Practically every building in the colony was empty now. Even the Motherbase has only a few personnels manning their posts and majorly overseeing The Purge. So, Eric was a little relieved that he was safe from being sighted by the soldiers for now. He had carried the woman delicately in his arms and with his sharp senses, navigated the dark streets till he found Laxalt's Tower. As soon as he got to the top, he dropped the woman gently and rushed to the opening behind the giant clock to scout for the soldiers after him. As far as he could see, there were no soldiers near where they are.
He returned back to the woman and slid to the floor beside her, looking calm but at the same time, dejected. A million thoughts ravaged his mind, and from the look of things, he doesn't have the answers to them. Even the system doesn't seem likely to see him through this.
Speaking of the system...are you there?
[Welcome back, Host]
[Warning... I'm about to bombard you with notifications]
"I'll sit this one out. Is there no way to send them without them showing before my face? I'll check them later," said Eric.
[You have 24 new notifications]
"Ugh."
The woman lying by Eric's side stirred. "Who are you talking to?" she asked.
"No one," Eric replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am. It was a bad headache at first, but my head is clear now. It must be the consequences of whatever they did to our brains. I always knew they have all of us under control, but not in this way."
"Huhhh... But why do you think there's something like The Purge? And why did nobody else have an idea of this before?" Eric asked, less concerned but just wanting to say something to that effect.
"Population reduction, I think," the woman replied. "And I think they erase the memories of the purge from everyone's brain, so everyone forgets about it and not get traumatized by the event. It must have happened when you were little too, but you've forgotten because it's been erased. They all have our brains in their hold."
"Interesting," Eric said simply. "Is that why the soldiers are coming then? To grab us and erase our memories while everyone's weak?"
"Most likely," she replied.
"Then, I shouldn't have escaped with you," Eric mumbled under his breath. "I thought you were in danger."
"Are you always full of regrets?"
"Oh, I didn't know you heard that."
The woman crawled to a puddle of water in a corner to wash her face while Eric laid back against the tower wall and close this eyes.
To the system, he said, "send them now."
[Human host successfully restored]
[You have a reward for unlocking the beast form]
"Open."
[Skill: Blood Rage]
[Description: Blood Rage temporarily unlocks your beast form and you go into a killing frenzy. Most useful when facing off against a large number of enemies]
"Ha. I'm sure that's not all. I'm sure it has a bad side, right?"
[Accurate. Blood Rage uses up all your Energy Point (EP) and can't be stopped until the EP is totally used up]
"So, I end up weak as hell after using Blood Rage?"
[Accurate. And the more you upgrade your EP through the general Stat Point upgrade, the longer you stay in your beast form when using Blood Rage]
[Also, there's a way to stop the Blood Rage before your energy is used up, but you have to upgrade your Willpower to a sufficient level. The more Willpower you have, the more you're able to control yourself and also deal with the consequences of your action as a whole]
"Tch. Or you mean, the more I'm able to kill without feeling remorseful. Don't twist words to make them sound better."
[Again, you're correct. The less you feel remorseful about your killings]
"Alright, that's a good skill by the way. I'll remember not to use it, ever. Thanks. Also, I remember I unlocked a skill when I killed rhise three hunters. What is it?"
[It's a minor skill, just like the Killer Dash]
[Skill: Wind Manipulation]
[Description: Wind Manipulation is useful majorly in deflecting projectiles in combat. Host can manipulate the direction of wind around him without even looking. Can also be used to deflect blows from fists or swords, but will only be effective the more you upgrade your strength stat]
[Skill usage: 2 times]
[Cool down time: 5 minutes]
"Wow. Everything about the skill is cool, but ironically, the cool-down time isn't. Press on with the rest."
[Reward for 100 combo kill: +5 Speed]
[Reward for 200 combo kill: +5 Strength]
[Reward for 300 combo kill: +5 Stamina]
[Reward for 500 combo kill: +10 Willpower]
"Ugh, now I'm depressed. How many people did I kill?"
[Speed: 25]
[Strength: 25]
[Stamina: 25]
[Willpower: 30]
"I can see what game you're playing. Randomly awarding points like that, that's not a proper protocol anywhere. You're only preparing me to be a monster. Else, why did you award 10 points to Willpower?"
[It's not to create a monster out of you. You have to be able to deal with your actions henceforth. Your path is a bloody one, and inevitable at that. The system distributes points as it fits the Host's well-being.]
"Why should I bother arguing? It's all in your hold, isn't it? Do as you wish."
More notifications popped up.
[Displaying Host's Stats] [Tier 2]
[Mana consumed: 15/15]
[Mana consumed till awakening: 100/100]
[HP: 20/20]
[EP: 2/20] [Resupplying]
[Strength: 25]
[Speed: 25]
[Stamina: 25]
[Willpower: 30]
[Soul Core: Locked]
"Now what?" Eric asked, expectant.
[Now, a massive upgrade.]
[Brace for impact.]
"Pause, pause... I asked you something earlier. How many people did I kill?"
[You almost wiped out a colony. But most importantly, you consumed every single mana from every dead being.]
"And I'm supposed to be happy about that?"
[It is beyond my ability to determine what makes you happy.]
"Okay. I'm excited about the upgrade, duh. Get along with it."
[You have cultivated like no other, Host. Multiple upgrades coming your way]
[A total of 2,362 people died during your rampage. 743 from your fangs, the rest were caused by the others]
[Total mana consumed during rampage: 2,362]
[System calculating distribution of mana points to Tier upgrade]
[Mana consumed:]
[Tier 2: 15/15]
[Tier 3: 30/30]
[Tier 4: 45/45]
[Tier 5: 60/60]
[Tier 7: 80/80]
[Tier 20: 1,500/1,500]
[Tier 22: 2,000/2,000]
[Tier 23: 2,363/3,000]
[Tier upgrade achieved: Tier 1 => Tier 22]