"I need to get away from here as fast as possible." This was the only thought that dominated Cole's mind.
His body moved as fast as his legs could take him, his hair movement leaving a white streak in the forest.
Behind him, steps followed closely, mounting an increasing amount of pressure on Cole.
He tried to lose his pursuers as best as he could, but all his efforts seemed to be in vain.
"Unn-unnn" His breathing wheezed as he was nearing his limits; he had been on the run for about an hour.
Slowly he began losing his pace, and the armed guards encroached swiftly, still as active as they always were.
Desperation began setting in Cole's mind.
As if finally giving in and completely giving up, all of the past events that led him here flashed in his mind.
A week ago
Cole could be seen trudging gently in what seemed to be a slum, his eyes lifeless, his body slightly bent, and his head facing the ground, not daring to look around too much.
He kept moving slowly, a step at a time, towards a vague destination. Keeping his head down helped him not attract the attention of others, but it also reduced his scope of vision.
And expectedly, he walked into someone in his path, the person's strong body acting more like a brick wall, causing Cole to fall.
"I am sorry, I am sorry," Cole curtly said fearing a harsh retaliation.
But the punishment he expected never arrived, and instead met "hmmph."as he continued his journey, probably in a good mood.
Seeing he escaped a beating today, Cole happily dusted his clothes, planning to resume his journey.
Suddenly something caught his eye; it was a poster. A poster that seemed completely out of place with its shiny text and neat layout.
"This definitely doesn't belong here." He moved towards the poster, planning to read it.
"Tired of being weak and powerless, tired of being discarded? Scientist Thomas has got you covered. Whenever you are ready to change your fate, come to this location." An address was written below.
All of this seemed extremely shady but reading it, Cole stood there in place pondering on what to do.
His life has always been miserable; as an orphan with no one to rely on and failing to awaken his innate spirit at 16, his already bad life turned worse.
Innate spirits were the lifeblood of strength in this world, they were physical manifestations of the person's soul. Strength is a major deciding factor in a person's life.
Having a weak spirit was already considered bad, but Cole's case could even be said to be a death sentence.
All his past experiences made it such that the advertisement in front of him seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, the final strand of hope he had.
His situation seemed to influence his decision too much as Cole headed towards the address written there, completely forgetting about his earlier path.
This time his steps were light, his face bright as he began humming a faint tune happily. The buildings around him became fewer and fewer, and bushes and trees became more and more.
The location was soon in view, it was a fairly good looking building that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb from the buildings around it.
In front of the building stood two men wearing formal attire, a cold smile plastered on their faces. All of the alarms seemed to be going off, signaling disaster to Cole, but he stubbornly kept on.
When he got to the entrance, he turned towards the guards and said, "I am here for the opportunity to change my life."
"Hahahaha," the guards burst out laughing before saying, "Kid, doesn't that sound extremely weird to you?"
Not waiting for his response, they pointed straight into the building before saying "Head straight down, someone will get you before you arrive at a turning".
After giving him the directions, they switched back to the cold smile, the earlier laughter completely disappearing as if it never existed.
This further amplified the tiny dread in Cole's heart but the dread still couldn't overcome his thirst for change.
He headed straight down as he was ordered, the passage slightly dark, the only light source being the light seeping through from the entrance.
A faint sound of dripping water could be heard from deeper in the building as Cole continued moving.
Suddenly a large sound came from behind Cole; without hesitation he turned to see what it was, but his face was met with a large object.
"Bammm!!" That was the last thing Cole heard before everything went dark.
About two hours later, "Ughhhh," Cole groaned out loud as he groggily regained consciousness.
His surroundings were completely different; now he was surrounded by bright lights and machines and people wearing lab coats.
The truth of it all now seemed to be dawning on Cole as he realized how stupid he had actually been, completely blinded by desperation.
"Welcome, young man," said a disheveled-looking man.
Cole refused to respond, staying completely silent. "A quiet one, uhhh, they are the best," the man said before walking away.
That moment became the beginning of events that shouldn't even be described for Cole.
For the next few days, more kids, mostly Cole's age, were thrown in there.
On the second day soldiers stormed into the cage feeding the children potion like medicines.
"Haaaaaaaaa," Cole screamed out loud, almost drowning out the scream of the others.
The potion seemed to delve deep into the soul, leaving a feeling like a hole had been drilled into the soul.
The pain was extreme and unbearable, some children outright dying out from the pain.
Their bodies were soon cleaned up by the workers, and more children soon replaced them.
The slum was a place where things like this can go on indefinitely with no one really noticing.
But Cole still persisted, his will unbroken, his mind constantly attentive, waiting for a chance to escape, and on the seventh day his chance finally arrived.
While the guards were in there feeding them the potions forcefully, "Boomm!" an explosion suddenly rang out.
The guards were sharply startled, rushing out of the cage to check out the damage.
Cole, seeing this opportunity, instantly seized it; he rushed out of the cage, heading straight in a random direction.
He had previously been intentionally making a mess with his potion and water and seeing the slightly poor sanitation of the place, he was sure it would end up accumulating and flowing towards the equipment not far away.
Mother of luck seemed to smile at Cole as the direction he was heading seemed to have almost no guards allowing him to escape out of the building.
The guards saw his escape but, caught up with the fire, couldn't do anything; they could only watch as he ran off.
As soon as they were able to put it out, they immediately chased after Cole.
Present Moment*
Cole already flopped on the ground; his body had given up, but his mind refused to.
"Is this really the life you got planned out for me,A miserable life, with such a pathetic ending.Is this really the end for me?"
His eyes were wide open, his eyes slightly bloodied .
During his moment of mental defiance, his enemies already closed in, completely surrounding him, but the smile of success expected on their faces was absent.
Something began coursing through him, heat, a power he never knew he had.
The guards faces creased up with fear, one of them saying, "Why is the life energy in the surroundings converging over here?"
Hearing his statement, Cole was snapped awake, and he too could sense the surging amount of life energy around him.
"What is going on?" He thought, eyes wide opened.