Creed was lost in thoughts, sitting on the chair while gazing at the golden egg. It was too late until he felt a strange sensation in his body; The temperature dropped by several degrees and his breathing became grim.
It felt as if he was underwater inside freezing water. Though his consciousness was still with him, he felt as if he was drowning. Stuff inside his room looked blurry but still noticeable.
Things quickly became spooky when he looked at the golden egg again.
The egg had gained its golden glow back and was shining like a star and hovering in the air. This made him remember the scene in the elder's tablet with the crucified snake-women.
"Is this finally the end? Is this egg going to eat me just as it tried with that snake-lady?" Creed had a gloomy look on his face.
"Ah shit... why can't I just catch a break?"
He could see that the egg was shining, but that was just it. He didn't get any painful feeling or energy drain either. Though he felt a little numb with his drowning perception and blurry vision, this feeling was like half-sleep and half-awake.
He did some simple calculations in his mind, while he also tried to remember the faces of the people he knew and pinched at his hands to see if he was dreaming but, apparently he was not.
Strangely, he could hear and perceive things too. He felt like he was in a state of nirvana until he saw movement in the egg. The egg began shivering uncontrollably.
Before Creed could even adjust to what was happening, multiple golden chains rushed out of the egg and all reached to grab multiple places in his body.
The chains grabbed his legs, his hands, waist, and his neck too, as if they would drag him into the hell the very next moment. The scene was similar only with the difference that the snake-woman was crucified and he was chained. Suddenly all the previous images of the tortured snake-women started flashing in his mind at once.
"Okay, dad! I am coming to you sooner than you expected." Creed did not understand what was happening. He tried to break free, but he couldn't.
"Fuck! This evil egg will really eat me, I miss those days when people were supposed to eat the eggs and not the other way around!"
Unexpectedly, he felt a warm sensation where the chains had grabbed him. The more he tried to rationalize his thoughts, the spookier and weirder the situation was turning into.
After a brief and pointless struggle, Creed realized that the egg had morphed into a ring and now it was speeding up towards him like a bullet. He squinted and realized that the ring has stopped 2 cm near his head. Much to his surprise, the ring again changed direction and rushed toward his hand until it got itself attached to his index finger. Creed was stiff as a board and couldn't figure out anything since everything happened so fast.
~Knock Knock Knock~
"Hey, Creed! open the door." A voice came from behind the door.
Creed came back to senses as if nothing happened, the ring or chains also vanished. Everything suddenly became normal. He felt rather spooked, as the ring suddenly melted and vanished inside his body.
"Hey Creed, open up man." The banging sound jolted him back from his thoughts. "You dead or what?"
He pulled himself back up and went towards the door. He opened and saw a person with 5'9 height, same as his own, and with a face rather playful. He wore glasses, and a uniform provided by the military.
"Hey, Jake!" Creed peeked outside.
His name was Jake Collins. He was a cadet, same as him, and the only friend that Creed had after coming inside the glitch.
Jake looked at him, smiled. "Hey man! Did you know that secretary Alia has got a tattoo on her lower waist?"
Creed's expressions turned ugly, and he pushed the door back.
"Wait, wait! I was just kidding, man!" Jake pushed the door to resist him."How would I know where she got a tattoo or not?"
"Dude, I was sleeping. What the hell!" Creed had an annoyed expression."I am not interested in a tattoo on that witch's waist!"
"Of course not! Because you're only interested in the tattoo on the lieutenant's waist!"
Creed's expression again turned into disgust as he started pushing the door again.
"Stop stop dude, I'm sorry man, stop closing the door." Jake kept on chuckling. "Jeez, you are no fun."
"What do you want, Jake?" He couldn't ignore him. "I was busy, Just say it."
"Dude, just look at the time, it's 7:30 am!" Jake while pointing towards his watch." I came to get you for breakfast. Come on, or you will starve yourself to death."
"Right! you go to the canteen," Creed replied, then he closed the door."I'll see you there after I get changed."
