PROLOGUE II: THE SCOURGE
15:00 LOCAL TIME 31 DEC 2038CE (1H until Breaking)
LONG BEACH CHURCH
ALDO
An old Hispanic man dressed in a cassock sat in a confessional waiting for his 3 PM appointment. Aldo had been a priest most of his adult life. He knew at a very young age that he wanted to serve the lord. He had given up everything for the church, and for that service, though he had gained even more from God’s grace.
Now in his late sixties, he had dedicated himself more to his community, than the church. His clergy had been doing some really questionable things in the last decade, or so. That in and of itself made the decision to distance himself from the politics of the church more important.
Aldo wasn’t a vain man, he was balding and had a little belly, just one or two too many tamales for the holidays...
And the year...
And the decade before that...
He really liked tamales okay. But, he loved the younger generation more. They always came up with the coolest stuff and showed him how to use technology, and boy did he need their help. Technology was progressing way too fast for him these days, and his young kids were great at dumbing things down for him so that he could understand. Which was why he volunteered his church to combat this pandemic.
The Dust pandemic had taken many of the young members of his congregation. He had wept for all of the lost potential. He couldn’t have made up a worse nightmare, than these last few years. It was unlike anything he had seen in his long lifetime. It was so unprecedented, that even Hollywood studios' movie makers couldn’t get it right. Every time they made a movie about the times, the times would say ‘Hold my beer,’ and prove that the stories were vastly inaccurate, and the real scenario was much more terrible.
Aldo loved history, so it was fascinating living in it. He watched all the documentaries to keep up. He academically mused about it like he does every day it seemed.
Dust, which was the byproduct of the process of manipulating gravitons, was developed by a Trinidadian engineer/inventor/scientist, The technical name was too hard to remember so it was universally called Dust. It wasn’t addicting per se. As a matter of fact, if it was in the open air, it wasn’t even concentrated enough to affect the average human.
Animals had been getting more aggressive as a result though. The scientists believe that Dust has accelerated their breeding habits, which made them more territorial. It also took a lot of them off of the endangered list because of the higher birth rates among the animals. ‘There were some Zoo revolts that turned pretty ugly before we realized that.’ He thought about the time when gorillas started freeing the predators so that they could attack the humans for fun. Zoos went out of business for a while after that.
No, the real problem with Dust was it’s a true performance enhancer, and not a fake one, or placebo, It was the greatest performance enhancer in human history, ever, period, full stop. And it was for everything, from your favorite writer? They are probably a duster, CEOs? Dusters, Presidents? All dusters, artists? Without a shadow of a doubt, most of them were dusters.
What started as an accident, turned into a multiple trillion dollar industry that birthed the JTF, or the Joint Task Force. This was a civilian tax-funded, neutral, military global organization, that trained, outfitted, and researched, any and all applications that had to do with gravitons, graviton manipulation technology, and Dust applications. Why does such an organization need to exist in the global economy? Aldo thought.
The easy answer was humans hated being told what to do. Even if it was meant to save their lives, especially if it's meant to save their lives. Humans prefer to have their lives in their own hands. Also money. Money will have people doing anything to get their hands on it. Including taking other people’s lives, or putting other people’s lives in danger for money.
The long answer was much, much more complicated. Dust makes you more, you. It enhanced all of your natural attributes, and gave everyone who took it even once, some type of physical enhancement. That may manifest itself as sprinting at Olympic speed for a few seconds, even though you never worked out a day in your life, or lifting a small car for a minute. Everyone got something, and it was random for everyone. But that was where the similarities stopped, however.
The quality of the Dust a person was exposed to determine the type of enhancement each drug user received. Every duster, which most of the world had started to call them, gained at least one active enhancement, and often a passive one. The richer the people were, the better, and more numerous their enhancements would be. But that also increased their need for Dust, and each new enhancement caused the Dust cost to go up exponentially. Which led to a rise in black market crime, supported by the richest families among the world elite.
Aldo only knew this because of the research the church had done, and him being a senior member of the church. This wasn’t common knowledge. He had always been torn on why not. But ultimately, it would all come out someday, just not today.
