh wait, don''t some Alchemy mixtures contain items from monsters? That''s usually always the case in video games. Hm. I''ll have to ask tomorrow. For now, I''ll accept the old man''s offer. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain XP as well as obtain new abilities from the monsters. "Old man, I''ll happily accept your offer. However, I won''t be able to start until tomorrow. I have a few things I need to finish before I begin." I said. "Good! It''s fine if you have some things to complete before you start. Come in tomorrow and I''ll introduce you to my apprentice. I''ll have him show you the best spots. What time do you think you''ll arrive tomorrow?" "Hm, probably about dusk. Alchemy is my top priority at the moment and I have a vague outline of my schedule so far. However, I''m confident that I''ll be able to complete both errand jobs at the same time in the areas outside the city. I have a special way to store items, so storage won''t be a problem." "Just what I wanted to hear. The more you bring back, the better. I''ve always been running low because just one apprentice can only do so much. Most people don''t wanted to be an errand boy or girl so they leave. Even then there''s not many that ask for a job. What''s your name, kid?" "My name is Mark Apis. What about you, sir?" "My name is Datmear Noravroun. Just call me Dat from now on. I''m looking forward to working with you, Mark." Dat stood up and moved his hand forward. "No, the pleasure is mine." I received his handshake with my own. With that, I left the small store and ventured out onto the street again. I still had about three hours until the sun set, from my very rough calculation, so I decided to quickly travel back to the first Alchemy vendor. I wanted to write down their prices and then travel to the next Alchemy vendor and note their prices down as well. And that''s exactly what I did. When I re-entered the first Alchemy vendor, the guy asked me if I found what I was looking for. I said yea and that I was only there to do some research. He didn''t ask any further, so maybe he''s seen a few people like me. Anyway, I quickly wrote down all the prices and names. I also created rough sketches of each item so I also had a visual representation of each ingredient. I asked the guy at the counter for the location of the nearest Alchemy vendor. Again, he smiled knowingly and told me the directions. Fortunately, he wasn''t vague in his instructions so I was able to easily discover the next vendor. That new one was even bigger. It was larger than the other two Alchemy vendors combined. Instead of a guy there was a woman at the counter. She had black hair that reached to her shoulders. I noticed a Silver S badge just above her chest, which caught me by slight surprise. Once again, this random woman''s looks did not fail the norm around here. However, I knew I had no chance with an S ranker or whatever so I quickly replied to her greeting with my own. I told her that I was just looking and I could tell from her slightly arrogant gaze that she probably wanted me to leave immediately. Despite this, I wrote down the prices of everything. There were several new items with weird names which helped me broaden my scale of knowledge. I wonder why people give these thing such weird names. You see, that''s why I like scientists. What do you call a hole in spacetime that you can''t see? A black hole. What do you call a giant red star? A red giant. What do you a small white star? A white dwarf. See, it''s easy! You don''t have to create a name like Vruhnylseo for a root you find in the ground. Like, what? Where does that even come from? Anyway, I quickly left that place. One glance from that woman was able to make me freeze. It wasn''t as bad as the feeling I got from asshole but it was still uncomfortable. I should''ve asked for his name before I left. I can''t keep calling someone asshole just because I don''t know their name....Oh wait, I can! I didn''t bother asking that woman for the nearest Alchemy vendor so I went back to the one dude to ask him again. I like that guy, he''s pretty nice. He''s a pretty humble guy, plus he''s pretty handsome too. No, I''m not gay. It''s fine to call another guy handsome. Sometimes you just have to appreciate someone''s attractiveness. Look, I''m trying to make this not sound gay as much as I can but it''s impossible. Alright, I was jealous he was hot! You can''t blame me, right? Anyway, he quickly told me directions to another Alchemy vendor. This one would take me about an hour to travel to and back, so I decided to not dilly-dally. Fortunately that new one didn''t have some arrogant bitch, though the person behind the counter was another female. Again, the beauty standards here are incredible... I noted all the prices and noticed a few new ingredients again. Maybe different vendors specialize in different resources? Hm, I''ll have to ask about that tomorrow.
Second chapter, as I stated yesterday. Yes, all of this is necessary. It''ll be clear in a few chapter. Remember? A story can''t be created in one chapter. Chapter 64: Getting Ready After I finished with that, the sun had already began to set. I arrived back at the house my Branch obtained and walked inside. I was astonished at what I saw. Everything was so clean! Before, every wall, every piece of furniture, every corner, had a layer of dust. Now, however, there was no dust to be seen anywhere. The furniture was rearranged into different areas of the main room and there were a few paintings placed on the walls. I guess these people really liked to decorate their living space. Personally, I couldn''t care less. I saw someone walk through a doorway to enter the main room where the front door connected to. His eyes lit up slightly when he saw me before he spoke: "Ah, Mark! Welcome back. Where''ve you been?" I forgot his name so I didn''t even bother trying. "Ah, I was finishing up a few things. I''ll be gone most of the day now because I got a job." "Really? You''re more fortunate than a couple of us. Thankfully, most of us were able to find some sort of method to get stones." "Awesome. So, where''s everyone else?" He took me to where the others were. They all welcomed me back despite not knowing me for long. I couldn''t understand why they were so hospitable. I guess it''s because I''m doing my share of work for the team? I mean, I took those two jobs for myself. Depending on how many stones I obtained from the jobs, I could potentially let go of a few. Anyway, after that, Leader showed me to my room. Surprisingly, the house was bigger than I originally thought. When we first entered, I didn''t explore the entire house because I wanted to gain information as soon as possible. After that night, I learned that there was plenty of space for everyone to sleep with room to spare. The next morning, I put on a different set of clothes before I exited the house. I traveled to the Alchemy vendor which ''hired'' me and the guy at the counter looked pleased to see me walking in again. "Hello again! You ready for you first day on the job?" He asked. "Yea. Though, I will have to say that it will take an entire day to deliver the resources. I''m going to be incredibly busy." I replied. "Oh, doing what?" "Other stuff." I lightly shrugged. "...Alright. Well, Master was anticipating your return so she already gave me your first task. Here." He took a small notebook out from under the counter and gave it to me. "What''s this?" "It''s a picture book. It shows you what each plant looks like, how to extract it, and where it''s located. Oh, almost forgot.-" He took out paper and a pen from the counter and placed it before me. "-You''re going to have to write down the required information before you start. Sorry, it''s regulations." "Ah, no problem. If it''s just a few lines and stuff, it doesn''t matter." I took the pen and wrote down the required information. It was basically asking my name, age, sex, Branch, and Sector. There were a few other small things but those didn''t really matter. I gave it back to the guy, awaiting his response. After several seconds, he looked back at me. "Alright, you''re all set to go. The task Master wants you to complete is harvesting Luosil leaves and Falsi roots; she wants you to gather 10 pounds of Falsi and 3 pounds of Luosil. You''ll find them in the notebook. Also, don''t worry about damaging the notebook, we have several copies." "Nice! Then, I''ll get started immediately. I''ll bring them tomorrow morning. Till then, cya!" "Mm, tomorrow." I left the Alchemy vendor and traveled directly to the Weapon vendor. By this point, I may have been anticipating Dat''s job more than the Alchemy work. I¡¯m not sure how beneficial either of the jobs will be, especially the skills I get from them. I could end up focusing on crafting rather than alchemy after completing several runs of the harvesting jobs. Of course, it¡¯s important to have equipment and have the capability to repair the items. Then, having potions that help health and energy recovery is critical during a drawn-out battle. They can also be sold for high prices depending on the area. When I entered the shop, I spotted Dat with the same pipe in his mouth and a book in his hands. He looked up to see who entered and was surprised to see it was me who was standing there. ¡°Welcome back! I didn¡¯t expect to see you in the morning.