Chapter 41: Pollyanna (part II)
The System is stupid why do I have to look at the menu to see a skill level? Shouldn't those irritating System notifications show me that much? It's the least it could do. Why announce that a skill has leveled up if the level of that skill doesn't even display? That's just a huge distraction!
[(Sunny) I will make adjustments to the system. If there are any other changes you would like to make, you may Inquire with I... me.
"Thanks, Sunny!" You're a lifesaver.
(Sunny) ...
(Sunny) You are welcome.
Thirty minutes or so of walking, we ran into a [Guardswoman] and an old lady. The [Guardswoman] saw New Clivent, and Glothmin saw the Guard. I had never seen a woman nod and walk away so fast. I barely got a glimpse of her reaction, I guess Glothmin just has that effect.
In hindsight, there are a lot of things I haven't seen before but that was an interaction worth remembering. I'm not the only one Glothmin gives the creeps now it is a proven fact.
Ten minutes after that social experiment we arrived back at the Adventure Hall. Wall Street was connected to almost every other street in the city, It cut the city in half. And the Adventures Hall ended up being abandoned like Adi had said and none of us knew why.
My only guess was that my outburst had forced the city into a lockdown or something. Had to be in the cards or was it most likely the case?
New Clivent was signing up a storm when he passed the shipwreck. Telling Glothmin to keep his distance from me and the crime scene. Adonin had warned the wolf about System Initialization, I assumed seeing the white blob of light stop moving altogether at times.
It was nice to know that Adi was analyzing someone else's every thought and movement. I hope so, maybe that'll stop him from focusing on me 24/7.
Anxiety, fear, and a slight bit of hunger were creeping up on me, during all my thinking. This was the worst. “Don’t think about it,” I mumbled. I breathed in trying to calm myself and smelled something delicious in the air.
Running ahead of the two idiots who looked just as lost as me, from what I could tell. Hopping behind the counter that lady. What was her name? "Odesta", whatever, her counter desk mash-up had some goods, the goods. Old rations that were now my rations! The aluminum wrapper looked old, but so did everything here.
'Don't say it, don't think it.' Tearing into the bars of dried sustenance there was no need to care about the taste. I was starving, the taste was irrelevant. Thankfully I'm not allergic to nuts.
New Clivent had ended up behind me as soon as I opened the food bars silver wrapper. And before I could even jump in fright, he had already taken the rest from under the counter.
All I could hear was crunching as the food rations disappeared behind white fur.
"Rations, to think such a drab-looking city had snacks!"
Glothmin was ignoring me and New-Clivent again while sitting on the long side of a toppled table. He's so weird.
“Adena I’m going to have to stop numbing your feelings, It’s not healthy.” Love how he starts a conversation amidst silence and expects me to know what he's talking about.
“What are you talking about?” I responded to the concerned brother of mine. The first concern, but better now than never.
“Right now, you're nervous, scared, and sad, maybe distraught about all those deaths. You’ve been carrying it around ever since we arrived. I’m going to need you to take a bit of what’s yours now.”
“Why? I still feel all those things. How much have you taken!?”
“Eighty-five percent I would say ninety percent tops. Also, try not to let your mind play tricks on you. It's okay not to feel cold when you should. You have skills for a reason." That's not okay,
if I'm cold I should be able to voice my discomfort.
“Wait, what!? Why are you giving them back? Keep it! I don’t want it!” I could barely manage and, 'Don't think about it, don't think about any of it.'
“The only way past this is through Adena, close your eyes it’ll only take but a minute to go through the motions. I promise.”
“Father, please help me!” I begged, closing my eyes. I knew something felt off.
In an instant I was surrounded by Nothing and the floodgates were open. I screamed but there was nowhere for the sound to go. I would’ve taken to pulling out my hair, but it wasn’t mine to pull. I floated in Nothing aimlessly letting the feelings stab into me. He said it would only hurt for a minute. Now that I was here, I started to question how long a minute would take.
