There was already a kid of 16 that first came with hollowed eyes. The panicked Aunt Jamima asking him about his eyes meant she saw more hollowed eyes.
'They are a danger to me?' Eugene thought but he didn't know for sure.
Eugene was acting as if he was sleeping but he couldn't sleep. He was hyperactive and his brain couldn't even shut down.
From time to time he will feel the vanishing of the danger before it returns until hunger reaches him.
'Damn!' Eugene tapped the bubble as he knew there must be someone with him.
He was then provided with a semi-liquid substance.
An energy drink, the moment it was sent inside his bubble Eugene almost fainted, the jungling of the liquid inside was so damn loud as if it was ocean crashing in his ears in a violent terrifying way.
But soon it calmed down and the sound was drowned by the bubble he was in.
Eugene calmed down and took the bottle and prepared to suffer again but a potion of the bubble covered the fluid and guided it inside Eugene's stomach before it popped off and the contents spilled in his stomach directly.
That saved him the pain. Eugene lied down again after. This time he tried to occupy himself with other thoughts about what he wanted to do with his life.
He wanted to win several Tournaments, after that he will become an Explorer. However, with the danger and war going on, maybe he will end up not becoming one.
Well, it doesn't matter, there was always no shortage of things to do.
Eugene then found himself drifting in thought about Zeera and he felt cool in his heart.
But then her thought brought the grim situation of that realm and he shook his head.
Even though he didn't see it but just an image, the sky has no moon, let alone a sun, there are also no stars or anything glowing up there.
It was just darkness.
Eugene snapped awake and sat down panting. He drank the remaining energy drink and placed the bottle aside.
'When will this heightened sense go away?' he wondered.
Knowing he might not be able to sleep he focused on feeling the danger of opening his eyes and trying to find when he wasn't feeling that.
It took a long time before the duration of no danger began to increase. He was more than bored, he felt agitated and talked to himself.
He felt as if man in a cage and there was nothing he could do but still he held on.
Suddenly he felt it was gone and it was night Eugene broke the bubble and ran to the window and looked at the moon.
Its bright and cracked surface graced his eyes and felt as if he had escaped something stalking him. Where the stalker doesn't even know it was stalking.
"Where are the…" Eugene asked himself.
He was supposed to gain information from the Gateway about becoming First Challenger.
Runes should have filled his eyes telling him about the beast he made a pact with. He will see the Beast Nature and Aspecto. He will also see the Gateway Aspecto and be able to control it.
Eugene was more than confused.
Upon long deliberations, he turned to the person attending him. It was a middle aged man from another branch family.
Eugene greeted him, "Greeting uncle."
"It's good to see you back to normal!" The man sighed and stood. "I'm glad you are fine."
"Thank you for taking care of me!" Eugene said.
"It's nothing. If you want an answer, go meet your aunt. My work here is done!" Saying those words he turned and left the room.
Eugene ran to the toilets, he had been holding them for long. The good thing was the energy drink was very pure but still the body would like to dispose of some of it.
He rested himself, washed and cleaned before he wore soft clothes and came outside and went to their general room.
There was no one there, so he went to his sister's room. She was not there, his brother wasn't here either.
That confused Eugene and he went to the study room and he saw Aunt Jemima.
"Greetings Aunt." He bowed.
"How do you feel!" She asked.
"Okay. How is the war?" Eugene asked. He wants to know the condition of his parents.
"War has ended before it started." She said with a painful sigh.
"You should go and eat. Then go to Keepers House and record yourself. There might be a mission for someone like you!"
She wasn't her usual, more annoyed than glad to see him.
"Okay, but where is Marium and Aaron?"
"They went for their challenges!" She said flatly.
"What? Marium can't go to any challenge and Aaron is not ready!"
"Who's said that?" she asked with a bit of anger.
This time Eugene felt something was not right. Before he asked, an old man came in fast, he was from the Swan Family that were good at healing.
