Titanomachy Rebirth (IC)

[RacingeR]

Rika Griffin, Sakura Sumeragi & Eilian Aubrey
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Dark Labyrinth – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Obtained Student ID: Choi Hyeon-Ju

The student ID that Sakura picks up seems to have fallen off the girl’s pocket as she went, and aside from being splattered with blood, looks mostly intact. And it is probably the only recognizable thing left in the world that can tell you who that lump of meat used to be.

Eilian, meanwhile, looks at the ‘watch’ she obtained before the nightmare began. And what she sees surprises the hell out of her. After all, the six needles are scrambling like mad all across their circle, running from one symbol to the other at a speed that is hard even for her to follow.

She notices, however, that two of the needles seem to persistently come back to two of the symbols. One, a simple circle with no extra line on it. The other, a square with a line horizontally through the middle, that extends rightwards past the square itself, in a way that makes it look vaguely hammer-like.

The trio proceeds through the darkness, Rika at the center, Sakura at her left, and Eilian a bit ahead and a bit more to the right. The light of Rika’s phone illuminates the way as you walk through, showing traces of blood everywhere.

And as you approach, you hear it: the shuffling steps. The slight moaning, increasing in volume as you approach. And the chewing. The noises of chewing and something being devoured.

The square room you find yourself at after walking through the dark hallway looks exactly the same as the one you just left. Like the one you just left, it is caked in gore.

And yet, the sight here manages to be even more vile and awful than the remains you left behind.

Two dead corpses lie on the ground. You can’t see much of them, or the way they died.

You can’t see or discover much because the faint illumination of the two functioning lamps reveals two rotting, dead bodies on their knees, leaning towards the corpses in the floor, and ripping mouthfuls out of them, chewing on them like this was their final meal.

A third corpse, that of a girl, is standing opposite you, her dead eyes looking in your direction as you emerge out of the darkness. She’s the source of the shuffling, uncoordinated steps you have been listening to all along.

Encountered Decayed Being (Human Schoolboy) x2
Encountered Decayed Being (Human Schoolgirl)

They’re dead and yet they live a terrible parody of life. Here are the zombies that Jane had warned Rika about, the main inhabitants of the mad labyrinth that has become Zeus High School. The main inhabitants of the maze you are trapped into.

The dead girl produces a growling sound, causing the two dead boys to stand up, mouths still soaked in gore. They spin towards your group.

And then, as if they were one, they scramble towards you, murderous intentions more than evident.

Mad Labyrinth, Part 1
Turn 1

[Airen]

Rika Griffin
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

"..."

Insanity.

While the rational mind had long ago accepted Jane's words as the truth, a part of her had simply wished for the nightmare to remain a simple nightmare. It was little more than a subconscious prayer of course, a yearning wish to open her eyes and find herself back in the normal school building, where things had perhaps been a bit strange, but iron had never drenched the air in it's stench, where gore didn't splatter hallways and fill the blankness of untamed shadows, where these terrible flashes of monsters she had seen in her dreams had simply been that, flashes of things that did not exist.

But the moment she sees them, the last of the resistance falls away.

Undead.

Terrible, terrible parody of life. Rotting flesh and inhuman sounds, inhuman actions, monsters devouring those that had once been their kin. It's horrific, it's a horrific sight that makes her want to gag, but also finally cements that the dreams are no longer dreams, the nightmares are no longer nightmares, or even if they are...

It doesn't matter.

Life is now that nightmare.

Land of death, envoys of the great darkness at the edge of the horizon.

Life may be like a dream, we might live in a dream, but that is still life is it not?

Nothing can be done for it.

Not now anyway, perhaps some time in the future.

She smiles bitterly, suppressing the urge to retch.

"...Hey."

She speaks to the two girls.

"Figure out a direction and start running, I'll try to keep them busy."

There's nothing for it.

She has to do something, and this is the only thing she can do; call it an instinct, but the other two don't strike her as fighters, people that would know how to defend themselves from your average house cat let alone a group of undead, so it was something she'd likely have to handle on her own.

Even if it was scary.

She had to do something, right? If she didn't, things would just get worse.

You can't run away forever.

She shakes loose from the girl's grip and steps forward, towards the group approaching them, towards monsters that should not exist inside of this world, and-

"..."

Calm down.

Stop thinking.

You can do this.

"..."

[Mushin Activated]

-something shifts.

In her demeanor, something shifts. The determined steps take on a far more casual air, like the battle had shifted from an impossible situation to something that happens all the time. Footsteps sound cleanly against the tile, the way she walks insanely casual when compared to the desperate, frenzied scramble of the approaching enemies, but-

"...Hmm."

...After three steps, the girl makes a sound, or rather...

"Okay."

The girl's body makes the sound, an unimpressed noise, like it wasn't seeing anything particularly out of the ordinary here, then-

"Caught you."

-like a bullet fired from a gun, Rika Griffin's body had launched itself towards the undead schoolgirl without a single wasted movement, a blur of inhuman motion, one that starts as a simple step and turns to a blur heading straight for the undead girl... Who finds her wrist caught in the silver haired girl's grip.

And yet, even this lasts for only an instant; momentum drives her body into a spin, and the spin...

Is meant to send the zombie girl right into one of her undead friends.

Rika might have felt a bit bad about this, or perhaps a little gross at touching something dead, but... Well...

Instinct doesn't care.

Instinct really doesn't give a shit.

Live in the moment, kick the shit out of them.

