Chapter 105: The Strangeness
The room fell silent.
A heavy energy had begun to envelop Gabriel’s weak body. Voracious and extremely ancient, causing cold sweat to accumulate through his clothes.
At no point did it become a physical presence, but whatever it had been, it had manipulated the most inferior instincts of primitive fear.
It still emulated a barely distinguishable image in his mind. The bloodied figure.
Condemned in an unknown space, chained to the rot. It lay without strength, with pale skin and lifeless eyes, but there existed a certainty capable of devouring worlds in him.
"Noxx?" he murmured thoughtfully. It was a supposition he made after having taken the daggers that, supposedly, belonged to its faction.
A headache pierced him. Deep and painful, clouding his vision. He had committed a fatal error without even understanding it.
His body fell heavily onto the oak floor. His surroundings had descended into absolute silence. Below him, in the crowded inn, even the colors had disappeared.
Inside him a primordial force began to awaken. The source that came from the stars, the most savage and chaotic vampirism.
Gabriel closed his eyes, surrendering to the forces of transformation that occurred in his interior. Even in the madness into which he had fallen, he understood that it was his last lifeline.
There existed no other opportunity beyond that.
***
Pleasantly he stretched across the softness and comfort that the linen fabrics granted. He delicately held the small egg that grew constantly and that would probably soon hatch.
"I would not mind if you were a giant dragon or a millennial turtle, little one. Although with such an unimaginable stature, you would probably not enter this inn." Said Gabriel, speaking softly in front of the shell sunk in a deep sleep.
A weak sensation extended from the egg, drowsy and barely conscious. Even so it responded to its master with diligence.
"How long will you sleep? It is already becoming a lot of time. Maybe my blood was too much for you."
Soon he let the egg continue with its internal evolution, observing for the second time the piercing daggers of the primordial night. It was a name that copied its style to perfection. Enigmatic and powerful.
But suddenly an unforeseeable change occurred before his eyes, that allowed itself to develop freely. A latent reddish energy had been born from the egg he had placed at his side, enveloping like a mantle the daggers.
The process lasted a few minutes, as if the transparent crimson energy battled to synthesize a spoiled food. Fortunately that change did not provoke reactions in the daggers, as if it were a disposable effort.
Finally, the tenuous layer withdrew from the daggers and returned to its origin. The egg vibrated with satisfaction, arrogantly presuming about its capacity.
An egg that consumes primordial daggers? I will no longer be surprised...
It could only be due to the latent skills that slept inside the egg. He had never thought carefully about its development, although he should begin to do so. Its potential could be immeasurable.
He allowed the egg to settle the energy proceeding from the daggers, finally disposing himself to disconnect.
With a sigh of tiredness, the vibrant world that enveloped him turned shadowy.
Until he awoke in reality.
He removed the neural helmet, which had already begun to overheat slightly. The smell of rust and mold returned him to his reality.
"I will have to spend a little," he murmured with an empty voice. Even pronouncing those words was a blasphemy for him.
He needed to get a better place, more habitable, but he was deeply reluctant to spend his money. It was an instinct that molded his own existence.
Perhaps the habit of never having had a mother.
He smiled with irony, dismissing his idle and useless thoughts.
Calmly, he rested on his chair. He allowed his body to process the tiredness that surviving constantly in dangerous ruins had provoked in him.
"Those ruins... Can they be considered a video game?" He said with doubt. He had never had the opportunity to pursue social trends, so he could not manage to understand what the trends of his generation were.
But living a parallel life, surviving a damned forest and finally having a near-death experience, according to Abyss’s narration... It was illogical.
"It will be for another day." He murmured, going to sleep immediately.
His energies had been practically drained. As if he had made a pact with the devil or had been bitten by a vampire.
Yes, a bad joke.
He was the devil and the vampire at the same time.
Another bad joke.
***
He woke with a heavy head, suffering a great migraine, similar to experiencing a glorious drunkenness that he would regret during the rest of the week.
"Good God..." He murmured with annoyance, holding his head between his hands. Even the smells that had so accompanied him throughout his life seemed deeply unknown and harmful to him.
He got up heavily, stumbling and feeling weakness in his legs. In a hurry he prepared a dish made with instant formulas, which he had kept for its bad taste.
He almost vomited.
Its bad taste had been multiplied on his palate. Reminding him of the garbage that the forgotten of society collected, the lowest stratum of the city.
The industrials.
Stoically he finished his plate, still hungry. In his painful life he had learned to enjoy as delicacies the food... Even if it came from a dump.
It was full nightfall.
His internal clock had been totally manipulated into that disaster. Waking during the first hours of the early morning, with the moon occupying the position of the sun.
"I should be fine..." He murmured, searching for his electronic device.
Soon he connected to the network. The news portals opened before him like a force of nature.
Directly he connected to the forums of the game of the century, the famed The Heaven Above All. Its popularity should have diminished a little before the traumatic experience they offered in their divine ruins.
"Let’s see..."
His expectations were practically exceeded. But they were not fulfilled to the letter as he believed.
Three articles dominated the popularity ladder.
TRAUMATIZED PLAYERS: THE DARK SIDE OF THE HEAVEN ABOVE ALL.
THE HEAVEN ABOVE ALL IS SOMETHING ELSE: THE BEST GAME OR THE WORST GAME?
THE HEAVEN ABOVE ALL SHOULD BECOME THE DOMINANT RELIGION.
It was the computer network and its typical titles.
The ruins that had been installed a very short time ago were already provoking sensationalist noise.
That confirmed an important point: it had been an event that shocked everyone. Only when something was too large did it manage to become the common trend that overwhelmed the remaining ones.
His fingers itched to discover what others had experienced. To build a more general vision about the unique event.
Since the ruins had appeared in practically all the cities of the human kingdoms.