Raji Gupta

Everyone was shouting and accusing each other. I was sitting and staring at the body of Rurik. He had been part of this city for a long time. I had a good idea of what his stats were as well. To just casually kill him in one slap meant Emperor Michael was the same as Gregorovich. I felt a massive headache forming at that.

Servants were already coming in to dispose of the corpse, but it didn’t matter much. Dead was dead. What mattered was the future. I considered everything that had been talked about and felt glad I hadn’t said anything more.

“We need to attack! They killed one of ours!”

“Rurik was an idiot.”

“His stats must be insanely high. We need to consider alternatives.”

“The Sword of Ascalon can deal with him.”

I shook my head. The Sword of Ascalon was a mistake. One of the biggest mistakes that had been made. It pushed Gregorovich into a corner and made him lash out with that monster. I still wasn’t sure if he was the monster, or the monster was something he called on us, while he was laughing at us in the wilderness. There were many possibilities.

Looking at the men around me arguing, I knew that nothing would get done. Everyone liked to talk, but no one was willing to risk their lives to leave the inner city, content to take in crystals and eek out our lives trapped here.

We had been content for so long, thinking nothing would threaten us. Now there was an Empire and an Emperor who was willing to go out and get into the mix. I left the meeting, if it could still be called that. The arguments would go nowhere.

I felt every one of my years as I considered what to do. There were no good answers. No will or desire for change. I felt the shadow of doom hovering over me and was not sure how to respond.

Clarissa

I sat at my desk looking down at the sheet of confirmed deaths. Several soldiers held property, which was now public domain. Also several of the dispatched spies I had prepared. All of it was now unowned. Michael, Captain Francis, Doctor Katz, Michelle, and Fiyaz were still alive, but that was all I knew.

There was nothing I could do. If Michael died, then he died. I would be ready for that. But he was still alive. “Your one o’clock is here,” my secretary said.

“Send him in,” I replied. John Copper, otherwise known as the Master Fleshcrafter walked in.

“Supreme Governor Clarissa,” he said as a greeting. The door to my office was closed. I wasn’t worried about being attacked. I had two of my personal guards present in the room, even if they were hidden.

“John. I saw your proposal. You want to go beyond poking the flesh, and investigate the shards out in the void?” I asked him.

“Indeed. We bring an airship, low and I can set up to get some good measurements and readings. Also run some tests. The batteries are good, but we need to figure out what we are dealing with out there.” I considered his proposal. It was decent, but also concerning.

Anything that would make the Almighty System take action was not something simple or to be ignored. But poking such a thing could be dangerous. The supervisor I had watching over John had informed me there was nothing concerning so far, but I hadn’t said no either.

Still the risk of random people pushing into that zone, looking for new monsters was high. We couldn’t close it all off. While that had worked so far, pressure on the number of available monsters would only increase over time.

I picked up a pen and signed his request and the duplicate form. It was a sizable allocation of funds, but he produced results. No wonder the Divine Empress kept him around. Now that was a horrible thought. All the people he had turned into furniture and killed in horrible ways.

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“Your research is approved. Make sure you keep to the safety measures listed,” I told him and he nodded.

“Got it. Don’t worry. I will stick to the plan. If it changes, well I will come back and reevaluate,” he replied. John left my office. Thankfully there was nothing more for me to manage. I looked back down on the deceased list once more. Michael, you better survive, or I would kill you myself.

Doctor Katz

I opened my eyes. I was alive, somehow. Everything hurt immensely and it was dark. “Hello,” I said with my dry throat and mouth. No sound. I couldn’t feel my legs, or anything below my chest. My arms were pinned as well.

Struggling, I tried to move, but it was difficult. There was very little room. Focusing on my body stat, I pushed out in front of me and I felt the wood slowly begin to give. After half a minute, I made a hole. It was dark out, but I didn’t care.