Sometimes thinking too much just slows you down-!

Wise Up

Stats

Strength: 14 + 4 = 18 (Bare Handed) + 3 (Grapple/Throw) = 21
Agility: 21 + 2 (Bare Handed) = 23
Evasion: 21 + 5 (Mushin) = 26

Perks

-Krav Maga (Aikido Influences)-
[+4 to STR and +2 to AGI when fighting bare-handed. Additional +2 to STR and EVA when fighting against an enemy whose AGI is lesser than Rika’s by 7. Additional +3 to STR when grappling an enemy. Additionally, create one martial arts Technique based on this style.]


Techniques

-In the Moment ~ Technique Never Betrays-
The culmination of Rika's physical abilities and skill sets, an artificial state of mind close to the Japanese concept of Mushin, where the body reacts on it's own to various stimuli, removing the lag-time between action and reaction, where the body moves to take the proper actions by itself without conscious thought being necessary, and thus a body that cannot be truly surprised by anything that may appear, acting with it's full capacity to even completely unknown dangers.

Even for someone who dedicates their life to martial arts it is a difficult hard to grasp, an ultimate technique, and thus Rika's use of it (as a far more casual practitioner who is only able to do it due to parkour as a concept being suited for it) is naturally flawed, as evidenced by the fact that she has to actively attempt to do it rather than simply exist in the state naturally, an ironic flaw that proves she's "still thinking a little before doing things," even if her body's abilities do seem to rise to when in this meditation-like state of mind...
[Activates Mushin for 2 turns. When in this state, Rika’s EVA goes up by 5. AoEs that aren’t battlefield-sized are counted as normal attacks for the purpose of evasion. All Prepared Evasions will auto-succeed in fully evading the incoming attack. Prepared counters gain a damage bonus of 3. Heavily exhausting to use. Cooldown of 8 turns.]

[RacingeR]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Abode of the Endless)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“An idealist’s answer.” The being replied, now walking around you a bit, before stopping. “And yet you do not resemble the fourth one all that much. You feel less… innocent, perhaps. I’d say you too smell of blood, but perhaps given the current environment, that’d just feel ironic.”

They didn’t express agreement or disagreement with you, studying you with that same unblinking gaze. “Good or evil are such vague definitions. You yourself said it doesn’t matter whether they were so. These people here all attacked me, and thus they perished. Where would that place them in your moral compass?”

“But we both know that we don’t know. Neither you or me will ever know if they were good people or not. But they took a decision, the decision to fight me. The consequences of that decision belong only to themselves.” One could almost wish the creature would express contempt, or derision, or just something. That eerie monotone feels worse than any expression of negativity would be. “You do not strike me as the kind to not employ self-defense, to not slay when needed, for others or for yourself. In this Warped World where nightmares dwell, such characteristic would mean you’d never have been sent to meet me. Because it’d mean you’d break without repair, forevermore.”

Crackling of static. The creature started pacing around you once again, and you notice how each of their steps leaves a footstep of static, briefly, before it vanishes.

“Humans break. That is an inevitability. That is a truth. Humans break, and too will break. No human who has stepped in this world of monsters has remained unbroken. You too, will break. That too is inevitable.”

They stopped, now in front of you, and looked at you again. The blood pooled around your feet pulsed, and the crackle of static intensified with that rhythm.

“But humans also possess the potential to keep on living after breaking. They break, and they then pick up the pieces and repair themselves, and make yet another whole.” He, and you were now sure that at least this body was that of a he, said. And you couldn’t help but to feel the slightest fluctuation of emotion on that monotonous soft voice now, as if the being was getting to the core reason of why you were here, why you had been ‘sent’ to meet them.

“Tell me. Human, Survivor. You who would wish to one day return home.” A blotch of static appeared under him, expanding from his feet and reaching until a few meters away from you. “When you break, will you be able to stand up again? Will you pick up the pieces and put them together once again? Or will you merely enter the void of oblivion and perish like countless others once did?”

[SnowSpartan]

Willow Durand
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Detached Building – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Willow jumps as something slams against the blockaded doorway. The situation suddenly seems all the more dire.

“Yes, let’s go!” She doesn’t want to meet what’s on the other side of that door. Even if that means running off into the unknown. At least she’s on her own.

As she turns to leave through the other door, Willow’s eyes linger on Aaron. Given his recent behavior, she’s concerned he will do something rash. If not now, then later. He did call out Zhong, on the intercom no less, where her entire gang could hear. She can’t help but feel that Aaron will put himself in danger

Shaking her head, Willow slides smoothly to Marie’s side as they leave the room. Making sure Marie is beside her, Willow leans down to the girl.

“Marie, please stay close to me, ok?” Willow whispers, offering Marie her hand. In the worst case scenario where they run into something, Marie might get lost in the chaos. Willow promised her that things will be ok, and she intends on keeping that promise.

[Sei]

Sakura Sumeragi
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 - Afternoon
HP: ??? | SP: - | Self: 130

What am I supposed to do? The more I see, the less I understand.

My mind is refusing to make sense of the situation as it plays out in front of me. There is something there. Something dangerous. So much that reality is actively being censored inside my own head. Likely an involuntary response in order to preserve my sanity. But, deep down inside, I already know what my own brain refuses to convey...

R̷̡̛u̴̧̦̥̲͆n̶͔̳̩͗̂͆.̶̬͇̂̓̿ ̸̹̤͠͠

"Start running."

