Chapter 111: The Fears of Abyss
He had become the number one.
Without explanations, motives, or a serious posing of his milestone. He had simply registered and his numbers had grown, until reaching a haughty position.
Rows and rows of players existed beneath him, who probably would never have thought that a player from the humble northern city could reach that position.
"Ironic."
A phenomenon that he observed with curiosity was that in the Semi-God Ranking the majority of players preferred to maintain their privacy, keeping their names private. It was a situation totally opposite to the other ranking.
Could it be related to that? In such a case, this small ranking should hide even more secrets than one would think. If it were not for its rewards, the first places would be hot potatoes.
His thoughts made sense. Connecting with the latest events he had seen, with the censorship and the little knowledge about the facts in the ruins.
It was protected information.
And their golden hens, noble and powerful, seemed to be hiding their heads for some reason.
Calmly, he accepted it. If he stepped on the accelerator, he would go to the bottom. Demonstrating a soft personality in those cases would only bring a much more unfortunate conclusion than the one initially desired.
It was simply a universal law.
With a thought, the interface disappeared. He still needed to act in reality so that his numbers grew and obtain better results.
And the majority of players seemed to have disappeared. There should exist a great event that caused that type of generalized reaction.
Maybe he was getting old, losing the updates. He should postpone his favorite activities, like making bomb threats in Edward’s shop. After all, fire reacting to the adequate element could make kaboom.
It could also be due to his inclination of not maintaining conversations with anyone. Above all when it involved the indecent and unqualifiable act someone. Who cared?
His presence became little visible, disappearing in black blurs that boldly doubled in every corner, like the ghost of a thief— A petty pickpocket, nothing more.
He closed his eyes, concentrating on his ears. His sensory capacity extended through numerous streets, capturing small details.
Dungeons, tension, idle chats, women and players conspiring heads down about legendary weapons and divine classes.
Dungeons.
Soon he recovered control of his breathing, slowly adjusting his overcoat. His mask did not allow his expressions to be visible.
He had arrived at the central plaza, a site especially constructed to function as an armistice between players and NPCs— Although it did not work with the furious guards, who had already arrested more than one fool. An ideal place of leisure for those who sought to rest.
He identified the perfect objectives rapidly. Among the great influx of players, they were those who seemed most disposed to deliver him information immediately, without even knowing it.
They were three: two women and a man. Possibly an organized team or simply friends.
"This is all incredible. Suddenly they launch all those new functions and reveal for free so many dungeons," said the man between the two. His expression was enthusiastic, sharing with joy his discoveries.
"It was about time. Bérsaic is so poor and difficult, I was already getting bored... We have only found a small dungeon until now! Small!"
"You should not get so excited. A dungeon is still a dungeon. We almost died there the other time. Five dungeons is a lot... But we still must be capable of surviving." Answered one of them, taciturnly and moving the head with logic.
"Don’t say that! We will be capable. I am almost leveling up. As a noble fire mage, I will burn to ashes any monster that frightens both of you."
He almost laughed.
But he was probably the strange one. Listening in secret to the conversations of the trio, with a mask and a highly suspicious overcoat...
Definitely he was not the strange one. Only a passerby.
But the next thing he heard almost caused him to fall from the vertigo.
"Hey... We must leave. That person is still there, still and it does not even seem that he breathes. I have a bad presentiment." Murmured one of the young women, rising rapidly.
It should not be me. Definitely they do not refer to me.
But the gazes of the trio directed themselves in a poorly dissimulated form until his solitary figure, that was avoided by others, finally taking the contrary direction to withdraw.
"They do not even greet." He murmured heads down, with his feet advancing rapidly.
He took the contrary direction, so as not to seem that he pursued them obsessively. That image provoked him chills.
The small group had granted him very valuable information on a silver platter. Probably he could have discovered it in other more efficient forms, but he preferred the custom.
The human was an animal of custom— Gabriel did not escape from that denomination, erecting his identity under rituals of the most complex.
Like thinking that he could fight against a God.
"The dungeons must have been announced publicly."
It was an ambitious and fatal cocktail that they had prepared with the launch of the new functions inside the video game. It would be the cause of innumerable players dying and suffering, as also the ascension of others.
A bet. A bet for brainless ones like him.
But before his haughty plans could even transport themselves until the reality, he felt the touch of a calloused and heavy hand on his shoulder.
His breathing cut off, with his hands reaching his new daggers by instinct. But he raised the gaze, they still found themselves in the plaza free of any crime.
"I would not do it with so much security, sir." He said in a loud voice, with his muscles tensing under his garments.
A left hook should not be constituted as a crime, right?
"I would not do it with another man, Jester." The voice was harsh and deep, with the chill of corpses impregnated, an agent of violent death.
"I thought you only walked in dark places. Like rat dumps or desecrated tombs in the cemeteries."
He recognized the enigmatic figure behind the voice. A jovial and handsome, Abyss— Who was not at all jovial and handsome.
"Next time I will take you to one. It is a luxury experience."
With simplicity, both men shook hands as if it were an ancient friendship. Both had survived the worst horrors under the same enterprise, as "mercenaries," so their bond transcended the fragile camaraderie by reputation.
Blood brothers.
"We must leave or the officers will come with their bothersome questions."
Gabriel nodded before his affirmation, noticing that the attire of his blood brother had not changed in anything. Easily recognizable for crimes, maybe.
Immediately they undertook their walk, far from the busybodies. Their presence masked with old tanned leather attires, stood out among the crowd.
Some even came to point them out as the dynamic duo of strange ones.
Fortunately they abandoned the surroundings rapidly. Conversing among murmurs.
"Tell me, jester, have you felt his call? From that day, from those infernal ruins. Have you felt... Noxx?" Asked Abyss, stopping for seconds before pronouncing such a damned name.
"I... Still have not experienced anything. Or maybe I am still not prepared." Answered Gabriel without lying, without having experienced any type of consequence from the ruins and the strange words of the beautiful man.
"You are fortunate, boy. Every time the sun falls and the light of the stars appears, the nights turn into tortuous nights, inevitable vigils. My eyes burn, my chest fills with rage, but my fear is greater." His voice that many times had been the symbol of strength and rationality, cut off for brief instants, debating between the fear and the madness.
"He... Persists. His dark forces desire, desire more than they can obtain. It is terrifying, but our pact is even more terrifying."
Suddenly he looked until the vast sky, murmuring some unintelligible words.
"It still has not occurred to me. But from what you describe it must be terrifying. How are you so sure that it concerns him?" Asked Gabriel in a low voice, looking twice toward both sides.
The difference could be due to his status as a player. But it was only one of his hypotheses. He could not pronounce it lightly in front of Abyss or he would not even understand it.
But for an even stranger motive, the chills had begun to run down his back. With a persistent fear installing itself in his chest against his will.
"Have you not noticed it? That is strange." Said Abyss evidently confused. "We have his names incrusted in the chest. No warrior or mage can avoid it. It is the... Divine causality."
Divine causality? Extraordinary powers linked to the gods, I suppose. But I feel nothing.
Gabriel looked at his hands with confusion, asking:
"What are the names? Why is this so?"
His question was perfectly inquisitive, tracking a greater problem between the lines: the motive behind that fixation.
"You will understand those questions after discussing it with Charles. It has been he who has called you after completing my report."
"Charles, eh? It seems that he is much more than only a mafia boss." Murmured Gabriel looking directly at Abyss’s back.
"The master... He is more kind and intelligent than you could believe."
Turning his shoulders, he continued:
"While you continue serving him with dignity, he will maintain you. But if you are a coward, he will eliminate you."