ABSOLUTE

[Ronit M]

In a place, a dark place, in a region of space that should not even be part of the cosmic existence,
time and space is warping. Reality itself is tearning apart. Something is arriving. Something foul is
born.

Chapter 1

The year is 2545 A.D. Many centuries have passed since the end of the 21 st century. The world has
changed so much. Humanity no longer waged war against each other for resources, and
restrictions such as religions, borders and race have become trivial things that have long been
forgotten. There was peace; peace that came at the cost of great sacrifice. Yes, Humanity no
longer had any enmity against each other. Now was the era of technological advancement with
the single goal of breaking the limits of the human species. Technologically, humanity had
advanced to the point where problems that had plagued the past were simply trivial issues now.
However, technology was not the only aspect humanity advanced in.

✴️✴️✴️

A young girl not above 18 years of age is taking a casual stroll down a busy shopping district. Her
hair is pitch black and silky and she wore clothes that vividly emabraced her slender figure. On her
head, she wore a black baseball cap with white stripes and on her neck, she wore a black choker
of simplistic design with the pendant of a black matte-colored star hanging in the middle. She
doesn’t show it, but she’s very proud of her figure and looks and she works hard to maintain it.
Ignoring the lewd gazes of men as she walks the street, she looks around to see if there are any
souvenirs or sweets to bring home for her parents and siblings. After looking for a while, she sees
a small bakery store.

“Maybe i should buy some for the family back home.”

She goes inside. The interior is big and spacious and the shop displayed their top favourites for
the customers to see, but it was odd. No matter how you look at it, the store is definetly small
when you look at it from the outside. It was weird. She saw a lady behind the store counter and
so, she went closer and asked:

“Excuse me.”
“Welcome, miss. How may I help you?” the lady receptionist replied.

“I want that choco-flavoured cake with the strawberry toppings. Could you pack one for me for
the road?” The young girl said pointing at the chocolate cake on the favourites display.

“Of course, please wait a few minutes while we prepare it for you.”

“Thanks. Oh, I have a question. How are you guys expanding the interiors of the shop? Do you
have an object that’s manipulating the space?”

“No, Ma’am. The owner hired a person he knew and had him permanently expand the interiors.”

“Oh, I see.”

Artificial devices were constantly under development. There were devices and machines capable
of warping space, emitting perpetual light and tools that can produce gallons of fresh water
seemingly without limit. These devices were not available in abundance, and the few that were
already in production were just prototypes for testing. Humanity had evolved to a level where
they are able to harvest power from the stars themselves. Decades of researching and studying
about the natural cosmos had pushed humanity’s lust for perpetual energy and vast resources to
keep growing without limits. Even in this era where humans can traverse across the stars,
humanity was still evolving and developing technology which would further push humans as a
race to the next stage of evolution.

The young girl thought it was one of those rare devices that changed the room and was curious
to see it. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

After waiting for a few minutes, the receptionist came out with her chocolate cake. It looked
delicious. The receptionist placed the cake inside a bag and gave it to the young girl with the bill.
She paid for the cake with her card and thanked her for her service. With the bag in hand, she
exits the bakery.

Just as she exited the store, Lightning bolts struck down in the middle of the street and several
people lay on the ground motionless. Their bodies were charred beyond recognition as she ran
closer to take a closer look. Lightning came down again and as she looked up, she did not see
thunder clouds, but a figure levitating high in the sky. The figure raised his arm and Lightning
formed around his hand, with a speed incomprehensible to the average human, lightning bolts
came down. The young girl stood still and watches the lightning bolts and then, time slows down
and she looked around.

“There are 12 people in the area and everyone else has run away huh… and the lightning bolts
are just on top of their heads too. Who the hell is that guy? Why’s he killing random people in the
streets? Is he targeting someone? Fuck it. Whoever he is, he’s about to get his face punched in...
but the people… I need to take them somewhere far away first and I need to be quick about it.”

She placed her bag on the ground and she moved. She was fast. So fast that the lightning bolts,
that are a few inches away from the heads of the people, were barely moving. in fact, one could
say the lightning bolts weren't even moving at all. The young girl was moving at speeds
tremendously faster than lightning; she was reaching speeds close to Mach 50,000. This level of
speed is usually impossible to reach by normal human standards, but the girl is anything but normal.
The speed of lightning is 100 km/sec and an object moving at this speed would cover dozens of
kilometers in just barely a second. At this speed, lightning bolts came down and time slowed
down, it slowed down to such an extent that even lightning itself barely moved a centimeter.
One by one, she took the people inside a house several blocks away and after the last person was
retrieved, time began to flow naturally. The lightning bolts rained down and impacted the
ground.