I need to r̶̗̎͆u̸̟̓ņ̶͔̮̯̚.̴̹̭́͜ ̷̹̻̟̐̓̚

I hear the other girl's voice mix in with the words tumbling around in my head.

My feel her slip out of my grasp almost as soon as her back comes into view. She's rushing into the haze of meat, teeth, and eyes. My fingers slowly move to tighten their hold on her shirt, but there's nothing there. Only the lingering feeling of what was once there remains.

I need to r̷̨̻̅u̶̘̱̟̒̚͜n̸̛͙͔͖̄̕,̵̡͍̈ ̵̗͐̃ but my legs won't move. My feet are frozen to the floor and my knees are about to buckle under my own weight.

The room is starting to spin.

Pressure is building up in both temples.

The uneasy feeling in my stomach bubbles and rises up into my throat- resting into a fine knot.

I breathe in the catch my breath, but my nose has already flooded with snot. I breathe out to calm my nerves, but I only feel pain and tears.

I need to ȑ̶͇͔̱̍ů̶̳̮̎n̴̛̲̏̋.̴̪̌̀̌ I need to return to that white room with the white lights and the white linen. I need to go home. I want to go home. I want to see my mom and dad, one more time...

But I'm not going to get to do that, am I? We're all going to die here, in this hellish place. I'm going to die here... And no one will even know.

A sharp pain courses throughout my chest.

The silver-haired girl's words echo inside my head again. It's clear now that she grasped the severity of the situation in that brief instant. The only way any of us have a chance of getting out of this alive is if one of us takes action. One of us has to stay behind and draw the attention of the threat. One of us needs to be a sacrifice... But it doesn't have to be her.

My heart beats faster. A rush of short breaths fills my lungs with air.

I already know why life will be cut short due to my condition. I've known this for a long time... The fact that I'm still alive to this day is a miracle that I've probably taken for granted. I've spent so much time thinking about if I'd be satisfied when I do die. Thinking about it now, I don't think that'd be something I could have reasonably achieved with the time I've been allotted. There're so many things I want to do. It's unfair and it sucks. I don't want to die yet. But, if I'm going to die anyway, the least I can do is give my life so others can cherish their own. Even if only for a little bit.

My legs wake up from their slumber. The world comes into focus.

Fighting back every other response in my body, I rush toward the silver-haired girl. I'll save her. She may be brave, but she's misguided. If one of us has to give their lives, it's got to be the one with the least life left.

[Plue]

Eilian Aubrey
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Dark Labyrinth – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

As they walked west Eilian fiddled with the odd watch some more, trying to distract herself from what a truly awful...

Why did it start working now? Was it damaged in whatever the shift was that brought her to this place? Or was it measuring something?

She hoped it was a mechanical radiation detector, resolving to put it from her mind for now as she pockets the watch hearing sounds from up ahead.

Zombies? Truly they were in a horror world. Zombies are supposed to be slow though aren't they? Eilian finds herself regretting now having eschewed such fiction. Who would have thought that B movies would have contained useful information for the real world though?

"Figure out a direction and start running, I'll try to keep them busy."

Rika MOVES.

Eilian absently working out the speed of her dash, quite respectable for even a professional athlete, towards the zombies even as she sighs.

Run? Where? Past the two zombies blocking the way, or back towards the cause of exploding incomprehensible physics.

Shoulders slumping as the blue haired girl rushes past her as well.

"I hate this place."

She reaches out to grab the girl by the shoulder, even as she starts walking forward.

"It stinks."

Charging one by one, or sacrificing one another for motes of time of survival... what foolishness

"It smells bad."

It's always the same, as it once was it will be again.

"Nothing makes sense."

"This is worse than the Chicago airport."

She stops just behind and to the side of Rika, holding her glove clad hands up.

"I doubt I would make it past them, let alone to any safety on my own."

Flexing her gloves their sharp edges gleam in the little light there is.

"I will try to..." A slight maniacal grin slashes across her face, "Lend a hand where I can, however please do not hold out too much hope for my first fight."

[Katie]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Abode of the Endless)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“I’m already broken,” Eleanor admits bitterly. She doesn’t want to be lectured by this sociopath about the nature of humanity. She doesn’t care about any cryptic warnings or any attacks on her values. She will hear none of it. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as one has the will to persist, they will survive any injury.”

“I don’t care about your approval. I’ll ask again. Get the hell out of my sight.”

[Eru Erufu]

Our hero's eyes are wide at the utterly alien sky before him, speechless at the thing that should not be. Briefly, he wonders if this is it: the Rapture has come at last. But that's all wrong: Aaron is a good, God-fearing Christian. He would have been taken with the rest of the believers for sure!

So he re-evaluates the group's position. A horrifically wrong sky, creatures that should not be, being stuck in a room with a strapping young man and several lovely ladies. Aaron's eyes widen. It's so stupid he can't even fathom it. The possibility before him is utterly ridiculous, but it all fits. Like clockwork the gears grind together, the rotors of his mental windmill turning in the breeze of comprehension. There's only one possible thing that's happening to him right now.

The utterly foul sow, Zhongli, has whisked them all away to Hell.

That, or they've ended up inside of a shounen manga. But that is far less likely in the face of an obvious demonic witch. But slaying the spawn of Vortigern would have to wait, as as that exact moment the reanimated servants of the Dread Queen force their way into the classroom! "Behind me and Jason!" Aaron declares, putting himself between the blocked door and the girls. "Bryanna, you have your geopositional wits about you. Navigate us to salvation, for the Lord will not let us fall to the servants of evil!" Taking the usual fighting stance he uses on his nightly vigilante escapades, the part-time hero laments the fact that he never deigned to learn lethal forms of CQC.

