Maria’s manner changed when she began to read passages from the large book. She was clear and her voice was soft like summer rain. I tried to focus on what she was doing but it was like the words she began to read were... soothing. She sat kneeling before the staring ghost.

I didn’t know the Bible or much about the actual tales of Jesus beyond what I absorbed via osmosis of movies, media, and such. Maria’s passage spoke of kindness and the power of honesty. When she read them, there was no sense of forced pleasure or boredom.

Maria enjoyed the Bible.

It was as she spoke her body began to give out a feeling of peace.

Ally Skill activated: Rites of the Good Word: Effects(based on rough incoming data) Demonslayer888 infuses words of faith with her faith and belief in what she says. Causes all who are able to hear it feel relaxed and at peace. The effect is resisted if listening denies words or sees them in a negative light. Skill roughly... level 2.

Unlike my holy aura, Watari seemed to be basking in Maria’s glow. He inhaled and looked around the office as if just remembering something.

“Dad used to let me play in the corner with his books...” he mumbled. His chain slackened enough that it was no longer tugging at the plate connected to Watari’s chest.

“I wanted this office because it always made me feel safe.” he went on. We no longer seemed to exist in his eyes. He was drawn to a corner and sat down.

“It was too bad that I figured out... my pa made the feeling happen. Not the room... My Pa kept me... safe,” he said, drifting off in the corner as he hugged his knees.

The last words sounded... hollow. Empty.

“Then he left me all alone. Then the room felt bad. Make enough money and he’ll come back... just need money,” he vanished and the sound of chains rattled once before they too went quiet. Maria finished her verse. It was a tale of rest and weariness that made my own soul ache. Maria closed her Bible, made sure to securely put it away and closed the bag as if to hide it from the world.

“Thank fucking Christ on a bike. My legs were getting sore,” she stood slowly up. I handed her a Purity Stone and she marvelled at it, turning it over.

“It’s so damn pretty,” she held it. I was feeling ready to impress so I plucked it and made it into a Campfire stone, putting it on the nearby destroyed desk.

“Good job! You should feel better in the light,” I promised. Maria bent down and her cheeks warmed in the pleasant heat.

“That is so cool! Is it magic?” she asked and I sat down with a nod.

“As best as I can figure. Could be some super-atom compression into a shape of a stone that removes my concept of dirt to another dimension while trading it for thermal energy for heat...” I mused. Maria looked at me like I had done something mildly foul.

“Do you have to ruin a perfectly fucking good reason to say the word ‘magic’?” she complained.

Nothing so complex. Energy, the magic particle, is a rather easily charge substance that can become most common or uncommon elements. It is also transmutable into forms of energy with the right know-how and about 10 years experience in a chosen field. System does the hard math part and lets Russel neatly skip that.

“And the dirt removal?” I said curiously.

System dumps it into a hidden inventory space where it is used as potential material for future skills or spells.

“You’re using me as a magical recycle can?” I grinned, amused by the idea. Maria was watching us in silence. I guess she was still getting used to our back and forth talks.

System supports taking care of one's world. System believes in trees. As an avatar of System, you must recycle or feel crushing disappointment from the System.

“Only demons or fools litter,” Maria agreed.

I shook my head in amusement as the room got another clean over and Maria looked much perked up from the Campfire stone.

Campfire Stone has reached level 2! Increased range!

The idea of my next question about King and how he worked reminded I hadn’t introduced Maria to him yet.

“Hey, wanna meet my summoned companion? He’s awesome,” I said and Maria’s eyes lit up.

“You subclassed into a summoner?!” she said in awe. I proudly summoned King in a poof of smoke.

The ant titled his massive had and Maria gave off a battle cry and threw a cloud of glinting salt over King. The ant looked very confused so he did want he knew best. He gathered the salt into a pile and returned it as best he could, tidying the room up. Maria had backed off and was holding her Bible.

“Worry not, I’ve used this book to remove many flies and spiders who did not stay in their webs. This foe will be my greatest challenge yet!” she said confidently but her hands were shaking.

“You used your holy manuscript to... swat insects?” I repeated with a hint of disbelief. Maria went pink.

“I... this is your giant mutant albino glowing ant? Do you have anything else to suddenly show me today that might make me want to run fucking screaming?” she asked pointedly.

I suddenly remembered my tentacle.

“Nope. I’m completely normal now,” I said maybe a bit too quickly. Maria narrowed her eyes.

