Mutants

[Memory encryption expired] The system screen popped up as henry continued to listen to the story

"...Mana developed in human cells, granting some individuals extraordinary abilities," Jane continued. "These individuals possess powers beyond human capabilities, such as telekinesis, elemental control, and healing. They helped to fight against the great horde but that is a story for another day."

Henry's eyes widened with fascination. "But what about mutants?"

Jane's expression turned solemn. "Yes of course, soon as the years passed, more humans developed mana cells and with time, it became a norm, and today 80% of humans in the world have mana cells."

But mutants are... different. They do not utilize mana but have unimaginable power, one more powerful than that of a normal human with mana cells. But it was power gotten from beasts.

"Mutants undergo transformations, becoming human-like beasts with characteristics of various beast's. They gain strength, speed, agility, healing, and even abilities of the beast's they emulate but lose their humanity. Their minds become clouded, and they're no longer sane."

Henry's eyes widened in horror. "What happens to them?"

Jane's voice dropped to a whisper. "They become violent, unpredictable, and are in unstoppable. Mutants are considered abominations, a threat to society, as there have been a global incident before.

Henry's thoughts reeled. "But why do they transform?"

Jane shook her head. "We don't know. Some say it's a genetic defect, others believe it's a result of exposure to dark mana. Whatever the cause, mutants are a ticking time bomb."

Henry's gaze locked onto Jane's. "How did they gain power?"

" We had first thought it was a mutation, but later it was originally a serum, created by a scientist who worked for dark dawn,"

"Dark dawn?" henry asked raising his eyebrow

"Ahh, this is all connected, and you can't learn it all at once, so I'll make it short. You can learn about the histories later," jane sighed

Henry nodded, approving and agreeing to what jane suggested

"Ok good, the O.D.D, Order of the Dark Dawn, a terrorist organization bent on eradicating magical energy by any means necessary...and they did, or so they thought," jane continued, her voice getting emotional

"The scientist found a way to combine beast's crystals from galactic beast's, and together with an unknown element, he created the mutant serum."

"It's original purpose was to rid a human of their mana cells completely without any harm, and it did but..."

"The subjects lost their mana cells and couldn't use their mana powered abilities anymore, but they transformed in monsters who looked like beast's, but humanoid in shape, and even possessed the abilities of the beast's each serum was made from, and just like the galactic beast's, formidable without the help of mana cells."

"Dark dawn claimed to have shut down the project as it was against their code, but the scientist who created the serum thought otherwise, and left the organization to form his own posse. They experimented on people and created more mutants in secret, with time he amassed a army of mutants and striked at the world," She said, at this point the pain visible in her voice

"The entire planet was in chaos, it was like the great horde, but the assulters more deadly than normal beast's and all being controlled by the same scientist who created them, malcolm."

"It took the world leaders to team up with dark dawn and fight against the mutants, and after a year of endless terror and the help of two new powerhouses, that the war was finally won, with humans on the winning side."

"A lot of lives were lost, xavier's whole family included, and we grieved and thought that it was truly over, but how wrong we were." jane continued shaking her head

"Two years after the war, Malcolm and his mutants came back stronger, this time the mutants were very much sane but still had to obey malcolm, and they could even revert back to their human form, making it hard to identify them, and this time malcolm only wanted one thing, to turn every human into mutants.

"He was defeated once again, but just like before it didn't feel like a victory, because this time he didn't force the serum on people, no, he simply offer it especially to the weak and those who didn't posses mana cells."

"Scientists tried to find a way to revert the effects of the serum, but it was impossible, they all had to be eradicated, and they all were including malcolm by a gas created by the O.D.D, one that forcefully changed them to their beast form, and poisoned them."

