Robert found himself standing in the vast park with tall buildings surrounding the place. The early morning left the place empty except for rare runners moving across special pathways and the dog’s owner who was taking a stroll with their pets. The trees only started to gain their green leaves back. The bright sun, despite its intensive light, was barely able to warm the air. The breeze wasn’t helping either as if trying to prolong the coldness of the previous season. However, maybe the wind knew the futility of its attempt, not even trying seriously. Still, it was enough to give Rob a refreshing feeling.
Looking around, he smiled widely, almost copying the grin of the cyborg. The whole atmosphere completely lacked any life-threatening aspect, showcasing the normal average life. No demons, no war, no huge lizards, no mad zombies. Of course, Robert knew that it would soon change dramatically as his whished realm couldn’t be like that. The scenery appeared to be a surprise for him. The pleasant, he had to admit.
Making a few breaths to enjoy the fresh air, he felt a mixture of petrol products with a chemical addition. His ears caught the sounding alarm of an ambulance or a police car, which were going at full speed to give the so-needed help. He heard the horns of impatient drivers, who somehow found the traffic jam, despite the early morning. He saw the rare stream of cars behind the trees. It wasn’t big right now, but everything would change in a few hours. The flock of birds was gathered around an old man not far from his spot, hastily packing the food before it would be taken by others.
It’s nice.
Noticing the fountain, Robert glanced at himself before resolutely heading there. The few runners gave him long looks, which was not that odd, taking into account his appearance. Dressed only into torn green pants, covered in purple blood, he was quite a view with his huge frame and bulky figure. Still, he was surprised to see how a pair of young women were eyeing his bare chest and arms, turning around a few times even after making some distance. That felt good.
The reflection in the water showed him that he had lost his facial hair once again. Only eyebrows, eyelashes, and black stubble were left, but not his beard. The disappearance of it didn’t stop there, going across all his body. Moreover, his skin had got a slightly reddish tone as if it was tanned, and became much rougher, not to the point of being seen as sickly, but not even near to being smooth. It wasn’t hard to see the influence of demonic energy.
At least it doesn’t look like burned.
Jumping into the fountain and ignoring the exclamations from passers-by, Robert quickly washed himself. He saw how the old man took a phone and started to call someone, while smirking teenager decided to make a video, simultaneously commenting on what he was seeing. Rob didn’t care. Standing up after he cleaned himself, he simply walked to the nearest free bench and sat down, closing his eyes and relaxing. He didn’t feel any coldness. His bare feet ignored the stones with ease. He wasn’t scared to get ill. He didn’t care about the looks of others. His skin was too tough for that, both literally and figuratively. All he wanted was to enjoy the moment of peace. However, after five minutes of sitting still, Rob had only a thought.
It is boring.
The whole ordeal with demons lasted not so long to exhaust him mentally. On the contrary, it boosted his mind to the peak and made it crave more action. Therefore, Rob decided to refocus his attention. Concentrating on his connection with Aether, he sent a request, questioning one thing. It wasn’t important, but he was curious to know if was he still a human. No matter how the System screen looked, it was a convenient instrument to use. That was the reason why he had… The information appeared in his mind, pushed inside by a constant flow of mana, redirecting his thinking process on the topic. The text was messy… as was his road to this point.
You are an unnatural abomination, kept only by energy supply from Aether. The hybrid, both in body and soul, was merged together in one single piece. The impossible scenario that occurred, despite the odds. The Transcendent.
Your soul was captured by a soul eater and merged with the soul of a rodent, which had a connection to Aether. Your cloned body was genetically made in laboratories, even partly copying an addition to your brain from a Hive mind. Modified to grant you an increase in regeneration with the cost of limited longevity, it would simply break from several unnatural components in no time, if not the adaptive properties from your newly merged soul that helped you to withstand the change with much smaller consequences.
The following magic illness that damaged both your soul and body, while taking your ability to store any mana, would have been lethal, if not for your own willingness to sacrifice yourself. This deed led to the destruction of your cloned body and part of your soul, simultaneously cleaning all signs of infection. You managed to survive because of two reasons. The part of your soul was already connected to Aether, preventing it from damaging, and a quick reaction of the soul eater, who captured your soul again, thus saving you from disappearing from existence.
Your soul was partly glued back and shoved into a new cloned body, but it was barely enough to keep you from immediately falling apart even after merging it together as too much damage was already done. Only the constant flow of energy was supplying your life, alas not for long. Therefore, to save his investment, the soul eater made an experiment on you, sacrificing all your natural affinities to strengthen a small part of the metal to give you the ability to conjure steel, which became a pillar to your soul, holding everything together. This hastily carried out test appeared to be successful, prolonging your life for a few more years. A few more changes were added to your body to make it tougher to handle the stress.
