《Death Fantasy》


 Chapter 1: The Gift

    "Welcome to Death Fantasy, enjoy your stay!" A robotic voice loudly reverberated.


    In a dark musty room lay a body breathing heavily, sitting up the person looked into a cracked mirror in front of them. A Eighteen year old boy with slicked back jet black hair wearing glasses lay there, roughly 6 and a half feet tall and in barely adequate shape. He was bewildered and started to recall his most recent memories.


    ''I was playing video games when suddenly everything went black and now I''m here. My name is Damien I think.'' He wasn¡¯t to sure if he was correct nor did he feel like what was going in was real.


    He checked his body and realised he wasn¡¯t hurt in any way however on his hand was a weird tattoo of a hammer and sword crossing each other. That¡¯s when the robotic voice started talking again with thunderous sound.


    "This place I have brought you to is known as Death Fantasy Land, here you can live without restraint, complete freedom, Hehe that is if you live!" When that voice said that Damien felt an unfamiliar feeling, an emotion of fear and excitement. he thought such a contradictory feeling was odd but his excitement seemed to grow after the robot voice spoke again.


    "Everyone will find either an item or a tattoo on them. This is a gift from me to you, if you have a tattoo congratulations you now have superpowers and those with items you have a glorious treasure. Please thank my humble self for doing such a generous act."


    ''It seems we have been given some sort of abilities, this is unreal but if it''s true I wonder what I can do.'' Damien was unsure if these words held any truth but his excitement wouldn¡¯t die down. however he was wrong as soon as the excitement was taking over the fear crept back in.


    "These items and abilities represent your life span in this place, you''ll find a number on your tattoo or item this number represents how long you have to live."


    ''Fuck! I was being naive thinking this was all sunshine and rainbows, getting otherworldly powers obviously comes with a cost.'' Damien freaked out a bit out of fear for his life, like most people would.


    "Your Items and abilities or what I like to call your gift can fall into 3 categories - Attack, Defence and Miscellaneous. The stronger your gift the more days it gives you to live, The Day count is equivalent to how much power the gift has. Gifts power ranges from 1 to 30 with the types of ability switching at each power level in the order Misc, Defence and then Attack."


    Damien continued listening up to here and understood the gist of what the voice was saying, he looked down and saw a 12 on the sword and hammer tattoo which meant he had a power level and life span of twelve, making hid ability an attack power.


    "If you don''t understand what I''m saying your an idiot but I will give you an example. So if you have a Gift with a Power Level of 1 then it''s a Miscellaneous gift, Power Level 2 meaning Defence, 3 indicating an attack gift. At which point the cycle starts again with a Power Level of 4 being a misc gift."


    "Well now we have got that out the way I will lift up your spirits and hopes by telling you that there are two ways to increase your power and therefore your lifespan. Firstly by simply taking other people''s gifts it''s really as simple as that. Or you could take the fun way hehe which is by participating in the death games I''ve set up to happen at multiple locations a day. Moreover at the end of each week you must participate in a mandatory death game just to spice things up. Oh just to let you know you are in one right now."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The deafening voice finally ended and for some reason all Damien could think about is using his ability. He didn''t want to fully comprehend what was just said because he knew that fear any human would face in this situation would set in. Focusing on the tattoo Damien just thought of the sword and hammer and suddenly a flash of light attacked his eyes and when his vision readjusted what was in its place was a floating sword.


    Looking at it with bewilderment Damien thought ''Did I really create this?¡¯. Then with a careless thought it moved and impaled the ceiling. "The sword actually moves according to my thoughts, Jesus Christ I really have fucking super powers." Damien received a happy surprise from his power use.


    "Welcome to your Introductory Death Game my friends!" Excitement was instantly shattered by that robotic voice again, With Damien finally realising what a dire situation he was in and how fucked he would be if he got careless.


    "You are currently in a Hotel with 4 floors and in this grand location we will be playing a game of hide and seek, except everyone who has a gift is the seeker and there is only one hider. The hider is a robot disguised as a human who you must find and destroy before it blows you all to holy hell hehe enjoy the game see ya!"


    Damien started to get serious because he was finally focusing less on the fantasy and more on the death, so leaving the room he was in he started to look around. The hotel seemed quite expansive having at least fifteen rooms per floor which would make the hide and seek quite troublesome alone. But being alone wasn''t gonna be a problem because he heard someone shouting coming from the lobby.


    He gradually made his way down to the lobby from what must have been the second floor and what greeted Damien was a group of eighteen people standing around.


    "Well looks like there''s more of us, come over here lad." A burly man with a metal gauntlet spoke as Damien approached.


    "Hello there it seems you are a college student, I''m Vince what''s your name?" A different man spoke this time he was old and had grey hair. Moreover he had a tattoo on his hand of a round shield.


    "I''m Damien I am an English College Student" Damien introduced himself to the group however he kept his distance after all there was an imposter somewhere in the building.


    This odd group included that old man with the shield tattoo, the burly man with a metal gauntlet, a trio of college students that seemed to know each other being a girl with a black cloak tattoo, a muscular kid with a tornado sword tattoo and a skinny kid that seemed to have no item or tattoo, a stripper with a gun tattoo, a Japanese Giant with a rock golem tattoo, a Black Model with a red slash tattoo, a business man with wings as a tattoo, a slim thug with a chain tattoo, a uniformed teenager with a brain tattoo, a young kid with a disc tattoo, a nurse with a tattoo of needles, a fat guy with a tattoo of legs with lightening near them, an old lady with a surfboard on sand tattoo, a Japanese gangster with a fire tattoo, a lawyer with a hammer tattoo and finally a young female shop clerk with a Darwin body tattoo.


    "Yo what''s up I think this is every one unless someone''s hiding in one of the rooms" Damien looked up to see a girl with crimson red hair and a ruby tattoo come towards the group.


    "So the imposter is among us right now? Well I have my suspicions." The Lawyer said his piece and seemed to eye up the skinny guy.


    ''That Lawyer is really arrogant for someone stuck in a death trap, but he is right the obvious suspect is the skinny guy from that trio over there.'' Damien has his own suspicions however he kept them to himself.


    "Before we start to point the finger among us we need to sweep the entire hotel first and then we can get the fuck out of here" The Old Shield man didn''t want a fight to break out if It didn''t have to.


    "All right well I think we should split into groups of 4 or 5 to search each floor." The Ruby Girl suggested that and everyone else seemed to comply, the group''s were chosen randomly and no one showed any resistance probably so they could survive this ordeal.


    Damien ended up with the Stripper, the Thug and the fat guy searching the top floor. ''It must have been my lucky day, well it wouldn''t matter as long as this is done quickly.'' Damien wasn¡¯t to impressed with his group.


    "Alright everyone spilt up and start searching, remember to call for help if this robot shows signs of resistance" The Yakuza man spoke up for the first time and showed his motivation to live. With that each group set off to their different assigned floor, who knew what awaited them in each room.

 Chapter 2: Warped Personality

    Damien started to climb the staircase towards the top floor during which he could tell the Thug was attempting to flirt with the Stripper, Damien found it pretty fun to watch the rejection he faced. The group then started to search each room and Damien was half way though looking in his third room when he heard a slight cry, so being the curious person he is, he slowly ventured to the room it came from and that''s when he saw in one of the rooms the Thug had used his Gift of chains to bound the Stripper. The thug was tearing away her clothes with a lascivious expression and poised to rape her whenever he desired.


    Damien stood there blankly not knowing what to do when the Thug suddenly saw him through the crack in the door. At this point Damien knew he would have to fight him, he wouldn''t let him get away and tell the others so instead of retreating Damien charged forward.


    The thug suddenly shot a chain like an arrow, Damien fuelled by adrenaline barely dodged it and sent a blade the size of a hand towards the thug. The thug wasn¡¯t prepared for a flying blade and got impaled in the shoulder, however he didn''t give in and started wrapping himself in chains to make a form of chainmail. Still fighting off sheer instinct alone Damien scoffed at this attempt at defence and created 5 slightly bigger blades, with 2 in hand he sent the flying 3 at the thug who seemed to block them pretty well but by then Damien was already in front of him stabbing the thug in the right and left thigh between the gaps of the chains. Even though this happened the thug managed to shove Damien away however he was heavily bleeding becoming unable to control his chains. As the chains on his body started to fall off 2 two massive arm sized blades penetrated the Thugs heart and stomach impaling him to the wall. Damien had just launched that attack with no control in mind just the desire to kill and live. Damien slowly got up and looked at his bloody hands thinking over the events, he puked at the sight he created and then smiled.


    ''I have just killed some one, this feeling, this emotion is so overwhelming I can''t believe I had so much.. so much fun.'' Damien even though damaged and having his life threatened found the struggle of the fight, his power and the kill really addictive.


    I can''t believe I have power this strong, I no longer have to live as someone who holds back his emotions, with these abilities I can truly be free. Death shouldn''t be feared anymore, as long as I am not suffering who cares. Whilst I live I will be whoever I fucking choose!


    This switch wasn''t something as instant as it seemed, back on earth he felt bored and deprived of happiness, he always thought that maybe acting in impulse might solve his problems, but the threat of law and punishment always held him back. Yet now what was in place to restrict him?


    "Ha talking of doing whatever I want how have you been doing miss stripper?" Damien looked at the naked stripper tied to the bed, even though the chain user died it seemed these bonds were permanent. ''Why shouldn''t I take this opportunity? There''s no consequences and no one can stop me, Power is the only way to live a good life which is relevant to earth and this place it''s only the types of power that''s changed.'' Damien¡¯s mind had been more awakened than altered he embraced his carnal urges and no longer cared for morals.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Damien proceeded to play with the bound girl to his hearts content, obviously he had to be quick otherwise the fat guy would suspect something''s up. Damien pleasured himself well for the first time in a while and before meeting up with the fatty killed and absorbed both her and the thugs abilities. Damien also did something unorthodox by essentially gutting the thug and using his blades to create as much blood and mess as possible, by doing this he would desensitize himself from blood and killing . Now Damien had three abilities - a power level 12 Attack ability to create and control Blades and Bladed weapons, a power level 9 attack ability to create and manipulate chains and finally a power level 9 gift to summon firearms.


    ''Wait a power level 9 gift? How did she lose to that guy when she could have just shot him in the head. Oh Well the ability is mine now and will be utilised much more effectively.'' Damien left the room and saw the fatty standing near the stairs with a worried expression.


    "Oh my goodness you came, I thought you might have been killed by the intruder or had left me behind." The fatty seemed to be tired out and after scanning Damien showed an alarmed expression.


    "You could have left or looked for one of us in the rooms, are you really that lazy? Oh well doesn''t matter anyway... wait what are you looking at?" Damien realised the fatty was staring wide eyed at him.


    "Di...di..did you g...g..get hu...hur..hur..hurt?" The fatty stuttered his way through the sentence whilst beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.


    Damien looked down and saw his white shirt dyed in blood and his hands still dripping with that thugs bodily fluids.


    ''Ah shit I was so excited about this new life I can live that I forgot I''m probably the only insane person in the building. Maybe there''s an ability for common sense or intelligence.''


    "Oh did I not say, I found the intruder and killed him so we can probably leave now, he''s just in there, it says if you touch him you get permission to leave." Damien pointed at the room he just came out of.


    "''Re...real...really?Wel..well then I must thank you for saving me." The fatty started to walk to the room holding his breath so he wouldn''t smell that steely iron blood.


