Chapter 215- Ascenders Test (Part 1)

"An army of Origin Users?" Kai looked at Aria with a cold expression. Those words alone were more than enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.

Kai was able to see with his very eyes how devastating a weapon created by the Progenitor could be and even almost lost his life because of it. An army of people who use such weapons isn't something he wants to see at all.

"I don't know if it's true or not but that's what I suspect from what I have seen." She said.

Kai remained silent for a while as if he was thinking of something before he looked at Aria again. "For what reason?" He asked.

"I… Don't know…" She replied with a regretful expression.

Kai already expected that answer so he didn't feel annoyed. Instead, he wrecked his mind, searching for any clues he left behind. He knew that his father was a very ambitious and focused man and he had one certain goal he wanted to achieve that led him astray.

Something that made him sacrifice everything around him, even his own family just to achieve it. At some point, Kai was able to get close to knowing what that secret was. However, when he was one step away from it, the disaster occurred and it changed everything completely.

'An army… Is it to take over the world? But, why would he want an army to do that? He can do that without killing a single soul.' Kai suspected that it wasn't a matter of world domination as he could easily manipulate government officials and whole countries just to make them do what he wanted so going all this length to create an army seemed… Illogical.

'What are you thinking of… Bastard…' He cursed inwardly. 'What could be your reason for doing all of this? Is it just for pure enjoyment? Or maybe a sense of arrogance? You're arrogant, aren't you? You want to take over the world and beyond…' Suddenly, it hit Kai… It hit him so hard that his stoic expression crumbled.

Resting his back on the kitchen counter, he held his face as his eyes widened in shock.

"Of course… Of course…" Kai's hand shuddered for a moment. It made sense, after all. The answer had been in front of his face the whole time and he didn't realize it.

But, now he understood why that man was doing all of this. Why he did everything he did and why he actually created this chaos. His goal was something that Kai had only recently discovered.

"You… Have you heard of a world beyond the scope of this one?" He asked the confused Aria who watched his expression change.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. This seems like a secret that not many knew, including people that man worked with before. He was probably afraid that if this knowledge came to other people, it would ruin his plans.

Slowly, Kai's frown relaxed as an eerily calm expression took place. It seemed that things were starting to get interesting… Very interesting.

***

A few days passed after the events that transpired on Christmas Day. The world went into a chaotic state as more and more people bought Temporary Origin. Some were able to easily manipulate it and quickly rise to fame because of it, while others weren't able to do the same and ended up destroying their houses or harming themselves.

News of people dying because of Origin became frequent. However, they were drowned by the mystical illusion TempO had cast on them and why wouldn't they be diluted? They only need to pay a small sum of money to acquire superpowers. It sounded like a fairy tale and it played like a fairy tale.

Amidst this controversial and fragile atmosphere, a category of people benefitted the most from this and they were the Crime Organizations like the Mafia and the smaller gangs. They were able to move more freely and wreak havoc wherever they wanted using Temporary Origin.

In a matter of days, they were able to kill, steal, expand their businesses, and even go toe to toe with law enforcement. This made many countries limit the number of Temporary Origin capsules sold every day to one per person. They also required an ID and proof of a clean criminal record.

While that did help contain the situations, it didn't fully eliminate it as criminal Organizations had other ways of acquiring TempO. That's what led to something unprecedented. Thousands of Pharmacies around the world got raided by gangs to steal the Temporary Origin.

It was akin to an unstoppable wave that almost ruined the state of the field of medicine because of the disaster it brought.

However, for better or worse, the situation didn't completely turn the world into an apocalyptic dystopia.

During this time, Kai, Eva, Kaya, and Aria spent the time indoors, not leaving unless it was necessary. It wasn't out of fear but out of precaution since as far as Kai was concerned, all of them were trouble magnets that would easily find themselves in the middle of a conflict without even trying.

Another reason was that Kai and Aria were going to join Divinity. The sudden addition of Aria to this matter did surprise Eva and Kaya but Kai explained that she was going to be his tool for finding what he was looking for.

Eva did want to join too but she quickly realized that a mission like this required as few people as possible. If anything, Kai was risking to blow his cover even with Aria alone on his side so three people was just going to create more problems than solutions.

With that, Kai and Aria traveled to A-Country on the fifth day of the new year exactly to Lunaria where the HQ of Divinity was.

They settled down in a hotel before Kai called for Aria in his room.

"This is your new identity, appearance, and other information you will need. I will change your appearance too." He said as he showed her the new ID he made for her along with other identification files.

The woman in the picture was also blind but less eye-catching than Aria. Her new identity will be Calia Norman and she was the daughter of a lawyer who got her hands on Temporary Origin so she decided to join Divinity.

As for Kai, he decided to go with the name Jack Bartin a friend of Calia who also got his hands on TempO and decided to follow his friend. To make it more realistic, he decided to act like a friendly, innocent, and clueless young man… Exactly what you would expect from someone new to this world.

As for Aria, she will be a calm, gentle but also smart girl. Since Kai didn't trust she wouldn't make mistakes, he decided to make her new personality almost the same as her current one.

"Can you do that?" He asked after Aria finished reading the papers.

She then nodded her head. "I will do my best."

Nodding his head, Kai channeled his Origin and passed it across his face. A second later, his appearance completely changed. He now looked like an average-looking young man with short brown hair and a pair of brown eyes. Then, he did the same for Aria and she turned into a beautiful girl with reddish hair and blue eyes. Seeing these two next to each other would think that the girl seemed out of place with him and that was what Kai wanted.

He wanted them to believe that he was merely an average young man who was there following his friend whom he clearly had hidden feelings for. While many would think this was an Overkill, Kai believed the opposite. Those subtle details were what completely misled others.

The art of acting wasn't about just showing certain emotions or shifting certain characteristics one would usually have. It's those unclear parts that make people believe it even more.

"Let's go." He said.

Aria nodded her head as she picked up her cane and instead of simply using it as a cane, she inclined it forward, showing that she was truly in need of it.

Kai looked at her for a second before he suddenly grabbed her hand gently. His cold expression completely changed as a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Be careful, Calia. The stairs of the hotel are dangerous." His deep voice became softer and more friendly. Such a shift of attitude was truly a work of art that would put the greatest of actors to shame.

At first, Aria was stunned by this sudden act of intimacy but quickly regained her composure and smiled calmly at him.

"I appreciate the help, Jack." She replied.

The two then walked down to the reception, catching looks from people who could feel the clear intimate atmosphere between them.

The two then left the hotel and stood in the street waiting for a taxi to be able to make their way to the HQ.