“Hmmm… It appears that they are getting along pretty well.” Spoke a voice of a thousand voices at once.
It was the cosmic entity, a spectator who had sensed an anomaly of the world where two certain Players resides in.
The anomaly wasn’t particularly worrisome, but enough for him to make notice of.
Ever since they had appeared, including the ones in other separate universes and worlds, they have had particular similarities with the System Powers; the core phenomenon of the reason why ‘Gamer’ powers existed.
The Players are not quite adaptable like the Gamer ability, however, what makes up for that was their evolving sense.
The Players’ abilities are only one-time. If they have chosen their current avatar when the Transfer commenced, then they are stuck as that character and will only be as that until they broke the Limit.
An almost similar, copyrighted powers and mechanic system to the Gamers.
The Gamers [Status Ability] may be the most broken, reality-warping; adaptable; compatible; and bullshit powers that they can obtain. And for some reason, at least most of them have acquired a low-level cosmic God.
And very few managed to reach on a concerning level that even the other Beings of the multiverse are watching them with a close eye should they do something… problematic.
Especially the paperwork he has to do all that… Oh may the One Above All spare him such cruel fate.
Right now, he had his recently assigned Courier contracted into his organization of Multiwalkers delivering a package from the person sent by their Player’s father.
The latter was an interesting man in his own way - in the mechanisms of a chess piece’s perspective from a spectator - as he tried to dictate his deeds from the destiny of Fate.
An impossible thing… for a chess piece.
And seeing how things are going by… or well, through the Threads of Fate. He might as well enjoy the show.
Only if such a situation direly needs his full attention and powers, that if it is necessary.
“Let us see how well you will handle this…” Gman muttered as he leaned back onto his seat and witnessed through his monitor as he sipped through some tea.
----------------------------------------
. . .
After the cloaked man, be that Askad as they claimed, it almost felt very awkward.
It took a moment for Lordez to restart his undead brain as it tries to relocate deeper into his memory cells on the name ‘Askad’…
It was certainly a name he had heard before, and a person he had somewhat made acquaintance with… when he was teaching newbies in their first week of the game.
Which led the two to have a sit down discussion on the ground and look towards the sky and gaze at the nightly stars above.
It… wasn’t really much of a discussion but rather having a peaceful and silent moment between the two people who knew each other before.
A long time ago.
“So… You’ve been here for a month huh?” Askad said as he gently exhaled smoke from his cig.
Lordez had given his acquaintance a commercially-premium joint that he had bought from a local store in Vale. Not that he can feel the effects of the drug, but rather he felt calm when he was doing something when idling around instead of just doing nothing of his movements.
“Yes, things have been… Quite going on normally, until recently; which is you fucking the scenario up.”
Askad chuckled. “My bad, my bad.” He took another swig of his cig. “Can I help? I don’t wanna let you fix my mistake because of it.”
Lordez waved his concerns dismissively. “Nah, I’ll work it out somehow… Shit’s been going my way, exception to you, but it's in my control.”
”Ehhh, if you say so.” Askad shrugged.
“...You must feel either fortunate or unfortunate to have such a thing…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Having to gain the knowledge of each world you visit instantly…”
“Yeah…” Askad hummed as he blew a ring of smoke. “It has its ups and downs, but the beneficiary is that it's leaning towards the ups of it.”
“Hmmm…”
They didn’t speak after that, only letting the silence fill in. Watching and gazing in quietness.
That until a sudden *beep* noise was heard and almost without any preparation of a quick warning, loud noise just sparked inside Lordez’s head.
[Where the hell are you, Lordez!?]
Said person recoiled at the loud voice spoken in his head as he groaned from it, making Askad to notice and ask in concern.
“Hey, what's wrong?”
“Friend. Used {Message}. Seems mad.”
“Oh~” Askad relaxed before nodding his head in understanding. “Not my problem then…”
Lordez huffed before focusing back to his friend. [Calm down, Orm. I’m outside Vale at the moment, near Glenn]
[You mean where you are meeting with that Player you talked about?]
[Yeah, and you know the catch?]
