[The shining of essence still lingers around the room]
'Sarah Chatsworth'
'You are ever the prodigy I thought you to be'
Ser was stunned. Never in his whole life, not even himself, had he seen someone evolve that quickly from a 'Whisperborn'. It took him 10 years to do so, so Sarah's achievement of getting there in less than 2 years is something for the record books.
He stared at the girl, her eyes still closed, the slave collar resting on her lap, unlatched. Egan was mesmerized by the scene, for he knew something had changed within her. Her essence level has stayed the same with little increase; that being said, something about its composition is different. Someone's essence and their Soul Stage do not correlate. If someone were to evolve from a 'Whisperborn' into an 'Emberborn', their essence would only change proportionally to what they had prior. Not necessarily the volume, but how well you can visualize and control your essence drastically increases, along with the density increasing
exponentially, albeit a little smaller.
But from the evolution, Sarah had gained something even more important than increased essence density.
Something that would change the course of her life forever.
Ser switched the mode on the Soul Decipher, looking through it towards Sarah.
***
[Unique display ~ Model: T-53, Soul translator prototype]
[Target Identified… Calculating Catalytic Attribute…]
[Talents: Innate = 2 {See details…} ~ Evolved = 1{See details…}]
***
'You never fail to amaze me, Sarah.' He thought.
"Sarah…" Ser said, looking down at the girl whose eyes were still closed.
"…Yes?" Sarah responded, beginning to get drowsy
"Do you know why you suddenly went ill?"
"I don't think so…"
"Calling you a prodigy would be an understatement."
"You… Think so?-"
With a loud thud, Sarah collapses onto Egan, breathing shallowly.
Egan knew what was wrong with her. She could only break the collar using resonance, so the sudden use of it without training drained her. It forced her life essence to work overdrive, and as a result, caused her severe fatigue. The sudden collapse on her part caused Egan to immediately pick her up at put her in Ser's bed.
Running his hand across her forehead, she was beginning to run a fever again.
'Shit'
"Hey, Liz, could you get some of that-"
***
[A loud explosion can be heard ringing out from a distant part of town]
[A shockwave strong enough to shake the whole building shatters the window]
The sudden eruption from the town sent the entire room into shock.
Its blast was so powerful it caused the entire block to feel its impact, as though they were right in the center of it. The sound of an alarm blaring in the background screeches its symphony of death and despair. They were under attack, but by what?
"What was that!?" Liz screamed, materializing her wand and grabbing Olivia.
"Ser! I'm going outside!" Egan yelled, looking over at Sarah, who was still hyperventilating on the bed, "Take care of Sarah!"
"Be careful, I will be out once we get her somewhere safe!" Ser stated, running over and picking up Sarah.
With a massive leap from the window, Egan wraps his cloak around his body and slides Skyrend onto his hip. The soar from the rooftop shattered the surrounding shingles, the noise being canceled out by both the frightened screams of the townspeople and the blaring of the siren. It was Chaos. Egan was dashing through the sky from building to building scoping the area for anything that could help him find what caused the quake.
[The awful stench of smoke and burning plastic fills the air]
The sky is dark, not by the absence of the sun, but by the absence of sky. The explosion was massive, the cloud piling up from Northern Vanitinova, blocking out any moonlight shining in. The fires surrounding the immediate explosion were still roaring with anger.
He spots the main building. Egan is still a fair bit away, but with the practice he has gotten with 'Increase,' he could strengthen his body to support the distance. With a deep breath, he launches himself further, shooting over buildings and gliding on roofs at hypersonic speeds, dodging all manner of flying debris still present in the air from the first explosion.
It was devastating. Upon reaching the explosion's blast radius, the surrounding building were completely incinerated. Nothing remained except one building in the very middle, an orphanage. Egan was perched on the tallest building in Northern Vanitinova, looking down at the unfolding catastrophe. Even past the immediate blast radius, several other smaller explosions were the cause of minor fires scattered across the town.
He needed to help.
'Quickly!'
***
[The cries of a little boy ring out from within a crumbling home]
"Mommy! Help me! I-I'm scared…-"
The house began to collapse, each shift in the boy's body sent the house further and further down, till it eventually crushes him. His mother desperately tries to get him out while local guards stop her.
"It's not safe to go in there, ma'am!"
"You can't tell me that! My baby boy is in there! My baby boy is in trouble, you have to do something!" The mother cried, desperate to save her child
The mother was frantically trying to break the guard's grip on her.
"An adventurer will be here shortly to help your son! Don't make things worse! If you go in now, you'll kill him!"
The little boy struggles from beneath the rubble, holding onto a rabbit plushie his mother got him on his fifth birthday. He held it tight, trying his best not to breathe in the carbon monoxide surrounding his enclosed death trap. Tears were running down his face.
"Please…Momma…Papa…"
"Help me…"
***
[The coalescence of essence charges the body]
[The enhancement of the body reverberated through sound]
With a quick dash, a bright orange light dives straight into the building, collapsing it.