    "For someone like you who''s too afraid to embrace his true self I would consider this saving" Damien suddenly snapped his fingers and a blade flew straight through the fatty''s neck.


    ''I don''t think a retard would even fall for a trick like that, you are like a little child running into a wolf''s den. Then again desperation can force you to do stupid things.''


    ''Ah shit awffff... I was sick again? Come on I had the conviction to kill yet I ended up like this. It is going to be really inconvenient if I''m sick after all I need to kill to survive.''


    Damien absorbed the fatty¡¯s ability which was a power level 4 misc ability allowing the user to cover a short distant extremely quickly.


    ''Damn imagining the fatty using this makes me regret killing him, oh well I need to meet with the others, my plan to get the most abilities out of this death game better work, well the alternative is death so I guess success is the only option.''


    Damien made his way to the ground floor, he put on fatty''s shirt which didn''t seem to be to loose, a small fat persons shirt works fine for a tall person. With a plan inmind Damien advanced forward preparing to cause chaos.

 Chapter 3: Chaos and Suspicion

    "You guys are the last ones back I guess you found nothing either, hold on where are the other three." The burly gauntlet man spoke up, him the Gangster, the old man and ruby girl seemed the only ones in their right mind to converse and lead.


    "The thug with the chain tattoo tried to kill the Stripper girl because she rejected him, so me and the fatty stepped in to stop the conflict however he had a powerful ability and wrapped us all in chains I managed to escape with my blades but the Stripper and fatty were crushed I luckily stabbed him with my blade otherwise he would be the one standing here now." Damien bullshitted more than he had ever before and what could people really say about it they valued their escape and life more than those random strangers.


    "How do we know your not the imposter who just killed those three so there''s less people to deal with later?" The lawyer proclaimed as if he had solved the mystery.


    ''shzzting''


    A blade the size of a finger whizzed through the air and cut the lawyers cheek making it bleed slightly. "The Intruder doesn''t have a gift, I showed you mine so that should clear suspicion. Why doesn¡¯t everyone display their ability" Damien sat down already feeling the cracks in this group.


    "Alright we''ll do that then" Everyone agreed and started showing off their ability. One by One everyone had shown their gift all that was left was the Burly man with the gauntlet and the skinny high school student.


    "Oliver isn''t the intruder he has been friends with me and Seth since childhood, he wasn''t given an ability but an item instead, look he was given some form of potion." The girl from the trio held up a chemical vial.


    "I can say I''m not the intruder even though my gift is an item I can use it''s special function equivalent to a ability. Whereas that boy could just be a fake with some random bottle of chemicals" The burly man stood up and clenched his fist and then hit the ground making it shatter.


    "I think this Oliver is the most suspicious so how about we have a vote whether you think he is the intruder or not , if you don''t think he''s the intruder stand on the left side and if you do stand on the right side." The Ruby Girl put forth another smart suggestion that everyone agreed to.


    In the end the people who thought Oliver wasn¡¯t the intruder were the trio of high school kids, the Yakuza with the flame, the young kid with the discs, the nurse with the needles, the old lady with the surfboard on sand, the guy with wings and the shop clerk with the body tattoo.


    On the side that thought that Oliver was the intruder was the lawyer with the hammer, the black model with the red slash, the Japanese muscular giant with the rock golem, the uniformed youngster with the brain, the girl with the ruby, the old guy with the shield, Damien and obviously the gauntlet guy.


    "You know that neither of these guys are the intruder." The uniformed youth whispered into Damien¡¯s ear.


    "Yeah I''m pretty sure they aren''t but I''m doing this to salvage more abilities, I''m sure you already guessed that though uniform."


    "You seem to have a pretty good grasp of my powers, but you may still be underestimating me. The names Silas by the way I''m an eighteen year old American from a private school." Silas had an understanding of Damien¡¯s plan and looked to play along.


    "Well Silas who do you think the real intruder is and why are you helping me?" Damien could understand Silas slightly but he really was still a mystery.


    "The Lawyer, even though it was implied the hider doesn''t have a gift it wasn''t a given fact, he is also extremely suspicious and the more abilities I have the longer I will survive." Silas spoke matter of factly like dealing with others to survive is the smartest choice.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Good answer, I also think it''s the lawyer the feeling my blade felt was more metallic than bone." Silas was quite confused but guessed that Damien¡¯s blades share his senses. "So what do we do now? I advise a battle royal whilst trying to deal with the lawyer.


    "I was thinking something more simplistic like shooting everyone but I guess an all out fight works well." Damien followed Silas'' strategy and started adding fuel to the fire.


    "I must say it''s awfully convenient that the guy with the potion has no knowledge of what it does, he hasn''t even spoken up for himself yet." Damien knew he was portraying himself as the villain here but to him doing that was simply something fun to do.


    "I have no way to prove I''m not the intruder nor to prove I am the intruder, why don''t we settle down and think this over carefully I can already see a fight brewing." The skinny kid Oliver finally spoke up and showed his resistance to conflict.


    "If we just cut him open we will find out if he''s a robot or not." The Lawyer put forth a bloody solution


    "I agree" Damien and Silas both followed along with the violent suggestion.


    "I''m sorry kid but I don''t wanna die, I also agree.", "I have grandkids to look after I need to put my life first." The Burly and Old man also hesitantly agreed.


    "Doesn''t affect us either way" The Model spoke for herself and the giant, they seemed to have spawned an unconventional relationship whilst searching.


    "We can''t just kill or wound him because he might be the intruder, we have to be sure." Those that were on Oliver¡¯s side all pleaded for no bloodshed, maybe because of their sense of justice or because they weren''t capable in a fight.


    "No one has to get hurt except Oliver just let these guys check whether he''s a robot or not, a simple cut off finger should prove it." The Ruby Girl suggested a gruesome approach this time a lot less thought out than before.


    She''s scared, she seemed stable and strong earlier but the fear is slowly seeping in like it has for the rest of the people here. I think fear and terror are natural reactions, it''s what keeps us alive, such a shame this unknown land has changed me so much, sike this is the best feeling ever having no fear is like being an uncaged tiger hahahaha.


    "Why should we waste time bickering when we can get it over with right now." The Lawyer called forth a pure white sledge hammer and swung for Oliver. Those on Oliver''s side started to push, shove and flee which caused the girl with the cloak tattoo to hit her head and fall unconscious.


    "You bastard, I will make you pay for that!" The tornado sword kid rushed the Lawyer and started fighting him with a sword made out of air.


    "Maybe the voice lied and they are all intruders, kill them all!" The Burly man had completely lost it and attacked the child with the discs with his gigantic gauntlet.


    "You coward attacking a child" the man with the wings tattoo jumped forward spreading bladed wings. However he was intercepted by the Ruby Girl who had created a spear and sword out of rubies. The giant and Model attacked the Yakuza man, with the giant turning his body into rocks, the Model sending a laser slash and the Yakuza shooting out flames. The shield man used a large metallic shield to push against the shop clerk and Old lady. Silas approached the nurse and put up a Muay Thai fighting stance.


    One by one everyone started attacking each other only Damien and Oliver stood back and watched.


    "How does it feel to know you have caused this violence and potential death?." Damien taunted Oliver whilst they both watched the battles unfold.


    "I could ask you the same question, why have you caused this, why attack innocent people like this. I''m sure with enough thought we could have found the intruder." Oliver was confused by Damien¡¯s actions and couldn''t comprehend his thoughts.


    "We already know who the intruder is, anyway I''m doing this to live longer after all the more power you have the longer you live." Damien looked at Oliver and felt disgusted that in a life or death situation you would put your hopes on others and aim to save everyone, that outlook would only guarantee your death.


    "You knew all along, you fucking bastard my friends could die because of you!" Oliver picked up a piece of shattered glass and ran towards Damien.


    Your a fool and deserve to die for your ideology but I think I''ll let you live and suffer in this world for following it.


    Damien instantly called a sword into his hand and cut down.


    ''thweep''


    With a blood curdling scream Oliver fell to the floor except his right arm was now several meters from his body, laying there he winced in agony before passing out from losing an arm.


    "Well now that the small fry has been taken care of I think I''ll deal with these little skirmishes." Damien was now fully engulfed in excitement to battle and kill, ready to obtain even more power.

 Chapter 4: The Intruder

    Damien observed the lobby and began approaching Silas and the Nurse.


    "You still haven''t even fought yet, are you just gonna stand there holding that ridiculous pose?" Damien chuckled as he approached Silas who was still in his Muay Thai stance.


    "Well I was waiting to be attacked but she doesn''t seem too motivated to fight feel free to take over, after all my ability doesn''t particularly help in close quarter combat." Silas backed away and sat down to observe he didn''t seem too motivated to fight either.


    "So your a Nurse, I must say I do like your ability of Healing Needles, being able to heal some one through magic needles must be a god given gift for a nurse like you." Damien crept closer and closer to the nurse summoning a pistol with a suppressor into his right hand.


    "This isn''t a gift from god it''s a demonic power, something you trade your life to use so I''m not going to ever use my ability no matter what!" The nurse was hysterical almost crying out her words.


    "No worries I will use it for you no problems there I''m sure, ill give you a quick death for not resisting" Damien mercilessly aimed and shot the nurse, being the first time he used a gun though he shot her through her through the cheek making her scream and rive in pain.


    Shit my aim is a bit off I should probably practice using guns if I don''t want to mess up again in a heated battle. I promised a fucking painless death as well, I''m not a very nice guy.


    "My bad I should''ve just used my blade, sorry for the pain but it''s all going to go away soon." Damien shot her point blank this time killing her instantly, he then proceeded to take her ability gaining the needle tattoo.


    The lobby had turned into a bloody battlefield by now with each fight having a Victor and loser.


    The Gangster, Giant and Model fight resulted in all of them having injuries, with the Yakuza having large cuts and broken bones, the giant having scorched arms and the Model having a burnt chest. On the other hand the shield man had crushed the old lady half dead and the shop clerk was knocked out clean. The Gauntlet wielder had lost a leg and the child was bleeding out. The Ruby Girl had decapitated the winged man and only had some cuts on her face. However the most surprising was the Lawyer and Tornado Sword fight which resulted in the tornado sword guy having a completely ruined arm and a scorched body whilst the lawyer had a cut arm which reflected a metal coating.


    "This guy is the intruder...protect Nina for me" The tornado sword guy fell to his knees completely drained of energy and shouted loudly before his head was caved in by the Lawyers hammer.


    "Well it seems my identity has been revealed, and here I thought you would all kill each other without me being found out." The Lawyers tone changed from arrogant to cold and empty like it felt no emotion.


    "I thought that the intruder didn''t have a Gift so how come you can use that hammer." The tired out old man fell back feeling defeated and knowing he couldn''t face the robot fled upstairs.


    "There was no such rule you are all a bunch of fools. You Pathetic humans killing each other because of fear, what a useless emotion. Now I think I''m the winner here." The Intruder approached the knocked out shop clerk and crushed her head beneath his foot.


    "I agree fear is quite the useless emotion but I think you haven''t won just yet." Damien used quick dash to appear right next to the robot, wielding a sword he swung for the robots head however what greeted him was a hammer.


    "Futile Attack."


    The robot pushed down his hammer making Damien move back a few feet.


    Well this is going to be difficult to handle, well I currently have five abilities so I should be able to handle just a hammer wielder.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Silas get one of these guys'' abilities and help me out, Ruby Girl lend me some support if you don''t plan on dying." Damien shouted out and then summoned six flying swords and two submachine guns.


