“Negative.”

“The boy doesn’t have any powers.”

sigh

Several sighs filled the room as the people, with serious expressions plastered on their faces, shook their heads in disappointment.

“He’s already ten years old now. If he still hasn’t developed any powers, we all know there’s no chance for him in the future too. He is a pure disappointment…(sigh) I honestly had great expectations from this subject,” One of them said.

“Such a shame! The kid whose father was the Strongest Warlock and mother—the strongest Sorcerer, happened to be useless? He’s not even a Variant, let alone being as great as his parents?” A middle-aged man in the group spoke as he looked at the boy lying on the patient table.

There was an expression on the man’s face that depicted nothing but disappointment.

“It looks like we wasted our time with him for nothing. How pathetic!”

Three Scientists were talking amongst themselves outside the glass room, while inside, a young 10-year-old boy was lying on a bed.

A syringe was still inserted in his hand that was connected to a big machine nearby. Several tubes with sticky caps were also attached to his chest.

Comments were being passed around about the little one lying on the bed.

The boy was utterly oblivious to their conversation, as the glass-built testing area was soundproof. But he could clearly see the looks of disappointment, disdain, and sinister glares pointed at him.

His little fingers were clasped against each other as he waited there anxiously.

The boy had beautiful silver hair scattered around his head, which was so long that they came down to his shoulders. It made the fact clear that he wasn’t given a haircut in a long time.

The boy was donned in a white hospital robe that reached till his mid-thigh.

Unlike other children of his age, he didn’t have a soul-stirring, happy appearance. Instead, he looked tense and afraid.

His deep blue eyes looked at everything with mixed feelings. Gloomy pupils of his were scanning everything with anxiousness and a bit of timidness visible in them.

“There’s no need to keep him here anymore. We should inform General Maxwell about his situation. Let’s dismiss the kid from here so that we can move to work on some actual important stuff,” The middle-aged scientist spoke again as he looked at the group in front of him, hoping to get everyone’s support.

“Truly, this kid is useless.”

“I had such high hopes for him.”

The other two people shook their heads in unison, depicting their affirmation towards the matter as they spit out those two sentences.

A nurse was called by the scientists before they left the lab. Two of the scientists walked out of there fast while one stayed behind.

He looked at the boy lying inside the glass room and sighed.

Inside his heart, he felt pity for the boy. How unfortunate of him to be born without any kind of power. He was feeling completely frustrated on behalf of that pitiful little creature.

“Nurse, take him back to his room.” The middle-aged scientist left the lab in busy steps after mouthing those words. Nobody noticed his balled fist as he left.

Walking inside the room, the nurse moved towards the boy and removed the syringe from his hand.

“Let’s go,” she told the boy, in a tone that intimidated him more.

The boy quivered as he stood up and silently followed behind her.

The nurse took the boy to a small room.

Inside the fully gray-colored room, there was only a small bed and nothing else. There were no windows. It was like those small compartments inside a train, without windows and seats.

The floor, ceiling as well as the door was metallic, and it was no ordinary metal. Those were made from the strongest metal found on the planet.

The nurse left the boy inside before she locked the room from the outside and left with an expressionless face as if she was a robot.

***

“General, Doctor Rao is on the line.”

A soldier in a military uniform walked up to a person who was also wearing a military uniform and gave him the phone.

“Doctor Rao, How was the test? Did the boy develop any powers? Is he a Variant?” General Maxwell couldn’t help but shoot rapid questions as he placed the phone closer to his ears.

Doctor Rao stood near a window, his eyes peeking outside the facility.

His long white coat was so clean that it seemed as if it was purchased that very day. His coat matched his white hair that was messy but still seemed like they were perfect and were supposed to be like this only.

“The results are negative, General. The boy still doesn’t have any powers, and I’m afraid both of us know that he never will,” Doctor Rao said.

“He has already turned ten, and you know that none can develop powers after they have crossed the age of 10,” he continued. Pausing for a moment, he declared the final verdict, saying, “It’s a failure.”

Doctor Rao was one of the three Scientists who had just performed the tests on the boy.

*sigh*

There was an awkward silence before Dr. Rao heard General Maxwell again.

“We kept him in the facility for five years in the hopes of him having powers just like his parents, but I guess it was nothing but a useless endeavor,” General Maxwell said as he looked down.

“Do you want to take that boy? He is already useless,” Doctor Rao asked the General.

Thinking for a while, he opened his mouth once again to make a suggestion.