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting it either. But, I¡¯d rather tackle both jobs at the same time. I already told them that I would deliver the resources tomorrow, so I have plenty of time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure. It takes a good amount of time to harvest plants correctly. On top of that, you have to extract minerals and rocks that hold ore, all the while defending yourself from the monsters in the surroundings. It¡¯s tough work if you aren¡¯t up to the task.¡± ¡°I understand. I¡¯ve already come to terms with it. I guess I¡¯ll find out how difficult it really is once I get there.¡± ¡°...Alright. My apprentice hasn¡¯t arrived yet so I¡¯ll give you a notebook that details the ore veins and rocks. It¡¯ll also show you where they¡¯re located and what to do to extract them. By the way, did the Alchemy vendor give you a notebook about the monsters?¡± ¡°No, they didn¡¯t...Now that I think about it, that would be pretty necessary.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The monsters weren¡¯t that much of a problem, however, now that the Dread Ruins have opened, they all transformed into even stranger abominations. Fortunately, my apprentice is strong enough to defend himself against most of them. He¡¯s a Silver A ranker though.¡± ¡°Ooo...I¡¯m only a B rank...ahaha¡­¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about that. Besides, I¡¯ve given my apprentice two treasures to ensure his safety. Currently I can¡¯t give one to you because you just started, but my apprentice will be able to defend you.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just say his name?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll introduce him when he get¡¯s here. Till then, I¡¯ll help you through the notebooks¡¯ information.¡± And like that, Dat personally taught me what the notebooks¡¯ details meant. It was awesome having a professional teach me, unlike that Alchemy vendor. Anyway, Dat even taught me the different ways to kill the new monsters. Apparently, because the monsters continually absorb the energy from the Dread Ruins, they¡¯re constantly getting stronger. That may sound like a bad thing, but to me, that just means more XP. Mmmm, delicious XP! As long as I don¡¯t die...because there¡¯s no respawns in real life. About an hour later, someone entered the store. Dat looked up and a warm light appeared in his eyes. The man was definitely taller than me, meaning that he was about six feet two inches. He had long brown hair tied in a ponytail behind his back. He wore a dark brown overcoat that covered a light brown shirt, coupled with brown pants. He had brown boots that were strapped against his legs, concealing his pants halfway down his shins. I could tell he liked brown. Or maybe it was because he¡¯s a forger? Wait, why do I equate brown with forging? Hm, weird. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Welcome back, Plouris.¡± ¡°I¡¯m back, Master.¡± The man first looked at Dat before he noticed me with a notebook in my hand sitting besides Dat. He was slightly confused, however, a couple seconds later, understanding was seen in his gaze. ¡°Master, is this the new guy?¡± ¡°Yes, this is him. I¡¯ll introduce you two.¡± Dat stood up, motioning me to follow. Once I was in-front of the man, Dat spoke: ¡°Plouris, this is new recruit. His name is Mark, and he just came from an Outer Sector. He basically knows nothing about the woodland and cave system around here. I¡¯ll have you teach him everything you know.-¡± ¡°-Mark, this is Plouris. He¡¯s been my apprentice for several months now. He¡¯s grown from a bronze B rank into a Silver A rank. His rate of growth is astonishing.¡± ...I mean, in my terms of growth, that¡¯s incredibly slow. But, from Dat¡¯s words, his growth is fast? I guess I¡¯ll have to look into the growth rates of these people once I get the chance. Anyway, I shook Plouris''s hand and I nodded to him and he nodded back. It''s just something guys do. Dat turned to Plouris again and said: "Plouris, I''ve already briefed him on the very basics. I know that you''re busier nowadays, but I need you to go with him and teach on the job. He needs some hands-on experience and I don''t want him dying out there." "Haha, no worries, Master. You can leave him to me. Now, what are we looking for, specifically?" "Right. I need you two to get some Oligorite and Librovite. Plouris, these two should be easy for you, so just show Mark how it''s done." "Got it. We''ll leave now so we can get the best spot. Come on, follow me." Plouris motioned toward me. "Alright." I replied as I followed behind him. Dat get us a final good luck before Plouris and I left the store. Judging from Plouris''s words, there might be others in the same areas as us? I see, so there''s competition. I don''t know why I didn''t expect such a thing. Maybe some of them aren''t even affiliated with a single Weapon vendor, but normal people that just go out and gather resources to sell to the vendors. I guess that''s why most people don''t want to be hired. Maybe it''s because the pay of the job is lower compared to just selling the resources. In my opinion, there''s not much difference. I mean, you can handle two jobs at once if you have ways to store enough materials; or if you''re a workaholic. Storage isn''t a problem for me because items that are same stack. Unfortunately they don''t stack up to 99, otherwise I would have a bunch of shit in my inventory. Having the job would also give you the incentive of learning the actual skill of whatever vendor it is. I noticed that many of the weapons in the Weapon vendor were several hundred stones. The cheapest I saw was still over 200 stones. Many of the items in the Alchemy vendors were also hundreds of stones. I wondered why they were so expensive...maybe it''s because it''s difficult to craft the items? Hm, I guess I''ll find out. Plouris and I walked for about an hour before reaching a giant gate. There were several people situated around it that were dressed in military-esque uniforms. They leisurely talked with one another until they noticed Plouris and I walk up. "You guys headed out?" One of them said. "Yea." Plouris replied as he took out a small badge; I wasn''t able to see if it had carvings on it though. "Ah, Vendor Datmear''s apprentice. Who''s this?" "This is his new employee. I''m going to help train him to mine ore and extract minerals." "Hahaha, I remember when I tried to do that. I broke every single crystal I came across." "Well, we''re doing anything that advanced yet, haha." "Alright, you guys can go through. Be careful about those abominations out there." "We will!" Plouris waved his hand as we walked through the opened gate. It immediately closed after we passed the threshold outside the city. "Why''d you show him your badge?" I asked. "Apprentices of Vendors are able to go through the gates for free, that''s why." Plouris replied. "Wait, there''s a toll fee?!" "Yea. There''s toll fees in every Core City. It''s not that much though, just ten stones." Well, I guess even super humans need money, right?
