Your senses are terrible.
Shut up. I figured you’d know what to do in a hunt, since you keep talking about being a “predator.”
I do know how to hunt, just not with such a pathetic body.
I rose from my crouched position. “Alright, this isn’t working. I’m heading back home.”
No, you’re not.
“Yes, I am. It’s been hours and we haven’t even found a single thing. The sun is starting to set, dude.”
I am not a dude, I am a mighty and noble dragon!
“I’m tired of calling you ‘dragon,’ if I can’t use other phrases then what’s your name?”
I am Karlisifixois the Great Devourer!
“Karl. Got it.”
Karlisifixois!
“Not calling you that. You’re Karl.”
You–
Something whizzed past my head, and Karl took the reins over my body.
“I’ll show you who can’t hunt!” The growl tore itself from my throat as Karl leaned forwards and leapt towards the threat.
Of course you can hunt now, something literally showed up to attack you!
“Hrrah!” Somewhere along the jump, Karl had unsheathed the katars, and now he plunged them down into a hard carapace, eviscerating the attacker before I even got a chance to register what it was.
Then my body was mine once more.
Giant stingbeetle. Their tails fire darts that contain potent narcotics. Without the element of surprise, they’re nothing more than overly arrogant prey.
“Oh. Thanks?”
Green goop dripped from the sides of the scorpion-like creature, and I grimaced. “Anyone who ever sees the trunk of my car is going to have a lot of questions.”
And you will tell them of our glorious battles and conquests.
“I don’t think I’m gonna do that, actually.”
I knelt down and collected my Echoes, using the same keywords I'd used on the goblins. Just like them, this thing has been summoned from some sort of abyss and felt an unending desire to kill things.
I hauled the corpse back to my car, which was a lot further than I’d expected, doing my best to not spill much of the green goop.
After dumping the body in my trunk, I hopped in the car and started driving. The sun was already going down and I was a bit nervous.
“Are things gonna get worse when the sun sets?”
Yes.
“How bad?”
For us? Not a problem. For normal meat sacks? Life threatening.
“I am a normal meat sack, Karl.”
Not anymore you’re not.
He was, in a way, right. I had a literal dragon’s fighting instincts, massively inflated Attributes, and even a shield that ran off my highest stat, Mana.
Still, though…
“Not against something like you. If I run into some giant monster I’m dead.”
That won’t happen.
“How can you be so sure?”
My presence here was a fluke. When dragons reincarnate, it’s into a random place in the multiverse where Mana is present, and we provide most of the power for creating our new bodies. For Mana alone to coalesce into a creature of my might, at the current Mana Density, would stop all creatures from spawning in the entirety of your “Ohio” for days.
“That’s relieving. But… what about in two days? We’ll be at 4% mana density then. Does that halve the requirements?”
It does. If you want to survive to see the end of this, you’ll need to get much stronger, young one.
I drove in silence for the rest of the ride, thinking to myself that humanity as a whole was screwed.
----------------------------------------
Burying the giant stingbeetle took longer than expected, simply because it was much wider than I’d thought, forcing me to dig out a larger space than usual. The sun had been down for a couple hours by the time I’d finished, and I was feeling pretty tired of digging graves with nothing but a shovel, but the boost to my Mana Recovery helped my mood significantly.
I was about to head to bed for the night when Karl stopped me.
Don’t forget to secure your home from invasion tonight.
Just thinking about it sent me back to the break in.
For more than just my own sake, I needed to make sure nothing like that happened again.
All I really had was cardboard boxes and furniture, but I did the best I could, duct taping everything into place and making sure it’d take at least a bit of effort to get in.
I also left the lights on, just to make sure prospective thieves knew someone lived here.
I took a long look at the huge dent in the floor and the glass from the broken window, which I’d failed to clean up. Even now, a slight draft swept into the room, shifting curtains and old papers whose purposes were long forgotten.
“You know, I guess one upside of the apocalypse is that I’ll never have to pay taxes again.”
Kyle scoffed. That’s what you think. Just wait until an Ancient Dragon arrives here.
“I refuse. We’re gonna get so strong that those things can’t even touch us.”
Ancient Dragons are the size of your sun and consume rebellious planets whole.
That gave me pause. “So… that’s what 100% Mana Density looks like?”
No. That’s what letting a dragon fully mature looks like. Maximum Mana Density means Divines can descend to this world without dying in seconds.
“...Is that better or worse?”
What do your stories say about gods?
“Ah crap.”
The thought of such powerful creatures having power over the lives of myself and everyone else was disturbing, and kept me from sleep for a time, but I eventually managed it.
I woke up a bit later in the morning, and decided that it was time to figure out getting the thieves’ things to their families without being detected.
After collecting their things– mostly just phones and wallets– I used the memories from their Echoes to figure out who to give their stuff to. In the case of the smaller man– Edward had been his name– it was a girlfriend. He’d been thinking of asking him to marry her, and wasn’t very close to his family, so I figured he would’ve wanted his things to go to her.