    Silas quickly got up and finished off the child that was seconds away from dying and took his disc weapon ability whilst Ruby Girl created two ruby spears and stood next to Damien.


    "He doesn''t only have the hammer, I watched his fight earlier where he had some sort flames on his hammer so I would recommend not taking a hit from it." Silas gave some last minute advice before this rag tag group started their attack.


    Damien advanced forward with his quick dash accompanied by his flying swords he started shooting the robot as well as shredding his skin up. The robot was about to unleash an attack on Damien when his hammer was suddenly intercepted by two spears which held him in place. Silas also contributed by throwing his discs at the robots neck.


    However the robot after all that stood firm, his skin had basically been shredded apart by now and had some dents in his metallic casing but was only partially damaged.


    This isn''t good even with all three of us attacking he can still resist, we are using blades and bullets and are only leaving dents.


    Damien then flanked the robot with quick dash and discarded his submachine guns calling forth chains which he wrapped around the robots neck several times. The robot managed to break free from the Ruby girls crowd control and smacked her away scorching her abdomen.


    "Silas stab his feet into place and fall back." Damien shouted out urgently to Silas and then started to tighten the chain noose he created whilst point blank shooting the robot in the back trying to break through his metallic body.


    ''chrrink''


    Silas had managed to impale both the robots feet with the ruby spears by calculating the velocity and angle to create the best force making him able to pierce through the feet, it also helped that the robots feet were its weakest point.


    "Ha how do you like this pain you bastard, don''t you ever look down on me you stupid tin can." Damien created four large blades above the robot and spun them as fast as he could before sending them downward with the greatest force possible resulting in the robot being skewered through the stomach and pining him into the ground. The robot was just like a peasant facing Vlad the Impaler, being slowly cut through. At this point Damien tightened his grip on the chains and began to quick dash constantly in a direction away from the robot, pulling at the noose at the same time. After several attempts the robot let out a terrifying screech before it''s head was ripped from its body.


    "That was fucking difficult, what bloody metal was that dude made out of anyway. Well at least the prick is dead now." Damien collapsed and felt completely drained.


    Well that''s my first real fight and damn was it hard. I think the more you fight and live to tell about it the more fun it is. Then again living my life on the edge isn''t very healthy.


    "Congratulations you have successfully completed your first death game, to leave you must take the device found in the lobby it is called the Echo System with it you can store items, see a list of your current gifts, combine gifts and create a clan/guild. Remember this is a fantasy land so creating clans and guilds is all part of the experience." The robotic voice finally declared the end of the death game.


    "For completing a Death Game of Level 5 difficulty the survivors will be rewarded a Power Level 5 defence gift. Moreover there is a bonus reward for Damien and Silas for finding out who the intruder was and another bonus reward for Damien for killing the intruder. That is all for today see you soon bye bye." The robotic voice seemed to disappear after it''s announcement, leaving the survivors to feel some joy for living.


    Two bonus rewards? Well at least I''m being recognised for my contribution. By the looks of it I can get that shop clerks ability as well.


    Damien walked over to the shop clerk with the crushed skull and took her ability, which suddenly turned Damien¡¯s meagre and average body into a muscular and strong one. He now had blurry vision whilst wearing his glasses and found that even his facial features seemed to feel more prominent. Damien then threw his glasses to the side and figured the ability he got was a body enhancement.


    After everything calmed down Damien commanded his healing needles to heal his, Silas'' and the ruby girls injuries.


    "Thank you for healing me, my name is Rose it''s nice to meet you, I''m French Uni art student." The Ruby Girl was welcoming and thankful that Damien killed the robot.


    "It''s nice to meet you Rose my name''s Damien and this is Silas, you should absorb that winged man''s ability if you want to live longer." Damien thought through several scenarios for the battle with the robot and realised that team work helped a lot so he thought having a small group of people would prove to be helpful, therefore distributing the gifts.


    "I didn''t want to kill him I was just so afraid and then all of a sudden I had cut off his... oh god" Rose looked at the man''s body and started to feel faint and even puked, however she pushed through and took his ability.


    "It wasn''t your fault, in a fight where emotions are your driving force you can lose yourself. You must understand killing others is the only way to survive here. Also Damien if you want more strength I would heal the giant and model" Silas consoled Rose whilst walking over to the area that had the so called Echo System Device.

 Chapter 5: Allies

    Damien thought Silas'' idea to gather more allies made sense so he used the healing needles to help recover the giant and the Model. A few moments later they came to and thanked Damien as well.


    "I''m Roxanne and this is Iwa Karada but he told me to call him Brutus. I''m an American Model and Brutus is a Japanese Boxer he understands English but isn''t too great at speaking it." Damien greeted them along with Rose and Silas. Roxanne and Brutus witnessed the wide spread death across the lobby at the same time.


    Damien scanned the lobby and saw the old lady bleeding from several places and even breathing.


    "Bloody Hell how are you still alive Old lady you must have at least fifty different broken bones, I''m gonna say it would be kind of me to kill you right here." Damien stood over the old lady, she was crushed by that old man''s shield earlier, she was in a state where she felt pain when breathing, bleeding every time she moved.


    ''sqqrkkk''


    Damien showed mercy, if you could call it that, to the old women and stabbed her through the brain with a dagger and then instructed Brutus to take her ability, only by expanding his allies abilities would the team work he desired truly show.


    Looking around Damien realised that the Yakuza Fire user and Oliver were gone and except for the dead bodies and the disabled gauntlet user the knocked out Cloak Girl was still passed out on the floor.


    "Well I think we just have to put these on then we can leave, it fits almost perfectly it''s quite weird, should we bring that gauntlet guy and the girl?" Silas was over by the Echo Devices and had already put his on.


    "My healing needles can re attach limbs but cant conjure them up this guys leg has been cut to pieces nothing I can do about that, it would be better to just leave him. However we can take that girl with us I believe she has a useful ability." Damien shook her awake, however when she woke up she screamed and pushed Damien away looking around in pure terror.


    "Where''s Seth and Oliver, get away from me, where are my friends!" The cloak mark girl cried out, tears streamed down her face because she couldn''t see either of her friends among those standing.


    "I''m sorry to say but your friend Seth the Tornado Sword user was killed by the Intruder and your other friend Oliver was nowhere to be seen after the battle so I think he ran away." Damien left out the part about him cutting off Oliver¡¯s arm after all he truly believed she could make a good addition to the group.


    "Your lying, you are deceiving me so tell me the truth right now, what have you done to them!" The Cloak mark Girl became frantic and couldn''t control her emotions standing up and punching Damien in the chest.


    "Calm down please, and if you can''t just look over there I''m sure that it will confirm what I''m saying, Seth''s corpse is a bit mangled but you should be able to tell." Damien pointed at Seth''s corpse and made the girl look.


    When her eyes landed on Seth all colour drained from her face, she fell to her knees and cried out just like Seth had done before his death.


    After several minutes of agonising crying the girl got up and turned to Damien with bloodshot eyes "Please help me find Oliver, he needs to tell me why he would abandon me and Seth and save himself. My name''s Nina an American seventeen year old high school student "


    "No problem I can say that he has already probably left the hotel and is on the run as we speak, you are welcome to join our little group Nina, I would suggest absorbing your friends ability if not for the added time to live then at least as a way to remember him." Damien wasn''t sure where Oliver really was but he knew that it would be best if their group left this hotel soon.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Although reluctantly the girl absorbed her friends ability and then like everyone else put on an Echo Device. Once the Echo Device was on everyone received a notification saying ''Death Game Completion Reward''. Everyone opened it and received a Power Level 5 Defence ability. Silas and Damien also received their bonus rewards with Silas getting a Power level 10 misc ability and Damien also getting a Power Level 7 misc ability as well as a Power Level 10 misc ability.


    So this Echo System allows the wearer to see their abilities and their descriptions, store items, combine existing abilities into stronger one''s and create and monitor a clan/guild. Well I should see what each ability I have can really do.


    Damien¡¯s Gifts


    ?Blade Creation - The gift to create, share the senses and manipulate any form of blade. Attack Gift with a Power of 12


    ?Molten Enhancement - Coat your weapons, body and attacks in molten heat. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Gun Summon - Summon a gun you have previous knowledge of. Allows infinite ammo and attachments of users choice. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    ?Chains - Create and Control Chains that move to the users will. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    ?Fear Manipulation - Contort a victims fear in anyway if victim Is already afraid or has a weak mentality. Misc Gift with a Power of 7


    ?Obsidian Skin - Turns your skin into black obsidian. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    ?Healing Needles - Conjure Magic Needles that can heal all wounds over time. Misc Gift with a Power of 4


    ?Enhanced Body - Reach the peak of human form increasing muscle mass, vison and even solidifying your organs. Misc Gift with a Power of 4


    ?Quick dash - Allows user to cover a distance of up to ten meters extremely quickly. Misc Gift with a Power of 4


    Overall Power level : 64


    I do have quite the spread of abilities, I shouldn''t have a problem fighting now unless I come across a Power Level 30 user, then I''m just fucked no questions.


    "Can I see your guys'' abilities?" Damien was interested in the power of his current group and who he should try and cultivate the most, he had truly embraced the fantasy death games mentality. Everyone agreed and started comparing each others abilities.


    Silas'' Gifts


    ?Genius Intelligence - Gives the user an incredible amount of intelligence boosting their IQ by two times. Misc Gift with a power of 10


    ?Electricity Enhancement -Coat your weapons, body and attacks in electricity. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Silver skin - Transform the users skin into solid silver. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    ?Blade Discs - Create and control circular blades. Attack Gift with a Power of 3


    Power level : 28


    Roses Gifts


    ?Ruby Weapons - Manipulate and Summon Ruby Weapons. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    ?Blade wings - Adorn Wings made of blades. Misc Gift with a Power of 7


    ?Jade Skin - Replace the users skin with glistening jade. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    Power level : 21


    Nina¡¯s Gifts


    ?Shadow Cloak - Shrouds the user in a dark mist cloak turning them into a shadow. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Tempest Sword - Conjure a Sword of Wind. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    ?Amethyst Coat - Cover the users body in Amethyst. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    Power level : 24


    Brutus'' Gifts


    ?Rock body - Solidify the entire body, skin, organs and blood into stone. Defence Gift with a Power of 8


    ?Ground surf - The user can surf the ground whilst both legs are on it. Misc Gift with a Power of 7


    ?Steel Armour - Obtain full body armour of steel. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    Power level : 20


    Roxanne¡¯s Gifts


    ?Laser Slash - Allows user to send large laser slashes through the air. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    ?Topaz Layer - Coats the user in Topaz gemstone. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    Power Level : 14


    "Looks like I''m the weakest one here, I really need to up my game don''t I haha." Roxanne tried to laugh off the fact that she was the weakest but it was obvious it was affecting her mental state.


    "You are pretty greedy hoarding all those abilities Damien, then again you did take them for your self." Silas pointed out the obvious and that was Damien held a large majority of the powers from this hotel.


    "Maybe if you didn''t just stand there doing a stupid pose and actually fought you might have a few more yourself." Damien joked back however he was looking at Roxanne as if he knew her days were numbered, after all they weren''t the only ability users in the Death Fantasy so the more you had the likelihood of you dying was less.


    After comparing Gifts the group set out from the hotel into what was a large city, there were tall skyscrapers in perfect condition and gigantic dilapidated structures right next to them. This place was truly a chaotic mess with perfection and destruction blending together to make an odd landscape. The group could only imagine what difficulties they would face here.