The media was the first to get controlled by the rich Dusters. So most sources of information on the pandemic were controlled. They needed the world to empathize with them, and it worked like a charm. People didn’t need too much convincing though, when the most successful person in every family started to die in droves, in public, or worse in compromising positions, support came pouring in.
Like the governor of North Dakota, a huge anti-gay, anti-abortion, advocate died in an abortion clinic with her pregnant girlfriend, and her husband as victims of her head exploding. Or the progressive senator who was a staunch advocate against sex trafficking, dying after overdosing while hosting a known billionaire sex trafficker at a party, on his private yacht, that he had paid for with money laundered by government contractors. These were political messes of epic proportion, and they weren’t the only ones, they were just the tip of the iceberg. Most governments tried to handle the pandemic with their old doctrines but too many people were affected by Dust to use the same processes. Most governments failed and the lives lost were very preventable but the system itself was a failure.
If someone took too much Dust, they would overdose, it isn't pretty. Head explosions were common at Thanksgiving, award shows, and concert halls for quite a few years in the last decade.
It got to the point that every country’s citizens couldn’t count on their own government to combat the problem. The problem required everyone to pool their resources together. After the death of many corrupt world leaders. That was exactly what the world did.
Led by TAR or Trinbagoian Alliance Republic, a combination of most of the southern West Indies, and northern South American countries, they put those resources into creating the Joint Task Force a little under a decade ago. After the JTF's first mission was a success, taking Venezuela back from super-enhanced, Duster sect control. They created a global rules charter and became a presence in every chartered country. The number of chartered countries rose with every successful JTF mission and every failed mission that other corrupted governments couldn’t handle.
While overdosing on Dust was really bad, terrible even, it was not nearing as bad as withdrawing. The best outcome that can happen when a person withdraws is their head exploding. The more likely scenario, was them turning their new uncontrollable enhancements on the people closest to them. That was almost always their family members and friends. The Duster withdrawing would often end up killing them, if they were lucky, or worse infecting them with the Dust dependence, which was why it was called a pandemic.
The only good thing about Dust withdrawal was that it never lasted longer than a few hours at most, but the damage that could be done in that time could be catastrophic. Anyone who had taken Dust even once had Dust dependence and had to continue to take it, or they would die, period, full stop. They also can’t take too much, or they will overdose. It was the worst pandemic in known human history, because for years, no one, not even the JTF could provide enough dust to the masses to prevent withdrawal. Even if they could everyone’s tolerance was vastly different, which really complicated things. Over a billion people died in the first three years. Twenty percent of the world population in a decade. The Dust pandemic changed the course of human history.
But just this year, with the support of all of the world’s leading scientists, a Dust booster shot was created, and passed all clinical trials with flying colors, It was a miracle of miracles. The next hard part was distribution. The JTF had been administering booster shots everywhere the pandemic had hit hard, which ironically were in the richest countries of the world. Them being the only ones who could afford the expensive dust that wasn’t secured by the JTF. Also ironic, or was it incidental, he mused with a thoughtful smile. The world population had increased during the pandemic because the high-functioning Dusters or Enlighten as the people of TAR called them. They pushed the sciences and medicine forward hundreds of years.
‘Humans, we will always find a way to survive, Even in our darkest moments, we see hope, and there are always a few of us who are willing to fight for that hope.’ Aldo smiled proud of his people.
Most of the world death tolls were from Dusters either withdrawing, or fighting against any, and everyone. Childbirth mortality rates in all countries were below one percent, and all age-related illnesses were being aggressively eliminated. It was a golden age of health, and wealth, especially in most developing countries, which didn’t have as many overdoses, and more high-functioning, Enlighten. Seeing chances to advance they took it, and the quality of life skyrocketed there. Especially in the Middle East, where they had put aside religious, and geo-political issues, for human issues.
Africa or the newly renamed Alkebulan formed a continent-wide alliance, pooling their considerable resources together, and modernizing the infrastructure of the entire land mass. Every nation that wasn’t independent became independent, most without blood but not all. Some colonial powers fought to keep control but with the help of the rest of the continent, they prevailed.
