His pulsating core was the only thing that kept Devin going while he trudged up the curved dirt road that served as the driveway leading up to his house. He walked by multiple broken down cars and trailers torn apart for scrap metal, but those couldn’t compare to the junkyard that was Devin’s front lawn.
The creme of the crop, his family home, was nothing more than a rusted tin can surrounded by the “treasures” his parents had gathered over the years. If you asked him, they were just a bunch of hoarders.
“Home sweet home.” He sighed. Groaning every step of the way, Devin slowly sidestepped several cars and piles of paper, scrap metal, tires, bikes—anything his parents thought were valuable.
It was ironic to him. They surrounded themselves in trash in life, only to be buried underneath it in death.
He avoided the front door, knowing damn well he wouldn't be able to make it through without tripping his trap. When he made it to the backdoor, he tried to press it open, but when that didn’t work, he resorted to using all of his bodyweight to smash it open. It wasn’t locked, but it might as well have been since a stack of magazines that was glued to the floor prevented him from opening it.
How does that even happen? Devin shook his head, adding as much force into his shoves as he could without hurting himself even more. A series of smashes and breaking glass told him he had knocked over the glass display case. He sighed again, I guess I’ll throw all that out later.
Having only been here for the better part of a week, Devin didn’t have enough time to clear everything out, and make the house truly his. But even if he had the time, he wouldn’t do it. Going through every room in the house and the loads of trash everywhere—it painted a picture of his mom’s final years of life.
It was truly a sad one.
Wasting no time, Devin shuffled up the stairs and threw open the door to his most recent living space; his sister’s old bedroom. He didn’t concern himself with the frilly bed, or any of the piles of trash he neglected to throw out yet. Instead, he beelined for the closest, finding the lockbox he had hidden under some garbage.
With his heart drumming so hard that he thought it might explode, Devin popped open the box, revealing several cards that shined in various colors. Fortunately—or unfortunately depending on how you look at it—Devin had them since the first day of the apocalypse.
Been a long day, but I’m finally here. Devin sighed in relief, taking the cards and holding it to his heart like he’d seen so many other Supers do. He watched with bated breath as the cards melted into his body, flowing directly into his core. A quick check of his soul card revealed their new place in his vault.
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“Yes! I’m now a superhuman!” He threw up his hands and exclaimed, which he quickly regretted when he remembered his injuries.
“I guess I should really go to the hospital…but first.” Ignoring the pain, Devin brought up his soul card once more, this time clicking on a specific object in his vault.
Without warning, a pure black line sliced into the space in front of Devin. It expanded into a flat circle, proceeded to drop a red crystal to the ground, and promptly disappeared.
“So that’s how their storage space works.” Devin noted. He was about to take something else out of his vault so he could observe it some more when he shook his head. I have all the time in the world to explore my new powers, but before I do any of that, I should solidify my status as a Super.
Although Devin had reached his shard limit and unlocked his soulcard, that didn’t mean he was a complete superhuman just yet as there was still a zero next to his grade. Even normies were classified as grade 0 since anyone could use cantrips. To truly step into the ranks of Supers, Devin needed to forge a magic circle.
“The question is ‘how do I forge a circle?’” Devin asked himself, picking the Natural Core from the ground, but as soon as his hand touched it, heat erupted around the crystal.
“Ow! What the hell?!” He yelped at the sharp, hot pinprick. He flung his hand in every direction, but the core refused to budge as if it was glued to his fingers. The temperature rose drastically, sizzling Devin’s flesh.
Devin’s voice rose with the heat until he was screaming for dear life. His core drummed along with his heart, pumping lava through the veins in his arm. Whatever it was, it scorched his flesh and left a cold emptiness in its place. It pooled in the same hand the core was stuck too until the pressure became unbearable and the molten liquid somehow bled through his skin. Even the shards he had gotten today flew out of his pocket, and joined the superheated mass that was being absorbed into the burning core.
His horrible screams tore his throat apart, but he still didn’t stop—or more accurately, he couldn’t. Devin could only watch as he was tortured by the very thing he sought after for months. The crystal glowed a deep crimson as it absorbed the boiling fluid without any hint of stopping.
For what seemed like an eternity, Devin laid on the floor of his room, unable to even writhe from the pain. The surging flow forced him to straighten his arm, and feed the core everything he had. It grew brighter and brighter right up to the moment it shattered into a million pieces.
Using the chance to breathe, Devin marveled at how the pain vanished from his arm,. “Now that’s magical.” He said, testing his grip.
“But I don’t think it's done just yet.” He said with nervous anticipation while he watched red glitter fly around his body until it condensed into a tight red circle littered with green flakes. “I don’t know how long I can last for, but I’ll do it if it means I can use magic.” Devin was honest, but he couldn’t stop his limbs from shaking at the thought of bearing so much pain.
Thankfully, when the circle shot into his body, he fell into blissful unconsciousness, but not before feeling a fraction of the pain from his body’s transformation.
Circle Formation Successful
Wrath Growth Tree Integrated
Elite Growth Tree Integrated
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Devin awoke with a gasp, covered in a cold sweat. “I’m alive?” He asked, patting every part of his body.
Unlike before, his body was better than fine. Every injury that Devin had, whether recent or not, was healed and strengthened, leaving him feeling better than he’s ever felt before. He flexed his muscles, marveling at their new density.
“That’s just a plus. This is the real treat.” Devin’s core behind his heart twinged as he manifested his magic circle for the first time.
A seemingly solid crimson light traced itself in the air in front of Devin, creating a circle as well as a pattern in its center that resembled Big Bertha. It even depicted her tusks that seemed just as sharp as it did in real life. Devin stared at it until the image was seared into his mind.
Finally, after about a year’s worth of struggle, work, and pain, he had reached the same level as the people who awakened their powers on the very first day.
That didn’t stop his stomach from growling painfully. “I guess it’s time to stop by Gerald’s for some dinner.”