Chapter 11 : Evolution

Inside the Scylla mother-ship, in a large circular room, several Scyllas were present.

Each of them was facing what appeared to be control screens floating above the ground. These screens were large tablets made of an exotic material, which looked like black marble.

These Scyllas operators stood motionless in front of their screen, organized in a circle around the room. In its midst stood another Scylla, slightly larger with a fog denser than its comrades.

"Sir Legatus, the ninth squad has been completely eliminated."

"How many rifters have survived so far?"

"67, sir."

"Good, we'll teleport them when there remains only 50 left."

"With all due respect Sir, shouldn't we avoid losing too many of these new rifters before the fights with the Void Legions begin?"

"No, fifty is more than enough. This batch was never intended to be transformed into an army corps. Their purpose was to be used to confirm and finalize the last protocols, for us to create perfectly fused Void Rifters.

Since our research has been put on hold, they are no longer of any use to us."

Legatus replied coldly to his subordinate when suddenly another report reached him.

"Sir, we detected a Void energy surge from one specimen !!"

"Which one ?!"

"B213-84, Sir !"

"Oh ? So the monolith was right, he really can manipulate the void energy... You see, this batch wasn't completely wasted in the end. We didn't produce a single fully fused rifter yet and still one of the incomplete specimens already controlled Void energy !"

Legatus seemed happy to see such an unexpected outcome.

For him and all the other scyllas, the humans were only laboratory rats.

Seeing one of the specimens use the Void Energy before the end of their research is the best proof that their protocols were working, and they were just an inch away from perfection.

"We may have a problem, sir"

"What is it ?"

"The void energy surge damaged the beacons of this rifter and his squad, we may not be able to teleport them back unless we send another squad to find them."

"Hm... Do not worry, if they are still on Kar-goth they will probably die before we could send someone to find them. I never expected them to survive anyway, their species is one of the weakest and if not for their interesting gene pool, we would have just wiped them out of their solar system a long time ago."

"What shall we do, Sir ? It would be a waste to not examine this rifter's body. He is the first one to control the Void energy since we started this program, he did it even while being a failure and before we could create perfectly fused rifters !"

"You are right, and that is why I sent him and his squad on Kar-goth. This is both the closest and most dangerous planet of the Singularity borders. No matter what happens, when he dies and his Holy Child symbiont comes back to our Revered Mother, we will be able to process the data about him."

Every Scyllas in the control room felt excited at the idea of gathering data about this specimen.

In all experiments, there is always a chance for an unknown variable to appear. Being able to examine this sporadic and unexpected variable, which in this case is Jun, would give them a huge amount of knowledge and it will boost the advancement speed of their research.

Once the Void Invasions will be dealt with and their leader, Primus One, will allow them to resume their research, they will probably be able to save a lot of time to complete their protocols by using these new data.

And so, every Scyllas in the room were now in a good mood.

However, due to their superiority complex, arrogance and pride, what they took for granted was not yet.

Never could they have known that they just let slip the last chance they had to get their hands on B213-84.

They would never have another chance to examine this specimen.

One more presence, that even Primus One couldn't detect, was silently observing them.

Patiently waiting for its chance to play a part in the great Fate River flow.

___

'We can finally spend a few hours to rest...'

[Do not worry, I'll tell you when the next swarmlings units are getting close]

'Thanks, Gladia.'

I turned myself and faced Katarina who seemed extremely exhausted.

"How do you feel ?"

"My condition is improving."

"Good. We have a few hours left, use this time to rest. I don't know how you make this skill work, but from now on you shouldn't use it as often as you did."

"I understand."

While Alice and Douglas were both standing guard, I was currently resting with Jerome and Kat in what seemed to be an ancient storage room.

After taking the secret path inside the wall, we got tracked and chased by those monsters that we now call the Swarmlings. From what Katarina explained to me, the area they explored when I was still unconscious was similar to a Hive for the local monsters.

By penetrating into their territories, we antagonized them.

Hopefully, they first sent a small number of units to scout and gauge our force. Once they understood that we were not a major threat, they just send a continuous flow of low-level swarmlings to exhaust us, and either kill us or make us leave.

