CHAPTER:3 [Shino's Grudge]
After the dreadful, soul-crushing experience with his newly awakened authority, Kai collapsed onto the small, weak bed that creaked and groaned in protest every time he so much as shifted his weight. The next morning he woke up slowly, eyes cracking open to the sight of a disgusting, barely-holding-itself ceiling that looked ready to collapse and crush his face at any second. A strange, moldy stench rose from the wooden floor like the breath of decay itself.
(Ugh… this filthy animal. How the hell did he live in this place and never clean it once?)
He dragged himself out of bed, entered the tiny bathroom attached to his room, filled a bucket with water, grabbed a few rags, and began scrubbing with furious determination.
.......
After what felt like an eternity of back-breaking work, Eren finally finished cleaning both the room and the bathroom. He took a long bath, then opened the pathetic wooden wardrobe that held only a few worn-out clothes. He grabbed one, changed, and stepped outside.
He walked to the fence in front of his room, stretched his aching muscles, and placed his hands on the railing. Looking down at the grassy ground sparkling under the morning sun, he took a deep, refreshing breath.
(Man… that was insanely relieving.)
As Kai stood there feeling the gentle breeze brush against his inhumanly deformed face, a white glitchy screen suddenly exploded into existence before him.
(Nia analyze my body and identify the damage done to my body and it's causes)
Kai sighed in relief, thinking the excruciating pain had been worth it. He immediately gave Nia her first real task.
(Analyze my body on a cellular level, scan every nook and cranny of my body)
After assigning the task, Eren allowed himself a brief moment of calm, knowing he was threading a dangerous path through never-ending chaos.
Some time later, he noticed Shino playing with a group of little kids on the grassy ground below. He went downstairs to meet him.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Ready or not, here I come!"
As Shino turned around and saw the gigantic deformed figure looming over him, a blood-curdling scream tore from his throat.
"Aaaaaaa! For fuck's sake, Kai! Make a little noise! I nearly gave up my heart! Huff… huff…"
After a while he calmed down and called out to the kids.
"Okay kids, playtime's over."
The children whined as they emerged from hiding.
"Ah c'mon, brother Shino! We were just getting to the good part!"
Shino said in a joyful tone,
"Later. I have to talk to this guy."
He turned as the kids were led away by a nun and asked,
"What do I owe the pleasure? You normally don't come out of your room."
He was wearing a simple blue shirt and white trousers, his blonde hair tied back neatly with a rubber band.
Kai looked at him, then at the kids being led away, and said with a blank expression,
"You play with kids? Where did they come from? All I can see here are stinky adults."
Shino pointed toward a building nestled deeper in the mountains, close to their own.
"You see that place? That's an orphanage. They are the children of the people who fell prey to the tyranny of the nobles."
Kai asked curiously,
"How so?"
Shino's face grimaced.
"You are also an orphan, aren't you? Do you remember your parents? Your face before you became like this?"
Kai asked with a shocked expression,
"What do you mean? I have always been like this. I never had parents and I grew up in a good orphanage."
Shino looked at him with pity burning in his eyes.
"You came from the Terra orphanage, aren't you? Did you know that place is the worst laboratory and testing ground for nobles? They kill the parents and take the kids, then experiment on them until they can't handle it anymore and die. If the experiment fails, they end up like you. But mostly they die early. The fact that you're still alive probably has something to do with your class."
Eren was hearing everything through Kai's ears and felt his blood run cold. The nobles of this world were far more disgusting than anything from his own.
"B-but I don't remember anything…"
Shino said with a calm expression,
"It's probably one of the side effects of the experiments. If the test subject is alive and remembers everything, they kill it. If the test subject is a success, they control them. But you survived because your brain couldn't handle the cruelty."
As he said that, Eren remembered something buried in Kai's memories and asked,
"Is that the reason why you didn't accept the offer to the noble faction?"
Shino moved to a wooden bench nearby and sat down. Anger burned in his eyes as he explained his background.
"My reason for rejecting was more personal. I came from a noble family. My father was a great guy who protected many. My mother was a beauty that everyone sought and envied my father for. My sister was a great scientist who created many miracles and helped with the current advancement in science. Do you know what happened to them?"
Kai asked with a sorrowful face,
"Were they also killed?"
Shino said with a blank expression,
"My father's soul was ripped out and used as nourishment for the king. My mother was raped and killed. And my sister is being used as a robot without free will to complete inhuman experiments."
Eren had no words to describe the nobles of this world. But he heard a term he wasn't familiar with and asked curiously,
"Shino, what's this king you mentioned?"
Shino answered,
"The king is a hidden entity that no one knows — at least not yet — but he holds immense power over this world."
Eren was terrified by the revelation, but even more surprised that Shino was willing to share such a painful background with him.
"So… why are you telling me this?"
Shino smirked.
"Because I need comrades. A helping hand. As for why I chose you… it's not time yet. Anyway, why were you here?"
"Oh, I want you to train me."
"You do know that you can't do much with that body, don't you? Do you have a way?"
"No… but I'm figuring that out. Hopefully I find it."
"Well then, tomorrow at the crack of dawn be ready and meet me here."
Shino left. Eren returned to his room with a gleeful expression, his curiosity satisfied for the time being. The moment he stepped inside, the scan results finally arrived.
Spine results:
Damaged bones: Thoracic, Lumbar and Sacral.
Missing bones: Cervical and Coccygeal.
Healthy nerves: C1, T1, L1
Damaged nerves: C8, T12, L5
Missing nerves: S1, S5
Healthy muscles: Trapezius, Rhomboids
Damaged muscles: Latissimus Dorsi
Arms results:
Right arm: Dead
Left arm: Okay but not healthy
Legs results: Okay but not healthy
Cause: There is an unknown gene that has fused with your DNA, creating more deformed cells instead of expelling it.
Even Nia was surprised at the results and said…
END OF CHAPTER:3