In The Camp

Creed was lost in thoughts, sitting on the chair while gazing at the golden egg. It was too late until he felt a strange sensation in his body; The temperature dropped by several degrees and his breathing became grim.

It felt as if he was underwater inside freezing water. Though his consciousness was still with him, he felt as if he was drowning. Stuff inside his room looked blurry but still noticeable.

Things quickly became spooky when he looked at the golden egg again.

The egg had gained its golden glow back and was shining like a star and hovering in the air. This made him remember the scene in the elder's tablet with the crucified snake-women.

"Is this finally the end? Is this egg going to eat me just as it tried with that snake-lady?" Creed had a gloomy look on his face.

"Ah shit... why can't I just catch a break?"

He could see that the egg was shining, but that was just it. He didn't get any painful feeling or energy drain either. Though he felt a little numb with his drowning perception and blurry vision, this feeling was like half-sleep and half-awake.

He did some simple calculations in his mind, while he also tried to remember the faces of the people he knew and pinched at his hands to see if he was dreaming but, apparently he was not.

Strangely, he could hear and perceive things too. He felt like he was in a state of nirvana until he saw movement in the egg. The egg began shivering uncontrollably.

Before Creed could even adjust to what was happening, multiple golden chains rushed out of the egg and all reached to grab multiple places in his body.

The chains grabbed his legs, his hands, waist, and his neck too, as if they would drag him into the hell the very next moment. The scene was similar only with the difference that the snake-woman was crucified and he was chained. Suddenly all the previous images of the tortured snake-women started flashing in his mind at once. 

"Okay, dad! I am coming to you sooner than you expected." Creed did not understand what was happening. He tried to break free, but he couldn't.

"Fuck! This evil egg will really eat me, I miss those days when people were supposed to eat the eggs and not the other way around!"

Unexpectedly, he felt a warm sensation where the chains had grabbed him. The more he tried to rationalize his thoughts, the spookier and weirder the situation was turning into.

After a brief and pointless struggle, Creed realized that the egg had morphed into a ring and now it was speeding up towards him like a bullet. He squinted and realized that the ring has stopped 2 cm near his head. Much to his surprise, the ring again changed direction and rushed toward his hand until it got itself attached to his index finger. Creed was stiff as a board and couldn't figure out anything since everything happened so fast.

~Knock Knock Knock~

"Hey, Creed! open the door." A voice came from behind the door.

Creed came back to senses as if nothing happened, the ring or chains also vanished. Everything suddenly became normal. He felt rather spooked, as the ring suddenly melted and vanished inside his body.

"Hey Creed, open up man." The banging sound jolted him back from his thoughts. "You dead or what?"

He pulled himself back up and went towards the door. He opened and saw a person with 5'9 height, same as his own, and with a face rather playful. He wore glasses, and a uniform provided by the military.

"Hey, Jake!" Creed peeked outside.

His name was Jake Collins. He was a cadet, same as him, and the only friend that Creed had after coming inside the glitch.

Jake looked at him, smiled. "Hey man! Did you know that secretary Alia has got a tattoo on her lower waist?"

Creed's expressions turned ugly, and he pushed the door back.

"Wait, wait! I was just kidding, man!" Jake pushed the door to resist him."How would I know where she got a tattoo or not?"

"Dude, I was sleeping. What the hell!" Creed had an annoyed expression."I am not interested in a tattoo on that witch's waist!"

"Of course not! Because you're only interested in the tattoo on the lieutenant's waist!"

Creed's expression again turned into disgust as he started pushing the door again.

"Stop stop dude, I'm sorry man, stop closing the door." Jake kept on chuckling. "Jeez, you are no fun."

"What do you want, Jake?" He couldn't ignore him. "I was busy, Just say it."

"Dude, just look at the time, it's 7:30 am!" Jake while pointing towards his watch." I came to get you for breakfast. Come on, or you will starve yourself to death."

"Right! you go to the canteen," Creed replied, then he closed the door."I'll see you there after I get changed."

"Okay, Just don't take too much time. I'm hungry like a beast." 

