Chapter 8: The Tour 1

A blaring alarm had long since shattered the facility's silence, the heavy, pulsating sound reverberating through the steel walls of Noctis Sanctum 13. Red lights flashed in every corridor, casting long shadows over the cold environment. The inhabitants stirred—both the prisoners and those tasked with watching them. Voices crackled over the intercom, for the first time since this facility's inception. An entity had broken free.

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Inside Chamber 9, where Zez'Thorah had once been encased in amber, now lay only darkness and shattered glassy fragments of the seal. Zez was standing above Donovans's body, who looked like he was out cold. The man's mind was shattered, he'd probably be no more than a vegetable from here on out, but he had served his purpose anyhow.

He had to admit that whoever came up with this dark amber was really something. Its suppressing effect on anyone inside was extraordinary. Perhaps his transmigration was the only reason his mind was able to roam because realistically no one should be able to break out of these things. Its ability to keep powers down and induce deep sleep rendered the beings inside practically useless. Because the second he got out, suppressed memories all flooded in, and he definitely had a full understanding of himself now. And with the memories he siphoned off of Donovan, he also had a general understanding of his current situation.

First off, he might be out of the amber, but he was still trapped in this room and the sanctum 13 at large. According to Don's memories, Noctis Sanctum 13 was not exactly a priority facility, in the sense that it housed say not so powerful entities. It was more of a research station than a prison unlike the other sanctums, some even rumored to be off-world. The entities here were either dead or completely incapacitated.

'Can't blame them for that assessment. even I was completely crushed by the old man in a few minutes,' Zez thought to himself with a chuckle. The good news was that there no not that many or particularly strong exorcists to deal with as the facility housed more researchers and scientists. There are roughly around 50 or so exorcists here, the majority being rank 1's and 2's, a few rank 3's, and the strongest being the warden followed by the elite guards. All rank 4's numbering around 11.

Despite being considered to hold inferior entities, the sanctum still had all protocols in place. Because the second he escaped the amber, the facility entered full lockdown. First, his chamber, because all corners of it were glowing brightly with different shades and shapes of runes, then the entire floors from his current 5th to the top, and finally the facility itself. 

Secondly, now he was out of the amber, he had a better understanding of what he was and his capabilities. It was like getting a full-body scan, and it really was a 'HOLY SHIT' kind of situation. He was physically strong if he were to be on Earth now, he would probably be akin to the Hulk. But from what he recalled from his encounter with Knov, incredible strength was not something certain beings or people lacked on Prime Earth. He also had like many other entities the ability to invade and control the minds of people connected with the supernatural, but that gift was currently useless for now as it required time and mental weakness of the targets.

'Shapeshifting, flight? those can be considered natural traits. Just like people blinking their eyes.' He mused internally. Using the claws on one hand, he proceeded to slash himself across another, and almost instantly the slash wounds knit themselves back perfectly. 'Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about.' He smiled internally.

Thirdly, here comes the broken part. He innately seemed to have the ability or rather authority to well, do pretty much anything. As per what he understood, that godlike power operates on the principle that he can manifest almost anything his mind can conceive—but only if he has profound knowledge and understanding of the effect he wishes to create or manifest. For example, he couldn't simply teleport himself out of the sanctum, because he lacked the practical knowledge of how spatial manipulation works. Knowledge was quite literally power for him.

And finally was what concerned his origin, and the fact that he did indeed had, or if she is still alive, have a human mother in this world. Yeah, it was a situation that involved dream walking and astrally smashing cosmic beings in shady dimensions— 'I guess that's an issue for another time.'

'First of all, let's see what we can do... let's start simple, I guess—fire?' He thought as he attempted to use his ability for the first time.

A flicker of thought jumped to his mind. if his power required knowledge to create, then anyone who had taken basic chemistry seriously in high school should know how fire is created. He had been pretty smart in his previous life, plus with the incredible memory of his new form, the knowledge was there.

'Fuel, heat, and oxygen.' those three made up the fire triangle, so that's pretty much all the knowledge one needed. Now to put it into imagination—focusing, he willed the shape of each component into existence. Fuel—he envisioned particles suspended in the air, conjured in his mind, filling the space where they should be, being the top of outstretched palm. He imagined the rush of oxygen, purely from thought. And then, heat. He tried to feel it—the vivid imagination, of molecules colliding and vibrating with restless energy. He poured his will into this imagined friction and pushed each detail into reality.

'Holy shit! it actually worked.' he exclaimed internally.

The space above his palm responded to his mind. A single spark ignited in the darkness before him, tiny, like a candlelight but holy shit it was actually real. He poured his thoughts into it, deepening the heat, stretching the flame taller reaching the size of a basketball. It burned brighter, illuminating the otherwise dark room in a golden yellow glow of fire.

He further experimented with it and found out he didn't need to use his palm. He could summon fire anywhere in the room. Seems all he needed was knowledge and sufficient energy, and he could conjure it anywhere he pleases. He after all seemed to have an abundance of energy, as the dark golden energy that seemed to power him, flowed almost endlessly inside him, that coalesced into a glowing gem-like structure in the middle of his chest.

