Chapter 6: Uncommon Grade
Morden stared at those texts with a slightly exaggerated expression.
"Use 10 shards for a Gene Evolution," he muttered.
"I don’t think that’s a bad deal."
Without any hesitation or further thoughts, Morden chose to go ahead with the evolution.
Even after selecting the yes option and readying himself for what was to come, nothing happened. All he could feel was a weird, unnerving silence, and then it vanished.
Some inside Morden was gone, its presence now part of another.
The Gene that was currently lodged in the slot on Morden’s Genetic tree shook violently. Something had been added to it, and now it was stronger and more rebellious.
The intensity of the shake slowly grew more and more exaggerated. The Gene wanted to leave the slot, but something else was keeping it stable.
An energy elusive to Morden was currently suppressing the Gene and making sure it couldn’t leave its spot despite it growing Stronger.
The tug for control continued that way, with Gene trying to escape and that energy keeping it in check until they both finally quietened.
"Is that it? Is that all that’s going to happen?" Morden wondered.
"I guess Gene Evolutions aren’t that bad then.
Those words acted like some sort of trigger, as the moment they left Morden’s mouth, their effects finally arrived.
Pain.
The feeling he had previously of his veins being destroyed and reconstructed was now amplified by several folds.
This time around the pain didn’t just cause him to freeze in fear; he was completely knocked out instead. His eyes were completely white with no signs of his pupils while he fell to the ground, and to top it all off, he was foaming from his mouth.
With no one to see or help him, Morden could only lie on the ground unconscious and exposed to whatever threats may come.
After a bit of time had passed, the status popped up again as if to display its one and only change.
Name: Morden Tales]
[Race: Human]
[Innate Ability: Gene Evolution]
[Genetic shards: 1]
[Status: Still Confused and Emotionally Depressed]
[Total Genetic Slots: 1]
[Occupied Genetic Slots: 1]
[Ability obtained: Boost (Uncommon grade)]
[Strength: 15]
[Speed: 17]
[Durability: 22]
[Stat Points: 10]
[Assigned Mission: Stop the Mountain Lord’s Reign of Terror]
[Temporary Mission: Completed]
[Time Remaining: 22 hours, 50 minutes]
After an unknown amount of time more, a sharp smell of mineral water mixed with Urine slowly wafted into Morden’s nose.
At first, his nose just twitched slightly, and then his eyelids flickered gently; he was waking up.
"Ughhhhh, that was a level of pain I had never experienced in my life," he thought while slowly opening his eyes. But instead of the blue sky or at least the crown and branches of trees, he saw a rocky ceiling.
Alerted by the sudden change in environment, Morden immediately rushed to his feet and scanned his surroundings for any immediate danger.
He realized what appeared to be a cave with jagged rocks coming off the ceiling while water slowly dripped down to a puddle that had formed not too far beside him.
He also noticed the wooden frame that was at the entrance of the cave and a faint light coming from the other side.
"A cave, a wooden barricade, extremely shitty conditions. Am I in prison?" Morden suddenly realized.
"How the hell did you get here?"
The last thing he remembered was selecting the "yes" option on the Gene Evolution and him feeling the Gene growing stronger and then the pain.
But Morden’s mind didn’t have to stray for too long before his answers approached him with loud and heavy footsteps.
"Hey Sion, come quick, the dumb outsider is awake."
"Really," the one called Sion responded from somewhere still further away with enthusiasm.
Morden looked at the person who had just spoken and was shocked to see their primitive and strange attire.
The people were dressed in poorly sewn-together leather clothes that appeared to be like armor or something while they carried spears in their hands.
Sion also quickly arrived, and now it was two people staring at Morden with weird interest in their eyes.
’Why are these creeps staring at me like that?’ Morden thought in disgust.
’Should I test my progress now and see if I can fight my way out of here?’
But that thought didn’t last long before he quickly realized he had no idea how deep he was in the enemy Territory and he didn’t even know if they were friends or foe.
"Dale, I think you should go inform the Mountain Lord about this," Sion told the blond-haired man beside him.
"Ohh yes yes yes," Dale said before turning around to leave, a creepy excitement still present on his face.
Morden’s mind was immediately activated at the mention of that name.
’Mountain Lord,’
"Isn’t that my assigned Mission?’
no
Without any effort at all, he had suddenly arrived at the exact place he needed to be.
"Coincidence? Nah, nah, can’t be," he concluded.
His thoughts were interrupted again when Dale, who wasn’t sent to go inform the Mountain Lord, had arrived so fast it was almost instantaneous, and Morden noticed it.
"He is probably not a normal human," Morden whispered.
He hadn’t for even a single second doubted that the people in the Omnisphere were real humans for weird reasons.
"The Mountain Lord said he should be brought over to him immediately," Dale told his partner of the new instruction.
After hearing the instructions, Sion didn’t hesitate anymore and proceeded to open the wooden door accompanied by Dale and approached Morden.
Having decided to not struggle against the men, Morden relaxed and let them grab him and head towards the exit of the Prison as a whole.
The duo took bold and heavy steps, and in no time they had gotten outside the Prison area allowing Morden to see the situation of his current location.
All around him were people dressed in brown sack-like clothing moving in and out of leather tents all while showing a stern face. It was as if they couldn’t afford to show weakness.
Morden observed the surroundings with keen attention; he noticed how the children sat quietly in fear, lacking the usual enthusiasm and joy common to the children.
He noticed the adults also looking strange, as if there were an underlying worry in their hearts.
The sounds of the guards that were holding Morden’s footsteps quickly attracted everyone’s attention, and upon seeing Morden, all of their expressions changed into those of excitement.
All of them, at the same time.
Morden observed this and couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"Strange," he muttered.
He didn’t have to bear those eyes for too long, though, as they soon arrived at a more secluded area of the settlement where a lone Mud building stood.
In front of the building was a large wooden throne that looked to me made for a giant at the center. Something white lay there, but it was hard for Morden to discern.
"We have brought him, lord," Dale shouted when they got close enough.
Morden wasn’t listening to all that, though; his eyes were instead locked on what was on the chair.
’Is the Mountain Lord a...?’
’Cat’