A young boy with two identical swords in both of his hands was standing with bright determination in his eyes.
Black hair and blue eyes with a handsome face and a bit of childish fat. The young boy was sweating profoundly as he looked at his opponent, his cotton dress was clinging to his wet sweaty bed in the shape of his developed muscles.
All in all, the young boy was very good looking but the state he was in right now could only be described with one word. . . pitiful.
"Already tired?" An old man with a long white beard and long hairs tied in a ponytail asked casually, "It's only been a couple of hours since we started and I have been holding back, but you are already at your limits?"
The young boy roared as he pushed his body and dashed towards the old man.
The young boy swung his dual blades, trying to slash, thrust or cut the old man but the old man kept dodging. The boy's face hardened as his eyes glowed momentarily and his attack speed almost tripled instantaneously, the movement of the two swords was like a storm with the boy at the centre of it.
The old man jumped and his body was completely parallel to the ground as the two swords passed by just below him, buts suddenly the young boy changed the motion of his swords and brought up his swords in a way that the old man had nowhere to dodge.
A small smile appeared on the old mans face and suddenly a rectangular metal shield appeared in front of the old man to block the swords. The swords wee blocked as the old man was back on the ground, the metal shield suddenly turned into a thick staff. The old man suddenly went into offensive as he expertly wielded the staff and pushed the young boy into defensive.
The young boy gritted his teeth as he put his full focus on blocking the staff, his swords vibrating as he blocked the heavy strikes from the staff. The boy could see the wide openings in the old man's stance but he was hesitant to attack back, he knew how skilled the old man was and those opening were most probably traps. But the boy was slowly being pushed back, the heavy strikes from the staff were almost making his lose the grip on his swords.
'Time to try something new.' The young boy thought as he furiously crouched down to avoid a swing and threw the sword on his left hand like a Javelin at the old man while thrusting his other sword towards the old man's heart.
The old man just snorted as his staff suddenly changed into a double sided Spear, the old man rotated the spear in a arc such that the sword thrown at him was pushed away and changed direction, the same side of the spear quickly came up to bat away the sword thrust from the young boy that was coming towards his heart.
The old man's move was so quick that the young boy lost his balance when the sword in his hand was made to forcefully change direction, the next thing he knew he was hit on the head with a thick metal rod.
"Ah!"
The old man chuckled as he saw the young boy rub the lump on his head, the metal spear just vanished into thin air. "Patience young Vali. . . you still lack patience. You knew I was baiting you by creating openings, I showed myself as vulnerable and you knew it was a trap. Yet, you still fell for the trap. Although you throwing one of the swords to distract me was a good plan, but I was able to easily see through it."
"Well, I had no other choice." The young boy named Vali grumbled, "I was almost losing my grip on my swords, throwing the sword on my left hand almost became a necessity rather than a plan. But most importantly you are using your Soul Spirit and me, I haven't even awakened mine!"
"Making a Shield or Staff can't be called using my Soul Spirit. . . I was just using weapons like you were using your swords." The old man shrugged, "Anyway, you will be fourteen in two days and then we can awaken your Soul Spirit."
The boy who was rubbing the lump on his head suddenly brightened up, "Finally!"
"Don't be so excited, you never know what kind of spirit you will awaken." The old man said in a way that it poured cold water over the boy, "You can awaken some Soul Beast which is pretty good, or even a Sword or maybe even a Metal element like me. . . but if your luck is bad you may awaken just a thin paper as your spirit."
"My luck won't be so bad." Vali muttered as he stood up.
"You never know." The old man added, "You have fondness for dual swords and have been training for a while now, you may awaken dual swords as your spirit could have taken that shape over the years. But nothing is absolute, even those families who are known for their unique soul spirit may give birth to a child who doesn't awaken the same soul spirit."
"Where will I have my awakening?" Vali suddenly asked.
There was special machine that would push high concentration of Aura into the body to excite one's soul and awaken their spirit. These special machines were huge and expensive and should be kept in places with natural concentration of Aura.
Most such machines were owned by the Government but anyone who uses the machine owned by the government would be giving all of their information and all the secret of their Soul Spirit to the government. For common people this was not an issue as they did not have the power to hide from the Government, after all everyone has to register with the government after awakening their spirit. Anyone who uses the Government machine will have their data to not only the Government but anyone can pay a fee to get someone's data from the government.
