Chapter 101: the shadow
Hugo awoke to find himself still in the underground dojo, feeling a throbbing in his head.
He felt something on his chestt, and as he opened his eyes fully, he found out that it was Zed, fast asleep.
It seemed that she had remained by his side through the entire thing.
He patted her slowly, "good girl," before unsummoning her into his soul sea.
Getting up, Hugo's eyes suddenly widened...
He felt... More.
His body was more powerful than it had been before, and that was saying something considering he was already a Titan.
His sight, reflexes and even his sense of hearing were improved...
Although he did feel something new, which was what shocked him the most.
It was a new sixth sense that was never there before, emerging from the depths of his shadow...
He somehow could feel the shadows around him, sensing their shapes and sizes. Far above, he briefly felt the shadows of the awakened and ascended, moving around through the Immortal Flame Manor.
'So this is the influence of the Shadow God lineage... Wow...'
This new sense, added on top of his Titan sense, granted him a new level of awareness that was simply superhuman, even among awakened.
Wanting to learn more about his new abilities, Hugo summoned his runes:
Name: Hugo
True Name: Daemon of Change
Rank: Ascended
Omni-Core: [7/7]
Class: Titan
Aspect: [Evolved Omnitrix]
Aspect Rank: Unknown
Aspect Description: [You are the first divine relic created by mortal hands. You are a being woven from the primordial blueprint of life itself. Created by the greatest of minds in pursuit of a perfection forbidden by an absolute law of reality, you carry the potential to become any creature. Your existence is a testament to adaptation and the boundless diversity of the world.]
Innate Ability: [Essence Imprint]
Ability Description: [No creature is alien to your existence. Thus you possess the ability to imprint the fundamental essence of any being onto your soul, storing its template within your soul.]
[Playlist #0:]
First Imprint: [Chimera Sui Generis]
[Inactive]
Second Imprint: [Galvan]
Third Imprint: [Piscciss Volann]
Fourth Imprint: [Blessed Herald]
Fifth Imprint: [Klyntar]
Sixth Imprint: [Soul Serpent]
Seventh Imprint: [Stone Saint]
Eighth Imprint: [Fulmini]
Ninth Imprint: [Empty]
Tenth Imprint: [Empty]
Eleventh Imprint: [Empty]
Twelfth Imprint: [Empty]
Thirteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Fourteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Fifteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Sixteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Seventeenth Imprint: [Empty]
Eighteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Nineteenth Imprint: [Empty]
Twentieth Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-first Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-second Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-third Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-fourth Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-fifth Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-sixth Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-seventh Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-eighth Imprint: [Empty]
Twenty-ninth Imprint: [Empty]
Thirtieth Imprint: [Empty]
The increase in the amount of imprints his Playlist #0 could hold was caused by his ascension. This playlist was different from the other playlists which were granted by his aspect legacy.
This one was granted directly by his aspect, and it stored the imprints he scans and gains from outside the DNA rooms.
Aspect Abilities: [Morph], [Omni-Enhanced], [Fusion]
Dormant Ability: [Morph]
Aspect Ability Description: [You can transform into creatures imprinted on your soul and switch between them at will]
Awakened Ability: [Omni-Enhanced]
Ability Description: [You can enhance your forms with Omni-Energy.]
Ascended Ability: [Fusion]
Ability Description: [You can fuse your forms together.]
Flaw: [Unstable Ego]
Flaw Description: [The line between your true self and that of your imprints is thin]
Attributes: [Mutant], [Light of Divinity], [Extraordinary Memory], [Anatomica], [Spirit Body], [The Shadow], [Soul Bound], [Asura]
[Mutant] Attribute Description: [You are unique among your people, existing simultaneously as the best of your kind and also the most harrowing of your kind.]
[Extraordinary Memory] Attribute Description: [Out of the seven parts of your being, you have mastered the mind the most, granting you excellent memory.]
[Light of Divinity] Attribute Description: [Your soul is aflame with the light of divinity]
[Anatomica] Attribute Description: [Due to a mysterious power, your flesh, blood, and bones have reached a state of perfect harmony, granting you harrowing powers]
[Spirit Body] Attribute Description: [Your spirit has transformed into a wondrous spirit of heart]
[The Shadow] Attribute Description: [You have inherited the divine lineage of Shadow God. Your shadow has become an invaluable helper]
The lineage description was not that informative unfortunately.
