Chapter 5
"To protect all of you."
Trevor clasped his hand when he heard that sentence, he hopes Tyler could grow as normal but clearly, he was expecting too much from his dear family, seriously who said that kind of thing with a straight face and he barely remembers their name and face and now he wants to say to protect all of them.
"I heard your plead brother." Said Carl, of course, he was here, this boy grows in a forum full of superpower Chaser, of course, he was going to pretend. "I also want to bring justice and goodbye in the world."
Tyler smiled and ruffled his hair, the boy opens his mouth ready to spew more bullshit but Mediv kicks him in the open arm of the scientist who chased him.
The awakening finally back to schedule, Astrea took the second turn she was half hoping and half striding into the throne, she sat down with gripping the handle of the throne tightly. The machine was turned on and the light enveloped her and there was a vision above her, a two stream off force fighting with each other for Astrea.
"It's the vision of Embryo." He heard the concept but the picture or video are forbidden item, the vision when human awakens the Embryo give clue to their embryo it could become a danger to themselves and a weapon for someone who could weaponize it.
"Hmm, it's rare and Astrea situations are rarer, she was a member of Uncle Hammer guild but looks like her parent inheritance are also much powerful than we imagine." Said Trevor with a sad look on his face. Tyler sigh even in their big family an orphan probably much more common.
"That was because Holy Sword Guild is unique, the guild didn't have one skill tree, the guild became effective only when you awaken your embryo, like the Holy Sword in the guild name refer to Excalibur, a sword created by a fairy to become the king weapon. Only the righteous king can use the sword and only when you know your Embryo, you could create the perfect tool for it."
The two force was still fighting until both of they became weaker and dive into Astrea body after the light disappears a tetrahedron or dragon symbol appeared in front of Astrea, it had crystalline texture, delicate and mesmerized, it was both outward and inward at the same time. If you don't know what tetrahedron, just imagine seeing a pyramid from above and that's how Astrea power look.
"Is this God punishment, why would he give me a shield when I wish for a sword." Said Astrea looking at her 'shield' disappointedly.
Mediv who was the closest with the girl had her eyebrow twitching, from outside her face so still it looked like her face sculpted from ice except for her eyebrow that twitching so fast you thought there some malfunction in her brain.
"I guess Carl wasn't the only one with the middle-grade syndrome." Tyler word make Mediv and Trevor offended, their baby brother/sister had a weird brain but it still their sibling and they still remember, Tyler sentence protecting them was qualified for the middle-grade syndrome.
"Anyways are you guys apprentice in the guild."
"Well, Trevor have his archivist club."
"Carl was a groupie, just accept it." Scowled Mediv.
"My dad belongs to the Animal Protection Guild and I sometimes follow him along so I could be said half member and Mediv."
"A member of Elementalist Guild." Said Mediv before Trevor could speak on her behalf, Trevor who was being cut only smiled.
"And Samuel like to follow older relative to learn fighting with them." Said Trevor.
"Ahh." He said glancing at Samuel. "I'm pretty sure I had memories where Samuel could talk."
"Samuel come on." Trevor walked to Samuel and pat his shoulder, his head was tilting to Tyler like an older relative telling him to make a friend.
"You see Tyler." Said Mediv leaning on him with her fluttering eye. "In Samuel's eye, we are all just peasants not worthy of his attention."
"Mediv." Trevor was both reprimands and whining to Mediv.
"You could say his name was appropriate, he was an angel that was too high in the sky to talk with ant like us." Mediv face was downtrodden, her hand was clasped like she was telling the tragedy of life but anyone with eyes know this girl was mocking Samuel after all you didn't insult someone right beside their ear.
"Well, people have their quirk." He said waving at Mediv, the girl was smiling but he knew he has lost point with her, it's not like he was in a position to scold someone because they don't want to socialize.
"Cousin Tyler I expected better from you."
Tyler sigh then said. "Instead of attacking our family, how about we focused on our enemy, I promise after this, I could give you prey to satisfy."
"No." Said Mediv turning her head like some virgin drama. "Mediv wasn't that kind of girl." She said while licking her lips.