"Okay, Just don't take too much time. I'm hungry like a beast."
"Didn't he said he was sleeping?" Jake said mulling over to himself "Then why did he say he was busy?" Eventually Jake went to the canteen without giving it much of a thought.
After closing the door, Creed checked his room for some changes or changes in his body. But he felt nothing out of ordinary. No sign of marks on his finger or some strange symbol anywhere else.
It was like the golden-ring vanished into thin air, but it was still inside his body. A chill crawled on his body. It made him even more uncomfortable that a highly suspicious and unknown object was inside his body. With all the occurrences that happened regarding the egg, he was sure that the egg was some kind of major disaster. It could always choke or poison him from the inside.
But there was no point in considering things with no kind of proof, so he changed into his uniform and went to the canteen. There, he saw Jake sitting with a girl with his food tray. They both saw Creed coming with his own tray.
"Here comes the freak! I will take off now. A word of advice—Stop wasting time with him and come to our table. You are wasting your talent in his company. The sooner you understand, the better. See you later, Jake," Said the girl with a curvaceous figure with a smirk and left the table Jake was sitting on.
Seeing this, Creed sighed heavily. He brought his food tray and sat on the table Jake was sitting on. He didn't look Jake in the eye when he spoke.
"What she said is true! The sooner you get it inside that thick skull of yours, the better."
"Sorry man, you had to hear that. But you've got to stop saying mean things about yourself. You are not as bad." Jake was fidgeting with his fork on the spaghetti in his tray.
"Not as bad, dude..." Creed pointing his fork towards Jake, waiting for an answer. "How many Cadets have you met that are stuck on their root chakra for an entire year?"
"None," Jake replied immediately.
"So... why don't you go with them? What's the point of this sticking-to-a-loser facade?" Asked Creed with an expressionless tone.
"Bro, this is not some kind of facade. You are a friend. I just don't think you are a loser. You are still not dead even after an entire year inside the glitch. And from my perspective, that's a lot of winning, so it proves nothing." Jake responded to him with honesty. "So what if you are stuck on a step? That doesn't make you a loser, at least not in my dictionary."
"What kind of stupid-ass dictionary is that?"
"It's the same dictionary that says that Creed Gryffon is an exception," Jake smirk at him playfully. "And secretory Alia is a hottie."
"A 'loser' for a friend and a 'witch' for a crush, you the very definition of crazy." Creed shrugged at him, realizing there was no point in debating with him.
"So what's up with the '4-sisters'?" Jake changed the awkward topic. "Are they still bullying you?"
"Yup, you know how they are, but this time they made me use my last beta-pill. And they also snatched dad's ring, which was my last financial pillar for my family."
"Man! that's brutal ... both the things were important to you, this is too much!" Jake uttered as he sipped his juice. "Why don't you ask for help from the lieutenant on this."
"She's got no obligation to help me, and I don't really want her help, anyway." Creed clutched the fork tightly. "I will sort this matter myself and will return those bastards the favor ten folds."
"Yeah! sure, tough guy. You're the man, but take my spare beta-pill for now," Jake slid a beta-pill towards him. "Just in case. That's best I could help you right now."
Without hesitation, Creed slid the pill back to him. "Nope, don't want it."
"If you don't take this right now, I will beat you like pulp and then make you eat it with your ass right here, right now!" Jake replied while sliding the beta-pill back to him. "You don't want that, do you, stubborn boy?"
Jake's eyes flashed and a strange and ominous aura burst out of his body. While Jake forcefully slid the pill back towards him. Every sense in Creed's body was screaming 'Death'; his pupils shrank and sweat dripped from his forehead. This rapid escalation of events made everyone inside swiftly turned their heads at the couple.
"Okay! okay, fine, I'll take it," Creed tried to calm him down as he looked at others who were staring. "Don't get your chakra all riled up now!"
"I knew you were a smart guy," Jake turned back to normal and not bothering to look at the people who were staring.
"Well, I have good news for you. Interested?" Said Jake.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Creed had excitement on his face. "I could really use some good news right now!"