Sometimes, an alpha swarmling would join the battle and even if we fight well, they almost killed us far too many times.

After going deeper into the hidden passage while still dealing with the Swarm, Gladia informed me that this tunnel was artificially made by an ancient intelligent species, and it was probably so old that even the scyllas were not aware of its existence.

And she was right. After a whole month of intense run without resting nor treating our accumulated injuries, we found this storage room and locked ourselves in. From Gladia's analysis, this room would be able to keep us safe for a few hours until another swarmlings unit catches us.

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In this room, there were many strange objects which were either already destroyed or too old to be still recognizable. What seemed strange to me was that despite the very old age of the room and those objects, there was not a single grain of dust. As if someone or something was still maintaining this place clean.

I'm getting seriously tired of running into unknown life forms left and right trying to kill us on sight. I just hope this someone or something isn't hostile to us, so we could be safe long enough to recover and make a plan to escape this place.

'Gladia, are you sure about what you told me yesterday ?'

[Yes, I am. Those emblems the Scyllas gave you were acting as a beacon to track your position and teleport you back. When you concentrated then used the void energy to fight the centipede, I felt the radiation destroying the links those emblems had to the Scyllas. For both you and everyone else in a 15km radius.]

'I don't know how I should feel about it… I'm happy to know that we are not tracked anymore by those crazy ghosts, but on the other hand, how are we supposed to exit this place now ? The scyllas were our only way out of this planet. If they somehow decide to let us die here, and they probably will, we are doomed to survive on our own in a living hell.

'They didn't send anyone to us for a whole month, do they consider us dead already ?'

[I don't know, but you shouldn't lose hope. The gates the Scyllas are using to transfer organic beings through the singularity are using void energy as well, so if you find one you could make it work. Even if it's going to take a few more months or even years, you'll be fine.

Since you fused with the black matter you don't need to drink or to eat anymore, and your body ages much slower than normal humans.]

'To be honest, I would rather not spend any more time in this place and leave as soon as possible. But you're not wrong either, surviving here on our own is still better than being held captive by the Scyllas on their ship.'

After talking with Gladia, I thought about my squad.

During the last month we spent here, we found a way to stealthily communicate without having to use our mouths or to stick close to each other.

Our black matters can somehow link themselves between each other, this feeling of great synergy I have when fighting beside them probably comes from this special link we created between us.

After experimenting with these new synaptic links, we found a way to talk to each other by just sharing thoughts or whispering.

We also each developed certain kinds of abilities and skills. Since we woke up in the Scylla ship, this is the best and probably the only good thing we experienced.

It allowed us to specialize ourselves, increasing our chances of surviving and being more efficient when working together.

Now, we know what to do without having to talk to each other in any kind of situation. I don't have to lead them by the nose and to give them orders for everything anymore.

Each of them can now act on their own, and they all had a high sense of responsibility for the whole squad.

I wouldn't call it loyalty yet, but at least now, we care for each other as much as for ourselves. We are like a small family, even if they have been brainwashed by the scyllas they are still human in their core and these social links are not easily replaceable.

Jerome was the stronger of us, but he was also the gentler. One day, while battling an Alpha Swarmling to protect us, he used his black matter in an original way : as a super-regenerative power suit.

The powerful attacks of the alpha that would be enough to kill any of us only left scratches on his black armor, and they were immediately recovered. His black armor was able to continuously heal itself at a much faster rate than ours, and coupled with Jerome's physical strength, it made him almost unbeatable in a close combat fight.

His opposite is probably Douglas. When Jerome uses his body resilience and strength to fight in melee range, Douglas prefers to stay afar and take his shot from a safe distance.

He found a way to upgrade his face visor to improve his visual acuity, and he also somehow merged his rifle with his own black matter to make it even more powerful.

He bets everything on his firepower and accuracy while Jerome focuses on his defensive and melee abilities ; that is why they make such a good duo.

Some might find Douglas' way of fighting cowardly, but in reality, it was just the most efficient way of battling. The more distance you have between you and your target, the more likely you are to get the kill without giving your target a chance to harm you.

The best example would be the beings who first attacked us when we got teleported here.

