Mature Content Warning: A bit of foul language

Author's Note: So, the changes to the world continue and a bit of foreshadowing of the hardships to come are shown here. If you still read this after chapter 11.1 then please enjoy. :)

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Chapter 11.2: A Friend Justice

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The long night of patrolling the small city that she currently called home had ended and the Crimson Sharde returned to her civilian identity as Shara Ardente. She had stopped two muggings and prevented one armed robbery at the local Stop ‘N Snack. There had been no sign of people with super human powers, but she knew what was to come. The native population would take a while to get to that point, but when her people came to play in this world things would become quite hellish for the population.

Shara walked up the stairs from her secret lair then considered a few things. Her uniform had been functional but had not struck fear into the hearts of the criminal element. Had the design been too simple? Did it matter at the moment? She was uncertain.

An avid cosplayer, she was practically born for this lifestyle. However, she knew that she had to be careful. Unlike the locals her ability to train in the real world worked properly. As an alpha-tester in the community project that was changing this world, she had to test key systems.

She called up her status screen and eyed her information carefully.

<<< Status >>>

Name: Shara Ardente

Race: Human

Title: The Crimson Sharde

Level: 5 Skill Points: 0

Vitality: 120[120]

Weapon Attack: 40[40]

Durability: 46[46]

Speed: 68[68]

Spirit: 73[73]

>>

“Hmm, I should work on my vitality a bit more.” she said lightly. She checked her skills to see if anything had increased when she was not looking

<<< Talents >>>

Ninjitsu

Cosplay

<<< Skills >>>

Primary

Superior Athleticism Level 6

- Sub(1):Superior Climbing Level 11

- Sub(2):Superior Jumping Level 10

- Sub(3):Superior Running Level 7

Swordsmanship Level 14

- Sub(1):Katana mastery Level 7

- Sub(2):Dual Sword Mastery Level 5

Stealth Level 15

Sense Mana Level 12

Ninpo Level 6

- Sub(1):Flame Burst Level 3

Secondary

Clothing Design Level 10

Repair Level 4

Driving Level 12

- Sub(1):Advanced Motorcycle Riding Level 2

Computer Programming Level 4

Tertiary

Negotiation Level 4

Bartering Level 3

>>

Shara reviewed her talents and skills. "Not bad, but I can do better."

It would be a few months before the native population of the world would be able to choose skills related to modern life. Alpha-Testers like her had to check them out to see if they were viable.

“So much to do and no time to do it.” Shara shook her head. The idiots who had purchased this world had wrecked it as far as she was concerned. Why did they update the world-setting directly? The people of this world did not deserve the horrors that would be visited on them soon.

She thought of her primary self-appointed goal here. She checked the advent schedule to see what was coming next then cringed. “Two months till Status One.... Dammit, not enough time.”

Shara took a quick shower, ate a sensible meal, and then slipped into her bed. She could and would train on Earth, but the time difference between what the locals called The Dream World and Earth would allow her more time. She had managed to acquire and train all of her most necessary skills and sub-skills. It was time to raise her level. When Status One occurred, all manner of shit was going to hit the fan.

***

Scott awoke then looked around his room with a bleary eyed expression. He had worked tirelessly in the dream world to increase his level and to develop a better capacity to remain transformed into his human form.

The little terror of midnight yawned then worked his way out of the covers. After a lengthy hunting campaign he had reached level four as well. He decided to check to see what his stats looked like in the real world.

<<< Status >>>

Name: Scott Blackthorne

Race: Mahorela Abaivonin

Title: Gentleman of Darkness

Level: 4 [Hatchling] Skill Points: 36

Vitality: 96[96]

Weapon Attack: 45[45]

Durability: 70[70]

Speed: 39[39]

Spirit: 129[129]

>>

Scott blinked then looked at his information once more. “The hell... It’s exactly the same.”

Had he been wrong? Before today he had been granted one-fifth of his level and status when in the real world. “Was it because I changed races?”

He could not recall whether he had checked his stats in this world after he had returned last time. Either way, this was both exciting and a little disturbing. At level four he was already ten times or twenty times more durable than his human-self had been at level one. “At level four I’m probably stronger than the strongest martial artist or power lifter alive before all this happened.”

The fact that he had so much power sounded great until he realized that everyone else had the same basic chance to become strong in the beginning, and many of them would be the sort of people who should never have the power to throw cars or blow up buildings with their minds.

Scott had a brief, horrible, thought about snipers with invisibility and terrorists who could throw exploding fireballs. There would be no way to stop them at the moment, no means of detecting things properly for a long time. Hell, what about teleportation or flight? “This world is going to go to shit...”

