Ten got up on his own. The black plane had faded away and it seemed as though Q hadn’t noticed Ten’s inscription activating.

“Like I said… just a little tired… I think I tripped on my foot…” Ten explained laughing it off.

Q looked a little concerned now.

“We should put the training on hold today… you don’t seem to be in the best shape…”

Ten’s heart sank. He needed to know what had happened to Kal in that fight against the dragon. But he managed to hold himself back from bursting out. After all, he had achieved his original mission to obtain the code to the locked door.

“Y-yeah… let’s do that…”

“If things get worse, we might have to start adding sleeping pills to your regimen…”

Ten left and quickly hurried to his room, his chest felt like it was strapped to a bomb ready to explode at any minute. He barely managed to shut the door to his room as he broke out into a furious rage. He started cursing his weak neural potential and his inability to even control his inscription properly. He began ranting about Q and his dramatic decision to cancel training for the day. Eventually venting his anger towards drugs and their powerfully addictive nature. 

He stopped halfway during this phase. Slowly coming to the realization of the very words that were coming out of his mouth. It felt like he had become a completely different person. This was no longer Ten who was talking. The great hero of Elysion would never. He turned towards a small mirror that was in his room. His eyes widened with an internal fear.

“W-who are you…” He started quaking in tears.

“Y-you’re not Ten…”

His blue eyes suddenly glowed with a bright red aura.

“No… I am you…” his own voice spoke back in a deep sinister tone.

“Right now you seek power… I can provide that to you… in return… you must give me more NGF…”

“I-I can’t… The addiction… Q warned me about this…”

“Stupid… are your convictions that weak?”

“C-convictions…”

“You want to become stronger and save your friends, no?”

“I-I do… but-”

“No buts… you’ve hit a complete roadblock in your training… At the rate things are going, it’ll take forever for you to become strong enough to save Kal and Zena in time… if your convictions were strong… you would do whatever it takes, yes?”

Ten stared at the talking shadowy figure that began to emerge from behind him.

“The NGF… Don’t listen to what these idiots tell you… Taking a huge dose of NGF can increase your neural potential by leaps and bounds…”

“A-at what cost…”

“Your very life…”

“What?!”

“But… only if you have a weak resolve… addiction becomes a choice in those with strong convictions… A little drug is nothing to those who have reached the peak of neural potential. Are you scared?”

“Scared?”

“Would you trust those idiots over your own self voice? Everything I do is for us… cast everyone else aside…”

“Only us? What about Kal and Zena…”

“Get rid of them too...”

Ten’s eyes widened with disgust.

The shadowy figure began to oscillate more wildly.

“It seems things are going nowhere… you’re the one who made me do this…”

Sharp claws began emerging from the shadowy figure causing Ten to frantically recoil backwards into a table. His whole body was trembling in fear. Was this what Q referred to as addiction?!

The claws suddenly lunged forward straight for Ten as he screeched in fear. The door to the room quickly opened up.

“TEN!” Q shouted as he watched Ten toss and turn around on the floor screaming.

“SHIT, HE’S GOING THROUGH WITHDRAWAL!”

Q ran over to Ten trying to calm him down.

“MAG!”

Mag came running over to the room.

“GRAB THE SEDATIVE!”

Mag ran back out of the room in a flash.

“I-I didn’t realize… his addiction has already become this bad…” Q said weakly.

He began having traumatic flashbacks to when Daphne was going through the same situation. He suddenly started to feel nauseous and his vision began to blur.

“N-not again… t-this can’t be happening again…”

Mag had appeared in front of Q, injecting a needle into Ten’s arm.

“It’s not your fault Q… Addiction is a very deceptive illness… it’s common for addicts to deceive people around them by acting completely normal…”

“S-still… I let it happen again…” Q whimpered.

“It’s ok… I let it slip past me too…” Mag reassured him.

Ten had calmed down and was now sound asleep.

“What’s with all the commotion up here you guys?!”