Space couldn’t be seen here. It's a space full of nothing endless. Where was I? Where am I? I was lost and then In the distance, a singular line of thread. Adi would've been asking too much of me. Why would I not try and grab it? As I reached for the antithesis of Nothing with no hand in sight to carry out the act.
“Don’t touch that!” Adi shouted his voice coming from both within and around, I couldn’t tell. I only felt a deep inner vibration at the sound or thought of his words.
“What is it?" I was curious about the only gray in the sea of black. Who wouldn't be curious?
“If you wanna know. Right now, it’s what’s keeping New Clivent from trying to eat you.”
“What?!! That little thread? There’s no way, why would he want to eat me?” That’s the real question. Did it matter if he ate me?
“Well, you are meat and he’s a starving monster of myth. I kind of added something to his Gene pool besides that of Dravine. Well, Dragon to you, wouldn't know what a Dravine is.”
“Can’t you just give me a simpler answer by sending it over mentally?”
“No, then there would be no fun in discovering the true meaning of things by yourself. And I'd prefer not to. Besides I only have a name and memories to show the difference, not an explanation of what a Deavine is.”
“Okay, that doesn’t make sense, what genes did you add to the New Clivent? Ugh!! I’m tired of saying that.”
"Mystery meat." Here he goes again. “Since you also, the only Genes New-Clivent has are dragon and demon. Even though he looks like a Furry hybrid human-looking Beastkin with wolf-man ears he also has pink scales. The system says there are three genotypes when he should have four. It’s a mess, Adena, to tell you the truth. A beautiful mess!”
“Adi, you sound like a mad Scientist. That doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t explain this gray thread or why Clivent wants to eat me. Why can't I even see him?! He looks human but also like Beast Kin, that's not a proper way to describe him." How can you even see him? All I get is a throbbing headache.
He completely ignores my question.
“To narrow it down, Adena. Clivent hasn’t had his fill. I told you he's a baby with the memories of a wolf man. Babies don’t know how to control themselves, fortunately, Clivent has lived a life, enough life to understand restraint. He’s seen the consequences of hurting others and being hurt. Also, you are most important to me. I applaud him for trying to give meaning to the thread when it’s simply a prop.”
“Keep going, I still don’t get it.” So what if he's hungry, that doesn’t mean you eat people.
I needed this distraction. It didn't feel this way back on earth like my existence didn't matter here.
“You always do that Adena. Ignorance won’t get you anywhere, it's okay to be scared. now listen carefully. Clivent has the DNA of a Dravine and a Demon. You know almost nothing about these things, me included. Assuming Glothmin wasn’t lying and he is indeed a half-demon. I’m not sure if he’s a succubus but I’m positive that he’s a demon! There was a sword that you were stabbed in your sleep that was being occupied by the soul of a bastard..."Bad man." I probed that soul and modeled Clivent’s skeletal structure after him. The guy had good bones. Believe it or not. That's inaccurate, he had good bone structure. But like I said Clivent is a Dragon, "Dravine" through and through.”
This was giving me another headache wherever my head may or may not have been.
“A Dragon has let’s say five hundred or so separate bones, while a human like the Hero bas- Bad man had two hundred give or take. I thoroughly separated the bones and gave New Clivent wings and a tail with all the organs of a dragon, brain included. A battle trying to shrink it all down and fit slip it onto a more humanoid skeletal structure.”
“You're insane! This still doesn’t make sense. We’re in a different world. How do you even know if Demons are the same as the fictional ones on Earth? How- ”
“Insane, probably so, probably so, and you're right I hadn’t thought about my knowledge of demons being completely fictional.” Noted, dearly noted. Adi was a lunatic. Why does he know so much when he's just a child?
"Are you making all of this up?"Imagination or one grande dillusion.
