"Oh…." My eyes turned blank towards the scene, rejecting reality before me.
The fresh skin of meat and blood peaked out of each and every one gash. Blood spilled relentlessly like running water while torn flesh stuck out of each gap.
Eyes, nose, forehead, throat, shoulders, the lower body, everything was filled with small gaps. Every hole poured out with fluid blood.
Even my backpack wasn't much of a support as I could feel something inside leaking. Probably cans of food, genuinely because I haven't checked what's inside.
The strength behind those blows were incredibly strong…
I couldn't hold it any longer, I hurriedly gently placed the boy down, stepping away I let everything out, puking.
"B-bleeeeeech!" Disgusting, absolutely horrifying….
I dropped to my knees with my arms supporting my upper body, continuing to puking the leftovers inside my stomach.
I gagged with difficulty. Some of my own vomit made me choke and got stuck in my esophagus. I couldn't stop puking. My arms tremor uncontrollably and at an incredible rate. Not just my arms but my whole body trembled.
I gasped uncontrollably, sobbing. I guess I didn't realize sooner that my arms were painted in blood with different trails. I guess my rationality still got a hold of me…
'The boy, I have to save the child!' Like a dog, with both arms and legs, I crawled towards the child I've placed. There's still hope left, there is still hope….
"Please…." My voice was weak. I grabbed him by the arm and gently brought him towards my chest, hugging him. I begin to sob again. "I-I'm so…sorry…."
Soon, I felt an excruciating pain flow throughout my insides. I guess it was time that reality decided to step in. "Blur—!"
My own blood spurted out of my mouth. 'I remember now…. I got hit as well….'
I wasn't the only one with holes in their body. The blood was still fresh. My clothes got stained in dark red with each gap that filled each hole. 'Even my breasts are pierced….'
With the pain kicking in, I lost control of my own arms, dropping the poor child with his head hitting the ground like heavy sack.
In a state of desperation, I pursued myself to get a-hold of him, but the agony kept beating me.
"Ugghh…arghhh!!" It hurts so much… It hurts, it hurts!
My dilemma kicked hard.
"Found youuu~" It didn't last long however, with insane grip strength, the b*stard from before, grapes me the hair and yanks me close toward his face. "A world without vermins like yourself aren't allowed to roam in the utopia I'm creating."
'Utopia…? What is this guy thinking?'
Swaying my head from side to side, front to back in a heartless matter, he continued to spout off the nonsense he talked about previously.
"Why did you two run away from me? There wasn't any need to. You see, I'm not a bad person, you are. Ooh~! How delighted I am to see your pretty face, you b*tch!"
My nails dug deep into his arm which started to bleed. It hurts…
But he didn't flinch. His strength is too strong…
"Haha….y'see, I'm not the kind to kill someone. But you push me to do this. Aren't you seeing this God!? You're seeing this aren't you!?!? I am worthy of your strength and wisdom! Bless me with your authority and power!!" He laughed hysterically. I-Is he crying?!
The hairs on my skin gave my goosebumps. I knew what was about to come. I forced the process to escape.
"I'll be borrowing this." With his levitation powers(?) He called forward and a gun was placed on his hand. My gun.
He makes a small prayer in a whisper, pointing the weapon against my head with it. "Oh heavenly father, bless me with your authority, for I have brought a sacrifice in your name."
Click.
"I bless thy Go–!" Right there and then, I thrust my head back and he made a shriek in pain from me breaking his nose. He immediately lets go of me. With my backpack, I took it off, clutching tightly on the shoulder straps, and swinged it towards his face with all the strength I had within me.
'Now!' I hurriedly searched for my weapon. I don't care if he has some kind of supernatural powers, that doesn't mean that he's immuned towards bullets. 'Over there!'
Thankfully it wasn't far from where it was thrown off. I rushed towards it and quickly picked it up, pointing it at my opponent.
My eyes widen in disbelief. Just a moment ago he squealed in pain, but now…his face isn't showing a single expression of anger or Surprisingly he didn't seem to be bothered at all. My insides are screaming again.
