My close range weapon had resulted in a lively debate. Ali had wanted me to purchase a pistol – that man was a gun nut – while I wanted a sword. He had only relented when I pointed out that I needed a weapon that didn’t run out of charges in the middle of a fight, otherwise I’d be completely hosed. He’s still sulking over losing that argument.
I’d started with a simple hand-and-a-half for my sword and watched it change the moment I made it my personal weapon. Initially, it had a light pattern where the fuller was on the blade, a green inlay on its hilt and a flared guard. It was simple but pretty for a weapon, but choosing it as my personal weapon stripped it of its ornamentation. Now, the sword was sleeker, all traces of ornamentation gone. The only beauty it had now was in its stark simplicity of purpose – this was a weapon meant to kill and kill well.
Tier II Sword (Soulbound Personal Weapon of an Erethran Honor Guard)
Base Damage: 48
Durability: N/A (Personal Weapon)
Special Abilities: None
The sword had grown even sharper and while it could still break, I had only to dismiss it and call it back for it to reappear in its original state.
Preparations complete, all the basic knowledge absorbed, there was but the skills left to do. I finally step away and nod to the Fox, ready for him to begin. As soon as I nodded, I felt the shift. This was even more marked than the previous purchase of knowledge like the world had stopped and then restarted with a lurch. Windows bloom soon after.
Unarmed Combat Skill Gained (Level 6)
Blade Mastery Skill Gained (Level 6)
PAV Combat Skill Gained (Level 4)
Energy Rifles Skill Gained (Level 3)
Meditation Skill Gained (Level 5)
Mana Manipulation Skill Gained (Level 1)
Minor Healing Spell Gained
Even as I finish dismissing the windows, another notice appears.
The System Quest Update
The journey to understanding the origins of the System and Mana has many beginnings, but all roads lead to the understanding of Mana. You have taken your first step in understanding the System.
Requirement: Learn Mana Manipulation
Reward: 500 XP
“Huh,” I grin, dismissing the quest update. My business done, my funds drained, I find myself back in the real world.
The smell of burnt flesh and spilt guts return along with the pain. No longer under the System’s care, all the damage I had received comes back with interest. Knowing it was coming does little to stop me from dropping to my knees in pain, head swimming. It’s only with great focus am I able to cast my Minor Healing Spell, fixing the damage as I recast it again and again. Ali stays silent through this, waiting for me to become mostly functional before he speaks, “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!”
“No.” I shake my head, shrugging my shoulders as I walk over to my bike. I sit on it, triggering the change in my mind and feeling the armour crawl and attach itself to me.
“Oooh, we going to farm some carrion?”
“Not exactly,” I walk towards the town center while looking for potential threats.
“Stop that! We’re not playing 20 questions here. What the hell are you up to boy-o?” Ali grouses, flying after me.
“Being human.”
I shoot the last oversized coyote that crawled out to see if it could get dinner and loot it before turning back to the pyre I had made. I probably should have done something about the other monster corpses, but I didn’t give a damn about them. The citizens of the town though, they deserved something better. Even in power armor, the chopping and hauling had taken me hours especially as I had to stop every once in a while and kill a few wandering monsters.
I don’t have words for when I’m done, even though I’ve tried to find the words these past few hours. In the end, all I have is this, “I’m sorry.”
As I turn away, calling Sabre back to its bike form, I hear from behind me a rough voice.
God lay dead in heaven;
Angels sang the hymn of the end;
Purple winds went moaning,
Their wings drip-dripping
With blood
That fell upon the earth.
It, groaning thing,
Turned black and sank.
Then from the far caverns
Of dead sins
Came monsters, livid with desire.
They fought,
Wrangled over the world,
A morsel.
But of all sadness this was sad —
A woman’s arms tried to shield
The head of a sleeping man
From the jaws of the final beast. ((“God Lay Dead in Heaven,” Stephen Crane))
I twist around, staring up at Ali who shrugs. “It seemed appropriate”
Yeah, it did.
Hidden Quest Completed!
You have laid to rest the bodies of the fallen and avenged their death against all odds. The System might be callous, but you are not.
Reward: 5,000 XP, Title Gained: Redeemer of the Dead. Reputation change with certain factions.
“And fuck you too System,” I whisper and gesture the notification away. It’s time to go home.
Chapter 6
“Ali, I’m not wrong, right? You’re bigger?” Gunning the engine, I shoot down the road, weaving around newly created potholes and debris. Looks like monsters don’t have any civic pride, the way they destroy common roadways.
“More than big enough or so the lady’s say,” Ali smirks.
“You’re a Spirit. You don’t even have a gender,” I growl back, leaning into the curve as we shoot past a startled Moose. Holy shit, that thing was the size of a bus!
“Now that’s heteronormative thinking. It’s thinking like that that has kept half of your population down for the entirety of your history,” starts Ali.
“I hate you,” I grouse, tuning out Ali. I had a serious question about his abilities, but every single time!!!
I’m purposely tuning him out so when he screams “Down”, it takes me a moment to realise he’s serious and react. It almost costs me my life as I duck down, sending the entire vehicle into a spin. Missing me by inches a dragon pulls up from its dive, screeching its anger as batlike wings and purple scales glisten in the sunlight. I feel the pressure, the aura of fear that surrounds it as closes on me, trying to lock my muscles together and make me prey.
My resistances kick-in even as I focus on getting control of my bike. Realising it’s a lost cause, I trigger the change, the entire bike coming apart beneath me as I take a death-grip on the handlebars. It’s a good thing that the overalls I’m wearing have light armor plates stitched in or else I’d have some terrible road rash.
The transformation takes seconds, armor plates sliding to protect my arms and legs, liquid metal filling in gaps at the joints while the bike’s wheels attach to the back with the exhaust, creating a bulky backpack section. My actual hiking backpack and its contents get strewn all over the road during the change. As I slide along the ground, I dig in my bottom foot and come up to a crouched position in a display of agility, co-ordination and strength no normal human could ever exhibit.
When I do manage to slow down and look up, I get a chance to actually see the information Ali has pulled for me.
Shadow Drake (Level 74)
HP: 14,780 / 14,780
Christ on a pogo stick! There’s no way I’m winning this fight. A mental command triggers the QSM and I bolt for it, heading into the surrounding forest to hide.