Midnight, Arsenal's eyes darted open as if he had a bad dream. He looked around him and realized that he was still lying on the mat in Ohana's room.
"So much for the goodnight rest that I thought I'd have." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep again.
Using his hand, Arsenal pulled the sheet forward so that it would cover him to his chest. Ohana wasn't kidding when she said that it gets cold at night. However, as Arsenal pulled it upwards, something pulled it back down, so low that it only covered from his knee.
He gasped, and sat up Immediately, his heart beating rapidly as he gazed at the mysterious figure that took out his bedsheet.
"Hush!" It placed its index finger on its lips, as it held onto the hem of the bedsheet on its left hand.
"What are you doing here?" It asked him, but Arsenal was too scared to speak. For a start, this figure was hidden in the shadows, every part of him from head to toe was as dark as coal. It is twice the height of an average Gnoman person, and its voice echoes as it speaks
"Who are you?" Arsenal wanted to ask, he was curled up in the corner, trying not to shiver in fear.
"I don't know, I was brought here," he answered.
"To kill me huh? Cowards." Said the figure, taking a few steps closer to Arsenal after tossing the bedsheet aside.
"I'm guessing that my brother has found another host huh? And just Like the others, there is nothing you can accomplish, Arsenal, nothing….
"How does he know my name?" Arsenal wondered.
"I know that name of every man when I see them." the figure said, having read his thoughts
"I know their thoughts and desires, their strengths and weaknesses. And no one, lesser or greater than I can snap me out of existence, even if they tried."
The figure paused as he stood in front of Arsenal. With one knee on the ground, he stretched out his hand to touch Arsenal's face, but just then, Ohana woke up with a knife in his arm.
"Move away from him," she yelled, keeping a safe distance from the dark figure.
"Hmm?" It growled, its dark eyes emitting a red glow as it turned to face Ohana.
"I will come back for you, Arsenal," it said as it pulled the knife out of its arm, before floating toward Ohana, faster than the eyes could see.
It grabbed Ohana by the throat, strangling her in midair until the breath was out of her lungs, while Arsenal watched in horror, unable to move a muscle and save the only friend he had made on Gnomon.
"Goodbye… Arsenal," it said, tossing Ohana's unconscious body in front of him before leaving the room through the wall.
"Ohana?" Arsenal called out to her as soon as soon as he found his voice,
"Ohana, please wake up, don't die… system, initiate emergency healing protocol."
"System? System, are you there?" There was no response from the system and Arsenal didn't know why. Ohana died in an arm and a mysterious figure just threatened him, surely it was a terrible time to not have a system by his side.
"Arsenal?" Ohana muttered, her faint voice reaching his ears and giving Arsenal a glimpse of hope.
"Arsenal is that you?" She asked, reaching out to touch his shoulder.
"Yes, are you alright?"
"Wake up, Arsenal." She uttered in return causing Arsenal to raise a brow in confusion.
"Wake up!" She tapped him again on the shoulder, and just then Arsenal opened his eyes to see Ohana tapping him on the shoulder to wake him up.
"You are such a deep sleeper," she added, shaking her head from side to side.
"It's morning already?" Arsenal wondered, yawning and stretching on the mat, with his eyes still closed.
"How on earth did your bedsheet get here?" Ohana laughed, as she picked up the sheet that was so far away from Arsenal, such that it would require another person to have kept it there.
At the sight of the bedsheet, Arsenal got a flashback to the crazy dream he had, and as Ohana threw the bedsheet back to him, a shiver went down his spine when he caught it.
He heaved a sigh of relief watching Ohana leave the room, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"System, are you there?"
[ Yes, always ]
"Oh, alright. I wanted to know if there is anything that I could do around here that will earn me two hundred silver Gnomes, so I can pay Ohana's dad."
[ There are several jobs you could do to earn some money in Gnoman. But tasks that will earn you 200 silver Gnomes within a short period require a lot of strength and endurance. Most people avoid it because there are high chances that you might die in the process be crushed by a rock or even be infected by a deadly disease. ]
"What job is that?"
[ Mining, beast hunting and animal breeding]
"Doesn't seem so bad to be honest, at least I can do one of them and earn a little something."
Arsenal stood up Immediately and rolled his mat, after which he folded the bed sheet and kept it by the corner of Ohana's bed.
[ Consider it a mini task; if you earn 200 Silver Gnomes today, you will be rewarded with 20 Aether coins. And extra 5 Aether coin for every extra hundred Silver Gnom after the first two hundred]
"Sure," Arsenal muttered,
"But I don't think it's safe for me to go out with my face into the village. Agents might be searching for me and Ohana."
[ You still fear the Agents]
"When I don't have so many coins to increase my strength, yes."
[ Then maybe try fighting with one of them once without increasing your strength. You will be rewarded with 10 extra coins if you succeed]
"Oh hell no," Arsenal exclaimed,
"I'll just get a mask and get my job done."