There were many planes of existence that men of supernatural obsession tried to squeeze themselves into; planes that were rumored to be the abode of beings with supreme intellect and omnipotent authority. Some speculate these planes lie beyond our earthly form, while others say the channel to access these planes lie behind the curtain of death.

The transcendents differed with both speculations. Being privileged to jump from one plane to another, they concluded that the realm man seeks is very much beyond his reach. Even at the point of death, the yearning to seek out these OMNIVERSAL beings would never be possible. The transcendents believed that the beings within the realms were the only ones who grant access to anyone whom they find worthy.

Matthew himself wondered about the same issue as he is shocked to find himself in an environment very alien to any absurd or childish imagination he ever had. The structure of this realm made no sense to his perception of 3d realism or animation. 

He tried taking a step forward but he staggered a bit when he suddenly finds himself climbing an inclined plane made of glass. He takes another step and the plane changes back to a leveled ground. The sky above him seemed to have depth, height, motion, and retorting length, changing color continuously as it swallowed its shallowness. The sound from the amoebic clouds was likened to sea waves crashing on metal walls.

The last thing Matthew remembered was lying on the ground under paralysis. He never remembered sniffing coke anywhere in the facility.
He goes ahead to find out more about this place. The only problem was changing his perception continuously as he took a step.

Matthew felt like vomiting but his belly had nothing in it. He felt dizzy and was willing to collapse, but his body wasn’t cooperating. He squats down to his knees and stares at his reflection on the liquid-glass pathway. He was gripped with joy to see his real self staring back at him. He monitors his reflection as he touches his body; from shaking his hands to hopping up and down, Matthew was glad his soul wasn’t paralyzed like his real human body. He had never seen himself in such a healthy state before, so this was indeed a big moment for him. Matthew continues staring at the mirror pathway for minutes before moving on.

He stares at the large glass monoliths that were around the place. Each appeared to be horizontal and vertical at the same time. The shape of the straight solids distorts and conjoins in odd manners, posing as a straight monolith and at the same time appearing as an octahedron.

This was not a dream, he sure knew that. He never developed a quality sense of imagination like other kids during his early times. He never knew what dragons or dinosaurs looked like, he doesn't still know till now. He remembers asking the nurses but they never gave him an answer, not even an image. The only thing he could remember all his life before his early death was the late-night shows he watched right after taking his medications, and some adult soap operas that he hated but grew to adapt with.

So indeed it was hard for Matthew to digest what effect surrounded him or what this place was.

Matthew decides to follow the road, hoping it’ll lead him to some answers. He saw no life here as he strolled down the pathway, staring at the brightly colored shapes that hovered around and medium-sized eyeballs that were propelled by fast spinning hoops covered in flames.

“That could be a dragon!” Matthew said, almost breaking his neck as turns to trail one of the speeding eyeballs.

CRACK! A peal of thunder was heard and the pathway was torched with flames immediately. The entire path was set ablaze but somehow, Matthew didn’t get caught up in the burn.

A large disk of glowing patterns and light enlarges itself from a speck of blue light, projecting its radiation and glory around the mirror dimension.

Matthew was already on his knees, shielding his eyes from the scorching heat of the light. The light dies off a minute later and the disk opens up, revealing a large four-headed being with over 16 wings.  The flaps made by the wings sounded like thunder and drums flowing in rhythm.

The being had a head of a human at the front, an eagle facing west, a bull facing east, and a lion’s at the back. They each had marks on their forehead that burned with a blue flame. The arms of the being were numbered to 36, each pointing different directions and moving independently.

Matthew looks up and stares at the terrifying being. He tries concealing his face again but it seemed he was already hooked to the view.

“CHILD OF THE LIGHT, YOU PRESENT YOURSELF BEFORE THE PANEL OF THE LIVING-" the human head tends to complete his sentence but a blurt from his side cuts him short

“THAT IS NOT HOW IT IS SAID, FOR YAHWEH'S SAKES! WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS INTRODUCTION PROCESS MULTIPLE TIMES!” the eagle head interrupts the human head.

“REPEATING A MISTAKE TWICE IS A SYMPTOM OF CREEPING MADNESS” the bull head scorns the human head further.

“YOU DO NOT GO FOR A DIRECT REVEAL, WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS!" the eagle head speaks again, multiple eyes flashing on his wings.

Matthew maintains his posture of absolute shock as we watched the creatures argue amongst themselves. He thinks of making a sleek move of escape, using the ongoing dispute as a break point, but he wasn't too sure that would be one of the smartest options anyone in this position would make.

“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU HAD TO BE IN FRONT BY DEFAULT!” the lion head adds to the scolding.

The human head gives a loud gasp of irritation that happened to raise the flames on the pathway. “DO NOT BE AFRAID MORTAL FELLOW. YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE BY THE ARCHANGELS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVELATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT, ACCORDING TO THE WILL AND WISH YOU REQUEST”

Matthew was confused now, but he just tagged along.

“WHAT IS IT THAT YOU SEEK?” the bull head spoke.

Matthew opened his mouth to speak but he slowed down a bit, choosing his words wisely. He didn’t want to get on the bad sides of these guys.

