CHAPTER 8: AWAKE

Three miles east of where Hermes and Co. Fought the Mutant Devil Wolf, a large cave hung from the side of a Martian cliff; the winds rushed past its gaping entrance.

Inside the deep abyss, a large room was lying across its main corridor. Within the chamber, large tubes capable of housing an entire person's body were present; some were empty, and others contained a wide variety of exotic creatures sleeping inside a transparent liquid that continued to bubble and fizz.

The floor was riddled with large cables snaking across the dark room. At the far back of the room, a man in what could be described as a lab coat stood. His lab coat had four sleeves for arms to go in, and his hair was jet-black.

Unlike other Xulu, he had a roughly human-like face with clear white skin. Other than his obvious four arms that were covered in black fur, He had a large vertical eye nestled at the center of his face.

He had his four arms crossed while staring at a larger cylindrical tube that housed a specimen; a glint of arrogance and pride shone in his smile.

His large vertical eye that ran down his nose bridge twitched as he glanced back to the entrance of the room.

"Kil'thor, did I not tell you to knock?"

Suddenly, a large puddle of black ooze coalesced on the floor and rapidly rose up. It took the shape of a Xulu with a human face similar to the other one present in the depressing room.

His vertical eye had a tint of brown to it, and his skin was olive-colored. In his four furry hands were two bloody swords and two human heads with their eyes rolled back and filled with despair.

"Instead of being peeved, you should be thanking me. These two rats almost discovered your laboratory."

The Xulu in a lab coat replied with a smile, "They wouldn't make it far with all my babies here!"

Kil'thor clicked his tongue and rolled his eye. He decided it was best to change the subject. He had already received plenty of lectures about how great his 'babies' were.

"Subject 0-36, which went hunting today, has been eliminated by two human Celestials."

The Xulu mad scientist immediately frowned.

"Why did you not help it? Do you have any idea how much time it took to raise that one?!"

"Tsk, this is the one thing I hate about you, Gwen'ko. You always shift the blame to me. The thing wasn't even able to defeat two Stage 4 Celestials. That speaks volumes about its creator more than it does about me!"

Before Gwen'ko, who was showing signs of agitation, could refute him, he continued.

"Besides, before 0-36 was able to engage them, they had already relayed back to their headquarters; something about discovering another shitty human... If I stayed to help, who knows what powerhouse might have come over?! I'm not dying for your dumb experiments!"

Gwen'ko took a few seconds before completely calming down; he had returned to his arrogant state from before.

"Hmph, I have no idea why Lord Vel'kus favors a coward like you so much. No matter, I have already gathered enough data on the effects that Death-Type Cosmic Force has on Mutants... Its effects are truly remarkable!"

He began to laugh with glee. Immediately, he cast his gaze towards the large cylindrical tube filled with liquid in front of him. Inside was the specimen he was staring at before Kil'thor stepped into the room.

Before Kil'thor could show his disgust, Gwen'ko continued his ravings,

"Our god, Rak'shasa the Destroyer, must favor me! He has provided me with such an excellent specimen!"

He continued glancing at the 'Specimen' inside the large chamber in front of him. Inside was a voluptuous woman. Her skin was silky smooth all across, and her proportions exuded the aura of perfection. Cheeks that were gentle and plump, lips more beautiful than rosebuds, a gracefully arched nose, and enchantingly long silver eyelashes; it was as if her gracefully sleeping face had been sculpted by a masterful artisan. At either end of her youthful forehead were small horns colored in a dark red. Above, timeless silver threads snaked down to her waist.

Her silver hair shimmered like moonlight as it floated behind her from the liquid inside the glass tube. Even to someone like Kil'thor, she was like a goddess that must not be touched, but to someone like Gwen'ko, she was nothing but a mere product to be exploited.

It was because of this that Kil'thor had a great distaste for his colleague. After all, he had seen the lady in his dreams many times and had even fought the urge to try to 'steal' her away from him.

Of course, he would never dare to do so. It was clear to all of them that if not for the shackles on her arms that continuously drained her cosmic force, she would have awoken and decimated the small in number Xulu forces.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Twenty years ago, they had found her in a crater. The sand had already turned into glass. All around, pieces of shrapnel from mechanical weaponry were seen. Some were on fire, others had streaks of lightning perpetuating from them; some were large and others small.

At the epicenter, large amounts of darkness were found underneath her body. Any living being that touched it would rapidly decay and their soul would instantly be sucked in, never to be seen again.

During their retrieval operation, 300 Xulians perished. Some had their souls sucked out of their bodies, others rapidly aged and decomposed on the spot. In some of the cases, the souls of those who had been consumed would return and possess their comrades.

They would control them to either make them kill themselves or fight against each other. It was unclear how they were affected or if there was a pattern to the madness at all; only when she was sealed did the culling stop.

To Kil'thor, this was a being on the level or even stronger than Lord Vel'kus. Bringing her out would only result in his own death. His distaste grew; he tried to end the conversation, but Gwen'ko continued.

