“...Hold on.”
Two words pierced the blanket of darkness. Tenner was unconscious and on the verge of death, but he could also sense himself. Therefore, apart from the inability to move, it was similar to a blanket over his head.
As the words bounced around, pressured by pain, he slipped deeper into the CHEK. The blanket phenomena had a lot of weirdness. Sounds and places flashed. And his body seemed to contain his mind while the CHEK -- his eyes.
The two slipped farther apart.
Tenner fell, crashing onto a cold floor. The shock jolted him awake. Voices echoed around him. The veil opened, Gi’s face behind it.
“I thought you’d kill those lunarists. I didn’t think you’d burn down the church and drown the Realm in smoke too,” he spoke, inspecting Tenner. “Brought back a girl, huh?”
Instantly, Tenner tried opening his mouth, but after a long effort, air cooling his dry tongue, he realized he’d lost the ability to string together words. A sentence required so much energy. In fact, it all seemed exhausting.
“Girl… Really?” Ames scowled as she rested by the wall. “Just don’t… bandit… slaughtered… followed…”
Tenner blanked out before his name awakened him.
“He more than killed more than the Lords of Electricity,” Ames was still speaking. “What happened there makes you doubt he’s the same person that fell for the littering trick a few weeks ago.”
“Determination, hatred, skill and incredible luck all in the same person.” Gi brought her a medkit he’d kept hidden and turned to Tenner .“Awake, huh? You can be a normal kid living his sixteen-year-old life one moment and the moon the other, but Ames still has to patch you up or you’ll die. Don’t freak out at the stings on your arms and potions getting shoved down your throat.”
Tenner nodded along, almost knocking himself out.
Gi continued, “While you heal, I keep to my part of our deal. I guess you’ll want things done swiftly -- staying here a moment longer than you need is exactly the thing you’d do and you’re about to die in a pile of rubble.“ He grabbed his toolbox and got to crafting.
Ames did what Gi said she would. The heals worked number-wise, but his consciousness was blasted beyond the abilities of a few drinks. He needed the help of perks.
[Still As Death’s Gaze has succeeded! Manipulating being’s stats…]
Tenner gathered enough strength to look around. And for the first time, he doubted his eyes.
There was no workshop, never was, he knew. No sparks, no Realms, only a dark cave. Out of its black walls, pikes stuck out and rubble covered the ground. A path led to the darkest part where a scarred, black-skinned man worked a forge with alien tools.
Light and electricity and flames swirled in perfect harmony. Metal and wires molded as if they were sentient creatures.
Gi. That’s Gi. Tenner had to remind himself. He’s crafting extensions in his workshop…
Tenner’s fists clenched in opposition to his thoughts. This was once the greatest forge on the planet, creating miracles from its fruit, only to be destroyed by the filth. The evil ruined everything good and beautiful. With the tools crafted for Tenner, he should go on a rampage and avenge the ruined planet!
No. He’d trudged through this messy loop of thoughts before. Genocide didn’t work. In fact, he didn’t even think of it himself -- the perk planted the idea in his head.
His feet slammed on the ground, fists clenched and whitened. A scream erupted from his mouth, but he managed to wield it.
“No!!!” His voice cut out, but continued, at his own will. “What’s done is done. I can still control the present. And change the future.”
The words came from his sides then from behind him then from his heart. The cave, the forge and Gi disappeared, leaving Tenner in the darkness, jumping from soundwave to soundwave...
Tenner gasped awake. Ames was deep asleep on the floor whilst a large figure ahead was deep into crafting, engulfed in light. The Lords? Tenner flinched. Then, an assuring smile took form on Gi’s lips. Ah yes, they’re dead by my hand…
Tenner slipped into sleep again.
It was night. Dark as the slums tended to be. But Tenner had awoken in Gi’s workshop at The Sparks. The odd feeling in the air tingled his sweat-drenched skin. Even his clothes and ground he’d slept on were wet. He checked his character--health had returned to the max--turned on the CHEK’s light and stood up.
Gi had to have finished crafting and the Realm was perfect for escaping.
Tenner’s first plan was to crawl out of Realm 224 and never look back. Though his fever dreams had shown what the extensions crafted at the great forge could do. He had to be grateful for having them and use them any time he could.
For that, one Ultimate remained in the Realm.
It’s a win-win, Tenner thought, approaching Gi’s worktable. I succeed, I get credits and levels. I fail -- I die.
His hands found the emergency axe in case his precious died. And he gripped the finely crafted extensions. Oh, the power they’d bring. He grinned.