'I'll have to figure it out myself... But now that I'm looking at my runes, it's weird how every part of me is being changed...'
First it was his spirit, and now it was his shadow.
It was almost scary, how much he was changing himself... But it was fitting, after all he was someone who was the very embodiment of change, but that did not mean he did not feel terrified by it.
Quite the opposite actually, change terrified him more than anything else...
Still, this change to his existence was only possible because of his innate aspect, [Unique Being]. It had made his parts prone to change, and thus capable of accepting them...
It made him wonder, how could he change his other parts?
Should he try finding other divine lineages and consuming them?
That was certainly one way to become more powerful...
'Let's focus on my current abilities...'
He had other things that he had not yet seen.
First was the [Fulmini] imprint, which he had gotten when his aspect evolved during the Nightmare Spell appraisal.
Imprint: [Fulmini]
Imprint Rank: Ascended
Imprint Class: Titan
Imprint Description: [A race created by the Omnitrix's vast ocean of Omni-Energy. This imprint is the source of all Omni-Energy within the Omnitrix, and thus it holds extreme power]
Imprint Attributes: –––
Imprint Abilities: [Omni-Generation], [Omni-Control], [Omni-Spawns], [Omni-Influence], [Omni-Domain]
It seemed this imprint was an artificially created race, made by the Omnitrix which is why it did not possess any attributes. This surprised Hugo.
'So it's powerful enough to create entire races now... But I suppose it was only possible of doing this because of Omni-Energy. The Omnitrix shouldn't be able to create races out of pure essence just yet.'
He thought, opening the ability runes.
[Omni-Generation] Ability Description: [This imprint can generate Omni-Energy to sustain the Omnitrix and itself]
[Omni-Control] Ability Description: [This imprint can control the Omni-Energy it creates]
[Omni-Spawns] Ability Description: [This imprint can spawn minions made of Omni-Energy]
[Omni-Influence] Ability Description: [This imprint can influence external Omni-Energy]
[Omni-Domain] Ability Description: [This imprint can imbue Omni-Energy into the world]
The first three abilities were pretty basic, being exactly what he had expected from a noble creature imprint. They were the usual devil abilities and tyrant ability he always saw with his aliens, however the last two, which represented his terror and Titan abilities, were something that caught his attention.
His terror ability... It allowed him to control external Omni-Energy, which meant that he could possibly use it to influence the Omnitrices of other people.
Of course, there was only one person in existence that had an Omnitrix besides Hugo, that was Ben Tennyson. So, in case they meet once again and they fight, Hugo could deactivate his Omnitrix using this ability.
Albedo was the only other Omnitrix wielder he knew about, and he should be long dead so he shouldn't worry about him.
The Titan ability on the other hand, was intriguing because of how powerful it was...
Imbuing energy into the world did fit the idea of a Titan... A powerful mythical existence.
This domain thing also seemed unrelated to the domains that supreme humans possessed...
'Or maybe they are the exact same? Both are technically representations of will influencing reality, but they are just different from each other...'
The idea was interesting, and he really wanted to test it out but unleashing his Titanic power in NQSC of all places was a very very bad idea.
'What an interesting imprint...'
Now that he was finished with that, he could get back to the shadow lineage.
'Invaluable helper... Maybe I should ask Sunny later?'
He briefly turned his attention to his shadow, and his eyes suddenly narrowed...
There was something wrong with it.
He could not exactly tell what it was, but it was different. Way different...
"... Are you there?"
Hugo asked, trying to communicate with it.
He did not expect that to work, but shockingly... It did.
His shadow suddenly waved a hand at him.
"Wow... You're just like Sunny's shadows right now..."
The shadow seemed happy to be compared to Sunny's shadows for some reason...
"What can you do?"
As he said those words, his shadow suddenly rose from the ground, causing Hugo to back away slightly.
His shadow had not taken a human form, however his shape was exactly that of Hugo, with the sole exception being that he was made of shadows instead of flesh and bones.
He even had an Omnitrix of his own!
"Wouldn't it be a Shadowtrix in this case?... Can you use it?"
