Abuchi's awakening left him ravenously hungry.
The Devour element manifested like a black hole in his stomach, consuming his insides.
He experienced a blend of all flavors, metal, ash, blood, sweetness, bitterness, everything and nothing at once, caught in a surreal illusion.
His body began an unsettling process of self-consumption, endlessly feasting on itself in a cycle of destruction and renewal.
A system notification scrolled into view:
[ENVOY BESTOWAL DETECTED]
[HOST: ABUCHI NWASO]
[DESIGNATION: ENVOY OF DEVOUR]
[RANK UPDATING: SSS]
[TITLE GRANTED: GUARDIAN OF CHAOS - ENVOY OF DEVOUR]
The transformation thrust him beyond mere awakening, igniting a hunger that felt like a pathway to infinite consumption.
His consciousness flickered like a dying bulb, on-off, on-off.
In brief moments of coming online, he noticed he is convulsing on the ground. The trauma from the fuel station blended with his current agony, blurring the lines between past and present. Blood, the manager's, his own, all blood, everything endlessly consuming everything else...
---
Four kilometers away at the Medical Center, Judy's hands grew ice-cold.
As she organized canteen supplies while humming her melody, darkness suddenly enveloped her.
A chilling sensation surged from her fingers up her arms, reaching her chest, soon followed by intense heat and an overwhelming wetness that didn't touch her physically. The sensations swung rapidly, cold-hot-wet-cold-hot-wet...
An S-Rank water affinity surged powerfully through her veins, too strong for her to handle. It felt like a tsunami trying to fit into a cup, as if an ocean was compressing into lungs not designed for such expansive volume.
She felt as though she were drowning from within, her lungs filling with an abstract water that existed beyond simple H2O.
A notification seared across her darkening vision:
[AFFINITY: WATER | RANK: S | REALM: NOVICE (INCOMPLETE)]
[WARNING: AWAKENING FAILURE IMMINENT]
[CORRUPTION THRESHOLD: 47%... 53%... 61%...]
The percentage skyrocketed, each increment a step closer to disastrous failure. Her consciousness splintered, rupturing along hidden fault lines. Her body struggled to contain the element and struggled to channel it correctly. The internal pressure mounted towards an explosive climax.
Within three minutes, Judy slipped into a coma, her consciousness retreating to fight a battle invisible to everyone else. Her body crumpled behind the canteen counter, the blue guitar forgotten at her side, the last note of her melody fading away.
At the Medical Center waiting area, Chimdi's awakening ignited with fire.
A C-Rank affinity manifested as heat in her core, radiating outward like a star bursting to life in her chest.
Though the pain was severe, it was manageable compared to what those of higher ranks had endured. Gritting her teeth, she confronted the transformation as just another challenge to tackle through sheer willpower.
The fire seamlessly fused into her cells, her body welcoming the change with minimal resistance. Her caramel skin glowed softly, warmth radiating from her that transcended mere temperature.
A notification appeared that was almost enchanting:
[AFFINITY: FIRE | RANK: C | REALM: NOVICE (EARLY)]
[AWAKENING COMPLETE]
Even during her transformation, her mind tracked Precious's location by sound. The wail of baby Hope sliced through the chaos like a knife. As her awakening concluded, Chimdi cried out:
"Precious! Are you hurt? Is Hope okay?"
Precious's awakening felt gentle by comparison.
Her E-Rank wood affinity manifested as a life force, vines and roots weaving through her veins like living organisms. The sensation was more organic than violent; it was painful but not overwhelming. She could sense vegetation emerging within her.
A notification materialized in her vision, displaying soft blue text:
[AFFINITY: WOOD | RANK: E | REALM: NOVICE (EARLY)
[AWAKENING COMPLETE]
Hope's cries echoed throughout her transformation, her tiny lungs working relentlessly. Precious whispered soothing words, holding herself together for the sake of her baby as Hope's body shifted and reshaped.
"Mama's here, sweetie. Mama's here. Papa will come. Paul will find us. We're safe. We're safe..."
Once the transformation was over, her first instinct was to check for injuries, her hands gently exploring every inch of Hope, counting fingers and toes, searching for any signs of damage.
...
Chika's awakening was unlike any he'd experienced.
X-Class transformations took longer, delving deeper and altering him fundamentally. While the others began to complete their awakenings, those who were still standing, Chika remained in a state of breaking and reforming.
His Chaos element did more than shift his physical form; it redefined his very connection to reality.
Probability bent in his presence. Cause and effect transformed into mere suggestions rather than steadfast rules.
His existence introduced a wave of uncertainty into the very fabric of reality, creating subtle distortions that would amplify as he learned to harness his abilities... but that was a story for another day.
First, he need to survive.
His bones had shattered and healed forty-seven times. His skin had split and reformed sixty-three times. His organs had ruptured and regenerated more times than he could keep track of.
His mind had fragmented and reassembled so often that he had lost all sense of who "Chika" was.
Professor Okafor's voice rang through the chaos: "When it matters, who will you be?"
I don't know, Chika thought amid the pain. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't even know if "I" exists.
A new notification appeared, and this one felt like the final blow:
[X-CLASS AWAKENING: 99.7%... 99.9%... 100%]
[CHAOS ELEMENT INTEGRATION: COMPLETE]
[GUARDIAN OF CHAOS: AWAKENED][CUSTODIAN STATUS: CONFIRMED]
[ENVOY SEATS: 2/5 FILLED]
[WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD, GUARDIAN]
The agony persisted, but the cycle of breaking and healing stopped. In its place came a new sensation; his body stabilizing at an existence that transcended normal humanity.
His cells vibrated with power, and he felt as if his bones were denser than steel. A strange energy flowed within him.
He could feel the Chaos coiling around his heart now, a potent force that represented more than mere power.
It is the ability to transform the impossible into reality, to inject unpredictability into certainty, to defy the very rules that dictated existence... though, in that moment, none of it seemed to matter.
He collapsed...
His body finally gave in, his consciousness flickering like a candle in the breeze. All around him, others succumbed too, bodies hitting the ground with soft thuds, accompanied by groans and whimpers.
Paul was on his hands and knees nearby, shaking violently. Abuchi lay curled in a fetal position, still occasionally convulsing.
But they were alive.
All three of them had made it. Against a 15-20% mortality rate, his brothers had pulled through. His envoys had survived their transformation.
Chika's last coherent thought before slipping into unconsciousness was, "Thank God. Thank God they're alive. Thank..."
The campus had become a cemetery.
Bodies were strewn across the area surrounding the Philosophy building, students heading to lunch, professors on their way to offices, workers caught in their daily routines.
Some lay eerily still, victims of awakenings their bodies couldn't support. Others breathed shallowly, alive yet deeply traumatized.
Out of the throngs, only around twenty-four individuals managed to stand... as for the rest...
Chika would never learn their fates, stories forever lost. They had become mere bodies, victims of a transformation that selected for survival with no mercy or meaning.
At the Medical Center, the mortality rate stood at a mere fifteen percent, a surprising improvement over the anticipated twenty.
Chimdi steadied herself, legs trembling as she surveyed the devastation. Out of the fifty-six individuals who had sought refuge in the building, only forty-eight remained alive.
Precious clutched Hope tightly, the baby's wails gradually fading to soft whimpers as she nibbled on her tiny fingers. The antibiotics meant for her respiratory infection had been overshadowed by far graver concerns.
Meanwhile, Judy lay unconscious behind the counter, her S-Rank awakening left unfulfilled. She clung to life, but just barely. Her mind drifting elsewhere, locked in unseen battles in a dark realm where no one could reach her or provide aid.