Hazard Lands Revenge

Chapter 11 - Aptitudes

Author’s Notes – Shameless advertisement for my Glossary, which has the history of the world from 2015 to 2043 for my story, huehue.

Any similarities between this novel with the real world, other fiction and events are purely coincidental.

Enjoy!

--* Mildr City, World Nations’ Central Army Base *--

“I’ll go first,” Jasmine shouted, her eyes filled with anticipation. Aside from immense anticipation of being a Mystic and being assigned to a suitable branch, her mind was filled with unbound curiosity. As she slowly approached the table, the old man scrutinized her with his violet eyes, which strangely seemed to contain a flame inside. His Spiritual Sense covered the girl without anyone noticing, locking the girl into a thin layer of energy which would move and mold to her body, like a layer of armor.

Just as Jasmine had reached the crystal ball, her eyes constantly scanned it, staring deep into the whirling smoke hidden inside. Unable to find anything of interest inside, she promptly lifted her hands and reached for the crystal ball. As she did so, the fire inside of the elder’s eyes grew stronger as the layer of energy surrounding the girl thickened.

When Jasmine’s hand had fallen atop the ball, the room became blisteringly hot as the clouds spun and turned a bright orange. Flames seemed to swell on Jasmine’s skin and hit the energy surrounding her, which constantly rippled as the heat tried to break out. Screams of surprise came out of Hudsonn’s throat as he rushed towards the burning girl, but just as he closed in, a wall of sorts blocked his advance.

“What’s the meaning of this Mystic?” Garret asked cautiously, his hands were pointed at the violet robed man.

“Relax Cyborg. This is what occurs when a person takes the aptitude test,” the elder smiled as he stared calmly at the bonfire in front of him, “the test does not only check a person’s aptitude, but unlocks it as well. This was created by the Mystic you saw earlier.”

“Saw earlier…?” Nik withdrew his hands from the device on his back, as his mind tried to recall the people he had seen in the building.

“The Grand Patriarch?” Garret guessed.

“Hah, you even noticed his name. Indeed, these crystals were created by the Grand Patriarch,” the elder laughed. He had not expected Garret to know about the Mystic’s history.

“Garret, where’d we see this Grand Patriarch?” Hudsonn asked as he reluctantly walked away from Jasmine, who was still covered by smoldering flames.

“The statue…” a soft-spoken voice answered, as Nik remembered the massive sculpture in the middle of the lobby.

“So… exactly how high is Jasmine’s aptitude, seeing as she’s been on fire for almost a minute straight?” Garret asked, his eyes carefully analyzing the girl who stood in the middle of the room.

“She has high aptitude for fire. Currently, her mind is unconscious as her Mysticism is unlocked and stored into her soul. Amalgamating the soul with a foreign energy is a difficult process, so it’s hard to estimate how long it would take.”

“So that’s only a high aptitude… What would happen if someone has unparalleled aptitude?” Nik asked.

“The barrier I put surrounding the person would break. As simple as that,” the elder did not explain in detail, but the three soldiers felt a chill go down their spine despite the room’s blistering temperature. As they watched the bright flames on Jasmine’s pale skin, their fear only grew stronger. They could not imagine how destructive it would be if the barrier surrounding Jasmine broke, much less a person who had unparalleled aptitude.

While the group of soldiers watched, Jasmine’s mind was filled with foreign information. Techniques and actions constantly echoed out. Chants, breathing patterns, spiritual manipulation, regeneration, Mysticism, fire. Words would repeatedly embed themselves into the girl’s head, until her mind was completely saturated.

Inside of her body, a translucent core had formed in her heart. The core held a bright orange flame, which would constantly flicker and emit waves of heat. The blood that constantly pumped into and out of her heart would pass through the core and become enriched with energy. Every time the blood would pass through the body and go through her veins, Jasmine’s body seemed to grow stronger and more beautiful with each rotation.

After minutes of information and growth, the flames that had wrapped around Jasmine like a blanket dimmed and grew weaker, until it was fully distinguished. When the four men looked at the woman who had come from the veil of flames, their jaws completely dropped. Standing before the Crystal, who’s clouds had long since disappeared, stood a gorgeous woman who had smooth, almost glowing skin. Her already pretty face had become much more charming with her bright eyes and pink lips. The part subject to the most change was her crimson hair.

On her head were dots of fire, which would constantly flicker and move. Alongside these flames, her hair, which had been uniformly crimson had streaks of deeper red, which would intermingle with the brighter colors.

As Jasmine opened her eyes, flames leaked out of the opening and grew stronger as her eyelid raised. Slowly, the flame dimmed, revealing piercing black, which seemed to contain profound intelligence. Inside of it was a flame, similar to the elder who sat behind the desk, which the crystal laid on.

