4 One’s Will To Survive, Metamorphosis  

It was a dark scene, an alleyway shrouded by the gloom of the night, here a young boy who didn't look a day beyond 13 years of age was being brutally beaten by a team of thugs. They stepped on his back and bashed him with metal pipes, which caused his bones to make cracking noises, laughing at his weakness and ill fate.

Yet, despite their attempts to break both his body and spirit, the boy didn't yield, his eyes shone with firmness as his tears dried up, while even his cries faded when he absorbed the blows while gritting his teeth.

Why would such a child undergo such a maddening life endangerment and not call for help? It's simple, the child knew no one would come, and thus, only he could protect that which was most important to himself.

Yes, a child's most important thing, the first being he came in contact with since birth, his mother. At this moment, below this child was an unconscious beauty who seemed as if she'd fainted from some illness. She laid unaware of his torment, unaware of his pain, as he silently shielded her body with his own.

Ptooey! One of the thugs ushered as he spat a blob of spit onto the child's back and cursed, "Bah! He's so boring, look he's not even crying anymore. Let's go, since he's willing to die to shield some sick bitch, let him die on her corpse, plenty of finer chicks to play with anyway, so I'm outta here!"

"Haha, you're right, we've done him in quite harshly, I'm beginning to feel sorry for this Gutter Trash, I'm out too!" Another thug said.

Clank! Soon after, the sounds of metal pipes falling onto the ground resounded as other thugs grew tired as well, leaving along with the other men.

Now, only the silent and dreary alley filled with bloodstain and a struggling boy were left behind; he panted heavily before gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to faint due to the immense pain all over his body.

"Mother... I... I will not fall; I will protect you..." The child said as he struggled, he slowly rose to his feet and grabbed his mother, placing her over his shoulder.

Once this happened, a sharp pain forced him to halt, as his eyes turned over. His body was only moments from falling to the ground, but suddenly, he heard the sick mother's voice, "My... sweet... Nero, don't burden yourself over me, f-focus on your life. Remember, no matter what you face, you must never give in, n-never give up... even at the last second..."

Right as he heard those words, it was as if a switch had gone off in his head, power that he never knew he had sprung up from the depths of his body, gifting him the strength to do the unthinkable.

Instantly, his body which fell backward halted as if defying gravity, balancing his form with his feet spread wide and crouched, he gritted his teeth and forced his torso upwards with everything he had despite his turned over eyes.

"I-SHALL-NOT-FALL! Ahhhhh!" With a beast-like roar, the child managed to recover his posture, following which he continued to carry his mother towards their home that was far away from this location.

If one looked at him carefully, they would notice that though he moved, his eyes were blank, seeming to have lost sentience, for what carried him was no longer conscious thought, but overwhelming willpower.

Much like this old memory, another scene was unfolding, a scene in which this very same young man had found a way to do the unthinkable, cheating the hands of even the very God of Death himself.

***

Within the empty streets of Rambruck, one would notice a section shrouded by flames which formed a circle around a fatally wounded silver-haired youth that laid in a pool of blood. Not too far away from his location, if one followed a line of fire, they would see a turned over truck which had not too long ago exploded after crashing into a nearby shop.

Oddly enough, there were no signs of life in the truck, as if it were driverless. Yet, despite that truck's strangeness, there was something even stranger.

The youth who should have already been dead had suddenly opened his eyes, his blurry vision catching sight of his current predicament that seemed no different from death itself.

His body felt cold and lifeless, with no strength to even move a single muscle, even his bones felt as if they all shattered as he was nothing more than a bag of skin and disjointed organs.

Yet, even in this state, the young man felt as if he wouldn't die, no... the young man firmly believed and told himself that he would never die.

'I... must live, I can't die and leave her alone in this world...' Nero thought as he bit his lips tightly, trying to feel pain in his cold and numb body, it was the only way to keep his brain active and alive.

While thinking, Nero's eyes grew a bit better; he was able to see things more clearly despite his weakness, his eyes shifted to the right where he saw his mangled arm that was crushed to bits by the heavy-duty wheels of the truck, even the precious cake was grounded to nothing along with his hard to earn glasses.

When Nero saw that scene, though he had long since grown out his tears, his eyes couldn't help but run as he cursed as if he lost his mind, "Damn! Damn! Damn! Why? Why me? Why us? Why must we suffer like this? Whyyy? What the hell do you want from us?"

