Chapter 2: Enigma;Emanation

A couple of years have passed since the trial began. Humanity is quick to adapt. Different organizations rose from the ground up. Players. Awakened. Hunters. Heroes. The chosen. People had different terms for those who have had their souls weighed. The accepted terms for these individuals are ‘Breakers’.

Their goals are the same: to prevent a repeat of the tragedy of the first day. At least, on the surface.

The existence of transcended humans is part of the norm. It integrated into society. As if it were a phase that everyone would go through.

“This is Sera Mckenna,” a woman spoke through her earpiece. She had fiery red hair and eyes. Flames danced around her wrists before fading. As the flames died, her hair became a blonde color. Her eyes also turned blue.

“We have secured the civilians that got caught up in the conflux zone.” She ended the call with that.

Conflux zones are areas near the rifts when they manifest. Some rifts connect to the same dimension, making them accessible from various points. Manifesting rifts tend to be unstable. Due to this, those caught in the conflux zone are often sent to a different rift. It's not uncommon for civilians to end up in rifts in other countries. Procedures and protocols have been put into place to deal with these situations.

Sera looked back at the rift she exited. Several other people started to emerge. They were escorting the civilians out of the rift, even carrying them if necessary.

“Good job, rookie,” a tall, muscular man complimented Sera. The man had graying hair. The lines on his face and his beard showed his age. But it was clear that he was still in his prime. He was carrying two unconscious people on his shoulders.

“We could have done better, Commander, sir,” she responded solemnly. They could not rescue everyone. Those that ended up deeper in the rift were helpless against the monsters.

“Don't beat yourself over it.” He tried to console her. “You can't save everyone. You need to get used to that. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try but it can't be helped.”

“What matters is that we did our best,” the man said as several other people exited the rift. The medical teams were on standby outside the gate. They prioritized treating those with severe injuries. Unfortunately, there were still those with grave injuries. Some of them succumbed to their wounds.

“Come on, come on. Don't you die on me now,” one of the healers cried out. She was doing her best to save one of the severely injured civilians. It was a young man, or what remained of him.

He was part of the group that ended up deeper in the rift. He tried to fend off as many of the smaller beasts as he could before the team arrived. But in the end, he was still a regular human. There was little he could do but buy time.

One of the monsters almost tore him in half before the team arrived. Right now, he is hanging on by a thread. Unfortunately, they were unable to save his legs. It was impossible to exit the rift without finishing the raid. By the time the raid finished, he already lost a lot of blood.

“Damn it!” The healer cursed. Wounds can be healed with skills and potions. But blood loss is difficult to deal with. She placed her fists on his chest and started applying compressions. His heart had stopped.

It got some attention from the other rescued civilians. There was a moment of silence. The commander placed his hand on the healer's shoulder. She was still applying chest compressions even though it was already too—

It was then that the young man started to cough up blood. He resumed breathing as his eyes shot open. His irises faded and his sclera glowed white.

“Well, I'll be damned.” The commander smirked and gave the healer a congratulatory pat on the back. The healer's knees weakened and she almost collapsed. “Good job. Leave this to us.”

“Sera. Your team will secure this patient, stat!” He barked his orders. The members of her squad sprung into action immediately. The commander turned back to the young man who was on the verge of losing consciousness once more. “A weigh-in at death's door. Now I've seen everything.”

People are able to time their weigh-in (the weighing of the soul) because of the notifications. There are facilities that provide a secure area for these instances. The person themself would not be vulnerable. Divine protection blessed them during this time. But, they can still be moved and abducted. Some have woken up in a different place. There are syndicates that have taken advantage of this.

Because of the protection, the young man's life wouldn’t be in danger from his injuries. Still, they needed to transport him to a facility. Since the raiding team completed their role, they were assigned as an escort.

It was only one life. One person that struggled to survive. But that struggle brought up morale, even if by a little. They could not save everyone, no. But they will damn well try their hardest.

The day ended differently for people. Some were relieved. After going through such hardship, they were finally out of the rift. There are people assigned to assist them with their recovery. This included their way to return home.

Some were grieving at their loss. This was not uncommon. But it was still painful nonetheless. They directed their anger and sorrow at the breakers at the scene. Why weren't their loved ones rescued? Why were they too late? Why did they not get healed enough? The breakers understood that this was their grief and anger lashing out.

---

His eyes fluttered open. His vision started to clear. He blinked a couple of times until he could make out the ceiling.

“Gah!” He gasped once he came to. He immediately sat up and started patting his body. His injuries were healed. Not even a scar was left. His limbs were still attached to his body. He thought of certain that he had lost them. No, he definitely lost them.

He started to laugh. His palm against the upper half of his face. “Damn it. Was that payback from Astraea?” He smirked, lips tinted with mischief.

“Right... where am I?” He muttered to himself as he looked around the empty room.

Rewinding back, they had discussed how to send him to Earth. If he were to descend, his presence would be noticed immediately. They had to find a way to reduce his presence. It was easy in concept, difficult in execution. His power had to be limited to a severe extent. He would start out from the bottom.  Astraea would give him back his power bit by bit using the Breaker System. He would have to handle the accomplishments on his side, though.

The other issue was Astraea was incompatible with him. But that was if it were through regular means. For the contract, she offered everything to him. By sealing the deal, it solved the compatibility issue as she was already considered ‘his’.

The body she prepared for him was a person that already died. As the soul of the person departed, the body was turned into a vessel. He inherited some of the last memories of that person. But the thing is, that person died inside the rift. The Void Contract was already in control when he was fending off the beasts. It would have been impossible otherwise.

Because the vessel was human, and a normal one at that, he managed to escape death. It was quite the close call. Though, if he had died, he would find another vessel instead. That might be noticed by some of the gods, though. It was better this way. The weigh-in at death's door was on purpose as well. It was formality at that point. He didn't go through any trial. It was so he had the time for his vessel to become a breaker and recover.

“How problematic,” he sighed. He will have to deal with those involved in his vessel's death in the future. It was the least he could do for the soul that perished. “Still, did she really have to throw me in the midst of all those beasts? But... I guess I'm a bit to blame for that. Still, I certainly have an interesting role this time, huh?”

Meanwhile, back at her domain, Astraea was rolling around on her bed. She was flustered and annoyed. A cloud pillow was being squished in her arms. Her feet were flailing in frustration.

“Ah! That man!” She buried her face on the pillow and tried to calm down. She was in quite a promiscuous state. Her hair disheveled. Only a cloud blanket covering her body. She wasn't really angry. But the events of ‘sealing the contract’ only started to catch up to her. Now that she was thinking about it again, her pale complexion turned quite a crimson hue. She personally found out how the ‘devourer of goddesses’ rumor came about.

“He could have been a bit more gentle.” She pouted a bit. To get back at him, she made his start a bit more difficult.