“But we’re not done my pretty. Though New Clivent looks like a human or beast kin hybrid. He is all Dravine. But that’s not all. I let Clivent jeep his fur because I liked it. So along with his wolf fur and ears, and the sensory functions of beast-kin. I took the sensory functions of a dragon along with Wolfman and had some fun. Even now I don’t know what’ll shine through, even in the battle between scales and fur. Hopefully, it's the fur I made sure the stuff was as white and silky as possible while keeping that fluffy feel.”
“You’re saying you created him?” I got way too far ahead. I'm missing something, everything.
“How do you even know so much!? We just got here five days ago!” Why did I even ask? He sounds like he could go on about this forever.
“I won’t go on forever, but I’m not yet done talking about my new Dravine wolf. His tail is Dravine in nature and his wings have yet to be seen under what looks like a back full of thick fur. The demon part of New Clivent is something I threw in as a secret sauce, call it a whim. If your mind wasn’t here, somewhat safe in Nothing he probably would’ve lunged at you by now. Anyway, I'm betting on him being a half-succubus. Be cautious for now, I don’t know how that’ll turn out. With New Clivent or Glothmin.”
“Finally, it’s over!” All this New Clivent talk. Wait, wouldn’t that mean New Clivent is related to Glothmin? He's the only demon we've ever met.
“I'm not done talking but now that you bring it up yes and no. Maybe, you see, Glothmin is half-dwarf, half-demon. Glothmin had an imbalance, and I faced it by removing the similarities he had with other Dwarves. His demon cells are not in harmony with the dwarven ones. To you, it looks like a purple mist eating at his matter. In actuality the purple mist is consuming, covering, and protecting his Dwarven material structure all at once. It looks unstable because it is unstable.”
"You can see that much?" Safe to say, he can see more than me.
“You’ll figure it out once you stop holding yourself back. Carrying on I narrowed down Glothmin’s persevering Demon genes on the knife you were stabbed with and threw a bit of them into Clivent’s genome. No, weak Dwarven or human blood was going into my monstrosity! You would think Clivent had four fathers. Dravine, Wolf-man, Human, and Demon because of what I modeled him after. You would be wrong; he was made in my image completely. The system allowed it. That’s a lie, the system had no choice but to allow it.”
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Wordless, I just sat in Nothing staring at the super thin grey thread listening to the only reminder of my nightmare of a life. Will I even remember any of this?
“The system gave the option of creating Clivent In my image. He’s an entirely new race of his own. Hee hee, it was so fun Adena. I used new copies of DNA. The DNA of Izocol the Dravine and Glothmin’s Demon lineage.”
Just how was this even possible? Adi’s still just a kid like me.
"I used the matter found in Glothmin that wasn’t dying out like the rest. The system took my thought process in its entirety, even the imaginary image I had of New Clivent. The final result was just a work of art. Draining every liquid from Izocol’s body and using Glothmins DNA from the dagger that forced itself inside of you. I birthed him in an extraordinary pool of Izocol’s blood that I manipulated using most of my skills to mimic that of Glothmin demon blood. New Clivent was born in the womb of my creation! A womb that was located inside of Old Clivent's Body in the space where Clivent was supposed to Class up!”
I had goosebumps but I didn't have a real body here in Nothing to feel the chill that should be on my arms.
Adi sounded like he had gone mad.
“I'm not mad, I'm appropriately expressing myself. It’s just so cool, exciting, exhilarating! I’m almost finished bear with me. I told you that Clivent died and that he was reborn well I haven’t told you how. Clivent Bane allowed me to do whatever I wanted with his body, mind, and soul. His body was used as a vessel; his blood was drained just like Izocol’s and repurposed on a cellular and material level. His mind had to be wiped out to allow a smooth transition of the soul. New Clivent’s body in a way no longer harbors old Clivent’s soul. After all, what is a soul without the experience of the living? What saved Clivent was being born in my image.”
How long has it been? Surely thirty minutes had passed on the outside world while I was behind Odesta's desk.