 Chapter 6: Laughing Devils Clan

    The group set out into the mysterious abandoned city and continued walking for twenty minutes before setting the goal to find a place to set up a makeshift base.


    "After looking through this Echo System it seems there are quite a few benefits for setting up a clan or guild, I would suggest creating one to gain the location and communication function which allows members to look at a map to find the other members and converse like a group chat of sorts." Silas had spent most of his time investigating this strange device they were given.


    "Alright let''s do that then split into three groups to search for a place to stay. Using the location and communication to make sure where to go if we find a suitable place." Damien accepted that communication was extremely important when it came to fighting in battles, which would definitely happen in the future.


    "We have two choices as to which type of group we want, firstly a Clan which is structured around power with its members gaining better titles the more power they have. And secondly a guild where positions of power are decided through favour and elections. So it''s a choice between a fantasy strength based hierarchy or a modern day democracy." Silas spoke solemnly as if even he couldn''t decide which one had the best pros and cons.


    "Obviously we will create a Clan, if I''m gonna make a group I sure as hell don''t want to end up as some one else''s lackey cus I ain''t popular, fuck that." Damien had decided before Silas even mentioned the guild option.


    So through the Echo System Interface Damien chose to create a Clan, following this Information appeared on the Echo giving the details of what makes a clan and it''s rules.


    ''A clan is made up of a White Monarch, a Black Sovereign, Knights, Bishops, Berserkers and Infantry. Each role has different responsibilities. The White Monarch is the leader of the Clan, representing the King from Chess. The Black Sovereign on the other hand represents the Queen from Chess and acts as the lead for assaults as well as being the main guardian of the White Monarch, they hold just as much authority however there is no repercussion if they are to die. The Bishops are the assassins of the Clan who aim to support their clan members by attacking the enemies weakness'' in battle. A Clans Knights are powerful soldiers on the battlefield and are the elite attackers whose only objective is to kill the enemy. Another Unit are the Berserkers who are much like the rook in chess they function as the shield for the clan being the first line of defence in battles. Lastly the Infantry they are simple foot soldiers whose role matches that of a pawn. They exist to bolster the numbers of an army and must follow the commands of the other roles without question. These are all the Clan Roles, would you like to continue and create your own?''


    After a long description given by the Interface Damien finally decide to create the Clan at which point an information screen appeared that needed to be filled out, so after some time Damien completed it and had made the Clan.


    Clan Name:


    Laughing Devils


    White Monarch:


    Silas


    Black Sovereign:


    Damien


    Bishops:


    1(Nina)


    Knights:


    2(Rose, Roxanne)


    Berserkers:


    1(Brutus)


    Infantry:


    N/A


    Headquarters:


    N/A


    Now that''s over and done with we should now have a feature that allows us to see a map of the area along with each of our positions, as well as having a way to communicate with each other.


    "Laughing Devils Clan huh? Well it doesn''t sound to bad, but why did you make me the leader, I was sure you wanted to take charge." Silas wondered why Damien would make him the leader from his impression Damien would want to rule the Clan with an iron fist.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Don''t think too hard on it, your much smarter than me so you being the leader makes sense also I have just as much authority as you do and if I die whilst fighting the Clan will be unaffected." Damien didn''t care for the leaders position, he wasn''t much of an out spoken person before coming to Death Fantasy so being a leader of lots of people wasn''t his idea of fun.


    "What do you mean if you die there will be no consequences does that mean there are ones if Silas dies?" Rose questioned what Damien meant when he talked about death consequences.


    "Oh you haven''t seen, there are clan rules look here I''ll show you." Damien opened the Clan window and showed it to the others.


    Clan Rules


    1. Clan Members cannot kill each other unless a duel is initiated


    2. In a clan the members cannot have too many of the same role, excluding the White and Black monarch each role must be distributed according to these fractions


    - 3/14 Knights


    - 3/14 Berserkers


    - 3/14 Bishops


    - 5 /14 Infantry


    3. When a White Monarch is killed the killer may choose to either


    - Become the new White Monarch of that clan


    - Inherit 50% of each members Power level


    - Force the murdered White Monarchs clan members to join the killers clan


    4. In a clan the White and Black Monarch, Knights, Berserkers and Bishops have authority over all Infantry and can give absolute orders which must be followed or you will be removed from the clan


    5. An absolute order must be possible to complete otherwise Rule 4 doesn¡¯t apply


    6. If you are anything above Infantry you do not have to obey Absolute Orders given and if your White Monarch is killed and the killer chooses the force join option you may choose to join the killers clan or not where as Infantry don''t have a choice


    "So we lose half our power levels if Silas dies? And we can give Absolute Orders to Infantry members. These are some harsh rules." Roxanne was glad she hadn''t been chosen to become an infantry after all if you became one your life would become hell from her point of view.


    "The rules could be seen as harsh but they are there to maintain order in the hierarchy. These rules actually offer us a big chance to expand our power by killing other clans." Silas voiced his reasoning and Damien was excited to hear that battles with clans would give a huge bonus to him.


    "Well let''s split up and search for a headquarters as the Echo has phrased it. Remember to search for food, water and things necessary to survive, we can store them in this storage the Echo has. This place is truly becoming more and more of a Fantasy Land." Silas thought it would be best if they headed out as soon as possible considering that night time would start approaching slowly.


    "All right for the groups how about Me and Nina to supplement her lack of fighting ability, Brutus and Silas to keep our Leader safe, leaving Rose and Roxanne to team up. Send a message if you find a suitable place." Damien suggested these groups and although it looked like Brutus would rather go with Roxanne he eventually agreed and everyone set out in different directions.


    Among debris from countless buildings and bones two people walked side by side not uttering a word for an hour, slowly pushing through the fantasy landscape. They were Damien and Nina and the quiet surroundings was only supplemented by their silence.


    "So tell me about your self Nina, walking in silence is a bit awkward." After an hour of deathly stillness Damien tried to strike up a conversation with the shy and afraid Nina.


    "I.. I lived in L.A, my best friends were Seth and Oliver, we knew each other since kindergarten. I don''t want to believe one is gone and the other abandoned me, it hurts too much, am I that unwanted if so then shouldn''t I just die?" Nina finally spoke but it acted as a trigger that unleashed all her emotions feeling like she would drown in her tears.


    "You are not unwanted, I helped you because I see your potential, your strength you have yet to unleash. Oliver thought you were weak and decided you weren''t worth his time. But let me tell you that he is the weak one, he left Seth to die and abandoned you to your fate. The only way to face him if we find him is by becoming the strongest person you can." Damien tried his hardest to cheer Nina up he turned Oliver into a motivation she could use to become stronger.


    "I know I have to become stronger, I need to live for the sake of Seth I know that''s what he would want." Nina resolved herself to become more powerful so she wouldn''t feel worthless anymore.


    So after that brief interlude the pair continued searching, looting houses of anything they had and looking out for safe places to stay, but they found themselves at the end of the Chaotic City and into a different more stranger enviroment.

 Chapter 7: The Devil Descends

    Damien and Nina stood before what looked like the previous city but covered in sand with the buildings all intertwining to make a city of ruins.


    "That group of pussies was so easy to deal with and one of them even had the ability to create force fields Hahaha" A cacophony of laughter reverberated throughout the ruins.


    "Shit there are other survivors, Nina use shadow cloak and follow me from a distance, this could be dangerous." Damien told Nina to hide whilst he checked out the situation.


    "Maybe we can talk to them I''m sure they aren''t killer''s like that robot." Nina showed her innocence and lack of experience in this world.


    "Nina they were just boasting how they just killed and stole from another group, everyone is a killer in this world. Now please hide so you don''t get hurt." Damien Commanded Nina this time as if she had no other choice before quick dashing towards the group.


    "Running into a group of clueless students honestly is massive luck, tricking them into thinking we were friendly was so easy but who thought new arrivals would show up today it''s already been 5 days since we first came here." A young male with a katana on his shoulder was conversing with two other young men one with a Kevlar vest on and another with a suppressed pistol on his waist. They were all in the centre of what looked to be a petrol station without it''s roof.


    So we aren''t the first people to come here, it seems a large amount of people arrived today and the same thing happened 5 days ago. These guys don''t seem very strong considering how long they have been here. They all have a single ability and item but how powerful those abilities are could be the deciding factor. Fuck it I''m here to battle and have fun may as well attack hehe.


    "Hello Boys." With that Damien came out from behind a rock summoning an Uzi into each hand and several 10''s of blades surrounding the three guys, they were each as big as a great sword and were laying flat in the sand to act as secret weapons. He also activated Obsidian Skin turning his skin black and rock hard whilst creating a tornado of chains that encased himself and the group.


    "What the fuck, why has he got so many abilities. Shit Shit Shit, hey Hugo use your bone spikes" The guy with the katana started to panic when he saw all of Damien¡¯s abilities being applied at once shouting at the man with the pistol.


    "Hey now we don''t need to fight do we, we are all humans trying to survive in this unknown land so how about relaxing huh?" The silenced pistol guy Hugo didn''t want to fight against Damien with all these abilities in play.


    "Haha your right surviving in this place is what I''m trying to do and I''m sure you know the only way to do that is to kill." Damien wasn''t an idiot he heard the conversation before and could tell that Hugo guy was preparing an attack himself.


    Damien stopped wasting time and started to unload a barrage of bullets onto the group. The Kevlar Vest man created some translucent purple bubble around himself, whilst the silenced pistol guy called forth large spikes made of bones to block the bullets. The last member, the katana wielder panicked and activated his ability which covered the petrol station in a hazy black smoke, Damien had only tested fear manipulation on him and had already turned him into a terror stricken mess.


    "You idiot we can''t see either now and those chains have us trapped."


    "You fucking fool you have doomed us to Death, know if I survive I will chop you into little pieces."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Both Kevlar and Silenced Pistol started shouting out their grievances as they felt their situation to be helpless.


    Damien was thankful that the smokescreen idiot obscured everyone¡¯s vision, because now he could use his blades and chains to slowly encase them until they were nothing left but a bloody mess.


    While the chain tornado slowly closed in Damien quick dashed forward towards the pistol guy. What met Damien was a large spike coming straight for his heart, lucky it ended up only scratching his shoulder because of the speed Damien was travelling at, however Damien realised this group wasn''t so useless. Damien called forth four of his hidden blades and encircled the bone spike user. In response the bone spike user Hugo wrapped himself in bone spikes however, Damien¡¯s true target was the barely visible force field user, with the only useful attacker being unable to move because of blade bombardment, Damien could attack the force field user.


    "I can''t move from here, run away brother you will die if he attacks you, fucking run." That Hugo guy was holding up well against the blade bombardment however he was shouting and screaming for his brother to escape.


    Damien didn''t care about that Hugo and just made sure he was busy with the blades and advanced at high speeds to the Force Field User. Arriving in front of the man encased in a force field Damien lightly smiled with killing intent flashing in his eyes.


    "This ability has a Power Level of 14, it''s unbreakable even if you used your little guns there. Brother I''ll be perfectly safe in here." The force field user boasted and was completely confident in his ability.


    "You have been here for 5 days and seem still so inexperienced, are you all just idiots also where are your Echo Devices you get at the end of your first death game?" Damien wasn''t in a hurry to kill them after all he had each member under control, the Pistol user had to stay on defence against blades, The force field user wouldn''t move out his protective bubble and the katana wielder was currently trying to break through the chain encirclement.


    "Please I''ll answer anything, we don¡¯t know what an Echo is. The Death Game we were in was in some park and ended after us three met up so we just ran out the park and after a few days we found a small group who we joined and killed while they slept." The force field user spilled all the information Damien asked for.


