Ela
Back at the facility, a woman could be seen tapping her finger on the desk in the meeting room Damien was in before. She was looking at the broken window with an unreadable look.
Behind her a man with his hands behind his back and a look of dread on his face.
After what seemed like forever, the woman started to speak, causing the man to tense up.
“Derik,” she said.
“Yes, madam.” Derik blurted out in nervousness
“Can you tell me how a lone subject can escape by himself right under your noses while also allowing someone else to kill 15 of the men outside?”
“Madam, with all due respect, the subject is a grade X, and his helper is much stronger than my men.”
“Indeed he is, but you know… the thing about this subject, though, is we caught him right before the system descended.”
After pausing for a few moments, she continued. “This means that he does not have combat knowledge or even know how to use his bloodline, and if he does manage to use it, it would be done through pure instincts.
“Now, with that in mind, tell me how three teams on the inside all fail to notice him get into this meeting room and BREAK FUCKING GLASS!?” she screamed while slapping her hand against the table, breaking it in half and glaring at the man.
The man, at a loss for words, decides it's best to just ask for forgiveness and hope she does kill him.
“I'm sorry for my incompetence,” he said while looking at the floor.
Staring at the man with disdain, she stood up and walked over to the window with her hands behind her back.
“I’ll give you and your men one more chance.”
“You will all come with me to track down the subject. Do you understand?” she asked firmly.
“Yes, madam,” he said, feeling thankful.
“Good; now call your men, and let's move.”
About 115 miles from the facility, Damien could be seen sitting under a tree, seemingly in thought.
‘What am I going to do now? I have no idea where or even who I am.’ Damien said with a sigh.
While thinking to himself, Damien heard leaves rustle to his left. Jumping up and looking in the direction ready to fight, he sees a woman wearing entirely black.
When Damien inspects her, the first thing that stands out is her hair, which is white as snow, and her eyes as dark as night. She has tanned skin and a curvy figure and is about 6 feet tall.
“Who are you?” Damien asks, seeing she is not getting into any fighting position.
“Ela, my name is Ela,” she responded with almost a yearning tone.
“What do you want, Ela? Were you the person who killed those guards earlier?” he says while looking at her curiously. If someone had killed those people, it had to have been her.
“Yes, I did kill those guards, as you call them. As for what I want, that will take some explaining,” Ela responded.
“Alright, so explain.”
“That will have to wait for later. The people you escaped from will not give up on tracking you down. Damien, you have something they would do anything for, and because of that, we need to get somewhere safe if you are okay with it.
Listening to what she said, Damien thought to himself briefly before speaking.
“You know, I never told you my name,” Damien said, staring at Ela and raising his guard.
Realizing her mistake, Ela stared at Damien intently before responding, “I know you did not tell me your name, and I understand if that makes you not want to trust me, but the reason I already knew your name is that I’ve been looking for you ever since you disappeared.
Before Damien could say anything, she continued.
“180 years ago, when you just turned 20 years ago, you seemingly disappeared, and no one could find you, and within the time you have been gone, earth had changed massively.
“Okay, slow down first. You said I disappeared 180 years ago, meaning you were also around back then. That being the case, how exactly did we know each other?”
Hearing his response, Ela noticed she had gotten a little ahead of herself because of her excitement about finding him.
Taking a deep breath, she started speaking. “ 180 years ago, me and you were…” She hesitantly paused, thinking, ‘Should I tell him?’ before quickly deciding against it.
“Back then, we were friends and had known each other since childhood as our families were close.”
Looking at her while she spoke, Damien noticed the look of hesitation, and after listening to her response, he believed she was genuine.
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“How can I trust you? It’s not that I don't believe you are genuine, but I have no memories of you. Even if you say we knew each other, there is just no way for me to fully believe that.” he said with a look of caution.
Nodding in understanding, Ela pulled something from around her neck and held it out, “Here, take a look at this.”
Looking down, Damien saw a necklace shaped like a heart with a photo in the middle. In the photo, a picture of him and Ela could be seen smiling.
Staring at the photo, Damien felt a sense of familiarity begin to build, but no matter how much he tried, he could not remember where the familiar feeling was coming from.
After staring at the photo for a few more moments with a dazed expression, Damien spoke.
“Alright, I’ll go with you mainly because I have nowhere else to go, and I want to learn about my past.
Speaking of which, do you have any way to help me regain my memory?”
He wanted to remember his past. He wanted to remember Ela.
“Unfortunately, I do not have any way to help you, but we should be able to find one; as I said before, the earth has massively changed.