“Uhh…” Matthew stutters as he gets up to his feet “You know I don’t even know why the hell I'm here. I just slept off in a lab and then I see myself in a high-ass realm. Maybe I died in my sleep or something, I don’t know,”

The creature heads were perplexed. They pause for a moment.

“SHOW US YOUR NEZAER PASS” the lion spoke.

Nathan pardons “A what?”

“YOU’RE MEETING TICKET, WHERE IS IT?” the human head said, his voice backed with a little rage

Matthew knew he was in some big shit now “I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened… I'm serious!  I just saw myself here!”

“THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE,” the eagle head retorts “NO SOUL CAN GAIN ACCESS TO US WITHOUT CONFIRMATION FROM AN ARCHANGEL- YOU MUST HAVE MISPLACED YOUR NEZAER PASS!”

Matthew checks around his body, hoping to find what exactly they were looking for. He stops searching himself when he doesn't find anything, and looks up to beast-heads “Sorry, I don’t have it, I don’t even know what it looks like,”

The beast-heads were baffled. None of them knew what to say at the moment.

Matthew grew more curious as he stared at them despite their neck-breaking length “What are you guys anyway?”

The lion head scoffs “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”

The other heads don’t respond.

Matthew noticed the snub “I’ve heard about genies before, but I've never actually imagined one. You guys are genies, right?”

“ABOMINABLE!”

“HOW DARE YOU!”

“INSOLENT FOOL!”

“WE SHOULD THROW HIM IN THE ABYSS!”

Matthew cowers in fear when he hears the creatures speak and the tone behind their voices. They were very pissed by the remark.

“I BELIEVE YOU’RE PLAYING GAMES WITH US, BOY!” the bull head said “NO ONE COMES HERE WITHOUT A CONFIRMATION UNLESS YOU'RE A SUPERNATURAL BEING- WHICH IS VERY UNLIKELY BY THE LOOKS OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE!”

THE human head sighs, “SINCE YOU'RE LIKE ME, I’LL DO THE HONORS OF EXPLANATION,”

The other heads make sounds that scold the human head to ridicule. He ignores them nevertheless.

“WE ARE THE LIVING CREATURES; COUNSELORS OF ALL BEINGS WITHIN ALL REALMS- MORTAL OR IMMORTAL. WE ARE GRANTED BY THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY YAHWEH TO FORSEE EVENTS THROUGHOUT TIME AND HISTORY, THROUGH ALL GALAXIES AND WORLDS,” the human head explains.

“WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO PUNISH EVERY BEING, BE IT ADONAI OR HUMAN!” the bull head adds in.

Matthew nods in pretense, trying to understand everything that was explained. “Sorry to draw you back to revealing yourselves. It must be frustrating,”

“NO, WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME TO EVERY NEW SOUL WE MEET,” the lion head said, “YOU’RE JUST THE FOOLISH OF THEM ALL SO FAR!”

Matthew didn’t know if he was supposed to feel hurt by the remark.

“YOU'RE WASTING OUR TIME, BOY!” the eagle head bellows “WHAT DO YOU SEEK?”

Matthew’s mind started racing around questions in his head, trying to pick a suitable one. He was curious about knowing who the ADONAIS were but he figured he could ask Damien and Jane once he found a way out of this place.

“Who was Jason Cohan?” Matthew finally speaks.

The living creatures remain silent for a while.

“JASON COHAN?” the human head wondered why that was a reasonable question “WHY HE WAS A FINE TRANSCENDENT!”

“YOU WERE HIS FRIEND?” asked the bull head.

“No,” Matthew said “It’s kind of complicated,”

“WELL, THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT THE YOUNG MAN, I CAN FEEL IT,” the eagle head’s eyes were golden as he spoke. It seemed he was in another state of thought. 

“EVERYTHING IS STRANGE ABOUT SOULS!” the human head said.

“THIS ONE SEEMS… STRONG,” the eagle head persists with his charge.

The lion head sighs, “THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME!”

“I AGREE. THE HUMAN IS NOT SERIOUS!” the bull head refers to Matthew.

The living creatures were thrown into an argumentative frenzy, deciding whether or not leaving Matthew was right. Matthew, however, tried calling to the creatures’ attention but his voice seemed inaudible as an ant shouting at a dog.

The mighty blue disk opens again behind the living creatures. They steadily move backward, heading into it slowly. They ceased their argument and decided to leave.

“Wait, where are you guys going?” Matthew tries chasing after them but the path of fire rose, forming a wall in front of him “I still have questions!”

“WELL, COME ANOTHER DAY WHEN YOU GET A NEAZER PASS!” the human head notifies. “WE CANNOT ATTEND TO UNVERIFIED SOULS, IT IS BEYOND OR POWER TO ACT OTHERWISE!”

Matthew shields his eyes as the disk portal sends an aura of light like bright whiplashes, sparking flames as it connected to every corner in the odd dimension.

“I’D RETURN TO WHERE I CAME FROM IF I WERE YOU!” the lion head informs at last before the living creatures disappear within the bright lights.

