"Sigh, does this place always have to be this dark?" Arthur asks, looking around at the emptiness of the mind palace. "Can't it have like another default setting or something?"
[You haven't decided on that yet, hence the darkness.]
"Is that so? Then as of now I want it to always be my room," He declares, the space changing as he speaks. "Much better. Now that that's dealt with, there're things I need you to tell me Rex."
[I'm guessing it's related to the marks.]
"Yeah, firstly I don't really understand how my leveling up works. It's not like I get experience from killing monsters like in games, but rather I level up when I absorb aether which I believe everyone can do." He says, complaining further. "I need to understand my powers if I want to use them more efficiently."
[I understand, so I'll answer all your questions. Remember the differences I told you about a while back?]
"Yes I do," He says, as he tries to recall the conversation. "But I don't see how that's relevant to this discussion."
[It actually is relevant, because it's all connected in some way. Your power is Lord Romanov's power that he passed on to you, however, most of it was sealed because your body isn't capable of withstanding it yet. So as you grow stronger more and more is released, and that's where your leveling up comes in. As you absorb more aether, it forges your body into a stronger vessel to contain that power and those levels show you how much of that power you can use. In simple terms, your levels are equally proportional to the how much you've released.]
"I get it now, but what about the others, like James and mom?" He asks, rubbing his chin as he awaits an answer. "Theirs doesn't seem to have come from any god."
[In their case it's a bit more complex. When the first portal appeared and the aether from other dimensions seeped into this world, those marks manifested as a result of the adaptive nature of humans. Just like when animals evolve to survive, the human body created a way to utilize aether.]
"If that's the case, then I'm guessing leveling up is also something very complex." He says, sighing. "Why is it always so complicated…anyway I'm listening."
Rex continues, as he dives deeper into details about the other marks.
[Their marks are heavily dependent on innate traits and potential.]
"Potential?" He says, raising an eyebrow. "Not what I expected."
[Yes, the mark doesn't necessarily give you power, but rather amplifies it and that's where potential comes in. The mark basically amplifies your potential for something, for example your friend's sword prowess. James seems to be very proficient in the sword, and the mark amplified that to an exponential level. In this case the similarities in your leveling up applies, the level you display is directly proportional to how much of that potential you can use and how much it's amplified.]
"Then the higher your potential, the stronger you can become. I understand." He says, nodding his head. "But what about the innate traits you spoke about?"
[Well that one is quite simple as one example is your mom who awakened as a healer. Your innate desire to help, protect or kill affects the ability you awaken.]
"Phew, I feel like my head's gonna burst from all this information, but I get everything now," He says, pulling a chair next to him and sitting. "That's all I have to ask for now."
[Alright the, however, keep in mind that these marks can evolve and grow into something much more powerful.]
"What do you mean evolve?"
[You will understand once you see it for yourself.]
"There you go again with the mystery, but I'll be patient this time," He says, standing up and turning to the door. He walks out and wakes up as usual, however, it wasn't morning yet.
"Didn't expect you to wake up at this time of the night," James says, his back against the wall as he stands by the entrance.
"And why aren't you asleep?" Arthur asks, sitting up.
"Well someone needed to keep watch, and that's what I'm doing," He claims, pushing off the wall. "Just because it's quiet now doesn't mean we should let our guards down, plus monsters aren't the only things you should lookout for now."
"What do you mean 'other things'?" He asks, getting up.
"Come with me," James says, walking out the door.
Arthur follows closely behind James as he leads him outside, through the back exit of the mall. He stops in front of a man's corpse, brutally battered and disfigured. Arthur throws up at the sight of those, before speaking. "Why are you showing me this?"
"What do you see, Arthur?" He asks, his voice more serious than usual. "Look closely."
"It's a dead body, what more is there to see?" He replies, looking away from the sight.
"Look closer."
He turns and gives the body a closer look, this time noticing that the wounds on the body aren't like the others they've seen so far. "It looks like he was brutally beaten up and stabbed multiple times at that…what kind of monster did this to him?" He asks, turning to look at James.
"Not monster, humans. Humans did this to him." He responds, clenching his fist.
"What?" He asks, confused by what he just heard.
"After this incident began, three categories of people emerged, those who kept their sanity and tried to survive the right way. Those who believed this was a calling from god and formed a cult to worship that winged man, calling themselves 'The Covenants'. And then those who did this, calling themselves 'The Scourge'." He explains, anger radiating from his voice. "Those bastards, go around killing and assaulting innocent people for pleasure."
James turns away from the corpse and starts walking back to the building, Arthur follows immediately after him. "This is what this world has become." James adds. "I showed you that to let you know from now on, things like that will be happening more frequently and you won't be able to avoid sights like that. So steel yourself Arthur."
[END]
To be continued…