It became the biggest construction project in human history. Roads, power grids, and sewerage systems were all put in place, and made to be upgraded in the future. A portion of the Sahara was covered in newly upgraded fusion solar panels to power the entire continent. They even sold power to Europe and distributed the profits back to all the people of the continent, All of the former debt of the continent was paid in full in a short time frame, and many nations became the large lenders of money as well. Leadership took cues from the people, and not political leanings. This added to the golden age.
The JTF became the torch bearer of this golden age, and Aldo liked their organization a lot, but like his own organization, they had some bad apples. Unlike his organization, however, the JTF took its integrity more seriously than its duty. Truth and Trust is their motto and they live by it.
The organization was an open book, which was why JTF Dust Depots and R&D Compounds were the most attacked structures on Earth. But their troops were always ready to answer the call. Each country provided troops to the JTF, with no exceptions, If you are part of the charter, you provide troops and funds. So the attackers were always in for the best trained, best equipped, and bar none the best-supported troops on the planet.
A young, black-haired, round pale face woman, said a few soft words before stepping into the confessional, alerting Aldo. He was actually happy to be distracted with a normal everyday problem. It was New Year’s Eve, the first one in almost a decade that had given people hope.
He was dressed simply in his clerical collar and sat calmly waiting for this young lady to speak. He loved to listen to his favorite young person. Many of his congregation had done great things before her, but her potential was the greatest of them all. Truly an unpolished diamond that shined still. Lisette, twenty-three, short, Mexican girl, sat nervously next to him. “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was three days ago and...” She said as if this was the sort of thing she does every three days. Her eyes started to glaze over.
“Lisette not again.” Aldo sighed sympathetically.
This girl was beautiful and smart, but she had just came into her beauty, finally growing out of the teenage awkwardness, and the male attention was getting to her, and not in a good way. Worst she was a high-functioning duster, and unlike most enlightened, she only needed a booster once a year after she was tested. Her ability to subtly calm people around her was a welcomed enhancement in these troubling times.
The vast majority of Dusters needed a booster daily, or weekly if they were lucky. That was why it took so long to find a vaccine in the first place. Scientists just didn’t realize how unique most humans were. Too much booster for an enlightened, and they will gain horrible and uncontrollable enhancement. Too little for another one, and they withdraw with strange uncontrollable enhancement. It was called the Dark Dust Decade by some. Not by Aldo, triple Ds as the newest generation called it, didn’t sound appropriate for the darkness of the last ten years. Aldo had let his thoughts run away from him again. ‘What was Lisette saying just now?’ He looked up at her through the screen.
“...and I am always so tired, and anxious,” She sighed. “I just feel so powerless Padre.” She finished looking at him with her big, brown, innocent eyes.
Aldo had no idea what she was talking about this time, unfortunately. She had a few issues. Well, that's not fair, not issues per se, more like first-world problems really. ‘But she was devoted.’ He thought.
“It is the lord’s way, we do not question it, we just obey.” ‘That should do it.’ Aldo recited one of his best saves, it's a classic.
Sighing Lisette tried and failed to take the advice. “I know father, but eventually he will be my husband, so why can’t I give him my flower now?” She looked away shivering, “Just so he would stop making me feel so awful.” She tried to hold back tears, her eyes glistening.
Sometimes being too strong can make you brittle. Aldo knew this all too well. This was her one, very real-world problem, and why his mind was on the JTF in the first place. Lisette had a new boyfriend. Alan, a JTF private, had been trying to manipulate poor Lisette into pre-marital coitus.
Aldo had already placed the complaint in the day before and had gotten a reply a few hours ago. They will be removing him soon. He sighed. So it was only a matter of days, but Lisette shouldn’t have to deal with this situation even now. Aldo opened the window of the confessional and looked her in the eyes. She was young and had time. She will be fine, but when you are young, you always think that the times will never end. Good times or bad it doesn’t matter when you are young you live there. As you get older, you realize ‘that this too shall pass.’
