llias tried guessing on what Vitae was like but never could really stay on one idea. He thought it could be a liquid at first but then decided against it, disagreeing even more with the chances it be a solid. In his mind he could imagine a putrid grass-coloured sludge unable to be shaken off, or a mystical white vapour floated around like a balloon but none really fit - it felt wrong to think of it in that way, like an instinctive repulsion from that mindset. Something so mysterious probably didn't agree with the three states, with the substance linking to the soul he thought it most likely that it was the intangible sort. Like a liquid so viscous that it just runs through your hand or a gas that you don't notice that its there, just like air. In the midst of thought Illias remembered what he heard while running after Ricky amongst the tens of people, listening as he passed by he heard a bunch of them speaking about some 'group branding' which clearly referred to how despite supposedly going to have this precious mark applied to our very souls we were in a large hall with about 60 ish other people, Illias had already deduced that this obviously wasn't everyone attending this Trainee Descent and that this very scenario could be happening someplace else. He asked what the group branding was all about:
"There's not much difference in a group branding." Ricky said matter-of-factly, "I don't know the reason why it happens, but it's all the same. You won't even notice the others disappear when it starts." Ricky was right, he'd never noticed when the others disappeared - or when the radiant light once again descended from above, he'd been too busy playing around with the buzzing in his chest. He had kind of found how to play with it in a way, when it buzzed he would try to replicate it with a hum. Illias and his truesoul had played for a few rounds, taking turns being the copycat, and even as the light had begun to appear he had been too caught up to notice it. However it let off a threatening drone, demanding Illias's attention to his surroundings.
When he'd come to see the light all around he wasn't very surprised, he had noticed the smokey-glass ceiling from before like the first room he'd found himself in when he had entered the curtain. The brilliance intensified from eye-squinting bright until it brought pain for Illias to open his. Deep within the brightness starlight burst forth, ushering down fist-sized orbs brimming with volatile energy plummeting towards Illias at breakneck speed. As they made contact Illias was knocked back by the force but the orb quickly melded into him through the robe which formed earlier. Immediately Illias felt a burst of power within, but a concerning throb pulsed echoed through his frame.
Distress washed over Illias, the energy within expanded beyond his vessels limits and his soul yelled out in indignance as anguish wracked his flesh. His white robe was dyed crimson as his pores tore open, flooding the silky-smooth cloth with gore. Illias couldn't take the pain, instead retreating into the unsteady sanctuary of his soul - choosing the mind searing pain of his soul rather than the unholy torture of his vessel. Illias and his soul gutturally roared, his veins bulging through his scalding skin, as his eyes opened wide from their dreadful grimace, pupils dilated to the nth degree, burning a vigorous emerald like a beacon amongst the endless light. Illias's thick purple veins buckled under his skin and burst, spraying a fountain of red before clotting with a viridescent glow. His mind returning to his body he seethed, but embraced the energy which flowed in his veins.
Inhaling deeply, and exhaling similarly deep, Illias felt tougher in body but aged in his mind like an eternity had passed. Illias had tried but was unable to direct the power within him anywhere but to his eyes and upon trudging a blip of power in Illias's world turned dark for but a second; quickly realising his mistakes he instead directed a stream of the power in his veins, through his eyes Illias felt as if he was introduced to an entirely new sense as if hearing for the first time. The world around him was completely black but he could still somehow tell his way around (as if his sight never left him), Illias could also see that where his fellow called were standing instead stood spectre-like figures. These figures, in the shapes of his friends, were a contrasting white to the endless black. They seemed as if made from quartz, but transparent like glass. From these figures, silk-like emerald threads floated out (with some variety in thickness and direction) endlessly into the blackness. A thin thread idled near Iliias, barely moving but not stagnant, he reached forwards to touch it but upon movement he was forced from his reverie by intense pain from his eyes, tearing them up. Illias had not felt much at the pain, but soon his vision cleared.
[Change Perspective]
I felt myself jump back at the sudden appearance of another, he appeared with a flash of light before me, wiping his eyes as if he had just woken with a slight smell of iron around him. After waiting so long, I'd expected the next to show up to be something to look forward to but he was damn short. He barely reached my chest, I had half the mind to tell him to put some damn points into his constitution - if the system would grant him its blessing as well.
He finally moved his hands from his face as I felt myself grinning as that high hit me again, moving my right eye to read the screens from my [ANALYSIS]. He, similarly to myself from earlier, jumped back as he saw me. I said words of greetings, and he replied back courteously. I caught sight of his piercing green eyes and they made me stop for a moment, my grin fading as chills spread. His eyes were laced with a tangible presence, a dreaded mix of his vitae and something unnatural. A new notification popped up, quickly followed by another:
Illias Finn has attempted to use his gift [Karmic Eyes] on you, luckily for you the system had taken the brunt of the ability.
System has endured the backlash, thus System Interference is limited for the next hour.
Interesting. I felt another grin, spreading further than the last. A beep echoed in my brain to signal the end of the [Analysis] and the results appeared. Immediately I hyper focused onto them.
Data
Name: Illias Finn | Gender: Male | Race: Human | Age: 17
ATTRIBUTES | 99 Total
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Strength 12 Dexterity 15 Constitution 13 Endurance 11 Willpower 16 Soulpower 19 Charisma ERR-
DUE TO A CRITICAL ERROR SOME STATISTICS FAILED TO LOAD
His stats were alright but lopsided to all hell, the physical side totally dragging down the total. Compared to my strength of 22, he was like a child against a grown-man but his mental statistics certainly made up for it. The soul stat was especially terrifying, considering I had tempered myself over the four years of inhabiting this body without assistance from the recently awoken W.I.S and only had 22|19|20|22 in the physical stats myself, he was either born with an enlarged soul or was terrifyingly talented and from the look in his eyes from earlier it could be both. Or it could be just a bit of stat inferiority creeping back into my veins, a bad habit, but considering my Soul stat was laying low at 10 it felt justified.
