NOVEL NEXT Chapter 87: The Dragon.
Chapter 87: The Dragon.
The party was animated, to say the least. Over two-hundred Espers laughing and drinking with nothing short of giddiness.
Charlie was, of course, no longer brooding on his recent loss. Instead, his mind was utterly focused on what awaited him in his own world. On Mr. Whitmer and all his associates. Though, you wouldn’t know just how violent his inner thoughts were looking at his face. Indeed, his features were blank and unassuming. His eyes unfocused as he gazed over the gathered crowd.
Beside him, Olga was going on and on about all the reasons why he should return to her own world alongside her. Namely, the many luxuries waiting for them back home, courtesy of her family’s vast wealth and her world’s generally utopian living standards.
‘I wonder if I should say something.’ I messaged Dusty as she happened to glance in their direction.
She paused for a second. Her own emerald green eyes settling on them as a pensive expression overtook her face. Her red hair swirling to a stop as the gears in her mind started turning.
‘Best to leave it for now. I think.’ She thought. Knowing I would pick up on her musings. ‘I doubt Charlie’s even registered her presence at this point. Knowing him, he’s solely focused on what’s coming. If he does realize Olga’s trying to keep him from his villain, it might lead to a bigger rift growing between them.’
Well, that certainly was one of the possible futures that I could see, so I decided to leave the two of them to their own devices.
Instead, I went over to Monique. Noting the way her brown eyes seemed to impale everyone else there as they swept over the crowd and their revelries. Her hands holding tightly to Slasher and to Cherub within. She had looked, healthier, before that point. Her skin glistening as she smiled at every errant comment anyone made in her Prescence.
Now, she looked half a corpse. Every crease and wrinkle on her aged skin seeming deeper and more pronounced. Her hair’s greying somehow managing to stand out more, despite the impossibility of such a sudden change without having Shifter as a Type.
“Hey Monique.” I began. Trying to manage a human-like smile. “Are you looking forward to seeing Jimmy and Ben again?”
“Go pound sand.” She answered curtly. Turning her head to the side so that I knew this conversation was over.
A lesser person might have felt a little insulted at her mannerisms. Yet all I could do was give voice to some niceties before slinking away.
My own cobweb picking up on every little bit of her inner turmoil. The expectations that had been dashed. The guilt of knowing she would be separated from her children once more, despite her best efforts. The pit that had opened up in her stomach, as she wondered what her reunion with the two would be like.
“You know…” I began. “I could make it better. Even if I can’t do for them what I did for my grandpa.”
“Oh?” She intoned. Still not meeting my eyes.
“I could use my own [Presence] to make it all seem more distant. Or I could do for you what I did for the victims and regular people back home. I could… give you the strength to go on. Without it being something sinister like [Domination].”
She chuckled.
“Thank you for the offer. Sully. Though I will have to pass. I’m not in the mood to start worshiping you.”
“It wouldn’t have to be that way.” I protested.
“No.” She agreed. “Not right away, at least. But I saw what happened back there. My own [Sense Thoughts] might not be as powerful as your new combinations, but I know full well what your help leads to in that context. It is so powerful an effect that it almost guarantees dependence.”
She chuckled under her breath.
“Don’t get me wrong. It was absolutely the right choice back there. Those poor people were on the verge of giving up and many of them had given up already. You saved countless lives. However, I need to be stronger than that. I need to remain focused on myself and my own people and my own progress. This… frustration, is a good motivator. I shouldn’t be angry that you can’t help. I should be angry that I can’t help. That I couldn’t help my kids by my own power. I already have an ability combination. I know what you did is possible for me too. That should be my goal and right now, I have a long way to go.”
Dusty nodded along and congratulated her on that outlook.
I remained silent after the fact. Noting how similar her thought process was to my own.
‘It certainly seems a lot less healthy when I see someone else doing what I usually do. I wonder if there’s a lesson to be taken from that?’
After that, we moved on to Esmeralda and Fernando. Taking note of how uneasy they seemed as they tried to forget what had recently happened. Their hands pausing mid-conversation every now and then to pat down their mended wounds.
Their brains coming back to the burning sensations of searing bones coated in burning chemicals.
“Are you going to go over to them?” Dusty inquired. Nudging me slightly with her elbow.
“No.” I decided. “I’ve seen some possible futures and none of them end well. It would be better if they had another week or two to get their confidence back. They need to realize the truth that it will only get harder by themselves. They need to keep fighting and improving until they feel like they’ve made significant progress. Otherwise, they will always be second-guessing whether I meant to torment them on purpose.”
