Chapter 15: New Base

[Because I chose you]

Arthur revealed an amazed and enlightened expression...for about three seconds.

“Wait, doesn’t that mean it doesn’t really matter that it’s me?” (Arthur)

[...Yeah.]

Arthur almost choked upon seeing his reply.

[But does it matter? Tell me, is there a reason why you want to help that girl? Why her?]

Confused as to why he asked that, Arthur answered vaguely.

“Well, cause I don’t like feeling powerless and because she was the one I met?” (Arthur)

[Then aren’t we the same? I cannot save everyone, and I just happen to meet a guy who wants to make a difference. All I need is to test you a bit. See, things like reasons, they’re just excuses. When the time comes, you’ll find out that they won’t really matter at all. Otherwise, if you keep thinking about reasons, then you won’t live for long.]

“Aha! So it was a test!” (Arthur)

[...]

Inwardly, Nightmare, or rather, Max, couldn’t help but facepalm in his mind.

Ehh, did I really do the right decision here? Whatever, I can just observe him anyway.

“Right. How...exactly do I activate this thing?” (Arthur)

[Drop your blood on it first. This way, even if someone gets a hold of your OStone, they won’t be able to use it.]

It would be troublesome if they drop it off after all and some psycho somehow ended up picking it…

Once that’s done, Nightmare continued to explain.

[Next, just think of petrifying while holding the [Eye of Petrification]. It should be easy to imagine since you saw me do it already.]

Arthur nodded and focused on the table. Suddenly, the table’s wood surface turned grey.

“Ooh!” (Arthur)

[Now depetrify it.]

Arthur nodded and didn’t ask for an explanation and instead, used his instincts.

Instantly, the table turned back to its previous appearance.

“Amazing...but, is that it? I can turn things to stone then back? How am I supposed to fight with this?” (Arthur)

[You’re a genius. Figure it out. That ability is a lot more powerful than you think it to be. Now come, I’ll show you a place.]

“Eh?” (Arthur)

Seeing that Nightmare suddenly appeared behind him and touched his shoulder, Arthur looked back in surprise but then his surrounding became blurry.

Before he knew it, he was in some park already.

“This place is...” (Arthur)

[Come]

It was still midnight but because of the street lights nearby, walking around the park is still easy and Arthur can still see some details.

Instantly, he knew which park they were at, yet, he still doesn’t understand why they’re here.

No, actually, he still doesn’t understand how they got here!

Shit, is teleport actually possible!?

Arthur can’t help but let out a cold sweat. The topic of teleportation has been discussed over and over by every scientist and physicist for centuries! Yet now, he actually witnessed a man casually teleport as easy as breathing!

[We’re here]

“Here?” (Arthur)

Arthur was confused and looked around.

Surrounding them are numerous trees and they’re not even that far from the street.

“There’s nothing here but this huge tree...wait. Since when has there been such a thick tree here!?” (Arthur)

Nightmare didn’t reply, instead, he waved his hand and instantly, the OStones he gave to Arthur are back on his hands.

“Ah!? What are you-...” (Arthur)

Shocked that his supposed new found power was suddenly taken back, he removed his gaze from the huge tree back to Nightmare.

[What huge tree?]

“What do you mean ‘what huge tree’...it’s obviously the-...eh?” (Arthur)

Arthur pointed to where he previously saw the huge tree only to find that...it wasn’t there anymore!

He hurriedly looked around yet he still couldn’t find it.

[Here. Now look again.]

With a wave of his hand, Nightmare gave back the OStones to Arthur.

Still confused as to what he meant, Arthur looked at his OStones for a while then raised his head again.

This time, he finally saw the huge tree!

“Ah!? It’s there! I wasn’t hallucinating!” (Arthur)

Arthur is a smart man, since he saw the tree only when he had his OStones and that he couldn’t find it when Nightmare took it, he instantly knew that he can only find that tree whenever he holds the OStone.

“So this thing also works like that...” (Arthur)

Actually, Max just made it that way with magic circles but Arthur thought that this is a mystical ore, so that tree must be mystical as well. Well, he wasn’t that far off.

He even thought that the OStone came from there.

[Follow]

Nightmare walked forward and...through the huge tree!

Surprised, Arthur ran forward and stopped just a step away from the tree.

Lifting his hand, he cautiously touched the surface but...his hand actually passed through!