[Warning! CHEK body extension added]
Outside, everything stank of smoke, black mist covered the cityscape in a haze. Apart from the remains of the church in the air, a sense of after-the-storm peace filled the Realm. Tenner opened his holographic map. It had updated. No more church. The best thing Tenner had done in his journey to save the world was an accident. At least for a while, Kristus couldn’t commit as many atrocities. Yes, for the evil not to repeat, the priest had to die, but now Tenner focused on reaching the top of the bounty hunter rankings and fixing the world, and not killing people.
He turned towards Centercity and ran. You can’t avoid blood in this world. You can avoid drawing it first, was the last thought he had before his speed blew him away.
The streetlights threw bolts at him. None could catch up. Even his mind couldn’t -- his body controlled itself. Did the fever dream, when his perception was inside the CHEK while it was on him, predict this separation? Like his instincts warned him in his sleep...
What if he knocked himself out during a fight with Kristus, got dragged away, saw what the priest would do, wake and win?
Maybe. This CHEK isn’t what it seems. At least those perks definitely aren’t. At the thought, his character screen popped up.
In the skill department, the Extensions removed the natural debuffs from Dexterity, Stealth, Strength and Endurance. Though trying to be sneaky would be foolish -- Gi made a masterpiece with poor materials. The metal squeaked and creaked, Tenner guessed, to make the fight against anyone unlucky enough to cross him fairer. The Extensions also boosted eyesight and the ability to run and jump like being chased by a thousand priests.
[Name: Tenner
Username: Tenshot
Class: Bounty Hunter
Health: 750
Money: 26C$
LVL: 17
LVL EXP: 9370
BP: --
Intelligence: 25
Charisma: 10
Luck: 23 (+3)
Eyesight: 21 (+9)
Reaction: 15 (+6)
Dexterity: 27 (+10)
Stealth: 36 (+5)
Strength: 30
Endurance: 27 (+5)]
Not bad. I could maaaaaybe chase down a thief monkey.
Realm 224 became a training ground of walls to dash through, walls to boost off and roofs to jump to. And wherever he jumped, a Tenner-shaped hole pierced the black mist.
Out of breath, he stopped at the center of Centercity. The dark, twenty-story-tall building that had to be the eternal resting place of an evil emperor attracted Tenner first. If indeed, a mysterious Ultimate was up for grabs in the district, it certainly hid in the main building.
Tenner ran his hand down one of the gigantic pillars and tried inspecting their inscriptions.
[Sign: The Dragontemple]
He took a step back. This is the language Realm signs use. And walked to another pilar.
[Sign: Here lies ancients and ultimate rewards for daring members of the judger class.]
He walked up to the grand entrance, staring up at the scanner above. A small cube rolled out of the wall and light rained down on him. Holograms of odd symbols formed around his still body for a minute.
The scanner hid in the wall.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
[Approved. You may enter the Dragon’s Temple. May the Fate of the Dragon be with you.]
The massive doors started opening, darkness behind them.
Tenner licked his lips and stepped in, his CHEK turning its tiny light on. Footsteps echoed around the first-floor-sized lobby. On the ground, by the walls and beside the entrance, skeletons laid in different positions. Most often, weapon in hand. Bounty hunters. Those who failed.
Tenner kept walking until another pair of footfalls joined his. From ahead, a figure neared.
A moving crystal? No… The person wore armor made from blue polygons, a helmet that hid their face and black gloves that covered their skin. Stopping a meter from Tenner, they pointed a finger at his nose.
“Do not kill the Corporation’s employees ever again, understood? Bolt and Elektra are your last warning.”
The soldier grabbed Tenner’s face.
A blanket of void set in all around him and his body stopped holding him. He fell, deep into the CHEK. Deeper than ever before. There was no reality in this device and he could finally understand all that he didn’t. How the CHEK worked became clear. The secret of perks seemed common knowledge. With the eyes of a perfect judge, he could weigh all the good and bad he’d done, see his goal from up close and--
“What?” Tenner tripped and fell on one knee. The soldier was gone, but the darkness and corpses of failed hunters still surrounded him. On the ground ahead, red light reflected. Tenner raised his head and muttered. “Dash?”
The red ghost, hovering a meter off the ground, parts of it glitching in and out of existence, shook its head.
[Welcome, Tenshot. You have entered the last temple of the old ones -- what is the reason for committing such sacrilege?]
“Killing the dragon,” Tenner said, still jarred from the moment before, then thought, Dash is a better ghost, no doubt -- this one sounds like Kristus.
[Then you are doomed. No one has ever come close to taking the life of the Holy Creature. And no one will. It’s creation--]
“Alright, I get it! Why are you here?”
[To deter you from your foolish fate and bring you to the right path. Though, if you continue, I’ll guide you, bringing your unholy death faster.]
“Now that’s what I wanna hear...” Tenner said. “Let’s get done with this. Where do I go? Down that darkness?”