“Jesus feels sad when you lie,” she accused. I winced and rubbed my head.

“I can copy some abilities of the foes I defeated. Sometimes they can be weird,” I said after a moment. Maria thought about it then she hesitantly walked over to the waiting King.

“I am Maria Bean Mercy, I... apologise for salting you, sir ant,” she bowed slightly. King just patted her head with a feeler and Maria tried not to twitch.

“Your middle name is Bean?” I asked, immensely amused.

“Tell anyone and I’ll introduce you to God fucking personally.”

I zipped my lips.

“Violence isn’t very Christian,” I reminded after a few seconds.

“We had these things called ‘Crusades’. I should tell you about them one day,” Maria hummed.

---

The portal was where I left it. Walking back to the train station was quiet and relaxing. Maria didn’t find the need to fill every moment with words. I think her time in a church helped her appreciate the quiet moments.

While I could be grinding... I decided I should slow down and make sure I was taking time to relax where I could. My life was going to be very hectic in the coming days. Battle's, reapers, hollows, other unknowns... I’d have time to level. These were the moments I had to learn to enjoy.

Maria’s reaction to the portal was much tamer. Since she was in the party, she had been allowed to see the portal.

“It’s a little ominous, with all the fucking red and black,” she pointed out. I gave her a long look and wiggled my fingers at the side. The portal made honking noises as it doubled over in jerking motions.

“It’s ticklish. How can you be afraid of something that’s ticklish?” I grinned.

System swears her warning of portal disruption and fatal consequences were just ignored...

I snapped my fingers back.

“Nope, must have been that other Gamer you help all day!” I tried.

Ah yes, the one with an actual wisdom stat so I could program in common sense? System loves that one. Shame he doesn’t exist. Now ready yourself and enter the Zone.

I turned the chamber to make sure no one had followed us. The small opening was empty but I knew Bleach had some powerful stealthy people.

Or bullshit ones like Aizen who just told you he wasn't there and you were going to believe him.

“So, as I said before. No idea what we’ll see or find but if it ends up being too much of a disadvantage, we’ll back off and find another zone,” I assured her. Maria thumped me hard on the shoulder.

“Have some faith in our team. J-man and Lady Sys won’t let their star followers down,” she promised.

“Did you just tell me to have faith-” I began but she began to pull me towards the portal with excitement. It swallowed us with a cheerful suction noise and we were gently sliding down a warm path so dark I couldn't see my hands in front of my face.

Entering Malice Zone: Midnight Train Graveyard! Please do not die, Russel and Demonslayer888!

Where we landed didn’t exactly have much more light but another red moon hung above in the dark sky.

The dark...

I sat up as Maria went to peek over the edge of the floating island we were on. I didn’t bother looking around or taking anything in. I just ran and spun her away. Her wide eyes met my own which felt pretty wild.

“Don’t... look down there,” I said softly. She gently peeled my grip off her arm and looked back.

“Is it bad?” she frowned.

“Dark things live down there and looking at them really messes with your head,” I explained. Maria held her rosary with both hands.

“Russel, I’ll need to look down eventually, do you see where we are? This is really fucking weird and I might be panicking just a little,” she said ever so calmly. Having Maria away from the edge did finally let me see where the ‘safe zone’ entrance was.

I had been right about the floating island thing. For some distance, there were islands floating by themselves, most have walls or some building hiding what was on them but the bridges between them were railroad tracks. Rusty broken paths that looked like they sooner break than hold any weight.

As I watched, there was a ringing noise in the far distance and the islands began to turn like gears in a machine, making their railroad bridges connected to different islands or to nowhere at all.

Each island was draped in shadows that made features hard to make out from the safe island. I looked behind and a stone tunnel housed the portal snuggly.

Maria was looking at a platform with wheels and a giant seesaw lever on top. In the middle was a white glowing crystal. I don’t think it was a skill gem but I checked it out anyway with Observe.

Powersource of Dream. Malice Key. Rating: Not applicable: A crystal that can activate dead or depleted machines in the Malice Zone. Seems to be filled with positive energy.

“Oh boy, I think the Malice Zone just through a gimmicky puzzle at us. Most likely have to guide and time the cart right to move into these buildings to power something until we get to the last island,” I frowned. Maria blinked before she stepped on it, grabbed it with both hands and twisted. It squeaked as she unplugged the crystal like a lightbulb.