Dusty sighed. Her mind thinking some rather rude things. Both about them, and about me.
“I don’t need to be a mind reader to know what you’re thinking right now Sully. You need to stop that. The fight wasn’t a mistake and it wasn’t you bullying your juniors. You tested the limits of your power responsibly and drew back when you’d seen enough. I would have been different if you kept up the assault, but you didn’t. That couldn’t have counted as harassment. Trust me. I would know, given how I grew up.”
I was about to say something else, when she placed a finger on my lips.
“What you did allowed us to get real experience against a rare variety of conditions in a setting where failing would have no consequences. Very few warriors back home would have had a similar chance. I have to tell you all of this because you can’t see it from where you’re standing. You’re going to retreat back into yourself again. That is counterproductive. You are doing fine.”
“I…I don’t…”
“You don’t respect yourself enough. All your accomplishments pass you by and you only focus on your perceived failures. It’s a slippery slope towards true madness. Tell me, how many people have you saved until now?”
“I…uh…”
“Over two hundred people owe you their lives, their comfort and their levels. Here in the Labyrinth. It would be much more if we counted those you’ve saved on the outside. You are sticking your neck out for them and expecting nothing.”
“I…”
“Yes. You are frightening. All those that are strong are frightening, whether they mean to be or not. There will always be a separation between someone who has trained and prepared for violence and someone who is either unskilled, or incapable. What you are capable of doesn’t define you. Its what you do with the power you’ve been blessed with. In that sense, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as selfless as you. Take pride in that. In that you chose to do the right thing despite it costing you much and gaining you little. You are a good person.”
“Yeah boss.” Gina agreed. Suddenly coming from the side and jumping in the middle of our conversation.
“So, what if a couple o mooks got scared o ya? Big deal. My pops used to scare all the fellas down the street. Those that didn’t know to stay in their lane. Yer doing fine.”
Wow.
That, really wasn’t helping.
“I don’t think that’s helping, Gina.” Dusty said, as if reading my mind. “Why don’t you go and have a meal with Stellio? I think he’s been stealing glances your way.”
Gina snorted.
“He’s a slob. Worse, he’s Greek. My family would disown me if I went for it. But that’s beside the point. I’m here for the boss’ ear and I would like an answer before I go.”
“Very well, speak. We’ll hear you out.”
“We, is it? Fine. Relax. I’m not looking to pry. All I want is permission to go on a little, eh, expedition.”
“Okay?” I said, trying to focus on her thoughts while Dusty was holding me in place.
“Why do you want my permission? Anyone can come and go however they want.”
“I know that boss. Ya see. I was hoping to go for a more, elusive kind of prey. And by that prey I mean Randall and Anezka and by go for, I mean disembowel.”
It was a good thing that my body was so very in control of every minute motion I made. Otherwise, I might have choked on empty air. Recollections of what I’d done flooding my mind. Images of what Randall and, to a lesser extent, the Mittens-possessed body of Anezka were doing assaulting me from differing strings within the cobweb.
‘Huh? And here I thought I could no longer be surprised.’ I mused, before refocusing on Gina’s hesitant expression.
“Why would you feel the need to do that?” I asked her. Playing dumb on purpose. “I already told everyone that Anezka isn’t a threat anymore and that I would take care of Randall.”
“Yeah. I know Boss. But, ya do have a soft streak. Like, I don’t think it’s a bad thing or anything, but ya do tend to go easy on folks when a little pressure might be, uh, smart. Do ya get what I’m saying? It’s like… ya say Anezka’s been taken care of, but I’m not sure you mean what I mean when I say those words. I’m worried ya were too soft. Like, those mooks are gonna be enough of a pain that you’re worried about fighting them boss and you’re…you. Ya know. The biggest fish in the pond. I just… figured we might as well trim the roses a little before the thorns get out of hand. Ya get me?”
She stumbled over her words, trying to find the right ones.
“Its like this see. I was raised Catholic and I was taught that sometimes, its good to go for a more, New Testament approach. Ya shake hands, ya see a couple weddings, have a couple of kids and everybody’s happy. That’s all well and good, but sometimes people just don’t learn the easy way. Sometimes ya need to bring out the Old Testament approach. More specifically, Ezikiel 25:17. Really teach people you deserve respect and that they better give it to ya. Or else.”