    "What why did I tell you all that, what do you do to me?" The force field user seemed baffled by the fact he said all that.


    My Fear manipulation ability is useful this way, by increasing some one''s fear they feel the only way to get rid of it is by submitting to others, I honestly didn''t think it would work.


    "Alright it''s been fun talking but you can die now!" Damien manipulated all his hidden blades totalling 42, Damien¡¯s current limit, and made them all stab the Bone Spike users defences like a pin cushion. Whilst he did that he coated his hands in molten fire using Molten Enhancement and started tearing open the force field users bubble.


    ''chhink'' ''chhink'' ''chhink'' ''chhink'' ''chhink''


    Blade after blade stabbed and cut at the bone users spikes, he felt he could probably hold out for awhile so he looked over to his brother to see how he was doing but what he saw made him completely blank, tears of blood dripped down his face.


    "You are the Devil."


    Those were the bone spike users last words because without his attention his spikes were broken through resulting in Damien¡¯s blades turning the him into mince meat.


    What caused the Bone Spike user to break from reality was the image of Damien standing behind the Force field user, his brother, with molten chains melting his neck away.


    This result came from Damien burning the force field away, bewildering the Force field user and giving Damien the chance to wrap his chains around his neck. With the Force field user struggling to breath Damien ignited his chains with molten heat slowly burning the man''s neck in and therefore beheading him.


    The Black smoke finally started to dissipate and what was left was a ruined petrol station with several bone spikes sprouting from the ground, two dead bodies, a massive chain perimeter and a frightened man trying to break the chains with his katana and Damien watching on with amusement.


    "I''ve killed your friends, you are all alone you left them to die, then again with your gifts I doubt you would have helped much." Damien did his usual taunting before the kill.


    "Nina you don''t need to hide anymore come here!" Damien shouted out for Nina, he felt she would be safe even If one enemy still remained.


    Following Damien¡¯s shout Nina appeared from behind the gas station with her tempest sword in hand, with a fearful look on her face.

 Chapter 8: Alert!

    Nina approached Damien slowly with her usual fearful expression. "I''m sorry I didn''t help, I was going to fight but then I got so scared that I couldn''t bring myself to hurt them." Nina sounded disappointed that she couldn''t help and sad that she felt she had to.


    "It''s alright they were easy to deal with, three guys only gave me a flesh wound ha ha ha. Nina I know it''s hard but for you to become stronger you need to be able to fight and kill for yourself." Damien finally decided to try and remove Nina¡¯s weakness. He took her hand and walked her over to the last struggling survivor.


    "Damien I don''t think I can do it, it''s wrong to kill others, I''m sorry I''m just too weak." Nina couldn''t bring herself to kill someone, she couldn''t see that if she didn''t change she would probably end up dead.


    "This is why Oliver left you and Seth chose death, they knew you wouldn''t be able to adapt in this world, they knew you couldn''t remove your weakness and become stronger. Silas, Rose, Roxanne and Brutus are already thinking of leaving you behind. Don''t you want to prove them wrong?." Damien had the mind-set that being merciful would only eventually get you killed and it was a weakness through and through, therefore he believed being harsh to Nina was the only way to make her stronger.


    "Little girl he is poisoning your mind don''t you see he''s just going to abandon you once your used up." The straggler thought he might have a chance to escape if he turned the girl onto Damien.


    ''Slzztt''


    The straggler looked on in utter terror as he felt blood gushing from his neck, blood splattered everywhere, making him choke on his blood whilst bleeding out. Blood dripped from a blade, a blade of Wind that was in the hands of a small girl who had tears streaming down her face.


    "You won''t leave me behind will you Damien? I''ll do whatever you say just don''t leave me like everyone else has." Nina once again cried her heart out, except this time Damien embraced her and gave her comfort.


    "You have gotten rid of your weakness, you can accompany me as long as you wish, I understand you do not like killing so you don''t have to do it unless I say okay?" Damien showed his compassionate side, he had been hiding this side of him for awhile and thought he wouldn''t need to show it ever again.


    "You promise you won''t leave me, I can''t be abandoned again, my life would be empty knowing everyone just leaves me behind." Nina wasn''t convinced she had started to think everyone hated her and thought she was weak.


    "I told you as long as you wish to you can follow me, I won''t leave you behind like those before me. Your strong now, remember that. Speaking of strength if you want more take this guys ability and the Kevlar Vest guys ability as well." After the fight had finished and Damien had convinced Nina to remove her weakness, The duo looted the three corpses with Damien taking the Bone Spike Gift and storing the Katana and Kevlar Vest. Damien felt like he had out lived that fatty''s shirt so put on the Kevlar Vest. It was slim for a Kevlar Vest looking like a slightly more bulky black tank top. Whereas Nina picked up the Force Field, Smokescreen and Suppressed Pistol Gifts.


    So I currently have 10 gifts excluding the Kevlar Vest and the Katana in my storage. Maybe I should try out the combination option on the Echo.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ''What Abilities would you like to Combine?''


    ?Blade Creation


    ?Gun Summon


    ?Molten Enhancement


    ?Chains


    ?Fear Manipulation


    ?Bone Spikes


    ?Obsidian Skin


    ?Enhanced Body


    ?Healing Needles


    ?Quick Dash


    Alright let''s try something small, Healing Needles and Enhanced body Combine.


    The Tattoos of the needles and Body on Damien¡¯s arm moved into the Echo Device and combined together and then the empty space on Damien¡¯s arm was filled by a Tattoo of a Body with a golden Aura around it. On the Echo¡¯s screen a message was displayed ''Healing Needles and Enhanced Body successfully combined to create Regeneration''


    Oh so it actually worked? Two level 4 abilities combined to make a level 10 ability, wow I''m gonna do some more of this.


    After Several Combinations Damien had remodelled all his skills giving him new types of abilities.


    Damien¡¯s Gifts


    ?Armament Creation(Blade Creation + Gun Summon) - Create, share the senses and manipulate any form of weapon. Attack Gift with a Power of 18


    ?Obsidian Bone Armour(Obsidian Skin + Bone Spikes) - A full body armour made of a mixture of Obsidian and Bone. Armour has better Mobility than Skin Changing abilities. Defence Gift with a Power of 11


    ?Regeneration(Healing Needles + Enhanced Body) - Allows user to reach peak human form and to restore damage all over the users and a targets body in a small amount of time. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Molten Enhancement - Attack - 10 Power


    ?Chains - Attack - 9 Power


    ?Fear Manipulation - Misc - 7 Power


    ?Quick dash - Misc - 4 Power


    Power level : 69


    Damien¡¯s entire right arm was now covered in tattoos. The larger the power the tattoo had the bigger it was therefore, his upper arm was predominantly his Armament tattoo being a mixture of different guns, swords, blunt melee weapons, bombs and generally just weapons from across earths history. The back of his upper arm and forearm was the rest of his abilities taking less and less space the further down his arm they were.


    Alright it looks like I''m pretty powerful now, even more so than before. I should advise the others to Combine their gifts when they have more. Damien told Nina to do it with her abilities as well, remodelling her skill set just like Damien¡¯s.


    Nina¡¯s Gifts


    ?Armoured Shadow Veil(Shadow Cloak + Amethyst Coat) - Shrouds the user in a strong and tough shadow veil turning them into an armoured shadow. Defence Gift with a Power of 14


    ?Force Field Creation - Creates a translucent purple force field, can be formed around objects or made into a wall. Defence Gift with a Power of 14


    ?Tempest Sword - Attack - 9 Power


    ? Smokescreen - Disperse a black smoke around user. Misc Gift with a Power of 7


    ?Silenced Pistol - A suppressed pistol that has infinite ammo. Attack Gift with a Power of 6


    Power level : 50


    "It''s nice to see you becoming stronger, with your current gifts supporting me and the others and performing sneak attacks would seem to be the best job for you, what do you think?" Damien questioned Nina.


    "If you think striking from the shadows, protecting you and providing cover as well is what I would be most helpful doing then I''ll gladly accept the job." Nina had truly placed all her hopes on Damien, starting to completely rely on him.


    "Of course, you will be brilliant as a support member you silly girl." Damien felt his relationship with Nina was like the one he had with his brother on earth. Damien would protect his little brother no matter what and do anything to make sure he would live a happy life. That feeling to protect was starting to appear between him and Nina.


    Damien decided that it would be better to head back in the direction they came from as this city of ruins in the desert wouldn''t be a great place to set up a base.


    After making their way back to the city Damien and Nina¡¯s Echo¡¯s started acting up.


    ''Alert!'' ''Alert!'' ''Alert!''


    "Whys the Echo freaking out what''s going on?" Nina and Damien¡¯s Echo¡¯s were blinking with a red light and an Alert! message. When Damien looked at the message he displayed a disappointed expression however, Nina started crying and held Damien crying out "Why are people dying around me like this!"

 Chapter 9: Gravity Jumper

    Nina had a stromg reactiom to the alert message so Damien held Nina tight giving her a feeling of security and while doing that he read the message again "Laughing Devils'' Roxanne has been Killed by Red Claws ''Gravity Jumper''." From this message it was clear that a member, from a guild or clan called Red Claw, known as Gravity Jumper had killed Roxanne.


    In a more rural area next to the city, 10 minutes before The Alert was sent out Rose and Roxanne were searching through buildings to find food and water. After walking down the street for a bit Roxanne started talking to Rose.


    "Rose what do you think of Silas and Damien do you think they have our best interests at heart?" Roxanne didn''t seem too sure about Silas and Damien maybe because she was older than them or because she witnessed them mercilessly leaving behind a man and killing others.


    "I can tell they aren''t good people, Damien doesn''t have 9 gifts for nothing, he also looks like he enjoys fighting. On the other hand Silas seems like he is only looking out for himself, prepared to do anything to survive. Even knowing that, I can see their strength is much greater than what me and you could achieve. No matter how many gifts you have your true nature is what keeps you alive in this place." Rose was aware that Damien and Silas were killer''s but she saw that as an opportunity to survive.


    "You can put your life in the hands of murderers?" Roxanne was getting more convinced that teaming up with Damien and Silas was a bad idea.


    "It''s because they can kill without mercy that I put my life in their hands, I''m a murderer too you know. Damien could have killed me, you, Brutus and Nina without batting an eye whilst we were all unconscious but he didn''t which means he needs allies just as we do." Rose became emotional after remembering her killing the winged man.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t mean to upset or blame you, it''s just I feel uneasy whenever Damien looks at me, it''s like he is looking at a corpse." Roxanne also felt emotional because she now had to fear for her life 24/7.


    "This Damien sounds interesting, perhaps there''s a place for him at Red Claw. He was right by the way you will soon be a corpse" A middle aged man suddenly appeared behind the two girls with a crash, shattering the road beneath his feet.


    "Who are you? What do you want?" The girls questioned the middle aged man''s motive.


    "I''m on Power Collection Duty, meaning I''ll be taking your gifts with me today." The Middle aged man had odd looking legs resembling a robots with gears and pumps working on them. He also covered him self in a green armour before leaping extremely quickly towards Roxanne. The girls had also activated their gifts with Rose creating two ruby swords, spreading her bladed wings and turning her skin into jade. Whereas Roxanne wore a layer of Topaz and was ready to send out her laser slashes.


    What the girls didn''t for see was that the man would be extremely quick, smacking into Roxanne almost instantly after leaping. Which was followed up by a swift high kick to Roses shoulder which sent her spiralling several feet away. The man then started to continuously stamp on Roxanne¡¯s chest area slowly breaking away at the topaz layer.