"I have heard from dad, the genius Tang Lie has delivered a lecture on Chakra Fundamentals yesterday and I have got a recording," asked Jake, trying to lighten up his mood. "You want it?"
"Now that my friend is something I can look forward to!"
After receiving the lecture on his cloud drive from Jake, Creed took a 2 days' leave from the Glitch to go home. Normally, the cadets could not go outside the Glitch before they complete their training. This was a one-year cadet training regimen, and authorities were pretty strict about this rule. However, for genuine reasons with proof, it was possible. He provided the reason as "An urgency regarding family". After teleporting back to his local station at his home planet 'Zerg', he took a ride back home to meet his mom and little sister Hannah. He reached home in 10 minutes, thanks to the efficient transportation. The condition of his house was not good. It was a normal two-story building house, but the traces of an ongoing financial crisis and a lack of maintenance were fairly visible. He opened the door
After getting the money in his account, Creed let out a sigh. Never could he predict that things would end up like this. The world of glitches was still unknown, so the military entertained the responsibility to nurture the soldiers and help them develop their instincts.Every three months, there was a refill of cadets' gear stock. The military gave the cadets some selected resources essential for their survival, and the next month was the end of a quarter, so he had planned to return the beta-pill back to Jake next month.He did not like to under anyone's debt. However, he knew if he couldn't show a spare beta-pill to Jake, he would never take this one beta-pill back. And if Creed tried to be stubborn about it, in return Jake will pound him even more.That was the kind of guy Jake was. Even though he was play
The wooden box cracked and Creed finally got a good look at what was inside. The gray crystals were nowhere to be found and four muddy eggs were still expanding till they reached the size of double the box.Creed was dumbfounded with this discovery as it was neither observed in actuality nor stated in any research paper, that crystal could ever change into eggs of a beast."What the hell happened here?" He slowly inched closer to the eggs.After getting closer to the eggs, he touched one and felt a faint pulse from inside the egg, baffled by this he started touching all of them one by one and found out that every egg had different sizes but all of them were alive.He had heard that the all beasts in glitches breed in unique environments and unfamiliar places so and the conditions for the birth of a beast were very complex and mysterious.They had many theories, but most of them suggested that they come from their own beast nests, which hid in the d
"How's your sister these days?" Jake asked while sipping some juice. "Has she made recovery?""Yeah, the doctor said that she has made substantial progress," Creed smiled at him. " but they still need to keep her under observation for some tests and leftover therapy.""So that's why you keep smiling!" Jake responded honestly. "Well, I am thrilled for you, man!""Yeah... things are a little better now," Joy was apparent on Creed's face. "For me and mom too!""So ... Have you decided which team will you choose for the upcoming 'Joint Expedition Training'?" Creed changed the topic quickly, " It's due next month, and registrations have already begun... I know you are good but don't delay your options!""Dude I am not delaying my options... I am considering them! I will pick a team soon, although I have already have had an eye on one"Jake made it sound like he had already planned it through "I don't want to be hasty and choose the wrong te
"Grisha, I have finally selected the 10 people you asked for," Alia handed the documents to Grisha. "So far, these are the most suitable candidates, who can be appointed as the leaders of the squads for the upcoming JETs.""That was fast! You sure about these people?" Grisha said as she glanced at the papers. " Because some of them look like cannon fodders to me ...""We really can't do anything about that, this year's recruits are all the weakest of the bunch," Alia replied with confusion. "Although we have talented ones too, some of them didn't even apply for the position of squad leader. So these are the best, from the ones who registered!""Jake, Vick, Tanya, Rahul, Huang... I see none of these names on the list, what is going on?" Grisha was confused too."I told you just now. Many talented cadets of this year have backed off from the squad leader position." Alia tried to clarify with a hypothesis, " They are not interested in being the leaders
