Chapter Fifty-Four – Factions – Part Two

The continued study of flora and fauna from low-tiered gates has unveiled a series of startling discoveries. However, none as startling as the genomic research regarding elves and humans, who seem to have branched from a common ancestor within the last hundred thousand years. Even the study of the offspring from humans and elves has merited startling results. Leading us to speculate that if the theorem of Earth is or was a quest ground for other worlds is correct, then when was Earth seeded with humans? Or, is it the birthplace of mankind? There are so many unanswered questions, yet we shall endure, even with the budget going toward more pertinent issues.

-WSA Researcher Bolinger-

"Fuck," Fisban breathes, furiously scrubbing at the blood on her hands.

She stops, closing her eyes, taking a deep breath, and releasing it. Her hand stops trembling when she does. When they open, she looks at me now.

"Cleopatra said that you… see glimpses of memories?" she asks.

My eyes fall from hers as I choke down the cries at the back of my skull, cries that she made, "Yeah."

"We don't have a lot of data on the Witherbrand class," she begins but I interrupt, looking up at her.

"It wasn't necessary to kill them all…"

She flinches, which surprises me.

"One day, if you manage to survive long enough, you'll understand how naïve what you just said is."

"Some of them had family… children."

She winces again, her hand trembling until she clenches it.

"I know."

"Then help me understand… why would you do this?"

Her jaw flexes.

"It's my job to do things that I don't fucking want to do. I didn't take any pleasure in killing them, not even Smith."

I study her face, she's either a good liar, or she's telling the truth.

"You are the asset, I am your handler. Smith was paid to kill you. That is enough to sign his death warrant."

"What about the rest? What about the ones that were your team?"

"In a survival situation, you do not keep people who backstab you. You neutralize them."

I know that she's right, objectively I see her points clear as day. But subjectively… I'm not just Jimmy Novak, I'm the memories I carry too. They didn't want to die, and some of them only joined Smith because they were afraid Fisban would lose. Just like Verantha when she saw that Fisban was outnumbered. Hell, I even thought she was fucked.

"Thomas had family too," Fisban says, looking down at her blood-stained hands.

"I know," I sigh.

"He was my subordinate, he was my responsibility."

"I know, he respected you."

She swallows hard, eyelids pressing firmly together, when she opens them, I feel the calm in her demeanor return.

"What you have, it will make you incredibly powerful someday, and you'll have to make decisions like this too. I hope when the time comes, you make the right call. Our enemies aren't just beyond the gates. I'm not supposed to say this, but I'm sure you've realized by now that things aren't exactly peachy between the WHA and UWO."

"Yeah, gathered that much. Just like I'm pretty sure the six heroes of the WHA are Respec Skill holders."

She nods. Damn. No wonder their identities are hidden.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it. There are four reasons you're still alive, despite having the divine item," she raises a finger, "The UWO needs a Champion, it needs its own hero. Especially after all of ours got poached. Right now, we're still strong, but once the gap starts widening in the next ten, maybe twenty years, we won't be the ones calling the shots. The WHA isn't beholden to the people, it's a private organization. There's no telling what they might demand once they're in charge."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

It's my turn to reflect on her words. I also think about what Sage said, that I'm a Champion and a Deviant. I wonder if they know about the other Deviants. Those that might actually help the System fuck over Earth.

"You know about the Deviants, right?" I ask.

She nods, "And we know based on what Cleopatra said that you're not just a Champion, you're also a Deviant. She doesn't know about the skill holders, or Respec on Death, but the title of Deviant is only awarded to those who are chosen."

A slow exhale helps calm my nerves. There's a relief even among the soup of memories that plague me. Knowing that someone knows almost everything… fuck, it feels good. I wish I could tell her about the time reversal, but Big Purple made it clear… don't fucking talk about it.

She holds up a second finger, "You being both is the second reason you're alive. Based on your file, you're not a piece of shit. Having you in both camps, it might be the edge we need to win this bullshit game."

"Do you know who the deviants are?"

She shakes her head, "We captured one, seven years ago. They escaped when they were transported by the System for their yearly RoD quest. They still haven't returned. We don't know if they're alive or just grinding levels to come fuck us."

"Seven years… you can do a quest that long?"

Sage's voice rolls into my thoughts, drowning out Fisban's reply.

There is technically no limit to the length that a Respec quest can last, unless it has a timer. Many find suitable worlds and simply retire from the hopeless fight of their own world. Others die during the Respec quest, which is obviously an instant zero.

