Mutant awakening: My evolution knows no bounds

Vic swallowed hard, his throat dry and tight. Each breath felt like dragging air through sandpaper. His shoes scraped against the rooftop gravel as he took a step closer to the edge.

Silas stood a few paces behind him, his eyes narrowing with intensity. His voice was low but firm, each word edged with steel.

"If you really remember what happened yesterday, then you know I was ready to end you right there. You know I was this close to killing you." He held up his thumb and forefinger, barely a sliver of space between them. "But do you know why you're still standing here, breathing, with a choice to make? It's because of Angelica."

Vic's shoulders tensed, his eyes fixed on the swirling blackness below. The weight of Silas's words was heavy, but the burden of his own guilt was crushing him.

"She saw what you became yesterday, Vic," Silas continued, his voice straining with emotion. "She saw the chaos, the violence, the loss of control. But even after all of that, she still believed in you. She didn't give up. She begged me to let you live, to give you another chance. She believes there's still something worth saving in you."

Silas's eyes glimmered with frustration, his hands clenching into fists. "And now, what? You're just going to throw that all away?"

Vic's breath came in ragged gasps. His eyes stung, but no tears came. The cold air lashed against his face, but all he could feel was the suffocating pressure inside his chest. His voice was brittle when he spoke.

"You don't understand, Silas. I can't trust myself. I lost control of my own body. I killed someone." He shuddered, the memory a dark storm clouding his mind. "What if it happens again? What if I hurt the people I love next time? What if it's Angelica?"

He tightened his grip on the edge of the rooftop, his knuckles white. "I can't let that happen. It's better if I end it now. At least then, you all can move on. At least then, I can't hurt anyone else."

Silas took a slow, deep breath, his gaze unwavering. "You're scared. I get it. But you think running from it is the answer?" He shook his head, frustration bleeding into his voice. "If you want to jump, fine. I won't stop you. But know this—you'll die knowing you didn't even try to fight it. You didn't even try to fix it."

Silas's eyes bored into Vic's, fierce and unrelenting. "Angelica believes in you. She's willing to fight for you. How can you just give up on yourself so easily? You're not a full shifter, Vic. You're something else. Something we still don't understand. That means there might be a way—a way to control this, a way to make it right."

He stepped back, his voice dropping to an icy calm. "But if you're set on dying, go ahead. I'll watch you jump. And when the staff ask what happened, I'll tell them you committed suicide. Angelica will be shattered, yeah, but eventually, she'll heal. She'll move on. And you? You'll be nothing but a memory."

The words hit Vic like a punch to the gut. His knees wobbled, his vision blurring as he stared down at the abyss below. The height was dizzying, the ground a distant, merciless smear of concrete and inevitability. He sucked in a shaky breath, his voice barely audible.

"I'm sorry, man. This… this is the right thing to do."

With that, he stepped back off the ledge.

Time froze.

[Active Skill: Lightning Dash Activated.]

In a burst of crackling energy, Silas blurred forward, his muscles coiling like steel springs. The wind screamed past his ears as his hand shot out, fingers locking onto Vic's collar just as gravity seized him. The force wrenched through Silas's arm, pain flaring in his joints, but he held tight. He gritted his teeth, heart hammering as he dragged Vic back onto solid ground.

"You idiot!" Silas snarled, his voice hoarse with strain and anger. He yanked Vic away from the edge, the momentum sending them both stumbling onto the rooftop.

[Lightning Dash Deactivated.]

Vic collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for air. His chest heaved, his body trembling as if the weight of his decision had finally landed on him. His eyes flicked up to Silas, confusion and despair warring in their depths. "You said… you wouldn't stop me. Why did you?"

Silas's jaw tightened, his eyes blazing with a fierce, unspoken loyalty. "Because you're my friend, you idiot." His voice cracked, the admission raw and unfiltered. "I'm not going to let you throw your life away when there's still hope. I'm not going to let you give up."

He straightened, his expression hardening into something colder, more controlled. "I'm heading back to the others. You can come with me, and we'll figure this out together. Or you can stay here and finish what you started. I won't stop you again."

Without waiting for an answer, Silas turned and walked toward the stairwell, his footsteps echoing like a metronome counting down the moments.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, his jaw clenched tight. The hallway lights flickered, casting jagged shadows along the walls. A digital countdown hovered in his vision—a grim reminder that his time to decide on the evolution quest was slipping away.

'It must've been those organs Vic ate,' he thought, his mind racing through possibilities. 'He was starving. Once he fed, he came back to his senses. Just like me when I run out of soul points and lose control until I consume a soul.'

As he walked, lost in thought, someone stepped into his path. The scent of expensive perfume hit him first—sharp, floral, and cloying.

He stopped short, his eyes narrowing. The girl in front of him had long pink hair cascading in silky waves down to her waist. Her makeup was meticulously applied, her eyes lined with dark precision, and her lips painted a rich crimson. Her body curved in perfect, deliberate proportions, and she bit her lower lip in a practiced gesture of allure.

"You're Silas, right?" she asked, her voice a purr edged with curiosity and something deeper.

Silas's gaze hardened. "Yeah. Who are you?"

She smiled, a slow, knowing curve of her lips. "I'm Mia. Angelica's roommate. She wants you to meet her in the library."

Silas nodded as he walked past Mia, the faint scent of her perfume lingering like a sticky sweetness he couldn't shake off.

"I wonder why Angelica always makes friends with all the hot guys in this academy," Mia drawled, her voice dripping with a mix of teasing and something sharper.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"First Vic, now you. You know…" She leaned against the doorframe, her fingers tracing a loose strand of her pink hair. "I'm much better than Angelica. I'm good at everything—except for the things I can't do." Her lips curled into a smirk. "You're welcome to come to my dorm room anytime… I'll show you what I can do."

Silas didn't even flinch. His gaze remained forward, his footsteps measured, deliberate. Without a word, he continued down the corridor, the echo of his boots drowning out her sultry offer.

By the time he pushed open the library door, the musty scent of old paper and polished wood enveloped him.

He spotted Angelica near the back, her figure framed by shelves crammed with dusty tomes. She stood in front of a tall bookcase, her fingers gently skimming the spines of thick volumes. Her hair, a cascade of silver-blonde, caught the light in a way that made it seem almost ethereal.

"Hey," Silas called softly as he approached. "What are you doing here?"

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Angelica nodded, her brow creased with worry. "These books cover everything—classes, tiers, grades, and all the different types of mutants and species. If there's a way to help Vic, it has to be here. Somewhere."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Vic was scratched by a shifter. But any human scratched by a shifter turns within ten minutes. They lose their sanity and become a full mutant."

Angelica's fingers curled into a fist at her side. "But that didn't happen to Vic. He did lose his mind but he didn't shift completely."

"Yeah." Silas's voice dropped lower, his eyes darkening with thought. "It changed him, but not in the way it should have. He turned into something different. Something I've never heard of before."

Her eyes searched his face, a flicker of hope igniting in their depths. "Do you know what it's called? If we know the name, maybe we can find the right book."

He hesitated, the word tasting bitter on his tongue. "Malcavore."

"Malcavore…" she repeated, as if testing its weight in her mouth. She tilted her head slightly, curiosity and apprehension dancing in her eyes.

"Don't ask me how I know," he muttered. "I just do."

She shook her head gently. "I won't. I know it has to do with whatever you are. Like when you knew we were in a Grade 5 realm before anyone else."

Angelica took a steadying breath, determination hardening her features. "All right. Let's see if this library has anything on Malcavores."

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