"Gabriel! You're gonna be late!" I was half asleep so I wasn't sure who was calling me but knowing my luck it was my mother. If I didn't get up she'd absolutely kick my ass, so much for a lazy day... "Aight I'm up!" I call out, tossing my covers to the other end of the bed and I sit up, hands rubbing my face then moving to my hair as I stretch out.
It took a few moments to properly stretch, making sure I'd properly woken up first before finally getting out of bed. "Alright... I can skip the morning exercises for once, better just head off to class after a shower" I slip on a pair of shorts then scurry out of my room towards the bathroom, locking it quickly and switching on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up. As usual I do the daily check, examining my body only to sigh in defeat.
Still no Crest, still an outcast. Looks like I really was never going to get one. "Whatever, who needs a Crest anyway? I can still kick ass without one, plus it doesn't mean I can't still pull my weight." In this world you're only as useful as your Crest, at least that's what people say. I think otherwise. As long as you out the effort in I believe you can accomplish anything, I managed to get through my schools and my college while being hunted down by those stronger than me just for being an Outcast, one of those without a Crest.
Of course I wanted my own Crest but clearly it wasn't meant to be, so I distracted myself by improving myself anyway I can. Martial Arts, Studying, strengthening my mind, you name it I've probably done it. It certainly developed my body into something I could be proud of at least. Hard work was everything to me after all. So for now I just checked myself over. No spots at all, always nice of course, no bags under my eyes. I normally didn't sleep good so this was great to see. I do wish a Crest would just appear though, I want my bronzed skin covered with that wonderful mark of power, I... want to be normal.. Best not to let myself get dragged down though, I just jump into the shower to wash, hoping that I don't get shouted straight away.
"Gabriel hurry up!" And there it is, now they both yelled for me, if I piss off two women I'm fucked, better make sure they both don't have a reason to scream at me. Especially today, pretty sure Fridays were my Mum Angela's hardest days at work. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure her break was coming up soon, maybe we can actually take that trip to Jamaica this year.
I was finished up pretty soon, hurrying downstairs after getting dressed for Uni. "Sorry! My alarm didn't go off!" It was my usual excuse, I just never turned it on really. "It's fine just hurry and get breakfast, Angela's already gone to work so I'll have to take you." It was of course followed up with that little sigh that mums always do, you know the one, the 'I'm not angry I'm just dissapointed' sigh. That's one mark down for me today.
"Sorry mum, I can just take a taxi if it's easier, I've got money on me." I really didn't want her to go out of her way to take me, she had stuff to do and I didn't want to get in the way of that. Obviously things didn't go as I planned and that's why less than five minutes later I'm sat in the back of her car.
God fucking damnit.
"Hey mum, I'm gonna be hanging with Lazarus today, just thought I'd remind you." I really hoped she remembered, I haven't hung out with my best friend in days and I REALLY needed a break. Luck seemed to be on my side today.
"That's fine son, just please be careful while you're out, I know you're both usually careful but there's been reports of people being mugged at night. You can both handle yourselves but-" she always worried about me, it was sweet.
"Don't worry we'll be fine. Not like anyone can break through Lazarus's crest, and even if they did we can kick ass. It's gonna be fine." I could see that my words eased her a little, looks like she wouldn't be worrying as much... I hope.
After about twenty minutes we finally pulled up outside the Uni. I give my mother a quick kiss on her cheek and hurry out the car, sprinting straight to my class. If I was late I'd have to do extra work, I'd rather not do that of course. But it was not to be, I arrived a minute late. One. Fucking. Minute.
"Gabriel so lovely of you to join us, looks like you're going to be doing an extra little report today." My tutor spoke, he was honestly a nice dude who looked out for his students. He's what most tutors should aspire to be.
"Yo Gabriel!" Thank god he was here, that was the voice of my pal Lazarus. As usual he had that cheeky smile he always flashed me, cool dude of course. Huh, looks like he changed his hair colour again, didn't expect to see red this time, least it fits his skin tone more than bright purple, wait did he get a tan yesterday? I just trudge you the steps of the classroom towards him, actually smiling back for once.
"Hey man, thought you were gonna skip on me today~" And the teasing begins, do I comment on the hair...? Nah, I got a plan. "Skip out on seeing Charlotte fawn over you again? I bet you dodged her this morning didn't you?"
Boom, got him. He looked almost ashamed. Almost. "Dude you know it annoys me, she won't take no for an answer. It's... it's really creepy..." I can't blame him for feeling that way, she follows him everywhere. Sometimes it's like she's in the ceiling following him. "Yeah I get it, least she's not tried anything. She isn't going too far. If it's becoming too bad though just report her, stalking is wrong you know."
Who am I kidding? He's too nice to do that. Just another reason people like him so much, only downside to him is he hangs out with me, according to other people that's bad, I appreciate it though. "Johnson! Maple! I'd like to start the class if that's alright with you." We immediately shut ourselves up, wouldn't be good to annoy the tutor too much.
