Chapter 16- Holem Has Chosen You! (Part 2)
Mind-chilling howls echoed in the whole area, shaking Akio to his core. He felt the voices getting closer and closer as time goes by.
"Hah… Hah… Hah." His ragged breathing intensified and his fear grew more and more pronounced.
'They are close… I will try to lose them in the small alleys.' He assessed the situation and decided on his next move before quickly dashing toward a certain part of the slums.
Even though the pain from his legs and the numerous injuries on his body was enough to make him drop to the ground, moaning in pain, the adrenaline being pumped into his veins endlessly made it possible for him to keep on going without stopping not to mention the instant healing he got from the weird drink he consumed.
Behind him, the raging monsters were running crazily. Their huge numbers, as scary as they were, were actually almost like a blessing for Akio. The reason for that is that they were running after him without even caring about trying to leave some space for others of their kin to move. So, what ended up happening was a chaotic mess of creatures, just stumbling on each other and falling everywhere creating some small yet crucial time for Akio to make some distance.
One look at this gruesome abomination would make anyone feel their soul getting sucked out of them. Akio was no exception to that.
Taking a turn around the alley, he dashed toward the other side, crossing one block horizontally. The other exit should lead him to a maze of small alleyways that are hard to path for those who didn't live in this place for years, he was putting all of his bets on this plan of his to work.
But, Akio was aware that reaching that part of the slums would take more than mere running and good luck. Besides, he wasn't even sure if that area was already infected by these creatures or not. It was pure luck that he was relying on, something that isn't one of his particularly better aspects.
*Swish*
The creatures screeched behind him as they bulldozed through the narrow way like a huge wave. Their eyes were shining, aiming for Akio as their next target.
'Hah, they are too fast! Aren't fear-rank monsters supposed to be weak?!' He bit his tongue violently, injuring it in the process. The rush of pain made him somehow ignore the hellish suffering his body was going through.
'A few more meters and I'm out of the alleyway… Come on!' He forced his ragged body to break his limit as he ran as fast as possible.
*BOOOM* *BANG*
Walls behind and around him were getting destroyed as the monsters used them to run faster and to create more room for a bunch of them to be squeezed inside an alleyway this narrow.
Some of them even climbed the building and were running on the roofs, jumping from one to another searching for an opportunity to plunge on Akio and slice him into stripes with their sharp claws.
Suddenly, as he was about to exit the path, the worst possible scenario occurred.
A loud wail sent a shiver down his spine as he saw a bunch of other monsters run straight toward him. He was basically sandwiched between two groups of enraged nightmare creatures, all dashing toward him.
His face frowned even harder as he looked around him. Luckily, just two meters ahead of him was a metal door that led somewhere inside a stone building to the left.
Without thinking for a moment, he rushed toward the door and kicked it open with his healthier leg before he ran inside and closed the door. Since these monsters weren't that smart from what Akio had seen, he knew that it will take some time before they could break the door and enter inside.
*SMASH* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The second he closed the door dents appeared in it along with extremely loud bangs. Akio was sure that it won't hold up for long even though it was a considerably thick metal door that seemed sturdy enough to handle a few strong blows by a group of people.
'Now, I'm stuck.' He thought as he heaved up and down.
The situation was horrible, not only was he forced to enter a closed building but he also have to somehow find a way to reach the vein alleys of the slums. They were his one and only chance of survival in such a dire situation.
"Fuck…" Putting his hand on his face, he tried to regain his composure before he examined his surroundings.
He was inside what seemed to be a closed place with only one way… up.
Long broken stairs made out of rusty old metal led to somewhere up. Half of the steps were broken and the other half didn't look any safer.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The loud sounds coming from behind him were akin to an hourglass, ticking away from his imminent demise slowly.
"I have no choice…" He clenched his teeth and started climbing the steps in a hurry. He could hear the sound of the door getting blasted with hits and pierced with sharp claws left and right.