"The war was finally over, but over the years mutants were spotted in different places, the ones that seemingly survived, it was later discovered that some of the mutants had escaped to other planets, rumor has it that malcolm might still be alive, on one of the planets, creating more mutants, and that some might even be living among us." jane concluded her story, her face full of sadness

Henry just remained sitted, taking in everything he had heard; "So this world is a magical one, this system must have a different definition of boring, what could be boring about a magical world," he thought

"Hmm, that explains xavier's rage, he thinks I'm a mutant, but I'm not, maybe if I could just..." henry thought

"Is there a way to confirm if i am or not a mutant?" he asked

Jane sighed. "There is...but ignore xavier, he's just being unreasonable, you don't have to prove anything,"

"I know, but I want to be sure myself, or I'm i not allowed to?" henry asked, raising his eyebrow

"No nothing like that, it's just that the mutant examination is a bit...painful," she replied with a worried look

Henry didn't expect he would be, but even he needed to know which category he fell under, mana human or non- mana mutant, because he couldn't really trust the system anymore, after being tricked once.

"Fine, I'll do it anyways, i wish to also know," he said with a determined look

"That's so brave of you, if that's what you want then, we have an examiner pod here in our ship, I'll go get it ready. I'll be right back." jane said with a smile, as she left the room

"Pod? why would it be a pod, shouldn't it be some kind of scanner or something?" henry thought, getting nervous

"Oh well, I'm in to deep, can't back down now." he made his resolve

"But boy do i have aaaa lot of questions, leaders, galactic beast's, the great horde and even the so called dark dawn," henry said fascinated about his new world

But the door slowly opened, and Jane walked in. "I'm sure you do, and I'll tell you, all you want to know, after the test." she said with a light giggle

"Alright, let's go, the pod is ready," she said signaling for henry to get up

"Alright then, let's do this," he said with excitement, getting up from the bed, he and Jane finally left the room

As they began walking, Henry gazed around the interior of the ship, he was struck by its sleek, futuristic design. The ship's hull was adorned with metallic panels, their silver sheen reflecting the soft glow of luminescent strips that lined the corridors.

Beyond the medical bay, the corridors unfolded like a labyrinth, lined with doors that slid open with a gentle hiss. Some led to private quarters which contained rooms. Others revealed utility rooms, engineering compartments, and storage bays, each filled with the hum of machinery and the smell of fuel.

Finally they arrived at their destination, another small room looking like the previous room he was in, it contains various machinery, but unlike the former, their functions were far from medical services.

Xavier stood at the end of the room, next to a rather large blue pod, his arms crossed, showing no emotion

"Alright henry, this is it, the mutant examination pod," jane pointed at the machine as they both approached it

"It emits a gas, one that would bring out your beast form if...you are a mutant, it's like the one i talked about, but won't kill you if you are one, only weaken you," she explained

"Ok I'm ready," henry said

"Alright, but here's the risk, the gas is highly radioactive, during the process you could experience certain...effects like hallucination, overheightened senses and could even cause damage to the nervous system. Are you sure about this." jane said with a more worried look, trying hard to convince henry not to proceed

But he had made up his mind. "I am, though scared of the outcome, I'll pull through, henry replied with a smile

"Alright fine," she sighed

Xavier turned on the machine, it hummed and brimmed with a blue light, as the lid slid open, henry removed the robe on his body and entered the pod, lying confortably in the vertical coffin that might be his undoing.

"No matter what happens, we'll still be friends, ok," jane said with an assuring look

Henry nodded and replied. "Thanks, i do hope so." he said looking at xavier, who had been unusually quiet since henry entered the room, probably Jane's doing

Xavier wanted to reply the little brat, but then he felt Jane's piercing gaze on him, as if telling him 'Speak, i dare you.' He just sighed and remarked

"Good luck kid, you'll need it," he said calmly, the lid of the pod slid back, closing it.

As the pod's lid closed, Henry felt a mix of anxiety and determination. The machine hummed louder, and a faint blue gas began to fill the pod. Henry's heart raced, anticipating the outcome.

Suddenly, the gas enveloped him, and Henry's senses heightened, but before he could experience any more effect, the system appeared.

[Foreign substance being forced into host's body, substance is being analyzed]

[Substance is dangerous to host, defensive measures activated]

[Foreign substance blocked].

