[You have obtained the SSS Talent (1st Origin)]
Michael’s eyes glowed with a faint white hue, and he felt his body being grabbed by a powerful force into a swirling vortex.
GASP!
Then his eyes shot open, and he jolted his body upright, breathing heavily and fast.
"Fuck!" He blinked and looked around, his head was still heavy, but the roaring wind was gone.
The last memory he held was of drifting through purgatory, or whatever void that was, talking to the entity that resided within.
But that wasn’t the twisted part.
If his memory served him right, his arm and legs were consumed by the Tyrant, but now, they were whole, firmly attached, as though it had never happened at all.
"What the hell was that?" As far as death goes, that was far from what he felt the first time he died after transmigrating here.
"Oh? You’re finally awake?" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Michael looked around cautiously, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings. As he slowly turned to his right, his body froze.
Michael’s expressionless eyes fixed on him the instant he saw him, his teacher, Mr. Jin holding a black polythene bag.
"Mr Jin?"
Michael looked around once again, and his face quickly turned grim as he took in the horrifying sight before him.
The forest was still littered with countless corpses, their bodies scattered across the blood-soaked ground. Above him, the sky remained a deep, blood-red, casting an eerie glow over everything.
Even the trees were stained with blood, their trunks and branches marked by the aftermath of the gruesome battle.
"What are you doing here Mr Jin?" His voice grew colder as he pulled himself back to the tree right behind him.
"I was just on my way back from buying groceries and my chubyuk ramen."
Mr. Jin approached Michael, scratching the back of his head with an awkward smile on his face. Then a soft laugh escaped his lips. "Then I got lost, heh heh heh..."
"...." Michael stared at Mr. Jin with a blank expression, till now, he still hadn’t taken in the death of his only friend.
But one question still remained, how the hell did Mr. Jin gotten get lost in a place like this?
This was possibly the worst place imaginable to lose your way. The forest was littered with corpses, the trees were stained with blood, and the sky above them was an ominous crimson.
What made it even more ridiculous was that Michael himself had no idea where he was.
"The Abyss huh?" Mr. Jin’s expression tightened almost immediately.
The soft, charming demeanor he showed moments ago vanished as he slowly glanced around the abyss.
The faint smile on his face disappeared completely.
For the first time, Mr. Jin looked genuinely serious as he studied the environment of the abyss.
He then walked over to a body with it’s white stained with blood, his head was chewed off, so as the rest of his limbs and internal organs.
"Raphael Lance... Damn it, I didn’t think the prince would actually take it this far."
Then.
A sudden and vicious sharp ringing tore through Michael’s head. His eyes blurred from the pain he felt, and he screamed out as his strength gave away.
He clutched his head tightly with both of his hands, the piercing sound screamed through his skull as the world around him spun around.
Then several translucent panels flashed his field of vision.
[Ding! You have successfully activated the Origin Evolution System!]
[You have obtained the SSS Talent (First Origin)]
[Through your affiliations, you have trespassed beyond the depths of the abyss and connected with the beginning, you have become one with with it and now, its power shall answer to your will. From the beginning of all creation, to the end of all things, the darkness shall be yours to command.]
[You have obtained the ability (1st Genesis {Level 1})]
The blur in his vision faded, the sharp ringing dulled, and the pain coursing through him slowly ebbed away just as a window materialized before his eyes.
[————Evolver’s Status————]
[Name: Michael Dreyar]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Title: Exiled Prince]
[Level: 2]
[Experience: 5]
[Dexterity: 20]
[Stamina: 20]
[Agility: 20]
[Strength: 20]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Nature Energy: 500/500]
[Origin: The First Origin]
[Rank: SSS]
[Talent Ability -
• First Genesis (Level 1)
- Description: The beginning is also the end.
- Effect: Grants the user Genesis energy that reverts every matter back to its original state.]
Michael blinked.
The inscriptions on it were surprising, and they confused him more than he imagined.
They were all system notifications.
And because of it, his physical attributes had completely changed.
"What is this?" He had no idea what system notifications were, he spent most of his time training and breaking down his body just to become a powerful Evolver that makes his kingdom, and most especially his father proud. So he didn’t have time for fictional stories.
"The Origin Evolution System?" His eyes shot open as he recalled the events that happened within the void he was in moments ago.
"The First Origin?" He let out a small chuckle, shaking his head as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. It didn’t feel real.
He stared at his body as he felt a bit light weighted, and he was marveled by what he saw.
The fairly tonned figure he once was had vanished.
Now, he looked like an trained young boy, a flat stomach and chest, well defined legs and arms.
But nothing shocked him more than the title he had, the exiled prince. The pieces starting coming together little by little, and not in the way he liked it.
"What happened? ..." Mr Jin walked towards him with his polythene bag dangling in the air after hearing his screams.
"It’s nothing, where are we anyways?"
