《TRX's Adventures》 Vol. 1 Chapter 0 Part 1 In a room with almost transparent glass walls and all that, with purple columns made of an unknown, transparent material that supported the nothingness and with a view to the void of space-time (?), we were sitting on some sofas that I brought. There were three of us. "H-hey, what are we supposed to do now?" said a young man of 18 with spiky hair, whose color was divided in three: black, white, and brown. He was wearing a long-sleeved red T-shirt and jeans, for some reason. His guitar was lying on the floor next to his couch, as if it was worthless. "Hey, listen to me... and don''t describe me like that; besides, I do care about my guitar!" "Well, Ill tell you guys a story," I said. "Hey!" "Really? Yes, please!" said a little girl who was 6 years old. Her hair was white, but she had a blonde stripe down the middle. She was dressed in strange clothes. "Strange? *sobs*" "Sorry, sorry," I said. "You''re very mean, uncle [redacted]," said the girl. "Huh? W-why couldn''t I say your name?" Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "No reason." "Okay..." replied the girl. "Hey, hey, and what story are you going to tell us? Pff... Not that I''m interested, but... you know I''m not a kid, right?" said the guy. "Don''t you want to know things about the others [Redacted]?" I said, after approaching him and whispering that. "I''m all ears, but... What''s this [Redacted] thing?" he said. "Okay, okay, I''m gonna start now." I ignored him. "Really, uncle? Yeah! I want to hear about the Heroes too!" the girl said to me. Geez, I didn''t censor that. The spiky-haired young man was looking like, "Censorship, really?" "Well, then let''s get started with this story," I said. "Although..." "?" Eliah. "Yes?" said the girl, whose name I don''t remember. "H-how? B-but... My name is [redacted]... You won''t let me say my name either? You''re really mean!" "It''s just that... It''s not time yet," I said. "...You said my name, but not hers, and you don''t say why, and you make her cry, you''re unbelievable," Eliah said to me, as an insult. "I''m sorry, I''m sorry... But it''s necessary, you know?" and I tried to make a convincing excuse... At least for the girl. "I-I see," said the girl, sobbing. "Well... I apologize in advance for not being a good storyteller, since I don''t know how to describe expressions..." I said. "...But you could show pictures of the scenes with your powers, couldn''t you?" Eliah said to me. "Yes, uncle," said the girl. "Of course I can, but I''ll just do that sometimes, okay?" I replied. "Ok..." Eliah. "Yay!" the girl, excited. "Well, let''s get started." And I told them the story, the story of a boy who, ignorant of his future, suddenly got involved in a war between God and the demons. This is the story of Mathias Donovan. Vol. 1 Chapter 0 Part 2: A glimpse of a certain future. What happened? My consciousness... It vanished. How long have I been here...? That was what a blond-haired young man, lying on the floor on top of some rubble, was wondering. Ruins... That was all he could barely see. Darkness surrounded him. What time was it? He could see the night sky, but... it looked cloudy. Although, despite that, he could make out the silhouette of a tree reaching up to the heavens in the distance. Around it were several corpses of people in black suits, either split apart or severely damaged. He wanted to get up to look around more, but couldnt. His body was numb, and he felt absolutely nothing. Blood covered his face. It looked like he had broken his head. He couldnt see out of his left eye. His legs were also injured, with several bruises, though his right leg was worse. It was torn, and the bone was visible. His right arm was bruised; the left, however... "Ah..." The young man exclaimed, in a surprised tone, after seeing it... Although he almost couldn''t even do it since he didn''t have enough strength.His arm was completely shattered and was, at the same time, amputated. Half of his arm was missing and the other was with many lacerations. His forearm was much worse. It was also torn down to the bone and you could see his nerves... I think. It also looked like his flesh was ground up. In addition to all those wounds, he had a hole in his stomach and several broken ribs. He was in a pool of blood, his own blood. At that moment, sirens could be heard in the distance. I could also hear people screaming. He could also hear things burning, an explosion, a horrible roar of something that was neither a man nor an animal... Indeed, many things were happening around him. Then, the young man could also see, in the distance, how a long-haired man was walking. He seemed to be walking away from him. A mark was on his left hand, which glowed faintly. The mark was more or less like this: The young man saw it and felt something in him... Something... Strange. The man disappeared into the darkness. "Ah!" A woman with short, disheveled orange hair exclaimed as she came into view, carrying a little girl on her back. The girl, for some reason, had dark green, short hair and pointed ears. She appeared exhausted, physically and mentally, with a deep laceration on her right leg, bandaged with a piece of clothing. She also had bruises and scrapes all over her body. The woman was in no better condition either. Some of her clothes were torn. The sleeves of her T-shirt had been torn to make the rough bandage on the girl. She also had some wounds on her face and seemingly had a broken rib or two. Breathing was a bit difficult for her as well. They were both horrified by the scenario as well, though... It''s not like the rest of the city was any better. What affected them a little more was the sight of the number of corpses, which exceeded twenty. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Despite all that, she approached the young man. She left the girl she was carrying next to him, sitting down (she did it carefully). Both were frightened and extremely worried, but the woman was almost in tears, seeing the young man in that state. She was wondering if he was still alive or not, but... The thought of the latter... Let''s just say it was painful for her to know that there was that possibility. "M-Mat!" the orange-haired woman exclaimed. "No... it cant be..." "*Cough* I wouldnt die... so easily. You should know that by now..." He answered weakly, but he smiled. "Daddy!" the girl exclaimed. "Youre still alive!" the woman cried, wiping away her tears. "*Cough* But not for long..." "Dont say that, you idiot!" she shouted. "Youre not even serious right now... Agh, that doesnt matter." After saying that, the woman wanted to help him somehow, but there was nothing she could do in the situation they were in. "D-Dad, but... what happened to you? Sob" the little girl asked. "I... I dont remember..." "Mat, you shouldnt force yourself to talk," the woman said. "Just rest..." I... I think I know how this happened to him... "Mom... Im scared..." the little girl said. "Dont worry... well get through this." But... what are we supposed to do now? Everything is in chaos and... She thought and then noticed something. "Huh?" "W-whats wrong?" the girl asked. "N-nothing..." The woman noticed something different about the young man. She felt like something was missing, but didnt dwell on it. She continued trying to help him. While she was doing so, another "person" was approaching them. "T-Trixxie!" the little girl exclaimed, addressing the newcomer. It was a yellow triangle with eyes, little hands, and paws. She looked cute. "Ah, you came!" the woman said. "B-but... wheres Roundy?" "I dont know, we got lost in all this chaos," Trixxie replied. "Ah!" She exclaimed in fright upon seeing the young mans condition. "M-Mat!" "Huh?" Out of nowhere, everyone began to feel a strong pressure, and the ground began to shake. "Agh..." the woman muttered. "This... whats going on?" "Look!" the little girl exclaimed, pointing. Everyone turned to look. The young man, who had been called Mat a few times, also tried to look... and almost succeeded. He saw it for an instant. Moments before, in another place, another woman was carrying a little red, circular (and flat) shaped creature that had little hands and paws. It resembled Trixxie and was named Roundy. He appeared to be badly injured. The woman had a brunette complexion and black, frizzy hair. She wore a black suit. She walked through the citys ruins, looking for the group. Amidst all the chaos, it was difficult to find her way around. While carrying Roundy, she tried to avoid any conflict, as well as falling debris, poles, and landslides. Navigating the terrain was tricky. Where the hell are they? I thought if I found one of them, Id find the rest, but they got separated... She glanced around. Agh... We were supposed to come to avoid this... but... we couldnt do anything. She arrived at an area where no buildings remained, only rubble. In the distance, she spotted something. "What was that?" The earth began to shake. Returning to the other group, they saw the same man who had been walking away from Mat. Now, however, he was wielding a huge sickle. "Ah!" The woman noticed him and, knowing he had started it all, decided to attack. She pointed at him, making a pistol shape with her hand. "S-stop," Mat said weakly. "Huh? W-why?" "I dont know what youre planning to do, but..." he said. "For some reason, he didnt kill me... Besides, he didnt seem... Agh!" "Mat!" "Dad!" Mat appeared to be starting to feel the pain now. Trixxie wanted to say something, but in the end, didnt. At that moment, everyone realized that the man was fighting someone... or something. "W-what the heck is that?" the woman asked, frightened. A deformed silhouette stood in front of the man. It had several tentacles, wings, and glowing eyes. Its appearance shifted constantly, making it almost impossible to describe. The entity shouldnt have existed. Its body was entirely black, yet it had white edges as if outlined by light. Additionally, it emitted a kind of dark mist, almost pixelated and fading instantly. "Dont tell me..." the woman muttered. "I-is it an angel?" the little girl asked. "Is it helping us?" They assumed the angel, or Divine, was showing up in its true form. "No..." Trixxie said. "That... thats not an angel. Thats... a demon." The creature continued to deform and grow larger. Several houses and buildings collapsed from the tremor. The streets cracked more and more... everything seemed to be falling apart. A lot of things had happened in such a short amount of time. Vol. 1 Chapter 0 Part 3 Wow, this started something... Eliah said. Is it okay to tell this in front of a child? I don''t know, I said. But... Oh... And to think my mom and dad see stuff like this every day, wow, said the girl. W-what? Eliah asked. W-well... That aside, why did you start the story like that? Ah, well... You know, it''s just... It''s stupid to start like that. It''s as if you said, This right here is going to happen much later in the story, so suck it up for all these hours full of boredom to get to this interesting moment. ... The little girl was looking at us confused. ||||||| Well, let''s continue. ||||||| Hey, don''t ignore me! ||||||| Location: A town in West Virginia. (November 28th, 1970) It was a very quiet night. At that late hour of the night, no one was to be found on the streets of that large town on the side of a mountain. In the silence of the night, a young couple wearing cloaks that hid their faces were carrying a basket. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Hey... Are you sure that what we are doing is right? I... I can''t... said a female voice, which was answered by a male one. We have to do this. We''ve talked about this before... Besides, we''re still too young to be parents... And yes, I know you were taking care of our son for two years... But still, it''s better to do this. They were two people, a boy and a girl, who looked to be between fourteen and sixteen years old. I know I told you this before, but what you''re saying doesn''t make sense... Why should we abandon him when we can raise him together? We have the means to do it... No... Even if it is painful for me to do this! Don''t you understand? exclaimed the boy. Despite the silence, it seemed that no one had heard him. I''m sorry... I got carried away... But seriously, we should do this, I''ll tell you about it when we get back to your place. But... I hope what we do is the right thing to do. After saying that, they both went to the door of a house. Already in front of it, the girl left the basket there, knocked on the door, and they both proceeded to run away. Moments later, a woman appeared who looked to be in her fifties. When she saw that there was no one at the door, she decided to leave, but something stopped her. At her feet was a basket; a baby barely a year old was inside, very sheltered and with a folded paper. The woman picked up the baby, along with the basket, and went into the house. The folded paper contained the baby''s name, age, and birthday... Yes, that was on it, albeit without a birth year (?), but that was easy to deduce... The baby''s name was Mathias Donovan, and his birthday was January 15; he was ten months old. That child had a birthmark on his left hand, but the lady didn''t think anything of it. That mark had a shape similar to a 2. Also, next to it, there was a dot. The woman called the authorities to see if they could find a relative who had custody of the child (besides, she knew his last name). But, unbelievably, they could not find any relative. Because of this, the lady decided to raise the child. Telling you more, Mathias had been raised by that woman, who was the sister of the town priest. She was a widow; she had lost her husband and her son in 1968 due to a traffic accident from which she didn''t come out unscathed either... But that''s not what''s important right now, isn''t it? Or is it? She is fine, currently, for your information. After the above, five years have passed. Mathias was already a six-year-old boy. At that time, Mathias had blond, slightly long hair and was 1.21 meters tall (which is not very relevant). His eyes were black, and he had a little black mole on his right cheek. Mom, I''ll be right back! Mathias shouted. Yes, son, but be back before lunch, okay? Yeah! Mathias quickly left the house to go play with his friends. Vol. 1 Chapter 1: Good morning / Hello, Mathias. Year: 1975, November 28th. "Good morning, Mathias, rise and shine, today is going to be a great day!" Mathias'' mom said. ... "Can you do other things besides making figures?" asked one of the children around me. It was a warm afternoon, and I was surrounded by a small group of children. We were in an alley in the town where we lived. The towns name was St. Torys. There was a medium-sized tree in the alley, and I was sitting under it. At that moment I was showing them figures made with my powers. "Yeah, look," I answered with a smile, while I made a square with my PSI Creations, which I quickly turned into an airplane, similar to a paper airplane, and made it fly. It had a red color. I had no idea what those powers were, or why I had them. The thing is that I discovered them, back then, two years ago, when my uncle asked me to cut a string for I don''t remember what. After I had done it with a pair of scissors, I gave it to him and he left. After a while, I made some scissors with my fingers and wanted to "cut" a piece of paper, and... it got cut. Pink translucent scissors appeared in my hands and I cut it. I showed it to my uncle and... he didn''t take it so well. He got really scared, and he started saying that the devil gave me powers and stuff like that until my mom came, and she saw it too, and she said, like scolding him while hugging me: "God granted you these powers to use them to do the right thing, and you''re not going to make me believe otherwise. This child is going to achieve great things." The thing is that, after that, I discovered that I could create any shape I wanted, but I also discovered that, the more complicated that thing is, the more tired I am going to get (besides the fact that I have to know in detail the functioning of the thing I am going to create). Returning to the story above, while that plane was gliding, a little girl passed by on the sidewalk and saw it. The girl had long orange hair, white skin, blue eyes, and seemed to be taller than me. At the time she was dressed a bit strangely, at least to me: she was wearing a white blouse and an extravagant skirt, as it was way too long. That little girl approached me. All the children around me were surprised because of the airplane, although I was already used to them being surprised, since that was the only reason they called me. Once the "show" was over, they all left and did not speak to me. In spite of that, I considered them my friends (even though they were not). Then... "Oh, so this is where you were," said a middle-aged lady to one of the children. She had just come back from the little general store that was very close to where I was. "And what were you doing?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Look mom, that boy can make colorful figures in the air." "...I see," she replied, and added, "Well, let''s go now." What happened at that moment was that the lady didn''t see my powers. My mom once told me that I shouldn''t show my powers to other people, but I didn''t listen to her. The thing is, I found out that people my age were more likely to see that kind of thing, so I did everything I could to make my power only seen by children. And well, after that, they both left. "Yeah, let''s go too," said the boy who brought me. He was a little taller than me. The little group started to leave. At that, the tall boy said to me: "Mat, next time try to do something better, because we are getting bored with the figures you make." "Yes!" I answered him almost at once. "Okay, bye," he left after saying that. I sat there for a while, thinking about what to do next time. When I was about to go home, since it was time for lunch, I saw that the orange-haired girl was still looking at me.... Right now, I''m feeling a little uncomfortable because of that, but at the time I was just surprised. "Hmm... What was that?" asked the girl, who, for some reason, had a tender and melodious voice, although... she seemed to be a bit sad. "This?" I answered her, and used my PSI Creations to create a pencil, I don''t know why. "Yes, that... That''s very weird." "Really? Well, I don''t know what it is either, but I like using it, even though it makes me a bit tired. Besides, it''s very useful, since the things I create do the same thing as real things." "Really? Then it''s amazing!" "I know! And it helped me make friends," I replied. "That''s good," she replied, and sat down next to me. "So... What''s your name? My name is Samantha." "My name is Mathias, but they call me Mat even at home." "Mat... Sounds nice," she said, and smiled at me, changing her expression. "Does it? I like it too, but... it feels weird not being called by your name, you know, Sam?" "Sam? ...You''re right, it is a little weird," she replied and laughed. After that small talk, we started talking about other things. Sam told me that she was my age, and that she already knew how to read, and that she read very long books... I was still struggling to read and told her so. I also discovered that, at the time, we liked similar things. She also told me that she was visiting her grandparents, along with her siblings, who lived in that town, and that it was the first time she had seen them in years. She was going to stay in the town for a week. She wouldn''t tell me much more, and I didn''t understand why. Then a cat appeared: "Mat, look, a kitten." "Oh, he''s so cute," I said. The cat, who had orange fur and blue eyes, climbed into Sam''s lap and lay down. "He seems to like you." "Doesn''t he?" she said, and started petting him. The kitten began to purr. "Oh, look at that! How cute." After a while, the cat got off Sam''s lap and left. "Bye, kitty!" we said in unison, and when we realized it, we laughed. After that, we talked about other much more trivial things and, after a while, she said to me: "Well Mat, I have to go now." "Bye." "It was a pleasure chatting with you," she said to me, and she sounded a little weird for talking like that. And she left. I went home too, and I realized that I had talked to her for an hour, so I hurried home... I was scolded, but... fortunately, I didn''t get spanked. That same night, I thought about some things of minimal importance, until I remembered her and realized something: first of all, she looked saddened at first, but after talking to me her mood changed; and secondly, she was actually my first friend. My other friends... they weren''t friends per se, and they only saw me as someone who entertained them momentarily and then abandoned me when they got bored. Sam, on the other hand, was not like that. She saw me as a person... or at least that''s how I felt. My little mind couldn''t process any more things, but it did realize that. After thinking about it, I slept. The next morning, I set out to find her, as I enjoyed her company. We spent time together all day, and I showed her some places in town, as well as some places in the nearby forest that I used to go to alone. The one she liked the most was the river, well... the banks of the river. There I also showed her that I could create PSI fishing rods, but... I didn''t know how to use them. Vol. 1 Chapter 2 The next day, Mat left his house as usual (he was wearing a red shirt with white stripes and blue pants). He went for a walk looking for something to do so he wouldn''t get bored. He walked through the streets for a while, saying hello to one person or another. As he walked, he met a boy older than him. He had orange hair, and it was a little long on the left side (it reached his eyebrow... According to my drawing, it''s like that on both sides). He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and a black long-sleeved polo shirt underneath, along with black pants. This one came up to him and said: "So you''re Mat, huh?" "...Huh?" he replied in confusion. That same day, Samantha also decided to go out. She went to look for Mat to talk to him about anything; she didn''t care about the subject, but just chatting with him and having a good time was enough since he was, according to her, the first person who enjoyed her company and didn''t ignore her. As she was walking along, she came across something that surprised and frightened her. Andrew, her brother, was chatting with Mathias as they walked to a game center. She hid to see what they were going to do next. *Wait, what is he doing with Mat? I-It can''t be... Is he also wanting to take my only friend away from me? No...* That''s not how it works... I think. "Ah!" Samantha tripped over a stone. She didn''t notice it because she was distracted in her thoughts. She didn''t fall. Let''s see... What are they going to do? "I''m going to follow them." She said, and so she did. Samantha''s thoughts a moment ago were due to something that happened in her short life. Samantha Reagan was the youngest of three siblings (whose names were Andrew and Christopher). Their father was the CEO of one of the largest and most successful oil companies in the country. This caused his children to feel an eagerness to be like him or surpass him. His siblings excelled at this, so to speak. They excelled academically and, in addition, were excellent athletes, but the one who stood out the most was Christopher, who demonstrated a physique and intelligence superior to the rest. Samantha also looked like she was going to be better, so to speak, than the rest, but... When she went to school for the first time, her performance was equal to that of her classmates, although she, before going to class, proved to be capable. By capable, I mean that she seemed to be similar to her siblings in those areas: she learned to read at the age of four, she knew how to multiply and divide (up to two digits), and she could read long books (she read several classics). Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. However, no matter how hard she tried, she could not be equal to her siblings, who surpassed her in everything. Sam became depressed because of that (and almost always withdrew from her classmates, which made it difficult for her to make friends), and her parents didn''t notice because they paid more attention to their other two children. The only people who paid attention to her were her maternal grandparents, whom she was currently visiting during summer vacation. Her grandparents did love her, but she still felt that they did not appreciate her as they did her siblings. One of those days, she asked her grandmother for permission to go out, who was surprised by the request but, after thinking about it for a while, agreed. Already on the street, Sam started to wander around while looking for something interesting to do, and if she could, meet someone and be friends.... Well, she really just wanted to see how the other kids interacted with each other, to see if she could emulate the same to make friends. At that, in an alley, she saw a group of kids surrounding another one and.... You know what happened. That was also the first time Samantha felt happy, as she was finally able to make even one friend. Back to our thing, after a long while.... "Wow." Andrew exclaimed in surprise. "Huh? What''s wrong?" "You''re very good." he replied, smiling. They were playing Pong. "Really? This is my first time playing it." "Is that so? It doesn''t look like it; you beat me very easily..." Andrew answered, surprised. "But never mind, let''s go." "Let''s play some more." "Ok." After playing for half an hour more (while they talked about other things), they went out. Already outside... "Brr..." Andrew shivered. "Hey, what''s wrong with you?" asked Mathias, a bit scared. "Err... I just felt a chill." he said to Mathias, and then, turning around, he said to himself. "That means... So there she was-.... Wait, you were following us?" Andrew said this to Samantha, who was hiding behind a pole (he could see her). "Yes, and what are you doing with Mat?" "...Well, I wanted to talk to Mat, since I saw that you two went out yesterday. I thought it was weird that you wanted to go out alone two days in a row, so I did the same as you, I followed you. I wanted to meet him too, that''s all." "W-Why?" Samantha whined. "Why is it always like this?" ...What''s going on? thought Mat. "Why are you and Christopher always like this, always outdoing me in everything?" she was almost crying; she got down on her knees. "Hey... They''re looking at us... Don''t do that. Hey." said Andrew. "And now you want to take away my only friend!" "What?" Andrew and Mat exclaimed in surprise. They were silent for a few seconds while Samantha cried. At that, Mathias said out of the blue. "But I don''t think he''s capable of doing that." "Y-You too?" "It''s not that. He''s a good person; he wouldn''t do something like that. One of the things he told me is that he didn''t like to be his older brother''s shadow. He also told me that his sister always looked sad and he thought it was for that very reason, but he didn''t know what to say to her and it frustrated him.... Phew..." Mathias said quickly. "H-Hey, why are you telling her that? I didn''t tell you so you can just tell it like that!" Andrew reproached him. "She''s my friend, and so are you, right? Why wouldn''t I?" "You are a...! Agh. It doesn''t matter... Huh?" Andrew turned to look at Samantha, who was crying harder. "I-I... I didn''t know..." a lot of things went through Sam''s mind, and she hugged her brother, crying. "Andrew... Did you really feel the same way I did? I''m sorry..." "No... I''m sorry... For not doing anything despite seeing you sad. I''m so sorry..." What, his name was Andrew, and he was Samantha''s brother? ...What did I just see? Mat thought. "I''m confused." He said to himself, with a goofy grin. . .. ... After that, the relationship between the two improved superlatively, thanks to the fact that our protagonist is dumb and doesn''t know when to shut his mouth. The two of them also tried to be closer with Christopher, but he... Well, let''s just say he''s not good at reading other people''s emotions, since he ignored them. But hey, at least Sam and Andrew are closer now. Vol. 1 Extra 1 A few days after the previous chapter, Mat was walking alone in the streets (it was 11 o''clock in the morning), without looking anywhere but the ground. He was walking without any apparent direction as well, and was trying to whistle, for some reason. At that, Mathias bumped into a tall (very tall), stocky man. His hair was white, so it appeared to be dyed.... Or maybe not, his skin was also very fair He had sunglasses on. He was also dressed in a dark purple long sleeve shirt, and black pants. He was carrying two small red books. "Ah! ...S-sorry, sir." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "...You should be more careful, young man," said the man and noticed Mathias'' left hand. "Yes!" Mathias replied. After saying that, another man approached the... Tall man, yes, but... He seemed to be overweight. This other one was dressed in a dark white long-sleeved shirt... Or was it gray? I don''t know. His pants were black, and he had black shoes as well. In physical appearance, describing him further, his hair was black, short, and his face was a little.... How should I put it? Funny... No, it wasn''t that. Well... His nose was big, and his head was a bit wide. On top of that, he was a little hunched over. They had both just come out of a small new church, which appeared to be Protestant. "Well, well, what have we here, Mr. Martin?" said the man, as he stroked his hands suspiciously. "A young man who...?" "No, I just bumped into him by accident." "Ah, I see... What a disappointment..." "? " Mathias. "Well, kid, see you," said the man. "W-wait, you''re not going to...?" "Absolutely not," Martin replied. "Oh, all right, all right." Both men left. Mathias was left alone there, but... He had a strange feeling. They felt kind of... Familiar. "...Ok." And Mat went on his way to... Who knows where. Vol. 1 Chapter 3: A strange dream and "meeting" a new friend. It was a very dark place. The walls were made of very old bricks, which had strange designs and were blue. "This place is really confusing..." said to himself a young man, who had black spiky hair, while illuminating the place with a green flame that was on the tip of his index finger. He was carrying a sword in his other hand. "Well... Anyway... Let''s keep looking!" He passed through several large rooms. They were spectacular sceneries: bottomless voids, platforms floating in the air, waterfalls falling upwards. "This... Really feels lonely, huh?" he said to himself. "I really miss them..." "But it doesnt matter, it was me who decided to do this, after all." Finally, he arrived at a huge "room," even more than the previous ones... Although it was just a platform floating in the void. There were four pillars supporting the nothingness and, in the middle of these, there was an altar that had a kind of blue orb on it. "Phew... At last." He took the orb. "Now there are five to go." "Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarh!!!!!" A very loud roar was heard coming from the void. The young man braced himself for what was coming. "This is the second time we meet each other, eh, big boy?... (Although... The first time was quite difficult, now Im stronger than before)." After muttering that, he pointed his sword at... Imagine the "camera" is above him, at a 45 angle, he points his sword there. "Come, I am rea-!" . .. ... "...dy!" Mathias had just woken up. He was sitting up with his left arm raised, as if he were holding some weapon or something else. The mark on his left hand was glowing faintly, but he didn''t think much of it, as that had happened to him several times before... Though they weren''t such vivid dreams before. It was 6 o''clock in the morning, but he felt exhausted, as if he hadn''t slept. "...What a strange dream." He went to bed again. "But I kinda liked it..." "I''m going to sleep again, let''s see if the dream continues..." he thought and fell asleep again. . .. ... "Mat, wake up already, it''s already 10 o''clock!" "Huh? What?" "Now, now, go have breakfast, then help me with the chores." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Ok, Mom." He helped his mother until 12. "Mom, can I go out now?" "Yes, Mat, but don''t be as late as the other day." "Okay!" He went out and started walking, thinking about what he should do for fun. After a while, he passed by Samantha and Andrew''s house. He wanted to hang out with them but, as he was about to go, he thought, "No, they got befriended yesterday... I think they''re going to want to spend more time between the two of them, so I''d better not bother them." And he kept walking. He passed the game center. "Playing alone is going to be boring..." he thought and set off. He wandered around for almost half an hour and couldn''t find anything to do (he ran into his old "friends," but ignored them... Although... There was someone missing in it), so he decided to go to the forest. Being near the banks of the river, while he was observing the landscape, receiving caresses from the soft breezes, he heard something that caught his attention. Not far from where he was, he could hear a pleasant but nostalgic, for some reason, melody.
He approached where it came from, and found a girl, who seemed to be the same age as him, playing a recorder, sitting on a rock. Her skin was dark brown, her hair was black, frizzy, and she was wearing a white T-shirt and black overalls. She was the one person missing from Mat''s group of "ex-friends." She was so focused on playing that melody that she didn''t notice Mathias'' presence. Five minutes passed, until... "It sounds really nice." "Thank you, wait, what?" The girl stopped playing to answer, and only then did she notice Mathias'' presence. "I-I... I didn''t think there were people around here. Mat, what are you doing here?" "Ah, sorry... I was just walking around, because I was bored at home, and I found you. You play the recorder beautifully." "Right? This recorder was my great-grandfather''s." "Really?" Mathias said, surprised not only because of that, but because he struck up a conversation. Moreover, he went over to it and sat down next to her. "Yes! And he gave it to my dad," she said. "But he... He never used it, I don''t know why." "Ah, I see," he said and did something with his hands. "And you see... My mom gave me a little book about recorders, she used to read it to me, that''s how I learned... Oh, wow." Mathias had just made a PSI recorder. "Does it work?" the girl asked him. "I don''t know, try it," Mat said. ...It didn''t sound. "I think it''s missing parts," said the girl, and took his recorder apart. "Did you put this on it?" "I don''t think so... I''m sorry," he answered. Then he unmade the recorder and started to put it back together again. "Why are you apologizing?" "Huh?" "Anyone can make mistakes when doing something, so..." "...It''s okay, I understand," he said, and finished the recorder. "Look at it!" "Oh, give it to me." "Here." The girl took the recorder and played it, it sounded like a real one. "It works now!" she said smiling, closing her eyes, she tapped Mat''s shoulder with some strength. It hurt. "So..." "Yes?" "C-can I ask you a question?" Mat asked the girl, he seemed nervous. "Tell me." "We''ve known each other for a while and stuff, and... So, um..." "Yeah?" "...W-What''s your name?" "..." "..." "Erin Brown... Well, Erin XIMENA [emphasis on Ximena] Brown..." she said a little angrily. "Than..." wanted to say thanks. "I thought you already knew! I told you once I think, last year, when we first met. Oh, it makes me want to hit you." "Sorry..." "Never mind," she said, and smiled at him. "Ok..." They talked for a while longer. Erin handed the recorder back to Mat, and mused lightly: "You know?" "Wh-?" wanted to say what. "I don''t usually come to the woods, I just haven''t been able to play any of my instruments these days, since my mom came home from the hospital and... Now I have a little sister," she told him, smiled and added. "But now I can''t make noise in my house anymore, that''s why I came here." "I see." "But well, I''ve been here for a while, I''m leaving now." She got up and smiling, she said while leaving, "See you, Mat!" "Bye," Mat replied, smiling too. Mat stayed alone for a while, then went home. "It turns out they''re not so bad after all," Mat thought, as he was leaving, about his "ex-friends." "But I still don''t know what those dreams are. My uncle says they''re because of comics." Note: Mathias was still learning to read at the time, as previously told, though... his reading retention wasnt very... how should I put it? Not very good, but he liked the pictures, from the comics. Those were the ones he usually read... Tried to read. Vol. 1 Chapter 4: The Farewell (?)
A few days passed since the previous chapter (actually it was two weeks). Mat was going to visit Sam and Andrew every day (mostly Andrew). These three became closer as the days went by and... "Hmm... You know?" "What?" Andrew commented to Mat, as they were walking through town together: "Well... I think I''m going to stay with my grandparents." "Oh, are you?" "Yes!" he said happily. "Then... We''ll be able to play together every day!" They passed by the small park in the town where several children were gathered. Erin was there too. They were playing in the few games it had. They both greeted them, as they were her friends (Mathias "re-friended" with his old friends). They kept walking after that, to Andrew''s house. Already at the door, Andrew said to Mat: "And so... My siblings didn''t want to stay." "Why?" Mathias asked almost at once. "I-I don''t know, ask them," Andrew answered. "Ok, I''m going..." "Wait, do it later," Andrew added. "It''s just that they''re going home today and they''re packing up their stuff." "Oh, I understand." "Well... I''ll see you later," Andrew said. "Okay!" Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! They said goodbye and Mat went home. "So Samantha is leaving..." was Mat''s thought as he walked back to his house. . .. ... It was already three o''clock in the afternoon, and Samantha''s family, including her obviously, were already on their way back to the city. They were putting their luggage in her father''s car. Mat went to say goodbye to Sam (he never spoke to Christopher). He was holding a heart-shaped necklace, made of wood. That was the first time Mat had seen Samantha and Andrew''s parents. Their mother had brown hair in a ponytail and a slender body. And her father... "Hey, Andrew..." Mat said quietly. Samantha still didn''t get out, Christopher was already inside the car, reading a little red book. "Y-Your dad is scary..." "Is he?" He looked at his father putting some things away. "I-I guess." Their father was a slightly overweight man (although he was somewhat stocky), he had orange hair (although... it actually looked brown too... Mmm... I can''t tell the colors apart very well), with some gray hair and he had a large beard. In spite of these characteristics, his presence was imposing... This was due to his somewhat difficult to deal with personality. "Samantha, get in the car!" a female voice shouted. "I''m going, Mom!" Samantha replied, as she got out. She had just said goodbye to her grandparents. "Oh! You came!" Samantha had seen Mat standing next to her brother. She walked over and hugged him, and then said to him: "Mat, you see... I''m going back to the city with my parents." "Yeah, I know you are." "You do? Andrew told you, didn''t he?" "Yes, he did." "Hey, Mat!" Mat was interrupted by Erin''s arrival. "Hi!" greeted Mat. "H-Hey, who is she?" asked Andrew in his ear. "Well..." "Did you forget about me too?" Erin shouted, furious. "Did she hear me? Wait, me too?" thought Andrew, startled and turned to look at Mat, who smiled awkwardly at him. Sam was watching. "So, Samantha... You''re leaving, aren''t you?" asked Erin. "Why are you leaving?" "Well... I don''t really want to leave, but... Ah, it''s nothing." "Huh?" At that, her father, who was already inside the car (Chris and her mother were also there) said: "Samantha, we''re leaving!" "I''m coming!" she replied. "Wait!" shouted Mat. "Huh? For-?" "Here, take this." Mat said and put a heart-shaped wooden necklace on Sam. Andrew and Erin were watching in amazement. "Y-you made it for me? T-thank you." "Yes," said Mat, smiling. "It took me a couple of days to make it. I did it without using my powers."
"Really? Thank you so much! I''ll keep it safe," she said, smiling. Mat smiled too. "And well, I hope we''ll see each other again next vacation." "Us too," Erin told her. "Although I never talked to you." Really, she had only talked to Andrew, since she went out with him and Mat once, but... they didnt really interact. "Yes! I promise to come next vacation, bye!" "Bye!" said the three of them, in unison. "Hey, Samantha, get in already..." said Christopher. "I''m coming!" Samantha got into the car and, a few minutes later, they left. . .. ... Samantha never came back. Vol. 2 Chapter 5: Return. And so, 10 years have passed (it was 1985) and... Well, Samantha, now 16 years old, went to the town, as punishment, where her grandparents lived. This was because, according to her parents, she had neglected her studies (she was studying in a private school)... Although, in reality, she had only failed one subject, math. For that reason, they sent her to the town where her brother lived, although this is already known. She went alone, in a bus. It was a day in July, around the end of the month. Samantha arrived at three in the afternoon, carrying only a pink suitcase and a green backpack, which belonged to her brother Christopher. Around her neck was the wooden necklace that Mat had given her, though... It wasn''t very noticeable. "So here we are again..." she said to herself, still standing at the bus stop. "Well..." The thing is, Samantha didn''t go back to her grandparents'' house (her maternal grandparents, by the way) all those years because... they got into a fight with her parents over the way they were raising their children. This happened a year after Sam left town. Samantha''s parents decided not to take this case any further, as Andrew preferred to be with his grandparents, and they respected that decision. "Afternoon!" Samantha had just arrived at her grandparents'' house, after getting lost for about five minutes. It was a two-story, wooden house. It was painted blue with glass windows. The door to the house (which was white) was open. "Oh... Isn''t there any...?" "Sam, dear!" After opening the door to the right (to the left was the living room), a few feet from the entrance, her grandmother came out of the room and hugged her. Her grandmother was a woman of slender build. She appeared to be a little over 60 years old and, at that moment, she was wearing a blouse and a large brown skirt.
"Grandma!" Samantha said, smiling, as she hugged her grandmother. "How are you doing?" "Fine, fine..." her grandmother replied. "And you, my dear?" "Me? Fine! I guess..." Samantha was a little nervous. "Sam, are you all right?" her grandmother asked, looking her in the eyes. "Yeah, yeah! I-I''m okay. Really!" She felt a little uncomfortable with her grandmother''s manner. "If you say so..." "And where''s grandpa?" "Ah, he''s working in his store." "Store? I-I didn''t know you had one..." "We do! It''s a hardware store, a few blocks from here." "I see, and Andrew?" "Drew?" "Drew?" Samantha looked confused and surprised, as she''d never heard anyone call him that before. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "He knew you were coming, that he was going to see you after years, yet he''s not here. God, that boy... He left a while ago, but I don''t know where he went. Wait for him here, if you want. Oh, yeah. Your room is on the second floor, down the hall." "Okay." She answered and went up the stairs, saying, "I''ll be right back, I''m going to leave my things." . .. ... Samantha settled into her new room, which was somewhat cozy. It had been arranged so that she could stay there for a while. The room had a bed, a table next to it, a closet, a mirror, and a window, through which she could see part of the forest and the town. After putting her things away, she lay on the bed. "So... This is like starting all over again, isn''t it?" she said to herself. "It feels strange... But... I suppose its better." And it was, though... In the city, she had no friends (she was kind of shy, but she tried not to be). At school, she only had one friend with whom she got along well, but not that well. They only talked about class, ate together, and occasionally chatted about trivial things. Other than that... she was sometimes teased and made fun of. Once, they laughed at something she had written on a piece of paper and tore it up. Despite these things, she was happy that they didnt take it further, unlike some of her classmates, who had it worse. She was never hurt physically, unlike others. "Wait, if they knew I was coming, then why the heck didn''t they welcome me? Uff... Never mind... I think it''s better..." She grabbed a green book from the table, one she hadnt finished reading. After a while of reading, she thought: "Hmm... I don''t feel like reading, I don''t know why... Should I go into town to look for Andrew? I havent seen him in a long time... But what if I get lost again? Oh no... No, no, no... I got scared. But... Yes, I''m going to go out for a while to get to know the town better, but... Should I wait for Andrew? No... Or should I? Oh... Id better go alone." Sam left her room and went to her grandmother. "Grandma, Im going out." "Okay, but don''t be late." "Okay!" She went out. . .. ... After walking for ten minutes, she got lost. This town is bigger than I remembered... she thought as she wandered around aimlessly, always looking at the ground. Eventually, she reached a park where a group of children were playing. She sat down on a bench and thought, Now what do I do? I shouldn''t have gone out alone... I''m afraid to ask for directions... I want to cry. She sat there, doing nothing, for twenty minutes. It was nearly five o''clock, and the kids had gone somewhere else. "I-I think I''m going to go back home." She tried to retrace her steps, still looking at the ground, and then... *clank* "Eck! Ouch!" Samantha hit a pole and fell, unbelievably. ...I hope no one saw me... "Hey, are you okay?" "!?" Samantha turned to see a tall, blond-haired, black-eyed boy. He was somewhat stocky, wearing a white t-shirt with light blue stripes and jeans. He held out his hand to her. In a scene straight out of a badly done shjo manga, Samantha took his hand. "I-I..." she extended her hand, and the boy lifted her up. Sam then said, shyly, "Y-Yeah, I''m fine, I think..." "I see." He smiled at her... And they stared at each other for a while. "Hey, Mat." A boy standing nearby said. He had orange hair, part of which covered his left eye. He wore a white t-shirt and jeans. "W-why are you staring at her like a fool? W-wait, she... Sam? Sam?" "Huh? Sam? She''s your sister, Andrew, isn''t she?" said a girl with black, frizzy hair and brunette skin. She wore a gray tank top and baggy jeans. Samantha noticed long red eyes, vertically, in Andrew''s shadow, but didnt think much of it. "You said she''d be here today and... Well, she''s pretty much the same, I think. Only now she''s taller than me. And her hair is short, too." "Wait, that guy is Andrew, and the girl is... I-I dont know her... And he''s... Mat... Mathias?" "Oh, you''re Sam?" Mat said, surprised, still holding her hand. Andrew stared at him funny. "Welcome." He smiled again, and Sam blushed. "Y-yes." Sam noticed that theyd been holding hands for a while and instantly let go. Mat didnt seem to notice. "(S-Sorry...)" Andrew, looking somewhat nervous, said, "W-well... I-I dont know what to say..." He approached the black-haired girl. "O-Oi, Erin, help. Say something..." "Agh... ''Erin this, Erin that,''" Erin replied furiously. "Can''t you do anything on your own? Agh, well. Lets go to your house." They were heading there when they found Sam. Her name was Erin... I think I did know her... Samantha thought. "Okay, let''s go!" Mat said as he started walking away. "Hey." Andrew approached Mat. "Couldnt you try to be more... normal?" "Huh? Why?" "We tell you almost every day, and you''re still like that. You''re like a child," Erin said as she also approached. "All right, Ill stop now." "H-hey, wait for me!" shouted Sam, stunned until she realized they were leaving her. So, they headed to Sams grandparents'' house. It looks like being here is going to be interesting... and fun, yes. Although... I hope I didnt leave a bad impression. This was kinda weird. Help. Extra: Sharing. Date: one day in April 1982. Heres your text with the dialogues formatted as requested: Mat was in the park. He was resting. A while ago he had helped clean up the park with the neighbors, and now he was resting in the park. He was watching people walking through the park, seeing children playing happily, couples strolling, families getting together, things like that. Seeing that brought him peace. At that, he noticed something. It was in the playground. He saw that there were children gathered there. Some older than others. It looked like the big ones (about 9 years old) had taken the space from the little ones (about 6). There were no adults around. The children were alone. When one of the little ones wanted to get closer, one of the older children knocked him down. Because of this, Mathias decided to intervene. "Hey, are you all right?" Mat said to the boy, as soon as he arrived, and helped him up. "Y-yes." "I see." Mat said, and then turned to the older children, who were leaving to play. "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?" "Hmm?" said one. "Ah, it''s Mathias," said another boy, an old one. "They won''t let us play..." said a little girl. "It''s just that we got here first," said a boy who seemed to be the oldest. "The place is ours." "That''s not fair!" claimed the boy who was knocked down. "We want to play too!" "But we got here first," said an older girl. "Ah... I see..." Mat thought. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Hey, hey." Mat said, getting their attention. "What if...?" "Shut up, Mat. We don''t want you here," said the oldest kid. "Ah... I see." he said. "I''m-I''m going to ignore that..." The boy gave him an ugly look. And yes, Mat was somewhat known in the village. This because he used to help various people and participate in community work from time to time. "And well. Let me understand." Mat told them. "You guys don''t let them play because you came early." "That''s right," said another older boy. "But that''s not...!" the little girl wanted to say, but Mat silenced her with a gesture. That of putting his index finger in front of his lips and saying, "Shh." "Let me handle this, I''ll figure it out." Mat said. "Then... I still don''t get it. They want to play too, so why not let them join in?" "Mathias, it''s just that they''re too small. It''s not the same," said the older boy. "I see." he said. "But still, the playground is big. So, if you''re going to play, then let the little ones play on one of the other games. And if they get bored with one, they move on to another, and so on." "...," the big girl, thoughtfully. "That''s..." said another older girl. "That''s right," said the older boy. "It''s not like we''re going to play in ALL the games." After that, he walked over to the boy he knocked down. "...Sorry for hurting you." And added, now speaking to the others. "It''s okay, you can play in the other games." "Really?" "Uh, yeah," said the boy. "Yay!" exclaimed all the little children. And so, all the children played, sharing the play space. And in the end, all the children played together, and nothing bad happened to them. After that, Mat went back to the bench, to continue resting and keeping an eye on the children in case something happened. The resolution was quite simple, and a bit silly, but... They were children, it was to be expected. And so, when it started to get dark, everyone went home, including Mat. The thing is, from that day on, sometimes Mat would meet those kids and play with them. Vol. 2 Chapter 6: Life is not the way we want it to be. This is something that happened a year ago, and it''s a little uncomfortable. And so... The time has come to tell you a sad story (I said this with a serious voice.) ...Do I really sound weird like that? Sorry... Erin and Mathias had been friends for a long time, they got along very well, but... Mat didn''t treat her like a girl, so to speak. This is because of Erin''s personality, who was kind of... She was really brusque and not so feminine in some cases. (Drawing of Erin just in case.) Heres your text with the dialogues formatted as requested: They used to compete for almost anything that had to do with anything physical (they did this since they were 7 and it became a habit for them to do it...). Mat would follow her lead because he didn''t like to lose. Also, since Erin started practicing karate (which she left after two years), they started having fights (wait... she isnt supposed to do that), in which Erin always won, for obvious reasons (Mat didn''t use his PSI Creation... Although once he did use it, and he beat her, but she claimed that he was cheating, hit him pretty hard too and... He never did it again). Well... In general, Erin always won at everything and Mat kept competing with her because he wanted to beat her at least once fairly... The thing is that one day, last year, something strange happened with those two. Classes were over and Mat was putting his things away in his locker. As he was doing so, he noticed that in his math book there was a note, which read as follows: "I''ll wait for you in the schoolyard, after school." "...Okay?" Mat said, and thought, "What would Erin want?" Mat recognized who the note was from so easily, since no one else had handwriting as bad as she did, though... On that note she tried to do a different handwriting, but it didn''t turn out well. Mat had been with her and James (full name is James Miller) all day, Erin didn''t say anything about it, so... She having told him to meet with her alone was a bit... Strange. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Mat went to the agreed place, where Erin was. "Y-you showed up," said Erin, a little nervous. "Well, obviously, why wouldn''t I come?" said Mat. "But... Did you know it was me?" asked Erin. "Emmm... Yes, your handwriting is easy to recognize, although you tried to make it different in the note, ha," Mathias said as he smiled, and laughed a little at the end. He also told him, "And what did you want?" "Well... Mmm... How should I put it?" Erin said, hesitantly. "Say it already," Mat said, somewhat impatiently. "Oi, don''t be like that! Wait a little while, I want to get ready to say it." "Ok... Wait, what do you want to tell? It''s not like we''re in an exposition for you to do that," said Mat, in a mocking tone. "Idiot... Well... Mmmm... Okay!" Erin finally shouted. "!" Mat was surprised by the aggressiveness. "I''ll say it straight out: Mat! I like you!" shouted Erin. "Uh... Huh?" he was surprised. "So..." Erin said, and thought, "I don''t know if Mat has those feelings for me, but... It doesn''t matter anymore," She seemed depressed in her thoughts. "Would you like to date me?" Mat was shocked by what he had just heard. His best friend, whom he had known since they were kids, had just proposed to him? That was... Really weird for him. "This turned out worse than I expected... I don''t think..." Thought Erin, who was currently flushed and really nervous. Mat was standing thoughtfully... And he said, smiling: "Sure, why would I say no?" "I knew that... Wait, what did you just say?" "I said yes... Damn, you really are dumb," Mat said, laughing a little. "That way of saying it... Only you are capable of doing that." "...Forget about it," Erin said, no longer nervous and a little angry. "But... you know?" "?" "I-I''m really happy..." "Hearing that from you is really weird," he said, laughing a bit. "Shut up, you idiot!" Erin shouted, and punched him in the stomach. Mat fell to his knees in pain and covered that part. "...Sorry." "Ugh... Nah, it''s okay," Mat said as he got up. "So..." "So..." "What now?" "...I don''t know," Erin said, nervous again. "I didn''t think... I didn''t think I''d get this far." "Well, what do you say we take a walk together? Just you and me. Is that okay?" "Yes!" The two of them left together. . .. ... They broke up that same day as, while they were walking together, Erin challenged him to a race to the river. For some reason, Mat beat her for the first time (he was really happy) and she started a fight over it, saying that he took advantage of them being a couple so he could beat her easily... Unbelievable. Even though they remained friends after that, as if nothing happened, Erin still regrets that. . .. ... End of that memory. Vol. 2 Extra Chapter 1: Question. In the present, Erin and Andrew were waiting for Mat, sitting on a park bench and... They weren''t saying anything to each other. Erin seemed bored. It was five o''clock in the afternoon. ...This is really depressing, should I say something? I think so, but what... Hmmm... Ah, I know! "H-Hey, Erin." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Huh? What?" she didn''t say this in a rude way... "So... Tell me, do you still like Mat? (I really want to know.)" . .. ... "S-sorry... I shouldn''t have asked that." Andrew had been slapped in the face, and thought, "But... It looks like it." ||||| "And so, here''s an old drawing of the main characters." "Really? Let me see," said the girl. "Oh, it looks really good!!!" "It..." said Eliah. "I dont know what to say about it..." Extra: Change. Date: one day in April 1985. A new student had transferred to the school where Mat and his friends were studying. This was a young man with brown hair, white skin with freckles, and wore glasses. He was a grade lower than Mat. The thing is, during lunch, he was sitting alone in the courtyard. He was on a bench next to a wall, under a roof. There was almost no one around him. Everyone was in their respective groups. And yeah, he had not made friends with anyone because he was quite shy. Even to get his lunch he had difficulties... At that, a young man older than him, and a couple of his friends, approached him. Describing this young man, what stood out most about him was his physique, as he was athletic, and he had a tattoo of... I don''t know what, but it was three eyes. Maybe they were of a gang. The thing is, because there was no one around, or well, people who cared about it, not even teachers, they went to take money from the boy. While that was going on, Mathias was with Erin and James. They were having lunch. At that, as they were doing so, Mat noticed in the distance what was happening to that young man. Erin noticed that too. "Oh. Here we go again..." she said. "Those guys are the worst," James said. "They''ve been reported several times, and the teachers don''t do anything." "Ah, that''s true..." said Mat. "But... I''m getting tired of this." "Hey, Mat, don''t tell me that..." Erin said. "If the teachers don''t do anything, then I will," he said, got up and started to leave. "Mat... Ah, he didnt listen to me..." said James. Mathias approached the place where they were. He heard what they were saying to him, insulting him, and asking him for money, and that he should give them because his parents had money, and if he didn''t, there would be consequences. And so, the first thing Mathias said was: "Ah, come on. Stop doing that. Leave him alone." They all turned to look at him, and their leader said: "Ah, Donovan, why are you getting involved? Get out of here, this doesn''t concern you." "Ah, I see," said another. "You want to play the hero, don''t you? That''s to gain more favor with the teachers. Haha." Well, some teachers liked Mat because he helped them, although... Well, he wasn''t an excellent student; his grades were little more than average. And so, Mat sighed and said: "Do you think that''s why? Wow. Actually, I''m tired of seeing you do things like that without anyone saying anything. It''s irritating." "And you think you''re going to stop us, brat?" said another. Although he was older, Mathias was taller, by about five inches. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Ah, let''s go," Mat said. "What you guys are doing is worse. Are we still in elementary school? You look like children." "What did you say?" said the tattooed man. It seemed that the latter had struck a chord with him. Because of this, and out of nowhere, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and wanted to attack Mat with it, to the surprise of his friends as well. Stabbing him guaranteed them expulsion, and perhaps something worse, but... It was too fast. Erin, from a distance, noticed what was happening. She hadn''t gone because she didn''t want to get into trouble, but now she wanted to act when she realized what was going to happen, but... "Agh!" The young man with the tattoo had fallen to the ground. The knife was a few meters away from him. Mat had avoided the cut with ease and elbowed him in the back, causing him to fall. Some girls passing by at the time, even seeing the knife, mocked the young man, laughing, and passed by. And so... When the young man wanted to pick up the knife, Mat stepped on it to stop him from doing so. "Agh, damn it, let''s go. It''s not worth it," said the young man. "Ah... It''s all right," said one of his friends. In the end, they left. Erin, while that was happening, had gone to check on the new student and ask him if he was okay. James had stayed put because he didn''t want to get in trouble... The thing is that in the end they talked to the boy, found out if he was okay, and in the end, they had lunch with him. The boy felt at ease with them. Although... at the end of class, he didn''t go home with them, but with a friend he made during the remaining classes. That same day, Mat was walking around town, looking for someone. He found him. It was the tattooed young man. He was sitting alone on a park bench, smoking. "Ah, hello." "Mathias?" he said, and added, annoyed. "Would you do me a favor and get out of here?" "No, I can''t." "Ah, damn." He started to get up. "I wanna talk to you," he said. "About what?" "You see..." And there, Mat mentioned to him that he saw him already molesting, hurting, and extorting several students for a couple of years already. And well, he wanted to know why, and also why he got angry when he called him "childish." The young man, although he didn''t want to answer her at first, finally did. It turns out that his family was poor, and had lost his father about six years ago. The thing is, to support his family, his older brother had gotten into shady business, and was part of a criminal gang. He did it to support his family. The thing is, because of this, his brother, so to speak, had to grow up and mature faster. He also wanted to do it, and for that, he wanted to act tough, and imitate what his brother did when he started, so that they would also take him seriously even at home, and to help them financially as well, although... to be honest, his thinking was quite childish. The thing is, he was also part of that gang, and even sold drugs at school, and not only there. Also on the streets. That''s how he got some money for his family. The extorting money from other students was just so he could feel... Superior, and not just a simple lackey. And yes, there was a problem at the school because of the presence of those drugs, but... They could never find out who did it. They even investigated the young man, because they knew about his brother (who was not in town), but... They didn''t find anything on him. He had hidden it well. Mat was surprised by that, and more so because he told him, and Mat didn''t even know his name. Even he realized that, that he told personal things to someone who had humiliated him, and that he barely knew. It was as if he wanted someone to listen, to understand, or something... In the end, Mat didn''t know what to say to him, other than: "You know that everyone is different, right? You don''t necessarily have to be like your brother to be respected, or hurt others to be considered mature, or something..." He ignored the gang and the fact that he was selling drugs. Unbelievable. "...Telling you all that wasn''t worth it, you sound like a useless therapist..." he said, and started to leave. He blew smoke out of his mouth. "Forget everything we talked about, and what happened today, okay? I''ll do the same. We never talked." "...Okay," Mat told him, after keeping silent for a few seconds. The young man left. The thing is, by the next day, and the days to come, that young man was no longer doing what he used to do. Even the circulation of drugs had slowed down at the school. Ah, yeah. There were more people involved in that. In the end, this was told by Mat to Erin, and this was told to Samantha, when they became friends and she wanted to know more about Mat, and confirmed with others, who saw this from a distance. In a sense, she admired Mat for this, and liked him more." Vol. 2 Chapter 7: Unexpected visit. A great tree. Continuation of the dream from before, but now it''s in third person. Ah, yeah, he had many dreams like this one. Let''s see... I have two orbs now, said the same young man, but now his face could be seen clearly. It was very similar to how Mat is now, except that his eyes were golden. He was carrying a different sword than the previous time. It looked prettier, to tell the truth, and more lethal, perhaps. This place... It''s cool! There are a lot of puzzles around here, dead ends with lots of traps and no chest at the end, monsters of all shapes and colors, lava pits, lava walls, lava waterfalls... It is amazing! And to think that I would have a life like that! ...But how old is he? He looks like he''s twenty, but... Nah, it doesn''t matter. At least, it seems that hes in a better mood now. It was a dungeon with red walls and burning torches, with red flames too. Since I got lost in the previous one, I''ve become much stronger. I learned to manipulate my life energy to heal myself and make myself armor with aura, to resist blows and maintain temperature, so this is all very easy... But I love the design of this place, and the monsters! Phew... The ''real monsters'' rock. Stop talking to yourself. Although... I do wish those two had followed me, but... Theres nothing I can do about it. ...Well, he kept moving forward, taking detours every now and then to see the layout of the place and defeat the occasional monster. He finally reached the end of the dungeon, which he didn''t want to, because he liked the aesthetics of the place, and defeating the Guardian was going to make him never go back there again. As soon as he arrived, out of the void appeared a very horrible face of an unknown humanoid creature, at that... Ah! Mat woke up, just like the other time, several years ago... It was 6:45 a.m., it was Saturday. The mark on his hand was glowing. ...W-What was that? Oh, shoot... he saw the time. ...Well, while we''re at it... I''m going to see Andr... Wait, Samantha came yesterday... He smiled. I''ll see you both then! He dressed in a white t-shirt, with a pocket, his usual jeans and his only sneakers, which were already a year and a half old. After that, he left his house, but not before saying goodbye to his mother. . .. ... H-hello. Hi! Mat had just arrived. Andrew greeted him and... Well, he didn''t expect a visit that day. Do you want to go out today? Mat asked him. Don''t you have better things to do? Besides, it''s early... Andrew replied. I woke up early today, because I had a weird dream and I didn''t want it to continue... Andrew thought at that moment. Come on! Don''t be like that, Mat told him. Agh... Why don''t you go out with Erin? asked Andrew. I''m sure she has time. I could, but I wanted to go out with you today. Agh... Wait, what? Andrew replied and turned his head upwards, which... I don''t know what that gesture is called, sorry... But after doing so he turned to look at him again and said what? with a weird tone. Oi, wha Drew! Who''s at the door? Andrew and Sam''s grandmother asked from inside the house. She seemed to be in the kitchen. It''s Mathias! Andrew replied. Andrew''s grandmother, at that moment, came out to greet him as well. Good morning, Mathias! Andrew''s grandmother greeted Mat. Good morning, lady, he answered with a smile. Why are you here so early? asked the grandmother. Ah, I want to know that too, said Andrew. You see... said Mat. I had a nightmare and woke up early, and I didn''t want to be bored, so I came here. How straightforward, said grandma. Typical of you, hahaha. Oh, and also because I wanted to see how you were doing. I see, Andrew replied. And Samantha, she''s here, isn''t she? asked Mat. ...How can you ask that? said Andrew. It''s obvious that she is. Ah! Then it wasn''t a dream? Mat replied, thoughtfully. Of course it wasn''t! Damn it, Mat... said Andrew. His grandmother laughed. Mat, seeing her laugh, laughed with her. So... What were you guys talking about before I came over? asked Andrew''s grandmother... It''s very repetitive to say this. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. About going out, but... I don''t want to go out... Andrew replied. Oh, come on. Come on out, said Grandma. But I don''t want to, he replied. Wait... What if you go out with Sam instead? Then I can get rid of him, I hope. With her? Mmm... I don''t know. Oh, that''s right, Grandma said. You hadn''t seen each other for many years, so you two could enjoy each other''s company. Oh, that''s all right. I''m off, Andrew said, and went into the house. They both looked at him and continued talking. But she''s still sleeping, he said. So... Why don''t you come back in a whil? Good morning... yawn You were calling me? It was Samantha. She was dressed in purple pajamas. I just woke up... With you guys talking like that one can''t really sleep... said Sam. So... He noticed that Mathias was talking to his grandmother. He hadn''t recognized her voice. Ah!... H-hello, Mat! Hello, Sam, he answered, laughing... As usual. W-what are you doing here so early? Sam asked. He said he wanted to go out with someone, so he came, Grandma said. Isn''t it, Mat? That''s right. ...I see, Sam replied. But really? At this hour? thought Samantha. So... Do you want to go out? Mat asked her. Sam was quiet for a moment and turned to look at her grandmother, who gave her a look like... Well, she basically told her to go with that look. Yes! I mean... I-I''d love to... Sam replied, a little nervously, and added. But... Come over in the afternoon, okay? I just woke up... Okay, Mat replied. See you then! Y-yeah, Sam said. Mat walked away. Sam was still tired from waking up early. Well, I''m going to fix breakfast, said Sam''s grandmother. Okay, Grandma, Sam replied. I''m... I''m going to take a bath. Sam went to the bathroom, which was on the second floor. As she was leaving, her grandmother said: Oh, what it''s like to be young... Grandma, did you say something? No, nothing, she laughed. Oh, ok. . .. ... In the afternoon, Mat went out alone with Sam. The purpose? In the end, he decided to get Sam acquainted with the town. As they walked, Mat met several of his friends and introduced them to Samantha, who was nervous. This happened several times. Ah, that''s when she met James, who at the time was at his house. He had about five cats and they were all affectionate, but Sam was most fond of a spotted cat. They stood there for half an hour talking. All those times Sam seemed as if she was being forced to talk, this because she had not prepared herself emotionally for so many interactions with people in such a short time. Mat also showed her several places that might be of interest to her, such as clothing stores and... A bakery. Sam was more interested in the latter, as he had a sweet tooth. He also showed Sam one of the three coffee shops in town and... Ah, the little church I mentioned to you before, some chapters ago, was no longer there. He also showed her the school where she was going to study after the vacations. It was the only one in town. It was kind of big because it was an Elementary, Middle and High school. After that... "Hey, Sam." Mat said. "Yeah?" "I''ve got a place to show you." "You do?" Sam said, a little excited. "Yeah, but... It''s in the woods, you know? And I don''t know if..." "It doesn''t matter, let''s go!" "...Ok!" They went into the woods surrounding the town and walked for about twenty-five minutes. Along the way they climbed a somewhat steep hill (Sam complained a little...) and finally came to a clear, grassy area from which they could see the sky and the town. Because of the altitude they were at, they could see some nice scenery. "Oh! This is... This is beautiful." said Sam. "Yeah, it is." said Mat. "This is... I usually come to this place to think and see, well... This. It gives me a sense of peace." "I see." said Sam, who was still admiring the scenery. She sat down and added, smiling. "It was worth it to come up here in the end." "Yes, it was... But, you know, it would have been better to come at sunset." "It would, wouldn''t it?" she replied. "And so..." Sam realized something. Wait... Mat and I, the two of us, we were hanging out all afternoon, this means... Just the two of us... Isn''t this kind of a... Date? she stammered in her thoughts and blushed... Its not that, you idiot. ...This got worse when Mat sat down next to her. "And so what, then?" Mat said. "You didn''t finish telling me." "Oh, I-I... W-well... Nothing." Sam replied. "Oh, I see." Mat said and... He asked a strange question. "Hey... Well... Can you see a tree over there on the horizon?" "Err... Y-yeah, wait." Sam realized the question. "What? No, I can''t see it." "Ah, hahahaha." Mat laughed and resumed the conversation. "Sorry about that question." "So she can''t see it either..." Mat was referring to a huge tree, a baobab, reaching all the way... All the way into space, apparently. It was far away, but you could see it... At least Mat could. No one could see it. Absolutely no one. That tree could be seen from any angle because of the size it was, but... No one Mat knew could see it, it didn''t even have a shadow. Because of that situation, he decided to look for someone with powers similar to his in his town and the city, hoping people like him could see it. He didnt find anyone. But... Despite this situation, he still hoped to find someone like him. He hoped that someone could see it, and, perhaps, know what the tree was and what its function was. That''s why he would sometimes ask about the tree to anyone he met, no matter how weird it was (although... before that, he was trying to be close with them). "Ah, ah... I-it''s all right." Sam replied. "Well then. Can I ask you another question?" "Yeah, s-sure." "That necklace you have..." Mat said, and looked at the necklace Sam was wearing that was barely visible. "That... That''s the one I gave you, isn''t it?" "This one?" Sam answered him and showed his necklace. "Was it the... The one you made me? I-I didn''t know." "And you took good care of it and everything." Mat said, surprised. "You kept it all this time?" "Y-yes... But... I forgot that you were the one who gave it to me... I''m sorry..." She only remembered that a friend gave it to her, but couldnt remember who or when. Forgive her, she has bad memory... A really bad one it seems... Im concerned. "It''s fine! Don''t worry. So you did like it, wow... I can''t believe it." Mat said, smiling at her. "I don''t know what to say..."- Mat, he was a little bit uncomfortable. "This is... Weird... What do I do, what do I say, what do I... Ah!" Sam was getting very nervous. "That''s... Thank you." Sam said. She had managed to overcome her embarrassment a little. "Huh? For?" "For giving this to me." she showed her necklace. "It was the first thing I was ever given in my life... Well, by someone who wasn''t my family... That''s why I kept it with... Very fondly." "Its weird to say that out loud..." "You''re welcome." Mat told her. "That was the least he could do for a friend." "Y-yes... One question, did you still consider me your friend even though we didn''t see each other for all this time?" "W-well, of course." Mat replied. "No matter how long we''re apart, we''ll always be friends! That''s what I read in a book, and I liked that sentence because it''s true." "Of course it is... I like it a lot, too." They were silent for a few seconds. "Hey..." "Y-yes!?" "Do you want to stay and watch the sunset? It won''t be long now, it''s only an hour away... I think." - he laughed at the end. "A-and what would we do until then?" - Sam asked. "Well... Talk, about anything." - he replied. "So, tell me more about yourself." "Oh, ok..." And they talked about trivial things until they saw the sunset. After that, they went back to the town together. . .. ... In the end, this experience was fun, but very stressful for Samantha. Extra: James. Date: February 1979. There was an African-American boy, about 9 years old, sitting on a bench in front of his house. It had a roof on the outside, and a railing. There was also a bench in it. This boy was sitting there, with nothing to do. At that moment, one of his cats appeared, and he started playing with it. The cat was black with white spots. "Oh, what a cute kitten." a little girl''s voice could be heard. It was Erin''s. She approached the house. "Can I see it?" "Ah, yes, you can." said the boy. "And us too?" said another boy. It was Mat. He was accompanied by Andrew. "Of course." said the boy. And so, they proceeded to play with the cat. Erin made him chase a thing attached to a string for a long time. Other of her cats also joined in, and they played with each other as well. This was all fun for them. It was already getting dark. Finally, as they were about to leave, Erin asked the boy. "Ah, what was your name? Sorry, I didn''t ask. I''m Erin, by the way." "Oh, right... My name is Mathias, and yours?" "Im James." said the boy. "And you are?" "Im Andrew." he said. It was a bit curt, though. "I see..." "Well, do you want to play with us again tomorrow? We''re going out riding bikes." said Erin. "Do you have one?" "If you don''t have one, you can ask Andrew to lend you one." Mat said. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it."Uh, what?" Andrew. "Come on, don''t be like that. You''ve got three." Erin. "But they belong to my siblings..." Andrew. "But they''re not here, so..." Erin. "No, no, I do have one." said James. "Ah, thats good." Erin said, smiling. "Then we''ll go out tomorrow, okay?" "Yeah," James replied. He seemed cheerful. He made friends out of nothing. They said goodbye, and James was left thinking... Thinking about how he accepted even though he didn''t know how to drive. Despite that, he was still glad he had made friends. He didn''t go out much, and he didn''t talk to anyone at school either, and so he didn''t know anyone. But in the end, he still made friends with those three. And so, hours later, he went to sleep, but not before practicing how to ride a bicycle with his father, failing. The next day, on a Sunday, he tried to practice too, but now on his own, but it went badly. He had no balance. He was practicing for two hours, until 12 o''clock. It was at that time that Mat and his friends arrived and Erin, seeing that he was having trouble, also tried to teach him. Ah, yeah, she was the one who taught the others too. In the end, James was able to drive without falling off, and... The four of them went for a bike ride. Although... "Whoever gets to the last one is a rotten egg!!!" Erin exclaimed. They were going to the park now. "Oh, yeah? Then first to get there is a fresh egg!!!" Mat replied... "?" Andrew. "?" James. His body shuddered a little with embarrassment. Erin didn''t ignore it, and took it seriously, for some reason, and the two of them pedaled as fast as they could, leaving Andrew and James far behind. "Uh..." James. "Eh... Just ignore them, they''re kind of weird sometimes..." Andrew told him. "Let''s keep going." And so James had made new friends, at last. Vol. 2 Extra Chapter 2: Helping Grandpa. "...Hey, what am I doing here?" Andrew asked that question. He was in his grandfather''s hardware store. His grandfather was there too, along with Samantha and... Someone else I''m not going to mention yet. "Hey, young man, don''t complain and help me tidy these things up." said his grandfather, who was carrying some boxes. He was a stout man, had blue eyes and was somewhat bald. His few hairs had a lot of gray in them. Oh, he had a mustache too, though it was short. "You told me you were going to help me the other day." "I did, yeah..." said. "But you didn''t say in what..." "Now, if you break your promise, you''re not going to have dinner. And this goes for you, too, young lady." "I know, Grandpa..." Sam was carrying a box into the storeroom. Stolen novel; please report. "Grandpa... I know I promised to help you and all, and Samantha did too, so... Why is Mat here?" "? " Mat. "That''s right... Hey, Mat, why are you here helping us?" Sam asked. "Oh, because... Well, I saw that your grandfather was taking the boxes out of the pick-up truck, so I came to help." answered Mat. Those boxes looked kind of heavy, but Mat was carrying them like it was nothing. "Ah, well... Actually, it''s because I had nothing else to do, so that''s why I''m here." Hahaha. grandpa laughed, who knew the things Mathias did, and said: "You should be more like Mat." "Yeah..." said Andrew and set about carrying a medium-sized box... "Agh, this one is heavy, what''s in it?" "Oh, what don''t you read? There are only pliers in there." his grandfather replied. "Hey, Andrew, I''ll carry it." Mat told him. "Huh? O-okay." he replied. Samantha had no problem carrying the boxes she chose... Until they had to carry bags of cement. "Hey, Grandpa, how do we carry them now?" Sam asked. "I can''t carry them, and neither can Andrew." "Then carry them between the two of you." answered their grandfather. "Come on, it''s not that hard to come to that conclusion. Oh, and look at Mat, he carries them like it''s nothing. You should exercise more, especially you, Drew." "Yeah, Grandpa..." Drew replied. "The heck, how does he carry them?" They were helping out until 3 P.M. Vol. 2 Chapter 8: Visiting Erin. During her stay in town (it had been a few months since she arrived), Samantha decided to make friends with her brother''s best friends, since it was easier for her to make friends that way, plus she already knew them a little beforehand. Because of this, she became closer to Erin. Already during the class period, a professor had warned that he was going to take a test next week and that they had to study, the typical thing. Samantha started to study at home those days, although she already knew well the subjects that were coming, studying alone did not seem good to her, it bored her. That always happened to her before going to town, but now she had people to study with, even though... Let''s see... I could go study with James, but... No, I don''t think that would be the best thing to do, since he also seems a bit studious... With Mat? ...No, no, no, no, no. Not with him... Hmm... With Erin? "Right, Erin is something... I could teach her and understand a little more at the same time. Yeah, I''ll do that," Samantha said to herself. She went to see her at three o''clock. It was a Sunday. She brought her things to study the assigned subjects. As she stood outside the door of the house, which was also a two-story building, she rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a woman who looked to be no older than thirty. She had long, straight black hair and a brunette complexion. "Well, what have we here?" the woman said, laughing. "A friend of my Erin''s?" "Eh... Err... Well, yes! Good afternoon, I came to study with her." "Oh, really? She didn''t tell me anyone was coming." "It''s... It''s just that I didn''t tell her in advance..." "Come on, dear, don''t be so shy. Here, come in, come in." said the lady, as they entered. Her English pronunciation was not very good. They arrived at her living room, which had a table, some chairs around it; besides, there was an armchair that was a few meters away from a television... It looked like a living-dining room. "Sit on the couch, I''m going to call Erin. Oh, and tell me, what''s your name?" "S-Samantha, Samantha Reagan." said Sam. "Hmmm... What a pretty name." she replied. "Well, I''m going to call her now, okay?" The lady went to call her, to the second floor. While Sam sat there, waiting. Erin came down after a while. "Hi." "H-hello..." Samantha answered a little shyly. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Hey, don''t be shy." said Erin, as she went to the couch. "So... Thank you for coming. Now, shall we get started?" "Yes." They started studying together, after going to the table. Samantha was explaining some things to Erin that she didn''t understand, and after doing so, she seemed to understand more. "Is it really like that?" said Erin. "Oh... Thank you!" "Uh... Yes." said Samantha, who was being... How do you say? Hmmm... Erin was sort of hugging her, wrapping her arm around Sam''s neck. She was smiling. They continued to study. . .. ... After about an hour, Erin''s mother came to see them, bringing some snacks and drinks. She was accompanied by one of Erin''s sisters... For your information, she had four siblings. The little girls name was Elen, and she was seven years old. "Here you have!" said Erin''s mother, laughing. "Thank you very much." said Samantha. "Thank you, mom." said Erin. "Well, have fun!" exclaimed her mother. "Hey, Elen, come on." "Okay, mommy." said Elen. "But mom, we''re studying!" said Erin. "Same!" replied her mother and left with Elen. "Well..." "Erin..." "Yeah?" "Your mom is really nice!" said Sam. "I guess she is." Erin said, looking at the floor, her index finger on her lip. "But... There''s something that''s been bugging me a little bit about her..." Sam said. "And that is?" said Erin, somewhat aggressively. "I-it''s nothing bad, but... It''s just that... She looks so young. Does she do anything to look like that?" "Oh, that? Well..." Erin said, a little uncomfortably. "Well... Not really." "Oh, really?" said Samantha, surprised. "Yes... Well, um... you know?" "?" "She''s... Eh, it doesn''t matter." said Erin, who seemed a little nervous about saying this, but now she''s not. "She''s thirty two." "32!?" "Yeah... Don''t think about it too much." "I-I understand..." What? I don''t want to think about it anymore either, but... Okay, well, I''ll give you more context, if you want. Erin is Peruvian-American. Her parents met when her father traveled to Peru, when he was 17. At that time her mother was 15. Things happened and they finally got married a year later, with her and her parents'' consent and... This is kind of weird, I know, but that''s how it happened... Well, after that, they continued studying without any inconvenience until six o''clock. Samantha kept thinking about how old Erin''s mom was during all that time... The thing is, everyone knew about it, except her. They finished studying at 6 and Erin showed her to her room, which was on the second floor. It had a bed, a table next to it, a closet, and... It was a mess, so to speak. Oh, there were also musical instruments. She had an acoustic guitar, a recorder, a transverse flute, a quena, a keyboard, a violin, a bass... Wow, there were several... Incredible. "Errr... Sorry for the mess." said Erin. Actually, Erin didn''t want to show Sam her room, she wanted to show her the instruments she knew how to play (she also had instruments she didn''t know how to play yet...). She showed her that she could play several of the instruments she had, which included the guitar, most of her wind instruments, and the keyboard. Erin also sang and Sam commented to her that she sang beautifully, hearing that made Erin quite happy. Sam was there until seven o''clock and then said goodbye to Erin and her family. This experience was fun and enjoyable for Sam. Vol. 2 Extra Chapter 3: Thoughts Thoughts of them in one night. Random thoughts. Nocturnal thoughts. |||||||| "Okay..." Eliah, uncomfortable. The girl didn''t care about what I said. |||||||| Mat: "I don''t know what I''m supposed to do.... Everything leads me to nothing. Agh!" Sam: "Real men aren''t like fictional men..." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She expected more. Erin: "I''m hungry. Should I go downstairs and get something to eat?" Andrew: "... ... ... Agh, let me go to sleep already." James: "Mmm... My cats don''t have any food for the day after tomorrow.... I''ll buy it tomorrow. This... Ah! Mat is owing me twenty bucks.... From a month ago. How is it possible that I just remembered? I''ll collect it from him tomorrow." ...He forgot. ||||||| "Uncle." the girl said to me. "Is this important?" "Yes, yes, yes. It''s very, very important." "...I hope it is." Eliah said to me. Vol. 2 Extra Chapter 4: Race. On a day like any other, the group was walking to class. Those present were Mathias, Samantha, Erin and James. They were five blocks away from the school. "I bet they can''t beat me running to school." said Erin, defiantly. "...What?" said James. "Let''s race to school!" shouted Erin, excited. "Hey Erin." said Sam. "This... We''re not kids anymore, you shouldn''t..." "Okay." said Mat, with a serious face. "That''s it! Anyone else in?" said Erin. "That''s... I''ll... No thanks." whispered Sam. "I understand. What about you, James?" "Me? I''m sorry, Erin, but I don''t want to show up sweaty to class." James said, with a so-so excuse. "Okay, so it''s just you and me then, Mat." Erin said, excited. "Ok, let''s get started." Mat said and... They started running. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.They sped away in an instant. "What?!" Sam. "They really are fast." James said. "That''s why I don''t want to race them either." "They''re... That''s amazing! They look like Olympic athletes!" said Samantha at the sight of something so impressive, at least to her... And to me, a bit. "Plus... They compete for everything. They almost always do this, I don''t know if you noticed." (James drawing for you-know-what.) "I did... But... Wow, this is different... They''re like two little kids." "I suppose it is, ha." James said, while scratching the back of his head. "For you this is amazing, and stupid too, I guess, but for me it''s the usual, and almost always fun to watch." "Yeah... Wait, what do you mean, almost always?" Sam said to him. Sam and James arrived at school ten minutes later, and despite everything, Erin and Mat weren''t tired at all. Erin beat him, as usual. Vol. 3 Chapter 9: Snack Bar/Cafe/Cafeteria, Whatever... After the previous chapter, a week or so passed. It was a Tuesday afternoon, Erin and Sam were going to a small coffee shop. They were going there, because the owners were friends of Erin''s parents. Erin and Sam had become much closer the last few days, Erin was happy about that, since... Well, actually, she was her first female friend (actually, her first close female friend). Erin didn''t usually hang out with women, but because Sam was Andrew''s sister, she decided to be friends with her. ||||||||| "Oi, oi, wait," Eliah said. "Why are you only talking about Samantha? Why are you telling us all this? Is it even relevant? When are we gonna reach the part you told us at the beginning?" I ignored him. The girl was enjoying the story. Actually, I was telling it for her too, and that''s why I told it with everything and these parts. ||||||||| They arrived at the place. It was located in the middle of the block, it was a small establishment, it had a large glass window and a door next to it. Outside there were two small tables, each with two chairs and an umbrella. "Ok, let''s go in, "said Erin. "Ok." Once inside they saw that it was a cozy place, with peach-colored walls and wood trim. The lights were yellow so the place, because of the warm lighting, gave a feeling of tranquility. Inside there were also some wooden tables, painted black and covered with white tablecloths with red square patterns and wooden chairs around the tables. There was a middle-aged gentleman sipping coffee. They both went to one of the tables and took a seat. At that moment, a young lady arrived to serve them. She had short blonde hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. (Nicole''s drawing for you-know-what.)- Hi, Nicole! - said Erin to the lady. "Hi, Erin! - exclaimed the lady, smiling. "And who is your friend?" "This is Samantha," replied Erin. "...Nice to meet you," said Sam, shyly. "Nice to meet you too," Nicole responded. Her full name was Nicole Thompson, by the way. After that small conversation, they ordered a slice of milk cake, a sandwich, a latte, and pizza rolls (all this was ordered by Erin) and a slice of chocolate cake, covered in chocolate and filled with chocolate (this was ordered by Sam). Nicole walked out. "H-hey," Sam said. "Are you really going to eat all that?" "Yeah, of course I am," replied Erin. "Why?" "No reason..." "Oh, okay. I''ll treat you to some," Erin said. "Thank you..." After a while, she brought the orders. "So..." Sam asked, a little nervous. "Why is this place so empty?" "Well, we tend to have more customers at night. That''s why," Nicole replied. "I see... But..." Sam was still nervous. "I''m sorry, I think asking like that was rude." "Not at all," Nicole said. "So... Nicole, would you like to stay and chat with us for a while?" Erin asked Nicole, how redundant. "Until a client comes in." "I''d love to," she replied. "So... what are we going to talk about?" Sam asked. "About anything," said Nicole. "Yeah," said Erin as well. "Samantha... Do I think so or are you a little shy?" asked Nicole. "I thought you noticed it when you talked to her, but okay," said Erin. "The thing is... You''re shy too!" "Really?" Sam, surprised. Erin kept talking, "Whenever you''re with" "Hey, cut it out!" Nicole demanded. Sam was watching. "Stop it!" "I won''t!" Erin replied. "That... sounded very childish, I think..." Sam thought, though... Yes, it sounded more childish than it should have. "You''ve liked Andrew for several years, and yet you didn''t confess to him until now!" Erin said. Nicole and Andrew were friends at school, but they didn''t interact much, because Andrew wasn''t much of a talker, especially not with people of the opposite gender. He only hung out with Mat, James, and Erin, and with the latter he could talk normally, without fear, because... You know why. Nicole didn''t hang out with Mat very much, because... Well, you''ll find out. Oh, and another thing. Nicole was a very social girl and had a lot of friends (mostly at school). This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Back to the above. Elsewhere (it was in Andrew''s room)... Andrew had just sneezed. "Hey, are you okay?" Mat asked him. He was making figures with his PSI creations. He seemed to be practicing. "Yes..." Andrew replied. Behind him was a shadow looming. "You didn''t catch a cold, did you?" "Of course not, I don''t think so." Back to the cafeteria. "...What?" Samantha exclaimed in surprise. "I''m telling you, I''m serious!" said Erin to Sam. "Hey!" complained Nicole. "Shut up!" The gentleman, who was still there, looked at them funny. "I''m sorry..." apologized Nicole. . .. ... They continued talking after the gentleman left. "Really?" Nicole said. "Andrew is your brother?" "Well... Yes," Samantha replied. "Yes, but..." said Erin, almost at the same time as Sam. "Don''t you see her?" "What do you mean?" Nicole asked in surprise. "Andrew has red hair and so does she. They are the only redheads in this town, plus they look alike," replied Erin. "Right! Hmmm..." said Nicole. "Well, I knew he had a sister, but... I didn''t expect her to be like that, she''s so cute! And so... So, can I ask you a question?" "Yeah," Sam answered. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Sam heard that, but she was quiet for a few seconds until, for some reason, she blushed and, looking down, she said: "No..." "See?" said Erin, and hugged her. "She''s so innocent and so pure, she doesn''t care about those things!" "Actually..." said Sam, nervous and a little blushing. "Actually what?" asked Erin, although she sounded a little aggressive. "I..." Sam told them, but... "Awesome!" Nicole said excitedly, interrupting Sam and clapping her hands. "You''re starting to act more feminine! A little bit, at least." "What? Nah, I don''t care," said Erin. "And so..." she referred to Sam. "You what?" "...Actually, I do like someone..." she said shyly and very nervous. "Really?" interrogated Erin. "Tell us, tell us more!" said Nicole, excited for some reason. "Mmm... I don''t want to," Sam said, still shy. "Why?" Nicole questioned. She sounded a little disappointed and seemed to be overreacting too. "She''s shy, I told you," said Erin to Nicole. "But... I want to know too." "Ok, I''ll tell you... I''m not going to mention his name, but... I think I''m going to mention the things I like about him. But... Keep in mind that I only like him a little bit, its very superficial and... That''s..." "I understand," said Nicole. "Never mind, tell us about it!" shouted Erin. "You''re really excited," said Nicole. "I thought you only liked sports, music, and stuff..." "Shut up!" "W-well... He''s tall." "Tall!" they both thought. "Also, ummm... He''s kind to pets... Well, to animals in general. Oh, and also with people." "Kind!" they both thought again. "And... His smile... Awww... I like it." "...Smile?" they both thought. "And... I''m starting to feel weird." "Keep going," Erin replied. "Ok." "It''s not James, so it''s... It can''t be," Erin thought. "Also... Mmm... See this necklace?" Sam said, and showed the necklace with a wooden heart. "We see it," Nicole said. "D-don''t tell me that..." "He gave it to me," Sam replied, seeming to remember something that made her happy. "He gave it to me... He gave it to me a long time ago," she said faster, "and... I''ve kept it since that day." "Oh," Nicole said, a little surprised. "I see." "It was the first gift I ever received from someone... That''s why I keep it with... Very fondly," Sam said. "I think that''s why I like it too... Although... I don''t really know." Erin was there when that happened, but she doesn''t remember it. "Awww..." Nicole. "Well... He''s a little, no... He''s competitive." "At least with Erin," she thought. "Competitive... Mmm..." Nicole thought. "REALLY? NO WAY!" Erin thought. "I''m speechless," Nicole said. "Who would have thought a kid like you could fall in love?" "I''m not a kid..." Sam replied. "Why is she treating me as if she knew me for years...?" "And she''s taller than us," said Erin too, although... It''s not like it is noticeable with Nicole, but meh. "I know, but... Look at her face! Awww..." Nicole said. "Huh?" "And well... Well... It''s Mat, right?" said Erin. Back to the other place. Mat sneezed. "Bless you... A-are you okay?" asked Andrew. "I think I may have caught it..." Mat replied. "Yeah, but... Im not sick." "Then..." He turned to look at nothing. "It was you, wasn''t it?" "Do I look like I could catch a cold?" a voice replied. "Yes." Andrew laughed after hearing that almost instantaneous response. "You idiot." Back to the cafeteria, again. "H-how did you...? Right... You''ve known him longer and longer than me... I just got embarrassed..." Sam said, and she was very nervous and embarrassed... Which is redundant to say, but whatever. "You shouldn''t be like that, it''s okay. Falling in love is a normal thing, isn''t it, Erin?" "...Huh? Ah, yes, yes it is!" "But... Why on earth did you fall in love with Mat?" Nicole said. "That''s... I don''t know how to say it..." "?" "I know Mat and... Well... He''s always doing everything, and he seems to want to get along with literally everyone, which is not good. At least that''s the way I see it." "So do I..." Sam. "And not only that, it''s too childish." "Yeah, it''s..." "Plus, it''s kind of weird." "That''s, uh..." Sam. "Mat''s not weird!" Erin demanded. Sam was startled because she exclaimed that out of nowhere. "Ah! ...Right, you are just like him," Nicole said. "What''s that?" Erin. "Well, Sam, I''m not judging you." "..." "Well... So, Erin, now it''s your turn!" Nicole told her. "I don''t like anyone," she said like it was nothing. "Come on! There must be..." "No one," Erin replied, almost interrupting her, no... Actually, she interrupted her. "Erin!" shouted Sam, looking a little angry. "You made me say all that even though it''s a simple liking! You must be... No... You''re obliged to tell us too! You even made Nicole feel ashamed that she hadn''t confessed to my brother after several years and you were the one who brought that subject up out of the blue!" "That''s true! Wait, what?" Nicole said, surprised and a little bit angry. She continued: "Youre actually good at complaining!" ||||||| "?" Eliah. He was uncomfortable. ||||||| "R-really? I''m sorry..." "But I really don''t like anyone, not one bit," said Erin. "I see," said Nicole. "I-I understand," said Sam. After that conversation, they calmed down a bit and started talking about various other things (Nicole mentioned her younger sisters), until another customer arrived an hour later. When he arrived, Sam and Erin left. Erin walked Sam home (Mat had gone home moments ago), but on the way, she had several things on her mind as she chatted with her. So she likes Mat, huh? After arriving at Sam''s house, Erin said goodbye and went to her own. ...This was a strange experience for Sam, as she had shared something important with someone she had just met. She regretted it later, but... What was done was done. Oh, and Nicole''s sisters looked like this, sort of... Their names were Reina and Emily. Vol. 3 Chapter 10: Going out. One of those days, Samantha decided to visit Nicole. She asked Nicole if she could go visit her (when she went to the coffee shop with Andrew) and she said yes, only she told her to go when she wasn''t working. Days went by and she went. She decided to go alone. When she went it was five o''clock in the afternoon. The moment she arrived, standing in front of the house, she was afraid to knock. She stood in front of the house. People looked at her strangely as she passed by. After a few minutes she finally decided to knock. A man who looked like this opened the door. "Good afternoon..." said Sam. "Good afternoon, Miss," he answered. "You must be Samantha, right?" "Yeah... I am." "Come in, Nicole is waiting for you." She went in. The man, who seemed to be Nicole''s father, went to call her. Samantha sat down on one of the sofas. Emily and Reina were playing in the living room with their dolls. Sam greeted them but they... They barely responded. This made Sam a little ashamed, for some reason. After a while, Nicole came in. The girls were still there. "Hi, hi!" "...Hi." "...So, what do we do?" Nicole asked. "I don''t know..." Sam answered. "T-then why did you come here?" Nicole replied inexpressively. "Huh?" . .. ... They began to talk about various things after this conversation. Don''t ask. After that, Nicole went to get some snacks and two glasses of juice. "Here you go." "Thank you," Sam replied. Although... If you had that you would have brought it from the beginning... She didn''t want to say it out loud. "So... I have a question," Sam said. "So tell me." "Well..." said Sam, a little nervous, for some reason. "Do you have any goals in your life or something you want to achieve?" "Huh? That question was quite unexpected," said Nicole. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Yeah, I know, sorry..." "?" Nicole looked at her. "Don''t worry, I''m still going to answer it... But... Let me think for a moment, okay?" "Ok." It seemed as if Nicole was trying to sort out her thoughts. "I don''t... It''s not entirely clear to me," Nicole said after a while. "When I was younger, I wanted to be like my mom, a teacher." "Your mom is a teacher?" Sam asked, surprised. "Well, yes... She works at your school." "She does? Wow, I didn''t know that." "She''s one of the math teachers." "I see," Sam replied. She never taught me then... "Although... I might actually like being a journalist better in the end." "Would you really? Interesting... And why do you want to study that?" Sam asked. "I like to investigate things, and get to the bottom of things... Or something like that. Plus, when I was younger, I felt like this was one of the most important careers, you know? Information is always needed at all times. Well... Actually, it allows us to have knowledge of reality. Also, it is necessary to have a record of society at different times." "Yes, I know..." "But... It''s too stressful too, and I don''t like that." "Eh... Ha, I understand..." Sam didn''t know what to say. "Although if I''m a teacher I''ll be able to train the professionals of the future, and that would make me happy too. And so... That''s it." Nicole said. She was smiling. Ah... So that''s why she''s still not getting into college, Samantha thought after hearing all that. "I see," Samantha replied. "Thinking like that... It''s kind of cute, you know?" "I guess, but... I don''t know which one to actually study. I quite like them both... But okay, enough about me. Now it''s your turn to answer, do you have some kind of objective or a goal you want to achieve?" "Huh? Well... Yes, I guess I do," Sam answered. "Do you? Tell me more." "This, well... I want to be a writer, and I want to be famous..." Sam said nervously. "That''s all." "Wow... Hmm... How cool. It really is," she said. "I didn''t expect that from you, but I''m glad you decided to be one. When you publish your first book, I''m going to be the first to buy it." "Thank you, Nicole, I really appreciate it, but... This... The thing is... Almost everything I write is mediocre, and that''s... Depressing. Although... I try to improve, because I like it... But I always have the constant fear that I can''t make it..." Nicole, after hearing that, said: "You''re going to make it. You might stumble along the way and stuff, but if you keep practicing, you''re going to get better, and you''re going to be able to accomplish what you''re striving for. Come on, trust in yourself a little more, it''s not hard. Have faith. Look at this as a leap of faith. You may do well, or you may not. That doesn''t mean you''re going to get depressed. You may fall to your lowest point, but... Even if that happens, the only thing left for you to do is to get back up, and try again." "T-thanks, I guess," Sam said. "I didn''t think words like that would come from you." "What kind of image did you have of me, huh?" "...Sorry." After that, a while later, someone opened the door to the house. It was Nicole''s mother. The girls, who were still playing, went to greet her, hugging her. "Hi girls!" she said. "Mom!" they both said almost in unison. "Good afternoon!" "And where is your father, who doesnt come to greet me?" she asked them. "Hes upstairs, in your room, sleeping," said Emily. "Oh yeah? Hell see this one. I work all day, and he only works until three o''clock? And he cant even say hello to his wife coming home from work? Agh... Hes such a..." The rest couldn''t be heard because she was going upstairs, but... She was still complaining. "Ignore that," Nicole said to Sam, smiling uncomfortably. "Its almost always like that." "I see..." Nicole''s mother had completely ignored Sam. After a while, she came downstairs and greeted her. Minutes later, almost 7 o''clock, Samantha said goodbye to her and her daughters and went back to her house. . .. ... This experience was motivating for Sam... I think. Extra: Helping. Date: March 1985. "Oh, Erin, good afternoon," said a young woman after opening the door. "Good afternoon, is Mat th...?" Erin started, then spotted him. "Oh, there you are." "Hi, Erin," Mat replied from inside the house. He was helping with the chores. It was 5 o''clock in the afternoon. Mat was currently visiting the home of Laura Rodriguez, a 24-year-old woman and a single mother with a 4-year-old son. Mat had met her when he was shopping with his mother at the minimarket in town. He saw her son struggling to carry some items and helped him, which led to him meeting Laura. She was a nurse at the town hospital, working until 4 o''clock in the afternoon. Due to her schedule, she relied on her younger sister, Chelsea, who also attended the same school as Mat and Erin, to help with her son after school. The one who had opened the door was Chelsea. Laura was in the kitchen preparing dinner, Chelsea was helping her nephew with his homework, and Mat was sweeping and tidying the rooms. Mat only helped them occasionally, about twice a week, and Erin sometimes joined him, like today. Life had been quiet for Laura recently, but her past had been a bit tragic. She had lived a somewhat liberal life, going out frequently and eventually falling in love with a young man. They became a couple, and when Laura got pregnant, he was supportive at first, even though it paused her nursing studies. However, a year after their son was born, Laura discovered that her boyfriend had been unfaithful. Despite still loving him, she ended the relationship, finding the betrayal unforgivable. She demanded child support and, although she had many suitors due to her beauty, she rejected all of them, too afraid of being hurt again. Then, seven months after their breakup, Laura learned that her ex-boyfriend and his new partner had died in an accident. Even though their relationship had ended badly, this news affected her deeply, as she still had lingering feelings for him. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Months later, after meeting Mat, Laura found herself reflecting on those painful memories again. One evening, when it was just her and Mat at home after dinner, she asked him to stay a little longer and opened up about everything she had been through. Mat listened quietly, trying to understand her pain, until he finally spoke. "Miss Laura, I really don''t understand. I don''t understand why you told me all those things," said Mat. "I am grateful that you trust me, but... What I have to tell you is that you''re in a bad situation. You really are..." "Mat, how can you say that?" Laura complained. "I''ve been through so many things, and I''m telling you about it, and you come at me with that?" "Ah, I''m sorry, I didnt" "Are you serious?" she interrupted. "Who do you think you are to judge me? I only told you because... I don''t even know why I did it... You''re barely 15 years old; you don''t understand anything about life. Seriously, I''m just stupid..." "And you''re right. I know next to nothing about life," Mat admitted. "But... Holding on to the past like that isn''t right. I dont understand your pain, not at all. But... I know that holding on to your past will only hurt you more. You may have made mistakes, yes, but whats done is done. All thats left is to move on. That young man you mentioned didnt appreciate you in the end, but the moments you had with himyou can remember them fondly. Thats good. But getting stuck on them is wrong." Mat turned to look at the night sky through the window. "You know, I quite admired you ever since I met you. Youre trying to move forward, despite everything. And now, with what you just told me, I admire you even more." "I see..." Laura said, a little calmer now. "And you''re right, Mat. I mustn''t be like this. I have a son, and I have to do better for him." "And not just for him," Mat added, turning to look at her. "For you too. You deserve to be happy." Laura laughed softly. "Thank you, Mat. I really needed to hear this, but... I dont know, I feel kind of bad being lectured by a teenager. Hahaha." "Ah, well... Yeah, its kind of weird. Haha." After that, they never spoke about it again, and the conversation faded from their minds. But as time went on, something in Laura began to change, little by little. Back in the present, Laura was still working to improve her life and her son''s. She was now dating a doctor from the town hospital, and they had a strong relationship, despite Lauras past. As for that evening, the doctor had just arrived home. They all sat down to a delicious dinner together, and afterward, Mathias and Erin played with Laura''s son until almost 8 o''clock. Vol. 3 Chapter 11: Tree TRX''s Adventures, starring TRX. |||||||| "What?" Eliah. "TRX..." |||||||| Now it''s time to tell you another, shorter, story that has to do with the same thing, but not much, for now. This is the story of TRX and her friends (yes, that''s her name. It''s pronounced like Trixxie). TRX is a little yellow triangular-shaped critter that looks cute. Roundy is like a circle, and is red in color. Blocky is like a blue square, and she likes to freeze things. Pointy is like an arrow... or a rocket, he can fly and he can explode... And he likes to do that a lot, he loves it. It was a sunny day and TRX and her friends were in a forest, resting on the banks of a crystal clear river. It was very hot and TRX was bored, so she decided to swim for a while in the river to cool off. The others, seeing TRX doing that, decided to do the same, since they were also quite heated. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.When they were all in the river, they started to play by throwing water at each other. A while passed and they got hungry, so they decided to look for fruits to eat. They picked several fruits from nearby trees, but Blocky noticed a specific tree: a mango tree, but it had something strange, its trunk was very long. Blocky loved this fruit, so she decided to ignore that and went to pick some. She couldn''t climb up because of her tiny little arms, so she opted to use her ability to create ice to climb up. She made an ice ladder to try to climb up, but when she was about to reach the first handle she slipped and fell. Blocky was a little upset about that, but then she calmed down and decided... She decided to chop down the tree! She created an ice axe pickaxe out of thin air and used the side of the axe to chop down the tree. Just as she was about to give the second cut, Pointy came up to her, touched her and made a gesture as if to tell her not to do that. Blocky stopped and, after that, Pointy flew towards the fruits and rammed them with enough force to make them fall. Blocky, seeing that, started to pick up the falling mangoes. Then she made an ice basket with wheels and put the mangoes in there, so she could carry them. After a while, everyone ate the fruits and had their fill. (Random drawing just because.) Vol. 3 Chapter 12: House and Mine. TRX and the others were on a plain, figuring out what to do. Blocky came up with the idea of making, guess what, a house. The others thought it was cool to make it, so they went off to find materials to make a rustic house. Blocky cut down the trees, while the rest carried the logs to the area where they were going to make the little house. Roundy planned the design of the house. Once they had all the materials they began to build it, following the ugly plans made by Roundy. It took them half a day to do it, but it was rewarding to finish it. It was a very nice little house, two stories, it had one window on the second floor and two on the second floor, which were facing north and west, a little wide entrance and nothing else. After that, they stayed a while in that house and, suddenly... A giant cyclops appeared. TRX and the group went out of the house to see it, the giant cyclops greeted them and the group greeted him back. That Cyclops was heading for a nearby mountain to the north. TRX and the others, seeing that the Cyclops was heading there, decided to follow him, carrying the house with their weird powers. They brought the house near the cave where the giant Cyclops lived. The views there were beautiful, so for the group to carry the house all the way up was satisfying. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.The mountain where the Cyclops lived was covered in snow, but the cold didn''t seem to affect TRX and the others. Blocky, who had gathered some fruits while cutting down trees, carried a basket full of them and went to the cave to give them to the giant Cyclops, who gladly received them. Everyone ate the fruits, as the Cyclops shared them. After a while, the Cyclops went to his cave. TRX and the others followed him. Upon entering it, the group realized that the Cyclops had a house deep inside the cave. Pointy knocked on the door, the cyclops opened it, but not to receive them, but to leave his house and go to mine deeper. TRX made a gesture as if she wanted to help, and the cyclops gladly accepted. Once in the Cyclops'' mine, the Cyclops started to mine several minerals. The cyclops got enough iron, which he was going to use to create and maintain his tools. At that moment, the group found a vein of a mineral they didn''t know about. Well, only they did not know it, since the Cyclops did not even flinch when he saw it, it seemed as if he could not extract it and that is why he did not pay attention to it. TRX and the group decided to mine that vein, since it seemed that it was a very resistant metal and that was why it would be very useful, but it was in vain. In spite of that, none of them gave up and, out of nowhere, the group began to glow, from the roof of the mine fell a lightning bolt that fulminated the vein, destroying it and leaving several pieces scattered around the place. TRX fainted. At night, TRX woke up on the second floor of the house she had built with the rest. When she came downstairs, she saw that on the table there were several ornaments that seemed to be made of the ore they had "mined". Vol. 3 Extra Chapter 1: Complaint. As I was narrating, Eliah said to me: "Hey [Redacted]..." he gave me an ugly look for censoring my own name, even though you already know it. "Agh, okay... Well, why are you telling us this other story? It has nothing to do with the other one. I feel fooled." "Yeah, uncle [Redacted], tell us!" said the girl, who, after saying that, pouted grumpily at me. "It''s just that... Well, I had to give them a nice introduction to these characters, in the same way I did with Mathias," I told them. "They are going to be important, although... I still need to tell you a few things about them." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "Oh, I see," said the girl, who already seemed to accept that I forgot her name. "..." she became sad. "Well, shall I continue?" "...Do whatever you want," Eliah answered me, while she approached the girl to reassure her... I should do something... Ah! I know. I brought a chocolate cake and gave it to the girl. She ate it with pleasure. She was happy. "I haven''t dealt with kids in a long time, so I thought that wasn''t going to work..." I said. "...What do you mean you haven''t dealt with children in a long time?" Eliah asked me. "...That''s a story for another time," I replied. "Let''s continue." And I continued Mathias'' story... Meh, I continued with this one because it''s important, but it''s going to end soon. Vol. 3 Chapter 13: A game and an adventure. In the middle of a flowery field, which had a tree or two, TRX and the others were playing with a small brown ball. The game consisted of bouncing the ball off a tree, and hitting the ball when it bounced, preventing it from touching the ground, so that it would bounce back into the tree and so on. Whoever managed to bounce the ball the most times, in several rounds, was going to be the winner and the others were going to obey in what the winner wanted. TRX was first. She bounced the ball four times. Blocky was second, the ball bounced five times. Roundy was next, and bounced the ball two sad times. Pointy was last... And he bounced the ball thirty-two times. Everyone was very surprised by that event, and went on to the second round. The results were now: - TRX - 7 - Blocky - 6 - Roundy - 10 - Pointy - 45 Pointy was winning, but nothing the rest could do about it. Knowing Pointy, he was going to make them do strange things... The next round continued normally until it was Pointy''s turn who, trying to show off, hit the ball very hard and it bounced into a nearby cave. Everyone''s eyes were dotted when they saw that. In that cave was a blue dragon that had three wings. They sent Pointy to pick up the ball. Once Pointy entered the cave, the others fled. So mean. . .. ... Three hours passed after this, it was almost dark, TRX and the others were back at the house they had made. They all thought Pointy was not coming back... What? Out of nowhere, a silhouette of a dragon appeared in the sky. It was the dragon from the cave and Pointy, for some reason, was resting on its back, with the ball. They all saw it from the window and came down to watch. The dragon landed next to the house and Pointy flew to the door of the house, where the others were. The dragon seemed docile, for some reason. Pointy was not afraid of it, despite being afraid of lizards. He seemed to have overcome his fear, somehow. It was hard to tell, as I paid more attention to what TRX and the rest were doing. But hey, Pointy came back with the rest and gave them each a whack for abandoning him. A few hours passed and they became close to that dragon. After that, they rested in the forest. The next day, they said goodbye to the dragon and decided to return to their village. It was located on the side of a mountain, but around it was a tropical jungle. The houses were... They were stone huts with roofs of leaves. Their inhabitants were similar to them: geometric figures that looked cute, and one or another that had strange powers that they used in their daily lives. They could not articulate words because they had not yet developed that much. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Well, continuing with the plot, they finally arrived. When they did, they saw that everyone in the village was scared. Because of this, they went to the village headman, who was shaped like a golden diamond, to find out what had happened. The village chief''s house looked like a castle, but with a leaf roof. It had a big hole in it. When they arrived, the situation made them understand, along with the poor language they had, which was more sign language, that the village relics had been stolen. Some bandits, who were of various races: stone men, tree men, nishiks (they are like little goblins) and others of the same species (cute geometrical figures), had done it... Despite saying "men", those creatures were not humanoid looking, mostly, they were kind of cute too... I think. At that, TRX and the others, without hesitation, went on an epic journey to retrieve the village relics, and the other things they seemed to have stolen from other settlements. The village chief allowed them to do that because they proved to have greater potential than the others (regarding their natural abilities), well above average. Besides, they had a healer, and that was enough. Summing up the whole journey, what TRX and her friends did was to fight against these bandits, who settled in different parts of the world... Which looked kind of like Pangaea, and they saved a lot of people in the process. They went one at a time. At first they didn''t know where to go, but after trying to communicate with people in the area, they discovered one of their lairs. Upon arrival, they blew up everyone present and discovered the location of the other dens. They did the same in the others, but did not find the crystals, it seemed they were in the main base, with the boss. They went there. When they arrived at the place, they were greeted by a tenebrous aura. The place was a kind of fortress. The buildings were inside the mountains that surrounded the place. They managed to make their way through the hordes of bandits that infested the place. Finally they reached where the bandit chief was located, in the highest tower. His appearance was that of a star (polygon), in other words... He was of the same race as they were. He was seated on a kind of rustic throne. Next to it were the four crystals he had snatched from the other races. The star chief looked at them defiantly, and TRX and her friends looked back at him. At that, the boss took the crystals and, out of nowhere, a kind of golden aura began to emanate from his body. He was receiving power from the crystals (don''t ask). ||||||| "H-hey... I''m losing it already," Eliah said to me. "Just listen." ||||||| The boss was preparing to have a showdown against TRX and friends. TRX and her friends were also preparing for this moment. It was going to be a complicated fight, much more so than the previous ones. . .. ... In short, TRX and her friends defeated him. They went back the way they came to return the crystals. They each carried one with them. |||||| "If you''re going to tell us the story like that, I''d better leave,"Eliah replied. "...Well, I''m sorry, but it''s important that I do it like this" "And why?" asked the girl. "You''ll see." |||||| As they were returning, a faint aura, coming from the crystals, began to surround them, but they did not notice it. Vol. 3 Chapter 14: Temples and an unexpected visitor. TRX and Roundy were resting in the forest around a campfire. It was nighttime. Stars adorned the sky. They had not yet returned the crystals those bandits had stolen. Suddenly, something moved through the bushes: it was Blocky, who had gone for a short walk, bringing wood and some ropes. TRX, thanks to what Blocky had brought, began to build something. At that moment, in outer space, a meteorite was approaching the planet. After a while, TRX finished: she had made a wooden sword. She raised it and, in her imagination, a light coming from the sky appeared above the sword. Blocky and Roundy marveled at that sword, which had a beautiful design. The meteor was getting closer and closer, its impact was imminent. While TRX kept raising the sword, Pointy flew at high speed towards the others, but he couldn''t brake well and ended up colliding with TRX''s sword, which fell into the bonfire. Everyone was a little sad about that. Just at that instant, the meteorite fell, startling the group. It had fallen on top of a nearby mountain, so TRX and her friends decided to investigate. They went to the mountain, but halfway there they were met with a big surprise, due to the collision: the road was blocked. Pointy, without thinking twice, decided to shoot himself into the landslide and exploded, opening the way. TRX and her friends continued on their way, leaving Pointy behind for a few moments, as he was still regenerating. After a while, they had reached the top of the mountain. The meteorite was there and had made a large crater. It was still hot. Blocky, seeing that the meteorite might be made of some metal, decided to mine it. She jumped on the meteorite, froze part of its surface so it wouldn''t burn, created her famous ice axe pickaxe again and started to mine... Or at least she tried to, because at the first hit the meteorite started to split, which scared the group. Blocky quickly moved away from the space object. From the crack a beam of light began to shoot into the sky, which expanded greatly. After that, a strange root started to come out as well... It was not a root, at least it seemed so, a strange being started to emerge from that crack. It was an abomination: it looked like a log, but it had many eyes and mouths (and eyes inside its mouths), it also had several rings around it. That creature changed its appearance constantly, it was still very similar in spite of that. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.The creature looked at the group and, in a voice of thunder, said the following: "I know what only one of you will be able to understand what I am going to tell you... It was not a mere coincidence that I fell in this place... But before I tell you something, I must test you. You must collect four pieces of a portal, which are found in four different temples in the subway. After you find them, you must return to me." TRX explained the situation to her friends with signs. They hesitantly agreed. "It looks like your friends decided to do it, great. But, before you go, I must give you this coin, it will be useful to you later." These were the words of the unknown creature. After this, TRX and her friends left. The next day, TRX and the others went to look for caves that would give them access to the depths. All the caves led nowhere. Everyone was discouraged, until Roundy came up with a great idea: to mine their way underground. The others approved of the idea and, thanks to Blocky''s axe-axes, they began to mine. It was hard work, but in the end they succeeded. That area of the subsoil had ceilings adorned with various precious stones and several stalagmites. In the distance, they could see some very old structures, which were different from each other. There were four of them and, according to what the creature said, in each of them there was a piece of portal, so they decided to separate. When they arrived, they could not enter these, until the crystals reacted, glowing, and they were able to pass through. At this time, the crystals just lost relevance. In TRX''s temple was the upper part of the portal, it had very strange designs and was red with yellow. In Pointy''s temple was the lower part. In Blocky''s was one of the sides and in Roundy''s was the other. Then they brought all the pieces to the surface and went to the mountain where the creature was. They, that moment, were still wondering what they were for. "So you made it... Now build it." Said the creature. TRX and her friends did so. They finished after a while. Everyone stared in awe at that portal. "Now you must pass through it, but first I must give you one last gift." TRX and her friends began to glow, which lasted only an instant. "I have given you the ability to talk to other living beings, for this reason you are now able to understand my words... Now go through the portal and be sure to protect the coin I gave you." The thing is, he didn''t tell them everything that happened. The glow not only gave them the ability to do that, but also something else that I''m not going to mention yet. They all passed through the portal and disappeared without a trace. The creature was left alone saying to itself: "I know they must find and guide the Hero, but... They are still weak, sending them there will make them strong enough to withstand all the things that will happen to them... But still I know they are going to make it; however, what about the Hero, the Messiah? That information was not revealed to me... I must stop thinking about such things, my work here has already culminated." The creature quickly began to disappear and a beam of light shot up into the sky... Vol. 4 Day 1: Light. After the visit of that creature, who was an angel, and who made them go through that portal, they appeared in the sky of an unknown place. As they fell they realized that everything was covered in darkness. Finally, they fell into water, which was a bit more viscous than normal. The surroundings were gloomy, there was absolutely nothing there. TRX''s group was confused at this point. What had happened? They had gone through the portal, fallen through, and were now in the middle of nowhere in a spooky place. While they were thinking about it, a giant eye appeared in the middle of nowhere and suddenly a voice of thunder was heard. "You are those abominable creatures they sent to find the Hero, or am I wrong, and you came here by accident?" No one answered and they were even more confused. At that, the creature began to get closer and closer to the group. The closer it got, the more you could see what it looked like. It was a kind of huge fleshy ball, green in color (as if it was putrid). It also had several insect-like legs that were treading on the face of the water and human arms on the sides. In addition to that, it also had several small mouths and a large one that had an eye at the entrance of its throat. At the top it had a huge heart that was crystallized. It looked like a weird tumor. "Come on, answer me." said the creature. "Little creatures of a God that is about to fall..." They were all much more confused than before, first because of what it had said and, secondly, because they understood EVERYTHING it told them. After saying those words, the creature''s eye glowed horrifyingly and, seconds later, it shot a beam of light towards where the group was. Surprisingly, TRX and the others managed to dodge it. "Well, well, well. So that''s how it is." The creature said that, and... In the blink of an eye, it appeared in front of one of the group members. It was TRX. It raised its hand. TRX rose as well. Everyone looked at that scene in fear. "They had managed to dodge that attack... So that''s why they were sent to unseal this world to find the Hero... Wonderful. This is just wonderful... It''s been millennia since I''ve encountered beings like you, so please don''t disappoint me." He punched and sent TRX flying. The creature approached him again. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Trixxie!" someone exclaimed, in a squeaky little girl''s voice. It was Blocky. "Huh?" said the creature, also in a squeaky voice. "See, you could have answered me too, why didn''t you? Ah!" Blocky slipped into the water quickly, creating ice to... Well... Slide over it. She reached where the creature and TRX were and rescued her, quickly returning to the group, who were far away. "I don''t know how I did that..." said Blocky. "Wait, what?" "Are you... Talking? Ah!" said Roundy, startled, in a child''s voice, somewhat high-pitched. "W-what?" He got more scared because he was talking, and using unfamiliar words without realizing it, until he did. He got dizzy. Still, he went and healed TRX. "A-are you okay?" Roundy asked TRX. "...I think so," she answered, her voice was that of a child, and it was a little low. "This is very strange..." said Pointy, as he looked at the crystallized heart. Her voice was like a child''s, but it sounded serious and was somewhat grave as well. Suddenly, without warning, the creature rammed into the group. Blocky created about three ice ramps down which she, Roundy, and TRX slid to dodge the attack. They positioned themselves behind the creature, about 10 meters away. Pointy nimbly flew over the monster and smashed into the glass containing the heart. It made a crack. Pointy regenerated as fast as he could and fled quickly. "Agh... Wow." "How is it possible that they can hurt me so much?" thought the creature. "I thought they''d be strong, but this is..." Brief explanation of this: remember the creature that gave them the power to understand other beings and speak? Well, it also gave them the ability to damage formidable enemies by making the hits they deliver damage the enemy by a certain percentage, no matter how tough they are. The percentage is from 5% to 50% per hit or skill. This also applied to damage received. In other words... They were powerful, and yet not. Oh, and they didn''t know this. "Hmph... I got a little distracted, but now they won''t be able to hit me anymore." Fooosh (sound effect just because). The creature now appeared in front of the group, but... It raised water as well, which hit the group and, for some reason, it was hard. I mean... It was as if they had hit several rocks. At that, it reloaded its shot. Its eye started to glow and... Pointy shot into the water and exploded. That explosion generated steam, but... The creature shot into the water and generated even more steam. The place was full of it, and it was very hard to see. "I can still feel them... So... Where are they?" "Agh!" From behind, TRX, using an ice sword created by Blocky, and being powered by Roundy''s telekinesis, used the ability they used the other time to mine. Lightning struck the sword. TRX struck the crystal. The crystal shattered. TRX fainted. The creature flipped over. The crystal began to regenerate. "I shall not let you!" Pointy exclaimed. He shot itself straight for the uncovered heart. It was beating all ugly. It crashed. He exploded, and so did the heart. The creature roared loudly, and that sound was heard in the void. Everyone witnessed that massacre, terrified. Then, the creature slowly began to disappear. From nowhere, a blinding light flooded the place. Vol. 4 Day 2: Sky. TRX and the group were still floating in the water, but, for some reason, after defeating that creature, the surrounding darkness disappeared and the firmament could be seen... Well, outer space. "What happened?" These were the first words of TRX, who was very confused with the last events. "I was traumatized, that''s what happened?" answered Roundy, who had a frightened look on his face as he looked at the stars. "Is that all? Mmm... You''re right, before we couldn''t articulate any words and now we speak fluently in a language we don''t know... But it''s very convenient since we can express ourselves better, similar to the way they did it," replied Pointy, who was looking around. "But the question here is: what is this place and why is it so gloomy?" "And how do we breathe? I don''t see a tree," said Blocky. "''That''s pretty weird, isn''t it?" "Yes, but the thing is also: who was that monster?" said TRX, thoughtfully. "It said something about God is going to fall and stuff about a Hero, didn''t it? What did it mean?" While they were discussing those things, a cloud appeared out of nowhere. It was quite large and seemed to be approaching the group fast. Pointy noticed this and said: "Watch out, something is coming..." Everyone turned to look at the strange cloud. Blocky began to create an ice platform over the water. They all climbed onto it. Then she created a sword for TRX and a spear for herself. The strange cloud suddenly came down. On it stood a humanoid monster with rotting skin, which had a strange reddish color. Its eye sockets were empty, and it also seemed to be connected to the cloud by its spine. You could clearly see that it had serious wounds, but it felt no pain; it didn''t care about them. One of its arms had a sickle that was stained with blood, and the monster had a disturbing smile. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "So I finally have the honor of meeting you." These were the words of that monster, which began to approach at an enormous speed in order to cut someone in the group with its sickle, which it swung from one side to the other. Everyone dodged the monster''s attack. "Hmmm... It was to be expected, my speed is nothing compared to yours... You already defeated one of my companions, so I don''t have to hold back." As soon as he said that, a bunch of bone blades started shooting towards the group from his back. They couldn''t dodge them all, so TRX and the others had minor cuts that didn''t bleed. Roundy proceeded to approach the others to heal them one by one. TRX realized that this individual''s skin was much more delicate than the previous one, so she decided to use her super strike in combination with Blocky''s... But they needed Roundy''s help in order to be thrown to where the monster was, and Roundy was still healing himself. TRX and Blocky told Roundy what they planned to do, while they were doing this Pointy shot towards the monster, who was doing something weird with his fingers while... convulsing. Pointy thought he was helpless for doing that, so he went to blow up in its face. He did so, damaged it badly, and its cloud disappeared. The monster fell into the water and began to melt, making the most horrible noises. Everyone was frightened by this event. When it had practically submerged, out of nowhere a great mass of flesh rose up. It was that monster, still clinging to this world... TRX and Blocky tore it apart using their double super strike. The monster gave another terrible scream as it disappeared. After that, the water began to evaporate rapidly around it, and then all the water evaporated. The water level dropped and clouds began to appear. "Seriously, what are we doing and why is it that every time we defeat someone, more elements appear in this place?" wondered Pointy, who had just regenerated. Everyone was still in doubt; what had they been sent to this place for? What was this "Hero" thing? Vol. 4 Day 3: Sea and Land Blocky was maintaining the ice platform she had created so they could all rest there. After what had happened, they really deserved a long rest. "I want to go home..." said Roundy, who was about to cry. Blocky went to try to comfort him. As she did so, TRX began to think: "After defeating those two, this world began to take more shape. Now we can see the stars, and now there''s enough light to see better... But the order in which those things appear reminds me of something, but I don''t know what it is." While TRX was meditatively gazing up at the firmament, Pointy kept watch for any other strange creatures approaching them. After comforting Roundy, Blocky approached TRX and asked: "What are you doing?" "Nothing interesting... Just..." "Enemies!" Out of nowhere, another strange creature that seemed to be a plant began to emerge from the depths of the abyss... Well, it emerged from the depths of the water. That strange plant had many tentacles or vines, 8 insect-like legs on each side, several mouths with sharp teeth, and it had a giant flower with pink petals on top, and these... They had human faces that seemed to move. Oh, and it seemed to be five meters tall. "Another monster? No way..." said Blocky out of nowhere. "Shall we use super-strike again? It looks like it''s going to do a lot of damage," said TRX. "Let''s do it," replied Blocky, who had already started to create the ice weapons. The monster plant let out a high-pitched terrifying scream, which broke the ice the group was in. Everyone but Pointy fell back into the water. Instantly, Blocky created an ice platform again. And yes, TRX and the others did not use complex tactics to defeat their enemies; they just attacked them, waiting for something to happen. As Blocky created another platform, the flower of the monster plant began to spin strangely. "Watch out!" Pointy was the only thing he managed to say when he saw some kind of pink gas coming out of the flower. Everyone saw it and quickly dived, except for Pointy, who flew higher to wait for it to dissipate. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. That pink gas was poisonous. The quick reaction of TRX and the others saved them. After seeing that, TRX and the others realized they couldn''t attack it up close, so they decided to have Roundy use his telekinesis so they could attack it with ranged weapons that Blocky was going to create. Blocky began to create ice spears, and Roundy began to throw them. The creature was unfazed by these attacks. "What now?" Roundy asked, frightened. "I don''t know," Blocky replied. "What if we pool all our energy and release it as a beam of light to hurt it?" suggested Pointy. "But that''s very difficult to do; we have to be well-coordinated and think of exactly the same thing, and we only succeeded twice," answered TRX. "Besides, I always faint because of fatigue..." "That doesn''t matter; we have to do it again to defeat it!" shouted Blocky. The group moved away from that monster. It was a considerable distance, about two hundred meters. They swam about twenty meters until Blocky froze the water. The monster was getting closer to them, but it was very slow, so the group took the opportunity to try to use that strange ability. The four of them made a circle and began to concentrate. None of them knew the origin of their powers, but they didn''t care about it either; they just knew that they were very useful in different situations... And the situation they were in right now, as strange as it was, was one of life and death. Almost instantly, lightning struck the monster. That caused it very serious damage, but even so, it continued to chase the group... While it regenerated from within. It regenerated at such an impressive speed that it frightened everyone except TRX, who had passed out again. Roundy charged TRX with his powers and they continued to run away from the creature. Blocky was already very tired of using her powers, but she couldn''t stop, for if she did they were going to be slaughtered by the monster. After five minutes, TRX woke up. They began to plan another strategy while fleeing in order to defeat it. From far away, Pointy tried to see if it had any weak point (the same as he did with the first monster), but he didn''t find any. It was strange, very strange. They didn''t know what to do at that moment. Should they keep using the same combined attack until it was so damaged that it could no longer regenerate? That was the only thing they should do, but they could not do it since it consumed too much energy from the user. At that moment, Pointy realized something... He had forgotten a small detail about the monster: it regenerated from the inside. From the inside. FROM INSIDE. "Hey, I realized something," Pointy said to the group as they were fleeing. "What''s that?" the others replied. "That monster... Its regeneration starts from the inside," said Pointy. "I mean... You mean it has a core that we can destroy to defeat it, don''t you?" answered TRX. "Then... You have to make an opening for someone to enter through to destroy that core, don''t you?" said Roundy. "Exactly, but that would be only if it has some kind of core; if it doesn''t..." said Pointy. "We have to try; I''ll be the one to go in, because if we use our power, TRX will faint," said Blocky, and added, "Besides, if the tissues are too hard I''ll turn them into ice, break them, and use a long spear to pierce it." "Well, let''s do it then," said TRX. And so they did. Everything happened more or less as they planned. The monster tried to attack the "parasite" with its tentacles, but it could not. It also expelled its purple gas, but it didn''t harm Blocky, who was making her way through the guts of this creature. Finally, she reached something resembling a heart, which was made of a pink-colored stone; it glowed. Blocky then created an ice spear and attacked it, breaking it. Blocky, from inside, watched as the creature began to disintegrate into purple smoke. They had defeated the monster. While the group was trying to recover after the fight, something completely unexpected happened. TRX and the others were on an ice platform; they were staring into the void for a while until they realized that the ice was on land. The sea level had dropped rapidly. The group was surprised by this, and they were more surprised when various plants began to sprout from the dry land they were on. They could not get a good look at the plants, as it was too dark... But they were sure of one thing: they had just witnessed an unparalleled event. Vol. 4 Day 4: Stars TRX and the group were resting in the pastures that had appeared out of nowhere. "This is really strange, isn''t it?" said Pointy. "Yes, it is," Blocky replied. "Even though we can''t see well, you can tell that the landscape is looking just like back home," said TRX. Roundy didn''t say anything because he was sleeping. "Hey, don''t you want to go exploring?" said TRX. "We can light a torch to light our way." "All right," said the others in unison. Roundy had woken up. They went to explore the forest with a torch. At that, Pointy noticed something. "That coin... We were told we were supposed to protect it, but..." The coin emanated a very large, strange aura. "But I don''t think we should..." They walked for a while, observing the various landscapes, until they felt a presence following them. Suddenly, lightning struck in front of them, and from the lightning appeared, floating, the upper half of a knight''s armor (blue in color, it had symbols of stars and satellites on the shoulder pads) and carried a golden sword and a shield with strange symbols on it. He also wore a red torn cloak. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Again!?" Roundy shouted, frightened. "It can''t be!" exclaimed Pointy. The armor began to move erratically towards the group, destroying everything in its path. The group managed to dodge the attack, as the armor was not very fast. "Blocky, give me a spear!" said TRX. "Ok!" answered Blocky, while she created a naginata. Blocky handed the naginata to TRX, and TRX prepared to attack... "Huh? Where am I supposed to attack? This is empty armor!" "Just make its parts fall apart; that should do the trick!" shouted Pointy, who was nimbly dodging the enemy''s attacks. TRX charged at the armor. But it deflected the attack with its sword, surprisingly, and hit him with its shield, sending him flying a few meters and crashing into a tree. "TRX!" they all shouted. Blocky was a little enraged that they hit her friend and made a dome of ice around the armor, completely encasing it. They all went to look at TRX. "Hey... Are you all right?" said Roundy to the wounded TRX. "Let''s attack him with our power!" said TRX. You know what she means, don''t you? Since all the characters have lined eyes, imagine that their eyes make little dots and look at each other. "Oh, ok. Let''s do it," said Blocky. "Shes right... Let''s do it," said Roundy. "We would have done that to disintegrate it from the beginning," said Pointy, the characters'' eyes went back to lines. "And well... Since he''s locked up at the moment, let''s attack him, don''t you think?" "Yes," said the others in unison. And so they did. They used that strange power and... they defeated him. Just like that. It was a disappointing battle, to tell the truth, although it did manage to attack TRX. TRX, who was already injured, fainted after that. When the enemy was defeated, the armor fell into pieces and, from these, came out ghostly faces that rose up until they disappeared. There were many of them. After that, everything began to light up faintly. It was night; the stars had appeared, and so had the moon. It was a beautiful full moon. Thanks to the appearance of these, a beautiful landscape remained. Everyone except TRX admired the beauty of the place. There were mountains, meadows, forests, riverseverything. Roundy healed TRX and left her resting in the meadow where they were now. They were looking at the stars. For some reason, a mysterious and silent but beautiful melody could be heard. Everyone was happy, and they didn''t know why. Vol. 4 Day 5: Flight and swim. It was dawn. TRX and the others woke up. Green adorned the entire landscape, and the winds caressed the protagonists as they observed everything around them. They went to explore the surroundings, visiting a river that was close by. They bathed in its crystal-clear water, feeling refreshed. Afterward, they lay down in the sun to dry off and rest. "Hey... Does anyone know how many days we''ve been here?" Roundy asked. "It is impossible for us to know for certain, but I estimate three days," said Pointy. "I already want to go home... This place is very lonely... It scares me," said Roundy. "It scares us too, but we dont even know where we are," TRX replied. "...What do we do? We can''t do anything..." said Blocky. "Poor things..." said a hoarse voice in the distance. "Getting caught up in a conflict beyond their comprehension..." The group was startled after hearing the voice and immediately turned to see where it was coming from. It was about 20 meters away, approximately. It was someone whose face could not be seen because he was covered with a cloak. His cloak had several colors, to be more exact, it was blue and crimson red. It also had a kind of v-shaped accessory, it seemed to be made of gold. "It is truly sad... To be taken away from your home to fulfill a mission of which you don''t have the slightest idea... And to be forced to fulfill it... Although, to be honest, it''s the first time something like this has happened... And, for that reason, I will not allow you to continue advancing, it took us a long time to seal off this world." "What are you talking about?" said TRX. "Seal this... world?" said Roundy. "So you''re their ally too?" said Blocky. "Yes, the first monster said something about unsealing this world and something about a Hero?" said Pointy, looking sideways at that guy. "Tell us what the hero is!" "No. I won''t... I have a lot of things to tell you, but it''s impossible for me... I''m sorry... You must die." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He finished saying that, and it started to rain very hard. The powerful winds made it impossible for Pointy to keep flying, and he was swept away by them. While this was happening, that guy jumped in Blocky''s direction and attacked her with his right hand, from which a blade emerged. Blocky quickly protected herself with an ice barrier and made spikes come out of it, which pierced that guy... But what was on the spikes was only his cloak. He had disappeared. Everyone was looking at the cloak in surprise, and out of nowhere, that man, with his cloak and all, appeared behind Pointy, who was floating, and gave him an elbow that made him fall. "What?" shouted Blocky when she saw that. "Watch out!" shouted Roundy too when he saw the enemy''s movements. The caped man quickly approached TRX, running with his arms behind his back, and tried to stab TRX with his blade. But TRX was more agile and dodged it, stepping to the side of the blade and nimbly getting behind him to make him fall. "Blocky, now!" shouted TRX. "Huh?" Blocky, who was a few meters away, began to freeze the raindrops that fell on the guy. The drops turned into blades and, apparently, hurt the guy, who was not expecting this attack. From his body came a red liquid that the group had never seen before. "That was... surprising, I have to admit... But... Are you ready for this?" shouted the man. Still lying there, he clapped his hands once, and a tornado appeared in the distance. "Grand Tornado!" "W-What''s that?" asked Blocky. "It can''t be, that... Is that air?" said Pointy, who was being healed by Roundy. "Roundy, get away from me!" "...Okay!" Roundy moved about 25 meters away from Pointy. Pointy, seeing that Roundy was in a safe zone, shot down to the ground and exploded, making a deep hole. "Come on, quick!" shouted Pointy to the rest. They all went to the hole, which was about ten meters deep. "Blocky, cover the roof quickly!" said Pointy. "Okay!" Blocky did as she was told and covered the hole with ice. When the tornado passed over the ice, it began to break it. Blocky did her best to keep her defense from shattering, but she was getting tired. Roundy healed her during this time so Blocky wouldnt exhaust herself. The tornado then drifted into the surrounding areas, destroying everything in its path. Meanwhile, the man struggled to recover from his wounds. "I see what theyre trying to do... They are truly impressive creatures. Despite this being their first time seeing a tornado, they made a quick hypothesis of what it might do and planned something to defend themselves... Truly, they are amazing. Due to the divine wounds my body received, I won''t be able to survive Grand Tornado''s power... Heh, not bad though... To perish by these beings... Although, at the end of the day, this is all my fault, I shouldn''t have... I shouldn''t have..." That guy, after saying that, received a full-on attack from his own Grand Tornado, disintegrating from its power. After he perished, everything calmed down. The group stayed under the ice for a while until they realized that everything had settled. They began to hear birds singing. When they stepped out, everything was a ruined mess. It was a very depressing sight, but in the sky, they could see birds. The group was surprised by this too. They moved away from the battle site and went to a more peaceful place: a forest a few miles away. On the way, they passed by a river, which also ran through the forest, and found that there were many fish in it, of different colors and shapes. When they reached the forest, they also saw birds of all kinds and colors. "Seriously, this reminds me of something," said TRX. Vol. 4 Day 6: Purification of the World. The group was exploring this forest. The group, at that moment, realized that they hadn''t eaten in days... And they just got hungry, unbelievable. They decided to look for food in that forest. Fruits. They found some berries, and they all ate them. They may have been poisonous, but they did nothing to them, absolutely nothing. They continued walking through the forest, seeing different kinds of trees, among which there were pines, firs, larches, etc... Of course, our protagonists did not know that the trees had names. In the end, they ended up walking without a clear direction... In fact, they were lost. They decided to rest, sitting on a rock (except Pointy, obviously... The thing is, he doesn''t get tired of flying. Really, even if sometimes he says he does). In the distance, a human silhouette could be seen, walking away, the only difference being that it had horns. "Hey, that looks like an enemy, doesn''t it?" said Roundy, very nervous. "Is it an enemy? Tell me... I''m scared..." "It is!" said TRX. "Isn''t it?" "I don''t know, it looks like a strange animal," said Blocky. "Just like the animals we''ve been seeing." Pointy got a little closer to that creature, cautiously, then came back and said: "Now that I get a good look at it, yes, it is an enemy. Get ready!" The appearance of the enemy was most peculiar... Although, for what the group had already seen, it wasn''t that strange. It was a tall humanoid, approximately two and a half meters, with a stocky body, red in color, with large scars, like cuts, on its chest. It had two black horns. He wore baggy white pants and wore nothing on top. It had no face, instead, there was a large mouth with pointed teeth. His hands... They weren''t his, so to speak, they were sewn to his forearm and they were black hands, and his fingers looked like blades. It was a little bit scary. They all stood in a C-shaped formation... Something like that. The thing is, it looked like that creature hadn''t seen them and was getting farther and farther away. "Hey, come back here!" shouted Blocky. The monster seemed to have heard her; it burst out laughing and... He stuck his hand into a kind of portal. "What?" said Pointy. Out of nowhere, a portal appeared behind Blocky, and the monster''s hand came out of it to hurt Blocky, but Blocky was faster and did the same as the other time: she made an ice barrier, avoiding being hit. "You''re really agile... Let''s see if you can dodge this!" shouted the monster in a scary voice. The ground beneath the group began to rise sharply, and the monster started to approach at a frightening speed and... It rammed its horns into Roundy... Although it didn''t go through him, the hit he received damaged him quite a bit. "Interesting, you were able to resist this attack... You are indeed protected by a divine aura..." "What do you... mean by divine aura?" asked Roundy, who was slowly healing at the time. "This," said the monster and touched him with its claws, which began to evaporate at his touch. After doing so, it jumped back a few meters. "It''s unbelievable, little creatures like you, who don''t have the slightest idea of what you''re doing, are sweeping away the generals of the Infernal Army as if they were nothing? Damn it! I have to beat them, or else... Arghhhhhhhh!" The monster let out a scream that could be heard for miles. It started clutching its head, as if it felt a very sharp pain and also started approaching the group erratically. "I have to beat you!!!" The monster began to... levitate, yes. A red aura surrounded its body. It was looking up at the sky, apparently. There was a terrible earthquake. The earth opened up and swallowed everything in its path (just saying). The group was saved by Blocky (who else), who made a bridge of ice (for them to run over) that, every time the ground fell, moved forward so they had somewhere to stand. They did that for twenty minutes, planning what to do. Just like the time of the tornado, the landscape was ruined. That monster, which was still levitating, was expelling energy from its mouth. It could not contain all the energy that a higher entity had given it. "Is it going to kill itself or what''s wrong with it?" said Blocky. "Everything keeps destroying around him and he doesn''t even flinch, interesting," said Pointy. "So, do we use our power on him?" said TRX. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "...I say yes," said Roundy. "Okay," said Pointy. They charged the power that they used on some of their previous enemies and... They severely damaged that monster. His skin was charred, his stomach had split open and part of his guts, which were out, had been charred... But he was still there, floating menacingly. "What now?" Blocky asked almost instantly. "I don''t know... Huh?" said TRX. "What''s...?" "...Happening?" said Roundy, taking the opportunity to say something. "Agh!" Pointy exclaimed. The monster was regenerating, but, out of nowhere, it disappeared. Just as Pointy shouted, the monster appeared in front of the group, on the platform they were on. The monster''s appearance changed as it appeared. Its horns were now more pointed. Its teeth were sharper. Its hands had become swords and it now had six... Legs? Legs? It was hard to tell... Or maybe not, he had normal feet. It also had wings (which were HUGE and black) and a tail with a stinger. Ah, besides that, the color of its skin became more yellowish, that is... It gave it an orange hue. At that, the thing hit the ice they were standing on. It broke it and made them all fall. Blocky re-created ice underneath his friends (minus Pointy) so they wouldn''t fall and separated them so they could get away from the monster. The monster was falling for a few moments, but began to glide. After that event, TRX and Blocky, without a second thought, attacked it again with ice swords. For some reason, they were faster than the monster and attacked it crosswise. They opened his chest with their attacks. The instant they finished doing that, they quickly moved away. The creature, with its wounds, appeared to Pointy and hit him with its sword hand (yes, it didn''t cut him) and made him fall into the void. "Pointy!" they all exclaimed, and Blocky created a platform to save Pointy. The fall hurt him too. Roundy, with his ice platform, approached him and, without saying a single word, healed him, but not completely because the monster appeared near them, already without his wounds, and tried to cut them by making erratic movements, but he couldn''t hit them. Blocky, with her ice, made Pointy approach TRX because she realized he wanted to say something, but... She was moving him quickly from place to place because the creature was focusing on him more than the others, for some reason. Finally, it got close to TRX. "T-that coin emanates something weird, how about wearing it?" Pointy proposed to TRX. "Maybe it will help us in some way." "Okay, I''ll do it!" shouted TRX as she walked away from him. "I''ll wear it... Aghhhhhhh!" "TRX!" they all shouted. TRX, after putting on the coin, almost instantly began to feel a surge of... Something. She felt so much stronger and more capable than before, but... Out of nowhere, she started to feel a horrible pain all over her body. It was as if she couldn''t stand whatever she was getting from the medallion coin. "Get it off, quick!" Blocky exclaimed as she dodged the monster''s attacks. One of those blows hit near where she was standing and she fell down but another platform was instantly created. Also, from its mouth, it began to launch a kind of lightning bolt towards the group, but... They dodged it too and the lightning, when it came in contact with the ground, made everything explode. Everything was on fire on the ground. It was chaos all over the landscape at that moment. "Oh, wow..." said Blocky when she saw that. "I won''t take it off... I-It''s the only way we can win. I know we can... C-come on. Let''s use our power again..." "Aghh! I-I think I can use it again..." TRX told them, she didn''t want to scream because she thought it would hurt more. "But...!" claimed Pointy, who still didn''t understand what was wrong with TRX, he only knew she was suffering. "All right, let''s do it," said Blocky, who at that moment was too close to TRX to not shout. The creature moved away. "These creatures... They adapted to my new way of fighting and, besides, they are capable of resisting blows that would be able to destroy huge cities... And on top of that, they absorb the impact... That is... I have no chance of winning... I''m sorry, Sir... Even with your help I won''t be able to protect the seal... But..." "I''m going to deliver my last attack." TRX, with sword in hand, was accumulating energy, from her friends, on the tip of it while she... Suffered more. The creature rose to a great height. "Take this!" shouted the monster as it swooped towards them. A kind of dark aura formed around it, in the shape of a blade. "Aghhhh! Take this too!" exclaimed TRX and made a slash with her sword towards the monster. A beam of energy shot out towards him and... "Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The monster was split in half and its attack was nullified. Moreover, it began to disintegrate. At that, a light flooded the whole place. . .. ... Then, out of nowhere, Blocky said angrily: "These guys are so...! I don''t even know what to say, argh!" They all watched her. They were back on the ground. The place was not destroyed. "Huh? Well, it''s true, we didn''t try very hard to beat them..." said TRX. She wasn''t with the medallion coin. "And yet we beat them easily. Although this one... It was a bit difficult. My whole little body hurts... Ouch..." "I know, but... Still, I don''t understand," said Blocky, confused. "Right, it''s like..." said Roundy, while healing TRX, but he was interrupted by Pointy. "It''s as if something or someone has helped us or given us the conditions for our victories, that don''t feel natural. That''s what you were going to say wasn''t it, Roundy?" "I guess..." he said, and no, he wasn''t going to say that. During that conversation, the group saw a deer. "Hey, what''s that?" Blocky asked, excited. "Shall we follow it?" "Yes!" they all replied. The deer heard them, saw them and started to run away. "Hey, come back here!" shouted Blocky. The deer ran away. The group followed him. On their way, they were amazed by the different species of animals in the area: they saw a few foxes, weasels, a lynx, a bear, and so on. "Congratulations." A voice echoed through the forest. It was a very warm and comforting voice. "Congratulations on unsealing the world. Now all is well... The world where it all began can be saved, along with the entire universe." A man with brown hair and white robes was the one who said that. . .. ... The group went to an area with very few trees and, standing in the middle of practically nowhere, two men dressed in white and a not too hideous creature whose shape changed every instant appeared... The only thing that did not change were its six wings and its infinity of eyes... Besides the fact that it looked like a chair or a throne. "Hey, what are you doing here?" said one of the men in white robes to that aberration. "And why are you looking like that?" "I just came to observe you, nothing more," replied the aberration with a voice like thunder, and added, "And I wanted to impress the heroes, but they don''t seem to mind my presence. Oh, well." He was actually too lazy to change his form. "Phew... Well, it''s time to explain what happened," said one of the men in white robes. The chair or throne watched the group, it was strange, each eye focused on a different member. It was weird, it was strange, it was... I think you get the idea. Vol. 4 Day 7: Rest and explanation. Before the existence of time itself, there was nothing but an "egg". This "egg" contained the particles that would later form the atoms and what was derived from them. Everything was compressed in this "egg". No one knows how or why it "exploded", but it did. In reality it did not explode, but expanded. It was space itself. Those particles began to separate from each other. After some time had passed, due to the union of these, planets and what they contained began to appear. Stars appeared. Galaxies appeared. And that is how the universe, as we know it, appeared. - The first angel. The Earth, the planet on which we find ourselves, was created in six days. On the seventh, the Almighty "rested" and saw that everything he made was good. "Adam", "Lilith" and "Eve", the first humans, were also "created" on the sixth day. This whole creation process took eons, but to the Almighty it felt like a matter of days. From the Creation to the fall of the world a long time has passed. Eons. Each of the demons you defeated sealed the planet. There were six of them, and they materialized using corpses from humans from around the universe for staying in this realm and alter it without much consequence aside of weakening. Each one sealed a day of creation. Because of their defeat, the planet unsealed little by little. - The second angel. Earth, as the humans here call it, was one of the last worlds to be created, but it was the first to fall to the influence of the Evil One, well... One of the two. And because of this all Creation became corrupted... I shouldn''t say this, should I? Well, the thing is that you unsealed it, and it''s OK, so. - A guy with a red mask, with some kind of little tiny horns, golden armor that seemed to have some kind of coin of the same kind as the one TRX and the others had received and wearing a dark purple cloak said that... Talking about myself in third person is odd... I like it. ||||||| "Ah, so that is why you started with this story... " Eliah said to me. ||||||| Zoron, what are you doing here too? said the Throne. Huh? And why do you ask? For the same reason as you, he said, winking at him. Lets see, and what is my reason for being here? answered the Throne. Dont go on, please, we have people here... said one of the angels who was there, but Zoron ignored him and said, To gossip, then. Hahaha, laughed the Throne. Hey, and who are you? asked a confused TRX. And... Why are you two talking in that tone? Oh? Well, they are servants of the Almighty, said Zoron. And so... So am I, then. Sarandiel too, even though he looks like that. I see... TRX said. Sarandiel is the chair, what? Zoron started walking in circles around all of them, crossing his arms and making his face point towards the firmament, while closing his eyes. You are surely asking yourselves: what are we doing here and what do we have to do with all this unsealing of the world, do we have anything to do with it? You are right, what do we have to do with all this? said Pointy, who out of nowhere started to approach Zoron and follow him. Well... Maybe nothing and maybe a lot. What do you mean? asked Blocky. The angels began to cover their faces, looking embarrassed by Zorons carefree attitude. You see... You were only chosen to do the job of unsealing the world and helping the Hero of this world only because your world was one of the last to fall and, because of that, you were one of the purest beings in this universe... Also because you retrieved those crystals from your world and... Because you were chosen at random as well... Mmmm... Something like that, right, Jehoel? said Zoron, pointing at one of the men. Ah, and didnt you have other things to do? Yes, I do, he replied. But this is also important. Enough of the chatter, said one of the angels. Lets take them to a very important place. At that, everything that could be seen began to warp. Out of nowhere, everyone was in a completely different place. It was a kind of desert that had a big tree in the middle of it, a baobab. It reached all the way to the firmament, no... Beyond. This, my dear friends, is the tree of life. Thats what the humans called it, mostly, Zoron said. Zoron, said one of the men. What? he replied. Seeing how you are taking this situation, I think you are the most appropriate to explain everything to them, since you are better understood. We will withdraw, is that all right with you? Yes... All right, see you, said the other angel. The three angels left. The Throne stayed. Yeah, go on, go on, said the Throne. Good, Zoron said, closing his eyes and raising his shoulders, and added, addressing the group. Do you know what day it is today? I dont think so... Roundy said, shy as always and trying to process what he heard. That was the answer I wanted to hear! said Zoron, cheerfully, holding up a calendar with strange symbols on it. It was English, but the group didnt know it. Today is October 23, 1844, on the Gregorian calendar created by the humans of this world. Just yesterday the world was sealed. A group of humans managed to decipher the date of this event, but they gave it a completely different meaning, maybe not... The Earth was sealed for eons. Thanks to you, the world can now go on. None of the living beings of this world realized that? Its really true, I swear! They are going on with their lives as if nothing has happened, except for one person... If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Who? Pointy asked. A man named Martin K?hn, who was conscious during all that time and was under the influence of the Evil One... I saw him. His influence is more than just telling him the truth of everything that exists; he has influenced him in his thinking and is trying to seal this world again. And how would he do that? Blocky asked. Look. Zoron pointed to the tree of life. By making this new tree perish. That didnt look like a new tree; it was very old. Not everything is as you see it. This is not really a tree, Zoron said, without his cheerful tone. Its just a little sprout, but you are seeing it as the tree it will be in about 144 years. And what do we have to do with it? asked TRX, with a defiant look. Miss, please dont look at me like that... said Zoron, nervously, adjusting his armor. Well, your mission is to guide the Hero to protect this tree. The Hero is on this planet, but you have to find him and bring him back to this place. Ah! But the Hero, being a human, will not be able to enter this place just like that. You must search for the six elemental orbs, which increase the power of the one who possesses them, in order to summon the Great Serpent, the only being capable of entering this sacred ground, apart from us who... Well, here we are. Martin K?hn surely knows of the existence of the orbs and thus the serpent, so he will have already started looking for the orbs... Or maybe not. It is also quite possible that he will attack them while you are looking for them. But hey, by putting up a barrier using the Heros soul and a weapon called the Luminous Sword, you will save not only this world, but the universe as well. Now... where is the coin they were given? Here it is, TRX told him. Mmm... Well, now come closer to me, I told them. |||||||||| Why did you change to first person? Eliah asked me. Because I felt odd. |||||||||| No, you... Youre kind of scary, Roundy said to me. B-but why? We hardly know you, Blocky replied. B-but... Then why did you listen to the angel that appeared in your world? I asked. Because he seemed nice, why else? Blocky answered. B-but... ..., they didnt say anything. The group gathered to talk about something. We will listen to you, Pointy told me. She was only joking, although Roundy does get a little scared of you. ...I see. Well, come closer. This time the group did listen to me and, out of nowhere, the coin began to glow and... . .. ... yawn Uh... What? This was said by TRX when she woke up. After doing so, she was startled to see that she was in a completely different place than before. Describing the place, which I was also in, it had white walls, apparently made of metal, which had strange designs on them. It also had mixed designs from different cultures (the walls and the columns), which... For TRX and her friends, it was impossible to tell. At that, her friends woke up too. Wow, I can see...! said Blocky, but... What am I seeing? She was looking out of a window at planet Earth. There was a huge tree, for some reason. And yes, you could see it from there. The planet were on, I said. We are above the clouds. I didnt know how to explain it better. Unbelievable... Wait, but werent we told there was nothing beyond the sky? I feel cheated. ..., Pointy didnt say anything, though... He had already come to the conclusion that this was impossible after seeing the starry sky every night. Anyway... Well... Now, to what they came for, I said. Youre going to guide the Hero, but... Thats over a hundred years away. Years from here, this planet. ...What? they all said. So... Well, first of all, Im going to explain what this place is. Summing up everything I said, I told them that the place they were in was one of the Watchers Fortresses, which was in disuse because of a certain event called the sealing of the world. Ah, there was only one per world. I showed them how to use some things that were there and taught them some other things. I also told them more details of what they were supposed to do. Also... I told TRX something in private. It was about the Hero thing, and I told her not to tell the others. And... ok. Summarizing, I explained them everything they had to do, and everything they should know about the world we were in. It took me two weeks to explain all of that. After all that, so that they would not perish before guiding the Hero, I took them to the Rest Room, where there were several... Capsules? They looked like capsules, but I didn''t know if it was correct to call them that. I told them they could rest there until it was time, and they went in. Hey... This... I have a bad feeling about this, said Roundy. Nah, don''t worry about it, said Blocky. I don''t think he''s a bad guy; just look at the way he behaves and talks. ... I didn''t say anything for a second. Well... You''re going to wake up on October 24, 1987, okay? The Hero''s journey is supposed to start in 144 years, but, for some reason, I was told it''s that date... And I didn''t ask because I forgot. ... Well, I''m going to activate them now. I configured the capsules using the machine next to them and... I left them. In the end, I realized that I set them up wrong and they ended up waking up a month later than agreed... Oops. ||||| Anyway, heres a drawing of me. "H-huh?" Eliah. Vol. 5 Chapter 15: Homework. Now back to Mathias... |||||| But uncle, why? the girl asked me. The other story was better. I even got attached to those little animals. For her, TRX and the others are animals, apparently. Although... in a sense, they really are. This is a continuation of the other one, though not for now, just wait. Okay... |||||| Well... During her stay, Sam had to study at the high school in town. Her first week was normal and that... Also, she got a little closer to Mat and his friends. Well... It was a Monday; Sam was leaving school, and Mathias, for some reason, had been absent. Hey, do you guys know why Mat was absent? asked Sam. No, answered James, who at that moment had his hair a little longer than usual, but it was combed. No, absolutely not, said Erin. I see... Well, it''s kinda normal for him to skip classes... Although... This time he did so after quite some time, added Erin. He never tells us why, and neither does his mom. Ah, I see... Wait, you asked his mom about that and she didn''t say anything? James asked Erin. I did... And she won''t tell me! I see... said Sam, but was interrupted by her. Actually... she doesn''t know. She said, putting her hand behind her head and, closing her eyes, stuck her tongue out a little... I don''t know how to describe it better, I really don''t... Sorry. Meanwhile, somewhere else. Ahhh, a bald, elderly man had just finished drinking water. He was sitting on his bed. Thank you, young Mathias. You''re welcome, Mr. Crowell, Mat, who was sitting next to the bed, smiled back. Mr. Crowell, 85 years old, lived alone in a somewhat large wooden house. His wife had died a few months ago, and his children had not visited him for several years, although... Mat visited almost every day since his wife passed away. Whenever Mat visited, he would help him with some of the chores and keep him company. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Well, I''m leaving now, Mat said. Once at the door, he added, Oh, and if you need anything, just touch that button, and I''ll come right away. Be seeing you, Mr. Crowell said goodbye to him. But don''t neglect your studies. Ok, ok. That button had been created by Mat, thanks to his PSI Creations. It was invisible to everyone but these two. Mat left the house. Once outside, he decided to go home. On the way, he met his friends. Hi Mat! shouted Erin from a distance. She approached him quickly, tapped him on the shoulder, and hugged him, you know how. You don''t know how? Well... she got next to him and put her arm around his shoulder... Something like that... Where did you go that you skipped school? Ah, ah... Err... Yes, Mat, why did you skip classes? James asked. Sam didn''t say anything. You''re not... Oh, you''re not doing something wrong, are you? Erin said, somewhat teasingly. Err... I... Hmmm... If he doesn''t want to say it, then let him; don''t bother him! Sam said, in Mat''s "defense." Eh? all of them replied. ..., Sam remained silent. Okay... But don''t get mad, okay? Erin said. You didn''t have to take it to such an extreme either... Y-yeah, you scared me... said James. S-sorry... Sam mumbled. Well, I''m going home now; we have homework, and I don''t want to take too long. I''ll see you later. Bye! said the others. James left them quickly. Well, I''m going too, I think so, Erin said. It''s been a while since I''ve turned in homework, so... I don''t want to fail the course. Bye! She left quickly too. Ok... Mat said. Well... Sam hesitated. ... No way, I''m left alone with Mat! And now? No, no, no, no, no, no, no... Calm down... Yes. Now I am. Wait, why am I freaking out about that? Sam mused. Hey, so... there''s homework, right? Mat asked. They were still walking towards... I don''t know where. Yeah, yeah, it''s math, Sam replied, a little nervously. Could you show it to me? Yeah, I can! ...Now? Mat asked, confused when he saw her take her book out of her bag. Ah, s-sorry! Sam replied, hesitating. I... I don''t know what''s wrong with me today. ...It''s okay. Yeah, I... Well, um... Do you want to do your homework together? I''ll justify my absence; I''ll see how, he said, looking like he wanted to smile. Okay, but... where? Sam asked. At my house I can''t because... well. ? Mat replied. So... we''ll do it at my place, okay? Although my mom is not here, and my uncle is traveling... Yeah, it''s okay! Ok, ok. Well... Looks like we''ve arrived at yours, Mat said. In spite of everything, they did seem to have a fixed course... See you later! Ok! she smiled at him and went inside. ... ... ... Silly, silly, silly, silly! Samantha, who was lying on her bed, face down, sank her face into her pillow and insulted herself. Why did you agree to that without hesitation? Samantha was like that because she was afraid of acting strangely in front of Mathias. Meanwhile, Mat was alone in his house, thinking. Mr. Crowell... He''s already going to... Vol. 5 Extra Chapter: Home. (Mat and Sam go to Mat''s house, after meeting in the park, Sam has never been at Mat''s house). - Good afternoon! ...Is nobody there? - No. - said Mat, after sitting on the armchair in the living room. - ...What? - But I told you that my uncle is on a trip and my mother won''t be back until Monday because of her work. "Right, he did... Now what? I-I feel uncomfortable now that we''re... Completely..." - Alone... - Sam said nervously. - Huh? Did you say something? - No, I didn''t! - ...I see. - And-and what are we going to do? - ...We''re going to do homework together, or did you forget? - Ah, that''s right. (Homework? What if... No, no... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It''s not going to happen... I hope that... No! What am I thinking?) Well, let''s get started... - Ok, but... Why are you blushing? - No reason!!! - ? In the end they did their homework together and nothing interesting happened, apart from something... They were doing the homework and, at that, there was a problem that Sam couldn''t solve. She was thinking about that problem for a long time until... - Hey, Sam, that... - ? - It''s hard for you, isn''t it? - Mat said, and showed her the sheet of paper on which he was doing his homework, at least the draft of it. - I already did it! You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.- ...What? R-really? - Sam replied, surprised. - And your answer is in the alternatives... - See? - said Mat, looking proud. - I''m not very good at math, but thanks to what you taught me I was able to do it. Thanks! - Heh, you''re welcome... - But... So, why don''t you solve it yet? - It''s just that... I don''t really know. - Can I help you? - N-no thanks, I can do it myself. - Sam replied. - I see... But well, if you need help with anything, not just this, don''t hesitate to call me, okay? - ...Okay. She couldn''t do it, and when she asked Mat for help, she realized that it was easy... The next day Mat went to class and excused himself. Sam visited him from time to time, met Mat''s mother and his uncle. Oh, and, because of the last thing Mat said, Sam would occasionally ask him for help with various things, mostly things that required physical effort ( she only did this when her grandfather wasn''t around, and she didn''t call her brother on this because he was a wimp). And... And she would help him sometimes too, with crafts (Yes, Sam knew about that too, this because she started doing crafts when she was bored or had nothing to do besides being cooped up at home). Fin, end, whatever. Extra: Loneliness Date: September, 1983. It was night. Ten o''clock at night. It was a little cold. The park was empty. The lamps illuminated the area, but they only denoted loneliness, emptiness. On one of the benches, there was a young man who may have been in his 20s. The young man was crestfallen. He did not seem to be in good health. He looked sad too... Mathias, who was passing by, saw him. Mathias was returning home after buying some things he had forgotten when he went out shopping several hours ago. His mom scolded him for forgetting, but let''s ignore this. Let''s focus on the present. Mat saw him and felt a little sorry for him. He looked quite lonely and overwhelmed by something. For that reason, he went to sit on the same bench, in the other corner. At first, he hesitated to do so, but in the end, he did. Good evening, said Mat, smiling. The man looked at him and was a little annoyed. Hey, kid. Please, leave me alone... Ah... I can''t, he replied. You look quite lonely... And sad... That''s why I wanted to keep you company. My mom told me that if you feel sad, you should get some company, talk to someone. I understand, said the man. He no longer seemed upset, but... Kid, you see... I appreciate your kindness, but... I don''t think you should meddle with me. Huh? And why not? You see... the man said, hesitating whether he should say it. I... I have AIDS. That''s why you should stay away. I understand that it is not contagious by air or contact... Or at least, that''s what I read. So yeah, I can accompany you. He sat on the bench. I see... the man replied. You seem pretty smart. Not really. Haha, Mathias said, somewhat embarrassed. I read some things now and then... My grades are average at best, and I tend to be kind of dumb. Even my friends tell me that sometimes. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Ah, I see. Haha. But... you know? Mathias said to him, now serious. I think it''s pretty unfair that people treat you horribly just for having that... I''m sure you''ve been through a lot, but you shouldn''t have to do it alone... The man, hearing that, did not answer. He only sighed and looked up at the sky. Despite the illumination of the town, a few stars could be seen. The man seemed to be lost in thought. Out of nowhere, still looking up at the sky, he said to Mat: The doctors told me that this could be my last year. That''s why I decided to come here, to this town. I was born here; here is my family that I hadn''t seen for several years for... certain reasons. But... when I visited them, and then I told them that I had it, they... Ah, I''ll just say that they made me leave home. To be honest... I don''t even know what I went to see them for... That''s... horrible... To be rejected by your own family... But... at least you have your friends, right? Yes. I''m staying at the home of one of them. But... even she doesn''t want to get too close to me. I see... But at least I''m talking to someone, to you, the man said, smiling. Thank you, really. But... I still don''t think you should be anywhere near me... Everyone deserves to have someone to talk to, to feel appreciated, especially when things get really tough. That''s why I''m here, Mathias told him. Heh, I understand, the man said. You are a good person. I guess... Mat told him. After that, they started chatting about various things: telling each other anecdotes, what they liked, movies, and so on. All this brought a certain calmness to the man, as he was even laughing with Mat. At that, the man stood up. Well, it''s a little late now, he said and started to leave. So... I''ll see you. Take care of yourself. You too, sir, Mat told him. And you know, if you want to talk again another day, I''m always around. I will keep it in mind. Goodbye. And he left. Despite this, he never saw him again. It was as if he had disappeared. Although, regardless of whether he had left a mark on that man, he at least tried to lessen his burden, accompanying him and trying to understand him. Vol. 5 Chapter 16: Apparition. "So..." "Hmmm..." "There''s nothing I can do..." Mat was standing under a large tree in the backyard of Mr. Crowell''s house. He was talking to an all-white humanoid figure, wearing weathered white robes. Her face could not be seen. "Mrs. Crowell, what should I do?" Mat said, after resting his hand on the tree. Inside the house, Mr. Crowell was lying down and had a dark aura around him. Mathias, being a psychic, or something similar, and having more spiritual sensitivity than most people, could see strange things. Occasionally, he could see ghosts and interact with them, and while some were abominable creatures, they didn''t do anything to him (most of the time); rather, they seemed to be afraid of him. Another thing is that Mat couldn''t exorcise them either, but he could hurt them just by touching them, though not by touching them with his PSI Creations, and apparently, if he touched them with his left arm, he did severe damage to them. At this time, he was talking to the ghost of Mrs. Crowell. As I mentioned before, she passed away a few months ago. But... The day of the funeral. Mat was outside the village church, standing in front of the building (he didn''t have the courage to go inside). Two of the Crowell couple''s three children had come to visit their father, only because their mother had passed away. She had been in a coma for two weeks after having a stroke and, for some reason, slipped into a coma days after falling, in an accident. She had been hospitalized in the city, but... Well, she was being buried in the town where she lived. The Crowell couple were friends with Mat''s mother and uncle, and because of this, Mat was very fond of them and... Despite this, he didn''t deign to be at the funeral, since he had almost never spoken to Mrs. Crowell, and now... It was now impossible for him to do so. And so... Although it was his wife''s funeral, Mr. Crowell was not present. According to Mat, he did not attend because of grief. At that time, there were several people saying goodbye to her, including Mat''s mother, who seemed to be very saddened by the passing of her friend (besides the fact that she had been in a coma for two weeks). Despite witnessing this, Mat decided to leave. This may be very inconsiderate of him, but... Mat actually withdrew because he wanted to check on Mr. Crowell. . .. ... After arriving at the house, he stood for a moment in thought (he was literally still on the sidewalk, the house was a few feet away). He thought about what he was going to say to Mr. Crowell. About that... "Uh... Huh?" Mathias noticed a spectral figure on the porch of the house. "Uh... Who are you?" The figure turned to look at him. "Mhmmsmmmh..." these were strange sounds. "No... Seriously, who are you?" The figure made strange noises again. A couple of people walked by and saw Mathias talking to... nobody. They looked at him funny. "I... I..." "That voice... isn''t she?" And yes, it was her. The figure, after realizing that Mathias had discovered her identity, went to the backyard of the village, Mat following her, even though she had gone to visit Mr. Crowell. Once behind, she stood under the large tree behind the house. She stood there for a while, as if calling out to him. He came closer. "You know, you''re not the first ghost I''ve seen... And so..." said Mathias, who began to measure his words after realizing he sounded a bit abrupt. "D-do you have some resentment or something that you couldn''t do before... you know?" "I-I..." "..." Mat was waiting for her to say something. "I don''t know... I don''t know why I''m here right now either." "Gee, I don''t remember her talking like that." "I..." "You do?" "I just know that my death wasn''t from natural causes." "What?" Suddenly, Mrs. Crowell... Well, her ghost, pointed toward the house and said: "A dark energy was what made me fall ill. I could barely see it as I grew weaker... It was like a dark aura around my head... and by the time I wanted to tell my husband about it, I..." "I see... So that''s why that happened to you, and you were in a coma for two weeks?" Mat replied. "Wait, what?" "My husband is suffering from the same thing now." "What?" Mathias shouted and rushed to Mr. Crowell. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He entered through the front door, as it was closer to Mr. Crowell at the time. When the latter received him, he greeted him mournfully and made his way back to the rocking chair in which he had been sitting a few moments ago. As Mathias passed the room he was in, the door of which was open, he said to him: "Mr. Crowell, I''m going to use the kitchen. I''m going to make some tea, okay?" "Do that, please..." "Ok." When Mathias saw him, he tried to see if there was anything strange about him... But he didn''t succeed. When he reached the kitchen, Mrs. Crowell''s ghost appeared to him and asked: "Did you manage to see anything?" "Absolutely nothing," Mat replied instantly. "L-look at it again." "All right, but... after I''m done with this, okay?" "..." The ghost didn''t say anything back. "Ok..." After a while, he finished preparing the tea, but not before fixing some messy things in the house. He went to the room where Mr. Crowell was, and they tasted a cup of tea each, while... Mathias tried to comfort him. While that was going on, Mrs. Crowell''s ghost said to him. "Watch him carefully." Mat didn''t answer and started to observe him... and he noticed a dark aura around his heart. He chatted a while longer with the gentleman, then said goodbye to him and headed for the tree in his yard. "So... What should I do?" Mathias asked. "I... I don''t know." "I understand... When was the first time you felt sick?" "I... I... I don''t remember." "Then what am I going to do?" "I... I don''t want the same thing to happen to my husband. You know very well that we weren''t very close, but... I wouldn''t want his life to end like mine. He''s a good man, and you know it, so... Please..." "I... I... Well, I was the first person who could see you, so that''s why you''re asking for my help, isn''t it? Okay, maybe I''ll..." "It''s not like that... Since I saw you coming, I saw a golden aura around you, different from that of people. It seems that now... No, I''d better not..." "...What?" Despite that somewhat strange conversation, Mathias decided to do everything he could to save Mr. Crowell from what was happening to him. But... "So..." "Hmmm..." "There''s nothing I can do..." We came back to the present. "I''m sorry... Despite everything, I couldn''t figure out the cause of all this..." "It''s not like it''s your fault either..." "..." "Although... I did notice one thing. I don''t know if you noticed, but I lost part of my memories..." "You did?" "I''ve... I''ve... I never..." "Hey!" "AH!" he got really scared. The one who said "hey" was Erin. She had approached him unnoticed and startled him. "Hey, what''s wrong with you? You look like you''ve seen a ghost." Mat made a face at her like, "Are you serious?" "N-nothing. It''s just... what are you doing here?" "I came to see what you''ve been up to the last few days." "I see... So that means... you were spying on me?" "Call it what you want. So, what were you doing here? You haven''t told me yet." "Well... That''s..." "It doesn''t matter. The thing is that I came to take you to my house. There''s something that... I want you to taste," said Erin, who got a little nervous almost at the end. "Oh, right, but..." Mat told her, and added, "Wait, taste something? Don''t tell me that..." "Yeah, yeah... Let''s just go!" Erin said, and began to pull Mat''s left arm, looking straight ahead. "I know you''re going to like it... Ah... Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Erin had seen Mrs. Crowell''s ghost. After screaming, she let go of Mat''s left arm, and the ghost disappeared. Erin, frightened by what she had just seen, said to Mat: "Oi, w-what was that?!" "What was that? But there''s not..." "Don''t play dumb! That''s why you were here... weren''t you?!" "Well..." "I can''t see it now, and I couldn''t see it when I got here either, so..." Erin told him, and grabbed his hand, left, tightly. "Hey..." "...Now I can see it." "You''re... You are..." said the ghost to Erin. "I''m... I''m who?" asked Erin. "That voice... Is it?" "...You''re the rough and tumble girl who''s Mathias'' friend, or am I wrong? I do remember you, wow." "...Couldn''t you have described me better? Wait, you are?" Erin said, having recognized the voice, although from beyond the grave, it was similar. "That''s her," Mat replied, interrupting her. "Oh... I see..." Mat explained the whole situation to Erin. "Oh, I understand. But..." "Yes, um..." "..." "But the thing is, he''s alive, still," said Erin. "Don''t say it like that!" "Sorry... But that''s the thing, he''s alive. That''s why we still have time to do something for him... Although it''s not like he''s going to live too l..." "Don''t finish it, please," Mat interrupted her, and thought, "WE still?" "Sorry again..." Erin said, and again grabbed his arm to see the ghost. "And well, I''m going to help Mat see what we can do, what do you think?" "Okay, but..." said the ghost. "But... But what?" said Erin. "... " Mat looked at her strangely. Erin didn''t even respect the dead apparently. "I was about to tell Mathias something important, but you came along and I couldn''t do it, but I''ll do it now..." "O-okay, I''m sorry..." said Erin. "I... I think I have a grudge and that''s why I haven''t been able to leave this realm yet." "Is that it? Ouch, hey!" Erin said, getting a not-so-strong nudge from Mat. "I... I never thanked my husband for all he did for me and my children. He may not have been a great person, but he was as good as he could be, he went out of his way for us, but I... I was shy all my life and was never able to express my true feelings to anyone. I think that''s why I was not close with him or my children... I wish I had been different, but... It''s too late now." "It is. Gotcha!" Erin exclaimed, and braced herself for the nudge Mat was about to give her. "Hmph." "..." "Sorry again, I won''t do it again..." "... It''s okay," the ghost replied. They were silent for a few moments. "But anyway, I''m going to help Mr. Crowell, even if I don''t know him very well," Erin said, sounding motivated. "Me too, since I feel like this is something I should do (I don''t know why)," said Mat. "Besides, I do know him." "I really appreciate it, but... what exactly are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Crowell''s ghost. "It''s true... In these months I didn''t manage to find any clue, other than that this could be influence of another spirit (Which seems obvious)... But I think that was because I was trying to do everything alone, heh," said Mathias. "Ah, plus I also found some people who had those auras, and I tried to investigate them more, but I only found out things I already knew. Other than that, I didn''t find anything." The thing is that one of those times, Mathias had also found the creature that supposedly would have caused that, but... He lost sight of it easily. He didn''t manage to recognize it, even though it was like a sphere. "Maybe with some help I could try to save him, but..." He looked at Erin. "If the cause is a specter and not a simple ghost, only I will be able to do something about it... And those who can see ghosts too, I think... Besides... Ah!" Mat realized something, but... Before that, Mat knew about the existence of specters, but he didn''t understand how he knew that (this talking about when he was smaller, since, as an adult, he discovered that they did exist, in a way, after researching, although I don''t remember if I already mentioned this). "What''s up?" Erin said. "This... Wait! Let me get my words in order," said Mat. "Ok." "Well... Mmm... You see..." said Mat, hesitantly. "I think... Mrs. Crowell." "Yes?" "That happened to you days after you had an accident, right? So... As I recall, there have been many accidents, and some of them, the most current ones, those involved perished days or months later." "That''s true! But... That''s... What does it have to do with this? No, wait... This is very similar!" said Erin. "Exactly!" said Mat. "So... The thing about it being caused by a spirit? It definitely has to be that!" "It makes sense..." said Mrs. Crowell. "Yes, but now... what do we do?" Erin said, a little worried. She was still holding Mat''s hand, well... By the arm. "The only thing we can do now is to investigate further." "Yes... Now that I realize it, this... This escalated pretty quickly, don''t you think?" said Erin. Vol. 5 Chapter 17: Ghost. "Are you serious? You could do that?" "Yeah... Yeah, ugh..." Erin was complaining to Andrew, who... was responding timidly. They were in Andrew''s room on the second floor. Those present were Mathias, Erin, Andrew, and the ghost of Mrs. Crowell. Andrew was sitting on his bed; Erin, on the floor; Mat, in the chair at the table in front of the window. "Hey, Mat! How come Andrew knew you could see ghosts? Why didn''t you tell me? It''s not fair!" Erin said. She sounded like a child at the time. "You just never asked," Mat replied, smiling nervously. "That''s right..." replied Erin, and added, "And can you really see ghosts, Andrew?" "Well... yes, I think so," he answered shyly. Mat and Andrew would occasionally, when they were younger, go ghost "hunting" in some abandoned houses and in the cemetery. Andrew was a little scared to do that, but being with Mat... nothing happened to him practically, because he felt accompanied, calm. Ghosts were afraid of Mat, and it was clear to him, but he didn''t know why, although he thought it had something to do with the mark on his left hand. One of those times they had gone "hunting," in 1979, Andrew began to... so to speak, be disturbed by a ghost at night. It was like a humanoid shadow with red eyes, vertically long, that had its lower half torn, with its spine showing, bleeding. It also had horns. He didn''t tell his grandparents, but he did tell Mat. To deal with the situation, they had a sleepover; Erin was also invited. During the night, almost at two o''clock in the morning, the ghost appeared and... he was locked in by Mat with a PSI barrier. Erin didn''t realize what was happening, because she was fast asleep. Due to the pressure that Mat exerted, for some reason, on that ghost, the ghost agreed not to bother Andrew anymore and, moreover, after feeling that those children were not bad people, but that... because that was the first time they were dealing with something like this, he also decided to follow Andrew, in his shadow, just in case, to protect him from anything that could happen to him. He saved him twice. "So you can see her?" Erin pointed to her left, where there was nothing. "Errr... it''s to your right," Andrew replied. "Oh, really?" said Erin, and turning to her right, seeing no one, she said, "Sorry, sorry." "Don''t worry, young lady," said the ghost, but she didnt listen to him, for obvious reasons. "So, Mat, why do you think another spirit is doing this?" asked Andrew in a more serious tone. "Yes, Mat, how?" asked Erin. "You see... since almost all the ghosts I wanted to talk to were afraid of me, it was hard to get that little bit of information," said Mat. "And so... they told me this, which I think is important, but I don''t know anything else." What Mat told them was that it "could" be the work of a specter. Humans, and ghosts, are not capable of performing curses of this caliber, according to him, so that was the most likely scenario. Because of the power that curse had, it must have consumed some of the spiritual energy of the one who is using it and who must be in town. "Mat, what is spiritual energy?" asked Erin. "Yes, Mat, explain it to us," said Andrew. "I have no idea," Mat replied. He had heard it before, but he didnt know what it was, or where he had heard it. "...I understand," said Andrew, somewhat disappointed. "But..." "It''s in town, isnt it?" said Erin. "...This is a big town, but you had several months to do something, didnt you? And why not?" "I could only get that information, sadly." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds. At that, someone knocked on the door of the room. "Hey, what the hell are you talking about? What''s all this about spirits and specters and stuff?" A voice was heard outside the room; it was Samanthas voice. She seemed to have heard the whole conversation, since her room was next door. She hadnt been called because... I dont know why, because it was dangerous, maybe? Andrew went to open the door. "Well, you see..." Andrew said. "Wow, you guys talk really loud... Why are you here? We have homework due the day after tomorrow, in case you didnt know?" said Samantha, a bit angry and at that. "Err... w-why is Mat here?" "...Huh?" said Mathias, surprised. "Well, you see..." "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" "H-hey," said Andrew. Samantha had turned to look and saw the ghost. At that, Andrew and Samantha''s grandmother came upstairs because she heard her granddaughter''s scream. "Hey, youngsters," said the grandmother. "What''s all this fuss?" "Nothing, Grandma!" Andrew replied. "You see, you see... there''s a spider." Andrew pointed to where Mrs. Crowells ghost was. Samantha saw it and screamed again, for there was indeed a spider there. This excuse had been a blessing, so to speak, even if they could have said something else. "Hahahaha," laughed Grandma. "Sam, are you still afraid of spiders?" "Y-yes..." "Well, that''s okay. I''ll leave you to get on with your business," Grandma said and left. Everyone calmed down except Samantha, who was still scared of the ghost. Mathias took the spider out of the room with his PSI Creations. "H-hey, you dont-?" "Its Mrs. Crowell, although you dont know her," Erin replied, almost instantly. She was crossing her arms. "Yeah, well..." Andrew said, and thought, "Shes obviously going to believe what we say, since shes seeing her." "We were thinking about how to remove the curse from her husband, who is still alive." "Yes, yes, that," Mathias said, raising his index finger in a... I dont know how to describe it, in an affirmative way? "...What? B-but... what on earth are you talking about? This is..." "I know, Sam, believe me, this is really weird," Erin tried to say, but... "Wonderful!" "What?" they all said in unison, even Andrew''s shadow ghost. They all looked at her funny. "H-hey, sis," said Andrew, who seemed to be taken aback in a bad way by Sam''s expression. "Theres a person in danger, why that reaction?" "S-sorry..." "Its okay, Andrew," said Erin. "Shes just excited because this isnt a normal thing, isnt she, Sam?" Erin had become closer to Sam and, because of this, knew more about Sams likes and dislikes. As you may already know, Sam loved to read. Her favorite genres were fantasy and science fiction. "Y-yes..." she was embarrassed. "Dont be like that," Erin told her, stood up, and patted her on the back, which hurt a little. "Well, since youre here... you could help us." "Hey, dont just bring people into this out of the blue," said Andrew. "Besides, this is going to be dangerous, or at least I think its going to be." "Thats true," said Mat. "As it is, only Andrew and I can do anything if were attacked or something happens." "Andrew?" asked Erin. "Why can he too?" "Yes, Mat, why?" also asked Sam, who seemed more curious than Erin at the moment. "Because..." "Look," Andrew said out of nowhere, and a ghost came out of his shadow. "This is... a spirit that has been following me for years. It''s supposed to protect me." "Is it really?" Samantha said, excited and a little scared about it. "...What? That thing is... horrible," said Erin, who approached Mat again and grabbed his arm, which made Sam uncomfortable. "Is it really protecting you? It looks to me like it cursed you or something." "I cant curse," said the shadow ghost, in a squeaky voice, and went back into Andrew''s shadow. "You heard him," Mat said. "This... makes me want to participate more, you know?" said Sam. "Agh, I know," Andrew replied. "All right, come if you want to. If something happens to you, it''s not my fault." "Okay!" said Sam, excited, but realizing her enthusiasm was out of place. "...I''m sorry." "Well then... what do we do?" asked Erin. "Mat, you''re the leader, say something." "Ok, listen up." Mat began to explain the plan he had just come up with (but not before explaining in more detail to Sam what was happening). It involved going into town and looking for spirits, asking if anything strange had occurred after an accident involving a living person. Even if most spirits refused to cooperate, they would keep asking. Moreover, they would also inquire with living people, those who had a black flame on their bodies. Additionally, Mat explained that while he couldn''t exorcise spirits, he could harm them. He clarified the difference between exorcising and what he could do. According to him, exorcising was about freeing spirits from their ties to this world, while what he did was more akin to making them disappearkilling them, per se. He also explained the distinction between ghosts and specters, as he understood it. "Ghosts," he said, "are the souls of a single mortal and retain memories, though only partially. They can be seen by a few people, talk to the living, and use simple telekinesislike moving objects." "Specters," he continued, "are groups of souls. They don''t retain the memories or personalities of the individuals; they''re new beings. They can be seen by an even smaller number of people, and they dont communicate in a normal way. They are the poltergeists. They can curse." Mat divided them into two groups: one consisting of him and Erin, and the other of Sam and Andrew. He made this decision because Erin could only see ghosts when she held onto Mats left arm, and because Sam and Andrew, being siblings, both had high spiritual sensitivity. And so, the four of them set off to search for information. Mrs. Crowell returned home, to... accompany her husband. Vol. 5 Chapter 18: Search, Part 1 (With Sam and Andrew''s group.) They walked for a while through the streets of the town. During that time, they found absolutely nothing... apart from something strange that I''ll tell you about later. "Hey, Andrew," Sam asked. "Are you sure the conclusion Mat came to is right?" "I don''t know, but... it seems to be right, up to a point." "You''re referring to the relationship of curses and accidents, right?" "That''s exactly right." "So... well, but we still haven''t found anything..." "Right..." They kept walking until they came to a corner where there was a traffic light and also a phone booth. They stood there for a moment, thinking about what they were going to do. There were several people walking around at that hour, and a moderate amount of cars was passing by (it was six o''clock). "Hey, Andrew." "Yes?" "...(And the shadow chasing you... doesn''t he know where we could look?)" said Sam in a low voice. Yes, quiet voice is in parentheses in case you didn''t notice. Well, Sam spoke that way so no one would hear her, so they wouldn''t look at her in an unpleasant way. "(Well... no.)" "Why?" "...(He hasn''t been separated from me for years, I''m afraid of that, but it''s true,)" Andrew answered her. "...(I understand.)" This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. While they were talking, a boy with brown hair, dressed in a white polo shirt with long sleeves and blue shorts, was playing near the street with a ball. Sam noticed this and approached the boy, saying: "Hey, it''s not okay to play with the ball near the cars, it''s dangerous and you can get hurt. Could you go play somewhere else, pretty please?" she said in a voice that felt warm... yes, something like that. "Ok, Miss," the boy replied and walked away from the street. Sam returned to Andrew. "Whew... these kids..." said Sam. She seemed to be... tired? "You were scared and embarrassed to talk to that kid, weren''t you?" "Of course not!" Sam shouted. "Well... I believe you," he said in a mocking tone. "Hey! Hmph," Sam crossed her arms. At that moment, the boy went back to playing with his ball near the edge of the sidewalk. As he bounced it on the ground, it rolled out into the street. The boy chased after it. Sam didnt notice this time. The people walking by didn''t notice either because they were minding their own business, but Andrew did. The boy, already on the street, started to approach the ball, but... "Hey, watch out!" shouted Andrew as he ran toward the boy, who was about to be hit by a car. Andrew had reacted a little late. At that moment, there were no cars in the other lane, although the closest one was about fifty feet away. "!" "What the heck am I doing?" Before the car could hit the boy, Andrew jumped up, propelled by the shadow, and reached the boy, pushing him out of the way. . .. ... The car hit Andrew. The man driving the car got out and approached him. People around were watching what had happened. "H-hey, are you okay?" the man said, scared. Then... he just got hit by a car, how can he be okay? Well, he might be. "It''s just that they came out of nowhere and..." "Yes, yes, I''m fine!" said Andrew, his body bruised and his head bleeding. It wasn''t great, but still... "But... is the boy all right?" "He is!" said Sam, who was with the boy, who only had a small scrape. A lady who had been watching called an ambulance from the phone booth. "Young lady, I just called an ambulance." "Thank you, ma''am," Sam said, addressing the lady, who was standing on the corner, about ten meters away. After a while, the ambulance arrived. They inspected Andrew and the boy, confirmed the boy was fine, but took Andrew away to help him. Sam went to the phone booth and told her grandparents what happened to Andrew and that she was going to stay with the boy until his mother returned. As it was, she stayed there with the boy. His mother didnt show up, so she decided to walk him home, which was somewhat nearby. As they walked, Sam noticed that the boy had some kind of dark aura, like black flames, on his chest. "What?" Sam wondered, after getting a good look. She was frightened. "But... how did this happen?" "Miss?" the boy asked. "Ah, nothing, nothing," Sam answered, quickly returning to a calm face, though she was nervous about being with someone she didnt know and worried about what she had just seen. Vol. 5 Extra Chapter: Death surprises us. Andrew and Sam were looking for some clue to... you know what for, I wont repeat it. While they were searching, they passed near the forest. At that moment, a man came up to one of them and tapped him on the shoulder, saying: "G-good morning... could you help me?" "W-what do you need...?" replied one of our protagonists, in other words, Samantha. "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" "Hey, Sam, what happen- Ahhhhhhhh!" Andrew was also startled. The man who approached them... he was... err... he was dead, okay? It was a ghost, whose face was disfigured and his abdomen was mangled, bleeding, but the blood disappeared as it fell to the floor. "W-what''s wrong? I-Ive got something?" the man said, frightened. "Its..." Sam realized something. "...nothing." "Huh?" Andrew also realized something. "...No, sorry." "Okay, well... I just got to this town. I was going with my hiking partners in the woods, but we got separated and got lost. A lot of things happened, so... Id like directions, its the first time Ive been here," said the man. "Well... wait, why are you looking at me like that? Dont tell me that..." "You gave up the ghost!" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Hey, shut up!" Andrew shouted at the shadow ghost and pushed him... pushed him. Sam laughed a little but... she was a little scared too. "...So I really am... Hahahaha!" "?," Andrew and Sam looked confused. "Im sorry, its just... no wonder no one paid any attention to me when I approached them. So my injuries were serious..." The man told them something else. While he and his friends were in the forest, a bear suddenly appeared and attacked them. This caused the group to separate, and he was left alone, being the only one chased by the bear. In a moment of carelessness while fleeing, the bear attacked him and severely damaged him, but he managed to escape, barely. After that, he wandered aimlessly through the forest until he arrived near a river, where he drank water to survive and... slept there. When he woke up, he continued searching for a sign of civilization and arrived at the village, where everyone ignored him until he met Andrew and Sam. But... he had already died when he arrived, having bled to death in his sleep because, due to adrenaline, he felt no pain, even though his wounds were very serious. "I see..." said Sam. "That was... really horrible." "Yeah, it was," said the ghost. "But... I think my friends are okay now." "They must be," said Andrew. "But with the information you gave us, we cant tell the police the location of your body." "Thats true," said Sam, thoughtfully. "Well, it doesnt matter," said the ghost. "Just knowing that theyre okay makes me feel like Im ready to go." And he began to rise, slowly fading away. "Hey, hey! Are you really leaving already?" Andrew said. Sam looked at the scene in surprise. "Yes, I have nothing left to do in this world. And meeting you guys made me realize what my destiny was, so Im grateful to you and... I dont have time anymore, so... goodbye." He disappeared completely. "...He didnt want to know why we could see him, and we didnt know why they were in the forest," Sam said. "This..." "Yeah, it was weird," said Andrew. "Exactly!" "...Well, lets go." "Okay." Vol. 5 Chapter 19: Search, Part 2. From Mathias and Erins perspective. Mathias and Erin were walking around, also looking for any clues or even anything related to the ghost, spirit, specter or whatever it was that was causing such things. They had asked people, randomly, if they had seen someone who had an accident or something like that, which didn''t help much. As they walked, they saw two people with black flames on different parts of their bodies, which worried them. They tried to investigate more about it, but... The people who had that did not want to talk to them. They continued on their way until... Here is the text with dialogue quotes properly added, following an English novel style: "Hey, Mat." "Yeah?" "I know it''s weird to ask now. But the thing is, why did you come to that conclusion?" Erin asked. "Huh? Well... I already explained it to you," Mat replied. "No, I mean... From the beginning, how did you know about ghosts? You never told me about it, even though I''m your friend. I only found out about it a little while ago..." Erin said, and she emphasized "friend." "Oh, that," said Mat. "But your question had nothing to do with it!" He paused. "Well... Sorry. Actually, at first I went with Andrew because I didn''t think you''d be interested and because I thought you weren''t going to be able to see them. But then after Andrew..." "The shadow ghost thing, right?" "Exactly. That''s why I realized that involving you in this was going to be dangerous for you. Fortunately, something unpleasant didn''t happen back then. Besides... I also tried to find out why ghosts and other spirits are afraid of me, about the mark on my hand, which only you know about." That was true. The mark was not very noticeable, and besides, always wearing shirts with long sleeves covered it. Although... He didn''t mention that some ghosts were not afraid of him, and they faced him, but lost. "...Because of all this, I thought I was the one who should protect you." "...What?" "Rather, that I was going to be the only person capable of dealing with those things," Mat said, a little more seriously. "I see..." Erin replied. "But... There are a lot of people involved now," said Mat. "I really don''t know what exactly is going on. I needed some help, as I couldn''t make much progress on my own." That was because of the way he was doing it: he didn''t interact with people and only investigated the spirits. "But you understood a little more when I found you, didn''t you?" Erin said, smiling. "A little bit. I was thinking about it, but I understood it a little more, thanks to you," Mat told her. Erin blushed a little at that. "And another thing, explaining that to the others was a bit complicated... I couldn''t find the words to explain it well." "I understand," Erin said, and realizing that the conversation was going somewhere else, she continued, "Well, let''s go on." "Ok." They continued on their way. . .. ... At that moment... "Hey, Mat," said Erin. "That''s..." "It''s a fire!" Near where they were, around the corner, there was a house fire. The house was a two-story house (it had a pool, but that wasn''t noticeable from where they were, anyway), and it looked like the fire was somewhat advanced. There were people around. Mat and Erin had heard something that sounded like an explosion, close to where they were, and decided to get closer to where the sound was coming from. They went there. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "At what time are the firemen arriving?" one man complained. "Oh, dear God!" cried a lady. Erin approached Mat, frightened. "Hey, Mat... That''s... That''s Nicole''s house." "What? Really?" Mat said. He didn''t know Nicole very well, though... Well, she was almost always with Andrew, but they didn''t talk very often. "Nobody''s left the house yet!" a lady shouted. "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are at work... So... It can''t be!" shouted a man. "Mat, Nicole''s sisters hardly ever leave the house... Do they...? No..." "The firemen have not arrived yet, and there may be people inside... Shall I go or not?" "I have to go!" "But Mat, the firemen will be here soon!" "But what if they''re late?!? I''m the only one who can help." "Then I''ll help too!" said Erin. "No... Alright, let''s go!" Mat told her, who accepted, since he could also cover her with a PSI barrier so that the fire wouldn''t damage her... or at least reduce the damage. They both went near the burning house. "Hey, what are those two doing?" "Somebody stop them!" They went inside, ignoring the people outside. Inside, flames flooded the place, consuming everything in their path. The cause of the fire was not yet known, but... It seemed that it was a short circuit and that the fire caused the gas ball, which was in the kitchen, to explode. "Let''s see... Let''s go upstairs, quick!" said Erin. "There are the rooms of those two." "Come on, let''s go!" Mat replied. There was a place where the flames flooded everything. They saw a hole in the ceiling, so they both assumed that this place was the kitchen and that the cylinder gas exploded there, but... "Did it do that much damage?" said Erin. "That doesn''t matter. Let''s keep going!" Mat said. Erin nodded her head. They both reached the stairs with some difficulty, due to the flames that were already about to break through the barrier... Of Erin, due to the way she was making her way through the house. On the second floor was a long hallway, with several rooms and an open window at the end. The part above the kitchen was on fire and... That was the room of one of the girls. The door was covered in flames, and there was a crying noise, although... Well, not much could be heard. Why did the fire advance so fast? thought Mat. "Let''s go in!" Mat said, and together with Erin, they reached the door. The blazing flames burned them both a little. Already at the door, Erin tried to open it, but she couldn''t. She started to struggle with it. She started to struggle with it and nothing. "Agh!" Erin, for the burn. "Let me do it." Mat kept trying to open the door. He couldn''t. "But why won''t it open?!" Mat shouted. "Break it down with your powers, quick!" said Erin. "Right!" and he used his PSI powers to push the door open with a... PSI wall? The door flew off on impact, crashing into the wall. Inside, flames had consumed almost everything, and in one corner stood a silhouette. It was a girl covering someone with her body. It was Emily. She was badly burned. "There they are!" Erin exclaimed. Mat and Erin quickly approached them, carried them (Mat covered them with his barrier), and left the burning room. Reina was being carried by Erin and Emily by Mat. The youngest was crying. In the hallway, when they were already going down, Mat turned to look at the flames, which were getting fiercer and fiercer. But something caught his attention; he saw in the window a... A multicolored ball that had many human faces and other mutilated limbs, emitting strange sounds from beyond the grave. It deformed from time to time. This one went out of the window, through part of the wall as well. Mat felt a kind of pressure when he saw this creature but, in spite of that, he threw a PSI rope at it, which was almost invisible, in order to follow it. This rope went through walls because its materialization was very weak. After searching for you alone for so long, only when I search for you in a group do you appear? It''s unbelievable, but it doesn''t matter, I got you. They left the burning house, just as the firemen arrived. Outside were Nicole''s parents, her, and others. Her parents were very scared. Just then Mat and Erin came out carrying the two sisters. Everyone looked at them in surprise. Mat and Erin left the two with the paramedics. Mat and Erin were praised for their bravery, but the firefighters gave them a good scolding because of their irresponsible actions. Well... The paramedics rushed the older of the two sisters due to her severe burns. Nicole, who arrived later, was in tears after seeing her sister in that condition. The younger one had only minor burns on her right arm and leg, so she was not taken to the hospital; she stayed there. Nicole''s mother went to the hospital as well. Only her father, Nicole, and her sister were left there. Nicole''s father thanked them for what they did, but also reprimanded them... Although... He was still worried. As he reprimanded them, Nicole tried to reassure her sister. Mat turned to look at them for a moment, and... "It can''t be..." There was a flame on each of the girl''s burned limbs. That means... The other one is like that too. Those were Mat''s thoughts after witnessing that. Vol. 6 Chapter 20: The Place After what happened, a day passed. Andrew, already at home, was recovering from what happened the day before, although... He was already fine (his grandparents scolded him a bit for acting without thinking). Sam was also at home, worried. The day before, Sam had returned the boy to his parents and, after that, she met with Mat, who told her everything that had happened with them. She did the same, telling him what she and Andrew had witnessed... As well as telling him about what happened to Andrew (who was not cursed). After that they decided to follow the specter, the next day, with Mat''s rope, who was very tired from keeping it active for too long. And so... It was 10 o''clock in the morning. "Hey, Andrew, aren''t you going out?" said Samantha, who was knocking on the door of the aforementioned person''s room. "I don''t want to," Andrew answered from his room. "I already did too much yesterday, and now I don''t want to. Besides, I was hit by a car." "I-I understand, but..." said Samantha. "This... This isn''t over yet... And we need your help. Let''s go see Mat... Moreover, Nicole is suffering because of that specter! Please... Help us." "Hey, kiddo, do it," said the shadow ghost. "You''re fine now. Also, Nicole is sad... Wasn''t she your ''friend''? (Although I want to see the specter too... I''m curious)." "Besides, I don''t think that young man has ever seen a specter in his life," thought the ghost. "Yeah, yeah, okay..." Andrew said and got out of his bed. "I don''t like to see Nicole like this... But I don''t like to get involved in things like this either." "I understand," replied the shadow. "But..." "You know what? Come on now. Sam, I''ll be right out!" He walked up to her door and opened it. Sam was there, dressed in a white blouse and jeans. "So... Shall we go?" Sam said to him. . .. ... "Hey, Mat, we''re here," Andrew said. "Hi, Mat!" exclaimed Sam. Erin looked at her funny, and Sam... She was a little confused by that. "Hi," was all Erin said. Mat and Erin were in the park, waiting. Andrew and Sam were a bit far away from them. Mat was still with the PSI rope on his finger. "Ok... Well then..." Mat said to them. He had a very serious look in those moments. "Shall we go now?" "Ok," said Erin. "Let''s go!" said Sam. "..." Andrew said nothing. The five of them, including the shadow, which materialized then, started following Mat''s PSI rope. "I didn''t feel it take off, so I think we''re going to meet the specter," Mat said. After a long while of walking through the town, they reached the forest. "Are you serious?" complained Erin. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "The rope goes all the way down..." said Mat. "Wow..." said Sam. "Hey, Mat," said Andrew. "Yeah?" "We never go into the woods much, so I guess we... Well, nothing." "Say it," Sam said, sulking. "I just... I don''t know what''s gonna be in there," said Andrew. "To say that, you shouldn''t have said anything in the first place," said Erin. Andrew wanted to complain, but did not. "We have to plan a strategy to attack him... And I think I came up with something." "Let''s see," said Mat. "Listen," said Erin. She went in a lot of roundabouts with what she wanted to say, but... Practically what she said was that they should seize the creature with ropes after finding it, unsuspecting. After that, beat it until he ceases to exist and only ectoplasm remains, she said. "Hey, Erin, are you listening to yourself? That''s not going to work..." Andrew told her. Erin turned to where Andrew was, closing her eyes and smiling. "Uh... Ah!" Erin was approaching him, intending to do things to him... You know, hit him. "Ah, Mat, help me!" exclaimed Andrew as he hid behind Mat. Mat stood in such a way that it looked like he was defending him. Sam looked at all this in amazement. "Hey, Mat. If you don''t get out of the way, we''re not friends anymore and I''m going to beat you up." "...Andrew, face the consequences of your actions," he broke away from Andrew. "That''s the way I like it," Erin told him as Mat walked away. "H-hey! Ah!" shouted Andrew. Erin was getting ready to hit him, then he said, "Sam, help me! Huh?" Sam looked at him pityingly, with a smile... Something like that. ... In the end, Erin did hit Andrew. Similar situations had happened before, but not in front of Samantha, so... This was something new for her. After that, they went deeper into the forest. They walked following the PSI rope for over an hour. As they were walking, Sam suddenly said: "I... I never believed in ghosts, at least not in this way... But now... I don''t know what to really think about this. I''m confused." "Me neither," said Erin. She didn''t say anything else. "Well... I always thought that they were... Mmm... I-I don''t want to say that word," said Sam. "Demons?" said Andrew. He was all beat up, but he still kept going. "T-that''s how they taught us in church, right?" "Yes..." Sam replied, sorry to see her brother like that, but... She kept talking anyway. "The pastor said that." "But they are not," Mat told them. "H-how do you know?" asked Samantha. "Did you sense an aura of hostility when you were near them?" Mat replied, speaking of the lady and the ghost they encountered. "No, didn''t you?" The human will is powerful. "No, but..." "The what?" referring to the aura. "Besides, you''re helping Mrs. Crowell, who is a ghost," Mat told her. "Or am I wrong?" "N-no..." Mat realized something. "I''m s-sorry for sounding so rude..." "It''s okay, but it''s just... I still feel weird about all this." "I understand," Mat told her. "And well, all the ghosts I met were real people." "Unless they''ve been able to camouflage their... Essence, right, Mat?" said Andrew. "Exactly, although that wouldn''t be the case here," Mat said, referring to Mrs. Crowell and the ghost following Andrew. "Besides, Mrs. Crowell genuinely wants those ugly things not to happen. She''s not hiding any intentions behind it." "Still, it''s as if they, the ghosts, weren''t... Really them. They don''t feel complete, so to speak, but I think that''s because they don''t have bodies," Mat thought. "Should I tell them? No, better not." Erin came up to Sam and said, in a low voice, close to her ear: "Mat knows about these things, he knows when a person has a bad intention." "Oh, I see..." Mat knew about those things, but... He didn''t know why he knew about it. ...I don''t know if I mentioned that already, but it doesn''t matter. Mat then said: "Well, let''s go." "It looks like I missed my chance to say that I''m not a spirit... But hey, whatever," thought the... I don''t even know what it is anymore. That shadow monster, I think. Finally, they arrived at a large abandoned house. "I-it''s here?" said Sam, a little frightened. "It looks like it," Mat said. "Well, well, so we''ll see the specter now?" said the phantom shadow. "Let''s go in," said Mat. "No, wait... Are you sure you want to go in? This is going to be something..." "Really sure!!!" Erin exclaimed, and startled Andrew a little. "...I guess so," said Sam. "I obviously have to go," said the ghost who isn''t a ghost. "...I don''t want to go," said Andrew to the ghost. "Oof... I don''t have any other choice, do I? Let''s go then..." "...All right, but... Keep in mind that if something happens I might not be able to protect you," Mat said. "Yes, I do keep that in mind," said Erin. "Besides, you guys aren''t going to be able to do anything, so..." "It''s all the same," said Erin. Sam didn''t say anything. "I don''t think something like thaaaaat is gonna happen... So, let''s go inside." "Yeah," said Mat. And they all went into that abandoned building, but not before Mat made a PSI lamp, because it was dark. It really worked, unbelievably. Vol. 6 Chapter 21: Specter Inside the house everything was destroyed. From the furniture to the walls, everything was in chaos. It seemed as if no one had lived in that house for decades. In that place, despite all the darkness, you could notice that on the floor there was some kind of strange symbol that seemed to be ancient. Nobody paid attention to it because it was not very noticeable. "This place is really gloomy..." said Erin. The group was somewhat separated at that moment. "It really is..." said Andrew. "How many times am I going to tell you?" replied Erin. "Stop restating things I''ve already said!" "But if I don''t, I''m going to be quiet all the time! And I don''t like that..." Andrew replied. "Shhh..." Mat made that sound, to shut them up. "(There... There seems to be something, I feel hostility... I think.) Ah, Sam!" Mat noticed something rapidly approaching in her direction. Mat quickly approached her and pushed her. What was approaching was some kind of... gunshot. They were both lying on the floor, with the lamp a few feet away from the group, and that shot was next to Mat''s feet. It had gone through the floor. "What was that?" Erin exclaimed, frightened. "Watch out!" exclaimed the shadow ghost that isn''t a ghost. Everyone turned to look at that aberrant ball that had several mutilated faces and limbs around it. Also, upon closer inspection, it seemed to have several eyes and mouths as well. "Th-that''s not a... What is that thing?" thought the shadow ghost that isn''t a ghost... I don''t have what to call it anything else, since I don''t know what it is. Well, actually I do know, but I''m not going to tell you. After seeing them, it started muttering unintelligible words and... It didn''t do anything else, it just floated right there. Mat got up, and helped Samantha up. They returned to their previous locations. "Aren''t you going to do anything?" Mat said. "I don''t know..." said Sam. "Do something, hurry up!" said Erin, who was next to Andrew, and pushed him forward. "Hey." "Don''t worry, I''ll attack it!" the ghost who isn''t a ghost said, but was interrupted by... "Take cover!" That ball wasn''t just standing there doing nothing, it seemed to have gathered energy to attack a second time. What it was shooting out was some kind of dark flames, just like that of its victims. This made Mat already sure that it was the culprit. And so... After that, it started flying erratically around the place, smashing the things it collided with and... melting some (it touched the ceiling sometimes). Mat covered everyone with a light blue PSI barrier. "It stopped!" Erin shouted, after a few moments. That ball went back to where it was. "Well, in that case..." said Mat. "H-hey..." "Here!" Erin exclaimed. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She had thrown it a large piece of wood she found nearby. The creature didn''t flinch. Erin then said: "I-It doesn''t do anything to it... It was useless..." "Well obviously not, didn''t you see how it melted things?" Mathias said. "Well yes, but... What if I throw things created with your powers at it?" asked Erin. "In that case, it would be better if I did it," replied Mat. "Right, right," replied Erin. "Then..." he said, and added, this time addressing the specter, "Hey! You''re the one causing all that trouble down there in town, aren''t you? Why are you doing it? Say it!" The sphere or ball didn''t answer him. "Answer me!" It still didn''t answer. "Hey, Mat..." Sam said to him. "I don''t think it can... answer." "It looks like... Watch out!" the shadow shouted again. The ball fired several beams of energy at the group. Mat protected them by reinforcing his PSI barrier after putting another one in front of it, it was green. "Damn, really, I can''t talk to it?" Mat said. "Mat, attack it! You too, Andrew." "Huh, me?" "With that shadow, quick!" "Ok!" Andrew replied. The shadow shot out towards the sphere and, from its hands, shot a fireball, which the sphere dodged as it flew erratically again. The shadow quickly approached the sphere again to attack it with its hands, which grew claws, but had no luck. It kept trying to attack, but was missing. At that, it also received a blow but... Only a metallic sound was heard coming from the crash, the shadow didn''t receive damage. This puzzled Andrew, but not the rest. The shadow kept trying to hit a shot. "So... I''m going to have to defeat it in order to save the townspeople... I''ve never fought ghosts like this and I can''t exorcise either, but... It doesn''t matter, I have to stop it," Mat thought, as the shadow attacked. At that, Mat also started attacking it with his PSI creations, in the form of multicolored spears coming out of the ground. To do so he had to put his hands on the ground. Sam and Erin were frightened by that, even Andrew was frightened and it showed on his face... Even he, who was almost expressionless, was startled. "...Did I overdo it?" Mat said, after turning to look at them. "Y-you didn''t hit it..." Sam said, startled. "What''s it doing?" said Erin. Mat turned around and saw that the sphere was being charged with energy. "What is that?" thought Mat and, without hesitation, covered everyone with PSI barriers. The sphere released all the energy then, which looked like an explosion, and... It went through the barriers. It wounded everyone with minor cuts, though... Mat took the most damage. "Agh!" Mat groaned in pain. "Hey," Mat said to the rest, he seemed to want to laugh, ignoring the situation a bit. "You know what? It would have been better if you didn''t come, ha." "And now you say that?" Erin complained to him. "I didn''t think it was going to end like this? Although, those are not very serious injuries," Mat thought. "But I have to defeat it somehow... Wait." Mat realized something at that moment and... He ran up to the creature, readying his left arm to attack it. "Hey, what''s that lad doing?" said the shadow. "I don''t kn- Hey, Mat, wait up!" exclaimed Andrew. "Mat, what the hell are you doing?" Erin exclaimed. "Hey, Mat!" said Sam. Mat paid no attention to them and approached the creature but... It dodged him. Mat, almost instantly, pushed himself with a spring-like PSI creation to reach it, but the sphere kept dodging him until... It worked! Mat touched it with his left hand but... "Mat!" Sam shouted. Everyone watched the scene in astonishment. The mark on Mat''s left hand was glowing and he, along with the spherical aberration, was levitating in the air, doing nothing. They were spinning. "Huh!?" Mat said. "What the heck? Agh!" Whips, similar to that at least, and spears started coming out of the mark. They were golden and glowing. These began to cover the creature, who was trapped in these. The sleeve covering Mat''s arm began to destroy itself as well. "Mat! What are you do-?" Erin said, but she couldn''t finish what she wanted to say after seeing Mat. "Erin, what''s going-? What?" Andrew exclaimed. Sam was petrified at the sight. No one at that moment could understand what was happening. Mat''s left hand was... It was bleeding badly. No, his entire left arm was damaged, with severe wounds. The things coming out of the mark were damaging his arm as well, but it was regenerating. Mat put his right hand over the mark, as if trying to stop... That and... "AGHH!" He pulled his hand away quickly, he was overwhelmed with pain. He damaged his right hand severely. His fingers were charred and barely hanging on his hand and... They regenerated. At that, the creature slowly began to disintegrate and Mat began to lose consciousness. Vol. 6 Chapter 22: Empty memories. Vestiges of a Hero. At that, Mat began to have memories of someone he already seemed to know. But... these memories were fuzzy, and they were only fragments of these. Mostly they were fuzzy images of strange places he had never been, faces of people he had never seen, and thoughts he had never had. Oh, boy. This turned out to be harder than I expected. After slitting the throat of a four-legged, beast-like creature with a sword. This is... An orb...? After reaching a pedestal on which a purple orb stood. You''re welcome, see ya! smiling, after a little girl thanked him for helping her find her lost kitten. Wow, but what is that thing? After seeing that, behind a white orb was, in the void, a face, which was not human, very horrible. There were also some hands floating in the nothingness. Look, that''s enough. There, there, there. See? It doesn''t hurt anymore. After pricking his finger and putting his blood on the wound of a child. It regenerated. This is the hammer... But... It''s of no use to me! After finding a strange hammer, one of the sacred artifacts. This... And what is this? It has an edge. After finding some kind of ceremonial knife made of gold in a dungeon with earthen walls. There were roots all around and, also, walls of an unknown material... They appeared to be gold bricks, though. Phew... It''s ready! After finishing building a small hut by himself, for an elderly gentleman who lived alone in a forest. It took a day. Suddenly, Mat had a more vivid memory. He was in a village (whose structures seemed to have old designs), in a forest that appeared to be a Mediterranean one. It had just dawned and the village was... empty. Everything was completely silent. "But... what happened here?" said the black-haired, spiky young man. The voice was no longer audible inside Mathias'' head. - This... This is wrong, what if something happened here? No... I''m overthinking things, I think.* Thought the young man. He continued to investigate the place. "It can''t be..." The young man found the body of a man lying in the middle of the street. He had no wounds. "What the hell happened here?" He went back to investigate the town, but this time he also checked the houses, through their windows. Everyone was... well, at first glance, most of them seemed to be still asleep, but... in reality, everyone, from children to adults, was dead. "They''re all dead... What am I supposed to do in a situation like this?" he said to himself, he was scared and worried. After thinking a bit about it, he said. "No, there''s no way I could have done anything, I don''t even know what happened. Anyway, I have to warn the surrounding area about this." He left the village quickly, to look for some other nearby village to warn about the situation. While walking through the forest, after about half an hour, he came across a small hut, which was in very bad shape. There was a tombstone nearby. The young man heard a child crying inside, so he went to see. What is a child doing in a place like this? he thought as he went to that shack. He entered the house and... Mat''s memories became a blur again. But... he could recognize voices that weren''t his, though... they sounded like they were a great distance away. "T-theyre all... dead... But... I... I''m fine..." It was the child''s voice. He seemed to be inside the house, but... everything was too blurry to recognize the place. Only the boy was somewhat visible. He was dressed in rags. His hair was light brown. "So they poisoned the village? But how?" That was the young man''s voice. At that moment he noticed something: the boy had some kind of dark aura. "I-it was... It was my fault..." The boy''s voice echoed in the void. After hearing the boy''s statements, the young man, along with the boy, went to give notice to a nearby town about what had happened... although taking out the part about the little boy''s role. I will do everything I can to help him. These were the young man''s thoughts. "You... You''re not going to leave me, are you?" The boy''s voice. "I won''t." - The young man''s voice. "Leaving a child alone in a place like this doesn''t seem right to me. Besides, I liked you, so come with me." "Don''t worry about me, I promise I''ll be back." Voice of the young man, in an unfamiliar place. One could only observe the ground, which was grass, and it was daytime. "We''ll be waiting for you, Mathias." Voice of a woman. "Yes." - Voice of the boy. "Well then, see ya." "This is... Wow..." The young man, who was in front of a huge tree that reached up to the sky. He advanced towards it, through the forest at its base, until he... ... ... ... Mathias was in the void. Everything was dark and... Well, he felt he was in the void, but he couldn''t even see himself. He was conscious, but he couldn''t see or feel anything. "The tree of life is spectacular, don''t you think?" Mat heard this voice; it sounded familiar. In the middle of nowhere, an image formed. It was the young man Mat saw in his dreams. That was all he could see. "But well... You couldn''t see much, could you?" said the young man to Mat. "And it''s the first time you''ve used the power of the mark... I guess that''s why." "...What?" Mat replied. "What are you talking about?" "Mmm... You''re a Hero too. My replacement, actually, right? This is very disappointing..." He said this talking about himself. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." "You don''t know about it yet? Then I can''t say much," the young man replied, surprised. "But... Well, then. Those were part of my memories." What he said was true, but... it was also a lie. "You inherited the mark of the Hero knows who for what, but... As you did, you are a Hero." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "...I already knew I was different," Mat replied to the young man. "Yes, very much so," replied the young man. "You are even different from me." "?" "I had no base powers other than the mark, but you do. These were boosted after touching the creature you were fighting and... Your body could not withstand such power." "And why did that happen?" Mathias asked. "My mark glowed sometimes, and it only made me not get tired when using my power, but now... This is different." "...I don''t know why that happened either, even though that happened to me too sometimes," he replied. "I understand." "So..." "Yes?" "...You''d better go back now," said the young man. "Something''s about to happen. Well, so that what happened before doesn''t happen, I think... I''m going to reduce the flow of the energy of the mark to a minimum so that you can bear it." "And so that you won''t have problems later on... You... Are still really weak..." "And how are you going to do that?" Mat asked him. "That... That''s something you''re going to learn, but there''s no time now," replied the young man. "Oh, and because... Well, rather, you''re going to forget almost everything we talked about when you get back. Well, see you!" "...H-hey! . .. ... "Agh!" Mathias screamed after coming to. Mat began to feel guilt for no apparent reason. He was still floating, holding the creature, but... it began to deform. Only a minute had passed since he lost consciousness. When he saw a white thing come out of the creature, Mat wanted to let it go... And at first he couldn''t. He struggled to make its attacks... Of light? To release it. After a few moments, he could. It shot out towards the wall to the left, from the perspective of the rest. The creature stood there, and its mark still glowed, but Mat didn''t think anything of it then. "Mat!" Sam shouted when she saw that. The three of them went to him. The wall he had hit was concrete, and Mat had debris on him. "Hey, Mat. Are you okay?" Erin asked. "Of course I am!" he replied. "You don''t seem to be," replied Andrew. "W-what?" Mat, who had injuries from the collision, began to regenerate quickly, to everyone''s surprise. "H-hey, Mat... What are you...?" Sam wanted to ask, but... "Hey! This thing here seems to be getting stronger!" said the shadow, who was still hovering idly around the creature, which was no longer spherical and was starting to look humanoid. "Oh, damn!!!" Mathias shouted and headed back to the creature. He propelled himself with his PSI constructs. The creature had just transformed. It had become a humanoid with several limbs (arms, legs, and something that looked like a tail) and several heads... Although it had one that seemed to be the main one, and it had a leaf-like shape to it. It had eyes around its body. Mathias used his PSI creations to form several spikes and slam into the creature. The spikes pierced the creature, but the creature didn''t seem to have anything on it. "What?" Mat wondered in surprise. The creature, with its arms, grabbed Mat by his feet, to slam him to the floor, but Mat put more purple PSI spikes on that part, to make it let go, but it didn''t work. He slammed it against the floor several times, but Mat kept regenerating. Mat tried to hurt it only with his PSI creations, but they did nothing. The creature threw him against the wall again. This caused more damage to the place. "H-hey, I think we should go," Andrew said. "Yeah, it''s getting pretty dangerous," said Erin. "So, we''re going to leave Mat alone fighting with that thing?!" said Sam. "Well, I''m not going to do it!" "Do it, go away!" shouted Mat. "B-but...!" Sam protested. "Hey, young lady, do as he says if you want to live one more day!" said the shadow. "He''s going to be fine, I know it!" "Yes, let''s go!" said Erin. "All right." They all left the place, already outside, about 20 meters away. "I hope he''s going to be okay..." Mat, inside, was standing next to the debris from his collision, again. "What am I supposed to do?" thought Mat. He noticed that his mark was still glowing. "Oh, I know!" He approached the creature again, this time intending to touch it with his left hand, the one with the mark. He thrust with his PSI creations, but the creature dodged them, and sometimes attacked him with strikes he couldn''t dodge. "Agh!" Mat still couldn''t hit it. At that, he decided to create PSI whips like the ones before, from his left hand. He did so, and the creature dodged the luminous PSI whips, which damaged the place more and more. "Damn!" Mat said when the creature was already lunging toward him after attacking. "Wait, I must take advantage of this!" Mat undid the luminous PSI whips and made luminous PSI spears almost instantly, which pierced the creature. "Gruaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!" The creature let out a piercing scream. Apparently, the PSI creations in Mat''s left hand, when their mark glowed, could damage that kind of creature. The creature began to disappear. At the same time, in another place. "!" In a room, a bedroom to be more specific, with a large window from which a city could be seen from a great height, a man, sitting at his desk with a small red book, had sensed something. "Oh!" exclaimed the man. "So at last... It was time for him to disappear." He was quiet for a moment and went to the window. "It took a long time to disappear, and that was weak because I created it many years ago... Never mind, it''s time to make it work for the last time." He snapped his fingers. Back to where Mat was, the creature, which was still disappearing, exploded like a bomb. But... Before he said it, he said a few words... Mat felt as if his voice from beyond the grave came from inside him. The words were: "My job is done." Those words were unintelligible, and they were like three syllables, if we want to compare them to a human language, but Mat understood them that way. Those same words, but in human language, that is to say... In this case, English, were pronounced by the subject already mentioned above. The house collapsed due to that explosion. Outside, everyone looked stunned at what had happened. "M-MAT!" Sam shouted and went desperately to try to find him under the rubble. The other two, seeing that, went too. They were like that for a few seconds, until... "Agh!" Mat had just emerged from the rubble of the house without a scratch, only his clothes were somewhat torn. The three of them went to where he was. "Mat!" Sam exclaimed and went over to him. She hugged him. "You''re all right... What about that thing?" "Thank God..." Samantha thought. "I defeated it, I don''t know how, but..." "M-Mat..." Erin said, it sounded like something... Her question felt a little grim. "What are you?" Everyone was stunned by that question. "What kind of question is that? Well, we have to go to town, fast!" Mat replied and broke away from Sam. "But answer me!" "It doesn''t matter! I think... I think something happened to those affected!" shouted Mat. "Come on!" "Oh, let''s go then," said Andrew. "Yes!" said Sam. "O-okay," replied Erin. They all ran into town. Erin stood there, thinking. Then she turned to look at the destroyed house. "This... This is a dream, isn''t it? Mat, he... Yes, he always had powers, but... This?" She remembered the way Mat used his powers, the spears and stuff. It scared the hell out of her remembering it, as she realized that those powers... Those powers were very dangerous and scary. "But Mat is Mat, I don''t think he would do... Something with them..." Erin also went. . .. ... "So... So here you were." It was evening, about half past ten. Sam had just arrived at the place Mat had shown her some time ago. Yes, the place that was on the mountain and from which the town could be seen. Mat was alone, looking up at the starry sky, sitting down. He said nothing when he heard the words of Sam, who was worried. "H-hey, why are you so quiet? A-at least say something..." "I... I''m the Hero, but... I couldn''t save anyone... And I don''t even know what the ''Hero'' is..." After saying that, Mat turned to see Samantha, he was crying. "S-Sam... What am I supposed to do?" Vol. 6 Extra Chapter: Rest "At last I can rest. After narrating this to you for several hours... I''m tired, uff..." "Y-you''re not supposed to be tired... Are you pretending or what?" Eliah said to me. "Uncle, are you really faking it?" "Well... Yes. I actually got bored of sitting here telling you all this, so... You guys want to do something else in the meantime?" "Okay, I got hungry," said Eliah. "Me too..." said... Alaya, right? "Un-cle!" she pouted grumpily at me, again. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Sorry..." "...I''ll get something to eat, I''ll be right back." I interrupted Eliah because I made a table and a pizza appear with a jar of lemonade. "T-thank you." She sat back down. "Hey... What''s this?" said Alaya, looking at the pizza. "That''s it..." I said and turned to Eliah, as if to tell him to explain. "...It''s okay. Ali, that''s called pizza, and it''s a food... It has cheese on it, and it tastes good..." Alaya started eating as soon as he finished talking. She trusts Eliah as if he were her big brother. "Un-cle!" "Hey, that''s not... Thats not something you say out loud!" I''m sorry. I mean: "I''m sorry." They looked at me funny. They finished eating after a while. "Hey..." Eliah asked me. "That first fight was kind of... Disappointing." "Yeah, uncle. Even my da..." "Don''t mention him, not yet." "Okay, um..." "Well... They just showed powers, and out of nowhere there was a power-up. This... Did that happen like that, really?" Eliah said. "Something like that." "I see... Well, continue then." I kept telling them the story. Yep. Vol. 6 Chapter 23: Confession. Two days had passed since the fight between the creature and Mat. The child Andrew had saved died. Nicole''s sisters... One died because she didn''t resist, and the other lost the mobility of her limbs... Well, not all mobility. Mr. Crowell also died. Sam found out about the boy when he went to his house to check on him but... Well, when she got there, she asked his mother if her son was all right, and when she went to see him (he was in his room)... You know what she found. It was a horrible, really... Something similar happened with Erin and Andrew. They had arrived at Nicole''s house. She was alone with her sister, and her sister was sleeping at the time. Andrew and Erin talked to her for a while, until her sister started screaming in desperation from her room. They all went to the room of... On the door it said "Reina"... They all went to the room of Reina, Nicole''s sister... Yes, I forgot her name, don''t say anything. When they entered, they saw that Reina, lying in the same pose she was sleeping in, was screaming that she couldn''t move. She couldn''t feel her limbs, specifically her left arm and right leg. The other two were similar, but not as bad as those two. While the three of them were trying to get her to move, the phone, which was in the second-floor living room, started ringing. "You guys stay here, I''ll answer it!" Erin quickly went to answer the phone. "Nicole, it''s your parents, come here!" Erin shouted from downstairs. Neither Nicole nor Andrew knew what to do with Reina, who was crying right now... And so, Nicole went to answer the phone, even though she was extremely worried about her little sister. ... The caller was her father, and he was in the hospital. He told her he was going to come home to tell her something important, although... I think you know what he was going to tell her; I mentioned it earlier... I think... I think I killed the excitement of it, didn''t I? S-sorry... Aside from what has already been told, Mat, since the fight, had disappeared. His friends went that same day to check on him, but he was nowhere to be found. "Mat? I don''t know where he is, but I don''t think he''ll be long in coming," his mother told the group. "So why don''t you stay until he comes back?" He didn''t come back. It was ten o''clock, and everyone had already left, except Sam. Mat''s mother was worried. "What happened to Mat?" thought Sam, worried. The next day they also went looking for him, but he wasn''t there either. It was the first time he had ever done that. Back to the present, it was nighttime. Sam had found Mat sitting in the place Mat had shown him some time ago (they went there from time to time). Sam was carrying a small bag in which there were loaves of bread. "The Hero? That... No, that doesn''t matter... I just found Mat, and I have to take him home... Wait..." "Hey, Mat... I... I don''t know... But... You haven''t eaten in two days, have you?" Sam said and tossed him the bag of bread. It was closed. "Here, eat. Please..." Mat turned away and said nothing. He kept looking at the sky. "Hey, at least say something..." "I don''t need to..." "W-what? No, you need to eat..." Sam told him, somewhat sadly, and went to his side, bent down, picked up a loaf of bread, and gave it to him. Well, Mat didn''t want to receive it. "Hey..." "Sam... What should I do? I, uh... I don''t even know who I am anymore. What''s my purpose? I''m the Hero, but... Why? I couldn''t save anyone... Agh, I don''t even know why I know I''m the Hero... I''ve had several strange dreams lately, where I talk to someone, but... I don''t remember what about... Agh!" He fell silent for a few seconds. "I also feel like I''m guilty of something worse than those people''s deaths, but I don''t know what it is... I... I also feel that... I feel like everything I''m going through isn''t real." "N-not even me?" Sam asked. "What is he talking about?" "Even you aren''t real... This all feels like a very long dream... (One that I can''t wake up from...)" "M-Mat..." Sam said to him, but she didn''t really know what to say to him. She put the bread back in the bag. "I don''t even know what I''m saying anymore... But... I''m glad you came..." "And I''m glad I found you... Isn''t it great to tell others how you feel?" Sam said, this talking about people you trust and that they trust you too. Although... You didnt tell me much... "Yes, it is... But it doesn''t really matter if I feel good... There are people who can''t smile anymore, can''t feel sad... Or feel... Because of me. I really am useless..." He fell silent for another few seconds. "I tried everything to fit in... Anywhere," Mat said, and looked toward the horizon. "I don''t know if you noticed, but I always tried to be friends with everyone, be nice to everyone, smile all the time, study... To be normal (and not achieve it) and... That... I don''t think it was worth it after all... I was born with the power to create things with my thoughts... That... That''s not normal, no matter how you look at it. A normal person is not able to do that... That''s impossible, but... I can do it... Why is that? At first, it was fun, but... Gradually I realized that, if I got caught... I''d be in big trouble, to say the least... I also have this weird mark that shines sometimes, and because it shines a little, almost always, covering it up with my sleeve comes easy and so, but... Why? Why do I have these two things? That there''s such a gift... And to waste it... To waste it on someone useless..." At that, Sam slapped him. "Huh?!?" "But Mat... You... You''re not useless... Stop saying such things! You... You always gave your all... For everything. Even if you failed, you never gave up (according to what you said and...) According to what I realized (a little bit at least). You always tried to help anyone who needed it. You even made friends with people who were socially isolated (or so it is said...) You even tried to save others! You never gave up, not even when we were up against the specter! You never gave up and always kept going! Or so I thought... But seeing you like this, I don''t know what to think now... You, right now... You''re not the person I used to know... The person I admired, nor the person I fell in love with... You are someone... Different and that makes me... Disappoints me... Ah, s-sorry for saying that..." "That''s okay... It''s me who should apologize... To everyone." Mat realized something. He said then, blushing. "Wait, what did you say?" "N-nothing..." "You really don''t know how to read the atmosphere," Mat told her, and seemed to be wanting to... Laugh. "That felt out of place, you know? But... I didn''t know you had those kinds of feelings." "I... I''m sorry, I didn''t mean that. Well, actually... Forget about it." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "It''s okay, but... No, we''ll talk about that later; I have something to say about that too, although... You know, I came here after seeing Mr. and Mrs. Crowell." At that moment, Mat began to tell her briefly what happened to them. Mrs. Crowell told Mat that in the last moments of her husband''s life, he could see him. For some reason, he recognized her and spoke to her. His wife wanted to cry at that moment, but... It was impossible. She was not able to convey that emotion when she was in that state. Anyway, she thanked him for everything he did and apologized. He, for his part, did the same... For the things he had not been able to tell her, and for the things he realized in moments when he could no longer say anything about these. After that, Mr. Crowell breathed his last breath. Mat arrived at those moments and saw both of them in those horrible forms. They both said goodbye to him, and... Despite not having managed to save him, Mrs. Crowell thanked him. They disappeared after that and... Mat realized what had happened to the others, and... He ran away, not knowing what to do. "This brings us back to the beginning. What are we going to do? I don''t know..." said Mat. "They were like my grandparents... And yet I..." "Mat... This may sound very pessimistic, but..." Sam said to him, almost in tears, and went over to hug him. "But there''s nothing we can do about it anymore..." "You are right... But... One question," Mat said, seeming to want to change the subject now, before getting to the subject he wanted to know more about, or at least have a conclusion to it. "Y-you have a dream?" "Why do you ask?" Sam replied. "Sorry, you don''t answer a question with a question, do you? Well, the thing is... I do have one, although... I-I think it''s very childish. You''re gonna make fun." "Tell me anyway. Besides, why would I laugh?" "I get it. W-well... I-I want to be a writer, a famous one," she said nervously. "I see. It''s good to have a dream. Setting a goal to reach is a good thing. I didn''t set a goal for myself. I never had a dream per se. It''s like... It''s like my life doesn''t have a purpose." "Ah, so that''s why you got into various things. You did everything in order to discover your ''purpose.''" "Exactly..." Mat told her. "But I didn''t succeed, though... Living day to day is fine too. Having a normal life is fine." "That''s... That''s living without a purpose, you know? We''re similar in a way, the two of us. We don''t have a real purpose, but... That''s... It''s not right, in my opinion... It''s very sad," Sam replied. "But, the truth is... Living a normal life is hard too." "Yes... Who was I kidding? It''s sad to think like that. And... It''s true, life is hard for everyone." It really is... But... Humans always try to move on, or at least think about doing so, to overcome their adversities and... Now that I realize, the death of those people... That was our fault too, since we didn''t do anything, we just watched you... ...You''re right, but I was the one who got you guys involved because I supposedly needed help, so it''s my fault, and mine alone, that they died... Agh! We always end up in the same thing... Mat, no more... We don''t have to do this anymore... She was silent for a moment and continued. A lot of unnecessary drama these two are making, I think. I''m already too lazy to narrate it; it helps. Mat... I... I never thought the day would come when I''d see you... like this. And I don''t even know what to say. This all feels so unreal. I can''t comprehend everything that''s going on... Spectres, ghosts, spiritual sensitivity, even you... Ten years ago, when I first met you, I thought it was my imagination. You, an apparently normal person, had powers... That was amazing, wonderful for a child. But now... Now I know that it was real. And I accepted it, just like that... And... About that... When you were fighting that thing, we were all very scared... No, terrified, we didn''t think you could do... That with your powers... But at the same time, we were kind of... Calm because you didn''t use them to harm others, but to protect them. You really seemed to be a hero in those moments... At least to me... Do you really think so? said Mathias Donovan, who... already seemed to be feeling better. I do. Samantha replied. But I also know that heroes can''t save everyone. Even if they are fictional, mostly, they are still human like you and me, and they make mistakes. You have powers, but you''re not omnipotent, you''re not God, you''re just a normal person who has a gift that others don''t have. The thing is that you defeated it, and thanks to that, things like that won''t happen again. Besides that... The relatives of the people you tried to save don''t know what really happened. They only know, in the case of Nicole''s family, that... You saved the two girls in that fire... And so... ... he was just listening. Also... Even if you didn''t manage to save them, at least there won''t be any more victims, which... Is a good result, don''t you think? she told him. Did I say it right? I guess you''re right... that was the only thing he answered her. W-well, I guess it''s too late now, I''ll take my leave. Sam was about to get up, but Mat stopped her, holding her hand. Please stay a little longer. After this, I''m coming home with you. There''s something we need to talk about, remember? Yes, but... I don''t think we should do it now. You really think so? Come on! Mat told him; he didn''t seem depressed anymore, not at all. You''re the one who said, ''That''s why I fell in love with you''! Yeah, I''m leaving. Agh! How can you be so... That''s not how you should be acting right now, let alone on that subject! You said earlier that my comment like that was out of line, but you''re the same way, and worse. That attitude is out of line too! Yeah... Sorry about that... It''s just that... You see... After talking to you, I feel better now. I feel much calmer and my thoughts are more ordered, so to speak. Thank you for that. I-I''m glad you''re okay now, but... You... Why did you want to talk about it? You see, I said that everything I see is like a dream, something unreal and stuff... And because of that, I was never really attracted to anyone and so... What? Samantha was confused. Someone like him should be popular. He has a lot of friends and positive qualities, so that''s why it surprised her. I wasn''t attracted to Erin either, even though we started a... WHAT?! Samantha exclaimed. Th-that''s... WHAT? She didn''t tell you? H-hey, don''t be like that. Sam was furious, but she was blushing... I don''t know how to interpret this. I-it''s not like I cheated on you or anything. Why am I saying that? thought Mat, and continued. Sam looked uncomfortable now. And so... With you... I don''t know, I feel something different about you... It''s like... I don''t know, but I''ve felt it since the day I met you and... H-hey, what''s wrong with you? She was really blushing. I-I... Mat... Th-that was... I-I don''t know what to say. I know, I know! That sounded so stupid, even I was embarrassed to say it out loud, hahaha. Err... he laughed unwillingly, apparently. But the thing is, it''s true. It''s like... I don''t know. Is it love? Saying that out loud was so cheesy? she was embarrassed to hear that. I''m sorry... Now that I think about it, we were very young, so I don''t think that''s what it was, but... I feel the same way now, so I don''t know. There are so many things going on in my head right now... Agh! But... What matters most to me right now is you, Sam. H-hey, you... Is he really doing it? thought Samantha. This is so... No way! I''m really, really, really... No, I need to calm down and not rush to say something out of line. Sam, would you like to be my girlfriend? I... There was an awkward silence after Mat said those words. And so... This conversation was like this because these two are so dramatic, excuse them... Wait, Mat was all depressed and made us worry too much, and now he''s telling me this... I''m not going to be, not the way he is now. But... How do I tell him this? This was the first time someone had said that to her, and Sam didn''t know what to do, but she thought of a response in those moments. M-Mat, maybe we should wait a little while for that. Sam said nervously. Y-yes, I''m sorry... You''re right. Mat said, nervous too. He was embarrassed to realize what he said. We should get to know each other better... she told him. That''s... That''s right. I''m serious. We''re friends, but... We still don''t know each other very well. Everything you told me, I didn''t know. And I didn''t either; I didn''t know you had plans for the future... Mat told her. I''m sorry I didn''t ask... Huh? But... That''s not something you should apologize for... she replied. Besides, I was the one who didn''t tell you anything either... And after that, she added. And so... If you want, from today on we should get to know each other more... I don''t know how this is going to end... she thought. Besides, we shouldn''t be talking about this now. ... She was right; they shouldn''t. Although... Talking about Mathias right now, he... He didn''t know why, but he felt differently about Samantha... And Andrew, though more so for Samantha. He felt something familiar and nostalgic, being around those two, and he liked their company. But the thing is, because of this, he didn''t really know what his feelings were for her. And Mat, well... You should go home now; everyone is worried now. I know, but... Well, let''s stay a little longer. Mat told her. Why? It''s already late! Is it really? Let''s see... said Mat, and created a PSI clock. ...Wow, what time is it? asked Sam. I don''t know what time it is. But why? I just created a clock, but it doesn''t... It doesn''t work like a clock, it''s just shaped like one. Hehe... Sorry, sorry. You idiot... W-well, let''s just stay for a while, okay? Yes, thank you... he said this last thing in confusion. It was the first time she called him an idiot, but it didn''t sound like an insult. They stayed for a while, just like Samantha said... She was still a bit confused because of what Mat said at the beginning, and about being the Hero. ||||||||||| ...This was awkward. Eliah said to me. Really awkward... Vol. 6 Chapter 24: Return and Healing... Or something. I don’t know how to name chapters. At that, Mat grabbed the bag, pulled out a loaf of bread and ate it. This cheered Sam up, apart from the fact that Mat was no longer as depressed as before. Another few minutes passed. It was eleven o''clock at night. Mathias had finished eating his bread and... Hey, Sam Yes? Can I ask you a question? Mat said. ...Okay Can you look over there? Mat said, and pointed to the same place as the other time. Do you see anything? No Do you see something now? Mat said and grabbed her left hand with his hand that had the mark on it, that is, the left hand. That is... WHAT? Sam saw a huge tree reaching up to the firmament (it had a faint glow). Its trunk was thick, grayish and had huge leaves... Or at least they appeared to be huge leaves. It also had dirt on some branches, and they seemed to be like... islands or something, hanging on those branches. W-what is that? Sam said, startled, and let go of Mat. After that, she couldn''t see the tree anymore. ...What? I don''t know either, but... I feel like... I feel peace when I look at it from here I-I understand, but... What is that tree, thing? I don''t know. Sam said and grabbed his hand again. She could see it again. Ah... Sorry for asking the same thing again, it''s just... Wow. Isn''t it? It''s amazing. That tree... Or whatever it is, it''s not in any book or anything. It''s like... It''s like only me and the people who touch my mark can see it. Ah, that tree can be seen from different places, but from here it''s better, don''t you think? I-I guess. "I''d like to know more, but... Mat doesn''t seem to know more about that huge tree," Samantha thought. Well, Mat... Y-you''re calmer now? Can we go? ...Yes, let''s go. he replied. They both left the place. On the way: Hey, Sam. Yeah? ...And what am I going to tell my mother and uncle? ...I don''t know, but I think... You should tell them everything that happened. You''re right, I... I''m going to do it. They walked together until they reached the village. There we are: We''ve arrived at your house. Mat said. They had arrived at Samantha''s house. Y-yes Well, I''m going home too. See you! said Mat and started to leave, but Sam stopped him by pulling his shirt. Wait... You''re not going... You''re not going back there, are you? Sam had a sad face for some reason. Well... She was like that because of the things she had talked about with Mat and because of the things she couldn''t understand at the moment... I guess. Of course not! What do you think I think? Oh. Mat noticed Samantha''s expression and thought, "She''s... I get it..." Oh, come on! Why the sad face? Come on, smile! Mat told her and did, with his fingers, something like... okay, he made himself smile with his fingers, I don''t know how to describe it, okay? Pfft. She seemed to think it was funny. She didn''t look... sad anymore. That was... pretty dumb, you know? Why did you do that? Besides, you''re not supposed to make me smile. You''re supposed to cheer me up... You know what? Just... Just forget it. Oh, well... Sorry about that. Mat replied, feeling a little embarrassed. Thanks, anyway... See you tomorrow. See you tomorrow. Mat went home. Sam stood there in front of his door and thought, "I''m going to get scolded." He seemed to be worried about that too. As he was thinking that, the door was opened for him: Sam? You''re back, come in. It was Andrew. He said her name and those words with a tone that was... unconcerned, cold. Oh, um... Yes. As soon as she entered, she heard her grandfather shouting at her: Young lady, what time is it to be back?! S-sorry. Wait, what time is it? she asked Andrew. It''s almost twelve o''clock. Ah... WHAT? Darling, come on. Come to dinner now. her grandmother told her. You must be hungry. I''m coming... Sam, before going to sleep, started thinking about all the things he had talked about with Mat and... He couldn''t sleep. After the above account, Mat had arrived at the door of his house, but did not deign to enter. What am I going to tell them? Mat was worried about the reaction his mother and uncle were going to have. Sam told me I should tell them, but... How? Nah, never mind. I''ll figure something out. He opened the door. In his living room were his mother and uncle. They were sitting around the table. They looked very worried... Although his mother was more so. He walked in. H-hello, I''m back. Mathias! his mother quickly approached him and hugged him (he did the same), she was sobbing. W-where were you? Yes, young man. You had us so worried. ...I''m so sorry... I... His mother, still sobbing, said to him: D-don''t tell me you left on a childish whim? I''m not a child anymore, Mom. Don''t say that to us, young man, disappearing like that is very childish. his uncle replied. Ah, that''s... true. But at least you came back safe and sound. We thought something had happened to you and... Mat, please don''t worry us like this. said his mother. He was quiet for a moment, and then he said: You see... Suppose... Suppose you''re saving someone. ? his mother and his uncle. And so... Suppose you have the power to do it, but you don''t do it. It''s not possible for you to do it. Mat, what''s your point? his uncle asked worriedly. What I''m getting at is that''s what happened to me. Mathias told them. Power should be used to help others, right? Yes, that''s right... his mother told him. I... I couldn''t save anyone even though I had the power to do so, supposedly. he laughed. After all, I''m just a normal person. Mom, I still remember you telling me that these powers were a gift, and... Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. But Mat, I don''t understand, what happened? Ah... Well, I''ll tell you now. Mat proceeded to tell them everything that had happened. He also told about Sam, but not the last part. I understand... said his uncle. So that young lady got you to come back? said his mother. What a good friend you have, Mat, not like that Erin who... Yeah, Mom... he got uncomfortable. I''ve known her for a while now, and that girl seems quite nice to me, she''s even very dedicated in her studies. You should be more like her. I know... But... About the other thing... Mat said. There''s nothing that can be done anymore. said his uncle. You did what you could to help and, even though you didn''t manage to save those people, you prevented more victims from emerging, just think about that, since... That''s a good thing too. Oh, and sorry if I say it this way, but you seemed as if you had already assimilated that fact. I did, but... I still think I could have done more. Mathias said. And as I told you, I lost control of my powers at that moment and I don''t know why. I think it was your emotions. said his mother. You were under pressure at the time. Well, that''s what I think. I think that too. said his uncle. And so... In spite of everything, remember this: ''power is a double-edged sword, one can use it to destroy, but also to protect others.'' And Mat, you did the latter. Yes, Mathias. said his mother. No matter how it ended, you did the right thing. I''m proud of you, son. And so am I, Mat. said his uncle. Thank you... Even after saying that stuff, Mat''s family was saddened for what had happened to the Crowells... So... said his mother. You still haven''t eaten, have you? Then come and eat. I saved a portion for you. Yes, Mom. Although... I''ve eaten a bit before coming... Well, I''m going to rest, it''s a little late for me. said his uncle and left. Mat went to dinner. After that, he went to his room. He was already in bed: And to think that they would support and motivate me even though I had failed... Sam told me something similar, but... I''m very grateful to them. At that, he left his room and went to his uncle''s room, and thanked him again. He also went to his mother''s room, who was already asleep. Mom. he said, opening the door. ...Yes, Mat? she had just woken up. I love you. he said and went to hug her. I love you too, son. she replied. After that, he went back to bed, thought about various things and fell asleep, almost at two in the morning. His uncle, despite everything his nephew told him, never told the church about it. Nor did he tell about his mark. He didn''t because... That was going to be a dangerous thing. Anyway. Mr. Crowell''s funeral happened the next day (this time all his sons were there). Mat didn''t show up. That same day was also Nicole''s sister''s funeral, but he didn''t go to this one either. He couldn''t bring himself to do it... A month and a half later, he went with Erin and Samantha to Nicole''s house (which was already rebuilt), to check on her and her family... Samantha didn''t want to go because Mat was there, but in the end she went, she didn''t say much the entire way and didn''t seem to want to be there, but, at the same time, it seemed that, deep inside, she did want to go with him... Oh, and she felt awkward too, because Erin was going with them. As they walked, Erin asked Sam: And how did you find Mat? Tell me. Huh? W-well... He was at his special place... His what? Uh... W-well, the place that''s on the mountain. Ah, that one. I went there twice I think, she replied to Sam somewhat nonchalantly. I expected better, but I liked it. I-I see. Hey, Mat! Why did you run away from home that time? Huh? Erin yelled at him. I... Wait, but I already told you, and Sam did too, he replied. Right, but... If that''s really why, then you''re more immature and childish than I thought. She hit him on the head. Agh! ...If I worried you, sorry about that. ...Huh? Of course you didn''t, you idiot, Erin replied, and blushed. Sam looked at her funny. A-anyway, come on, said Erin. After a while, they arrived at Nicole''s house. H-hello, Nicole opened the door. Hi, Nicole, said Erin. H-hello, replied Samantha. So you finally showed up, said Nicole, referring to Mat. He avoided her since that day. Ah, yes, Mat replied, somewhat... I don''t know, embarrassed I think. So... How is Reina? Ah? Why do you ask? she answered. She''s... She''s recovering, I think. She came back from the hospitalization a few days ago and... She still can''t move her arms well, and her legs don''t support her weight very well... and... She got sad again, she was tearing up a little bit. It seemed like she still wasn''t over what happened with her other sister and... That. I see... Mathias answered her. ... Can I go see her? Y-you''d have to ask my parents... I see. But... What for? Nicole asked. Yes, Mat, what for? asked Erin. Huh? Well... What else for? he replied. Hey, tell us then. It sounds suspicious for you to say that, Samantha complained. They went inside. Inside were Nicole''s parents. They asked them if they could see Reina, and they agreed to the request, due to the fact that... Well, Mat and Erin saved their daughters, but... That happened, you know. Regardless, they were grateful. The four of them went to Reina''s room. Good morning! greeted Mat cheerfully. Hello, the other two did the same. Reina was lying on her bed, looking up at the sky through the window to her left. Mat approached her, and she turned to look at him. The others were watching him. Hello, Reina... Err... How are you? he asked her. Reina didn''t answer him. ...I see. Meanwhile, Erin said to Sam in a low voice, so that only she could hear her: Sam... Mat still blames himself for that, doesn''t he? ...I don''t know. At that, Nicole jumped into the girls'' conversation. H-hey... What do you think Mat will say to her? she said this as if she was asking Sam directly. Uh... Well... I don''t know. Mat continued talking to Reina. Hey, err... Could you listen to me for a moment? I know that... Well, I couldn''t save your sister, or anyone else, but... When Mat said this, Nicole didn''t understand why he said that. At least let me help you. ...What? H-how? We''re not close, I know, but... Trust me this time, she said. I''m going to help you heal. Nicole then told him, H-hey! What on earth are you telling her? The doctors said that, even if she has treatment, she wasn''t going to move like before, that she wasn''t going to be able to go on with her normal life anymore...! Everyone looked at her, and the girl began to sob. I... I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have said that out loud... And I shouldn''t have said it like that either, in front of my little sister... I''m so sorry, Reina... She wanted to cry too. Reina didn''t know about that. But... Saying that to a sick child, all of a sudden, it''s... Horrible. Hey, Nicole. Sam approached her. If Mat says he''s going to heal her, I''m sure he''s going to follow through. B-but Samantha, are you crazy?! How are you gonna...?! Nicole, Sam... She means it, said Erin, who grabbed her shoulder. But... Sam, are you an idiot? Huh? But... Back to Mat and Reina. Yeah, I''m serious. Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing, he said and turned to look at Reina. So... Trust me. ...It''s ok, Reina replied, sobbing. At that, Mat created a PSI scalpel. H-hey, that... What are you...? Nicole was frightened by what she had just seen. That''s a... H-hey, Mat, what''s that for? Erin asked, a little frightened. You''ll see, said Matthen he said to Reina. Please, don''t be afraid, this? It''s going to hurt a little. Reina was scared to see Mat with a scalpel, but she trusted his words. Mat started to bring the scalpel closer to Reina''s shoulder when: Wait, Mat! Sam shouted. Huh? ...Seriously, what exactly are you going to do? I''m going to heal her, he replied. He continued with his "operation" and cut Reina''s shoulder; it was a small cut from which some blood came out. She moaned a little in pain. Mat did the same with her other shoulder and her legs. After that, he cut his index finger of his left hand; it was a big cut, at least five centimeters. It was bleeding. H-hey! Erin shouted. What the hell are you doing? Nicole exclaimed. M-Mat! shouted Sam. I''m fine, just stay there. He spilled his blood on Reina''s cuts and turned her over afterwards. After that, he made like an injection and put it in her... On the top of her neck. With the injection, he put some of her blood there too. Her cuts healed quickly, and... They didn''t leave any marks. There was no pain anymore either. They all looked stupefied. That was it, Mathias said. Here, try to get up. O-okay, Reina answered. Reina tried to do it, and... She did it normally. She got up as usual. I... I can do it. I can do it! she said and got out of her bed. Reina was overjoyed at what Mat had done. At that, she ran to Nicole and hugged her: Nicole, look, I can walk! she said, sobbing. I, I... Reina! she hugged her tighter and started to cry a little. What just happened? thought Sam. Erin was dumbfounded as well. Mat, looking at that scene, sighed in relief. Sam approached Mat and asked him, Mat... H-how did you do that? I saw it in a dream and tried to do it. It turned out well in the end. Wait, I mean... If it didn''t work out... You would have been giving false hope to a sick child, and, besides, you would have hurt her! But it turned out fine, Erin told them. Besides, you''re the one who told us to trust him. Well, I did, didn''t I? But... Ugh, never mind. Samantha thought, But... This looked like... What was the name of that disease? Never mind, but... How did Mat know where to cut and stuff? Furthermore, if that''s what it was, why did he cut off his limbs? ...I''d better not think about this anymore. But... Yeah, it went well. Although... Mat, you''re an idiot! How can you listen to your dream?! Erin complained. S-sorry, but... Now the thing is to explain this to Nicole''s parents, said Mat. ||||||||| Hey, this... What just happened? Eliah asked. That was really weird. Yeah, uncle, Alaya told him too. Besides, was there a need to do all that? she asked. No, not really, I answered. I see... But anyway, I don''t understand. My blood doesn''t do that, and I''m thankful that it doesn''t. I mean... What the heck? ||||||||||| After a while they gave the news to their parents, who... Cried of happiness... Yes. Mat told them about his powers, and about how he had healed her. They didn''t doubt his word, but he still proved it by using Erin as an example (he picked her up with his PSI Creations without her consent, she yelled at him). Nicole''s parents thanked him profusely for this fact, and promised not to tell anyone about him. Days later, when Nicole''s parents gave the reports to the doctors, they were shocked. It was as if she had never had anything. They continued to examine Reina, but... It was in vain. As I said, before, it was as if she had never been sick. After a while, Mathias and Samantha started dating, yes. After getting to know each other better. Needless to say more... I think. Ah! When Erin found out about it, half an hour after they "formalized" it (which was on November 28th), she got depressed and didn''t talk to Samantha for a week, nor to Mathias, although... She didn''t speak to Mathias for a month. Now they are friends again. . .. ... ...After all this, the mark glowed again several times, but it didn''t get out of control like that time, and Mat tried to improve his mastery ... Or at least he thought about doing so... Until Sam forced him to. He also tried to help others. But the thing is that... He couldn''t get any more information about being the "Hero", and he didn''t have those dreams again. And nothing unusual happened after all of this. Vol. 6 Extra Chapter 2: Date and Routines. In the end, something else needed to be said. Their first date, before they were a couple, went something like this. |||||||||||| "And why do we need to know that?!" Eliah demanded. I ignored him. |||||||||||| "Sorry if I kept you waiting, Mat." Sam said. She had just come around a street corner, which is where they were going to meet. Samantha, who was with a longer hair, and was wearing a yellow headband, was wearing a large red sweater (underneath it she was wearing a white sleeveless blouse) and a pair of jeans. Mat was wearing black pleated pants and a jacket... Jean? Is that what you call it? Well... He had a striped shirt underneath as well. That''s more or less what they looked like... I think. "It''s okay, it''s fine, it''s fine," Mathias replied, smiling. "I told her to come at 4, it''s already going to be 5..." "So..." "Yes?" "You look beautiful," he said, smiling. There were people walking by. "Huh?" she blushed. "Hey, don''t say that out loud." "But why? If it''s true..." "...Let''s go now." "Yes, let''s go!" They went to the movies. At Samantha''s request, they ended up watching a romantic movie. It was fun. After that, Mat took her to a restaurant, one of the few in town. Yes, that''s where they went. "Mat." "Tell me." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "Mat... If we were going to come here, we would have come in more formal clothes?" Samantha complained. And yes, the people here were a little more formal, but not that formal, so to speak. "Why? This is not a fancy restaurant," she said quietly. "So it''s fine." "If you say so... But it makes me a little uncomfortable anyway." Somehow, for Sam, it went better than she expected. Mathias paid for everything. After that, Mat walked Sam home. Already at the door of her house. "Mat, thanks for today! It was fun," she was smiling, cheerful. "Yes it was! So..." "Yes?" "Would you like to go on a date with me another day?" he asked. "I would love to." After that, they said goodbye and Mat went back to his house. "So... That went well, didn''t it?" thought Mat. "Wait a second," Mat said to himself as he walked. "Whew... I''m not used to this kind of thing... And neither is he." Samantha mused to herself in her room. "But it was fun... Wait a second..." "We didn''t talk about starting a relationship..." They said in unison in different places. ...They became a couple on the second date because they forgot to talk about it on the first date, as you have already witnessed. In addition to this, the routine of these two changed a bit. They added these: ? Mathias would accompany Sam to go dress shopping (which in the end he only wore two or three times.) They both enjoyed this. ? Sam would accompany Mat in his daily activities, which were: helping other people, sweeping public spaces (for some reason), exercising, etc. It was tedious for him at first, but he got used to it and eventually liked it. ? Sam helped Mat, and Erin, with their studies. She was good at teaching. ? They went to the movies once in a while. ? Occasionally they talked on the phone in the evenings. They talked about anything. They enjoyed hearing each other''s voices. ? After James got his driver''s license, and his own car (His parents bought it for him. Mat''s mother wanted to give him one too, but Mat didn''t want one because he wanted to get it himself. Ah, Mat had a license too.), Mat, Sam and the others would occasionally go into town, for a drive. They reached only 5, but. ? Mat, Sam and Andrew went to the arcade, once in a while. ? Mathias started reading some books and doing some research so he could help Samantha write. ? Mathias and Samantha would fight from time to time, but it was over trivial things, and... They really only argued a little. ? Sam would force Mat to use his powers so that he would have more mastery over them. He would also take advantage of the moments when his mark was glowing to do so. He would form simple to quite complex figures. Furthermore, he went so far as to put together a functional Rubik''s cube with his PSI Creations. ...This was boring, don''t you think? But... This is very, very relevant to the story, I swear to you. Vol. 6 Extra chapter: Birthday. Date: January 15th, 1987. That day was Mat''s birthday and they were going to celebrate it. Mat didn''t want them to do anything for it since he didn''t like that kind of event, but... Sam managed to convince Mathias'' mother to do something, as it was a very important day. Mat''s party was supposed to be at his house at six o''clock in the evening, and only a small group of people (his friends) were supposed to attend. But... "Huh? But why?" Mat complained. Mat was outside his house, at the door. It was snowing a bit. His mother and Sam were there, talking to him. "Mat, stop that, it''s because it''s your birthday, that''s why," said his mother. "At least let us celebrate your birthday like this once." Seriously, he didn''t like to celebrate his own birthdays, not even with his family. "B-but..." "No buts!" Samantha demanded, yelling loudly at him. Mat freaked out. "Last year he wouldn''t let me celebrate it, but now nothing will stop me from doing it. It''s YOUR birthday, so why would you help? Just wait, we do everything, okay? You don''t always have to be on the lookout to help us... Just for today let others take care of it, okay?" "...Okay," Mat replied. "In the meantime, go to Sam''s house," said his mother. "To hang out with Andrew. Oh, and be back by six." "Okay, mom," she replied. "See ya!" "Bye," they both said and went inside. Mat stood there. They closed the door in his face. "Ah." After a while, inside Mat''s house, Sam said to herself, "Wait... I told Andrew to come help too..." To give you a little more context, Sam planned this two days ago and convinced Mathias'' mother to do it. Mat''s mother bought snacks, decorations, and... those things; they also prepared the place for the party (which in itself... was just going to be like a simple gathering). Sam also had Nicole prepare a simple cake (she knew how to prepare that among other things), and to convince her he told her that her brother would go (actually, he did it as a joke) and she accepted without hesitation... Ah, she did this a day ago. She also wanted to get Erin to collaborate by doing something, but... "Nah, that''s fine. I''m not good at this stuff. If I get into this, I might end up slowing you down." That''s what she said, and in a sense, it was true, but the thing is, she was lazy to do anything. The thing is, Mat went to Sam''s house to see her brother. "Drew? He went out an hour ago," said Sam and Andrew''s grandmother. "I think he went to his grandfather''s." Mat went over there and... "He left a while ago," Grandpa said. "He was helping me, but he remembered he had something important to do and told me he was leaving." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Did he say where?" "No, he didn''t." "I see." They talked for a while and Mat left. "Well, never mind," he said to himself. In the end, he went with James (he was at his house with his other friends when Mat went, they talked for a while), and at that moment, he was going to his party with him (it was six o''clock). When he got home, he saw that everything was closed, but Sam was there. "Oh, you came," she said. "Ah, hi, James!" "Hi," he answered her. "Huh? Well, yeah, but... Why? Weren''t you going to celebrate my birthday?" "Oh, about that..." Sam said. "Follow me." "Oh, okay," said James. "...OK," Mat said. They followed her and had small talk on the way. Finally, they arrived at... Nicole''s house? "Wait, this is the place?" asked Mat. "Yes!" Sam answered. Nicole was at the door. "The birthday boy is here!" she exclaimed. She brought the three of them in. Mat''s mother was there, Erin was there, and... she was there because she was told it was going to be at four, but no; she was forced to help. Andrew was also there (his sister made him help with... with anything). Reina was there, her parents were there (they allowed the party to be there because Mat had helped them... and that). Besides them, there were... wait, why were there kids? Ah, they were Mat''s friends too... well. To sum up a bit what happened there, Mat''s birthday party was a simple one. In itself, it wasn''t as Mat expected since, although it was his birthday, that party seemed to be made for the kids that were invited, which were about ten, but... he was happy. They sang to him, ate cake, and something else. Oh, and something else happened too. After singing to him, his mother said a few words and, after that, she approached Mathias and said, "Oh, Mathias, my boy, you are already becoming quite an adult." She showered him with kisses. "Mom...!" They all looked at that scene, which felt a bit awkward and... they laughed. "You''re going to become a good man, I know that very well." After a while, they went to the backyard. And after that, they started playing there, and after that... |||||||||||| "Hey," the spiky-haired young man said to me. "What''s wrong?" "If you''re going to tell us about it like that, without any desire, then... what are you telling us for?" "I''m sorry." "Brother," Alaya said. Ah, yes. He called him brother, but he wasn''t really his blood brother... nor anything else, well. "Uncle Zoron has been telling us this all day because you asked him to, don''t claim him like that." "Huh? I asked him? I told him to give me information about the other heroes, not this. He is telling us like this because YOU are here." "It''s true, I did it for her. And... it''s not like I''m getting tired of it." "Huh? What do you mean, for me? And you really don''t get tired?" Alaya claimed. "Why?" "I''ll tell you what''s important." "Hey, don''t ignore her," Eliah complained to me. "That''s something they must not know. Oh, and in case anyone else is watching this, and I know they are, those two are nineteen and eight, respectively." "Th-that''s..." "Uncle... That''s... that''s scary," Alaya freaked out because she was told that she''s being watched. "B-but... wow, am I really nineteen already? The passage of time is strange..." "Yes." |||||||||||| So here''s the important thing, now. Erin, who was inside, chatting with Nicole and playing with some kids in the snow, was now ready to leave. Then, from the corridor, she saw that there were children still playing and that Mat and Sam were sitting together at the stairs of the entrance. They were talking about something. "They look so good together... I... agh... no... I shouldn''t pry anymore," Erin thought. "Hey, Erin, what are you doing staring at them for so long?" Andrew asked. "Ah!" she panicked. "...What? You''re scary..." After about three hours (since it started), the party ended and everyone left. |||||| "Was that all?" Eliah asked. "Yes." "Really? Nothing else?" Eliah claimed. "So... ah, that''s why it was an extra, right?" "Yes." "I see... well, I''m bored already... Hey, Alaya, do you want to play a game?" "I do!" While they went to the room where I had my collection of... stuff, I said to myself, "Now something a little more interesting is starting. Wait... where are they going? Hey, wait, I''m coming too!" For some reason, I forgot they were gone. Well, the thing is, I finally went with them and so. Ah, if you wanted to know, I''ll just say that some of the things I had in there were game consoles from different eras; mostly, they were human game consoles. Vol. 7 Chapter 25: A strange place. Good morning. Mat was in the void again and saw the Hero before him in front of him, again. Looks like you were affected by the other time, or am I wrong? Well... I got it right! ...Ah, okay, it did, but... That was a while ago. I''m better now. That''s good. Yeah... Uh-huh... They were silent. Well, I think it''s time to tell you more, said the young black-haired man. I was a ''Hero,'' like you, but I failed in my mission. I died, and now you succeed me, heh. He laughed at the end; Mat didn''t know why. W-what do you mean you died? Yeah, yeah. It''s a long story, but it''s like this. You''re my ''successor'' and all, but... How do I put it? ? The young man sighed and said, You''re too weak. This... Mathias was not shocked, not at all. I was somewhat similar to you. I had powers of electricity (also others)... Although I had them after doing something, and you''re going to find out what it is soon. Besides, the mark serves to enhance your innate powers and your strength. It has more functions, but you''ll know about that. Although... said the young man and, just when Mat was about to ask him about being weak, he added, You also get stronger when you use it, but... Since it can''t be activated at will, you shouldn''t rely on it too much. I understand, he said with that face. Then how do I get stronger? Oh, and it''s to tell you if you''re the Hero when you wear The Medallion. Also, there are people with similar marks, but these don''t react to The Medallion. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ...What? Mat said, and thought, Medallion? So... What''s that about a medallion? You''ll find out. That''s not something I have to tell you yet. I understand, but... Aside from that, does that mean that the... The shiny things were my PSI Creations enhanced by the power of the mark? That''s exactly right. Ah! That''s... Unbelievable! If it happens to me again, I''m going to try to prove it better, Mat said, excited for some reason. But... I just realized something. How did I get here? Yeah... Speaking of which... It happened because you used the power of the mark. ...What? When? A few moments ago, you were passed out but you defended yourself. From who? You''ll see when you wake up, the young man replied, and added, Ah, and because of that, you became stronger... So I guess you''ll remember this conversation now. ...W-what? Oh, I see, Mathias replied. But... Well, if you want, I''ll explain some more things to you. Oh, and I''ll show you something that will help you, said the young man. That''s all right. The young man began to explain, in a simple and incomplete way, some things, such as spiritual power. He also taught him how to differentiate it from other kinds of abilities. On that... Huh? Mat felt as if he was being pushed. H-hey, what''s wrong? It''s time to wake up, he said. Go. B-but! . .. ... Yawn Good morning... You''re up at last! Mat! Uh... Huh? James? Nicole? Where am I? It was the voices of Mathias, Nicole, and James, yes, this same James who almost never showed up; yes, him. They were in a very dark room... Wait, it had bars. The walls were dark brick, they had mold on them. The floor had several cracks. Mathias''s mark was glowing faintly and... There were people lying on the floor (their clothes covered a lot of skin, they were also wearing a hood-like thing, and one couldn''t see their faces), with not very serious injuries (this was noticeable because some of their clothes were somewhat torn), at least as I see it... Or I saw them, rather. One of them had a flame similar to that of the victims from the other time, but... This one was somewhat different and it was on their chest. Mat didn''t notice it. I just remembered something important... No, it''s not very important, but you have to know it. Despite all the things Mat did with Erin (this sounded weird, at least to me), James was stronger, physically, than Mathias. Ah, they spoke in the order I mentioned earlier: Mathias, Nicole, James. You should say we are! But... I don''t know either... It looks like we''ve been kidnapped, but... It looks like we might be able to escape, James told him and pointed to where those people were lying. James seemed to remain calm, but Nicole was scared. Oh! I understand, but... How did we get here? Mathias asked. W-what? Y-you don''t remember? said Nicole. Are you serious? James complained. It must be because we were knocked unconscious? Well. This... You really don''t remember? said Nicole, who crawled up to him. Here, let me remember, he began to think, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. ... The two of them just looked at him... Vol. 7 Chapter 26 Part 1: That day, earlier. It was that day, November 27, 1987. Mat had planned to go out with Sam for their second anniversary, but... Oh, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot... Tomorrow is supposed to be our anniversary, but... What are we supposed to do? Last year we went to a restaurant together, which was kind of expensive (and I paid for everything, but that''s okay), but now... How can I make it be better? Mat was in his room, lying down, looking up at the ceiling. It was a Friday. The time, 12 o''clock in the afternoon. Putting them in context, Samantha, who was only going to stay in that town for a year, ended up staying longer than two because she liked the place and... Because of you-know-what. It had been two years since the other thing. Mat and Sam were already in a relationship of almost two years (Oh, and Sam had changed her hairstyle, one that was... kind of peculiar, she had spiky hair now, it was shorter than before too. This happened because she lost a bet with her friends and... In the end she kept it, she liked it). Besides that, these two... These two still didn''t know what to study and stuff (they didn''t know what to do with their lives)... For that reason they were taking a year off or something, I don''t know. I think that''s why. Also, Mat was working part-time in a minimarket in town, well... The only one in town. He wasn''t working that day, because he had asked for a week off, which ended on Sunday. Wait... I got confused. |||||||| "What a good storyteller..." Eliah. "Sorry." Now that I realized, I guess I didn''t narrate some things right, but meh, what''s done is done. "Yeah, uncle, it''s okay. I understood." said Alaya. "You too. Right, Eli?" "I guess so." "Ah, okay, let''s keep going." |||||||| Continuing with the context... Both were not studying, but... Mathias wasn''t doing it because he didn''t know what career to study, but Samantha wanted to study Language and Literature (I think you know why) and... For some reason, she didn''t want to enter until she had achieved something in her life. Besides that, Samantha wrote a short novel and wanted to publish it. After doing all the editing and stuff, and seeing if it had any mistakes or weird stuff in it, she decided to send it to a publisher. Well... She sent it to three, but... They all rejected it. |||||| "Oh... Geez..." Eliah. |||||| This was a bit of a shock to Sam. She liked to write, but... Apparently, her skills at it were not good enough. Because of this situation, she became depressed. She locked herself in her room. She had no appetite. She felt that she was not enough... It hit her pretty hard. Her brother and grandparents didn''t know what to say to her. I mean... They were trying to help her, but... She was still pretty much the same. She was happy that her family supported her, but... It didn''t seem to be enough... Besides, her grandmother told her that since it didn''t work out, she should do something else. Well, to sum up what''s going on here, she realized that this was something like a test. He thought he should really get better and stuff. Mat, not having seen her for a couple of days, went to visit her, got her to finally come out and they talked about it. Mat gave her words of encouragement, just as she had done the other time. After that, they talked about what she should do, how she should do it. Mat offered her his help as well. And that. So Sam recovered from that |||||| "Son of a... Narrate well!" "!" Alaya, surprised. "a," me. "...Uncle, I wanted to know what happened, everything..." "Yes, but... The chapter was going to be very long otherwise." |||||| . .. ... Well, continuing with the present, it''s what Mat did the day he was kidnapped, trying to remember how it happened. "Let''s see..." "Ah! I know," he said to himself. He had decided to go to the amusement park that was in a nearby city. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. He went out of his room. He went down to the second floor, where his mother was chatting with her brother, that is... Mat''s uncle. "I''ll be right back!" Mat said as he was leaving. "Ok, Mat," said his uncle. "Try to be back before dinner," said his mother. "Okay!" He went out. Once outside, he walked for a long time until he reached the park, but not without running into acquaintances. In the park, he ran into Andrew and Erin. "Hi!" "H-hello." "Hi, Mat... You''re going to see Samantha, aren''t you?" "Yep!" "I see..." "You guys have been going steady for two years now, right?" Andrew said. "I didn''t expect it to last this long..." "Huh?" Mat said, confused. "Forget it," Andrew said. "Right, they''re lasting a lot longer than we expected..." said Erin. "I don''t understand what they see in each other." "And when they go out together they hardly do anything either," said Andrew. "C-could you not tell me to my face that you''re not in favor of our relationship?" Mat told them, while smiling goofily with his eyes closed, looking uncomfortable too. Ah, mind you, these two were just teasing a bit, and there was no other intention behind it. Seriously. "Agh, well, what are you going to do for your anniversary?" Erin asked. "That''s... That''s a surprise," said Mat. "W-what?" said Andrew. "That''s what you should tell Sam, not me," said Erin. "Although... You shouldn''t say it like that either, don''t be silly." "Yeah, well... The thing is, I decided to go to an amusement park with her." "Oh, really?" said Erin. Andrew didn''t say anything, but what Mat said caught his attention. "Yes! The one in the city." "Wow, that''s... Very nice indeed, but... That''s unfair!" Erin exclaimed. "It is, isn''t it? I... Wait, what?" "You never took me to one, how come you''re taking her?!" Erin complained, but... That doesn''t make sense to me... Nor for Mat. Although... Nah, it doesn''t matter. "H-hey, take it easy!" Mat said to Erin, who was shaking him. Andrew was just watching, he seemed to be amused. "Hey, do something, don''t just stare!" Andrew ignored him. The ghost that isn''t a ghost suddenly appeared and said, "Alas, youth." ? Andrew turned to look at the ghost that isn''t a ghost, quizzical. No one helped Mat. . .. ... "Yeah well... So... I''ll see you, okay?" said Mat. "Bye, Mat," said Erin. Andrew waved his hand, as if to say goodbye. Mat went to Samantha''s house. "Oh, that''s right," said Andrew. "What''s that?" "My older brother came to visit today," Andrew replied to Erin. "Really? Why don''t you go see him?" asked Erin. "That''s... Agh, I don''t feel like seeing him..." "I understand... Nah, just kidding. Tell me why." "Huh? Well... That''s something..." "It''s because Ugh! Agh! Egh!" "Hey, shut up!" Andrew was... Trying to get the non-ghost ghost to shut up. "Wait... It''s not like she could hear you." The ghost that isn''t a ghost disappeared again. "?!" Erin was confused. "Of course I can... At least I can hear it now." "What?" "What?" it appeared again. "Come on, tell me!" Erin kept insisting, ignoring Andrew''s surprise at finding that out. "Or I''ll hit you!" "No! Well... It''s just that... I can''t say, it''s personal." "Uff... And you don''t want to tell me... It''s okay, it''s okay." Andrew seemed... A little scared at the moment. "I''m not going to insist anymore, okay?" "Okay." "So..." "How long are you going to keep bothering Mat?" "Bother him how?" "You know, about your sister." "Ah." (chuckles) "That''s, uh... I don''t know, it''s just weird. She''s my sister and... It''s... Besides..." "Besides?" "...I thought the two of you were going to dat..." "You better shut up already," she said, smiling. "Uh... Sorry." But you started it... Oh, well. Vol. 7 Chapter 26 Part 2 Getting back to Mat, he had just arrived at Sam''s house (there was a car outside). He knocked on the door, and was opened by Sam''s grandmother. "Welcome, young Mathias!" "Hello!" "Come in, come in. Samantha is inside." Mathias came in. In the living room were Sam''s grandfather, her and... Christopher. They were sitting on the sofas there (there was also a low table in the center) and I don''t think I mentioned them at the beginning of this... But never mind. Her grandma went to the kitchen after making Mat come in. "Good morning!" "Good morning, Mathias," Grandpa replied. "Hello Mat!" Sam greeted him cheerfully. "Good morning to you," replied Christopher. "Oh... Hi Christopher! See you after years," Mat said to him, and approached him, sitting next to him, on the same sofa. Chris noticed his left hand. "And how are you doing?" Christopher looked uncomfortable, and Mat noticed that. Ah, also, Christopher was now working with his father at the company. I think I mentioned this already... |||||||||| "No, you didnt... I think," Eliah said. "Eh... I dont remember..." said Alaya. "Arent you two paying attention!? Oh, well. Lets continue..." I said. |||||||| "Ah, sorry, sorry... So... How are you doing?" Mat said this after moving a little away from him. "When did you arrive?" "Christopher arrived two hours ago," Sam told him. "But..." "Just when he arrived, Andrew disappeared," said his grandmother, and laughed a little, who had just brought a cup of tea. "Here you have, Chris." "Thank you, Grandma," Christopher replied. "What my grandmother said," said Sam. "Although I didnt quite understand why..." "It must be because of his personality," said Grandpa. "Andrew was always very shy, and he never had many friends, so seeing his older brother after all these years can be a little... complicated for him." "Yes, you cant judge him for that," Christopher said. "But to just disappear like that, out of nowhere, is... Its a little rude, dont you think?" said Sam. "It is," said Christopher, and added, "But it doesnt matter." "Yeah... Well... Ah, thats right!" exclaimed Mat. "?," all of them. "I came to tell Sam something," said Mat. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That was obvious, why else would he visit his girlfriend''s house? Ah, Christopher knew about that. "Oh, so..." said Grandma. "Come on out and have a chat then." "Right now? B-but..." said Samantha, she was about to mention Christopher, but her grandmother went on. "Its okay, you can talk to him later, theres time." "B-but..." said Sam and at that moment she thought: "Wait, shouldnt she have said no, since I can always talk to Mat and not Chris? Besides... Christophers changed quite a bit and hes really nice to talk to now." When Sam went to town, Christopher was still distant and cold to her, but now? He treated her as someone very close, and Sam was happy about that. "Just go," Christopher said. "You should make the most of your time together, life doesnt last forever." "?," everyone. "...Tsk," Christopher made a noise, something like a laugh. "Ignore what I said. Sometimes I say things out of the blue. And well, go now." "O-okay," Mat said. They both went out. They went for a walk for a while. "And what was that you wanted to tell me?" asked Samantha. "Oh, well..." Mat said, and thought at that moment, Should I say it up front or not? Nah, it doesnt matter. "Tomorrow is our second anniversary and..." "What, its tomorrow?" Sam said. She seemed... being surprised by that. "Really?" "Well, yeah, wait... Dont tell me you... You forgot, didnt you?" There was silence for a few seconds. "...Im sorry." That was the only answer Sam gave her. "...Its okay," Mat said. "Its not like forgetting about it is something... You know." "Something what?" "You know?" He changed the subject in a not-so-subtle way. "...I dont know," Sam replied. "Uh... Well... About our anniversary... Would you like to go to the amusement park in the city?" "What? Really? Yes, I want to go! This would be my first time going to one, since I never went when I was little; besides, when I wanted to go once, my parents didnt want me to, and..." she was silent for a few moments. "But well, I do want to go!" "Ok." "When are we going?" Samantha asked, excited. "What? Well... Tomorrow, because its the 28th and its our anniversary," Mat replied. "Is it really? Time flies by... And it scares me a little." "Why is that?" Mathias asked. "Because... Well, you know. Were not immortal and that." "Oh, I understand, I understand. But... We shouldnt worry about that, not for now," Mat said, smiling, and added, stopping smiling, "Although..." "Yes... Life can end in the blink of an eye, in an instant..." "True..." "But it doesnt matter! Lets stop talking about depressing things," Sam said. "B-but if you started it... Oh, well." "And so... Sorry me for asking this now, but... How are you doing with your book?" Mat asked. "My book?" "Yep." "Ah, well... About that... Mmm..." Sam seemed a little embarrassed. "I got stuck writing a part of it, and well... I havent written anything all day... Wait, I didnt write last night either." "Really, can I help you with something?" Mat asked. "Huh? Well... I dont know. Its a conversation between two of my characters, so..." "Let me help you, please," Mathias begged. "...Thats fine," Sam told him and started to give him the context of the conversation. They kept walking for a long time, talking about Sam''s book (in the end it did help him... A little), until they reached the park and met up with Erin and Andrew. After that, at lunchtime, they went back to Sam''s house and she stayed there. Andrew didn''t go with them and better went to lunch with Erin, because he didn''t want to see his brother, but Erin took her to the cafeteria where, for some reason, Nicole was still working. Really, she was just helping out for those days. Oh, and to put them more in context... Those two didn''t study at all... Ah, I''m talking about Andrew and Nicole. Andrew... He was in college, but... He withdrew from it after his first midterm. The reason? He didn''t like being around a lot of people and feeling pressured. Poor thing... Oh, and Nicole was also in that university, studying another career (which I think you already know what it is), and she withdrew at the same time he did... Mmm... Suspicious. Ah, don''t believe it, she had come back from the city because it was a weekend to visit her family. But the Andrew thing is true. Mat returned home at lunchtime as well. After that, he got to thinking about what else to do to make their second anniversary more... Memorable... Hmm? Well. He started thinking about whether to give her something as a present and... He remembered that Sam still had the necklace he had given her when they were kids, so he decided to make her a new necklace, much better than the one he had made when they were kids. He finished making it in the evening, an hour after dinner (it took him a long time thinking whether to make a similar design or a different one, plus he didn''t use his powers, among other things). The necklace he made was, so to speak, an improved version of the previous one... And yes, in the end he did do that. It was almost nine o''clock. Vol. 7 Chapter 26 Part 3 I should go out for a while. Mat thought, and he did. He wanted to visit Samantha at that hour, but... According to him, it was already too late for that. So he started walking down the street, aimlessly, apparently. He walked for a while until he came to the coffee shop where Nicole worked. They had just closed. There, Mat ran into her. "Hi, Nicole!" "Hi, Mat." "How''s it going? Oh, closing?" "Good! And yes... Can''t you see?" She said it a little... teasing, I think. She seemed to be happy. "Ah, right." "And you, how are you doing?" Nicole asked. "Fine, fine," he answered. "I was walking for a while to... To... What was it for?" "Hahaha... Don''t do that, it makes you sound like a child and... That''s ugly." She wasn''t amused. "Ah... I''m sorry." "That''s alright... Anyway, since you seem to be free, could you walk me home?" Nicole asked. "Huh? Ok." They walked home together, until, on the way... "You look happy, did something happen?" Mat asked. "Oh? No, nothing, just that today Andrew came to the cafeteria and... We didn''t talk much, but at least we saw each other and... That was it." "Ah, so that was it. Wait, she said it was nothing? Never mind." "So... Are you doing anything over the weekend?" Mat asked. "Yes," she replied. "I''m going to visit my sister..." She got a little sad after saying that. "Oh... I see..." Mat replied. "So... May I join you?" "Thanks, Mat, but... I don''t know, though... A little company wouldn''t hurt. So come, if you like..." "Ok..." The mood was lowered due to the tone of the conversation. "..." "..." "Come on, Mat, don''t be like that," Nicole replied. "It''s all right... Things happen for a reason." "Yeah, I know, I know. ''And we have to learn to deal with it and move on.''" This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. "...Is that what the phrase was?" "No, I just made it up, but it gets the point across, doesn''t it?" Mat said, laughing a little. "Yeah." She laughed too. After that, they walked for a while more, talking about trivial things, and then Mathias noticed that something was out of the ordinary. At that hour the streets of the town were not very busy (although there was the occasional pedestrian), but... At that moment, silence reigned. There was no one around. The thing is, by the time Mat realized it, he... . .. ... "Ah, so that''s how it happened," Mat said. "So... What are you doing here?" "What?" "W-what are you saying, Mat? He was with us..." Nicole told him. "Was he?" "Agh, yes. I found you while I was coming back from shopping in a store, and I accompanied you." "Ah... I see..." replied Mat, who had forgotten about James. "So... What do we do now? Does anyone know where we are?" "...No idea," Nicole replied. "We were passed out for a long time." "We woke up half an hour ago, I think," James replied. "And... Well... We don''t know what time it is, either." "Hmmm... What if I break the wall with my powers?" Mat said, after giving a PSI flashlight, which he had just created, to Nicole. He threw it at her, and she almost didnt catch it. "...You can do that, can''t you?" James said. Mat made another flashlight and threw it to James, who caught it like it was nothing. Nicole noticed that, for some reason. "But..." "We should see if there are more people in this place," Nicole said. "Mat, if there are more people... We should..." "I understand..." Mat said, after creating a flashlight for himself. "Let''s do it." "Oh, wow. He agreed without hesitation," James said. "He did, didnt he?" said Nicole, and added, in a half-mocking tone, "He''s a Hero, after all." "H-hey, don''t make fun," said Mat. Oh, right. Sam told about that to the others at the end (she didnt tell them he lost) and they teased him about the Hero thing from time to time. Although at the moment it wasnt very... You get the point. "But seriously," James said. "That calling you a Hero is very..." "You sound like a silly kid." "That''s right." "H-hey..." In case you''re wondering, the conversation changed tone because these three didnt want to stress each other out any more than they already were. Oh, and Nicole wasnt so scared anymore. Well, back on the scene... "These here should have..." James was inspecting the bodies of the passed-out guys for anything useful. "Hey, James, what are you doing?" Nicole asked him. "There they are!" James said. He had found a bunch of keys on one of them. "Huh? What''s that for?" asked Mat. "You know what..." "Yeah, yeah, you can break doors and stuff, but dont you think it''s better not to draw attention to yourself?" James told him and started rummaging around again to find something else to help them. He found some sort of paper cards, but they were torn. He thought that happened because of Mats attacks. He ignored them. "Also, these doors are very thick, so it would take you quite a while to break them." "You''re right, it takes a while..." Nicole said and started to think. "Yes... That''s our best option." "Oh, I found something else," said James. "This... This is a map, isnt it?" "Lets see it," Mat said and went to look at it. "This is chaos." "Lets see, lets see," said Nicole, interested in what these two were looking at. "This... This is like a labyrinth, and..." They all looked at one part of the map. "Specimen?" said James, confused. "So... Nah, I dont think that''s it." "What did you think?" asked Nicole. "...Nothing," James replied. "Hey, let''s get out now," said Mat, looking impatient. "Okay..." Nicole said. They left the room, but not before having Mat tie them to the wall with his PSI creations (Nicoles idea). Now Im going to have to concentrate on keeping them... He thought. Already outside, James realized something. "Hey, Mat." "Yeah?" "How about locking them up?" "..." "..." "..." "Right," Nicole said. They did. They checked them thoroughly again for means of escape. "Thats it, then..." Mats voice. "Now we have to get out..." Nicoles voice. "But... How?" James'' voice. "We have a map, but... We really dont know where we are." They didnt know where they were on the map... And where the place they were in was located. Vol. 7 Chapter 27: Labyrinth. "Agh!" Nicole had just complained, in the middle of the darkness (they had the flashlight, but... Anyway, it was dark). "This map is useless!" It was true. The map didn''t mark locations... Wait, what if it wasn''t really a map? "Shhh..." They both did, and Mat said, "Be quiet..." "...Sorry." They had been walking for five minutes. The room they came out of was in a long corridor with no ceiling (on the map there were several corridors just like this one), in which there were several rooms. They entered them, but they were empty. Mat told them there was nothing, but those two wanted to go in anyway, just in case there was something. After a while, they came to a large area, in which there were several more paths (four counting the one they had come from). "...There are similar places on this map," said James. "Gosh..." said Nicole. "...Let''s just keep going," said Mat. "But... Which way?" asked James. "The... The one on the right," said Nicole, pointing that way. "Ah, ok," said both of them. They kept walking down that way, where there were no rooms. "But seriously..." "Huh?" said Mat. James said nothing. "Who came up with the idea of designing such a place? I don''t get it... But never mind, let''s go on." "O-okay..." Mat. After a while, something happened. "Hey, wait," Mat said. "W-what''s wrong?" asked Nicole. "S-something''s coming." "Uh... What?" James shouted. "Watch out!" Mat put a green PSI barrier around the group. Sound waves started to crash against it, but... They didn''t do anything to it. "W-what was that?" James asked. "Ah... Ah... M-Mat..." Nicole hid behind him, for some reason... Wait, she sounded weird... "That... Heh, I don''t see anything," Mat said, smiling nonchalantly. "...You''re amazing, Mat," said James. "Really?" He seemed happy to hear that. "Mat," Nicole tugged at his shirt. "That wasn''t a compliment." "Oh... I see." "Yeah, yeah, but... Do something! What the hell was that?" James said. It attacked again. "Ah!" Nicole covered her ears, for some reason. The sound wasn''t getting through the barrier much, because the barrier was thicker than normal, so it was useless. "M-Mat!" "Ok... Oh," said Mat, after the one doing that stopped. He removed the barrier. "H-hey, Mat," said James hesitantly. "There you are." Mat created a... A sort of PSI tip that came out from the tip of his index finger (it was pointing to where it was supposed to be). I hope I don''t kill it, he thought. The PSI tip, barb, spear, whatever PSI, went through something. "Gotcha," Mat said, and made his spear into a kind of hook and pulled it. "Mat!" She hid behind James now. "That is... Oh, God, what is that?" Mat. Mat pulled it towards them and covered it in a pink PSI barrier. What he pulled in was... A strange creature. It was humanoid in shape, with its body covered in... Black stuff. It had two large, insect-like red eyes and a pair of wings, which appeared to be... bird-like. It was strange. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "What is that thing?" James said. "Kill it, kill it! Ah!" Nicole was scared. "Hey, hey, don''t get distressed," said Mat, who was calm, smiling as he said that. "B-but you were the one who got distressed first," said James. "That''s true, but... Never mind," said Mat. "That thing... It reminds me of something." "It reminds me too," said James. "So what do we do to it?" "Mmm... I don''t know, I don''t feel an evil intention, but it attacked us... And, at the same time, it doesn''t seem to be a spirit, it doesn''t seem to have any..." What the hell is he talking about? thought Nicole and James. "Did it really kill him?" said Mat. "It''s just... It really doesn''t look like..." This... This really isn''t a spirit... It''s a living thing, but... So... Is it a monster? What should I do? thought Mat. "K... I... L... L... M... E..." "Huh?" The creature said that. "Hey, wait, can you talk?" Mat said. It didn''t answer. "Mat, make me a weapon!" James said. "What? What?" "Just do it!" Mat made two red PSI axes. He gave them to Nicole and James. "For me too? Th-thank you... I think." The creature was still locked in the PSI barrier. "Then I''m going to do it," James said, readying his weapon. "Mat, remove the barrier." "H-hey, this... Mmm... Okay," Mat said, but, before he did so... "What?!" The creature broke the PSI barrier, escaping and attacking the three, hitting them after flying between them. James acted quickly to attack it with the axe, wounding it, but... All three fell to the ground with minor damage. "Damn!" James exclaimed. "What was that, Mat?" said Nicole. "I don''t know, but..." Mat said, and thought, I don''t think I''ve lost my concentration, so... That creature is pretty strong. "That thing asked me to kill it and it attacked us? Nah, never mind." Mat stood up, the others did too. The creature was flying again. It was about to attack with its waves, but Mat covered the group with his barrier. After that, Mat removed it and pulled the creature with a yellow PSI rope, deducing where it was, by the direction of the attack. After pulling it and making it fall, Mat shouted, "Do it!" James and Nicole attacked the creature at that moment with their axes (Nicole moved away after doing so). The creature perished. Its blood was blue. "*gasp* So... That''s it," Mat said. "Mat, was it really necessary to do that?" James asked. "*gasp* Yeah... I was getting tired already, so that thing was going to kill us if we didn''t do it." "I understand..." said Nicole. "But... What the heck was that thing? It was..." "So that''s what he meant by specimen," James said. "So... Do they investigate ''monsters'' or... ''mutants'' or... whatever that was, here?" asked Nicole. "It looks like it, but... Why was that one free then, or did something happen?" said James. "Hey, that''s one thing, but then why are we here?" said Mathias. "If this place is for monsters, then it doesn''t make sense for us to be here." "You''re right," said Nicole. "But..." "What if we ask...? No, we''d better not," said Mat. "Let''s do it, we don''t lose anything," said James. "...I think." They went back. This place... This looks like a nightmare, Nicole thought at the time, as they walked back. In case you''re wondering, they weren''t worried about monsters existing. They already had experience with the supernatural by Mat. It took them ten minutes. When they arrived, they were still passed out... And waiting was not an option. In the end, it was a waste of time and they went back to the big room and... Well, the thing is, they went on their way out of that place, labyrinth I think, but... "...Are we going in circles or what?" Nicole said suddenly. "I feel like we''ve been through here several times already." "This... It''s getting boring," said James. "You don''t say... I''m going to mark the path with... A rope, I think, to see if we''re really going around," Mat said, and made a white PSI rope. "Oh, wow. First time it''s come out white." "Wait, you don''t decide what color it''s going to be?" Nicole asked. "Of course I don''t. It''s random," said Mat. "Ah." That''s all Nicole said. "Well... I hope I''m not overexerting myself," said Mat. They kept moving forward and came to meet the rope again. "B-but..." Nicole stammered. "...This is strange," Mat said. "What the hell is going on here? We didn''t turn around at any point?" James said. "Never mind, let''s go this other way," Mat said. ...I don''t think it was a good idea to make a rope, he thought. They kept moving forward, but... All the corridors were the same (I think I forgot, but they also had lights on the walls, but... They shone very little and were far apart from each other... Sorry for forgetting to tell you this). They all had secured doors (with nameplates, most were empty), but... The keys the group had were limited, about eight. "I think..." Nicole whispered. "?" Mat said. "I-I think the exit is in one of those doors," said Nicole, who was getting more and more frightened. "Let''s open one," said James. They approached one, but it didn''t open with any key. "*sigh* Let''s go to another one," James said. "We listened to Nicole, but... We''re not sure it''s true..." It was the same with the second, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and... "It opened," James said. "*gasp* Let''s go in," Mat said, tired from holding the rope, the lanterns, and the two axes, these two just in case. "Wait... First light up," said Nicole. "Ok..." said Mat, and lit the room with the flashlight, which was very dark. "Huh? Huh?" "B-but what...?" James hesitated. "Ah..." Nicole wanted to scream, but couldn''t. They found a very pale, bald man tied to a strange chair. Describing him further, he was stocky and tall and dressed in rags. Around the chair, no... There was blood all over the room, especially around the chair and on the walls. There was no plaque outside the room. "Is he d-dead?" Nicole asked. "I-I think so, but..." James said. "Should we see him?" asked Nicole. "Wait," said Mat. "He''s... He''s still alive. You can see it in his spiritual power." That again? thought the other two. "Let''s go see him," Mat said. "...All right," James told him. "H-hey..." said Nicole, scared. She was shaking. "I''m... I''m going to stay here." "Okay," Mat told her, turning to her and giving her a thumbs up. They both went to look at the man, but... "Oh, shoot! This... What the heck is this?" James exclaimed. "This is not a person!" After lighting his face, the man... He didn''t really have a face. "Wait..." said Mat, and continued, after moving closer, a little frightened. "Yes, it is..." Vol. 7 Chapter 28: Monster. They stood there, doing nothing. Nicole was scared, James was scared, and Mat... He wasn''t saying anything. "..." "..." "...I''m going to release him." "Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Nicole exclaimed. "But what do you intend to do?" "I''m..." "Mat, that thing is a monster," said James. "There''s a reason it''s... like this." "Yeah, but..." "Mat, a monster attacked us earlier, what makes you think this one won''t?" James said. "It''s just... it doesn''t have an evil aura, and that''s why..." "Mat, you said the same thing about the other one!" Nicole complained. At that. "Help... me..." The group heard a strange, horrible voice whispering in their ears. Everyone was startled and Nicole almost had a heart attack... I''m exaggerating. "It was you, wasn''t it?" Mat said and... he released it with his powers. "Mat, what have you done?!" James was scared by... that. The humanoid creature got up and... "Maaaaat!" Nicole screamed, but the creature did nothing. It simply walked away from Mat, sat down on the floor. The chair it was tied to sparked. It was like to electrocute it. Oh, so that''s what it was for? Disturbing... Mat thought. The creature, already sitting up, said, I think... It would be better to say it whispered, but it''s too redundant already: "Thank you." It said again as a whisper. "Y-you''re welcome," Mat said. "B-but... what are you?" "W-what do you mean with t-that? That... that''s... that''s very rude of you." It whispered again, and from the words it used, they stopped being afraid. "Ah, I understand, sorry..." Mat said. Nicole moved closer to James and said, whispering to him: "Hey, James... what''s going on?" "I have no idea." Mat was... talking to the creature at the time, then went to where the other two were and said to them: "Guys, it''s harmless." He said it with a smile. "A-are you serious?" asked Nicole, who didn''t trust Mat''s words because of... because of the creature''s appearance. "Yes." He replied while nodding his head. "Agh..." It whispered again, but... this time it sounded as if it was in pain. When the three of them turned to look at it, it had several wounds. It looked like... it looked as if its own body was hurting him, as its limbs separated, injuring it, and it was bleeding from where there were no wounds. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "Are you all right?" The first to approach was Nicole, who looked worried. Also... she seemed to have overcome her fear, at least at that moment. "I am..." The creature was starting to... whisper better, so to speak. It was articulating its words better. After whispering it, its wounds regenerated, much to everyone''s surprise. "Such it seems... our transformation was a failure... but..." whispered the creature. Our transformation? What is it talking about? thought Mathias. "Mat, hey." Nicole approached him. "...What''s going on? I''m scared..." "Are you as scared as you were when you almost proposed to Andrew?" Mat said, and got slapped almost instantly. "...I''m sorry. But... I don''t understand what''s going on either." "Do you want us to tell you what''s going on?" Whispered the creature. "Do they know?" James asked. "But how? You... I mean... YOU guys never left here, did you? How do you know that then?" "That''s true, but... we can hear everything that goes on in this place. We heard you guys when you were coming, but... we couldn''t do anything. Amazing how you survived an artificial monster and defeated it, though." They whispered. "Artificial monsters?" Mat asked. "Now we tell you about it, although we may not get everything we say right, because there are some things we barely heard and we could have distorted them." They whispered again. What that creature said was that they were in a kind of laboratory, on one of the lower floors. That place had been designed that way so that the test subjects, the people they were taking and locking in groups, could not escape. In addition to that, they placed failed and weak, but functional specimens to roam around the place, which, for some reason, only killed humans. All this was for the purpose of making the subjects feel despair, depression, and anxiety about their situation. If this was achieved, they made the survivors experience extreme pain, without killing them (that''s why the blood... which was from several people), to increase their spiritual power, and then inject them with a strange liquid, with which began their mutation... or evolution, as they said. How is it that those who performed these experiments were not killed by the monsters/mutants? Each group of them carried a card, on which there was an unusual spiritual power and, apparently, the monsters recognized the superiority of that person''s spiritual energy and were afraid of them. Another thing is that in that place there were also natural monsters, that is... monsters that had been around forever, that were not artificially created, mostly, and that were under investigation. They also told them that they were not clear about the purpose of those experiments, but that they heard that there were more places like that. Oh, and that... the mutation of them, the creature, caused four people to merge into one. "I see..." Mat said. He seemed to be calm. "So that was it..." said James, who was starting to get a sick feeling. "And to think that we murdered one person..." "That''s... horrible." Nicole was in a cold sweat and shivering. She turned to look at Mat and said, "How can you be so calm right now? Did you hear everything they said? They were going to do that to us, and on top of that, we killed a person! So... why are you so...?!" "I''m not..." Mathias answered. "I''m worried about all this, but getting distressed isn''t going to solve anything." "And... it was a person that we couldnt save..." "Y-you''re right, but... still..." said Nicole. "Yeah, it really wont," said James. "Now let''s cut that out there, we need to get out." "Exactly. But... I noticed something." "What thing?" Mat asked. "Since you guys killed a monster, the investigators, or something, should have come, but no... it''s strange, though... this only happened once, and this is it." "Mathias." James said, and pointed at Mat. "He knocked out a bunch of them, and we locked them in our room." "Is that right? Then all the more reason they should have come, but no? It''s strange, but... let''s go out then." "You too!?" Nicole exclaimed. "Why shouldn''t we? Oh, that''s right... we are monsters... but..." "That doesn''t matter." Mat said. "To me you''re people, so... let''s get out!" "M-Mat!" Nicole. "...It''s okay. The more the merrier, right?" James said. "Besides it''s a monster, if another one attacks us, we''ll be able to defend ourselves better." "True, but... ugh... it''s okay." Nicole finally agreed and approached the creature. "So... my name is Nicole, nice to meet you..." "And mine is James, it''s a pleasure..." "And mine is... oh, right, you already know." "We heard you all the way, so we knew who you were. But... calling us monsters... it''s kind of weird, but since we don''t remember our names anymore, you should give us one." "Huh? And why us?" Nicole asked. "We thought that would be better." "I see." Mat said. "So..." "How about the name Victor?" suggested Nicole. "H-hey!" said Mathias. "We like it," said James. "It''s a normal person''s name, so it works." "Victor... Victor... sounds good. Thank you very much. We''ll be Victor from now on." "Yay!" Nicole didn''t seem to be afraid of them anymore. "It''s settled then," James said. "Oh, shoot..." said Mat, disappointed. "I wanted to name him The Faceless One, it sounds menacing, scary and..." Like the name of a monster and it''s simple at the same time, but I''m not going to say it, Mat thought. "That''s horrible..." "S-sorry." "Let''s go..." They whispered. "Yes!" said the rest. They left that room. Vol. 7 Chapter 29: Army of the undying Part 1. Victor recognized the path taken by the investigators. Oh, and they did not go to see them (the knocked out) because it was... it was going to be in vain, according to them. On the way, Victor went on to explain the abilities they had, or well, that they had discovered they had: they could hear sounds far away from them, they regenerated quickly and from their back came out a kind of tentacles (which seemed to be without... it seemed as if they were just muscle, without any layer of skin on top) that they controlled at will, and which were very strong, strong enough to pierce a person easily. They did not want to tell the details of the latter. When they reached the upper floor, they followed the path the researchers were supposed to have taken, but... "This is... different." Victor whispered. "What do you mean, different?" James asked. "Yes, how is that?" Nicole asked as well. "I mean... the path is still the same, but... it''s different at the same time..." "...What?" Mathias said. "But it doesn''t matter... let''s keep going." They continued walking until they came to a dead end... well, it did have a door, but it was locked. They couldn''t open it with any of their keys. The way was supposed to be that way, but now there was a room. "What now?" Nicole asked. "Hmmm... what if we look for another way?" Mathias proposed. "No, no... I think it would take longer this way. What if you open the door using your powers?" said James. "Ah, that... I''m going to try," Mat said, and, using his PSI Creations, he forced the steel door, which was really thick, and opened it. "Let''s go through." Nicole shuddered. "...I''m still not used to that," she said. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. They went inside. It was a room... long. It had a kind of strange smell, like... ash? Sulfur? Something like that. On the left side was a hatch, with some sort of computer next to it and, going straight ahead, there was a locked door. "Let''s keep going," Victor whispered and kept moving towards the door. James used one of the keys he had and unlocked it. As the four of them were about to leave, Mat heard something speaking to him. "Save us..." "Help..." "Free us..." What they were saying to him made almost no sense, and that was all Mat managed to hear... besides crying. "H-hey..." Mat said. "I think, in there, there''s... something." "What do you mean, something?" said Nicole. "You mean... mutants, like Victor? Ah, no offense," she said to Victor. "I guess, but... what if they are people who...?" Mathias said. "Ah, then... you want to release them," suggested James. "Yeah, but..." "Then do it, even if they''re not people, we can still... you know," James suggested as well. "Oh, okay." "B-but what are you saying, are you serious?" Nicole claimed. "You can''t do that!" "I''ll take responsibility," Mat told her, and added, "You guys stay away if you want." "All right, let''s go," James said. "..." "I''ll protect you all if anything happens." They went outside and Mat stayed behind to open that hatch. They''re too secured... Mat thought. After analyzing that hatch for a while, he realized that he couldn''t open it with conventional methods and that, after seeing that machine next door, he didn''t know how to operate it. So he decided to break it down with his PSI creations. At first, he didn''t succeed. "Mathias... don''t make so much noise," said Nicole. "Ok..." He did it again and... he broke it. Everything was dark inside. He shone his PSI flashlight. He saw several people in strange chairs. Tied up. It was similar to Victor''s, but there was no blood. Also, they had some sort of helmet on. They... are they human? ...I feel like they are, but... Even with those thoughts, Mathias released them using his PSI Creations. He cut off the things that were keeping them imprisoned. "This... Y-you can come out now," Mathias said. Those people just sat there. "H-hey." Mathias approached them. "Im starting to feel hostility, but why?" At that, those people got up without taking off the helmet that was connected to the chair. It had a long cable... they were kind of thin and... they were naked. "Huh?" But they didn''t have... nothing. They were flat on the chest and the crotch. They had, on the torso, like open wounds and... their heart was exposed, but it wasn''t moving. They started making strange noises. Agh! I should have known. Mat thought. They''re monsters... Mathias crushed them using a green PSI block. They... exploded. They were scattered all over the room. "I overdid it too much," Mathias said to himself, he was scared. "Hey, Mat," James said. "What was that?" "N-nothing," he said. "They were monsters and... you know." "...Shall we go now then?" James said. "Yes, yes..." They got out and went on their way. The path was confusing and all, but, according to Victor, that was the right one. When they were going, Mathias thought: Im still feeling that hostility... Vol. 7 Chapter 29: Army of the undying Part 2 At that, they came to a large room. It had several doors that, according to Victor, should not be there. When they were inside, Mathias, James, and Victor stood in front of those doors, but Nicole was next to the door they entered through. "Hey, hey," James said to Victor. "Are you serious? We''re depending on you, you know? How old is this knowledge you have of the place?" "Hey, hey, stop," Mat said. "That''s what you heard about, right?" "Indeed." "Then... because of that, it might be wrong... it''s not their fault." "But I just remembered something. What year are we in now?" "What? Well..." James said. "It''s 1987..." "Wait, don''t tell me that..." Nicole said. "The last date I heard was October 30, 1980. And that was before I heard anyone talk about the facility." "Oh... so... ah! Rightly so," James added. As they were talking, Nicole noticed something but didn''t say a word. Then, out of nowhere. "Agh!" Everyone turned around. The one who made that noise was Nicole. She was scared because one of the monsters, which Mat had smashed, made a strange noise behind her. After hearing that, Nicole fell down in fright and tried to get away from those monsters that were slowly approaching her, walking strangely, swaying from side to side. Without the helmet they were almost like the ones in the illustration next to her, but scarier (alas... I can''t draw well... Never mind.) They were fighting each other, for some reason; at that, one of them fell close to Nicole and, noticing her, grabbed her leg. Nicole kicked it several times to get away from it, but she couldn''t. "Nicole!" Mathias exclaimed. "Oh, Mathias, save me, help me, do something, ah!" cried Nicole. For some reason, this made me laugh a little bit as she was kind of squirming to get out of it, but... she was doing it in a comical way. Don''t judge me. "Ok! Huh?" At that, Mathias noticed something. "Huh? They''re more than before... No way." It took him a moment to act, and because of that, Victor attacked the creatures with his tentacles first. It looked painful. With that attack, he pierced through the... eight monsters that were there. "Huh?" James. It all happened so fast for him. "Ah... Ah..." Nicole was scared because they butchered creatures in front of her, but... "T-thank you..." She said that after turning to look at Victor. She hurried to get up to get away from there. She started to think something about those monsters, but she didn''t come to a good conclusion and didn''t say anything to her friends. "Let''s move on." Victor whispered that and chose one of the doors. They went that way. "This..." Mat said, before going through the door. He turned to look at the dismembered bodies of the creatures and... "No way!" The separated pieces of the creatures began to fuse together. The other pieces, being far away from the others, began to sort of regenerate and create another individual. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "H-hey," said Mat. "Look..." "What''s that, Mat? Huh?!" exclaimed James. "B-but how?" asked Nicole. Victor, without a second thought, attacked them again. "Wait!" Mat exclaimed, but by the time he did, it was too late. Victor had hacked them all to pieces again. "What''s wrong?" "This... I think those things... they multiply when you attack them." "What?" "That... See?" said Nicole, pointing at the ugly creatures. They were regenerating and new ones were appearing. "In that case, the only thing we can do is..." They said, and braced themselves. "Run away." They took off running. "What?" They said in unison, but followed them. Just as they did that, the creatures went wild and started jumping on all fours or running in strange ways. The group started running faster because of that. Nicole was running abnormally. "Hey, Mat!" James asked as they ran away. "Can you create explosives?" "W-what?" Mat replied. "No, I can''t." "I see..." James replied. They kept running through several corridors, following Victor. "Well... do something anyway!" "Ok, ok!" Mat replied. "Then..." He stopped, standing back and... created a pink PSI barrier, blocking the way to the... sixty of those monsters. "That''s enough, isn''t it?" said Mathias. "I guess so," said James. "L-look!" said Nicole. The monsters were hitting the barrier ferociously while screaming horribly (as well as fighting each other). The barrier started to crack. They decided to keep running away while Mat put up more barriers. After a while... "Let''s see, let''s see... this is all in place..." a man, dressed like the guys Mathias knocked out, was checking some kind of tablet (?). He was walking down a hallway. "The specimens on this floor are all in place apparently." He kept walking until he reached an elevator, and went down. As he went down, he kept checking his tablet. "This place is too big, then... why are only thirty people managing it?" A while later, he reached the bottom floor and got out. He walked around for a little while. "Let''s see... will the test subjects we brought in be all right?" he said. "Well... yeah, they seem to be lasting a long time..." He turned to look up, for some reason. "I hope the brethren are doing well..." he looked at that tablet. "Wait, wait..." He noticed that, apart from the three test subjects, there was another entity near them... and a bunch more following them. "But... but what is this? Somebody tell me, because I don''t think this is right." He updated his tablet, that strange one. He kept walking. "But... this is true, no... no, no, no." On that. "Excuse me!" Mathias said to him. He felt some spiritual power in him, but did not give it importance. "Excuse me!" James said. "Excuse us!" Nicole said to him. "We''re so sorry," Victor whispered to him. "Huh? W-what?" The guy was surprised. Mathias and the others left him. At that... "Oh my God, I don''t believe this... they escaped!" He said this at the sight of the artificial monsters. He ran away too... but it was too late. Mathias and the group arrived at the elevator where the guy had come from, and by the time the man got to them, the door was closing. "No, no, no, no, no! Please don''t!" the man exclaimed. "We are very sorry..." Mathias said to him. The man turned around and saw the monsters approaching him. The elevator door closed and Mat and the group went up. As they went up, screams were heard. "...At least it went well for us." "Yes..." Mathias affirmed. "I guess..." James asserted. "Agh..." Nicole. "H-hey, are you okay... Ah!" Mathias looked at Nicole''s leg, it was injured. It looked like, when the monster grabbed her from there, it grabbed her really hard... or something like that. It was bruised, as well as being kind of worn, and bleeding. "How was she running normally with that wound!?" "Nicole... really?" James replied. "This... why didn''t you say anything about the injury? Running like that must have been upsetting for you." "No... it''s just hurting and... agh..." She fell. "It hurts a lot." Mat walked over to her. "I''m going to heal you," he told her, knelt down and created a PSI knife, with which he cut her finger. "Wow, what the hell are you doing?" James said to her. "Just watch," Mathias replied. He poured his blood on the wound and... it started to regenerate. "What?" James asked himself, surprised. "I-it doesn''t hurt anymore," said Nicole to Mathias. "That''s good," replied Mathias. "Hey, Mat... that was awesome!" James said to him. "Seriously, even I''m surprised." "Thanks...?" Mat said. "So what are you going to do about your wound?" "Yes, Mat... what are you going to do? You had to hurt yourself to heal me." "It''s okay, I''m fine," he said, smiling. "What? Why do you say that? It''s going to get infected or something..." said James. "Nah, I don''t think so, see?" said Mathias, and made to show that his finger was regenerating. "Mat... you scare me," said James. "Hey!" Mathias. They laughed. Even Victor, it was weird. Ah yes, it seemed that his regeneration was fast with minor injuries. Vol. 7 Chapter 30: Escape, Part 1 While they were going up they complained to Mat about the zombies that were regenerating and multiplying, because it was their fault. They named them "Zombie Army". Although they also said that they didn''t look as horrible as the zombies in some movies. Already on the upper floor, Victor guided them again on the path that was supposed to be correct (not without resting for about 30 minutes), until they met... Another monster. They were in a corridor. This one had other corridors. Victor chose one of the paths and they went that way. After walking down the corridors for a while, they ran into something. That is... The monster on duty. "Stop." They did. Here''s the text with the dialogues formatted as requested: --- "There''s something nearby, isn''t there?" Mat said quietly. He was very tired. James noticed that. "Yes." "...What do we do?" Nicole asked quietly, readying her PSI axe. "Do we confront it? No, do we make Mat confront it?" "Avoiding it would be best, and you know why." "Mat is tired," James said. "...It''s okay, I''m fine," Mat said. "Mat... No, you better take the axes away," said Nicole. "Wait, were you still holding that rope? Don''t be silly, why did you keep it all this time if we don''t need it?" "...Right." This... I don''t know what to say about this. The thing is, Mat removed the two axes, the rope, and two flashlights. Ah, that place was a bit brighter. "Let''s keep going, but don''t make any noise." They kept walking. At that, they came to a part where the hallway got bigger. This place, like the previous one, had several more paths around it. At that... "H-hey..." Nicole said in a low voice, pointing to one of the corridors, one that was on the right. They all turned to look and noticed a humanoid creature. It was a very tall one, taller than Victor. Its arms were thin, literally black in color, with claws reaching down to its feet. Its body was wide at the top, but the abdomen was... It was getting smaller and had a mouth there. Its legs were short and thin as well, and they were bowed. Now, describing its head... It had no neck, or well, you couldn''t tell. His face was white and his eye sockets were empty. It had a half-large mouth that was always open, it seemed to breathe through there, despite having two orifices that resembled a nose. "Don''t move. Don''t speak either." The four of them remained motionless. "No wait, this isn''t..." The creature turned to look at them as well, and as it began to approach, it began to disappear into nothingness. Here''s the text with the dialogues formatted as requested: --- "What?" James exclaimed, surprised. At that, the creature appeared behind Victor and started to put its hands on his neck, but he noticed that and quickly dodged it. The other creature jumped... To say creature many times is... Boring; I better call it "The Nameless One" because it doesn''t have a name (and also because calling it that way is better than calling it "The One with no Name"). Well... The "Nameless One" jumped away from the group and disappeared again. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Listen up," Mat said, and everyone turned to look at him. "I don''t know if this will work again... But we have to try." He paused for a moment. "I''m going to lock the monster up with a PSI barrier." "And then what?" James asked. "Huh?" Mat replied. "That''s right... If what it does is teleport, it''s going to escape, but... And if it doesn''t... it doesn''t matter." He took a breath. "I''m going to impale him." "..." "..." "...That sounded horrible," Nicole said. "But do it." "Yeah, otherwise that thing... it might kill us," James added. "Ah!" The "Nameless One" appeared behind James and was about to touch his neck when Mat shouted, "Take this!" He locked the "Nameless One" in a yellow PSI barrier. The "Nameless One" was locked in. It tried to escape, supposedly blending in with the darkness of the place, but... it was impossible. "So he wasn''t really teleporting... Phew... What a relief," Mat said. "Hey, hey, so you planned that with that possibility," James said. "What if it didn''t work out?" "That... But it did work, didn''t it?" Mat replied. "Yeah, but... Hey!" The "Nameless One" was forcing the barrier, bending in a strange way, and... it did it. The barrier shattered as if it were glass, and its pieces disappeared as they fell to the floor. "Impossible!" Mat exclaimed, frightened. "Agh!" The creature lunged at Mat, giving him no time to react. It swiftly grabbed Mat by the neck and started to pull him into its mouth, from its abdomen, to... devour him. But... Victor, although he was slow to react, used the fleshy tentacles coming out of their back to catch the "Nameless One" (I forgot to call it that before...) and pull Mat up, throwing him upwards. After that, Mathias, in midair, created a green PSI spear and, before the "Nameless One" disappeared, he extended the spear to stab it in the head. "...What the hell just happened?" James exclaimed. "Eh, eh... Huh?" Nicole was confused, looking all around until she finally saw Mat standing next to the creature. "I''m going to crush it now," Mat said. "Just in case it revives..." "Uh... Ok," Nicole replied, still looking at the creature, confused because everything happened in an instant. At that, she heard the creature say something strange that couldn''t be heard very well, but it sounded like, "Free me from this pain..." only choppier. "H-hey, the monster said" "Wait." "Huh?" "Hey, Victor, what''s up?" asked Nicole, who had been ignored. A rumbling sound came from upstairs and, although it sounded far away, the place began to shake. "H-hey, what the hell was that?" James exclaimed, startled. "Something''s happening above," Victor said. "So... Is that why there''s no one down here?" Nicole said. "Probably... Something must have happened for them not to be able to contain us." "So... Don''t you think you''d better try to contain the... stuff they have here? I don''t understand..." James said. "They should," Mathias said as he sat down. "Uff... I''m tired and... a little dizzy..." "Anyway, let''s take the opportunity to escape." It trembled again, but this time... "Ah!" Nicole shouted. "A crack came out..." Mat said as he looked at the wall to his right. Out of nowhere, a kind of red arrow came from that crack and pierced Mat in his collarbone, Nicole in her hand, James in his thigh, and Victor in his abdomen. They were hooked. "Kyagh!" screamed Nicole, who fell to her knees as she was pulled, groaning in pain after seeing the wound. "Agh, damn!" exclaimed James, who fell and was pulled a meter by his thigh. "Ack!" Mat shouted, trying to remove the stuck arrow. It pulled him into the wall. Victor said nothing and didn''t flinch. "Mat!" called Nicole, frightened and in horrible pain. "W-what''s t-this!?" At that, in a large room not far away, the ceiling fell. There was a lot of dust because of this. When it cleared, what the group could see was a huge monster (which was similar to a rhinoceros, because of its skin, but... It had claws and its appearance also resembled that of a lion or something like that? It also had horns coming out of its neck, apart from the one horn that was on its head) with a large, no... Huge wound from which blood and a silvery liquid was oozing out. Next to this stood a woman of white complexion with blonde hair (she had a ponytail) and black eyes, wearing a black suit. She was also carrying a backpack, whose large zipper was half open. Vol. 7 Chapter 30: Escape, Part 2 "Oh, civilians," she said, raising her hand and attracting the silver liquid that, upon reaching it, turned into a metal sphere. After seeing the red arrows stuck in our protagonists, she looked somewhat disappointed. "And to think THAT guy is one rank higher than me... Agh." "And it''s already the third time he''s done something similar? How does he keep getting promoted? No, what matters now is... searching for the source of that spiritual energy. It must be on this floor." The group was stunned... although I couldn''t tell if Victor was. "Come with me, young people," said the woman. "You''re already saf" Without even finishing, that woman quickly attacked Victor, turning her sphere into several blades aimed at them and, on top of that, she covered Mat''s PSI barrier sphere. Mat and Victor reacted quickly. Victor protected himself with his tentacles, while Mat covered him with a double light blue PSI barrier, as well as all the metal coming out of the sphere (up to the woman''s hand). Nothing happened to the barrier sphere that was enclosing the other monster. "Ah," the woman was surprised after seeing Mat using his PSI creations and shielding the artificial/mutant monster. "Weren''t you supposed to get us out of here?" Mat demanded. "Why are you attacking us?" "B-but..." the woman stammered. So... He was the one emanating that? Heres your text with the dialogues formatted correctly: --- "Oh, here they are and... Wow, Agent Shield, you made it this far already? I''m impressed," said a man dressed in black coming the way the group had come. His hand was glued to the wall and, from his fingers, red arrows were sticking out. "Ah, sorry, sorry." He said that to the group and pulled out the red arrows. When they came out, his wounds healed. "Where the hell were you, Hunter?" complained the woman and easily got away from Mat''s PSI Creation. "Huh?" Mat replied. "You disappeared out of nowhere and..." "Ah, I started investigating this whole place looking for civilians and..." While they were talking, James remarked to Mat in a low voice, "He said Agent, didn''t he? What''s that about agent... or something?" "I don''t know, but it''s..." Mat replied. "Are they government agents?" "I-I guess, and so... Huh?" "Mat, Mat," Nicole said, tugging at his clothes. She was scared, confused, surprised, and calmer than before, for some reason. All that at the same time. "Huh? Yeah?" "...They seem to have powers just like you," she told him. "...Right." When Mat said that, three men who seemed to be soldiers shouted from above, from the hole caused by Agent Shield. How weird to name them like that... Well, the thing is that they asked what the situation was and brought everyone up after explaining Victor''s situation and handing them the other creature. At that moment, while everyone was coming back to the surface with those people, Nicole said to herself, "I''m lost already, I don''t know what''s going on. It seems like a fever dream now..." "Me neither," Victor thought to himself. Everyone shuddered when they spoke. "So... this one speaks directly to the mind..." Hunter said, in a half-mocking tone. "That''s scary." "If you''re going to say that, you''d better shut up," Shield replied. Already on the surface, there were more subjects that seemed to be soldiers or something like that. They had come out of a church, it was dusk, and it seemed that the area had been quarantined. Outside there were trucks and cars... It looked like they were putting containment on other monsters or mutants that the group didn''t encounter (and the ones they did encounter, the zombies, were in a metal cage that was surrounded by aura) and some people in the process of transformation, plus the members of that church, of course (and that some had those flames). The artificial monsters they were containing were those who seemed to have little reasoning. Victor was treated like a normal human despite his condition. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Uh... Wait, today is my anniversary with Sam! No, it was... It can''t be... It''s already late too... What am I going to tell her now? Wait, what are we going to tell our families?" Besides that, Agent Shield tried to calm the group down after seeing Mat''s worried face and briefly explained the situation to them. She also mentioned to them that it was a weird cult that was behind this: Near the area of that church, there were disappearances of people happening, and not just there, all over the state (although this wasn''t just happening there, it was happening all over the world). In addition to suspicious activity in that area, there was also a kind of strange energy, so "they" had to act to prevent it from escalating. Something like that was explained to them. Oh, and the group told that the monsters they found were talking and that they wanted to be killed (Nicole told what the others didn''t hear, about the "one with no name" or "the nameless one"), this worried Shield... well, not much, but it did make her think. ...Why are you telling us all that? Mat thought at the time. Besides that, when she left, Mathias heard some gunshots in the distance, and when he asked about it to his friends, they said they didn''t hear anything. This worried Mathias a lot. --- "In the end I didn''t find the people running this place," Hunter said to Shield and the other soldiers, who only listened. "Wow, but... how is it that they leave such an important place just like that?" "And of the eight we found, there are already three that are like this?" Shield said. "Although... only two were from the United States. And the people we captured don''t tell us anything either, don''t you think this is...?" "Nah, what I think is that it''s more a lousy organization on the part of that strange sect, since this place seemed almost abandoned," he replied. "If we ignore those creatures..." "And the worst thing is that we can''t do anything against them since they are a well-known cult in the world," Shield said. "Although... maybe what you said is true," added Hunter. "Maybe this is all a facade." "Hmm... Let''s go over everything we have so far," she said. That religious group, at first glance, appeared to be a normal Christian religious cult, a Protestant one, but... in its teachings, it put a lot of emphasis on the appearance of the antichrist, which they called the Devil''s Spawn. It had been founded about 60 years ago (and currently had many members, more than 400,000), but evidence of their activities had been found for three years. Their experiments were done on humans (mostly), and their test subjects ranged from followers of the group to outsiders. Most of these experiments were for medicinal purposes (using humans as test subjects). They performed vivisections, rare surgeries, etc., but... they also had experiments to increase spiritual power, to test the potential of these abilities, and the creation of artificial monsters (in these, the test subjects could die. In most cases, the body was unrecognizable). Although... in itself, the Organization (and the Committee... although, well, the Organization was part of it, but... I think I said too much already) did almost the same thing (the experimenting with humans, not the other), only with people who had been condemned to death and not with any person (supposedly), but... other than that, having another entity that wasn''t part of them was... dangerous. Also, the first conclusion they came to was the one already mentioned: to make the cult disappear. But if it disappeared, it was going to generate confusion and panic with the general population. In addition, their current leader was only seen on a few occasions, assuming that this individual, of whom there is no information, was their leader. His current whereabouts are unknown. Due to the lack of information, a group of C-Rank agents of the Organization infiltrated the cult. At the beginning, everything was normal, so they decided to move up ranks in the church (except one, who decided to gather information differently), but... it didn''t turn out as they expected. They were caught. Of them, only one returned. That agent came back traumatized and with a VHS tape. When he gave it to his superiors, he automatically perished. After an autopsy, they discovered that his brain and heart had melted, due to an aura-based ability that was activated once the conditions he had been given were met. In the video he brought back, it showed how they tortured those agents. They experimented on one, apparently. This is pretty much a summary of all the information they had, and this is what they discussed, in part, although some of the things shown there were for you to have context. "This is horrible..." Shield said. "Yes, it is," said one of the soldiers. "If this gets out worldwide, it''s going to be a problem, but... if it just leaks out that the cult was a front for human experimentation, there''s not going to be much of a problem, in a sense." "But if the other thing leaks out..." said another of the soldiers. He was talking about Spirit Power and those monsters. They didn''t know about the cult''s other plans. "That would be a very serious problem," Hunter replied to the soldiers. "Although... it wouldn''t be the first time something like this could happen either." "What?" Shield replied. "Come on, don''t take it so seriously," Hunter said. "These things happen, and we work them out in the end, so don''t worry so much." "...Okay." . .. ... In a nearby place, in the forest, they were observing what was happening in and around the church. Another one they found... said someone with a familiar voice. Too much, I think... Wait, I think I''m ruining this already... Never mind. Yeah, but... It''s not like we need them anymore either. We have enough... Besides, this one was kind of outdated, said another, in a more nasal voice. Yeah, but... We couldn''t hold the ''Hero''? he said, and thought, Besides... With the information I provided you, it was for you to do something else, it wasn''t for you to kidnap him... Well, in your religion, they call him the ''Devil''s Spawn,'' right? Yes, yes... said the other in a nasal voice. But... It doesn''t really matter; I was expecting something like that to happen. Yes, but... Agh. Even though this place was ''obsolete,'' as you say, we didn''t have to abandon it like this... said a third one, with a voice a bit more... thin or high-pitched... younger than the other two. Complain all you want to me, but I''m not the one giving the orders. All right, well... Well, I''m going to leave, said the younger one. I have things to do. That''s all right, said the one with the nasal voice. We''ll stay and watch for a while longer. Yes, although YGGDRASYL will take care of this, said the one with the familiar voice. I want to see if they do their job well. Ah, did they send you to supervise them too? No, I do it because I want to. I see. Well, I''ll see you. Bye, said the one with the nasal voice. He left. The other one, after watching for a while, said to the one with the nasal voice: Well, that''s enough; they took them all away. Now we have somewhere to go. Let''s go. All right. Besides, I have to test it. And so they did; they left the place. Ah, yes. They reduced their spiritual power or aura so as not to be detected. Vol. 8 Chapter 31: Arrival, part 1. After an hour of checking them over and healing their wounds, as well as having one of the soldiers mend their clothes using... Wait, he was using powers too... Well, the thing is, they took the group back to town (Victor had been quarantined by some soldiers), in a car (the one who drove was Shield). She was in front of Mat, Nicole, and James, at the entrance of the town. It was 6:30, and no one was around at the time. "It''s about time," Shield said. "T-time for what?" asked Nicole. "Just wait a minute," said Shield. "Wait. You, the blonde young man... Mathias Donovan, right?" "Huh? Yeah? What''s up?" Mat asked. "What time did I tell you my name? No, wait, what if..." "After seeing your powers, this came to mind: wouldn''t you want to join us?" "Join you? Mmm... I...," Mat looked at his friends, "I wouldn''t know what to tell you, but... I guess not. After seeing what happened, I assumed that you do similar things and... That kind of stuff isn''t much to my liking, and..." "So your answer is no, that''s a shame," Shield said and pulled something out of her backpack. "What''s that?" asked James. "This?" Shield said, putting some kind of sticker on Mat''s face. At that moment she also put something else on it, with spiritual power, but Mat didn''t notice. Now that his spiritual power was neutralized, he no longer poses a threat... Although... I put that on him just in case, Shield thought. "H-hey, what are you doing?" Mat complained. "Well, now you don''t have powers anymore." "W-What?!" "Well, now..." she said. They didn''t see anything horrible, but... They need to forget all this, she thought. What time is it going to start? "N-now what?" Nicole said. "Huh?" "It''s already started." Out of nowhere, a strange sound could be heard. It was a somewhat macabre chip tune. At that, by the time Mat realized it, he began to lose consciousness. His sight... Well, he could only see a sort of blinding light. . .. ... "Huh?" Mat. Out of nowhere, Mat was no longer in the same place. Now he was standing with Nicole in the cemetery, and Nicole was standing in front of a grave, her sister''s grave. There were two bouquets of flowers there, one from Mat and the other from Nicole. James was nowhere to be seen. Besides, it was already later (it had been thirty minutes, but Mat didn''t know that). Nicole was like... thinking. She was meditating on something. Maybe... She had been remembering her late sister. A tear came to her eye. After a few seconds, she turned to look at Mat (but not before wiping that tear away). The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Mat... Thank you for joining me today. This... Means a lot to me." "...You''re welcome." Mat was confused. "Also... I know I said it a long time ago now, but let me say it again. Thank you for trying to save my two sisters and for healing Reina." Mat didn''t know what to say at those words. A while later they both left the cemetery and Mat dropped Nicole off at her house. After that, Mat went back to his, but not before finding out where James was... He was at his house too; there they talked for a while. On the way, Mat got to thinking: It seems like... It''s as if their memories have been... Changed. Even the ones from their families. That''s... Weird, but it puts my mind at ease, even if I don''t quite understand why that happened. Wait, and the sticker that... Don''t tell me that... Then it was that Mat tried to use his PSI powers and... "They work," he said to himself, after making a PSI paper airplane. "So... What happened? It didn''t work? Apparently not..." Mat thought that since he hadn''t lost his powers, they would have been affected at all, but no. Shield, despite supposedly having disappeared a while ago, had stealthily pursued him. "So... It didn''t work. I don''t understand how, but... I''ll watch him a while longer." When he got home, his mother was there, and... "Welcome, Mat!" his mother greeted him. "How did it go with Nicole?" "Hi, Mom, well..." "Yes, Mat, how did it go?" Sam was there too. She seemed... angry. "Ah, Sam! I''m so sorry!" He was really apologizing. "I''m... I''m..." "Young people, if you want to talk about your things, I''ll leave, okay?" said Mat''s mother. "Ah... That''s... Ok," Mat replied. "If you want to, ma''am," Sam replied. "See you, then," Mat''s mother said and went inside. "Well..." Mat. "...do you have anything to say?" Sam demanded. "This... Ummm... Wait, weren''t you the one who forgot about it in the first place?" "Yeah, but this is different. Now explain yourself." "Ah... Ok..." Mat tried to explain everything that had happened that day and the day before, and that his memories had been changed and stuff. Oh, and he mentioned Victor and that he liked him. Another thing I forgot to mention was that Mat''s uncle was on a trip. "That... Didn''t you have a better excuse than that?" Sam complained. "All that is...! It seems that... Well... You disappeared since yesterday and worried us all..." "I mean... You believe me, no, wait. You remember that?" Mat said to her. "What? Her too? This is bad." Shield heard everything even though she was outside and those two weren''t talking very loud. "Yeah... But it''s..." Sam said. "Strange, isn''t it?" "Yes," Samantha replied. "While we were here, after calling the police, I saw a strange man in the street. He was wearing a black suit and was carrying a big backpack and, a few minutes later, a strange melody started to play. Out of nowhere, everything went blank and... He was gone. Apart from that, it was as if the memories of the other people had been changed... Also, the things I was doing were different, and it wasn''t just me, everyone was like that. I tried to follow their lead just in case, but..." "Well, yeah! It''s really weird, all that... Wow... So this was their doing? Mmm... Then it''s okay," Mat said. If they intervened with that, it means I''m not going to have to worry about something like that happening again. He thought that because of his weird whole kidnapping thing. "No, it''s not," Sam complained. "B-but why? Ah... I-I''m so sorry!" said Mat. It was about their anniversary. "I was so excited to go to the park, but what can you do?" Sam said. "Now that we''re there, why don''t we do something else?" "Like what?" Mat said. "What about...? Mmm... I-I don''t know... I... I... How about we go to your special place?" Sam said to him. She was already more calm. "Oh... Okay, but... Do you really want to go there?" "Yes," she said, and smiled at him. "Ok." Oh... Looks like I worried in vain. These two don''t seem to be dangerous... I''d better leave. Shield thought and left in the car in which she had brought Mat and the others. But, as she was about to leave, she said to herself: "I wonder if this was the best way to proceed with this? I''d better stay longer." They went there (not without first telling Mat''s mother that they were going out), and had a date there too. They brought food and stuff. Since everything was already... somewhat well, they didn''t touch the subject. At that... "Ah, wait, I have something for you," Mat said and took out the necklace. "Oh... Oh!" she got excited. "So..." "Yes! I made another necklace for you, similar to the previous one, but improving its design," Mat told her. "Th-thank you, Mat," said Sam. Mat gave her the necklace to wear. She took it, looked at it for a moment, and then looked Mat in the eyes. "Huh? Ah." She kissed him, and Mat hugged her. Vol. 8 Chapter 31: Arrival, part 2 Yeah, I didn''t want to continue it, but well.... It was a while after that. They were talking about something while eating until... "Hey, Mat." "Yeah?" "Look." She pointed up at the starry sky. There was a red star in it. "Oh, it''s pretty," Mat said. "What star is it, you know?" "T-this... I don''t think it''s a star. It''s Mars, but... You''re not supposed to be able to see it this time of year, I think? So it''s... I don''t really know." "I-I see," Mat replied. "...So." "?" "I think you should have accepted what that woman said," said Sam. "Why?" "For not thinking about the future, you turned down a good offer," Sam complained. "In this, just for having powers they gave you a job, do you not think?" "...I''m sorry." "On second thought, I really don''t know how they operate.... And it kind of scares me too." "Although... I also think it was a good decision." "Huh? Why do you say that?" Mat asked. "Because... What if being part of it made you separate from your family and friends and focus only on that? T-that''s what I think, because the job is dangerous, and to make your family not suffer, they could erase their memories of you and... That''s..." "...That''s horrible." "Isn''t it? Although... I don''t know... Let''s talk about something else." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They kept talking. "H-hey, Mat." "Yeah?" "D-don''t you think that ''star'' is... It''s bigger?" Sam said, a little worried. Mat turned to look at her. "Nah, I don''t think so," he replied, unconcerned. "...Oh, that''s okay." A while later. "Hey, Mat, that thing''s really getting close to us!" Sam exclaimed. "W-what?" he turned to look at it and.... Indeed, it was closer, as if it was shooting towards them. It appeared to be a meteorite, less than a meter in diameter. Mathias erected a purple PSI barrier to protect them. The meteorite fell close to these two, but.... Strangely, its impact was not as strong as expected. Still, chunks of... earth and other things that shot out didn''t go through the barrier, but a piece of that meteorite, a very small one, shot out of it and went through the barrier and, at the same time, went through Sam''s shoulder. "Sam!" Mat exclaimed, and cut his finger so he could heal her with his blood. It healed her, but... Sam began to feel strange. "T-thank you, Mat, but... What happened?" Samantha asked. "I don''t know, but..." said Mat as he went to see the meteorite, covering himself with a green barrier. He approached the small crater it left behind and... "Oh, wow... Was this really the best mode of transportation we could have chosen?" a boy''s voice said, sounding as if he was serious. "Of course it was! With this, we were able to travel the world at full speed!" a high-pitched girls voice replied. "This... I don''t think we should be talking about this, we just found the h-" the boy''s voice, kind of high-pitched and sounding nervous, was interrupted. "Come on, guys, we''ve just found the Hero and... It seems that something happened that wasn''t supposed to happen..." a girl''s voice said, sounding a bit deep. Mathias and Samantha had witnessed something way too strange. "Hello, Hero! My name is Blocky, nice to meet you!" said Blocky, a little blue square or block-shaped creature with little hands and paws. "M-my name is Roundy and.... It''s a pleasure to meet you, sir!" said Roundy, a red circle.... I don''t know how to describe him, although I think you already have the picture I drew. "Dear Hero, it is a pleasure to have met you. The one who speaks to you is called Pointy, and I hope we can get along well from now on," Pointy said, he was flying and.... He seemed to bow to Mat as a sign of respect. I just remembered something... I''m describing them again... Well, whatever. "Oh, and you miss, it''s nice to meet you too." "Ah... N-nice to meet you too..." Sam replied. "And my name is TRX, it sounds weird to pronounce it in this language, but you get used to it," said TRX, a cute little yellow triangle-shaped creature with little paws and hands. He had a leather bag that looked medieval.... "Well, it was nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, and well... We have come to guide you, sir... No, young Hero." Sam and Mat looked at each other in confusion. "M-Mat, w-what is this?" "I haven''t the slightest idea..." "Hey... Hero..." said Roundy. "Yes?" "...Nothing." Roundy noticed that Mathias... Was emanating a large amount of aura, similar in color to the medallion. Vol. 8 Chapter 32: Revelation, part 1. And yes, it was not until this part that TRX and her friends finally appear in Mathias'' story. Going back half an hour into the past, TRX and her friends had just come out of the pods. "Yawn Is it time already?" Blocky said. "Yawn Let me check." Pointy approached a strange screen that was turned off and turned it on. "1987, November 28th." Everyone fell silent. "I think we were supposed to wake up on October 24..." Roundy said. "Is that right?" "Yes..." Roundy confirmed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" They all reacted in a mix of fear, worry, and anxiety at having missed the set date. An amorphous creature passed nearby, with several wings and a multitude of eyes. It gave them a disapproving look. "...Sorry," they all said together. The creature then went to one of the capsules. It looked like it was already in use. "Wait," Pointy said after the creature entered. "This is Zoron''s fault. He was the one who programmed the capsules." "That''s right..." TRX replied. "But that doesn''t matter now. Let''s go!" "Ok!" the others answered. They arrived at the transport room. "So... Which one do you choose?" TRX asked. "All of these are going to get us to the Hero''s location tomorrow morning at six o''clock," said Pointy. "But..." "Hey, here''s one that says it''ll get us there in thirty minutes, but it''s dangerous and we could die. Oops," Blocky said. Everyone went quiet. "I vote for using it," Blocky decided. "Me too," said TRX. "I... I guess so too," Roundy added. "All right, let''s go." They went to the room for that transport. "Hey, this is a rock," Blocky said, observing their choice. She thought, And this... Reminds me of ''that'' rock... Well, the rest you know. Back to the present: "H-hey," Mat asked. "Are you guys...?" "Aliens!?" Sam completed what Mathias was going to say. "Huh?" Mat looked at her. "Hehe," Sam smiled. "Can we talk now?" Blocky interrupted. "Ah... Sorry," Sam apologized. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "It''s okay, don''t worry about it," Pointy replied. "And... to answer your question... Yes, we are." "Oh, really?" Sam said, looking at the four of them, then turned to Mat. "Mat... This is unbelievable! I didn''t think I''d ever see.... Wait." Everyone looked at her, curious. "How can we confirm that these are real aliens and not monsters?" Sam asked, referencing what Mathias had told her before. "Wait, what?" Blocky exclaimed, offended. Mat stared blankly, unsure of what to say. "How dare you call us monsters?" "That... That was horrible," Roundy added. "..." Pointy remained silent. "It''s okay," TRX said. "...I dont know if that counts, but its okay," Sam admitted. "I believe you... But... It doesnt matter." "Its okay," said TRX. "Ah! Right." She said something to the medieval leather bag and took out a golden medallion. It was that weird coin that the creature from long ago had given them, but now it looked like a medallion? I think. Nah, it was the same as always. The medallion was something like this... Sorry for the ugly drawing. "This medallion is for you," said TRX and handed it to Mat. "Huh? Ah, thanks," said Mat. "Hey, TRX, wasn''t that a coin? Why do you call it a medallion?" said Blocky. "Tsk, it''s the same thing," answered TRX. "Put it on," said Pointy to Mat, ignoring the rest. "Okay, but... I think I heard something about a medallion and... I think I''ve seen it before too," Mat said, thoughtfully. "Medallion, huh? That... The other Hero mentioned it to me. So this is it, but... I don''t fully understand what''s going on." "Put it on now, we don''t have all the time in the world," Blocky complained. Besides, it''s kind of late already... Blocky thought. "H-hey, d-don''t pressure him like that," Roundy said nervously. "Uh, Mat..." said Sam, before he put on the medallion. "Don''t you think we should go home now?" "Yeah, you''re right, but..." It wasn''t too late. "Put it on already," TRX said, worriedly urging him to try it on. Ah... What did I just say? I think it''s understood, so I''m not going to correct myself. "Ok, ok," Mat said as he put it on and... . .. ... "What''s up?" "Huh?" He was in the middle of nowhere again. In the void. In front of him was, guess who, the other Hero. "What''s this I feel in you? Oh, wait, I think that sounded weird," said the spiky-haired young man. "Did it really? I don''t think so." "Ah... Never mind. Well... I think I know why you''re here," said the spiky-haired young man. "It''s because of the Medallion, isn''t it?" "Yeah." "Oh, so... I see, then I can tell you everything in detail," said the spiky-haired, black-haired boy with a serious tone. "O-okay, but..." "Don''t worry, this will all happen in just a moment," replied the young man. "Now listen to me." The young man proceeded to explain several things he didn''t know, as well as reminding him of others. Summing up what he said was: That he was also a Hero, and that the difference between them was the era in which they were going to act. He acted in 1843 and Mat, 1987. They both shared the same mark, but they functioned somewhat differently, due to the difference in base powers that came from their soul and that a person''s powers manifested if their soul''s power was compatible with their body. What? He also said that... The mark was like a double-edged sword. While it enhanced the strength, or power, of its bearer, it also attracted creatures.... Creatures of the night. He gave no further information about its origin, but said that the one who bore the mark, apart from being the Hero, was the one who attracted misfortune to those around him. His flame, at the beginning, was very weak, so it did not attract creatures or strange beings and only frightened very weak creatures. But... Now that his journey had begun, that flame would become stronger and attract more creatures, who would follow him like insects into the light. He also said that, being activated, it would attract even more creatures. Well, in addition to that, he said that the mission he undertook was to collect six colored orbs found in temples around the world (the locations of which changed, as well as the shape of the temple and its difficulty, so to speak). These temples contained strange creatures that protected the orb from intruders and, in addition, each of them contained an ancestral weapon that... It was completely useless, due to the fact that everything was done with spiritual power or aura and that those things did not harm the aforementioned creatures. He also said that the orbs were necessary to be able to summon the Great Serpent, which was necessary to be able to reach the Sacred Continent or Holy Land, as it was called. Each of these orbs represented one of the "cycles of Creation," in his words, and that they depended on the Tree of Life to exist, and vice versa. On top of that, he mentioned to him that the useless weapons those.... They were supposed to be fused together to create a weapon he called The Luminous Sword, and that it was to be placed in the core of the Tree of Life, to protect it. To protect it from being destroyed and to be able to continue to exist without the need for the orbs. Vol. 8 Chapter 32: Revelation, part 2. "That''s what I was supposed to do, but... I failed miserably because I''m an idiot..." "What? How did it happen?" Mat asked. "This... I''ll just say I was killed, okay?" "Ah... But why just that?" "No reason. Well... After I died, I appeared in the void we''re in now. I don''t know the exact reason why I''m able to communicate with you, but... Actually, you''re not really seeing me." "?" Mat was confused. "You just lost me with the latter more than the former." "...You''re talking to the vestiges of the real me. I am dead. All you see is what''s left of my spiritual power... Or aura, as I liked to call it more. Most of it was drained by the Evil One, I don''t know why, but... I don''t know if you know this, but because of my failure, our world was plunged into darkness for quite some time... This also happened because I did not take all this seriously. I took it as if it was a game, and look how it ended." "That''s right..." Mat said, a bit saddened by what he had just heard, and also more confused. "Ah, but at least I was a LOT stronger than you." "Hey! ...That''s why I didn''t like you," Mathias told him. "W-what?" replied the spiky-haired young man. "I... Well, it doesn''t matter... But... I''m worried about two things right now." "What are they?" "First of all... Wait, don''t just ask me questions or accept everything without thinking, say something!" the young man demanded. "I-I just don''t know what to say, really," Mat replied. "Okay, I understand... So, first of all, in my time there was no strange cult that was related to the Evil One." He said so, but... He didn''t seem to want to say more. Mat, for some reason, did not realize this fact. "What does that religious group have to do with this ''evil one''?" Mat asked, somewhat concerned and... puzzled by that title or nickname or something. "Don''t tell me they kidnapped me because..." "You''re the Hero. I guess that''s why they kidnapped you, or maybe not... But... I came to this quick conclusion because some of the cultists had part of my spiritual power, which I think was given to them by the Evil One... And for that reason, we were able to talk a bit the second time, because I regained a small amount of aura." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Hey, wait, so... The wraith... He had your aura too? I don''t understand, why?" Mat asked. "That''s... Because that thing wasn''t really a specter, it was a materialization of spiritual power that was remotely managed... Something like that, I think," answered the young man, and added the following, although... He did so as if hesitating, for he paused. "I think that... The Evil One sent it or something. That''s why when you touched it I was able to talk with you for the first time. If that didn''t happen, you were only going to be able to see vestiges of my memories." "Oh, I see, so... What''s the other thing you''re worried about?" Mat asked. "This is the last time we''re going to talk," he replied. "The remnants of my aura are running out..." "W-what?" exclaimed Mat. "B-but... But I didn''t even get to know you better enough to like you!" "...What? Well... Anyway... It was a pleasure to have met you, Mathias. Before I go, I''ll tell you my name: Mathias Haim." "You have the same name as me." "What a coincidence, don''t you think? Hahaha..." "I-I guess." "Well, I wish I could have taught you something, but I couldn''t... Agh, that''s awful... And so, goodbye, Hero... And make sure you don''t fail this time, now that you have help! Also, take care of Sam..." This last thing he said in a low voice, but Mat heard him. "Huh? Well, okay, I will. I promise!" exclaimed Mat. "Bye!" And he felt like he was falling. Everything was filled with light in that void. The world regained its color. But... "...We''re going to fail again, as always." . .. ... "Agh!" Mat was dizzy, and he was with the medallion on. "M-Mat... Are you all right?" Samantha asked, she was worried. Everyone was in the same place, as if nothing had happened. "You were kind of unconscious for a while and..." "Yeah, I''m fine," Mat replied. "What a relief..." Sam. At that moment, TRX approached Mat and asked him: "When we told you about you being the Hero, you weren''t surprised, why?" "Ah, because I already knew I was the Hero," Mat answered. "Yes, he told us that," said Sam. "He did? Wow, but... How did you know?" asked Pointy. "Because I talked to the previous Hero through his vestiges, I think," said Mat. "And now I know what I have to do." "What? Really?" exclaimed the little creatures. Pointy added, quietly, "That''s good, I think." "That''s good, I think! Wait, you guys didn''t know about that?" said Mat. "This now makes me wonder about them... Wait, the other Hero said I have help now, so... Okay." "No... That''s scary," said Blocky. "Well, let''s stop the fruitless talks now," said TRX. "When Mat put on the medallion, it glowed, so he really is the Hero." Mat approached Sam and asked quietly. "What, did that really happen?" "Yes, the medallion glowed quite a bit," said Sam, who started to feel a little feverish. "I see," Mat. Now Pointy spoke. "Then, it''s time to leave." "Already? B-but we don''t even know who you are, and I only know about the mission because the previous Hero told me," said Mat. "Hey TRX," said Blocky. "He''s right, we''re taking him without telling him anything." "Ah, well..." "Besides that," Mat said. "I still haven''t told my mother about this and... I don''t want to disappear out of nowhere again." "Ah, that''s fine," said TRX. "Let''s go see your mother to tell her about this." "Ok," said Mat. They left the place and went to Mat''s house. Vol. 8 Extra: Tree. "We''re talking about the Tree of Life and stuff, but?" Mathias asked. "But...?" "Why is the Tree of Life so damn big?" "Pff..." the spiky-haired young man laughed. "What?" "I don''t know, I laughed at the ''damn big'' thing." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "..." "But... I don''t know, but you can see it from anywhere in the world. And the sacred continent is supposed to be between Oceania and South America..." "W-what? B-but how?" said Mathias, surprised by that revelation. "That''s... That''s not... That''s impossible! How on earth is that?" "I have no idea." "I see... So... Was the earth really covered in darkness?" "Yes, it was." "So... You said that for a long time..." "Yes, I did." "Ah! So that''s why the starry sky changed on the night of October 22 of 1844. We now know it as ''The night the sky changed.'' Supposedly, it is one of the greatest mysteries of the universe." "What?" the other hero, surprised. Oh, right. That''s my fault, thought the other hero. Our fault. Vol. 8 Chapter 33: Clash, part 1. They all arrived at Mat''s house after a while. "Sam, come in," Mat said. "You four, hmmm... stay here for a while. I''m going to tell my mom I''m going to introduce her to some friends." "Okay, Mat," Sam said and went in first. "Yeah, but don''t take long," said Blocky. "We don''t have much time." "Yeah, okay, okay," Mat replied and went inside. Once inside, Samantha sat down on a chair in the hall, and Mat went to find his mother. He told her that he was going on a trip with some friends and that he was going to introduce them. Her confused mother agreed to meet them. He took her into the living room, where Sam was; she greeted her, and they had a brief chat while Mat went to open the door to let TRX and the others in. "These are the friends you''re traveling with?" asked Mat''s mother, worried. "Yes!" answered Mat. "And so... about that..." "Mathias," said TRX in a low voice, while pulling his clothes. "Your mom sees us as kids right now." "She does? Well, that''s okay... What?" "Yeah, that''s... that''s right," said Roundy, who hid behind him. "Normal people can''t see us in our real form?" That was true; depending on who was watching them, they changed shape. If a cat saw them, they looked like cats and their actions changed to resemble what one would do, even though they were doing something else like flying. In this case, they looked like children of about six years old (because, for their species, they were that age), wearing strange clothes. "So how can I do it?" asked Sam, who managed to overhear the conversation. He meant that he could see them in their real form. "H-hey, youngsters, what are you talking about?" asked Mat''s mother, confused. "Ah, ma''am, wait a second," said Pointy. And at that... they showed their real form. Mat''s mom almost fainted. She didn''t, because Roundy healed her... but she fainted again at the sight of him. This depressed Roundy, who healed her again to wake her up, and they told her the situation, though not before reassuring her. TRX and the others began to tell almost the same thing that the previous Hero had told Mat, although... they mentioned other things, including how they unsealed the world and such. They explained that, using the six orbs, he was going to have to go up to one of the highest areas of the planet and summon the Ancient Serpent. They also mentioned that a new cult that emerged almost half a century ago was created by a particular individual important to Mathias. Martin K?hn was a man who managed to remain conscious during the entire time the world was sealed and, under the influence of the Evil One, was now giving his all to gain access to the Sacred Continent and destroy the Tree of Life, thus merging all layers of reality into one, so that everything that exists would disappear. Ah yes, "layer of reality" is something like... worlds in which the laws of physics are different, or there are more of them. Universes of two dimensions, four, more. I mean... other planes of existence, something like that. Each one is positioned one above the other, and they are independent, though at the same time, they depend on each other. In these live creatures of more or fewer dimensions than those of the known universe. If these merge, well... they eliminate each other, something like that. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. They also told him about the Luminic Blade and that its parts, having lost their bearer, returned to the temples. Additionally, they were to be on the lookout for attacks by the cult at any time. Those appointed to do that were apostles. There were twelve of them. The latter was known only to the high command of that religion. Despite everything, he believed everyone''s words, but he still asked, "Is that true?" "Of course it is, or would you like us to call our other friend?" said Blocky. "Hey, no," TRX interrupted, just as Mat''s mother did. "It''s okay." "Ok!" At that, suddenly, an aberrant creature appeared in the middle of the room. Everything around it began to warp. The little that could be described about it was that it had several wings, two rings covered with eyes, and its appearance was like fire, though... at the same time it was not. Its flames looked like water at times and changed color. Inside those flames were mouths and eyes. That creature suddenly began to speak, but... its voice was not as one would expect. It was something normal. The words it said were: "That''s right. Mathias is the Hero chosen by the Almighty, the Messiah. Then I''ll retire, won''t I, Blocky? I hope He won''t say anything to me for running away from work." "Yes, of course you can, Ophany. And I don''t think He''ll say anything since you came to see the Hero of His own choosing." "I guess, then... goodbye! But don''t call me out of nowhere, please. Oh, by the way, did you tell him?" "Told what?" TRX asked. "About that wish. That he''ll be able to make one after he''s done his job, and that it can be anything, more or less." "W-wish?" Samantha, astonished. "Ah, no," TRX replied. "Well, now you know. Goodbye, then." He disappeared. Sam and Mat''s mother were frightened by what they had just witnessed. "Wow, that was... unbelievable," Mat said. He wasn''t fazed by the sight of that creature. They reassured Mat''s mother again. They also reassured Samantha, but... Samantha started to feel dizzy and... she collapsed. Roundy examined her but could not heal her, so they took her to Mathias'' bed to rest. Mat''s mother stayed in the living room with Roundy. Mat was concerned about Sam''s condition, but they explained to him that the shard that went through her shoulder had... made her more compatible with her soul''s power, or something like that. "What, really?" Mat asked. "Yes... that''s why... errr... that''s what wasn''t supposed to happen," said TRX. "That meteorite fragment that pierced her arm caused this," Pointy added. "It was supposed to be shot toward you, but because you already had powers, it went towards that nearby creature with lower spiritual power and... that''s what happened." "I see..." Mat said. At that, Blocky approached Pointy and said quietly, "So that''s what it was, I guessed right. Good thing you came up with a good excuse." "Don''t even think of saying that out loud," Pointy replied. "I don''t know what you''re talking about, but... is she going to be all right?" Mathias asked. "If she survives," Blocky said. "WHAT!?" "She will," said Roundy, who had just come in with the lady. "So don''t worry..." "I-I understand... but no, I can''t stop worrying after hearing that." "It''s okay, Mat," said his mother. "I''ll take care of her too, so go." "Okay, Mom," said Mathias. "So... I''ll see you!" "Take care of yourself, son, and do your best." Before he left the room, his mother stopped him and said, "Mat... I... I knew you were going to do great things, but this is... wonderful." She became a little more emotional. "Mat... I''m so happy... From the moment I found you, I knew you were special, and even more so when you showed you had those powers... I was scared, but... I knew that someone like you wouldn''t use them for evil, but... to help." "Mom..." "Now, Mat, go," she said as she approached Mat and hugged him. After that scene, the five of them left Mat''s room. As they were about to leave, Mat said, "I wish I could say goodbye to Samantha before I leave..." "But it''s not going to be possible," Pointy said. "She''s passed out..." "Besides, it''s getting late. Let''s hurry, now, now, now!" exclaimed Blocky, thinking, "We were sent too late... but it was fun at least." "Wait." "Huh?" Mat. "There''s something there..." TRX said, serious and a little worried. "Let''s see." "What?" Mat opened the door and saw that, in front of his house on the sidewalk, there was a man who looked very familiar to him: he was overweight, a little hunched, with short hair streaked with some gray... It was the guy he had met when he was a child, but... his face was charred. He seemed to have regenerated, but... he looked horrible. On top of that, he didn''t have an eye. It was covered in... skin. His mouth also had no... it had no lips per se; it was exposed. You could see his gums and teeth. In short, it was horrible. Vol. 8 Chapter 33: Clash, part 2. The man waved at him, trying to smile. Mat shut the door on him almost instantly. "Oh my God, what the hell was that!?" he said to himself and opened the door again. "Y-you... What do you want?" "Finding you wasn''t easy, you know." "?" "But... Well, coming back to this place is really nostalgic... Well... But... I guess it''s better to finish the job with my own hands and not leave it to incompetents." "What are you talking about?" Mat asked. "Hero, I''ve come to kill you in the name of Mr. Martin!" "Huh?!?" "So this means that... He''s an apostle... And we are going to fight. God... What is this?" TRX and the others heard that. "Hey, that sounded silly," Blocky said. "Shh. Don''t say anything," said Pointy. Back to Mathias and the man who was all ugly. "First of all, I have a request," said Mathias. "Let''s fight somewhere else, so we don''t..." "Hehehehe... You are in no position to ask for such a thing," said the man, and... The man lunged at Mat. He hit him. It was a direct hit. Mat didn''t have time to protect himself. He pushed Mat back a few inches and, out of nowhere, the man was gone. He appeared behind him. He kicked him in the back. "Agh!" The impact threw him several meters, down the runway. As he tried to get up, he thought: But what is he? His speed is superhuman and doesn''t match his body! Not even the monsters in that place were like that... He seems to be just like the guys there, but... They''re not going to help me? This last he said as he looked at TRX and the others. TRX and the others did nothing to help him, since, in a sense, they were not supposed to do that. "H-hey..." Mat said to him. A moment ago, inside the house. "Ah, Sam, dear," said Mat''s mother. Sam had just woken up. "Whew... W-what happened to me?" "You passed out for a while, but I''m glad you woke up," she said. "Are you feeling all right?" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Y-yes... I think so..." said Sam. "But... I feel a little... Weird." "How so?" said Mat''s mother. "I don''t... Ah." Sam felt a horrible shiver. "Agh!" "S-Sam! W-what happened?" exclaimed Mathias'' mother. While that was happening, outside the house, Mat was still trying to land a blow against his opponent. He couldn''t do it. He was unable to do it. His PSI creations couldn''t hold him back either. They were fragile. He wanted to knock him out, but it was impossible. That''s what he thought about: I can''t hurt him... But... I can kill him. No! He''s still a person, I can''t do that. Although... If I don''t do it, I''ll be the one killed! Wait... He''s able to kill me with no problem, so... Why doesn''t he do it? From the way Mat was moving, trying to dodge the blows they were throwing at him (and he couldn''t dodge many, he was wounded) the man realized something. They were moving away from the house. "I can''t believe this guy is Mr. Martins enemy... Would he be holding back or...? I see..." "Well, well... In that house, there are important things for you, aren''t there?" "Hey!" The man approached the house with a leap backwards. "What are you planning to do?" Mat, who was hurt and scared, demanded. Seconds before that, in the house, TRX and the others realized what he was planning to do. "Watch out!" exclaimed Blocky and covered Mat''s mother and Samantha with ice. "What''s going on?" said Mat''s mother, who went outside to look when she felt a small tremor. Suddenly, the shaking got stronger in the house and the house collapsed. People who lived nearby came out of their houses to see what was happening. What had happened to cause the house to collapse was that the man had manipulated the ground in the area where the house was located, shaking it roughly. He basically shook the earth. Mathias tried to stop him by attacking him, but he couldn''t, so he tried to hold the house up with his PSI Creations, but it was in vain. The man, after doing that, moved several meters away from the place. "That will do. He was protecting someone there. Without distractions, he''ll be able to use his full strength and so my victory will be more satisfying." Mathias was terrified and went to see if everyone was all right, but... He couldn''t feel his mother''s presence anymore. The man stood and watched what he was doing. TRX and his friends were fine. They were coming out from under some rubble. "Hero, I tried to protect them but... I don''t think it was enough!" Blocky told him. At that, someone besides them came out of the rubble. It was Sam. "Sam!" Coughing and hurt, Sam said back: "M-Mat..." "Hey you, come and heal her!" Mat said to Roundy. "B-but...!" "Do it!" "Ok!" Roundy went and healed her while Mat looked for his mother. At that... He found her. After removing some debris from the house using his PSI Creations, he found her. The first thing he saw were her arms, which were injured. It had been a moment, but there was quite a bit of blood... Or at least it looked that way to him. Mathias was shocked. The only thing Mathias could think of was that image: his mother under the rubble. He didn''t want to pull out more debris because, deep down, he knew that she was already... You know. "I have to..." Roundy said, but was interrupted by Pointy. "It''s already... Late..." "No... That''s... That can''t be..." Sam said. TRX and the others were depressed about that, but... Nothing could be done now, and Mathias knew that well. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Come," said the man. Mathias turned to look at him. "You bastard." Mat only said that, but... A murderous intent could be felt in these words. Mat''s gaze was like... Empty, emotionless... He stood up and pointed at him: "You... What the hell did you just do?!" "Huh?!?" (Artistic representation of that). Now he was enraged. That was the only reaction Mat had at that moment. He wasn''t sad. All he was thinking about was revenge on him. He didn''t care about anything else. Ah, there were also some people watching this scene, at least at the beginning. After seeing that it was something they didn''t understand, they ran away. Some had the idea of wanting to call the police, but.... What if they couldn''t do anything? This thought was shared by several people, who in the end just waited for it to end. Vol. 8 Chapter 34: Rage. Mat, after saying those words and pointing at him, pushed himself with his PSI creations towards that man. Agh, he''s faster. Mat was now keeping up with him. He was almost as fast as he was. He could dodge his attacks with some ease. At that, Mat tried to attack him with PSI weapons when he was already close to him, but.... It didn''t do anything to him. "So barking dog doesn''t bite, heh," said the man, and thought, I thought that.... He was going to increase his strength, but no.... What a disappointment. His power is so much better than mine, and yet... What had happened was that Mat hadn''t increased his strength exponentially, it was about the same. Ah, and even though he was faster now, that was because he reached his speed limit, which he didn''t do before. The man began to easily dodge all of Mat''s PSI attacks, while Mat kept getting hit after hit. One of those blows, with his hand, was directed towards his neck, but Mat protected himself with his PSI Creations and didn''t hurt him, but.... He had made a feint to attack him elsewhere. "Agh!" Mat groaned. He had a somewhat deep wound in his abdomen. "Heh, heh. Is that all, ''Hero''?" "Damn!" Mat, after saying that, created pink PSI spears to be able to pierce him. This time he created them sharper than before, but.... The apostle managed to dodge them all. In addition, he touched the ground and... Sharp pieces of earth and concrete shot towards Mathias. He defended himself using his PSI Creations, and also used them to dodge them. I really can''t do anything to it, there can''t be, there must be something I can do! He pushed himself again with his PSI Creations (for reference, it''s like covering his body with a color barrier to be faster, sorry for not explaining it before). This time he pushed his right arm as well and his hand was gripping some kind of red colored white PSI weapon. He tried to attack it with that, desperate, but.... Due to his inexperience with weapons and in combat, he failed to do it again. The man delivered another blow to the chest. It threw him several meters again. At that Mat coughed up blood. That blow seemed to have injured one of his lungs. He ignored that fact and tore up the street with his PSI creations and did the same with the surrounding dirt creating a dust to distract him. Mat lunged at him. "Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" a scream of pain was heard, it was Mathias''. When the dust had disappeared, the following could be seen: He had grabbed Mat by the neck, without an arm, and was choking him. His right arm was wrenched a few feet away from him, though. It looked as if it had been ground off. He was covered in dirt, just like Mat. "Mat!" Sam exclaimed when she saw him like that. She was crying. She was in shock from all the things that had just happened that she still wasn''t processing. At that, the man''s fingers began to pierce some of the skin on Mathias'' neck. "How about I take you to Mr. Martin in pieces?" I have to... Try... But... Will it do? It''s okay... I don''t care anymore. Mat thought and... . .. ... "Hero... You really are... Someone horrible." A bunch of green PSI spikes came out from inside the man''s body. He was torn apart by them. Those thorns went into Mat as well, only they didn''t go very far through him. The man''s mangled body released Mathias, who was very tired and about to lose consciousness. "Mat!" Sam shouted and went to him. She was scared. She was crying. "Mat, Mat!" "S-Sam..." said Mat. "It''s... It''s over now... And I''m glad you''re okay." Mathias said that, but his body was full of wounds. His clothes were torn and... He was crying. Samantha hugged him. Roundy went to him to heal him too. He was carrying his arm too... This sounds weird. "Mat, Mat... It''s okay..." he said sobbing. "I-it''s going to be okay...." He cried again. "H-hero, I''m going to heal you!" Roundy told him when he arrived. "I-it''s okay..." Mat replied. "It... It doesn''t hurt anymore... Sam..." "Y-yes." She stopped hugging him so that he could be healed. After a minute, Mathias was completely healed. His clothes were in tatters, but he was fine. Without a word, he went back to where his mother was. He knelt down in front of her and said: "Forgive me." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. This he said because he did not know what else to say at that moment. I am repeating this many times already I think, but it was like this. He was lost. Mat, at that, continued speaking, shedding tears. "You did so many things for me... You loved me like a mother even when I was not.... Even when I wasn''t your son and... And... Now... I... I will never be able to thank you for everything you did for me, and... Now I can never again... I couldn''t even protect you because I was weak... I... I''m... I-I''m sorry... I''m so sorry..." He started having flashbacks about his mother, stood up and.... He screamed. He realized that, in the end, he also failed to keep his promise not to get depressed after not being able to save someone. Then he turned to look at the TRX group. "You... This is your fault! Why didn''t you do anything to protect them? You didn''t even help me!" They just stared at him. "Mat!" Sam exclaimed, sobbing. "They protected us, but..." "It wasn''t enough..." said Blocky. "I know, it''s my fault, but... No matter what I say or do now, it''s not going to change anything...." Mat knelt down on his knees and continued crying. "W-why... W-why her?" he was sobbing. "Hero..." TRX approached him. "This... This is something you''re likely to see from here on out. Death of innocent people because of... You know who. That''s why we have to stop Martin and..." "Save the world," right? Mat said. How am I going to save the world if I couldn''t save a few people? I don''t deserve to be called a Hero.... I don''t even deserve to be alive right now.... He said this last thing remembering the other time. Out of nowhere, the mark on his left hand began to glow faintly. In those moments, his body began to brim with energy, he no longer felt tired. "A-are you serious?" Mathias said, sobbing. "At the moment when I needed it most, it didn''t activate.... Agh! Damn! DAMN!" He hit the ground with his fists several times, until he hurt himself a little. After that, he grabbed his left hand and, with his other hand, started to scratch it furiously. "Damn it! Agh!" "Mat!" Samantha approached him again. She was still crying. "Don''t go on... Please... This... It''s not... It''s not going to change anything..." "If only this thing had been activated before..." She hugged him to comfort him, again. "Mat... It''s not your fault..." she was still sobbing and, despite wanting to comfort Mat, she couldn''t find the right words because she was also affected by this. "Mat!" She cried again as she hugged him tightly. Mat did the same. The mark began to fade. In the distance, stood a man we had seen before. He was sort of hiding, in the middle of several people watching all this (No one wanted to go near the place). Wow, you lost... You must have used the book you were given.... But it doesn''t matter anymore. "I think it''s time to test that." After saying that, he snapped his fingers and.... A horrible scream was heard. Everyone freaked out. Even TRX and the others did. The corpse of that man started to regenerate, but.... He was changing shape. His skin started to turn grayish, he was getting taller and stockier, unbelievably. His skull also changed shape. Now he had no eyes and... He had a... Better look at the illustration: "Groarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" shouted the monster. That abomination, I think, started walking towards Mat. TRX and the others stood in front of Mat, as if to protect him, but... "Why don''t you die yet?" Mat said, got up and... he turned to look at him. He still had tears in his eyes, but... he was furious. Yes. Mathias walked up to the creature and... purple PSI spears appeared around it. The creature stood there, not saying a single word, but... in its mind it said: I... I had already fulfilled my purpose... Then... why? Ah, I get it... Mr. Martin told me too... we were also part of the experiments without knowing it. But... it doesn''t matter anymore. I''m going to die again... The creature screamed and lunged towards Mat. It could think, but... it couldn''t control its actions. The second he did, the spears pierced him, but... he kept going. At that moment, Mathias noticed something too. What''s going on? It''s as if... Everything was paralyzed. Only the two of them could move... although... Mathias could hear things in the distance. Also, some sort of purple smoke was coming out from his hands. So that''s how it works... wow... you changed ''power'' out of nowhere by turning into that... no use though. Mat was right. Having just discovered that ability, that creature wasn''t going to know how to use it and... from the inside, the creature was torn apart, or rather: dismembered, by several multi-colored sharp PSI Creations. Sorry. Thought the creature as it was brutally damaged by that PSI attack. "It was weaker than before... in that state I don''t think it will do anything else anymore." Just at that moment Shield arrived who, seeing such a scene, just watched. She was surprised. Mat stood in front of the corpse of the artificial monster, saying nothing. At that, she noticed that Shield was watching him from a distance. She saw him too and approached him. "Mathias Donovan, explain to me what happened here." "You are the only one who can help me... I don''t have time to explain but please erase the memories of..." "What have you done?" she said, threatening him with several blades made of silver that were around Mat. "Explain." Besides, that''s what I''m supposed to do. Change their memories. But... that monster looks like the ones in the church, then... "I was the target of that cult, just because I''m the Hero... On top of that, they wanted to kill me but..." Mat said and changed to a more mournful tone. "They murdered my mother." He pointed to where she lay. TRX and the others had already pulled her out. She was riddled with severe wounds all over her body. I''ve never seen creatures like that in my life, Shield thought. She could see their real forms. Roundy healed her, but... it was the same. Sam walked over to Mat''s mother and... he cried again after seeing her. "From the little I know about you guys, I understood how you work, so..." Mat said, and added, threatening her, "Eliminate me, so things like that don''t happen again. If you do, you''re going to watch the world go into darkness and disappear." But what the hell is this guy talking about? The Hero? Is he delusional or what? "What do you mean by that?" Shield asked him. A few seconds before that, Sam felt a chill again. "I... Augh!" "W-what is this?" Shield. They both began to feel a kind of pressure they had never felt before. "Well, well... in the end he died anyway... as expected of him, he never disappoints." "Agh!" Mat shouted. They froze and... Mat fell, but Shield stayed on her knees. They couldn''t stand up and... they felt fear. In Shield''s case, she felt fear for the first time in years. "This is... disastrous, to be honest." "Y-you''re..." Mat said, trying to get up. Samantha, who was facing away from him, was also on her knees and stunned by his presence. She tried as hard as she could to see where the presence was coming from and... "B-but... w-what?" said Sam. "You... Christopher!?" Mat exclaimed. He said this while he was still trying to stand up. Vol. 8 Chapter 35: Defeat, part 1. Going back a few hours, when Agents Hunter and Shield were talking, along with the staff, about the aforementioned, Hunter said goodbye to them and left. Shield then said to him: "Hey, where are you going?" "I''m going to see something, I''ll be right back," he replied. "I know that, the question here is: why are you going to the forest?" "There is something over there," he said. "Ah, you go and keep an eye on those youths. They saw a lot, but I don''t think they are a danger. Goodbye." "What? Hey, wait!" Shield said as Hunter left. In a nearby place, Christopher and the other man were leaving. (The man looked like this before.) "Hey, Pastor, I think..." Christopher said, as he looked back the way he came. "What happened? Agh!" The pastor screamed out in pain. A red arrow had appeared out of nowhere and stabbed into his face. "I found you." Hunter found Christopher and the pastor. He tried to remove the arrow, but it was impossible. "You people... Stop meddling with us!" exclaimed the pastor, and he stamped his foot, which shook the ground. Part of the floor broke and several trees fell on the spot. "Hey, watch out!" said Chris, after dodging the falling trees. "Also watch out for those around you." This guy found us like it was nothing? He completely hid his presence. And to think they had people like that there. At that, Hunter wordlessly tapped one of the trees next to him, and shot more red arrows from his five fingers. The pastor and Christopher dodged them all, even though these were chasing them wherever they went. After that, the pastor made a sweep, still with the arrow stuck in his face, broke part of the ground, and threw those big pieces of earth and rock at Hunter, who smashed them with his hands. But... that was just to distract him. In reality, what he was doing was attracting rocks and pieces of earth from far away to crush him. Hunter realized this, but... This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Ah!" He dodged them just the same. What the hell? They were really big rocks and chunks of earth. "Wow, impressive," Christopher said, half-heartedly. "Don''t flatter him. In fact, why don''t you help me?" the pastor demanded. His face was wounded, bleeding badly. It was also boiling. "Agh!" "If you can''t defend yourself, then why do you have the title ''apostle''?" Chris answered him, saying the last as if wanting to mock. Apostle? "Besides, I don''t want to waste my time on this," Chris said and subtly waved his hands. Hunter turned away from those two after seeing that. "What was that?" Hunter said to himself. "Huh?" They are very dangerous, Hunter thought and... "Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" cried out in pain the pastor. "What the hell?!" Christopher exclaimed. The pastor''s face began to melt. In almost an instant, his face was deformed and... melted, I don''t know how to describe it better, but he no longer had an eye or nose or lips... ugh... "Ha! You looked just like that other guy," Christopher told him. "Shut up!" It can melt too... Besides, it went through the shepherd''s skin like it was nothing. So he must be from Alteration and Control, and maybe Logi or other element... But still, a very dangerous mix, but never mind. He thought at that instant. Seriously. "If you don''t do something, we won''t be able to leave," Christopher said to the pastor. "And why don''t you do something? Aghhhhhhhhhh! Damn it! Auuuuughhhhhhh!" He was suffering from the pain. "Just make time!" Christopher complained. Heh, he''s ready now, though... I want to see what this guy can do... At that, the pastor started to touch his deformed face and it started to regenerate, but... it was not the same as before. At the same time, he picked up several surrounding rocks and pieces of earth, gave them an edge and threw them towards Hunter''s hands, because he thought that the condition of use of his ability depended on his hands. Hunter gracefully dodged them. In addition to that, he touched with his two hands to one of the rocks, which was next to him, and shot ten red arrows towards those two. As the pastor was wounded, he shot only four. Chris was shot six. The shepherd avoided the arrows with his manipulation of the earth, making a barrier and Christopher... "Impossible!" Hunter exclaimed. Christopher, with his bare hands, stopped all the arrows and shattered them. The arrows were now supposed to melt flesh, but... it did nothing to Christopher. Would he have covered his hands with aura? thought Hunter. It didn''t look like it... Or will he have done it in an instant? At that, they began to fade into a sort of greenish flame. "Now I''ll really be able to look for the Hero... agh..." said the pastor. "But... why did you decide to use this just now?" "Uh-huh, yeah, yeah..." said Chris, indifferent. "That''s because I overestimated you." "What?!? You''re such a..." "If you could escape, then why didn''t you?!" said Hunter, interrupting the pastor, as the two of them faded away. They vanished. That was the moment when Hunter decided to warn the Organization about this, so that they would send units to guard the area. But he didn''t say anything about the Hero. That red-headed guy... I didn''t sense much Aura from him, but he still managed to stop my arrows... This cult is really dangerous. Vol. 8 Chapter 35: Defeat, part 2. Back to the present. Only those three were either on their knees or lying down... Well, Shield was trying to get to her feet, while Mat and Sam fell as if something crushed them. "Well, well... And to think my sister''s boyfriend was the Hero... How horrible, really," Christopher said, and thought, Although I already knew that anyway. "Oh, and there she is," he said and approached Samantha. "It looks like you were part of this... But it doesn''t matter anymore," he said. "So... what do I do with you?" "Y-you... Are you with them too?" Sam asked, scared and... trying to get up. "With that cult?" Christopher answered her and, in a low voice, only the first part, said, "(Sadly) Yes." He started to move his hand towards Sam. His hand began to be covered with greenish fire. "G-get away... Get away from her!" Mat screamed and... he managed to break free from Christopher''s influence. I don''t know how. Willpower? I don''t know. He''s not as balanced as you are, Eliah. Although... it''s not like you''re as balanced... Yeah, okay, I''ll continue. "Oh, wow," Christopher said after turning to look at Mathias. "While the woman over there can''t get up, you did it more easily... No wonder you are the famous ''Hero'' they talk about... But don''t think it''s such a big deal. It''s not as if doing it was that hard... Seriously." At that, he approached Mat, raising his hand as if holding something, and disappeared. "What?!" Mat turned around and Christopher was behind him, holding something in his hand. "What''s that?!" "This?" Christopher said. "Just watch." What he had in his hand was a skull, which was lit on green flames. Not a moment passed and the skull, as if receiving energy or something, began to show another face, and then another, and another... Flesh started growing on it, looking rotten. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Is that...!?" "Do you know it? Ah, so you were the one who eliminated the one I left here," said Christopher. "So you were the one who..." "Yeah, I was... Hey, hey... You''re melodramatic, aren''t you? Agh..." He turned to look at Shield and shot his hand. She was trying to do something in her helplessness, attempting to call for help with her transmitter, but... "Agh!" It melted some of the flesh off his hand. "Don''t try anything stupid," Christopher told him. "Now with you... What?" There were several gray PSI blades aimed at him. Mat fired at them, but Christopher dodged them all, jumping backward. Because of that action, he reached where Mat''s mother was. "Hey!" exclaimed Mat, from a distance. "Don''t you dare," said Sam. TRX and the others were also there, protecting Sam. Christopher ignored his sister and turned his attention to TRX and his friends. "I''ve never seen creatures like those... They look cute and have no spiritual power, so it doesn''t matter." "So this is your mother... That''s a shame." He said, and kicked her. This infuriated Mat. "The human being is a pathetic creature, I don''t know if you noticed... Oh, well... I don''t even know why I said that... Actually... That''s something we almost all know." "Damn..." Wait... Why did I kick her? thought Christopher. Mat wanted to attack him with his PSI Creations. He was furious, but... he didn''t want to kill his girlfriend''s brother. He started throwing multicolored projectiles at Christopher (Mathias was already very tired), but Christopher dodged them easily. Shield was still unable to move. "What''s wrong with me? Come on, move!" she couldn''t do it. "This ability is too much... Did that guy really manage to get rid of it? I don''t believe it." "Agh..." Mat was in pain from the wound that Christopher''s attack gave him. After that, Mat decided to do the same thing he did with the monster/pastor. He didn''t give it a second thought and... PSI thorns came out of Christopher''s body. Sam was scared because Mathias attacked her brother like this, but... "Did he really die with this?" Christopher said. "Apostles are a lot weaker than I expected." Moments before this happened... "Hey... What''s wrong with you?" Erin said. Andrew was freaking out. He was hyperventilating. "You were the one with the idea of coming here to see what''s going on. Calm down..." "T-take a good look at him..." "Huh? Okay... He is..." "C-Christopher..." A laugh was heard. It was Christopher. "Are you serious?" Christopher exclaimed. Everyone was surprised, but... the one who was more so was Mathias, who realized that it did almost nothing to him. Come to think of it, I don''t understand why I''m fighting, and why I kicked that woman. I just came to take that pastor''s body away... And to think I could be like this... How awful... He thought and walked back over to Mat. But now, what are you going to do about it? He turned towards a nearby house. "Agh... These people are really a bunch of gossipers... And one is even recording..." he said to himself in a low voice as he approached. Then he added, shouting, "Get the hell out of here, you onlookers!" There were a few people watching in the distance, hiding. Vol. 8 Chapter 35: Defeat, part 3. At that, several "specter-like" creatures appeared. They had been created by Christopher at that moment. Each of those creatures was different, but similar, to the other (there were three of them.) They were something like this: In addition to those creatures, which were created from a kind of slime with skulls, Christopher shot towards people. The few people who were watching hidden, seeing that something was approaching them and that strange creatures had appeared, fled. Oh, and also a green flame appeared in the camera and it disintegrated. Wow. "Hmph... They''re here, so it doesn''t matter if they see this or not, they''re going to alter everyone''s memories," he said to himself. Mat saw what he was doing. Something was directed at those people. Mat, without thinking twice, and even though he was about to faint, erected a blue barrier behind the people. That shot collided with the barrier and the barrier managed to withstand it, but it cracked. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue at the sight. "And to think he still had the strength left to do that.... But never mind." The people had already fled in terror. But... "But what the heck are those things?" Erin exclaimed as she hid behind a fence that was about a hundred meters away from the place. "A-are you asking me or what?" replied Andrew, who already seemed to be calmer, but... "Christopher created those creatures and is fighting Mat.... I don''t understand what''s going on... But Mat is in trouble... Something has to be done!" "That''s going to be impossible, young man," said the ghost who is not a ghost. "But why?" asked Erin, she had heard him. "Oh, right." She had remembered about the specter that wasn''t a specter. "You remembered that time, didn''t you?" said Andrew. "Yes..." "Besides, those things, created by your brother, are much stronger than the creature from the other time, do you feel that pressure?" said the ghost. "A little bit..." "Feel the what?" Erin was confused. At that, those creatures were about to attack Mat. They were about to attack him while he was almost defenseless, because he was too tired. At that, Samantha thought: I have to do something... But... I can''t... You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. She started to crawl (because the pressure his strength exerted was too much, she reckoned) towards Mat, but then she realized something. "Chris created those things, then.... If anything happens to him..." She now began to crawl towards him. TRX then said to her, "H-hey, what are you doing?!" "I-I have to... Do something..." She, while crawling, reached out her hand towards Christopher and... "Agh!" It was a cry of pain from Christopher. Samantha, at that moment, without knowing how, shot something from one of her fingers, which glowed light blue for an instant. That shot really hurt Christopher, not like Mat''s PSI Creations. It was a large energy beam. It had burned his clothes and some of his skin. Mat was attacking the creatures, while trying to dodge their attacks, with his PSI Creations, but.... They were not as strong as before. They were coming out from inside, but they weren''t hurting them much. "What the hell was that? Agh!" He turned to look at the place from which he had been attacked. He noticed TRX, who was standing in front of Samantha, staring defiantly at him. "Those creatures... Them too?" "Agh... I don''t have time for this," Christopher exclaimed and vanished. He appeared next to the corpse of the pastor, who was now a monster, carried it and said, "So in the end you didn''t get to see Martin become God.... What an idiot..." He then turned to look at the creatures that were with the Hero. He was still struggling with these, barely. He looked as if he was going to pass out at any moment. This finally got out of my hands... Christopher thought, he was still trying to keeping his cool, which he had lost after receiving that attack (?). "I''ve wasted too much time already," he said, and began to fade back into green flames. "Well, I''ll see you again, goodbye." He left. Just as he left, Shield was able to move and, in a matter of seconds, she pulled something out of one of her pockets. It was the transmitter. Well, using silver blades covered with aura, she shot at the creatures and dismembered them. Poor things, they didn''t even last a while. After that, she approached Mat, who was lying on the floor, somewhat wounded and too tired, physically and mentally. "Are you all right?" "Are you not seeing?" "Then you are." "Agh..." At that, Erin and Andrew came out from where they were hiding. "Hey, I don''t think there''s anything left," said Erin. "Let''s go check on them." Andrew followed her without saying a word. They went to where they were. Erin went to where Sam was and Andrew went to where Mat was. They went to check on them. "Mat, Mat... Are you all right?" said Andrew, who knelt down to see him. At that, the ghost that isn''t a ghost came out. "How is he going to be all right? Can''t you see he''s all hurt? Ah, no... It''s not that bad... But still, he''s not well." "...I see," Andrew mused. This guy has strange friends... Shield thought after seeing the ghost that isn''t a ghost. "Sam, Sam!" "E-Erin..." Sam was sitting on the ground, next to TRX and the others. "I''m glad you''re okay..." Erin said, and looked at TRX and the others. "W-who are these weird kids?" "What do you mean, weird?" asked Blocky. "That... It''s a long story..." Sam replied. "I see, but..." said Erin and noticed something. "She... H-hey, what happened to Mat''s mom?" "She..." Sam said, but... She couldn''t finish what she was going to say because she started to cry. A group of policemen arrived in the area and, after a while, some agents of the organization and several soldiers also arrived. Shield met with them and explained the situation. The whole town was quarantined. Some of those soldiers wanted to take TRX and the others, but Shield wouldn''t let them. "Are you sure about that?" said one of the soldiers. "They are aliens and...?" "?" TRX from a distance. "I know, I know," she replied. "Just leave them, I''ll take care of this." She quickly left to check on Mathias and the others. Later I''m going to face the consequences of this... Vol. 8 Chapter 36: The beginning of the journey, part 1. An hour had passed since then. They did the same thing they did earlier that day in the afternoon: they used a strange melody to alter memories. But the difference was that this time they altered the memories of EVERYONE in the town. Furthermore, they picked up Mat''s mother''s body (they took her to the hospital in an ambulance, since she had no serious injuries, apparently, but.... In the end they couldn''t do anything, for obvious reasons...) and they took the remains that were left of the creatures for examination. Mat had been healed. All of them, including Andrew and Erin (this because, for some reason, the memory erasure did not affect them, and that Erin''s aura was normal... The thing is that they didn''t want to take her, why? I have no idea) were in a distant area of the town, in the forest. They were with a group of soldiers and Shield. At that moment, they were standing.... All except Erin, who sat on the ground. They were lighting the place with a strange device that looked like a lamp, but it floated and its light was dim, but it served its purpose. Mathias had explained to them everything that had happened an hour ago. "The way you tell it, it really wasn''t your delusions," Shield said. "Besides which, with what just happened..." "What?" Mat replied. "Obviously not!" "That''s true," Sam said. "He wouldn''t be able to make up such a far-fetched and bizarre story." "She''s right," said Erin. "H-hey, why are you here?" said Andrew to Erin. "Didn''t you have your memories erased?" "We did, but... we couldn''t really do it, and I don''t know why. She lost them, and after a few minutes, she got them back... and that''s why young Donovan told us to bring her in too," Shield said. "I understand..." Andrew replied. "So... those creatures over there were sent by... the Almighty. Seriously, if you just listen to this and don''t get proof, it really sounds like bizarre delusions. And to believe that ''God'' chose a Hero... that''s even stranger. And how do you know that this ''God'' is really who he says he is?" she said. "It could be an intelligent and superior creature from another world, or an unknown entity that is trying to do something, but if that were the case, why couldn''t we intercept it?" "An angel appeared to us and said so," Samantha told her. "What?" they all said, even the soldiers who were watching them. "That''s something... I don''t think the Organization would like to hear about that... things," Shield said. "Besides, we''ve got to bring him in, no matter what." "That''s none of my business," Mathias said. He turned to his friends now. "So... I brought you here to ask you for a favor." "What favor?" Erin asked almost instantly. "Shhh... E-Erin, please... don''t interrupt him," Andrew shyly demanded. "Okay..." "So... I want you to... give my mother a proper burial and that... I don''t know... I don''t even know what else to say..." "Mat..." Samantha. He wanted to cry again. Sam went over to him and hugged him, as if to reassure him. At that, Mat said: "TRX, we''re leaving now. We have to find those orbs." He separated from her. "Sorry..." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "It''s ok, come on guys..." TRX said, but she looked depressed. "But young man!" exclaimed Shield. "If even together we couldn''t stand up to that guy, how are you going to do it?" "If I can''t do it, then no one else will," said Mat. "I understand all that too, but... I can''t just let you go like that," Shield said. "This is already a big deal. We have to..." "I''m going to join your I don''t know what organization, but please let me go," Mat replied. "That''s... that''s not for me to decide. Besides... you murdered someone." Right, isn''t it? thought Erin. But... "That was self-defense," Mat replied almost instantly. That''s true... Samantha thought. "For that reason, you proved to be a threat. Although... like I told you, if you were to join us, maybe your punishment wouldn''t be as severe, but... agh, I have no say in that." "Then I don''t care, I''ll just leave." "If you do that, you''ll become our enemy," Shield replied. While they were talking... Mat is... a bit different Erin thought, worried. "Hey, Sam..." Erin whispered. "Mat... he''s affected by it... and you can tell..." "He really is... ever since he found out what he had to do by being the Hero he... he''s confused and... sad... he seems to be trying to act tough and all, but he''s not succeeding since he almost cried again a while ago..." "Yes, but... I hope all this doesn''t make him change," said Erin. "I hope so too," said suddenly the ghost that isn''t a ghost. "If he gets mad, what we see might not be pretty." "...Well, yes," Sam said. She was quiet for a moment and became aware of the ghost''s presence. "Huh?" "Hey, stay out of other people''s conversations... w-what?" Erin complained. She noticed the ghost that is not a ghost, although... she could see it now, but it looked as if it was transparent. "Sorry." Back to Agent Shield and Mathias Donovan''s talk. "...Fine, I''ll become your enemy if you want, but that won''t stop me from doing what I have to do," Mat replied defiantly. The nearby soldiers pointed at him at that moment. His friends were also frightened by this. "It is my duty to save the world, so I will do it...." He was silent for a second, realizing what he had just said... and of everyone''s reaction. Mathias was a little startled to see himself pointed at, but he calmed down and then said: "Hey... that sounded really dumb... hahahahaha." He put one of his hands behind his head and laughed sheepishly. And we were worrying because it looked like he was going to change drastically or something... Erin thought. They looked at Mat weird. "I want to punch him..." Erin whispered. "W-what? But why?" Samantha whispered back, answering Erin. Ignoring this, Mat kept talking. "And come to think of it, making myself your enemy is not... it doesn''t benefit me in any way, so... forget about that, okay?" Mat said. "I''m going to join you guys, okay? But not now. There''s no time... Are you present only in this country or all over the world?" "All over the world," she said. "I see," Mat replied. That... is kinda scary, he thought. "So... since my trip is going to be around the world, why don''t I join at one of my stops?" "I''m not joining; I just want to get out of this," Mat thought. "That... that would be nice," Shield said. We can track his exact location with the tracker I put on him, so he can''t hide. We have to bring him in no matter what. "If you want to meet any member, just raise your hand and release some of your aura in such a way that no normal person can see it." "Oh, and another thing, is your pseudonym Shield or...?" "We use code names for this, but... yes, it is, but... ugh... it''s my name too," she replied. "My name is Silver Shield. Since my name is weird, I decided to use it as a codename as well because... well, no one would believe that''s my name. Although, in the end, it turns out they just call me Shield." "Wh-what? That''s... really?" "Is it for real?" Sam asked, hesitantly. "I don''t believe it," replied Erin. "..." Neither Andrew nor the ghost who isnt a ghost said anything. "Laugh if you want, I don''t care." "I won''t," said Mat. "Really, you wont? I-I see..." she replied. Silver Shield. I don''t know why, but I think her name is funny... and I feel sorry for her. "Besides, I admire you in a way," Mathias said. "You have more control over your power than me and youre stronger than me because of that." "I understand..." said Silver. "Seeing how you use your powers with such ease... I would like to reach that level of mastery, and, because of that, I want to become stronger, so I can... errr... I wanted to say ''save the world with more ease,'' but... Agh, it doesn''t matter anymore, I said it anyway." I also wanted to say that I wanted to become strong to protect the people I love, but it doesn''t matter anymore... They looked at him funny. He felt embarrassed. But you were the only one who could move then... thought Shield. Vol. 8 Chapter 36: The beginning of the journey, part 2 After that, Mat said goodbye to all of them, and Shield took them to their homes. He went with TRX and the others. One of the reasons she let him go was because he wanted to see how this situation was going to progress. She reported this to the Organization. "So... We will go into the forest?" Mat asked TRX and the others as they walked. "Yup." "And why don''t we...?" "Do you want to travel by plane and ships?" asked Pointy. "That''s going to be much more complicated. We might be attacked by surprise in those places; it''s very dangerous." "I see... So... Are we going to travel in that meteorite of theirs?" Mat asked. "Neither. We will do it differently this time," answered TRX. "Oh, I see... Ah!" exclaimed Mat. "Could you fix my clothes too? They''re torn." "No, we can''t," Blocky replied. "Eh, you can''t? So I''m going to be like this all the time?" "No, we can give you new clothes," answered TRX. "Yeah, that," said Blocky. "Really? But please, let it be similar to this one." "Why?" Blocky. The others looked at him. "I don''t know... Well, it''s just that I liked this one and..." TRX said something to the bag and... he pulled out clothes similar to the one he had. His shirt was somewhat different in a sense. It had a zipper (as if it was a leather jacket or similar, but it was made of cloth), some black patches on the sides, and it didnt have... the collar of the shirt didn''t have those creases that the other one had. "Thank you... Wait... Am I going to have to change in front of you?" "We don''t mind, so do it," Blocky said. "Huh? What are you saying? No, no, no. We DO care," TRX replied to Blocky and then said to Mat. So... Go behind a tree, so we don''t see you, and do it." "O-okay." He changed. This shirt is... kinda weird, he thought. After that, they kept walking and came to a place that had no trees. They stopped here. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "So... We''re leaving now." Unexpectedly, a female scream was heard. "Maaaaaaat!" Everyone turned to see where it came from. "S-Samantha? B-but what are you doing here?" asked Mathias. "I couldn''t stay at home with this worry..." said Samantha. "I still don''t know why Christopher did that, nor why he is part of it.... I have to make him tell me why. Besides, I came because I wanted to accompany you. I wanted to say it before, but I couldn''t find the right moment to say it..." What about those clothes? Where did he get them from? Isn''t his house...? Ah... Samantha thought. "I understand, but Sam, you can''t come. You''re going to put yourself in danger and..." Mat hesitated as TRX tugged on her sleeve. "She''s capable of defending herself now," she said. "Don''t you remember that meteorite? She now..." "She has powers," said Blocky. "She was the one who shot her brother and hurt him, not like you." "Huh? Well... I know that, but... Still..." Mat said. "Come on... At least let me help this time..." Samantha begged him. Mat was silent, unable to say anything. "This... This seems like a bad idea, but..." "Sam... I... Ugh..." "..." Samantha didn''t say anything. "Sam... I don''t want to lose anybody else... My mom just died, and I''m here doing this... Do you know how hard this is? There are a lot of lives in my hands right now too. If I fail, they all die..." "I know, I know very well, Mat. But... Why do you want to carry all the burden alone? What happened to your mother was... horrible, but... I don''t know what to tell you about it, Mat... I can''t even comprehend what you''re going through right now... This is really hard for you, and it shows.... Your behavior is as if... you''re trying to hide what you''re really feeling." "..." Does it really show? Mat thought. I didn''t notice... TRX and the others were watching this. Blocky and Pointy were a little uncomfortable. "But... Mat, don''t carry everything by yourself, you''ve got us. We can back you up on this... And, and..." Samantha couldn''t quite get her thoughts together yet. "It''s okay, it''s okay. Come..." Mathias told her. "I''m going to try to protect you as much as I can." "Thank you, Mat..." she said. At that, she hugged him again. I hope I''ll be able to help you and... comfort you... Sam thought. At that, she said, to change the mood of the situation (she stopped hugging him), "This... Ah! I tell you, they put a weird sticker on my forehead. They told me it was to neutralize the aura or something like that..." "Eh? They didn''t tell me anything..." "Really?" asked Samantha. "Oh, no, they did, but they told me in a more direct way: ''you won''t have powers anymore''.... It didn''t do anything to me, but it feels weird, doesn''t it?" Mat told her, almost laughing. He managed to reassure her. "Yes! It''s like you''re getting tired. And besides that, they told me to stay home, that they were going to ask me questions about..." "Wait, you mean..." "Err... Yes, they''re looking for me," Sam said, nervous and worried. "WHAT? So..." While they were talking, TRX and the others were talking about something else. "Hey, Pointy," TRX asked. "Is it okay for her to come with us?" "I don''t see a problem, in fact, it might be better for all of us," he answered. "Ok..." After these dialogues, TRX and the others made a kind of circle. Back to the previous conversation between Mathias and Samantha. "So..." Mathias said. "Get ready," said TRX, out of nowhere. "Huh? Get ready for what?" Mathias replied. "Just do it," said Blocky. "W-what?" Sam hesitated. "Are we leaving already?" "O-okay, the faster, the better," Mat said, worried that they might be found and realized something. "Hey, Sam, did you tell anyone about this...? What?" The medallion was glowing. Suddenly, they all fell to the ground, but they didn''t make a sound. A fox passing by saw them, and when he blinked, they were gone. A couple of soldiers also arrived in the area, and did not find them. They had followed her because of her spiritual power, but it disappeared out of nowhere. They reported this to their superiors. Vol. 8 Chapter 36: The beginning of the journey, part 3. One day later, in a very distant place, a tall, stocky man with long white hair was sitting at a desk, meditating. It was Martin. The room he was in was dark and somewhat large. The only light was from the moon through the window behind him. The walls were painted a beige color. There were several bookshelves filled with books. "So... The Hero... The Messiah has finally started his journey... But he did it too late... Although... The temples are just starting to appear... And, apparently, the time limit is still the same... Well, now I have to prepare myself." He had already gotten one of the orbs, but... it wasn''t easy to do so due to the Hero''s absence. At that, someone arrived. He entered through the large door in the room. "Sir, I have just returned." "Welcome back, Christopher. Any news?" "Mr. K?hn, I think you already know, but I''ll tell you anyway: the Hero did just as you said he would do." "...Splendid. Any other news?" Martin asked. "That, thanks to his power, I am able to create artificial monsters quickly. I tried it on Morrison, and it worked. It was easier than in the tests, though... I''d like to be able to do it on my own and not rely on others for that. Besides that, the Hero is being helped by some strange creatures and one of them managed to damage me." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "That was unexpected, but thanks for the information. You are dismissed." "Yes, sir." He bowed to him. Christopher withdrew, and Martin was left alone again. "Almost everything is going according to plan, but... this feeling of guilt... it won''t go away." At that, despite not seeing, he turned up quickly. There was nothing there. Outside the room, Christopher was walking down a large hallway; in this, there were several rooms. There were also several people waving at him. At that, he thought: "Agh... How humiliating it is to behave this way... But it doesn''t matter. Now it''s time to try it out on others, but... how sad it is to be an ''apostle''... Not only for this, but... to sacrifice yourself for something you don''t even know if it''s true... That''s... really sad. But it''s not time to think about such things, I have to start now." At that, he also recalled something else he talked about with Martin a few years ago: "Christopher." "Tell me." "Answer me: who came first, God or man?" "That''s kind of a strange question. But... to be honest, it was mankind who created it. We had the need to hold on to something in order to have security and to give an explanation to some things that, at the time, seemed to have none. Yes, that''s what I think." "Interesting, no doubt," Martin replied. "But... you are wrong. God, the Almighty, came first. Although what you said is also true, at least for the god that men created..." "...I see." Martin said nothing more on the subject after those words. "Although I am a part of this and I understand what he tried to say... I still can''t quite grasp it... And I think that... Martin was tricked by someone, or something, into doing the things he does... But thinking too much about this isn''t going to get me anywhere." "Besides..." he said to himself, as he remembered what happened with Mat. "Power is scary." With those thoughts, he left the place. ... Martin, now alone, turned to the window to look at the sky. After that, he said to himself: "Forgive me for having made you all part of this... I am sorry..." Vol. 8 Extra Chapter 2: Another break, to tell the story later. "Now I''m really tired..." I said. "How many ''hours'' are we already?" "How many ''hours'' are we already? Well... According to... eight hours... Has it really been that long?" exclaimed Eliah. "It''s not much, but..." said Alaya. "So, Uncle Zoron, when are you going to tell us more?" "Ah, some other time. You guys have important things to do, or am I wrong?" "Well..." Alaya started. "You''re right..." Eliah said too. "But... Mathias made me a little sad... If I lost my mother too, I don''t know what I would do... And if I lost both of them... Agh... I don''t even want to think about it." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Aw. "And if my parents died... I..." Alaya said, out of nowhere, and then became sad. I tried to comfort her until I realized something and talked about it to Alaya, which calmed her down. I''m not going to mention it; it''s too important for you guys to know. Yeah, you, the one reading this, for some reason. "Hey, Eliah," I said, and, based on what Alaya said, who thought about her parents, I asked Eliah, "What if your father died?" "My father? That son of a...!" I''m not going to write what he said. Alaya freaked out. Well, the thing is, after all that, we said goodbye, and I was left in eternal solitude again... Which is really just a second, but it''s also an eternity, though... I think you understand. Wait... In order for Alaya''s parents to come, I''m supposed to bring them... So... Where did she go? I quickly went to look for her, and... She was in the library, reading a book about... I don''t know what, but there she was. "Huh? Uncle?" "...Nothing, nothing. Continue." "Well, I..." I left... Again. Update and other stuff. So... I''ll be brief. Even though I haven''t been posting any chapter, that doesn''t mean this story is dead. I''m still writing it. The thing is that I want to have Part 2 finished before posting, but writing it... It''s taking a lot of time. I''ve also had some problems in my personal life that made me stop writing it for some time. And I''m also developing a simple 1 bit RPG about demons which... Is also taking me some time to finish, although you can already play it. Ah, the name is "A Fiend''s Crusade", and it''s on itch io. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But yeah, I''m still writing TRX''s Adventures and I have many chapters written already, but in Spanish. Although... I''m still not sure if I should post them when I finish Part 2 or to start posting them one of these days... And so... Thanks for reading. Reading not only this message, but the rest of my story. Really, I''m grateful that you did. Short update - Extra chapters. I have written some new extra chapters. These ones are meant to give Mathias a bit more of characterization, and to show stuff that happened before Samantha returned to town. I''m still translating them, so... Maybe I''ll post them in a week or so. In other news, about my 1-bit game "A Fiend''s Crusade", I have already added quite a substantial amount of content. It has new areas, enemies and bosses, and I even finished one route, and expanded others. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The way Abilities are learnt is different too. Now you have to "Buy" those abilities for using them, instead of learning them when leveling up. And about these, now you have to equip them for being able to use those abilities in battle. You have a few slots for those abilities (and some alter your stats), so... Think wisely when equipping them. The thing is, I''ll post the update when I finish everything. And you may be wondering, why do I mention my game here? Well... Aside of like... promoting it, my game''s plot, even when it is really simple (like an old game), is important for TRX''S Adventures. It may not seem like it now, but it will. And so, I leave now. Thanks for reading. Not only this "Update", but also TRX''S Adventures. It really means a lot to me. Thanks :D Chapter 37, which is actually an Extra: Dialogue and Return. Back amidst that "Void." "Welcome back!" I said. "H-Hello," Eliah replied. "Hi, Uncle Zoron!" Alaya said cheerfully and gave me a hug. "Well then... Do you want to continue with the story?" I suggested. "Or do you want to do something else?" This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Now that you mention it..." Alaya said, thoughtful. "I just saw my dad, so... I dont know. And you, brother?" "Eh, me?" Eliah said. "Brother?" He paused. "Well... I dont know either." "...I see," I said. "So... Should I continue?" "Yes," Alaya said. "Fine with me," Eliah added. "Okay." And I continued with the story. "Oh, but..." Eliah suddenly said. "If TRX and her friends went straight to that rest chamber right after you stopped talking, then... why did they know other celestial beings?" "It''s because I gave them contacts and ways to call them," I explained. "And because I didnt recount everything since it would be redundant." "Thats... understandable," Alaya said. "Eh... Not really..." Eliah muttered. And so, I resumed the story. Part 2 - Vol. 9 Chapter 38: Oddity. The sound of a train moving could be heard. "Ah... Huh?" Mathias had just woken up. "Where...?" He found himself sitting in a train compartment, next to the window on his left. In the distance, all he could see was a forest, dimly lit by moonlight. It was difficult to make out much more because of the thick fog in the distance. He turned to see who was sitting next to him, and... "M-Mom?" ... She didnt respond. She was just sitting there, asleep. "Ah... Sorry." Because of that, he stood up and looked around to see who else was there. He saw many unfamiliar faces, or perhaps... faces of people he had seen on the streets but who were not significant in his life, so he had no lasting memories of them. However, when he looked to his right, he saw that there were numerous seats in a horizontal line in the same compartment. It was as if the train stretched infinitely in that direction. The other compartments must have been similar. "W-Wow..." Mathias couldnt understand why he was in such a confusing place when moments before he had been in the forest near his home with TRX, her friends, and Samantha. This meant they should be there as well. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. And yes, they were. Samantha was on the other side. "Samantha!" ... "Ah..." She was also asleep. But... she was sitting next to an unfamiliar and peculiar girl. She had a dark complexion, slightly pointed ears, and dark green hair. "Eh... What?" Despite her appearance, she seemed quite familiar to him. Next to her were Christopher, Andrew, and... A strange humanoid creature with a shell covered in wool and very long limbs, and seemed to be in pure dark and white. It resembled a monster but... it too seemed familiar. At that moment, the train stopped, and a voice could be heard. "Attention all passengers, we have arrived at one of our destinations. Passengers whose destination is here are requested to disembark." A door appeared. And so, several of those people woke up, stood up, and proceeded to leave. Among them was Mathiass mother. "Mom?" Mat was about to follow her through the door when she said: "Mat, I know you understand... I have to leave soon. But... even so, you should know that, despite everything, I am proud of you." "But Mom..." "You still have things to do in this life, people to help, so... please, try not to be sad for me. After all, you did everything you could." "But it wasnt enough..." "Okay, okay, calm down..." she said, hugging him. "But as I said, you did everything you could, and for me, that is enough." "Mom..." A train whistle sounded, and Mathiass mother released him but placed her hands on his shoulders. Several people continued to exit, including non-human beings. "It''s about time for me to go..." she said. "But before that, I ask you to please live your life to the fullest, and if possible, live a life that allows you to be an example to others and to help them as well." "Okay, Mom." "Now, Mat, dear, see you later," she said. "Goodbye, Mom," Mat said. "And thank you for everything." And she left. Mat watched as she ascended a staircase that led up to the sky, where strange spheres could be seen, containing galaxies and universes within them. In addition to that, there was something, or someone, standing beside the staircase. It was a humanoid figure wearing a golden diamond-shaped mask and possessing three pairs of wings. ... "Mat, Mat, Mat, Mat." "Huh? What thing of whose?" Someone was shaking him to wake him up. "What? Oh, finally awake..." Samantha said this and the previous things. After saying this, she gave a somewhat uncomfortable smile due to Mat''s reaction upon waking. He had fallen asleep for two hours. He was lying on a bench. Mathias yawned and saw... "What? Where the heck are we?" He saw the Earth in all its splendor through the window. He also saw a huge tree, larger than the Earth itself. "We''re at the Fortress of the Observers," Samantha said, after Mat had sat up. Mathias felt strange at that moment. Besides feeling a bit dizzy, he felt as if... he were a bit stronger than before... or something like that... "So... are we going to join the others?" "Not yet, I want... to think," Mat said. "Okay... Do you mind if I wait?" "Huh? Not at all." Samantha sat beside him. Mat took a moment to think. Vol. 9 Chapter 39: Memory, Part 1 TRX and the others were also in that place. They had explained some things about the location to Samantha and covered the rest when Mathias woke up. There was a library, a dining area, rooms with regular and strange beds, a meeting room, and a training room. The place resembled a floating island, and the building had the shape of a swordat least the blade of one, pointing upwards. Oh, and it had a crystalline purple appearance. Outside, there was also a sort of park with a variety of trees (some of them unfamiliar), and for some reason, the air was breathable and there was gravity. The place was quite large. Mathias was a bit confused; he didnt remember exactly what had happened. "I think I''m going to take a walk," Mathias said. "Just to see this place, okay?" "Yeah, that''s fine," Pointy replied. "Just dont take too long, as we dont have much time," Blocky said. "Okay," Mat said as he left. "S-Sam," said Sam. "Can I join you?" "Ah... No, I want to be alone for a while, sorry." "I see... Well, I''ll head to the library and see whats there." "Okay, see you later," Mat said, and walked away. He stepped out into the park. Once there, he wandered around for a while. Eventually, he sat down on the grass and gazed at the strange landscape: the Earth floating in space with a giant tree. He was puzzled by the fact that, even though it was there, between South America and Oceania, in another hemisphereso far awayhe had always been able to see it. "This is pretty weird... What happened?" Mat didnt really remember what had happened; he only recalled saying goodbye to his mother, but he didnt remember the dream. He didnt know why Samantha was with him, but... he didnt want to ask either. