“Lucian…!”Penelope sputtered, paling at seeing Lucian, someone whom she thought knew how to handle any situation, stooped over on the ground and screaming.
William gawked at the shocking turn of events. Realization struck like a train. The Monster Gate's limit hadn’t been violated. Merlin and his allies were able to breach the gate because his allies were monsters, not Anointed.
Penelope’s stunned state provided Georgie with an opportunity to counterattack, sending her flying with a punch from its heavy stone hand. A blur of movement approached from behind.
“Dougy, watch out!” William cried out.
Dougy saw the serpent with scythes aiming for him. The monster was too fast; he wouldn’t be able to dodge. Reaching within, he emptied as much Aura as he could to wrap around himself with his Skill: [Basic Guard].
Serpentine eyes and gleaming scythes reflected in Dougy’s metallic skin as the serpent monster reached him. The reaper had come, and it was his time to go. Merlin was in the midst of taunting Penelope, feeling threatened by a similarly talented Anointed and glad to see her disheveled when he noticed what was transpiring.
Holding out a hand to his tamed monster, he tried to say, “No, don’t—” but it was too late.
The scythes cut cleanly through the hardened layer of Aura formed by [Basic Guard] and sliced through Dougy’s metal-covered arms, leaving only a sliver of skin for them to dangle on. Dougy fell to his knees, unable to believe what happened, his mind not able to cope with the shock.
The white snake monster reached back its scythes to cut again when its wide head was thwacked by Merlin’s staff, halting it.
“Shit! Shittity, shit, shit,” Merlin repeatedly cursed, continually thumping his staff onto the monster. “That guy was the cattle that we were asked to take back! Stupid fucking monster!” The monster could only stare blankly, unable to understand language, though it could see the rage in its master’s gestures. “Do you think I’ll get paid for a ruined product? What if he dies, hmm? You got money somewhere in those scales to make up for it?”
A pale Two Tap was racing across the grass to get to her brother, her mind fighting drugs as she struggled to stay focused. Her brother needed her. They’ve traversed the dust-ridden Wasteland together, and he’d been there for her when things got rough, never leaving like her parents had. It was her turn to be there for him.
[Formless Clay]
By Merlin’s spell, soil grew into a wave, surrounding Two Tap and hardening, capturing her.
“At least I have you to sell,” Merlin remarked, glad that he still had something to gain from this ordeal. His eyes fell to Dougy, on his knees, bleeding from the stumps where his arms used to be. “If only you listened and came along quietly, hmm?”
“No, get back, Penelope!” William screamed, his hand held out to Penelope as she charged for Merlin. “That snake isn’t normal! It cut Dougy’s metal like tofu!”
Merlin watched without moving as the golden Ki-shrouded Penelope came for him. In a flash of white, the white snake monster Scissors intercepted her with its sharp blades. Undeterred, Penelope, still using [Power Up], had confidence. She danced around the blades as they sliced through the air, all the while countering with her own blows, weakening the monsters.
Messages from the Master System began to emerge: “You’ve unlocked Inner Trait: [Reflexes of a Pro]!”
“You’ve unlocked Skill: [Hit em’ where it Hurts]!”
“You’ve unlocked Skill: [Counter Build-Up]!”
It was like she had clicked an ad filled with viruses with the amount of messages that popped up. What she was experiencing was the true nature of being an Exotic grade talent. That was the difference between talents—the amount received for the work put in. With such a death defying feat of avoiding a powerful monster’s blades and countering all the while had unleashed her Exotic grade talent to its utmost limit, granting her repeated rewards. The Master System rewarded risk takers.
“Way to go!” William cheered, igniting in Penelope a sense of pride.
“I’ll protect you this time, big bro,” Penelope muttered to herself, thinking of how William had protected her when she first arrived in this Monster Gate and had the patience of a saint with her because she reminded him of his sister. She would save Lucian next, her teacher and mentor that she planned on keeping around. She would have so many friends after this.
Merlin’s golem was forced to get involved as the snake monster had begun to spit up purple blood. However, the golem became battered as well, its exterior chipped and ragged as if it had come from ancient times.
“Did you forget I was here, bitch?” Merlin spat and waved his staff as if he were a king with his scepter, sentencing a prisoner to death.
[Clinging Vines]
Penelope’s eyes narrowed at a sudden explosion of vines that breached through the soil, growing toward her, grabbing at her. Her golden glowing form easily withdrew away from them but she was inexperienced, forgetting to keep her eye on her opponent. With the flash of a sharp blade, the snake monster approached, and then blood was in the air.
