13 December Year 2367

"The escape route has been secured."

Telfer squinted his eyes as the light glyphs flashed on the walls. A railway track sparkled under the light, stretching endlessly in front of him. The ground in front of him split open, revealing an escape pod. His right side was screaming at him to just drop onto the ground. The right side of his body was completely numb at this point. His skin had started boiling and black lumps emerged underneath. Telfer grabbed the side of the pod and rolled into it. The metal door slid over his head, sealing him inside.

"Launching in 3,2,1."

The escape pod zoomed down the railway track while Telfer looked at his right arm. The black lumps grew to the size of a fist and exploded, exposing the red flesh underneath. The flesh squirmed and regenerated back but the black lumps kept growing underneath the flesh that had just regenerated.

He drifted in and out of consciousness and his vision started to blur. The light glyphs around him would pierce his eyes but turn into a blur as he passed through the tunnel. The world turned black and white and the only thing he could hear was the thumping of his heart. Confusion blossomed within Telfer's heart but his eyelids had already slit shut.

14 December Year 2367

"What's this?"

"I think there's someone inside? I'm not sure, help me out."

The metal hatch was pulled open and Telfer's body was pulled out of the escape pod. Or what was left of his body. The bones rattled as they dangled loosely. Patches of flesh grew from the body but they would quickly dissolve into a black substance which dripped off his bones. The left side of his body would turn blue at times but they would fade away.

"Oh my god, what happened to him?"

Telfer's body dropped onto the ground and a needle was jammed into his neck.

"Hello, are you all right?"

Telfer sat up with a gasp. He was sitting in the middle of the forest. His arm clanged against the escape pod when he tried to look around. About a metre away were 2 ghouls in tracksuits. They stood with their arms folded, eyes travelling around his body.

What's so interesting about my body?

Telfer tried to stand up but the right side of his body refused to move. His right shoulder in particular was under a constant assault of pain. A wave of nausea overwhelmed him and Telfer retched onto the ground beside him. As he tried to stand up again, the wave of nausea sent him sprawling onto the ground.

Where's my satellite phone?

Telfer scrabbled within his smartwatch and pulled out the phone. As he fumbled around with the buttons, one of the ghouls walked over and slinged Telfer's arm over his shoulder. Telfer placed the phone back into the smartwatch and looked at the ghoul curiously.

"Who are you calling? You do realise we are literally just outside one of our camps right?"

Telfer's feet scraped along the ground as the ghouls dragged him out of the forest. Harsh sunlight beat down on them mercilessly. A polished white wall towered in front of them. "Entrance D" was boldly painted on it in red. A head popped up over the wall. The ghoul hollered at them.

"How are you back already?"

The wall rumbled and the ghouls pulled him into through the opening. A gravel footpath appeared before him and a ghoul wearing a military uniform hopped down from above. A pair of binoculars hung around his chest. On his right arm was an insignia bearing a pale white hand reaching upwards towards a red sky. He glanced at Telfer momentarily before pulling out a phone.

"Dude, what happened to you? Are you ok? Hold on... we have an injured man over here at Entrance D."

Blood surged up Telfer's throat and a mouthful of black blood splattered across the gravel path. The world around him looked like it was rotating. Telfer's head thudded onto the ground.

15 December Year 2367

*Beep beep*

"Get me another tube of S-class cell stock."

Telfer woke up to the sound of people shuffling about around him. A black liquid travelled up the tubes which were attached to the right side of his body. A needle was jammed into this right shoulder and a transparent substance was pumped into his right shoulder.

"All done, get ready to extract the tubes."

Hands wrapped themselves around the tubes and proceeded to pull them out of his body. Strangely, Telfer did not feel any pain. The hands proceeded to wrap his entire body up in bandages before the lights in the room came on. A group of nurses were cleaning up the area around him.

"Hello, looks like you are awake already."

Telfer sat up and inspected his body. The numbing pain that he had felt was gone for the most part. His right shoulder however, would send him into a world of pain whenever he tried to move it.

"We were able to extract the poison from the rest of your body except for your right shoulder."

A blue haired ghoul donning a white lab coat stood beside Telfer. He held up a vial and inspected the green fluid within it. His eyes seemed to sparkled with life despite the dark circles underneath his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. His mouth moved under the mask he wore as he looke at the vial with an odd fascination.

"Where on earth did you find this poison? It is truly remarkable."

The ghoul shook his head in disbelief and pocketed the vial.

"Nice to meet you, I am Sebastian Henschel. I am also known as Dr. Henschel. You have just gone through quite the operation. A minute later and it would be poof! Also, your body is surprisingly sturdy to survive this poison. 10 tubes of S-class cell stock, not including the ones that I paid out of my own pocket and quite possibly even more in future. Your body is deteriorating as we speak."

