Broken pulpit and an Altar
Suddenly the plain tilted and the void displaced, almost as if a curtain of reality was being overturned and shredded to pieces.
Grant closed his eyes and opened them. He immediately saw a ruined altar before him. There was a pile of rubbles that sat by the broken pulpit and a weirdly shaped knife, planted within the black obsidian that lay as the base of the broken pulpit. Grant had mysteriously found himself standing in front of it.
"What in-tarnations?"
"Is this some sort of burial altar, or garden cityscape made to become a ruined altar?"
Grant was surprised because, the altar was looking smallish as if a large city was shrunken down. There were two large pillars, an entrance and the city itself. However, he did not dwell on that thoughts for now. He immediately looked for the easiest way out of this nameless arena. The altar was the shrunken down city, while the nameless arena is— The temple.
There was a broken door. One of it's hinges was pulled out almost as if it was shattered by some unimaginable power.
Grant stared at the entrance and a trace of fear appeared on his face.
Something shattered the door, something quite horrifying. And Grant did not want to meet such a horror face to face. He would not even know how he died.
Only by awakening would he get an ability. And without an ability, even his affinity and attributes were simply useless. They could not be used without the vitality of an ability so, Grant would definitely be helpless in a fight against anyone. At least, when he had been a Saint, he was capable of standing up against powerful creatures and even against his peers. But now is different.
Slowly and steady, he stepped out of the broken door and peered out of the expanse before him. A heavy darkness hung above his head in the form of a veil and it brought with it an ominous chill. The night air was cold that those without animal skin-like-cloth wouldn't survive twenty four hours.
Grant was about to become very dissatisfied, not until he saw a young man pass him by. Grant was surprised at first and his gaze followed the young man to a certain crowd.
They were people and his eyes widened. The crowd of humans gave him a certain boldness and he moved towards them.
The air was boiling frantically with gossips and discussion. Female ladies pulled their genders away from the males, some carried out mischievous purposes. However they realized something and their gazes snapped towards the approaching Grant.
"Look, there's a newbie. He's born from the temple."
All gazes were suddenly fixated on him. But Grant is someone who had that quality of a leader, so he wasn't afraid of their gazes. He also carries the burden of leadership on his shoulder and as a leader, courage is required. But for now, he decided to suppress that part of himself so that he doesn't earn the scorn of the people.
The humans here believed themselves to be born from the temple which was very strange, however he remembered that the fifth messenger had scanned his memories from the past to check if it is right to allow the memories into the brain of the host or not.
There are memories that comes with emotional damage and brain disorders. Once these memories are infiltrated, that person would either be killed or restrained. Which is why the fifth messenger is there to scan the memories to prevent or allow infiltration. So it's either the host remembers about his or her past or forgets entirely. The only information they get is the one from the system panel which is why they believe that they are born from the temple.
The fifth messenger was different. Normal humans have what is called; "Manual System Integrator."
They break down information just like how the fifth messenger does it.
"Hello everyone?" Grant said trying to sound as nice as possible, but then someone stepped forward and sneered;
"I am the boss of this formation! The first to be born of the altar. I have been in this Nightmare den for complete three years and was lonely for a long time. I hope you will listen to me."
Grant was surprised.
"Were you chosen?"
The man grunted angrily and said: "My rules are: No questions to be asked. Follow those rules and we become best buds."
Grant could not actually stop. First of all, he wanted to find out if he was among one of the chosen five. From the fifth messenger's point of view, Grant is just the last of them all.
"I have the fifth messenger helping me, what about you?" Grant did not relent but the young man gnashed his teeth in anger and pushed forward with a punch.
The air bended sideways and the force of that punch caused the void to shake and it moved towards Grant who's eyes widened.
He hurriedly dodged the punch and was once again shocked by his sudden swiftness. The movement of his body caused the void to ring.
Something instantly occurred to Grant. Only those chosen by the Origin God can have special skill and this young man is one of such chosen.
"You're really swift, but my punch can crush you to a bloody pulp." His hands hung backwards and shot forward as a remarkable force pushed past him, shattering the void around him. Everything happened within an instant and Grant also needed to dodge in that moment.
His legs twisted in an arc, escaping the pressure from the pushed void. Then, a powerful energy drifted out with swift precision and the wind parted and pressed downwards.
Grant was surprised. Another skill?
Or does the Origin God bless the chosen five with many skills?
The young man moved his hands systematically and visible wave of strength pressed into the air and shot forward, crippling everything in it's wake.
Grant stared at the man like he was nothing, and his fingers moved swiftly, a ring energy manifesting and creating a ripple that connected from the heaven to the earth.
'A third skill.'
But then, Grant's pupils shrank.
Space suddenly shattered and the young man was in front of him. Grant did not even know how it had happened and everything was pierced through. Grant was struck squarely on the chest and blood dripped out of his mouth.
He was blasted backwards.
The next words that entered his ears were. "You were just born. Do not fight someone that has been born before you and has stayed around three years. That's simply asking for a beating."
Grant thought about it and sighed.
That was right. He had not even groomed himself, neither had he accumulated any fragmented soul. Fragmented souls are the souls absorbed into his own soul after every kill. These fragmented souls can build his core and increase it from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 3.
Who knows, this guy must have accumulated so many. But then, his eyes flashed. Does that mean that the moment he starts accumulation, his strength would spike tremendously.
Excitement bubbled down within him.
"Then, let's get killing!"
He stood up, coughing loudly and spitting up blood before disappearing.