“If you don’t mind, then we have a proposition to make,” Dr. Rao spoke and waited for the General’s reply. He couldn’t wait to get over this topic already.

“What is it?” General Maxwell asked back almost instantly.

“We can make him a test subject for our research here, that is, if you don’t need him,” Doctor Rao suggested as he sipped his coffee.

“Yeah, do as you please. That boy is useless for us anyway,” General Maxwell said before he disconnected the call.

Silence ensued in the room, which was broken after a few minutes by General Maxwell himself.

“Mark, You don’t have a kid, right?” he asked the soldier who was standing behind him while passing the phone back.

“No, Sir. I haven’t even married yet,” Mark replied. He was somewhat confused as to why he was asked a question like that.

“Would you like to have a kid if he was useless?” General Maxwell inquired as he looked directly at Mark.

“I don’t understand, Sir,” Mark answered, growing even more confused.

“Zale Azarel, the strongest Variant in the history of humanity and the greatest Warlock to ever exist,” General Maxwell commented.

“He was the wielder of both elemental power of Dark Lightning and Physical Power of Strengthening. Both of his powers were S-Rank,” he further added as he explained more.

Mark tried to understand why General Maxwell was talking about Zale Azarel, but he failed. Was there even a need to talk about him? There was probably not a single person in this world who didn’t know of Zale Azarel.

Ignoring the confusion on Mark’s face, General Maxwell continued, “His wife Clarisse, the strongest Sorcerer of her time and the wielder of dual elemental powers, the A-Rank Power of Wind Control and the S-Rank power of Decay. You know the two of them, right?”

“Yes, Sir. They were the heroes of humanity. Unfortunately, they died five years ago,” Mark answered with a nod.

“Yeah. They were special. I thought their son might have some talent as well. That’s why I put so much effort into him. Albeit, I was wrong. If he had even a fraction of his parents’ abilities, he would have been a great asset. But he’s useless,” General Maxwell explained.

“Their son turned out to be a waste that has no powers. I believe that if Zale and Clarisse were alive, even they too wouldn’t want a son like that,” General Maxwell said as he looked out the window. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Although Mark didn’t agree with both those judgments and assumptions, he still nodded in affirmative. He had no other options to do otherwise, as General Maxwell was his superior, and it wouldn’t be good if he offended him.

*****

It was 4 am, and the sun had just started to rise in the distant horizon showering its golden ray to remove darkness.

A facility existed in the middle of nowhere; it was heavily guarded by the military of the United Elisium.

Three Scientists were walking together in a particular direction. Two of them were in a relatively good mood today, while the third seemed like he was in a dilemma.

“Doctor Rao, Should we really do the experiments with Lucifer? He has been with us for so long. Besides, he is just a child; I don’t feel like we should do this to him,” A Scientist who was walking behind the other two said to the Scientist in the lead.

“Doctor Min, You shouldn’t put your personal feelings in the middle of work. And that boy doesn’t have any powers anyway; you should be happy thinking that he is not totally useless,” Doctor Rao replied.

Doctor Layman, who was the third person on the team, agreed with Doctor Rao.

“We are doing this for the betterment of humanity; hence he became useful to humanity. Also, it would take too much time to get another test subject here,” he added.

“Exactly. Why should we delay our research experiments when we can start them immediately?” Doctor Rao asserted.

“But this is simply torturing. The experiment is nothing but a way to see how much pain a human body can endure. It can even kill him if we are not careful!” Doctor Min argued.

“Doctor Min, always remember one thing. Only when we know the limitations of the body can we find ways to break those limitations in the future. Who better to test it on than the son of the greatest heroes of humanity, and if he dies, it would at least be a useful death,” Doctor Rao commented. “Unlike his parents who died so uselessly.”

A smirk was visible on Doctor Rao’s face, but no one saw it as he was in the lead.

“Are you doing it because you hate the Variants for not saving your wife during the great disaster of 2028?” Doctor Min inquired as his tone increased a bit. His fists were balled to control his anger.

Doctor Rao couldn’t help but clench his fist abruptly as he heard those words. His face twitched uncontrollably.

“Doctor Min! I would very much appreciate it if you don’t go clawing my personal life. Unlike you, I’m not letting my personal feelings motivate my actions. What I’m doing is purely for the betterment of humanity’s future and nothing else!” Doctor Rao insisted.

Doctor Min didn’t respond as he knew that anything he said wouldn’t get through to the man.

Doctor Rao was his senior and the in-charge here; there was nothing he could do but to curse him and pray for little Lucifer.