For the big guy, Jakob, he was actually really close with his mom, and didn’t have any other people who he had more than superficial relationships with. His toxic behaviors had pushed away pretty much everyone except for his mother and Edward.
The mother was easy. I knew her address– which wasn’t too far away– she wasn’t home, and their mailbox wasn’t locked or anything, so I just shoved his watch, wallet, and cellphone into it and drove off. Hopefully she still checked the mail, but even if she didn’t it was out of my hands now.
The girlfriend was harder. For some reason I only knew the building she lived in, and not the specific apartment. I couldn’t access her mail, because it was locked, and not only was dropping things off at the office a risky endeavor, but they didn’t appear to be open, and probably never would be again if my guess was right.
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I ended up parking outside the building and waiting. Her car wasn’t home, but I figured she was probably at work. It was a bit weird that some people still had to do that while other parts of the world had completely shut down, but I knew that she was a nurse at a clinic so it made some sense. Without doctors, the world would completely shut down, and there was always the chance that she had gotten some form of magical healing like Dr. Price.
I did know, however, that she got a long enough lunch break to eat at home, which she consistently did to make keeping up with her diet a bit easier and avoid using the fridge at work.
With that information, I parked my car in a patch of shade and waited. Luckily, she swung by right at 11:30, walked right up to one of the doors, spent a while inside, and then drove off again.
Once her car was out of sight, I grabbed Edward’s things, placed them in an inconspicuous paper bag, and swiftly walked back to my car.
With that finished, it was time to get back to work.
Slaughter?
“That word’s a bit too strong for what I’m thinking.”
Massacre?
“Same problem.”
Extermination?
“...You know what? Good enough.”
----------------------------------------
We ended up at a gas station near the heart of the city. The whole system still worked, so I paid cash for a full tank of regular and then parked just outside the store.
The teen at the register looked bored out of his mind, so I ignored him and walked through the aisles, grabbing a couple snacks.
You’ve barely consumed anything at all in the past three days. Why is this?
“Just kinda forgot,” I muttered under my breath. “Plus, it’s not like I’ve got infinite funds to spend on food, so I’m pretty much limited to whatever’s in the fridge, the pantry, and what I can buy with a hundred bucks cash.”
With the internet out, cards weren’t working. The only currency that did anything at this point was cash, and even that was probably going to start losing value rapidly in favor of bullets, gas, food, and electricity.
Right now the infrastructure of everything was good enough that society, at least where I lived, was mostly functional, but that would be changing as soon as people realized that the monsters would only be getting stronger.
Paying for the food again in cash, I got back to my car and popped open a bag of Spicy Triangles.
What is this? Karl seemed very interested in the food.
“Chips.” I stuffed one of them into my mouth and chewed.
Karl made a weird sound, then went quiet until I swallowed.
We need more of these, Kenny.
“I mean, they’re pretty good, but there’s better out there.” If he was this excited about some Spicy Triangles, what would he think about candy?
That’s capsaicin, correct?
“Uh, yeah, why?” Did he like the spice?
How common is this substance on your planet?
“Pretty common? It’s in a lot of food. Humans a long time ago decided they liked how it hurt and started breeding stuff to produce more of it. It’s kinda funny, to be honest.”
Do you remember what I said about Ancient Dragons being able to eat your world?
“Yup, pretty hard to forget.”
Well you can go ahead and do just that. They would never risk losing your planet like that. This place is a draconic goldmine. There is no substance more valuable to my kind than capsaicin, and it’s incredibly rare.
“Really? That’s kind of weird.”
You don’t understand. This is the most important spice in the entire multiverse. When this world reaches 100% Mana Density, the capsaicin must flow.
The intensity of his thoughts had me fully convinced.
“So, what? Am I supposed to become a chili farmer or something? If you couldn’t tell, we’re only on day three, and I still have to survive the next ninety seven to profit off this, and that’s only if somebody else doesn’t beat me to it.”
If there’s anything you learn from me before you find a suitable replacement, Kenny, let it be that this world is more valuable than you could possibly realize. Wars will be fought over the right to farm here.
“Still doesn’t help me, man,” I muttered underneath my breath.
Then the window behind me cracked.
I instantly lost control and took the back seat as Karl practically tore the door open and slammed a katar that I hadn’t even realized he’d grabbed into the chest of a goblin.
I got a better look at the situation a second later, and realized that there were six goblins in total– thrice as many as I’d encountered on the first day of the apocalypse.
If the numbers kept going like this, then eventually people would be dealing with hordes of goblins in just a few weeks.
While I was distracted, Karl had grabbed the other katar and executed another goblin on the spot, cleaving its head straight off with the side of the blade. He then dashed forwards and slammed one katar vertically into the neck of the closest goblin before kicking it at one of its fellows, who took the blow poorly and fell beneath it.