Seeing this, Arthur no longer hesitated and dived in…

Upon reaching the inside, he saw an abnormally modern looking interior…

“This...an elevator!?” (Arthur)

Arthur was surprised. He thought that the tree from before might actually be a hologram. Only, it looked so real to be one! Holograms aren’t actually that perfected. Every now and then, there will be flickers on the surface due to magnetic interference from the earth and other devices.

Yet that tree looked so life-like that it didn’t look that much different from any other tree except that it was thicker.

Ignoring his confused gaze, Nightmare pushed the [-1] button on the elevator which prompted the elevator to go down.

“Can’t we just teleport?” (Arthur)

[I can, but how can you get in in the future?]

“Uhh, your teleportation device, can’t you make it bigger? To make something like a teleport pod or something.” (Arthur)

[Possible, but it only goes to one destination. Too inefficient if I make multiple ones in each floor.]

“Ah...can I know how you did it? Heh, you might not know this but I’m a genius.” (Arthur)

Max rolled his eyes as Arthur started to brag. Then, he waved his arm and black mist started to form in mid air, creating a teleportation magic array.

[Do you recognize this?]

“Eh...no...” (Arthur)

At first, Arthur thought it was a circuit diagram but every symbol was so different and the lines were also so complex.

As he said, he is a genius, that’s why, just one look and he knew that he truly didn’t know such technology.

“Can you teach me?” (Arthur)

[No]

The elevator stopped and they reached the first floor of the basement.

What Arthur saw made him speechless and dumbfounded.

It was actually a park! Moreover, there’s a sky above! With clouds and a sun!

Weird looking trees, plants, and flowers were also growing everywhere!

It was as if they’re in another world!

In truth, they are still in [Earth]. Max made the ceiling high which was why it took a while to reach this floor and placed an illusion there and on the walls which made it look like a boundless world.

As for the weird plantations, actually, even though the machine technology in that other world were vastly inferior to this one, their knowledge in plants and herbs are superior!

What Arthur is seeing now are plants that Max made by mixing the plants that can be found in this world, crossbreeding them numerous times, adding chemicals, then there you have it. A whole new breed of plants which would have an even better effect when used in potioneering.

This place is a relaxation ground and also Max’s farm. There’s a passage to the left which leads to an extremely cold environment, a passage to the right which leads to a lava pool, and a passage to the front which leads to a rainforest environment. All of which are used to grow the needed plants and herbs and also where people can train in the future.

Explaining briefly to the still shocked Arthur, Nightmare pulled him to the elevator again and went to the second floor.

Second floor leads to a center of a long hallway. Right side leads to the men’s changing room while the left leads to the women’s changing room. Both of which have bathrooms and shower rooms installed as well.

As for the door at the center, just in front of the elevator, it leads to a large training ground.

It’s arranged like an arena with chairs lined up around and a couple of stages at the center with the centermost stage being the largest and around the stages, there are a number of practice weapons they can use. From daggers to swords to clubs to guns to shields, they can choose whichever.

This place will be used for combat training obviously and also a form of entertainment or where they could settle their grievances in the future.

After all, Max plans on giving out powers to a lot of people and it’s highly unlikely that they would always get along.

He also placed a huge array below which can deactivate their OStones if things get bad or if they want to fight without powers. Well, it would be hard to fight someone like Arthur who can stop you with a gaze right?

“So I really won’t be the only one?” (Arthur)

[Of course. What, do you plan to carry the weight of the world?]

“No, no. I’m cool with that...but there should be more girls right?” (Arthur)

[No sex in the HQ. Trust me, I’ll know.]

“I-I wasn’t...” (Arthur)

Moving along, they both head to the third floor.

The third floor is a bit similar to the second floor as the elevator opens up at the center of a hallway and both sides leads to men/women’s changing room, bathroom, and shower room.

However, instead of the arena, what’s there is a huge white room.

This place is an obstacle course. Once inside, the room’s tiles will randomly sink or protrude in different lengths, creating a field of white pillars and pits. Not only the floor tiles but also the walls and ceiling so you can also say that this is a 3 dimensional dynamic maze.

Best used for people with agility and mobility based powers like super speed or flight or for someone like Spiderman...

Of course, it also a have a safety mechanism to avoid someone getting flattened.

“...I don’t need this right?” (Arthur)

[Like I said, there’s more to your power than it looks. Let’s go to the next floor.]

Arthur was still confused but he still followed Nightmare down.

Fourth floor is completely R&D for creating all sorts of gadgets, suits, and other stuffs which Arthur said as his favorite floor.

