Shadow Novelist
Star Energy
Before Nick left the headquarters, he visited the Technician.
They hadn't seen each other in a long time, and Nick wanted to keep him up to date.
"Oh hey, you're back, Julian," the Technician said, working on his Flexinator. "Everything alright?"
"Everything alright," Nick answered. "Everything is going according to plan."
When the Technician heard that sentence, he knew that nobody was currently watching.
After all, Nick could now sense from where somebody was looking at him.
"How are-"
The Technician's heart rate shot up a little.
The only reason why Nick would stop him would be if somebody suddenly started paying attention to them.
"That's good to hear," the Technician said with a smile.
"I'm now responsible for hunting some Specters for Aegis. Make sure that there are enough Containment Units," Nick said.
"No worries. I will keep them coming," the Technician said with a laugh.
Nick wanted to tell him more about the progress of the researchers, but the Champion of Light was currently looking into their room.
A moment later, Nick said his goodbyes and left Aegis' headquarters.
'Seems like the Champion is much more interested in me now. He didn't pay me that much attention in the past.'
'Luckily, I can sense when he's watching me now, making things easier.'
When Nick's ability reactivated again, he went into a random cave to plan his next move.
'I need to increase my Zephyx production while also contributing to Aegis. Causing suffering to entire cities is still a way to advance, but I can't lose my way. If I start causing unnecessary suffering to humans, I will not be better than any other Specter.'
'I must not get lost on my path to power.'
'However, it's an indisputable fact that I need to increase my Zephyx production.'
'Sure, killing a Corruptor will achieve that, but every single Corruptor I attack represents several instances of me risking my life.'
'I can fight weaker Fallen now, but the Corruptors are still far too powerful.'
'Fallen are not like Demons. Most Demons only have experience with one city before besieging many cities from the outside, but that's the part where most of them fail.'
'Demons succeeded once and try to succeed again, but during these subsequent times, most of them get captured.'
'Every city has at least one Demon. Most likely, there are over a thousand Demons in containment all over the world.'
'Open combat against cities is risky due to Aegis, but Demons don't really have any other way. They need to go after caravans, which are led by extremely powerful Heroes, or they need to attack entire cities to advance.'
'That's the riskiest part.'
'Meanwhile, Fallen managed to do that several times. They are extremely shrewd and very powerful.'
'Theoretically, I have the power to kill weaker Fallen, but they might have terrifying instincts and several different powers.'
'Despite my power, I still have to be extremely careful around them.'
'And to become one of them, I have to go through the same thing as them.'
'Just like the Demons, I have to cause an immense amount of suffering to advance, and while I could theoretically cause that to cities, I would never want to do that. I might be a Specter, but in my heart, I'm a human.'
'I have to do what the Fallen succeeded in.'
'I have to prey on cities or strong Heroes, and since I won't do that to cities, I am stuck with preying on Heroes.'
'But they need to deserve it! I refuse to just grab a random Hero and torture them!'
'Luckily, there are plenty of Heroes that cause immense suffering to the weak.'
'They will be my targets.'
Nick looked into his Space Bag.
'I only generate little Zephyx by extending the sentences of the guards, but that's because they are not truly suffering.'
'If I can increase the suffering one Hero experiences, I can harvest several times more Zephyx.'
When Nick looked at a certain object inside his Space Bag, he had to take a deep breath.
'If Ghosty knew what I would use this for, he might not have made it for me.'
'But I need to become more powerful! Humanity needs my power!'
Nick changed his appearance and left the cave.
Then, he moved towards a random city.
According to the Left Arm, a new servant of War was appearing, and Nick wanted to find out more about it.
The first couple of cities he went to were clean.
Sure, there were some asshole Heroes here and there, but they didn't deserve to experience the suffering Nick would cause.
This was exclusively reserved for traitors of humanity.
Eventually, after several days, Nick arrived in a city that seemed quite suspicious.
'That's textbook dictatorship.'
Of course, technically, all cities were dictatorships, but this one perfectly exemplified it.
There was an insanely strong presence of guards everywhere.
There were soldiers and guards stationed at every corner, and they all watched the people with hostility.
Meanwhile, the people were not allowed to leave their homes without permission.
Naturally, going to work implied permission, but every worker needed to give any guard free rein to search their home for whatever reason.
At the same time, Nick saw hatred and suppression in the eyes of the normal people.
That was strange.
Of course, it wouldn't be unusual for people in this situation to feel hatred and suppression, but there was one emotion that was absent.
Fear.
It was like the people were not afraid.
They constantly rebelled against the guards, who then promptly beat them up.
The prisons were full, and almost 20% of all normal people were stuck in bed due to severe injuries.
The people had united against the oppressors and collectively challenged them.
The guards couldn't afford to hurt even more people since the economy would suffer too much.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't work since most people wouldn't be willing to throw their lives away for the collective good.
But that was exactly what was happening here, and that was also why this city was suspicious.
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