Feelings of pain twisted together, forming a mesh of unwillingness, darkness, and suffocation. They grew more violent, pressing into his mind and forcing him to recall memories he had long wanted to forget.
Streams of blackness grew into plumes of smoke emitting from the corners of his eyes, his veins coloring into the same shade of darkness.
Every time he swung his machete, he seemed to sink into that feeling further—and then he sat in it, stewing in it. The concentration of negativity grew and continued to do so.
And yet, Zarek never seemed to step beyond that barrier. He was too used to these feelings.
Three lives of hardship, of pain, of disappointment and hurt. His heart had long been beaten and broken in so many ways that there was nothing left to chip at.
He just wanted to be reminded. Reminded that this was his last chance. Reminded that he couldn't afford to lose this time. Reminded that while this system was playing games with their lives, he didn't have the room to play.
—
[Charisma has shown great progress]
—
>[Charisma: E-]
>[Charisma: E]
>[Charisma: E+]
—
Zarek exhaled a breath so hot one might have thought flames would spark from it. Every rotating movement of his arm carried the same emotion—a deathly intent to wipe out everything in front of him.
His Charisma began to leave even his Strength far behind in advancement speed, the constant assaults on his mind forcing the depths of what could have been a soul to grow faster and faster.
And then it broke its Limit.
—
[Charisma has shown great progress]
—
>[Charisma: E+]
>[Charisma: EE]
—
An explosion went off in Zarek's mind, his Scouting Skill suddenly becoming several orders more potent. He no longer saw Turned; he practically saw Godsfall Droplets hovering in space, the outlines of their bodies becoming vague distractions he casually dodged and sliced apart.
Buzz.
A resonant hum trembled in his skull, his eyes sharpening with a blaze that cut through the night with a burning amber. His movements became sharper, faster, his heart syncing with his breath—and then further—with his attacks and defense.
He breached a new threshold, sinking into a state he had only been able to reach in his previous lives: a synergy between his Core Stats that stood on a level beyond.
BANG!
Zarek felt the explosion coming before it even did. It didn't come from himself, but instead from a Turned in the distance as it broke through its exoskeleton, evolving into the D Class right in front of Zarek's eyes.
It became a looming mass of sticky liquid and bits and pieces of scales, its hunched back looming overhead so large that it almost looked as though it wanted to block out the moon.
An Endurance Type—and likely the first D Class of the city. As the night waned off, the number of them would only increase. The odds that a C Class would appear weren't entirely zero either.
And yet Zarek hardly seemed to react as the creature, which looked akin to a lizard man who had just crawled out from the sewer system, appeared before him, smashing down from above with two clasped fists.
Zarek raised his parrying shield. Compared to the fists, which were each the size of his head, it seemed far too small to do anything. But—
BANG!
Zarek's knees only sank the slightest bit, his E+ Strength facing off against the D Class Endurance Type with an ease that belied the supposed gap in their power.
Core Stats worked in fascinating ways that were very much linked to the state Zarek had just touched upon. Having one stat in a higher Class elevated the others as well. Even though the only stat the Endurance Type had in D Class was Endurance, its Strength was still on another level.
And yet Zarek shrugged it off as though it was nothing more than an ant.
His free hand flashed with speed and sharpness, piercing through the yet-fused scales of the lizard-like Turned and severing its Godsfall Droplet.
With a wave of his hand, it fell to the ground.
BANG!
Another evolution. Another indifferent reaction.
Zarek weaved through the battlefield, finally beginning to move forward again as the darkness emitting from the corners of his eyes only intensified.
—
[Endurance has shown great progress]
—
>[Endurance: E]
>[Endurance: E+]
—
The night became more and more of a blur to Zarek, his mind consumed by darkness.
**
"The blood rain is at its most intense right now. This is the moment."
Van Hollen's male secretary spoke as the former pulled on what looked like a transparent, almost skin-like suit. These had been prepared well in advance from a special plastic polymer, but there was still quite some danger involved in using them.
Obviously, if there were no holes for breathing or circulation, he would either be strangling himself or die from exhaustion quite quickly. As such, the suit wasn't completely foolproof, but it was the best they had for now.
And it would certainly be enough to give them a massive advantage over the other organizations, to be sure.
"What's the situation at the other hubs right now?"
"They seem to have received similar information and are hunkering down. Their defenses are tighter than we expected, but only GFI has taken it to an extreme. The others have a one foot in, one foot out sort of approach. In fact, we've received reports that Pensare is planning something more offensive for tonight as well."
"Oh?" Van Hollen raised an eyebrow, pulling the hood of the skin suit over his head. "Why would they be doing that?"
"There was a private meeting that took place. We don't have the details, but Pensare and GFI seem to have grown hostile with one another. With GFI retreating from a lot of their already fortified lines, the best guess is that Pensare sees it fit to take the risk, to claim those territories for themselves and squeeze GFI out.
"There are reports that many Hubs are suddenly appearing tonight, so territory will be much more valuable very soon."
Van Hollen nodded slowly. "… It seems that it will be a bloody night."