Chapter 5: Fight or flight
Me, Ash, and Liam were already very tired, and we were going to set up camp and sleep for the night. However, there was something I forgot about with the whole thing with Seb.
"Wait! Isn't it almost night and the monsters are coming? That means it's donation time!" Ash exclaimed.
"Hmm, so how much should we donate?" I wonder out loud.
I had no idea how much the people around here donated. Liam and Ash also looked puzzled.
"Today is the first day of the monster flood. Even though quite a few people arrived very early in this trial area, the trial doesn't start until today because then it would be unfair because then if you are early, you suffer more. It's quite lucky you arrived today, because the ones who aren't at a pillar yet will most likely die." Ash informed us.
Liam said, "Well, we can't be the bottom 15% donators, which is rounded to 22 people, and even if we can't be the top 40%, which is around 59 donators, our survival odds are quite high."
I nodded and added, "Yeah. Everyone here has survived the first trial and the sub-trial which means they have at least 450 coins. People like Seb would have thousands. I think it would be logical for many people to spend 90 coins because then they have enough for the 7 days, but some desperate people will spend more today to ensure their survival."
"So, we each donate like 120 coins?" Liam asks.
I nod but I notice Ash looks a bit worried.
"Hey Ash, is something bothering you?" I asked him.
Ash mumbles, "I only have 100 coins. Sebastian made everyone give him their coins."
This changes a lot. This means that Sebastian may very well have ten thousand or more coins. He probably also took part in hidden trials. Honestly though, I feel that Seb has a lot more to take care of. From repeating the trials, he will probably be preparing for the next few. We should be safe from his attacks for a while. However, this also means that everybody who works for Seb would only have 100 coins. I ruled away this thought, because Seb should realize if he doesn't give his minions some coins for the event, he would have no supporters (well honestly, they don't support him, it's kind of forced…) and would have to get new ones to be his meat shield.
"Ash, then of course, me and Liam will give you our coins." I comforted him.
I think it's weird he didn't expect that. Kindness seems to be so hard to find in this world.
Liam said, "Yeah Ash. We're together."
Ash's expression immediately brightened. "Are you sure? But you and Sky will have better survival odds if you just keep all your coins." He asked.
Me and Liam nod together.
[You gifted Entity Ash Browns 1000 coins.]
Ding.
Ash gasped. "Wow! You have so many coins. How could I repay you?"
"You don't need to. You're our companion." I told him with a smile.
I hear another ding. Liam also gave away some of his coins. I knew he also figured out the hidden trial system.
Ash looked so happy, but I knew it wasn't time to celebrate. I stared at the moon that was peeking out from the horizon, and I waited for the message that was sure to come.
[Coin Collection: Donate your coins
[How many coins will you be donating today? Please press in the number of coins you will give up.]
[ 120 ]
I pressed in the number that we agreed on and hoped we would be the ones with the protection from the monsters. It wasn't a necessity; it would just make things easier.
[You have tied for 60th place donator. Monster flood will commence in 5 minutes.]
Well, that place was just bad luck. It was quite funny actually, but life and death weren't something that you could laugh about.
I quickly said to Ash and Liam, "Ok. We must fight these monsters off. Do you all have a weapon?"
Liam nodded and pulled out a bow and took an arrow from his quiver. Ash shook his head. Sebastian has done a good job of making his dependents, well, dependent on him and his so-called "protection".
"What's you power theme?" I asked Ash.
I hadn't really thought about how the power theme thing works, but I could probably buy a weapon that fits Ash better if I knew what it was.
"It's… it's…" he stammered.
Ash looked reluctant to name his power theme. I wondered if this had something to do with why he wasn't born in Yorun but moved here.
I said, "It's fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
However, Ash looked determined and told me, "It's Shadow Demon."
I quickly opened up Vantusi Shop and brought a sword called "Abyssal Blade" and handed it to Ash. Ash looked shocked but I shushed him.
[1 minute until monster flood.]
