Quake's Improvements

--Cole's Perspective--

After a long walk, Genesis led us to a weird door in the middle of a mountain. The mountain curved downward and at the very bottom stood an iron door... maybe that was Mahina Metal.

The door opened with a wave of his hand and Hikari, Genesis, Austin, Zeka, Arashi, Kire, Fico, and I all entered.

The room was riddled with the same boring grey color as the door, leaving tech sprawled out around the unorganized counters. Things twitched when I walked past them, things deployed into shields and swords when I continued, and when I reached the end of the path with Fico, a big door kept opening and closing. Everything was comprised of Mahina Metal, which meant that no strands could exist in this room. I didn't feel safe, knowing my Incarnation would be shut out, but Genesis seemed convinced in being our ally.

"Don't mind the mess, it'll all be beneficial to you in one way or another. So, we're here to give you a portion of Hikari's abilities... Hikari, can you get me that syringe over there?" Genesis asked, pointing to the shelf with a ton of weapons on it that were retracting when we traveled past.

Hikari walked over to the counter and grabbed the syringe. When she turned around, a sword activated and almost shot itself into her head, but she ducked under at the perfect time and it missed her, barely scathing her personal bubble. She walked away like it was nothing.

Her perception was no joke. Training that sixth sense is one of the hardest things to do on this planet. I know some people were born with it naturally though, and as lucky as it sounds, that's even rarer.

"Here," Hikari told Genesis, rolling up her white sleeve to her overcoat and letting Genesis grab onto her arm.

"What's the plan here? I don't like syringes," Austin commented.

"It's a confusing concept, so I'll try to explain the best I can. Part of what makes Hikari so strong is her blood and her heritage. Hikari is the youngest of the three A.I. Sisters, those being Avie, Umbra, and her. The blood of an A.I. Sister is pure Asterio blood in the rawest form. We won't be improving your body or your perception, we'll be turning you into Asterios, forcefully changing your abilities and power. To beat the Asterio, you need to be one," Genesis explained while flicking the tip of the syringe.

"Although, I won't need to hit two of you with a syringe, will I?" He asked. We all looked confused by what he meant, but Genesis only silently smiled and took blood from Hikari.

"This Asterio blood can be combined with your last name as well. Since your last names are assignments to the different guilds that used to exist, your powers won't change, they'll be amplified to an Asterios level. Consider it an upgrade..." Genesis said as he pushed the blood into my bloodstream first.

"...am I supposed to feel any different?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"No, it's not going to make you explode, you'll just grow at a significantly more exponential rate. You'll find that our training will put you miles above where you used to be." He said, moving to the next person.

This guy was freaking me out. He just showed up, injected me with blood to increase my power, and it does that to all of my teammates.

"So, you said that Asterio blood would amplify our powers? Then, what do Asterios have that makes them so much better than us? Why are they so damn powerful?" Austin dared to ask Genesis.

"The Asterio Guild is what you're referring to. There are only three Asterios that are pure-blooded, strong enough to take on the rest of the... world if I dare say so. I'm not even a pure-blooded Asterio myself, but the Guild helped me possess some of the intelligence I have to this day. You see, when the Guild was formed, they told me they would amplify what I already possessed. Then, that amplification in conjunction with pure-blooded Asterios… it was like the apocalypse was happening," Genesis explained to us.

"And this Sky Asterio guy. He's a pure-blooded Asterio, isn't he? I remember that he was the one who killed me in my past life, along with my family. That's why I joined Quake, to exact revenge on him for the crimes he committed four hundred years ago. Do you remember that from before?" I returned to Genesis with another question. He shrugged and tilted his head toward Hikari.

"She has my memories, it makes her pattern recognition even better. You should ask her," He admitted. Before I could, Hikari spoke up.

"I do remember that yeah. It happens to be that the way it happened in my memory, you had betrayed most of Sky's friends, tried to kill him, and turned his own army against him. Thus, Sky has murdered your family by amputating all of their limbs and making you eat your baby sister's leg," Hikari admitted.

"That ruthless motherfucker," Kire spoke up, after being quiet for so long.

I can't believe Sky did that to me... that only invoked my rage even more...

"Can you blame him? You wish to raid a city and kill children in the process all for your own selfish revenge that you first prompted. I listen to Master Genesis above my own desires, but if you were to ask me, you're beating a dead bush that you killed. You did this, and you should've expected that. Sky was trying to save all of you, yet you betrayed him because you were convinced otherwise. You were a pawn in everybody's game, and you're still a pawn in that person's game to this day," Hikari said.

"Genesis, shut that thing up before I kill her," I muttered. I kept my eyes off that annoying bitch.

Genesis slapped her on the back of the head for me and she stopped talking, only sitting in silence.

She was going to be in trouble in the future, it would be best to gain her powers and then kill her as soon as possible.