My eyes snapped open, and I stared at the intricate carving on the ceiling. Everything hurt: my bones, my eyes, my head. I rose from the bed, each movement bringing more pain.

  The image of the room overlaid with the one from yesterday. Everything became ever so slightly smaller… Which meant I was growing, just as the pills promised. It was only my fourth day here, yet the effects were apparent.

  I had to go to the ELEVATE, and with that, my headache grew worse. Morphing my underwear into proper armor, I set off…

  Gently opening the door, I slithered into the room surrounded by noise. Sitting in a circle on mats were four students. Ocoz, the three-eyed girl, kept talking, “… That’s why we shouldn’t help a possible future calamity.”

  I gulped, looking at them, concerned. Mousei glanced at me, smiling happily, her red hair glowing even brighter today. Yet, nobody else noticed.

  Gretchen raised her hand. “We should kill him and eat his soul while he is weak.” The suggestion was so deadpan, I nearly bolted out of the room.

  “Hey!” I snapped my fingers. “Are you talking about killing me?”

  Mousei shrugged, “It’s just those three, I’m not involved.”

  Louize glared at me, her face twisting in hatred. “Yes, we are, human. You shouldn’t have come here.”

  I stared wide-mouthed at the murder conspirators, “What did I even do to you three?! We haven’t even properly spoken!”

  Mousei put a hand around her mouth, her ears twitching as she tried holding back laughter.

  Ocoz mumbled, “You’ll destroy the Galaxy.” Followed by Louize, “You don’t belong with Ivaldie!” And finally, Gretchen. “You insulted Professor Siege!”

  I could only shrug. It was the first time I experienced such direct hostility for no good reason. I clenched my fists and started twitching specific muscles of my face, flaring starpower. The world slowed down slightly… Nothing like that first high.

  I looked at them all. “First, I don’t like fighting, and I don’t want to destroy the Galaxy. Second, you can have Ivaldie. I don’t want anything to do with her. Third, no, I fucking didn’t, I was just confused.” I took a deep breath, trying to suppress distress.

  “You don’t want anything to do with me?” My face twisted into a further frown. Behind me stood Ivaldie. “I see…” She said with resignation. There were no emotions on her face, but she looked down at the ground, slowly walking towards the group and taking a mat near Louize.

  Silence enveloped the room as tension rose higher. It was hard to breathe, let alone speak. The next moment, the classroom erupted into shouts.

  “See what you did to Ivaldie, you, human trash!”

  “I will eat all your souls for insulting the professor!”

  “This is hilarious.”

  “The future can’t lie, and you can!”

  The barrage of words overwhelmed even my accelerated mind, as they kept on shouting. I bottled down the anger, concentrating on starpower. “Shut the fuck up!” The combined wave of energy pushed the air around me. I took a deep breath in the moment of silence and said calmly, “Where is Siege?”

  Mousei scratched her head, and after a string of “Eh”, she said, “Probably sleeping. I’m in charge anyway.” She said confidently and stood up, slapping Louize with her tail. She grabbed a bag of glowing marshmallows from the table. “You want some?”

  A reluctant series of yesses rang through the room as Mousei tossed everyone one. “Okay, enough with scheming, let’s start getting strong. Ivaldie, your turn on the tribulation altar!”

  Ivaldie stared at the woman and spoke for the second time since she entered the room, “Yes, ma’am.” Immediately, she marched to the altar and took her place.

  “Good. Magnus, take a seat near me. We’ll be doing a divination.” Groans followed that declaration

  I didn’t do that. “What exactly are we ‘divining’?” I put the marshmallow into my mouth, relaxing from the sweetness.

  Ocoz rolled her eyes. “Everything, ya dummy.” The tension seemingly disappeared in a moment.

  I sighed and, ignoring Louzie’s and Gretchen’s glares, I took a seat near Mousei. Her tail smacked me that instant. “Ouch! Stop hitting-” and again. “Me!” and again.