Blood drained from Telfer's face. "S-class" alone spoke volumes of what he had just used. There was no way of going around this. It wasn't his sea of consciousness where he had authority over Agvak. The doctor popped a lollipop into his mouth and a calculator appeared in his hand.

"The total cost would be at least 10 years of service to the Ghoul Legion. You better get started now. Nurse, can you bring him to the registration office?"

So I'm going to become a child soldier? How is this allowed?

A nurse walked into the room and passed a file over to the doctor. She threw a hospital gown at Telfer and beckoned for him to follow her. Ghouls milled about outside the operating theatre. Most of them donned the hospital gown that Telfer was wearing. The ones in hospital gowns were covered in scars and their heads were full of white hair. The ghouls around them were either wearing military uniforms or civilian clothing. Telfer walked amongst the crowd and followed the nurse in fear of losing her. The ghouls around him looked at him oddly when he walked past them.

"What happened to him? He's completely wrapped up in bandages."

"Isn't he a tad small to be in the Legion? Why are they coming in earlier and eariler?"

Telfer's face went red under the bandages and he picked up the pace immediately. The same scenario continued wherever he went. Telfer and the nurse arrived in the registration office. A long queue stretched out in front of them. After around 15 minutes, Telfer arrived before the counter. The lady behind the counter raised her eyebrows for a moment before passing a form to Telfer. Telfer dulled for a moment and inhaled before filling up the form. He handed the form to the lady and asked her.

"What's the fastest way to earn mana crystals?"

The lady lifted her glasses and played around with the pen in her hand.

"A 2nd level with no known relatives or place of residence. If you are here to make money, then you should look to climb the ranks. You should aim to become at least an officer. Go over to the waiting area to prepare for the new recruit competition. Have a nice day."

Telfer nodded his head and proceeded to the waiting area. The nurse who had accompanied him the entire time patted his head as if she was comforting him before walking away. Telfer chewed on his nails and looked around. So were all these people his competitors? If he wanted to pay off his debt, it would be best for him to climb as high as possible. And what better way was there then to impress during the new recruit competition?

If only there was some way to see my opponents' strength beforehand...

"Analysing entities in Host's surroundings."

The cold distant voice appeared in his mind. His vision took on a blue tinge as boxes appeared ontop of the ghouls around him. He peered at one of the boxes above a random ghoul and it zoomed in immediately.

Status Window Name: ??? Age: ??? Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 230/230 Heath regen.: 17/min Energy: 110/110 Energy Regen.: 7/min Mana: 40/40 Mana Regen.: 2/min Strength: 11 Agility: 6 Dexterity: 8 Stamina: 12 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 4 Skills ???

Telfer inspected the status window. The thing he was looking for had appeared just as he had wished for it. He shuddered as the numbers popped up from the table. He was an ant waiting to be crushed before this ghoul. Telfer looked around at the other boxes and found that the other competitors had stats similar to the first ghoul he had inspected. He opened up his own status window.

Status Window Name: Telfer Berkley Age: 12 Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 200/200 (100/100) Heath regen.: 20/min (25/min) Energy: 90/90 (100/100) Energy Regen.: 7/min (10/ min) Mana: 40/40 (40/40) Mana Regen.: 2/min (2/ min) Strength: 9(11) Agility: 8 (10) Dexterity: 9 (11) Stamina: 10(12) Intelligence: 8 (5) Wisdom: 8 (4) Skills

Ghoul:

Mass Transfer

Immortal Guard

Magic Spells:

Poison Hand (Poison Magic)

Poison Magic Manipulation

Cloak (Illusion Magic)

Illusion Creation (Illusion Magic)

Self created skills:

Yama's Strike

The only thing he could find comfort in was his absurdly high regenerative rate. Telfer leaned back against the wall and waited for someone to bring them to the competition area. The mumuring surrounding him increased as the number of ghouls increased. One of the ghouls bumped into Telfer while walking into the waiting area. He was wearing a leather jacket and a metal bat rested across his shoulders. He turned and pressed his face against Telfer.

"What's a kid doing here? Go home and drink your mother's breast milk."

Telfer looked up and stared at him. A devlish grin spread across his face, revealing a row of jagged teeth. The bandage around his face unwinded and fell to the ground, exposing the corroded flesh underneath. The flesh contorted as Telfer grinned.

"Don't worry about that, I will crush you first."

The ghoul seemed to slightly shocked by the raw muscle and flesh underneath the bandage and glared at Telfer before stalking off into the deeper parts of the waiting area.

Just then, a ghoul in military uniform appeared at the end of the room. The ghouls within the room quietened down and looked at the ghoul expectantly.

"All of you listen up. I will be handing out your military uniforms now. Each of you will be getting 2 sets of military uniforms and a backpack to store whatever you have on you. Wear your uniform and follow me to the arena."

