"Go! Go now! Get that little monster! Now!" Glick barked, shouting commands to the soldiers on the Motherbase. The amount of sweat he had shed today could have lasted three people a lifetime. He flicked more beads of sweat off his forehead as he watched the soldiers depart.
"You seem deeply engrossed in this," Styl said from behind. "See, I know that boy is your lab experiment. A successful one. I'm sure you have plans to make more of that monster. You plan to invade other colonies with your creations, isn't that right? Quit trying to impress me. The more you do, the less impressed I am."
"For the last time, Styl, I don't know anything about that kid. If he were our experiment, why would I let him take part in the Purge? Even though we plan to cut the population in half, haven't you seen that he's wiped out the entire colony? If colony invasion was the goal, wouldn't I need those casualties? Styl?!"
"Hmm. Good point. But I'm still not impressed," Styl said, turning to walk away.
Once the dark old man was out of sight and earshot, Glick turned to Petyr.
"Before he leaves, send the best mechanic from the base to get some work done on his helicopter. We can't afford to let this get to the U.C. Styl must die… by accident, of course. Now, go."
* * * * *
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 girl 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 Blind 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]
[Just Kidding...You Have More Than A Hundred New Notifications]
"Ugh."
The girl 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," she replied bitterly, her gaze distant and unfocused. "And I think they erase the memories of the purge from everyone's brain, so the survivors forget about it and do 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 closed his eyes.
To the system, he said, "send them now."
[Human Host Successfully Restored]
[You Have A Reward For Unlocking The Beast Form]
'To think I'd be rewarded for starving myself to death.'
[Skill: Blood Rage]
[Description: Blood Rage temporarily unlocks your beast form and you go into a killing frenzy. Most useful when you're up 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 Using Your EP Up]
[You Need To Upgrade Your Willpower Stat To A Sufficient Level]
[The More Willpower Pts You Have, The More You're Able To Control Yourself And Also Deal With The Consequences Of Your Actions As A Whole]
"Tch. I'm no fool. I think that you mean to say is, the more willpower I have, 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 Remorse You Feel About Your Future Killings, But Note, That's Not The Limit To What A High Willpower Stat Is Capable Of]
"Alright, that's a good skill by the way. Remind me not to ever use it. Thanks. Also, I remember I unlocked a skill when I killed those three hunters. What is it?"
[It's A Minor Skill, Just Like The Killer Dash]
[Skill: Partial Invisibility]
"What?! That's craaa-zy! I can turn invisible?"
[Partially, Host. Partially]
[Skill Description: Partial Invisibility Is A Renowned Skill, My Best One Yet, To Be Honest. Once Activated, You Stay Invisible For As Long As You Wish...]
[But It Only Works When Nobody Is Looking. The Invisibility Wears Off As Soon As A Being Looks At You]
[Cool down Period: 0 s]
[Cost: 0 MP]
"That's pretty much useless. Quit winding me up. Everyone's invisible when no one is looking. Are you going through a glitch or something?"
"The fact that it has a cool-down period of 0 seconds, and doesn't even cost a single MP speaks a lot on its uselessness."
[You Hurt Me. That Was The Best Skill In My Book]
[Displaying Rewards For Kill Combo...]
[Reward For 100 combo Kill: +5 AGI]
[Reward For 200 Combo Kill: +5 STR]
[Reward For 300 Combo kill: +5 EP]
[Reward For 500 Combo Kill: +10 WILL]
[Reward For 1000 Combo Kill: +10 WILL]
[Reward For 2000 Combo Kill: +10 EDR & +10 MP]
"Ugh, now I'm depressed. How many people did I kill exactly?"
[AGI: 50]
[STR: 25]
[EP: 15/23]
[WILL: 32]
[EDR: 15]
[MP: 25]
"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 20 points to Willpower?"
[It's Not To Create A Monster 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 STATS]
NAME: Eric Abyss
RACE: Human
RANK: Mana Slave
TIER: 2 — (Mana Unit Consumed: 3/15)
AWAKENING: None — (Mana Unit Consumed: 6/100)
HP: 10/10
EP: 15/23
MP: 25/25
STR: 25
AGI: 50
EDR: 15
DEX: 10
WILL: 32
LUCK: 100
MAGIC: (LOCKED)
EQUIPMENT: NONE
SKILLS:
Killer Dash (Rank E)
Partial Invisibility
[HUNGER LEVEL: 0%]
"It's good to see that my hunger level is on zero. I've consumed so much mana I feel like 'purging'. Wait... Uh-oh."
[I See What You Did There...And I Must Say, It's Dark]
"But something doesn't feel right. I should have increased my tier to at least 20, and from my calculations, I should have awakened six or seven times. Why are the bars still scanty for mana consumed when I killed more than 2000 people?"
[Sorry, Host, But Mana Consumed For Tier Upgrades And Awakenings Have To Come From Your Rational HUMAN Self]
[You Were A Beast Earlier During The Purge, So Your Mana Consumption Cannot Count For Tier Upgrades And Awakenings]
"That's some bad news. I thought I was gonna get overpowered with mad awakenings that come with God tier skills and weapons, after all that bloody business."
[But Here's Something For The Hardwork...]
[REWARD GRANTED: MANA BANK]
[Description: Mana Bank Stores Excess Mana After Host Consumes More Mana When He's Filled And Not Hungry]
[MANA BANK GAUGE: 2,015 Mana Unit]
[With That Much Mana Unit, You Are Not Likely To Go Hungry Any Time Soon]
[You Are Welcome]
"Pause, pause... I asked you something earlier. How many people did I kill?"
[You Wiped Out A Colony, Simply Put. But Most Importantly, You Consumed Every Single Mana From Every Dead Being]
"And I'm supposed to be happy about that?"
[It Is Not In My Power To Determine What Makes You Happy, Host]
Something stirred beside Eric at that moment, and immediately, he felt a hurried tap on his laps, followed by hushed tones full of worry.
"Hey, wake up. The soldiers are near!"