“Impressive.” The figure in the sky said as it descended closer to the ground. It was a man.

“There’re not many people I know that can move at the speed you’ve just displayed.”

“Who are you, and why are you killing innocent civilians?”

“Why should i tell you my name? And isn't it obvious what i'm trying to do here?

"....."

"Oh, my. I'll lay it down simple for you. My lightning attacks move faster than the the average
lightning bolts that are naturally produced in storm clouds. I was experimenti…”

Just as he was about to finish the sentence, the young girl who was below him vanished and a fist
appeared before his face. It was fast and it was strong. The girl punched the man in the face so
hard that the sheer impact force produced shockwaves that broke every window in the
immediate vicinity below and the man was knocked out. His face is distorted and teeth fell out of
his mouth. She grabs the unconsious man by the neck to make sure he doesn’t fall down.

The young girl was not normal. That much was clear enough. The girl was levitating dozens of
meters above in the sky looking at the unconcious man with a focused gaze and after a few
moments, she descends. She hears loud sirens coming from the distance and the sound gets
closer and soon, two aircraft arrives and hovers in the area above the shopping district. The
aircraft belonged to the law enforcement organisation based in the local area.

After landing at a nearby rooftop, a team of law enforcers and a medical squad emerges from the
aircraft and begins assisting and healing those that suffered injuries during this incident.

“Oi! Who’s the officer in-charge here? I have the bad guy in my hands and I want to hand him
over.”

“That would be me.” An officer replied.

“Here’s the guy that caused all this. He can conjur lightning from his arms and he can fly. You
better dose him with suppressers and transport him in special confinements.”

Human Enhancement. Human's Awakening. The next level of Human Evolution. For reasons
unknown, a majority of Human-kind began possessing abilities that allowed them to manifest and
manipulate the natural and unatural elements of the world. Coincidentally, this event occurred
during the era of the Great War. Researchers and Historians today still cannot explain this
phenomena and several theories have sprung up over the decades trying their best to comprehend
it. This, however, is a story for another time.

Just like the young girl, there are many individuals possessing powers and abilities. In a world
filled with people who possess abnormal strengh and mysterious powers, there will be those that
use it for good and those that use it for personal gain or worse – to cause harm to others. In case
of the latter, certain methods are used to handle criminals with abilities and one of these
methods is supressing their powers with powerful drugs.

“Did you do this to him, miss?” the officer asked after looking at the unconscious man’s distorted
face.

“I did my best to pull my punch. Are you saying I shouldn’t have?”

“No, He definetly deserved it….that’s not what I meant.” the officer paused for a second and
discontinued.

“Ok then, miss. I’m afraid you’ll have to come down to the station with me. There’s a lot of
question I’d like to ask you about your involvement in this matter.”

“What questions? The guy started killing people and I beat him to a pulp. That's it. Now, I'm from
out of town and i have to be somewhere. I'm leaving this to you.”

For some reason the officer’s eyebrows tweaked when he heard that last part.

“We would’ve handled the situation even if you hadn't shown up, miss."

“Maybe, but i was here, and you weren't." 'If i wasn't here then a lot more people would have
died', ... is what she wanted to actually say, but she didn't.

The young girl had an attitude. She was the type that’s open about almost everything concerning
serious maters, but that was also the type that most people find hard to tolerate. A friendly
person, but with a serious personality.

The officer’s eyebrow tweaked at a dangerous angle. Then, he asked the young girl the following
question.

“Tell me your name, little miss."

“Alina. My name is Alina Meitei.”

The officer’s eyes were wide open, wider than they’ve ever been opened and he started sweating
as the young girl turned around and walked away from him. The other officers and the injured
that overheard the name gasped and started sweating profusely.

“A member of that family.…”

✴️✴️✴️
It is a sunny day with clear skies and the house is quiet. The living room is big, big enough to fit
three bedrooms, and the kitchen located next to the living room is of simple design. If one were
to sum it in a word, it would be ‘minimilisitc’. At first look, it is easy to conclude that the
occupants are wealthy. A woman in an apron is making lunch. A beautiful, seemingly young
woman with light skin tone and pitch black hair with a buxom shape of a body. Her appearance
gives the impression of a noble upbringing and her presence emits a mature aura that clearly
showed her experience as a woman. People who meet her for the first time would find it hard to
believe that she’s only in her late 30s and has 3 grown children. This woman’s name is Victoria
Meitei and she is making lunch for her loving family.