[RacingeR]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Abode of the Endless)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

The being looks at you for a moment, then nods to himself upon hearing your words. It is rather evident by now that this creature… he doesn’t really care much for you or your views, or rather, is entirely indifferent towards you. He doesn’t care whether you care about his approval or not.

No, rather… that is the nod of someone who has found a tool that he knows will suit his purposes, knowing that you might not have any other option either way. You’ve been along to your father’s job enough to have seen many politicians make that same kind of gesture. In your words, this thing found what was looking for, after all.

“Very well, I shall be gone now… after my message is delivered.” The creature said in that unflinchingly monotone.

And suddenly, even before you could process what was happening, the sea of static fell upon you, crawling through the floor in the blink of an eye, and start to climb through your necks.

Then, the being spoke, but what was being spoken couldn’t be called a language or even a voice anymore. You felt your body vibrate as the words penetrated through your brain and were indelibly engraved within.

“If you wish to go home, then survive, Survivor.”

The static climbed through your legs and reached towards your stomach. The sensation was simply indescribable, as if you were coming into contact with something that was never meant to be touched by human hands.

“Climb the Tower of Thanatos, human, where the First Survivor found his truth. Slay the Godslayer.”

The static climbed past your stomach, and started encroaching your upper torso.

“Human. Survivor. Climb the Tower of Skulls, where the bones of your predecessors rot. Climb to its very peak and slay a God.”

You couldn’t move. You couldn’t speak. You couldn’t do anything, and curse the thing that was doing this to you. Your body had disappeared within the static that was now up to your neck. The worst thing was that it didn’t even feel bad, per se. Just strange and weird. Eldritch, without a doubt.

“Slay the Gods, human. And then walk through the Spiral all the way to the end. There, at last, you shall find the path back home.”

And as the reverb of the worlds faded out of your skull, words you would remember whether you liked or not, forevermore, the static finally reached your face, and pushed your lips open. You felt it enter through your mouth and then-!

Then, a brief blackness.

Awakening

Race changed to Enhanced Human.
Lifespan increased to ???.
Path to Ascendancy unlocked.
Attribute Unbound activated.
Trait Fate-Breaker activated.
Stat cap increased to 40.
Spiritual Power “Superbolide” awakened, information on how to wield it obtained.
Perk Seed of UNKNOWN obtained regardless of consent.

Kill the gods, Survivor.

---------

“… Is this your will too, o God of this World?”

“Even after countless eons, I still cannot understand your thoughts. Will they really fulfill your wish? The currents of fate are too easily malleable here. All prophecies should be useless, but…”

“I know. You know. That man cares not but for his own objectives. And therefore, will doom everything and everyone, without even understanding why. Even if you intend to take advantage of his scheme…”

“Will his disciples be able to fulfill your earnest wish?”

---------

Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classrom - ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

You were forced into sleep as a normal human.

You woke up as an Enhanced Human, and as you stood up, you could feel the power flow through your veins, the change your body had spontaneously gone.

You felt more alive than ever. Stronger than ever. Superpowers at your disposal, at your beck and call, as if you had developed a whole new set of muscles you could exercise at will. Perhaps you’d loathe to admit it, given the circumstances of your awakening, but you felt good. Complete, in a way.

Then, when the odor of blood reached your newly enhanced senses, you felt a lot less well.

Looking around, this seemed like the same magnified classroom you’d held a conversation with that mysterious entity. Except all the corpses and all the blood were gone. Evidences of your experience remained, given the blood that soaked your shoes and some of your clothing.

More importantly, the atmosphere was wholly different. Like a wholly different dimension. This felt close to solid ‘reality’, in a way.

Shame that reality also happened to be a loathsome nightmare.

Near you, you saw the corpses of two students, a boy and a girl, curled together in a corner of the classroom. The boy had tried to protect the girl, you surmised given the positioning of the bodies. To no avail: both of them seemed like they had been torn and half eaten by some sort of savage beast.

A single lamp above you, emitting dim light, and the teal light that penetrated through a solitary window, illuminated the scene. The strange (warped you thought for no reason at all) classroom had two exits, both leading to hallways. One seemed to correspond to the place you had woken up into.

[RacingeR]

Xavier Augustus
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classroom – 3rd Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

“Huh? Two ghosts working together?”
“A ghost split in two?”
“Infis is Infis, sir.”

They were now looking at you as if you were the one who was insane. Great.

“And the Warped World is, hmm… a world. That is warped.”
“That is why they call it the Warped World!”

Both still stared as you as if you were insane or daft.

“Although… how do I know that name… I can’t remember…” Infis frowned slightly, then shrugged. As if she had answered any of your questions at all. “This is the third floor, I don’t really know where we are exactly.”

“This place’s all warped, it is a labyrinth. All weird, strange, all full of monsters!”
“Do you have stomach for gore?”
“You aren’t going to enjoy finding the zombies! And there’s worse around!”

There they went again with the cackling.

“But sure, we can stick around.”
“We got nobody else to badger.”
“We’re bored. We hate boredom. We burn things when bored.”

Saying that, the first ghost girl snapped her fingers, and the pale flames suddenly closed into the slime. It emitted a very loud screech as the flames consumed its already weakened form, and in a question of minutes, all that was left of it was a boiling puddle slowly eating through the thick floor.

