"Begin the mission."
As the world rolled out, multiple shadows moved around the forest.
Alan and Bryce began carefully plotting out the missing parts of the swampy marsh around them.
The trees here acted as a natural camouflage from the skies above, mostly to cut the vision of dragons to create a natural defense mechanism for small creatures below.
Black snow and dark ice now lined the lower levels of the swamp, causing the once useful defence mechanism to become a pivotal weakness against the Hail.
As Alan and Bryce made their way around the branches of the tree, A cold sweat started forming along his arms.
He quickly entered his danger sense, sweeping the surroundings until he came across a gruesome sight.
Along the ground, a giant husk of a Gorilla Beetle could be seen.
These massive creatures had an almost indestructible shell that could even tank dragon breath if positioned correctly.
Within the husk sat countless cracks and breaks, lining the shell all the way to the front, where a hollow face sat, still in contortion.
So painful.
Alan's once calm expression twisted for a moment, pitying the poor beast for its cruel fate.
"That's horrifying," Bryce's voice spoke from beside him, lamenting in the same pity.
"There is nothing we can do about the poor beast now, we must push past and find the culprits.
Alan eyed the still frozen edges of the cracks on the shell.
"It seems like the attackers used a form of thermal expansion to weaken the shell." Alan motioned to have Bryce follow him closer.
"Here." He pointed to a spot where ice was still thawing.
"We must move, the attackers are most likely still close."
With Alan's orders, Bryce motioned back to the upper branches of the treeline, Alan close behind.
Alan followed the trail of red along the ground, tracking the feeling of foreboding until his head began to hurt from the sense of dread.
"We're close," Alan said, panting from the excursion.
Bryce quickly glanced around, trying to notice even the small peculiarities.
Thump.
Just then, a small thump resounded in the area.
Thump.
It was coming from below them.
Thump.
At the base of the tree, a small furry ball could be seen, its hair cascading from white to black all over its body.
Thump.
It was currently banging its head against the bark of a tree below them.
Alan quietly used his artifact to speak nonverbally
"What is it doing?"
Bryce, momentarily startled by the voice, glanced at Alan before using the rock as well.
"It's… banging?"
Alan's eyes furrowed. Tapping the bark of a tree was usually a scouting indicator for a larger group.
Alan quickly reignited his instinct talent into his eyes, the world plunging back into black and white.
In the distance, a wave of red was slowly making its way to where they were.
"It's signalling."
Alan quickly pointed into the distant brush.
Bryce focused his eyes on the distance. What he saw made him shiver with fear.
Around twenty-five small balls could be seen rolling across the ground.
Beneath them, the once calm water was frozen into cascading dark spikes.
"We need to move out of here before we're spotted by them."
Bryce went to move, but Alan grabbed his wrists.
"Wait."
Alan felt something even more sinister beyond that small group.
Purple?
What did purple mean?
Of all the encounters with people who threatened him, they all showed up red in his mind.
What could purple mean?
Wait.
Alan quickly leaned over the edge of the branch, exposing his head to the monster below.
It was big, around 5 feet in diameter, and its hair seemed more like bristles than fur.
Alan quickly focused deeper on the beast, the throbbing in his head wouldn't stop, even though he knew it couldn't sense him yet.
There, under all the red, a faint twist of purple lined its core.
Is it some kind of mutation?
Alan didn't have time to ask as those once far away Hail were now closing in.
"Ok, let's leave."
With that, he released Bryce's arm, who stretched it and moved up the tree.
They weren't going to flee completely, but take a step back from observation and move to follow them to their camp.
"Signaling Base Camp, this is Captain 1 of mission 1A - 010."
After 30 seconds, a reply came.
"Captain 1, this is base camp."
"Currently 14 clicks west of deployment, northern swamp. Located a scouting band of a potential nest. Out of vision."
"Copy that, advisor Walters sent word to keep distance but follow the trail."
"Copy."
Bryce glanced at Alan's face, noticing the complicated look. "What did they say?"
"Don't engage, but follow them for signs of their base camp."
Alan's words shocked Bryce.
Follow them?
How?
Alan wasn't taking the situation any better.
I knew something felt off from the moment the rewards were mentioned.
Alan knew just how valuable dragon blood was for awakening and empowering bloodlines.
"Check-in, group 1."
"Group 1, calling."
Check-in, group 2."
"Roger."
"Group 3 has received updated orders to go deeper into the swamp. Check-ins will be temporarily passed to Base Camp."
"Roger."
"Copy that."
With that, Alan tuned his artifact to channel 3, where only Bryce and he could reach back and forth.
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced a major character!]
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced a major character!]
[+ 10pts]
Open shop.
