Riven looked at the zeal exuded by the two kids and internally sighed.
They had superpowers now, and if he left them on their own, they would get into trouble sooner or later, especially since they had awakened their first Life Spark without attempting to awaken it like other people and directly manifested their powers.
They had no basic knowledge of anything.
'Alright, kids. We will start our first lesson right away then. You mentioned a river, right? Is it safe for us to stay for some hours?'
"Yes," Tom said with a nod. "It's a big river, so we can just go to a spot where no one comes."
"We have our spot there with trees and bushes. No one can see us there, and no one comes, but there are some wild boars there, so we don't usually go," Jack said.
"But we have powers now!" Tom grinned. "I can freeze the wild boars, right?"
"And then we can eat it." Jack smiled from ear to ear. "Though it would've been great if I had a flame-based superpower."
Riven thought for a bit and said, 'Alright, that's a good space, and we will go there later. But first, let me teach you about your powers.'
'Life Sparks are something that every living being possesses because of Mystic Pulse, and it dictates their existential evolution. This Mystic Pulse came from the Eternal Rift and it changed all fundamental dynamics and laws of nature. Nobody knows what was before this, but this is the new reality.'
'Now, the currently known reality consists of a single weird and vast cosmos after the changes brought by Mystic Pulse, with seven Grimshards that Mystic Pulse formed creating a Grim Realm where they hid. Only those who awaken their Life Spark can enter this realm and begin dictating their evolution.'
Jack and Tom were shocked as they digested the information.
'You two…have awakened your first Life Sparks because of me. I don't know exactly how that happened, but you two will be able to access the Grim Realm, and you are not ready for that, so don't use your powers lest you mistakenly resonate with the realm and enter only to get hunted to death by a Pulse Weaver.'
"Pulse Weaver?" Tom blinked and asked, "What is that?"
'Those who awaken their life sparks by getting attuned with Mystic Pulse are called Pulse Weavers. Mystic Pulse now favors you and has evolved your fundamental lifeform, which is why your hunger disappeared, for now. People only get one chance to awaken their first Life Spark, and most of them fail.'
'You two awakened your first Life Spark and are naturals, unlike those who use Bio-Implants to get powers.'
"Were you also a Pulse Weaver?" Tom curiously asked.
'I…don't know. But I think I was something special, and I had a crew of trusted people. Urgh, those bastards screwed over my brain really well as I can't remember about myself and my past. Fuck!'
"We will find out about you once we get powerful and break into Torch Corporation's headquarters to smash them." Jack smashed his fists together with a grin.
"Yeah," Tom nodded as he fist-up, suddenly causing heat waves to be produced from him, making the container hot.
Riven immediately controlled Tom's power.
"Damn, bro! You got cold and hot both!" Jack shouted.
Tom was shocked. "Hot and cold both? I'm awesome…"
"Meanwhile, I am a slime…" Jack blinked and sighed, feeling dejected.
'You both are going to be strong. Now listen, I can somehow use your first Life Spark's code, and I know everything about them. You should know, but since you didn't awaken it, you don't know about it like other Pulse Weavers.'
'Tom, I am going to tell you your first Life Spark code. Repeat it in your mind or speak it out loud.'
Tom nodded and soon got the code from Riven. Blinking, he began speaking out loud, "From the jaw of fire and the fangs of frost, I call forth the balance of ruin."
Tom's body suddenly glimmered, half burning with a mystical dark orange flame and half exuding a whiteish-blue cohesive freezing sparkling particle-filled aura.
Even his brown hair was split into two different auras.
"So cool…" Jack watched, his eyes wide in awe.
Riven kept Tom's power in control and deactivated it as Tom returned to normal.
'Tom, you know your first Life Spark code now, and the name of your first Life Spark is Equinox Tyranny, and it's a Radiator-type, which means you can release it and project it outward. You can emit flames, heat, ice, and cold.'
'But you don't do that carelessly, or you will die on your own with Mystic Pulse overload. Without control of your life spark, Mystic Pulse will completely devour you and make you a part of it. You will disperse and die forever.'
Tom gulped, not daring to use his power.
"That's scary," Jack blinked.
'Yes. That's why you have to let Mystic Pulse shape an ability from your code with training, and then you can use that ability unrestrainedly until exhaustion without danger.'
"Oh…"
"What about my power?" Jack pointed at himself, curious and eager.
'Yep, now onto your power, Jack. Your first Life Spark is called Chimera Sovereign. Spell the code I send you now.'
Jack nodded, and upon getting the code, he excitedly spoke, "Flesh unbound, form unleashed—let the world behold the endless beast!"
Jack's body turned into a puddle again, but this time, Riven controlled his power to show a bit about it, causing Jack to turn humanoid the size of an adult while fully becoming metal with well-defined muscles.
"Damn! You're a beast, man!" Tom exclaimed.
"Crap," Jack looked at himself, shocked and awed. "I feel so strong!"
But Riven immediately made him return to normal lest he enter the Grim Realm by mistake.
'Jack, your Chimera Sovereign allows your body to adapt to elements, environment, and conditions. This is a Morpher-type Life Spark, but it's more dangerous for newbies because it gets influenced by Mystic Pulse fast, and once you overload, it will be over, so don't even think about using your power before I tell you to.'
Jack nervously swallowed and nodded.
Riven looked at them, as still as a statue. If not for his unique lifelike eyes, one golden and one dark blue, everyone would think he was a sculpted statue.
'Now, let's begin our first training session so you can have the first ability of your Life Spark.'
Jack and Tom nodded.
'First, sit down-'
Just as Riven relayed that thought, he vanished from the container.
"We are listening," Jack said.
"…" Tom looked at him.
Jack turned to him, his face somber. "What do we do now? He disappeared!"
"Let's go find him. He could be anywhere, but we have to start somewhere."
Both of them quickly left the container but were immediately taken aback as they saw Riven eating dirt just a few meters away, his legs hanging on a metal beam and his face buried.
'Fucking hell!'
'What are you looking at? Get me up already. I am going to skin whoever did this to me alive!'
Tom and Jack smiled and quickly got him up.
'No need to go inside. We now go to the river to begin your training. Hopefully, I can move by then.'
'Tom, I am going to borrow your body for a moment and make a wheelchair using ice, so you two won't need to carry me.'
"Woah, you can borrow our bodies?!" Jack exclaimed.
'Yeah. There's some connection between us since you two awakened due to the Mystic Pulse that was released from me. I became some sort of medium for your awakening, allowing me to control your powers without your consent, but body only if you don't resist me.'
'So, Tom, if you feel weird, don't resist, or I won't be able to control your body.'
"Got it," Tom nodded.
Riven controlled Tom's body and released icy waves that soon began to take shape.
"Boss, your butt gonna feel cold on it, no?" Jack said with a laugh.
'Fortunately, no. I am not able to feel anything. Some strange process has taken over my entire body, every single cell. The only thing working is my ability to think and control your powers.'
Riven soon finished creating a simple wheelchair made of ice in half a minute.
'Alright, let's go, boys.'
"Yey!"
'Wait, get some rag from the container to cover my upper body.'
"I'll bring it," Jack said and returned with a black bedsheet before wrapping it around Riven.
'Good. Now, let's depart.'
"Training Montage, here we go!"
…
Meanwhile, the task force of Torch Corporation soon got a message.
"We got a new reading. Time to go."
"Where?"
"Back to the dumpyard."
"Urgh…get the gas masks this time. The smell is terrible there."