《Soul of the Apocalypse》 1. Prologue Prologue Zeus Ruler of Olympus, Father of Gods, Lvl ??? ¡°You little shits have any idea what you¡¯ve done?!?!¡± Zeus, the Ruler of Olympus, roared at the cowering figures before him. His face was slowly acquiring the shade of a tomato. ¡°Father! We were just playing catch and¡ª¡° ¡°YOU STOLE MY LIGHTNING BOLT TO PLAY CATCH?¡± Zeus¡¯s face now bore an uncanny resemblance to that of a beet. ¡°But the comets we used kept melting! We thought Father¡¯s lightning would be much more fun. It wasn¡¯t my fault that stone hands over there dropped it!¡± The ¡°stone hands¡± in question was more than twice the size of the current defendant, yet his pebbled face took on a contorted expression to this injustice and quivered silently in anger. His entire gravelly body made grinding sounds akin to that of an avalanche as began protesting. ¡°But¡ª¡° ¡°You little shits just made threw SHIT ALL OVER THE GOD DAMN FAN! In case you don¡¯t understand the mortal world Earth is the SHIT and the fan is going to be all the MONSTERS you released by opening a DIMENSIONAL RIFT TO HELL¡¯S PRISON! WITH MY LIGHTNINGBOLT!¡± At this, the cowering figures shrunk further into themselves. ¡°You shits are grounded to the Pit of Tartarus for a thousand years, I¡¯m sending Uncle Hades a message right now.¡± ¡°Wah?!¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°But he¡¯s so¡ª¡° ¡°ENOUGH! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I DOUBLE IT!¡± The terrified figures scrambled away. Zeus sighed to himself as he motioned for the tall woman standing beside him. ¡°What¡¯s the damage Athena?¡± ¡°Sire, several Hell Gates have appeared across the mortal universe, most have opened on uninhabited planets, but several planets containing intelligent life have also been compromised. Earth in particular seemed to have been extremely lucky with 7 Hell Gates scattered across the world.¡± Athena spoke in a soft mellifluous voice; the contents of her report a stark contrast to her gentle tone. ¡°Have you thought of any solutions?¡± Zeus¡¯s ageless face wrinkled with consternation. The repercussions issued from the Supreme Pantheon would not be light if an entire mortal world was wiped out. Unfortunately, Earth was a planet of greedy apes that had no possibility of fending off the demonic invasion. ¡°Other than descending ourselves to save them¡ª¡° ¡°Unacceptable, avoiding punishment would be the least of our worries if we were to Descend, and the Treaty of Gods is not so easily broken in the first place.¡± ¡°The most we can due to aid in the humans¡¯ survival without violating the Treaty would be to incorporate them into the Immortal System¡­¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Zeus pondered this solution. While having the shitty apes running around with the potential of gods would be troubling, it would enable him to neatly avoid legal punishment from the Supreme Pantheon. Even if that God was supposed to have the rights to Earth, Zeus still had some favors he pull. Worst case he would simply gift him Andromeda as an apology. ¡°Very well then, integrate Earth into the Immortal System, as well as any other inhabited planets that are susceptible to extinction. Hmm, also give the filthy humans some basic knowledge, they¡¯re probably too stupid to survive with just the System.¡± ¡°Yes Sire.¡± At this, in a spectrum never before observed by mortals, a pulsing wave emanated from the poles of Earth. This wave encompassed Earths entirety in less than a second and sank into its very core. The Earth, and every native being upon it, shuddered as the wave passed; beings without intelligent thought were imprinted with a new set of instincts, and humans were wracked by a wave of pain from their head as knowledge flooded into their brains. A few moments ago, Mortal Realm, Earth There were 300 students seated in the large lecture hall; the chalkboard was covered in symbols and equations. Calculus 0100 was never an interesting class, but its status as a prerequisite filled the lecture hall with students. At this time well over half the class was slumped into their seats, only the front three rows of students had any semblance of alertness. Amongst these, one student with vague Hispanic features could be seen valiantly resisting the beckons of slumber. His name was Asher Rodriguez, and calculus was his most hated nemesis. Asher had never been bad at math, but when letters beyond x, y, and z had been added, he was lost. However, Asher was never one to give up so easily, he had managed to get into college with a full scholarship and intended to do his utmost to graduate as valedictorian, something he had fervently promised his grandfather before leaving home. Alas, promises and willpower can only last so long in the face of Calculus, and before long, Asher began drifting off¡­ WHOOMP Dust fell from the vibrating ceiling panels as the entire class jerked awake. The unfortunate professor was thrown off his feet and fell unconscious as his head collided with the floor. SKREEEEEEEEEE Nails, or rather steel beams, on chalkboard sounds screeched across everyone¡¯s ears, raising hairs and exploding eardrums. A shimmer appeared in the air above the lectern and with a ripping sound something crossed over. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 A black robe with filled with something darker than black, that was the most anyone saw before a wave of despair blew across the room causing instantaneous unconsciousness for the class. There were only 3 students, including Asher, that were able to remain conscious. ¡±KAHHAHAHAHAAHA! I, Elder Lich Yemen, am finally free! What more, I see hundreds of tasty souls laid before me. KAHAHA! This must be the world¡¯s welcome to an Elder Lich as great as I! KAHHAHAHA!¡± The Elder Lich then raised a bony hand, no the hand was bone, pitch-black, with inky swirls shifting across the surface. Asher was already frozen in terror as the black hand bone ascended and witnessed a sight that would forever be engraved upon his soul. A student in the front row suddenly floated into the air, jerking, as blood and foam seeped out of his orifices. Then his head exploded, showering Asher and the other students with blood, brain, and fragments of bone. At the same time, a small black cauldron, about the size of a soccer ball, materialized in front of the black robed figure. From the ruins of the student¡¯s skull, a murky blue globe of light rose up and was instantly bound by a black ephemeral chain that shot out from the cauldron. Faint wails of pain and terror echoed through the souls of the students that were still conscious as the globe of light was hauled into the depths of the cauldron. Person after person¡¯s heads were exploded and these globes of lights were captured by the cauldron. Some of the globes were brighter than others, some were larger, the lights even varied in color between each student. However, there was one thing in common, as each soul was bound and retrieved by the cauldron¡¯s black chains, a wail of terror and despair echoed through the 3 remaining conscious souls. ¡®Are those souls?