“Lisette don't let the devil...” He paused gathering his thoughts. “I will never claim to be perfect, but I know you will be happy if YOU are ready, and not him. It is clear that you are not happy, and like all of God’s children, you deserve to be. Plus, Alan is a pendejo.” He said smiling at her.
She looked up at him in shock. “I thought you were daydreaming about the science of the Dust calamity or something Padre.” She said conspiratorially. She was a sharp young lady.
Aldo rubbed his balled head turning a little red being caught off guard himself. “You know me too well my child.” He relented. “But I promise you my mind was on you, and your plight.” He said mostly honestly. “I have prayed on it many times. I believe that God will answer your prayers, and mine, soon.” Aldo honestly said glad that God helps those who help themselves.
“I know Father Aldo, you are right of course.” She started only to stop at Aldo raising his hand.
“I am rarely right my dear Lupita. I just know you wouldn’t be here every three days if you thought you should be going through with it. The share fact that Alan doesn’t see that... makes me very disappointed with him.” What Aldo wanted to say, was he hated him, but he was a professional. But the kid really was a pendejo.
“I will wait Padre. Thank you for your advice, I really appreciate it.” Lisette said visibly relaxing.
Aldo relaxed as well. “Standard prayers then, you can stay as long as you like.” He smiled at her, she smiled back relaxed, and then started her Hail Marys.
45 mins until the Breaking
A few minutes later they step out of the confessional and start to walk to the front door of the church. “Make sure you are here early for midnight mass Lupita. I have a very special New Year's Eve countdown hymn this year.” Aldo said laughing at himself, then he got serious. “But seriously, get here early. The neighborhood is getting better after the year we just had, but the JTF presence goes down at night, and the gangs still control the area with the police helping with the security of the boosters. So make sure you are in a group at the very least.” Aldo told her as he walked with her.
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The inside of the church was pristine. All marble and stained glass windows. The light shining in creates a beautiful mosaic of all colors of a kaleidoscope that dances across all of the marble statues.
“I love it here this time of day.” She looked at the lights dancing “It's magical.” She smiled, all her past stress melting away observing the scene of moving lights. The organist played a hollow tune making the light feel like it was dancing with the shadows.
Aldo stood next to her smiling, he loved this time of day as well. “Yes, I missed spending time with you Lisette, you are always welcome to just come, and sit with me and watch the lights.” He smiled a fatherly smile at her. She will be fine. “Would you like to sit down for a bit now?” He pointed to a pew with a perfect view.
“Yes, that would be really nice Father Aldo.” Her eyes were bright.
They sat just listening to the organist, and watching the lights for a full half hour or more. They then watched the organist pack up her stuff, and wave them goodbye as she finished. “See you tonight Father.” The organist said as she left.
After the organist left Lisette turned to Aldo. “Thank you, thank you for always being here for the community Padre. You are the best part of this neighborhood.” Lisette said smiling gratefully at the chubby man. Her smile lit up the room more than the stained glass windows.
“You are my children, I will always protect you like you are my own Lupita,” Aldo replied, but as soon as he said the words, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Some people hear certain words, and can’t separate them from another person’s mouth. For good or bad. Words once said can’t be taken back, however, but Aldo tried. “Lisette, I mean...” He started to adjust, but she cut him off.
“I get it, Parde.” She fake smiled at him “ I should get going...”
2 minutes until the Breaking.
The doors to the front of the church open just then, letting in light from outside destroying the mosaic with the already destroyed mood.
A blonde man, tall, with an athletic build, sporting a nicely pressed JTF uniform walked in. He strolled up to the confessional door, and knocked on it, even though he could clearly see Aldo and Lisette sitting in one of the pews at the front of the church. “Oh, there you two are.” He feigned surprise, and winked at Lisette, before addressing them both. “Your chariot awaits my Latina mami. I will be your protector as always.” He said causing Aldo to cringe. “Oh Hello father, how’s it shaking? I hope only three times, any more and you're just playing with it, and you wouldn’t want to play with it too much at your age.” He smirked, then laughed at himself for some reason.
