Rat

Damian clenched his fist tightly, his expression becoming serious as his gaze fell on the clock once again. This time, it read 8:00.

"It's time…" His voice came out rich and deep, unbefitting of the frail looking young man everyone looked down on.

He moved towards the window, his eyes looking out into the darkness of the sky before he closed it. It was… coming.

It was then the world shook, a mighty tremor running through the earth as though intending to split it apart. The Male Dormitories whined and groaned, as though it would fall apart any moment from now.

Damian could feel it. The pressure bearing down on him, almost forcing his frail body into the ground. If felt as though gravity had increased ten times.

He could sense it. The presence of something more mysterious in the air. A mysteriousness that made the air grow heavier, yet felt nourishing to his frail body.

He could see it. The information floating before him. An information he only had knowledge of but never seen.

There was no doubt about it…

[ The arrival of the Spheric Embodiment on Planet Earth marks the beginning of an unprecedented era. Rejoice, O ye people of Earth, for the path to absolute greatness is now within reach ]

…The incident that would be recognized as the Change, had began. At that moment, the world descended into a cataclysmic pit.

*

The Female Dormitory of Northernshire University was south of the Male Dormitory Damian currently lived at.

Normally, males wouldn't be allowed anywhere near this place. However, under these current circumstances, none had the mind to care about such affair.

Funnily enough, the thoughts of their boyfriends saving them flashed in the minds of these young maidens before vanishing in the face of fear.

It was just as the message Damian saw stated. A never before seen era had began on Earth, and it was up to the lifeforms that call it home to survive through it.

Atop one of the buildings of the Female Dormitory though, a silhouette stood. It was unknown who they are, but judging by their figure, it became apparent they were female.

"So, it's begin, huh?" The voice was soft and smooth, contrasting immensely to the hard, rough carnage that wreaked below.

If Damian had been here, this voice would have caused him to raise an eyebrow. This was a voice he had once loved but came to detest. This was the voice of the woman who had harassed him just because he asked her out.

However, the mild surprise wouldn't have been from of the voice itself, no, but the ease at which it came out. Her voice sounded as though she was unfazed by the chaos that environed her, as though each and every one of the paranormality that manifested was something she had witnessed countless times.

Which begs the questions, how had the supposed daughter of the World President witness such a thing? Where did she witness such a thing? And when?

No matter how one viewed it, it appeared Damian wasn't the only variable on Earth.

*

Damian, though, couldn't care about the world at this moment. His mind was already fixated on a new information that appeared in form of a status panel before him.

[ Name: Damian Octavius

Sphere Tier: First Sphere, Stratum 1

Race: Human

House Physiology: Battle Sovereign Physiology (Unawakened)

Title: None

Ability: Innate Adaptability

Strength: 7 (10) | Stamina: 9 (10) | Vitality: 8 (10) | Agility: 10 (10) | Edict: 170 (10) | Soul Edict: 170 (0) ]

Damian nodded. Considering the current state of his body, it was no surprise that the stats related to body were pitifully low, even lower than the base stats of a normal Human. However, that was something he was about to change.

His mind shifted to the Physiology, and he couldn't help but smile proudly. Although, it was currenty unawakened and had little benefits to offer him, the fact that he could now view the Physiology that made the House of Octavius monstrous was enough to fill him with pride.

Damian withdrew his mind from his status window and focused on the real world again. By now, he knew Earth was already in turmoil.

As though to affirm his thoughts, his gaze snapped towards the floor. Although, his room was six floors into the sky, he could see clearly what was happening below.

And what he saw made him frown. The world was indeed in chaos. People were running helter-skelter, the terror on their face apparent. Although, the world had indeed trembled, it wasn't nearly enough to trigger this level of disorderliness. Something more mysterious must have caused it. Something Damian was apparently aware of but wasn't willing to admit.

The answer came in the form of Humans. These Humans, however, were uniquely strange, in that, unlike the others that ran, they could only stagger as though they were just learning to walk. And their faces looked as though it had lost all traces of life.

What's more, their eyes contained no resemblance to humanity. What had instead replaced their once vibrant eyes were two depth of darkness, that seemed to pull one into their vacant depth.

Aside the aforementioned features, they retained their Human appearance. However, the more Damian watched them and their deeds, the more his heart trembled.

'They are definitely those creatures I read of in the Library. To think they are this gruesome…" Damian thought.

Indeed, these Humans had took to chasing every other Humans unlike them, and should they manage to catch one…

"Help! Please! Anyone! Just help me!" A young male student screamed, his fingernails running through the floor as he got dragged by a horde of the strange looking Humans.

Unfortunately, none helped him, or more appropriately, none had the heart to help him. What a joke! They all were still struggling to keep their own lives, let alone another person's.

Tears pooled in streams down his cheeks as he struggled. But with the strength of four of these Humans, there was little he could do.

What happened next to the young student was straight out of an horror fiction. With uncanny strength, his limbs were pulled out of their sockets. His guts were dug out. His head was bursted into a bloody and gory mess. All in 30 seconds.

One moment, he was an handsome man striving to achieve something in life, the next moment, his life became forfeit under the hands of these cteatures.

But, this… was only the beginning.

Damian's eyes shifted towards a different direction and what he beheld made his eyes quiver. Although, he was mentally prepared for this, what he wasn't prepared for was this level of gruesomeness.

Pools of blood. Strewn limbs. Headless corpses. Scattered inner organs.

The cause of this carnage?

A rat.