The moment John walked close enough to see the broken door to his apartment, barely hanging on the topmost hinge, it was obvious that something was wrong.
The street, devoid of anyone except the two Rothound corpses lying broken and unmoving in the middle, was silent and he slowed down, looking for any threats around him.
Where is everyone?
Not finding any answers, he passed the street and stepped into the apartment complex, carefully walking up the stairs and trying not to make any noise.
"Oh no…"
All three doors on the first floor were also busted, and behind the one facing the stairwell lay the old lady Dunnings in a wet pool of dark-red blood.
Coming closer, he could see a puncture wound going all the way through her chest and coming out from her back, a similar size to the burned-out hole in the wall next to the door.
Someone or something must have shot her when she opened the door and left her to die.
It was obvious from the mess inside, that the one who did this didn't come for her, but to look for something instead. Lady Dunnings was very particular about everything and would have never left things lying on the floor.
Leaving her apartment, he took a quick glance into the other two, and apart from no one being there, the places looked just the same.
What were they looking for?
The second floor was also the same and John stepped into his apartment, right over the splintered door. In the hallway were pairs of his boots tossed around the now empty shoe cabinet, but as he searched, one pair he didn't find.
"Those fuckers stole my heavy-duty boots."
It was a pair he bought and used in his father's forge when helping him with his hobby. Sure, they had few burn marks, but otherwise, a great pair when you needed a firm boot to protect your foot.
Checking the status of his rooms, on the left was his bedroom filled with all of his clothes tossed out, and on the right was a kitchen.
They took all the food I had left.
He rubbed his head in annoyance and mumbled a few extreme profanities. He used to have some precooked meals in the pantry and now everything remotely useful was gone. Even the damned spices.
Well, I'll try my shelter, pick up some clothes and leave. There isn't much else keeping me here, and now with the busted doors, it's hardly safer than any other place.
Sitting on his bed, he closed his eyes and focused.
Inviolable escape!
It wasn't like the ability he was used to, but a slow gradual effort of building pressure. Unable to estimate a precise time, by his guess it must have been at least a couple of minutes to fully manifest the arch in the middle of his bedroom.
"Huh," John said in amazement, placing his palm on the perfectly smooth surface. The entryway was filled with a silvery-white surface, but as he walked around it, the back was the same material as the arch itself. Making an experimental flick to the silvery surface, his finger sunk inside, creating ripples like a small pebble tossed into a pond.
Not much else I can do, he thought, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
He imagined something special or similar to the Stargate series, but somehow, the whole experience could be described as walking through a door. He entered a place with a hard floor similar to white marble, a pillar of light in the middle, and surrounded by absolute darkness on every side.
It felt alien and more than a little unsettling to be unable to see any walls or roof, making him stand on a platform in the middle of nothingness.
What if I fall off?
He turned and noticed the same blackness behind him and the edge less than a meter ahead.
Fuck, the entrance is gone.
After taking two shaky steps back, he had to sit down and focus on breathing to calm down. Heights weren't scary, but this place felt so wrong it was getting to him.
Another thing he just noticed was that there were no shadows in there. The only source of light should have been the pillar, but his body wasn't throwing shade anywhere around him.
The thinking wasn't helping, he needed to distract himself and the pillar should be the perfect opportunity. Remembering Tom, he stood up and walked to it, placing his palm on the white surface.
[Inviolable escape is a unique shelter modification offering some advantages and disadvantages.
Its most prominent feature, location, offers absolute safety from all outside sources but is also its biggest fault because no one except the owner can ever step inside.
Due to this change, most buildings are unavailable except for Al'drul's emporium and Desperate fool's inn. To balance the price of construction for a single individual, both are discounted by 95%.
Do you wish to view the list of available buildings?
Yes/No]
Interesting, let's see the list. Yes!
[Desperate fool's inn – 75 white ash.
Al'drul's emporium – 250 white ash.]
That's cheap… or is it, John thought, doing a quick math in his head for prices before the discount. One and a half thousand for the inn and five for the emporium is hardly cheap. Plus from the description above, other shelters should have more buildings available, forcing people to spread their resources even further.
Focusing on the inn, he willed it to be bought, and a second later an overlay of his shelter appeared in front of him with an L-shaped building waiting to be placed. His shelter was a white square with a pillar in the middle, and after a few seconds of thought, he placed the new building in the top-right corner.
A rumbling sound made him look to his right, where the corner was slowly being walled off by panels of golden light until the whole section became unavailable.
