First

I awoke the next morning, ready to torture myself more.

'I really slept, huh.' For someone who needed 8-10 hours of sleep, sleeping for close to 40 implied that my body had undergone much mental torture. 'Although, I don't understand why they don't simply make us sleep longer. It's disproportionate... Anyway.'

I refocused on the task that lay ahead of me.

Eating the crystals.

My heart raced at the thought, both at the anticipation of power, and fear of the pain. Just because my tolerance increased, doesn't mean I liked it.

'But before that. Breakfast.'

---

I sat in the center of my hotel room, staring at 2 crystals. On the left, a crystal that shone any and all colors, and on the right, a crystal that glowed a dull grey.

'Whoo.' I breathed out gently to calm my nerves and grabbed the crystal on the left.

'Alright, Element Crystal, give me a good one.' 

I plopped the crystal in my mouth and took a bite. The crystal was like rock candy; it took my teeth a moment to break it, but once it cracked, my mouth and taste buds were overwhelmed by a sugary, honeyed sensation, with a subtle sourness underneath. It was surprisingly pleasant. The broken parts of the crystal had melted in my mouth, becoming a liquid similar to a sap.

I continued to chew on the crystal, eating until there was nothing left.

After I consumed it all, I braced myself for the pain. The book didn't say how long it took for the crystal to take effect, but I was aware of how you awakened an Element. It's not a fun process.

I waited for ages for it to take effect, or it felt that way, but it was only 5 minutes. 

THUMP!

The process started with an extra loud thump from my heart before my blood started to boil. I felt it change slowly, mutating. I could picture it inside my head as my own blood started to dissipate, changing from its usual form to something more. It got hotter and hotter, and I could feel the point it changed. My body suddenly stiffened, and my blood was now something else. All I knew was that it was an Element that was hot.

After, starting from around the blood, my body followed the shift. The blood veins turned into the same Element as my blood, and then the flesh, and then my organs. Each cell of my body vibrated, changing. 

'It itches!' The whole process itched extremely so, implying that the Element was something with lots of energy.

When it got to my organs, that was when the hell began. 

"AAARGH!" I let out a throaty cry, trying desperately to release some of the pain that I was feeling. It didn't work, however, instead, it acted similar to breathing after eating something spicy. It made the pain worse. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

"AAARRGGH!" I screamed again. I rose from my sitting position into a kneeling position where I looked as if I was receiving god's retribution.

Finally, all that was left was my skin. I could see a bluish-white energy from beneath my skin, and from that, I figured out what my Element was, but I couldn't think too hard about it. 

Once my skin transformed, I was made completely out of Lighting and the pain disappeared.

My clothes were shredded from the force and vaporized from the from the heat.

However, I knew the process was only half done, there was so much more to come.

My now ethereal body began to flicker back to human, and the process became painful again. Due to the heat of the Lightning, it was as if I was burning myself alive, and the electric stimulation of my nerves created a sporadic pain, and it was only made worse by the fact that my body would come in and out of actuality.

The speed at which my body switched between existence and non-existence got faster and faster, going from every few seconds to so fast that you almost couldn't see the switch.

I couldn't even scream because my vocal cords would appear and disappear before they could vibrate to make a sound.

It eventually reached a state where I was both Lightning and human and yet I was neither. It would have been rather profound, were I in any place to comprehend it.

BOOM!

With a boom, all the Lightning was expelled from my body, and I became a human again. I fell down, on my hands and knees, panting for breath. 

The process was painful, and that was only the first one.

I rolled over and lay on my back, giving myself some time to rest, to collect myself.

Just because I had awakened my power, doesn't mean that I could use it.

There was still another step.

I got up and looked over to the other crystal. I stepped slowly toward it and bent down to pick it up off the floor.

'It's just you left.'

I placed it into my mouth, and bit down.

Just like before, the broken pieces turned into a sap-like liquid, but instead of an overpowering sweetness, it was an overpowering sourness that had a hint of sweetness to it. Again, it was a weird combination, but I couldn't say that I hated it.

This time, the reaction came immediately, and my body began to charge up with Lightning.

The power you could receive would be 'displayed' when eating an Unlock Crystal, but for me, who would receive the entire range of powers, it was much simpler but much more painful.

The Lightning condensed into an orb, inside my brain. My brain was suffused with the Lightning, like blood through the body, and I became acutely aware of both Lightning itself, and all ways to use Lightning.

Once the Lightning was fully saturated within my brain, within my very cells, the knowledge went away, but the pain came.

Due to the overcharging of every synapse inside my brain, my body was now going into shock. The overload was too much for my weak brain to handle.

The pain was similar to a headache, only so much more intense than I could have ever prepared for, and spanning the entirety of my skull.

I was forced to drag myself away from the center of the floor and onto my bed so that I could let myself think.

What happened, however, was that I fell asleep.

---

I awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed. Once more was I shocked and concerned at the length of time that I slept, but I didn't worry too much. It wouldn't be a recurring thing, I hoped.

I clambered out of the bed, untangling myself from the sheets that I had somehow knotted around myself in my sleep. I headed to the bathroom to take care of all my hygiene.

Once I was done, I stepped outside my room, ready to set off. Just before I left, I stretched with a yawn, something I did every day to mark the beginning of said day.

I strolled through the hallway to the elevator and then chose the ground floor. After I arrived, I nodded to the receptionist and left the building.

I headed to the right, toward my destination. The gym.

You weren't allowed to train your powers anywhere but at the gym, and you could only use them if you had a certification. You could only get a certification if you were taking a Search. but that was for later.

The gym wasn't too far from the hotel, just a few metrix away, and I arrived rather quickly.

The gym was a skyscraper, which wasn't too shocking considering where I was, but it was a little confusing. On the building was the logo P.G., and beneath that were the words that made up that little symbol, Power Gym. 

It reminded me of the names of gyms on Earth, but this one was much better. Not only was it a gym for your powers, but it was also the number 1 gym in the Galaxy Sapius. Anyway, the name was a double entendre, instead of just showing off like other gyms.

I stepped inside, only to be greeted by a sight both similar and dissimilar to the gym I had been to on Earth.

Everywhere I could see was big bulky dudes pulling a bunch of weight around like it was nothing. The weights they were using were several times what the strongest man on Earth could use, too. On the other side, however, there were people of all sorts working out and testing their powers. Because they received an ability instead of manipulation, like me, their powers would work without fail, but I would need practice.

I strode to the receptionist, asking for both a membership and a private room. He quickly agreed, nodding his head as he furiously typed on his hologram. Within seconds, my request had been fulfilled and he handed me my membership key, which I placed in my bracelet, sure of its safety.

I left the counter, tapping on my hologram to find the location of the room I booked.

'23rd floor, huh.' I sighed in my mind.

I didn't know much about the gym other than what the book said, but I knew that Alexander and gym floor 23 didn't have much fun. Everyone on that floor was a prick, it seemed, so I prayed that I wouldn't meet any.

I stepped in the elevator to get there, and once I stepped out, my sight was overwhelmed.

Two people were fighting.