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However, the seed that was left by another Transcendent, had connected everything back in the most natural, fixing most of the incompatibilities and adding the dragon’s genes on top. The following tainting with demonic energy had a limited effect on the body at this point.
Hey, I know what had happened… Not in such details, but still the question remains the same – am I human?
First and foremost you are a Transcendent being. Your body is a mixture of modified human genes, dragon’s addition, and demonic taint, while your human soul was forcefully mixed with rodents, patching the gaps. Moreover, having both body and soul merged together, and the need to live on the outer energy from Aether, you can’t be named as one. You are a highly adaptive hybrid.
Getting the so-needed answer, Robert paused to think. This interaction with Aether felt not like a dialogue, but just an automatic response from a machine. There was no presence in it, despite not so formal style of answers. But it was good, as it gave more information than he anticipated. The mentioned by Aether self-check in a flash, alas without numbers.
I guess I was really lucky several times, without even knowing it… Yeah, never thought I was, taking into account what I went through. Still, there are so many questions left unanswered without any hope to change it. Who was responsible for that magic rabies in the first world that had infected me? Was it Aether’s manipulation or the doings of other Transcendents? Why did Wepwakor decide to save me – was he so desperate to keep his first batch alive? Then how could he mistake me with another envoy, that vampire? Why did Wepwakor make the system messages look like there was an intervention from another God when he had put my damaged soul into a second cloned body by themself? To keep his legend about all-mighty Gods and their battlers?... I guess, I will never know.
Opening his eyes and noticing the attentive look from the old man, who was checking his phone with visible anxiety, Robert understood that he didn’t have much time before new problems would arise. Still, it didn’t bother him as his mind was concentrated on the ways to increase his power. That was the reason he came into this realm. But he needed some planning.
The information about losing all his affinities, except steel, which appeared to be a small part of metal, sounded bad. Together with his inability to store any mana, the possibility of becoming some kind of mage was blocked. It was just an assumption but had enough reasons to believe it was true. The route of technological guy was definitely not his thing as he was always a user and not an inventor. And without the latter, even if he got any cybernetic modification, they would stay on the same level forever. The worst case – they would break, leaving him crippled without the knowledge of how to fix it.
Also, there was no way he could be a cunning guy, who could sneak around, assassinating anyone he wanted. Not with his frame and sizes that would grow constantly because of his dragon part. The image of an elephant, who was hiding behind the sofa, made him chuckle just from a thought. His life as a soldier couldn’t make him a manipulator like Wepwakor, who could influence crowds with ease. Not with his appearance of a brute and serious lack of social experience. His shooting skills were above average, but nothing special. Sincerely speaking, everything in him, be it the body or his skills literally shouted about being a straightforward punchy guy.
Yep, no chances for other roles. So, let’s search for a way to do it better. Maybe there will be more opportunities in the future. It’s not hard to believe that my own genealogical tree is already such a mess. At least I still look like a human… until I will become a head taller. Or two.
“Hey, you, slowly stand up and show your ID!”
The demanding yell made Robert switch his attention to the surroundings, showing two men in dark gray uniforms with a clear resemblance to a police force. The colorful badges on their chest were the best indicators of their belonging to law enforcement agencies. The old man, who was responsible for the call, was eyeing the scene with a visible enjoyment. Several onlookers already started to gather around, watching the commotion with similar interest as if such an event was a rare case. Especially, when the possible officers had put their hands on metal batons that were hanging from their belts.
“I repeat, slowly stand up and show your ID. No hast movements. You have violated the law of public nudity. It is last warning…”
The man wanted to add something, but a loud bell peal interrupted him. The oddest part was the source of it as it came not from somewhere around, but more likely had appeared right inside everyone’s head. The cries of fear, anxious whispers, and yells of surprise went in the background when a blueish transparent screen appeared in front of Rob’s eyes, following his gaze despite the turn of his head. Seeing the reaction from others, Robert was sure that everyone got one. So, he focused on the text, while grinning like a crazy.
System initializing…
Welcome, citizens of Terra! Your world was connected to the System.
The following trial will show your value in the multi-Universe. Either you will conquer the Challenger’s Tower, or you will be wiped out from existence, freeing your planet for more worthy species.
Placing the entrance to the Tower across the World…
The first batch is in the process of a random selection…
Connecting each participant with a dozen randomly selected sureties…
Transporting both participants and sureties into the Tower…
The Challenge is ready! Good Luck! You will need one!
The end of Part 2