The blue flash left behind white blindness.
Kai squinted his eyes, but even with them tightly closed, he could see the whiteness seeping in as blues and greens. Sometimes, darkness wasn't enough to keep the colors away, it seemed.
His sense of hearing, though, wasn't subjected to these effects of the teleportation. A wild combination of merry voices hit him from all around.
Again? Kai thought. Why the fuck can't Chaos teleport me to some empty room?
After a few seconds, Kai opened his eyes, and before he could see, he smelled. A humid, fresh watery smell of rivers and lakes. Of animals, and foods.
Of Power?
When the whiteness vanished, he saw multi story houses and shops. But where the street should have been, there was a canal running from his left to his right. Short arched bridges were joining the walkway, where Kai was standing, to the walkway opposite to him beyond the canal.
Suddenly, a fish jumped out of the water.
Kai's heart jumped along with it.
…
[
Beast Proximity: 3 meters
Glitch Condition matched
Contestant Kai Stormborn is qualified to awaken his Glitch
Do you want to awaken it now?
]
…
"Mom…" a child's cry entered Kai's ears suddenly. "Mom! Look! It's Remoraid!!"
It was a revolver-like light-blue fish. There were two dark stripes on its body that resembled the barrels of a gun, a single pelvic-fin like a revolver trigger, and two fins at the bottom that resembled the butt of a gun.
Huh? Kai was quite surprised. Even a simple fish has a name…
Then it struck him like thunder. Kai's head snapped toward the canal where the fish had disappeared before he threw his gaze left and right, eying more such weird animals, accompanying people like pet… but not exactly pets.
A word roared in Kai's mind, his stunned expression turning into a demonic, vile grin.
Pokemon!
The fish Pokemon splashed down the canal, joining many others like it. It was a school of fish, Kai noticed. Another thing he noticed was the people pointing at him, and then whispering to each other.
Only then did Kai think of something, and looked down.
Damn! Kai snapped out of his boyish fantasies. My clothing didn't change.
He was still wearing the uniform of the Security Task Force of the Gringotts. It was torn from here and there from all the things that have happened after meeting the dragon. Also, he was still holding it; the bag of eggs.
"Ah, hello?" a voice came from Kai's left.
There was a woman in a red skirt, holding many bright-colored leaflets, and looking at him with a strange, apprehensive gaze. But Kai's eyes only stopped at her face momentarily and then dropped to her feet.
Another Pokemon was there, looking up at him with the same look as the woman. Blue color, round body, black-white swirls on the belly, and gloved hands…
"Poli…" the Pokemon croaked. "… whirl."
What could be more strange than this? Kai wondered, his eyes shining like two hungry pits, just on the verge of gobbling the thing down. Somehow, he felt slightly dizzy, but a heavy shake of his head brought him out of the drowsiness.
"He… Hello?" the woman asked again.
Kai reluctantly looked at her and smiled. The woman flinched and stepped back. The Pokemon now walked forward, making a squishy sound. Its body seemed to be covered in slimy mucous, smooth and slippery.
"Yes?" Kai asked, thinking of Chaos' new way of presenting the mission. He just hoped the System would hurry because it was getting too difficult to hold himself back.
"Uh, are you here for the race?" the woman asked. But she didn't wait for Kai to answer. Taking out a leaflet, she extended her shaky hand towards him.
The moment Kai took it from her, she scampered off, followed by the pokemon.
The characters are usually friendly to me, Kai thought. Now, with my Charisma even higher, she should have been friendlier, not the opposite. Is it all because of my appearance?
Kai took his eyes off the many Pokemon walking around with people. His breathing was already getting out of rhythm, the smile never leaving his face. He looked at the leaflet, and suddenly, all the colors and writing on it vanished before he could read it.
…
[
From the void, a single egg came into being, which then hatched into the ORIGINAL ONE.
From HIM came all the universe, for HE created the worlds, the dragons who control space and time, and the evil serpent, who is the traveler of Dimensions. HE created willpower, knowledge, and emotion. And when the creation was at its peak, HE created all beings, the life as it is known today.
HE was ARCEUS, the Pokemon.
Now, Pokemon, the magical creatures, live alongside humans.
This is a world where both animals and plants are being supplemented and replaced by Pokemon. Most people respect them, treat them kindly, bonding with them for a better purpose. Yet, some take advantage of them, exploiting their abilities for their gain.
Chaos welcomes you, Contestant Kai Stormborn, to the World of Pokemon.
]
…
Chaos sure knows how to shoot up my heart rate, Kai sniggered. But he would rather have it spitting the Side Mission and the details as soon as possible, and not some ancient tale of an even ancient Pokemon, which he had nothing to do with.
As if reading Kai's thoughts, the introductory words disappeared.
Their place, though, was taken by a map, showing a blue and red dot, and a time counter of 20 minutes. The blue dot was flashing, and Kai couldn't help but frown as he looked at it. He knew the System was telling him to go to the place marked by the red dot.
I am having a bad feeling about it…
After 15 minutes, Kai came out of a dark alley, wearing a normal white shirt and loose blue jeans.
