--Right after Chapter 2--
One of us had been swimming, well, all of us had been swimming. The water felt great around our bodies. The caretakers had often talked about going to some sort of place called Eternium Resort. It sounded a lot like a beach. Except there were houses there. I remember they had always wanted to go there for swimming, as the ocean gave some sort of "level buff" which now makes sense to me.
Right, where was I? Swimming. The ocean was a lot more deeper than we thought. We realized we couldn't swim properly. None of us had ever learned back at home. However, there were 35,000 of us with unique skills. One of them had something called [Beginner Water Affinity] which allowed him to breathe water! We tried to do the same thing but it felt uncomfortable and then we died. Some didn't wake up and we had no idea what to do. However, like I said before, 35,000 of us with unique abilities. Someone had [Inferior Healing] but it seemed to do nothing.
Some people suggested that there is something dangerous inside there bodies so we just cut up there bodies until we found it. The thing that was keeping them from waking up was... water. So, it entered this breathing bag we have in our body, and it stayed there. If we were to revive again, we would die again soon after. It seems the condition for reviving is that the thing inside our body can't kill us upon revival.
It was pretty easy after that. We just made sure to retrieve any floating bodies in the water. However, when the sun was just setting, we noticed a body far out in the deep end. None of us could swim to retrieve them, so we got the [Lesser Water Affinity] guy, Gerald, to do the job.
Um..
Wait..
Gerald can breathe water, but he still can't swim. So Gerald was just walking on the bottom of the ocean, while the body continued to float away all the way up on the surface of the water. We started to panic as the body soon started to disappear over the horizon. Then the body was gone. The body had drifted too far away and the ocean bed seemed to go even deeper as we Gerald ventured forward.
"S-so he's gone like that?"
Some of the other immortals had gotten worried. I mean, seeing one of there kind just disappear forever, it was understandable. However, we probably needed someone to pull all these Immortals together. A leader. However, no true leader had been recognized. There were some candidates though. There was Meryl, Joseph, and B-11. There were more that I didn't really care about personally.
Meryl was the first one to explore the idea of going to the coast. Joseph had been one of the first Immortals to escape, and had been the founding members of the "Safety Camp" which was made outside the mountain. The last was B-11 who was found to be valuable to our caretakers. I don't remember what for though. B-11 was actually part of the hunting team, he had some sort battle skill that made him stronger. It really wasn't noticeable. He only told some of us that his skill was [Rage] which made him 2x stronger for a short duration of time. However, during that time, he would be blinded by the emotion of rage. He's probably one of the strongest and highest leveled ones here. I'm only level 3 which took lot's of hard work to do.
"Guys, I suggest we don't swim after dark. We could end up like our buddy in the distance there, and die."
After some talking, most of us agreed to bar off swimming when the sun starts to set. Speaking of which, Gerald hadn't come back yet. I wonder what's up with that.
Well, it had actually been a while since Gerald left. So we assumed the worst. He probably died and couldn't revive. However, it was no big deal now. He could wash up at another island, or wait till the ocean evaporates and revive then. No matter what, we'll always revive.
Unless it's like that "ego wipe" thingy. That for sure could perma-kill us. Though chances of someone going deep into the vast sea to find a single immortal body and prepare all the magic to "ego-wipe" us out of existence is quite small. Anyways, at long as we aren't stupid and go too deep into the ocean, we'll have no problems.
Well, there is still many problems. For example...
"Hey, how come you guys get to live in the huts?" We needed housing. Yup. Sleeping on the sand is not comfortable at all. And there were all types of creepy-crawlies in the dark, what if we get dragged into the dark? However, there weren't enough huts to fit all 35,000 of us. It'll be an uphill battle. We did have a team of builders. There were about 50 people who had building skills or skills that complimented that. By the end of today, they had built 150 tents and huts. The huts were expensive to build, well, hard to build.
We were low on resources on all. The tents were much easier. The building team were all commanded by the Build Leader named Mina. Poor Mina probably had so much pressure on her. I wonder how we're going to solve this.
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--The beginning of the day--
New hope. A world to express my imagination. Nothing to chain me to the cold walls of a prison. Others had seen it as a home, I saw it for what it really was. A jail cell. My skill had told me so, and, deep inside, I also knew it too. These were not "caretakers" but our tormenters. They were our god, a god which we killed and slaughtered as they attempted to crawl away. A feeble attempt at survival.