I swallowed my saliva, sweats were pouring on my face nonstop. 'Sh*t…'
I'm already holding on my god d*mn life here. I'm losing too much blood and I'm tired. I wanna eat something. I wanna take a nap. I'm tired. I'm thirsty.
'Shoot….' It's been a few minutes for a while that I've been losing blood. But why is it that my version is beginning to fade now? 'Whether it is or not, I don't care anymore.'
…What am I doing, shoot.
…
…Come on, shoot. Why am I hesitating now? Why isn't my arm's moving...shoot godd*mn it….
He killed a child in a brutal way, he's an evil man. But why can't I pull the trigger? Shoot Lina, please shoot!
If I don't pull the trigger now it'd all be over. With those monstrous powers, he'll kill me, then head on towards people, then destroy cities. If such an event occurs, this world's doom. I can't let that happen.
"A-arghh–" With a roar in order to cover my inner dilemma, I tense my finger to pull the trigger.
Zzgg!
…Huh? Why all of a sudden does it feel cold? I glanced down. Tears formed in my eyes. "...Y-you sick b*stard…."
The man's incredibly strong fist pierced right through my chest. A handful of blood spurted out of my mouth while my dark red blood gushed out of my chest like a running hose.
I couldn't see his attack coming.
***
'I leveled up. What a wonder.' I didn't expect this turn of events would occur. In most games, you'd get exp if you were to join a party. 'Why did I receive exp if I didn't join a party however?'
Is it a bug? I've only been using the system for less than 4 months but, not much of it was fully revealed.
'I could worry less about that, thankfully at least I leveled up. And I acquired a new skill.'
The monsters dropped dead. The individuals celebrated and soon got close towards the creatures. As for me, I stayed hidden, observing from afar. 'Let's see how much perception I could use to this extent.'
"What tough luck we had there! Man, this son-of-a-bitch ass monster was incredibly fucking strong…!"
"Yeah, strong that this thing wasted thousands of dollars worth of ammunition. Oh god what is she going to say to us...."
"Hey, at least we killed it. Shouldn't we at least be this grateful that we've survived?"
"Mari, don't try to comfort us. Not now at least. Save it for later after the captain beats the hell out of us."
"It's you guys fault if you guys only followed the strategery in the first place!"
"What strategery? That thing was too strong. There was no way we could have defeated with that kind of strategy. Look, it left a mark on my back when I tried getting close."
"That's why you were supposed to follow the strategy! If you just listen, we could've finished faster!"
"Woah, woah, relax! Hey, at least we killed it. And we are still alive. Isn't that something we are supposed to be happy with?"
"I-haaa… I guess you're right."
They looked to be arguing but the commotion escalated. So none of them within are captain amongst?
"Let's just pick up the crystal orb from this monster and peel their skin off and get on with it. I don't wanna be in this place with the many rotten corpses bound that surround the areas already."
'Crystal orb?' Three of the individuals then begin to peel off one of the crestfallen starting to cut from inside the stomach with a sharp blade, resembling a kitchen knife. 'So will they be using the leftover body parts as materials—'
–Pew!
Cieerrkkk...!
The faint sound of analogy piercing through the vocals died out when another magical monster that was headshotted was killed that creeped from behind. Just because I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, that didn't mean I'd lower my guard.
The bullet shot from my revolver was seemingly fresh, emitting gunpowder fumes from the muzzle.
'Should I reveal myself?' To be honest, I don't really feel like interacting with new people. Not that I'm good at it either way. I may have gotten stronger, however, the past experiences of being an introvert still haunts me. 'Ugh, I'm getting butterflies.'
"Alright! Woah, it looks bigger than the last time. Hey, Kisha, mind lending me a hand over here? This weighs at least 100 lbs!"
The person, guessing they're Kisha, lifts her arm, summoning a special dimension shift. I sense the energy being ripped through the atmosphere.
'I guess my perception increased my sense by a lot.' I really need to stop praising my traits. I get it, they've increased.
"Careful, careful…there. Alright we're good to good here. How's it over there in your guys' end?"