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Meanwhile, Samantha went to the library to read something. The place was HUGE. There were many aisles, and the bookshelves, filled to the brim, reached the ceiling. "Ah..." Samantha was stunned by this. So, she went to find a book. Looking at the spines, she noticed that all the books were in languages she couldnt recognize, and she also realized that some of them were bound in what appeared to be human skin. This frightened her, but she tried to calm herself, thinking it was something else. Though she remembered that books used to be covered with skin. Pointy also entered, saw Sam, said nothing, and went to fetch a book from a high shelf. He then sat down and began to read. Samantha ignored this and continued searching for something to read. Eventually, she picked up one of the books and leafed through it. The book she chose was somewhat thin. "Lets see... Ah... As expected, these books are written in another... What?" Suddenly, all the letters in the book began to distort and glow. They rearranged themselves, and... now the entire book was in English. "W-Wow..." She was astonished. The book was titled "The Messiah I." "The Messiah?" She thought. She started reading it. Despite the title, she noticed something strange. The book described part of what the previous Hero had done. She already knew something about this, so she read on for new information. Though... the title "Messiah" confused her a bit. |||||||| "H-hey, if those two are called ''Messiahs,'' then why am I..." said Eliah. "Theyre the same," Alaya said. "Almost." "But..." "Dont worry about trivialities," I said. "Besides, stop complaining, or Ill just put your complaints in this book." "...Book?" both asked. |||||||| "Oh... It says here that if the mark is blinking, it means there are creatures of the night nearby... This... is actually quite useful." She continued reading. "It also says that the mark can bleed... Due to excessive use of it... I should tell Mat about this. Oh, and it also says that the design of the mark changes depending on the Hero, and that everyone has it, but... I dont understand, it says here that before the other there were no more Heroes, so...?" Samantha had a big question about this, and about the origin of the Hero or Messiah. |||||||| "Eh? And that?" Eliah asked. "What thing?" Alaya said. "The mark?" "Yes, that," he replied. "Oh, I see." "I also read that book, and I had the same doubt" "Uncle! Dont make my thoughts audible..." she scolded. "Sorry, but it seemed important since you mentioned the book." "...Well, then... Dont do it again. Please, Uncle." "Alright," I said, then turned to Eliah. "Hey, Zoron, explain. Why does it say ''Messiah''? How come all the Heroes have those ugly marks? And why dont I have one? What does that make me?" "...Lets just say youre unique in your own way; lets move on." "H-Hey!" He does have one, but... his mark is inside him, in his heart, literally. Although it bled, he never noticed it due to... reasons I cant mention right now. Oh, and marks can appear anywhere on the body. |||||||| "Oh, there were no more on Gaia, but there were in other worlds... Gaia is Earth, I suppose," she said. And so, she continued reading, reaching a part that caught her attention. It said: "I know. I really know it well. There is no life after death... But still, I refuse to accept that, even knowing the truth..." "This is... from the previous Gaian Hero..." Samantha couldnt believe what she had read. But... she decided to ignore it, as it was from her perspective and there was no more context, besides feeling unexpectedly sad. Also concerned about Mathias, Samantha began to pray right there for him. Yes, she did this often, but I didnt want to mention it because it didnt seem very relevant to me... Though I think it was, a bit... I dont know. |||||||| ..., Eliah and Alaya Vol. 9 Chapter 39: Memory, Part 2 Returning to Mathias, he remained seated, as if meditating. He had been there for about half an hour. "Agh..." His head was spinning. He felt nauseous. Something was bothering him in his right arm. "Ah!" He had a scar near his shoulder that wrapped all the way around. At that moment, he began to remember some things. "Its true... I was fighting someone. During that, I lost my arm... But... What else happened?" Then, several images flashed through his mind. He remembered everything. "I... I really killed someone," he said to himself. He knew well whom he had "done that to," but... he still felt guilty about it. He was the "hero," and yet, using his own powers, he had killed someone. He had practically become a murderer and was no better than the person he had caused death to, not once, but twice... At least from his point of view. In addition, he recalled the event that triggered itthe death of his mother. He screamed. He couldnt bear it. He felt desperate and helpless. He had been assigned a mission he wasnt sure he could complete. He felt incapable. Insignificant. He couldnt do anything on his own. He couldnt save the children or Mr. Crowell, he barely managed to protect Sam from Christophers attack, and he let his mother die because he couldnt protect her or confront his adversary due to his weakness... Someone he killed without even being able to stop him without using violence. Moreover, it seemed he was considered a threat by a secret organization that would eliminate him if he didnt join them. That... was too much for him. There were other feelings he had, but... I cant convey his emotions... But the last thing he said was: Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "...I-I could have even been present at my mothers funeral, but I came here... Ah... I really am bad at making decisions..." At that moment... "So this is where you were..." Mat felt someone hugging him from behind. It was Sam. "Mat... Calm down..." she said. "But... Ah... Shes no longer with us..." "Mat..." In the end, this was what affected him the most. "Everything happened so fast, and... Ah... I know I wasnt a good son to her, as I often made her angry and disobeyed her sometimes, especially when I was younger, but... I really did love her, so much. And now, shes no longer here. I... I really wanted her to see the things I was going to achieve in the future, no matter what, and to pay back everything she did for me, but now..." "..." Samantha didnt know what to say. She was also sad about what had happened... "I... I want to see her one more time... Sam..." "AndI do too..." she said, her sadness apparent. A tear rolled down her cheek. "She was a very good person. The way she left... She didnt deserve this... But... Im sure well see her again, in heaven..." "Yes, I know..." Mat said. Then Samantha added: "Mat, youve been through so much... And theres more to come, but... dont worry. Remember that Ill be there for you, supporting you, always..." "...Samantha, thank you... For everything." Mat, now calmer, took Sams hands as she embraced him and added, "I love you." "I love you too, Mat, and IHuh?" Mat had removed Sams arms so she would stop hugging him, turned to face her, and hugged her. "Can we stay like this for a moment?" he asked. "Y-yeah..." she replied, returning the hug. "I... I really dont deserve her love," Mat thought at that moment. "I did nothing for her, and yet she loves me... Ha, I really am pathetic." That last thought was about everything that had happened in his life. Or rather, recalling mistakes in it. "But... still, Im going to try to be someone capable. Im going to try to be a better version of myself so that things like this dont happen again and make her always able to smile." "Oh, right... You remember you can make a wish, dont you?" Sam said. "The angel mentioned it..." "Yes... I know, but..." Mat replied. "Im sure shes watching over me. Shes already with God. Its... terrible that shes no longer with us, but shes in a better place now." "I know..." Samantha responded. "Thats why Im not going to let her down. Not her, nor God." Samantha smiled. She was still affected by what had happened, but Mats attitude in this situation reassured her a bit. "Mat, you... are amazing." She laughed a bit. "Ah... Uh... I guess..." He was silent for a moment. "Can we stay here a little longer?" he asked Samantha. "Oh, okay." And they stayed, looking at the planets incredible landscape in all its splendor. Amazingly, it didnt hurt their eyes. And... Samantha didnt mention anything about what she had read... Extra Chapter 1: Conversation with an "Angel” At the fortress, just before joining the others, Mat and Sam encountered an angel. Mat told Sam to go on without him, as he wanted to talk to the angel. "So... Youre an angel, right?" "Yeah (?)." The creature responded. Its voice wasnt disturbing; it sounded quite human and calm. "Well, something like that. Similar." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Its appearance was somewhat peculiar. It had a huge eye in the center, several arms around it, and six wings. "Huh? So... Well, I wanted to ask if Im still considered Gods chosen one, the Hero..." A clicking sound came from inside the angel. "You still are." "But... Why?" "I understand why youre asking that question; I know what youve done. But... I cant answer you because I dont know the reason. The plans of the Almighty are quite confusing." "I see... Well, thanks anyway." "Youre welcome." Mat continued on his way. Vol. 9 Chapter 40: Practice and Journey, Part 1 After the previous events, both returned to the Fortress. Inside, Trixxie and the others were waiting for them (Pointy had already rejoined them). They were in a large room with a semicircular table in front of a huge window through which the Earth was visible. Just so you know, this place was next to the room where TRX and the others first arrived. Once there, Pointy addressed everyone: "Now that were all here, before we start this journey, lets talk a bit." "Okay..." Mat replied. "We want to apologize to you..." Blocky said. "But... hadnt you already done that before?" Mat asked. "No..." TRX said. "Only Blocky, in a way, but... to be honest, we could have saved her." "R-really?" Samantha asked. "B-but then why..." "We were only supposed to help the Hero, and indirectly at that, because, apparently, were very powerful... But thats no excuse for what we did, or rather, what we didnt do..." Pointy said, feeling guilty. "I see..." Mathias said, looking a bit sad again. "But... it doesnt matter anymore... Really..." "I see..." TRX said. "But... from now on, well help you in everything. We know we cant make up for what we did, but... at least let us do this." "Okay..." Mat said. "But please, dont feel guilty anymore." "Alright..." Blocky said. There was a silence for a while. Mathias knew they were children, so he didnt say anything else. "So... now lets talk about Miss Samantha." Pointy said. "Huh? Me?" she asked, surprised. "Yes. Youre the one who shot that guy last night, so the best we can do is figure out how your ability works," Pointy replied. "Ah, I understand," she said. "But where would we do that?" Mathias asked. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "In the Arena!" Blocky exclaimed. "Huh?" both Mathias and Samantha said. They now found themselves in a kind of Combat Arena. "Hey, wait." Mathias said. "What exactly are we supposed to do here?" "Tell them!" Samantha exclaimed. "Wait, you dont want us to fight strange creatures... do you?" "Of course not." TRX or Trixxie said. The others were watching from the stands. "Look around you." "Oh, okay." Sam said. Mat had already been looking around since he arrived. "Ah!" Targets started appearing from the floor and ceiling. "So... this is for her to practice or something, right?" Mathias asked. "Yes, to understand how it works and how to help her improve," Pointy said. "Yes, thats right," Blocky said. "Now shoot." "Huh? B-but... I dont know how..." Sam said. "Let your boyfriend tell you," Blocky said. "He knows more about this than we do. Besides, hes human like you." "Huh? Ah... Well, thats true... Let me explain," Mat said. Throughout this discussion, Roundy didnt say a word. "Although... I dont think I can really help. The nature of our powers is different. Also... Im still a bit shaken from earlier..." Mathias told her to try to feel something. Samantha didnt understand what he meant by that. Mathias told her to imagine feeling something at the tip of her finger. Samantha did, but nothing happened. Mathias told her to imagine something coming out of the tip of her finger. Samantha did, but still, nothing happened. "Wow... I dont know what to do, sorry..." ... "Hmm..." "Now that I think about it, when I shot for the first time, I did it thinking I had to attack someone..." "Oh... Then... imagine youre going to shoot at someone," Mat said. "Aim at that target." "Okay..." she said, making a gun shape with her hand and aiming. "Ah!" "Wow." A light appeared at the tip of her finger. It shot towards the target. "Ah!" both exclaimed. The target was unharmed, only hit. TRX and the others remained unmoved, as it wasnt impressive. "This is... really weird," Samantha said. "Why do you say that?" "I never thought I would have this kind of... powers... Ah, Im embarrassed to say that out loud." "Nah, its fine," Mat said, adding, "And... Im kind of happy, you know?" "Why?" "Because now were more similar, since we both have powers." "Although... It seems very weak... Wait, Im not one to say that," Mat thought. "Yes... Thats true," she said. "Now that you mention it, I also feel a bit happy for the same reason..." "Hey, you two, stop flirting and continue!" Blocky shouted from the stands. "Ah, right!" Mat said, then told Sam, "Try doing it more times with the rest." "O-okay." She shot five more times but couldnt continue. "W-what?" "Hmm... Do you feel tired or something?" "No, not at all," she replied. "But... look." Her index finger was a light blue and glowing. It didnt feel like skin when touched. It looked like energy. It was somewhat warm. "T-this is weird..." Mat said. "Doesnt it hurt?" "No, it doesnt hurt, but... about shooting... I dont think Ill be able to do it again. Your PSI Creation tires you out when you use it, right? So... the rules for mine must be different." "I see... Try again." "Okay." She did, but this time the light took longer to appear. She only shot 5 times and couldnt do more. Additionally... The shots seemed more powerful (since they now pierced the targets), so they thought that if it took longer to "charge," the damage would be greater. This time, her hand was glowing light blue. It didnt hurt either. After that, she recharged, taking more time, and shot 4 times, but now, instead of piercing the targets, she completely disintegrated them. Now the blue light reached up to her elbow. All this worried Sam a bit. She repeated the same process, and now she was shooting enormous spheres of energy at high speed. She could only do this three times. Now her whole arm seemed to be made of energy and burned, causing her some pain. It also felt somewhat heavy, numb... something like that. Mat and Roundy tried to heal her but couldnt do anything. She started to disappear slowly. After she had completely vanished in half an hour, she still couldnt shoot. After this, no matter how much she waited, she couldnt shoot anymore. Also, Samantha didnt seem tired in the least. Because of this, Mat tried to find out if she had more powers or something. No, that was it. Just shooting an energy beam, and her arm turning like that. "Why is my ability only for killing?" That was what she thought after all that. She seemed disappointed... Extra Chapter: Some Things Mat Did Im narrating this chapter because a certain individual told me that Mat seemed too perfect when what Im narrating was supposed to introduce all of this. Oh, well. |||||| Huh? Eliah, I gave him a disapproving look. |||||| First, when he was fourteen, Mathias caused a couple to break up because he said the following when he saw them kissing behind the school (I dont even know what he was doing there; his mind is sometimes a mystery). Oh? Liz and... Oscar? Uh, but... werent you dating Alex? No, no, Mathias, I broke up with him a long time ago. But I saw you together just yesterday... How strange. He said this without malice. Seriously, Liz!? Oscar seemed angry, but he just left. Mat! Youre such a... Ugh! Liz tried to slap him but didnt and walked away. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Uh... Sorry... ... Another incident occurred when he was helping some teachers with various tasks. However, he took on too much work trying to help everyone, and in his hurry to carry a box full of lab containers, he tripped on the stairs. Because he was moving too fast and wasnt used to it, he didnt use his PSI Creations, and all the containers broke. In the end, he had to return everything... ... Another such event that shows he wasnt always responsible was when he stayed up late watching TV. This was because, in addition, his mother wasnt home due to work, and his uncle wasnt there either. The programming was entertaining, at least to him, and... the next day, when he had classes, he woke up at 11 in the morning. He felt guilty for not having gone to class, but... Do you know whats worse? It happened several more times when his mother and uncle werent around, and he no longer felt guilty or anything. Although, during these times, he would visit the Crowell couple. When they returned, they scolded him. ... Once, there was going to be an exam. Because of this, Mathias, James, and Erin decided to study together. The exam was in four days, and still, they studied a lot at Mats house. They literally worked themselves to exhaustion studying, as there were many topics and they had to memorize several things. They stayed up late into the night. And then, they took the exam. Erin seemed a bit worried, as she always struggled with these exams, and her parents would always scold her. But... Oh? she said. Look! They had just received their grades. Mathias and James, who were sitting near her, moved closer. Wow, congratulations, James said, surprised. Well, yeah... Its incredible! You should be proud of yourself, Mat said. She got an A. Hehe, yes, Erin said. I was really surprised myself. But anyway, how did you two do? I also got an A, James replied. And you, Mat? Well... Good, good, yes, he answered. But that doesnt matter; what matters is that you got an excellent grade, Erin! Oh, well... I suppose, haha, Erin replied. She was happy. And about Mat... He got an F and a tremendous scolding and punishment. ||||| Uh... what was that? Eliah asked me. Isnt that what you wanted to hear? That Donovan did stupid things sometimes, I replied. ...No, not at all. The End. Vol. 9 Chapter 40: Practice and Journey, Part 2 So... said Mat. Do you want to give your ability a name? What? Something like I named mine PSI Creation, he replied. It comes from Psychic and Creation. I related it to psychic because it tires me physically and mentally, and so on. I see. And... Im not sure if I want to name it... Wait, what do you mean by psychic? Sam asked. Eh? W-whats wrong? Mat was confused. Psychic is with a Y, Psychic. Ah... I thought it came from psionic... ... For some reason, I feel disappointed... she thought. Besides, Mat didnt know what psionic was. Well... setting that aside... Have you come up with a name? Mat asked. Hmm... Well... I think Raygun fits well, she replied. Because its a ray that shoots out from my hand when I make a pistol gesture. What do you think? Ah, I like it, I like it, he said, adding, And I like the fact that it sounds similar to your last name. You named it that because of that, didnt you? Eh? Oh, thats right... Haha... she said, looking a bit embarrassed. So not on purpose, huh... Well, it doesnt matter; it sounds good anyway, he said. From now on, your ability will be Raygun. Yeah... If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Now that youre done, its time to start the journey, said Pointy, who had flown over to them. Ah! Both were surprised because they hadnt noticed his presence. Pointy just looked at them. They gathered again in the room they were in earlier. They sat around the semicircular table. Well, now, said TRX. Look at this. After saying that, a kind of hologram of the planet appeared in front of them. Sam and Mat were amazed to see it. From here, we can choose where we want to go on this planet, said Pointy. After that, we choose what or how well travel, added Blocky. Yes, thats right... said Pointy, slightly annoyed with Blocky for taking his turn... or something like that. Oh, wow, said Mathias. Thats... incredible. He didnt seem excited. Oh, said Sam as well. This is... quite interesting. She did seem a bit excited about it, and curious too. So... how does all this work? she asked. Eh? Well... TRX began. We dont know, said Blocky. Eh? Really? Sam asked, surprised. Yes, that Zoron didnt explain it well, Blocky complained. Sorry. W-who? Sam. ||||||||| Hey, I said. Dont look at me like that. I just showed them how to use it. Besides, why would I need to tell them how it works? What good would knowing that do to them? Youre right... I guess, Eliah said to me. ||||||||| After that conversation, Pointy pointed out a location on the globe. It was in South America. Here is the second temple, he said. Second? Mat asked. Yes... The first orb... No longer... Roundy started, but everyone paid attention, so he couldnt continue. What he meant is that Martin already has it, Blocky explained. I see... Mathias said. These temples appear every so often, and you started your Heros journey late, Pointy said. Although... We dont know how he managed it. Anyway, we need to hurry. Okay, I understand, Mat said. So... Lets go. Wait, Mat, Samantha said. That place... I think its Brazil... Really? Mat said. This will be my first time traveling to another country... Wow, Im getting excited. Dont say it out loud. I am too, Sam said. Oh, one thing I didnt mention, said Pointy. Only four people can travel at a time. And since you have to go, you need to choose who else will go. What? Mat. Well, then... Lets decide who will go. He said for everyone to decide since he didnt know whom to bring. In the end, the ones who went were: - Mathias, because he was the Hero. - Samantha, because she wanted to go. - Roundy, to heal the injured. - Pointy, to explain some things and act as a guide. TRX and Blocky didnt want to go. So... About Chris... Samantha asked. Im sure well run into him one of these days, Mat replied. I see... After all, hes part of the cult, Samantha said. After this conversation, they went to the travel room... I dont really know what its called. It was a place where all available means of transportation were. They chose teleportation, which... Well, it wasnt instantaneous per se. For the user, it was a moment, but for the world, it took almost half a day. It was more convenient, so they chose it and left. They appeared, in a strange light, in the middle of the jungle, at night. Ah... said Mat upon arrival. I... didnt really expect this. ... Sam. Its night... It doesnt matter, lets go to the temple! Mat. Vol. 9 Chapter 41: Encounter, Part 1 Some time before the group arrived at their destination, on a full moon night, a girl and her grandfather were fishing in a canoe on the river. The girl suddenly sensed something that caught her attention in the surrounding areas. Remarkably, she jumped to the shore and climbed a tree, jumping between them in search of that something. Her grandfather shouted at her from the canoe, but she ignored him. After a while, she reached a place where there were no more trees. In the middle of this area, there were ruins with a door that led nowhere. She wanted to investigate further, but... something told her she shouldnt. For that reason, she decided to return to the canoe. Once there, her grandfather scolded her. ... Returning to the group, in the present: So... where do we start looking? Mat asked. They were now sitting around a campfire (Samantha was sitting next to Mat, and they were on a plastic sheet) in a relatively clear area. They had cleaned the place a bit to prevent accidents or fires. It was a bit cold at the moment. They were covered by a PSI barrier to avoid being bitten by insects. They had been walking for a long time, using a PSI lantern, without reaching any destination. By the way, if you ever go to the jungle, be well-prepared. If not, you might die. Well, moving on. Hmmm... As I remember, we should search this whole area, said Pointy. Although... Its going to take a while. Yes, youre right... Mat replied. But theres no other way. Hey, Mat, said Sam. This... Yes? The path was horrible, she said. My sneakers are all muddy and part of my pants... Is there any way to walk without getting dirty? This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Oh, right. Mat was in the same condition. It seemed it had rained recently. I dont know. I could make a PSI platform to walk on, but... That will tire you out if we dont find the temple quickly, wont it? Samantha said. Ugh... What now? Oh, and also... What are we going to do with our clothes? You could use the Infini-Bag for that, Pointy said, handing them the bag. Eh... Oh, right, Mat said. You took these clothes out from here. W-what? Sam looked confused. So... how do I get something out of here? Mat asked. Oh, just ask the bag, Pointy said. Alright, Mat said. Eh? Sam. B-but... Do it by saying please, Roundy said. Why? B-because if not... the bag will get upset... he replied. ? C Sam. Seriously? Mat said, surprised. This little bag has a conscience? Incredible. Yes, it does, Pointy said. When it gets upset, it doesnt want to give out objects, but it gets over it after a few hours. Oh, I see. At that, Sam tugged on Mats clothing to get his attention and whispered: Hey... Why do you believe them so easily? Theyre our allies, and they helped us. Besides... Theyre good people. So... Whats wrong with that? Okay, but... No one in their right mind believes that a little bag can produce things out of nowhere... ...Well, Mat said, turning to the bag. So... Could you give me a cheese sandwich, please? What? Lets see... He reached into the bag and... Wow! What the heck? Sam exclaimed. It works! Thank you very much! Now... Lets eat! Mat started eating the sandwich. B-but... What did I just see? Sam was confused. Then she asked Pointy, How does that thing work? I dont think it creates things out of nothing... Indeed, it doesnt. It just brings things that already exist from somewhere else. ...So, it steals, Sam said. Y-yeah... Roundy said. ... Sam. ... Mat. I dont know what to say about that, but... Well, Ill keep eating. And he did, he kept eating. Hmmm... Do you want me to get something for you? Mat asked. Yes, please, Samantha replied. After a while, Pointy suddenly said: Oh, by the way, give me the bag. Okay, here you go, Mat said, continuing to eat, and tossed it to Pointy. Hey, be careful, Pointy scolded. Well, never mind. He said something to the bag and pulled out a strange fruit. Are you going to give it to them? Roundy asked. Yes, Pointy replied and, turning to Mat and Sam, said, Eat this. Eh? Mat and Sam. W-what is that? Urgh... Samantha said, looking at the fruit. It was ugly. Thats... Err... Why should we eat it? Mat asked. It will make your journey much easier, Pointy said. Roundy nodded in agreement. But how? Sam asked. Its a surprise, Pointy said, handing them the fruit. Uh... Mat... Err... Ill only eat it if you do... Oh, you already did... Yuck! It tastes weird... Mat said. Im not in the mood to eat anymore... Is it really that bad? Sam asked. Yes... And... Tell me, do you feel anything different? Any changes? No, not at all. Oh, I see... Well, Ill take it anyway. It almost made Sam vomit. After a while, they continued walking along the edge of a nearby river, after changing clothes from the Infini-Bag. Although... Sam didnt want to change, she just put on boots and said she would change when they reached a city, town, or some other place. Mats hand mark had started to blink. Vol. 9 Chapter 41: Encounter, Part 2 As they continued walking, they came across a small, rustic wooden house. Its roof was made of dry leaves, and it stood a few meters off the ground, with a small ladder leading up to it. The house was around 38 square meters in size. "Oh, should I go see if anyone lives here?" Mat asked. "For what?" Sam replied. "Well... to find out where we are and to see if anyones noticed anything strange around here recently." "Yeah, but" "True, we dont speak Portuguese, and its quite late or early. But, Im going to try anyway. Maybe the Infini-bag can help." "Yeah, right?" Sam said. "Maybe it can give us something to help us speak other languages or something." "..." Roundy and Pointy stayed silent. "Just go and talk in your own language," Pointy said. "?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Uh Okay, then. Ill go." After that, Mat approached the house. The others stayed where they were. In that part of the Amazon jungle, there were many animals, most of them smallespecially the insects. And why is this relevant? Because Mathias could sense the spiritual energy of all these creatures around him. In addition to this, he sensed that there was only one person inside the house, but something about them felt odd. As Mat got closer, he realized the house didnt have a door, and there was a sort of grave a few meters away. "Strange... Uh, whatever." He knocked on the wall, not too hard so as not to scare the person inside, and said, "Good evening, um" "Ah!" "Huh?" You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Someone had made a sound. It was a little girl. "A girl? Is she alone? Where are her parents?" Mat thought. He pointed his flashlight toward her. "What the?" The girl was huddled in a corner of the house, looking scared. She was the same girl mentioned earlier. Now, taking a closer look, the girl had dark skin and, oddly enough, dark green hair. She had pointy ears too, possibly due to some malformation, but given the other details maybe not. However, what really worried Mat at the moment wasnt her appearance. It was the fact that the girl looked thin and dirty, and she was trembling. Oh, right, it was a bit cold. Because of this, Mat shouted, "Hey, guys! Theres a girl in here! She seems like shes in bad shape!" Hearing him, the others quickly joined him. Once there, Samantha saw the girl too and became quite concerned. "What? How did this happen? Where are her parents?" Sam asked. "I dont know either, I just found her like this. Theres no one else here..." Mat replied. "I see Then we need to do something," Sam said. "We should give her something to eat, but... Oh, Mat, youre good with kids. Do something to gain her trust." "Yeah, but... I dont really know how to approach her either. Plus, we dont speak the same language" At that moment, Pointy pulled a roasted chicken leg out of the Infini-bag. "Here, try giving her this," he said to Mat. "Just get close to her with this. Maybe shell understand what youre trying to do and wont be so scared." "Alright" "Wait," Sam interrupted. "Dont you think thats a bit weird?" "Maybe," Pointy replied. "Yeah, but I cant think of anything else," Mathias said. "Lets see if it works" Mat approached the girl slowly. She was frightened at first, but when she saw he was offering her the chicken leg, she seemed to calm down a bit, realizing he wasnt a bad person. For context, this girl had been told not to approach strangers. The thing was, shed never interacted with anyone other than her grandfather. After a moment, the girl got closer to Mat, took the chicken leg, and began eating or devouring it, rather. "Oh, it worked... I think," Sam said. "T-thank you" the girl said. Even after eating, she still seemed sad. "Huh?" Mat and Sam were surprised. "Does she know English or what?" Sam asked, confused. "Nah, doesnt matter." She got closer to the girl and touched her. She was cold. "Pointy, give me a blanket or something to warm her up." "Okay." Pointy handed over a blanket, and Sam wrapped it around the girl. Mat told Roundy to heal her in case she was sick or injured. Roundy did so, and luckily, the girl wasnt hurt or ill. They spent a while with her and gave her more food because she was still hungry. This time, Sam fed her. The girl seemed more at ease now, not as sad as before. Oh, by the way, describing the houses interior: it was divided into three roomsa living room, a bedroom, and a storage room. In the bedroom, there was a bed. In the living room, there was a hammock, a table, and three wooden chairs. The door was a few meters from the table, which was positioned in front of the bedroom. Mat sat on one of the chairs while Sam sat on the bed next to the girl. She seemed to have taken a liking to Samantha, despite not having interacted much with her. Pointy and Roundy also tried to talk to her, but the girl didnt seem to want to speak much. She only responded with yes or no answers, perhaps because they didnt know how to befriend her. Still, when Sam askeddespite knowing the girl might not respond due to the language barrier "Could you tell us your name, please?" Amazingly, the girl understood and replied, "A-Aelin." "Oh, thats a lovely name," Sam said with a smile. "My names Samantha. The guy over there is Mathias, and those two are Pointy and Roundy." A while after this, Mat sensed a new presence nearby, but he didnt pay it much mind, thinking it was just an animal. However, Roundy seemed a bit worried. "H-Hero" Roundy tugged at his clothes. "Huh? Whats up?" "Your mark is.." "Huh? What?!" "W-What?!" Sam exclaimed. Just then, the ground started to shake. Something was causing ita strange creature. The group turned in the direction the presence was coming from and shone a light. What they saw, about fifteen meters from the door, was a large humanoid creature with greenish-red fur, one eye, and a huge mouth in its stomach. It had claws and gave off a foul stench. The creature was around 2.2 meters tall. It looked more or less like this. Extra Chapter: Story B There was a large door in a pale blue room. The door appeared to be automatic and made of steel. It was also white. Suddenly, the door slid open. A woman stepped out of the roomSilver. Her expression was somber. She walked down the hallways, passing by people dressed in black suits. She exited the facility via an elevator. Outside, the place was revealed to be an American military base located in a rural, forested area. This was one of the organizations headquarters. She had just left a two-story building. Outside, three people were waiting for her. So how did it go? Andrew asked. Yes, tell us, please, James added. Silver proceeded to explain. Oh, right, Erin was there too, but she remained silent. Silver had been taken to court, where she was judged by the Veiled Arbiters for allowing an individual with supernatural abilities, unaffiliated with the organization, to escape, and for letting a cult member flee. Silver recounted everything that had happened at that moment. Afterward, the tribunal members deliberated. The only action they took was to remove her from the case and demote her to Rank D. They didnt provide her with any additional information. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Later, they would discover that Mat and the others had been labeled as dangerous individuals. So, they removed you from the case and demoted you Andrew said. Thats unfortunate, said the ghost who wasnt a ghost. And your rank was lowered because of us too Damn, James added. Were really sorry truly Erin said quietly, almost sadly? Maybe. ...Why are you apologizing? Silver asked. This was my decision, after all. And I dont regret it. I think... she thought to herself. I see Andrew said. Then Yes, youll be allowed to take the exam to join YGGDRASYL. If you pass, I might even be your partner. Though I still dont quite understand. Whats that? Erin asked. Normally, people would be disturbed by the things you all witnessed, especially you, young Mr. Smith. I suppose James replied. No, seriously, Silver insisted. I found you all rather peculiar because of that, which is also why I chose to help you. Ah Its a shame Ms. Thompson couldnt remember. Yes, it is, said the ghost who wasnt a ghost, out of nowhere. So what now? Andrew asked. Well, the usual, I suppose. I said Id be your partner, didnt I? But thats only if you pass the exam. In the meantime, youll be under my supervision. For what purpose? Erin asked. Im going to teach you how to use your Makt, or at least see if you can. But first, you have to pass the written exam. Huh? Seriously? Erin exclaimed. Yes, Silver replied without elaborating further. And I wish you all the best of luck. Vol. 9 Chapter 42: Real Monster, Part 1 What what is that? Samantha asked. The creature was now close to the house, about ten meters from the door. Its a real monster Pointy said. A what? Sam replied. The monster began moving closer. It was slow. In response, Mat set several pink PSI ropes around the creature. The creature noticed them but didnt interact with them. A real monster is Pointy began. Save the explanations for later, Mat interrupted. We need to deal with this thing now. Yeah, but what about the ropes? Sam asked. Theyre for the monster, obviously. Look, Ill handle it. You stay with the girl. Take the Infini-Bag, just in case. Oh, and stick with Pointy. Ill keep Roundy with me so he can heal me. Alright Got it! Sam answered. Fine by me, Pointy said. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Sam stayed with the girl, hiding in one of the rooms with Pointy. Alright then, time to What? Where did? Huh? Roundy muttered, scared. The creature was gone. The ropes were supposed to trap itany contact with them would have triggered several stakes to pierce the monster. They wouldnt have been strong enough to kill it, but they would have weakened it. Mat stepped outside to investigate. Its still close by, but Ugh! Hero! The creature struck Mat from behind. He raised his arm, enveloped in a green PSI barrier, but it wasnt enough. The impact sent him flying several meters, crashing into a tree. His forearm was broken. But how had this happened? The creature had twisted its body in grotesque ways to slip through the PSI ropes without making a sound. Ahh! Mat grunted, fighting the pain. His back ached as well, but thankfully, nothing there was broken. Ack! His forearm, however, was snapped in two, bent unnaturally, with one of the bones protruding from the skin. H-Hero Roundy stammered, terrified. The creature stood before him now, but it didnt seem interested in Roundy either, passing him by. You you wont get away! Several red PSI spikes shot out from the creature, but Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! The monster let out an ear-piercing screech. Ugh! Both Mat and Roundy winced in pain. Their ears hurt a lot. Mat tried to get back on his feet but What? They couldnt move. The creature, injured but still advancing, was heading straight for the house. I have to do something Ahh! Mat tried to summon more PSI spikes to halt its progress, but as the distance grew between them, something went wrong. What why? He couldnt. It wasnt that he was too tiredwell, he was a little, and he was injuredbut that wasnt the reason. What Mathias hadnt realized until now was that his PSI Creations had a distance limit. Yes, he could create things that reached considerable distances, but almost all of them either appeared right in front of him, close by, or emerged from his bodyand most werent intended for harm. The PSI spikes, in this case, were meant to deal damage, but trying to create them 50 meters away from himself he couldnt do it. Mat grasped this in the moment, but there was nothing he could do. If he created a spear from where he was, it wouldnt inflict enough damage, and ropes to bind the creatures legs wouldnt reach. Damn it! But then Mat realized he could still control his PSI Creations, just like always. Vol. 9 Chapter 42: Real Monster, Part 2 Meanwhile, inside the house, the little girl clung tightly to Sam, clearly terrified. There, there Dont be afraid, Sam told her. Even if it doesnt seem like it, Im sure Mat will win. *Is this comforting? I dont know How do you calm a child in a situation like this?* Samantha thought, struggling with the moment. Suddenly, the monster broke through the entrance, splintering part of the doorframe as it hunched over to enter the house. Despite ducking down, it still caused damage. Huh? Sam gasped. ! The girl remained silent but terrified. Ill go check Ah! Pointy exclaimed. The creature was already inside, peeking through the door of the room. W-what? Pointy stammered. *Agh... I cant explode in here; Im inside a house!* Pointy thought. Ah! This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Once again, the creature ignored someone. This time, it lunged straight at Samantha and Aelin. Sam stepped in front of Aelin, trying to protect her, but A-Aghhh! The creature struck Sam, hurling her into a nearby wall, cracking it. Though it didnt seem like it at first, one of her ribs was broken. Despite the pain, Samanthas reflex was to aim at the monster. She knew she had no more shots, but still, she fired. Ah! Sam gasped. She felt like she had shot something, even though she knew her weapon was empty. The last times shed tried, she hadnt been able to fire at all. But this time felt different. She was certain she had shot something. And then Groackkkk! Several stones appeared out of nowhere, crashing into the creature. They avoided hitting the walls as they pummeled the monster, shattering bones and causing it to bleed profusely. Even so, the creature pushed the stones away and lunged toward the girl, who, for some unknown reason, seemed to be its target. But then, the girl raised her hand toward the creature, and from her fingertips, small bubblesabout fifteen of thembegan to form. Samantha and Pointy stared in shock. These tiny bubbles, which appeared harmless, touched the creature and passed right through it, leaving gaping holes wherever they touched. In fact, they seemed to erase everything in their path. They tore through the creatures mouth, arms, and part of its face. The monster let out a howl of agony. At that moment, Mathias appeared, walking with a pink PSI barrier that took the shape of his body. He was still injured, dragging Roundy with him, though Roundy was unable to heal him because they were both still paralyzed, just like Mat. Agh! Mat groaned, extending his arm toward the creature. He conjured spikes directly inside the monsters head, and it exploded. The moment the creature perished, Mat and Roundy regained the ability to move. ||||| Huh? Alaya murmured. W-what just happened? They literally destroyed it in an instant Eliah muttered. Ah, right I knew there was something strange about that girl. ||||| Afterward, Roundy healed both Mathias and Samantha. They repaired the house and tried to bury the creatures body, though while they were digging, its body mysteriously disintegrated, vanishing entirely. Samantha stayed close to the girl the whole time, as she was still Vol. 10 Chapter 43: Ruins, Part 1 Morning had arrived, it was 6:30 AM, and they were still at the house. Mathias and Samantha had stayed with the little girl to make sure she could sleep peacefully. Seeing a monster and witnessing its brutal death was not something a child should have to endure. ||||| Why state the obvious? Eliah remarked. ||||| By this time, TRX and Blocky had rejoined the group. They had also discovered that the two graves outside belonged to Aelins mother and grandfather. Aelin had mentioned them in her sleep, her tone tinged with sadness. Mat had also discussed his new power with Samantha, the ability to manipulate rocks, but she didnt understand how he had it either. The fact that he could manipulate stones in a certain way reminded Mat of the pastors ability. While Aelin slept with Roundy, the group gathered outside the house. So Mat began. That thing was a real monster, wasnt it? Yes, Blocky confirmed. And that is Samantha prompted. A creature born from peoples fears, taking the form of creatures created by humans. It doesnt necessarily look like the fear it represents. Moreover, there isnt just one; there are several, so even if you defeat one, more will keep coming, Pointy explained. Oh, I see Mat said. Sounds like a dictionary entry... But it doesnt matter. So what do we do now? Find the temple, TRX replied. Yes, we know that, but how? Its supposed to be around here, but its difficult to search for it in the middle of the forest, Samantha said. It will take us quite some time, which we dont We do have quite a bit of time, Blocky said. Until the 23rd, right? Of November, yes, Pointy confirmed. But the sooner we find it, the better, so lets get moving. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Okay, okay, but the most important thing is what do we do with the girl? We cant leave her alone, Mathias said. TRX, Trixxie, or Trixy looked up at the sky for some reason. Id like to take her with us, but is it okay to do that? Besides, she seemed to have powers too but Samantha said. She also seems a bit odd. Did you see her ears and hair color? Mat added. Besides that, the aura she emits is strange, like she has two auras or something. I cant quite describe it. ...I dont quite get the last part, but yes, Samantha agreed. Well, Hero, TRX said. If you want to take her, theres no problem, although well be a lot of people, and youll have to protect her too. I see Mat said. Well Sam, what do you think? And why are you making me decide? Sam said, slightly exasperated. But Id take her, but we still dont know if she has other family or anything That well find out later. For now, Ill check if shes still asleep so we can all have breakfast together, Mat said. Ah, then Ill go too, Samantha said. Go ahead, Pointy said. Well stay here for a while, checking out the place. Ive never been in a forest like this, Blocky commented out of the blue. Well, Mat said. They went back into the house. Inside, Aelin was still asleep. Mathias and Samantha stayed in the room, waiting for her to wake up. In that time, Mat realized something. She seems familiar even her name After a while, Aelin woke up. Good morning, Sam said, smiling. They proceeded to have breakfast. TRX and the others also entered the small house. They took food from the Infini-Bag. Everyone ate, and Aelin found TRX and the others'' eating habits amusing. Mat and Sam found it unsettling. Samantha decided to ask the bag for a map of the area. Yes, lets do that, Mat said. I dont think it can do that, Pointy said. It only provides specific items. I see Mat said as he grabbed the Infini-Bag. Yes! Blocky exclaimed. I tried it before and didnt get anything HUH? So where is this? Loreto? Mat asked. Loreto? Let me see Samantha said. This Wait. Were in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Wait, wait, wait Blocky said. What the heck? Why did it give you something and not me? Why!? H-hey, I dont know. Get off me, Mat said. Aelin giggled at the situation. Oh, and by the way, after finding out the approximate location, they realized there were no towns near the house. They were near a city called Iquitos. ||||||| Ah! Hey, thats where my... Eliah started. Shhh Dont say anything, I interrupted. Huh? Why not? Alaya asked. I dont understand Just because. Alright, Eliah said. |||||||| After breakfast, Samantha tried to ask Aelin if she had any relatives, but she only reiterated what they already knew: that her mother and grandfather had passed away. She also mentioned that she didnt know her father, or at least she hadnt met him. She told them that she was the one who buried her grandfather at his request when he was sick, asking her to do it after he had been dead for several hours. In addition, she said she didnt know anyone else. TRX and the others went out after eating, thanking everyone for the meal. After saying all that, she seemed on the verge of tears. Samantha tried to comfort her, and yes, she tried. This is all so tragic, but why were they living so far from the city? There dont even seem to be any towns nearby She calmed down after a while, when Mat managed to soothe her. He then said: So were going to leave for a while. No! Please dont leave me Ill be good, I promise sobbing Ill be good! Huh? B-but were going to take you Ah R-really? Yes, yes stop crying, Sam said. She moved closer and patted her gently. Aelin hugged her. Uh am I doing this right? I-I suppose. Moments before, when Aelin was crying, outside: W-whats going on in there? TRX asked. Extra Chapter 1: Memories I One day, Aelin and her mother went out fishing in a canoe, paddling along. While they were on the river, near the shore, under some trees whose branches were long enough to reach where they were, a snake suddenly fell right between them. The snake slithered towards Aelin, who was sitting at one end of the canoe. She screamed, and the snake, startled, moved to the other side. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Now, the snake was heading towards her mother. Aelin, why did you? Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Her mother screamed because of the snake as well. The snake got scared again and headed back toward Aelin. She screamed again, nearly crying. The snake turned back toward her mother, who screamed once more. And this back-and-forth continued until the snake finally leapt off the canoe. They didnt find it funny until several days later. Even her grandfather thought it was amusing. Vol. 10 Chapter 43: Ruins, Part 2 They were walking through the jungle. It had already been about two hours since they left, and they still hadnt found the temple. Aelin would occasionally run ahead to see if there was anything. As she did so, she climbed trees with great ease and jumped remarkably high. Blocky followed her as well. Seeing those two, especially Aelin, jumping through the trees surprised Mat and Sam. Oh, and along the way, they encountered a few monsters, but they were easy to defeat compared to the one from before. Suddenly, Samantha said to Mat, You know... Ive been thinking about something. What is it? Well... Aelin. She got used to us way too quickly, dont you think? Yeah, Ive thought about that too... Well, at least we were the ones who found her. Why do you say that? Oh... I get it. Living in such a remote house, she could have died without anyone finding her until long after it happened. Worse, if someone had found her earlier, it might have been "bad people." So... I guess its for the best. Two more hours passed. Now Aelin and Blocky were walking alongside the group because Samantha thought it was too dangerous to let Aelin keep jumping around. Ugh... If were going to go through all this with the others too... I dont want to be part of this anymore... Sam said out of nowhere, sounding exhausted. Isnt there another way to find the temple? Well... We dont know. Pointy responded for everyone. Really? We cant find it with... I dont know, some kind of spiritual power or something? Sam asked. Oh, Mat said, I hadnt thought of that... Huh? Aelin tugged on Mats shirt. What is it? Spiritual power? Aelin responded with another question. Oh, its like energy or something, something you can feel... This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Energy? Oh, right. She doesnt know what that is... Well, its... Its the capacity of something to do work, or to cause some sort of change or transformation. There are actually many explanations depending on the field, but... Let me make it simpler, Pointy explained. Spiritual energy is basically what keeps you alive, what moves you, and lets you use powers, assuming your body is compatible, of course. What? Aelin didnt quite understand, but her expression didnt change to one of confusion. Oh, I see... Mat said, then turned to Aelin. Well, you can sense animals, right? I mean... You know where they are without seeing them. Yes! And youve probably noticed that each one has a different aura, but at the same time, similar to those of similar animals, right? Yes! What? Samantha interjected, turning to Pointy. Is that true? Yes. But I dont feel anything... she replied. Neither do we, Blocky said. But TRX can, I think. Is that true? Sam asked. Yes, I think so, TRX said. I can sense the presence of various animals, but... I cant tell them apart. I see. While they were talking, Aelin said to Mat, Theres something over there that feels similar to you. She pointed south. Really? Mat said, surprised. I dont feel anything. It seems like you cant sense presences similar to yourself, or something, Pointy said. So... Is the temple a living being or what? Sam asked. Nah, it just has the Heros aura, a divine aura, or at least thats what we were told, Blocky said. I see... Wait, why didnt you mention that earlier? Mat asked. Divine aura? Mat thought to himself. We forgot... Pointy said. And since none of us can sense aura, and neither could you, that information was useless. Although... Aelin could, Samantha said, as she walked over to Aelin and patted her head. Good job. You helped us a lot. Hehe... Aelin seemed happy. Thats strange, but it will be very useful, TRX said. Alright then. Lets head that way, Mat said. Yes! everyone agreed. They headed towards the place where the temple was supposed to be. Incredibly, aside from the monster they encountered the day before, nothing else happened that day. It seemed like most monsters were drawn to the mark at night. Finally, around 2 in the afternoon, they reached some ruins. As they approached, something felt strange. Oh! Ive been here before, Aelin said. When my grandfather... She was about to cry, but Samantha managed to calm her down, with Mats help, of course. Despite this, they decided to have lunch there since it was peaceful. Afterward: Well then, Mat said. Lets go in. He started walking toward the ruins door, but as he did, a booming voice was heard. Only Samantha was startled. Only those who bear the Mark and two followers may enter. If you do not bear the Mark of the Chosen, you may only enter if you are willing to sacrifice something of great value to you. What? Mat said. Thats right, people without the mark can enter too, Pointy said. But dont worry. Oh, I see. Well, who wants to come with me? Mat asked. Not me, Samantha said. Im a little scared... I see... Well, then stay here and look after Aelin. Eh, okay. So... Ill go, TRX said. Okay, who else? Oh, right. Roundy, you come too, Mat said. W-why me? Oh... Right... Ill go... The three gathered in front of the door. Well. Can we go in? Mat asked. You may. The door opened. Wow, Aelin said, looking impressed. Can I-? No. Its dangerous, Sam said. Oh... Mathias, Roundy, and TRX entered. After that, the door closed. Vol. 10 Chapter 44: Lament in the Jungle, Part 1. Once inside, the group realized that after passing through that door, they were now in some sort of ancient temple. They were surrounded by beige-colored walls, or something similar, and there were several pillars. A few torches were lit along the walls. At the end of the corridor was another door, a rather large one made of stone. Wow said Mat, and after observing the place for a moment, he turned around. What? The door they had entered through was no longer there. So, we need to finish what we came here to do in order to leave, right? Mat asked. No, we can still get out, TRX replied. There will be other exits inside. Although... they might not take us back the way we came. What do you mean? Mat asked. I dont know, but thats just how it works. ... Roundy didnt say a word. Alright, lets keep going. As soon as Mat took a step, a voice echoed through the place, saying, In this place, you will be tested to see if you are worthy of taking the Orb. Pass through that door and the trial will begin. Keep in mind that each trial is different from the last. The door opened, but what was behind it couldnt be seen. There was only a very bright light. Enter, said the voice. Oh, okay, Mat responded. Lets go. Yeah, lets, said TRX. Okay... Roundy, who seemed a bit scared for some reason. They approached the door. Even from up close, they couldnt see what was behind it. It was like a void of light. After passing through the door... Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Oh, wow, said Mat. It seemed like they had exited the place. It was night, but... despite this, they could tell they were still in the jungle. The light from the full moon faintly illuminated the area. They were standing in the middle of ruins that appeared to belong to an ancient civilization. ||||| These ruins look, ugh I said. Even if I say the name, you wont know what Im talking about. Wait... Alaya. Yes? she replied. Well, it looks like the city where your mom and your grandparents live, I answered. Hmmm... Ah, thats true, she responded. Well, the thing is, they look like Incan ruins. ...What? said Eliah. ||||| There were several houses, or buildings that seemed to be houses, scattered across a hill. In the center was a building that appeared to have a spiral shape, though worn down by time. At the top of the hill were two larger buildings, one close to the other. The sound of crickets could be heard. ...Now what? Mat asked. I dont know, TRX replied. What do you mean, I dont know? Arent you supposed to be guiding me or something?! Oh, right. Well, lets explore. ... Roundy didnt say anything here either. Alright, Mat said, creating three orange PSI lanterns. Lets keep going. They started exploring the area, but before that, TRX said, Although... Well, if theres a monster around here, I might be able to tell you what it is, its abilities, weaknesses, stuff like that... I read about it. I see, Mat replied. Thats pretty useful, actually. They walked for quite some time and found absolutely nothing but ruins. There was no one alive there, not even monsters. They couldnt sense anything around them either. Theres nothing... Now what? Mathias said. Hmmm... We have to keep looking for the exit. Theres no other option, Trixxie responded. Yeah, but... Theres literally nothing here. Not even monsters or anything like what the previous Hero told me about, Mat replied. I know, but every trial is different, you heard that yourself, TRX said. So... The trials he went through are different, I see... Mat said. Well, yeah, thats what I said, and the angel said that too. Yeah... Well, it doesnt matter. Lets keep going Roundy touched TRXs shoulder, seemingly telling her something. Oh, right. Theres supposed to be a tool or artifact here that can help us. Yeah, I remember something like that, but... Werent those things useless? ... Roundy didnt respond. Who the hell told you they were useless?! Some of those tools are for things that cant normally be done. They have unique qualities that are necessary to find the corresponding orb! ...I see. Lets search for them, then, Mat said. Yes. How strange... So the other Hero lied to me or something... Ugh, never mind. They continued exploring the area. Roundy separated from the group for a moment to explore on his own, without saying anything to TRX or Mat, and he stumbled upon something strange... There were places they couldnt pass through. It was like there was an invisible wall. After this, Roundy rejoined the rest of the group, who were exploring another area. Huh? Where were you? Mat asked. ... ...I see. They continued exploring. As they did, they stopped at a house and realized that despite its ancient appearance, the place seemed to have been recently inhabited. And not just by one person, it seemed like several people had been there recently, but had vanished without a trace. However... W-what? Mathias said. Huh?! Roundy exclaimed. B-but it wasnt like this before... TRX stammered. Then, as Mathias took a closer look, shining his lantern into the house through the window, he saw incomplete skeletons on the floor. They were stunned by the fact that those bones were disintegrating... and that the house itself was slowly being corroded. W-whats going on here? Mathias said. Then, under the dim moonlight, Mat looked at the hand holding the lantern, his right hand. Ah! Mat yelled. Huh? Roundy and TRX turned to look at him. His hand was also melting. Extra Chapter 2: Memories II While fishing with her grandfather in the middle of the night, Aelin was hit by a pumpkin. When she looked in the direction it came from, she saw nothing, and the ground was several meters away. Grandpa, she said. She couldnt pronounce most words correctly. What is it, Ailin? Her grandfather pronounced her name oddly. Pumpkin, she said, showing him the pumpkin and then pointing in the direction from which it had supposedly been thrown. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. That... What is that? her grandfather exclaimed. Aelin turned to look in that direction. What she saw now was an empty, glowing ship. It was completely abandoned and sinking as it drifted towards them. There was also some sort of orb floating around it. Without saying a word, his face pale, her grandfather began rowing away in a hurry. Aelin did the same. As they fled, both looked to the surface and saw crowds of people with torches. They also heard murmurs and an eerie whistling sound. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the people began chasing them in canoes. This caused Aelin and her grandfather to row even faster. Her grandfather was already praying, thinking they wouldnt escape. Aelin was nearly paralyzed with fear. Out of nowhere, the spectral orb from before appeared in front of them. Aelin, who was crying, instinctively reached out her hand toward the orb, and several bubbles emerged from her fingers. The bubbles passed right through the orb. Groaaaaaaiiiiaaaaaaaaaaargh! A horrible scream echoed. Suddenly, everything vanished. The people, the ship, the orb. There was nothing leftonly silence. Well, the sounds of nature could still be heard. Aelin and her grandfather, witnessing this, hugged each other and cried with relief. As this happened, Aelin saw a figure in the distance. It was dressed in black rags and disappeared into the night. Vol. 10 Chapter 44: Lament in the Jungle, Part 2 After shining his hand, with the left one, which was holding the flashlight, it became clearer. Mathias hand was slowly melting, as if some kind of acid had been poured on it. At this moment, his bones and part of his muscles were visible. It was bleeding and oozing pus. ||||||||||| Huh? said Alaya. There was no need for you to show that Eliah told me as she covered Alayas eyes. But if I didnt, I wouldnt have the true image to go with the description I gave, I replied. I want to see! Alaya protested. No, said Eliah. Youre mean, Alaya pouted. How am I mean? Im protecting you from seeing something disturbing! Ugh! Alaya pulled Eliahs hands off her eyes and saw Mats hand in the image I created. Eh, Ive seen worse. ...W-what? Eliah stammered. ||||||||||| Back to the story... Hero! TRX and Roundy exclaimed, frightened and concerned. Ah... Wait, it doesnt hurt, Mat said. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. W-what? TRX said, still worried. But your hand is... horrible... Im serious, it doesnt hurt, Mat replied. Although I was scared when I saw the wound. Haha... Uh, even if I touch it, it doesnt hurt, but its a real wound He was really touching it. How strange... Mat thought. Hey, Roundy, can you heal me? Y-yeah, of course. Roundy went to heal her. But... he noticed something and froze, dumbfounded. Hey, whats wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? TRX asked Roundy. Y-you Huh? Oh. Youre melting too, Mat told her. Huh? Really? TRX asked. Yeah. That thing of yours, that orange beak-like thing, its gone... and youre bleeding Mat said. Huh? Oh She fainted. W-whoa, Trixxie! A little while later, after all three had been healed Well... So... if we stay here too long, well end up like those skeletons over there... Wait, theyre gone Mat said. Yeah, it seems so, TRX replied, still not feeling great. We need to hurry and get out of here, Mat said. And we need to find the artifact too, TRX added. They continued exploring the area, staying together. Every now and then, they healed themselves, but Mats clothes were also slowly melting. He already had several holes and tears in them. Damn... Another set of clothes ruined, Mat muttered. At that moment, Roundy approached Mat. TRX was walking ahead. ? Well I noticed there are invisible walls in some places. TRX heard him from the front and rushed back. And why didnt you say so earlier!? she scolded him. S-sorry Alright, but... what do we do about that? Mathias asked. Well, its obvious! The artifact in this place must be for those things! Oh, then lets find it! Yeah! TRX and Roundy chimed in. They continued exploring the area, now following Roundy, who knew the location of one of those walls. This is the place, Roundy said. Mat hit the air with his right hand, and sure enough, he managed to touch something solid. Ah, I see. And what do we do with this? ...I dont know, Roundy replied. ...Me neither, TRX added. Eh. He turned to look at the invisible wall. Beyond it, the path continued, with more ruined houses around. So... lets try this. He touched the wall with his left hand, the one with the mark. ...Nothings happening, TRX said. Roundy healed them again as they were getting injured once more. Then we have to find that artifact no matter what, Mat said. Wait ? And if... what were looking for is in one of those unique buildings over there? Oh Roundy replied. Lets each search one, TRX suggested. B-but Roundy hesitated. Nah, nothings gonna happen to us. Theres absolutely nothing here, except that were melting, but that takes a while, so its fine, Mat said. Dont worry. ...Okay. Well, lets go. They split up, each going to one of the buildings. Mathias headed to the spiral one, while Roundy and TRX went to the other large buildings. The spiral building had invisible walls. Mat couldnt get in, so he went to the others. TRX couldnt get in either, so she went to where Roundy was. Roundy... managed to enter. Inside, almost everything on the first floor was corroded. He climbed to the second floor. Everything was the same here. He climbed again, now to the third floor, from where he could see through the window that there were more buildings in the distance, with similar architecture. Roundy ignored all of that, as everything was the same here too, but Huh? He had found something that caught his attention. It was some kind of sling, a huaraca. Vol. 10 Chapter 44: Lament in the Jungle, Part 3. Roundy, after seeing the sling, which wasn''t melting, approached it. Maybe this is it, he thought. He went to grab it, but... Ow! He instantly let it go. His little hand was now scorched... O-ouch... ow... He healed himself but continued sobbing. It seemed that the artifact rejected Roundy. At that moment, Mathias and TRX arrived. Roundy? Are you okay? What happened? TRX exclaimed as she approached to check on him. T-that... Roundy pointed to the sling. This? Mathias picked it up, and it didnt harm him. Y-yes, that... said Roundy. Thats... the artifact of this temple, isnt it? said TRX. Yes, I think it is... Roundy replied. Mathias tried to test the sling. He swung it around, as if ready to shoot something, and mimicked launching an object. I-I think thats how you use it, Mathias said. Try putting something inside, something made by your PSI Creations... Thats the name, right? said TRX. Yes, thats the name. Well, let me try. Mathias did as instructed. He placed a gray PSI stone in it and launched it forcefully. Ah! everyone exclaimed. He had shot a fireball that destroyed the wall, and debris fell outside the building. Suddenly, a horrible scream of an unknown creature echoed throughout the area. |||||||||| Stolen story; please report. What? Eliah. |||||||||| W-what was that? Mat asked. ...I dont know, Roundy replied. I... I dont know either, but we need to get out of here fast, TRX said. They all left the building. No... I think I do know what that is, said TRX. If Im right, its a creature called Ildras. It''s the World-Eater. A-are you serious? Mathias, surprised by what she said. Its invisible because, being from a dimension higher than ours, our minds can barely process it... And it seems like were inside its stomach or something? H-hearing you say that is terrifying... Roundy said. Sorry, TRX apologized. But we should keep exploring. Yes... lets do that, Mat said. We need to find a way out. And also figure out how the relic can help us, aside from just exploding things. Oh, but keep in mind that if you plan to defeat it, its impossible, TRX added. Well, at least I was useful, TRX thought, feeling proud of herself. Mathias and Roundy just looked at her... And so, they continued searching. They arrived at the spot they had found first. Mat used the sling, and the fireball hit the wall and exploded, but... Nothing happened... Mathias said. W-what? TRX responded. Ah, ah... Roundy stammered. L-look... Huh? the two of them said. They were melting faster now. The place they were in was also deteriorating rapidly. W-what the hell? Mathias exclaimed. Hurry, do something! Ah... Roundy fainted. No, ah! TRX. Nooooooo, we lost him! Do something! Ah, ah, okay! Mat said. Not knowing what to do, he just launched something using the sling, without much force, and... water came out. W-what? W-wait, what? TRX. Huh? Roundy woke up. Oh, so it could do that too. Then he fainted again. The invisible wall started to become visible, but... Huh? Everyone except Roundy. It was a wall of flesh. It moved. It had eyes, human bones, and other creatures bones. All of it was moving, making strange noises. Instinctively, Mat used his green PSI Creations, in the shape of blades and maces, to destroy the wall. The wall bled from the attack, and a gut-wrenching scream was heard once more. Argh! Mat covered his ears. Ugh! TRX. Mathias, TRX, and Roundy''s skin was melting faster. Mathias''s clothes were also falling apart. His strange shirt had disintegrated. This way, quickly! Mathias shouted. Mathias carried Roundy, and they went that way. I hope this is the right path. Come on, come on, Roundy, wake up! TRX seemed scared. Her chicken-like beak had fallen off, and that part was bleeding. Her little legs were bleeding as well. Mathias was in bad shape too. His back was raw and melting. His bones and muscles were exposed in several wounds, and he was bleeding. He had also lost an eye. |||||||||| Ah... Eliah, who suffered worse things. That really is gross... Alaya, who didnt go through such things. |||||||||| Roundy seemed to have only small wounds on his body, but he was bleeding. In this case, even the blood seemed to be disintegrating. They ran through several places with invisible walls, which Mat destroyed when they turned to flesh (since now they could be harmed), but none of the paths led anywhere. Ugh... Mat. He placed Roundy on the ground for a moment. His entire body ached. It seems like hes in pain... TRX thought. And indeed, he was, to some extent. Maybe Mat had started feeling pain, or perhaps he was just imagining the pain upon seeing his injurieswho knows? There are actually several exits, TRX said, after seeing that there were doors that could lead them out. But... they dont help us. Yes, ugh... It doesnt matter. We have to keep going, he said and picked up Roundy again. They continued searching, but... none of the buildings, which only contained treasures (gold), among other things (which didnt disintegrate), led anywhere. ...They took some of those things with them, for some reason. Ugh! TRX made that noise. Her wounds were getting worse, but they didnt actually hurt. She was just imagining the pain. Ugh, Roundy wont wake up... Mat thought. Then, after wandering around the area, they found one of the invisible walls, inside a little house that seemed oldermuch older than the rest. After destroying the flesh wall, they passed through and... Ah... Mathias. Ah... TRX. We made it... They were exhausted, but finally, after passing through that door, they arrived at a different place. They were standing in the middle of the void or outer space, on a floating platform with four pillars. Despite this, they could breathe. In the center of this place, there was a pedestal with an orb. The door they had entered through closed behind them. Extra Chapter 3: Sense Since Mat and the others were taking so long, those who stayed behind ended up camping near the door. It was night by now, and Pointy, along with Blocky, had set up a campfire. They also set up a tent to camp out there. Samantha had done this, as she didnt want to walk all the way back to the house. They were sitting around the fire on a blanket. Im hungry, Aelin said out of nowhere. Ah, right. Well have dinner in a bit, Samantha responded to the girl. She said it like she was demanding it Samantha thought. Hey, could you give me the bag? Samantha asked Pointy, who had it. Ah, sure. Here you go, Pointy replied and tossed the Infinite Bag. They were several meters apart. It flew over the flames. Ah! Samantha nearly missed catching it. T-thanks Err I still feel uncomfortable taking things out of this bag... Seriously It makes me feel weird... Also, whats with asking her nicely? Its strange... These were Samanthas thoughts at that moment. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Are you two hungry yet? she asked Blocky and Pointy. No, not yet, Pointy replied. Nah, Blocky added. Maybe a little later. I-I see. Well, they ate dinner after a while. Samantha pulled a pizza out of the Infinite Bag. To Pointy, it tasted normal but she liked it. To Blocky, it was horrible. But for Aelin, it was a delicacy. She liked it so much that she started crying. Huh? W-why are you crying? A-Aelin!? Samantha and Blocky tried to calm her down. So you like it, huh? Samantha said. Here, have another slice. She handed her another one. Thanks. Aelin was smiling. She started eating it happily. No, wait, she was devouring it. More! she said. Wow, Blocky exclaimed, surprised. Hehe, seems like you really like it, Samantha said as she patted her head. Yes! Well, have another one then. She gave her another slice. As Aelin was eating, Samantha added: Ah, but dont get used to it. Its not healthy. Aww Eh But Well, well have it occasionally. Yay! Seriously? Blocky muttered under her breath. Ah After a while, as they continued eating, Aelin noticed something and became scared, but she didnt say anything. The thing was, something or someone was approaching where the group was. It kept coming closer. No one else noticed, only Aelin, who was terrified. Hey, Aelin, are you alright? Samantha asked. Aelin, whats wrong? Youre shaking Blocky said. Pointy was already pulling something out of the bag to try and calm her down. Eh... Eh At that moment, a whistle could be heard. It was faint at first, but it started getting louder and louder. Aelin was almost paralyzed with fear. Blocky and Pointy were preparing to fight. Moments later, Aelin could make out its shape. It was a sort of ghost, dressed in black rags. Its face couldnt be seen. But... It seemed Aelin recognized it. Out of nowhere, without turning around, Samantha aimed behind her and shot. Graighhhhhhhh! The whistling stopped. Oh, wow. So thats what it was, Samantha said. Ah... Huh? Blocky muttered. What? Pointy added. Aelin calmed down after that. She became even more attached to Samantha. Vol. 10 Chapter 45: It’s been a long time, Part 1 This I remember this... Mat thought. Right. He vaguely remembered one of his dreams. Huh? Did we arrive? Roundy had just woken up. Yeah, ugh TRX replied. Heal us first, Mathias said, covered in several gruesome wounds. Y-yeah Roundy proceeded to heal them and then healed himself. So... Im going to take the orb, Mat said. TRX and Roundy just watched as Mathias walked toward the pedestal. He grabbed the orb. Then, the ground started to shake. The space that could be seen from the platform began to distort, and suddenly, a humanoid figure appeared on the platform. Everyone was startled by this. Mat walked back to the group. He didnt feel any malice or anything from the being, it was as if it wasnt even there. Oh, thats an ''angel'', TRX said. Is it? But the other one looked different Mat replied. Thats because they change forms. I see. But this one is stronger, she added. H-hey, Trixxie Roundy said. What is it? That Isnt that a ''Power'' or something? Roundy asked. Huh? Mathias was confused. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I suppose TRX responded. As they talked, the humanoid figure slowly approached without making any noise. In the end, it stopped two meters from the group. It looked human, like a girl. Really. If it werent for the white robes it wore, one could mistake it for an ordinary person. It had dusky skin and long black hair. Now, Mathias Donovan, you must face me, it said. Eh, what? But Ummm Before anything, could you answer a few things? First, why do I need to be tested? And second, what exactly are you? To answer your first question, these trials were created specifically for you, and only for you. However... there was someone before who completed a trial that was meant for you. Right, Martin has it... Mat thought. Ah, here, take it, Mat said, handing the orb to TRX. Okay. The divine creature continued to speak: Additionally, as youve already seen, not just anyone can reach this place without a sacred artifact, nor can they touch it, even though anyone can reach the entrance. And as for you, these trials were designed so that you, and anyone accompanying you, would become more resistant to challenges like the ones you just faced. Also, the artifact you obtained, although useful, is weakened. But by using it against a divine creature like me, you can restore its former power. That way, if you create the Luminous Sword, it will be at its full potential. So, you have to use the sacred artifacts. Moreover, to do so, you need to use the Medallion that was given to you, as it acts as a receptor in this case, by harming something divine. This way, youll be able to recover its old potential. TRX nodded as Mat turned to look at her. It seemed they already knew this. Then, Mat realized something. Huh? But as far as I remember, the previous Hero didnt do all this, Mat said. He told me he didnt need them And thats true. You see, he had the ability to imbue things with the essence of others. Therefore, he could have the abilities of sacred artifacts, or relics as they are also called, in his sword. He created that ability for himself. I see Wait, what? ? TRX and Roundy. What? TRX asked. Youll learn about that someday, the figure said. And well, the fact that the relics or artifacts are scattered in places that are different every time you enter... Well, their form is decided when someone enters for the first time. Finding them on your own is part of the test. Additionally, these places take the shape of locations that existed, exist, or will exist. And you must go through them because you are mortal. If you were like us, beings that are not part of this space and time What? Mat was confused by the last part. You would just have to walk through the door, and thats it. But since youre not, you have to go through those zones. But I dont understand, why? Why do we have to do all this? And why can only you? I didnt make the rules, and the fact that you cant reach here that way is due to the limits of your bodies. You wouldnt survive. I see. Oh, and the second question I already said Im a divine creature, theres nothing more to say, it replied. I see But before we begin, there are two more things I want to tell you. What things? In the fight, I will hold back a bit so I dont destroy you. Even so, dont expect an easy battle. I dont want to be harmed, but theres no other way, so I chose to fight you to restore the artifacts power, based on its nature. I see Does that mean the others will make me restore their energy in different ways? he thought. So the other artifacts may or may not be weapons, and they will be recharged differently, right? Exactly, it replied. Interesting, TRX said. Roundy didnt say anything. Oh, I understand. So... What was the other thing you were going to tell me? Mat asked. Its been a long time since we last saw each other, Mat. Its good to see you again. After saying those words, she smiled and... briefly changed into a form with a golden mask and... disappeared. Huh? What? Ah! Ugh! The other two reacted. There was another strong tremor throughout the area, and the space distorted again, but now... Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! What the hell is that!? Mathias exclaimed. From the depths of the space, something strange began to emerge. A huge creature. It was a skull. An enormous human skull with several tentacles, which looked more like interconnected cylinders, coming out from the cheek area. A rotating golden ring with multiple eyes was behind the skull, and it was connected to a sort of... stone, which had roots. From its mouth also emerged a kind of tree with eyes. It had a claw similar to this, and also a hand, with a tip similar to the tentacles. Vol. 10 Chapter 45: It’s Been a Long Time, Part 2 Mathias, despite being somewhat scared by what had just happened, readied his sling. Im ready, he told himself. The divine creature began circling the area. From the ring of eyes behind the skull, several rays shot out. Huh? Ack! The rays were fired toward Mat, but they didnt move in straight lines. It was as if they were homing in on him. Mathias, using his PSI Creations, dodged them all. He propelled himself with them while also making some of the rays hit his barriers, where they exploded. After that, Mathias saw the creature and started spinning his sling, launching a fireball in its direction, but Huh? Mat said. What? TRX asked. ! Roundy added. It didnt harm the creature. Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Agh! The deafening roar stunned Mat. Stolen story; please report. Agh, ack! Mathias was covering his ears. Then, from one of the creatures eye sockets, an eye emerged. Mathias, still disoriented, saw it. In that moment, he thought it was a weak point or something, but He couldnt do anything. He couldnt move the sling because his head was throbbing, and his whole body hurt. Agh! Mathias! shouted TRX and Roundy. Mathias barely got back on his feet, but by the time he did, the eye had already vanished. Then, the creature fired rays again. Ah! Mathias dodged them all once more. Huh? Then it did something new. This time, it fired a single ray directly from the eye at him, but It didnt harm him. Instead, some of its tentacles began to stretch rapidly toward him, as if trying to capture him. The rest seemed sharp and had eyes. It was as if the ray was meant to track him, which was strange. Ah! Mat ran, fleeing from the tentacles that approached him. He then used the sling, launching a fireball at the tentacles. They burned up. Oh, wow. He kept doing it several times until there were no tentacles left. Hehe. Grooooooooooooooooooooooooargh!!! Agh! Damn it! Ugh! Mat dropped to his knees, in pain once more. The eye reappeared, this time on the left side, but Mat, enduring the pain, spun the sling and fired. The eye exploded, and the creature trembled, with a few cracks appearing on the skull. G-good! Mat exclaimed. Bravo! TRX cheered. Then, Mat saw some kind of aura emerging from the creature, flowing directly into the medallion he wore. At the same time, energy emanated from the medallion and into the sling. Wow. Mat felt something different about the sling now. Huh? The creature had now disappeared. Mat turned to see where it had gone, but it seemed to have turned invisible. Mat tried to sense it, but for some reason, he couldnt. What now? It could be anywhere Mat thought. Then, he started getting lashed. The strikes were invisible. Agh! Hero! TRX and Roundy exclaimed. He now had cuts all over his body from the lashes he received. He escaped using his PSI Creations, propelling himself away and stopping with them as well. This happened twice. Mat was badly injured. Then, he realized something. Thats right! Mat began to simply sling water at different areas around the zone. Then, part of the creature appeared. Ah, there you are. He threw more water. Its right eye became visible. Mat spun the sling and fired another fireball. Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Ack! This time, many more cracks appeared. The creatures skull shattered, but beneath it was flesh. Muscle. The face, that was starting to appear, didnt look very human, unlike the skull. On the creatures forehead was a sort of crystal, green in color. Vol. 10 Chapter 45: It’s Been a Long Time, Part 3 W-What!? It was a horrible sight. It was bleeding. Then, the creatures tentacles captured Mat while he remained dazed. Ack! He dropped the sling. Hero! shouted Roundy and TRX. The tentacles were squeezing him tightly. Aaaagh! TRX wanted to intervene upon seeing this scene, but the creature said, Dont interfere. If you do, youll ruin everything. Agh! Mat continued to groan in pain. I need to grab it He thought as he looked over at the sling, which was lying about ten meters away. Then, he decided to spin it with his PSI Creations. He launched a green PSI whip to reach it, but Ack! Aghhh! The tentacles tightened their grip. Some of his ribs cracked. But despite this, he managed to grab the sling, spun it, and aimed at the crystal, but something strange happened. Huh? TRX said. He had noticed something. When Mathias grabbed the sling, the tip of the whip transformed into a hand. Not a hand created by PSI Creations. It was a real hand, so to speak. It wasnt green nor transparent. It was clearly visible and golden in color. It looked as if he was wearing a clawed glove or something. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! The creature screamed again, and part of its face shattered. Mat, still trapped by the tentacles and unaware of the hand, launched another attack with the sling. The creature let out a horrific scream and began to disintegrate, disappearing. Then, a bright light flooded the area, blinding the three present. When the light faded, Mats wounds were healed. His clothes were also repaired. Mat found himself alongside TRX and Roundy. Huh? Wow, Mat said. W-What happened? Roundy asked, confused. The fight is over TRX said. I see. Then, the humanoid figure reappeared in front of the group. So was that it? Mathias asked. Yes, that was it, the figure replied. But it was so fast, seriously It was painful, but it felt too easy as well Mat thought. And that was enough! exclaimed the divine creature with a human-like appearance. This surprised everyone. Seriously, just look at the artifact; it has regained its power Now every shot you make at someone will weaken them She seemed to be in pain. H-hey, are you okay? TRX asked. Of course I am! Its just that its just that ah the creature said. Well. It hurts a lot but it doesnt matter. I-I see Mat said. Wait, did it hurt her? Then, Messiah, its time for you to leave, she said. This place will close permanently. Also, for the next temple to open, youll have to wait until December 24. Messiah Mat thought, confused. A giant stone door appeared out of nowhere. It was open. Alright, Mat said. Goodbye, then. He said, smiling. Yes, see you, TRX replied. Thank you for everything, Roundy said, shyly. The humanoid creature said nothing, just smiled and waved them off. The group proceeded to pass through the door. Meanwhile, Aelin and Samantha were sitting on a blanket spread on the ground. They were eating. It seemed to be one in the afternoon the next day. Thanks to the Infini-bag, they had managed to gather camping supplies there, waiting for Mat, Roundy, and TRX to return. The wait was over. Ah! Mat! Samantha exclaimed happily upon seeing Mat, Roundy, and TRX come through the door. Aelin also rejoiced at his arrival and quickly ran to hug him. Ah, Sam! Mat said, hugging her back. Er Hello, everyone! Mat, you took a long time, Samantha said. Really? he replied. At that moment, he started to feel something strange. Yes, almost a day. We camped here, she explained. Aelin, Blocky, and Pointy nodded. Oh, wow For us, it was only a couple of hours, TRX said. Time flowed differently in there. I see. So I assume you got the orb, thats why youre here, Samantha said. And this what about the orb? Here it is, Mat said, smiling. Oh the others said upon seeing the orb. Then, Aelin tugged on Sams clothes. Huh? Do you want to touch it? She nodded. Well, Mat replied. Could you hand it to her for a moment? Huh? But Its not going to break, Pointy said. So its no problem. Okay. He handed the orb to Aelin. Blocky came closer to see it as well. So what was it like in there? Samantha asked now. She seemed quite curious about it. Well, it was pretty impressive, to be honest. We were Mat Uh Samantha interrupted. ? Your nose is bleeding Oh but agh Mat! Hero! Mat collapsed to the floor. His nose was bleeding, and blood was coming from his mouth as well. Some of his veins had burst. There was a faint sound, like a small explosion within him. Agh At that moment, Aelin, still scared, realized something and pointed to the southwest. Everyone turned to look that way. In the distance stood the silhouette of a girl. Ha! I found you, she said to herself. She was pointing in Mat''s direction. Vol. 11 Chapter 46: Bride of the Wind, Part 1 Now I''m going to tell you a story from the past. ||||||||||| "Eh? But what about Mathias?" Eliah asked. "Yeah, Uncle Zoron, why are you changing the story now?" Alaya complained. "Ah, because this is important too," I told them. "Oh, well..." Eliah muttered. ||||||||||| This story takes place almost 16 years before what I was just narrating. It was December 24, 1971, in Lima, Peru. A seven-year-old girl was on a plane with her parents and her younger brother, who was five years old. That day, they were traveling to the city of Iquitos to spend Christmas with their family who lived there, although they were first stopping in the city of Pucallpa. "A-ah! M-mom!" While inside the plane, the girl was scared because of the turbulence. "Dont worry, this is normal. Whats happening is called turbulence, and it happens when... when there are air pockets, but dont worry, nothings going to happen. Plus, Im here," her mother said. "Dont be afraid." She held the girls hand. This calmed her down. Minutes passed, and the turbulence worsened. It seemed like the plane had entered a zone with a thunderstorm. Some of the passengers were already scared by the situation, but others werent as affected. After a while, the voice of a flight attendant could be heard over the speaker: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Ladies and gentlemen, we inform you that the turbulence we are currently experiencing is due to a major storm over the Amazon jungle. Please fasten your seatbelts." After hearing that, the girl turned to her mother and said, "M-mom?" She was frightened. "D-dont be scared, everythings going to be fine." After saying this, her mother tightened both of their seatbelts. A little while after the flight attendants announcement, the shaking grew more violent. Even the hand luggage started to fall. The passengers were now visibly scared by all of this, but... the girls mother seemed to be trying to maintain her composure, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. "Mom!" Her mother grabbed her hand tightly. Suddenly, everything lit up, and a loud crash was heard. The last thing the girl saw was the plane being struck by lightning and splitting apart. The name of this girl was Jackeline Carvalho, and at this moment, she was in the middle of the jungle, attacking the Heros group. Her ability was the manipulation of atmospheric pressure, allowing her to control the winds as well. ||||||||||| "Wow, this ''story from the past,'' which was tragic and disturbing, just took a weird turn out of nowhere," Eliah said. "But, Uncle," Alaya said, "h-how did she survive?" "You''ll see," I told them. ||||||||||| "Mat!" Samantha exclaimed, scared by his current state. They had all seen him again, now protected by an ice barrier. "Roundy, quick!" Roundy nodded and approached Mat to heal him. "Ah... Thanks..." Mat said after being healed, but then... "Ack! Aghhh!" "Mat!" everyone except Aelin shouted. "Why isnt he healing?" Blocky asked. "Ah! Its because of continuous damage!" Pointy said. Roundy kept healing him, several times in a row, to counteract the damage. So were going to have to defeat her... Samantha thought. But... can I really face her? "Hey, Aelin." "Hm," she muttered, still holding the orb in her hands. "Stay here, hidden," Samantha told her. "Theres a bad woman out there, so... youll see..." "We''re going to knock her out!" Blocky said. "Eh?" Samantha replied. "Hey, dont say it like that," TRX scolded her. "Alright." Ah, yeah. Its true. Im with them, so we can defeat her. Samantha thought. From a distance, "But why dont they come out or do something?" the girl said. "And... wheres the orb?" Ah, yes. She looked something like this: bronze skin, blue eyes, short brown hair. She was short, standing at 146cm. At that moment, she was wearing some kind of... I dont know what she was wearing, so heres a drawing of her: Additionally, she had noticed that one of the people in the group had a strange aura. It was as if it were a mix of two energies... You know, it was Aelin. Back to the group. "So..." Samantha said. "Let''s go, I guess. I think I can fight now, Ive done it before..." "Yeah, we know," Blocky said. "Okay..." "Lets go, then," TRX said. Just as they were about to move out, "Wait," Mat said suddenly. "F-first, we need to know what kind of ability she has." "Right..." Samantha agreed. In the distance, screams could be heard. Everyone was startled by this. "Ah, theyve finally arrived..." Jackeline said. The ones who had just arrived were two artificial monsters (mutants). Both had plant-like appearances, though one had a giant flower and an eye as its face, and wore a cloak. The other, which didnt have a face, seemed to be made of branches and vines, but at the same time, it looked like it had scales on its body, and fins... By this point, only three minutes had passed. Vol. 11 Chapter 46: Bride of the Wind, Part 2 "Okay, okay," said Samantha. "Ill handle the girl, and you guys take care of the rest." She said this as the two creatures began to move toward the group. It seemed those creatures werent that strong. Together, they were as strong as the converted pastor. Plus, Samantha and Pointy had already noticed the girl was attacking Mat with pressurehe seemed to be suffering from some sort of depressurization, and it appeared she could do this by targeting her victim, though that was just a hypothesis. Samantha was the one to fight because if Mat attacked, hed only harm her if he hit her from the inside, something he thought about because of what had happened with the man that night. Samantha, on the other hand, had managed to hurt Christopher, who was stronger, and since she could measure her strength and attack from a distance, she was the best choice. "Okay!" "Agh... I-I''ll support from here with PSI creations," said Mat. "From this perspective, I can see if youre about to be attacked from a blind spot, and help you evade it with my PSI Creations. And maybe... attack from a distance, if Im able to..." "Got it. Ah, Aelin, stay here with Mat, okay? And take care of the orb, please." "S-sure," said Aelin. "Agh... By the way, my range is about 40 meters," Mat added. "I see," said Blocky. "Youre talking about helping us avoid attacks, right?" TRX asked. "Y-yeah... Agh!" Mat coughed up blood, and a vein burst in his head. "Mat!" Roundy quickly healed him again. "W-well then, let''s goAh!" Samantha screamed. "Watch out!" yelled TRX. Everyone ducked quickly. The ice barrier had been sliced in half. As soon as that happened, the group split up, leaving Mathias and Aelin behind the remains of the ice barrier. "They came out..." Jackeline thought. "I know the abilities of the young one and the triangle guy, but I dont know about the rest... Ill let the mutants attack first to see how they react." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. She started to move away to watch from a safe distance. "S-shes retreating," said Mat, lying down and observing from behind the barrier. "Im going now," Samantha said. "Were going too," TRX added. Samantha ran towards the girl. Exercising with Mat had gotten her in shape, making her more agile now, and she had good stamina. "Huh? Shes running straight at her? Is she crazy? Ah... I wouldve done the same..." Mat thought. As she ran, she was getting ready to shoot. "Ah!" Aelin gasped. Moments after Sam ran out, the orb Aelin was holding was suddenly pushed by a gust of wind. The wind also injured Aelin. "Aelin!" The orb was being carried by the wind, straight towards Jackeline. "Ah!" Sam saw the orb tooit was moving fast. Meanwhile, the mutants, or artificial monsters, encountered TRX and the others, who had already moved towards them moments earlier. "Sam, the orb!" Mat shouted. Aelin was still hiding beside Mat and Roundy, who healed her. "I know!" Sam yelled. But... she started to feel a bit dizzy, out of nowhere. Mat noticed this. "Sam!" Mat yelled, pushing her quickly with a green PSI wall. "Ugh!" Samantha fell to the ground, rolling a bit. She wasnt hurt. "B-but she didnt target me..." Sam thought. The orb reached Jackelines hands, who seemed ready to leave. So this is... she thought. Seeing this, Samantha fired without a second thought. It was a level 2 shot. Her hand glowed bright blue, like energy, again. "What?!" Jackeline exclaimed, seeing the shot, but... She deflected it with wind. The shot hit a tree, shattering it and setting it on fire. The wind that deflected the shot also cut through several trees and bushes, and the same wind was about to hit Samantha. Even though the wind was invisible, Mathias sensed it and moved Samantha, who was 45 meters away, to avoid it, though it was harder due to the distance between them. The wind was still coming at her, and not just one gustnow there were three. Jackeline started to move away again. "I dont really want to kill them, but..." Jackeline thought as she left. Mat tried to predict where the gusts would come from, helping Samantha dodge them, though she still got some cuts. Suddenly, a couple of trees were thrown at Samantha. They had been cut into pieces, but they were still large and heavy. At the speed they were coming, they could kill someone. Even so, Samantha managed to dodge them all, with Mats help. She also avoided the other pieces that came afterward. She even shattered an entire tree with two level 1 shots. Now, she was getting closer and closer to Jackeline, but... "Ack!" Samantha fell to the ground. "S-SAM!" The wind had amputated her right leg and cut part of her left. This happened because the other fight had escalated. "T-this... should be enough," Jackeline thought. But... despite the injury, Samantha aimed at her and fired again. "Again?" Jackeline thought. If it didnt work before, why was she doing it again? It would be easy to deflect. But... nothing came out of the shot. "Huh?" Samanthas hand turned to stone or rock now. "What the?" Jackeline exclaimed, seeing a large stone coming at her. She deflected it with the wind again. Samantha kept dodging the gusts with Mats help (he was also keeping her standing), but she was still taking damage. She was also bleeding heavily, almost crying from the pain. "She doesnt know Makt, so... how is this possible? Having more natural abilities..." Then, more stones appeared out of nowhere, all aimed at Jackeline, who was now frightened. "Ah!" she cried out. Samantha now shot three rocks with five level 2 shots. They shattered into pieces, creating a small cloud of dust, and some fragments were shot out at high speed as well. She fired one more at Jackeline. Jackeline tried to deflect it all with wind but could only clear the dust cloud, the shot aimed at her, and several fragments. Then, she tried to cut the other rocks with wind, slicing them into several pieces. At that moment, Samantha took advantage of the brief distraction, moved in another direction with Mats help, and fired again with her stone ability. By the time Jackeline realized it, the new rocks crushed her. "Ah... Ah... Im okay now," Mat said. "Roundy, quick!" "Yes!" Roundy quickly went to Samantha, who now lay on the ground, her leg a few meters away from her. Jackeline was just unconscious but had several broken bones, bruises, and her arm was somewhat mangled, bleeding. "T-thanks, Roundy... Agh..." Samantha said, now healed. Despite that, she still felt the pain in her leg. "Youre welcome," Roundy replied. "Agh... Ah! Agh!" Jackeline groaned. Suddenly, her body began to mutate. Vol. 11 Extra Chapter: Monster or Mutant As I was narrating, someone interrupted. This whole monster or mutant thing is really starting to annoy me, Eliah suddenly said. Whats their real name? Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Hey, its not my fault theyve got such a weird name, I replied. Anyway, youll find out soon why theyre called that and who named them. It was Martin, right? Alaya chimed in. What? How did you guess? I asked, surprised. Eh? I just... I just know, she said, sounding like shed said it randomly. Really? Thats odd Eliah added. Well, it doesnt matter... Im going to keep telling you the story. And so I continued. Vol. 11 Chapter 46: Bride of the Wind, Part 3 Before all the events previously narrated took place, TRX and the rest were still facing the two artificial monstersor mutants. Each had different abilities, but they were simple: one had a flower for a head with an eye in the center, shooting rays from it. It was fast, despite wearing long robes, and it scattered what seemed like poisonous pollen. The second one, in contrast, attacked by placing its hands on the ground, summoning tentacles or something from its own body, striking from a distance. It moved much slower and seemed heavier. The strength of its tentacles made it look capable of breaking metal. Thats how strong it was, yet it was still weaker than the wind and pressure of Jackeline. Its skin wasnt weak either; it was made of wood, and Blockys spears couldnt pierce it. Pointy noticed something elsethese two creatures no longer had consciousness. They were dead inside, following orders without question. TRX and Blocky were battling both at the same time, wielding long spears made of ice, while Pointy dashed in to damage them with explosions, kicking up dust to confuse or distract them, only to be returned by Mat using his PSI Creations. Though Mat his focus was more on Samantha than the others. TRX could dodge the rays from the flower-head creature with some ease, while Blocky slid on the ice to avoid them. They both skillfully evaded the tentacles/roots/branches shooting up from the ground beneath them, sensing their presence since they felt similar to their user. Even though they were supposedly weaker than Jackeline or the pastor when he turned into a monster/mutant, TRX, Blocky, and Pointy werent doing much damage to them. That was because their attacks dealt percentage-based damage, as I mentioned a long time ago. Which well, its both useful and useless, depending on how you see it. Think about it yourselves. |||||| I mean... Alaya said. Ah, I get it now. I dont... Eliah added. What? Never mind, lets continue. I said, and resumed narrating. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. |||||| TRX and the others, except for Roundy, kept fighting the mutants. Now, TRX had planned to use the electricity ability they had used earlier, but couldnt because Roundy wasnt with them. Damn... TRX thought, standing in front of the flower-head creature. The creature quickly began charging its shot, but Mathias rushed TRX to a spot near Blocky. Even so, the creature fired at TRX, hitting them. But Blocky reacted, creating a thick ice barrier. It didnt melt or get pierced. Pointy threw themselves against the tentacle creature and blew its legs off with an explosion. Mathias retrieved the pieces of Pointys body and took them to a safe spot for regeneration. TRX and Blocky took advantage of the opening to attack the creature together with their ice weapons. At the end, Blocky tried to create ice spikes for well, you know why, but... Wow! Blocky exclaimed. No way TRX said. The creature had retreated, using its roots/branches/whatever, clinging to the flower creatures back. Now, together, they were attacking in better coordination than before, making it harder for TRX and the others to dodge. Mat was struggling with this. He was getting more exhausted, as the battle was getting more complicated on this side, and he also had to keep an eye on Samantha. His focus slipped, so to speak, and... S-SAM! Mat cried out. You already know what happened. The monsters got distracted by this, so TRX, Blocky, and Pointy attacked. But the branch creature refocused on them, suddenly spinning its index finger and shooting multiple water blades at the group. They dodged gracefully. Pointy exploded the flower creatures legs, but was left destroyed on the ground because Mat was now more focused on Samantha Despite that, TRX and Blocky attacked the two mutants, now lying on the ground, and after a few more blows, they defeated them while they were stunned. Phew. TRX sighed. Now, on the other side, As Jackeline was mutating like the pastor, with limbs sprouting from her left eye and ribs, something happened to Mathias. His mark was glowing at that moment. He quickly rushed toward her, leaving Aelin behind the barrier, pushing himself with his PSI Creations. He placed himself in front of Jackeline, who was still on the ground, with the orb nearby. Out of nowhere, he created a yellow PSI knife and Mat!? Samantha exclaimed. Ugh Mat groaned. He had cut the vein in his left hand, and the blood dripped into Jackelines mouth. For some reason, she swallowed it, and then... Agh! Mat! Samantha cried out, terrified. What had happened was that Jackelines mutation had disappeared (she passed out again, by the way). It was as if it had never happened, but... now Mat was suffering it instead. Agh! Ah! Ack! Roundy, come here, help him! Samantha shouted. Roundy rushed over, but couldnt heal him. Ah Ah Roundy was frightened. N-no way Mat! Samantha cried out. The others were heading toward Mats location. AGH! Mat was enduring all of Jackelines mutations, even hearing voices in his head, and it hurt, but Huh? Samantha gasped. Ah Mathias fell to his knees. Agh... Its over... he sighed after saying that. Phew The mutation had stopped. Mathias was fine. TRX and the others, including Aelin, had now gathered around Jackeline, who was unconscious. Vol. 11 Chapter 47: Dialogue, Part 1 Uh.. Someone had just woken up. Where am I? she thought. She was in a wooden room, inside a small rustic house. Still deep in the jungle. Wow, finally awake after almost two days said Mathias. And you seem to be alright They were in Aelins little house. Jackeline was lying in bed. It was three in the afternoon. Ah! Jackeline exclaimed when she saw Mathias, and her first reaction was W-wait, calm down! Mat said. Jackeline didnt listen. She tried to attack him, but No this isnt something he she trailed off. If Im alive, and Im not chained up or anything, then she thought. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ? Im sorry she said then. Dont worry about it Mat replied. But why did you help me? she asked. How does he know Spanish? she wondered. W-why wouldnt I? You were badly hurt and he answered. You were about to transform. What? Its true said Samantha. Your leg Yes, its fine now she replied. Sam, Aelin is still playing with Trixxie and the others, right? Yes, yes, she answered. Oh, right Could you tell us your name? She speaks English like its her native language Samantha thought. Jackeline thats my name, she replied. Its nice to meet you, Jackeline, Mat said. My names Mathias. Thats a nice name, Samantha added. And, well its nice to meet you too Oh, my name is Samantha. I see And thanks, I guess she said. But wow, I really thought youd be different. I mean we fought a few days ago, yeah, but even then, I didnt think you were bad people. Its different from what I was told And now were talking as if none of that happened, like you just rescued me or something I see Mat said. Well, youre right about that last part, haha. Um Different in what way? Samantha asked. Well, hes the Spawn of Evil, after all Jackeline replied, looking at Mat. And that is? Mat asked. The Antichrist, she answered. Im capitalizing it because well, anyone can be an antichrist, but *The* Antichrist is just one. You understand? |||||| I guess? Eliah. |||||| After saying that, Jackeline spoke again, this time with a hint of sadness. And well ah she sighed. Whats wrong? Mat asked. Could you leave me alone? she replied. I need to think. Alright, Mat said. Sam, shall we go? Okay she answered. No, um Id like to go outside too. She said as she got out of bed. Dont worry, Im not leaving Samantha whispered to Mat. Hey, are you sure its okay to let her go? Yeah, I think so Mat then said to Jackeline: Alright, go ahead Okay Jackeline left. It seemed like she went for a walk. She didnt stray far since Mat could still sense her. Jackeline, now by a riverbank, was left alone, with only her thoughts as company, as she put it. She had lost the will to fight them. Vol. 11 Extra Chapter: Chris in the Jungle Or rather, in a small settlement. It was nighttime, with a full moon. Christopher was currently inside a small bar. He stood out quite a bit because he was, well, a foreigner, with reddish hair, but even so, no one approached him. He was there because he was supposed to be following Mathias. Despite that, he was resting, so to speak. At that moment, Christopher noticed something, and it seemed the townspeople did too. "Oh, wow" he said. Outside the bar, a man was walking alone. His clothes were strange, almost like rags The people here seem to respect him, but Ah, I see He realized something. Excuse me, who is that man? Could you tell me? he asked the bartender, speaking in Spanish. Um It seemed the man didnt want to say who it was because Christopher was a stranger. Christopher blinked. Hes a witch. Alright, thanks for telling me. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So I was right. He left. Now he was approaching the man who was supposedly a witch. So, its you. Huh? Were you waiting for me? Christopher asked. No, its just that you radiate a spirit of hostility thats hard to ignore, the man replied. But it doesnt matter. He started to walk away. A flame appeared above Christopher, and a spectral snake appeared on the mans shoulder. Ah, so its not Makt Cut the chatter, Christopher replied, extinguishing the flame. Huh? The man turned, and the snake spoke to him. Now, the man was visibly scared. You cursed me, Christopher said. Did you really think that would work? Ha, even that being on your shoulder is quite weak. What do you want from me? Stay away! He began to flee. Ah! Nothing, I was just bored, Christopher suddenly appeared in front of him. So you let yourself be deceived by a creature for its help, huh? Just look at you, youre practically dead. He blinked. If you keep going like this, you wont last another five years Ah Ah So Ill do you a favor. He blinked again and snapped his fingers. A humanoid figure appeared behind Chris. Thats a! the man exclaimed. This? Chris paused for a second. Its me. The humanoid figure touched the snake and Bluarghhhhhh!!! Aghhhhhhh!!! the man screamed. The snake vanished. It had been exorcised. Several spirits in its shadow met the same fate. The man collapsed to the ground. He was dry literally. They were connected I didnt expect this. First, he looked at his hand, as if frightened, then he glanced around. Some people were watching him. Well letting yourself be controlled by concepts Bah What does it matter? I wanted to do something interesting before meeting Jackeline, but this Ugh. If all witches are like this, its disappointing. Power is terrifying, but its also necessary. Thats what he thought. Furthermore, he wouldnt let himself be controlled by it anymore but would use it to accomplish his plans and ideals. Speaking more on this, he wanted to improve his skills and mastery, no longer depending on Martin and his power, to achieve what he had set out to do long ago and at the same time, eliminate the scum who let themselves be controlled by these beings. Moreover, according to him, what happened to Mats mother would never happen again. He regretted that. She wasnt supposed to die back then. So Ill take his body, it might be useful. He blinked. The corpse turned into something like folded paper. After that, he left, heading into the forest. |||||| Uh, w-what? Eliah. Vol. 11 Chapter 47: Dialogue, Part 2 It was almost 6 p.m., and the sun was beginning to set. Jackeline stood in front of a small stream. At that moment, a figure approached her. It was Mat. J-Jackeline, this Why did you come? I said I wanted to be alone. Its just its time for dinner, he replied. Oh, I see she responded. She said nothing for a few seconds. Mat didnt say a word either. Why did you kill him? Huh? Ah Mat realized who she was talking about. Why? You could have just knocked him out or something, like you did with me, but Do you even know what happened? Assuming were talking about the same person, he Ugh He killed my mother, he replied. W-What? Jackeline was shocked and confused by what he said. But thats Its true Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Mat proceeded to tell her what had happened between him and Christopher. It was then that she found out his last name was Morrison and that he was a pastor at the Church of the Divine Covenant. But Mathias, I believe you, but its impossible, she told him. That doesnt sound like him. He would never do such things or say such things She said this because it sounded like something a stereotypical villain would say. Besides, she partly knew what had happened, but shed only been told that Mat had killed him and that there had been a third-party death. In that case what if Martin brainwashed him or something? That cant be true either! she responded. He would never do something like that to Mr. Morrison or to anyone Huh? Y-You speak as if you know him and trust him Why wouldnt I? Hes like an older brother to me. He even saved my life. Thats Its true. Jackeline proceeded to tell him. She told him about the moment when she first met Martin. What she told him was basically a continuation of what she had already told earlier. Now Ill tell you the same thing, but with more details and leaving out some parts because it might be a bit disturbing. ||||| Okay, said Alaya. Okay said Eliah. Okay, I said. ||||| She had just woken up. She was surrounded by the wreckage of the plane, deep in the Amazon jungle. It was still daytime. She couldnt see her mother anywhere. The only things she could see were suitcases scattered around, pieces of the plane, some parts even on fire, and corpses. Most of them were mangled. Despite this, her body seemed to have no wounds. It was almost like a miracle in this situation. Ah Ah She was utterly terrified. She was crying. Mom! Dad! She called out for her parents, but they were no longer with her. Despite this, she incredibly decided to check out the area, but as soon as she did she began screaming in desperation. Without going into detail, she had found her brother. . .. ... A couple of hours passed. It was now nighttime. Jackeline had fainted. Despite this, even as a child, she knew there was nothing she could do anymore. She had also accepted her fate, which was the same as theirs. She left the area, wandering aimlessly in the darkness. She wandered for a couple of hours, encountering no wild animals, until she grew tired and started crying. Then, out of nowhere, despite being in complete darkness, the girl became aware of the presence of something or someone. There hadnt been any noise at all. What the girl saw was the silhouette of a man in the distance. After that, Jackeline fainted from exhaustion. Several hours later, it was now daytime, and she was lying in a bed. It looked like she was in a hospital. She still didnt understand what was happening, but she noticed that the person she had seen was now sitting beside her. He was a tall, muscular man Well, without beating around the bush, it was Martin. He was crying. So, He He really did what He told me, Martin said to her. Jackeline, its really you, and youre okay. Jackeline was confused by his words. Martin kept crying. Vol. 11 Chapter 47: Dialogue, Part 3. "What happened next?" Mat asked. "I still don''t quite understand, but... Apparently, he was my older brother." "W-what?" Mathias exclaimed in surprise. "There were no records of my family. Apparently, Martin and I were orphans..." "That''s strange," Mat replied. "I know, he even had my brother''s name." "Really?" Mat thought. "But... In the end, I got used to it. He wasn''t a bad person. But... Heh..." "?" "I replaced my family without hesitation... I''m... a bad person, aren''t I?" Mat didnt know what to say. "Well... Eventually, I met Mr. Morrison and his family. He was like a father to me, and..." she said, starting to cry a little. "W-why?" "I... Im really sorry... But... In the end, it was in self-defense..." Mat replied. "I think... I understand... But even so..." Jackeline said. "Why would Martin make us do something like that...? Just by looking at you and talking with you for a bit, I know you''re not a bad person, so... why did he send us to kill you? I dont even have any combat experience..." "You... dont?" "No... This was the first time Ive ever fought anyone..." "And she''s still this strong? Wow..." Mat thought. "I mean... Mr. Morrison, and the way he acted, felt like a fa?ade, like he was playing a role or something." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "It does seem that way, but... Christopher was there too, so I think he mightve done something." "I suppose... But... You know Christopher, dont you?" she asked. "Not much. I know he was close to Martin, but I almost never talked to him. Id just greet him. And from what I understand, the girl with you is his sister, am I right?" she said. "Ah, yes, she''s his younger sister," he answered. "But they''re not close. They didnt see each other for a couple of years either..." "I see... Anyway..." "You think Christopher had something to do with it, dont you?" "A little, but... From what you told me, it doesnt seem like his power would do that," Jackeline said. "No, it didnt. He summoned creatures." "Specters... I think. But the way they attacked, they couldnt have had some kind of hypnosis ability or anything. It''s strange... And I dont think the others have a power like that either." "I see... In the end, we dont know why he did what he did... But still, Im really sorry..." "And Im sorry too, about what happened to your mom..." "... " Mat. "... " Jackeline. Neither of them knew what to say. "Mathias... Now I realize something..." "What is it?" "Martin... He sent us to kill you, but... what if he expected you to do that? Now I understand that he sent us to die..." "..." "Maybe he was the one who forced Mr. Morrison to do such a thing... Martin... hes evil..." Jackeline said, looking like she was about to cry. "He expected you to do the same to me. By not having the resolve, by not wanting to kill you, he was counting on you taking advantage of that... But you didnt. In fact, you and your friends saved me in the end... You said I started to mutate, right? I dont know much about that, but I know Martin was involved in many things..." She calmed down a bit at that moment. "But... Now that I remember, there was a moment when all the apostles got sick with something. It was as if our immune systems had disappeared, and we got really sick. I was even hospitalized... And that''s why they gave us some kind of serum. After that, we didnt have any symptoms again. We were healthy." "You think that serum has something to do with it, dont you?" "Yes, exactly. But... In the end, he was using me... even his own children..." "..." "Children? Ill ask her about that later," Mat thought. But at that moment, Jackeline also recalled that almost everything she saw of Martin was him helping whoever needed it, as long as it wasnt for something evil. And she remembered the moment he suggested she become an apostle: "Me? An apostle? But... I dont know how to preach..." she had responded. "I dont even know much about these things..." "Dont worry about that," Martin replied. "Just always try to do whats right, thats enough. Its not like others will know youre one, but with your attitude, you could influence others." "So... I just do that?" "Yes, nothing more," and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Im counting on you." After that, he got up and left the place, but... He seemed quite sad. Jackeline didnt know what to think about it back then, but now she remembered. Even now, she didnt know what to think about it. She didnt want to mention it at this moment. "Ah... Well... So... Thank you, really," Jackeline said. She was smiling. "Youre welcome?" "...I said all that, and thats your reaction?" she teased Mat. "Sorry..." "...Haha, its not like I care. Oh, and... Sorry for making your lung explode." "Nah, dont worry... Wait, what?" "Your reactions are a bit silly, you know? Hehe..." "I guess... So... Shall we head back?" Mat asked. "Sure." They both headed back to Aelins house. Oh, and yes, Mathias became friends with Jackeline. While they were walking, Jackeline asked: "Um... Can I know where the orb is?" Mathias, still a bit distrustful, told her anyway: "Its in the Infinity-Bag." "...The what?" And yes, it could fit inside, and it still provided the enhancements. But... The other orbs couldnt be taken out, only this one. Oh, by the way, while they were walking back, Jackeline mentioned that those mutants had willingly allowed themselves to be transformed, but in the end, they became soulless. She didnt know much more about it, just that there was some kind of organization behind it, but she didnt know if it was related to the church or not. And yes, they encountered a couple of monsters along the way. Vol. 11 Extra Chapter: Backpack and Other Things. Conversation between Jackeline and Samantha. They were in Aelin''s house. It was just the two of them inside. "Hey, uh..." Jackeline said. "Hmm? Whats up?" Samantha replied. "About how I got here before you guys... I didnt tell you, did I?" "No, I dont think so." "The truth is that Martin sent me two days before you arrived here. I guess he knows about the temples and that they have already appeared, but they only open on their designated date, or something," Jackeline explained. Stolen novel; please report. "Oh, I see. But thats strange. How can he know that?" Samantha asked. "I dont know either..." Jackie replied. "But at least he gave me these clothes. They''re comfortable, keep me cool, and even repel mosquitoes." "But they look a bit strange," Samantha said. "Hey!... Well, youre right. Hahaha." They laughed together. "And well... I wanted to mention something else. Right before our... fight, I had a backpack, but I left it in the woods near where we fought, and... I dont know where it went... It had my university notes in it, which I was reviewing, and... Ugh. How awful..." "Hmmm... I think I can help you with that." She left the house and asked TRX to lend her the Infinity-Bag, which was with her at the moment, and handed it over. She went back inside the house. Oh, right. Mathias and the others were playing with Aelin outside. "Maybe I can bring it back with this," Samantha said. "The Infinity-Bag? Uh, thats what its called, right? Mat told me that." "Yeah, thats what its called," she replied. "And so..." She now approached the Infinity-Bag, and Jackeline looked at her confused. "Please, could you hand me Jackeline''s backpack?" Samantha proceeded to pull something from the bag. The bag expanded, and something came out. "Thats...," Jackeline said. "Here it is," Samantha said, smiling, holding a backpack with a childlike design. "Wow... I like it, its cute." "Th-that backpack is the one I lost when I was in elementary school..." Jackeline said. "Oh... What?" Vol. 11 Chapter 48: Visiting the City. Now it''s time to share something more slice of life, what do you think? |||||| "That''s fine with me, I guess." Eliah. Alaya simply nodded her head. |||||| Ah, yes. Jackeline also mentioned that Martin had two adopted sons, and that they were apostles too, although... they had little to do with the church... Just like almost everyone else, including her. She also said that... one had a burned face, and the other... she didn''t want to talk about for some reason. ||||| "Huh?" Eliah and Alaya. |||||
  • December 2, 1987,
Now Mathias and the group were in the city of Iquitos, a city located in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, near the Amazon River. This city was on an island, surrounded by several other rivers as well. The weather was somewhat warm at the moment. The group had arrived in the afternoon. Using a PSI canoe, they left Aelin''s home, reached a village, and from there took the local transport to get to the city. This was because if they used teleportation, it would take several days for everyone to arrive. Upon reaching the port, they saw many ships filled with cargo. This was because Iquitos was an island, and many things had to be brought in from other cities. Since there were no roads connecting it to other cities by land, goods were transported by river vessels. Well, the thing is that they were now in a lodging... using Jackeline''s money. They had split into two rooms, girls and boys. "Wow." she said. "This is the first time I''ve been here in almost two years." "Really? It must feel kind of nostalgic," Samantha said to her. "Huh? Well... I suppose." she replied. "I usually come here, and to Lima, to... I don''t know, remember my family, I guess..." "I see..." "...Sorry," she said. "That sounded kind of sad, didn''t it?" Ah, yes, they were on the street, outside the lodging. "Y-yes..." Samantha. "One thing I didnt mention to Donovan was that, despite everything, Ive become, so to speak, friends with my grandparents. They dont recognize me as family, and yet they love me a lot. For that reason, I also come from time to time." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Oh, I see." Samantha said, smiling. "That''s really nice, honestly." "Yes, yes, it is..." "Although... I wish I could tell them the truth." she thought. Describing the city further, the houses were packed close together, in rows, with each block. The streets were also somewhat narrow, and there were many trees on the sidewalks. You could also hear melodies from the radios. They were Christmas carols. Most were songs made in the jungle itself. You could see all kinds of vehicles on the streets: cars, motorcycles, and even some things they called "mototaxis." Additionally, the city had quite a cultural diversity, evident even in the architecture of the buildings. There was a significant presence of indigenous tribes, mestizos, and people from other parts of the world. All of this, along with the fact that the city was in the heart of the jungle, gave it a touch, so to speak, exotic and unique. ...Wow, describing this is becoming complicated. Well, it doesnt matter, at least you get the idea. The thing is that that day they just went out to stroll and let the group get to know the place. Since Jackeline somewhat knew the area, having been there several times, she was the guide, so to speak. She took them to eat some typical jungle foods. For lunch, they had "tacacho" with cecina. The "tacacho" was mashed roasted plantain shaped like a ball. ||||| "What a strange name..." Alaya. ||||| I guess, but the thing is that everyone liked it except Blocky for some reason. But... when it came time to pay... "W-What? Why is it so expensive?" Jackeline. It turned out that the country was experiencing economic instability. There was a lot of inflation, not much tourism, political unrest and there was even a conflict with a certain terrorist group... But that doesn''t concern us now. At night, they had juane. This was... um... green rice with egg, olive, and a piece of meat, all wrapped in a leaf, making it look like a ball as well. It was delicious. ||||| "Wait... please dont mention foods were never going to try..." Eliah said. "But we can!" Alaya replied. "Really? Oh, right." ||||| The thing is that Jackeline told them the leaf was also edible, and... Samantha realized that was a lie, but Mat didn''t. "Hey! What are you doing, idiot?!" Samantha shouted, stopping Mat, who had already taken a bite. "Hahaha." Jackeline. Aelin and the rest looked at them strangely. Ah, yes. Throughout all this, Jackeline, Mat, and Samantha felt a bit uncomfortable because they were literally bringing five kids everywhere.
  • December 6, 1987.
"I like this church." Mat said. "What was it called again?" "I said I dont remember..." Jackeline replied. "... Samantha. At that moment, they were in front of the Plaza de Armas in Iquitos (it wasnt very large). Surrounding it were some establishments, some of which were restaurants. It was two in the afternoon, and there were several people around as well. Aelin, TRX, Blocky, Roundy, and Pointy were playing in the plaza. Oh, and apparently, Samantha was watching them from there... "What if I ask someone?" Mat suggested. "Go ahead if you want." Jackeline told him. He did. He asked an older man. The man was surprised by the fluency with which he spoke. Mat returned to the group afterward. "According to him, its the Matriz Church." "Really?" Samantha. "What? I thought it had another name... But it doesnt matter; maybe I remembered wrong." In the distance, Blocky shouted: "Hey, thats cheating, agh!" "No, its not!" Aelin exclaimed. Samantha then said: "Uh... I think Ill join them for a while..." ... Later, they went with the rest to see the Casa de Fierro. "So, this is the Casa de Fierro," Samantha said. "Yeah, the other part was in Madre de Dios, but if I remember correctly, theres nothing left of it now." "...Huh? Well, putting that aside..." Sam said. "Oh, is it true that Eiffel built it?" Mat asked out of nowhere. "Uh, no. He just designed it." Sam replied. "Uh huh, thats true." Jackeline said. "I see..." Mat. "Hmm..." Pointy. "I like it." "Why? Its kind of ugly." Aelin. A couple of people looked at her. "Aelin, please dont say that out loud..." Samantha warned. "Uh? Okay." Aelin replied, smiling. They returned to the lodging at night. The thing is that throughout all this, although Mat seemed to be having fun, he also... looked sad. This was due to... you know what. Samantha tried to cheer him up because she was very worried about him, but even if she succeeded, at night Mat would sink back into depression, and that made her sad. No one noticed what was happening with Mat, except for Jackeline. But... well, in any case, Mat tried to be happier so as not to worry Samantha too much. Oh, by the way, they were resting because the next temple wasnt going to open until December 25. And they remained alert in case something happened, although in the end, nothing occurred during those days, except for the occasional monster. The thing is that on December 8, Jackeline wanted to buy something, but it wasnt available in Iquitos, so she decided to go to Lima, the capital. She also wanted to go because she had only been there for a few hours before flying to Iquitos. The group wanted to accompany her since they also wanted to visit the city, so... they left. They traveled by plane, and Jackeline paid. She didnt want to use teleportation. Vol. 11 Extra Chapter: Limit. Near the Church of Bethlehem, the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, Mat was there alone (this was because... Well, he had no one to go out with, and Aelin stayed with Samantha in the room). It was 4:30 PM. He was surrounded by many passersby buying things from the street vendors in the area. There was also a man preaching something on the street, holding a red Bible. Several people were listening attentively. He also saw many people lining up in stores to buy essential items. Even while walking, a girl dressed in rags approached him to ask for food. This moved him, and he gave her some money, telling her to give it immediately to her parents, which she did as instructed. The girl left. He also learned about the extremist movements that had emerged in the country due to this situation, groups that even harmed people not involved with the government. He had heard that some cars had exploded in crowded areas elsewhere in the country. This worried him greatly. "Should I... do something about this?" he thought, but... This wasnt something that one person could change alone. Despite everything, he continued walking. The thing was, Mat, being a foreigner, attracted people''s attention, which made him a little uncomfortable. He had gone out for a walk, but while doing so, he tried to help anyone on the street, which was a bit strange, but people were grateful for what he did, and he even healed a couple of people from various ailments without them realizing it at that moment. While doing this, he also noticed the countrys economic situation. It was much worse than he had thought, and it was getting even worse. After a while, Mat found a stray cat missing a leg. It was dirty, and its wound was infected. He felt a lot of pity. Because of this, Mat wanted to help it, but... There were many people around, so he decided to take the cat to a place where there werent as many. As he carried the cat, he came across a man, around seventy years old, who was blind. He was walking in the area using a cane to guide himself. Seeing him like that, Mat also wanted to help, but... Not knowing how to do it with all those people around, he realized something. He cut his finger slightly with an invisible PSI blade and directed his blood towards the man. He did this without moving strangely or anything; he continued walking while carrying the cat. At that moment, the man, who was still moving slowly, started to wobble. He exclaimed, surprised, that he could see. People were puzzled by this, and those who lived in the area and knew about the man were greatly surprised and helped him, as he still wasnt used to seeing. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Mat moved away from the spot, but... A boy had seen what had happened and began to follow him. This boy seemed to be about five years old. Mat finally reached a place where there werent many people, and those who were there were somewhat far away. Because of this, Mat put a bit of his blood on the injured leg of the cat, and... now it was healed. In fact, it had that leg back. Mat was amazed by what he had done, but he was also happy to have helped that cat. Out of nowhere, the boy approached him and surprised Mat. Mat asked if he saw what he did, to which the boy replied yes and also said he had a request: to heal his mother, who was extremely sick. Mat agreed but asked why they hadnt taken her to the hospital first. The boy said they couldnt because he didnt know how to call the hospital, and they didnt have any money either. The latter made Mat feel pity without knowing that one could go to the hospital without paying, although... the service was terrible... So, Mat followed the boy, who guided him to his home. Along the way, they glanced at Mat out of the corner of their eyes. The house was in the low area of Bethlehem, a place that floods when the river rises, and it was made of wood with a leaf roof. They entered. Inside the house were the mother and some family members (though most were outside, in the living room), and they were bewildered by the presence of a young foreigner they didnt know. The boy wanted to explain why he brought him, but Mat, seeing one of those family membersa slightly overweight, short man with a beard and short hair who seemed to have a coldput a bit of blood on him without him noticing, and... now he felt better. Moreover, he had liver problems (cirrhosis), and at that moment, he was in a bit of pain, but... he no longer felt any pain. He was healthy, and he told everyone as well. Because of this, they believed him, so Mat quickly entered the mothers room, who was lying there, and did the same: he put blood on her body, but... she seemed to have healed. In essence, the state of the mother was... No, its better not to give too many details. The thing is, the boy was happy to see that, supposedly, his mother was now healthy, but Mat... Im sorry... I couldnt do anything... Im sorry... Mat was crying. The boys mother had passed away, and nothing could be done. She seemed healthy, but she no longer breathed... Mat asked the family for help to see what they would do with her... And Mat apologized to everyone, but he stayed. He didnt return to the hotel that day. And so, it was already 3 PM the next day. The night before, they had completed all the paperwork to get a coffin and a niche to bury her. Mat was the one who helped pay for all of this because they had no money. He took everything out of the Infinite Bag. And so, they had kept vigil for the lady all night, and the next day, at the house. The lady''s family asked him why he stayed, to which he just said that he felt guilty. Then the man he had healed the day before approached him to talk. His name was Ral Mendoza, the brother of the lady who... passed away. The ladys name was Giuliana Mendoza, and she had only one son named Oswaldo. Giuliana was a widow since her husband, Manuel Vsquez, had died in a traffic accident a year ago. Because of this, she had returned to her parents house. But... shortly after, the lady''s health began to decline. She had type 2 diabetes... and had not received adequate treatment, so her health began to deteriorate more and more until... until that happened. Ral told him all of this, who in the end went to see his wife Rosaura to comfort her because she was very close to Giuliana. An hour passed, and it was time to head to the general cemetery. Mat accompanied the family. Once there, at the General Cemetery, while the other family members prepared to say their final goodbye to Giuliana, a priest arrived to begin the funeral ceremony. Tears streamed from the eyes of everyone present. After the priest''s words, some men came to give the lady her burial. They carried her and took her to her niche. The family followed them, with great sorrow in their hearts. In the end, they placed her in her final earthly resting place. Those who were most distraught were her brother and her son. After the burial, Mr. Ral approached Mat, along with some other family members, including his parents, to thank him, as without him they wouldnt have been able to afford the burial. But... Im sorry... Mat said, looking very sad... Boy, dont be like that, the mother said. She is resting now. She was suffering a lot, but now she is at peace, with the Lord. ... Mat. She''s right, young man, Ral said. Theres nothing that can be done anymore... But life goes on; we must move forward. That''s right, the father said. But let me thank you for helping us. We barely know each other, and yet you helped us enormously. Without you, we wouldnt have been able to pay for all this. Thank you very much, young man. You''re welcome... If only I had arrived earlier... he thought. In the end, he said goodbye to all of them and returned to the hotel. Samantha was very worried about him and scolded him when he arrived. Mat didnt tell her what he had done during the day. Vol. 11 Extra Chapter: Other Conversations. During one of those days, only Samantha and Jackeline went out for a walk in the afternoon because Aelin and the others (excluding Mat) had already gotten bored. Mat stayed behind to look after them. And yes, the people who were supposed to guide him acted like children, as he had seen many times before, so... it was what it was. At that moment, they were walking along the boulevard (which wasn''t really one) that was a block away from the Plaza de Armas. It had a view of the river, which... was also eroding the ground, but that''s not important for now. At that time, there was no railing. ||||| Which one? C Alaya. Which? C Eliah. ||||| While they chatted, Samantha found out that Jackeline liked to read and that, before all of this happened, she was studying to be a doctor. Samantha also shared her plans, although she was surprised that neither she nor Mat were studying anything. Honestly, she seemed a bit disappointed for some reason. The thing is, in the end, despite Samantha still being a bit wary, they became friends too. *** Another conversation they had one day when everyone went out happened while they were walking. That day, she was wearing the same clothes she had on when she fought the group. This happened while they were walking: So... whats up with that outfit? C Samantha said out of the blue. Dont I look pretty in it? I like it. C Jackeline replied. And what about your hair? Eh? Well, I lost a bet with my friends, but in the end, I liked it. C she answered. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. What? It doesnt suit you at all. C Jackeline said, laughing. Hey! C she protested. Although... you might be right, I think... haha... Ah, sorry about that, it was a joke, haha... And well... Mathias is the weirdest one here. Yeah, right? Whats up with wearing a long-sleeved, brown fabric shirt with leather patches? I told him, but... C said Samantha. He doesnt care. Though he does look a bit ridiculous. Do you know that I can hear you from here, right? C Mat said. Ah... hahaha... C Jackeline replied. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, as if threatening him. You didnt hear anything... Eh? But why do you say it like that? Its not like you were talking about something private... Aelin saw this and looked confused. Samantha seemed puzzled. TRX and the others didnt care at all. Hey, youre supposed to laugh... Huh? Not even you? C Jackeline said, the last part directed at Aelin. She added, Come on, dont look at me like that... Ugh... now I feel like the odd one out... *** Another brief conversation they had was while Samantha was with Jackeline in their hotel room: So... your ability is to manipulate atmospheric pressure and air components... C Samantha said. Exactly. ...Thats way too scary. And very powerful; with the wind, you can cut through almost anything. Its pretty frightening... Hey, dont say that... No, I mean... seriously, you could have killed us like it was nothing the other day. Plus... Yeah, I know what I can do with my powers. C she replied. Thats what I did to Mat too. I made one of his lungs explode... WHAT!? ...Sorry. *** One of those days, Jackeline also wanted to know why Mathias and Samantha spoke Spanish, and why they spoke like the locals, so she asked them when they were at the lodging, but they didnt know why. Wait, are you serious? C Jackeline exclaimed. Its the truth... C Samantha told her. Uh-huh. C Mat only said that. At that moment, Pointy entered the room where they were to get something from the Infini-bag since he was going out with the others. Hey, could you...? Pointy, why do we know Spanish? C Mat asked him. W-what? C Pointy replied in a strange tone, sounding puzzled. Yeah, Pointy, tell us. C Samantha said. Youre the one who knows the most here, so we assume you know. Ah, well. C Pointy said, Its because of the frutabel. The what? C Jackeline asked, confused. A fruit we gave you the other day. C Pointy explained. It was supposed to be just for the Hero, but since this young lady was also present, we gave it to her so she wouldnt be at a disadvantage for not knowing how to speak other languages. Wait, really? C Jackeline said. Wow... thats amazing. Errr... no, not at all. C Samantha said. It was a weird fruit, and it tasted HORRIBLE. Ugh... Seriously, I almost vomited. C Mat said. Hey! Hahaha. C Mat laughed. Err... So... could I eat one? C Jackeline asked Pointy. No. The end. Ah, and yes. Jackeline asked about Aelin, and Mat and Samantha explained why she was with them, and also told her that TRX and the others were aliens. She was scared about Aelin, but didnt care about TRX and the others. I think I mentioned this before... but it doesnt matter. By the way, Samantha kept checking her novel. With the Infini-bag, she took it to Iquitos. She edited and added things at night when Aelin, Trixxie, Blocky, and Jackeline were asleep. She felt embarrassed doing it in front of them and didnt have time the rest of the day. Thats why she was tired almost every day. Side Story B - Chapter 1b: Mission, part 1. In a forest in Mississippi, United States, during the night, a camp was set up. The cabins had their lights on, and there were police in the area. The whole place was secured. It was cold. Aside from them, there were also people dressed in black suits. One of them, a girl who was, well, Asian, was talking to a detective. It seemed that in this camp, which a group of college students had rented for a few days, a tragedy had occurred: a horrible murder and several disappearances, but... Something didnt add up. Because of this, they had been called to the scene. There were also heavily armed soldiers and a truck in the area. Those were from YGGDRASYL. So... This is going to be our first important mission, Erin said, wearing a black suit. It seems so, James replied, also dressed in black. ... Andrew said nothing. He was dressed the same way. |||||| And this? Eliah asked. And the others? Alaya inquired. Mathias, Samantha... Ill be back with them. I just need to tell you this for more context, I said. Oh... Okay, I understand, Eliah replied. |||||| There was also a girl with brown hair among them. She was also wearing the black suit. *Giggle* Youre nervous, arent you? she said to them. Mnica, isnt it obvious? Erin replied. Its our first job. And besides, we dont know what happened here, James added. But its an E-rank mission; its not that difficult, Mnica answered them. ...Still, anything can happen, Andrew finally spoke. I suppose. But Ill let you know if anything goes wrong, she said. After all, Im the navigator. Ah, yes. This girls name was Mnica Martnez, 21 years old. She was Argentine. A navigator was someone whose Heim was quite extensive (and had telepathic abilities), but because of that, most could not use it for combat. They were mainly useful for analyzing areas. Although... Mnica could fight, she couldnt use as much aura as the others, so she was practically like an ordinary human with a little more endurance, strength, and agility. *Illustration of Mnica.* The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. In addition, navigators were not very common, but that wasnt much of a problem since they only served in specific cases like the one Im narrating, which was exploratory. For this reason, there were no navigators during the attack on the base where Mat, James, and Nicole were. At that moment, Mnica was carrying a backpack and a kind of device on the left side of her head, which was connected to the backpack. This was to enhance her analytical skills and increase her Heim range from 500 meters to 1.5 kilometers. Oh, yes, she could also communicate telepathically with others. Now, back to the story: Oh, here she comes, James said, noticing the other girl approaching. The one coming was named Misaki Sakai (order: first name and last name. ྮ), 25 years old. She was the leader of the group to which Andrew, Erin, and James belonged. *Illustration of Misaki.* ... Half an hour passed. Our group had started investigating the area. What had happened was that in this camp, one of those nights, a murder occurred, along with several disappearances, as I mentioned earlier. Regarding the disappearances, it was because a group of young people snuck into the forest at night. This was recounted by one of the witnesses. And so, the young people who found the body discovered it deep in the woods. They had gone in the morning to search for the others who had gone out at night. Upon seeing this, they fled the scene because it was something horrible, and they felt something... malevolent, not without first taking a photo. What they had seen was that a girl, one of those who had gone out at night, had been mutilated and pinned in pieces to the trees, arranged in a way that resembled a decoration or warning. But... while they fled, one of those young people disappeared without a trace... When they called the authorities, they began investigating, but... When they returned, only the blood that had been spilled on the trees and some nails remained. They thought someone had taken her, but the reality was that after searching the area, they stumbled upon the girl, and part of her head was torn off and mangled at the top. The thing was that, although it was still a corpse, it wasnt as mangled as before and, indeed, it was the same girl. Although she had severe burn marks on her body, a deep cut on her chest, she was somewhat crystallized for some reason, and... she was smiling. Moreover, all along the way, they had found human footprints and blood marks on the trees, as if the girl had walked to the place where she now lay. Upon seeing this, the detective, noticing a bite mark on her neck, decided to call members of YGGDRASYL since they dealt with this kind of case, and he knew people there. At this moment, the group was now looking at the corpse... Well, not everyone, just Mnica, Misaki, and Erin, because she wanted to see. So... Misaki said. Yes, there are traces of aura, Mnica replied. I see, she responded. That means... That it could be a monster doing this to people, or it could be a deranged individual who turned out to be a rather powerful Makt user, Misaki told Erin. Monster or astral creature, by the way. Its the same. ... If its the latter... Ugh, we just need to wrap this up quickly, she said. Mnica, try to find traces of aura in the area. Yes, maam! Mnica replied. Lets go. ||||| Hey, hey, hey, Eliah said to me. Makt user? Makt, I replied. Dude, what is that? Is it like magic or blessings? Alaya asked. Well, its quite similar, I told them. Its a power system where one can create their own abilities, although they ultimately depend on elemental affinities and the types of powers with which you were born. ...What? Eliah was confused. It reminds me of something, at least the first part... Eliah thought. Im going to explain it to you in Mathiass story, I said. But why, dude? Alaya asked. Youll see. Well, lets continue with them. I resumed the story. ||||||| An-another one? Mnica said. The group had been exploring the forest with some soldiers and had now come across another mutilated and hanging corpse, this time of a middle-aged man. It was somewhat dark in that area. How horrible... Misaki said, her expression showing disgust. Uff... James remarked. Wow... Andrew said. Ah... Erin said. So... should we take him with us? They said the girl changed or moved, so... Youre right, Misaki told her. We need to see whats going to happen to him if anything happens. To know if what happened to the girl was an isolated case. Andrew. Yes, yes... he replied. Specter, General! Two shadowy figures appeared behind him, who was at the back of the group. One was the ghost that wasnt a ghost, and the other looked like an empty suit of armor, wielding a sword. He was tall. Everyone turned to look at them. Yes, what do you want, young man? Specter asked. Tell us, young Andrew, General said. Im sorry to ask this, but its part of the mission. Please collect that corpse. ... ...What? Specter said. No, thats disgusting. Im sorry, but I cant do that, General replied. Andrew, hurry up, Misaki urged. We dont have all day. Okay, okay... Ugh... Andrew said. Come on, do it. Its not like youre going to get dirty or anything. Thats not it, General told him. Its disrespectful to manipulate a persons corpse like that... Oh, wait. Hey... one of the soldiers said. Look. Huh? Erin, James, and Mnica responded. Oh... Misaki said. Ah... The corpse of the man was regaining color, and tentacles were emerging from its amputated parts, as if trying to join together again. Side Story B - Extra 1: Introduction to the Makt, Part 1. Now, it''s time to explain the power system that the group is using. It''s the same one I use, right? Because, as I saw, it''s identical. said Eliah. So, what''s the point? Yeah, man. said Alaya. It doesnt even work for me since Eliah and I use the same system. Its different, completely. What? both asked. Well, its more or less like this. W-what do you mean by more or less? Eliah. Now, let''s start with... Well, after taking the written entrance exam. What? asked Eliah. And what did they ask? asked Alaya, curious. Those are trivial matters. The results were:
  • James C 80
  • Erin C 65
  • Andrew C 60
I cant believe it... Andrew said after seeing his score. Hehe... I beat you! Erin teased. But at least you passed, right? Haha... said James to Andrew. ... The minimum passing grade was 60. Well, after this, they took them, along with other new students, to a large room. There, they explained the most important thing: the Makt. What they explained there was more or less this: This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Natural Powers These are the powers you can be born with. Most of these powers are like physical enhancements (like super strength, super endurance, etc.), but some are spiritual (psychic powers). However, these can also harm their users if they are born with such a power (like only being able to breathe underwater and having a malformation because of it). These powers can be trained, but they wont be all-powerful. These qualities are not just for fighting. In reality, you can also find them in common cases. In simple words, these are called gifts. Besides that, these powers come from what follows. Ginnreigin, Makt, Spiritual Power, Aura, etc.: This is, as its name says, a power that comes from the soul or spirit. Natural powers are also called Makt, as they are quite related, but they are not the same. Everyone possesses it, but to use it, they first have to activate it. To activate it... you just need someone to attack you with spiritual power, awaken from an emotionally shocking experience (this lasts a few seconds), have something happen to you in a dream (unlikely), or be born with a Natural Power... Because of this last point, most people born with powers can feel spiritual power. Another way to gain these abilities is by using a piece of a metal called Luminium, or by using the mineral as well, in the case of Samantha... I added this last part for you, to give you more context. Ill do this from time to time. Oh, okay. said Eliah. This metal was discovered nearly 150 years ago and, due to its nature and scarcity, it wasnt made public, at least not until after 1920 when its properties were revealed. It is mainly used to enhance your natural powers, but... due to its nature (spiritual power), you can also create new abilities (this is if you dont have Natural Power). For this, one must impose restrictions on these abilities so that they function. The aura is also known as Heim. This allows you to sense things around you, but the more you expand it, the fewer things you can feel. Covering your body with it serves to protect you, but... its not very good for that, although you can create a power that, when covering your body with aura, grants you benefits. The 4 Types: There are 4 types of Makt, which are:
  • Invocation: To invoke ethereal beings or objects. It also serves to summon Residuals of energy, meaning ghosts or specters, to use for your benefit after making a connection with them. You can also invoke your own spirit, either willingly or using a Sphere.
  • Emission: Uses vital energy and can give it shape. It can be combined with other types to grant elemental affinity.
  • Alteration: Increases the strength, endurance, agility of one or more members. The base power of almost all. It also creates chemical reactions to generate fire, ice, etc. In other words... it alters a space to have the necessary conditions for those phenomena to occur.
  • Control/Manipulation: Manipulates real or created objects. It is mostly used in conjunction with the other types. Though, when used alone, it is like telekinesis.
Everyone can use and mix these types, but some have more affinity with some than others. One can improve their affinity in a type by practicing skills of that type. Makt users are also divided into three groups: normal humans, super humans, and prodigies. The power level is often measured with numbers as well. Approximate values, just in case, with the sum of all other attributes: Vigor, Resistance, Mind, Strength, Dexterity, Concentration, Arcane, Will, and Spirit. There were tools to measure all of this. The sum of all this was called Aura/Power Points. Well, humans who were born without powers had an approximate limit of 256. Super humans, who were born with natural powers, 400; and prodigies, 512. Although these were usually born without powers, and improved more slowly than the rest. In addition to managing the Makt for training, one could improve in it and increase the limit if, being a Makt user, you receive fatal damage, survive, and recover almost completely. But doing this to make yourself stronger was not recommended due to the fact that surviving fatal damage is extremely difficult, and it wasnt worth it for the minimal increase youd gain. Another thing is that one''s power can increase or decrease due to their mental state. Although many times it didnt affect anything. Also, some Makt users, who could afford it, wore catalyst rings. These improved their control over their aura, increasing its potency. They were somewhat expensive. Misaki had one. And well, thats all for now. What you shared kind of reminds me of something... said Eliah. Yeah, me too... Please dont say it.