The bright rays of sunshine illuminated the once dark room, as it cast its gaze on the sleeping boy. Wind dashed into the room, bringing with it the soothing sound of chirping birds.
Jace awoke with a start as he surveyed his surroundings. He attempted to rise, yet weariness still clung to his skin.
He collapsed back on the floor, closing his eyes as his back lay on the floor. His back hurt from sleeping on the floor all night and Jace still felt his mind ache.
Wait a minute. All night.
Jace's eyes cracked open as he struggled up. The sun shone in his eyes, causing him to instinctively cover them.
Memories of the night before rushed in as Jace struggled to compose them. He had walked into his room, folded his clothes and had fallen asleep after eating the heart.
The Heart!
Jace felt himself over for any change. He hadn't magically grown taller or buffer and he didn't really feel anything much about him. The only thing that warned him that something was different was the overwhelming energy that seemed trapped in his body, waiting for a release.
Jace stood up as he noticed the small puddle, no, not a puddle, it was more like a stain. A reddish brown stain slowly turning into a mix of Grey and brown.
In the middle of the stain was the box, a bit of dried blood now clinging to its side.
Jace gazed at him unsure of what to feel, if he should even feel anything. The thought that the heart belonged to someone in the past had never crossed his mind.
Hell, the thought that he was probably committing cannibalism by eating the organ never really seemed to faze Jace.
No.
It had fazed Jace, he had just kept it down. He had pushed those sinking, disgusting feelings down and had hypnotized himself into seeing the heart as nothing but a tool.
A feeling of shame rose up in Jace as he squashed it down.
In the world he lived in, kindness was a luxury the weak could not afford but the strong could give in droves.
Jace would do anything, bath himself in rivers of blood, anything to be able to afford to give that kindness.
Jace almost found himself laughing at the sheer absurdity of his thoughts. Drown in rivers of blood. Who was he kidding?
Even then. A weak yet persistent feeling troubled Jace. That maybe the absurdity of it all was the point. That maybe insanity was the price to pay for power.
Jace shook his head as he called out mentally 'Status'
[Name: Jace Vicea] Level 2[150/200]
[Age: 17]
[Abilities: None]
[Bloodline: Vicea ( Partially locked)]
[Titles : Invisible to Fate, Marked by Fate, Masochist ]
[Stats] [Skills] [Quests-3] [Inventory]
Jace examined the status window as his eyes fell on the 'masochist' title.
His eyes twitched slightly as he tapped on it to reveal the description.
[Masochist : Twice in three days. You've suffered enough pain for a hundred peoples' lifetime. You're either addicted to pain or you are. No other option. ]
Jace closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. The image of him punching the system came to mind and a smile came to his face.
Though, Jace didn't even know if he could punch the system. Still, that didn't stop Jace from imagining beating the system up over and over and over.
Finally, after a few seconds Jace went back to scanning the status window. He gazed at the abilities column as a frown came to his face.
Nothing. Jace had eaten a human heart, almost died in pain and all for nothing. The only thing that stopped him from cursing out was the bloodline.
According to the system, eating the heart had somehow released the seal even if partially.
Jace tapped on it as nothing happened. No description about the bloodline and what it was came up. He sighed as he gazed at the bloodline. It would do him well to ignore it, at least for now.
The Vicea Surname though, was something Jace was planning to investigate. Another reason Jace had struggled to come to the Academy was the wealth of information the military possessed.
Jace was sure that using the information, he could at least find clues on his mothers family. All he knew about them was they were a famous and powerful family before the Rache attacked.
Any other information concerning his mother and her extended family had been wiped out from the Black Stars.
Anyways, The only real change in his status was his level increasing from 1 to 2.
The last time Jace had opened his status window, there had been no such levels or anything like that.
Jace considered it before settling on the fact that it had originally been hidden.