[What?]
[He is someone I know before, an acquaintance]
[...So your saying-]
[Yes, he is… not currently a threat]
[So you don’t trust him then…]
[You could… say that] Lordez admitted. [I’ll send a Skull Spider to guide you where I’m at… Where exactly are you?]
[Just got out from the tunnels leading to Glenn, the one that you crashed in with the frigging train into Vale. You really got into some crazy shit did you?]
He grinned. [That I did, Orm. A Skull Spider should be heading towards your location-]
[Why not just {Gate} me to wherever the hell you're at?]
[Because I have no fucking idea to where you are at,] He huffed. [And besides, the two of us are just chilling here and Askad won't be going anywhere at the time being. We’ll just wait]
[Better be still there when I arrive] Orm grumbled as the {Message} disconnected.
“What about?” Asked Askad absentmindedly.
“My friend is somewhere around between Vale and Glenn, he’ll be coming here.”
“...Not that I’m prying, but why is he out here?”
“He was helping out a group trying to seal the rest of the holes in the tunnel to mitigate possible breaches in the future.”
“Hmmm…” Askad hummed…
“Is there a problem?”
“None,” Askad shook his head. “this world has already been categorized as Alternate ever since you arrived here. Plus there are lots of worlds out there, one world being turned into an Alternate isn't a very concerning thing… Unless in some circumstances.”
“...Whatever you have in your head, I think it's too much for me.”
The Multiwalker smirked.
He had informed his friend about his… side of the story. Being turned into his game avatar, getting the attention of some kind of a cosmic multiverse god that is assigned as a warden to keep some Eldritch space monstrosity from spreading out of control from Time.
If he was a normal human being, he would have blacked out.
“Who would have known? There truly are bigger fish out in the ocean… An endless ocean…”
“...Who would have?”
“...”
And almost just in time, thus appeared from the treeline the Skull Spider and then followed by Misha and Orm. Though the latter's presence seemed annoyed.
“Master, we have arrived.” Skittered the Skull Spider as it ‘bowed’ its head.
“Excellent, return to your post. Inform me of any changes.”
“By your will, Creator.” Immediately disappearing into the shadows of the trees.
“So…” Orm began as he approached the two. “Mind you telling me who this is…? Oh, and sup.”
“Sup.” Askad replied half-heartedly.
“I just told you in the {Message} didn’t I?”
“I know you did, but I want to know more from him… You say he is someone you know eh? When?”
Askad paused, as if pondering into his memories. “Might be… 7-8 years before the shut down.”
“Hmm?” Orm raised a brow. “That’s coincidental, because that’s around the time when we first had a Clan.”
“It's also when I helped him out from the PKs…”
Lordez began to explain how he came to be acquainted with Askad in the past. The letter was sent by his father; an unexpected surprise to the Viking Player when he was told about it. To which Orm felt informed about, and adding to another vomit of information; he also included that he is a Multiverse Courier tasked and assigned by some Supreme Cosmic Being that is tasked to oversee any reality-warping, problematic anomalies that would and might happen throughout the Multiverse…
“...Just let me take a moment to ponder guys…” Orm exhaled as he tried to relax himself but failed… miserably. “This is… literally so much to take it in.”
The two other Players understood him. While they are both Undead, they know the limitations of living beings and needs, and they are not completely immune to sudden knowables like this…
And learning more about of the world that can actually fuck up Space, Time and Reality itself like a playground? It's bound to make someone go crazy.
“You’ll get used to it…” Askad shrugged.
“Easy for you to say, your Undead.” Orm glared at him.
“Both options have their pros and cons; you're fortunate to possibly get laid.”
“And you're fortunate to almost not give a shit about things like these!”
Askad shrugged. “Like I said, both have pros and cons.” He huffed another smoke. “Other than that, try not to think too much about it. Even being an Undead, we’d still get some headaches of a sudden vomit of information spurting into our minds. Best thing we can do is to get stronger.”