I began ripping the chunks of wood off in front of me. My legs still refused to move, but that could be fixed. Imbue Life. I kept using the skill over and over as I slowly freed myself. I felt my injuries slowly self-correcting and then the pain hit as feeling returned.

I kept using the skill while I ripped off more wood in front of me. The last thing I remembered, was an immense wave of energy. I don’t know how I got from an airship to inside a tree, or how long as I was out. The fact I wasn’t even rescued was worrying. I took a deep breath. I could do it, just one step at a time.

First, fixing my body. Second, figuring out where exactly I was. Third, getting back to civilization and getting some supplies. Imbue Life. I used the skill once more, but the pain in my lower body was immense. That was when I sensed danger. Checking with my Sense stat, I saw a monster moving floating up towards me. A couple of monsters. Level 4 based on their energy, nothing I couldn’t handle.

Imbue Death. I swung out a hand from my position inside the tree once one got close enough, it died instantly. I had to repeat that five more times, leaving me with only a couple hundred energy left. I couldn’t use my skills recklessly, but it appeared there were no more nearby monsters. I ripped off more of the wood covering my body and got to my belt.

I pulled out the flask, and popped the cork. I stuck my finger inside, activating the life potion. I then chugged it. I felt hydrated and my body was recovering even more quickly. The pain was going away and I could feel my toes again.

Slowly pulling myself forward, I couldn’t see the ground. I couldn’t see the sky either. It was clear I was in a jungle zone. Let me think about this logically. The airship was hit by something. I didn’t see any nearby debris, and I was in a human shaped spot inside the tree.

Michael wouldn’t have buried me. If anything he would have melted me if he thought I was dead. Also I was slightly titled and not vertical, and heavily injured. Did the tree reform around me?

I considered that question. If the airship broke apart and I wasn’t rescued, and slammed into this tree. Then I lived from my stats but was heavily injured. The tree would reform. Tests had been done about the resetting nature of the environment, and people with higher stats had a wider range about them that didn’t reset when they were resting.

It was a minor thing, but someone knocked out, with no way to regain consciousness, had a very small range around them things would not reform in. If I impacted the tree and lived. Which seemed crazy. The tree would reform around me very quickly with no one around.

No one would look for me up here. Not in a jungle. The environment itself would make the Sense stat hard to use at a distance. If I wasn’t near the ground, then there was no chance I would be found. When I regained consciousness, I could heal myself and escape.

The fact that the tree reformed around me was not a good sign. It was also night, another bad sign. That meant I had been stuck here for at least half a day. Maybe a day and a half, with how dry my throat felt. I couldn’t tell. The priority was to get back to civilization in some way. I had looked at the map enough times to know that I was screwed.

We had crossed the level 5 zones, and this was a level 4 zone. I could beat level 4 monsters easily enough. But level 5 monsters were another story. I would have to cross an entire level 5 zone as well. While I could stick near the edge, I didn’t know the monster type. I could probably win, but I wasn’t sure.

The other city out here, would be closer. And I could get supplies and see if Michael had passed through. If anything, he might still be around getting the lay of the land. I might even be able to catch up. If I could survive, I had no doubt he survived.

I hoped everyone else had made it, but it was doubtful. If I was this heavily injured with 10,000 in the Body stat, then there was no chance any of the soldiers had made it if they fell out of the airship. Well, they might have, but their skills wouldn’t have kept them alive while also fending off level 4 monsters. My impact against this tree was incredibly lucky.

I needed to wait for daylight to get my bearings. I might even have to climb up to know which was North, so I didn’t get turned around. One thing I knew from my time clearing zones with Michael, was that the terrain under the jungle’s canopy was very difficult to navigate.

Getting out of this place was a priority. If I could get to a level 3 zone, then I could make it back to civilization for sure. That was the most important thing. I was still alive, just with no supplies. I only kept a life flask on me for emergencies and that was it. Whatever had happened, happened too quickly for me to do anything else. I wondered if it was a flying level 7 monster or something else? Whatever it was, I am sure Michael was killing it with his Acid Shot.