The disk shrinks and disappears in thin air.

Matthew puts his hands down after the blinding lights died off. The path of flames he stood on was quenched and every odd phenomenon he saw earlier came back to existence.

Matthew turns around, staring at speeding eyeballs of flame and how they collided powerfully with each other. He turns back around and stares at the spot the living creatures emerged, noticing that nothing was left there but a floating matter of light, dancing balls of radiant dust, and transparent objects that rotated at a 360 angle constantly.

“I’d return to where I came from if I were you!” the words from the lion came rushing back to Matthew’s mind again. He wondered what the creature meant by that.

However, he turns around and walks back to the spot where he found himself at first, hoping that the magic that brought him here would take him back.

Matthew wanted to get back so he could impress Damien and Jane, and possibly win their ultimate trust. He didn’t want to go back to his former body or the soul plane. He found this NEW LIFE full of wonders and adventure, the living creatures being his first proof for this. He couldn’t wait to get initiated sometime and possibly reunite with his real family and tell them how successful and fulfilled he had become, rather than a crippled teen suffering from motor neuron disorder.

The remembrance of this family made him feel a certain cloak of warmth cover him. He wished to see them soon, possibly showing them he was still alive. His elder brother Greene would be so happy to see him walk and talk properly, Jessica would be able to hug him and he’ll be able to wrap his arms around her for the first time, Marshall could teach him some football after years of daydreaming about it while on his sickbed, and of course his parents would let him join in the movie nights after years of unfortunate absence.

Matthew couldn’t wait to go home, but first, he sought to be a transcendent.

A loud crackle thundered around the dimension. Matthew turns around and stares into the outer darkness that extended far beyond the plane he stood. He walks closer and stares deeply, noticing bright flashes of light and sounds of crashing waves.
‘It must be the living creatures’ Matthew delightfully said as he moved closer to the chaos show.

The lights flash bright like TNT explosions, and the space was filled with myriad of colors- each sending out auras that seemed to carry a certain intensity of heat.
The flares from these multi-colored auras licked up the glassy platform that spread below, torching it up to an inferno of dark flames.

Matthew stopped walking towards the chaos, realizing that the living creatures didn’t reveal themselves this kind of way. While arguing within himself on the decision of moving forward or not, several growl and howls began to surface within the flames.

   Matthew strains his eyes into the pitch-black fire, trying to puzzle together what he just heard. The dark flames rose high up like a tsunami wave, casting its crude shadow over everything in the mirror dimension. The glassy surroundings and the little light it emitted were suddenly swallowed by the dark flames.

The only thing Matthew could see were little beads of light within the flames' mass. He looks around the place, watching the flaming eyeballs burn up in darkness and disappear in the void. The howls were heard again and the little beads of light that Matthew saw became brighter and bigger. He soon realized the sources of these lights came from EYES.

Matthew was already pushing backward at this point, but the darkness was a killing factor when added to the dimension’s default state of confusion. Before he could figure out where he could place his legs to run, the creatures that owned those EYES scattered from the flame, running towards Matthew and everything that moved.

He had no idea why the living creatures would install automatic terminating wraiths for people who insisted on staying too long in the dimension. Matthew didn’t know how to get back, so he just hoped on running round in circles with the creatures till the ‘termination’ program elapses, or he’ll just wait for a miracle.

The creatures were damn fast; their legs seemed to be floating like smoke as they chased Matthew down while swallowing the flaming eyeballs that hovered around. Matthew couldn’t count the number of times he collided with an invisible glass surface, getting up at once to resume his getaway.

Matthew insisted that the living creatures must have been insane to construct such a destructive ‘reboot’.

A claw grabbed Matthew’s leg but he quickly kicks himself free, falling as he does so. He picks himself up, lands random blows on few of the creatures, and then turns around to run. The entire place was a dark void now, and Matthew had no idea where to go. It was at this point that he noticed he had green pupils that seemed to radiate in the dark. That was strange for him because he never remembered having green eyes.

He puts his palm in front of his eyes, confirming the color indeed. While focusing on the green light thrown on his hand, Matthew bumped into a certain mass within the darkness. Its texture was heavy but not hard, it was more like a gigantic mattress.

Matthew staggers back a bit and stares into the darkness. He places out an arm and waves it, having a feel of what stood in front of him.

“What the hell is this!” Matthew shrieks within himself as he tries to push through the invisible solid mass.

The howl of the incoming creatures sends him pushing harder against the obstacle. It was until he landed a hard kick at last that the mass seemed to buzz and extend further. A bright light beamed above Matthew’s head, partially illuminating the entire place.

Matthew looks up with his palm over his eyes. Once he sees what manifestation this is, he quickly runs around it, using another path as a getaway. The creatures behind him ran through the mass like it was thin air. He looks behind again and noticed a bright beam of light from the dark mass were EYES.

It wasn’t a mass, but a much bigger creature.

The creature was as tall as a hill and its body was dreadfully wide. Within its dark mass of a body, sparks of light flashed like lightning. It moved slowly but its large figure helped cover a considerable distance as it steadily swallowed the entire plane into its body.