[One last warning before we commence: the dragontemple contains the remains of an ancient civilization and three chambers of increasingly deadly safeguards. In the Realm’s history, no bounty hunter has gone past the first chamber, never even had to face the Machina of Dragon… You are stepping into certain death and divine knowledge…]
Three warnings just to keep going. Tenner gestured for the guide to continue. The ghost tapped its cane and pointed behind itself, fading out of existence. It reappeared ten meters ahead.
The smell of smoke was in the air for a moment. Then, countless scents of blood replaced it. Lunarists never give up. The temple’s door shut behind him and blue light shone.
“My sons, sacrifice this sinner to god! He destroyed our home and used unnatural body extensions. This is evil that cannot be allowed to roam the earth. I’m afraid to say, but I believe… he might be the moon itself!”
***
Axe slammed against cross, Tenner and Kristus painfully grunted every other moment and the eyes of the onlooking followers in white remained wide. After Tenner wasted five, the priest’s crew entered a state of panic. Really, only a few, the most devoted and delusional, threw themselves at Tenner. In that case, he fended them off without even looking.
Kristus stumbled from a well-timed attack. Tenner instantly jumped at one of the priest’s chums going in for a cheap attack. Two chops soaked the front of his white shirt in red and Tenner’s nimble hands stole a laserpistol as the low-level fell.
The gun spoke its own language. Lasers ricocheted around the chamber. Even Kristus froze in fear at the pistol’s words. Timing it exactly, Tenner ran into the Dragontemple’s second chamber. Five or six seconds later, every living being was after him. Five more, they ran from him.
The chambers were truly massive -- around their edges, deep shadows lingered. Tremors, then shakes, flowed from them. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, five meter tall metal spiders with guns, unlike any lasergun ever made, appeared. They came after Tenner. Some went for Kristus. Some for his weak chums.
Ames gasped. Her hand slapped her mouth. So, her throat seized up. She doubted, really, really doubted, her decision of following Tenner when she awoke from the sounds of him equipping the extensions. I literally can’t go back on that. Kristus’ followers ran past, unseeing her. They ran towards the Dragontemple’s entrance, even though it wouldn’t open, no matter what. Unless the dragon is killed -- that’s why there are so many corpses beside it, she thought. Might as well continued. She slipped out a wrench she’d repoed from Gi and breathed deeply through her nose.
Kristus’ chum fled, keeping close to the shadows. A hand slipped out. And grabbed him by the neck. Before the dumbass knew it, a wrench smacked into his head. Ames carefully dropped the snoozing body by the wall and continued, until her hand grabbed a muscly, scarred neck.
A fist returned the gesture. She crouched out of its way and threw up a finger.
“Shush!”
Gi joined her in the shadows.
“What are you doing here?” Ames asked.
“Huh? I followed you. Because-- why are you here?”
“I followed Tenner, like I’ve been doing for the past day. Just so you know, we’re in the most dangerous place in the whole Realm. No one has survived it.”
“Then why’d you follow him here?” Gi’s voice loudened. “If it’s dangerous, it’s probably a thing for only him.”
“I-- I don’t know. “ Ames let her head down. “Halfway here, I realized where he was going. Guess I’m a part of his gang now. Gotta protect and spy, and here, he’ll definitely need our help.”
“Okay, now should be the time to go and fight those lunarists.”
“No, no,” Ames said, shushing Gi. “We wait. He’s only fighting an army and a few ancient robots. What’ll come is much, much worse.”
A chum fell. Gi grabbed him and gave him a remarkable kicking.
“That’s right.” Ames grabbed another--running towards Kristus with a bag of potions--and slammed him with the wrench.
***
Metal shrieked, guns screeched and the lasergate at the very end of the third chamber hummed.
Tenner sneaked in a dark corner opposite to it, drenched in blood hands holding his axe tightly. Every few dozen steps he stopped, to activate [Still As Death’s Gaze] or to observe the carnage.
Kristus and his cronies fought two Machina, metal monsters with ancient machine guns that still used 39-millimeter ammo, while broken glass, corpses and fire were scattered on the floor.
Tenner set his eyes on a Machina scanning the darkest corners and neared. The guide ghost whispered into his vision, even when he fought Kristus or the incarnation of evil in robot form. The guide didn’t even give up when he hid the shadows.
The ghost had already talked about the people who’d resided in this temple hundreds of years ago, but now a different topic caught Tenner’s attention.
[All the other bounty hunters passed through here either without ever coming in contact with the guide or broke through as I watched in silence. Why? Because the second I saw you, every trigger programmed in me began blaring.]
“Why?” Tenner mumbled, quiet as he could.
