Erik was just an ordinary teenager until one faithful camping trip. He was thrust into a world...
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Prologue
Erik was just an ordinary teenager until one faithful camping trip. He was thrust into a world full of monsters with powers that could only come from comic books. Armed with the power derived from one of his favorite gaming genre, could he stop the hidden mastermind behind this game of life and death, all before the demon devoured his soul from within?
Prologue
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," my friend screamed as his forces were quickly overwhelmed before his base was overrun. A victory scream appeared on my screen as a smirk formed upon my face. "How the fuck did you get so many units so quickly?"
"It's all about resource management," I pointed out and checked the scoreboard. I was amongst the top ranked as usual. There were a handful of people better than me, and from their avatar's names, I assumed they must be Korean or Chinese. Those guys or girls were hardcore real time strategy (RTS) players. They lived off their skills. As for me, I only played for fun and pleasure. I switch off my phone soon after and looked outside the window, seeing dozens of trees flew by.
"Man, where are we?" I asked. Lance, the buddy sitting next to me gave a shrug. His attention was glued to his phone, oblivious to the surroundings. I wondered if he was still in game or just checking up his Facebook or Instagram. Good thing we still have the internet.
After a couple of minutes, I gave a yawn and decided to take a nap. It might take a few more hours to reach our camping destination. Every year, the school switched locations to keep our anticipation up. This year was no difference. We were going to camp somewhere in the mountain.
I woke up when the bus came to a screeching halt. I looked out the window and found nothing but trees, indicating that we were not there yet, unless we were camping in the woods. I looked over my seat towards the front and found everyone did the same. At the front of the school bus, the driver was raising his hands as if someone was threating his life. I couldn't see what was happening, but a few people in front could.
They were terrified.
"Alright, everyone off the bus," someone outside screamed. I jerked and bumped into Lance when a fist hammered the window.
"Everyone stays calm," miss Hargrave said. She was my English teacher. Beautiful blond hair masking pale skin. She wore large round glasses covering her almond eyes. She clapped her hands and helped the students off the bus. I was amongst the last couple of people to leave.
"What the fuck is going on," my friend Lance asked. Outside were four people holding guns, pointing at us. One of them seemed to be familiar.
"Is that Luke?" I asked, wondering if this was a joke. Luke used to go to our high school until he was expelled for bringing knifes to class. He almost stabbed a teacher. Lance nodded but too frightful to say anything.
"Hey guys," Luke spoke up and waved at everyone like we were all still his friends. We were – sort of – not really. "Glad you all could make it."
"Mr Stance," Mr Wellington said sternly. He was the teacher in charge of his camping trip. "I don't know what this, but you better –
Bang!
What!? What!? What!? I didn't see what just happened. My eyes landed on Mr Wellington's body as blood pooled under his head. There was a hole at the centre of his forehead. My eyes followed the smoking trail towards a handgun that ended him. Where did that come from!?
"You're not the boss of me," Luke said and twirled the handgun in his hand playfully. That when the scream started. It was Sarah. She was shut up by a powerful backhand slap.
"Stop it," miss Hargrave called out and came to the girl's aid while other girls began to whimpered. I look to my side and found Lance had taken a few steps back. I apparently did the same. I wanted to run, to run for my life, but they had guns. They could shoot me down with ease.
"Boss, is this bitch needed? There's no ring on her."
Luke – the boss apparently – only whistled and looked miss Hargrave up and down. "Say, are you a virgin?"
"What?" Miss Hargrave let out a puzzling look. "How dare –
Bang!
Sparks flew as bullet ricochet off the side of the bus. Luke lowered his pistol and smiled. "Remember to…" he gestured a finger across his throat "… when you're done. No loose end."
"Sure thing, boss," the man responded before dragging Miss Hargrave by the shoulder. "Come with me bitch. I will show you a good time."
"Wait, where are you taking me!? Let me go! Please!" the poor woman tried to wrestle against her captor, but he was simply too strong. She was dragged into the bush to be –
"You bastard," Mark shouted and jumped the nearest gunman. The other students followed suit and did the same. Before I realized what was happening, I was piling on top of the nearest gunman and tried to wrestle his gun from him. Lance – despite his fear – grabbed a rock and smashed the man's head, allowing me to grab the assault rifle. I quickly pointed the gun at Luke and noticed two others were doing the same.
"Someone called the cops," Mark said as he got off the ground panting. His face was bruised as he took on the gunman by himself while one of his buddy – George – grabbed the gun. Everyone who were able to pulled out their phone called the cop immediately. The girl spoke hastily and ineligibly to the operators on the other end. "And someone go help Miss Hargrave!"
"You guys should be more worry about yourself," Luke responded as he twirled his handgun in his index finger, completely unwary of the change in situation. "Give the weapon back to my men and drop your phones before I murder the lots of you."
"Fuck you!" Mark called out before a flying knife embedded into his throat.
"Mark! You bastard!" George pulled the trigger but somehow Luke got behind him. Holy fuck! How could he move that fast!? It was like he just teleported! A knife severed George's spine from behind as a hand grabbed hold of the rifle and fired at Thomas. Thomas fired back, but only managed to hit George before he was riddled with bullets.
I immediately dropped my gun and raised my hands in surrender. "Wait! Wait!"
"Good choice," Luke said as he was ready to shoot me. He then pulled the gun out of George's hand and dropped the quarterback's body onto the ground. "Now…"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three girls' head exploded as Luke executed them in cold blood. My eyes widened as I realized what they had in common.
"Lance! Drop your phones!" I shouted at Lance before another couple of gunshots went off. A boy and girl died from their brain being scattered across the ground. My knees weakened as I watched the horrid scene. A teacher and seven students killed. Mark was still alive, gripping his throat as blood oozed between his fingers. He was on his knees, trying to stop the bleeding.
Luke crouched to his level before hammered the knife in without hesitation. "I never liked you. Just because you're the school quarterback, you get all the girls?"
"W-why are you doing this…?" Linda sobbed.
"There is a reason, but you don't need to know," Luke said and tossed the rifle to one of his men. He then looked at the one near me, who had his head smashed by Lance. He was still alive despite the serious injury. "Seriously guys, please refrain yourself from killing my men. She will have my ass for this."
She? Who was he talking about?
"Alright, everyone shut up and follow me. If anyone tries to run away," Luke said and pointed the gun at the unconscious man's head. He pulled the trigger as I flinched. "You will join him. Oh yeah, where's that idiot? Go get him and kill the bitch."
One of the men nodded and ran into the bush. There was a scream a moment later before two men returned.
"Fuck, I was getting to the good part, until you spilled her guts all over my dick," the man growled before looking around and seeing his dead comrade. "The fuck happened?"
"He was weak," Luke said flatly and gestured everyone to follow him.
"We're going to be killed, aren't we?" Lance asked and I nodded in agreement.
"Did you see how he moved?" I asked and recalled the scene a moment ago. One moment, Luke was standing acting, twirling his pistol. The next moment, he was behind George and stabbing the man through the back with a twelve-inch blades. Where did that blade comes from?
"No," Lance responded.
"Exactly," I said and tried to make sense of what happened.
"Alright, here we are," Luke announced as he led us into an opening in the wood. We soon came to a cauldron with a woman draped in cloak looking over it. She had unearthly white hair and enchanting purple eyes. "Sup? I brought the sacrifices."
Sacrifices? Before I could display my worry, Jerry bolted, bumping into several girls in the process. He didn't make it more than a dozen steps before he was gun down.
"Idiot, as if you can get away," Luke muttered as the woman with white hair only give a glance. She didn't seem particular interested at all. She whispered something to Luke before heading off into the woods as Luke gave her a salute. "Alright, everyone gets in line."
"Hey, what about us?" one of the armed men called out. "You promised us supernatural powers."
"Right, right. Join the line," Luke said.
Did I hear that right? Supernatural powers? What the fuck is going on? How did a simple camping trip become something like this?
Luke looked at us and snickered. "Yeah, you heard him right. I'm going to give you godlike power."
"Bullshit," I heard someone cursed before he screamed.
"Ah! Ah! You fucking crazy son of a bitch," Ben shouted as he gripped his thigh. A knife, held by Luke pierced cleanly through his jean. Crimson colour began to displace the faded blue of the fabric. His expression was full of shock.
Again!? He teleported. Is that the power he was referring to? It was unreal!
"By the way, don't think that you can go up against me," Luke said and nudged the knife a bit deeper into the bleeding flesh. "I can slit all of your throat before you could even think of trying to off me."
With that said, Luke returned to the side of the cauldron causing everyone to gasp. He definitely had some sort of teleporting power. No, if it was just teleporting then we should at least able to react to his attacks. Ben was as surprised as everyone. It wasn't teleporting. Was it superspeed?
"Time stop," Lance muttered weakly.
I looked at Lance who was staring at the ground. I followed his gaze and saw foot print leading back and forth from the cauldron. It stopped at each of us before returning the cauldron. The imprints on the dirt didn't show a sign of someone running really fast. It was normally paced as if there was not a single care in the world.
"Time stop," I muttered and sweated profusely. If Luke could actually stop time then his threat had some weights. I wouldn't know I was dead before I was actually dead. Fuck! Good thing I didn't try to shoot him.
"Alright, enough idling," Luke called out and grabbed the wooden ladle. He dipped it into the bowl and scooped up a blood red liquid. There was something floating in it and it was moving. "So who's first? Wendy?"
"Please don't, Luke," Wendy called out. "I will do anything."
"Alright," Luke said before spraying her brains onto the girl behind her. Leal screamed in shock and before she was killed, someone called out.
"I'll do it!" I covered my mouth with wide eyes. Why did I do that?
"Alright, Erik, drink up," Luke said and offered me the ladle. I looked at the bloody stew and noticed an eye was looking up at me. What is this shit!?
I closed my eyes and drank the soup. Imagine the worst thing you ever eaten, multiple that by a million. The moment the soup ran down my throat, I threw up and fainted.
"Ggggrrrrrr," an animalistic growl echoed in my mind.
I snapped my eyes opened as the sun shone upon me. I pulled myself up and hold my stomach. All around me were burnt bodies. There were at least a dozen body. "W-what happened?"
"This is awesome," Lance called out as I turned towards him. His body was wrapped in flames yet it wasn't hurting him. "This is my power, Erik! My power!"
He was laughing manically. I had never seen Lance like this.
[Kill him and absorb his essence. Do it now!]
"What?" I uttered and looked around. The voice was everywhere and nowhere. It was inside my head. It was deep and ominous.
"You've heard it too right?" Lance asked as his flames swirled into a ball. It glowed fiercely like a mini sun in the palm of his hands.
"What?" I uttered before dropping onto the ground. The fireball flew overhead and slammed into the tree behind him. The tree exploded into splitter, raining burning barks onto the earth. "Lance!"
"C'mon, use your power and fight," Lance called out.
I looked at the charred body next to me. "Did you do this!?"
"Yup," Lance said as flames around him swirling into orbs. "It was so easy… killing them and taking their energy."
"You!" I growled. "How could you? They were our friends!"
"No, they aren't," Lance said as dozens of flaming orbs surged at me. "And neither are you."
I couldn't dodge. There was nothing I could do. My entire world turned dark as fiery orbs turned the area into an inferno. All I could heard was a madman drowning with power.
Prologue
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," my friend screamed as his forces were quickly overwhelmed before his base was overrun. A victory scream appeared on my screen as a smirk formed upon my face. "How the fuck did you get so many units so quickly?"
"It's all about resource management," I pointed out and checked the scoreboard. I was amongst the top ranked as usual. There were a handful of people better than me, and from their avatar's names, I assumed they must be Korean or Chinese. Those guys or girls were hardcore real time strategy (RTS) players. They lived off their skills. As for me, I only played for fun and pleasure. I switch off my phone soon after and looked outside the window, seeing dozens of trees flew by.
"Man, where are we?" I asked. Lance, the buddy sitting next to me gave a shrug. His attention was glued to his phone, oblivious to the surroundings. I wondered if he was still in game or just checking up his Facebook or Instagram. Good thing we still have the internet.
After a couple of minutes, I gave a yawn and decided to take a nap. It might take a few more hours to reach our camping destination. Every year, the school switched locations to keep our anticipation up. This year was no difference. We were going to camp somewhere in the mountain.
I woke up when the bus came to a screeching halt. I looked out the window and found nothing but trees, indicating that we were not there yet, unless we were camping in the woods. I looked over my seat towards the front and found everyone did the same. At the front of the school bus, the driver was raising his hands as if someone was threating his life. I couldn't see what was happening, but a few people in front could.
They were terrified.
"Alright, everyone off the bus," someone outside screamed. I jerked and bumped into Lance when a fist hammered the window.
"Everyone stays calm," miss Hargrave said. She was my English teacher. Beautiful blond hair masking pale skin. She wore large round glasses covering her almond eyes. She clapped her hands and helped the students off the bus. I was amongst the last couple of people to leave.
"What the fuck is going on," my friend Lance asked. Outside were four people holding guns, pointing at us. One of them seemed to be familiar.
"Is that Luke?" I asked, wondering if this was a joke. Luke used to go to our high school until he was expelled for bringing knifes to class. He almost stabbed a teacher. Lance nodded but too frightful to say anything.
"Hey guys," Luke spoke up and waved at everyone like we were all still his friends. We were – sort of – not really. "Glad you all could make it."
"Mr Stance," Mr Wellington said sternly. He was the teacher in charge of his camping trip. "I don't know what this, but you better –
Bang!
What!? What!? What!? I didn't see what just happened. My eyes landed on Mr Wellington's body as blood pooled under his head. There was a hole at the centre of his forehead. My eyes followed the smoking trail towards a handgun that ended him. Where did that come from!?
"You're not the boss of me," Luke said and twirled the handgun in his hand playfully. That when the scream started. It was Sarah. She was shut up by a powerful backhand slap.
"Stop it," miss Hargrave called out and came to the girl's aid while other girls began to whimpered. I look to my side and found Lance had taken a few steps back. I apparently did the same. I wanted to run, to run for my life, but they had guns. They could shoot me down with ease.
"Boss, is this bitch needed? There's no ring on her."
Luke – the boss apparently – only whistled and looked miss Hargrave up and down. "Say, are you a virgin?"
"What?" Miss Hargrave let out a puzzling look. "How dare –
Bang!
Sparks flew as bullet ricochet off the side of the bus. Luke lowered his pistol and smiled. "Remember to…" he gestured a finger across his throat "… when you're done. No loose end."
"Sure thing, boss," the man responded before dragging Miss Hargrave by the shoulder. "Come with me bitch. I will show you a good time."
"Wait, where are you taking me!? Let me go! Please!" the poor woman tried to wrestle against her captor, but he was simply too strong. She was dragged into the bush to be –
"You bastard," Mark shouted and jumped the nearest gunman. The other students followed suit and did the same. Before I realized what was happening, I was piling on top of the nearest gunman and tried to wrestle his gun from him. Lance – despite his fear – grabbed a rock and smashed the man's head, allowing me to grab the assault rifle. I quickly pointed the gun at Luke and noticed two others were doing the same.
"Someone called the cops," Mark said as he got off the ground panting. His face was bruised as he took on the gunman by himself while one of his buddy – George – grabbed the gun. Everyone who were able to pulled out their phone called the cop immediately. The girl spoke hastily and ineligibly to the operators on the other end. "And someone go help Miss Hargrave!"
"You guys should be more worry about yourself," Luke responded as he twirled his handgun in his index finger, completely unwary of the change in situation. "Give the weapon back to my men and drop your phones before I murder the lots of you."
"Fuck you!" Mark called out before a flying knife embedded into his throat.
"Mark! You bastard!" George pulled the trigger but somehow Luke got behind him. Holy fuck! How could he move that fast!? It was like he just teleported! A knife severed George's spine from behind as a hand grabbed hold of the rifle and fired at Thomas. Thomas fired back, but only managed to hit George before he was riddled with bullets.
I immediately dropped my gun and raised my hands in surrender. "Wait! Wait!"
"Good choice," Luke said as he was ready to shoot me. He then pulled the gun out of George's hand and dropped the quarterback's body onto the ground. "Now…"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three girls' head exploded as Luke executed them in cold blood. My eyes widened as I realized what they had in common.
"Lance! Drop your phones!" I shouted at Lance before another couple of gunshots went off. A boy and girl died from their brain being scattered across the ground. My knees weakened as I watched the horrid scene. A teacher and seven students killed. Mark was still alive, gripping his throat as blood oozed between his fingers. He was on his knees, trying to stop the bleeding.
Luke crouched to his level before hammered the knife in without hesitation. "I never liked you. Just because you're the school quarterback, you get all the girls?"
"W-why are you doing this…?" Linda sobbed.
"There is a reason, but you don't need to know," Luke said and tossed the rifle to one of his men. He then looked at the one near me, who had his head smashed by Lance. He was still alive despite the serious injury. "Seriously guys, please refrain yourself from killing my men. She will have my ass for this."
She? Who was he talking about?
"Alright, everyone shut up and follow me. If anyone tries to run away," Luke said and pointed the gun at the unconscious man's head. He pulled the trigger as I flinched. "You will join him. Oh yeah, where's that idiot? Go get him and kill the bitch."
One of the men nodded and ran into the bush. There was a scream a moment later before two men returned.
"Fuck, I was getting to the good part, until you spilled her guts all over my dick," the man growled before looking around and seeing his dead comrade. "The fuck happened?"
"He was weak," Luke said flatly and gestured everyone to follow him.
"We're going to be killed, aren't we?" Lance asked and I nodded in agreement.
"Did you see how he moved?" I asked and recalled the scene a moment ago. One moment, Luke was standing acting, twirling his pistol. The next moment, he was behind George and stabbing the man through the back with a twelve-inch blades. Where did that blade comes from?
"No," Lance responded.
"Exactly," I said and tried to make sense of what happened.
"Alright, here we are," Luke announced as he led us into an opening in the wood. We soon came to a cauldron with a woman draped in cloak looking over it. She had unearthly white hair and enchanting purple eyes. "Sup? I brought the sacrifices."
Sacrifices? Before I could display my worry, Jerry bolted, bumping into several girls in the process. He didn't make it more than a dozen steps before he was gun down.
"Idiot, as if you can get away," Luke muttered as the woman with white hair only give a glance. She didn't seem particular interested at all. She whispered something to Luke before heading off into the woods as Luke gave her a salute. "Alright, everyone gets in line."
"Hey, what about us?" one of the armed men called out. "You promised us supernatural powers."
"Right, right. Join the line," Luke said.
Did I hear that right? Supernatural powers? What the fuck is going on? How did a simple camping trip become something like this?
Luke looked at us and snickered. "Yeah, you heard him right. I'm going to give you godlike power."
"Bullshit," I heard someone cursed before he screamed.
"Ah! Ah! You fucking crazy son of a bitch," Ben shouted as he gripped his thigh. A knife, held by Luke pierced cleanly through his jean. Crimson colour began to displace the faded blue of the fabric. His expression was full of shock.
Again!? He teleported. Is that the power he was referring to? It was unreal!
"By the way, don't think that you can go up against me," Luke said and nudged the knife a bit deeper into the bleeding flesh. "I can slit all of your throat before you could even think of trying to off me."
With that said, Luke returned to the side of the cauldron causing everyone to gasp. He definitely had some sort of teleporting power. No, if it was just teleporting then we should at least able to react to his attacks. Ben was as surprised as everyone. It wasn't teleporting. Was it superspeed?
"Time stop," Lance muttered weakly.
I looked at Lance who was staring at the ground. I followed his gaze and saw foot print leading back and forth from the cauldron. It stopped at each of us before returning the cauldron. The imprints on the dirt didn't show a sign of someone running really fast. It was normally paced as if there was not a single care in the world.
"Time stop," I muttered and sweated profusely. If Luke could actually stop time then his threat had some weights. I wouldn't know I was dead before I was actually dead. Fuck! Good thing I didn't try to shoot him.
"Alright, enough idling," Luke called out and grabbed the wooden ladle. He dipped it into the bowl and scooped up a blood red liquid. There was something floating in it and it was moving. "So who's first? Wendy?"
"Please don't, Luke," Wendy called out. "I will do anything."
"Alright," Luke said before spraying her brains onto the girl behind her. Leal screamed in shock and before she was killed, someone called out.
"I'll do it!" I covered my mouth with wide eyes. Why did I do that?
"Alright, Erik, drink up," Luke said and offered me the ladle. I looked at the bloody stew and noticed an eye was looking up at me. What is this shit!?
I closed my eyes and drank the soup. Imagine the worst thing you ever eaten, multiple that by a million. The moment the soup ran down my throat, I threw up and fainted.
"Ggggrrrrrr," an animalistic growl echoed in my mind.
I snapped my eyes opened as the sun shone upon me. I pulled myself up and hold my stomach. All around me were burnt bodies. There were at least a dozen body. "W-what happened?"
"This is awesome," Lance called out as I turned towards him. His body was wrapped in flames yet it wasn't hurting him. "This is my power, Erik! My power!"
He was laughing manically. I had never seen Lance like this.
[Kill him and absorb his essence. Do it now!]
"What?" I uttered and looked around. The voice was everywhere and nowhere. It was inside my head. It was deep and ominous.
"You've heard it too right?" Lance asked as his flames swirled into a ball. It glowed fiercely like a mini sun in the palm of his hands.
"What?" I uttered before dropping onto the ground. The fireball flew overhead and slammed into the tree behind him. The tree exploded into splitter, raining burning barks onto the earth. "Lance!"
"C'mon, use your power and fight," Lance called out.
I looked at the charred body next to me. "Did you do this!?"
"Yup," Lance said as flames around him swirling into orbs. "It was so easy… killing them and taking their energy."
"You!" I growled. "How could you? They were our friends!"
"No, they aren't," Lance said as dozens of flaming orbs surged at me. "And neither are you."
I couldn't dodge. There was nothing I could do. My entire world turned dark as fiery orbs turned the area into an inferno. All I could heard was a madman drowning with power.
Real Time Strategy (1)
Erik slowly opened his eyes and greeted the darkness. There wasn't a shred of light to be seen. He reached out his hands, trying to grab hold of something – anything. Nothing was within range. He couldn't even feel himself. It wasn't a good sign.
"I'm dead?"
[No, you are not]
A deep, ominous voice responded. It was everywhere, echoing throughout the darkness. A strange glow appeared beneath him. It formed a line, spreading outwards and became a square. The square glowed brightly before filling its inside with vibrant green colours. He could see the grassy landscape through the square. It was like a window into another world. He tried to touch the grass to no avail.
"What is this?"
[The manifestation of your power]
"My power?" Erik asked and recalled the recent event. He could still feel the heat rising off his skin and the sounds of flaming bolts slamming against the earth. "The bastard! I will kill him!"
[It will be quite impossible. Your power is difference than the person you called Lance. His power is classified as offensive. Yours is supportive. It is ill advised to confront him directly. You will only get yourself killed]
"Okay… thanks for the advice," Erik snorted and pondered about the classification. Offensive and Supportive. Did that mean there was also Defensive. He needed to know them, but before all of that, there was the most important question of all. "Who are you again, voice in my head?"
[…]
"Hello? You're still there?"
[I am thinking. I was only born yesterday, after all. The best answer I can come up with is: I am you, at least I am a part of your psych]
"That is just great. Now, I have a murderous voice in my head," Erik deadpanned and turned his gaze towards the grassy square with glowing blue outline. He wondered if he was going insane. He might as well humour the voice. "Alright, how does my power work?"
[Your power worked very much like a strategy game. This is a build tile. It is a grass tile. You can build any kind of structure on this tile. There are currently three type of structures you can build without additional research or advancement. The first –]
"Wait, wait, what!? I have gaming power. This is a tile?"
[…]
"You there?"
[I do not like to be interrupted]
"Uh. Sorry…?" Erik muttered. "Please continue… ummm… what do I call you?"
[I do not have a name, nor I require one]
"I see… well, we will do something about that later. I can't call you it if you are a part of me," Erik made a note. "What were you saying about my power? Kind of weird that it's like a game."
[A person's power manifests differently based on each individual skillset and abilities. Do not worry. Unlike most people, your class is one of the unique ones. You are a Strategist. Your ability shines the most when commanding others]
"A strategist, huh?" Erik muttered thoughtfully. That kind of make sense. He rather had people doing all the dirty work for him while he seats back and reaped the benefit. But then again, who doesn't? It wasn't a one of a kind mindset. "What would Lance be? Is he a mage?"
[A mage cast spells through incantation or invocation. The one called lance manipulated flames with thoughts and gestures. Furthermore, his conjured flames do not harm him and appeared to be a part of himself]
"So, what is he then?"
[My knowledge only pertaining to your ability and powers]
"Basically, you don't know," Erik said and pondered how much did this voice knew. He wanted to ask about Luke and his power, but this voice likely wouldn't know either. "What were you saying about this tile? The grassy tile right here?"
[Tiles are the foundation of your power. You can build structure upon tiles. These structure in turns give you special ability and skills – such as summons. The more powerful you become, the more tiles are available to you. Thus, it is imperative that you defeat others and absorb their essence]
Erik frowned. He remembered it clearly. The voice had previously told him to kill his best friend and absorb his essence. Was that the reason why Lance killed the others? So that he could be stronger – for what?
"Can a tile be reused?" Erik asked. "If I destroy the building on it, can I put another building there?"
[Yes, you can. Resource is not recoverable, however]
"Resource…? Okay, what resource?"
[To erect any structure on a tile, you require woods, stones, irons and gold. Currently you have 400 woods, 400 stones, 400 irons and 400 golds. You have enough to build a Headquarter or a Barrack or an Armoury. A Headquarter allowed you to overview your entire command structure as well as issue special orders. A Barrack allows you to train units and deploy them against other. An Armoury allows you to improve your unit's weapons and equipment]
Bewildered, Erik tried to scratch his head. He found he was unable to. "Why can't I scratch myself?"
[You are only here spiritually. Your physical body is damaged and required extensive healing. Since the one called Lance is still nearby, it is unwise for you to return to your body at this moment. There are also others that woken up before you lurking about. Confrontation with either one them is highly ill-advised]
Erik blinked. "How many?"
[Including Lance, there are 7 total that survived]
"7 people with godlike power," Erik muttered. Out of almost 48 people on the bus, only 7 survived and gained supernatural power. Were they all going to be like Luke? Or Lance? Murderous lunatic?
"What about Luke?" Erik asked. Luke was the one who started this all. And what about that woman with unnatural white hair? Where was she in all of this?
[I do not see him amongst the survivors. He must have left before anyone wakes up]
"Okay," Erik said. If he was going to confront Lance or Luke, he needed to know the full extents of his ability. "Tell me all you know about my power."
Erik learned from the voice that his power worked like a real-time strategy game. He basically built structures, gather resources, recruit units and sent them off to fight. It sounded simple at first, but it quickly becomes complicated when he learned about unit populations and food limits. Like most RTS games, he had to build housing for his "units" and "foods" to keep them. Both required a tile to build on, and there was only one tile available.
Erik knew he had to build a Headquarter first. Having a HQ allowed him to see all the resources he had as well as issuing special commands to his units not to mention unlocking new buildings. It also gives him some foods and housing for his units. But without a Barrack, he couldn't train any unit. In any case, he still needed to build a HQ first before doing anything.
With a thought, a menu appeared on the tile. He selected the Headquarter and watched it slowly rose from the ground. From the visible architecture, it looked like a medieval building coming right out of fantasy. Its erection stopped when the first spire emerged from the ground. A clock appeared upon the tile. "Count down?"
[You must wait in the outside world for the construction to complete. It is ill-advised to return to the outside world]
"You don't have to tell me twice," Erik said and went over a few things in his mind. He couldn't leave now on the account of Lance or whatever craze lunatic his schoolmate had become. Unlike him, they might gain offensive-type ability. Just seeing Lance in action first hand showed him how dangerous they could become. Luke might not seem much at first glance, but his ability to stop time made him almost invincible. Would surprise attack works? If so, a sniper rifle from afar should do the trick.
As for Lance, there were several ways to deal with the human-torch. It was strange that his clothes didn't burn right off. His flames only burn whatever he wanted to burn. What about the other six people. What kind of power did they gained, and could anyone gain this kind of power?
"Say, did everyone gain a power?"
[No. Only those pure of spirit and heart may gain a power]
"Pure of spirt and heart – right," Erik snorted. "I don't think I'm qualified."
[You are a virgin. That is all that mattered]
"Is that the requirement?" Erik uttered. "What if you lose it after you gain your power?"
[Pure of spirit and heart is only required of gaining a power. After which, it's no longer matter]
"What if you're not a virgin when you try to gain a power?"
[You will die a violent death – or worst]
"There's something worse than death?"
[Your awakened power consumes your mind, body and spirit. You will become the embodiment of your living hell… something like that]
Erik sweat-dropped. "Is that what happened to Lance…?"
[No. The one called Lance is in control. You will know when he is no longer in control]
Erik narrowed his eyes. "You are hiding something?"
[I am you, and I am not you. Let's just say I am what will remain at the end. That is all you need to know for now, Erik Summers. You should rest your mind. The longer you stayed in this realm, the more draining it is on your psych. I too must rest]
Then there was total silence. The only light in the darkness was from the glowing blue tile with the HQ being built upon it.
"Why do I feel I made a pact with the devil," Erik muttered and closed his eyes to get some rest. The pain brought him back to reality. He gasped as he opened his eyes at the burning sky. The forest was burning. He could hear the distance helicopter as it ferried water back and forth.
"L-lance," Erik mustered all the moisture in his mouth to say before rolling onto his belly. He pushed himself off the ground and saw the ghastly sight of his own hands. He was badly burned. His whole body was aching. He soon collapsed and faded into unconscious from the pain.
[Construction completed. Headquarter built]
Unit: 0/10
Gold: 100/1000 (+0)
Wood: 0/1000 (+0)
Stone: 200/1000 (+0)
Iron: 200/1000 (+0)
Food: 0/1000 (+10)
"I'm dead?"
[No, you are not]
A deep, ominous voice responded. It was everywhere, echoing throughout the darkness. A strange glow appeared beneath him. It formed a line, spreading outwards and became a square. The square glowed brightly before filling its inside with vibrant green colours. He could see the grassy landscape through the square. It was like a window into another world. He tried to touch the grass to no avail.
"What is this?"
[The manifestation of your power]
"My power?" Erik asked and recalled the recent event. He could still feel the heat rising off his skin and the sounds of flaming bolts slamming against the earth. "The bastard! I will kill him!"
[It will be quite impossible. Your power is difference than the person you called Lance. His power is classified as offensive. Yours is supportive. It is ill advised to confront him directly. You will only get yourself killed]
"Okay… thanks for the advice," Erik snorted and pondered about the classification. Offensive and Supportive. Did that mean there was also Defensive. He needed to know them, but before all of that, there was the most important question of all. "Who are you again, voice in my head?"
[…]
"Hello? You're still there?"
[I am thinking. I was only born yesterday, after all. The best answer I can come up with is: I am you, at least I am a part of your psych]
"That is just great. Now, I have a murderous voice in my head," Erik deadpanned and turned his gaze towards the grassy square with glowing blue outline. He wondered if he was going insane. He might as well humour the voice. "Alright, how does my power work?"
[Your power worked very much like a strategy game. This is a build tile. It is a grass tile. You can build any kind of structure on this tile. There are currently three type of structures you can build without additional research or advancement. The first –]
"Wait, wait, what!? I have gaming power. This is a tile?"
[…]
"You there?"
[I do not like to be interrupted]
"Uh. Sorry…?" Erik muttered. "Please continue… ummm… what do I call you?"
[I do not have a name, nor I require one]
"I see… well, we will do something about that later. I can't call you it if you are a part of me," Erik made a note. "What were you saying about my power? Kind of weird that it's like a game."
[A person's power manifests differently based on each individual skillset and abilities. Do not worry. Unlike most people, your class is one of the unique ones. You are a Strategist. Your ability shines the most when commanding others]
"A strategist, huh?" Erik muttered thoughtfully. That kind of make sense. He rather had people doing all the dirty work for him while he seats back and reaped the benefit. But then again, who doesn't? It wasn't a one of a kind mindset. "What would Lance be? Is he a mage?"
[A mage cast spells through incantation or invocation. The one called lance manipulated flames with thoughts and gestures. Furthermore, his conjured flames do not harm him and appeared to be a part of himself]
"So, what is he then?"
[My knowledge only pertaining to your ability and powers]
"Basically, you don't know," Erik said and pondered how much did this voice knew. He wanted to ask about Luke and his power, but this voice likely wouldn't know either. "What were you saying about this tile? The grassy tile right here?"
[Tiles are the foundation of your power. You can build structure upon tiles. These structure in turns give you special ability and skills – such as summons. The more powerful you become, the more tiles are available to you. Thus, it is imperative that you defeat others and absorb their essence]
Erik frowned. He remembered it clearly. The voice had previously told him to kill his best friend and absorb his essence. Was that the reason why Lance killed the others? So that he could be stronger – for what?
"Can a tile be reused?" Erik asked. "If I destroy the building on it, can I put another building there?"
[Yes, you can. Resource is not recoverable, however]
"Resource…? Okay, what resource?"
[To erect any structure on a tile, you require woods, stones, irons and gold. Currently you have 400 woods, 400 stones, 400 irons and 400 golds. You have enough to build a Headquarter or a Barrack or an Armoury. A Headquarter allowed you to overview your entire command structure as well as issue special orders. A Barrack allows you to train units and deploy them against other. An Armoury allows you to improve your unit's weapons and equipment]
Bewildered, Erik tried to scratch his head. He found he was unable to. "Why can't I scratch myself?"
[You are only here spiritually. Your physical body is damaged and required extensive healing. Since the one called Lance is still nearby, it is unwise for you to return to your body at this moment. There are also others that woken up before you lurking about. Confrontation with either one them is highly ill-advised]
Erik blinked. "How many?"
[Including Lance, there are 7 total that survived]
"7 people with godlike power," Erik muttered. Out of almost 48 people on the bus, only 7 survived and gained supernatural power. Were they all going to be like Luke? Or Lance? Murderous lunatic?
"What about Luke?" Erik asked. Luke was the one who started this all. And what about that woman with unnatural white hair? Where was she in all of this?
[I do not see him amongst the survivors. He must have left before anyone wakes up]
"Okay," Erik said. If he was going to confront Lance or Luke, he needed to know the full extents of his ability. "Tell me all you know about my power."
Erik learned from the voice that his power worked like a real-time strategy game. He basically built structures, gather resources, recruit units and sent them off to fight. It sounded simple at first, but it quickly becomes complicated when he learned about unit populations and food limits. Like most RTS games, he had to build housing for his "units" and "foods" to keep them. Both required a tile to build on, and there was only one tile available.
