The night sky looked hazy underneath the canopy of the forest. Kaid could barely see anything in front of him but he still expertly moved through the trees. His perception abilities were now at a point where he could accurately navigate through the forest without having to worry about getting caught by stray branches or running into trees.
He'd been in the wildlands for three days and was now reaching the inner circle of the wildlands. He needed to come this far into the forest because all the [R-02] ranked beasts would be located here. On the first day the system had informed him that he'd need the soul of a ranked [R-02] beast in order to successfully ignite his source. Even though the system had told him how the ignition process would work for him, Kaid was still confused about the whole ordeal.
From what he knew about the source ignition process there was three ways an individual could awaken.
You could naturally awaken as your source spontaneously ignites and source energy starts accumulating, you could train until you've reached peak performance and then have someone with strong control over source energy stimulate your own source, and the last method, which is exclusive to a few races and beast, involves the individual consuming the essence of another creature. The foreign energy would them conflict with their own, stimulating it, and allowing for source ignition. Kaid assumed this would be the method of choice for his own awakening, especially after learning he had his own absorption abilities during his first day in the wildlands.
Kaid felt that the system was still hiding things from him but at this point he was more concerned about awakening. His predecessor's will was now so strong he could feel it eroding away his own will and motivations. His desire to turn around and kill those people who had been following him ever since he left the aircraft station was growing. Although he wasn't confident in his abilities the will was making him more irrational day by day.
Well it would be wrong to say he didn't have the abilities; he'd noticed that whenever he would give himself over to the overbearing will, he would gain a temporary boost to his strength. This seemed to be an inheritance of his predecessor that came with the will, but Kaid wasn't willing to let go of his own freedom for such strength. He would find his own way to get stronger.
Kaid was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he noticed a quick movement in behind a tree 30 feet away. 'Well shit, another Morcoid isn't this the 3rd on today?" thought Kaid. Ever since he'd entered the forest he'd run into a number of [R-01] ranked creatures but the Morcoids were the only ones that had attacked him.
These rat like creatures that stood at a height of 4 feet tall, with pitch black hair, and their eyes darker still, constantly attacked him the moment he entered the forest. He ended up running away from them for the first day until he managed to kill one, accidentally, and was then informed by the system that he could absorb its soul essence to get stronger. After hunting 5 in the past three days he was at a point where he could hold his own against them.
Kaid held up the dagger he'd bought at the hunting shop near the entrance, ready to dodge the first incoming attack. He quietly observed the shadows as he counted down until the Morcoid's attack. '10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5...'
[Artemis system online.]
[Commencing battle training.]
'4... 3... 2... 1...'
Like clockwork the Morcoid lunged at Kaid from a blindside on his left. Even though he had predicted this Kaid was still nowhere near fast enough to actually be able to dodge the beast considering its speed. The only reason he was able to quickly sidestep a few feet, letting the beast land where he'd been a second before, was because the Artemis program was currently online and guiding him through the battle.
Kaid knew very well that without this program he would of died the moment he entered the forest. It was guiding him by acting as his instincts, wordlessly telling him what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Although Kaid had no confidence in his own combat abilities, these past few days had provided him just enough experience to know how to accurately move his own body and analyze the opponent within a short amount of time.
'That was a bit slower than usual. Is he hurt or something?" asked Kaid.
[Results.
Morcoid (young adult)
STR: 122 (144)
DEX: 88 (107)
AGI: 112 (151)
STM: 82 (112)
INT: 77
WILL: 121
Additional information.
Life force: 786....785...784...783...782...781...780...779...778....
Energy Source: 42
Condition: injured.]
He watched as its life force continued to drop. 'It must've gotten injured by one of the [R-02] ranked beasts. 'I can feel that we're not too far from the territory of one right now,' thought Kaid.
[Strong soul beast detected 900 feet away.]
[Recommended action... Retrieval.]
'Before that I need to take care of this guy,' thought kaid.
The Morcoid, seemingly in a very desperate state, rushed him, devoid of the usual meticulous and well thought out movement characteristic of its species, due to their high intelligence. Kaid took advantage of the circumstance, quickly rushing the beast, heading for a direct collision, before switching directions moving to the left at the last possible seconds.