    "Watch your back dickhead." Although Rose was knocked down and had injured her shoulder she fought on and used her wings to fly over. Ruby sword in hand she swung for the man''s face as she believed her ruby weapon could break through his green gem armour. But by the time her sword was swung the man had already pushed himself back at a terrifying speed.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Rose helped up Roxanne who seemed to be okay externally, however she had probably suffered some internal injuries, nothing she couldn''t handle during this life or death fight though.


    "That Guy is very fast, it probably has to do with those machinery legs of his, we need to make sure he loses his advantage of mobility." Roxanne suggested boxing in the man to reduce his mobility.


    Roxanne and Rose each used their attack abilities to try and force the man into a corner however, no matter what they tried he would land a few light attacks before retreating. In this 2 vs 1 fight the man used hit and run tactics to slowly take down the girls.


    The Guy suddenly pounced off a wall and floated in the air for a brief time before slamming to the floor next to Rose but she didn''t fall back instead she used her bladed wings and ruby swords to cut away at his armour.


    "He looks to have an ability to change his weight making him faster or extremely heavy at anytime, we have to draw him in close to use that attack again." Rose started to understand the enemy''s abilities and thought of a plan.


    Hearing what Rose had to say Roxanne ran forwards towards the enemy sending forth laser slash after laser slash, meanwhile Rose threw several ruby spears and flew upwards to gain the high ground. Yet to Roses confusion, Roxanne continued pushing forward so Rose dived down to assist her on this suicidal charge.


    The man used this opportunity to advance forward through his strengthened jump, Roxanne saw this and knew they would collide head on, moving all the topaz around her body to focus on her arms.


    ''Scadoosh''


    A loud bang was created when the two met luckily Roxanne had managed to grab the guy, holding him in a bear hug. Seeing this Rose sped up her dive and slammed her sword straight through the man''s neck breaking through his armour and killing him where he stood.


    "We did it, we killed him! Rose why aren''t you celebrating?" Roxanne questioned Roses lack of emotion, looking at her deathly still visage focused on Roxanne¡¯s chest.


    Looking down Roxanne realised why Rose couldn''t celebrate, it was because the man they just killed had punched a hole right through Roxanne¡¯s chest.


    "The plan went a little too well huh. Look after Brutus for me Rosy" Roxanne left those final words before collapsing to the ground.


    Rose stood there in complete silence with the only noise sounding from her Echo giving her constant Alerts and only after letting loose some tears did she finally come back to herself.


    "We defeated the enemy together, you did not deserve to die when we were the winners, why did you have to die!" Rose thought she was clear headed but suddenly couldn''t handle the emotions of fear and sadness in her body and like Nina let them all loose.


    Only allowing herself a brief time to mourn she got up and collected Roxanne and the other guys gifts, sending a message out to the others to come to her current location.


    Roses Gifts


    ?Machine Legs - Turns the users legs into powerful machines with high resistance and being capable of high speed. Misc Gift with a Power of 13


    ?Gravity Manipulation(Self) - Control how much gravity affects the user. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Ruby Weapons - Attack - 9 Power


    ?Laser Slash - Attack - 9 Power


    ?Blade wings - Misc - 7 Power


    ?Jade Skin - Defence - 5 Power


    ?Emerald Armour - A full body armour made of Emerald. Defence Gift with a Power of 5


    ?Topaz Layer - Defence - 5 Power


    Damien and Nina were currently making their way to Rose after getting her message.


    At least Rose managed to survive, they must have faced a pretty powerful person to face two attacking based people like that. Well I knew Roxanne¡¯s days were numbered but I didn''t expect her to die on the first day. Shit now Brutus might leave, I don''t really know what relationship they could have had within a few hours but he seemed dependent on her.


    After walking for about an hour Damien and Nina finally arrived at the rural area where Rose was at, when they saw Rose they also saw the wide spread destruction the battle had caused. Buildings were crumbling to pieces, there were large slash marks all over the ground with some of the floor being shattered as well as different coloured gem stones scattered across the ground.

 Chapter 10: Red Claw

    With Damien and Nina now standing next to Roae they could see her distraught appearance.


    "Damien, Nina I''m so sorry I couldn''t protect her. I should''ve been quicker then she may not have died." Rose started to blame herself for Roxannes death.


    "It''s not your fault, I can see you both fought a hard battle, she died so you could live. So if you blame yourself aren''t you giving Roxanne no credit for her sacrifice for you." Damien didn''t really know the situation, for all he knew Roxanne wanted to live the most out of everyone present and wouldn''t sacrifice herself for a stranger.


    Rose didn''t agree nor deny she just sat still waiting for the others. Damien went to examine the Middle aged man whilst Nina attempted to comfort Rose.


    Rose has taken all his abilities so why has he got a tattoo of a red claw on his arm? Wait didn''t it say Red Claws Gravity Jumper killed Roxanne, so their clan marks their members. After examining the man Damien sat down like the other two and waited for Brutus and Silas.


    A few minutes later two figures appeared up the road, one being Silas, the other naturally being Brutus. They each had some damage inflicted with Brutus having almost melted shoulders and Silas looking like he had several broken bones.


    "What the fuck happened to you guys?" When Damien saw this he walked over to them and used regeneration to heal them up to be able to at least move better.


    "We fought with a teleporter with flaming fists, who turned out to have a friend that could clone himself and send sonic booms. After a long drawn out battle I managed to find the Original among the clones and cut his head off with my thunder discs. Whilst Brutus used his ground surf to catch up to the teleporter and rip him in half, being fuelled by the fact Roxanne died I''m not surprised he tore that teleporter into pieces." Silas gave a summary of the fight that he and Brutus were involved in.


    Damien gave a summary of what happened to Roxanne which he found out through Rose. Brutus had already left to look at Roxanne¡¯s corpse, when he saw her he kneeled down and started speaking line after line of Japanese before he got up and faced everyone "Roxy told me protect, so I am doing protect." Brutus spoke his first English words to the group, which they guessed meant he planned to stay and protect them.


    The group then proceeded to bury Roxanne, with Rose saying a few words. Damien didn''t much care for funerals, he had always felt his only fear was losing a loved one and yet even when that happened he felt empty. Yet now in this land he felt excitement and fear intertwining to create an emotion of joy.


    Damien thinking of the future decided to tell the group to combine their gifts, to become stronger and not allow an incident like Roxanne¡¯s to happen again, and although some power could be lost the gift created itself would be much stronger.


    So one by one they used the combination option on the echo to recreate their gifts.


    Silas'' Gifts


    ?Sonic Discs(Sonic Boom & Blade Discs) - Create and control Sharp Sonic waves. Attack Gift with a Power of 12


    ?Genius Intelligence - Misc - Power 10


    ?Electricity Enhancement - Misc - Power 10


    ?Clones - Create up to 5 copies of the user. Misc Gift with a Power of 7


    ?Silver skin - Defence - Power 5


    Power level : 44


    Roses Gifts


    ?Gemstone Body(Jade Skin & Topaz Layer & Emerald Armour) - The combination of several gems to change the users body into an almost impenetrable Gemstone form. Defence Gift with a Power of 14


    ?Machine Legs - Misc - 13 Power


    ?Laser Weapons(Ruby weapons & Laser Slash) - Create and manipulate melee weapons formed from Laser, safe in hands of user but deadly to others. Attack Gift with a Power of 12


    ?Gravity Manipulation - Misc - 10 Power


    ?Blade wings - Misc - 7 Power


    Power level : 56


    Brutus'' Gifts


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.?Earthen Avatar(Rock body & Steel Armour & Iron Organs) - Become a Earth Elemental, turning the users body into pure earthen metal and rock, giving them the complete control over the element of earth. Defence Gift with a Power of 17


    ?Short Range Teleportation - Teleport user and up to 5 targets across a distance of 200 meters, instantly. Misc Gift with a Power of 10


    ?Ground surf - Misc - 10 Power


    ?Magma Arms - Cover users arms in flaming magma. Attack Gift with a Power of 9


    Power level : 46


    "So you guys must be the Laughing Devils huh?" A women''s voice called out to Damien¡¯s group, alerting them instantly with everyone preparing their defence ability.


    "No need to be so alert I just want to talk, honestly I didn''t think there would be anything here except Baz¡¯s body." A Tall Slim Women wearing a mix between an Army and Prisoner outfit with Tattoos covering both her arms approached the group. Behind her was some one in Medieval Knight Armour and a Middle Easterner with several swords holstered on his waist.


    "Can we help you?" Damien stood in front of the group and questioned the new arrivals.


    "Oh my, I guessed you were new arrivals considering I had never heard of your group, but to have such a vast and strong range of abilities on the first day must make you quite the powerful person hmm." The Lady eyed up Damien¡¯s sleeveless arm covered in tattoos.


    "Thank you for the complement but could you answer my question?" Damien didn''t want to back down even though he knew for certain that this women was extremely powerful, having at least double the amount of abilities he had.


    "So impatient young man, we haven''t even introduced ourselves yet. I am the Leader of the Red Claw Guild Elizabeth and these are my Commanders Arthur and Saladin. May I know your Names or Titles?" Elizabeth was a strong willed women and once again delayed Damien¡¯s question.


    "I am Damien, the rest of our names are not what you really want so please tell me what that is." Damien was getting rather agitated but remained calm on the surface trying to find out what this women wanted.


    "Well Damien I plan to collect one of my Members¡¯ Corpse and while I''m at it offer an invitation to you and your group to join my guild, we currently have over 40 members, a few more would be welcome." Damien saw Elizabeth''s invitation as a threat more ''join or my 40+ members will come crush you beneath their feet'' than her kind invitation.


    "I''ll have to think on it but thank you for the offer, Silas bring that man''s body over. But I do wonder why the Leader of a Guild would bother coming all this way for a simple soldier." Damien decided to question Elizabeth, honestly he wasn''t that afraid for his safety at most he would have to flee and all his members had abilities to flee as well so poking the hornets nest was something he did for fun.


    "Antagonizing her isn''t very smart Damien she has several times more abilities than us." Silas arrived next to Damien and threw the Mans corpse over to Elizabeth.


    "Baz the man you killed showed great potential to become a commander so I thought I owed him this." Elizabeth said that but Damien and Silas both could tell she was lying and keeping something hidden. "For him to die to your powerful group was only natural, no hard feelings."


    "Oh only Rose was here and killed him alone, pfft perhaps you could say he now died an unnatural death." Damien joked almost forgetting who he was facing, then again he didn''t fear her so why shouldn''t he act his usual self.


    "Perhaps you should listen to your friends warning, I can get really bloodthirsty when I''m angry." Elizabeth showed that she hadn''t faced this kind of behaviour for awhile, like being on top had turned everyone she saw into sheep that cowered to her.


    "Lets fight at a later date kay? Well it''s been real nice meeting you Lizzy but we should really get going" Before Elizabeth even responded Damien turned around with Silas and started to walk off.


    ''Slzzting''


    A powerful shockwave was suddenly sent towards Damien and Silas but before it even hit Silas simply flipped his hand sending out a large sonic boom that instantly cancelled out the shockwave.


    "Weak." Silas easily dealt with the attack and thought the attacker was truly weak to send such a flimsy shockwave out.


    "Sorry we couldn''t stay longer but it''s almost dinner time and we are quite hungry right now, we''ll make sure to think on your offer." Damien taunted them one last time before Brutus teleported the group away.


