The Ancient Genes
Chapter 2 - Journey Begins

Max opened his eyes and found himself lying on the roof of the terrace. Feeling a sharp pain on his forehead, he moved his hand towards it to replace a swollen bump.

"Damn that Old geezer, Ouch! this hurts." Max said in agony.

He got up and saw the sun setting on the horizon. Realising that he was out for quite a while, he checked his phone to replace several messages from his Mom.

"Where are you Max?"

"When will you be getting home?"

"Reply to me immediately."

Having no option, he lied, saying that he is out with Mark.

Keeping his phone back into his pocket, Max got off of the terrace and left the school. He walked through the streets thinking all along, "Was that reality or a dream?" But his aching forehead reminded him of the truth.

Max checked his body for any changes, remembering the 'Blessing' the old man talked about. But he failed to replace any changes.

"Was he lying? So much for a God." As soon as he thought this, he heard a sweet and pleasant voice in his head which scared the hell out of him.

«Activating the Gene Awakening system on Host's command»

"W..W..Who's there?" Max jumped around in shock to take a look around. Failing to detect anyone, he spoke while raising his hands and balling them into a fist, "Y..You wanna play h..hide a..a..and seek? I am pretty strong, just to let you know."

«Reporting to Host, the Gene Awakening System has been fully installed»

This time, he saw a screen with the voice.

"W..W...What the hell !!" .

Suddenly, he felt a cool stream of air in his head calming him down. After calming down, he looked at the screen and asked , "What are you?"

«Reporting to Host, I am a system designed by the Gods to fully awaken the Ancient Genes.»

Hearing it, He couldn't help and got confused, "Didn't the old geezer say that I awakened the genes or something?"

«Reporting to Host, Host has currently awakened only 0.1% of his genes.»

"Only that much, am I strong or what?" Max asked curiously.

«Reporting to Host, Host's current status.»

Name : Max Edwinson (Lv 0) (0/1000)

Race : Primal Human (Unawakened)

Gene Status: Awakened (0.1/100)%

Flow Method : Ancient Manual

Flow Energy : 0

«Stats»

Strength: 7

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 2

Endurance: 3

Vitality: 7

«Skills»

★ Calm Mind (Passive) (Max)

[Calm the Host's Mind, when host reaches his tolerance limit]

★ God's Blessing (Max)

[Allows 10-30% increase in all stats for 30 minutes

Cooldown: 24 hours]

★ Meditation

[Allows the user to gather flow energy. Speed, Effectiveness and time limit of meditation depends upon the INT and END of Host.]

Seeing the screen, he felt a headache and asked the system, "Can you explain it in my language?"

«In Host's language, Host is just a piece of shit and anyone could wipe the floor with Host's face.»

Hearing the system, he felt veins popping out of his head.

"Isn't your language a bit too offensive?" Max asked in anger.

«Reporting to Host, the earlier sentences were spoken in Host's language on Host's command.»

"Who said I talk like that?" he asked as he trembled in anger.

«Reporting to Host»

Host: Max Edwinson

Description : A 16-year-old high schooler, with good looks and average build. Loves his family and his only friend. A person with a single friend, never had any other friends as students treated him differently because of his parents.

Personality: Loving, caring, coward, easily gets carried away, emotional.

—Written by God

PS: Unfilial descendant who is not grateful towards his ancestor, only knows how to curse. Can he really save the world?

Looking at the screen, he felt his hairs rise and his body trembled.

"Ha..ha..Good, very good. JUST YOU WAIT OLD GEEZER, IF THIS DUMB THING CAN MAKE ME STRONG, ONE DAY I WILL DEFINITELY SETTLE THIS SCORE WITH YOU!"

Max looked towards the sky and shouted in anger.

"Who the hell is shouting at this hour?"

"Is this place, to shout, who the hell is it?"

Thanks to his Godly ears, he heard several voices from the nearby houses. Hearing them, he realised that he was in the middle of the street. Thankfully the street was empty , or he might have heard people saying 'look, he went crazy after failing to awaken.'

So before anyone could get out, he dashed through the street towards his house.

After a while, Max reached his house. Entering through the main door, he found Lilly playing in the hall.

As he looked at her, feeling a gaze on herself, she too looked back at him.

"Mommy, Brother is back." She shouted while running towards her brother.

Seeing her running towards him, a smile appeared on his face and he spread his arms to give her a hug.

She jumped in his arms and he hugged her tightly. He saw his Mom coming out of the kitchen. Thinking back, How close was he to losing all this? Ah! He realised that he really was a big fool. 'Does it really matter to awaken any element? Even if my parents don't accept me, I would work hard to make them proud. If I committed suicide, wouldn't that prove I was a loser to the very core. It would make them even more embarrassed.' He thought

Suddenly, Max felt something wrong and looked at Lilly in his arms. He felt her body was cold and her complexion was looking worse, as well.

