Lincoln stood there in shock as Luna now stood in the center of an ominous storm that was literally coming off her body. 'What the hell is going on?!'
"Alright, while I'm still calm... Why'd you attack me?" Luna asked, cracking her neck.
Lincoln looked at Luna's attacker, more specifically at his level and title.
{LV 46, Seongon Hwan, Black Summoner}
'I can see his level but not Luna's. So he's definitely weaker than Luna by gaming standards.' Lincoln thought, before creeping back away from the two. 'It doesn't matter if they are strong or not. I should get out of here first!'
"Fenrir's Thunder Aura." Seongon's sudden speech startled Lincoln as he was creeping away. Lincoln instinctively hid behind something, an alley between a deli store and a post office. "I heard that this style of Aura uses the overwhelming speed and power of wind and lightning. Added with your Black Dragon's Soul, it's even stronger than the last few users of this style I've faced."
Luna's veins twitched as she gritted her teeth in rage, "So you're the jackass who's been attacking my pack. If I wasn't already pissed, I'M FUCKING LIVID NOW!" The lightning and aura around Luna suddenly became stronger, literally blowing away multiple buildings as a storm raged off her body. Lincoln had to forgo cover to run further away as the post office was turned to rubble. "Any last words!?"
"The conversation is over now. No more talking. It's time for action." Seongon replied as he made a cross sign over himself. "Go." Suddenly, a massive three headed canine, a Cerberus, leaped from the Black Summoner's shadow. Each of the three heads had a different element, the left head was coated in flames, the middle seemed to freeze the air, and the right was emitting lightning bolts.
Luna leaped at the beast and landed a clean punch directly onto the middle head. Lincoln didn't bother to watch the battle as he continued to run away as one of the heads of the Cerberus was sent flying in his direction only for something to pull him away. It was Lynn, but before Lincoln could get a word out, Lynn pressed him against the wall. Lincoln also noticed that Lynn was covered in dirt. "Alright, jackass. You got ten seconds to prove your Lincoln, or I'm gonna cave your head in. One! Five!" Lynn began.
"You once wore Lori's bra cause you were embarrassed at how small your chest- URGK!" Lincoln was swiftly silenced by a quick chop to the neck.
Lynn groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, you're Lincoln... And I told you to never bring that up again!"
Lincoln coughed as he stood back up, "You told me to prove I'm me! That's the second time in my life you've threatened to cave my head in!"
"Don't be such a baby." Lynn rolled her eyes, Lincoln coughed one last time as the pain and injury were nullified by his ability. "Dammit... How come you became Chosen?"
"What?"
"It's a long story that I don't know how to explain. Let's just get you to Lisa." Lynn replied before raising her hand into the air. Her hand glowed before a flame
"Was that..."
Lynn quickly interjected, "Shut it, I'm not good with Protected Spaces!"
Suddenly, Lisa materialized out of thin air. Lisa hadn't grown much, being second shortest to only Lily. She had a fairly soft figure, not fat, nor athletic either. Her hair had been cut shorter, or rather burned shorter from her experiments, evidenced by the burnt ends on her hair. She still had her normal glasses, and wore the same green sweater and pants, the only thing added was a pair of safety gloves.
{LV 40, Lisa Loud, Mad Genius}
"That you are not, Sporty sibling unit." She said, Lisa then raised her hand and the world seemed to shatter around them. Revealing the same Royal Woods underneath, this time however, Lincoln could hear people again.
[Hidden Quest Completed!]
[Open To See Your Rewards!]
"What the hell is happening!?" Lincoln shouted as he brushed aside the rewards screen.
Lynn covered Lincoln's mouth as Lisa adjusted her glasses. "I will try to explain as best I can."
"Do you know about the Gaia Theory?" Lisa asked.
Lincoln licked Lynn's hand, making her pull away from him in disgust. "Gaia theory? It proposes that the earth is alive, so Gaia theory is often used in fantasy novels or games. And the earth itself can exert its will. I know it's never been proven scientifically. Needless to say, it's a stupid theory." Lincoln answered.
Lisa nodded in agreement, "To be perfectly honest, I agree with you on that. I know you would know, because you love video games, but answer me this. What if the Gaia Theory is true?"
"Huh?"
"Listen to me. There are supernatural powers. Some people say it's "Providence" and others say it's "Natural Law". It's been called the "Principle" or "Origin"." Lisa explained.
Lincoln shook his head, "You're talking nonsense."
Lisa shushed Lincoln. "Let me finish. So people have many different names for it, but generally... They call it "God"."
""God"?! Please! Are you serious?" Lincoln exclaimed.
Lisa shrugged as she replied, "I don't know if there's a God or not but... I can tell you this. Some Supernatural Powers really exist on this planet. For example... Ghosts do exist."
