The ashes settled like snow, gray and silent, drifting across the remains of the experimental house. Kael stood in the center, the air thick with smoke, his chest rising and falling evenly. The fire had burned everything—every failed experiment, every twisted creation, every trace of the woman who had imprisoned him.
Yet, despite the silence, Kael felt it.
Something moved within me.
Not external. Not alive. Not conscious in the traditional sense.
It was part of him—or rather, part of the genes and skills fused within him during the experiments. Something ancient, predatory, and aware.
He fell to one knee, hands on the scorched ground, feeling the threads of his own soul and body twist and pull. The fire hadn't just burned the house—it had awakened the first fragment.
It began subtly. A shadow at the edge of his vision, flickering like smoke but sharper, darker, intelligent. Then a voice—a whisper, neither external nor internal, but inside his mind.
"Kael… why do you hesitate?"
Kael stiffened. His mental disruption flared instinctively, probing, controlling—but the whisper didn't retreat.
"I am… part of you," it said. "I am the edge of your intellect. The shadow of your soul. I am… the first."
Kael's eyes widened. A fragment of the Soul Harvester gene had surfaced. One of the most dangerous powers implanted during the experiments.
This isn't just a skill, Kael realized. It's consciousness.
The whisper solidified into a presence. Dark, silent, and utterly calm. A figure—his figure—but sharper, taller, and wrapped in shadows that moved with a life of their own.
"You survived," the figure said, its voice mirroring Kael's yet carrying an alien weight. "That alone proves your mind is strong. But stronger minds attract attention… even from within."
Kael didn't answer immediately. He felt the power coursing through him—the ability to summon souls, manipulate shadows, disrupt thought patterns. But it wasn't his yet. Not fully.
"I don't have time for hesitation," Kael said quietly. "Rion is alive. I will save him. I will… exact revenge."
The shadowed figure moved closer, merging briefly with Kael's body, whispering:
Then let me guide your first steps.
And with that, Kael felt the first surge of coordinated power. His body moved as one with the shadow, faster, sharper, stronger. Threads of his soul, once separate, now aligned with a fragment of his avatar.
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't complete. But it was enough.
Kael surveyed the ruins. The smoke curled into the sky, carrying the scent of destruction across the surrounding forest. He had survived three years of experimentation and torture, yet this was only the beginning.
Rion was imprisoned. His teacher had been captured during the palace chase, sacrificed to buy Kael time. Somewhere within the imperial empire, the man awaited his rescue.
And the Emperor…
Kael clenched his fists. The man who had tried to frame him, to kill him, to eliminate him before he could uncover the palace's darkest secrets—he would pay.
But Kael had learned restraint. Patience. Strategy. And now, for the first time since his awakening, he had a fragment of his true power to tip the scales.
First, he thought, I find Rion.
Then… I hunt the Emperor. And all who aided him.
Kael spent the next days exploring the ruins. Among the ashes, he found skill books, old weapons, and broken relics from previous experiments. One book, in particular, caught his attention:
Ultimate Cloning — Celestial Ranked.
Its pages promised power beyond comprehension. With it, Kael could create avatars—copies of himself, each capable of wielding the genes and abilities fused within him during the experiments.
He studied it carefully, understanding for the first time that his genes were not merely powers—they were personalities, fragments of thought, potential allies, and even rivals.
The Soul Harvester fragment was the first to awaken. The others—Dragon Hybrid, Flamingo, Moon Goddess, Blade Deity, Zerg, Plant Civilization, Angel, Ocean God, Silicone Civilization, SPACE—lay dormant, waiting.
Kael's mind stretched, balancing his own consciousness against the fragment. It was delicate. Dangerous. But exhilarating.
He whispered to the fragment:
"Guide me. But I remain… in control."
And for the first time in years, Kael smiled.