2 1: Awakening To Become Genetic Trash

It was a calm Autumn day with a slight breeze where a tall, ancient tree stood. It was an oak. With a wide, stout trunk and an intricate network of branches it stood with an unmistakable pride. Bone-white, the oak possessed leaves of a fiery red shade. One of these leaves silently detached from the greater whole and gently drifted to the ground. It landed on a soft, smooth surface...

" Ahhhh!" yawned the surface which the leaf had fallen on to. It stood up, picked up the leaf and felt the warm sensation it gave off. This being was none other than a 16 year old youth! Tossing the leaf to the side he stretched his body to dispel the last of the lethargy in his body. The youth was tall for his age, at 1.83 metres and had smooth, dark brown skin. His body was wiry, thin yet possessing lean muscle. His hair was a mixture of blood-crimson red and a lustrous pearly white and was short and military like. Last where his peculiar eyes. One was violet and seemed to have devilish blue flames dancing within them, the other was golden and exuded a holy and pure air. This youth was none other than Apex, the famous hybrid of Elijim; the city of angels. "Shit" he screamed. "I only have an hour to get back or Uncle Ezekiel will be angry" Shuddering he remembered old man Ezekiel's punishments, the archaic angel was cruel and knew the exact spots to poke to make sure whatever punishment Apex endured would be swift yet exacting. Shaking his head, he pumped his arms and sprinted to the city which was present on the horizon, it was roughly around 50 kilometres away but with a bit of effort it was not a problem for Apex. This was due to his genes! His father was a 12-winged war angel at the Arch-prince realm. And as for his mother, Apex preferred not to think about her.... Nonetheless he was fast, fast enough that he reached the outskirts of Elijim within 45 minutes. Even though Apex had lived in this city all his life it still took his breath away with its ivory splendour. Elijim had tall walls which were gleaming white, on its battlements it held the 2 winged angel guards wearing golden armour marching with their halberds. They were all at the Scion realm and in the weaker parts of Earth would be considered top-tier experts. However at Elijim they were common soldiers. Inside Elijim the inner city was organised into rings, each one corresponding to a particular tier of the angel race. As Apex ran through the city, he approached the core of the city which had marked differences to the rest. The houses and stores, whilst being uniform like the rest of the city were more elaborate and constructed with far more precious materials. In addition they all possessed the enamelled, unique house crest which was a sign of high nobility. Apex went further in until he reached a large manor which was adorned by a crest showing a coiled, golden dragon on a field of white. He rushed in and stopped when he reached a small courtyard. BOOM. A vast aura exploded out and Apex fell to his knees. Gritting his teeth he looked at his dear uncle.

10 million years ago on the planet Earth, the Grand Ascension period started when a green energy pulsated throughout Earth. This phenomena was to this day unexplained but nevertheless it was the day Earth changed. The green energy triggered rapid mutation in all living beings in the planet. Nothing escaped from the energy. The rapid mutation that followed resulted in birds becoming phoenixes, lizards becoming dragons and humans turning into super humans that were previously only mentioned in comics and books. The variation the energy caused was nigh infinite and completely destroyed modern day societal structure. As beasts and humans evolved and bred and crossbred a myriad of different species and sub-species had arisen to rule the Earth. And that was not all. The green energy had resulted in the appearance of mysterious energy particles which when absorbed through various techniques and controlled to circulate the body would further improve the already mutated genes. Genetic cultivation had arisen! Modern technology quickly became redundant and powerful expert cultivators became the anchor which society depended on. Racial lines were eventually drawn after many years and powerful cultivators lead their civilisations to conquer and carved out their own empires. Ezekiel was a member of the Angel race, one of the most powerful species that arose to take hegemony of the Earth.

"Are you prepared for the Awakening?" Boomed uncle Ezekiel, his voice dripping with command as he unfurled all 12 of his angelic wings. Ezekiel was over 10,000 years old and looked like a muscular middle aged man with the typical white hair and golden eyes of the Angel race. The only signs of his great age were the slightly grey streaks on his otherwise pure white wings.

" Yes uncle! I definitely won't disappoint you!" Replied Apex in a respectful tone. Whilst on the inside he sneered with malice "Old man you only want me to awaken so you can have a little weapon you can groom for yourself...." Indeed Apex was the shame of the city of Elijim. His father had fornicated with an unknown woman whilst on a campaign suppressing the Naraka devil-lords, tainting the "pure" and "holy" Angel bloodline. It would have been better if he had been conceived by a weaker species as the stronger Angel genes would have just suppressed his other half and at worst he would have just Awakened to be a weaker 8-winged angel or a 10-winged angel due to his diluted blood. Instead, whomever his mother was she definitely belonged to some mysterious race which was definitely on par with the Angel bloodline as he possessed an equal mixture of traits. To make matters worst his stupid father had gone on to die, leaving his infant son in the care of his fellow general Ezekiel. Seeing that Apex was definitely from a powerful bloodline, Ezekiel was delighted. Delighted at the fact that he now had a potential war machine he could groom for the Angel race . Adopting him as a nephew in his house he had taken in Apex and gave others the image of the kindly family friend taking care of the problem no one wanted. " Hmpph... Care? What care? Every single fucking day since I could walk I've had to train. Day after day of military strategy, weights, body conditioning and learning to kill." Apex could be considered a bit disturbed due to his harsh treatment. He treated others with cool apathy and only listened to orders from his uncle or his tutors, his guard was only let down when he was alone. And in those moments he seemed just like any other adolescent youth.