-Shop: Blood Pills [1pt.], Random info [3 pts], Random Tools [3 pts], Random Grey Talent [4 pts], Random Bad Info [10 pts], Helpful info [15 pts], Random Useful Item [17 pts], Random Artifact [20 pts], Random Useful Grey Talent [25 pts], Random Useful Artifact (one time use) [35 pts], Talent Boost [50 pts], Random Blue Talent [50 pts], Bloodline Boost [100 pts], Bloodline Awakener [150 pts], Random Yellow Talent [150 pts], Question Voucher [175 pts], etc-
Alan thought for a moment about what would be best in this situation.
I'm too poor…
After considering for a few seconds, Alan's voice resounded in his mind
Purchase grey talent.
Alan spun the wheel in front of him.
[Congrats Host! You have received a grey bloodline talent!]
[Error]
[Host has no bloodline]
[Updating system]
[Respinning talent wheel]
[Congrats Host! You have received a grey Body Talent!]
…
Alan held his breath when he saw that.
No bloodline?
It was safe to say that every human left on the continent was tied to some beast's bloodline.
How did I have none?
Well, there are definitely ways to change your bloodline, so creating a new one shouldn't be impossible.
Ignoring it for the meantime, Alan decided to plunge into the familiar black world.
Huh?
Alan tried to glance around, only to find that he couldn't see at all.
Ba-dum.
Panicking, he quickly tried to swim through the black liquid around him, but each stroke only made him sink deeper.
Ba-dum.
Listening to his heart, he slowly calmed down.
He wasn't drowning.
Slowly, he felt around with his other senses, particularly his ears.
A faint shimmering sound could be heard to his left.
He slowly drifted his body in the direction of the sound until he felt he was near the source.
Soon, faint whispers were surrounding his head.
Yoooooooou were chosen.…
The lifeeee you live…
Will be painful…
Die.
Suddenly, Alan shot up from the branch he was resting on.
Breathing heavily, he glanced at his system.
[Ding!]
[Good job host! You have awakened a {Blue} Hearing Talent!]
[Congrats host on your first Talent jump!]
Alan was too lost in his mind to register the system's notes.
This was his first true interaction with whatever was inside the system.
And it was horrifying.
Alan noticed Bryce was staring at him weirdly.
"You good?"
Alan responded with a small nod, quickly focusing on his newfound strength.
The sounds of leaves rustled around in his ears.
Branches creaking.
Small critters scurrying.
Bugs chirping.
They all came alive in his mind.
He focused his hearing downwards, where the sounds of water tightening could be heard.
Slow, deliberate reverberations shot from one ball to the next, like passing a note that no one else could read.
Is this how they communicate?
Suddenly, his hearing picked up something far more powerful in the distance.
Like a faint mosquito buzz in the background.
It pulsed around his mind before moving downwards to the balls.
Did it just probe me?
Suddenly, something felt wrong.
The once humid air turned dry and cold.
Hairs on Alan's arms stood on end.
His eyes shot to Bryce's back with complete dread.
"Run!"
Alan shot up, grabbing Bryce's arm and pulling him off the branch and into the air.
Behind them, the once full and lush tree was now rotten and black, ice spiralling around it like a vine.
Bryce had gathered his bearings mid-air, his breath freezing in front of him.
He quickly pulled himself onto a nearby tree branch, Alan catching one right below it.
His sword at his waist twisted, the blade slowly being lifted from the sheath.
Pressing a button on the hilt, the once still blade visibly glowed, the sounds of the vibrations making Alan's ear itch.
"We need to move quickly. I can hear around twenty more furballs rolling here."
Alan also released his blade, his eyes taut with the distant sounds of vibrations.
Bryce's eyes glanced at Alan for a moment and then back at the five or so balls below them.
Soon, the first ball moved, its speed unlike either of them had ever seen.
Shooting between the trees like a pinball, Alan and Bryce quickly tried to distance themselves from the balls, but they had perfect coordination.
Each ball had moved into a perimeter around the two boys, locking them in place.
Alan watched as vibrations passed in a circle around them, and suddenly, an idea popped into his head.
"Bryce," Alan called out to Bryce. "Can you increase the frequency of that sword?"
Bryce nodded along, confused, leading to Alan pulling out a small smoke grenade that he kept for emergencies.
"When this smoke grenade goes off, increase it to the highest frequency you can and run at the closest ball."
With no further explanation, Alan ripped the pin on the smoke grenade, tossing it a few feet to the side.
A small rune appeared on the side of the grenade, pulsing in a small gray circle.
Along the ground, small sparks lit, and a massive plume of smoke erupted.
At the same time, Bryce had popped the side of the hilt on his sword open, turning a red dial all the way to the maximum, causing his fingers to go numb from the vibrations.
The balls around them all started shaking, their minds twisting at the feeling of the vibrations.
