Adults

An old man covered by a purple and light grey robe stood in front of an imposing opening leading into a dark tunnel.

[98.7%, 13 minutes left until authorisation is confirmed, please wait for the process to complete.]

The man sighted and wondered if the events that he had seen happen before would repeat themselves.

"Either none of them come back and the village enters a dark age or someone like the chieftain from two hundred years ago appears again and solves the threat plaguing us like he did…" the elder shaman said softly.

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Luckily for him, his earlier concerns were for naught. Ten silhouettes advanced from the shadows towards the exit.

Looking at their expressions and the number advancing towards him, the old man immediately understood what had happened as he saw this happen countless times.

The group of adolescents came back into their clan's dome and rested on the dirty forest floor they so dearly missed.

[100%, 0 minutes left until authorisation is confirmed...]

[You are unauthorized to enter this sector until the end of the lockdown.]

Looking at the closing gates, the elder decided that giving the kids more time wouldn't help them. Their comrade had died and many others will. But sadly knowing the truth and holding the most rational mindset didn't numb the pain.

"Most of you have finished the last trial. It is sad that not all of you managed to make it but sometimes even with all the prudence and intelligence in the world you cannot outrun your fate…" The elder sighted again, " Did you complete the task? "

"Is that all you care about? Do you not even care for Nicolas' death !?" Falco was enraged, his best friend died and the elder just spouted some philosophical quotes.

"You are angry… and I understand. There is one thing that you need to know however." the elder continued in his monotone voice

"WHAT !" Falco said, barely stopping himself from attacking the highest member of the clan.

"I have lived for a long, long time during which I have seen many kids like you die, from the trials inside the dome and the dangers outside of it." the elder made a pause in his speech, "Death is very common, more than we would like to admit… I wish all of you to live for as long as I have for, but for that you must first learn to accept that death is inevitable."

...

"Anyways… I believe that they have succeeded in their task, please take them to the autel." the elder shaman said seemingly talking to no one.

Multiple people clad in hunter equipment suddenly rushed out of the dense forest taking the exhausted challengers by surprise and making them inhale a thin cyan powder.

Matt was the only one to have noticed the hidden figures and was ready when they were ambushed. Seeing the powder, he quickly covered his mouth and nose with a piece of cloth covered in water and pretended to fall unconscious.

While he trusted his clan, he knew just how fucked up their trials and ceremonies were so he prepared, just in case.

He felt himself be lifted up and get moved somewhere but didn't dare to open his eyes.

"I know you're still awake… I had a lot of time to get accustomed to your tricks Matt.", a familiar voice whispered into Matt's ears and he immediately knew who was carrying him.

Whispering back Matt asked, "Where are you taking us Joseph? And what will happen once we are there?"

"The elder shaman is bringing you to the autel, it's a shrine that he uses to awaken someone's spirit. I learned that you already awakened yours… congrats you little bastard… This ceremony will still help you so just play along as you are doing now." Joseph answered his questions. "Stay silent, we are there."

The place didn't seem to be far away from the tunnel. Running along the dome's wall and making a few turns into the forest made the hunters reach the shrine very quickly.

It was a tall building made entirely out of wood with multiple stacked roofs.

Thick pillars of brute lumber served as supports, the walls seemed to be made out of planks that were almost indistinguishable from one another and the superposed roofs were covered by scale shaped wooden tiles.

The shrine's walls were covered in moss and vines showing how long ago this structure must have been built.

It was a shame that Matt and his friends couldn't witness this beautiful Starvkirke.

Once inside, the hunters laid the ten teenagers on stone beds and left the building.

"Oh great god Janus, please open the conduit to the spirit realm and bring forth the elixir of change!" The high elder started praying to a god Matt had never heard before, "Show them the source and grant them with your holy insight!"

Calm came back to the autel before two similar robotic voices were heard alternatively speaking.]

[Initiating the Janus mutation awakening procedure]

[Activating the nanobot stabilisers and the transmutation nukleus serum abstract… ]

[Opening the valve]

[Storage tank compromised, redirecting fluid. ]

A noise of water flowing could be heard breaking the silence. A bowl sized recipient magicly filled up with a dark blue, almost black, colored liquid that was then collected by the elder in small goblets once it stopped increasing.

