I was standing in the middle of a shifting, interdimensional Japanese fortress, staring at a cheap microwave spinning a frozen pizza.
I was currently trying to catalog all the empty wooden halls in this place to figure out which ones I could actually gut and turn into a proper kitchen and pantry.
"We really need to get some decent overhead lights in here," I muttered, leaning against the wooden wall. "I bought, like, two dozen battery packs at the mall, but we're gonna need actual wiring if we don't want to live like cavemen. And you're absolutely sure you checked my clothes for any bugs Cecil might have planted? That guy manages Earth's defenses for a reason. He's a paranoid freak."
Nakime strummed her biwa softly from where she sat on a raised platform. "Do not fret, Master. I have thoroughly swept the castle and your belongings for any foreign listening devices. We are completely secure." She paused, her tone dropping some of its usual rigid formality. "Though I still do not understand why you insist on preparing sustenance in that noisy metal box."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Because I'm starving, Nakime, and this is high cuisine," I said, yanking the microwave door open. A blast of steam hit my face, carrying the smell of processed cheese and cardboard crust.
I pulled out the steaming hot pizza, grabbed a plastic cutter I'd bought at the mall, and sliced it up.
"Now, pay attention. This right here is what we call a proper cheese pull," I announced. I grabbed a slice by the crust and lifted it, fully expecting that glorious, stringy, commercial-worthy stretch of mozzarella.
The cheese instantly snapped in half and plopped sadly right back onto the cardboard tray.
I just stared at it. My disappointment was immeasurable and my night was ruined.
I just stared at the pathetic, broken strands of processed dairy product. The grease had already started to congeal, forming little orange pools on the surface.
My disappointment was immeasurable and my night was ruined.
Nakime leaned forward, observing the sad, broken slice. "What is it? Is the ritual complete?"
I sighed, completely defeated by the frozen food aisle, and handed her the broken piece. "Just eat it."
She took it gently. She sniffed the cheap pepperoni once, her nose wrinkling, then tentatively touched the absolute tip of her tongue to the grease. Her single massive eye rolled all the way back in pure, unadulterated disgust. A visible shudder ran through her entire body, and for a second I thought she might actually gag.
'Right. I keep forgetting I'm the only one here who doesn't eat human flesh,' I thought, watching her actively place the slice on the floorboards as far away from herself as physically possible, as she even wiped her tongue on the sleeve of her kimono, which, yeah, that tracked.
"As I was asking earlier," Nakime said, trying to ignore the pizza's existence. "Was it really wise to give away your heavy shield to that rock man?"
I took a bite of my own slice, chewing on the rubbery crust. "Yeah, probably not my brightest idea. But I need Titan. He's an opportunity I can exploit to deal with this massive, Nolan-sized headache we've got coming our way." I swallowed hard, looking down at my boots. "Besides... seeing little Fiona kind of reminded me of my little sister. Before she..."
My brain completely stalled out.
My vision tunnelled as the edges went dark and fuzzy,
A massive, violent rush of memories I had sworn to keep locked behind a mental steel door suddenly tried to kick their way into my head. My chest seized up like someone had just hit me with a sledgehammer. The air in the room felt incredibly thin, refusing to go down my throat.
Nope. Absolutely not. We are not doing this right now.
I needed a distraction. I needed it immediately.
Gambling.
My fingers were shaking as I mentally pulled up the interface, the familiar blue glow a lifeline I grabbed onto with both hands.
I practically ripped my interface open, selecting the Bronze ticket I earned earlier today. I didn't care about the fanfare. I just needed the rush to drown out the noise in my head.
[D20 Roll: 14] (Change Ticket Type)
'Huh. Lucky, I guess,' I thought, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs it actually hurt. The pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out everything else.
In a bizarre moment of clarity, I needed four more abilities to upgrade my Call to Arms skill to the final Diamond pool. So, I picked Ability.
[Project Image]
|Common Ability|
Allows you to conjure 2D planes that show images or play a video that you can remember or imagine accurately. The 2D planes created are stationary and are as durable as 1cm of untempered glass.
A weird, sharp pressure bloomed right behind my eyes, like I had been staring directly into a bright light bulb for way too long. The ability settled into my brain.
A reel of film materialized in my mind, waiting for me to project something. Before I could even try to pull up an episode of my favorite anime to calm myself down, the ability misfired, feeding off the exact thing I was trying to suppress.
The air in front of me shimmered like heat rising off pavement as a very thin, translucent glass screen suddenly materialized in the air right between Nakime and me.
The surface perfectly smooth and reflective. Through it, I could see Nakime's confused expression, distorted slightly.
It was playing footage.
A young girl with twin pigtails, wearing oversized pajamas completely covered in stars and polka dots, was running across a cheap, stained living room carpet. She was looking over her shoulder, laughing this bright, completely untainted laugh. Her face was round with baby fat, gap-toothed smile so innocent.
"You can't catch me, Johnny! Hahah! I'll get all the gifts now!"
I froze as my entire body locked up as my lungs completely stopped working.
Another voice came through the projected screen. A young boy, looking exactly like me but way younger and skinnier, came running into the frame right behind her.
He was grinning, reaching out to tag her shoulder.
"Hey Angy, watch your step—"
I didn't even process the movement. My fist went straight through the glass screen before the video could play a single second more.