Disquieting.

Meanwhile, you had taken a look at your phone. The group chat of the Music Club was… full of rather disturbing news. They were mostly panicked messages of people who had woken up inside the school, and had ran into the monsters therein. Quite a few of the messages were to the tune of ‘I’m done for’ and such, indicating that many hadn’t survived those encounters.

Just as you were reading up on those messages and soaking on the horror of knowing clubmates and classmates were trapped in this slice of hell, contending against zombies, ghosts, slimes, mutant animals and apparently even worse horrors, and the knowledge that many of them, people you knew, had died, a message appeared in the group chat. From Cynthia, of all people too.

Text

I’m okay. I’m with my brother. Get to the lobby or the dorms, they’re the only safe places. Gotta run now. Good luck!

No word from Shelia and Adelyn. And of course, you weren’t in the Dance Club’s chat, so you had no way to contact Willow either.

You noticed that at some point Infis (both of them, they didn’t seem to be able to split up judging by the way they stuck together as if conjoined) was floating in front of the door, both faces showing an identical frown.

“There’s something bad in this floor.”
“Feels like a Newbie Killer.”
“Feels like that. But how do I know that? No, no. This is bad.”
“We should get out of here.”

[palad1n]

Kaguya
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – 6th Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, Kaguya took in the gruesome scene before her; three corpses, one soon-to-be dead guy, and two girls who are a part of Zhong's gang. That's already too many corpses and gore in one day than she's comfortable with, not to mention whatever supernatural thing's going on at the moment.

What a wonderfully shitty day. Definitely up there among the worst days of her life.

But on the bright side, as much as she dislikes bullying and Zhong's gang the two redheads seems to be a capable fighter if the improvised club and switchblades are of any indication, and this situation is more fucked up than bullying, so she's able to look past that for the moment... Wait, isn't one of them the well-known lesbian? Camila?

Gears turning in her head even as the clock keeps on ticking, Kaguya finally speaks.

"There's something bad chasing us, and fighting it isn't wise." She said as she moved to run before stopping, looking at both girls. "We should run, unless you want to try your luck fighting that thing?"

She's not sure even a 4-on-1 (which is probably more like 3-on-1, she's really nowhere near good enough for this) will be enough to take on that thing, but...

Well, they can't outrun it forever, and if they chose to stand their ground and fight at the very least the odds would be better.

[Zagrin]

Aster Hunter
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Broken Rooftop)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon
86/100

"Hm..."

Aster's response to the attack was muted as he inspected his fresh wounds. The beasts had drawn blood, but ultimately they were just flesh wounds and rather than try to continue the assault they had fled back to the safety of the skies. They appeared to be employing textbook hit and run tactics, though were this was as a result of some sort unnatural cunning or just natural cowardice. Either way, it was going to be troublesome if they just kept fleeing back into the open skies before making their next move, not to mention incredibly dull...

Unless he could get buzzards into an enclosed space, he wouldn't be able to go on the attack. That much was to be expected, which is exactly why he had first chosen to clear a path towards one: the stairwell.

Impact Guard Prepared

For now he would prepare his guard, the only chance he would have would be strike at them would be when they made the mistake of coming near him once again. No doubt the two stragglers would perform the same maneuver as the ones from earlier had, it had proven effective so far, after all.

With plan of action in mind, began to advance towards the stairwell, ready to exact violence on the next foe that came close to him.

[Tangerang]

Myo
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Courtyard – Northern Yard)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Myo sighed. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help but sigh. Or perhaps it was because of the situation that she found herself in.

It would be a simple thing to do. Despite the monstrous appearance of this monstrous creature, Myo had complete faith in her own capability.

It would be easy. She could justify the circumstances. Nobody was around. Nobody would ever know.

Except her.

What would be the point of living by a code if one broke it out of convenience?

No excuses. No compromising.

Death is not something light enough to be dealt out based on whims of fancy.

It wasn't as if she had no other options. The monstrous rat was about the size of a dog; and Myo was still a superhuman.

With a quick movement, Myo closed in on the creature, and with a motion, she scooped it up, before throwing it down the path she had come from with her superhuman strength.

That bought her some space and time. Clearly, staying on the ground proved risky, given the potential for ambushes as was just demonstrated. In that case, another option presented itself before her.

Looking around, it was still the familiar courtyard of the school, even though it was distorted. With another practiced motion, Myo quickly scaled a wall, leaping to the top. Parkour was a pretty popular hobby nowadays, but for those in Myo's line of business, such movements were vital in order to quickly infiltrate enemy territory. With perfect balance, and on top of the wall, there were no more hiding locations for ambushes, nor would the rats be able to reach her. And of course, being up high would greatly increase her vantage point, as well as make it easier for others to spot her. With that settled, she resumed her scouting; the most important thing was to find information about her current situation.

[Mormarth]

Alexandra Gray
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Courtyard – Tree Garden)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

HP: 46/70

My jaw clenched down over a groan of annoyance and the bone-deep, throbbing agonies that I was inflicting on my own body, fruits of desperation and pulsing, frenzied adrenaline.

I could almost see the lactic acid frothing like a shaken soda over my muscles.

My wounds, though numerous and aching, were not something that would slow me down, but they would be a problem once I found a place to rest.

How irritating.

This was really getting to be quite troublesome.

Still, at least I found another living human being, that's good.

Unfortunately, she is also being pursued by crows, and we've both blundered into a nice thicket of hostile plantlife.

