When Spencer started to whistle it took a couple of seconds for the beasts to react. The whistle gave them shivers, and most of them turned their heads trying to locate the source of the mysterious and disturbing sound.
The tune of the whistle had changed from the one that was used before, it was gloomier and darker than the previous one.
The effects of his ability might change with the song, the system said it, and a song that for humans was relatable to a horror game was obviously going to be scary… for humans. In the time that Spencer and I were practicing in the city, he tried different tunes, there was no noticeable difference on the reaction of the beasts to each song, but I could notice small differences in how they affected their minds.
In the previous situation it was not necessary to use the best one, but at this point, every little edge we can take is going to make things easier for us.
Some beasts were confused because of the sudden appearance of the whistle and worked to find the source fast, this presence was dangerous, and they must get rid of it quickly, they started to move to our location soon after the whistle started.
In between the beasts, there were some that got some bad memories back from this sounds, they were the ones that escaped from the city, and if it wasn't because of the Alpha's Call, they would be far away already.
I started to work.
Enhance the feeling… relate it to a trauma… burn it into their memory… manipulate their instincts. Pick the method, even if beasts minds are different from each other, some ways are more effective than others, and some are also faster to apply depending on the objective…
Enhancing the feeling was the easiest method, it worked on almost every beast, and usually is the first step for all the targets, this helps them remember the sensation, but this method also is the less effective in creating a long-lasting or a powerful effect.
Because of this, I usually combine it with one of the others.
The second easiest method was to relate the sound to a previous trauma. It's a simple memory modification, and it has good results, but the trauma can't be created from zero, or it would take a long time to be done.
Burn it into the memory is not as effective as relating it to a trauma, but it makes the feeling come back again, and again. The sound and the effects on the body are continuously triggered without reason, disturbing every day of the target's life, in the end, the song itself becomes the trauma. In the long run, this effect is stronger, but it needs time to develop itself.
The last one is the most challenging to pull off because it plays on the deeper layers of the mind. The fear is engraved as instinctive… the same that a prey has to his predator, or what everyone feels when they think they are going to die. It was stronger but more difficult to pull off, and it can even be blocked by sheer willpower if you choose the objective wrong.
The first step started, the sound, the shivers, the unknown, all was enhanced in their minds. The source was dangerous, something they shouldn't be trying to go against.
'No, ignore your Alpha~, he can't protect you either~.' Was the idea that was also slowly engraved on their minds.
Some beasts started to doubt if they should continue, if they were smart, they would be asking themselves if the Alpha was capable of protecting them or not. The ones that doubted more were the ones with the weakest wills. Five seconds… that was the time it takes to imprint the fear into the deepest part of their minds and makes them think that Spencer was their natural predator, something they can't go against, and someone that no one can protect them from.
Five seconds doesn't sound, as much but to do the same to the remaining thousand beasts it would take almost one and a half an hour, time that they don't have. The other problem was that the beast was the perfect objective, five second was the best-case scenario. Another beast would take more time, and that was if he could do it.
Next objective.
That snake was almost killed by an owl some time ago… the memory of that moment was recalled at that moment… the snake heard the whistle again… wasn't that sound the same that was in the background at the moment of the attack? Like a prophecy that something terrible was about to happen. The snake doubted and stopped moving too to look at the sky, it was coming, and the moment the snake stopped paying attention to the surroundings it was going to attack… any moment.
One by one, different beast stopped for various reasons.
Stan was fighting to a troubled-looking alligator that managed to arrive near them, but he was scared, and by the time he came near he didn't have the will to fight, that was a mistake, and he needed to leave that place, but because of the scared creatures it became more and more difficult to move around them.
Spencer never stopped whistling, and I was entirely focused on playing with the newfound fear on their minds.
Spencer was the spark that ignited and reminded their fears, and I soaked their mind in fuel so the concern could spread without control.
The D-Ranks decided to move, the effect of the fear was less than what I expected on them, it was most likely because of the difference in Ranks. They will not fall as the other beast. I did my best to imprint the fear in their minds.
The D-Ranks were scared, but they had enough will power and self-confidence that some fear wasn't going to make them fall they need more work… they were frightened of Spencer, but not to the point of running away from him, they were brave enough to face their fears.
We needed to change something. Right now, G, Hope, Rose, Hayley… all of them were fighting their own fight, the east invasion should have arrived by now. It wasn't possible for them to handle an attack from the west too. This was all on us, we need to protect them.
I focused on the same, it's not that I tried to copy his thoughts, I believed in this too, it was my mission, what System-Spencer asked from me when I begged for this chance. Protecting all of them is the reason I'm still alive.
But despite our best efforts, there was no use.
There was no resonance, and all I could do was keep intensifying the fear in the minds, trying to prevent them from attacking us together.
Since the beginning, I had a hunch that this wasn't going to work as well as Spencer wanted to believe, there was an instinctive factor missing.
He was frustrated, but thanks to his perk he could maintain his head and not get angry or desperate. The situation was dangerous, about 200 beasts were blocking the path to Spencer and trying to run away out of fear, but the D-Ranks were pushing and coming near.
Before we could think of the next step, something changed.
But not what we wanted.
*Hiss*
Spencer and I were so focused on this that we missed the strong presence that fell onto us.
Something was crawling on the floor moving toward us, some trees shook before breaking and falling to the sides giving the space that the Alpha needed to move in our direction.
The snake had four heads, and it was as tall as the trees in the forest. All of the heads were curiously looking towards Spencer. His whistle was meaningless in front of this snake, but the Alpha knew that it was messing with his subordinates.
*Hiss*
The escaping beasts stopped on their tracks, doubting about what they should do next.
Spencer didn't stop whistling, but we soon noticed that the presence of the Alpha Snake was like a massive buff to their mentality, manipulating them turned more difficult. Spencer also noticed that he couldn't affect the D-Ranks at all, and the E-Ranks turned as difficult as the D-Ranks used to be.
Even with this situation, the Resonance didn't happen.
The whistle stopped.
Spencer didn't show any signs of fear, but deep down he knew that he was screwed. He was thinking of the people behind him.
There was still one thing he could do to help them, buy some time. He thought about everyone that was waiting for him in Green Shelter.
He turned his head to Stan.
"Run."