I remember my original name. Y-89. However, this is a cursed name. A name which I will not hold, so, I took their names. For corrupting and fucking with my own identity with there filthy "mealtime", I decided to take their own identity. It didn't take long. I had been eyeing her, this tormenter of mine. She was the one who suggested my own identity. She was the one who took care of only me. She showed her love and empathy for me through "mealtimes", telling me, "Oh, it'll get better!" But I knew, behind those kind eyes, was the real ugly truth.
She was someone who held a mask of deception, pretending to be kind to everyone on the outside while being cold and disgusting on the inside. I despised her deeply. A bitch who I wanted to beat to death oh so badly. So, I scoured the ruins only for her. Only for her. As she once cared only for me, I too, cared only for her. I wanted to express my love and empathy for her. I soon found her on her deathbed. Her skin bubbling and weird purple insects eating her from the inside. I didn't feel joy seeing this sight, and as I beat her to death, I suddenly felt no more love and empathy.
The notification that popped up was infinity exciting then looking at her mangled corpse. Power was everything. However, I wasn't blessed with overwhelming strength. Even among our kind, I was particularly weak. Everyone had STR around 8-12 while mine was as low as 6.
However, my skills were different. Something not many would find important, until the time came for it to be used.
Skill List:
[Immortality] Lvl. 1
[Immortal Telepathy] Lvl. 1
[The Solution] Lvl. 1 [LOCKED]
[Builder's System] Lvl. 3
The [Builder's System] skill turned out to be much more powerful than I expected. [The Solution] said that it will start off weak, however, how was this weak?
[Builder's System]: It gives you a new system, which allows you to construct and imagine new buildings at the tap of a button.
More info can be found within the skill.
It gave me an entirely new system! Haha! With power like this, who knows, I may be the ruler of the builders empire. Any building that needs to be made I can make easily!
Well, actually, not really.
[Welcome to the Builder's System!]
[Buildings] [Upgrades]
[Research]
[LOCKED]
[Builder EXP: 121/500 Lvl. 3]
I've unlocked three functions so far. There's even an EXP bar which the original system doesn't even have. How annoying. Anyways, this System is supposed to upgrade even further. Every time I level it up, I gain new skills within the system and it said that at Level 10 it could even evolve. How powerful.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Now, I'm free to express my imagination, with nothing limiting me! I escaped the chains of my prison! I am a free Immortal!
"Boss, we still need to make housing, and fast."
"H-huh? Oh shit! How many houses have you guys made?"
"We've made 3 tents so far. Building on sand isn't really easy."
"Damnit."
I've escaped one prison. only to be casted into another. The chains of responsibility keep me from flying high up into the sky. However, it is my duty. I may have hunted down one of my tormenters but that's it. I helped found the "Safety Camp", and I was the lead builder there. It was pretty easy and it helped level my skill as well. However, it looks like I must play the role of leader here again.
[Building]
[Basic Tent] Lvl. 2 - 10x Wood, 5x String, 2x Beeswax.
[Dirt Hut] Lvl. 1 - 20x Dirt, 10x Wood, 10x String, 20x Sticks
Attempting to build... Build failed!
Fail reason: Sand
Tip: Sand-modified buildings
Seriously? Sand-modified buildings? So, these buildings can be built on sand terrain? Alright, I'll uh, need to find time to research that. I only have 1 day to build so many of these. I'm screwed.
[Research]
Calming Houses - 2 weeks
Less Hungry effect - 1 month
Sand-adapted houses - 2 hours
I guess it's good that it'll only take 2 hours. I was afraid it might take several days, however, this situation is far better than the latter. I had about 50 other builders each with different building skills. It'll be fine. My Co-Leader, Erlin, is someone who can copy other buildings, brick by brick, and then build it instantaneously. We made a very good duo back at the "Safety Camp" and more than half of the tents there ended up looking eerily similar thanks to us. Apparently it has a high mana cost though. Unfortunately, our skills don't tell us the mana cost. And it doesn't even tell us how much mana we possess. It's just that the higher INT you have, the more mana you have.
I have no clue on how we're going to be able to tell how much mana we have, and how much we're using.
Oh well.
