Power System

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This information was inserted into the arrivees memories upon their wake.

Every single arrivee may possess 10 marks.

Marks are rarely dropped from monster corpses and vary. Marks are one of the only ways to get stronger. Marks can NOT be removed, even if the region of skin which they lay on is to be cut off or even dismembered.

Marks are ranked through Royalty Hierarchy. The ranks that will be shown currently are here.

Marquise, Count, Viscount, Baron, Knight, Peasant.

Marks can give many things from common things like Abilities that will correlate with the creatures they are molded from. Some marks can rarely give things called curses which are stronger than abilities however have drawbacks and flaws.

E.g, Hyper-Haste with 5 times the burden on the legs and energy usage as well as the drawback of only being able to travel sideways.

There are no passive abilities from marks and marks must be activated manually through the voice or with training, the mind. There is also marked equipment with the quality allowing a number of marks that can be placed upon it. The most marks a weapon can have is 3.

The arrivees have been placed in somewhere called the Ways-End which is a vast expanse with several biomes. The current arrivees have been placed in a muddy biome full of swamps and black soily ground.

There are 4 strongholds in Ways-End and destroying all of them, will let the arrivees to return.

The rarest marks have even had cases of evolution. 

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A young boy, no older than 15 clutched the top-right corner of his head with gritted teeth. Currently, waves of pain coursed through his body as his body shook against his will. His seizure finally came to an end and it was at that moment he realized he was lying in deep-dark and corse mud.

The boy sighed as he looked at his muddy backside and palms.

A putrid breeze blew over the young boy causing him to cough and cover his face with his right arm. The green sky was murky and filled with black, tinted-green clouds that threatened to burst with acidic rain at a moments notice. The boys silhouette was nothing but a dot from a birds-eye view as he stood in the east of an expanse of muddy swamp.

The young boy was wearing black-cotton pants matched with a plain black-shirt and a black coat. His black attire bore a stark contrast to his paint-white hair that reached the bottom of his neck. The muddied back of the boy was hardly visible due to his colour scheme and the boys black sneakers were sinking in the brown-black mud.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows before he made his way to a small lump of unsunken ground that surrounded the remains of a tree. After sinking his feet and groaning under the disgusting texture of the mud as it was pushed down by his feet the boy looked inside the hollowed tree. 

To the boys eager surprise inside the dark tree, a small circular object was shaped by the boys sharp eyes. The boy rested his abdomen on the trunk and despite the ache, reached down. What looked like a furry coconut, light green and the size of a bowling ball had a small caterpillar present. The boy threw the caterpillar off, however the critter hung on with its two front teeth by biting into his skin. The boys hand winced in pain as the boy bit his tongue lightly to soothe himself. The boy made a fist with his left hand and the remains of the caterpillar were squashed on the coconut. 

The boy cracked the coconut on the tree after a lot of wasted effort. A small and searing feeling could be felt upon impact.

The boy soon looked inside the coconut to find a small white ball. The texture was like wax, however the uneducated boy consulted his grumbling stomach and swallowed.

The boy just so happened to be looking at the green sky when he saw a miniscule object be throwing into the sky. Again and again.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Curiosity washed over the boys mind as he got up and trod through the mud and puddles.

The putrid winds were now out of the boys small mind as he focused on following the stick. A few minutes with no signs almost cautioned the boy to return however a small object was soon released into the air, inciting the boys amble.

Soon, the boy climbed over a small mound of mud and could see 3 people.

The first, a 34 year old man with short, curly black hair and a faint beard. His face had handsome features and he had deep-brown eyes that matched his leather jacket. The man raised his eyebrows upon seeing the boys figure.

The second, another boy at similar age to the first boy. He had rose-red hair that tipped to his eyebrows. His face was almost perfect if not for the look of annoyance at the first boys appearance. He wore a white, stained slightly, long-sleeve.

The last was a girl, at around the same age as the boys. She had blue hair and an innocent look on her face. She wore a long sleeve shirt, black and denim accompanied by sky-blue jeans.

The boy trod slowly as he looked at their little huddle. The boy slowly rose a hand as if a greeting was appropriate and waited for their response.

The mature man spoke first in a sombre tone.

