All the slaves live inside the City of Gods before the trial of power. The city was located on the eighth floor of a secret subterranean world owned by an organization known as the Headless Dragon.

It was always day inside the city. A huge fiery ball that played the role of a miniature sun, floated near the distant ceiling. Everything from the poorly built city to the fake blue sky and sun was created by the Grand magicians of the Headless Dragon.

From the words of the slaves who were living in the outside world before they were sold to the Headless Dragon and shared their meager knowledge with us who were born in this subterranean city, the organization we belong to was revered as the most successful on the surface world. The Headless Dragon made its name known around the Nether continent a thousand years ago by creating stage two mutants. Just two hundred years ago they had a breakthrough in their research and announced the existence of an elixir that could create stage three mutants that were on par with Grand magicians. It only held the attention of the Nether continent where there were no Half-Elemental magicians and Elemental magicians.

Every new mutation brought along more physical strength and speed. When the third mutation that could match and even kill the most revered existences of the continent, it brought a huge clamor between the different powers of the continent. They were afraid that the Headless Dragon would finally do what they’ve been having nightmares about: Conquer the whole Nether continent and put it under the Headless Dragon's banner. They were once again relieved to know that all the Headless Dragon was interested in selling their new product. They had only publicized their new elixir for that reason. Stage three enhanced slaves. Every kingdom of the continent expressed the need for such a weapon.

After a few years, it became known that a stage three mutant could muster a speed of more than two hundred meters per second. It gained them the nickname Shadow. They had an estimated lifespan of five hundred years as well.

A human born magician would have the physical strength of a stage one mutant or more until they reach they reach the level of a Grand magician which had a lifespan of two hundred years. Every magician was sure to reach the level of Grand magicians and therefore live for two centuries. Beyond that level, everything related to their lifespan and strength varied by how many elements their bodies had completely fused with.

The only reason Grand magicians had a fighting chance against the stage three mutants was that they could instantly cast their spells buying them enough time to protect themselves. Intermediary magicians could only last a few seconds before they were cut down by a stage three mutant. As for novice magicians, they were practically a normal human being in front of them.

I was daydreaming about my future freedom when the lock on the door clicked.

I was surprised that I could indulge myself in such fantasies when I had just encountered a demon.

It was when the door opened and the blinding light from the torch carrying guard forced me to raise my hand to cover my burning eyes. I put myself into a sitting position and waited.

There were only two men. The torch carrying man with a guard uniform and another man with ragged clothes. The latter was holding a big empty bag. I assumed it was for my sake. They had come here to dispose of my corpse, just like the demon had said.

As the light made its way to every corner of the room, they discovered me in a sitting position next to the lightly damaged wall on my right. They discovered me looking at them and their bodies froze on the spot. Being alive in front of them meant that I had succeeded in reaching the first mutation.

I could tell that they were only humans. Even if they were armed to the teeth, there was nothing they could do to neutralize me if I did not want them to. They were scared for their lives. Enhanced guards were probably too arrogant to be bothered to dispose of a corpse.

These two pitiful humans were so scared that they did not find the courage to run away.

“Go and tell them that I am still alive.” I calmly said.

They turned and ran out of the cell and only when the door was closed did they dare to breathe again. I heard them madly running away before going back to sleep.

Somehow this surge of power did nothing to change the shape of my skinny body. I had stayed the same. Maybe it was a side effect of that demon’s violet smoke.

Time seemed to exist for a change. I could not sleep no matter how hard I tried. I could only close my eyes in dejection. For once, I was afraid I was about to lose my sanity because of boredom.

My prayers were answered when the door opened by itself. A ball of light entered and hovered in the middle of the room. Nothing was left in the dark.

As usual, this was the alchemist that always took the liberty of waking me up mere seconds before his soundless arrival.

I hoped that he would see nothing suspicious in my miraculous state.

A faint shadow of a bald and long bearded middle-aged man appeared at the entrance. His footsteps made no sound whatsoever as if he was not there. If I did not experience the earlier arrival of the demon, I would still be amazed by this alchemist’s little magic tricks.

