《WileQuest》 Chapter 1 - Quest Start As the sun was slowly rising in the horizon, an individual felt a slight touch from the morning breeze. Lying down in the grass, the young man calmly raised himself, still half asleep and blinded by the sudden light of the early morning. Despite his young face and normal skin ton, he was in possession of unique traits, such as his white hair and scarlet eyes. His slim figure was masked by slightly oversized clothes, namely a simple pair of jeans, a white T-shirt and a black jacket. Still clueless about his situation, he stood up and stretch himself while yawning. Only then, did he realize¡­
Where the hell am I? Why am I in the middle of a plain? I¡­ we didn''t drink last night. So how¡­ Did the guys play a prank on me again? That seems unlikely. I don¡¯t know the place at all¡­ It¡¯s early in the morning, judging by the sun, and all there is around me is grass, and a large dirt road covered with dust I¡¯m standing next to. Oh, wait, there is also a forest it seems, but it¡¯s hard to tell with the sunlight in my eyes. At least, I have my clothes on. They are quite dirty though. I guess it¡¯s because I slept on the ground. Damn, this is worrying, where am I? I recognize nothing?! Did I get kidnapped? Nah, it''s unlikely. It has been ages since we saw any adults, and I wouldn''t be their first target anyway. Plus, I doubt they would abandon me in the middle of nowhere like that. Hum¡­? What is that? A¡­ book? An old looking book, pretty small and smooth. Quite heavy for its size, and instead of a title, there is a weird symbol on the front cover. A circle with a triangle inside and five small others above. Why do I have it? I might as well see what¡¯s inside. The Quest of Samsy, Seer of Humility What? There is my name in this? What is the meaning of this?! Welcome to your Quest! Forget everything you know, it¡¯s all in the future now! You will live amazing adventures and overcome countless struggles! This device will help you throughout your journey! May luck be with you. Wow¡­ That¡¯s spooky. I am on a Quest? Why? And what do I have to do? Why am I a¡­ Seer of Humility?If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Oh god¡­ what is happening? Phew¡­ Calm down. The situation is dire, but don''t lose your shit. Surely, this book should have some kind of practical advice. ¡­ ¡­ What the fuck?! The rest of the book is completely blank! What am I suppose to do now? I inspected the book in every way I could, and I found nothing. Only the first page had things written on it. After reading the text several times, it was starting to feel like it was mocking me, so I stopped. I am not dumb enough to throw away the book, but right now I really want to... Some times have already passed, and the sun was higher in the sky. Thus, I confirmed the existence of a huge forest on the horizon. The road was apparently longing it, so two choices were offered to me. Either I follow the road or I go toward the forest. I think the normal choice would be the road, so I could find a town and people to ask for help. However, there would surely be adults there, and I don¡¯t think they forgot about us yet. So I choose the forest, I¡¯m confident in my survival skills anyway. As long as there are animals to hunt or fruits to eat I should be fine. Thus, I started making my way toward the forest. The weather was nice, the sun was obstructed by a handful of clouds but the overall sky was beautifully blue, and the slight breeze brushing my hair was really nice. Nonetheless, something was bothering me, as I was walking through the plain, I was having a feeling. As if I was being watched¡­ no, it was something else, but I couldn¡¯t find out what it was. After a few uneventful hours, I reached the edge of the forest, and I quickly dismissed the bad though bothering me. It¡¯s probably due to the wildness of the place. I mean, in this day and age, it¡¯s not common to find places voided of human trace. Be it ruins or inhabited cities, there is always something, and so far, I saw nothing despite the dirt road. Meh, I might just be overthinking this. I continued my journey into the forest. At a first glance, it looks a lot like the forest we built the camp in. Even though the grass is greener and the trees a little bit taller. I looked for something to hunt, but even after an hour, I found nothing but a bunch of mushrooms. I¡¯m not hungry or crazy enough to taste them, but I still kept them, in case of emergency. Noon was already long passed, and my stomach was starting to growl. Moreover, walking all day and climbing trees have started to exhaust me. That¡¯s when I saw it. Smoke! In the sky! A slim tray of smoke elevating toward the sky. There''s bound to be a village over there! Right? I ran for it, and rapidly reached the border of a huge clearing. It was a huge circular portion of grassland without any trees. In the centre, a village of tens of wooden houses and a barn in the back was built. It wasn¡¯t that vast, but I had to climb a tree to see the entirety of it. Hum¡­ there doesn''t seem to be a lot of activity. The smoke was emitting from the biggest house, the only one with a chimney, but there was no one outside, except a couple of old people talking to each other. Hum? I¡¯m feeling something¡­ The book¡­ vibrated? I opened it. Struggle#00 Objective: Become the hero of the forest village Sub-Objective: none What the fuck is that? Chapter 2 - Making Progress Struggle#00 Objective: Become the hero of the forest village Sub-Objective: none So, if I get this correctly, I¡¯m in a sort of game were this Book tells me what I have to do. What is this thing? A disguised laptop or something? Sigh, I''m way too hungry find a logical explanation right now. I guess I have no choice but to make contact with the local people. They don''t seem dangerous anyway. Most of them are way past their forties. No, actually, they are all old. What¡¯s the matter, are the younger ones away or something? As I approached the edge of the first house, one of them spotted me. I know that seeing a stranger can be startling, but his reaction was quite surprising to me. ¡°Jola Ky!!!¡± He screamed something I didn''t understand and all of the others immediately gathered around him, joining him in his violent shouting toward me. Obviously, I¡¯m not welcomed here¡­ for a second I thought I could try explaining my situation to them, but when I saw someone coming with an axe I realized it might be wiser to just run away for now. Arms up, walking backwards, slowly¡­ I never thought I would encounter the clich¨¦ townspeople anti-stranger like that, and I have to say, I feel pretty bad right now. Like I did something wrong. As soon as I was far enough from the village, I took out my book again. No doubt about it, this thing wants me to be the saviour of those guys. What a good start. Do I really have to do it? What if I don''t? What if I do? Is there a reward or something? Darn, this thing is actually making me asking questions instead of answering them! What a useless item! Grrooooowwwl¡­ And now this¡­ I¡¯ll have to postpone my ¡®struggle¡¯, or whatever it is. My stomach comes first.
It''s already been a few days that I spent in that forest. She does look a lot like the ones I live in, but a lot¡­ ¡®greener''. Luckily for me, I found some fruit on the first day, enough to fill me up. There is only a handful of animals to hunt here, I spotted and avoided some wolf, but that was it. Just in case I meet them again, I crafted some basic stakes to serve as a weapon. I am starting to fear that the situation I am in will take way longer than expected to be resolved. I considered getting out of the forest to find another town, but I think I still need to try and finish this struggle I got. I really don¡¯t like to follow directives, especially when I don¡¯t know the reason behind it, but my instinct is telling me it¡¯s my best course of action. However, seeing their first reaction, I won¡¯t be able to join their community that easily, let alone becoming a hero. That, and I don¡¯t understand the language they¡¯re speaking¡­ Nonetheless, I have a plan. From my limited experience, I know that people are more inclined to listen to you when they''re alone, so I just have to wait for someone to leave the village and try to befriend him. Seeing how this adventure is stereotyped so far, I might as well found him surrounded by a pack of wolves. Anyway, I quickly found my perfect target. This ¡®him¡¯ is a ¡®her¡¯: one girl, or young woman, well, around my age, leaves the village every morning to gather some plants. I wanted to talk to her as soon as I saw her away from the village, but as I approached, I realized she looks a lot like Nami, and because I have as much courage as a hypochondriac pigeon, I ran away from the image of my ex-girlfriend. Yup, she has the same long dark-blue hair and beautiful emerald eyes. Talk about a coincidence¡­This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That was 2 days ago, but this morning, I convinced myself that my survival was more important than my childish shame, so I decided I will talk to her today. But¡­ I said that as a joke, but as she went deeper than usual into the forest, she encounters a handful of hungry wolves, that were now surrounding her. I am not a fighter, well, I¡¯m not as good as the others, and I don¡¯t think saving one girl is worth risking my life over. Right? She ¡®s really in a pinch though¡­ No! It¡¯s not the first time it happens, I¡¯m not fit for this! But, she will die¡­ Sigh¡­
Every morning, Laura go into the forest to gather some medicinal herbs. She knows it¡¯s dangerous, but her job is way too important. Today, she couldn¡¯t find any of the flowers she was looking for, so, despite the risk, she went deeper¡­ That¡¯s how she ended up surrounded by four wolves, staring at her with an intense desire to transform her into their next dinner. Her back against a tree, she tried to think of a way to get out of this situation, but she was too scared to do so. She tried to scream but her throat couldn¡¯t emit a sound. One of the beasts started to approach her, slowly, without diverting his eyes from hers. She could feel it, it was the end. The animal will jump on her and in seconds she will be eviscerated. She closed her eyes. And it came, the wolf roared and a blunt noise resonated in her hers. ¡­ She wasn¡¯t hit. She opened her eyes Instead of a wolf, in front of her was the back of a young man with white hair. Under him was the beast, with his head shoved into the ground. Samsy has made his entrance. ¡®This quest wants me to be a hero? Fine! I¡¯ll be a fucking hero!¡¯ This was his answer. As he was lacking courage, he chose the path of madness. With a stake in each hand, Sam rushed toward the nearest wolf, a few meters away, and tried to stab him. Of course, the beast dodged, and our hero was ambushed by another one coming from his right side. He guarded with his arm, and the beast plunged his fang into his flesh. ¡°Aarrrgh¡± Shouting from the pain, Sam randomly stabbed his attackers with his free hand, and managed to get the eye. This time, it was the wolf who screamed. Following it, Sam stabbed a second time in its neck. The second wolf was dead. But the fight was far from over, and the dodging wolf from earlier was already on his leg. Sam fell over, and lost both of his stakes in the process. This wasn¡¯t good, and the last wolf was also approaching. But he felt it, his valid hand was touching something hard. He grabbed the miraculous stone and hit the beast¡¯s head as hard as he could. The wolf released his bite and backed away. Disregarding the pain, Samsy went back on his feet to face the last remaining animals. Even though he managed to beat the others, he had only one valid arm and his left leg was also injured. However, he wasn¡¯t afraid. It was as if something inside him was awakening. He was stronger than them, that¡¯s all he was thinking about. The situation had totally changed, the wolves weren¡¯t hunting a resistant prey, they were facing a foe. Even Laura could see it. The man that came to her rescue was looking down on the animals. And to her surprise, they started to go backward. Without diverting their eyes from him. Roaring and showing their fangs, they were running away. A few seconds of total silence followed their escape. Samsy was not moving at all, still staring at the place the beast left. ¡®So¡­ I¡¯m a hero now?¡¯ With a sarcastic smile on his face, he finally fell down. Unconscious. Chapter 3 - The Flux ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Ow! My head! Where am I¡­? Ouch! My arm! And my leg too! What the hell happened?! I''m covered in bandages¡­ Oh, I remember now. I¡­ holy, I fought against a pack of wolves to save a girl. And now I''m in a bed, with a roof, finally, above my head and a small table with bread and water next to me. Both my arms and my right leg were wrapped with bandages. So¡­ I did it? How? My memory is kind of blurry¡­ Oh god, I shouldn''t have done it, it was really crazy. I know people who could have taken care of that easily, but was likely to die back then. Even with my¡­ sigh, well, I guess I was luckier than I thought. I could feel my right arm and leg pretty bad, but the rest of my body was fine, excluding a strong headache. Lucky my ass! And I have a weird feeling on my wounds¡­ it¡¯s pleasant, but¡­ it¡¯s like my energy is drained. Ouch¡­ my¡­ head¡­
¡°Aaaaah!¡± Ow! My head! Where am I¡­? Ouch! My¡­ wait, I have a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤-vu¡­ oh, yeah, I¡¯m in a house now. That¡¯s the second time I wake up, I think. Surely, I was brought back to the village after I managed to save the girl from the pack of wolves. How did I do that again? It¡¯s not the first beast I hunt on my own, but 4 at the same time¡­ I guess I¡¯m even luckier than I thought. Haha, in the end, an arm and leg is a small price to pay for saving a¡­ Wait. It doesn¡¯t hurt. It doesn¡¯t hurt at all! I tore away the bandage covering my arm and¡­ nothing. It was perfectly fine. Same for my leg. Holy¡­ either they have a really good doctor with miraculous medicine, or I slept for a really long time¡­ *Knock knock* Someone knocked at the door, and, after waiting a few seconds, opened it. It was the village girl I save! She was wearing a long white dress and was carrying a basket garnished with a towel and some fruit. Stepping into the room, she looked up and spot me. Then, for some reason, she blushed. Fuck! I''m only wearing my boxer! I didn''t realize but I''m almost completely naked. ¡°Kilo ui no!¡± What? She spluttered some incomprehensible words and left the room. As expected, I still can''t understand them¡­ She really reminds me of Noami, long hair and wide green eye. Even though her nose might be a bit smaller. Sigh, I wonder what she''s doing right now. There''s no way she''s also on a Quest like me, right? ¡­ Right? ¡­ Well, first thing first, I should probably put on the cloth they have prepared next to the bed.
Wearing some simple pants and a sort of white shirt with no sleeve -it emphasizes my skinny arm but, meh, what can I do¡­- I finally came out of the house and joined the girl, even though she looks about my age, I can¡¯t picture myself calling her a woman. I would like to know her name but I risk to have some communication issue¡­Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Also, the book was with the clothes they disposed on a chair near the bed. I checked its content, to see if something changed, and yes, it has changed, but not in a way I had expected. Struggle#00 Objective: Become the hero of the forest village Sub-objective: Save Laura - Cure the Cursed People - Pull out the Silver Dagger There even more things to do know. Apparently, it has taken into account that I saved the girl, but I have no idea what I¡¯m supposed to do with the rest. Do I have to do it? Where are those cursed people anyway? And why wasn¡¯t those shown from the start? I have a bad feeling about this Quest Book, or whatever its name is. As I was following the girl, we arrived in what seemed to be the centre of the village, where a bunch of old people were gathered. She immediately went to one of them, who was holding a tall cane with a with some sort of green fabric wrapped at its peak. It''s surely the chief of the village, it would be too much of a coincidence if not. The girl signed me to approach, and so I did. Standing next to her, I witnessed the both of them starting to talk to each other, and obviously, I couldn''t understand a thing. It was surely about me, but other than that¡­ Sigh¡­ what should I do, it¡¯s not like I have a translation device or something like that. It would be nice to have a talent for foreign language. I think there was someone like that back in the camp, but we never met any foreigners, so we never get to see it in action. I think it was a kid named Marco, he told all he had to do was to concentrate and everything said was understood, even if it wasn¡¯t in English, the only language he learned. ¡°¡­are you really sure we can¡¯t make a party for¡­¡± What the fuck?! It worked? Yes, it worked! I can understand them! I tried the technique while thinking about it, and it fucking worked! I learned they were planning to throw a party for me, but for some reason, they can¡¯t. Hum¡­ I wonder if I can do the same to talk to them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± As I pronounced those words, both of them suddenly directed their wide in my direction. Di-did I say something bad? ¡°You can speak our tongue, stranger?¡± ¡°Oh? Well, you can say that¡­¡± ¡°Oh dear, my apology for this rude treatment then, I am Klao, the chef of this humble village, and I believe you¡¯ve already met my daughter.¡± ¡°Sorry for my late introduction, my name is Laura. Thank you so much for what you did in the forest.¡± "Yes, my daughter told me everything. You have our gratitude. I don''t know what would have happened to us without Laura." ¡°Oh¡­ don¡¯t worry, I¡­ I was at the right place at the right time, that¡¯s all. I¡¯m¡­ I was lost in the forest¡­ so¡­¡± Man, I¡¯m really a bad liar. ¡°Yes, I remember you from a few days ago. I am deeply sorry for our behaviour, we had a bad experience with a stranger recently, so we are quite suspicious of anyone trying to come to our village.¡± ¡°¡¯A bad experience.¡¯¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Father, I think we should show him.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right.¡± The mystery is thickening! Laura guided me through the village, to the huge wooden building I saw on the first day: a barn. Inside, there were no animals. Instead, people were laid down in bed rows. All of them, without exception, were extremely pale, and I could hear some painful groan from here and there. Shit, it all starts to make sense. The fact that Laura is the only young people around, the fact that she was risking her life going out alone in the forest, and the violent reaction a few days ago. With a tear in her eyes, Laura spoke again, her eyes fixed on the inside of the barn. ¡°Two weeks ago, a strange man came, and without any reason, he planted a silver dagger in our village well, and left immediately after. Many people tried to pull it out, but no one succeeded. Then, the next day¡­ *sob* they all became sick¡­ and¡­ some even¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, I don¡¯t need to know more¡­¡± I put a hand on her shoulder, and tried to comfort her. Without a warning, she hugged me and started to cry. Sigh¡­ she really seems desperate. I¡­ I was starting to think this whole thing was a sort of game, but this is¡­ this is more than I thought. Chapter 4 - Improvised Healer So, if I understand what Laura just told me, a stranger came and for no reason stabbed his dagger in the village¡¯s well. Half the village tried to take the dagger out, but nobody managed to make it budge, as if it was fuse with the well. They decide to leave it at that and try another time, but the following morning, all the people that touched the weapon was severely ill, they started coughing blood and their skin became pale. Some even died. It was a little less than a week ago, and I¡¯m now looking at two rows of these sick people. I¡¯m not a doctor, but it¡¯s obvious that they¡¯re all in critical condition. Sigh¡­ it¡¯s not the first time I see people die, but this barn full of death is too much, even for me. The worst part is¡­ that I don''t have any way to help them. Laura goes out every morning to gather herbs and try to relieve them, but she''s only postponing the inevitable. And it''s not like I could do better, I couldn''t even recognize a toxic mushroom from an eatable one. I was so proud of my new translation ability, and here I am, useless, like always. No, there¡¯s should be a way. I have a feeling that I¡¯m not here by chance, the book and everything else, I must be here for a reason, but what can I do? It¡¯s not like I can magically heal them¡­ Wait¡­ Magic. What if¡­ What if my new translating ability is magic. What if my severed arm and leg were healed with magic. Sam with my fight with the wolves, I felt like never before, like I was in the zone or something. Yeah! That¡¯s it! That or I developed a new i-talent, but that¡¯s unlikely. I have to try this out. Immediately. Laura had already left my side to go from bed to bed, checking them and talking to the improvised nurses taking care of them. I approached the closest one to the entrance, and put my right hand on his forearm. Okay¡­ what do I do know? As I was clueless about what I had to do, I simply focused my thought on healing him, or positive thought, or anything related to curing someone. And¡­ nothing happened. After 5 minutes of embarrassing tentatives, I stopped. Hehe, I guess it what too good to be true. Of course, magic doesn¡¯t exi¡­
¡°Aaaah¡± What the fuck happened?! Did I collapse again? Ouch, my head! Where¡­ I¡¯m in the same bed I woke up this morning. Or was it yesterday? I looked through the window, and it wasn¡¯t even noon yet. Damn¡­ what happened? SLAM ¡°Are you awake?¡± Laura entered the room by completely crushing the door. ¡°Oh my¡­! I was so worried!¡± Oh oh there! You''re getting too close! She jumped and took me between her arms. I guess she was concerned about my state, but¡­ ¡°He-hey¡­ what happened? Did I passed out again?¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yes! What did you think! You just woke up from a 2 days coma! Why did you try something like that!¡± 2 days! "I¡­ Hum¡­ I''m sorry¡­ I thought I had recovered enough, hehe." "Promise me you won''t do that again!" ¡°Yea-yeah¡­¡± Gosh, I met her only a few days ago and she¡¯s already acting like Nami¡­ ¡°By the way¡­ what was I doing before passing out?¡±
Magic is real! Boya! I¡¯m the best, baby! Relatively. To sum up what happened, I managed to improve the condition of the guy I tried to heal, he went to ¡®about-to-die¡¯ to ¡®probably-okay¡¯, but I kind of used up all my magic power - or whatever - and passed out. I guess I¡¯m not that cool after all, but at least I have a way to heal them, then I¡¯ll probably become the hero of the village, complete the stupid objective, -make out with Laura-, and come back home! As soon as she told me the story, I absolutely wanted to go back to the barn and use my all-mighty powers to cure those poor souls, but she kind of got mad and slapped me back to bed, and that¡¯s how I had to spend the rest of the day, stuck in bed. It wasn''t that bad, I don''t have furnitures that comfy where I live, so it was relaxing, in a sense. Nonetheless, it was really boring, so I tried to test my so-called magic powers, but nothing happened¡­ The next day, Laura came to check on me before her daily plant gathering, and I proposed to go with her, as her bodyguard. Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t any wolf this time, and we were back in town soon after. She headed straight to the barn and I went behind her. She tried to stop me, but I convinced her that I was feeling good enough and that I wouldn¡¯t try anything rough -yeah, I¡¯m already lying to her. I went to the same guy I tried to heal the day before -or maybe it was two days ago, I am kind of losing track- and, indeed, his was getting back his colour and his face was peaceful, in contrast with all the other who were rumbling in pain. I checked out that Laura wasn¡¯t looking at me, and I put my hand on him once again. I don¡¯t really remember what I did exactly, so I just tried to reproduce the process. However, it felt different. Last time, I didn¡¯t sense anything, but now¡­ it¡¯s like my energy is getting condensed in my hand. It feels¡­ so warm. ¡°cough cough¡± I pulled my hand away in surprise. He actually reacted?! It¡­ it worked? Ouch! My, fucking, head! Not again!!! I took a few step back to recover, seems like I can¡¯t use this as freely as I would like to. It fucking hurts! I didn¡¯t really remember what happened after, but apparently the guy woke up, Laura scolded me and send me back to my room, once again. So here I am, in a bed in the middle of the afternoon. The headache is already gone, but I do feel a bit tired, even though I definitely don¡¯t want to sleep already. Fuck! This is so cool! I have healing powers! I¡¯m kind catching up to the other! Who is the useless shrimp now! ¡­ I wonder what they¡¯re doing though¡­ Now that I think about it, if I was brought here, there is a chance they have been too. Sigh¡­ this is so fucked up. Where am I? What should I do? All sort of question are running through my head, and I have the feeling that they won¡¯t be answered. At least not until I do what this stupid book wants me to do. It¡¯s surely my best chance right now. Well, more like my only chance. Thinking about it, I took the book I had left on the chair for the past few days, and opened it. Struggle#00 Objective: Become the hero of the forest village Sub-Objective: Save Laura - Heal the Cursed People - Pull out the Silver Dagger Sigh... I hope I''ll make it. Chapter 5 - Moving on So¡­ there are also sub-objectives after all, but looks like I have to finish one of them to see the others. What a shitty system. As expected, there is no instruction on it elsewhere in the book¡­ I suppose it¡¯s a sort of guidelines to help you finish the main objective, it would make sense because it¡¯s what I was about to do anyway, but in that case, why don¡¯t show it from the start? I thought I was finally starting to get the hang of it, but now it feels like I¡¯ll never understand anything. It¡¯s okay because it didn¡¯t change anything in the end, but I really hope there won¡¯t be other shenanigans like that in the future. It turned out that I wasn''t that good of a healer, I managed to heal everyone, but it took me a very long time. And I couldn''t do more than one at first, or I would pass out. After a few days, I made significant progress and managed to heal more people per day, and so on. In the end, it took me the whole week, but I finally succeed! And to top it all¡­ Struggle#00 Objective: Become the hero of the forest village Sub-Objective: Save Laura - Heal the Cursed People - Pull out the Silver Dagger That¡¯s it, I¡¯m a hero now. Certified by this mysterious book. I don''t really feel different though, I think I would have helped them without anyone to tell me to. It was a weird experience, and even though I¡¯m glad it¡¯s about to be over, I am a bit sad to leave. She might resemble my ex, I noticed some few differences in her personality. First, well, she wasn¡¯t as smart, which is a compliment, I guess. Then, she was the most caring person I ever met, and last¡­ it¡¯s hard to say, but even though I barely know her, I have this feeling of wanting to protect her. I remarked that halfway through the week, but it doesn¡¯t look like me to think like that. I¡¯m more the type to be protected, if anything else. Maybe it¡¯s this whole ¡®hero of the village¡¯ thing that went in my head. Or maybe it¡¯s because her mother died when she was young and had to help her dad and the rest of the village the best she could because of the tough winter and so on¡­ You know, the classic sad child story. I can''t really empathize with her, given my own story, but still¡­ Anyway! This is my last day here. I cured the last person this morning. I am a bit tired, but I really want to go back home. Plus, I overheard that they are planning to throw a party for me tonight, and it would be even harder to leave after that. I don''t really like being the centre of attention, not if I can avoid it, which I''m planning to do this time. So here I was, sitting against a tree at the edge of the surrounding forest, looking at the new threads of smoke rising into the sky, thinking about my short adventure, the wolves, the curse, the elders, the chief, my new powers, Laura¡­ I think I should feel proud of my accomplishment, I mean, I managed to save a damsel in distress from a pack of wolves and cured a whole village from a deadly curse. I am a hero, but¡­ I don¡¯t feel any pride from it. I¡¯m just¡­ thankful? But also sad? It¡¯s¡­ weird. I never was good to tell my own feelings, but it¡¯s even harder right now¡­ Sigh¡­ at least she could tell. She knew me better than I did myself. ¡°Taking a break?¡± ¡°Nami?¡± Oh, no¡­ did I say that out loud? ¡°Who is Nami?¡± ¡°No one! She¡¯s¡­ a friend.¡± ¡°Hehe, you are blushing.¡± ¡°Oh¡­? Hehe, yeah¡­¡± She came close and sat down next to me. Like me, she should be pretty exhausted after what happened this week. ¡°You are leaving tonight, right?¡± ¡°!!! How did you know?¡± ¡°I had a feeling¡­ It¡¯s not like you have any reason to stay¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true! I have plenty of¡­ well¡­¡± ¡°Hehe, you don¡¯t have to stay because of me. You probably have people waiting for you.¡± ¡°I do¡­¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°¡­¡± And we stayed there, blankly staring at the evening sky about to be consumed by the night. Not even a tiny breathe of wind was felt and the only sound perceivable was the agitation of the town folks several meters away. It felt like the time stopped. What do I say to her? What should I say? Do I have to say anything? After what felt to me like an eternity, she stood up. She was looking away, and even though I couldn¡¯t see it, it was quite obvious, she was crying. Without a word, she started to head back. ¡°Laura¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make it difficult Sam¡­ it¡¯s not your fault.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll come back! I promise! I¡¯ll find a way!¡± She stopped, and turned around. The final lights of the day were forming a halo behind her beautiful face, tears were dripping down her chicks, but she gave the brightest smile I ever saw. ¡°Hehe, I really hope you do.¡± And she left, leaving me baffled and speechless.
The moon was already making its way in the sky. It''s been hours and I still haven''t moved an inch since I parted ways with Laura. Sigh¡­ I never expected this to be so difficult¡­ I finally gathered my thought and opened my book once again. It was clear that I was done with this ¡®struggle'', or whatever it is, and another line of words had appeared, describing a location south from here. Apparently, I''m supposed to go there to move on, and go home, I hope. There is no guaranty I¡¯ll be able to go back, especially since it¡¯s the struggle n¡ã0, but I¡¯m a natural optimist. But before that, I had one last thing to do. I couldn¡¯t call myself a hero if I let this cursed dagger poisoning their well, right? So I went back. Everyone was sleeping, I guess it¡¯s already that late. It¡¯s not like it was ever that busy anyway. I quickly arrived. It was just a normal stone well, with a small wood roof. The moonlight was reflecting something on its wall, between to stone, the pommel of the dagger. Sigh¡­ I hope it works. I grabbed the handle, and pulled. As hard as I could. Then¡­ well, it was unexpected, but the dagger came out easily, and I fell down on my but. What the¡­ I looked at the dagger in my hand, the blade was beautiful, especially under the moonlight, and its edge looked sharper than anything I ever saw. It was a bit smaller than I expected, the blade was only the size of my hand, but it was definitely dangerous. My. Fucking. Head! Again?! Damn¡­ it hurts like hell! Uuurrgh¡­ Pheww, it''s done¡­ Fuck! Those headaches are becoming tougher and tougher. I wonder what is causing them, surely it has a link with the magic I use, but I didn''t even use anything right now! Well, I managed to get the dagger out, and I don''t feel anything particular, so it''s not like I can complain about that. Now that I think about it, it was a reckless move, it¡¯s not because I can cure cursed people that I will be immune to the curse. Meh, it¡¯s a risk I¡¯m willing to take. And look at the positive side! Now I have cool healing magic AND a cool mysterious weapon¡­ that can kill people touching it¡­ okay, maybe it¡¯s not that cool. I probably shouldn¡¯t use it. Making sure that nobody saw me, I left the village, for good this time. The place indicated to me was not that far, and I arrived a few minutes later. I immediately knew it was the right place. That, or the huge door in front of me, standing up on its own, was here by coincidence. The edges were made out of thick metal, and the handles were replaced by two big golden rings. It looked quite heavy, and not reassuring at all. Yeah, truth to be told, I have a bad feeling about this. Carefully, I approached my hand, and touched it.
¡°Uuurgh¡­¡± What happened¡­ where am I? I¡­ just touched the door, and I was sucked inside, but looking around¡­ I¡¯m not in the forest anymore. It¡¯s not night anymore, but I¡¯m not that sure because really high trees are blocking the sky completely. Also, the air had suddenly become hot, and wet¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­ I quickly opened the book. As expected, a new page had been filled up. Struggle#01 Objective: Survive the Jungle Sub-Objective: none Chapter 6 - Welcome to the jungle I have never been in a jungle before, sure I have heard of what it is. Dense vegetation, intense heat, humid and heavy air, wild dangerous animals and insects. Even though I have never been in one, I have a lot of experience in the woods, in the wilds in general, so, I think I can hold my ground just fine here. It¡¯s been 6th days since I passed the door. I had my legs and arms broken multiple times, I have been scarred everywhere on my body, I¡¯ve nothing but weird fruit and root, and I sleep less than an hour each night. In fact, I wonder how am I still alive. No, I know how I did survive until now. This power, this magic I acquired, has made tremendous progress. I run fast, I am strong, tough, I can go several days without sleeping, without eating. I can extract water from plants and trees. I can regenerate and heal myself pretty efficiently to, a broken arm is completely recovered in less than a hour. I basically became a real superhuman, at least I would be at home. Here, it doesn¡¯t means much, it¡¯s the bare minimum you need to survive. In this hellish place, everything wants to kill me, half the plants are poisonous, the air is unbelievably hot during the day and freezing at night, and so heavy it¡¯s sometimes hard to breath. The fauna is dangerous, I have to run away from even the smallest and weakest beast. To be fair, after a few days and seeing my magic improvement, maybe I can take some of them on. But there are still a few that I absolutely don¡¯t want to come across. I even made a top 3. Third. Gorillas, alone, he is not that dangerous, he is really strong but the main problem is that he is too smart. They rarely react to feint, and if they sense that I have the upper hand, they run away and come back with reinforcement. Fortunately, they seem to only live up in the trees, so I have low chance of coming across one of them. Second. I don¡¯t know how to call it or what it really looks like, but there is a plant that create a poisonous mist, I survived only because I saw a beast die from it and managed to leave before getting too exposed. And first place. A bee. Well, I presume this is a bee because I didn¡¯t really see it. It is so fast, even with all the magical focus I can put on my eyes, the most I could do is see a black and yellow little blur. The only sure thing is that it make a lot of noise, and it is so fast it could probably pierce my skull like a piece of paper. It actually happened the first, well only, time I saw it. A gorilla was in front of me, then I heard a loud noise, and the gorilla had a hole in his head. Of course, this is a non-comprehensive list of all the things that could kill me, but that¡¯s what I am the most scared of at least. The most frustrating part, is that I have no clue how long I have to stay here. The Quest book is, yet again, vague about the objective. ¡°Struggle#1 Objective: Survive Sub-objective: none¡± I don¡¯t even have a sub-objective! Who wrote this shit? My theory is that the deadline is tomorrow, I mean, one week would be good right? I don¡¯t want to raise my hope to much, but I have to find a reason to stay motivated. The night is falling down. Good, the wild activities seems to lessen a bit during night, so I can sleep a bit. Well, I can nap would be more accurate, because if I stay at the same place for more than an hour, I am certain to be surrounded. It happened on the first night, and that is when I got most of my scars. I am lucky there were mostly small fry, even though it took me more than a day to escape them completely.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Most of the night passed without any problem, but as the sun was soon to rise, I come across some issue. 3 meter long, fast, strong, even for this place standards, and with claws and teeth so sharp it can leaves marks in. Never actually see one of them fight, But surely, I am in troubled. A sabertooth tiger is just 10 meters in front of from me. ¡®Shit, should I run for it? No, it would catch up instantly. Shit shit shit!¡¯ There is no way around it, I have to fight. I took a stance, the path between us was relatively clear. Even with an enhanced body, I don¡¯t know if I can take a hit. On top of that I have no idea how to wound it. I guess I¡¯ll have to improvised. ¡°FUCK¡± Without realising it, I instinctively left my right arm up and shouted. The tiger¡¯s claws came in contact with my forearm, I blocked the attack, but was projected by the power its power against the closest tree, 2 meters away. I was relieve I could actually defend, but the joy was immediately erased when I felt the huge amount a magic directed towards my arms. I had taken heavy damage. Don¡¯t look at it, even if it is broken or torn apart, I can¡¯t do this with only one arm, so as long as the pain don¡¯t kick in, it will do. He is faster than my eyes, but I have experienced his speed, and I know I have a chance now. I won¡¯t have many opportunities for a proper strike, I only have one shot. The second assault came, I didn¡¯t react to it, for the simple reason I had predicted it. I managed to drop my body a split second before, and I was now right under his stomach. It¡¯s now or never. With my silver dagger in my left hand, I gathered as much strength I could in both of my arms, and strike the beast from under. So heavy! I managed to blow him away, but I couldn¡¯t pierce his skin. Shit! What a fucking monster! We are back to square one, and my right start to tingle. The beast is enraged now, I guess it doesn¡¯t understand how I am still alive. It roared, preparing to charge once more. My concentration was back at its peak. Time flow had slow down, I couldn¡¯t hear anything, see anything or feel anything except for the tiger in front of me. And it disappear from my sight. I have a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤-vu, I found myself lying on a tree, with a huge pain from my right arm. ¡®I did it!¡¯ Actually this time I didn¡¯t guard. ¡°If you use the same patern, you get predictable.¡± My dagger was covered in blood. At last it have an exploitable weakness. Their fur and skin may be sturdy, but their paws have to be soft right? I looked up at my opponent, and he clearly couldn¡¯t use his right legs any more.. I guess I paid the price though. I can¡¯t lift my right arm either. To top it off, the beast was really was even more angry now. This is the last straw, I definitely won¡¯t be able to survive another blow. Everything will happen in a split second. He may be faster than me, but I have my own hand. One last time, he jumped. One last time, he disappeared from my sight. I was now pushed against a tree, with a huge and sharp pain in my back. My arm was buried inside the tigers mouth. I extracted it, and the beast corpse fall down to the side. I survived? I survived! I killed it. I fucking survived! I wanted to shout but I was to afraid of attracting another crazy monster, and also I was too exhausted to do so. It was also at this moment that the sun began to show itself, and light started to spread to the combat scene. My pocket started to light up to. My left forearms have been damaged with that last assault, but if I can go out of this place I can move it for a couple of minutes without a problem. I rapidly took out the book. And opened it. "Struggle#1 Objective: Survive Sub-objective: Kill a sabre tooth tiger ¨C Meet with the jungle king ¨C Exit the jungle¡± This is a joke right? Chapter 7 - The Fluke ¡°Struggle#1 Objective: Survive Sub-objective: Kill a saber tooth tiger ¨C Meet with the jungle king ¨C Exit the jungle¡± A sub-objective? I almost got killed for this shit! I have been here for 7 days, with almost no sleep and a never-ending fear of being eaten. I am so badly wounded I can see the bone on my right arm. This is¡­ this is not fair! That¡¯s it! This is not fair. When I think about it, it¡¯s like I¡¯ve been playing a game without knowing the rules. No matter how I see it, this is unfair. Maybe this was intended from the start. Maybe someone enjoys watching me struggle. Sigh.This is useless¡­ No matter how much I speculate about it, the only thing I am certain of right now is that I am in danger, and my only way out is to follow this stupid book. With my recently developed healing abilities, my left arm is already good as new. Unfortunately, the other arm will take way more time. I don¡¯t have time to gather the tiger¡¯s material, nor the adequate tools. That¡¯s a shame, but I have to leave, I have already spent too much time here. I made a quick bandage for my arm and left the place in search of a good place to hide and plan my course of action. The king of the jungle¡­ I wonder what he is. Maybe I should follow the sub-objective after all, it helped me a lot in the previous struggle. Well actually it didn¡¯t, but it showed the action I made to complete the struggle, and that worked, so it should be the same here. Moreover, I know that I don¡¯t have to complete each of them to finish the struggle. As I have no clue who or what is the king of the forest, I decided to go for the last one: leaving the jungle. In fact, it never occurred to me that the jungle had an end. Because I have been magically transported here, I thought this was kind of a jungle world or something, but it seems like there is more to it. I am a bit curious now.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Fighting is still a problem, but after one week in this hell, I can detect and avoid most of those wild beast just fine. So, even with one useless arm, I managed to move pretty far without any trouble. The bark of the trees was too tough for me to leave a mark with my dagger, so I gave up the idea of marking my way. I will leave as soon as the book allows me to, so it doesn¡¯t really matter if I get lost anyway. It has been 3 days since I killed the tiger. Looking back, it was foolish of me to expect an easy ending after only a week. Now, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if I had to stay for more than a year. During my travel, I found a lot of odd things. Some statues covered with moss, and other human-made structure, some ruin entirely covered by the vegetation. I have yet to found real cities and temple, but I think a whole nation lived here before, maybe centuries ago. This is od. If I was the one making an adventure for someone else, with different places like here and the forest, why would I bother building realistic things like that? What is the purpose? In the end, is this real? Am I on Earth? If so, where am I? I never heard of bees than can pierced skull, and I¡¯ve never been taught about the kingdom Lora talked me about. Finally! I see the end of the jungle! Unfortunately, as I rushed to it, I only found a cliff, I was still in the middle of thousands of trees, on the edge of a canyon. The other part of the canyon was at least 20 meters away, so I can go there by myself. As I was trying to find a way to go down, something caught my eyes. Further on my left, there was a wood bridge linking the two sides of the canyon. So I approach, and surprisingly, it doesn¡¯t seem that old, at least, it looks sturdy enough. Maybe there are people here after all. Excited about this news, I went on it. With a few slow and careful step, I confirmed that it was indeed robust and started walking on it. I can see above the tree from here, I never saw them before but there were actually a lot of bird up there, and right now I can see their nest. Having a clear field a view after all this time is such a good feeling. I almost feel liberated. Maybe that is because of this very feeling I didn¡¯t see it before getting on the bridge. Bzzzzzz When I heard this sound, I froze. Bzzzzzz I turned my head in front of me. Bzzzzzzz I could hardly see it, but it was here. Around 10 meters away, a little bee, on standby. Bzzzzzzzz Images of a dead gorilla popped in my mind. This is it? This is the end? Am I going to die here? Bzzzzzzzz Sigh¡­ I am going to die. This is the end. In a way, I knew it. I knew that I am no hero. Bzzzzzzzz Why hasn''t it attacked yet? Too late, I tried to dodge, but this bee¡¯s faster than a bullet, and it pierced my heart¡­ BZZZZZZZ Hum? Did she miss? I feel a sharp pain... on my shoulder! What happened? Argh! My head! Image appeared in my mind, an image of me, pulling out my dagger, turning around and slashing the air with it. Bzzzzzzzzz Then nothing. I couldn¡¯t think, everything was blank. Bzzzzzzzzz I couldn¡¯t control anything, I wanted to run away, but instead, I grabbed my dagger. Bzzzzzzzzz My consciousness is fading. My body got ready for the strike. BZZZZZZ And I turn around, exactly as I foresaw. I don¡¯t know what happened. There is no pain. There is no sound. I feel¡­ tired. Then everything went dark. Chapter 8 - V for Valentine This is a good day. My last pupil died just before Clarence¡¯s one, meaning that I win our bet! She wasn¡¯t really a fan of the whole ¡°gambling on the newcomer''s death¡± thing, but I managed to convince her anyway. The others never want to participate, instead, they are betting about who will survive the longest, boring. I don¡¯t dislike them, but despite with Clarance, I don¡¯t talk much. And it¡¯s not like it¡¯s about to change. It¡¯s been ages since someone new arrived, the last batch of newcomers just died, and they were in an easy session. It¡¯s always the same in those cases, they get too confident, one or two get corrupted by some random evil, or want the cake for himself and they kill each other. I went to the surveillance room, sat in my usual chair, and turned on the computer. Hum? A new group has already started their quest apparently. Shit, how did I missed this? Oh, it¡¯s been only a month since they got inside, that¡¯s why. Let¡¯s check them out. ¡°Username: Vachakin Mdp: **************************************¡± What a stupid username. Anyway, I clicked on the STNL programme, and a window popped up on the screen. There are multiple profiles available, I checked the 7 latest addition. 4 guys and 3 girls. I started with the girls. They seemed to have everything under control, their pace is kind of slow though. I started to look at the boy''s footage too and found something odd. It¡¯s rare for newcomers to struggle in their first stage. Maybe it is a hard session? That would be exciting, those are rare, and more fun to watch. The more I look at them, the more it makes sense, they are having too much hardship for a sub-10 struggle. And there is even one of the guy stuck into a jungle for his first trial! He is the only one still in his first struggle, survival trial tends to be hard, but they often don¡¯t last longer than a week. He spent way too much time in the tutorial stage, the others are already past their 3rd struggle.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Wait? Is that a sabretooth tiger? Shit, they almost never appear so early, the newbie is in a bad spot. Fortunately for him, he seems to have a good control of the flux, and even though the tiger is fast, it is pretty dumb, so he might be able to do it. Yes! He won! Well, it¡¯s more like the tiger impaled itself on the dagger, but it still impressive. I like this guy, his name is¡­ Samsy. He is definitely odd, at first glance I thought he was an albino, but his eyes are blue. Also, it¡¯s just his first real trial, but he already have his way surviving into the wildness, surely he must have some experience from his life on Earth. Finally, I caught up with the live. He has spent a few days exploring the jungle. Damn, his trial is taking forever! I remember my first survival game, it was hard for sure, but it only lasted a week. Hum? He stopped in the middle of the bridge. Why? Is he afraid? Of what? I don¡¯t see anything. I put my earphones on and turned up the volume. Holy shit! This is bad, this is not supposed to happen, the Black and Yellow death is a level 20 monster, how is it possible?! However, it happened, the bee moves fast, so fast it¡¯s almost instant. But Samsy dodge the first attack, he didn¡¯t move fast, he moved before the attack came, and after that, he cut the bee in half. ¡°What the fuck!!!¡± It is impossible. A noob killing the black and yellow death is unheard of. I just can¡¯t believe it, he cut it just like that, with a silver dagger? ¡°What¡¯s happening Val?¡± I realized I was standing, and my chair was on the ground. Shit, I overreacted. ¡°Nothing, nothing, Clar, a newbie surviving against the odds, as usual.¡± ¡°Maybe you should cheer for them, for a change.¡± ¡°Yeah, and maybe I should start a life of chastity and piety in a nunnery.¡± Having said that, she does have a point, I want him to succeed. Opposite to most new guys, this one seems to have some backbone. I put my chair back on its feet and resume my watching activity. Sam was now lying down, unconscious, on the bridge. That makes sense, he must have used his title power. The first time tends to exhaust the user a lot. That¡¯s a bit sad, dying like that... Sad for him. ... I stood up from my chair and headed towards the exit. ¡°You are leaving?¡± Clarence called out to me, she was also in front of her screen and seemed to have chosen one of the girls as her prot¨¦g¨¦. ¡°Yeah, following your advice, I¡¯m going to start an orphanage.¡± She sighed. ¡°Sometimes, I really can¡¯t read you.¡± Chapter 9 - Riddles I slowly opened my eyes, with a strong feeling of d¨¦j¨¤-vu. I stood up on my feet, around me¡­ a plain. Once again, I woke up in the middle of a huge plain. I don¡¯t know who have made this but clearly, he lacks imagination. Well, at least I am not in the jungle anymore. I wonder how I did get out though. If I remember correctly, I was about to leave the forest...no! There was a cliff! And a¡­ bridge? This is useless, everything is blurry. Maybe I fall down and hit my head? In any case, I am alive now, and out, meaning that I passed the trial. This is the most important right now. I took out the book from my pocket. ¡°Struggle#02 Objective: Undo the inhabitant¡¯s petrification Sub-objective: none¡± Well, at least this time the objective seems clear. I looked around, if there are people to save, surely there should be a village or a town nearby, and indeed, I could see a huge structure 20km away - approximately. I couldn¡¯t see it with my bare eyes of course, but with magic, I can create a sort of ghostly third eye and send him high up in the air. This magic thing sure is convenient. I don¡¯t know how, but I am not hungry nor tired. Maybe I level up? Haha, that would be funny. The important fact is that I am full of energy! So I decided to run towards the city, and reached it in an hour, I know I keep saying this, put this magic thing is really a cheat. I don¡¯t even feel tired... So here I am, this doesn¡¯t look like Lora¡¯s village at all. This city is way more modern, there is a lot of tall and modern building. I never seen one in real life before, they are impressive. Actually, this is the first time I see a city so clean, I am a bit jealous. Well, not that much. The city was inhabited, of course, and as expected, there were all petrified. The streets were filled with statues of people. They weren''t shocked, or afraid, so it should have happened instantly. That or they are real statues and the quest is messing with me once again. I tried to cure them the same way I did back then with the villagers, but without any success, reminding me that I still have rooms for improving this ability. I was reflecting on a course of action while wandering this frozen city. Will I have to cure them myself? If so, I need to train a lot, cause I feel like I am nowhere close the required level. Another possibility would be that there is somewhere someone or something that could help me. This is highly possible, seeing how the game had functioned until now. ¡°Great! A new challenger!¡± What? I looked around me, I was in a huge plaza, with a huge fountain right in the center. In front of this fountain stand a weird creature on a pedestal. It was a lion with a human head and a pair of wings. Pretty ridiculous combination. ¡°What are you waiting for? Come in front of me!¡± The chimera was talking. To me. Well, at least it doesn¡¯t try to kill me. I approach the pedestal. She opened her eyes wide and gazed intensely into mine. ¡°Fine! You are worthy of listening to my riddles.¡± ¡°Riddles?¡± ¡°Yes! To complete my challenge, you have to answer correctly to 3 of my best enigma.¡± ¡°And what happens if I got them wrong?¡± ¡°Silly question, if you fail, you shall be petrified.¡± ¡°So you are the one that turned those people into statues!¡± ¡°Absolutely, as their representative failed the challenge, they all paid the price!¡± That was true, I saw on the other side of the pedestal another stone person, but this one had clearly panicked before the transformation. If this thing turns people into stone, I don¡¯t think I can fight it. My best bet would be to take the challenge. Damn, it seems simple yet so dramatic. I may have survived hell to be frozen in time by a chimera so ridiculous it could have been drawn by a 12-year-old drugged addict. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± "First riddle: What have 4 legs in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 3 at dawn?"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Shit, I am really not good at riddles. I took a deep breath, okay, let''s think rationally. First, what is he talking about? He spoke about legs, so it must be an animal or something that move. Second, no animal I know has the particularity to change its anatomy during the day. So the legs are probably referring to something else, or maybe the metaphor is on the cycle of the sun. Oh! I see! "It¡¯s the human." "Correct answer! Second riddle." ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t need to explain why?¡± ¡°Nah, everybody knows this one, it¡¯s a kind of warm-up.¡± ¡­ and here I thought I was clever. "As I was saying. Second riddle: How old am I?¡± "You¡­ don''t know it yourself?" "Correct answer!" This thing is stupid or what? There is a text incised in the stone pedestal right in front of me saying: Sphinx, [some bullshit about her intelligence], date of birth: unknown. I feel so underwhelmed... "Third and last question! You can answer by only yes or no. If you are right, the petrification spell will be lifted. If you fail, you will be joining them in a motionless eternity!" He stopped talking in the middle of his speech and smiled. Maybe for a dramatic effect. I hope it is because it is working pretty well. My chest is about to explode right now. "Will I petrify you?" ...Shit. I should have seen something like that coming. If I say no, he might petrify me, and I lose. If I say yes, he won¡¯t petrify me, meaning that I lose, meaning that I will be turned into stone anyway. I finish petrified with both answers¡­ This shitty challenge¡­ I was framed from the beginning. No, maybe there is a way. Maybe there is a right answer. I just have to believe my instinct. "My answer is yes" His smile widens. "CORRECT ANSWER!" He shouted so loud I had to cover my ears and closed my eyes. Is that it? I opened my eyes, no, I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn¡¯t. In fact, I couldn¡¯t move my body at all. That was it, I was petrified. Shit, I was wrong after all. At least the city would be cured, right? I am not even sure any more¡­ I stood there, can¡¯t see anything, can¡¯t feel anything. Nothing but the silent darkness of eternity. I wonder how long I will stay in this state. Do I need to eat or drink? Well, at least I can still think properly for the moment. I already miss my senses though, eternity would be more bearable if I could at least feel the light summer breath of the wind on my face, yeah, pretty much like that. Wait, what? I opened my eyes, I could see again, I could hear. I have been cured! In front of me was standing the proud statue of the Sphinx. I guess this was the answer, I was counted with the other petrified people before she lifted the spell. Haha, I am so luc.. hum smart! Just to be sure, I took out the Questbook. ¡°Struggle#02 Objective:Cure the people of J-City Sub-objective: Pass the Sphinx test ¨C Tell the city about the cursed ¨C Find the city¡¯s secret¡± Apparently, the sub-objective are revealed only after finishing the first one. That¡¯s pretty fucked up. Well, that doesn¡¯t matter for now, ¡®cause I have won!
¡°Struggle#03 Objective: Reach the summit Sub-objective: none¡± I didn¡¯t want to spend too much time in the city, so I left as fast as I could. Here I am, on the lower part of a mountain. The whole thing is huge, and I obviously don¡¯t have any equipment. I feel pretty stupid for not buying basic survival materials at the city 20 minutes ago. Well, I didn¡¯t have money anyway, and besides, I resolve the blanket problem. Thanks to magic, I can heat myself while I sleep, not much, but enough to be comfortable. I am starting to wonder how this thing works though. I took out the book once, and red it from the beginning again. The more I think about it, the less it makes sense. It is titled ¡°Samsy¡¯s Quest: Seer of Humility¡±, what does that mean? Is Humility a person? What his a Seer? Why my name is written here? Something caught my eyes, the back of the book was emitting a faint light. I returned the book, and there was a sort of translucent screen floating on top of the back cover. Something was written on it. V: Took you long enough nevvbie! (*£þn£þ) Chapter 10 - A guide ? V: You took your time, nevvbie! (*£þn£þ) Something is written on the screen. What is the thing in the end? An angry face? V: Hey, I am talking to you!!! What? The text updated! Is this thing talking to me? V: Hum¡­ you must be one of those that come from some lame Medieval Earth. V: To respond, you have to think about your ansvver and touch the button shape on the bottom right of the screen. S: Like this? S: It worked! V: Congratulation, you have the ability to move a finger and think. V: You should run for the presidency. S: What do you mean? V:*sigh* Nothing. V: Anyvvay V: I have an announcement for you! V: Today, you have the great honour of having me, as your quest guide! (????) S: Hum... S: I don''t understand... V: Long story short, I am on the same quest/adventure than you, but vvay further ahead. So I, and others on this stage, are helping nevvcomers like you. S: Oh! Great! S: Finally, some information! S: I have so many questions I don''t even know where to start. V: VVovv! Hold on, I never said I vvould ansvver your questions. V: I am not Google. S: You said you were my guide! S: And I don¡¯t know what is google. V: VVell, anyone has his ovvn vvay of guiding people. S: Why did you contact me then? V: First, because I am obliged to. V: Second, I have to admit I am a bit curious about you. S: Okay, you lost me again. S: Aren¡¯t YOU the guide. You are the one supposed to have the answers. V: Yes. Just shut up, give me vvhat I vvant, and then, maybe, I¡¯ll be nice to you. S: *sigh* V: First question, the basics, vvhat are your Class and Virtue? S: Class? Virtue? S: Oh! You mean what is written at the start of the book? V: Bullseye Einstein. (£»Ò»_Ò») S: The title says I am the Seer of Humility.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. V: Hum! That¡¯s surprising. S: Why? V: Nothing. Just that you¡¯ve got yourself quite a special class. S: What does it mean anyway? V: I guess I¡¯ll settle for one ansvver for one question. I am in a good mood. V: Your title doesn''t really mean anything, but it is linked vvith the ability you will be able to develop during the adventure. But as there is so many possibilities vvith the flux, 2 people vvith the same Class would never do things the same vvay, so at the end of the day, they don¡¯t mean shit. S: Wow. You answered it pretty well. That was unexpected. V: Thanks (????) S: That wasn¡¯t a compliment. S: And what is special about the Seer class? V: Second question: vvhat are your current flux ability and hovv did you managed to kill that bee in the jungle? S: Hey! I asked a question¡­ V: And I ignored it. Move on nevvbie. S: Are you really a guide? Or are you just here to mess with me? I don¡¯t know what is this flux your talking about. S: Wait, are you talking about magic? V: VVe call it flux, magic vvas confusing. S: Well, I don¡¯t really know how to measure it. I can create a sort of invisible eye to see far away and stuff like that. S: I can enhance myself and become fast and strong, but I don¡¯t really know how much. Besides, with beasts like the sabretooth tiger, I don¡¯t think it''s impressive. S: As for killing the bee¡­ I don¡¯t remember. Are you sure I did that? Everything is blurry, I just vaguely remember a bridge. V: That¡¯s vvhat I thought, don¡¯t vvorry, it happens quite often. To put it simply, you used a technique vvay above your level, and it consumes so much of your energy you lost consciousness. And a bit of memory too apparently. V: Actually, you got really lucky, I savv guy blovving up themselves like that, literally. S: I wish I could remember though... S: Now that you mention it, how many people have been sent in this game? S: Have you finish your quest? Is it possible to get out? V: A lot, yes, and I don¡¯t knovv, probably no. S: ... S: Could you be more specific? V: No. V: Third and last question! V: VVhere are you from? S: Neohope, but the name of the country change quite often. V: Never heard about it. You are probably from a deviant Earth. S: Deviant? What? V: To keep it simple. V: You, I and every other quester come are from the Earth. V: But vve don¡¯t all come from the same Earth. V: VVe are dispatched by groups of seven at a time from the same place. S: We are from different parallel universe? V: Yep, you catch up fast. (^_^)v S: Why is my universe deviant? And you said they were others people but I was alone when I woke up. V: Did a global war happened since the start of the 21st century? S: Of course, more than one in fact. V: Just know that most of us come from a version of the Earth where peace has been preserved until now, well, at least officially. Nearly all people live in cities and our survival is pretty much assured. S: Oh... I see. V: Also, about the others from your place, you vvont be able to see them until the 10th struggle. V: And you should all knovv each other already. S: What do you mean? V: It¡¯s always the same pattern. The other person brought here are your f... people you are close to. S: Shit! I hope they''re doing okay. V: I don¡¯t know, I didn¡¯t ask. V: Nobody has said anything about someone dying so I guess they are all fine. S: That¡¯s a relief. S: Well, I should say it was to be expected. V: VVhat do you mean? S: When it comes to hunting and fighting. I am more or less the shrimp of the group. V: ¡­ V: Interesting. S: I have one question left right? V: Yep S: Hum¡­ S: Who are you? V: Sorry, can''t tell you that. V: Well, I''m gonna go novv. V: Bye nevvbie. (^_^)v He left the chat... This bastard! He really is pissing me off. I find it hard to believe that he is a guide. He did told me some information, but this is not enough! Where are we? What is at the end of the game? Who is he? How are they able to watch us? Who are "they"? I don''t even know if I can trust what he said to me, but if it is true, then that means the others are also here. No matter what, I have to find them. He said we will meet at the 10th struggle, at least, I have a real objective now.
He is great! I can¡¯t stop smiling. This will be so fun! ¡°Clar!¡± ¡°Hum?!¡± ¡°No, not only Clar, everyone! I want to make an announcement.¡± ¡°Already told''ya, Val, don¡¯t wanna bet on my prot¨¦g¨¦''s life.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Jules, no bet this time. I want to make a proposal, I know it¡¯s a bit early, but I really like those new guys. So I propose this. What if we make their session, the first successful session of the game?¡± Chapter 11 - Naomis adventure Struggle#07 Objective: Become the richest Sub-objective: Nothing illegal While Samsy was going through his 3rd struggle, one of his friends entered her 7th one. You may think that he is slow, but there is actually a good reason for that. Anyway, this person is named Naomi, she is a pretty average 17-year-old girl, with dark blue hair and big beautiful green eyes, but she is, in fact, one of the most intelligent person alive among the multiple version of the Earth. Her inner talent allows her, among other things, to memorize and comprehend any information she encounters. Basically, she has a perfect memory. Inner talent, or i-talent for short, is a rare ability, and it¡¯s usually not that strong. Nonetheless, Samy¡¯s friend are all exceptional in that regards, for instance, they all have at least top athletic physical capability. That¡¯s the reason why Sam didn¡¯t exaggerate saying he was the weakest person of the group. Back to Naomi, she managed to clear her initial struggle (the struggle#00) in less than a week. She first had to help a merchant to repair his cart, and having solid knowledge in carpentry ¨C actually she have solid knowledge in everything ¨C she made the reparation in a few hours. After that, they headed towards the nearest city. The journey latest 4 days, during which our genius girl discovered the usage of the flux. Once again, her skills are a cut above Samsy¡¯s, as she learned to create arrows of pure energy in 2 days. Her mission was to ¡°Survive the attack¡± and was the reason why she accepted to travel with this unknown man in the first place. Looking back, it was a really bad idea, and as expected, he assaulted her on the 3rd night. Using a collar that sealed flux usage, and restraining her with superhuman strength, he almost managed to add her to his slave collection. However, as said previously, she is a genius, and she prepared for this kind of eventuality. She stabbed her hidden stroke in his eye and killed him. That¡¯s how she realized about the twisted side of this game. The following struggle took place in the middle of an ocean. Nothing thrilling happened, as for anything else, she knows about ships. So with her newly acquired magic, she managed to operate the whole boat by herself. She reached an island and cleared the trial. In the same way, she cleared all her trial swiftly and skilfully. All until her 6th struggle. The stage was simple, just her and another individual. A 30 years looking man wearing a mage robe. He presented himself as the Mage Kunan, and she had to defeat him to move on to the next level. He was amazingly strong. Each time Naomi used a spell to attack him, he would deflect it and counterattack with an exact copy of the spell she just used. He didn¡¯t just copy spells, he learned them, and as his power was stronger than Naomi¡¯s, each spell could only be used once.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Their duel lasted for days, during which she got partially burned, frozen, cut, pierced and so on. Fortunately, her genius worked better than ever before. She couldn¡¯t use a spell twice? Fine, that is not a problem if your range of spell increase during the fight. Rain of magic arrow, fire lasers, blade of thunder, sphere of cold, gravity field. Name a spell, she used it. Her reserved of flux wasn¡¯t unlimited, but there was some kind of aura surrounding the arena, allowing them to go all out without getting exhausted. In fact, it looked like the whole stage was made for her to develop her flux abilities, and that worked perfectly. She did defeat him. In the end, she had used more than a thousand different spells, including tornado, magma splash, and mythical beast invocation. Kunan didn¡¯t die, actually, she didn¡¯t really win, the book said only to defeat Kunan, so the instant he admitted his loss, it was over, even though he still had the upper hand. They salute each other, and she left. That how our dear Naomi ended up here, at Wallstreet in the 80s. Truth to be told, that is underwhelming. After having a death match, earning money is not what you can call a thrilling challenge. She took out her Questbook. N: Dear Clarence, I Have An Inquiry. C: Every-c-g for my cutie (=^¡¤^=) N: You May Have Seen My Last Struggle On Your Device. Is It A Normal Occurrence? C: What do you mean? (=^¡¤^=) N: This Peculiar One Was Above Formidable. I Actually Thought I Would Die. C: Oh yeah, that was intense :3, but I had 100% trust in you. \(=^¡¤^=)/ C: I have no idea ifc-s is normal, but it does happen from time to time that one struggle is way more difficult than the others. C: Wait a minute, Ic-nk Jules¡¯ prot¨¦g¨¦ had passed the c-xth trial too. C: Yep, c-ms like your se-c-on have a common hardship! :3 N: A Common Hardship You Say? C: Yep yep, it means that you will all have a hard time pa-c-ng this stage. N: Oh¡­ C: Don¡¯t worry, one of your friends have also passed, I don¡¯t c why any of you wouldn¡¯t make it. (=^¡¤^=) N: I Appreciate The Positive Thought¡­ C: Come on Naomi¡­ I can c you right now. C: You look down, what is happening. N: I Am Worried Clarence. C: You are talking about Sam-c? :3 Don¡¯t worry, Val got the whole c-tuation covered! C: Usuallyshe is rooting for the newbie''s death, but c-s time it will be fine :3 N: ¡­ N: Aren¡¯t You Supposed To Reassure Me? C: Did I say some-c-ng wrong? :3 N: No, It Is Nothing. N: I Am Tired, I Think I Will Rest Myself. N: Aurevoir Clarence. She disconnect from the chat, and put the book back in her back pocket. She knows that worrying won¡¯t help at all, but who can blame her. After a long sighed, she gathered herself, and went to look for a place to sleep. The only way she have a chance help him is by moving forwards, and she perfectly understood that. Chapter 12 - Back to School (1) ¡°Struggle#03 Objective: Reach the summit Sub-objective: Kill the Yeti ¨C Find the entrance to the Secret Cave ¨C Meet with the God of the Mountain¡± "Struggle#04 Objective: Have *** with the House Mistress Sub-objective: Make her *** - Do *** with *** and *** several times ¨C Receive praise" The mountain was not that high after all, it took me 3 days to climb it. I am proficient when it comes to climbing trees but I managed to finish this struggle swiftly. Truth to be told, I am so glad I avoided the Yeti. I did saw him, but it was clear I would be no match at all, so I fled immediately. As for the 4th struggle¡­ I don¡¯t want to talk about it. This was¡­ embarrassing. So what about now? "Struggle#05 Objective: Befriend Nath Sub-objective: none" Great, this one doesn¡¯t seem that hard. I looked all around me, I was in front of a huge building. To be more precise, I was in front of gates. If I remember correctly, I saw one of this kind of building in a book¡­ Isn¡¯t that a school? I remarked this time I appeared with a bag, a simple backpack. I opened the zip and inside I found some clothes. Do I have to put them on? That¡¯s when I heard someone approaching, I looked and saw some people my age walking towards the entrance. They were all wearing the same clothes. Oh, I understand now. Wearing the uniform I got from the bag, I entered the school. Maybe I am going to fast into this, but I don¡¯t see any other possibility, I mean, I arrived in front of a school with its uniform, and my mission is to befriend someone. I am no genius but I can see when 2+2=4. Having said that¡­ Where do I go? I have been wandering in the corridor for a while now. The other people are in rooms. Is this how they learned stuff? By packing 30 persons in a classroom with the older one doing the lecture? That looks boring¡­ "Hey! You! What are you doing here?" Someone shouted at me from the other side of the corridor. He was a big muscular man, looking at his face, he seems to be a tough guy. "Me?" "Yes, you. Are you a student?" "Well, that''s complicated¡­" "Wait a minute, are you the transfer student?" "... yes?¡± "You are late! Follow me." Once again, the game scenario eases my life. No, I can¡¯t say that, as it¡¯s also the reason why I am here. The building is huge, there are at least 3 levels, with more than ten classrooms per level. And it seems there is also a gymnasium, a big courtyard, and many more facilities, such as a library. The whole site was immense. We walked for 5 minutes before arriving at an office, and he knocked at the door. "Enter please" A feminine voice answered him and he signed me to go inside. We entered in what seems to be the teacher''s room. Most desks were empty, obviously because it was lecture time. There was a female teacher, pretty young, she was surely the one who told us to enter. "I think he is the transfer student. He was lost in the school''s corridor." "What is your name?" She asked. "Samsy" ¡°Your name.¡± ¡°Sacre¡± I couldn''t come up with anything so I thought I might as well tell my true name. She looked in some files for a couple of minutes before taking one out. "Here you are! Do you have your student ID?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You should have received it with your uniform though..." Really? I am sure I only got the uniform¡­ Shit, she is gazing at me pretty intensely, I have to say something! Do I say that I forgot it at home or that I lost it? "Sorry, I lost it at home." I am so good at improvisation.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Well... I think we can make you one in the afternoon, but you need to be careful about this kind of thing young man.¡± Then, we went through some administrative stuff, I got my uniform and went to class. It was almost the noon break when I got into the classroom. The teacher, a man in his fifties, grey hair, a bit short, made me introduced myself to the class. I didn¡¯t know what to say, and I presumed the ¡°hey I am on a mysterious mission to befriend Nath in order to leave this dimension¡± would be a little weird, so I just said my name. I quickly went to the desk the teacher pointed to me. Then he resumed the class, it was physics. As expected, it was boring. Nobody talked except the teacher, and everything he was saying was useless. I already learned all this stuff, but in my memories, it wasn¡¯t that boring. The bell ringed at 12. The teacher left the room and immediately after, and I was ambushed by the other student. ¡°Where are you from¡±,¡±Did you dye your hair?¡±,¡±Where do you live¡± and so on. They assaulted me with a swarm of questions, so fast I couldn¡¯t answer anything properly. The main subject seemed to be my hair. Funny, I didn¡¯t thought having white hair would be that uncommon. In the batch of question, one startled me: ¡°What is your psychic level?¡± ¡°Psychic level?¡± They seemed a bit surprised by my ignorance. A blond girl tried to explain to me. ¡°Well, you know¡­ how strong is your psychic ability.¡± ¡°Do you mean telekinesis and stuff?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°If it¡¯s that, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother Nath! Another shrimp joined the school!¡± The one who said that was the back of the classroom. I looked at him, he was your typical delinquent, red dyed hair, piercing on ears, black jacket. He approached me with a smirk on his face, the circle of people around me made way, seemingly intimidate by this mighty and strong looking person ¨C that was irony. He called me a shrimp, which means he think I have no psychic ability whatsoever. The truth is I never really tried anything more than physical enhancement, and the few time I didn¡¯t end well. I felt something around my neck. It was like someone was trying to strangle me, but the strength was¡­ laughable? It was as if a 5-year old child was doing the job. The main suspect is in front me, looking down and smiling. I see what he want to do, he is a typical bully, trying to overpower the new guy in front of the class to show who is the boss. This is boring. I looked up at him, unphased. ¡°Can you stop this please?¡± My lack of reaction is definitely troubling him. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I said. Stop.¡± I don¡¯t use telekinesis, but I do know how to release bloodlust. He fell down on his but, scared, like he saw a monster. I am a bit surprised myself at how effective it was. The whole classroom was shocked by what happened, I took this opportunity to sneak out. I went to the bathroom, I am not good with this kind of attention. Anyway, it¡¯s past noon and I am hungry, the problem is that I don¡¯t have money. But I have something better. I have a plan, the first time I tried this I failed, but during the last struggle ¨C the one I absolutely don¡¯t want to remember ¨C I think I improved my flux management enough. I focus my energy in front of the mirror. Huge success, you have unlocked invisibility! Or so that¡¯s what I would hear if there was a competent system to tell me what I am doing. It''s not perfect, but it''s good enough to fool unsuspecting eyes. I am free to ¡°borrow¡± food from the store for free now. I am not proud of it, but it is the easiest way, and I won¡¯t be here for too long anyway. The school roof is off limit for the student, so it¡¯s perfect for me to take a real break and think about my course of action. This time the objective is to befriend someone named Nath¡­ Hey! I clearly heard the bully guy called the blond girl Nath. Holly shit, at least make the script a little less obvious! It''s like I don''t even have to think anymore. Well, maybe it¡¯s better for me, I already know who is my target. She seems to be a nice girl, it should be easy to be friend with her. What is worrying me is that the concept of friendship is kind of subjective. It could even be a euphemism for¡­ eurgh, weird memories are surfacing. Fortunately, something else caught my attention. I put some thought into the purpose of my Seer class, and I am speculating that it is related to perceptive abilities, so I try to improve it as much as I can. That¡¯s why right now, I can hear someone crying down in the school backyard. I leaned over the edge to see, and, as nobody would have guess, the blond girl was there. It took me five minutes or so to get down. Nath and 2 boys I have never seen before were here. The one crying, well, who was crying, is on the boy, the smallest one, the 2 others where apparently comforting him. I don¡¯t like getting into others problem like that, but if I have to get close to Nath, this is an occasion I shouldn¡¯t miss. So I approached them, faking being lost. ¡°Hey, do you know where is the...oh, am I interrupting something?¡± I am such a bad actor! Nonetheless, Nath remarked my presence. She smiled back at me and answered. ¡°Oh, no it¡¯s nothing. Your are the new guy that arrived today right? Are you lost?¡± ¡°Yeah...the school is huge, and I am really bad with direction. By the way, my name is Samsy.¡± ¡°Hehe, I know, you presented yourself in front of the class remember? I am Nathaly, and here are Nathan and Nathyn, we are childhood friends.¡± The two boys saluted me, even though the little one seemed a bit intimidated. Wait a second¡­ what is their name again? Chapter 13 - Back to School (2) To sum everything up: there is Nathaly, the blond popular girl, she is in the same class as me, seems cheerful and gentle. And her two childhood friends are named Nathan and Nathyn, they are 2 years younger than us and even though one is tall and muscular and the other small and skinny, they are twins. In order to pass the trial, I have to befriend Nath¡­ who the fuck is Nath?! I am tired of this, this game is really fucked up. Moreover, I am sure there is no real Nath, and the person concerned with my struggle is one of them. After our meeting, we all went back to class. The small guy, Nathyn, seemed intimidated by me, in fact, he avoided all form of eye contact. It looks like it would be harder to get close to him than the two others, which means that he is the most likely to be the right Nath. Nothing sure though, so I might as well work on my relationship with the three of them at the same time. Thanks to all the free time I have not listening to a quinquagenarian man babbling about pointless maths theorem nobody here will ever use, I was able to reflect on another issue, such as: where do I sleep tonight? I still don¡¯t have any money, and I can¡¯t afford to lose too much time working, so I came to the obvious conclusion, I¡¯ll have to steal. During the afternoon break, I managed to talk a bit more with Nathaly, and I made an interesting discovery. This morning I heard some people in the class talking about association and society, and it seems she is the manager of the masculine basketball team, where Nathan is playing as a regular. Apparently, sports here are telekinesis-free, so it makes sense a tall fit guy like him would be good at sports, in fact, Nathaly said he was a basketball fanatic, and that he was the main reason why she became the manager. This is good for me, I can get close to 2 targets at the same time! That¡¯s how I joined the basketball team. I never played sports before in my life, well, unless if you considered hunting and camping as sports. It sounds like fun. In fact, the first training session was right after school, what a sarcastic coincidence. As I said, they don¡¯t use psychic power for sports, so I figured I would keep flux out of the picture too. The truth is, I am used to be with physical freaks all the time, so I tend to forget I am athletically way above your average person. That¡¯s why the whole team is looking at me with eyes of disbelief right now. Okay, maybe the slam dunk was a bit too much. I have to admit, this is fun, I am still struggling with the basics, but this is liberating. At the end of the training, the blond and the tall Naths, with some dude I didn¡¯t know, probably the captain of the team, came to me. ¡°Samsy is it? I¡¯ll be frank, I am Gregoire, the team captain. I saw you today, and I have to admit, you are amazing, and I want you to become a regular.¡± ¡°But¡­ I just started...¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we came up with an idea.¡± This time, it was Nathan who stepped up to talk to me. He seemed pretty excited. ¡°With your physical ability, all you need is to train the fundamentals, so we wondered if you would be up for special training with me and Nath.¡± ¡°Nathaly plays too?¡± ¡°No I don¡¯t, but I am the only one able to get the key of the gymnasium outside of regular time-sheet.¡± ¡°So, what do you say?¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Truth to be told, this was too good an occasion to be missed, so I accepted. We parted ways after that, and the day ended up on this positive note. I have to admit, I feel pretty disturbed about this struggle, everything is going to smoothly. There were a lot of coincidence in the previous ones too, but not as much as here. On top of that, in this world, everyone has telekinesis ability, yet I don¡¯t feel it has any impact on the struggle. So what is the point then? Or maybe the world wasn¡¯t created for me. Maybe each world I went to until now are real. If that is the case where am I exactly? This is so confusing¡­ I also have to remind myself there is a third Nath, I almost forgot about him. In fact, I am convinced now, that he is the right Nath, the one I need to be friend with. I have to find a way to resolve his problem. The next morning passed as the first one, boring and questionably insulting for science itself. I wonder if this is the norm of education here, if so, this is disappointing. Anyway, today, I start "special" training with Nath and Nath ¨C I think I already hate this name, I¡¯ll have to find a way to differentiate them quickly. On my way to the sports hall, I saw people going behind the school building. I immediately understood what it was about, Nathyn was with 3 typical-looking bully, including the red-haired one from day 1. So that must be the reason he was crying yesterday, bullying. I went after them, and when I got there, the red guy was already holding Nathyn by his necktie. ¡°Do you have what I asked for shrimp?¡± ¡°I-I told you¡­ I don-t ha-have more money?¡± ¡°And I said I don¡¯t give a shit!¡± He raised his hand, the occasion was too good, they didn¡¯t saw me approaching, so I was already close enough to act. I jumped behind him and grabbed his wrist. ¡°Come on guys, 3 on 1? Are you serious?¡± ¡°Who is this fucker?!¡± One of the thugs shouted at me. ¡°Che, you are the new guy, right? I¡¯ll teach you how it works here!¡± The third one threw a punch at me, slow and clumsy. I release the wrist I was holding and grabbed the fist coming at me, following that, I easily armed locked him. They are really weak, I felt some pressure, probably coming from there mental power, but again, it''s like being slapped by a 5-year-old kid. And I am being generous. ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°Hey what d''you think you''re doing!¡± ¡°Stop it guys!¡± The other was ready to go, but the red-haired guy, who apparently was the leader, stopped him. He stared angrily at me, and they withdrew. Once again, that went easier than expected, I thought I would have to knock out the two minions at least. This quest is not what it used to be. I went to Nathyn. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± ¡°We met yesterday... I am Samsy.¡± ¡°Oh! I remember now...¡± Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, and seemed scared again, ¡°What have you done?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°They will come back at me even harder now!¡± ¡°Calm down¡­ Why are they bullying in the first place?¡± ¡°Tha...That¡¯s how it is. Didn¡¯t you hear about me? I am a shrimp.¡± So he was the one this red shit talked about yesterday. That makes sense. ¡°That¡¯s not fair, they have no right to take advantage of you because of that. In fact...¡± Shit! I remembered I was supposed to go train with Nathan right now! ¡°You know what, I have an idea! Le-let¡¯s meet after school. Right here, I-I¡¯ll wait for you.¡± And just like that, I swiftly left the scene. I don¡¯t think he will show up, but I don¡¯t have time to convince him anyway, and I can''t risk compromising my progress with the others. On the plus side, now I am aware of what I need to do for him. Chapter 14 - Back to School (3) I have been waiting for 20 minutes now¡­ I guess he really won¡¯t come. It was within my expectation, but I have to find another approach now. The important point is that I have to convince himself he can change. If he doesn¡¯t want to improve his condition by himself, it will be really difficult to finish the struggle. I know for a fact that it¡¯s hard to become friend with a low self-esteem person. On the bright side, I am now almost sure he is the right target. And even if I am wrong, I am already getting along with the two others. Also, because it was confusing to call them with the same name I decided to nickname them Naly, Nan, and I kept Nath for the real target. ¡°You really waited for me...¡± I gazed towards the person talking. ¡°You came¡­ that¡¯s great.¡± ¡°Why did you want us to meet here anyway?¡± ¡°Ok, I will be frank with you Nath. I asked around, and everyone in the school thinks you are a shrimp.¡± ¡°¡­ I told you that, why do you..¡± ¡°But! It¡¯s also clear to me that you don¡¯t like the current situation. Even more, you hate it, and you want to change it.¡± ¡°O-Of course I don¡¯t like it! But it¡¯s not like I can do anything about it!¡± ¡°Yes, you can!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me!¡± ¡°Who gives a shit! I am telling you I can help you!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want help! I can¡¯t be helped!¡± ¡°What are you talking about...¡± In the heat of the conversation, I stepped forward to grab his shoulder. ¡°Stay away from me!!!¡± I suddenly felt a force pushing me and was literally propelled, as if a car had hit me. I crashed into the wall so hard I cough blood, and I think it broke my spine. I felt on the ground, face first. Shit, it really hurts. A few seconds passed before I could focus enough to heal myself. I managed to harden myself a bit before the impact, so I avoided most of the damage. What concerned me right now is the person at the origin of the blow. And what about Naht?! To my surprise, he was in front of me, crying and panicking. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t want to¡­ oh god, what di-did I do?...¡± It was him? The school¡¯s shrimp broke the spin of a sabretooth tiger killer? By accident on top of that. Ouch, my back still hurts¡­ this is getting more complicated than I thought. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Nath¡­ I¡¯m fine...¡± I saw it on his face. He was shocked by the fact I was still alive, let alone conscious. After 10 minutes or so, I healed myself enough to sit down against the cracked wall of the school building. ¡°How...How did you do that?¡± ¡°I would ask you the same question. I didn¡¯t know that weaklings could kill someone by accident around here.¡± ¡°...¡± He looked down. Maybe that¡¯s the root of the problem, not his lack of power, the opposite. ¡°Come on, I told you. I want to help you. And with what just happened, I believe I deserve to know the story.¡± ¡°You are right... The truth is, I do have psychic powers, like everybody else. The problem is, I can¡¯t control it.¡± ¡°I see, so you prefer not using them at all, instead of risking an accident like now.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!¡°Yes...¡± ¡°Does your brother know about this?¡± ¡°No! He¡­ he doesn¡¯t know. Nathaly too.¡± ¡°Why? I mean, how? You are childhood friend right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a long story...¡± ¡°Come on, you¡¯ve gone too far to go back now, I want to know everything.¡± He sighed, and started his story. Approximately 10 years ago, an earthquake struck the northern part of the country, provoking tens of thousands of deaths, and hundreds of millions of material damages. It has been described as the worst natural disaster of the century. However, the truth is that it wasn¡¯t ¡°natural¡±, the Nath twins and their family were on vacancy there. Little Nathyn got troubled for a random reason, and lost control of his power. Yes, that¡¯s true, a 5 years old boy provoked the deadliest catastrophe ever recorded in the country, killing many people and destroying many more lives. That¡¯s why, since that day, he tries to seal his power. Shit, that¡¯s heavy. And I thought my background was tough¡­ ¡°So, the problem is that you are too overpowered, and because of that you are afraid of hurting people.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simpler than I thought then. You just have to train to hold back.¡± ¡°I tried! It doesn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°That¡¯s only because you never had a master before. Trust me, I can teach you how to be weak.¡± I extended my hand to him. I felt a bit of suspicion in his eyes, but he took a deep breath and, hesitantly, accepted my offer. And that¡¯s how I got my first disciple, sort of. I am so excited! The succeed of the struggle is only a matter of time now. Maybe I am starting to get my way in this game.
