Thren floated.
Not falling, not standing. Just… suspended, hands hanging loosely by his side.
He looked down at himself.
His body was whole.
And yet, he knew with certainty—
I'm dead or atleast I was.
The thought did not bring panic. If anything, it felt dull, like a fact already mourned.
A soft chime echoed through the void.
«ORIENTATION PROTOCOL INITIATED»
A red screen unfolded before his eyes.
Right the so called extinction system.
«BEARER: THRENOS» «STATUS: DECEASED» «CAUSE OF DEATH: CARDIAC DESTRUCTION»
Thren's jaw tightened.
"Am I… coming back?" he asked, although no sound was produced.
There was silence, then the words changed.
«RESURRECTION: CONDITIONAL»
The word made his chest tighten.
"Conditional how?"
Another pause, then the words changed again.
«YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS THE FINAL REPRESENTATIVE OF HUMANITY» «DESIGNATION: LAST HUMAN»
The words sank into him slowly.
Last… human?
Memories flashed, his father's broken body, Aurelio's lifeless eyes, the cheering stands filled with those alynds.
So that's what it means.
Not that I'm special.
That there's no one left.
Although that in itself could be considered special. Not that he minded.
«THE EXTINCTION SYSTEM IS NOT A GIFT»
«IT IS THE CULMINATION OF HUMANITY'S WILL»
Humanity's will?
«EXPLAINING SIMPLY: IT IS THEIR GRUDGE, THEIR HATRED, THE WILL TO SURVIVE»
So I am the bearer of that will huh.
"What about the human monarch?"
Thren's thought wondered to the system he got just before dying.
"Are you the same?"
«NO»
«THE EXTINCTION SYSTEM DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE HUMAN MONARCH»
So someone else was looking out for him huh.
That felt nice, although the effort was wasted.
But if there was a human monarch, shouldn't he have defended the humans when they were being hunted and discriminated against. Either he was limited or he was just a jerk, either way it didn't matter to Thren.
"So what exactly do you want?"
«I GUIDE YOU TO ATTAIN POWER TO ACCOMPLISH THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE»
«ELIMINATION OF THE GODS»
The Strength to kill the gods huh, even as he thought of that, he shuddered at the thought.
Even a Paragon was terrifying, so how strong would he have to get to defeat the gods, those beings which no one had actually seen.
They just appeared out of nowhere as usual as an answer to Humanity's pleas or something. During the peak of humanity, monsters which were later called aberrants appeared out of nowhere. Some looked like mutated creatures while others were just plain nightmare material. But one thing humanity soon came to realize was it was hopeless to try to fight them. This came to be known as the fall.
And that was when the gods appeared, or at least their emissaries, granting God seeds to those who accepted. This seeds transformed them, granting superhuman abilities and evolving them to something else, giving them a fighting chance, while creating new races on the planet.
But an interesting thing happened, those who initially rejected this God seeds also awakened, although they were not as powerful. As time went on, the Evolved humans started discriminating against the normal awakened humans. And since they were weaker, they stood no chance, then came the huntings, all leading to this moment, to him, the last human.
And now, he was supposed to fight this Gods, he was really looking forward to the power up. Although the words guide didn't slip past his attention.
«USER SHOULD NOTE: THE SYSTEM IS HERE TO AID, DIRECT AND EVOLVE WITH USER » «USER HAS TO CONTRIBUTE»
Right, so essentially it was more like training wheels or something.
«RESSURECRION IMMINENT»
"Is it possible to just stay dead?"
«NO»
The answer came sharp and direct. It was like he had no choice in the situation. He had to be ressurected.
If that's the case, might as well get proper revenge, he grinned.
«CONDITIONS FULFILLED»
Then a force similar to the portal appeared, pulling him downward.
«ERROR HOSTS BODY OCCUPIED»
"What?" Thren frowned, what do you mean occupied.
«CHECKING FOR ALTERNATIVES»
"What do you mean occupied?"
But the system did not answer him.
«ALTERNATIVE FOUND»
«COMMENCING TRANSFER»
Before Thren could say anything his body was jerked back, and everything turned black.
Loud noise, the clamouring of a crowd was the first thing Thren heard, making him aware of his consciousness.
He was back.
But rather than acting rashly like before he decided to play it safe, he kept his eyes closed.
System? He mumbled internally.
Then as if by magic, the screen materialized, even though his eyes were still shut.
So it doesn't require sight.
«EXTINCTION SYSTEM
Directive: Slay the Gods
Bearer: Threnos
Title: Vengeful Blade
Specie: Human???
Designation : Blade [Remember this, you need nothing more]
Sync Level: 1— Unaligned [You draw closer to...]
Cores (orbs): 1
Inclination: ???
Essence: 40/40
Saturation: 20%
Will fragments: 0/20
Willpower(WLP) : 50/50 [How much can you bear?]
Resolve (RSL): 20/20 [How deep will you dig?]
Carnage (CRE): 10/10 [How much destruction can you bring?]
Stamina: 50/50
Dissonance cap: WLP x 2
Active Voices{{Locked}}
Skills{{Locked}}
Quests»
This looks so much like one of those games grandma used to talk about.
But at the same time it was different, there was no stats, rather this looked more like...
He couldn't exactly put it into words.
But what was with those comments, and why is his humanity being questioned.
But most importantly, how was he supposed to escape this arena with such measley stats and no skills.
Should I just wait till everyone leaves. No who is to say, the enforcers won't check the corpses before leaving. Not to mention this arena is originally for Aberrants tournaments.
He swallowed hard, c'mon system, can't you do something like that Monarch person system?
Give me a boost, come on.
As if listening, the system pinged
«Don't be so pathetic you are a human.»
So...Thren felt like strangling the god forsaken system.
I am the last human, shouldn't you treat me better.
«Everyone is expendable»
Thren was about to retort when the system pinged once more.
«The grudge of those fallen in Gunlag arena has responded to your plea»
«Temporary will fragment multiplier granted.»
«Skill unlocked {{Temporary}}»
«Phantom Agility:
Consume 5 essence and 10 stamina to boost agility by 1.5x for 6 seconds.
Consume carnage to produce afterimage which swarm opponent»
Thren waited eagerly for the system to add more, but after a few seconds there was no more ping.
That's it, just an agility booster.
What am I supposed to do with this? Run out of the arena? There are Acolytes here, there's no way even twice my agility will surpass them.
But the system did not answer.
Dang it, Thren cursed.
But at that second, the sounds got louder, gasps and screams came from the stands.
What is it now?
Out of curiosity, his right eye opened slightly as he peeked.
His breath hitched as he saw the figure up in the air, floating over the arena.
There was no way in hell he wouldn't recognize that face, that shirt, that build.
After all, it was his face...his body floating in the air over the arena.