*Clink* *Clink*

Tugging on the chains once again confirms, I am indeed shackled to the bed. Looking past the red stains on the sheets, the only other thing in the room is a shelf lined with various tools, from different sized scalpels to some thing that looks like a bolt cutter…..

Seeing them only makes me pull on the chains harder, unfortunately whatever the bed and chains are made of isn’t normal. Struggling only seems to be harming myself as I watch a stream of blood coat the edges of the cuffs. The skin under felt unnaturally raw, even my strength felt depleted… Maybe it had something to do with that previous message saying my soul was being changed…. Either way I don’t think I will be able to escape.

For that matter, I don’t even know what I need to escape from…. Last thing I remember was looking at Astoria’s main body in wonder before falling unconscious…

As I dissect my fragmented memories of before, a door suddenly appears across the room. It slowly creaked open letting in a torrent of black fog which seemed unnaturally dense. It immediately began to twist and twirl across the floor as it pooled together.

The fog collected at the edge of the bed before rapidly spinning upwards to reveal a smiling Astoria…

She was dressed in a tight fitting black dress which seemed to move on its own, despite the lack of wind. The familiar pink hair cascaded over her shoulders with a few stray strands floating about as her incandescent silver eyes roamed over me.

“I am glad you are awake.”

“What happened?”

As soon as I asked her eyes snapped to mine as her smile widened ever so slightly….

“Unfortunately looking at my main body was too much for you… At the same time a ghoul had snuck behind us and used the momentary distraction to attack you. Even I had no idea the creature was there, which allowed it the time it needed to inject its necrotic poison into your system.” Her smile faltered as she seemed extremely sad…

“I was able to extract the poison, however…. When the ghoul attacked you, your weapon sacrificed itself to save you from the brunt of its attack…. And shattered under its assault…”

As she finished speaking the pain I had been hiding shoved itself to the forefront of my mind… My body felt incredibly hot, as my bones creaked and my organs protested the impossible pain.

Aiyla…. Was gone?

The pit in my stomach that hadn’t been preset since the initiation of the Gift opened even wider than before….

Astoria watched as the light in Mark’s eyes slowly dimmed until his normally emerald eyes faded to a juniper color. All luster gone, Mark seemed only like a husk of his former self, and when he smiled up at Astoria, even she as an ancient being shivered by the emptiness inside him… All she could think to herself at the time was.. ‘He’s perfect!’....

“Can you get these chains off of me?” Mark’s voice was completely dead pan despite the plastered smile he had convincingly put on…

Once again, Astoria’s smile faltered….

“No…”

“Why not?”

“Because I need you.”

“Then let me go.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because without me you will die…”

“Who says that?”

“I do.”

Astoria’s sclera fades to black as she stares into the uncaring Mark’s eyes.

“What are you going to do to me?”

At this she smiles…. A smile that reminded Mark of how his parents would look at him right before another one of their experiments.

“I want to make you better.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

“Why?”

Her brows crease as she stared into his eyes. He hadn’t reacted in the least to her confession…. ‘No matter, I can make him understand with time.’

“I know you have an empty mutation at the moment, let me use it.”

“Why?”

“You will become stronger if you accept.”

“Why?”

“Because if you were stronger, your weapon might have survived.”

At the mention of Aiyla, Mark violently lurches forward… Even the room shakes from the force he put into the lunge. The bed creaking dangerously as the chains dig even deeper into his skin, causing a fresh wave of red to paint the sheets.

“WHY?”

This time, it was less of a shout and more a command. Without trying his voice carried over miles, amplified by his silent fury. Even at the moment he had no idea he was mad. He no longer cared, if she wasn’t with him why should he?

“Because the only thing that matters to the System is power. It cares not for anything other than giving everyone complete freedom in order to do whatever they want. This breeds individuals who claim to be the good guys…. These same men will then strip entire worlds of all righteousness before burning it in a pyre of deceit and misery. Those men are the reason you need power. They are the reason I am alone, and you will be the one to get rid of them.”

The intensity of Astoria's eyes seemed to rival the emptiness present in Mark’s own.

“Do it.”

Mark laid back on the bed, before closing his eyes.

Astoria waited a moment to see if he would try anything only to find that Mark was barely even breathing…. ‘Very well. Luckily for you, I know a few psychic who increased their powers like this. Although it may interfere with your human composition, in time an evolution or two will fix it.’

During the procedure Mark had fainted. Not to say that he was unable to take the pain as he was already experiencing something that would make most veterans cry like a baby. His brain simply couldn’t handle the stress of so much pain, that it had forced him into an unconscious state.

Waking up once again in the unfamiliar room, he took a moment to look around before reading the notifications shoving their way to the front of his mind.

Soul expansion: 4% Complete....

....

..

Initial stages overcome, Mutation calibrated, pain reduced.

Warning: Pain may spike if you try and consume any more souls, it is recommended you don't.

You have endured many hours of being tempered by Aether, granting Weak Aether Resistance: (Tier I)

Weak Aether Resistance: (Tier I)

Typically gained through unnecessary or recommended methods... Aether Resistance is the most general of resistances, and can be applied through multiple different resistances.