My daily routine is beginning to take shape. In the morning, before school, training session with little Nath. We start with some physical training, followed by basic telekinesis control exercise. The current one is to lift up a ball, without sending it to space. I also take this take this time to train my flux control. During lunch break, special basketball training with Naly and Nan. This shit is really fun, but I still have some problem with some fundamentals. I also have to be careful about my progress, because sometimes I feel like Nan is getting a bit jealous. And by the way, I hardly suspect the two of them to date each other, so I don''t know if he is resent me for becoming friend with Naly or for progressing faster than him at his favorite sport. Finally, after school, either I have a training with the regular team ¨C I still have to pretend I like basketball ¨C or I tutor Nath again. The book did not budge during all this time, even though I am pretty sure I have a good relationship with the three of them already¡­ so I can¡¯t help to wonder how much of a friend they have to consider me. Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, I have officially joined the regular team and my little disciple is able to attract a can without crushing it¡­ 6 times out of 10. Which is a tremendous progress, and he seems pretty excited about it. Anyway, except for the few times he nearly killed me during the training, those days have been quite peaceful. It¡¯s a nice change of pace from all those previous crazy struggles. I finished the evening training with the team, and as I was about to head home ¨C I stay in a hostel, paying the bill with "borrowed" money ¨C Naly called out to me. She often does that, I am usually the last to get out of the locker room, and she has to get the key back, so it¡¯s not rare that we end up talking on the way to the main building. Well, usually Nan is here too. Nonetheless, this time she seemed a bit disturbed. I wonder why. She is avoiding eye contact and looks a bit embarrassed, something must have happened. ¡°Sam¡­ I have something to ask you...¡± ¡°Is it about Nathan?¡± ¡°What? No¡­ why would there be something about him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, you seem a bit stressed¡­ so I thought...¡± ¡°Oh¡­ you think I am dating him?¡± ¡°Well...you two are often together so...¡± ¡°Ha. Hahahahah...¡± She started to laugh at me. Come on, am I so bad at this? I remember being quite good at spotting couple back on Earth. Also, her laugh is freaking me out a bit. Luckily she slowly stopped, while swiping the tears of joy on her cheeks. ¡°No, we are not dating. I wonder where you got that idea from.¡± ¡°Okay, I got it. So what did you want to ask me?¡± She stopped walking and looked straight into my eyes. She took a deep breath. ¡°Be my boyfriend.¡± Chapter 15 - Back To School (4) V: HAHAHAHAHAHAH XD S: Hey! That¡¯s not funny! V: Yeah it is. (^o^) V: I can¡¯t believe you are going out vvith a NP.XD S: Stop with the acronym, please. And I didn¡¯t say yes yet! V: ¡°Yet¡±. (^¡¤^) V: And it¡¯s not like you are displeased by the situation, are you? (~.~) S: ¡­ S: It¡¯s not like I want to accept. S: But there is the quest to take into account. V: Does your struggle specify you need to sleep with her. S: No! V: Too bad for you then. (^o^) S: Sigh. Anyway, do you have a reason for contacting me? S: I mean, other than making fun of me. V: Not really, just checking on you. V: You seem to have everything under control here. V: Oh! And I¡¯ll be pretty busy for a fevv days, so see you in a vvhile. (^.^)/~~~ I can never figure what he/she is thinking about. Well, despite his/her annoying behavior, he/she have a point. I need to take a decision. I just finished the morning training with Nath, and I am heading toward the main building. Yesterday, Naly asked me to go out with her. I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I said I will give my answer today, leaving the night to think about it. The problem is I still don¡¯t know! On one hand, she is a nice girl, pretty, gentle and funny. On the other, I barely know her. Moreover, my last relationship ended up not too long ago. Well, the only relationship I had ended up not too long ago, in fact, it was just a week before... this. I don¡¯t know if I can compare though, I knew Nami for a long time when I asked her. Maybe I am still not over with her. In fact, I am not even sure we broke up. I shouldn¡¯t date Naly. It¡¯s the best choice, I will leave soon enough anyway, to god knows where. Nonetheless, there is still the struggle. This relationship could help me a lot. Shit. I don¡¯t know what to do! While panicking about mydram dilemma, I tried as much as possible to avoid her. No eye contact during class and group chat during the morning break. I am doing pretty well until now, but the end is inevitable. I still have my daily training with her and Nathan. Well, at least when I play I can forget a bit about all my problems. The session ended, and as I was trying to ready myself to the upcoming confrontation, a miracle occurred. Nathan called out to me. He said to Naly to go first as he wanted to talk with me in private, between man as he said. So we waited on the stairs in front of the sports building that Naly went away, and when she was too far to hear us, Nan started to talk. ¡°I know what you¡¯re up to.¡± ¡°What?¡± He looked towards me, no, he was glaring at me. Is he angry? For what? ¡°Don¡¯t play the innocent. I know you want Nathaly for yourself.¡± ¡°Wh-Wha¡­ no, it¡¯s not...¡± ¡°Shut up! Just a word of advice...¡± I felt pressure around my neck and on my throat. He is¡­ strangling me? It¡¯s way stronger than the red-haired guy. I can¡¯t¡­ breath. I can¡¯t.. focus the flux¡­ ¡°She. Is. Mine.¡± Ouah! I took a deep breath. He finally released me! I looked at him, but he had already left for the main building. Okay, I tried to gather my thought. So Nathan is jealous of me because he thinks I want to date Nathaly. She, on the other hand, seems to be in love with me. I feel a bit... set up. And here I thought he was a good guy. Usually, I don¡¯t want unnecessary problems, but he threatened me out of the blue. Just because the guy has some power I should bow to him? He doesn¡¯t know me, where I come from people have died for less. He doesn¡¯t want me to date his childhood friend? We will see about it. My blood was boiling, it has been ages since I have been that pissed off. This little shit had fucking tried to kill me, this is serious. He might have decentabilities compared to the others, but he only got me by surprise. I don¡¯t think he can threaten me in a real fight. The first half of the afternoon seemed even longer than usual. Please, old man, nobody cares about what you are saying...Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Nonetheless, during that time I managed to calm down a bit, I am still angry, but I don¡¯t want to ruin the struggle. We have a 15-minutes break in the afternoon, so I called Naly out of the classroom. ¡°Hey! What do you want, it¡¯s like you are avoiding me since this morning.¡± ¡°I have finish thinking. Before I answer I have only one question. Why do you love me?¡± She widened her eyes to my question. Then smiled mockingly at me. What is it? Did I miss something funny again? ¡°I don¡¯t love you, idiot. I am interested because you are strong.¡± ¡°Wha¡­? Me? Strong? That¡¯s it?¡± I am so confused, what does she¡­ I felt something crushing me. As if the gravity had been drastically increased around me. I put one knee on the ground, struggling to not fall completely. I managed to keep my head up, and looked at her. She was the one doing this, with a vicious smile and glittering eyes. Shit! This world is crazy! And I am tired of being underestimated! With a full body enhancement, the pressure felt like a gentle breeze. I got up on my feet, head high, and I slowly stepped towards her. I stopped several centimeters from her face, glaring down at her. To my surprise, she jumped at me and kissed me. I pushed her immediately. ¡°What the fuck are you doing?!¡± ¡°I knew you were the real deal! The others! All weaklings!¡± She was in total ecstasy. She was looking at me while drooling. ¡°Ca-Calm down, okay.¡± "Come on! I was waiting for a guy like you!" She kept coming at me and I had a bit of trouble keeping her mouth away from mine. I wasn¡¯t prepared for a situation like this! What do I do?! ¡°OK! I¡¯ll go out with you but please stop!¡± As soon as I said that, sheceased immediately. With a satisfied smile on her face, she went back to the classroom. ¡°See you at the basketball training Honey!¡± Holy¡­ What did I do¡­ Sigh¡­ I want to leave this struggle already. ~~ During the second half of the afternoon, I felt a bit¡­ uncomfortable. I thought it would kind of my provocation to Nathan to got out with Naly, but I am not sure I made the right decision¡­ Even now, she is looking at me with lustful eyes. What a weirdo, I wonder how she managed to fool everyone about her fetish. No, in fact, I understand a bit. It¡¯s hard to compare, but the gravity field she used was an advanced technique. Nan strangulation doesn''t come close to that, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised he put all his mental strength into that. She grew up in an environment where she is too strong and no one is her equal. So she got a fetish about guys stronger than her, classic. Holy shit, she must never know about Nathyn! The bell rang, announcing the end of today¡¯s class. I headed towards the sports hall without waiting for Naly. I wonder if it¡¯s me being paranoid, but as I am changing into my sportswear, I definitely feel an ominous glare¡­ That¡¯s impossible he already knows, right? I went out of the locker room and we started the warm-up. After that, I realized I made a huge miscalculation. As I was wiping away the sweat from my forehead with a towel. Nathaly came from my dead angle and kissed me. What a soft sensation on my lips¡­ Shit! What am I thinking?! I looked around, everyone saw us, of course, but I lost sight of the most important one. ¡°YOU FUCKER!!!¡± Behind me? I turned my head around, and my cheek made contact with Nathan¡¯s fist. I flew through the door and landed a few meters further outside. Shit! When will I learn to get my guard in time?! I managed to avoid a bit of damage but clearly, I could have done better. I got up and saw him, flying after me like a rocket, and he hit me with a drop-kick. Damn, he really has a problem with his anger management. But this time I was prepared, I hardened as much as I could, and I didn¡¯t felt anything when he touched me, but I was nonetheless sent flying towards the main building. I managed to land on my feet and waited for him to come again. As expected, he charged me with the same technique again. It looks like he is enraged and his thought-process damaged. I dodge the kick at the last seconds, and, while he was still horizontally flying, punched him in the chest, stopping is course, and projecting him to the ground. I¡¯ve heard that psychic can surround themselves with a sort of invisible armor, so I didn¡¯t hold back my strike. As a result, he was already rolling in pain on my feet. Few, glad I could end it without hurting him too much. I guess now I should go back to the others and explain what¡­ I heard a huge explosion, close, really close. I looked at my right. There was a huge cloud of dust. Less than 5 meters away from us. What the heck? Leaving Nan on the ground, I rushed towards it. What the fuck is happening now? I can¡¯t see anything inside. Shit, why do I say that! I am a fucking Seer! I activated my thermal vision, inside the cloud, there are two people. One lying on the ground, and the other on top of him, grabbing him bythe neck. Who is that? Another crazy student has also lost his mind today? Shit, there is no time to think, I jumped inside and tackled the assailant. I hit him with enough force to push us out of the dust cloud, and we rolled down a few meters before stopping. I was on top of him, ready to strike. Then, I recognized the student in front of me... ¡°Nath?¡± Chapter 16 - Back to School (5) An invisible impact projected me away from Nathyn. I managed to keep my balanced and landed near the dust cloud. ¡°Nath! What is happening?¡± He didn¡¯t answer, instead, he swiped his arm in front of him, and I was hit by a surge of wind. Again, I flew several meters before getting my feet back on the ground. The dust was totally gone now, revealing the red-haired bully, unconscious, on a totally destroyed ground. ¡°That¡¯s it? Revenge? I thought you would be better than this!¡± ¡°What is the point?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What is the point of being nice? Why should I be kind? Why should I forgive them?¡± ¡°What are you talking about! What the fuck happened?!¡± This is bad, his face is serious. I don¡¯t know if I can reason with him. ¡°Sam! Nini?! What the...¡± Nathaly arrived the scene, shocked. Not only her, but many people have started to gather around, the previous crash must have attracted them. My pupil was now floating slightly above the ground, and multiple pieces of rocks or dirt were levitating around him. In a way, I am glad I managed to improve his control... ¡°I am tired Samsy¡­ All my life I tried to protect people from myself. For what? Nothing! In this world, the strong must step on the weak. I finally understood that.¡± Shit! How did this escalate so quickly? He seemed fine this morning! Something must have happened with those thugs. ¡°Please! Calm down! You had your reven...¡± ¡°You have no idea! You have no idea what I went through! This is not about revenge, it¡¯s about justice! And I am far from finished!¡± He lifted his right arm straight towards me. To my surprise, Naly intervened. ¡°Stop it, Nini! You are out of your mind!¡± ¡°HE LIED TO US!¡± ¡°¡°What?¡±¡± ¡°Did you think psychics were only about telekinesis? I can read thought. At first, I trusted you. You are from another universe? So what? But in the end, you deceived me. You deceived all of us.¡± ¡°What are talking about?¡± ¡°He wants to leave. And for that, he needed to become friend with me, you and my brother. That¡¯s the only reason why you helped me, right?¡± Shit! He heard about the struggle! Nathaly slowly turned her head to me, her eyes were wide open in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not true, right?¡± ¡°No! Well, it¡¯s complicated. I just wanted to...¡± I felt a pressure binding me and lifting me in the air. A really strong grip, even with enhancement, I can¡¯t break free. ¡°It¡¯s over Sam! You weren¡¯t any better than the others.¡± ¡°Listen to...¡± Before I could finish my sentence, I got projected towards the main building and crashed through several walls. Shit. It hurts. Painfully, I got on my feet and started the healing process. Okay, the situation is bad. I don¡¯t think he will ever listen to me, so I have to take him down first. A direct confrontation would be suicidal, I have to find a way to take him by surprise¡­ I looked at the human-size hole on the wall I just made. He was already here, glaring at me. ¡°Nath! Listen to me! This is not a lie! I am your...¡± Shit! Will he ever let me finish a sentence?! I passed through the rest of the building, and land brutally in the front yard. No joking around now. I discarded the pain and immediately got up, and activated the invisibility. With dust blown up from the previous blow, he won¡¯t be able to see me.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. He landed close to me, and with one move of his hand, dispersed the whole cloud. I got pushed a little, but not enough to make me fall down. He noticed me, but I was already close enough. I kicked him in the head as hard as I could, but his only reaction was a faint smile. My legs did hit him, but his psychic barrier or whatever is too strong. It felt like hitting a block of steel. Great, my head hurts now. I knew he was powerful, but this is bluntly unfair. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, he punched me. The world around me stopped for a second, and I was propelled. After literally passing through the school again, I regained my focus only in the middle of the air, flying in the sky. This is bad¡­ I am pretty high up and I don¡¯t think I have any means of slowing down my fall... Am I going to die? It looks like it¡­ I felt my speed slowing down a bit, but it¡¯s far from being enough to land without all my bones getting destroyed. Wait! The sea?! No, it¡¯s a huge lake! That will do! Focusing the flux on my hands, I deviated my route with a huge wind impact. Just enough to crash into the water. I just delayed the problem though. When hitting the surface, I felt some bones breaking, and my conscious is fading. The healing is still in effect. In fact, it didn¡¯t stop since the first blow. After a few seconds, I managed to get my head out of the water. Arriving at the edge of the lake, my body had already recovered. It¡¯s painful to move but I can still fight. My head hurts a lot though. ¡°Still alive, huh. I guess it was to be expected.¡± Shit! He is already here, and now he has thousands of pebbles floating around him. I am¡­ so screwed. He lifted his arm, and I felt something passing near my cheek. What? I didn¡¯t see anything! Did he miss me? Ouch! My head! I felt something coming towards me. I slightly moved my head and a rock went through my previous position. What was that? Was it my i-talent? Usually, it¡¯s not that efficient. My head hurts again. I think I am using flux too much... Nath moved his hand a bit. In reaction, I jumped to the right and rolled on the ground. Several rocks were projected at me, and I was too slow. My left legs as been pierced. But one thing is clear. He missed me again, he was way more precise during training. And on top of that, he has hundreds of projectile available¡­ is he playing with me? No, something is weird¡­ It¡¯s like he is not directly looking at me. His hand is trembling. ¡°HAAAAAA!¡± He shouted and raised both of his arms in the air. He is overwhelmed by emotion. He is hesitating. Maybe he doesn¡¯t want to kill me. ¡°No way...¡± Or maybe he does¡­ ''cause behind him, floating in the sky, was a mountain. Or a giant boulder, hundreds of cubic meters big. ¡°Nathyn! Listen to me! This is Madness!¡± ¡°Shu...SHUT UP!¡± I jumped forwards. This is now or never. I have to knock him down. Pouring all my remaining strength into my leg, I flew the distance between us in a second, and landed the most powerful kick of my life on his chest. Or so I thought. I stopped in mid-air, a millimetre away from him. He dropped his arms, and I felt the same binding from the beginning of the fight. He lifted me in the air, and I saw the huge boulder getting separated into multiple giant dirt blades. I looked down on him,and he his glaring at me again. It hurts. I can¡­ barely breath. ¡°Please¡­ Listen...¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t trust you, I don¡¯t trust anyone anymore.¡± ¡°I am¡­ your friend.¡± ¡°Stop it! Stop lying to me!¡± He lifted his arm, and clutched his fist. ... ... But nothing came. The huge blades pointed at me didn¡¯t budge. ¡°I¡­ can prove¡­.¡± My head, it hurts again! And without any warning, I fell to the ground. I looked up, and saw Nathyn, still glaring at me, trembling. I knew it, deep down he doesn''t want to hurt anyone! I took out the Questbook and opened it to him. "Struggle#05 Objective: Befriend Nath Sub-objective: Date Nathaly ¨C Learn Nathan¡¯s Secret ¨C Save Nathyn " ¡°What is that...what does that mean?¡± ¡°You were right¡­ I had the mission to befriend you¡­ in order to leave this world...¡± It¡¯s hard to keep my eyes open. My consciousness¡­ is fading. ¡°So you did use us!¡± ¡°Nathyn¡­ this struggle¡­ was completed days ago¡­ I could have left whenever I wanted.¡± ¡°Wha..Why? Why did you stay?¡± ¡°The last objective¡­ I was worried...¡± That¡¯s my limit. My body fell to the ground, again. And the world went dark. Chapter 17 - Struggle Number 6 The School main building was devastated. As classes had already ended, most students were outside when the fight between Samsy and Nathyn broke out. Some were still in here, as well as teachers, but luckily nobody died. They all managed to get out of the building before it falls completely. Everyone was wondering around the rumbles, shocked by what happened. Nathyn, the well-known powerless shrimp of the school beat down his bullies and engaged in a full fight with the transfer student. A 15-years old psychic capable of lifting and restraining another human would be considered a genius, so how should we call him after that? The most affected was without a doubt Nathaly. She was taking care of Nathan, who has just started to get his breath back. She was overwhelmed. Her new boyfriend appeared to be a dimension traveller and her weak childhood friend revealed himself as the most powerful psychic she had ever seen. Medical assistance had arrived on the scene, few ambulances were already departing, and the police was about to come. That¡¯s when he came back. Naly saw him descending towards her. He wasn¡¯t alone, behind him was Samsy, floating unconscious. He gently landed in front of her. He didn¡¯t say anything, he tried to look directly at her, but was way too embarrassed. So he kept looking at his feet. She could clearly see from his eyes and cheeks that he cried, a lot. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill him...right?¡± ¡°No¡­ I¡­ I am sorry. I misunderstood and overreacted...¡± ¡°No kidding? What happened to Sam?! And look at the school!¡± He raised his head, to look at the what-used-to-be the school building, and diverted his eyes in embarrassment and shame. ¡°Sigh¡­ Tell me what happened.¡± ¡°...Someone told me about Sam¡¯s background, about how he wants to leave this place as soon as possible. So when those guys came to beat me up again¡­ I kind of snapped. ¡°Someone?¡± ¡°She just came after Sam lost consciousness. She healed him and told me to make him pass his next door.¡± ¡°What? That doesn¡¯t tell me who she is. And what door are you talking about?¡± The police have arrived the scene, and they started asking questions to the student. Nathyn looked anxiously towards them and was clearly indicating his will to leave. ¡°She had long white hair, like Sam, and her name is Eve. About the door¡­ I don¡¯t really know either, but I have the coordinate.¡± ¡°Wait! Do you plan to obey her?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But she just deceived you!¡± ¡°She told me that was for the greater good...¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I saw it with my own eyes Nathaly. She is a goddess.¡±
Struggle#10 Objective: Reunite with your friend Sub-objective: none Naomi finally arrived at the 10th stage. The scenery was peaceful. Once again, she was inside a forest. To be more accurate, she was in a little clearing, where seven camping tent were disposed in a circle around a campfire. The night was already down, and the fire was the only source of light, and she slowly approached it. She asked her guide, Clarence, a lot about the ¡°Reunion Struggle¡±. It¡¯s supposed to be the first platform where the seven people in a session can meet. In fact, she wasn¡¯t the first to arrive. Someone else was already here, sit on the other side of the fire. Tall, muscular, short blond hair and sharp blue eyes, he was the caricature of a trustworthy and reliable leader. ¡°Delighted to finally reconvene with you Xavier.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.¡°Haha, you didn¡¯t change at all Naomi, always so formal.¡± Xavier Xen was the fastest to complete his first 10 struggle. The truth is Naomi wasn¡¯t surprised at all, nobody in the group would have been. He was undeniably the strongest. Smart, charismatic, and most of all, his simple yet over effective i-talent. Xavier was blessed with strength, speed, agility and reflex beyond human limit. Even on earth, he was able to throw cars and easily outrun wild wolves. It wasn¡¯t that much different here. When you use the flux to improve the body, it¡¯s like applying a multiplicative factor to your stats. Needless to say, Xavier is like a war god with flux enhancement, even though his control is not that much better than Sam¡¯s. Naomi was genuinely happy to see him again, and sat down near the campfire. ¡°As expected, you preceded me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t flatter me, I arrived here just a few hours ago.¡± ¡°Do you have some news about the others?¡± ¡°Not really, Jules says that everybody is fine, but that¡¯s it. Oh! He did tell me that Samsy had bad luck because his guide is an ass...¡± ¡°Jules ought to be your guide, I presume. And I have been briefed on this issue¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, he is a tough guy. Back on Earth, he was able to keep up with us, that¡¯s not nothing.¡± The attempt to cheer her up worked pretty well. So they continued to chit-chat about their adventure until now, and laughing around the campfire. Their experience is nothing like Sam¡¯s, they passed each struggle without much difficulty. It¡¯s not like it was easy, but they never encountered life-threatening situations, with the notable exception of the very first struggle for Naomi, and, oddly enough, the 6th for the both of them. ¡°Really? You can throw magma balls? And that didn¡¯t work on that guy?¡± ¡°Not only was it ineffective, he absorbed it in a gigantic magmatic torrent.¡± ¡°Shit! How did you manage to survive that?¡± ¡°I am uncertain myself. I believe he was going easy on me, and didn¡¯t try to mortally wound me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got the same feeling from my duel too. He invaded my minds many times, and I¡¯m sure he could have killed me easily. It¡¯s like he wanted me to overcome him...¡± ¡°For certain, this adventure had been filled with odd events.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. It¡¯s even messier than our Earth life.¡± ¡°Agreed. Sigh, I miss everyone...¡± And like that, the night passed. As the sun started rising, a third person arrived. Another guy passed through his 10th door, he was even taller than Xavier, almost 2 meters, but way thinner, with black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a typical leather rogue armour with two daggers on his hips. As expected from this ¡°adventure¡±, originality is once again nowhere to be seen, he is the most clich¨¦ fantasy rogue/assassin character you could think of: dark and mysterious. ¡°Kyle! Good to see you man!¡± ¡°Good morning Kyle.¡± Xavier and Naomi waved at him. In response, Kyle nodded and walked towards them. All the others arrived later during the day. As the sun was about to be replaced by the moon, the group was reunited. Cheers and laugh were filling the air. Well, everyone was here, except for one person.
I woke up in panic. I am alive? Yes! I am alive! Slowly, I started to remember what happened. I had finished the struggle, and that displayed to me the sub-objective. Seeing that one of them was to save Nathyn, I decided to stay a bit longer to help him. And 4 days later, out of the blue, everybody is trying to kill me. I guess that¡¯s it for gratitude¡­ I don¡¯t know how to react. I definitely want to kick this little ass in the head, but I still don¡¯t hate him¡­ Fuck! He tried to kill me! What¡¯s wrong with me! ...Maybe I am used to getting close to death too much now. If so, that¡¯s worrying. By the way, where am I? I was sleeping on a grassy land, and before me is a huge wooden building, it looks like a dojo. I may be wrong, but when someone wants to treat someone¡¯s else wound, he would go to a hospital right? Or at least put him into bed. Why the hell am I in front of a dojo? Not only this, apart from that, there is nothing to be seen around, except for grass and the cloudy sky. Wait¡­ don¡¯t tell me. I quickly reached into my pocket. Struggle#05 Objective: Befriend Nath Sub-objective: Date Nathaly ¨C Learn Nathan¡¯s Secret ¨C Save Nathyn Struggle#06 Objective: Defeat Master Kunan Sub-objective: none They made me passed the door? What? How? Why? Who? I¡­ This quest is making me crazy. Chapter 18 - Can you get me some popcorn ? Struggle#06 Objective: Defeat Master Kunan Sub-objective: none So, I suppose Kunan is inside the dojo. It¡¯s not like there is anywhere else to go anyway. I walked inside. I found a unique huge room with a good portion of its floor filled with tatamis. On the walls were some woods tablet with dogma written in a language I can¡¯t comprehend, too bad I still can¡¯t figure out how to translate what I can see. In the back of the room, a man was sitting on his knee and drinking tea. I took off my shoes and approached him. ¡°Greetings. My name is...¡± ¡°I know who you are.¡± ¡°Really? Then you should be...¡± ¡°I know what brought you here. Yes, I am Kunan.¡± Okay¡­ That¡¯s weird. Well, at least that¡¯s clear things up quickly. ¡°So¡­ you do know I have to defeat you?¡± ¡°I do, but you won¡¯t. You are not ready yet.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I was told to teach you first.¡± Oh! That would make sense. He is designed as a master, maybe he is my master. That would be great to actually learn how to fight, I don¡¯t think I will be able to overcome the gap between me and monsters like Nathyn or the jungle bee just with flux enhancement. I can¡¯t rely on luck forever. Plus, if I see he seems weaker than me, I can still defeat me afterwards. He guided me into another room, way smaller, in the back, and handed me a new set of clothes. Black simple martial art uniform with slippers. Truth to be told, I am pretty excited, the last struggle ended up in a sort of chaotic treason, and the ones before weren¡¯t that much better. Finally, I might have a productive and peaceful stage, where I can prepare myself for the upcoming event without fearing for my life. I can¡¯t see where this could go wrong. At worst, this will be the hardest training ever and I will be constantly exhausted, but that would still be a holiday compared to the jungle. Back in the main room, he made me face him. He bowed to me and I bowed to him. Apparently, I am officially his disciple. Yay! He showed me the few basic forms and stances for about half an hour. He is pretty strict, but I don¡¯t complain. If I can get stronger with this level of hardship, I would feel like winning the lottery. ¡°Alright. Now that you know the basics form, you will have to master them in real combat situation.¡± Does he mean sparing? Apparently, it seems like it. I went into the stance I just learned, waiting for the first strike. All my senses are focused. He slowly went into another stance. The room got quiet. Time was getting slower and slower. He could strike anySpruch. I heard a weird noise. Then I felt a tremendous pain in my chest. And finally I saw Kunan, just in front of me, his arm dived into my thorax. ¡°You were too slow.¡± ¡°AAAAARRRHG.¡± I shouted my lungs out, and blood came out of my mouth. I fall down on my knees. The pain is...Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Gone? I feel nothing. I am sweating like crazy. Did I imagine it? No, my hands are covered with blood. I looked up, and master had resumed his initial position. ¡°Get up, we are not done.¡± Wha...what happened?
I am finally back in town. I have to say, this was way more difficult than I thought it would be. It¡¯s the first time I went back to the 4th world, and I forgot how shitty it is. The worst part must be the dragons. There are only a handful but god they are annoying, if only they couldn¡¯t talk. Safe to say, the prophet was hard to find, I even had to demand William for help. I want to say it was worth it, but I am not entirely sure. The only relevant answer I got was that I should wait for Eve to come to me. The problem is I don¡¯t know how long, what to do in the meantime, and who the fuck is Eve? To those question, he didn¡¯t answer, obviously. I thought after getting so far into my quest the pointless mysteries and cliffhangers would stop. I was so wrong, it¡¯s actually as if the story just started. I did try to beat him up for more answers, but the guy is strong. Well, he is a Seer, so he is no match for my Champion class, but this bastard ran away pretty fast. Too bad I didn¡¯t bring Excalibur with me¡­ Anyway, I am back, and I guess now I have nothing else to do other than monitoring my little noob. I arrived at the surveillance room. That¡¯s odd, there is only Jules. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re back? Did ya find what''ya were looking for?¡± ¡°Sort of¡­ Where are the others?¡± ¡°All newcomers, except yours, are at the 10th, so, not a lot to see right now.¡± ¡°Already? Samsy should only be on his 7th or 8th! What a bunch of freaks.¡± ¡°Pretty close. First time I see folks clear this damn thing so fast. Imagine that, my "prot¨¦g¨¦" strangled a sabretooth tiger on his 7th. Flimsy right?¡± ¡°Pff, what a puss. Mine killed one on his first trial.¡± ¡°Tou already said that. T''was a total fluke..¡± ¡°It was. But still, he did it.¡± While talking to Jules, I went to my screen. Time to see what Sam is up to, it¡¯s been roughly a week I didn¡¯t saw him, and I hope he is doing okay. ¡°Oh, and they had a Tribulation.¡± ¡°Already? When?¡± ¡°Number 6, really tough, one lost an arm.¡± ¡°6?! Shit, this doesn''t smell good...¡± I turned on the screen, and in front of my eyes was displayed a huge room with two people wearing martial arts clothes. One of them was Sam. He was lying against a wall, holding his arm in pain, but after a few seconds, he went back to his feet as if nothing happened. The other person was...no way. Master Kunan? What is he doing in the first world?! ¡°What¡¯s the deal, Val?" ¡°Sam is still on the 6th, with Master Kunan.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ they were all up against a Kunan. Lucky them, never really went for the kill. Close enough though.¡± ¡°I think¡­ I think he is in an immortality field.¡± ¡°What?! No way.¡± ¡°Come watch for yourself if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± Jules came behind my chair. On the screen, the sparring had resumed. Well, I said a sparing, but it was completely one-sided, Kunan¡¯s strikes were too fast to be seen. Sam suddenly moved his head to the right, pointlessly it seems, as he was kicked in the flank and projected to the walls on the other side of the room. Despite the huge shock, the wooden wall didn¡¯t break. Sam coughed a bit of blood, and then got up, took a deep breath and resumed the fight. ¡°Holy crap! This ain''t training, it''s torture!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Look at the floor, it¡¯s covered with blood.¡± ¡°First time I see the Master teaching for real.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing, he only gets serious for his disciple.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°I met him once and asked him to be my master. He refused.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The real question is, why did he accept Samsy. He refused everyone until now, and he chose someone in the early stages?! And the weakest of the batch on top of that...¡± ¡°Let me tell ya. I''ve been here longer than you, and that''s the weirdest session I''ve ever seen. Speaking of, they spoke a bit about their Earth. A pretty dark story.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care.¡± Jules sighed. I don¡¯t like to talk about the past, it reminds me of mine¡­ On the screen, Sam keeps getting obliterated by Kunan, this time it looks like his legs were misplaced and they both got broken. He is sweating a lot, and you can see the suffering on his face. I came across some immortality field during the quest. It doesn¡¯t actually make you immortal, but it can heal any damage in seconds, except death. Even when a limb is cut off, it gets back to you before you can pass out from the pain. The only drawback is that it¡¯s a highly complicated spell, and the area can''t be too important. This is a tough situation. My newbie is right in front of me, getting one-sidedly killed, over and over. Right now I can see some teeth flying everywhere like a bunch of confetti. I want to go, but... I know! I should ask Jules. ¡°Jules, can you do me a favour?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I would go by myself, but I don''t want to miss anything. Can you get me some popcorn?¡± Chapter 19 - Talentless How long have I been here? I don¡¯t remember. Maybe a week. No, it¡¯s more. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t care. Things like that are no use to me anymore. The only relevant matter, is how to reduce the pain. I thought I could get used to it. I was wrong. Nobody can. No matter how many times I am being thorned apart, it still hurt like the first time. The floor, the walls and the ceiling, they were pure white when I arrived. Now they are covered in blood. My blood. My sense of smell is numb. We did clean up once. The only break I had since I came here. 2 hours. I don¡¯t even know how we managed to do it so fast. After the room was immaculate again, he made me sit, and we talked. The cleaning meant that I passed the first cornerstone. In a word, I am now proficient with the basics. That¡¯s great. I am getting stronger. I am glad. I feel weird. I am not tired. I can¡¯t be tired here. My body is in perfect shape. But my mind. I am worried. It¡¯s hard. To think. My body moves on his own now. I feel, like I am missing something. What master told me? I think. I can remember¡­ ¡°Attaining the first cornerstone is a given. Here begins the real test.¡± ¡°What do you mean Master?¡± ¡°No matter how weak your body is, it will get stronger by breaking and reconstructing. However, this place doesn¡¯t heal your mind.¡± ¡°My¡­ mind?¡± ¡°Yes. The mind is more fragile than the body, and one is useless without the other. Stay focus.¡± Yes. I¡­ I remember! I am currently sparring with Master. Without realising it, I let my body be totally in charge. The reason being¡­ Crash. I got front kicked in the stomach and projected towards the closest wall. It hurts like hell! But I get it now. I can¡¯t reduce the pain, I have to accept it, to embrace it. As I am now, my mind is weak, I have to stay focus. I went back in front of him. His strikes are fast, too fast. Actually, I didn¡¯t see any of them since the beginning. But it¡¯s different now, I regained my resolution. I just have to focus on the¡­ Cough. Blood went out of my mouth. Again. I looked down, and saw several holes across my body. Blood is spurting everywhere again, I am about to lose consciousness, but the pain disappeared almost instantly. So quick I even had no time to shout. Focus! Palm strike to the throat. As expected, it was grabbed easily. This is my chance. First flow. Inner round kick to the head. It collided with master¡¯s right forearm. Second flow. Continue the kick by sliding along the forearm. Aimed at the lower body, he lightly jumped, still holding my wrist and dodging swiftly the assault. Third flow. Naturally bring back the leg into the stance. I am one with the flux, my head is empty, everything is focused on the next move. Don¡¯t look at his movements, look at his eyes, look at his souls.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Fourth flow. Deflect the strike with the back of my palm. The pressure is insane, the speed is ridiculous, but it¡¯s irrelevant. I don¡¯t have to think about it, I just have to do it. I barely touch his fist, just enough to redirect it. Master¡¯s punch grazed my cheek, I feel the air-pressure cutting my flesh. Final flow. Release. My right wrist is still grabbed, as expected. I am controlling the flux with the flow. Gathered into my left leg and conveyed from Master''s blow, a vast amount of power is circulating into my body, and everything is released into the most powerful impact I can produce, right into his face. Master inclined slightly his head, and a brief surge of wind coming from my hand blew his hair. That¡¯s it? I felt so much energy¡­ so much flux, at least ten times what I can gather alone. I felt I could destroy myself with a single mistake. All that for¡­ a breeze? ¡°You have made progress Samsy.¡± Master is smiling at me. ¡°Follow me, it¡¯s time to clean up.¡±
The room is white again, it feels refreshing. I served to master a cup of tea, and sat down in front of him. ¡°I have to say, I am impressed.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°I thought your spirit had died, but you managed to revive it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it is that impressive.¡± I was quite embarrassed by his praise, but its also true I don¡¯t really think it was that much of a feat. ¡°...Samsy. You are weak.¡± ¡°I know, and that¡¯s why I am...¡± ¡°I mean your talent.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have an innate talent for my art, or for fighting in general.¡± ¡°Wha¡­ then why did you take me as your disciple?¡± ¡°Strength is not about physical prowess. Strength is about will. You are physically weak Sam, but for a reason I ignore, you have instinct and will beyond what you can imagine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really get it...¡± ¡°If I was looking for a talented disciple, I had thousands of applicant. You don¡¯t have talent, you have something better. You have potential.¡± ¡°...Thanks?I guess...¡± ¡°I have already taught you enough about my art for now, and I have to let time and practise solidify your grasp of it.¡± I have a bad feeling about this. He, on the other hand, seems to enjoy this situation a lot. ¡°This will be the final cornerstone, and my final lesson. I can feel it, you have a latent power, sleeping inside you, and you are not aware of. It¡¯s time to wake it up.¡±
Crunch crunch... Oh yeah¡­ I thought he would be entertaining, but that¡¯s beyond my imagination. So much blood! I feel like it¡¯s my birthday! Well, at least it would be if¡­ ¡°What do you think it would be?¡± ¡°I know! I know! He will have a limit break!¡± ¡°Stop saying nonsense Clar, he is a Seer, he can¡¯t have that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy guys, he will have foresight like every douche prophet.¡± ¡°No, he is a fighting type. I bet he will get a copying skill or something like that.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that would be awesome!¡± ¡°That¡¯s stupid! A limit break would be much cooler.¡± ¡°I told you...¡± ¡°EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!¡± Almost the whole team is here, watching at Sam¡¯s ¡°training¡±. I wouldn¡¯t mind if only they weren¡¯t chatting all the fucking time. ¡°Come on guys, don¡¯t you have other people to watch? Look! Jules is doing his job for once!¡± ¡°Hey! Your pupil is the only one still in the quest for now. Let us have some fun.¡± ¡°Are you looking down on my prot¨¦g¨¦ Quentin?¡± ¡°I-Hum-No-I...¡± ¡°Calm down Val¡­ we only want to have fun with you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with you Clar, usually you hate when it gets all bloody like that.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I came back after they cleaned the place so I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°And I am the weirdo...¡± ¡°Look! They started again!¡± ¡°Wow! Kunan is getting even more serious.¡± ¡°He won¡¯t go for the kill, right?¡± ¡°Guys! You can stay, but shut up! Please!¡± Crunch crunch¡­ I don¡¯t know why, but I believe me and Kunan are on the same page. Come on Sam, show me what you¡¯ve got. Chapter 20 - The Enlightenment Struggle#06 Objective: Defeat Master Kunan Sub-objective: none I have already left the dojo and passed the door. As soon as master was satisfied, he acknowledges my victory or something, and the struggle ended. I am glad it went that way because I don¡¯t think I could beat him in a million years, even after my enlightenment. I don¡¯t know who told him that, but Master said my next struggle will allow me to use my new ability to my heart content. I have to say this is a bit scary. So, where am I this time? No plain this time, I am in a room. A dark small room, with a single heavy steel door. Feels like I¡¯m in jail. The single source of light is from a small candle. I can see a small bed and a wood table where the candle is placed, both in a bad state. Let¡¯s see what my magical book is thinking about all of this. Struggle#07 Objective: Survive the Thunder Coliseum Sub-objective: none A survival game again? I hope it won''t last as long as the first one. I am getting really tired of this, I want to see my friends again. I laid down on the bed. Even though I couldn¡¯t be tired or sleepy inside the dojo, I missed the sensation a being on a bed, and just relax. And¡­ I am bored. I sighed, I guess being in this adventure as messed up with my brain. I know! I can contact V, that¡¯s been a while since I chatted with him, or her. I returned the book, but before I could check the chat-log, I sensed someone approaching. Heavy step, and a tinkling sound, probably keys. He arrived at the door, and I heard the sound of the keys turning inside the lock. Now that I think about it, I didn¡¯t check if the door was locked or not in the first place¡­ The door opened on a giant man, at least 2m and 100kg, all muscle, and wearing nothing but short pants and a helmet covering his head. He looks like a true gladiator. ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡± He talked to me with a calm yet strong voice. It¡¯s probably my turn, I would say it was to be expected. There is no time to catch a break in this quest. I went out of the cell, and follow the man in the dark corridors, lighten by frail torches here and there. ¡°Hum¡­ It¡¯s might be a weird question but¡­ where are we?¡± ¡°The thunder coliseum.¡± He doesn¡¯t look like the talkative type. Meh, it won¡¯t hurt trying to ask for more info. ¡°What am I supposed to do here?¡± ¡°Survive.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ from what?¡± ¡°The Thunder.¡± ¡°You mean¡­ real thunder?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I am lost. I had to overcome many situations, but going against nature itself is kind of¡­ Even when I climbed that mountain on the 3rd struggle, the only thing I had to fight was snow, wind and mist. Thunder is a bit too much. I mean, it goes past the speed of sound right? It¡¯s getting colder, and I can sense a bit of wind. I am still wearing the clothes master gave me, they are comfortable, but not really warm. Fortunately, flux is here to help me. A bit of focus, and I can perfectly regulate my body temperature. I never had time to think too much about it, but flux is really convenient. I mean, too convenient. I don¡¯t even know what exactly this is, or where it comes from. A mysterious power like that, who can do so much, is definitely fishy. Well, it¡¯s not like I can keep up without it. The corridor is getting clearer, I can see light coming from the end of it. I can also hear the rumbling of the sky. So he wasn¡¯t lying after all. We arrived outside, my giant guide push me on the back and took a few step back. I am inside the arena, in the middle of a coliseum. I can clearly hear a storm and the sky is covered with dark clouds, occasionally illuminated by lightning. Despite that, the Coliseum is filled with people screaming and cheering.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Those are probably not for me, there is someone else here. In the very centre of the arena, proudly exhibiting to the crowd. A small guy, blond spiky hair, wearing a purple robe. It¡¯s almost like I can read ¡°thunder mage¡± on his forehead. On his feet, there are many corpses. People burned up, with convulsed eyes. No need for more details, he is the Thunder I was told about. He remarked my arrival, and called for the crowd to cheer him even more. What a showman. Without a word, he lifted his hand towards the sky, and a gigantic lighting bolt stroke him. However, he wasn¡¯t hit, instead, the lighting circled around him like a serpent. Wow! His control his amazing, way better than I expected, he can actually control thunder. Wait don¡¯t tell me¡­ He was looking at me, and threw a punch into my direction. I am so fucked. I gathered as much energy as I could to sturdy myself, and was instantly pierced by the lightning bolt he just casted. Shit! I am so stupid! Of course, I can¡¯t dodge lightning! Why did I wait for him to strike?! The good news is, it hurts less than I thought. On top of many things, flux can lower my body conductivity. On the other hand, I still suffered damages. It hurts a lot and I can feel some muscle contracting by themselves. It¡¯s harder to move, and I have the feeling that if I get hit too many times, I¡¯ll end up paralysed, if not worse. He is surprised that I survived the hit, and immediately prepared for the second strike. This guy is dangerous! I started running around the arena, and luckily dodged the attack. It¡¯s not over, several others are coming. I continued running as fast as I could. I managed to dodge all the assault thanks to the distance between us, but it looks like his reserve is unlimited. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to evade everything for a long time, and if he hit me one more time, I might not be able to move properly again. He seems to enjoy this fight a lot, laughing like a madman while throwing giant bolt and ray of thunder. I guess I understand what master told me. It¡¯s indeed a good scenario for it to shine. I hope I¡¯ll be able to keep it long enough though, but it¡¯s not like I have a choice, it is my best bet. I stopped my courses, calmed myself, and took a deep breath. ~~ Inside the arena, the thunder mage was relentlessly throwing lightning at Samsy, who was running to dodge them. Naj, the first Coliseum champion, was startled. Challenger that can survive a strike are scarce, but he never saw this kind of behaviour before. Usually, after the first assault, they try to get closer to counterattack, but this one had done nothing but running around. ¡®He is up to something¡¯, thought the mage, ¡®I should finish him now.¡± As a powerful thunder user, Naj can use his element in many ways. Huge lightning bolts are great when it comes to entertaining the crowd, but more efficient spells are available. After stocking another thunder snake around him, he lifted his arm toward Samsy, and 3 small horizontal lighting bolt smote him. This was the champion¡¯s sure kill skill. Three precise and concentrate strike, and, as the thunder as a natural speed of 350 metres per second, impossible to avoid. In theory. Sam moved slightly on his right and, barely grazed by the lightning, he took a step forwards. ¡®What the hell?!¡¯ He managed to dodge an instantaneous strike with minimal movement. How? A fluke? Only one way to find out. The sky is rumbling louder than ever now, the crowd is getting crazy. 5 huge lighting bolt landed beside him. Naj converged the lighting into a gigantic dragon. It opens his jaw in a silent scream, before dissolving itself into a swarm of lighting ray. Sam inclined his head, then bend his knee, took a step on the right, leaned a bit forward, and kept marching on. After each move, the space left empty was drilled by lightning. While making it look easy, he is dodging everything by a paper margin. It¡¯s not reflex, he is moving before the attack. It¡¯s as if the bolts are sucked by the space Sam is leaving after each motion. Tens, then hundreds of strikes brushed Sam, as he continued his inexorable advance. Facing a critical situation, Naj released all the stored energy at once, in a gigantic wave of lightning. Sam disappeared from his sight. Did he kill him? Did the wave disintegrate his body? Of course not, as someone landed behind him. The challenger just jumped above the wave with a perfect timing, and before the mage could turn, Sam chopped him in the neck. Naj fell on the ground, unconscious. ~~ Cough cough Some blood came out of my mouth. Shit! It took longer than expected. My head is about to burst! I put a knee to the ground, to recover my breath. It''s the second time I used it and I already hate it. I am glad it worked out though. The crowd is acclaiming me, the mage is face down on the ground and unconscious, and I didn¡¯t suffer any major injury. For once, I nailed the struggle. Well, I think I know what¡¯s coming. You can¡¯t tell me I finished a struggle that fast, it was probably a sub-objective. I took out the book. Struggle#07 Objective: Survive the Thunder Coliseum Sub-objective: Defeat the first champion ¨C Defeat the second champion ¨C Defeat the third champion Chapter 21 - First Nightmare Where... where am I? Around me, everything is on fire. I am in the middle of a burning forest. But I¡¯m not scared... I don''t feel the heat at all. It''s all... blurry. Someone is lying on the ground. Wait... is that... me?
I woke up in panic. This seemed so real. I was looking down at myself. Everything was destroyed or burning, and in the midst of this chaos, I was agonizing. It could be just a nightmare, but as a Seer, this is pretty ominous. With the recent breakthrough I had with my class ability, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me this dream turns out to be a vision.I might just have witnessed the moment of my own death! I tried to calm down a bit and turned on the light, it¡¯s still the middle of the night. 2 days ago, after leaving the Coliseum, I arrived in a luxury hostel, like they had in the early 21st century, where a suite was reserved for me. The room is so huge, and the bed is so¡­ perfect. It¡¯s been a while since I got a good night of sleep. Well, since I could sleep at all. Too bad my second night is ruined though. I got up and reached for my trusty Questbook. Struggle#08 Objective: Find the culprit Sub-objective: Get to know all the resident ¨C Find the secret room ¨C Gain the receptionist trust This struggle is another proof that this quest is fucked up. It¡¯s too easy, the secret room was in a library ¨C I don¡¯t know why there is a library here¡­ ¨C and to find it I just touch the ¡°secret switch¡±, which was literally a book titled ¡°How to hide a secret room¡±. As for the receptionist, I just complimented her ¨C she was nice to me ¨C and that¡¯s it. What a joke. It feels like it should have been my first trial... not like I am complaining, but after what I¡¯ve been through, this situation is actually quite uncomfortable. Now that I think about it, I am not surprised I am having nightmares. Anyway, the trial won¡¯t last long. Being able to foresee the future is convenient, I actually feel like I''m cheating. If only I didn¡¯t have a headache each time I use it. That, and I also have a hard time activating it. Took me 3 hours of meditation to get my first useful vision. I can do cool stuff during fights, but aside from perfect evasion, it doesn¡¯t bring me anything. I won in the Coliseum because the guy had virtually no defence and all his attack were quite straightforward. I¡¯ll have to improve this ability a lot, but at least I have a solid way to keep up with this unfair adventure now. I wonder if this was intended from the start... Probably. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to sleep for the rest of the night, I should use this time to make the plan into action. Yesterday, I had a vision about someone suspiciously going into the secret room, so if I put a camera at the right place, I¡¯ll catch him red-handed. I hope it¡¯ll work. Everybody was sleeping, so I had no difficulty setting the camera I "bought" earlier today. Back in my room, I felt a familiar vibration in my pants. V: Hey nevvbie! How are you? (^.^) V: Long time no see! S: I¡¯m fine. It has been ages since I got news from you. S: Not like I missed it. V: Come on. I knovv you love me. <3 S: Nop. S: Why are you messaging me? V: I vvant to ask about your past on your Earth. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. S: Well, that¡¯s quite straightforward. S: Why do you want to know? V: Just curious. S: ¡­ S: Nah, I¡¯ll pass. V: Hey! VVhy?! S: First, you are fishy. S: I don¡¯t know anything about you. S: Second, I believe you said you could talk with the other ¡°guide¡±. V: I do, so vvhat? S: So at least one of them should know the story by now. Ask him. V: In fact I did. V: I have the gist of your background. V: But I vvant your side of the story. S: Why? It won''t be different from the other. V: Only the leader has the full grasp of a story. S: The leader? You mean me? V: VVho else. (-.-¡¯) S: Hahahaha xD S: You¡¯re not serious. S: I am no leader. XD V: You sure? That seemed pretty obvious to me¡­ S: We don¡¯t really have a leader. S: And if there was one, it would most likely be Xavier or Nami. V: ¡­ V: If you say so. V: But I still vvant your side of the story. S: Hum¡­ Nop. V: Please! S: Okay, I am willing to answer a question. S: But you¡¯ll have to tell me more about you first. V: Sigh¡­ VVhat do you vvant to knovv? S: Who are you? V: I guess I can ansvver that. I am Valentine, Champion of Kindness. S: Seriously¡­ Kindness? S: And is this even a real class? V: Hey! Don¡¯t judge my title! V: For your information, it¡¯s one of the most povverful title you can possibly get. V: Anyvvay. V: Let¡¯s talk about you. V: I heard about the main event. V: Hovv did you survived that? S: Luck. S: And I had good friends. V: Not so fast, the others told you saved a lot of other kids. I can see hovv your friend managed to do that, but you? There must be something else, or you vvould need an astronomical amount of luck. S: That¡¯s my thing. V: You¡¯re being silly. S: I¡¯m serious. S: We tested it. S: I tried to guess the outcome of a dice a thousand times in a row. And I got 50% right. S: And I am good at guessing things. S: Think about a number between 1 and 10. V: Seriously? (-.-) V: Okay, done. S: You thought about 8. V: Nop. S: 14? V: ... V: Second try, it doesn''t count. S: Hehe V: Come on, luck is not a talent. S: Where I come from it is. S: Everyone has at least one inner talent. V: VVovv¡­. that¡¯s cool. (¡ão¡ã) V: You all have superpovver! S: ...not really. S: Well, the others are all super strong and all, so maybe you are right. V: You¡¯re strong too. (^.^) S: I am just a normal person who trained a lot. S: It¡¯s a complicated story¡­ S: I don¡¯t think I can relate it in a chat log. V: Of course you can :p V: And it¡¯s not like vve can meet in person anyvvay. S: ¡­ S: Okay, here¡¯s a r¨¦sum¨¦. S: We don¡¯t know why, but most kids in our town had amazing i-talent. For instance, at age 6, Xavier could break beam steel barehanded and Nami was reviewing university material at the library. And many were even more powerful. Long story short, theadults were scared of the new generation, and we had to run away. Some managed to escape, including the seven of us. V: I see¡­ That should have been quite the traumatism¡­ S: Yeah¡­ but we managed to get back on our feet. So we¡¯re fine now. S: Well, sort of¡­ considering the quest. V:Does that mean all your friend have better "i-talent" than you. V: I have to say, this name is stupid. S: They all have at least great strength and speed, on top of another talent. As for myself, I am just good at guessing and throwing dice. V: Damn¡­ V: I feel like your group is cheating the game. S: Haha, you didn''t see my sister then. XD V: VVhy? (¡ã?¡ã) S: Back on Earth, I personally named her i-talent ¡°Ultimate Imitation¡±. S: Basically, when she sees something, she can reproduce it. Be it a martial technique, a tone of voice, or even another i-talent. She can learn instantly to do anything. :p V: VVovv¡­ That''s scary. S: Genetics is really unfair. :p S: Well, she also had a friend with something similar but... S: Something happened. :/ V: I vvant the complete story novv!( >.< ) S: Not today, the sun is rising, and I believe the other resident will wake up soon. S: And I believe I told you too many things already. :/ S: Next time it¡¯s your turn. S: Bye! : ) I put the book back in my pocket. She was acting a bit weird, usually, she doesn''t seem to care about me. I wonder if something happened¡­ Well, it¡¯s not like I care that much. Chapter 22 - The Forbidden Fruit (1) Well... That was awkward. I just solved the case, as the book confirmed me, but the situation had kind of... escalated. Thanks to my vision, I caught one of the grooms red-handed. I didn¡¯t think it would be that easy but meh, I¡¯ll take it. He was stealing jewellery and stocking them into the secret room in the library. The problem is that when everybody gathered, he started to state his motive¡­ Basically, he wanted revenge for his dad that killed himself because he went bankrupt after the hotel stole all his clients. Then, I don¡¯t know why it came up, but he said he was in love with the receptionist, who turned out to be secretely her sister, the manager confessed having an affair with his mother, one of the client admitted being an accomplice and the first owner of the hostel, who lost everything because of the current person in charge. And after several other revelations, I think he realised his father was his uncle or something¡­ Anyway, I sneaked out before getting caught in the drama. ~~ Struggle#09 Objective: Consume the Forbidden Fruit Sub-objective: none Where did I go this time? In the middle of a dirt road. On both sides, nothing but grass to be seen, this makes me feel a bit nostalgic. Further away, I can see something in the distance. It was a huge greenhouse. It''s pretty far but as a Seer, scrutinizing something from several kilometres away is child play. Without further due, I moved towards the greenhouse. This is the 8th trial, and I am almost to the 10th, I hope this will go well, I can''t wait to meet again with everyone, it has been so long already. The last trials went smoothly, so there is no reason this one won¡¯t. Right? After a little more than an hour, I reached it. A colossal igloo made of glass, where you could see the blurry shape of a gigantic tree inside. the whole structure was at least 20 meters high. I reached the entrance of the building. Its walls were also made of glass, but it was tainted so I couldn¡¯t see anything inside. I knocked at the door. No answer. After a few minutes, I tried to open the door. As expected, it was much hotter inside. The room looked like a reception or a waiting room, there was a desk with a little bell on hit, and some chairs disposed in line. There was no floor, and you could see many roots coming out of the ground. What is this place? I hope someone can answer this question if I ring the bell.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I approach the reception desk, or at least what looked like one, but before I could get close. The door at the other side of the room open and a woman entered. She had dirt on her hand and face, despite that, you could see at a glance she was a beauty. Long white hair dropping to her hips, purple eyes illuminating her cute dirty face, and a...*hum* voluptuous body. Her ¡°assets¡± were emphasized by her gardener suit, that surprisingly was exhibiting a lot of skin. Also, she had a pair of small horns on top of her head. I think I¡¯ve heard about something like that before, a sort of woman pervert creature with horn... but I can''t remember the name. She was surprised by my presence. ¡°A visitor? Please, come in.¡± Well¡­ I am already in¡­ She went to what looked like a reception desk and signed me to approach. ¡°So! Dear customer, what are you here for?¡± ¡°I was wondering¡­ what is this place?¡± ¡°Oh? A lost traveller?¡± Saying that, she bent forwards while looking intensely at my eyes. Her cleavage is totally exposed, is she teasing me? Humpf, she is underestimating me, as a Seer, I can direct my field of vision without moving my eyes at all. I could even peep at her with my eyes closed. What the hell am I thinking?! I shook my head, and realised I hadn¡¯t said anything for already a few seconds. She is smirking at me now. ¡°You-you can say that...¡± ¡°Well¡­ I am sure you would have remarked, this is a greenhouse. Here, I cultivate many types of vegetation. As I grow rare flower and fruit, people come to me to buy them.¡± ¡°You manage all the greenhouse by yourself?!¡± ¡°Yes, it can be difficult, but...¡± She paused to stretch her back, and I diverted my eyes from¡­ "them". ¡°...I have my way with plants.¡± I looked back at her, she was smirking even more. She is clearly mocking. Damn, I am not good with this kind of situation. ¡°The name is Lilith.¡± ¡°Gl-glad to meet you, I am Samsy.¡± ¡°So, are you interested in something sweety?¡± ¡°Samsy. And actually, I am. I want to consume the forbidden fruit.¡± She widened her eyes. Did I say something weird? Then she started to laugh like crazy. She even fell off her chair. ¡°Wha-what did I say? Stop laughing! Do you have the fruit or not?¡± I feel like a kid. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, and I dislike it. She finally calmed down a bit, and after wiping her tears, she resumed her ¡°position¡±. Seriously, isn¡¯t she embarrassed? ¡°You can say I have it, but it¡¯s a coveted good, and I am not willing to give it that easily.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any money...¡± ¡°Oh! I am notasking for that.¡± *Hum Hum* It''s me or the temperature of the room increased again? She went around the desk and stood in front of me. She is really close, I can feel my face becoming red. ¡°Hum¡­ I¡¯ll give you a chance. You might have what it takes.¡± ¡°Wha-Wha-What it takes for what?¡± Gosh! I can¡¯t align 3 words! She is a witch! I¡¯m sure now! Wait¡­ I think I remember something¡­ She was already back at the entrance of the greenhouse,waving at me. ¡°What are you waiting for.¡± ¡°Succubus!¡± Finally! I found what it was! Wait, did I said that out loud? ¡°Oh! You¡¯re referring to the horn?¡± Shit, she heard me! ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is just a fashion thing.¡± And she showed me, by removing her hidden headgear at witch the two fake horns were attached. ¡­ This was unexpected. And, I have to say, a bit underwhelming. ¡°What are you waiting for. The fruit is waiting.¡± Maybe I am thinking too much about it. Chapter 23 - The Forbidden Fruit (2) This... this is stunning. A long thin path of white dirt was cutting through a magnificent flowerbed composed of thousands of different variety. You could see bees flying from on to another, and the smell could send you to another place already. Further ahead, in the centre of a micro-forest was a gigantic tree, touching the peak of the greenhouse, and which roots propagated to the edge of the dome. Between the leaves you could distinctly see pale blue fruit glowing, reminding me of stars in the sky. Hundreds of birds were flying between and above the trees, some were enormous, and all had a unique colourful plumage. It took me a bit of time to remark the heat and humidity of the surrounding air. It reminded me of the jungle. Aaah¡­ nostalgia. I''m looking anxiously at the bees now though. ¡°How do you find the place?¡± Lilith was joyfully walking ahead of me, showing me her beautiful garden. ¡°Is this heaven?¡± ¡°Haha, not yet sweety.¡± ¡°You mean there is a better view than here?¡± ¡°You¡¯re so cute...¡± I am not that dense, but I don¡¯t want to enter her game. I already have a girlfriend. Well, now that I think about it, I am not sure. We had kind of a fightback on Earth, and it was not long before being transported here¡­ so I guess we broke up? What am I thinking? it doesn¡¯t matter, I am a faithful guy! And I¡¯ll meet again with her soon enough anyway. Image of the 4th struggle flashed in my mind. Damn, I wanted to forget about that¡­ And technicality I also went out with Nathaly on the 5th. Holy shit! Am I a player? Faithful my ass! I hope it¡¯s all because of the quest. Yeah, that must be it, I am a victim here! But I won¡¯t let lust consume me. At least not until I¡¯ve sorted out my relationship with Nami. We arrived at the edge of the forest. Well, it wasn¡¯t really a forest, but a dozen tree with one immensely larger than the other. ¡°I want you to get the fruit on top of the Mother Tree.¡± ¡°You mean the gigantic one? I have to climb all the way up there?¡± ¡°Exactly. And don¡¯t make me wait.¡± I climbed a lot of trees before, but none was that big. Meh, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean it will be harder. And I have flux to back me up now, it will be a piece of cake.Stolen novel; please report. Or at least it should. No matter how much I try, but I can barely control my flux. Enhancing my senses is working just fine, but that¡¯s about it. The most plausible explanation would be that the plants are disrupting flux usage. That would actually be plausible. The flux is really a cheating power, it¡¯s quite logical that a countermeasure against it exists. Too bad that I have to climb this with my natural strength though. ¡°Is there anything I should be worried about?¡± ¡°Be careful to not anger the monkeys, they are friendly but also shy and really sensitive.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ well, I¡¯m off then.¡± The bark is thick and there are a lot of cracks. It¡¯s pretty easy to climb. After a few meters, I started to feel that the heat was actually taking a toll on me. And the air is so¡­ heavy. I can already feel my shoulder. Finally at the first high branch. They are huge, enough to let me take a rest. I looked up, and saw one of the fruit, just at the next branch above. I took a 5 minutes break and swiftly went to the fruit. There, I found myself head to head with a monkey. He had his oddly large hand already gripping the fruit. Up close, the glowing fruit looked like a watermelon. The monkey was completely frozen, looking at me, a bit startled. Needless to say, I was the same. So we stayed like that, looking at each other. I looked at him. He looked at me. Then, his attention was suddenly diverted by something above. What? I didn¡¯t sense anything! I followed his line of sight through the leaves. Nothing. I looked back at him. He was gone. Wait¡­ did I get played by a monkey? Oh my god¡­ I was tricked like a beginner. I guess I¡¯ll put the fault on my post climbing exhaustion. So¡­ I have to find another fruit now. Fortunately, there was one just above me. Once again. Actually, there are fruits everywhere. I went to get a monkey-free one ¨C they are hiding but I can still spot them. In a minute, I acquired it. It does look like a blue watermelon, but the skin is really tough, I can¡¯t seem to pierce it barehanded. I guess I¡¯ll have to bring it back to Lilith. Now is the tricky part, the way down. Even with flux, I don¡¯t think jumping would be a good idea, so I guess I¡¯ll have to climb down, that¡¯s boring¡­ And hard! I forgot how much more tiresome it was than going up, and this time I have the fruit so I can only use one hand. It took me double the time to get down. Finally on the ground, I looked around, but Lilith was nowhere to be seen. I called out to her, and heard the sound of a door opening. She then appeared from the other side of the mother tree. ¡°Oh my! Sweety is all sweaty.¡± ¡°Ha Ha, really funny.¡± ¡°I¡¯m impressed, you were pretty fast.¡± ¡°I used to climb trees a lot. Where were you just now? I heard a door.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think I would have a tree this big without using it don¡¯t you? I¡¯ve built my house in it.¡± That is so cool! I kinda want to see it now. ¡°Anyway, where is the fruit?¡± ¡°Here!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I thought you knew what you were looking for¡­¡± ¡°Wait¡­ do you mean this is not the right fruit.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fuck! I have to go back up again?! Chapter 24 - The Forbidden Fruit (3) This time, she told me the exact shape of the fruit. I do feel stupid, but to my defence, I didn¡¯t think there could be different type in a single tree. This one is found at the very peak of the tree, and you can recognize it by his golden skin. Sigh¡­ I got back on the branch were I found the monkey. I¡¯m so tired. I closed my eyes a bit. When I opened them again, the monkey from before was here. Did he watch me sleep? He was shyly handing me something, what is that? It looks like half the watermelon. Well, like that it was more of a coconut. Inside it was all liquid. Does he want me to drink it? That¡¯s so nice of him. I accepted his gift and drank it. It was amazing, the sweetness was overwhelming! And the texture! It was like drinking hot honey. Without me noticing, the monkey had left again. They are indeed really shy. The drink energize me, or was it the nap? Anyway, I feel I can go to the summit now. The fruit was rarer than I thought. It took me 20 minutes to find my first one. As Lilith described, it looked exactly the same as a golden apple, and this time, there is no shell, I can eat it directly. I took a huge bite of the apple. The taste was¡­ not bad, but after drinking the watermelon blue juice, it was disappointing. I checked out the Questbook. Struggle#09 Objective: Consume the Forbidden Fruit Sub-objective: Ride the Great Eagle ¨C Drink a Blue Star ¨C Not Safe For Disclosure It didn¡¯t complete the challenge? I try eating the whole fruit, but it didn¡¯t work either. Maybe the Forbidden Fruit is one of the fruit? Or it could also be that I have to eat more. No and no. I spent an hour circling around the top of the tree. I found 4 more fruit, and I ate 3 of them. Still nothing. Plus, they were all identical, so I don¡¯t think I have to eat one in particular. My best chance right now would be to go back to Lilith, maybe she now something I don¡¯t about the fruit. So once again, I climbed down the mother tree, this time with a golden apple instead of a blue watermelon. So I guess it was a bit easier¡­ but not that much.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Touching the ground, I felt grateful none of the birds went out of his way to high five me. Falling down from there would have been a disaster. I circled around the Mother Tree to find the entrance of Lilith house. And it was here, pretty luxurious carved door. I approach and knocked. Almost immediately, she opened the door and invited me in. Inside, it was a single big circular room. As expected, almost everything from the floor to the ceiling was made of wood. On the left, you could see the kitchen, with what looked like a stone furnace, and besides it was a little campfire. She could probably put the fire under the oven or use it directly. On the opposite side, there was a king-size bed, like the one you see in a royal bedroom. She has quite fancy taste. ¡°I see you found the right one this time.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but something is off with it. And it¡¯s not even that good.¡± ¡°Wait. You¡¯ve already eaten one?¡± ¡°4. And it was hard at the end bec...¡± Without letting me finish, she approached me and put two fingers on my neck. What? Is she checking my pulse? ¡°How many times since you ate them?¡± ¡°Wha-Well¡­ one hour and a half for the first one I guess, maybe 2 hours.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ amazing...¡± ¡°What? What did I do?¡± ¡°The golden apple is one of the most powerful aphrodisiacs you could find, but it can happen that one bite increases the blood flow so much it causes damage. Eating a whole fruit is considered suicidal!¡± ¡°WHAT? I¡¯m going to die?!¡± ¡°No, you must have a lot of vital energy, because your body doesn¡¯t seem to react badly to it.¡± ¡°Vital energy?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how I call libido.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± ¡°Your fine for now, but if we don¡¯t do anything you could be in danger. The effect should kick soon.¡± ¡°What do you¡­ why are we going to your bed?¡± ¡°You were the one asking for it in the first place right?¡± ¡°I...I did?¡± She widened her eyes and started to laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you don''t know what ¡°consuming the Forbidden Fruit¡± means?¡± ¡°...Should I?¡± Did I miss something? She pushed me on the bed, and slowly brought her body closer to mine. ¡°It¡¯s a metaphor sweety. Let me show you...¡±z
Crunch Crunch They¡¯ve been at it for a long time¡­ Crunch Crunch I hope I didn¡¯t miss anything when I had to refill the bucket. Crunch Crunch He is more skilled than I thought. Crunch Crunch What?! How does she do that? Is that possible to be that flexible? Crunch Crunch Crunch Oh my god! He¡­ on her¡­ oh-oh-oh! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch And I thought he was such an innocent boy. Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch ¡°The kid is impressive.¡± ¡°AAAAHHH¡± ¡°WOW! Val! Why are you screaming?¡± ¡°When the hell did you guys got here?!¡± The whole group was here, the 6 of them, with their own bucket of popcorn. ¡°This is not a show guys!¡± ¡°Say the girl eating popcorn.¡± ¡°Shut up Jules! Now fuck off!¡± ¡°What! But I just got here!¡± ¡°Yeah, it might be bad for you Clar to see this.¡± ¡°Why? Please! I want to see!¡± Gwen, the muscle woman, took Clarence, the anything-but-muscle woman, away from the screen, like a parent dragging his kid away from ice cream. ¡°I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!¡± ¡°You''re the Bard of Chastity Clar, it¡¯s bad for you.¡± ¡°I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!¡± ¡°Same for all of you! It¡¯s not my fault if all the other noobs are always doing the same boring things! Now, excuse me, but I have to¡­ watch over my prot¨¦g¨¦.¡± Crunch Crunch Really, what a bunch of perverts. Crunch Crunch Chapter 25 - Reunion Struggle#09 Objective: Consume the Forbidden Fruit Sub-objective: Ride the Great Eagle ¨C Drink a Blue Star ¨C Not Safe For Disclosure Struggle#10 Objective: Reunite with all your friends Sub-objective: none I feel so tired¡­ and I have to say a bit ashamed. Maybe I should have wait for her to wake up before leaving. Well, I was way too excited to arrive at the 10th struggle and meet again with everyone. It¡¯s absolutely not because I was scared to face Lilith, I¡¯m not a coward. Sigh¡­ I guess maybe I am. Anyway! I have other things to do now! For a change, I arrived in a forest. Sort of, because the trees are quite spaced from each other, and there is not much grass. Also, I can¡¯t hear any wildlife, but I sensed some noise¡­ A fight? Shit! Are they under attack? It¡¯s getting closer! Something¡¯s approaching. A huge projectile landed a few meter close to me, blowing a huge cloud of dust. No, it wasn¡¯t a projectile, but a person. He got back on his feet¡­ Hey! I know him! He sensed my presence, and jumped at me. Oh yeah, he must be blinded by the dust, I tend to forget that people use their eyes to see. Thanks to master Kunan¡¯s training, my body can react on his own when someone is attacking me. With the back of my hand, I slightly deflected the punch. It¡¯s heavy! He tried to follow up with a rotating elbow strike, but I easily dodge it by lowering my stance. His stomach is completely open now, ¡°Double Palm Impulse Strike¡±! I know I have no naming sense, but as long as it works, he was projected back to his landing point. He¡¯s not going back, seems like he understood who I am. After a swift arm movement, the surrounding dust was dispersed by a surge of vertical wind. ¡°Sam! It¡¯s really you man!¡± ¡°Hey, Prom! Long time no see bro!¡± Prometheus Peco, the funny guy of the group. Average height, average built, black skin, short dark hair, and a big wide smile. Yep, he didn¡¯t change at all. He was about to say something, but we heard another explosion. Someone else just landed, and the dust cloud is back again. Yet again, it''s someone I know. Despite her perfect looks, she still acts like a tomboy. Something is weird though¡­ Blond hair, blue eyes, dirty but still beautiful face, wait¡­ her arm. Her arm is weird. Seemingly annoyed, Prometheus dispersed the mist once again. ¡°What is taking you so long. I didn¡¯t hit you that...¡± ¡°Hey Marie, you haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± ¡°Sam!¡± Marie Murry, one of the geniusin the group, self-called invention goddess, she crafts countless gadget and machines thatchallenge common sense, and talking about that¡­ ¡°What happened to your arm?¡± Her right arm was now entirely mechanical, it was pretty cool, with a kind of steampunk style and apparent cogs rotating. ¡°Oh, this? I lost my old ones so I build myself a replacement. Cool, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°As you can see, she is not (h)armful anymore.¡± ¡°Come on Prom! He just arrived!¡± Hahaha, even in a mysterious unknown world with magic, nothing change. ¡°It¡¯s pretty cool, but how did you lose your old one?¡± ¡°You know, the 6th struggle. It was hard times. But just know that the record shows I decided to let my arm go. It was too good an opportunity to become a coll ass cyborg.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to catch up with all your story guys. By the way, what is happening here, I can still hear fights in the distance...¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.¡°You can? They should be pretty far though...¡± I could see Prom trying to comically extend his hearing by literally extending his ear. It¡¯s not how it works bro. ¡°We¡¯re sparring. It was getting a bit boring to wait for you doing nothing, so we¡¯re trying to prepare for what¡¯s coming next.¡± ¡°Oh yeah! Did you wait for long?¡± ¡°Almost 2 month.¡± ¡°What?! You guys are fast!¡± ¡°Not really, according to our guide, our speed is regular.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just slow man.¡± ¡°But it can¡¯t be helped, hard mode is tough.¡± I should have expected that. I suspected Valentine to be incompetent as a guide, but I forgot the other could have a decent one. I realise I don¡¯t understand what they are talking about, ¡°hard mode¡±? What is that? And she mentioned the 6th struggle, do we all have the same struggle pattern? I have so many questions, and fortunately, we have all the time we need to answer. Well, not really, one of the first things they told me is that after completing a struggle, you have more or less a week to leave, otherwise the difficulty increases dynastically until you leave. Struggle#10 Objective: Reunite with all your friends Sub-objective: none Well, not yet. I still have to meet with everyone it seems. After this little reunion with Marie and Prometheus, they guided me to the camp. It wasn¡¯t too far from here, apparently, they were supposed to spar further away, but as Prom got projected multiple time, they ended up close. It was a circle of 7 tents, around an extinct campfire. I¡¯m so excited, finally, I arrived, it¡¯s been so long! Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t really know how long I¡¯ve been here. I lost my sense of time during my training on the 6th struggle, maybe I should ask Valentine about that. The others were still out, and were meant to come back in a few hours. In the meanwhile, I discussed with Prom and Marie about their journey. I quickly understood that our experiences were completely different. They discovered how to use the flux only a few days after the start, it took me at least twice the time. Also, they didn¡¯t have that ridiculous 1st struggle in the jungle, but something more suitable. Prom had to cure an entire town, and Marie had fix an old huge machine. Of course, they also have their own title. Prometheus, Mender of Charity. I am not surprised, back on Earth he was the best when it came to tending to superficial wounds. The fact is that he was often the one hurting himself, and as no one wanted to keep looking after him, he had to do it by himself, and eventually became really good. I think his i-talent helped him a lot for that too, but he¡¯s never explicit about it. Marie was a bit shy about her title, so Prom told me. She is the Mason of Chastity. Again, not really surprised, despite her popularity, she never dates anyone. Seems like all titles have a common pattern. According to their guide, it¡¯s the same in every session, there are a number of recurrent classes and seven Virtue. Chastity, Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Humility, Patience and Temperance. And according to my guide, those virtue do not reflect the older personality at all. Hey, for once she taught me something. ¡°MYYYYYSAAAA!¡± Here she is, she jumped on me, making me fall down on the ground. I knew she would react like that. ¡°Harue!¡± ¡°I missed you so muuuuuch!¡± I managed to get up and to make her sit down. She was looking me like a puppy, so I patted her a bit, and her face illuminated. Did she grow up? Nah, she¡¯s still the little Asian shorty I know. Her hairs are longer than before though. ¡°You took your sweat time Sammy.¡± ¡°Sorry about that. Good to see you too Xav.¡± This feels good, to see everyone again. Two left¡­ oh shit, I forgot. I¡¯m about to meet again with Nami. Shit! We didn¡¯t talk at all after our fight, what should I say? I should probably play it cool, lots of things happened, maybe she doesn¡¯t remember. What am I saying? Of course, she remembers. Shit! Why do I think so much about it! Okay¡­ calm down. There is still a chance she won¡¯t care about it, and everything will get back to the way we were. We¡¯re still friends in the end, so there is nothing to worry about. ¡°Oh by the way! Naomi told me she wanted to talk with you in private when you¡¯re here.¡± What the fuck Harue! I just managed to calm down! ¡°Di-did she said about what?¡± ¡°Nah, something from Earth I think.¡± ¡°Did you two got into a fight?¡± ¡°Not really. Well, in a way you could say that, but it was more like a¡­ disagreement?¡± ¡°Come on. If it¡¯s about disagreement, you two have that all the time. Something must have happened.¡± Xav has a point, we fight a lot, but this time it was really intense. But it¡¯s not like I can tell them we¡¯ve been secretly dating for more than a year. Guess I¡¯ll feign ignorance until she arrives. ¡°I don¡¯t really understand myself. You know... girls are girls.¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m still here.¡± ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± Shit! Now Marie and Harue are mad at me too. How am I so gauche? ¡°I think we deserve apologies Mysa.¡± ¡°Come on Sam! What did you want to say?¡± And here they are lecturing me. Girls! I didn¡¯t mean it! And Prom is laughing his ass off! Please! Someone help me! ¡°What is this commotion?¡± I looked behind me. She was here, and times froze for an instant. Once again, I got lost in her eyes. Her deep, intense, magnificent emerald eyes. ¡°Sam?¡± ¡°Hey, Nami... It¡¯s been a while.¡± Chapter 26 - "Friends" It looks like the end of a story, and a happy ending that is. Me, after surviving countless mortal trials, finally reunite with all of my friends, talking and laughing about our adventure, sitting in circle around the bonfire. Well, I was giving Haru a massage, something about ¡°you owe me because you arrived so late, blablabla¡±. I accepted anyway because she would sulk at me all night otherwise. It didn¡¯t startle anyone that I arrived last, actually, the surprised is that I arrived here in one piece ¨C Marie was disappointed. I was already shocked by what Prom and Marie told me one their first struggle, but apparently, it¡¯s the same for everyone. Even though they all found the quest confusing and the power level required a bit too much sometimes, it was nowhere what I had been through. No one saw the Black and Yellow Death ¨C the bee I encountered in the jungle, Val told me its name at some point ¨C, no one met with a ridiculously powerful and hypersensitive psychic, and most of all, they all have a decent guide. Fuck you, Val! You could have at least told me how to use flux properly! Or that there was a time limit after finishing a struggle! I could have seriously died on the 5th! Also, she skipped that there is exactly seven guide, watching all of us, like a bunch of perverts. I just sincerely hope they can''t see everything... None of us knows how they do that by the way. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t a feature of the quest to communicate with the book at first, but one of them managed to implement it. It¡¯s Marie¡¯s guide that did that, and according to her, he is nowhere close to her genius, so she is planning to upgrade significantly the book again. She already managed to build a lot of stuff that works with flux, including her bionic arm. She never goes into details, but apparently, she already created a compressor to stock a hell lot of material. The rest is sorcery, literally. Another thing about Val: she is the main reason why everybody was worried about me. According to each of there guide, mine is the worst. Mainly because she usually bet that the newcomer she is watching upon will be the first to die, and she often wins. It seems she didn¡¯t do that this time, but it¡¯s not like it would have changed anything anyway. I swear, she will kill me one day. A common theme though, is that none of the guides told us about their past or how they got to the end of the game. I never questioned it, but if tens and tens of session took place, why are there only 7 people up there? We have 2 hypothesise, either the game is getting harder and harder, which is the most plausible one, or something will happen in the upper sphere of the quest. For now, the only thing we know is that there is an end to the game. So everything we did wasn¡¯t pointless. At least, this moment is worth it. Roasting marshmallow with everyone around the fire - don¡¯t ask me how they got their hand on some I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t want to know. Everyone is smiling or laughing, especially Nami, she¡¯s been more joyful than usual.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As expected, the discussion inevitably ended up on me, as I was the late one. I tried not to be too explicit, because I¡¯m not sure myself about what really happened each time, but also because they asked me about way too many things. About my struggles, my physical growth -I did grow some muscle during Kunan¡¯s training-, my powers, the 6th trial, Valentine, my mental state, my health, my sex life¡­ ¡°What?! You¡¯re joking right?¡± ¡°Come on man! This is also an important part of the adventure!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ¡°man¡± me Prom! It¡¯s personal!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. He just wants to be reassured he¡¯s not the only virgin.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one to talk! Miss Chastity!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that!¡± Gosh, that was close, glad those two diverted the topic. ¡°It¡¯s not like Sammy would sleep with someone he just met, right?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Shit. I totally forgot. I looked down. Has she heard it? ¡°Masy¡­ you¡­ ¡± Shit! She heard me! ¡°Haru? What happened? Did he lied?¡± Please, Nami! Don¡¯t ask! ¡°Through his teeth.¡± ¡°Wait, does that mean...¡± ¡°Okay, guys! Playtime over! I¡¯m sleepy! Good night!¡± And I absconded to my tent as fast as possible. Honestly, they are the worst! Can¡¯t a man have some affair without being questioned about it! Shit, I sound like a player¡­ To be fair, lying in front of Haru was my mistake. The tents are not really far from the fire, so I can still hear them laugh loudly. Pff, bunch of kids. And now that I think about it, I do have a good reason for what I did. Each time, it was actually included in the main Objective. It¡¯s absolutely not like I wanted to do it¡­ kinda. Let¡¯s forget about that, they¡¯ll laugh about it for a couple of hours and tomorrow everything will be fine. I ran away from the discussion with a pretty lame excuse but I am in fact pretty exhausted, as I didn¡¯t have much sleep last night. If only I had a way to block the fucking noise they¡¯re making! Sigh¡­ Anyway, I managed, after several minutes, to finally fall into slumber. Until I got wake up in the middle of the night. Seriously? Can¡¯t you guys leave me alone on my first night! I knew we pranked each other a lot but come on guys! ¡°Sam.¡± ¡°What?!¡± In response to the outside whisper, I violently opened the flap. It was Nami. She was smiling at me. ¡°Hey sleepy head, delighted you are awake.¡± ¡°Whose fault is it?¡± She lightly smiled at me¡­ Why can¡¯t I ever get mad at her? ¡°I heard you wanted to talk with me, I didn¡¯t think it would be this urgent.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t. Nonetheless, I was impatient.¡± ¡°Is it¡­ about what happened before the quest?¡± ¡°Maybe...¡± Out of the blue, she got closer and put her lips on mine. In surprise ¨C after 2 solid seconds ¨C I pulled myself back. ¡°What do you..? Didn¡¯t we broke up?¡± ¡°What are you saying? Us? Breaking up?¡± ¡°We had a pretty huge fight.¡± ¡°Sam¡­ We strive all the time, they are all aware of that.¡± ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re good?¡± ¡°For now, we are¡­ you know¡­ I missed you.¡± She looked at me, and slowly approach her body to mine, pushing me inside the tent. I guess I missed her too. Chapter 27 - Seer VS Warlock Fist Fight I woke up alone in my tent. As usual, she doesn¡¯t want the other to find out about the two of us. I went out of the tent and stretched myself. What a beautiful day, the sun is rising on the horizon, the wind is brushing the leaves, and birds are tweeting in the distance. However, thanks to my super Seer senses, I can hear every last of them snoring like a fucking bear! Sigh, I guess making progress in one''s ability comes with some drawback. This was really annoying, like a flee stuck in your ear. So I went outside the camp to meditate in peace. I recently discovered my ability to see the future, but I never properly tried to train it. I tried a bit during the 8th trial, in the hostel, but the whole thing didn¡¯t last 4 days, and I had to get in touch with everyone, so I didn¡¯t have much time for training. After walking for a few minutes, I found a good and calm spot, and sat against a tree. I don¡¯t have a precise thing I want to know about my future, so I decided to just relax and nap¡­ hum, empty my mind. As I was letting my mind slip away, I felt my consciousness fading. More and more. As if I was sinking towards the bottom of the ocean. Deeper and deeper. The world is darkening. It feels¡­ warm? No, it¡¯s actually more, I feel hot. I hear fire, something is burning. I opened my eyes, and a familiar scene unfolded in front of me. I was in the middle of a burning forest. Looking exactly like the one I was meditating in. I was standing up, in front of a dying person, lying on the ground. It was myself. I was covered in blood and wound. My clothes were completely thorned of, and one of my legs was chopped off. Someone else was here, standing in front of me. A woman, with a spear in her hand. She lifted the spear above her head, pointing towards me. Then¡­ ¡°Here you are!¡± I opened my eyes in shock ¨C my real ones this time ¨C and found myself back against the tree, with Haru crouching in front of me. ¡°Wow! You¡¯re all sweaty¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°He-hey Haru. Good morning!¡± I have a bad feeling. It¡¯s the first time a vision came that easily. I might have witnessed my own death, and it¡¯s likely to take place in this very struggle. ¡°Is everything okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, kinda¡­ I have a bit of a hurdle with my class.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, the foresight thing! It sounded pretty cool!¡± ¡°Not that much.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always too humble, Masy. And you promised to show us today anyway.¡± Oh yeah, I forgot about that. ¡°Okay¡­ Are the other up?¡± ¡°Yep, Xaxa and Nana are preparing breakfast.¡± ¡°You really have a lame sense for nicknames...¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m cute!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ yes, you are.¡± After patting her head, we headed back to the tents.