The appearance of the frightening guard that always trailed behind the alchemist, once again allowed me to realize that the demon’s baleful aura was unmatched. I felt more dread towards the demon. He was the alchemist's own Shadow guard. A stage three mutant.

They both wore a thoughtful look on their faces. Unfortunately, I did not realize that my bearing was unusual. I looked a little too unafraid for a prisoner. Even the Shadow guard behind the alchemist was surprised to feel that his threatening gaze was useless at that moment. As a stage three mutant guard, he felt it beneath him to restrain me should I try something funny.

“I see. So it really was you. You scared those little lambs shitless.” The alchemist’s smile resurfaced as these words were said. He looked briefly around the entire room, but from my point of view, nothing would escape his notice.

"Show me your hands." He asked. As expected he went for the obvious. The wall that l had punched multiple holes through was still covered in blood. There was no way for me to make this all disappear. I did as he asked hoping that I would be exempt from further questioning if healing was part of the abilities of the infusion of power. But why would he still ask?

He looked at my hands for a while and for the whole time I was expecting to see a change of expression. Something that would inform me of my fate. I still needed a lot of those injections.

“Alright. Fine. See you soon. “He said, then turned around and they both quickly left.

I stood there not knowing what to think. He even overlooked the moving tattoo on my chest.

Could he even see it?

In the corridor, the alchemist and his guard were slowly walking behind the ball of light that showed the way. It was dark outside the cells.

The shadow guard knew that something was amiss earlier when he surveyed the room and did not dare ask anything yet. Knowing his master who did not want to get to the bottom of it for some reason, he chose to wait.

“Mark, what are your thoughts on this situation?” The alchemist asked his Shadow guard, Mark.

“Those holes are quite deep. If I am not wrong that is the strength of the first mutation but he overdid it and his hands should be in shambles by now. There is no way they could heal that fast. He has no access to such powerful magic. It would take him two weeks to heal at best. “ Mark said.

"True. It is a miracle that he went through the first change unscathed. Last time I came to administer the last injection, his body was starting to reject the elixir and I even used a less concentrated dose to give him a chance because I knew that there was no way he could live past today. He looked too pitiful but I still had to try. Of all the others in his batch, he is by far the one I expected to see dying first. The Genesis Cradle faction has been trying to create a better elixir to increase the success rate and it falls on him? This is hard to swallow. Even I am shocked. Should I expect him to survive the second stage as well? You saw the charts of the others in his batch with better chances than he does. In the preliminary screening, we expected at least half to go to the second stage unscathed and they all will. They are all part of that wretched Nether bloodline. The other half is being incinerated as we speak and he was the very first schedueled to be brought to the incinerator. When we screen them, we take half, who have the Nether bloodline, that can succeed and the other half is randomly given a chance so we can keep searching for any abnormalities and study them to acquire more data but it is never successful. Only that bloodline survives." Said the alchemist.

"Is he the abnormality we have always been searching for?” Mark could not help but ask.

"It is still too early to tell. They want to find a clear way to identify a body that can easily achieve the third stage so we can move to the fourth stage. It’s all about the next mutation with those freaks in the Genesis Cradle. Him being able to pass through our screening undetected and going through the first phase is a little too miraculous to happen a second time. He does not have the same genetic marker shared by the members of the Nether bloodline. He is but a normal human being." The alchemist said.

The alchemist’s name was Elias Evergreen. He belonged to one of the four factions of the Headless dragon, the Tree of Wisdom. As opposed to the Genesis Cradle, they researched a way to make the elixir available to the average human without the huge piles of corpses that came with the process. A safe way to administer power without pain or death. Even if only death was the only thing out of the equation it was still their primary goal. The Genesis Cradle wanted to find the members of the Nether bloodline faster and pray to see one of them survive to a higher stage.

“Do you want him moved to the next floor?" Mark asked.

"No. Keep him there for now. Since he survived, it is going to raise an eyebrow.

Those lunatics will keep asking questions. Let’s wait and see how the situation develops." Elias instructed after contemplating the issue for a moment.

"Of course, sir" Mark agreed.