Groaning from the pain coursing through me, my eyes slowly fluttered open. I could feel a surge of energy rushing through my veins, accompanied by a subtle but profound sense of empowerment.
I felt much stronger. More powerful than I had ever been, even.
Struggling to sit upright, I set about assessing my ability with a grim expression — while silently hoping that I had awakened one. Not every Awakened was fortunate enough to awaken one during the pre-awakening stage, after all. However, that did little to stop me from hoping I was among the lucky few who did.
Only then would I have a chance of surviving.
Closing my eyes, I reached for the glowing orb within my mind. Every Awakened individual would be able to form a soul core after Awakening. And with its formation and solidification through extreme conditions — such as the ENO, the manifestation of extreme negative emotions — came the ability to perceive and understand one’s ability. Little as that knowledge might be, it was still every bit better than being ignorant. The rest was left to the Awakened to figure out.
However, most never lived to do so. That was the bleak nature of this world; the cruel nature of the war-torn age.
Time ticked by as sweat poured down the side of my face. However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach out to the soul core. I felt nothing. Only a deep, empty silence.
But just as I grew frustrated, anger and annoyance slowly creeping in, I felt something.
Bang!
I heard the sound of glass shattering in my mind, as though an invisible barrier had been broken. The force, sudden and intense, threw me against the cold bars.
The next moment, I was in a world of pain. The sight of me — blood trickling down the side of my face and agony etched across my features — would have made for a miserable scene, if not for the weak smile gracing my lips. And how could I not smile through the agony? Awakening not one but two abilities had increased my odds of surviving in the pits.
Besides, I was fairly certain that neither ability was useless, as the odds of that happening was relatively low — almost nonexistent. After all, anyone who could go through the ENO possessed a sufficiently strong soul, making it exceedingly unlikely for the soul to manifest a useless ability. I couldn’t possibly be an exception to that, could I?
"Hah..." I exhaled, gathering myself. And with a crippling sense of dread, I went through the abilities.
The first ability I had awakened was the ability to create a five-step radius of total darkness around myself, capable of blinding everyone within its reach. That, however, wasn’t the best part — it was the fact that I would remain unaffected, even within the inner reaches of the dark zone. In a dark, grim battle such as the gladiatorial matches, where every single mistake could lead to one’s death, it was an incredibly useful ability. Perhaps it wasn’t overpowered, but in the hands of a seasoned, cunning warrior, it could very well be.
"Though, if I am right, the dark-zone doesn’t actually allow me to create darkness, but rather absorbs all sources of light within a five-foot radius. It’s more or less a kind of photon absorption field."
Shaking my head, I dismissed the scientific theories and moved on to the next ability. In a few seconds, the information was imprinted into my mind. Few scientists could truly explain how the soul imprinted information, however it was more or less accepted as being possible. After all, the formation of the soul core marks the beginning of one’s awakening. It was only natural that any ability an Awakened possesses would be intricately tied to their soul.
My brows narrowed as I reviewed the information. "So, basically, it’s an ability that lets me predict an enemy’s movements through their shadow."
It was a useful ability — provided the strength gap between the enemy and myself wasn’t extremely wide. In essence, those were the two abilities I had awakened, and the abilities that would hopefully keep me alive until the True Awakening.
"Huh..."
Exhaling deeply, I raised my head and assessed my surroundings. The teenagers surrounding me radiated a cold, sinister presence. One that made my heart freeze in my chest. At that moment, I didn’t need anyone to tell me where I was, blood draining from my face.
"Crap!" I cursed under my breath.
The next moment, a voice resounded from my right, startling me.
"Welcome to the aberrant pits," the gentle voice said.
Scrambling backward with a frightened expression, I turned toward the source of the voice. The face that came into view was that of a young man who appeared to be around sixteen. He had a short beard and long brown hair that made one suspect he was a Terrisman.
How had one ended up here, though?
"You can call me Azrael," he said with a smile, leaning against the freezing bars of his pit.
"Kyle," I replied with a nod.
Turning my face away from him, I shifted away — as much as I could while being cramped in the dark cage. That should have made it obvious that I was not quite interested in any sort of conversation. The young Terrisman smiled at the scene, then shook his head. Eventually, he fixed his gaze on the black, charred metal above him. Yeah... much better.
With that thought, I turned my attention back to the other Awakened. Who knew which one of them was going to be my next opponent? The thought unsettled me in a number of ways. In the next moment, though, a voice resounded once again. To my annoyance, it was coming from my right.
"..."
The young man chuckled, then said softly. "How about we make a deal?"
"What sort of deal?" I asked warily.
He smiled. "I give you a detailed review of one of the two aberrants, and in return, you owe me a small favor."
I kept quiet for a while, my expression darkening as silence settled between us. And the reason I reacted in such a way was quite simple.
’Curses!’
Not only was Azrael exceedingly shrewd as I’d expect from a Terrisman, and well aware of the importance of information in the pits, there was also something about him that unnerved me.
Something about him that just didn’t sit well with me.
Nevertheless, I nodded. It wasn’t as though I had to keep up with any extravagant favor.
He smiled. "You see... it isn’t so hard to make friends. Even in hell."
A light laugh escaped his lips, his infectious smile eliciting a frown from me. ’How can he be so lively in this hell?’ I wondered with a dark expression.
Azrael’s gaze slowly came to rest on a young fellow. He had short dark hair, sharp, cold eyes, and most notably, a relaxed demeanor, as though no one was worthy of his attention.
"You see," he said. "that there is Bartholin. He’s quite the warrior. He’s fast, skilled, and deadly. However, he’s most famous — and highly feared — for neither of these."
He paused, seemingly expecting me to demand that he speak on. However, I said nothing and simply stared at him.
"..."
I could see a light, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corner of his lips as he continued, "He’s most famous for his ability. One that allows him to harden his body to an incredible degree. The likes of which Dormant Awakened like us have no hope of breaking through. However, like all other abilities, it has a weakness.
"Only one part of his body can be covered at a time."
Azrael let out a light sigh of exasperation, leaning further against the cold metal bar. "However, what use is that when you can’t even get close to him. And even if you did, defeating him in close combat is nothing short of a herculean task."
Why did it sound like, at some point in the distant past, he had a hard time dealing with the aberrant? I wondered. However, I remained silent. Most of what the young Terrisman said about the aberrant’s ability was backed by a few scientific theories, which meant he most likely wasn’t lying. That pretty much covered everything I needed to know about the aberrant. The only question still bothering me, though, was whether I was fast enough.
I didn’t like uncertainty, and if anything, the way the Terrisman described the aberrant did nothing to ease the sense of unease the young man brought with him.
Just then, two armored men stepped into the pit and walked towards me. In the blink of an eye, I was out of my cage, bound by two hefty Romans as they led me towards the... colosseum. It was time for my next battle, it seemed.
"Good luck," Azrael said with a smile. "Though I doubt you’d need it."
His words, as always, brought a frown to my face. However, I couldn’t care less about that as I was dragged raggedly into the blood-soaked colosseum.
Step, Step.
The sound of our footsteps echoed through the pits, and the cheers of the distant crowd reached my ears, sending a rush of adrenaline through me.
"Hah..."
I knew I was at a disadvantage against any opponent I’d be unfortunate enough to face; however, that wasn’t going to stop me from surviving.
Step. Step.
Nothing was.