Erik knew he had to build a Headquarter first. Having a HQ allowed him to see all the resources he had as well as issuing special commands to his units not to mention unlocking new buildings. It also gives him some foods and housing for his units. But without a Barrack, he couldn't train any unit. In any case, he still needed to build a HQ first before doing anything.
With a thought, a menu appeared on the tile. He selected the Headquarter and watched it slowly rose from the ground. From the visible architecture, it looked like a medieval building coming right out of fantasy. Its erection stopped when the first spire emerged from the ground. A clock appeared upon the tile. "Count down?"
[You must wait in the outside world for the construction to complete. It is ill-advised to return to the outside world]
"You don't have to tell me twice," Erik said and went over a few things in his mind. He couldn't leave now on the account of Lance or whatever craze lunatic his schoolmate had become. Unlike him, they might gain offensive-type ability. Just seeing Lance in action first hand showed him how dangerous they could become. Luke might not seem much at first glance, but his ability to stop time made him almost invincible. Would surprise attack works? If so, a sniper rifle from afar should do the trick.
As for Lance, there were several ways to deal with the human-torch. It was strange that his clothes didn't burn right off. His flames only burn whatever he wanted to burn. What about the other six people. What kind of power did they gained, and could anyone gain this kind of power?
"Say, did everyone gain a power?"
[No. Only those pure of spirit and heart may gain a power]
"Pure of spirt and heart – right," Erik snorted. "I don't think I'm qualified."
[You are a virgin. That is all that mattered]
"Is that the requirement?" Erik uttered. "What if you lose it after you gain your power?"
[Pure of spirit and heart is only required of gaining a power. After which, it's no longer matter]
"What if you're not a virgin when you try to gain a power?"
[You will die a violent death – or worst]
"There's something worse than death?"
[Your awakened power consumes your mind, body and spirit. You will become the embodiment of your living hell… something like that]
Erik sweat-dropped. "Is that what happened to Lance…?"
[No. The one called Lance is in control. You will know when he is no longer in control]
Erik narrowed his eyes. "You are hiding something?"
[I am you, and I am not you. Let's just say I am what will remain at the end. That is all you need to know for now, Erik Summers. You should rest your mind. The longer you stayed in this realm, the more draining it is on your psych. I too must rest]
Then there was total silence. The only light in the darkness was from the glowing blue tile with the HQ being built upon it.
"Why do I feel I made a pact with the devil," Erik muttered and closed his eyes to get some rest. The pain brought him back to reality. He gasped as he opened his eyes at the burning sky. The forest was burning. He could hear the distance helicopter as it ferried water back and forth.
"L-lance," Erik mustered all the moisture in his mouth to say before rolling onto his belly. He pushed himself off the ground and saw the ghastly sight of his own hands. He was badly burned. His whole body was aching. He soon collapsed and faded into unconscious from the pain.
[Construction completed. Headquarter built]
Unit: 0/10
Gold: 100/1000 (+0)
Wood: 0/1000 (+0)
Stone: 200/1000 (+0)
Iron: 200/1000 (+0)
Food: 0/1000 (+10)
Ample Accelerate
Gotta stab fast
- Location
- Texas
Interesting. I'll watch it.
Real Time Strategy (2)
Erik slipped in and out of consciousness. From the glimpse he managed to catch, he was rescued and brought to a nearby hospital via helicopter. The doctors and nurses operated on him and bandaged him up. He had third-degree burns over 90% of his body, and yet, he was still breathing. This was all thanked to his new-found power. His inner realm prevented his soul from passing on. And if his soul remained trapped inside his body, he cannot die in the normal sense.
"I'm not sure how to feel about this…." Erik commented when his consciousness was brought back into the abyss. Darkness enveloped him once more. With his body in such horrid condition, staying awake was an impossible task. The pain was too much for him to handle. Morphine drips didn't help at all, and the attending doctor was about to put him in an induced coma to help with the healing.
[Your physical body is too damage to sustain your consciousness]
"Yeah, I got that," Erik said and thought of numerous ways he could be rendered "dead" despite the welcoming side effect of his power. Beheading would probably do him in. There was no way for him to recover from that. Being shredded into pieces was another.
Erik knew he wasn't invincible – far from it. But if his body remained wholly intact and functional, he would able to basically resurrect himself. Otherwise, he would have to wait until his body 'naturally' heal or someone comes along and patches him up. Speaking of which. "By the way, what were you saying about my healing ability? Is that another side effect?"
[Due to awakening, your body gained several accelerated physical attributes, including enhanced healing. This is natural. If your body is not damaged beyond repair, you will recover with sufficient time]
"Is everyone the same?" Erik questioned. That would explain how Luke managed to man-handled George like he was a child.
[Yes]
"Am I still human?"
[…]
"…"
There was an awkward moment of silence. The voice was thinking.
[Define human]
"Never mind," Erik said with a sigh. He didn't want to start a lengthy debate about what constitutes as a human. He hoped he was still human – or something resembled humanity in a sense. It was bad enough to be burned alive, he didn't want to become something out of a nightmare.
Luke looked like Luke in appearance, but that was all. His personality had changed completely from what Erik recalled. Aside from trying to stab a teacher and getting expelled, Luke had kept to himself most of the time and barely speak to anyone. Erik wondered if Lance is going to be the same? Will all his classmates going to be monsters, killing people without a second thought?
Erik let out another sigh. Putting those thoughts away, he turned his attention to the Headquarter. It was the only building he managed to build with the single tile he had. With its existence, the amount of materials remaining in his "stockpile" were shown. There was 100 golds and 200 stones and irons each left. The HQ costed 300 units of golds, 400 units of woods, 200 units of stones and 200 units of irons.
"How much is one unit of woods?" Erik asked.
[1 unit]
"Of course it is. That was very helpful," Erik snorted and opened up the HQ menu. There was only a couple of options available – recruit and demolish. Demolish was self-explanatory. Recruit on the other hand allowed him to get his first unit: Worker. They costed 30 golds each with 1 gold upkeep per day.
There was such a thing as upkeep. Erik equated them to real-world wages. If he didn't have enough gold to pay the workers, they would quit their job.
With the amount of resources available, Erik could recruit 3 workers off the bat and keep them in his service for 3 days at most. He could dismiss the worker once recruited, but the recruitment cost (30 gold) would be lost. There was no reimbursement whatsoever besides unit slots. A worker cost 1 unit slot and 1 food each day.
"What is the purpose of food if I have to pay their upkeep?" Erik asked.
[Food keeps your units in top condition. Without foods, they will not have the strength to complete their designated task]
"Alright… I guess that make sense but why is there a +10 next to food?" Erik asked. He didn't have a tile to build let alone a food production facility.
[Grassland tiles automatically provide +10 foods each once utilized. A food producing structure will also gain additional productivity if built on Grassland tile]
"I see," Erik took in the information. That meant he wasted a grassland tile for a Headquarter. If he wanted maximum efficiency, he would need to move the HQ to another tile later. Land was also a form of resource and should utilized correctly.
"Moving buildings around going to cost me a lot of resources – and time," Erik sighed. Time was also a resource. Building any structure required time. He sighed again and returned his attention to the recruitment window. "Recruiting probably requires time as well. Should I recruit one?"
Erik held off the thought. If he was stuck in a coma, it was unwise to recruit any unit. He wouldn't be able to do anything with the worker while continuously loses one gold every day.
"Say… Al," Erik began.
[Al?]
"Artificial Intelligent," Erik said. He should give the voice a name. It was easier to hold conversation that way.
[My intelligent is not artificial]
"Dell then," Erik corrected. He didn't want to start pointless debate. Any easy to say name was fine by him. "Say Dell, what would happen if I was put into a coma?"
[It would be equivalent to sleeping]
"So basically, I can't do shit when I'm in a coma," Erik muttered. He didn't have time to waste in a coma. His body would heal regardless he was in one or not. "That's no good. Is there any way out of this?"
[I can sever the tether to your physical body]
"You can?"
[You will die]
"Any options that doesn't involve me from dying?"
[Wait out the coma]
"Tsk… you're no help," Erik muttered. He floated around the abyss for a moment. "Can you reattach the tether once it severed?"
[Yes]
"How long can I stay… alive if the tether is severed?"
[10 minutes]
"10 minutes. Plenty of time. Alright, can you do this then…"
– Real Time Reality –
"He has stop breathing, doctor," the nurses notified. The doctor went to check his patient's body to confirm what he had feared. He shook his head afterwards.
"It's a miracle he was able to stay this long. Please record the time," the doctor said and wrote down his analysis on the patient's log. The patient's name remained blank. They didn't know his name but from his body weight and size, he was just a teenager. The forest fire had claimed yet another victim, and there would be many more once this day is over.
– Real Time Reality –
[It is done. They have taken you to the morgue]
"Cool," Erik said as the feeling of dread faded away. "This must be what it feels like to be a ghost."
[A ghost is a soul without a tether to the physical world. In a sense, it is what you were a minute ago]
"Right," Erik muttered and put that knowledge away. A sheepish smile plastered on his face. "I can't wait to see the mortician's face when I'm up and about."
Erik dropped the smile and returned to the recruitment window. He had more important task than pranking people. He used 30 golds to recruit a worker. The bell in the headquarter chimed and its front door opened. Inside was a swirling purple mist. A man in his thirties emerged from the mist and exited the building. The door closed behind him.
"Some kind of summoning?" Erik pondered and examined the man. He only had a pair of blue pants on. "Hello?"
The man remained unresponsive. He simply looked straight ahead – at nothing. A window appeared when Erik touched the man.
"What will you have me do, my Lord?" the man said as if he had been selected. A crystal appeared above his head, hovering and glowing blue. A circle appeared beneath his feet.
"Oh? This is interesting," Erik said and touched the man again. The crystal flickered.
"Do you need me for something?" the man asked. He looked around before returning to the stance he had initially and staring into the abyss.
"Just like a RTS," Erik said with a grin and tried to illicit a response repeatedly.
"Just point me in the right direction, my Lord."
"Is there some work need to be done?"
"What need to be build?"
"Work, work, work… when will I get pay?"
"Stop touching me there! I don't swing that way!"
Erik froze at the last response. "I didn't expect that. Are they real?"
[They are AI, artificial intelligence]
Erik rolled his eyes and looked at the window appeared next to the man. "Seriously? How am I not surprise?"
Name: William Strongarm [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 80/80
Stamina Point (SP): 50/50
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 10
Constitution: 9
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 8
Charisma: 11
Wisdom: 5
Perception: 9
Luck: 8
Equipment: Bandana (head), Leather Legging (lower-body), Copper Ring (Right hand middle-finger)
"I'm not sure how to feel about this…." Erik commented when his consciousness was brought back into the abyss. Darkness enveloped him once more. With his body in such horrid condition, staying awake was an impossible task. The pain was too much for him to handle. Morphine drips didn't help at all, and the attending doctor was about to put him in an induced coma to help with the healing.
[Your physical body is too damage to sustain your consciousness]
"Yeah, I got that," Erik said and thought of numerous ways he could be rendered "dead" despite the welcoming side effect of his power. Beheading would probably do him in. There was no way for him to recover from that. Being shredded into pieces was another.
Erik knew he wasn't invincible – far from it. But if his body remained wholly intact and functional, he would able to basically resurrect himself. Otherwise, he would have to wait until his body 'naturally' heal or someone comes along and patches him up. Speaking of which. "By the way, what were you saying about my healing ability? Is that another side effect?"
[Due to awakening, your body gained several accelerated physical attributes, including enhanced healing. This is natural. If your body is not damaged beyond repair, you will recover with sufficient time]
"Is everyone the same?" Erik questioned. That would explain how Luke managed to man-handled George like he was a child.
[Yes]
"Am I still human?"
[…]
"…"
There was an awkward moment of silence. The voice was thinking.
[Define human]
"Never mind," Erik said with a sigh. He didn't want to start a lengthy debate about what constitutes as a human. He hoped he was still human – or something resembled humanity in a sense. It was bad enough to be burned alive, he didn't want to become something out of a nightmare.
Luke looked like Luke in appearance, but that was all. His personality had changed completely from what Erik recalled. Aside from trying to stab a teacher and getting expelled, Luke had kept to himself most of the time and barely speak to anyone. Erik wondered if Lance is going to be the same? Will all his classmates going to be monsters, killing people without a second thought?
Erik let out another sigh. Putting those thoughts away, he turned his attention to the Headquarter. It was the only building he managed to build with the single tile he had. With its existence, the amount of materials remaining in his "stockpile" were shown. There was 100 golds and 200 stones and irons each left. The HQ costed 300 units of golds, 400 units of woods, 200 units of stones and 200 units of irons.
"How much is one unit of woods?" Erik asked.
[1 unit]
"Of course it is. That was very helpful," Erik snorted and opened up the HQ menu. There was only a couple of options available – recruit and demolish. Demolish was self-explanatory. Recruit on the other hand allowed him to get his first unit: Worker. They costed 30 golds each with 1 gold upkeep per day.
There was such a thing as upkeep. Erik equated them to real-world wages. If he didn't have enough gold to pay the workers, they would quit their job.
With the amount of resources available, Erik could recruit 3 workers off the bat and keep them in his service for 3 days at most. He could dismiss the worker once recruited, but the recruitment cost (30 gold) would be lost. There was no reimbursement whatsoever besides unit slots. A worker cost 1 unit slot and 1 food each day.
"What is the purpose of food if I have to pay their upkeep?" Erik asked.
[Food keeps your units in top condition. Without foods, they will not have the strength to complete their designated task]
"Alright… I guess that make sense but why is there a +10 next to food?" Erik asked. He didn't have a tile to build let alone a food production facility.
[Grassland tiles automatically provide +10 foods each once utilized. A food producing structure will also gain additional productivity if built on Grassland tile]
"I see," Erik took in the information. That meant he wasted a grassland tile for a Headquarter. If he wanted maximum efficiency, he would need to move the HQ to another tile later. Land was also a form of resource and should utilized correctly.
"Moving buildings around going to cost me a lot of resources – and time," Erik sighed. Time was also a resource. Building any structure required time. He sighed again and returned his attention to the recruitment window. "Recruiting probably requires time as well. Should I recruit one?"
Erik held off the thought. If he was stuck in a coma, it was unwise to recruit any unit. He wouldn't be able to do anything with the worker while continuously loses one gold every day.
"Say… Al," Erik began.
[Al?]
"Artificial Intelligent," Erik said. He should give the voice a name. It was easier to hold conversation that way.
[My intelligent is not artificial]
"Dell then," Erik corrected. He didn't want to start pointless debate. Any easy to say name was fine by him. "Say Dell, what would happen if I was put into a coma?"
[It would be equivalent to sleeping]
"So basically, I can't do shit when I'm in a coma," Erik muttered. He didn't have time to waste in a coma. His body would heal regardless he was in one or not. "That's no good. Is there any way out of this?"
[I can sever the tether to your physical body]
"You can?"
[You will die]
"Any options that doesn't involve me from dying?"
[Wait out the coma]
"Tsk… you're no help," Erik muttered. He floated around the abyss for a moment. "Can you reattach the tether once it severed?"
[Yes]
"How long can I stay… alive if the tether is severed?"
[10 minutes]
"10 minutes. Plenty of time. Alright, can you do this then…"
– Real Time Reality –
"He has stop breathing, doctor," the nurses notified. The doctor went to check his patient's body to confirm what he had feared. He shook his head afterwards.
"It's a miracle he was able to stay this long. Please record the time," the doctor said and wrote down his analysis on the patient's log. The patient's name remained blank. They didn't know his name but from his body weight and size, he was just a teenager. The forest fire had claimed yet another victim, and there would be many more once this day is over.
– Real Time Reality –
[It is done. They have taken you to the morgue]
"Cool," Erik said as the feeling of dread faded away. "This must be what it feels like to be a ghost."
[A ghost is a soul without a tether to the physical world. In a sense, it is what you were a minute ago]
"Right," Erik muttered and put that knowledge away. A sheepish smile plastered on his face. "I can't wait to see the mortician's face when I'm up and about."
Erik dropped the smile and returned to the recruitment window. He had more important task than pranking people. He used 30 golds to recruit a worker. The bell in the headquarter chimed and its front door opened. Inside was a swirling purple mist. A man in his thirties emerged from the mist and exited the building. The door closed behind him.
"Some kind of summoning?" Erik pondered and examined the man. He only had a pair of blue pants on. "Hello?"
The man remained unresponsive. He simply looked straight ahead – at nothing. A window appeared when Erik touched the man.
"What will you have me do, my Lord?" the man said as if he had been selected. A crystal appeared above his head, hovering and glowing blue. A circle appeared beneath his feet.
"Oh? This is interesting," Erik said and touched the man again. The crystal flickered.
"Do you need me for something?" the man asked. He looked around before returning to the stance he had initially and staring into the abyss.
"Just like a RTS," Erik said with a grin and tried to illicit a response repeatedly.
"Just point me in the right direction, my Lord."
"Is there some work need to be done?"
"What need to be build?"
"Work, work, work… when will I get pay?"
"Stop touching me there! I don't swing that way!"
Erik froze at the last response. "I didn't expect that. Are they real?"
[They are AI, artificial intelligence]
Erik rolled his eyes and looked at the window appeared next to the man. "Seriously? How am I not surprise?"
Name: William Strongarm [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 80/80
Stamina Point (SP): 50/50
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 10
Constitution: 9
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 8
Charisma: 11
Wisdom: 5
Perception: 9
Luck: 8
Equipment: Bandana (head), Leather Legging (lower-body), Copper Ring (Right hand middle-finger)
Real Time Strategy (3)
His unit has stats and attributes, not to mention equipment. With years of playing game under his belt, Erik had a good idea of what each stat and attribute entitled. While not unheard of in RTS, unit having stats and attributes brought far more depth and complexity than he'd liked.
"If this unit have stats then the other units should have them too," Erik commented and decided to give an order to William. It was strange the unit had personalized name. He could edit its name, but William was easy enough to remember.
William moved as Erik commanded through simple gestures, walking from one corner of the tile to the next and doubled back. The Headquarter at the centre of the tile took a good chunk of available space, but Erik sure he could fit several Barracks in the remaining space. Sadly, one building per tile was the rule.
"He can't leave the tile," Erik made a note when he tried to get William to move beyond the glowing border of the tile. William collided with an invisible barrier and stopped.
"I can't go there, my Lord," William called out, looking puzzled.
"That's too bad. I thought I have the option to explore the surrounding tiles," Erik said and dismissed one of his theories. Initially, he had believed the darkness surrounded the tile was something akin to the "Fog of War". Whatever the fog was obscuring would be revealed when meets the William's line of sight. It was not the case.
Erik examined the list of commands he could issue to William. He could have William stands guard, patrols, moves, attacks – the standard command found in many RTS. There were also options not found in standard RTS.
"There is no forest nearby, my Lord," William called out when Erik tried to issue 'forests'.
"Interesting," Erik noted before noticing an exclamation mark appeared above William's head. It just appeared. "What is that?"
[An exclamation mark]
Erik rolled his eyes. "I know it's an exclamation mark, Dell. I'm not blind. Why is it there?"
[Your unit requires your attention. It could be several things – an idea, a request, a discovery]
"That's better," Erik said and reached out to select William. His physical body didn't exist in his inner realm, so the gesture was only in his mind.
"My Lord, I think I can find something in the tall grass over there," William suggested and pointed at the grassy patch north west of the Headquarter.
"Now that is interesting," Erik stated as new options appeared on the list of commands. Gathers was not there a moment ago. It appeared as soon as his unit suggested it. He immediately issued the command and watched his only worker headed to the tall grass and entered it. It then strolled back and forth with a timer appeared above its head. The timer was counting down, very slowly.
Like usual, Erik could wait out the timer, which would be hours of boredom or return to the outside world to speed things up or sleep. This wouldn't even be a choice if he had more tiles, buildings and units to manage. Since his body hadn't recovered enough, sleep was the only option.
"Wake me up when something comes up," Erik said and snoozed. He didn't even try to sleep. He just fell asleep after the declaration. It was as easy as flipping on a switch.
[Something comes up]
Erik opened his eyes as blue glow filled the edges of his vision. He gave a yawn and turned towards the only tile he had to check up on William. The older man was still strolling back and forth in the tall grass, but now there was an exclamation mark.
"I found a couple of snakes (+2 food) and a few branches (+1 wood), my Lord," William stated when he was selected. Erik immediately brought up the Headquarter menu and found he now had 1 wood and a total of 11 foods.
"Wait, shouldn't be 12? I had 10 before," Erik said.
[A day had passed]
"What? Are you serious?" Erik uttered. "I just wasted a day sleeping?"
[I am always serious. It was not a waste. Your body recovered sufficiently, and you collected some resources]
Erik twitched his eye before letting his annoyance slid. There was no point of upsetting with Dell. He should have been more specific when requesting its help. At least he learned a couple of new things since last time he was awake. He could really sleep forever if he wanted to and tall grass is a shitty way to gain resource. There was a net gain of 1 wood and 1 food, but at a cost of 1 whole day! That was not a good exchange!
"Dell. Is there a faster way to gather resources? At this rate, I will be dead by the time I get a base up and running," Erik said.
There was a moment of silence. Dell was thinking.
[You could claim resources in the outside world]
"I could?" Erik blinked and slapped himself for the obviousness. "Of course, I could. How else would I fight the others? That's not a question!"
[…]
"This is a question. How do I send my unit into the outside world?"
[By creating a waypoint for your unit to use]
"Dell, I'm like a newbie so treat me like one. How do I create a waypoint?" Erik asked.
[You can create a waypoint by selecting an area and issuing the command "Create Waypoint". You can only create one waypoint per Headquarter. The action can only be done in the outside world]
"I see," Erik said and rubbed his non-existence chin. He paid attention to William, who was gathering whatever he could find in the tall grass. He left William there for now.
– Real Time Reality –
Erik coughed as the cold air filled his lungs. Blurry ceiling slowly refocused and sharpened. He raised his charcoal hand towards his eyes and examined his fingers. The skin was badly charred to the point of cracking. He balled his hand into a tight fist, fissuring the damaged layer. Newly formed skin could be seen between the cracks. At least his enhanced healing worked as advertised.
"Thank God," Erik said and pulled himself upright. The plastic cover slid off his chest and let him see the walking horror he had become. His heart skipped several beats.
"Goddamn it! Lance, you bastard! You turn me into a fucking freak!"
[Do not exert yourself. The damage is extensive, but you will recover in time]
"Yeah, but I will always remember this," Erik snorted. He then pulled himself off the table and onto his two feet. He gripped the table to stop himself from falling over. He panted and scanned the room in detail. There were many tables arranged in rows. Aside of a few, each table was occupied with a plastic cover over the occupant.
Erik approached the adjacent table and rolled up one before rage and fury swirled in his eyes. It was a child, about 8 to 10 years of age. Unlike him, the child wasn't coming back from being burned alive, and the expression the child had would haunted him for the rest of his life.
"Are they all…" Erik uttered and hastily removed the plastic cover from the next table and the next table. Rows after rows of burnt body. The table shook under his fist. "Damn it! What have you done Lance? How could you kill so many people?"
[Absorb their essence]
"What?"
[Absorb their essence]
Erik looked up and found the bodies were glowing eerily. Green ethereal mist was evaporating from their body. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
[It seems that the one called Lance did not take in their essence. He might not bother with such a tiny amount, but any bit helps in the long run. Absorb their essence and strengthen yourself. This many should be more than enough]
"Essence… is that their soul?"
[Does it matter, Erik? With your current power level, you cannot hope to defeat Lance and stop his rampage]
Erik shook his head as the green mist from the body in the table before him entered his nostril. His eyes glowed faintly as he felt stronger – even if slightly.
"Must I become a monster to kill a monster?" Erik questioned and drawled in a deep breathe. The abyss within him churned as his eyes glowed eerie green for a moment. He looked forwards and noted the ethereal mists were all converging towards him. Like a void, he sucked them all up and felt himself swirled with power.
[Congratulation. You have gained another tile!]
"Yeah… but at what price?" Erik muttered and fisted his hands. He bowed at the numerous corpses laid out before him. "I will pay this debt one day, I swear it. The ones who did this to you will pay for it with their life. They all will."
Erik then looked to side, and with a thought, the space distorted and cracked. It shattered like glass, revealing a swirling purple mist beyond. Soon, a man in his early thirties stepped out of it and gave him a sincere bow.
"What is your command, my Lord?"
"If this unit have stats then the other units should have them too," Erik commented and decided to give an order to William. It was strange the unit had personalized name. He could edit its name, but William was easy enough to remember.
William moved as Erik commanded through simple gestures, walking from one corner of the tile to the next and doubled back. The Headquarter at the centre of the tile took a good chunk of available space, but Erik sure he could fit several Barracks in the remaining space. Sadly, one building per tile was the rule.
"He can't leave the tile," Erik made a note when he tried to get William to move beyond the glowing border of the tile. William collided with an invisible barrier and stopped.
"I can't go there, my Lord," William called out, looking puzzled.
"That's too bad. I thought I have the option to explore the surrounding tiles," Erik said and dismissed one of his theories. Initially, he had believed the darkness surrounded the tile was something akin to the "Fog of War". Whatever the fog was obscuring would be revealed when meets the William's line of sight. It was not the case.
Erik examined the list of commands he could issue to William. He could have William stands guard, patrols, moves, attacks – the standard command found in many RTS. There were also options not found in standard RTS.
"There is no forest nearby, my Lord," William called out when Erik tried to issue 'forests'.
"Interesting," Erik noted before noticing an exclamation mark appeared above William's head. It just appeared. "What is that?"
[An exclamation mark]
Erik rolled his eyes. "I know it's an exclamation mark, Dell. I'm not blind. Why is it there?"
[Your unit requires your attention. It could be several things – an idea, a request, a discovery]
"That's better," Erik said and reached out to select William. His physical body didn't exist in his inner realm, so the gesture was only in his mind.
"My Lord, I think I can find something in the tall grass over there," William suggested and pointed at the grassy patch north west of the Headquarter.
"Now that is interesting," Erik stated as new options appeared on the list of commands. Gathers was not there a moment ago. It appeared as soon as his unit suggested it. He immediately issued the command and watched his only worker headed to the tall grass and entered it. It then strolled back and forth with a timer appeared above its head. The timer was counting down, very slowly.
Like usual, Erik could wait out the timer, which would be hours of boredom or return to the outside world to speed things up or sleep. This wouldn't even be a choice if he had more tiles, buildings and units to manage. Since his body hadn't recovered enough, sleep was the only option.
"Wake me up when something comes up," Erik said and snoozed. He didn't even try to sleep. He just fell asleep after the declaration. It was as easy as flipping on a switch.
[Something comes up]
Erik opened his eyes as blue glow filled the edges of his vision. He gave a yawn and turned towards the only tile he had to check up on William. The older man was still strolling back and forth in the tall grass, but now there was an exclamation mark.
"I found a couple of snakes (+2 food) and a few branches (+1 wood), my Lord," William stated when he was selected. Erik immediately brought up the Headquarter menu and found he now had 1 wood and a total of 11 foods.
"Wait, shouldn't be 12? I had 10 before," Erik said.
[A day had passed]
"What? Are you serious?" Erik uttered. "I just wasted a day sleeping?"
[I am always serious. It was not a waste. Your body recovered sufficiently, and you collected some resources]
Erik twitched his eye before letting his annoyance slid. There was no point of upsetting with Dell. He should have been more specific when requesting its help. At least he learned a couple of new things since last time he was awake. He could really sleep forever if he wanted to and tall grass is a shitty way to gain resource. There was a net gain of 1 wood and 1 food, but at a cost of 1 whole day! That was not a good exchange!
"Dell. Is there a faster way to gather resources? At this rate, I will be dead by the time I get a base up and running," Erik said.
There was a moment of silence. Dell was thinking.
[You could claim resources in the outside world]
"I could?" Erik blinked and slapped himself for the obviousness. "Of course, I could. How else would I fight the others? That's not a question!"
[…]
"This is a question. How do I send my unit into the outside world?"
[By creating a waypoint for your unit to use]
"Dell, I'm like a newbie so treat me like one. How do I create a waypoint?" Erik asked.
[You can create a waypoint by selecting an area and issuing the command "Create Waypoint". You can only create one waypoint per Headquarter. The action can only be done in the outside world]
"I see," Erik said and rubbed his non-existence chin. He paid attention to William, who was gathering whatever he could find in the tall grass. He left William there for now.
– Real Time Reality –
Erik coughed as the cold air filled his lungs. Blurry ceiling slowly refocused and sharpened. He raised his charcoal hand towards his eyes and examined his fingers. The skin was badly charred to the point of cracking. He balled his hand into a tight fist, fissuring the damaged layer. Newly formed skin could be seen between the cracks. At least his enhanced healing worked as advertised.
"Thank God," Erik said and pulled himself upright. The plastic cover slid off his chest and let him see the walking horror he had become. His heart skipped several beats.
"Goddamn it! Lance, you bastard! You turn me into a fucking freak!"
[Do not exert yourself. The damage is extensive, but you will recover in time]
"Yeah, but I will always remember this," Erik snorted. He then pulled himself off the table and onto his two feet. He gripped the table to stop himself from falling over. He panted and scanned the room in detail. There were many tables arranged in rows. Aside of a few, each table was occupied with a plastic cover over the occupant.
Erik approached the adjacent table and rolled up one before rage and fury swirled in his eyes. It was a child, about 8 to 10 years of age. Unlike him, the child wasn't coming back from being burned alive, and the expression the child had would haunted him for the rest of his life.
"Are they all…" Erik uttered and hastily removed the plastic cover from the next table and the next table. Rows after rows of burnt body. The table shook under his fist. "Damn it! What have you done Lance? How could you kill so many people?"
[Absorb their essence]
"What?"
[Absorb their essence]
Erik looked up and found the bodies were glowing eerily. Green ethereal mist was evaporating from their body. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
[It seems that the one called Lance did not take in their essence. He might not bother with such a tiny amount, but any bit helps in the long run. Absorb their essence and strengthen yourself. This many should be more than enough]
"Essence… is that their soul?"
[Does it matter, Erik? With your current power level, you cannot hope to defeat Lance and stop his rampage]
Erik shook his head as the green mist from the body in the table before him entered his nostril. His eyes glowed faintly as he felt stronger – even if slightly.
"Must I become a monster to kill a monster?" Erik questioned and drawled in a deep breathe. The abyss within him churned as his eyes glowed eerie green for a moment. He looked forwards and noted the ethereal mists were all converging towards him. Like a void, he sucked them all up and felt himself swirled with power.
[Congratulation. You have gained another tile!]
"Yeah… but at what price?" Erik muttered and fisted his hands. He bowed at the numerous corpses laid out before him. "I will pay this debt one day, I swear it. The ones who did this to you will pay for it with their life. They all will."
Erik then looked to side, and with a thought, the space distorted and cracked. It shattered like glass, revealing a swirling purple mist beyond. Soon, a man in his early thirties stepped out of it and gave him a sincere bow.
"What is your command, my Lord?"
Real Time Strategy (4)
Once prayers were given and bodies were covered, Erik returned his attention to the swirling purple mist. The waypoint acted like a portal connecting the morgue to his inner realm, allowing his unit to transverse between the two with ease. Despite being in the real world, William remained as artificial as ever and responded only to command issued. There was also another exclamation mark.
"My Lord, we can salvage these furniture for our own use. If we break them down, we can use them as construction materials," William suggested. A new option called 'Scavenges' appeared on his list of possible commands.
"I think that's a good idea," Erik said. William immediately picked up the wooden chair nearby and smashed it into pieces, causing Erik to flinch. He nonchalantly collected the pieces and entered the waypoint. A few seconds passed before he emerged and proceeded to smash another wooden chair and collected their fragments.
"Well, that's one way to collect resources," Erik said and checked how much woods it added to his stockpile. Each round-trip William made only added 1 wood. There weren't enough wooden chairs to erect a Barrack. "Do it quietly, we don't want to wake up the dead – or better yet, bring it to the other side and smash it into pieces there."
"As you wish, my Lord," William responded and did as commanded. Once the chairs were all taken to the other side and turned into raw materials, he approached one of the closest tables. Without a thought, he tossed the charred corpse on top of the table and onto the ground and began dragging the table to the waypoint.
"Oi!?" Erik called out and suspended the command. William immediately stopped working and stood there like a statue. "Don't you have any regards for the dead?"
William looked puzzled. "I do not understand, my Lord. What uses a table to the dead?"
Erik stared at the man, amazed. The man seemed to not realize what he did was immoral. "If I order you to kill a newborn, would you do it?"
"Yes, my Lord," William said flatly. There was no sign of hesitation.
Erik chuckled weakly. His chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laughter. "You're not human! You're not. Of course, you're not. How could you be? You're a robot, emotionless machine."
Once his laughter died down, Erik commanded William to help him move all the corpses onto the floor. After that, all the tables were hauled into the waypoint and harvested for woods.
"189 Woods, 203 Iron, 200 Stones, and 69 Golds," Erik checked his stockpile while wondering where the mortician was. He must had cause a ruckus looting everything that wasn't bolted down. "When did I gain 3 Irons?"
[Those tools that the Worker brought back were recycled into raw iron. If you liked to keep them as they were for usage, an Armoury is required]
"Is that so," Erik muttered. He wanted a Barrack first, so he could have proper combat units, but the problem was Golds. If one worker cost 30 Golds, a combat orientated unit would cost a lot more. Its upkeep would also be significant more as well. "How much does it cost to build an armoury?"
[300 woods, 200 Iron, 200 Stones, and 200 Golds]
"Gold is definitely going to be a problem," Erik said. "Where the fuck do I find gold?"
[Does the outside world not have a place where valuables are stored?]
"You're not suggesting I go and rob a bank?" Erik asked.
[I don't see a problem with that]
"I'm not robbing a bank," Erik growled. If his power was like a real time strategy games, then there should be a way to get a steady supply of gold without resorting to robbing and stealing. "Is there a way to build a marketplace where I can sell one resources for another?"
[…]
"You don't know, do you?" Erik asked. He already realized that Dell didn't know as much about his power as it had previously implied. It probably knew just a bit more than he did, and that made him uneasy. Who or whatever Dell was, it obviously wasn't linked to his power. Even so, it still had some control over it.
[…]
Erik turned his attention to William. He ordered the man to return to the inner realm before clearing the waypoint. The swirling purple mist vanished and the fissure in airspace faded away like it wasn't there in the first place. "How long can I keep the waypoint open?"