I was about to give Gina some very choice words over her simplification of real, actual murder, when Dusty beat me to it.
“I completely agree. Gina. Sometimes, one must have a firm hand when dealing with marauders, and the depravations of evil people.” Her smile was soft and endearing. Carrying a charm that threatened to overtake even the stoic walls of my new body.
“Which is why I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about. The evildoers have been dealt with. If you do not trust Sully’s standards of justice… well. He has been very lenient in the past. However, I hope you will not mistake his kindness for weakness. Even then, I hope you will not mistake my own leniency for weakness.”
The smile turned sharp. So that there was an almost imperceptible cutting edge to it as she kept speaking to Gina.
“Suffice it to say that those two have been dealt with in a manner I find acceptable. Would that be enough to satisfy you?”
“Yes boss. I mean, yes Dusty. Ma’am. Sorry to have bothered ya.”
Gina turned right around and beat a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. Her forehead damp with sweat as she wove her way around the crowd.
“Thank you for the help.” I whispered to Dusty.
She giggled.
“That wasn’t anything of note Sully. Though, if you feel gratitude, I can think of a few ways you could make it up to me.”
I was about to answer, when the expected System Message popped up in front of us.
System Notice:
Cycle 1 has now ended. Individual contributions will be tallied and shown on the Leaderboards after Students return for Cycle 2.
Students now have the opportunity to return to their home dimension, or to another known human dimension for the duration of 1 week.
Please type in the selected dimension’s code or otherwise choose Home.
I wasted no time in jotting down Dusty’s dimension. Feeling one last pang of regret that I wouldn’t be able to see my parents for some time, before my body was engulfed once more in that all-too familiar shimmering light.
I had expected to land in another, less illuminated cave. Next to Dusty and Slab.
However, that hadn’t happened.
Instead, I was standing in an arena. Similar in design to the one in the Warehouse. A large, circular ring of fine sand surrounded by white stones at the edges. However, they differed in scale.
Where the old ring I was used to could accommodate a dozen or so fighters comfortably, this arena looked as if it could house hundreds of combatants. The radius spanning at least a couple of football fields in any given direction.
I only managed to blink once, before another screen made itself known.
System Notice:
Student: Solomon Carter, has been banned from receiving System Rewards for their performance in the Tutorial.
Student: Solomon Carter, has been banned from appearing on the Leaderboards.
Student: Solomon Carter, will be flagged on the forums once they activate for all other Students.
Student: Solomon Carter, will have all their Store Tokens confiscated and will not be able to gain any more Store Tokens within the Tutorial.
Student: Solomon Carter, will not be allowed to challenge the Hidden Boss: New Moon Spider. Any attempt to do so will teleport the Student to Human City.
Student: Solomon Carter, will lose access to special Tutorial Events.
Student: Solomon Carter, will not be allowed to compete as a regular challenger in the Tutorial Tournament.
Student: Solomon Carter, will be flagged as a delinquent Student to all other Students in the Tutorial.
Student: Solomon Carter, will be cloned and used as a non-lethal, punitive Boss encounter for all Students in the Tutorial.
Final measure has been decided. Student will receive constant instruction from Special Enforcer: Hazimon the Dragon. Student will be forced to meet with their Special Enforcer at least once every 48 hours for the remainder of the Tutorial.
I read it over and sighed internally.
‘Thank goodness. I thought the final added point might have been something terrible, considering everything else the Spider threw at me. But another Enforcer is more than welcome.’
Then I started to search the cobweb for echoes of the future. Trying to find more information on this new Enforcer the System was throwing my way.
‘Huh? There’s nothi…’
I heard a pop then. Nothing major. Just a faint, distant, popping sound.
Then everything went black. My body not feeling like my body anymore.
I heard nothing. I saw nothing. I smelled nothing.
All while I tasted copper and felt a blast of sudden agony. Before that too faded as I felt my flesh forming back into eyes and ears. My natural senses returning as my Telepathic senses couldn’t catch up with what had happened.
‘Su…y!? Sully! Are you okay?’ Buddy asked nervously.
‘I’m fine.’ I answered at once. Not quite sticking to the truth.
‘I didn’t get to see it.’ Buddy told me in a panic. ‘It went for your head right away. It, sliced pieces of me off, but I don’t think it wanted to hurt me. I think it just wants to hurt you.’
That was something at least. I could handle being destroyed just fine, but I didn’t know how losing Buddy would affect me. I hoped I never had to find out.
