An inevitable fate

"Quinn, what's that on you're neck...?" Luna closed in on him.

Huh?

"A... crack?" she said right before Quinn pushed her away. "What do you mean a crack, go get some rest" Quinn laughed it off.

***

'Oi! Void, what's this about a crack?!' he hurriedly asked void as he moved away from the crowd of people. 'You might want to check your body for that... I'm afraid that your condition has become severe'.

What condition?

...

"THE FUCK IS THIS?!" he accidentally shouted aloud. "Student in tent 043, Is there a problem?".

'YES, THERE'S A PROBLEM! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!'

"No, sir. I apologise" he replied in a calm voice.

...

'Void, explain to me: what is going on?' Quinn demanded. 'The seal which had been placed on you had recently gotten damaged rapidly. Because of your quick growth probably... and also the powerful skill and job you unlocked'

'No matter what Mask you might awaken, it will for sure, wreak havoc. You will need atleast a month or two of enclosure from humans and practice control over your newly acquired power.... or you might kill a whole settlement of humans if, by chance, you lose control'

'So, how long can it be suppressed for? Can't really say I'm looking forward to living like an enlightened monk at the age of 17... hahah'

'...'

"Not too long, huh...?"

***

"Boy, you got some mud sticking onto your face or what?" Andre noticed the crack which had grown larger since 3 hours ago. It now reached up to Quinn's ear. "Don't mind it. Just some scar I was gracefully bestowed upon..."

"Scars I can understand but cracks? No, no, no- you don't get cracks on your body unless you are cursed by high ranking cruses or by a curse involving blood sacrifice and some mystical bullshit those dark elves might try to pull off.

"Or... you might just be too special a someone, eh?"

Hah...

"Whatever you say... take this" Quinn threw a scroll at him. "Smithing text? You're basically telling me your class... have I gained your trust this easily?"

"Just make me the damn dagger and you can keep the scroll."

"Why not! I am gettin the scroll for free afterall... am I not?"

"Not like I can do anything with it."

"So... you want I should make something that can remove or atleast suppress the curse?"

"Of course. Thats why I was here originally... how much do you need?"

"Hey, hey, if you say it like that, imma feel bad"

"Take this" Andre flashed a talisman of red aura. "This'll do the job. Just slap that piece of paper onto the place from where the curse originates... I trust you know where that is"

Inspect

[Evil-warding talisman]

A talisman made by the dwarves to supress curses. Stick to the part of the body which is most affected by the curse for this talisman to take effect.

Quinn, as he glued the talisman to his chest, near his heart, doubted its effects but abandoned those doubts as soon as he felt the clutch of some force loosen at his heart.

The cracks slowly sank into his skin and vanished without a trace. All except for the small cracks near his heart.

....

'What is it? You don't seem much too suprised or happy' Void spoke up after a minute of silence.

'It's just that I'll have to face that Transformation that you mentioned either way since there are still some cracks remaining...'

'Hrmm... you shouldn't let that bother you. We shall worry about that when we are met with the problem... But for now, just work on increasing your stats and getting stronger so that you can hopefully prevent the worst case scenario...' He said with a hint of sadness and regret in his words.

'Hey, don't leave me hanging here. What's the worst case scenario?'

'...That you'll kill everything around you and become a Demon or Abyssal... or if you're unlucky, you'll stay the same or even lose your powers and carry a burden that even The Great Ones dare not carry...

'CURSE OF THE OMNIMATER.'

What now?

'The tree that birthed all the Gods and universes, all the world trees are off-shoot descendants of the OMNIMATER. A simpler term is... The dreaming architect; or to put it even more simply... the Absolute Being. No living thing, neither created nor descendant of the Absolute Being can disobey it. Not even the strongest Gods'

"Yeah?"

'Yes. But, it is said that once the spirit of the tree awakens... all life will cease to exist. All realms and worlds will disappear. For we are... every single thing is the product of the Absolute Being's dream. We do not even know what the Spirit's world... the actual world is. Such a terrifying thought... even to a being such as myself'

...

...

...

'You are quiet. Why do you not say anything?'

'The hell am I supposed to say after that?'

***

"Quinn, what have you been doing?" Sen punched his back. "Trying to control myself..."

Well, that didn't work.

"I'm sorry" Sen apologised.

"Right, what do you want?" indifferent to the apology, he asked. "That's cold. We're friend aren't we? I'm just curious about something. Well— you don't have to answer but..."

Was the shadow that big...?

"Hrmm... you'll get to know. Soon..."

***

"*GROUP 17, 29 AND 31. PLEASE STEP INTO THE TELEPORTER AND HEAD TO THE DECONTAMINATION SPACE*"

...

"Hah... finally some fresh air. I would've gone crazy and become a god damn cretin had I taken in that musty ass air for another day. Thank fuck my allergies didn't act up..."

"*All students are to report to the weapons/martial arts training room. Sir Aaron and the substitute teacher Carl will test the students in their close and supernatural combat altogether*"

Fuckin' let us get a break or something...

***

"WELCOME, STUDENTS. ALL WHO HAVE GATHERED HERE, WILL HAVE TO WAIT TILL ALL 400 STUDENTS OF THE FIRST YEAR BATCH WHO ENTERED BUTANI ARE HERE.

SO IN THE MEANTIME, THOSE PRESENT HERE WILL SHOW ME THEIR SKILLS IN A FIGHT AGAINST ME AND CARL. USE ALL YOU'VE GOT AND HOLD NOTHING BACK.

GOT IT?!" Aaron finished his speech with an explosive voice.

"YES, SIR!!" The crowd of students answered.

"This should be entertaining..."

"*When your names are called, please step forward and into the arena*" Carl spoke into the mic.

"*First off... Reiner Jan*"