How could one person be so damn lucky?!
Damien felt as if his whole head was on fire.
At was if trillions of angry ants were viciously biting at his mind!
It was so painful!
He gritted his teeth and tried to hold on as the fluid snaked through his veins, causing him to convulse in even more intense agony.
Had it not been the straps which were doing an excellent job of keeping him place, Damien's maniacal thrashings would have sent him falling from the bed and onto the pristine white floors of the lab.
One would wonder why he wasn't sedated before he was injected with the Enlightenment fluid.
Well, it had been done in previous times but soon enough people realized that those who underwent awakening after being sedated either entered a vegetative state or became bumbling idiots.
This was because the Enlightenment fluid served as a catalyst that helped the body to realize and unlock its hidden potential. The spirit, soul and body were already there and the power within was dormant.
What the enlightenment fluid did was to give each aspect of the person a little push which broke the shackles of mortality and helped one to step on the pathway of becoming superhuman.
This needed the person to be awake, responsive and active so that when the Enlightenment fluid did its work, the body, spirit and soul would quickly react and push against any restraining shackles which barred the person from becoming extraordinary.
If the person was sedated though, the mind which was the first to react to the stimulus of the Enlightenment fluid, would not react at worst or give a minimal reaction at best.
Using the analogy of a door with a hard-to-open lock and key, it can be said that the enlightenment fluid can be likened to a lubricant which is used on the door lock so the key, which is the person's being, can easily unlock the door.
If the lubricant is used and the key isn't turned or much effort isn't put into turning it, the door will always remain locked regardless of the amount of lubricant used.
That was why currently, Damien was wide awake.
Damien didn't know how long the pain lasted but slowly he felt the pressure and pain he felt in his mind fading softly.
"Phase one of awakening complete," said the voice of Dr. Joyce as she monitored Damien's vitals on the Omni-computer.
"He held out really well. His mind and pain threshold is very strong," Dr. Manfred praised, eyeing Damien as if he was a specimen.
Damien was too tired recovering from the pain to even care.
He hoped it was over and he wouldn't have to face much more pain.
"Phase two is now commencing," said Dr. Joyce.
"Wait what?! There's a second phase?" Damien moaned inwardly.
Steeling himself, he mentally prepared for the pain which would soon visit him with a vengeance.
With a vengeance it came. Only that this time, instead of his mind, his whole body was on fire!
"Aaaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!" Damien couldn't help but scream in pain as every inch of his body was set ablaze by the fiery sensation of a million sharp needles poking at every part of his body, even his eyes!
Damien began to sweat like a pig from every pore of his body.
A thin layer of filth was pushed out by his skin even as his screams filled the lab.
It felt like it would never end.
Finally, the pain stopped.
Damien was barely hanging on, his breath shallow from too much screaming.
"You're doing well Damien. It's left with one more phase," encouraged Dr. Manfred but Damien could barely hear him now.
The pain had been truly intense.
"End of Phase two. Phase three is now commencing," reported Dr. Joyce.
Damien was exhausted. The pain he was feeling was too much. At least he now had a brief respite, or so he thought.
Someway somehow, a certain part of Damien was pricked by those sharp invisible needles with an even greater ferocity than before!
Damien's soul was in pain!
The feeling was worse than that of the first two phases combined!
It was on a level of its own!
Had Damien not been strapped to the bed, he would have fallen off at best or clawed himself to death at worst!
Loud shrieks filled the laboratory as Damien screamed his throat sore again.
Even then, the pain intensified.
Just when Damien thought he couldn't take it anymore, he felt an indescribable sensation within him… almost as if he was liberated from some ethereal shackles.
His whole being exulted!
BOOM!
Inside Damien, something finally exploded within his spirit, soul and body!
Immediately, whatever remnant shackles that remained was broken and a sudden sensation of comfort, joy and indescribable power filled Damien!
What had previously hurt like hell now felt like a smooth relaxing sensation.
The awakening process was complete!
Damien felt agiler, faster and stronger than before.
His mind had become clearer and even his eyesight had sharpened drastically!
And now he was sensing something in the atmosphere… some strange energy flowing around the lab like air.
Is this how it feels to be awakened? Damien asked himself as Dr. Manfred freed him from the straps which bound him.
"Congratulations, Damien. You are an awakened now," grinned Dr. Manfred as he helped Damien sit up.
"Thanks."
"We will be done soon but first we need to clean you up and see what power you awakened," he added.
Still in shock about the sudden changes he felt within, and the details previously unnoticed that he could now see, Damien nodded and stood up.
Dr. Manfred and Joyce led him to a door on the side of the lab.
Inside, there was a large recovery pod. Damien removed the last piece of clothing and entered the pod. With a swish it closed behind him and started doing its work of cleaning him up.