As he willed the flame off, and instantly willed it back to existence, a surge of excitement ran through Zez'Thorah. It had worked. He'd summoned fire from nothing but his knowledge and imagination. 

In the thrill of his new power, he attempted further tests.

'How about... lightning.' But as he focused his mind, trying to recall his knowledge of how it was formed, he realized something. It was a bit more complex—he recalled the collision of negative and positive energy in the air, but that was it, his knowledge was lacking to precisely conjure it into existence.

'Fine,' he thought, 'lightning needs more precision, how about water then.'

Hydrogen and oxygen, linked in delicate bonds, fluid and adaptive. But as he concentrated, trying to form those bonds from nothing, he felt the large gaps in his understanding. The molecules were there in his memory, but his knowledge of their behavior, the way they moved and danced as liquid, was thin. He also tried conjuring a gust of wind but failed since his knowledge of the other gasses made up wind after oxygen and hydrogen was pretty much non-existent

'I need to... study.' He realized his potential was seemingly limitless, but currently, his knowledge was incredibly limited. It was like giving nuclear launch codes to a toddler. But that wouldn't be the case for very long.

'Alright, time to get out here.' 

He thought while facing the currently magically sealed door.

*Whoosh*

Zez moved with a blur and, *boom* he smashed his fist at the sealed glowing door.

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The control room buzzed with frantic activity as the alarms grew louder. Rachel barked orders, her voice tinged with desperation. "Has everyone on floor five evacuated yet? what about Don?"

"Yes, ma'am. The last group just left arrived, still, no sign of Mr West, so he's probably in chamber 9. All five floors have entered full lockdown." came the reply, tension thick in the air. "And... the entity is still locked in at chamber 9, but we don't know how long that'll hold"

"Shit, we really don't know much about that fucking thing." Rachel's stomach churned. "And... Where the fuck's the warden and elite guards anyway"

The doors to the control room burst open, the warden, Greaves, and a squad of heavily armed exorcists rushed in. These were not mere acolytes—the elite guards, all ranks 3 and 4, trained to combat the most dangerous entities housed within Noctis Sanctum. Each exorcist had faced horrors beyond human comprehension, but even they felt the weight of the situation pressing down on them, as this was a first for everyone here.

"Status report," he demanded, in a low and calm voice. The room quieted as everyone turned to him, tension thick through the air.

"Sir," Rachel started, stepping forward, "Chamber 9's containment has been breached. The entity somehow broke free from the amber. All individuals working from floors 5 to 1 have been safely evacuated to 0. For now, it seems the thing is still contained—"

"In its chamber," he finished, cutting her off with a cold finality. "I've gathered that much. What about the other entities?"

One of the technicians, beads of sweat lining his forehead, stammered, "W-We're monitoring all the chambers, the cells, and the labs, but... they are all secure, and the breach seems to be restricted to chamber 9 alone."

The Warden raised an eyebrow, walking over to one of the monitors and staring intently at it. "The entity in chamber 9 was deemed dead, and was only encased in amber to prevent any corruptive nature of its body might've had." Pausing briefly, he continued. "In fact, it was deemed safe for removal and study, which would have happened any day now. So how come the damned thing awoke to a level of freeing itself and we neither knew nor detected nothing?" He asked staring at Rachel.

"Warden, ever since Donovan raised suspicion of it, we have been checking and monitoring it thoroughly, and everything seemed fine." Our last recorded data from a couple of minutes showed all seals were holding perfectly, no mental waves detected, nothing." Rachel continued. "But given that we don't know much about it or its abilities, the worst-case scenario—

He held up a hand, silencing her and looking around the room as if searching for someone. "Donovan, I don't see him here. Have we got eyes on him?"

Rachel waved her head but stayed silent, her fists clenching at her sides.

Another man beside her promptly answered. "No sir. We believe he might be inside chamber 9 when it was locked down."

The Warden glanced at the man, and back at the screen. His expression unreadable. "Makes sense. It was initially placed in a much higher leveled facility upon its subjugation 400 years ago, but given how easily it was taken care of and its total lack of mental, physical, or spiritual activity it was considered dead and eventually brought here, making space for more powerful entities there." He paused. "Rachel is right. It was sealed by Seb Knov immediately after he beat it. So aside from the limited info he recorded, we basically know nothing about it... It has been patient—planning this for 400 years...

Greaves gently looked around at everyone in the room. "Alert the nearest branch of the situation... We cannot let this thing reach the surface."

"Sir." Rachel's voice wavered but held steady. "We'll ensure it."

The Warden turned and signaled the elite squad to leave, his voice dropping to a murmur as he spoke one final command: "If our defenses fail... initiate purification measures on Noctis Sanctum 13. Better to lose everything than to let anything here walk free." 

A shocked silence hung over the room as they departed, his words chilling everyone who remained.