¡¯ Asher was desperately seeking some kind of explanation as to what was happening in front of his eyes. The sight of student after student floating into the air before their heads violently exploded left Asher in an almost incoherent state of mind. The other two students that had managed to remain conscious swiftly fainted away amidst their own excrement at the grisly scene. Suddenly, Asher felt a pulse of energy pass through his body and felt a sharp tearing pain in his mind. [Immortal System integration complete. Basic System Manual installation complete. Executing Body-System interface protocols, estimated time of completion: 5 minutes] A timer suddenly appeared in the corner of Asher¡¯s vision as a soft mellifluous voice rattled off an incomprehensible list of information directly in Asher¡¯s mind. Sadly, 5 minutes was roughly 290 seconds too late to aid Asher in any sort of comprehension. 10 seconds later, Asher felt his body gripped by an enormous force and yanked into the air. His head felt like it was expanding as pain wracked his body. The sensation grew more and more painful until¡ª BLAM Amidst the bloody ruin of Asher¡¯s head a brilliant blue white soul floated into the air, as the ephemeral chains came into contact with Asher¡¯s soul, smoke rose and the chain recoiled as if struck by a powerful slap. The Elder Lich frowned at this sight and gestured once more with his hand, 8 more chains shot out from the cauldron and the initial chain morphed into a sharpened spike. The chains and spike paused for a brief moment before the brilliant soul before rocketing straight forward. The cursed chains and spike slowed briefly as they neared Asher¡¯s soul before redoubling their momentum. The spike shot straight through the middle of his soul and veins of angry black and radiated out in a symmetrical pattern. The 8 chains each melded with a corrupted vein before dragging the dimmed light into the depths of the cauldron. ¡°That brat unexpectedly had such a pure soul. KAHAAHA. Very well, I, Elder Lich Yemen, shall corrupt this pure soul in my Lich Cauldron and turn it into a Tortured Soul to serve as my retainer. Once he has been refined with all of the soul fragments, his consciousness will shatter and I will make him my soul-bound slave. KAHAHAHHAHAA!¡± Elder Lich Yemen then redoubled his efforts, and in less than 5 minutes the entire lecture hall contained only an insane Lich, an ominous black cauldron, and more than 300 headless corpses. Blood and brains slowly dripped from the ceiling and walls as the Lich picked up the cauldron, cackling madly as he ignited black flames beneath it. Within the Lich Cauldron, a fragment of pure white light Asher slowly woke to burning, tearing pain. Pain so immense that he immediately lost consciousness again. Hours later, or maybe seconds, Asher woke once again. The roaring wall of pain drove straight into his consciousness and rammed it into the ground once again. The third time Asher woke, he was finally able to form a single thought. ¡°AAARGHHH¡± With that, he was overwhelmed and rendered unconscious. After waking for perhaps the thousandth time, Asher was able to remain conscious for more than a second. Asher then fainted. After a long time, a soul fragment that appeared mostly grey, with slivers of bright blue shining through could be seen floating around, periodically colliding with the surrounding soul fragments. ¡®I feel as if my being is being smashed with a thousand hammers, pierced by a thousand blunt sticks, and sliced by a thousand rusty knives. Wow, I¡¯m pretty eloquent this time around.¡¯ The first thing I noticed was that everything was dark. I couldn¡¯t see anything, and when I tried waving my hands in front of my face, I realized my entire body felt like a lead weight. I couldn¡¯t move at all! The only thing I could feel was raging ocean of pain; yet it seemed to be somehow separate from me. I knew that the pain was terrible yet my perception of it felt detached, academic even. There were only two sensations besides the pain. The first was the feeling of hundreds of things whizzing around me. I could only feel them a couple of inches from my skin, and they would often bump into me, causing roaring waves in my ocean of pain. The other feeling was like an annoying mosquito, buzzing in my consciousness and demanding attention. As soon as I thought about it, I suddenly realized I had gained an enormous amount of information, and multiple semi-transparent blue windows popped up in front of me. ¡®I can see¡¯ That was my first articulated thought. As I read the foremost window however, my thoughts flew into disarray again. Welcome to the Immortal System! This system grants those who are integrated the knowledge of the gods. By the grace of Athena, great Goddess of Wisdom and War, the following has been decreed: Mortals, your world has changed, and by a twist of fate, the Apocalypse has occurred several thousand years ahead of time. As such, you have been authorized to receive the power of the System. You mortals will receive System Credits which will allow you to learn the power of the gods. The system will also provide an accurate measurement of your mortal bodies¡¯ capabilities. Learn swiftly, and evolve with the power of the gods or perish to the demon hordes. God speed mortals. P.S. My calculations predict a 10% chance of survival for the human race; those who can comprehend the nature of the system will have a 50% chance of survival. Wait a second here! System? Potential of gods? Gods plural? APOCALYPSE!? This can¡¯t be right, calculus must have finally fried my brain and now I¡¯ve escaped to my happy place¡­ WHY IS RUIN UPON MY WORLD MY HAPPY PLACE!? As my burdened brain attempted to comprehend this, another screen flickered up. Your soul has been ripped from your body and impaled! -999999 HP You have died. ¡®WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT? FUCK YOU I¡¯M ALIVE!¡¯ Congratulations! Your race has changed to Soul Fragment due to The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.external actions. Racial skills acquired: Absorption: Allows the assimilation of other soul fragments if you are strong enough. Possession: Your soul can take control of objects and beings, if you are strong enough. Spiritual Perception: You can sense some things around you. Congratulations! You have learned the skill Cogito Ergo Sum by special actions: You think, therefore you are. As a soul fragment, you somehow managed to form conscious thoughts, allowing you to form a consciousness from an otherwise broken soul. Allows you to exist. These notifications flicked past my consciousness one after another, and the information was well beyond my realm of comprehension. As I began panicking, another whizz thing (I guess they¡¯re soul fragments?) struck me and I instinctively latched on. Suddenly, a deep hunger rose from within my soul and I somehow swallowed. It felt like I had split my entire being around the soul fragment before rapidly collapsing upon it, surrounding and smothering soul fragment. As I closed myself around the fragment, the pain that had been hovering around the edge of my consciousness surged. I took it stoically. ¡®I¡¯m BURNING! I¡¯m SPLITTING APART! MY MIND¡¯S TELLING ME NO, BUT MY BODY!! MY BODYYYY! IT¡¯S TELLING ME NO TOO! AUGHUHHH!