¡°Okay guys, let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°Are you certain you want Xavier to be your demonstration partner?¡± ¡°The faster the opponent, the more impressive it gets. And I can¡¯t hold it too long so you might go all out from the start.¡± ¡°You said it.¡± The 5 other made space for me and Xav to spar. Even though I told him to go seriously at the beginning, I know he won¡¯t. So I¡¯ll start with Kunan''s Art first. I took my stance, 3 meters away from me, Xav was standing still. I know he is fast, on earth, not once was I able to keep up with him. But that was a long time ago.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. He jumped at me, and close the distance in less than a second, throwing a punch at me. I guess I¡¯ll go with the basic version of the Void Flow. I connected the back of my hand with his fist, and without much effort, I redirected the blow. He came back with a barrage of punches and palm strike, and I kept deviating each one of them. They''re all heavy and fast, but with flux enhancement, I can keep up easily. I know Xavier well, he is the patient type, and he¡¯s hard to anger. He started to use kick, with the same result. He threw a round one towards my chin, that I evaded easily again. Actually, I had a lot of openings to strike back. But I know he¡¯s not using flux yet, it would be unfair. But I think he is ready to get more into it. He stepped back, and smiled. I can feel the air getting heavier. He¡¯s finally serious. I guess I should do the same. ~~ The first part of the fight was already pretty impressive compared to what would have happened on Earth, but that was it. Samsy could keep up with a fluxless Xavier now. If he gets serious, there is no way he could continue, right? Even though he warned them, our 5 spectators were shocked. Our Seer wasn¡¯t dodging, he was playing. He wasn¡¯t evading, he was dancing. The strikes were faster than what his eyes could catch, but it was just like the 7th struggle. Speed doesn¡¯t matter if you can predict the path. Only a couple of seconds past, but Xavier was already irritated. Samsy managed to get in his blind spot, and there were no mean to shake him off from it. However, our protagonist is not the only one that improved during this Quest, and the Warlock of Patience had more pride than expected. He threw a blind round kick behind him. It was fast, and strong, but seemingly no different than any of the previous attacks. However¡­ Sam redirected it, instinctively, with his strongest form. The real Void Flow. The barrage of strike resumed, and despite foreseeing the moves, he couldn¡¯t swiftly evade all of them. In fact, he was gradually losing footing. He was barely able to keep control of the flow. ~~ Wha¡­? Xavier¡¯s feet encountered my forearm, and then my temple. I was propelled to the ground, that cracked under the shock. Or maybe it''s one of my bone. Gosh¡­ He got a bit too serious¡­ I am glad I managed to keep consciousness, but it hurts like hell. I heard the other rushing to me, and Xavier trying to apologies. I wasn¡¯t that badly injured, I¡¯ve known worse ¨C obviously ¨C but it¡¯ll take a few minutes for me to get back on my feet. That was without taking into account our Mender. Prom is way more skilled than I thought, and 10 seconds later, I was standing up, massaging my cheek. ¡°Man¡­ You didn¡¯t go with the back of the spoon...¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ sorry, I got caught in the action. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to do so well.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much, it was me that asked you in the first place.¡± ¡°I told you guys it was a bad idea!¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m fine Haru.¡± ¡°Your foreseeing ability is really something man. Xavier seemed really serious out here!¡± ¡°I was. It¡¯s really impressive. Even in the end, I couldn¡¯t get a proper hit.¡± ¡°My head has to disagree, and the way I see it, your mind reading gimmick is way more practical. Even without getting forced out of my third eye state you would have taken the upper hand.¡± That, and, I have to be honest, I don¡¯t think I can damage him while he is using flux. I guess some things will never change. Shit, my nose is bleeding, and my head is aching again. Looks like you can¡¯t cure the after effect... what a convenient drawback... ¡°Is there a problem? You are pale.¡± ¡°Nothing, Nami. Just the after eff...¡±
It¡¯s good to see my pupils reunite with his comrades. They laugh, they talk about their fantastic adventure, they catch up, proving once again that friendship is the most important thing in the world. BORING! God! I prefer Samsy when he is getting beaten up. Even if he was the one doing the beating it would be cool. But now?! He gets smacked on the cheek and everyone is freaked out! In a way, I¡¯m glad they weren''t there on the 6th trial. Well, the 1st and 5th to actually. To be fair, he did try to make the first night entertaining, but this bitch erected a fucking privacy dome, and I couldn¡¯t see anything despite the tent moving. Just when I started to like her, what a shame. Sigh... I can¡¯t wait for them to leave this stage. Until then, I guess I¡¯ll have to find other ways to kill time. ¡°Guys¡­ I think we have a problem...¡± Great timing William! ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to upgrade the pattern generation via inborn flux path implementation.¡± At this point, everyone was looking at the back of the room, where Williams was doing his experiment with the Questbook. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I understood all of that. So what?¡± ¡°To do that, I need to connect with all the rookie¡¯s book...¡± ¡°Again. So what?¡± ¡°Let me finish! As I said, I¡¯m trying to connect all our book together with theirs, and here¡¯s come the problem.¡± He took his tablet and showed the screen to all of us. We could see 7 red dots on one end, and 7 blue on the other. No, there was another blue, blinking. ¡°I don¡¯t know what exactly does that means, but I think there is an 8th rookie.¡± Chapter 28 - The 8th player? ¡°You¡¯re joking right?¡± ¡°Not at all. My calculation are pretty accurate.¡± ¡°And why the dot is blinking?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know. It¡¯s the first time I see an 8th dot, so it could be a triangle that would be the last of my priorities.¡± He¡¯s right. I was here before he arrived, we saw tens of session, and it has always been with 7 people. Everybody was shocked by this info, except Jules, but he¡¯s never surprised by anything. He took the liberty to lead the conversation. ¡°So, you suspect this session have 8 people.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s unlikely...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see another possibility. Unless one of them has two books, but that would be even less probable.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right...¡± ¡°What do we do about it?¡± ¡°Do you know where the book is?¡± ¡°No¡­ only that it¡¯s still in the first world, like all the other.¡± ¡°Do we still have the static camera?¡± ¡°Oh yeah! I forgot about those. I think they are still working, but I placed hundreds of them, so it may take a while before I find something.¡± Like that, William started to swap his finger on the screen frenetically in search of the mysterious uninvited newcomer. This new session never ceased to amaze me, at first I thought it was only Sam, but now, there is a real change in the quests pattern. And I like It. I wonder if they have an idea of who it could be¡­ wait. It couldn¡¯t¡­ ¡°Guys¡­ Until then, everyone in each session were close to each other, right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Did any of you ever heard someone remarked a person of the group was missing? That they were a group of 8 before coming here.¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t think so¡± ¡°Nop¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ not sure.¡± They all answered at the same time, it¡¯s what I thought. Sam was the first to complain about that. ¡°I may know who is the 8th¡­ and if I¡¯m right, we should find her as fast as possible.¡± ~~ The sun is setting again. It¡¯s been 5 days since I¡¯ve arrived, and as any friends would do reuniting after several months, we spar with each other. No, seriously, I didn¡¯t really want to, but Xavier kind of insisted, and I think they all wanted to give it a go against my ¡°all mighty power¡±. I feel like a freak show. I won¡¯t go too deep into each fight, but it¡¯s worth it to recap how and why I got obliterated by each one of them. Prometheus, this fucker can heal himself almost instantly, and as long fights are clearly not my fort, I lost because of self-exhaustion. Marie¡­ How do I say this¡­ She pulled out a portable Gatling gun and fired without any warning. It was fun dodging the bullets for a couple of seconds, but I surrendered pretty quickly. Kyle, as the Shirker of Diligence ¨C paradoxical isn¡¯t it? - he had a bad match up against me. His main style is to sneak outside of the opponent vision and strike, and as expected he couldn''t do that against me. As our respective ability cancelled each other¡¯s, it came down to basic fighting, and I won. Yay! No, just kidding, even with martial art, you can¡¯t do much against someone twice as fast as you.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Haru, ironically, the lie detector got a huge affinity for illusion. As a Seer, I am able to see through them¡­ but the kid is smart. She deployed an illusion inside an illusion inside another illusion. ¡°Illception¡± she called it. The name is lame but she got me good with it. Finally, Nami. Let¡¯s just say it reminded me of my ¡°fight¡± with Nathyn¡­ Just like that, during this 3 days, I lost, once again, to all of my friends. I went through all those struggles, grazed death multiple time, trained in hell. For this. So worth it! 3 month ago I would have never dreamed of getting close to them, and now they need to go all out for the same result! I feel kinda lame to be thankful for something so little but meh, I¡¯ll take it. We¡¯re all back in the camp, I¡¯m lying down on one of the big trunks we use as a bench. I¡¯ve been running around for the past few days, I think I deserved a bit of rest. ¡°Guys! We need to talk!¡± Or maybe not¡­ Marie and Xavier gathered the seven of us, like they were about to start a lecture, and the blond girl started talking. ¡°Okay, so we¡¯ll probably be leaving the day after tomorrow. Before that, I want to inform you all about my ongoing project about the book, as it concern all of us.¡± ¡°You already told me! You¡¯re gonna expand the communication system!¡± ¡°Prom! I haven¡¯t told everyone yet!¡± She can do that? ¡°You can do that?¡± ¡°Yeah! She wants to prove she is better than Williams!¡± ¡°My guide has nothing to do with this! It would just be more practical, that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right. The book is the only reliable thing we got from the quest...¡± Reliable¡­ I¡¯m not sure I would say have used that word¡­ ¡°...so if we can improve it, this will be useful for us, and the future session. I think this is actually crucial.¡± ¡°Thanks for the pressure Xav.¡± ¡°Your welcome Blondy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t use the book that much, but I guess it would be cool to chat with everyone.¡± ¡°You talk that much with your guide?¡± ¡°Yeah, but also because it¡¯s a fucking cool shield.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Let me demonstrate, Prometheus.¡± V: Hey¡­ Sam how you doing? (^.^)¡¯ V: Me? Fine, thanks forV: I just wanted to ask you somethinV: Chapter 29 - Omens, Up and Down For the past 20 years, the game has been pretty stable. It¡¯s been ages since something completely new and unexpected happened like that. And this is not good, the whole surveillance room is in a crisis state. I didn¡¯t even know we had a crisis state! ¡°Val! What did he say!¡± ¡°Gimme a break! He is answering.¡± We didn¡¯t want to say anything to the newbies, the situation is weird enough for us to care about their reaction. Plus, Jules had a good point saying that if only one mentioned her existence, maybe her presence won''t be welcomed by the group. Around me, everyone is scrutinizing one of the screens. Williams displayed the image of several of his cameras on them. ¡°Okay! I have a description! Heigh just a bit shorter than Sam, so around 1m75, white long hair and dual coloured eye, one gold and one blue. Fuck! She sounds like a main character.¡± ¡°How did we managed to miss someone like that!¡± The truth is that we did spot something. We know for a fact she is still in the first world, but the area is still way too large for a refined search, it¡¯s like covering the entire Earth. Nonetheless, we found a place where none of our newbies went with clear trace of activity. To be more precise, we saw the corpse of a silver wolf. It was odd for two reasons, first, like the Black and Yellow Death, it shouldn¡¯t have appeared here, and second, no one in this stage -except the Kunans but we already know where they all are- should be close to stand up against one of those, let alone kill it. ¡°I¡¯ve got something else!¡± Clarence shouted while pointing at her screen. ¡°A small port in the south! The docks are completely wrecked!¡± ¡°You mean she took a boat?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, they¡¯re all destroyed. But she shouldn¡¯t be far, some rumbles are still fuming.¡± ¡°Maybe we should send someone there.¡± ¡°Nobody is suited for a search. Our best solution is to find the exact location to contact her via the book.¡± ¡°How precise do you have to be Will?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do anything if I don¡¯t have her directly on the screen.¡± I wish I could go. I actually think I have a dowser¡¯s wand or something in my inventory. If only I didn¡¯t use my monthly trip for the prophet¡­ ¡°Guys! I may have the start of a trail!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what is her Objective, but she is moving fast!¡± Sigh¡­ And the search continues¡­
¡°Any occurrence Sam?¡± ¡°Nothing important...¡± Weird¡­ Valentine asked me about Alice, I have a bad feeling about this. Is she here? But everything points out that we should be only seven. The number of tents, what our guides told us, and even our title represent the 7 Sacred Virtues -pretty lame by the way.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. In any case, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to inform the other, if I¡¯m the only one V asked, it may be because she wants me to stay discrete. But most importantly, I don¡¯t think they would react well. If I remember correctly, they all hate her. I mean literally, they said it to her face. ¡°Sam?¡± ¡°Hum? Did I miss something?¡± ¡°Not yet. The important things I wanted to bring up today, is about the quest itself. I wanted to know your opinion.¡± That¡¯s rare to see Xavier anxious. ¡°Since I¡¯ve started this adventure, I¡¯ve experienced amazing things. Of course, it was dangerous sometimes, but it felt¡­ fulfilling. I may sound crazy, but I don¡¯t mind not coming back to Earth.¡± Oh¡­ I never thought about that. He does have a point, I forgot the fact that we were not on Earth anymore. I mean, as long as I am with everyone I don¡¯t mind I guess. It¡¯s not like the community needed us back there. I realised the surrounding silence, and several gaze pointed at me. Oh¡­ did they already talk about it? ¡°You have a point. Despite all the time I came close to death, I can¡¯t say it wasn¡¯t fun, and it¡¯s not like we have something to look for at our return. In fact, I believe we would have probably moved out eventually.¡± I took a deep breath, and looked around me to see if they were agreeing. As no one interrupted me, I continued. ¡°Nonetheless, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the time to worry about that. As long as we don¡¯t have a place we can stay, without the quest pressing us to keep going, we should strive to finish the game. And we know it¡¯s possible, because we have people that can attest that.¡± With the last line, I showed my Questbook, to support my point. They stayed silent for a few seconds, and Haru timidly asked. ¡°So¡­ what do we do?¡± ¡°For now, we play by the rules, and we win.¡± Silence again¡­ It¡¯s not like you have to listen to me guys¡­ Gosh, I don''t like speeches. ¡°Our leader has spoken.¡± ¡°It seems fair.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with you man!¡± ¡°Yay!¡± ¡°Hun¡± ¡°Works for me.¡± ¡°Come one guys¡­ stop mocking me.¡± ¡°Actually, we had an election before you arrived. Congrats.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t really an election, everyone voted for you.¡± ¡°Guys, we¡¯re friends, we don¡¯t need a leader.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s because you say those kinds of things that we choose you." They¡¯re really idiots, no way I¡¯m suited for the job. I am the weakest in almost every aspect! Sigh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll let them believe what they want. We continued talking a bit more, but the sun was slowly setting down in the horizon. As usual, I was exhausted by all the sparing ¨C that and the fact that I can never get a calm night (not that I¡¯m complaining)-, so I went to bed early. On a totally unrelated subject, Nami is really a skilled sorcerer, even though it¡¯s not her class, as she can easily create a sound proof dome. Not that we found any practical usage¡­hum hum. Anyway, when the moon got high in the sky, I finally managed to close my eyes and let my consciousness fade away.
It¡¯s...hot. The burning forest? Again? That was exactly it. Flame everywhere, and myself agonizing on the ground. A woman approached, with her spear. I don¡¯t know her, and I can¡¯t see her eyes, only her smile. A wide and crazy smile. She had short purple hair, and some sort of leather armour. Did we fight? She have traces of blood on her suit¡­ She lifted up her weapon, and said something. I saw the lips moving, but didn¡¯t hear any sound. I looked down toward myself, and realised something odd. I am¡­ happy?
I woke up in panic. My breath is short, my forehead is sweaty. I looked at my side. Good, I didn¡¯t disturb Nami. Holy shit¡­ what the fuck does that mean? What should I understand? Will this really happen? I don¡¯t know that woman. In fact, I never saw anyone with purple hair before in my life. Sigh¡­ this quest is really fucked up. Chapter 30 - The Most Important Character Finally Arrives 3 months. It¡¯s been exactly 3 months this we all got transported here -according to the others, I kinda lost track of time at some point. I don¡¯t miss Earth, but I miss peace. I know it¡¯s a bit ironic, but I¡¯m worried about my friends, here you can never know what¡¯s around the corner, and sometimes, confidence can become a weakness. What if someone lost his book? It doesn¡¯t matter if it is indestructible, if you lose it, you can¡¯t do much here. I don¡¯t really want to bring the subject, because they¡¯ll surely discard me with an answer like ¡°just mark it with flux¡±, but as I can¡¯t do that, they¡¯ll worry and I¡¯ll feel bad. Actually, they can probably do something like that already, so maybe it¡¯s just me worrying for nothing¡­ Or maybe their guide told them something I still don¡¯t know? Nah, unlikely, we shared almost all we could ¨C well, more like they shared all they could. Speaking of guides, Val is not answering me. Yesterday I tried to tell the other about my nightmare, but I didn¡¯t find any opportunity to tell them I¡¯ll probably die, killed by an unknown woman with purple hair, in a burning forest. They are already way too anxious about me. Nonetheless, it would be stupid to keep this for myself, so I asked Val if she knows of any purple psychopath, but she hasn''t answered yet. That¡¯s odd, usually, she¡¯s quick. Well, usually she is the one asking me something, so who knows... I¡¯ll leave this place soon, so I¡¯m not that worried. Sigh¡­ and here we are... I hate goodbyes. Well, I guess we know what¡¯s coming next, sort of. We beat the crap out of each struggle and we met back at the 20th one. Seems like there is a plateau every ten level, unsurprisingly Val never told me. After that, we keep going, we fight, we thrive, and we rise. Until we finish this twisted quest and go home, or find a place where we can all stay in peace. Hey! Now that I think about it, that would be a good plot for a novel. Anyway, we¡¯re all around the remains of yesterday¡¯s campfire. I¡¯m talking with Nami, well, she¡¯s mostly asking me hundreds of questions on my preparation, like a mother. She¡¯s probably worried about me¡­ that¡¯s so cute. Xavier was the first to leave. He didn¡¯t say anything special, neither did we. I think we¡¯re all confident that we¡¯ll meet again whatever happens. One by one, everyone left the camp. It was only me and Nami now. ¡°I think I should go now.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll miss you.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll meet again soon.¡± As an answer, she smiled and put her lips on mine. After the longest goodbye kiss in history -from a totally objective point of view-, we parted ways. Shit¡­ My cheeks are wet, I probably have dust in my eyes¡­ The doors are a few minutes away from the camp, I sat down against a tree midway to soothe myself. I closed my eyes, to hear the sound of birds chirping in the background, and feel the morning breeze on my face. I may always do the same thing to calm down, but it works every time. When I meditate like that, time seems to freeze, like nothing really matter, like I¡¯m done with the whole world, a drop in the ocean, so¡­ small¡­ Phew¡­ this is actually a bit overwhelming. Anyway, my heart has settled a bit now, I¡¯m ready to move on. It¡¯s just a goodbye after all. I opened my eyes. What is that? The door¡­ why is it here? Just in front of me, the door had appeared out of thin air. I approached, and touch it, but there was no reaction. What the fuck is happening? I took out the Questbook, maybe there is something I missed. The previous struggle didn¡¯t change at all, and this one is already completed¡­ maybe in later in the book? The door opened. Violently. And someone crashed on me. She had quite the momentum, we rolled down several meters. Before I even realised what happened, she had taken her distance, and was glaring at me. Wait¡­ ¡°Sam?¡± ¡°Alice?¡± No doubt about it, long hair, slender face with a wide mouth and bicolour eyes, one gold and one silver. Even though her hairs are dark red now, she is my sister. What the hell is she doing here? Wait, did Valentine knew about it?This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Sob...¡± Shit! She¡¯s crying! I jumped to her and took her in my arm. ¡°Shhh¡­ Everything is alright...¡± What the hell happened? ¡°I...I¡­ was alone and.. sob...¡± ¡°Shhh¡­ I¡¯m here now. Everything is fine.¡± It took several minutes, but she managed to calm down a bit. She¡¯s usually so strong, but if she went through the quest like me and the other, I¡¯m afraid I can see what is going on. We were sitting down against to close tree, she told me everything. I have to say, I wasn¡¯t surprised. She is the strongest person I know, and by far, but since what happened during the purge, her emotions have been unstable. ¡°¡­ and then I went through the door and¡­ well, here I am.¡± She was staring at the ground¡­ ¡°You must be disappointed...¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I broke the promise.¡± ¡°Sis¡¯, look at me. It doesn¡¯t matter. When we made that promise, we never thought something like that would happen. You did what you had to do.¡± ¡°Thanks...¡± Aw¡­ she¡¯s cute. She seemed revealed, and yet I sense something else in her expression¡­ ¡°...you still say I¡¯m your sister...¡± Oh yeah¡­ I forgot about that. ¡°Of course you are!¡± ¡°I already told you, this person wasn¡¯t my father!¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter! We grew up as sister and brother, and..¡± ¡°It does matter!¡± Argh¡­ 5 minutes ago she was crying and now she¡¯s about to get mad. She really didn''t change¡­ I need to subtly change the subject, otherwise this will keep going for hours. ¡°You dyed your hair?¡± I think I facepalm myself in my head. ¡°Oh? Yeah¡­ about that...¡± It worked? She seems embarrassed about it. Wait, her her are slowly going back to the original pure white ¨C other proof she is my sister by the way. She can do that? That¡¯s pretty cool. ¡°They tend to get dirty so¡­ I figured that it would be best to change their colour for a bit¡­¡± ¡°To cover for blood stain?¡± ¡°¡­ yeah...¡± Sigh¡­ she is sad again¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that¡­ I saw a lot of blood too!¡± It was mostly mine though¡­ ¡°It must have been hard for you too¡­ especially because¡­ you know...¡± ¡°I¡¯m the weakest?¡± ¡°No!¡­ yes?¡± ¡°No worry, I¡¯m well aware of that. But I also have my own cheat now! And even though I resent her a lot, my guide helped a bit.¡± ¡°Your¡­ guide?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a guide?¡± She was staring at me weirdly¡­ Shit, I didn¡¯t catched that during her story. Maybe that explains why she had so much of a hurdle despite her overwhelming power. ¡°See, guides are persons that have supposedly finished the game, and they help newcomers through the Questbook in order to help them completing their quest.¡± Okay¡­ that didn¡¯t help, she still looking at me the same way¡­ ¡°What is a Questbook?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the book with your name on it. You know, the thing that gives you objective and things like that...¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t have that.¡± ¡­ What? ~~ ¡°She went left!¡± ¡°No! No! No! Don¡¯t let her escape guys!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault there are so many dead angles!¡± ¡°I have her! Shit!!!¡± ¡°What?!¡± Shit! We almost got her! How the heck did she moved so fast! ¡°She fucking pass the door!¡± Samsy didn¡¯t lie when he said she would be the most cheated newbie possible¡­ And now she could be anywhere! Phew¡­ I guess the chase is on hold for a bit now. William is taping like crazy on his computer, and Jules is trying to organise with the other to cover the biggest possible area. If only I could go myself¡­ In any case, we have to find her before she makes contact with the other. That could disturb their quest, and from past experience, we absolutely want to avoid that. Maybe if she meets with Sam it wouldn¡¯t be that bad. He was the one that brought her up, so maybe it would go better. Still too risky though¡­ Sigh¡­ I miss the time when I didn¡¯t care about the newcomers¡­ Anyway, time to get back to work. ¡°William? Any idea?¡± ...no response. ¡°Will?¡± I looked back, he wasn¡¯t moving anymore. I realised I couldn¡¯t hear him tapping either. Not only that, the others were silent too. In fact, I couldn¡¯t hear any sound in the room. Everything was¡­ frozen. No. No! No No No No No!!! It¡¯s not possible! Time manipulation is a fucking taboo! It shouldn¡¯t be fucking possible! What. The. Hell. Is. Happening?! ¡°Ting!¡± The elevator?! The doors opened and¡­ ~~ She was a beautiful woman, her long white hair were slightly brushed upward by an unknown energy, her eyes were closed, and she was smiling. Floating lightly above the ground, her body was emitting a pure white aura of power and serenity, an improbable combination that brought Valentine to her knee. She had gone through countless struggle, and have seen some of the most powerful beings of the worlds. But this was nothing compared to that. In an instant, her beliefs were shattered, and one thought flashed through her mind. ¡®Is she¡­ God?¡¯ ¡°Ha ha ha¡­ no, I¡¯m not. You can call me Eve.¡± ¡°What¡­ what are you?¡± ¡°I am here to help you.¡± ¡°Did you¡­ did you do this?¡± Still one knee on the ground, Val looked at the motionless people in the room. Despite the pressure she was feeling from Eve, she was surprisingly holding her ground and though quite well. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they will be fine.¡± ¡°...What do you want?¡± ¡°I have only two tasks. It won''t be hard, I promise.¡± ¡°¡­ can I refuse.¡± ¡°Of course you can. You should know that lords¡¯ will can¡¯t be altered that easily.¡± ¡°I also know that time can¡¯t be touched.¡± ¡°Ha ha ha¡­ you¡¯re silly.¡± An awkward silence filled up the room. Valentine was looking fiercely at the divine-looking being in front of her. But she finally sighed, seemingly resigned. ¡®¡­ I thought I would be done with this kind of shit...¡¯ ¡°What do I have to do?¡± ¡°I knew you were the right person. The first one is actually really simple.¡± As she pronounced those words, she lifted her hand, and blue particles gathered in front of Valentine. In an instant, an object had appeared on the floor. ¡°...Really? We can do that by ourself you know...¡± ¡°I do, but this one is special. You¡¯ll understand in due time.¡± Valentine grabbed the object and examined it. ¡®Purple hair dye¡­ what the fuck...¡¯ Characters stats at struggle 10 In order to have a better understanding of the power level, I made a table for each character''s stats. They''ll have some importance, as a handful of classes/people within the story can (or will be able to) access them. I''ve put Laura in it to represent a normal person strength from within the world, and Valentine because she''s one of the few to have reached the end. Don''t mind Eve... Here''s the meaning of each stats: -Strength: The ability to lift heavy things and hit hard. -Agility: The ability to run fast and evade quickly. -Dexterity: The ability to craft and/or use weapons. -Intelligence: The ability to remember things and solve puzzles quickly. -Flux Control: The ability to use flux efficiently. (Using more flux than you''re supposed to will result in heavy headaches and loss of consciousness) -Flux Power: The pool of flux available to you at a time. The higher it is, the more powerful spells and techniques you can use. (Like a mana pool) Techniques are their ability, but for some, they simply have too much of them, so I only put the most relevant ones. The lvl don''t have any impact on the stats, they''re indicative of the corresponding struggle in term of strength. If you come to a struggle under level, there is a high chance you''ll die horribly, and there is a huge step after each tens (10,20,30,...) That''s why a few are stuck on lvl19, even though they''re not that far behind. There is also a lot of hidden stats, such as Willpower, Toughness, Wisdom, etc. And Techniques are playing a huge role in one''s ability to kick asses. For instance, Samsy has shitty stats compared to others, but he can see into the future so he''s not as far behind as it seems. For reference, most newcomers start with all their stats below 10. Finally, this is their stats when they leave stage 10, so it is bound to change.
Laura (lvl 1)
Strength 1.4 Agility 2.2
Dexterity 2.4 Intelligence 9
Flux Control 0 Flux Power 0
Techniques
Samsy Sacre, Seer of Humility (lvl13)
Strength 13 Agility 14
Dexterity 14 Intelligence 11
Flux Control 15 Flux Power 12
Techniques Foresight Instinct Vision Art of the Flow (Beginner) ...
Haru Hasilf, Devotee of Kindness (lvl19)
Strength 22 Agility 29
Dexterity 34 Intelligence 14
Flux Control 32 Flux Power 65
Techniques Illusion Magic (Proficient) Imagination (Proficient) ...
Marie Murry, Mason of Chastity (lvl19)
Strength 41 Agility 67
Dexterity 94 Intelligence 56
Flux Control 104 Flux Power 23
Techniques Material Gathering (Beginner) Universal Artisan (Beginner) Blueprint Reader (Advanced) Art of the Flow (Beginner) ...
Xavier Xerfos, Warlock of Patience (lvl27)
Strength 112 Agility 74
Dexterity 89 Intelligence 61
Flux Control 56 Flux Power 62
Techniques Mind Blow Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.Thought Steel Mind Slash ...
Kyle (lvl24)
Strength 42 Agility 73
Dexterity 88 Intelligence 34
Flux Control 15 Flux Power 16
Techniques Track (Advanced) Invisible Strike Camouflage (Proficient) Silence (Mastered) ...
Prometheus Peco, Mender of Generosity (lvl 23)
Strength 42 Agility 21
Dexterity 13 Intelligence 10
Flux Control 14 Flux Power 21
Techniques Auto Heal (Proficient) Barrier Creation (Beginner) Magic [Wind(Beginner), Earth(Beginner), Water(Beginner), Fire(Beginner)] ...
Naomi Nuance, Conjureressof Temperance (lvl27)
Strength 18 Agility 24
Dexterity 31 Intelligence 1394
Flux Control 32 Flux Power 145
Techniques Magic [Fire(Advanced), Water(Proficient), Earth(Proficient), ...] MultiWiccas Casting (Beginner) Spell Creation Flux Gathering ...
Alice, ??? of ??? (lvl32)
Strength 112 Agility 135
Dexterity 116 Intelligence 1394
Flux Control 92 Flux Power 81
Techniques Magic [Fire(Proficient), Water(Proficient)] Double Jump Lightning Gathering Spatial Splitting Art (Beginner)
Valentine ???, Champion of Kindness (Lord)
Strength 84 Agility 234
Dexterity 265 Intelligence 32
Flux Control 1438 Flux Power 1594
Techniques Excalibur ...
Eve
Strength Enough to shatter a star with a punch. Agility Faster than light.
Dexterity More than you. Intelligence Knows everything, yes even that.
Flux Control More than perfect. Flux Power Infinity+3
Techniques Eve''s Blessing Eve is the Best I wrote this myself <3<3<3 ...
Yes, there are overpowered, but it''s only the start of the adventure, and even though their statsare sometimes tenfold what it is in a common session, they were close to dying a fair amount of times. And they''re not even halfway through. Authors note - Ascent and Side Quest Finally, the most valuable character has been introduced! Sorry Samsy, you had a good run. More seriously, chapter 30 marks the end of the first ark, and even though I already know what I want to write next, I''ll probably need some time to sort everything, so the story stays consistent and not too confusing. For this reason, and also because I''m committed to develop my characters'' identity, I started another novel in order to regroup flashbacks and side adventures. I don''t want to force anyone to read through them, so I prefer doing this than posting flashback chapters inside the main story. This side novel is called WileSideQuest - originality! - and as mentioned earlier, you won''t need to read it to follow the main story. Currently, it''s about Alice''s adventure since she started the quest. Each chapter will be fast-paced and the style should vary a lot from Sam''s struggles, as -I won''t hide it- Alice is an OP character.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. There will be 10 of those -like the number of struggle before the 10th? What a coincidence- with one posted every 2 days. I''ll resume the main story soon after that I think. That''s about all I wanted to say. On another subject, I really enjoy writing this story, and the reason I post my story on rrl is to improve my writing and world building. That''s why I want to give my special thanks for the comments and suggestions you gave me, it means a lot. (^-^) Also, I was told you should encourage your reader to review, rate, comment and such to receive more. So... consider yourself strongly solicited. EDIT: The 10 chapters are already out and the main story had resumed. Chapter 31 - Why the **** are you here? I think we broke the game¡­ Well, she broke the game. In a way, I knew it would have been like that if she were to be here, but now that I see it with my own eyes¡­ ¡°Sam! I found their weak point!¡± ¡°Punching through their skull is not a weak point Alice! And stop playing around! They¡¯re not cats!¡± ¡°They kinda look like cats¡­¡± Sigh¡­ We were in a ghost town, surrounded by what appeared to be robotic sabre-tooth tigers. They had an external armour, letting some inside fuselage visible. Plus, from some part of their body was a blue light emitted. We quickly discovered that it was from their core, after Alice¡­ cut one in half. She was already amazing and scary back home, but know it''s like she has superpowers. Apparently, she had a blade training or something, but it didn¡¯t sound as traumatizing as mine. As I wasn¡¯t using it I let her borrow my silver dagger -I kept it as a reminder of Laura. She was pretty happy to have it. The ground was filled with mechanical pieces and trashed tiger robots. However, there are still a lot surrounding us, and the problem is that I¡¯m not really useful. I can''t really use my foresight ability here, it would just backlash after a few seconds when I¡¯ll get forced out with brain damage, so I''m just dodging and deviating their attacks. Their specs seem close to the one I fought back then in the jungle -sweat nostalgia- but this time I can react fine, if only it was not 50 vs 2. ¡°Muahahaha¡± I guess I¡¯m the only one struggling¡­ Alice is completely in her element, slashing left and right at there ¡°weak point¡±. She seems to have a lot of fun. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m bored.¡± Or not¡­ ¡°Come close.¡± Without any hesitation, I executed the order and jumped back near her. Both of her hands ignited and with a swift rotation, she created a circle of flame around us -I want to say I was surprised, but at this point, she could explode them with her mind it wouldn''t phase me. She increased the power of the flame and quickly overwhelmed the whole city, leaving only melted corpses and ashes in the street. "¡­ Why didn¡¯t you start with that?¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s the first time I have a weapon to test my new techniques, and it¡¯s not fun to finish a fight in one move.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s one way of seeing it. Let me check the Questbook, I didn¡¯t read the Objective yet.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, the book¡­¡± ¡°I still wonder how you managed without it.¡± Struggle#11 Objective: Survive the Cybertooth Tiger pack attack Sub-Objective: Destroy all of them Hum¡­ only one sub-objective, that¡¯s a first. I looked at the back cover. S: Hey! I was wondering¡­ Have you ever seen a purple haired woman? S: It¡¯s important, probably. She hasn''t answered yet. It''s been only a day, but usually, she''s pretty fast, even if it''s totally off topic¡­ "So? What does your magic book say?" ¡°We finished the struggle, the door should be in that direction.¡± "This thing looks really convenient." ¡°Yeah¡­ but half the time all it does is confusing you about what you have to do, like, in my 9th struggle I had to¡­ never mind.¡± ¡°Your 9th struggle? What happened?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I felt my book vibrating inside my pocket, thank god! ¡°Hey, she responded!¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Val, you know¡­ about the vision and stuff.¡± "Oh yeah¡­ " "Arf, it was to be expected." ¡°What?¡± I showed her the discussion. S: Hey! I was wondering¡­ Have you ever seen a purple haired woman? S: It¡¯s important, probably. V: VVhy? You have a fetish? (O.o) V: Maybe I should taint my hair. (^-^) ¡°What the heck?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ at least she¡¯s responding now.¡± S: I said it¡¯s important ¡ª¡¯ S: I had a vision of my own death, and it was a purple haired woman that killed me. V: Poor little boy had a nightmare :p V: You shouldn¡¯t take your visions that seriously. S: You¡¯re telling me that my ability might lie to me? V: Nah, I¡¯m telling you that it vvouldn¡¯t be the first time a Seer got a fake vision. V: Our theory is that you, and the other Seer, don¡¯t really ¡°see¡± a definitive future, but the most probable one. V: The further away you see in the timeline, the more opportunities you have to do something crazy and disturb the future. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. S: It happened before? V: Yep, several times. It¡¯s kinda funny to see nevvcomers bet everything on someone¡¯s dream, and then stupidly die. S: Sometimes you scare me, Val. V: Avvvv¡­ thanks (^-^) S: ¡­ S: I¡¯m out. S: Thanks for the advice, I¡¯ll look for something crazy to do in order to avoid¡­ well, dying. V: Bye :p V: Oh! And by the way, Hi Alice! ¡°She can see me?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ they don¡¯t want to talk about it, and we can¡¯t really do anything about it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s creepy! Even when we go¡­ you know, to the bathroom. That¡¯s so embarrassing!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ the bathroom¡­ that would be the worst.¡± Now that I think about it, if she was always watching me¡­ Okay, let''s not think about it. Forever. ¡°Anyway! At least I learned a bit about my power. I think I¡¯ll tell the other about the vision too.¡± "Oh yeah, I forgot the others are here too¡­" Still chatting, we started moving toward the door coordinate. "I know you don''t get along with them, but the circumstances have changed." "Hey! I''m not the problem, they are the ones not getting along with me." "Sigh¡­ at least there are only a few chances we meet them before the 20th stage." ¡°By the way, do you think it¡¯s ¡°allowed¡± that we travel together? You said that all the others are by themselves so¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care about what is allowed or not. You went through the door perfectly fine so I don¡¯t see why it¡¯s against the rules, if there are any. Plus, you don¡¯t have a book, I can¡¯t let you by yourself like that.¡± ¡°Awwww¡­¡± ¡°You''re my precious little¡­¡± ¡°Finish this sentence and you¡¯ll never be able to say that word again.¡± ¡°¡­companion?¡± ¡°Awwww¡­¡± This is getting weird, 5 minutes ago she was cutting killing machine beasts in half and now she''s smiling innocently. This quest might have taken a toll on her. Well, she was a bit like that to begin with anyway, so maybe it''s just me. I just I''ll be able to fix her relationship with the rest of the group. ¡°Do you plan to keep your hair that way?¡± Alice touched them lightly, spacing out with a melancholic face. "I think this type of colour suits me better now." ¡°Alice¡­ it wasn¡¯t your fault. Neither it was during the purge.¡± ¡°I know¡­ I think I just need time to reflect on myself, I¡¯ll change them back eventually.¡± I have to say, compared to her previous totally white hair, this new blood red colour gives her some kind of wild atmosphere. Also, is this just me or she adopted the same long hairstyle than Nami? Shit, I stared at her way too long, and now she¡¯s giving back a sly smile. Quick, I need something to divert the conversation¡­ ¡°Hey! Over there! The door!¡± At the top of the next hills was the familiar old door standing. Hurray for my i-talent. ¡°Your book was right after all. I would have loved to have this in the snowfield.¡± "Oh yeah, glad you managed to use my talent, even if "use" is a bit of a stretch. I still wonder how you managed to get this far without a book. Like¡­ how did you know what to do?" ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ I pretty much went with the flow.¡± "Well, I''m not that much worry about your ability to face whatever''s coming at you." ¡°The thing is, even though my main talent works just fine. I came across people I couldn¡¯t copy.¡± "¡­ The Kunans? It wouldn''t be surprising, those guys seem to be at the top of the food chain, at least here. It''s not the first time that happened to you, and in the end you still managed to humiliate Nami." "Come on¡­ I didn''t really humiliate her¡­ it was a joke." ¡°A bad one. She still remembers it.¡± ¡°Saying that is not fair and you know it.¡± ¡°I know, I know¡­ But you should still apologize one day.¡± ¡°Hey! We arrived in front of the door!¡± Damn, she''s using my trick! After a long sigh, we went through the teleportation device.
We arrived in the middle of a huge modern city, and when I say modern, I mean skyscrapers, flying cars and holographic ads. The air was pure, many trees were planted along the roads, everyone seemed happy and most of them were using some kind of transparent screen. The way things were working reminded me a bit of the blue crystal inside the tigers we just fought. The street was lively, but nobody remarked our odd arrival. Instead, they stared at our odd clothes. I realized I was still in my martial art suit, and Alice was wearing some kind of medieval leather male clothes -apparently, she borrowed it on her 9th struggle. We might need to chang¡­ something flashed in my head. 3 images, a hotel name, a room number, and¡­ no way. ¡°Is something wrong? You spaced out a bit¡­¡± ¡°There! The Justin Hostel!¡± I pointed at a tremendous building at the end of the street, with the giant gold letters JUSTIN written above five stars and the entrance of the said hostel. The building had at least 50 floors, and was releasing an atmosphere of overwhelming wealth. I rushed toward it, and Alice followed me in confusion. People looked at us weirdly when we entered, but I was too much in a rush to care. I went straight to the reception desk and the receptionist asked me "Can I help you, sir?" "Yes, I would like to contact my friend. She''s in the room 549." "That''s a VIP room¡­ I can call her, but generally, people using the last floor don''t answer." She dialled some number on a holographic screen and placed some kind of little disk on her temple. ¡°Yes? Sorry to disturb you, I have a gentleman and her friend asking if¡­ understood¡­ sorry for the¡­¡± Apparently, the other person at the receiving side of the call hanged up at the receptionist''s nose¡­ classic of her I suppose. We were then lead to an elevator, Alice didn''t ask me anything, well, she didn''t really had time, as we went up the fifty plus floor in less than a minute. I then went to the room at the end of an ostentatious corridor with golden walls filled huge painting, a red carpet and, of course, a few doors. I knocked, but it was already opened. I entered. She was here. On the floor. Plunging a sort of screwdriver into her right arm. Using her legs to stabilize her limb. ¡°You¡¯re late, Sam!¡± ¡°Marie? Why the fuck are you here?!¡± Chapter 32 - The Presidency Underdog (1) (M) ¡°Took you long enough to find me.¡± (S) ¡°You knew I was there?¡± (M) ¡°Yup, it¡¯s on my¡­¡± (A) ¡°What the fuck?¡± Alice entered the room and apparently got startled by Marie¡¯s presence, or maybe it¡¯s her new bionic arm. This last one turned herself as soon as she heard the voice. (M) "Why is she here?¡± (S) "Haha, well, it¡¯s a long¡­¡± (A) "I¡¯m where I want to be.¡± (M) "That doesn¡¯t answer my question, idiot.¡± (A) "Oh, sorry, maybe I should translate myself into Blondy language." (M) "You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m in the middle of maintenance¡­¡± (A) "Che, I''m soooo scared." (S) ¡°Girls¡­ please.¡± I knew it was bad, but I didn''t think it was "let''s fight at first sight" bad. Marie forced her tool inside her arm, twisted it, and then pulled it back. Now I could hear the cogs rotating again. She got up on her feet and stretch her arm in ways a human elbow probably can¡¯t do. She then turned back, facing the both of us. Her eyes gazing toward Alice, who in return raised her chin up to openly show she was looking down on her. (S) ¡°Can we¡­ sit and calm down?¡± Marie''s arm started to release steam. I don''t remember what specifically happened between those two, but obviously, she was taking it very seriously. And Alice clearly wasn¡¯t. (A) ¡°Cool, you managed to graft yourself an iron¡­¡± (M) ¡°I see you kept Naomi''s haircut.¡± ~~ Everything happened in a split second. They were roughly 2 meters from one another. Alice instantly closed the distance, throwing a punch toward Marie''s face. In return, this last one took a step back and attempted an ascendant jab at her assailant''s chin. At the exact same moment, as both strikes were about to hit, Sam intervened. With both of his palm, he guided the blows millimetres away from their respective target. ~~ (S) ¡°Girls!¡± The two of them were completely silent now. With one of there arm grazing the other''s ear, they were gazing into each other eyes intensely. As I was about to push them away from one another, I felt something on my upper lips. Shit, I¡¯m nose bleeding again. (A) ¡°Sam?! Are you okay?¡± Alice immediately went to me and tried to apply some healing magic -I suppose- and as for Marie she just distanced herself, visibly annoyed. (S) "Don''t worry, it''s a known after effect." (A) ¡°Of what?¡± (S) ¡°You don¡¯t think I can match both of your speed without some foresight do you?¡± Even though, this is a bit too much to nosebleed with less than 5 seconds of usage. Maybe it¡¯s because of the vision of Marie I had earlier. At least I don¡¯t have a headache, so that¡¯s nice. (A) ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it¡­¡± (S) "Then don''t provoke a fight right off the bat!" (A) ¡°She was¡­¡± (S) ¡°No! You started it and you know it!¡± I don¡¯t like to make her feel guilty, but it might be the only way to reconciliate them. And also it''s true she was the one provoking Marie first. (S) ¡°You two hate each other! I get it, but there¡¯s a lot at stake here, so stop being immature and apologies!¡± Our eyes met. She stared at me for a few seconds, before finally getting back up and turn toward our blond companion. (A) ¡°Sigh¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± (M) ¡°Hum? What did you say?¡± (S) ¡°Marie!¡± (M) ¡°Wow! I¡¯m sorry! ¡®Chief¡¯! I accept your apology...¡± Sigh, again with that nonsense. At least both of them seems to have calmed down.
I didn''t remark it at first, but this is really a fancy room. Oversize bed, expensive carpet and panting, lots of exotic flower on golden furniture¡­ I think I could take a picture and it would be a perfect definition of the word ostentatious. The three of us were sitting down in circle, with the girls obviously avoiding to look at each other. (S) ¡°So, now that everyone is finally calm, we might be able to talk. As I said when I entered the room, why are you here and how did you know I was coming?¡± (M) ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t really ¡°know¡± you were coming, but I had a strong clue.¡± She took out her book and opened it in front of me. Struggle#11 Objective: Help Samsy to become The President Sub-objective: Hack the Justin Hostel - Update the City - Build the Hourglass (S) ¡°What the¡­ me President?¡± Marie lifted her hand above her head. (M) "Samsy President! A vision for the future!" (A) ¡°Pfffff Hahahaah!¡± (S)¡°Shut up!¡± While Alice was about to suffocate on the ground from laughing, I realized I didn¡¯t check my own quest. Struggle#12 The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Objective: Become The President Sub-objective: none (S) ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± (M) ¡°What?¡± (S) ¡°My book seems to agree with yours¡­¡± (M) ¡°You didn¡¯t check before?¡± (S) ¡°Well, we just arrived.¡± (A) ¡°Like¡­ 10 minutes ago.¡± Alice was finally able to regain her composure and join the conversation. I''m glad she can speak normally with Marie, or maybe she just doesn''t realize it¡­ (M) ¡°Wait, you waited 2 days at the 10th struggle?¡± (S) "No, we left the camp almost a day ago. Then we had to wait in a ghost city and destroy some robot." (A) ¡°Well, I defeated them.¡± (S) ¡°¡­Yes, yes you did. Anyway¡­¡± (M) "You''ve already passed your 11th?" (S) ¡°Yep.¡± She started to look at the ground, visibly thinking about something. Is she annoyed? Or worried? Did something happen? (S)¡°Is there a problem?¡± (M) "You passed your 11th struggle thanks to¡­ her. But¡­ would you have been able to do it on your own?" (S) "Hum? Well, probably not I guess¡­ At the very least, I would have to run away and take them down one by one. So it would have taken me several days and a lot of luck." (M) ¡°But If you would have failed¡­ then I would be stuck here¡­¡± (S) ¡°It works like that?¡± (M) ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if it does, that means I¡­¡± She didn''t finish her sentence, but Alice, listening to our discussion, widen her eyes, before laying back a little, harbouring a childish smile toward her "friend". (A) ¡°You owe me one¡­¡± (M) ¡°Noooooo!¡± She started rolling on the floor in denial, while lil¡¯ sis started laughing deviously. I can¡¯t believe the two of them were literally about to kill one another minutes ago. (S) ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not really important, is it?¡± ¡°Of course it is¡± "You''re right, it¡¯s not!¡± I wonder what is the story between the two of them. If I remember correctly they were pretty good friends when we started building the settlement after the purge¡­ I thought it would just be Alice showing off her i-talent and pissing of Marie, but there might be more than that. Anyway, I don''t think it''s a good time for me to get into it. Truth to be told, they kind of scare me¡­ (S) ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan? Have you learn anything about this place?¡± (M) "Well, It''s been only two days since I''m here so I don''t know that much. It''s a normal city with futurist technology, however, their software are so outdated it''s a bit shameful. Because it was my first sub-objective I tried almost immediately to hack this Hostel, and oh boy¡­ a simple multi-layered sprout root and I had access to everything." I guess I¡¯ll act as if I had understood what she just¡­ (A) "Shouldn''t you have access to the intranet?" (M) "No! The best part was that they didn''t even have any doppelganger protection so I could replicate the source code of they''re own server from within." (A) ¡°Hahahaa, what a bunch of amateurs!¡± (M) ¡°Right? I could DDoS their entire system in 5 minutes. ¡± (S) ¡°Girls¡­ I¡¯m still here¡­¡± (M) ¡°Oh¡­ yeah sorry¡­¡± (S) ¡°With what did you do that anyway?¡± She pointed at a sort of laptop on the bed. (M) ¡°I based the overhaul structure on what I had on Earth, and then I copied the Book flux input in order to free myself from the electrical consumption and enhance the overhaul speed of the processor.¡± (S) ¡°Marie¡­ please¡­ my brain¡­¡± (M) ¡°Come on! I just said processor!¡± (S) ¡°You said flux input and consumption too¡­¡± (A) "Hahaha..." My limited cerebral ability seemed to amuse them. Damn, I just realized I''ll have to spend the next struggle with those two geniuses! I miss Prometheus so much right now¡­ (S) ¡°When did you have the time to build those anyway.¡± (M) "You know¡­ after the 6th struggle, I wanted to let out some steam. I had a lot of free time, a lot of available component, an arm to repair, and many theories about flux." (S) ¡°Oh, yeah, now I remember you telling me that at the camp.¡± After that Alice asked about how she lost her arms -it was a "choice"- and her other gadget. Frankly, I don''t understand half of what they''re talking about, but I guess they''re getting along now. Pretty weird given that they were at each other throat a few minutes ago, but clearly I won''t complain about it. (S) "I don''t want to disrupt you girls¡­ but maybe we should discuss the objective." (M) ¡°Oh yeah, there¡¯s that.¡± (S) ¡°Do you have a plan?¡± (M) ¡°Kinda¡­¡± (S) ¡°There¡¯s surely a loophole somewhere, or maybe it¡¯s something like a club president.¡± (M) ¡°Well¡­¡± (S) ¡°I mean, it would take years for someone to get elected, and I literally arrived here today so it¡¯s must be something else.¡± (M)"Sam, shut up, I''m trying to talk!" (S) "Oh, sorry..." (M)"I checked, in the objective, it is stated ¡®The President'', with a capital T. And there is an upcoming election, and every time they spell it that way. I spend the whole morning on it, I''m practically sure, it''s about making you the head of the country." (S) ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be president¡­¡± (M) ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, if we want to pass the struggle you¡¯ll have to. And it''s not like you''ll have to stay president once we got you in office.¡± (S) ¡°Sigh¡­ When is the election?¡± (M) ¡°In two month.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ We are so fucked. Chapter 33 - The Presidency Underdog (2) This must be a joke, I know not all struggle revolves around fighting and kicking stuff, but this is a bit too much. Becoming the president? An hour ago I didn''t even know the existence of this city! And I don''t even know of what I need to become president, the city? Or maybe the whole country? I still can¡¯t take this whole thing seriously¡­ Maybe it¡¯s for the best, I would be way more freaked out otherwise. Marie, on the other hand, seems to be calm about all of this, I hope she has a plan for all of this. "So, you''re telling me, that we only have two months to get me elected?" ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is that even possible? There must be some kind of special rules or ways to cheat the results¡­¡± "It''s a pretty straightforward election, the candidate with the most vote get elected. Maybe there are ways to cheat but I don''t know them." ¡°There is only one round? Seems a bit weird¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, even if it looks simple, the overhaul voting process is a bit odd, and apparently a lot of people complain. But everything is sponsored by big companies and probably corruption, so there¡¯s not much done about it.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t really change from our world then.¡± While Marie and I were talking, Alice went to the laptop and started to use it. Marie remarked it but, even though she was obviously bothered by it, she continued to explain the situation to me. "At first I was worried about your age, but in this city, it is quite common to have surgical operations in order to look younger. Most of the candidate look like they are in their twenties, but really they are at least 50 years old. And your white hair is even an advantage in that direction." "That doesn''t solve the biggest problem: I can''t run when there are only two months left!" ¡°You don¡¯t have to run!¡± ¡°What? But how do I¡­¡± ¡°Listen, realistically, becoming The President is impossible, even if you had a year to prepare it would have been delusional, however, we are in this whole shitty Quest. So I try to look for an obvious solution. Kind of loophole in the system.¡± "You just said we can''t rig the system" "Technically we can, but it would be way too obvious and you will be arrested before taking the oath. NO, I had in mind something else, it has low chance to succeed, but in my view, it''s worth the shot." As expected of her, she¡¯s the kind to always try the impossible, it might even be a game to her. Not that I care, as long as we pass the struggle. "So here''s the thing, focus because it''s a bit complicated. Currently, there are 4 candidates, they are each in the middle of their campaign, trying to raise vote among the population. That''s when I found an opening, one of the candidate have an unbelievable low vote expectation of 0.2%, so I found it odd that someone managed to stay that long in the race with such unfavourable chance, but that''s when I found something even stranger, the guy is campaigning alone." "Well¡­ he wants to become President, of course, he''s alone¡­" "No, I mean alone alone. Like¡­ he has 0 staff." ¡°What? Is that even possible?¡± "His name is Monty L. Kind, he has virtually no coverage, and apparently he''s known for being a joke candidate." ¡°So what? What does it have to do with me if he¡¯s not popular?¡± ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Alice, still in front of Marie¡¯s laptop, re-entered the conversation. ¡°You want to impeach him.¡± ¡°Exactly like Stupid just said, we help him win the election, and then we take his plain, or at least we do the interim before they find a replacement.¡± ¡°You wanna fight, BlondIdiot?¡± ¡°Wait wait wait! If I understand correctly, we join his campaign staff.¡± ¡°More like we create his campaign staff.¡± ¡°Okay, we create his campaign staff, then we help him to win.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Against all odds.¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Even though the guy has less than 1% approval rate.¡± ¡°Yes¡± "And then, if all of that succeed, he nominates me his second." ¡°Vice-president, but yes.¡± ¡°And finally we get him out of office.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I looked at both of them for a few seconds, gathering my thought. I am surely the dumbest of the group right now, but I''m pretty sure this plan will fail, there is no way we''ll manage to do all of that, especially with only have two months! As I don¡¯t want to hurt her feelings, I¡¯ll try to say it gently. "This plan sucks." Okay, maybe I could have done better than that¡­ ¡°Well, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s the only one we have right now.¡± "Can''t we¡­ I don''t know. Overthrown the government, like, by force? Surely with the 3 of us, it''s possible -more like the 2 of you, but you get the point." "Their technology is very advanced, and they seem to have high tech weapon, even for us, it would be too risky to do this by ourselves. Moreover, I''m pretty sure a President needs to be elected, if we do manage to replace the head of the country by force and it doesn''t complete the objective, we probably would be stuck here for along time." ¡°Or maybe¡­ we can form our own country! That could work!¡± "That wouldn''t do it either... Sam¡­ there is no escape, you''ll have to run in THIS election, and become the President of THIS country." ¡°You said I wouldn¡¯t run!¡± "You know what I meant." ¡°Come on Alice! Say something! I can¡¯t become the fucking President!¡± ¡°I would vote for you¡­¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Gosh, she¡¯s not helping at all! I kept arguing for a good time. I believe I made pretty good points. As I am the leader of the group, or so they say, I am the one making the last call, and there is no way in hell I would ever go along with that plan.
Twelve minutes and two of Samsy¡¯s tantrum later.
¡°Sigh¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Finally! You can be childish sometimes, Samsy.¡± "I don''t want to hear that from you! And Alice, stop laughing!" ¡°Can¡¯t¡­ help it¡­ so funny¡­¡± And I am the childish one? ¡°Hum? What are you doing Marie?¡± She just stood up and started to search for something in her stuff. "Well, now that you accepted the plan, we should get into it." ¡°You mean, now?¡± ¡°Yep, according to his online schedule, he should pass in a street nearby, it¡¯s a good opportunity for a first contact.¡± ¡°Right now? It¡¯s too soon! I don¡¯t even know what he looks like!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll brief you on the way, take this.¡± She pulled out a bag from one of the drawers, and showed me a white pill. ¡°You¡¯re not serious¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be shy¡­¡± (A) ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°I call them enhancement pills.¡± "I already tried it, they lower your brain limitation and basically improve your strength and mental capacity." (A) ¡°Sounds awesome!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but there are some after effect.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, my pills are perfect!¡± "It depends on the person but for me, it was extreme exhaustion and, well, temporary libido dysfunction." Suddenly, both of the girl''s face went red. What the¡­? Did I say something wrong? ¡°Wh-Wha-Wha-What are you talking about, Sam! Th-there is nothing like that!¡± Marie was babbling while avoiding eye contact, and Alice was simply looking at the wall, as if she hasn¡¯t heard anything. Don¡¯t tell me they are embarrassed by the word libido¡­ that¡¯s so cute. ¡°Anyway, why do you want me to take those. Do you want me to beat him or something?¡± ¡°No! Ahem, I tried it with Prom, and the pill can increase your class proficiency.¡± "My what?" ¡°Meaning that it can enhance your foresight ability.¡± ¡°Oh, so you want me to foresee our conversation¡­ Can I do that? Is that even possible?¡± ¡°What the point in having a cheat if you¡¯re not using it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not really a cheat, I have nosebleed each time I use it.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why I made the pill. And let me be clear, it was pretty hard to collect enough material, so don¡¯t you dare pass on it.¡± "So the plan is to hope I will be able to predict the right things to say to him¡­ and I thought it couldn''t get worse." ¡°Shut up and take the pill.¡± Sigh¡­ I took her damn drug and gobbled it. I¡¯ll probably spend the next day in my bed, but it¡¯s still better than facing her right now. I''m not really convinced it will work, but maybe it''s worth the shot.
The main street was swarming with people, as it was the after-work rush. People were walking in every direction and a few car were flying 5-6 meters above their head. One of the pride of this city was its security and peace, correlated with its lack of dangerous and dark alley. However, one street had a somewhat bad situation, it was directly linking the main street to an unpopular residential area, where only a handful of unfortunate people were living in. Its official name was the Rose Alley, and one man was currently taking it, obviously in a rush. It was an old man, with few white hair and a tired face. This was already eye-catching on its own, as every other people usually undertake surgical operations in their forties. As he was about to reach the residential area, and the place he lives in, he remarked an unfamiliar presence in his path. A young man, wearing an expensive suit, with white hair and red eyes. ¡®Che, people these days have fancy taste.'' At first, he wanted to avoid the young man and just get home, but he rapidly understood it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. ¡°Monty L. Kind I presume.¡± ¡°¡­ So you are here for me, what do you want? If it¡¯s about¡­¡± "Mr. Naghid proposal? No, actually, I never heard about it, but you''re right, I''m here for you." Martin was taken aback, this young man was releasing a strange atmosphere. ¡°You see, your struggle in this presidential race came to my ears¡­¡± ¡°If you want me to drop out you can¡­¡± ¡°Dream on, I know¡­ but it¡¯s not what I want, on the contrary.¡± This was definitely strange. Martin was doubtful by nature, and this young-looking man was fishy. What does he¡­ "What do I want? Don''t worry, I''ll come to that soon enough." The old man widens his eye. How is it¡­ ¡°Are you mocking me?¡± ¡°Are you mocking me?¡± ¡®What in the world is happening ?!'' "What in the world is happening." ¡­ Monty looked at Samsy in disbelief. He had seen a lot during is long life, but someone saying his exact thought aloud is a first ¡°What¡­what are you?¡± "Hehe, that is a bit harsh, saying ¡®what''. But that''s a fair question, for now, you just have to know that I have certain¡­ talents, and that I am willing to use them to help you. I won''t promise anything, but we definitely have a common interest in making you win this race." The white-haired young man took a step forward and handed a little card displaying a digital counter with a phone number written on its back. "Here''s my contact information, call me anytime." And just like that, he left the place, leaving a dumbfounded old man, completely lost and wondering about what just happened to him. Chapter 34 - The Presidency Underdog (3) The main reason why I''m confident he will call back is that I didn''t just give him my card, I gave him a cash card with my number on it, well, more like Marie''s number, since she managed to get hold of a phone. They called it a scroll here, as it''s really thin and light, you can bend and stiffen it in any position you want, pretty convenient. Anyway, the cash card I gave him was fully loaded with money, again thanks to Marie, she apparently managed to ¡°borrow¡± it. He will probably call in the morning, ¡®cause I had a vision of meeting him in the afternoon, and as I was completely exhausted by the handful of vision I had to produce, even after meeting with Monty -yes, I¡¯m calling him with his nickname-, I just jumped on the king sized bed and let myself slumber. I trust the girl for taking care of the call.
In order to let Samsy get some sleep, Marie asked the key for the adjacent room. ¡°How did you get all that money?¡± ¡°After reserving the room, I thought that it wouldn¡¯t be safe to hack my way in for everything. So I figured that I might as well do one big operation to get as much fund as possible, it would be safer and more efficient.¡± ¡°Meh, It was the obvious thing to do, but it baffled me you could enter the bank system so easily.¡± ¡°Are you underestimating my hacking skills?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ as much as I want to make you regret that, I don¡¯t think there is a system in this city that could pose a real challenge to either of us. Lucky you, I can¡¯t humiliate you in front of your beloved.¡± Even while arguing with each other, both of them were focused on their own task, Marie was on her computer and Alice was meditating. Even though she can do a lot of things, her only relevant talent right now would be the same as Marie, and it wouldn¡¯t be optimized to put two people on the same task, given how few they are. That¡¯s why she¡¯s currently trying to teach herself a new technique. Saying it like that sounds crazy, but when she told it to Marie and Samsy, they actually thought it was a good idea. ¡°I¡¯ll take you anytime. By the way, how many do we have?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s virtually infinite, as I basically created money directly in their system.¡± ¡°The system is that shitty?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°What a joke. And how much did Samsy gave him?¡± ¡°I believed I put something like 200.000 credit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much¡­ will it suffice?¡± "That''s already not bad, and if we hand him more he could get scared and think that we just want to buy him.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more or less what we''re trying to do.¡± ¡°Yes, but we don¡¯t want him to be sure of that.¡± It was approximately 9 in the morning, and Marie felt her scroll vibrating. She unfolded it to see who was the caller, even though she perfectly knew who it was. ¡°It¡¯s him, take the call.¡± She handed the scroll to Alice. ¡°Fuck you, I¡¯m not gonna play the secretary.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this shit, you¡¯re the only one left for this.¡± ¡°I said fuck you!¡± ¡°Well, I can do it, and say to Sam that you let him down.¡± Alice actually stopped her meditation, and stared toward Marie. ¡°That¡¯s a low blow.¡± She took the scroll, and in a fraction of second, her angry face transformed into a warm and friendly one, as if she had become another person. ¡°Mr. Sacre¡¯s Secretary speaking, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Mister Kind? Yes, I was expecting your call. Mr. Sacre is not available right now, but he made room in his agenda for a meeting this afternoon.¡± (M) ¡°Told you, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve done that your whole life.¡± Alice articulated a ¡®Screw you¡¯ toward her colleague, before immediately resuming her conversation. "You''re also available? It is settled then, 2 pm at the entrance of Central Park." ¡°¡­¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Great, Mr. Sacre will see you later. Have a lovely day, Sir.¡± She then hanged up the scroll and threw it toward Marie, who in return caught it naturally, as she was expecting it, with a small smile on her face. ¡°Hehe, ¡®room in his agenda¡¯. When you think about it, it¡¯s pretty funny.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I probably should wake him up.¡± ¡°No rush, it¡¯s not even half past nine, and he will need all the rest he can get.¡± "Sigh¡­ I wonder if Sam has the shoulder for it." ¡°Hahaha, of course he does. He is the kind of person who revealed himself in hard and stressful situation.¡± ¡°Of course I know that, I was there too remember? What I¡¯m worried about is what comes after.¡± ¡°You mean, the impeachment?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ what if the candidate is a good guy, who just got unlucky with the polls and shits. Sam would never betray someone who doesn''t deserve it, even if it goes against his own benefit, or the greater good.¡± ¡°¡­we¡¯ll probably see how the campaign unfold. If necessary, we might need to act in his back.¡± ¡°¡­ I kinda expected it.¡± The room became silent, as both of them spaced out, thinking about what the young man sleeping in the other room represent for them. The truth is that everybody loves Sam, he''s considered as a hero for many, and the only one not aware of the magnitude of his own popularity is probably Samsy himself. He''s way too kind, way to humble for that, in that sense, his virtue is a perfect fit. After Alice''s remark, Marie realized something odd. Opposite to Sam, she had a somewhat competent guide, who explained to her many things about the Quest, and the world(s) they were in. However, one thing about the session process and shenanigans had always seemed off to her. According to them, each session was composed of 7 people, and, weirdly enough, no one in all the session since Jules, the first to finish his Quest, had a desire to go back to their original Earth. As if everyone was chosen according to certain criteria before being transported here, with one of them being a lack of attachment toward their past. The presence of an 8th person was surprising, but even before that, she was raising question about their session. It was a given that no one in the group would want to go back on Earth, as they had too many hard memories, and no real ties to the rest of the community, but it wasn¡¯t true for one person, Samsy. Opposite to them, he was friend with people outside the group. Opposite to them, he was respected and not feared by the other kid. Opposite to them, he has a reason to come back. Opposite to them, he has people waiting for him. So, when the news about Alice presence sank in, she thought about something: ¡®Even if Stupid was not that welcome in the group, she has as much reason for running away from Earth, if not more, than any of us. So what if¡­ what if the 8th isn¡¯t her, but Sam?¡¯
Damn¡­ those girls are really barbaric, can¡¯t a man have his 15 hours of sleep without being thrown on the floor? Why should I care that there is a lot at stakes? I¡¯m tired! Sigh¡­ so here I am, at the entrance of a huge park. There is a lot a people, only young and overly happy, as usual. In fact, it¡¯s getting a bit creepy¡­ I watch the huge holographic clock in the middle of the park. 14H01, he¡¯s late, I already knew he would be, but that doesn¡¯t excuse it¡­ ¡°You are late, Mr. Kind.¡± Finally, behind me, the old man had arrived. I turned around to face him, he looked exhausted, did he run to be on time? ¡°Sorry about that. I¡¯m here for¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t accept the card back, if it¡¯s what you want to say. I just gave you my contact information, nothing more.¡± ¡°Come on¡­ there is 200.000 credits on this cash card. You can¡¯t possibly give me that much without wanting something back from me.¡± He agitated the card I gave him. The black plastic card I gave, with a digital counter displaying 200.00 in green number, and another number written by hand on the other side. I absolutely have no idea how much 200.000 credit represent, but it¡¯s not really relevant to my point. ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m not in the charity business. But I already said it, you and I have a common interest, and I have a lot to gain if you become The President.¡± Monty looked at me with a straight face. Even if he''s not convinced by what I''m saying, at least he seems to take me seriously. ¡°Furthermore, I don¡¯t think it is an offer you can refuse, according to, well, everyone.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll stand until the end.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I want to hear. Listen, I have a busy schedule, so I¡¯ll be brief. Here¡¯s my proposal: tomorrow, my team will make its first move for your campaign. The day after, we will meet again, and you will officially hire me as your right-hand man." ¡°What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What are you trying to achieve?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, you and I have a common goal. And let me remind you, you have nothing to lose.¡± ¡°Even though, you think I''ll follow anyone who shows up to me in a suit and give credits? I am not for sale!" "And that is why I want you to wait until the day after tomorrow." Truth to be told, I am totally bluffing here. I have no idea what the girls have planned to do tomorrow, but what I do know, is that he¡¯s desperate. Silence says more than words. I approached him, and put my hand on his shoulder. ¡°You know better than me, you¡¯re going to lose. I just want to lend you a hand.¡± And I left our meeting. I have to say, playing the mysterious guy is kind of satisfying. I really hope Marie have something in mind for tomorrow though... Chapter 35 - You cant cheat if the game is rigged from the start (1) ¡°So, what did he say?¡± "He didn''t disagree. I think he has kinda lost hope at this point." ¡°That¡¯s good for us then.¡± ¡°Probably¡­ I¡¯m starting to wonder if there¡¯s not something else than just him being unlucky and unpopular¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I had in total 4 vision yesterday, I already used 2, another concern the day after tomorrow, and the last one¡­ well, I still can¡¯t figure out the meaning of it.¡± ¡°You still want to keep them for yourself?¡± ¡°Yep, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe for you to know about the future, it¡¯s already fucked up enough with me messing with the logic of causality.¡± Marie and I were alone in the room, she was lying down on the king size bed, typing like crazy on her laptop. Her ability to hold a conversation and working at the same time is amazing¡­ or maybe I should feel offended by the lack of attention she gives to me¡­ ¡°By the way, where is Alice? Weren¡¯t the two of you working on something for tomorrow?¡± ¡°She went outside to buy a suit. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll have finished by tomorrow.¡± "I''m trusting you¡­ in the meantime, I''ll go around the town to learn more about the city." The truth is, even though I¡¯m playing the mysterious rich man that know everything, I am quite ignorant, I don¡¯t even know the name of the city! Being a Seer doesn¡¯t give me infinite knowledge, in fact, I have the impression that the more I see, the less I understand. Oh! That makes me remember¡­ ¡°I nearly forgot, I have something to tell you¡­ It may be important¡­¡± Marie stopped her typing and lifted her head toward me. ¡°Oh¡­ don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°Stop blushing it¡¯s not about that. I¡¯m faithful to Nami.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ ¡®Faithful¡¯.¡± ¡°Shut up. You know what, I don¡¯t think you deserve to know.¡± ¡°Come on¡­ it was a joke, just take it as¡­ as me being jealous you don¡¯t find me attractive. Or some shit like that.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ Like you could ever feel that way¡­¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± ¡°I already told Alice, but I had a vision, of myself, of my future.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ what a big news¡­¡± ¡°It is, because it was really far into the future, and because it was about my own death.¡± ¡°¡­Okay, THIS is really big news.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t saw much, just that I was beaten up in a burning forest, and a woman with purple came to finish me off. Couldn¡¯t her face though.¡± ¡°That is some ominous dream, what are you going to do about it?¡± ¡°Not much, it¡¯s not like I can stop climbing the struggle. I think I¡¯ll just tell everyone as soon as possible, and be careful about each forest and purple haired woman.¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t really know what to say.¡± ¡°Also, you talked about upgrading the chat feature of the book, so that we could talk with each other¡­ Did you make some progress?¡± ¡°Not really¡­ but if my theory is correct, I¡¯ll probably be able to finish it by the end of the struggle.¡± ¡°Good, if you need me for anything, don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡± ¡°Okay, see you later.¡± Then I went out. I think I should probably go by one of those scrolls, then I¡¯ll try to find some information about the city and the other candidates.
