Lowly Ascent

Cain picked some daggers he got from one of the many corpses; his original weapons were still in the watchtower on his original body. 

Slowly, he brought the daggers to his throat.

'I'm sorry, I'm a failure. I won't shame anyone anymore…'

Just as the daggers began to scrape against his skin, a soft charismatic voice rang inside Cain's head.

Spooked, he looked up and saw that the willow tree's branches enveloping him, surrounding him, and giving off a warming glow.

"Wait, my child, do not end it here; you still have so much to do. Remember your resolve all those years ago." 

The voice then changed, it was familiar. It was the voice of a professor Cain knew at Nevarus.

"You do not need to do this; you forget yourself. Don't you know why things like these happen? You forget the real disease of the world: humans. How they belittle and bully, take advantage of others, and destroy people's very lives! The lives of their very own people!"

Its voice changed again, it was Feick's voice.

"You know it well boy! That if anyone you knew found out your identity, they would immediately turn on you and treat you like the rest. Everyone holds a mask close to their face after all!"

Next, it was time for Cain to hear a voice he never thought he could again, John, his 'father'.

"You know well your 'Father' didn't care for you; you were just an experiment. Remember! Fulfill your true destiny and become what you were meant to become!"

Cain…was confused; deep down, he couldn't deny what the voice said for he always felt it to be true. But he had to deny it, otherwise, he would be denying his life until now.

Humans deny the truth often. Cain was no exception to this truth, for lies were barriers, they protected the mind, especially so for Cain.

"N-No, you lie! Luna cared for everyone; she wouldn't care about my identity. Fath...Master also cared for me; he sacrificed himself for Luna! You lie!"

The voice then changed to that of someone he didn't know.

"Even if your loved ones didn't hold as much prejudice as others, you know your relationship wouldn't be what it was!"

The voice laughed as if mocking him.

"Your master was a horrible person towards you; he fully expected you to die all those years ago when he injected that volatile serum. Do you think such a selfish person would sacrifice himself? Just wait until you find out the truth!"

Finally, the voice changed into an ancient and commanding voice.

"And even so, they are dead, the two people who might've cared even a little for trash like you have perished! Now ask yourself, why has this happened?"

Before Cain could answer, the voice did for him.

"It's because of how disgusting the people of this world are! Didn't you come here to get rid of that white monster? It was an animal acting on instinct.

"We both know the elders were the ones who let this situation happen. It's people like them that cause people like Luna to die! It's the sickening and sinful people of the Landfill who you should seek out!"

Cain began to crumble. Maybe this tree was right? 

Yet, his will was broken, and renewing such a thing was hard, even for a masterful manipulator.

Cain was confused. "Just what do you want?! Why me!"

The voice turned soft and warm, like spring, "Heh…it's not what I want to do but what you were originally meant to do. Use that virus you planned to use for your brain; it will unlock the sealed memories locked away so long ago. Rebirth! I will help you see, see the truth you refuse to accept!"

Cain stayed silent and slowly took out a vial that magically appeared in his pocket. He stared for a while before he uncapped it, the liquid inside evaporated into gas, creating a purple-tinted mist.

The ritual began, and the mist entered Cain through his eyes, mouth, and ears and reached his brain as a painful operation commenced.

"This area is sacred, I can help in your endeavors; just continue enduring the pain, little one." The voice became monotone, giving Cain some half-hearted encouragement.

Cain bled blood and even some pieces of gray matter. His head was a mess. One slip-up would lead to death.

After a day or two of unbearable pain, a human opened his eyes; they were red like an evil ghost's, dyed in the crimson of his own blood. 

Cain's skin was pale with a shade of green as if it were made of jade, and his hair was darker than the black hole hanging in the sky.

He had succeeded, and in doing so, his memories, his trauma, and his madness, from all those years ago, had slowly returned. 

It was a crashing wave trying to drown his mind, to destroy his soul. 

Cain was bordering on true insanity, one without rationality, he was but a broken man. He wasn't equipped to deal with such challenges. Yet he pressed on, every second getting worse.

His eyes did not glint, but deep in his irises, you could see terror. They gave off an eerie feeling of dread. The transformation even made Cain look more charming than before, like the apple in the Garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit, pure, spotless, and tempting.

"Better now? How does it feel? You are no longer a human but a plague! A pestilence in the flesh of one!" The tree shook in excitement. 

Cain looked at the tree; his face had no emotions. He tried to study the tree but learned nothing, it was a tree after all.

For the first time since the ritual abruptly started, Cain spoke.

"I…I think I understand now. I know that if the undead didn't come, something else would. I simply wasn't destined to be happy. This world is rife with pain; I've always known it but refused to see."

The ancient voice changed into a youthful one, "Good. Good! Now, you need to only get stronger! You only have those three bacteria for offense and that weak Zimo-based body for defense. The evolution you just underwent only helped in the aspect of the mind, useless in most fights!"

The tree seemed to laugh at him. But it then spoke again, in the voice of a mother, love, and care permeating from the sound.

"Take a look at the white undead; it was able to become so powerful because it holds a powerful virus. If you can understand it, you will no doubt break through to Grade 4. I wish you luck, little one; I wait to see your improvement! With it, accept this other gift, it will keep your mind stable!"

Cain nodded, a tree branch extended out and touched his head. Immediately Cain felt the madness slipping away, being locked away somewhere in his mind. 

He then walked atop the mountain of corpses and grabbed a few samples of the White One's corpse, not forgetting to bow to the tree. 

With nothing left to do in this dark cavern, Cain turned back to the stairs. He then made the journey back, ascending to the Union's headquarters.

He was reborn, and now with a new purpose, like a zealot with only one goal, to ruin an already rotten world. 

Cain's face was cold, barren of any emotion.

'I will do as Numineer recommended, I will spread chaos. All to cleanse the world! I will be the virus that will spread despair, to cleanse sin! A world such as this isn't right! It shouldn't exist!'

He had completely lost it, a puppet with new tight strings. 

...

Left behind, the gigantic tree's branches rustled with excitement.

'Hehehe, so long it took, but I now have the perfect pawn. Hehehe, he will be a good tool! He might even be the final push I need!'

'It took awhile; I had to even exert myself to brainwash that girl, but he is now mine; the perfect puppet I tailor-made! The brainwashing was  perfect, he is now set on the course I design, I will soon gain everything I lost, I will be returned to my long lost status!'

'Hehehe, the human Cain, show me something great hahaha! I will be the final winner!'

Numineer's branches trembled in excitement. His time living in isolation would soon be up.