¡¯ Flailing my thoughts blindly, I struck at the new pain, struggling to beat it back into the calm ocean where it came from. Moments passed like hours, until that raging ocean of pain finally quieted down again. As my pain calmed, an incomparable feeling of bliss passed through my body, as potent as the pain from before. System notification! Absorption successful. You¡¯re kidding me. Well, the pain convinced me that this wasn¡¯t a dream, and the system notification had excellent timing. Within me, I could feel the soul fragment merging with my body¡­ being, I guess I don¡¯t have a body anymore huh¡­ As I focused on fully assimilating the soul fragment, another sharp lance of pain struck at my being. It originated from the fragment I was attempting to absorb and suddenly I could sense the fragmented consciousness within. ¡®Waaaahhhg¡­¡­¡­.¡¯ Incoherent wails were all that I heard, each wail was accompanied by another sharp pain and I struggled mightily to suppress the feeling of being ripped apart from the inside. It seemed like I fought to suppress the fragmented consciousness for what felt like several hours before it finally gave one last tearing screech and vanished, the sensation of the soul fragment had also disappeared. It was the first time I felt relaxed since I woke up, and decided to take some time to organize my thoughts. I didn¡¯t mention this before, but it seems as if my perception of time has entirely vanished. I had absolutely no idea how much time had passed since I became conscious and I could observe nothing about the world around me except for the ricocheting soul fragments. Well, I guess I¡¯ll just switch to some introspection¡­ Like before, the physical senses that I believe I used to have were gone. I could sense a small area of space, roughly a single foot, which I believe is centered on my consciousness. I can¡¯t really tell what I look like now, though my range of perception was perfectly spherical, albeit small. Compared to what I felt before absorbing the soul fragment though, it seems as if my area of perception had increased slightly. With next to no knowledge about my current existence, I suddenly thought back to the notification windows I had received. First the message from Athena. I guess that my current state of existence is due to the Immortal System. Furthermore, this system is somehow supposed to measure my capabilities and teach me the power of the gods¡­ What the hell does that even mean? I don¡¯t even have a body, though it seems as if I were a human before¡­ whatever the hell happened. I kept trying to figure out how the system would measure my nonexistent body when I had a random thought. Status! (AN: I just got started on this website, still figuring out how to format stuff, well yeah this table broke and copying over from word is... lacking) undefined To my surprise a table popped up! And I have no name... well, it seems these are my current capabilities. My physical status is ridiculously low across the board, though my constitution is strangely high. I guess it¡¯s due to me being alive after getting my soul ripped out. My mental stats, on the other hand are quite high. Well, at least I would like to think it¡¯s high. The system provided no further information besides the numbers displayed. Hopefully, normal is around 10. If that were the case then I would be way smarter than the average person. Well, I always did excel in the majority of my classes with little effort. I had been so bored by high school that I had started studying mechanical engineering. The only reason I had been in that stupid calculus class was because it was a prerequisite for a mech-e major. Besides intelligence, two of the other three mental stats were somewhat mysterious. I have no idea what mind measures, as apparently I¡¯m really intelligent with an average mind¡­ Whatever works I guess. I assume that spirit has something to do with my current state, though it seems kind of low, only half that of normal humans. Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m only a fragment of a soul. My perception is shit cause I don¡¯t have any senses besides my spiritual perception, whatever mystic mumbo jumbo that means. As I¡¯m looking through my skills, I come to realize something; this stupid system is seriously lacking some detailed explanations. I mean, all of my racial skills were described with a single sentence¡­ If I¡¯m strong enough? How strong is enough? Give me some hard numbers here¡­ I guess my inner engineer is showing huh? Besides skills, apparently I also have acquired statuses. Endurance and Willpower. No descriptions. Just a 30 and a 20. Well, I do have some guesses as to the nature of these stats, but the system is tight-lipped. With my introspection finished, and nothing else to do in this pitch black space, I guess I¡¯ll just keep absorbing any soul fragments that come into contact with me. BAM! Ahhhaha¡­ As soon as I think this, another soul fragment slams into me and sends me spinning at what could be dizzying speeds. I could be rotating at snail¡¯s pace too. That lack of time perception really messes with my sense of velocity and acceleration. Nevertheless, I eagerly absorb the soul fragment in a beautiful spiritual rendition of a feasting macrophage that would make my old high school biology teacher proud. The lances of pain come again and I force this soul fragment into submission. The 300 souls within the cauldron rushed madly back and forth, rebounding off of the cauldron¡¯s black walls and each other, screaming loudly with each collision. Occasionally, a sliver of blue light could be seen flashing amidst the surrounding multi-colored fragments swallowing one after another. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ AN: This stuff is my first shot at writing, I have the first arc kind of planned out, but my chapter estimations and pacing are probably totally off. I would say expect around 1-2 chapters a week, I really just work on this after I''m done reading the most recent chapters of douluo dalu, ATG, and stuffs. BTW I''m letting you guys know ahead of time, I''m going to try to keep the rpg element somewhat minimalistic; like Athena says, the system is there to measure and teach, not a direct injection of power. Please leave a comment with any suggestions/criticisms or random thoughts. Thanks! Status Table from Chapter 1
Name: Unknown
Level2System Credits10
RaceSoul FragmentClassNone
Status
Strength1Mind10
Constitution5Spirit5
Agility1Perception5
Dexterity1Intelligence15
Skills
AbsorptionBeginner Lvl 2PossessionBeginner Lvl 1
Spiritual PerceptionBeginner Lvl 1Cogito Ergo SumBeginner Lvl 3
Acquired Status
Endurance30Willpower20