"Sorry for being late today. I was caught by a Tier 4 Monster!" He said before he passed them and entered a sacred room of the house.
The very room Aunt Jamima is standing by the side.
Eugene's heart skipped a beat and asked, "Who is inside? Who is sick?"
A voice from the back answered him, "Calm down Eugene, she is steadily recovering. No need to panic!"
Eugene turned, it was the uncle that took care of him.
"Mother is injured?" Eugene muttered in a low voice before he said, "please, let me see her".
"Go to the Keeper's House and record yourself and prepare for Juvenile missions!" Aunt Jemima ordered.
But Eugene is not having it. "I need to know what happened to her. The Swan can't be here, unless the situation is dire!"
The Swan Family is notorious for treating dangerous ailments of many kinds. And if one sees an elderly man, like Doctor Sima came, then the issue is never simple.
"Little Cub, you're just a juvenile. Do as you are ordered now!" The uncle behind said.
The man is Tier 3: Shifter. Aunt Jemima too is Tier 4: Composer.
Eugene has no hope in overpowering them at all.
"I'm not going!"
But he can resist as they won't harm him nonetheless.
"I want to see my mother." He demanded.
There are nine Tiers and it started with Tier 1: Juvenile and ended with Tier 9: Ascendent.
First Challengers are always Juvenile, which is a growth phase. Tier 2 is Roar and Tier 3 is Shifter.
Roar Tier was indeed about roaring because all beasts and monsters have sounds they make either to intimidate or to communicate among them.
But Roar Tier is not just about roaring but about comprehending the nature of roar in response to the surroundings and the application is endless.
Tier 3 is where shit began to happen. This Tier is considered a very important part of the community that allows the smooth activity of the society.
Only Tier 3 is eligible to leave Ar Land.
Shifter developed a robust body and some of the nature of their beast or monster they made a pact with. They began to harness everything and subsequently began to Shift and merged with the pact beast.
The desired end result is Transformation that will carry the inherent nature of the human and beast, elevated beyond their individual capabilities.
By transforming, they became a true powerhouse with Aura that applied pressure in their surroundings.
Juveniles are known to be impulsive as the beast or monster in them cause erratic emotional turmoil.
As a little lion, Eugene can be as unreasonable as he is hot-tempered. Not to mention, cats and canines are known to be stubborn.
"She is recovering, you will only disturb her." The uncle said, this time with a soft voice.
"I don't believe that. She is covered in Realm Fabric, my appearance will not harm her. I just want to see her!" Eugene said. He knew how the sacred room was.
"I said no." Aunt Jemima said in anger before she looked at the uncle and said,
"Call Keepers House that we have a young lion here refusing to document himself!"
Keepers Houses are made of Powerful Dominators from every Aristocratic Family.
Their collective power cant be underestimated.
As the name implies Dominator a Tier 6 power, they dominate everything around them. With one word from them, Eugene will be subdued.
Heck, anything below Tier 6 will be subdued, no matter the talent or ability.
Their name alone made Eugene tremble, he glared at her before he walked away and she sighed in relief.
He changed his clothes to the one he wore when he took his challenge before he left the house.
"Follow him and try to calm him down and give him this. It may bloom late but still, it is still valuable!" Aunt Jamiman said as she gave him a seed within was a Clear Quartz.
The man named Sima answered with a bow and ran after Eugene.
"Eugene." He called when he saw the boy had stopped walking. "Here, last time you went too early and your parents returned with this!"
Eugene was gloomy but seeing what was in the man's hand his eyes lit up.
"Natal Seed!" He muttered.
He collected and swallowed before he calmed down a little, it hurt him that he wasn't allowed to see his mother's condition.
What he feared was that she was dying and he wouldn't even get to look at her face.
It happened before with one of his friends' fathers.
A valiant hero saved a group of villages but was violently injured. He was rushed into Intensive Care and his family was prevented from seeing him, claiming he needed rest.
But the next morning he passed away and not even his eldest son was able to say goodbye to him.