The other elders of the village entered at that moment and each took one of those goblets and approached a candidate.

"Let them live the blessing they have been granted." The elder shaman said

"Let them live the blessing they have been granted." The other elders followed

Matt's POV :

I felt a substance entering my mouth. Honestly it feels kind of disgusting, like termite and Vodka mixed together.

I would have fallen to the floor and puked everything out if I could but my body just didn't respond to me.

*DING*

[Aiden has detected an awakening serum ]

[Extracting useful resources… ]

[Creation of the transmutation nukleus… ]

[Reinforcing Phoenix nanobots into nanites…]

[Activating biological inception]

I suddenly feel myself falling or more precisely, sinking and drowning.

Other objects around me were sinking along with me pushing down with them the corpses of multiple people.

This brings back bad memories…

Then I saw scenes that I had experienced before, my time in the orphanage, the training I got with Grimm, the times I read fantasy books…

It was as if I was reliving my memories…

In a very disorganized and chaotic manner.

I kept on falling deeper into the water, faster than the visions I saw around me could.

It brought me into a sea of darkness, the abyss where no sunlight shines and where nightmares are born.

The calm currents soothed me, I felt at home and yet… lost.

I stayed here for a long time and yet it happened in an instant…

Until a faint light appeared along with small movements that very lightly perturbed the currents, just enough to make me notice them.

Something was circling around me, dancing in the darkness. I don't know how but I could feel that it wanted to be freed from the abyss.

It stayed hidden behind its veil of darkness, until… it appeared before me… and it was majestic.

The first thing I saw was its long reptile-like head poking out of the darkness.

It was easily four or five times my size giving its imposing maw decorated by sharp rows of teeth the feeling that it could swallow me at any time.

Advancing closer towards me I was able to witness another spectacle.

This sea dragon covered in strange grey scales had long tentacles and strings flowing behind it.

It started to flicker, parts of it disappeared in the darkness once again while other parts lit up in a beautiful cyan and purple hue.

I knew what it was… I created it… and yet it was different from what I imagined. In the end, I was it and it was me.

I came closer to it, walking in the middle of the water as if it was solid ground.

It replicated my actions by taking out its legs from behind its shining tentacles and walked towards me.

We came close enough that I could touch it. It's sales had a cold metallic feel to them while the floating tentacles were very elastic and slimy.

Its heart beating in rhythm with mine and its pair of dark purple eyes staring at me.

It was like staring at the abyss within the abyss and it stared back at me.

A deep yet high pitched noise exited its mouth travelling the waters and paralyzing any lost soul that could have reached these depths.

It gave me an indescribable urge to press my forehead against its own, so I did.

[Transmutation nukleus perfectly recognized and integrated]

[Symbiotic rate : 98%]

[New information unlocked]

I looked at the dream reaper before me and said 'status'.

________________________________

Host : Matthew Ward

Age : 16

Mutation : Dream reaper (Unlocked)

Mental state : Tired, apprehensive

Power : 40 - 71

Skills :

User menu / status : Show user information

Scan : Detect surrounding informatic devices and machines. Can also reveal precise information if the target has been recorded.

Mutation scan : Your scan can now recognize a target's mutation and its danger level. <NEW>

Track : Target a nearby entity and display its location.

Minor data control : Aggressively retrieve data from blocked devices. Has great computational capabilities.

Holographic projection : Display a small hologram of your choice near you.

Cold blooded : Reduce your body's metabolism to reduce consumption at the cost of efficiency.

Heat vision : Detects infrared light and converts the radiation into an image.

Silent movement : Reduces noise produced while walking and running. Increases overall stealth and movement speed. <NEW>

Poison touch : Inflict minor paralysis upon organic beings that come into physical contact with your skin. Can be deactivated. <NEW>

Phosphorescence : Release chemicals in your body that will shine in the dark <NEW>

Transmutation : Release all or parts of your mutations locked inside your nukleus to transform your body or a part of it into a Jaeger. <NEW>

Amphibian constitution : Boost self healing capabilities by coming in contact with water.

Reduces cells' need for oxygen to function and optimizes its consumption.

Other biologic abilities that are not connected to the system have been detected, please discover these on your own.

1740 words