"Ok, so the monsters are coming in one minute. Ash, just try slashing your sword around a bit before the flood. Liam, can you activate your wall thingy if we start getting pushed back. Until then, stay back and shoot from afar. I will be up front stabbing the monsters as well as I can. Ash will fight behind me." I say quickly.
They nod their heads, and we go into position.
[Monster flood has commenced.]
A howl could be heard in the distance, and a moment later we could see the monsters coming. They looked like wolves except they were a lot larger. Like a lot. One of these monster dogs was taller than me. They had teeth so sharp they could probably pierce my arm with a simple touch. They had blood red eyes and oh god there here!
I pulled out my Quillblade and started slashing away at the mob of incoming hounds. Seeing this definitely isn't doing this, I used my Narrator's pen and wrote "sticky" on the area of ground in front of me. All of the dogs in that area became stuck to the floor as if there was glue there. However, this obviously wasn't going to be enough.
{Look up.}
Jebaka whispered in my ear as if on cue.
I whipped my head around and looked up. What I noticed was that around 2 stories high on the pillar, there was a ledge. I immediately shouted to Liam and Ash, "Quick! Get up to that ledge!"
Liam, who must have invested a lot into agility similarly to me, quickly reached the pillar and used a special arrow to create a rope at contact with the pillar. He hauled himself up quickly and got to the ledge safely.
Just then the first wave of monsters finally escaped the sticky floor. I saw that Ash was still trying to fight off some wolves that came in from the sides, and immediately wanted to kill myself for not checking on him earlier. I rushed to his side, grabbed him, slashed at the wolves with my Quillblade, and started running towards the tower. When I got there, I helped Ash onto the rope. I started pushing Ash up the rope and climbed on myself. I saw Liam pulling the rope up to help us as well, and I hoped the arrow that connected the rope to the pillar was strong enough to hold our weight. When Ash got near the top, Liam pulled him up to safety. Now only I was still stuck on the dangling rope.
That was when the wolves caught up with me. They started to pull on the rope downwards, and one got onto the rope. It bit into my leg, and I felt a searing pain…
{I've got you.}
… That wasn't too bad. However, Jebaka couldn't hold up this resistance for long when he could barely talk without sparks arising. I tried to turn around and knock the wolf off, but it was clinging onto the rope tightly and was starting to climb up closer to me. I tried to use my hurt leg to push myself higher. Unsuccessfully.
The other hounds gave the final tug and Liam and Ash lost grip of the rope. I tumbled down into the pack of hounds, and they all bared their teeth ready for their meal. The wolves bit into me.
{Valarie - ointment}
Then Jebaka's influence on me left. He or she must have run out of magic power from Magic Proficiency. As the pain gripped me from all sides, I saw Ash screaming my name… or something else… and his eyes turned white like the wolves killing me right now. I saw black tendrils coming from his back reaching towards me, and I wanted to shout for him to stop, but couldn't find the strength to.
[Entity Ash Browns has activated Skill: Shadow Construct Lv. 1 in a desperate attempt.]
[Entity Ash Browns has activated Skill: Shadow Construct Lv. 2 in a desperate attempt.]
[Entity Ash Browns has activated Skill: Shadow Construct Lv. 3 in a desperate attempt.]
[Entity Ash Browns has activated Skill: Shadow Construct Lv. 4 in a desperate attempt.]
[Celestial Demon of the Dark World is interested in Entity Ash Browns.]
Then I blacked out.
When I finally woke up, it was already noon the next day… wait how many days have passed since I fell unconscious?
I sat up and looked around. I was on the ledge of the pillar, and I saw Ash trying to use his Abyssal Blade. I didn't see Liam, so I assumed he was off hunting somewhere.
[600 coins have been gifted to you for surviving 3 nights.]
Well, I guess those questions were answered. For the last 3 nights, I guess we've been camping out on this ledge to avoid the monsters. I wondered how, or if, I donated money to the system while I was unconscious. I wasn't able to, so I guess Liam and Ash handled it. I felt a pang of regret that I had to burden them like this.
