On an island of South Korea, a caucasian young man washed up naked on the shore. There was no one around him besides the piles of trash everywhere.
He had very defined muscles like that of a pro athlete. Although he was in the saltwater for who knows how long, his skin maintain its moisture. There were no signs of the skin pruning from being in the water for far too long.
The young man slowly opened his eyes to see himself in a place he never saw before. He stood up and looked around as he recalled what had happened to him.
"This place seems to be Earth, but where exactly am I?" He noticed the seagulls flying above him and concluded that the mysterious man did indeed teleported him, but it seems he was off by a long shot.
Where he lived, the oceans were hundreds of miles away from his home.
"What a hassle this was..." He mumbled out loud in annoyance, but his facial expression showed differently. He was smiling even after all that. After all, he made it back alive, in a sense.
The young naked man was Lyden. He recalled everything that had happened to him as if it had happened just moments ago.
In fact, he did not know how much time had actually passed. To him, it felt like he took an afternoon nap.
"He indeed did give me a new body." Lyden opens and closes his fists a couple of time as he felt the surge of power flowing within him. "It is similar to mine in terms of appearance, but the inside feels different."
He could not pinpoint what was different besides his bulging muscles, but there were indeed many changes compared to a normal human body. He tried to bend his finger-nail, but it was as hard as iron, yet flexible enough which made it not as brittle.
This was a clone body of his created by a 6-stars aretisite.
If people were to discover an existent of a 6-stars aretisites, world leaders would want to obtain and if they can't, they will want to destroy it. Such an aretisite would be on par to a nuclear missile or better.
Unfortunately, it was not possible. The aretisite was a one-time-use type of aretisite. Once used, the aretisite die, but its ability remains.
"He said I have three years to decide before my current body break down. To die a human and live like a monster?" He sighed at the thought of when he had to make a choice in the future.
However, he did not feel the burden by the thought of his inevitable death.
He felt free instead like the pressure of society was lifted.
He closed his eyes and focus on the aretisite within his body.
He saw the small Random Monster Transmutation aretisite residing in his heart.
It was blurry like a dream, yet he knew it was real. This was how all hunters felt when they looked at there aretisite from within their bodies.
The aretisite inside Lyden had the face of a pale lion but its body was like a long tapeworm. It wrapped itself around his heart carefully to prevent any damages to its host.
Along its wormlike body, it had a total of 7 stars.
'This aretisite does not look so bad. Compared to my first, it looks kinda cool,' Lyden thought.
He was about to open his eyes, but he felt another aretisite moving around within his body.
He concentrated on his left eye where he felt movement.
There, he felt that it was small, the size of a pebble, aretisite. It was swimming in the whites of his eye.
'What, another aretisite? He did not mention giving me another one.' He pondered anxiously.
It looks like a green pigeon with a fishtail. It had one star on each of its wing.
It was a 2-stars aretisite.
He was anxious at first, but it quickly faded. He quickly discovered that this aretisite was under his control.
He had to will it to activate it, similar to moving his limbs.
As he opened his eyes, the aretisite flew out of his left eye and floated in the air near him.
'It does not look harmful, but what does it do?' Lyden could not think what its ability was on the spot.
Just because hunters have aretisites does not mean they know how to use it. Many hunters have to practice with it to get a full understand of its capability.
With a careful motion, Lyden reached out to the floating aretisite. When he touched the aretisite, it produced a dense blue mist in front of him.
"Lyden, it seems that you found the Misty Pideo aretisite I gave you."
Lyden snapped his eyes wide in shock. The mist in front of him formed a screen like a floating television screen or hologram. He could even hear the voice clearly.
"This is one of the aretisite that I fused after I looked into your memory. It is based on the things I saw from your life such as computer and television. And the reason you can hear me because I transmit my voice directly to your mind with it." He spoke in a deep yet weary voice.
The screen showed an aged man, who was covered by a hoodie. Lyden was only able to make out the deep wrinkles all over his neck.
"I have many questions? Who are you? And what was that place? Why did you save me?"
"It is too early for me to say. But If you want answers, meet me here once again when you are stronger. But for now, you have to listen. This aretisite is a one-time-use aretisite. I implemented this inside your body to give you more information about what is happening in your world."
Lyden did not like that he had to wait for answers, but he kept his mouth shut and listen.
"How much you know about the towers that have been appearing in your world?"
"I don't-"
"That was a rhetorical question... I already saw your memories and you basically know nothing about it." The man interrupted. "I have to make this quick... I just notice now that this aretisite is flawed, and will not last long."
Lyden nodded.
"Alright, first the towers are a gateway that connects to a small dimension created by Aspecters, those who wield aretisites. In your world, you would call them hunters... Call them however you want, but I am such a being, and so are you."
"I still do not understand completely… But if these Aspecter who brought the towers here, what do they want?"
"I do not know nor do I care to. But I let you in on this, the sigil that was once on your original body is a contract created by an aretisite. Because of that, hunters in this world belong to one or more Aspecters. However, since your old body is gone, the contract no longer binds you."
Lyden thought what he said was too vague. Why was the sigil bad? Was it not use to prevent the monsters from coming out? He was about to ask him to explain, but the man already moved on to the next topic.
"Next is the Random Monster Transmutation aretisite that is inside your body. You should know that aretisite need to be fed or else they will consume you. What this aretisite feeds is not something as simple as nutrients inside your body. What it feeds on is the feeling of great triumph, or, another word, the emotion when you feel you have achieved impossible to you."
"Wait? The impossible? That is crazy. I can never achieve that." Lyden shouted.
In his whole life, he was a failure. Even if he tried all day, he could not recall a moment in his life he had achieved something in his life.
"You already did it once... when you came back here alive, did you not? If it burdens you so much, you can activate whenever. That way you do not have to feed it anymore."
Lyden looks at the ground silently. He did not know how to respond to that.
The mist screen was slowly fading. It looked like it will not last for much longer.
"Last topic and this is important. You need to get stronger with your strength, not borrow power like that sigil. To get stronger, you need to infuse aretisites to any part of your body, but the most important of all is your 5 vital organs. Brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. Be careful to not..."
In all of a sudden, the message cut off.
This left Lyden in a predicament.
"Not to what…?"
The way the man just cut like that was a bad omen like he seen in movies.
The Misty Pideo aretisite broke down into ashes and scattered into the wind.
Lyden was left alone naked alone on a side of a cliff. He was thoroughly confused about what to do next. But for now, he needs to find a pair of clothes and hopefully contact his friends and family at home.
