“Ahem.” I coughed awkwardly due to the silence that reigned even after I had spoken up.It was clear they expected more and if I didn’t oblige, would I really be worthy of the position of leader?Okay, that’s a lame ass excuse but I definitely have to say something.I’m feeling really uncomfortable right now.“Right now, we have to focus on ensuring our survival in this Nightmare that seems to have no escape but do not be afraid for we have discovered an escape route. It is filled with untold dangers but we do believe that it is the only way out of here.” I took a pause to catch my breath at which point the crowd finally reacted.“There’s a way out?”“I thought we’d be trapped here till death.”“Awesome. Richard was indeed right. Jeremy Walker is worthy of being our leader!”“I can’t wait!”A flurry of excited voices rang out as the cadets showed their joy at the news.It brought a smile to my face but also caused my heart to ache.I had only told them half of the truth.But could I h
“Jerry!” Lincoln called out to me as he quickly approached.I noticed the worried expression he had on his face and after confirming the stern expressions from the others behind him, starting from Richard, it struck me that something must have happened.There was no need for there to be such a tense atmosphere if there was nothing wrong.Thus, I unwittingly grew worried.Had there been another attack while we were away?No, that’s not possible.The way the others celebrated obviously showed that nothing bad had happened after we gave chase.So that means it’s only the few members of the so called council as well as Richard and Lincoln that knew what was going on.Hmm, that makes it even worse.Something that had to be hidden from the public would more or less have to be on the same level of the crevice we found at the wall.But then my curiosity to find out what it was had pulled up quite a number of blanks.“Is everything okay?” I subtly asked with my voice lowered.Lincoln pursed hi
“How is that possible?” Leah asked with a shocked expression.Not only her, but myself, Isabella and Reginald had similar expressions.How was it that what happened just the night before had been quickly forgotten like it were a lie?Did that make any sense?I can understand the terrain changing since it is still just the nightmares of the Dreamer.But what about us, the inhabitants?We are still independent of the Dreamer so how come?“We don’t know how.” Richard spoke with an unsettled look. “We tried to remind them but they only looked at us like clowns that didn’t know what we were saying.“It was later on we realized that only Stigma Bearers still had their memories… well at least, majority of them.” He ended his talk as he glanced at Lincoln and then at Reginald.True to his words, it seemed it were only Stigma Bearers that were unaffected, but why were Lincoln and Reginald not affected?Was it because of their relatively high ranking?No, that can’t be it.It was then that Linc
“With each new generation, the effectiveness of the serum weakens until it’s completely non-exist within them. According to what was said, it’s a means they use to establish control… whatever that means.” Richard spoke candidly, not bothering to leave out the details.Obviously since almost everyone here, excluding Reginald and Lincoln and a few others, had ties to the Great families, there was no need for him to hide his knowledge.In any case, who would he hide it for?He could end up waking up tomorrow, having forgotten everything.I guess the terrifying thought that we could lose our memories has made us more forthcoming in sharing what we know.After all, what’s the point of hording secrets only to end up forgetting about it?Might as well tell the world.Anyway, Lincoln pursed his lips as he continued his explanation. “See… so it’s not actually weird that Brother Jerry can understand the Otherworldly.”At this point, he paused to glance at Veronica who quickly averted her eyes b
“The second thing is the fact that the Dreamer would devour us in a set order. No matter what, it would try it’s hardest not to break that order as it could affect it negatively, so that works to our advantage.” I paused to catch my breath while a council member asked.“How do we do that?”Smiling at the question, I replied. “It’s simple actually. Those that are next on line are to be kept under watch for the next few days. We can’t be sure of when the Dreamer would attack again, after all, we can’t guess how long it would take for it to digest the energy of those it had eaten. It could be a day, it could be a week. Nevertheless, we can’t allow the sacrifices of those that died to be in vain. No matter what, we have to prevent the tragedy of last night from repeating itself.“That’s our duty as leaders.”Wow, I can’t believe I said that.Pretty cringe actually.Hah, but I’m not wrong though.I guess I’m just sharing what I truly feel. It’s not right that we allow the Dreamer to mess w
“At this points we can be sure that the Dreamer is much more cunning than we assumed. If we let our guards down, we might all end up dying without knowing why.” Richard said.I couldn’t agree more.Even beyond all that madness and chaos the Otherworldly had an intelligence that scared the crap out of me.It would be okay if they were senseless, but for some reason, they happen to use their heads as well.I don’t know why but sometimes I just get the feeling that the Otherworldly were perfectly created to wipe out the human race.We aren’t superior in any way whatsoever.“What now?” Leah suddenly asked, jolting me from my thoughts.I pursed my lips, realizing I had spaced out for a bit too long. “We can’t waste more time sitting around here. We need to start making plans on passing the crevice. We have already been there and I can assure you that we cannot return without a reasonable plan else we’d end up going to our deaths.”Richard nodded. “But before that, we have to figure out the