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Hey guys it''s here! The blue table MK.1 These tables will be a work in progress... Expect your next chapter with fancy (basic) tables! To be continued (in 2-4 days depending on rl stuff) Chapter 2 AN: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS DARK AND MATURE! On a brighter note, this is probably going to be the most fucked up chapter in the entire story. I''m giving you guys the proverbial bad news first so please expect plenty of good new to come! Please leave a comment if you have any constructive criticism, questions, or... comments... hehe. Chapter 2 ¡°KAHAHAHHAHAAHA!¡± Elder Lich Yemen cackled madly as he focused on the dark cauldron floating before him. After harvesting the rest of the class, the lich had erected a darkbarrier around the lecture hall as insurance against interruptions. ¡°In order to create a Tortured Soul, there must of course be torture!¡± Muttering to himself, a dark flame coalesced in the lich¡¯s bony hand. The flame¡¯s appearance, rather than casting light on the surroundings, casteverything with shadows as it appeared to hungrily absorb the light essence from its surroundings. The temperature of the room also dropped severaldegrees, with the area around the flame condensing into visible fog. The lich made a pushing gesture at the flame, and it slowly floated over to encompassthe entire Lich Cauldron, resulting in a spot shrouded in shadows and chilling mist. ¡°In my thousand years of imprisonment, I finally cultivated my Undead Heart to the degree of manifesting theUndying Flames. For now, I can only do this much but once this Tortured Soul is refined, I will be able to use it togather the souls of any beings that are weaker than it and develop the Inferno of Punishment, KAHAHAHAAHA!¡± In the hierarchy of the undead, Elder Lich Yemen truly deserved the title of Elder. Just forming an Undead Heart out ofone¡¯s soul required hundreds of years spent as a mere skeleton mage, on the level of fodder. Between the formation of the Undead Heart andthe cultivation of Undying Flames within the heart, not to mention actual manifestation, another 700 years had passed. However, the undeadentity known as a Tortured Soul began at the level of the Undying Flames, since its body itself would be composed of asingle chilling ember. Elder Lich Yemen could only hope to lord over such a being by soul-binding it before its formation, otherwise the crazed soul wouldtear out the souls of anything near it, including the lich¡¯s own Undead Heart. Seeing that the refinement process was well under way, Elder Lich Yemen began condensing portion of his Undead Heart to be used as thebase of the shackles that would bind the Tortured Soul to his commands. This portion would be added to the Lich Cauldron at a crucialpoint in time, when the soul fragments within the cauldron had all combined, and the fragmented consciousness began warring with each other. Such fragmentswould be absolutely unable to resist the might of even a small portion of an Elder Lich¡¯s soul, and would be easily brought under control Within the Lich Cauldron ¡°AAARGGHHHH!¡± What I had initially believed to be a good enough idea to pass the time away was rapidly turning into a nightmare. The first couple soul fragments weren¡¯ta big deal, just a few lances of pain and they would be successfully incorporated into my mass. Well, after I absorbed about a few dozen soul fragments, something changed. The soul fragments flying about in random directions all quivered andthe surroundings simultaneously began giving off a sense of pressure and all the fragments began slowly condensing toward a point in thesurrounding black space. The change I felt, after absorbing dozens of fragments, was decidedly more dramatic. First, there was the shaking. I felt as if I had been put inside of anenormous oscillator (that¡¯s something that vibrates really fast¡­ or slow, depends on how the setting haha). What I had come to think of as my body felt asif every single organ was trying to fly in a separate direction and explode at the same time. The pressure was even worse, though I guess it could have been an indirect blessing. I suppose it¡¯s likely that the pressure was the main reason I didn¡¯tfly into a million pieces. On the other hand imagine what it would feel like to be exploding and imploding at the same time. Not only was the environment trying destroy me, I was also sucked in far more swiftly than the surrounding soul fragments. Since all of us were beingpulled to a point of convergence, I naturally collided with many of my brethren along the way. And for some reason, instead of being able to decide whetheror not to absorb them, any soul fragments that collided with me stuck to me instantly and forcefully began the absorption process. At first it was only bad to the extent that I was forced to absorb soul fragments at least three times as frequently as before but soon multiple soulfragments began colliding with me. Each soul fragment only brought five or six waves of piercing pain, which by this point wasn¡¯t that big of a dealanymore. But clusters of three, four, or even more was on a whole new level. Then waves overlapped and compounded each other, multiplying the pain to aridiculous extent. It seemed that absorbing multiple soul fragments increased the pain to an exponential degree. I began to feel my consciousness slip away for the first time since I had absorbing soul fragments and I had a bad feeling about losing my mind in thecurrent circumstances. The only problem was, I had no idea what today. Thinking became harder and harder as more and more clumps of soul fragments stuckonto me. I panicked, sinking under an unrelenting maelstrom of pain, almost incoherently, I screamed out my rejection. ¡°NO¡± Meanwhile in Cliffhanger University¡­ err some other part of campus (also MATURE content here, don¡¯t skip though, otherwise this character¡¯s going tolose a lot of depth and other important literary stuff). It had been a week of hell, Lea thought to herself during one of her few moments of lucidity. Flashes of the nightmare rose before her vacant stare,visions that she could hardly believe. Yet the torture of the aftermath, she could never forget. Ever. The chemistry lab suddenly erupting with glass and chemicals¡­ The things that had accompanied the explosion. They were huge, at least 7 feet tall(sorry I¡¯m used to the English system, though I agree metric is way better), bull-headed humanoid creatures, bound in slabs of muscle and a loincloth.Minotaurs, Lea had thought before the one in front of her, wielding an enormous double headed axe had cut her lab partner into two lopsided pieces. She wasn¡¯t particularly attached to him, but she had still made it through several mind-numbing lab procedures with him¡­ Seeing him fall apart, in theliteral sense, shocked Lea into passivity. She stared dumbly as the Minotaur picked her up by the neck and flung her into the back corner of the room.There was a flash of pain, but Lea hardly felt it, as she saw the rest of her class. There were a total of five minotaurs it seemed, and they had gone on an absolute rampage. She had no idea who was who anymore. Everywhere, the sound ofscreams was accented with splashes of red, and there were pieces of gore flying as panicked, terrified students were chopped down. Soon, several morebloody figures came flying at Lea¡¯s corner, and the only sounds left were her own ragged breathing, and the snorting grunts of the minotaurs. Soon, a minotaur walked up to where Lea had been tossed, and picked up a body from the pile that had buried her. The body was slim, and it let out aterrified shout, cut short by its ragged breathing. Lea¡¯s eyes widened as she realized that the body was still alive, and moreover a female. Her eyes feltfrozen as she saw the girl¡¯s clothes ripped off by five pairs of massive hands, before¡­ before¡­ There it was again, the Wall. Every time Lea tried to remember what brought her to this state, she would come across the Wall. To her, it was infinitelylong, and just as tall. It wasn¡¯t