The machines in that floor was taken from different criminal organizations that Max had taken down. It’s all stolen from criminals anyway so no one complained.

“These techs are pretty good...could still use some touch here and there but it’s workable.” (Arthur)

[You’re free to add or remove the machines. As for that office over there, you can go ahead and take it for yourself.]

“Really!?” (Arthur)

Looking at the glittering eyes of Arthur, Max can’t help but step back. Of course, Nightmare is still standing in place with a cool expression.

[Just make sure they’re untrackable]

Next floor, the fifth floor. Arthur seemed to want to stay in the fourth floor but he also know he can’t ignore Nightmare so he followed him when he left.

The fifth floor is the last button on the elevator. It’s a huge hall with a long table at the center with chairs around.

The walls are all completely black as well as the tables and chairs.

The only illumination in the room is the lights along the edges of the table.

When one sat on a chair, a pillar of light appears around them like a spotlight.

[Sit]

Suddenly, the wall at the foremost of the room revealed the three letter word and Arthur instantly knew that the walls were actually monitors.

He saw Nightmare sat on the foremost seat so he did the same and sat on the first seat to his right as if it’s natural.

Nightmare waved his hand and a holographic image of a building appeared on the table.

[This is Bartholomew Tomb’s house. Familiarize yourself with it so you can start your entrance exam.]

Actually, when Arthur mentioned Bartholomew, Max immediately teleported there while leaving behind a surveillance magic circle and a mic so he can still hear and see what was happening inside.

Meanwhile, he infiltrated Bartholomew Tomb’s home to see what he was up to. Sure enough, there are some illegal weapons inside his house but he didn’t deal with them at the time and went back after he finished scanning the whole house for a 3D model.

“Eh!? I’m still not accepted!?” (Arthur)

[If you can’t do a simple infiltration and extraction, why are you still here? Don’t worry, I won’t let you die. But if you fail, I’ll erase every memory you have this night and take your OStones back.]

“Infiltration and...extraction? What am I supposed to take?” (Arthur)

[Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find and locate the illegal weapons inside Bartholomew Tomb’s house and take them here.]

“Illegal weapons! Then, why do you want me to take it here? Are you going to use it?” (Arthur)

[If you want to destroy it, that’s also fine. But do so knowing that if you made a mistake, you can turn one fourth of America into ground zero.]

“I-I’ll just take it here...” (Arthur)

[Good. You have until daybreak. Bartholomew is set up for a weapons deal at dawn. Make sure whoever’s buying won’t get their hands on this. I already did the first part for you and located the weapons.]

Suddenly, a section of the building turned red.

“In the basement huh? This will be a bit tricky...” (Arthur)

[Aren’t you a genius? Deal with it. Just call my name after you’re done. I’ll take you to a location 100 meters north of the house.]

With that, Nightmare teleported away, leaving Arthur who was busying himself in simulating scenarios in his head and familiarizing himself with the map.

After a while, he stood up and went to the fourth floor to tinker.

“I can’t always rely on this power...I need to make some things...” (Arthur)

Watching him while invisible, Max nodded his head. He smiled, seemingly interested on how things will play out.

As I though, being a hero isn’t interesting...but creating heroes...now that, is entertainment!

Author's Mumblings

Late post...again...so sorry.

I really can't tell you my schedule on when to expect a chapter because my schedule in real life is a bit messed up.

Monday: School

Tuesday: Intern

Wednesday: School

Thursday: Intern

Friday: Intern

Saturday: School

Sunday: Time to write but most Sundays tend to be the time when I get dragged somewhere else (shopping/eating/church/granda's place/etc.) so yeah...

Every night, I would write bits of chapter sometimes. Today, I had a cold so I didn't go to the office so I had time to write. Why not alot of chapters? Cause I woke up at noon...and got a bit sidetracked...

Anyway, let's talk about this chapter.

I don't know why, but I always get hype when it's about secret bases...this chapter is supposed to be where Arthur starts his new life...well, I can just do it next chap haha.

What do you think about the name:

Spoiler :

STONEMANCER!

...Well, I was thinking Golem at first but then I figured that golems are monsters in that other world so it would be awkward if he they meet one in the future...maybe...Medusa is a girl's name so I can't call him that...or can I? ;)

Or, you can suggest a name for our medusa-eyes hero!

Let's meet again in the next chap!

P.S.: I think I'll be dropping Birth of a God officially...I just don't know what to do with it anymore...