I apologize for the short chapter. I have Swim championships tomorrow AND Saturday so I''ll be incredibly tired both days. I don''t think I''ll be able to get out another chapter by the time Monday rolls around. It''s already late and I need to get to sleep early...I have to get to the championships at 8:15 AM. Yea. Then 7:30 am on Saturday. Ugh. My last year, though. Anyway, I finally released my new fiction! The prologue and first chapter have been released. Unfortunately, I haven''t had enough time to start the second chapter. Now, before I post the link, I''ll tell you guys a bit about it. Just like in a previous chapter, I stated that this new fiction and Modern Deity are connected. That is true, however, that secret will only be revealed at the end of Modern Deity (albeit indirectly). Now, the MC in my new fiction will be very scientific, meaning that I will do the same as I do in MD where I explain his comprehensions and scientific experiments. Ah, but here''s the catch! The MC''s technology involves quantum physics and advanced mathematics, which have resulted in more modern-age technology. The world he''s in doesn''t even have electricity yet, mostly because they use magic. So, what will the results be when technology and magic clash? Of course, those two aren''t the only two weapons. This new world that I created is quite complex (Which, personally, I like.) and it has many different weapons AND history. I do my best not to do info dumps (I believe there are none as of now). Anyway, without further delay, here''s the link to my new story!: Link! Chapter 65: You Asshole --Three Months Later-- And here comes the magnificent Mark! Once again I laid bare my awesomeness as I extracted those wonderful money-makers out of the ground. It was a beautiful thing, really. I just pluck ''em out, boom, I make bank. This reminds me of past video games so much. Reliving those days, except in reality, has really made me a happy man. Especially when I make a bunch of money off it. Not only that, but the precious XP! The monsters out here in the woodlands are delicious. Although they were difficult at first and I basically leached off Plouris, I eventually managed to clear them out on my own. At the beginning, I thought this stuff was impossible. It was so difficult to harvest ores and plants correctly. I had to level up the mining and harvesting skills up to level five just to be able to get one that wasn''t poor quality. I was having quite a hard time back then. But now, all that is done and past. And, let me tell you, a lot has happened. First of all, I achieved level forty in both mining and harvesting, which allows me to extract medium quality resources. The quality goes from, lowest to highest: Poor, low, medium, high, top. It took me a while but I finally managed to get medium quality resources. Now, these things sell for way more than low quality. The price difference is about four times. The best low quality resource is about 80 stones for a bundle of ten. Medium quality would be about 320 stones. That''s just for Alchemy. For Weapon vendors, oh man...even better. Mining is more difficult anyway. I''ve been making close to a thousand stones per day for the past two weeks on resources alone. That does include the few extras I saved to sell for higher prices at a different vendor. Now, I eventually got the Alchemy skill and I also became Dat''s real apprentice. Meaning that I learned weapon forging. Both skills are incredibly difficult but the payoff is amazing. Alchemy increases my intelligence, because of the many different formulas and what-not, and health, which comes from continually breathing in the aromas of health and other beneficial potions. The passive increase wasn''t that large but it was still appreciated. Forging increases strength and endurance, which are both obvious. I created many potions and weapons. At the beginning, almost all of them weren''t sell-able unfortunately. However, I eventually leveled both skills up to 25 which was the borderline of sell-able products. I felt like these skills were a bit too difficult but, nonetheless, I still did them. Second of all, due to farming monsters as well, my own level has risen to 63. Awesome, right? That''s only because most of the monsters around my area are in the 60s to 70s level-wise. I noticed that, with each level up, the amount of XP I need increases more and more stupidly. For example, I needed about 20,000 XP to get to level 62. I needed 32,000 XP to get to level 63. Now, I only get about 300 XP from the monsters below level 70. I don''t even have that much time to kill a lot when I''m harvesting resources, so the XP requirement are just getting ridiculous. What the heck would it be when I''m at level 100? Third of all, this might be the most incredible thing of all, but I actually found people that belong to my species! The Apis species! Also, all of them have the Gamer ability! However, I''m the only one that''s a Unique Apis. I discovered the usefulness of such a title when I found my first fellow Gamer. A blue window popped up signifying that he was in the vicinity, and that he was also alerted to my presence. That thing was called Leader of Gamers, which allows me to find my own kind. It''s the extra thing that comes with being a Unique Apis. Naturally, I confronted my fellow Gamer. They were just as confused as I was at the time. Finding someone else that has the Gamer ability? What kinda luck is that? However, I could tell how guarded the person was. It was a he, by the way. Anyway, the dude was practically terrified that I found him. He''s one of those people that''s, you know, a bit withdrawn from public? Now, I don''t have that problem, primarily because I worked in a fast food restaurant before and, well, that takes good social skills. But this guy...I could tell he wasn''t really all there sometimes. Either that or he likes to think rather than talk. Either way, I eventually got him to calm down. This was like finding my children! I understood what a Unique Apis was at that moment. I was a leader to my people! Wherever they were! Hopefully not all of them are withdrawn from society! Anyway, that''s basically what that was about. I was able to invite him to my "guild"; I guess you could call it that. I''d rather call it a family instead, because the others that I found were all normal Apis while I was a Unique Apis. Of course, I used the first guy to my advantage to recruit the others. I did that to show that I wasn''t some tyrant that took advantage of my people. Well, I of course did take advantage of them. But! I didn''t do it in a bad way. I did my duty as the leader of a people! I needed to guide my people along...I''m getting too into character here. Basically, I formed a group called the Family of Gamers. FOG for short. Oooo, sounds spooky, right? Well, we''re all nice people that are just about helping each other out. FOG had about fourteen members by the time I reached level 63. Of course, we mainly only help fellow members out. When I reached level 50, I was capable of creating a guild. I didn''t make one until I encountered the first Apis aside from me. Of course, the name of the guild is FOG. The Guild allows all the members to share XP, although it''s only .5% of the total XP gained from killing a monster. Still, if everyone''s killing monsters everywhere, the XP adds up. Also, only a Gamer that is within 20 levels of someone gets shared XP from that person. Unfortunately, us Gamers aren''t incredibly OP. I was busy mining some ore I found as I traveled along a path I never took before. I didn''t need Plouris''s help anymore because I''m able to defend myself now. Also, Dat gave me a defensive treasure he crafted which blocks one attack up to a Bronze S rank. That''s pretty amazing if you ask me. I was fully focused on extracting the fragile ore from the vague outline of rock. These higher quality materials are always so difficult to obtain. Honestly, it would so much easier if they didn''t need such accurate strikes to the rock around them. It''s such a nuisance. Suddenly, I heard light footsteps approach me from behind. I turned my head just to see a giant mutant praying-mantis. It was more of a lizard-spider-mantis because of its like eight legs, four scythe-arms, and scaly skin. It was fucking terrifying. However, I''ve encountered these things before. This one was only level 57 so I have a bit of an advantage over it, as long as I don''t mess around. I jumped out the way of one of its arms. The scythe sliced straight into the rock, destroying the precious ore along with it. "What the fuck, dude." I swore out loud involuntarily, mostly because I had spent a good ten minutes on that one spot. The thing easily slid its arm out of the rock and turned toward me. It lifted two of its arms and slammed them together. A weird ringing sound spread throughout the entire area for who knows how far. I know exactly what that means. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Instantly, I could hear the sounds of tens of footsteps in the surroundings. Monster mantises started to appear everywhere; they ran over the small hills of rock and rushed past the trees to surround me. There were about twenty of them all around me, staring at me with those strange, beady eyes. It was a bit disconcerting, because I honestly didn''t expect to ambushed by twenty-or-so monster mantises. ~~~ -Original POV- Kyte and the others flew through the air with increased speed. He could see the outline of a gigantic city. It was at least fix times larger than his home city, and there was a huge woodland area to the right of it. The entire expanse which led to the Core was of course not desert plains. There were varying plains that had no vegetation aside from grass, then there were areas that had denser vegetation. The plants near the train track were, of course, kept at a distance. They had been traveling for two entire weeks. The train was obviously much faster than Kyte''s flying speed. Although he was carrying multiple people along with him, even if he was by himself he would still be slower than the train. However, it would probably only take a few more hours until they reached the city walls. Along the way, all of the sealed Gifted had gone through the unsealing process. Unfortunately, not all of them succeeded. About a third failed at unsealing their memories, and instead of keeping them, Kyte killed them. He already had a few test subjects and carrying too many insane Gifted with him would arouse even more suspicion than he would already gather. After resting for about an hour, Kyte lifted the others into the air once again and set off for the final stretch of the journey. He was excited about the new possibilities that would present themselves to him, as well as reuniting with the others. He also wanted to find out what Mark was up to since he left. Kyte wondered if Mark had already died somewhere without him knowing. As Kyte flew closer to the walls, the woodlands were quite close. He was able to see the entire perimeter of the woodlands because of how high he was in the sky. The plain was about the size of a normal city itself, with several large pockets of highly dense vegetation. There was even a small lake near the largest density of plants which was most likely an oasis to someone that ran out of water. After flying for another ten minutes, the one thing Kyte would not expect to happen, happened. A surge of Spiritual energy blasted outward, passing through Kyte and the others, though Kyte was the only one capable of detecting it. Kyte turned his head to look down at the right, inside the woodland. Kyte instantly recognized that Spiritual signature, which came from a Signal Sphere. That...has to be Mark, right? Did he see me or something? I wonder how long it''s been in the outside world... "Everyone, I''m gonna make a detour down there. I found someone that I was acquainted with before we left on the train." Kyte stated. The others were unable to refuse; otherwise, Kyte would probably just drop them all to the ground. None of them thought he wouldn''t do that. Kyte quickly turned and flew directly toward the source of the signal. It came from a denser area that had a small rocky hill. Kyte spread out his Spirit energy to encompass the entire area for a whole mile. He discovered Mark with a strange sword in his hands as he stood in the middle of an encirclement of monsters. Kyte was slightly confused at the lizard-spider-mantises, but he''s seen other monsters. Heck, he encountered a 30,000 year old spirit thing at the bottom of lake. Those monster mantises didn''t really surprise him. What did surprise him is the fact that Mark got himself surrounded...again. Actually, it''s more accurate to say that Kyte almost expected something like that to happen. He was more surprised to even find Mark in the first place. Kyte set the others down in a safer area and kept his Spirit energy spread out. If any monsters approached the group, Kyte would know. After that, Kyte flew above the area where Mark was and stared down at him with amusement. "Hey, why''d you get surrounded again?" Kyte said. "...WHAT?! You actually appeared?! Wha-. how-. why?!" Mark, full of disbelief, looked up at Kyte. "Yea, I came. You crushed the sphere, so I naturally had to come. Although I did technically arrive..." "What was that last part-Guh!" Kyte watched as Mark defended himself again the monsters. He would parry the scythes as they slashed toward him and then create an invisible spear that he launched toward them. Kyte instantly recognized the invisible spear to be created by world energy, which should be named universe energy now. He watched the spear pierce into the mantis''s torso and fly out the other side. However, at that moment, two scythes swiped through the air toward Mark''s back. Mark twisted around and successfully parried the first one and barely blocked the second. Kyte heard a small crunch as the second scythe slammed into Mark''s sword, making Mark''s face contort with pain. A small vial appeared with a light green liquid inside which Mark instantly drank. The pain in his face immediately subsided and mark created two invisible spears which he threw toward the two monsters that attacked him. "Aren''t you going to help me?!" Mark yelled. "I will if you need it. Besides, it looks like you''re doing perfectly fine as you are?" "You are such an asshole, dude." "Not the first time I''ve heard that." The remaining mantises seemed enraged by Mark killing their brethren, so they all attacked at the same time. Seeing this, Mark''s face instantly paled because he knew there was no way he could block all thirteen of them at once. Kyte looked down at the scene with a faint smile upon his lips.
Awwww yis. I was planning on writing a few more chapters about the creation of FOG but that can be saved for another time. And yes, there are other Gamers. However, Mark is the only Unique Apis. Mark is also the only one that has the Absorption ability, which went along with his race as the Unique Apis. The shared XP is only for monsters by the way. Also, don''t forget to check out my new story! I released the 2nd chapter today! Here''s the link: Link! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Chapter 66: Finally Made It Seeing that Mark had no way to escape the sudden surge of attacks, Kyte created thirteen spears of energy before he shot all of them down into the bodies of each monster. The spears easily pierced directly through their bodies and into the ground, which made it so that they couldn''t move. The monsters all roared in pain as the energy seemed to melt them from the inside. Mark looked up at Kyte in surprise. He actually didn''t expect Kyte to do anything based on the last time he was surrounded. He looked at the pitch-black spears that had penetrated the monsters'' bodies and noticed that they were completely unable to even move. One of the monsters tried to do so, however, the energy just cut right through its body which immediately killed it. "Why''d you save me?" Mark asked. "What do you mean why? Of course I would save you. The only reason why I wouldn''t is if you had a chance to defeat them. Obviously, you didn''t." Kyte replied as he softly landed on the ground next to Mark. "You don''t know that. I could''ve handled them just fine." "Oh really? Who yelled at me to save them earlier? Hm? Oh right, that was you." "Hey, anyone would''ve done the same! Plus, those things are really creepy!" "Hmph. Only cowards scream out for help. If you want the power to defend yourself, then seize it. Also, try not to be so stupid. This is the second time this has happened." Kyte breathed out a sigh. "Oi, it''s easier said than done, alright? It''s only convenient for you to say that because you have the power." "You''re wrong, actually. I¡¯ve never shied away from an enemy before. Before an enemy several leagues above me, I mocked him before I would even think of submitting to him." Well...I guess the first time I battled a Guardian can be excluded... "That''s different. You probably had someone there to help you." "And you don''t?" "....Touch¨¦." "Look, I can tell you''ve trained considerably in the time I was gone. Speaking of time, how long has it been since you boarded the train?" "It''s been, hmm...about three months?" Holy shit! Three fucking months?! "Are you serious? Three months?..." Kyte unconsciously looked toward the Core with a small hint of longing in his eyes. "Uh, yea, three months. Where''ve you been, dude? Rose has been driven to the edge worrying about you." Mark looked at Kyte weirdly. "...You know Rose?" Kyte, surprised, looked back at Mark. "Yea. I met her and some of the other Branch 4 members while trading. The topic of you came up for some reason and I said that I knew you. I told them about the time before the trains took off and they somehow connected the dots. They were a bit nicer than before, though they did assault me with questions." "How is Rose? Is she fine? What about the others? Akina?" Kyte took a single step forward. "Woah, take it easy dude. It''ll just be better for you to reunite with them. Besides, I actually don''t know much about them. We''re more like acquaintances than friends." Mark stated as he took a single step back. "...You''re right.