    "What a cocky son of a bitch, why didn''t we just kill them when we first arrived Ma''am?" The Armoured Knight Arthur was the one who sent the shockwave attack and was questioning their peaceful approach.


    "That Boy had a Power Level 18 ability and many more gifts after a single day in this land. Either he is extremely lucky or he knows how to fight and kill. So when facing someone who can cultivate power so quickly wouldn''t it be better to let him cultivate that power abit longer making it into the perfect harvest? Anyway wasn''t your attack completely diminished by that Arrogant Kid? Moreover Baz was the fastest member of our guild yet he was dealt with by a little girl. Their group was in no way weak however, if they think they can take on Red Claw they have another thing coming." The Red Claw members then slowly disappeared into a thick fog leaving no traces of ever beimg there in the first place.

 Chapter 11: Headquarters

    Roughly a few miles away from where Roxanne was buried, Damien and the group were sitting down looking around alertly.


    "It seems our abilities have limits, although I have never really tried to go past what I felt was right when using my abilities it can be seen that going over the threshold really affects you." Damien said this while looking at Brutus who was sweating and panting heavily, after using short range teleport multiple times he was fatigued very quickly.


    "There are other strong survivors why don''t we join up with them, we have no clue as to what danger we will have to face in the future surely the more man power the better. Don''t you think Nina?" Rose spoke her mind possibly influenced by Roxanne¡¯s words and considered Elizabeth¡¯s recruitment hoping Nina would support her idea.


    "I''ll follow Damien¡¯s choice." Nina like a loyal dog stuck to Damien.


    "Rose did you forget that their group essentially killed Roxanne and you want to join them? I would suggest going to the fire station me and Brutus found when we were searching." Silas didn''t trust Elizabeth one bit, the chance of being slaughtered in their sleep for their abilities was very high. Silas also put forward a counter plan to set up a base in a fire station.


    "We should move to the fire station promptly, the dark is slowly approaching and in uncharted land the night time can be especially ferocious. If you want to join Red Claw I won''t stop you but know we will be enemies." Damien was certain Nina would follow him and Silas would stick to his plan. Damien thought Brutus could go either way but considering Roxanne was killed by that group he was most likely going to stay. Rose seemed undecided and Damien was really talking to her when he said anyone could leave.


    ''If she does decide to leave I''ll give her a 2 minute head start in consideration of our current partnership, after that I will cut her down and take her precious abilities, it wouldn''t be that much of a loss if she died really.'' Damien started scheming in his head in case anyone was to leave for Red Claw, he didn''t really have much of an attachment to these people excluding Nina who he felt oddly protective of.


    "Stay." Brutus showed where he stood and then went back to resting after, he really was in a miserable state of fatigue.


    "I''ll stay I don''t want to go off alone." Rose made her decision almost sensing Damien¡¯s intent and unwilling to go off on her own.


    After that brief interlude the group ventured to the fire station always prepared to start a fight after all they had no clue how many people inhabited this land.


    "What''s the specifics of your clone ability?" Damien walked alongside Silas inquiring him about his cloning abilities limits.


    "I can create 5 exact clones of myself and command them like you would a body part, I lose my connection to them if they are over 200m away. After connection is lost they essentially turn into mannequins." Silas described his clones capabilities and wondered why Damien was asking.


    "Shame I was hoping you could manipulate one to infiltrate the Red Claw Guild, being able to keep eyes on them would be a great benefit." Damien shook his head knowing that his plan couldn''t be achieved.


    "Well that isn''t out the question I''m sure if I combined my clone ability with some other ability I could achieve that result." Silas seemed to have pondered on the thought of infiltrating Red Claw as well.


    The group continued on and just as the sun was setting they arrived at a rather large fire station that was still standing steadily among many other ruined buildings that effectively made a wall surrounding it, excluding a single exit door for the fire trucks.


    The group Slowly closed in on the entrance to the fire station. Damien instructed Brutus to go forward and open the door, utilising his strength in his Earthen Avatar form Brutus lifted the Garage Door with ease.


    The interior of the Station was gloomy and dark yet there was a light on in what seemed to be the staff room, the group became wary but what greeted them was a corpse still fresh having died at least two days ago. The staff room was relatively big with several couches and a few cupboards, in the centre upon a coffee table an electric lamp was lit. The corpse in the corner of the room was a man who had some odd looking glasses on with a Large chunk of his leg missing.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "It seems he was attacked by someone or something and managed to get in here before bleeding out." Silas analysed the body picking up the Slivery Black glasses and putting them on.


    "Wow this is a pretty good item, it seems it can analyse items and tattoos which give a brief description of their use." Silas was pleasantly surprised by what he found, they turned out to be ability analysing glasses.


    "Those could be very useful if we encounter people in the future, Silas keep them safe. Brutus could you teleport this corpse out of here please. The smell will linger for a bit but we should be able to make this staff room into a suitable place to sleep." Damien instructed the group to start tidying the room to make it at least a place for the group to rest.


    An hour later the staff room resembled a bunk house of sorts each couch was turned into a bed for each member and allowed the group to relax and get some much needed sleep. After a torturous first day in the Fantasy Death Land the group all felt drained and lingering fear still remained but the milestone of surviving the first day was definitely an arduous one.


    ''We''ve got through the first day with only a single casualty, that''s pretty good considering how weak we all were not even 6 hours ago. The mood is dense and gloomy which is only natural but I can''t help thinking we have had a good start, the people I killed with Nina earlier had been here for 5 days and yet they had 2 gifts each, which means it may get easier to hunt for gifts from this headquarters much like Red Claw. Thinking of Red Claw I am still unsure whether they are hostile or not, without a doubt they are the enemy but if they act I doubt we will stand a chance. Maybe I should bolster the Clan with some cannon fodder to ensure my safety?'' Damien was in deep contemplation whilst laying down, images of the battle royale in the hotel was flashing through his head making him think how he could''ve gotten more allies or abilities.


    ''I wish I got the fire users ability, oh well I have molten enhancement so it''s not that big of a loss, if I was to guess I would say he carried Oliver away either out of the hotel or further up, the shield user is probably with them as well then again I''m not certain. Ah what do I care about those weak idiots, if I see Oliver again I''ll just kill him perhaps I''ve changed him and may become useful to me.''


    Damien was pretty accurate in his guess because at that moment in time three figures were sat in hotel staring at the aftermath of a battle. A man covered in tattoos from neck to foot, a slim boy with a pale complexion and an Old man looking ready to puke at any time.


    "What that robot did was beyond what any human could manage, he actually slaughtered everything in its wake with zero emotion. At least you had that potion Oliver otherwise you would be one arm short." The Yakuza spoke to the slim boy who actually turned out to be Oliver.


    "Mr. Homura half the people here were killed by each other, I still can''t handle the guilt from what I did to that old lady over there, I was thinking about my grandchildren and then.." The old man started crying whilst falling to his knees praying for forgiveness.


    "Vince you may have injured her but you did not kill her, a dagger was stabbed through her brain. Moreover Mr Homura I''m afraid you are wrong it was not the robot that caused this massacre but a single person, I can only describe him as a Psychopathic Demon." Oliver looked at his arm relieved that his potion item was a healing potion that restored his body completely, when he was dragged away by Mr Homura he could only drink it hoping he would live, luckily his arm was restored along with his health returning to normal.


    "Do you mean the one that killed the robot? It could be seen that he just wanted to live and he even got rid of the enemy letting us live longer." Old man Vince spoke up, he saw from the stairwell that Damien killed the robot however he was still scared so he retreated upstairs encountering the slowly healing Oliver and the fatigued Homura.


    "He didn''t just want to live, he wanted everyone around him to die as well just for some more power, one of my friends was killed and the other taken and perhaps killed as well because of him, there could¡¯ve been no casualties if we just worked together." Oliver felt extreme melancholy sweep over him losing his two closest friends.


    "We can''t worry about others now, what we need is to find somewhere safe and participate in the Death Games the robotic voice talked about otherwise we will all die in a few days. I have a level 9 gift with my fire, Vince has a level 8 gift with his shield and you Oliver have the least amount of time with your level 4 healing potion. I think you should take that guys gauntlet then you will at least have 3 more days." Mr Homura suggested that Oliver take the dead gauntlet users gauntlet, he clearly died from blood loss not too long ago.


    Oliver collected the gauntlet and then the trio set off from the building each grabbing an Echo Device before embarking into the Deadly Wonderland that was their new reality.

 Chapter 12: Abyssal Creature

    A mysterious bright night sky enveloped the desolate landscape that was the Fantasy Death Land, a combination of light and darkness combined to create a horizon of contradictory mystery. Looking upon the midnight sky Damien was busy testing his abilities on the roof of their new headquarters, he couldn''t sleep so found his way up here. Sat in a lounge chair he created all sorts of weapons he could imagine, so it was more of a test of his imagination than his ability.


    ''I can create many different blade types like Falchions, Scimitar¡¯s, Rapiers, Great swords, Daggers and pretty much any blade I can think of whereas the guns I create are a lot more difficult to make. Aside from small sub machine guns like a Micro Uzi or UMP45 and handguns like the M1911 and Beretta 92 which are relatively simple to make. Assault Rifles like an AK47 and ACR or Light Machine Guns like an M249 or Shotguns like the Spas 12 and AA12 are much longer and take more energy to create, proving to be difficult to fully construct in the time I desire.''


    ''Other weapons I can create are staves and brass knuckles, otherwise there are still many other weapons I could imagine however my limit seems to not surpass any real earth weapons with medium or small calibre bullets, unfortunately I can''t create rocket launchers, grenades or even lightsabers but who knows if I won''t be able to in the future.''


    Sat in the lounge chair Damien¡¯s vision drifted across the landscape but suddenly he sat up with his face suddenly becoming serious. In the distance he caught a glimpse of a Large black figure scaling the side of a building, he used his enhanced eyes to focus on the figure and see what it actually was. What he saw was what could be described as a hairless monkey crossed with a bear, it had a long body with what looked like four arms, a face of a bear with sharp claws coming from its fingers, being about 2 metres long and 1 1/2 metres tall it scaled the building close to 400m away with ease.


    Suddenly a white flash shone from the window the Creature was currently on and with it a large explosion burst the window apart making the Creature fall from the building, however it quickly extended its upper arms and a webbing between its arms was displayed which the Creature utilised to glide back onto the building. Soon after with terrifying speed the Creature ran up the building climbing through the window and howling extremely loud, even Damien 400m away heard a faint echo of the howl. Damien couldn''t see what happened after but all sorts of colours flashed on that floor of the building, he even witnessed a body fly out the window with a large amount of destructive force. Soon after a glimmering purple spear shot out of the building on its end was the Black Creature which seemed almost destroyed beyond repair, with it upon the spear it flew a hundred metres before falling among the gathering of destroyed buildings.


    Damien rushed down the stairs from the roof to the Garage and informed Nina who he saw on the way that he was heading out and would be back soon. After leaving the station Damien started quick dashing in the direction of the Creature, he was intrigued by what type of being could take on what looked to be a Large group and still potentially live, Damien dismissed the danger thinking that killing or befriending the Creature would greatly benefit him.


    Damien had a rough idea as to where the Creature landed and was headed there at an increasing speed. Winding through the debris and buildings he felt free and unrestrained, he had never really exercised back on earth but the feeling he got from dashing through this ruined city gave him an incomparable feeling of ecstasy it almost resembled his weird feeling towards combat with his ascended strength.