On his head was a blue cap, and only that item was stolen. There wasn't much space in his MRB, to begin with. Not with the enormous chest of meatballs made of magical flesh for Selene. Now that he also had to store the three eggs, it was jam-packed.
He was only a few turns away from the destination and still had some five minutes left. So Kai didn't hurry. There were too many stray thoughts in his mind to sort out before letting himself get involved in another situation.
The first thing Kai thought of was also the most recent event that happened to him.
Even while walking through the maze-like laneways, crossing canals after canals that ran like common streets, and passing by people and Pokemon, Kai was having a monstrous amount of difficulty controlling himself.
So it was this thing that was affecting her, Kai thought, remembering the odd behavior of the woman and her Pokemon. I was unconsciously sucking out her happiness. Tch!
Kai had yet to familiarize himself with the Advance Emotions Manipulation. However, for him, who had a knack for manipulating people, it was a god-given gift.
From what the Blood Essence let him feel, using the Ability, Kai could erase all happiness out of a target. He could make the targets remember the most desperate and despaired moments of their lives, affecting their soul, and leaving them incapable of rational thoughts.
Still, it was the effect of bottling his own emotions within him that excited Kai the most.
If he wanted, and as he desired, Kai could hide all his emotions from someone who could perceive them, like the magical beasts. That's all he could do for now, though. He couldn't hide one emotion, leaving the other out.
No wonder the Pokemon was looking at me oddly, Kai reflected. I had all my emotions hidden from the time when Dementors had come to me to suck my soul. Without emotions, my smile must have looked like a drawing on paper. Without emotions, my Charisma was getting affected as well.
"Sigh!" Kai let out an audible sigh and unlocked his emotions.
After careful deliberation, Kai had forced himself to give up on unleashing the evil on his surroundings before getting the Side Mission. If it was in his power, which didn't the case as of now, Kai would let the Dementor-Kai out and start sucking the souls. But it was the Side Mission that generally warned Kai about what he could do and what not. No matter how much Power Kai had got on his last adventure, he still hadn't forgotten to respect the Power of the Systems.
Kai moved on, both physically and mentally. His mind then went to the Skills.
A series of fireworks went off within him, thinking of those heart-palpitating Skills, and the sheer destruction he could unleash using them. Though reluctantly, he left them alone for the moment he would get to use them. The only thing he was concerned about now, relating to the Dementor's blood essence, was the locked Skill, Dementor's Progenitor.
Then there was the matter of 2 Attribute Points to Kai.
With these two, he had only 7 Attribute Points left to get from his 20 points Quota.
Kai refrained himself from assigning the points to any Stat, though. With too many Abilities and Skills, he was having a hard time solving this problem. At a glance, he wanted to add both points to his Correspondence. But then you could never have too much of Perception, either.
I will add them to the Stat which I would need the most in the next battle, Kai decided.
Hissss!
A silver mist came out of Kai's head, made a small turn, and returned to him.
Selene is restless, he reflected. She hasn't come out even once properly after the time of my ugly failure with the dragon.
The dragon…
Now that brought an unpleasant, but crucial, memory out of Kai.
Why the fuck my Glitch didn't work? he asked himself.
There was only one way to find out.
"Chaos, why didn't my Glitch work on Ukrainian Ironbelly?" Kai asked.
He would rather know the true limitations and mourn them, than not knowing whom his Glitch could and could not devour. He dare not recall how stupid he must have looked at that time, touching the dragon's tail, and his mouth gaping in disbelief as if he was ready to suck its dick or something.
…
[
Contestant, Kai Stormborn, your Glitch has no restriction on what it can and can not devour.
Glitches, based on devouring a beast or a part of it, depend on the difference between the Will of the user and the Will of the target to function. If the Will of the target is too high than the user's Will, then the target can resist the user, and the Glitch will fail.
The Will of Glitch, Blood Devour, is already the highest among all Wills that exist within the magical beasts of infinite Random Worlds and the Primordial Tower.
The reason for your Glitch's failure lies not in it being a dragon, but in what the dragon represented.
This Ukrainian Ironbelly, the dragon under Gringotts Wizarding Bank, is a major Main-Storyline Beast. When your Glitch tried to devour its Blood Essence, it wasn't the dragon who resisted it, but the entire Timeline.
Even the Will of Blood Devour can't overpower an entire World, Kai Stormborn.
]
…
Kai gaped at the notification.
So… he thought, analyzing and asking. So… if I were to devour any other Ukrainian Ironbelly, and not the one under the Gringotts, then my Glitch would have worked?
…
[
Yes.
]
…
Then how to know which Magical Beast was protected by Timeline or not?!
Kai didn't ask this question, because he already knew the answer.
I really, really need to gather comprehensive information on the Random Worlds as soon as I can, Kai reflected, his face going hard. I can't afford going for an obvious opportunity, but getting killed for it.
The matter of killing also made him remember one more thing. Perhaps the most crucial.
Kai licked his lips, feeling the dryness. I need a new set of fangs…
There was no serpent without fangs. There was no Blood Demon without sabers. One just went with the other, and that was the way to it. Simple.
But this wasn't the time to think more of it.
Kai had reached the destination.
A Pokemon Center!
And the moment Kai took a step in, he got to know why he had had a bad feeling about it.