“Alan! Don’t be rude.” Lisette said embarrassed for him even if he wasn’t at all.
‘That would leave for very wet underwear would it not?’ Aldo thought.
“Babe, Jones died today. I need some comforting.” Alan said with far less remorse than he should have, Aldo thought. “It's New Year's Eve. We can make our New Year's resolutions together. I can think of some really, really good ones.” He turned and walked away leaving expecting her to follow and ignoring Aldo’s reddening face.
Aldo was frankly a little stunned by the interruption. But also this guy was supposed to be kept away from the church in general after Aldo’s official complaint. It can only mean the new private must have really died, and they needed him for a body.
Lisette turned to follow Alan. “Oh my goodness, isn’t Jones your best friend from basic training babe? I am so sorry to hear that. I will make you some dinner, How does Al pastor tortas sound? They are your favorite right? After that, I’ll run you a bath sweetie.” Lisette said trying to console the clearly chipper guy.
“Lisette!” Aldo whisper-yelled pleading. “Not like this.” He shook his head at her.
“Oh baby you spoil me, your Tortas are the best. Also, a bath sounds great Mama. You going to have to join me this time my love of my life. I need to have a good cry, and you have the best shoulder I know.” Alan said not even bothering to look back. His pace was forcing Lisette to pick up her pace to chase after him. “And neck, and back.” He added seductively.
Lisette slumped her shoulder sadly at Aldo. She turned to him and smiled, her eyes were tear-filled. Aldo saw Alan almost skipping away. ‘What is going on?’
“I love him padre... and he needs me, can’t you see he is in pain, he just covers it up with humor.”
‘No I can’t!’ Aldo thought exasperated.
“I will be the best wife ever, I promised God that when I was younger. Father you know being a wife doesn’t start on the wedding day, it starts...” She abruptly stopped talking when her vision filled with a timestamp.
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{00:00 ZULU TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME(MAGIC EPOCH)}
COMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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A cacophony of noise, like the shattering of glass, and the roar of a million different animals slammed into their ears with a sound that was deafening. The world felt like it stopped for a second, almost as if the sound was heard throughout the entire planet. The ground rumbled as the glass windows cracked and the light in the hanging chandeliers went out with a POP...
...Followed by a massive cracking sound of the load-bearing pillars in the church breaking as the church shook.
“Earthquake!” And without a second thought for anyone else, not even a quick glance back to the ‘love of his life,’ Alan took off running for the front door. On his fourth step, the floor gave out from under him, and he fell disappearing below.
Aldo and Lisette both look on in shock, first at his audacity, and then at how his body was affected by gravity. Then the floor below them collapsed, and they tumble into the darkness under them. Their thoughts on their own problems now.
***
DUNGEON CORE ROOM
LISETTE
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< ANGELS SINGING >
{WELCOME TO THE GREAT GAME PLAYER}
{REJOICE GAIA IS AWAKING! Therefore Magic has returned.}
{A Breaking has occurred. It is a natural phenomenon that happens to magically barren Celestial Bodies when the Mana of the source universe is forced...
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Lisette woke up to more words in her vision, but the pain made them go away prematurely as she felt her throbbing ankle. She was in a dark tunnel, and another box popped up, but she didn’t pay it any mind, She looked through the semi-translucent box in front of her face the box faded away from her vision. The dark hallway was lit at one end with a dull purple slowly pulsing glow. She couldn’t make out much beyond that, she tried to wave the words away, and to her surprise, they did go away. She was left with the thought that she had just dreamt of them. She tried to move again gingerly stepping around the shattered remnants of the confessional that had fallen right next to them. She winced at the movement her ankle was hurting really badly. ”Shit!” She cursed feeling the sharp pain radiating up her leg as she put a little pressure on it. It stung like she was being cut internally.
“Language young lady!” Aldo admonished from the darkness next to her. “God can hear you even down in the basement.” Aldo gingerly tried to stand, stabbing his hand on the wooden splinters of the broken confessional. He broke the skin, a small piece slipping under his thumbnail. It immediately started to bleed a little, as he recoiled. “Shit!”
