Eat A Human?

Aiden widened his eyes in terror, this wasn't just a smarter demon, judging by the way it spoke this demon-possessed intelligence that was weaker than that of a human.

At the same time, the same demonic entity that was staring at the blue-eyed youth spoke.

"Human don't you know the rules of this place?" It said with a pause, and without even waiting for the blue-eyed youth to answer it spoke.

"We can't fathom how you would ignore the clear rules imparted to you and venture outside, wait, perhaps we know exactly why you're here." It said before darting in.

"We've seen those eyes so many times before, the eyes of a foolish believer, so tell me human, are you a believer? And what is it that you believe in so much for you to act this foolishly?" The entity inquired.

The blue-eyed youth was silent but only he knew the overwhelming shock he felt, this demon could speak and not only that, it had surpassed the average human intelligence level.

"How can I escape from something like this?" The blue-eyed youth thought.

"SPEAK!"

The entity suddenly yelled in a myriad of voices that disorientated the blue-eyed youth disallowing him from thinking any further.

It sounded as if thousands of men and women had come together to yell that one word at him, causing an indefinable weight to be felt on the listener's shoulders.

"I-I am an agent of the resistance," the youth spoke absentmindedly, and in the next moment, he widened his eyes not believing the words that had just escaped his mouth.

He looked at the being in front of him as if he was staring at his worst fears.

"You may leave," the entity suddenly said surprising the blue-eyed youth who quickly got up and ran away.

The youth was in such a hurry that he forgot that circular device of his.

"Keed, keed, are you zere?" A voice called out from the device, bringing the demon's attention to it.

Noticing this device the entity blinked one of its many eyes, and this strange device floated in midair, "crack," a cracking sound filled the surroundings as the device shattered and the entity spoke.

"Tsk, Tsk, a resistance, how intriguing, it seems as though the Silence is about to be shaken up quite a bit, we look forward to seeing how little Lotus will handle the chaos this human will cause, as long as the page isn't stolen any result is acceptable."

With that, this copy of the entity slowly faded out of existence.

Meanwhile "you can speak," Aiden asked in shock, this revelation made him stare at the entity with newfound hope since it was an intelligent being then maybe it would be able to bargain.

The entity narrowed its eyes at the look in Aiden's eyes, "Of course, we can speak." The entity replied in a myriad of voices before saying.

"But our intelligence should make you despair more human, not hope."

Hearing the entity's unsettling voices Aiden gulped, before saying, "Although I'm afraid of you it's not to the point where I would feel despair, normally I should be running madly right now but even I am amazed at how calm I'm being."

Aiden didn't lie compared to how he would normally react in this kind of situation he was relatively calm.

At least as calm as one could be when facing this kind of entity, according to Landon this was a side effect of nearing the second gate.

"You do not lie human," the demon spoke, "you are quite calm, even calmer than the blue-eyed youth that previously stood before us."

The demon said fluently as it continued speaking, "But what makes you feel such calmness, what gives you the confidence to stand before us?"

The demon asked with the same glint in its myriad of eyes, "Don't answer that question!" Landon warned.

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to," Aiden said the first thing that popped up in his mind.

His reply incited an amused scoff from the entity, "Tsk, you're getting bolder by the second human, but you are right, unlike the other human who had the madness of be in his eyes, I see desire in yours, but what desire is so strong, what do you long for so much that it dilutes your primal emotions of fear?"

The demon didn't speak after that, it remained silent as if waiting for Aiden to speak with its myriad of eyes staring at him with a hypnotic glint.

"What do I want?" Aiden softly murmured.

Staring at the demon's hypnotic orbs Aiden spoke with a certain glint in his slightly glazed eyes.

"The conundrum of my desires perplexes me, for I find myself uncertain. The imperative to rescue my beloved mother reigns paramount, as does the yearning to uncover the truth shrouding my sister's fate."

Aiden took a breath as he spoke, "And yet, there are moments when the thought of surrender seems alluring, a respite from the burden of it all."

"Curiously, I do not sense the weight of the world upon my shoulders. I contemplate the consequences of taking a break, pondering the outcomes that might unfold. Strangely, amidst the downpour I so despise, an inexplicable longing arises within me to indulge in the melody of my violin."

The entity didn't speak at first, but it eventually said, "And to achieve all this what do you desire?"

Aiden stared straight at the demonic entity in front of him, and in a moment of clarity Whispered the words, "I want strength," and in moments he felt a strong gust of wind push his body backward, his gaze blurred and suddenly.

"Bang!"

Aiden felt himself rolling on wooden floors.

Quickly getting up Aiden was shocked to discover that he was back at his dorm building, and a myriad of voices sounded out around him.

"If you truly desire strength then do everything possible to survive, since it's your first time I'll let it slide considering the fact that you're one of ours."

---------------

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the windows, gently rousing Ethan from his slumber.

Rubbing his eyes, he groggily stumbled out of bed, only to find Aiden in the middle of the room, vigorously pumping out push-ups.

With a quizzical expression, Ethan yawned, "Bro, have you been working out all night?"

Aiden, unfazed, continued his exercise without missing a beat, leaving Ethan to wonder if he even heard the question.

Scratching his head, Ethan tried again, "Seriously, you've been at it for hours. Don't you ever take a break?"

As if in response, Aiden's persistent grunts filled the air, the rhythmic cadence of his push-ups persisting.

"Knock, knock," just as Ethan resigned himself to the lack of response, a sharp knock interrupted the one-sided conversation, jolting both of them into alertness.