The class was too slow for my liking, it was just... boring. I'd actually already studied this subject before but I'd been forced into 'remedial classes' because I missed a few lessons, it was ridiculous... "Hey Gabe, you wanna grab dinner at that new Kebab place? Heard they're doing a deal today, two kebabs for half the price" Lazarus whispered over to me, dude was obsessed with takeaway food, it was my chest day today though so... "What the hell, why not?"
Now I couldn't wait to get my hands on a kebab, they tasted too goddamn nice to not buy. Thankfully class seemed to just fly by for me and pretty soon both me and Lazarus were well on our way to get that heavenly kebab I'd been thinking of for the past hour, university work be damned. "I can't wait to dig my teeth into that meat" I swear Lazarus was drooling already, not that I blame him of course.
Thought it seemed it wasn't meant to be when before we knew it the two of us were grabbed and throw into an alley as we passed. And then a wall of earth quickly sealed off both exits. Oh fuck. Next thing I know was something hard hitting the side of my head and knocking me to the floor, my vision went hazy and I almost felt like I was about to black out, felt like I was hit by a truck. "Gabriel!" I could barely hear Lazarus, everything's sounded so distant.
I could tell there was a few people near me, probably three from what I could barely make out. I could just about see Lazarus running to me before he got launched back by something, then my vision went hazy again as I felt something hit my face. I definitely felt my nose break from it and that's when it hit me. The muggers my mother mentioned.
This was not looking good, at least my hearing was quickly coming back. "Keep that one down, he's got a Crest, strong one as it looks too." One of the voices said before I heard them laugh. "The other one doesn't have a crest, easy pickings boys. An outcast and someone who can't even fight back." Shit, this wasn't good, outcasts got picked in pretty bad but they seemed confident, wait... no, could they be B-classes like Lazarus?
Either way this wasn't good. Then I heard it, the sound of something hard striking a body. That's when I saw it. Lazarus was being beaten and his crest wasn't activating. "No! Lazarus!" Now it made sense why there were so many people being mugged. One of them could nullify Crests! I push myself to my feet but then crumple as one of them knees me in the stomach, knocking me back down to the ground.
Lazarus was being beaten heavily, his cries of pain Getting weaker by the second. It's almost like they weren't even trying to rob us, what if they were just going to kill us? That's when I froze. They were going to kill us, and they were starting with Lazarus. "Let's stop the playtime boys, take their shit then kill em, we can hide the bodies with my Crest." That was the leader, looks like he'd be the first one I had to kill.
I just had to get up, come on body! Don't fail me now! Just as I went to push myself up I heard the sound of a switchblade and that's when I saw one of them walking to Lazarus, fuck. No! I can't let him die! I can't stay-
"WEAK." Time stopped around me, nobody else could move and I seemed to only be able to move my eyes to look around. "YOU ARE WEAK. HE WILL DIE BEFORE YOU CAN STAND." I didn't know what this voice was, it was a booming sound with every word and it felt as if it was running through every cell in my body. I scream in my mind in anger, rage starting to fill me."NO HE WON'T! I'LL SAVE HIM!"
"WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO SAVE HIS LIFE?" That question was easy, there was nothing I could lose that would be equal to his life, even my own. "Everything. I'll give my very soul to save him. My worthless life for his, I'll die as long as he can live." It felt strange speaking but without moving my mouth, almost like an outer body experience.
"THEN I SHALL HELP YOU. AWAKEN YOUNG GABRIEL, AWAKEN AS THE USER OF MY SYSTEM." System? User? I didn't give a fuck what it was, I'd take it if it meant Lazarus would live. I then felt a searing pain in my head, it was if my brain had been thrust into lava and had begun to melt instantly. But just as quickly as it came, it ended. And something appeared in front of my vision.
"System Acquired, Designation Name: Gilgamesh. User accepted, beginning update." My whole body practically howled in agony, every atom of me being ripped apart and then being immediately reformed over and over. I felt as if I was disintegrating, like I was becoming nothing, then something, then nothing again over and over for what felt like hours. And yet time still seemed frozen for me. I was ready to beg for this hell to stop.
And then it stopped. The pain was gone and I felt... new. My body felt light, my pain had vanished and I felt stronger. That's when another window appeared before my eye. "Status Effects removed. Body in peak condition. Stat Allocation Beginning." And then it returned, but this time it felt like I was being stabbed in my arms and legs, the window changing.
"Stats
Strength- 10
Agility 15
Constitution 20
Intelligence 10
Luck 30"
What was this? Was it some kind of game? Maybe a hallucination from the situation, maybe my mind was brea-
"Status Effect 'Paranoia' Removed."
Now I felt calm. Whatever this was... it was real. Maybe with this I could save Lazarus. But it wasn't over yet I could tell.
"User Gabriel Johnson. Crest: Inactive. Beginning Crest Awakening."
Wait what? I barely had time to think about that before I felt a searing pain in my chest, I could feel something appearing on it and it almost felt as if it could drive me to the beginnings of insanity. And to my horror, that's when time began to move. Lazarus was going to be stabbed!
"Skill Unlocked: Sprint. Auto-Use engaged. Lose 1 SP every ten seconds." My legs bursted with power and before I knew it I was already on the assailant, I hadn't even realised I'd moved! What was happening?
