I woke up with a sudden jolt of my body. I was covered in sweat, laying on the floor with a massive headache. My memories from last night are fuzzy. As they slowly came back to me, I quickly checked my pocket. The gem wasn’t there anymore. I looked around and didn’t see a single sign of it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something just felt wrong. I couldn't help feeling that it was all a drunken delusional. The gem, the spider, they are just a creation of my imagination. I was losing it just staying in this cramped up apartment drinking myself to sleep, yup that must be it. I enter the bathroom and undress, catching a glimpse of something that frightened me. A naked man next to me.

For a second I thought there was an intruder, but only it wasn’t. That was the mirror, that man I was seeing was me, only he wasn’t. The guy I saw was taller than me, handsomer, better toned and much paler. He wasn’t a scrawny little orphaned loner I was used to seeing.

“What the hell?”

I lifted my hand and touched my face, sure enough it was different, I had changed. It felt surreal like a dream, nothing made sense. How did I change so much over night? What happened after I passed out? What did the gem do?

Questions raced around my mind as I tried to make sense of reality. The problem is that whenever I tried to think about last night my headache would get worse. In the end I pushed it to the side and took a cold shower to cool off. Without any better ideas I dressed myself left my apartment, my stop, the local clinic. I signed in and waited to be called. As I sat down, I kept on feeling that strange sensation. I could feel something was wrong with me beyond the changes of my body and the headache. I just don’t know what it was.

When it was my turn, I entered the examination room and met the doctor. Dr. Kakashi had been my doctor since I can remember so we knew each other already.

“Sup Doc.”

“Cimex? Now that’s a pleasant surprise, looks like you’ve been busy since last time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Looks like a gained a few in height and in muscle. You look healthier than last time, although a bit pale. Now what’s wrong, is it the skin?”

“It’s not the skin, it’s the other stuff that’s the issue. I don’t know what happened I just sort of ended up this way recently (I can’t tell him over night) without working out or anything and I was wondering if you could check me out. Also, I have a pretty big headache and I just feel there’s something wrong with me.”

“Really now? Well I suppose it could be a late growth spurt caused by a hormone imbalance, but that isn’t a cause for concern. As for the headache I think I know what it is.”

“What?”

I could see the seriousness in his eyes as he looked at me. He must have noticed something wrong with me, right?

“You’ve been drinking haven’t you? I didn’t notice it at first, but I can smell it in your breath.”

Damn.

“Um…”

Oh God why this?

“Don’t try to deny it Cimex. You know you shouldn’t be drinking in the first place, you’re a minor. It’s bad for your body and mind. It can cause liver and kidney damage, as well as harm your brain development and cause damage to your digestive system. I don’t know why you’re are doing this, but I recommend you to stop. Hangovers at your age are not a good thing and I don’t want you to get addicted. If you want, I can sign you up for a local AA meeting where you can go find help.”

“No Doc, that’s not why I am here. I just felt there was something wrong and was wondering if you could check it.”

“Ok then, what do you feel?”

“That’s what I want you to tell me Doc.”

“That’s not very helpful. Let’s just do a regular check-up since your do for one anyways. We’ll skip the blood tests since the alcohol will mess those up.”

“Ok that sounds good.”

“Lets start with checking your heartbeat, would you mind lifting up you shirt and taking deep breaths?”

“No problem.”

I did as he told and he placed the cold disk of the stethoscope against my skin. For some reason I didn’t react to the cold. I could feel it was very cold, but I didn’t feel good nor bad. I could see the doctor’s brows scrunch up as he listened.

“That’s strange.”

“What’s wrong?”

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“I can’t hear your heartbeat. Maybe there’s something wrong with the stethoscope.”

He used it on himself, but that only make his reaction worse.

“No that’s not it, it works fine. Wait her for a sec.”

Soon after the doctor came back with the blood pressure machine. I stuck my arm in and he started to pump.

“What the… Impossible. How?”

“What’s going on?”

“Your pressure is so low I don’t think it’s even reading.”

“That’s not good is it?”

“Of course it isn’t! Stay here.”

The doctor left in a panic. I was starting to get nervous. I don’t have a heartbeat, I don’t have blood pressure, what the fuck! When he returned this time he had a needle.

“I know I said we are going to skip the blood work, but I need to try this out.”

“Um, ok.”

He stuck the needle in my arm and I didn’t have to be a doctor to see the issue, there was no blood coming out. He tried a few more times and still nothing. Stranger still I didn’t feel any pain. It was like with the stethoscope, I could feel it, but it wasn’t enough to force a reaction.

“Open you mouth.”

“Ok.”

He took a single glance and his serious face became grave.