[There is no time limit. You would not able to create another waypoint if one remains opened]
"Unless I have another Headquarter, right?"
[That is correct. A second Headquarter allows you to create another waypoint]
"I see," Erik said with a grin. He could clearly see how waypoint could be abused. If he had the tiles to play around with, he could give himself a pseudo portal-power. His power was more useful than it appears. "Kind of OP"
[OP?]
"Overpowered," Erik explained with a shrug. "Anyway, I need to get out of here."
Aside from the heavy rain, the hallway outside the morgue was eerily quiet. Erik noticed the time on the hanging clock. It was almost 1 am. He also took notice of the map, detailing the building he was currently in. The morgue was not part of the hospital. It wasn't even a morgue, but a storage facility that converted into one due to the recent incident.
Avoiding the cameras, Erik made his ways to the locker room for a change of clothing. Once there, he formed the waypoint and brought William back into the real world.
"Put these on," Erik commanded. "Even if you can't feel anything, I can't have you running around in rags."
William obeyed and changed to the new set of clothing. Once did, Erik had a look of William's status once more.
Name: William Strongarm [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 80/80
Stamina Point (SP): 37/50
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 11
Constitution: 9
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 8
Charisma: 11
Wisdom: 7
Perception: 10
Luck: 8
Equipment: Bandana (head), White Shirt (upper-body), Wool Jacket (upper-body), Blue Jean (lower-body), Copper Ring (Right hand middle-finger).
"Did his stats changed?" Erik questioned. He was sure that William's wisdom was lower the last time he had checked. It had gone up by two points. This was what Erik was afraid of.
Even in modern Real Time Strategy game, basic units were not named. They were fodders, trained and died by the hundreds. The only units that worth mentioning were heroes. Those were named and had stats, attributes and skills. They were equivalent to elite unit and shouldn't be allowed to die unless there was no other way to save them.
William was not a hero-unit, yet he had evolving stats and attributes like one. That alone made him indispensable. If all units had stats and attributes, Erik would have to think long and hard on which one was expendable.
"Going to be way too much micromanagement," Erik muttered and shook his head. He sent William back to the inner world and had him continued to gather whatever he could find in the tall grass.
"I should figure out a way to get golds. Without golds, I can't build anything. How much is one unit of gold anyway? Hey Dell, can I take out resource from the stockpile?"
[Yes. What would you like to take out?]
"I can? Great! Give me 1 unit of gold," Erik said and spread his hand. His eyes widened when a small block of gold appeared in his palm right after a burst of all-too familiar purple mist. It must weigh at least 7 ounces (200 grams). "Um… how heavy is this?"
[5 ounces]
"So close," Erik growled and reweighted the pure gold block in his hand. "I was expecting something difference, you know, like a gold coin, but this is nice too. I wonder how much it worth?"
[…]
"Can you put it back into the stockpile?" Erik asked. A second later, the small gold block in his palm was gone, whizzed away by purple mist. He looked at his palm soon after, seeing the mist dispersed and vanished. A small smile formed in the corner of his mouth. This was one of those things that Dell failed to mention. What he had is a pseudo inventory system.
"Is it possible to take other items out of the inner realm through this method?"
[Yes]
Erik broadened his smile. He would have to test his theory once the Armoury is built. "Alright, give me 1 unit of iron."
"Woah!" Erik nearly dropped the ingot, weighting approximately 20 pounds (9kg) on the ground. He returned the ingot back to the stockpile after some scrutiny. "I'm afraid to ask. How heavy is 1 unit of stone?"
[Approximately 1 tonnes. Would you like one?]
"That will kill me!" Erik growled as lightning flashed, brightening the room. Another shadow casted on the wall, alongside with his. His eyes immediately widened. He jerked away. With his back against the wall, he scanned the room. No one could be seen. "You saw that, right?"
[Someone is here]
"My Lord, we can salvage these furniture for our own use. If we break them down, we can use them as construction materials," William suggested. A new option called 'Scavenges' appeared on his list of possible commands.
"I think that's a good idea," Erik said. William immediately picked up the wooden chair nearby and smashed it into pieces, causing Erik to flinch. He nonchalantly collected the pieces and entered the waypoint. A few seconds passed before he emerged and proceeded to smash another wooden chair and collected their fragments.
"Well, that's one way to collect resources," Erik said and checked how much woods it added to his stockpile. Each round-trip William made only added 1 wood. There weren't enough wooden chairs to erect a Barrack. "Do it quietly, we don't want to wake up the dead – or better yet, bring it to the other side and smash it into pieces there."
"As you wish, my Lord," William responded and did as commanded. Once the chairs were all taken to the other side and turned into raw materials, he approached one of the closest tables. Without a thought, he tossed the charred corpse on top of the table and onto the ground and began dragging the table to the waypoint.
"Oi!?" Erik called out and suspended the command. William immediately stopped working and stood there like a statue. "Don't you have any regards for the dead?"
William looked puzzled. "I do not understand, my Lord. What uses a table to the dead?"
Erik stared at the man, amazed. The man seemed to not realize what he did was immoral. "If I order you to kill a newborn, would you do it?"
"Yes, my Lord," William said flatly. There was no sign of hesitation.
Erik chuckled weakly. His chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laughter. "You're not human! You're not. Of course, you're not. How could you be? You're a robot, emotionless machine."
Once his laughter died down, Erik commanded William to help him move all the corpses onto the floor. After that, all the tables were hauled into the waypoint and harvested for woods.
"189 Woods, 203 Iron, 200 Stones, and 69 Golds," Erik checked his stockpile while wondering where the mortician was. He must had cause a ruckus looting everything that wasn't bolted down. "When did I gain 3 Irons?"
[Those tools that the Worker brought back were recycled into raw iron. If you liked to keep them as they were for usage, an Armoury is required]
"Is that so," Erik muttered. He wanted a Barrack first, so he could have proper combat units, but the problem was Golds. If one worker cost 30 Golds, a combat orientated unit would cost a lot more. Its upkeep would also be significant more as well. "How much does it cost to build an armoury?"
[300 woods, 200 Iron, 200 Stones, and 200 Golds]
"Gold is definitely going to be a problem," Erik said. "Where the fuck do I find gold?"
[Does the outside world not have a place where valuables are stored?]
"You're not suggesting I go and rob a bank?" Erik asked.
[I don't see a problem with that]
"I'm not robbing a bank," Erik growled. If his power was like a real time strategy games, then there should be a way to get a steady supply of gold without resorting to robbing and stealing. "Is there a way to build a marketplace where I can sell one resources for another?"
[…]
"You don't know, do you?" Erik asked. He already realized that Dell didn't know as much about his power as it had previously implied. It probably knew just a bit more than he did, and that made him uneasy. Who or whatever Dell was, it obviously wasn't linked to his power. Even so, it still had some control over it.
[…]
Erik turned his attention to William. He ordered the man to return to the inner realm before clearing the waypoint. The swirling purple mist vanished and the fissure in airspace faded away like it wasn't there in the first place. "How long can I keep the waypoint open?"
[There is no time limit. You would not able to create another waypoint if one remains opened]
"Unless I have another Headquarter, right?"
[That is correct. A second Headquarter allows you to create another waypoint]
"I see," Erik said with a grin. He could clearly see how waypoint could be abused. If he had the tiles to play around with, he could give himself a pseudo portal-power. His power was more useful than it appears. "Kind of OP"
[OP?]
"Overpowered," Erik explained with a shrug. "Anyway, I need to get out of here."
Aside from the heavy rain, the hallway outside the morgue was eerily quiet. Erik noticed the time on the hanging clock. It was almost 1 am. He also took notice of the map, detailing the building he was currently in. The morgue was not part of the hospital. It wasn't even a morgue, but a storage facility that converted into one due to the recent incident.
Avoiding the cameras, Erik made his ways to the locker room for a change of clothing. Once there, he formed the waypoint and brought William back into the real world.
"Put these on," Erik commanded. "Even if you can't feel anything, I can't have you running around in rags."
William obeyed and changed to the new set of clothing. Once did, Erik had a look of William's status once more.
Name: William Strongarm [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 80/80
Stamina Point (SP): 37/50
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 11
Constitution: 9
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 8
Charisma: 11
Wisdom: 7
Perception: 10
Luck: 8
Equipment: Bandana (head), White Shirt (upper-body), Wool Jacket (upper-body), Blue Jean (lower-body), Copper Ring (Right hand middle-finger).
"Did his stats changed?" Erik questioned. He was sure that William's wisdom was lower the last time he had checked. It had gone up by two points. This was what Erik was afraid of.
Even in modern Real Time Strategy game, basic units were not named. They were fodders, trained and died by the hundreds. The only units that worth mentioning were heroes. Those were named and had stats, attributes and skills. They were equivalent to elite unit and shouldn't be allowed to die unless there was no other way to save them.
William was not a hero-unit, yet he had evolving stats and attributes like one. That alone made him indispensable. If all units had stats and attributes, Erik would have to think long and hard on which one was expendable.
"Going to be way too much micromanagement," Erik muttered and shook his head. He sent William back to the inner world and had him continued to gather whatever he could find in the tall grass.
"I should figure out a way to get golds. Without golds, I can't build anything. How much is one unit of gold anyway? Hey Dell, can I take out resource from the stockpile?"
[Yes. What would you like to take out?]
"I can? Great! Give me 1 unit of gold," Erik said and spread his hand. His eyes widened when a small block of gold appeared in his palm right after a burst of all-too familiar purple mist. It must weigh at least 7 ounces (200 grams). "Um… how heavy is this?"
[5 ounces]
"So close," Erik growled and reweighted the pure gold block in his hand. "I was expecting something difference, you know, like a gold coin, but this is nice too. I wonder how much it worth?"
[…]
"Can you put it back into the stockpile?" Erik asked. A second later, the small gold block in his palm was gone, whizzed away by purple mist. He looked at his palm soon after, seeing the mist dispersed and vanished. A small smile formed in the corner of his mouth. This was one of those things that Dell failed to mention. What he had is a pseudo inventory system.
"Is it possible to take other items out of the inner realm through this method?"
[Yes]
Erik broadened his smile. He would have to test his theory once the Armoury is built. "Alright, give me 1 unit of iron."
"Woah!" Erik nearly dropped the ingot, weighting approximately 20 pounds (9kg) on the ground. He returned the ingot back to the stockpile after some scrutiny. "I'm afraid to ask. How heavy is 1 unit of stone?"
[Approximately 1 tonnes. Would you like one?]
"That will kill me!" Erik growled as lightning flashed, brightening the room. Another shadow casted on the wall, alongside with his. His eyes immediately widened. He jerked away. With his back against the wall, he scanned the room. No one could be seen. "You saw that, right?"
[Someone is here]
Real Time Strategy (5)
"Someone?" Erik uttered lowly, visibility shaken. He watched the room for any sign of disturbances. The door was closed, and the windows was locked. Rains continued to batter against the glass while thunders roared angrily in the night sky above. "I thought it was a ghost. We are in the morgue after all, and I kind of absorb a lot of… souls."
[Ghost do not cast shadow]
"That makes me feel a lot better," Erik snorted and took the knowledge to heart. There were ghosts – real ones. Dell hadn't lied to him yet, and there was no reason to lie. The unseen person inside the room wasn't a ghost. His racing heart calmed a bit with the realization. "Is it still here?"
[Yes]
Erik frowned as lightning flashed. His eyes quickly scanned the room. He found nothing stood out in the darkness. No extra silhouettes casted on the walls or floor. The room remained still, undisturbed and silence. The only sound could be heard was the numerous beads of water slamming and dying against the foggy glass window. "You can sense it, right? Where is it?"
[I only feel a presence. I cannot pinpoint its exact location]
"How long had it been following us?" Erik questioned and examined the window and wondered if he could break it and let the rain in. It was high up and large enough to flood the room with water and revealed what he could not see. A rock would do the job.
[Not long ago. About 10 minutes]
Erik nodded. That was good. It didn't see William or the waypoint in action. He wanted to keep the true nature of his ability a secret. No matter how powerful an ability is, there is always a counter – but you cannot counter something you have no information about. Take invisibility for example, it could be rendered useless with a bit of paint. Water would do just fine.
"Give me 1 unit of iron," Erik requested. A puff of purple smoke erupted from his palm, leaving an iron ingot behind. It was immediately thrown at the window, shattering the glass into thousands of fragments. The wind outside howled and blasted heavy droplets in, drenching the room.
"Give me another iron," Erik demanded. He wished he could summon a weapon in his hand instead, but to be able to do that, he needed the Armoury. The structure would allow him to create, repair and upgrade weapons and armours as well as a place to store them.
A shape of a person formed in the cold shower as an iron ingot materialized in his hand. Before Erik could use the ingot as deadly projectile, the person dashed towards the door and tried to open it.
"A child?" Erik uttered and gripped the ingot tightly. It didn't make sense. He was expecting one of his classmates, who had gained the power of invisibility. He didn't expect a child. "Wait a sec!"
The door was opened, and the child escaped the room. Erik put the ingot away and gave chase, not paying any mind to the cameras. "Stop running! I'm not going to hurt you!"
The child continued to run. From the long flowing hair trailing behind and flailing water, Erik learned the gender.
"It has to be a girl, doesn't it?" Erik remarked and slowed down his pace. He stopped and looked at the wet footsteps leading into the darkness. The wetness was fading with each subsequent step, and she was faster than him. It was unlikely that he could catch her. He was simply wasting his energy.
[You're letting her go?]
"She isn't an enemy," Erik said and looked up and at the camera. The red blinking light told him that he was being watched. He looked behind him before returning to his eyes to the front. He felt a bit uneasy. "It's too quiet. There is no one here. It's as if the guards were told to leave."
[…]
Erik didn't expect Dell to understand. Since the building is one long hallway with rooms to one side, he continued onwards, towards the front door. He wondered how it was possible for the girl to have a power. There was only one answer. "What kind of horror did she saw to become a ghost and haunt this place?"
[She is not a ghost]
"She might as well be one," Erik responded. He came to a stop in front of an opened door. Beyond the opening was heavy rain, splashing against concrete pavement while lightning lit up the path. The path led him directly to the west wing of the hospital. He cocked over his shoulder and looked back at the darkness.
[She is here]
Erik nodded. He had a feeling that she didn't leave. This was likely her home. How long had she been here? He turned around and checked the nearby cameras. He made sure that he was standing in a blind spot. It was a risky move, but if he could gain an ally, all the better. Having someone with the ability to turn invisible was well worth the risk.
"My name is Erik Summers," Erik announced. He raised his hand and opened his palm. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to look for answers. You see, we are the same. We have been blessed with an extraordinary gift." A purple mist erupted and revealed a small block of gold in his palm. "You don't have to hide. You don't have to be afraid, and you don't have to be alone."
Only silence greeted him. A handful of minutes later, Erik smiled weakly and placed the block of gold on the ground. He then turned and headed out the door. After a couple of steps, he turned back and found the block of gold was gone. "You can come with me, you know?"
Again, only silence replied.
Erik nodded and turned away. The door to the morgue closed behind him as he headed towards the hospital. It was a long shot, but at least he tried.
[Why not kill her and take her essence?]
"Because that would make me a monster," Erik said and covered his face with a hood.
Despite the late hours, the hospital was crowded with people. They were hurdled into group, with a few families already fast asleep. Rooms were packed to the brim as nurses and doctors running back and forth, checking up on each patient. Amongst the wailing and crying, no one noticed the hooded individual passing by and planning to leave as soon as possible.
Erik wasn't sure if he wanted to go head home. As far as his parents knew, he was camping in the mountain for the next seven days. Five now considering two days had passed. They would never expect him to return so soon and with such horrible scars. What would the other parents say when they learned their son or daughter had been killed? What about the legal shitstorm that would come after?
Erik realized he would be in the dead centre of it. The legal proceeding, the interrogation, the looks and fears on everyone's faces. People would inevitably used him as a scapegoat for their pains and angers. His life would never be the same again.
"Fuck that," Erik cursed and leaned against the wall. There was no vacant chair nearby. People were sitting and lying on the floor. Those that were awake was watching the news. It was live.
"Thank to the onset of heavy rains, the blaze is finally subdued," Linsey Beckett informed. Her name was visible on the screen. "Thousands of homes were destroyed. Hundreds of lives were lost. This is the worst disaster our town had ever seen. Here with me is a young man. He managed to escape the inferno before it started."
"Hey mom and dad, I'm on television!" the teenager greeted when Linsey directed the microphone to him. He waved at the camera with a wide smile on his face. The smile brought chill to those knew him.
"Luke!" Erik uttered. He stared at the television screen in shock. "What the fuck is he doing?"
"So, Luke, you say you know what is responsible for this tragedy?" Linsey asked.
"Uh huh, I saw it all with my own eyes," Luke said and pointed at his eyes. "It was scary. I thought I was going to die, you know. Seeing all those people goes up in flames, screaming and begging it to stop. How could he do something like that?"
"He?" Linsey questioned. She shook her head lightly. "I'm sorry, can you elaborate?"
"Sure, I can pretty lady," Luke replied. He then turned away from the camera and paid attention to a person off screen. "Hey Lance! Can you elaborate?"
The cameraman turned towards a teenager before screen shook and dropped to the ground. Cracks formed. Something like an explosion was heard before visual was cut off. Screams erupted as audio became statics. The screen eventually came back on with a man sitting behind a desk.
"Lady and gentlemen, we apologized for the technical difficulty," Bill Letterman said. He looked to his co-anchor. A woman by the name Sandra. "What do you think just happened?"
Erik had long pulled his attention from the television and running towards the exit. He stopped just before the doors and panted. Even if he knew where it is, by the time he gets there, it would be too late. And even if he made it in time, what could he hoped to accomplish. Lance was much stronger than before, and Luke was there with him. Did they team up?
[It is ill-advised for you to confront the one called Lance currently]
"I know, I know," Erik growled and hammered the wall. "I know damn it, but I can't just sit by and watch him kill more and more people?"
[It is the natural cycle of –
Erik groaned as his head felt like it was splitting. He dropped to his knees and gripped his head with both hands. "Dell?"
[Grrrrr… Run! You must flee! Now!]
"What? What's going on? Dell? Dell?" Erik called out verbally and mentally, but the voice vanished from mind. The headache went with it as well. "What the hell –
Erik looked up and saw a middle-aged man wearing clerical attire passed him by. In the man's hand was the bible. A woman followed him behind. There was something glittering under her long sleeve as she closed the door and stopped the cold and rain.
She stood in front of Erik and looked down at him. She smiled and crouched and held his hands with tender care. "May Christ be with you."
Erik gaped, not sure what to say to a nun.
"Victoria, please do hurry. We are on the job," the man called out. He was already at the end of the hallway.
"Coming Joseph," Victoria responded and placed a small metallic into Erik's hand. "Everything will be fine. Evil spirits will be vanquished in the sight of his light."
"Um… thanks?" Erik muttered as the woman chased after her senior. He shook his head and looked at the metallic object. It was a cross. He arched his eye as the cross began to heat up. He dropped the cross onto the floor and looked at his hand. His skin was burned, and it was more painful than being roasted by Lance.
[Ghost do not cast shadow]
"That makes me feel a lot better," Erik snorted and took the knowledge to heart. There were ghosts – real ones. Dell hadn't lied to him yet, and there was no reason to lie. The unseen person inside the room wasn't a ghost. His racing heart calmed a bit with the realization. "Is it still here?"
[Yes]
Erik frowned as lightning flashed. His eyes quickly scanned the room. He found nothing stood out in the darkness. No extra silhouettes casted on the walls or floor. The room remained still, undisturbed and silence. The only sound could be heard was the numerous beads of water slamming and dying against the foggy glass window. "You can sense it, right? Where is it?"
[I only feel a presence. I cannot pinpoint its exact location]
"How long had it been following us?" Erik questioned and examined the window and wondered if he could break it and let the rain in. It was high up and large enough to flood the room with water and revealed what he could not see. A rock would do the job.
[Not long ago. About 10 minutes]
Erik nodded. That was good. It didn't see William or the waypoint in action. He wanted to keep the true nature of his ability a secret. No matter how powerful an ability is, there is always a counter – but you cannot counter something you have no information about. Take invisibility for example, it could be rendered useless with a bit of paint. Water would do just fine.
"Give me 1 unit of iron," Erik requested. A puff of purple smoke erupted from his palm, leaving an iron ingot behind. It was immediately thrown at the window, shattering the glass into thousands of fragments. The wind outside howled and blasted heavy droplets in, drenching the room.
"Give me another iron," Erik demanded. He wished he could summon a weapon in his hand instead, but to be able to do that, he needed the Armoury. The structure would allow him to create, repair and upgrade weapons and armours as well as a place to store them.
A shape of a person formed in the cold shower as an iron ingot materialized in his hand. Before Erik could use the ingot as deadly projectile, the person dashed towards the door and tried to open it.
"A child?" Erik uttered and gripped the ingot tightly. It didn't make sense. He was expecting one of his classmates, who had gained the power of invisibility. He didn't expect a child. "Wait a sec!"
The door was opened, and the child escaped the room. Erik put the ingot away and gave chase, not paying any mind to the cameras. "Stop running! I'm not going to hurt you!"
The child continued to run. From the long flowing hair trailing behind and flailing water, Erik learned the gender.
"It has to be a girl, doesn't it?" Erik remarked and slowed down his pace. He stopped and looked at the wet footsteps leading into the darkness. The wetness was fading with each subsequent step, and she was faster than him. It was unlikely that he could catch her. He was simply wasting his energy.
[You're letting her go?]
"She isn't an enemy," Erik said and looked up and at the camera. The red blinking light told him that he was being watched. He looked behind him before returning to his eyes to the front. He felt a bit uneasy. "It's too quiet. There is no one here. It's as if the guards were told to leave."
[…]
Erik didn't expect Dell to understand. Since the building is one long hallway with rooms to one side, he continued onwards, towards the front door. He wondered how it was possible for the girl to have a power. There was only one answer. "What kind of horror did she saw to become a ghost and haunt this place?"
[She is not a ghost]
"She might as well be one," Erik responded. He came to a stop in front of an opened door. Beyond the opening was heavy rain, splashing against concrete pavement while lightning lit up the path. The path led him directly to the west wing of the hospital. He cocked over his shoulder and looked back at the darkness.
[She is here]
Erik nodded. He had a feeling that she didn't leave. This was likely her home. How long had she been here? He turned around and checked the nearby cameras. He made sure that he was standing in a blind spot. It was a risky move, but if he could gain an ally, all the better. Having someone with the ability to turn invisible was well worth the risk.
"My name is Erik Summers," Erik announced. He raised his hand and opened his palm. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to look for answers. You see, we are the same. We have been blessed with an extraordinary gift." A purple mist erupted and revealed a small block of gold in his palm. "You don't have to hide. You don't have to be afraid, and you don't have to be alone."
Only silence greeted him. A handful of minutes later, Erik smiled weakly and placed the block of gold on the ground. He then turned and headed out the door. After a couple of steps, he turned back and found the block of gold was gone. "You can come with me, you know?"
Again, only silence replied.
Erik nodded and turned away. The door to the morgue closed behind him as he headed towards the hospital. It was a long shot, but at least he tried.
[Why not kill her and take her essence?]
"Because that would make me a monster," Erik said and covered his face with a hood.
– Real Time Reality –
Despite the late hours, the hospital was crowded with people. They were hurdled into group, with a few families already fast asleep. Rooms were packed to the brim as nurses and doctors running back and forth, checking up on each patient. Amongst the wailing and crying, no one noticed the hooded individual passing by and planning to leave as soon as possible.
Erik wasn't sure if he wanted to go head home. As far as his parents knew, he was camping in the mountain for the next seven days. Five now considering two days had passed. They would never expect him to return so soon and with such horrible scars. What would the other parents say when they learned their son or daughter had been killed? What about the legal shitstorm that would come after?
Erik realized he would be in the dead centre of it. The legal proceeding, the interrogation, the looks and fears on everyone's faces. People would inevitably used him as a scapegoat for their pains and angers. His life would never be the same again.
"Fuck that," Erik cursed and leaned against the wall. There was no vacant chair nearby. People were sitting and lying on the floor. Those that were awake was watching the news. It was live.
"Thank to the onset of heavy rains, the blaze is finally subdued," Linsey Beckett informed. Her name was visible on the screen. "Thousands of homes were destroyed. Hundreds of lives were lost. This is the worst disaster our town had ever seen. Here with me is a young man. He managed to escape the inferno before it started."
"Hey mom and dad, I'm on television!" the teenager greeted when Linsey directed the microphone to him. He waved at the camera with a wide smile on his face. The smile brought chill to those knew him.
"Luke!" Erik uttered. He stared at the television screen in shock. "What the fuck is he doing?"
"So, Luke, you say you know what is responsible for this tragedy?" Linsey asked.
"Uh huh, I saw it all with my own eyes," Luke said and pointed at his eyes. "It was scary. I thought I was going to die, you know. Seeing all those people goes up in flames, screaming and begging it to stop. How could he do something like that?"
"He?" Linsey questioned. She shook her head lightly. "I'm sorry, can you elaborate?"
"Sure, I can pretty lady," Luke replied. He then turned away from the camera and paid attention to a person off screen. "Hey Lance! Can you elaborate?"
The cameraman turned towards a teenager before screen shook and dropped to the ground. Cracks formed. Something like an explosion was heard before visual was cut off. Screams erupted as audio became statics. The screen eventually came back on with a man sitting behind a desk.
"Lady and gentlemen, we apologized for the technical difficulty," Bill Letterman said. He looked to his co-anchor. A woman by the name Sandra. "What do you think just happened?"
Erik had long pulled his attention from the television and running towards the exit. He stopped just before the doors and panted. Even if he knew where it is, by the time he gets there, it would be too late. And even if he made it in time, what could he hoped to accomplish. Lance was much stronger than before, and Luke was there with him. Did they team up?
[It is ill-advised for you to confront the one called Lance currently]
"I know, I know," Erik growled and hammered the wall. "I know damn it, but I can't just sit by and watch him kill more and more people?"
[It is the natural cycle of –
Erik groaned as his head felt like it was splitting. He dropped to his knees and gripped his head with both hands. "Dell?"
[Grrrrr… Run! You must flee! Now!]
"What? What's going on? Dell? Dell?" Erik called out verbally and mentally, but the voice vanished from mind. The headache went with it as well. "What the hell –
Erik looked up and saw a middle-aged man wearing clerical attire passed him by. In the man's hand was the bible. A woman followed him behind. There was something glittering under her long sleeve as she closed the door and stopped the cold and rain.
She stood in front of Erik and looked down at him. She smiled and crouched and held his hands with tender care. "May Christ be with you."
Erik gaped, not sure what to say to a nun.
"Victoria, please do hurry. We are on the job," the man called out. He was already at the end of the hallway.
"Coming Joseph," Victoria responded and placed a small metallic into Erik's hand. "Everything will be fine. Evil spirits will be vanquished in the sight of his light."
"Um… thanks?" Erik muttered as the woman chased after her senior. He shook his head and looked at the metallic object. It was a cross. He arched his eye as the cross began to heat up. He dropped the cross onto the floor and looked at his hand. His skin was burned, and it was more painful than being roasted by Lance.
To Catch a Ghost (1)
Chapter II: To Catch a Ghost
"Look, I have my hand full. Can't it wait until morning?" The Doctor eyed the priest through his thick glasses. His name was James Watson. It was printed on a blue tag pinned above the chest pocket of his white overall.
"I'm afraid not," Joseph replied. He took notice of Victoria checking up on the family sleeping nearby and giving away blesses crosses to ward off spirits. Despite the charity, he wanted to stop her. They had a limited amount. "The longer the spirit remains in this world, the more problem it will cause for the living. I understand that you are a man dedicated to science, but somewhere along the line, you must have seen the unexplained."
Doctor Watson sighed wearily. He hadn't slept once in the last 48 hours, not since the fire broke out in the nearby forest and destroyed many homes, including his. Luckily, his family was in town before the flames spread. Many of his neighbours weren't so lucky. There was just something supernatural about the blaze. It seemingly crept towards populated area rather than spreading outwards.
He took off his glasses and gave it a clean wipe despite there was no visible stain. "To be honest… I didn't believe it either, but after seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn't explain otherwise." He then took out a key bounded by rings from his pocket. He paused. "I don't suppose you need me in there with you. Although it's currently not locked, this key will open any door in the old building."
Joseph nodded and took the key. "That will be fine. You are more suitable here, amongst those your expertise can be of use. Another question. When did the strange occurrence starts happening?"
Doctor Watson took a moment to think. "I say it started about a month ago. Nothing dangerous at first. Just doors opening on their own. Table and chairs shifted here and there. Some clothes went missing. It's only recently that people started to see things. Horrible things."
"What would these horrible things be?" Joseph asked.
"…" Doctor Watson shivered. He swallowed and recalled ghostly faces. They haunted the corridors in the old building and moved with dreadful silence. "Those that I've failed. Their faces. It's like they… they… they…"
"Calm yourself doctor," Joseph said. He gave a nod. "There is nothing to fear. Spirit plays tricks on the living and makes us see things that are not real. We will take care of it. Thank you for your time and cooperation."
Doctor Watson nodded and hurriedly headed off to see another patient. He passed a hooded man along the way.
Erik paid the frightened doctor no mind and continued to listen in onto the priest and his nun from the distance. His enhanced hearing was surprisingly good. He could make out what they were saying despite all the noises and snoring. From what he could tell, they were obviously here for the girl in the morgue. He already knew she wasn't a ghost thanked to Dell. She was someone who'd obtained the power to become invisible – or was it?
Erik gave some thoughts to her ability. If it was invisibility, her shadow shouldn't be seen at all. While it only happened once, it was enough to tell him that her ability wasn't what he'd thought. And now, the doctor claimed people were seeing things.
"Does she have multitude of powers? Is it possible to have multiple powers?" Erik asked. Sadly, Dell remained unresponsive. It had disappeared, even from the inner realm. Only William was there, still gathering woods and foods from tall grass surrounded the Headquarter. He earned 3 foods in all that time. Not a bad haul.
"Or maybe, her power has something to do with sight?" Erik stated and returned his attention to the two people further down the hall.
"Victoria," Joseph said when the girl returned to his side. "You should only give it to those that is in need."
"These people are in need," Victoria said flatly. She looked around. There were so many people that needed protection. Sadly, she didn't have many holy crosses in her possession. "What did the doctor say?"
"Nothing that we didn't know already," Joseph said and walked away, towards the morgue. Victoria followed him side by side. Erik trailed behind, far enough not to arouse any suspicion. "If it is a spirit, we will send it to rest. If it is a demon, we will send it back to Hell where it belongs."
"And if it neither?" Victoria asked.
"We will capture it and bring it back with us," Joseph said. His eyes darkened. "We must know what they are planning."
"Is it not obvious?" Victoria stopped. She cocked her head over her shoulder, scanning and focusing on a cloaked man some distance away, too far to hear what they were saying. She returned her eyes back to Joseph. "The town is situated on a convergence. Strange unexplainable things are happening all over town, and that fire. The vile aura it gives off is suffocating. It is supernatural in origin."
Joseph stopped. He gripped the bible tightly in his hands. "If they are trying to open the gate. This town is already lost." He placed a hand on the nearby wall. "The wall has weakened considerably, in a couple more days, shadows will able to cross over. If they are actively breaking down the barrier, it not just shadows we have to deal with."
"It doesn't matter what," Victoria said. There was a white glow surrounded her. The people nearby didn't take any notice. "In front of the Lord, they will all perish."
"In any case," Joseph said and opened his bible. There was a faint golden light emanating from the pages. Again, only Erik and Victoria seemed to notice the glow. "We should quarantine the town for the worse. We cannot let any of them escape."
Victoria nodded and cocked her head back. She eyed Erik suspiciously.
[Retreat, Erik. You don't have the strength to fight her. If she realizes what you are, she will kill you]
Erik raised his head slightly. He couldn't help but smiled at the familiar presence. Without question, he headed to a rest room and away from their view. "Welcome back. Where did you go?"
[That was very dangerous]
"Is that so? Care to explain?"
[…]
"No?" Erik questioned. "Okay. How are about this? You're a demon, and you can't stand to be in the presence of God?"
[…]
"Cat got your tongue?" Erik asked. "That just a figure of speech."
[I am a Demon Spawn. You can take it literally. I am a spawn of a demon]
Erik frowned. He did make a deal with the devil! No. He was forced to against his will. His only other option was death. Knowing that he had a Demon Spawn inside him, death didn't seem so bad. "Does that mean I'm going to hell?"
[Is that what you are worrying about?]
"Well, yeah, I don't want to be tortured for all eternity," Erik joked. He heard chuckling in his mind. It was the first time he heard Dell laughed. It sounded strangely human. "Did you just laugh?"
[You are a strange one, Erik Summers. Very well, let me let you in on a secret. The place called Hell is not what you think. It is not filled with fire and brimstone]
"How would you know? Have you been there yourself? Weren't you just born like 2 days ago?"
[I have the memory of my predecessor. While he is a failure of a demon, allowing himself to be killed by your kinds and have his blood drained, he was still a demon and used to live in Hell]
"Oh? How do you know if your memory is real? They could be implanted by the one that killed your daddy," Erik said.
[…]
"What? That could be the case, you know. And we are playing into someone's hand," Erik voiced his concern. He didn't believe Luke or whoever Luke was working for would just let everyone wandered off without a way to recapture them all again. And they certainly would not give powers to people without a grand plan unless total anarchy was their goal. Anarchy didn't seem likely. From what he'd overheard, he didn't like the grand plan.
[You are a cruel one, Erik Summers]
"Said the demon," Erik responded. He then exhaled. "Since you're honest with me. I will be honest with you. I don't care if you are a demon or not. You can be fucking Lucifer for all the good that will do for you. I just needed to know, are you with me 100%? And don't give me a fucking yes!"
[I am you, and you are me. The moment you were reborn, our fate is entwined. I will do whatever I must for my survival]
"Great to hear," Erik said with a smile. "I liked brutal honesty, Dell. I know you're going to backstab me one day, but until that day, we are comrades. And we need allies. Let's rescue the little girl. Her power is a great use, and frankly, I don't feel like letting these people exorcizing her or worse."
[It is ill-advised to –
"If I don't do anything, I'm not going to get anywhere," Erik interrupted. He took a breather. "I don't think any of us is normal anymore, not after what happened. Plus, I don't need to fight them head on. I only need to mount a rescue. Just out of curiosity, how powerful are they? Are they like me? Do they have power?"