Not knowing how long it would take, he opened his deck to see the current amount of resources he had available, and was pleasantly surprised.
Almost two and a half thousand white and sixty-three blue was a decent haul and he immediately bought the emporium as well. This one was a big rectangle, which he placed into the top-left corner, creating a neat fit with only a meter-and-half wide path between them. Still, in the overlay, he noticed one more item awaiting construction, the archway, with no cost required, and he tried placing it in between the two buildings.
A perfect fit!
At first, it seemed as if it wouldn't, but as he tried placing it there anyway, the overlay accepted his will and started the construction.
What now? He wondered, staring at the golden light show and trying to ignore the endless darkness around him. It didn't feel that uncomfortable anymore, but having nothing else to do, he eventually sat down with his back against the pillar, closed his eyes, and waited for the rumbling sounds to quiet down.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Some people might think that only loud noises could make them wake up, but the opposite is also true, and the sudden quietness roused John from his light sleep, making him look around in alarm. In front of him stood two buildings, each with a very different architectural style and motive.
On the right, a lodge made from rough dark-brown wood, dark tinted glass windows, and a massive skull of an unknown animal hanging above the heavy door with a lantern on both sides.
On the left, a meticulously carved building from a pale blue stone with veins of gold, sporting many columns, circle-shaped windows, glass doors, and a roof looking like whipped ice cream. And between them, the same stone archway he was expecting, somehow fused into both the wood and the stone.
Unable to stop his curiosity, he walked to the glass door and pulled it open.
Behind the counter, a man with skin as dark as obsidian, a shiny bald head, and a majestic golden beard spoke in a deep, but jovial tone.
"Ahh, welcome to my humble shop. I am an avatar of Al'drul and I have some fine items, perfect just for you to buy." The merchant smiled and added, "And before you ask, I am sorry to disappoint you, but no, I am not allowed to divulge any knowledge of your current situation or anything else except information about the cards you are interested to buy."
The inside of the shop was at least four times bigger than the building itself and filled with the same blue stone walls and shelves, tables, and all other furniture made from glass encased in golden frames. Seeing the alien interior was strange, but awe-inspiring and it took John a couple of seconds before he stopped staring and turned to the merchant.
"Wow, it's… impressive." He gestured around him and continued, "I am sure something will catch my eye. Oh, my name is John," and he offered a hand over the counter, which the merchant shook after a second of deliberation.
"So, do I look around, or do you have a list of things you have?"
"Please, do look around," the merchant spoke with a hearty laugh, and added, "but if you need something specific, this list should be of help." With a flick of his hand, a blue screen popped up above the counter to John's left.
[Common ability modification cards: 50 - 100 white ash.
Uncommon ability modification cards: 250 - 500 white ash.
Common body modification attribute cards: 350 white ash.
Uncommon body modification attribute cards: 2000 white ash.
Common body modification non-attribute cards: 100 - 250 white ash.
Uncommon body modification non-attribute cards: 500 - 1500 white ash.
Common single-use attribute boosting cards: 1000 white ash.
Uncommon single-use attribute boosting cards: 8000 white ash.
Ability card prices are adjusted according to supply and demand.
Exchange ratios:
1 blue = 25 white ash
1 yellow = 25 blue ash]
After reading through it, John was unsure of what he should focus on and decided to ask some questions.
"I am not really sure if you can answer this, but how many cards can I link to abilities and my body?"
"Good question, and one I can answer," the merchant said, with a nod. "Abilities can be linked with a maximum of five cards, but there are exceptions, which I cannot name, and your body can support up to eight. Anything else you want to know?"
"Hmm, what about the cards I don't need? Can I sell them back to you?"
"Of course, I will buy anything you don't need, however, I am only offering half of the card's value so you might get a better offer from your fellow humans." After a pause he added, "and free advice, it is considered very rude and a sign of disrespect to attempt to haggle the offered prices, so do be careful with how you behave with me and the other outworlders."
"Oh, good to know, I am not much of a haggling type anyway, too much hassle, but I will make sure not to disrespect your valuable services, thanks for letting me know."
John was about to turn away and browse through the goods, but the merchant stopped him and pointed towards the wall on the right.
"You might want to check out those three shelves over there. It is a special sale amongst all my establishments here on earth, and every location is only allowed to buy a single card. If you can afford it, get one before they all get sold out."