Hm.

Part of me cursed myself for not trying to get a further look into the capabilities of those weird trees, but ultimately, there wasn't much to be done at the time.

Though, there may be an opportunity here.

I hoped she'd excuse my, ah, haphazard appearance, though, I presume the current circumstances are allowing for such things.

Right then, right.

So.

It's a chaotic mad rush right now, trying to run in at those hammer-like limbs doesn't sound optimal.

I supposed my best situation was to move for the fringes as quickly as possible and try to avoid as much as I can while they're distracted by those crows.

"Hey! Make a right! These trees are nasty buggers up close!"

There's not much I can do with them right now, only keep in mind how they move.

But without any intelligence on those vines, I don't have much to work with.

Alas.

I can't turn back and lose my momentum, I'm not some freak who can bound at full speed in any direction.

So I'll have to keep moving forward.

I took a breath.

[Language of Violence Activates!]
[Involution Activates!]
[Ragged Cloth Aegis and Predictive Measures still in place!]
[Alexandra Gray Receives +2 to STR/AGI against Mutated Crows!]

At least I'm used to these damned crows enough that they're not that much of an issue anymore.

[RumiCrow 1 (Closest to Sandy) receives -2 to DEF!]
[RumiCrow 2 and 3 both receive - 2 to STR!]

Now, see if I can angle this just right...

My feet pounded on the ground, my breath like bellows in my chest, my eyes focused, locked on a target.

Heh.

"Keep your eye on the birdie..."

Closer.

Closer.

And-!

The world slowed to a crawl as I shifted my balance.

"Sandy... You shouldn't use that on another human being..."

Well, don't worry, Gwendoline.

Surely this is an applicable enough circumstance that I think it's allowed.

Open wide, feathers.

One up front, then it's small enough that I should be able to get around back and knock it into the radius, give that tree something to smile at.

[Toneless Fissure used on RumiCrow 1!]

Now get out of my sight.

Dossier

Involution - Focus: The ability to increase one’s own aptitude at a subject by the observation of others, taking their motions, their intent, their Reason for the action.

History, Struggle, Emotion. All of these things must be observed for the technique to truly become hers.

It is an ability rooted in understanding others.

When this understanding is complete, the unison of their existences allows them to soar to greater heights, furthering the development and striving ever onward toward the stars.

This understanding and reciprocation is Alexandra's Reason.

[Most non-innate Techniques and Perks displayed by enemies and allies alike can be learned if study time is applied to do so, which allows Alexandra to develop her own version. The quantity of time slots it takes is based on the complexity of what she wishes to learn. Furthermore, when fighting along someone who Alexandra has used her evolution on, a teamwork bonus of +3 to the stats relevant to the Perk/Technique is given to both.]

[When Alexandra’s version of a copied Technique is used at the same time as the originator’s own Technique, the originator’s becomes an improved version.]

When fighting an enemy Alexandra has faced before, she obtains +2 to STR and AGI.]

Toneless Fissure

A technique used after careful observation of an enemy's capabilities, after Alexandra has gained as much intelligence as she can, she strikes with a swift, brutal blow to her opposition, aiming to either utterly crush them in a single blow, or shatter their ability to defend themselves.

It is a two-step process, similar to cooking. A palm-thrust, to 'tenderize' the meat of the day, taking them off balance with the aid of the in-depth analysis they have already undergone, and then a hard straight punch following, to crush and tear whatever is in her way.

Naturally, this is not the sort of move Alexandra would ever wish to use on someone she did not want dead.

It is the baseline for a blow that could sunder all before her to a fine crimson, given time and seasoning.

[Toneless Fissure - Technique. Only active once at least three enemy stats and three perks have been discovered. First strike will inflict STR x1.5 damage and will always inflict Lvl 1 Stun on enemies that can plausibly be stunned by such an attack. Second strike will inflict STR x2 damage, x2.5 if applied on a victim with a Status Effect, and has high chances of causing Bleeding. Cooldown of 5 turns.]

[Spinach]

Cyrus Ferdinand
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – 2nd Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Most would agree that there are good and bad ways to die. But Cyrus wasn’t part of the most. There was no good, nor was there bad. Dying was dying. And the ones who die are the unlucky.

But seeing the state of the corpses lining the hall as he ran, even he might be willing to admit that even if there was no good way to die, there were certainly bad ways.

“…”

He glanced over his shoulder. Being caught by that freakishly fast… thing, would definitely count for a bad way to die.

Cyrus was no athlete. He was decidedly average in that regard. When things got rough and physical he was easily the weakest link. Being normal was a greater liability than being puny. The weak had a tendency to learn how to turn the odds, topple giants in spite of their deficiencies. He had never even thought of such things, Cyrus was long resigned to that bit of normality.

It wasn’t complacency, it was acceptance. To be normal in one way meant to be extraordinary in another.

He glanced at the split path. Left, which gently curved up, like a winding path leading to heaven? Or keep going, past the brutalized corpse on the right, lit up with lamps guiding lost souls to doom?

“Left to heaven, right to hell.”

He said it out loud, pivoting at the fork and taking the right path without a moment of hesitation. Cecily, that was her name, she could make her own choice.

Between heaven and hell Cyrus knew where he belonged. And he felt like on the right he might just get lucky. If not, he’d join the dead along the halls.

[RacingeR]

Jordan J. Jones
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – 4th Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Obtained Student ID: Robert Valentine
Obtained Student ID: Maria Campos

This thing was damn fast. In fact, it was faster than you were… normally, that is.