The city was named Lucropolis, and was a model of prosperity and modernity for the other city of the continent. Shaped in a circle, it was divided into five section, 4 slicing the inner circle and a last one for the outer ring, with each of them represented by a mayor. The election of The President, with each candidate being the mayors, was coming soon, but only a handful of people felt actually involved in the process. Nobody felt change was needed, or even permitted. The same kind of candidates was presented, and elected, for a long time now. And as none of the voters had a valid reason to feel bad about there situation, no one bothered to try getting involved in the process. Of course, there were issues, for instance, many felt that money was way too important, that the most wealthy people of the city had way too much power, or that it was oddly hard for the common folk to travel outside the city. Despite all of that, less than a quarter of the registered voters will actually bother to vote. The truth is, behind these smiles, behind this happiness is hiding an overwhelming feeling of boredom, and a thrust for freedom. Well, at least, it was Alice and Marie¡¯s theory. The promised day had come, the day when Samsy and his team will turn the table, and make the most unknown and unpopular -paradoxical but accurate- politician this city has ever known. For this purpose, they had a simple plan: to run an ad. In one night, they want to edit and run an ad about the life and fight of Monty L. Kind. It was objectively impossible. In fact, if Sam knew beforehand what they wanted to do, he would have lost his mind. However, we¡¯re talking about to geniuses girl with the most cheated ability ever bestowed: the Flux. This magical element, or whatever it is, can not only strengthen someone physics, but also increase a person¡¯s cognitive ability of its paroxysm for an extended period of time. A second issue was that they didn¡¯t have Monty himself, but this problem was easily solved by Alice. Her amazing talent allowed her to create her own mimic ability, and after buying a nice suit, the real one was indissociable from her.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Adding that, her amazing acting and producing skills -among everything else- and Marie¡¯s talent for editing, they created something amazing. It was 9 in the morning, and many people were on their way to work, it was your usual sunny day, but you could feel something in the air, the premise of a revolution will take place this very day. Many screens where holographically displayed across the city, inside the bus, on the street, in the parks, inside the malls. And something unexpected appeared, all at once, the screen displayed the same image. An old man, sitting on a couch, inside a dark room, leaning forward, with a serious face, looking directly at the camera. The old man didn¡¯t say anything at first, but slowly, you could hear a music elevating from the background. The epic music was getting louder and louder, surprisingly filling the atmosphere of the streets. That¡¯s when he started talking. ¡°I believe in Lucropolis. I love this city. I was born here, and I will die here.¡± The screen switched to slow motion captures: generic people smiling, a high angle of the main street, a policeman patrolling and saluting another citizen. "We have everything we could hope for: stability, security, health and freedom¡­" He paused himself. ¡°Do we?¡± The image got darker, and displayed flashed image of suspicious behaviour: someone getting dragged out of sight, a person speaking in front of a crowd -known for mysteriously disappearing afterwards-, a couple arguing with the guard as they want to go outside the city¡­ The old resumed his talking, dramatically pausing between each sentence. ¡°Do you feel free? Do you feel you have the capacity, the power to realize your dream? I don¡¯t. I worked all my life for the truth, but here is what I learned. Something is wrong. Something is hidden from us. The same people, again and again, say that everything is fine. But that is not true.¡± The image switched back to Kind, with a serious but nonetheless bright face. "I remember my grandfather, telling me stories about a place where you could run freely from section to section. A place where you could go in and out, and discovering the wonders of the world. A place where everyone was free, equal, and respected, regardless of their birthplace, or their income." As he was speaking, image of him as a child, smiling and playing, were fading toward the back of the room. "So I''ll ask you once again, do you feel free? I don''t. Can we talk about freedom, when a handful of people control what we see? Can we talk about freedom, when people speaking their mind out loud disappeared? Can we talk about freedom, when you have to wait days, for no reason, simply to leave the city? I think we deserve better than that, I think we deserve the same place my grandfather started his life in. A place governed not by money and lies, but by freedom, and truth. That''s why I, Monty L. Kind, is running for The Presidency."
¡°¡­¡± Alice was in front of me, red of embarrassment. ¡°Just so you know, I-I wasn¡¯t the one that came up with the lines¡­ okay?¡± ¡°I found them pretty good though¡­¡± ¡°I wrote everything! It was absolutely my idea.¡± ¡°It was also a bit clich¨¦¡­¡± ¡°Well, Marie wrote most of it¡­¡± ¡°Okay, stop doing that, it¡¯s annoying.¡± Alice looked down, even more embarrassed than before. I can''t believe a person like her, probably capable of blowing up half the city in one night, is shamed by a simple ad, and she technically doesn''t even appear in it. ¡°I think you did a good job, but was it wise to hack into every screen of the city?¡± ¡°Well, technically we didn¡¯t hack anything, we just bribed the good person.¡± ¡°You managed to do that?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°In one night?¡± ¡°Nah, we started in the afternoon.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Those girls are unbelievable¡­ I''m so glad they''re my friend, I can''t imagine what it would be like to have them as enemies. "So¡­ why are you so embarrassed about that video. It''s not your style too, well, be ashamed of anything." ¡°Bu-But, so many people were watching! And there¡¯s a second one coming in the evening.¡± "Calm down¡­ there-there." I pated her head. At least, from time to time, she¡¯s just my precious little sister.
W: 1 1ns1st! St0p that! M: I rea11y hate y0ur typing quirk. W: D0n¡¯t change the subject. W: And 1 d0n¡¯t th1nk y0u have any r1ght t0 cr1t1c1ze me, y0u bas1cally have the same! W: Please, 1¡¯m ser10us. M: I d0n¡¯t see the pr0b1em, I have s0me free time anyway. W: Research s0meth1ng else! 0r get s0me sleep! W: Trust me! There 1s noth1ng t0 ga1n 1n th1s way. M: Y0u¡¯re saying that because y0u fai1ed. W: That¡¯s true but¡­ W: Trust me. Tab00s are t0 be taken ser10usly. M: I d0n¡¯t care ab0ut y0ur ¡®tab00¡¯. M: I¡¯m n0t b0und by any ru1es. W: ¡­ W: Y0u are the w0rst r00k1e ever. M: C0ming fr0m a fai1ure 1ike y0u, I wi11 take that as a c0mp1iment. W: Y0u kn0w what. W: D0 what y0u want. W: Just. W: D0n''t c0me back t0 me when 1t backf1res 0n y0u! W: Bye! M: ¡­ M: I kn0w y0u are sti11 here. W: Please¡­ W: T1me¡­ W: 1t¡¯s really n0t s0meth1ng y0u want t0 mess w1th. Chapter 36 - You cant cheat if the system is rigged from the start (2) The Current polls 41.6% - Almond M. Chaveil 24.4% -Hanna H. Tolcin 17.5% - Joy L. Nicam 16.2% - Ronald K. Dolan 0.3% - Monty L. Kind
Knock knock knock. The door opened, and revealed a now familiar old man. ¡°You? I thought we would meet at the park this afternoon.¡± ¡°May I?¡± Without waiting for the answer, Samsy entered in Monty''s flat. It was less crappy than expected, yes it was small, but also tidy and comfy. There were two chairs around a rectangular table, a single lamp on the ceiling, enlightening the whole apartment. Sam went straight to one of the chair, as if he already knew the place. "As I said on multiple occasion, my time is precious. Something came up for the afternoon, so I''ll try to be brief." ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t say anything yet.¡± ¡°I already know your answer.¡± ¡°¡­ I guess I should have expected that.¡± "I also know that you have questions, so here are some answers. You don''t need to know what is my occupation or from where I come from. I can''t see the future, and for the purpose of simplification, yes, I have infinite resources. The event yesterday had been planned for less than a week, and is only a sample of our ability." ¡®Holy shit! I feel so embarrassed lying like that¡­ I hope it won¡¯t show on my face! The girls said I was a good actor, I really hope they¡¯re right.¡± Monty was silent, looking down with a serious face. He then gathered his thought and sat down on the chair opposite to Sam. "You are right, I have nothing to lose, and I am desperate enough to let a total stranger like you help me. But let me be clear, at the first sign I see you¡­" ¡°No worries, it¡¯s not like you would be able to offer me anything I can¡¯t take by myself.¡± ¡°¡­ I won¡¯t ask why. You wouldn¡¯t answer anyway. But how? How do you plan to help me? I am invisible to the city, even I am aware of that! Your ad was good I guess, but I doubt it will change things so easily! For me to win would be nothing short of¡­¡± ¡°A miracle?¡± As he completed Monty''s sentence, the young white-haired man put a piece of paper on the table, with the headline stating ¡®MONTY L. KIND CAUSES UPROAR! WHAT HAPPENED?'' ¡°You¡¯re underestimating the public simpleness.¡± Monty grabbed the article in disbelief, and started reading through it. ¡°Wh-What have you done?!¡± ¡°Advertising your name to every people in the city in less than 24H?¡± ¡°Look at what they say! ¡®Monty L. Kind, the invisible candidate, is trying to hack his way through to the campaign¡¯. How is that good for me?!¡± ¡°Well, first, there is your name in that sentence, which, correct me if I¡¯m wrong, never happened until now. And second, there is no bad publicity.¡± ¡°Are you sure of that? Yes, I was unknown, but now I¡¯m a criminal!¡± ¡°Hey! We didn¡¯t break any law.¡± ¡°Really?! You managed to air advert all over the city at the exact same time legally?¡± ¡°You should know how it works. The system is rigged, and unfair, but the difference is that this time, the money is on your side.¡± Sam looked at his watch -a bracelet with holographic screen he bought on his way, apparently there are thousands of different application but he barely managed to display the numeric clock by the time he arrived here- and, faking being shocked by the time, he stood up. ¡°We are already late on schedule.¡± ¡°What? What schedule?¡± "You''ve accepted my help right? We''ll soon sign paperwork for that, but for now, we should work on your image." ¡°My what?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think people will take someone with a 2,000 credits suit seriously? Plus, you have an event this afternoon.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± "Please, you really think I would bother to come on such short notice if there wasn''t a need for it." Once again, Sam pulled out a small piece of paper and put it on the table in front of Monty. ¡®Exceptional debate this afternoon. All candidates are invited to MFT headquarters before 3 PM. -The Media For Truth Direction¡¯ ¡°What is this?¡± "A notice, you received many before, but by coincidence, they were all mailed to the wrong mailbox, at the apartment below, where nobody lives in." ¡°¡­coincidence you say?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ it was sarcasm, we should work on that too.¡± As Sam was turning around to leave the flat, a strange feeling invaded him. The world around him started to slow down, and his started to ache. ~~ ~~ ¡°How did you get a scroll?! I told you it¡¯s not safe!¡± Without realizing it, the scenery around Sam had changed, he was still in the room, but the time was frozen, and a ghostly figure of a man in his forty talking at his scroll, stressed and scared. "No! I won''t come back! I''ll have a shot! I''ve gone too far to¡­ no! You can''t come here! They''ll kill you!" ¡®Is that man¡­ Monty? What the hell am I watching?¡¯ The ghost started to fade away.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Don''t come to the centre circle! It''s too¡­ please! Listen to me!" ~~ ~~ The headache stopped, and Sam was back in the present. From an external point of view, he just spaced out for a couple of seconds. Fortunately -sort of- Sam was now used to this kind of cerebral pain, and managed to keep his composed face throughout the experience. He gathered his thought quickly, in order to stay in character. ¡°¡­ out of curiosity, for how long have you live here?¡± ¡°Hum? It¡¯s been a long time. I¡¯m almost 60, and I¡¯ve lived here for at least 20 years!¡± ¡°¡­ interesting.¡± ¡®Did I just¡­ saw the past?¡¯
After that, everything went at the speed of light for Monty. With the ad alone, everyone was talking about him. Of course, one video can¡¯t make you win the vote of people, however, it was enough to shake the other candidate and people involved in the election. As expected, they weren''t pleased about this outsider from the outer ring trying to compete with them, and that''s the reason why they planned an exceptional and rushed debate in order to immediately divert the focus of the population. The strategy is simple, as the rules state that it is the candidate responsibility to be on time, they can start the event with Mr. Kind missing, and if by accident he doesn¡¯t receive the memo, then it¡¯s just bad luck. However, this time, it backfired tremendously, as he arrived right on time, with a handmade suit and accompanied by a young male with red eyes and white hair. For the first time, he would be on the same stage with the other candidate. Moreover, even though it wasn''t official, this debate was a direct answer to the video displayed the day before, so it was broadcasted in unprecedented proportion¡­ What was also at unprecedented proportion, was the following jump of Monty''s popularity. He just destroyed the other candidate. Even Samsy was surprised by this turn of event, he let him go on stage without much of preparation because he saw the result the night before, but this was beyond his expectation. Monty was aggressive, combative, and the most surprising was that he was always on point. He was loud and sometimes disorganized, but he was consistent, and didn''t hesitate to call out to the other candidate multiple times, who had often a hard time to respond. ¡®Apparently, he put all those years in the shadow to good use.'' Samsy understood something else during this debate. Something that was surprisingly absent from the Internet and the media in general: the circle castes. Officially, the city is divided in order for the official to manage it more efficiently, but in truth it was only to marginalize the outer ring. Despite being the biggest in term of land and demographics, there was a huge wealth gap from the inner circle. And even though it was one of Monty''s point, he never insisted on the issue, as it would probably be unpopular for the voters -only composed of inner circle people. Instead, he talked about corruption, freedom of speech and wealth inequality being out of hand everywhere. It felt¡­ like the start of a revolution. The day after, everyone was only talking about this. Of course, most people were shocked more than anything else, and he was far from gaining total public approval, but the first polls getting out after the debate told everything: in less than 48H, he jumped from 0.3% to more than 5. The media could not ignore him anymore, plus, Marie and Alice were still organising in the shadows. Posters were put on the walls, more ads were displayed, an official website was created, compromising information on the other candidate were investigated, and so on. To short everything up, it was looking good. cheating, or corruption, but, as the girls explained Sam, it was fair play if everyone was doing it and that it was for a good cause. The whole process was dictated by money, if you knew the right person and had the fund to ''ask'' him the right things, then there was virtually nothing impossible. Usually, it would be considered As the days unfolded, more and more people started to come toward Monty''s side. Thanks to the girls digging up and posting his ignored accomplishment over the year, he started to earn credibility and trust. To the point that the 10% cap was passed only a week after SAM''s -Samsy, Alice and Marie- intervention. It was going way to fast for it to be normal, but this wasn¡¯t Earth, and this wasn¡¯t the first time events went weirdly in the right direction. It was exactly as if the whole situation was created for the whole purpose of them winning against all odds. The final vote was in 6 weeks now, and they had still a huge lead to overcome, but for once in Samsy¡¯s experience so far, things were going smoothly.
The girls were working as usual, Alice had bought herself a laptop, and the two of them were typing at a tremendous speed, it was as if they were competing with one another¡­ Meh, it¡¯s not like I care. I¡¯m more worried about the vision¡­ Maybe I should make a list or something, I feel like I¡¯m lost between the present and the future. Oh, and there was that time when I saw the past too¡­ Okay, so, the first time, I had 4 vision, and I already used 3 of them. The remaining is not usable yet, it might even be for the next struggle. After that, I only got one or two at a time, and they almost all immediately happened. So I¡¯m left with¡­ one unusable, one where I chat with Monty tomorrow, two where I see Monty at a debate, another where he¡¯s above 20% in the rating, and the last one¡­ Shit! I¡¯m late for the last one! I quickly took my coat -yes, I have a coat now- and went outside. The girls were so focused they didn''t even realize I was gone. It was late in the afternoon, or maybe just early in the evening. I headed for the wealthy part of the city, even though nobody realizes there is one. After a few minutes, I finally recognize the place, in the middle of the street, with the park far away in my field of view, in front of a huge building labelled ¡®LucroBank¡¯. Hum? He¡¯s right behind me, good, I¡¯m on time. On my back, a young man with perfectly cut and hair and cunning brown eyes were heading in my direction¡­ he looked like your typical fake-smile-politician. I stopped walking and turned around an instant before he could touch my shoulder. ¡°Mr. Chaveil, what a pleasant surprise.¡± Chapter 37 - You cant cheat if the game is rigged from the start (3) The Current polls 39.0% - Almond M. Chaveil 19.9% - Hanna H. Tolcin 15.7% - Monty L. Kind 13.3% - Joy L. Nicam 12.1% - Ronald K. Dolan
As expected, Chaveil was taken aback by my comment. I actually counted on that, I have to maintain my image. Especially to him. The girls searched for information about every candidate, and while they found a fair amount of scandals on the 3 others, this one was an enigma. He''s at least 80 years old, but look in his thirty. I said at least because there''s actually a chance he''s way older than that. Even Marie couldn''t find a reliable source for that information. Moreover, it''s like this guy had always been in politics, he''s the embodiment of the status quo the city has suffered for the last few decades, even though it''s the first time he''s running for The Presidency. Unfortunately, this guy was also white clean, there was no trace of any misconduct over his long career. Which was impressive and suspicious at the same time, but the reason why Samsy was really aware of him was his reaction during the debate. The other candidate were all taken by surprise each time Monty was saying something, but Chaveil¡­ he managed to keep a straight face through everything. It was as if he knew Monty''s point beforehand, and he was actually the only one with decent responses. The girls weren''t aware of this meeting between me and probably our biggest threat in this race, for one simple reason. They would have wanted to corrupt or kill him. I know we are technically cheating right now, but that''s not a reason to make it worse. Anyway, here I am, in front of the most important politician in the city, trying to appear as a mysterious powerful man in the shadow, backing Monty. Well, the last point is true at least. "¡­So the rumour was true. You are truly a mysterious man, Mr¡­?" "Sacre, you can call me Mr. Sacre. And I didn''t know there were rumours about me." ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, you perfectly knew it. Like you knew I would try to approach you.¡± ¡°You are giving me too much credit.¡± ¡°I suppose you, at least, are aware of the reason I am approaching you.¡± ¡°You are afraid of Mr. Kind.¡± ¡°Afraid of him? Not really, he is just an old idealist. What I am worried about is you.¡± ¡°I will cut the discussion short then, I won¡¯t withdraw or join your side. Mr. Kind will win the election, and I don¡¯t think you can do anything about it.¡± Almond Chaveil frowned his eyebrow, as expected he was bothered by my direct answer. But, there was something else, there was another emotion on his face I had a hard time to read¡­ anger? Sadness? Frustration? "I am in this game for longer than you can imagine, and if you think a shady stranger helping a delusional old man will scare me, then you are more foolish than Kind." ¡°We will take on your challenge.¡± A staring contest followed our exchange, but Chaveil cut it short and headed back to the bank he was probably going to in the first place, but after a few step, he stopped. ¡°You seems to be an intelligent man, Mr. Sacre. This election, it means more than you can imagine.¡± I didn''t respond. It was quite ironic, as I could have said the exact same thing to him.
And the win streak continued. Monty was unstoppable, each time he appeared on TV, he would gain a point in the polls the next morning. A week before he was unknown, but now there is no one in the city who haven¡¯t heard about him. Days continued to pass, and as they entered the last month of the race, Monty passed the 20% mark, and was now just behind Chaveil. Things were advancing smoothly, the girls were pretty happy about it... but something was off. Samsy was uneasy about this whole situation. A few days after his meeting with Chaveil, he accidentally confirmed his new ability. Apparently, the class of Seer was deeper than having a foresight power, now he could also watch sceneries from the past. The second time happened once again when he was accompanied by Monty, and, similarly than what he saw at the apartment, it was a vision of the old man arguing with someone on the phone. Samsy is not the smartest guy, especially compared to most of his friend, but it doesn''t take too much to figure out that these rewind vision were linked to his ever serious attitude and diligence. Something must have happened in his past, there is a reason why he fought against the overwhelming odds. Our hero wasn''t that much disturbed by this news, as his own past wasn''t bright, but it did pose a major problem: he would never frame the old man after the election, and even Sam himself started to worry about it.
¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯ve been spacing out for a while now¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ sorry.¡± It was only me and Marie in the hotel room, Alice was out, for a spy mission or¡­ whatever. Sigh¡­ I can¡¯t get those vision out of my head. ¡°Can I have your book?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.¡°What? Why do you want my book?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve made a breakthrough with the chat system, but I need to intervene on each device I want to link.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± I handed my Quest book to her and she put a sort of chips on the back. ¡°Will we be able to chat with one another now?¡± ¡°Not yet, I¡¯m still working on the software-like part, but even if I finish it after we¡¯re done with this struggle, we¡¯ll be able to chat! Just the two of us for now, I¡¯ll get the other a chip when I¡¯ll meet with them.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­ the end of the struggle.¡± "Is there a problem? I thought everything was going well." ¡°It is¡­¡± ¡°Oh no¡­ shit, I knew it!¡± ¡°What?¡± "You won''t impeached Monty." ¡°I didn¡¯t say that!¡± ¡°Will you do it?¡± ¡°¡­no.¡± "Sigh¡­ I guess it was to be expected. You do know we will be stuck here if we don''t do something, right?" "I¡­ I know, but, I mean, he really is a nice guy! He is fighting for the right cause!" Now that I think about it, I should visit the outer ring, to see if it is as bad as it sounds from Monty¡¯s speeches. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said okay. We will find a way to make you president without framing Monty.¡± ¡°Really? That would be great.¡± ¡°Truth to be told, we knew it would come down to something like that anyway.¡± ¡°Come down to what?¡± Alice just entered the room. ¡°Hey Sis¡¯.¡± "Really? ''Come down to what''? I know you can hear us from the other end of the corridor." ¡°Geez! I wanted to make a normal entrance, for once. And Sam, how many time should I tell you I¡¯m not your sister!¡± "Which one is true? Are you two brother and sister? Because Samsy never brought it up that it could be false¡­" ¡°Well¡­¡± I don¡¯t really know how to explain this. I don¡¯t want her to react like Nami. I know the facts are against me but¡­ ¡°We grew up in the same house, and we are not related by blood.¡± ¡°Well, technically, there is a chance she¡¯s my biological half-sister¡­¡± "The man has run away Sam, and my Mom assured me he wasn''t my father." ¡°So¡­ if I sum things up¡­ Sam has friendzoned you to the sister level.¡± ¡°You fucking¡­!¡± Alice jumped, performing an exaggerated flying kick, and Marie parried it with her cyber arm while laughing. It reminds me of the first day we arrived here. I¡¯m glad we made progress thought, now they can fight without actually wanting to kill each other, so that¡¯s an improvement¡­ I guess. Shit! Alice passed through the window! ¡°Girls! Stop breaking things!¡±
Half an hour and a fake scolding later, Alice and Marie were, once again, alone in the room. Sam had to lead Monty to a ¡®coincidental¡¯ public appearance in the evening. ¡°So¡­ do we have something?¡± ¡°No¡­ this guy was invisible to anyone for decades, it¡¯s like he didn¡¯t even exist before this run. I think we¡¯ll have to use the plan B.¡± "Damn, Samsy would have already been unable to perform the plan A." ¡°Yeah¡­ by the way, nice job changing the topic when I arrived.¡± "Maybe it''s a surprise to you, but I don''t like to lie, especially to Samsy. Plus, I was kinda interested in the topic." ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Alice¡­ you do like Sam, right?¡± The blood haired girl diverted her eyes. She wasn''t denying anything, but this was the only things about her she was embarrassed, it was like her only known weakness. ¡°Why¡­ why is he so important to you?¡± ¡°Ha¡­ha ha ha.¡± Alice started to laugh, she wasn¡¯t mocking Marie, it was a genuine laugh of surprise. ¡°What do you care so much about Prometheus?¡± Marie froze. Apparently, the bullseye was hit with those words. "Don''t think because I wasn''t 24/7 with you guys I don''t know anything. Listen, maybe it''s because we have been forced to spend so much time together lately, but I find your presence tolerable. We are not that different, in fact, I''m a bit surprised you two are only friends." ¡°¡­ You don¡¯t know that.¡± "I can detect lies, remember? Are you sure you want to risk it?" "Sigh... you are right, there is nothing between us. But it is more complicated than you think." The conversation turned into an awkward silence, the two girls were staring at each other eyes, intensely. It''s not like they were judging the other, it was a contest about who will ask the obvious question. After a few intense seconds, Marie gave in. ¡°What happened to you there?¡± "Haha, I''ll quote Samsy on that - he told me that when I asked about his girlfriend. ¡®This is not a competition, and I think you, of all people, shouldn''t ask too much about what happened back then, so shut up.''" ¡°He said that?¡± "Yeah, from time to time he can be a bit harsh. But I trusted him back then, and I still do today." ¡°I do too¡­ You know he will hate us if we do the plan B.¡± ¡°I know.¡±
¡°Another victory for you, Mr. Kind.¡± ¡°It was just an interview, nothing much.¡± ¡°The path to success is paved with little stone like this one.¡± ¡°As long as you keep me on track, you can make all the metaphor you want.¡± I am actually trying to imitate Nami, without the unnecessary long words she uses of course, and apparently, I¡¯m doing a pretty good job. Me and Monty were walking back to his apartment. It was late in the evening, and the sun was about to pass the horizon. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow Mr. Kind. And again, congratulation for today.¡± "Wait..." ¡°Hum? Do you want to ask me something?¡± "Well¡­ I know I''m not allowed to know about you, but I''ve done some thinking. I came to the conclusion that I should tell you..." ¡°Mr. Kind¡­ I really don¡¯t need to know this kind of things. What I care about is your will to fight.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not for you. It¡¯s for me. I think I¡¯ve kept it all to me long enough.¡± I looked at my watch. If I remember correctly, the girls were still fighting when I left, and there is a high chance they''ll be still at it when I come back. Also, I am interested in what he has to say, I am just afraid it will damage the image I have of him as an uncorrupted and pure-intended man¡­ ¡°Sigh¡­ I guess I have time for a cup of tea.¡± Chapter 38 - So... it was impossible to win after all (1) List of candidate 34.4% - Almond M. Chaveil 26.1% - Monty L. Kind 17.5% - Hanna H. Tolcin 11.2% - Joy L. Nicam 10.8% - Ronald K. Dola
(M)"Oh, Sam! Finally back. I have an amazing news." (A)"''Amazing'', I practically gave you the idea." (S)"Girls! I just arrived, please¡­" I entered the hotel room, exhausted in anticipation of what they are gonna say. (M)"Okay, so, it is not about the book update, I am still working on it. But I.." (A)"Hum hum!" (M) "¡­ ¡®we'' had a great idea for a new project." (S)"What is that?" If I were in better mental shape, or if I actually cared, I would probably try to foresee her answer, but I have the impression it won''t be worth it. (M)"I¡­ we are close to developing a power detector. The idea is simple, we create a device that can measure someone''s ability to use flux, and we display it as numbers." (S)"Wow¡­ seems¡­ ¡®yaaaaawn'' so interesting." (M)"Come on Sam! We will be able to see if someone is strong or not in an instant!" (S)"Excuse me, but as a person who spends his time with other people ten times stronger, I don''t see the point to show me the gap with numbers¡­" (M)"Pfff, it''s a great idea, even if you don''t like it." (S)"Yeah yeah¡­ oh, by the way, I''m going to the outer circle tomorrow." (A) "Wait, don''t you have a conference with Monty?" (S)"Well, there''s only 4 weeks until the vote, so we will have something every day anyway. And I don''t have any vision about it yet." Now that I think about it, I used my last vision today, maybe I should meditate some more tonight. (M)"Is it that important? Nobody really talks about it, it must be the slum of the city, with nothing to see but jobless people." (S)"Well, that''s what I going to find out." (A)"I''ll go with you then." (S)"Alice¡­ it''s not against you but¡­" (A)"Let me be clear, it has been more than two weeks since we arrived here, and I see you less than an hour a day. I''m not your fucking wife, because if I was we would¡­" (S)"OKAY, you can come tomorrow¡­" (M)"Haha, nicely done Al''" (A)"Thanks." They have nicknames now? I can''t believe yesterday they were at each other throat¡­ I really don''t understand women.
We left the hotel early in the morning, before the sunset. I already gave the instruction for today to Monty the day before, so we headed off to the border of the centre circle. Usually, people don''t pass from one place to another, for a simple reason: there is no official pass point. If people want to get out of the city, they use some kind of monorail train, and they don''t see the outer circle at all during the trip. Truth to be told, everything seems fishy about this area, at first I thought it was just the normal way a wealthy city would hide its poor quarters, but with what Monty told me yesterday¡­ If it is true, it would at least explain why they want to hide it at all cost, but more importantly, it would mean that we can''t lose this election, no matter what. As I said, there is no official path that links the centre and outer circle, but there is a way. The only way is one of the secret gates heavily guarded, with movement detector, armed guard, camera, and more - they really don''t want the people to get out apparently, or in. Alice wanted to force the way through, but I managed to convince her otherwise. I have a plan to pass, without hurting anyone. It is a carefully thought plan, one that only superior mind with a sharp sense of anticipation and intelligence can come up with. "100.000 credit to pass." ¡°Deal.¡± And the mission succeed. Surprisingly, the guards didn¡¯t ask much, as if they were used to this kind of process. So, just like that, we entered the outer circle, and I have to say, it was worse than anything I had imagined. We were less than two hours away from the city centre - with the train, probably less by running- but the difference was like heaven and earth. There was a unique relatively clean road, but everywhere else I could only see trash, and here and there some construction who I guessed were houses, or clearly abandoned buildings. This place was swarming with filth, it was the middle of the day, but a thick fog was covering my field of vision, and even I had trouble distinguishing the way before us. But what struck me the most, was the number of people. I thought only a handful of unlucky folks would end up here, but I was so wrong. Ten minutes after passing the gate, we were already in the fog, and the road was now just a dirt path. Left and right, on top of pieces of junks covering the ground, people were staring at us. Mostly children, but also some elderly people. Real old people, not like the ones inside the city. They were all dirty, with rags as clothing, and some had even visible scars. They were obviously afraid of us, and I slowly started to realize that everything that Monty told me was true. The officials are lying to the population in order to keep the outer inhabitant in check as¡­ well, basically to keep them as slaves. I caught a stone flying toward my face, and looked in the direction where it came from. A young girl shouted some insult at me, with two of her friend trying to hold her back. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I stared at Alice, as expected, she was even more affected than me. ¡°Sam¡­ what the hell is happening here?¡± "I''m not sure. I have several places to see." I gazed at the little girl to scare her. It felt bad, but it¡¯s not like I can do anything else¡­ yet. ¡°Listen, I had a talk with Monty yesterday, and I wanted to be sure¡­ this situation, he might be able to do something about it.¡± "But what the fuck is wrong with this city? I and Mar spent hours on the internet and watching for any info we could get, and nothing like that came up! How do they¡­" ¡°It¡¯s a bubble, Alice. And, right now, Monty is a needle.¡±
I wanted to confirm and understand the existence of three things. It was basically the three most important point that Monty made yesterday. First, unknown to every regular citizen who thinks the industry is entirely automatic, a huge portion of the manufacturing and ¡®shameful'' jobs are performed by the population of the outer circle. That''s the reason why the huge industrial building form a sort of ring around the centre circle, at the inner side there are the offices and on the other side, there are filthy production chain and such. Second, according to Monty, the Mafia had overtaken everything here. It''s a weird situation, as they are awfully unfair to the people, taxing and threatening them, but it is still better than before, when people from the centre were managing the place. It is better because back then the common folks weren''t asked anything, they were just beaten up for no reason, and it is still not rare for rich people to come here and buy people, especially children and woman. With no way of defending themselves, the outer folks are condemned to accept whatever they''re asked to do, and only the mafia has some leverage for negotiation with the ¡®government'', because they regroup large amount of people and counterfeit weapons. Lastly, if we consider the outer circle part of Lucropolis, it actually covers more than two-third of its total area, and at least 90% of the population leave here. They don''t realize it, but Lucropolis is nothing without this place, and the only reason nobody is revolting is that they either don''t know, or they do, and realize they don''t have any power to change anything. Everything was true. He told me it could have changed a bit, since it¡¯s been years he left the place, but everything was as bad as 50 years ago. All this campaign, the reason why he was still running, why he was ignored by the other candidate and the media itself, and the meaning of the two vision I had. Alice seemed really troubled by everything that happened, even though I have my doubt about the true reason. I''m not that stupid, I know they want to frame Monty despite my disapproval, and she knows that with this trip I can''t, even in a million year, change mind anymore. I understand why they want to do it that way, so I guess it''ll come to me to find a way to pass the struggle without getting Kind of trouble. On our way back, we passed in front of a disused factory. As we had still a bit of time before the evening, I decided to visit it, but as we headed over there¡­ Ring ring ring. Damn, my scroll¡­ ¡°Hey Alice, it¡¯s Marie, can you take it for me?¡± ¡°Wait why do I¡­?¡± Without waiting for an answer I threw my scroll to her and ran toward the factory. I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m not in the mood to chat with her. Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m not comfortable lying to them, even though they are the one trying to go in my back. Sigh¡­ they¡¯re probably right, I¡¯m waaaaaay too nice for my own safety. Anyway, Alice grudgingly took the call and I entered the empty building. This place has been abandoned for several years, at least. It has now become a dust castle, I can¡¯t even distinguish what they were making here. All I could distinguish were lines of offices. I passed the door and arrived in a huge empty room. There was nothing but a kind of simple stage, maybe it was a place for someone to give speeches¡­ I approach the stage, and jumped on it. From here, the room was bigger. I imagined myself in front of peoples, looking at me and listening to my every word. In fact, I might not need to imagine anything¡­ I spend the past few weeks using my powers, and I became quite proficient in foresight, but I think right now, it is time to learn about the past. I closed my eyes and focused myself. A familiar sensation surfaced rapidly, and I opened my eyes again. In front of me, the room was full of ghostly figure, staring at me. I could see some of the faces, and they were all extremely concerned and attentive. They must have been listening to a very important speech¡­ but where is the orator? I looked to my left and right but there no one here. That''s when I realized the crowd wasn''t really looking at the stage anymore, but at its side. I followed the stare, and someone was slowing climbing the small stairs leading to the top of the stage. A young man, in his twenties, waving at them. He was reminding me of someone¡­ isn''t that¡­ ¡°AAAAAAAARGH¡± MY HEAD! Images are flashing through my mind. The pain! It¡¯s¡­ too much. Ghost ars mixed in vision and vice versa. I am seeing the man on the stage, but in another place, with an older face, then another scene, where he was holding a baby. Time is passing slowly, and sharp surges of pain are striking my head, multiple times. I felt my knee touching the ground, but I am not even sure, I can''t feel anything but my head about to explode. It was like most of my life passed in front of my eyes in an instant. And the pain¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t¡­ ¡°SAM!¡± I opened my eyes again, I haven¡¯t even realized they were closed in the first place. I looked around, I had fallen from the stage, I was on the dusty ground, draught with sweat, and I could fill blood on my lips. Alice was here too, she was the one calling my name. ¡°Sam! What happened?¡± ¡°Haha, just the usua¡­¡± Oh shit, I''m losing consciousness¡­ Chapter 39 - So... it was impossible to win after all (2) List of candidate 31.8% - Almond M. Chaveil 31.3% - Monty L. Kind (?) 16.2% - Hanna H. Tolcin 10.6% - Joy L. Nicam 9.1% - Ronald K. Dola
Where¡­ where am I? I feel so¡­ weird. Is this another vision? It looks like it, but it feels different¡­ I am floating in the middle of¡­ I don¡¯t know, some kind of torrent. It finally stopped, and I found myself in front of a familiar scene. Trees were burning, smoke was rising in the sky, and a purple-haired woman was looking down on me, lying down on the ground. Well, not really me, but someone who looks a lot like me¡­ I guess you¡¯ve got the picture. It''s been a long time since I made this dream¡­ and this time I fell that my mind is clearer, I can see more. I am not only on the ground, I am wounded everywhere, I can barely recognize the clothes, as there is too much blood on me. I have severe cuts on one of my arm, but more importantly, I am missing a leg, down to the knee. The purple woman approached, apparently, we were talking to each other. Shit, I still can¡¯t see her face¡­ She lifted her lance, and I felt a sharp pain in my left eye. I closed both of them, it wasn''t really painful, not as much as a stab in the eye should at least, but it surprised me to feel it. When I opened them again, I was in a different place. Or am I? Is this really a ¡®place¡¯? Everything is white, there is no wall, no ceiling, only brightness. What the¡­ ¡°Hello, Sam.¡± I turned around, someone was here. A girl with long white hair¡­ and a mask. A simple white mask covering her eyes. What the fuck is she doing in my¡­ "It''s not really a dream." ¡­ "I wasn''t supposed to come see you, but I couldn''t help it." ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me, even though it is not our first encounter.¡± ¡°Are you the one responsible for this?¡± ¡°Responsible for what?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb, being in my dream, or mind, or whatever, like it is natural. I am asking you again, are you¡­¡± "I am not here for that. I told you, I shouldn''t be here, it is too early." ¡°So you have things to say.¡± As she was about to speak, she stopped, and smiled. Then she disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m not the talkative type.¡± Behind me? I turned around, and felt a soft sensation on my lips. ¡°Farewell, Little Sugar.¡± Did she just kiss me?
¡°Calm down, Alice. I told you he is fine.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure? It¡¯s been hours!¡± "I am not sure of anything, but it was the same in the camp. He ended up like that after a vision, right? He told us that it was fine." ¡°And you all let him continue? Fuck! If I have known¡­¡± ¡°What? You would have stopped him?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Do you realize what you¡¯re saying? Do you really think Sam can¡¯t take care of himself?¡± "All I know is that these fucking powers are bad for him." ¡°Is it? Did he told you about his struggles?¡± ¡°¡­¡± "He would have died without it, and he will probably die if he stops using it. Listen, nobody understand this place, or the flux and all that shit. In fact, if someone would have a clue, it would be Sam, so for once in your life, trust him!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see if he wakes up or not? I heard you can use every ability used in front of you, so surely you should be able to meditate like him.¡± ¡°¡­I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t copy that.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ finally a limit.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel impossible¡­ just¡­ I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s like there is something inside me missing.¡± "Yeah, well, in the meantime, Sam need to rest, and we have plenty of things on our hands, with what happened." "Sigh¡­ I guess you''re right. I thought for once I had a nice and smooth stage¡­but I guess it will never be easy." "Well, sometimes things don''t go as planned, that''s why we usually have a plan B." ¡°What is the plan B?¡± ¡°I said ¡®usually¡¯.¡± Marie was frenetically typing on her laptop and scribbling on some papers in search of a miracle to get themselves out of this pinch. ¡°Are you even sure it happened?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation."Of course, with something like this, I checked several times. I''m 100% positive. Well, figure of speech." ¡°But how¡­¡± Suddenly, Alice''s eye caught a faint light coming from the desk, where Samsy''s book was laid. She also heard a slight vibration, as she approached the object. V: Damn, took you some time, scrubs. S: VVhat the hell? Are you Valentine? V: He told you my name? VVell, I guess it vvas to be expected. V: So, hovv''s my little nevvbie? Still sleeping? S: VVhy should I tell you? V: Hey¡­ are you using my typing quirk? That¡¯s rude. S: First, I don¡¯t think you understand vvhat ¡®rude¡¯ means. S: Second, I have no idea vvhat this quirk thing is about. V: Try typing: ¡®VVhy vvould I vvatch a vvitch vvatching an avvfully vvild vvatch¡¯. S: Oh my god, my eyes. Are you trying to blind me? V: It¡¯s as Sam said, you¡¯re a pain in the ass. S: He never said that. V: Not vvhile you vvere around. S: He. Never. Said. That. S: And I can verify it pretty easily, you knovv. V: I vvhat? S: ¡­ you KNOVV. V: You mean, ¡®I know¡¯. S: That¡¯s vvhat I said. V: No, you said ¡®knovv¡¯. V: And not ¡®know¡¯. S: Knovv. S: Knovv. S: Fuck! VVhat the hell is this fucking typing shit?! V: Hahaha, you don¡¯t even KNOVV hovv to dismiss the quirk. XD S: Shut up, it¡¯s not funny. V: It is! XD XD XD V: Oh! I knovv! S: VVhat? S: VVhat? S: Damn, are you gone? For a few minutes, there was no answer, leaving Alice perplexed and confused by the situation. ¡®I wonder how Sam managed to deal with her all this time¡­'' V: I''m back! V: I vvant to try something. S: ¡­ S: Is this really the time for that? V: Xkbn¡­ Vqldngknd qx;dc !d gl ghmd xl!dgnkng, xl ndfd kg ks. S: Wnqg gnd nd: S: Wnqg? S: Vjc;! Wnqg kx nqmmdnikb? V: Hahahahaha! I knevv it! Your quirk is so funny! S: VVhat the hell?! S: I¡¯m vvriting normal again! V: ¡®normal¡¯. S: Fuck you. S: I think I¡¯ll hang up. VVe¡¯re busy here. V: Oh, yeah, it¡¯s not really important anyvvay. V: Just tvvo things. V: First, Sam is a bit late on schedule, so if you mind telling him to vvake up and stop slacking off it vvould be great. V: And second, VVilliam vvanted me to tell the blondie to stop vvorking on some forbidden machine or shit, but it sounds cool, so tell her to keep going instead. V: And... that''s it. V: Oh, and I don¡¯t really like you. V: Bye! S: VVait vvhat? S: Hey! S: Fuck! Alice threw the book into the wall in rage. Fortunately, she held back enough to not pierce it, and you could just see some slight cracks near the impact. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I spoke with Samsy¡¯s guide.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°She is a bitch.¡± ¡°Yeah, Sam told us something like that.¡± ¡°Oh, and she told you to keep working on your ¡®secret¡¯ forbidden project, or whatever.¡± ¡°Hum¡­ it¡¯s not really secret, but I figured it was too early anyway. Better developing the measurement device and upgrading the books.¡± ¡°Is this what you¡¯re doing right now?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m going through the legal process of the election. I¡¯m looking for any possible way we could get back on the list.¡± ¡°Oh, so we¡¯re already out of the list?¡± ¡°Not officially, but it is only a matter of time.¡±
"WAIT!" Oh¡­ I¡¯m awake. All sweaty in my bed. Shit, what the hell was that, I can¡¯t even be alone in my own dreams? And who the hell is this Eve? My first guess would be that she is the last Boss or a shit like that. I mean, if we were in a game it would look a lot it. And the mask, just to look mysterious. It¡¯s a bit childish. And why the hell did she kissed me?! I already have a girlfriend! Why can¡¯t this fucking world understand that?! ¡°Sam?¡± Alice entered the room, she must have heard me waking up. ¡°Hey ¡®lice, sorry for¡­ ouch.¡± ¡°I was so worried!¡± She jumped on the bed to tackle me, or is it a hug? Who knows¡­ ¡°Yeah¡­ sorry about that. I didn¡¯t think I would still lose consciousness after a vision.¡± ¡°You had a vision?¡± "Yeah¡­ sort of. But I didn''t understand everything, I think I''ll have to talk to Monty about it." Alice suddenly stopped hugging me, and diverted her eyes. She is clearly about to tell me something, and I have a bad feeling about it. "You won''t be able to see him¡­" ¡°Something happened?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ he¡­ he had a heart attack.¡± ¡°¡­ he what?¡± "Sam¡­ that was the reason why Marie called you. While we were in the outer circle¡­ Monty died." Chapter 40 - So... it was impossible to win after all (3) List of candidate 44.1% - Almond M. Chaveil 22.2% - Hanna H. Tolcin 14.7% - Joy L. Nicam 10.9% - Monty L. Kind 8.1% - Ronald K. Dola
I¡¯m a failure. Monty is dead¡­ How¡­ how the hell did I miss it? I am a fucking Seer, it is my job to see things like that. And to prevent them from happening. How the hell did I miss it?! A heart attack? Really? The guy starting to shake the ones in power die just like that? Bullshit! He got killed, and I¡¯m going to prove it. I don¡¯t really care about the struggle anymore. Monty was a good man, he tried his best to get his people out of this despicable situation, and died for it. This is is personal now.
¡°He left?!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°By the window? And you didn¡¯t stop him?¡± ¡°He¡­ he got me by surprise, and he told me not to follow him¡­¡± ¡°You are killing me! You let Sam run away after telling him Monty died? What do you think will happen?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll probably check if it¡¯s the truth¡­¡± ¡°Of course! But after that?¡± Alice widened her eyes. There could be many reactions to this kind of situation, but concerning Sam, it was pretty clear. If he were to make it personal, he could be capable of killing someone. ¡°Fuck, we have to stop him.¡± ¡°Do you know where he is?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Dammit! You are even stupider than I thought!¡± ¡°He¡¯ll probably go to Monty¡¯s apartment.¡± ¡°Damn, he didn¡¯t even take his scroll, or the book¡­ talk about back luck. Okay, the apartment is probably worth the shot, you go there, and I¡¯ll look on the city¡¯s surveillance system if I can find him.¡± Under normal circumstances, Alice would have never followed Marie¡¯s order, but she was way too worried about Samsy right now.
¡°Sigh¡­ those newbies really make things complicated.¡± ¡°Usually, you complain about them being boring, at least it¡¯s not the case here.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right Will, or maybe I don¡¯t really care what you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°Gosh, what is making you so annoying today. I mean, more than usual.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ this Alice is pissing me off for some reason, and I don¡¯t really know why.¡± ¡°Maybe because she resembles you, but younger and prettier.¡± ¡°Do you really want my hate to shift towards you?¡± As both of there pupils were in the same struggle, William and Valentine were in front of the same screen, even though they spend most of there time on smaller tablet-like devices, as Marie and Sam were rarely at the same place. ¡°Are you sure you want to leave Sam by himself? He seems pretty shaken by this guys death.¡± ¡°Of course he is, he¡¯s a potential main character, he is bound to feel genuinely sad for every side character death.¡± ¡°Unlike you, who¡¯s more the villain type.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll take that as a compliment, at least I would be in the main cast.¡± ¡°Ouch¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how he¡¯ll grow. It¡¯s nice and all to see him train and meditate, but it¡¯s only under great stress that he¡¯ll thrive.¡± ¡°Or die.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a possibility.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of a win-win for you then.¡± ¡°For what kind of monster are you talking me?¡± ¡°Lord Valentine, Champion of Kindness?¡± ¡°And I am the annoying one¡­¡± The room was pretty calm. Actually, Jules had scheduled a reunion between all the guide, but as Valentine didn¡¯t want to go, both her and Will skipped it. Val suddenly got up from her chair, stretching and yawning. ¡°I think I¡¯ll take a break, it¡¯s not like I can talk with Sam anyway.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to see what will happen next?¡± "Meh, he''ll just get a vision or some shit. Call me back if he snaps or something like that¡­" ¡°Hum¡­ he disappeared? Oh, no, he¡¯s on another screen now. Damn, he¡¯s all out running now¡­¡± ¡°Probably going back to blondy and whity, ciao. And like that, she left the room. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t go back to the hotel¡­¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°He¡­ he is beating up someone?¡± ~~ It is probably one of the biggest opportunity for Monica Finsh, a reporter for MFT, one of the big candidates died and he had to put up a good article about it. His superior was really concern about this paper, so it was her best chance to get his favour. However, as she was writing on her computer, all the stores suddenly went down, leaving her office with her screen as the only source of light. She was alone in the room, so, visibly annoyed by this malfunction of her equipment, she stood up to get the stores up again. The instant she was standing on her two legs, a violent impact landed on her nose, projecting her to the ground. She closed her eyes in pain, and tried to shout, but another hit got her in the chest, prohibiting her from emitting a sound.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Gradually, she managed to get her breath back, and as she looked up to see the assailant, she saw a young man wearing a suit, with white hair, and cold red eyes, looking back on her. She tried to scream, but she was hit again. ¡°Shhhhhh¡­ Everything will be fine.¡± ¡°Wh-what do you want?¡± The young man put his hand on top of Monica¡¯s head, and she felt a pleasant feeling going through her body. The pain was slowly fading away. ¡°You are the reporter who will cover Mr. Kind death, right?¡± ¡°Ye-ye-yes.¡± "Great, I want to talk for a bit."
M: Hey, I kn0w y0u are 100king at us. M: D0 y0u kn0w where is Sam? M: He pr0bably used some kind 0f cam0uflage, s0 I didn¡¯t find him 0n any 0f the city survei11ance cameras. M: Are y0u here? W: 0h, yeah, s0rry. W: As a matter 0f fact, 1 kn0w where he 1s. M: Great! Where is he? W: I vvon¡¯t tell you! W: Because I¡¯m stupid! M: So¡­ Valentine is here too? W: Of course I''m here! Finally, my nevvbie is doing something interesting! M: Like what? W: S1gh¡­ we can¡¯t tell y0u. M: Why ?! W: Well¡­ Samsy just t0ld us t0 n0t say anyth1ng t0 y0u. M: He did that? H0w? W: He 1s a Seer, s0 maybe that 1s h0w he knew fr0m where we were watch1ng¡­ W: But d0n¡¯t w0rry, he als0 sa1d he w1ll get back t0 y0u s00n! M: Dammit, s0mething is s0 wr0ng. It is n0t 1ike him t0 g0 a10ne 1ike that. W: Pe0ple change when faced w1th the death of someone. M: ¡­ M: Yeah. M: I guess he did s0mething simi1ar back then t00¡­ W: Back then?! W: VVhat happened back then? W: Hey! W: Ansvver me! Marie took out her scroll and called Alice. ¡°Hey! Why are you calling me? You¡¯ve got something?¡± ¡°More or less, my guide says Sam don¡¯t want us to find him.¡± ¡°Fuck, I know I shouldn¡¯t have left him jump through the window.¡± "No?! Really?! Sigh¡­ I hope he knows what he is doing. Monty''s death is bad on its own, but apparently, they won''t move the election, and I don''t want to get stuck here." ¡°¡­ you¡¯re heartless, you know that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that like you are not.¡± ¡°Fair, but Samsy¡­ what if it was a disguised murder?¡± ¡°Come on, Alice, it was a murder. But I found nothing, even after inspecting the scene and the video footings. It was done well, and we don¡¯t have time to look into it.¡± ¡°What about Sam?¡± ¡°Well, I think we¡¯ll have to go without him.¡± ¡°¡­¡± "I will keep looking at the legal process and a way to turn this situation to our advantage. If you could spy on Chaveil or something, that would be great, we''ll need some huge scandal to overcome this." ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep looking for Sam, I don¡¯t want him to get into trouble.¡± ¡°¡­ Do what you want.¡± Marie and Alice hanged up at the same time. This last one just arrived at Monty''s apartment, and as expected it was empty, Sam wasn''t here. She started looking in the old man stuff, in search of a journal or note or anything he wrote yesterday. He was old but healthy, as Marie said, a heart attack was too much for a simple coincidence, and as nobody was found on the ¡®crime'' scene, it was likely Monty himself was aware it could happen. However, even with all the ¡®luck'' Alice could gather, she found nothing but old memos, journals, and his scroll. She managed to hack into this last one, but nothing noteworthy was found. Everything was taking care off by them and Samsy, so the last activity this last scroll had was exactly 5 years ago, from an unknown number.
¡­ Okay, that was weird. This reporter was¡­ more unique than I thought, at least she will do what I say, and I have calmed down a bit. Shit, the nosebleed doesn''t stop¡­ I''ll have to get some tissue. It''s the first time I manage to keep this state so long, and I don''t think it''s good for me. Meh, it''s not like I can do without it, I almost saw the end of it. And it''s just nosebleed, I don''t have a headache yet, so I guess I have still plenty of time. So, what¡¯s next? I guess I should get going to Monty¡¯s apartment, and hope I can use the past vision -I really should find a better name for that- to get some info on yesterday, before he died. ¡­ I didn''t think I would be affected that much. Well, I didn''t think it would die in the first place, and I believe I would care about anyone''s death, but¡­ it''s surprising. I know him for less than a month, and I feel like loosing a distant relative I recently got back in touch with. Maybe it''s because of my power, because I saw him so many times, I got attached faster than usual. But it doesn''t really matter what I feel, or think. He was a good man, and if I can''t avenge him, I''ll at least won''t let his fight end like that. But here¡¯s my problem¡­ when I¡¯ll arrive at his place, what will I say to Alice? I went kind of wild, jumping from the 50th and all -I made a parachute with the curtain, and almost broke a leg on the landing¡­-, and I don¡¯t think the girls will take that very well. I hope she won¡¯t kill me¡­
¡°This journal is useless!¡± Losing her patience over her lack of findings, Alice threw the book she was holding, completely destroying it against/and the wall. "I like you a lot Sam, but when I find you, I''m kicking up your ass!" (On a side note, Sam know that Alice is at Monty¡¯s apartment specifically because he saw her pronouncing this line in one of his vision. And that¡¯s why he¡¯s quite afraid to come.) She sat on one of the chairs and took a deep breath out in order to cool her down. The journal was more or less her last attempt to do something meaningful here, and it was pointless. As she was about to give up and leave, Monty¡¯s scroll started to vibrate. It was an unknown number¡­ Without any hesitation, she took the call, preparing an exact replicate of Kind¡¯s voice. ¡°Happy Birthday, Pops!¡± Chapter 41 - The forgotten people (1) List of candidate 41.3% - Almond M. Chaveil 21.9% - Lora H. Tolcin 17.4% - Joy L. Nicam 13.3% - Ronald K. Dola 6.1% - (Monty L. Kind)
So, here I am, in front of Monty¡¯s door. I know she¡¯s in there, well, there is a high chance she is in there. At least my instinct is telling me that. And I trust my instinct. But this time, I wish it is wrong. I don¡¯t want to face my sister. She¡¯s gonna be mad and she literally can kill me with a slap. I gathered my resolve, put my hand on the handle, and opened the door. "Please! Please! Please! Don''t hang up, it''s important! No! I told you I''m on your dad side! What? No, I''m not his lover! Come on!" To my surprise, Alice was rapidly conversing with her scroll. Wait, no, it seems it¡¯s Monty¡¯s scroll -there are slight differences between the older and current version-, what is she doing with that? And more importantly, who is on the other side of the call? As she saw me enter, I saw an instant surge of relief on her face, and she silently made me understand to come closer. ¡°Okay! Mr. Sacre arrived, he worked closely with your father for the past month, I¡¯m passing him the scroll.¡± Is it me or her voice is sweeter than usual¡­ She covered the phone and quietly summed up the situation. ¡°Apparently this is Monty¡¯s daughter, she called because it was his birthday today. She doesn¡¯t know about, well, what happened.¡± She called because it is his birthday¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m mad because it is a sick twist of fate, or because it is another clich¨¦ to add in this horrible adventure. Anyway, I took the scroll. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Samsy Sacre. I¡­¡± ¡°Haw and wha the heck y¡¯all gat my dad¡¯s scro¡¯? ¡®Was a poor ald man, y¡¯all got na honor. If me find ya, ya¡¯ll be kicked in the¡­¡± For an instant, I wondered if the flux translation feature* had ceased to function, but in the end, it¡¯s just a horrible accent. Haha, I¡¯m such a jerk sometimes. Sigh¡­ I guess being a jerk can help. ¡°M¡¯am, Monty L. Kind died yesterday afternoon.¡± ¡°¡­with a fark and¡­ what did ya say?¡± I waited a bit to let the information sink in, but before she could gather her thought too much and answer me, I continued. "He had a heart attack, in the middle of the main street." Shit, I really prefer situation I had a vision of, it¡¯s way easier than this. ¡°I didn¡¯t know him really well, he was always alone and invisible to society in general, but he was a good man.¡± ¡°¡­ did they killed him?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Che¡­ wha am I even¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I have no proof, and there are probably none, but they obviously killed him, and disguised it as an accident.¡± ¡°¡­ who¡¯re you?¡± ¡°I am Sam, and you are?¡± ¡°Lara, Lara Kind.¡± An image of a young woman with dark-blue hair and emerald eyes looking down at me and smiling passed through my eyes. Is¡­ is this a coincidence? Or does the game master doesn''t have any originality for names? ¡°What ya folks plan ta da?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I should involve you in that.¡± "C''mon! It was ma pops!" ¡°You¡¯re not surprised by his death, are you?¡± ¡°Are ya kidding? Our people are less than ant to them, h¡¯was hated by all those fuckars! He knew, and me knew, that h¡¯was risking thee life!¡± "Yeah, I think he wanted to tell me that, but he didn''t get the time." ¡°Ya didn¡¯t answar me, what¡­¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell you, but not by scroll. I¡¯ll meet you in person.¡± ¡°Da ya even know where I¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± And I hanged up. Phew, this conversation was quite stressful, talking with the daughter of a man that died a day before is apparently not something I like to do. That, and the flash memory of Lora I got didn¡¯t help. Shit, I can¡¯t believe I forgot about her¡­ I wonder if everything is alright. ¡°So, how did it go?¡± Can¡¯t believe I forgot about her too. ¡°Pretty good, I guess. Her name is Lo, hum, Lara, and we¡¯re going to meet her tomorrow.¡± ¡°Did you saw that in a vision?¡± ¡°Nop, well, kinda. I saw the three of us in the slump asking for direction, so I guess it¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen.¡± "Oh, so in the end, it''s the three of us¡­ good, good." ¡°I-I-you know I didn¡¯t really want to leave you girls out of it, right?¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± Holy shit, a smile, a peaceful face, and a bloodlust aura. She clearly is about to kill me. ¡°Lo-look! I¡¯m sorry! Okay, I kinda snapped, I won¡¯t do it again! I promise!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Really?¡± "Well, I guess now you owe me and Mar one." ¡°Ye-yeah¡­¡± I have a bad feeling about that.
(A) ¡°Mar! We¡¯re back.¡± (M) ¡°Sam? Damn, I didn¡¯t think I would see you so soon.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.(S) ¡°Haha, I already apologized to Alice, and it¡¯s not like I had a choice either.¡± (M) "Of course, it''s not like you can do anything without your two beloved mistresses." (S) ¡°Okay, first, no one is my mistress here -Alice, please, stop blushing-, and second, it was more because I was worried about you two. I can take care of myself.¡± (M) ¡° May I remind you how many more times you nearly died compared to the rest of us?¡± (S) ¡°Aaaaaanyway, we have things to do!¡± (A) ¡°Sam got a whole new bunch of visions!¡± (S) ¡°I had 5 new vision, I already used 2, and I had another one from the first few days here. I don¡¯t know if all of them will be useful, but at least the last one is promising.¡± (A) ¡°We¡¯re going to the outer circle.¡± (M) ¡°Again? Why? I thought there was only homeless people and trash.¡± (S) ¡°It¡¯s more or less true, but I have a plan, and I¡¯ll need to do business with some people down there.¡± (A) ¡°We¡¯re gonna meet with Monty¡¯s daughter tomorrow.¡± (M) ¡°Sigh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll stay here to keep up with the situation here.¡± (S) ¡°No, I already took care of that too. I went to the MFT tower to question someone and she was¡­ surprisingly cooperative. She will be our contact while we¡¯re out of town.¡± (M) ¡°What do you mean, ¡®surprisingly cooperative¡¯?¡± (S) ¡°Nothing¡­¡±
¡°Hahaha, yeah Sam! Tell them what happened!¡± Valentine and William were still both in front of the giant screen, with the first enjoying the situation may be a bit too much. ¡°Val, I think this is kind of embarrassing for him.¡± "Of course this is! He beat up the worst masochist I have ever seen! Haha, he really has weird luck!" ¡°¡¯Masochist¡¯ might be a bit too much¡­¡± "Oh, come one, he kicked her two times and she was on the edge of orgasm. She practically fell in love with him, if it''s not hardcore masochism, I don''t know what is!" ¡°You don¡¯t know that!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ my dear William, you still can¡¯t read people emotion¡­¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m just giving her the benefit of the doubt.¡± "Yeah, yeah. I just hope her and Sam will meet again at some point. And they''ll meet another girl soon, must be my lucky day! Oh, I know! I should prepare my popcorn bucket!" She stood up from her seat and started walking toward the exit. ¡°Come on! Do you have no shame? A man died yesterday!¡± She stopped. Slowly turned around. Facing Will, with a confused face. "Shame? What is that? "
We left the hotel room a little before the sunset, and passed the gate around the same time the first ray of light appeared. In my head, I thought it would have looked like a secret infiltration mission, or at least something serious and silent, but the girls weren''t really in the same boat. Mainly because Marie had finished one of her devices. ¡°Look! This one is worth 1 too!¡± ¡°Again! Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have calibrated the reference on your power level.¡± ¡°It is just a prototype, at least we know how much of a cheat you are.¡± ¡°Hehe, I guess it was too be expected.¡± "But I have to say, your result was quite surprising, Sam." As I really didn¡¯t want to get involved in the conversation, I faked being occupied looking for the place I saw in my vision. "Meh, he''s ignoring us, what was his number again?" ¡°28.¡± ¡°Oh, well, he¡¯s a Seer, so maybe it¡¯s to compensate his cheated powers.¡± "My class seems to revolve around constructing things, so I do not thinks it is about his class. Maybe it is my the strength i-talent that is putting me above..." ¡°Oh yeah, your title! ¡®Mason of Chastity¡¯! It¡¯s hilarious how much it suits you!¡± "Hey! You are the one talking! At least for me, it is a choice." ¡°You wanna fight, Blondy?¡± ¡°Bring it on, Stupid.¡± ¡°Girls! I think I found it!¡± It wasn''t exactly true, but I had to say something before things get out of hand. We were deep in the slump, at a place we didn''t go two days ago, and I could sense some figures gazing at us from afar. ¡°Sam¡­ is it really the place you are looking for?¡± ¡°Well, the truth is that I am not really sure about the exact location. The thing I¡¯m looking for is¡­¡± With a strong feeling of d¨¦j¨¤-vu, I grabbed a stone flying toward my face, and saw a little girl on the edge of my field of view. She was shocked by my catch of the stone coming from what should have been a dead angle, but rapidly gathered her resolved and grabbed another projectile. I approached her as she was arming her second throw. This time, I didn''t try to dodge, and the rock hit my face. Shit! I thought it wouldn''t hurt ¡®cause it''s just a little girl, but it hurts like hell! Shit! I should have use flux! I am so stupid! Shit! My fucking nose! Shit Shit shit!!! I thought I would do the cool and scary guy act, but now I''m rolling on the ground in pain. Shit, is she have super strength too or something? Argh, and she got me precisely in the nose too! After a few seconds, I managed to finally calm down and stand up. I heard the two other laughing their asses off on my back, and to my surprise, the kid wasn¡¯t alone anymore, an adult had arrived, and was scolding her. She then looked at me, and came to my encounter, bringing the girl with her. ¡°We¡¯re really sorry, please, she¡¯s just a kid, she didn¡¯t want to¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine! I accept your apologies.¡± I said that, but the kid was still glaring at me, even though her mother -I assume- forced her to say ¡®sorry¡¯. ¡°Actually, I would like to ask you something¡­¡± And that''s how we arrived at what I foresaw yesterday. Sigh¡­ most of the time I only see an instant or just a few seconds during my visions, but as I was holding my bleeding nose, I realized it doesn''t tell me that much. Anyway, she ¡®luckily¡¯ knew where Lora was, and pointed a direction to follow. Two hours later, the three of us arrived in front of a pile of junk and trash forming a house. It looked surprisingly sturdy, and there was a sign a few meter in front of the door, with the word ¡®Kind¡¯ written on it. Without further due, I knocked on the piece of wood they were using as a door, and Lora promptly opened it. She was a young woman in her twenties -I have to say, way younger than I expected- with short brown hair and small cunning brown eyes. She was a bit smaller than me and got huge bags under her eyes ¡°I¡¯m Sam, we talked yesterday.¡± "C''mon in." I have to say, the interior was better looking than the outside. The furnitures were in good shape and the rooms were cleaner than the street. We got in what seemed to be the living room, and sat down on what we found. She offered us tea, but I politely declined -to Alice disappointment apparently. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s ya plan? Da ya even have one?¡± ¡°I do have one, but first, I need to be clear, this is not revenge.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°The circumstance make the murderer impossible to find, unless we manage to have a confession or something.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need no evidence! They¡¯re all guilty!¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why we need to beat them at there own game.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll win The Presidency, and I¡¯ll fight for what Monty¡¯s believed in.¡± ¡°Che, ya¡¯re a crazy person, how would ya da that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s simple, we¡¯ll blackmail the government.¡±
*See chapter 3 Chapter 42 - The forgotten people (2) List of candidate 41.6% - Almond M. Chaveil 22.2% - Lora H. Tolcin 17.5% - Joy L. Nicam 13.8% - Ronald K. Dola 4.9% - (Monty L. Kind)
I guess the plan is not that simple, and there¡¯s probably a high chance it won¡¯t work at all, but when you see a future version of yourself lifting the current president by the throat, I tend to think we have our chances. Of course, I told that to Alice and Marie on the way to Lara¡¯s house, and they were way less shocked than I thought. The problem now is to know how to get to this point, and what will be our exact demand. This last one became rapidly obvious, as I believe only one thing could make us win the election at that point: the vote of the outer circle people. Nobody in the centre knows this, but I recently realized that the vast majority of the overhaul population reside here. And when I say vast majority, I¡¯m talking about more than 80%, which at this point is ridiculous. So there are two phases, first, I¡¯ll have to be known to the people down here, which shouldn¡¯t be that hard, and second, I¡¯ll have to ¡®convince¡¯ Chaveil to make them able to vote. The second part will happen for sure, but the problems lie with the first one. The people here do hate the government and the city centre in general, but they''re scattered all around the area, and it¡¯s not like there are many ways of communication down here, Lara being an exception by possessing a scroll. Nonetheless, there was one group that could be useful to me. One group that could help me to reach every people in the slump. In fact, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to pull anything out without it, the mafia. Those greedy and immoral bunch of people will be the key to gather the forgotten people together. How can I convince them? Well, for that I have something everybody would dream to have, the ability to see the future, and a ton of white pill to help the process!
¡°Is yar friend alright? He¡¯s been sleepin¡¯ for a long time¡­¡± "Oh, don''t worry about it, it''s a meditation thing, it helps him¡­ well, get ideas, I suppose.¡± ¡°Che, crazy person.¡± In Lara''s bedroom, Sam had started his first meditation session. He used all the vision he had the day before, and has planned to spend one day gathering as much as he could. For that purpose, he took two white pills at the same times, against Marie, Alice, and his own advice. In the meantime, Marie started to get in touch with Sam''s ¡®new contact'' and apparently the word is out that Sam will officially replace Monty next week, as he is the only known figure working in the same campaign. This decision should have raised many questions, but as it was approved by the authority and Mr Chaveil himself -as well as the other candidates, but at this point, who really cares about them? In the end, it''s beneficial for them, so Marie was mostly glad about it, but also a bit insecure about the unwanted help from the current poll leader. She brought her laptop with her, and Alice did the same, but she didn''t use it yet. Instead, she started to study the available junk material she would be able to get down there. Sam will probably need to infiltrated high-security places, and unlike the secret gate between the inner and outer circle, a smile and a lump of cash won''t be enough to pass. Also, she had maintenance to do for her arm. That left out Alice, who is currently watching over Sam, with their host Lara. Of course, this last asked tons of questions to the group, especially about her father, and despite knowing a lot about him, thanks to hours of research and one of the most brilliant brain to have ever been produced, Alice didn¡¯t tell much besides the fact that he was a lone wolf fighting in the shadow. After that, she related a fake past for the three of them, one where, unfortunately for her, she was the biological sister of Sam, and Marie a distant cousin they build their business with. And that¡¯s more or less how they spend their afternoon. In the end, Sam managed to get a dozen of vision, but unfortunately, only two of them were promising, one were he was entering an abandoned building late at night, and another where he was discussing face to face to an old looking man in a dark room. He also realized that Lara might be more useful than expected, as Monty was well known for being the guy that managed to get out. Also, he found something to investigate, and for that, he would need three things, Lara, his past vision, and more pills.
"So¡­ wha did ya want me with ya?" The next morning, I asked Lara to follow me inside the closest disaffected factory from her house. There were a lot of those, from what I understood, it was where most people worked before, but for the sake of efficiency, they gathered almost every job on the outside wall of the inner centre. That way they have more control over them, without the need to descend. Anyway, here I am with Lara, in a similar room I got my last past vision in. The reason why I came here is a bit crazy, but at this point, I think I have to take this kind of risk. The idea is that we¡¯re not in a normal world, where the most likely things to happen will happen. Here, we can count on coincidence and luck, and that¡¯s exactly what I am doing right now. And as I was thinking that, I witnessed what I came for: the same vision I had in the other building two days ago. It was a man standing up on the wooden stage apparently built up for the occasion, and I was in the middle of a crowd of ghostly people cheering the man. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Lara, tell me, for what reason did those stages have been put there?¡± ¡°That? Well, folks could group and talk b¡¯fore, but we can¡¯t do that anymore¡­¡± ¡°Do you know when was the last time it happened?¡± "Che, f''course I know, t''was my great grandfather! Everybody loved him, but t''was long time ago." As expected, the man she referred to was most likely the one I am watching right now. Looking closely, it¡¯s pretty obvious, except for his garnished black hair, he has the same face than Monty. I''m starting to understand the whole story, the people here have always been oppressed, but things were not as bad a century ago. Monty''s grandfather fought against the authority, failed, and Monty took upon its legacy and tried another approach. Sigh, sometimes I wonder how the struggles are made, it seems like there design especially for us, but in the end, it affects real lives. I probably should ask Valentine about that. "However, Great grandpops Mark died b''fore h''could da anything." ¡°It feels like he started a movement.¡± ¡°Better than that, pops always said t¡¯was a revolution!¡± ¡°So, why did it stop after his death?¡± ¡°Every time someone tried somethin¡¯, they disappear, so after a while, they stopped tryin¡¯. People were coward, and it didn¡¯t change much.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why your dad left, to fight from the inside.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it didn¡¯t help. I know h¡¯was unknown, and like a child to them, and they still got him¡­ those bastards.¡± ¡°He was actually quite threatening. In fact, he was about to win, thanks to me.¡± Yeah, saying it like that, I feel like I¡¯m responsible for his death. ¡°What da ya mean?¡± During the whole conversation, I was in the middle of the past vision, listening to Mark speech, and has it was coming to an end, I looked at Lara. ¡°Monty realized something crucial, and that¡¯s why he stayed in the inner circle all those years.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re wrong about something, the problem is not cowardice, it¡¯s ignorance.¡± ¡°Sorry! We ain¡¯t have TV down there!¡± ¡°Hehe, having a TV would actually make things worse. Lara, tell me, how many people can you gather here in 5 days?¡± ¡°5 days? For what?¡± ¡°I believe it¡¯s time to finish what your family started.¡±
The first part of the plan was thusly put in motion. While I was running around with Lara to get in touch with as many people as they could, Alice and Marie had the delicate task to find the mafia''s whereabouts and, if possible, to rally them. According to Lara''s information, it was divided into three major group, calling themselves the Triad -wow, such originality¡­ Each one of them has their own name, but I didn''t really care when she told me, so I came up with my own name. The biggest one speciality is to tax the population in exchange for ¡®protection''. They are kind of useful, as the overhaul violence dropped to nearly zero, however, they are also the one that operates brothel for the use of rich inner people, so you can''t say they are good guys. Thus, I called their group the Kingdom. The second member of the Triad is almost half as big as the first, but they operate on a whole different level. Their most lucrative and known activity is human trafficking. Well, they don''t sell slaves, but they provide children for people wanting to adopt. But they also are running a lot of orphanages, and as they are no shortage in orphans, thanks to awful working condition, it would probably be worse without them. I don''t really know what to think about them, as my situation was similar to the one of an orphan, I can emphasize with their work, even though they don''t treat the children as well as they should. I named them the Witches Council. Lastly, there was a group of exactly 10 people forming the last member. They were responsible for underground fights, and their whole purpose was to beat up people and show how strong they are. Apparently, there are people that can naturally sense and use a flux, even among the ¡®not-us'', and it allow them to demonstrate crazy amount of power. They are not really harmful, but their fights have killed dozens of people desperate enough to participate. In the end, they are probably the main reason why the inner circle come less than before, and I called them Crazy Apes. Hehe, my naming sense is flawless. After Lara finished her story, it was pretty clear to us than those groups are effectively doing good for the community, even though they could do it better. I was confident that with the right approach, we could make them join our fight.