Doctor Min followed him for quite some time before he noticed Doctor Rao stopping before a metallic door.

Doctor Rao opened the door and entered inside with the other scientists.

They saw a young boy who was sitting on a bed silently. He didn’t look up even after feeling their presence. There was nothing else in this room for him to do anyway.

“Lucifer Azarel, come with us,” Doctor Rao said.

“Am I going to get tested again? I can develop powers like my father, right? I wish to be like my parents and help everyone,” The mostly mute boy spit those words out, taking all the scientists by surprise.

He glanced at the scientists with a smile plastered on his lips and eyes filled with hope.

The smile stabbed through the heart of Doctor Min and made him question his work, but he just closed his eyes and breathed heavily.

“No, you will never have powers. It would be best if you didn’t even mention to anyone that you’re the son of Zale Azarel and Clarisse,” Doctor Rao said.

Not feeling the least bit embarrassed for talking to a kid like that, he further added. “Otherwise, they will turn into laughingstocks to people for having such a worthless son.”

His words were quite harsh for the little person to whom those words felt like sharp spikes.

No one knew what the future held for the young boy and how their actions were going to create a nightmare for them.

…..To Be Continued.

Although Doctor Rao didn’t act close to Lucifer in the last five years, he didn’t openly despise him either as there was a possibility of Lucifer developing his powers. His actions towards Lucifer seemed only professional till now.

He was neither too friendly nor too harsh but only kept an average attitude towards the child.

But now that Lucifer was already ten years old and failed, there was no reason for him to act nice anymore.

Lucifer’s face turned pale as he heard the answer from Dr. Rao. It felt like his world came crashing down, and every word of that sentence hit his heart like a bullet.

Tears lurked, making his eyes glittery, and his vision blurred as he tried to fight back with the enormous pain and torment he was feeling.

“But you can still help humanity. So you’re not completely useless. Come with us,” Dr. Rao further said in a villainous tone as his eyes shone like a vulture under thick gold-framed glasses.

Lucifer stood up with a blank look on his face and followed after them as a few drops of stubborn silent tears left his eyes.

They brought him to a room that Lucifer had never been to before. There were strange machines all around the room with a single bed at the center.

“Go lie down on the bed,” Doctor Rao commanded.

Lucifer followed the order silently and walked up to the bed with little steps.

He lay down on the flat bed, and his ocean eyes were placed on the ceiling. With no movement, he laid there balling his fists as Dr. Rao’s words roamed inside his head.

“Doctor Min, prepare him,” Doctor Rao said before he turned and started working on the screen panel not too far away.

Doctor Min walked up to Lucifer. He picked up a head-band like object that was connected to a machine behind him and placed it around Lucifer’s head; his heart churned while doing so, but he still did it.

There were many wires of different colors connected to that headband-like object, which further linked to some other machines around the room.

‘ I’m sorry, Lucifer. Even though I respect your parents and care for you, I can’t help you,’ Doctor Min thought apologetically as he walked back, his eyes full of sorrow.

“Everything Ready, Doctor Layman?” Doctor Rao asked the 3rd Scientist.

“Ready. Waiting for orders,” Doctor Layman replied.

Doctor Rao said, “Alright. On my count!”

“3… 2…1… Begin!”

Doctor Layman pressed a button on the laptop, and with a slight sound, the process began.

“Aaaa!” Lucifer screamed as loud as he could as he felt the heart-wrenching pain course through his body. He felt like his body was being torn into shreds.

He kept screaming, but the torture didn’t stop. Instead, it went on and on for what seemed like an eternity.

“Heartbeat rising rapidly. The pain index reached 60 percent. Cell destruction has begun,” Doctor Layman declared as he read the data on the screen.

“Stop it now! His cell destruction has begun! If you don’t stop, his entire body will become useless! It should be enough data for our use!” Doctor Min couldn’t help shouting loud as he heard the stats.

Doctor Layman looked towards Doctor Rao.

“Continue! Increase the pain index by 10 percent! I want to see how long it takes for a human body to be destroyed by pain,” Doctor Rao commanded. There was not even an ounce of sorrow or hesitation in his voice.

“This is not research anymore, but plain madness! I said, stop it!” Doctor Min roared, but none paid heed to him.

Lucifer kept screaming for 20 minutes straight. His voice had turned hoarse, eyes were blood-shot red with tears still flowing down his cheeks, and his body trembled in pain.

Unfortunately, the pain didn’t stop. It felt like with time; it was becoming even more unbearable. Lucifer’s eyes roamed from Dr. Min to Dr. Layman as he begged them to stop. His face was covered in tears as he watched the smirk on Doctor Rao’s face.

