Gifted

Master Scott's Guild

Trace was lazing around at the main hall of the Guild, bored out his mind as he awaits for orders. He was itching to charge into the battlefield, that it greatly annoyed and frustrates him that he was stuck at the Guild. Trace would've already went into battle, if not for his Guild master's order to stay put and await for further instruction. The problem was that Trace is not the patient kind of guy and always wants to be on the action. Unknowingly to him, he would be getting the action that he so d.e.s.i.r.es.

As he slumps on one of the couches, heaving out a sigh; The door to the main hall suddenly blew up, greatly startling him and the rest of his guildmates who's at the hall with him.

"What the f***" Trace cursed loudly, as the explosion scared the living daylights out of him.

As the smoke rises, a silhouette began to appear. It was hazy at first, but as whoever is behind the smoke walked closer, the silhouette became more defined.

Out of nowhere a manic laugh reverberate across the main hall, sending down chills on every person that heard it.

"I have to say, it's going to be a feast!" A voice said with great vicious delight.

"Bloody hell" Trace said with a deep frown, upon hearing the familiar voice. Trace swore that he had already heard that voice somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint when and where exactly.

* Huge arrogant smirk - Check

*Manic laugh - Check

*Overly tattooed body - Check

*A huge f***ing d***! - Definitely Check

After going through his check list, Trace is 100% sure that it was that a**hole from the equally a**hole's guild, Darius.

"How did you f***ing get in here?!" Trace spat as he glared at the unwelcomed visitor with great disdain.

Seeing the cute little glare that was directed to him, Darius howled in laughter, finding Trace's strong animosity towards him, funny.

Trace clench his teeth in anger as his hands turned into tight fists. Trace was livid and wanted nothing more than to just punch the douche in the face, but as much as he wanted to, he wasn't going to make a newbie mistake, by just rushing in. Trace calmed himself and though of the best coarse of action to take next.

"Hey sh**face, you finally done laughing your f***ing a** off?" Trace spat, not caring to hide the hostility behind his voice.

Finally calming down from his hysterical laughter, Darius' expression suddenly shifted into something that could make everyone who looks at him, pee their pants. His manic grin is nowhere to be seen, as a more sinister expression washed over Darius' face.

"Let the feast, begin!" Darius said with an ominous voice.

It happened so fast, that the events that proceeded next, didn't immediately register in Trace's brain.

Trace was only snapped out of his daze when he saw one of his guildmates getting chased by a huge black figure. His guildmate was in such a state of panic that he tripped over himself. When his guildmate tried getting up, both of the said guildmate's leg were suddenly pulled.

"No! Help Me! No! No! Anybody please HELP ME!" The Gifted shouted on top of his lungs as the black figure pulls him closer to it.

Trace swore that he saw the black figure smile, as if it was enjoying itself, as it watches its prey struggle and claw his way forward, for dear life.

Once his guildmate was closer to the black figure, Trace saw the black figure open its mouth, revealing a set of shark-like teeth, before feasting on his guildmate's mid torso.

The Gifted had only one thought in his mind, and that is to survive. Pumped up with so much adrenaline the Gifted continued to crawl his way forward with all of his might, as a small but triumphant smile appeared on his face when he started seeing progress.

"Yes! I'll live! I'll live!" The Gifted kept repeating with manic desperation as he unrelentlessly crawled forward.

Trace felt vile rise up from his c.h.e.s.t as he stood petrified, watching in horror. Trace's heart felt like it got run over by a truck, got hit by a wrecking ball and got pounded to dust by a sledge hammer when he saw the triumphant expression on his guildmate's face. His guildmate just kept crawling forward, that he didn't even notice that his body was already torn in half.

The black figure happily munched on the Gifted's lower half, while the gifted desperately crawled forward, leaving a trail of blood and guts.

"I'm going to live! I'm going to live! I'm going to-" The Gifted's voice got cut off, when another black figure grabbed his dismembered body with its mouth.

Trace trembled in fear as he watches his guildmate's lifeless body got torn apart once more, when the black figure that got to his guildmate first came and fought with the other black figure. It was like watching a pair of wolves fighting over a piece of large meat, or a pair of dogs fighting over a toy doll.

"Ah! Aaahhhh! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" Trace finally snapped and let out a loud and pained cry, that almost busts his vocal chords. In his brain was a vivid picture of his guildmate's lifeless eyes, starring at Trace, engraving it on his memory.