He shook his head. There was no way that things would not change drastically once people started to develop their skills to truly super human levels. He was certain that most people had just picked random skills, but some of them would have gone a more aggressive route. “I hope those tax-grabbers in office get their shit together.”

The little dragon turned on his television but sighed. It was still early morning so nothing of interest was available.

“Curse you basic television.” He refused to pay for cable or to buy a satellite system since he spent far more time on the Internet.

He was about to turn the television off when something strange appeared onscreen. He listened carefully.

“Yes, Tom. Reports are coming in all over the world. Strange geological formations have begun to appear. Most of them seem to be cave systems that a large number of geologists agree are not supposed to be possible in their locations. Other places seem to be the opposite.”

“The opposite, Jill?” asked the news anchor. He was now shown in a split-screen format alongside the onsite reporter.

“Yes, large structures of stone have cropped up in various places. The scientific community is at a loss, but some have begun to refer to them as towers since they have internal structural designs similar to such.”

“So, we have towers and caves popping up all over the world now?” asked Tom.

“Yes, that seems to be the case.” replied Jill.

“Have any other strange reports come in? I have been informed that some sort of island has appeared near Tokyo.” asked Tom.

“Yes, we are still waiting for confirmation but that island is supposedly floating above Tokyo as we speak. We have been unable to gain any further information.” replied Jill.

The live feed cut out and Tom looked into the camera. “As you can see, the world’s geographical features seem to be changing at an alarming rate. There is a worldwide state of emergency in effect while this new possible threat is assessed.”

He continued, “The federal government has suggested a moratorium on interstate travel for a few days in order to determine the potential danger of the situation. It is currently up to the state and local governments to determine whether they will follow that advice or not.”

Scott stared at the screen for a moment. Flying islands and rapidly appearing physical structures did not bode well for the future. He thought of the off-handed way that random monsters had been cited in one of the information screens that popped up before. “Caves, towers, flying islands, and random monsters...”

“How far will this go?” Scott was only slightly concerned for the people of the world. “Do I even have to go into work anymore?”

Was it bad that he was more concerned with avoiding work at Archer’s than the plight of the common man? Probably. Still, it was an honest reaction. Whatever would come in the future was still in the future. He had to deal with today, and today was good.

Speaking of good, he needed to check his skills! Scott opened his skill menu then grinned. All of his skills had transferred over completely as well. “Maybe changing races was some sort of finalization process?”

He could not be certain of the truth of the matter. However, he also did not care that much. If his stats and skills carried over then he should be able to use his magic in this world! Scott transformed into his human form then trotted over to the backdoor. He stepped around the corner of his house where no one could see what he was doing.

The rainbow fire of the living creatures around him came to mind. He stretched out his hand and began to draw tiny bits and pieces of their vital force. A sphere of bright prismatic light formed before his hand and he kept it up until he could not draw any more vital essence. Floating before his palm was a prismatic sphere of an energy known as mana. He was not certain just how much of it there was, but he knew that there should be enough mana generated to power one of his two weakest spells.

~You who have lost your way. Become my dark beacon that I may know the path that must not be taken. ~

“Shadow Wisp!” whispered Scott in an overly harsh voice. He did not want to attract more attention than he needed to while he trained.

Motes of light began to appear then drew together. A ghastly wail echoed through the area and a sickly glowing light appeared nearby. A damned soul had been called forth to serve its draconic master.

“So, how are things?” asked Scott.

The wisp wailed a little then flickered. Scott nodded at it. He could only get a vague sense of its responses but he had a general feeling that the wisp was doing just fine, but wanted to thank him for asking. Perhaps, he had only imagined that. Either way, the wisp floated around, mostly silent, in its movements.

“So, my magic definitely works here.” Scott grinned like an idiot for a moment then dismissed his wisp. It dissipated after unleashing another ghastly wail.

He moved back inside then rubbed his chin. “What else can I do?”

Scott was supposed to work, but he was not going to go. He was not ready yet, as becoming an adorable black dragon in the middle of a retail superstore would not go over well at the moment. Give it a few months with the way the world was going, and fewer people might care. At the moment it just seemed problematic.

He retrieved his phone then contacted the store. Scott did not even bother to cough or try to sound sick. He just told the on duty manager that he was sick and would not be coming in. They tried a little passive aggressive bullshit about how they needed him to come in, but he told them that he was having health issues and refused to elaborate.

“Well, I have the day off or I’m fired. Either way, let’s study the dream world and see what else is going on in this one.” said Scott. He needed to stay awake for at least eight hours in order for his dream body to completely replenish itself. That seemed like plenty of time to study, and perhaps order a few things online.

***