¡°That ain¡¯t happening kido!¡± Alice was in the middle of the Crazy Apes lair, in the underground of, guess what, an abandoned factory! Really, those people have no imagination. To be more precise, it looked like a cellar, but the one used by a secret fight club. Around her, exactly ten people were laughing, arm crossed, mocking the girl proposition. She never really thought it would be that easy, but the way they flatly refused pissed her off. She was not the calm type to begin with, so it was to be expected. In fact, this is the reason why she went instead of Marie. She was currently facing their leader, a big bald muscular man with many scars on his face and no shirt. ¡°I am willing to negotiate, you know.¡± ¡°¡¯kay kido, here¡¯s my offer. Ralf!¡± A guy with a rat face came out of the circle, cracking his neck and wrist. He was visibly overjoyed to fight against a lady, and Alice was particularly grossed about his expression. ¡®Violence¡­ finally, I¡¯ll be able to let out some steam.¡¯ To her surprise, the man disappeared from her sight, and was already behind me. He was almost as fast as the silver wolf! ¡°Nye he he, I¡¯m gonna take my¡­ hum?¡± Without turning herself, she grabbed the back of his head. The movement wasn''t fast, but Ralf didn''t expect it, and that''s why his face met the ground at a tremendous speed. It was an instant KO, and blood started to spill on the ground. With a big crazy smile on her face, the young girl, with her hair now matching the ground colour, didn''t let her eyes off from the bald man. ¡°Plot twist! I ain¡¯t a diplomat!¡± Chapter 43 - The forgotten people (3) List of candidate 39.5% - Almond M. Chaveil 21.7% - Lora H. Tolcin 17.5% - Joy L. Nicam 14.1% - Ronald K. Dola 7.2% - Samsy S. Sacre
¡°Hey! What was your name again?¡± ¡°Monica. Monica Finsh.¡± ¡°Okay, so, why are you calling?¡± ¡°Can I talk to Mr. Sacre?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s not here at the moment, but he talked about you¡­¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ he trusted you to get info on the race and Kind¡¯s death, right?¡± ¡°Yes! I actually found something!¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± "The scientific report had been released, and the cause of death was a heart attack." ¡°Yeah, we already knew that.¡± "But there are more details, apparently they found an other record stating that it''s wasn''t the first one." ¡°What?¡± ¡°I checked as much as I could, and all seems to be genuine. Mr. Kind was not murdered.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ well, that¡¯s probably not a good news.¡±
It¡¯s been already a week since Monty died, and only 3 are left until the election. Given that we would need time for everyone to register, the right to vote for outer circle people would have to be passed within 2 weeks, time during which I will also need to win everyone approval¡­ Sigh¡­ at least I already know how it will end. I was with Lara, talking with one community, on the other side of the circle. This whole week we went on a pilgrimage around the city to do this sort of things. It was pretty helpful, each time, they were really receptive and willing to back us up. Well, it''s not like they had any risk to take, and they have nothing to lose. However, the number of people we could reach was far too few. Alice managed to ¡®convince'' the Crazy Apes to be on our side -I''m still wondering how she managed to do that so fast- but we still haven''t made any contact with the other two. The good news is that we know where are the Witch Council, and Alice will see them soon. As for the Kingdom, I believe I am not far away from their main base, but I don¡¯t know much more. I just hope I¡¯ll see the building from my vision at some point. The sun is about to go down, so I signed Lara, who was still chatting and laughing with a couple of people, that we should prepare for the night. Marie crafted us two sleeping bags, it wasn¡¯t the best, but at least we were able to get some sleep on the outside. So we found some rumble forming a roof and settled there for the night. At first, I wanted to sleep under the star, but the dense fog formed by the pollution spoiled the sight. It¡¯s a bit depressing. ¡°Sam¡­¡± ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°¡¯was thinkin¡¯, wha¡¯ are ya doin¡¯ that?¡± ¡°You mean, the election?¡± "Yeah, you didn''t know my father, right? Wha'' da ya have to gain?" ¡°¡­ It would be too complicated to get into the details. If it¡¯s easier for you, I do have a personal reason in all of this, in fact, if I don¡¯t get elected, I may never see my loved ones again.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s fucked up. Wait, aren¡¯t the two chicks your¡­¡± "I mean, other of my loved ones. But that''s not my only motivation, believe me, or not, I know what it''s like to be unfairly oppressed." ¡°Che, sayin¡¯ the kid who cammed down here in a suit.¡± ¡°I have special circumstances. And don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s not because I¡¯m looking young that I am, surgery is pretty advanced nowadays.¡± "The blond girl told me, you''re all 17. That means I''m your elder, kid." ¡°Dammit.¡± ¡°Che, me sayin¡¯ that, but ya¡¯re surely more capable, and more¡­ what the word¡­¡± ¡°Lucky.¡± ¡°Mature!¡± ¡°Really? I never thought that¡­¡± Hum¡­ what is that? A ghost? Am I witnessing a vision? ¡°Thought what?¡± ¡°Wait¡­ I think I¡¯ve got something.¡± There were three ghosts, one woman and two men, glowing with a light blue aura in the darkness of the night. They were marching while being aware of their surrounding, as if they were being sure that nobody was following them. On top of that, they were wearing expensive clothing, at least compared to the standard around here. Before they could go too far away, I quickly got up and followed them. ¡°Wher¡¯ya goin¡¯?¡± ¡°I think I have a lead¡­¡± Those guys are walking pretty fast, so it took me a whole minute to get to there level. The good thing about following the past of people is that you can¡¯t get bust, so it was pretty easy after that. Lara caught up with me a little later, exhausted by her run. ¡°Kid¡­ ya¡¯re¡­ fast¡­¡± ¡°Shhh, I think we¡¯re not far.¡± Indeed, after a few more minutes, we arrived at a building. Not a factory this time, it looked like a bit more like a school. Oh, I remember now¡­ that¡¯s the building I saw in my vision, finally.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Lara was getting used to my weird behaviour, so she didn''t really ask more about what was going on. Plus, she probably couldn''t see much with the fog and the darkness. We approach the main entrance, there was nobody on the outside but it was locked. Unfortunately, I am not well versed in the art of lock picking. Even if I were it wouldn''t be a good idea, there are probably more guard on the other side. My vision didn''t tell me how I am getting inside the building, so I guess I have to improvise. ¡°Pssss, Sam.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this on your shoulder?¡± ¡°My what?¡± Some moonlight was getting through the fog, and I finally realized I forgot to take a top before chasing the ghosts, and I was half naked in the middle of the night. I was warming myself up with flux without realizing it, so I didn''t notice. Thus my old scar was quite visible. I¡¯m not really ashamed of it, but it¡¯s pretty ugly, so I don¡¯t like people to see it -isn¡¯t that being ashamed of it? "Well, when I was young, a sort of beast bit me really hard. I got lucky she didn''t take of the flesh, but it left a deep mark." ¡°She?¡± "Yeah, the beast was a female. But we shouldn''t be talking right now, I believe it''s one of the Triad''s lair." ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep, I need to get inside and talk with there leader.¡± ¡°Oh, well, ya should¡¯ve said that from the start. [Kingdom], right?¡± ¡°Probably¡­ how do you know?¡± "Everyone knows it''s their area." Saying that, she went to the door, and knocked three times loudly. ¡°Are you crazy? They¡¯ll know we¡¯re here now!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point¡­¡± I heard the door unlock, and a guy with an unnecessary big gun greeted us. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lara Kind, and here¡¯s Samsy Sacre. We¡¯re asking for a meeting with your boss.¡± Is this really happening? ¡°Sure, c¡¯mon in.¡± Okay, I am completely lost now. As I was more confused than Marie in front of a condom, I decided to let Lara do the talking until we get in front of the leader. The guard led us to what used to be the principal office, or at least I suppose it is, as it is the biggest office, with ''principal'' written on the door. They just removed the desk and put a round table instead, with the 4 chairs around it. The three people I saw in ghost form were present, and there was one more person, another man, short white and wearing an expensive suit. He seemed pretty old, probably as much as Monty was, but with more hair. ¡°Boss, those folks want to talk to ya.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been a while since anyone came.¡± ¡°I personally think it¡¯s a waste of time.¡± ¡°Remember, communication is important!¡± ¡°Who cares, it¡¯s not like we NEED their opinion.¡± They all started to talk between them, except for the old man, who I suspect was the boss. Fortunately for me, I still had one pill in my pants, and I don''t think there''ll be a better opportunity than this one. I put it in my mouth, and the guard took his leave from the room. Surprisingly, there was no one to guard this particular room. Do they have confidence in the ones in the front door? Or do they don''t expect anyone to attack them? Or maybe it''s something else¡­ ¡°Young man¡­ why are you topless?¡± ¡°¡­ it was hot outside.¡± ¡°HAHA, this one is odd!¡± ~~ ¡°So¡­ what are the both of you here, in the middle of the night?¡± Lara looked at Sam, having spent the last weeks with him, she had full confidence in him, even though she also didn¡¯t fully realized the situation they were in. ¡°Simple, I want your organization to help me blackmail the government and win The Presidency.¡± The two who were laughing instantly stopped, and silenced fall upon the room. Everyone¡¯s face became serious, and the atmosphere instantly got heavier. ¡°Either it¡¯s a joke, or you are completely crazy.¡± ¡°No, I have a way.¡± ¡°And it includes using us?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you even know¡­¡± "''our relationship with the government?'' Of courses I do, you bribe them in order to have peace. And the true reason why you haven''t been wiped yet is that your existence is beneficial to them." ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough.¡± Everyone except the old man stood up, a gun in their hand, and started shooting toward Sam. As the shooting started, Lara had already been pushed to the ground, and our hero had already taken his stance. A bullet is fast, but it''s nothing compared to Master Kunan''s fist. Some were redirected, thanks to Sam¡¯s Flow Art mixed with foresight, and the rest were dodged easily. When the sound of gunshot finally came to an end, the only thing left was a man standing in front of a holed door, a confused and scared woman on the floor, and a group of shocked people. ¡°The truth is, you¡¯re the ones that should be negotiating with me.¡± Nobody answered at first, until the boss finally rumbled is throat, and signed the other to sit down. ¡°So¡­ you one of them.¡± ¡°No, I am their enemy.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ~~ He inspected me more thoughtfully, but he was obviously thinking about the situation more than anything else. My hands are sore, and I don''t think I can redo the bullet dodging thing the same way another time, but I believe in my bluff. As long as I hide my fucking headache and that my nose doesn''t bleed, I''ll be fine. ¡°¡­ What is your plan?¡± Finger in the nose. Chapter 44 - It was easier than expected (1) List of candidate 38.4% - Almond M. Chaveil 22.7% - Lora H. Tolcin 17.4% - Joy L. Nicam 13.9% - Ronald K. Dola 7.6% - Samsy S. Sacre
There were two weeks left before the vote, and everything was going on time. Lara and I just got back from our tour, and were pleased to see that the girls managed to finish their task. Alice rallied the crazy Apes, apparently, she even became their leader or something. I think I have an idea how she did that, but she seems a bit embarrassed about it, so I¡¯ll leave it at that. The Witch Council have been contacted too, and even though she won¡¯t actively help us, they at least won¡¯t get in the way, thanks to Marie and Alice ¡®asking¡¯ them no to. In the inner circle, everything was going fine too, the girls made an add that Monica aired. I am really low on the polls, but as long as people remember I exist it''s fine. The problem is that the other candidates have run pretty aggressive counter adds, and I hope it won''t disqualify me. Except one, and that''s the most worrying to me, Chaveil hasn''t talked about me yet, and I don''t know why¡­ maybe it''s because he''s high enough in the polls and doesn''t feel the need to do that, or maybe he''s preparing something. Whatever it is, I¡¯ll know it soon enough, as I plan to meet him in the next few days. Now that we have the full support of two of the major Triad members, we can pass to phase 2, which is the speech. The plan is to make a wonderful speech and broadcast it to everyone in the outer circle. That¡¯s mostly what Marie was busy with for the past weeks: writing the speech and making the broadcast system. The mafia would be the one distributing the devices and spread the information. It will take a few day for that, so we planned the speech for two days from now, in the evening. And that¡¯s when I realized something. (S)¡°I am the one doing the speech?¡± (A)¡°Well, yeah, who else?¡± (S)"I don''t know¡­ Lara spoke more than me, and she knows the people better than I do¡­" (L)¡°Me? Ya¡¯re not sarus kid? I¡¯m no speaker.¡± (M)¡°Come on Sam, you are the one getting elected.¡± (S)¡°Yeah, but I am not really good with speeches.¡± (A)¡°You¡¯ll be good enough, and Mar wrote you an amazing piece. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± (M)¡°Yeah, be confident, you will nail it. You have to.¡± (S)¡°Thanks¡­ I don¡¯t feel pressured at all now.¡± (M)¡°You are welcome.¡± (S)¡°Sigh¡­ give the damn speech.¡± She gave me a piece of paper, and it quickly hit me. (S)¡°Marie¡­ you¡¯re the one that wrote it, right?¡± (M)¡°Yes, I put all my heart and feelings into it.¡± (S)¡°You do know you are a sociopath¡­¡± (M)¡°That is not true!¡± (S)¡°¡¯Despite the sad and disappointing death of our beloved Monty Kind¡­¡¯ seriously?¡± (A)¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s wrong¡­ that¡¯s true, isn¡¯t it?¡± (S)¡°You¡¯re not helping Sis¡¯. Sigh¡­ Lara, come with me, we have a speech to rewrite.¡± (L)¡°F¡¯course¡± (M)¡°Pfff, whatever, I have other things to do anyway.¡± (A)¡°Coming with you! Those freaks from Crazy Apes are creeping me for the past few days.¡± (L)¡°Ya¡¯re leaving?¡± (S)¡°They will be preparing phase 3.¡± (A)"Yup! Going back to the inner centre baby!" (M)¡°See you soon, heartless asshole.¡± And Marie left the house, rapidly followed by Alice. I guess she wasn¡¯t really glad I criticized her writing. Hey! It¡¯s not my fault if they don¡¯t have any empathy. That''s how I and Lara crafted what is supposed to be the start of a revolution.
Inside a dark room, around a round table, painting the perfect stereotype of a secret reunion between evil mastermind behind the scene, four people were talking to each other. Of course, nobody could really see each other, even though they all knew who they were conversing with, and there was one, in particular, that was the focus of the attention tonight. ¡°Mr Chaveil, how is your campaign going? I saw the last poll, you still have a comfortable lead, but given the help we provided, I was expected more from your end.¡± "Leading with more point would only be suspicious, and I can assure you that none of the other candidates pauses a real threat." "Meh, you can''t someone you haven''t buy. And only this Tolcin have taken the bait right now, how can you be so confident?" ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh, you and I both know why. No, you might all know more than me.¡± ¡°And what about the old man?¡± ¡°He died.¡± ¡°Not him, his replacement.¡± ¡°Oh, Samsy¡­ I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a threat, I was told he left the city.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s actually concerning to me¡­¡± "What would it be? Even if he managed to reunite every single person in the outer circle, it''s not like they can vote for him. And if they try to revolt, they''ll be literally disintegrated before they could get past the gate." "I don''t like him either, he was the one that manages to rise the old Kind above you remember? He has probably something up in his sleeve, we should act now." ¡°I agree¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°And what about you, Mr Chaveil.¡± ¡°¡­ Do I have a say?¡± ¡°Sigh, when we put you in The Presidential Sit, we thought you would be more loyal and easy to deal with than that.¡± ¡°I am on your side, and you know it.¡± ¡°Lucky for you, we do. And concerning this Samsy, I propose that we kill him. Like the old man.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t kill the old man, he had heart issue from the start. And I don¡¯t think another dead will be good for our image, the public is not stupid enough to think there could be two coincidental death in the same campaign.¡± ¡°I agree with Chaveil on this one. I have a better plan, I propose you use your ECA. Pretexting security, you¡¯ll temporally shut down the gates between the circles.¡± "That seems like a good idea, and we''ll sink it into other security measures." ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Good to me too, so we all agree. Mr Chaveil, you know what to do.¡± ¡°You know The President only have one ECA a year, is it really worth it?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°I think we weren¡¯t clear enough, I said we ALL agreed. Do you understand?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Chaveil was looking extremely annoyed, but fortunately, his face was not lightened enough for the other to see it. ¡°Of course, sir.¡± ¡°Great, I think we have nothing to add. Gentleman?¡± The others voicelessly agreed, and the reunion was put to an end. The three shadow-hologram in front of Chaveil disappeared, leaving him alone in the reunion room. He quickly left it, and found his secretary waiting on the other side of the exit. ¡°How was your meeting, Sir?¡± ¡°Awful, as usual.¡± ¡°Is there anything new on the agenda again?¡± "I''m not sure yet¡­ It might be the time for bold decisions."
So this was the meaning of the vision I had shortly after the start of the struggle, the one I couldn''t figure when it would play out. Me, tearing apart a piece of paper in the dark corner of a room. I didn''t really want to, I mean, we worked hard for this, but the vision struck me, and I felt the urge to do it. No, more like my instinct was telling me it was the best decision. We were in the same abandoned factory I had the first vision of Lara great grandfather. She was behind me, shocked by the destruction of the paper. ¡°What ya¡¯re doin¡¯?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got this.¡± It was not the time humility and kindness. If you want to reach people heart, what you need is confidence and feelings. If I learned one thing about myself when I worked with Kind, it is that I am a really good actor, so, even if I don¡¯t have confidence, I¡¯ll just have to fake it enough. I got on the stage, and all noises in the room ceased. Gosh, there are way more people than I expected. All those faces looking at me¡­ well, not really, as the spotlight was directed toward me, I couldn¡¯t see clearly anyone, eve, being a Seer, but I could imagine them, and that was enough for the stress to kick in. I approach the mike and took a deep breath in. ~~ "Hi, I''m Samsy Sacre, if you are lucky, you might have met me and Lara during the past 2 weeks, but for the vast majority of you, I''m nobody. Thanks to my good friends from the Kingdom, I am broadcasted everywhere around the outer circle tonight, because I have an announcement to make." Sam stopped briefly, the crowd was getting noisy. ¡°You probably know by now, but Mr Kind died, two weeks ago.¡± Everyone in the room got agitated. The first part wasn¡¯t exactly true, if almost everyone knew who he was and what he was trying to accomplish, few were actually aware of Monty¡¯s death. ¡°He died, fighting for the freedom of his people, for your freedom.¡± The silence instantly got back. Everyone was looking down. Sam and Lara knew, and it was, in fact, part of the speech they wrote, that the people wouldn''t be surprised by the news. The plan was to hit them with the reality, and bring them up again with hope. However¡­ ¡°He fought for you. Alone.¡± ¡­ ¡°For more than twenty years.¡± ¡­ ¡°And for what? For the freedom of a band of coward, that can¡¯t speak up for themselves?!¡± Even without seeing their face, Sam knew they were all covered by shame. ¡°I saw him, I saw his work, I saw his will. But down here, I see nothing. Nothing but dust and abandoned dreams. Nothing but failure and weakness. Nothing but trash and fog.¡± At that moment, Sam unconsciously smiled, and caught the small pebble coming toward his nose. What is this impression of d¨¦j¨¤-vu¡­? Sam took the mike and got off the stage, he landed in front of the little girl, the serial thrower from two weeks ago, with her usual angry face. What seemed to be her mom tried to grab her, but Sam signed her not to, then approached the mike from the girl. ¡°Do you have something to say?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to speak louder, little girl.¡± ¡°¡­wrong.¡± ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong!¡± She yelled as hard as she could, and fortunately, Sam pulled out a second before. ¡°Mommy not trash! You are mean!¡± And then she punched him in the leg, and several more times until her mom took her away. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Someone else in the crowd spoke up.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, we are not trash!¡± ¡°Yeah, they forced us to live like that!¡± ¡°You asshole!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± "Scum from the centre!" Everyone was now against Sam, he could even feel the anger of the other people all over the circle, in less than a minute, he managed to get everyone against him. This was too easy. ¡°Of course I am wrong!!! And you need a little girl to realize that!¡± Once again, the crowd shat up. Sam jumped back on the wooden stage, and turn toward the people. "Of course your not trash, and of course the conditions you''re all leaving in are awful! Inhuman! But is this the time to look down in shame? Is this the time to let things go on, and just pray for the best? Or is this the time to fight?" They were all mesmerized by him now. It was time to lend the final blow. "Your freedom has been sealed for too long! Your dignity has been crushed too often! So let me ask you, are you willing to fight?" In the darkness of the crowd, many small and hesitant answers rosed. ¡°I repeat, are you willing to fight?!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± This time, the answer was perfectly heard. ¡°This is not just a fight anymore! This is a movement, this, is a revolution!¡± ~~ ¡°That was so embarrassing!¡± Finally back at Lara¡¯s house, I was completely exhausted. The speech was one thing, but trying to get out after that was another. At least I think I did a pretty good job, don''t know if it worked with everyone, but for those here tonight it was pretty effective. I guess they desperately needed a saviour or something to be hopeful again. ¡°Ya did well kid!¡± ¡°Thanks¡­ I think I¡¯ll just go to sleep, I¡¯ll probably have to go back in town tomorrow.¡± ¡°Hey, I was thinkin¡¯¡­ y¡¯all are weirdos, for sure. So I thought¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Ya¡¯re gonna leave, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡­ Shit, I didn¡¯t saw that coming¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not stupid, y¡¯know.¡± ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I asked your help.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s it. Ya¡¯re gonna use and throw us away?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­¡± I guess I have no choice. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell you the whole story.¡± Chapter 45 - It was easier than expected (2) List of candidate 38.4% - Almond M. Chaveil 22.7% - Lora H. Tolcin 17.4% - Joy L. Nicam 13.9% - Ronald K. Dola 7.6% - Samsy S. Sacre
Late at night, in front of The President House, a huge building that looks like anything but a house, a bit away from the centre, in the middle of a giant garden. Of course, there were guards, camera and everything you would expect, but the worrying part was the security system and the turret. They have lasers here, so even with flux and foresight, it could get dangerous. ¡°Sam, are you okay? You look tired.¡± Alice was here, and the same as me, she was wearing a black infiltration suit. I don¡¯t really know where they got them, but I didn¡¯t bother to ask. ¡°Yeah, I couldn¡¯t get much sleep¡­¡± ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t you spend the night at Lara¡¯s place? Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°Shut up, I didn¡¯t do anything to Lara! God, what¡¯s with you all about that! It¡¯s not like I am a player.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± I took out my scroll and called Marie. ¡°Hey, how many time until the start of the mission?¡± ¡°It depends, I am almost finished here, so I guess it is whenever you want.¡± ¡°You guess? Okay, it¡¯s not like the whole success of the struggle depends on that mission.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t like the way I am handling this, you can still jump through a window with an improvised parachute.¡± ¡°Sigh, we¡¯ll start right away, Alice will contact you later.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± I hanged up. Damn, I will never be able to forget my parachute act, will I? ¡°Alice, time to go.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°Why are you both saying that? Who is Roger?¡±
I was a bit reticent to do it, but I once again took a pill. I passed out and slept the whole day yesterday because of those -Lara was really freaked out by the way- but I guess there''s no choice. I tried to active a thermal vision in order to detect detectors or things like that, I can see in the dark, so why not? But I failed miserably. Maybe I am not high level enough? Who knows¡­ Anyway, our best bet was to rely on the foresight mode, and it worked perfectly. At one point, I managed to walk naturally in a hallway, and I was exactly in the dead angle of one camera and two guards. Well, the fact that I had a partial invisibility was also important I guess. Oh, and Alice managed to copy that instantly, and she¡¯s even better at it know. Adding the fact that she was already good at hiding her presence and the sound she makes -I think someone has an i-talent like that back then- even I couldn¡¯t see her anymore. In fact, after several minutes I thought she wasn¡¯t there anymore. Damn genius. Obviously, the security doors were all hacked for the evening, and Marie got the map of the place beforehand. In fact, it was really easy to get inside. Running around the building, it was as if it was designed to be infiltrated. I mean, seriously, who put a giant plant the exact size of an adult in the middle of the corridor? Who has designed this shit? Of course, I couldn¡¯t really think of that during the infiltration itself, because I in foresight mode. And so, we arrived at the said first strategic point. Here, it was time for me and Alice to separate, she would go to a secret room to hack something, and I would continue forward toward Chaveil¡¯s office. The timing was important, the electricity will be shut down in the room for exactly twenty minutes starting at 2 am -it was confirmed he doesn¡¯t sleep full nights, and that¡¯s why he often work that late. Right now I was with Alice in a closet, waiting for the right time to move. ¡°Hey, what hours is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t have a watch. Take out your scroll if you want to know.¡± ¡°Seriously? I thought there was someone with this i-talent¡­ what was his name again? Timothy!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know him¡­¡± ¡°You mean¡­ you have the talent to copy all other i-talent, without restriction, and you didn¡¯t do it with everyone?¡± ¡°Sorry, I never thought knowing what hours it is could be useful.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­ you probably have it but you never used it. Try guessing the hour.¡± I took out my scroll, it was only 1 in the morning. As it would approximately take me ten minutes to get to Chaveil¡¯s office, we¡¯ll have to wait for a bit longer. "Hum¡­ 1:11 am" ¡°Okay, I take back what I said, you don¡¯t have it.¡± ¡°Like I cared.¡± "Not too far of though, it''s 1 am." ¡°So¡­ we¡¯ll have to wait an hour like that? I don¡¯t mind, but it¡¯s pretty tight here¡­¡± She was right, even though it was quite large for a closet, it was still too small for two people to comfortably fit in. I kind of avoided a disaster by getting us back to back when we entered. ¡°Hey¡­ we never really managed to get time just the two of us. I mean, after we met back a month ago.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ a lot happened.¡± "Marie told me about your reunion during the 10th struggle, and about how nobody really wants to go back on Earth¡­" ¡°Your the same, right?¡± ¡°¡­what about you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± It''s not that easy, I am not the person you think I am. I am not the person they think I am. Back on Earth, everybody said I was a hero, but it''s not true. Horrible things happened during the purge. Horrible things I had to do. Horrible things I want to forget. So yes, I want to stay here, but the others¡­ I don''t want to abandon them either¡­ Sigh, if only I could say that out loud. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t really think of it.¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Does she? Has she become telepath, on top of everything else?You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°You just want to be with Naomi, right?¡± "Oh¡­ well, I guess you''re right. I wouldn''t consider going back if she stays here." ¡°You never told me. Why are you both so into each other?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we are THAT much into¡­¡± ¡°Come on¡­ it¡¯s so obvious. Even Mar and little Chong have noticed.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ would you stop calling Harue like that? And are you sure you want to know?¡± ¡°You see me as your Sister, I don¡¯t see I can get lower than that.¡± Well, she is not wrong about that¡­ Dammit, I wonder why is she so serious about it. It¡¯s not like she would have any trouble finding someone. ¡°Okay, I owed you one anyway.¡± I checked out the scroll to be sure I couldn¡¯t get away with the time, but we still had at least ten minutes ahead of us. I guess I can¡¯t avoid it. "I don''t really know about her, but as far as I can remember, I was in love with her. Even when she was our gloomy neighbour and I could only glance at her from afar. Fortunately, we became friends, and things after another, we ended up where we are. I can''t really tell a specific reason, I just think she''s perfect." ¡°Che, the only reason she¡¯s with you is because you saved her ass during the purge.¡± ¡°He he, it¡¯s not that simple.¡± Shit, my left shoulder is killing me. ¡°I thought you were about to tell me the whole story¡­¡± ¡°I told you mine, the rest is on her part. And honestly, I¡¯m not sure a closet in the middle of a building we are infiltrating is a good place for this kind of chitchat¡­¡± ¡°You have a point. But don¡¯t think it¡¯s over. One day, I¡¯ll make you fall in love with me, sister or not.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­¡±
After some awkward minutes during which none of us had nothing to say, we finally moved on to the next step. The infiltration was as easy as before, and I got to my destination right on time. Oddly enough, there was no one guarding the president office. Only a bunch of camera and detector in the corridor and in front of the door of the office itself. Once again, I passed those without any difficulty, and swiftly go inside the office. The man was here. Of course, he was here, I have seen it already. However, he didn''t seem that surprised by my presence. He was startled when he saw me getting in, but as soon as my face was visible, his expression calmed down, was he expecting me? Not like it matters. ¡°Mr Chaveil.¡± ¡°You do know I have an alarm system.¡± Yes, I know, and he currently has one of his hand on a big red button under his desk. However, as he pronounced these lines, the light in the office all shat down at the same time. ¡°Oh, I see you¡¯ve come prepared. But did you really think it would be that simple?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­ really?¡± ¡°Okay, I see you¡¯re waiting for the power backup to get the current back but I have someone on it already.¡± ¡°Is that all you have?¡± Oh, is that a hint of anxiety I see on his face? ¡°If you¡¯re hoping for the second and third backup to activate too, I got that covered as well.¡± That was Alice and Marie¡¯s job. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Everything has been taken care of, it¡¯s just you and me.¡± ¡°So, it comes down to it. Violence.¡± ¡°I am desperate enough for that.¡± "I should have known you would come to me. But I didn''t think it would be so soon.'' ¡°It¡¯s actually later that I wanted, your security system took my team half a day more than scheduled to be hacked.¡± ¡°Half a day? Are you joking?¡± I approached him, and grabbed him by his necklace. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m joking right now?¡± ¡°¡­¡± I slightly lifted him in the air, I don''t want to hurt him, but I have to if I want to match my vision. Immediately after, I suddenly let him go, and he fell down on his but. ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point¡­¡± ¡°Is it about Kind?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have time for that.¡± ¡°You think I killed him, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± "You think I am the rich villain who is controlling everything. You think I only care about my benefits. Because it would be too hard to look deeper, right?" "I know you didn''t kill him." ¡°And that¡¯s¡­ what?¡± "He was old and had health issues, it was common knowledge. You were part of the problem but you didn''t kill him directly, that much I know. I also know about your past." ¡°What? How did¡­¡± "You may look 30, but you are way older than that. And when you were younger you had a really good friend, called Mark." It took time to connect the pieces, but Marie unravelled that yesterday. This guy knew Mark and witnessed his treason, probably because of that he set himself into politics, and opposite to Monty, he lost himself along the way. ¡°Ha¡­¡± ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°Hahahaha!¡± What is so funny? I didn¡¯t even make my proposal yet¡­ ¡°I guess I won my bet.¡± ¡°A bet?¡± ¡°If you made that much effort to come to see here now, it must be because you want to blackmail me, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± "Then it must be because you want to use the ECA" His Exceptional Creation of Amendment, something with the same power as a law, but which can be applied in a matter of hours at the will of The President. It looks like authoritarianism to me, but it¡¯s our only chance to legally win this now. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Haha, okay.¡± ¡°What?¡± "You win. I still have this year ECA, it''s all yours." Oh¡­ it¡¯s getting even easier than I had expected. Chapter 46 - It was easier than expected (3) Final Results 83.9% - Samsy S. Sacre 7.1% - Almond M. Chaveil 4.3% - Lora H. Tolcin 3.0% - Joy L. Nicam 1.7% - Ronald K. Dola
This was way easier than expected. I thought there would be trouble with some dark group or something. Well, there was, but with just a visit of Alice, they got quite complacent. I was prepared to revolt, like, building an army with the people in the outer circle and smash the inner one. I didn¡¯t want to, as it would have probably lead to many casualties and confusion, but I was seriously considering it, and it was my leverage for blackmailing Chaveil. I think the girls wouldn¡¯t have approved, but that wasn¡¯t really a problem to me. And talking about Chaveil, this shit went way faster than what I could ever predict. His ECA -or whatever this was- allowing the outer circle people to vote passed less than 48 hours later, and thanks to the Kingdom and Crazy Apes help, almost everyone was registered within a week. That¡¯s why, even though I didn¡¯t run any add or made any public appearance for almost a month, I got elected with an overwhelming majority. Considering that the outer circle contains more than 80% of the population and that within what¡¯s left not even half go to vote, it was quite the easy victory. Not to boast too much, anybody could have done it, despite what Alice and Marie are saying. I¡¯m still not sure why Chaveil helped me so willingly, it was as if he planned to go on my side from the beginning. My theory would be that he wanted to follow the same ideal as Mark and Monty about equality between circles, but got trapped into political schemes, then, seeing that Monty was trying the same thing, he put him away for safety measure, waiting for the right opportunity to make him rise. I think it¡¯s pretty plausible, but the girls laughed at me when I explained it to them. Anyway, he helped us and that''s what matters the most right now. The election has been won, and the objective is finally completed. It was actually the longest one so far, and even though it wasn¡¯t physically as challenging as the other ones -like, there is Kunan¡­ and I still haven¡¯t forgotten you Nathyn!- it¡¯s the first time I realized that the place we are in is not just a scene for us to thrive. There are real life and people that are affected by our action. Lucropolys has a real history, it existed before we arrived and will continue after we will depart. I kind of knew that from the beginning, but it wasn''t really clear. I''m a bit relieved to be more certain now, because at least I know Lara¡­ wait no, Laura, still exist. I wonder how she''s doing by the way¡­ Same for all the other. Hey, maybe Nathalie started going out with Nathyn, that would be pretty hilarious. And Lilith¡­ well, I¡¯m sure she is fine. I still don''t fully grasp how this quest works, but the deeper we dive in, the more I feel like we were meant to be there. Not like destiny or something like that, more like, without us, everything would fall apart¡­ ¡°One last time, are you sure?¡± I was on the roof of a random building, contemplating the two magic doors standing by themselves in front of us. It must be pretty ironic to think about one own importance while, at the same time, leaving people behind without a word. (S)¡°Yes, I am. They¡¯ll be fine without us.¡± (M)¡°I am fine with it, but I never thought you would leave everything as soon as the results were out¡­¡± (S)¡°The point is that the Outer Voters Act as been adopted, and it¡¯ll be effective at least until the next election, so they¡¯ll be fine even if I leave now.¡± (A)¡°Haha, it¡¯s more like you¡¯re scared of spending more than a day being the head of this city.¡± (M)¡°I also think this journalist¡­ what was her name¡­ Monica! She was quite into you¡­¡± (A)¡°Oh, and there¡¯s Lara too! You¡¯ve been quite evasive about what you ¡®told¡¯ her that night.¡± (S)¡°Are we doing that again? Okay, I don¡¯t want to be The President, I already told you that, and nothing happened between me and Lara!¡± (M)¡°And what about Monica?¡± (S)¡°N-Nothing happened¡­¡± (A)¡°Hahaha!¡± Why is Alice laughing? Holy shit, she stole my book! (S) ¡°Give it back!¡± (A) "Valentine has some pretty good insight on what happened!" (M) ¡°Show me! Show me!¡± (S) ¡°Noooooooo!¡±
¡°You are really a devil¡­¡± ¡°What? This is fun!¡± "I wonder what your pupils are thinking of you¡­ and it''s not like he purposely did anything weird." "Yeah yeah. I don''t really care, it''s just too fun to tease him, and those chicks are totally with me." "I am quite ashamed for Marie on that. I had higher expectations for my first Chastity pupil." ¡°True that there more boring usually.¡± ¡°I thought you were quite friendly with Clar, though.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "True, but she''s pretty boring when it comes to that." ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± A short guy with goofy brown hair and a huge pair of round glasses has apparently been attracted by Valentine and William discussion. He was wearing his usual thick pullover, even though it wasn¡¯t cold in the room. (V)¡°Quentin? What are you doing here?¡± (Q)"My pupils are blocked on here 12th struggle, so it''s getting a bit boring. And last time I came here it was, well, interesting. Did your pupil scored again Val?" (V)¡°Well¡­¡± (W)"No, he didn''t. Val is only teasing him and joking with Sam''s sister." (Q)"Too bad, at least they seem to have finished their struggle. Harue will finally have some company.¡± (V)¡°What? She¡¯s waiting for them?¡± (Q)"Yes, she has a cross-struggle with Sam. High school stuff." (V)¡°Oh! He¡¯s going to High school again! The last time was great! Hope there¡¯ll be other crazy shenanigans like last time.¡± (Q)"For now it''s calm, but there is some promising troublemaker. Oh, and Haru almost hooked up already!" (V)¡°Pffff,¡¯almost¡¯? Your newbie is really a child¡­¡± The discussion was getting lively, and as he didn¡¯t feel really concerned about it, William isolated himself a bit and went to Clarence desk, as she was the closest, right behind them. She was dozing off, as usual, in front of her screen. You could never really tell if she''s watching something interesting or not, because her reactions are often opposite to the context. Once, she was hyper-excited about a guy who found a pillow -true story- and another time she yawned watching the same guy getting his arm chopped off by one of his own ¡®friend'' -to be fair, it happens more often than you would think. Anyway, as his pupil was about to change struggle, William wanted to see at what point the others were. ¡°Hey Clar, how Naomi is going?¡± ¡°Pretty good, I guess. She is with¡­ what is his name again? The black guy wearing only white clothe¡­¡± ¡°Prometheus. But they called him Prom.¡± ¡°You really have a good memory Wallim!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ sure. What are they doing?¡± ¡°Searching for a treasure or something. At one point she was stabbed in the heart but Pomme healed her.¡± ¡°What?! In the heart? You¡¯re supposed to die from that.¡± "Dunno, Pomme is good I guess. Oh, look! They found a sea shell!" And she was lively again. ¡®Sometimes I really wonder how her brain function¡­¡¯ Anyway, as she was distracted by ¡®the amazing discovery¡¯, William sneak out again, back to Val and Quentin discussion. "And there is this guy, I really think he''s gay, but he kept¡­ oh! Will, you''re back!" ¡°I knew you missed me.¡± Will knew despite her sarcasm, she was relieved he came back. Conversing with Quentin was fun at first, but quickly you understand that¡­ "I was getting to the point where Haru befriended the popular guy of her class, at first I really thought she was shy, I mean, hardcore shy, like, no, more like introvert. Anyway, she proved me wrong, at least here. It was like in her previous struggle, where she created a quadrupled layer illusion on a¡­" He just can¡¯t¡­ "¡­ dog, it was just a training, sort of, and it kind of happened as an accident, well, it''s complicated, but it was impressive, I mean, could you imagine? A 4th illusion! Only on the 11th stage. At that time I was still¡­¡± ¡­stop¡­ ¡°¡­struggling with, haha, I didn¡¯t intended the pun, pretty funny though, anyway, oh yeah the point is that she¡¯s pretty strong, not like you were weak at that time, in fact I don¡¯t really know ¡®cause you all came before me, but if I were to guess I think¡­¡± ¡­talking! ¡°¡­I would say Gwen was the strongest. In fact, Jules told me he was kind of weak and that even though your strong know you had sort of a power jump late in your quest Val. And Will you¡¯re more a builder type so it¡¯s hard to¡­¡± The funny thing is that, when talking like that, he doesn¡¯t seem to have a need to breathe anymore. In the end, seeing that even when William was here it didn''t stop him from expulsing sound from his oral cavity, Valentine snapped. ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP!¡± Fortunately, William was more diplomat. ¡°Yeah, please, shut the fuck up.¡± More or less¡­ ¡°Sigh¡­ you didn¡¯t have to take it personally¡­¡± And he, finally, went away. ¡°Holy shit! This guy drives me crazy, and I always forget about it!¡± ¡°Not like you talk to him often anyway. Great! They passed the doors.¡± ¡°Already? Damn, I wasn¡¯t looking.¡± ¡°Shit! She arrived in a workshop, she¡¯s gonna be such a pain in the ass!¡± ¡°Haha, she¡¯ll stay there for ages! Hope she¡¯ll mess the system up.¡± ¡°She might¡­ what about yours?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I think four-eyes will have to wait a bit more, that or they build the school underground. Like... I don''t even know... is that a cave?¡± Naomis Quest|Chapter 1 - Entering the Labyrinth This adventure never ceases to overuse overused and stereotyped situation. This time, it apparently decided to lead one of our comrade in front of a mythic and mysterious door, who would have confused anyone, except the very person standing in front of the door. "Labyrinth¡­ what a disappointing commencement." The giant door was carved in the flank of a mountain, and you could distinguish several references to what was known as Greece, including a famous bipedal creature only half human and ominously lifting a double-edged axe. For most quester from previous sessions, it would have been an easy guess, but for people coming from a place where the only mention of minotaurs are in games or books so old that nobody knows who wrote it, this kind of sculpture have hardly any meaning. Well, other than ¡®there is something important and mysterious behind this door'', of course. However, one person in the group heard about the labyrinth. In fact, she knew everything there was to know about Greek mythology. ¡°I wonder if I should manufacture a thread before entering¡­¡± It was a genuine concern, but in the end, she decided to get in as soon as possible. She was eager to occupy her mind and move forward. As she was approaching the entrance, something stopped her. From far away, it sounded like someone was calling her. ¡®Is this the real purpose of the struggle? Mental erosion?¡¯ It felt like a whisper, carried by the wind, directly into her ears... ¡°Naoooomiiiiiii!!!¡± Never mind, it was a real person who was calling her name. He was far away behind, and was approaching rather¡­ ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡­fast. ¡°Xavier? What a pleasant surprise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my line, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°You already said that.¡± "¡­ and you didn''t answer." ¡°That is correct.¡± It didn''t seem like she was caring about his presence too much, as she resumed her scrutinizing of the door shortly after. ¡°Okay, I guess it was to be expected from you¡­ Are you really not curious at all about why are we both at the same place?¡± ¡°Please, are you really implying that I am not a curious individual? That is laughable.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ whatever, what does your book says?¡± Both took their Questbook out and, surprisingly, they had the exact same struggle. Struggle#11 Objective: Reach the end of the dungeon Sub-objective: Encounter the minotaur - Find the treasure room ¡°Great! A dungeon, it should be a good warm-up!¡± Without answering, Naomi approached the entrance and put her hand on top of it. As they were no apparent lock hole or anything alike, her theory was that it would either open by itself, or that they would need to input flux into it.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Fortunately, it was the first one. "You seems eager to finish the struggle¡­ I know we only left each other an hour ago, but you''re quite cold¡­ Did something happened?" ¡°Sigh¡­ it doesn¡¯t concern you. I just¡­ I¡¯m not feeling well.¡± As expected, she was affected because she had to left her boyfriend behind, and won''t meet him again for weeks, if not more. ¡®Wait¡­ if Xavier is here¡­¡¯ It was so obvious that she didn''t think of it, if there are two of them now, then that means there is a chance her and Sam would meet before the 20th struggle! It didn''t really change anything, but it was another motivation to finish each struggle as fast as possible. Her mood improved instantly, and she invited Xavier to follow her in the darkness of the mountain. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll let you lead the way.¡± The giant door was now both fully opened, behind them was a tunnel going far into the darkness. The walls were covered by bricks, and the ground was paved. Standing at the edge, a surge of wind brush her long dark-blue hair, and she had to cover her eyes against the dust. It only lasted an instant, but it was enough to make Naomi feel a bit uneasy. She wasn¡¯t prone to believe in legend and superstition, even though this whole adventure redefined those words, but she had a bad feeling about this labyrinth. ¡°Hum? Are you waiting for something?¡± ¡°No¡­ let¡¯s get going.¡± And the two of them entered. The corridor of the labyrinth was pretty wide, enough to fit the both of them easily, and the roof was also high. In order to see in the darkness, she conjured a simple flame and let it float a bit above their head. "Damn, I thought I wouldn''t see anyone for at least a month! I''m so glad I get to have the 11th struggle with you! That means it''ll be more fun than before!" "You are probably right. I wonder if our companions are paired similarly." ¡°Who knows¡­ but are you okay? You are pretty cold today. I mean, more than usual. Did you fight with Sam again?¡± "No, we didn''t. Moreover, don''t make it sound like we perpetually dispute." ¡°Come on, it happens at least once a month, and you never want to tell us the reason. You guys have a pretty weird relationship.¡± Naomi sighed. You would think that Xavier was aware of the fact that she was dating Samsy, but this guy has no clue about what is going on. Worst than that, he actually thinks that they hate each other. All the others have at least some doubts, but this guy is a piece of art in term of denseness. The truth is that even though he''s trying hard not to let it show, he likes her. He might not even realize it himself, but Naomi and Sam are sure of it, and that¡¯s partially why she want to be discrete about their relationship. She thought she would wait for him to find by himself, but it¡¯s taking more time than expected. ¡®Maybe this is the right time to talk¡­¡¯ She is really shy about it, in fact, she is shy about many things, despite her confident attitude. ¡®Yes, it is a good opportunity. You can do it, Nam. Just. Breath out.'' "Xavier, I would like¡­" Crash. A blunt sound was suddenly heard from several meters in front of them. "What is¡­" Entering their field of view, a huge creature appeared. It looked like a huge muscular man, at least 3 meters tall, but he had the head of a taurus, with thick horns scratching the roof, and huge hoof replacing its feet, he was also wielding a giant double-edged axe. His face was distorted by rage, and his blank eyes were directed at them, as drool was slowly dripping from his mouth. ¡®The minotaur? So soon?'' "Great, the warm-up is here!" Naomis Quest|Chapter 2 - Explosion! ¡°MOOOOOO!¡± The whole hallway shacked under the roar of the beast, he took a heavy step forward, breaking the ground under its hoof. Even from afar, they could well distinguish the contraction of his whole body, the minotaur was going to charge. Xavier stepped forward and put himself in front of Naomi, he didn¡¯t take any stance, he was just standing casually, observing the next move of the creature. And it was unleashed, the power of a myth, the power of a beast confined in darkness, the power of the rage that can break the Earth. The minotaur charged with all his might toward the old teenagers The ground was shaking, and the beast roared a second time. His speed was shocking. He rushed the distance separating them in an instant. And upon the impact, he lifted his great weapon, and swung it downward. A blow which could have split a whole building in two. A blast of air pressure rose a cloud of dust, and for a moment nothing was heard. The sound had stopped, the charge had stopped. Quickly, the dust went away, revealing the large creature¡¯s axe getting pressed on the edge by the two hand of the blond young man. ¡°I underestimated him¡­¡± He was struggling to keep the weapon away from his face, but the minotaur was in an even worst position. You could see the veins on its forehead. Xavier steadily won grounds, and finally managed to repeal completely his heavy opponent. ¡°I am confident in my strength.¡± With those lines, he jumped and performed a rotating kick toward the minotaur stomach, who got blown away, as if he was weighing nothing, and crashed into the wall. In one blow, the giant creature was defeated. ¡°My goodness, sometimes you are truly barbaric.¡± ¡°It feels so good! And he¡¯s the one that started it anyway.¡± In the end, their progression was barely slowed down by the minotaur intervention. Truth to be told, Naomi wasn''t surprised by Xavier''s feat, even though she expected the mythical creature to be stronger than that. Maybe it''s just him that is too much of the chart for the adventure. They continued along the path, and rapidly arrived upon a crossroad. The corridor was now splitting into to direction, one left and one right, both seemingly identical. ¡°Maybe we should draw a map¡­¡± ¡°Are you being serious?¡± ¡°Haha, not really. So, where do you want to go?¡± ¡°Hum¡­¡± Neither of them had any reliable way to know where they were supposed to go. Even though she mastered a lot of spells, they were mostly for combat purposes. As she was trying to make a decision, another blunt sound was heard from their right. Once again, the horned creature appeared. No, it was another one. The same species but the horns were slightly bigger. Also, this one had no axe with him.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Oh oh oh, this is getting even better!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it my turn?¡± ¡°You want a go?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± She stepped forward, and the beast roared in reaction, before preparing his charge. Naomi just lifted her arm forward, and two circles filled with symmetrical symbol materialized out of thin air. They then float and place themselves on both sides over her head. With the flame previously created, the three magical point was forming an arc above her. There is nearly an infinite number of way to use magic based on flux, but Conjurer -Conjureress in the case of Naomi- tend to use the same method: they conjure magic circle, labelled Wiccas, from which the spells are cast. It reduces greatly the preparation and allow them to cast multiple spells at the same time, or to use the same spell multiple time at once. Even though she wasn''t that far into her quest, she was already able to summon 3 of them, attesting her incredible talent. With the three lively Wicca by her side, she pointed her finger to the minotaur, who in return burst out and started charging. ¡°?Explosion? !?Air Wall?!¡± The flame disappeared, plunging them into darkness, but a second later, two small bright particles spurted from the two other circle, and rushed frontward. !!!!!! It was as if sunlight came back for an instant. The burst of the explosion rushed through her hair, although the blast itself stopped a few step before. The hubbub produced was tremendous, so much that Xavier had to put his hands on his ears. The corridor in front of them was now indulged into a thick fog of dust and rumbles. ¡°That was fun!¡± ¡°I agree, it was... relieving.¡± ¡°I wonder what is left of it¡­¡± ¡°As spectacular as my pyrotechnical prowess are, I do not believe it has much more potent potential than your previous kick.¡± ¡°Let me doubt that.¡± The dust slightly dissipated, leaving a giant figure in the middle of an enlarge hallway. ¡°See, he is fiiiiii¡­¡± ¡°Haha, I¡¯m not sure, but I think there is an important part missing.¡± The minotaur was still standing, but, on top of all the dust and injury over his body, his head was entirely missing. The corpse finally fell down a few second later. ¡°F-F-F-Fallacy! I genuinely thought it wouldn¡¯t kill it¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, you destroyed the whole corridor, and you were going easy on him?! Hahaha!¡± ¡°Sigh, it is pretty ironic for you to say that.¡± "Hey! At least I didn''t kill mine." ¡°Power output is hard to master!¡± ¡°I know, I know, ''just teasing you.¡± Ashamed and now also annoyed, Naomi resumed their progression inside the labyrinth. It was only a few minutes since they entered, but it was already cleared they were out levelling the zone by far. However, sometimes, strength and power can¡¯t help you, and struggles become more than just a test. Naomis Quest|Chapter 3 - The Treasure Room The labyrinth crawling was advancing at a steady pace. Each time another minotaur showed up, Xavier kicked him in the wall, and laughed as Naomi¡¯s expression of shame each time it happened. ¡°Come on¡­ it wasn¡¯t your fault.¡± ¡°Clearly it was. You might not remember clearly, but I was the one pulling the trigger.¡± "You killed a minotaur, so what? He wanted to kill us anyway." ¡°Can you be sure?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not a kicking machine. I can read minds, remember?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± ¡°Well, when we encounter the first few ones, I peeked a bit into their thought, and they were all completely mad.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, they were all repeating ¡®Kill,Kill,Kill¡¯ to themselves, and sometimes there were some ¡®Moooo¡¯ in between.¡± She wasn¡¯t totally away from her regrets, but Xavier¡¯s comment managed to calm her mood a bit. After another hour in the dungeon, they finally arrived in front of a room. ¡°You think this is the end?¡± ¡°I doubt it. The book stated a treasure room, so it might be something similar.¡± ¡°You are probably right. Let me go first.¡± Xavier entered the room, it was completely dark at first, but the instant he stepped in, dozens of torches lighten on the walls and the room quickly became as bright as the outside, revealing another door on the other side, as well as a table in the centre of the room. The duo approached it and found a sort of game with a papyrus on it. Xavier grabbed it and started to read it aloud. ¡°Hum hum, ¡®Far your duo have reached, and courage you have shown, this puzzle shall be finished, to continue your way down.¡¯ That is some lame poetry there.¡± On the table, there were multiple pieces of a puzzle and a frame to fit them in. ¡°Do you want to do it?¡± ¡°No, thank you. I don¡¯t want my cognitive skills to be dragged down by frivolous enigme.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ I figured so. I guess I should get started.¡± Naomi sat down on a side of the room to meditate and internally practice her spells. ¡°Wake me up when you are finished.¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± Xavier started to solve the puzzle. It was easy at first, but he quickly realized the trick, there was more than one image, and they were carved so that multiple pieces could fit in the same place even though only one was right. There were at least 5 hundred pieces, and he had to redo the whole things 4 times. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that he inherited the virtue of Patience. Each time he realized his failure he would calmly disassemble the puzzle and start again from the start. So, after 2 hours or so of the boring puzzle, the final piece was put in place and the next door opened. ¡°Took you long enough¡­¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Oh, you''re awake?" ¡°I wasn¡¯t sleeping per say. Anyway, we should move on, we lost enough time here.¡± ¡°Hey! This puzzle was harder than it looks.¡± ¡°I know, just teasing you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t steal my lines like that!¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± And they happily resumed there dungeon crawling. The rest wasn''t any different than before, more minotaurs, another puzzle room. At some point, they stepped on a trap but Naomi conjured a shield and they passed through it unscathed. Needless to say, the ever-increasing number of minotaur they encountered started to worry Naomi slightly. In the legend, this creature was supposed to be one mighty beast roaming inside the labyrinth and killing whoever came across it, but here, it¡¯s like a minion you see at every corner of the dungeon. This labyrinth is way too easy for their party, but it wasn''t that much out of the ordinary for them. Contrarily to Samsy, they always had the advantage in term of combat ability, except when they had to fight off the Kunan of course. The progression continues without any problem, and, as they approached their 10th hour inside the labyrinth, they finally arrived in front of the last door. It wasn''t explicit, but as this door was twice as big as all the other one and there were the same carvings as the ones on the entrance, so it was pretty obvious. They were also two giant minotaurs guarding it, but Xavier took care of them pretty easily. ¡°Already the end¡­¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been here for a substantial amount of time.¡± ¡°But we didn¡¯t even found the treasure room¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we have too.¡± ¡°Yes, but imagined there are weapons over there! I crafted myself a mace at some point, but I broke it. It would be nice to have a new one.¡± ¡°You could have asked Marie.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m not sure I could afford her price.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ do you want to look for the treasure room?¡± ¡°Well¡­ If you don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Xavier is usually more authoritative than that, but he always acts weird around Naomi, and she realizes it most of the time, annoying her quite intensely. ¡°Just¡­ let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The two of them went back on track. Thanks to her perfect memory, Naomi had no trouble drawing a mental map and looking for places they didn¡¯t explore before. Quicker than expected, they ended up in front of an imposing door, with odd hieroglyphs carved on it. Something was amiss, but other than the carvings, nothing was different than any of the other room, so Naomi casually walked forward and put her hand on the door. However, something was different this time. She was sucked into the room, and before Xavier could do anything, the door shut down. ¡°What happened¡­¡± She quickly got back on her feet and assessed the situation, but the room was pitch dark, and for some reason, her flame had just disappeared. She tried to create a new one, but failed. ¡°What is this room?¡± Suddenly, torches on the walls started to lit themselves, one by one, enveloping the entire room in a dancing and warm light. Naomi was not alone in the room anymore, behind her was standing the tall figure of a man. He was huge, and his head was covered by a gold pharaoh mask. ¡°You, who bravely entered this room, shall receive my gifts of power and wisdom.¡± ¡®What¡­ is¡­ this?¡¯ Naomis Quest|Chapter 4 - Leaving the Labyrinth with a blast ¡°You, who bravely entered this room, shall receive my gifts of power and wisdom.¡± As the words were pronounced, the huge figure gathered his two hands in front of his naked torso in prayer. ¡®This is disturbing¡­¡¯ Extremely confused by the turn of event, Naomi tried to scheme a way out, but nothing came to her mind. Surely due to the fact that she had absolutely no idea of what she was dealing with. Is that thing a leaving being? A monster? A god? It slowly started to separate its hand from one another. A burst of light emanated from the revealed space, so bright that Naomi had to divert her eyes. When she finally managed to get her view back, she found the¡­ man? with a knee on the ground, holding his hands in front of her, palm toward the sky, revealing two mysterious objects in each of them. On his right hand, a simple staff, harbouring a simple colourless gem at one of its ends. On the left, an old scroll. ¡°Are¡­ are you offering me this?¡± ¡°Yes, your worth has been assessed, and according gift shall be delivered to you.¡± ¡°What¡­ are they?¡± ¡°Behold the Colorless Staff, carved from an ancient oak and set with one of the Sea King¡¯s jewel. And here is the Prophetical Scroll, it shall give you crucial advice and guide you in your upcoming journey.¡± ¡°Well, thank you, I suppose.¡± Slowly overcoming her doubt and hesitation, Naomi extended her hand and grabbed the staff. She instantly felt the power of the artefact, as if the simple fact of holding it made her lighter. As for the scroll, she will open it after leaving the room. ¡°Farewell.¡± ¡°Wait, what is¡­¡± Before she could ask anything, the figure faded away, leaving Naomi alone in the room. She inspected the staff a bit more closely, the surface was really smooth, and the gem was perfectly polished. Without a doubt, it was made by a master. If it was made by someone, of course, at this point you can¡¯t really know. After that, she finally left the room, Xavier must be worried about her, and she made him wait long enough. However, upon her exit, there was no one. ¡®Odd¡­ where did he¡­¡± The door behind her suddenly re-opened, and Xavier stepped out of it. ¡°Here you are!¡± ¡°Where were you?¡± "I followed you in the room, but you weren''t there. Instead, there was¡­" ¡°A pharaoh?¡± ¡°Yeah, something like that. And I received this.¡± Xavier showed his new gifts, a scroll similar to Naomi¡¯s, and a ring, carved with a mysterious symbol. That didn''t explain why they were in the same room without seeing each other, but at this point, Naomi couldn''t care less. They completed the sub-objective, and it was time for them to head out toward their next struggle. And because she had already complied with his first demand, Xavier had no excuse this time. They quickly arrive in front of the final door, once again. Without waiting, Naomi put her hand on its surface, and the symbol carved started to glow. As opposed to the entrance door, those signs had no particular meaning, at least not that she knew of. The door opened, revealing a simple room plunge in the dark. ¡°It looks a bit like the treasure room.¡± ¡°All the room we went through were identical.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­ That¡¯s why I had this feeling of d¨¦j¨¤-vu all along then.¡± It is with a total lack of surprise and a relative raised of eyebrows that the duo watched the rows of torches on the wall turn themselves on. There wasn¡¯t much to see anyway, just an empty throne with lots of gold coins forming a huge pile behind it.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "So¡­ this is the end? We have finished the struggle?" ¡°Let me verify.¡± Struggle#11 Objective: Reach the end of the dungeon Non-objective: Encounter the minotaur - Find the treasure room Indeed, it was the end. Needless to say, Xavier was disappointed. Struggles could last from a few hours to several weeks, but, unfortunately, the one he is lucky to share with his favourite girl happened to fall into the first category. Moreover, two exact same doors had already appeared at both sides of the throne, confirming the Books narrative. ¡°Xavier, don¡¯t make that face.¡± Without realizing it, he was looking down, lost in thought. ¡°Wh-what face? I¡¯m not making any face.¡± ¡°Hehe, if you say so.¡± ¡­ ¡°I¡­ we need to have a conversation.¡± It was the time. Naomi could feel it. It was time to reject him. She took a deep breath, and¡­ ¡°Me first.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about Sam¡­I know you and him have a special relationship, and that even though you argue all the time you like each other a lot.¡± Naomi was starting to get uncomfortable, on one hand, she was glad he might have figured out they are dating all by himself, but on the other¡­ this is about Sam? ¡°I really like Sam, he¡¯s one of my best friend of course¡­ but, he¡¯s not like us. He¡­ he will want to go back to the camp.¡± "Of course, unlike us he was sufficiently socially skilled to get along with the proletarian." "That''s my problem, I have a theory, well, it''s not really mine, anyway, I think Sam might be¡­ dangerous." ¡°Samsy? What are you¡­¡± "I know! It''s crazy! But¡­ Jules told me that the most session fails because of one person in the group. Someone that lose control over his own power." ¡°And you seriously believe that Sam¡­¡± ¡°I believe in Sam! He has without a doubt the strongest will among us. He has proved it during the purge, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ His growth¡­ it¡¯s too fast. He has almost caught up to the rest of us, even though his i-talent is so far behind. Even Jules told me he never saw a newcomer grow so fast in the first stages¡­¡± ¡°¡­ So, that¡¯s why you were so distant during the last struggle¡­¡± ¡°Yes¡­ but there¡¯s more¡­¡± ¡°No. This conversation is over.¡± ¡°Please, I¡­¡± Despite being relatively calm and somewhat composed, Naomi''s face was completely red, and a faint vein had appeared on one corner of her forehead. With a short and cunning line, she attempted to end the conversation and headed to her door. However, he insisted. Apparently convinced in his theory that Sam will end up betraying them. That was too much for her. As she was about to touch the door, she turned around. ¡°You brought up the purge, right? You ignore half of what occurred. Scorn my fianc¨¦ one more time and you will regret it.¡± ¡°¡­what?¡± ¡°You are all my beloved friends, but you should be aware that the group revolves around him. Everything revolves around him. And yes, I love him. At least more than I could ever love anyone else, including you. If something happens, no matter what, I¡¯ll stand by his side.¡± Speechless, Xavier was completely spacing out, unable to process what he just heard. Using this chance, she put her hand behind her, on the golden ring serving as the door handle. ¡°I didn¡¯t want this conversation to turn up this way, and sorry if I hurt your feelings. Bye, Xavier. I hope to see you again.¡± And she left. Naomis Quest|Chapter 5 - Miracle Man has a new sidekick?! Struggle#12 Objective: Save the city Sub-objective: Use the Power of Love - Destroy the Relic - Become a Super Heroine It¡¯s with a heavy heart and sad eyes that Naomi started her 12th struggle. It was actually a first for her. Not to argue with someone, she does that all the time, but never with Xavier. He is a rational guy, and they always have the same point of view on everything. Of course, a lot of the time it was him being nice to her, but he is genuinely one of the nicest and wisest guy she knows. Part of her was truly ashamed, first because of what she said, and second because of the way she said it, but is done is done. Also, it was also his own fault, he crossed a sensitive line, he should have realized how Naomi is overprotective with Sam. Nonetheless, the¡­ ouch. Hum? ¡°Oh, sorry miss, I didn¡¯t saw you.¡± A tall man took his hat off, quickly apologizing to her, and resume his way immediately after. Naomi suddenly realized she wasn''t alone, from the deepest part of a torched lighten labyrinth, she had landed in the middle of a busy paved street. There were stores everywhere, with big shiny and bright billboard with portraying naked woman and men here and there. There was a lot of people too, but they were all busy looking at some sort of device in their hand, moving forward, barely looking up. Naomi wasn¡¯t good with people, so much that you could say she has a slight case of agoraphobia. Quickly, she felt oppressed by the situation, and looked for a way out. Fortunately, she found shelter nearby, in a small stores selling clothes named M&H. ¡®What an odd name¡­¡¯ As she finally managed to get some space from the crowd, in one of the corners of the store, she opened her book. Once again, the objectives were completely vague. ¡°¡¯Save the city¡¯¡­? From what? ¡®Use the power of love¡¯? I hope this is a joke¡­¡± Suddenly, a noise diverted her attention. Back in the street she was a minute ago, the mass of people was now moving in the same direction. Screams and panic started to invade the atmosphere, as if everyone was running away. No, they were running away. With a small eyebrow raises and a slight smile, Naomi stayed on the edge of the exit. ¡®This is surely what I am supposed to save the city from. Fine¡­ first step: identifying the threat.¡¯ After a dozen of struggles, Naomi was already accustomed to such turn of event, and it¡¯s without a hint of hesitation that she started to take action. She closed her eyes and focus her flux in her hearing. As a Conjureress, her ability to enhance her senses and physical capabilities are miles under the ones of a Seer or a Wrecker, nonetheless, her flux capacity was worlds above any others. In fact, without realizing it, Naomi was expanding her ¡®flux tank'' at an incredible rate, and it was now comparable to the weaker guide''s. In this situation, a normal Conjurer would use way too much energy for it to be worth, but as she had so much to spare, she never realized this kind of problem. So, she listened. People were screaming. Children were crying. An explosion!If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. That¡¯s it! And in the middle of the chaos, she caught a name. ¡°Bombo?¡± Some screens have been changed to host some sort of emergency report, about a bad guy blowing stuff up. His name was lame, but the threat seemed to be real, as a second explosion, further away, disturbed her concentration. It didn¡¯t matter anyway, she had everything she needed. It was actually a pretty simple situation, there was a bad guy and she had to kick his ass. Although¡­ It¡¯s not the first time she had to save a city from a villain, and, truth to be told, she felt a bit shallow after her first heroic act, as she was -and still is- too strong for the early struggles. Of course, she had no plan of letting the bad guy wrecking havoc and harming innocent people, but there are ways of spicing things a bit, and her Quest Book seemed to be on the same page than her - pun not intended. She turned around, and rushed back into the store.
Rucropolis was a big city with a young and fresh atmosphere. Akin to Lucropolis, it had many parks and plenty of skyscrapers and renovated buildings, with little to no cars, only huge buses on a suspended monorail, several meters above anyone¡¯s head. However, it was way smaller in scale, and wasn¡¯t divided in ¡®circles¡¯. Despite a few bad places, it was mostly a peaceful city, but everything changed two months before Naomi arrived. The first supervillain appeared, destroyed the city hall and killed many peoples, including the mayor, and disappeared as he came. Without telling his name or his purpose, he plunged the city in fear. Following his trace, other criminal tried to bring their own share of chaos, and many other supervillains, using powers from ancient artefacts given by a mysterious man. In this troubled time, one person stood against them. A Super Hero. In this desperate time, he called for a miracle, and threw himself into a never-ending fight against the darkness, saving the innocent and the oppressed. Rapidly, he gained the trust of the population, and was nicknamed the Miracle Man. Wearing his signature white suit and a simple mask covering his upper face, he became the hope and saviour the city needed. However, no one has managed to understand his power, not even himself, as they are¡­ unreliable. As of now, in the middle of a zoo, on the edge of the city, he was being overwhelmed by a weird tall and muscular man with an elephant head, and loads of dynamites around his naked torso. In the middle of the biggest enclosure, our hero had one knee on the ground, and was trying to catch his breath in front of his laughing foe. ¡°Mouhahaha! This is the end for you, Miracle! Look how pitiful you look, you¡¯re about to ele-faint! Mouahahah!¡± He raised his head from the ground, still unable to stand up for himself, and glared at his opponent¡­ Already celebrating his victory, this last one uses his tromp to inhale some air, swelling it in cartoonish proportion. ¡®Is this it¡­ is this the end¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I wasn¡¯t strong enough after all¡­¡¯ The villain directed is ¡®nose¡¯ toward him, and with an evil smile pronounced his death wish. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in hell-ephant!¡± ¡­and fired. He expelled a bright bolt at a tremendous speed, so fast that Miracle Man had barely the time to close and divert his eyes, and then it exploded. Upon contact, the bolt burst in a great explosion, swallowing everything in a mix of chaos and destruction. ¡°Mouhaha! I am best! I am the Bombest! Mouhahah!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually made that pun¡­¡± The cloud of dust raised by the previous explosion suddenly dissipated, swiped away by a magical ascending wind, revealing a totally not destroyed area, with Miracle Man in the same place as before, untouched, and a mysterious woman standing in front of him, wearing a red leather suit, mask, and a huge cap, gently floating behind her. With her hair changed to a colour matching her outfit - coincidently she chose the same as Alice - Naomi was harbouring a cunning smile. She started walking toward the Super Villain, filling the atmosphere with her overwhelming confidence, and let out the catchphrase she dreamed to say when she was a little girl. "The Scarlet Princess has arrived to save the day scene!" Struggle#12 Objective: Save the city Sub-objective: Use the power of love - Destroy the relic - Become a Super Heroine Naomis Quest|Chapter 6 - The elephant who wished to fly. ¡°Princess?! Damn, another dumbass hero has come¡­ but it doesn¡¯t change anything! Prepared to get tromped!¡± The elephant man charges another blow with his tromp, and immediately fired a barrage of shiny little drop on the two Heroes. ¡°You should seriously close your mouth.¡± With a wave of her hand, she blew the droplet away, and the sky got covered in a succession of explosions, leaving its creator baffled by what happened. But not for long, as two big balls of fire were flying toward him. He parried them with his tromp, redirecting them and melting part of the cage surrounding the area. ¡®Hum¡­ I guess I have to be careful about the spell I¡¯m using. The place is already destroyed, but I shouldn¡¯t worsen the situation.¡¯ Conjuring 4 Wiccas in a row, and a fifth in front of her eye, Naomi mimicked a sniper rifle, and fire a laser straight toward the elephant shoulder. But he didn''t fell, so she fires one more time, on the other side. ¡°Aaaargh!¡± The target was down. Without any time to counter attack, the villain was now in the same position as Miracle Man, still a few meters behind Naomi, trying to understand what was happening and to recover at the same time. "Hey¡­ Big Boy, don''t tell me that is everything you have? Usually, villains always have a second form they only use as a desperate measure, and I think it''s your time¡­" ¡°I¡¯m gonna show you!!!¡± As he was being shot down a few seconds ago, Bombo started to gather air into his tromp, preparing for this moment. Despite his speech and physics, he was pretty smart, and quickly realized he had to take this new Heroine in one shot. Without any warning - sort of - he fired everything he gathered in a giant blast. ¡°?Devil¡¯s Breath?¡± In pure chaos and destruction, a gigantic flash swallowed Miracle Man and his saviour instantly, disintegrating everything on his way, finishing its course into the sky. It lasted only two seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The whole population saw it, and the surrounding panic got even stronger. However, some people were still here, watching the fight. Under there eyes, the villain man with an elephant head put a knee on the ground, completely exhausted, with a wicked grin on his face. ¡°Mouhahaha! I knew it! I am the strongest! I am the¡­¡± The cloud of dust and ashes was slowly dispersing itself, but already, something was off. The more time passed the more it revealed, in a circle surrounding the position of the two heroes, everything was fine, the ground was completely untouched, as if¡­ ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re akin to a reverse vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately for you, I know my way around trash.¡± Unscathed. The Scarlet Princess was totally unscathed. Around her, a small force field was covering her and the so-called hero she just saved for the second time. ¡°Im-impossible!¡± It was a common spell, even though it wasn¡¯t really efficient due to the relatively large area covered, it was a reliable way to defend against almost anything. Naomi took a step toward her baffled foe, without showing a hint of her shattered confidence. Yes. She had made a miscalculation. She thought she could deal with this cartoonish bad guy in a swift, but it turned out this last attack was stronger than she thought. To counter this last desperate attack, she had in fact conjured 5 barriers, and they were almost all destroyed by the blast.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Fortunately, Bombo had apparently used all this stamina for this, while she barely uses any of hers, but she couldn¡¯t risk another blow. She couldn¡¯t summon more than 8 Wiccas at the same time, meaning no more than 7 barriers. Will she was walking, she summoned ice chains around the elephant man, crushing him to the ground, on his knees. A few steps later, she arrived in front of him, savouring the view. Who knew she was such a sadist - well, Sam has some doubts. "Did you never learn anything at school? Villains always ends up under the Heroes''s feet." ¡°Ha¡­ Hahahaha.¡± ¡°And here is the crazy laugh¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand anything! My purpose is destruction! I am a fucking bomb, and you¡¯re just the detonator.¡± ¡°What?¡± Suddenly, the man¡¯s head started to glow. Shallow at first, it rapidly became so bright that she had to divert her eyes. ¡®No. Nononononononon. How could I be so stupid!¡¯ Self-destruction. An obvious technique to use for a Super Villain using blast and bombs as its primary weapon. For the first time since the 6th struggle, Naomi felt fear, deep inside her brain, deep inside her heart. Right here, right now, she had a real chance to die. The image of her beloved flashed through her mind. ¡®No! I can¡¯t let that happen!¡¯ She summoned her guts, and 2 more Wiccas were invoked behind her. For whatever reason, she was unable to conjured the eights, but she had no time to worry about that. Killing on the spot was too risky, and she had no way of propelling him without doing that. He was too heavy, and wouldn¡¯t go high enough anyway. Her best bet was to create as many barriers she could to restrain the explosion. She took a step back and put her hand in front of her, and¡­ Something touched her shoulder. Someone put his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got this.¡± She turned around, but there was nobody, and she immediately remarked what else was missing. She looked back toward Bombo, and he was here. ¡°You?! Che! Get lost, I already destroyed you.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. As long as there¡¯s hope, I¡¯ll stand up against evil.¡± He armed his right leg, and, summoning every inch of strength god allowed him to, he kicked him, screaming his resolution to the world. ¡°MIRACLE SHOOT!!!¡± Yes. It was as simple as that. One hit, and the villain was sent into the sky. The following explosion filled the sky like a second sun, projecting everyone to the ground with the wind blast. However, Naomi couldn¡¯t care less. She couldn¡¯t divert her eyes from him, from what he just did. It doesn¡¯t make any sense. Putting aside the fact that he was dying on the ground seconds ago, a kick like that was against the basic law of physics. He was more likely to cut the elephant in two than to propel him into the sky. It was impossible to do, but he did it. Even though flux and everything linked to it don¡¯t make sense in most cases, it was the first time she was so baffled by something. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much.¡± Pulling her out of her track of thought, Miracle Man started the conversation, still looking toward the white nova illuminating the sky. "My power is troublesome, because they only work when the situation is desperate. Nonetheless, with it I can do anything, and save anyone, using miracles." ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, thanks for saving me Scarlet, I¡¯m in debt to you. But I should probably get going, he should start to fall soon.¡± ¡°¡­who?¡± ¡°Bombo, well, more his human form. I¡¯ll be glad to catch you up on that later, I hope.¡± And Miracle Man left the scene. It''s been a while since she was saved. In fact, it only happened once in her life, and she fell in love with the boy who came back for her. Of course, she didn''t make any correlation between the two events, and didn''t think much about this Hero dressed in white. For now. Chapter 47 - Here comes the lobster! It was dark, well, I supposed it was dark, because I could see as clear as if it was the day. Being a Seer is really convenient. Anyway, where the fuck are we? A cave? Alice seems to feel uneasy. And it¡¯s probably not because she is scared of the dark, she had nocturne vision back on Earth. The place is huge, the ceiling is at least 5 meters tall and the width seems to be the same as that. It''s actually like this tunnel have been dug by a giant worm or something. The humidity is pretty high too, but it''s not that cold, and Alice probably have a way of drying us on the way. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ I kind of had a bad experience in caves.¡± ¡°Like what? You fought a Yeti?¡± ¡°How do you know? And also a weird bear, but I killed him so I¡¯m fine on that.¡± Really? Damn, I just said that at random¡­ ¡°So¡­ What do we do¡­?" ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I should probably open the book¡­¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Struggle#13 Objective: Fall Sub-objective: none I forgot how much this book can be a pain. What the heck does it mean? ¡®Fall¡¯? He could have written ¡®complete the objective¡¯ it would have been the same shit! "Hum¡­ ¡®fall''... maybe it asks us to go down?" Okay, it might have some sense¡­ ¡­ I feel a bit stupid right now. ¡°I guess we should depart right now then.¡± I remarked that the path was slightly inclined, and we decided to go down. We walked for a good amount of time, and it was getting boring. Even after almost an hours, there was nothing noteworthy around other than rocks and water dripping from the roof. Well, the situation itself was uncomfortable, since our talk during the infiltration two weeks ago, things between me and Alice have been a bit weird, and she even avoided me multiple times. Everything was fine when we were with Marie, but now that it¡¯s only the two of us, it¡¯s getting a bit awkward. Maybe I should do something about it¡­ Unfortunately, -or not, I don''t really know which- Alice sensed something ahead. Looking closely, I could see the tunnel getting wider further ahead. Excited, we rushed to what appeared to be a huge underground room, lightly lit up by some phosphorous mushrooms on the walls and the ceiling. We could see multiple huge holes in the wall, probably leading to tunnels, in fact, we were arriving from one of those holes, and there were dozens of them. The room was huge, and I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to distinguish the end of it if it weren¡¯t for my class. But more than the size of the room, one thing left us speechless. It wasn''t empty, there were monsters in it, and wow, they were eye-catching. It was the perfect fusion between a lobster and a bison -I saw some pictures of those animals once. To be specific: it was the massive shape of a bison, at least 2 meters tall, with a big head harbouring two huge horns and a sort of shell making its body. They were everywhere, at least a hundred of them. They were peacefully walking and apparently eating things inside the water. From here it looks like the whole thing is a giant lac, but unless those things are walking on water, it''s just several centimetres deep I think. We were a few meters above the ground level, so they haven''t spotted us yet. They might be odd, but I don¡¯t think they are a threat to us, so we should probably just avoid them and continue our way. Actually, there is some tunnel on ground level that seems to keep heading down on the other side of the room, we just have to¡­ ¡°Yaaaaaaaaa!¡± Before I could react, Alice had already jumped down, branding the silver dagger above her head. ¡°What the fuck are you doing?!¡± ¡°?Ascending Crescent?¡± A split second before touching the ground head first, she twisted her body, parallel to the ground, and formed a perfect ark with the point of the dagger, followed by an ascending flow of water. Her fall stopped at the same time the dagger passed through the head of one of the creature. It was pretty awesome. But why the hell did she do that?! I immediately jumped after her. Her action had obviously caused an uproar among the other beasts, who started gathering around her, visibly enraged. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Dinner is secured!¡± ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Hey! Stay away!¡± She lifted the body of the dead ''animal'' above her head like it was a stuffed animal, and was glaring at the rest of them like a cat protecting her prey. This girl is driving me crazy¡­ I quickly looked around me, they were getting closer, mooing aggressively toward us. ¡°Stay away I said!¡± And she is not helping the situation¡­ I guess I¡¯ll have to make a distraction. Fine, I have an idea. I concentrated all my focus, the world around me slowed down, like my breath, and everything. Each motion is part of a flow, unstoppable and absolute flow. I leaned on my right knees and placed my hands at my feet level, under water, palms up, nor slowly nor fast, at my flow speed, with an absence of ripples on the water surface. At this point, I have the hold of a ton of flux thanks to the ¡®flow¡¯, time to release it. I stretched my leg, raising my hand up to the sky, and a sudden vertical stream of water surged from the previously calm surface. ¡°Alice!¡± I called her out at the same time, and during the 2 second when the water screen was covering us, we managed to jump outside the circle of lobson -or bister. They quickly remarked our escape of course, and started to chase after us. Shit, they are quicker than expected! ¡°That was sooooo cool!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think this is the moment for that!¡± At top speed I was struggling to get off the pack, but even with her ¡®trophy¡¯ she wasn¡¯t even breaking a sweat. ¡°I don¡¯t really know why we are running away, I can¡­¡± ¡°Violence is not always the answer.¡± ¡°Pfff.¡± During the chase, we also had to dodge other beast joining the party. Luckily, we weren¡¯t that far away from another hole in the wall, just above the water level. Alice started to speed up, and in a second reached the hole, where she threw the corpses before turning back toward me. What the hell is she¡­ She took some sort of stance, putting her hand on the water surface. The instant I arrived near her, she raised her arm, projecting stram behind me. She could do that?! The smoke screen distracted them and we easily left the place, jumping into a similar path than the one leading to this room. After running again for some distance, and once I was sure they weren''t after us anymore, we finally stopped to catch a breath. Well, at least I had to catch my breath. Fucking i-talents. ¡°That was pretty cool.¡± "What? You cutting in half the lobster, your disrespect for gravity or the steam bending thing?" "All of that, obviously, but I was talking about your little dance, I didn''t even saw you at first. What is that?" "Martial art, sort of, but what''s more important is: why the fuck did you fucking killed this fucking bister?!" ¡°I prefer lobson.¡± ¡°Alice!¡± "Okay okay¡­ It''s getting hungry, and, you know, a combination of lobster and bison? I have to taste it!" ¡°You could have told me that, instead of jumping like¡­ I don¡¯t have a reference but you know what I mean!¡± "Saaaaaawry¡­ I couldn''t contain myself. And look, it''s just one tiny animal, I''m sure it won''t have any consequence!" I contemplated the massive beast she transported with her. ¡°Yeah¡­ ¡®tiny¡¯. How do you even plan to eat this thing? I won¡¯t¡­ oh¡­¡± She was showing off a beautiful dancing flame she created in the palm of her hand. On top of that, her eyes were so excited to the perspective of cooking and eating it that I had to give up the scolding. Plus, I started to get hungry too. Sigh... this girl will kill me one day.
