With no idea what to do, he did the most drastic measures. He grabbed the bloody fire poker and broke some parts of the wooden floor.
His strength seemed to have increased after his awakening. After making a hole large enough to fit his hand, he gripped the board and pried it off.
Since he couldn't remove the blood, he might as well remove the entire floor. After taking one, the rest was easy. When everything was finished, he looked at Rena, who was following him like a little tail, and said, "Don't tell anyone what happened today, okay?"
Rena lost her usual bossy attitude and was a bit timid. She nodded. "Don't worry, Brother. I'm good at lying."
I don't know if I should feel relieved or be worried.
He had no choice but to believe her promise. It already happened. What else can he do?
Cia placed Rena on the table in the kitchen as he opened the back door. He started a fire and burned all the wooden floorboards. He walked back inside and picked up Rena from the table.
What should he do with the gaping hole underneath? Cia looked at the long table. He had an idea.
"Rena, move away a bit," he said as he carried the table to the hallway.
He flipped it upside down with the feet of the table facing the ceiling. The flat surface became a new cover for the board that he ripped apart.
Cia also recycled some nails from the floorboard that he ripped off, so he used them to secure the table. He just pressed them with his thumb, and they went inside smoothly like thumbtacks.
"This looks like a madhouse," he said as he took a step back and stared at his masterpiece.
He couldn't just leave the floor exposed, logically and also psychologically. He's a bit paranoid now.
He carried Rena to her room and changed her clothes. After changing his, he walked towards the burning flame near the back door and threw their clothes in it.
The system looked at Cia's operation and couldn't help but ask, [What do you say if they ask what happened to the floorboard? Such a huge mess, they would probably realize something was off.]
"I'd just say I was renovating the house. I planned on using the cellar that Rena told me, then I realized that the door was stuck, so I pried open the floorboard." Cia watched as the flames burned down evidence as to what happened. "It's not like they can torture a confession out of me. It happened, then that's it."
[So you're just relying on the fact that there is nothing they can do as long as you don't confess?] The system wants to applaud him. The mystery of that floorboard will probably eat those guys alive.
Now that it was calm, Cia checked the new function of the system.
---
[Name: Arcian Ikaris
Awakening Class: SSS+
Mana Points: 56/300 (Renewing... 1 hour of resting = 10 MP)
Bloodlust Gauge: 0
Age: 25
Gender: Male
(Sprout) Level 3: 535/600 EXP (Instinctually Activating Punisher Mode)
...
(LVL 1 +5 LVL 2 +10)
(Avg: 20) Strength: 30
(Avg: 20) Speed: 32
(Avg: 20) Agility: 30
(Avg: 20) Dexterity: 40
Punisher Mode: Deactivated
Number of Chains: 2
Sinner Killed: 1
Skills:
Hell Torture - Cost: 30 MP
Cooldown: 00:05:00
Description: The arrow tip of the chain will pierce the target part of the sinner. It won't just cause physical pain, but also spiritually, as it would make the sinner feel the pain that his/her/its victims experienced.
Skill: Binding - Cost: 15 MP
Cooldown: 00:01:00
Description: Binds the sinner for 30 seconds.]
---
Based on those stats, it could be seen that this body is a bit weak.
Cia looked at the SSS+ Awakening class. Logically, he should be happy and celebrating right?
He doesn't feel an ounce of excitement at all. Cia had no idea why.
"So basically I would gain EXP by killing sinners and fulfilling the mission?" Cia felt that this system seemed to be turning him into some kind of butcher.
[Yes, Host! You can ask me now if you have some questions! I can finally access some of my functions!] Of course, the system was happy. It had been feeling bad that it was a burden, now it can finally showcase its mightiness.
"I have a lot of questions." He didn't even know where to start. "I'll go first with the most ominous-sounding part of this interface. What does Bloodlust Gauge mean? Also, that Punisher Mode one. It was N/A because of my first-use benefit. What would happen if it was applicable?"
[The Bloodlust Gauge means just like what it sounds like. It measures your bloodlust. It's very important to keep track of that because the higher the sin level of your enemy, the stronger your bloodlust is. It directly affects your sanity. If it goes beyond the safe point, there are chances... that you would go on a rampage.]
There was a pause when the system said the rampage part.
Then it continued,
[Punisher Mode. That will activate once you use your ability. Your empathy will vanish, and your logic would be clearer when you are in that mode. It says here that it is for you to better facilitate the judgment.]
"..."