Nodding, John walked to the shelves and inspected the cards on display. Each was an ability card of rare quality encased in a small glass box, and out of the fifteen spots, only eleven were remaining. Three on the top shelf, each a melee variant for close combat, four in the middle, a mix of a projectile, beam, and aoe, and the last four in the bottom bringing a defensive or utility power to the deck. The price was one thousand white and ten blue ash, and he turned to the shopkeeper asking about the empty places.
"So, I guess those four were already sold?"
"That is correct."
Hmm, the Stone skin could be a lifesaver, but the Winter's embrace could serve as great crowd control. Damn, the Sunray would…
He spent a few minutes reading through them and ended up with three cards, but unable to decide the best one.
The first, named Stone skin, was able to substantially increase his toughness at the cost of a significant penalty to dexterity, which would work as a great last resort when the enemies overwhelmed him. The second was a Storm wisp, a minion card that summoned a minor lightning elemental, who would follow the caster and attack their chosen target. The third aptly named the Curse of frailty, was a weakening debuff, making the target tire more quickly and be more susceptible to damage.
All three were very useful and offered different advantages, but ultimately, the Stone skin was the first to be cut. Blessed stiletto was enabling him a very unique style of battle, and having to sacrifice the second ability for a defensive card which reduced his movement just felt wrong. Now left with two choices, he got the idea to ask the merchant for help, and being aware of the boundaries, he thought how best to formulate the question to get the best answer he could, but not ask for any knowledge outside the two cards.
Picking the remaining two boxes from the shelves, he walked to the merchant, placed them on the glass counter, and smiled.
"Say, if you were in my place with only my abilities, which one would you buy?" As he finished speaking, he watched the merchant's reaction and hoped he hasn't fucked up.
C'mon man, you can help me here, I am not asking for that much.
At first, the merchant seemed like he was about to refuse, but then frowned and looked deep into John's eyes.
"Hmm, this is… interesting." He spoke very slowly as if carefully choosing every word. "It is possible… to push against the rules… get a little extra… more than you should have…," he stood there for a moment, silent, and then shook his head, "unfortunately that is all I can say," but before turning away from him, John has noticed him tapping a finger on his left hand.
Suddenly, he felt a very strange feeling, as if he just overtaxed a muscle he never even knew he had, and felt an ache deep inside his very being. Grabbing a counter to steady his legs, he clutched at his chest, taking deep breaths, and waiting for the uncomfortable feeling to pass.
"What… happened to me?"
The merchant turned back to him, keeping his left hand behind his back, and spoke in a clipped tone, "I have only a few rules, and one is to ask questions only about the cards you are interested in. Do not break it again or there will be consequences! Now, I must ask you to finish your purchase and leave, I have some important business to attend to."
Caught off guard, John apologized but quickly thought about the last interaction.
He was certain there was some deeper meaning there, but he had no idea what, so he carefully committed the whole response to memory and pointed at the card.
"I'll buy the Storm wisp," and willed the Apocalypse deck to open to grab the necessary funds. After the price was paid, the glass box dissolved into mist, and John took his new card, slotting it into the deck instead of the uncommon Wave of force. "Thank you, Al'drul, for the help."
The merchant only nodded and silently watched John leave until he closed the doors behind him.
_____________________________________
Three beings sat behind a large table, facing a giant projection at the far end of the room, watching the new world begin the trials of integration.
"What did you do, you old fool?" Asked a rough feminine voice coming from a person looking more like a beast than a human, with dark-green scales all over her body, yellow-slitted eyes, and a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Tried to deny a giant of a man with six arms, skin made from obsidian, and a long beard made from true gold.
"You stupid moron, don't bullshit me here," she yelled back, "we have both felt your impact, it's just the Rograr is too polite to mention it. Don't tell me you already forgot the mess you made after meddling with the integration of Cartrea! When She finds out, she will have your head!"
The third entity, Rograr, looking like a big swirling ball of energy, blinked red and emitted a short low beep.
"Don't apologize, Rogie, it's all that idiot's fault." She gently patted the top of the ball and stared daggers at Al'drul.
He sighed and spoke in a hushed whisper, "ok, I am sorry, but let me explain. It is nothing like Cartrea, and I am not going to tell you what I did because it is best for you to not know."
"Another bullshit! Well if you were honest, I would have helped, but now it's on you, so don't come begging me later."
"You don't understand," Al'drul tried to explain, "this time it is realy different. As long as I don't say anything, there will be nothing to prove it! Please, trust me on this and pretend you didn't notice anything off."
Rograr blinked bright blue, emitted a long jovial beep, and rubbed against the Al'drul's side, which made Serath scowl, but after a few seconds, she softened her eyes and made a small nod.