"So, have you figured out where they are?" ¡°Not sure Val, I only world that I mapped entirely so far is the 1st one, I still have some blind spot here. I never heard of a cave this huge in the second one.¡± "Yeah, me neither, it''s more technology stuff there. Maybe they moved to another world already?" "No, I don''t think so. It''s faint but I have a signal for Sam''s book." ¡°So where the fuck is he?!¡± ¡°That won¡¯t help Val, I don¡¯t know, go ask Jules, he might know something.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ you are useless.¡± Leaving her pissed of comrade, Valentine approached the one know as Jules, the Oldest Guide. ¡°Damn, you¡¯re desk is really far from us.¡± Without diverting his eyes away from his screen, he answered briefly. ¡°I like the calm.¡± ¡°Yeah, I figured, look, I have a question.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± "Sam is on the 2nd world, and, like we don''t know where this stupid is. The image quality as dropped, so we''re not sure, looks like a cave or something¡­ any idea?" ¡°Why would you think I would know such thing?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re the oldest so¡­¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t arrive that much later than me.¡± ¡°If you say so. Sigh¡­ Seems it was pointless to ask you after all.¡± ¡°Wait¡­¡± Jules finally pulled out his gaze away from his pupil''s adventure and put his finger on his chin, trying to remember something. ¡°You said there is a drop in image quality?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, Will told me, I didn¡¯t really care.¡± "This is pretty rare. Actually, it happened only once before." "Really? I said ironically as if I was giving a shit." ¡°You should, Pheit was there.¡± "Pheit¡­ you mean the huge ass dragon?" ¡°I believe his official title is ¡®The 3rd Destroyer¡¯¡± ¡°Wait, you mean that a fucking dragon is in a fucking cave in the fucking newbie zone?¡± ¡°Well, the Kunan managed to go down, so why not?¡± ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± ¡®This¡­ this is not good.¡¯ Chapter 48 - Good old color svvap Life was worth to be lived after all. I¡¯m in heaven, and angels are surrounding me. Okay, it''s a hallucination, but you see the point. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Hum? Oh, yeah¡­¡± ¡°So¡­ how was it?¡± This is the best thing I ate in my entire life. It¡¯s the food equivalent of happiness. If one day I write a dictionary I¡¯ll just put a picture of it in place of the definition. I want to eat it until I die and then go to heaven to eat even more of it. ¡°Meh, passable.¡± She must never know! ¡°Aww¡­ well, I¡¯ll do even better next time!¡± If she managed to make something better than this, I am so screwed. Anyway, we finally finished eating the bister. It looked exactly like a lobster on the inside, but with the size of a bison. I wonder how it genetically works, but I¡¯m not the nerd of the group, so I don¡¯t really care. We were comfortably installed between to big rock we found on the way. Alice used her fire magic to heat and cook the whole thing, I kinda had forgotten about her magic, but it¡¯s true that she did carbonize the robotic tiger at the 11th stage. Man, it feels like it was an eternity ago! I mean, it was more than two months ago, I wonder how the others are going¡­ Well, they¡¯re probably fine. So, after a well-deserved break, we resumed our descent toward our inevitable fall, and I don¡¯t even say that sarcastically. Hey, I wonder if our jump counted as falling. Struggle#13 Objective: Fall Sub-objective: Eat a lobston - Get out of the cave - Defeat Krieg Damn, it didn''t work, well, at least we completed one sub¡­ wait, Krieg? Who is that? Are there people down here? Seems unlikely, maybe it''s a hermit or something. Hum? Val sent a message. V: Hey nevvbie! Hovv¡¯s going? S: Fine, do you need something? V: Haha, can''t I just casually ask nevvs from my favourite nevvbie? S: ¡­ V: Okay, I have something to tell you. V: You are in danger. S: Yeah, no shit. S: I was chased by a pack of bister less than an hour ago. V: Yeah, I savv that, pretty cool svving from your sister. V: But I¡¯m not talking about that. V: I¡¯m talking about real danger. V: The kind of threat that even I can¡¯t overlook. S: Wow. S: (Sarcasm.) V: Bitch I¡¯ll have you knovv that I can cut a continent in half and beat the shit out of you vvith a vvink. V: For once I¡¯m serious, so shut the fuck up and listen. S: Sigh¡­ S: Okay. V: VVe think that the cave you are in is the lair of a dragon. S: A dragon? What is that? V: Seriously? V: Uuuurgh. V: It¡¯s like a big lizard vvith vvings that spit fire. VVell normally it¡¯s that but here, it¡¯s more¡­ V: Doesn¡¯t matter, just knovv that if you happen to come across one, you are dead. S: ¡­ V: In fact, if possible, get out of the cave immediately, the closer you are to its nest the stronger the monster vvill be. S: It¡¯s that bad? V: Yep. S: But, we can¡¯t go out of the cave, the objective is, quote, to ¡®fall¡¯. S: So our plan is to find a pit or something and to jump in it. V: Going Romeo and Juliette double suicide already? S: Aaaaand you¡¯re back to yourself. V: Yeah whatever, do what you want, I¡¯m not your mom, if I was you wouldn¡¯t be that ugly. Just don¡¯t die here, it would be bad for me. V: Tchuss, loser. Haha, she might be weird and savage, but it¡¯s really entertaining to chat with her. I kinda missed it, she almost never contacted me during the whole Presidency thing. Except the part were she insult me, probably. ¡°Aaaah!¡± As I diverted the eye from the book, I realized Alice¡¯s face was just in front of mine. ¡°Hahaha, always so easy to scare.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, I almost got a stroke, happy?¡± ¡°Very. What was your chat about this time?¡± ¡°Apparently there is a dragon here, and¡­ you know what it is?¡± The instant I pronounced the word, I saw sparkle appears in her eyes, like a kid thinking about a unicorn - and yes, I know what a unicorn is. ¡°Aaaaanyway, she told us not to approach it.¡± ¡°What? But dragons are so cool! It¡¯s like, THE fantasy creature. There¡¯s no meaning of a quest if there is no dragon in it. I even heard that back in the day, they liked it so much they invented a game called D&D: Dragons and Dragons!¡± ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t know if this thing will be hostile or not. Val said it was dangerous and for once I believe her.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°Sigh, don¡¯t make that look, you know I can¡¯t handle the puppy look¡­¡± Holly shit, I want to pet her. My heart... She''s... so¡­ cute¡­ "Fine! We are going down anyway, if we see signs we''ll try to approach it a bit." ¡°Yeay!¡± ¡°But as soon as we complete the objective we¡¯re out!¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Sir, yes sir." ¡°Now let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve rested long enough.¡± And we promptly departed along the tunnel. Alice took the remaining half of the beast -yes, we ate half of it, but to be fair she is still growing. It¡¯s pretty cold here so I guess we can still keep it for the rest of the day without it rooting. This tunnel was even longer than the previous one, and at some point the path split. Each time we chose the one with the highest slope, I can spot it a bit, but Alice as an integrate level measurement or something, surely another one of the i-talent has. I wonder if there would be any other situation where this would have been useful. The good news was that the tension between me and Alice had faded away. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that? Did you fall for me already?¡± ¡°Drop the narcissist act already. I just thought that it was good to see you cheerful again.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, I guess I feel better now.¡± "Hey, now that we have some time, I was wondering. What was that dagger crescent moon or whatever you did, where did you learn that? It was pretty cool, completely different from my own style but¡­" "It was awesome, right? Actually, for once I was properly taught, by a woman named Kunan." ¡°Oh?! You too? How was it?¡± "Really hard! Like, we fought for at least two hours. I felt that she was restraining herself, but I got cut several times¡­ I guess it was worth it, it''s like the strongest technique I have!" I don''t know why, but I''m extremely annoyed right now. "Yeah, yeah, trainings are hard¡­ at least for some." ¡°What about you? What¡¯s this dance that you made before?¡± "It''s not a dance. And it''s not really a move either¡­ it''s kind of hard to explain. To put it simply, there is 3 main form in the art I was taught, and I only learned the first one. The concept is to build flux with the ¡®flow'' of your movement. I don''t really know all the technicalities myself, I was barely conscious most of the time." ¡°Seems pretty hard, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll be able to reproduce it¡­¡± "It''s not like you need to, you know. Hey, I see something!" It was the exact same pattern as the last time. And as we reached it, as expected we saw a gigantic room with its walls holed and packs of bister - I¡¯ll never say lobston!- were peacefully walking down inside the layer of water covering the ground. Well, there was a slight difference. It didn¡¯t really struck me last time, but the bisters in the last room were all red-ish, like actual lobsters, but those were entirely blue. I looked at Alice, she''s drooling, but it doesn''t seem like she''s about to jump. I wonder if their colour will change something in their behaviour. ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°You said that an awful number of time since we arrived.¡± ¡°Hehe, but look, they are all blue! It¡¯s a color swap!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I figured.¡± ¡°No, what I mean is that they are probably stronger, and to show that they have a different color.¡± ¡°That is stupid.¡± "I red once in a book that it was used in video games to show that an enemy was stronger than the previous one without having to design an entirely new enemy." "That makes sense, but what''s your point?" ¡°Doesn¡¯t this cave looks like a dungeon to you?¡± ¡°I never went to a dungeon before.¡± ¡°Me neither, but I¡¯m pretty sure it would look like that.¡± ¡°So¡­?¡± "Nothing, I just thought it was cool." ¡°Sigh¡­ let¡¯s go down.¡± We jumped down, it was just a few meters once again, and at this point, this kind of things becomes trivial, even to me. Well, it¡¯s not like I would be able to jump right back in the hole. There was another tunnel close to us after we landed, but before I could decide where to go, a chill ran down my spine. I turned back, and one of the beasts was charging toward me. So fast. So big. So close. It¡¯s gonna hit me. CRASH A split second before the impact, Alice managed to get on the flank of the beast, and threw what looked like a stab with the dagger, but it didn''t pierce the bister''s shell. Instead, it stopped its charge and blew it away. I saw small wave on the water surface from the impact¡­ how hard is this thing? ¡°Alice! Let¡¯s go!¡± She was also pretty confused that the creature survived, but from the corner of my eyes, I could see other coming. I spotted the closest escape route just a few tens of meter away, but a couple of bister were in our way. ¡°Steam!¡± They spotted us, but Alice understood immediately, and she projected a great cloud of steam toward them, covering their field of vision. I grabbed Alice hand and went through the dense cloud and between the hostile animals. After an intense few seconds, we arrived inside the tunnel and safely distanced ourselves from the room. ¡°Shit, this was no joke. Those were nothing like the red ones!¡± ¡°Yeah, there were so fast¡­ and their shell was so hard, I don¡¯t think I can make a cut through, even with the other moves¡­¡± ¡°I wonder why they¡­¡± The closer you are to its nest the stronger the monster vvill be. ¡®I have a bad feeling about this.¡¯ Chapter 49 - Marwin Academy Where¡­ where the fuck am I? A vision? Again? How did I¡­? I don¡¯t remember going to sleep. Let¡¯s see, we arrived at a third room, deeper than the other two, and they were other blue bister. We ran again, and we found something. What was it? Shit, I can¡¯t recall¡­ It was a hole or something I think. Yeah, I remember jumping in something. Then¡­ I lost consciousness. Probably. And here I am, in the burning forest. Damn, it''s been a long time since I had this dream, but this time it''s way more detailed. The heat of the fire around, the smoke, the air filled with cinder and smoke, everything is so¡­ real. Every tree around is either burning or cindered down, the red sky is blackened by the rising smoke as the sunlight startsed to fade away into the horizon. I¡¯m, once again, in ghostly form, looking down at myself, badly injured. Badly is an understatement. I am cut everywhere, most of my shirt has been thorned apart, part of my left shoulder seems to have been bitten off, and my right leg is missing. Who the hell will I fight with to end up like that¡­? In front of me, was standing my fated killer, the purpled hair woman. Wearing a leather armour, she was pointing her lance at my face. I¡¯ve seen it before, she¡¯ll raise it and kill me. ¡°Any last word?¡± Hum? She talked? ¡°Hehe, not really.¡± And I answered. Damn, those are not cool last words. ¡°See you on the other side, newbie.¡± ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± ?! I heard a girl voice coming from far away. And I got stabbed. Auurgh! My head! I forgot about that part. It hurt like hell! As I opened my eyes again, everything was dark. I guess I won¡¯t see more than that. Damn¡­ I had my doubts, but now¡­ So, it will be her. It kind of makes sense, but what do I do know? Do I ask directly? First, I have to figure where I am. It¡¯s all dark here and I don¡¯t feel like I woke up or anything. Maybe it¡¯s another vision, something positive this time, I hope. Hu? My legs? They¡¯re shaking! I fell on my knees, and that''s when I realized there was a figure standing in front of me. Something huge, I can''t really distinguish the exact shape, but this presence... it''s like every inch of my body wants to get away, like my body was feeling fear on its own. What the hell is this thing? ¡°YOU ARE DANGEROUS.¡± The figure talked, the voice was grave and powerful, and it was as if they were directly forced into my head. It was painful. Like the voice was going to explode my head. Dangerous, what is it talking about? ¡°NOT YOU, ARROGANT ANT.¡± What? Am I in the wrong conversation? Oh! Maybe it¡¯s talking to Alice. She can probably handle it better than me, the words are killing me. I can feel sweat dripping on my forehead. ¡°YOU SHOULDN¡¯T HAVE COME DOWN HERE.¡± Fuck! Let me out of the conversation! My fucking head! ¡°LOOK AT ME.¡± I opened my eyes as wide as possible. The figured had done the same thing, there is now two giant red dot in the darkness, so bright, I can¡¯t divert my gaze from it. It¡¯s like it¡¯s penetrating my mind. ¡°YOUR POWER IS DANGEROUS.¡± Alice¡­ what is happening? ¡°YOUR LEFT EYES IS¡­ WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?¡± The red dot looked away, and I felt the pressure in my head fading away. What the hell is happeni¡­
I woke up in panic, completely wet. I looked around, I was in a similar room than the previous ones, and realized that I was underwater all this time. Alice was a few meter away, out of breath, completely panicked. I rushed toward her, and as soon as she saw me, she relaxed a bit and sat down, despite the water. ¡°Wh-what happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ it was scary. I felt like my head was invaded by¡­ I don¡¯t even know.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I have a bad feeling about all this. I have no clue about what just happened, but¡­ Alice¡¯s ability make her peculiar, even according to this adventure standard, so it¡¯s kind of obvious to me. What if she ruined the balance? What if her powers never stop to grow? What if someone like Eve get scared of her?Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. If that were to happen, we wouldn¡¯t have any way to resist. I looked at her eyes, her beautiful bipolar eyes, one silver and one gold. I knew there was something, but what¡¯s the problem with her left eyes. What did the figure want to say before it got interrupted? What the fuck is up with Alice¡¯s left eyes? This¡­ this is scary. If something were to happen to her¡­ ¡°Hey, look!¡± Alice pointed at something, on the other side of the room. Phew, finally a relieving news. I extended my hand toward her to help her get up. ¡°Come on, I think we spent enough time underground.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s leave this shithole.¡±
Deeper in the cave, in a place where light can never hope to reach, a meeting between two indistinguishable being was taking place. ¡°WHY DID YOU STOP ME?¡± ¡°To let the plot move on.¡± ¡°WHAT ARE YOU¡­ I HATE DEALING WITH YOU. TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN¡¯T ERASE YOU RIGHT NOW.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know¡­ maybe ¡®cause you¡¯re scared of me?¡± ¡°I AM NOT. YOUR GODDESS IS NOT HERE.¡± "Haha, you are being silly, anyway, they have passed the door, so I probably should get going." ¡°NO. I AM ONE OF THE DESTROYER, I WON¡¯T LET YOU¡­¡± ¡°You are nothing but an oversized lizard with a superiority complex.¡± Out of anger, the possessor of the heavy voice roared and shook the Earth. However, the second person had already left the place, leaving a frustrated pair of red eyes hanging in the dark. The entrance of the whole cave was situated on a tiny remote island, and a gentleman was coincidently walking out of it and talking to himself. ¡°Sigh¡­ those lizards are really a pain in the ass, you really did a shitty job raising them, Eve.¡±
Marwin Academy. In one of the most inaccessible part of the modern 2nd world, where nature still retains some of its rights, Marwin Academy has been established as the best school ever created. With top-level educator and facilities, this school used to be reserved for wealthy and rich families, but ten years ago the doors were opened to everyone, given that the tests were passed. This led to an even higher standard among the student, but had the side effect to divide them into two factions. One gathering the ¡®nobles'', those coming from ultra-wealthy backgrounds, who were here mostly thanks to that, and the other who passed the test. The school even played along with that, seeing it as an opportunity to nourish competition and motivation within the student''s mind. That''s why they separated the two group in different dormitories, and even gave them different uniform. Shape wise they are the same except that the high cast has white clothes and low cast black ones. Most students played along and were taking this pretty seriously. Every occasion was an opportunity for the nobles to prove their superiority over the peasant or for the low cast to shut the mouth of those arrogant pricks. There were also those that didn''t care at all, and extremely rarely, some romance was seen between the two camp. It was extremely scarce, and the last public case has been long forgotten. The past few month has been tense, as the student council election race finished and a black uniform won. There would have been tension even if the other side would have won, but as expected the whites were pretty pissed about it. Fortunately, the sports festival made everyone forget about it, and for 14th consecutive time ended up as a perfect draw between the two factions. Nobody really understands how they are so perfectly matched each time, but no evidence of manipulated results or anything like that ever emerged, so it became the neutral event that each camp want to claim for itself. One thing was different from the other years though. Usually, the festival end and after some days of cheat claim everyone happily go back to their everyday life, with no side better of than the other, but this time something special took place. For once, the nobles were hugely advantaged in term of physical ability, and were predicted to win the even with ease. However, a student was transferred just a few weeks before the event, and helped the low cast winning many events, breaking records by a huge margin each time. She was held as a hero by the low cast, and a demon by the nobles. Her name is Haru Hasilf, and her feats were a huge surprise, considering her small and weak figure. Despite her cute face and size, she can run a 100 meter under 10 seconds and deadlift over a ton, thanks to the talents she was born with, and the harsh situation she had to face growing up. As expected, she became the mascot of the black uniform, against her will. She actually wanted to lay low, but as she couldn¡¯t hold back enough during the event, she attracted the attention of literally everyone in the school. She is really shy by nature, especially when Samsy is not around, so she has real trouble dealing with the ¡®fame'', that and the fact that this struggle couldn''t be dealt with until Sam arrives. At first, she was overjoyed to have a joined struggle with him, but it''s been 4 weeks already and there''s still no sign of him arriving. Her book''s instruction was clear though: Struggle#13 Objective: Wait for Sam Sub-objective: Experience youth - Get an A - Receive a love letter So she was waiting. She completed the sub-objective pretty quickly and as she had nothing to do, she tried to learn a bit more about this world with her guide, but Quentin was pretty useless in this regard. Most of the time, he loses himself in a long tirade and she hangs up. But today was different than the other day, today was the fated day when he will come, and when she finally will be able to move on. She liked the people here, but also she wanted to reunite with the other as soon as possible. She was in the middle of the classroom, Ayato Moha, aka the handsome Asian guy, Diana, the tomboy with long black hair, and George, aka just George, were forming their usual circle around her. Discussing the upcoming news. (A) ¡°I hope we will get the girl, we need more girl in this class.¡± (D) ¡°No way, it will be the guy. We need a decent guy, there is too much of a shortage here.¡± (A) ¡°Hey!¡± (G) ¡°I believe we will have the guy two.¡± (A) ¡°See!¡± (H) ¡°Are you sure we can trust it?¡± (A) ¡°Yep, this guy has been around since we were first year, and he never made any mistakes in his prediction.¡± (D) ¡°It must be so cool to see the future!¡± (G) ¡°Yeah¡­ must be some downside to that, right?¡± (H) "I have a friend who can do that. He often has huge headache and nosebleed after." (A) ¡°Haha, you¡¯re so funny Haru.¡± (D) ¡°Hahaha!¡± (H) ¡°It¡¯s true though¡­¡± Meanwhile, the teacher, a young-looking blond haired woman with a hair bun and wearing a classic suit, and visibly stressed by her job, arrived in the room. The students were well behaved and immediately reached their own sit. You could see the divide between the white and black faction, as each occupied exactly one half of the room. The teacher took a deep breath in, she is good at her job, but has self-confidence issue. Fortunately, the students are nice to her. Today was special, two transfer students were scheduled to arrive into the low cast dormitories, and one in Haru¡¯s class. ¡°Hum Hum, you might all have suspect it, after seeing the billboard, but today I am introducing a new student who will join this class. Please, be nice to him.¡± A young man wearing the black uniform entered the room. His unkempt white hair startled everyone as whispers started to circulate. Arriving beside the teacher, he faced everyone. ¡°Hi, my name is Samsy, I hope we¡¯ll get along.¡± Chapter 50 - The Mysterious Prophet ¡°Myyyysssaaaaaaa!¡± As soon as the bell announced the end of the lecture, Haru jumped from her seat to attack me. I suspect she wanted to hug me, but with her momentum, she literally tackled me to the ground. Classic Haru. ¡°I missed you too.¡± ¡°Haru, you know the transfer student?¡± I realized that a bunch of people gathered around us. I wonder if she managed to make some friends, she¡¯s usually really shy with new people¡­ ¡°Get away from Haru!¡± ¡°Who do you think you are?!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Okay¡­ do you guys realize she was the one jumping on me? And right now she''s literally standing on me! "Back off guys, he''s the childhood friend I talked about." ¡°Oh. Right, sorry about that.¡± ¡°Haha, sorry Haru.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m a bit lost now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s lunch break, we have some time to catch up.¡± She gazed back to the small crowd, and they swiftly dispersed. The only remaining were the two of us and three other black-uniform students, a girl with a thin figure and really long black hair, a tall Asian guy and a plain guy. ¡°Guys, can I spent the break alone this time.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Are you sure?¡± ¡°We have a lot to discuss, so I would like some time, just the two of us.¡± ¡°Well, if you say so.¡± They seemed really sad about it, slowly getting out of the way while looking down. Damn, is she that popular? ¡°Oh, by the way, Haru¡­ I should probably tell you¡­¡±
¡°Aaaaaaaaaah!¡± I was afraid it would come down to this. As soon as we got to the rooftop, Haru screamed and got behind my back. ¡°Why is she here?¡± ¡°Alice, be nice.¡± ¡°Hey! I didn¡¯t say anything, and she started screaming!¡± Yeah, Haru is scared of Alice, back on Earth she sometimes had nightmares of her. ¡°So, Alice, this is a joined struggle with Haru, and Haru, well, long story short, Alice is part of the session now.¡± She started to slowly get her head out from my back. ¡°She more sociable now, she even managed to get along with Marie.¡± ¡°It was out of necessity.¡± ¡°Come on! Help me on this!¡± "Aurgh¡­ fine. So, little ch¡­ Haru, let''s be... friends." Sigh¡­ she is still trembling, I guess we¡¯ll have to take it slow. ¡°Okay girls, I think we shall separate the two of you for now, until Haru process the idea of working with you, Alice.¡± ¡°Fine by me.¡± ¡°Hu-Hun.¡± "So, Haru and I will spend the break in the cafeteria, and we''ll meet again in the evening." ¡°What?! She is the scared one and I am the one being left off?¡± ¡°Aaaah!¡± Shit, I hoped that after all the thing she went through during her own quest she would be able to stand up to her, but I guess a trauma is not so easily overcome. ¡°Well, Haru has to tell us about the school, and I doubt she can converse with you, so¡­¡± ¡°Aurrgh, I get it! I¡¯m on my own, as usual.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take it like that¡­¡± She left the scene rumbling and visibly annoyed. I looked back at Haru, she was still shaking and almost had tears in her eyes. Sigh, this little girl can break my arm with two fingers, I can¡¯t believe I have to pull out with this. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s not a bad person. Trust me. Plus, while I¡¯m here there¡¯s no way she¡¯ll do anything to you.¡± ¡°Y-y-y-yeah, so-sorry about that.¡± She took a deep breath and the shaking stopped. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would still be that scared of her¡­¡± "Don''t worry, we''ll work that out. Marie had a death match with her when the met, and by the end, they were almost BFF''s -more or less-, so everything is possible!" ¡°I hope you¡¯re right¡­¡± "Anyway, we have to catch up. We haven''t met for more than two months! I have so much thing to tell you!" ¡°Me too! Well, my 11th struggle was pretty long and boring, but managed to reunite a mother and her daughter! Well, they were jailed after that but still¡­¡± ¡°I kind of became The President of a city a few days ago!¡± ¡°Okay, you have to tell me what happened.¡± ¡°Well, first I fought some cyber tiger with Alice, and then¡­¡±
We kinda got caught in our stories and had to get back in class before she could tell me anything about the school. We didn''t even have time to eat. Well, not like it''s the first time we get absorbed in our conversation and missed a meal. We didn''t really hang out that much during the 10th struggle, probably cause we didn''t have the time at all. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I really missed her. I really wanted for the lecture to finish fast, and in a sense it did. First I thought it would be like the last school I went in, with boring and interminable courses, but I quickly realized the standards are way higher here. I couldn¡¯t follow anything that was on the blackboard. By the time I had understood the thing she wrote at the start, it was the end of the afternoon class. Damn, don¡¯t tell me I¡¯ll have to study? Not again! Sigh, I''ll put that aside, for now, I have to talk with Haru and try to make the two girls meet again. I wonder from all of that came from, I never had to babysit anyone like that back on Earth. I wish I had resolved those relationship issues back then¡­ Anyway, once again, Haru failed to stand up to Alice, who, predicting this outcome, had made some appointment, or so she told us. I don''t have a good feeling about that, but it''s not like I can say anything to her right now. After a small chitchat, we, finally, managed to get back on track and talk about the struggle. We had the exact same objective this time, even though it¡¯s only her 13th one -hey! I¡¯m ahead this time! Struggle#14 Objective: Find the Anonymous Prophet Sub-objective: none Hum, you don¡¯t have any sub-objective¡­¡± "Oh, yeah, well, mine only showed up after I finish one of them. Anyway, do you have any idea who the prophet is? Would be pretty funny if it turned out to be me." ¡°I know! The book is probably talking about the weekly forecast!¡± ¡°Forecast?¡± "Yeah! Every week, there is a message posted on the central board. And each time the prediction in it happens for real! So people have started to call it the forecast message, even though I find it a bit misleading¡­" ¡°Yeah¡­ do you know who write those message?¡± ¡°Of course not, nobody knows, it¡¯s one of the 3 wonders of the school, the two others being the school festival and me.¡± ¡°Haha, you are a wonder! Wait, how did you...?¡± "I-I kind of showed off my i-talent during the sports festival." ¡°Oh¡­ that would explain why you are so popular.¡± ¡°I-I-I¡¯m not popular.¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± It¡¯s not like almost everyone in the room looked at me with bloodlust and rage when we were talking in the classroom. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to look at the billboard.¡± "Sure. Oh! And you have to tell me more about those lobstons, were they, like, giant lobster with horn? Or more like bison with giant claws?" "It''s biston, and they didn''t have any claw, listen¡­"
Meanwhile
¡°Fucking Samsy and his popularity, it¡¯s not my fucking fault if the little shit can¡¯t handle me! Aaarg, I hate this!¡± Alice was rumbling in the corridor, heading toward the female dormitory. Many students surrounding her were discretely gazing in her direction, firstly because she was known as one of the new transfer students, and secondly, because she was gorgeous enough to interest the vast majority of them. On her way, she passed near a huge blond and muscular white uniform guy, and the inevitable clich¨¦ situation happened. ¡°Hey! What do you think you¡¯re doing, red hair?¡± She looked back at him, and saw a guy holding his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood, go away.¡± ¡°No no no, that¡¯s not how it works here, peasants. Do you even know who I am?¡± ¡°How did you called me?¡± ¡°Haha, and she¡¯s also deaaaaa¡­¡± One punch. Faster than what the eye could catch. A single hit in the solar plexus. The guy fell off to the ground, unconscious. The red-haired girl left the scene with a relieved face and a slight smile. ''Aaaaah, there''s nothing better than a justified beating to improve one''s mood.'' To the other student witnessing what happened, it just looked like Ivan, the well-known oversized athlete among the nobles, lost consciousness by himself as the transfer student walked passed him. And that¡¯s how she became the 4th wonder of the school.
The future is an unpredictable river, unless you are the right kind of fish This week will hold interest and completion, and some will fulfil their wish New companions will be revealed, and old enemies will be forced to cooperation Be careful of needless pride, or the fear to be put into submission One boy and one girl, linked by luck and destiny Will transfer soon to class 2-A and 2-C ¡°Wow, it got quite specific at the end¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s often like that.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit weird?¡± ¡°I find it really nice.¡± I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t like that there is another prophet, and the overhaul poem is shitty. Sigh, it¡¯s been a while since I tried to trigger a vision¡­ with the white pills after-effects, I had some trouble getting back to it. Maybe I should try writing a prophecy, could be useful. "So, obviously I had figured out the boy was you, and, well, apparently the girl is Alice. You went to my class and she went to 2-C -thank god- but other than that, I don''t really know what the other part means." ¡°Really?¡± ¡®To me, it clearly refers to the bad relationship they have¡­¡¯ ¡°Anyway, who posted the message? The author is unknown but surely someone had investigated a bit, right?¡± "Well, the one posting the message is the one in charge of the newspaper, and he said he just received an anonymous note at some point during the week. And even him has no clue about who is the author, for all we know it could be any¡­" ¡°Haru!¡± ¡°Aah!¡± Oh, it¡¯s the trio from before. ¡°We were looking everywhere for you!¡± ¡°Hum¡­ Sam, I kinda forgot I promised them to hang out with them today¡­¡± ¡°He can come with us if you want.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± "Yeah, I''m dying to know the embarrassing story of your childhood, hehe." ¡°Aaah!¡± "Haha, she''s so cute when she blushes." She really is popular afterall. I guess it can¡¯t hurt to take a break, we¡¯ve only been here for a day, it¡¯s not like we have to rush or anything. I wonder if it¡¯s fine to let Alice alone though¡­ Meh, as long as she doesn¡¯t punch anyone, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem. Chapter 51 - Boring Resolution A week after his arrival, Sam started to behave oddly. ¡°Oh, Sam, I wanted to¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t talk!¡± Haru tried to grab his attention, but for the past two days he has dived into textbooks, and she actually knew the reason why. Several years before, he undertook intense courses with Naomi as his teacher. Nobody knows why he did that back then, even Naomi herself has no clue, the only sure thing is that he was completely traumatized by grades in general, with an intense fear of failing. In this academy, students have to sit a test every two weeks at least, and the next one is coming in three days. That¡¯s why Sam is crazily studying like that. The girls tried to convince him that it was the embodiment of pointlessness, but nothing worked. He entered his own world and nothing could disturb him anymore. ¡®I know Nana can be scary when she is teaching, but for Masy to be like that¡­ I never realized it was that bad.'' The two of them spent a lot of time together during the first few days, so she didn¡¯t really mind him doing something else that much, but this was worrying. A beeping noise interrupted her thought, she grabbed the talkie walkie clipped on her waist and answered the call. ¡°Ha-Ha-Haru here.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Hahaharu, I¡¯m Alice.¡± ¡°Thi-thi-this is not funny!¡± ¡°Oh, yes it is. Well, it¡¯s a bit worrying though, I know I scare you but¡­ sigh, anyway, are you ready for today interrogatory?¡± ¡°I-I-I don¡¯t like when you call it like tha-tha-that.¡± ¡°Uuuurgh, I don¡¯t care! Oh, by the way, is Sam still ¡®busy¡¯?¡± ¡°Yeah, truth to be told I¡¯m a bit worried about him¡­¡± ¡°Hey! You spoke normally!¡± ¡°Tha-tha-that was an accident!¡± "Well, I guess we''re getting closer. I''ll contact you in the evening, if my calculations are correct, and they are, we should end the questioning process today. Roger." ¡°Ro-roger.¡± After a few days, Alice had the bright idea to craft communication devices for her and Haru, so that they could communicate with one another without the little one running away like a rabbit in front of a mighty and beautiful fox -Alice¡¯s own words. That¡¯s why she ¡®borrowed¡¯ some material from the mechanic department to craft two talkie walkie. It worked out pretty well, and Samsy was incredibly proud of her. Still, Haru was failing to overcome her fear, and she developed a stutter habit when talking through the talkie. Alice had no interest in becoming friend with Haru. However, she remembered how her ¡®brother¡¯ behaved when the bitch that serves as her girlfriend -her words again- taught him for a little less than a year. As she clearly didn¡¯t want to do the work all by herself, she had to find a way to communicate. And it worked out pretty well, as the plan was progressing smoothly toward the inevitable completion of the struggle. Obviously, it would have been infinitely more efficient if Sam would have just put his mind into it and foresee the future, but for some reason, he just kept the girls by themselves. Nonetheless, they have a useful ability on their own, thanks to Haru''s main i-talent, copied by Alice, which allows her to see through lies. Consequently, they just had to ask every student if they were the culprit, and they will eventually find him Haru agreed to follow the plan, but had some reserved, especially concerning their relationship with the white uniforms. Fortunately, this issue resolved itself, around a week earlier, and rather¡­ oddly.
Around a week earlier ¡°Please marry me!¡± In the middle of the corridor, Alice fixed a young man taking a knee in front of her with widened eyes. He was tall enough that even in this position his own eyes were at Alice''s level. He wasn''t especially good-looking, but his blond hair and imposing muscles gave him a strong and charismatic presence, even though he was currently bowing to someone else. Yes, it was Ivan, the same person Alice knocked out unconscious the day before. Apparently, this first encounter made a strong impression on him, and our blood-haired princess was at a lost for word. ¡°I realized yesterday, only the person I was meant for could beat me so easily. I am begging you, be my wife.¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± As expected, as soon as she recovered from the initial shock of surprise, she instantly rejected him.
Despite that, Ivan''s strong resolution pushed him to proposed over and over again for the following days. It drawn out a lot of attention, and Alice quickly became the centre of gossips. Even though she was releasing a continuous cold and intimidating atmosphere around her, people started to gather around her, similar to what happened with Haru, except that this time it was a majority of white uniform approaching her. She received the nickname of Blood Diamond, and every noble wanted to get her attention, as she was the first one to ever be recognized by the (?)mighty(?) Ivan. A huge amount of boys asked her out and she was invited to every event on the campus. Of course, she flatly rejected everything, but at some point, she realized it was a good opportunity to try out a ¡®normal¡¯ way of life with ¡®friends¡¯, so she started hanging out a bit. She didn''t like it at all, but at least time passed a bit faster, and it''s not like she was able to spend time with Sam anyway. Ivan continued to propose at least once a day, and she started to get really annoyed, but it was around the same time that she also gave the talkie to Haru and that they started to ask around to find the Mysterious Prophet. She was in charge of interrogating the white uniform while Haru would take care of the black one.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Everything was going smoothly, until today. Actually, it all started a few days ago, with the weekly prophecy, which was awfully precise in Alice¡¯s mind. You, prideful gem in the middle of never-ending storms Know that love and affection can take many forms If you are being disregarded and ignored by a man Maybe it is time to accept the request of Ivan Then, she started communicating with Haru via the talkies, and even though it was funny at first, her way of ta-ta-talking was extremely annoying. And the final blow was delivered by Samsy new idiotic behaviour. Early in the evening, after the lectures just stopped, Alice sneaked out of the classroom to avoid the never-ending swarm of fans usually coming after her. She was supposed to contact Haru but her own lack of finding discouraged her. She asked the last noble in the school during the afternoon, but he wasn¡¯t the prophet either. Plus, if Haru didn¡¯t call, it meant that she also didn¡¯t find anything. In order to cool herself down, she went back to the female dormitory. On her way, she stopped before the centre board, she realized it was the last day before the article was supposed to be changed, meaning that it¡¯s probably the last chance for the prophecy to happen. She was pissed off. Pissed off because the struggle which was supposed to be easily solved ended up at a dead end. Pissed off because she was hanging out with mindless sheep who never stopped talking about pointless things like dress and boys. Pissed off because she had to sit down for hours every day to be taught by someone dumber than herself. But most of all, she was pissed off because her fucking brother was focused on pointless exams while she was doing her best for him! ¡°I finally found you, my dear!¡± At this exact moment, Ivan arrived with a short breath. Like the days before, he ran around the school to find her, this guy has no shame, but at least you can''t say he has no conviction. Alice looked at him, from head to toes. Usually, she just ignores him or disregards him with a single line, but this time she had a change of heart. ¡°I may have a use for you, creepy boy.¡± ¡°Wh-what did you say?¡± Ivan genuinely didn¡¯t understand her answer, as he was expecting yet another cold look or mean remark. ¡°Follow me, and don¡¯t ask any question.¡±
In the 2-A classroom, Haru was balancing herself on her chair, looking aimlessly toward the ceiling. She had asked every person she could, but nothing came out. The mysterious prophet was still unknown. She looked to her right, Sam¡¯s sit was empty. As soon as the bell ranged, he left the class to go in the library. (D) ¡°Are you okay, Haru?¡± Haru suddenly realized she wasn''t alone, Ayato and Diana, were in front of her, and the later one just brought her out of her train of thought. (H) ¡°Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something else¡­¡± (A) ¡°You seem tired. Well, you were really busy this week.¡± (H) ¡°Haha, yeah¡­ I had a project, or something.¡± (A) ¡°What is it?¡± (H) ¡°I¡­ I want to discover who is behind the prophecies.¡± (A) ¡°You mean, on the billboard? Good luck with that, nobody knows.¡± (D) "Many have tried, but no one has ever found out who is the guy. It started when we were first year, two years ago, but still nothing." (A) ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like he¡¯s a phantom!¡± (H) ¡°Sigh¡­ I asked everyone! Maybe he¡¯s not a¡­¡± (A) ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me.¡± (D) ¡°Me neither, but do you really think the real one would tell you the truth?¡± Haru came to a simple realization: she didn¡¯t ask the trio. She spent days running around to find every student she could, and she completely forgot to ask the closest one to her. (H) ¡°¡­ are you the mysterious prophet.¡± (A) ¡°Haha, of course not.¡± (D) ¡°Nah.¡± Without any surprise, it was neither of them. (H) ¡°Oh, by the way, where is George?¡± (D) ¡°I think he went to the library with Sam, something about the upcoming test. They managed to convince the teacher to help them.¡± (H) ¡°I need to talk to him!¡±
(H)¡±GEORGE!¡± Slamming the door of one of the library''s room, she completely disrupted Samsy''s studying session and their homeroom teacher, Ms. Taylor. Surprisingly, they were only the two of them in the room. (S) ¡°Haru?! Keep it down! It¡¯s the fucking library!¡± (H) ¡°Oh, sorry! Do you know where is George?¡± (S) ¡°Who is George?¡± (H) "You know¡­ the, well, the normal guy, with dark hair, or brown, hum¡­ he hangs out with us all the time¡­" (S) ¡°Oh, yeah, he was there but he forgot something and left. Why do you want to know?¡± (H) ¡°I think he might be the mysterious prophet!¡± (S) ¡°Seriously?¡± (H) "Yeah, I''ll find him, talk to you later!" And she left as fast as she came. Sam apologized to the teacher, and the atmosphere swiftly regained its previous ton, however, Sam couldn¡¯t get one thing off his mind. ¡®So, it was George all along¡­ I have no idea who he is, it¡¯s a bit underwhelming¡­ Sigh, if only my power weren¡¯t shut down.¡¯ Chapter 52 - Haru-chan is OP! The moon was already high in the sky, most of the students were already sleeping, and only a gentle breeze of wind was disturbing the calm silence of the night. Under the stars, a meeting was taking place at the highest point of the academy. The school roof was supposed to be off limit at that time, but rules are for regular people, and the girls couldn¡¯t care less. None of them seemed to manifest any will to disturb this established silence. With dark faces and gazes avoiding each other, time passed without any word being pronounced. As the moon reached its peak, Alice turned around and sat down, her back facing the other person, and finally spoke. ¡°So¡­ I guess you didn¡¯t find him.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry for being late. I was caught by something.¡± ¡°I know. Everybody already knows.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°How was it?¡± ¡°Disappointing.¡± Even though the conversation started smoothly, the both of them were now facing opposite direction. Haru''s voice was slightly shaking, but to her own surprise, she was about to hold the conversation well so far. ¡°Did something happened on your side?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you like Sam?¡± ¡°Haha, no. We are just friend.¡± ¡°But, you do like someone.¡± ¡°¡­no.¡± ¡°Do you realize I have your talent?¡± ¡°Are we really talking about that?¡± ¡°What do you want to talk about? Our failure to find the prophet? My recent sex adventure? Or Stupid Samsy with his new mental issue?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ at least I can talk to you know.¡± ¡°Took you some time. I wonder why you¡¯re all hating me so much.¡± ¡°I think Nana heeps an actual list of the reason why she hates you.¡± ¡°Okay, for Naomi I understand. But for the other¡­¡± ¡°You killed Marie¡¯s hamster, you broke Prom¡¯s legs, twice, you burned¡­¡± ¡°Fine! I get it! I¡¯m a monster¡­¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that easy, right?¡± ¡°¡­ What do you mean?¡± ¡°When I went to confront George¡­¡± ¡°Who is George?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not important, the thing is, I went to ask him if he were the prophet, and he told me something strange, something like, seeing into the future are for gods and goddess.¡± ¡°So?¡± "So, I realized, we are all monsters. It''s even worse than on Earth, if people were to know what we are able to do, they¡¯ll¡­ I don¡¯t even know what they¡¯ll do.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And also, I realized it was the same for you, but in greater proportion.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t pity me. I¡¯m fine on my own.¡± "No your not, you''re dependent on Sam." ¡°I¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but he¡¯s not like us. He¡­ he is like a brother to me.¡± ¡°Not to me.¡± ¡°I know.¡± The awkward silence instantly came back. The moon was starting his descent, announcing that half the night was already gone. Gazing at the cloudless sky filled with stars, both girls were reviving their time with Sam. After what felt like an eternity, Haru got up, and turned around to face her ex-demon, and Alice slowly followed after. ¡°Do you want something?¡± ¡°I care about him, and I know you do too. But if anything happens to him, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°Wow, is that a threat.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Without any warning, the field of Alice''s view crackled in front of her, as if a thin layer of glass hiding the truth was suddenly bursting. The following scenery was identical, except for one thing, Haru was now awfully close to her, holding a rapier less than a millimetre away from her throat. ¡°¡­just a piece of advice.¡± For the first time in a while, Alice felt a chill down her spine. Before she could react, Haru stepped back, and put the sword back on her waist. ¡°Phew¡­ Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to be rude.¡± ¡°Yeah, obviously¡­¡± ¡°It was probably my only chance to do it.¡± "You do know those kinds of trick only work once on me¡­" ¡°Sam told me everything, I know you¡¯re protecting him. You might need my ability too.¡± ¡°Illusion, hue. That¡¯s pretty cool.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll show you everything.¡± Alice realized that the sword was not on her waist anymore, she was surely hiding it again. Her opinion of Sam¡¯s little best friend completely turned around with this exchange, even though¡­ ¡°You¡¯re still trembling a little.¡± ¡°No-no I¡¯m not! It-it¡¯s just cold outside!¡± ¡°Haha, yeah sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m leaving!¡± ¡°Wait. What do we do for the struggle now?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? We wait for the test to pass and we ask Samsy.¡± ¡°Sigh, I guess his vision could solve everything.¡± ¡°Haha, it¡¯s Sam, no matter what¡¯s the problem, he¡¯ll find his way.¡± Haru swiftly left the place, leaving Alice in the middle of the night. Neither of them wanted nor had to go to sleep, but they had nothing to say to one another. ¡®So, they¡¯ve grown too. It might work out after all¡­¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The main reason why Alice exiled herself from the rest of the group back on Earth was her strength to great for them to handle, and she couldn¡¯t deal with the constant whispers of fear behind her back. However, it might be different here. In this world, where power seems to overflow, maybe she finally will be able to find common ground with the others. Except for Naomi. There¡¯s no way she¡¯ll ever get along with her.
A few days later, after the test.
¡°YOU DID WHAT?!¡± I finally manage to get through the exam, thinking that I¡¯ll be able to get some break, but Haru took me outside to tell me that she, basically, made a death threat to my sister. This is so fucked up! And worst of all, I kind of feel proud that Haru was able to stand up to Alice. Do I have a problem or what? I didn¡¯t talk about any of the others power to her, so Alice must have been quite surprise by the ?Illusion Crack? -that¡¯s how I call it. I wonder if she¡¯ll be able to reproduce it¡­ Anyway¡­ ¡°Why did you do that!? It¡¯s not your type¡­¡± ¡°I know, but¡­ it was about something important. And I wanted to prove myself that I changed!¡± "I see¡­ So, if I understood everything correctly, you constantly have a rapier with you, hidden with your illusion spells." ¡°Something like that. You know, to train.¡± ¡°Where did you get it? You didn¡¯t have any weapon last time I saw you.¡± ¡°On the 11th, a weird story, with a dog.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t even ask¡­¡± In retrospection, maybe I shouldn''t have spent so much time studying. Damn you Nami, you really did traumatize me. Well, it was worth it, in some way. Nonetheless, I hope that Alice won¡¯t take that night exchange badly. Knowing her, she could either love or hate Haru for what she did. Well, it¡¯s not like I expected them to become best friends. Even though it did go pretty well with Marie¡­ Gosh, I really don¡¯t understand woman¡¯s friendships. Or maybe this is a special case¡­ Back to the situation, now that the test is behind me, I think it¡¯s time to move on. ¡°So, are we ready to leave ?¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t know who is the prophet yet.¡± ¡°Really? Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± ¡°You know who it is?¡± "Yeah, it''s our homeroom teacher, Ms. Taylor. I didn''t confront her, ¡®cause I wanted to study, but I''m pretty sure it''s her." ¡°How do you know that? Did you have a vision?¡± "Hum¡­ no-not really. Just, think about it. We are in the top school in this world, all the teachers are on the top of their respective field, and all have worked years to obtain their place here. They''re all 50 years old or more, except for ours, which is barely in her 25. I don''t know about you, but it is quite suspicious to me. That, and she does give off this ¡®flux vibe''¡­" ¡°¡¯Flux vibe¡¯?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t quote me on this. And truth to be told, I only realized it yesterday morning, but I thought you knew already¡­¡± "Raaaa! I can''t believe you found the prophet when you didn''t even investigate! Your power is so unfair!" ¡°Oh, yeah, my power¡­¡± I should probably tell them I don¡¯t have my foresight anymore. But if I do, they¡¯ll just worry even more. They¡¯re already overprotective, if I end up powerless, Alice won¡¯t let me do anything. No, I can¡¯t tell them. I¡¯ll have to figure out why it¡¯s gone and how to get it back on my own. ¡°By the way, do you know where is Alice?¡± ¡°Oh! I completely forgot! We were supposed to meet her at the central billboard!¡± ¡°Haha, that¡¯s more like the Haru I know.¡± ¡°We-we have to hurry!¡± ¡°Relax, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be okay.¡± And it was. We arrived a few minutes later at the said meeting point, and Alice was waiting for us. She didn¡¯t say anything special, she just kept looking at this week prophecy. I am a mysterious being living outside the realm of destiny Many have wondered in search of my true identity Some might soon find their luck Even though it shouldn¡¯t have been that hard in the first place Sigh¡­ it doesn¡¯t even rhyme now. I really don¡¯t like her. I mean, as a prophet, she¡¯s a pretty good teacher. ¡°Hey, Alice! How are you.¡± ¡°! Oh, yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± Hum¡­ she''s avoiding my gaze. Is she hiding something from me? Is it about what happened with Haru? I didn''t think she would be ashamed of that¡­ ¡°Al¡¯! Sam says that he knows who¡¯s the prophet!¡± ¡°Since when did I allow you to call me that way?¡± ¡°Yo-you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Bu-but¡­¡± After some pointless chitchat between the two of them, we finally got to the point. There was no lecture during the afternoon, so we directly went to Ms. Taylor office. I knocked on the door, and she quickly invited us inside. I never went to her office before. The room was small, with shelves at both sides overflown with books. The two micro library were forming a small hallway toward an imposing desk, probably made with heavy oak, and Ms. Taylor was sitting behind it, in an extravagant red armchair. Needless to say, this place was fitting of a teacher in this kind of academy. ¡°Oh my, if it isn¡¯t all the transfer students in my office. What can I do for you?¡± "You''re the one writing the prophecies, right?" Without any further due, Alice went straight to the point. To my surprise, Ms. Taylor was releasing a confident atmosphere, as opposed to her usual clumsy and shy personality. ¡°Oh my, young people have a wild imagination. What makes you think I am the author of the notes.¡± ¡°Just answer the question, please.¡± She didn''t say anything. The conversation had now become a staring contest between Alice and our homeroom teacher. Something was telling me that she knew we knew, so why was she acting like that? I realized she diverted her eyes to look directly into mine. I finally understood what it was all about. Yes. It was so obvious. At least it should have been to me. Seeing the future is not so simple. It¡¯s too potent to be from this world. ¡°You are a Seer.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Her face brightened instantly, as she relaxed on the back of her chair, harboring a slightly widened smile. ¡°Finally. Yes, I am a Seer. Allow me to present myself: my name is Tiffany Tracy, Seer of Chastity. At your service.¡± Chapter 53 - Failed Quest It was true after all! There are other questers out there! Holy shit, I never realized we would end up meeting one of them at some point. I wonder what is her story, how did she end up here? Why did she stay? Why did she stop her quest? I have so many questions! Haru and Alice seem both as shocked as I am. (T) "I guess I am the first quester you see outside your session. I''m getting used to it, you''re not the first ones to pass by my struggle. Even though I never had three at the same time before¡­" (A) ¡°So¡­ you can see the future? Like Sam?¡± (T) ¡°Who is Sam?¡± (S) "Oh, it''s me, I¡­ I''m one of your students. I''m a Seer too, the Seer of Humility." She momentarily widened her eyes and inclined her head. Is my class that uncommon? I think Val made a commentary about that too¡­ (T) ¡°What a coincidence, I met another Humble Seer, a long time ago.¡± (S) ¡°Really? When?¡± (T) ¡°Oh my, it was decades ago, if not centuries.¡± (H) ¡°You¡¯re that old?!¡± (T) ¡°Who knows¡­¡± She swiftly avoided the subject of her age, but she clearly hinted she''s been here for centuries. How is that even possible? She''s barely in her late twenties, does the flux stop the ageing effect? That sure would be convenient. The conversation had only started 5 minutes ago, but I feel like she¡¯s treating it like a game or something. (T) ¡°So, we have a Seer, and I would guess a Devotee. And you are¡­¡± After pointing out mine and Haru''s class, she stopped and stared longly toward Alice. Obviously, she had no idea what to answer, but fortunately, Haru came to the rescue. (H) ¡°How do you know my class?!¡± (T) ¡°Well, I guess the biggest hint was when you used illusions technique during the exams, to cheat.¡± (H) ¡°Oh, ah, hehe. It-it was an accident.¡± (S) ¡°You cheated?¡± (H) ¡°No-no-nooo.¡± I am so ashamed of her. At least Alice would never do that. Well, more like she¡¯ll never have to do that. (A) ¡°I am wondering¡­ why the heck are you here?! I never thought there were other people like us, other than the guides, of course.¡± (H) "I knew, Quentin told me once, at least. But I never thought we would encounter someone so early. Remaining questers are said to be very rare." (T) ¡°Oh, I heard of the guides. I¡¯ll have you know that I started my adventure way before Jules did. He actually was the first one to be in your place. Of course, times were different back then, it wasn''t exactly the same school, but¡­" While she was continuing her story, Alice sneakily got closer to me. (A) ¡°Who is Jules?¡± (S) ¡°He¡¯s the first guide, Valentine is the second.¡± (A) ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Man, this conversation is getting out of track, she¡¯s now making a list of all the people she met, sorting them by class and virtues. None of us really knew the meaning of those class anyway, some are obvious, like a Seer, or Marie as a Mason, ¡®cause she¡¯s always building stuff, but classes like Devotee¡­ what is the link with illusions? Anyway, it might be a good opportunity to finally know a bit more about the Quest, but first, there is one question I absolutely have to ask her. (S) ¡°Ms. Taylor¡­¡± (T) ¡°Please, call me Tiffany.¡± (S) "O-okay, as a Seer, I wanted to ask you something. Are the vision we see absolute?" (T) ¡°You mean, is there a chance it doesn¡¯t happen? Why do you want to know, did you see something bad?¡± (S) ¡°Yeah¡­¡± (T) "I can''t talk for all Seer, because we are all very different, but as for me, none of my prophecies happened to be wrong, even the terrible ones." (S) ¡°I see¡­¡± (T) ¡°Oh, wait, there was one. About someone I was supposed to meet, but she never came.¡± (S) ¡°She?¡± (T) "Yes, I was supposed to meet with a magnificent female harbouring an aura bright enough to cast a shadow on the sun, and white hair, at least it was what I had foretold. However, nobody came. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it. So, who knows, maybe there is a chance your bad vision will fail." A magnificent female¡­ is she talking about Eve? It would make sense, if she does exist, of course. The first time I saw her, I had a familiar feeling, not like I know her or anything, more like¡­ she was a part of me. It might just be a hallucination caused by one of my vision, it wouldn''t be impossible. (H) ¡°Tiffany! I want to know, where are your companions? Did you all stopped the quest to settle here?¡± (T) ¡°¡­ my settlement wasn¡¯t a choice. You see, I can¡¯t really be sure of anything, but¡­¡± (A) ¡°Your friends are dead.¡± (T) ¡°¡­¡± Dammit, Alice! Can¡¯t you have some tact? (T) ¡°Yes, I¡­ I think I can show you. I always do anyway.¡± She pulled out one of the drawers of her desk, and took out a journal. Oh, of course, it''s not a journal, but a Quest Book. However, there was a slight difference with ours, she had a weird symbol on it, a sort of chained circle with five triangles under. Did she make it herself? I wonder what it means... She then opened it and placed it in front of us. Too bad! There are not enough people alive to finish the Quest. Your session has failed! Sorry, and better luck next time! (A) ¡°What the fuck is this.¡± (H) ¡°That¡¯s¡­ awful.¡± (T) ¡°To this day, I still don¡¯t know what happened to them. In the end, I made my choice and decided to move on and become a teacher her. And go explore the world from time to time, when you don¡¯t age, you can¡¯t stay at the same place too long.¡± (H) ¡°Son you¡¯re stuck here¡­¡± (S) ¡°Wait, the world? So, we are in some world, it¡¯s not just a place design for the quest.¡± (T) ¡°Of course, funny enough, I never came across an accurate map of the whole continent, but it is a legitimate world, like Earth.¡± (S) ¡°I see¡­¡± I don''t think she knows much more than us. She didn''t have any guides, so she might even be lacking some info we have. I might as well ask Valentine. (A) "I want to know¡­ what does your virtue mean?" (T) ¡°Oh my, what a tricky question. I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have an answer to that.¡± (H) ¡°Actually, we do know what they mean.¡± (S) ¡°What?¡± (A) ¡°Really?¡± (H) ¡°You guys didn¡¯t know?¡± (S) ¡°Val didn¡¯t tell me anything when I asked, and I don¡¯t remember you guys speaking about it either¡­¡± (H) "Oh, my bad. Well, maybe it''s because they are not really sure. The idea is that the more you dive into your virtue, the more your inner power grow. For instance, the kinder I am, the easier it becomes to create illusions!" Stolen story; please report. (S) "Oh¡­ that makes sense." (A) ¡°Not really¡­¡± (T) "Oh my, what an interesting theory¡­ fortunately, I have no use to enhance my power anymore. Hu hu hu." What a weird system indeed. (T) "I''m afraid I won''t be that useful to you. My life as an adventuress ended a long time ago." (A) ¡°It¡¯s not like we hoped anything in the first place.¡± (H) ¡°Al¡¯! That¡¯s rude!¡± (A) ¡°Since when are you allowed to use that nickname?¡± (H) ¡°You-you don¡¯t like it?¡± (A) ¡°¡­¡± (S) ¡°Well! I guess that¡¯ll be all for us! Sorry for disturbing you, we will be leaving shortly!¡± (T) ¡°Haha, youth is indeed wonderful. Don¡¯t worry, it is always a pleasure to meet new adventurers. It reminds me of good times¡­¡± The girls quickly said their farewell and left the room. I didn¡¯t followed them immediately, as I had one important question left. I know Alice have a good hearing, but I¡¯ll have to risk it anyway. (S) ¡°One last thing¡­ did you ever lost your foresight power?¡± (T) ¡°What do you mean?¡± (S) ¡°Sight¡­ since the start of this struggle, I failed to get a single vision. I was able to see in the past a few times, but as for the future, nothing, it¡¯s as if my power disappeared.¡± (T) ¡°Wait¡­ you can see into the past, and the future?¡± (S) ¡°At least I could.¡± (T) ¡°Hum, this is certainly odd. You see, there are a lot of different Seer, for instance, I only write prophecy, I don¡¯t actually see anything. Some Seer I met could see ghost in the past, or with great precision in the present. Or as for me, into the future. However, I never heard of¡­ two at the same time is a first for me.¡± (S) ¡°Oh¡­ I¡­ I didn¡¯t really thought about it. My guide didn¡¯t say anything about that either. Maybe I can¡¯t handle the two, and one went away¡­ is that possible?¡± (T) ¡°I have no idea¡­ did something happened that could cause such a loss?¡± (S) ¡°There might be something¡­ I¡­ I had to abuse some sort of drug, and I never had any vision soon after that. Maybe it¡¯s an after effect.¡± I had no idea the white pills would have such an after effect. I hope it¡¯s not permanent. We exchange our goodbyes after that, and I finally left her office. The girls were still talking about how Haru nicknamed Alice, in my opinion, she should be grateful Haru didn¡¯t use a more shameful one. She¡¯s an expert for that kind of thing. I quickly checked the book to see if the objective was completed, and it was. Still, I didn''t complete any side ones, what a shame. (H) ¡°So¡­ I guess it¡¯s farewell again¡­¡± (S) ¡°What are you talking about?¡± (H) ¡°Hum?¡± (S) ¡°We still have one week, right? I think we deserved so time off.¡± (H) ¡°Really?¡± (A) ¡°Really¡­?¡± Moreover, the two of them were just starting to get along, more or less. I can¡¯t let this chance get away! That, and I have some catch up to do with Val apparently, I didn''t check the book for a week, and she''s been asking a lot of things. (H) ¡°Oh! I know! Celia!¡± (A) ¡°I hope it¡¯s not what I think it is¡­¡± (H) ¡°It¡¯s cute! Don¡¯t you think?¡± (A) ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Sigh, I really deserve some holidays.
In another country, far away.
As the moon was high in the sky, some small and hidden streets were still engulfed in darkness, and no sane soul would risk going there. Nonetheless, between the houses, someone was running on the paved road. Fear. He wasn¡¯t alone. No one was behind him, but he was sure of one thing: if he stopped running, he will die. So he kept running, for his life. Close. What has he done to be in this situation? He didn''t know. He made many mistakes in his life, and had many enemies. Was it destiny catching up? Is this punishment for his crimes and sins? Death. Ominous words were flashing in his head. He was feeling it, closer and closer, like an invisible hand about to catch his neck. Was it the end? No, he couldn''t allow it, too much was at stakes. He had reason to live now, his family was waiting for him, his past was behind him. Hope. However, he made one miscalculation. He wasn¡¯t chased, he was played with. Silence. The darkness regained its previous calm and silent atmosphere. Not a sound was heard. No scream, no slash, nothing. The man had stopped his course, his sad and tearful eyes were down, staring at the hand holding the blade plunged into his heart. He tried to shout, he tried to cry, but nothing was heard, and he slowly fell into the abyss of nothingness. The assassin had a tall figure, but you couldn''t discern any of its characteristics, as he was coincidently in the shadow of a nearby roof, even though this particular corner was well lightened by the moon and stars. He pulled out an object from his waist, a simple book, and opened it. Struggle#15 Objective: Kill Mr. Goshny Sub-Objective: Discover his past - Deal with his associate He had completed his task. It was time for him to move on, to his next struggle, to his next target. He turned around the book, as the back was emitting a faint light, destined to catch his attention. F: Already done? F: You really have a talent for assassination. K: ¡­ F: Too bad you never talk much. F: Qnhwqh, k jjxg wqngdc gl gdll hlj gnqg hljf ndxg xgfjbbld mkbng bd q jlkng lnd. F: Curses! It¡¯s so hard to keep the typing quirk away! F: Hum Hum¡­: Anyway, just wanted to tell you that your next struggle might be a joint one. F: I believe you¡¯ll be with Xavier. K: ¡­! F: Oh, you seem happy. Well, it''s been two months after all. K: ¡­ F: Holy, you are quite talkative today. F: Haha, I am just joking. F: Anyway, congratulation for your successful mission, and good luck for the next. F: And don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell the other about this new style of yours. F: Diligent people have to stick together. ; ) F: Bhd! F: My bad: Bye! K: ¡­ The moon was slowly starting to descend. The man in the shadow placed his hands into its light, to contemplate the red liquid covering them. He could see them shaking, and quickly recovered them in the dark, away from his own sight. He is afraid of what he had become, afraid of his skills, and of this inner feeling he has after each kill. Nonetheless, he can¡¯t go back. Their group has always relied on one precept: Trust. For that reason, he has no choice, he must tell them. He must tell him. Surely, he will understand, right? Chapter 54 - Unlocking New Powers In the middle of a peaceful range of hills, covered by grassed gently brushed sideways by the late afternoon wind, a mysterious door was standing. A heavy door, made out of dark wood with a strong metallic frame. Furthermore, the two handles were replaced by massive golden rings, giving it a surprising prestigious aura. Without any warning, the door opened, introducing two young people in this calm scenery. The first arrived was a boy, despite his young face and bright skin ton, he possessed white hair and scarlet eyes. Wearing a unicolour white T-shirt under an open black jacket and a classic pair of jeans, he arrived in this new environment like it was natural, and took out a small book that was attached to his belt. After him, a girl entered. Her long hairs, matching the colour of her companion eyes, blew slightly upon contact with the wind. Her gold and silver eyes were fixed on the boy, releasing a subtle mix of annoyment and expectation, surely due to his indifference toward her outfit, as she chooses to come wearing only a short black top and a matching legging. However, something on the horizon quickly caught her eyes¡­
Struggle#16 Objective: Slay the Copper Wolf Sub-objective: none Here we are, in another struggle. After a few relaxing days, we made our goodbye, with a tear in our eye, and we parted ways, once again. I really missed this little ball of kindness. Sigh¡­ and I¡¯ll probably miss her a lot this time too, until the 20th struggle, where we¡¯ll all meet again. In the meantime, we¡¯ll have to face whatever danger comes in our way, and with this adventure, I am prepared for the worst of the¡­ wait, the objective is already completed? ¡­ Wow, that was easy! ¡°Hey! Alice! Good news!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°We won¡¯t have to do anything, this struggle is already terminated!¡± ¡°¡­¡± "I wonder what happened to the wolf though¡­ did somebody kill it? That would be too much of a coincidence, right?" ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you answering?¡± She didn''t say anything, instead, she just pointed to something on the horizon. That''s really far... I focused my sight, and started to discern the shape of a woman. Slim figure, long black hair, she was wearing a white kimono, and walking toward us, with something on her back. Wait, the thing she¡¯s carrying, isn¡¯t that¡­ ¡°Good morning youngsters!¡± Behind us! I quickly jumped away. Readying myself for combat. The woman, she got behind us in an instant! To my surprise, Alice didn¡¯t move at all. Seeing it up close, there is no doubt, she''s carrying the corpse of the Copper Wolf. What is going on? And why Alice doesn''t seem surprised at all? ¡°Master¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s fair to call me like that¡­ So, this is my part of the deal.¡± She dropped the wolf in front of us. So... she was the one killing it. For us. Meaning that she knew it was our objective, and helped us. Moreover, she did that even before we arrived, so she had the information before we arrived¡­ this is not normal, something is off. ¡°Eve is sending me again.¡± Well, I guess that explains a few things. ¡°You know Eve? Who is she? No wait, who are you? Oh! Alice told me about you! At here 6th struggle, you are¡­¡± ¡°Kunan. The one and only.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Haha, just joking. Alice, who is this brat?¡± ¡°Samsy, my¡­ hum, friend.¡± She didn''t answer my questions... but I''m too intimidated to ask it again. Nonetheless, I relaxed my stance a bit, as she was clearly not an enemy. ¡°Master, why are you here.¡± ¡°Good question, Alice. I am here to continue your training. You convince me of your potential, and I was told you are ready for the second phase.¡± ¡°Second phase?¡± ¡°Yes! Now is the time for you to learn real techniques!¡± I don''t know why, but this conversation is scaring me. Alice learning ¡®real techniques''? She will never stop to grow, will she? This was going fast, at least for me. Alice was apparently fine, and had already accepted the turn of event. Well, if I remember correctly, it¡¯s not that different than the first time they trained. I felt a tremendous and dark energy surging toward me. Without realizing it I was already a few meters away. My body simply jumped back by pure instinct. What the¡­ "Oh my! Your friend is not as useless as I thought! Even though¡­ anyway! Thanks for giving up some space!¡­ Sally, was it?!" ¡°It¡¯s¡­ sigh¡­ okay!¡± What has she done to me? Did she just try to kill me? To top it all, Alice was about to burst out in laughter after hearing her master call me ''Sally''. Sigh¡­ I guess I''m on my own until they finish their business. I don''t really like this, but Alice seems to be playing along, and the mother Kunan is probably not someone you want to disagree with. Maybe I''ll ask her some question about their family later, I really want to know their secret. Maybe they are from an old session! We know that it could be possible, but also, and more importantly for me, that would be pretty cool¡­ Anyway, this can wait, if Alice is training, I might as well be productive too. My priority is to get back the entirety of my power, I still have the past vision, but as for the future one, I¡¯m still blocked.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I hope it won''t take too long though...
¡°Alright, I told you before, I¡¯m no teacher, so it¡¯ll go the hard way, are you ready?¡± With Samsy away, the training could start. Alice felt the air getting heavy, and breathing became more and more difficult. She sparred with Mother Kunan only once, but it left a strong impression on her. Deep inside her, she felt it, that this woman was an existence that reached the pantheon of power. However, for an inexplicable reason, she wasn¡¯t overwhelmed. It was even the opposite, it was exciting. Alice was about to answer the question, but her instinct kicked in a split second before. She suddenly bent down forward, but nothing happened. No sound or blow of wind was felt. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a yes. Maybe this one was too obvious, but it would be a shame to end this too soon. I acknowledged you after all.¡± ¡°What¡­ what was that?¡± ¡°The first technique you will learn today.?Space Cut?¡± Alice finally remarked the katana on her master waist. There was no sheath, the weapon was attached with a sort of long ruban used as a belt. She had it the first time they met, but at that time Kunan didn''t use it at all. She said ¡®Space Cut''¡­ did she just use it? ¡°Haha, I see you¡¯re looking at Odenta. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t use it. She wouldn¡¯t allow it anyway.¡± ¡°She? Wait, you¡­¡± ¡°Is this really question time.¡± Still down, Alice sensed the same danger as before. She immediately dodged by rolling on her right. What is this? How is she attacking her? She got up, and started to understand. On the ground, where she was just an instant ago. There was a couple of her hairs splattered on top of the grass. She must be using an air slash or something similar. Kunan smiled, and lifted up one of her fingers. Alice had no idea what to expect, this will definitely be dangerous for sure, and deep inside her, she felt it. The monster sleeping inside her, the origin of her talent. Yes, she could feel it, the monster was waking up. Everything went dark. ¡°Aaaaargh!¡± A net cut passed on her face, through her two eyes, and shutting down her vision. Despite the sharp pain, the adrenaline kept her focus enough to dodge another strike and create some distance. The strike was too fast, and she was blinded, but that wasn''t the worst. It wasn''t the first time she gets injured, and it always hurt like hell, but this¡­ this wasn''t the same. She kept jumping and dodging, and at this point, it was more random than anything. Her injury was taking an awfully long time to heal, but it was slowly getting there. Slash! "Haha, it''s harder when I lower the bloodthirst, right?" Hit on the left shoulder! But it didn''t matter, her eyes were functional again. Enough of being on the receiving hand, it was time to counter-attack. Alice drew out her own weapon, Samsy¡¯s silver dagger. She ran toward Kunan, who gently moved her finger away. She jumped. High. Going way above her master. With a hint of surprise, Kunan kept her finger pointed, and draw a circle while turning herself around, sending her mysterious air slash at Alice. No, at where Alice should have been. ?Air Jump? She redirected her jump, propelling herself toward the ground at a tremendous speed. ?Ascending Crescent? The dagger went through the earth, and a cloud of dust and grass burst into the air. As expected, it was evaded. ¡°Nice, I see you¡¯ve already mastered the fitness basics. But you sure are taking your time for this.¡± Her shoulder had just finished regenerating, but another cut spurged some blood in the air once again. Obviously, Kunan was playing with Alice. The whole purpose of this was to teach her, but since the start, she was only on the receiving hand of invisible strikes. It shouldn''t be a problem, Alice should be able to assimilate her technique, like she always does. However, it was different than anything she has ever seen before, and not because her master was too fast for her senses to follow. The main reason was the nature of the techniques, it wasn¡¯t just an air slash, it was a space slash. It didn¡¯t cut through matter itself, but the space occupied by it. Simply, it was a blade skill capable of cutting any physical thing at sight, without any limitation of toughness or range. Kunan was holding back, only inflicting small injury to her pupil, but she was theoretically able to split her in half with a finger slash. Well, a finger ¡®space¡¯ slash. This power was a threat for the balance of the world itself, and even Kunan spend decades to achieve it. There is no way a newcomer would learn it in less than a week. Right?
The last 4 days were¡­ calm, I guess? Counting out the occasional explosion on the neighbour hill, nothing disturbed my own training. The plan was simple: getting back my power. It failed brilliantly. Seeing that I couldn''t make any progress, I concluded it wasn''t the right time, and focused on the power I had. Fortunately, I managed to make some progress, now I don''t only see ghost, but the entire scenery, with real sound and colour. Turns out that a lot of blood has been spilt on those hills, a long time ago. Although, I don¡¯t know the date at which the vision take place, unless there is a mention of it inside. I can more or less tell if it was yesterday, or centuries ago, but it¡¯s really not precise. It was actually thanks to Haru that I had this breakthrough, I remembered what she said about our Virtue, and how it can make us grow, so I tried to express my humility. A really easy task for me, I just had to remember all the time I lost against one of the crew, and it happened a lot. Thus, I dived into myself and found a genuine sentiment of gratitude toward the world and all the external element I depend on. However, I might have gone too far. I wanted to talk with Val, so I took my Quest Book out.
Quest Book - Samsy, the Sear of Humility This book gives struggles relatives to Samsy''s Quest. Further information unavailable. Divine Object - Indestructible - Owned by Samsy
A reddish semi-transparent frame popped out on top of the book. That¡¯s spooky¡­ Chapter 55 - The start of the end
Grass A low green plant that grows naturally over a lot of the earth''s surface, having groups of very thin leaves that grow close together in large numbers. Natural Object
Clouds A grey or white mass in the sky, made up of very small floating drops of water. Natural Object
Dandelion A common small, bright yellow wild flower that has a lot of long, thin petals arranged in a circular pattern around a round centre. Natural Object
V: So¡­ you¡¯ve become a human encyclopedia? S: Not really¡­ I don¡¯t have a good enough memory for that. V: Anyvvay. V: VVhat do you vvant to knovv? S: Seriously? That¡¯s your reaction? S: I have virtually access to any knowledge, on anything, just by looking at it! V: Meh. V: I can split a continent in half. V: I¡¯m not easily impressed. S: I wasn¡¯t boasting¡­ V: I. V: Don¡¯t. V: Give. V: Any. V: Fuck. S: I love you too. V: <3 S: So, I had several questions. V: That vvill cost you a lot. S: I know. S: First, I lost my future sight some times ago. Is that normal? V: Haha, you¡¯re a cripple Seer novv! S: I¡¯ll take that as a yes. V: No, it¡¯s not normal. S: What? V: Never heard of any Quester losing their signature povver. V: VVell, unless you¡¯re in a safe zone, but that¡¯s another topic. S: Will I get it back? V: I don¡¯t knovv. V: Seer doesn''t vvork the same vvay than the other classes. And none of us here knovv enough about them. V: Hovvever, I do knovv one high level Seer. S: Oh? Who is it? V: Your mother. S: ¡­ S: That would have been funny, if she wasn¡¯t dead. V: Haha, ups (^.^) S: So, who is this Seer? V: You don¡¯t have to knovv. V: He is off my radar anyvvay. S: Okay¡­ S: Second question then! S: We already talked about the woman I saw in my dream. S: You said her name was Eve, but, who is she? V: I don¡¯t know. V: But she does seem to have an interest in you. V: Why? S: Because she¡¯s apparently the one that convinced Kunan to supervise my sister¡¯s training. V: She¡¯s interested in your sister? V: I thought she vvas more into you¡­ S: She is too, she kissed me the first time we met. V: Oh my! (=.=) V: Maybe she wants a threesome! S: Fuck you! V: Foursome? S: It¡¯s my sister!!! V: Haha. V: I¡¯m not that sure about that. (^v^) S: Fine! I¡¯m leaving this conversation! S: Oh no! Wait, one last thing. S: Do you know anything about the Kunan? V: Yeah, I savv you¡¯ve met mama Kunan. V: She¡¯s a piece of art. V: She tries to kill every person that matters to her. V: She¡¯s my model. (^.^) S: I¡¯m not surprised¡­ S: But what are they? Are they old Questers? V: Haha, no. V: VVell, probably not. V: In fact, I have no idea, I never asked her, and never savv her sons. V: And I don¡¯t really care. S: Is there something you care about? V: You? (^.^) S: Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that¡­ V: Come on. I¡¯m sure I vvon¡¯t be the one killing you. Or even if I am, death is not that bad you knovv. S: ¡­ S: Sure¡­ S: I probably should get going. S: Thanks for being useless as usual. V: My pleasure. (^.^) As always, Val didn''t teach me anything valuable. I wonder who is this other Seer she mentioned, surely it''s not Tiffany, and it''s not another guide, meaning that it''s another wandering Quester. If that''s the case, there no use searching for him. Damn, I don''t like that. My foresight saved me too many times for me to give up on it, but what can I do? Maybe I''m not humble enough? Well, at least I have this cool inspection thing. I looked at my hand.
