Chapter 4: The voice

Everyone's attention was on me as I was standing still, looking fearsome with blood all over my naked body. At that moment, I completely forgot that I was naked with everyone's eyes on me. I was trying to look scary and be ready to fight, as many people needed to show off and prove my strength. With only one hand, a couple of them should be enough to take me down, so looking scary was important.

After a moment of silence, I thought to myself: 'Bunch of cowards, how can you let a one-handed young man frighten all of you like this ?' Then I realized the throne was mine.

Someone was approaching me. I gathered my left arm's fingers together and was ready to strike, but he kneeled in front of me and spoke.

"How can I serve you, sir. I watched you closely during that attack, and I think you are smart and strong enough to be our leader. " Surprised, I stopped my attack and said: "My hand ? How is my hand back? "

"This world is different from the earth." You should hear a voice explaining some of the general rules. It will start approximately 5 minutes after you get out of your shell, and it will last for about 10 minutes, and everyone here experienced that. "

I looked at the other people and, said "Is this true? "

Surprised by how precise his information was, some of them replied: "Y..yes."

I looked back at that man and said "Stand up, and show me your face."

he did as I asked. I completed "I want this to be the last time, one of you kneel in front of me. Understood?"

"Yes, Understood"

"What is your name?"

His name was Akira he was slightly taller than me, with black hair and blue eyes covered with rectangular glasses.

"My name is Akira."

I spoke up "Listen, everyone. While I will be busy with this voice, I want you all to do the following instructions, and Akira will be in charge. I want you to make four groups of people. The first group will have the strongest ones. The second with the smartest ones. The third group should have people that have a certain skill, other than being smart or strong. The last one, containing the remaining people. " I turned back to Akira and said as I was pointing towards Selia: "Give her some clothes, and put her on the third group."

Selia was laying on the ground, covering herself with one of the broken shells. She seemed to be hearing something we couldn't hear. 'I think she is hearing that thing. My turn should be in seconds, knowing that I left the shell right after her.

"Ray" 'Is it the voice?'

I said " Akira, what are you waiting for?"

"Yes, sir" He nodded, and he left.

"Ray, welcome to my world." 'The voice now sounds clear, but I feel like I'm disconnected from my body'

"You don't have to worry about your body. I would like you to pay close attention to the information I'm willing to give you. Unlike the place you came from, here you don't feel hungry. Food will only replenish your stamina and your Mana. For the second thing, you already experienced it. You can naturally heal your bounds if you kill somebody as long as the area you want to be healed, is intact on his dead body. Last but not least, after everyone here is ready, the main event will start; the awakening day."

'As I expected, killing here is not forbidden. But he didn't talk about the difference in the environment. And what is this awakening day? And what about Mana, can we really use magic? If so, why hasn't anyone used it yet? '

"The awakening day is the day you will get to have your magical power. To be as fair as possible I will let you pick any magical power you would like to have but to balance power among you, you will have to live with a curse, a malediction chosen by me, depending on the power you chose and your personalities. "

"What if I decided to have the power of a god, or to have no power?" I spoke

"The price of having the power of a god is your life. The same goes for any power unique to a god, like reviving the dead. On the other hand, you will not be cursed if you decide to live with no power. But you should be aware that at the end of the awakening day, your new abilities will be tested. A person with no power or any external help will not be able to live that test."

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"Can I get an example of power with its malediction?"

"I already exceeded the amount of information you should be getting. Now farewell, Ray."

I started hearing noises of dozens of people, I blinked to see myself back at that white platform. Now, I had clothes on, and a long one-handed sword. Before I started asking questions, Akira stood in front of me and said "We all get clothes and a weapon depending on our fighting styles, after hearing the voice. The groups you asked to be made, are almost done. " 'Now that I know about this awakening day, making these groups is less interesting. Because a mass of muscles with a peanut-sized brain, for example, will have a hard time beating a weakling that picked a strong ability.' Akira continued "We are 83 people here, and there is 40 more on their shells."