[Because you have something in you very few do. Something most people these days forget. Whenever you open your character screen, your CHEK says BP. Almost no other beings on this planet have that.]
“BP?” His brow furrowed. “What does it mean?”
[Blood points.]
“And my CHEK says I have none, though I’ve killed… hundreds.”
[Blood points come from the blood of special beings.]
The guide ghost continued, but Tenner waved it away -- he was behind a Machina. He took a deep breath. And jumped at the creature’s leg.
The blade sliced through it as the sensors above detected him. The Machina turned and its ancient machine guns rained down a hail of bullets. With the help of the Extensions, he danced out of the bullets’ way and chopped another leg.
Down to six legs, the Machina crawled towards Tenner. Impossible to get used to this sight. Shivers went down his back, but he held his ground, unblinking. Three of the Machina’s legs rose and crashed down on him.
But Tenner was already three meters in the air, axe aimed at the creature’s metal head. Kristus busied himself with fighting the machines too, but some lasers managed to whoosh by Tenner, one knocking thirty HP from him. He landed. Metal connected with metal to create a hellfire. Fireworks of electricity shot out of the countless wires and pipes lining the creature’s body. It jittered, twisted and caught flames.
As Tenner hopped down to avoid being burned to dust, another Machina ran towards him.
[Still As Death’s Gaze] activated, he hid behind the now massive flames. Metal legs landed a meter to his side. The pipes on them throbbed. The ground trembled. They circled him, scanning every centimeter of the chamber.
Tenner’s breath caught. The Machina neared. A few dozen centimeters from his face now. His axe was ready to strike.
[You’ve defeated three Machina and the phony priest is fighting the rest. It’s time to move on to the lair and beg the robotdragon for mercy.]
Tenner flinched from the sudden appearance of the screen. Don’t fucking tell me what to do!
Wait.
As the guide said, no bounty hunter had ever made it far into the dragontemple. If they did and killed the robotdragon, they’d have access to countless BP. It could mean that the guide lied. Maybe, the dragon earned BP from bounty hunters dying in the safeguard chambers before its lair. In that case, the guide was certainly programmed to make sure everyone died.
If he’s hurrying me, he wants me to ignore something in this chamber, Tenner thought. What did the bounty hunters before me have in common? They must’ve thought like me. Their focus had to be on the prize. They didn’t realize that the way to claim the prize was in the very chambers they tried to skip through.
The Machina stepped away. And he realized -- The Machina. His hands cleaned the axe’s blade and he crawled through the embers and remaining flames of the metal creature he’d taken down. His skin charred, dozens of damage drained his health.
Then, he climbed through to the top and started dismantling it. Instantly, the other Machina and Kristus noticed. Sixteen metal legs strode towards Tenner, hundreds of lasers screeched.
Tenner activated [The Smellings of Blood] to buy time and grabbed the machine-gun atop the dead Machina. Lasers soared past it. The weapon didn’t seem that destroyed. His fist banged it a few times, pulled the trigger and spun the thing.
Success -- the machine-gun fired, covering every centimeter of the chamber.
Tenner dismembered the dead Machina. He found some parts which would’ve been useful in the previous chambers when the fight between him and Kristus raged. But now he needed something different. Something he hadn’t pinpointed just yet.
I was wrong. Shaking his head, he crawled down from the Machina. No, I wasn’t -- the computer! He hopped back on, burning the tips of his toes.
He tore into the box of transistors and wires, and found a key. The key to pass the lasergate. That fucking ghost tried to get me to corner myself. He grinned and ripped the Machina’s other machine-gun off.
Tenner jumped down. The machine-gun started spraying. The weapon split his ears every time a bullet left its barrel. Tracers soared at the targets. He danced around the carnage on the ground and stopped in front of the gate. There, a keyhole waited. And a bunch of tiny mechanisms he’d have to make work for the obstacle to disappear. Turning around, Tenner cursed under his breath. Nobody wants me deader than that damn guide. Lasers started hitting him, setting his clothes on fire, covering his chest in pain and the Machina neared.
He could only cover himself.
Shield in one hand, machine-gun relentless in the other, Tenner closed his eyes. This ancient technology heated up far slower than laserpistols, but had a smaller range of uses
Thank goodness Tenner only needed it to shoot a lot of bullets for a long time.
Kristus’s forces weakened and the Machina were riddled with holes. Their attack slowed for a few seconds. As Tenner let go of the trigger, everyone rushed him. His HP drained from the stream of lasers and his feet shook from the machines.
Tenner came to terms. He’d be another skeleton on the floors. Another BP fueling the dragon’s thirst he’d never witness.
This is how all of my targets felt, he thought. His jaw dropped.
“Ames… Gi?!”