Samsy Sacre, Seer of Humility (lvl 19)
Strength 14 Agility 16
Dexterity 18 Intelligence 11
Flux Control 34 Flux Power 41
Techniques Foresight Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.BeForesight Instinct Vision Art of the Flow (Beginner) Inspection (Proficient)
Holy! What is that? A power chart? Looks like it. There are my name and title¡­ Wow, that¡¯s pretty cool! I wonder if I''m powerful though. Those numbers don''t tell me anything if I can''t compare them to someone else. Looking down, I saw the Techniques box, and was surprised by the content. ¡®Foresight¡¯? I still have my Foresight? I wonder if it¡¯s reassuring or not¡­ CRACK Hum? What was that noise? It¡¯s them! It¡¯s coming from their hill! Where¡­ Shit, I don¡¯t see Alice! I rushed to see what happened. I arrived a few seconds later, she was on the ground, unconscious, and Kunan was silently watching her. I quickly went to my sister to see if she was alright. Good, she¡¯s still breathing, and I don¡¯t see any wounds. She¡¯s probably just passed out of exhaustion. Damn, those Kunan trainings are way too dangerous, I should have probably not let her do it, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in a good position to talk. By the way¡­ where is she? Where is Kunan? I looked around, but there was no one to be seen other than us. Did she leave? Why? I remarked something else, there was a crack in the ground, a huge crack splitting the entire hill in half. They really went out of proportion. I guess if Kunan is not there anymore, that means the training is over. That''s a relief, even though I would have liked to ask some question to her. Not like she would have answered them anyway¡­ So¡­ that¡¯s how this struggles end, hue?
Another meeting. At what served as the guides HQ, Sam organized another meeting. Nothing new, he liked doing a lot of them, for communication purposes. Of course, Valentine couldn¡¯t care less about those, but this time she was there. That¡¯s right, this time something was different, because this time she had something to say. A few month ago, she met with Eve, probably the most powerful entity she ever saw, who asked her to kill her pupil. Of course, it was more complicated than that, but that¡¯s basically what she was asked to do. Without any care for ¡®communication'' and ¡®team spirit'', she had no plan to tell anyone about it. But the recent mention of Eve by Sam reminded her of something she should have realized a long time ago: she has no idea who she is, and what she wants. Killing Sam might be aligned with Valentine''s own motive, that was quite suspicious that a being powerful enough to break a taboo was interested in a common noob. That''s what she wanted to share with the other: what is Eve? In fact, she would have organized the meeting herself, but to her surprise, Jules had also something important for them. ¡°Their session is about to fail.¡± ¡°Wow, don¡¯t be so dramatic Jules.¡± ¡°Well, I kind of agree with him.¡± To Valentine¡¯s shock, Clarence backed up Jules. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Xavier, my pupil. He¡¯s going solo.¡± ¡°Naomi has some heavy problems too¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid he lost his mind. He met a strange guy in his last struggle, and¡­ I don¡¯t really know what happened but he doesn¡¯t talk with me anymore.¡± ¡°Wait, wasn¡¯t my pupils meeting with him?¡± For the first time in a while, Valentine heard Fran?ois'' voice. This tiny guy rarely talks in front of her. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I think it is important enough for us to meet. Kyle¡­ has gone missing. Since two days ago.¡± Silence fell upon the room. As veteran guides, they all knew what the death of one Quester meant: the failure of the session. Unless it happens in the final stages of the adventure, but this was far from being the case here. Needless to say, Valentine was massively annoyed by this turn of event. ¡®Fuck, and here I thought I would be the one giving shocking information!¡¯ Chapter 56 - One man army Struggle#15 Objective: Save Julia Sub-objective: Kill the mad scientist - Destroy the robot army Facing the Secret base of this so-called mad scientist, a handsome young man with golden hair and blue eyes was inspecting a small book. Well, ¡®Secret'' was a bit over rated, as its huge metallic door build in the mountain flank and serving as an entrance was quite eye-catching. The mountain itself was only 20 minutes away from the nearest town, so it didn''t take our charismatic hero that long to find it. The mission was simple, a mas scientist was using life force in order to power up is machines, and he recently kidnapped a young girl named Julia. It was yesterday, and Xavier finally caught up to him. Now that he was in front of his base, the only thing left was to kill the bad guy and save the hostage. However, as stated by the book, he built a robot army, and that will most likely hinder his apprehension. Gifted with brain and brawn, the blond young man perfectly realized the risk he would take by going inside alone. He might be strong enough to cut a tree with one kick, but if this adventure has taught him something, it is that you can never underestimate a risk. His virtue was Patience, and it was a pretty good fit, but it couldn''t be applied in this situation. Every second he''s not acting bring Julia closer to her demise. That¡¯s why he put his Quest Book back on his belt, and approached the door. He has already made his mind. Even though none were apparent, they were probably a few camera watching him already, but he wasn¡¯t bothered by it. In fact, it was the opposite. Two meters away from the entrance. Xavier gathered all his energy, all his power into his muscle. He wasn¡¯t good at it compared to Naomi or Kyle, but his starting point in term of strength was way higher. That¡¯s why¡­ CRAAAASH. One punch. That''s only what it took to obliterate the right ten-centimetres-thicks steel door. His fist was still hanging in the air. Covered with blood. His blood. Such blow wasn¡¯t without consequences, but that was the last of his worries. A little girl was in peril, and he was ready to give everything to save her. He shouldn''t be on the front line. At least not according to his title. Xavier Xerfos, Warlock of Patience, gifted with abilities to manipulate and strike the minds of others. However, his foes will be mindless killing machines, so neither his Class or Virtue will be of any help. Yes, the odds are against him, it''s probably the worst adversary he could have hoped to encounter. As if the Goddess itself was asking him a question: do you have what it takes? The destroyed front door was his answer. ¡°Crrr¡­ 1,2. 1,2. Do you hear me? Yes, you can. I can see you after all.¡± Xavier spotted a speaker near the roof on the inside. A voice was coming from it, probably the scientist. "I know what you came for. Your not the only one that tried after all. He he he. It''s always the same story, I take a child, everyone''s panicking, someone tries to play the hero, and he dies. Like you, in a few seconds." ¡°Where is the girl?! You scum!¡± ¡°Oh oh oh, don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯m taking good care of her.¡± A vein popped up on his forehead. He wasn''t completely mad, not yet. He couldn''t afford to lose his temper, the first wave of enemies was about to come, as hinted by the speakers'' taunt. And without fail, several combat robots arrive promptly. They were huge, at least 2 meters tall, and were mostly composed of black cables attached to an exoskeleton replicating the human''s shape, but with weapons instead of hands. Some had guns, other spiked balls or blade. Finally, their head was completely round with a single giant red eye glowing in the badly lighten corridor, where the reach of the outside light stopped. Without any warning, the gun robot fired a first round of bullets, and Xavier evaded sideway. The place wasn¡¯t bug, but wide enough for him and the 5 robots in front of him not to be hindered during the fight. Another robot had already started to charge, and Xavier went for the confrontation. He swiftly dodged a blade slash and followed the movement by a powerful leg swipe. The enemy fell, and without a moment wasted, his head was crushed under a human foot. First one down. Another one was already here, with a blunt weapon this time. Same dance. Dodge the blow. And destroy the head. Catch an arm. Throw one of them toward the shooting one. Step back. While two of them were trying to get back on their feet, the last robot was attacking Xavier with a barrage of stabs, so fast that it seemed as if it had more than two arms. ¡°Woooo!¡± Xavier put both of his palms in front of him. They were immediately pierced by the robot¡¯s attack. What a fool. The machine, that is. The pierced hands were now strongly grabbing the robot''s arms, and there would be no way in hell Xavier would let them go away. For an instant, the action stopped. It was as if the robot itself realized he had made the worst mistake of his ¡®life¡¯, and it was followed by a strong high front kick, sending its head straight to the ceiling. Only two left. Without waiting for them to extirpate themselves from one another, Xavier kicked the body of his last victim toward them. The force behind it was enough to push them to the ground again. Following that, Xavier crushed promptly their eyes before they could retaliate. These robots have good strength and speed, proven by the impact on the ground caused by the second one, but their sense of balance is clearly bad. Xavier looked at his hands. The wound was deep, but miraculously no nerve was touched. With flux, it wouldn''t take more than ten minutes to heal them completely. However, he couldn''t afford that time. This fight was a closer call than expected, and there was only five of them. Nonetheless, after resting for less than a minute, he resumed his progression through the base, following the faint path of light on the ground indicating the shape of the hallway, for lack of a better light source. Time was against him. He ran as fast as he could. Shortly after, he encounters another pack of killing machine and destroyed them in a swift, momentarily sacrificing his left eye to a sneaky slash. The cycle kept going. Their numbers kept increasing. Xavier kept winning.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The deeper he was, the more he was thinking of Julia, the more he was taunted by the evil mastermind, and stronger his anger was growing. Covered with his own blood, each time a wound was closed, two others had already opened elsewhere. His shirt was half burned down, and one of his shoes was missing. The swarm of robots was endless, and he rapidly lost the count of how many had been destroyed. With each one of his blow, steel was bend, cables were thorned or heads were crushed. As if his anger was only making him stronger. But finally, after going through hundreds of killing machine, he reached the final room. ¡°Oh oh oh! I have to praise you! You are the first one to have come this far. However¡­¡± The room was huge, almost as big as a football court, and filled with huge screens and holographic models. On the opposite side was standing an old bald man with a white coat. In front of him was a little girl, lying down on what looked like an operation table. She was unharmed, but the presence of a scalpel in the man¡¯s hand and an ominous injecting machine behind him was alarming enough. However, that wasn¡¯t the bad part. Xavier thought the army of robots was behind him, obliterated against the walls of the facility, but he was dead wrong. The true army was her, at least fifty of them, taller, and with deadlier weapons attached to them. ¡°¡­this is the end for you! And her!¡± Screaming and pointing his blade at the child''s face, the mad scientist was obviously waiting for the young intruder to burst out in rage. However, against every logic, he immediately calmed down. Yes, everything happened according to the plan. Warlock is not a class meant for fist fighting, and excels in mind tricks. The room was too big, and his enemy too far away for that, nonetheless, he does possess one trump card for this kind of situation. ?Limit Break? For each and every human, the brain has to limit the body''s strength in order to protect itself. Without these limitations, a normal person could lift a car, and in Xavier''s case¡­ well, that''s basically how he was able to destroy the 10 centimetres thick steel door at the entrance. Be it one or a thousand, those machines stood no chance. As soon as the technique was activated, the atmosphere change. Xavier, with his vein surging all over his body, and his muscle over tensed, clutched his fist, and slammed the ground. Slabs and rocks were propelled into the air. The rest of the ground was shattered like glass. The whole mountain was shaking. In this confusion, the figure of Xavier had already disappeared. Using the lost balance of the army, he rushed through them, crushing the ones in his way. 20 seconds, that was his time limit, after that his body won''t be able to hold it. It could have been more, but the first use at the entrance and the repetitive combat for the past hour had already exhausted most of his stamina. Moreover, it''s only a matter of time before his target gathers his thought and harm the girl. Distracted by this thought for a split second, Xavier reacted a second too late to a huge hammerhead about to hit his. CRACK Whoever thought it was enough to stop his charge? With a bleeding forehead and scraps of metals splattered all around him, the blond man had already reached the centre of the room, as well as the halfway mark of his time limit. ¡°Pr-pr-protocol twenty!¡± With a shaking scared voice, the scientist activates his own trump card: self-destruction. The three robots in front of Xavier started to glow with an ominous red light. Carried away by his momentum, our hero had no way of evading it. BOOOOOOOM Swiping half of the army, the explosion shook the Earth and blasted rumbles everywhere in the room, leaving behind a dark cloud of despair. Was it the end? Of course not. True heroes are destined to surpass themselves when the odds are against them. ?Bullet Time? Facing his own death, Xavier concentrated every particle of brain power he had to find a countermeasure, miraculously pulling out a last card. Slowing his own process of thought to make one second last a minute, he just created ?Bullet Time?. Had he jumped a split second later, he would have been obliterated by the epicentre of the explosion. Instead, he was ¡®just¡¯ blown away toward the end of the room, and crashed on the top of the back wall. Some bones were broken, and half his back was burned, but he was alive, and conscious enough to land a few meters under. ¡°I-I-Impossi¡­¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± With his head high and a menacing glare, Xavier grabbed shouted at the scientist. PSHHH Blood! From his mouth! Xavier just coughed blood, the 20 seconds were over. ¡°Ha¡­¡± The young man couldn¡¯t stand up anymore, and put a knee to the ground. ¡°Haha¡­¡± Troubled to get back his breath, Xavier coughed a second time, spitting a mix of blood and saliva on the ground. "HAHAHA, I won! And you looooooooooo¡­" A strange mark appeared*, floating several millimetres away from the old man¡¯s forehead. The truth is that most Warlock excels in mind control, and Xavier was no exception. His only problem was that he must get close to his target in order to control their thought. Of course, he couldn¡¯t entirely control someone¡¯s consciousness in such a short time, but it was plenty enough to stop a weak minded person frozen. Finally, he was victorious. With his own blood covering his body and multiple bones fractured, but victorious nonetheless. ¡°Haaaa¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter how many good guys die. There¡¯ll always be people standing against evil. That¡¯s why guys like you tend to end up like that.¡± Standing with will alone, Xavier was already standing next to the villain. He saw fear in his eyes, but our hero wasn¡¯t so merciful as to let him live. With one angry punch, a bald head was sent flying inside the remains of the black smoke from the explosion. Slowly catching his breath, he looked down at the little girl. Fortunately, she looked unharmed. ¡°Finally, this is over.¡±
The truth is that Xavier forgot about the rest of the robots army, and had to run away with the girl on his back will getting chased by them. He managed to outrun them and escape the facility, but as soon as he reached the outside, his stamina ran out and he collapsed on the spot. He woke the day after, in town. Luckily, a group of worried folks had followed him and waited for his return. They brought him and the girl to town and tend to his wound. Needless to say, Xavier was congratulated as a hero, everyone came and try to thank him, but he managed to sneak out and flee. With his business done, he had no reason to stay. The girl was safe, that was all he cared about. Moreover, he has urgent matters to take care of¡­ He took out the book to check his achievement. Struggle#15 Objective: Save Julia Sub-objective: Kill the mad scientist - Destroy the robot army With a small sigh of relief, he closed it and started to head toward his next struggle. This one was probably one of the hardest so far, and it was likely that the next ones will be even more difficult. On top of that, the closer to the reunion he was, the heavier he was feeling the weight on his shoulder. A huge responsibility was given to him. A truth that he was the only one allowed to see. ¡°Sam¡­ why did you do this?¡±
So¡­ we just passed the door and Alice is still sleeping. It¡¯s been already more than 24 hours, but I¡¯m not that worried, she was fighting restlessly for the past 4 days after all. Let¡¯s see what the Quest Book is giving us this time. Struggle#16 Objective: Craft Alice¡¯s Quest Book Sub-objective: Bring Alice - Meet Ogre Omtapo - Defeat the Guardian ¡­ WHAT THE FUCK?
*The symbol on the mad scientist forehead : Chapter 57 - Quest and Popcorn As the sun was reaching its peak in the vast blue sky deprived of any clouds, one boy was sitting with his eye close in the middle of a sea of grass. Next to him led down a sleeping beauty using her hair as a mat, whose scarlet taint was emphasized by the sunlight. Only a few minutes have passed since Sam and Alice arrived in this new place, and even though he had lost his foresight, he was convinced that her sister was likely to wake up soon. In this untouched part of the world, there was no road or sign to guide them, so it was up to him to find the way¡­ Fortunately, this task was perfectly befitting his role as a Seer.
¡°Mouaaaaah¡± ¡°You finally wake up, sleepy head¡­¡± ¡°?!¡± After a long and annoying yawn, she realized she was awake and immediately jumped on her feet, looking around and getting on her guard. ¡°Calm down! Kunan is not here, we¡¯re in the next struggle.¡± ¡°¡­you let me sleep on the grass?¡± "That''s really the first thing you ask? Nothing like: Where did she go? Did she say something? What is this place? You know, normal questions for people in your situation." ¡°That wasn¡¯t a no.¡± ¡°¡­you are heavy.¡± Okay, that was a bit petty of me to let her sleep on the ground without a blanket or something, and I am ashamed of myself, but when I saw her ''stats'' or whatever, I was kind of annoyed.
Alice, ??? of ??? (lvl 36)
Strength 121 Agility 164
Dexterity 220 Intelligence 1394
Flux Control 103 Flux Power 146
Techniques Magic [Fire(Proficient), Water(Proficient)] Air Jump Lightning Gathering Illusion Crafts (Beginner) Art of the Flow (Beginner) Spatial Splitting Art (Proficient)
The world is not fair. She even got my own Art... ¡°Fuck, I have grass in my hair!¡± ¡°Do you really care?¡± ¡°¡­yeah, I guess not. Anyway, if that makes you happy¡­ *hum hum* Where did she go? Did she say something? What is this place?¡± ¡°Aww, thanks. So, I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know, and¡­ I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°You are a useless male.¡± ¡°But! There is something that might interest you!¡± Struggle#16 Objective: Craft Alice¡¯s Quest Book Sub-objective: Bring Alice - Meet Ogre Omtapo - Defeat the Guardian I showed the Quest Book to her, and witness her genuine surprise to see her name on it. ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty much what I thought too.¡± ¡°I had no idea we could make one of those. In fact, I think Marie tried but gave up.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know that¡­ that¡¯s complicated, if even she can¡¯t do it, it¡¯ll be hard finding someone.¡± ¡°So¡­ we are stuck here?¡± ¡°Not yet, I believe there something further in the south.¡± "¡­did you see the future?" "No, the past, there''s a guy that passed around here multiple times, from north to south or the other way around. So it''s likely there''s a village or something in one or the other direction." ¡°And¡­ why south and not north?¡± ¡°Nothing, just a hunch.¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re pretty cool when you say things like that, with the wind in your hair and everything.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re pretty shameless to say that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡± Haha, despite saying that, her cheeks are completely red and I can see her pupils slightly shaking. Her smile is cute though. Anyway... we went south, and as expected, after an hour or so, we saw a single house, in the middle of the plain, with stone wall and a lot of smoke elevating in the sky from a small chimney. A few minutes later, we were in front of the door, and after exchanging a quick glance to Alice, I knocked on the door.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Dammit! I told it wouldn''t be ready before tomorrow¡­" With shouts and violence, a chubby man opened the door. He was smaller than me, but not much, with black hair and an afro. Adding that his face was covered in dust and soot while he was wearing a perfectly clean white shirt, you could say that both of us were quite startled by his appearance. Him as well, it seemed¡­ was he waiting for someone? ¡°Who the hell are ya?¡± ¡°Hum¡­ well, how do I say this¡­¡± I guess I should have thought of a way to introduce Alice and myself beforehand. I didn''t really have to before, so it got off my head¡­ Shit, how do I do? We need to make it plausible without telling him too much¡­ ¡°We¡¯re on a struggle.¡± ¡°Oh, a bunch of noobs! What a cool surprise, come on in!¡± Or, we can simply say that¡­ Great job, Sis¡¯! I guess¡­ We entered in his humble home, who was more of a workshop than anything. There was wood table everywhere, an oven in use and a bunch of metal scraps and tools here and there. There was also a huge chest on the back and stairs going to the first floor. ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m a crafter, the best there is!¡± ¡°Oh oh, I hope you never meet Mar.¡± ¡°Not the right time Alice.¡± ¡°Who is Mar?¡± ¡°No one, a friend of us, anyway! Who¡­ who are you?¡± "Oh, sorry, didn''t introduce maself. I''m Ogre Omtapo! Mason of Kindness, at your service." He theatrical presented himself, bowing to us with disproportions manner. He seems to have fun doing it. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m quite excited, you¡¯re my second set of newcomers!¡± ¡°Really? Wait, what happened to your session?¡± ¡°No idea, I just lost my book, well, more like it was stolen. In the end, I have no way of leaving this struggle, so I settled here, and, well, it¡¯s been forty years or so¡­ so it¡¯s likely we failed. And when I saw my first newcomers, it was like a proof to me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ sad.¡± ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry, I had time for grief! Now it¡¯s time for me, to help you! What can I do for you!¡± ¡°Oh, thanks, I¡¯m Sam and she is Alice, my si¡­¡± ¡°We need a book.¡± ¡°A book you say? That¡¯s it? I¡¯m more of a metal worker, but¡­¡± ¡°A special kind of book¡­¡± I figured I might as well show him the objective, so I did. Needless to say, he was shocked. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!¡± Why does everyone say the same thing?
¡°Valentine!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Stop messing with my stuff!¡± ¡°Come on Will, let me play for a bit, I¡¯m bored!¡± ¡°You¡¯re always bored! Go annoy someone else! I¡¯m busy!¡± ¡°The blond girl hasn¡¯t moved from her 12th?¡± ¡°No! But that¡¯s not the problem, no fuck off.¡± ¡°Oh my, do you have your period or what?¡± Valentine casually left William¡¯s office, trying to think about another activity to occupy herself. For some reason, the place where Sam and his sister were transported to this time was not covered by Williams setup. That was weird, but not impossible, only the first world is completely covered, the higher the flux concentration, the harder it is to put the recording devices, according to Will himself. So, she is currently looking for a way to kill time. She has at least a month before the main event, where she is scheduled to kill Sam, but she had pretty much nothing to do until then. She could contact him, but they already chatted the day before, and she doesn¡¯t want to give the impression she cares about him. ¡°I know!¡± She had a revelation, and without wasting time, she went to one of the desks in the back of the room. ¡°Clar! How¡¯re you doing? It¡¯s been a while girl!¡± ¡°Val! Well, we saw each other at the last reunion, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, what are you doing?¡± ¡°You know, watching Naomi¡­ I don¡¯t really know what she¡¯s doing though¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± As she was on the wrong side of the screen, Valentine had to go around to see what was happening, and, arriving near Clarence¡¯s back, she froze. Slowly, a big childish smile started to cover her face. ¡°Oh, I know exactly what she¡¯s doing¡­¡± ¡°Really? What is it? Seems fun but¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to know! Just, stay there¡­ I¡¯m gonna grab some popcorn.¡± Chapter 58 - "Spoiler: They wont kiss... yet! Wink wink" (O) ¡°So¡­ I think I can help ya two, but it¡¯ll be a bit tricky.¡± After I showed him the struggle, he completely freaked out for a few minutes and we had to watch him walk in circles until he finally calmed down. Needless to say, I had to stop Alice from punching him in the face for ignoring us. (S) ¡°Are you sure you can do it?¡± (O) ¡°Yeah, well¡­ maybe, I think¡­¡± (A) ¡°Are you fucking sure or not?!¡± (O) ¡°I¡¯m sure, I¡¯m sure¡­ just, it¡¯s the first tame I¡¯m doin¡¯ somethin¡¯ like that, y¡¯know¡­ ya don¡¯t create a davine object every mornin¡¯¡­¡± (A) ¡°Davine?¡± (S) ¡°He meant ¡®Divine¡¯ Alice.¡± (A) ¡°Oh¡­ Wait, what¡¯s a¡­¡± (S) ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about it later, Ogre, what do you need.¡± (O) ¡°Dude, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe to¡­¡± He was obviously nervous, touching his neck, avoiding our eyes, and sweating like crazy¡­ I figured this couldn¡¯t be an easy task, but his reaction worries me a lot. (A) ¡°Listen, Og¡¯, you look like a nice guy, but if you don¡¯t help us I¡¯ll break your¡­¡± (S) ¡°Alice! Don¡¯t be like that!¡± (O) ¡°No! That¡¯s fine¡­ I¡­ it¡¯s not lake I¡¯ve a choice anyway. I do need somethin¡¯ to make the copy. Well, not exactly to ¡®make¡¯ it but¡­ I need a relic.¡± (S) ¡°A relic?¡± (O) "Yes, it''s further in the south, where there''s a sort of big Stonehenge thingy, and in the middle a trapdoor leading to a room." (A) ¡°Wow, sounds like a real quest¡­¡± What is Stonehenge¡­? Whatever, Alice seems to know what it is. (O) ¡°The thing is, it¡¯s guarded.¡± (A) ¡°Well, that¡¯s a given.¡± (O) ¡°And the guardian is really powerful¡­¡± Damn, he was so joyous and energetic when he opened the door, but now he keeps looking away with a clearly faked smile. Looks like he has some history with the guardian, or the relic¡­ (A) ¡°And what is the ¡®relic¡¯? A magical screw-driver or something?¡± (O) "I don''t know. It might sound weird, but I don''t really ¡®need'' it¡­ it''s complicated, just get it and it should be fine." (S) ¡°Okay¡­¡± (O) ¡°Yeah, I¡­ I don¡¯t really craft gear so I have nothing to offer right now¡­¡± (A) ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I figured you were usel¡­¡± (S) ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it!¡± Fortunately, I managed to cut her speech in time, this stupid sister of mine¡­ We talked a bit more about the location of the said relic and after that, Ogre offered us to eat something. We couldn''t really refuse, especially Alice who has barely eaten anything for the past few days because of her ¡®training''. It was hard enough to find something to eat in the plain, and unlike sis¡¯, I wasn¡¯t fighting anyone. So, of course, we accepted the invitation.
V: Come on! V: Don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s the only thing you have to say! V: She fucking cheated on you! V: Literally! >< S: Yeah¡­ well, I kind of did the same. S: She must have a reason. S: And it¡¯s not like it changes anything. V: You are so boring. (=.=)'' V: I am ashamed of being your guide. S: Hey, we do have something in common now, I also am ashamed of you. S: Plus, our relationship is based on trust, sort of. It¡¯s not a so-called ¡®guide¡¯ I never met that could change anything. V: Oh! V: I am shocked! (¡ão¡ã) V: After everything I did for you! S: Like? V: First, I taught you about the vvorlds. S: You didn¡¯t say half of what the other did, and I had to pay for it with info on myself. V: VVell¡­ I¡­ V: Oh, I knovv! I saved you when you faint in the jungle! V: Ha! S: You what? V: I almost forgot, I used my precious ticket to come save your weak ass after you almost got killed by a bug. S: Really? V: Yeah, baby! (^.^) V: How do you think you passed the door? S: Holy¡­ S: It was you! S: Why didn¡¯t you told me? V: ¡®Cause it''s a secret. You''re not supposed to knovv that I can travel betvveen worlds. S: You can do that? S: Wait, worlds? V: And¡­ I vvon¡¯t tell you more. V: Hehe. (^.^) S: Wait! S: What are you talking about! S: The other guide never told anything about worlds or world travelling! S: Val? S: Are you¡­ S: Fuck you. Shit, she left the conversation, just like that. What a bitch. I guess that the existence of multiple worlds was to be expected, but I thought it was just continents or something. And it seems to be quite a big deal to travel from one another, I suppose there are no more magical doors after you finish the Quest. And¡­ she saved me? I kind of forgot what happened back in the jungle, it feels like it was decades ago, but it might be possible. I fainted and woke up on the next struggle, so obviously, someone picked me up, and even though I didn''t meet her yet, she was already watching me, so she was aware of my imminent death. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But why? It¡¯s not her type at all. Not that I know a lot about her, and not like I want to know a lot about her. She''s joking all the time about wanting me to die and she kind of admitted she will be killing me in the near future. I asked the other guides but nobody told me anything about her, other than she''s crazy strong and liked to make bet to see who''ll be the first noob to die. Apparently, I was the first time in years she didn''t do that. Hum¡­ this doesn¡¯t make sense¡­ or maybe I¡¯m missing something. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Oh? Yeah, sorry, just lost in thought.¡± ¡°Did Val bullied you or something?¡± ¡°No, well, she kind of did but, you know, the usual.¡± Alice and I were walking toward our new destination: the relic. As the place is an hour away from Ogre''s workshop/house, we moved as soon as we could. With a feeling that the struggles are becoming tougher and longer, I figured we shouldn''t waste any time. That and I was starting to have a hard time containing Alice''s behaviour in front of our host - she doesn''t know the difference between criticizing and plainly insulting people. Everything was going fine, we were almost halfway there and the sun was just starting to go down in the sky. We had all the afternoon to defeat the guardian, take the relic, whatever it is, and go back to Ogre. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be that easy, but I¡¯m an optimistic guy. ¡°Sam, I was thinking¡­ well, it¡¯s kind of obvious, but¡­ if I¡¯m going to have my own Quest Book, it means we¡¯ll part ways¡­ right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡­ ¡­ Holy shit! ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t think of that¡­¡± "Oh, my¡­! No! I feel so stupid!" I was so obvious that I fucking didn''t realize it! ¡°But yeah, it seems logical! I mean, it¡¯s not like there¡¯s anything we can trust here, or any real ¡®rules¡¯, but I don¡¯t think us ¡®climbing¡¯ the quest together was meant to be.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± So, that was the reason why she barely talked to me since we left the workshop¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad, it¡¯s not like we won¡¯t see each other after that. We¡¯re almost at the 20th struggle, sort of, and I¡¯m sure Marie will figure how to link our books together, so we¡¯ll never really be¡­¡± ¡°I know that! But¡­ I¡¯m¡­ it¡¯s too soon!¡± She stopped. And turned around, staring at me with her tearful gold and silver eyes. ¡°I was finally doing it. I was finally improving, thanks to you. If we split apart, I¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll make it!¡± ¡°What do you mean¡­ you don¡¯t need me to¡­¡± "Yes, I do! I told you what happened on the 7th struggle! Do you think I won''t snap out again!" ¡°Alice¡­¡± "This is me! I am a killing machine, I am good at it and I don''t even feel bad about it! I''m a fucking monster! The only thing keeping me away from destroying the world, from losing my fucking common sense is you! I hate the world, I hate the people! I...!" ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ *sob* ... "I envy you, you know. You can care about the other... you can forgive them, you can forgive yourself, you can... forget¡­ But I can''t¡­ Because of this stupid bitch I¡­ I¡­" "Without a single word, Samsy took her beloved sister into his arms, putting one hand on the back of her head. He didn''t say anything, because he knew no word could do anything, and the two fakes siblings stayed like that, silent, eyes closed, the wind brushing her scarlet hair. As her tears were about to fall, she gently pushes him away, and both opened their eyes at the same time. Then, without a warning¡­" ¡°Who the fuck is talking?¡± As I was trying to comfort Alice, a voice coming from nowhere started to comment the situation. She tried to call it out, but there was no one around¡­ "Haha, sorry, I couldn''t help myself." ¡°Where the fuck are you!¡± ¡°Please, don¡¯t get mad, young lady. Just look down.¡± At our feet, there was¡­ a hologram? A sort of scroll, like the ones we had at Lucropolis, was put on the grass, and a blue-ish projection of a man was floating above its screen. He was only tens of centimetres tall and was wearing a classy suit with a top hat. Strangely enough, the upper part of his head was completely covered by some sort of shadow, and he was harbouring a wide and confident smile. Alice picked up the scroll. ¡°What is the meaning of this.¡± "I''m sorry, I don''t have any dictionary with me right now, but I''ll try something, this is a pronoun, used to design something." "¡­ Is this a jo¡­" "Haha, got''ya! It''s actually just a recording, I''m actually in another world, hehe, so I wouldn''t have any signal anyway. Well, I guess it won''t be much different than a real conversation for you¡­" ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Hey Sam!! Long time no see!¡± ¡°Do I know you?¡± ¡°No¡­ not really. But I know a lot about you! Wink wink. I said it out loud because you can¡¯t see my eyes! Haha! I¡¯m so funny.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± "Hehe, I guess I should introduce myself, you met my¡­ you met Eve, right? But she probably didn''t say anything about me yet, she''s kind of shy for that. I have many titles, such as the All-Seeing, or the Gentleman, but for you, I think the most appropriate would be Adam. It''s a pleasure for you to meet me." Chapter 59 - The Beginning of the end (S) ¡°¡­ the All-Seeing?¡± (Ad) ¡°Really? That¡¯s the one you picked up?¡± (Al) ¡°What¡¯s the matter? You have a shitty name, so what?¡± (Ad) "You didn''t meet Eve? Damn, I thought you would have at this point¡­ Well, sometimes it''s hard to differentiate the present from the future." (S) ¡°The future?¡± (Ad) ¡°I told you, this is a recording, I¡¯m not actually conversing with you, but because I know everything that has happen and that will happen, I can do something like talking with you with a recorded message. Stupid say wow!¡± (S) ¡°Wow¡­¡± (Ad) ¡°Hahaha!¡± (Al) ¡°You know what, I¡¯ll just crush this thing.¡± (Ad) ¡°Nononono, not yet. I have a message for you two.¡± (S) ¡°A message? Okay, stop. I need to sum up the situation. This is not you, but a tape you recorded and let in the open, so that you could ¡®talk¡¯ to us. To deliver a message¡­¡± (Ad) ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it. As expected of my main character, you catch up fast.¡± (S) ¡°But why? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just¡­ come yourself?¡± (Ad) "As you know, or at least should know, the flow of event cannot be changed. What is supposed to happen will happen, no matter what. Also, it''s more practical that way, I am¡­ I will be busy right now, whatever that means." (S) ¡°¡­doing what?¡± (Ad) ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s a secret, but to be fair, it does relate to you..¡± (S) ¡°¡­¡± (Ad) ¡°Well, I might as well say what I¡¯m here for before your aspiring waifu crushes me.¡± (Al) ¡°Soon to be what?¡± (Ad) ¡°First, you. Sam, it¡¯s not because they are guides that they know much more than you. They are especially ignorant of the way classes and virtue works, if you want to get back your foresight, you¡¯ll have to find back to your true self. You are currently going in the wrong direction.¡± (S) ¡°What are you¡­ how¡­¡± (Ad) ¡°And you, Scarlet White¡­ don¡¯t be too hard on yourself. It won¡¯t be your fault.¡± (Al) ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡± (Ad) ¡°And¡­ that¡¯s all. Oh, no, one more thing, don¡¯t give the relic to Ogre. Get it to him, but don¡¯t give it, you¡¯ll understand in due time. Or not. Just¡­ trust me on this.¡± (Al) ¡°Why should I trust a little piece of shit?¡± (Ad) ¡°Because I¡¯m so smart and handsome, wink wink.¡± (Al) ¡°¡­¡± (S) ¡°¡­¡± (Al) ¡°I¡¯m gonna destroy you.¡± (Ad) ¡°Sigh¡­ you have no sense of humour. That¡¯s why I never liked you from the start. Team Laura for ev¡­¡± CRASH!! She didn¡¯t even let him finish. Well, it was probably for the best, I think. He was starting to give me one hell of a headache. Damn¡­ that was weird. I¡¯m mean, more than usual. I tried to use ¡®Inspection¡¯ on him, but it didn¡¯t show anything other than a small box filled with question marks. Sam for the scroll projecting the hologram¡­ I think he told the truth, I had this weird feeling that whatever I could do or say, it wouldn¡¯t have surprised him. As if he knew everything. Yeah¡­ it actually felt like he was using the very power I lost, but different¡­ way more powerful than anything I could pull up. Or at the very least he is a better actor than me. ¡°Sam¡­?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ sorry¡­ that, that was weird.¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t really know what to think about it.¡± "Me neither¡­ he did mention Eve, so¡­ he might be someone really important." ¡°Who is Eve?¡± ¡°Hum¡­ I, I don¡¯t really know, she -hum hum- appeared in one of my vision, well, more or less. I asked Val about it, and she told me that she¡¯s basically a goddess. With omnipotent powers and things like that.¡± ¡°Wow, if that bitch said it, then it¡¯s surely the real deal.¡± ¡°Yeah, and this Adam is even more¡­ mysterious, I wonder if she also knows about him.¡± I took out my book to send a message. The last line of our conversation is a nice ¡®Fuck you¡¯ from my end. I am a bit reluctant to the idea of restarting the conversation, but this is important enough, I hope. ¡°This adventure is making me crazy. I wish someone would just come and explain everything to us, like, normally, not with some weird riddles or challenges to overcome.¡± ¡°You did crush him before he could do that.¡± ¡°He was annoying!¡± ¡°Haha, can¡¯t argue with that.¡± ¡°Say¡­ Sam, about earlier.¡± The instant I thought that the atmosphere was lightening a bit, Alice summoned her serious ton, once again. Of course, I almost forgot but¡­ our conversation from before wasn¡¯t finished ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have said that about Naomi, and¡­ you¡¯re right¡­ I can¡¯t rely on you forever. It might actually be for the best if I go away for a time.¡± ¡°Alice¡­ You don¡¯t have to force yourself, you know¡­ if you need time, we can postpone this Struggle for some days. Like he said, we get the relic but we don¡¯t give it to him, and we wait until we¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°No, I told you, I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m not forcing myself or anything.¡± ¡°Come one, we both know you hate Nami. And that you don¡¯t regret for a second that you called her a bitch.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ you said you love me, over and over. And I know we¡¯re not real siblings¡­¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What? You knew all along?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not that stupid. I just¡­ love you, as a sister. And I love Nami as¡­ well, as the woman of my life.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Okay¡­ it''s probably not the best time to say that¡­ I hope I didn''t make everything worse, but it''s not like I can lie to her - firstly because my conscience wouldn''t allow me, and secondly because she would instantly know anyway. ¡°You really love her¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± ¡°But you love me too¡­¡± ¡°Ye¡­ what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I have no chance at all.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it! I just have to try harder!¡± ¡°Are you listening to¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I tried that hard until now anyway.¡± And I lost her in an interminable monologue, in which she started planning how she will - supposedly - make me fall for her. I always knew she was an adept of reverse psychology, but I never thought she would react so fast. ¡°Prepare yourself! ¡®Brother¡¯, your heart is my new target, and there¡¯ll be no escape!¡± ¡°I¡­ Do I have a choice?¡± ¡°Sure. But are you really willing to go against your beloved little sister??Kitten Eyes?¡± ¡°O-okay, you¡¯ve won.(fucking eyes) Do you feel better now?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Can we move on then? We have stopped for a while.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Can you tell me what happened to your foresight?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ hehe. About that¡­¡± Fuck! She didn¡¯t forget. Well, of course she didn¡¯t, who am I kidding¡­ screw you, Adam! ¡°When were you planning to tell me?¡± ¡°¡­soon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie.¡± I am so fucked.
¡°Guys! Emergency meeting!¡± While everyone was busy looking at their respective pupil, one person disturbed the relative calm offered by the surveillance room. The shout caught everyone¡¯s attention easily. First, because it was rare for one of them to scream like that, and second because it was Valentine, who barely attempt meetings, let alone calling for one. ¡°What is happening? Did Sam died?¡± ¡°Fuck you Will, I said emergency MEETINGS, sit down and wait for the others.¡± "Sigh... I wonder why you''re still single." ¡°We both know you use me as fap material so shut the fuck up.¡± Willam¡¯s face instantly went red from embarrassment. At this very moment, he thanked the gods that the others weren¡¯t there yet, but at the same time, a question crossed his mind¡­ ¡®How does she know?¡¯ After a few more minutes, everyone finally gathered up around Valentine¡¯s desk, visibly annoyed for most of them. ¡°Okay, thanks for you to come on such a short notice.¡± ¡°Wow, Val is being polite, the worlds is going to end!¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up Quentin!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So! As I was about to say, I called you all for an important reason. You probably know I don¡¯t really care about team spirit, effort, or whatever, you can all die for all I care. However¡­ Adam is back.¡± The news dropped like a bomb in the middle of the room. As Questers that has finished their Quest, there weren¡¯t much for them to fear about the worlds. Nonetheless, it was only true for normal threat, and entities such as the Kunans and the 4 Destroyers were miles above them on an individual power level scale, with only gods to top them. For a long time, they thought mother Kunan was the last stage of power one could achieve, but that was before he appeared. Soon after the 7th guide, Quentin Quetazl (Conjurer of Charity), arrived in the last stage, one man came to the surveillance room, presenting himself as one of the last Bosses. Everything happened fast, they fought, and the seven of them got completely wiped out, with the most frightening part being that they went all out while he didn¡¯t even break a sweat. Despite this crushing defeat, his existence gave them a glimmer of hope toward the resolution of the adventure. They had a final objective: to beat Adam. Of course, Val recently learned that Eve was also involved, and quickly realised the two of them were linked in some ways, but she didn''t think too much of it, as she couldn''t really do anything before¡­ you know what. ¡°Are you sure about that? What did he do? Did he killed Sam?¡± ¡°No, he just talked to them, gave them some vague advice and¡­ Sam¡¯s sister crushed the scroll.¡± ¡°The scroll?¡± ¡°Yeah, he wasn¡¯t there per say, but he recorded a message, sort of.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± After waiting a few instants for the information to sink in, she turned herself toward Jules, the unofficial chief of their group. ¡°So, I didn¡¯t want to say it, but it might be safer this way. I don¡¯t want to deal with this douchbag anytime soon, and it could be useful to hook you up.¡± ¡°On what?¡± ¡°I met someone, someone at least as powerful as Adam. She asked me to kill my own pupil. But, after thinking for a while¡­ I think we should all do it.¡± ¡­ To her surprise, there was no uproar. No one said anything, instead, they all turn toward Jules, who sighed heavily. He knew for a while that Valentine was up to something, and even though this proposal was close to a worst-case scenario, it wasn¡¯t outside his own prediction. Nonetheless, Valentine¡¯s attitude was way too different from usual, and he couldn¡¯t dismiss her like that. It¡¯s been centuries since she¡¯s been that serious. ¡°¡­this person you met. Can you tell us more about it?¡± Chapter 60 - David Vs Goliath So, after some more time, we finally arrived where the relic is supposed to be. There was a bunch of huge rocks put in a circle, with nothing but dirt and dust inside it, while the outside was filled with grass, like everything we saw until now in fact. Needless to say, this second half of the trip wasn''t as relaxing as the first one, at least for me. Alice kept lecturing me on how I should have told her about my loss of power, how it was irresponsible and so on. It was extremely annoying, especially coming from her, but it''s not like she was wrong, so I didn''t say anything and suffered in silence. I guess I won''t be able to participate in the upcoming fight against the guardian. Well, not like I would have in the first place anyway. In a sense, I''m lucky it''s only that, she''s so mad at me that heavy dark cloud has started to invade the previously pure blue sky. Maybe it''s just a coincidence, but the timing is way too spooky. So, here we are, at the edge of a huge circle of rocks, waiting for something to happen¡­ hoping for something to happen would be more accurate. It¡¯s about to rain and it would be great to have a shelter or something. I believe Ogre said something about a trapdoor, but I see nothing. Even with my new ¡®Inspection¡¯ thing. Wait¡­ I can¡¯t even see the dirt or dust info¡­ that¡¯s weird. I looked up.
Mysterious Rocks Multiple human-sized rocks placed her and forming a circle. Who put them here and the reason why they did it has been lost in the ages. Fluxed Object
Hum¡­ it¡¯s still working fine though¡­ there¡¯s something fishy. ¡°Alice, I think there¡¯s¡­¡± Too late. Sigh¡­ even without powers, I should have foreseen that. ¡°Hey Honey! (yes, she decided to try new nicknames¡­) I think I found something! The ground is harder over there!¡± Alice was already in the middle of the area, waving at me like she had found a pretty shell on the beach. Sigh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll play along. I put one foot on the dirt, and I suddenly saw Alice jump toward me. She crossed the whole distance in an instant, grabbed and pulled me several meters away before I could react. ¡°Stay put! Something moved.¡± ¡°Wh-what? Come on¡­ don¡¯t be¡­¡± !!!! A tremendous blast occurred from where Alice was standing a second ago, revealing a gigantic and muscular man, at least 5 meters tall, with stone-like skin, giving the image of a moving statue. Without a care for the ground his just destroyed and the huge burst of dust he provoked, he directed his blank eyes in our direction. Obviously, he was ready the Guardian, ready to fight. Same for Alice, in fact, I could almost feel her excitement as she grabbed the silver dagger from her belt. She didn¡¯t say anything, but I figured she was going to handle it by herself. I tried to display the Guardian¡¯s window, but nothing showed up. Is he too strong? But I managed to see Alice¡¯s one¡­ doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯s even stronger? I tried again, harder this time, and luckily¡­
The Second Guardian (lvl 40)
Strength 208 Agility 201
Dexterity 201 Intelligence 21
Flux Control 200 Flux Power 200
Techniques Magic [Earth(Advanced)] Diamond Skin ???
Holy¡­ he is more powerful than her! But not by much. Moreover, it¡¯s Alice we¡¯re talking about, no matter what trick this guy has up its sleeves, she will either copy it, counter it, or both. Yeah¡­ I¡¯m not worried one bit. The cloud of dust had finally started to settle down, and there were only a few meters separating them. It was quite a sight to behold, she was so much smaller, but I could see the guardian serious eyes, as he quickly adopted a strange stance, with his right giant fist in front of him, and the other on his waist. Alice shouted a powerful warcry and vertically swung the dagger in front of her. To my and our enemy surprise, a long incision appeared, slicing the guardian¡¯s naked torso, with a gust of blood spurting out of it. ¡°Che, too shallow, I guess I¡¯m not there yet.¡± The giant roared in response, and punched the air in front of him, shaking the surrounding area and propelling the rocks in Alice¡¯s direction. That¡¯s surely the Earth Magic at work. As expected, she dodged everything. Easily. She even broke a few that were going for me, as I was still standing a few meters behind her, with a bunch of swift kicks. However, this was nothing but a distraction. Without any noise or flashy scene, the guardian had changed. He had evolved. The window was open since the fight started, and I saw the changes in live. The name stayed the same, but in less than a few seconds, almost every stats have doubled, and that wasn¡¯t the most disturbing. He had grown another pair of arms, while the already existing one had taken hold of a big ass hammer, with a head bigger than myself. I don¡¯t have to see the future to know that if that things touch me I¡¯ll be crushed beyond death. But again, I wasn¡¯t scared. Alice was there. Her stat didn¡¯t budge, but for some reason, another technique had appeared in her set, Earth Magic. Yep, she¡¯s quite unfair, but I don¡¯t think I can complain about that right now. And we were back to the start. Despite an already healed scar on the Guardian¡¯s torso and a bunch of rocks planted around his Red-haired challenger, the real fight was yet to begin. Hence, as if God himself wanted it to happen this way, a bolt of lighting in the distance sparkled the start of a faraway storm, as well as the one I¡¯m about to witness.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Alice disappeared from my field of view for a split second. She was already in front of him, and stabbed his chest. He parried the attack with the hammer handle, and tried to smash her between his two free hands. Still in the air, she jumped to position herself on his head level, evading the clap. I couldn¡¯t see it, but I could clearly picture the wide childish smile on her face, as she released another estoc, going for one of his eyes. But she underestimated his reaction speed. The Guardian used one of the hands handling the hammer to block the stab, and that¡¯s when my own eyes widened. Not because he was faster than expected, but because Alice¡¯s attack didn¡¯t do shit. His skin was so thought the dagger didn''t penetrate it at all. Defenceless, Alice took a full slap, and was propelled to the ground tens of meters away. Without leaving her a second to breathe, the giant grabbed his hammer back with two hands, jumped and slammed it to the ground. In a gigantic explosion, everything was destroyed. Even though I could see through the thick screen of elevated dust, Alice was nowhere to be seen. Don¡¯t tell me¡­ I started running, but my vision felt weird. As if I was¡­ car sick? A crack appeared in my field of view, and everything shattered, revealing the same exact scene, but with a woman running on the long hammer handle. Using the element of surprise, she threw two bolt of fire to confuse the giant even more. It worked. She jumped. So fast I only saw a blur. One kick to the chin. Clean and strong. It dispersed the smoke cloud of the previous blow in a swift, and projected stone Guardian¡¯s huge body in the air, defying gravity itself. However, something was wrong. The Guardian fell, but Alice didn''t follow her attacks. As I arrived near her, I realized why. She was exhausted. ¡°Alice! Did something happened?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m fine¡­ Space cut uses more energy than I thought, that¡¯s all. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll deal with him in no time.¡± ¡°I¡­I can try to heal you!¡± She smiled, and stopped looking at me. Putting her dagger back on her waist, she extended one of her arms, and a stone hammer akin to the one wielded by her enemy jumped to her hand. ¡°I told you, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± He was already back up on his feet, and more serious than ever. His two lower arms were ready for defence, while his weapon was already above his head, ready to strike. Fearlessly, she rushed to him, and the combat resumed, in a storm of violence and madness. She was faster than him, but couldn''t bypass his defence easily. Like a little bee turning around an annoyed chimpanzee, Alice were going back and forth between the Guardian''s arms, trying to land a hammer strike here and there. After almost a minute of this crazy dance, she managed to hit him in the head, and it definitely did damage. The guardian tried to counter-attack and hit hear with his pommel, but it was only another illusion, and she pulled out safely. She was slowly but steadily getting the high ground. But¡­ I have a bad feeling. It¡¯s not only me. If she gets hit, even once, she¡¯s out. He is that strong, but¡­ it doesn¡¯t make sense. The Book brought us here, so it shouldn¡¯t be that hard. I only realize it now, since I¡¯m not in the middle of the action, but this is clearly not fair. These levels¡­ is¡­ is this normal? My guts are telling me¡­ that she¡¯s about to die, and I have no idea what to do. Fuck! If only I could use my Foresight! Maybe I can do something with my other abilities¡­ The past? I don¡¯t have time for that. The present? With x-ray vision maybe, but I can¡¯t do. To top it all, I¡¯ve kept the whole Inspection thing up from the start, and my eyes are burning. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I looked at the fight again¡­ She was fighting, and I was just looking. But the worst part is not this bad feeling in my guts, nor this sentiment of helplessness filling me, but that everything coming to mind right now was excuses. ¡®She¡¯s amazing and you¡¯re weak.¡¯ ¡®She has so much more talent than you.¡¯ ¡®You were never a fighter to begin with.¡¯ ¡®If only I had my foresight¡­¡¯ Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuck! Since when did I become such a coward! Since when did¡­ Wait. What if¡­
In front of him, a small and blurry red dot was still jumping around the Goliath on steroids. He had thrown away his hammer, replacing it with a set of two smaller ones, increasing drastically his attack speed. Nonetheless, Alice was still too fast for him, and little by little she was gaining the advantage, pushing the Guardian back on defence. Unbeknown to her, it was the first time she had to give her all in a fight. Thanks to her crazy ability to copy every technique she sees, her strength had already increased since the start of the fight, her skin was now as tough as diamond, and her Earth magic would put to shame many Conjurers. However, she was lacking experience, and wasting a tremendous amount of energy in every of her move. Unlike her, the Guardian had thousands of fights behind him, and he was silently waiting for an opportunity, saving his strength for the crucial moment to come. And it came. On instant of inattention. One tiny mistake. The instant Alice was about to double jump, her right side met with a hammerhead, and she was propelled to the ground. Spitting saliva and blood, she managed to stay conscious. But the giant was nowhere to be seen. She jumped back as far as possible, and another strike, from above, destroyed the area. She tried to jump again, but her legs failed her. A warm feeling invading them indicated that the healing process had started, but in the meantime¡­ She conjured a wall of rocks to protect herself, but he was too powerful. Crushing the wall like it was paper, the hammer head hit Alice once again, blowing her several more meters away. Miraculously conscious despite the pain, she could barely see the shape of the Guardian walking toward her, and as a drop of rain touched her cheek, a strange feeling invaded her guts. Did she just¡­ lost? No. She immediately dismissed the idea. She can''t lose. Not now, not ever. It is well known that beast are the most dangerous when they¡¯re on the verge of dying. That¡¯s the moment where they can put every inch of their being into the fight. Disregarding the pain, she stood up. In front of her¡­ was Samsy¡¯s back. Chapter 61 - What a crazy duo Far away from the continent, where the ocean never know rest, and gigantic wave was clashing each other in an endless circle of chaos, there was a meeting. A meeting between two individuals, even though this appellation might be obsolete at this point. In the midst of the storm, they were simply walking, on the surface of the sea, as a circle of calm water was foreshadowing their step, and an invisible sphere was preventing any splash coming their way. A man and a woman, with their eyes covered by simple masks, one white, and the other black. The man was wearing a classy suit, while she had a pure white dress falling just above her naked ankles. ¡°Wait, wait, wait¡­ is this really what¡¯s happening? Sam defending Alice? Nah, nah, nah, there must be a mistake.¡± ¡°Well, he won¡¯t fight the Guardian, if it¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried, you told me he¡¯s the one, so he can¡¯t die. But I don¡¯t remember it went that way¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the turning point I told you about. And it¡¯s not like he¡¯ll fight¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see. It sure took a long time, but at least, we¡¯re finally there. It¡¯s the session we were waiting for! I told you! Right?! And I was confident enough to kiss him. Hehe.¡± ¡°Come on, you kissed every Seer of Hope as soon as you could.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ always the last word.¡± ¡°Are you jealous?¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, yes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°And what about her?¡± ¡°Her?¡± ¡°The Flux Source.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you use her real name?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t and you know why.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ so? What about her?¡± "Didn''t you put the Guardian her to protect one of her shards? Won''t it be problematic if they get close?" ¡°Wait. YOU are asking ME if there¡¯ll be a problem?¡± ¡°Hey, I was being polite there.¡± ¡°Well don¡¯t. I hate when you do that.¡± The conversation stopped abruptly, as a bolt of lightning punctuated her last statement. Although in the middle of a roaring storm, their safe bubble was untouched and they were walking without any care for their surroundings. Everything important has been said, and for some reason, the both of them stopped talking, diving into their own memory, from a time no one but them can remember. ¡°Say, Adam¡­ are you sure this is the end-line?¡± ¡°Yes. They are the ones. They¡¯re the one destined to kill us.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope you¡¯re right¡­ it would be quite bothersome if they fail.¡±
As the Guardian was approaching Alice to give the final blow, he stopped a second, realizing there was someone else in front of her, his eyes focused on the Giant¡¯s. Surprisingly, there was no bloodlust, or any kind of fighting spirit emitting from him. In fact, he would have probably be ignored if he hadn''t put himself right in front of the barely conscious girl one step behind him. Despite his apparent confidence, the air around him was stinking of weakness. The sky rumbled, and drops of water started to fall. It was as if this moment had been scripted from the start, the hero stepping in front of the invincible enemy, with nothing but his courage and guts. In seconds, the rain got heavier, and the thunder noises louder. The climax was near, but the Guardian couldn¡¯t care less. He lifted his right hammer above his head, and, without a word, attacked Sam. The blow was fast, faster than what his eyes could follow. Even in front of a seemingly small and harmless animal, the Guardian was seriously going for the kill, with a speed unfitting his tall and heavy body. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But he didn''t touch him. As the hammerhead was getting close to Sam''s, a bolt of lightning, falling from the dark sky, cut its path, a centimetre away from Sam''s cheek. As if God himself decided to intervene. The strike was stopped. The Guardian instinct kicked in just in time, even though it was more about shock and surprise than a reaction to an actual danger. ¡®What happened?'' ¡®How did he do that?'' ¡®Who is he?'', so much question that he should have asked himself, if only his mind wasn''t exclusively made for combat. The only thing crossing his mind was a re-evaluation of the ant standing in front of him, and an order to take him down as fast as possible. But lightning stroke again. The Guardian jumped back, sensing a disturbing presence. Of course, he wasn¡¯t faster enough to dodge lightning, but the bolt wasn¡¯t meant to hit him. Another one fall. It was already the third. All at the same place. Right behind Sam. ¡°You are a madman, Bae.¡± She was already up, side by side with her so-called brother. Sparkle and stray of lightning were wildly coming in and out her skin and hair, even though it was easily overlooked by the two small serpents made of lightning dancing in circles around her. ¡°That¡¯s a bit ironic, coming from you.¡± "You knew it would turn out this way?" "No. No, I didn''t. But I trusted you." ¡°¡­of course you did.¡± Although forgotten deep in Alice¡¯s stock of abilities, Storm Gathering was one of the strongest technique she could have hoped for in this situation. She was still in the recovery process, but she had no time to lose. The Guardian had already made his preparation, as he replaced one hammer by a stone shield. On the defensive, he felt the tremendous power coming from Alice, to the point it was now on pair with him. He wasn¡¯t scared, but¡­ In front of him! He jumped back, in pure panic. It was only a few meters, but he couldn¡¯t follow her. She didn¡¯t follow his moves, she¡­ observed him. The rain kept pouring, harder than before, as stains of lightning were flashing through the sky. After talking a long and deep breath, she moved. This time, the Guardian was ready. He slammed his weapon as fast as he could, predicting her future location. However¡­ She had already read his flow. With a simple touch of her palm, the slightly deviated, and hit the ground, without any force. In the same move, Alice had already jumped at his torso¡¯s level, followed by her two sparkling pet. Two fists flew in her direction, but as the previous blow, they were swiftly evaded by a thin paper margin, as Alice used her second jump to propel herself toward the Guardian''s face. With his last arm, the Guardian raised his shield, pouring every ounce of magic in his being to harden it. In a beautiful spin, the serpent''s head entered her hands, as she put both of her palms in front of her, and she released it. She released everything. Everything she could. A powerful blast of pure energy surged from her hands, piercing the Guardian¡¯s shield and head. For a few seconds, his body stood still, motionlessly, as Alice landed on the ground. And then, finally, he fell. Chapter 62 - The Good and Bad Cop Strategy H: Quentin? (?_?) H: Are you okay? (¡ãx¡ã); H: It''s been 6 hours since you message me¡­ did something happen? ¡­(?_?) H: That¡¯s weird¡­ (?.?); H: Maybe you are busy, contact me if something comes up, okay? (^_^)/
Under the pouring rain, our two scavengers were calmly making they way back to Ogre¡¯s workshop. Even though it was harder than expected, the fight against the Guardian concluded exactly as planned: with an indisputable victory of Alice. After that, nothing was left between them and the relic, except a single trapdoor. There wasn''t much to say about what was underground. Long stairs finishing on a single wide room lighten by some phosphorescent sphere dispersed on the ground, emitting a faint blue-ish colour. In the room, there was nothing but a small pedestal, several meters away from the stairs, with a small golden cup sitting on it. That was the relic. Ogre didn¡¯t tell them its purpose, but they couldn¡¯t care less. The blue light at the ground level was barely enough to show the shape of the pedestal, but as they had both night vision - one through his class and the other through¡­ well, birth, sort of- it was no problem at all. And nothing else happened. Alice started to have a bad feeling, and for fear of the Guardian regenerating himself, they decided to quickly leave. In a sense, it was almost disappointing, to follow such a near-death experience with the most boring scavenging hunt of the history of mankind. But at least, the job was done. They were on their way to give Ogre his payment, and get Alice her own Quest Book. They were still undecided as to whether or not part ways immediately, or stay together a bit longer, but none of them could gather the courage to ask. To be fair, there was another important topic that Alice wanted to talk about¡­ ¡°So¡­ why the fuck did you intervene in the fight? Without your foresight, you didn¡¯t stand a chance¡­ if it wasn¡¯t for my last second transformation, you would have been crushed, and by now I would be raging over the land in pure sorrow and madness.¡± ¡°Haha, you¡¯re probably right.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t joking though¡­¡± ¡°I know, I know. The thing is¡­ I underestimated my other abilities. I¡­I had a vision, from the purge.¡± ¡°What? But¡­¡± ¡°And you were there too. It was the moment I saved you and Adele from that soldier.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah¡­¡± ¡°¡­sorry to brought her up.¡± ¡°No! No. It¡¯s fine¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t really remember that part anyway. My talent was too weak.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡­ I just forgot that I have a talent too, and the vision reminded me that.¡± "Really? What happened to the soldier?" ¡°He¡­ he fell and hit his head. Then we escaped.¡± ¡°Sam¡­ was that a l¡­?¡± "I can''t tell you! Not now. Not yet. I have things to sort out. I feel like I''m missing something, and I want to deal with this by myself." ¡°¡­ You know that, whatever happened that day, it won¡¯t change how at feel about you.¡± "Yes, I know. I¡­ let''s change the subject! I-I don''t want to get too dramatic right now. We''ll have plenty of time for that when we''ll have to split up." "Damn! I had finally managed to keep my mind away from that! Do you know how hard it is for me to do that?!" ¡°Really hard¡­?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡­ After a few, but long, hours, our duo arrived at the said workshop. It was still raining, so they didn¡¯t even bother to knock and promptly entered the house. At last, they would be able to sit down a bit and relax. Well, it wasn''t that easy. Of course, Ogre was there, but his atmosphere was¡­ different. As they entered, Sam caught an exaggerated surprise and joy on his face, as if he never thought he would see them again. A logical explanation would be that he knew about the Guardian''s strength, that would obviously outmatch any normal Quester. Even Sam who was a bit above average couldn''t do anything. In fact, Sam wondered on the way back why Ogre had been so vague about his description. He should have warned, but he purposely avoided to do so¡­ why? This question was immediately replaced by a more urgent one¡­ ~~ Why does he have 4 arms ?! What the fuck is happening in this struggle?! Is that a new trend? I tried to use inspection on him, but¡­
Ogre Omtapo, Mason ofKin?n??? (lvl 17)
Strength 102 Agility 120
Dexterity 251 Intelligence 2
Flux Control 540 Flux Power 862
Techniques Material Gathering (Proficient) Universal Artisan (Beginner) Blueprint Reader (Proficient) Perfect Replication (Beginner)
Nothing was out of the ordinary, except his low intelligence. Although, I didn¡¯t look the first time I met him, so I can¡¯t know for sure if something is different. ¡°Ogre¡­? Are you okay?¡± ¡°Re-re-re-relic¡­¡± Confused, I showed him what we found, and everything went blurry. In an instant, Ogre was at the opposite side of the room, with Alice holding him by the neck, his feet above the ground and his back crushed against the wall.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I barely saw it, but he¡­ attacked me? (A) ¡°I knew something was fishy¡­¡± Ogre screamed and shouted, trying to free himself, pummeled Alice with a barrage of fists, but¡­ ?Diamond Skin ? ¡­it was completely useless. Still, I could feel the strength behind those blows, at the very least, he was way stronger than me. Something was off, and to top it all, his eyes were filled in grey, voided of any pupil. She tightened the grip, and the attack stopped. The gap of strength was obvious, and Ogre was now desperately trying to get some air. What the hell is happening?! Was Ogre a bad guy from the start? It¡¯s¡­ wait¡­ Adam said something about him¡­ he asked to¡­ not give him the relic? But he seems to really want it, right now, even though he''s dying, one of his arms is still extended in my direction. It''s like it''s the only thing he can think about! That doesn¡¯t make any fucking sense! Why does he want it so m¡­ Oh¡­ I¡­ yeah, that might work. "Alice! Stop!" ¡°Hum? Do you know what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ sort of. It all started when he saw this, right?¡± I exposed the relic to show Alice, but that was a mistake. The arm pointed in my direction¡­ expanded, like it was made of rubber, the hand went through the room in an instant. Exactly like I thought. I didn''t expect the arm to grow like that, but I knew he was up to something. I retracted the object a instant before he could touched it, and his hand finished his course in the window behind me, grazing my cheek on its path. ¡°You son of a¡­¡± ¡°Alice! Stop! I figured it out.¡± ¡°Care to explain?¡± ¡°Ogre! I have a proposal!¡± The arm already retracted, and even though I managed to stop Alice fist before it could meet Ogre¡¯s flank, he was still being strangled, and all his limbs were chaotically moving in every direction, like a mad animal desperate to free himself from his collar - except this collar was the hand of a 18-years girl capable of bending metal with a finger. ¡°I offer you the relic.¡± His eyes widen, and his expression instantly changed. He turned his grey eyes in my direction, as if the situation around him had no importance anymore. The madness he was exercising a second ago was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Re-Re-Re¡­¡± "But! In exchange, you''ll need to do something for me." I started to walk toward them. Alice was perplexed, but she confirmed her trust with a slight nod. "See this book? We want another one, and you told us you could do that in exchange for the relic. Do you remember?" Damn, I feel like I¡¯m trying to bargain with an intelligent and rampaging monkey or something¡­ ¡°I-I-I¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make it easier. In exchange for what you want, you¡¯ll have to craft another Quest Book.¡± He kept looking at me, probably trying to assert the trustworthiness of my proposal. ¡°I-I-I-I-I accept.¡± "Great choice! Alice, can you please release him?" ¡°No.¡± ¡°Come on¡­ trust me on this!¡± ¡°He is too dangerous!¡± ¡°But you¡¯ll keep me safe, right?¡± ¡°¡­fine.¡± She suddenly opened her palm, and Ogre fell down on the ground. He coughed for a few seconds, and after calming down, he looked back, without a care for his previous torturer. ¡°So¡­ what do you need for¡­¡± I didn''t even finish my question, that he pointed at me. More accurately, he pointed at my hand, at my Book? ¡°You¡­ need this?¡± He rapidly nodded, apparently quite eager to have it. Hesitantly, I approached him, and gave my Book to him. In the end, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m risking much, there¡¯s no way he could do anything to it, right? He grabbed it firmly, with all of his hands, and put it above his head. He closed his eyes, and started to murmur something. What his is he doing? Is he making a mental image of the object or something? At the very least, it seems pretty shady. ¡°Sam, step back a bit, I have a bad feeling about this.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I executed myself, and at the same moment, his arms started to glow. It wasn¡¯t bright, just enough to be noticed. I sensed something strange gathering around the book, like a sort of dark mist. Then, the Book exploded. In a flash of light, the Book disappeared from my view, and as I looked back a second later, there was nothing, not even the two pair of hands. What the¡­ I looked down, and there it was. Wait a minute¡­ there they¡­ were? There are two books?! One on each side, as if¡­ as if he pulled my Book from both sides, and two others emerged. ¡°Huf¡­Huf¡­ Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-Finished¡­¡± ¡°What the fuck just happened.¡± ¡°I¡­ I think he multiplied the Book.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ we can check.¡± Alice picked up the two book, glaring at Ogre, who was too tired to move anyway, and opened one. ¡°Here, it¡¯s yours.¡± She threw it to me, and opened the second one. ¡°Hey, guess what.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You were right?¡± And she turned it around, so I could see the first page. The Quest of Alice, the Heroine of [] Welcome to your Quest! Forget everything you know, it¡¯s all in the future now! You will live amazing adventures and overcome countless struggles! This device will help you throughout your journey! May luck be with you. Chapter 63 - Wincest start with a kiss Struggle#16 Objective: Craft Alice¡¯s Quest Book Sub-objective: Bring Alice - Meet Ogre Omtapo - Defeat the Guardian Well, I guess that settles the struggle. I don''t know what to do about Ogre though¡­ after making the book, he seemed really tired. I gave him the cup, and as soon as he touched it, he fainted. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he himself wouldn¡¯t know what happened to him. Although I do have a theory. On his window, the word Kindness was kind of glitched, or damaged. Thus, I remember what Adam said, about going the wrong way, it could refer to our Virtues. In fact, that makes perfect sense to me. Ogre was clearly driven by a tremendous desire to get the relic, that would correspond to the sin of Envy, which is the opposite of Kindness. I¡¯m not really sure though¡­ That¡¯s why I told my theory to Alice, and she approved faster than I had expected. ¡°This is quite logical indeed. It¡¯s like you¡¯re on a spectrum, at one end there is the Heavenly Virtue and at the other there is the Deadly Sin. The more you go toward the first the more you¡¯re growing your class¡¯s power, but it¡¯s slow, compared to the Sin, who allow you to instantly become stronger, but with the drawback of exaggerating the Sin to its extreme! Damn, that was so obvious!¡± ¡°¡­yeah¡­ ¡°obvious¡±.¡± Shit, and here I was proud of finding out that Ogre was cursed by the other side of his Virtue, I didn''t think that far about the whole game system. It¡¯s a bit frustrating when she does that, and same goes for Nami. ¡°Wait, what would be my Deadly Sin then?¡± ¡°The opposite of Humility would be Pride.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem that bad. Especially compared to Envy, looking at what it did to Ogre¡­¡± "I wouldn''t be so sure about that. What if you become so prideful that you disregard everyone as not worthy of you, or something similar, and not care about a friend being attacked. At the very least, you would become an egocentric asshole." ¡°Yeah¡­ and that would be hard to sustain. Even with a boost of strength, I wouldn¡¯t hold long against¡­ well, pretty much anyone.¡± ¡°I wonder what¡¯s my Virtue though¡­ it¡¯s blank.¡± "Maybe you can ask one of the guides." ¡°I looked on the back, but there¡¯s nothing like yours. I think they need to contact me beforehand.¡± Oh, that reminds me, I didn¡¯t check my own conversation for some hours now. Maybe Val answered - I am an optimist. And¡­ she didn¡¯t. Hum? There¡¯s something else on the screen¡­ some sort of red rectangle in the top right, vibrating. I wonder what it is¡­ Hum¡­ Hum¡­ Nothing is happening. Maybe staring at it isn¡¯t enough. I touched it, and another window opened on top of the first one. M: Test, test. 0ne, tw0, 0ne, tw0. M: Seems t0 w0rk just fine. M: S0, t0 sum up, I think I figured a way to 1ink all 0ur Quest B00ks t0 chat t0gether, but I need t0 m0dify the b00k themse1ves first. M: 1ucki1y, I g0t h01d 0f Samsy¡¯s b00k bef0rehand, s0 I have him, and Pr0m. P: Hep! How¡¯s poinp?! M: Sigh... y0ur typing quirk is rea11y ann0ying. P: It''slikemp blood. P:TYPE O! M: Just... Ki11 y0urse1f. P: 8P M: Sigh¡­ at 1east it seems to work. M: F0r n0w I can 0n1y make 0ne huge r00m-chat f0r every0ne, and I¡¯m sti11 trying t0 find a way f0r every0ne t0 d0 private chat. M: ¡®cause I d0n¡¯t think I''11 be ab1e to hand1e every0ne¡¯s typ0 at the same time. M: In case y0u haven''t understand a1ready, I¡¯m with Pr0m, 0n my 13th strugg1e, and he¡¯s 0n his 14th. M: We sh0u1d m0ve up s00n. M: Message me when you can. Wow, she did it! ¡°Did something happened?¡± I showed Alice the chat, and with a slight elevation of her mouth corner - I suspect she wasn¡¯t even aware of -, she nodded. ¡°Humpf, she took her sweat time for sure.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great news. I can keep them up to date. There¡¯s so much to say, I feel like it¡¯s been month since we left Lucropolis.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ wait, you want to tell them everything? Like¡­ even the thing about Adam and that you lost your foresight?¡± ¡°Yes, why? It¡¯s not like I have a reason to keep it to ourselves.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ what if they get scared by the Sin thing¡­¡± ¡°Come one, it¡¯s Marie we¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point¡­¡± It took me a few minutes to sort everything out, I started with the cave and the weird creature that threatened Alice, the school where we met with Haru and another Quester, then I mentioned that Alice trained with, well, basically the master of our Master¡¯s, if I can call them like that, and finally I mentioned Adam, and told her about our theory on Virtue related to power level.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. On that last point, I started to wonder what would be everyone''s behaviour if something similar to Ogre happens. It''s a bit hard to project myself, especially for Xavier, Alice''s confirmed me that Wrath was his corresponding Sin, but I never saw him angry, under any circumstances. Same goes for Haru, Prom and¡­ Marie. I should probably not look too much further into it¡­ ¡°Uuuuurgh¡­¡± Seems like someone¡¯s waking up. ¡°What¡­ what happened? Oh, you two are back?¡± ¡°Good morning, sleepy head.¡± ¡°Wait, what happened to the place?¡± Needless to say, the previous altercation let its mark on the room. There were cracks in the floor and walls, and most of the workshop¡¯s material and tools were dispersed everywhere. ¡°You don¡¯t remember, do you?¡± ¡°Remember?¡± ¡°You grow another pair of arms and wrecked havoc.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ what?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s as she said. You were acting a bit weird when we arrived, and as soon as you saw the relic, you went completely crazy to get it. So I bargain with you, and you duplicated my book, sort of.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see.¡± Hum? He¡¯s quite fast to accept our story. ¡°I¡­ I think I remember a bit now¡­¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s like¡­ I was someone else. Like everything didn¡¯t matter anymore, except the cup.¡± ¡°We suspect your Deadly Sin surfaced and took control.¡± ¡°No. It doesn¡¯t really work that way.¡± Wait, he knows about the Sin? ¡°It was exactly how he described it. I was still¡­ in control, sort of, but I wasn¡¯t really myself either¡­ ¡°Who described it to you?¡± ¡°A mysterious man calling himself Adam.¡± ¡°Of course¡­¡± In the end, he tried to explain to us what he went through, but didn¡¯t do it very well. I guess I won¡¯t really understand unless I do it myself. Even though I hope I won¡¯t need to. Moreover, it''s not like I can increase my pride that easily. I worked really hard to be as humble as possible in my daily life, and I like it that way. Plus, I never had any real reason to be proud, most of my achievements were pure luck¡­ The only thing I can call a feat would be¡­ Nami. I wonder if she¡¯s okay¡­ Well, she did cheat on me -according to Val-, so¡­ that''s that... Sigh¡­ After another hour of ¡®interrogation¡¯, we left Ogre in his mess. I kind of wanted to ask him about his own adventure, but Alice pressed me. And it was just the two of us now. It was nighttime, but for some reason, she pressed further, as if she wanted to get as far as the workshop as possible. We were in the middle of the plain, with a few trees here and there, and a timid breeze bashing on their leaves. The grass was still wet from the afternoon, and the air was still heavy, but I suspect there as another reason for that. ¡°Alice? Is something bothering you?¡± Surprised, she stopped. And turned around. Is¡­is she crying? "I¡­ it''s nothing. I just thought I would have more time for this." ¡°For what?¡± What is she talking about? Did something happen? She got closer to me, her eyes wet, her breath short, and before I could react¡­ ¡­her lips were on mine. The world stopped. A minute passed. Or a day, or a month, or years. I don¡¯t know. My mind went blank. It¡¯s¡­It¡¯s¡­ It stopped. I feel in front of me, she had disappeared. I looked around. But I was alone. Wha¡­what the fuck just happened?