The sheer exhilaration that flowed across my bond with Karl was overwhelming, and even with the hints of wrath and sadism that were mixed in with it, I had to admit that I started to enjoy the fighting as well.
My fists flew forward at Karl’s volition, stabbing two different goblins through their skulls in seconds. He then gripped the arm of the corpse he’d thrown and tossed it away, then gripping the leg of the final, terrified goblin and bashing it against the ground repeatedly.
Then, apparently wanting to clean up his mess, Karl popped open the car’s trunk and chucked the bodies inside one by one.
Then he got back in the driver's seat, buckled himself in, ate a Spicy Triangle, and handed my body back.
Like nothing ever happened.
“Yeah, except that I have a headache, six bodies in my trunk, and a level up notification.”
Eidolon’s Embrace (Lv. 3) → (Lv. 4)
+2 Mana Recovery
+1 Attribute Point (Human Versatility)
You’re welcome.
I started the car and pulled out.
“Why’d I get twice as much Mana Recovery this time?”
Your Skills only give a single point to an Attribute at levels one through three. From four to six it will be two, and then from seven to nine you’ll receive three points each. The tenth level is special, and you’ll get five open Attribute Points that you can do whatever you want with.
I did the math in my head. “So, if I get a Skill all the way to level ten, I’ll have gotten twenty three points in total?”
Yes, but eighteen of those will go into a single predetermined Attribute.
“And for now I need to focus on my Mana, right?”
That will help you properly control your Echoes, so you won’t have to struggle to maintain control over your body like you do with me.
“And how much more do you think I need?”
Let me take a look at your Attributes.
I followed his instruction, putting my point from Versatility into Mana to top it off.
Name: Kenny Bert
Race: Human (Earth)
Role: Speaker for the Dead
Strength: 5 (+13)
Mana: 8 (+16)
Dexterity: 5 (+5)
Mana Recovery: 9 (+9)
Passives: Human Versatility, Echo Garden
Skills: Immortal Questions (Lv. 2), Shielding Clutch (Lv. 4)
Quests: Reintegration (3%)
It’s unclear to me if you absolutely need to have more Mana than your Echoes or if you simply need to cross a certain percentage threshold to possess the proper resistance, but in life my own Mana Attribute was forty one.
“Why that much? I don’t recall you using any of it.”
On death, we dragons lose a large amount of power, but not all of it. The more Mana the dragon has, the more Attributes it can hold onto. Consecutive deaths are the only true danger to us, and my true soul is probably furious at this moment.
“How much do you lose?”
We can only hold onto a maximum amount of Attributes based on our Mana. That’s why Mana is often our most potent ability. Though, that’s only if executed perfectly. If done in a panicked or confused state, it’s possible to lose far more than that.
“And do you use it for anything other than restoring your bodies?”
Yes. I didn’t get the chance to breathe fire, but the potency of our breath grows stronger with our Mana.
“And how do you get so much? Both in this life and the one before? Did you have a lot of Skills that give Mana?”
No. All creatures have a Passive ability, much like your Human Versatility. For dragons, we receive three Mana a week.
“That seems surprisingly low.”
Dragons do not age, and death is at best an inconvenience for the greatest of us. Many dragons simply find a safe place to sleep for a few thousand years.
I did the math in my head and realized that even just a single year would net a dragon over one hundred and fifty mana.
“I can see the logic behind that. Those Ancient Dragons you mentioned must have a lot of Mana.”
To be considered an Ancient, one must have survived for a least ten thousand years without dying. They are the greatest beings in the multiverse, and feared by all. Hence why you should start harvesting as much capsaicin as possible.
I just rolled my eyes and focused on driving.
----------------------------------------
Enacting my Immortal Questions on each of the goblins was a bit draining, but in my Echo Garden, the feeling didn’t last long. It also netted me a level in the aforementioned Skill.
Immortal Questions (Lv. 2) → (Lv. 3)
+1 Mana
+1 Attribute Point (Human Versatility)
+1 Skill Upgrade
Ghastly Banquet or Perpetual Curiosity
Ghastly Banquet (Lv. 3)
Allows the user to speak a word while touching the body of a deceased creature, gaining an Echo of that creature associated with the word spoken. Each corpse may have a number of Echoes harvested from it equal to the level of Ghostly Banquet. Alternatively, the user may have one of their Echoes consume the energy that would be harvested from a corpse, instead using it to strengthen themselves by a percentage of the corpse’s Attributes equal to the level of Ghastly Banquet.
Perpetual Curiosity (Lv. 3)
Allows the user to speak a word while touching the body of a deceased creature, gaining an Echo of that creature associated with the word spoken. Each corpse may have a number of Echoes harvested from it equal to the level of Immortal Perpetual. Alternatively, the user may collect the essence of a single Echo that may later be separated into a number of Echoes equal to the level of Perpetual Curiosity.
“Karl?”
Kenny.
“I think we might have to change the terms of our agreement.”
Agreed.