Part Three – Authorities

After a solemn moment to mourn the fallen, the three of us decided to move to an undamaged house. Well, it was really me and Cameron deciding, as the girl still wouldn’t talk, but I felt she was agreeing with us.

We searched the house, looking for food, and came up with several cans of fruit and boxes of crackers and granola. Seriously, this is all you had? Maybe they were between grocery trips.

“Do you happen to know Clint Eviks?”

“Hm, the name’s familiar, but I don’t know who he is.”

“He worked at the library. He’s fairly tall, has short reddish hair that he dyes green, making it this horrible shade of muddy brown, and is generally a pretty weird guy.”

“Ah him. I don’t know what happened to him. He wasn’t at the station, so he could be anywhere.”

That sure was depressing, Clint was one of the few people I liked, and if he was still alive I wanted to find him. Knowing him, he’ll probably be in the last place I look, if he’s even in trouble. Clint has always been good at getting out of bad situations. Like that time his ex-girlfriend turned all stalker on him, and he just talked her down. He’s always been good at that.

“He might be at the shelter, kid.” As if responding to my dark thoughts, Cameron started to suggest places where Clint could be.

“After about four or five hours, the town's evacuation siren started to go off. That can only be triggered in the shelter. Most likely there’s a group of survivors hiding in there.”

Who triggered it? And why? At that point, I’m pretty sure everyone knew to get the hell away.

From what Cameron later told me, the person most likely responsible for sounding the siren was Hansen, the owner of the local gun shop. Since his house and business were nearby, he had access to the shelter, along with a veritable armory of guns to fight back with.

Either way, my current goal was to arrive at the shelter, both to look for Clint and to bring these two to a safe place.

We decided to turn in for the night. I elected to stay on the couch in the living room, so I could react if any monsters broke in. Cameron and the girl went upstairs to look at the other bedrooms.

Settling down, I sighed at how fucked up the situation was. The town was practically in shambles, with most of the population dead. Hah, every time I think it’s going okay, this whole mess just kicks me in the nuts. I still don’t know where Clint is. If I can’t find him in the shelter, I’ll have to assume he’s dead. And now I’m depressed, fuck yay.

I rolled onto my side, sensing a sleepless night. That was something I didn’t experience in the labyrinth. I was usually too tired to be unable to fall asleep. But before this mess, I was used to frequent bouts of insomnia. So I’d decided to check on my Status as a way to kill time.

Status

Race: Human

Archetype: Warrior

Age: 22

State: Healthy

Titles: Razor's Edge, Way of the Warrior, Conqueror of Trials,

Rank: C

Skills

Normal Skills: Analyze, Survival Instinct,

Special Skills: Skanda Rank E,

Authorities: Insight,

Equipment: Scaleblade Armor, Metal Helm, Moray Gauntlets, Soldier’s Pants, Moray Boots, Warrior’s Bracelet,

WHAT THE FUCK!? When was this stuff added to my Status? This is so frustrating, the fucking system never tells me anything. No maybe it did, but since it always says it all at once, there’s no time to process everything!

Analyze wouldn’t tell me any useful information. Damn this piece of shit skill! It doesn’t tell me what I really need to know.

Conqueror of Trials – A Title awarded to those who have completed a Trial by themselves. Grants the C-Rank Authority: Insight.

Insight – C-Rank Authority. Grants more in-depth information on system mechanics to the user.

You see what I mean by useless? I doesn’t matter what it does if I don’t know how to use it! Why are you so stupid system? Give better explanations! This isn’t a game for me! It’s life-or-death!

I tried using Insight like I’d use Analyze, but got no results. After trying for the better part of an hour, I finally got it to work. It took a great deal more concentration to access it, and instead of working on something I could see, it acted more like a question and answer service. It took too long to work to ask frivolous questions, but I was at least able to get some answers.

Authorities – Powers beyond Skills that are solely granted by the System. Range in Rank from C to S. Authorities have the power to alter how the System interacts with the world or even individuals.