“Listen, I'm almost done here, don't be rude. The system had no choice but to comply with what I needed as long as I didn’t exceed my limit. The relatively small space the system used for Clivent’s class-up could only do so much. It was just an instinct, how I even knew there was a limit to what the space could handle. Finishing things up I inserted the fresh white soul into the body of New Clivent while it was in the blood pseudo womb. From there New-Clivent was born.”
About time, did he bring me here just to talk about the new Clivent?
“No, you've calmed down considerably here. I used it as a safe place where New Clivent couldn’t smell or see your emotions. He already thought about eating you just for a second. Probably wouldn’t admit it- Any questions?”
“That’s terrifying to think about, but do I feel scared here? Hmmm, do I have a question- Hmmm.” I had a lot of them.
“Number one how do you know so much about this stuff like I said it’s only been four or five days or at least that’s what you said.” I don’t think he would lie to me; my parents didn’t raise me to lie.
“Boooo!, I know about a lot of things in theory you’d be surprised how much media I can consume.” What?
“I used your phone while you slept when you space out, when you're tired, as well as when you daydream or lose track of time.” That’s so creepy, shouldn’t you ask for consent?
“First of all, Adena, be grateful. Any other questions?!” He sounded like a child playing dress-up as a gym teacher.
“You said that New-Clivent was Old-Clivent reborn but how if his soul was wiped clean? Adi, you made up for New Clivent's body, mind, and even soul but that doesn’t explain how he ended up with Clivent’s memories. If you only used Old Clivent's blood and body fluids same as this Izocol Dravine whatever that is, where is the Old Clivent?”
If any of this was to make sense where are old Clivent's remains?
“That’s what I’m talking about getting those gears turning. I told you he was born in my image so tell me Adena how do we trade places when I want to switch over?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never actually witnessed you do that.” Right?
“Wrong, answer. You really shouldn’t try to forget such pain. Pain can help build character and learn valuable lessons.”
He’s a psycho.
“Is that so? Well, this psycho would like to tell you to think hard.”
“Papa said your transformation is like something out of a nightmare. Does my body shift and contort to suit your needs? Does It happen so quickly that I don’t feel any pain? “
“Wrong, you feel the pain you just hand it over to me like you do anything else. Also, you end up back in Nothing either way, so you forget eventually, not having to acknowledge anything. Adena, what happens when we’re in an emergency and I take over without notice?”
“You can do that?!?” When did that happen?
“Little Eden, you're doing it again. Just because you don’t want to remember doesn’t mean you don’t have to.”
“[Memorist] Damn, skill.”
“Language Adena.”
“You burst through my skin in a mess of blood and guts your bodies are smaller, so a lot of your body ends up inside mine!” I could cry if I could feel my face.
It all came back to me, and I wouldn’t be able to forget.
“Don’t be sad, you have no clue how it feels to find yourself inside of a body it hurts immensely. You simply force yourself through the pain.”
Never, going to happen for me.
“Anyway, the system allowed for Clivent to be born in my image. The only idea that came to mind when creating something from a place or person that didn’t theoretically exist was our little predicaments of pain. I used that little thread you see in front of you connected to Clivent’s soul and body to route a way through to his material body using most of my skill to make it possible.”
So, you're saying that seven-foot Clivent Bane burst into chunks of flesh and bone?
“Yes, I needed the Old Clivent’s body to properly give birth to the New Clivent. Even Izocol still had a corpse for a short duration.
“That doesn’t make sense. Where are Clivent's remains? there should be blood and guts bones even.”
“True it wouldn't, but New Clivent is starving Adena. He's eaten all the food in his storage, the body of a lizard woman Glothmin was keeping in store, and last but not least Old Clivent’s corpse. The little guy is starving, either because he’s in metamorphosis, or because system initialization hasn’t occurred yet- Maybe both are valid reasons as to why.”
“He’s a monster! That still doesn’t explain him having Clivent’s memories! And stop calling him little, that thing is almost six feet tall!”