"Well... Yeah, we've seen ghosts before... We've even seen a witch and dragons before, remember?" Lincoln retorted.
Lisa rolled her eyes and continued, "People with Supernatural powers exist as well. The most well-known power is telekinesis, like bending a spoon." Lisa said as Lincoln visually imagined a spoon being bent. "Telekinesis, which means you can move things with your mind. There are other powers too. Some people can teleport, and some can ignite fires." As she explains this Lincoln was mentally picturing human beings capable of doing this, people with powers he could only imagine in fiction. "They're called Innate fighters. Because they were born with special abilities."
"Okay, I think I'm starting to understand it a little… could you go back to the Gaia theory?" Lincoln asked.
"Right, we believe Gaia gave these special abilities to Innate fighters. It's like God chose them." Lisa explained with Lincln getting a mental visual on just who Gaia is looking over the silhouette of Lincoln.
'Huh? God's choice? Gaia… in other words, the Earth gave me this ability?' Lincoln thought before realizing something. 'Then how come my ability is so weird?'
Lisa could see Lincoln was still slightly confused and needed more of an example, so she continued. "So Gaia gives different abilities to each Innate fighter, and usually the abilities they receive are related to what they care about the most. For example, if you nearly drowned when you were young, you'd be able to control water."
"That's amazing!" Lincoln said as he nodded his head as he finally understood what his sister was talking about, then it changed to shock as he realized what this meant. "Wait! That means…"
"That's right…" Lisa said as she lowered her head in disappointment for one reason, Lincoln's video game addiction. "You like playing games too much, you received powers just like in a game."
'It… it can't be true!' Lincoln thought this was just unfair to him.
"How many times have I told you? You were almost addicted to games!"
'To sum up, Gaia chooses people seemingly randomly and gives them special abilities. And whatever has affected their lives the most deeply is likely to impact their abilities. So… I became a Game Character because I liked games… Is this for real?!' Lincoln hung his head as he realized how weird his ability was. "I guess I understand what happened to me now… So then what's the Protected Space?"
"Simply speaking, it's a place to fight." Lynn answered.
"What?"
"It's complicated, so listen to me. Gaia gives innate fighters not only their abilities... But also... Limitations." Lisa explained.
"Limitations?" Lincoln asked.
"It's called a preventative power." Lisa answered, "If they overuse their powers and seriously impact the real world... Gaia will interfere and shut them down."
"Huh?" Lincoln muttered. 'Preventative? Shutting down?'
"Lincoln, seriously, quit saying, 'Huh?' or 'What?'" Lynn responded.
Lisa then put a finger to her chin. "Hm~... Let's say you won the lottery using your power." Lisa stated. "From that moment, you would be in big trouble. For example... You'd be struck by lightning, or you'd get into a car accident. Eventually, you'd suffer misfortune."
"No way."
"Hey, I am serious. The more influence you exert on the world, the more trouble you will get yourself into." Lisa stated.
"Yeah! So don't use your powers for your own gain." Lynn added with a smirk.
"You shouldn't talk dear Sporty. Remember when you didn't listen to your mother's explanation of this very same thing and got punished for using your power in Softball?"
Lynn quickly shushed Lisa who created a barrier between them to block her spittle. "Wait, when was this?" Lincoln asked.
"Around the same time you were pretending to be bad luck." Lisa answered as Lynn tried to shush her more. "Lynn used her powers on the other teams to build a win streak, having not listened to
Lynn then looked at Lincoln, who was looking at her with a look that was a mix between shock and distrust. Without a word, Lincoln pointed for Lynn to leave the area. Lynn fumbled her words trying to defend herself only to hang her head low and walk out of the alleyway toward home.
[Quest Completed!]
[Open To See Your Rewards!]
'Looks like Luna finished that guy off.' Lincoln thought as he swiped aside the
Lisa adjusted her glasses as Lynn left the area. "It's inevitable. The earth you are living on will punish you."
"That's terrifying." Lincoln replied.
Lisa nodded. "I know. But you're ok, unless you have a great impact on the world. Let's say you're selling some snacks on the street, and you used your power to sell them out. That's completely fine because it has little impact."
Lincoln rubbed his head, "I think I get it now. So about Protected Spaces?"
"In a Protected Space, you can use your abilities without limitations." Lisa explained.
Lincoln nodded, "I get it now. It's a place that Innate Fighters use to settle things so Gaia doesn't punish them. Right?"
Lisa gave her older brother a warm smile. "Correct, Single Male Sibling Unit. Inside a Protected Space, whatever is done inside will be undone once the space has been dispersed by the creator. Moving on, if you are skilled enough, you can create a Protected Space that alters the flow of time. Like a Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Lisa started with a 'Matter of fact' tone.