[1500 coins have been invested in Strength. Strength Lv. 12- Lv. 22.]
[1500 coins have been invested in Stamina. Stamina Lv. 12- Lv. 22.]
[1800 coins have been invested in Agility. Agility Lv. 13- Lv. 23.]
[2700 cons have been invested in Magic Proficiency. Magic Proficiency Lv.14- Lv.30.]
I had so many excess coins thanks to Eljin. Since our first encounter, I've been constantly communicating with him through Vantusi Chat. He basically pays me based on Celestial attention that he gains because of the show I put on.
Here are the 8000 coins you demanded from me. * He said.
[Vantusi Eljin given you 8000 coins.]
I was making our team lag behind. The least I could do was to have coins.
I jumped down from the ledge next to Ash. Ash's face lit up when he saw me.
"Hi Sky! Glad to see that you are feeling better!" He said cheerfully.
"Nice to see you too. Are you working on your sword right now?" I asked.
Ash nodded. I decided to help Ash starting off with how he held the sword. We trained together for a couple of hours, and I showed him some moves based on what Jebaka told me would fit him. I also tried to help Ash with his skills, but he didn't seem to be able to activate them on his own. Jebaka told me he would look into it and give me an answer soon, so me and Ash climbed back up onto the ledge.
Liam came back when the sun started to set with a large bag full of game. He looked glad when he saw me and rushed up to greet me.
"Hey! Nice to see you alright! Tomorrow lets go down to sell this meat." He told me.
I nodded and asked, "How much will we donate today?"
Liam's face darkened. "There have been many casualties every day. Nobody else has been able to find this ledge. I don't know why, but every time it gets close to the monster rampage, all the people working for Sebastian disappear with him. They probably found some cheat code before we did. We've been donating 250 so far. The reward survivors get from each day of survival means we must donate more than on the first night."
"Ah. So, still 250 today?" I asked.
Liam nodded, and so we set up for the night. When the message came, we saw that we were ranked…
…125th place.
We survived, but that number was so close to the death that all of us exchanged looks. A shift was going on.
That night, after Ash and Liam went to sleep, I talked to Jebaka for hours, thinking of a plan. San told me that through the thousands of lives he lived he hasn't seen anything like this before. We discussed how we could win against this.
The next morning, I told Liam and Ash that I would be going out for a while, but I would be back before sunset. I passed by the rest of the people who were still alive. They were mostly wounded, but I noticed that Seb's group wasn't there. It was early in the morning, so I guess that they were still in the place where they spent the nights.
I went into the forest and perched up in a tree facing Sebastian's camp and started waiting.
When it was about noon, I was still in that tree, and I had purchased a skill called "Enhanced Hearing" that was pretty self-explanatory. At this point, Eljin started talking with me.
Hey! What are you doing! The celestials are bored at this development, especially with you being unconscious for 3 nights. * He said.
Stop nagging me. Don't worry, I have a plan for tonight even if this doesn't work. * I snap back.
Well, the celestials are getting grumpy, so your plan better work. * He said.
Oh yeah since you're free right now can you update me on the celestial Demon of the Dark World and his interest in Ash? * I ask Eljin.
Sure. After this trial is over, we will have a formal Patron Selection. Celestial Demon of the Dark World is planning on sponsoring entity Ash Browns. Of course, according to our contract you again shouldn't choose a patron. *
I thought for a moment about whether I should tell Ash to accept the offer or wait for another chance, but I thought that it should be his own decision. There are also probably many celestials interested in Liam too.
I thanked Eljin and started listening in on the conversation again.
When it was afternoon, I had already made all of the preparations for the night. I had gotten as many coins from the hidden scenario I had found as possible.
I got back to the pillar and told Liam and Ash, "Today, right before sunset, we'll destroy the pillar."
Liam asked, "Why? Doesn't that mean we won't have the ledge anymore to stay on?"
I told Liam, "Some people, probably Seb, are trying to kill us. If we stay here, we'll die. Trust me on this one please."