But there were few rich Families or business who owned similar machines, by using such machines a young person could choose to not provide his or her full data to the government while registering and also stop others from accessing their data easily.
"I have a friend who is a Researcher, he has recently created a much more efficient Awakening Machine." The old man spoke, "Most Awakening Machine is powered by Aura Crystals but the one my friend has created is actually powered by powerful batteries, the machine pulls natural Aura from surrounding and uses it to awaken Mana. The new machine is very efficient as Batteries are way cheaper than Aura Crystals and instead of exciting your body with Aura stored in Aura Crystal, the new machine will let nature takes it course and help you awaken."
Vali went wide eyed, "That's awesome! I have not read about this new invention in any Tech Magazine, did your friend kept this a secret from everyone?"
The old man laughed, "It was not really a secret, it's just that the scientific community did not agree that an Awakening Machine could be built by using battery as power and not Aura Crystals. My friend's success is a slap on all of their faces. The old machine powered by Aura Crystals used to forcefully inject Aura into the body and this rattles your internal nerves even if your spirit is awakened, the nerve damage is minute and can be recovered by resting for a few hours after the awakening, but it is still a defect."
"The new machine has no such defects; my friend has already done many test runs and has gained the Approval certificate from the government. But my friend doesn't have the money to advertise his new machine and most tech magazine is run by the scientific community and they want to supress my friend's work for as long as possible as it will affect their profits." The old man sighed, "That guy contacted me and a few other friends, we are planning to partner and sponsor the new Awakening Machine so that my friend could build more of the new Awakening Machine and be sold."
"But since your friend invented something new and so valuable, he should have been given a grant from the Government and even some big business would have contacted him to sponsor him." Vali asked confusedly, "Why does he reached out to you?"
The old man harrumphed, "We may not be filthy rich but we are not poor, this is a good business opportunity. Another thing is my friend is a proud grumpy old man who holds grudges, many had looked down upon him when he first started working on the new Awakening Machine and said it was impossible and now he is not going to listen to them just because they changed their tune after his success."
"Ok." Vali nodded. "So, where is this friend of yours?"
"In the planet Terra." The old man replied, "We will be visiting the planet Terra and I have already purchased the ticket for the portal to Terra for both of us."
"We will be travelling though Portal?" Vali asked in shock, even he knew that the Portals were crazy expensive.
"Going in a Spaceship will be cheaper but will take us a week to reach Terra." The old man replied, "I do not want to stay in the dullness of Space for a week. If you want, I can book a Spaceship ticket for you and can wait for you in Terra."
Vali shook his head, "Nope! I will go with you through the portal Grandpa Drona."
ooo0ooo
Aura, the fundamental building block of everything present in the universe.
Humans were not the only inhabitants of the Universe, there were many other alien species present in the universe. In the dark ages when the many species discovered each other they fought, for supremacy, for resources and what not. But their fight had to be postponed because of the appearance of Chaos Beasts.
Aura was divided into two types, Aura of Order and Aura of Chaos.
Humans and many other Alien Species were made from the Aura of Order, but the Chaos Beast were made from the Aura of Chaos. These two auras were polar opposite and will always be against each other, only nature can keep the balance between these two auras.
Many species which were made of Aura of Order clashed with each other and it was that time of war when the Chaos Beast attacked. Humans and other species quickly learned that the Chaos Beasts were way too strong and they were united, with no other choice the side with Aura of Order clashed with Aura of Chaos.
But the Aura of Order side were too weak, not all species knew how to utilize their aura and thus the side of Order started losing as the Chaos Beast took over planets after planets.
After multiple failures the humans finally discovered a way to use their Aura, the other alien species found their own ways while some already had a way of using Aura. After awakening their Aura, human found a way to increase their power by killing the Chaos Beasts and they started fighting back against the Chaos Beast who had previously won.
In the modern age, the humans learned to ignore the other alien races and take over planets where Chaos Beasts were born, only by hunting the Chaos Beast could the side of Order grow stronger.
Human population in the universe was too much and thus humanity was also divided based on their power. A group of galaxies and planets occupied by humans was classified as a system, the highest class of system was White System followed by Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
But one single entity known as the Government was made to keep maintain order amongst the humanity.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Zoran System, it was a human system that was not way too small but not very big too. Zoran System was a Green Grade Human System containing almost 50 Galaxies which had a total of 370 planets occupied by humans and about 100 planets occupied by Chaos Beasts.
