Cole's gaze was locked on the rune-covered book, scrutinizing it as much as he could.
The presence of the book brought back a feeling Cole thought he had already escaped.
His eyes began to heat up again, but this time it wasn't severe. It felt more like a lingering itch than actual burning.
Feeling the pain in his eyes, beads of sweat began forming on his forehead, he decided to further investigate. He stood up and moved towards the window of his room, as he couldn't afford a mirror.
The reflection that stared back at Cole looked unfamiliar; his dark eyes were now replaced with slightly glowing golden eyes.
"Is this some kind of ability I gained?" Cole asked.
"I wonder which power it grants".
Receiving no answers to his questions Cole had no choice but to switch his attention back to the golden book.
"Which ability or abilities will you grant me?"
Focusing his attention on the details of the book, dizziness hit Cole like a train.
His eyes almost completely turning over, he held his head tight, trying his best not to scream out.
A massive amount of information flooded Cole's mind; this caused his reaction, as he wasn't prepared for that load.
After a little bit of struggling, Cole made it to the bed, lying there as the information flood began to subside.
"Now I get why those guys suddenly screamed out after awakening their innate spirit."
The pain gradually moved from little to nothing, giving Cole the chance to finally begin dissecting the content.
The first information he received about the spirit was that its name was Empty Codex
"That sounds quite grand, doesn't it?"
The book grants him just a single ability, which seems to be bad news to Cole, as the number of abilities granted determines the potential of the innate spirit.
"A single ability, uhhh, I hope it is something great."
Single ability Innate spirits are meant to be weak but this one seem different.
The information he got this time made him excited while still slightly uneasy
The ability granted by the Codex was called Record. Record was an ability that allowed the user to copy the abilities of other Innate spirits.
"This seems quite strong but it can't come that easy, can it?".
The book can record the abilities of other Innate spirits but the cost is that Cole must understand it well enough.
This might seem quite hard to do but that's where the eyes come into play. Cole figured out that the eyes were called Eyes of Scrutiny and it allows Cole to easily get the inner workings of an innate spirit ability much faster.
This might seem like two abilities but they all belong to the record ability. A slightly overpowered ability from a 1 star innate spirit.
The potential of innate spirits are usually classified into star ratings with one being the lowest.
"I need to test this out," Cole said as he stood abruptly.
****Back in the building****
The building was already deathly quiet before the officers arrived.
Government officers could be seen carefully moving through an eerily quiet building.
The region they currently were in was ghostly still but the wind kept howling as if telling a story.
Shivers ran down the officers' backs the further they got into the building.
After a while of searching, they finally arrived at the hall-like laboratory but its former state was almost completely absent.
The cage was still there standing quietly but all others were all moved leaving only a disorder hall, a sign of their urgency while packing.
"How could we not have known of such a place?".
"Something is wrong with the defense force" the leading officer thought inwardly as his eyes kept darting around the room.
****In Cole's Room****
Another wave of drowsiness hit Cole, this time his vision completely blurred and he slowly began to lose consciousness.
It didn't take long for Cole to completely fall asleep,his room gaining a period of short peace.
"He finally drained himself out" Mr Evans, lying in his room , said as he was looking towards Cole's room.
About Eight hours later, Cole was forced awake by the light that filtered into his room through the window.
"When did I fall asleep?" he wondered.
The air seemed more alive to Cole, his face even a little brighter as he just lay in his bed thinking of the events of the previous night.
It didn't take him long to finally understand the reason he lost consciousness the previous night.
The Eye of Scrutiny ability that he kept active actually overdrained his Life energy.
Since Cole had no Innate Spirit he couldn't actively absorb Life energy, the little he had was due to passive absorption.
People with Innate Spirit usually absorb Life energy through Spirit mantra. Spirit mantra is a guideline that allows innate Spirit to communicate with the world and absorb its energy.
Most Innate Spirit don't usually have an Innate Spirit mantra but people get the mantras that usually fits their spirit best from various sources.
But Special Innate Spirits don't follow that rule. Some of them usually possess their own Spirit mantra and this kind of Spirit mantra is called a Soul mantra.
Soul mantras are usually stronger than the typical Spirit mantra and help in faster absorption of Life energy.
The uniqueness of Cole's Innate Spirit was further confirmed as he realized it actually had a Soul mantra.
The Soul mantra of Cole's spirit was called the World Absorbing Mantra. The name sounded oddly simple but powerful at the same time.
"Let's see how powerful this mantra actually is," Cole said excitedly.
****In an Unknown Location****
Machines and equipment kept making strong noises as they were powered on one by one.
Workers are still shuttling all about preparing the new environment.
Away from all these activities in a deeper location, guards wearing dark hooded attire knelt in front of a majestic throne.
On the throne sat a familiar man, it was Doctor Thomas.
"The previous errors that were ignored won't be permitted anymore, things are actually getting serious now".
"You all must follow the order given to you strictly, You are dismissed".
Doctor Thomas said.
The guards began dispersing quickly prepared to fulfill the order given to them.
Soon enough it was just Doctor Thomas left in the room, a sinister smile creeping on his face
"I will get you kid,soon…. very soon and this time you won't escape".