Chapter 3: Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

Mood was a subtle thing. Reading the room was a skill to be acquired, and different cultures around the earth had a harder time grasping it depending on their parameters, their outlook on life and on society.

Usually, in any culture, those that could read the room the best were those with the most charisma, the leaders, the worshiped, they were people that would grasp your attention with but a single action, whether we liked it or not, that is the bases upon which celebrity is created.

Nicholas. Was not popular in the traditional sense. He was balding, which wasn’t a bad thing, if only he didn’t grow out his hair as if he had a mane. He was also fat, and he smelt of tobacco and sweat even on his good days. Yet if he had one thing going for him, it would be those blue eyes of his, the Aryan kind, he alway touted his vision as 20/20. It was written on the questionnaire Perseus had been given to fill.

If one could be popular and awe inspiring as long as he knew the right thing to say at the right time, then one could achieve the opposite. And ire was a much stronger feeling than awe, human history has told us that much in its course.

He slapped Fiora away from him, the young receptionist had clung to him as if he was a pillar of support against the danger. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his hand with great care, making sure to dig into every fold on his rotund palm.

He walked forth, closer to the merry group of monsters and idiots that had taken care of the ‘Garou’ as it was called. He gurgled his throat and spat a glob of phlegm right at Perseus’ feet. “I don’t think you have the time to be flirting, nor to be playing around. Enough with the immature jokes. I need to know how you healed yourself, and where are we going to go, when all these people-“ He turned around and motioned to the stunned office workers, the common citizen. “-need to fit in there as well.”

“There is only one hope, I think for us to save the most people. Including those still left up in other buildings, alone. I hope you didn’t forget those.” He said to Nicholas. He turned to the Twins. “Can one of you take me up to the roof real quick?” He asked and Ilyne was there in a second. She bent down in front of him, her supple bottom caressed his jeans. Agon coughed and put a stop to that with a stern look, he then looked around embarrassed, knowing everyone had seen that. He instead picked Perseus up and scaled the building as if it was nothing. From the roof Perseus could see if Omonoia Square was still there, and hadn’t been split away from them as well. Barely, and it truly was just barely, it was there. The Metro underground would be there as well. No better place than that to hide he thought. “Thanks, you can bring me down now.” He said and they descended. This time Agon forewent the scaling entirely and simply hopped down. 6 whole floors with Perseus on his back and landed softly on the ground, his backwards leg joints taking in all the impact.

“Omonoia square is still here. Our best bet is to hide in the Metro. We can rush there, away from the direction the Garou Parents will come from, and we can gather supplies and warn people as we go. They should avoid Danger if possible. But if we see any people outside we should invite them along. According to your words that is. Are you satisfied Nicholas?” Perseus did not wait for an answer. “Great. We should be off soon then. Hear that everyone!? All those that want to come with, you better prepare your hearts. It won’t be easy, but there is strength in numbers. We head for the Omonoia Station!” He then utterly ignored those people and turned to the twins once more. Questions burning in his mind.

Gabriel took Perseus’ place. He sent a look to Diora, looking for her managerial powers. “We should organize a quick message that will get all the important stuff across. Leave a few leaflets and a recording here, spread it around, find any loudspeaker mechanisms, since electricity still works, It’s just that we’ve been disconnected from the grid.”

Diora stood up, baby still in hand. She was never going to leave it. “Gabriel is right. We need to get a move on people. Gather your stuff. Bring paper and ink! Search the floor below for cassette players, they should still have some. Go to the fourth floor and take their fresh White boards. We’ll make an impromptu notice board for all those that come, after the worst has passed.” She commanded, it was natural to her. Her voice carried power and the people moved, as if a missing piece of a puzzle had just clicked in their heads.

Perseus asked Agon. “What about you people? You didn’t call for them?”

“No, I told them to retreat, or at least that is what I urged them to do. I am not the Leader of my Clan. That would be Sene of the Chal. We weren’t hunting today, not for a Garou at least. Our people had been informed of the new Gauntlet, of course, otherwise it would be boring for them, they’ve done that before. Our people must now move base, get away from the path of the coming Garou and send scouts everywhere. Be on high alert. We, thought about coming with you.”

“I think it would be great if you’d come. Even if you didn’t fight you’d be an immense help. As long as you will and can talk about the System and what this whole ordeal we’ve found ourselves in is.”

“All will come in due time. We can only answer questions about certain things, Rules from above, and thus you’ll have to get your priorities right.”

“Great. How did I heal myself?”

“You leveled, you should check your status.” He did as told, he saw it below the empty sponsor line. Level 1.

“How did I level was, the important part.” Perseus added.

“Oh. Right.” Agon scratched his left ear, his pointy fleshy, elf-like one, below the less pointy furry rabbit ear. “When we killed the Garou, your contribution to the Kill was calculated and you were given some of its Source. The thing that creates as all and gives us our power, our life. You can use that source to Level, and Leveling refreshes all your pools to max. Hence your Health returned to you.”

“If my Health Pool had reached Zero would I have died?” Perseus asked, a queasy feeling spread in his stomach at the thought. He wasn’t quite willing or ready to die.

“Your HP probably did reach zero. And it is after it does that dying can actually happen. The way we’ve been taught is as if we have padding. No matter the injury, as long as we have at least one point in our Health Pool we can be brought back. The moment our HP reaches 0 though, we are back to being our forms before the initiation. If we’re bleeding we’ll bleed out, If we have a broken arm, it’s broken. Only leveling goes past all those restrictions.”

“That’s good to know about. I guess I have been lucky, facing something that can give me enough source to level from my first fight saved me. Though it’s also the things that nearly killed me. Oh. Wait.” Perseus brought his Status back up.