"Tyler." Trevor high pitched whisper coming beside him, he saw the boy eye telling him this bad idea.
'It was better them than us.' He said with his eye.
'What if we are in her exploding range.'
'Then that's your problem.'
After that Trevor does the wise thing by running away from them, he sat down on the throne and probably because unstable mental state his embryo had no vision but from his eye he was satisfied but when he saw the place for testing he rubs his forehead because somewhere when they're chatting, Trevor and Astrea were in the middle of a fistfight.
He had half his attention while chatting with Mediv so he knew the source of conflict was Carl want to test his power on Astrea shield except the girl clearly didn't like her power and take offence to that and now they are fighting.
The next one was Samuel, the vision he had wasn't an image but a vague feeling that getting stronger once you close to him, the feeling or sensation was hard to translate it only give Samuel a stubborn impression.
"In fact, there was a theory that every awakening had their vision but some embryo is too vague that we couldn't really perceive it."
"Make sense." He half believes the theory, until the data has been proven it was still theory but there already merit to the theory like Samuel awakening if you only observed it through video then you wouldn't perceive the weird feeling he projects.
"It should be yours turn." He didn't want to say ladies first, afraid he triggered Mediv.
"No, I want to see yours first."
"That sound oddly sexual Mediv."
"And? Is cousin Tyler shy."
"If you want to flirt with me, at least stop referring me as a cousin." As a family from grandma line their genetic line was far enough to have relationships, he looked at the girl through several possibilities, removing several answers like Mediv have love at first sight with him and concluded that probably this girl wants to use him as a testbed to have a boyfriend.
The girl had click all the point, she was still young and brave enough to do this kind of shit.
"How about tonight at ten." He said.
"No, I'm not that kind of girl." Said Mediv.
Tyler ignore her and tap his finger, why does he put more thought into dating than his awakening, Mediv was pretty but he was attracted more to the girl personality, she was a tiger who likes to play with her food, even from their limited experience, he did enjoy competing with her.
"I go first and you can see mine." He smiled and walked toward the throne.
Mediv who stand behind him sigh looking at Tyler back, she was joking about hitting Tyler, she feels the boy interesting and he much better than the majority of the family.
"Hmph, if he didn't look flustered why should I." Said Mediv and she take a huge breath until she returns to normal.
When Tyler approached the throne he once feels the peculiarities of the machine after feeling the embryo vision directly his sensing abilities gain more power at least looking at the throne he could gain more information and this information isn't coming out of nowhere.
He was sure this sixth sense he developed come from his last life it was just a technique that combines personal mind palace, high focus and strong intuition he developed from childhood, when he saw the throne he gains more information like there is no strong inventor behind this machine, it was a collaboration hence why the difference technology could be picked by an amateur like him.
'What's the glue then.' He saw the soil in the throne and realized how important this is, why would the throne need direct contact with soil, the throne didn't have a strong clue being a plant but in this world, the earth will was real, it takes two madmen to awaken it and their method so genius he directly suppressed those memories even the government had done their hardest to make the information classified.
Now if you take the earth will in the equation it make sense the throne could be born but his intuition was telling him something else, what is it, he didn't know if he knows he would name it supernatural knowledge instead of intuition but he has a method, which is to take the problem and solution from another perspective.
"Ms. Sophia." He asked the scientists the woman look impatient at him who was staring at the throne. "Is the machine a tool for Earth Will?"
Ms. Sophia surprised at the boy question, people who know this kind of information wasn't people like Tyler they either head of the family researcher or higher up, the machine itself was an important asset to the country, the throne is a hand for Earth will to touch human soul so he was surprised this boy could guess it.
"I don't know and that was something you shouldn't know, go sit down." She snapped her voice and told Tyler to sit down, honestly she hate nosy children like Tyler the most.
Tyler surprised at the reaction, in normal routine he would get praised but this is just cement the fact this world is real instead of a dream and it made him more relief but still, he was going to write this Sophia into his book, she didn't have to rude.
