Chapter 40 - Threads of Death

Putting those thoughts to the back if his mind for now, Daron decided he'd integrate the Unique Enhancement he acquired in their dorm room. Though, given even the system warned him that it'd be painful, he'd tell Julian beforehand.

"Fair warning, I'd gotten a unique enhancement from my system but I have to integrate with it still. It said it'd be painful, so there's a chance of screaming," Daron said.

"Okay. Should I leave or stay here if you're going to integrate with it now?" Julian asked.

Daron thought for a moment. "It's probably better to stay. I don't know if something could go wrong, though I doubt it. But it's better to be safe."

Julian nodded as Daron prepared to integrate with the Unique Enhancement he was given.

Sitting on his bed, Daron commanded his system to integrate the Enhancement with his body.

[Unique Enhancement 'Threads of Death' has begun integration]

[The Intelligence aspect will now be integrated into your Energy Path]

[Please prepare for pain ahead]

The room fell into a moment of brief silence before Daron clenched his teeth and started screaming through them. It was a much worse pain than he was expecting, even worse than getting hit with Julian's Ability Domain, and he was feeling it throughout his entire body.

It felt as though ants made of magma had crawled into his veins and lit him ablaze, and he started shaking from gripping his bed so tightly.

He felt it get even hotter as whatever was happening in his body seemed to be coalescing into the form of an Energy Path, but before it finished, it latched onto his already present Energy Path.

The heat seemed to tear into his Energy Path as he couldn't hold his scream any longer, releasing his clenched teeth. The new aspect started to worm its way inside his Energy Path, feeling like flowing magma throughout his entire body. As the aspect merged with his Energy Path, he again felt it get hotter, a hot plasma tearing into him, as though piercing his soul.

For a brief moment of reason, he realized the searing heat might not be from the integration of another aspect into his Energy Path, but from the integration of the Unique Enhancement he was given. But the moment of reason was quickly taken over again by the overwhelming pain and heat throughout his body.

A few tears slipped out of his shut eyes, as now silent screams escaped from his mouth, him writhing and shaking on the edge of his bed. Julian silently watched the scene in horror, knowing that Daron could handle a lot of pain based on their duel, which meant whatever he was experiencing was many times worse.

Daron felt the hot plasma worming its way into his Energy Path, all the way into the innermost flow. It then started to solidify itself as the innermost flow, kicking out his Healing aspect from its place. As it locked in its place, the heat started to dissipate from everywhere throughout his body, and started to be focused on just his Energy Path.

Then, even that too dissipated, as the aspect settled into its home in his Energy Path. As the pain cleared, he started to open his eyes, the world blurry at first. Rubbing them clear, he looked around again and saw Julian looking at him with worry.

"I'm fine," Daron said.

"You didn't sound, nor look, fine. What the hell was that?" Julian asked.

"Integrating a Unique Enhancement into my body, and also integrating my Intelligence aspect into my Energy Path. Felt like I was being eaten by molten ants, then thrown into a volcano, then a star. That was utter hell," Daron replied.

"Yeah, I can tell. I saw the whole thing."

"How long did that take?" Daron asked.

"About ten minutes."

Daron nodded as looked at his system.

[Intelligence aspect has been integrated into your Energy Path]

[Unique Enhancement 'Threads of Death' has been integrated]

'What is 'Threads of Death', exactly?'

['Threads of Death' allows the host to see a thread of someone who is close to death, or someone who has something that will cause their death but it can be prevented through various means. The thread will allow you to see their location, and give some information on how to save them. That doesn't mean it would always be within your ability too. It always gives either the best option, or the only option. If it's the latter, you can only hope you can do it.]

'This is... incredible.' Daron thought as he looked at it. But thinking for a moment, he gave a frown. 'If... the Maken had the power to make such a thing... how did they die? All of them? It doesn't feel like something natural.'

[We can only move forward and try to gain more information. I don't have that knowledge currently. Maybe I will in the future, when I am a higher level. Maybe that information will come from someone else, such as Director Aaron. But we can only move forward and get stronger.]

Daron stared at the system's response for a moment. 'You... You're more... alive, than before.'

[The Maken designed me to grow with the host. As I unlock more knowledge, and have been unlocked for longer, I will become more alive. I don't know why the Maken made such a decision.]

Daron sighed as he stood up.

"What's wrong?" Julian asked.

"Ah, sorry, I was talking to my system. Nothing's wrong," Daron said. "We should get breakfast, yeah?"

Julian nodded as they left the dorm.

Daron's thoughts were jumbled as he thought about what could have happened to the Maken, and why they designed the system in such a way. Of course, there was Director Aaron as well, and his connection with the Maken, and seemingly two of his teachers as well. But he didn't know how Director Aaron was connected to the Maken, but everything pointed to something terrible happening. Something, he imagined, the Maken had dealt with, and ultimately failed.