“Why?!” Lucifer yelled like a lunatic as he glared at Doctor Rao with his bloodied eyes.

“He can still speak. Not bad. I guess the pain is not enough. Increase by 20 percent. Take the pain index to 90 percent!” Doctor Rao ordered Doctor Layman, who followed his commands without any question and increased the pain index.

“Heartbeat slowing down rapidly. The pain index reached 90 percent. Cell destruction has reached 70 percent,” Doctor Layman said.

“Good. Increase by another 10 percent. Take the pain index to 100 percent,” Doctor Rao said as he laughed. “This is good. Let’s see if the human body can bear 100 percent!”

Dr. Min was watching silently till now, but he couldn’t hold it in anymore as he jumped on Dr. Layman to prevent him from increasing the pain index.

He screamed at them, “Are you two even human? Stop it! He is a child, for God’s sake! Stop this madness!”

Dr. Rao ignored the sharp words as he called the security and made them take Dr. Min away.

Meanwhile, Doctor Layman increased the pain index and turned it to the maximum.

Lucifer’s body twisted in pain for one last time before his screams stopped entirely. His bloodied eyes were still open, but there was no focus on them anymore. Lucifer’s entire body had turned blue, as he lied there.

“Heartbeat has stopped. The pain index reached 100 percent. Cell destruction 100%,” Doctor Layman announced.

“So, he died. He was a good testing subject to last for so long. I guess the human body is not as useless as we thought. If it can survive for so long under such pain, it’s definitely anything but useless,” Doctor Rao muttered as he looked at the data on the screen.

He seemed totally unbothered by the fact that they had just murdered someone brutally, that too a ten-year-old child.

“Let’s leave. The Nurse can clean the body and throw it outside. We have more important things to do,” Doctor Rao said as he turned back and walked towards the exit. “Arrange the data we decided in proper charts. I want it on my table tomorrow.”

Doctor Rao was about to leave when Doctor Min appeared in front of him.

“You killed him!” Doctor Min screamed at Doctor Rao while tears flowed out of his eyes, and he sat down on the ground.

“A necessary sacrifice for the growth of humanity.”

Doctor Rao smiled as he walked past Doctor Min and left the room.

“Don’t feel too attached to the subjects. You’ll feel less pain if you follow that,” Doctor Layman placed his hands on Doctor Min’s shoulders as he comforted him.

“Although Doctor Rao is slightly psychotic, he is a great scientist. Anyways, let’s go eat. There is no point in fighting and crying over a kid who is already dead. He won’t be coming back after all,” he continued as he took Doctor Min outside.

The maids arrived in the room after 20 minutes and saw Lucifer lying on the bed, lifeless.

“Hmm, so he’s the one that died today,” The maid said casually as she glanced at Lucifer. They were used to seeing such stuff, so it didn’t bother them much.

They picked his body up and wrapped it in a ziplock bag. Then they took the body outside and threw it in a dumpster before they walked back into the facility like nothing happened.

There was no remorse, no regret, and absolutely no sympathy towards the dead kid. All their hearts were sealed and had turned into stones a long time ago.

The following day, a truck arrived that took all the trash from the dumpster and left the place.

All the trash from the facility was dumped in a desolate place, far away from the facility. As far as the eyes could see, only waste was visible. The truck left as usual after dumping everything it had collected that day.

In the vast wasteland, one body was lying. Seemingly dead yet not quite.

"There are three types of Variants in this world. The Warriors that can use the Physical Powers, the Sorcerers that can use the Element Powers and the Warlocks like your father that are awakened with both types.”

A handsome man who looked young, as if he was in his mid-20s, was sitting on a bed. He was talking to a little boy, who sat on his lap and looked at the man with big round eyes.

The boy looked like he was only 4 or 5 years old. He looked at the man, his gaze full of admiration as his eyes sparkled with excitement.

“What do you want to be when you awaken, young man?” the man asked the boy.

“When I grow up. I want to be like you, Father,” The boy squeaked.

“Hahaha, yes, father is the best, isn’t he?” The man said as he laughed out loud.

“Hey, are you saying that I’m not the best!” A woman walked up to them and sat on the bed as well. She looked to be younger than twenty even though she was older in reality. It was all because of the power she had.

She was wearing gloves on both of her hands, which seemed like they were made of rubber.

“Mamma is the best!” The boy said.