Naomi had popped her head out from the side of the door.

Q and Mag turned around.

“Ah, we're just practicing some fighting moves!” Mag laughed.

“Yeah…” Q said weakly.

“OOH LET ME JOIN!”

“Ah well no! It's… uh… Boys only!”

“Huh?!”

Naomi began to pout.

A blueish figure briefly walked across the frame of the door.

“Boys are weird… isn’t that right… erm… who are you again?”

Naomi was now talking with the blue figure which was now staring silently at the three of them.

“Dreya?” Mag asked.

Q looked at her in silence.

She looked down at Naomi, patted her on the head, and swiftly walked off without uttering a single word.

“Wait Dreya! You’ve been eating right?!” Mag got up to chase her down but she was already gone when he reached the hallway.

“Who was that blue girl? Actually… who are you?” Naomi asked.

Mag looked a little annoyed.

***

Ten woke up tied to a chair, unable to move. He began squirming around in a cold sweat as he recalled the shadowy figure that claimed to be him. He heard muffled voices from outside the room. He started to focus and zone in on the talking, utilizing Ikara’s inscription to pick up on what was being said.

“---his addiction has already reached stage 3—”

“---if he reaches stage 4, the chances of him recovering are almost 0%---”

“---we have to take extreme measures right now—”

“---it’s all because of my negligence—”

“---I told you… stop putting all the blame on yourself—”

He started groaning in agony as a ringing headache washed over his body. Then he saw it. The shadowy figure from earlier, lurking in the dark corners of the room. Its red glowing aura emanated as its sharp claws rose from the darkness. Ten let out a blood curdling screech as the claws lunged at him once again.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!!” Ten screamed as he violently squirmed around.

He continued to shout and sob out of fear. Both Mag and Q looked down at the floor in silence. They understood the gravity of the situation they were in.

***

Dreya made her way through the alleyways of the slums in complete silence, keeping her eyes low. She had made sure nobody from the Fourth had followed her.

“What was that all about?” She murmured to herself. She had been referring to what she saw when she walked past Ten’s room. He was unconscious while both Q and Mag were holding him.

“Is he already in the third phase of training? NGF withdrawal? Wasn’t Q training him? Even after what happened with-”

She stopped herself.

“It doesn’t matter…”

She finally reached a dank and dirty area of the slums where a hooded figure was awaiting her.

“You got the stuff?” She asked.

The man pulled out a bag of illegal pills.

“This shit’s pretty potent… the newest craze here in Axel… all the kids are doing it…”

“Don’t care… Send me your wallet address…”

The man tapped a button on his wrist device.

“There…”

Dreya pulled out her own device and tapped a couple of buttons.

“Done… I sent you 5000 PSY…”

“Psyche huh? Heard a lot of good things about their future projects. One of the biggest underground crypto’s right now heh…”

The man tossed Dreya the bag of pills. She stuffed the pills into her back pocket and waved.

“See ya next week… same time…” She said.

“Hey…” A third voice boomed. It was familiar.

Dreya slowly turned her head around as a stream of sweat trickled down her face. Wolf was standing in between Dreya and the hooded drug dealer, his eyes glowing with an intense hue of red.

“What’d you just buy Dreya?”

“That’s none of your business…” She coldly replied.

A long and tense silence followed. Wolf turned to the hooded dealer who was trying to casually walk away.

“You there… what did you sell her?”

“Who knows…”

“If you have more, I’ll buy some…”

The man stopped. “I charge an extra fee for first time buyers…”

“Doesn’t matter…”

Dreya finally gave up. Breaking out into a furious rage as she revealed to Wolf the illegal drugs she had just purchased from the shady man.

“I see…” Wolf responded.

“So are you gonna buy some or what?” The man asked impatiently.

“Yeah, I just sent you some SHC.”

“Shadecoin?” The man sounded a little annoyed as he tossed Wolf a bag of pills.