"Finish making the groups first, I'll be giving a talk before we start waking up people. " The main reason for making those groups is to know the categories of people I'm dealing with. The pawns, the brain-locked, the leaders, the indolent, and the hell-bent. Some of them should be threaded carefully, others should be wisely manipulated, and some few cases should be eliminated.

While I was thinking about a strong ability to have, and trying to predict a matching malediction for it, I saw Selia's silhouette approaching me from behind.

She said "Boss... or King Ray? "

"I'm not your boss anymore, and I'm not planning to be a king either. You can call me Ray."

"Thank you, Ray." She stood beside me, took my hand, put it between hers, and said "I know deep inside you are a good person. "

After a moment of silence, I said "Did you think about your special ability? "

"Yes, I'm thinking about having the ability to read people's minds."

'Oh crap! I completely forgot about this one. ' "I don't think this is a great one for you to pick. "

"Why? I thought I picked a good one. "

"Reading people's minds won't help you survive in a world full of magic."

She looked down and said: "Then I will pick another one."

"What about a curse breaker? You know, if you get it for me, I'll be so very grateful. And in return, I will protect you. "

She released my hand and said as she was turning back to leave "Sounds boring but I'll think about it. I came here to tell you that the groups are almost made. Come have a look."

I thought about making someone a curse breaker for me, but revealing this hack in front of people I don't trust, is dangerous. My only option was Selia, but I didn't have enough time to make a plan where she was forced to pick it.

In front of 119 people divided into 4 groups, Akira on my right, and 2 more people still on their shells, I announced "We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. Today we are all lucky people here. We are lucky to be the founders of the new world, a better world for humanity, a better world for our families, for our sons and daughters, a better world for ourselves. Since we are the only ones in this world, let’s make history remember our names. I'm not your king, I'm just the one that will be leading you to the top, I'm your leader " The purpose of saying (I'm your king) before, was to scare people off because I was at a disadvantage. Afterward, I didn't need that title anymore, and being a king is not my thing.

Everyone was chanting and applauding, I felt like a king at that moment, but suddenly a strong and deep voice interrupted saying.

"Who said you are the only ones in here? Humans This is the awakening day."

The sky darkened as he was speaking "You will get to have an ability from your own choice. But you will have to live with a curse according to your power and personality. You will have to give the name of the power you have chosen, then imagine yourself using it. The rules for this are the following:

1-Whatever you imagined, should be related to the name of the power chosen.

2-Your powers can evolve with time, depending on your initial imagination.

3-The curse you will be getting does not take into consideration the state of your power after its development.

4-You will have to survive a test with your new powers.

5-To break the curse, your only option is to do a certain task or condition depending on your choice of power and personality, given after the awakening day.

And keep in mind that some curses may be instant death if you chose some specific powers. You have 5 minutes before the test begins. Farewell humans. "

'I think now I know what I should pick.' I smiled.

Five minutes passed and we all got to pick an ability. Everyone was waiting for the test, then the platform disappeared, and we found ourselves in the middle of the air falling to death. I said "Everyone, what are you waiting for. Activate your abilities, Please." 'Did I just say (please)? It doesn't matter, I just want to see what abilities people chose.'

I saw a lot of elemental abilities, fire, water, lightning, ice, earth, and air. For those, they can survive if they use their abilities efficiently. A lot more were shocked, meaning that their abilities aren't going to help in this situation. Akira was flying, and he already revealed his power. He had big eagle wings, making him look badass. He flew down to me and said "Do you need help?" I said: "No, I'm fine. Can you help Selia instead?" She was freaking out. Obviously, she picked either the one I told her about or something useless. I ordered "Hey, everyone that can fly, help the ones from the tree first groups if you can. "

The ability I chose wasn't something I can help people with. I decided to be the first one on the ground to enjoy the view. I increased my speed and stood on the ground like it was nothing. The air pressure caused by my falling speed was ginormous, to the point where it caused the nearby trees to curve. I looked up and said, feeling smug: "It is raining corpses today. May the Lord forgive their sins?”