Walk. Stay silent. Fight. Kill. Eat. Train. Do not question order— Do not even think!

Remember. You are nothing but a doll. Your very existence is nothing but a whim of the higher-ups.

Fight for Earth.

Fight for Humanity.

Fight for your brethren.

Kill all the Parasites.

Erase all nuisances.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?

YOU. ARE. THE. STRONGEST.

***

“Shut up!”

Noah’s eyes snapped open as he growled before coughing and groaning. The world seemed so bright. Too bright in fact. So bright he had a feeling something was burning his retinas.

Covering his face, Noah tried to remember where he was and what had happened. His mind was jumbled and the old resurging dreams were not helping him at all.

For Noah, everything seemed to be blurry and confusing at the moment. Thankfully, after receiving the final attack of Omid and making a promise to the Queen, his consciousness had completely slinked into the shadow.

If he had to be honest, he had been pretty sure that he would be a goner. He knew very well that his regeneration was in no way limitless and he was not indestructible. But right now, it seemed like he was not in any kind of heaven or afterlife.

“If this is heaven then I am going to complain to the higher ups.”

Grunting Noah slowly, very slowly, tried to open his eyes. He wished to let them adapt to the intensity and soon he was able to see and recognize where he was.

This place was in complete wreckage now, The Scorched was truly worthy of its name.Sighing, Noah tried to stand up to better see his surroundings but as he stood, his legs wobbled slightly, as if he was a newborn calf that needed to learn how to walk again.

At this moment, many incongruities started to be noticed by Noah.

For one, his vision was sharp. He always had a sharp vision but the current level was completely different. It was as if he was watching the world in higher definition. If the world was a game, then it would be like he had been playing on 30 FPS all his life and suddenly upgraded to 120 FPS or from 1080P to 8K.

“What…”

His brain was barely registering the difference when he noticed another thing.

The distance between him and the ground seemed awfully low.

“Oh come on…”

He looked at his small chubby hands and pinched the right cheek of his face before finally accepting the reality.

He had become a child once again and this time it was worse. He didn’t just look like a teen but more like a pre-teen. Furthermore, he was once again butt naked. Which wasn’t so surprising considering he had most likely burnt his clothes off.

“So. Seems like we survived.”

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—....

Noah stretched a little and once he felt like he had enough control over his body he started walking toward the rest of the wreckage. His hand gently touched the slightly hot metal and remains of Ouroboros.

“That was a pretty epic last fight, right?”

Noah spoke before falling silent. He felt weird. Ouroboros was supposed to be nothing but a machine. But at this moment, he felt like he had lost a very important part of himself.

It was then —

[Small energy resource detected. Would you like to absorb it?]

[Y/N?]

Noah stopped dead in his tracks. His head tilted and his eyes widened in bewilderment.

“The hell?”

He took his hand away and the notification vanished. But his surprise did not. The notification had happened so suddenly but the feeling it brought him was the same as when he received notification directly to his mind while connected to Ourobors.

Something weird was happening and he did not understand what.

Closing his eyes, he focused inwardly for a few seconds, and soon, a new screen appeared before him.

[Status:

Designation: Perpetual Core Ouroboros

Type: Unique/Growth

Growth: Egg.

Level: 10/10]

[Evolution possible. Do you wish to proceed?]

[Y/N?]

“...”

—Noah…

Noah could feel his heartbeat accelerate in his chest. He took multiple deep breaths in order to calm himself and only then did he open his mouth.

“I have the feeling that you have an explanation as to why I have such a thing in my head.”

—I…

“Tell me everything. What have you done?”

His voice was rising a little and he caught himself and forced the heat in his voice to calm down. Becoming angry and screaming when he did not have the full picture was just a waste of time.

He needed to calm down. He needed to keep a cool mind and he needed to understand what in the nine hells was happening to him.

Now that he was starting to think about it, everything had been too weird. He had chalked it up to almost dying but this was closer to what he felt the first time he woke up on the new planet.

His body had been different. So different that he could barely see himself as human and now…

—It was necessary for survival.

The Queen spoke and Noah listened in silence.

She explained the miserable situation he was in and how close to death they both were. In the end, she explained as best as she could the decisions she took and the changes that followed.

—At this moment, while you still look like a human and have most of the functions one should have outwardly. Inwardly, your body is anything but human. Your entire internal structure from your bones to your tendons and even your veins are completely different and those changes are continuing. I believe your Adaptation evolved once again. For example, did you notice that your breathing rate had slowed down considerably? I believe that soon, even breathing will not be necessary for you.

“....”

––As of now…Your internal structure is closer to that of Ouroboros itself than anything else and the Perpetual core has become part of your heart. One could even say that in a way you are a living Mecha or more a living Core than anything human anymore.

Noah’s body had undergone many changes during his stay on the planet. From nearly freezing in the cold to being able to walk naked on the snow. From fearing wounds and disease to having a body that could heal any wounds. All those changes had been freakish and Noah understood that the more he adapted the less he was human. But even so, he could accept it. Humans continuously adapted and changed through history. Change in pigmentation, change in average heights, increase in cognitive ability, and changes in posture were just a few adaptations humans had undergone.

The story of humanity was one of adaptation. Those who did not adapt died and those who did procreated and created even more adapted children. This was nothing new. This was normal. This was nature. So what if he had two or more hearts?

All those were excuses Noah used and abused to keep his sanity in check. He did not have the time nor the leisure to fall into self-doubt. He could not stop advancing no matter what.

For Noah, being human was essential to his hold of self-identity. Some might find it stupid or even ridiculous. But for him, who did not know his parents, an entity born for the sole goal of being a weapon, his identity as a human was one of the few things he held dear to his heart…or hearts.

Right now though…Noah ruffled his hair, his eyes a little lost,

“Shit.”

There was not much else he could say.