As it was right now, you were much faster than it. It had always been your ability to exceed the limits of mankind, to be able to push your body and your speed just this slight bit past the absolute peak. It hurt, it strained your muscles like hell and the coach had told you it wasn’t healthy, to not use your ability much, or you ran the risk of ruining your legs.

However, you had the suspicion that acid slime was a lot unhealthier in comparison. Couldn’t be good for the skin. Probably would hurt you more than keeping up your top speed for a hour or so.

Your decision turned out to be rather accurate. You were carrying a girl on your arms, and were advancing in a zig-zag pattern, while the slime was going in a straight line. As a result, the slime advanced just a slight bit faster than you did.

Not that you dared to change your pattern for now. Moments after the chase had started, the slime had slowed down a bit, and shot a bullet of concentrated acid in your direction. The bullet had gone just past your shoulder and hit a wall, starting to melt it rather fast. You didn’t want to get hit by that.

Thankfully, the slime didn’t seem to be very precise at long range, and shooting the bullet had slowed it down just a bit, enough for you to buy some more precious time.

Right now, you had already caught up with the girl running ahead. She wasn’t too fast, and it was clear that while she was in shape, she wasn’t the athletic sort. She just wasn’t very fast in comparison to you and the slime.

And that was a problem. A big problem. You could probably run in a straight line and probably end up getting away, carrying Adelyn and all. But you couldn’t carry this girl too, and clearly, she wasn’t going to outrun the slime.

You had been running for a while, by now all the more disoriented due to the lack of windows now. Only lamps illuminated these hallways.

Suddenly, you reached an intersection. The path continued ahead, but a hallway crossed through it, opening paths to your left and right. Ahead, you could see another similar intersection at about thirty meters away, and the hallway then continued on, your vision interrupted here and there by splotches of dark.

Left side, you couldn’t see much: it was all dark with not a single lamp to illuminate the path. Right side, the hallway continued without visible end, and you could see two classroom doors there, although you noticed some bloodstains on the floor and the walls.


Behind, you heard the screech of the approaching slimeball.

Codex update

Name: Green Slime
Race: Slime
Attributes: Slime
Spiritual Rank: 0,5

AGI: 22

Perks:

Acid Constitution [Slime Trait]
As creature composed by acidic slime, touching it without care can be very perilous. If touched by bare skin, the slime will cause a violent burning pain. 5 HP is lost regardless of DEF when touching the slime, and repeated contact with it may disable a limb, or destroy a non-magical weapon.

Slime Manipulation
Ability to manipulate its own monstrous shape. Many things or shapes can be created out of the acidic slime.
[Slime Bullet – Spiritual Ability. Shoots a bullet of concentrated slime, which deals SPI damage, and causes concentrated acid to burn the victim’s body, causing 5 damage per turn for 3 turns. Speed 25. Costs 5 SP]

[Katie]

Eleanor Lansing
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Classrom - ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Eleanor clenches her palm, and unclenches. The simple action feels so very different. If she had felt half-dead before, she was now brimming with life. Whatever that being had done to her, it had awakened something powerful within her. That, she could use, even if she couldn’t be aware of the consequences. After all, the task it gave her…

It could be a load of shit, but wasn’t it their most valid lead? Even then… would the school believe her? Like a prophet preaching to the masses, who would listen? Her own reputation does not help matters.

Still, it is a path to salvation, and it is her duty to lead people onto the right path.

Eleanor looks at the two bodies with a miserable frown. Were they dead before she woke up? Or if she had accosted that being faster, could they be saved?

It is unknowable, and yet she feels a bit guilty anyway. Illogical, but that’s what the human heart is.

“If there is an afterlife… I hope you two find peace.”

With that, she turns to go down the hallway, away from where she started.

[RacingeR]

Johnny Justice
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Zombie Jamboree
Turn 3

It didn’t take you that much effort to rip the undead creature away from your body in one swift maneuver. Strong it was, fast it was, but it wasn’t exactly what you’d call dexterous, and once the unholy strength of its grappling maneuver was spent, it was rather easy to take hold of the dead boy’s body and manipulate it as you wished.

You said your piece, and then sent the zombie his merry way, flying straight towards your mountainous companion.

The red-haired boy nodded, held up his enormous fist, and smashed the creature with all of his strength, sending it flying towards the last remaining undead boy.

The results were a given. A spectacular, gruesome and unpleasant given. Best to not elaborate much more.

Decayed Being (Human Schoolboy) x2 has been slain

With the boys dead, the girls were left. One of them jumped at Timothy and started gnawing on him to no effect, while the boy stoically let the zombie hang off him without doing much about it, perhaps merely steeling his muscles to not let her do much other than pierce the skin.

The other one, however, was able to recognize a lost cause, because she turned around and went swinging at you.

Battle calculation

Decayed Being (HG) A’s Speed.
-21 (Decayed Being (HG) A’s AGI) > 19 (Johnny’s EVA)
Decayed Being (HG) A’s Attack.
-20 (Decayed Being (HG) A’s STR) – 15 (Johnny’s DEF) = 5 damage.
Johnny’s HP: 90 – 5 = 85 HP.

Johnny’s Counterattack
Johnny’s Speed
-21 (Johnny’s total AGI) > 20 (Decayed Being (HG) A’s EVA)
Johnny’s Attack
-11 (Johnny’s total STR/2) – 5 (Decayed Being (HG) A’s DEF) = 6 damage.

