My mind stopped working for a second, I couldn't comprehend what appeared in front of me at first since it was unexpected.
"Skill? As in...games?" I muttered with a weirded-out look.
Come to think of it, the outlay of the notifications and the way they were put in front of me looked like a carbon copy of what RPG games have or web novels that I read from time to time. The sole difference is that they're made for entertainment with zero chances of being made in the real world, or so I thought.
This 'system' over here was nothing like that, killing people just to update itself is nothing short of outrageous. Add that to the fact that it used me as a host without my consent, as If I was a hostage.
"Stone manipulation? What is that?!" While a fight was going on outside, I was dealing with this new discovery of mine.
The moment I thought of the meaning of that word, a new pop-up appeared instantly as if to answer my clueless mind.
[Stone Manipulation (Lv1):
Due to the long exposure to this skill, you have automatically learned it. This skill allows you to create and control stones to a certain instinct depending on the level of the skill. Update to unlock the full details of the skill.
Damage: [Not unlocked Yet.]
The skill is still unlocked. The update is necessary.| ]
"What the hell is going on?!" I blurted out my thoughts in confusion. "This is literally a goddamn game!!"
As I was hit with another weird thing, my attention shifted back to the battle that actually approached its climax.
"Ughhh!!!! Shit! It got me!" One of the three who was already panting like a dog after a long marathon shouted loudly as the black liquid covered his body.
The other two showed an expression of horror at the sight. They probably shared some kind of bond between them as I could see the extreme worry they had for their friend.
Of course, they did the same thing and tried to pull him away from me which didn't work. They also hit me with their attacks from all different angles as if I had some weak point somewhere.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
All you could hear was the sound of impacts and sword slashes. I was thrown out of my balance a few times but as if the man caught was its last lifeline, the black liquid didn't leave him be.
"Fuck!!! Leave him!!! You bastard!!" Their desperate attempt at saving their friend was fruitless so they started cursing me while gritting their teeth, even one of them started crying in frustration and helplessness.
....
[Life essence required for update: 99]
Yet, this didn't change the outcome, not even one bit. All of this just ended in a moment.
When they saw how their friend who they knew for God knows how many years disappeared just like that without even a trace of his corpse left except the echoes of his hollow screams traveling across the field.
A hit like that was more than enough to destroy the spirit of even the most strong-willed people. The left of it was nothing but a one-sided massacre that ended up in a few seconds. They did try to run away but the black liquid was a step ahead of them.
[Life essence required for update: 98]
[Life essence required for update: 97]
A silence cold enough to freeze anyone's heart rained over the school. There were many people who stopped to watch the weird fight going on as they thought it was some kind of role-play done by the school. That assumption got erased as the fight went on.
"Oh my God!! My dear God!!! This thing killed them!!" One of the people spoke aloud creating a chain of reactions across the flabbergasted crowd.
They also started running away in fright and after that...
What happened was just the manifestation of the word 'massacre'. I went on a full rampage killing and absorbing people left and right.
No one, whether it was a normal person, crusader, old, young, man or woman. I killed each and every one of them in a cold-hearted way.
I loomed around the city, like a predator looming around the nest of chicks, gobbling all people like a famished Tiger eager for his first meal.
It was horrible to no extent, and I had to watch it all get conducted in front of me. With each murder, with each scream, with each sound of bullets and magic attacks, I felt as if I was losing myself slowly.
My happiness started fading away, replaced by deep, unfathomable darkness that threatened to eat me whole.
Even when I tried to close my eyes to not watch all of this, the sound was more than enough to deliver the scenery.
It was hell, for me and for everyone around me. A city that lived peacefully was turned into a slaughterhouse in a matter of hours.
Buildings got destroyed because of the continuous fights that broke on anywhere I go. Even the army tried to stop me, but except for creating holes in the building, destroying most of the houses, and delivering a chunky meal to the steps of my door, they did nothing else.
[Life essence required for updating: 0]
[Life essence consumption is completed successfully!]
[Update mode initiated.]
[Sleep mode initiated.]
I looked at the notifications with a neutral look, it didn't matter whether it meant that everything was over or not, I simply didn't care.
My eyes had already lost everything that made them look....human.
It could've meant that I was basically dead while still breathing or maybe lost all of my emotions. But what it meant for sure is that...I will never be the same after that.
As I bathed in this cold feeling, drowning in my own misery, I felt my body loosening up from the tension, and the hard restrictions I had on me finally disappeared.
The black liquid around me started degenerating on its own and becoming nothing but pure liquid that seeped away from me creating a pool of fluids around me.
I didn't move and just laid down looking at the sky apathetically. If it was not for exhaustion, I would've probably done something unthinkable.
"The target is laying down! I repeat the target is laying down!" The sounds of military men and crusaders alike echoed around me creating good background music for the thoughts I was having.
'How did this happen?' I thought.
How did this happen? Even to this day, I'm still not sure why it happened. Or to be more precise, why me out of all people?
I was never born special or had anything noteworthy about me to arouse interest from some otherworldly being. I was a normal kid in a normal neighborhood passing the days of my life as carefreely as possible.
"Why should I go through all of this? What did I do wrong?" I muttered as tears leaked out of my eyes. I couldn't understand anything about this.
The now slightly yellowish sky became the sole companion for me, and that didn't even last long as I was soon caught by the people who were following me. Obviously, I was not spared from a rough beating.
They kicked me and hit me with all their might, even some of them tried to end my life there were it not for the fact that their higher-ups will not accept that.
I didn't try to protect myself, I deserved that beating. It made me feel somehow a little bit better, my heart was eager for me to pay for this sin as fast as possible to lift away the deep guilt I was feeling.
"We caught the target successfully!"
One of them spoke aloud as they handcuffed me warily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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