The shadow nodded. Then, brought his hands towards his watch, and pressed his fingers on the faceplate, causing a holographic dial made of shadow to emerge.
Getting closer, Hugo noticed that it showcased the same aliens he possessed...
"Transform into Big Chill," Hugo said testing if this actually worked.
And to his surprise, it did.
The shadow clicked the dial and transformed into a dark version of Big Chill, made of shadows.
Moreover, he even had the same abilities as Big Chill.
The shadow seemed to also access [Omni-Enhanced] and [Fusion].
When he used them, Hugo didn't feel his own essence being drained which meant this shadow had its own cores...
"So you're a shadow creature of me... How weird... But not in a bad way! You are perfect just like you!"
His shadow smiled happily at his words, satisfied.
'Well aren't you a gullible little fella...'
Hugo could not control his shadow like his Spirit Body, but the shadow could transform into all of Hugo's aliens, which was something that the Spirit Body was incapable of.
Both were equally useful though, and Hugo was glad to have gotten a companion.
"Can you go back to being a shadow? If you don't mind?"
His shadow nodded obediently, dissolving back into his shadow.
It was nice to have the little fella around. Him and Zed were Hugo's trump cards, but at the same time, he did feel a bond with them that was more than that of master and servants.
'I guess I'm not so alone after all.'
Hugo smiled.
"Oh dear you are definitely not alone! What made you think that in the first place?"
Hugo jumped, tripping to the ground and falling, startled by the voice.
Above him, a small feminine blue head suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"S-Serena?! What are you doing here... And how are you here... Oh,"
The startled Hugo suddenly remembered the promise he made to the other two personalities of Alien X...
Now, he was forced to converse with them... whenever, and forever...
"My oh dear, is little old me bothering you? I can go back if you don't want me here..."
Serena said, looking on the verge of tears.
Hugo sighed "No no... You can stay, it's just... I was startled, that's all. Where's Bellicus anyway?"
Serena regained her smile, which made Hugo feel uncomfortable, the shift of emotions was definitely inhuman .
"Oh! He is with Ben Tennyson right now. They're having a long discussion."
Of course by discussion, she meant that Bellicus was likely blowing up Ben's ears with nitpicks and complaints...
'Hehe, deserved.'
Hugo found it funny, but his expression quickly changed.
"Hold on a moment... If you two can talk to us both... That means you are the same personalities in the Alien x form... Which means that me and Ben still share Alien x?"
That was problematic, not to mention extremely annoying.
"No. Your fates are still connected, however Alien x only needs three personalities to operate. The last time was an exception, as the Time Walker pulled Ben Tennyson out of our realm. That said, there's something you should know. You two are both necessary to operate Alien x, but only one of you is required at a time. A fourth personality would simply be an extra, so either of you can use Alien x without the other, but Bellicus and I will always be the ones you meet. It's unlikely you'll ever need to fuse again to use it. That aside, I wouldn't advise using Alien x in this world, or that harrowing Dream Realm anyway... This realm's influence would simply expel you from it as it doesn't accept the supernatural and as for the Dream Realm..."
Serena shivered.
"The profane gods in that realm are abundant and very dangerous for us... And the one that should not be named is still in there, slumbering. The existence of a Divine Titan on that land could wake it, dooming all of existence as we know it."
Hugo grimaced at her ominous message... He knew he should never use Alien x in the waking world because of the fact that he wouldn't be able to detransform. The fall from a divine back to an ascended would still destroy his soul... However, with this new revelation, it made Alien x even more dangerous.
Hugo knew that the one that should not be named was the forgotten god, however, he still did not know its full history. The things alien x saw while in the tapestry of fate were mostly filtered for Ben and Hugo, to stop them from going insane by knowledge. Although Hugo knew that the forgotten god was powerful, very very powerful. So much so that it could scare Serena herself, who was a part of alien x.
'Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...'
Hugo exhaled, this was indeed problematic but it was not his problem. He was too weak and too insignificant to be thinking about reality ending threats.
But there was something that required his attention, something that was very personal for him.
"Well Serena, I hope you like watching drama, because I'm about to experience the most dramatic few hours of my life... So be warned."
With that, he got up and left the underground dojo.
He had a few people to meet now that he was back in the waking world, but there was someone he needed to meet more than anyone else.
His father.