CHAPTER 1: LIMITLESS BEGINNING
MARKO gulped down in fear, "It can't be!" There he stood, the apex predator of the night woods. And not just that but a Terror! It had pitch black fur with blazing green patches, eyes that gleamed in the dark, and a mouth full of large fangs. The terror carried a powerful presence. The Dark Leopard growled softly as it approached them carefully, taking its time. The roar sounded almost like a stomach rumbling, which should have made it less frightening but rather did the opposite. "Tch", Marko grunted. "That's at least a level two terror." The crescent moon high in the starry cloudless sky beamed down a whitish light on the open clearing in the heart to the dark forest. Beneath their feet was the short green grasses swaying in ambience with the dancing wind. Gollum! Marko swallowed hard as a drop of sweat trickled down the side of his head before sliding down his next and vanishing into the fine cotton fabric of his cloth. The Dark Leopard was a terror that was responsible for the onslaught of humans in the neighbouring villages, it's thirst for human flesh was well known. A hundred warriors with spears could not even puncture its thick hide, so imagine how fearsome it would be. "Ma- Marko", Shayla was quaking in her boots. Against the Terror that always left a trail of destruction in it's wake, what threat would both of them pose to it? Was there even a chance against it? Terrors were Monsters that only crept out when the day was darkest. No one knew where they came from but meeting was spelt a surefire doom. Marko locked eyes with the dark leopard, and prayed for a miracle silently. He was never the religious sort also he had never encountered such a situation before so he found himself unable to act. His heart beat hard against his ribcage as hot air expended from his lungs. …IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING QUICK, WE WILL PROBABLY DIE… But what could he do? …SHAYLA, I AM REALLY SORRY FOR DRAGGING YOU ALONG… The girl who had been his closest and only friend…! …WHAT AM I EVEN DOING?… "Shayla?" He called out to her. "I want you to run!" There was no reason for them both to suffer the same fate. So at least he would give her a chance to escape. But…! Shayla stood there crippled by fear throwing Marko into even more panick. If only they had not gotten lost in the forest none of this would have happened, he told himself. Their village was located nearby, it was Marko's first hunt and Shayla had chosen to go with him. In terms of hunting she was more skilled despite being a girl but Marko resented hunting. He would rather spend his days at home helping his mother in anyway he could. He did not have many friends due to the fact that his father was late, and all the boys all made fun of him for it. There was also the fact that he was born with a limp in his left leg. Marko had wanted to prove himself by going on his hunting trial since the other boys had all done that at his age. "Just why did I have to be the one with bad luck?" He said between gritted teeth. The dark leopard crept closer instilling more fear to his already rattling bones. Marko raised his hunting knife he had yet to use at the terror beast. It was supposed to be an act of self defense but his hands shook violently against his will, "Ge- get back!" But his threat fell on deaf ears… Since Terrors exist only to destroy!! The terror called the dark leopard was called that because it had features very much similar to a leopards. Marko was surprised by the lightning quick speed displayed by the dark leopard as it charged at him. Becoming a blur almost invisible to the human eye. "W-- what?" Marko stuttered losing his already failing composure in an instant. In one quick swoop Marko met with the hard ground. "Omph!" He grunted. It happened so fast that his mind had to take a moment to comprehend it. But a swollen head would be the least of his concerns at the moment. Marko felt a strong paw pin him to the ground as the leopard stood over him and roared with pride. The claws at the end felt sharp and slightly curved as they grasped his insides. He could feel something cut open but could not tell if it was a muscle or a vein. A wave of adrenaline shot into his brain causing him to panick. He reached for his knife that had fallen to the ground a short distance from him, sensing this the leopard clawed at his back ripping apart his shirt and shredding the delicate skin underneath. "Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!" He yelled out in pain as the beast retracted it's claw from his back. He could feel blood gushing out of him; and the life force being drawn out of him. At a fast speed the Dark Leopard slashed Marko down his back, leaving another huge cut on him. "Urgh!" Marko shrieked. The pain he was now feeling, he could not explain it… But it hurt like hell!!! It was warm and sticky and red. Hot sweat poured down his face and his eyes reddened, the pain seething through his back had him crippled. His mind started to run wild with regrets. WHY DID I HAVE TO DRAG SHAYLA ALONG? He thought. I'M SO STUPID! WHAT DID I HAVE TO PROVE ANYWAY? "Grrrrrr!" The Dark Leopard growled at Marko who could barely keep himself together. MOM MUST PROBABLY BE TROUBLED NOW, BECAUSE OF ME! The Dark Leopard slashed him again on his back, this time more deeper than before. "Acccccccckkkk!!!" He screamed through the writhing pain. Drops of his blood splattered