Matthew felt his legs becomes numb, he looks down and noticed he was running on nothing, not a single platform below his feet. He was running on the air or flying in the darkness as the case may be.

The creatures caught up with him easily due to their less dense body structure. They crawl around him from leg to shoulder, inserting their nails deep in his body.

Matthew moans in pain, spreading his arms out to smack them like mosquitoes. The holes caused by the piercings seemed to be giving off green lights as his body cracked further. The dark smoke-like creatures cover his entire body like a casket cloud, disabling his ability to scream further.

“AHH!” Matthew screams as he felt his body drop on a hard surface. He suddenly sits up, banging his head on a metal object.

Opening his eyes, Matthew finally realized it was just a weird fever dream, the worst he had ever seen. He touches his forehead, having a sensation of bleeding there. Nothing showed up on his palm though.

He looks around the place he sat, examining the shelves that surrounded him. He couldn’t figure out how he moved from the medical spot to the library section.

The entire place was now illuminated despite the bulbs switched off. Matthew looks up and noticed the sunlight that beamed down from the beautifully structured glass ceiling. The amazing patterns on the dome’s ceiling cast off shadows around the place.

A certain sound rang through the premise. It was a metal clap, similar to two massive wrought irons jamming together. The noise was extremely loud, the windows and shelves shook in accordance with the irregular rhythm.

Numerous footsteps thundered around the place shortly afterward. It sounded like a stampede outside. Matthew rushed to the window, smiling wide as he sees numerous transcendents spread around the place. They all wore different colors of the outfit, still similar in the American style; the colors were green, red, blue and ash- each of these colors indicated the division the transcendents belonged to

Some transcendents entered the other functional domes while the rest occupied the fields, spreading out to different portions. Once in their significant portions, few of the occupants within wave their arms in the air creating elementric gates that glowed with the division’s color and faction number- this was to ensure that everyone knew where they belonged easily.

The medical dome’s door creaked open and in came Damien, dressed in the same outfit as the red division. Matthew watches as Damien goes over to the medical unit, selecting certain objects and medical utensils. Damien turns over to the library section after having a sense that someone was watching.

“You’re up early,” Damien faces the cabinet back. His tone had an element of surprise.

“I couldn’t get enough sleep, though!” Matthew shouts down from the far distance “I had a bit of a rumble back in my head!”

Damien pauses and turns around “A nightmare?”

“Yeah”

Damien scoffs “First time?”

“Nah, but…” Matthew stares outside the window again “First ‘kind’”

Damien wanted to ask what it was all about, but he felt it was an unnecessary display of concern.

Matthew waits patiently for Damien to give him an invitation to join in. Damien doesn't seem to remember the agreement he made hours ago.

“So,” Matthew waits on “How long have you been a transcendent?”

Damien packs the items he pulled out and dropped them in the sling bag on his shoulder. He also places some objects in distinctive pouches on his sides. He then looks back at Matthew and sighs.

“Ever since I was eleven years old,” Damien reveals “My dad was a transcendent. He married a transcendent too, but I never knew her. They said she died two months after my- why the fuck am I telling you this?”

Jason II shakes his head innocently “I have no idea. Maybe you felt like unburdening yourself over some griev-”

“Forget I just said that. You should be worried about fitting into the soul plane perfectly because we’re sending your ass back whether you like it or not!” Damien was disappointed with himself for exposing half his history to a misplaced soul.

Matthew sparked up when he heard Damien’s heads up. He rushes down the library path, making his way towards Damien. It was going to be a pretty long walk and he knew it.

“Dude, you just told me I could be put to test,” Matthew said.

Damien thinks for a while. He realized he did say that. “I say a lot of shit around here, everyone knows that!”

Matthew was stunned “Yeah, but you told me I was up for try-outs. Jane heard it too!”

“Look man, I was tired as hell. My eyes were playing me, and when things like that happen- I ‘Drunk-talk’” Damien said.

“Drunk-talk? That’s not even a thing!” Matthew retorts.

Damien locks his bag “How would you know. You’re the one who got locked up in a hospital till death,” he taunted unapologetically.

Matthew thought the remark was unnecessary. He continues walking up to Damien nevertheless.

“You can’t keep me locked in here forever; I've got to pee, I need to eat, take a shower- y’know!” Matthew insisted.

Damien turns around with ridiculous shock “Don’t get too comfortable in there, pal. Once Jane gets the answers we're looking for, you’ll be gone for good. It’s not some rental!”

“What if she doesn't find the solution?” Matthew questions.

“Oh, she will!” Damien turns back around to take a leave.

Matthew thinks up his next point easily “What if they ask of Jason Cohan?”

Damien pauses his walk suddenly. He gave Matthew’s point a thought and realized the possibility of other division members questioning Jason’s whereabouts.

“I’ll tell them he’s got a cold,” Damien replies.

“Yeah, on a perfect summer morning!” Matthew gibes.

Damien huffs in fury “Look, I’ll think of something okay. So just… stay back there and read a book or something!”

Matthew was really far from Damien’s position. He wondered why a library would be so wickedly long.