Creed closed the door and came outside. Then he followed secretary Alia till they both reached outside his quarters."What is it, Ma'am? " Creed tried to figure out the reason for this unexpected visit. "Why did you suddenly want to talk to me?""You know JETs are due next month, right?" Alia hesitated, then looked at him."I thought maybe you might know something—""Know something? About what?" Creed inquired."It's about Jake, you are friends with him, right?" Alia clarified with bluntly. "I want to know... why hasn't he signed up for the squad leader position for the JETs?""I don't know... he is a sneaky guy and wants to keep things easy," Creed scratched his chin while he reminisces about Jake. "Squad's leadership position is too much effort for him and he is okay with the passing marks in JETs. At least that's what he told me !!""Hmm ... are you sure that is the only reason?" Alia switched to a dominant tone. "If that's the case,
"Seriously! What did you have in the breakfast?" Jake squinted at his opponent, then he peeked at his digital-knife.His knife flashed a mark of 40 points. "You feel very... different. Did you get anxious thinking about the upcoming JETs?""You're thinking too much," Creed jumped towards him. "I am going all-out today.""Oh yeah! That's the spirit," Jake ducked casually and struck his back with his elbow. "Show me how much you can take it."Creed dodged the incoming strike with an immediate block. He knew Jake was not an easy one, so he planned to check how much of effort he could wring out from Jake if he went all out. His primary motive was to gauge his strength against someone with intellect and tactics.Jake Too appreciated the concept of 'letting out some steam once in a while'. He thought Creed was frustrated and anxious because of the upcoming JETs. So he played along while offering his own counters and attacks, without noticing Creed's actu
"Have you ever heard of a man named 'Paurush'?" Luna glanced at him, narrowed eyes."No, I haven't." Creed shook his head, rubbing his chin. "Is he someone related to you?""Dievi Krita Zem Eldr,"Luna chanted some strange words and asked. "Ever heard of this phrase before?""No, Maam... I don't understand what that means either!"Luna glanced at him for an extended moment, the eye contact flustered Creed. Her focused gaze told him that she was seeking something. Creed found himself stuck in an awkward moment."If you don't know, then nevermind!" Luna sighed and changed the topic abruptly."For all the beast bodies, I will give you 22 mid-range weapons or 10 long-range weapons."'... Hmm, As I thought, the market price is higher! She is selling them at a cheaper rate! If it wasn't for her rudeness, this place would have been packed with customers.'See that Creed was thinking about something a moment later. She presented
Hello Readers, Thanks for staying with me for this long. I know this is sudden but making you all dangle for a petty frequency of uploads is just too cruel. That's why I have decided to mark this as a conclusive checkpoint i.e. mark this book as completed. Been a wonderful journey so far. Every comment I have seen or read (good or bad) has brought a froth of emotions that drove me to write my heart out. In my eyes, as a story, Apaurushya has proven itself as a story with a potential of unimaginable horizon. Every character has surprised me by their actions. Each of them have a life. Almost as if I don't need to write them; they can write themselves. Nevertheless, this isn't the end. We haven't even scratched the surface of what really lies there beyond the ungodly boundaries of these Akashik space anomalies. If you wanna connect, bug me or l
"Jake, wait! I'm coming with you!""Mira! You're here too…""Yeah! Just let me come with you… ""Nope! Just stay here, there is nothing much for you to do...I'm gonna get him cleaned, and drop him to his home!""Come on! Don't be like that…""No means no…" Jake shunned her down. "both of you just stay put…it's better that way. He messed with the alliance, so it's best you keep your distance for now.""Don't worry about me!" Artemis interrupted, "Also, I could say the same to you! How is, you helping him out any different than me!""Alliance has eyes everywhere… I already got myself involved so
Creed felt a numbing headache from all the lights that ravaged his vision. One of his knees immediately gave up and kneeled on the ground. Fortunately, Jake grabbed him by his shoulders before he could fall down."Argh… come on… Stand straight you idiot…""Fuck you! I'm trying, asshole… give me a break!""Serves you right, fucker… " Jake replied with a grunt, "Nobody asked you to throw your sword at her when you're bleeding from your ass! Fucking show off…""Show off, that's what you think?… I was trying to kill her!""Kill her! Seriously, dude, what's gotten into you?" Jake frowned as he dragged him forward. "Better, keep your anger in check. If it wasn't for Miss Luna and me,
"Just do what I say…" Luna's domineering voice broke from the sheer rage, "Or I will cut that bird and shove its head inside your ass."Creed's hair on the neck stood up, and he gulped a mouthful. He immediately turned around and limped back towards the cage in haste.As he saw the Little gobbler almost passed out from exhaustion, a sense of urgency rose. He arched his back to an extreme and swung his right arm.At the last moment, his mayhem saber appeared inside his hand. The saber hit the cage and a loud mechanical screech boomed in the hall.~CLANKUnfortunately, Despite Creed using so much force, the cage did not break. The horrifying sound of metal made Little Gobbler tremble inside.