"Didn't he said he was sleeping?" Jake said mulling over to himself  "Then why did he say he was busy?" Eventually Jake went to the canteen without giving it much of a thought.

After closing the door, Creed checked his room for some changes or changes in his body. But he felt nothing out of ordinary. No sign of marks on his finger or some strange symbol anywhere else.

It was like the golden-ring vanished into thin air, but it was still inside his body. A chill crawled on his body. It made him even more uncomfortable that a highly suspicious and unknown object was inside his body. With all the occurrences that happened regarding the egg, he was sure that the egg was some kind of major disaster. It could always choke or poison him from the inside.

But there was no point in considering things with no kind of proof, so he changed into his uniform and went to the canteen. There, he saw Jake sitting with a girl with his food tray. They both saw Creed coming with his own tray.

"Here comes the freak! I will take off now. A word of advice—Stop wasting time with him and come to our table. You are wasting your talent in his company. The sooner you understand, the better. See you later, Jake," Said the girl with a curvaceous figure with a smirk and left the table Jake was sitting on.

Seeing this, Creed sighed heavily. He brought his food tray and sat on the table Jake was sitting on. He didn't look Jake in the eye when he spoke.

"What she said is true! The sooner you get it inside that thick skull of yours, the better."

"Sorry man, you had to hear that. But you've got to stop saying mean things about yourself. You are not as bad." Jake was fidgeting with his fork on the spaghetti in his tray.

"Not as bad, dude..." Creed pointing his fork towards Jake, waiting for an answer. "How many Cadets have you met that are stuck on their root chakra for an entire year?"

"None," Jake replied immediately.

"So... why don't you go with them? What's the point of this sticking-to-a-loser facade?" Asked Creed with an expressionless tone.

"Bro, this is not some kind of facade. You are a friend. I just don't think you are a loser. You are still not dead even after an entire year inside the glitch. And from my perspective, that's a lot of winning, so it proves nothing." Jake responded to him with honesty. "So what if you are stuck on a step? That doesn't make you a loser, at least not in my dictionary."

"What kind of stupid-ass dictionary is that?"

"It's the same dictionary that says that Creed Gryffon is an exception," Jake smirk at him playfully. "And secretory Alia is a hottie."

"A 'loser' for a friend and a 'witch' for a crush, you the very definition of crazy." Creed shrugged at him, realizing there was no point in debating with him.

"So what's up with the '4-sisters'?" Jake changed the awkward topic. "Are they still bullying you?"

"Yup, you know how they are, but this time they made me use my last beta-pill. And they also snatched dad's ring, which was my last financial pillar for my family." 

"Man! that's brutal ... both the things were important to you, this is too much!" Jake uttered as he sipped his juice. "Why don't you ask for help from the lieutenant on this."

"She's got no obligation to help me, and I don't really want her help, anyway." Creed clutched the fork tightly. "I will sort this matter myself and will return those bastards the favor ten folds."

"Yeah! sure, tough guy. You're the man, but take my spare beta-pill for now," Jake slid a beta-pill towards him. "Just in case. That's best I could help you right now."

Without hesitation, Creed slid the pill back to him. "Nope, don't want it."

"If you don't take this right now, I will beat you like pulp and then make you eat it with your ass right here, right now!" Jake replied while sliding the beta-pill back to him. "You don't want that, do you, stubborn boy?"

Jake's eyes flashed and a strange and ominous aura burst out of his body. While Jake forcefully slid the pill back towards him. Every sense in Creed's body was screaming 'Death'; his pupils shrank and sweat dripped from his forehead. This rapid escalation of events made everyone inside swiftly turned their heads at the couple.

"Okay! okay, fine, I'll take it," Creed tried to calm him down as he looked at others who were staring. "Don't get your chakra all riled up now!"

"I knew you were a smart guy," Jake turned back to normal and not bothering to look at the people who were staring.

"Well, I have good news for you. Interested?" Said Jake.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Creed had excitement on his face. "I could really use some good news right now!"

"I have heard from dad, the genius Tang Lie has delivered a lecture on Chakra Fundamentals yesterday and I have got a recording," asked Jake, trying to lighten up his mood. "You want it?"

"Now that my friend is something I can look forward to!"