-" Kyte looked at Mark for a couple of seconds before continuing. "-You should come back with me. I''ll properly introduce you to everyone." "No, I don''t think that would be appropriate." "Why not?" "Well, uh, I uh, kinda...did something..." "Haaah, like what?" "Just between you and me-" Mark moved a bit closer to Kyte. "-I tried hitting on Akina the first time I saw her. I wasn''t capable of resisting the urge to tap that, dude." "And?" Kyte said with a touch of anger in his voice. "Well, you know, I''m more the straight-forward type of guy, and uh, so I, uh, I tried to grab her ass?" *SMACK* Kyte slapped Mark across his face, sending him flying into one of the monster corpses. "You idiot, that''s not how you hit on a girl!" Kyte shouted, clearly irritated. "Fucking Hell man, that hurt! And so what?! It''s worked before!" Mark pointed toward Kyte as blood splattered from his mouth. "Yea, if the girl''s a fucking slut! What type of girl would actually be turned on if some random-ass old dude comes by and grabs her ass?!" "Hey, I''m not old! I''m not even forty yet!" "That doesn''t give you the right to hit on my!-" Kyte cut himself off before he finished. "-...Anyway, are you coming with me or not? Besides, you owe me since I''ve saved your life. Two times, technically." Mark''s face turned from one of confusion to one of understanding. He covered his mouth with his hand as he emitted an "Ooo hoo hoo"-type laugh. "So that''s how it is, you player. You''re not only going after Rose, but Akina too? I''m kinda jealous." "What? How the Hell did you come to that conclusion? Just answer my question." "Alright, alright. Since you won''t admit it, I''ll stop prying. And sure, I''ll come with you. I have enough money to take a break for the first time in a few months. Also, why invite me?" "I invited you because you''ve some-what proven yourself. Usually, it takes years for a Special Gifted to reach Silver A rank. Yet, it''s only taken you a few months. You''re almost as fast as I was. Now, whether or not you''re still a complete idiot is still up to debate." "Oi." "So, considering your fast growth rate, I decided that I want to befriend you. I took a gamble months ago when I first talked to you, and it seems like it may have paid off. I''m going to be straightforward with you here. I want you to be my friend so we can help each other when in need. Also, I have a feeling you''re going to need some of my help regardless. Reason for that is: I''m an S ranker and you''re just a Silver A rank." "Hmm...that does sound pretty tempting. I''m going to assume that you have more equipment than just a few pills. Also, the fact that you''re an S ranker will definitely benefit me and FOG. We''ll be able to bring in more resources and probably even more members..." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "FOG? What''s that?" "Oh, it''s a guild I created for people that have the Gamer ability. I told you that my species is Unique Apis, right? Well, turns out that I''m the leader of the Apis race, which are all people with the Gamer ability. So far, we have fourteen members including me." "Really? Other Gamer ability holders?...Hm, I''ll have to meet some of them. Besides, I''m also planning a type of group of my own, so our two powers together could potentially become something worth looking out for. So, do you want to come or not?" "Hahaha, of course! Besides, I still need to apologize to Akina. And, your words are mysterious and quite intriguing, so I want to continue this subject later." "Heh, yes, I agree. Alright, don''t resist me when I cover you with my energy. We''ll fly back into Thest City. You''ll have to direct me, though." "Wait, fly? You can make me fly?!" Mark''s eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Technically yes and technically no. I''m going to be the one controlling you in the air, so you''re not the one who''s flying." "Aw..." "Anyway, I have a group of people with me so we won''t be alone. Let''s go." Kyte spread out Internal energy and lifted Mark into the air. A second later, Mark yelled: "Wait! The corpses! There''s a few precious items that are-" Kyte encompassed the corpses with his Internal energy and willed them into the storage necklace. Mark was instantly shocked when he saw the corpses suddenly disappear before his eyes. He looked at Kyte with confusion in his eyes, but the only thing Kyte did was smugly smile. After that, Kyte rose into the air. Mark was full of excitement as his body also rose into the air. ¡°Dude, this is awesome! Hahaha!¡± Mark yelled. ¡°That¡¯s what everyone says.¡± Kyte replied. Kyte flew over to the others and lifted them up into the air as well. He traveled above the woodlands and began to move toward Thest. He asked Mark for the directions toward the are where he lived. He asked that because Mark said he encountered Rose and the others while trading, so they most likely live somewhere in the same area. When they traveled closer to Thest City, Kyte understood why the Core was said to be gigantic. Thest City itself was a mega-city. It looked to be separated into different districts, and the inner most districts were obviously smaller than the outer ones. In the outermost district, the buildings didn''t seem to be bad at all. They looked to be rather well built, though from what Mark told Kyte, apparently the insides were never maintained. The second district''s buildings were two floors, the third had three floors, the fourth having four floors, and the final district had a gigantic castle-like structure. It looked to be about seven floors high and was spread out as wide as the entire fourth district. The outside looked to built from white bricks from what Kyte could see. Kyte noticed a faint spatial difference around the castle compared to the other districts. Although he could see it, he didn''t know what its purpose was. It was most likely for defense, Kyte assumed. Mark directed Kyte toward a large gate which led into the city. Kyte noticed that, when they got close enough, there were guards stationed on the outside of the gate. They were suddenly surprised when they saw people flying in the air. They had never seen anyone capable of flight like they were witnessing before. Honestly, they had no idea what to do. After several minutes, Kyte brought everyone down softly onto the ground. They walked about twenty meters before arriving before the guards that wore bewildered and confused expressions. Kyte stepped forward to respond to the guards. The guard that took a step forward had a Gold A badge on his shoulder, and he observed Kyte before he spoke. He noticed the Bronze S badge of Kyte''s shoulder, which made him have a more respectful gaze than before. "Sir, I don''t recognize your face. Who are you?" "I''m the S rank escort of an Outer Sector train. Our train was ambushed by multiple S rank Guardians that destroyed our train and slaughtered about 90% of the Gifted that had boarded the train. I led the surviving Gifted through the forest and we only just arrived. I hope this will be able to exempt us from the charge of treason." "Wha-, the forest? O-oh, you don''t have to worry about treason. Sir Thomas White retracted that order after several trains were delayed due to Guardian Ambushes. Unfortunately, a few groups have never showed up." "I understand. As you can see, excluding the man standing next to me, the others are the survivors of Sector 31''s South Train Station. We had a few...mishaps within the forest which almost wiped us out, so these are the only ones remaining. Now, is there somewhere I can file a report on the events that occurred during our journey?" "Yes, each Escort is required to create a report on the journey. We''ll send you all to the nearest train station to complete that procedure." "Thank you. Everyone, let''s finally enter the Core."