“And is it possible? Were already level 100-”
“Were not in YGGDRASIL anymore, sure rules still apply,” Askad cut him off. “but some rules have changed. The mechanics are there, but it's exploitable, it's just not the same as the one in the game. Its rules are literally barely applies to reality.”
“We can go beyond then huh?” Orm grumbled. “And what about you? Did you go beyond the limit?”
The Multiwalker courier shook his head. “Busy with the deliveries, cant do shit on that much. And besides, there's another thing that you need to help me with before I leave this world.”
“And what is that?” Questioned Orm.
“That’s the thing, I can't tell you yet until I receive confirmation from my Boss. Until then, I can't say.”
“...Thats really stupid of you to say if you just up and told us something like that without any proper reason at all.”
“Better for you to know something than nothing eh?”
“Good point…” Orm grumbled before taking a look back towards his friend. “So… How are you coping up with knowing that your dad is…”
“Still existing? And as our clan leader no doubt? After all those years, I was trying to search for my dad, and he was literally right in front of me!?” He growled. “If I had known, I’d beat that prick back to level one and find out where he lives so that I can beat him again!”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Seems… like a normalish reaction.” Askad worded carefully.
“You don’t know that because you never had anything like this before.” He glared at the multiwalker courier. “If I wasn’t an Undead, I think that I’d destroy everything around me, blinded by rage and frustration and whatever fucking words there would be there for me…”
The two people hummed in response. They didn’t know what to say, nor did they have the manners to talk back to someone else's parents. But if one abandons? A good justification. But with a reason in order to protect them…?
A hard exception.
“Wait, wasn’t he online in the game before the shut down?” Orm realized.
“...Are you saying that he may have been transported here with us?” Lordez turned to him. “Even if so, then my {Message} would have reached him! Is it a time dilution? A delay?”
“If I may,” Askad raised his hand. “the one who wrote you that letter is not in this world; rather in another one.”
“So he is alive… That is enough for me,” The undead player clenched their hands. “I want to have a word with him.”
“And there goes the rest of our comrades… I think? Maybe a glimpse but I don’t know.” Orm shrugged before looking at Askad. “Know anything about them?”
He shook his head before chuckling nervously. “I didn’t check anything on the friends list, I was on Asgard watching the fireworks.”
“Ah, pity… They were beautiful to look at.”
“True that.”
They chatted for a while, conversing about the old times and the recent before Askad got up and spoke in a stern expression…
“While I enjoyed our chat and recollection of good times, I still got a job to do. Boss doesn't want me to stay too long.”
“Why’s that?” Lordez questioned. “Are you on a timetable or something? Then why didn’t you leave?”
“You were asking questions, and at least you should be informed in whatever that is regarding the letter sent to you… I can technically inform you on things, only certain things though.” He shrugged.
“And how are you going to get back?”
“I…” Askad opened his mouth before the sudden shock of realization on his face… And then he stared at the ground with despair on his face.
“...You don’t know do you?” Orm smirked. He and Lordez laughed at his despair.
Askad didn’t say anything, which only added more hilarity to his situation.
“Stop laughing damn it!” Askad gritted his teeth at the two laughing players, “It's not my fault! I was just given an assignment immediately I got this job!”
“”Nah, it's clearly your fault.”” The two deadpanned at him in unison.
Askad’s defense broke and just looked down in shame…
“...You sure you didn’t go retarded?”
“STOP ADDING SALT TO MY WOUND!”
----------------------------------------
Somewhere in the Grimm Badlands. . .
…She wasn’t feeling assured. Not when she felt a strange presence, that is something… alien.
She doubted that when Brother Gods returned back to this broken world, she would be able to sense their presence.
So was this one of their creations? She was… uncertain.
Its wave of power… It felt dark… It reminded her of the Brother God of the Grimm.
No… This one was much more malicious in nature, its dread and such an overwhelming presence. This was several months ago, coming from the Kingdom of Vale…
She sent her associates to investigate this matter and came out… concerning results.
Creatures; rumored as ‘Vengeful Ghosts’, beings that looked similar to the Grimm yet at the same time not; were terrorizing the outskirts yet had not touched the people.