Rankings – The core mechanic to the World System. All things affected by the system are affected by ranking. While the exact specifics vary, most mechanics follow the following ranks.

F-Rank: The lowest rank. All mortal beings start at this point, regardless of their actual abilities. Monsters at this Rank are weak, with most being little threat to the average person.

E-Rank: Most mortals can achieve this Rank within three to five days. Considered the rank at which a mortal is capable of actively participating in battle. Monsters at this Rank are no longer weak. They have either power or techniques that can make them deceptively strong.

D-Rank: The Rank of veterans. Those at this Rank will gain physiques and abilities matching that of world-class athletes. Monsters at this Rank have superior physical abilities or exceptional powers. Firearms may still be effective against some specimens.

C-Rank: The pinnacle of what a mortal is capable of achieving. Those who reach this Rank have the abilities of legendary warriors. Winning against an army single handedly is entirely possible. Monsters at this Rank are capable of destroying entire cities. Most have such strong bodies or powerful abilities, that modern weapons are completely ineffective.

This takes way too long to use! Not to mention that this isn’t the most impressive information! I can’t seem to find anything about the System itself, or what World Decay is. This is so frustrating!

Any time I try to learn about what’s happening, the system blocks me. I can feel that there’s some sort of information, but I keep getting blocked. Even with what I did get, I know there’s more to the rankings. If I was at the top, then I wouldn’t be C-Rank.

I’m going to keep having to jump through hoops, which is something I despise. I don’t care what I have to do, I will figure this out!

Turned out I was not going to figure it out. Using Insight to learn anything was a time consuming task. Most of what I did manage to learn was insignificant. There only two things I found useful. The first was a small guide on what monsters were.

The System classified monsters as creatures (not life forms. This was very important.) that were contaminated with corrupt mana. While I had no clue what that was, it did make some sense. This corruption led monsters to posses an overpowering Instinct to attack and kill Mortals. Which was a fun way to learn that there were in-fact other worlds. And they were populated with more than just humans.

That sort of explains the statues in the tower. They might’ve been other challengers that died.

The other thing was an explanation on the dungeon I had been trapped in. The fact that it was called a Trial apparently made it a big deal. Trials were used for evolution, though anytime I tried to go beyond that I got blocked by the System.

This is starting to piss me off. Why won’t the System let this be a little easy! Ever since I woke up in that dungeon, it’s been one thing after another. The least it could do is let me know what I’m doing. And her staring is starting to get on my nerves!

“It’s not very polite to stare.”

She’d been watching me for ten minutes, silently staring at me from the doorway.

“…”

When I called out to her, she walked up to me and handed me a piece of paper.

“Hm?” On the paper was a single name: Alicia.

“This is your name?” *nod nod*

“Alright. So you can communicate. Is there a specific reason why you can’t talk?” *nod nod*

“Can you tell me?”

She paused and began to think. She soon came to a conclusion and reached for the paper. Setting it on a nearby table, she began to write something. After a minute, she handed it back to me.

Observer – Unique Skill. In addition to strengthening the user’s eyesight, also allows the user to read the desires and emotions of others. Upon activation, user’s vocal cords become paralyzed for 48 hours.

“So it’s not that you won’t talk. You can’t talk.” *nod nod*

This did raise one new question: what was a Unique Skill. Up to now, I’d seen three types of Skills: Equipment, Normal, and Special. The first was self-explanatory, while the difference between the other two was difficult to tell since I only had three Skills. But now that I have Insight, I should be able to learn the difference.

I asked Alicia if there was anything else she needed. She shook her head, then went back upstairs. That was kinda strange. Was she just trying to explain what was going on with her. .

I still didn’t know what led to her being imprisoned in that room. I figured that if she wanted to talk, then she would. Well she’d be writing, not talking.

I spent a significant amount of time looking for a detailed guide on Unique Skills with Insight. I know I’m being a little obsessive, but I must know!