"You mean you don’t know where we are even after everything that has happened?" Mr Jin stared at him curiously, not with the kind of curiosity that doubted if he was sure or not.
But the one that doubted his existence.
He looked back to the corpse with his hands firm in his pockets.
The corpse of the other misfit thrown in here along with them was mauled beyond imagination, he was literally eaten alive and not one important part or organ of his body was left.
"Another friend of yours?"
Michael suddenly turned toward Raph’s body lying a few meters away from him.
For a moment, Michael sat completely frozen, unable to breathe as his mind struggled to process what he was seeing. Then his widened eyes slowly narrowed, his expression darkened with anger.
His teeth clenched tightly, and his fingers slowly curled into a fist, tightening so hard that his nails nearly dug into his own skin.
"I’ll make them pay..." His eyes were bloodshot as the faces of the two men that brought them here flashed across his memory. "I’ll make those bastards pay!"
Mr. Jin stood with his arms crossed, silently watching as Michael erupted into a fit of rage.
Almost half of his face was hidden behind a black mask, while his silver hair draped over his left eye, making it impossible to tell what his face actually showed.
Almost immediately, a deafening roar rang out through the entire forest, catching both Michael and Mr. Jin’s attention.
Michael quickly turned away from his mother’s corpse and looked deep into the forest ahead.
Another roar followed.
Then another.
Heavy footsteps began to thunder against the ground, each impact sending a faint tremor through the earth. The sounds grew louder and closer with every passing second.
Something was coming their way, and judging by the countless roars echoing through the blood-red forest, it wasn’t alone.
"What is that?"
"Huh?" Mr Jin looked down at Michael with his only visible eyes slightly narrowed. "You can’t be serious kid, for someone who escaped certain death, there’s no way you still don’t know where we are. Haven’t you been training your whole life just for this?"
"You don’t mean..." Michael’s expressionless eyes, for the first time in a while shot open as he immediately understood where they were. Since his transmigration, it’s the only thing that he heard constantly, not just from Raphael’s mouth, but the other kids in school.
"The Abyss?"
"Congratulations kid, it took you ten minutes after death to figure it out."
"Mr Jin, I’m sorry you had to go through this, but if this is truly the Abyss, you have to leave now, for your own safety." He said, having barely any strength left. Mr Jin was practically the same as the Michael, even before his Null status was permanently approved.
He was a misfit, a Null in the proper sense. So given the situation they were in right now, he’d die a gruesome death just like his mother.
"Safety?" He laughed softly, then slowly put down his polythene bag. "I wouldn’t worry about that."
"What?"
"After all..." Mr. Jin slowly straightened his back, then raised his left hand toward the edge of his mask.
Michael’s eyes then widened in horror.
Six abyssal beasts were above them silently in the air directly behind Mr. Jin.
Their enormous bodies loomed menacingly above them, while their formidable claws were stretched wide, each one stained with fresh blood. Their massive jaws hung open, revealing rows of terrifying fangs as they stared down at the two of them.
They were ready to tear them apart and devour them in a single bite.
"Amongst men, I have no equal." Mr. Jin slowly pulled down his mask, revealing the smooth, pale skin beneath it. "I am the strongest."
The six abyssal beasts remained suspended in the air as Mr. Jin spoke, gravity was no longer their enemy, but their ally.
Then, almost instantly, their bodies erupted from an overwhelming force, they were blown apart in an instant. And not even their bones remained as their blood splattered across the ground.
"What protection could be possibly need?"
Michael’s eyes widened in total disbelief.
Not only had he finally seen what lay beneath Mr. Jin’s mask, but if his eyes had seen what they saw correctly, the six abyssal beasts had been crushed by the might of his words alone.
He didn’t even feel any trace of energy coming from Mr. Jin, let alone hitting the Abyssal beasts.
All he witnessed was a one-sided annihilation.
"W—Who the hell are you?"
"Sorry Michael." Mr. Jin pulled his mask back up, covering his face once again. He then stepped forward, moving in front of Michael before slowly lowering himself to his knees. "But I need you to fall asleep for a while."
Mr. Jin stretched out his right index and middle fingers and gently placed them against the center of Michael’s forehead with a faint tap.
Suddenly, a strange sensation reverberated through Michael’s entire body.
His limbs slowly grew numb as he began to lose feeling in them. His consciousness started fading, and he struggled to remain awake.
His vision became blurry.
As he finally collapsed to the ground, the last thing Michael saw was Mr. Jin rising to his feet and slipping his hands into his pockets.
Then, everything went dark.
"Good grief." He looked up into the blood red sky with a dull look. "Damn that old geezer, making me come to this shit hole of all places."
Mr. Jin looked back down at Michael, who remained unconscious on the ground, looking almost as peaceful as a sleeping baby.
"Michael Dreyar, huh?"