“All I'm trying to say is- I can be a transcendent, just give me a chance!” Matthew jogs down further to make his plea audible to Damien.

“Being in Jason Cohan’s body doesn't just grant you his abilities. The art of elementric manifestation requires thorough discipline in the soul, and spiritual balancing- and I'm not talking about yoga!” Damien preaches.

“Even if you did learn to harness an elementric, you'll burn to ashes. That’s because Jason’s Kruger shaft has been shut down,”

Matthew rubs his belly “Can’t you reactivate it?”

“Only omega transcendents can,” Damien said “I’m sorry bro, it just can’t happen!”

Matthew gave up. He watched with dismay as Damien left through the door.

A loud explosion draws his attention to the window. He peeks through and sees the portion of a field in flames. Transcendents from one of the yellow divisions laughed at their fellow mate who accidentally caused the explosion.

At another end Matthew could see two transcendents from one of the blue divisions engage in a fight, whipping themselves strategically with elementric chains of staff-like build. The chains sparked and sometimes ignited in flames when contact was made. The injuries on the transcendents were automatically healed following every hit.

Matthew expected to see Damien pass into one of the red divisions but he never showed up. It dawned on him that Damien’s division must be on the other side.

After seeing enough to drag him into depression and envy, Matthew withdraws himself from the window pane and sits on the floor. He taught about his encounter with the living creatures and the chaos that chased him back to reality. He had never seen a world like that and he felt the killing urge to go back there. The only problem was he didn’t know how he went there in the first place, but he strongly believed the transcendents knew how.

Matthew looks up and examines the numerous shelves. The catalogs seemed interesting but he wasn’t ready to go through the massive books for in-depth transcendental information. But a certain catalog caught his interest.

“THE ELEMENTRIC PRACTITION,” Matthew reads the label as he stands up and walks over to the shelf. Numerous books highlighted the methods of handling the elementric weaponry, the maintenance of the Kruger shaft, the specific symbols required to pull off an elementric healing factor, and so many more related to elementric manifestations.

Matthew had various publications to pick from but he decided to look out for the shortest and briefest.  He walks through the pathway in between tall shelves, staring top to bottom as he looked for the most comprehensive of the collection.

A certain book in the middle row of the shelf suddenly caught his attention. He reaches for the mechanical pole device fixated by the corner and uses it to reach for his book of interest. Matthew takes out the book and places it slowly on the ground; he rubs his fingers around the metal plating and taps it hard, genuinely surprised by its structure.
  
He stresses his eyes a bit and squirmed as he read the title ELEMENTRIC CLASS OF FIRST CONDUCTION. He had no idea what the title meant until he opened the first five pages of the first chapter. A wide grin stuck on his face when he sees the practical items listed. It was just what he needed- comprehensive and precise.

Matthew goes through the practical headlines again before he flips back to the first page. He unnecessarily straightens the page before trying his best to read and understand the basic steps for elementric generation. After going through an understandable instruction guideline, he gets up and stretches forth his arm as the book said. He reads the next line of instruction and obeys the command, tightening his palm as hard as he could. He raises his other free arm- his right arm and stays it above his other shut hand. He shuts his eyes as instructed and began to focus some energy on his closed hand.

It was a long and frustrating exercise, and the lack of results only sunk his heart further. He remembered what Damien said about the Kruger shaft and his inability to generate elementric without a disciplined soul. He could see his faith wither at the moment, but a certain sensation in his palms sparked up his optimism once more. Matthew slowly opens his palms with anxiety, hoping what he felt wasn’t his blood pressure going up. A brilliant streak of green light shot through his hand before colored fumes went up from his fingers as he opens his hand a bit, and then before his eyes, his entire palm was on multi-colored fire. The flames switched colors by every second, sending out sparks and smoke from his hand.

Jason II didn’t know what to do as he holds up the flames. He shivers in joy as he bursts open in short spans of laughter and tears. He jumps in the air and waves his palm around the place, watching as the trail of fire moved around like a dragon. He was pleased with himself, the first time he had ever been. This seemed like a little feat to any transcendent who would watch him now, but to Matthew, this was the biggest accomplishment in his life other than successfully straining his throat to down his morning medication pills.

He had never felt so alive before. Literally.

Matthew Cohan closes his palms and his ignited hand quenches at last. He stares at his left hand, examining his skin back and front. He laughs in joy when he sees no dent at all. Matthew rushes back to the book immediately. He stares at the objective he just accomplished with a wide grin and then looks up at the title of the elementric.

“PYROELEMENTRIC” Matthew reads, having a proud tone to it.

He moves over to the next exercise with burning desire and hope in his heart. He couldn’t believe he was learning the elementric arts despite all the defects he had. It first dawned on him that it might be the help from the skin of Jason Cohan he wore. But he could summarize Damien’s entire statement which clearly said it was IMPOSSIBLE for him to pull off an elementric as long as it wasn’t Jason’s soul in that body.

Nevertheless, Matthew was proud and glad, and he couldn’t wait to show Damien how good he had gotten with elementric generation so far, and how good he was going to become with time. If he found his luck and charm with the institute, he believed he would be granted to see his family again.