"The only reason you know that is because you and I are both Superpower Nerds." Lincoln stated.
Lisa retorts with, "Maybe but I am not as much of a quote-unquote Superpower Nerd, such as you." The two glare at each other for a minute before laughing. "Well, it's a good time for you to learn how to make a Protected Space. Simply raise your hand and release energy from your hand."
Lincoln looked at his hand before raising it to the sky… But nothing happened. "How… Do you release energy?"
Lisa sighed before grabbing Lincoln's hand, "Firstly. Stretch your fingers outward more," Lisa had Lincoln spread his fingers as far as they'd go. "and concentrate on releasing the energy through your hand."
"Okay…" Lincoln replied, closing his eyes as he focused on releasing energy. 'I'm releasing energy… I'm releasing energy…'
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Mana Affinity (Foundation Skill) Lv 1, EXP: 0.0%]
[A skill needed to create other skills using Mana (MP)]
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Aura Affinity (Foundation Skill) Lv 1, EXP: 0.0%]
[A skill needed to create other skills using Aura (SP)]
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Spirit Affinity (Foundation Skill) Lv 1, EXP: 0.0%]
[A skill needed to create other skills using Spirit (SP)]
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Psy Affinity (Foundation Skill) Lv 1, EXP: 0.0%]
[A skill needed to create other skills using Psy (MP)]
Lisa's eyes widened in shock as she felt four kinds of energy coming from Lincoln.
At the Loud House, Luna was at the table, reluctantly eating Lynn Sr's goulash when she suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her chest. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Luna screamed as she fell to the floor, clutching her chest as it .
Rita ran to her daughter's side, as a black aura began forming from Luna's chest. "This is that Abyss stuff! I'll just go grab the medical box and leave you to it!" Lynn Sr. stated as he quickly retrieved the medicine box from the master bedroom before retreating.
The Loud matriarch was quick to give her daughter painkillers before releasing an energy from her hand. It wasn't like an aura as it flowed like wind, This Spirit Energy. Rita used her Spirit Energy to calm down a black orb. She created a special Protected Space to focus more on calming down the orb. As she did, the Protected Space revealed an orb inside Luna's chest. Around it was a dragon made of pure darkness.
"The Black Dragon's Soul… It's trying to go back to Lincoln…" Rita muttered. She managed to calm down the Black Dragon's Soul and the pain ceased.
Outside, Seongon was watching while on top of a light pole, "So that's why she couldn't properly use the Black Dragon's Soul. It wasn't hers to begin with." Seongon was engulfed in a black cloud before he vanished from sight.
Lincoln then created a Protected Space around himself and Lisa.
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Making Instant Dungeon (Active) LV 1 Exp: 0.0%]
[A skill to make an Instant Dungeon. You can make stronger ones by increasing your skill level.]
'Then next would be… Escaping one…' Lincoln thought as he focused on escaping from a dungeon.
[A New Skill Is Created Through A Specific Action!]
[Escape from instant dungeon (Active) LV 1 Exp: 0.0%]
[A skill to get out of the Instant Dungeon. You can escape stronger ones by increasing your skill level]
Lincoln looked at his hand as he smiled before noticing the freaked out look on Lisa's face. "What's wrong?"
"Lincoln, what you've done should be impossible." Lisa muttered as she walked around Lincoln, observing him. "There are exactly Four Main Categories an Innate Fighter's ability falls into. Magic, Psychic, Spirit, and Aura. When you belong to one of these, you can learn, you cannot learn the abilities of the other. Very rarely do people fall into two or, even rarer, even three categories." Lisa then had a thought. 'It could be because of the Black Dragon's Soul, it has allowed Luna to use Spirit and Magic with her Aura. And Lori's Dragon Soul does the same. I will study this later.'
Lisa then got an alert on her phone, it read, "Tell Lincoln to stay away from the house, tell him its because of a Sister Fight Protocol. The Black Dragon's Soul just tried to break away from Luna." Lisa's eyes widened as she closed her phone. "Lincoln, there is a Sister Fight Protocol going on at home so-"
Lincoln was quick to interject when he heard Sister Fight Protocol, "I get it, give you girls some space. I'm gonna take a walk around town and see if I can't get a better feel for this power. Tell Mom and Dad I'll be home later. I'm sure they already know about all this stuff."
Lisa sighed in relief, knowing that Lincoln will stay away from the house for a few hours. With a "Pop" Lisa vanished from sight, but soon after Seongon appeared on top of a building.
Raising his hand to the air, Seongon announced, "Open. House of the Dead!" Lincoln didn't hear Seongon in time as he was pulled inside another Protected Space.
To Be Continued...