  I grabbed her tail, pinning it to the ground. The force with which this scaly sausage moved made my arms hurt.

  Mousei grinned, “Sorry, can’t control it. Ha-ha!”

  “That’s what you deserve, human.” Louize didn’t even want to look at me.

  “Getting hit by a-” Now it smacked me in the face. “A tail? Fuck.” In anger, I slapped the thing with all my force, making Mousei yelp. It immediately curled up in front of her.

  “You didn’t have to do that!” She frowned, petting the red tail.

  Ocoz shook her head. “Just give me your palm, man. I'm tired of squabbles.” The blue scales on her head glinted annoyingly as she grabbed my hand. I sighed and let her do whatever.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Alien starpower started entering my hand, twisting in strange, sticky patterns which made me want to expunge it. Even without my input, my energy surrounded hers and broke it down.

  Her mouth opened wide as her third eye closed. “Yeah… You’re nasty or will be, I guess.” She looked at Louize. “The soldier-girl wouldn’t even want him. Stop worrying, kid.” She smiled brightly and sat back.

  “What the hell was that?” I scratched my palm, as if trying to scrub off the sticky sensation.

  “I’ve read your palm? Yeah, maybe he won’t be that bad.” She grinned, closing all her eyes.

  Louize immediately looked at me. “You might have escaped a terrible future, but you will pay for what you did to Ivaldie.”

  “I did nothing! Stop with the bullshit!” This place was making me go insane.

  A cold voice interrupted our dialogue. “You did do something; you have injured my shoulder.” Ivaldie glared at me and Louize simultaneously, her SE rose by two…

  My cheeks burned with shame. “Hey, I’m sorry for saying I don’t want to do anything with you; I didn’t mean it.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Calmly, she sat on her mat. “Louize, stop being a snake/bitch.” The word came out twofold from my translator. I noted the insult.

  “Y-yes…” Louize said, looking down in shame.

  Ivaldie closed her eyes and started meditating. An awkward silence descended on the group. Suddenly, Gretchen opened her mouth wide and let out an inhuman shriek, her jaws unhinging as a giant worm with thousands of segmented feet all over its surface started crawling out of her mouth. I screamed.

  Parasitic Soul Geist

  SE: 9

  Affinity: Onyx

  Description: She was growing that thing in her soul, get it away!

  I stumbled back, only to trip over Mousei’s tail. Gretchen grabbed the thing and started biting it with crazed fervor, her SE visibly growing. With each bite, she got 3 or 4, and once nothing was left of the worm, she smiled happily. Her SE shot up to 120.

  I panted, panicking, flooding myself with more and more starpower. None of the other members seemed even a little interested. Her black scales started shifting to a whiter hue as she smiled blissfully. Her eyes became clear, and she stood up.

  Gretchen bowed deeply, her hands trembling. In a voice so unlike that banshee screech, she apologized, “My friends, I’m so sorry for threatening you. Please accept my apologies.”

  Louize sighed. “Not again.”

  Mousei shrugged. “I liked you more when you were evil.”

  “W-what the fuck was that?! What was that thing?!”

  Gretchen approached me, tears falling down her face. “I’m so sorry you saw that side of me, human friend.” She clenched her fists. “That method of growth was too flawed, and it altered my emotions. As an apology, please ask anything.”

  Mousei started quietly giggling, followed by Ocoz. The seer said after a chuckle, “You’ve made a mistake.”

  My mind went into overdrive as I channeled starpower towards accelerating my mind. I organized the facts within my brain. First, there was a technique that grew geists inside of your soul that could make you stronger. Second, I could ask anything of Gretchen. Conclusion – I had to take as much as possible.

  “Become my servant.” I immediately said.

  Gretchen lifted her head, raising an eyebrow at me. Tears stopped falling from her eyes. “Sorry, friend, but I can’t break my covenant to Lord Rame… As always, I am insufficient.” She sulked.