The beast wasn't able to effectively react to his quick change in direction as his injuries seemed to have hindered its movement considerably. Kaid quickly changed direction again and attacked the beast from its blindside. If this Morcoid had been in perfect condition it might have been able to dodge the attack but at this point it was too heavily injured to dodge effectively.
The beast struggled for a second before becoming perfectly still. Kaid watched as dark blood started rushing out of its wound. A moment later something fantastical started happening. The beast's soul essence started spewing out of its body, slowly condensing right above its body.
The soul essence was a combination of its life force, source energy, and consciousness all tied together by its will. It was the thing that made all awakened beasts what they were. Even humans and the other races had soul essences, although theirs's was a little more complicated which was why they don't leave behind a soul essence when they died.
As soon as the soul essence was fully condensed Kaid started the absorption process.
He put out his right hand reaching for it, his hands becoming encased by a living darkness, and then said, "Oh beast of this world, be consumed by the eternal. Let death ['be your redemption, your glory, your everlasting salvation.']"
Kaid quickly regained control as he continued the ever-growing influence on his mind. He took a breath before continuing.
"Be calm for your death is now. Be at peace for you shall become my strength. Let go of the temporary and be one with the eternal."
The living darkness had fully encapsulated the soul essence at this point. The moment he finished his mantra the transformation had begun. Kaid could feel the strength of the beast slowly entering his veins. It was an invigorating feeling.
[Absorption complete.]
[2% of strength converted.]
[Analysis.
God Candidate
STR: 44
DEX: 83
AGI: 85
STM: 98
INT: 66
WILL: 121
Additional information.
Life Force: 436
Energy Source: 8
Abilities:
Absorption {2%}
---Assimilation in progress---]
'It's still at 2%? How many beasts do I have to absorb before my mastery over absorption starts going up?' asked Kaid.
[10 [R-01] ranked beasts to go up by 1%.]
[1 [R-02] ranked beast to go up by 1%]
[Returns will diminish from subsequent absorption. New beast soul absorption will be required for faster progression.]
"Figures," said Kaid with a sigh.
"Time to head out."
With that he picked up his pace and started heading towards the direction of the [R-02] ranked beast.
------------------------------
As Kaid stood perched on top of a cliff overlooking a sleeping beast below only one though ran through his mind.
'There is no way in hell I'm going down there! That thing will kill me the moment it wakes up.'
Well he wasn't wrong about that.
[Results.
Pale Wolf
STR: 210 (177)
DEX: 105 (172)
AGI: 235 (182)
STM: 203 (179)
INT: 32
WILL: 103
Additional information.
Life Force: 1,100
Energy Source: 122
Special Condition: Pale moon awakening
-Beast speed and strength will be augmented for the duration of the pale moon.]
This beast was on a whole other lever. It might as well have been classed as a [R-03] ranked beast at this point.
'I think we came at the wrong time,' though Kaid.
[The perfect is now time.]
[In its augmented form the beast's soul will provide the necessary fuel for the awakening.]
'Shit'
Kaid knew very well that he was in a very tight spot. There was no way he could kill the Pale Wolf with his current strength in a single blow. He didn't have the strength, or the experience, to make a decisive blow. There was only one way he could pull this off.
'Activate Artemis program. I give full access for the duration it takes to kill the beast.' relayed Kaid.
[Artemis program online.]
[Full access confirmed.]
[Target selected. Initiating combat.]
As Kaid felt himself lose control of his body, he thought about how much he hated that he had to rely on this program to survive. From what he knew about it, this program was supposed to help train him to become a God, but it felt like it's goal was to see how many near death experiences and broken bones it would take before he lost his mind.
In the past three days, every time he let the system take control of his body he'd end up with a jarring injury. At first he thought it was the price to pay for survival but after gaining a bit more experience, and watching the tactics of the program closely, he came to realize that it was taking advantage of any circumstance to train Kaid's body similar to how the system had done previously at the hospital.
The program existed to make him stronger regardless of the method. For that reason, Kaid came to know that he could rely on the system and program to keep him alive but also to make his life a living hell if it deemed it necessary for his growth.
Kaid's thoughts were interrupted as the program readied his body and prepared to strike the still sleeping beast.