everywhere. …JUSTIN, SYLVIA! YOUR IDIOT BIG BROTHER JUST MADE THE DUMBEST DECISION OF HIS LIFE… He could feel his eyes begin to dim. His chest felt heavy and his breathing largely weighted. Marko was sure he would die.But… HISS! WHAT IS THAT STING? He thought. WHY IS MY NECK BURNING RIGHT NOW? His vision started to blur and his breath dwindled. Even under the intense pain and regret Marko only had one regret…! BUT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE IF I WAS A GIFTED… THE OUTCOME MIGHT BE DIFFERENT!! "MARKO!?" Shayla screamed at the top of her lungs with tears rolling down the corners of her face. Marko's blurry vision began to settle, he could feel his insides burning like a wild hot flame eating him up. The dark leopard jumped off him and started for Shayla who had backed up into a tree. Marko rolled over on all fours with every strength he could muster and immediately regretted his action. "Kuuuueeeeekkkk!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs while expending blood from his lungs. Looking up he saw the Terror almost by a catatonic Shayla. "No!" He cried. "What should I do?" Shayla was about to die right before his eyes and he could do nothing to stop it. Marko willed himself to get up and but he could not muster even a morsel of strength in his feeble body. Powerless! He had always hated that feeling!! The feeling of not being able to change anything!!! He felt himself about to break through these limits and he let it. And for the first time he felt it- FREEDOM!! His face met with the cold hard ground. Then everything went black.CHAPTER 2: LIMITLESS SYSTEM ACTIVATED "Where am I?" There was an intense buzzing in the air resonating with him, "What's that?" ["Your energy is in disarray!"] A white orb flew to him in the darkness. ["Young master? No, not quite."] "Wh- what are you?" Marko was surprised to find out that he could move his body, the injures that he had recieved from the dark leopard were nowhere to be seen. All around him was a world of infinite darkness lit only by the light from the orb. The ground was cool under his feet and seemed to ripple too like water, half his body was submerged by a dark smoke. There was a hissing sound coming from the back of his neck and he reached to feel it and found a flat hole or in clearer terms- a slot. "Am I dead and are you the spirit that came to welcome me to the land of my ancestors?" "Hard to believe I died so easily." The orb with white wisps gave a release of white wisps of smoke that sparkled like gems. ["S
CHAPTER 3: MOTHER & SON MARKO squinted his eyes open to be welcomed by the glass lamp above his head swinging left and right on its cable. His head rested on the soft pillow, he could tell he was on a bed. WAS ALL OF THAT A DREAM? He asked himself as he made an attempt to push himself up only to be greeted by the deep pangs of pain ringing in his head causing his body to collapse back on the bed. [YOU HAVE RECIEVED BACKLASH OF YOUR ACTIONS] [SEVERAL OF YOUR MUSCLES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED] [REPAIRS HAVE BEGUN] [SYSTEM HAS BEEN RENDERED INACTIVE] [PLEASE RECHARGE YOUR BODY TO REACTIVATE THE SYSTEM] Marko groaned in pain. "So it was real then?" "But what does recharge mean?" Not long later his thoughts were interrupted. There was a creaking sound as the village physician walked into the room and over to him. He was Tennet. A man in his late fifties and a widower. According to the stories his family was killed by Terrors before he dec
CHAPTER 4: LEVEL FOUR TERROR In the world, the origin of the Terrors were unknown. Some had speculated that they were the next dominate species following after the fall of the dinosaurs, others said they were an evolved species of dinosaurs that crawled out from the depths of the earth to plague the Earth they once ruled. But one thing was clear: Terrors were Monsters. They left a trail of destruction in their wake even causing the fall of many human civilizations. A catastrophe that would have ended the human race entirely if not that humanity evolved themselves. The cause of this phenomenon was still a mystery but a light the form of a man came down from the stars above and singlehandedly saved all of humanity. The people of that time called him god! And worshiped him. But he was the first gifted. According to the legend he vanished from the face of the Earth without a trace. But not before blessing humanity with the gift of light itself. Since Terror were creatures of darkne
CHAPTER 5: INFINITE STRENGTH MARKO gulped down as his hands scratched the window pane. He could see the stream of smoke rising higher and higher near the village square, the crimson light of the flame were impossible not to notice. "Are the core five going to be okay?" He asked himself. The sounds of the battle could be barely heard over the distance but still enough to spell the certain doom that would soon hit them. "Shayla? What's the highest level of a terror the five have ever faced?" He asked. Shayla hesitated a bit before responding. "A level two terror like the dark leopard is the highest they have ever faced. But you managed to beat that on your own so I guess you are much stronger than them all put together." Teresa observed her son with a gloomy look on her face, she could notice his eyes carrying a troubling gaze she could not discern. "What about a level four terror?" Marko surprised them by his response. "Can they beat that?"
