As Erik ran through the wheat field, he left a trail of blood behind that got mixed with his footprints. The scent of iron was heavy in the air and so strong that it made the young man's stomach revolt.
He could feel something inside himself, trying desperately not to vomit as his body shuddered violently repeatedly like an earthquake tremor.
He wasn't new to the taste or the smell of blood, but it was his, generally speaking, most of the time because of Logan's assault or something like that. This time it was different; he had a dead thaid in his hands, losing blood all over the ground.
He wasn't doing anything bad by killing the thaid. Still, the system told him he had to eat the brain crystal and drink the creature's blood for him to acquire its brain crystal power.
He couldn't allow people to see him doing so, and for this reason, he hid in the wheat field, where no one could see him.
His heart pounded hard against his chest. His eyes were filled with tears from fear and anxiety, but at the same time, there was anticipation.
If everything went well, he was going to get a new power, which he didn't know, but as long as he could get out of his situation, he would accept whatever power he could.
Though the fear of being found out was strong too, and it urged the young man to be fast with whatever he had to do.
Once Erik stopped in the middle of the field, he looked at the creature; its head was squished open. There was a small space in which the young man could put his finger in.
It was disgusting to see, especially because the eyes were out of their sockets. Though seeing the dead creature wasn't the worst part, it was the thought that he was going to put his fingers into the head, touching the brain and all the fluids dripping from the creature.
Then he also had to drink the blood. What if the creature had some disease that could kill him?
The thought of gaining a new power was too strong, and greed surged inside the young man's mind. Erik collected the creature's blood with his clean hand, and when his fingers were wet with the red liquid, he licked them.
It was disgusting; the taste was horrible. But, once again, he had to ignore his disgust and swallow down what came up from his mouth.
Immediately, multiple notifications appeared in Erik's field of view.
[UNKNOWN CREATURE'S BLOOD ACQUIRED. STARTING THE ANALYSIS.]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]
[FIFTY DNA POINTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXTRACT THE DNA.]
[SIXTY DNA POINTS DETECTED. COMMENCING EXTRACTION?.]
"NONONO, WAIT!" Erik couldn't possibly start anything out in the open; he wanted to start whatever process the system wanted to perform at home. The young man then inquired about what was happening.
"What the hell is going on?"
[ANSWER: IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE A NEW BRAIN CRYSTAL POWER, THE HOST IS REQUIRED TO ADAPT HIS DNA TO THE POWER ITSELF; OTHERWISE, IT WON'T WORK. TO COMPLETE THE PROCEDURE, THE DNA EXTRACTION POWER IS REQUIRED, BUT THE POWER USES GENETIC MATERIAL, AKA DNA POINTS, TO WORK.]
Erik then put his fingers from both hands inside the creature's wound and started applying force, trying to open the head in two.
With a little bit of effort, he was finally able to open the head, and it was there that he saw the brain crystal. It was a small transparent bead, about half the size of a coin, embedded deep inside the brain.
He grabbed hold of it with his right hand and pulled it out quickly. Then Erik took a white tissue from his backpack and took off the blood and the rest of the brain from the crystal.
He had to eat it now, but he didn't have the courage to do it. Though the young man looked at his watch, he was going to be late to take the train, and besides, he couldn't risk losing the crystal or anyone finding out he had it. So, he swallowed a gulp of saliva and then placed the bead in his mouth.
Erik swallowed the crystal whole without even bothering to chew it first. In contrast to the blood, the bead did not have a distinctive flavor other than what the young men tasted since it still had some bits of brain attached.
"Damn!" The young man said. "I hate this."
After eating the brain crystal, Erik immediately got some notifications.
[UNKNOWN CREATURE'S BRAIN CRYSTAL ACQUIRED. STARTING THE ANALYSIS.]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]
[FIFTY DNA POINTS ARE REQUIRED TO EXTRACT THE POWER.]
[SIXTY DNA POINTS DETECTED. EXTRACTION IS NOT ADVISED; THE HOST HAS INCOMPATIBLE DNA.]
[EXTRACTION ABORTED]
The notifications were similar to the previous one. Erik assumed that he needed, in total, a hundred DNA points in order to be able to get the brain crystal power that this thaid had.
Since Erik already had sixty DNA points, he only needed forty in order to extract both the DNA and the BCP, and as far as he understood, he had to first extract the DNA, and then he would be able to extract the power.
<I better start going home...> the young man thought.
He then went back to the road, he was as clean as he could, but some bits of blood landed on his clothes. The young man walked through the country road; the sun was almost down.
The stars were visible and were shining brightly in the sky above him. After a little bit of walking, Erik finally arrived in the city.
The atmosphere was vastly different compared to the countryside, where multiple farms and fields surrounded by forests dotted the land.
Here, the only thing he saw was concrete buildings made from gray bricks. There weren't many people around either, just a few cars flying above him here and there.
Erik was anxious, though; he dirtied his clothes with blood stains, hoping that no one looked at him long enough to spot them.
Luckily for him, most pedestrians ignored him completely. So far, nobody seemed interested in checking who the boy was or what had happened to him.
The young man arrived at the train station just in time for him to take the last train to the east district.
"Welcome aboard," announced an automated voice over the train's speaker system. "We will arrive at our destination in ten minutes."
As soon as the doors closed, the train began moving again, its engine roaring like thunder. The young man sat next to the window, watching the scenery go by.
Multiple people were seated inside, so the young man had no choice but to stand and stay turned toward the train walls to prevent people from noticing the blood.
Ten minutes of pure anxiety passed before they reached the first stop. As soon as the door opened, the passengers flooded onto the platform, leaving empty seats behind.
Luckily he was now alone inside the train. As the train approached its final stop, the landscape became more urbanized. Finally the train arrived at the station.
Erik looked outside the window, where he saw the floating tracks split into three directions, which led to the south, west, and north districts. Soon enough, the train stopped, and Erik and the passengers in the other carriages disembarked.
Once outside, Erik realized how dark it was getting already and that it would probably rain later tonight. That was good since it would wash away the blood that he left behind.
Erik walked down the streets heading home; he looked at the people around him in horror since he was scared that he could be found out.
If that happened, who knew what would happen to him. As he looked left, he saw a woman with a short haircut walking her dog in sports attire.
She noticed Erik looking at her and quickly averted her eyes. Another person was talking loudly on their phone, while another guy was whistling to himself.
All these things combined reminded Erik of how much he hated living in the city, especially when he lived right in the middle of it all.
Luckily, no one looked at him beside the woman, and no one saw the blood on him.
That dreadful walk finally ended when he reached his house. Erik entered the lobby area of the building. He proceeded to the upper floors, making his way gently up the stairs to avoid disturbing anyone.
As soon as he reached the third floor, he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked inside. After walking through the door, he turned around, leaned against it, and let out a deep sigh.
That nightmare ended. Erik dreaded what could have happened if he was questioned by the police, or worse, the blackguards, and they then found out the thaid's body without the brain crystal.
In any case, Erik was glad he managed to escape from the creature and was happy for the biological supercomputer system. Something that was already changing his life for the better.
Erik imagined the time when he would possess a wide array of abilities. Even though he couldn't show them all, he could do so with just one power.
Although it was somewhat uncommon, there were a few individuals who, in their latter years, obtained a new brain crystal power. Because of this, Erik felt certain that he wouldn't run into any major issues, although gaining a new power was an extremely unlikely occurrence.
However, there was no question that the armies would test this new power of his. He would be kept under supervision because, in most cases, the military desired persons with numerous powers.