Six humans had climbed atop the roof of a campus administrative building. From up there Mark had an uninterrupted view of the chaos beyond. The sporadic pockets of black smoke spoke of uncontrolled fires and turmoil. Movement, too distant to make out could be seen amongst the streets. It would take at least an hour from here to get there on foot as they were on the opposite end of the campus. Jonathan’s forehead creased.
“Chloe, what's going on down there?”
Chloe tore her eyes away from the far-off destruction, stealing a glance at Cara, and then coming to rest on Jonathan.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I can tell you right now, not a single person there has a survival chance over 3.56%, if we head there we could possibly raise some of their chances by 10%. Our own will drop drastically as well.”
Sam’s mouth became a thin line.
“Are you telling us not to go?”
Shaking her head Chloe turned to look at Cara once more.
“No, we might be able to make a difference, but Cara has to head out now.”
Mark glanced at Cara who went motionless at the mention of her leaving, staring off into the distance.
“Are you still able to make the jump?” he asked.
The biggest reason Sam had finally relented and let Cara come was because she was capable of long-distance teleportation. She could effectively recreate the ability of Mark's amulet in two or three big jumps.
Tearing her gaze from the horizon she held Mark’s.
“I… Yes, I can make it.”
Mark searched her clouded eyes, he’d expected more resistance from her, but all he saw now was a fierce resolve.
Jonathan looked at the rest of them.
“Then the only question is should we risk it? Sam and I have the mark, we may just make things worse for them there.”
Mark had taken that into account, from the beginning he had wrapped all of them inside his construct, and seeing as it was still early into the duration of the mark, it was not too strong yet. However there were two of them, so he probably wouldn’t be able to stop them both when they got going. Luckily Sam was already getting the hang of masking hers.
Daphne was the one to speak first.
“I say we head there to check it out, if we can reasonably help then we should. They did not seem like a bad bunch.”
No one disagreed with her and after a pause, a series agreement went up. The vote was unanimous.
Sam moved over to Cara kneeling next to her and fiddling with her collar.
“I’m sorry we couldn't find your Mom and Dad, but as long as they are out there we’ll find them. Get back to the city quickly and tell them we’ll be here soon.”
Cara’s eyes watered and she glanced away, pulling Sam into a hug. Then to Mark's surprise, she came over and hugged each of them in turn, finally pulling away from Chloe, who got the longest one.
“Okay, good luck you guys, stay safe and I'll see you all soon.”
Silver magic shone from behind her eyes and with a burst of cold light, she was gone.
There was the briefest of pauses and then they all got ready to leave. Mark had wrapped himself in a construct as they had decided to fly. They could cut the trip down to around twenty minutes and every second counted in this situation. Mark was just about to take off when he saw Sam speaking to Jonathan in a low tone and handing him a disk made of pure gold. That’s when Mark remembered they had gotten two crests from these creatures. If this Crest was anything like the one Chloe now had, then it was a huge boon. The system registered it as Mark got closer.
Crest of Body(Aura)
Item lvl: –
Aura + 100
Description: Once imprinted on the user their Aura regeneration rate is increased by 250%
(Warning: condition [Module] will be applied to the user. Once bound, this item can not be unbound)
Absorb: Yes/No
They were identical, Jonathan getting hold of the crest was like giving a lion wings, yet he simply stared at the item. Drawing nearer, Mark traced the vivid red indentations snaking across the surface with his eyes, they converged at a single, commanding rune at the disk's heart. He noticed Jonathan's gaze fixed upon the object's near mirror-like surface, a subtle glint dancing in his eyes.
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“Are you going to absorb it?”
Jonathan’s concerns were probably similar to Mark’s. Putting aside the [Module] condition, the fact that the item couldn’t be removed was another red flag. If the system went out of its way to warn the user they could not unbind it, then it had to have some relevance.
The corner of Jonathan's mouth twitched upward.
“I’m struggling to find a reason not to. Right now we need all the strength we can get our hands on, and this would help me stay in combat much longer”
Aura had the same natural regeneration as Prana, so if he used the item it would indeed strengthen his endurance greatly.
“If you can’t find a reason, then don’t. It can’t be stored, and I’d rather have it on you instead of someone else. That kind of power could easily be abused.”
The lines on Jonathan’s forehead smooth out and his shoulders relaxed.
Sam had probably said something similar because his hesitation faded.
Jonathan nodded and pressed the crest to his torso. He must have chosen to absorb it because the next thing Mark knew golden light filled his vision. Grunting and shielding his eyes from the tiny sun, Mark felt waves of Jonathan’s Aura expanding around them. Then just as Mark adjusted to the light, it died down, leaving spots swimming in his vision. He could just barely make out Jonathan as the source of the light melted into him. For the most part, nothing had changed. Jonathan stood in the same spot as he had been a moment ago, only now with his jaw clenched. Pathways had burned themselves through his skin resembling molten gold. Their pattern reminded Mark of a circuit board, slowly winding their way across his body. Runes bloomed across his skin and poked out from beneath his armor. These seemed to be the finishing touches because the moment the gold faded, the process seemed complete. In their place, a simplified ‘tattoo’ remained marking his flesh, though he barely gave it a second glance.