Despite his shout, however, it only caused his grave wounds to worsen by a mile, he coughed out a chunk of blood, and his eyes grew dim, the world around him fighting to turn dark despite his overwhelming willpower that struggled to resist.

"Is this it? Is this my fate?" Nero said in a weak voice, as he found that no matter how he struggled, the coldness grew more, and now he couldn't even see anything around him as if he'd gone blind.

"How... how... meaningless..." Nero ushered once more, his eyes lost all light as his head slanted to the side, finally releasing his last breath.

At this very moment, Nero had died, it seemed to be a complicated thing, but in fact, there was nothing more straightforward. Those who struggle against it, and won, were those who had earned the right to live, freeing themselves from its untimely jaws.

However, while Nero might have died, he was not among those who had lost their right; with his superior willpower, even in death, his body had refused to accept its fate, forcing a metamorphosis.

Suddenly, a strange scene occurred around Nero's broken corpse; a silver light glowed around it, slowly rising his figure from the pool of blood, which then hovered roughly a meter's distance from the ground.

His silver hair danced upward, and his clothing fluttered wildly as if some wind influenced it. Just by looking at his current appearance, one would mistake him to be akin to a divine being.

[Connecting to the Universe Ring: connected!]

[New Host Type confirmed!]

[Searching genes: complete!]

[Detected: Grade??? Digitize Bit Inheritance!]

[Commencing transference, Commencing awakening...]

A resonant mechanical female voice said one that carried a trace of aloofness as it sounded in Nero's mind.

Soon, a marking had formed on Nero's forehead, a symbol which first appeared as a square-shaped card that flickered with 0's and 1's. Nero's head tilted upwards, facing the starry heavens of the night sky, where the gigantic golden ring loomed over the world.

As if it sensed Nero's change, the ring shimmered in a bright ray that bolted down from the sky, falling into the card-shaped marking on Nero's forehead. Moments after, the card faded as the mark of a silver scythe had appeared.

The instant this happened, Nero's hovering body experienced an even greater transformation. An eruption of dazzling silver energy blasted from his body into the sky at alarming speeds reaching the very ring in the heavens before vanishing.

[Inheritance complete!]

[Host Awakening has been successful!]

After the voice's words, Nero's floating body once more fell onto the ground, but as his feet touched the floor, his eyes opened, shimmering in a reddish ray before it faded as if never appearing.

Nero, who now seemed to be in an even better condition than before, felt that he could even see better than the time he wore glasses. He narrowed his eyes and showed a puzzled look on his face as he gripped one side of his head as if in pain when he thought, 'This... what was that voice? What are these memories? Who is this Diyamite? I... I can't understand what's going on?'

As Nero saw the memories of him dying to some guy called Golden Spear Diyamite, followed by many different random scenes of places he didn't know and strangers. His mind was beginning to grow crazy as if it was moments from exploding, but right at this time, a strange ripple came from the center of his mind, erasing every memory, leaving only the scene of him dying from Diyamite.

A voice then sounded at the depths of his mind, shaking his very core, "Never did I think that such a thing would happen, I must truly be ill-fated. Haha, no matter, such is fate's working. Everything should happen in its natural order... and as such, your fate is yours to decide. Young Nero, I ask of you only one thing, never let your guard down... ever, and do not die to that bastard, Diyamite again!"

Nero was alarmed at this voice, it almost sounded like his own but coarser and heavier, he questioned, "Who are you? How did you get in my head?"

The voice remained silent for a while before a loud sigh sounded followed by his words, "All will reveal in time, but for now... let's just say that I'm you..."

Nero's eyes widened as he heard this, he wanted to question some more, but right at this time, the sound of a siren resounded in the distance along with the rumbling engines of multiple vehicles.

Nero knew that he wouldn't be able to explain his current miracle to anyone. He didn't even understand it himself, and would only get into serious trouble if anyone noticed him, assuming no one saw him already.

'I have to get out of here and think things through!' Nero said inwardly as he hurriedly ran away in an opposed alleyway from the street, vanishing a speed that was two times his previous rate, unknown to even himself.

The scene here destined to be one of mystery, as no one knew of its occurrences, or even why it was blocked off from travelers. No one but a solitary shadow that lurked in a distant corner garbed in an overcoat that shrouded their features.

This person looked at the direction Nero left in silence, his shades refracting the lights from the blazing flames. Soon, he turned and vanished into the night scene, fading into the unknown.

****

Author's Note:

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