That girl…it's very similar to my inventory. But it looks so…bizarre.
'Could she also be…?' Shortly after, they continued with the same procedure towards the other creature. They soon began to pack their stuff, ready to leave the desolate place of rumbles and corpses.
"Pew… I think that's all. You guys ready to dip out!"
"All good over here! We're ready!"
"Same for us! We're good!"
"Then let us return back towards the base!"
Beep.
I began to sense something. Two vehicles to be precise. Both pulled over to the side where the six were standing. Nobody was inside, I presumed it must be a high tech control vehicles.
They picked up the materials they've collected, got in the car one by one, and soon drove off in the distance without looking back at the scene. I followed, but of course kept a certain distance. Just a bit longer before I reveal myself.
'I feel like a toxic boyfriend stalking their girlfriend's activities with her friends.' I didn't follow on foot. Instead I leap on each building one after another.
It wasn't safe seemingly because some were at the brink of collapsing but with the help of controlling mana on my feet, it shouldn't be hard controlling my body weight.
At first, I experimented with a couple of things with it back on Earth. Unlike in comics or novels I've previewed in the past, having control over mana was a bit different in what I expect it to be.
Firstly, mana was a source of energy of all things which is manipulated by the outside force known as Magic. Otherwise recognized as Magical Energy.
That's the description of Mana.
The trees, plants, animals, living beings, everything was filled with mana inside them.
That's my first understanding of it. To control the energy that surrounds everywhere now, is to concentrate the energy towards any part of your body.
Like extra muscle to be precise. If you can wiggle your ears, flex your chest, or twist your tongue in various ways, you have achieved the basics already. All that's left is mana control.
Whether it can be your palm, feet, eyes, ears, or even the tiny extra hairs on your skin. You can flow mana through anything, there's no limit on how much you can control or gather.
There is no "special" training or meditation to manifest mana. I don't understand on 'why' there has to be some special training if one is going to be judged by the level of how much one can control, maintain or even possess. It is complete bullshit.
None of that. It's only a secret muscle that needs to be controlled. No special methods what's-so ever.
But, I sometimes think to myself. Why is it so simple to achieve mana control?
Despite reviewing some comics and novels about the fantasy world, it's always got to be a difficult method to achieve or even simply learn mana.
'I wonder why…?' I guess you can't compare reality towards fiction. Sometimes, it could be best to learn by oneself. No harm in doing that. Although, I did take a bit of credit in at least learning what mana is, so points given to that.
"About time they've reached their destination." Afar from my view, on top of a building, I observed the outskirts where our edge point finally halted. What my eyes caught on soon widened. "Woah, is that all theirs?"
While the incredible mass of brick walls covered the entire arena of its base, multiple towers were deliberately revealed two by two or more on each side with heavy artillery and machinery.
From the outer ring of the base, the dark and iron fence that wasn't much of a support complete circles the whole base until end.
The iron gates open by themselves, letting their visitors inside. Short then, what seemed like soldiers, searching their vehicle. They signal their approval and the car heads further inside.
'The energy leaking out from those things are quite powerful.' I don't think it's normal for a monster's core to release that much mana, despite its common vessel. There are two possible conclusions that come to mind.
One, it's not a core but a powerful artifact. Two, it's a rare material that comes hard to obtain and they so happen to come across.
I scratched my head. It hasn't been a day and yet, I'm here struggling to figure out what I'm supposed to complete this quest. The system didn't give any further interpretation.
The inside wasn't decorated with the beauty of cleanliness and new materials but rather was very rusty, given the components that they build whatever it can withstand, even if it cost garbage to assemble together.
I don't care about the image of their base. I'm more interested in the fact how I can complete the system's given quest.
"Do I have to destroy a powerful being? Save a bunch of civilians from an unknown disease by finding a cure, or perhaps save them from torment?" The possibilities are endless.
"Ah shit, they already head even further inside." My perception still wasn't strong enough to eavesdrop conversations through walls. I'll have to continue my training in this world even now.
Still, I wonder how things are going to turn out.
Would things flow just the way they are? Or is something unexpected going to invite itself in?