Others would've freaked out if the same thing were happening to them. It was because, after his mother died, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a disease that consisted of hallucinations, hearing, and imagining things. So he thought his disease was appearing again. But the main shock came when he visited the psychiatrist.
"You are fine. You don't seem to have the major symptoms. It seems your inner monologue has gotten out of control because of stress and anxiety. I will give you some medicines to lower your stress levels and help you relax," the doctor said as he wrote a few medicines on the prescription slip.
Mark returned home and resumed his normal schedule. He started taking his medicines. Time passed. Days passed. Weeks passed. He went back to his college. Slowly, a year passed. The voice in his head wasn't getting even a bit quiet.
"Hey Drima, I've been talking to you for a year now. You have not ever told me what was the reason behind me having the ether pathways open. Tell me today," he whispered in his mouth.
There was no response.
"Still giving me the silent treatment in that regard, huh?" said Mark, disappointed.
"You will know if you are fated to when the time comes. Anyway, when are you going to start collecting fragments? You've been procrastinating for a year now. I'm not a voice made up in your head, Mark. I am real. If you don't listen to me, you will regret it later," said Drima demandingly.
"Yeah, about that. How did the fragments propagate again?" asked Mark.
"Gahh, why do you never listen to me? I'm telling you this one last time, so listen carefully. A non-recombinant host can become a host to a fragment after he devours the previous recombinant host. The fragments can also be copied into the future generations. If a recombinant organism has children, then all his children will get all his fragments, and the original recombinant host will also retain his fragment," explained Drima in a somewhat irritated tone.
"I see. And how do recombinant hosts gain other fragments, and how does a stigma upgrade?" asked Mark, who was a bit scared because Drima seemed an inch away from snapping.
"A recombinant host can either get the fragment of another host by killing the other host—by directly eating him—or absorbing the defeated fragments directly with the help of his own fragmental projection. A projection in which the grandmaster forms an ether body, envelopes the dead body of the opponent, and absorbs all nutrients, ether, and the complete fragment. Your stigma or fragment skill will slowly become stronger as you use the stigma more frequently or you consume more similar stigmas of the same kind."
"One last question, please. Can I only use a stigma if I have the fragment?" asked Mark.
"Fragments transfer you the knowledge of how to use the stigma. If you know the basics behind a stigma, then you can manually manifest a stigma," said Drima, relieved that he wasn't going to ask the same thing he had been asking for months.
"I see. Well, I'm giving up on curing this. I'll believe you. Since your statements don't change, it seems you are not lying. We are going on a picnic today," said Mark.
"Damn you… If you hadn't doubted till now, you could've gotten hundreds of stigmas," said Drima furiously.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. By the way, how will I know if an organism has a fragment in it?" asked Mark.
"Since this realm is not yet full of ether, you won't be able to sense it for the next two years. I will tell you," said Drima in a dramatic tone.
"Also, where are we going? Won't everyone else's fragments have taken all the easy prey by now?" asked Mark, now concerned.
"Call yourself lucky. The other fragments are not supposed to talk with their hosts until we two, the strongest fragments, send out a signal. That signal will be sent four years later on the day that we arrived here. That signal will mean that our hosts are ready to handle any turmoil that will be caused by any other hosts and will be able to lead the team's forces. We are going to Lake Livingstone National Park. There are a few good fragments there," said Drima.
"Ok. I see. I will get ready."
They reached the national park. They got inside and were roaming around until Drima spoke.
"Look at that mango tree. It has a very potent stigma, it seems," said Drima knowingly.
"I see. Let's get closer. But wait, will we have to cut it down then?"
"Nope. Did you forget again? Honestly, the offspring also have the stigmas. Look at all those mangoes. The seeds are its offspring. We can absorb the stigmas from the mangoes. And its collective value will be equal to the tree's," said Drima.
"Ok, so what do I do now?" said Mark after reaching near the trunk of the tree.
"Extend your hand," Drima ordered.
