Trial I, Time Elapsed: 8H 23M 43S.

Report: List of High Tier Talents awakening in the region formerly known as [North America].

Frequency: 2 Instances of High-Tier Talents detected so far. Frequency when compared to statistics of previous fifty integrations: Extremely high. Total High-Tier talents awakening across Planet Earth: 9. Frequency when compared to statistics of previous fifty integrations: All records broken.

Name: Erin Olson.

Age: 25 years.

Erin sprinted through the forest with warm tears pouring from her eyes, without knowing which direction she was going in, too disoriented to care. There were people all around her— the remnants of her small, peaceful country town that hardly got more than a few hundred tourists every year. The town had disappeared from the face of the earth, as if had never existed to begin with— in its place wide, empty plains stretching into the horizon, populated by trees and large boulders that provided the little cover available in this dystopian reality. The trees were dense enough to be a hindrance as she ran, but not enough to obstruct her vision— she could see other town folk, people she grew up with, knew and loved, fight back against all manners of freakish animals, a piercing scream echoing out every few seconds when someone inevitably lost and screamed out in terror.

Three of the four people she had ‘spawned’ back on earth with had died a few hours into this new world, one of whom she had known before the apocalypse— a small, dainty woman that worked in the local bar as a bartender. The only reason she had survived the attack of that enraged pack of animals was because she ran away the moment the first among them cried in terror, her reflexes overtaking her actions before she knew it.

She felt revulsion for her own cowardly actions, guilt weighing down upon her every step— if she had stayed and fought, could they have survived? What if she asked one of the neighboring groups for assistance? Was she the one responsible for their deaths instead of the animals?

Erin’s train of thought was cut short as she let out a screen, tripping over a gnarled, exposed root and forward. Hyperventilating, her survival instincts kicked in as she rolled back so her back now lay against the ground, clutching the dagger in her hand without knowing if she had the resolve to use it.

Her attacker finally came into her vision, a red-eyed canine animal with dark orange fur and a drooling tongue hanging out dumbly, with razor-sharp teeth; resembling the base physiology of a dog that had been subjected to mutation of some sort.

Her small dagger looked like a child’s toy in front of the predator in front of her, and dread welled up in her mind, paralyzing her actions. An unfamiliar heat started to rise in her chest, and even on the verge of death, Erin felt that the heat brought her a familiarity in which she found comfort. Her mind was overwhelmed by the terror the prospect of death brought her, but approaching the sensation brought her a comfort akin to a mother’s embrace, assuaging her fears and bringing a calmness from the inexplicable feeling that… everything would be okay.

The mutated dog seemed like it could wait no longer, pouncing at her with an unnatural bloodlust in his eyes. Erin watched as the dog pounced at her, her face matted in grime, sweat and dried tear stains, only uttering two words in response.

“Stop it,” her voice feeble and weak pleaded, and the next second the world…. seemed to comply with her request. The warmth in her chest suddenly exploded with golden brilliance, enveloping the entirety of her body and a second later, encasing her under a layer of golden light. The air itself seemed to contort around her, as the dog whose speed seemed so despairingly fast moments ago… was almost comically slow. She swerved her head away from it’s sharp jaws, snapping onto the gnarled tree root instead of her head, and got back on her feet with unnatural grace. The mutated dog whimpered in confusion, his quarry seemingly having disappeared in thin air.

Erin towered over the animal from the side, her face visible from underneath the transparent coat of golden light. Her expression was conflicted, as another tear poured out from her eyes before she shook her head with resolve.

“This is my town,” she said with resolve, as she raised her left palm forward. A blinding beam of golden, almost holy light was released from her arms, striking down upon the mutated dog ruthlessly. A second later the dog’s upper body was missing, a melted puddle of blood, skin and viscera the only sign it had ever existed. The next instant Erin moved with a flash of light, her speed faster than even the fastest olympic sprinter, leaving two trails of smouldering grass in her wake.

Talent: Child of Light, Tier 7.

Compatibility ratio: 77.83%

Adept Yunlan’s Report:

Erin Olson

Awakening: Talent awakened under extreme duress, immediate threat to life, survivor’s guilt and a strong desire to protect her hometown.

Disposition/ Personality: Kind, empathetic, towards people she has grown up with and the town she has lived in. Strong survival instinct, subconsciously able to make hard decisions when forced to the brink. Species nationalism (Homo Sapien): Medium.

Background: Adopted to Brian Olson and Jude Olson, an elderly couple in their late sixties, under system protection.

Compatibility Evaluation: Very high.

Name: Theo Marsh.

Age: 20 years.

The sound of metal cutting through air and rending flesh, boisterous triumphant screams, the dying gurgles of monsters and men alike echoed in the background, but Theo just kept walking forward; his expression hollow, his frail hands holding onto a sword almost reluctantly. The world around him was reduced to the prehistoric age, and people either fought for their lives or ran away in terror, but Theo continued to walk at a slow pace, seemingly unconcerned for his own fate.