“Something smells great. Is it what i think it is?”

The person asking this was Victoria’s husband. He is a middle-aged man in his 40s. His physical
appearance did not match the young, handsome mental image of a person who would be her
husband. His stomach was bulging and his limbs looked heavy. He has described himself to be
chubby and he doesn’t like to be called ‘fat’. His name is Lairen Meitei.

“It’s your favourite. Fried rice mixed with chicken meat and smashed potato curry.”

“I can’t wait to have some. But I feel like this is for an occasion. Am I forgetting something
today?”

“Alina is coming back today. I just spoke with her this morning on the phone. She should be
arriving within the hour.”

“She’s coming back today? Is her training over?

“No no. It’s a temporary visit. She’ll only be here for about a week. By the way, where are Kalen
and Sanza? I haven’t seen them today.”

“Kalen is training in the Special Room. He said he wanted to improve his Physical Energy
enhancements. He’s been in there for well over two hours now. Sanza is still in bed I think. I’ll go
get Kalen. You go wake up that lazy bum of a daughter.”

“Honey, don’t say mean things about your daughter.” Victoria replied with a snickle.

Her husband leaves the kitchen with a light laugh. Victoria removes her apron and heads down
the hallway to the room at the corner. She enters her daughter’s room, the room of a 23 year old
woman named Sanza who had just lost her job. During her working days, Sanza was a beautiful
young extoic woman with a curvaceous figure that made the men around to ogle at her. She was
a responsible senior to her juniors and a reliable subordinate to her superiors. This all changed
one day when the company she was working for declared bankruptcy and began laying people
off, including her. She had worked for the company for 13 months loyally, but in the end, she was
laid off just like the rest of her colleagues.

This happened 3 months ago and the appearance of an exotic and mature woman has completely
disappeared. She moved back to her parents’ house because she couldn’t afford her own
appartment and she hasn’t gone outside of the house since moving back in. Basically, she’s a
shut-in.

Victoria looked at her daughters form covered by the blanket.

“Oh, dear. What will I do with this daughter of mine.” Victoria thought while looking at her oldest
daughter’s sleeping face. Her son was preparing to take over the family business and her
youngest daughter is training to support her brother. In contrast to her siblings, Sanza was
lagging behind. Victoria looked at her daughter’s face, she made a sleeping face that was not
proper for a lady of her age.

“Sanza, wake up! It’s almost noon already!”

“mmmh…”

“Sanza, if you don’t wake up this instant, you won’t get any food and water for the day!”

“Alright, I hear you. I’m up I’m up…” Sanza responded with a lazy reply in a muffled voice and a
face that was still half asleep and then…

*snore…..snore* she went back to sleep. Victoria stood there, there were veins popping up on
her face. She was angry. Victoria grabbed the sheet of blanket and threw it up. Sanza, still
unaware of what her mother did, was still asleep and the blanket that was thrown up was still in
the air. Victoria pinched her daughter’s face with her fingers and pulled her out of the bed.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow that hurts, mama!”

“It’s supposed to hurt, you stupid bum! You’re a 23 year old woman and you’re a shut-in! Act
more your age, get a boyfriend or something, you bum!”

“Stop calling me bum all the time!”

“Then, stop being one, you bum! Lunch is ready. Go wash yourself up and come to the kitchen or
I’ll spank your butt till it bleeds!”

After scolding her daughter, Victoria left the room. Sanza was on the floor still sleepy, but she
was hungry. She got up and just as she was standing up, she noticed her blanket suspended in
the air, motionless.

“Again? Dad told her many times not to use it carelessly… maybe she forgot because she was angry?
Dad scolded her many times for using her powers inside the house... hmmm well, I guess I’ll tell on
her for pinching my cheeks.” Sanza smirked as she thought of her dirty plan.

Now fully awake, Sanza made a slight gesture with her finger as if cancelling whatever was
causing the blanket to stay suspended in the air and a short moment later, the blanket dropped
down naturally on her bed.

“Time Manipulation. I’m fortunate to be amongst the few to be able to fully master it just like my
mother although Mom’s massive experience makes me a noob compared to a veteran like her. Like
comparing a god to an ant huh….” thinking this, Sanza became irritated with her inferior skills and
the fact that she was still sleepy. She respected and admired her mother, but like any parent-child
relationship, sometimes they have arguments like a normal family.