In the smoke, two figures lunged at a now staggered ball.
As they moved in, one pinning it with his body, and the other slashed his sword down.
Slip
As the blade touched the fur, a small vibration shook the blade, causing it to instantly split the ball.
Alan quickly looked inside the fur for the "thumb" Georgia mentioned, but the only thing he saw was a mass of bug guts.
On the outer layer of the skin, two nubs could be seen along with beady black eyes.
Quickly, Alan chopped off one and stuffed it into his pack.
Bryce wasted no time, blitzing through the swamp towards the direction they came.
Small tree markers could be seen along the upper branches Alan left for trailing.
As they left, Alan felt that familiar presence at his back probing them once again.
As he looked behind him, a giant wave of purple was slowly creeping through the forest.
Fuck!
Alan pondered the limited ideas he could think of, only one had a decent chance of working.
He fiddled with the bottom of the handle on his weapon, popping open the hilt and exposing the intricate system of motors and electric nodes.
As Alan began twisting the intensity of the vibrations his sword released, he noticed a familiar mist slowly rising along the swamp bed.
Please!
The sword was stabbed into the ground, a wave of energy hitting it and dispersing completely.
The mist that was slowly approaching started to slow down, pulling back into other directions.
With a slight grin, he caught up with Bryce, explaining the next part of the plan.
"The Hail uses small vibrations of energy to communicate."
He pointed his finger towards one of the mountains in the distance.
"Over there, that's where the base of the pulses is coming from."
As Bryce took all of this in, he slowly understood what happened back there.
He glanced at the smoking sword impaled in the swamp below them.
"But how are we meant to continue the mission without weapons?"
[Ding!]
[Host has been officially aligned with the human faction of this world!]
[15 points have been assigned to you as a bonus for joining a faction!]
[Ding!]
[Host has defeated a minor enemy in joint combat!]
[+1 pt.]
[Ding!]
[Host has altered the fate of a minor character!]
[+1 pt.]
[Ding]
[Host has accelerated the plans of a nearby Major Character!]
[- 5 pts]
[Ding!]
[Host has fooled a Major Character!]
[+ 10 pts]
Alan's system flooded with messages about system points.
I lost points?
Alan was starting to understand how the point system actually worked.
Open Shop.
Bryce was right, they needed some form of survival.
Those swords were equipment supplied to them by the general himself, so he had no real idea how valuable they were.
-Points: 34-
-Shop: Blood Pills [1pt.], {New} Random Grey Bloodline [2 pts], Random info [3 pts], Random Tools [3 pts], Random Grey Talent [4 pts], Random Bad Info [10 pts], Helpful info [15 pts], Random Useful Item [17 pts], Random Artifact [20 pts], Random Useful Grey Talent [25 pts], {New} Random Blue Bloodline [30 pts], Random Useful Artifact (one time use) [35 pts], Talent Boost [50 pts], Random Blue Talent [50 pts], Bloodline Boost [100 pts], {New} Random Yellow Bloodline [125 pts], Bloodline Awakener [150 pts], Random Yellow Talent [150 pts], Question Voucher [175 pts], etc-
He noticed the new bloodlines in the system, sure enough, even the system had no idea he'd be so talentless.
34 points were enough to try his luck at a useful grey talent…
He suddenly remembered something.
"Base Camp, this is Captain 1."
"Mission status?"
"The enemy coordinator was using vibrational waves to sense incoming beings near the mountain."
"At the moment, Agent 05 and I are moving back to the drop-off point to regroup."
"Roger, any reported casualties?"
"One singular combatant was taken out during the attack. I collected a nub from its scalp as proof."
"Roger that, reporting to HQ about the mission, sit tight."
Alan let out a breath of cold air, the sky was slowly shifting into dusk.
"I can get us weapons," Alan stated out of the blue, intriguing Bryce.
"What kind of weapons?"
Alan scratched the back of his head. "I won't know until it shows up."
Bryce's eyes twisted strangely, and he looked to the sky, the twists of purple and orange from the sun coming from the horizon.
"Okay, I trust you."
Alan glanced at the boy he felt he barely knew.
The me from the past would've picked a fight with him the day he showed he was stronger.
The me from the past would've left his group and quit the military.
Alan glanced down at his shaking hands just then.
Who was the me from the past?
"Thanks," Alan muttered back to Bryce, who now had the look of a dying possum.
Alan ignored him and waited to hear back from the HQ.
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced a major character!]
[+5 pts]
"Captain 1, this is Base Camp."
"This is Captain 1."
"Orders from the lieutenant state to continue pursuit, we will monitor your position live via artifact tracking."
Alan paused for a moment, his hand stiff to his chest.
Sure enough.
"Roger."