Digging Deeper

19th-Aug-2018: After the sudden explosion in Markz lab, there were some strange phenomena. Animals started migrating in hordes. There was a significant change in biodiversity. Pet animals showed strange behaviors.

20-Aug-2018: Some portion of the population are getting weird powers that could not be described. Some pet animals with powers started devouring people in the locality. The government is starting a nationwide curfew. Every animal inside the human populated area is to be isolated.

27-Aug-2018: The situation is getting out of control, Animals started forming groups and attacking cities. There are several animals that are immune to human firearms. The cities are to be evacuated until we take the hordes down.

01-Sep-2018: A couple of people got inhuman powers while fighting the animal hordes. They can match the power in combat and their strength is beyond human understanding. We need to do further research to know how these powers work.

11-Sep-2018: many people started to get powers, we are now calling them awakened. The government has established the Department of Awakened to monitor and control the awakened population.

..

..

August looked at all the journals starting from the day when the incident started. The various government projects and the awakened research that was conducted on captured beasts and users from other countries, who were captured from battles.

The awakened power was related to the four fundamental forces and twenty one discovered fields that combine themselves to generate a random power that coexists with a life form. The distribution of power is random at the start but one can improve based on their traits.

For example, a beast that awakened due to exposure to an electro scalar field with three down quark fields generates electromagnetic powers. The rank of power depends on the level of exposure as well as the intensity. The denser the field the more the lifer form absorbs.

That is how twenty one different fields interact with the existing fields to create varying types of awakened beasts. Most of the users that have no power and skills are basically exposed to the neutrino field and the first discovered array field.

After doing research for a year, scientists have found that you can use the body and core of awakened life forms to emulate the properties from the residual energy. The residual energy is then assorted with the discovered power fields. After years of trial and error, some scientists have created formulas for the conversion from beast core to augmenting artifacts. There were many verified processes and newly discovered processes.

Looking through the documents August sighed.

' There is no research on systems, even though there are theories, but so far no one was able to find anything.'

He needed to go through all the processes and try to create artifacts. Thanks to his system, the process will be shortened tremendously. He just needs to look for plausible patterns and how the assertions react with different fields.

' Guess, I will be busy for now.'

After he scanned all the documents in the lab, he looked at the others. They were standing there looking at him without any movements, like observing an exotic animal.

" What? Haven't you seen a researcher before ?" August asked all of them.

" It's not like that. I never thought a powerhouse like you also had an interest in academics." Dr. Kromer was quite intrigued. Fatty also nodded in response.

" Well, I was reading through all the research you have done, to be honest, I am impressed."

Dr. Kromer didn't know how to react to that. A young man in his twenties who never worked in the field was able to understand the research papers.

" Did you do research before ?" Dr. Kromer asked August.

" Sort of.." He didn't want to reveal his real identity here. He was dead for three years, and that was that. If he revealed his true identity his family would also lose their peaceful lifestyle. Also, he didn't want to unnecessarily silence them. He liked that he had two separate lives. He wanted it to stay that way.

" Dr. Kromer, is it? How would you like to work for our guild ?" he suddenly asked him.

" Excuse me." Dr. Kromer looked at him and then Charlotte, who was showing the same shocked expression as he was.

" I am afraid I can't. I am bound to DoA, as their chief research scientist. This is my personal lab."

He rejected August's offer.

August didn't dwell on that as he was just asking on a whim. He could find other researchers to work for him, he didn't mind the refusal.

" Still, I hope you can consider my offer. I can provide you with even more resources than the DoA." August took out the SS rank beast core and showed it to him.

Upon looking at the beast core, Charlotte and Dr. Kromer both realized it was a high rank beast core above S rank.

" What is that core ?" Dr. Kromer asked in a shaky voice.

" Why don't you find out." August tossed the beast core to him. When he caught the beast's core, he felt a burning pain. He quickly put that beast core on the table.

" This... this is a SS rank core, isn't it ?" Dr. Kromer asked with an excited face.

" It's good that you know. If you join our guild, you will get to play with more stuff like this."

August gave him an enticing offer.

" .. " Dr. Kromer was seriously considering that offer. He didn't agree or deny this time.

" Alright, let's check the power output of the beast core." Dr. Kromer wore a pair of heat resistant gloves, took the beast core, and placed it on a testing machine.

After some time the screen showed the results.

" SS rank beast core. With flame attribute." Both Charlotte and Dr. Kromer looked at the screen with eyes wide open.

" So how much are you going to pay us ?" Fatty asked them while winking at August.

" You better get ready for the next hunt." August rebuked him.

" Ah... No, today was supposed to be our day off." Fatty dropped his head and sulked.

August took the beast core from the device to his hand.

" I've got everything I wanted from here, so let's go." August looked at both Daisy and fatty.

Fatty was a little unwilling but he was in no position to refuse him.

" Do you want to meet the director and take the compensation for the beast core ?" Charlotte suddenly asked.

" Maybe later."

Without giving her a chance to say anything, August vanished with the other two.

" I knew he was gonna leave like that."

She remembered how he teleported them to the headquarters. She was really surprised to see someone having this kind of long distance teleportation in addition to such tremendous strength and amazing skills.

" I hope the director comes back soon."