Time passed, and Nero had already arrived at the Gutter Zone; after leaving the checkpoint, he quickly made his way home before entering like normal. Only after greeting his mother and making an excuse about going to get groceries did he leave stealthily, asking Adult Nero to check if he was safe.
Yet, though Adult Nero gave the go-ahead, Nero didn't realize that Adult Nero had no powers, he couldn't sense things as clearly as he once could, and his remnant powers aren't usable in the real world.
Still, Adult Nero made a smirk as he thought, 'Somethings are better off experiencing the hard way...'
Unaware of the thoughts of his older self, Nero had arrived at a remote area with an abandoned factory; hardly any people ever visit here, even the thugs had long since marked their territories in distant abandon buildings.
After looking around for a bit, Nero then made his way inside and closed the door. The hours were now nearing 6, so it was getting quite late, but the dark had yet to fall. As such, the evening sunlight still beamed through the cracks of the ceiling made of zinc and disorderly blocks.
Nero now stood at the center of this factory, around a series of old rusted machines, and chains loosely hung from above.
'Okay, I'm ready, how do I go about this?' Nero questioned inwardly.
Adult Nero, who was meditating, opened his eyes, causing it to flicker as he spoke, "It's simple, all you have to do is to reach your consciousness into your Digital Mark, and it will tell you how to invoke its power."
'Realy? It's so easy, I'll try right away,' Nero replied in his thoughts as his eyes flashed in excitement.
He quickly closed his eyes and controlled his breathing, causing his consciousness to sink towards his mind. As this happened, Nero soon felt a sharp pain in his head as something rejected his conscious mind trying to eat away at his spirit.
"Ahhh! Darn, what's going on!" Nero cursed as he gripped his head with both arms, his teeth fiercely clenched.
At this moment, Adult Nero spoke in a satisfied tone, "Life isn't meant to be easy, so how could invoking a thing that defies the nature of our world be so simple? You are trying to break the natural laws, so they will most certainly fight back."
'You bastard, you could've at least warn me about this!' Nero cursed while gritting his teeth as the pain in his mind grew even sharper.
"Enough yapping, focus through the pain, fight through hardship, and claim the power you seek!" Adult Nero coldly said.
Nero was angered, but he knew he could do nothing else at this time as he had already mounted the tiger, now his only option was to ride it to the end.
"I will not give up!" Nero shouted out loud with an unyielding will, unable to hold himself back due to the sheer pain, he couldn't care about anything else at this point.
His veins grew prominent; as his face contorted into an ugly sight, even his body was pulsing with his veins. Soon, a strange air began to form around him, as he lifted his head and roared like a beast.
The instant he roared, his forehead shone in a bright ray as a mark of a scythe had formed, it glowed in a silvery light before a voice sounded in Nero's head.
[You are not qualified to receive my power as you have yet to awaken my inheritance. However, for your efforts, I shall grant you the right to call on a portion of my strength…]
[I am the Reaper of Dawn, a Dweller in Darkness. Say this name, and bring forth my carnage...]
As if Nero instinctively knew what he must do, his state of pain faded as he became calm. Instantly, his hair rose above his head the marking shone even more intensely when he raised his arm, lifting it at the side of his face.
He opened his eyes, causing his red pupils to shine in bright light as the marking on his forehead turned into speckles of light formed on the back of his palm.
When this happened, Nero then shouted in a resonant tone, "Come to me now, Mazello!"
Instantly, the scythe mark on the back of Nero's palm seemed as if it was about to come to life. However, as if it was blocked by something, it remained the same.
Soon, a different change occurred as Nero's silver hair grow longer, flowing behind him as if guided by a strange wind, and a silver mask appeared on the top half of his face. His body even grew a step taller, and a semi-transparent cloak appeared over his body.
If one looked closely, they would see that his arms had an unusual semi-transparent gauntlet as his face had grown even more appealing. If before Nero could charm any lady he sees, at this time, he was able to bewilder the world.
Nero feeling the surge of power felt alarmed, as he had only now come to his senses, he gripped his fists tightly as and couldn't help but get the feeling as if he could do anything.
'Incredible, this... this is simply beyond anything that I've ever imagined, and you're telling me that it's only a small portion?' Nero thought in surprise as he felt a terrifying power coursing through his veins. He could even tell that it had amplified his power from the World of Promise.
Nero was about to try out his strength, but right at this moment, he felt dizzy, as his body started to stagger by a bit.
'This... what... what's... going... on...' Nero thought as he wanted to understand his current predicament, but he was too weak to do anything; he soon fell onto the ground, losing consciousness.
As this happened, his body, which glowed in dazzling silvery lights, returned to normal as the energies scattered before gathering back into the marking on his palm.
Adult Nero, who was calmly watching from within Nero's mind, nodded and smiled as he spoke, 'It's to be expected, our Digitize Bit is of 'that' grade after all. So it's certain that you wouldn't be able to properly manifest it and keep conscious at such a low level. It's good, though; it seems that my nudges earlier have inspired enough of a crisis within him for him to awaken sooner, this has its advantages.'
After speaking to here, Adult Nero then made a sly smirk as he continued, "As for that crisis, it's true that we are being watched, but that doesn't mean we aren't protected. Our family isn't so simple as you believe...'
Not long after Adult Nero's words, a cold accented Asian voice sounded along with footsteps, "So careless, and here I thought he was a bit smarter than this..."
As the voice resounded, the person who appeared was none other than Kojima Ryo, his manner seeming different from his previous leisurely look. His eyes showing a deep look as if filled with untold secrets, he stared at Nero's unconscious body before his eyes flashed as he spoke again, "Still, though he may be a bit careless, he's quite gifted, to think he'd figure out so much so fast. From the looks of it, he's even managed to awaken a portion of his Digitize Bit, but even then, how could he know of his genetic level? His awakening will naturally be far more painful and tiring that those of ordinary Digitizers."
As Ryo said this, he couldn't help but shake his head, and he grabbed Nero from the ground with one arm and began to carry him away while speaking, "Oh well, regardless I hope that once I bring him home, he will have at least learned from this mistake."
Not long after, Ryo had left the abandoned factory in silence as he vanished, leaving behind the ordinary scene. Yet, what might have seemed ordinary at a glance, was actually far more frightening underneath.
If one stared at a particular area, they would see bodies of men that wore black cloaks. Looking at them closely, one would see that sparks were coming from broken wires connected to them, as an oily liquid formed a pool around them.
Soon, a black van had pulled up, followed by the scene of a few men in black suits and dark shades walking around with wires in their ears. They moved towards the location of these bodies and placed them into large bags, cleaning up the scene soon after, as no trace was even left behind.
After doing the clean-ups, the van drove off, as only one person remained, he was a skinny man in his thirties with a ponytail, neatly trimmed beard, and red shades over his sharp-looking eyes. He wore a black suit and had a scar across his nose, as his lips curved into a frown as he thought, 'Who is it? Who is protecting him? We were the first to discover his Bit Reading, and after observation, we were certain that he had no connection to that DU. So, how? How could he be protected? Is it bait sent out by the DU force our hands?'
As he thought to here, he couldn't find any clues, he clicked his teeth and turned away from the factory as he walked away while mourning, "Count yourself lucky brat, for now, we can't do anything to you... but sooner or later, I'll get you back for those losses."
He said recalling those machines they lost today, his figure soon after vanished from this region, as the sun fell, bringing darkness once more to the world.