Five minutes later, Damien got out of the pod refreshed and feeling fine.
A bot hovering with spare clothes came closer and Damien dressed up and got out. Dr. Manfred and Joyce were waiting for him.
"Now that you're cleaned up, we can begin the tests. Please step into that specialized pod," Dr. Manfred instructed.
Damien ventured into the side of the room with sophisticated machines and climbed into the pod at the center.
Various sensors and tubes automatically connected to his body and the two scientists took their place behind the Omni-computer.
Behind the computer, Dr. Manfred looked at the full body portrait of Damien. Various lights danced around the image and intertwined with each other in a mesmerizing fashion.
Their colors were red, blue and gold.
"Wonderful!" Dr. Manfred's eyes went bright in excitement and fervor. Behind him, Dr. Joyce was agape with shock. She looked at the boy in the pod with surprise. This boy was a true talent!
What did those colors mean to elicit such shock and excitement from the scientists? It was very simple.
If the portrait turned fully red or dominantly red with no other color, it meant that Damien had awoken in the Path of the Body.
If it was fully blue or dominantly blue with no other color, it meant that he had awoken in the Path of the Spirit.
If it was fully gold or dominantly gold with no other color, it meant that he had awoken in the Path of the Soul.
If two colors meshed together, it meant that he would have power related to both paths.
However, Damien had all three colors meshed together!
All the colors were equally bright and dominant! Someway somehow, they managed to interlock and intertwine without any light fighting for dominance.
By having all three colors moving in his body, it meant that Damien was a triple awakened!
He had awoken in all the three Paths!
The two scientists took in deep breaths. This was insane!
People who awakened in all three paths were very rare!
Mostly, eighty percent of those who underwent the awakening process awakened with only one Path.
Nineteen percent awakened in two paths.
And as for three paths? Only one percent.
That was how rare it was.
All that was left now was to check which powers Damien had awakened. If even one turned out to be fairly good and the rest average, the government will put no stops in ensuring Damien received many resources.
On the other hand, if he had top notch powers in each path, safe to say, he would be the darling boy of the government.
"Surely, no one can be that lucky, right?" thought Dr. Joyce as she watched Dr. Manfred fiddle with the computer.
Dr. Manfred typed in certain commands and a metal band attached itself around Damien's head.
"Checking the path of the Spirit," reported Dr. Manfred as he typed away. Meanwhile Dr. Joyce rapidly typed in her comm.
On the screen of the Omni-computer, hundreds of colors formed a frequency and streaked on the interface. The frequency of all the colors were moving slowly excluding two.
"Joyce, check out his body fluctuations," commanded Dr. Manfred.
Joyce hurried over to the pod and quickly began to type commands on its monitoring computer. There were faint vibrations rippling in the pod and there was a certain silver glow around the head of Damien.
"Have you got a reading?" Dr. Manfred asked impatiently.
"Yes. Subject has dual elemental affinity. Based on fluctuations in the pod he has the Spatial element and based on the glow around his head the subject has psychic powers too. All have insanely high readings and are affecting the surroundings at a rapid rate!" Dr. Joyce reported fervently.
"Splendid!" grinned Dr. Manfred.
This Damien was going to be a genius! Dr. Manfred thought. Not only had he awoken two very rare elements in the Spirit path, he had a ridiculously high affinity for both of them!
"Let's check what he awoke for the Soul path. Joyce, send in the crystal," ordered Dr. Manfred.
Joyce rapidly typed in quick commands and quickly, a glowing crystal hovered above Damien's chest area. Golden light shown down on Damien's heart and a bright white light filled the pod.
"What kind of power is that?" asked Dr. Manfred as he quickly examined the bright light.
"It's a soul power related to runes… it's another new soul power variant which hasn't been documented yet so we can't have an accurate grasp of which soul rune the subject has awakened," reported Dr. Joyce after some time.
"Magnificent!" Dr. Manfred exclaimed in glee. This kid was having the best of the powers! It was almost as if he was the child of the god of luck or something!
"Quick, dismiss the crystal and let in the fluid. Let's check his body!" Dr. Manfred ordered.
Dr. Joyce quickly complied and a colorless fluid was let into the pod. Quickly, Damien's body glowed a violent red in the pod.
In front of Dr. Manfred, Damien's body composition laid bare.
"Which kind of physical power did he get?" he asked himself.
Very soon, he had his answer.
"Subject awoke a power related to his body. He has a peak human physique!
It's mainly passive…
Prominent factor is that it has insane regeneration," reported Dr. Joyce.
Both scientists took in deep breaths.
There was only one question on their minds.
How could one person be so damn lucky?!