---
[DING! COMPANION BOND INITIATED.]
[HOST'S BLOOD AND SOUL ENERGY RECOGNIZED.]
[COMPANION EGG HATCHING PROCESS STARTED.]
---
Thin cracks began to spiderweb across the egg's surface, each one glowing with an ethereal, silvery light that intensified with every passing second. Then — with a sudden flash of brilliant white light — the egg shattered completely.
From within emerged… a colourless, perfectly smooth, round sphere.
Nova blinked.
Comical question marks might as well have floated above his head as he stared at the bizarre sight.
"What the hell is this this? A slime? Is a knock off Rimuru?" he muttered under his breath.
Before Nova could make sense of what he was seeing, the strange orb trembled, then transformed into a beam of pale light and shot straight toward his forehead.
"Wha—?!"
Nova instinctively staggered back and frantically patted his body, checking himself for any injuries or abnormalities. But the moment the light merged with his body, a surge of information flooded his mind. It wasn't painful, more like a gentle, invasive presence embedding itself deep within his consciousness.
As the stream of knowledge settled, Nova's breath slowed, and a complex expression crept onto his face.
"So that's what you are…" he murmured, eyes narrowing.
He opened the system interface to review the data, and what he read made his brow furrow deeper in thought.
Is there really such a strange, mystical species in the multiverse?
---
COMPANION INFORMATION:
SPECIES NAME: THE SOULLESS
DESCRIPTION: The Soulless is a unique species born in regions abundant with pure soul energy. These lifeforms exist without any consciousness, despite being composed entirely of concentrated soul essence.
CHARACTERISTICS: Because they lack awareness or self, a Soulless must bond with a living being to continue existing. Upon binding, it grants the host special abilities. These abilities differ depending on the host's nature, potential, and the surrounding environment at the moment of bonding. Also after bonding with the host, the soulless merges with the soul of the host, essentially becoming one entity.
EFFECT ON HOST: Completely harmless. The host can absorb or refine the Soulless to awaken latent abilities or gain entirely new powers related to the soul or spiritual domain.
---
Nova exhaled softly, rubbing his temple as he absorbed the strange yet undeniably intriguing revelation that had just imprinted itself into his mind.
"A sentient-less creature made entirely of soul energy… And it adapts based on me? And it's merged directly with my soul?" he murmured to himself, the corners of his lips curling into a faint, fascinated grin.
"What a bizarre and fascinating race."
The more he thought about it, the more questions surfaced — what kind of abilities would it awaken? Would it amplify his soul strength? Enhance his mental fortitude? Or perhaps unlock some hidden, innate potential he didn't even know he possessed? The possibilities gnawed at his curiosity, but there was no immediate answer.
After a moment of reflection, Nova pushed himself to his feet and stretched his body, feeling his joints crack lightly. His muscles loosened as a sense of calm settled over him.
"It'll probably take some time for those abilities to fully awaken," he thought, his gaze turning thoughtful.
There was no point in rushing. The process of integration between the Soulless and his soul seemed delicate and gradual. For now, he could only wait.
Once those abilities finally revealed themselves, only then would he decide his next move.
After all, if the powers turned out to be active-type abilities — offensive, defensive, or utility skills he could consciously trigger — then he could act decisively and reshape his immediate plans to exploit them.
But if they were passive or supportive abilities, subtle enhancements to his senses, resistance, or soul defense, then it would be wiser to adopt a more measured, cautious approach for the time being, gradually adjusting his strategies while observing their long-term effects.
Nova smirked to himself as he walked toward the window, staring out at the vast, star-speckled night sky beyond.
"Either way… things just got a hell of a lot more interesting."
----
A few hours later, Nova lay sprawled on his bed, lazily scrolling through his mobile as the soft hum of the night surrounded him. The glow of the screen painted flickering patterns across his face in the dim light. As usual, it was a sea of gossip, celebrity scandals, and political mudslinging — until a particular headline made him pause. "Mutant Criminal Responsible for Series of Violent Attacks Captured." Curious, Nova tapped into it and skimmed the details — a mutant accused of assault, property damage, and unregistered ability usage.
But what truly snagged his attention was the next post: a breaking report of the X-Men launching a coordinated strike on a hidden facility conducting illegal experiments on both mutants and humans. The disturbing part wasn't the existence of such a facility — Nova had long suspected as much — but that the operation had been fully government-funded. The fallout was immediate; media outlets were tearing into the government, protests had erupted in several cities, and a fierce debate about mutant rights and state corruption was igniting across the country.
Lowering his phone, Nova's brow furrowed. The situation of mutants in this world was far darker and more layered than the simplified conflict he remembered from the movies of his past life.
In movies, it had seemed so straightforward — two opposing factions: the X-Men, champions of peaceful coexistence, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, driven by militant supremacy.
But this world… this AU universe… had three dominant mutant factions. The X-Men were still led by Charles Xavier, Brotherhood of Mutants led by Magneto and Hellfire club led by Black King.
After finding this piece of information, Nova instantly understood that this was an AU universe. Afterall in movies Hellfire club and it's black King, Sebestian Shaw was the main villain which led to public emergence of mutants, fatefull meeting of Chalres Xavier and Magneto and the creation of X-men.
But here, Sebestian Shaw is alive and operating Hellfire Club openly.
From perspective of normal human, X-Men are most human friendly as long as you don't experiment on mutants.
Brotherhood of Mutant led by Magneto is purly mutant supremacy radical group.
Hellfire Club led by Black King is a neutral group, composed of many elites of human society. This is the only mutant group which have normal humans in it.
Another major thing, which Nova found was character of Chalres Xavier. This Charles Xavier was ruthless, shrewd, and deeply pragmatic. He didn't waste time appealing to the mercy of human leaders who viewed mutants as little more than dangerous anomalies. No — this Charles understood the brutal nature of politics, of public perception, and the power of narrative control.
In fact, to solidify his influence, Xavier had established his own media empire: Helios Network. An ostensibly independent, highly respected media conglomerate known for unbiased reporting and investigative journalism — yet beneath the surface, it was a carefully constructed mouthpiece for Xavier's agenda. In fact except for few elites or powerful people, nobody knows that this media conglomerate's owner is a mutant.
Using this media, Xavier subtly shaped public opinion on mutant affairs, discredited anti-mutant politicians, and exposed human rights abuses before they could be buried.
Altough many politicians tried taking down this media group but they quickly backed down after entire families of those politicians were collectively found brain dead next day, except for children.
This ruthless move of Chalres chilled the hearts of those politicians and they didn't dare touch Helios Network.
Nova almost smirked. Now this is the kind of leader mutants needed. Not a naïve dreamer, but a man who played the long game, who manipulated information, public sentiment, and political alliances like pieces on a chessboard.
And really, how could anyone believe that a telepath with the power to probe the deepest, vilest thoughts of humankind would remain so blindly optimistic? In the movies, humanity's genocidal plans — like distributing mutant-suppressing drugs through the food supply or secretly building Sentinels — somehow evaded detection by a man using a planetary-scale supercomputer to amplify his abilities.
In this world, such idiocy was impossible. Xavier not only uncovered these plots early, but sometimes let them run just long enough to publicly expose their architects at the perfect moment, turning public outrage into a weapon.
The more Nova understood, the clearer the picture became: this wasn't a polished superhero fairytale. It was a relentless battle of ideology, survival, and power. And Xavier wasn't the only player on the board.
There was still Magneto, whose presence was equally, if not more, formidable in this world — and then the elusive third mutant faction whose true motives are unclear.
x------x
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