Ash and Liam glanced at each other, then nodded. If they don't trust me, we are doomed.
I told our team what to do. I sent Liam out to create distractions in the surroundings to clear out people, while me and Ash would try to recruit people from Sebastian's team while he was away. These new forces would help us destroy the tower.
When it was finally sunset, after preparing all of the things we would need, it was time for action.
I heard some explosions from a distance away and motioned for Ash to follow me. I used my pen to write 2 pairs of shoes that mute our noises from others and handed one to Ash. We walked over to Sebastian's camp where Sebastian and most of his troops had already left and found that girl. Her name was Setiara, and she is 17 years old. She has great potential and convincing her would help us too. According to Jebaka, she is a lot easier to sway to our side than Sebastian, and she is in Sebastian's inner circle so she would be a great help.
"Setiara, can we have a word?" I asked firmly.
She turned around and said, "Hey! You're the person who master wants to k— who master fight with that day! You're under arrest!"
"Setiara. Do they treat you well here?" I ask.
"Yes! I can get stronger here!" She responded angrily.
"Setiara, so after you had to do that to survive the first scenario, you're going to make others feel your remorse too?" I ask.
Setiara flinched and asked, "You don't know anything! I'm loyal to master!"
"I know exactly what. Was your mother's plea for help as you stabbed her in her heart that worthless?" I ask. I know this hurts her, and what I'm doing isn't good, but this is necessary.
Setiara looked uncertain and angry and scared all at once.
"I didn't have a choice—" she stammered.
But I cut her off. "You had every choice. I didn't kill someone in the first scenario, and I'm still here. But I don't blame you, in that scenario, most people killed someone. But knowing that Setiara, how could you follow Sebastian? He killed dozens of people for personal gain."
"He helped me." Setiara protested.
"You think he's helping you? He's using you as his weapon. Setiara. If you don't want your mother's death to be an empty sacrifice, then make your life worth it. Break this tower with me." I speak.
It's not true. Sebastian truly trusts Setiara. They've been companions for all of his lifetimes. But it's not false. Setiara was always trying to impress Sebastian, but he never really did. He always was the top man and controlled all his companions.
Setiara looked uncertain.
I added, "Setiara. Do you want to see the conclusion of this world as a good person?"
She looked determined and nodded.
"Then come with me. Because even if Sebastian makes it to the end, is he truly free? After all of the people that he killed?"
Setiara said, "This once I'll help you. Don't expect more."
I smiled and told Setiara to go get more people to help us. She was just as Jebaka said. He, or she, was very helpful in times like this. I wonder whether I am being too evil. Manipulating people…
Anyways we got to the part of the pillar that was facing a big lake and started to operate. I told Ash to focus on his darkest memories to bring out his skill, and I know this isn't a good method, but at this point Jebaka said it's sure to work, so it is the best option.
Ash closed his eyes and after a few seconds, the dark tendrils started to come out of his body. Ash opened his eyes, and this time they weren't white. Maybe the color only changes when he is desperate.
Ash reached out with the tendrils and started damaging the wall. It wasn't really "damaging" the wall though, it was more like it was seeping into the pillar. As the darkness started to envelop the pillar, it started to develop cracks in the wall. I could take out my pen and write something to crush this wall. However, that wouldn't be what I ultimately wanted to achieve.
[Celestial Demon of the Dark World is disappointed in the slow progression.]
[Celestial One of the End is telling Celestial Demon of the Dark World to keep watching.]
…
I told Ash that he was doing a great job, and that he should keep doing this. Ash looked very happy that he was complimented and smiled. I told Ash, "You can do it! I'm depending on you!"
Ash looked worried and replied to me, "But, what if I can't? I just make you and Liam do more work every single day. Wouldn't I be easier if you just left me?"
I shook my head. "Ash, you have great potential. The first step is to trust yourself. If we were going to leave you behind, why did we pick you up in the first place?"