Maybe the system had assumed he would never reach that level and so had not bothered to even show it. Of course there could be the theory that levels were just not
Jace pondered on it as he called out mentally once more "Stats"
[Strength: 8]
[Speed: 11]
[Resistance: 7]
[Stamina: 8]
[Reflexes: 13]
[Perception: 5]
[Free Stat points: 3]
At least the heart had clearly affected his stats. Both his speed and reflex stat had shot up, the rest increasing by one.
Additionally, Jace noticed a new stat, if it was a stat.
The free stat point.
Jace had no idea what it was, but he guessed that if the heart was responsible for the increase in his stats, then the appearance of a level 2 should be responsible for it.
Of course this was just a theory with no real basis, but a plus sign beside all the stats seed to tell him something.
That Jace could use the points to increase any one of his stats.
To test it, Jace tapped on the plus button beside his weakest stat, Resistance.
As he did, a small rush of foreign energy seemed to surround his body and then, it was gone.
The foreign energy had simply appeared and disappeared and for a second Jace couldn't tell if there was a difference.
But looking at his stats, there was a difference. His resistance had increased by one.
For a second Jace took a deep breath and contemplated what this meant.
With the system, it seemed he could continually increase his Physique as long as he was able to reach a higher level.
The negatives, though, were that the foreign energy that had appeared was extremely addictive.
That and the question of whether his stats would still remain if the system disappeared.
Jace hated the idea of borrowed strength and the image of a system taking away his strength was a nightmare.
'One step at a time' Jace thought as he ran his hands through his hair and added the other stats to his speed and reflexes. What he needed to do now, was to find a way he could increase his stats.
Good thing Jace had an idea of where to search.
Jace moved back to the original screen before tapping on the quests screen.
As he did, another screen opened up
[Daily Tasks-3]
[Weekly Quests-1]
[Missions]
Jace analyzed it before checking what seemed to be the easiest. The contents were simple
[Do ten push-ups- 10xp]
[Do ten sit-ups- 10xp]
[Drink a bottle of water- 10xp]
Jace gazed blankly at the tasks laid in front of him. The tasks weren't just easy, they were mind numbingly so.
Jace had expected a certain level of trial or effort it might take to complete the quests but now, it seemed even a mundane human could very clearly complete it.
Thinking about it, maybe the system in itself was designed so it would be easy for a normal human to advance using it.
Jace focused on the tasks as he sighed and dropped to the floor.
Within minutes he was done, a ding telling him that two out of the three tasks were completed.
[+20xp gained. Lvl. 2 170/200 xp]
Jace walked towards his new mini fridge as he opened it where dozens of bottles of water were stacked.
Since the ranking system meant that the lowest ranked would only be able to afford one meal everyday, it appeared they were worried about how it might look on the school if a student died of thirst simply for not having enough tokens.
Jace grabbed one as he gulped it down. As he did, his eyes strayed to the bed where a small card lay.
Jace put the now empty bottle down as he scrutinized the card. The contents on it were simple 'All ability users were to report to the field'.
The reasoning was simple, the government wanted to know who among them had been blessed with a rank 2 ability.
As Jace read the card, a thought crossed his mind. Looking down at his wrist, two numbers shone '393/486'.
Jace took a deep breath as the image of others like that boy in the hall came to mind.
15 people had died. Potential warriors, potential pillars of humanity. 15 people who could have possibly made a difference to the world were dead.
But the more Jace thought, the more it became apparent that his thinking was flawed.
None of those people could have ability ranks higher than 2. None of those people could fight hundreds of wars at the same time.
So even with them gone, there would be no difference. The sky would continually twinkle at the sky, planets would continue the same as it had always done.
And the war.
The war would continually be a stalemate, like always. That realization was a bitter pill to swallow.
It turned even bitter when Jace realized that he could have been a part of those people.
He could have died and there would be no difference. His father would mourn, sure. His cousin would take the throne as the Leader of the Black Stars, a position he was far well suited for than Jace. And the sun would keep on shining, like it had always been.
That disgusted Jace. That very thought disgusted him. It made his stomach turn. Yet, what could he do. He was simply a puppet, dancing at the whimsical of greater forces.