Mark used his construct to see if anything was physically wrong with him, however, [Prana pulse] came back with nothing out of the ordinary.
No sign of whatever the [Module] condition was, or maybe the markings were the proof, Mark couldn't tell.
Overall the new ‘ink’ couldn’t stop the triumphant grin from spreading over Jonathan’s face.
The event, while interesting took less than a minute to finish and they needed to leave, now. Mark offered to fly Jonathan there, but he wanted to use the trip to gauge his new strength, so he let him be.
The rest of them took to the air, with Jonathan traveling directly below them. They made a beeline for the main hostel, and the landscape gradually changed. From scattered crystal and charming stonework to a place torn by war.
Arriving in the area they had hoped to be greeted by Corporal Wiser's men, perhaps assist them if need be, but the reality was much worse.
Human corpses lay in the road, looks of terror marring their features. A good few had collapsed face-first on their stomachs, their backs covered in lacerations. Those that had managed to stand and fight were dealt with in the same manner. Whatever had killed them had not suffered injury or losses. Something had swept through the area and butchered everything in sight.
Coming to land, they took a moment to determine what was going on, as well as hide, should whatever was here, return.
Mark knelt near a soldier to inspect his wounds, the body was still warm. The cause of death was the deep cuts to the man’s back, six to be exact. The kevlar was unable to stop whatever did this, Mark could also tell the cuts weren't clean, they were made by some jagged tool or appendage.
His gaze swept over the road, absorbing the stillness that hung in the air. The barricades, once fortified by sandbags, now stood as feeble defenses, their shredded sides spilling their bleached contents out into the road.
Sam was standing over Mark's shoulder when she spoke in a strained voice.
“It looks like whatever came through here greatly outclassed them, by the looks of it even those that ran were cut down.”
Jonathan nodded silently, bringing his fist up, and making a looping gesture with his index finger. They fall into a defensive formation.
Moving inwards they spied many similar scenes, though not far from the area Perry had been using as a base of operations, they still employed a certain level of vigilance.
Because of this, Mark noticed movement in the second story of the hostel before the glass exploded outward. A civilian came hurtling backward out the window. Jonathan reacted by dashing forward. His speed and reflexes, allowed him to reach them. Grabbing and twisting himself to help cushion the blow. When he came to a stop Mark could make out Jana’s familiar bandolier strapped to her chest. Only a few vials were missing from their slots, but the next thing Mark noticed caused his teeth to itch. Her eyes had no light behind them and sticky dark red, blanketed her chest originating from her throat. Mark kept his construct moving but he already knew there was little hope. He confirmed it a second later. Jana was dead before she’d been tossed out of the window like trash.
Mark set his jaw, he was the last to send a burning gaze up to the now broken window. Glass still rained to the ground with a shrill piercing patter.
He had bearly known Jana and the one time he had met her, she had come off as standoffish, but he still felt the loss of a life snuffed out too soon.
Walking calmly into view was a human male, or at least he used to be. Corruption rose off his pallid skin like steam, as he rested a serrated blade on his shoulder. His irises shone with that sickly yellow hunger, but fierce intelligence and recognition remained.
“Well, finally the strong ones show up. Though you are a little late, but then, I suppose you’re the reason we lost track of the guardians a short while ago.”
The hairs on the back of Mark's neck stood on end. There was no mistaking what they were looking at, a fully conscious Corrupted, capable of speech.
The creature cocked his head.
“What, cat got you tongues or something? Wait… you look familiar”
Turning its head toward Sam with narrowed eyes, it clicked its fingers in an all-too-human gesture before pointing at her.
“You’re that military chick, the one online”
Sam had not taken her eyes off the thing but she nodded.
“And. You’re responsible for all of this.”
The man puffed out his chest and a satisfied smirk crept onto his face.
“Well, duh. Maybe Tristan will stop breathing down my neck now. Plus, I caught you guys so if you’re christened I’ll have my juniors!”
Jonathan had since lowered Jana’s body to the floor, his voice barely restrained rage.
“I hope you understand that we can’t let you live after what you’ve done here.”
Jonathan had already drawn both blades as his focus narrowed on the creature.
The Corrupted man remained staring at them, but his left eye twitched.
“I’d rather avoid that. See, I can’t serve if I’m dead, so as simulating as this was, I need you to either die or surrender.”
Hungry moans came from the streets behind them and Mark's head whipped around to swaths of Corrupted pouring from doorways, windows, and distant side streets.
Ghasts braved the midday sun to crawl down from the nearby rooftops, and Ghouls cut through their ranks to be the first to reach the group.
Either they’d walked into a trap or this guy had called for backup, but at this stage, it hardly mattered.