"Hey! Hey, get up! Open your eyes!" Eric felt multiple taps on his lap followed by hushed but hurried tones. He jerked his eyes open immediately. His eyes stung a little from how long he'd kept them closed, so he rubbed them, but he couldn't see much either since the tower was dark and could only permit just a tiny bit of light from the street.
"Who's that?" Eric asked.
"What? I don't know what's wrong with you, because you've been mumbling so many strange things in your sleep. But I think you should wake up now," said a feminine voice.
Only after listening properly did Eric remember that there was a strange woman lying beside him on the cold floor all along. The thought of her had completely escaped his mind, as he had been deeply engrossed with his interaction with the System.
"Oh, I'm awake. But why the urgency?" asked Eric, still rubbing his eyes.
"The base soldiers are already upon us. I saw them near the tower a minute ago. I don't think we can hide from them. Not for long," the woman was in a very panicked mood.
Eric, completely unperturbed, sat upright, his body cranky and achy.
"Pay no mind to them. They won't find us here," he said.
"How do you know that?" she persisted.
"I just know."
"And why are you so relaxed about this?"
"Well, it must be all that willpower upgrade."
"What?!"
"Oh, pay no mind. It's nothing."
"You know, that's one of the strange things you kept mumbling in your sleep. See, I'm scared. I think I'll go down and surrender myself gently. I can bet they do not have the intention of killing any one of us. They only want to erase the memories of tonight from our brains. We don't need to remember something like that anyway."
"It's true, but only partly. They are not looking for you to kill. It's me they are looking for. I shouldn't have dragged you here. I thought you were gonna get shot or something," Eric said, with the tiniest bit of remorse he could muster.
"Again, what? What do you mean they are looking for you?" the woman asked.
"Did you perhaps notice me during the rampage at Southern End?"
"Uhm… no. I was busy with my own brain malfunction."
Sigh. "You won't understand then."
Of course, she didn't see me, else she'd have freaked out by the monstrosity sitting beside her now.
"You know I can't hide here forever, right?" Eric said, a little low-pitched.
"That's intimidating. Anyway, this is what I'm gonna do. I'll walk down there, show myself to the soldiers. Then you come out after it's clear they truly have no intention of killing you."
The woman gasped. "And must you show yourself first? What if the killing intent is positive?"
"I must show myself first because I can. Thanks for not understanding. Here I go."
Eric stood up immediately he finished speaking and hurried briskly down the stairs of the tower, leaving the woman to deal with the shock of his rash decision.
"Did you really say you'll use the Transmigration ability to get me out of this world into another world, system?" Eric silently addressed the system.
[Accurate]
"Why though? Is this another of your pre-programmed schemes?"
[Your colony is practically wiped out because of your participation in The Purge, so there's no real fun in this dry world]
"Lame excuses if you ask me."
[I didn't ask]
"Anyway, when should I be ready for Transmigration since it seems inevitable at this point? You already made up your coded mind, right?"
[Transmigration ability is the only ability here that takes a long time before taking effect after its activation]
"So? How long does it take exactly?"
[It takes exactly 10 minutes]
"That's longer than taking a copter to the next five colonies."
[It's a travel between worlds, not colonies. Also, the migration itself takes less than a second. Only the preparation takes ten minutes]
"Whoa, System is getting a little bit defensive. I should probably get some things ready if I'm gonna be traveling to another world. You'll tell me when to start the Transmigration."
[The System's criteria for Transmigration is for Host to upgrade to the rank, Mana God...]
Eric was out of the tower now, taking a lungful of the cold night air, and staring off into the distance, scouting for the soldiers searching for him.
"And yes, I'm a Mana God now, right?" he grinned.
[Accurate. Also, the Transmigration ability does not need Host's consent to activate]
Eric stopped. "Yet another important thing under your total control. Quite nice. So, without my consent, when is the Transmigration kicking off?"
[It kicked off already. Activation of the ability starts immediately the reward is given]
"WHAT?!"
[Host needs to calm his nerves]
"Calm my nerves?! How long do I have left? Tell me now!"
[Ability: Transmigration | Time left before activation: 2m, 26s]
"Oh, shit!"