“There! Now we can leave the fucking awkward cart behind!” she grinned and handed me the crystal. I stared.

“Is that allowed?” I asked no one in particular. Without the cart, the timing of the bridges just became... really easy.

I put it in my inventory and shrugged.

“It’s broken, exploit the hell out of it,” I decided. We took the next bridge that came to the island and ran across. The first building looked like a watermill oddly enough. It had three floors to it and the wheel on the outside was made of bent railroad tracks that were too rusty to move, let alone turn if there was any water.

I made sure to tug on my cape and Maria nodded in appreciation.

“Dashing,” she said before her eyes flicked down and her body went ramrod stiff on the bridge barely big enough for two people. I urged her own before she collapsed, mumbling a prayer under her breath.

“Maria... they won’t come near. Just focus on me,” I instructed, watching for foes. King was nearby and he seemed to be investigating the double doors that looked shut from the inside. Most of the windows had been smashed and boarded up.

Maria did slowly look up at me.

“I saw darkness and it smiled at me,” she said hoarsely. I frowned, trying my best to think of something comforting when Maria stood up, shaking and pointed over the edge, her eyes straight ahead.

“Fuck you. Fuck you and fuck you. Stay out of my... soul. It’s spoken for!” she yelled and the sound echoed loudly.

She turned stiffly and marched back to me, eyes still a little wild.

“I saw the bad. Now can you show me some good about this place?” she requested. I silently pushed on the door and it didn’t move an inch. I really didn’t want to climb through a boarded-up broken window and the small semi-circle piece of land didn’t extend around the building. King was not going to be digging under and risk collapsing the island...

I turned on Acid Cloak and touched the door near the middle. I began to smell a strong burning metal scent and the point in between the doors bubbled and began to fall off in wet chunks as the acid ate through.

“That’s cleaning, acid, holy, fire, cleaning ant... you really like sterilising things! Are you a germaphobe?” Maria asked with interest.

“No, I just blew up giant viruses in a hell hospital. The rewards kinda match,” I explained as the wood board holding the door shut fell away. I cut my cloak and pushed the door open. Inside was a large single room with ladders, shipping containers, and a lot broke machine parts.

I threw in a Purity Stone and it lit up enough for me to see that trains in the state of being built had been crudely torn apart. Scraps in barrels while some wheels were hung like decoration.

“I’ve walked into enough confession booths to know a trap where I see it,” Maria let her beads uncoil and they gain a slight blue glow. I agreed entirely... I think.

I took a step in and considered some options. I sent a few more Purity Stones into lit up obvious dark corners. The last stone bounced between two containers and something moved, making scratching noises as it vanished.

Purity Stone has reached level 3! Decrease cost by 1!

“Right, tactics. I know you think I need you as a tank despite the fact you can’t tank or draw attention... so let me go first because my fire, teleport, and such might be better at that. Anything tries to ambush me, whip them down or give me a heads up,” I said. Maria looked let down not to be front lining with a bloody fist but nodded.

“That said, anything tries to come for you? Smite it,” I grinned.

This got me an eager smile in return.

I equip my new mace and shield. I looked like a junkyard knight but I focused on my shield, the mace, and my own t-shirt. I went from an amusing sight to something more worth noticing. My upper half was just a combined aura of fire that the three items connected and blurred together.

I heard Maria’s low whistle. I could almost sense she was within range of my fire but she wasn’t even feeling the heat.

Pyro Infusion has reached level 2! Increased damage.

I walked in slowly and to the side slightly. I kept a metal walkway above me for cover but it was so damn dark up there. I was beginning to think we had some sort of ambush creature when something emerged from the many dark spaces.

I almost wanted to say goblin but...

It was barely up to my knees, dark brown, and hairy patches. Gleaming animalistic red eyes glared at me as it licked needle teeth. It wore metal plates but in a way that was more decorative than for any protection.

I Observed it as it tried to show off its ‘might’ by casually walking sideways, eyeing me like lunch.

Progress Destroyer Gremlin. Monster. G-2: A tiny creature that is attracted to projects and machines with the intent to tear them down or damage them. The metal is collected for prizes and the despair of the project workers is used as food.

“You wouldn’t know Gizmo by any chance, huge fan-” I began and the thing went for my legs. It was fast, moving more like an animal on all four limbs than running.

It got about 10 feet away and Maria’s beads lashed out, flying past me to strike the creature. There was a crunching noise and the Gremlin stumbled back as one of its arms dangled uselessly.