[They are very powerful, especially the one called Victoria. Her aura is very dense. From the amount of power she's radiating, she must have an ability. What it is, I cannot tell you]
"Damn. Is this even Earth anymore? Does everyone have powers now?" Erik muttered. He thought he only had to worry about his classmates, but it seemed he was dragged into something bigger than he imagined. "By the way, what are Shadows?"
[…]
"Should I be worried?"
[Shadows are creatures that dwelled in the space between spaces. The boundless and endless void between dimensions. They seek out any kind of light and warm to devours. If not stopped, they will consume everything]
"So I should be worried," Erik uttered. "Great, more and more things to fear."
[Why do you wish to know?]
Erik raised his brow. This was also the first. Dell was asking him a question. "I overheard something about the wall being weakened. I assume that is a barrier stopping them Shadows from crossing and killing everyone?"
[…]
"How do I fight against these Shadows?"
[Bleed their darkness. If they cannot keep their form intact, they will die]
Erik nodded. He thought he had to have a holy weapon to fight them. He rubbed his palm. The pain still lingered, and the burnt skin hadn't begun to heal yet. If a blessed cross did this much damage to him, what would a real holy weapon do? It wouldn't be a pretty sight.
"I need to get stronger," Erik said and peeked around the corner. Joseph and Victoria were gone. He hurried down the hallway and towards the morgue.
[This is unwise, Erik Summers]
"Yes, but the reward is too good to pass," Erik said. If he could get the invisible girl to his side, maybe he could get the golds he needed for an Armoury. "Now, how do I get a little girl to like me without making me look like a paedophile?"
"Look, I have my hand full. Can't it wait until morning?" The Doctor eyed the priest through his thick glasses. His name was James Watson. It was printed on a blue tag pinned above the chest pocket of his white overall.
"I'm afraid not," Joseph replied. He took notice of Victoria checking up on the family sleeping nearby and giving away blesses crosses to ward off spirits. Despite the charity, he wanted to stop her. They had a limited amount. "The longer the spirit remains in this world, the more problem it will cause for the living. I understand that you are a man dedicated to science, but somewhere along the line, you must have seen the unexplained."
Doctor Watson sighed wearily. He hadn't slept once in the last 48 hours, not since the fire broke out in the nearby forest and destroyed many homes, including his. Luckily, his family was in town before the flames spread. Many of his neighbours weren't so lucky. There was just something supernatural about the blaze. It seemingly crept towards populated area rather than spreading outwards.
He took off his glasses and gave it a clean wipe despite there was no visible stain. "To be honest… I didn't believe it either, but after seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn't explain otherwise." He then took out a key bounded by rings from his pocket. He paused. "I don't suppose you need me in there with you. Although it's currently not locked, this key will open any door in the old building."
Joseph nodded and took the key. "That will be fine. You are more suitable here, amongst those your expertise can be of use. Another question. When did the strange occurrence starts happening?"
Doctor Watson took a moment to think. "I say it started about a month ago. Nothing dangerous at first. Just doors opening on their own. Table and chairs shifted here and there. Some clothes went missing. It's only recently that people started to see things. Horrible things."
"What would these horrible things be?" Joseph asked.
"…" Doctor Watson shivered. He swallowed and recalled ghostly faces. They haunted the corridors in the old building and moved with dreadful silence. "Those that I've failed. Their faces. It's like they… they… they…"
"Calm yourself doctor," Joseph said. He gave a nod. "There is nothing to fear. Spirit plays tricks on the living and makes us see things that are not real. We will take care of it. Thank you for your time and cooperation."
Doctor Watson nodded and hurriedly headed off to see another patient. He passed a hooded man along the way.
Erik paid the frightened doctor no mind and continued to listen in onto the priest and his nun from the distance. His enhanced hearing was surprisingly good. He could make out what they were saying despite all the noises and snoring. From what he could tell, they were obviously here for the girl in the morgue. He already knew she wasn't a ghost thanked to Dell. She was someone who'd obtained the power to become invisible – or was it?
Erik gave some thoughts to her ability. If it was invisibility, her shadow shouldn't be seen at all. While it only happened once, it was enough to tell him that her ability wasn't what he'd thought. And now, the doctor claimed people were seeing things.
"Does she have multitude of powers? Is it possible to have multiple powers?" Erik asked. Sadly, Dell remained unresponsive. It had disappeared, even from the inner realm. Only William was there, still gathering woods and foods from tall grass surrounded the Headquarter. He earned 3 foods in all that time. Not a bad haul.
"Or maybe, her power has something to do with sight?" Erik stated and returned his attention to the two people further down the hall.
"Victoria," Joseph said when the girl returned to his side. "You should only give it to those that is in need."
"These people are in need," Victoria said flatly. She looked around. There were so many people that needed protection. Sadly, she didn't have many holy crosses in her possession. "What did the doctor say?"
"Nothing that we didn't know already," Joseph said and walked away, towards the morgue. Victoria followed him side by side. Erik trailed behind, far enough not to arouse any suspicion. "If it is a spirit, we will send it to rest. If it is a demon, we will send it back to Hell where it belongs."
"And if it neither?" Victoria asked.
"We will capture it and bring it back with us," Joseph said. His eyes darkened. "We must know what they are planning."
"Is it not obvious?" Victoria stopped. She cocked her head over her shoulder, scanning and focusing on a cloaked man some distance away, too far to hear what they were saying. She returned her eyes back to Joseph. "The town is situated on a convergence. Strange unexplainable things are happening all over town, and that fire. The vile aura it gives off is suffocating. It is supernatural in origin."
Joseph stopped. He gripped the bible tightly in his hands. "If they are trying to open the gate. This town is already lost." He placed a hand on the nearby wall. "The wall has weakened considerably, in a couple more days, shadows will able to cross over. If they are actively breaking down the barrier, it not just shadows we have to deal with."
"It doesn't matter what," Victoria said. There was a white glow surrounded her. The people nearby didn't take any notice. "In front of the Lord, they will all perish."
"In any case," Joseph said and opened his bible. There was a faint golden light emanating from the pages. Again, only Erik and Victoria seemed to notice the glow. "We should quarantine the town for the worse. We cannot let any of them escape."
Victoria nodded and cocked her head back. She eyed Erik suspiciously.
[Retreat, Erik. You don't have the strength to fight her. If she realizes what you are, she will kill you]
Erik raised his head slightly. He couldn't help but smiled at the familiar presence. Without question, he headed to a rest room and away from their view. "Welcome back. Where did you go?"
[That was very dangerous]
"Is that so? Care to explain?"
[…]
"No?" Erik questioned. "Okay. How are about this? You're a demon, and you can't stand to be in the presence of God?"
[…]
"Cat got your tongue?" Erik asked. "That just a figure of speech."
[I am a Demon Spawn. You can take it literally. I am a spawn of a demon]
Erik frowned. He did make a deal with the devil! No. He was forced to against his will. His only other option was death. Knowing that he had a Demon Spawn inside him, death didn't seem so bad. "Does that mean I'm going to hell?"
[Is that what you are worrying about?]
"Well, yeah, I don't want to be tortured for all eternity," Erik joked. He heard chuckling in his mind. It was the first time he heard Dell laughed. It sounded strangely human. "Did you just laugh?"
[You are a strange one, Erik Summers. Very well, let me let you in on a secret. The place called Hell is not what you think. It is not filled with fire and brimstone]
"How would you know? Have you been there yourself? Weren't you just born like 2 days ago?"
[I have the memory of my predecessor. While he is a failure of a demon, allowing himself to be killed by your kinds and have his blood drained, he was still a demon and used to live in Hell]
"Oh? How do you know if your memory is real? They could be implanted by the one that killed your daddy," Erik said.
[…]
"What? That could be the case, you know. And we are playing into someone's hand," Erik voiced his concern. He didn't believe Luke or whoever Luke was working for would just let everyone wandered off without a way to recapture them all again. And they certainly would not give powers to people without a grand plan unless total anarchy was their goal. Anarchy didn't seem likely. From what he'd overheard, he didn't like the grand plan.
[You are a cruel one, Erik Summers]
"Said the demon," Erik responded. He then exhaled. "Since you're honest with me. I will be honest with you. I don't care if you are a demon or not. You can be fucking Lucifer for all the good that will do for you. I just needed to know, are you with me 100%? And don't give me a fucking yes!"
[I am you, and you are me. The moment you were reborn, our fate is entwined. I will do whatever I must for my survival]
"Great to hear," Erik said with a smile. "I liked brutal honesty, Dell. I know you're going to backstab me one day, but until that day, we are comrades. And we need allies. Let's rescue the little girl. Her power is a great use, and frankly, I don't feel like letting these people exorcizing her or worse."
[It is ill-advised to –
"If I don't do anything, I'm not going to get anywhere," Erik interrupted. He took a breather. "I don't think any of us is normal anymore, not after what happened. Plus, I don't need to fight them head on. I only need to mount a rescue. Just out of curiosity, how powerful are they? Are they like me? Do they have power?"
[They are very powerful, especially the one called Victoria. Her aura is very dense. From the amount of power she's radiating, she must have an ability. What it is, I cannot tell you]
"Damn. Is this even Earth anymore? Does everyone have powers now?" Erik muttered. He thought he only had to worry about his classmates, but it seemed he was dragged into something bigger than he imagined. "By the way, what are Shadows?"
[…]
"Should I be worried?"
[Shadows are creatures that dwelled in the space between spaces. The boundless and endless void between dimensions. They seek out any kind of light and warm to devours. If not stopped, they will consume everything]
"So I should be worried," Erik uttered. "Great, more and more things to fear."
[Why do you wish to know?]
Erik raised his brow. This was also the first. Dell was asking him a question. "I overheard something about the wall being weakened. I assume that is a barrier stopping them Shadows from crossing and killing everyone?"
[…]
"How do I fight against these Shadows?"
[Bleed their darkness. If they cannot keep their form intact, they will die]
Erik nodded. He thought he had to have a holy weapon to fight them. He rubbed his palm. The pain still lingered, and the burnt skin hadn't begun to heal yet. If a blessed cross did this much damage to him, what would a real holy weapon do? It wouldn't be a pretty sight.
"I need to get stronger," Erik said and peeked around the corner. Joseph and Victoria were gone. He hurried down the hallway and towards the morgue.
[This is unwise, Erik Summers]
"Yes, but the reward is too good to pass," Erik said. If he could get the invisible girl to his side, maybe he could get the golds he needed for an Armoury. "Now, how do I get a little girl to like me without making me look like a paedophile?"
To Catch a Ghost (2)
The night sky overhead brightened. Thunder roared, and rains continued to drown the earth. Apart from the occasional lightning strikes in the distant, the only other light source was emanating from a book with golden pages. Its owner had the book opened between his palms, and he was reciting an incantation. To his side, his partner stood steadfast.
"Is he casting a spell?" Erik asked. He stayed hidden in the shadow. The covering above his head kept him out of the rain. It connected the west wing of the hospital to the old building that was currently being used as a made-shift morgue.
[No]
"Okay. Any idea what he's –
Before Erik could finish his question, a golden circle enclosed the old building with the priest and nun standing near the edge. Its rosed and converged to form a half-circle. It then vanished, returning the darkness of the night.
Joseph closed the glowing bible and walked through the barrier he had erected. A ripple – golden in colour – appeared at the point of contact. His partner did the same, causing the same kind of golden ripple. They both headed into the old building.
Erik wanted to follow them behind, but he crashed into the invisible barrier. The reaction force flung him backwards and onto the wet pavements. "Ow... What is this?"
[A barrier]
"No shit, Einstein," Erik growled and pulled himself up.
[…]
"I mean to say Dell," Erik stated and scolded himself silently. He should had guess it was something of a sort. His hands reached out. His palms pressed against the barrier, causing the golden ripples to appear. It was pushing against his palms. Exerting strength did not make it yield. '
"Damn it," he cursed. "I didn't expect something like this. How do I get in?"
[Sufficient force will destroy it]
"Wouldn't that alert them?"
Erik examined the glowing barrier and estimated its radius. He noticed the rain still managed to pass through as if the barrier didn't exist. He kicked a small rock towards the barrier. It bounced and went on its way to the other side without being hindered. The barrier didn't even ripple.
"It keeps people out," Erik theorized and sent a few more rocks to the other side. "No, it probably designed to keep something like me in. Shit! What do I do?"
[We can leave]
"I will call that plan B," Erik snorted and looked at the old building as lightning flashed. He noticed a little girl with rugged blond hair looking back at him from one of the windows. In her scrawny hands was a block of gold. Darkness came momentarily before lightning flashed again. There was no one at the window.
"Creepy little girl," Erik said and scanned the ground for anything that could be of use. Anything he found passed through the invisible barrier unhindered. He eventually resorted to himself, using his shoulders and charging momentum to try and breech the barrier.
After a handful of attempts, Erik shook his head and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm going need help."
The airspace next to him cracked and shattered, creating a fissure large enough for a person to walk through. Purple mists swirled beyond the crack. A waypoint was formed, connecting his inner world to the outer world.
Erik looked at the waypoint thoughtfully. His eyes widened. "It couldn't be that easy, could it?"
The waypoint was dismissed. He stared at the old building, and to his surprise, the airspace cracked and formed a new waypoint, smaller this time. It was inside the barrier. "Well, I'll be damned. That works. Guess the barrier doesn't account for my power, huh."
Another thought came to his mind. "Hey Dell, what would happen if I were to enter the waypoint?"
[That is the most unwise. If the Headquarter is destroyed, you will be physically trapped]
"Thought so," Erik said and dismissed the waypoint. Even if he wanted to risk it, there was no way to form two waypoints with just one Headquarter. There was not enough resource to build another. "Is there a way to command my unit remotely? If I could control my units without being there in person – it would be great."
[You can issue and command any unit still exist in the outside world from within the inner realm]
"Oh," Erik muttered. He hadn't tested that. He quickly formed another waypoint and spat out one of his workers – his only Worker.
"What is your command, my Lord?" William asked the moment he emerged into the outside world.
Erik didn't reply. He closed his eyes and let the abyss filled his vision. Blue illuminance emerged from the darkness, and with it the beautiful lushly grassland and the Headquarter. Another tile appeared adjacent to the first. It was another Grassland tile.
"How do I issue command to William?" Erik asked as a window appeared in front of him, showing the bird-eye view of the old building, the hospital and the surrounding area. William was standing in the dead centre with his HP, MP and SP status bar visible in the bottom panel. Commands were on the right and additional information such as equipment and consumables were on the left.
[You just need to focus on the unit you wish to command]
"Yeah, I got it," Erik responded as an all-too familiar feeling washed over him. The screen in front of him showed him what his units could see. The greyed-out part of the screen indicated that it was not within his unit's line of sight. The pitch-black parts of the map implied those areas were waiting to be discovered. "This is really just like a real time strategy game. No… it's more like a dungeon crawling game!"
Erik moved William around the area with a few gestures and thoughts. William moved like a puppet without question. It even stood in the rain, unconcerned about the wetness. Its health, however, did drop due to "cold" affliction. He quickly had William returned to sheltered region.
"Wonder if I could create a waypoint on this?" Erik questioned. He mentally touched the area next to William. A menu window appeared, showing various command. Creating a waypoint was on the list. "Damn."
[You can only create one waypoint currently]
"Oh, that's right," Erik responded. He already had one opened. He couldn't open another without building another Headquarter. This was the problem with the system. Many commands and options were hidden and only appears if he met the right prerequisites.
With the waypoint closed, the option to create a waypoint appears on the list of command. He tried and found a waypoint manifested as requested. A smile immediately plastered on his face. With this method, he could stash his physical body inside the inner realm without the fear of being trapped.
There is a catch, however. At least one unit must remain in the outside world. With only one Worker at his disposal, Erik wouldn't want to risk it. His consciousness returned to his body. He looked at the dark sky, trying to see if there a huge eyeball looking back at him. There obviously wasn't one.
"My power is a bit of a cheat," Erik commented and dropped his gaze. Several ideas floated in his mind regarding the overseer ability. "Or maybe everyone's power is as flexible as mine? Lance could probably do a lot more with his fire power."
Erik dreaded as he imagined his body combusted spontaneously, reducing to ash with a single gaze from his former best friend. "That's too OP! How do I defend against something like that?"
[…?]
"Nothing," Erik dismissed and shook his head and cleared his mind. "I'm just thinking too much. Say Dell, how powerful can a power get?"
[There is no limit]
"Great… to know," Erik uttered and returned his attention to William and the old building. "All the more reasons to get allies."
Without anymore delay, Erik returned to the hospital and looked for a place for his body to snooze while his mind preoccupied. He found a spot near the restroom. As soon as he returned to his inner world, he brought up the World-Map and issued William a move command.
William obeyed quickly and entered the old building. Inside, what William could see extended only a few meters from him. Everything else was greyed out or covered in darkness. William traversed the corridor as Erik directed. He stopped when there a couple of red circle in one room. Its interior was greyed out.
"That would be those two, Joseph and Victoria," Erik muttered. He crept William closer to the door to see and hear what they were doing. Before the unit could listen in on the two, the door exploded into splinters. Chains erupted from within and flexed to one side. It hammered William into the wall and bounded him. A number "10" in red came out of his body and drifted away.
William just lost 10HP.
"Shit!" Erik cursed as he watched Victoria stepped out of the room. One end of the chain came from her sleeves. She no longer had her short red hair hidden away by a veil.
"Who are you?" Victoria asked.
William remained silence. He had no reason to say anything to the woman nor did he struggle to get out of the binding. He was both emotionless and expressionless, waiting for a new command while ignoring his own peril.
"Now, now, that's no way to treat a person, Victoria," Joseph said after he stepped out of the room and eyed Victoria. His attire was caked with dirt from the recent brawl with flying clothes. "Please let the poor man go."
As if it was alive, the chains slowly unbind itself from its William and retreated into Victoria's sleeves and disappeared. She gave a puff before stepping away and let Joseph handled the situation.
"I apologize for my junior," Joseph said with a faint smile. "We didn't expect anyone here."
William just stood there while Erik chuckled in the inner world. His units were indistinguishable from people – that just opened a bunch of new options.
"Repeat what I say," Erik said, "and act like you mean it."
"What just happen? Who are you? Where did that chains come from?" William asked and acted like he would naturally.
"Ah, where are my manners. I am Joseph, and this is Victoria. We are here to exorcize a spirit on the request of the hospital," Joseph said. "As for what you just saw, it is one of our sacred instrument. It is all I can revealed without approval from the church. Now, may I ask, who are you?"
"I'm William," William said. He paused. "I was just looking for a place to sleep, and there was no one in this building. Did you say you are here to exorcize a spirit?"
Joseph nodded. "Yes. It is a very tricky one and managed to elude us."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" William asked.
Joseph took a long look at the man called William. He then smiled. "Your expression doesn't seem to match up with your sincerity." His eyes changed. "I will ask again. Who – or perhaps more correct to say, what are you?"
"Is he casting a spell?" Erik asked. He stayed hidden in the shadow. The covering above his head kept him out of the rain. It connected the west wing of the hospital to the old building that was currently being used as a made-shift morgue.
[No]
"Okay. Any idea what he's –
Before Erik could finish his question, a golden circle enclosed the old building with the priest and nun standing near the edge. Its rosed and converged to form a half-circle. It then vanished, returning the darkness of the night.
Joseph closed the glowing bible and walked through the barrier he had erected. A ripple – golden in colour – appeared at the point of contact. His partner did the same, causing the same kind of golden ripple. They both headed into the old building.
Erik wanted to follow them behind, but he crashed into the invisible barrier. The reaction force flung him backwards and onto the wet pavements. "Ow... What is this?"
[A barrier]
"No shit, Einstein," Erik growled and pulled himself up.
[…]
"I mean to say Dell," Erik stated and scolded himself silently. He should had guess it was something of a sort. His hands reached out. His palms pressed against the barrier, causing the golden ripples to appear. It was pushing against his palms. Exerting strength did not make it yield. '
"Damn it," he cursed. "I didn't expect something like this. How do I get in?"
[Sufficient force will destroy it]
"Wouldn't that alert them?"
Erik examined the glowing barrier and estimated its radius. He noticed the rain still managed to pass through as if the barrier didn't exist. He kicked a small rock towards the barrier. It bounced and went on its way to the other side without being hindered. The barrier didn't even ripple.
"It keeps people out," Erik theorized and sent a few more rocks to the other side. "No, it probably designed to keep something like me in. Shit! What do I do?"
[We can leave]
"I will call that plan B," Erik snorted and looked at the old building as lightning flashed. He noticed a little girl with rugged blond hair looking back at him from one of the windows. In her scrawny hands was a block of gold. Darkness came momentarily before lightning flashed again. There was no one at the window.
"Creepy little girl," Erik said and scanned the ground for anything that could be of use. Anything he found passed through the invisible barrier unhindered. He eventually resorted to himself, using his shoulders and charging momentum to try and breech the barrier.
After a handful of attempts, Erik shook his head and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm going need help."
The airspace next to him cracked and shattered, creating a fissure large enough for a person to walk through. Purple mists swirled beyond the crack. A waypoint was formed, connecting his inner world to the outer world.
Erik looked at the waypoint thoughtfully. His eyes widened. "It couldn't be that easy, could it?"
The waypoint was dismissed. He stared at the old building, and to his surprise, the airspace cracked and formed a new waypoint, smaller this time. It was inside the barrier. "Well, I'll be damned. That works. Guess the barrier doesn't account for my power, huh."
Another thought came to his mind. "Hey Dell, what would happen if I were to enter the waypoint?"
[That is the most unwise. If the Headquarter is destroyed, you will be physically trapped]
"Thought so," Erik said and dismissed the waypoint. Even if he wanted to risk it, there was no way to form two waypoints with just one Headquarter. There was not enough resource to build another. "Is there a way to command my unit remotely? If I could control my units without being there in person – it would be great."
[You can issue and command any unit still exist in the outside world from within the inner realm]
"Oh," Erik muttered. He hadn't tested that. He quickly formed another waypoint and spat out one of his workers – his only Worker.
"What is your command, my Lord?" William asked the moment he emerged into the outside world.
Erik didn't reply. He closed his eyes and let the abyss filled his vision. Blue illuminance emerged from the darkness, and with it the beautiful lushly grassland and the Headquarter. Another tile appeared adjacent to the first. It was another Grassland tile.
"How do I issue command to William?" Erik asked as a window appeared in front of him, showing the bird-eye view of the old building, the hospital and the surrounding area. William was standing in the dead centre with his HP, MP and SP status bar visible in the bottom panel. Commands were on the right and additional information such as equipment and consumables were on the left.
[You just need to focus on the unit you wish to command]
"Yeah, I got it," Erik responded as an all-too familiar feeling washed over him. The screen in front of him showed him what his units could see. The greyed-out part of the screen indicated that it was not within his unit's line of sight. The pitch-black parts of the map implied those areas were waiting to be discovered. "This is really just like a real time strategy game. No… it's more like a dungeon crawling game!"
Erik moved William around the area with a few gestures and thoughts. William moved like a puppet without question. It even stood in the rain, unconcerned about the wetness. Its health, however, did drop due to "cold" affliction. He quickly had William returned to sheltered region.
"Wonder if I could create a waypoint on this?" Erik questioned. He mentally touched the area next to William. A menu window appeared, showing various command. Creating a waypoint was on the list. "Damn."
[You can only create one waypoint currently]
"Oh, that's right," Erik responded. He already had one opened. He couldn't open another without building another Headquarter. This was the problem with the system. Many commands and options were hidden and only appears if he met the right prerequisites.
With the waypoint closed, the option to create a waypoint appears on the list of command. He tried and found a waypoint manifested as requested. A smile immediately plastered on his face. With this method, he could stash his physical body inside the inner realm without the fear of being trapped.
There is a catch, however. At least one unit must remain in the outside world. With only one Worker at his disposal, Erik wouldn't want to risk it. His consciousness returned to his body. He looked at the dark sky, trying to see if there a huge eyeball looking back at him. There obviously wasn't one.
"My power is a bit of a cheat," Erik commented and dropped his gaze. Several ideas floated in his mind regarding the overseer ability. "Or maybe everyone's power is as flexible as mine? Lance could probably do a lot more with his fire power."
Erik dreaded as he imagined his body combusted spontaneously, reducing to ash with a single gaze from his former best friend. "That's too OP! How do I defend against something like that?"
[…?]
"Nothing," Erik dismissed and shook his head and cleared his mind. "I'm just thinking too much. Say Dell, how powerful can a power get?"
[There is no limit]
"Great… to know," Erik uttered and returned his attention to William and the old building. "All the more reasons to get allies."
Without anymore delay, Erik returned to the hospital and looked for a place for his body to snooze while his mind preoccupied. He found a spot near the restroom. As soon as he returned to his inner world, he brought up the World-Map and issued William a move command.
William obeyed quickly and entered the old building. Inside, what William could see extended only a few meters from him. Everything else was greyed out or covered in darkness. William traversed the corridor as Erik directed. He stopped when there a couple of red circle in one room. Its interior was greyed out.
"That would be those two, Joseph and Victoria," Erik muttered. He crept William closer to the door to see and hear what they were doing. Before the unit could listen in on the two, the door exploded into splinters. Chains erupted from within and flexed to one side. It hammered William into the wall and bounded him. A number "10" in red came out of his body and drifted away.
William just lost 10HP.
"Shit!" Erik cursed as he watched Victoria stepped out of the room. One end of the chain came from her sleeves. She no longer had her short red hair hidden away by a veil.
"Who are you?" Victoria asked.
William remained silence. He had no reason to say anything to the woman nor did he struggle to get out of the binding. He was both emotionless and expressionless, waiting for a new command while ignoring his own peril.
"Now, now, that's no way to treat a person, Victoria," Joseph said after he stepped out of the room and eyed Victoria. His attire was caked with dirt from the recent brawl with flying clothes. "Please let the poor man go."
As if it was alive, the chains slowly unbind itself from its William and retreated into Victoria's sleeves and disappeared. She gave a puff before stepping away and let Joseph handled the situation.
"I apologize for my junior," Joseph said with a faint smile. "We didn't expect anyone here."
William just stood there while Erik chuckled in the inner world. His units were indistinguishable from people – that just opened a bunch of new options.
"Repeat what I say," Erik said, "and act like you mean it."
"What just happen? Who are you? Where did that chains come from?" William asked and acted like he would naturally.
"Ah, where are my manners. I am Joseph, and this is Victoria. We are here to exorcize a spirit on the request of the hospital," Joseph said. "As for what you just saw, it is one of our sacred instrument. It is all I can revealed without approval from the church. Now, may I ask, who are you?"
"I'm William," William said. He paused. "I was just looking for a place to sleep, and there was no one in this building. Did you say you are here to exorcize a spirit?"
Joseph nodded. "Yes. It is a very tricky one and managed to elude us."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" William asked.
Joseph took a long look at the man called William. He then smiled. "Your expression doesn't seem to match up with your sincerity." His eyes changed. "I will ask again. Who – or perhaps more correct to say, what are you?"
- Location
- Laniakea
"My name is Bill and I'm autistic. Thanks for noticing."
To Catch a Ghost (3)
"W-what do you mean?" Erik uttered on reflex, and William repeated without a second thought.
Erik face-palmed and cursed himself inwardly for blurting that out. He couldn't help it. The question took him by surprise. He was sure they couldn't tell whether William is a human or not. Something must have changed. It must have something to do with the priest's eyes.
Joseph kept his smile. The seriousness in his eyes was gone. "Perhaps you do not realize it yourself, but you are a Homunculus, an artificial human. I must admit, you are rather well-made. I could not tell the difference without a closer look."
"A Homunculus… an artificial human. Well, you could say he is something like that." Erik thought and tried to think of a response. While he could create an elaborate background story, his unit lacked the acting ability to make it truly sells. William's expression betrayed what he was saying since he merely repeated what Erik had said in the inner world.
"Might as well play the artificial human denial part and drags this out," Erik concluded thoughtfully and pondered what would happen at the end of this façade. It almost a certainty that they wouldn't let William to just leave. If he was a real person, they might. "What could they actually do to him I wonder? Kill him? What'll happens when he dies anyway? Does he leave behind a corpse and slowly fade out of existence or just vanish?"
[…]
Dell remained silence. The Demon Spawn didn't know. This power manifested from Erik himself, and thus only he could find answer these questions. The only way was through trials and errors and keen observations. There was no such as a tutorial.
Erik frowned and returned his attention to the screen. Time within the inner world appeared to flow in sync with the outside world, running at a normal pace unlike a couple days ago. This was likely due to William, a unit, being on the outside world. A waypoint would have the same effect.
"Huh?" Erik took notice of a question mark nearby. It wasn't there a moment ago. He focused on it, and a notification appeared in front of the screen.
"I feel there is something there, watching me, My Lord." – William Strongarm.
The invisible girl was watching. It was interesting to note that William could sense her presence and more accurately than Dell.
"Maybe not," Erik thought a bit more on the notification. "It might be just a feeling, like a sense of déjà vu."
"I-I'm a homunculus?" William uttered finally. "It can't be. I can't be."
Joseph had long since dropped his smile. He shook his head and turned away from William. "We will take him back with us."
Victoria nodded and flexed her wrist. Chains erupted and slammed William against the wall brutally – causing him to lose 50HP instantly. The chains then wrapped around him, binding his arms and legs tightly, to the point of bone breaking. "This Homunculus is strange. It doesn't feel any pains."
Joseph agreed as he watched William remained expressionless under the torture. A normal response would be begging help or pleading for mercy – a normal response for a person. "Perhaps, its creator didn't put too much effort in the emotional aspect of the creature."
"It would never pass for a real person then," Victoria said.
"No, it would not," Joseph said. "Perhaps that was the point." He eyed Victoria and chuckled at her puzzled expression. "Imagine if you will, Victoria – a fearless, emotionless army with unquestioning loyalty that could be replicated endlessly? What kind of unprecedent power would that give to the creator?"
There was a moment of silence.
"If that is the case," Victoria responded and lifted William up high with her chains. She slammed him into the ground, shattering the concrete floor. It took the remaining health from William, killing him instantly. Despite that, his body hammered against the floor repeatedly, all while everyone watched on, speechlessly. One person was in horror.
"Victoria! Why did you do that?" Joseph called out.
"Only God should have this kind of power," Victoria said and dropped the mangled body of a man on the ground before ripping it into pieces with her chains. Blood and shredded guts plastered all over the room when she was finally done. Amidst the bloodbath, the nun no longer looked like a servant of the Lord. She was his merciless sword.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Erik uttered and felt his stomach churned. He would have vomited if he was still in his physical body. He swallowed the nauseating feeling and witnessed what remained of his first unit. It died such a gruesome death. The screen turned grey as Joseph and Victoria was hidden by the fog of war. The screen then disappeared completely.
It took a moment for Erik to collect himself. "At least I know what happened when unit get killed in action. They give people nightmares." He shook his head. "Dell, what is worse than a lunatic?"
[A religious lunatic]
Erik blinked. He didn't expect that. "Hey! I was going to say that!"
[Then why did you ask me?]
"Tsk," Erik grumbled and turned towards the Headquarter. With 68 golds remaining, he had enough to recruit another worker, but it might have the same ending. "I need to be careful. Her detection range is huge."
With 30 golds disappeared from the stockpile, the front gate of the Headquarter opened. A swirling purple mist greeted Erik. Within the mist stepped out a woman in her late twenty. She looked about the grassy landscape with an emotionless expression.
"What will you have of this one?" the woman asked. Her demeanour was much different than that of William.
"A woman?" Erik wasn't surprised. He was curious if the gender was randomly generated. He quickly brought up her status window to have a good look at her stats and attributes.
Name: Astrid Silvermoon [Edit]
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 70/70
Stamina Point (SP): 45/45
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 7
Constitution: 8
Resistance: 9
Dexterity: 7
Charisma: 12
Wisdom: 8
Perception: 12
Luck: 6
Equipment: Linen shirt (upper-body), Linen Legging (lower-body), Cloth (upper-body), Cloth (lower-body), Straw Bracelet (right-wrist)
"Astrid Silvermoon," Erik noted. "Her health and stamina are lower than William, probably because of her lower stats. Charisma and Perception is a bit high off the bat. Magic is still at zero. Not sure if it means she cannot cast magic or she could eventually learn magic."
Erik closed the stat window and zoomed in onto the tile to have a closer look of his second unit. She was pretty, he admitted. Her dark brown hair was caked with dirt and mud. Her clothes look like it hadn't been washed for a while. If she cleaned up with a new set of clothing, she would be one hell of a fuckable babe.
"What the hell am I thinking?" Erik questioned and shook his head. He was still a teenager, one that didn't have a girlfriend for 17 years of his life. But there was a time and place for everything, and this was not the right time.
"Astrid," Erik said with a thought, bringing the woman to attention.
"What do you demand of this one?" Astrid responded.
Erik issued some simple movements, and she carried them out without a question. But the ways she moved along the edge of the two tiles made him stared. Once she completed her task, she stood idle and waiting for new command.
"Umm…" Erik mumbled and looked about to see if anyone was watching. "Astrid, please remove all your clothing."
Astrid tilted her head before carrying out the command. She removed her shirt first then legging and the under cloths without a sign of hesitation. She then stood naked as Erik swallowed hard and eyed her up and down.
"Nice breasts," Erik commented, wanting to reach out and hold them in his hands.
"What will you command of this one?" Astrid asked the moment she was "selected".
[You humans are strange. Getting excited for little thing]
"Shut up, Dell," Erik growled and zoomed the tile back out. He couldn't feel anything with his spirit touch. It needed to be his real body. "You can put your clothes back on now."
Astrid did as commanded, giving Erik another brief show. Like usual, she stood completely still once she finished her task.
Erik returned to the outside world and exited the hospital from the west entrance. Thunder and rain greeted him. A waypoint was formed under the cover of darkness, and from the purple swirling mist, Astrid Silvermoon emerged. Seeing her in person made him blushed like a kid in puberty. He looked down at her chest before fidgeting.
"Ah, what the hell," Erik said and gave them a squeeze. They were soft, spreading over his palm like jelly. "Damn, this is what breasts feels like."
Astrid only narrowed her eyes as a response to the fondling. Her expression returned to stoic once Erik had his fill. It wasn't fun when she had no reaction to his touches.
With his teenage tendency sated, Erik turned away from Astrid and entered the waypoint. Darkness of the night turned into bright sunny day as he stumbled on the stair case. He looked back and took notice of how massive the Headquarter was.
[This is ill-advised, Erik Summers]
"Yes, yes, but Plan A will only get Astrid killed so we're going with Plan B," Erik said.
[We're running away?]
"Plan C," Erik corrected and patted himself. "I will go, instead."