Unique Skills – Every individual has the potential to awaken a Unique Skill based on their individual attributes and personality. These skills complement the user, but have adverse affects when activated. Awakening the skill will vary from person to person. In addition, the stronger the skill, the bigger the penalty for using it is.

Out of everything I’ve seen of the System so far, this might be the most outrageous. A powerful skill that's unique to every person? WHAT THE FUCK!? How do I get this? Isn’t there some advice?

I wasn’t jealous, not at all. I was just wondering what kind of skill I’d acquire. What caused Alicia’s to trigger? Figuring that out would probably help with my own skill.

While I pondered, Cameron and Alicia came downstairs.

“So what are we doing now, lad?” He seemed a bit apprehensive about what came next.

“We’ve got two choices. Either leave the town or see if the shelter is still intact.” Personally, I wanted to check the shelter.

“I’ve got no reason to specifically do either, lad. That means it’s up to you and the girl.” We looked to Alicia, but she only shrugged. She was clearly leaving it to me.

This is rather tough. If I was by myself I’d head right to the shelter, but with these two with me, I’m not sure If I can make it there.

“I’d prefer to head for the shelter, but since it’ll be extremely dangerous, I’m not sure.” I wanted to make sure Clint was alive, but it might be a waste of time. If that was the case, I’d feel bad about pulling them into unnecessary danger.

“If that’s what you what kid, we’ll do that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Lad if it wasn’t for you, the two of us wouldn’t be here.” *nod nod*

That was a pretty good point. If that was how they felt, then maybe I shouldn’t throw away their sentiments. If I was going to survive this place, doing it alone could make me an unfeeling monster.

“Then, if we’re doing this, we do it right.” We were going to prepare properly before going out.

“What did you have in mind lad?" I just grinned in reply.

My first step was to equip them properly. Since I had plenty of spare equipment, I could easily give them some weapons. First, I handed Cameron both the acidic axe and the Momentum Axe. I figured his larger physique would allow him to use them much better than I could.

“Be careful of the battle axe. It’ll get bigger as you fight with it, though it’ll also get stronger.”

“Seems kind of gimmicky to me.” He was sure right about that.

Now, Alicia was harder to arm. I started by asking if she had any preferences for a weapon. She replied by miming a bow and arrow. She knows archery, huh. It’ll be tough to find a bow. I think there’s a sporting goods store nearby.

For the time being, I gave her the Cloak of Shadow. I figured she could use it to hide while me and Cameron fought. I hadn’t been using it since I woke up, so it wasn’t much of a loss. I’d rather have someone get some use out of it, rather than it just sit in my magic bag. I also gave Cameron my spare armor set, which I just now discovered could resize itself to fit the wearer.

“They really are everywhere, aren’t they?” Cameron asked.

“This is pretty bad.” Our surroundings were filled with little green bastards. “There’s gotta be another nest nearby. Why else would there be this many?”

Shortly after we left the house, we’d come across more goblins. Every time we killed one swarm, another was just moments away. It made me think of the labyrinth.

Cameron and I fought side-by-side, him using the momentum axe to cut down goblins, and me covering his blind spots. He’s really good with that. Even though it’s already bigger than I can handle, he’s still swinging it like it’s nothing. Where did he learn technique like that?

“Do you do this all the time?”

“It’s usually not this bad. I’m starting to think that the nest I cleared out was only a branch of a much larger one.” Seriously, this was getting ridiculous. Even if each fight was short, they still added up.

I decapitated another goblin as Cameron finished off the rest. Our surroundings were strewn with cut up corpses and scattered limbs. The more I fight the more I stop recognizing myself.

“Do you think we should hunt down the leader of this horde?”

“Probably. They won’t leave us alone if we don’t.”

“We should probably find that sporting goods store. Alicia needs a proper weapon and she should get some practice.”

She was going to have to learn how to fight. With the world the way it was, any day could be your last. The only way to survive was to protect yourself.