“Penelope!” William shouted in alarm.
Penelope saw her stomach was near open entirely, blood leaking as if she had become a faucet in need of repair. Her eyes wandered unsure. Was she dreaming? Would she die now? What of her family? She hadn’t shown them her true worth as a person yet. They were supposed to let her sit in her grandmother’s big chair from now on.
[Clinging Vines]
A sudden emergence of the color green came to her before several vines latched onto her and fastened her in place. The sound of sharpening blades came with the snake monster running the edges of its blades together to ensure a good cut.
The mercenary of the Wasted Souls Company was in a trance.
William could see her, his little sister Cynthia, and the monster who took her from him. Her screams echoed in his mind, her blood splattering on the floor after. Time had repeated itself. A chapter of his life revisited. He had been too weak to protect anyone then. He was still too weak now.
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The girl from the Heart Rings was in danger.
Penelope saw the blades coming for her. She tried to free herself but she was trapped. Her world jolted abruptly as something had cut away the vines and pushed her away. She saw the round face of the mercenary filled with desperation to save her.
William then shouted in pain. Blood had erupted around his lower half. He watched his own legs spin through the air away from his body, cut cleanly as if done by a butcher. His body fell with a thud, a legless torso with arms.
William’s agonizing shouts entered the ears of all. Penelope was stark still, horrified at the gruesome sight. What rose above the sounds of William’s cries was Merlin cackling.
“You stupid fucking bitch!” Merlin mocked, pointing at the legless mercenary. “You look so fucking stupid, like a seal or some shit!” He began clapping and barking like a seal, shuffling back and forth as if he had a fin.
Georgie wrapped its stone arms around Penelope to keep her still. An explosion took place where Penelope stood and the golem’s arms were destroyed completely in a cloud of dust. Merlin spun with confusion contorting his face to see Penelope had become wrapped in golden light of blazing glory as if she had a part of the sun with her.
[Ki Overload]
The Master System had sent her a message: “You’ve unlocked [Ki Overload]! Skill – [Ki Overload]: A Skill that uses all Aura in one burst. User will experience a boost in power that will multiply their strength by tenfold! If there is not enough Ki, the user will use their own life essence. Warning! If this Skill is used for too long of a duration, the user may receive a fatal drawback.”
[Denting Strike]
Georgie’s upper half burst into debris and dust as if C4 had went off in its head, Penelope’s hit sounding like a gun shot.
Merlin paled and used as much mana as he could to unleash a Spell.
[Fiero the Adolescent Dragon]
A red scaled dragon grew from a distortion in space as if it had been hiding in a pocket dimension. Wings encompassing several meters spread as if it would take flight. Upon its brow were ridges of bone that stuck out as spikes. Its red eyes glowed menacingly at Penelope’s brilliant form.
They clashed and the shockwave that followed nearly took the others off the ground. When the smoke cleared, Merlin looked on horrified at his dragon. It was missing an arm and one of its wings had been completely blown off.
“It isn’t fair…” he muttered then shouted, “It isn’t fair! Why does she get to be so strong?!” He punched at the ground in his emotional state, only stopping when Penelope approached his dragon again. “No, I can’t let her win!”
[Mystical Hallucination]
Merlin used a Spell to cast an illusion on Penelope to make her believe she had been transported to a desert. The gi wearing young woman began to wander aimlessly, shouting for William, her eyes unclear and unfocused.
“Now!” Merlin commanded of his dragon. Its tail whipped out, hurtling across the grass as if it were swinging a tree trunk and slammed it against Penelope, sending her flying. It followed like the wind and caught up within seconds, using fire breath as soon as it stood above her, engulfing her in waves of fire.
“Penelope,” William cried out, “Its right above you!”
Still stuck in the illusionary desert, Penelope heard William’s voice and launched herself up with a punch, exploding the dragon’s head on impact.
William’s voice came to her again, “Merlin’s about twelve meters to your left and a few feet to the right!”
Merlin paled the moment Penelope aimed her body toward his exact direction. His Mana was running low. [Fiero the Adolescent Dragon] had been his trump card. It now felt as if Death had its hand upon his shoulder, ready to drag him to hell.
But as Penelope charged, her golden light faded, and she began to shrivel as if the water in her body were evaporating. She seemed like a mummy about to be put in a sarcophagus. Her steps stumbled and she fell.