[Research]
Calming Houses - 2 weeks
Less Hungry effect - 1 month
Sand-adapted houses [COMPLETE] - 15 BP Obtained
Eventually, the modified houses were complete. BP means Builder Points which allows me to buy stuff in the [Upgrades] menu. Like blueprints which I can research to create new buildings. I recently spent all my BP to be able to impart "blueprints" to those with building skills. One person might have a totally random unrelated building skill like [Pool Construction], but I can still impart the blueprint to there mind about how to make the perfect tent.
And so, we started building.
10 Tents. 1 Hut
20 Tents, 2 Huts
50 Tents, 5 Huts
100 Tents, 10 Huts
146 Tents, 14 Huts.
We took a break after that. It was already night. An incident had already occurred at the first day. Some guy had wandered off too far and died and there body was swept away by the ocean. Another guy was dispatched to get him, but it looks like he ended up dying as well.
Then, the people started panicking a bit. However, they calmed down in the end. Now, here comes the big storm.
"Hey, how come you get to live in a hut?"
"That's cause I helped build this hut. The other people who helped build it are fine with me taking it."
"Didn't you create these for the people!"
"Well, I don't want to sleep in the sand tonight, so I didn't create this with the intent of giving it to the people."
"Ridiculous! How can we have people like you on the building team! Corruption, I say, CORRUPTION!"
You used the skill [Instigate], it worked.
121 people have been influenced.
"Y-yeah! How come we have to sleep on the sand! Just cause YOU built it?"
"This jerk! Thinking he can get away with this! Mina, do something!"
I was in shock on how quickly people turned on each other. We aren't fucking humans, so why are we acting like one? I was more inclined to just make the builder give up his spot.
However, I had just gained this notification a few seconds ago.
Someone used the skill [Instigate] on you. It failed spectacularly.
You deflected the skill.
INT is high enough to discern to used it on you.
Player [Jace] used [Instigate] on you.
Someone in this crowd had used a skill to make me angry against my own teammate. Thankfully, my INT was high to not only block it, but know the person who did it. However, I don't know who Jace is among this angry mob. We need someone to stop this now. A leader. I have about 4 candidates in mind.
B-11, Joseph, Meryl, and Shulk.
However, if I really think about it, these 4 aren't enough. If only someone had some sort of [Leadership] skill here. However, there isn't anyone who has it. It's supposedly a passive skill that the leader of the "Safety Camp" had. So who could possibl-
Just then my thoughts were cut off. Somebody had thrown a rock with great precision onto the builders eyeball. His eye was pierced and he was bleeding profusely. Everyone froze, not because he lost an eye, or because he was bleeding madly. It's because someone had taken the first shot. The first conflict between Immortals. We had fought greatly against our tormenters, but we still ended up fighting each other.
Slowly, the crowd started to disperse. A sense of shame had engulfed around the the mob. I tried to look for Jace somewhere in there, but I couldn't. I don't know who this man is. I only know his name.
I also know the fact that used a skill knowing the full consequences of it. He was most likely someone who would turn this community upside down. We needed to root out the bad weeds. However, I have all the time I need.
"Hey, uh, Mina. Could you pass me that hammer thing right there?"
"Oh. Sure no biggie."
"Actually. Can you just give me a real good smack on the skull. A few smacks till my head gets crushed. Cause', y'know, my eye won't regenerate."
"Sure thing."
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--Midnight--
I had offered to sleep in the sand. Despite all the protests from my team, I stayed my ground. This should give me a good reputation. Some were still awake. They were on Night Watch. About 150 of them. And those who weren't on Night Watch but were still awake? They just couldn't sleep. Like me. It had been a long day for sure, but the excitement is still there.
We had planned this trip for... I don't know... 2 weeks? I joined the coast because it sounded slightly more free than a stuffy forest. I worried about this Jace character. However, I knew I would find him in the end. I always complete my goals. How long have I been alive anyways? It doesn't say my age or anything. Oh well. What about the 35,000 people. Depending on me to build for them. 35,000 is too much. How can there only be 50 builders out of 35,000? I'm sure many of them have been cursing me in there minds. Sleeping in the sand is really uncomfortable.
Ah, I should stop worrying. I start to drift off to sleep. The darkness slowly enveloping me. I'm free of constraints. No large chains keeping me down. I'm free-
"Psssst. Mina. Wake up."