From what she came to witness from them, they are nothing to be ignored.
A giant spider with bone armor chitin, its deadliness rivaling a Deathstalker; a tall, slim humanoid figure with a faceless feature that showed its ability with telekinesis; skeletons wearing equipment that were common to see from the Ancient Times…
All her years, she did not know anything about them even in the old world before…
So, what are they? Where did they come from? Who made them? Were they created? If so, then it's recent. None of them appeared during the early days of Remnant.
She then had her Grimm to capture them for Watts to research, and for her to satiate her curiosity.
It was annoyingly difficult per say, to capture some of these creatures. They are resilient as they are dangerous and unique. They weren't able to capture one as they would kill themselves to prevent any capture.
But from what she had observed through the eyes of her Grimm, was that the skeleton ones are mostly soulless, filled with negativity that almost made her think that it was the same as the Brother God of the Grimm.
The creatures were filled with hate, almost similar to the Grimm’s natural hate on humanity, yet these were more… of malice.
But there was no doubt that they were made of magic, yet it was unfamiliar to her. Very different.
They would be a fine addition to her army, should these ‘Ghosts’ be converted.
Ozpin has no potential to create these creatures by himself, no.
A third party… The one who had created these ‘Vengeful Ghosts’; called themselves ‘Lord of Nightmares’. It was a bold title to claim, but fitting to control such creatures.
Would they be a necromancer of the old world? She wouldn't know unless she had enough information.
But she was absolutely certain that they would bend to her will…
----------------------------------------
Beacon, Ozpin’s Office. . .
“-I’ll send my forces to hunt down this-”
“-we cannot do that James! It will only cause more panic!” Ozpin replied frustratingly despite his voice sounding calm.
“Only if we let that herald roam around loose along with these… monsters! Walking corpses, tall humanoids with almost blank features, giant spiders that can take on a horde; those things cannot be ignored!”
The argument escalated in the Headmaster’s office ever since Ozpin James had entered his office to talk about the Breach in Vale. His reaction was expected, but as much as he loved James as a friend; he was as stubborn as some people he knew in his reincarnation pasts.
Ozpin sighed. “James, the last thing we need is to have Vale be overrun by the Grimm. Tensions are high, and mobilizing a fleet would make things worse. Hunting them, along with this Herald, right now would cause a great misunderstanding and panic through the people.”
“So are you saying that we do nothing!?”
“No, but do you want to add in more deaths because of a potential mistake, General?” He rebuked coldly, making James flinch. “The last thing we need is having the city, worse be; the world, to be overwhelmed in fear, which I would remind you would attract the Grimm. Threatening to overwhelm the cities.”
“...Ozpin, we still need to stop this thing.” James spoke ever softly now, his expression turning calm. “We do not know what kind of damage it will cause out there.”
“Then we need to gather information. Running blindly would potentially lead us into whatever it is that prepares a trap for either us or them.”
“There is a possibility that someone or something other than Salem, is controlling these… monsters?”
“Yes, this ‘Lord of Nightmares’ is someone we do not know much about. There are no mentions of any kind.” Ozpin said. He had sent Doctor Oobleck to take upon research in finding up any records of any kind for this ‘Lord of Nightmares’.
It was a false ideal of seeking answers to something that doesn't exist. A better move to stall them into something fictional.
“...We won't be provoking them, not when they are entirely focused on the Grimm. We will seek out the Herald in order to establish communications and possibly an alliance.”
“An Alliance!? What moved you to think of that Ozpin!?” James spoke in disbelief, looking shocked and looking outraged from such a suggestion. “The Herald attacked-!”
“The Grimm, James.” Ozpin emphasized. “Possibly a misunderstanding, a mishap of judgement. We do not know. But it is better to gain whatever possible understanding from them for contingencies.”
“They are monsters, Ozpin. I doubt they would understand anything in making an alliance.”
“They can appear anywhere or everywhere, James. And they can obliterate even the most dangerous known Grimm at hand. Provoking them would be the greatest mistake to ever do, and might be the last thing for us to regret.” Ozpin looked at the General with stern eyes, James unflinching.