Shields user by 1% from Aether

You have used your one guaranteed mutation!

Adjusting form.....

...

....

Adjusted…

You have transplanted a Soul Phoenix's eye into your system!

Transplantation successful!

Soul Phoenix; (Extinct)

A Soul Phoenix is a rare variant of the Phoenix Variety. They typically live in areas of strife as the constant flow of souls provide a reliable source of food. Due to this habit however, they were seen as the cause of the strife, and subsequently hunted to extinction. Since they were immortal, they were continuously murdered until every last Phoenix wished for true death. Only then were they allowed eternal rest.

Little remain of the Soul Phoenix other than what few intelligent species deigned to salvage, realizing the true value of their species. Any part saved from the void boasted immortality, unless someone truly wished to destroy the priceless remains.

Soul Phoenix Eye: Integration (Tier I)

To some cultures, a person's eyes are said to house the mind. It's no different for those distant members of the Soul Phoenix.

Grants the ability to be reborn once per system year, this reverts the user back to their most optimal condition. This ability ignores all energies and simply restores the body, mind, and soul.

Boosts Psychic and Soul Capabilities by 10%

The fact he had a new eye, took a moment to process for Mark. As he looked around the room he closed his right eye… then his left… and he could still see everything…. Looking down he could actually see his nose and eyelashes peaking over the curve of his forehead.

Rushing to get out of the bed, he immediately collapsed as his feet met the ground. It felt like he hadn’t eaten in days….. Ignoring the pain and discomfort much like with his soul, Mark crawled towards the mirror desperate to know what happened.

As soon as he arrived, he was stunned.

Nothing much had changed other than him being slightly paler than usual….

That and the rather breathtaking Silver Eye sitting where his forehead would normally have been.

Unlike a normal eye, the silver took up much of the outer parts of the eye while a vertical slit of darkness occupied the center. Even this darkness had brief flashes of white as if a hidden fire raged within. It nearly looked fake with its crystalline structure and constantly shifting composition. His vision had adjusted to be perfectly in sync with his normal sight, so Mark couldn’t tell the difference unless he actively focused on his new sense organ.

The exhilaration he felt was short lived however, as he remembered his most recent loss…

Aiyla was gone.

She was never coming back….

I am going to be alone again.

I have always known I was destined to be alone, but Aiyla had changed that.

I figured it wouldn’t be so bad if she was all I would ever have… but now shes gone… and they took her from me.

In the mirror, the silver phoenix eye began to glow…. A deep red eliminating the darkness of its pupil….

In that moment, several things happened all at once… The mirror shattered throwing glass all over Mark, while the bed he had previously rested upon was torn to shreds.

He received a message that he had severely drained his Aether Reserves before he began to pull at reality with Aether Kinesis.

The world fractured around Mark as he drew upon the realm itself to fuel his other abilities. Another hole opened in the wall, this time minus the door.

On the other side stood a wide eyed Astoria who seemed as if she was about to walk in herself until the new hole had appeared.

“Mark! What are you doing!”

She seemed genuinely angry for some reason. Although Mark didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was that Aiyla was gone and he was alone once again.

Mark brushed past her, ignoring her attempts to stop him as he made his way towards the cavern full of corpses… Arriving before it, he stopped a moment to verify if it was the same one, before jumping headfirst into the graveyard.

Using Aerokinesis to control his fall, unable to fly completely with his limited understanding of the ability, he managed to avoid another round of pin the bone fragments on the Mark and heavily landed in a relatively vacant area.

Upon his arrival, a howl went up as the surrounding ghouls rushed to feast upon the newest victim.

Seeing Mark’s unmoving figure, they all cackle with glee thinking yet another broken feast had been delivered.

Simultaneously activating pyrokinesis in junction with hydrokinesis, he managed to free up much of the dried up blood in the surroundings before he pulled all of it towards himself…..

At that moment a vortex of bone and blood surrounded Mark, completely obscuring him from the surrounding ghouls. Inside the vortex, a horrifying spear of bone drenched in the decayed flesh and blood of the dead formed in Mark’s hand.

The Spear was seven to eight feet long and a near exact copy of Aiyla, down to the now glowing red spear centered between the blade and shaft.

Twirling the new spear a few times showed it to be only temporary as blood and bone flaked off and immediately reformed under his own will.

As he willed it, the vortex disappeared to reveal the hungry maws of hundreds of ghouls, all staring at Mark. As soon as the vortex completely dissipated they rushed him, thinking even with live prey it would be easy.

Outnumbered and outleveled, normally a person would give up in that situation.

But these things were the reason Mark no longer had Aiyla….

Even the ghouls began to feel something stir within their cold hearts…. Had they remembered the feeling, they would have immediately recognized it as fear, unfortunately they were simple undead.

So while they knew the feeling to be bad, they ignored it in favor of the delicacy that was flesh that would soon be granted to them….

Meanwhile, atop the pit, sat Astoria.

A malicious smile graced her lips as she stared down at the fight.

“Soon you will belong only to me. All I need to do is make you forget about that possessive weapon and everything will be fine.”