Rising with the sun is a habit that Tyr O'Conner had beat into him by his father. A habit that the 18-year-old could never break since it had proven useful the day his house had been burnt down in an act of arson that shocked the community. The news had reported that the fire was started in the early hours of the day right before the sun rose. Tyr was the only survivor since he had smelt and woke with the scent of smoke. Now the young man had been shuffled from home to home that the government sent him to. Each time he was sent back for the strange habits he had formed. Rise with the sun, check the doors and windows, go to bed late after making sure that all the doors and windows were locked, make sure all devices were shut off at night, always have a plan to get out of the house quickly.
Stay quiet, stay smart, stay prepared, stay safe. These are the core tenets that I live by. And they led me to develop these habits that many in the suburbs of the Midwest find offputting and strange, now more than ever with the rise of home security technology that would alert the police the second someone not invited entered the house, and since every police station was required to have one person capable of short-distance teleportation, response times were in the seconds.
However, I knew something that the rest of the world turned a blind eye to, the government was extremely corrupt all the way down to the police and local leaders, and since I can't trust anybody that isn't my family with the rest of the knowledge that the leaders of all the major world powers had sold their souls for power, I could only trust myself. That is why I never trusted the families I was sent to since I know the government is watching for a reason to get rid of me just like they did with my father and mother.
The only time I ever let my guard down was when I went to Mass every Sunday. Prayer was my only form of relief since I always believed I could tell everything to God. For my faith, I was blessed one Sunday with words that appeared before my eyes.
{For your unwavering faith in the Lord, he has granted you with the power you need to fulfill his will. Unlocking the Rising Seraph System.}
'Rising Seraph System?' I thought to myself 'What does it mean? What can I do to fulfill his will? I'm just a human being, imperfect and weak.'
{Showing staus}
[Blessed One: Tyr O'Conner]
[Level 1 (0/100 to next level)]
[Race: Human (Prophet)]
[Health Points: 10/10]
[Strength (Str): 2]
[Dexterity (Dex): 1]
[Will: 10]
[Intelligence (Int): 5]
[Endurance (Endu): 2]
[Holy Energy: 50/50 (Gain 1 expended Holy Energy back for every hour of rest)]
[Skills: Exorcise (lvl1), Bless (lvl1), Pray (lvl1)]
'Prophet? Why am I a prophet? Surely there are more capable people out there. But I will not disappoint you, Lord, if you give me this mission I will not fail.'
{Opening mission screen}
[Main goal: Return the world to Order.]
[Subgoal: Cleanse your local neighborhood. 0/10]
'How can I cleanse the neighborhood if I don't know how to cleanse something in the first place? what do my skills even do exactly?'
{Expanding skills}
[Exorcise (lvl1) Force out lesser demons from a human or beast. Cost per use 10 HE]
[Bless (lvl1) Summon a holy light that heals the pure and hurts lesser demons. Cost per use 2 HE]
[Pray (lvl1) By staying still and focused recharge your Holy Energy at a more rapid rate (2 per Minute)]
'So I can force a demon out of someone and then purify it with holy light. Seems simple but I imagine that demons have some form of defense and will try to resist as much as possible.'
'But how will I know if someone is possessed or not? I don't have a skill to see if they are under a demon's control.' I think to myself 'Trial and error would be too risky since that would reveal my new powers.'
Sighing I stand up from the pew and leave the chappel heading back to the car that the government surely had tapped and had an agent drive me to wherever my next home is.
"Took you a bit longer today Tyr." The driver spoke kindly to me, "Did something happen?"
"No, I simply lost track of time," I say without really looking him in the eyes since mine were drawn to a small impish figure on his shoulder.
"Something behind me?" the man asks while turning to look over the car parked in front of the church, "Or were you sneaking a peek at that young lady across the road?"
"I'm not that kind of man, you all know that. Simply lost in thought." I respond while getting into the backseat of the car, "What family decided to take me in this time?"
"Mine, the higher-ups figured I would have the easiest time taking care of you for the foreseeable future since we know each other, hope you can deal with an old bachelor like me for a week or two while they fill out the paperwork for the next host family,"
"I figured this would happen eventually, you got the newest gaming systems? The last ones I could play with were from 2020." I asked to fill the time it was taking for us to drive to the agent's house.
"I feel so sorry for you kid, that tech is so outdated now, you probably haven't gotten to experience full dive gaming have you?"
"Not once, though there are videos online about it, though I can't imagine how different it feels in person," My eyes are still locked on the imp on the man's shoulder.
"It's unreal, they made an entirely new world with NPCs that act like real people, I'll let you mess around in it when we get back. Name is Harvy by the way, figured you should know since we will be rooming together for the next weeks at the very least."
"Nice to finally know your name, I can't wait, it's been forever since I've played a real video game. So how long will it take before we reach your house?"
"We just arrived actually, If you want I'll get you your own headset so you can make your own account later this week," Harvy says while exiting the car and unlocking his door, "My room is the one at the end of the hall on the right you can have the one right across from it, the one next to that is the gaming room and the room next to mine is the bathroom. Everything else should be self-explanatory, make yourself at home."
"I'm good I don't plan on playing games much anyway, I want to get writing and drawing a comic, maybe I'll let you read it before I release it?" I said while closing the door behind me before turning and walking past him to my new room to drop off what little clothes I have.
"That would be nice, and Kid?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't bring women here, I don't need to be reminded of how young you are."
"That won't be a problem, You already know I'm trying to wait for marriage"
"Just making sure." With that he goes off to what I would bet is the kitchen since it is getting to be around dinner time. I go and look at the small mat on the ground in the middle of my empty room, the bastard couldn't even have a proper guest room with a real bed.
Now that I am alone I try to focus on what I think is my new Holy Energy core and spread the energy through my body like how I hear people spread their Spirit Energy they unlock when they enter college, it supposedly acts as a workout to strengthen your body to defend against the attacks from spirit beasts. Looking at my HE pool I see that it hasn't gone down any and all I feel is a bit warmer like I was in a nice hug.
Forcing the energy out of my hands it becomes a small ball that shoots out in a line and lights up the room some more before it hits the wall and blinks out.
[48/50]
That caused it to go down. It was only my two though so that must be Bless, now how do I activate Exorcise? Do I just gather more energy into my hands and shoot it out? Or do I try to envelop my hands and pull that imp off Harvy's shoulder? Actually, how can I see the thing anyway? I don't have a skill that lets me see if someone is possessed.
'System? How can I see if someone is possessed?'
{Evolved Human Prophet can see beyond the mortal veil to better do the work of the Lord}
That's one problem solved then, now how do I cleanse Harvy without bringing too much attention to myself?