a real wall, she supposed, but there was definitely something wrong with her brain. She could feel a blank zone, a deadspace where her thoughts came to an abrupt end. All she could really recall, was that by the end of that first day, more than half of the bodies that shehad been piled with were broken. They laid on the ground in a mess of blood, limbs, and fluids. Lea herself hadn¡¯t been spared. It was just, as soon as theminotaurs reached for her¡­ All Lea understood about her Wall was that it had caged something terrible. Behind it was a ravenous beast, waiting to devour her mind. Of course, tryingto not think about something is far harder in practice than on paper. After the flashbacks, she realized that although she knew a week had passed,her memory accounted for less than a day¡¯s worth of time. The rest, she surmised, were locked behind the Wall. And now, Lea found herself within her mind again. It was far more peaceful than reality. At least in here, Lea wasn¡¯t nailed to the floor with a table legthrough each limb; at least here, her every breath didn¡¯t send burning pains through her chest and back; at least in here¡­ Lea found herself standing before the Wall again, despite all of her efforts. She stared at it with hope and terror, willing it to hold, to stand, tobe. Yet, Lea could feel that it wasn¡¯t enough anymore. As infinite as the Wall was, it had been weakened by time. Nearly an entire week¡¯s worth of time, minusthe few moments when Lea could actually feel and think, was locked behind that Wall. And it was weakening. Lea knew that the Wall had to be tied to hermind somehow, but she could not figure out how to reinforce it. She just didn¡¯t have enough time to figure things out. And now, she stared at the endlessWall before her, as it came crumbling down¡­ Cliff¡­ Lich Cauldron ¡°NO¡± I stopped. Relative to the black space around me, the point of convergence, the speeding souls. I stopped The pain didn¡¯t. I could hear voices in the pain, nothing coherent mind you, but incoherent screams and wails send their message just fine. The message of pain, of agony,of despair, of terror; they were all there. Jumbled and disparate, yet they assaulted my mind with a perfectly cohesive attack. At some point during thismental siege, I realized that the enemy forces were diminishing. Sure each wave was soon replaced by another, but it appeared that the ocean was slowlyrunning dry. I also noticed that after each wave of assault, a small portion of my ¡®body¡¯ that had been vibrating madly since this whole mess started wouldcalm. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Slowly, as I finally was able to clear my mind of the pain, only my ¡®singular¡¯ body was faintly buzzing. That was all that was left of the violentexploding sensations of a while ago. Damn, my time perception still sucks. On the other hand, although the vibrating pain had diminished greatly, thepressure I felt increased exponentially. While originally I had been stationary, I felt myself drawn inexorably toward that point in the cauldron. However, it wasn¡¯t just an invisible point ofconvergence now, it was the center of a blazing ball of souls. Looking at it as I approached, it seemed to be roughly the twice my size, though the surfacelooked rather amorphous. Flares, loops, and all manner of things bubbled and shifted across the surface of this ball. Honestly, it was reminiscentof a picture of the sun I had seen that one time¡­ Ah shit, talk about useless thoughts, my approach only accelerated as I neared and with a mental shout, Iplunged through its surface, and into the abyss. Huh. Maybe I exaggerated the danger of this soul ball thingy. It¡¯s actually kinda warm¡ª The pain I felt previously was like a gentle breeze of wind. I was caught in a raging inferno, frozen into an iceberg, and plunged into the bottom of the sea, all at the same time. It hurts. It really hurts. At least I was kind of lucky. Instead of the amalgamation of souls attacking me at the same time, the soul fragments in this ball were more like headlesschicken. Sure the sheer density caused at least thirty to fifty souls to collide with me at the same time, but once my ¡®body¡¯ was completelysurrounded, the soul fragments served to insulate me from the rest of them. Still, the most soul fragments that I had absorbed simultaneously had barelybeen more than ten, but at least I didn¡¯t have to deal with all of the hundreds of soul fragments this stupid ball contained. For the sake of brevity, I absorbed roughly 6 layers of soul fragments. I estimated that with 30-50 souls per layer, I had absorbed what must have been atleast 200 souls. Now that I think about it, before I had come in here, I had probably absorbed about 100 souls¡­ so I guess I¡¯m now the entire class ofCalculus 0100.
Congratulations! You have fulfilled requirements for preliminary evolution. Your Race has changed from Soul Fragment to Lost Soul. Racial skills and passives have been updated.
Congratulations! By evolving, you have qualified for higher level System access. Additionally, you will be granted a System Manual, as well as a Basic Class Guidebook.
Notice! Due to racial restrictions, Basic Class Guidebook cannot be rewarded. System Manual will have limited access. Status corrections will be rewarded in lieu of Basic Class Guidebook.
That same organic chemistry lab from earlier in this chapter, you know, ¡®that¡¯ one (and same MATURE warning as the last Lea section). The minotaurs had continued appearing in that chem lab until there were nearly 500 rampaging throughout the building. The entire building was now entirelyoccupied by minotaurs. All the humans had been slaughtered except for the fifth floor. The topmost floor. There, each room held several females, studentsand professors alike. Some were tied to the ceiling, some were strapped to a desk, others simply sat there, staring at nothing. Lea was nailed to the floor, forced into a position more widely known as doggy style. Her vacant eyes had long ceased to see anything. A minotaurapproached her from behind, snorting at its anticipation of pleasure. However, it could not see Lea¡¯s eyes. With each step, each snort, a flicker could be seen in Lea¡¯s eyes. As the minotaur neared, Lea¡¯s eyes were suddenly wide open, pupils dilated to the pointwhere her sea green eyes looked purely black. Then, she started trembling. It begin with a shiver down her entire body, soon followed by shaking that rattled her limbs against the hard floor. The minotaur, sensing that somethingwas wrong roared angrily and brandished his axe at the female slave before him. The roar made something break within Lea, and with a violent scream sheripped her arms from the floor, gouts of blood spurting from a jagged wound in her forearms. Next, came the legs. Holes pouring blood appeared in themiddle of each calf as she stood up world around and roared at the minotaur. After a week of passivity, the minotaur most certainly did not expectthese actions. It only took half a step back, pausing as its tiny monster brain tried to figure out why its prey suddenly decided to shout back at it. Inits surprise, the minotaur¡¯s grip on the axe also loosened for a split second. It was enough. As if possessed, Lea¡¯s eyes looked like bottomless pits in a red sea as she leapt