'Damn it! Shit! Why did the Drone have to shut down now?!' yelled Draco in the depths of his thoughts while he clicked different buttons on a control panel.
"Don't fret, Draco, he must be alright—after all, you trained him well, right?" inquired Helen in her seat. The room was fully lit; apparently, the drone had shut down due to the immense force of the blast from the Ant.
Dr. Arlen sat on a chair beside Draco, helping him get the drone back on, as sweat trickled down his face. The chair creaked while he bent back for an extremely short break, before returning to his button-smashing.
"Even if I trained him well, who knows what could've happened to him by now! For all I know, he's probably a corpse as of now!" Draco yelled in worry.
I got up, my legs wobbled from the sudden end of the break, 'I wonder what the time is right now…'
'Oh yeah, speaking of which, I still have to check out the Ability!'
'Aegis System, open inventory?'
[Inventory:]
[Primal Instinct gem (Nightmare rank)]
[Click on any items to learn more about them.]
I pressed on the only item in my inventory.
[Insectic Instinct: Passive ability, grants insane reflexes and the ability to detect beings without the use of Distortion Sense from even further distances than an un-mastered Distortion Sense.]
'Oh God damn. I guess that hellish training really did make me that strong…'
'Though there was something different when fighting it… It felt more like I was fighting a Wraith rank than a Nightmare rank… And when I used Distortion Sense, there was a sudden outline of red on the creature—Azura, is it possible for a Nightmare rank to be Wraith rank but still Nightmare rank?'
"What? Where did you get that stupid question from?! Of course not!"
'Oh, I was just curious, nothing more than that.'
I left the throne room, surrounded by the familiar sight of the forest.
My footsteps muffled by the thick leaves. Clouds gathered above, preparing to shower my painted body.
The raindrops fell from above, drenching my clothes. I arrived at the burnt clearing. The fires were slowly dying out, and I laughed, "Talk about timing!"
A distant beeping sound resounded within my ears at that moment. From straight ahead. I turned on Distortion Sense. 'Huh? Not an Error, interesting…'
Branches snapped as I walked over to the sound, warily.
A twig fell from the trees above. I jumped in fear, "God, that gave me a heart attack."
"Child, are you sure it's safe to go towards that sound?"'It's not an Error, don't worry. Also, why are you worrying for me all of a sudden?!'
"Alright, I'll stop worrying for you from now on."
'No wait, that's not what I meant—'
I arrived at the sound which came out of a small bush. It irritated my ears. I threw my hand into the bush, grabbing leaves and thorns. I pushed down, eventually touching cold metal.
A strong gust smacked into my face, the rain still pouring down from the sky above.
I pulled out the object from the bush. Small black blades protruded from the bush as I pulled it out. 'This could be the drone—'
My guess was correct: a drone came out of the bush, and the head blinked red.
"Isn't this the drone Draco was monitoring me with?"
"It must've turned off because of the blast, Horacio. Of course, this is just a guess."
I threw the drone away, "Not like I'll need it," I muttered as I got up.
The rain still poured heavily. Not daring to stop. I ran back towards the throne room, taking shelter from the rain.
'Ugh, when will this rain end… And just how will I get back to the headquarters?!'
'Azura, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up after an hour.'
"I'm not your alarm clock, child—" before she could complete, the sound of snoring filled her ears.
She sighed.
"There! Done!" exclaimed Draco as he clicked the last button. Dr Arlen lay motionless on the floor, literally dead because of clicking buttons. Helen walked towards the room's exit. "Well, it was fun to watch, but duty calls. Be sure to give Horacio's report to me when he's done with the exam!"
The drone's camera turned on, showing the surroundings of burnt wood and bushes. The propellers groaned as they whirred, slowly beginning to spin like an old man getting up from a chair.
It flew into the air, through the branches. Scanning the ash-covered clearing. 'Where are you, Hora?!'
The drone flew around the area until it found the open doors of Horacio's resting place.
"THERE HE IS!" Draco yelled, a little too loud (maybe earthquake loud?). He throttled the mini-helicopter through the doors. Spotting Horacio's sleeping body first, but before Draco could even wake him up, the rubble of the blown-up bedroom began moving.
'Oh shit.'
"WAKE UP HORACIO, WAKE UPPP!!!"
"Ugh, can I ever rest peacefully—" before I could even process what was happening, I spotted the moving rubble of the bedroom, I swore under my breath, "Come on! I just dealt with that thing!"
'AND I GOT THE GEM, SO WHAT IS IT NOW, AZURA?!'
"I'm unsure, child. But I do recommend running."
'I didn't know that was an option,' I remarked while rolling my eyes.
'This seems like the perfect opportunity to try out that new ability of mine.'
I summoned my Gem from the depths of my inventory, crushing it into dust. The purple mist drove straight for my chest.
[Ability acquired.]
[Would you like to inspect your statistics now?]
'HELL NO.'
"Time technique: Creation."
I gripped Ignis tightly.
Anthrion stood up, blood dripping down his pearl white body, "Pathetic, even after all that, you resorted to such an underhanded tactic. However, I must admit, it was a well-thought-out try at killing me, and now it's time to take things to the next level."
'Ah shit, is this one of those phase two boss fights in video games now?' It lunged forward, faster than ever, not giving me the chance to dodge. I blocked the slash within a mere millisecond. The force of the attack threw me sideways, crashing into a wall.
Stone flew into the air, and I closed my eyes due to the rubble and dust flying around. Anthrion took the opening, diving in once again, for a killer uppercut, sending me flying into the ceiling.
I fell, producing a loud bang enough to make anyone think that a nuke exploded somewhere.
"Shitty, human. I know you can do better! Show me more! I WANT MORE!" Anthrion yelled as he held me by my throat. He threw me into the door. I heard something snap, 'Oh, let me guess, I broke my ribs now?'
"This… is… is… crazy. I want to go home… someone… help me." I turned my head around, unable to move my body.
The drone was destroyed, its pieces lying right beside me. Anthrion treaded towards me triumphantly.
'I thought that Gem was supposed to make me able to dodge his attacks…'
"Hu…"
"I guess I can't really live normally."
"Don't give up yet, child. Just concentrate, think of all those people who left you when you needed them most. The hate you feel at them, put it all on Anthrion… and destroy that bastard."
[24 hours complete]
[Memories and DisAbility decided.]
[More memories have been implanted.]
[DisAbility received: 50% of MP, aka Mind Power, reduced.]
"Hate, hate, hate, hate. Hate," I muttered as I forced myself up, "What are you blabbering on about now, shit head?" Anthrion asked.
"It's nothing, just telling myself how much I hate you." Anthrion froze, his thoughts running wild, terrified by the immense blood lust, the blood lust that conquered his own.
"This is the true reason behind… killing, Anthrion—Hatred."