Ash looked uncertain, so I put my arm on his shoulder. It's crazy. I was never a social guy, and what I'm doing is probably weird. I feel bad for Ash though, he must have had a terrible past to be like this.
I remember years ago, when I was 5, I had a friend at school. Her name was Raven. We met during lunch when I was sitting at a table by myself. We immediately started talking together, as we both didn't have any friends. That was probably the happiest couple of months in my life.
However, during the summer break, she came to me one day and told me the 2 words that ended this happiness. "I'm moving." It felt as though I was hit by a truck.
"You're… You're leaving?" I spluttered. After being close to one person after so many years of loneliness, the thought of not having that anymore was more than depressing.
I know it's not her fault. Life goes in many weird ways. Raven couldn't reply to me. I saw the sadness in her eyes. I felt remorse that I had grown so close to her. The higher you rise, the heavier you fall. I always felt that just when my life was becoming better, somehow everything would go wrong.
The next year was one of the worst. Other than having no more friends a school, that was the year my mother died. I remember going to her grave alone after school every day, grieving. I never heard of Raven again. I hope that she has friends at her new school. At least one of us deserved to be happy.
Because I was so quiet in class, I lost the respect of both my classmates and my teachers. People often ignored me, and I was fine with that.
At age 9 my stepfather died, and the little money he provided to me reluctantly was gone. I started to beg for money in the streets near my tiny apartment. Since my apartment is close to the school, one day, a boy in my class found me begging there. He immediately snapped a picture of me and smiled. The next day, everyone in my class saw that picture. They laughed and taunted me like I was nothing. I was nothing.
"Sky, are you okay?" Ash asked.
I realized I was just standing there, staring at the wall. The past was the past, so I decided to focus on the present.
"Yeah. I was just thinking about something. Good work on the wall, Ash. I must go for a second, okay?" I spoke.
[Celestials wish you spoke to yourself more, so they know your next move.]
Ash nodded, so I started running towards where Setiara had gathered people. I saw Setiara and she beckoned me to go to where she was. When I got there, everybody became silent.
However, my stage fright was not overcome just because of the new world. With a couple dozen people listening, I was struggling to make a sound. I knew the people and the celestials were all going to lose faith and interest in me if I didn't say anything soon.
I felt Jebaka's presence in me, and some of that fear started dying away.
"Hi. I am standing before you all here today to ask you to do something. I don't wish to stand above you all like your current leader, Sebastian, does. What I'm asking for is an action that will benefit you all. There is no longer a need to be stripped of all the coins you gain, no longer a need to be dependents of an individual. If you do so, the success of clearing this trial will rise sharply. Please destroy this pillar with me." I try to say confidently.
"What!" A person said.
"But doesn't that mean we would fail?" Another person inquired.
"Why should we listen to you!" Someone asked.
I don't blame them for thinking that. After all, this trial revolves around the pillar. Therefore, it would be common logic that if we broke the pillar, the trial would be canceled, and everyone would die. However, Vantusi logic isn't common logic. If the Vantusis killed everyone for an out-of-nowhere reason, the celestials would be outraged that their show just ended. Therefore, they would have to make everyone pass.
I reply in a calm voice, "Because, if you read the trial instructions, the monsters spawn around the pillar. What if there was no pillar?"
I could feel people starting to understand. The atmosphere started to relax a bit, and as I walked towards the pillar, many people followed me.
When we got there, some people asked me about how we would destroy the pillar.
"Everyone here has cleared at least one trial and one sub-trial. You each have skills that can help you. I don't know your skills, you do." I tell everyone.
I go back to where Ash was. He was in deep concentration. Because of his dark tendrils, the entire section of the pillar near him was extremely cracked and unstable. It looked like it would shatter at any moment.
"Ash, great job!" I congratulated Ash. What I wanted to achieve was deeper than that.
[Entity Ash Browns has started to feel deep trust towards you.]
[Entity Ash Browns is getting closer to his Character Evolution.]
I took out my quillblade and willed for it to turn into a hammer. It did, but it was a tiny little hammer that couldn't do anything. I guess my quillblade was restricted when transforming. I would have to try something else.