Terra was a planet in the Zoran system and it was naturally blessed with a higher concentration of Aura.
It was in Terra that Vali came to awaken his Soul Spirit.
"So, where does your friend live?" Vali asked as his grandfather as they left the Portal Station and got the first sight of Luminous City, the capital of planet Terra.
The old man Drona spoke, "My friend has a small lab here in Luminous City but his actual working place is on some faraway Island from what I know. We will visit his office and he will take us to his actual laboratory through a In Planet Portal."
In-Planet Portals were portals that could be used to travel between various cities and faraway pieces within a planet, the In-Planet Portals was powered by Aura through Aura Crystals but it was much cheaper in comparison to Planetary portals through which Karna and his Grandpa came to the planet Terra.
Drona booked a taxi and entered the address; the taxi was driven by an AI and it started driving itself after Drona and Vali were inside.
"Say Grandpa, when will I get a Nanochip Brain Implant?" Vali asked, "Almost everyone at my age already have one."
The Nanochip Brain Implant was a personal AI implanted in the human brain, this AI was capable of interfering with Nexus that was a common network that was spread throughout the universe and contains all kinds of information. The AI could not only connect with Nexus but it could also act as a helper and could also perfectly calculate power level of a person.
Drona smiled, "Most people your age uses a Nanochip that is way too old generation, I have acquired a brand-new current gen Nano Chip for you. My friend will help you implant the Nanochip first and then help you awaken your Soul Spirit."
Vali's eyes brightened, "Thank you Grandpa."
Drona laughed and ruffled Vali's head.
ooo0ooo
Augustus Morales, the man was a genius but in the scientific community he was called the Mad Doc. The Mad Doc was known for his radical experiments and extreme results, he had a habit of disagreeing with what was thought to be a standard and always tried to prove that nothing was impossible.
The Mad Doc Augustus Morales was the one who invented the new Awakening Machine, once again shaking the beliefs of Scientific community.
When Vali first saw the Mad Doc, he was not sure that the person in front of him could be a genius scientist. What else would you think when the so-called scientist was a tall thin man with long curly grey hair, wearing shorts and a shirt with bright flower patterns and a cowboy hat atop his head.
"Ah Drona my friend, you are finally here." August us said happily and hugged Drona, he then looked at Vali and smiled. "This must be young Vali. I am seeing him for the first time but it looks like you have trained the boy well."
"Hello Mr Augustus." Vali greeted.
"Just call me Mad Doc, I have come to like the name." Augustus replied. "Anyway, let's get going to my actual lab."
Augustus led Vali and Drona through a shabby corridor, at the end of it an old receptionist was sleeping and he didn't care to wake up at all. Augustus just ignored the receptionist and went in to a shabby office that did not look like a laboratory in any way.
Augustus walked to the back of the office and activated a circular portal, "Let's go."
After Vali came through the portal, he couldn't help but gasp in shock. Vali was standing on an Island and all around him there was the vast blue Ocean. The Island too was in a conical shape like a mountain covered in trees.
"Wow!"
Augustus chuckled at Vali's reaction, "My old man was very rich, I am actually his illegitimate son but he still cared for me. He could not give ay of his inheritance to me but he did give me this island and quite a bit of money that I used to turn this island to my laboratory. This mountain shaped island is rich with Aura, the inside was hollow in many parts so I had the whole mountain hollowed out from inside and turn it into my paradise."
Vali and Drona followed Augustus as he reached a dome shaped door and walked in with Augustus.
The place in Luminous City looked shabby office but this place, it was filled with humongous equipment's. The place looked like an advanced Research Lab and Vali was often unable to identify many of the machines and equipment even though he was a tech enthusiast.
"What are your future plans Vali?" Augustus asked casually.
"Well, I want to grow stronger and maybe even reach Tier 7 someday." Vali replied, "Also, I want to get my Engineering Degree, I want to build my own Weapons, Mecha, Spaceships. It is my dream to explore the Universe, I want to explore the unexplored corners of the universe, get strong enough to fight powerful Chaos Beasts."
"So, you want to be a warrior and an Engineer." Augustus smiled, "If you can really build Mecha or even repair them after you reach the planets inhabited by Chaos Beasts in our system, you can earn quite a lot. Everyone wants to grow stronger but their Soul Spirit is not capable enough to make them a Warrior, so they use the power of technology to hunt Chaos Beast and Mecha is one of the most popular choices."