“More from above!” she warned me. I rushed forward, swinging my new mace with energy. The Gremlin exploded in a splatter of green blood and hair. I was so glad I had a Purity Stone in my pocket. I didn’t let myself focus on the messy details before I turned to catch a Gremlin with my shield. It shrieked as it burned and I slammed it to the ground where it melted.

Oh lovely, these things were pretty flammable too! I was ready to jump for the last one but Maria had it tied up and she swung her body. The Gremlin was lifted off the ground with a growl.

“Back to the shadows with you, vile thing!” she yelled and the Gremlin impacted the wall at a speed much faster than a normal swing would have caused.

I winced as the smear left behind.

I turned slowly to make sure there wasn’t anymore and something hit me as it landed behind me. I rolled hard as another Gremlin lifted his pipe in a war cry.. This Gremlin was no short stack.

Gremlin Brute. Monster. G-3. A gremlin too stupid to work machines or destory them. Used as a hard labourer by the others.

“Russel!” Maria called but I was already picking myself up as the stupid Gremlin came after me again but it stopped, legs moving in the air. King twitched his feelers as he held the confused monster easily.

I grinned at my ant.

“King... take out the trash,” I commanded. King’s mandibles snapped and there was a crushing sound of bone.

The pipe fell to the ground and the Gremlin followed, dead.

After a few seconds, nothing else jumped out. Combat must have been over because System gave me the rewards for the little skirmish.

3x Gremlin defeated! 9 EXP!

1X Gremlin Brute Defeated! 4 EXP!

You have reached level 3! All stats increased by 1! 3 Stat Points gained for spending!

Maria is at estimated... 45% full on EXP progress.

I looked down as the Gremlin Brute dropped a Red Gem. I went over and petted King who was watching as the Gremlin melted from his aura.

“Awesome job! You alright?” I called to Maria who was examining the remains of the Gremlins.

She nodded and beckoned me over.

“I’m usually a bit attuned to people. I think it’s related to my power but people sometimes give off a feel. Like what I told you about ghosts and Hollows. Animals too if I spend time around them. When someone dies, they lose that feeling from their body but these things are... empty. They move like they’re closer to dolls than living creatures. I feel nothing from them,” she frowned. I could see that.

“Everything here is closer to an imitation or a recreation using energy than anything ‘real’. You might meet really strong echoes that hold more life but I think its just how the System helps me grow. Creating real monsters would be an issue. These things wouldn’t work outside the Malice Zone so its a safety measure really,” I pondered.

“But I sensed something from the Darkness,” Maria countered, face unsure. I also fell short there.

I asked the System.

The Beings in the Beyond are not echoes or conceptual energy. They are... if the System is a star, they would be the dark space. They aren’t evil or even malicious. I know a few that are chatty and they are good friends but it takes time to... adapt to them. They delight in the events we cause with Users and enjoy watching. I think they are bored Beings. They do mean you no harm but best not to touch or look at them.

“So really really big beings that are watching me for amusement because space got boring. Kinda melts your brain if you look at them,” I summed up as I opened my status menu.

True name: Russel Rivers

Given name:

Nickname:

Title: The Gamer

EXP:0/500

HP: 60/60

ENE: 40

SP: 45

Physical: 12

Spiritual: 9

Energy: 8

Mental: 8

Points: 4

I put a point into Spiritual making it 10 and another two points into Energy and brought Mental up by 1.

Next level, Mental would hit 10 by itself if I didn’t get a point beforehand. New pop-ups were added to the waiting pile.

“Russel! I got more screens!” Maria said in awe.

“Really? Did you get chain skill or maybe a throwing skill?” I asked distractedly.

“It’s a skill called ‘Holy Cry’! It says by invoking holy wrath in the form of words when I damage an enemy, I can cause nearby foes who see it to piss themselves and hesitate and want to target someone else!” she said excitedly.

I looked at her for a long time.

“...You are the apple of Jesus’ eye,” I said dryly. I turned to my own waiting windows.

Spiritualism has reached 10! Please choose a path to develop long.

Path of Soul Destruction: Learn to focus and reduce the cost of spirit arts, learn harder arts faster and grasp destroying souls much easier.

Path of Steel Soul: Gather your energy to reduce damage from all spirit attacks. Able to use Soul Points as armour. Able to learn certain arts easier.