I tried hard to activate my skill called Nature's Penumbra that I was able to activate that time in the forest, but it didn't seem to work. I don't know whether it was because the skill seemed to not listen to me when it came to activating. Now that I think about it, I've only ever done it once. I'd guess I would have to use that method after all.
I opened Vantusi shop and bought a large hammer. Yes, I literally just went into Vantusi shop to get a hammer. I used to watch anime and movies and I would be like: "Why don't you just buy one?" But now I understand. It makes you look weak. It makes a more boring story. But what else could I do? We had to hurry up. It was almost dark.
I smashed the hammer into the wall of the pillar. What should have been impenetrable surface for the sake of the trials was smashed before me. The pillar wobbled for a bit, but the remaining part stayed upright. I needed a different person to help me finish the job.
Liam ran over to me, telling me that Sebastian and his forces were coming soon. Good. I told Liam to get Ash and take everyone else away from me and the pillar. Liam started to protest about my safety, but I told him that this was the best.
A moment later, Sebastian and his group exited the forest and came to me.
"How dare you show up! I will kill you!" Sebastian demanded.
"2 things Seb; 1, if you wanted to kill me then I would have been dead already, and I'm not, so you don't want to kill me; 2, you showed up in front of me, not the other way around." I said coolly.
Sebastian replied, "What do you think you're doing!"
"I'm destroying this pillar so that we don't need to fight those monsters anymore. You know just as well as I do." I told him.
He seemed to want to reply something, but I cut him off.
"I know what you want to say. 'That's not true!' Sebastian, why do you want innocent people to die?" I say, "Don't you care about lives? Even your own followers?"
Sebastian looks flabbergasted. I know that that was exactly what he was going to say. Me and Jebaka worked for hours for this one conversation. This had to go perfectly.
Sebastian was going to reply, but this time it wasn't me who interrupted him.
"Sebastian! What does he mean!" Someone exclaimed.
"If we can all survive…" Someone muttered.
Numerous comments started uprising.
Sebastian shouted, "All of you! Quiet! Or I'll kill you all right now!"
Everyone fell silent immediately. People didn't stay silent before because they agreed with Sebastian. They stayed silent because everyone who protested was dead. Now it was the same. But why would I let my efforts go to waste?
"Sebastian, would you actually kill everyone?" I ask.
"Including you." He replied immediately.
I ask, "Really? You would kill all your allies just because of your pride? Would you like a private chat with me over there?"
He glared and I headed away.
I know that he is just waiting for the chance to kill me. I couldn't let that happen.
[You have stepped into a no fighting zone. If you attack someone here, you automatically die.]
Sebastian looks shocked again. How many times will he underestimate me?
"What do you want?" He demands.
"I made it very clear. We need to destroy that pillar before the donation time. We don't have a lot of time left." I speak.
"Why should I? I would survive regardless." He says calmly.
I ask, "Sebastian. How selfish and arrogant will you be? Just because you can live another life doesn't mean you don't need to care about this one. There are people in this world that need you. If you can finally save her, her, your everything, and take her to happiness, then what about all the times that you left her to die? Sebastian, don't take this life for granted."
[Celestials think your speech is bad.]
… shut up celestials.
I saw an expression on Sebastian's face. I don't know how many rounds he has been in. But for him to have that expression, it must have been many.
Sebastian walked back towards the group, and reluctantly said, "Destroy the pillar."
He took out his sword and swung at the pillar. Though he isn't able to keep his skills and starts when he returns to a new world, he is able to transfer some skills back with a large number of coins. Still, that technique wasn't from a skill brought from the Vantusi. That was a skill from decades, maybe centuries, of training and perfection.
I saw some sparks fly out, but it was ignorable. The pillar crashed to the ground. A new message came out.
[You have cleared the second main trial.]
I heard cheering from around the pillar. We had survived another scenario. However, the next trials were sure to be worse.
Fight or flight- fin.
