The room grew eerily silent as I placed my hand on the Power Class Classification Orb. Time itself seemed to slow, and every pair of eyes locked onto the sphere, waiting for the glow to reveal its secrets.
The orb shimmered faintly before glowing white.
Common Class.
Just as I expected. Or at least… what I used to be.
"Hmm, interesting," one of the agents muttered.
But then the orb shifted.
Its glow turned green.
Uncommon Class.
Tension spread through the room as murmurs erupted among the onlookers.
"Wait…" Lucas's voice was barely above a whisper. "It's changing again."
The orb deepened into a crimson red.
Rare Class.
A collective gasp rippled through the room.
It's not stopping. Why won't it stop?
"No way," Nova exclaimed, leaning closer, her dark eyes wide with disbelief. "Three shifts? That's almost unheard of!"
Before anyone could process it, the orb pulsed once more.
Blue.
Unique Class.
The agents exchanged nervous glances, whatever calm they had left rapidly disappearing.
"Is this… even possible?" one of them asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Four classifications? That defies all standard data."
My hand hovered over the orb as it pulsed violently beneath my touch. The colors cycled rapidly—white, green, red, blue—over and over again.
Then suddenly—
Everything stopped.
The glow darkened.
A deep, ominous black light swallowed the room.
A chilling aura burst from the orb, forcing everyone to instinctively step back.
This feeling… it's exactly like the void.
"Black?" Nova's voice cracked. "Isn't that…"
"Calamity Class," one of the agents finished quietly, his expression caught somewhere between awe and fear. "A category only spoken of in legends."
I slowly removed my hand from the orb, staring at the dark sphere now sitting motionless before me.
Silence consumed the room.
Heavy.
Uneasy.
Almost suffocating.
"Adrian?" Lucy's trembling voice pulled everyone's attention back toward me. "What does this mean?"
I shook my head slowly, unable to find the right words.
There was a strange sensation in my chest—as though the orb had awakened something sleeping deep inside me.
"How… how is this possible?" Lucas finally asked. "You didn't even have powers before!"
Nova nodded stiffly, her usual confidence nowhere to be seen.
"And Calamity Class? That's supposed to be a myth."
The lead agent cleared his throat and glanced down at the tablet in his hands.
"According to our database, Adrian Clarke was classified as powerless. Not a single trace of energy was detected in him during his awakening phase."
"That's true," I replied quietly. "I never had powers before."
The agent frowned, his eyes narrowing as he examined me carefully.
"And yet, not only do you possess powers now, but they're manifesting at a Calamity Class level. Even stranger… the energy signature appears localized in your left eye."
Different? I feel like I have a monster living behind my eyelid.
I hesitated.
I couldn't tell them the truth.
Not about the void.
Not about the voice.
Not about the eyes.
"I'm not sure," I lied softly. "I just… don't understand it either."
The lead agent's expression hardened.
"Adrian Clarke, this situation is highly irregular. We'll need to conduct further testing. For now, consider yourself… under observation."
"Observation?" Nova snapped immediately. "He's not some lab rat!"
Lucas stepped forward beside her, his posture protective.
"Adrian isn't a threat. He's our friend. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out together."
A sharp pang of guilt twisted in my chest.
They're defending me… and I'm still hiding the truth from them.
The agents eventually packed up their equipment, but the unease in the room remained long after they finished.
I stared down at my left hand, clenching it slowly into a fist.
Whatever this power was…
Whatever I had become…
It wasn't normal.
But I couldn't run from it anymore.
"Now?" I said quietly, lifting my gaze toward Lucas and Nova. My voice remained steady despite the chaos raging inside me. "Now we figure out what's happening to me."
I paused.
Then forced a small smile.
"Together."