[That is ill-advised, Erik Summers]
"Ah shut up, Dell, you and your ill-advised," Erik said as he closed the waypoint. The huge wooden double doors of the Headquarter closed behind him. He thought of Astrid to bring up her screen. He then formed a waypoint inside the barrier as the doors opened again, revealing the swirling mist. He stepped back out into the outside world and found himself inside the barrier.
"Go and hide yourself in the hospital and wait for my orders," Erik ordered and watched the woman entered the hospital. He would use her as an anchor to create a waypoint. Once Astrid disappeared, he eyed the old building. It looked like a haunted building.
"It's time to get my hands dirty," Erik thought. It would be nice if he could command units from the safety of his inner world, but they currently lacked his enhanced ability. He had witness what Joseph and Victoria were capable of and knowing was half the battle.
On his approach, Erik could hear chains rattling and saw flickering golden lights, but unlike William, he could keep his distance and remained undetected.
[Someone is coming]
"Eh?" Erik uttered. "Already? How? I'm not even in the building yet!"
His mind ran a mile a minute to figure out what to do next. The front door swung opened, showing silvery chains burst out. It missed him by several arm lengths and slammed into the ground. Before he could say a word, he was tackled by something – someone – invisible.
She gripped his waist tightly. "She's scary, big brother!"
Erik face-palmed and cursed himself inwardly for blurting that out. He couldn't help it. The question took him by surprise. He was sure they couldn't tell whether William is a human or not. Something must have changed. It must have something to do with the priest's eyes.
Joseph kept his smile. The seriousness in his eyes was gone. "Perhaps you do not realize it yourself, but you are a Homunculus, an artificial human. I must admit, you are rather well-made. I could not tell the difference without a closer look."
"A Homunculus… an artificial human. Well, you could say he is something like that." Erik thought and tried to think of a response. While he could create an elaborate background story, his unit lacked the acting ability to make it truly sells. William's expression betrayed what he was saying since he merely repeated what Erik had said in the inner world.
"Might as well play the artificial human denial part and drags this out," Erik concluded thoughtfully and pondered what would happen at the end of this façade. It almost a certainty that they wouldn't let William to just leave. If he was a real person, they might. "What could they actually do to him I wonder? Kill him? What'll happens when he dies anyway? Does he leave behind a corpse and slowly fade out of existence or just vanish?"
[…]
Dell remained silence. The Demon Spawn didn't know. This power manifested from Erik himself, and thus only he could find answer these questions. The only way was through trials and errors and keen observations. There was no such as a tutorial.
Erik frowned and returned his attention to the screen. Time within the inner world appeared to flow in sync with the outside world, running at a normal pace unlike a couple days ago. This was likely due to William, a unit, being on the outside world. A waypoint would have the same effect.
"Huh?" Erik took notice of a question mark nearby. It wasn't there a moment ago. He focused on it, and a notification appeared in front of the screen.
"I feel there is something there, watching me, My Lord." – William Strongarm.
The invisible girl was watching. It was interesting to note that William could sense her presence and more accurately than Dell.
"Maybe not," Erik thought a bit more on the notification. "It might be just a feeling, like a sense of déjà vu."
"I-I'm a homunculus?" William uttered finally. "It can't be. I can't be."
Joseph had long since dropped his smile. He shook his head and turned away from William. "We will take him back with us."
Victoria nodded and flexed her wrist. Chains erupted and slammed William against the wall brutally – causing him to lose 50HP instantly. The chains then wrapped around him, binding his arms and legs tightly, to the point of bone breaking. "This Homunculus is strange. It doesn't feel any pains."
Joseph agreed as he watched William remained expressionless under the torture. A normal response would be begging help or pleading for mercy – a normal response for a person. "Perhaps, its creator didn't put too much effort in the emotional aspect of the creature."
"It would never pass for a real person then," Victoria said.
"No, it would not," Joseph said. "Perhaps that was the point." He eyed Victoria and chuckled at her puzzled expression. "Imagine if you will, Victoria – a fearless, emotionless army with unquestioning loyalty that could be replicated endlessly? What kind of unprecedent power would that give to the creator?"
There was a moment of silence.
"If that is the case," Victoria responded and lifted William up high with her chains. She slammed him into the ground, shattering the concrete floor. It took the remaining health from William, killing him instantly. Despite that, his body hammered against the floor repeatedly, all while everyone watched on, speechlessly. One person was in horror.
"Victoria! Why did you do that?" Joseph called out.
"Only God should have this kind of power," Victoria said and dropped the mangled body of a man on the ground before ripping it into pieces with her chains. Blood and shredded guts plastered all over the room when she was finally done. Amidst the bloodbath, the nun no longer looked like a servant of the Lord. She was his merciless sword.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Erik uttered and felt his stomach churned. He would have vomited if he was still in his physical body. He swallowed the nauseating feeling and witnessed what remained of his first unit. It died such a gruesome death. The screen turned grey as Joseph and Victoria was hidden by the fog of war. The screen then disappeared completely.
It took a moment for Erik to collect himself. "At least I know what happened when unit get killed in action. They give people nightmares." He shook his head. "Dell, what is worse than a lunatic?"
[A religious lunatic]
Erik blinked. He didn't expect that. "Hey! I was going to say that!"
[Then why did you ask me?]
"Tsk," Erik grumbled and turned towards the Headquarter. With 68 golds remaining, he had enough to recruit another worker, but it might have the same ending. "I need to be careful. Her detection range is huge."
With 30 golds disappeared from the stockpile, the front gate of the Headquarter opened. A swirling purple mist greeted Erik. Within the mist stepped out a woman in her late twenty. She looked about the grassy landscape with an emotionless expression.
"What will you have of this one?" the woman asked. Her demeanour was much different than that of William.
"A woman?" Erik wasn't surprised. He was curious if the gender was randomly generated. He quickly brought up her status window to have a good look at her stats and attributes.
Name: Astrid Silvermoon [Edit]
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 70/70
Stamina Point (SP): 45/45
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 7
Constitution: 8
Resistance: 9
Dexterity: 7
Charisma: 12
Wisdom: 8
Perception: 12
Luck: 6
Equipment: Linen shirt (upper-body), Linen Legging (lower-body), Cloth (upper-body), Cloth (lower-body), Straw Bracelet (right-wrist)
"Astrid Silvermoon," Erik noted. "Her health and stamina are lower than William, probably because of her lower stats. Charisma and Perception is a bit high off the bat. Magic is still at zero. Not sure if it means she cannot cast magic or she could eventually learn magic."
Erik closed the stat window and zoomed in onto the tile to have a closer look of his second unit. She was pretty, he admitted. Her dark brown hair was caked with dirt and mud. Her clothes look like it hadn't been washed for a while. If she cleaned up with a new set of clothing, she would be one hell of a fuckable babe.
"What the hell am I thinking?" Erik questioned and shook his head. He was still a teenager, one that didn't have a girlfriend for 17 years of his life. But there was a time and place for everything, and this was not the right time.
"Astrid," Erik said with a thought, bringing the woman to attention.
"What do you demand of this one?" Astrid responded.
Erik issued some simple movements, and she carried them out without a question. But the ways she moved along the edge of the two tiles made him stared. Once she completed her task, she stood idle and waiting for new command.
"Umm…" Erik mumbled and looked about to see if anyone was watching. "Astrid, please remove all your clothing."
Astrid tilted her head before carrying out the command. She removed her shirt first then legging and the under cloths without a sign of hesitation. She then stood naked as Erik swallowed hard and eyed her up and down.
"Nice breasts," Erik commented, wanting to reach out and hold them in his hands.
"What will you command of this one?" Astrid asked the moment she was "selected".
[You humans are strange. Getting excited for little thing]
"Shut up, Dell," Erik growled and zoomed the tile back out. He couldn't feel anything with his spirit touch. It needed to be his real body. "You can put your clothes back on now."
Astrid did as commanded, giving Erik another brief show. Like usual, she stood completely still once she finished her task.
Erik returned to the outside world and exited the hospital from the west entrance. Thunder and rain greeted him. A waypoint was formed under the cover of darkness, and from the purple swirling mist, Astrid Silvermoon emerged. Seeing her in person made him blushed like a kid in puberty. He looked down at her chest before fidgeting.
"Ah, what the hell," Erik said and gave them a squeeze. They were soft, spreading over his palm like jelly. "Damn, this is what breasts feels like."
Astrid only narrowed her eyes as a response to the fondling. Her expression returned to stoic once Erik had his fill. It wasn't fun when she had no reaction to his touches.
With his teenage tendency sated, Erik turned away from Astrid and entered the waypoint. Darkness of the night turned into bright sunny day as he stumbled on the stair case. He looked back and took notice of how massive the Headquarter was.
[This is ill-advised, Erik Summers]
"Yes, yes, but Plan A will only get Astrid killed so we're going with Plan B," Erik said.
[We're running away?]
"Plan C," Erik corrected and patted himself. "I will go, instead."
[That is ill-advised, Erik Summers]
"Ah shut up, Dell, you and your ill-advised," Erik said as he closed the waypoint. The huge wooden double doors of the Headquarter closed behind him. He thought of Astrid to bring up her screen. He then formed a waypoint inside the barrier as the doors opened again, revealing the swirling mist. He stepped back out into the outside world and found himself inside the barrier.
"Go and hide yourself in the hospital and wait for my orders," Erik ordered and watched the woman entered the hospital. He would use her as an anchor to create a waypoint. Once Astrid disappeared, he eyed the old building. It looked like a haunted building.
"It's time to get my hands dirty," Erik thought. It would be nice if he could command units from the safety of his inner world, but they currently lacked his enhanced ability. He had witness what Joseph and Victoria were capable of and knowing was half the battle.
On his approach, Erik could hear chains rattling and saw flickering golden lights, but unlike William, he could keep his distance and remained undetected.
[Someone is coming]
"Eh?" Erik uttered. "Already? How? I'm not even in the building yet!"
His mind ran a mile a minute to figure out what to do next. The front door swung opened, showing silvery chains burst out. It missed him by several arm lengths and slammed into the ground. Before he could say a word, he was tackled by something – someone – invisible.
She gripped his waist tightly. "She's scary, big brother!"
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To Catch a Ghost (4)
"What –?" Erik uttered and grabbed hold of the invisible girl. Thinking fast, he immediately distanced himself from the chain of destructions as it flexed and squirmed on the ground like a great serpent in pain, driving up wet dirt and stones.
Only at the edge of the barrier did Erik speaks up. "What's your name?"
"SS," the little girl whispered and hugged him tightly. It was a strange name.
"Alright, SS," Erik groaned and patted her head lightly. She was the same breed as him. Her strength could snap a full-grown man in half. "You can turn things invisible right? What about a person? If so, can you make me invisible before she comes out?"
SS nodded and tightened her embrace. Aside from his spine calling out for help, Erik didn't feel any difference. He was about to ask when he noticed his hand could no longer be seen. It was invisible – there was no distortion in the air like you would see in those superheroes movie. He could still feel it there and could even touch his face with it.
"Wow!" Erik was impressed. If it wasn't for the pouring rain, he would be unseen to the naked eyes, completely invisible. "What about making people seeing things? Can you do that?"
SS nodded once more. There was a moment of hesitation. "But it doesn't work on everyone."
"Show me anyway," Erik requested and recalled what little he knew of her power. From what Doctor J. Watson had said, she could make apparitions of his dead patients and scare the living daylight out of him.
"Can you make an image of a person over there?" Erik added. "Not me, alright?"
SS nodded and slowly turned her head to where Erik was pointing despite his invisibility, and to his amazement, an image of William appeared, standing expressionless as usual. The chain immediately jerked upwards and strike the ghostly apparition, dispelling it in an instant.
"It hurts," SS sobbed and held his waist tighter. "It never hurts before."
Erik nodded and stroked her hair as the chains pulled back into the unlit corridor of the old building, returning to its owner shrouded in darkness. Rapid footsteps could faintly be heard from there. They were coming.
"It's okay, SS," Erik assured. He didn't need to confront them. With SS safe, his goal was achieved. It was time to make their escape. "I will never hurt you, I promise. But you must do what I ask of you, okay?"
SS took a moment to nod. It was good enough for Erik. He didn't plan on letting William died such a gruesome death at the hand of the religious nut, but at least, something good came out of it.
"I'm going to open a way… a portal, we're going to go through it, okay?" Erik whispered quickly. "It's nothing scary. But to do that, you have to let me go."
SS slowly nodded, and Erik accessed the menu.
[Get down! Erik!]
Erik reacted and pressed SS onto the ground with his body as a chain sailed overhead and slammed into the barrier with enough force to send golden ripples across the entire sphere. He looked up and saw Victoria with a hand extended. She raised that hand up and swung downwards, forcing Erik to roll to the side with SS wrapped in his arms.
The hammer fell. The pavement was sliced, showering the area with broken concrete and mudded earth. Erik pulled himself up as Victoria appeared in front of him. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make him out as the chains wrapped around her balled fist, reinforcing it.
"Wait! Time out! Time out!" Erik called out and kicked the ground to get some distance, but Victoria had no intention of stopping her assault. She rushed towards him before flipping backwards to avoid a giant block of concrete that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ground shook under its weight.
Annoyed, Victoria smashed it apart with her chains, using it like a whip. More blocks appeared and blocked her path. They too were smashed into pieces.
"Shit, she's fast!" Erik panted. Even with his new physical prowess, he could barely keep up with her speed let alone fight her. Having to protect someone didn't help the matter one bit. He pulled out an iron ingot from his stockpile and readied himself for the most powerful pitch ever. Without an actual weapon, this was all he could do.
"SS, can you create an illusion as a distraction?"
SS shook her head repeatedly. "It hurts, big brother."
"Please, SS. If you don't try, we will die," Erik said. He planted his other hand on her head. "It won't hurt, trust me."
SS slowly nodded.
"Alright, do you remember back in the room when I threw this?" Erik asked and show the iron ingot to SS. He wasn't sure whether she looked at it or not since she was still invisible. "Create hundreds of them and throw them at her. Just dispel them before she could destroy them. Do you understand?"
The task wasn't too difficult. SS nodded and did as requested. With her power, she created hundreds of flying iron ingots, sending them forth at Victoria as she smashed apart the last stone block. Before the ingots could reach Victoria, her chain flexed violently, attempting to dispel the apparitions but they disappeared before it could.
"Do you think illusions will stop me?" Victoria said as she charged forwards.
That was when something heavy impacted against her chain with enough force to knock it back and allowing the barrage of iron ingots to pass. She raised her arms to block the illusions on reflex while her chain surged forwards to resume its protection. Before it could, a supersonic projectile impacted her squarely in the abdomen. Her eyes widened as her body registered the agonizing pain.
"You –!"
Erik grinned, but that grin turned into surprise then shock. The iron ingot dropped onto the ground harmlessly as Victoria was surrounded with a blue aura. Her chain had the same menacing aura as she glared angrily at him.
"Are you serious… a shield?" Erik uttered as he gripped another iron ingot in his hand.
"How dare a mere Demon Spawn make me release my aura!" Victoria shouted and raised her hand at Erik. The chain vanished and reformed right through his chest. Blast of wet air slammed into Erik's face as he looked down at his punctured chest, trying to register what just happened. It was too fast for even his enhanced sight. Behind him, the golden barrier rippled violently as it was pierced by the chain.
"Big brother," SS muttered with wide eyes. Bathed in the strange blue glow radiating from the chain, she was clearly visible.
"What the hell…" Erik uttered weakly and fell backwards the moment the chain was yanked out of him. Blood pooled under his body as he looked skyward. The barrier glowed brightly before turning invisible again. "Should have gone with plan B."
[That's no longer possible]
Erik chuckled and felt the hopelessness of his situation. There was no way to win, and his heart was pierced.
"Please don't destroy the barrier, Victoria," Joseph said and headed out of the building.
"Oh yeah, then there's that guy," Erik muttered. If he could not hope to defeat one of them, what chance did he have against two? He raised his hand and planted on SS's head. She was crying and pulling against his blood-soaked clothes. She was just a little kid, who just wanted to be left alone.
"Dell, can you save her?" Erik tried to say but coughed out blood instead.
[…]
"I want to save at least one person," Erik mouthed as he looked towards the gloomy sky. Thunders roared violently, and the rain seemed to stop. His vision began to wane. Darkness crept around the edges.
[…]
"Please," Erik pleaded, mustering all his strengths. "Please do something… please…"
[…]
"Dell!" Erik shouted as lightning strike the barrier, causing it to glow brightly, illuminating the area with golden light. Before the darkness returned, another lightning crashed into the magical barrier then another and another.
Victoria looked up as dozens of lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Her aura flared as Joseph opened his book and recited the verses as the barrier glowed brightly. Despite his effort, it shattered under the deadly barrage. The sky boomed and then turned eerily silence.
"My, my, I didn't expect the church to be here," said a young man in his early twenty. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "The name is Adam, but my friends called me Zeus."
"Be gone, Demon!" Victoria flexed her hands at the young man. Her chain crashed harmlessly into the ground as Zeus landed on top of it, using it as a rope.
"Is this an Artefact? It must be the Chain of Judgement." Zeus crouched down and gave it a tug. "I always wanted one, but Minus said we cannot use them." He jumped off the chain and landed on the ground when Victoria yanked it back. She was as surprised as everyone in the vicinity.
"Victoria, calm yourself," Joseph said without taking his eyes off Zeus. "Who are you? No demon or their spawns should able to touch an Artefact."
"Oh?" Zeus looked surprised. "Does that mean I'm stronger than God?"
"Blasphemy!" Victoria shouted. Her chain launched at him again, but this time he didn't dodge it. He grabbed it despite its impossible speed. "T-that's not possible –
"You have no idea what is possible and what isn't, little sheep," Zeus said as lightning erupted from his body. It propagated along the chain and slammed into Victoria with a deadly vengeance.
"Aghhhhhh!" Victoria screamed as lightning erupted from her body and surging skyward. Her tunic burst in flames just before Zeus let go of the holy chain and dodged a sword thrust from Joseph. She dropped to her knees and panted. Her body was badly burnt, from inside and outside.
"Woah, you nearly cut my hand off, old man," Zeus said with appalled face.
"Victoria, go and inform the others," Joseph ordered as removed his overcoat as it was a hindrance to his movement. The sword of light in his hand glowed brightly. Golden inscriptions manifested and spiralled along the length of the sword. The bible was nowhere to be seen. "Now!"
Victoria hastily pulled out a pendant. It glowed brightly, and she vanished, leaving behind only Zeus and Joseph inside the barrier. Erik and SS were already long gone. They escaped into the inner world when everyone was distracted.
"I will have you tell me everything, Demon Spawn," Joseph said and gripped his sword tightly with both hands. "May God be my witness, Amen!"
"Amen," Zeus snorted as his body glowed. His aura erupted while lightning surged forth and strike everything nearby. The cloudy sky above began to swirl violently.
Only at the edge of the barrier did Erik speaks up. "What's your name?"
"SS," the little girl whispered and hugged him tightly. It was a strange name.
"Alright, SS," Erik groaned and patted her head lightly. She was the same breed as him. Her strength could snap a full-grown man in half. "You can turn things invisible right? What about a person? If so, can you make me invisible before she comes out?"
SS nodded and tightened her embrace. Aside from his spine calling out for help, Erik didn't feel any difference. He was about to ask when he noticed his hand could no longer be seen. It was invisible – there was no distortion in the air like you would see in those superheroes movie. He could still feel it there and could even touch his face with it.
"Wow!" Erik was impressed. If it wasn't for the pouring rain, he would be unseen to the naked eyes, completely invisible. "What about making people seeing things? Can you do that?"
SS nodded once more. There was a moment of hesitation. "But it doesn't work on everyone."
"Show me anyway," Erik requested and recalled what little he knew of her power. From what Doctor J. Watson had said, she could make apparitions of his dead patients and scare the living daylight out of him.
"Can you make an image of a person over there?" Erik added. "Not me, alright?"
SS nodded and slowly turned her head to where Erik was pointing despite his invisibility, and to his amazement, an image of William appeared, standing expressionless as usual. The chain immediately jerked upwards and strike the ghostly apparition, dispelling it in an instant.
"It hurts," SS sobbed and held his waist tighter. "It never hurts before."
Erik nodded and stroked her hair as the chains pulled back into the unlit corridor of the old building, returning to its owner shrouded in darkness. Rapid footsteps could faintly be heard from there. They were coming.
"It's okay, SS," Erik assured. He didn't need to confront them. With SS safe, his goal was achieved. It was time to make their escape. "I will never hurt you, I promise. But you must do what I ask of you, okay?"
SS took a moment to nod. It was good enough for Erik. He didn't plan on letting William died such a gruesome death at the hand of the religious nut, but at least, something good came out of it.
"I'm going to open a way… a portal, we're going to go through it, okay?" Erik whispered quickly. "It's nothing scary. But to do that, you have to let me go."
SS slowly nodded, and Erik accessed the menu.
[Get down! Erik!]
Erik reacted and pressed SS onto the ground with his body as a chain sailed overhead and slammed into the barrier with enough force to send golden ripples across the entire sphere. He looked up and saw Victoria with a hand extended. She raised that hand up and swung downwards, forcing Erik to roll to the side with SS wrapped in his arms.
The hammer fell. The pavement was sliced, showering the area with broken concrete and mudded earth. Erik pulled himself up as Victoria appeared in front of him. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make him out as the chains wrapped around her balled fist, reinforcing it.
"Wait! Time out! Time out!" Erik called out and kicked the ground to get some distance, but Victoria had no intention of stopping her assault. She rushed towards him before flipping backwards to avoid a giant block of concrete that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ground shook under its weight.
Annoyed, Victoria smashed it apart with her chains, using it like a whip. More blocks appeared and blocked her path. They too were smashed into pieces.
"Shit, she's fast!" Erik panted. Even with his new physical prowess, he could barely keep up with her speed let alone fight her. Having to protect someone didn't help the matter one bit. He pulled out an iron ingot from his stockpile and readied himself for the most powerful pitch ever. Without an actual weapon, this was all he could do.
"SS, can you create an illusion as a distraction?"
SS shook her head repeatedly. "It hurts, big brother."
"Please, SS. If you don't try, we will die," Erik said. He planted his other hand on her head. "It won't hurt, trust me."
SS slowly nodded.
"Alright, do you remember back in the room when I threw this?" Erik asked and show the iron ingot to SS. He wasn't sure whether she looked at it or not since she was still invisible. "Create hundreds of them and throw them at her. Just dispel them before she could destroy them. Do you understand?"
The task wasn't too difficult. SS nodded and did as requested. With her power, she created hundreds of flying iron ingots, sending them forth at Victoria as she smashed apart the last stone block. Before the ingots could reach Victoria, her chain flexed violently, attempting to dispel the apparitions but they disappeared before it could.
"Do you think illusions will stop me?" Victoria said as she charged forwards.
That was when something heavy impacted against her chain with enough force to knock it back and allowing the barrage of iron ingots to pass. She raised her arms to block the illusions on reflex while her chain surged forwards to resume its protection. Before it could, a supersonic projectile impacted her squarely in the abdomen. Her eyes widened as her body registered the agonizing pain.
"You –!"
Erik grinned, but that grin turned into surprise then shock. The iron ingot dropped onto the ground harmlessly as Victoria was surrounded with a blue aura. Her chain had the same menacing aura as she glared angrily at him.
"Are you serious… a shield?" Erik uttered as he gripped another iron ingot in his hand.
"How dare a mere Demon Spawn make me release my aura!" Victoria shouted and raised her hand at Erik. The chain vanished and reformed right through his chest. Blast of wet air slammed into Erik's face as he looked down at his punctured chest, trying to register what just happened. It was too fast for even his enhanced sight. Behind him, the golden barrier rippled violently as it was pierced by the chain.
"Big brother," SS muttered with wide eyes. Bathed in the strange blue glow radiating from the chain, she was clearly visible.
"What the hell…" Erik uttered weakly and fell backwards the moment the chain was yanked out of him. Blood pooled under his body as he looked skyward. The barrier glowed brightly before turning invisible again. "Should have gone with plan B."
[That's no longer possible]
Erik chuckled and felt the hopelessness of his situation. There was no way to win, and his heart was pierced.
"Please don't destroy the barrier, Victoria," Joseph said and headed out of the building.
"Oh yeah, then there's that guy," Erik muttered. If he could not hope to defeat one of them, what chance did he have against two? He raised his hand and planted on SS's head. She was crying and pulling against his blood-soaked clothes. She was just a little kid, who just wanted to be left alone.
"Dell, can you save her?" Erik tried to say but coughed out blood instead.
[…]
"I want to save at least one person," Erik mouthed as he looked towards the gloomy sky. Thunders roared violently, and the rain seemed to stop. His vision began to wane. Darkness crept around the edges.
[…]
"Please," Erik pleaded, mustering all his strengths. "Please do something… please…"
[…]
"Dell!" Erik shouted as lightning strike the barrier, causing it to glow brightly, illuminating the area with golden light. Before the darkness returned, another lightning crashed into the magical barrier then another and another.
Victoria looked up as dozens of lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Her aura flared as Joseph opened his book and recited the verses as the barrier glowed brightly. Despite his effort, it shattered under the deadly barrage. The sky boomed and then turned eerily silence.
"My, my, I didn't expect the church to be here," said a young man in his early twenty. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "The name is Adam, but my friends called me Zeus."
"Be gone, Demon!" Victoria flexed her hands at the young man. Her chain crashed harmlessly into the ground as Zeus landed on top of it, using it as a rope.
"Is this an Artefact? It must be the Chain of Judgement." Zeus crouched down and gave it a tug. "I always wanted one, but Minus said we cannot use them." He jumped off the chain and landed on the ground when Victoria yanked it back. She was as surprised as everyone in the vicinity.
"Victoria, calm yourself," Joseph said without taking his eyes off Zeus. "Who are you? No demon or their spawns should able to touch an Artefact."
"Oh?" Zeus looked surprised. "Does that mean I'm stronger than God?"
"Blasphemy!" Victoria shouted. Her chain launched at him again, but this time he didn't dodge it. He grabbed it despite its impossible speed. "T-that's not possible –
"You have no idea what is possible and what isn't, little sheep," Zeus said as lightning erupted from his body. It propagated along the chain and slammed into Victoria with a deadly vengeance.
"Aghhhhhh!" Victoria screamed as lightning erupted from her body and surging skyward. Her tunic burst in flames just before Zeus let go of the holy chain and dodged a sword thrust from Joseph. She dropped to her knees and panted. Her body was badly burnt, from inside and outside.
"Woah, you nearly cut my hand off, old man," Zeus said with appalled face.
"Victoria, go and inform the others," Joseph ordered as removed his overcoat as it was a hindrance to his movement. The sword of light in his hand glowed brightly. Golden inscriptions manifested and spiralled along the length of the sword. The bible was nowhere to be seen. "Now!"
Victoria hastily pulled out a pendant. It glowed brightly, and she vanished, leaving behind only Zeus and Joseph inside the barrier. Erik and SS were already long gone. They escaped into the inner world when everyone was distracted.
"I will have you tell me everything, Demon Spawn," Joseph said and gripped his sword tightly with both hands. "May God be my witness, Amen!"
"Amen," Zeus snorted as his body glowed. His aura erupted while lightning surged forth and strike everything nearby. The cloudy sky above began to swirl violently.
Ample Accelerate
Gotta stab fast
- Location
- Texas
The powers thing was cool, but then it just got religious and then creepy.
It will get scary and gruesome as well. I did tag as "gore" and I mean it
Don't Fear the Dark (1)
Chapter 3: Don't Fear the Dark
"Big brother! Big brother! Please wake up!" sobbed SS. "Please wake up!"
Erik watched the crying girl from above. Her tiny hands pulled and pushed his unresponsive body by its bloodied clothing. Sadly, unlike his unit, he could not select or interact with her. His body, having its heart destroyed, could not sustain his consciousness. He could not tell her everything was fine.
"How long is this going to take?" Erik asked. He couldn't bear to see her crying. True, he'd only met her, but his now missing heart wasn't made of stone.
[Regenerating a vital organ will takes a substantial amount of time]
Erik winced. "I asked how long, Dell, not an analysis. If you don't know, just give me an estimate. A day, a week, a month?"
[3 days]
"Fuck!" Erik cursed. It had been two days since he came into his power, and in that time, he wasted one day sleeping. It was to heal the burnt flesh – but still. And now, three days would be wasted on recovery. It was unacceptable. "Is there a way to speed things up?"
[Kill her and absorb her essence]
Erik froze. "Say what?"
[Consuming her essence will empower you with greater healing factor]
"Dell," Erik said calmly despite the growing fury within. "I didn't risk my life to save her, so I can just kill her and harvest her soul! I'm not a fucking demon like you!"
[…]
Erik fumed and returned his attention to SS. Seeing the girl brought a bit of happiness. He managed to save someone despite his powerlessness. If it wasn't for that lightning guy named Zeus, he would not have the chance to get away from the crazy bitch. In her eyes, he and SS were something to be exterminated.
"What was that aura? She suddenly gets a power-up," Erik asked once he becomes calmer. While he couldn't defeat Victoria outright, he could slow her down. Just long enough for him to escape. With her increased strength and speed, it was impossible to follow and dodge her attacks.
[It is her essence. Spiritual energy. Releasing one's spiritual energy can have many effects. The most common is vastly superior strength and speed.]
Erik nodded at the thoughtful reply. "I thought it was something like that. Can I also do the same?"
[Yes, with practice. Your essence is too insignificant to make a difference, however]
Erik nodded again and brought up Astrid's display. He had to check up on her. A black screen greeted him, causing his immaterial heart stopped for a moment. "Shit. Don't tell me –?"
Erik quickly noticed a faint glowed around the edges. He zoomed out and saw red light illuminating the hallways, bringing much needed relief. He had thought Astrid got herself killed somehow. If she dies, his connection to the outside world would be lost. He would be trapped in the inner world.
Erik gave Astrid an order to leave the hospital. With SS now safe and sounded, he had to find a good place to camp out. The unit obeyed his command and began moving towards the front entrance. The screen suddenly shook as emergency lighting flickered. There was a thunderous boom, coming from the west entrance. Another boom followed by another. Then utter silence.
People resting along the hallways were startled. Those that were asleep pulled themselves up. How they managed to stay asleep with all that fighting outside remained a mystery. It must have had to do with the barrier the priest erected.
"What's going on?" one of the patients asked. The doctors rushed passed Astrid. A handful of nurses followed closely behind. On the screen, their names appeared below their feet, indicating Astrid had just learned their names. She read it off their name tags.
"Everyone, please stay calm. It must have been the storm," Doctor L. Johnson assured while one of her colleagues ushered startled people away from the door. She peeked through the small window in the door and becomes speechless. She was visibly shaken when she returned her attention back to everyone inside.
"What happened, Lily?"
"The old building has collapsed," Doctor Lily Johnson announced with a pale face. The other doctors immediately rushed to the door to have a look. As they did, so did everyone else. It quickly became a mob, pushing people out of the door. Astrid was amongst them, going with the flow.
Outside, in the pouring rains, people were bewildered at the scene.
Through Astrid's line of sight, Erik could see the area between the west wing of the hospital and the old building. The ground was overturned. Broken pavement and concrete were scattered. A handful of trees were ripped from the ground and burning faintly. The old building looked like it was hit with a heavenly sledgehammer. The front area of the building had collapsed completely.
It hadn't been more than a handful of minutes since Erik escaped into his inner world, yet the battle was already over. From the raging thunderstorm and drenching rains, the victor was obvious. What remained was what happened to the defeated. Did Victoria and Joseph die or have been captured?
Erik didn't know about Victoria's escape and assumed she fought alongside with her mentor against Zeus, but since there were no bodies remained other than a half-burnt priest robes, they must have captured by the lightning teenager.
Near the bush, something shimmering caught his eyes. Erik zoomed in to have a closer look. It was a book – the bible that Joseph had. There was a question mark hovering above it.
"This one has found something of interest. It appears to be a book, but it clearly isn't an ordinary book." – Astrid Silvermoon. This appeared in the notification window.
Erik felt his immaterial heart beating rapidly. Despite being a spirit in his inner world, he could feel all his organs and limbs were still there. "This is a loot! Holy shit!"
No one seemed to take note of the supernatural book, hidden in plain sight. Once the masses were being ushered back inside by the doctors and nurses, Astrid was ordered to pick it up and re-joined the people. Without anyone looking, the bible was transferred into the inner world for safe keeping.
Wrapped tightly in a towel, the holy bible landed with a thump next to SS, startling her. With teary eyes she turned around and saw the huge doors of the only building in sight was opened fully. There was a woman descending the stone steps.
"Please keep it safe for me, SS," Astrid said, causing the girl to flinch. SS turned invisible and hidden from view. Even Erik could not see her. "I promised I will never hurt you, SS. This is my avatar, Astrid Silvermoon. I cannot talk with you directly without my body. So, until it is fully healed, can you stay here? I will bring you some food when I am abled."
Erik waited and watched the swirling purple mist beyond the doorways of the Headquarter, checking for any sign of anyone passing through. He just hoped SS hadn't bolted at the sight of Astrid.
It took a moment for SS to become visible again. She nodded and tried to smile. Astrid – under Erik's order – gave the best smile she could mustered. She then exited the inner world. It was too risky to let her stay while keeping the waypoint opened. The double doors of the Headquarter closed behind her.
When Astrid left, SS picked up the book and held it tightly against her chest. She then sat next to his body, waiting for his resurrection. Watching her watching over him, the exclamation mark hovering over the book didn't seem so important.
"This isn't so bad. It's like watching Eva before she becomes all bitchy." Erik reminiscence about his younger sister. As a child, she was darn adorable, following him around and demanding him to play with her. Too bad, she was no longer a little kid. Now grown up, her interests were boys and parties and whatever teenage girl were into.
Erik sighed and tapped the exclamation icon on the book to see what it says. A window appeared, forcing a chuckle out of him.
Item: The First Bible (Damaged)
Type: Accessory
Class: God Artefact
Affinity: Holy
[?]
"That's more like it!" Erik called out and touched the question mark. Nothing happened. He tried it a couple more times to make sure. "What is this question mark thing, Dell?"
[Its attributes and stats are hidden. You will need a unit with holy affinity to appraise it]
"I guess I can't use it then," Erik muttered. He had thought as much. It was the reason why the bible was bounded in a towel. Direct touch would harm SS just like the blessed cross did to him. He gave the cross to one of the families sleeping along the hallway since throwing it in the trashcan didn't sit right with him. "By the way, my affinity is demonic right?"
