The Awakening

Aaron awoke to darkness, sounds of metal chains clanking against stone walls rang in his ears. He tried to move, but his limbs were bound by rusty shackles. Panic flooded his heart as he struggled to remember how he ended up here. The last thing he remembered was working at his part-time job before a sudden wave of pain swept over him.

He blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He was in a dark, damp room, he tried to move but his muscles felt sore and stiff.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light seeping through the barred entrance, Aaron noticed another person lying on the ground beside him. The figure was barely conscious and didn't seem to care about Aaron's presence.

"What the hell is going on?" Aaron muttered to himself, his heart pounding in his chest. As he searched his memories for answers, a wave of confusion and fear washed over him. He found himself reliving the memories of another person.

He had transmigrated into the body of a teenage boy with the same name. The boy had recently turned 18 and was anxiously waiting for his awakening. This was something every single person wished for on their 18th birthday, but rarely happened.

An awakening would open to someone a path of power and wealth, gaining the ability to cultivate was something people would kill for if it helped raise their chances.

The boy's desperation and crazed look indicated that he was one of them. He was born in an average family, but his parents barely came home. Being researchers, they traveled to unknown locations alongside their organization, doing god knows what.

Alone and bullied, the boy felt isolated both inside and outside of his home. Awakening was his ticket to a better life, a ticket to gain respect and to gain friends, he wanted it.. No, he was crazy for it.

But as the hours ticked by, nothing happened, the boy had gone into a rage, destroying everything in his room in frustration. Desperate, the boy had turned to the dark web for a solution.

After hours of searching, he found a newly posted announcement from a mysterious organization that promised to help people awaken if they signed a contract with them.

Aaron shuddered as he remembered the desperation in the boy's heart. The boy had gone to the meeting in a far away place, other equally desperate people were waiting there alongside him, and like sheep being led to slaughter, they were easily captured. He woke up chained like an animal, with the others in the same predicament. For the past day, their captors had been taking people away one by one, and Aaron heard the wretched screams of those who never returned.

Suddenly, one of their captors appeared. They dragged away the other prisoner, who cried and begged for mercy. Aaron tried to call out to him, but he was too weak. He listened as the cries became more and more desperate, echoing to him before they were suddenly cut short by a sickening thud.

Aaron's heart raced as he realized the fate that awaited him. He struggled to break free, but the chains held him fast. Now he was alone, except for the faint sound of dripping water and the echo of his own breathing. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted the silence, and Aaron tensed up as the entrance to the cell opened.

Several mysterious figures in black robes, their faces concealed behind ominous masks, entered the room. They dragged Aaron out of his chains and led him through a labyrinthine cave system, until they reached a large altar room, where they tied him down.

There, the cult members began chanting in an unknown language, and Aaron saw a glimpse of something dark and terrifying lurking in the shadows. Aaron's blood ran cold as he heard a voice from the main altar. It sounded like multiple voices talking at once.

"FEED IT TO HIM!"

As the chanting reached a crescendo, suddenly, a small, blood-red sphere appeared on the altar, with what looked like moving souls inside it screaming in agony. The cultists began to feed the sphere to Aaron as he tried to turn away, but the cultists held him still.

[Contaminated Gene Detected]

[Would you like to purify it? Yes/No]

A message appeared inside Aaron's head, but he didn't have time to question anything, he could taste it inside his mouth as they tried to make him swallow it.

[Yes]

The message appeared as he felt it slide down his throat. A minute later, a searing pain erupted in his chest. It was like his bones were breaking and his flesh was tearing apart. He tried to scream, but no sound came out as he suffered for hours, unable to pass out from the pain.

Finally, the pain stopped, and everything went dark.

When Aaron woke up, he found himself in a VIP room at a hospital. He looked around in a panic, looking for those freaks, but he was alone. He took several deep breaths and just sat there, feeling his body. He could feel something odd.. Something different.

Something inside him had changed. The experience had changed him in ways he couldn't comprehend. He tried to focus and feel it, when something appeared inside his head.

[Race: Fane (Human Form)]

[Spirit Crystals: 0 (Unranked)]

[Absorbed Spirit Crystals : 0]

[Cultivation: 1st Realm (Unranked)] [0/100]

[Cultivation Time : 1 Spirit Crystal per 2 Hours] [Upgrade (0/1000)]

[Training Time : 1 Hour] [Upgrade (0/500)]

[Exploration Time : 1 Hour] [Upgrade (0/500)]