The 2D plane shattered into a thousand pieces, the physical glass breaking over my knuckles and scattering back into the ether like glowing dust.
My hands were violently trembling. I was taking short, frantic gasps of air, my chest heaving as I completely failed to get enough oxygen into my system.
"Master? Master, please!"
Nakime was suddenly right in front of me. She wrapped her arms completely around my torso, pulling me into a tight, grounding hug.
Her body was cool against mine. The fabric of her kimono was rough silk against my face, and underneath it I could feel the steady, slow rhythm of her breathing, so much calmer than my own ragged gasps.
She rubbed my back, her hand moving in circles, trying to force my breathing to sync with hers.
"I'm fine," I wheezed, grabbing at the fabric of her kimono. "It's fine. Just... need to catch my breath."
I squeezed my eyes shut, repeating my stupid mantra. 'All is well... all is well... all is well...'
It took about five minutes before the roaring in my ears finally died down to a dull ringing.
"Uh... Nakime? I'm fine now," I muttered, pulling back slightly.
She didn't let go immediately. She checked me over with her single eye, looking completely panicked. "Are you truly well, Master? Should I open a door so we can find a medical professional?"
"No, no, it's fine. I just needed a minute," I said as I forced my breathing to even out, forced the shaking in my hands to stop through sheer stubborn will, pushing everything back down into that box where it belonged. Locked it and threw away the key. Again.
"What was that?" she asked quietly, looking at the empty space where the screen had been.
"That..." I muttered, staring at my knuckles. "That was a memory I really wish I could forget."
To stop myself from spiraling right back down that dark, suffocating hole, I immediately rolled my Gold ticket.
[D20 Roll: 13] (Change Ticket Type)
The fuck is wrong with my luck today? I was finally on a lucky streak, and I couldn't feel a damn thing.
"What the fuck is going on," I muttered, choosing another Ability ticket to push closer to the Diamond pool upgrade.
[Orchard]
|Rare Ability|
You are able to create fruits and vegetables out of your own energy. The fruit and vegetables you create are extremely refreshing and can have unique properties depending on your abilities.
A weird, hollow tug pulled right at the center of my gut.
My stamina dipped just barely as energy pooled in the center of my palms. The air above my hand shimmered, condensing and solidifying as a sphere of soft light condensed, leaving a perfectly crisp, red apple sitting in my hand.
I rubbed it against my sweater to clear off the nonexistent dirt, and took a massive bite. The skin crunched between my teeth, and juice exploded across my tongue, sweet and tart and impossibly fresh.
It was incredibly sweet, the juice instantly clearing some of the heavy exhaustion out of my brain. Better than any apple I'd ever tasted back at the vineyards.
'Decent enough. At least we...' I stopped myself, glancing at the demon sitting next to me. 'At least I won't have to starve anymore.'
I looked at the second gold ticket sitting in my interface.
"Hey Nakime," I said, my voice finally steadying. "Could you play that tune again? I really need your luck."
Nakime smiled softly, visibly relieved that I was talking normally again. Her shoulders relaxed as she brought her biwa up and started playing that soothing, rhythmic tune that always managed to calm my nerves.
'All this planning. All this running around. Putting a billion-dollar bounty on my own head. Let's see what it bought me.'
I mentally tore the second Gold ticket and watched the die tumble.
[D20 Roll: 20] (Ticket Upgrade: Gold -> Platinum)
I stared at the die as it settled, the natural twenty glowing on the screen.
The universe's timing was fucking impeccable. Finally roll a crit when I'm too dead inside to even feel a lick of excitement.
[Sebas Tian]
|Epic Familiar|
Overlord - He is one hell of a butler, oh wait, wrong Sebastian. Sebas is a Dragonoid Martial Artist/Monk with incredible physical stats and the ability to expertly use Ki and transform into his Dragonoid form. But before all of that, he is an incredibly competent and loyal Butler.
"What..."
Before I could even finish the sentence, a massive, glowing magic circle erupted on the wooden floor right in front of me.
The entire room trembled. The temperature dropped so fast I could see my breath mist in front of my face as the battery-powered lights I'd set up flickered and dimmed.
The air pressure in the room instantly dropped. A heavy, suffocating gravity pushed down on my shoulders, making it physically hard to stand.
A man stepped out of the light.
He looked like an absolute powerhouse wearing the skin of a refined gentleman.
He was tall. Not freakishly so, but tall enough that it made you feel small.
He had perfectly groomed, stark white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in an immaculate, incredibly sharp black butler's suit that somehow completely failed to hide the sheer, terrifying bulk of the muscles underneath.
[Image Here]
He stood there with his eyes closed and one hand resting elegantly over his heart. His breathing was so controlled I couldn't even see his chest move.
The physical presence he radiated was oppressive. It felt exactly like standing next to a dormant volcano that could erupt and wipe out a city at any second.
He slowly opened his penetratingly blue eyes.
But unlike Blue-Eyes, who took a moment to look around and roar, this man didn't waste a single second assessing his surroundings.
He immediately stepped forward in a fluid movement, dropped to one knee, and bowed his head in absolute, unquestioning submission.
His voice held a deep, earth-shaking gravitas that I had never heard before in my entire life.
"I ask of you," Sebas said, his tone perfectly even, as the words carrying the weight of ritual behind them. "Art thou my master?"
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