Before any of them could speak any more, a beep sounded from Ozpin’s scroll laid on his table. A call, seeing the name, it was Glynda.
Sensing it was urgent, seeing that Glynda wouldn't be calling much less texting if the situation was dire, he accepted the call.
“Yes, Glynda?”
“Ozpin…” His voice sounded sorrow and was she… crying? “We… We have a problem.”
‘Oh this can't be good…’ The two men in the room glanced at each other, their disagreements halted for now.
----------------------------------------
Back to the Trio. . .
“So you literally do not know how to go back?” Orm said amusingly as he stared at the undead courier who looked like he was having an existential crisis at the moment. “A big fuck up on your part then.”
“Oi, I’m new to this Multiwalker business thing alright? Sure it may seem a week since I got hooked by Boss out of nowhere, which is a big fortunate yet a massive fuck up, as there are almost no instructions to do on situations like this!”
Lordez pondered in silence, tuning out their conversation, before realizing something… “If your boss is a cosmic God, so they claimed, why not try to just… I don’t know, call him?”
“...Like what? Talk and text? Phoning him for help on this trouble?”
“I guess so.” He shrugged.
Askad looked at him before thinking in silence and making up his mind. “…Alright, here goes nothing…”
Expecting for him to use some kind of a device or spell to call upon his superior, the two were certainly not expecting for him to just literally shout towards the sky.
“OI GENTLEMAN! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, CAN YOU PLEASE BRING ME BACK!? MY JOB IS LITERALLY DONE!”
His voice echoed throughout the forest, thankfully there was nothing around them for a 10 mile radius. Exception to Lordez’s summons at the ready.
“...”
They waited in silence for a pretty long moment before thinking that it didn’t work, almost making Askad to think that it didn’t work, only for a voice to speak up.
“It was certainly amusing to see you wait in silence for my response.” Said a voice, sounded of thousand voices speaking at the same time.
The trio jumped in surprise, really not expecting that nor it would work.
“G-Gman!?”
“Rather fitting nickname I suppose… And to answer your frustrations, no. I cannot pull you out of that universe at the current moment.”
With that, the anger within Askad overcame his worries. “What do you mean by that!?”
“So you are Askad’s boss?” Lordez said, his emotion suppressor activating several times.
“Indeed I am, young Undead.” Replied Gman. “And to answer your unasked question, I am watching you from the Great Beyond. Merely telepathically conversing with you to this moment.”
“...Why does that sound like a sass?” Orm deadpanned.
“Because it is, and there are times where one as powerful as I am, needed to relax on these… formalities. I mean, seriously. Give me a damn break.”
The change of attitude almost made them collapse onto the ground.
“The hell kind of a God you are?” Orm questioned as he slowly regained his composure.
“An unusual kind.” Gman responded rather cheekily… “And I know you, son of Alcatraz, have a question.” Said person mentioned stiffen. “Ask away.”
“My dad… Where is he?”
The voice went silent before a chuckling was heard, though it sounded sober. “Did you know that you asked the first same question as your father did? He also asked about your whereabouts as well, and he was really concerned for you.”
“R-Really?” Lordez widened his eyes. “You aren't… joking?”
“While I like being mischievous, that would seem to be a new down low for me… Well, in some cases.” He could feel the voice smirk at that statement. “But no, I’m not joking. He is, although, quite the hypocrite I might say.”
“Then… Can you take me to where he is?” Hope filled his voice.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA” The voice boomed of laughter, making the trio to wince at the volume. “You certainly are like your father indeed! Not exactly the same, but twice as similar! Hahaha, you two really amuse me.”
“So you see us as nothing but entertainment and amuse to you!?”
“What else would you feel and be when you are being amused by a bunch of weaklings? Don’t even try to lie that you won't feel amusement or annoyance.”
“Not gonna lie, he has a point there.” Orm shrugged.
Gman continued to chuckle before regaining himself. “Hehehehe… Haaaa… But for your concerns, it goes like this…”
The cosmic God then told them the whereabouts of Lordez’s father, and the other of the former clan members separated throughout the Multiverse.