Even now we still don't know who they were, nor how they killed so much of us in so little time. What we know, however, is that if we decide to return to the surface we'll have to face them, and none of us are ready to fight these unknown and deadly beings.

Fortunately, they didn't chase us down in the cave. Probably because this is a part of the Hive territory.

If they invade the Hive, the swarmlings would react much more intensely and send a hundredfold more dangerous and numerous units than what they are sending to kill us.

For the Hive, we are as dangerous as a few ants who lost their way, and this is the only reason we are still alive. However, if the monsters from the surface decide to raid the cave, they would be seen as a major threat to be eliminated as soon as possible.

In terms of ability, Alice was quite peculiar. If I had to describe her way of fighting, I would compare her to a sneaky predator, stealthily hiding in a bush before jumping forward and killing its prey in a single move.

She can use both energy rifle and sword well, but she seems to prefer the close distance assassination. Her unique skill allows her to blend into any environment by changing her black matter microscopical pigments.

It is almost the same as an invisibility skill, which makes her our best element for both scouting and surprise attacks.

Last but not least, Katarina.

Kat is probably the closest to what the scyllas expected from us as Void Rifters. Fast, agile, strong, precise, and smart : a deadly soldier.

She is the jack of all trades of our squad, but what makes her so special is the unique skill she created : a kind of super-powerful area mind-attack. I don't know how she made it nor do I know why she chose this way of fighting, but her ability to invade minds and provoke mental disruption is frightening.

When she first used it, everyone in a twenty meters radius had to stop the fight, both friends and foes. All of us experienced a part of what she inflicted on the swarmlings, and since this battle even if we get used to her skill and our black matter slowly adapted to make us immune against it, we do not dare to get in her line of sight when she is using it.

Just staying too close to her in this state will make us dizzy and provoke an intense headache.

She became a walking hyper-powerful EM field generator, if you pair this disruptive ability to her good performances in any stats, you can understand easily why she got ranked as a high lethality vector by the monolith.

We all evolved during the last month we spent trying to survive in this Hive.

We had no time to rest, and fighting so much made us all develop new techniques and improve ourselves as Void Rifters.

We now understand the black matter better, we can fight and act without having to talk, and our battle power greatly increased thanks to our improved synergy when fighting together.

As for me, I gained a lot from these experiences as well. My only regret is to have been injured and crippled so soon. My left arm didn't heal on its own and the black matter couldn't do much except just protect it so it doesn't rot away.

I can only use my right arm for now, as I still can't move my left one.

After thinking about it, I felt like a fool to use an unknown power such as the void energy against the centipede, and get this serious injury from the beginning.

However, after some time, tests, and discussion with Gladia, I understood something extremely important that changed my mind about this event.

Once again, I have been extremely lucky.

When I first met Gladia and absorbed the Netherite gem, I unconsciously used my left arm to absorb it, and the netherite particles from the stone have been merged mainly in my left arm.

When I later used the void energy against the centipede, I once again unconsciously used my left arm, and a reaction occurred between both the netherite particles, the black matter and the void energy.

If I had tried to concentrate the void energy on my right arm instead, I would have lost it in a second and probably lost my life before being able to manipulate the energy.

But instead, I used my left arm and the netherite particles acted as a catalyst. Gladia explained to me that we could find Netherite gems only from the Void, and these stones have an extremely high conductivity towards the Void Energy.

That is why the Scyllas used them to trap Gladia and the other Void Consciousness ; these beings were mainly formed with Void Energy.

By fusing with the netherite particles present in my left arm, a part of the black matter started to mutate on its own after being activated by the Void Energy.

What I thought was burnt marks and residual energy were in fact the black matter mutating and its link to the void, which only for the natives being from the Void like Gladia are supposed to have.

I didn't try to use the void energy again in fear of not being able to control it, but even if I lost one of my arm, in the end, I gained something much more important : a direction I can follow to evolve and improve myself as a rifter.

Every rifters found their way depending on their battle style, and I found mine as well. My objective is to be able to control this void energy, and if Gladia isn't wrong, I would be able to create Void Rifts or make Void Gates work, so we can escape this horrible planet.

As long as I keep faith in my squad, Gladia, the black matter and myself, I feel like my path to evolve is infinite.

My revenge might happen sooner than expected.