"What a sight..."
Sitting on a mountain while watching the stars was one of the most enjoyable moments for Kael and tonight was even more so, as in five minutes he would be turning 18 years old.
The only sad part was that even on this day he would be alone as always for the last five years.
But sadness was something he had left far behind in his life, so he was just waiting to get this over with.
After he turned 18, he would be considered a proper adult in this world. Well, he could count that as an achievement.
When he had enough understanding of his own world, he always wanted to reach this stage just like any other kid of his age. After all, it was the age of becoming Awakened.
He looked at the box beside him. It was totally sealed. It was given to him by the government since his father and mother had died protecting Ascended Earth five years ago.
This box contained a fortune, which not everyone could get their hands on, an Awakening Crystal also known as a Genesis Crystal.
A crystal which lets you step on the path of Ascendance. The stage where everyone dreams to reach.
Well, why wouldn't they? After all, they get the powers to defy laws of nature which used to be totally impossible in previous generations.
These crystals weren't rare, they were just hard to obtain. They were found in vortex, another enigma which began appearing on the earth after it had ascended to a new realm. It wasn't hard to deduce that, given all the stars other than their sun had changed.
"It's time."
Kael looked at the box and decided to open it. He hoped that once he completed his trial he would get a water related trait.
"Well, it's not like I have a choice. It's all depends on luck."
He caught the box in his hands and placed his hand on the two knobs sealing it and immediately a floating panel appeared.
[Please provide the passcode]
"8825"
[Verification completed]
CLICK
The box unsealed itself and opened slowly, revealing a rhombus crystal shining with faint light.
Kael looked towards the sky. "Mom, Dad... today I am going to become an Ascendant..."
His mother and father always wanted him to get a trait with the same element as one of them and he was inclined towards his mother. Now he would see if he got anything related to them or not.
Suddenly he squinted his eyes as he saw a little flash.
"What is that?"
He had just thought that when a flying object hit the peak of the mountain only thirty meters away from him. "What the hell?"
The strange thing was that he didn't hear any sound of impact.
'Should I check it?'.. Why not? Worse things had already happened in his life, what else could happen?
Kael walked without hurry while carrying the box. This hill was situated in an area where higher society people lived and those guys never came here.
On his own he was just a nobody but due to his father and mother's contributions they became respectful citizens after their death so he was given a home here to live.
Although he didn't know if he should feel happy or sad about it. Unlike those who were super rich living here, he was nothing.
When he arrived at the location of the impact, his eyes widened looking at a small crater with the carcass of a strange creature and a dark red crystal with black veins embedded inside it.
'Is that a Genesis Crystal?'.. He wasn't sure as the size was quite bigger than the Genesis Crystals he had seen till now, also it wasn't colorless either.
The size of Genesis Crystals did vary so it wasn't a problem but the dark red color with black veins was definitely something else.
"Everything else aside, what the hell is this tentacle?"
The carcass seemed to be only a long tentacle. It was dark black in color and looked ethereal as if he wouldn't be able to touch it.
Nonetheless, seeing that crystal embedded in it as well as it being on the ground, it definitely was touchable.
"Now what should I do? Should I approach it or not?"
The price of a Genesis Crystal was tremendous. One person could only use one, so he could sell the extra one for a good amount of money.
"Not to mention this tentacle... it should still have blood inside it..."
Genesis Crystals weren't the only source of strength for humans. There was one more way humans could get strength, it was from the beast blood.
Just as Kael was thinking this, the Genesis Crystal inside the beast vibrated.
"Eh?"
Suddenly it flew up and before Kael could react it...
PUCHHIII
Intense pain shot through Kael's senses as he looked with wide eyes at the crystal which had stabbed his heart. His vision was getting blurry as only one thought echoed through his mind. "What the..." and he fell down.
.....
'Shit, it hurts.'
As he regained his consciousness, he felt burning pain in his whole body.
'Am I alive?'
The fact that he could feel pain meant he still had his body.
He slowly opened his eyes and immediately closed them as the glaring sun was reflected in them. "Dammit."
Slowly he pushed himself to sit and opened his almost blinded eyes. It took him some time to recover his eyesight and when he did, he looked towards his chest first.
There was nothing there, in fact the clothes he was wearing were also different from before. His eyes went to his hands and he got stunned.
He was fair-skinned so why the hell was he black right now?
'What's going on?'..He looked around him and he could only see trees as far as he could see. 'What is this place?'
Just as he thought that he heard a sound.
[Connection to Genesis completed, Welcome to your Genesis trial]
"W-what..."
Finally reality hit him. He was inside the trial world.