I'm strongly starting to like where I'm heading with this story and I hope everyone else feels the same way~
----------------
I woke up for the second time in one day, and for the second time I was bombarded with a massive pain. Although this time instead of my body being in pain I was assaulted with a massive migraine. It wasn’t just a migraine, as multiple pieces of information started to insert itself into my brain.
As I recalled what the leader masked man said about abilities, I started to figure out exactly what he meant. At the memories poured in I was able to clearly feel my body becoming more powerful and I unlocked a strange new ability. I had no idea of the origin behind this power but I knew from the new memories that and organ in my body was created using the nanobots in my brain. It was a scary thought, to think it was possible to create such an organ with just nanobots that gave us special abilities.
Not much information was given, other than the memories of my own abilities, as I hoped to be told of what sort of world this was and why we were sent here. But I knew that an organ just merged with my heart. It was as if this organ specifically wrapped around my heart and created a new lifeline. I now knew that the Aether Bots were created to save our memories and construction while the new organ gave us our powers.
Naturally I was included but I wasn’t able to figure out much about my abilities. As of now I had two abilities that I could use. One was called [Void ball] which I assumed was my main method of attacking, however there was no description to describe my power so I was left hopelessly in the dark. The other ability I gained was the ability to use [Void Eyes], which was called an [Inherent] ability. I also didn’t have any knowledge behind the eyes either, however at the very least, I knew how to use them.
Just by concentrating on my hand a [Void Ball] could be summoned. I had no idea how many I could summon with my current power as through my memories I was also told that I only had a certain amount of Aether particles supplied by the Aether organ that would allow me to use my powers. If i over used my Aether organ I would be severely weakened, it was essentially the same thing as running yourself to exhaustion even though it was unlikely you would die, you would be so weak if you met up with an enemy you would be as good as dead.
I also knew how to use [Void Eyes] however unlike [Void Ball] the [Inherent] ability did not require the use of Aether particles to be used. Thus I could use it as I willed, and because of this fact, I decide to try it out.
As I thought mentally to myself to activate the [Void eyes], I could feel a cold like power flow from my Aether organ to my eyes. As the power concentrated suddenly I felt a black liquid spread all over my body. I might have known about how to use my abilities, however I didn’t know anything about how they formed or what would happen when I used them. As I wasn’t mentally prepared the sudden blackness taking over my vision startled me and I unconsciously fell backwards. But as my eyesight darkened, completely turning the world into a shade of night. Soon after the blackness soft white lines started to redraw the world in front of me.
It took less than a single blink for the entire world to be painted in white lines that showed the outlines of objects. It might have not been as nearly as efficient as my original vision however it there was a clear benefit, that I immediately noticed. As the entire world was made out of white lines, it didn’t gave off an x-ray like feeling, and as I looked to stare at the rest of the students and teachers who were also starting to recover and stare at their hands awkwardly, I could see where the position of the heart is, a small organ wrapped around their hearts.
I was able to see it clearly because it was giving off a soft glow and in the world of darkness, only these organs were shining brightly. As I turned my direction I noticed a single blinding light that felt like looking directly at the sun, unconsciously I deactivated my [Void Eyes] and where my glaze rested was on the masked man in front of me.
It was clear to me now because of the [Void Eyes] I was able to see the concentration of Aether particles in a person’s body. Whether these eyes had more abilities for now I was unsure. But I knew now that this masked man’s power was unfathomably deep and if we were even to attempt to attack him, he could probably kill us all in a few seconds flat without the use of his PDA.
The scariest part when I was staring at him, I realized he was staring back at me the entire time. It was clear that he knew exactly what I saw. Thankfully he only shrugged his shoulders and raised a finger to the mouth position of the mask. I knew at that moment I would keep this a secret till the day I died.
It was at this moment that the man finally stood up noticing there wasn’t a single person unconscious anymore. Even Leo and Sasha were fine, but as I knew they were currently also figuring out their new abilities I didn’t want to disturb them. Of course I was also busy with learning my abilities as well. Thus before I even got a chance to talk to them the masked man already started to speak.