"YOU MOTHER F***ER!" Trace roared as he charged towards the black figures that ate his guildmate.

With extreme speed, Trace kicked the black figured on his right while punching the one on the left. The black figure on the right flew and crashed on one of the Grecian style pillars in the main hall, while the other collided with another Black figure that's currently busy eating another Gifted.

Trace suddenly appeared in the air, atop the two black figures. Activating the two black metallic beaded bracelets on each of his wrists; the metallic beads separated from each other and rained down on the two black figures.

In a blink of an eye, trace was back to where he previously stood. With a wave of his hand, the beads multiplied tenfold, before exploding in a chain reaction. The beads might be small, but the boom that they gave was not. The explosion that it caused was so big that it also burned a lot those black figures that were close enough to the explosion and got caught in it.

When the explosion happened, Trace already appeared on top of the black figure that crashed on one of the hall's pillars. As the black figure emerge from the rubble, tens and thousands of plasma bullets raid down on it as a greeting from Trace. Holding a gunblade on each hand, Trace spun like a top in extreme speed, before descending down and slashing the black figure with both blades, slicing the Shadow's core along the way.

Trace roared at the sight of the remaining black figures that invaded their guild. Blinking all over the place, as he wrecked havoc to those that hurt and killed his brothers.

It was fortunate for Trace that his fire power was enough to also destroy the Shadows'c core, because to him, the knowledge of the Shadows have a core is unknown to him. He was not even aware that what he is facing were in deed the bade of their kind.

While Trace killed every Shadow in his path, Darius just watched from the entrance, where he still stood. The amused smirk on his face never left him, as excitement started to bubble inside of him.

Trace Aroa: dubbed by his peers as 'The Echo of Time', due to his Gift that grants him the ability to manipulate time. Not only is he able to fast forward and rewind the time of oneself, Trace can also manifest the multiple futures of any object that he has touched once, into the present. Scott believes that the capabilities that Trace is showing in the present is only the tip of the iceberg, and that Trace's potential is limitless.

With his overwhelming power, Trace is recognized by Master Scott as one of his strongest guild members.

But after killing too many shadowed figures, that he already lost count of, Trace finally reached his limit.

"Oh, already reached your limit?" Darius taunted with mock surprise, "I though you were stronger than this. I have to say I'm disappointed." Darius shook his head with genuine disappointment, frowning at Trace's extremely pitiful and exhausted state.

Trace's knees buckled as he started coughing out blood. The pain in his body was so excruciating, that he started heaving heavily, as he started having a hard time to breathe.

Every power comes with a price. The more Trace uses his Gift, the more it takes a toll on his body, draining him bit by bit. Of course he can heal his wounds through reversing time, but it doesn't mean that the pain that he felt would also easily fade.

Darius really did thought that Trace would bring him more fun, but alas, he's just like all the rest; A big disappointment.

*Tsk* *Tsk* *Tsk* "I really have to say Trace, for someone that is considered to be one of Master Scott's strongest guild member, I expected more." Darius said with a chilling cold voice, as he started getting more and more angry.

"F***ing worthless piece of s***!" "Darius' angry voice boomed, making every dark figure freeze from what they're doing.

"How can I f***ing enjoy, when a piece of s*** like you is starting to act like f***ing b***!" Darius cussed like no tomorrow as he started malding over the disappointment, that is Trace

"I can't even f***ing enjoy killing you myself! Arggg! F***! F***! F***!" Darius growled as he started tearing Trace's guildmates, like paper.

One gifted was trying to run for his life, when a strong hand grabbed fistful of his hair, halting his attempts of escaping.

Darius calmly lifted the Gifted in the air while facing him, like the Gifted weighed nothing.

"Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!" The Gifted begged as he kept struggling to get free from Darius' clutches.

The Gifted felt like he was looking at a demon, but a beautiful demon, as Darius' obsidian eyes looked at him with piercing glare.

The Gifted started becoming more and more entranced, the longer he stares at Darius' obsidian eyes. He swore that Dariu's eyes were the most beautiful thing that he has seen in his entire life.

Suddenly Trace saw his guildmate started acting weird, as his guildmate slowly started struggling less and less.