When Tyler sit on the throne he felt like being in the palm of a great being it made him remember his mom especially in his early years where it was so confusing to be trapped in his infant body, his vision was blurry and he couldn't make any sense of sound he was hearing but he remembers his mother touch, how she sings to him until he falls asleep.
Tyler was drowned in the light letting the earth will, merging all his concept, his past present even some of his future and touch something fundamental inside him and pulled it out into reality and before this power could run wild, Mother Earth and the machine act, forcing the power into himself as if he was born with it and become his embryo of greatness.
Tyler opened his eye and saw his embryo it was beautiful, huge and extremely terrifying, it was a gate made from thousands of crushed bone, flesh and eye kept growing in it, face carving in the gate but calling it gate seemingly wrong and the more he looks at it, the more it feels like a body part of a certain being.
Tyler watch the gate, saw it wasn't constant but moving, evolving, decaying in a nauseating way, the more he watched the gate, the more wrong he feels sickly feeling like he wasn't looking at the gate from outward but from inside?
"TYLER." A voice wakes him up and he saw Sophie worried face, grabbing his shoulder.
"Deep breath, honey, this is a controlled accident, sometimes an Embryo born so powerful their vision had the risk of being out of control but so long you calm, the master will come and protect you."
Vomit, Tyler didn't dare to breathe, if it wasn't for that voice he would be trapped inside the gate and he understands what the gate means and didn't know if he wants to cry or scream.
"Calm down honey, you need to breathe and focus on reality."
Tyler whimper and tried his best to nod, he feels so weak at this moment as if he was a candle on its last moment, his embryo was his most powerful weapons, it was so powerful their existence already cracking his mind, how could he calm down.
His nightmare had bought him endless troubles in his last life, the only ray of hope was they are only a dream, an illusion but today, no since his rebirth, they had achieved a strange change, when the earth will touch him he could feel several potential embryo but earth mother took this nightmare because it was the most powerful.
Tyler hold the ground, ignoring the filthy thing that had been spread from his nightmare and stand up, he would not lose him here, someone in his nightmare had been helping him, preventing more nightmare to be born and he couldn't let himself be consumed.
"It's filthy." He said, the gate was slightly open, many beings were peeking from the hole, the mud also started to spill from the gate, it comes with a fish carcass, a rock with an eye and a literal corpse.
Sophie looks at the gate, even she a tier two didn't want to touch the mud. She had heard out of control embryos, calling them a leaked nuclear factory are fit for their power and danger, the mud the gate spill seems harmless but she could feel the gate eroding reality, bit by bit claiming the space around it but its focus always on the boy.
Sophia sighed and rubbed her chest, an embryo that want to devour its owner, such concept, it was as expected from the modern nuclear explosion. She frowned searching for her cheap patriarch and shake her head, that old man must know about this, out of control Embryo didn't come out of nowhere, was the patriarch becomes senile or is it because of Mary?
"Describe, your embryo, the more detailed, the more you said the better I could help you suppress it."
"My embryo is summoning type, I could summon my nightmare." He said, his face was pale, his leg was so weak and his ear was hurt from their whisper, his mouth was mumbling and his eye so focused everyone knows Tyler is lost to the world.
"I am not afraid." He said looking at the eye of giant behind the gate. He holds his chest and counts from five to zero. "No, if I'm not scaredy cat there wouldn't be this many."
Tyler looked around and saw everyone had evacuated, he saw his cousin watching him with a concerned eye and he saw the gate had corrupted the floor around him spilling more dirty mud with many weird creatures with a majority of them are bugs that eat and use the bone and the face of dead people.
His feet had now stuck in the floor, a black tentacle was stuck in his clothes and skin, some of them also clinging to his arm and the mud bringing him closer to the gate.
'Someone once asks a bear if he was afraid and he said he treats his fear as an enemy he could fight.'
It was great advice for Tyler, he scares of the dark, scared of bug, lightning and kitten and almost everything that isn't himself and this fear becomes amplified in his nightmare, now facing this gate he would be lying if he said if he wasn't afraid.
'Bravery is not absent of fear but the will to face your fear.' He moves his leg and starts moving toward the gate, his shoe was stuck on the floor, the shadow suddenly became silent like thousands of eye staring at him, welcoming him into the embrace of chaos.