“Eh… it’ll do I guess…”

***

Wolf and Dreya started walking back to the hideout in awkward silence.

“You do realize what these are right?” Wolf asked Dreya as he inspected the bag of pills he had just purchased.

“Of course I do…”

“Havocyne… an illegal and powerful psychoactive drug that has made a name for itself in the underground world of Axel. Commonly called the Red Veil, consistent use over an extended period of time is known to artificially heighten neural potential to record numbers. The 'red represents the bloodshot eyes and heightened heart rate that result. And the veil represents the loss of rational thought and impulse control.”

“Everything you’re saying, I already know…”

“Did you also know just how addictive and dangerous this drug can be?”

“I knew that too…”

Dreya had finally raised her head up, revealing her blood strained eyes that she was hiding all this time. She stared at Wolf coldly and continued walking ahead.

“Dreya… are you sure this is what Ikara would have wanted?”

“Ikara?” She scoffed.

“I’m not doing this for Ikara… I’m doing this for myself… Ever since that day, I’ve been filled with an incomprehensible rage… even right now, I’m trying my goddamned best to keep it under control…”

A sudden beeping noise came from Wolf’s communication device. Mag was contacting him.

“What is it?”

“It’s Ten… and Q… things have gotten out of hand in the hideout… I tried to stop him… but Q…”

The audio became distorted from a loud collision followed by Naomi screaming.

“NAOMI!” Mag screamed as the communication channel shut off immediately.

Wolf didn’t waste any time, he blasted into the air using his barrier enhancing abilities on his feet. Running straight for the hideout.

Dreya watched him run away. Her bloodshot eyes were devoid of any thought and emotion.

“It really was a withdrawal…” She murmured.

She tsked her mouth in annoyance.

“I can’t have that tad dying yet… he knows something about that girl Zena…”

She summoned a portal and quickly slipped through. Taking a handful of Red Veil as she entered through the mosaic mirage of her Portal Inscription. It was a large dose that she was unfamiliar with.

As she flew through the psychedelic background of her portal, she felt a surge of energy as her eyes dilated with blood red and her heart rate picked up.

***

Ten was now towering over Mag who was using his body to protect a frightened Naomi.

How could things have gotten so dramatic from a mere training arc? In this world, drugs have long since become a part of everyday consumption. Equivalent to that of eating or drinking. Similar to the particular habits people have towards food, such as allergies, diseases, ideologies or simple preference, people’s propensity towards certain medications also varied drastically. Ten was a very rare case… and so was Daphne.

The shadowy figure who was Ten’s demonic ego had fully taken control of him. Dark void-like claws emanated from his dark and suffocating aura. His eyes glowing with a murderous red glare while Naomi’s eyes were widened with an innocent fear as she trembled at her predator.

One of the claws shot itself straight for Mag preparing to pierce the two of them. Naomi screamed as a burst of blood exploded into the air.

The blood had erupted from Ten’s leg as he collapsed to the floor shouting in pain. His attack had been redirected by Dreya’s Portal Inscription, saving Mag and Naomi from imminent doom. The whites of her eyes had now become a matrix of red, oozing out small drops of blood.

“Dreya!” Mag shouted.

He was completely ignored again.

“Before I kill you… I have some burning questions I need answered…” She growled at Ten, as the Red Veil began coursing through her body and mind.

Mag was now unsure who to be more fearful of. Ten who was going through a rare case of NGF withdrawal, or Dreya, who was completely hopped up on Halocyne considering her already explosive nature.

Naomi was now quivering as tears ran down her cheek.

“It’s alright Naomi… don’t cry…” Mag whispered trying to calm her down.

A blurry memory managed to play for a brief second in Naomi’s diseased mind. It was deja vu, she had been in a similar situation before, but back then it was the warm voice of a woman.

“Mama…” She cried out in fear.

Ten had managed to recover from his leg injury and was now ready to counter attack. Dreya prepared herself, as a burning rage began to engulf her entire body. 

Her neural potential had reached a record high.