"No!" Screamed the mother, as she dropped to her knees. Sobbing uncontrollably.
She had just lost her son.
The house was completely flattened; no one could have survived. The little boy knew that he couldn't have gotten out of this without someone's help.
So, a good thing someone did.
[The gently cold breeze of night brushes against the little boy's cheeks]
Egan had swooped in at the perfect moment, grabbing the body and safely getting him out of the crumbling house. Within a fraction of a second, he saved the boy's life, now perched on top of the neighboring building, looking down at the mother.
Egan had placed the child behind his mother a little ways back before he moved to the neighboring house's roof; his glowing orange eyes fixated on him. His long cloak danced in the wind, blocking his body from view. Only his elegant horns could be different from his intense stare.
Rushing to his mom and embracing her, the little boy looked back at the man who saved his life. Gazing up at the tall, cloak-shrouded man who selflessly endangered his being to save his own. But before he could wave, the man disappeared from view. Blinking from out of sight.
Egan was too focused to get sentimental right now.
'Now, next.'
***
Egan was soaring from house to house. Trying his best to save as many innocent people as he possibly could. Old women, little children, anyone. He tried his hand at them all.
Unfortunately, as in life, not everyone was lucky enough to survive. Egan watched as a little girl died in his arms, a metal rod piercing her sternum. Fathers shielding their families by sacrificing their bodies. The honor he saw from those men, and the grief he felt for the children he couldn't protect weighed on him like stones. Each one piling higher and higher, causing Egan even further grief.
How much longer until his knees give out? Till his back bends under the pressure? The silent pull of the dead linked his legs like chains, eager for him to join them, for he had no right to live while those he couldn't save died.
He thought all of this, agonizing over it.
A tragedy not just for the people around the city.
But for Egan as well.
[A scream emanates from inside the crater]
Egan's senses sharpened. He figured nobody from inside the orphanage survived, but to his surprise they were people. People who needed help. He charges into the crater, dashing over the mountain of corpses burned to ash in the process. Northern Vanitinova is the largest of the 4 quadrants, encompassing half of the total population, as a result, housing was more tightly packed to accommodate. The explosion leveled an 8th of the total area, burning it to ashes.
So the jump across was a large one.
After reaching the other side, he noticed how most of the building was still standing, its structure shrouded by the surrounding smoke. It definitely was an orphanage on closer inspection.
Standing outside the building was a nun, her dress almost completely singed from the fire. Surrounding her were ten small children, all bloodied and bruised, but alive. The nun looked scared; Egan could tell that she was terrified of something in there. She didn't even look his way, just pointed towards the fire.
"Help…"
Egan's gaze intensifies.
'On it.'
Egan charged in, cloak shrouding his form, and as soon as he entered the building, he spotted a little boy. He was crouched down over another orphan who lay motionless on the ground, blood surrounding them both. Egan was heartbroken; the feeling of watching one of your friends die is something no one should have to experience. Egan had never been through an experience like that he could remember, but his body seemed to react a certain way to the scene before him. As though the muscles, organs, and skin remember loss all too well.
It was only his mind that had forgotten such pain.
After slowly walking forward towards the boy, he notices something strange on his neck, something the deceased boy didn't have. It looked familiar.
'Oh god'
'…'
The boy turned around. Something shiny was coming from his hands.
It was a knife, freshly sharpened against the flesh of another.
Its edge was covered in blood.
Dripping.
The boy looked at Egan, a blank expression on his face. Tears flowed from his eyes, along with the blood of his friend. He had used the knife. The little boy,
Had killed his own friend.
Egan was stunned, shocked. Completely withdrawn from the situation. He looked upon his neck once again. He recognized where he had seen it before.
It was the same collar Ser put on him.
And the same collar he got from the cart.
A slave collar.
***
The boy began to speak. His mouth shivering, along with his hands.
No words came out, but Egan could tell that he never wanted to hurt his friend.
The boy stood up, facing the young dragon, knife pointed at him.
"T-They… Made… me." The boy said, tears flowing from his face, piling up on the floor along with his friend's crimson.
All Egan could do was stare, looking down, helpless. He felt so much in this moment, nothing could describe it. It was as though a knife had just punctured every part of his body all at once, and then someone came by and twisted them all. His eyes were no longer visible, for his hair was now shrouding them. He could feel each blade pierce his soul. Just as he felt one knife pierce his skin.
The little boy had stabbed the young dragon directly in the stomach.
All Egan did was stand there, taking the stabs one after another. The boy cried out with every puncture. Egan did not move, did not flinch. He just stared, his eyes now shooting daggers into the burning building. The glow of his eyes radiates brighter than any fire within the orphanage. And his rage burning hotter than any of the flames outside it.
'I'm going to kill them'
'I'm going to kill every last person who wears those cloaks.'
'Every… Last… One…'