Yes, they have finally managed to enter the Core! Thest City! What awaits them inside? Who knows. I also released the third chapter of my new story, Alone No More! The third chapter features the MC''s first display of power, so make sure to check it out if you want to read more badassery! Here''s the link: Link Comments are always appreciated, so don''t hold back. Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Chapter 67: The News The guards opened the gate, allowing Kyte and the others to enter. They walked over the threshold which separated them from the Core, Thest City. Rather than tall, there were wide buildings lined along both sides of the street. Signs protruded from the sides above each door of the buildings. The road led down about fifty meters before it split into three different roads; one going straight, to the left, and the right. Kyte noticed that the space between the buildings increased the farther away from the gate they were, though he didn''t really think of it as something important. At least it wasn''t crowded, for now at least. One of the Guards on the inside followed Kyte and gave him the directions to the nearest Reporting building. It was to the left of the four-way intersection and about a mile down. Which is, of course, unfortunate for the group. That''s because all of them were incredibly weak. Because they had depleted their food rations and only obtained water, Kyte had to compromise. He ventured into the forest and killed a few monsters and took their meat. He did his best to try to sterilize the meat before giving it to one of the unsuccessful Gifted. Kyte closely observed its reaction to the meat and, fortunately, nothing bad happened. Concerning that fact, Kyte wondered if he was the only one bothered by the blue blood. He hypothesized that he could only absorb red blood because of the Bloodrage technique. If that was the case, then that explains why Kyte''s body reacted so intensely when he came into contact with that blue blood. So, he fed everyone else with the monster meat. He asked for their opinion on the meat, to which he got favorable replies all around. How could he not notice them lying? He carefully observed them afterward but nothing bad happened. So, he continually fed them the monster meat until they finally left the forest. Of course, he stored some of it for the journey beyond the forest. As for Kyte, he sustained himself purely on energy. Unfortunately, he used up some life force to do so, but there nothing he could do. He couldn''t eat the meat and he wanted to keep the water for the others. Due to all of this, and the fact that none of them cleaned up in weeks, they looked like they just exited a war-zone. They smelled horrible, their clothes had rips and tears, and their hair was disheveled. All of this was naturally noticed by the many Gifted walking by. Almost all of them revealed faces of disgust when they first caught a whiff of the smell, but when they saw Kyte''s S rank badge, they quickly hid their expressions. "Hey, Mark, are their cars or other vehicles here?" Kyte asked. "Hm? Oh, yea, there are. Though you won''t see any in this district. I only know this because I asked Akina the same thing." Mark replied. "Why aren''t there any in this district?" "Well, there''s just a lot more people here. There wouldn''t be any room for vehicles like that." That makes sense. Just by walking through this street I can tell that there''s a lot of Gifted here. After continuing to walk for several more minutes, the group finally arrived at the Reporting office. It was located almost directly next to the train station which was placed nearby. The train was still resting on that tracks, evident that there would be no more incoming groups to that station. "Everyone, Mark will watch over you while I''m inside." Kyte said before he entered the building. Inside were several desks placed around. The front desk, what Kyte assumed anyway, was located in the center of the room in-front of the door. There was a man with his chin rested upon his hand as he lazily looked at the screen on his desk. The man turned his attention to Kyte when he was a few steps before the desk. He saw Kyte''s rather unclean appearance and said: "Yes, what do you need?" "I''m here to file a report on the Sector 31 South Train Station''s arrival." Kyte replied. "Train arrival...? Wait, train arrival? What do you mean?" "The train I escorted was incredibly delayed due to a Guardian ambush. We were forced to travel through the forest and, unfortunately, that created another delay." "The forest?! You said you''re the escort? What rank are you?" "I''m a Bronze S rank." Kyte slightly turned to show the badge on his shoulder. "I see...Here, these papers will ask you certain questions. The last paper is for the written report, and it is required to be at least two paragraphs in length." "Thank you." Kyte walked over and sat down at an empty desk. The man at the main desk didn''t object so Kyte just assumed it was fine for him to sit there. He went through the multiple questions, most of which asked for the general information pertaining to the train and number of Gifted that boarded. When he finished those, he moved on to the written report. He kept it short and only wrote two paragraphs. Of course, he kept most of the details confidential, like the white mist, memories, and Sistaina. When he was finished, he handed the papers back to the man at the main desk. He looked at him and asked: "Can you give me the location of Sector 31 Branch 4''s housing?" "Why?" "Because I''m a member of that Branch. I''m fairly certain you can just look it up on your computer, right?" "...Yea, let me take a look." The man looked at the papers and found Kyte''s name on it, to which he used to search on his computer. Information about Kyte, which was submitted by Akina several months ago, appeared on the screen. "Hm, looks like it''s all here. Alright, I''ll give you their location. Just be sure to randomly give the location out." "I understand." Kyte took the small piece of paper the man handed to him. "One more thing, I was wondering if I could obtain a house of my own?" "About that. You''re going to have to speak with a receptionist within the S rank district. Whether or not there are spaces available, I do not know." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Ok, thanks." Kyte thanked the man for the information before exiting the building. Considering that the Gifted within Kyte''s groups were rogue now, he had to find them a place to stay. There''s no way they could all accompany him to the house where Akina and the others were living, so he had to think of something else. He also ruled out Mark''s residence because he lives with his Branch. The only thing he could think of is getting a place of his own and letting the others stay there. Because Kyte''s an S ranker, officially a Bronze S and unofficially much stronger, he expected that he would be granted more flexibility. However, he knew that S rankers most likely didn''t amount to much in the grand scale, so he wasn''t expecting too much. Kyte decided that he would just ask Akina when they reunite. On that thought, Kyte wondered where Azali lived. Considering her father was a Fighter rank, they must''ve definitely obtained a higher quality of housing than an S ranker. He also wondered what district she was located in, because there''s five different districts. He assumed each district was connected with each rank, though the outermost district was most likely A rank and lower. That means the second district was S rankers, third was Fighters, fourth was Kings, and the last held the ones higher than that. To think there''s still more powerful Gifted than King rankers...what''s the limit? Kyte sighed thinking about the future. He was only at the mid seventh stage concerning his Internal energy while his Spirit energy was at the early eighth stage. He didn''t know whether or not the eighth stage would bring him to the Fighter level or not. His Spirit energy didn''t necessarily feel like it was powerful enough to be on David Wux''s level, but it wasn''t extremely far off either. Considering that Kyte had to comprehend certain levels of the black light, or maybe even the spatial laws in general, he had a long way to go. Basically all of his insights have pertained to the black light rather than the spatial laws in the universe. Granted, he did witness the gravitational waves that were created by the three giant black holes colliding, however, that didn''t give him enough to actually manipulate any of the spatial laws. The black light domain was different in that he uses the black light, not the actual spatial laws, to manipulate the space within the domain. Even then, the space within the domain was different than the space outside. Everything seemed so complicated. However, that''s only because Kyte didn''t understand the answers. Once he does so, he would probably become unstoppable. Of course, unless someone else comes along with the same level of comprehension, which is entirely possible. Kyte wasn''t so arrogant that he believed himself to be the only one capable of comprehending such subjects. Considering that the White family was famous for manipulating gravity and space, Kyte definitely knew he wasn''t the only one. He can''t even manipulate gravity, or even space without his black light domain. Anyway, Kyte regrouped with everyone else. "Everyone, follow me. I currently don''t have a place for you to stay permanently, however, I will obtain a house in the near future. We''ll be traveling to my Branch''s housing, so be sure to be respectful to the other members." Kyte said. Kyte nodded toward Mark before beginning to move according to Mark''s directions. It would take a while to travel to the S rank district, but Kyte still wanted to get their as fast as possible. Also, Kyte asked Mark why there were so many S rankers in the outermost district rather than the S rank district. Mark said that most S rankers don''t have enough skill with forging and alchemy to sell S ranked products. Most of the items they craft are at most A rank, so they come to the outermost district to sell their products. ~~~ -S Rank District- -Roughly an hour after Kyte filed the report...