'Why are they after me?! There are more plump, delicious humans outside. Go eat them and leave me alone.' He cursed his bad luck and quickened his steps. He was already a deathly skinny boy that had no meat on his bones so he didn't understand why these fear-rank monsters were after his head this adamantly. Were they angry because of the fact that he was there when their leader died?
It was quite possible since he also remembered the ear-piercing scream the giant monster emanated before dying. It was akin to a cry for help.
Finally; after climbing for some time, he reached another metal door.
*BANG*
Kicking the door again, he rushed inside and closed it.
Then, he turned around.
"... Crap." He murmured as he gazed at the place absentmindedly.
He had somehow ended up on the roof of the building far from any possible escape routes except the door he just closed shut.
Putting his hands on his face, he fell down on his knees and murmured.
"It's over…" He thought as he listened to the sound of the door on the first floor being destroyed and the quick steps of the nightmare monsters as they climbed the stairs.
Akio felt all the energy seep out of his body. He had sensed it… the hope just vanishing with the snap of a finger. The soul reaper was grinning at him with his scythe ready to grab his soul when it was over. All of his effort to survive, the energy, the will to escape and live, vanished like mist, carried away by the blowing wind.
Tin had basically sacrificed his life for Akio to survive, yet, in less than 15 minutes, he already got himself stuck in an unavoidable situation.
Sighing, he rested his back on the cold, rough wall and just stared at the sky, absent-mindedly. For some reason, a wave of nostalgia hit him as he recalled all the memories and things he lived through.
'Nostalgia, my ass. It's all shitty memories.' He spat out a mouthful of saliva as if he wanted to get rid of the bitter taste in his mouth.
Ever since the moment he was extracted from his mother's womb, he had not felt a single moment of happiness or freedom.
His mother was working in an old bakery in the slums that made tasteless, bitter bread made out of cheap, synthetic flour that was sold to those who can afford it. After giving birth to Akio, she died because of the lack of medical attention when a hemorrhage occurred during labor. The fact that Akio survived was in and out of itself a miracle.
'Maybe all of my luck was wasted on that.' He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.
But, thinking about it, surviving for this long in such a situation was in and out of itself great luck. He was a powerless child against an army of carnivorous monsters ready to shred him to pieces in a heartbeat. How can he even face such a thing?
On the other hand, his father was a jobless, asshole that never raised him properly. Akio doesn't even know how he stayed alive under the care of that bastard.
'Maybe his curse is already taking effect.' Spitting out a mouthful of saliva, he chuckled deprecatingly at his own joke.
He didn't even know where he found the urge to laugh. But, well, here he is, having the time of his life as death kept knocking on his door.
His life was not good at all. Not a second had passed where he wasn't forced to work hard, not a second passed where he didn't feel like his existence was some kind of mistake in the universe's laws.
A life that could only see hardships wasn't a life, it was nothing but a form of playful torture by some kind of higher being.
'People behind those walls must have some good food and warmth.' His eyes shifted to look at the grim horizon behind the veils of fire and smoke coming from the destruction that occurred inside the slums.
He couldn't see the giant snake so he assumed it was already dead or maybe even worse… Tin was dead.
However, he ignored such thoughts and merely gazed deeply at the huge man-made structure. There, he could see, the tall walls of the inner city, standing domineeringly, protecting whoever was inside from any danger.
The sheer difference between the life inside those walls and outside them was just jaw-dropping. From all the legends and myths he heard about the inner city, it felt as if it was the manifestation of paradise on earth. Even Akio himself could only wonder naively.
'Are the people inside higher humans while we are Lower humans?'
Maybe the humans inside the inner walls are better than him, more beautiful, smarter, more talented… People that actually deserved a life of happiness and prosperity. On the other hand, Akio was nothing but a lesser human, a part of a banished group not allowed to taste the heavenly side of life. A group that only lived for and through hardships.
If anyone heard his twisted thoughts, they would immediately refute them. 'Every human is equal' they will say. Those same people who think like that are the ones that live inside those walls.