“Listen to me, we have to get you to a hospital. I think you have major internal bleeding. Your gums and skin are pale, you aren’t bleeding and you heartbeat is so faint I can’t hear it. I don’t even know how your still alive. Just lie down and rest I’ll call the ambulance.”

Not good, not good! This was going south really fast, I need to get out now.

“You know what doc? On second thought I feel fine now. Just forget about this and I’ll be on my way out.”

“But your dying!”

“No I’m not, I’m leaving. Now. Goodbye.”

I didn’t wait for a response and got out asap. As soon as I was out the door I ran home. I rushed inside and locked the door. This was fucking scaring me. I just ran home yet I haven’t broken a sweat and my heartbeat isn’t pounding at all. Am I really dying? No that doesn’t make sense at all. I feel fine, a bit strange, but fine. My body feels fine for the most part.

I feel mentally tired and the headache isn’t helping. I crawl into bed and cover myself with my blanket. I close my eyes and go to sleep. Hopefully I wake up and this was all just a nightmare, hopefully.

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I am surrounded by a shroud of darkness. I can’t see anything, even myself. In the distance I hear sounds akin to soft breezes and whispers. After an indeterminate amount of time I hear a voice in front of me.

“Your metamorphosis has gone well Cimex. We are pleased to see you.”

The voice sounded strange. It was as if multiple being are speaking in unison. Their voices had a certain ring to it, the words both powerful and profound to my ears. I muster the courage to speak.

“Who are you all? What is this?”

“That doesn’t matter Cimex. What we are shouldn’t concern you. What should concern you is what you will become. We are both your curse and your salvation, an opportunity no one in this realm has. Whether you choose to accept it or not doesn’t matter. It is inside you and our powers are now part of you. Nuture them well. This is our final message.”

At that moment I had an epiphany. A multitude of wondrous ideas and concepts rushed into my minds. Their profundity able to drive even the greatest man insane. Spells and incantations exploded outward. My mind squealing in pain as a third eye was torn open inside my soul. I already knew what this was thanks to the information, it was my mana sense, it allowed me to tap into the power in all things around me, it was beautiful, inspirational, electrifying.

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha!”

I felt such joy I was laughing like a crazed man with no stop in sight. As the wave of painful euphoria settled down my mind cleared, I was scared. As those powers had passed through me, many thoughts shot through my head, none of them good. I felt the urge to kill, to dominate, to conquer, to destroy. Until moments ago, these thoughts seemed so natural to me, as if I was entitled to do as I pleased with the world knowing it was nothing more than my plaything. That wasn’t me. I’m no angel, but neither am I a psychotic killer. What was that inside of me?

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My eyes open, the light of the sun coming into view. This time I wasn’t in a puddle of sweat. I feel strangely calm as the memories of my dream flow into me. Around me I see layers of mist that both do and don’t exist. Different strands of different colors mix in with each other, each representing an element. That means my dream was real, either that or I’ve gone completely insane.

As I exit my room I see a concentration on black strands on the floor in the shape of a human. I suddenly remembered that the reason this apartment was so cheap was because the last tenant was killed here. Lucky me.

All I had to do was reach out with my mana sense and will the strands to come to me. Like serpents attracted to prey they approached me and entered my body. Inspecting myself with the mana sense I could see them flow through me into my chest, entering a five-colored vortex. The vortex was consuming the energy like a ravenous beast.

Throughout this ordeal I was eerily calm. I no longer feared this power because it just felt so natural, like breathing. It was part of me now and I had already subconsciously accepted it.

I still felt a lot of knowledge was sealed to me, hidden in the recesses of my mind. These seals kept me from accessing the information. I wasn’t upset because I could feel that the reason was that I was incapable of bearing it yet. I still had no deep knowledge of spells or incantations, but what I did know was methods of purification.

If I wanted to wield these powers, I would have to go through five cycles of purification, one for each energy. It would mold my mortal body into a worthy vessel. I don’t know who the voices are, but they left a very well-planned guide to which order I should purify in order to have the least issues.

What I learned was that the changes to my body from yesterday are just a push in the right direction when it came to the first purification. That purification of death would kill me in the physical realm, making me no longer rely on bodily functions to live, but rather become an ethereal being. My body would be nothing more than a puppet to my soul, nurtured and maintained by mana. I would never have to fear a mortal death, only other beings capable of affecting the soul could give me true fatal wound.

Once complete next would come the purification of decay, deception, toxicity and disease. I still didn’t know what these next purifications entailed, the knowledge still hidden away from me. What I did know was that once these purifications became complete, I could finally gain access to my first powers.

Thinking about it I was accepting this way to easily, I must be insane, but if this is what insanity is. I LOVE IT.