Although some exceptions to Askad as he rather knew some of this already…
It went on as well as Gman briefly explaining his organization’s goals and duty in maintaining the shadowy balance of the Multiverse and preventing another Collapse as from an unaccountable eons ago.
As well as other multiverse organizations that were in good relationships into handling the Multiverse from collapsing, despite Alternate Separates that would have worlds be separated from each other.
“...You know, I have apparently lost interest in being shocked by this at this point by now.” Lordez said.
“Good for you, I’m having quite a hard time swallowing the damn pill!” Orm glared at his friend.
“Good, because there will be more of that coming once I brief you three; with the two of you helping mail boy with another job.”
“Wait, what!?” Said person took this with a spit take.
“And stop with your smoking, it will kill you one day.”
“I’m smoking because it calms me and the smell of tobacco feels pleasant, and I’m an Undead damn it!” Askad exclaimed. “I just want missions that involve action, booze, smoking and women damn it!”
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile. . .
“Achooo!”
“Hmmm? You sick or something?” Jon glanced at his friend.
“Fuck. No. Man.” Neramo growled slowly. “I think someone’s talking shit about me.” He glanced around his surroundings.
“That or someone is complimenting you.” Specter said lazily as he eyed his book.
“How does that work?” Shirokami asked curiously. “I mean, is that like ‘4th wall breaking’ kinda reality-warping thingy?”
“Might be the universe’s way of saying “Fuck you and have something for your body to react to it.” “ Jon shrugged. “But honestly, I don’t know.”
“Can't we just focus on the frigging mission we got so that we can relax after!?” The sexy succubus complained with an unintentional seducing pout.
“Yeah yea, let's find some horses, then we can go to King’s Landing. We’ll plan what to do next afterwards…”
----------------------------------------
Back in Remnant. . .
“At some point, one day and at one time you’ll find yourself thanking me for giving you this small job.”
“Oh yea, let's see about that in the future.”
“But back to the topic; I cannot pull you out because of an anomaly stuck in your world. There is something that just appeared in the radar, and with the interference, I can't seem to identify it properly… It looks familiar though.”
“Aren't you supposed to be god-like? I mean, from what you and Askad explained to us is that you got some Multiverse-level of power that can literally wipe out realities effortlessly.”
“Well yeah, I can do so like that on a whim.”
“...Then how come you can't identify whatever this anomaly is in our world then?”
“Oh lied about not being able to identify the anomaly; the purpose is that I just want you three to deal with it because I’m certain you will find the challenge to be exciting!”
“...Your Boss is an ass.” Lordez deadpanned at Askad, who seemed rather annoyed at his Boss.
“Are we forgetting that his boss can erase us from existence?” Orm was sweating bullets at this moment.
“Oh I don’t mind,” The voice said dismissively. “After all, why would I be angry at little insects?”
“...Are you trying to act like that Sin of Pride right now?” Askad deadpanned.
“Back to the topic; you three are to deal with said anomaly, being that of a Gamer anomaly.”
That raised eyebrows to both players, and a more concerning look to one of them.
“’Gamer Anomaly’?” They questioned.
“It is how it is called as it is.” Gman stated.
“He wants us to hunt the Gamer down in order to have me pull out from this world, is what he meant.” Askad said. “That and they are mostly the ones generating the anomaly phenomenon.
“Wait, so this Gamer is a person?” Orm looked surprised by that.
“Like Boss said; ‘It is how it is called as it is.’”
“I wont say his specific location to add in a challenge for you three and to give him some breathing time-” “Oh come on!” “-but he is indeed in Vale… Somewhere around in Vale.”
The Players groan in annoyance and frustration.
“Well thank fucking god, that mostly barely manage to narrow the bastard down.” Askad complained.
“At least there is something else to do than planning for the Operation C.G.A.” Lordez mumbled.
“I didn’t catch that, the Operation what now?” Orm looked at his friend confusingly.
“’Complete Grimm Annihilation’” Lordez smirked, his eyes briefly glowing the moment he said those words.