"H-hmm? I-I don't want mealtime right now. I'm sorr-"
"No! Listen Mina. It's me. Meryl."
"Meryl?"
At this moment I started to wake up. I shook off the sleepiness and started following Meryl to where he wanted to bring me too. The path veered off back into the woods. It was sparse woods, but still woods. Finally, we reached a place where the trees were particularly dense. There, I saw about 9 other people.
B-11, Joseph, and Shulk were all there. Along with 6 other randoms. Well, not exactly random. They were the "unofficial leaders" which Shulk liked to call them. However, there were leaders. Just less power.
While I was swimming in my thoughts, Meryl started talking.
"As you can see, I've brought the top... 11 most influential leaders in our community. Um, there is meant to be a 12th. However, he may or may not have been the person who floated away."
Seriously? I didn't get a good look at the guy, but was he actually one of the leaders? Well, probably not that big, considering I didn't hear a lot of people asking for "where is [that guy] at?" so I'll assume he was unimportant.
"I brought you here all for something big. Establishing one big leader is going to be tough. So, let's establish a council. Who's in?"
Shulk started talking, surprisingly. That guy always seems to be serious. However, the thing with the "unofficial leaders" was pretty funny.
"Why can't we establish one supreme ruler? I see no qualms about that one."
"Inner conflict," Meryl responded, like he expected that question. "We already saw one example with the rock in the eye incident. We need to avoid instability in the community at all costs."
Do we really? I mean, how many of these Immortals actually care for each other? Everyone is always holding a mask. One way or another.
"I see, but what made you pick the ones here today?" This time is wasn't Shulk. It was a woman named Cherry.
"Hmm.. I'll explain. B-11 and Shulk are pretty scary guys, but they are strong and calm in frightening situations. They are like our muscle. Err, political muscle. Joseph has been long running this show. Probably the most influential out of all of us.
Next up is Sappy, you know how to take care of someone. You know how it feels to be the other person on the other end. Though, I do suspect it is your skill. Leon, you are very, eccentric. Straightforward. Also, the most likeable. The people love you man. You just probably don't realize it do you? And Cherry, you are smart. And I mean very smart. You are important for our technological advancements. I know your skill by the way. Get better friends.
Next is Mina. Your the head builder. You build like a maniac. I too, know your skill. You told it to me once back in the camp."
Wait did I? How? I kept my mouth shut so people can be surprised when they see me use my skill.
"As for me, well, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. Right? Oh and, our 12th member, Rench, he was a genius. He knew everything from technological advancements to military tactics. I just don't understand how a genius like him went too far, drowned, and was swept away."
Huh. I do recall meeting someone like that. I thought he was going to be something big, and yet, why can I barely recall him?
"So, are you guys in or what? Please just say yes. I prepared so many plans for us."
"I'm in." Shulk was the first one to say yes. Then followed by Cherry, then Sappy, B-11, Joseph, Leon, and finally he asked me.
Well, I don't really find the need for a council. Why have multiple leaders? In the end, a council is just multiple leaders. I feel like multiple leaders would breed conflict, and so my answer is, yes.
OF COURSE I would agree. It's power! Political power, but power nonetheless! Once I agreed, everyone relaxed. Although the first day was a bit bumpy, it seemed everything was smoothed over in the end.
That's what we thought.
"SOMEONE! HELP ME!"
We started dashing towards the scream, so did the ones on Night Watch. We saw an incredible sight... The man who was supposedly dispatched to rescue Rench had come back. However, he definitely DID NOT look sane.
"HELP, PLEASE! OH GOD, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE. NO, WORSE THAN DEATH-"
"Gerald! Please. Calm down. What happened? Where were you."
After a few minutes of what looked like trying to stop a baby from crying after you took away there favorite candy, Gerald, the guy on the rescue mission, started to calm down.
"I-I saw something in the ocean. No, multiple things. They-they whispered songs of destruction into my ear and ripped me apart. Then I came back and they did it again. Over and over. They got bored and let me go. However, there were more I-I just can't.."
He started crying again. Sigh. We continued to calm him down so he can continue the rest of the story. What he described seemed to be the sea monsters from stories that my tormentors were talking about. Huge beasts that roamed the seas. Something about "eld witch." What does eld mean even?
"Hic. O-okay. So what happened next was-"
Then a spear struck his head. He lied dead on the ground, and didn't wake up.