[Converting soul essence to AGI. Add 100pts.]
[Body integrity 80%.]
[Converting soul essence to AGI. Add 100pts.]
[Body integrity 30%.]
[Converting soul essence to AGI. Add 100pts.]
[Body integrity critical. Deterioration process commencing. 10 seconds until permanent body death.]
[Calculation course of action...]
[Beginning combat.]
If Kaid had been conscious at this moment he would have thought the world had stopped moving. Everything had slowed to the point it seemed as though time it's self-had stopped. But it was probably best that he wasn't awake because the pain from his body breaking at the insane levels of speed he was going at right now would have put him in shock. The bodyguard's fists that before had seemed to be traveling at a blinding speed now seemed to be approaching at a snail's pace.
The system quickly moved Kaid's body out of the incoming projectile before then positioning itself right below the bodyguard, ready to perform an uppercut at squarely on his exposed jaw.
This happened so quickly that the bodyguard only saw a blur before his head snapped as he received the full force of Kaid's uppercut. There wasn't much strength behind the punch but considering the speeds it was traveling at it had enough force behind it to break the bodyguards jaw sending him flying across the room. Kaid wasn't left unharmed either as his right hand had shattered upon impact.
Before the other bodyguard could even react Kaid was already behind him accurately throwing a punch aimed squarely at the base of his neck. The bodyguard's head slammed against the floor, causing it to shatter, as he felt the full force of the punch. Kaid's left hand luckily only sustained a few broken blood vessels and a fractured finger.
All of this took place within the span of 1 second.
[Current objective. Escape.]
[Calculating escape route...]
[Location acquired.]
[Commencing escape.]
Kaid seemed to have disappeared into thin air. He was currently travelling at breakneck speeds traversing thousands of feet with each second. 4 seconds had gone by before Kaid slowed down and started running at a normal pace.
[Soul burning stopped. Soul integrity 5%.]
[Deterioration process stopped. Body in critical condition.]
[Estimated time before physical death...]
[10 minutes.]
[Calculation route to target location...]
[Increasing speed.]
Kaid's pace started to pick up as he seemed to run towards a building far off in the distance. If Kaid had been awake he might have laughed at the shocked faces of the people watching him, half dead, bleeding from his hands and mouth, running as though there wasn't a care in the world.
As Kaid approached the building an incandescent light right above it was displayed brightly reading, Fermes General Hospital. Kaid walked into the hospital and was greeted with a few raised eyebrows.
The receptionist at the front desk looked at Kaid and thought, 'who is this handsome boy and why are his hands so badly hurt?' before asking Kaid, "Hello sir. How can I offer you some assistance?"
[Artemis system offline.]
[Awakening candidate.]
[Commencing pain stabilization...]
Kaid was instantly brough back to consciousness and before he could even say anything an ungodly scream escaped his mouth. All the pain from his body being torn apart from the inside, his right hand that was completely shattered, and his legs that were about to break from all the stress that was placed on them hit him all at once. The only reason he didn't pass out again was because the system was forcibly keeping him awake.
[Commencing pain stabilization...]
[Commencing pain stabilization...]
[Commencing pain stabilization...]
As Kaid continued to scream unable to endure the unending pain, the hospital staff seemed to react almost instantly. A group of nurses rushed to his side one administering a shot to his arm while another called for an open room to be prepared.
"The shots aren't working he's still awake. I'll try a stronger dosage. Also, someone go get Dr. Everet!"
Kaid continued to scream while trying to regain some level of composure, at this point he was sprawled on the floor unable to control his own body.
"There's a room ready for him and Dr. Everet has been notified," one of the other nurses shouted.
"The dosage still isn't enough. He doesn't appear to be a ranker based on his energy level reading so why isn't it working?"
"We can give him half a dosage of Noracas and see if that has an effect?" suggested another nurse.
"Alright I'll prepare the dosage, in the meantime take the patient to the room."
At this point a hospital bed had been brough in for Kaid to be put on. He was then delivered to the room that had been prepared for him. At this point Kaid was gaining some level of composure as he was battling the pain, trying to keep the screams inside.
[Willpower +1]
[Willpower +1]
[Willpower +1]
Kaid barely even noticed the series of notifications that were now populating his peripheral. It took everything within him to try and maintain some semblance of order within himself.
They pushed him into the room and the previous nurse rushed in with the new medication in hand. She quickly made it to his side and administered the medication.
[Pain stabilization process interference.]
[Foreign solution interference detected.]
[Commencing detoxification.]
Kaid had felt a brief moment of respite before the pain returned once again in full force.
"It's still not working?!"
At this point Kaid understood perfectly clear what was happening. The system was using this situation as an opportunity to increase Kaid's stats, a form of training if you would call it that. Kaid didn't even have the strength to be angry as he tried to hold back the sense the despair that was rising as the pain seemed unending.
[Commencing pain stabilization...]
'Take it away. Please just take it away,' meekly replied Kaid.
[Unable to compile. This process is necessary for candidate growth. Per protocols I cannot compile to request. My provocative is to make the candidate stronger as such this is necessary.]
Kaid now fully understood, the system wasn't his friend or enemy, it was a tool that existed to make him stronger no matter the cost. It was just a means to an end to help fulfill the wish of his predecessor. Kaid didn't have a choice, he would get stronger with or without his own consent.
He laid there in pain for what felt like an eternity before the doctor walked in. He moved besides Kaid and observed all of his injuries thoroughly.