Charles added, "When we were young, Augustus had many people capture Chaos Beasts for him to kill easily to raise his power Levels and in exchange he did repair work on Mecha and weapons. He rarely went out of the Safe Zones to hunt Chaos Beast."
Augustus shrugged, "Well, I was born to be a genius scientist and not a warrior."
Augustus led Vali to a chamber where a cylindrical glass pod was kept in the middle.
"Get into the pod Vali, we will get you your Nanochip." Augustus spoke.
Vali nodded and quickly climbed onto the pod, the glass cover closing automatically once he was inside.
Augustus and Drona walked to the side where a holographic terminal was ready to be used. "The Chip."
Drona nodded and took out a small sphere from his pocket and gave it to Augustus. Augustus raised an eyebrow as he took the sphere and put it in a slot on a machine connected to the pod.
Augustus tapped on the holograms, starting the procedure as the sphere opened within a machine to reveal an extremely tiny chip. When Augustus connected to the chip, he went wide eyed and looked at Drona, "What the hell Drona? Where do you get this chip? I have never seen any Nanochip Brain Implant as powerful as this, even the best Nanochip available in our market can not compare to this Nanochip."
Drona sighed, "I actually got this Nanochip a week ago by mail, it was sent by Vali's father."
Augustus frowned, "Father? Didn't you tell me that he was an orphan that you brought home since you wanted to raise a grandchild?"
Drona chuckled, "That is what I have told everyone, even Vali himself. But the truth. . . the truth is far more complex. Do you remember when I gathered a team to go and explore the Agrion Galaxy?"
Augustus nodded, "Yeah, you said that the galaxy was in full control of Chaos Beasts and the Beasts were way too powerful, you were the only one who made it back."
"Yes, but I did not tell the whole truth." Drona sighed, "I had just reached Tier 5 back then and I was extremely proud but those Chaos Beasts played with us, killing my team one by one. It was then I came across another human, a man who was powerful even beyond Tier 7."
"Beyond Tier 7?" Augustus asked in daze.
Drona nodded, "Yes. The Beasts who were toying with us was easily killed by that man, he told me that I was lucky to only meet the foot soldiers of and not the actual rulers of that Galaxy. If the foot soldiers were so strong that I was like an ant in front of them, I can't even imagine how powerful the ruler of that Galaxy would be. That man helped me escape that Galaxy and after that day I truly came to know how foolish I was to think that by reaching Tier 5 I have become strong. Even till now, the memories of that galaxy are like my mental demon which is not letting me reach Tier 6."
"Is that man Vali's father?" Augustus asked.
"After leaving Agrion Galaxy I never saw that man again, that is until 14 years ago." Drona sighed, "That powerful person who was so strong back then looked very weak, he had multiple severe wounds and was barely clinging to his life. He told me that it was time for payback for saving my life back then, he handed a baby to me and told me to take care of the baby like my own child. He was the one who told me that the baby's name was Vali, but he never gave a surname before leaving."
"I had no idea if he was alive or dead but I decided to raise Vali the best I can, I saw him as my own grandson and grew to love him." Drona sighed, "But then a week ago I got a parcel, on the sender's address only two words were written, 'Vali's Father'. I opened the package and found this Nano Chip."
"Damn." Augustus muttered as he looked at the Nanochip, "The processor of this Nanochip is so powerful that our current gen chips are like children in front of it. The chip will stay in a low powered state for now and as Vali grows older and stronger, his brain will develop and the chip will unlock its locked features slowly. This is all I can tell about this chip."
"It is a gift from a father to a child, maybe the unlocked part is the truth of Vali's parentage that his father has left for him to unlock when he grows strong."
"That is probably the case." Augustus muttered and started the implant process. "But why did you net tell Vali any of this?"
"Because his father said so." Drona replied, "He said that he can only learn the truth when he is strong enough to face the consequences of knowing the truth. Ignorance is bliss they say. . ."
. . .
After going inside the pod, Vali was put into unconscious state.
Vali had no idea for how long he was unconscious, as he opened his eyes the pod opened up and let him come out. A moment later Vali remembered the reason for why he was inside the pod and at the very moment a new entity appeared in his mind.
[Hello Vali, I am Nyx.]
'So, you are my personal AI?' Vali thought excitedly, his thoughts were immediately transmitted to the AI.