forward grabbing at the axe handle, and ripped it away from theminotaur¡¯s slackened grip. Turning in a full circle, the axe that was taller than its wielder whirled into the minotaur¡¯s body, crushing ribs and leaving abloody gash across its chest. As it struggled to stand up through its rage and pain, the axe come spinning by again, this time lodging deep within itsskull. It wasn¡¯t enough. Lea screamed again as she yanked the axe out of the minotaur and slammed it back into that hated body. Another bloody gash on its chest, this timesplintered bones could be seen amidst the blood. It wasn¡¯t enough. Scream after wail after shout, Lea raged with the weapon of her captors, sending blood and bones splattering across the room. It wasn¡¯t enough. Minotaurs all over the floor and even from two floors below had heard the enraged howls from above and came stomping to investigate. As each minotaurentered Lea¡¯s room, it would be set upon by a deranged demon, leaving nothing behind but a defiled carcass. Soon, all of the minotaurs within the buildinghad been alerted to their brethren¡¯s deaths, and all came filing into a single room on the fifth floor. It wasn¡¯t enough. Lea¡¯s mouth leaked rivulets of blood, the screams had ripped apart her vocal chords. It was hardly visible though, her entire face was a mask of blood, andher naked body was covered in pure red, except a few patches of pale white skin that had somehow escaped the carnage unscathed. Lea panted heavily, theholes in her limbs had disappeared at some point throughout the slaughter, though her entire body now trembled from exhaustion. Before her, a minotaur stood, foot long horns digging into the ceiling. It was over 9 feet tall, its skin was jet black, and its red eyes glared angrily atthe slave standing before it. The slave that had murdered all of its subordinates. In the Chief Minotaur¡¯s eyes though, it was still a slave, a female tobe dominated and controlled. It bellowed in rage, and Lea leapt forward. All of Lea¡¯s exhaustion seemed to disappear as she struck wildly at the Chief Minotaur before her. Each blow swung the axe that likely weighed more thanLea at blinding speeds toward her foe. One strike. Two strikes. Three strikes. Each one was blocked by the Chief Minotaur with contempt before a backhanded sent Lea and her axe flying in separate directions. Lea skidded across severaldesks before coming to a crunching stop against the back wall. The Chief Minotaur roared in triumph and swaggered proudly toward the crumpled slave infront. It still had plenty of slaves, and this one¡¯s rebelliousness required punishment, if only to vent its rage. As it neared Lea¡¯s body, she suddenlyrocketed off the floor, past the Chief Minotaur and lunged for the axe. By some instinct, as soon as she grabbed hold of the axe, she whirled it around, awild swing originating from below her waist and twisting across her shoulder before severing meat and bone. The Chief Minotaur stared stupidly, battle axe raised high above its head. The axe fell first, slipping from a lifeless grip, clipping the Chief Minotaur¡¯shead as it clattered onto the floor. The head followed the axe, severed completely from its thick neck as blood spurted in a geyser. A loud thump cameamidst the patter of blood. Lea sat against a wall, clutching a double bladed battle axe taller than herself. Bloody teardrops dripped down from her sea green eyes, leaving behind a pair of snowy white tracks in a blood red mask.
P.S. As you guys can see, my mastery of tables is now at Beginner Lvl 1. In the future I will be grinding this skill alot and it may take some time so please bear with me. Also, status updates in the upcoming chapter (fk tables though, seriously) Chapter 3 AN: Hey guys, first apologies for the late release, I had some writer''s block at a couple points and the words just weren''t coming out in a way that left me satisfied. Also, although i promised updated stat tables, Lea still hasn''t checked her status yet, and Asher''s is probably going to be drastically different after erm... that thing in the story that happens after he checks his status. Sorry that my tables are still really crappy, haven''t really had time to look at more info on that stuff. Lastly, please leave any comments, critiques, or question below! Thanks!
Chapter 3 ¡®¡­¡­why am I a Lost Soul?¡¯ Shortly after I finished absorbing the rest of my classmates (sorry guys but it¡¯s a soul eat soul world), I received a notification describing myevolution. This was accompanied by a sensation of ¡®oneness¡¯. I¡¯m not sure how else to describe it. Before my evolution, I felt that I had to work to keep the pain of around 300 other beings at bay to even think but now¡­ no more pain, no more sense ofalmost being buried alive amongst a sea of alien feelings. Now, I finally have a sense of ¡®body¡¯, though I seem to just be an amorphous blob. I couldn¡¯tgive you dimensions because well¡­ I have nothing with which to compare myself. Even though my spiritual perception seems to have improved, the only feelingI can get from my surrounding is an oppressive darkness. No end, no beginning, just an infinite space with me at its center. The notifications also confirmed my current existence as a soul¡­ except¡­ lost? Why!? Just call me a soul! Why tack a ¡®lost¡¯ on there? Is it because thissystem thinks I¡¯m a lost cause? Is it because the system thinks I¡¯m hopelessly directionally challenged? Fuck you system, I¡¯m a genius! I should be aGenius Soul, or a Brilliant Soul, or¡­ or a Super Smart Soul! Behold my peerless naming sense. No really, even my status says I¡¯m super smart¡­ probably.!
Name: Unknown
Soul Force1250/1250
Level1System Credits200
RaceLost SoulClassNone
Status
Strength10 (-9)Mind25
Constitution10Spirit105 (+10)
Agility10 (-9)Intelligence30
Dexterity10 (-9)Perception50 (+1)
Skills
AbsorptionIntermediate Lvl 1PossessionBeginner Lvl 1
Spiritual PerceptionBeginner Lvl 5Cogito Ergo SumIntermediate Lvl 2
Soul ForceMaster
Acquired Status
Endurance94Willpower96
See? Look at that intelligence! I¡¯m three times smarter than the normal human¡­ I hope. Wait! I got another skill too¡­ and what the hell is this soul force?I still don¡¯t have a name either. Hmm¡­ Maybe that System Manual will tell me something. ! Nothing happened. ... ¡®Open System Manual!¡¯ ¡­ ¡®Run System Manual! Execute System Manual! View System Manual!¡¯ ¡­ This stupid thing is broken! There should be a manual for this! Wait, calm down, I¡¯m three times smarter than the average human being, this should be easily within my grasp. So this system manual seems to be unresponsive toward thought commands¡­ maybe it¡¯s voice activated? ¡­ I¡¯m a fucking soul! I don¡¯t have a voice, that¡¯s cheating! I backtracked and looked over the floating screens. That¡¯s when I saw it.
Notice! Due to racial restrictions, Basic Class Guidebook cannot be rewarded. System Manual will have limited access. Status corrections will be rewarded in lieu of the Basic Class Guidebook.
Racial restrictions¡­ ahh I get it. The system is a racist! Withholding information just because I¡¯m a 1/16 Hispanic Lost Soul! I don¡¯t even speak Spanish!I continued to rage at the injustice. *DING* ¡®Whaaa?¡¯
Notice! System Manual calibration complete. Information will now be transmitted directly to the soul.