Lisette covered her mouth and looked at the priest with mock admonishment. She smiled smugly at him. “You were saying, Father?”
Aldo, embarrassed, pointed at a body that was unconscious a little way down the tunnel. “I think that’s Alan. We should definitely check on him. Even if he tried to leave us in our time of need, we must always find it in our heart to help others.” Aldo was hopeful he had broken his neck so that Saint Peter could sort him out at the pearly gates. A bead of blood started to form on Aldo’s thumb as he spoke to Lisette. “This does not look like the basement of the church at all,” Aldo said confused looking around. There was an unnatural roof above their heads of pure darkness that confused Aldo even more.
Lisette looked over at Alan on the ground, then her eyes were drawn past Alan’s body to the purple light getting... brighter. She covered her mouth and stared on in awe. Aldo looked past Alan’s prone form after he saw Lisette’s reaction.
The bead of blood fell slowly from his thumb to the floor from Aldo’s injury.
BOOM...
A soft distant thud was heard as the blood hit the ground, drawing Aldo’s eyes back to his hand momentarily. ‘What was that?’ He thought as a Presence humid and heavy filled the room. At the very end of the ten-meter-long tunnel, the light brightened significantly after the thud.
The light was coming from the bedroom-sized cavern at the end of the hall. In the center was a purple glowing stone throne. A dark, hooded figure sat comfortably on said throne. His purple eyes of flame blazing with an alert intelligence even if he did look relaxed. The cloak he was wearing was tattered and worn like he had been buried in it a hundred years ago.
“What is IT?! What is that?” Lisette said with confusion and fear.
Aldo turned back at Lisette’s question. But was immediately confused when he saw... nothing.
The chair was suddenly empty.
“That’s rude.” A melodic voice said from behind them startling the duo.
The figure from the chair was now standing behind them in an instant, it had covered the whole distance without alerting either of the two. “I am not an IT!” He said appalled by the questions and looks. “Those things are disgusting creatures, clowns, all of them.” He said before composing himself. “I am a Vampire Lord,” He paused and thought hard. “Hmm, though I seem to have forgotten my name over the years of my long slumber. I must have been in a deep sleep for a very long time.” The Vampire whose face was still covered by the hood, looked Lisette up and down, As the flames in his eyes grew brighter, his Presence grew heavier holding her in place. The purple light played across her face. Lisette’s face grew pale, frozen in fear, her legs heavy. The kind of fear that only an apex predator can bring out in you. The very being in front of her froze her to her very core. The Vampire Lord looked into her eyes.
“Freeze.”
A tendril of purple energy shot out from the Vampire’s eyes to Lisette’s. She couldn’t move, breathe, or even blink before the power overwhelmed her faculties. Lisette’s face immediately became stoic, and a timer over her head popped up reading...
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{60 seconds}
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The vampire frowned and put his frail hands to his hood-covered chin. “Hmm, that spell should absolutely last longer than that. What kind of resistance have humans built up since the last time I was awake?” He turned to the priest who had soiled himself, and locked eyes with him.
“Freeze.”
The priest stopped shaking and looked to the Vampire, The timer above the Priest’s head said...
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{1 hour}
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The vampire seemed pleased. “Hmm, that is better, much, much better, still low but...what are you?” He asked rhetorically looking back to Lisette, the timer above her head ticking down too...
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{45 seconds}
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The Vampire observed her. “Stand, and come here, I will feed from you.” He commanded. She stood up, her body moving, but her eyes showed the terror she was feeling. She walked over to him tears falling from her eyes unbidden, and presented her neck to him. The vampire Lord smiled, then casually bit into Lisette’s neck as if it were a nice ripe plum. The first taste of her blood made him shiver, and his body bucked. Lisette has no reaction. As he consumed more blood, he continued to buck, his hood falling back, revealing a patchy balding head, that slowly started to regrow long jet black shiny hair. His skin became fairer and slimy. The scars and pockmarks slowly disappear.