“Now then. You all have finally stepped inside the new world. This is but a small step to the real world ahead of you. I won’t lie to you, I am no saint, however I will not leave you to die without giving you some advice. Because we forcefully already killed you twice once in your world and once here, naturally we will give you some information. Whether this information truly helps you will all depend on your own actions.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
As the masked man started to over exaggerate his arm movements to complement his speech we all patiently listened. No one was stupid enough to interrupt the masked man who killed someone without even a second thought. He then continued slowly and made sure to enunciate each word clearly so no one could pretend to not hear it.
“First, I will announce once again, that you currently have 9 lives. However, that isn’t absolute you can only die once per run!”
‘Per run?! You mean we will have to come back here?’
I couldn’t help but think to myself, as the masked man’s intentions were clear behind his words. He said we could escape but we would be forced to comeback. as the thoughts about being murdered a second time was rushing through my mind, I couldn’t help but start to sweat. If we had to experience a helpless death like that each time, I don’t think anyone would be able to stay sane. The masked man nodded as he saw some expressions of horror. He knew what those people were thinking and to ease their doubts he spoke again.
“You, won’t be killed again to return here. When you need to be recalled you’ll start to hear a loud noise in your head. This noise will get louder and louder until you accept to be transported. If you fail to accept within 10 minutes you will die for good. To accept simply take out your PDA’s and click the the black circle. This circle can only be pushed by you so whether you chose death is entirely up to you!”
The faces of everyone who was able to see between the lines started to calm down. While the solution didn’t feel good, it was much better than being murdered each and every time to arrive here. The masked man didn’t waste time and continued.
“Now, back to your 9 lives. It will take exactly 24 hours to revive. If your Aether bots are destroyed you will be unable to revive, if you are eaten, you will also die, and yes there are large enough monsters here that would be able to easily eat you. The Aether bots naturally would be decomposed in the stomachs of Aether monsters. Thus you will want to at least travel with someone to make sure your back is safe if you die.”
I couldn’t help but think, this was truly strange after all. If we had abilities why give us multiple chances like this? Are they by chance trying to train us? The theories passed one by one as I couldn’t clearly figure out their intentions.
“Your Aether organs are currently like babies, and are unable to handle the stress of the Aether particles required to effectively fight in this world. However, with each death as your body will get reconstructed and your Aether organ will grow. Naturally at this time one would think that you could endlessly die and let yourself be reborn to become even stronger. However it doesn’t work that way. Your Aether organ will only be able to handle 10 deaths and reconstructions as you die your 11th time your organ will be unable to hold the power and your body will combust.”
I was surprised by the sudden information. It made a lot of sense now that he explained it. Of course no one would be able to figure the reasons behind such an organ as it was like a foreign language to us. But when hearing the explanations behind everything it all made sense. Our new organs are part of our bodies as well and they are new to it. The organs could probably grow with time but who out of this group would be willing to wait that long? Who knew how long it would even take for the organ to fully develope.
“Now you can think of your current power as a little child, nothing but a weak insignificant being in a large would've predators. You’ll have to run and hide from 90% of this world’s ecosystem. However as you escape and die, eventually to your last life, you will become a [God]. Now comes the main point and the most important part to you all. If you want to escape you must die and die, until your last life, and successfully escape. It sounds easy, but I can tell you that less than 5 people have succeeded before out of thousands.”
“What!?”
“Isn’t this just a death trap then?!”
“Yeah, why are you just sending us to our deaths!”
The crowd started to get rowdy but as if it wasn’t the masked man’s problem he didn’t even need to speak as he just took out the PDA from his pocket and everyone who spoke up immediately shut their mouths. I was suddenly struck by fear. At least I thought it was possible to survive this hell like game, but now I realized it wasn’t as simple as I thought.
“Finally I have one more piece of information for you. On your PDA is a mini map and of course it outlines the escape point that you need to all reach. But it also outlines dangerous areas that you shouldn’t attempt to near under any circumstance. If you do it’s the same as death. These areas will be marked with a dotted border. There is no time limit to leave, as long as you do not die twice, get eaten, or completely destroyed you will have a chance to leave. Lastly, is a warning for you and because this is only a slight warning to [Beginners] let me tell you; do not trust anything, and stay cautious with everything, as this is not your harmless world.”
With that the man, jumped off the car he was sitting on top of and ran down the cracked pavement soon disappearing in the horizon. The group of a hundred made up of students and teachers stood there, and could only absorb all the information give to us in hopes to survive this new world.