Daisuke scowled at the gates, a little bit disappointed by the fact that he couldn't kill any Nirad Creatures. It seemed he was both lucky and unlucky.
"Annoying..."
He muttered under his breath as he strode forward, entering the gates under the watchful gazes of Evolved Warriors.
"Halt!" A city guard called out to him. "State your affiliation."
Daisuke locked eyes with the guard for a brief moment before withdrawing his gaze.
"Dormant Human in a Trial. Kuramoto Daisuke."
He answered dryly, sure the guards wouldn't believe him.
The guards eyed him suspiciously, unable to believe him. He looked too calm, composed and clean to be a Dormant Human going through a trial. He wasn't even wearing an armor.
"You telling me you haven't killed anything and just got here, clean and untouched?" A guard chuckled, feeling a sense of fun. He had a thick brown beard and a bald head— like a viking.
Daisuke only shrugged slightly, as if affirming the claim.
"Hey, what do you think, Salami?" The guard asked with a smile as he turned towards another.
Unlike the rest, this one had a more serious expression. From the way the others' stance shifted subtly, he seemed to be someone respected a lot by the rest.
"Green. He's telling us the truth." He said in a surprised tone, shocking the others.
"Well, he ain't so unlucky then." The brown bearded guard chuckled despite the shock rippling in his heart.
"All clear then."
He opened the small gate and allowed Daisuke in.
"You might want to explore the city a little. Or else you'll have the most boring Awakening Trial in the world." The respected guard said to which Daisuke only nodded.
Walking through the bustling streets, Daisuke was a little bit stunned by the advanced civilization behind the walls. Stalls and tall houses filled up the area with a lively atmosphere. It looked like a futuristic city except for the lack of mobile technology— replaced by several Nirad Creatures used for transportation.
'Truly, the tenacity of humans is marvelous.'
His green eyes reflected approval as he moved aside and allowed a bipedal beast carrying a few Awakened warriors to pass by him. Just then, he realized something. For everyone to be able to survive here, they either had to all be Awakened— which was impossible based on the population or they were protected by a Transcendent's Innate Law Domain.
'A Transcendent...' He thought, clearly shaken. 'Just like those two.'
He recalled the incident that destroyed his former habitat. The Facility.
The battle of two Transcendents. Although he couldn't get a close view of their fight or witness the end, he was sure that the entire continent would have been destroyed and if not— close to being destroyed.
That was how terrifying those beings were.
His lips moved slightly, exhaling a shaky breath but his eyes told a different story. Those bright green gems glittered not from fear but something more unsettling— unwavering confidence, borderline arrogance.
'If humans can reach that level, who says I can't?'
Chuckling, he advanced, eager to explore the city of its wonderful environment.
____
Hazel gasped as she felt her throat burn. The thirst for water had only grown more unbearable. Even though Dormant Humans should be able to live without water for a week, something was very unnatural about this zone. Although the weather was cool, she continued to feel the rising thirst in her throat.
Asher wasn't any better. Although he looked more composed compared to her, his face was unnaturally pale and dripping with sweat.
'Is this some way of weakening us?'
Confused, the boy came to a halt. His abrupt pause caused Hazel to stop also. Tilting her head, she could see he had a pondering expression on his face.
"What are you thinking?" She asked.
The boy looked at her silently for a moment before shaking his head.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" She scoffed, the bitterness in her voice unmistakable.
'Why does he keep acting like that creep?' She thought, her mind torn between respect, fear, and disgust she felt for the latter.
Without another word, she stepped forward— ignoring all the voices in her heart.
'I'll just have to grow strong enough to not allow the same thing to repeat itself. Watch me, Kaiser. Watch me.'
Asher gazed at her back with a profound look, still unable to understand the strange feeling he was having internally. Like a part of him was out here— just a little beyond his reach.
'I wonder... what is it?'
____
SNAP!
A sharp mandible closed an inch beneath Kaiser's foot as he stepped onto it, launching himself like a ragdoll into the distance. He unceremoniously crashed to the ground, barely rolling in time to dodge a sharp pincer that dug into the ground beside him. He was being besieged by two Defiled beasts of the Titan Realm. Although he was strong— far stronger than average, he was still a Dormant Human. Something his sane mind kept yelling to him. And for the first time in centuries, his eyes had a deep seriousness in them.
He really was cursed with bad luck.
Although he had an Immortal soul, it wasn't as nice as one would think. All his lives had always been short. Either dying in a crossfire between two groups and sometimes dying in the hands of an enemy that totally outclassed him.
'Pathetic.'
It was to the point where he even became a joke among Immortals. Dubbed the Quick-Life Immortal. He had never been able to surpass the Ascendant Realm. That was why he was a little bit excited about his stay in this world. Although Ascended Humans were revered in this world, they were the base workers in the higher planets. More disappointing was also the fact that this world's Awakened Humans were weak compared to others from the outer worlds.
'Ah~ finding joy in such a thing! Really disgusting!'
It was a secret he was willing to take to his grave— if he could have one. Truthfully, his only prowess was his very broken mind that couldn't be broken further— already tethering on madness. Though it never really saved him from the despair of dying everytime. That was why he had been a little careless with his lives, always trying any means possible to steal powerful techniques and try to learn them in his next life.
A truly vile habit, wasn't it?
'That's why, I must change it in this life.'