“That’s like my good boy,” the woman smiled as she patted the little boy’s back.

“Father has physical power. Will I have that?” the boy said out of nowhere.

“Yeah, your father has the power of strength. It’s super-strong power, but he still isn’t satisfied,” The woman explained as she smiled wryly. “As for you, little guy, You’ll be even stronger than your daddy.”

“Of Course, I’m not satisfied. I have Strength, which is awesome, but it’s still not as good as the Physical Power of infinite healing.” the man pouted as he looked at his wife. “Imagine being able to heal from any wound instantly? How awesome would that be!”

“We both know that it’s only a rumor that you have made up. There’s no such thing as that power yet. As far as I know, no one has awakened with that kind of power.” The boy’s mother squinted her eyes as she looked at her husband.

“None has awakened the healing, but it doesn’t mean that no one will. It’s entirely possible for there to be a power like that. I can think of a thousand more powers that can be there too, which we haven’t seen yet.” The man insisted.

“Hah, you’re still hoping for your childish fantasies to come true, aren’t you? I remember that you still have the novel from your childhood, “The Healer’s Journey to Immortality”. That’s where you got that ridiculous idea from, didn’t you?” The woman replied, laughing.

The man’s face turned somewhat crimson as he asked, “You! Woman, how did you find my secret hiding location?”

****

Lucifer’s tranquil body was lying in the trash in eternal silence.

There was no heartbeat, no movements. His once shiny silver hairs were now dull and dirty. One of the maids had closed his eyelids before putting him in the bag, but his mouth still hung open as if he was trying to breathe, except he wasn’t breathing anymore.

But in that ominous, sorrowful situation, a miraculous thing was happening…

Even though he was declared dead, and his heart had stopped beating, somehow his mind was still working.

Lucifer kept getting flashbacks of his happy days with his parents, which played like a movie inside his head, and it felt surreal.

Everything in his life was so good until his 5th birthday when his parents left for a mission but never returned. Little Lucifer kept waiting eagerly for his parent’s return, but he didn’t realize that there was nothing left to wait anymore.

The ones that came back were men in army uniforms who took him from his house and left him in a place called “the facility”. That was where he spent the next five years of his life alone, in a small room.

He still remembered the pain he went through when he was told that his parents were dead. It felt like someone had snatched the ground from under his feet, and a huge burden was thrown upon him.

He would often dream about drowning in infinite darkness and unable to breathe in it. It took him such a long time to process the information before actually believing it. He only did so when he was shown the news coverage in the facility.

The news anchor talked about the Strongest Hunter team of Elisium being wiped out inside the newly discovered Rank 4 dungeon at the center of the abandoned island of Friesia.

After a few days, Lucifer was told that this was a facility that would train and monitor his powers that might be as strong as his parents.

He was told that he could help humanity just like his parents, and he naively believed that dream. But years kept passing, and his powers didn’t wake up.

Although the staff of the facility didn’t misbehave, their behavior wasn’t good either. He wasn’t trained in the least. He had become just like a prisoner, but he didn’t lose hope about awakening his powers and becoming a great warlock like his father. It seemed like a path that would make him feel closer to his parents.

His dreams came crashing when they told him that he wouldn’t have any powers ever. But his misery didn’t end there as he was brought to a room and tortured until he died.

His ruffled screams echoed through the room; he couldn’t take it anymore, it felt like every bone and every vein inside his body was exploding. But nobody stopped the pain. Nobody paid heed to his non-stop begging as the pain increased fold by fold, pushing him towards the door of eternal death.

He still couldn’t help but wonder what his mistake was. All he wanted was to help people just like his parents did. Yet, he wasn’t given the opportunity.

Instead, he was tortured and killed by the same humanity that he wanted to help. Was this what his parents died for? What kind of ‘humanity’ were they trying to save. The one that didn’t have the slightest regret while killing their son?

If this was it… if this was what humanity was… then he didn’t want to be a hero who protected these so-called humans anymore. Humankind was not worth saving. Humanity was not worth any sacrifice.

His brain was indulged in so many random thoughts despite the fact that his heart wasn’t beating at all.

However, soon another miraculous thing happened.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

Lucifer’s completely stopped heart started beating again. His chest heaved as his nostrils sucked oxygen in, making him alive again.

His body that had gone pale started gaining color again as blood flow resumed in his body. His body gained back all the senses he had lost. He could hear the sound of the wind as well.

*note if you read this until the end thank you for reading this I had many failed attempt of creating novel I gave up creating my two other novels I had in mind and this is my most successful novel*