A few minutes before Rex fainted…
Creak!
The familiar sound of the main door that separated the sitting room from the long corridor reverberated again as it grated at Rex's ears.
This was one of the numerous signs that showed the deteriorating condition of the ancestral home that Rex's parents left for him.
According to his immediate father, this house already stood for more than a millennium. Of course, he knew that it sounded ridiculous, but despite all this, he believed his dad, he believed that everything his dad said was true.
Before his parents died, his father was the closer of them to him. He didn't know why, perhaps it was because of a programming in their DNA, but he also felt instinctively closer to his dad than his mom.
Though his dad was never clear about this before he died, he kept on mentioning to Rex every night when they sat together on the rocking chair outside watching the stars that their family was special.
He never went into detail, but the repeated declaration created a firm mental image in Rex's mind that he was from a special family.
This was what kept him going after his parent's death. Despite the mockery, despite the opposition, this was what kept him firm in his decision to practice his swordsmanship to perfection to become one with his sword.
Despite the suffering, the belief of being special kept him strong until today. His mental defenses after being eroded by circumstances for 13 years were already at their weakest, now they finally succumbed after the latest setback.
For the first time in 13 years, he lost grasp of that belief. This is what allowed depression to set in, which eventually culminated into the desire to commit suicide.
As Rex walked forward, he observed this relic inheritance of his that made him feel even more depressed.
Others had big modern mansions, cars, and estates as their inheritance, why was this shabby hut his inheritance? Did the world really hate him so much?
The house had a sitting room, and 5 rooms with a long corridor intersecting through all 5 rooms. At the middle of the corridor was the entrance to the underground basement which had never opened to Rex.
Rex walked for a minute across the rusted metal chairs, shaking doors, and creaking wooden floor panels before he finally arrived before the entrance.
While he walked, Rex's conclusion that his inheritance was trash and his only redemption was death grew until he arrived before the door to the basement.
Once he arrived there, he felt a difference. Apart from the difference in his perception, to Rex's shock, he saw a more prominent white glow similar to the one that materialized in his sword a few hours ago around the hinges of the door.
"Is this, mystic energy?"
Fascinated and shocked, he placed his hand on the door knob.
Rustle!
As soon as Rex did this, a strange breeze arrived from nowhere as the old newspapers arranged on top of the old cupboard rustled to the direction of the wind. The lighting in the corridor also seemed to grow dimmer.
Rex's years of practice with his sword already honed his instincts so much that he was practically already one with his sword. Even without his sword, he had an omniscient view of his immediate surroundings.
He noticed everything that happened, which only made his curiosity to know what was behind the basement grow.
"What is the difference in my 18th birthday?"
He muttered to himself before bending the doorknob and pushing.
Instantly after the door was pushed open, what seemed like a pure white psychic current seemed to pour out like a flood which quickly submerged him.
As soon as he was submerged, Rex lost consciousness.
…
"Congratulations! Welcome back Upgraded 350!"
On hearing that, Rex's eyes snapped open. He was no longer in the corridor, nor was he in a basement, he was inside a fascinating world of white.
The world was pretty basic which meant that there was nothing to admire except for its dream-like appearance. After admiring to his fill, a mildly shocked Rex finally directed attention to the voice that spoke to him.
He asked cautiously. "Who are you?"
"I am the hivemind".
"Tasked to protect the lineage of Vector, the Upgrades".
"Rex Vector, by making it to your 18th birthday, you have succeeded in activating your potential as an Upgraded".
"Your father, Lenor Vector was the 349th Upgraded".
"Your grandmother, Melinda Vector was the 348th Upgraded".
"Your great grandfather, Larkinson Vector was the 347th Upgraded. You're the last, the 350th Upgraded".
"Hivemind? Upgraded? What the f*ck is all this about?" From the onset, Rex was already confused. He had a million questions to ask, but before he could, the supposed voice of the hivemind continued".
"As programmed by the 1st generation Vectors, the first reveal is what being an Upgraded entail. What you currently are started all the way from the ancient age of awakening".
"Orion Vector, the 1st Vector ancestor lived a millennium ago during the age of awakening. After the awakening, a lot of people then got lucky and obtained special inheritances, Orion got the ability that he called the upgrade".
"Unlike other mainstream mystic abilities that arose after the age of awakening, that of Orion Vector could not provide direct increase in combat strength but its utility was coveted by all".