- A young man was practically sprinting down the street toward a certain two-story house. He held an envelope in his right hand and a hint of excitement was seen in his eyes. He eventually arrived in-front of his destination, which had a tall fence that was constructed around the house''s perimeter. The house itself was as wide as the buildings in the outermost district, except this one had two-stories instead of one. It was also white in color and the large door leading into the house was crafted from a smooth, beautiful wood. The man walked up to a small metallic box that had a screen on it. He pressed his thumb against, which lit up and scanned it. A small click noise was heard and the man entered the front yard. He closed the gate behind him, which locked into place. He calmed his breathing before walking up to the front door. He knocked on it three times before taking a single step back as he prepared himself. After about half a minute, the door opened to reveal a startling beautiful figure. She had long, silver hair that stretched down to her hips; her black eyes seemed to pierce through the man as she stared at him. She asked the man: "What do you want, Renald?" Renald firmly looked into the woman''s eyes and replied: "Sir, he''s finally arrived."
Did you guys see? I''m rank 38 in the weekly fictions! Woohoo! I finally made it into the top 50! Usually my highest was rank 52, but this time I finally broke through. Yay. Anyway, the word "sir" is gender neutral in my story, so don''t worry about that. I managed to write this chapter in one day. Whew, took me several hours but I finally finished it. I''m really tired now, though. Hope you guys enjoyed, and stay tuned for next chapter. Update 5/8/2016 Hey guys, I know you''re disappointed this isn''t a chapter. I know, I apologize for this. This update isn''t necessarily bad. All I need is some time. Right now, I can write the next chapter. And maybe a chapter after that. However, after that, I have run into a wall. I have a few options I can think of, however, none of them prolong the story enough to encompass everything that needs to be explained in order for you, the readers, to understand the entire world. I need to take a small hiatus to sort the different options and paths the story can take, which is something I have never done for this story (lol). Now, I am not dropping this story. No way. I''ve already come this far, and in order for you readers to know the connection between Modern Deity and Alone No More, MD has to be completed. This hiatus may last a week. The absolute longest it will last is 2 weeks. 2 weeks MAX. I do not plan on having a prolonged hiatus. The reason why I will need at least a week is to rest from writing. This last week has been a bit complicated and I''m currently practicing at least 2 hours everyday on the piano so I can finish this difficult song before my final. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Anyway, don''t expect any chapters within this week. HOWEVER, there is a chance that another chapter of Alone No More will be released. Speaking of which, I released chapter 4 of ANM a few minutes ago, so please, check it out. ANM is not going to be like MD. What I mean by that is that I''m actually going to plan out the events beforehand unlike in MD where I just write whatever I want. ANM will also feature more character diversity and actual depth than MD (Well, I''ll try.) so that''s a plus (IMO). If you want to check it out, which I recommend you doing, here''s the link to the fiction page: Link Thanks for reading my story so far. It''s been a long ride which will be even longer by the time I finish this. Anyway, see you guys in the next update/release. Chapter 68: Getting What They Needed Kyte silently observed the failed Gifted as they moved along according to his will. He had injected their bodies with his Internal energy so they wouldn''t do anything out of the ordinary. Or, at least, too out of the ordinary. Kyte was inable to imitate the smooth movements of someone walking so the failed Gifted looked a bit unrealistic. However, that was much better than letting them thrash around. They were still getting odd looks from others, but that was fine. Kyte and Mark led the group down a road that was blocked by a giant, black wall. A large S was imprinted onto the door that was placed in the wall. Kyte noticed several guards relaxing around the door, which wasn''t very surprising. The guards noticed Kyte''s group so they quickly brought themselves to attention. Kyte made sure that his S rank badge was still pinned to his shoulder, which it was. One of the guards walked toward Kyte and he took notice of the badge on his shoulder. He calmly observed the group and noticed that Kyte was the only S ranker. That and Kyte was the only one with a badge, excluding Mark who had an A rank badge. Kyte spoke first: "I want to enter the S rank district. I''m not sure if my friends are allowed inside, however." "Sir, as long as they are accompanied by you, they are allowed to enter. They must not stray too far from you while inside." The guard replied. "Alright. I will be supervising this group. Is there a payment to get in or something?" "No, there is not. You just have to request it and we will open the gate." "Good. You can go back to your station, I still need to chat with my friend." "Understood." The guard walked back to the others. Kyte turned to Mark and asked: "Are you sure you want to stay with your current branch?" "Uh, yea. I''m actually kinda close with them. Besides, I still have to work two jobs, so I''m quite preoccupied." "Oh? You have a job? I never would''ve expected that..." "Hey, I need those two jobs! After working for so long I''m finally getting good money form them. Not only that, I administrate FOG from this district. I doubt there would be any Apis in other districts. I''m trying to build up my guild here first, then when several of us reach S rank in power, we''ll move our headquarters to the S rank district. I''m really busy, haha." "You sound busy. Well, before you go, I''ll give you my number and some Signal Spheres." "I don''t think I''ll need any more Spheres, though..." "Oh, it''s not entirely for you. You can pass a few of them to your members. That way I''ll know if one of them is in trouble." "You would help them? That''s so not how an asshole would act." "Hey, I''m not originally a heartless douchebag...maybe. All you have to do is give some out. Don''t worry about the details." Mark stared at Kyte for a few seconds before replying: "Alright, fine. How many are you giving to me?" "Hmmm, how about five. Only give them to the members that have the most potential." Kyte took out five Signal Spheres and handed them to Mark. He then took out his phone and gave Mark his number, despite Mark''s several remarks about having a guy''s number in his phone. "I''ll see you when the time comes." Kyte said. "Yea, totally. Something like that...Anyway, see ya." Mark replied. Mark turned around and walked off. Kyte watched him for a few seconds before turning toward the guards and striding toward them. "Open the gate." "Yes, sir." The guard moved to a electronic panel and pressed several buttons, after which the door opened. It was a large gate that seemed a big too big for only humans to pass through, but that wasn''t a problem. Kyte and the others walked into the other side, the S rank district. The physical look of the district seemed to be about the same as the Outer district. However, instead of one story, the buildings were two stories. For the most part, they had the same style as before. A few were different here and there but not by a large degree. Everything emitted a stronger atmosphere than before, as if it was another world. Fortunately, there were still signs that showed which building was which. The realtor''s building was actually on the road that connected to the gate, so Kyte and the group only had to walk a little bit to arrive. Kyte wanted to purchase a house for the group. He didn''t have any of the currency used in the Core, but he hoped he would be able to trade instead. Although he didn''t get any weapons from the seventh stage, he did have a significant amount of equipment from the sixth. There were a few top-grade items as well that he never had any use for. Mostly because they were either not compatible with him or he just never had to use them. Now that he was in the seventh stage, he didn''t really need them