“What do you mean by change? What was it like before?” Damien asked, feeling curious.
“Well, for example, before the earth had changed, humans could at most live to 100 or so years old. Now, though, humans can live upwards of 300, and that's for level 10’s at level 20 you get another 100 years. As for why you are still alive, I can only assume it's your bloodline, considering your level one.” she said in response.
Continuing, Ela said, “That is just the beginning, though. Now, animals are way more robust than they used to be, with some developing intelligence and maybe even human form, though that is insanely rare. There is a bunch of demi-humans, though.
“Wait…” Damien said aloud while dread appeared in his heart before continuing.
“Don't tell me the syst-” A prompt appeared Before he could finish his sentence.
Staring at the screen, Damien felt himself panic a bit before a hand touched his shoulder. Looking to his left, Ela looked at him softly and began to speak.
“Damien, I know your thoughts but don't worry. This is not a simulation… I am real, and this world is real,” she said before gently taking his hand.
After holding her hand momentarily, Damien pulled away, making Ela feel slightly sad.
“Thank you,” Damien said, looking at her gratefully and then letting out a sigh before looking at the system prompt.
Since Damien was in a literal fucking simulation before, all his stats and information were massively different now.
Damien first noticed the part where his bloodline used to be displayed but was now seemingly missing.
Status:
‘Name: Damien Atlas
Level:1
Race: High human/???
Titles: The first to awaken, Storms child, ???
‘Age: 200 years’
Class: N/A (Reach level 10 to select a class)
Stats:
Health:100
Mana:100
Strength:40
Agility:30
Defense:20
Intelligence:30
Perception:25
Willpower:25
Skills: Mana breathing (Divine), The original (Primordial), Storms blessing (legendary), Lightning fast (rare)
Damien’s attention was immediately drawn to his skills before anything else; reading the description, Damien couldn't help but lament how fucking broken they were
Mana breathing (Divine): Being the first to awaken comes with many benefits, such as a top-of-the-line mana breathing technique. This technique allows the user to control mana better than any other being in the universe, and the user feels proud for having something even the oldest of monsters desire.
The original (Primordial): You were the first. You are the first. Allows the user to have the presence of a primordial; may your opponents tremble in your presence, and your allies bask in its glory. (The user needs to be at a higher level to see the rest of the skills description; presence also only works on beings within ten levels of the user.”
Storm's blessing (legendary): As a child loved by the storm, it bestowed its blessing upon you. This ability allows the user to unlock abilities related to the storm.
Lightning fast (rare) - An ability of the storm. Allows the user to move at lightning-fast speed for short periods.
Deciding to look closer at them once they were safe, he moved on to his stats.
Scanning over them and seeing how much they had changed, Damien felt a bit bummed as he appeared to be way weaker, but on the bright side, he had some broken fucking skills which made up for it.
Seeing Damien's look, Ela spoke up. “If your stats appear worse, it's because the people who run the simulations change them to their liking. As for why they do this, it's unknown.”
He felt a bit better after hearing that Damien decided to ask Ela something that had been bothering him after looking at his status.
“Ela, why does it not display my bloodline here?” Damien asked while looking at her.
“To be honest, no one knows why that is, and attempts to ask the system for information are always met with silence.
“Also, try not to let others know you have a bloodline, as you might be put back in a simulation,” she said with a serious look.
“Noted.”
Suddenly, Damien had a thought and turned to Ela before speaking, “Wait, if the system is a thing, then why did those humans back there not use anything to detain me? I mean, the system exists in everything, right?”
“To be honest, Damien, you got rather fortunate as the facility you were at in the first place was able to operate by itself, so no one was present when you awoke and broke out, and on top of that, the people they sent to capture had severely underestimated you, and lastly they did not want to kill you so using skills would have been detrimental.
“Not to mention I was there to get you out anyways; you just made my job easier.”
Listening to her explanation, Damien nodded before saying,
“Alright, so where are we going? Probably should not keep hanging around here, right?” Damien said, looking at Ela.
Ela, hearing this, had a look of surprise appear before speaking.
“Shit, I got too caught up in talking with you since it's been so long; we need to leave. Now.”
“I’ll explain where we are headed once we get farther away from here. For now, follow me.”
An hour later, after Damien and Ela left, a woman surrounded by men walked out of the forest.
“The subject came through here,” said the woman while inspecting the area; mana formed in her eyes as she looked around.
“Let’s pick up the pace. If we keep moving this slow, we will never capture him,” she said before sprinting in the direction Damien and Ela went, her eyes still gleaming with mana.