Getting into the city had been as easy as asking, for which I was grateful. It had gone much differently in my head, and I wondered whether I had become cynical at some point. I had honestly expected a whole song and dance with me awkwardly putting my foot in my mouth, causing issues. Someone would have inevitably decided to be an ass and bully me with whatever power the System had given them. That display of power would have given me my audience with the town’s leader and I would have gone from there.
“Hurray for politely asking,” I muttered as I pulled a cloak from my inventory. It was a simple thing from the wardrobes of Home Base, but it covered my hair and clothes a little, at least. I might have preferred a hoodie but my own clothing options had been stolen by the System during the Shift. While I had become used to the magical equipment I wore, I had noticed the lingering glances of the two guards. “Nice fellas,” I decided with a nod before essentially forgetting the two completely.
The area on both sides of the wall had been flattened, it seemed. However while the outside was something of a wasteland, with destroyed homes and abandoned buildings as a secondary perimeter, the inside was bustling. People moved to and from the walls constantly, moving supplies around. Even though it was the middle of the night, the sounds of both construction and revelry could be heard, only increasing in volume as I continued deeper into the heart of the town.
I might have worried too much about whether people would notice a stranger in their midst. While it was more than possible to know everyone who cared to be known in Ascentown, this settlement was much more like the world I remembered from before. People moved quickly from place to place with a task or activity in mind. Most kept their eyes downwards, only looking at other people to avoid walking into them. In just ten minutes of wandering the outskirts, three fights broke out.
From what I could tell, it was a bit of a wild west. There were three fairly clear “factions” within the city. The largest group were the unleveled. Perhaps not completely without experience in the System, they were the timid, the weak or the cowardly. There was a listlessness to them as they worked menial tasks and tried to keep out of the way of the other two groups. These people were the backbone of the world, even now, so to see them looking so bleak was troubling. We didn’t really have this problem in Ascentown that I had noticed. Why was that?
The smaller of the two more active groups were the scouts, like the people I had run into in the subway. Few and far between, they stood out because these were the people who had Aspects. They walked around like they were made of gold and people moved out of their way with fear. From them, I could sense various levels of strength but none were over level twenty. It was honestly good practice to analyse the weak signals given off by them.
They were the ones I saw causing problems the most, inevitably interrupted by the final type of person I saw in Londimin. When the scouts began to throw their weight around too hard, a small squad or team of unaspected individuals in uniform would intervene. They would be sneered at, but generally listened to. Beside from the uniform, which was more of a matching colour scheme of grey pants and black jackets, these people were no different from the listless if you just looked at them.
Except, much like the feeling of an Aspect, each of them had one thing in common - a burning drive in their eyes. These people wanted to interact with the System, but for whatever reason, they were strangled by the powers that be. Maybe they simply weren’t lucky enough or brave enough to truly chase down the danger required to grasp power like I had, but more than a few of them gave off the slight pressure of levels. Even without an Aspect, they were fighting.
I immediately picked sides, deciding that I quite liked the fire in these guards. The organisation of over twenty times more people than my own town was a huge task, and while it didn’t look like it wasn’t going perfectly, some people were trying. That was good, at least. Then again, others were holding onto habits from a bygone era, like bullying. “Move your trash, now.” A particularly aggressive voice found my ear and I turned to watch the altercation. A massive lump of a man was looming over a smaller merchant. There wasn’t anyone else around, nor heading towards that direction. As far as I could see, the merchant wasn’t in the way of anything.
Dotted randomly down the long, straight road were a few people selling goods or services. None of it looked very official, but there were shoppers walking around here and there. One woman who caught my eye further up was packing away an actual cauldron which must have been a prop at some point or perhaps a gift from the System. I was intrigued but like many, she was moving away to avoid what they clearly saw as an impending altercation.
The scene playing out before me was happening on what would have been a busy thoroughfare once. Now, it was just a large and wide paved road with empty buildings on either side. As the crowds scattered, it became even more of a ghost town.
“Just leave me alone, Trevor, please,” the merchant groaned, giving me a name for the main troublemaker. Trevor rolled his eyes and the two slightly smaller bruisers waiting nearby chuckled in response. The man named Trevor held his right hand out, and a large greatsword appeared in his grip.
He leaned on the weapon like a fence post. “Unlike you, I’m important in this city. Are you seriously going to talk back to me?” I almost got involved on principle because this guy’s vibe was so personally offensive, but it wasn’t my fight. The merchant stood up and stepped over the items he had for sale. He opened his mouth to speak, but before anything else happened, a fist lashed forward.
With a pinch of guilt, I let the hit land. I had seen the attack coming just from posture alone, but the windup was so telegraphed I could have intercepted the blow in a dozen different ways. None of them were very subtle, though, and my presence in the city was as low-key as it could be right now. Though the instinct to jump to the rescue was fierce, I didn’t know the lay of the land here. For all I knew, the smaller guy could be about to unleash hellfire…
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If he ever got up.
Trevor and his goons watched the slumped man for a few beats before quickly shoving his wares into their inventories. It was always weird to see people scooping things up. Weird habits formed, whether people knew it or not. It was entirely possible to stand still near something and move it into the inventory, but it felt supremely unnatural. The same with removing things, there was usually a flourish of the hand, a reach into the pocket or something. These three men were scooping the assorted trinkets and items into their arms before pressing them right into their chests where they disappeared.