However, for better or worse, the lack of guidance for Akio since young and the extreme conditions of life he experienced for years and years helped hone this ideology in his head. For a clever child like him, there is no logical reason for this discrimination other than that theory he came up with.
'I want to see what's behind those walls…' He thought as he closed his eyes for a second, trying to somehow enjoy the biting cold of the howling wind. His cracked lips kept shaking slightly from time to time.
*BANG* *BANG*
The sound of banging and the sharp noises of sharp things slicing through hard metal woke Akio out of his thoughts and made him look to the side.
The door was already bent to a weird angle and the hits were still running down on it endlessly. A few more seconds and it will be destroyed and Akio will be eaten alive by the nightmare creatures.
"Tsk, I thought after everything that Tin did, I could survive. I'm such a moron."
Standing up, Akio walked slowly toward the edge of the roof. His eyes were calm, and serene, like two quiet lakes untouched by the howls of winds. The same eyes of a person that had accepted something and made peace with it.
"I only wanted to live, goddammit. Is that too much to ask?"
Staring down at the huge fall, he saw the fear-rank creatures running around, butchering any human they come across and eating them.
'Maybe this is the better choice?' He reasoned with himself, calmly.
One step… Just one step and he would be free. One step was all it takes for him to get free from the shackles that were called 'life'. Maybe if he did this, he will be reborn again in a better life. A life where he can eat hot food and wear thick clothes to protect himself from the cold. A life where he doesn't have to work every day and get hit every day. A life where he can be… Happy?
He didn't know what being happy meant but he heard that it was a great feeling so he could only contemplate it. Maybe if he felt happy, his life won't be pure torture anymore.
'I heard that there is a god that rules this world that I can meet if I die… Maybe I will ask him about all the things that confuse me.' A weirdly intrusive thought crossed his mind as he was on the edge of life, swaying between holding onto his chance or killing himself on the spot.
*BANG* *BANG*
Then, he closed his eyes and felt the wind blow up on his messy black hair. His leg moved forward and he swayed forward, about to let himself get carried by gravity. But… At the last second, before he fell down to his demise, his leg pulled back out of its own.
"Hmm?" He opened his eyes and stared at his feet. Then, he tried to push himself forward but couldn't move. Something inside him was making him stop moving.
'Why am I shaking?' He wondered as he felt his limbs fidget uncontrollably. All of his body was not answering his continuous orders to move, to step forward… to end everything.
'Am I… scared?' He thought to himself. Even though death was a scary idea, getting eaten alive by horrifying creatures seemed to be even scarier than an idea so he assumed death by his own hands seemed like a decent idea. Akio wasn't keen on the idea of getting tortured to death as he watched his own flesh and organs getting eaten in front of him.
'Didn't I accept everything? Why am I not moving.' He asked himself innocently. There was not even a hint of fear in his tone yet his body somehow contrasted his mind in what seemed to be a rare moment of mind-body dilemma.
[Your thoughts have caught the interest of a higher being.]
[The higher being is interested in watching your path.]
[Requirements have been achieved.]
[Holem has chosen you.]
[Two New Stigmas acquired!]
[Akio -
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class: None
Stigmas: Death Paths (Ex), Evolver (Level 1)
Strength: 4 ; Agility: 5 ; Stamina: 6 ; Health: 6 ; Holem Spirit: 12]
Akio's eyes widened a little bit as he stared at the holographic, floating flat rectangles in front of him. His mind didn't quite register what happened as these series of pop-ups assaulted his retina.
'Huh?'
As he was trying to comprehend the absurd phenomena, the door behind him was blasted violently, flying right toward Akio. Instinctively, the young boy jumped to the side and rolled on the ground.
*BOOOM*
The metal door landed on the edge of the roof, broken and bent as if it was made out of plastic and not thick iron.
The screeches of anger coming from the fear-rank monsters assaulted his ears and made him quickly shift his gaze toward the entrance to the roof.
Instantly, a swarm of nightmare monsters barged through and quickly ran toward Akio, with their dark eyes looking as ominous as ever… Maybe even more than ever.