“Die!”

Keith wrestled on the ground with Alpha Sand Wolf. With his legs wrapped around its stomach and arms wrapped around its neck, Keith squeezed as hard as he could. Only when the beast underneath him stopped moving did he release his grip. Checking for a pulse in its neck, relief washed over his body when he realized that there would no longer be any threats to his life… at least for now.

The problem now… he was extremely tired. His limbs burned as if they were submerged in hellfire. He felt as if he wanted to puke. His body was now riddled with wounds all over his chest, shoulders and back. Across his leg, there was a long gash on his right leg. Bite marks were everywhere, especially on his arms.

His body felt like lead. Keith slumped to the ground, unable to move even a single finger. He was too exhausted to think. He only wanted to sleep. Now it was all up to luck. He had no gauze; there were only a few shreds of it clinging to his body. Medical ointment would not stop his bleeding. Even though all the wounds were shallow, they could easily get infected. Blood was flowing too quickly, it was unable to clot.

As Keith slipped into unconsciousness, his last thought was whether or not he would even wake up. It was quite possible he would enter the eternal sleep

What he failed to notice, however, was the robotic noise resounding in his ear as he passed out. If he heard it, he would’ve been able to realize this was the noise he had been hearing.

While Keith was unconscious a white light enveloped his body.

“Host is unconscious and at risk of dying. Engaging one time only emergency protocols, engage in 3…2…1.”

“Sealing wounds... No errors occurred.”

“Regenerating blood in the body…. No errors occurred.”

“Healing wounds…. Error… not enough energy, wounds will scar.”

“Final energy transfer… Stamina recovered.”

“Emergency protocols now void. Host must survive with his own strength.”

The moment the robotic male voice disappeared, Keith awoke with an extreme headache.

He looked over his body in confusion, aside from a splitting headache, he didn’t feel any discomfort with his body, and he even felt full of energy. No… he felt as if he was in the best shape of his entire life.

“Host, you have entered the ranks of the Awakened. Your abilities one time lifesaving protocol activated. From now on, please take extreme care to not die. You will not be saved again.”

A woman’s voice resounded in Keith’s mind. It was mostly stoic, although it held a trace of annoyance. Keith screamed in shock. He heard every sentence that was spoken, yet it seemed unbelievable.

However, screaming would do him no good. Keith stood up and walked to the river further within the oasis. His first priority was to see what he looked like, and see if there were any physical defects upon his body. The creepy voice in his mind would be dealt with later.

As he walked Keith felt great. His body was in no pain aside from the headache. All his limbs seemed to be moving properly as well. But when he reached the river the joy immediately disappeared.

He wasn’t shocked; he could even admit that he expected his body to appear hideous. Keith looked at his reflection and grimaced. There were scars all over his chest, back and shoulders from when he fought the Sand Wolves. Now, he had added bite marks to the collections. On his face there was only the long scar across his right eye.

Keith felt empty. He’d been judged his whole life negatively by others. He had learned to ignore what others said about him and not care. Nowadays he didn’t particularly care what others thought of him. Their words and disparaging remarks hurt, but he grew numb to it.

But this… this was a whole new level. It would take some getting used to. Luckily, he didn’t have burn marks upon his body. He could wear long, dark clothing and hide the scars.

Keith sighed resignedly. At the very least he survived. That was what matters, right? There was no use wallowing in self-pity. Instead, he turned his attention to his eyes and hair.

What used to be thick brown hair and eyes had completely changed. His hair color had become snow-white. But his eyes… his eyes went through an even more startling change. They had become a pale and sickly grey color. It was as if he was staring at death itself, he was startled by his facial expressions. His skin had become incredibly pale, but also quite smooth in areas that weren’t scarred.

As he looked at his reflection, Keith wondered if he was even looking at himself. If it wasn’t for the fact that his body contours and physique were similar and also the reflection mirroring his movements, he would have never believed this person was him.

The person he saw appeared quite solitary. Even if he tried to smile happily, it appeared like a scowl. When he simply had a neutral look on his face, it appeared as if he had a perpetual frown. The grey eyes were piercing as if they peered into the depths of one’s soul. They were like vortexes that sucked one in, trapping them for eternity.

“Is… is this me?”

“Correct, Host has been saved due to your ability. Your current appearance is due to having been healed. Remember, it was a onetime feature and you will not be saved again.”

“Oh, there is that too…”

Keith completely forgot about the creepy robotic woman in his head due to seeing his reflection which had completely changed. This was worse than the change in features. Who would want a voice to make itself at home in their head?