Within half a second, I went from a red smear on the sands, to a halfway human outline that was rapidly forming heavier bones and denser skin.
Then everything went black again.
And again.
And again.
And again and again and again.
All in span of a couple of seconds.
Level Gained: +50 Maximum Psy. +8 Ability Points.
Level Gained: +50 Maximum Psy. +8 Ability Points.
Level Gained: +50 Maximum Psy. +8 Ability Points.
Level Gained: +50 Maximum Psy. +8 Ability Points.
Ability Evolving: [Solomon’s Perfect Vicissitude X] 13 has grown to [Solomon’s Perfect Vicissitude X] 14.
Ability Evolving: [Solomon’s Protean Form X] 13 has grown to [Solomon’s Protean Form X] 14.
I activated [Solomon’s Impenetrable Obfuscation X] then. Flooding the surroundings with Psy as I called on [Solomon’s Overwhelming Avatar X] to both boost all my own powers and call on the Tall Man. Figuring that both it and any other horrors it called over would be more than enough to even the odds.
Sure enough, it manifested at once. Dressed all in white, with two pairs of wings on its back and two heads on its shoulders. Its feet bare as they touched the ground. Blackened tar staining the sands where it landed.
It too was struck then, though its ethereal body simply reformed within a fraction of a heartbeat. Its form being composed of pure Psy, rather than flesh.
Naturally, it meant it spent more energy to reform itself, but with its stores being so vast and my own reserves adding onto them, there was no chance of that being a problem anytime soon.
Moreover, other things were coming into existence as I searched for the interloper with my cobweb.
Solomonlings and Solomonite flagellants, chanters, knights, and anchorites alike popping into existence with the rush of displaced air. Their many tongues tasting the atmosphere of the physical world for the first time in weeks or maybe forever.
“Mittens is here!” A possessed Anezka called from my right. Dressed in robes of many icy eyes and wielding the bony sword I had given him. His horns and tongues poking out of Anezka’s otherwise feminine features to smear her beauty with monstrous exultation.
“Mittens is the wrath of the righteous! The sword amidst the smoke! Mittens is the chain and the pawns within his yoke! Mittens knows the blood and all the ground beneath! Mittens is his fangs and all his jagged teeth! Mittens will never, ever leave! Mittens is here!”
There was another pop and Mittens went flying. Though, strangely enough, he wasn’t as utterly broken as I or the Tall Man had been.
Which was a stark contrast in behaviour, as all my other Intruders were being massacred by the thousands.
Yet, the attacker was not hitting me anymore, and I took the opportunity to burrow deep into the sands. My hands growing bony ridges with which to burrow as my bones became even denser. All while I spread out [Solomon’s Empowering Majesty X] to strengthen my Intruders even further as I kept pouring oceans of Psy out into the atmosphere.
Soon enough, Intruders were popping out faster than the interloper could destroy them. The Tall Man gaining enough time to summon unreal illusions of fire and crackling lightning that yet other Intruders inhabited. Making their lacerations more real than they had any right to be.
I kept digging throughout. Placing more and more emphasis on digging myself a nice big hole in which to sit out the carnage.
‘But where the (Gnome) is he?’ I wondered sourly. ‘Why can’t I sense anything? Why can’t the cobweb pick up anything? Is it just the room itself attacking me? Some sort of System-created phenomenon to slow me down in preparation of the Enforcer’s arrival?’
If so, that was a particularly unfair move on its part.
After all, why even bother sending an Enforcer who couldn’t take care of themselv…
Everything went black again and this time, it took a few more heartbeats to recover. My flesh fighting against the pressure of all the sand overhead as it struggled to re-form itself.
Only when my cobweb started sensing the Intruders again, did I realize what had happened. The opponent was here. Somewhere. They had leap up from the ceiling to land on the sands below with enough force and at such velocities that the impact had compressed and crystalized the top layer. As if it had been exposed to superheated temperatures in order to make glass.
‘An Enhancer, then. One that I can’t detect or stop with [Presence]. Their abilities aren’t being hindered. Or, if they are, then they are simply so strong that this is what their weakened state looks like.’
Still, I kept pouring out Psy into the surroundings. Shredding the local veil to bloody ribbons as I sought to boost my [Limited Omniscience] to the point where it would pick up my assailant.
