Inside of a black oval shaped amphitheater, stood a pitch black skinned humanoid. Yet his intimidating appearance would let you recognize him as Xeno without doubts.

Sensing around himself the alien understood to have been transported inside a sort of arena. The material in which was made was not that of the pure white room, but that of the strange black walls he had seen on the entrance of the outpost.

The blue veins of the ground where rhythmically pulsating. Puzzled by the flux of energy circulating inside of the ground and tall walls of the coliseum, Xeno quickly focused his senses on the ground. Confirming his hypothesis the black material wasn't cold as one would expecting it to be, it was emanating heat, not as much to make the space noticeably hot, yet it maintained the temperature warm enough.

'This thing is… alive'

Finding himself surprised by such discovery, Xeno directed his focus on No.2345 which had just made its appearance, floating above the ground on his left side.

[Indeed young Azoth, you do have keen senses. This entire facility could be considered a living being, were something more like a biological weapon. Yet it does not possess true wisdom, it needs to receive orders to properly function.]

Having his intuition confirmed true, Xeno was even more amazed from the technology possessed by such species. Then, without any further ado, he wanted to start this kind of trial. The more he observed the pulsating walls of the arena and the endless dark preventing him to sense the ceiling, the more he wanted to acquire such power and strength.

'These rewards will be mine, I will surpass the trial!'

[Please, let the trial begin, I feel myself ready.]

Still excited, Xeno could not refrain himself from asking No.2345 to start it.

[You are ready, young Azoth, yet the preparations of the stage are not completely set in place. Just wait a few minutes, our 'audience will be there soon.]

As the metallic voice terminated its speech inside of Xeno's head, Xeno sensed new signatures of living beings entering the amphitheater, however they appeared not in the same zone as his.

Dozens of celidres of all ages, both young and old, started to flood into the seats of the arena. A heavy murmur was clouding the before utterly silent ambient.

However as Xeno focused his senses on the celidres, to better discern their characteristics, he found them in what seemed to be extremely pitiful conditions. They where famished, often covered in injuries and with some limbs missing, mostly arms.

Their clothes consisted in sets of random dirty rags, their bodies weren't clean too, as they presented traces of filth, their odor wasn't pleasant at all.

[As stated in the rules for the first test of the inheritance trial, the 'audience' is composed of members of the cattle section. Prepare yourself, the proof of will is not as easy as it seems.]

The first sentence responded to Xeno's doubts about the origins of these people. Inside the facility probably there was some sort of 'farm' area where they had them breed to be utilized both as stock or specimens for experiments.

Then he started to ponder about the subject of this test, as it was regarding his 'will'.Yet he wasn't scared at all, to make his species raise again and to get his revenge on Aiduth, Xeno knew no limits. He would do anything, to achieve his goals.

[Here, once you drink this brew the test will start]

After saying so, No.2345 presented Xeno a small glass baker containing a strange yellow liquid, emanating a faint yellow steam.

Then the robotic alien quickly disappeared, leaving Xeno's questions with no means to be answered anymore. A few second later around the battle grounds of he arena a glass like barrier emerged from the 'living' floor, separating it from the bleachers where the celidres were spectating. Xeno indeed perceived it as a solid barrier, yet his senses could still hear all the murmurs coming behind It.

A few seconds later nothing else happened, thus remained only had one thing for him to do, drinking the concoction.

Xeno quickly gulped it down, its taste wasn't that good, maybe with his celidre body he would have immediately spat it out. As its flavor was that of an extremely sour piece of raw meat. Nonetheless he just shut down his senses related to taste and waited a few minutes before reactivating them.

[The test will start in twenty seconds. The challenger will have to eliminate every sentient organism entering the battle grounds.

Time limit is fifteen minutes. The challenger will receive a score proportional to his performance.]

A female-like robotic voice informed Xeno of more details regarding the test, even mentioning a score of some sort.

Then the next events greatly shocked the tall alien. Inside of the grounds made their appearance two individuals he did not think of seeing ever again.

'How is that even possible? They should be dead!'

One was a little girl whom he had seen dying still at the orphanage. She was cheerful and amiable celidre, often sharing her food with him if Xeno were to be put under castigation. Unfortunately the little Assea died prematurely at the age of seven because of an illness.

During his first ten years of life, before going to uncle's mansion, he had lived a really pitiful life, working day and night for the orphanage. His only ray of happiness had been the moments in which he played together with both Assea and Inea.

The other one was not a celidre at all, but someone who had saved his life nonetheless. He had four arms, a bulky physique and a reddish tough skin. He was none other than the enidian who had saved him before and during his fall.

Xeno was sure of their identities, as his senses confirmed their facial features to be exactly the same as the ones in his memory. However, logically speaking, he knew that this must be none other then a trick provoked by the potion he had gulped down previously.

The two humanoids slowly approached the still startled Xeno.

"Kind sir I cannot find my mommy anymore, could you help me find he please?"

"Wait! Please I beg of you! I knew that my fate had been chosen since my first years of life. But my time should have not arrived to soon! I still have to work at the 'farm' to feed my children and wife! Spare me!"

Both the clueless tone of the girl, asking him for help and the desperate pleads of the enidian, heavily echoed inside of Xeno's mind.

This wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. If he wanted to he could easily kill them in a matter of seconds. Yet these faces held a certain value for him.

After reflecting for a couple of minutes, he suddenly started to move toward their direction, his tail giving off shades of intense blue energy.

"Monster! Murderer!"

"You are a beast without heart! You accursed abomination!"

"Demon! Your depravity knows no bounds!"

In fact, after the shower of insults that the angry audience of celidres threw at him, Xeno had finally understood the purpose of this test. His will needed to be strong enough to accept his changes, he had to leave his past behind, believing in what he have become.

They were telling him that he was a monster, a murderer, but he already knew that much. It was him who had decided to torture and to kill all the criminals inside of his apartment. Even if sometimes the parasite had made his decisions quiver, now he was himself, and now he had made a choice. Thus, Xeno was going to fulfill it till the end.

As he was just a few meters from the two individuals, his legs had been infused with deep purple energy for a moment, giving his actual speed and immediate burst. Then after a swift movement of his bladed tail, their heads immediately detached from the respective necks and rolled to the ground. Blood quickly gushed out from the two bodies, which fell limp on the ground, forming a dark red pool all around.

"NOOO! My baby! AHHHHHH!! WHYY!!"

Xeno clearly heard the cries of a desperate mother, probably of the child he had just killed, coming from the seats of the arena .

' I may be a monster, but I am not afraid of my own self, neither of my choices'

Yet this first test was not already over, as two other figures made their arrival into the battle grounds.