"Blame your guildmate for being such a b***" Darius said with malice, but his face was devoid of emotion.

"Nooooooooooo!" Trace shouted on the top of lungs, as Darius ram his free hand into the Gifted's stomach.

"Ark! Ack! Ar-ckk....." The Gifted let out pained noises, every time Darius twists his hand inside of him.

Blood spilled out of the Gifted's mouth the moment Darius pulled his hand back, while clutching fistfuls of the Gifted's intestines.

Releasing his hold on the Gifted's hair, the Gifted lifeless body plopped down to the ground like a rag doll, while Darius started eating the intestines that he pulled out from the Gifted's body.

"YOU SON OF A B***! I WILL KILL YOU!" Trace howled, as he struggles to stand on his feet.

Feeling annoyed at being disturb on his meal time, Darius turned to the Shadows around him, who are currently watching like behaved puppies, and ordered with a cold voice "Kill him", before getting back to his "food".

All the Shadows immediately came after Trace, upon hearing Darius' order.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Trace kept crying out, as he pound his fists on the ground in frustration and helplessness.

He didn't have any strength left to even stand. The only thing that he could do was watch helplessly as another one of his brothers died in front of him.

Just as Trace was about to be pounced on by a Shadow, a fist flew in the air at a blinding speed, disintegrating the Shadow and its core to nothingness, the moment the fist came in contact with the Shadow.

Suddenly strong hand gripped Traces shoulders, making Trace hysterical.

"Get off of me! Get off of me you mother f***er!" Trace kept shouting as he tries to escape and get away from the iron grip hands on his shoulders.

"Trace! Trace it's me Scott! It's Scott!"

When Trace heard the familiar voice of his guild master, he immediately stopped struggling. Trace's mind was in a state of such disarray, that he didn't even notice Scott entering the hall, along with his other guildmates. His other guildmates handled the rest of Shadows, while Scott came to Trace's rescue.

One look at Scott's face, tears immediately pooled on Trace's eyes, as he began to crumble.

"I couldn't save them" Trace's voice broke, as tears started streaming down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, master! I tried to save them, but I couldn't. I'm so sorry!" Trace kept apologizing as he broke down in front of his guild master.

Trace is a confident, easy going, fun, and chill dude. He always has a smile on his face; he's snarky and is always the life of the party. But seeing Trace's current state, absolutely broke Scott's heart. He treated all his Guild members as his little brothers, and seeing them killed and hurt to such an extent, made Scott livid.

After taking a calming breath, Scott said in a soft voice.

"It's okay now Trace, I'm here now. I won't let anybody hurt you anymore, so just rest." Scott comforted Trace, as Trace sobs on his c.h.e.s.t.

"Arthur" Scott called

Arthur just nodded and gently placed a hand on Trace's back. Slowly Trace's shaking body began to calm down, as his sobs grew softer and softer.

After a couple more seconds, Trace's body slumped down on Scott, while Scott held Trace's body gently in support.

"Take Trace and the rest out of here. Head straight to Lady Maria's guild, she knows what to do." Scott commanded with a hard voice, as he gently place Trace's body on Arthur's back.

"What about to you?" Arthur asked, when he saw Scott turn to the battle field.

"I'll stay here and make them pay for the lives they have taken." Scott said, as strong aura started oozing out of his body.

"But-" Arthur tried reasoning, only to be interjected by Scott.

"Arthur, you are the only person I trust that can keep everyone alive. Please don't do this for me, but for your little brothers." Scott said

After Arthur heard the urgency and the pleading in Scott's voice, he out a helpless sigh.

"Fine!" Arthur said through gritted teeth, as he reluctantly agrees. "But you better still be alive when I come back with help in tow"

"This lot is not enough to take me down" Scott replied with a small grin on his face.

"And you better keep it that way" Arthur said before shouting "Everyone head to the tunnels and carry the injured!"

"But-" Gabe argued as he wanted to stay, but Arthur's glare cut him off.

"Master's orders!" Arthur said before anyone of his stubborn guildmates could argue.

Everyone in the guild, except from Scott and Arthur, have no idea what they are facing. They would be killed in a instant if they go in thinking of themselves as strong. Many have already lost their lives, and Arthur would be damned if even more are lost.

Arthur then, started heading to the tunnels, where they could make their escape. Hot on his trails are all of his guildmates that are still alive.