Tens of thousands of Intruders were manifesting now. Erupting from the uneven layers of glass and from the rocky outcrops making up the ceiling. Forging themselves from the still-burning flames dotting the landscape, as well as the unnaturally cool breeze wafting over the arena.
Yet they kept dying, as Mittens was spared.
“Mittens rages! Mittens roars! Mittens is here!” Anezka’s mouth croaked. Her limbs twisting in the same manner as a broken puppet as Mittens pulled on her strings.
“Mittens will see you! Mittens will smell you! Mittens is here!”
The sword shone, and released a presence not too dissimilar to mine own. Its edges rending the air around them as Mittens kept swinging right and left and right again.
But it did not seem to be working.
Whomever or whatever was up there was simply too fast to catch. A speedster on a scale Charlie could only dream of.
‘Is that why I can’t sense them? Because they’re moving too fast? No. That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve enslaved alien species before, when I was only six and seven and they were travelling at or past the speed of light. It has to be something else, something different.’
There was a growl coming from within me. The dangerous spite of a caged and cornered animal hungering for violence. For vengeance.
I could feel it. Now more than ever. A boiling wrath simmering within each and every one of my cells as if they had minds of their own. As if my brain was merely the leading instrument in a collective and the rest of the adjacent parts had found it wanting.
I felt it… click. The fury sliding into place as visions of the future and the cobweb’s echoes grew more distant. Visions of death and carnage taking their place with alarming alacrity.
Ability Evolving: [Predator’s Instincts] 2 has grown to [Predator’s Instincts] 3.
‘Slow him down.’ A little voice whispered in my ear. One I knew at once to be myself in disguise. ‘Keep summoning Intruders. He will tire eventually. Strike only when the time is right. A foe this mighty will make a delectable feast. Be patient. Be stealthy. Be vicious, when the time comes.’
I would have shuddered, if I had had a normal body.
Instead, I allowed the stream to take me further. My brain becoming more in tune with the reality in which I found myself in. After all, the voice had a point. This attacker had been nice enough to spare Buddy the first few times it turned me into chunky salsa, but there was no guarantee that level of mercy would continue. Better to take the safe option and get some training in while I was at it.
So, I reshaped my body yet again. Growing spherical ridges all along my skin and then growing new layers of skin on top of those, until I resembled a gigantic armadillo. From there, I grew small tubes connected to my lungs and sent them upwards at different angles so that some would come up directly above me while others came up a few hundred metres away.
They were small enough that none could sustain me by themselves, yet that came with its own advantages.
One would have to focus extremely hard on any single spot to find traces of the tubes. Given that I was also running my stealth abilities, I liked my odds.
Unfortunately, my assailant was not quite amicable enough to ignore me as I kept turning the arena into the mirror image of Pandemonium.
He grabbed a single tube, tried to rip me out of the ground and then started moving again once it snapped.
He followed that up by punching the ground. Hard.
The shockwave turned my insides into my outsides, as all the new bones I had grown shattered and turned into miniature frag grenades. Bits of solid white matter splitting apart my muscles and organs.
I barely had enough time to grow back a larynx and moan, before the sadist pulled me out and threw me against one of the walls. My form impacting like an overripe fruit against the bedrock.
Buddy tried to say something, but I couldn’t quite pick up on it.
My focus swaying to everywhere and nowhere as more and more Intruders kept manifesting and clawing at the opponent.
For once, he stood still. Letting all the blows fall upon his own form and making sure I could see that none of it had any effect.
I tried to sense his mind. To [Dominate] him. But my cobweb could not find purchase, even now.
Then my eyes started scanning him once more. Taking in every detail as my chest began to reshape the pulp I had become into lungs and ribs.
He looked like one of the sea-horse dragons I had fought before. Like that optional Boss Slab and the others had felled.
Only, he was far smaller. The size of an average human from back home. Maybe smaller than that even, though nowhere near the stature of gnomes.
Furthermore, he had two clawed hands wrapped in fine-looking gloves and boots covering every part of his feet, save his clawed toes. At his back were a pair of exquisitely colored, translucent fins that caressed the air as if it were water. Their frills swaying back and forth as if drifting on an ocean current.
His beady, ruby-red eyes took in Mittens as the sword came down. His right hand lifting up with such speed that I imagined it was teleportation at first.
A single pinky, stopped the blade from moving any further, which only caused Mittens to roar in indignation.
“Not bad.” He whispered to himself. The sound carrying across the arena and all the way over to me.
“Not bad at all. I can work with this.”