[Target 30 feet.]
[Trajectory confirmed.]
[Beginning source energy transference.]
Kaid watched as the blade that was in his hand start to glow as his energy ran into it. It glowed as all his energy was forced into the blade. He could feel how unstable the blade had become at this point. It felt like it could blow at any moment.
With that thought flashing through his head he realized just what the programs plan was.
Before he could come to any realizations his body had already leapt of the cliff its trajectory leading straight for the head of the beast.
The beast quickly woke up as it noticed Kaid's presence approaching it from the air, but unfortunately it was too late. Kaid's hand expertly guided the blade directly into the beast's eyes before it could even react.
The beast howled in pain, flinging Kaid off its face. Its howl was bone shattering. Kaid could feel the power as the howl started resonating with his very soul essence.
After a moment, the beast seemed to have collected itself, its attention now fully given to Kaid. It hunched its hind legs and was preparing for an attack. Before it could launch its devastating attack, the unstable blade in its eye exploded in a massive explosion that blew of half of its head off.
Kaid stood there, a bit in disbelief at the scene before him.
[Target eliminated.]
[Artemis program offline.]
[Authority returned to candidate.]
It always amazed him how easy the program made everything out to be. Even after watching everything that transpired before him very closely, paying attention to his own body's movement, he knew very well that he wouldn't have been able to recreate the same scenario. He didn't have what it took to achieve that, but he would make sure he got to that point eventually. He was determined to do so.
'Let's get the awakening process started. It won't be long until other beast start coming this way, or worst yet our friends who've been tailing us decide to attack,' replied Kaid.
[Preparing for awakening...]
[Sacrifice acquired.]
'Sacrifice?' though Kaid with a single eyebrow raised.
[Requesting authority...]
[Access granted.]
[Beginning system shutdown. 30 seconds until restart.]
[God candidate begin the awakening process.]
Before Kaid could say he didn't know what to do he felt his predecessor's will taking over. Unlike before he couldn't fight against it no matter how much he struggled. He watched as the living darkness, that usually accompanied his use of the absorption ability, slowly ooze out of his body and make it way towards the beast.
Before he knew what was happening he felt his mouth begging moving as words not his own began coming out.
"['Oh, beast of this world, be consumed by the eternal. Let death be your redemption, your glory, your everlasting salvation. Become the gate into the eternal.']"
'It's different,' thought Kaid, mesmerized by the words coming out of his mouth and the scene before him as the living darkness consumed the beast.
"['Burn and let your ashes be consumed by the desolate soul.']"
Kaid could feel his consciousness fading as the predecessor's will took control over his mind and body.
[Awakening process beginning...]
[Gate of ascension constructed.]
[Connecting to the one above all.]
[Establishing connection.]
[Error.]
[Establishing connection.]
[Error.]
[Establishing connection.]
[Er---]
[Connection Established.]
[Requesting permission to ascend.]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Error.]
[Requesting permission to asc-----. Error.]
[System annihilation beginning.]
[Error. Error. Error.]
[Restart stopped. System defenses down.]
[Annihilation imminent.]
Kaid watched as the beast in front of him was consumed by the living darkness and the series of notifications flash across his face. Although he didn't know why he could feel his predecessors will losing its grip on him. He took advantage of this opportunity and wrestled for the control of his mind and body.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
With a loud scream he broke through its hold and regained control.
[Annihilation imminent.]
[Annihilation imminent.]
[Annihilation immi----.]
[Establishing connection.]
[Ascension approved.]
[Immediately commencing restart.]
[It is recommended God candidate prepare their mind for immeasurable pain.]
'What?' before Kaid could finish his question the process had begun.
Even if the system had properly warned him of what was to come there was no way Kaid could have prepared for what was about to happen.
[System offline.]
Kaid thought he had already experienced the worst this world had to offer for him but oh how wrong he was.
Before he realized what was even happening to him, his body started breaking down piece by piece. He could feel as his body was pulled apart at its core.
The pain was so deafening that he couldn't even utter a single scream. He could feel as his mind, body, and soul essence were being ripped apart and reconstructed.
His ascension had begun and with it the dawn of a new era.