“Penelope!” William cried out, beginning to crawl through the grass to get to her.
“Alright!” Merlin cheered and whistled. “Go get em, Scissors!”
The snake monster slithered through the grass with great speed, aiming its blades for Penelope vulnerable on the ground. Before it could slice away, a punch glowing with Aura fell upon its snake head, pushing a dent into its skull.
[Goblin Bash]
***
Two beautiful young women sat at a fountain, enjoying lunch. Behind them was Wardens depicted as heroes slaying monsters, the water of the fountain pouring out of the monsters’ mouths and wounds. This was considered modern art.
Yet, the two young women, Elina and Amelia, weren’t speaking of Warden business or anything related to being Anointed. They were simply enjoying their day, watching the Gatetech cars roll by, the flickering of neon signs, also denying the occasional guy wanting to speak to them. It only took a flash of their Warden licenses to dissuade most of them. No man in their right mind had the gall to pester super-powered beings.
“I guess there’s trouble in paradise, huh?” Amelia prodded her friend, having been waiting to broach the subject of Marcus.
Elina absentmindedly played with her magic, forming a ball of black light. No matter how many times she saw it, Amelia couldn’t help but be impressed that Elina could control two of the rarer elements a mage could have.
“That faker,” Elina seethed, her perfectly trimmed eyebrows crinkling together, “he’s making fun of me! He wants me to look like Broken Ring trash!” The thought of being considered a slum bitch sent pulses of fury through her.
“But didn’t you have friends back in the Broken Ring?” Amelia prompted, hoping it would elicit thoughts of a certain MHS Anointed in Elina’s head.
However, Elina didn’t think of him. Rather, she thought of her other orphanage friends and the times she’d spent among them. “They would’ve loved it here in the Heart Rings,” Elina smiled, her eyes losing their hardness. In her hands, the ball of darkness gave way to light and became bright, pure and eye-catching. “I told them I’d come here too, to the better part of town. They believed me because they knew I meant it.” Her smile wouldn’t stop growing as she spun her ball of light in between her hands.
“Um, I guess they were different than Marcus, huh?” Amelia wanted to stay on the topic. A life without Marcus would be bliss for her. No more ogling. No more treating Elina like fuck meat.
“He’s fine,” Elina said, her mood having completely shifted somehow. “He works hard and lets me stay in the penthouse.” Her dazzling smile, highlighted by her light magic, turned to Amelia. “Oh, Amelia! I wish my orphan friends were here. They would’ve absolutely loved the view of the Heart Rings from the penthouse!”
“And Lucian too?” Amelia wasn’t about to give up.
“Hmph,” Elina huffed out impatient air. “You’re still trying to get rid of Marcus!”
“What?” Amelia sputtered, feigning innocence. “Me? Who? No, I just wanted to know about your orphan buddies…”
Elina clapped her hands and burst her ball of light. “I’m with Marcus now. Enough about Lucian. He can take care of himself, he always had.” A remorseful but happy smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the brave boy from the orphanage that Lucian had once been. “I wish things had worked out between us.”
Elina looked toward the city's outer rings, lost in reminiscing as Amelia began to fret from her schemes going awry.
“I’m sorry to bother you, ladies,” a man in a suit approached, a fedora on his head.
“A fedora?” Amelia scoffed with disdain. “Did you walk out of a bad detective movie to come here?”
“Uh…”
“We’re not interested,” Amelia denied, turning away to take a stern bite from her lunch.
“Amelia!” Elina chided, “Don’t be rude.” She didn’t like being approached all the time by men, but she still found it flattering that a girl from the slums did receive so much attention.
The man in the fedora coughed awkwardly, “Does either of you go by the name of Elina Tiller?”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “Not just an unfashionable guy, but a stalker as well.”
“Let him shoot his shot, Amelia,” Elina begged then threw her a sidelong glance, “It’s not like you have anyone yet.”
“Elina, you little…”
Elina began to giggle mischievously until Amelia threatened to tickle her. Coughing brought their attention back to the man. He had pinpointed Elina by Amelia’s name being mentioned, eliminating the brunette, leaving only the raven haired beauty as his target.
He said, “I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding.” He pulled what looked to be a wallet but once opened, it revealed a shiny badge with the words reading, “New DC Police Department.” “I’m Detective Rhyner. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions, Ms. Elina Tiller?”