He looked at Mom and asked, "Mom, Is Lilly sick?"

Hearing him, Mom walked towards him and picked her up.

Feeling her cold body, she asked "Baby are you alright?"

"Me...Yeah, I am fine," Lilly replied in her cute child-like voice.

"Don't you feel cold?" Mom asked Lilly.

"No..Ah! Mommy, Brother look here... I made something in my hands!" Lilly started shouting excitedly.

Max moved closer to take a look and found a little bean-sized crystal in Lilly's hand. He moved his hands forward to touch it, but Lilly took it away before he could touch it.

"Won't you allow me to touch it, Lilly?" he looked at her with pleading eyes.

"But what if it breaks?" She asked.

"No it won't, I promise."

"No." She refused.

"I will give you chocolate if it breaks. Please just let me touch it once." He again looked at her with pleading eyes.

She hesitated, but seeing her hesitation, Mom persuaded her, "Baby let your brother touch it."

She reluctantly opened her hands and Max touched the crystal.

But after touching the crystal, he confirmed it to be a piece of ice. It all made sense now. He looked at Mom and gave her the nod which she was waiting for.

Seeing him nod, she turned her head, but he could still see the streams of tears flowing out of her eyes. So in the end, it did matter. He felt bitter in his heart for not being able to fulfill their expectations.

But there was also joy. Even if he could not do it, his sister awakening as a variant was enough for people to shut their mouths and his parents could finally raise their heads properly.

He left Lilly in his Mom's arms and walked towards his room, so that she wouldn't have to hide her face.

Reaching his room, Max gave his father a call to inform him about the event. Hearing his excited voice over the phone, he couldn't help but feel something burning within himself.

After hanging up the phone, he tried to figure out his feelings.

Was it anger towards his fate? Was it hatred towards his parents? or Was it jealousy towards his sister?

No, it was something very simple. It was his hunger for power.

He lied down on his bed and asked the system, "Explain to me my current situation."

«Compiling the list of things considering Host's request»

«First, Host is too weak considering the basic standards of this world. An average human in this world has around 10 points on all his stats.»

«Second, Host's most important task is to get strong right now.»

«Third, Host needs to begin his journey of gaining power by enhancing himself with Flow energy»

Hearing the word 'Flow' again, he couldn't help but ask, "What is flow energy?"

«Reporting to Host, it is a superior form of energy, a grade higher than Mana. Only people who could perceive this energy can ascend to Godhood. It is also referred to as "Fate." Everything has a flow. The flow of a human can be considered to begin at birth and he follows it until death. But when one decides to go against this flow or his fate, He can strengthen himself and when one finally breaks the flow to gain control of it, one reaches Godhood. But it is not easy for humans of the current era to go against the flow. Even being able to feel it is an achievement for them.»

"Whoa! Doesn't that mean the humans of the past are stronger than the current ones?"

«Yes»

"Wait! what about me?" he asked.

«Even though Host has not fully awakened his Genes, I am here to help Host»

"Doesn't that mean, as long as humans have systems like you, we can create an army of flow users?"

«Reporting to the Host, only humans with ancient genes can have the system.»

"Oh! I see."

"Max, whom are you talking to?" He heard his Mom's voice outside the door.

"Ah! I am on the phone with Mark," he lied.

"Make it quick, your Dad is here, we are going to have dinner." She spoke.

"Okay."

Hearing her disappearing footsteps, he let out a sigh.

"System, do something. I can't communicate with you like this in public or else people will really think I went crazy after failing to awaken."

«Reporting to Host, Host can communicate with the system through his thoughts»

"That's nice. Yeah!, I forgot to ask, how do I gain flow energy?"

«Reporting to Host, Host can gain flow energy in two ways. The primary source is Meditation, while secondary sources are Quests»

After hearing the system, he decided to meditate after having his dinner.

He went downstairs and found his parents and sister at the dining table. he took his seat and for some reason, a silence prevailed as they ate.

Finally, his father broke the ice, "So when is your graduation ceremony?"

"It is still a few months away." he replied.

"Max, we received an urgent mission recently. We have been summoned by the Association." His father said, still with the same expression.

Listening to him, Max tightened his grip on his spoon while maintaining his expression and asked, "So when will you be leaving?"

"Tomorrow." his father spoke and Max felt both of them gazed on him.

"What about Lilly?" he asked.

"We will leave her with your grandparents," his father replied.

"Hm...I see." he replied.

"You don't need to worry, you can ask Rolv for anything in our absence. And after your graduation ceremony, we will take you with us."

"I am done." He got up from his seat and, putting on his headphones, he walked towards his room.

Getting into his room, he let out a sigh.

Pushing the unnecessary thoughts away, he lied down on his bed and activated the «Meditation» skill.