The blanket was not simply suspended in the air, it was suspended in its own time. Victoria is one
of a special breed that possessed mysterious abilities and the power to freely manipulate Time
was one of them. She had taught her daughter a few tricks when she was young and she
naturally caught on. Sanza was still a newbie compared to her mother, but a simple feat of
cancelling a Time suspension on a mere blanket was something she could easily do.

“I wonder what’s for breakfa…. lunch.”

♦♦♦♦♦♦

A vast valley surrounded by mountain ranges, burning forests, and remnants of collosal giants.
The land was charred black and it was covered in massive craters all over. There were too many
to count as if someone had been setting off hundreds of nuclear bombs at the valley.

There was a figure standing in the middle of the vast field. A young man wearning torn clothes
covered with bruises on his arms and legs. He looked as if he has been in this conditons for days.
In fact, he’s been in this valley for 16 days now and he has been training without rest. Despite his
young age, he has a slim muscular body that was proportionate to his height. His face was all
covered in dirt and sweat due to constant physical exertion. His hair was an undercut which is an
unpopular trend among young boys, but considering his overall appearance, it fit his style.

He stood still looking at the distance, as if he was focusing on a particular traget. In the direction
he was looking at, there was a huge mountain range at least dozens of kilometers away. It was
his target. The range was far away, but they were so massive that they were easily visible even
from this far away distance.

He closed his eyes and focused. The target was huge, but the young man didn’t seem care. In
fact, he was filled with confidence.

“About 370 km away, I’d say and about 12 km in height? It’s a bit bigger than the others…. I
should try putting my strength into my fist rather than my arm this time and see if I can dish out
the same level of damage like last time. Gonna have to put more force behind this one.”

A yellow aura began surrounding his whole body as he clenched his right fist and tightened it. He
stood still with his eyes fixed at the massive mountain in the distance and then, he vanished. In
less than a millisecond, he covered the distance between him and the mountain and reached the
top of the summit. He raised his right fist, clenched very tightly and he punched down. It began
to crush, the impact of the punch spread all over and flattened the massive mountain and it
didn’t stop. The force of the impact was actually pushing the mountain with the entire range to
the ground.

The earth shook as if the world was coming to an end. The force from that single punch was
causing an earthquake that was felt all around the world. It was a truly a feat of monstrous
strength, a feat no normal human could accomplish.
The mountain range was gone and in its place, there was a massive crater dozens of kilometers in
diameter. In the middle of this destruction, the young man stood and he was content with the
results.

*clap clap clap clap*

“Impressive! As expected of the man who will one day take over the family business. I see you’ve
improved a lot, Kalen.”

“Dad, you were watching? I didn’t notice you.”

“Well, I didn’t want to mess with your concentration.”

Ethan had been watching his son for quite some time. He had come to get Kalen for lunch, but
instead chose not to disturb him while he was so focused on his training. So, he erased his
presence and watched his son train.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, yeah I forgot. Lunch is ready. You’re mother wants us in the kitchen. Oh, and your sister is
coming back today.”

“Alina’s coming home? I haven’t seen her in months. Okay, let’s go. I was about to wrap up here
anyway.”

After taking a step, Kalen suddenly fell on his knees. His limbs felt numb from overexerting
himself. After training non-stop for 16 days, this was expected. He was physically pushing himself
to become stronger, to break his limits. Ethan looked at his son…

“Let’s sit down for a bit. You can’t enjoy your mother’s delicious lunch with a sore body. Rest a
bit.”

“…okay.”

Ethan sat down on the ground next to Kalen. He was proud of his son. Looking at this young man
all grown up and getting ready to lead the family business, he was feeling nostalgic. He
remembered when his father trained him to take over years ago.

Kalen noticed his father looking at him and he asked…

“Can I ask something?”

“Sure.” Ethan replied.

“Was it bad?”

“Was what bad? What do you mean? If you’re asking about my training from when I was your
age, it wasn’t bad. It was fun, exciting and most of all…” before Ethan could finish, his son
stopped him.
“You know i’m not asking about that.” Kalen said. Ethan’s face turned serious after hearing his
son. He knew what his son was asking about.

Ethan looked at his son, his son who is now a young man ready to shoulder the future of the
family on his back. He looked at the distance, at a head of a giant far off in the distance. It was as
big as the mountain next to it. Looking at it, the memories came flooding in, memories that was
closed off a long time ago.