¡®Whaaaaaaaaaaa?¡¯ That¡¯s all my brilliant self had to say before a physical wave of information crashed into my consciousness. After a brief period of disorientation (my recovery was fast because I¡¯m SMART! REALLY!), I was able to organize my new ¡®memories¡¯. Verbatim, it went something like this: The Immortal System was created by the Great Pantheon of Gods in order to nurture and develop immortal soldiers to fight the forces of Entropy. Not only does the System accurately assess and display an individual¡¯s current abilities, it also provides a means by which the various denizens of the System can interact with one another¡­ ¡­accordingly, the most important function of the System is its significance to the training of Immortal soldiers. Progress in physical status can be easily visualized in a numeric value. Additionally, the System itself awards materials to aid in the progress of young Immortals. Once a member that is at least a basic race (human, demon, elf, dwarf, orc, etc.) reaches level 10, a Basic Class Guidebook will be provided. This Guidebook provides the necessary information for an individual to attaining a class, or a path to power¡­ ¡­of course, the vast reaches of the Multiverse are not limited to just basic races, sub-races and superior races also exist. Typically, racial evolution (not to be confused with the human¡¯s notion of evolution, nor the andromer notion of deviation), occurs when certain criteria for progress are met, whether that be a level, item, or skill progress¡­ ¡­and most importantly, System Credits allow for prospective Immortals to hasten their journey toward Ascension to join the Great Gods in their eternal struggle against the forces of Entropy. Using System Credits, individuals can purchase various materials that can hasten the cultivation of their class, insights from past experts, and even direct instruction from the Gods¡­ ¡­and on and on and on. This System Manual was just a huge info dump. God¡­ err Gods! I guess I¡¯m now a prospective Immortal¡­ in an rpg¡­trying to survive the apocalypse. Hmm¡­ according to my new memories, it seems that my original race Soul Fragment was a sub-race of the race of Souls. If I read correctly, then the members of the Soul race are actually the progenitors of all life in thisparticular Universe! Apparently ¡®my people¡¯ live in a higher dimension (the 7th out of the 10 dimensions of our universe). After conception (?), we are first sent to give life to any creatures currently being born in the universe. Upon death, we return to our home, our memories are added to the Great Archive of Life,and we can choose to either journey into the universe again, or rejoin the community. Not only that, the greatest perk of our race is that¡­ we¡¯re virtually indestructible. Yep, no matter what you do to a soul, the most that can happen is weakness, dizziness, headaches, memory loss, loss of appetite¡­ wait I think I got sidetracked a little. Anyways, as much as Souls are virtually indestructible, Soul Fragments are incredibly fragile. Not only do they possess no consciousness (apparently I¡¯m special), they also are easily absorbed by any souls that are more powerful, even other soul fragments! Now that I¡¯ve evolved to a Lost Soul, I¡¯m thankfully on the level of indestructible. Although it seems that I was somehow forcefully robbed of my return trip after dying and trapped on the mortal dimensions (the first four dimensions). Also, I seem to have some limited access to the 5th dimension, though by rights the first 7 should all be within my grasp. Huh, it seems that I¡¯ve somehow become an entitled brat, with thoughts of grasping higher dimensions seeming almost natural. Hmm¡­ although this does provide a plausible explanation of my current state of being, I still have no memories of this mysterious 7th dimension. Best to take all of this with a grain of salt I guess. Alright, I need to get my priorities straight! Apparently I¡¯m about to be thrown into battle against ¡®Entropy¡¯ and if I¡¯m not strong enough I¡¯ll probably¡­die? Eh¡­ better recheck my status. I browsed that floating blue window again and this time, when I tried to prompt it for more information, it delivered. [table] Hey! This is much more information than last time. Literally triple the amount of sentences in this description! Hah, must be the effects of that System Manual. Instead of looking over the skills I already had, I looked at my new skill, the one I got from my evolution. [table]
Absorption: The method by which members of the Soul race use to grow. The higher the level, the more complete the absorption process becomes. The success rate of Absorption is independent of skill level, and relies solely upont he power of the Soul.
Soul Force: As a soul, although indestructible, one can be weakened to the point of regression, losing the majority of one¡¯s consciousness and becoming a Soul Fragment. A soul¡¯s power is represented by Soul Force, and Soul Force is determined by both Constitution and Spirit. When Soul Force is exhausted, regression is likely to occur.
I don¡¯t think I like the sound of regression very much¡­
A small ember slowly drifted out from the robes of Elder Lich Yemen. The flickering flame was red, with a black border, as if physically depicting darkness within the lich¡¯s Undying Heart. This spark of the elder lich¡¯s soul contained only a tiny portion of his power, and was infused with a single order: subjugate the fragmented consciousness that should have agglomerated within the center of the Lich Cauldron. A simple task really, after all what resistant could an already broken will offer the very soul of an Elder Lich. Fragmented souls with their broken consciousness would never be able to offer an ounce of resistance. An evil light glittered as the lich dropped the burning darkness into his cauldron, with but one order: Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. OBEY ¡®Huh?¡¯ I was interrupted from my skills by some strange sound. This was the first time I had actually heard anything since waking up in this infinite dark space, though it didn¡¯t sound too friendly. OBEY As the mysterious voice came again, it sounded much closer, and all of a sudden, I could feel something enter within the domain of my spiritual perception. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY. Accompanying the cacophony was a brilliant spark, glittering in sharp contrast to the pitch black surroundings. Although the spark appeared far more powerful the myriad of dim lights from before, I myself was now a blazing fire compared to this insignificant, though noisy, spark. The volume was really starting to grate on my soul though, so I ate it. Immediately, a sharp spike of pain lanced through my consciousness, but by now I was used to it, and fully absorbed the weird soul fragment in mere moments. I felt a wave of warmth wash through my ¡®body¡¯ and suddenly, I felt my senses explode! Where before I felt trapped within an infinite space of darkness, now I could clearly feel the bounds of my prison. Seeing the walls, and noticing how thin they were, I decided it was about time for some change in scenery. Gathering myself, I had one thought, ¡®charge¡¯.