Cia was silent. If you combine a raging killer with a lack of empathy, what would you get? A bloody walking disaster.
"Why do I feel like a bad guy?" Despite the name Punisher, it was more like a cruel executioner.
"If I go on a rampage, will I still regain my sanity?" If that's the case, then he doesn't know what's better... waking up and seeing the atrocities that you did or just living muddled forever.
[It's not that bad. Once it senses that you are starting to get out of control, your chain will forcefully bind you. Then, if you still don't calm down, it would kill you...]
"Why is it pretty dark... Am I a demon of some kind?" His ability doesn't feel very good-natured, but if you think about it, it's pretty insistent about punishing sinners.
His motto has always been, since that's already there, then that's it.
He remembered the system saying the sinner level, so they are categorized, right? Cia asked the system.
[Yes, Host. I'll show you the categories.]
---
[I - Petty misdeeds (lying, cheating, etc.)
• 2–5 EXP
II - Manipulation, harassment, bribery, etc.
• 5–10 EXP
III - Assault, trafficking, blackmail, etc.
• 10–20 EXP
IV - Manslaughter, torture, conspiracy, etc.
• 20–35 EXP
V - Murder, mass harm, soul corruption, etc.
• 35–60 EXP
VI - (Hidden) Ritual sacrifice, cosmic crimes, etc.
• 70–150+ EXP
There are Domain Bonuses if the sinner is above the Sprout Domain]
---
From the looks of it, the Bakras still seemed to be at Sprout Domain.
"The Bloodlust Gauge will only activate once I'm in Punisher Mode, right?" He didn't want to go around wanting to kill anyone.
[Yes. If you are not using your chains, you'd be fine.] As a sentient system, it was also a bit intimidated by what was inside its program. But of course, it wouldn't tell Cia. It was afraid that Cia would probably tease it to death.
"I feel like I'm having a fever." Cia touched his forehead. It was burning. His body felt very sluggish and heavy.
He went back inside, and after locking the doors, including the cellar, he walked to his bedroom and collapsed.
[Host, are you okay?! Don't push yourself. It's written here that fever is a normal symptom of awakening. After this, you would have access to your mind space! It's a good thing!] The system went back to cheering mode. It looked at Cia worriedly. He looked really terrible.
"Now what the heck is that mind space?" His eyes started to instinctively water. He pressed his eyebrows and frowned. He wouldn't burn to death, right?
The system was silent. Then after a while it finally gave an answer.
[Your mind space is where I am located right now. Floating beside me are your two chains. Once your awakening is finished, you can see me now.]
...
Inside the rooms provided by the docks, Andre woke up when he heard someone muttering in the middle of the night.
Opening his eyes, what greeted him was the soft light coming from the lamp. He sat up from his bed and saw a man kneeling on the table, muttering a prayer.
"O Holiness of Light, bring us salvation from our sin. Death toward heretics and protect our loved ones from danger..."
Andre instantly woke up. He rubbed his eyes and stared blankly at the figure. A believer of the God Lucere? That's very rare in the Town of Syrencrest.
Because they are near the coast, the main belief here is the God Mensis. Although it's not a taboo to believe in other gods, it's certainly rare.
But it's creepy to wake up in the middle of the night to see your roommate praying to an unfamiliar god. He heard that prayers for God Lucere typically happen during the daytime, right?
"Man... what are you doing?" Andre wanted to say "stop that," then changed his mind. It sounded very assertive for someone you really don't know much.
The prayer stopped.
Andre felt the air still.
He held his breath. Why did the atmosphere suddenly shift the moment he spoke?
The person who was kneeling at the lamp turned his head to him. It was slow, but Andre felt that it was agonizing.
What greeted him was dull and empty eyes.
There is a difference between cold and emotionless. That's what Andre realized today.
The man staring at him was hollow and soulless. It looked like a puppet. Andre even doubted if he encountered a haunted doll or something, because that look was not something a human could produce.
He wanted to move but he was scared. Just as he was about to scream, a pillow suddenly flew out from the upper bunk and hit the puppet-like man in the head.
"Sam, what the fuck are you doing?! Didn't I tell you not to do that outside? We now look like some kind of cultis shit." An angry voice sounded on top of Andre. It looked like the man on the top bunk just woke up.
Sam caught the pillow that Eri threw. Tossing the pillow aside, he glared at his brother. "Oh, so it's my fault? Rein your temper, dog. You almost knocked the lamp and caused arson!" Clearly, he did learn something before. Instead of candles, he's now using lamps.