Another two seconds of the man on the floor not moving before I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. I didn’t even interact with the three men as I approached, but I stored their faces in my memory. Trevor had the ruddy red nose of an alcoholic and the cauliflower ears of a boxer or rugby player. Tweedle Dee on his right was bald with a beard, and Tweedle Dum was clean shaven with long black hair in a ponytail. That one flicker of attention was enough to bother Trevor though.
“You got a problem?” He asked, a true cliché in action. Ignoring him, I moved to the downed man. He was gasping for air on the ground, clawing weakly at his chest. Mentally reaching into the storage within my soul, I pulled out a test tube with a bung at the end. Inside the tube, a red liquid glittered with gold in the dim light. The sun was just threatening to crest the horizon for the day, turning the eastern sky lilac.
I removed the stopper and the man’s eyes found mine. I actually blinked at the intensity within them. Anger and bitterness poured out from his dark brown eyes. Up close, his face would have probably been handsome if it wasn’t so twisted in pain and rage. A short crop of brown hair was messy atop his head, and his clothes were simple. A pair of tan trousers, white shoes and a light blue shirt was all he wore. After my moment of hesitation, I poured the potion into his mouth, through his gritted teeth.
Item - Apprentice Health Potion
A classic brew, made with marigolds and ether rose by a talented apprentice.
Effect: Magical wound healing, Increases natural recovery by a massive amount for a time.
I had a small stock to use during trade negotiations and I felt like this counted as one. Not for nothing, it was also useful to see how effective and fast acting the potion was. With Naea’s healing generally available, and a few others in Ascentown taking up the mantle of healer and learning the craft, the use of potions was for emergencies only. With resources still limited, the renewable energy of mana was a more appropriate option when possible.
Before my eyes, colour returned to the man’s face. Within seconds, he was coughing and another few moments later he gasped a large, desperate breath. I winced slightly. “Sounds like it hurts,” I told the man weakly. He responded feebly in kind with a nod, placing his hand over his now heaving chest while still laying on the floor.
“What was that?” Trevor’s low, angry voice behind me chundered. He had seen something he didn’t understand in a situation he no longer felt in control of, and was reacting exactly as expected. “What did you do, you freak?”
I frowned at his choice of words, not because they bothered me, but because they were just weird. A freak? “Something a lot nicer than what you did, that’s for sure, Trev.” I laced my words with Dao, letting my dominance filled the air. The three men froze, mice waiting for the viper to strike. “I shared a gift with this man here, nice and easy. I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m definitely not hurting people.”
“Honestly, who the fuck do you think you are?” Tweedle Dee asked. He was either very brave, or more likely, blind to the Dao. I turned my gaze on him, flashing him with the full power of my Dao Avatar. There were a few in Ascentown like him. At first, I had been impressed by their ability to effortlessly shrug off the effects of Dao entirely but that was until-
Tweedle Dee’s mouth started to foam. “Yep, there it is.” There was a similarity between what was happening to him and heatstroke. Exposure to the cold or heat would kill you, whether your body was feeling the effects or not. If he had been capable of sensing the strange magic, his instincts would have kept him from being so badly affected. I reined in the energy somewhat, anyway. Tweedle Dum noticed as his partner fell and caught him before he hit the ground.
This was all too much for poor Trevor to handle. Instead of asking questions, the physically imposing man roared and charged towards me. Unlike Tweedle Dee, Trevor definitely could feel my Dao, which arguably made his attack courageous. Being fair, he had seen me knock out his friend with a look and instead of cowering, had tried to remove the threat.
Being unfair, he was a bully that wanted an excuse to swing his sword around. “All of this for some random land surrounded by empty buildings?” I slipped through the incoming attacks with ease, even as Tweedle Dum joined in. Apparently he had decided there was nothing he could do for Dee except get revenge on his assailant. “So valourous,” I tutted.
I danced with the pair for ten delightfully annoying seconds. A flicker of attention through their instinctive veils showed me their levels, which were as I expected. Trevor was a lofty level eighteen, and his friend was only level nine. Trevor’s “importance” to the town was obvious, as he started trying to use skills. “Smashing blow!” He roared, bringing the greatsword around and down in a comically slow overhead swing.
I grabbed the merchant who had been just picking himself up by the back of his shirt and placed another hand on his chest. “Watch your landing,” I told him, “no more free healing potions.” Before he could reply, and the slab of metal Trevor was using fell, I threw the merchant into the air. A simple use of Air Manipulation helped guide him onto the nearest rooftop, about fifteen feet up. All of that, and Trevor’s attack still hadn’t been thrown.
I hopped back and, stifling a yawn, I booted the sword just before it touched the ground. “Did you two put literally every free point into Fortitude? What even is this?” I knew my own attributes were not the norm, but this was ridiculous. They moved like pre-System humans, albeit very strong ones. My question was rhetorical, because neither man was in any state to respond with a logical answer or even a witty retort. They were both now staring, stunned, at the hilt of Trevor’s greatsword. “It won’t make you king if you can pull it out of the pavement, but you’d impress me at least.”
By altering the trajectory of the blade and then shoving it with my foot, I had lodged the five and a half foot blade straight into the concrete road. While it had been my goal, the fact it had actually worked made me feel especially cool in the moment. Not letting myself show that glee, I gestured to the unconscious Tweedle Dum with my chin. “He could do with some bed rest. Maybe some milk or something.”
These guys were useless bullies, but I wasn’t interested in beating them myself. That would just reinforce the idea that having higher stats meant you could do whatever you wanted, which I hoped wasn’t becoming the case here. My hopes weren’t high, but maybe these guys were a weird exception to the rule and the city was actually not a shithole. I would ask my new friend.