"Nice to mee-."

Before a rude interruption from the red-head came forth.

"You're the traitor."

The first boy rose his brows.

"Eh?"

The red boy walked up to him.

"We've all consulted, none of us are the traitor. Logic says, that it must be one person. You."

The first boy cleared his mind before he spoke after a dreaded pause.

"Y-you can't base your accusation of the traitor by mere words. By that logic you could assume anything. You don't even know my name and you want to wh-what? Behead me?"

The red-head boy spoke with furrowed brows as he revealed the palm of his right hand.

A black rodent was visible as a silhouette.

"See this? This is a mark. I've got the power to take you down any-second."

The girl looked at the mark in surprise and curiosity followed by the mature fellow looking at in concern.

The boy fumbled with his words, he was slightly envious...

"I-I have a mark as well. You know, they're not that r-rare..."

The boy fumbled with his words before he scanned his body. To his utter shock, a small worm silhouette was visible.

"Here see!"

The red-haired boy took a step back. There was no guarantee that his mark was the stronger of the two despite the white-haired boys meager mark.

In Fact everyone took a step back apart from the white haired boy.

The red-haired boy continued his previous rant.

"W-why do you have a mark? Could it be you were looking to finish us fast?"

The boy tilted his head in questioning.

"You're in the same boat and I had no idea you lot would even be together. I got mine by accident anyways..."

"Su-"

"Calm it down fellas."

The mature man stood up and broke it off.

"We need to conserve our energy for tomorrow and for our stomachs."

He looked at the white haired boy.

"The names Dave."

"Cail."

Cail looked at the red haired boy.

The red-haired boy spoke flatly and indifferently.

"Terrence."

The girl stood up and piped up.

"I'm Yoshino."

The mature man clapped his hands and brought them all to a small enclosement..

Cail paused before he alerted them all of the land he found earlier.

The group silently marauded through the squelches and putrid winds before they reached the mound.

The group used the hollowed tree and slept, rather compact unfortunately.

At a late time, God knows when a small tap was felt on Cails shoulder.

Cail grumbled before he saw two yellow eyes meeting his from outside the tree.

Terrence walked away giving Cail the decision to follow.

Cail did and soon the pair was around a hundred meters from the mound, in a small enclosement.

Cail spoke first.

"So, why are we here at this time?"

Terrence looked up before he spoke.

"Because the pecking order must be established."

"The wha-?"

Terrence swiftly through a mound of dirt at Cails face before he travelled to Cails right.

Terrence wound up a right hook however he met his own match as a pale fist made contact with his left cheekbone.

Terrence felt a bruise form as he backed up. Oddly enough Cail was unaffected by the dirt and was for an odd reason, looking rather concerned.

Cail himself was in a bad moment.

'I just ate that dirt. And the worst part is. Cail swallowed. It tasted good."

Cail looked at the mark on his body.

"So this is your blessing."

Terrence responded in confusion.

"What?"

Terrence watched as Cail began walking away with a satisfied look drawn on his face.

Terrence growled as he shouted.

"It's not over yet."

Terrence charged at Cail in a mad dash.

Cail readied another right hook however upon impact his right hand was pulled.

And skin was ripped. Cail looked in astonishment as he backed off at the blood on the ground and the torn skin on his right knuckle formed by teeth ripped from Terrences right cheekbone. Another mouth had formed in the last moment of impact. Cail dodged a lethal blow to his neck however a knuckle with teeth on its front scathed his cheek leaving a long line of cuts from his cheek to the edge of his forehead.

Cail backed off before he returned for a right hook. Terrence could only snicker as he watched Cail fall into his trap.

Cail himself, stopped just before impact and delivered a right kick to Terrences abdomen. However Terrence was not a training-dummy and moved his face forward in the last moment as he recognized the faint. More blood dripped from Cails fist as skin was torn.

Terrence himself was winded and had several bruises that radiated pain.

Cail used this time to escape and cleanse his wounds to ensure no infection happened.

"So what did happen."

Cail and Terrence kept their duel a secret. 

For Terrence, Pride and for Cail, to keep the group together.

And the morning dawned a new page.

One that would not be forgotten.