Yet that strong sense of disgust persisted, infiltrating every cell within Jace. The urge to fight, to rebel, rose up in Jace, a laughable notion. Laughter burst out from Jace's lips as he felt for the second time that day he was insane. The laughter reduced as it transformed into a long sigh. Still sighing, Jace mumbled softly "I hate my life"
* * *
Jace walked out of the room, locking the door as he hummed a tune.
What was the best solution to an existential crisis and the dawning realization that you were a speck of dust in the universe.
One word: Music.
And so, with his ear buds in, Jace was trying to chase away his sadness and flood them with melodies.
Of course, Jace was aware of how dumb it was. Trying to ignore his thoughts was bound to ricochet back at him someday.
But Jace also understood that delving into them at that moment would do more harm than good.
Plus, Jace didn't want to think about it. The sinking fear that he could die and no one would care.
And so, Jace resolved to ignore those thoughts, at least for now.
Plus, there were other things to do. Like the weekly quest. The quest was direct and simple to understand. Easy?, maybe. The quest was to fight an Ability User. That was it.
Not to win or lose, but simply to fight one.
A smile crossed Jace's face as he whistled before coming face to face with a familiar figure.
Waving at him, a bright smile adorning his face, Jax called out "Hey, you're heading to the field too, right?"
"Too?" Jace repeated and for a second confusion clouded his features. He had assumed that only those who had been bestowed an ability would be called.
It looked like they were planning a test, for both those with hereditary abilities and those who had gained their new abilities.
Jace had assumed that the test would only be done with people who had just gained those abilities, considering they had just possessed it.
The test was obviously biased towards those with hereditary abilities and Jace guessed it was specifically designed to humble some of the more arrogant new ability users.
Of course, having the test the day after was still dumb. Jace shook his head as he got rid of those thoughts.
Jace gazed at Jax's smiling face as he gauged the offer to walk with him. From a standpoint, walking with Jax was a good way to make a friend.
From another, walking with him would be the most annoying thing ever and Jace honestly didn't have the mental capacity to deal with that. Not when he was still contemplating his place in the universe.
Finally, with a soft sigh he remarked to Jax "Fine. Let's go". A smile appeared on Jax's face as the two walked down the hallway.
A couple of students seemed to be heading to the hall too leaving the hallway fairly crowded.
Additionally, Jax was trying his hardest to suppress his talkative nature, which while it was supposed to be soothing, felt more uncomfortable.
"So," Jace started, attempting a conversation "How was the party last night?"
Jax blinked in disbelief and for a second Jace thought he had said something wrong.
A smile crossed Jax's face as he replied slowly "Either you're joking with me or you're messed up because of the ability thing."
As he said that, he straightened up as if he said something wrong "Uhm, I wasn't actually the one to know about the ability uhm…Silas did it. He just checked your name and found out you didn't have an ability. I don't really discriminate or anything, so you can still consider me a friend, only if you want,"
Jace ignored everything Jax had said as he focused on one thing "What do you mean I'm joking?"
Jax looked confused as he enunciated clearly "The party was the night before yesterday. You were in your room for the entire day. That was part of why I asked Silas to spy, no not spy, investigate what you were doing. Of course we ended up…"
Jace ignored everything Jax had said after stating that the party was two days ago. That meant Jace had...
'No, no no'.
Jace tried calming himself down as he struggled to think. He had been in his room, unconscious for an entire day.
Jace searched for a reason, a theory on why he had slept for so much. The only ones that seemed most likely were the system interfering and his Vicea bloodline.
The system interfering, while an engaging possibility seemed too far-fetched.
The most likely was his Vicea Bloodline. Which gave Jace more questions on what that truly meant.
"-ce, Jace!" Jace glanced up in a fright as his thoughts scattered into pieces.
Jace glanced at his side to see Jax looking at him with an expressionless he couldn't quite discern.
Massaging his forehead, Jace spoke "I'm sorry for blanking out. I'm just really really tired."
Jax nodded as he ruffled his hair "Yeah, I can underst- Hold up isn't that Silas?"
His eyes brightened as he waved his hands over his head and called out "Silas, hey Silas. Over here."