anymore. Kyte told the others to wait outside before he entered the building. It was basically the same as before, but the tables were clean white instead of the brown like before. Kyte walked up to the receptionist and asked: "Can I buy a house?" "Huh? That was pretty blunt..Ahem, yes, you may. However, it costs a lot of money. You sure you can afford it? I''ll have to look at which ones are available first though." The woman behind the desk looked at Kyte in a weird way. Kyte didn''t blame her; he looked like complete crap. Not to mention the group of smelly and raggedy people outside. "That''s fine. Anything will do. I have a group of Gifted with me that I''m planning to take care of, so I''ll need a house. My Branch''s house can''t hold all of them." "Ah, that makes sense. It''ll only take a moment for me to look up houses." Kyte wondered just how expensive the houses would be. He had no idea if the items in the storage necklace would be enough. One of the reasons why he wanted to buy a house was so the group outside had somewhere to stay. He assumed there wouldn''t be enough room in his own Branch''s house, so that was really the only solution. The second reason why is that he wanted to begin the revival of the Bloodrage Sect. He thought about it and realized that it was practically the perfect time to do so. The group of Gifted that he led out of the forest had been with him through thick and thin; he had defended them from everything and kept them alive long enough to arrive at the Core. Not only that, but Kyte was almost certain they were all rogue. Meaning, their Branches were wiped out during the attack on the train. They don''t have anywhere to go. The three A rankers would be great assets, if Kyte''s prediction was correct. Honestly, he had no idea how quickly they would cultivate. Maybe the stronger Gifted would cultivate faster because their base power levels were higher, or, maybe that doesn''t even matter and it''s only about latent talent. He would just have to wait and see. "There are a few available houses. Do you care about the location?" If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "No, just give me the cheapest." "Alright. The cheapest house is 8,300 Stones." Apparently that''s a lot. Let''s just see what I can do. "Unfortunately, I don''t have Stones. Would it be possible to use items instead?" "Um...yes, I believe so. If the items are good enough then yes." "Alright. I''ll be taking out a few items." Instantly, three pieces of equipment appeared on the table. They were a hammer, bracers, and a ring. They were the only three top grade equipment he had. They were of no use to him because his Internal energy was strong enough to destroy them by itself. So, Kyte felt nothing as he took them out. Maybe they would''ve been useful to give to the three A rankers, but if he didn''t get a house, they wouldn''t have a place to stay. The receptionist was slightly stunned at the sudden appearance of the items. At first glance, they seemed to be suitable for S rankers to use, though they were on par with the weaker tiers of S ranker equipment. The thing about ranked equipment is that the price soars with each new rank. For example, if an A rank sword was one hundred stones, then an S rank sword would be about four hundred. The prices also depend on the quality of the equipment; a higher tier S rank sword could go for eight hundred or even more. The difference between the equipment in the storage necklace and the Gifted equipment is that the items from the necklace can go up to top-grade while Gifted items only go up to high-grade. This makes top-grade items seem to be a tier higher than their classification. This is also why the receptionist thought of them to be S ranked equipment, though they belonged to the weaker tiers. The woman picked up each item and carefully studied them. After about ten minutes had passed, she put down the third item and thought for several seconds before looking up at Kyte. "These three items add up to about 1,100 stones. I''m sorry, you don''t have enough." "That''s alright, I''ll come back in a-...actually, I have one more item. Do you mind?" "Um, no, I don''t. Are you sure of it''s quality though?" "Yes, that I am sure of. However, I don''t know what the price of it could be." "Alright, allow me to look it over." Kyte sent Internal energy into the storage necklace and brought out a single pill. It was deep red in color and the insides seemed to squirming around. The instant it appeared, a powerful evil aura filled the entire room. The receptionist was instantly taken back by the intense force that pushed against her body. Although it wasn''t powerful it harm her, she was still slightly pressured by it. This was the second time Kyte had ever taken out an Inner Demon Pill. He had two in total, and the first time he took one out was the day after he broke through into the seventh stage. He was at the late seventh stage and his Spirit energy was already at the eighth stage, yet the pressure emitted from the pill still slightly suffocated him. He looked at the laughing demon icon on the pill and just mentally sighed before putting it on the table. The woman hesitated before taking the pill into her hand. She felt the thick aura seep out of it; she had no idea what it''s use was but she knew that it was terrifying. The moment she saw the laughing demon icon, she sucked in a quick breath. "Sir, do you realize what this is?" "A pill..." The woman oddly looked at Kyte before replying: "That''s correct, but this is no ordinary pill. I knew that was the case when you took it out, but now I''m certain of it." "What, is there something wrong with it?" "No, it''s actually the complete opposite. Um...only Fighter-ranked or higher ranked pills have Icons. I was immediately convinced that this pill is at least Fighter-ranked when I saw the Icon. The aura it gives off is incredibly powerful; I also have no idea of its use. However, even without that information, the pill itself can easily go for at least ten thousand stones." "Oh, that''s good then. I''ll just give you the pill without the three items. Is that fine?" "Wha-, sir, I''m not really, authorized to have such an item-" "Don''t worry about it. Just give it to your superior or something. This covers the cost of the house, right?" "Um, yes, it does." "Then, all you have to do is give it me. I paid for it; that''s all that matters, right? Why make it so complicated?" "I, I guess you''re right." "Oh, don''t forget the change. I''m gonna need the leftover money. Since you said it can go for at least ten thousand, just make it that." "Alright. Please wait a moment." That went better than expected. I honestly didn''t suspect that the Inner Demon Pill would be so valuable. Then again, it is almost like a suicide tactic. If you don''t kill your enemy before the pill''s effects fade away, you''re done for. "Ok, the house is now under your name. Here is your identification card; it digitally holds your Stones and information. Don''t lose it." The woman handed a small card to Kyte. It was a light blue color and it displayed Kyte''s name on the front. The back had a single line of barcode, so Kyte assumed there was no need for numbers and what-not. "Thank you." Kyte said before walking out of the store. Kyte regrouped with the others and told them that he got a house. They were quite excited to know that they''ll be getting a two-story house just for them. Not only that, but they would be able to wash and clean themselves. They all looked horrible, so that was one of the most important things on their minds. Another important thing was eating real food, not just improvised meals that used meat from mutated monsters in the forest. Kyte himself hadn''t even eaten anything since the time at the lake, so having a full meal would be a wondrous experience.
I have to apologize for my hypocrisy; I stated that I would be gone for 2 weeks, however, I failed to achieve my goal. I might as well explain myself, right? My graduation was Tuesday and so I was incredibly busy that entire week. Not to mention celebrating my graduation; I barely had any time to even read anything! Apparently this chapter is 2.2k words. Doesn''t feel like it at all. Concerning future releases, they will be slow. I''m in the middle of multiple IRL situations actually concerning my own life so the time and work to put into writing had greatly lessened. HOWEVER! Do not fear, for I will not drop this story! The releases will only be slower, unfortunately :( . I wish I could do something about it, but alas, I do not have that power. I don''t know when the next chapter will be released. I''ve already planned the entire chapter but the issue is actually writing it ahaha...yea. Sorry about this and that.