[Host lucky for you, your defense stat is strong enough to handle this threat]. A familiar message appeared after the notifications

It worked, henry didn't feel anything anymore, it was as if the gas were air, he breathe in at will, knowing he couldn't be harmful to him any longer. Then expecting the worst, as he was no stranger to luck, both good and bad.

But instead of transforming into a beast, Henry felt... nothing, five minutes passed and still nothing. He wasn't a mutant

The gas dissipated, and the pod's lid opened with a hiss. Henry stepped out, relieved.

Jane rushed to his side, beaming. "You're not a mutant!"

"Are you okay?" she asked as she to his forehead, to which henry nodded

Xavier's expression softened, a hint of surprise flickering across his face.

"You passed," Xavier said, his tone less harsh. "But how is that possible?"

Henry grinned, feeling a weight lift off his shoulder, "I guess i never was, you just never gave me a chance," he said, putting on a sad facade

"I knew it, i always did. Xavier you owe henry an apology!" jane said, glaring at xavier

He didn't know what to say, he had been so sure he was a mutant, there was no other explanation. But he was wrong the whole time, he now had to apologize to the same kid he thought he would be torturing. he couldn't even feel rage, only suprise and shock, he had lost.

"I accused you unjustly, and called you a monster, and for that, i'm sorry kid," he said looking defeated

"I guess it's ok, i would've definitely done the same, if I had lost my family," henry replied

Xavier was yet again suprised with henry's straight forgiveness and sympathy, he had expected him to make his life hell by turning jane against him. But instead, he didn't, he had wrongly judged the kid.

He sighed. "All is good then, but how was he able to heal?" xavier asked, turning to jane

"Not sure, but the only possibility is that hi mana cells were depleted, we could take him back with us to base, and get a full mana cell examination!" she replied, excitedly

Henry just watched, curious. He didn't know if he had mana cells at all, but liked the idea of a free ride, it wasn't like they were going to just leave him in the forest anyways.

"What do you think henry, would you follow us to our guild base in iris city?" jane asked

Xavier added, "And I think our guild base can help you recover your memories."

Henry's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing." he pretended to be amazed

"Come with us," Xavier said, his expression now more welcoming. "We'll help you uncover your past."

"You'll discover more about yourself and your abilities, and you will get to live a good life, in atlas nation, i promise," jane added

"Ok i accept your proposal, as long as you help me discover myself and promise to protect me," henry said, looking at jane in the eye

"We do, i promise you," jane replied

"Alright, what are we waiting for, let's get out of here," he said with excitement

"Here, put this on," xavier said, handing henry a shirt

"oh, thanks," henry replied, putting it on

"Alright, let's go," jane said, leading the way out of the room, to the flight deck of the ship

The flight deck of their ship gleamed with cutting-edge technology, its sleek design a testament to human innovation. As Henry stepped inside, the soft hum of engines and gentle glow of consoles enveloped him.

"Welcome to the Aurora," Jane said, her voice filled with pride. "One of our guild's finest vessels."

"She named her ship!" henry thought as he kept looking around, it was like he was in some space,sci fi video game.

The primary flight display, a sprawling screen stretching across the cockpit's width, shimmered to life. Data streams danced across its surface, casting an ethereal glow on the pilots' faces.

To the left, the navigation panel pulsed with a soft blue light, charting their course through the skies. The throttle quadrant, adorned with intricate runes, seemed to thrum with energy, awaiting the pilot's command.

Xavier's hands danced across the controls with practiced ease. "Strap in, Henry. We're clearing the hangar."

As the aircraft lifted off, the flight deck transformed. The augmented reality display sprang to life, overlaying vital information onto the real-world view.

Henry's gaze wandered to the engine instrument display, where pulsing orbs represented the aircraft's mana-infused propulsion systems. The guild's proprietary technology harnessed magical energies, granting the shuttle unparalleled speed and agility.

Throughout the ship, soft, blue-green LED strips provided ambient lighting, casting an otherworldly glow. The gentle hum of engines, the soft hiss of doors, and glowing lights created a symphony of sound.

As the aircraft soared through the skies, Henry felt a sense of ease and liberation, he had finally left the forest.