He did not know when it started— he had felt something stir within himself, a cold, chilly liquid that felt like it was flowing through his veins, but disappearing when he focused on the sensation. Perhaps it had been a few minutes ago, but he was sure it had not been more than an hour. Half an hour then, half an hour ago, Theo had been with his friend, Marc and two other random individuals he had never met before in his life. It made sense, for before the masked man had taken him away into that white room and told him to choose a class, he and Marc were out to buy some groceries, as he was his college roommate and friend.

The first few hours of the apocalypse were brutal, his experience much like Erin Olson’s— except his city was far larger than her puny town, resulting in far more ‘monsters’ zoning in on their location. Perhaps this was divine punishment for their actions, how ironic it was— their proud cities, a testament to thousands of years of civilization, gone, just like that. Replaced with vibrant greenery, flowers and tall trees— a notion that wouldn’t even be that bad were the ground not littered with spilled blood, the grass already starting to dye itself in crimson.

They had separated from the other two teammates whilst running from a pack of bloodthirsty silver wolves, finally managing to give them the slip after half an hour of nonstop sprinting— Marc’s idea to put all their points into agility, dexterity and constitution paying off. Both of them were crouched behind a thick tree, eventually coming to the grim realization that the only reason they managed to give the wolves a slip was because they had likely found a different target. This was the city, and even now the constant sounds of warfare and angry unintelligible curses could be heard in the distance.

It was precisely then, when they had let their guards down, did a silvery wolf burst out from a bush to their west, even when their initial approach had been from the north. Both of them stood up the same time, but the solitary wolf’s approach was so fast they barely had a few seconds to react.

It was then that Marc’s frightened scream echoed in his ears— but he truly did not expect what followed next. A hand landed over his shoulder with a burst of force, causing his expression to contort in shock as he was propelled forward before losing his balance and stumbling towards the ground.

‘Marc!’ was the angry thought that crawled to the top of his mind in that moment, knowing that it was the person who he considered a friend had betrayed him so viciously. He did not even have time to curse as he felt the wolf’s chilly, repulsive breath on his face, before it’s claws sunk deeply into his throat. In that moment, the terror Theo felt could not be described with words, followed by a searing hot pain and then… darkness. Half a second later, the world shattered.

…..

Heavily breathing, his eyes wide in shock, Theo found himself back in the forest next to Marc, a system notification flashing in front of him. He instinctively seemed to understand what happened, but there was no time. He had to warn…. Marc? The searing pain and the terror that drove him to anguish flashed in his mind as his expression hardened with a growing fury.

The silvery wolf burst out a few seconds later, and Theo, who had been taking quick glances at Marc sidestepped seemingly for no reason. His agility, dexterity and constitution were quick enough for him to react to Marc’s attacks, the reason he didn’t do so earlier was because he simply never expected an attack from behind. Marc’s expression turned aghast as his hand landed on empty air, but Theo didn’t hesitate. A quick kick was delivered with precision to the back of Marc’s left knee, sending him to the ground in a half knelt posture, followed by a moment of hesitation, and then a boot to his exposed back, sending him tumbling forward.

With a horrified expression on his face, Theo ran in the opposite direction at the fastest speed his legs could take him, his hands trembling as if he could not believe what he had done. He ran, and ran until his lungs burned and he could run no longer.

Until he couldn’t. So he walked.

…..

Back in the forest, Theo continued to walk in the direction of the citadel, his face haunted and his expression hollow. The sound of a set of animal footsteps came from the south-west, but Theo didn’t even so much as twitch in response. Exactly forty seconds later as a gushing wild boar was charging at him from behind with intention to impale him, Theo sidestepped to the right and brought his sword down with a flicker of [Qi Blade].

A fountain of blood pooled out at his feet as the boar’s decapitated head fell to the ground with a thunk, its body landing a second later. But Theo didn’t even bother to loot the animal, simply continuing to walk forward with his blank expression, into the distance.

Talent: World Imprint, Tier 6.

Compatibility Ratio, 88.45%.

Adept Varkis Zhal’s Report

Awakening: Subconsciousness detecting fatal threat with pre-cognition-based talent and self-awakening.

Disposition: Apathetic, likely in shock. More time needed for further observation.

Background: Born to Oliver Marsh and Maria Blanc. Former deceased in system trial. Latter alive, unawakened. Chances of survival based on current progress: 12.33%. Recommendation: Transfer Maria Blanc into System Protection allocated to under 18 and over 65 aged humans with immediate effect.

Compatibility Evaluation: Prodigious.

Report from Empyrean Shal Xin

Priority: Maximum

A complete copy of this report has been leaked to the Zirayan Consortium of Planet Xieros, which has an 88.34% chance of harboring connections to the Three Noble Races. Adept Yunlan self-detonated before apprehension and interrogation was possible. As expected, he was a pawn inserted belonging to one of the subordinate races; likely the Dark Elves. Soon, this information will be common knowledge among all eighty-four planets of the third realm, as per the Heavenly Venerate’s instructions. I will now erase all memories relating to this communication and the Heavenly Venerate’s plans, and request to be removed from all further information communiques.

Your faithful servant,

Xin.