Chapter 2

Neo stood in front of a mirror, wistful and hollow smile adoring his blood red lips, his vermillion eyes stared back into itself through the mirror, and he slowly turned to a familiar portrait, the words that came out of his lips was barely audible.

"I will join you...soon."

He took one last glance at the portrait and exited the house, Headed for the rift station which coincidentally used to be their manor.

The portrait stood there unchanging, just as it had been for the past six years.save for the fact that the black mist that seemed to be swirling around his parent’s faceless picture was now much thicker, akin to wisps of smoke.

"What are you staring at, bastards?" Neo cursed inwardly, throwing deadly glances at the people who seemed to have turned him into a riveting spectacle to feed their eyes upon. Everyone seemed to avoid him like a plague while gluing their eyes on him like a failed work of art. Well, he couldn't blame them though; he was definitely not looking good at all.

Since he heard reaper's call the day before, he had been struggling to get the transport fare to the closest rift station. But with him showing several scary symptoms, almost all of his usual work stations rejected him. Things got worse when he started to vomit blood more often and he started losing weight, hence feeling dizzy most of the time. The only person who had been of help was his old neighbor who had managed to borrow him some money, for the fear that he would die in the house and fill the environment with stench.

Looking down on himself, Neo shook his head in self-pity. He looked pretty much like a creepy scarecrow… even worse.

"I guess if I were them, I would stare at me too."

Neo thought, sighing, while cursing reaper inwardly.

The fact that the structure he was in used to be his own house made him feel some sets of complicated feelings. Was it fear, worry, wisfulness, or fury. he couldn't really tell. But whatever it was Neo welcomed it.

The sounds of a steadily approaching footstep suddenly interrupted Neo's train of thought. Neo looked up to see the face of a stoic-looking man with a calm demeanor and deadpan expression holding the famous—or probably infamous—hyperplasmic blaster.

"Stand up, kid. We have decided to call you up next because of your prominent symptoms. Come with me," the man said, his majestic figure retreating. Neo nodded, stood up, and followed the man.

'I guess being scrawny is not so bad after all,' Neo thought.

Entering a large office, the automatic door behind Neo slammed shut. But not before the majestic officer left the office, so Neo was left alone with five magnificent figures sitting resplendently behind the alloy desk.

"Have your seat, young man," the man sitting in the middle said, flashing Neo a glistening smile. The man was rather nice and unmistakably handsome.

Neo sat down, bearing the onslaught of all five gazes. It was easy to tell by the aura they exuded that they were not ordinary people, so Neo quickly checked out their emblems to discern their ranks. They were all scoping him out as well; all of them were Deciders except for the man at the middle, right on his emblem his name and rank "Ascender Dale" were intricately carved, accompanied by a shiny golden star. Neo's face froze for a second.

"A real Ascender?" Neo thought in awe.

Granted, Deciders were not so much, but Neo had met a few in his lifetime, but Ascenders were few and far between, so Neo had not been privileged to come across any. But then, there was something so familiar about his aura but Neo couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"They are still humans after all."

Neo thought, staring at Ascender Dale, almost imagining the power brimming within his bones.

"So what's your name?" Ascender Dale asked, activating his communication device.

"Neolin," Neo answered curtly.

"You mean, Neo is your first name and Lin is your last name?" Ascender Dale asked.

"Well, that works too," Neo thought inwardly, but he just nodded in response.

Since his parents died or left—whichever happened—Theo had prohibited him from using his family name. So in the academy, he was always the kid without a last name, but now that Ascender Dale had given him a makeshift last name, he was more than willing to accept.

The aloof Ascender stared at Neo, lingered for a moment, and then continued.

"What about your parents or any other family members?"

"Gone,"

Neo replied, and he was almost pierced through with five sharp gazes. The other Deciders who had been busy typing away whispered some stuff to the Ascender, his expression darkened but he just nodded.

"So then let me brief you about reaper's domain, which is popularly known as the afterlife ," Ascender Dale said, as his gaze suddenly darkened. You see, according to experts, the afterlife is the place where we go after we die. This was proven after recent sightings of those that were supposed to be dead, but we can't be sure of anything about reaper's domain. It might just be an illusion for all we know, but if our suspicions are true, then I'm pretty sure that place is the infamous hell". He swallowed and continued.

"Immediately you are transported somewhere, make sure you find the nearest stronghold, otherwise you will die. This is a fact, not a probability. Just pray not to be transported far away from a stronghold. If you die over there, I will take it upon myself to hold your burial, since you have lost your family... sadly. Best of luck, kid. The Ascender said, but then his eyes suddenly shone and he continued.

"Oh, lest I forget, immediately you step into the rift, you will be examined for eligibility for the test of allegiance, but you have nothing to worry about. Less than one percent are ever eligible, but if you somehow become eligible, I'm sorry, but we have no information to deal with that circumstance since no one has been recorded to succeed, so you will have to help yourself, or else you end up like the others.

Well, that's very much about it." Ascender Dale said, ending his monologue.

"Thank you," Neo replied with a slight bow. As Ascender Dale commanded one of the Deciders to escort Neo to the rift.

A familiar scene of Neo hopping into the rift played out, and just like that, Neo's harrowing memories were over. The flood of energy had done a thorough search from the beginning of his memories to the very end, leaving and giving the consciousness back to the owner. Only then did Neo notice the thick manifestation of darkness surrounding him.

"What is this place?"

Neo asked, still soaring in the abyss. As if answering his question, the voice of reaper echoed around Neo again. It seemed to be literally everywhere.

"Mortal eligible for the Allegiance trial ! Prepare for the allegiance trial!"

Neo was still busy trying to figure out the source of the voice when the wordings of reaper's words resounded in his mind. His face twitched violently.