    Damien slowed down when he saw a streak of destroyed buildings, as if a meteor had hit them. Figuring this was a result from the creatures descent, Damien approached where dust was slowly gathering and found the large monkey bear creature impaled to the ground at an angle.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Damien reached into his pocket and took out the special glasses the group found earlier, he grabbed them on his way out just in case he needed them.


    Looking through the glasses Damien stared at the Creature that seemed barely alive, which was surprising considering it feel from a very tall building. The glasses slowly displayed a few lines of information which shocked Damien quite a bit.


    ''Abyssal Creation - Level 28 Summoning Gift


    A gift capable of summoning creatures of all forms from the deep abyss''


    ''This seems like a very powerful ability, this must be one of the summoned creatures and I''m sure there''s more prowling the streets. I would very much like this ability perhaps the creator will come and check it''s pet. Then again that is probably unlikely as the creator would have summoned more if he was actively attacking that group I guess I should give up and aim to make my own abilities as good as this one.'' Damien was also curious about the purple glistening spear sticking out of the Creature so he used the glasses once again which made a few lines appear once again.


    ¡®Prismatic Spear ¨C Level 24 Attack Gift


    Conjure a purple crystalline looking spear which feeds off the targets blood making the spear linger for up to an hour.''


    As Damien was preparing to leave the Creature let out a loud roar that disorientated him however he managed to hear soon after the steps of approaching people, knowing this Damien retreated into a nearby building listening out to the group nearby.


    "What are these monsters, we''ve seen them for the past three days wandering around, each time they''re different but they all look awful." A youthful female voice spoke first, Damien was sure to eavesdrop to gather information but also try and hide himself, with his current abilities the best he could think of was making his own fear deep within his body become a layer that surrounded him hoping it would subconsciously deter people from coming towards him. There was a fifty fifty chance that this experimental way of using his ability would work.


    "This is the first creature that''s attacked us, I''m surprised how resilient it was, it took Miss Lapis'' Prism Spear and fell a hundred metres and is still alive." An older male spoke with a soft voice, Damien guessed his was in his early twenties.


    "I wonder if we can get anything from it, let me kill it please Surge I want to see what it looks like within. You know the saying ''Understanding your enemy is half the battle''." An excitable voice spoke up, clearly it was a female but sounded very tom boyish.


    The sound of the steps got closer and closer and if Damien was to go off what his enhanced hearing picked up there was around eight people gathered around the Creature. Damien felt that even with his large array of abilities he couldn''t face such a Large number, perhaps if they all had one ability each but Damien could tell this group wasn¡¯t lacking in power in anyway, they had been in this world for a lot longer not sounding as useless as the trio Damien met in the desert so he naturally acted cautious.


    "Just kill it already, bring back it''s head for Miss Lapis and Master Maddox to see. I think we''ve stayed in the Desolate District long enough, we should head back to the building to collect our things and bury the dead and then proceed to return to The Tower in the morning." A rigid voice instructed the group which displayed strength and authority, Damien guessed this was who the earlier people were looking to for instructions, the man called Surge. Damien theorized that this group was part of a clan in which the people known as Miss Lapis and Master Maddox were in charge. Surge and the voices he made out at the beginning were one of the High Class soldiers where as the other four were simple foot soldiers unable to resist the commands from those with greater power.


    The group slowly left and when Damien was sure that everyone was gone he stopped utilising his inner fear as a shield, even now he wasn''t sure if his new usage of fear manipulation worked. Walking out the building he saw the decapitated body of the Abyssal Creature, Damien decided he would head back as he had nothing else to do here but it seemed fate wasn''t going to let him off so easily.


    "I see you like to hide in the shadows, I''m surprised you actually are out in the open now!" A shout that brought with it a strong pressure penetrated Damien¡¯s ears making him wonder how he could be so unlucky.

 Chapter 13: Weaponized Demon

    ''Huff'' ''Huff'' ''Huff''


    Under the pearlescent rays of moonlight a crimson soaked body fell to its knees, katanas in hand the person that sat there could barely move, they''re right eye was replaced by a ravine of blood and bone, they''re back was tearing apart from tens of different cuts. Their face was the definition of mixed emotions as their eyes displayed a deep fear that a lions prey would convey yet their mouth was curved into a ruthless smile, a bizarre joy had combined with petrifying fear. This figure displaying such an odd combination of emotions could only be Damien.


    "I hide in the shadows? Take a look at yourself mate." Damien managed to squeeze out a single sentence, he was sure his mouth would only produce blood from now on.


    Damien from the moment he was called out to by that pressuring voice till now still had yet to see the assailant, he would feel the wind change and before he knew it a new wound would appear on his body. Damien had a strong ability but it was materialistic meaning it couldn''t face something as profound as wind itself.


    "Who... are you?" Damien knew full well talking now would be like swallowing ten thousand needles but he had to know what or who was going to end his life.


    "Brat you lasted a lot longer than I imagined, you are new here so let me put this in a way you will understand, fall under my command or join the countless souls lingering in this inhumane land." A whisper that pierced Damien¡¯s ear only increased the pain he was feeling but he finally understood what was going on, the man had tested him and now wanted control of him.


    Barely able to lift up his weapons Damien felt trapped he really didn''t see another option other than complying, yes he was strong willed and wanted independence but when your life''s at stake who could truly think about anything other than living, this didn''t mean he was submitting it just meant he could only follow along for the time being.


    "I under......stand I will......... comply." Saying even a few words made Damien feel like his soul was being ripped from his body, against that onslaught of attacks he could only watch on in terror as his body was ripped to pieces.


    "What is your name?" The voice spoke again less harmful than before, relaxing it''s pressure a lot more.


    "Damien." One word seemed to be Damien¡¯s limit but even if he was in excruciating pain he knew he still had his regeneration ability, he thought that if he could utilise it and his quick dash fast enough he had a chance to escape.


    "Your Title?" The voice resounded once again, it seemed to arrive from every direction as if an Army surrounded Damien.


    "What Title?" Damien was confused by the question but he recalled when Roxanne was killed he was alerted that Gravity Jumper had done the deed, based off that he guessed people were given an alias or ''Title''.


    The surrounding winds quickly become erratic and within the span of Damien blinking a tall figure appeared in front of him, his appearance obscured by a faint fog and extreme winds, even Damien¡¯s enhanced sight couldn''t see through it. The figure grabbed Damien¡¯s arm with the echo device attached. Displayed on the device were the options of Storage, Gifts, Crafting and Clans & Guilds. The man pressed Clans & Guilds which then displayed all of the Laughing Devils Clan''s information, what he then clicked was a tab that Damien hadn''t looked at before, the Kingdom tag.


    Through his only useable eye Damien saw a long list of Clans and Guilds being displayed alphabetically, the man slowly scrolled through the list till he found Damien¡¯s Clan, pressing the drop down five names were displayed. The names were displayed as such:


    ? Lightening Genius


    ? Weaponized Demon


    ? Gemstone Angel


    ? Shadow Guardian


    ? Magma Golem


    "Weaponized Demon? Hmm alright. Brat I know who you are, who your Clan members are and where your Clan headquarters are, remember this. If you manage to survive for two weeks head south until you reach the mountains, there you will find an observatory. I expect you to be there and prepared to face death itself, otherwise I will engulf the entire Desolate District in suffering. Run and you will regret not dying with the rest of this ruined city." The man disappeared with his last words and left behind a small vial the size of a finger.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Damien felt a sense of relief with the disappearance of that Monster of the wind, putting on the Gift Analysing Glasses and staring at the vial left behind.


    ''Lesser Healing Potion - Level 1 Item


    Heal all wounds and completely recover health, unable to regenerate major limbs or organs.''


    ''I guess he didn''t want me to live like a pirate with a single eye, honestly I couldn''t even guess what kind of gift power levels he has but I know for a fact if he came with the intent to kill I wouldn''t last 2 minutes. I probably have no choice but to go to that observatory I don''t want to invoke that man''s wrath. If he looked at my Gifts this vial would have been unnecessary but I''ll keep it in case one of the others gets wounded enough that my regeneration can''t help, after all it loses effectiveness when used on others.'' Damien activated his regeneration and headed back to the Fire Station, he had encountered a relatively powerful group but it seemed they wouldn''t prove to be a threat and then he fought or more like beaten by the Mysterious stranger who essentially scouted Damien to join him. Damien didn''t expect to have this type of crazy night in his entire life but here in the Fantasy Death Land it seemed anything was possible.


    "What happened? Why were you in such a rush? Why is your shirt bloody and ripped to pieces?" An onslaught of questions came Damien¡¯s way as he entered the Fire Station, Nina stood near him with a worried expression looking for answers.


    "I encountered a pretty strong opponent after I went looking around the city, but he won''t be a problem anymore he must''ve left the city but now." Damien didn''t reveal all the details because he was sure that the others would conclude the fact that he would leave the guild and with that he was sure they would become enemies, despite not having attachments to them he would still regret losing vital man power in this dangerous land after all their Gifts didn''t out weigh their usefulness.


    "Why didn''t you wear the Kevlar Vest if you had that on the wounds that looked to be inflicted wouldn''t have happened." Nina continued on with her worrying approaching Damien looking at his skin to make sure he was alright.


    ''I''m glad I didn''t wear the Kevlar Vest otherwise it would be in tatters by now, the force behind the Wind was stronger than a bullet, I''m lucky to be alive.'' Damien thought to himself that the vest item may have stopped maybe one or two cuts but over thirty? He didn''t know if his Obsidian Bone Armour would''ve even helped, well he wouldn''t know considering he didn''t even have a chance to activate it.


    "Nina relax I''m fine, I am not going anywhere and if I was I would bring you with me, you gotta trust me okay." Damien urged Nina to calm down waking with her to the reception area and sitting down together.


    "Everyone else has fallen asleep after some effort but for me whenever I close my eyes I see Oliver and Seth''s faces, what if they haunt me as long as I Live?" Nina was sensitive and naturally filled with terror from the days events, Damien helped soothe her and gave her support but even then she was still just a regular girl, who lived a normal life with her friends. Unlike Damien who was dissatisfied with his mediocre life seeking every chance of escapism as possible, Nina just wanted to smile and create happy memories everyday. Yet that reality was now in the past, Nina had to adapt and change like Damien and although she may not embrace her reality as quick as Damien she knew deep down she needed to.


    "Nina I can help ease the stress your feeling, with my Fear manipulation I can make you as carefree as a butterfly or terror stricken, with your permission I can help you." Damien offered his assistance to Nina who was having nightmares of her lost friends, Damien didn''t tell her that he had actually already been using Fear manipulation to relax her, however only slightly and not in a way that she would seem like a different person. When you think about it someone filled with fear suddenly becoming fearless is extremely odd so big changes would be easily picked up on.


    "Please help me then, I don''t want to be emotionless and devoid of fear but I also don''t want to be controlled by it having my mind giving me nightmares whenever I think of the past." Nina wasn''t reluctant in any way she desired to rid herself of fear but not so much that she would become a different person.


    Continuing to lay on the couch in the lounge area, Damien relieved Nina of her fear, giving her a chance to relax and not feel that she would be left behind or killed constantly. After some more conversing the two felt in much higher spirits and with Damien¡¯s fear removal they felt that they were supplementing each others joy, even the psychopathic murderer Damien felt compassion and care for this girl he had just met, he could only guess that his connection with his younger sibling in the past gave him a protective side even he was unaware of. Finally being able to cool down and rest the two fell asleep hoping that tomorrow wasn''t going to be their last.