[I have never heard of Demonic affinity. Yours is Unholy]
"Is that so?" Erik pondered. It was strange that his unit could have holy affinity while he himself was unholy. It was even stranger that William and Astrid could touch holy artefact without problem. "Is there Unholy Artefact?"
[Yes]
"Know where I can get one?" Erik asked. Having an unholy weapon at his disposal would benefit him greatly.
[No. It is likely they were all destroyed. You could…]
Erik raised his brow. "Dell? You just trailed off there for a second."
[You could create one with demon bloods. The number required is in the thousands]
"Woah, woah, woah! You mean they can be created?" Erik was surprised. In games, specifically role-playing games (RPG), artefacts were usually found, not created or crafted. They were game-changer, giving the players huge bonuses. "I thought they were… well created but by God or Demon God or something."
[Most of them were. The rest were created by humans. They bled and killed millions of their kinds in the hope to obtain power]
Erik narrowed his eyes as he felt the emotions behind those words. It was disgust. "You mean they can be made by –
Erik shook his head and cleared the horrifying thought. He had seen first-hand how someone could be a monster. From his friend to people from the church. Didn't Victoria, in the name of her God, try to murder SS, a child? Aside from frighting people from the morgue and wanting to be left alone, SS didn't commit any kind of atrocities.
Then there was William. What if he was artificial person – a Homunculus? He didn't do anything to her to be ripped into pieces like that. Erik couldn't even give the man a proper burial with his parts smeared all over the room. He was already dead. Victoria must have known. There was no point in desecrated a corpse.
Without saying anything, Erik turned his attention to Astrid. She headed out of the hospital and into the street. He zoomed out to get a good look at the surrounding, but all he could see was darkness. Aside from the hospital with its back-up generator, the entire town was dark. It was a blackout.
"Was it because of Zeus or something else?" Erik questioned as dozens of questions mark appeared all over the map. He clicked on them.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"They are all the same," Erik said as several of the question marks moved about, encircling Astrid as if she was a prey. His mind clicked immediately. "Shadow…!?"
"Big brother! Big brother! Please wake up!" sobbed SS. "Please wake up!"
Erik watched the crying girl from above. Her tiny hands pulled and pushed his unresponsive body by its bloodied clothing. Sadly, unlike his unit, he could not select or interact with her. His body, having its heart destroyed, could not sustain his consciousness. He could not tell her everything was fine.
"How long is this going to take?" Erik asked. He couldn't bear to see her crying. True, he'd only met her, but his now missing heart wasn't made of stone.
[Regenerating a vital organ will takes a substantial amount of time]
Erik winced. "I asked how long, Dell, not an analysis. If you don't know, just give me an estimate. A day, a week, a month?"
[3 days]
"Fuck!" Erik cursed. It had been two days since he came into his power, and in that time, he wasted one day sleeping. It was to heal the burnt flesh – but still. And now, three days would be wasted on recovery. It was unacceptable. "Is there a way to speed things up?"
[Kill her and absorb her essence]
Erik froze. "Say what?"
[Consuming her essence will empower you with greater healing factor]
"Dell," Erik said calmly despite the growing fury within. "I didn't risk my life to save her, so I can just kill her and harvest her soul! I'm not a fucking demon like you!"
[…]
Erik fumed and returned his attention to SS. Seeing the girl brought a bit of happiness. He managed to save someone despite his powerlessness. If it wasn't for that lightning guy named Zeus, he would not have the chance to get away from the crazy bitch. In her eyes, he and SS were something to be exterminated.
"What was that aura? She suddenly gets a power-up," Erik asked once he becomes calmer. While he couldn't defeat Victoria outright, he could slow her down. Just long enough for him to escape. With her increased strength and speed, it was impossible to follow and dodge her attacks.
[It is her essence. Spiritual energy. Releasing one's spiritual energy can have many effects. The most common is vastly superior strength and speed.]
Erik nodded at the thoughtful reply. "I thought it was something like that. Can I also do the same?"
[Yes, with practice. Your essence is too insignificant to make a difference, however]
Erik nodded again and brought up Astrid's display. He had to check up on her. A black screen greeted him, causing his immaterial heart stopped for a moment. "Shit. Don't tell me –?"
Erik quickly noticed a faint glowed around the edges. He zoomed out and saw red light illuminating the hallways, bringing much needed relief. He had thought Astrid got herself killed somehow. If she dies, his connection to the outside world would be lost. He would be trapped in the inner world.
Erik gave Astrid an order to leave the hospital. With SS now safe and sounded, he had to find a good place to camp out. The unit obeyed his command and began moving towards the front entrance. The screen suddenly shook as emergency lighting flickered. There was a thunderous boom, coming from the west entrance. Another boom followed by another. Then utter silence.
People resting along the hallways were startled. Those that were asleep pulled themselves up. How they managed to stay asleep with all that fighting outside remained a mystery. It must have had to do with the barrier the priest erected.
"What's going on?" one of the patients asked. The doctors rushed passed Astrid. A handful of nurses followed closely behind. On the screen, their names appeared below their feet, indicating Astrid had just learned their names. She read it off their name tags.
"Everyone, please stay calm. It must have been the storm," Doctor L. Johnson assured while one of her colleagues ushered startled people away from the door. She peeked through the small window in the door and becomes speechless. She was visibly shaken when she returned her attention back to everyone inside.
"What happened, Lily?"
"The old building has collapsed," Doctor Lily Johnson announced with a pale face. The other doctors immediately rushed to the door to have a look. As they did, so did everyone else. It quickly became a mob, pushing people out of the door. Astrid was amongst them, going with the flow.
Outside, in the pouring rains, people were bewildered at the scene.
Through Astrid's line of sight, Erik could see the area between the west wing of the hospital and the old building. The ground was overturned. Broken pavement and concrete were scattered. A handful of trees were ripped from the ground and burning faintly. The old building looked like it was hit with a heavenly sledgehammer. The front area of the building had collapsed completely.
It hadn't been more than a handful of minutes since Erik escaped into his inner world, yet the battle was already over. From the raging thunderstorm and drenching rains, the victor was obvious. What remained was what happened to the defeated. Did Victoria and Joseph die or have been captured?
Erik didn't know about Victoria's escape and assumed she fought alongside with her mentor against Zeus, but since there were no bodies remained other than a half-burnt priest robes, they must have captured by the lightning teenager.
Near the bush, something shimmering caught his eyes. Erik zoomed in to have a closer look. It was a book – the bible that Joseph had. There was a question mark hovering above it.
"This one has found something of interest. It appears to be a book, but it clearly isn't an ordinary book." – Astrid Silvermoon. This appeared in the notification window.
Erik felt his immaterial heart beating rapidly. Despite being a spirit in his inner world, he could feel all his organs and limbs were still there. "This is a loot! Holy shit!"
No one seemed to take note of the supernatural book, hidden in plain sight. Once the masses were being ushered back inside by the doctors and nurses, Astrid was ordered to pick it up and re-joined the people. Without anyone looking, the bible was transferred into the inner world for safe keeping.
Wrapped tightly in a towel, the holy bible landed with a thump next to SS, startling her. With teary eyes she turned around and saw the huge doors of the only building in sight was opened fully. There was a woman descending the stone steps.
"Please keep it safe for me, SS," Astrid said, causing the girl to flinch. SS turned invisible and hidden from view. Even Erik could not see her. "I promised I will never hurt you, SS. This is my avatar, Astrid Silvermoon. I cannot talk with you directly without my body. So, until it is fully healed, can you stay here? I will bring you some food when I am abled."
Erik waited and watched the swirling purple mist beyond the doorways of the Headquarter, checking for any sign of anyone passing through. He just hoped SS hadn't bolted at the sight of Astrid.
It took a moment for SS to become visible again. She nodded and tried to smile. Astrid – under Erik's order – gave the best smile she could mustered. She then exited the inner world. It was too risky to let her stay while keeping the waypoint opened. The double doors of the Headquarter closed behind her.
When Astrid left, SS picked up the book and held it tightly against her chest. She then sat next to his body, waiting for his resurrection. Watching her watching over him, the exclamation mark hovering over the book didn't seem so important.
"This isn't so bad. It's like watching Eva before she becomes all bitchy." Erik reminiscence about his younger sister. As a child, she was darn adorable, following him around and demanding him to play with her. Too bad, she was no longer a little kid. Now grown up, her interests were boys and parties and whatever teenage girl were into.
Erik sighed and tapped the exclamation icon on the book to see what it says. A window appeared, forcing a chuckle out of him.
Item: The First Bible (Damaged)
Type: Accessory
Class: God Artefact
Affinity: Holy
[?]
"That's more like it!" Erik called out and touched the question mark. Nothing happened. He tried it a couple more times to make sure. "What is this question mark thing, Dell?"
[Its attributes and stats are hidden. You will need a unit with holy affinity to appraise it]
"I guess I can't use it then," Erik muttered. He had thought as much. It was the reason why the bible was bounded in a towel. Direct touch would harm SS just like the blessed cross did to him. He gave the cross to one of the families sleeping along the hallway since throwing it in the trashcan didn't sit right with him. "By the way, my affinity is demonic right?"
[I have never heard of Demonic affinity. Yours is Unholy]
"Is that so?" Erik pondered. It was strange that his unit could have holy affinity while he himself was unholy. It was even stranger that William and Astrid could touch holy artefact without problem. "Is there Unholy Artefact?"
[Yes]
"Know where I can get one?" Erik asked. Having an unholy weapon at his disposal would benefit him greatly.
[No. It is likely they were all destroyed. You could…]
Erik raised his brow. "Dell? You just trailed off there for a second."
[You could create one with demon bloods. The number required is in the thousands]
"Woah, woah, woah! You mean they can be created?" Erik was surprised. In games, specifically role-playing games (RPG), artefacts were usually found, not created or crafted. They were game-changer, giving the players huge bonuses. "I thought they were… well created but by God or Demon God or something."
[Most of them were. The rest were created by humans. They bled and killed millions of their kinds in the hope to obtain power]
Erik narrowed his eyes as he felt the emotions behind those words. It was disgust. "You mean they can be made by –
Erik shook his head and cleared the horrifying thought. He had seen first-hand how someone could be a monster. From his friend to people from the church. Didn't Victoria, in the name of her God, try to murder SS, a child? Aside from frighting people from the morgue and wanting to be left alone, SS didn't commit any kind of atrocities.
Then there was William. What if he was artificial person – a Homunculus? He didn't do anything to her to be ripped into pieces like that. Erik couldn't even give the man a proper burial with his parts smeared all over the room. He was already dead. Victoria must have known. There was no point in desecrated a corpse.
Without saying anything, Erik turned his attention to Astrid. She headed out of the hospital and into the street. He zoomed out to get a good look at the surrounding, but all he could see was darkness. Aside from the hospital with its back-up generator, the entire town was dark. It was a blackout.
"Was it because of Zeus or something else?" Erik questioned as dozens of questions mark appeared all over the map. He clicked on them.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow." – Astrid Silvermoon.
"They are all the same," Erik said as several of the question marks moved about, encircling Astrid as if she was a prey. His mind clicked immediately. "Shadow…!?"
Don't Fear the Dark (2)
Erik got Astrid to back away immediately. He couldn't afford to lose her. With his meagre amount of golds left, every unit counts. The Shadows didn't follow. They stopped moving before disappearing without a trace. The question marks went with them.
"Dell?" Erik called out after a closer scrutiny of the surroundings. Nothing stood out as far as his unit could tell. But this was limited to her line of sight. Astrid could not see very far since the entire town was shrouded in darkness. "What just happened? Where did they go?"
[The Wall is in a state of flux. Shadow cannot fully enter this world]
"Yet…" Erik dreaded. From what he had overheard, the Wall was some sort of barrier that protected his world from the darkness lies beyond. The Wall was being weakened, allowing monsters to cross over. "What happens when the Wall completely breaks down?"
[Uncertain. It has never happened before]
"You mean to say that the demon you hailed from had never seen it happened before," Erik pointed out thoughtfully. Dell only knew what his predecessor knew thanked to hereditary memory, but that didn't mean those memories convey the whole truth. While he trusted Dell, he didn't trust what Dell trusted.
[That is correct]
Erik nodded and restated his question. "What do you think will happen if the Wall completely breaks down completely?"
There was a moment of silence. It was difference than before. This time, Dell wasn't trying to access a foreign memory imbued since his birth. This time, he was thinking.
[I am… unsure what will happen… but the inhabitants on this world will perish if they haven't already fallen to the ravenous hunger of the Shadows. There are things out there that even we don't want to bring attention to]
"But we, you mean the demon race?"
[We preferred to be called Hellion]
"Cool, Hellion it is then," Erik responded, smiling. "Anyway, how do I avoid the Shadows? Staying in the dark?"
[That will only get you and your units killed, Erik. Shadows is at their strongest in complete darkness. Any kind of illumination will weaken them and distort their form]
"Huh? Didn't you say they sought out light and warm?" Erik asked. "Why would they seek out things that weakens them?"
[Shadows are mindless and driven by hunger]
"Where there is light, there is food," Erik muttered and looked at the crowded hospital. He shivered at a thought. "How long do you think the Wall will hold them back?"
[A day, could be less. It is uncertain without seeing what is attacking the Wall]
"A day," Erik repeated and stared at the hospital full of people. It was impossible to stop whoever or whatever was tearing down the Wall in such short amount of time. The Shadows would come for the buffet. It was a certainty. "Shit…!"
[You cannot save them, Erik Summers]
"Are you saying I should leave them?" Erik asked. Frustration grew within him. It was mostly directed at his current strength. If only he was stronger. If only he had more time. "I can't do that, Dell. If I do that, what makes me different than Lance? What makes me difference from any of them monster? I don't want to become the very thing I want to fucking kill!!"
The abyss enveloping the two Grassland tiles suddenly churned. A faint echo was heard. It sounded like a voice. Several more distant voices could be heard, crying, wailing. Then utter silence. The abyss became like it was moment before.
[How interesting]
"What?" Erik investigated the darkness as his rage subsided. He could see something moving within the abyss. His heart raced. "Is the Shadows here?"
[No. This is something else.]
SS screamed got Erik's attention. He looked down as she stared at the edge of the tile before turning invisible. At the tile's borders were shadowy figures, humanoid in appearance. There were at least a hundred of them. Some pressed against the boundary of the tile, unable to pass through.
"What are they…?" Erik zoomed towards them to get a closer look. He immediately recognized some of them. He had only seen them once, but he could not forget. "Are they?"
[Apparently]
Erik swallowed as he found the girl he first saw in the morgue. She was no longer a corpse, but she wasn't exactly alive either. From the ethereal glow of her body, she was a spirit. These were all the souls he had absorbed. They didn't just disappear. They were here, in his inner world.
"What do they want?"
[A place to stay. There are now new structures available. You should have a look at them. One might be of interest to you]
Erik steered his eyes from the masses of people. Their eerie glow appeared to dim. It was not a good sign. They were disappearing back into the abyss, swallowed up by his darkness. He selected his free tile to open the construction window. It took a moment to appear. Aside from Headquarter, Barrack, and Armoury, there were now the Market, Townhall and most interestingly, Settlement.
[Settlement allows the creation of housings for these spirits. If their needs are met, they in turn will generate golds. Aside from the initial investment, higher tier will produce more golds but consumes more resources per cycle]
Erik was speechless. He desperately needed a good way to generate some golds. A gold mine would be the best, but sadly, there was no way to get one. He was willing to steal from jewellery shops and rob banks. Their golds were insured after all. It wouldn't harm anyone except the insurance firm. But that method was only temporary. Settlement was more permanent.
With new structures available to build, Erik had to rethink his current strategy. He was going to get the Armoury with the second tile to give himself some sort of an ace in the hole. The ability to stash and summon weapons in his hands was better than a Barrack. Training units would be ideal in most cases since they could have special abilities or magic, but their cost and upkeep were too much bear with his economy non-existent.
And seeing how the ethereal masses were fading and disappearing into the darkness, Erik settled on the Settlement for his second tile. The selected tile glowed before semi-transparent grid appeared. It spread beyond the initial tiles and covered over the tile with Headquarter as well.
[Congratulation. You just designated a Settlement area. You can now design the layout]
"Why do you talk like that, Dell?" Erik questioned.
[I merely rephrasing what appearing my mind. It is in Hellion]
"Oh…" Erik murmured. That was new. He would like to know more, but there was a pressing matter at hand. He looked at the grid, finding that it was roughly 1 square meter. He selected it and another window appeared. It was empty aside from the info saying he had 1 square meter selected. With his eyes at the screen, he tried select another square, but it deselected the first. The screen remained unchanged.
"Okay, I got it," Erik said and selected multiple adjacent square. The window showed he had a total of 4 square selected. An icon of a wooden shelter appeared. Its cost was 20 woods. Since there were enough woods, he commissioned its construction. The amount immediately deducted, and a timer appeared on the square. It was counting down since time in the inner world and outer world were in sync.
Six more wooden shelters were commissioned after the first. It was all Erik could afford. And as soon as the first shelter was erected, a couple of people managed to pass through the barrier surrounding the tiles. The moment they did, their ethereal glow vanished, and their body gained colours. Once all shelters were up, he found he had 14 people living in the Settlement area.
While Erik couldn't interact with the people, he could select the wooden Shelter. Doing so brought up a small window, giving insight on some information.
Selected: Wooden Shelter [Upgrade]
Occupants: 2/2
Foods: -2
Golds: +2
"Dell?" Erik called out after a closer scrutiny of the surroundings. Nothing stood out as far as his unit could tell. But this was limited to her line of sight. Astrid could not see very far since the entire town was shrouded in darkness. "What just happened? Where did they go?"
[The Wall is in a state of flux. Shadow cannot fully enter this world]
"Yet…" Erik dreaded. From what he had overheard, the Wall was some sort of barrier that protected his world from the darkness lies beyond. The Wall was being weakened, allowing monsters to cross over. "What happens when the Wall completely breaks down?"
[Uncertain. It has never happened before]
"You mean to say that the demon you hailed from had never seen it happened before," Erik pointed out thoughtfully. Dell only knew what his predecessor knew thanked to hereditary memory, but that didn't mean those memories convey the whole truth. While he trusted Dell, he didn't trust what Dell trusted.
[That is correct]
Erik nodded and restated his question. "What do you think will happen if the Wall completely breaks down completely?"
There was a moment of silence. It was difference than before. This time, Dell wasn't trying to access a foreign memory imbued since his birth. This time, he was thinking.
[I am… unsure what will happen… but the inhabitants on this world will perish if they haven't already fallen to the ravenous hunger of the Shadows. There are things out there that even we don't want to bring attention to]
"But we, you mean the demon race?"
[We preferred to be called Hellion]
"Cool, Hellion it is then," Erik responded, smiling. "Anyway, how do I avoid the Shadows? Staying in the dark?"
[That will only get you and your units killed, Erik. Shadows is at their strongest in complete darkness. Any kind of illumination will weaken them and distort their form]
"Huh? Didn't you say they sought out light and warm?" Erik asked. "Why would they seek out things that weakens them?"
[Shadows are mindless and driven by hunger]
"Where there is light, there is food," Erik muttered and looked at the crowded hospital. He shivered at a thought. "How long do you think the Wall will hold them back?"
[A day, could be less. It is uncertain without seeing what is attacking the Wall]
"A day," Erik repeated and stared at the hospital full of people. It was impossible to stop whoever or whatever was tearing down the Wall in such short amount of time. The Shadows would come for the buffet. It was a certainty. "Shit…!"
[You cannot save them, Erik Summers]
"Are you saying I should leave them?" Erik asked. Frustration grew within him. It was mostly directed at his current strength. If only he was stronger. If only he had more time. "I can't do that, Dell. If I do that, what makes me different than Lance? What makes me difference from any of them monster? I don't want to become the very thing I want to fucking kill!!"
The abyss enveloping the two Grassland tiles suddenly churned. A faint echo was heard. It sounded like a voice. Several more distant voices could be heard, crying, wailing. Then utter silence. The abyss became like it was moment before.
[How interesting]
"What?" Erik investigated the darkness as his rage subsided. He could see something moving within the abyss. His heart raced. "Is the Shadows here?"
[No. This is something else.]
SS screamed got Erik's attention. He looked down as she stared at the edge of the tile before turning invisible. At the tile's borders were shadowy figures, humanoid in appearance. There were at least a hundred of them. Some pressed against the boundary of the tile, unable to pass through.
"What are they…?" Erik zoomed towards them to get a closer look. He immediately recognized some of them. He had only seen them once, but he could not forget. "Are they?"
[Apparently]
Erik swallowed as he found the girl he first saw in the morgue. She was no longer a corpse, but she wasn't exactly alive either. From the ethereal glow of her body, she was a spirit. These were all the souls he had absorbed. They didn't just disappear. They were here, in his inner world.
"What do they want?"
[A place to stay. There are now new structures available. You should have a look at them. One might be of interest to you]
Erik steered his eyes from the masses of people. Their eerie glow appeared to dim. It was not a good sign. They were disappearing back into the abyss, swallowed up by his darkness. He selected his free tile to open the construction window. It took a moment to appear. Aside from Headquarter, Barrack, and Armoury, there were now the Market, Townhall and most interestingly, Settlement.
[Settlement allows the creation of housings for these spirits. If their needs are met, they in turn will generate golds. Aside from the initial investment, higher tier will produce more golds but consumes more resources per cycle]
Erik was speechless. He desperately needed a good way to generate some golds. A gold mine would be the best, but sadly, there was no way to get one. He was willing to steal from jewellery shops and rob banks. Their golds were insured after all. It wouldn't harm anyone except the insurance firm. But that method was only temporary. Settlement was more permanent.
With new structures available to build, Erik had to rethink his current strategy. He was going to get the Armoury with the second tile to give himself some sort of an ace in the hole. The ability to stash and summon weapons in his hands was better than a Barrack. Training units would be ideal in most cases since they could have special abilities or magic, but their cost and upkeep were too much bear with his economy non-existent.
And seeing how the ethereal masses were fading and disappearing into the darkness, Erik settled on the Settlement for his second tile. The selected tile glowed before semi-transparent grid appeared. It spread beyond the initial tiles and covered over the tile with Headquarter as well.
[Congratulation. You just designated a Settlement area. You can now design the layout]
"Why do you talk like that, Dell?" Erik questioned.
[I merely rephrasing what appearing my mind. It is in Hellion]
"Oh…" Erik murmured. That was new. He would like to know more, but there was a pressing matter at hand. He looked at the grid, finding that it was roughly 1 square meter. He selected it and another window appeared. It was empty aside from the info saying he had 1 square meter selected. With his eyes at the screen, he tried select another square, but it deselected the first. The screen remained unchanged.
"Okay, I got it," Erik said and selected multiple adjacent square. The window showed he had a total of 4 square selected. An icon of a wooden shelter appeared. Its cost was 20 woods. Since there were enough woods, he commissioned its construction. The amount immediately deducted, and a timer appeared on the square. It was counting down since time in the inner world and outer world were in sync.
Six more wooden shelters were commissioned after the first. It was all Erik could afford. And as soon as the first shelter was erected, a couple of people managed to pass through the barrier surrounding the tiles. The moment they did, their ethereal glow vanished, and their body gained colours. Once all shelters were up, he found he had 14 people living in the Settlement area.
While Erik couldn't interact with the people, he could select the wooden Shelter. Doing so brought up a small window, giving insight on some information.
Selected: Wooden Shelter [Upgrade]
Occupants: 2/2
Foods: -2
Golds: +2
- Location
- Laniakea
Good thing he can sell gold to buy food. Like Catan
Don't Fear the Dark (3)
Each person – settler – produced a unit of gold per unit of food they consumed. Erik didn't bother to question the logic behind the rate of exchange since one unit of gold (5 ounces) could buy hundreds unit of food with some money left over.
"I'm rich!" Erik called out and pondered what was the exchange rate of gold. It should be around 1k per ounce. "I'm super rich!"
[…]
"Right," Erik chuckled. He turned his attention to the window and tried to upgrade the shelter. The squares it occupied flashed red, but nothing changed otherwise. He attempted again while keeping his eyes on the grid. 3x3 square grid flashed instead of 2x2 square grid the shelter occupied. "Ah, you got to be shitting me!"
The wooden shelters were placed next to each other, tightly packed. It was not possible to upgrade them without demolishing some.
"I need to put some thought into this," Erik muttered and selected the Headquarter. He needed to see how much resources he had left. The stockpile window was brought up.
Unit: 1/10
Population: 14/14
Gold: 38/1000 (+13)
Wood: 11/1000 (+0)
Stone: 191/1000 (+0)
Iron: 199/1000 (+0)
Food: 8/1000 (-7)
Erik quickly scanned through the numbers and pondered if they were correct. Astrid Silvermoon was his only unit. To keep her around, he had to pay 1 gold upkeep and 1 food for sustenance. Since he'd recruited 2 Workers, paid for William's upkeep and gave a block to SS, he should have 38 unit of gold lefts. The math checked out.
"Why I only have plus 13? Don't have 14 settlers?" Erik asked and realized it accounted for upkeep as well. The negative food was a concern. "What happens if I run out of food?"
[People will abandon your settlement. Your unit will starve, and so will you]
"Me?" Erik muttered. "Why would I starve?"
[Your physical body is in the inner realm and will consume 1 food for sustenance. The one who can turn invisible also consume 1 food for sustenance. The only one who doesn't need food is me.]
"Is that so… 1 for me, 1 for SS, 1 for Astrid, 14 for Settlers. I get 20 for Grassland tiles… that should be plus 3," Erik said and looked at the number in bracket. It was negative 7, implying the Settlement built on Grassland didn't yield food bonuses. "Well, that sucks. At least give me some bonuses!"
Even without the bonuses, Settlement allowed him to convert his food into gold, which was more difficult to obtain than food. He brought up Astrid window and scanned the surrounding once more to see if any Shadows lurking in the darkness.
"This is too risky," Erik told himself and selected the Headquarter. With 30 golds disappearing from his stockpile, the heavy wooden doors opened and spat out a huge man from the swirling mist. His name was Leon Hammerhand.
"What is your demand of this lowly peasant, great Lord?" Leon asked and straightened his posture with his chest puffed out. He then looked around the area. An exclamation mark hovered above his head when he was done.
"Where is SS hiding?" Erik remarked while clicking onto the exclamation mark and keeping an eye on the Settlement and its inhabitants. He also paid some attention of the masses of people still standing in the abyss, waiting to be settled and sheltered. "I need to gather more woods for housings and raid a supermarket for food."
This was more to his liking. Erik was used to doing so many things all at the same time in game. In a normal gameplay, he could be building his home base and its defences, gathering resource, scouting ahead and preparing to expand, and sieging other players. And without his physical body, he would never get exhausted.
"I've sense something nearby, but my eyes are telling me there is nothing there," Leon said. "Should I try and hit it?"
"No!" Erik called out. He took note that his units could sense SS, and so could Dell. "Just repeat what I say."
"SS, you don't need to hide. There is nothing dangerous here," Leon announced. "I have the power to create people and use them as my avatars. Since they are my creation, they will not hurt you just like your illusions won't try and frighten me."
It took a bit more convincing for SS to drop her invisibility. She was hiding behind the Headquarter, looking at the Settlement with envious eyes. There were a couple of kids there, chasing each other and giggling. They seemed to be carefree and not remembered how they died.
"Do you want to go over there and play?" Leon asked. SS shook her head. "Don't be scare. They will not hurt you."
SS shook her head and looked at the unmoving body on the ground. Erik followed her gaze and told himself to steal a bed as soon as possible.
"I won't go anywhere, I promise," Leon said and pointed at the sky. "I'm still here, watching over you even if you cannot see me."
SS looked at the sky and blinked. Instead of the endless abyss, she saw a real sky with fluffy clouds. It was an illusion created by the tile. Erik saw the same illusion before his body expired and ejected his consciousness.
"Are you God?" SS asked. Her hands were fidgeting.
"No. I'm not God. I'm just like you. My power just works differently than yours," Leon repeated what Erik said. He gave some thought to her power. It wasn't exactly invisibility since when invisibility had the power to create illusions. He would examine her power in-depth soon, but for now, it was not on his list of priority.
SS brightened up a little. "Big brother, can I really stay here?"
"Yes," Leon said and turned towards the Settlement. "It is not much right now, but in time, there will be many people with many buildings with many things to do." His eyes returned to SS. "You can use your power here, but no more scaring people okay?"
SS nodded.
"That's a good girl," Leon said. "Please try and make some friends. It's more fun playing than playing by yourself."
SS nodded and noticed the heavy door of the massive building opened. Swirling purple mists could be found inside. "Are you leaving?"
"Only my avatar is," Leon said. "I have things for him to do. If you need me, just called out my name and I will listen, SS."
"It's Sophia Stone," Sophia muttered.
"Nice to meet you Sophia Stone," Leon said as Erik smiled. "I'm Erik Summers."
Leon left the inner world afterwards and met up with Astrid in the outer world. Erik was going to let Leon head into town in search for resources while leaving Astrid at the hospital for safety, but after thinking it through, it was better for the both to hunt for resources. Two people scouting was better than one. As for his own body, it was better to leave it in the hospital. He would be just one of many sleeping people in the hallway.
When Leon left, SS sneaked around the Settlement area without turning invisible. The adults paid her no mind and went on with whatever they were doing. Most of them were wandering the area aimlessly, but some were heading to the Headquarter. They headed up the staircase, disappeared and came back with a pile of logs or foods to take back home. The stockpile didn't change when that happened. It was just for show.
"Are they even real?" Erik questioned while checking Astrid's and Leon's screen. Each were heading in separate direction to cover more grounds. Astrid reached the edge of the town while Leon found a convenience store. Erik had Astrid turned back and tried another road since the woods was a bad idea at night, especially with the heavy rain. She also lacked the tool needed to chop down trees.
Leon on the other hand, kicked his way through the front door of the convenience store. 3HP drifted away from his body when that happened. The alarm didn't go off thanked to the total blackout. The man then pulled himself through the broken door and scanned the inside of the store. It was dark – the only light was coming from the sky in the form of lightnings.
"I wonder if a unit can use a flashlight," Erik muttered and had Leon searched for a flashlight in the dark. While he did that, Erik checked up on Astrid again. She passed a lumberyard, causing his eyes to light up.
"Stop Astrid," Erik ordered and selected the lumberyard on the screen. A list of options appeared, but 'Scavenge' was not on the list. In fact, none of the usual options was on the list. "Ah fuck, forgot the waypoint."
Scavenge was possible when a waypoint manifested. Astrid immediately went to work and dragged a log into the waypoint. Erik had half-expected a log to come out of the HQ and flatten some of the settlers as they climbed up the staircase, but that didn't happen, thankfully. The salvaged log went straight into the stockpile, increasing his woods supply by 5.
"5 woods per log," Erik commented and zoomed out to see how many there are. There were plenty, which brought a happy smile to his face. He should have more than enough to build housings for the settlers before they disappear. By the third log, the smile died and turned to frown. An exclamation mark appeared above Astrid as she stopped working, prompting him to check.
"This one is tired," Astrid called out. Her stamina point (SP) was at 0. It would take some time for her to recover.
"Take a rest," Erik ordered and closed the waypoint. He spent 20 woods to build another wooden shelter, allowing 2 more settlers in. He watched them emerged from the abyss and headed towards their new dwelling. Nearby, Sophia was spying on the kids. She was too shy to join them, and they, being simulated, didn't invite her over.
Erik sighed and turned his attention to Leon. The man also had a question mark above his head. Erik had a look what he wanted.
"How do I use this contraption?" – Leon Hammerhand. He was referring to the flashlight.
"Try pressing the switch," Erik suggested and watched the unit fiddling with the flashlight. When he got it working, the ring beneath his feet glowed with a small inscription. Erik narrowed his eyes and zoomed in to see the text.
"Gained 1 Wisdom!" – the text stated.
"So that's how," Erik commented and had a look of Leon's stats and attributes.
Name: Leon Hammerhand [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 87/100
Stamina Point (SP): 55/60
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 14
Constitution: 10
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 10
Charisma: 5
Wisdom: 3
Perception: 9
Luck: 3
Equipment: Linen shirt (upper-body), Linen Legging (lower-body), Iron bracelet (right-wrist)
Leon's wisdom did go up by 1. He was still dumb though. It explained why he used his legs to break into the store while a rock nearby would do just fine.
"Huh? When did he lose 10HP?" Erik questioned. While he could multitask, he didn't pay attention to every small detail happening on the screens and in his inner world.
[He hit himself with the device to see if it works]
Erik face-palmed. To lose 10HP, Leon didn't even hesitate. "His luck is pretty shit."
Luck in game was an adjustment factor for critical hit and loot drop. Since loot didn't exists as there were no monster to be hunted, it must relate to critical hit. Leon's strength was above average, luck didn't matter as much. At least, that was what Erik thought. He was wrong.
5HP drifted away from Leon as the shelves fell on him in his tumbling in the dark. Despite having a flashlight, he didn't use it to see where he was going. He had it around his waist, pointing upwards at the ceiling.
Erik sweat-dropped. "Alright, this guy is a hazard to himself and everyone around him."
"I'm rich!" Erik called out and pondered what was the exchange rate of gold. It should be around 1k per ounce. "I'm super rich!"
[…]
"Right," Erik chuckled. He turned his attention to the window and tried to upgrade the shelter. The squares it occupied flashed red, but nothing changed otherwise. He attempted again while keeping his eyes on the grid. 3x3 square grid flashed instead of 2x2 square grid the shelter occupied. "Ah, you got to be shitting me!"
The wooden shelters were placed next to each other, tightly packed. It was not possible to upgrade them without demolishing some.
"I need to put some thought into this," Erik muttered and selected the Headquarter. He needed to see how much resources he had left. The stockpile window was brought up.
Unit: 1/10
Population: 14/14
Gold: 38/1000 (+13)
Wood: 11/1000 (+0)
Stone: 191/1000 (+0)
Iron: 199/1000 (+0)
Food: 8/1000 (-7)
Erik quickly scanned through the numbers and pondered if they were correct. Astrid Silvermoon was his only unit. To keep her around, he had to pay 1 gold upkeep and 1 food for sustenance. Since he'd recruited 2 Workers, paid for William's upkeep and gave a block to SS, he should have 38 unit of gold lefts. The math checked out.
"Why I only have plus 13? Don't have 14 settlers?" Erik asked and realized it accounted for upkeep as well. The negative food was a concern. "What happens if I run out of food?"
[People will abandon your settlement. Your unit will starve, and so will you]
"Me?" Erik muttered. "Why would I starve?"
[Your physical body is in the inner realm and will consume 1 food for sustenance. The one who can turn invisible also consume 1 food for sustenance. The only one who doesn't need food is me.]