                             *******
Outside at the training grounds, young transcendents from every age bracket were already in the phase of elementric sparring.  The great training grounds could hold over 950,000 individuals per portion. Large bronze gates were fixed at every cardinal point, giving an entrance and exit to different divisional factions.

Damien walks over to the eastern wing of the institute, making his way to his divisional faction. He greets other transcendents as he is on his way, bumping fists and shaking most of his closest pals. Other factions of his division (red division) were already busy with briefings and lectures but his faction hadn’t even started at all.

“Damien!” an alpha from the blue division calls out from behind.

“What’s up!” Damien turns around as he shakes the transcendent

“I’m Connor, remember?” the alpha said.

Damien blanks out in deep thought for a while before remembering who the individual was.

“Oh, yeah! Division executioner! You're in line for some kind of promotion, right?”

The alpha nods “Yeah, I’ll be an omega soon; the youngest hunter in history!”

Damien nods silently. He wondered why he was even listening to this guy at the moment. Everyone knew Connor was a genius in elementric arts and tactics, but his constant brag almost made the alphas plot a way to trap him in a telepathic seizure for eternity. He never shuts about his feat, even Damien at the current moment felt like striking him down and pulling his lips off.

“It’s a huge accomplishment you know…”

“You know what- I think your pals over there are having a swell time, learning shit and stuff. If you lose a single lesson, you know it’s over for that dream of yours, right?”

“Yh, but…"

“So how about you take that cancerous ego of yours and get the hell back there!” Damien barks in bitterness as he turns his back on Connor.

Damien couldn’t figure out if he was his hardness towards Connor was fueled by irritation or jealousy. He was almost as experienced as Connor but the alleged politics played within the transcendental institute seemed to disfavor Damien due to his hot-headedness and seeming tendencies to go rogue. Adrian ketch himself had his eyes on Damien, being the son of a particular legendary transcendent.

Damien could site his faction from a close distance; he was pretty upset they all wandered around aimlessly. He approaches the faction’s gate and places his palm on it. The layered plates arrange into a single door and then slides open.

The transcendents immediately quit their eased interaction and stand erect, forming a line at once. Damien smiles and nods when he sees the look on their faces, they all sigh in disappointment as they eased themselves once more. They taught it was the division’s leader who made an entrance.

Everyone scatters once more in low spirit.

Damien walks over to the center of the field, looking for Jane- the leader, and Lucius Valentine- the drill supervisor. He didn’t expect Jane to wake up early after all the ruckus they went through last night. But Lucius’ absence was very unlikely; he’d never be a minute late for drill sessions.

“Yo, Damien!” a voice calls out.
Damien puts his bags down and stretches his muscles before turning around.

“You guys are just stuck in idle, where’s Jane?” he speaks to the boy who called him and the girl standing by his side.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” the girl- Christie Bells replied as she shoots an aggressive glare at Damien. Christie had an average build of 5’6’ and her dark hair sat on her shoulders like a mane. Her eyes were brown and her brows were thin. The natural look she gave seemed unwelcoming due to her curved eyelids and heavy eyes, but she couldn’t help it. Her chest bore scars and her arms were bruised with minor burns, this was a total turn off to her magnificent physique. She had the chance to heal them but she never did, always implying that they were medals of hardship.

“Well, hold up!” Damien wasn’t pleased by the gaze “What’s up with the evil eye?”

“I heard some load of crap earlier today. I just hope my ears weren’t playing me,” the boy- Kevin Lock stares up from the ground with tensed facial muscles as he forced the words out. Kevin was a tall fellow with short and well-gelled hair. Everyone wondered how his hair maintained its sheen despite all the hard expeditions he’s been put through. He wasn’t one of the best in his faction, let alone the institute, but he sure was one of the most hardworking and resilient transcendents on ground. He looked up to Jason Cohan and Connor Bridger, doing his best to mold himself in their image and even better if possible. He always aimed at perfection despite his regular hits of PTSD during demonic battles and creature hunts, remembering the tragic event that made him go down the path of being a transcendent in the first place.

“Oh, yeah… and what exactly did these ‘ears’ of yours hear!” Damien snaps.

“You know, if you think less about the rest of us, why don’t you just put up an application for promotion!” Kevin fumed.

Damien looks away as he tries concealing his anger and the burning temptation to burst open. He hated being reminded about his failed promotion attempts- directly or indirectly. He usually lashes on anyone who sparks up the issue, but Kevin had the grace of being his close friend.

“Spit it out, Lock!” Damien still maintains his non-eye contact, trying to keep himself calm.

“What happened last night between you, Jane and Jason? Why didn’t we get involved, hell, why didn’t the rest of the faction get involved? You three think you're some kind of trinity BESTOWED with some uncommon grace!” Kevin tries pulling his voice down but his rage took the better of him.

“Bro, no need to get childish with this,” Damien shakes his head.

“Childish?”  Kevin laughs sarcastically as he turns to Christie and then back at Damien “How the hell are the rest of us supposed to develop when you guys don’t involve us in the main shit, huh? How?”