Aiden paused briefly, then smoothly transitioned into a standing position, unfazed by the interruption.

With a frown on his face, Aiden walked towards the door, as he opened it a pale-faced man came into view, he wore a loose white prisoner's uniform with a metal collar around his neck.

This man carried two boxes which he quickly handed to Aiden, and with a bow, he left without saying a word.

Looking at the departing figure of the man Aiden was reminded of the cruel sight he was forced to witness, "this guy, is he going to suffer the same fate?" He thought.

"What's that?" Ethan asked curiously as he watched Aiden bring in the two small boxes.

"Let's find out shall we," Aiden said as he opened one of the boxes, he knew which was his because it had his number on it 297.

Jumping down from the top bunk as well Ethan quickly rushed towards Aiden watching him with curiosity as he opened the box.

After opening the box Aiden noticed that he had just opened the first part of it, and on top of the second part was a note.

[297 You will receive your breakfast every morning at eight, note that to open the lunchbox you a required to provide your fingerprint.]

"Is this launch or secret government information?" Ethan couldn't help but say as he read the letter over Aiden's shoulder.

Looking at the box Aiden noticed that there was indeed a place that required him to put his thumb.

Without hesitation, Aiden placed his finger on that spot and the box opened with a robotic beeping sound revealing a neatly arranged breakfast of proteins, a salad, and berries of unknown origin.

Seeing this Ethan's eyes lit up, he quickly opened his own lunchbox and dug in, eating without restraint.

Looking at the food Aiden shook his head, "you can have mine," he suddenly said to Ethan who looked towards him with a full mouth.

"Hmm, aren't you hungry?" Ethan asked in surprise.

"I'm fine," Aiden muttered as he continued his pushups.

After pestering Aiden for some time Ethan finally gave up and ate in silence.

Aiden on the other hand just continued his workout, the reason he didn't eat was quite simple.

He was trying to create as many internal injuries as possible for his soul energy to heal and judging by how refreshed and less bloated he felt he knew it was working.

Suddenly a loud robotic voice resounded throughout the dorms, "All participants are to gather at the field before nine o'clock."

Hearing this Aiden let out a sigh as he stopped what he was doing, Ethan who was lying on the top bunk sat up as well, soon enough the both of them freshened up and changed into their uniforms.

Now that it was daytime both of them could clearly see how they looked, the uniform was quite stylish, with a blend of futuristic and formal this black uniform had shoulder and knee pads that were placed in such a way that it didn't limit mobility at all.

Walking out of the room the both of them strolled towards the field.

As they walked Ethan suddenly asked, "So Aiden, why didn't you sleep last night?"

"I assume this is your laughable attempt at starting a conversation," Aiden replied, before asking, "What do you know about Felix?"

"Nothing much," Ethan said before darting in, "but I do think I know the reason he doesn't like you." Hearing this Aiden was interested in the topic.

"We all watched you fight with Lily, and the way you fought that tall demon on stage was quite intimidating, you almost looked like a pro Contractor."

"So what exactly is your point?" Aiden asked clearly confused.

"Felix is a proud person Aiden, and he's the kind of person that wouldn't want his peers to outshine him, I'm good at reading people so I know this stuff."

Hearing this Aiden didn't quite believe it, if what Ethan said was right then that would mean Felix didn't like him because of Jealousy.

"But what was he doing outside at that time? Was he tailing the demon like me?" Aiden thought to himself.

Unknowingly they made it to the middle of the Facility and both men were surprised to see that the other eight candidates were already there.

"You both finally made it eh," Kevin who stood near his roommate Lucius waved at them.

Smiling a bit Ethan walked over with Aiden following behind him.

As they approached Lucius who was Kevin's roommate nodded at them expressionlessly.

Ethan engaged in a bit of small talk with Kevin and Lucius asking them if anything of importance had happened while they were away.

Aiden on the other hand remained silent, he barely knew any of them since he didn't participate in the first selections so he didn't see the need to engage in any small talk.

Although he didn't talk he was also curious about why they were gathered there and for that, he appreciated Ethan's social skills.

"ATTENTION!"

A calm female voice sounded out, upon hearing this voice all the candidates quieted down as they looked towards the direction of that voice.

"Good morning Vice Captain," they all greeted simultaneously their actions inciting an approving nod from the Vice Captain as she looked around.

Aiden on the other hand couldn't help but raise a brow as he saw the way the Vice Captain was dressed.

She wore what seemed to be an apron and held an unusually large butcher knife in her left hand.

Aiden felt confused for a brief moment until a familiar smell invaded his nostrils, "the smell of blood," Aiden thought.

From afar a truck could be seen driving towards them, in seconds the truck had been parked in a corner.

Jumping off the truck were a few men in white prisoner's uniform, their eyes seemed a bit glazed in and a metal collar could be seen around their necks.

These men quickly got to work, first, they spread a huge white mat on the ground, then they proceeded to drag out a large corpse from the back of the truck, and after placing the corpse on the mat they silently left.

Looking at the corpse Aiden raised a brow, "Is this a demon?" He thought to himself.

"I don't think so," a voice suddenly sounded out in his head, it was Landon who hadn't spoken since morning.

"What's up, dude?" Aiden asked in concern, it was odd for Landon to remain silent for so long.

"I don't know, I just feel tired," Landon replied.

Suddenly the Vice Captain's voice could be heard, as she swung her butcher knife around.

"Today I'm going to be teaching you how to properly prepare and eat an infected beasts. Be advised that this method also works with humans as well."