“Hmm?” Jasmine made a confused noise, as she stared at Nik and the others, who still had their mouths gaping with astonishment. The beauty in front of them was a sight to behold, and such, they could not control themselves from being surprised. The first one to recover was Nik, as he strode over to the girl, and closely examined the fire on her hair.

It seemed like the heat surrounding Jasmine grew by a few degrees, as Nik scrutinized her hair and then stared deeply into her eyes.

‘So… this is a Fire-type Mystic…’ he thought quietly, ignoring the girl who had become as red as a tomato.

“Hey, look at the Crystal!” Hudsonn’s voice interrupted the fluffy atmosphere that had surrounded the two. Four pairs of eyes turned to the Crystal. The clouds had long since disappeared from the crystal, left behind was an image of a black skull.

“Shadow Branch huh…” Garret sighed, “We’ll go to the armory later so we can get you guys equipped. Tomorrow, I’ll lead you three to your respected branches, where you’ll be trained by a Corporal.”

“To think that I’d be destined to become an assassin… hehe, this’ll be fun,” Jasmine laughed out loud, as she looked at the skull in the middle of the crystal. Deep within Garret’s mind, he could not resist agreeing with the ball’s assignment as he looked at the bone chilling smile plastered on the girl’s face.

“So? Who’s next?” the aged man’s voice interrupted the playful atmosphere; impatience was clocked in on his face.

“Uhh, I guess I’ll go next?” Hudsonn looked at Nik, who just nodded in response.

Just like Jasmine, Hudsonn slowly approached the crystal while a layer of energy began to cover his body. When he had arrived in front of the ball, the clouds had already gathered, as if the skull had never appeared. Eying the storm inside, Hudsonn raised his giant palms and placed it upon the still warm surface of the crystal. Unlike before, the clouds inside of the ball did not immediately change, but took a slower course.

The clouds seemed to slow down, until it completely stopped. The previously snow white color had already disappeared and was replaced by an earthly brown color. Within the crystal, the brown smoke began to ripple and attract themselves together, forming clumps of matter. Hudsonn did not seem to change, but the elder’s keen eyes noticed the metallic sheen covering the boy’s skin. Taking note of the change, the man retracted the fine film covering Hudsonn and simply watched.

A core had formed inside of Hudsonn’s heart, similar to the one Jasmine had, except for the earthly and fortifying feeling it emitted. Bones and muscles immediately hardened, as enriched blood floated around the soldier’s body. His face, which had already supported a mature and determine look became much harder and stern. On Hudsonn’s forehead, a chunk of rock suddenly grew and protruded just above his skin.

“Hey! Hey! Why isn’t my transformation as cool as hers?!” Hudsonn was exasperated. He expected his changes to be dramatic and amazing, but all that happened was his skin shined a little then a rock came out of his head. It was, to say the least, underwhelming.

“What did you expect to happen with subpar aptitude to Mysticism? At least you have some aptitude for Gravity as well…” the old man rebuked. Most people were lucky to even have a bad aptitude, yet the boy was complaining about how underwhelming his transformation was. Others did not even experience any changes.

“Well, you’re next Nik… I bet your transformation will be cooler than mine…” Hudsonn pouted once more. It was exotic seeing a grown man acting like a child.

Inside of Nik’s red eyes, a deep horrifying black replaced their crimson color and then disappeared like nothing had even occurred. The dot of black on the soldier’s chest wriggled with excitement as the boy slowly approached the crystal.

October 20, 2043 Report

1. As of October 20th, 2043, all soldiers, commanders and officers were ordered to gather at Mildr City, the World Nations’ largest fort in order to secure the lives of over a billion soldiers and important citizens. This decision was approached by the General of the Armies and the Five Rulers of the World Nations.

2. All officers have been collected into the Conference Hall, where important officials and heads of the military discussed the future of the World Nations in the American Continent and European Continent. They have ruled that a temporary alliance with the E.L.E.C and the Frozin Empire will be necessary in overcoming the tribulations. Due to this alliance, all soldiers are to endure the presence of the foreign soldiers that will be roaming the World Nations territory. In addition, World Nations soldiers are permitted to enter the foreign countries without any danger.

3. A Stage 7 Mutated has been spotted inside of the Grand Canyon. It is a bird-type beastial mutated of unknown species. A mission will be officially posted inside of the Mission Center in three days. An officer is eligible to join if they can participate with at least a regiment size group. There will only be a limited spots of 10 officers. For more information, please wait until October 23, 2043.

4. Major Hienz William has been awarded for clearing and securing Damin City from the Mutated. For any officers with a group of any size, if you are capable of clearing and securing a city, please report it to the Mission Center, where you will be awarded medals, merits and other rewards based on the importance of the city you’ve captured.