Jace noticed the anxious dark-haired figure slowly take in the sight of Jax.
A sort of jittery emotion lit up in his eyes as he searched for his path of escape, but there was none.
The minute Jax noticed him, there was nothing Silas could do except trudge over to Jax.
Jace almost laughed as he took in Silas's soulless expression. Well, to be fair, the only other time Jace had seen him was when his face was in the shadows so maybe that was just how Silas's face was structured.
The three walked down the stairs and into the landing as Jax greeted almost everyone around.
Every single person around focused exclusively on Jax, smiles adorning their faces.
But behind their smiling masks were their seeking eyes. Looking, probing at Jace, Silas, even Jax.
Jax meanwhile smiled broadly, sometimes a little too stupidly. He laughed loudly and jumped into conversations between people.
An uncomfortable feeling rose up in Jace as he sought a way to at least make Jax appear even the tiniest bit serious or calm.
Until he saw it.
While Jax's smile was broad, his eyes were lit with a fire. Not the erratic one that Jace had noticed from him two days ago or even a few minutes ago, but a calmer more collected one.
And as Jace noticed that, he also noticed Silas.
With his head down and wearing an oversized hoodie that was clearly meant to cover him, he appeared anxious, weak, scared. Maybe even confused.
The dark pulsing viscous liquid, though, stated otherwise. It was small, large enough to notice but tiny enough to ignore.
The substance moved around, studying people around it at a distance no human could go close to.
When it had studied enough, it would come back to Silas, attach to its body and a new one would come out, ready for its mission.
As Jace gazed around, he noticed. It wasn't only Silas and Jax. Every single person in the building and even outside on the clearing, people gathered in groups.
Their faces were beacons of smiles and joy but their eyes portrayed the truth.
Each one of them gazed around, scanning, analyzing, identifying.
And in that moment Jace understood.
They may have been training to fight a war, but the moment Jace stepped into the academy, he was already in one.
As Jax slowly extricated himself from the conversation, the trio walked towards the hall, the dark substance attaching onto Silas's arm.
As they walked, Jax whispered "So, you guys find anything?"
Jace shook his head as he noticed a small pounding at the back of his head. A headache was forming.
Silas meanwhile, hesitantly spoke "I heard quite a few people talking about who is currently ranked first. Also, the test today is to determine the formal rankings".
Jax nodded absentmindedly as he offered his take "I heard a couple others. Apparently he's not a legacy. He also didn't attend the party".
Jace half-listened, the other half of his mind flying away with his thoughts.
Thoughts of the mysterious system, or the Vicea Blooodline, or of back home, in Apnea.
Thoughts of everything and nothing in particular.
Jace almost sighed before stopping himself. It appeared eating a heart had made him more melancholic.
As he did, a thought came to him. Turning to Jax and Silas, he asked "How do we find the field anyway?"
Silas looked at him in confusion as Jax exclaimed "You didn't know. There's a map in the cyberlink. Didn't you read the rules? It was right there."
From the corner of his eyes, Jace could notice a small frown deepen on Silas's face.
Nodding absentmindedly, Jace replied "Yeah, I read it. Just slipped my mind."
Jace frowned. Sure he didn't have a photographic mind but for him to forget something so important.
And then there was this pounding headache. Jace could tell. His headache, that was going to be a problem.
The worst part was that Jace didn't exactly know what to connect his headache to.
His system, likely. The Vicea Bloodline, A lot more likely. The Heart, the primary suspect.
Jace had heard that some people suffered side-effects from the bestowment and this seemed like one.
For a second Jace considered whether or not he could be given a pardon for his headache before laughing it off.
Ignoring the fact that it was unlikely, Jace guessed that was the point of the test. To not only rank the students but to see how the new ability users could deal with their new abilities and side-effects.
Jace was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't notice when the noise of people talking faded.
He looked up just as a tuft of grass tickled against his feet. Wind blew in his face, causing him to almost stumble on his words.
And even as the wind blew, he heard Jax's voice loud and clear "Welcome to the field."