“That wasn’t a major call; it was a late-night emergency. You don’t expect me to go about the night with a megaphone begging for backup! Jane called in a favor; I and Jason were the ones available at the moment!” Damien cries.

Christie scoffs “This isn’t the first time, Damien. And I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t be the last. You reassure us every time that we’ll face the main music, but you three always head off without us!”

Damien swallowed his next words. He knew his promises were always short-fused. This made him remember Matthew back at the medical dome.

“Where’s Jason by the way? I need to have a word with that maggot,” Christie said as she storms off in search of her partner in a not so romantic relationship.

Damien stares on as Christie walks off. He wanted to break the news to her about Jason, but he wasn’t ready for another round of rage spitting. She might not believe the story of his demise, but his strange absence would be strong proof. Jason and Christie’s love life was something of a dying bulb, going on and off even when the right effort was being added. They always broke up and got into fights- literal fights, when things don’t go straight with them. Some of their fights even got to the institution’s higher authorities due to the chaotic destruction it caused.

“Hey, I think something’s wrong. Lucius isn’t here by now, and that’s not even like him on a sick day” Kevin draws up to Damien with a worried whisper.

“I thought the same thing. Jane’s probably exhausted from the mission; I believe she’ll show up later. But Lucius fucking around like this is just straight-up madness,” Damien said.

“What about Jason? He’s exhausted too? I mean, you and I know damn well nothing keeps Cohan down,” Kevin widens his palm and an elementric timepiece shows up on his hand.

Damien didn’t know how to respond to that. He remained silent and looks away, pretending not to hear Kevin’s question.

They both watch through the transparent surface of the faction’s gate, monitoring the way the alpha of a blue faction handled her elementric, switching weapons in seconds and blasting flames from her arms. She also does a levitation kick with a thunder foot, and then sporadically shoots elementric arrows around the place as she makes a landing, sending a mighty shockwave that sends most of her teammates toppling.

Damien wasn’t that impressed, seeing the move sequence for the thousandth time in his life. He even perfected the sequence in a week as a neo-transcendent years ago. Clearly judging, Damien could tell the girl was a neo-transcendent.

Kevin, on the other hand, smiled wide as watched the girl end the sequence, he was even tempted to clap but he holds himself back, reckoning it would irritate Damien. Currently a marksman himself, Kevin knew the struggles he had catching up with the transcendental curriculum as a neo. He always remembers the day he got the Kruger shaft installed in him, and the horrific slide show of dead images that flashed before his eyes as his PTSD kicked. The disorder woke him up mid-surgery and he was forced to deal with not just a nightmarish imagery, but the excruciating pain of a ripped abdomen as well.

“Fucking noobs, look how she’s got that smile on like she beat up Lucifer or something,” Damien shakes his head in ridicule as he watches the girl celebrate alongside her neo-transcendent teammate.

Kevin moves uneasily as he folds his arms “Bro, we all felt like that when we mastered the Twist-9 sequence. It’s a raging force of joy and sense of accomplishment, who the hell would wanna hold that back?”   

Damien gave Kevin a look that had a furious ‘WHAT THE FUCK!’ written all over. Kevin just squints and looks away. No one could stand Damien’s ego.

A myriad of bright light flashes around the faction as the gate is opened. Everyone is reluctant to look at who came in after a series of unexpected entrances, but once they noticed the presence of the individual who entered, they all arranged themselves in straight lines- 8 rows and 8 columns.
The faction was drawn into a quiet state.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting!” a man, probably in his late 30s’ walks in between a line-up section, making a steady pace to a platform that rose slowly from the ground. The platform stops at its limit and metal bars erect from its surface, forming a stage of some kind. The bars give short bursts of sparks before lighting up like luminous crystals.

The faction’s gate opens once again and this time Jane Austin makes her entrance. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone, not even Damien, as she walks coldly towards the platform. Damien tries giving a welcoming smile but she doesn't notice it, she doesn't even see him.

Jane walks up to the platform and joins the man, the man- Lucius Valentine.

Lucius is quite the omega transcendent everyone loves to take lessons from, no matter the subject or specialty. He is one of the best Supremes in the institute and even rumored to be one of the top ten most skilled supreme omega transcendents in the world. He is also the leader of the supreme omega transcendents in the TIA leading his colleagues on missions that involved jumping dimensions, skipping from one realm to another as they stop demonic threats before they manage to reach earth. He always had stories to tell about his realm encounters and the variations of monsters he slaughtered there, the most famous one being joining forces with the fleet of archangel Azrael to stop a war imposed by a duke of hell situated in the 3rd layer of the Abaddon plane. Lucius loved his faction and the transcendents put under his care, and he always made sure he did everything he could to make them outstanding amongst the rest. Jason Cohan was directly under his wing, learning everything he could grasp mentally until he emerged as one of the most talented alphas in the institute. 

But Lucius wasn’t in his casual jolly test-burdening mood today. His face was gloomy and his pacing movement around the platform was stiff. It was seen that something deeply bothered him. The pending issue seemed to bother Jane too by the looks on her face.

After minutes of silent pacing- Lucius stops and turns around, facing the faction with heavy eyes of distress.