"Is that so… 1 for me, 1 for SS, 1 for Astrid, 14 for Settlers. I get 20 for Grassland tiles… that should be plus 3," Erik said and looked at the number in bracket. It was negative 7, implying the Settlement built on Grassland didn't yield food bonuses. "Well, that sucks. At least give me some bonuses!"
Even without the bonuses, Settlement allowed him to convert his food into gold, which was more difficult to obtain than food. He brought up Astrid window and scanned the surrounding once more to see if any Shadows lurking in the darkness.
"This is too risky," Erik told himself and selected the Headquarter. With 30 golds disappearing from his stockpile, the heavy wooden doors opened and spat out a huge man from the swirling mist. His name was Leon Hammerhand.
"What is your demand of this lowly peasant, great Lord?" Leon asked and straightened his posture with his chest puffed out. He then looked around the area. An exclamation mark hovered above his head when he was done.
"Where is SS hiding?" Erik remarked while clicking onto the exclamation mark and keeping an eye on the Settlement and its inhabitants. He also paid some attention of the masses of people still standing in the abyss, waiting to be settled and sheltered. "I need to gather more woods for housings and raid a supermarket for food."
This was more to his liking. Erik was used to doing so many things all at the same time in game. In a normal gameplay, he could be building his home base and its defences, gathering resource, scouting ahead and preparing to expand, and sieging other players. And without his physical body, he would never get exhausted.
"I've sense something nearby, but my eyes are telling me there is nothing there," Leon said. "Should I try and hit it?"
"No!" Erik called out. He took note that his units could sense SS, and so could Dell. "Just repeat what I say."
"SS, you don't need to hide. There is nothing dangerous here," Leon announced. "I have the power to create people and use them as my avatars. Since they are my creation, they will not hurt you just like your illusions won't try and frighten me."
It took a bit more convincing for SS to drop her invisibility. She was hiding behind the Headquarter, looking at the Settlement with envious eyes. There were a couple of kids there, chasing each other and giggling. They seemed to be carefree and not remembered how they died.
"Do you want to go over there and play?" Leon asked. SS shook her head. "Don't be scare. They will not hurt you."
SS shook her head and looked at the unmoving body on the ground. Erik followed her gaze and told himself to steal a bed as soon as possible.
"I won't go anywhere, I promise," Leon said and pointed at the sky. "I'm still here, watching over you even if you cannot see me."
SS looked at the sky and blinked. Instead of the endless abyss, she saw a real sky with fluffy clouds. It was an illusion created by the tile. Erik saw the same illusion before his body expired and ejected his consciousness.
"Are you God?" SS asked. Her hands were fidgeting.
"No. I'm not God. I'm just like you. My power just works differently than yours," Leon repeated what Erik said. He gave some thought to her power. It wasn't exactly invisibility since when invisibility had the power to create illusions. He would examine her power in-depth soon, but for now, it was not on his list of priority.
SS brightened up a little. "Big brother, can I really stay here?"
"Yes," Leon said and turned towards the Settlement. "It is not much right now, but in time, there will be many people with many buildings with many things to do." His eyes returned to SS. "You can use your power here, but no more scaring people okay?"
SS nodded.
"That's a good girl," Leon said. "Please try and make some friends. It's more fun playing than playing by yourself."
SS nodded and noticed the heavy door of the massive building opened. Swirling purple mists could be found inside. "Are you leaving?"
"Only my avatar is," Leon said. "I have things for him to do. If you need me, just called out my name and I will listen, SS."
"It's Sophia Stone," Sophia muttered.
"Nice to meet you Sophia Stone," Leon said as Erik smiled. "I'm Erik Summers."
Leon left the inner world afterwards and met up with Astrid in the outer world. Erik was going to let Leon head into town in search for resources while leaving Astrid at the hospital for safety, but after thinking it through, it was better for the both to hunt for resources. Two people scouting was better than one. As for his own body, it was better to leave it in the hospital. He would be just one of many sleeping people in the hallway.
When Leon left, SS sneaked around the Settlement area without turning invisible. The adults paid her no mind and went on with whatever they were doing. Most of them were wandering the area aimlessly, but some were heading to the Headquarter. They headed up the staircase, disappeared and came back with a pile of logs or foods to take back home. The stockpile didn't change when that happened. It was just for show.
"Are they even real?" Erik questioned while checking Astrid's and Leon's screen. Each were heading in separate direction to cover more grounds. Astrid reached the edge of the town while Leon found a convenience store. Erik had Astrid turned back and tried another road since the woods was a bad idea at night, especially with the heavy rain. She also lacked the tool needed to chop down trees.
Leon on the other hand, kicked his way through the front door of the convenience store. 3HP drifted away from his body when that happened. The alarm didn't go off thanked to the total blackout. The man then pulled himself through the broken door and scanned the inside of the store. It was dark – the only light was coming from the sky in the form of lightnings.
"I wonder if a unit can use a flashlight," Erik muttered and had Leon searched for a flashlight in the dark. While he did that, Erik checked up on Astrid again. She passed a lumberyard, causing his eyes to light up.
"Stop Astrid," Erik ordered and selected the lumberyard on the screen. A list of options appeared, but 'Scavenge' was not on the list. In fact, none of the usual options was on the list. "Ah fuck, forgot the waypoint."
Scavenge was possible when a waypoint manifested. Astrid immediately went to work and dragged a log into the waypoint. Erik had half-expected a log to come out of the HQ and flatten some of the settlers as they climbed up the staircase, but that didn't happen, thankfully. The salvaged log went straight into the stockpile, increasing his woods supply by 5.
"5 woods per log," Erik commented and zoomed out to see how many there are. There were plenty, which brought a happy smile to his face. He should have more than enough to build housings for the settlers before they disappear. By the third log, the smile died and turned to frown. An exclamation mark appeared above Astrid as she stopped working, prompting him to check.
"This one is tired," Astrid called out. Her stamina point (SP) was at 0. It would take some time for her to recover.
"Take a rest," Erik ordered and closed the waypoint. He spent 20 woods to build another wooden shelter, allowing 2 more settlers in. He watched them emerged from the abyss and headed towards their new dwelling. Nearby, Sophia was spying on the kids. She was too shy to join them, and they, being simulated, didn't invite her over.
Erik sighed and turned his attention to Leon. The man also had a question mark above his head. Erik had a look what he wanted.
"How do I use this contraption?" – Leon Hammerhand. He was referring to the flashlight.
"Try pressing the switch," Erik suggested and watched the unit fiddling with the flashlight. When he got it working, the ring beneath his feet glowed with a small inscription. Erik narrowed his eyes and zoomed in to see the text.
"Gained 1 Wisdom!" – the text stated.
"So that's how," Erik commented and had a look of Leon's stats and attributes.
Name: Leon Hammerhand [Edit]
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Class: Peasant
Profession: Worker
Heath Point (HP): 87/100
Stamina Point (SP): 55/60
Mana Point (MP): 0/0
Strength: 14
Constitution: 10
Resistance: 8
Dexterity: 10
Charisma: 5
Wisdom: 3
Perception: 9
Luck: 3
Equipment: Linen shirt (upper-body), Linen Legging (lower-body), Iron bracelet (right-wrist)
Leon's wisdom did go up by 1. He was still dumb though. It explained why he used his legs to break into the store while a rock nearby would do just fine.
"Huh? When did he lose 10HP?" Erik questioned. While he could multitask, he didn't pay attention to every small detail happening on the screens and in his inner world.
[He hit himself with the device to see if it works]
Erik face-palmed. To lose 10HP, Leon didn't even hesitate. "His luck is pretty shit."
Luck in game was an adjustment factor for critical hit and loot drop. Since loot didn't exists as there were no monster to be hunted, it must relate to critical hit. Leon's strength was above average, luck didn't matter as much. At least, that was what Erik thought. He was wrong.
5HP drifted away from Leon as the shelves fell on him in his tumbling in the dark. Despite having a flashlight, he didn't use it to see where he was going. He had it around his waist, pointing upwards at the ceiling.
Erik sweat-dropped. "Alright, this guy is a hazard to himself and everyone around him."
Don't Fear the Dark (4)
With a waypoint created, Leon started to scavenge, bringing things through the rift. Erik specifically told Leon to start with smallest item first. Without the request, Leon would go for the closest object, which was a heavy wooden shelf with all the goods still stacked up.
"I can't believe I have to keep an eye on him," Erik grumbled and checked up on his other unit. Astrid was resting under a covering and out of the rain. Her stamina recovered slowly. Her wisdom was on par with a normal person, so he didn't have to constantly keep an eye on her. As for SS, she was still hiding behind a wooden shelter, watching the kids playing from afar. Her scrawny hands hugged the First Bible tightly. It was left in her care until Erik could examine it personally.
"I wish I have enough gold for another worker," Erik said after giving some attention to the HQ and the stockpile list. Food count was increasing steadily while iron and wood increased occasionally. It was a good haul. Having another worker would speed up things considerably. "Maybe there is a gold or jewellery shops nearby."
There should be at least one or two shops considering the size of the town. It wasn't a large town by normal standard, boasting just over 3000 inhabitants. Half of its people took refuge at the hospital, situated south of the town's plaza. The rest of the town was either sleeping in their home or at the forest to the north, helping with the greatest forest fire in recent memory. The inferno, which raged for more than a day was put out by the onset of heavy rain. This was thanked to Zeus and his power to manipulate the weather – somehow.
Unlike SS, Erik didn't think Zeus was a possible ally. His lightning power was far too advance for him to be on his own. Ergo, Zeus was probably an ally of Luke. He did mention his friends when talking to Joseph and Victoria. Considering that Zeus took the effort to stop Lance's from torching the town, he might have a conscience left – or he had other plans with the town's inhabitants.
Fearing the truth, Erik didn't want to ask Dell and confirm his growing suspicion. Anything to do with demons required sacrifices, virginal sacrifices. He should know. He was a sacrifice himself. Along with his classmates, he was fed demon blood and transformed into something inhuman. He was a Demon Spawn. His humanity remaining intact was his only salvation.
"If they are trying to open the gate, this town is already lost," Erik recited the words Joseph had said to Victoria. Considering what he had becomes, the gate could only be the Gate of Hell. Opening such an unholy portal would require countless sacrifices.
Erik couldn't fathom why Luke and his buddies would go to such length. As psychotic as Luke was, he obviously wasn't insane. And neither was Zeus. With their godlike powers, they could be anyone, do anything. So why start an apocalypse? What could they possibly gain by destroying the world?
[…]
A young woman with unnaturally white hair came into his mind. Her mesmerizing purple eyes could literally steal a person's soul. Despite only seeing her that one time, he felt a sense of familiarity. It was like they known each other for a very, very long time.
[…]
Erik shook his head and arched his eyes. "Dell?"
[Yes, Erik?]
"No, I thought you said something," Erik replied and returned his attention to Leon and Astrid. What ever happened, he would not sit idlingly by and let people die. It was just not him. And to do that, he needed all the help he could get.
As Erik watched Leon worked, he learned anything the stockpile couldn't store would be lost during transition through the waypoint. Items like aluminium foils didn't appear in the inner world despite the stockpile couldn't store aluminium. Since SS still had her gold block, it was possible to bypass the stockpile completely. As a test, Erik had Leon brought a hammer through. It didn't break into wood and iron when he did.
"I must manually order them instead of issuing pre-set commands," Erik said. After a few more test to solidify his theory, he had Leon stocked up on some equipment such as axes and handsaws. They were needed to harvest wood from the forest.
Once Leon cleaned out the entire convenience store, Erik had him move onto to the next store. Even the door was gone, converted into woods for wooden shelters. The next building was machine shop, and with some machine tools such as electric drill and pump stashed away, everything that weren't bolted down was converted into resources.
Whenever there was enough wood, a wooden shelter was erected in the Settlement area, increasing the population of the inner world by two. It was sitting at 48. Since there was more enough room to rebuild later, Erik didn't give too much thought on the layout of the housings. His main concern was gathering as much resources as he could before something else comes up.
And something did come up. Question marks appeared all over the map. The Shadows had returned and greater in numbers than before. There must be at least a couple dozens. Erik opened one of the question marks to be sure.
「There is something there, great Lord! 」– Leon Hammerhand.
The Shadows converged onto Leon, but with a few flashlights lighting up the store, they were kept at bay. They were still not strong enough to invade the light. This would change in the upcoming days as the Wall continued to be weakened. Instead, the creatures begat of darkness encircled Leon like sharks in a blood frenzy, waiting for the flashlight to die down.
With an oversize wrench gripped in both hands, Leon was ready to fight to the death. There was no fear in his eyes despite being surrounded and outnumbered.
"Can he fight against that many?" Erik questioned as he tried to make out the monsters hiding in the dark. Despite their ravenous growling, they weren't mindless enough to attack their prey.
[These are lesser Shadows. They pose as much a threat as a hellhound]
"Hellhound?" Erik uttered and looked at Astrid's screen. Despite there were no Shadows appearing on her side of the map due to lack of light, he had her returned to the inner world and grabbed some lamps and an axe just in case. He didn't let her turn on the lamp just yet. Doing so would only invite troubles. Shadows were attracted to light and warm.
"Maybe I should find him a gun. That way, he could shoot the damn things while staying away from the dark," Erik said after returning to watching Leon. Leon, in turn, watched the Shadows growling in the dark. Seconds passed. Minutes went by.
Boom!
Erik flinched as lightning flashed. His eyes went wide as he caught a glimpse of a Shadow. Its features were undiscernible due to being just a mass of blackness. It casted no shadow itself, and from what he could make of its body and shapes, he thought someone took a bunch of body parts and smashed them together and called it a day. Standing on six legs with numerous disjointed arms sprouting out of its wavy body, it was growling at Leon.
Darkness returned, and so was the silence. The Shadows faded away, melted into the darkness and returned to the space between spaces, the void between worlds. Their growls faintly echoed in the room, reminding Erik that they would return – and soon.
"Need to find a gun shop," Erik said and ordered Leon to resume his scavenging. There was no time for idling. Once Leon exhausted his SP, he could rest, and the waypoint switched to Astrid. While her SP didn't recover fully, she was good enough to go.
Erik spent time to direct her actions carefully while paying great attention to her stamina points. He found that if she didn't exert herself, her SP remained the same. If she tried to do things exceeding her physical capability, the SP would plummet. Dragging logs to the waypoint greatly exhausted her. As such, she gathered branches with the axe instead. Each bundle she collected added 1 to 2 unit of woods at the cost of 1 SP. It as more efficient than hauling logs.
When Astrid exhausted herself, Erik switched back to Leon and had the man gone to work. Likewise, Erik paid close attention to Leon's stats. Scavenging small objects didn't cost any stamina. Only the larger one did. But thanked to Leon's physical strength, he expended SP much slower than Astrid. His health point (HP) had also recovered after the rest.
"It would be great if I can manually distribute the points when I recruit them," Eric said. A dedicated labour worker having high HP was pointless. They needed high SP and Strength. He could do without the brain and luck for menial task like lugging things back and forth.
[Erik. Your food stockpile is maxed out]
"Already?" Erik opened the stockpile screen. He hadn't been paying attention due to the Shadows.
Unit: 2/10
Population: 56/56
Gold: 8/1000 (+54)
Wood: 19/1000 (+0)
Stone: 192/1000 (+0)
Iron: 314/1000 (+0)
Food: 1000/1000 (-50)
Like Dell had informed, food was sitting at 1000. It was maxed out. At the rate of deficiency, it would last him 20 days. But with all the new settlers coming to his Settlement, it wouldn't last that long. He needed more – much, much more.
"Is there a way to increase the limit without building another HQ?"
[Not that I know of. You could stash them like those tools, but unlike the stockpile, they will rot if left outside]
"Oh? Food in the stockpile don't rot?" Erik asked. He didn't know that, but he did have his suspicion the moment food came into play. "See, you should tell me these things. Even if it seems insignificant to you, it might mean a lot to me."
[Explain]
"I have been taking note. The system is simple. Anything that editable is classified as food," Erik said as he glanced at Leon's and Astrid's screen, checking if they needed his guidance. Astrid was taking a rest. As for Leon, he was trying to break into the gun store with a sled hammer as the window and doors were bolted and barred.
"The system considered a bag of table salt as 1 unit of food," Erik pointed out. "I don't think anyone realistically eat a bag of salt for lunch. If that the case, anything non-perishable or long lasting should be stash outside as emergency rations instead of being stockpiled."
Considering the overall size of the tile, reaching almost 1 square kilometre, Erik could pile up a lot of things and still have plenty of room to build. The Headquarter was a huge building, but it didn't take up the entire Grassland tile. With the grid now overlayed the tile, complex layout was possible.
[That is interesting]
Erik nodded and looked at his iron stockpile. He had enough for the time being, and considering iron were everywhere, he rather kept the guns for the Armoury later instead of breaking them down for their irons. While it took longer to bring items into the inner world than Scavenging, it was worth the time. Once the door broke down, Erik took control of Leon's action. If he let Leon alone, chances are, Leon would blow his brain out with a shotgun.
With half the town asleep and the other half at the hospital, looting shops after shops was like taking candy from a baby. By dawn, Erik had enough guns to start an army and rations to keep them fed. As for the Settlement area, it had a total population of 86 people despite there were enough shelter for at over a 100. These 86 people were the souls Erik absorbed at the morgue. To get more settlers and establish a powerful economy, he would need a way to get more souls.
[Aside from killing, you can try and harvest the recently deceased]
"What am I, a fucking soul reaper?" Erik questioned and sighed. He couldn't kill people and harvest their soul to increase his power. And sitting around, waiting for people to get killed without trying to save them was just as bad. "Back to Plan A then."
[Rescue the one called SS? She is not in danger. She is sleeping]
Erik rolled his eyes and had a quick look where SS was. She was sleeping on top of his body. "Can you not call her 'the one called SS'? Just call her SS or Sophia. And that was the old plan A. New plan A – we're going to rob a bank."
[How is robbing a bank advances your power?]
Erik opened his mouth, but no words came out. His mind drawled blank. With the settlers, he had a steady supply of Gold. So, what he needed was a way to build a Barrack or an Armoury. He couldn't demolish the Headquarter to do that.
"I like money, okay?" Erik snorted and looked at Leon's and Astrid's display. He zoomed out to see the surrounding before arching his brow. "How come I haven't seen a single person in town? Isn't it morning?"
Erik rotated the camera, so he could take a good look at the dark sky. The rain had stopped, but the thunderstorm still covered the entire town, giving it a gloomy feeling. And without people around, it looked like a ghost town. It was too strange.
With adequate stockpile of woods, Astrid headed back to the hospital. As for Leon, he was ordered to scout the town to find some people. It didn't take him long to accomplish his mission. They were resting in a pool of their own blood just outside the police stations. Their bodies riddled with bullets, making their faces unrecognizable. From their clothing, they were civilians.
Nearby, a few masked men chatting away like it was normal day. Their assault rifle slumped around their shoulder with its handle held by one hand. Grenades and a pistol holstered by a belt wrapped around their waist. One of them was watching over a wounded woman. From her uniform, she was a cop. To her side was another police officer, but he was executed with a bullet through the head.
"That bastard makes it rain the entire night. It was already hard to gather up the town without being wet and cold and chased by fucking demons," one of the men cursed before exhaling smoke through a small hole in his mask. The men next to him took a mouthful from the cigarette and passed back to him. "And now we have to play babysitting. Why can't we just fuck the bitch and slit her throat like the rest? She killed two of our men."
"Because she's a virgin," another man said. He was patting down bodies and stealing their wallet and valuables. "Can't kill virgin or kids. I kind of understand the virgin part, but why kids?"
"Because kids are virgins?" the third guy spoke up. He was looking at the gloomy sky.
"No, no, no. I heard they needed to reach puberty to work," the looter replied and got up. He then approached his buddies and enjoyed the cigarette.
"And where did you hear that?" the rapist asked.
"When the boss is talking to the witch," the looter said.
"Minus? I wouldn't mind putting her in her place," the rapist said and took the cigarette. He dropped it when lightning strikes the ground, deposited a young man. "Wait, Zeus, I didn't mean it!"
"I don't care what you do as long as you do your job," Zeus said and dropped the unconsciousness girl on the ground along with her silvery chains. "She was hard to find. If she wasn't a virgin, I would just turn her into ash like her dumbass friend."
"I can't believe I have to keep an eye on him," Erik grumbled and checked up on his other unit. Astrid was resting under a covering and out of the rain. Her stamina recovered slowly. Her wisdom was on par with a normal person, so he didn't have to constantly keep an eye on her. As for SS, she was still hiding behind a wooden shelter, watching the kids playing from afar. Her scrawny hands hugged the First Bible tightly. It was left in her care until Erik could examine it personally.
"I wish I have enough gold for another worker," Erik said after giving some attention to the HQ and the stockpile list. Food count was increasing steadily while iron and wood increased occasionally. It was a good haul. Having another worker would speed up things considerably. "Maybe there is a gold or jewellery shops nearby."
There should be at least one or two shops considering the size of the town. It wasn't a large town by normal standard, boasting just over 3000 inhabitants. Half of its people took refuge at the hospital, situated south of the town's plaza. The rest of the town was either sleeping in their home or at the forest to the north, helping with the greatest forest fire in recent memory. The inferno, which raged for more than a day was put out by the onset of heavy rain. This was thanked to Zeus and his power to manipulate the weather – somehow.
Unlike SS, Erik didn't think Zeus was a possible ally. His lightning power was far too advance for him to be on his own. Ergo, Zeus was probably an ally of Luke. He did mention his friends when talking to Joseph and Victoria. Considering that Zeus took the effort to stop Lance's from torching the town, he might have a conscience left – or he had other plans with the town's inhabitants.
Fearing the truth, Erik didn't want to ask Dell and confirm his growing suspicion. Anything to do with demons required sacrifices, virginal sacrifices. He should know. He was a sacrifice himself. Along with his classmates, he was fed demon blood and transformed into something inhuman. He was a Demon Spawn. His humanity remaining intact was his only salvation.
"If they are trying to open the gate, this town is already lost," Erik recited the words Joseph had said to Victoria. Considering what he had becomes, the gate could only be the Gate of Hell. Opening such an unholy portal would require countless sacrifices.
Erik couldn't fathom why Luke and his buddies would go to such length. As psychotic as Luke was, he obviously wasn't insane. And neither was Zeus. With their godlike powers, they could be anyone, do anything. So why start an apocalypse? What could they possibly gain by destroying the world?
[…]
A young woman with unnaturally white hair came into his mind. Her mesmerizing purple eyes could literally steal a person's soul. Despite only seeing her that one time, he felt a sense of familiarity. It was like they known each other for a very, very long time.
[…]
Erik shook his head and arched his eyes. "Dell?"
[Yes, Erik?]
"No, I thought you said something," Erik replied and returned his attention to Leon and Astrid. What ever happened, he would not sit idlingly by and let people die. It was just not him. And to do that, he needed all the help he could get.
As Erik watched Leon worked, he learned anything the stockpile couldn't store would be lost during transition through the waypoint. Items like aluminium foils didn't appear in the inner world despite the stockpile couldn't store aluminium. Since SS still had her gold block, it was possible to bypass the stockpile completely. As a test, Erik had Leon brought a hammer through. It didn't break into wood and iron when he did.
"I must manually order them instead of issuing pre-set commands," Erik said. After a few more test to solidify his theory, he had Leon stocked up on some equipment such as axes and handsaws. They were needed to harvest wood from the forest.
Once Leon cleaned out the entire convenience store, Erik had him move onto to the next store. Even the door was gone, converted into woods for wooden shelters. The next building was machine shop, and with some machine tools such as electric drill and pump stashed away, everything that weren't bolted down was converted into resources.
Whenever there was enough wood, a wooden shelter was erected in the Settlement area, increasing the population of the inner world by two. It was sitting at 48. Since there was more enough room to rebuild later, Erik didn't give too much thought on the layout of the housings. His main concern was gathering as much resources as he could before something else comes up.
And something did come up. Question marks appeared all over the map. The Shadows had returned and greater in numbers than before. There must be at least a couple dozens. Erik opened one of the question marks to be sure.
「There is something there, great Lord! 」– Leon Hammerhand.
The Shadows converged onto Leon, but with a few flashlights lighting up the store, they were kept at bay. They were still not strong enough to invade the light. This would change in the upcoming days as the Wall continued to be weakened. Instead, the creatures begat of darkness encircled Leon like sharks in a blood frenzy, waiting for the flashlight to die down.
With an oversize wrench gripped in both hands, Leon was ready to fight to the death. There was no fear in his eyes despite being surrounded and outnumbered.
"Can he fight against that many?" Erik questioned as he tried to make out the monsters hiding in the dark. Despite their ravenous growling, they weren't mindless enough to attack their prey.
[These are lesser Shadows. They pose as much a threat as a hellhound]
"Hellhound?" Erik uttered and looked at Astrid's screen. Despite there were no Shadows appearing on her side of the map due to lack of light, he had her returned to the inner world and grabbed some lamps and an axe just in case. He didn't let her turn on the lamp just yet. Doing so would only invite troubles. Shadows were attracted to light and warm.
"Maybe I should find him a gun. That way, he could shoot the damn things while staying away from the dark," Erik said after returning to watching Leon. Leon, in turn, watched the Shadows growling in the dark. Seconds passed. Minutes went by.
Boom!
Erik flinched as lightning flashed. His eyes went wide as he caught a glimpse of a Shadow. Its features were undiscernible due to being just a mass of blackness. It casted no shadow itself, and from what he could make of its body and shapes, he thought someone took a bunch of body parts and smashed them together and called it a day. Standing on six legs with numerous disjointed arms sprouting out of its wavy body, it was growling at Leon.
Darkness returned, and so was the silence. The Shadows faded away, melted into the darkness and returned to the space between spaces, the void between worlds. Their growls faintly echoed in the room, reminding Erik that they would return – and soon.
"Need to find a gun shop," Erik said and ordered Leon to resume his scavenging. There was no time for idling. Once Leon exhausted his SP, he could rest, and the waypoint switched to Astrid. While her SP didn't recover fully, she was good enough to go.
Erik spent time to direct her actions carefully while paying great attention to her stamina points. He found that if she didn't exert herself, her SP remained the same. If she tried to do things exceeding her physical capability, the SP would plummet. Dragging logs to the waypoint greatly exhausted her. As such, she gathered branches with the axe instead. Each bundle she collected added 1 to 2 unit of woods at the cost of 1 SP. It as more efficient than hauling logs.
When Astrid exhausted herself, Erik switched back to Leon and had the man gone to work. Likewise, Erik paid close attention to Leon's stats. Scavenging small objects didn't cost any stamina. Only the larger one did. But thanked to Leon's physical strength, he expended SP much slower than Astrid. His health point (HP) had also recovered after the rest.
"It would be great if I can manually distribute the points when I recruit them," Eric said. A dedicated labour worker having high HP was pointless. They needed high SP and Strength. He could do without the brain and luck for menial task like lugging things back and forth.
[Erik. Your food stockpile is maxed out]
"Already?" Erik opened the stockpile screen. He hadn't been paying attention due to the Shadows.
Unit: 2/10
Population: 56/56
Gold: 8/1000 (+54)
Wood: 19/1000 (+0)
Stone: 192/1000 (+0)
Iron: 314/1000 (+0)
Food: 1000/1000 (-50)
Like Dell had informed, food was sitting at 1000. It was maxed out. At the rate of deficiency, it would last him 20 days. But with all the new settlers coming to his Settlement, it wouldn't last that long. He needed more – much, much more.
"Is there a way to increase the limit without building another HQ?"
[Not that I know of. You could stash them like those tools, but unlike the stockpile, they will rot if left outside]
"Oh? Food in the stockpile don't rot?" Erik asked. He didn't know that, but he did have his suspicion the moment food came into play. "See, you should tell me these things. Even if it seems insignificant to you, it might mean a lot to me."
[Explain]
"I have been taking note. The system is simple. Anything that editable is classified as food," Erik said as he glanced at Leon's and Astrid's screen, checking if they needed his guidance. Astrid was taking a rest. As for Leon, he was trying to break into the gun store with a sled hammer as the window and doors were bolted and barred.
"The system considered a bag of table salt as 1 unit of food," Erik pointed out. "I don't think anyone realistically eat a bag of salt for lunch. If that the case, anything non-perishable or long lasting should be stash outside as emergency rations instead of being stockpiled."
Considering the overall size of the tile, reaching almost 1 square kilometre, Erik could pile up a lot of things and still have plenty of room to build. The Headquarter was a huge building, but it didn't take up the entire Grassland tile. With the grid now overlayed the tile, complex layout was possible.
[That is interesting]
Erik nodded and looked at his iron stockpile. He had enough for the time being, and considering iron were everywhere, he rather kept the guns for the Armoury later instead of breaking them down for their irons. While it took longer to bring items into the inner world than Scavenging, it was worth the time. Once the door broke down, Erik took control of Leon's action. If he let Leon alone, chances are, Leon would blow his brain out with a shotgun.
With half the town asleep and the other half at the hospital, looting shops after shops was like taking candy from a baby. By dawn, Erik had enough guns to start an army and rations to keep them fed. As for the Settlement area, it had a total population of 86 people despite there were enough shelter for at over a 100. These 86 people were the souls Erik absorbed at the morgue. To get more settlers and establish a powerful economy, he would need a way to get more souls.
[Aside from killing, you can try and harvest the recently deceased]
"What am I, a fucking soul reaper?" Erik questioned and sighed. He couldn't kill people and harvest their soul to increase his power. And sitting around, waiting for people to get killed without trying to save them was just as bad. "Back to Plan A then."
[Rescue the one called SS? She is not in danger. She is sleeping]
Erik rolled his eyes and had a quick look where SS was. She was sleeping on top of his body. "Can you not call her 'the one called SS'? Just call her SS or Sophia. And that was the old plan A. New plan A – we're going to rob a bank."
[How is robbing a bank advances your power?]
Erik opened his mouth, but no words came out. His mind drawled blank. With the settlers, he had a steady supply of Gold. So, what he needed was a way to build a Barrack or an Armoury. He couldn't demolish the Headquarter to do that.
"I like money, okay?" Erik snorted and looked at Leon's and Astrid's display. He zoomed out to see the surrounding before arching his brow. "How come I haven't seen a single person in town? Isn't it morning?"
Erik rotated the camera, so he could take a good look at the dark sky. The rain had stopped, but the thunderstorm still covered the entire town, giving it a gloomy feeling. And without people around, it looked like a ghost town. It was too strange.
With adequate stockpile of woods, Astrid headed back to the hospital. As for Leon, he was ordered to scout the town to find some people. It didn't take him long to accomplish his mission. They were resting in a pool of their own blood just outside the police stations. Their bodies riddled with bullets, making their faces unrecognizable. From their clothing, they were civilians.
Nearby, a few masked men chatting away like it was normal day. Their assault rifle slumped around their shoulder with its handle held by one hand. Grenades and a pistol holstered by a belt wrapped around their waist. One of them was watching over a wounded woman. From her uniform, she was a cop. To her side was another police officer, but he was executed with a bullet through the head.
"That bastard makes it rain the entire night. It was already hard to gather up the town without being wet and cold and chased by fucking demons," one of the men cursed before exhaling smoke through a small hole in his mask. The men next to him took a mouthful from the cigarette and passed back to him. "And now we have to play babysitting. Why can't we just fuck the bitch and slit her throat like the rest? She killed two of our men."
"Because she's a virgin," another man said. He was patting down bodies and stealing their wallet and valuables. "Can't kill virgin or kids. I kind of understand the virgin part, but why kids?"
"Because kids are virgins?" the third guy spoke up. He was looking at the gloomy sky.
"No, no, no. I heard they needed to reach puberty to work," the looter replied and got up. He then approached his buddies and enjoyed the cigarette.
"And where did you hear that?" the rapist asked.
"When the boss is talking to the witch," the looter said.
"Minus? I wouldn't mind putting her in her place," the rapist said and took the cigarette. He dropped it when lightning strikes the ground, deposited a young man. "Wait, Zeus, I didn't mean it!"
"I don't care what you do as long as you do your job," Zeus said and dropped the unconsciousness girl on the ground along with her silvery chains. "She was hard to find. If she wasn't a virgin, I would just turn her into ash like her dumbass friend."
Checkmate (1)
Chapter 4: Checkmate
Erik barely overheard the conversation. He could have Leon moved closer. The surrounding buildings were perfect covers, but with Zeus there, it was incredibly risky. Even Victoria was beaten to an inch of her life. The churchly tunic, shredded and scorched, struggled to protect her tired frame. Burned patches of once-milky skin marked her shoulders and arms. She was in a sorry state, and so was her holy artefact.
Numerous fractures masked the silvery chains. They threatened to break it apart. Dell had informed him artefacts could be created through blood sacrifices. What was created could be destroyed. And from the look of things, the sacred weapon could no longer be used. Zeus had made sure of it. There wasn't a speck of dirt on him, and his face showed no sign of exertion.
"Just how powerful is he?" Erik's train of thought derailed when Zeus cocked his head towards Leon despite the later was in hiding. There was no doubt in his mind that Zeus could sense Leon. This was his cue to leave. He couldn't afford to lose another unit pointlessly against impossible odds. As much as he wished to save the dying police officer and maybe the crazy nun, the chance of success was nil with Zeus nearby.
"What is this?" Zeus asked and took a step away from the men. "I thought you guys cleared out this area?"
"We did, sir. Aside from her, there shouldn't be anyone left," said the masked man Erik designated as Looter. He gestured at the police officer, who desperately gasped for her last breaths. Her hands pressed tightly onto the gunshot wound but blood continued to squeeze itself between her fingers.
Zeus paid no attention to the woman and eyed the row of shops. The presence he felt was gone. It had disappeared without a trace. A surge of unholy energy disturbed the area just moment prior to its disappearance. Such energy signature was familiar, and soon, a smile touched his lips.
"To think Luke's little experiment produced someone who could create rifts," Zeus spoke his mind. It was not possible to know what kind of power would manifest in an individual during awakening, and the ability to punch holes in fabric of reality was amongst the rarest.
"Will this be a problem, Adam?" a voice whispered into his ear, causing Zeus to look to the side with a questioning face. No one was there.
"How long have you been here, Rook?" Zeus asked the woman. Unlike the rift he sensed before, her dimensional shift was utilized perfectly. It masked her energy and presence even from someone like him. It made sense since she didn't exist in this plane of existence, physically or otherwise. Only the sound of her voice was.
"Just now," Rook answered from a parallel dimension. Her surroundings mirrored the real world, but it was dark and grey and devoid of life. "I've sensed it too. The portal is not connected to any point in space or time on this side. It couldn't be a rift between worlds, could it?"