A few kilometres away, in front of a huge and out of place door, standing on its own in the middle of a huge circle of trees, was standing a young woman, out of breath. She fell on her butt, trying to catch her breath. Was she tired because of the kiss, or the run? She didn¡¯t know, and she didn¡¯t really want to know. ¡®That was so embarrassing!!!¡± She dived her red face into her hand, trying to forget what just happened. Even though it only made things worst. ¡®Aaaaah! What will happen when will have to meet again?! Aaaaah!¡¯ It''s been years since she hasn''t felt so embarrassed about something, and she wasn''t dealing with that well. She took her Quest Book, and opened it on the last filled page. Struggle#16 Objective: Kiss Sam Sub-Objective: none Sigh¡­ She had to do it now. Sooner or later, he would have asked to see what was inside her book, and it would have been even more embarrassing. Even more so that her struggle #14, when they were with Haru, featured a completed sub-objective where she had to sleep with Ivan¡­ and there¡¯s no way Sam will ever see that. As she finally managed to sort out her feeling, she realized her heart felt lighter than before¡­ yeah, it was embarrassing, and weird, but in the end, it was worth it. As she slowly got back up on her feet, and approached the door, her hair, that she changed a long time alone, reverted to their original colour. It was naturally the same as Sam¡¯s, and maybe that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t want to taint them back, but it was different now. She felt something during that kiss. A taste. Something¡­ she couldn¡¯t describe. Something she had probably never felt before. She never had to felt before. Something like¡­ Hope. Chapter 64 - The weak point of every men Most cities have their own share of dark alleys and dangerous corner. However, Oucropolis was proudly boasting she was the exception to this rule. And it was true. The streets were completely voided of any criminal activity, and it has been months since a headline mentioned a mysterious death or misplaced violence. Not to say the city was perfect, but at least the people felt safe. Of course, the protection of this feeling had a price, paid by people who will never know why. Under the city has been built an extension to the gigantic labyrinth formed by the sewer, and this place was called ¡®The Underground Coliseum''. Imported prisoners were brought here to fight and entertain the bored population of Oucropolis. Choose for they incredible and superhumans abilities, those prisoners, who had basically the same social status as slaves, were forced to battle one another, until only one remain. One fight every day, and one tournament every month, where each of them massacred each other for the simple promise of freedom. The deal was clear, don¡¯t fight, and you die. Win ten fights in a row, and you¡¯re free to go. The system has been in place for years, but up to this day, no one managed to find out if this is true or not. Paradoxically, these underground fights were really popular, and hundreds of peoples were present each night to bid on the outcome of the death matches. It was the kind of thing that everybody knew existed but no one wanted to talk about in public. And tonight, the biggest event the Coliseum had ever known was about to start. A tournament, between all the gladiators ¡®invited¡¯ for the occasion. 64 of the most brutal and powerful people on the continent, gathered into one gigantic event, beheading each other for the entertainment of the masses. The rules were simple. One on one match, one of the contestants lose if he''s ''incapacitated''. Other than that, everything was allowed, as long as neither the referee or the public was harmed. As the event was about to begin, one man with a microphone in his hand set foot inside the circular ring constituting the arena. Every people that had come to see the event were sited 2 meters above the ground, on the stone cold circular benches. But of course, nobody minded that, as it was only a mild discomfort compared to typical sewer smell and occasional green goo falling from the ceiling. A set of for powerful projectors illuminated the fight scene currently occupied by the referee, also acting as the commentator. "Hello, Rucropolis!!! And welcome to the event of your life!!!"
Struggle#17 Objective: Win the Underground Coliseum Tournament Sub-Objective: none Sitting on a hard wood plank apparently serving as a bench and a bed, behind a row of black and rusted steel bars, Alice was reading her Book once again. At first, when she arrived in this new scenario, her first thought was to destroy the building and go outside, but she remembered she had something to guide her now. As expected, it seemed like she was here for a purpose. Her objective was to win a sort of underground tournament, so it was safe to assume that she wasn¡¯t in this cheap jail for nothing. On another note, it also reminded her of her 7th struggle, where she snapped and changed her hair colour, in some sort of rebellious phase or something. That, and she killed tens of guards by splitting open their skill with her fist. She realized everything had been recorded in the book, form her first struggle where she just went through a forest, to the last one she was currently in. Apparently, she managed to accomplish all the objectives, even though she had no clue she even had ones. In a way, it was almost nostalgic for her to go through those pages relating her adventures. Even though it was mostly bad memories, it was part of her now. ¡°53!¡± Someone had arrived in the corridor, shouting a number. She couldn¡¯t see who it was, as her ¡®room¡¯ was at the very end of the corridor, which was pretty long and curvy. ¡°I said 53!¡± Nobody answered. There were other cells around, but no one responded. The steps of the man got louder, with the recognizable sound of a keychain jiggling on his waist. He finally arrived in front of Alice''s cell. A tall and fat man with oily hairs. His belly was too big to fit in his shirt, and some sort of liquid was spilling out of his mouth. In a sense, he was getting close to the definition of grossness. ¡°Hey! I said 53!¡± ¡°¡­are you referring to me?¡± ¡°Wha?! Who are you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know we captured a girl¡­ meh, doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯re already late, now come on!¡± Although she hated the idea of obeying the man¡¯s command, she diligently stood up, and followed him toward the exit, while her brain was screaming at her to strangle him for the mere fact he looked down on her. ¡°Hehe, now that I think about it, that could be interesting. You¡¯re not half-bad, and with him as your first match, there could be some action¡­ hehehe.¡± After enduring his repulsing mumbling for a few more seconds, they finally arrived in the open. Well, ¡®open'' is probably an overstatement. The ceiling was made of rocks, indicating they were underground, and around her was the Coliseum, reminding her of the Thunder Coliseum, with the difference that they were some metallic structures here and there to solidify the overall building. ¡°Oh my¡­!!! What a beautiful young lady to join us tonight!!!¡± She spotted two men near the centre of the arena, one topless tall and muscular guy. Bold with a prideful look and nasty grin on his face. And another one, with black spiky hair, sunglasses and a microphone in his hand. "Isn''t it your lucky day fellas!!!! To my right¡­" You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The mic was suddenly grabbed, and with a powerful voice, the other contestant started to his declaration of war. ¡°This is your poor day, lil¡¯ girl. I¡¯m the Crusher, and I¡¯ve broken skulls of more people you could count! Hahah, scared already?¡± Alice was still at the far end of the arena, ten meters away from the centre. The ¡®Crusher¡¯ overconfidence was deforming his face with a wild and evil smile¡­ "Hum¡­ But I''m no monster, hehehe, I''ll make the pleasure last, with a fuckable body like that, I''ll start by crushing your p¡­ UIIIIrg!!!!!!!!!!" !? The Crusher¡­ squirted? With a high pitch voice belonging to a 4-year-old girl, he ended up his threat like he had a stroke. His face in total and utter pain. A second later, in a sort of spatial fracture, the scenery crackled, akin to the surface of a mirror, revealing an annoyed Alice, with her legs planted between the Crusher¡¯s leg. ¡°Oh, sweet sweet irony.¡± Everyone became silent. The previous cheers and shouts were nowhere to be found in this instant, as the massive used-to-be-a-man fell down to the ground. Then, the crowd went wild. Many were hyped with the crushing and surprising victory of the small lady, but most were just angry at her. ¡°Cheat!¡± ¡°UNFAIR!¡± ¡°Booooo!!!¡± With an even wider smile than at the start of the fight, the commentator picked up the mic from the ground. However, he didn''t address the folks yet, instead, he carefully approached Alice. ¡°Hey, girl, what¡¯s your scene name.¡± ¡°¡­Alice.¡± "Nah, not your real one, I need something more... spicy!" ¡°¡­I don¡¯t have a nickname.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll choose for you. *HUM HUM* Ladies! And Gentleman! As stated in the rules! The fight starts when the two contestants have set foot inside the arena! And they don''t have to know the rules for them to apply! Therefore, we have already the winner of our 27th match! I want to hear you shout for¡­ the Nuts Smasheress!!!¡± ¡°What the fuck is that¡­¡± ¡°You had your chance girl.¡± The name was stupid, but for some reason, it made sense to the public, and the wave of disapproval transformed into laughter and acclamation. In the end, Alice couldn¡¯t care less, and went back to her cell, waiting for the next match. ¡®Sigh¡­ at least this one will be a breeze.¡¯
H: That¡¯s weird¡­ (?.?); H: Maybe you are busy, contact me if something comes up, okay? (^_^)/ H: Okay, that is definitely not normal. (©`_©`)!! H: Did something happened? (?_?) H: It¡¯s almost a day¡­ (?.?); H: ¡­ (?.?);
Struggle#18 Objective: Convince Haru Sub-Objective: Defend the tavern - Expose the Conman Sited at a round glass table, in the corner of a noisy bar, with neon light and flashy cocktails everywhere, he was out of place. In a place where people gathered to party, he was wearing a formal black suit with a silk tie carefully rounded around his neck. He was attracting some attention, but he couldn¡¯t care less. Indeed, Xavier had more important things to be concerned of. Of course, following his principles, he swiftly finished the two sub-objectives before they even started, thanks to his mind-reading abilities. Thus leaving him with only the main event, Haru. He was supposed to convince her, meaning that first they¡¯ll have a shared struggle, and second that he¡¯ll have to turn her against Sam. He perfectly knew, that it was close to impossible. She is to close to him, they were always together back on Earth¡­ but it wasn''t impossible. Haru will be sure that Xavier''s arguments are genuine, because you cannot lie to her. ¡®¡­you should be aware that the group revolves around him. Everything revolves around him.¡¯ Naomi¡¯s voice surged once again in his mind. Since the end of the labyrinth, he could never get over what she said. He couldn¡¯t, and still can¡¯t, accept that he was clueless all this time, even though he knows there¡¯s a part of truth in her rent. Sam was the pillar of the group. More than that, he was the pillar of the whole community. He wasn¡¯t like them, he wasn¡¯t socially outcasted. Xavier had always been convinced that his weak i-talent was the reason he was accepted by the other kid, but he wasn¡¯t sure of that anymore. Nonetheless, it didn¡¯t matter. It didn¡¯t matter that he was the most popular, that he was the luckiest, that he was everyone¡¯s friend. He will become a killer, a monster, and, without a doubt, will threaten the safety of the entire group, if not more. It didn¡¯t matter how much he himself cared about Sam. They were, and are still friends, but if the time comes where he¡¯ll have to choose between him and the others, he won¡¯t hesitate. Even if he¡¯ll have to become the monster in the end. "Hum? No, don''t worry, I''m just having bad thoughts." Surprisingly, Xavier started to talk to himself. Fortunately, there was no one close enough to hear him. ¡°By the way, are you okay in this state? It¡¯s been hours¡­ Yeah, I know you¡¯re training but¡­ wait¡­¡± Doubtful, he slowly swifted his hand above the empty chair at the other side of the table. As expected, nothing happened, except for an increase of the intrigued stare in his direction. "Kyle! You left!? Damn, yeah, haha, nice prank bro¡­ okay¡­ wait, are you still here? What? How can you hear me th¡­ oh¡­ nice play, bro. Nice play. Oh¡­ I think you''ll have to come back." As if he was terminating a phone call, Xavier stopped talking, and stood up from his sit. The person he had waited for had finally arrived. This was the moment of truth, in every sense of the term. Chapter 65 - The beginning of a long and impossible Struggle As the first round of the Underground tournament came to an end, everybody was talking about one thing: The Nuts Shmasheress. Not only was she the only woman in the competition, she managed to defeat one of the most promising combatants in a single hit. Many said it was a shameful attack, and that there should be a rematch. She eventually became a source of conflict and division between the supporters. One part wanted her to lost at all cost, while the other wished for her to crush everyone in her way. However, the tournament was a gathering of strong individuals, and it was only the first of the six matches required to win the title. The closer you get to the final match, and more powerful the opponent will be. Everyone was waiting for her second round, who, without a doubt, will be more challenging than the first. Not. Her opponent was another tall man, but unlike the ¡®Crusher'', he was way skinnier. He was practising a sort of martial art, with fast kicks and punches. Alice quickly suspected he was using some kind of flux enhancement, but didn''t think too much about it. If this is truly a place for the mighty to fight, everyone is probably using flux in one way or another. Also, the Crazy Monkeys she ¡®fought'' from a few weeks ago weren''t that strong even though they were using it, so it didn''t mean much. Without waiting for the referee to announce the start, the martial fighter jumped on Alice, and plummeted her with a barrage of punches, so fast it looked like his arms disappeared. And after a few seconds, he stopped. It was too painful. For him. He wasn''t prepared for that. His fists covered with his own blood. As if he was hitting a diamond wall this whole time. ?Diamond Skin??Skin Solidification? To be fair, she did use Earth magic. Thus, Alice ended the fight. He was smashed, and the legend went on for another round. The crowd went wild. Her already-established popularity soared to even greater hights, and in an instant she became the dark horse of the tournament. Well, it was an expected turned of event for her, but she was still somewhat disappointed. When she saw him using martial, she thought maybe she would be able to absorb some useful techniques, but it was just too weak compared to what she learned from her master and looking at Sam''s art. She didn''t manage to get much from this last one, but enough to realize it was quite potent. This flow thing was weird, but she understood enough to use the basics. The overhaul principle is to use external sources of energy and direct them where you want, like it was your own. Really hard to pull out, because it required a significant preparation time and precise movements, but if you have the speed advantage, or any cheat like foresight, it becomes really powerful, and technically you don''t even have to use much of your own power. In conclusion, Alice was starting to realize how strong Sam could become if he managed to master his art, and how much she missed him already. Fortunately, she had some fights to keep her mind away¡­
M: I w0u1d 1ike t0 ask y0u s0mething ab0ut y0ur survei11ance netw0rk, 0r whatever it is. M: He110? M: Wi11iam?
Struggle#17 Objective: Win the Poker round Sub-Objective: All in - Win the tournament Struggle#18 Objective: Find the exit Sub-Objective: none Struggle#19 Objective: Kill Matthiew Sub-Objective: none ¡­ Well, it¡¯s been a while since I started a struggle in the middle of a plain, I guess¡­ To be fair, it seems like there is a city not that far away. The few last struggles were surprisingly easy, so I¡¯m on my guard for this one. Especially since I¡¯m supposed to kill someone. That will be really hard to do, because either he¡¯ll be a bad guy, and I¡¯ll be able to gather up the courage to end his life, or it will be a normal person, and I don¡¯t see myself killing someone for my own benefit. Even if he does something horrible, if he has circumstance I¡¯ll be able to see it with my vision, and I¡¯ll be back to square one. For me to pass this, this Matthiew really needs to be one of the most despicable human beings I''ve ever met. Yep, I have a bad feeling about this... While approaching the town, something felt wrong, and I quickly realized it wasn¡¯t a town, but ruins. It was several kilometres away, but I could see some tall building partially destroyed. The closer I was, the more details I found. The town had probably be deserted, after some kind of battle, and judging by the omnipresent vegetation, it must''ve had happened a long time ago. I hope I¡¯ll be able to know more with my BeForesight - I came up with the name myself! I''m quite proud of my progress concerning both my BeForesight and Inspection. I''m even able to see through matter now. I developed it during the poker match, even though it wasn''t useful at all, as I got four full houses in a row - what can I say, I''m a lucky man. Nonetheless, it was quite helpful when I had to exit the labyrinth in the last struggle. It was built within a mountain and inhabited by a bunch of half-bull monsters wandering the corridors, trying to kill me on sight. They were stronger than me, but I was fast enough to escape. Though¡­ it was a bit disturbing to see that Nami and Xav were there too. It''s not impossible they had to go through the same struggle earlier, and I don''t really care, on the contrary, I was a bit relieved to see her in top shape. The weird part was that they had a severe argument at the end. For some reason, I didn''t manage to catch everything they said, but I heard them bringing up my name, so¡­ Sigh, I hope it wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked. The fact that my vision glitched was weird in itself, but it was probably due to the place itself. The closer I was to the exit and the more I had trouble to use my abilities. Another one of this Quest many mysteries.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. At least, it should be working just fine here. As I started to have most of the city in sight, I began the process. I continued walking as the scenery in front of me changed. The sky turned red, with huge column of smokes here and there. There were flames in the street, and many gunshots sound, as well as people, screaming and running. It felt like a war scene, but I couldn''t see any opponent, there was only one side, firing at something inside a dome of smoke. Thousands of bullets were piercing the smoke¡­ if someone was in there, he was dead for sure. Nonetheless, they kept firing madly in the same direction. I couldn''t see their faces, but there shouts were enough for me to feel the madness and despair they were putting in this barrage of bullets. What the hell are they fighting against? I didn''t have to wait long before getting my answer.
1154 years ago ¡°Why isn¡¯t he dead?!¡± ¡°I have no idea captain! It¡¯s like¡­ nothing is working on him!¡± ¡°Fuck!!!¡± ¡°Captain! The target has exited the smoke!¡± The soldiers group, last remnants of the hundreds originally protecting the city, pointed their weapon once again at the entity in front of them. It was a man. A simple man, with long white hair falling to his ankle. He was almost completely naked, and totally unscathed. Holding a gun with his right hand, as the other was on his belt garnished with grenades, he fired once, and took down one of the soldiers. A perfect shot, at least 30 meters long, with virtually no aim time. And the response was prompt. ¡°Fire!!!¡± It was their last stance, but¡­ The bullets went through the guy. Each time he was hit, you could see his body getting hurt, his head explode, or blood spurting, but an instant after, the man was back in his original position, as if the hit was an illusion. "I-I-I can''t die like this!!!" One of the soldiers dropped his weapon and tried to run, only to get shot in the back. The immortal man didn''t shot many times, but he never missed. Yes, without a doubt, it was the end. They couldn''t hope for a way to escape alive, the man was too close now. It was foolish of them to try to stop him, they should have run as soon as they saw what he was capable of. ¡°Fuck this shit!!!¡± ¡°Captain?¡± One of the soldiers, apparently the captain, took out two grenades from his pocket and threw them. ¡°Eat that!¡± "Captain! I told you it won''t¡­" Two enormous explosions followed up, way bigger than you would escape from hand grenades. They all jumped on the ground, head down. Then¡­ the waited. And nothing happened. A whole minute passed, and felt like a year. And nothing happened. They couldn¡¯t see through the smoke, but¡­ ¡°He¡­Hehehe¡­ HAHAHA, finally! See what happen when¡­¡± PAN Another soldier fell, and the naked man revealed himself once again. ¡°Im¡­Impossible¡­¡± Unable to think straight, the captain found himself in total despair. Tears started to appear in the corner of his eyes, and¡­ his second rushed to him. ¡°Captain! We have to fight! We have to slow him down! He¡¯ll go after the civilian! Even if it¡¯s only one second, we have to slow him down!¡± Hearing those words, he turned his head to look at his man. With a stray of water falling down his cheeks and mad eyes, he screamed. ¡°Fuck that! Who cares?!! You slow him!!!¡± And he fired at his man''s leg, before running straight for his life, away from the immortal. The soldier fell on the ground, holding his leg and shouting his pain. Seeing that, the other soldiers started to abandon the fight too, dropping their gear, running away in despair. Without surprise, they were all shot to death, except one. The captain was still alive. The white-hair naked man had his gun pointed towards him, but blocking his sight was the injured soldier, barely conscious, sweating like a waterfall. Without firing, the immortal continued to move forward. Eventually, he stopped, as his weapon met with the soldier forehead, as he was standing on one leg, protecting his superior. The immortal felt the fear around him, but it was overshadowed by the determination in his eyes. Thus, the man spoke. ¡°Why¡­ are you protecting him?¡± "¡­you... you need... to be stopped." ¡°You can¡¯t stop me.¡± "...so what?" The immortal raised his right eyebrow, as well as the corner of his mouth. "So be it." And he fired.
Wow¡­ that was heavy. I wonder who this long hair guy was, or is. I don¡¯t really know how far into the past it took place, more than a hundred years at least, but if bullets can¡¯t kill him, he might as well be alive now. Holy¡­ I hope he is not Matthiew. Well, knowing the book, it¡¯s likely he is Matthiew¡­ Fuck! This is even worse than my worst case scenario. How am I gonna¡­ Hum? Wait, there someone! As I watched the vision, I kept advancing toward the city, and finally arrived. As I stepped in, I heard something. Even though my speciality is sight, my enhanced earing is also pretty good. And without a doubt, I heard footsteps. The place was totally quiet, so I had no doubts. There is someone in the city. Without wasting an instant, I started running toward him - or her. I tracked him easily, and a few streets later, I found him. He was walking by the remains of a destroyed house, looking down, deep in his thoughts. Immediately, I was relieved that it wasn''t the guy I saw in the vision. He had short dark hair and eyes, and was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. However¡­ I feel like I have seen him somewhere¡­ Oh! I remember! Oh. Oh¡­ Ooooooh¡­ He¡­ I just saw him. He was in my vision. He¡¯s the soldier. Chapter 66 - So... the black guy ended up in prison? Classic. ¡°Welcome back eeeeeveryone!!!¡± ¡°WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡± ¡°Are you ready for the match of the century?!¡± ¡°WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡± The public was, once again, wild. It was the 3rd round for the Nuts Smasheress, and her opponent was another underdog. Although most were tall and muscular fighters, this one was a small magician, with a green robe and a wood staff. ¡°To my right! A mysterious mage from the north, that had managed to beat every single of his opponent untouched! And to my left¡­!¡± ¡°WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± "Haha, who am I kidding, everyone knows who she is! The Nuts¡­" Without a warning, the mage pointed the edge of his staff toward Alice, and summoned a tremendous burst of wind. With a relative lack of surprise, Alice was pushed back¡­ by about 10 centimetres, while her long white hair wobbled with the pressure, leaving the mage speechless. ¡°Earth Magic really is useful, but I guess I could also try Wind¡­¡± Disregarding her comment, the small man used his staff once again, and another burst was created, even stronger than the one before, however¡­ Alice had already lifted her left hand, using her palm as a shield, splitting the attack int two. But her opponent wasn¡¯t done, after spinning his weapon above his head, he violently planted it in front of him, invoking an extreme pressure on Alice. This time, it worked, as she had to put one knee to the ground. Her hair fell straight down to the ground, as well as her left arm. She had underestimated him, but in the end, it didn¡¯t really matter. Gathering a bit of her strength, she raised her head, and pointed her palm toward her opponent. Using his first attack, she propelled him. And just like that, the fight was over. He crashed into the arena borders, and lost consciousness. The crowd continued to cheer, apparently not surprised by the turn of event. Coming back from the entrance of the ring where he was hiding, the referee took her hand and raised it in the air. ¡°We have a winner!¡± ¡®Sigh¡­ this is such a waste of time¡­¡¯ Even though her fight didn''t last more than a few seconds, the waiting period between each of them was too much for her. She was here for almost a week already, and she was clearly getting tired of it. Fortunately, the number of contestants had already drastically decreased, and there were only three fights left. The next fight was two days later, and apparently, it¡¯s likely she¡¯ll fight a regular gladiator that had crushed the skull of his first opponents with his bare hands. Not that she cared much¡­
P: I miss pou alreadp! M: Come on, Prom. You 1eft a minute ag0. M: And every0ne can see the chat! P: But¡­ what am I supposed to do if you''re not here to lauph at mp pokes? M: I never 1augh at y0ur j0kes. P: Not on the outside. M: Neither 0n the inside. P: Nah, pou¡¯re pust too shp to admit it. P: Hear this one! P: How do pou make Holp water? This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. M: ¡­ M: S0¡­? P: You boil the Hell out of it! : D P: : D P: Mar? P: You there? "Meh, she''ll be back. She''s probably busy laughing her ass off." Seeing that she wasn¡¯t responding, Prometheus stood up from his chair to stretch up a bit. He then opened the Book. Struggle#15 Objective: Escape Sub-Objective: Bring the other inmates with you He was in jail. Not the dirty-humid-filled-with-rats kind of jail, but more like there-is-a-million-of-detectors-of-camera-behind-your-pillow kind. The bars were replaced by a greenish holographic screen with a weird logo on it, featuring a pair of big eyes and the phrase ¡®FOREVER¡¯. Prom was alone in his cell, but beyond the screen he could see many more, even though it didn''t seem like there was a single guard in sight. Inside, there was only one bed, one toilet and a small table. ¡°Che, f¡¯course. Put the black in prison! It¡¯s where he belongs, right?¡± Back on Earth, Prom had never been discriminated based on the color of his skin, because since the start of the 21st century, the several times humanity came close to extinction flushed away most nations and ethnic heritage, mixing all kind of people from all kind of place. Thus, leaving little place for discrimination. However, Naomi managed to found an old book relating the struggle of his ancestor before all the wars started, and he always wanted to say something like that. For some reason he found the context funny. What a shame nobody was there to hear him. ¡°Shut up, rookie, I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to sleep!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry there¡­ hey! Where are we?¡± ¡°I said I want to sleep!¡± ¡°C¡¯mon¡­! I¡¯m trying to escape, and¡­¡± ¡°Escape?! Hahahaha! Guys! The rookie says he¡¯ll escape!¡± His neighbour bursted in laughter, followed by many other voices from further away. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Listen, kid, nobody had ever managed to get out of this place, and believe me, many tried. So shut it down and let me sleep!¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it by myself, we¡¯ll see who will get the last laugh.¡± ¡°I say shut up!¡± BAM! A blunt noise shook the room. It was coming from Prom, as he just tried to punch the screen. As expected, it was hard, and his clench fist was broken. "Gosh, every. Single. Fucking time! You''ll only hurt yourself kiddo, just¡­" BAM! Extreme Regeneration A skill he learned on his 6th struggle, while fighting against Kunan, the Necromancer - who is not Master Kunan, even though he was Prometheus'' master. Not only was Prom proficient in the art of healing others, he was also able to recover from any physical damage in seconds. There were a few limitations, but not much. Using this skill, he pushed his body to the limit, and developed his muscle, using the destruction and reconstruction process as many times as possible. So much so that he managed to catch up to Xavier in term of pure strength. And that''s why, a crack was formed on the wall. After three strikes, results started to shown. ¡°Hehe, that wasn¡¯t that hard after all.¡± However, his smile rapidly faded away, at the same time the cracks did. ¡°What?!¡± "Che, it''s always, the god, damn, same, thing! You must be a Wrecker, right?! Not only those walls are tougher than diamonds, they regenerate themselves in seconds. It''s a lost cause." ¡°No¡­ there must be a w¡­ wait, did you say Wrecker? I¡¯m¡­ what is that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking about your class! Dumbass! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re stupid enough to forget that?¡± ¡°You¡­ know about class?¡± "Of course! Bard of Diligence! At your fucking service!" With a sudden realization, Prom rushed to the screen, and tried to see the full extent of the room outside his cell. It was huge, the opposite ones were a few meters away, and all the cells were sorted, in lines and columns. Right and left, up and down. There was at least hundreds of them. "Sigh... in case you haven''t figured out yet, this is a prison for Questers, there are already tens of us here, and I never heard of someone escaping. So, please, shut the fuck up and let me fucking sleep!"
¡°And another victory for the Smasheress!!!!!¡± ¡°WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± ¡°This is unheard of! Once again, in a single kick, she terminated the lineage of one of the strongest contestant!!!¡± As the crowd was shouting her name, Alice quietly rejoined her cell. With a heavy sigh, she felt a strange sense of emptiness. Like something was missing. She didn''t feel the need to kill any of the guys she went against for the past days, but the lack of resistance was¡­ boring her. After each fight, she couldn¡¯t help but remember her confrontation with the Guardian, and how thrilling it was. She was craving for a real fight. But there''s no way this tournament would give her that. Probably. Chapter 67 - You can never be too OP M: Hum, that¡¯s quite the situati0n y0u put y0urse1f into¡­ P: Hey, I didn¡¯t do nothinp! M: Y0u just used a d0ub1e negative¡­ M: If the B00k br0ught y0u there, it¡¯s pr0bab1y n0t a c0incidence. M: I d0n¡¯t kn0w¡­ try t0 think 0ut 0f the b0x? P: Can¡¯t you hack the prison? M: 0h, sure. M: 1et me infi1trate a p1ace I have n0 idea where it is!!! M: It c0u1d be 0n an0ther fucking c0ntinent f0r a11 I kn0w! M: Y0u¡¯re being ridicu10us! P: ¡­ P: You mean, Maridiculous? M: ¡­ M: Is it that bad? P: Well¡­ S: Hey guys! S: Sorry for the delay, I¡¯ve been¡­ talking with someone. S: What did I miss, there¡¯s a lot of messages¡­ M: Pr0m is in jai1. S: Really? What did you do? P: Nothin¡¯! I swear! P: I pust arrived here, and my obpective is to escape. S: Okay¡­ so what¡¯s the problem then? M: It¡¯s a Quester jai1. S: What? P: We¡¯re a dozen trapped in here. P: The oldest has been here for more than a century. P: And he never saw anyone escape. S: Hum¡­ sounds rough. M: D0n¡¯t w0rry guys, I¡¯ll handle it. P: Really? S: How so? M: I¡¯11 find a way. P: Yeah! P: I knew I could count on my little Mar! S: It seems quite weird though, for Quester to be trapped like that. S: I¡¯ve seen two ¡®wanderers¡¯ so far and none of them told us about anything like that it¡­ S: I¡¯ll ask Eve or Adam if I meet them again¡­ M: It sh0u1d be fine. M: W0rst case scenari0, I¡¯11 find a way t0 create my 0wn spatia1 d00rs. P: Really? M: Why n0t?
As sweat and beverage were spilt on the ground, as cheers and encouragement were yielded from everywhere, as the excitement was reaching its peak, two people were standing still, in the centre of the Coliseum, scrutinizing one another. About the same height, a man against a woman. After a close first semi-final, the public was in trance. However, this time they only had one question: how fast will it take for the Smasheress to emasculate her opponent in shiny armour? Obviously, the man in question knew that. He was aware that the frail-looking girl in front of him destroyed all her foes without breaking a sweat, but you don¡¯t come that far into a tournament without some kind of trick up your sleeve. "I... I would like to propose a game." ¡°Hum? A game? What the fuck are you talking about¡­¡± "Just¡­ here me out. I propose a contest of strength, each of us attacks the other full force, taking turns. Yo-you can start if you want!" ¡°¡­¡± Obviously, this was a trick. Even though she didn''t pay much attention to the other contestant, she did listen to what was happening while waiting in between matches. And she never heard of such a thing in previous matches. However, she couldn¡¯t picture how this would backfire, and it could be quite fun. ¡°Fine, I accept.¡± She didn¡¯t miss the small grin he made after her statement, but that much was to be expected. ¡°Great! The rules are simple, you hit me, and in no way can I defend myself, no spell, no technique, nothing. Then it¡¯s my turn.¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± The man flamboyantly opened his armed, inviting her attack. ¡°Hehe, ready when you are.¡± ¡°You sure are a weirdo.¡± Alice came closer to the man, imaging the coolest way to take him down, and she found a pretty good idea. Up close, she started to take a stance. Followed by a dance, with her arms and legs drawing circles in the air, in a continuous flow, like a calm and stream. The public, as well as her opponent, were confused, as they couldn''t divert their eyes from her. After a solid minutes of this magestic yet ominous dance all around the man, she stopped her footwork near his flank. With an exaggerated and controlled movement, she suddenly pulled back her leg. Simultaneously, the man fell backwards in total shock. But he hasn''t been touched yet, the blow was yet to be administered. Following the flow, Alice¡¯s legs was already pointed toward the ceiling, ready to administrate the blow. Hopefully, it shouldn¡¯t kill him. And she slammed her foot into his stomach. Crushing him to the ground. Blasting slabs under him. As blood spurted out of his mouth. And reactivating the cheers of the public. Even stronger than before. Nobody understood what happened, and why the guy let her attack without reacting, but at this point, they didn¡¯t really care much. ¡°Really, what did he think¡­¡± COUGH ¡°Hum?¡± ¡°*cough cough*¡± She turned around, and the man was already up on his knee, trying to get some air. ¡°What the¡­¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Hehe, young lady¡­ you¡¯ve made a terrible mistake.¡± ?Tenacity? The ability to withhold one fatal attack. The burden on your body is massive and repetitive use almost impossible, but in this case¡­ The man took out a dagger from his belt. A shiny and sharped blade, reflecting the light of the projectors toward Alice¡¯s eyes. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind that¡­ hehe¡± ¡°You do know I don¡¯t really have to follow your rules? Right?¡± "Oh my, would you give up your honour? In front of so many people? You and I both know you won''t do that. I saw how you handle Micha?l, you''re skin is tough. Don''t you want to know if it''s tough enough?" ¡®Who the fuck is Micha?l?¡¯ "You sure talk a lot. But I guess you''re right, I am curious about my own limit, so¡­ let''s see what you''re made of." However, Alice''s overlooked another crucial element. For her, this match was nothing more than a brick paving her road forward, but for him, it was a deathmatch. He was ready to risk everything to win, and that''s why, even though he was already one of the top contestant, for the purpose of this round he administrated to himself one of the most potent drugs in the market. Long story short, Alice was underestimating him. And he was planning to make good use of that. He barely waited for her to ready herself, and rushed forward. An instant later, his blade was planted in Alice¡¯s throat. ¡°Hehehe, *cough cough* brain always win over¡­¡± ¡°¡­brawn?¡± ?!!! ¡°Too bad for you, I have both.¡± At this point, for any guides following her adventure, it would be nothing short of a re-run, but still¡­ ?Tenacity? ¡­this is pretty unfair. ¡°Wha-Wha-Wha¡­¡± "I never thought I would come upon something useful here. I guess I should say thanks¡­" But¡­ she didn''t. Instead, she added him to the growing list of man she deprived of their masculinity. "Thinking about it, I should have done that from the start¡­" In the midst of a silenced Coliseum, Alice walked over her latest victim, rejoining her waiting room. Finally, one more fight and she¡¯ll be done with the whole struggle.
In a dark room, lightened by a single old lamp hanging down from the ceiling, slowly balancing left and right, a person was waiting, her hair falling down behind her chair, gently floating in order to avoid any contact with the floor, and her masked face directed at the door in front of her. In front of her stood a simple table as well as another chair. Yes, she was waiting for someone. And the whole situation was quite annoying for her. Well, waiting was a strong word. She might not have the same sight as her male counterpart, but she was still the most powerful known being. She was perfectly able to detect the person approaching the room, and that will probably enter in a few minutes. Still, she was irritated. Not because of the wait, but¡­ ¡°Why am I doing this again?¡± ¡°You know why, I explained it to you once. And it¡¯s more than enough. And why are you speaking out loud?¡± ¡°Damn, even after all this time, I can¡¯t stop to be amazed by your recorded messages. Feels so weird.¡± A scroll was put on the table, displaying the holographic shape of Adam, harbouring his usual smile under his extravagant hat and half darkened face. ¡°Listen, I just want to trust you one this. As she is now, Alice will not lose. We need to trigger the change. Well, it will happen so it¡¯s not we ¡®need¡¯ to¡­ anyway. Just¡­ trust me.¡± "Come on. You think I didn''t figure out who is coming down here? As they are now, she''ll wipe the floor with Snow White." ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Alice.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, yes and no. Potential is one thing. Practical application is another.¡± "Can you be less precise, please? It feels like you are purposely messing with me." "Who knows. Is it me that will say what I will say? Or has it been set in stone since the beginning and I''m just playing along with the script I foresaw without realizing I do? When you can see everything past, present and future, free will become kind of pointless." "Sigh¡­ You''re getting off topic." "Please, Eve. Just¡­ I''ve been planning this for a while, you know¡­ I even had to get into a Safe Spot! You know how much I hate those places!" ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll do it! But don¡¯t bitch on me when the sad part comes.¡± ¡°Haha, you silly. I won¡¯t ¡®bitch¡¯.¡± "Yes, you will." ¡°Remind me who is the Seer here? Plus, she¡¯ll be here in 5 seconds, so bye!¡± The communication cut, and the hologram fade away as if it was made of steam. As foretold, three distinctive knocks resonated in the room, coming from the only door. Without waiting for an answer, the person on the other side slowly turned the handle, and opened the door. It was a young woman, wearing a serious face and a tank top, originally white, but currently tainted in red. Her darkish blue hair was tied with a single rubber band, and even though it wasn''t distinguishable from her attitude, she was completely exhausted. ¡°Hi. I guess you never heard of me yet. Please, take a sit.¡± Eve pointed at the chair in front of her, on the other side of the table. Intrigued, the woman accepted the invitation, and sat down, without diverting her eyes or saying a word. "You must have some questions¡­" "I¡­ Hum. As a matter of fact. I do." "Well, that''s why I am here, Naomi. What do you want to know?" Chapter 68 - The Final Round: Cheat VS Cheat+ ¡°Fellow citizen of Oucropolis! We are here, tonight! To see who is¡­ the STRONGEST!!! To my right! The amazing and mysterious Nut Smasheress! Even though her last fight was close, I think her reputation speaks for itself! AM I right folks!¡± ¡®It wasn¡¯t that ¡®close¡¯ though. Yeah, he stuck a dagger in my neck, but it was all under control¡­ fucking amateurs.¡¯ ¡°And to my left!!! ¡­¡± Standing in front of Alice was a thin-looking man, looking like a samura?. His long black hair were carefully tied, and he was wearing a matching-colour armour. Unlike her precedent opponents, he didn''t seem uneasy. He wasn''t confident either, he was¡­ calm. In fact, Alice couldn''t sense an ounce of fighting spirit emitting from him. She didn''t watch his previous fight, and didn''t know much about him, other than his name¡­ "¡­Sakai! The Black Samura?!" What an unoriginal surname... The guy is a samura?, and he¡¯s wearing a black armour. That¡¯s it. Nonetheless, Alice was focused. It was her last fight, and she was eager to finish as soon as possible. Her previous opponent was weak, and although she never came close to lose, she did underestimate him, and the one before that too. For once, she decided to play safe. The referee shouted the start of the match, as Alice sensed a chill down her spine. A split second before Saka? moved, the image of someone flashed into her mind. A woman. Kunan. For the first time of the tournament, she took her stance, guarding herself with her silver dagger. ¡°?Low moon?¡± He whispered his technique. Although Alice¡¯s earing was good enough to hear it, widening her eyes in shock. In a fluid movement, Saka? drew a moon crescent with the tip of his blade, cutting through her legs. Well, where they used to be. Evading by a hair gap, Alice evaded the strike with a majestic backward flip, followed by a brutal landing, burrowing her own feet in the arena slabs. As the Samura? started to take another stance, she promptly raised her hand, palm facing the ceiling. The next instant, an ascending burst of wind propelled Saka? into the air. At this point, the crowd had completely lost it, as mad cheer were filling the underground room. The wind attack was so strong a light breeze passed within their rank, but nobody noticed, or cared. Saka? was up in the air, showing no sign of slowing down. However, in no way was he panicking. He reached the ceiling, and using his amazing sense of balance, landed on it, head down. A second later, he was jumping toward Alice at full speed, with gravity on his side. ¡®Yes¡­ this is fun!¡¯ It was all within her expectation. Unlike the other, she couldn¡¯t measure his strength just by looking at him, but their first exchange was enough. His style was powerful, and she couldn¡¯t copy it. For one simple reason. She already learned it. Saka? was approaching at a tremendous speed, and was about to crash into the ground. At the same time, preparing for impact, Alice was keeping her stance, without any intent to dodge. A few centimetres above the ground, in front of Alice, he unleashed his technique. ¡°?Ascending Crescent?!¡± This time he shouted it¡­ but it failed. Unlike her opponent, she didn''t have to scream the name of the technique, mainly because she didn''t bother learning it, but also because it would have disturbed the childish smile on her face. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. She was enjoying this, as both of them were stuck in space, Saka? in the air, the edge of his blade blocked by the tip of Alice¡¯s dagger. Alice already used this technique, many times. It allows the users to stop a fall while striking your opponent. But this time, it was blocked, and the ascending momentum summoned wasn¡¯t enough to get the Samura? up. So he fell. Miserably. On the ground. Alice didn¡¯t attack him. Instead, she let him get up on his feet, and jump back. For the first time since the start of the fight, his expression wasn¡¯t calm. He was¡­ scared, and shocked. ¡°What¡­ are you?¡± ¡°Where did you learn this style?¡± ¡°I¡­ I learned by myself.¡± "No, you didn''t. I know who invented them. In fact¡­" Gathering her energy as much as she could while keeping her face unchanged, she slashed her dagger behind her, cutting the air, as well as the Coliseum wall behind her. ?Spatial Cut? ¡°¡­she taught me as well.¡± It was a huge waste of energy just to show off, but for some reason, she wanted to see the look on his face. In a way, she wasn''t disappointed, but for sure she didn''t expect that. She thought he would be shocked, or surprised. Instead, he was... concentrating. His eyes were shining with a bright and childish light. Without diverting them from her, he clenched his fist on his handle, bending his body forward. ¡®I have a bad feeling about this.¡¯ In a breath, he whispered. ¡°?Spatial¡­ Cut??¡± For an instant, the world stop, the crowd went silent, with the only thing moving being the Samura?¡¯s sword. It pierced the air, carving a perfectly horizontal cut on the top of the coliseum wall, just above Alice¡¯s one, which head was flying in the hair, detached from her body. The crowd went silent, for real this time. The head dropped to the ground, as her body was still standing. For a few seconds, nobody said anything, as Saka? put a knee on the ground from exhaustion, as pearls of sweat were invading his forehead, a smile on his face. ¡°Stop playing around. I saw your previous fight. You didn¡¯t die from this.¡± ¡°Of course, but come on¡­ you can¡¯t use the same trick twice, right?¡± The illusion cracked, revealing the young woman lying down on her side, resting her head on her palm. "Good thing you didn''t aim for my legs this time." ¡°How¡­ how did you¡­?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my question, Samura? kid. What you did was pretty amazing. It took me a few days to get to that point, and I¡¯m a quick learner. Did you perhaps met my master before?¡± ¡°I¡­ urgh!¡± He painfully tried to get up, without success. Following this unexpected turn of event, the crowd was totally lost, and nobody was sure what was actually happening. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think your body can withstand it. Too bad I don¡¯t have a way to heal you. Hope you don¡¯t die.¡± She approached him, looking down, with an evil grin on her face. In the end, it was still fun to play the bad guy. ¡°What was your name again?¡± ¡°Sa¡­urgh¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°Haha, just kidding. Farewell, Saka?.¡± And she kicked him in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious. Finally, although confused, the crowd acclaimed the victory, throwing their beer inside the arena, running like madmen and screaming like gorillas. The referee, who was actually close to being split in half by Alice¡¯s spatial cut from earlier, turned on his mic, and shouted. ¡°AND WE HAVE A WINNER! LADIES! AND GENTLEMAN!!! THE CHAMPION OF THIS YEAR TOUR IS¡­ where is she?¡±
¡®Still¡­ I wonder where did he meet with master¡­ and more importantly, man¡­! A guy that can instantly copy any sword technique he sees?! Even faster than me?! That''s cheating!'' ¡°Sigh¡­ At least I¡¯m done with this one. Took me long enough.¡± As soon as the word ¡®winner was pronounced¡¯, the objective was completed, and Alice was gone. This whole tournament actually gave her more than expected, even though it was nothing compared to what she already has. It took her about a week, but she had finally finished her 17th struggle, and was already up for the 18th. Struggle#18 Objective: Leave the Fortress Sub-objective: none ¡®Oh! This one doesn''t seem too hard.'' Chapter 69 - Looks like a dead end Before time and space even existed, one entity was there. Call it God, the Creator, or whatever, it doesn¡¯t really matter, because it doesn¡¯t exist anymore. It died, leaving its legacy in the hands of its 3 children. Adam received omniscience, gifting him with a wisdom beyond imagination. Eve received omnipotence, placing her as the leader, and world safe keeper. As for the last one, she was gifted with the most important task of all. Supplying energy to the world, and thus, is now referred as the Source. Ultimately, their purpose is to keep the Game going. To assure that rules are followed and that new Questers don¡¯t disturb the very existence of the worlds. The very purpose of this Game was unknown to the Creator''s children, but it does have one, that for certain. However, after billions of years, even the certitude of Godly beings can erode and fade away. That''s why their behaviour changed. They started to show themselves to players, even interacting with them directly. But most importantly¡­¡± ¡°Hum¡­ who are you?¡± In the middle of a dark alley street, as a couple of stereotypical drunkards were lying down on the paved street, a gorgeous young blond woman was holding another one of her assailants by the neck, with his feet 2 inches above the ground. Such a force was shocking for such a thin body, even though her sleeveless shirt let her right mechanic arm in plain sight, with rows of clockworks randomly spinning on its surface, giving the whole situation a relative credibility: this girl was definitely not a normal person. However, she was at lost for word looking at the arriving third party, in this shit hole of an alley. To be more precise, it was a man, wearing a suit and a top hat. A black mask was covering his eyes and his smile the other half of his face. ¡°Oh, sorry, I was rude. I forgot that we will not have introduced ourself yet. Hi Marie, I am Adam.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Loosening her grips, she let the fat drunk man fell on his butt, without diverting her eyes from the man in a suit. She had no perfect memory like Alice or Naomi, but she remembered quite well what Sam told her about this man. Supposedly, he was his cheated version, with the power to see and know everything. Plus, he did introduce himself during his weird monologue¡­ "Yeah, I know, you''ve heard of me already. Usually, I don''t show myself in person, but this will take some time, so it was actually easier to come." ¡°Why¡­¡± ¡°What a silly question. Am I here because I saw my future self coming? Or did I decide to come by myself and happened to see it beforehand? Even I don¡¯t know the answer, so don¡¯t bother thinking about it.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± "I know, I know. But it''s not like I''m asking anything out of you. I''m just here to give you infos. About the world and all that stuff. Pretty sweet intro by the way, right? Wink wink." ¡°¡­¡± ¡°HOLY! How rude of you! I can¡¯t believe you were about to say that!¡± ¡°This is getting stupid¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you. Let¡¯s get into a bar, it¡¯s pretty cold out there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not cold.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I¡­ I have no idea why I¡¯m actually having a conversation with you. I should probably go.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to get Prom out of prison without me, you know?¡± ¡°I¡­ how did you¡­?¡± ¡°Are you really asking that?¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ fine. What do you want to tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take some time, come on. There a good bar down the street.¡± Thus, leaving the half-dozen of people lying down unconscious on the paved street, Marie followed Adam outside the alley. Obviously, she was suspicious, but didn''t have much of a choice. From their short exchange, she realized it was likely that he did have omniscient-like powers. And he was right, even though she hates asking for help, she didn''t see herself freeing Prometheus on her own. The struggle she was currently in was an easy one, so she thought about her problem, and quickly realize how much of a fool she was. She knows how prideful she is, but doesn''t see it as an issue, as long as she doesn''t overestimate her own abilities. That''s why she doesn''t mind giving up if the task is too hard, or at least postpone it. In fact, she did give up on many things since the adventure started. She gave up messing up with time, she postponed creating artificial intelligence, and she gave up creating her own doors. But now, she put herself in a situation where she has to do it, and where failure would mean betraying Prometheus. And if it were to happen, she would never forgive herself. She would actually prefer to die. After a few days of failure, she decided to finish the objective, and her she is, following a shading all knowing man in a shady street to get into a shady bar and hear shady explanations. What is the worst that could happen?
The Game takes place across 5 worlds, the first one representing the element of water, with the purpose of teaching the basics of the Quest to newcomers. The second represents earth. The real challenges start here, and is the most common world for sessions to fail. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. This concentration of people from another world fastened its progress, thus giving birth to groundbreaking technologies. Multiple cities were built and have flourished thanks to the rise of these discoveries. However, not every places have been blessed with luck, and as the Flux could give birth to wonderful miracles, it could also create monsters and catastrophe science could never hope to prevent. More than a thousand years ago, an immortal decided to step on what used to be the greatest city in the country. The local militia tried everything to stop him, without success. Thus the city met its downfall, and up to this day, no one tried to move back in. Until several days ago. Where a lonely person went back, to his hometown. Even more recently, a second person arrived, for a whole different reason. Eventually, they met each other, and right now they are¡­ Sparing? Fighting? Whatever it was, it was one-sided. On the receiving hand was a young white-hair man with his eyes closed and a muscular upper body deprived of any clothing. The other person had also white hair, and was also young. Of course, it was Sam. Displaying an intense level of concentration, his pupils were vibrating right and left as his limbs were madly striking random part of his opponent¡¯s body. The whole exchange lasted less than a minute, before blood suddenly spurted from Sam''s nose. It didn''t stop Sam, but the half-naked man in front of him noticed, and jumped back, ending the session. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°What? I¡­ wow¡­ I¡¯m fine! Come one, Matthiew. We¡¯re only¡­ holy¡­¡± ¡°See? Don¡¯t overuse your brain. Trust me, it¡¯s better to take it slow.¡± ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m finally making progress! I can feel it! I just need a bit more, and I¡¯ll get my Foresight back!¡± ¡°Or you¡¯ll become blind.¡± ¡°¡­sigh¡­ okay. Let¡¯s end there for today.¡± It has already been a week since Sam arrived in the abandoned city and met with Matthiew. As mentioned before, this city was single-handedly destroyed by an immortal, seemingly looking for a way to kill time. However, as Sam thought he saw him kill a young soldier with a bullet in the head, he met with the said soldier a few minutes later. For some reason, he didn¡¯t die from the bullet. Instead, he woke up a few days after, and found the corpse of his supposed killer in front of him. After a while, he realized not only did he survived a bullet, he also became unable to die. It wasn''t hard to confirm, especially since he spent half a century trying to commit suicide, but it was actually Sam who confirmed it.
Matthiew Tarelen (lvl 47)
Strength 21 Agility 32
Dexterity 31 Intelligence 14
Flux Control 0 Flux Power 0
Techniques Immortality (Curse)
Immortality (Curse) The subject of this curse cannot die, under any circumstances. Divine - Curse - Owned by Matthiew
Needless to say, Sam¡¯s struggle was up to a rough start.
¡°Wait wait wait¡­ those worlds you¡¯re talking about. Are those planet, or something like that?¡± "Not exactly, but it works the same way. So¡­ back where I was¡­ oh yeah. Last, but not least, the fifth world! This one is different from the other, and is not much bigger than a city. It''s where Questers end up and become guides." "Hold on. Will told me he finished his Quest. But you''re telling me the end line is to become a guide? I thought you would come back to your world after ¡®winning''." ¡°Haha, it¡¯s more complicated than that. And it doesn¡¯t really matter to you anyway. I know what you want, what you will be able to do, and discovering the meaning of the Quest is not on the list.¡± ¡°¡­then tell me. How do I¡­¡± "Not yet. First, I need to teach you a bit about the overall system. Naomi is getting a head start and¡­ well, let''s just say you won''t see her for a while, so it''s for the best to split the knowledge in your group." ¡°Wait, what¡¯s the deal with Naomi?¡± ¡°She¡¯s with Eve right now. And they had a loooooong discussion. Wait, are having? Will¡­? Anyway, she¡¯ll be a bit unstable for a while, it would be advised to have someone to understand what she¡¯ll be fussing about.¡± ¡°Something is happening to her?!¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s just¡­ learning.¡± ¡°You¡­ are so messed up. I¡­¡± ¡°Trust me! It¡¯s for the best. Probably.¡± Marie''s guts were on Adam''s side, for an unknown reason, while, the rest of her body and mind was screaming to just punch the guy and run away. Nonetheless, from what Sam told her, it was likely that everything he said was true, and that he was truly omniscient or close to it. It was her best chance to help Prom, and to prepare for what will happen. Thus, she swallowed her pride. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Great, we will go in the same order than Eve. First question: is it possible to divert from a Seer¡¯s prediction?¡± Chapter 70 - The strongest Sin A week. It¡¯s been a whole week since Alice arrived in her 18th struggle, and¡­ Struggle#18 Objective: Exit the fortress Sub-Objective: none ¡­she hasn''t made any progress. This wasn¡¯t fortress, but a maze. A gigantic maze with many rooms and people leaving inside them, like it was a hotel, despite the stone cold floor and walls. In fact, they were e few reception desks on each floor, but none of them could give any sort of clear indication of a way out. It has been a week, and she has yet to see the outside. They were no windows, and no sign of illusion magic being used. Alice was getting crazy. At some point, she even tried to storm her way out by destroying the walls, but even that didn''t work out. They were too tough, even for her. Hence, for the past days, she was aimlessly walking around, making a mental mind in her map and asking every person crossing her way if they knew a way out. Of course, nobody managed to give her useful info, or any kind of help. She was running out of patience.
A drop of sweat was rolling down Sam¡¯s forehead. Scrutinizing his opponent, his focus was maximal. In an instant, his hand flew toward Matthiew''s shoulder, poking the muscle before retracting immediately after. There was no bruise, mainly because the strike was really weak, even for Sam''s standard. Both of them smiled, seemingly satisfied by the outcome of this first attack, then Sam stroke again. And again. And again. In an endless barrage of attack. With a handful of punches mixed in the torrent of pokes. On the receiving end, Matthiew wasn¡¯t moving an inch, despite the clear lack of strength and pressure he was against. It lasted a whole minute before Matthiew finally moved a step forward. Just one step, but it was enough to disturb Sam assault, and end the exchange. "Phew, that''s my win." ¡°Damn! I still can¡¯t last long enough!¡± "Stop focusing on details, dude. You have to let your body... go with the flow." "You have no idea how ironic what you just said is." Sam was having a hard time mastering his new ability. X-Ray vision He thought about it while ¡®fighting'' the Guardian. Without his Foresight, he has no practical Seer ability to use in combat. After meeting with Matthiew, they discussed a long time about their mutual circumstances. Apparently, after being killed/cursed by the nameless immortal centuries ago, he went around the world, trying to help people. At first, but soon after that, ended up giving up on humanity. After seeing too many wars and injustice. Thus, he started his life as an adventurer. With his cheated curse, it was easy, despite his lack of raw strength. He travelled around the world, witnessing the rise and downfall of numerous countries. For some reason, he decided, a few decades ago, to come back where it all began, in search for answers, and a meaning to his life. He wants to die, but don''t how to do it. Surely there was a way, as he saw the corpse of the previous owner of his curse with his own eyes. However, he had no idea what he did back then. And that''s about when Sam arrived. A young man, arguably more mysterious than himself, possessing strange powers he never encountered in a thousand year, as well as a magical book ordering him to kill an immortal. To kill him. They quickly became friends. As they quickly realize they had the exact same goal: Matthiew''s death. Not only that, but they also had a lot of common, as they were both nice guys with an endless amount of complaint about the world the ended up in. Sam was a friendly guy to begin with, back on Earth he was probably the most known and reliable person inside the camp community, despite not being the official leader and hanging out with the unpopular group. This ability to easily link with other people was also one of his many weaknesses, especially in this specific situation. There was no way in hell he could kill Matthiew. He was just a genuinely nice guy with a tragic story. In fact, he wanted to help him. To try and lift the curse. But he had no clue at to what to do. It was Matthiew that found the solution, the day after they met. ¡°If I understand your ¡®Quest¡¯ and what you¡¯ve been through, then you must have awesome ability to discover, right? You started as a normal person, like me, and then you became able to see the future, and the past! And the present, sort of¡­¡± ¡°Wait, what did you say?¡± "You know. You''re Inspection thing. I think it''s cool to say it like that. Past, present and future!" ¡°Yeah, that is cool¡­¡± After a little more deliberation, Matthiew came up with a plan to train Sam. It was quite straightforward: to force Sam to use his abilities as much as he can in hope to unlock more of them and to recover his foresight back. Thus, they¡¯ll be able to move to phase 2, which was yet to be defined. Sam was thinking of contacting Adam or Eve for this part, in order to find a way to lift the immortality curse.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In the meantime, the two of them started the training. Even though he didn''t consider himself as a hand fighter, Matthiew was well disciplined, and could easily handle any normal human. Plus, thanks to his immense experience and an endless number of situations he went through, he was perfectly fitt to teach Sam what to do. Of course, our Seer already knew how to fight, but he had yet to train how to handle his vision while doing so. Being able to put yourself in a super instinct state where you can dodge anything was great, but in the end, it was pointless if he couldn''t retaliate at all. Especially when facing stronger foes. Hence, the X-Ray training began. It was an obvious ability to develop, and the whole reason why Matthiew thought of the plan in the first place. Putting aside Foresight, it was the only thing Sam could actively use during a fight. It was allowing him to see through someone''s skin, revealing bones and muscles. Thus, it was easy to spot hidden weakness and the start of any move before they were even put in motion. So, for the past two weeks, Sam training consisted of trying to prevent Matthiew from moving, striking at the right spot with a perfect timing to negate the start of any kind of momentum. His progress was tremendous, even though he still couldn''t hold very long, and that he didn''t unlock any other technique since. That being said, Sam wasn¡¯t worried. Since his attempts to increase his Humility failed repetitively, he decided to build up his Pride as much as possible. As Adam hinted, it was the quickest and probably the best way to regain his lost Foresight. Plus, worst case scenario, in the instance he started to become too cocky he would just be smacked down by any of his friends. Clearly, he wasn''t there yet. His fast progress was helping, but he was missing something else. ¡°So¡­ if I understand correctly, you started to feel this way, about this whole Humility Pride stuff, when you had a vision, of your past, as your sister was about to be killed¡­¡± "I think it was just a stroke of luck. A random vision to remind me that¡­ well, I was lucky enough to be saved by a thunderbolt." ¡°What if it wasn¡¯t? What if¡­ what if there is something you have to remember? Something buried deep in your past¡­¡± ¡°You mean¡­ my power want me to remember something? Come one, it doesn¡¯t work that way.¡± "Are you sure of that? I can''t die, but, according to all the story you told me for the past weeks, it seems like you''ve seen more crazy things than I. And yet you still have no clue of what half of them were, or are. Plus, you''re still young, it shouldn''t be too hard to dive into your past and find¡­ whatever you had to find." ¡°Well¡­ I¡­ Truth to be told, I tried pretty hard to forget about it.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°The Purge.¡± ¡°¡­what is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t really want to talk about it.¡± It was already late, the moon had appeared in the sky, as its darkness was slowly being filled with stars. Both of them were sitting down, near a brazing campfire, which dancing flames were mesmerizing Sam. With a slight eyebrow frown, Matthiew let out a sigh, and put his hand on Sam''s shoulder. ¡°I understand, buddy. If you hadn¡¯t found out about how I became¡­ what I am now, I would probably have never tell you myself.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry about that¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be, it was for the best.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s usually so hard for me to know if I can reveal if I¡¯m¡­¡± "No. I mean, about what you said before. About me having to remember something." ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right. Something happened during the Purge. Something that I tried to forget and that I now have to remember. That¡¯s what the vision tried to tell me. No, what I tried to tell to myself.¡± ¡°What do you have in mind? It¡¯s not like memory can be recovered just like that¡­¡± "Matthiew¡­ the whole thing was a never-ending storm of trauma. I¡­me and my friends tried hard to forget, but it''s not that easy. Plus, I can see my own past now." ¡°Well, good luck then. I don¡¯t think I can help on¡­¡± ¡°Wait, I think I should tell you. It¡¯s better if I tell the story to someone else. I don¡¯t want to miss anything, plus, I did sneak peek into your past¡­ so it¡¯s fairer this way.¡± ¡°Your way to nice Sam¡­ are you sure about that? It seems like something heavy¡­¡± "Yeah, I''m sure. Plus, it doesn''t really start at the Purge. No, everything began a bit after I moved in with my new family, as my dad got remarried to Alice''s mother. Sigh¡­ she was a real crybaby at the time¡­"
A week. It¡¯s been a whole week since Eve started this whole Q&A with Naomie and¡­ ¡°Hum¡­ if I comprehend this correctly, and I surely am, that would mean that the Guides aren¡¯t that strong, comparatively to us.¡± ¡­she was still asking questions. She can conjure her own supply of food, and for some reason didn¡¯t mind the sleep deprivation. ¡®Fuck you, Adam! I knew I shouldn''t have accepted to help you!'' ¡°Sigh¡­ That¡¯s it. Many Questers were far stronger than the current Guides. Well, maybe not for that black hair girl, Valentine. Wait, are they purple now?¡± ¡°Valentine? Is she special?¡± ¡°Not really. She¡¯s just strong. You¡¯ll know soon enough.¡± ¡°¡­fair enough, I guess. Then, next question¡­ hum¡­¡± ¡°Come on. It¡¯s been days. I already told you, I¡¯m basically a goddess, I know that you¡¯re hiding something.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°There is only one thing left that you really want to know. Right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± She looks down in shame. Eve was right, there was only one thing left to ask, but she was too afraid. On one hand, she wanted to move on to her next struggle, but on the other, a part of her was craving to know the truth. ¡°Yes. You are right.¡± ¡°Of course I am.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ is there a chance¡­ will we fail?¡± "Even I can''t know that. Even my¡­ informant, don''t know that, and he knows everything. Literally¡­ Plus, that''s not what you want to know. Okay, I''ll make it easier for you. Let''s go back to the Virtue/Sin duality I talked about. You remember, right?" "Of course. Sin allows a growth rate beyond anything your Virtue can give you, at the expense of making you very unstable." "That''s the gist of it, however, there are differences between each Sins. For instance, yours, Gluttony, can ultimately be stopped by feeding you, the same way you just have to calm down a Wrath. Hard to do but possible. Sloth and Greed are complicated in their own way, but there is one that is awfully problematic. Well, I find it fun, but it did cause the session to fail each time it was ''activated''." "As I feared... It is Pride." "Bingo." "The more power he gains, the more prideful he gets, thus gaining even more power. A vicious circle indeed¡­ I should have understood it sooner¡­" "And that''s why there has never been any Guide with the Humility label since I created the worlds." ¡°Then¡­ that means¡­¡± ¡°Exactly, Sam is a ticking bomb.¡± Chapter 71 - The day it all began It was the year 2153 on the Christian calendar. After multiple world-scale wars early in the millennium, involving, of course, the use of nuclear and chemical weapons, humanity went to the edge of extinction. A tremendous amount of people died, either from the conflicts themselves or their aftermath. The world was in ruin, with a yellowish fog covering most of the habitable land. However, some survived. 0.1% of the population undergone a drastic change in their gene. They survived the nuclear fog, and allowed humanity not to disappear. They formed communities, and started to rebuild civilization from the ashes of the old world. Quite literally, as Sam was born near what used to be Paris. In a small town which name would often change, he himself refers to it as Mytown. After the Big Incident, any type of conflict was avoided, and tough oversights were put in place by the new people in charge, as everybody was scared that history would repeat itself. Within less than a century, a brand new society had risen from the old world ashes. Even though long-distance communication was impossible, Paris and the surrounding towns managed to build a close and strong community, where everyone was safe and happy. ________ ¡°Wait a minute. As you are describing this, it feels like it was a dictatorship¡­¡± Still sited near the brazing campfire, Sam was setting the context of his story, before being disturbed by Matthiew. ¡°Well, it kind of was.¡± ¡°Then how were the common folks happy?¡± ¡°The Big Incident wiped out 99.9% of the population, and everyone was reminded that day and night. From this point, the only thing people wanted was safety, and they had it. Plus, they were truly nice to the people. No one ever starved to death, and we didn¡¯t have many other things to worry about.¡± ________ Hum Hum. However, the mutation, or evolution, or whatever it is that allowed a portion of humanity to survive, didn''t just stop there. When the next generation was born, they underwent the same process. They were faster, stronger, smarter, and some even had sur-human abilities, like a perfect vision from miles away or flexible body temperature at will. Nothing too wild though, it was enough to be noticeable but not too much so that the authorities would be alarmed by it. Moreover, there was some disparity between each individual in regards to this ¡®abilities''. Thus, a name was introduced during the following generation: inner talent, or i-talent for short. Going from 1 to 5, from normal human to be able to bend metal. Sam and his friends were the 5th generations to be born after the creation of the Government. At this point, most children around the society were already at a level 2, which was measured by a test at age 6. However, Mytown was unique, because the average kid was level 4, meaning that they were stronger than their own parents. Of course, Sam wasn¡¯t in the average. He was way below that, at level 1. ________ ¡°Hold on¡­¡± ¡°Come on! You can¡¯t interrupt me every two seconds!¡± ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m curious. What is your i-talent? You never talked about it, and I didn¡¯t see anything different from other Quester.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just luckier than average.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What a bummer¡­ It sounded like i-talent were cool, but¡­¡± "Oh, they are. My girlfriend has a perfect memory and one of my friends could punch through concrete before he was 6." "Oh¡­ That''s so cool! Doesn''t sound fair, though..." "It''s not. But fairness doesn''t really mean anything. Just¡­ listen to the story, you''ll understand, and now that the context is in place, I''ll go in more detailed. See, a bit after my 8th birthday, my father got remarried to Alice''s mom." "That explains what you told me about her¡­" "However, at that time she was so shy, she couldn''t stand me, and was always running away to her friends as soon as she was allowed to. I was quite far from my previous home, and didn''t have anyone to talk to, thus, I went around to find friends. And the first person I met... was Nami." ________ ¡°Nami?¡± ¡°No, it is Na-O-mi.¡± ¡°Hum¡­ are you sure?¡± "Gosh, yes, I am. This is my own name! For god sake!" ¡°You talk funny, Nami.¡± She was sitting on a wood bench, reading a heavy book with a title little 10-years old Sam couldn''t understand. The two of them were alone, as the children playground was located further away, a bit hidden by the trees surrounding the dirt path, and yet noticeable by the annoying shouts coming from the said location. The wind was brushing the brown and yellow-ish leaves, as well as her dark-blue hair and book pages.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Still, it wasn''t her most disturbing issue at hand right now, as she let out a heavy sigh, closing her reading. ¡°You are stupid.¡± ¡°Come on¡­ books are boring. Let¡¯s play!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me the first time I refused? And I¡¯ll have you to know that this book was very entertaining.¡± ¡°Haha. You are still talking weird.¡± ¡°I¡­ I am certainly not! At least, I am using proper grammar! You¡­ stupid!¡± "Haha! You already said that! And your cheeks are red, Nami!" ¡°Humpf! I told you my name is Naomi!!!¡± After this ''sharp'' reply, she promptly ended their first meeting by leaving the scene, her heavy easily carried by her right hand. What a way to start a friendship, right? With a smile on his innocent face, Sam looked at her back while she was angrily heading back to her home. He was only 10, as well as a lowly level 1 in a see of geniuses level 4 and more, but had already a strong instinct, and a genuine talent to make friends. To be more accurate, he wanted to be friend with everyone, and the more resistance there was, the more motivation he had. As the fine observer he his, he suspected that Naomi would pull out a lot of resistance. After she left, he befriended the rest of the park kids, without a hunch this time, and went back home. ________ "That¡¯s it? You won¡¯t say more about the other kids?" "No." ________ The park itself was situated in the middle of the neighbourhood, less than 3 minutes away from Sam''s new place. Needless to say, he went back every day, as the adults were busy all day and school were only scheduled on mornings. Most of the time, she was there, reading a book, never twice the same. Persistently, he greeted her each time, trying to get closer to her, without any success. She would either leave or flatly ignore him. Nonetheless, Sam never gave up, and a few weeks later, he started to see a small hidden smile in the corner of her face. It wasn¡¯t much, but enough to keep his motivation soaring. Slowly but surely, Sam was starting to break into Naomi¡¯s bubble. At one point he tried to ask the other kid why was she so distant in the first place, but nobody knew. There were rumours about a bad family situation, but nothing sure. He thought about following her to her house to see it with his own eyes, but couldn¡¯t resort to such low method. Plus, he had another project needing his attention: being a good big brother. Truth to be told, she was a bit older than him, but he didn¡¯t realize at that time, for one simple reason. Alice was too shy to talk to him. Not only him, she was too embarrassed to start a conversation with anyone but Adele, her childhood and closest friend, although they were polar opposite. In a sense, Adele and Sam were alike. Both cheerful and always smiling happy-go-lucky brat that wants to be friend with the whole world. They instantly became best friends, as if they knew each other from kindergarten. She had a cute face with magnificent green-blue eyes that were partially covered by her wild short black hair. Alice had also short hair, but they were completely white, coincidently the same colour as Sam, giving an instant credibility to their new brother and sister relationship. She eventually became jealous of Sam and Adele¡¯s friendship, but not enough for it to matter in this story. At this age, she didn¡¯t speak much, and it was resolved a bit later, as she also grown to like Sam. That was Sam''s first group of close friends: Alice, Adele, Naomi and himself. Even though, ''group'' was a bit of a stretch, as Naomi never actually met the other two girls. Then, 2 years later¡­ ________ "Woooow, not so fast. 2 years? Isn¡¯t that¡­" "Yes! 2 years! Now shut up and let me tell the story!" "Okay! Geez..." ________ 2 years later, Sam¡¯s dad disappeared. He was employed by the authority security team, and it wasn¡¯t rare for him to leave the house for a few days, even on short notice, but never without telling us. In the end, he was very secretive about his job, so Sam didn¡¯t worry much. At first. After a few weeks of silence, and several calls to the main city, Alice''s mom decided to leave to the city. It was only a two-day trip, so she left them with their neighbour, an old kind man we will name M. Dol. However¡­
"Okay, I have to stop you there. Something is missing. Don''t tell me that nothing happens during those two years you just skipped." ¡°Sigh¡­ of course, things happened. I hanged out with Adele and Alice, made a bunch of other friends, managed to take Naomi away from her books a bit.¡± ¡°Dude, the whole point of you telling the story is to spot a missing link. You can¡¯t skip two years like that.¡± ¡°I made very little progress with Naomi, we never stopped being somewhat friend, but she was often away because the main city wanted to use her i-talent for research purposes, or something like that. Other than that, I¡¯m not missing anything, trust me. I¡¯m very sure. I remember every part of what happened since I first met with Adele.¡± ¡°How can you be so certain?¡± ¡°I had to, so that Alice wouldn¡¯t be the only one to remember her. So that she wouldn''t have to carry this burden on her own.¡± ¡°Burden?¡± ¡°The day after Alice¡¯s mom left the city, was the day Adele died. The day everyone died.¡± Chapter 72 - The Purge| Very Beginning It started like any other morning. It wasn¡¯t a school day, so Sam was still under his sheet when the sun rays started to invade his room. Yet, the faint chant of far away birds was too hard to bear, keeping him away from sleeping. As he slowly stretched himself leaving his bedroom, he remembered. He remembered that neither of his parents was home. Meaning¡­ ¡­that he could play all day! He rushed downstairs, and went straight to the kitchen, where Alice was having breakfast. She was surprised to see him so early, but didn¡¯t bother to ask why. As her attention was focused on her cup of coffee. She didn¡¯t like coffee, but envied Sam and Adele for that, as it made them more mature - or so she thought. With the absence of both their parents, M. Dol, their old neighbour, was in charge to keep an eye on them. He was a nice man, but he was also gullible and slightly deaf, and the siblings knew that. It was the perfect day to spend outside the house with Adele, just the three of them. Sam exposed his plan to his sister, and without waiting for her answer, went immediately check on their new caretaker. He was usually up at this time of the day, but he was neither in the kitchen nor the living room. In fact, he wasn''t in the house at all. After checking every room, M. Dol was nowhere to be found. That was weird. It¡¯s not like he had any reason to leave the house that early, at least not without telling them. ¡°*cough cough* So, are we going now?¡± ¡°Alice? Oh¡­ well, hum¡­ do you know where M. Dol is?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him yet. Why?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not in the house¡­¡± Sam looked everywhere, leading him back to the kitchen, as Alice was just finishing her coffee. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes, I looked ev¡­¡± Knock Knock Knock Three violent knocks on the front door interrupted Sam. After exchanging a quick and worried look, the siblings went and opened the door, finding Adele, completely out of breath. ¡°Adele? What happened, did you just run?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­*huff huff* I¡­ Something is weird. My parents¡­ *huff huff* my parents aren¡¯t home!¡± ¡°Well, M. Dol is not here either, but¡­¡± "No! You don''t understand! I went to ask the neighbour, and they weren''t there either. Also, Kevin''s parents are also not home!" ¡°What?! Do you mean?¡± ¡°Yes! All the adults are gone!¡± !!! A sudden noise?! From¡­ Alice. She had accidentally dropped her cup on the floor, visibly shocked by the sudden news, as tears started to fall down her chicks. ¡°Mommy¡­¡± Of course, they rushed to her side and tried to comfort her. ¡°Shhh, don¡¯t worry, we are here.¡± ¡°Y-yeah¡­ don¡¯t worry ¡®lice. We¡¯ll figure something out. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re somewhere, right?¡± Sam tried to find some discreet approval from Adele, without success. She seemed as lost as he was. Still, they managed to calm Alice and themselves down, and started to find an explanation to the situation, but before the could decide on anything, someone else arrived, by the opened front door. It was one of Sam''s friends from the park, who leaves nearby. He was in total panic, like Adele a minute before. After everyone had calmed down, they decided to head outside, to see if there were other people. Looking into the nearby houses confirmed Adele theory that the adult had fled the town, but it also pointed out that the very young kids were missing too. But for what reason? Repeating it over and over again, it was mining Sam''s mind. However, he didn''t get the time to find an answer, because shortly after they had left their house, it all started. As they were arriving in front of Sam''s usual park, the most likely place to find someone right now, they heard a loud noise from further away. Followed by another one, closer.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. And another one. For a few seconds, a dreadfully sequence of explosion went through the town, ravaging every building on its path. Alice screamed, diving her head into Adele¡¯s chest. At the same time, the other boy ran away and entered the park in panic. Adele tried to follow him, but Sam stopped her. The situation was chaotic, and neither he nor anyone could hear or see anything clearly, as the explosions were still happening. Even though, in the midst of all of that, Sam had a bad feeling. The town was blowing up around him, and yet his guts was telling him something worst was on its way. That¡¯s why he stopped Adele. And why he screamed at the runaway boy to come back. As loud as he could. Be it was pointless. And an instant later, another explosion occurred. Right in front of them. Whipping off the park. Blowing off the kid.
¡°Dude¡­ that¡¯s heavy¡­¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to introduce them.¡± ¡°I get it, I get it¡­ what happened next? Did you flee the city?¡± ¡°No. That would have been the rational decision. Instead¡­ I made a terrible mistake.¡±
N: It Has Been A Long Time Since We Have Spoken, Dear Clarence. N: I Suppose You Are Familiar With The Existence Of The Entity Known As Eve. N: Maybe It Is Rude Of Me To Call Her Like That, But I Can¡¯t Seem To Find A Proper Way To Describe Her. N: I Have Learned A Lot N: And I Do Know You Will Not Answer. N: She Informed Me Of Your Schemes N: Of Valentine¡¯s N: Of Eve¡¯s Own Schemes N: But I Won¡¯t Let You Proceed With It N: Sam Won¡¯t Survive N: He Is Different From You And Us N: He Doesn¡¯t Belong To This ¡®Quest¡¯ N: He Will Die. N: That Is Why I Am Letting You Know N: I Will Stand Against You N: Sam¡¯s Prediction Will Not Unfold. ¡°Sigh¡­ I am not well suited to threaten people.¡± After finishing taping her farewell messages to her Guide, Naomi took a look around her. It was a vast plain. Left and right, there was nothing to be seen except a vast sea of grass and one or two occasional lonely tree. A weak sun was obstructed by the clouds as he was performing his evening descent toward the horizon. Intrigued by this scenario, Naomi took out her book Struggle#19 Objective: Wait a full week Sub-Objective: none What a disappointment. The last few struggles were exceptionally challenging, especially the last one, where she had to descend a 13 stores building, with each floor guarded by a mighty warrior. The closer to the bottom she was, the stronger they were. At last, as she was entering one of the last floors, she performed her signature gimmick consisting of tying her hair up in a ponytail. It didn''t mean much, but each time she was getting serious, she would reorder her hair. Some sort of OCD that only Sam knows of. At the lowest floor, which was in fact way under ground, she met with Eve. They spent a week talking about the world, the Quest and their particular session. She was eager to tell the group about all of it, but her priority was to find Sam and Xavier before it¡¯s too late. Although those informations came from someone she just met, she knew they were accurate, because she signed a truth contract. Those were rare artefact forbidding everyone to lie during the agreed period of time. Of course, there was a chance Eve was above the contract law¡¯s, but at this point she was powerful enough to do everything by herself, rending lying completely useless. Moreover, she wanted it to be true. All of it. Because, as she stated to Clarence moments ago, it meant Sam¡¯s vision could be undone. From her words: "Seers are not omniscient, they can make mistakes. Their strength reflects the accuracy and correctness of each prediction. For that matter, Sam is probably the most talented Seer to be brought here, considering that he is still technically low level. I doubt his prediction could ever miss, if Adam wasn''t here. As the All-Seeing, he and only he can never be wrong." It wasn¡¯t a real answer, of course, but pretty much consistent with the rest of the conversation. The important part was that Sam wasn¡¯t doomed to die, killed by this mysterious Purpled hair woman. Chapter 73 - The Purge| The Enemy ¡° ¡°
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Chapter 74 - The Purge| Choice and Escape ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°
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¡° Chapter 75 - Unraveling the Truth ¡° ¡°¡­ ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°
¡°What?¡± ¡°It was a lie. I had to convince them fast.¡± ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°Yep.¡±
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¡°Sam¡­ what gun are you talking about?¡± ¡°I took it from the guard Xavier knocked out, at the school.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡± ¡°¡­wait. I¡­ I took the gun to take out the soldier¡­¡± "Well, of course, you did. It''s not like you could have taken them unarmed." "No, I mean, the reason I thought of taking the gun from the adult in the first place, at the school, was that I wanted to defend Alice, and avenge Adele¡­" ¡°¡­it doesn¡¯t make sense. You couldn¡¯t know they were in danger.¡± "Oh¡­ you are right¡­ I am not lucky. I didn''t come across the street by chance. I saw it. When I was in the school. I¡­ I had a vision." "Wait¡­ you mean you could already see the future¡­" "I... I guess so."
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