Mutant Mayhem

Lin's face was turning blue as he struggled for air, trying as much as possible not to swallow the swamp water. With the appearance of the system message, his expression went sour much more quickly. He could not care less about the upgrade of the system. He clenched his teeth and forcefully tried using his powers again, but they disappeared right after they appeared. "Damn this freaking useless system. It only makes noises all the time. I wish I didn't even have such a useless thing", he continued to curse as he was dragged further down.

His head now looked round; as though it would pop at any moment. Lin couldn't hold on any longer and gulped a mouth full of stinky swamp water. He continued to thrash around and activate his powers, but they all proved futile. He was drowning. "Am I going drown to death here? Seriously? Damn it! I have to find a way to get out of this."

Lin forcefully tried to activate his powers and pushed them to the limit when a speck of mysterious power pushed his powers to activate. Power began building up within him and rising dangerously like a hurricane. Black lightning and fire weaved together like a strand of DNA, slowly becoming something new. Within his body, the black lightning and fire merged and now looked like specks of glowing space dust. The newly merged power quickly changed and became pitch black causing the glow in his eyes to change as well. The black circular halo surrounding his pupils turned red, and his red pupils turned black.

It was as if the power within his body was mutating and taking a different form. Half of his red hair was now pitch black and flowing upwards. "What is this? It feels like something new. I wonder what I could do with it." Lin thought, but now was not the time to admire this newly found power as he was almost at the bottom of the swamp. Power began to seep from him as he opened both hands and pushed downwards as if he was striking the water.

Power flowed dangerously out of him like an opened gas tank and detonated with great power. Swamp water was sent in several directions, creating a pocket of air, allowing him to drop on wet ground. He coughed up all the water he swallowed as the power binding him shattered like glass.

He had used half his strength to free himself from the force binding him. The air pocket did not last much long as the water flowed back into place. He felt a sting in his chest, and the mysterious power within him disappeared. He was confused for a moment, and at that very moment, a deafening shrill caused Lin's ears to bleed instantly.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood which diffused quickly with the swamp water that had already replaced the air pocket. He quickly covered his ears and swam towards the surface. The shrill sounded again, and he now felt like a drunkard. He had no sense of direction and had to remain where he was to calm himself.

"What is this messed up place. There's no doubt I would die if I remained here". He gritted his teeth and shot towards the surface again; this time his body felt very heavy. It was as if he was dragging rocks along as he went. He struggled to swim up once again but kept going down instead until his feet touched the ground. The ground loosened beneath his feet, and he fell through like a rock sinking in water.

In an unknown land and territory, the old rugged walls of what looked like the remains of a castle barred a part of the moon, making it look like a Demon's shadow. One could tell from the castle's state that it was thousands of years old. Up in the sky were three other moons, with the middle one having a few debris falling away.

Thick dark clouds hung menacingly above the castle, with lightning jumping between the clouds now and then. The place was surrounded by very tall mountains completely hidden by vines. Parts of the mountains had deep gushes, and others had holes and claw marks.

Craters of different shapes and sizes covered the land. Broken weapons were also lying all over the land. Unidentifiable vehicles were scattered around every breadth of the castle, with some on its roofs. The only plants surrounding the castle and mountains were thorn vines. Residues of elemental powers lingered around and constantly affected the surroundings, a sign that an intense battle had occurred there.

In the sky above the castle, a red-haired man appeared out of a dark cloud that looked like an eye and was falling at an incredible speed. Lin opened his eyes and noticed he was already back to normal. His black and red hair was now all red like usual. "Hoo! I thought I was a goner." He was relieved he wasn't in any life treathning predicament; however, his expression changed when he fell by a small cloud. "Huh! Did I just fall by a cloud? Doesn't that mean…". He was now fully aware of what was going on. He would die if he hit the ground from that height.

He was now covered in cold sweat as he thought of every possible way to escape death. "Why is misfortune befalling me today? Did I wrong someone? Perhaps that man I passed this morning, or the lady with the purple hat or that store owner or…" Lin's thought was all over the place. Realizing he was only a few hundred meters from hitting the ground, he calmed himself. "Calm down Lin." He thought and took a deep breath. "Now think, think, think, think"

Lin looked around for a bit and noticed the ruined castle. His face brightened as an idea struck him. "If I can get closer to and drop through the roof after using my powers to break my fall, I would survive right?" Having made his mind up, Lin tilted his body to help him manoeuvre towards the castle roof. He slowly gathered the black fire and released it just when he was about to touch the roof. The force of release pushed him a few meters up before he came crashing through the roof, sending dust everywhere.

He groaned from the pain and rolled over with his face up, staring at the clouds above him. "Hoo! That was close", he sighed. His face paled when the ground where he lay began to tremble violently. The residual elemental powers in and around the castle began to take the shape of shadow beasts and floating shadow figures. The cloud and vines surrounding the mountain were no exception. It was like they were mutating. His face turned black a second later when a familiar sound popped up in his head.

<Notice>

<You have trespassed the Crucible of Akrakus>

<You will be eliminated>

"What the…"