“......when they tore the skies open and came down, I honestly thought this was the end of
humanity. Back then, we thought the war would be the end of everything we knew. They
descended in hordes riding mythical beasts with 8 hooves and 6 wings. They came down playing
their trumpets, and the world became dark. But when she stood up and led us, everything
changed.”

“She..? You mean….”

“Your grandmother, son”

The visage of his old grandmother appeared in Kalen’s head, the matriarch of the Meitei Family
who is now well over 500 years old. Kalen had heard so much about his grandmother, about how
she brought all the races together and formed the First Alliance that waged the Great War
against the enemy.

It was during this Great War that Humanity gained awareness of other races other than
themselves. It was also during this time when Humans gained longevity and awakened the ability
to manipulate powers that broke the laws of nature. Nobody knew how or why this happened.
Many people claimed it was an act of God, that God had given them this power to defend
themselves and defeat the enemy while some claimed Humanity was, due to the circumstances,
simply advancing to the next stage of evolution. It was a mystery.

There was little information available about the Great War and they were made available to the
public, but for some reason, Kalen felt some details of the events were intentionally left out such
as the real identity of the enemy. He found it odd that humanity allied herself with the other
races to fight a common enemy, but the identity of the enemy was shrouded in mystery. His
reason for asking his father, who was a direct combatant who fought in the war, about the
details of the events was to confirm his suspicion.

“I’ve heard stories about grandma, I had a hard time believing it, still do.” Kalen told his father
while making a curious face that was expecting an answer.

“Who did you hear it from?” his father asked.

“Uncle Barek.”

“Hahahaha haha”.

Ethan bursted out laughing when he remembered his old friend.

Kalen looked confused.

“Yeah, Barek was there when your grandma let loose. His legs got shaky when he witnessed her
in combat and it was funny too since he was in his true Dragon form. Well, to be honest, all of us
were shaking back then and I’m sure the enemy were too.”

“So she’s very strong?”

“No…”

“So she’s not?” Kalen thought.

“Calling her strong is a severe understatement, son. What she did in the war, the powers she
showed…. You know what the Five Families are capable of, right? The powers we represent?”

Kalen didn’t reply. The faces of many powerful individuals were flowing into his mind as he was
recalling memories of his past meetings with them. The Five Families were the representatives of
the Five races that banded together against their common enemy.

They are the Dragons, Leviathans, Humans, Diablo, and the Elohim.

Dragons. Humungous entities that stood taller than the tallest mountains.

Leviathans. The “Sons of the Earth” and one of the two races which rivals the Dragons in size.

Humans. The youngest, and the most technologically advanced race amongst the Five.

Diablo. The “Lords of the thousand Nights” , and the darkest race within the Five.

Elohim. The “Guardians of the Holy Host” , and the oldest race in existence.

Each of these Families possessed the strength to obliterate entire worlds in the blink of an eye.
This is the power they represent and this is the power they use to maintain and enforce peace
upon the populace, and all of them were veterans that had fought and survived the Great War.
They are the closest of allies and think of each other as their own blood relative. The Five Families
was an alliance founded shortly after the end of the war. Five outstanding individuals who had
proved themselves during the war were chosen to form and lead their own families to protect
and maintain the peace that so many of their brethren had sacrificed themselves to attain. It was,
is a duty of the highest honor.

Then , a few seconds after his father asked, Kalen responded…

“They’re the same as us. They’re responsible for the protection of their own respective
universes.”

“That’s right. The heads of the Five Families each have the power to lay waste to entire
dimensions. Imagine what we could do combined.”

“…..”

“Haha hard to imagine, isn’t it?” Well, your grandma is even more powerful than all of us
combined.”

Kalen’s eyes shot wide open. He could not believe what his father just told him.

The heads of the Five Families were entities that defied common logic and hearing his father say
that his grandmother was even more powerful than them combined was something that he had
a hard time comprehending.
“Wait a minute! Hold on! Are you..” Ethan stopped his son mid-sentence.

“It’s lunch time. Your mother is waiting, let’s go. We’ll talk later, son.”

“….fine.”

Kalen stood up slowly, but he was not content. He was annoyed that he could not finish the
conversation.

“So, what’s for lunch, anyway?”

“Fried rice with chicken, and mashed potatoes.” His father replied with a droll flowing down the
side of his mouth.

♦♦♦♦