  I wasn’t that disappointed. Removing all the tempting but morally reprehensible options, I settled on the most basic one. “Help me win the next exam tournament, then.”

  In an instant, she brightened up. “I’ll do my best! Let’s get you started with your tribulation. I’ll guide you through the meditation afterwards.”

  “And here they go. Good luck, kid!” Mousei waved at me, closing her eyes to meditate.

  I sighed, hopefully it won’t be that bad. I looked at the altar and stepped in. “It will be just an illusion; you have to stay calm,” I said to myself.

  “I’ll take you out if you’re taking too long, don’t worry, friend!” Gretchen smiled.

  The next time I blinked, the world was gone. My arm and leg hurt like hell, worse than ever before. I tried opening my eyes… Only one did. I saw a white ceiling. The smell of the hospital filled my nostrils. “N-not this shit…” I just woke up from a pleasant dream of another life of hope, even if something terrible was going to happen… The invasion.

  “Friedrich! Friedrich, you’re awake.” My mother’s voice was so clear as she grabbed my bandaged hand. I couldn’t even move normally. My leg and arm were broken. My eye was pierced, and agony burned through every muscle of my body.

  “Hey, Mom.” My heart cried in pain. Was this real? Was this heaven or hell? Was I hallucinating? Panic gripped my heart as I stared into her teary eyes. She smiled in relief; her wrinkles were exactly as I remembered.

  “Y-yes, son?” With a shaking voice, she mumbled.

  “What date is it today?” I had to be sure.

  She sniffled, wiping the tears from her face. “Huh?” She thought for a second. “I-it’s September the third… It’s been three days since you went into a coma. Doctors said you wouldn’t wake up.”

  The date was accurate. I remembered the day of my death with crystal clarity, how I was shot and beaten to death. It lined up… Except I remembered it too clearly. There were cases of people waking up with perfect memory after a traumatic injury, but could this really be the case?

  “Do you remember back when I was three, when dad broke my bicycle and never told you?”

  “What?” She said immediately. “I’ll call doctors… you’re not feeling well. Please wait, son.” She started shouting for doctors.

  Every sensation was real. The agony pulsing through my body, the face of my mother, the feeling of my old body. Even in the confinement of the hospital bed, I couldn’t accept that those five years were all an illusion.

  I had to think in facts. My memory was perfect. I tried flaring my starpower, yet nothing worked. I stared at the clock, calculating each moment between seconds, hoping for a failure in timing that would ensure the unreality.

  With a hoarse voice, I started mumbling. The memory of me sitting in the university lecture hall, I repeated after the ghost of the teacher, “In many late Gothic cathedrals, including Amiens and Cologne, the rib vaults were deliberately asymmetrical during construction to accommodate the ‘creep’ of stone.”

  I wouldn’t have remembered that before. I was sure I couldn’t. The memory was too clear.

  Mother put a hand on my forehead. “You’re burning. It’s all going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay-” She mumbled, panicking, as tears fell down her face.

  I stared at her with my one eye. “You. Tell me this is real.” I was surprised at the anger in my voice.

  She stumbled back.

  “Tell me this is real!” I shouted, ignoring the terrible pain.

  “I-it’s real! It’s real.” The fear in her eyes made me shudder with horror. It was even worse than the broken bones.

  I had to remain rational; it was the only way to figure out the truth. The timelines, lined up, yet I couldn’t gauge their truth by the freshness of memories. If this was a creation of the tribulation altar, it was doing an amazing job. “Don’t look at me, illusion.” It couldn’t be real. I wasn’t going to be a cripple; I had magic, had dreams. I wasn’t going to be stuck in a hospital bed.

  “You’re confused, this is real, Friedrich! Please believe me!”

  A nurse walked into the room and started speaking softly, “I know you’re upset. Just breathe for a moment.” She said carefully. I couldn’t even use my scouter on her. “You are safe; I am here to help you.”

  I wasn’t certain whether anything was real, but one thing would always be true – my hatred of the tribulation altar.