"If there is no exiting point," Zeus pondered. "It might be."
"Adam. If we have someone like that, we don't need to break down the Wall."
"This isn't about invading other worlds. What Minus wants is an all-out war," Zeus pointed out. "If a Demon Lord magically appears on Earth, what do you think those guys up there will do? They aren't going to just sit on their asses and do nothing. Their powers and authority are being threatened after all."
"Will the angels really descend?"
"Who knows," Zeus said as he looked at the sky. A devious grin plastered on his face. "But you know what? I don't mind the chance to roast some angels. They will burn up just like anything with wings."
Rook shuddered. "You and Luke are crazy. You both are going to get smite!"
"Rook, we are Demon Spawn," Zeus snorted. "We are literally spawns of a demon. We are going to get smite regardless of what we do. Our very existence is an upfront of them. But I'm not going to let them smite me just like that. Hell, if I could, I would break into the place and fuck it up as much I can before they take me down."
"You want to break into heaven? I can't believe you're used to be a priest," Rook said.
"When you spent your entire life serving him and carrying out his will only to have him forsaken you in your hour of need, you change," Zeus said. His fingers rubbed a locket around his neck.
"Is that why you spare the girl? You're going to turn her into one of us?"
"Wouldn't it poetic to have one of their holy maidens the cause for hell being unleashed on earth?"
Zeus chuckled and turned towards the armed men. "The only place in town left is the hospital – go, get your corps and round up everyone there. Try not to kill anyone until you sort them out. Your last roundup has a few people that aren't virgins. Tainted sacrifices will fuck up the ritual. I don't need to tell you what happened when you fuck up a ritual."
"Yes sir," the men saluted and headed off. They ran several blocks towards the townhall. Outside the most prosperous building the town had, a red and white checker flag flustered against the wind. Half a dozen men stood guard and protected the symbol of their allegiance. "We are mobilizing!"
"And where do you think you're going?"
Hearing the question, everyone looked skywards. A person found to be resting on the rooftop. With his back against the wet tiles, he faced the cloudy sky. His blue eyes could not capture a single ray of sunshine even though it was morning.
"Boss," one of the men responded. "Zeus ordered us to commence the attack on the hospital."
"Zeus did?" Luke pulled himself up and looked down at the men. With a smile, he rolled off the roof and slowed his descent towards the ground. He landed gently. "Well then, don't make me stop you. Just remember to have as much fun as you can along the way. Life is too short for anything less. By the way, take off the stupid mask. You're ruining the point."
"Yes sir!" the men took off their mask, revealing their faces. They were teenager, far too young to be enlisted into a battle hardened mercenary company. Their eyes showed experiences, however.
Luke snapped his fingers. "Before you go, where is Zeus?"
"Zeus is still at the police station, boss!" one of the men said. Another man headed into the building to alert the mercenaries of new orders. As soon as the doors of the townhall opened, laughter and shoutings erupted.
Inside the townhall were hundreds of men and women, drinking and chattering away. Some of them played cards with a pile of money they had relinquished from the civilians and shops. A few cleaned their gun and sharpened their knives in anticipation. But most were having fun with people they had caught and deemed unworthy despite their pleadings and screaming.
"J…ames… James!" one of the girls by the doorway grabbed onto the man who'd just entered. Unlike the moaning corpses lining the wall, she still had some fight left in her green eyes. From tangled hair caked with sticky substance that also coated her facial features and body, she hadn't been left alone for long.
James looked down at the girl holding onto his leg. He immediately recognized her from school. She was quite popular amongst the boys, and like each of his friends, he would have done anything to go out with her. That desire was no longer on his mind. "June?"
"Yes, it's me, it's me, it's June. Please help me, James! The town has gone crazy!"
James smiled and pulled away from her, leaving her in utter shock.
June tried to reach out to James, but the only thing on his mind was to seek out the company leaders and inform them the new orders. "Wait James! Don't leave me here, please!"
Her cries for help fell on deaf ears.
Once James finally relayed the orders, shoutings and yelling flew back and forth across the crowded room as men and women quickly dropped what they were doing. Coins and bullet casings clattering on the wooden floor. The mercenaries dressed up and all filed out the door before lining up outside and forming into proper squads.
Luke was already gone when the mercenaries mobilized. He was several blocks away, whistling and turning a few nearby buildings into burning wreckages with incendiary grenades. He used a knife to pull the pin. "Nothing beats a demon life, killing, maiming people with my trusty knife."
Luke stopped destroying the town when he reached the police station. There was a good firefight here last night, he recalled. They put up a bit of resistance against his mercenary corps. "Yo Zeus, what's up? Tired of playing god?"
"I wouldn't have to if you keep that idiot in check," Zeus said from on top of a police cruiser. On the side of the car, a wounded police woman was bleeding out. Her eyes filled with hatred when seeing Luke, the man who murdered her colleagues in cold blood. Even so, she didn't have the strength to voice her rage.
Luke leered at the burnt-out forest in the far distant. He shrugged dismissively. "I can't do anything about that. You know how violent the awakening can get, especially those with elemental powers like yours."
Zeus tilted his head slightly and recalled his own awakening. He didn't remember the full detail as it happened so long ago. Flashes of knights roasted in their armour came into his mind. They screamed in anguish as their flesh melted off their bones by billions of volt of electricity.
"Point taken. What are you going to do with this woman here?" Zeus asked and tilted his head to the dying police officer.
"Her? Oh man, I'd totally forgot about her," Luke said. A pistol manifested in his hand and it blew her head out, spattering brain matter against the car. The expression of shock froze on her lips as she fell over, dead. "She was a pretty good shot, you know. She managed to kill two of my men. I thought I might make something out of her."
Zeus narrowed his eyes at the dead woman while ethereal mist seeped out of her body. This was her essence, spiritual energy – or soul some people would argued. There was a time that he would fight to devour such an insignificant amount of essence.
Luke inhaled the essence, absorbing it into his person as his eyes flickered yellowish. The pistol spun in his hand, using his finger as pivot before it faded out of existence. He cocked his head to the side and smiled at the woman standing there. She appeared out of thin air and had the same face as the dead policewoman.
"Sir," the woman saluted and paid no attention to her dead doubleganger. Instead of the previous police uniform she had, she now wore a camouflage military attire with a matching backpack loaded with supplies. Slung around her shoulder was an assault rifle. Around her waist was a pistol. Like the men from before, she was packing a lot of heat.
"Go and join the others," Luke ordered. "Remember to have fun, so kill, rape and pillage. And if you see someone you know, all the better."
"Evil," a voice spoke out as the former police officer headed off. "You're evil."
Hearing the voice, Luke scanned the area. "Rook is here? Wait, does that mean the trifactor is here?"
"Bishop, Knight and Rook," Zeus remarked, referring to the three of them. He then got off the police cruiser and faced Luke. He stood equal in height with the teenager who many times his junior. "This is indeed a rare opportunity, but you're the only black one here."
"Right," Luke snorted as a tear manifested in air near the police cruiser. A young woman in business suit stepped through the rift.
"Hello there, Julia," Luke greeted. "You look as dashing as ever."
"Stop that. It's creeping me out," Julia said, shivering. "I prefer to be called Rook at times like this."
"It's always business with you, isn't it?" Luke commented and shrugged. "Well, whatever. My men butchered the cops, raped the news team, blew up the station, and rounded up everyone they could find in town. They probably didn't do a thoroughly job though, but it's good enough for what it is if you want to be picky. They are preparing to storm the hospital as we speak. It should give us enough people."
Julia nodded and committed the information to memory. "I will keep Minus up to date without too much of the details. What about the recruitment?"
"Aside from fire maniac who wants to burn everything down, the rest ran off somewhere," Luke said and casted an eye at Zeus and Julia. "Since Zeus cannot tell where they are even with his power, and no one should be able to leave the town, I think one of the newbies has a reality warping power."
Erik barely overheard the conversation. He could have Leon moved closer. The surrounding buildings were perfect covers, but with Zeus there, it was incredibly risky. Even Victoria was beaten to an inch of her life. The churchly tunic, shredded and scorched, struggled to protect her tired frame. Burned patches of once-milky skin marked her shoulders and arms. She was in a sorry state, and so was her holy artefact.
Numerous fractures masked the silvery chains. They threatened to break it apart. Dell had informed him artefacts could be created through blood sacrifices. What was created could be destroyed. And from the look of things, the sacred weapon could no longer be used. Zeus had made sure of it. There wasn't a speck of dirt on him, and his face showed no sign of exertion.
"Just how powerful is he?" Erik's train of thought derailed when Zeus cocked his head towards Leon despite the later was in hiding. There was no doubt in his mind that Zeus could sense Leon. This was his cue to leave. He couldn't afford to lose another unit pointlessly against impossible odds. As much as he wished to save the dying police officer and maybe the crazy nun, the chance of success was nil with Zeus nearby.
"What is this?" Zeus asked and took a step away from the men. "I thought you guys cleared out this area?"
"We did, sir. Aside from her, there shouldn't be anyone left," said the masked man Erik designated as Looter. He gestured at the police officer, who desperately gasped for her last breaths. Her hands pressed tightly onto the gunshot wound but blood continued to squeeze itself between her fingers.
Zeus paid no attention to the woman and eyed the row of shops. The presence he felt was gone. It had disappeared without a trace. A surge of unholy energy disturbed the area just moment prior to its disappearance. Such energy signature was familiar, and soon, a smile touched his lips.
"To think Luke's little experiment produced someone who could create rifts," Zeus spoke his mind. It was not possible to know what kind of power would manifest in an individual during awakening, and the ability to punch holes in fabric of reality was amongst the rarest.
"Will this be a problem, Adam?" a voice whispered into his ear, causing Zeus to look to the side with a questioning face. No one was there.
"How long have you been here, Rook?" Zeus asked the woman. Unlike the rift he sensed before, her dimensional shift was utilized perfectly. It masked her energy and presence even from someone like him. It made sense since she didn't exist in this plane of existence, physically or otherwise. Only the sound of her voice was.
"Just now," Rook answered from a parallel dimension. Her surroundings mirrored the real world, but it was dark and grey and devoid of life. "I've sensed it too. The portal is not connected to any point in space or time on this side. It couldn't be a rift between worlds, could it?"
"If there is no exiting point," Zeus pondered. "It might be."
"Adam. If we have someone like that, we don't need to break down the Wall."
"This isn't about invading other worlds. What Minus wants is an all-out war," Zeus pointed out. "If a Demon Lord magically appears on Earth, what do you think those guys up there will do? They aren't going to just sit on their asses and do nothing. Their powers and authority are being threatened after all."
"Will the angels really descend?"
"Who knows," Zeus said as he looked at the sky. A devious grin plastered on his face. "But you know what? I don't mind the chance to roast some angels. They will burn up just like anything with wings."
Rook shuddered. "You and Luke are crazy. You both are going to get smite!"
"Rook, we are Demon Spawn," Zeus snorted. "We are literally spawns of a demon. We are going to get smite regardless of what we do. Our very existence is an upfront of them. But I'm not going to let them smite me just like that. Hell, if I could, I would break into the place and fuck it up as much I can before they take me down."
"You want to break into heaven? I can't believe you're used to be a priest," Rook said.
"When you spent your entire life serving him and carrying out his will only to have him forsaken you in your hour of need, you change," Zeus said. His fingers rubbed a locket around his neck.
"Is that why you spare the girl? You're going to turn her into one of us?"
"Wouldn't it poetic to have one of their holy maidens the cause for hell being unleashed on earth?"
Zeus chuckled and turned towards the armed men. "The only place in town left is the hospital – go, get your corps and round up everyone there. Try not to kill anyone until you sort them out. Your last roundup has a few people that aren't virgins. Tainted sacrifices will fuck up the ritual. I don't need to tell you what happened when you fuck up a ritual."
"Yes sir," the men saluted and headed off. They ran several blocks towards the townhall. Outside the most prosperous building the town had, a red and white checker flag flustered against the wind. Half a dozen men stood guard and protected the symbol of their allegiance. "We are mobilizing!"
"And where do you think you're going?"
Hearing the question, everyone looked skywards. A person found to be resting on the rooftop. With his back against the wet tiles, he faced the cloudy sky. His blue eyes could not capture a single ray of sunshine even though it was morning.
"Boss," one of the men responded. "Zeus ordered us to commence the attack on the hospital."
"Zeus did?" Luke pulled himself up and looked down at the men. With a smile, he rolled off the roof and slowed his descent towards the ground. He landed gently. "Well then, don't make me stop you. Just remember to have as much fun as you can along the way. Life is too short for anything less. By the way, take off the stupid mask. You're ruining the point."
"Yes sir!" the men took off their mask, revealing their faces. They were teenager, far too young to be enlisted into a battle hardened mercenary company. Their eyes showed experiences, however.
Luke snapped his fingers. "Before you go, where is Zeus?"
"Zeus is still at the police station, boss!" one of the men said. Another man headed into the building to alert the mercenaries of new orders. As soon as the doors of the townhall opened, laughter and shoutings erupted.
Inside the townhall were hundreds of men and women, drinking and chattering away. Some of them played cards with a pile of money they had relinquished from the civilians and shops. A few cleaned their gun and sharpened their knives in anticipation. But most were having fun with people they had caught and deemed unworthy despite their pleadings and screaming.
"J…ames… James!" one of the girls by the doorway grabbed onto the man who'd just entered. Unlike the moaning corpses lining the wall, she still had some fight left in her green eyes. From tangled hair caked with sticky substance that also coated her facial features and body, she hadn't been left alone for long.
James looked down at the girl holding onto his leg. He immediately recognized her from school. She was quite popular amongst the boys, and like each of his friends, he would have done anything to go out with her. That desire was no longer on his mind. "June?"
"Yes, it's me, it's me, it's June. Please help me, James! The town has gone crazy!"
James smiled and pulled away from her, leaving her in utter shock.
June tried to reach out to James, but the only thing on his mind was to seek out the company leaders and inform them the new orders. "Wait James! Don't leave me here, please!"
Her cries for help fell on deaf ears.
Once James finally relayed the orders, shoutings and yelling flew back and forth across the crowded room as men and women quickly dropped what they were doing. Coins and bullet casings clattering on the wooden floor. The mercenaries dressed up and all filed out the door before lining up outside and forming into proper squads.
Luke was already gone when the mercenaries mobilized. He was several blocks away, whistling and turning a few nearby buildings into burning wreckages with incendiary grenades. He used a knife to pull the pin. "Nothing beats a demon life, killing, maiming people with my trusty knife."
Luke stopped destroying the town when he reached the police station. There was a good firefight here last night, he recalled. They put up a bit of resistance against his mercenary corps. "Yo Zeus, what's up? Tired of playing god?"
"I wouldn't have to if you keep that idiot in check," Zeus said from on top of a police cruiser. On the side of the car, a wounded police woman was bleeding out. Her eyes filled with hatred when seeing Luke, the man who murdered her colleagues in cold blood. Even so, she didn't have the strength to voice her rage.
Luke leered at the burnt-out forest in the far distant. He shrugged dismissively. "I can't do anything about that. You know how violent the awakening can get, especially those with elemental powers like yours."
Zeus tilted his head slightly and recalled his own awakening. He didn't remember the full detail as it happened so long ago. Flashes of knights roasted in their armour came into his mind. They screamed in anguish as their flesh melted off their bones by billions of volt of electricity.
"Point taken. What are you going to do with this woman here?" Zeus asked and tilted his head to the dying police officer.
"Her? Oh man, I'd totally forgot about her," Luke said. A pistol manifested in his hand and it blew her head out, spattering brain matter against the car. The expression of shock froze on her lips as she fell over, dead. "She was a pretty good shot, you know. She managed to kill two of my men. I thought I might make something out of her."
Zeus narrowed his eyes at the dead woman while ethereal mist seeped out of her body. This was her essence, spiritual energy – or soul some people would argued. There was a time that he would fight to devour such an insignificant amount of essence.
Luke inhaled the essence, absorbing it into his person as his eyes flickered yellowish. The pistol spun in his hand, using his finger as pivot before it faded out of existence. He cocked his head to the side and smiled at the woman standing there. She appeared out of thin air and had the same face as the dead policewoman.
"Sir," the woman saluted and paid no attention to her dead doubleganger. Instead of the previous police uniform she had, she now wore a camouflage military attire with a matching backpack loaded with supplies. Slung around her shoulder was an assault rifle. Around her waist was a pistol. Like the men from before, she was packing a lot of heat.
"Go and join the others," Luke ordered. "Remember to have fun, so kill, rape and pillage. And if you see someone you know, all the better."
"Evil," a voice spoke out as the former police officer headed off. "You're evil."
Hearing the voice, Luke scanned the area. "Rook is here? Wait, does that mean the trifactor is here?"
"Bishop, Knight and Rook," Zeus remarked, referring to the three of them. He then got off the police cruiser and faced Luke. He stood equal in height with the teenager who many times his junior. "This is indeed a rare opportunity, but you're the only black one here."
"Right," Luke snorted as a tear manifested in air near the police cruiser. A young woman in business suit stepped through the rift.
"Hello there, Julia," Luke greeted. "You look as dashing as ever."
"Stop that. It's creeping me out," Julia said, shivering. "I prefer to be called Rook at times like this."
"It's always business with you, isn't it?" Luke commented and shrugged. "Well, whatever. My men butchered the cops, raped the news team, blew up the station, and rounded up everyone they could find in town. They probably didn't do a thoroughly job though, but it's good enough for what it is if you want to be picky. They are preparing to storm the hospital as we speak. It should give us enough people."
Julia nodded and committed the information to memory. "I will keep Minus up to date without too much of the details. What about the recruitment?"
"Aside from fire maniac who wants to burn everything down, the rest ran off somewhere," Luke said and casted an eye at Zeus and Julia. "Since Zeus cannot tell where they are even with his power, and no one should be able to leave the town, I think one of the newbies has a reality warping power."
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Checkmate (2)
"Reality warping power?" Julia was surprised. The power to bend reality was amongst the rarest and most powerful. In the right hands, it could remake the world. "What make you say that? There are a lot of ways to circumvent my lockdown."
"Yeah, I know there are… Rook," Luke said and gave her a smile, sending chill up her spine. "But for the newbies to vanish without a trace? I don't think so. It takes a lot of time and dedication to gain full control of our power. They don't have that kind of luxury. And the more powerful their ability is, the harder it is for them to control and the easier it is for us to detect them."
Julia looked puzzled. "That doesn't explain why you think –
"Luke is right," Zeus voiced his opinion. He brought up a hand. Lightning crackled between two of his fingers. A second later, the lightning exploded outwards in the form of an electromagnetic pulse. The pulse washed over a large area, lighting up all living things for him to sense. "No matter who or what it is, if they are here, I can sense them. And if they are in another dimension, they cannot avoid your vision."
Zeus lowered his hand. A smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. His power had increased with leap and bound with a better understand of the world and its natural law. If science was allowed to flourish back when he was still human, people's lives would be a lot better. He wouldn't have to do back-breaking labour on the field all day just to have enough to survive another day.
"But if they are in a different reality completely disconnected from this one," Zeus continued. "We will not be able to detect them without some extra helps."
Julia understood. The newly spawns had escaped into another reality, likely to one created by their power. With so many Demon Spawns in one spot exchanging ideas and learning how to control their newfound ability, they could pose a threat in the future especially the one with the reality-warping power.
"I wouldn't worry too much about them though," Luke said before Julia could speak up. "They aren't powerful enough to exert their will and desire onto the real world. Even if they somehow could, isn't that's what Minus wanted? Indirectly, but the same in the long run."
Julia was puzzled once more. She didn't understand how Luke came to that conclusion. Rogue power users were more of a threat to Minus than anything else. They should be kept in check or killed.
Zeus agreed with Luke's assessment. If there truly is a reality-warper amongst the Demon Spawns, they would only bring trouble to themselves. Attempting to overwrite God's will and law in his world will only met with his judgement.
"Where the newly demon spawns are shouldn't concern us," Zeus said. "They will do more damage on their own without our interference. Our objective is to summon the Gate of Hell and bring forth a Demon Lord. Has Minus decided on which one to call?"
There was silence. Both Luke and Zeus looked at Julia. She was in thought.
"Rook? What are you thinking?" Zeus asked.
"Minus said it doesn't matter," Julia answered tensely. "Any of them will incite a response from… up there." Her finger pointed weakly at the sky. "And when they do, Hell will not stay put and let one of their Pillars get killed."
"Hah! And you called me crazy. Minus is the crazy one," Luke chuckled. "Minus wants a war between heaven and hell. Well, when that happened, which side should we be fighting for?"
"We fight for Minus," Julia answered flatly. "Without Minus, none of us would be here. We owed her that much even if she said we are free to do whatever we want – as long as we don't stand in way."
Julia didn't say the last bit. Minus didn't say it either, but it was well implied. Minus considered those who stood in her way was her enemies.
Luke looked at Julia. "Yeah… I meant to say, which side does Minus want to win? I assume hell since we are demon spawns. But heaven is good too if that's what she wanted. Never seen an angel, but if the murals in churches always depicted them as beautiful. I wouldn't mind dying in their arms. It will be heavenly."
"Only you would want to defile an angel!" Julia growled. "Don't you have any self-restrain?"
"We're demons. Why the hell should we have any restrain?" Luke questioned. "And seriously, angels are our mortal enemies. It shouldn't matter what I want to do with them. Don't tell me you want to save them like those kids. Where are they anyway?"
"A place far away from you and your sadistic game," Julia snapped. "What kind of monster turns the entire town against their loved ones?"
"Hey! You're giving me too much credit. I only remove their inhibitions and morals and told them to enjoy themselves. They could have stop but they didn't," Luke said with a devilish grin.
"Bullshit!" Julia retorted. "They can't go against your will! If you tell them to murder and pillage, they will murder and pillage!"
"My soldiers aren't mindless machine!" Luke snorted. He then sighed and calmed himself. "Rook, it's too much an effort to micromanage them so I leave their freewill intact. They can feel pain. They can feel fear. They certainty could think for themselves and act accordingly to each situation. You should notice that by now."
Zeus nodded. Luke's creation acted like real people despite being artificial. He could see the fears in their eyes when they are being confronted with their own mortality. They would beg, beseech and plead for their lives like any living person would. And considering their freewill, their soul must still be intact. That alone brought up a lot of questions to the true nature of Luke's power.
Julia was also in agreement. She had interacted with Luke's soldiers and found them to be human-like in many ways. They were too human for her liking. She preferred if they were mindless machine, following orders without questions.
"I know I told them to rape, pillage and plunder," Luke admitted. His eyes softened. "But that is just my own suggestion. Something for them to start with. They don't have to follow it or enjoy it… but they didn't." His hands were placed on Julia's shoulder. "Do you want to know why, Rook?"
Julia tensed as Luke whispered into her ears. "Because deep down… we are all monsters… you and I, we aren't so different from them. Bloods is on our hands. Don't think that you don't, Julia. Just think about it." His voice deepened. "Why didn't you say anything when all those people were butchered? Where were you when they are crying for help, begging for mercy? Why do you only speak up when half the town was already dead? Oh… is it because of that boy? That child? Does he remind you of your little brother, your failure?"
The airspace around Julia cracked. "Shut up!"
"Woah!" Luke hastily dodged the swing that shattered the air like it was made of glass. The police station in front of Julia cracked and crumpled along with the ground and sky and everything in the same direction.
"Holy fuck, that is some powerful punch," Luke said as he watched the fissures propagated in one direction and bringing with it, more destructions. It only stopped when it reached the edge of the town and met the lockdown barrier. Unholy energy permutated the air.
"I'm going to kick your ass, Luke! Prepare yourself."
"I'm always prepared, Rook," Luke taunted and did an invite gesture with his hands. The airspace around him rippled with yellowish electricity, creating little tears. Beyond the tears was an inside of a rotating machine, glowing brightly with energy as it spun up.
「Time Dilation Field Activating in 3…2…」
"Ahem…. speaking of the churches," Zeus interjected before Julia destroyed the town, trying to hit Luke. He eyed Victoria, who was still unconscious. "I believed they are coming. I've already fought two of them. Killed one and captured this one."
"Let them come. It's not like I'm afraid of them," Luke snorted and summoned a pistol in his hand. Before he could execute Victoria, his hand was pushed to the side. "Huh? I thought you hated the church?"
"I don't hate the church," Zeus pointed out before let go of Luke's hand. "I hate the idea that we are nothing but sheep, blinding being herded into a slaughter house without ever realizing it."
"That is some deep ass statement right there, too deep for my simple brain," Luke said and put away his pistol. The spatial tears around him dissipated. "Since I've given my report, I'm going to brush up my sniper skill and gain some EXP. Just a few more kills and it will be level 55."
A sniper appeared in his hands as Luke walked away, whistling.
"The bastard purposely left some people alive, just so he could hunt them," Julia growled. Her anger hadn't subsided.
"It appears to be that way," Zeus said with a nod.
"Why did Minus allow him to join us and even make him a Knight?"
"Because Minus saw something in him," Zeus said and picked up Victoria with one hand. Like a sack of potato, she was placed over his shoulder. "Luke isn't all bad. He did come to your rescue against them. Without him, you would have been devoured."
"Don't remind me," Julia said, shivering. "What were they anyway? They aren't like any shadow I have ever seen?"
"Didn't your demon say the darkness is full of unseen terrors," Zeus questioned. "Some even give Demon Lords pause." He looked towards the edge of the town, feeling the unholy energy lingering there. "Please refrain from damaging the Wall, Rook. We cannot allow the Shadows to breech into town before we rounded up everyone."
"I'm sorry, but he just pisses me off sometimes," Julia nodded.
"Only sometimes?" Zeus jested.
"All the time," Julia growled. She flickered her hand to the side, cracking the empty air. It shattered and formed a portal into a parallel dimension. She entered the portal, followed by Zeus with Victoria slumped over his shoulder. The portal was sealed just seconds before a gunshot echoed the area and then a scream.
「Headshot: +114 EXP」
Luke whistled and pulled the lever to eject the spent shell. The shell fell and bounced on the ground before breaking into pieces with yellowish tint and vanishing. He looked through the scope and eyed the girl screaming in terror at the body on the floor with its head smashed by a 7-inch sniper round.
"Boom!" Luke mouthed over the echoing sound.
「Headshot: +109 EXP」
"Yeah, I know there are… Rook," Luke said and gave her a smile, sending chill up her spine. "But for the newbies to vanish without a trace? I don't think so. It takes a lot of time and dedication to gain full control of our power. They don't have that kind of luxury. And the more powerful their ability is, the harder it is for them to control and the easier it is for us to detect them."
Julia looked puzzled. "That doesn't explain why you think –
"Luke is right," Zeus voiced his opinion. He brought up a hand. Lightning crackled between two of his fingers. A second later, the lightning exploded outwards in the form of an electromagnetic pulse. The pulse washed over a large area, lighting up all living things for him to sense. "No matter who or what it is, if they are here, I can sense them. And if they are in another dimension, they cannot avoid your vision."
Zeus lowered his hand. A smile appeared in the corner of his mouth. His power had increased with leap and bound with a better understand of the world and its natural law. If science was allowed to flourish back when he was still human, people's lives would be a lot better. He wouldn't have to do back-breaking labour on the field all day just to have enough to survive another day.
"But if they are in a different reality completely disconnected from this one," Zeus continued. "We will not be able to detect them without some extra helps."
Julia understood. The newly spawns had escaped into another reality, likely to one created by their power. With so many Demon Spawns in one spot exchanging ideas and learning how to control their newfound ability, they could pose a threat in the future especially the one with the reality-warping power.
"I wouldn't worry too much about them though," Luke said before Julia could speak up. "They aren't powerful enough to exert their will and desire onto the real world. Even if they somehow could, isn't that's what Minus wanted? Indirectly, but the same in the long run."
Julia was puzzled once more. She didn't understand how Luke came to that conclusion. Rogue power users were more of a threat to Minus than anything else. They should be kept in check or killed.
Zeus agreed with Luke's assessment. If there truly is a reality-warper amongst the Demon Spawns, they would only bring trouble to themselves. Attempting to overwrite God's will and law in his world will only met with his judgement.
"Where the newly demon spawns are shouldn't concern us," Zeus said. "They will do more damage on their own without our interference. Our objective is to summon the Gate of Hell and bring forth a Demon Lord. Has Minus decided on which one to call?"
There was silence. Both Luke and Zeus looked at Julia. She was in thought.
"Rook? What are you thinking?" Zeus asked.
"Minus said it doesn't matter," Julia answered tensely. "Any of them will incite a response from… up there." Her finger pointed weakly at the sky. "And when they do, Hell will not stay put and let one of their Pillars get killed."
"Hah! And you called me crazy. Minus is the crazy one," Luke chuckled. "Minus wants a war between heaven and hell. Well, when that happened, which side should we be fighting for?"
"We fight for Minus," Julia answered flatly. "Without Minus, none of us would be here. We owed her that much even if she said we are free to do whatever we want – as long as we don't stand in way."
Julia didn't say the last bit. Minus didn't say it either, but it was well implied. Minus considered those who stood in her way was her enemies.
Luke looked at Julia. "Yeah… I meant to say, which side does Minus want to win? I assume hell since we are demon spawns. But heaven is good too if that's what she wanted. Never seen an angel, but if the murals in churches always depicted them as beautiful. I wouldn't mind dying in their arms. It will be heavenly."
"Only you would want to defile an angel!" Julia growled. "Don't you have any self-restrain?"
"We're demons. Why the hell should we have any restrain?" Luke questioned. "And seriously, angels are our mortal enemies. It shouldn't matter what I want to do with them. Don't tell me you want to save them like those kids. Where are they anyway?"
"A place far away from you and your sadistic game," Julia snapped. "What kind of monster turns the entire town against their loved ones?"
"Hey! You're giving me too much credit. I only remove their inhibitions and morals and told them to enjoy themselves. They could have stop but they didn't," Luke said with a devilish grin.
"Bullshit!" Julia retorted. "They can't go against your will! If you tell them to murder and pillage, they will murder and pillage!"
"My soldiers aren't mindless machine!" Luke snorted. He then sighed and calmed himself. "Rook, it's too much an effort to micromanage them so I leave their freewill intact. They can feel pain. They can feel fear. They certainty could think for themselves and act accordingly to each situation. You should notice that by now."
Zeus nodded. Luke's creation acted like real people despite being artificial. He could see the fears in their eyes when they are being confronted with their own mortality. They would beg, beseech and plead for their lives like any living person would. And considering their freewill, their soul must still be intact. That alone brought up a lot of questions to the true nature of Luke's power.
Julia was also in agreement. She had interacted with Luke's soldiers and found them to be human-like in many ways. They were too human for her liking. She preferred if they were mindless machine, following orders without questions.
"I know I told them to rape, pillage and plunder," Luke admitted. His eyes softened. "But that is just my own suggestion. Something for them to start with. They don't have to follow it or enjoy it… but they didn't." His hands were placed on Julia's shoulder. "Do you want to know why, Rook?"
Julia tensed as Luke whispered into her ears. "Because deep down… we are all monsters… you and I, we aren't so different from them. Bloods is on our hands. Don't think that you don't, Julia. Just think about it." His voice deepened. "Why didn't you say anything when all those people were butchered? Where were you when they are crying for help, begging for mercy? Why do you only speak up when half the town was already dead? Oh… is it because of that boy? That child? Does he remind you of your little brother, your failure?"
The airspace around Julia cracked. "Shut up!"
"Woah!" Luke hastily dodged the swing that shattered the air like it was made of glass. The police station in front of Julia cracked and crumpled along with the ground and sky and everything in the same direction.
"Holy fuck, that is some powerful punch," Luke said as he watched the fissures propagated in one direction and bringing with it, more destructions. It only stopped when it reached the edge of the town and met the lockdown barrier. Unholy energy permutated the air.
"I'm going to kick your ass, Luke! Prepare yourself."
"I'm always prepared, Rook," Luke taunted and did an invite gesture with his hands. The airspace around him rippled with yellowish electricity, creating little tears. Beyond the tears was an inside of a rotating machine, glowing brightly with energy as it spun up.
「Time Dilation Field Activating in 3…2…」
"Ahem…. speaking of the churches," Zeus interjected before Julia destroyed the town, trying to hit Luke. He eyed Victoria, who was still unconscious. "I believed they are coming. I've already fought two of them. Killed one and captured this one."
"Let them come. It's not like I'm afraid of them," Luke snorted and summoned a pistol in his hand. Before he could execute Victoria, his hand was pushed to the side. "Huh? I thought you hated the church?"
"I don't hate the church," Zeus pointed out before let go of Luke's hand. "I hate the idea that we are nothing but sheep, blinding being herded into a slaughter house without ever realizing it."
"That is some deep ass statement right there, too deep for my simple brain," Luke said and put away his pistol. The spatial tears around him dissipated. "Since I've given my report, I'm going to brush up my sniper skill and gain some EXP. Just a few more kills and it will be level 55."
A sniper appeared in his hands as Luke walked away, whistling.
"The bastard purposely left some people alive, just so he could hunt them," Julia growled. Her anger hadn't subsided.
"It appears to be that way," Zeus said with a nod.
"Why did Minus allow him to join us and even make him a Knight?"
"Because Minus saw something in him," Zeus said and picked up Victoria with one hand. Like a sack of potato, she was placed over his shoulder. "Luke isn't all bad. He did come to your rescue against them. Without him, you would have been devoured."
"Don't remind me," Julia said, shivering. "What were they anyway? They aren't like any shadow I have ever seen?"
"Didn't your demon say the darkness is full of unseen terrors," Zeus questioned. "Some even give Demon Lords pause." He looked towards the edge of the town, feeling the unholy energy lingering there. "Please refrain from damaging the Wall, Rook. We cannot allow the Shadows to breech into town before we rounded up everyone."
"I'm sorry, but he just pisses me off sometimes," Julia nodded.
"Only sometimes?" Zeus jested.
"All the time," Julia growled. She flickered her hand to the side, cracking the empty air. It shattered and formed a portal into a parallel dimension. She entered the portal, followed by Zeus with Victoria slumped over his shoulder. The portal was sealed just seconds before a gunshot echoed the area and then a scream.
「Headshot: +114 EXP」
Luke whistled and pulled the lever to eject the spent shell. The shell fell and bounced on the ground before breaking into pieces with yellowish tint and vanishing. He looked through the scope and eyed the girl screaming in terror at the body on the floor with its head smashed by a 7-inch sniper round.
"Boom!" Luke mouthed over the echoing sound.
「Headshot: +109 EXP」