I wanted to strike up a conversation but it'd been so long that I didn't know what to say, so I just locked eyes once again before putting my weight against the wall comfortably.
[Change Perspective]
What the fuck was that? Illias wondered to himself, still quite spooked from the encounter with the enigmatic man who now stood against the wall, I looked over only to lock eyes once more and we both pulled our gazes away quickly. Illias felt more goosebumps spread across his back as he recollected the way his eyes moved independently and his fiendish grin. To calm his racing heart Illias sat down against the wall after giving the room a cursory glance. It was unlike the hall and first room but rather a shorter but wider version of the corridor where he picked up the white device which was still stowed away on his robe that until now he hadn't realised that was magically clean after being transported to this room. Illias, his heart now calm, closed his eyes to think more deeply.
When he had activated his vision power and looked at the creepy guy he saw a thread different to all the others he'd seen. It was a dull red compared to the other lively green threads. As he first cast his gaze it's dense and gloomy body it trembled in response - then it writhed, swinging back and forth like a enraged beast trying to break its chains, the last thing he saw was the tentacle-like thread split at the end opening up like a horrid maw.
Putting that behind him, as he has all other unfortunate events, Illias played with his Truesoul for a while. The game had changed as since he got branded he felt the connection between them increase almost as if it was tangible. The noises changed from a buzz, now a weird distorted chime rang out in his head. After a short period of testing Illias discovered what made his Soul laugh in delight, if he tried to exert control over the energy in his blood it would giggle with it often giving Illias tips on how to proceed with its warped calls to him which Illias would follow to a T. However Illias felt that this wouldn't last forever, he needed to learn in his own way to truly be able to excel in the future. If he'd be coddled like this he would never face hardship and find himself outside of his depth later on.
Eventually the third person came. He was of a similar height to Illias, wearing the same robe that the Illias wore, and he had striking raven-black hair. While his hair gave him a self-confident aura, when he appeared he was ragged and miserable - soaked in his own sweat and struggling for breath - which made Illias think he wasn't the only one who had it bad in his branding. He had introduced himself as Axel Vicehaven, and it was at this point that the creepy guy named himself as Avarosa Windmere. The room went quiet after the introductions. It was not that Illias didn't want to speak, he was all for learning more about and from other people, but he didn't want to speak to Avarosa and they both generally gave the feels that they wanted to be left alone with their thoughts. The calm silence ended as quickly as two more people entered; Ricky and a girl who later presented herself as Tsuruki Oda of the Oda Clan. This made Illias speculate about the structure of the curtain, if the clans like there were similar to those from the outside or if they had some other meaning.
Ricky immediately upon entering hasted to Illias to share his experiences, obvious that he was excited from his grin reaching the side of his face. Ricky was positively glowing from energy, his frame seeming to contain more muscular than before he was branded. Illias complied and shared his experiences, Ricky looked concerned and asked if Illias was alright, which Illias had to admit was pretty touching and decided he was going to stay in contact with Ricky even after he starts journey, but Illias just nodded and responded with the same question. Ricky gained his fervor back and excitedly recalled what happened from the point when the branding began, stating that somewhat harmless lightning descended from the stormy mist that, in his exact words, seemed to block him off everything else. While listening to Ricky's experiences was interesting, Illias found himself wondering about the mysteries of this layer more and more. Seemingly inconsequential things differed in every experience, Ricky who had seemed to tell he was thinking rather than listen said to 'try not think about it'. Illias was surprised that the muscle-head could guess such things but he had learnt from a young age that appearances could be deceiving.
Illias found more people arriving at a higher frequency, him and the other Called he had met up with formed a group and chatted for a while while the room was filling with all the people from before, an exact seventy people, who similarly chatted until an unfeeling voice rang in their ears.
"Congratulations to Avarosa Windmere, Illias Finn and Axel Vicehaven for achieving 1st,2nd and 3rd respectively" it radiated before continuing "As your performances have been exemplary, you will be given a choice of up to five companions you can bring into the next trial for a head start."
The room experienced a sudden shift, Illias appearing beside the other two contenders at the opposite side of the room from the rest of his fellow trainees. Illias had decided that he wanted to take Ricky with him but was hardstuck on who else to bring. Noticing that the other two don't seem to be in a mood to pick, and that he didn't want to speak to Avarosa, Illias asked Axel if he minded letting him take some of his friends in to which Axel just nodded and said 'I wonder what type of people your friends will be'. Avarosa, whom he assumed to be staying silent because he didn't wish to take others, called out a list of five names which resulted in five people making their ways over in conjunction to their names being called:
"Clemont Veshrok", the grey-haired guy, who discarded the black device, pushed his way to the front through the crowd from the back;
"Bonnie Astrea" ,his female associate followed behind;
"Chase Balmoral", from near the front, a blue cloak moved forwards towards Avarosa;
"John Smith '' was called and a well-built man hunkered his way forwards with no one blocking his way. He was like a prison-style version of muscle, but covered in so many scars and marks that it made him look patchwork, only much more in the boundaries of a normal person. He originally strode along with a calm expression, but when Avarosa echoed his name once more his face changed to one of disgust, from behind another slightly taller man followed behind the scarred one. He was quite well built as well but he was much more , well, plain. He had pale skin, black hair, brows and eyes with no striking or distinguishing features. The scarred one turned to confront him, but simply huffed in annoyance and continued on his way.