Personal Status
Name: Perseus Ianos
Race: Human (Basic)
Sponsor: -
Level: 1

Health Pool: 65/65
Stamina Pool: 725/725
Mana Pool: 8.2/8.2

Attributes:
Vitality: 7/10
Endurance: 6/10
Might: 7/10
Agility: 6/10
Dexterity: 8/10
Focus: 9/10
Will: 8/10
Intelligence: 8/10

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Source: 1
Specialty: <Choose>
Skills: -
Achievements: -

He noticed, belatedly, the other changes that had come over his System. His Vitality had increased. He had one source leftover, and at his [Specialty] he could choose, an option.

There was a lot to unpack right there. But for now he went with the most pressing. As he didn’t have enough time to bother with how things happened and why, he needed power, right now.

“Say, it says right here that I can choose a [Specialty], what is that?” As Perseus asked, the menu morphed and his choices opened up.

Way of The Artist: [Materialize], [Illustrate], [Rearrange], [Engrave]

Way of The Warrior: [Power], [Eagle Eye], [Acrobatics], [Pace].

Way of The Sorcerer: [Spirit], [Elemental], [Order], [True Sight]

Way of The Soldier: [Sodality], [Medicine], [Survival], [Stealth]

Way of The Orator: [Manipulate], [Command], [Strategize], [Calculate]

“There are At least Five ways that exist in this world. And in the wider Universe, these are the most basic. I know of no other ways but that is the assumption our people have reached. The Artist, the Warrior, The Sorcerer, the Soldier, the Orator. All are important and despite how the Tag is named. You don’t to choose only one. In fact it is common for people to try and mix one way with another. Though it is a serious choice to make as it costs 32 source. Not everyone is us lucky as you, nor are Garous so easy to catch alone and off guard."

"So, Which should I-"

"Please, do not finish that question. It is a major taboo. Think of it for yourself. Direct guidance for specialization is not looked kindly upon by the Sponsors, nor our elders."

"Huh. Very well then. I'll just go with my gut."

And Perseus made a choice right there and then. No point hesitating. He wanted power. He would get power. His abilities were more geared towards The Sorcerer, or possibly the Artist, or even the Orator. If this was a typical game. But he didn't quite care. He was not born into this world like these twins seemed to be. He was knew, and he was being watched. He was the show and for a show to be interesting there needed to be constant challenge. He would get 32 Source, a hundred, a thousand, and a billion if he stayed alive long enough. To do that he needed power, thus, aptly he chose [Power].

He didn't know what he expected when he made his choice, but what he got was a subtle zap in his brain, a funny tingle that started there and flowed down his neck to his chest and heart and blood and his whole body was laughing. His eyes saw red and blue lights blooming from inside them, their inner light pushing against the natural light from outside.

It was a weird experience. And by the end of it Perseus felt somewhat refreshed and somewhat weirded out. Certainly brimming with eagerness.

He was startled out of his meditative state when Gabriel shook him, hand softly on his shoulder.

"You alright there? You've been shaking like a crack addict for a while now.” He spoke with real worry in his eyes and all but Perseus felt like he was being mocked. He shrugged. “You should choose a specialty as well. It’s a hell of an experience. Never done coke though so I couldn’t compare.” Perseus craned his neck and spared a glance at Diora and Nicholas directing the mass of people. Already criers had gone to the streets and spread the good word of the coming danger and the end of the world as we know it, the existence of intelligent species, some friendly and others hostile. To many that probably sounded like ‘they are all hostile kill them on sight.’ But that’s just the kind and hospitable human spirit speaking.

They were about ready, and the Rabbit twins were fidgeting about for some reason. He turned to them. “Is something wrong? Is the enemy close by? If so we should depart immediately.” He asked. Agon let his nose, which was small and with a sharp inward curve twitch. Ilyne’s ears straightened and relaxed and moved, all four of them, like little wings. Probably an erogenous zone. ‘Bad, not right now.’ Perseus berated his little brother silently. Not Gabriel, of course.

“I don’t hear anything yet. We will know. The Garous, at least this form, are not known for their stealth.” Agon responded seriously. But Ilyne could not hold herself. She hopped forward, eyes sparkling. “You seriously chose your Specialty just like that? I heard people at the start of the Gauntlet can be rash, but you could have asked what each one does first, you know.” Ilyne splurged those words in one breath.

“I am a man of action, what can I say. I had a logic behind my choice. Though I won’t tell you what it is, you’ll find out when I use it.” He straightened his back, flashed his most charming of smiles. She reciprocated, her teeth flat at places and incredibly serrated at others.

*Clap!* They were interrupted. “Alright people! It’s now or never, we should get out and way from here as soon as possible! Let us depart.” Nicholas shouted and for the first time in his life his voice actually carried a hint of commanded respect. The caravan obeyed and filed out. They took upon the streets, winding through Psiri on their way to Omonoia Square. Keeping as parallel as possible to Athena Street, which headed straight there. It would have been faster, Nicholas supported this choice, but Diora had dissuaded the crowd and Nicholas as well to stray away from being so exposed.

“We’ll continue this later, I guess.” Perseus said and went on ahead. Agon and Ilyne waited till everyone had departed from the building before hurrying, with a few of their hidden clansmen, in dismantling the Garou even further. Agon procured a bundled item at his request and they split up. Of course, not permanently as their clan was their home. But for now they had a mission to observe this new race, its weird city and its culture. They would need to know how to best go forward from today. This was their last chance to win the Gauntlet. All Races against the Garou and their mutated off shoots. A final clash for the System and Initiation.

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