"Why is he still awake?! We need to perform on him immediately!" exclaimed Dr. Everet .
"We've tried giving him everything, even half a dosage of Noracas but nothings having an effect," replied one of the nurses.
Dr. Everet looked around dumbfounded at the current circumstance thinking about the next course of action. The nurses looked at him ready to carry out his orders. Before he could give them a response Kaid managed to get a few words out of his mouth, "Nothing's going to work, I can't be put to sleep right now."
Kaid gritted his teeth and said, "Continue with the operation, I'll be fine."
"No. You won't," sternly replied Dr. Everet.
"Well I don't really have much of a choice right now. You can either stand there and watch me die or perform on me letting me handle the pain."
Of course, Kaid knew that the system wouldn't let him die but he also knew that right now it was doing it's very best to keep Kaid in the current state he was in. Although it wasn't doing anything to directly harming him, it was giving him just enough help to keep him stabilized where he was right now. The way things were going Kaid didn't know how long he was going to be in this state, but the longer he stayed the closer he got to going insane.
Dr. Everet looked at him thoughtful and reluctant at first, but he eventually gave in. With a big sigh he said, "You're going to regret this."
"I won't"
But he did, very much so.
------------------------------
Kaid was sitting there in his raised hospital bed enjoying the cool breeze from the window and company of Arcadia. She'd found Kaid after he hadn't shown up to their agreed upon rendezvous. Kaid was surprised at how quickly she had found him considering everything that had happened.
"May I ask why Mr. Knox, or as you refer to him the half-giant, tried to kill you?" asked Arcadia patiently.
"Although I'm not sure myself I know it has to do with my special nature. I get the feeling that he'll be coming for me at some point. Before that happens I need to get stronger."
Kaid had come to understand this fact very clearly while enduring the excruciating pain of the operation. He's been forced into a war not of his making and if he didn't get stronger he'd only end up suffering as he was forced to get stronger or killed by those coming after him.
"Unfortunately, there is not much I can do to help you in this matter. I have placed restrictions on myself that don't allow me to interfere much in regard to the workings of this world, however I can offer you the resources available to me at the moment." With that being said, she pulled out a Violet UII card and handed it to Kaid.
He took it gingerly in his left hand, handling it as if though it'd break at any moment.
"Unfortunately I wasn't able to retrieve a crimson card for you however this should suffice for now. If you need the crimson card it's going to require you become an official ranker. With that being the case let me know when you're ready to undertake the test and I'll set it up accordingly with the government. Additionally, I have added 10,000,000 credits to your card"
Kaid lay there in disbelief at what he was hearing. He wasn't expecting this level of support although he was expecting some. He struggled to find the right words, but he just ended up settling on, "Thank you Arcadia."
"Of course Kaid. You have my full support."
Her beaming smiled never failed to put Kaid at ease. Although he was not one to easily trust others he was finding it harder and harder not to trust her.
Arcadia then continued on, "Unfortunately this will likely be the last time I see you in person for quite some time. A few issues have arisen that require my full attention.
"Although you're currently not in the best shape I can feel the strength of your mind and soul right now which is why I am quite confident in your capability to achieve success in your endeavors. With that being the case, I must know wish you goodbye and good luck in your upcoming tribulations."
Having said that she stood up gave Kaid a final goodbye and left the room. Kaid was a little disappointed with her departure but he quickly pushed those feeling aside putting his attention on the matter at hand.
'Analysis,' though Kaid.
[Results.
God Candidate
STR: 24
DEX: 53
AGI: 45
STM: 62
INT: 55
WILL: 112
Additional information.
Life force: 312
Energy Source: 2 ]
Kaid looked for his willpower stats. 'so that what all those hours of pain amounts to' thought Kaid. He'd gone up by a total of 106 points. When looking at that growth he could understand why the system forced him into such a situation. Of course, he didn't want to go through a hell like that again if he could avoid it regardless of the increase in strength.
From what he could tell after his stat went past the 100 points threshold his perception of the energy around him shot up exceptionally . He could distinguish feel the presence of everyone withing a 1-mile radius around him. What was even more amazing was that he could not only feel the energy within him, but he could also control it. Normally something like this was only possible once your source had been ignited and you awakened. From all of this he was able to figure out that the will stat represented his control and perception of energy. The higher it was the better his control over energy would become and his perception further extended. He still didn't feel like he understood everything about it but right he had the gist.
With an understanding of his strength now and his newly received Violet card, Kaid was ready to head.
His body hadn't fully recovered yet since it'd only been 6 hours since his operation, and he hadn't even had a chance to sleep yet, but he knew time was running short for him. He quickly put on the new set of clothes Arcadia provided for him and headed out.
The nurses tried to stop him on his way out but Kaid persisted on leaving. After paying his bills he made his way out of the hospital and headed towards the nearest air transportation station.
'I need to get to Torvec fast,' though Kaid. And with that he quickened his pace towards the station.
------------------------------
Kaid looked thru the window of the aircraft at the clouds below. As he watched the scenery below he thought about everything that had happened the past three days. He tenderly touched his still healing right hand. At this point he knew that this world he'd been dragged into was an unforgiving one and his enemies would only grow. 'Like most things in life, it all comes down to power. Those without [power will be forever be slaves to those wi--] no no no. Get out of my head!' shouted Kaid.
He was starting to lose it. His predecessor's will was starting to take over.
Whether kaid would eventually be able to overcome the foreign will inside him or be consumed it, it didn't affect the fact that right now change was happening inside him. A metamorphose.