Mark extended his hand forward towards the mangoes.
"Transferring the knowledge of ether circulation. Transferring the knowledge of fragment projection. Linkage done to neural sequence," said Drima.
Mark felt as if he was recalling some stuff like a person does when he forgets something. He knew what to do.
Mark put his concentration on the area above his kidneys and below the heart, the location of the ether core. He focused and connected a wire between the core and his extended hand.
"I will take care of the rest. You are still not sensitive to ether energy," said Drima.
Mark felt as if something was slowly flowing out of his core and entering his arm. As soon as it reached his fingers, something started to come out of his whole arm.
A golden, transparent liquid oozed out of his skin and started to go towards the mangoes. It slowly covered each and every mango on the tree.
"Time to dine," said Drima.
It was as if warm sunlight was washing over him, starting from his arm and then slowly covering his whole body.
"The name of this stigma is regeneration. It will passively absorb ether from the atmosphere around you and recharge your reserves. It will also use that ether to heal you. Are you ready to assimilate?" explained Drima.
"Sweet. Let's start the process," said Mark, excited to get such a nice stigma.
"Nicholas, let's start," said Drima.
"Yes, sire. It will be a pleasure for me to come under your wing. Captain of the 11th fragment batch greets the supreme left-wing leader," said an unknown cheery voice.
"Who is that?" asked Mark, confused to hear another voice.
"This is Nicholas, the fragment that had the stigma of regeneration that you just gained. Nicholas, this is Mark, my host," explained Drima.
"Extremely honored to meet you, O great one. I hope you will use my stigma well," said Nicholas.
"Yup, I will. Nice to meet you too, Nicholas."
"Let's start," said all of them together.
Mark started to see the pathway alignment that was needed. According to Drima, for the fragments that he had obtained, Mark just had to think of using the stigma. Drima would take care of the ether flow.
After that, Nicholas was not heard again. According to Drima, Nicholas had joined the ruler back and was now preparing for the next expedition.
After that, Mark obtained the ether projection skill by killing an ant colony. It allowed him to manifest ether into solid shapes he imagined and use them as weapons. But since there was not much ether in the atmosphere, he could not manifest any weapons.
They returned home after that. Mark, who had accepted the reality now, was looking forward to growing stronger.
Ever since then, Mark started going on a lot of picnics. He would go on one every month regularly.
Two and a half years passed, and Drima informed Mark that he had successfully become an awakened.
Since then, a masked superhero rose in town. He could deflect bullets and stop any attack that came at him—be it a bullet or a grenade. He could kill with some invisible weapons. He could run very fast and was very strong. According to the reports of the criminals, one thing was common in their cases: there used to be insects around every corner of their house.
Mark had completed college and was doing his job as an ethical hacker from home, continuously working on catching dark web criminals. And the superhero "Yuusha" was catching criminals non-stop too. They both were helping get rid of devils disguised as humans.
Mark's grandfather's health had also improved. He had now become as he was when he was 60 years old. His strength had returned a bit, and his dementia was cured somehow.
Five years passed, and the fateful day came. A big news story came from India: a report about large-scale fires and the burnt bodies of criminals. News about someone called "Agnivir," who had burned down hundreds of criminals in a single night. Mark watched this news, and Drima spoke to him.
"Go to the rooftop."
Mark went to the roof, and Drima asked him to do the fragment projection. As Drima manifested himself, he shot a large beam of ether energy into the sky. The beam went up and split into all directions, and as it did, similar fireworks started erupting everywhere.
"Now our next destination is India," said Drima.
"I see. I will get ready then."
Mark returned near his grandfather, and as he opened the door, he saw his grandfather sitting at the table with a picture of Yuusha on top.
"This is you, isn't it? It wants to get you to India to meet Agnivir, right? If you want to go, you two better answer my questions," his grandfather said, his eyes and arms for some reason oozing out a lot of ether energy.
"Are we in trouble, Drima?" asked Mark, trembling.
"I don't think so," said Drima confidently