As the last drop of blood was drawn from Lisette, her body looked pale and emaciated, her skin hung off of her bones as if all of her muscles were sucked out of her.
Still, she showed no reaction as her body fell to the ground eyes wide open. The only thing she saw was...
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{YOU HAVE DIED!}
< DEBUFF ADDED >
{Curse of the undead(P) activated.}
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The Vampire threw his head back in ecstasy and delight. “A virgin, this is a first for me. An adult female virgin, this was extremely rare in my time. You must have some very devoted, brainwashed, or just plain stupid people in this era.” The vampire lord said savoring the blood coursing through his veins, it was potent for her dreadfully low level. His eyes illuminated the room with even more purple light. He smiled at her, then turned to Aldo. “Am I right?” He asked Aldo who didn’t even reply. “Right, you can’t talk, I hit you with a spell, right.” Lisette’s body started to twitch, then another, then it went into full convulsing uncontrollably mode. The scene was very disturbing, too bad there wasn’t anyone who cared about her enough to be concerned. That wasn’t exactly true, there were probably a ton of people that cared about her. The same ones who said they would protect her always. They had made her feel weak, so very weak.
She stood up looking at her new master, a palpable presence around. She didn’t feel weak now. Lisette smiled, she felt strong, stronger than anything she had ever felt before he senses were on another level, and her hearing had improved to the point that...
HEARTBEAT
...her head snapped to the sound, her hunger rapidly rising in her new body. The timer over her head transitioned to...
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{Lisette High Ghoul(bound)}
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She smiled cruelly. The Vampire Lord pointed to the body of Alan as he started to stir awake. He looked around confused and lost.
The Vampire Lord smirked. “Feed my High Ghoul.” He ordered. “It will make you stronger, smarter, and more resilient.” The purple flames in his eyes grew bigger as he anticipated getting EXP after all this time.
“Make more of yourself.” He looked up as if trying to sense something. His eye-flames flicker. “There, yes there, you have quite a few victims you can experiment on. They may be feral at first, but as they feed, they will gain strength and power. You will gain more powers from them killing as well, leveling up your spells in the process.” He didn’t mention that he was going to gain even more than she was, it was always prudent to have your subordinates believe that you needed them because you will need them eventually. “For now bring the strongest creatures back here for me to feed on. Sapient ones if possible. They are worth more experience. You will know them when you see them.”
Lisette had slowly started to shamble towards Alan during The Vampire’s speech, she walked as if learning to walk again, like a newborn deer. “You will be my greatest weapon and spreader of my pantheon’s Scourge. We will rise again. Rogue gods taking our rightful place in this world.” He paused, and read something in an unfocused eye state. “It seems that this land has no gods protecting it... Well, well, well. Actually, there are no human ones at least, and so many people. By the time any gods can challenge us they will be in the middle of our Scourge. Not even gods can’t last long in those types of debuffs.” He finished daydreaming.
The Vampire Lord then turned to the Priest. He bit him, drinking only a little of his blood. It had an older taste compared to Lisette’s, but still very, very delicious. Hers was a fresh spring water, and he was a fine wine. To the Lord’s surprise, he was also a virgin.
“What the hell is going on here? I am incredibly fortunate.” Then the Vampire Lord cut his own fingertip, and gave a few drops of his blood to Aldo in his mouth. The cut on his finger healed rapidly.
Aldo’s eyes widen, before dulling. The timer changing too...
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{PRIEST Aldo High THRALL}
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“Whoa, you will be my primary attendant and food wrangler,” He said to Aldo.
“Yes, Lord,” Aldo responded stoically.
The Lord nodded, then looked at Lisette as she got to Alan. He was still shaken up from his fall. “Oh, this should be good.” The vampire said with excitement to Aldo who had no reaction whatsoever. “Oh right, you will need to level up to gain any type of personality, Oh well.” He shrugged “One thing at a time I guess, I will need to learn about this world.”
Lisette shambled over to Alan. “Mami? Huh? Eww stay away from me, you look so gross.” Alan saw her and kicked at her defensively. “What are you? Is this what you look like without makeup? Eww.” The clueless soon to be soon-to-be-dead JTF trooper yelled.