The mud, the corpse, the bug parted to make his path smooth, the gate seems to approve his action, removing all stain from his body but his clothes had become black like the starry sky and his skin had become an unspeakable thing, mysterious word carved into his face, a wound suddenly appeared but an eye would peek from inside, Tyler avoids seeing after the eye.
As he got closer to the gate they became quiet until he couldn't see any movement or noise as if they became a dead thing once again but they haven't disappeared all of them are beyond the gate and he could feel the air tremble like million of hearts beating excitedly.
"Grandson."
Tyler jumped out once he hears the voice, he was too tense and when he saw his grandpa, he conjures a spear in his hand, seeing the move his grandpa frowned and sit down on the floor.
"I don't know what sorrow happens to you, out of control embryo sometimes happens and the child who has that, never had a good story to tell. Is this the reason, the fact your nightmare so bad it becomes such powerful embryo."
Tyler looked at his grandpa and the gate, he shake his head, let go of the spear and saw it became mud and dark oil.
"A dream will always be a dream, my problem doesn't come from here." He said, his problem comes from his reincarnation, it makes him much more sullen, at least his spirit wasn't as good as it should be but from his grandpa's face he doesn't seem to believe it.
He saw the gate and he had a lot of thought, the nightmare change him, that was the thing he has to admit in his old life his nightmare can make him awake and force him to find a method to console himself, he tried a lot of method from tiring himself, sleeping early, avoiding anything that would stimulate his dream, he even tries to learn lucid dream but found his rich imagination make it impossible.
Lucid dreaming is a method to tell yourself you are in a dream except he was very open minded, his brain would always give him a reasonable explanation so every time he was close to realizing he was dreaming he would only pit himself.
So the only way to fight his nightmare was to learn to be brave, he would walk on the dark path alone, he would stand on the edge of high floor clasping the railing tight and it made him learn a lot of things, it teaches him how to be calm, it made him discover beautiful little corner in the wild it made him more confident and more aware of his world and it took a little more of his innocence.
"You know what fear leads to irrationality and irrationality lead to my death, now I couldn't think straight our situation is even, you guys can hurt me in real life and I keep my mind sober." His voice now stops trembling, it was a new world, a new problem but also a solution, since his nightmare gain the ability to move to real life then he would face them with all the tool he has.
He walked step by step until he touches the gate like seeing an old friend after all it was a relic from his last life. He put his palm at the gate, it was still slightly open, with just a bit of push he could close it.
"Grandson." He ignored his grandpa.
He took a long breath and put his palm as if he wants to close but his hand reach inside the gate, grip it and slam the gate open. All his nightmare out in the world, ghost, monster, death all kind of creature seems to come out and Tyler bravely accepting this nightmare once again.
The first nightmare rushed into his body from his back, Tyler doesn't seem to surprise by their malice, purposely targeting his blind point, Tyler holds his groan, gritting his teeth, his nightmare had gained more essence, his pain didn't come from his pure mind but also a new power they gain but there are blessings, every time he conquers the nightmare he becomes stronger.
Unfortunately, nightmare are malicious to him, it will not let him conquer them one by one, but they rush into his back like a beast, trying to devour all of him, at first Tyler thought they are consuming his will to turn him into a monster but he surprised by their actions.
They are much more insidious, what they are doing was to corrupt his humanity, creating a disgusting version of himself, under this pressure, Tyler kept his mind sober, he knew he wasn't a strong person fighting this nightmare wouldn't be good for him so he takes his original method in his last life.
Tyler had blind optimist, knowing he would have a nightmare every night, he didn't fall into depression but saw this nightmare as a trial to hone himself, making his will and courage stronger, when the nightmare wants to corrupt him he let them but he would face them, learn about them and taking only the part that was beneficial to him.
When he does that his body change once more, it was twisted into rare beauty, like the complete darkness that let you see the infinite star, like a combination of death and natural peace in the graveyard, like the eternal silence of the ocean.
Tyler accepts all the evil until one good thing remain trapped inside the gate.