[Yes, I can help you connect to the Universal Nexus, I can guide you and can even help you train your Aura once your spirit is awakened. There are many other features and information locked at the moment and it can be only unlocked after your power level meets the requirement.]
[For now, it's best to awaken your Soul Spirit as soon as possible.]
"I see." Vali muttered.
"So, got your AI?" Augustus asked.
Vali nodded, "Yes, her name is Nyx."
"Very good. All Nanochips needs Aura as a power source and the Aura you have right now is not enough to let your AI fully function." Augustus closed the terminal, "Let's go and awaken your Spirit, that is the main reason you are here after all."
ooo0ooo
Augustus, Drona and the young Vali appeared at the top of the hilly island through a lift from deep within Augustus's lab.
At the very top there was a huge metallic circular ring, from the ring seven pillars rose and connected in the centre to form a dome shape. At the very centre of the circle there was a mat and Augustus directed Vali to sit on the mat.
"Just relax yourself." Augustus spoke, "My new machine won't be forcefully injecting Aura into your body, what I will do is slowly increase the concentration of Aura within the dome you are sitting in by taking the natural Aura of the surrounding. The process is a bit slow but not painful, the nature itself will help you connect with your soul and awaken your spirit."
Vali nodded in understanding but deep down he was very excited.
Augustus started the Awakening Machine.
The air became thick and Vali felt like he was being surrounded by a formless jelly like substances. Without Vali knowing he went into a meditative state as his mind started searching his soul, after all Awakening was the connection of Mind and Soul.
Augustus and Drona watched as Vali slowly got lost in his meditation.
But suddenly a humongous aura appeared around Vali, a primal aura. The Aura was so thick and powerful that it forced Augustus and Drona to their knees, Drona was a Tier 5 Warrior but he was still helpless in front of that primal aura.
The sky suddenly darkened as thunderstorm appeared in the sky, dark violet lightning started to rain down from the sky upon the sea and upon a few trees. Most importantly, Vali was covered in a similar lightning.
"What is this?" Augustus muttered, "I have heard some people showing abnormal signs when their spirit is awakened but never have, I heard of something this big."
Drona nodded as his eyes were fixed on Vali, "Nature itself is acting, what kind of spirit could it be?"
But at that very moment an animalistic roar appeared over the island, the sound seemed to appear from deep within Vali's soul. The roar made Drona and Augustus tremble in fear, in both body and soul.
"Does. . . does his father has some Lightning type Soul Spirit?" Augusts gathered his courage and asked.
Drona nodded, that roar also shook him to the core. "This Violet Lightning, it is the same as Vali's father."
But the very next moment the sky went silent and the thunder disappeared.
"What's happening now?"
They quickly got the answer as a loud yet soul soothing cry appeared, followed by cold chilly winds that resulted in a snow fall.
"It never snows here. . . never!" Augustus spoke as he shuddered, "Either my machine is too amazing or your grandson is a monster in human form, I know my machine well enough and this is not the result of my machine. The Lightning can be explained by the father but what about this Snow, mother?"
"I have no idea my friend." Drona said with a frown, "I don't even know Vali's father that well, how will know about his mother?"
. . .
Vali found himself in a void with nothing around him.
Suddenly he was surrounded by a destructive lightning all around him, violent violet lightning danced everywhere and destroying everything. Vali sensed the lightning, he could feel it, use it, control it.
Before Vali could get lost in the lightning around him, a deep roar vibrated in his ear. The roar was powerful and it felt it was saying something to Vali, Vali looked around hoping to find the source of that roar but found nothing. But suddenly he saw a big eye formed by the lightning, the eye looked majestic and it looked like it wanted to reach Vali but was unable to.
Vali tried to go closer towards the eye but the very next moment everything around his changed. The Violet lightning was now replaced by a field of endless snow, it was followed by a soothing song that drifted through the cold wind. Vali tried his best to find the source of that song, it always felt close but every time Vali tried to go close it would go away.
Vali did not know why but that song gave him a sense of love, of belonging and happiness. Vali felt that this soothing music was the soul while that violent roar was the body, a perfect combination.
The very next moment Vali was shoved back to his physical body as he opened his eyes.
All around him there was snow but Vali could also see some scorch marks on the nearby trees and ground. Vali stood up and found the Mad Doc Augustus and his grandpa looking at him with a strange look.
ooo0ooo