The ghouls stood followed the instructions obediently. The uniform was a little big for him. He rolled the sleeves up and followed the ghoul while studying his opponents. The ghouls were gathered at a corner of a coliseum. A group of ghouls sat above them. There were a total of 7 ghouls watching them from above. Telfer analysed their stats and inhaled sharply. All of them had health upwards of 700. He oculd punch them all day long and they would do just fine. The ghoul in front saluted at the sight of the 7 ghouls.

"Greetings, captains. I will be in charge of the New Recruit Competition."

1 of the 7 ghouls waved his arm and grinned. It was a man in his mid-forties with a messy crew cut. A cross shaped scar stretched across his forehead.

"Please move on, we are all quite busy."

"Yes sir."

The ghoul turned around and started to brief the recruits about the competiton.

"The top three will be able to pick which division they want to join. The rest will not get anything. If there is nothing else, we will start."

He picked out 2 ghouls at random. While they were fighting, the ghoul in charge took down everyone's name and placed them into a bracket. Telfer looked at the bracket and found his first opponent.

Carson Moore.

Someone barged in front of him. It was the ghoul who had bumped into him earlier. His finger trailed down to Telfer's name.

"How lucky. I will send you packing."

The ghoul turned around when he heard Telfer talk. His face was completely black. He pressed his finger on Telfer's forehead and pushed him.

"I will be the one to crush you. Get ready."

Unfortunately, Telfer's body refused to move. Telfer clenched Carson's wrist and gave it a good snap. He pushed Carson backwards and smiled at him.

"What did you say?"

"Stupid brat, just wait."

Carson drew his thumb across his throat and stuck his tongue out at Telfer before walking away. Carson's status window popped up before Telfer.

Status Window Name: Carson Moore Age: ??? Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 300/300 Heath regen.: 20/min Energy: 80/80 Energy Regen.: 8/min Mana: 30/30 Mana Regen.: 1/min Strength: 15 Agility: 6 Dexterity: 7 Stamina: 10 Intelligence: 4 Wisdom: 3 Skills ???

Stupid fuck. Who develops like this?

Telfer smiled when he looked at the status window. The 300 health was not of much concern to him. The more important fact was how he had gained stupidly high strength in exchange for dexterity and agility. The bat would be somewhat dangerous in his hands, but as long as he avoided it, the match would be as good as his.

"Telfer, whatever you do, you cannot use the sword. If they find you with the sword, they might kill you."

Telfer leaned against the wall of the coliseum and closed his eyes. He entered his sea of consciousness and found Agvak sitting down on the floor. Sweat poured out of him and his eyes would twitch at times.

"Why did you have to get hit by his essence blood? I'm expending everything to keep the poison in check. So right now, your right shoulder is available for you to use. So win the competition and try to find an antidote from one of those fools. But as I was saying, you cannot use the Eternal Harmony."

Telfer was touched for a moment but that feeling quickly vanished. Although Agvak was helping him, it did not change the fact that he was a moneygrubber. He nodded and exited his sea of consciousness. He swung his right shoulder and found that it was completely fine.

"Telfer Berkley and Carson Moore, it's your match now."

Telfer pushed his way through the crows and walked to the centre of the coliseum. Carson was waiting for him. Telfer found himself facing the end of a metal bat.

"You are just a puny insect. Let me demonstrate it to you."

"Get set, ready, and GO!"

The ghoul in charge dropped his hand and the bat swung towards Telfer's head. Telfer ducked and swung his right elbow into Carson's ribs. Before Carson knew what was happening, Telfer's arms had wrapped themselves around him. Telfer activated Mass Transfer and jammed his right knee into the same spot. An audible crack was heard.

"Big doesn't mean strength you fucking idiot."

Telfer whispered in Carson's ear before vanishing behind him. Carson looked down and found that Telfer's arms were around his belly. The clouds in the sky seemed to come closer in Carson's eyes. Telfer activated Mass Transfer and lifted Carson off the ground.

"A puny insect?"

Telfer slammed Carson headfirst into the ground behind him. The bandages around his body had torn off, exposing the red flesh underneath. He stared at Carson who had his head stuck in the ground and grinned. The first match was the easiest fight he had in his life. Surely he had been knocked out from that. Suddenly, the bat was released from Carson's grip. The hands clawed at the ground and lifted the body off the ground. The ground started to tremble as Carson tore his head out of the ground.

"I WILL TEAR YOU APART FROM LIMB TO LIMB!"

Carson's body stretched and pulled at itself. A giant stood before Telfer in place of Carson's body. Steam poured out of its mouth as 2 lumps of flesh grew out on both sides. The lumps solidified and formed arms.

End of Chapter