“We are being manipulated?”As I heard that question, a part of me broke.It was painful no matter how they thought about it.I could understand their emotions.Even though we tried to be strong, the truth was that we were scared.Scared that we’d never get the chance to run away.That we’d never get the chance to escape.“How can we win when we are already lost?”At first they had thought it was a lie but the more I convinced them, the more they realized that even the fact that they thought we were lying was just the Dreamer causing them to remain ignorant.Maybe it was because of their lack of control over spirit.No, that’s clearly the reason why the Dreamer targets them.If we let things be, they might end up falling completely into the control of the Dreamer.What then?So might as well get the alert now.Let them understand just how dangerous the situation was.The others might say I’m reckless for doing something like this but if I could do this again, I would.There’s no need
Normally I wouldn’t be do affected by beauty, after all, I had spent most of my childhood with Leila and her looks could be counted amongst as one of the best, especially for her generation.A femme fatale with an allure that no-one could ignore.If not for her age, maybe even father might have looked at her differently.So it’s not like I hadn’t had my feel of beauty.Something which worked to my advantage since I didn’t have to worry about having a woman bewitch me using her beauty but to be honest, while before Isabella, I found myself realizing just how much of a lie that was.Was she that attractive?Honestly, she and Leah would be competing in terms of looks but definitely bodywise, Leila would take the cake but that’s because she was more mature.Ugh, what am I thinking about?This is not the time to be comparing women!Come on man, focus.Taking a deep breath, I muttered. “Well, we don’t know each other that well so I’m surprised you’d go out of your way to look for me. Is it
The clash was like no other.After learning about the Headmaster coming for them, Jason and Philip prepared an ambush.The Headmaster was right when he said Philip had absorbed the essence of the Dreamer.Due to that absorption, he had shed his mortal coils and embraced his monstrous side without any fear.The Dreamer was a creature capable of pulling humans into dreams but for Philip it was slightly different.He was able to rewrite the fabric of reality, blurring the lines between the dream world and reality.A terrifying power he used to the best of his ability at this point.Using the tunnels as a backdrop, he created a maze with an elaborate structure and advised Jason to have the Vampires hide in wait for their prey.A brilliant plan, considering they had the upper hand.They would be able to spot the humans from a distance considering they’d be moving with torches but the Vampires managed to blend into the darkness.All that was required now was to wait and all would work out w
It was the first time Vampires became a thing.Once Creatures of folklore told around campfires in the old world, these creatures were tame compared to what was before them at this very moment.A few reasons remained as to why the Otherworldly abomination was called Vampire but two stood out.One was because these monster feasted on blood and the second was that they had insane regenerative abilitiesMore than that, the third and last one was their dislike for light.They thrived in dark place as the mines and even the entire tower was meant to be.It’s quite understandable why the higher ups wouldn’t want the Vampires reaching the heart, now, no?Unlike normal Otherworldly that just don’t like light, the light for Vampires was a lethal weapon that could deal incredible damage in proportion to the intensity of the light.Which meant if they got to the Heart and by some stroke of luck, succeed in destroying it, that would mean the entire tower would be destroyed without a chance to sav
There were many things to consider when it came to leadership.Both for those that sought to be leaders or those that searched for a leader.It was no easy task, rather daunting enough for those that dared to take the post of leader to actually do what they were meant to do.For Heralds, their leadership was absolute as long as it with the squadron they commanded.Before any other position, a Herald was considered first when a Squadron was to move out.The squad members of a particular squadron have the right to listen to their Herald over a captain or commander or even General.This was because the Herald was not just a simple position.One wasn’t just a leader, nay, they were also family.Such sense of camaraderie helped squad members look out for one another but also brought fierce competition as there were hardly squadron’s that listened to the Captain’s, commanders or Generals over their Herald.A position where one held the life or death of so many people.There had never been a