"If not for this Subject 0-00, none of my experiments would have borne fruit! Truly a gift from the heavens! I have tried probing her body to see where her insane quantities of Death-type Cosmic Force originate from, but I have yet to figure out the reason! One day, I'll completely dissect her!"

Seeing Kil'thor's disgusted face, he smiled and then said,

"You can go back and report the developments to Lord Vel'kus. Tell him 0-36 has served its purpose. From the data I have gathered, I should be able to find a way to safely inject our brethren with death-type cosmic force."

Kil'thor did not stand on ceremony and turned around and walked towards the door. Cylindrical tubes with abominations inside outlined his path. Before he could open the door, Gwen'ko spoke once more.

"Oh yeah, feed those human heads in your hands to 0-23. He loves the taste of human brains."

Kil'thor did not reply to his plea and walked out of the room.

...

'Ouch! It's painful!'

Hermes woke up from his slumber and found himself in a well-lit room. He was lying on a bed similar to the ones you see in a hospital. To his side, an IV drop was linked to his arm.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" The voice of a woman was heard.

Hermes immediately turned his head to his right. A woman was sitting on a stool wearing a white coat. She had deep brown eyes and long black hair.

A small mole could be seen next to her rosy lips. It was clear to Hermes that her beauty was not completely suppressed, even with her age. She smiled at him and chuckled.

"It's honestly a miracle you're alive. When little Leo brought you over, I thought you were already a corpse! There were signs of extreme malnutrition, and many of your muscles were on the brink of collapse. Not to mention your shoulder. What were you doing out there, fighting a one-man war?"

'Oh, I don't know. I only fought a skeleton to the death, traversed the moon on foot, journeyed the stars, and almost got blown to pieces...'

Hermes suppressed the pain he was feeling all over his body and smiled at her. "What is your name? I must thank you for saving me."

She chuckled, "Very gentleman-like of you. My name is Angelica Rimone. I am the assigned doctor for the Guardian Regiments. Nice to meet you, Mr. Wilson!"

Hermes noticed the peculiarity and asked, "Guardian Regiments? What's that?"

Angelica smiled. "They are the heroes of Sanctuary City. Their forces are composed mainly of Celestials, whose task is to keep us safe from the invading Xulu and Mutant forces. Well, mainly Mutants nowadays; we haven't seen the Xulu in 20 years, it's unknown what they are plotting..."

She interrupted Hermes just as he was about to ask, "Ah, I forgot that you know nothing about such things. Celestials are those who are able to wield Cosmic Force to their liking. There is a lot that goes into this, so I'll let little Leo explain everything to you later! Speaking of which, I heard you had defeated a Mutant. Is that true?"

Hermes smiled and said, "The work was already done by Viktor and Leonardo. I only swooped in later and stole the kill..."

"Still, for a person like you who doesn't even know what a Celestial is to finish off a mutant is amazing! Most ordinary people would simply collapse in fear! You shouldn't underestimate yourself!" she said with a hint of pride.

To Hermes, Angelica gave the impression of a very straightforward person. In his embarrassment, Hermes decided to change the topic. "Speaking of which, where are Leonardo and Viktor?"

Angelica played along and let out a sigh. "They are busy convincing those old farts to allow you to stay in the city. The people here somewhat hate the idea of strangers. I can't really blame them though, there are some Mutants who can disguise themselves as humans..."

She continued, "In fact, it was a good thing that Mutant showed up where it did and you were allowed to contribute. Because of the fact that you helped in the operation, Viktor and Leo were able to testify that you had saved their lives, effectively shutting up most of the naysayers. Of course, that did not stop some from continuing to protest your stay; especially those in the 10 Elder council."

Hermes stared at the roof as he thought about his future. From what he had heard from Angelica, he had two paths to tread once his body was healed. The first is to leave the city with some supplies and find a way to survive on his own. The second was to try to prove his usefulness and let the people of the city accept him.

In Hermes' mind, the first option was close to suicide. His earlier bout with a mutant proved this. With his current skills, there was no way he could survive an encounter like that alone. He decided it was best to go with the latter. His most pressing issue is his lack of combat experience and power. In this world, it's clear that might equals right!

The second option would effectively solve those two problems. He could try to apply for the Guardian Regiment that Angelica spoke about and gain valuable experience and the opportunity to become a Celestial himself.

At the same time, it would give him a chance to deepen his trust with the higher-ups of the city. After all, there was no way he could figure out the mystery behind his transmigration if he stayed the way he is now!

Angelica looked at Hermes, who was in the middle of thinking, and smiled. "It seems like you have already chosen your path forward. That is very admirable."

She slowly got up from the stool and walked towards the exit of the room. Suddenly, she turned her head around and looked at Hermes, who was lying in bed. With a teasing smile, she spoke in a playful voice.

"Oh, by the way, before you awoke from your dreams, who's this mysterious Ariana you were so passionately mumbling about?"

"..."

A slight redness appeared on Hermes' face. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Angelica saw this and began to giggle as she headed out of the room.

End of Chapter