Shortly after dropping his refined soul piece into the lich cauldron, Elder Lich Yemen¡¯s skeletal face twisted into an expression of shock. Raising his hand desperately, he dispelled the refining flames surrounding the Lich Cauldron and chanted desperately. Alver mortuis dif¡ª *BOOOOM* A wave of pure darkness expanded in the blink of an eye, bisecting the lich, the chairs, even the walls of the lecture hall. After traveling a distance of about 100 feet, the wave collapsed on itself and dissipated. Everywhere the wave passed through, only ashy flakes remained, and even those began disintegrating almost immediately. ¡®I¡¯M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE¡¯
Lea sat against the wall. By now, her formerly blond hair looked like a dark red battle helmet. Her skin was covered in dark red, and flakes crumbled and fell every time she trembled. Her cheeks had been thoroughly washed clean by tears and sorrow, what was left resembled a terrifying crimson half-mask,covering the upper half of her face and dripping down along her nose to her chin. She had failed. As much as she had tried, Lea couldn¡¯t hold up the Wall, the weight of her trauma far too heavy to contain. Yet when it all collapsed, the bitterness of the pain that flooded her mind and body was nothing compared to the sweet fury that swept through her veins and seduced her very soul. During her entire slaughter, Lea had been awake and aware of her surroundings. Every time she swung the weapon of her tormentors, her world was dyed with another splash of red, until everything she saw had become varying shades of crimson. She had felt great. The pure rage surging through her veins had cried out in glee as her view had darkened, urging her onward and forward during her fight against the 500 minotaurs and their Chief. When it was all over, the sweetness of her wrath had receded, and all that remained was the pain. She hadn¡¯t moved in three days, besides the occasional shiver that ran through her body. Even the various blue windows had not shaken her out of misery. They had started appearing during her fight, but Lea had ignored them in favor of slaughter. Though she had read them, the impact they had was far from enough to shake her introspection.
Congratulations! The Seed of Wrath has awoken. New skill Absolute Fury obtained. A Hidden Class Guidebook has been awarded. Additional evolutionary pathways have unlocked.
Absolute Fury: Let the Seed of Wrath take root, Embrace Pain, Embrace Fury, Savor the sweetness of Sin, and Rejoice in War and Slaughter.
Praetor of Irae, Hidden Class Guidebook has been awarded.
Notice! Demonic (human variant) evolution has been unlocked and will replace the default pathway.
¡®If only I had been faster¡¯ ¡®If only I had been smarter¡¯ ¡®If only I had been stronger¡¯ These thoughts spiraled through Lea¡¯s mind, accompanied by corresponding scenes of abuse, and the pain that came after. Now that the Wall was no longerthere, Lea remembered everything in horrid detail, after all, who could ever forget something like that? The first thing that drew a reaction felt like a strong gust of wind against her soul. Lea looked up and stared in the direction of the engineering complex, startled out of her dark thoughts. It was a welcome distraction though, anything other than thinking about the events of the last week. The sight of broken tables and chairs, as well as other more organic things greeted her eyes. The only object that wasn¡¯t covered with a thin layer of red were those mysterious floating windows. ¡°Haaa¡­ Even this Immortal System doesn¡¯t think I deserve to be human anymore,¡± Lea sighed to herself. After reading the introductory information provided in the System Manual, she normally would have felt quite overwhelmed, though after recent events, she figured that only this much really wasn¡¯t enough to shock her anymore. According to the Manual though, Lea decided that in order to obtain the power she desired, researching a class what be the quickest method. She seemed to have obtained quite the rare class too. Just thinking about the Hidden Class Guidebook resulted in a small flash of light accompanied by a falling book. Opening the cover, the first lines revealed were: Seize power, and ascend to immortality, with body and soul tempered by the flames of wrath. ¡®This all looks rather cheesy, hopefully the contents aren¡¯t a lie.¡¯ Lea mused. While some of her peers had been enamored by various web novels and other fantasy fictions, Lea herself was a focused girl. Before the minotaurs had appeared, she was just a normal sophomore on the fast track to med school along with a double major in both Neuroscience and Chemistry. Such a demanding course load naturally left no time for recreational activities, reading or otherwise. The only thing those monsters changed were her goals. Now, Lea knew that her little illusion of order could be shattered at the drop of a hat. That lesson had been thoroughly engraved into her mind and body. The only thing she could do was forcefully resist, and that force had to be obtained by any means necessary. Lea flipped the page and began reading.
The small tome transformed into an orb of light and flew into her head as Lea flipped the last page. ¡°So in summary, as a Praetor of Irae, I use the power of anger as a source of strength and vitality. As long as I¡¯m angry enough, my body becomespractically impervious and strong enough to sweep away anything I don¡¯t like. Though the extent of this is dependent upon my anger. Fortunately, this booktaught me how to bottle up all of my emotions in a Rage Core, which would naturally refine them into pure anger. Though this all sounds like a load ofpsycho horseshit.¡± Closing her eyes, Rhea crossed her legs and laid her arms across her knees, leaving her palms facing downwards. As dried blood flaked off of her body, Leabegan cultivating the basics of the Praetor of Irae, bottling her emotions up in an imaginary object. This would form her Rage Core and become the sourceof her powers as a Praetor of Irae. The book had said that any object would due, as long as she could also envision the removal of material from theobject. First, Lea pictured her emotions. This step was crucial and was supposed to be the most difficult, but to Lea, it was uniquely trivial. This is because shehas synesthesia. It had been a constant companion for as long as she could remember; the words and impressions that she heard from people were alwaysaccompanied by a riot of colors, which was why she had turned into such a focused person in the first place. Emotions were especially vibrant, and with hercondition, picturing her own was laughably easy. Simply closing her eyes revealed great clouds of deep purple terror, lined with pulsing black pain as wellas flashing blue stars of sadness, all against dark crimson sky of anger. Sadly, the motes of yellow joy and white hope were few and far between. Lea saw her mental landscape, and began spinning the myriad colors together. First slowly, then faster and faster as more and more of her emotions wereswirled together into a rainbow mass, though she set a bit of crimson aside. Now she simply needed some form of storage and retrieval. In her mind, she sawthe curved round-bottom flask (google it for a picture) from her last organic lab experiment and then drew a slim tendril from her mass of emotions intothe neck of the flask. Only a trickle came at first, but soon a trickle became a stream, and a stream became a torrent of colors rushing into the flask until her mindscape turneda uniform grey for the first time in Lea¡¯s life. Only a small patch of dark crimson remained outside and with a thought, Lea shaped it into an imaginaryflame which she placed beneath the flask. Finally, she made a small mental twist, one that would direct future emotions to flow directly into her flask.This would be her Rage Core and her source of survival in the future. As she finished, Lea opened her eyes and felt oddly empty, as if she had been struggling with all her might against some force, only to have that forcesuddenly removed. She was no longer held down by her emotions, and suddenly her body¡¯s needs were able to break through. *GRRRUOOOOOOOAWRGLE* ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±