The All-seeing Eye would have never believed it would come across the Void Wanderer again, after all, ever since that day, the Void Wanderer was pronounced dead.It should have died but even in death, it seemed as though it wouldn’t rest until it had done what it wanted which was to cause chaos amongst them.You will never get away with this!... Your kind is already doomed!... Do not waste your time fighting against the inevitable. What you should do is swear your allegiance to the one who watches and accept his reign.[Bold of you to assume that I would waste my time having a conversation with you. Please… enough with the noise.]The All-seeing Eye wanted to say but before it had a chance to, space about it began to constrict, growing tightly about it until it could barely move in any direction.No!... You cannot do this!.... You cannot do this!Unfortunately, Lord had no more words to share with him and a moment later, his body exploded like a watermelon that received the full brunt
The Otherworldly were graded according to a system created by mankind after constant bouts with them.From E, it ascended thusly; E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and lastly Godspawn.Two things were used in the grading process.One was the destructive capabilities of said monster while the second was the utility of their ability.Which meant a flame monster could be lesser than a monster that can’t be seen simply because the monster that can’t be seen won’t be easily beat.For the flame monster, there would surely be ways to counter since it’s seen but the other… the first step would be to see it no?Other criteria was put into consideration as well, like how hard was it to kill one or like how fast were their regenerative capabilities.Of course this applied to most Otherworldly.Yes, most.The SS and Godspawn were different.They were a class that defied natural laws and created conundrums that defied everything humanity had come to understand.The difference between an SS and a Godspawn was t
It was a simple plan with a simple purpose in mind.Reginald, Veronica and Jeremy.These three had abandoned the pain and suffering from that time during the newbie massacre to come together for a singular reason.What was the reason you might ask?... It was purely revenge.Revenge for their fallen comrades that had died unjustly at the hands of scheming bastards that hid within the shadows.The fact that they had found out whom the perpetrators were made it all the more better.At least they wouldn’t move like headless flies.Now they could move with the desire to kill the one that caused them the grievance they were still suffering even as they sat in Jeremy’s room, talking with smiled on their faces.Leah hadn’t been fooled when she saw them smile and laugh so energetically.It was most likely because they didn’t want her to worry.Unfortunately, she no longer had eyes that could be deceived.Leah only listened to the hearts of those she communicated with and currently, as she list
Veronica sighed as she rose from her bed and walked over to the door to open it only to find her father standing outside.“Dad, you?” Veronica said.Her father nodded. “Were you sleeping?”“No… not yet.” Veronica shook her head in response.“I thought as much. Alright, let me come in first.” With that said, he casually entered without giving Veronica much of a choice to refuse or anything of that sort.She watched on as he sat on her bed and made himself comfortable before tapping on the bed.“Come sit.”Veronica pursed her lips before letting out a sigh. “still as intrusive as ever.”Sitting beside her father, she waited for him to talk.He pondered for a bit before he spoke. “how are you feeling?”“Fine.” Veronica replied.Her father glanced at her and after a bit of scrutiny, shook his head. “that’s a lie.”“If you already know, then why ask?”“To know if you are willing to tell yourself the truth.”“…The truth is too painful to accept.”Her father stared at her solemn face and aft
It all happened so suddenly.One moment, the thugs were trying to take down Jeremy and Marcus to take away their belongings and the next moment, they were writhing on the floor like worms that had salt poured in them.As they groaned and gasped for air, Jeremy looked on with an expressionless look on his face.Meanwhile, Marcus was somewhat terrified.Just what power had Jeremy used?He couldn’t even begin to fathom it.But then he wondered. If he had such an ability… wouldn’t Ria still be alive now?Wouldn’t he have been able to save Ria and ensure nothing happens to her?As that thought came, Marcus found himself pondering on it more and more until he could hardly think of anything else.Then he heard Jeremy’s voice. “This not power you should hope for.”His voice snapped Marcus out of his reverie, causing him to realize that he had Ben staring off into nothingness for a bit too long.Then he glanced at Jeremy who was staring intently at him.“how did you do that!” Marcus immediatel
“You heard about the fire?” Jeremy inquired with a raised brow.Reginald nodded. “It was a dangerous affair after all. It’s one of the few times when an entire floor was threatened. If anything had gone wrong, we would have seen casualties in the thousands.”“I agree. And that was just a side effect.”“A side effect, you say?” Reginald raised a brow.Jeremy replied. “Yeah. Apparently, Marcus only had to kill some mafia leader that had his hands on the black market on that floor, engaging in unsavory activities including drugs, prostitution and slavery.”“that… wait, you said the orb is a Vestige?” Reginald asked.Jeremy nodded. “it is.”“so how did he use it?... Aren’t Vestiges objects that only react to variance?... So how did he activate it?”“I have no idea.” Replied Jeremy in all honesty.He was also quite curious to figure out how it happened.It was a known fact that even ordinary Explorers could not use Vestiges because of their lack of variance.But Marcus managed to do so des