"Wait… if I die, I'm dead… dead?"

Oh yes, very much dead. It's a mechanic the Grand One implemented to balance the game. On top of that, your quests are supposed to get progressively harder during each phase. However, Red as you know them, has been breaking the rules. Sending you to worlds that you have no business being on.

"Each phase? How did Red manage that?"

It all makes sense though, if I hadn't gotten the quest change, I don't think I would have survived until the timer went out on my first quest. On top of that, even the quest change was ridiculous for my level at the time. If I wasn't a Witherbrand, I never would have succeeded. Ulana's luck blessing may have played a part in that. Shit… I wonder if my applied brands activating will be impacted without her blessing. Also, this world doesn't seem hard yet, but if Red sent me here to fuck me over… then the other shoe should be dropping when we reach the quest zone. Dread starts to crawl up my back. Are we going to succeed?

There's still no reply from Sage, I guess he doesn't want to tell me about that.

Fisban looks at me strangely, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, talking to Sage."

"Sage?"

"Yeah, the entity you told me to start talking with."

"You're talking to your Cosmic Exchange system manager?"

I nod.

"Out here?" she asks, tilting her head.

"Yeah?"

"That's abnormal, ask it for its classification."

Abnormal? She's the one who told me to talk to it. Is it not supposed to be out here?

"Okay, Sage, you heard the question right?"

I hear Sage yawn, but he doesn't reply.

"It can hear me too?" she asks, putting her hands on her hips, and staring at me intently.

"Yeah, he can see everything I can see, pretty sure, maybe more, I don't know, he's very selective about what he says. Also, I don't think he wants to answer your question."

He… most certainly does not answer random meatsack questions. Especially ones that regard things a meatsack would not entirely understand. Needless to say, I am not some standard issue… basic… low worth… trash… system entity. I told you before, meatsack, I was hewn from starlight and made by the Grand One directly.

Yeah, that tracks. Thinking back on everything I've just learned, if I permanently die on Respec quests, then when Ulana lied to give me confidence on the fox world quest, even if I had tokens it wouldn't have mattered. If I had known what I know now, it would have paralyzed me… she saw that... that's why she lied. Which means… earlier, when Smith was about to kill Fisban… and based on his orders, eventually me too, I would have permanently died if it happened during the quest. I look over at Fisban, she saved my life…

"What? What's it saying?" she asks.

"Thank you…"

She stares at me with a puzzled expression.

"You saved my life, I didn't know I couldn't Respec during a Respec quest. Also, you probably saved Tran and Barlow, even Gilroy. Seriously, thank you."

She blinks, shifting uncomfortably, "Your tutorial when you received the skill should have told you about that, did you seriously skip it?"

"I never got the option, at least, I don't think I did."

"Everyone gets a tutorial, it's part of the rules."

Sage sighs in agreement. But doesn't say anything else.

"Well? Did you ask them to give you the tutorial?"

"Sage said he submitted a request for it."

"Okay, well I can try to fill you in on what I know."

"That would be great," I nod, finally some answers, "Also, what were the other reasons?"

"For why you're not dead?"

"Yeah."

She looks up, thinking back, "Well, first so you can be UWO's hero, second because you're in both camps. Third because of something that Cleopatra said."

"What did she say?"

"She said, we know that Legendary items can have new users once the old die, meaning they operate on different rules than regular items. She brought up the point that we don't know the conditions for Divine items, killing the user might return the item, and still leave Earth with the penalty it incurred."

Oh… shit, that's actually kind of persuasive. We don't know what happens if I die permanently… would Abyss choose someone else, or would it just… a strange sensation from my hand, and dark thoughts of it consuming the Earth and all the items it has fill my mind. Thoughts I think are coming from Abyss. That's… worrying.

"There's another reason now, if your system manager is somehow special, it would be a waste to kill you. It's rare that we get to peek behind the walls the System puts in place. I don't know of anyone having a manager who can see what the user sees. That sounds more like a Deity Connection."

There's that phrase again, Deity Connection, I wonder if she knows more about it. Maybe she can tell me something. She seems to know a lot.

"That's four reasons, but you just added that one, so now there's five right?"

"Yeah, the fifth would be Cleopatra's second point, which was for her personal situation."

"Because we're together?"

"No, dipshit, because she's pregnant."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.