"What the- how did he move so fast!?" Their leader exclaimed, next thing I know I was looking at Lazarus and I just growled in anger. He was covered in blood. I'd never seen him in such a state. In fact, I'm pretty sure his arm is... I snapped. They had broken his arm and one of his legs, even if he was able to move he definitely couldn't use them effectively. That is if he was alive, I feared the worst.
"Gabe..." his voice was faint but I heard it, he was alive. Then I saw red. My hands grabbed the neck of Lazarus's would be killer, digging into it with more force then I'd ever mustered before and I heard a little snap, like stepping on a twig. I then let go, the man crumpling on the ground limp. Looks like I knocked him out maybe.
That's when my body felt a little stronger than before, more than I'd ever felt in my life and that burning on my chest had finally vanished. Instead being replaced with a slight weight that I began to feel across my entire body. Now I could focus as the other two rushed me. It was almost like I was on auto-pilot when they attacked me.
I duck under one punch and sidestep another, bringing my right fist up and ramming it into the jaw of the grunt of the group, knocking him into the air before swinging wildly with my left and feeling it crash into his chest, something gave way, perhaps I'd cracked a rib or two with the hit and he flew backwards into the wall of building behind him, dropping to the ground in a slump.
"That's two."
The leader almost looked worried, but he attacked me anyway. That's when rather than dodging, I instead meet the punch with my own. Our fists make contact. Mine didn't stop moving. I could FEEL his bones shatter beneath my fist and I heard his screech of agony as it happened. "Knuckles: Destroyed." He swung at me with his other fist and I caught his arm before he managed to hit me, gripping it tight before twisting with force, feeling the bone buckle before feeling it turn to dust in my grip.
"Humerus: Removed." It seemed he was understanding his situation as he tried to run.
I wouldn't let him get the chance.
I lash out quickly with my left leg, striking him before he could get away and I felt his leg break upon contact, right at the shin. "Fibula and Tibia: Destroyed." He dropped to the ground in front of me and I could see the tears forming in his eyes, and then I saw it. That emotion that gave me the rush of power.
Fear. Pure unbridled FEAR.
"Please... have Mercy!" I hated that voice. That pitiful sound of a scumbag wanting his miserable life to continue. "If I was a merciful person then your please may be answered. Perhaps in one life I was the kind of person to forgive sinners like yourself." I speak, standing over him before slamming my foot down on his other leg, eliciting a scream that pierced the afternoon air. I could hear people screaming for the police, I should make this quick.
"Unfortunately for you I don't have mercy." I kneel down and grasp him by the front of his collar, feeling a long grin stretch out across my face as I raise a fist. I could see my reflection in his eyes, my skin looked different somehow, but then I saw red.
"A monster doesn't show mercy to prey. It devours it until there is nothing left. And you? You're less than nothing." My fist descends and crashes into his face, busting his jaw with the first strike. I then repeat the motion, each strike driving satisfaction through my body as his flesh began to mild around my fist. Each punch felt as if I was simply beating dough with my knuckles, hitting something soft with force that would crush something smaller. That's when I saw his face.
His jawbone was poking out through the muscle and skin, exposed to the world, blood was pooling around his head and I could see he was barely conscious from the head trauma I had inflicted. His skull alone had been severely damaged due to his now misshapen head being bludgeoned so violently.
His right eye had popped out of his socket and I felt nothing but pity for this pathetic excuse of life.
"In the end... you're nothing more than shit. You lived as shit, you will die as shit." I then raised my clenched fist for one final blow.
"Repent in your next life. For I will find you there and give you torment even the devil himself would be sickened by." I then bring it down at speeds I never knew were possible, driving my fist into his face. Before I knew it I couldn't remove my arm from something, shaking my head to clear it. That's when I realised fully what I had just done.
The one who desired to kill my only friend? I crushed his throat with one hand and his body dropped to the ground, though his head was detached and had rolled a few feet away, his eyes were bloodshot and lifeless, his last expression one of sheer terror.
The one i launched into the wall? He drowned in his own blood from his ribs impaling his lungs after my punch. His eyes had leaked blood, leaving trail marks down to his lips which had begun dripping blood onto the ground before him.
And the one beneath me? My fist made its mark. Then travelled through into the ground. My punch had broken through his skull, crushing his brain beneath my fingers and my arm was buried up to the elbow in the ground. I barely managed to pull my arm back before I heard Lazarus stir.
"Gabriel...? What- h-how?" He sounded shocked, so I looked at him hopelessly. He would think I'm a monster wouldn't he?
"Gabriel... how can you have my crest?" He was looking at my chest, so I gazed down and saw the very same dragon shaped crest on it. It then receded and took the form of a black rose. That's when I saw the dragon scales that I usually saw on Lazarus's body now dancing along my skin.
"Lazarus... I..." I felt faint and quickly blacked out.
I awoke a few hours later in a bed, my vision blurry and my head was ringing loudly. I managed to make out what seemed to be the inside of a private hospital room, Lazarus himself sat on a chair at the end of the bed.
"Gabriel... we need to talk."