19 Extraction Aborted

As Erik ran through the wheat field, he left a trail of blood behind that got mixed with his footprints. The scent of iron was heavy and so strong that it made the young man's stomach churn.

He could feel something inside himself, trying desperately not to vomit as his body repeatedly shuddered like an earthquake tremor.

He wasn't new to the taste or the smell of blood, but it was his, generally speaking, most of the time because of Logan's assault or something like that. This time it was different; he had a dead thaid in his hands, losing blood all over the ground.

He wasn't doing anything bad by killing the thaid, but if he killed a Thaid, given his power and F-rank status, he would raise suspicions about how he did that.

Besides, the system told him he had to eat the brain crystal and drink the creature's blood to acquire its brain crystal power. The second wasn't a problem, but the first was. Erik knew the corpse would be found sooner or later, but at least he could avoid being implicated.

For this reason, he hid in the wheat field where no one could see him. His heart pounded hard against his chest. His eyes were filled with tears from fear and anxiety, but at the same time, there was anticipation. If everything went well, he was going to get a new power.

However, the fear of being found out was intense, urging the young man to be fast with his feet.

Once Erik stopped in the middle of the field, he looked at the creature; its head was squished open. There was a small space in which the young man could put his finger in.

It was disgusting to see, mainly because the eyes were out of their sockets. Though seeing the dead creature wasn't the worst part, it was the thought of putting his fingers into the head, touching the brain, and all the fluids dripping from it.

Then he also had to drink the blood. What if the creature had some disease that could kill him?

However, the need to gain a new power was too strong, and greed surged inside the young man's mind. Erik collected the creature's blood, and when his fingers were wet with the red liquid, he licked them.

It was disgusting; the taste was horrible. But, once again, he had to ignore his disgust and swallow down what came up from his mouth. Immediately, multiple notifications appeared in Erik's field of view.

[UNKNOWN CREATURE'S BLOOD ACQUIRED. STARTING THE ANALYSIS.]

[ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]

[FIFTY DNA POINTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXTRACT THE DNA.]

[SIXTY DNA POINTS DETECTED. COMMENCING EXTRACTION?.]

"NO! WAIT!" Erik couldn't start anything out in the open; he wanted to start whatever process the system wanted to perform at home, where he would be alone and shielded from prying eyes. The young man then inquired about what was happening.

"System, how does all of this work?"

[ANSWER: TO ACQUIRE A NEW BRAIN CRYSTAL POWER, THE HOST IS REQUIRED TO ADAPT HIS DNA TO THE POWER ITSELF; OTHERWISE, IT WON'T WORK. TO COMPLETE THE PROCEDURE, THE DNA EXTRACTION POWER IS REQUIRED. STILL, THE POWER USES GENETIC MATERIAL AND ENERGY, AKA DNA POINTS, TO WORK.]

"Ah, I get it…"

Erik then put his fingers from both hands inside the creature's head wound and started applying force, trying to open the head in two.

With a little effort, he managed, and it was there that he saw the brain crystal. It was a small transparent bead, about half the size of a coin, embedded deep inside the brain and full of brain matter.

He grabbed it and pulled it out quickly. Then the kid took a tissue from his backpack and removed the blood and the rest of the brain from the crystal.

He had to eat it now but didn't dare to do it. Though the young man looked at his watch, he was going to be late to take the train, and besides, he couldn't risk losing the crystal or anyone finding out he had it. So, he swallowed a gulp of saliva, placed the bead in his mouth, and swallowed the crystal whole.

The bead itself didn't have a flavor, but the raw brain matter did, and it was disgusting.

"Damn!" The young man said. "I hate this…"

After eating the brain crystal, Erik immediately got some other notifications.

[UNKNOWN CREATURE'S BRAIN CRYSTAL ACQUIRED. STARTING THE ANALYSIS.]

[ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]

[FIFTY DNA POINTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXTRACT THE POWER.]

[SIXTY DNA POINTS DETECTED. EXTRACTION IS NOT ADVISED; THE HOST HAS INCOMPATIBLE DNA.]

[EXTRACTION ABORTED]

The notifications were similar to the previous one. Erik assumed that he needed, in total, a hundred DNA points to be able to get the brain crystal power.

Since Erik already had sixty DNA points, he only needed forty to extract both. As far as he understood, he had first to extract the DNA, and then he could extract the power.

<I better start going home...> the young man thought.

He then went back to the road, he was as clean as he could, but some bits of blood landed on his clothes. The young man walked through the country road; the sun was almost down.

The stars were visible and were shining brightly in the sky above him. After a short trip on the train, Erik finally arrived at the train station.

Erik was anxious and hoped no one would notice the bloodstains on his clothes. Luckily for him, most pedestrians ignored him completely. So far, nobody seemed interested in checking who the boy was or what had happened to him.

Erik arrived at the train station just in time for him to take the last train to the east district.

"Welcome aboard," announced an automated voice over the train's speaker system. "We will arrive at our destination in ten minutes."

As soon as the doors closed, the train began moving again, its engine roaring like thunder. Ten minutes of pure anxiety passed before they reached the first stop. The passengers flooded onto the platform when the door opened, leaving empty seats.

Luckily he was now alone on the train. Erik looked outside the window, where he saw the floating tracks split into three directions, which led to the south, west, and north districts. Soon enough, the train stopped, and Erik and the passengers in the other carriages disembarked.

Once outside, the young man realized how dark it was getting and that it would probably rain later tonight. That was good since it would wash away the blood that he left behind.

Erik walked down the streets heading home; he looked at the people around him in horror since he was scared that he could be found out.

If that happened, who knew what would happen to him? As he looked left, he saw a woman with a short haircut walking her dog in sports attire.

She noticed Erik looking at her and quickly averted her eyes. Another person was talking loudly on their phone, while another guy was whistling to himself.

All these things combined reminded Erik of how much he hated living in this rotten city, especially when he lived right in the middle of it all.

Luckily, no one looked at him beside the woman, and no one saw the blood on him. That dreadful walk finally ended when he reached his house. Erik proceeded to the upper floors, gently going up the stairs to avoid disturbing the few residents.

As soon as he reached the third floor, he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked inside. After walking through the door, he turned around, leaned against it, and sighed deeply.

That nightmare ended. Erik dreaded what could have happened if he ended up being questioned by the police or, worse, the blackguards.

In any case, Erik was glad he escaped the creature and was happy for the biological supercomputer system. Something that was already changing his life for the better.

Erik imagined the time when he would possess a wide array of abilities. Even though he couldn't show them all, he could do so with just one power.

Although it was somewhat uncommon, there were a few individuals who, in their latter years, obtained a new brain crystal power; they were the so-called Awakeners. Because of this, Erik felt confident that he wouldn't have any significant issues if he faked being one. However, gaining a new power was extremely unlikely, so he had to plan things well.

Showing the power would undoubtedly attract new trouble, yet, Erik was seriously thinking about doing it. Not because of fame, not because he wanted to join the military. But because he wanted to stop the bullying. If he declared he had Awakened, maybe that torture would finally end.