"Good..... Do not disappoint me Apex, be at the celestial field tonight. You can have the rest of the day off"

" Thank you uncle!" Yes the Awakening tonight.... The Awakening was another wondrous phenomenon only overshadowed by the original green energy. At midnight on the 108th day of every year a white pulse of energy would be sent throughout the Earth. To be affected by it you had to have turned 16 that year. The pulse would affect these youths and Awaken the ability inherent to their species in addition to them gaining control of the energy particles in the air. Stepping into the path of genetic Cultivation! It was a momentous day for all beings on Earth and it was the first step to the path to ultimate power.The power to rule your own fate. As a hybrid, Apex was not afforded the status that other Angels possess, he was looked down upon by all and only his uncle Ezekiel held him in his eyes. And then only as a weapon. "Just wait" He thought. Apex was sure he would Awaken to be powerful as his father was a 12 winged angel and his mother was definitely from an equally powerful origin. If he Awakened as an Angel he would gain their racial ability to control Celestial light, one of the highest grades of light energy and would receive his twelve wings. If he Awoke as whatever his mother he had no idea what would happen. However he thought he may gain an ability related to fire. Apex had always felt an affinity towards the element, he even was unhurt by normal flames when he touched them. Either way he would immediately be shipped off to one of the various front-lines of the Holy Empire. His uncle wanted to temper him in blood. At least that's what he said. Apex thought of it as a man sharpening his weapon but whatever. When he reached the Scion stage he would be recalled and sent to join a special forces squad, slaughtering for the glory of the empire! Apex laughed as he imagined it, Angels for all their moralising were essentially a race of warmongering slavers as far as he was concerned. "I just have to reach the Prince realm! Even in the Holy Empire, Princes are upper echelon members who no one would treat lightly. I can be free!" Apex was not fooled by his golden surroundings, he might seem like he lived the life of a privileged manor born noble, but he knew that he was nothing more than a future weapon for the Holy Empire.

If he was a good little attack dog he would be praised and rewarded. If he was useless he would be disposed of. If Apex was the type of person to sigh he would probably be sighing over his circumstances. However he was Apex. " Time to train!" he muttered as he got up and left the courtyard, walking to his own suite of rooms. Entering the training room he took disrobed, removing his black silken shirt, revealing a stomach which was smooth and flat. Standing in the centre of the room he concentrated and began to enter a trance like state, his body felt like it was burning with light and one could even see faint reddish wisps of light coming of his body. This was the Holy Angel Body Tempering Technique! A preparation technique that angelic nobility used to train the bodies of their offspring, preparing for cultivation upon awakening. The more one trained this technique the better prepared one would be for the tumultuously wild energy they would gain control of upon Awakening. He kicked his leg out, regained his balance and threw out a fist. His movements were rhythmic and contained an aura of perfection. Cultivation, cultivation, cultivation.... This was the driving factor of Apex's life and he endlessly prepared for he would step onto the Grand Path. He eagerly anticipated sweeping through the 9 great realms of cultivation. Mortal, Surpasser, Scion, Noble, True Lord, Prince, Arch-Prince, Zenith and finally transcending mortality to achieve eternity.... Godhood! Each stage was a qualitative change and extended your Awakened Ability to its limits until finally achieving eternity... How good would that be? Apex suddenly laughed in a sardonic manner, " Just achieving Prince is already so hard and would change my life, higher realms? No.... Unlikely!" Apex did not lack determination but ultimately he was a young boy, he was daunted by the prospect of those unmistakably higher realms, like stars in the sky. However Prince was something he definitively believed he could achieve! Train, train train! This was the only thought in his mind as he continued his movements until hour before midnight.

It was almost time! Apex clenched his fists and sprinted out of his suite, heading to the Celestial field. He naturally arrived in timely manner. The Celestial field.. How to describe it? Unlike the rest of Elijim it was decidedly demure and modest. It was merely a round field that was around 500 meters in radius. However it was filled with waves and waves of silvery grass which seemed to subtly tinkle with the light of the stars. Spirit grass! Its properties were mysterious however what people did know was that it soothed the mind of whoever was around it, providing an ideal mindset for the Awakening. The field contained around 500 of Elijim's 16 year old youths. They were all beautiful beyond exception and the fact that their families were able to stay in Elijim showed that they were definitely the young elites of this generation. Their families were dressed in rich clothing and stood on the outer perimeter as they eagerly awaited their children's Awakening and their first steps into the path to power! Apex slinked an empty corner and sat down in a meditative position,

"Look its the hybrid freak!" The numerous young elites murmured to each other. However none of them dared to speak to loudly. Apex had time and time again thrashed those who bothered him excessively. He had a tyrannical physique which was not something they could compare to before their Awakening.

The hour approached midnight and suddenly for a split second a white flash covered the entire Earth. It was the Awakening! " Gahhhhh!!!!" Apex screamed as his energy channels opened up. This was the first stage and happened at the moment of the white flash. Second it was time for Awakening of the bloodline Ability! This part was painless and one would feel their Ability and begin to control it. "Hmmm.... I can't... I can't feel anything!" His channels were open and he could now control the energy particles in the air but he hadn't Awakened to an ability! Looking around he could clearly see a legion of youths exclaiming in joy as they suddenly manifested their Celestial Light. But... But Apex had manifested nothing! This was rare and almost never happened but was every beings secret terror in this world. Without an ability he was nothing... Ability was what went hand in hand with Genetic Cultivation. One could not advance without the other! Apex almost cried as he realised in utter dismay, his dreams and hopes dissolving. He was genetic trash!