'System what is this lichenization?'
In his mind Gordon asked the system for more information.
[Lichenization is the synthesis of a lichen thallus from a ... error ... free-living state of compatible ... error ... fungi and algae ... ... !@!#!$#*(@ 22222]
Text from the system started scrolling out slowly in a pop up box, but part way through the sentence suddenly gave an error and then another before going absolutely weird.
'System are you okay?'
Gordon asked when the system didn't immediately give a reason for going on the fritz.
[I am Upgrade System ... error ...]
Instead of answering the system seemed to want to declare its identity, make sure he knew its correct name, he wasn't sure what it was doing.
'Uhmmm, is there something wrong?'
This time Gordon came to a stop in the middle of the avenue letting the people around him pass by. Calmly he scanned the crowd. Since he didn't have any ability to understand the inner workings of his golden finger all he could do was look around to see if there was something in his environment that might be causing the system to error.
Sure enough as he looked around he saw a short figurein a coat and hat about twenty meters away. There was nothing about this individual that screamed covert action at first, all Gordon knew was that when he looked at the short figure he felt a chill in his heart.
Then despite staring at the man between one moment and the nexts it seemed to disappear as people passed in front of it.
Seconds later Gordon saw the figure again only now it was only about eight meters away. Panic seized his heart as he unashamedly ran. Bursting into a flat out run Gordon knockes several people in his dash. All he could do was shout out apologies as he went.
Thankfully he was already close to the stairs that led up to the main doors of the Beast Center and once he came up to the top of the stairs he paused and looked back. Thinking that this had all been a mistake Gordon had almost convinced himself that there would be no one behind him.
It was more shocking to find that the short man in a coat and floppy hat was laboring up the stairs behind him right on his tail.
Again he turned and ran. As a seventeen year old he was pretty fit, not anything compared to the sport types in his school. Yet still he was easily able to open some distance from his pursuer.
Moments later he was outside the doors of the Beast Center and he was running down the main street.
'I have to get back to the police station. No one would dare attack me in front of police.'
No sooner had Gordon decided on these plans when be found himself face planting into the hard cobblestone road.
"Where are you going, Gordy! Ha, ha, ha, nice one lame brain."
Putting up his arms to protect his head Gordon skidded to a stop and then looked back to see the little man chasing him perform a flying leap to land on Gordon's legs. Tackling him when he was already down a sharp prick came from his lower body and then a warm wet fish followed.
Real medical shock happened as Gordon realized he had just been stabbed.
It didn't hurt yet, but it did make time slow down as the man brought up a bloody knife.
Said knife was thrust into his face as the creature hissed and grunted tangling in his legs.
"Holy Lord of Mercy spare us! Run! He has a knife!!"
His would be bully's voice turned high pitched like a girl's in a panic. The bully that had just tripped him and called out ruthlessly laughing was now scared shitless.
Gordon didn't take his eyes off the knife, he couldn't it was all he could do to dodge, but he could hear screams and a rush as people ran away. He hoped that his bully, Craig, and Craig's gang were among the people making it safely away. It was an odd thing to think while fighting for your life in the middle of the street, but Gordon had already been through so much life. Enough life to know that all life was precious even the weak ones who still had time to grow.
The creature went for Gordon's neck in a vicious feint and then bit down on Gordon's forearm instead.
Gordon revised his understanding of this creature, because it was a creature. Up close the thing smelled terribly, like sweat and old dried blood. Its skin was green and it had long sharp fingernails and a wide mouth with pointed teeth. Definitely not a human. In this world anything that was not a human or an animal was a beast. Sort of a catch all category.
The thing was clawing his lower body even as it tried to gain some advantage with its knife.
Suddenly a man appeared over Gordon and the weight that was the creature was lifted away.
"Come on now, none of that, no fighting in the street."
A calm but extremely authoritative voice came from above. Gordon couldn't see who it was while covering his own face with both of his arms.
The next second the creature was thrown some ten meters away. Gordon struggled up to his feet and then realized that blood was flowing liberally from his legswhere he had been clawed. Not to mention his stomach which had been knifed.
Putting one hand on his wound Gordon pushed down on the injury while keeping his eyes on the creature.
A message from the system arrived next.
[Suppression removed. Alerting host of a threat in the vicinity. Please use caution!]
Gordon saw the message and just nodded. There was no time to be sarcastic with the system, but he wanted to say something witty really badly.
All his attention was focused on the creature which screamed and then threw the coat and hat to the ground very much as if frustrated. Perhaps the extra cloth was hindering his movement.
"Goblin! There is a goblin in the middle of the city!!"
"Run! Run, there's a goblin!"
"Beast tide!"
Cries went up around them as Gordon instinctively moved to slowly position himself behind his benefactor.
With the man in front of him now Gordon could see that the Goblin's knife had been neatly thrust into the man's palm. That must have been why the goblin had been thrown so suddenly. Gordon could only imagine what kind of strength it would have taken to throw a goblin like that!
Evidently the man had thought that the two struggling in the middle of the street were just two kids in a fight. He had not expected the Goblin to suddenly lash out with a knife. Who could blame the man. They were in Talon, the third most populous city in the region. There probably hadn't been an attack by monsters into the middle of the city in centuries.
"Annie, can you handle this one?"
The man kept his eyes on the goblin, but was obviously talking to someone outside of Gordon's vision.
"Sure, Gale, are you admitting that one little Goblin is too much for you?"
The woman, Annie, laughed as Gordon heard her moving somewhere to his left.
Gale held up his hand and waved it in her general direction. The knife still embedded up to the hilt in his hand a gruesome display.
"Yes, yes, I can handle a goblin. It would just be easier, if you could..."
Trailing off Gale punctuated the end of his sentence by pulling the knife out of his hand.
"Holy Mother of Darkness! Serves me right for trying to do my civic duty!"
Blood gushed down onto the street as Gale cursed using the name of one of the God's in the empire's main pantheon.
Laughing the woman said nothing more, just casually walked up to the goblin that was shivering in fear and feinting she stomped her foot to her right. Desperately the goblin dashed in the other direction only to be met with the edge of Annie's blade cleanly slicing through its neck.
"Easy."
Was all Annie said before straightening up from her fighter's stance.
Then she bowed and mumbled something under her breath. Gordon assumed she must be a god worshipper.
Soon she straightened up and rolled her shoulders stretching while rescan or ding her sword.
"Are there any others?"
This question came from Gordon who was now so close to Gale that the man could reach out and touch him.
"This was the only one."
A second woman much skinnier than Annie joined the conversation.
[Incursion concluded. Threat level has returned to green.]
The system said something, but suddenly as if a switch was flipped Gordon was having a hard time thinking. Everything seemed to get farther away as he felt like he was falling forward forever.