CHAPTER 6: IMPULSE Marko barely managed to evade the twintail's deadly tails. He was very surprised it could keep up with his insane speed and in a more deadly way. One of the Terror's sharp tail swung at his face, Marko barely had a second to block it with his right arm leaving a large cut down his arm. Blood spewed down on the ground. "Ouch!!" BHAM!! Marko choked out as he recieved a strong jab to his chin, next the terror threw both it's tails at him. Marko managed to avoid the first but the second came a bit too fast for him to react. SWISH!! Marko's right hand split down in half and met with the hard ground, a stream of blood followed. The terror chuckled as it licked it's lips pleased by its work. For someone who had just lost his hand Marko did not take it easy. "Waaaahhhhhh!!" He cried out. The terror dove down for another sweeping kick. Marko felt himself before a great wall yet again, he could only resort to on
CHAPTER 7: BATTLE SENSE "Haa!!" Marko sprung back to life. The first thing that greeted him was the ash box displayed over his head. [YOU HAVE AWOKEN FROM SLEEP MODE] [ESTIMATED TIME ASLEEP: 3 WEEKS, 5 DAYS, 2HRS, 19 SECONDS] [ALL BODY FUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO NORMAL] [PLEASE RECHARGE] "Huff! Huff!" Marko's ash hair had grown a bit. His face was dripping with sweat and a light headache stinging him by his temples. His eyes was weak as he glanced around the room, it was the physician house, the wind curtains whipped the air as wind blew in. "What?" He looked down at himself. He was wearing a thin patients cloth. "Who changed me?" He turned to the bedside where a collection of flowers sat on a tables with a note "GET WELL SOON! HERO!" "Oh God! Mon is going to kill me for running out on her!" He ran his hand down his damp hair and sighed in exasperation. "System?" […] "What are you…?" […] Marko pushed hims
CHAPTER 8: DISTORTION "And why don't you want to join the specialist forces?" Dexter asked. Marko responded. "It's not like everyone wants to join anyway, as long as I can stay here and protect my home I'm good." Sylvia snorted. "What an half-assed reason to say that." Marko glared at her then turned to face his mother who was staring at him. "I don't want to find my mom or Shayla hurt or the village when I can finally protect them." Shayla lost her composure a bit. "What? Me?!" Market continued. "My whole life people always ignored me, I don't have a father. I'm not strong or smart, I'm just me. And now I can do a whole bunch of things and help people because I want to. If the village protectors did not have me.to help then the life of everyone would have been endangered. I saved them and I will continue doing so." Teresa and Shayla were moved by his words but. Dexter still had a point to relay. "I admire you Marko, I really do." He started in a calm voice. "Let's suppose you
CHAPTER 9: ARRIVAL AT THE GIFTED ACADEMY Marko puffed as he alighted from the carriage. His boots giving rise to a puff of smoke, he stretched his body to relieve it from the many cramps it had suffered on the long journey. He had left his home three days earlier, embarking on the journey to better control his gift and master it. His mother, Shayal, he had vowed to return stronger. Staring at the huge castle before him covering a big space and encompassed by green gardens, a number of pristine fountains. The windows from top to bottom made of glass and shimmering with cascading fractures of light. The sky above flocking with different species of birds he never knew existed. For someone who had never seen anything as such in his village he marvelled and ran towards the wide open golden gates, eyes blooming with youthful vigor. "Woohoo! Academy here I cooome!!" Dexter grabbed him by the collar and raised him off the ground with ease. "For someone who seemed