"The upgrade provided a platform for immortality".
"The only use of the upgrade is to upgrade the soul of its inheritor, granting the user the ability to transcend death and reincarnate through lifetimes".
"Before Orion Vector died, he was a soldier who fought heroically during the age of awakening for decades before dying. 10 years after he died, a new baby was born, Orion Vector reincarnated".
"Once the new Orion Vector grew up, fascinated by his mystic ability, he deduced the true potential of the upgrade through years of trial and error".
"The upgrade didn't just grant its user with the ability of reincarnation; it granted the user the ability to reincarnate into his new life with all the knowledge and skills acquired from his past life".
"Through this, Orion Vector finally made a name for himself in his 2nd life. To his shock, he discovered that his direct lineage also inherited his mystic ability".
"This heralded the era of the powerful Vector family".
"At our peak, we ruled earth".
"But…, we fell".
"A rival family with a strange mystic ability rose. By colluding with other ancient families, including some of our allies, the Vector family was attacked, stripping us of our source of power, the upgrade itself".
"The '...' family's special ability is '…' '…' '…'"
"Through their special ability, the mighty Vector family was suppressed".
"Stripped of his reincarnation and upgrade powers, Orion Vector died and never reincarnated again but his knowledge and martial skill lived on through the hivemind that was created a few generations later".
"The upgrade also lived on through his lineage".
"Newer generations of the mighty Vector family learned to live a low-key life, hiding from our archenemies while preparing from the dark for our reemergence".
"Unfortunately, we never reemerged, the '…' family grew too powerful".
"Slowly, we were picked and eliminated from the surface of the earth. With time, we succumbed to circumstances and all escaped from the prosperous mid-earth to live in the less prosperous rim".
"This was how we were able to preserve our lineage, but we still died over the years. Now, you are the last direct inheritor of the upgrade".
"You are the last hope, and you are also the strongest hope. The knowledge and martial skill of all your predecessors lives in the hivemind, waiting for you to grow strong enough to access them all".
"You came from the sub-lineage of sword mysticism".
"You are the last mystic swordsman".
"To develop the heritage of sword mysticism, place your hand on the hivemind and search for your living sword".
"Your ancestors had one, your father had one, you need one also".
After the supposed hivemind finally went silent, Rex also kept his silence for a long time as his young 18-year-old mind tried to take in everything that was just revealed to him.
The mind-blowing information left him bamboozled, but he said only one sentence after he understood his situation. "I knew I was indeed special!"
His intuition told him that not everything that he needed to know about his family was revealed to him, especially the rival ancient family, but he didn't care. All he cared about at this moment was that he was finally about to escape his fate.
All the talk about the mighty Vector family and their equally mighty and sinister archenemy family felt distant to him. His current troubles were of more significance to him than a distant enemy.
He had not heard of a living sword before, but the mention of it told him that this would probably be what would lift him from his current harrowing situation.
He took a deep breath and walked closer before placing his hand on the white ball of light that kept on alternating colors and forms, seeming like a mystical supercomputer that held all the knowledge in the universe.
Once Rex's hand touched it, his eyes glowed a white color as his consciousness left his body before entering the world of the hivemind.
"Do not resist it, drift with it, flow with it, resonate with it, navigate the current and find what is yours. Find your living sword".
The background words of the hivemind became the guide that he needed in this darkness. He was like a pilgrim who was traveling through the void, with no direction, just aimlessly going forward after a living sword.
Rex didn't know how much time passed, it felt like forever and at times also felt like it just started, but his consciousness jolted as it felt a different sensation in the world of the hivemind.
"Shing?"
Rex was shocked as he felt what seemed like a shockwave voice battering his senses. The spooky fact about it all was that he understood this voice, it was a living sword actually speaking to him.
"Shing!" "Shing!"
"You like me?"
"Shing!"
"I like you too!"
"Shing!" "Shing?"
"Your name is Berserker? Mine is Rex, Rex Vector, nice to meet you".
"Will you like to be my living sword?"
"Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!"
"Huh? I have to promise to feed you martial arts daily?"
"Shing!"
"Deal!"
Whoosh!
Rex felt the currents increase their speed the next moment as they battered his consciousness harder, threatening to tear him apart.
Amid this wave, he felt a lifeform drawing nearer to him. After some time, he finally felt something living intimately rubbing against his consciousness.
"Berserker?!"
Rex couldn't keep up; he fell unconscious once again.