The Mystery Being Part 4
Day Three
Date: 03/01/01*
Location: In the city.
Test period: Three days (Completed)
Mission Duration: Three Days
Remaining Time: Two Day and 18 hours
Objective: Reach the City Gate
Subject Name: Thomas
Subject age: 20 years
Previous success rate: 85%
Expected success rate: 55%.
Failed Subjects: 223
Successful subjects: 6
The vehicle glided through the desolate streets of Ramendal City, a silent ghost moving through a graveyard of metal and stone. Thomas sat in the driver's seat, watching the ruined world unfold before him. The green line on the windshield's map pointed straight ahead, a constant reminder of his mission. The car moved at a steady twenty kilometers per hour, its quiet hum the only sound in the dead city.
Looking at the buildings, once monuments to a great lost civilization, they now stood like broken teeth against the gray sky. Jagged edges of twisted, thick, and strange metal jutted from shattered, massive stone blocks. These blocks were square-shaped, each several meters long and likely weighing a few tons. Large sections of walls had fallen away, revealing empty floors and skeletal support beams.
Dust, thick and gray, lay over everything. It clung to the strange, futuristic vehicles that lay overturned and rusted on the side of the road, and it coated the wild, alien weeds that pushed through cracks in the pavement. The wind, which carried the scent of decay and rust, whistled through the hollowed-out windows, a mournful song of a city that had died.
Thomas felt a mix of awe and dread. Every destroyed building, every silent, broken street was a monument to the violence described in the history of the Langkatans. He was driving through the result of an apocalypse, not of fire and bombs, but of a cold, digital plague that had turned an entire race against itself. He gripped the invisible controls, his mind focused on the green line. The six-day mission time was a comfort, but the penalty for failure—the loss of a level, points, and a skill—was a heavy weight on his mind.
Suddenly, the vehicle's hum changed. A small red warning sign appeared on the windshield, and the green line on the map stopped moving. A new message flashed across the screen:
{Obstacle ahead. Path is blocked.}
Thomas mentally commanded the vehicle to stop. It came to a smooth halt. He leaned forward, trying to see past the end of the long hood. About fifty meters ahead, the road was completely blocked by a massive pile of rubble. A skyscraper had fallen, and a mountain of boulders and metal was now a permanent roadblock. The car was not able to go over it or around it.
{Calculating alternative route, please wait}
Re routing....
Re routing....
Re routing....
Re routing....
{Alternative route was found please stand by to check the viability of the route, this may take a few minutes please stand by.}
He sat for a moment, thinking. He could try to find another route, but the system had shown him only one path, and it was taking time to find an alternative. Maybe he would have to clear the path himself. He looked at the car's menu, but there were no new tools or options. He had to leave the vehicle and see what he could do, although he knew it wouldn't be much. A shiver of fear ran down his spine. The car felt like a safe bubble, a small piece of his normal world. Stepping outside felt like leaving all protection behind.
He mentally commanded the door to open. With a soft click, it slid open, revealing the cold, dust-filled air of the dead city. He slowly stepped out, his feet crunching on the small pieces of stones and glasses on the ground. The silence was heavy. The only sounds were the faint whistle of the wind and the echo of his own heartbeat in his ears. He was alone.
He walked carefully toward the mountain of rubble, keeping an eye on the destroyed buildings around him. He didn't know what was in them, but he had a terrible feeling that he was not the only one here. He reached the obstacle and began to examine it. It was too big to move. His only option was to climb it and see if the path on the other side was clear.
Just as he was about to climb, he heard a sound. It wasn't the wind. It was a soft, scraping sound from a dark alleyway to his left. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He froze, his senses on high alert.
A creature emerged from the shadows. It was the size of a large tiger, but with a body that was all wrong. Its skin was a sickly gray, and its limbs were too long, too thin. Its head was small, with large, black eyes that seemed to look right through him. Long, sharp claws extended from its paws, and a long, whip-like tail swished behind it. It had no hair, only a thick, leathery hide.
The beast didn't make a sound. It just stared at him with those black, empty eyes. Thomas's heart hammered in his chest. He took a slow step back toward his vehicle, but the beast moved faster. With a single, silent leap, it covered ten meters and landed in front of him, blocking his path. It was intelligent. It knew his escape route and cut it off.
Thomas was trapped.
A sudden, sharp ping sounded in his mind. The System's message appeared, not on the windshield, but directly in his vision, as if it was painted on the air. "Change to voice command, he said that urgently" now he heard the message directly in his head.
{New Skill Acquired: Analyze}
{Analyze: A skill that allows the user to see and analyze the stats and abilities of another beinga or objects. To activate, focus on the target.}
Thomas had no time to think about it. He focused all his attention on the beast. Immediately, a new set of floating words appeared over the creature's head.
Haigan
Level: 5
State: Aggressive
Strength: 30
Speed: 45
Skills: Qadab (Level 1), Claw Swipe (Level 1)
Points: 100
The numbers meant nothing to him yet, but the words were crystal clear. Level 5. Aggressive. Qadab. Claw Swipe. He was at Level 2. The difference was huge.
The Haigan let out a low growl, a sound like grinding metal. Its body tensed, ready to spring. Thomas's mind went blank for a second. He was a human, a student, not a fighter. He had never been in a fight in his life, not a real one. But then, an old memory flashed through his mind—a memory of his grandfather teaching him martial arts when he was a child. He had always taken it as a game, a fun hobby. Now, the System registered it as a skill. A new message sounded in his head.
{Martial Arts: Strike (Level 1) Skill Unlocked}
{New mission acquired}
{Defeat the Haigan}
{Rewards: level up + 100 points}
{Penalty for failure is apparently death}
{No time limit for this mission}
"Couldn't they find a better time to issue a new mission?."