“Calm yourself. Yes, he’s a monster but that's not why he’s so hungry.” I don’t believe him in the slightest.
“You're lying, why else would he be eating everything!?”
“If I was to guess, it’s because he’s a dragon. New Clivent saw the old Clivent’s body as just a shell. He made sure to savor every piece of his old self and doesn't even recall licking the floor clean. He almost ate Glothmin when the half-Demon showed surprise.”
Ewwww, just nasty.
“Adena doesn't judge, remember. He's on the brink of starvation constantly right now. His every cell is fresh and new; it requires sustenance. The demon nature is peaking through and helping out I believe. All that white matter you see. Is the form of his pure soul you are usually only able to see it in the eyes but just like with Glothmin’s purple mist it’s actively covering what lies inside.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Right now, his system initialization is continuously increasing his density by using all of the leftovers from the space he classed up in. The initialization will probably use the space itself after Izocol is all used up. That black sphere you saw in the center of his abdomen is me helping his system initialization. A small hole acts as a faucet. A puncture, allows the process to continue. The problem is it’s too slow. You remember what happened during system initialization; it'll happen to him when it starts.”
“…How am I supposed to help him? Why should I help him? You still haven’t told me how he has Clivent’s memories.”
“You’ve grown fond of him. It’ll be good to think of him as family the best you can. He's alone in the world. Old Clivent’s soul is connected to his system. Old Clivent had created a bond with me by accident. I made a mistake just like you with my words. In the end, he chose to kill himself so New Clivent could be born. It wasn't just my decision but mine mostly. There’s no need to miss him because he is reborn. He’s been waiting all his life to be reborn.”
“That doesn’t make-” How long have I been here?
“My accident created an Oath that gave Clivent the option to become New Clivent. Clivent was special in his way. We were lucky to meet him. That thread that you see now is New Clivent’s, it belonged to the old. The reason it disappears into nothing is because you are here meaning I am not. It’s still connected to me wrapped around my wrist like a balloon string. I won’t tell you about the thread it ties Clivent to his past just like the system once did. It’s what allowed Clivent to regain his memories.
“Does Clivent know about the thread?”
“Of course, he’s had it ever since he was fourteen or so.” How does he know him so well it’s only been five days!?
“The secret is I don’t know him as well as I would like to know him. No one truly does, but I plan on getting to know him.”
“If he’s a baby like you say, why's he so tall?” Not just that I can’t even look at him. How old is Clivent exactly?
“Nope, New Clivent doesn’t even know his age. I’ve halted his System initialization, the best I could for now. How about you ask him once his system initialization is over.”
“Fine, can I go back now?”
“Nope, first I need you to be strong. I know I’m asking a lot, but the New Clivent needs you to be there for him. I need you to be there just for a moment. If you get past this hurdle. I’ll give you a reward like no other.”
“A reward? What is it!?” Okay, now I’m interested.
“It’s a surprise.”
Dang it! “How can I be of service?!” I love surprises.
“I already told you. Treat Clivent like family. He might have Clivent’s memories but he’s just a baby. A sick one at that. Unaware of the pain, the system’s plight. Papa survived COVID with our help Adena, because of you and me. The monster you see in front of you needs your help. He is our only family in this world at the moment.”
“It feels like you're forcing me to take care of him. A six-foot monster at that.”
“Well, aren’t we to an extent forced to take care of our family?”
“Ooh, you're so evil Adonin. There’s no way I can help him, I don't even know how. “
“Fine, I'll tell you the reward and three of my secrets just because I like you, Adena. I’m in a good mood.”
Finally, something I'm interested in listening to. This is the longest I’ve talked to Adi. It makes him seem like he’s more than a figment of my imagination.