“I know you all are wondering why I and Miss Austin over here look downright depressed,” Lucius speaks as he paces around once more. “Well, it’s quite an unfortunate and shocking revelation that most of you wouldn’t get to see other realms from this point onwards,”

Everyone remained silent, their lips locked and their eyes unmoved. But deep down in the hearts of the alphas, they were shivering in fright and disturbed with jagged curiosity.

“It has come to the notice of the international board that transcendents- mostly alphas, participate in something they call ‘joy-jumping’. They’ve noticed that transcendents are fond of jumping from one realm to another on irregular intervals and unassigned basis. Citizens in the soul plane and angelic beings alike have reported uninvited visits from transcendents who usually stay around for too long- let’s leave at 2 weeks, even though most of them reported more extended periods,” Lucius announces.

“Oh shit! That’s got to be the brits!” Kevin whispers to Damien by his side.

“Nah, they ain’t got the balls to pull that major stunt. I'm thinking South Africa,” Damien assumes.

Jane steps out after a long still gaze at nothingness. She folds her arms and looks amongst her fellow alphas.

“This issue led the international board to come up with a remedy. It’s a tough one to digest, but we’ll have to adapt,” Jane pauses and looks at the crowd, she draws a deep breath and shuts her eyes “They’ve put a ban on transcendental projection and astral jumps,”

The silence in the crowd was broken by peals of disappointed whispers. The neo-transcendents were more disappointed because they’ll never get to jump between realms. The marksmen and hunters didn’t show much anger, but they were as well confused why the international board took such a risky decision.

The transcendental projection was the major way transcendents visited the realms to attack demonic strongholds or disable plots of dark organizations. The process was one of the features included in the field ASTRAL JUMP- the crossing between realms and the infinite grant to access any known plane within the province of earth. Astral jumping could only be achieved with the SEAL OF DANTE- a mini-gauntlet device that enabled transcendents to open portals irrespective of geographical restrictions. The device was endorsed by the patron of the transcendental creed himself- Archangel Uriel and programmed by Thrones (Angels said to possess infinite knowledge to the mechanics of every being- angelic, demonic, human, and animal. They also knew the geographical mapping to every realm on earth). The other features included in the astral jump were minor, but the transcendental projection remained the most important of them all.

The international ban on astral jump puzzled Damien. He found it hard to buy the information, but this was Jane- she would never lie, she would be the last person to joke about the transcendental projection. But Damien still wanted to know the real reason behind the ban.

“Hey, have you guys seen Jason? I've checked all over the place,” Christie’s eyes wore a worried look.

Damien did his best to avoid eye-contact, but Christie walked up to him and stares him dead in the eye.

“You’re not telling me something!” she said.

Damien sighs “What do you want me to say? ‘Look harder’? ‘Peace be unto your burdened soul’? He’s probably tired after last night!”

“So he’s down in bed and you're here?” Kevin looks at Damien suspiciously “You know that’s pretty much out of character for Jason, right? He’s been through a lot of massive shit than whatever you experienced last night and still, he always comes early for drill session,”

“And besides you're not more energetic than Jason. If the mission last night put him in a deep sleep, it probably would have put you in a concussion,” Christie adds in.

Damien hated being compared to Jason. He was flared up already but he managed to keep himself together.

“Hey, guys, what's up?” Jane said as she approached the trio. The faces shot at her deepened her depressed mood further.

“What’s up with the looks?” Jane frowned as she stared back at them “Look, if this is about the ban, I've got nothing to do with this. If you can’t deal with some minor change just sign a petition and drop it at the archtranscendent’s table. No need for the hate, Jesus!”

“Jane, where’s Jason?” Christie pretends she didn’t hear all the words Jane spat out.

Jane’s face straightens up as she stares silently at Damien.

“Oh, so now you wanna look at me,” Damien soliloquizes as he looks away.

“I- I don’t know what you're talking about,” Jane stutters as she flicks a bead of sweat from the side of her face.

“Oh, you know what I'm talking about!” Christie barks.

“I haven’t seen Jason for a while--”

“Bullshit! You're telling me you forgot what happened last night?” Kevin cries.

Jane stares at Damien again but his countenance remained cold.

Christie crossed glances at Jane and Damien. She grew more suspicious at their silence and soon realized what was going on according to her theory.

“Oh, I get it now! Jason made an unauthorized astral jump to get away from all of this- to get away from me!”
Christie shrieks as her eyes get wet.

Damien wasn’t ready for more drama. He rolls his eyes and steps away from the pack, moving close to the faction’s wall. He was deeply pissed in his heart, but he was glad Christie stuck with her stupid allegation. Nevertheless, he knew the truth about Jason Cohan’s death would get out soon, and when that day comes he’d be prepared. But at this moment, he wasn’t in the mood for queries and tears.

“Alright, enough with the ruckus- Drill session starts now! Get back in formation!” Lucius announces “Austin, get your ass back up here!”

Everyone moves sluggishly as they reformed the line they dismissed. Their spirits were killed by the news already, and the zeal they packed into the training ground hours ago had quenched.

They had to adapt to what was coming. Whatever it could be.