The Lord looked to Aldo confused. “What is wrong with him? Is he that stupid? What is wrong with this world? Have humans gotten nerfed?”
“Privilege, their generation is full of it. Even though they grew up in an ugly time, they only saw the scientific advancements. That is what happens when we stop punishing our children appropriately.” Aldo said surprising the Lord again. His eyes were wide open unable to understand how a level zero Thrall could say a full two sentences. What was this guy's intelligence before...a semi-opaque black and gold box popped up in front of the Vampire Lord.
“A Breaking? Ahhhh that does make much more sense now, probably why the gods aren't around. They have to defend their territories from randomly spawning beasts and monsters.” He smiled “Like me.”
Lisette finally caught one of Alan’s feet after quite a few clumsy attempts and proceeded to vice-grip his ankle. Alan’s eyes widened at her new strength. Before he used to hold her down to show her he could take her anytime he wanted. But now his ankle bone was making a grinding sound. “No, no, Mamac...AHH!” He screamed as a loud...
POP!
His ankle shattered, and his screaming became even louder. The fear waring with the pain, and the fear was winning by a mile in a hundred-meter dash. Lisette looked on impassively. Alan desperately tried to break free, punching at her with all the strength he had. His adrenaline, and terror in every punch. But with no leverage, and a huge increase to Lisette’s constitution stat, she doesn’t even flinch at the hits. The sound of a fist to toughen skin is the only sound in the basement. Lisette grabbed Alan’s shoulder, and lifted him up easily, too easily, the movement making him scream louder.
She covered his mouth, with her other hand muffling his screams with ease. She bit right between the ear, and the collarbone of Alan, something he had always asked her to do, then she ripped his head off in one fluid motion. A part of his spine was also dislodged with the head dripping spinal fluid on the floor. Alan’s eyes rolled back in his head, dead.
Blood splattered everywhere, including the Vampire’s cheek. The vampire frowned while wiping his cheek with his thumb. “Wasn’t that a bit excessive? I said make more of yourself, not kill them...” He popped his bloody finger in his mouth tasting Alan’s blood, it was dry, and dead, with no energy like it was taken away. He looked at his high Ghoul curiously, and a little worried. The text above the high Ghoul’s head flickered as she eyed the vampire deliberately chewing on an eyeball as it made a squishing sound in her mouth, and a viscous liquid ran down her cheek.
She doesn’t blink waiting for the Lord to say the next thing.
“Ahh, this is, was...the asshole. Carry on.” She looked at him with an unreadable expression. She then nodded with approval and continued to eat a thumb, the nail crunching in her mouth. “Virgins are powerful, I almost lost control of her for a second there.” He said to no one in particular. “I drank all but one drop of your blood, and even that one bit she was almost able to break my bond because of former mental abuse. I guess they were right, sometimes trauma truly does transcend death.” He chuckled coldly at himself. ‘A Breaking, how interesting. It will be a lot of fun once I find my bearings.’
He looked at the unaffected Aldo standing next to him. “Looks like I am still too weak. I wonder what woke me up here of all places?” The Vampire lord mused as he walked back to his throne with Aldo following behind. He looked at Aldo who seemed to have forgotten that he had soiled himself. “Go clean yourself up, then come back, and tell me everything that has transpired in the last two millennia. Did that upstart god from Jerusalem ever achieve world peace? I wonder, his followers really didn’t like my kind back then.” What the Vampire Lord needed was information, before he put down his permanent Dungeon. Aldo nodded once, and slowly, but deftly climbed out of the basement over all of the rubble, once he got to a door he opened it, and walked through. The Vampire Lord sat on his throne smiling at the Ghoul enjoying her meal. “Good, I have a head start. Soon The Dark Colony will be reborn, and no one will be able to stop us when I wake up my pantheon’s gods.” He smiled mischievously as Lisette continued to savor the rest of Alan’s tender body. “Your savagery will serve you well my High Ghoul, but it is your cunning that will set you apart. I will make you strong. We will bring fought The Scourge.”