“Papa calls you Eden and me the Special Boy. I'm certainly not Adam, I tell you that. He calls me the "Special boy" because of my imagination and tendency to do what I want. I always get my way, I guess. Someone else my age would cry, unable to ask for help. I on the other hand was never offered any, for a long time all I had was Nothing. My second secret is I’m the "Special boy" because I love to rhyme. Besides rhyming all I have is my imagination and a strong mind. Nothing matters to me more than family. My third and final secret is that I'm just being myself. It is all I have ever done. It is all I will ever do. That ultimately is my secret technique for using the system. How can a system menu overwhelm me, if all it does is describe me? No, one knows me better than me, maybe Dada”.
A lot to process. All I need to do is be imaginative, strong-willed, and know myself. That sounds way too easy. Easier said than done.
“I don’t know myself.” It’s the truth, I’m lost. I may not be alone, but I am lost. Lost is all I feel here.
“Eden...Adena, Earth was horrible, terrible even. You were taught the same history lessons as me all your life. You’ve lived more than I have, in all honesty. Stop lying to yourself. Who are you? Start with your name and go from there.”
Adena Ce Raphil Mabtali “Eden Eve, little Eden, pig in a blanket.” I repeated the names Papa would call me.
"Am I missing any?"
“Most likely but these will do. Keep going,” he said.
Papa knows me better than I know myself. Eden Eve and Little Eden have the same meaning. "Pig in a Blanket" is just another pet name. 'Now this is where I Imagine that there's more.' Papa called me Eve because of how I saw the world. What’s so special about the world?
“Precisely!” Interrupting much, Adi.
“You're saying the earth wasn’t special, I just saw it that way.” What was so special about my life on planet Earth?
Adi responded with Silence. Why does he always do that?
If earth wasn’t special in the slightest and I just saw it that way. Why don’t I see this planet in the same light?
“You don’t like being sad, you don’t like feeling pain, you don’t like when things don’t go your way just like all kids.” Know it all, I'm not a kid.
“Then let’s switch places I could go for a nap.”
“No! I'm sorry, please don’t go back to sleep.”
“We’re getting past the minute mark. So, I’ll tell you about yourself and you can agree to disagree.”
He’s been waiting for this.
“You Adena are selfish. Everyone is, I admit. The thing is, knowing that you still chose to give me all the pain, fear, and terror you feel. When you get cut even briefly playing in the estate or suffering a minor inconvenience such as fatigue. You kept running. After all, ignorance Is bliss. We lived in Chicago and millions were dying around the world. Papa was even sick. Did you care? Yes, you did. But was it enough to stop you from living on? No, you kept moving. Taking it as a minor inconvenience.”
He makes me sound like a villain.
“You were a villain to me once upon a time, but Papa understood you. So, I let you be. You are set on changing the outlook. When the world doesn’t revolve around you, you make it about you. If being self-centered isn’t having a strong Will, then what is? Looking past this Adena You are contagious? When things are looking down you do nothing because deep down you have this pre-existing notion that things will always end up to your liking. It's ridiculous how optimistic you can be that others consider it to be Naive. The recent changes in your life have just proved otherwise. I’m telling you that change won’t come unless you actively make it so.”
I sound like the worst person in the world.
“Debatable Adena. Two minutes have passed, finish up the rations and be ready. I’ve planned everything out. Try your best to slow down the matter that’ll come Clivent’s way. I’ll cover him in a sphere of black matter and take care of the rest. Also, try not to get swept up. Along with the building. By the way, we've had a tail for a while now. I’ll take care of them.”
“What about the reward!?” All he gave me were secrets.
“When making a deal remember to ask them to pay upfront. Enough has been said. With those words good luck Adena, no risk, no reward.” He was getting on my nerves now.
All I had gotten was a lecture.
He always seems to know what he's doing. So much has happened, I just want this day to end. I'm tired of being lost. I want to go home.
“Huh, I need to have more faith in myself.” It was hard trusting the words coming out of my mouth. Adi said that I was “Optimistic”. I'd say otherwise. I truly hate it here.
Taking one more look at the thin gray thread, the only existence here in Nothing.
I readied myself to go back behind Odesta’s desk in the real world.