With his unrestrained perception, his eyesight has been giving him trouble with the information overload. Because of this, his brain has temporarily blurred his vision this entire time. He couldn't see the people who interpreted the battle, only the dark shadows that were too close to him. Creed has been fighting while completely dependent on his other senses. However, just from the brief exchange, he subconsciously understood that this wasn't enough against the one who stood in front. The sheer rage has pushed him beyond the edge. Creed's vision was so dark and dingy that he couldn't even see his face in such a close combat. His brain was a complete mess and volatile perception had put him in an aggressive state, almost like a machine programmed to annihilate whatever comes in front. All Creed could see wa
'So she has ascended too…' Akash murmured to himself, 'bad! This couldn't get worse... Gryffon… What are you going to do now? You better run this time...' The pressure that burst out was something Akash and Kiara were already familiar with, because the intensity was the same as his own rhythm. This kind of pressure could only come from a person who has ascended from the boundaries of bhu-lok. Kiara and others were also freaking out right now. Artemis and the four siblings' faces have turned pale already. They all understood that this just might be the end of this entire thing. There was no way Creed could stand up to her. His level of power was far too low compared to hers. Even with his berserk skill, catching up to an ascended individual is just not possible for a mere elite, no matter how strong. The best cour
A lustful blush appeared on Grisha's cheeks and a huge smile appeared on her rosy lips. Her chest tightened with the shock waves that appeared. She rubbed both of her palms and blew into it."So this is what she gave birth to… the blood doesn't lie… I just never noticed… A fire that burned him into something else… he isn't just a chakra freak anymore… he never was… He is what he's always been…""The son of Queen..."The entire went numb when they bathed under the demonic intent oozing out of the blade. The dazzling sparks that burst from the clashes burned into the eyes of the observers.Not just Creed's blade, but his entire body shined with glimmering scarlet. There was no corner on the stage that hadn't been
"I ask you again!" Creed shot a glare, "Which one of you touched my bird?"The man coughed the ground with his bloody organs. The stage boiled under the tension undefined in all senses. Yet, Dollar Twenty and the other five stood unfazed by the turn of tables.However, amidst the chaos, the audience's guts flipped upside down. Both McConnell and Jiang siblings felt their lifespan shortening.Artemis' eyes turned teary. Her ears burned red when she saw gallons of blood gushing down from Creed's head, dripping all the way to his chin.Kiara, Akasha and Grisha looked at the scene with tightened chests. A razor-sharp sensation crawled inside their blood vessels. Not just them, but several hunters from the crowd now had their undivided focus on the unbridled escal
"Little… Gobbler…" Every hair on Creed's skin stood up straight. His very soul almost rejected his body, and images around him dulled to a standstill. He could hear his heart thumping inside his eardrums. A chronic corruption leaked into his eyes when he heard Dollar Twenty start the bidding. "The bidding for the High-Tier Inca Aves starts with $300 Thousands!" "$350 thousands!" "$400 thousands!" "$450 thousands!" "$500 thousands!" The sound of chatters began to fade out. Creed vision blacked out and a high-pitched siren hijacked his eardrums. His pulse spiked up to a gh