The punch to the kisser stung, but compared to the havoc the male zombies had wreaked upon you, it was nothing. Even without the other guy helping, you thought you’d be able to easily wipe out the female zombies.

You also noticed you had stopped hearing movement from the darkness ahead, as if the zombie horde you had perceived there had, for one reason or the other, decided to move away. No… wait a moment.

You heard footsteps approaching. Timothy’s focus also switched to the emptiness in front.

Instincts that had been dormant for more than one year suddenly awoke within you. You felt your heart’s beating, as you, through some sort of fighter’s sixth sense, recognized that a fearsome opponent was approaching.

What shambled out of the darkness was the body of an adult male. Rags of a labcoat still clung to his frame. His face was marred by bloody scars, most of the nose missing and rendering him mostly unrecognizable. His chest was a grated mess, looking like it had been sliced apart before his death.

Encountered Decayed Being (Human Adult)

His eyes focused on you and your companion, filled with madness and hunger and brutal rage.

And, you noticed, there was a big hole where his heart should be at.

Codex update

Name: Decayed Being (Human Schoolgirl)
Race: Undead
Attributes: Unliving
Spiritual Rank: -1

HP: 20

STR: 20
DEF: 5
AGI: 21
EVA: 20

Perks:

Painless One [Unliving Trait]
As an undead being that has abandoned the realm of the living, this creature is now a shambling monstrosity, a decayed spirit moving the decayed husk of what used to be its body. Due to this, undead beings are unable to feel any pain, no matter how much their body is battered. Breaking their limbs is useless, as only complete destruction of said limb would be able to stop them from using it. Their body will keep going no matter how gruesome or severe the wounds are, until it is damaged enough to become unable to serve as a vessel for the decayed spirit.

Terrorize
The ghoulish, uncanny visage of what used to be a human being is able to terrify even the most valiant of humans, reducing all their physical stats by one. Only those who possess defenses against mental attacks of the Terror type are able to focus enough on their own survival to ignore the sight before them. Only affects those with Human Attribute.

[RacingeR]

Lorelei Weber
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Twisted Hallway – ??? Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Slime Trouble
Turn 2

You didn’t see it, but you heard Nives take a step to approach the weakened slime, and finish it off with another powerful stab of her improvised spear, the squelch and the splashing sound as the creature completely lost integrity and became nothing but a puddle of acid slowly devouring the floor beneath.

Green Slime has been slain

But you were fully concentrated on the second slime. Your spear was held aloft, your body tense as you prepared to receive the lashes of acid that would surely come. Your eyes never left the green form at the other side of the hallway, ready for its inevitable charge.

The slime remained still for a moment. Then it remained still for yet another moment more.

Then it simply spat a glob, a bullet of acid that crossed the air in a blur and hit you straight in the abdomen before you could even think of what was going on.

Battle calculation

Slime Bullet’s Speed.
-Enemy not dodging, attack granted.
Green Slime’s Attack.
-23 (Green Slime’s total SPI) – 20 (Lorelei’s total EXS) = 3 damage.
Lorelei’s HP: 148 – 3 = 145 HP.

The bullet hit you just above the stomach, melting a hole through your uniform and reaching the flesh beneath. You felt an intense pain as it seared through your skin and reached past it. And then the pain intensified.

Lorelei has lost 5 HP due to acid

You struggled, but you resisted the pain. It was harsher than anything you had ever experienced, but you knew your body well, and you were though enough you could keep fighting despite that, and that you could take way more than that.

No, the danger of the situation was that you hadn’t been able to hit it with your counter. If the slime played keep away and just kept peppering you with bullets, you’d be in a spot of trouble, just due to a simple matter of reach.

You two had to kill this thing fast if you didn’t want to get worn down even further. And you’d be worn down further. The acid was still working its painful magic on your body.

Codex update

Name: Green Slime
Race: Slime
Attributes: Slime
Spiritual Rank: 0,5

HP: 50
SP: 30

STR: 22
DEF: 5
SPI: 23
AGI: 22
EVA: 15

Perks:

Acid Constitution [Slime Trait]
As creature composed by acidic slime, touching it without care can be very perilous. If touched by bare skin, the slime will cause a violent burning pain. 5 HP is lost regardless of DEF when touching the slime, and repeated contact with it may disable a limb, or destroy a non-magical weapon.

Slime Manipulation
Ability to manipulate its own monstrous shape. Many things or shapes can be created out of the acidic slime.
[Slime Whips - Spiritual Ability. Creates a maximum two whips of acidic slime that augment STR by 2 each. Acid Constitution applies to them. Costs 5 SP per whip]
[Slime Bullet – Spiritual Ability. Shoots a bullet of concentrated slime, which deals SPI damage, and causes concentrated acid to burn the victim’s body, causing 5 damage per turn for 3 turns. Speed 25. Costs 5 SP]

[Bloble]

Jordan J. Jones
Location: Sea of UNKNOWN – Warped Zeus (Distorted Hallways – 4th Floor)
Time: Day 1 – Afternoon

Jordan J. Jones was not in a thinking mood.

The runner had entered a state mockingly described as "ape brain". One step above fight or flight panic mode, but way below The Zone, devoting most of his brainpower to moving at full efficiency while retaining juuuuuust enough self-awareness to decide which way to go. Contrary to the name, it was a good state to be in; worse than not thinking at all was thinking too much. As he made long strides and smoothly optimized his run to accommodate for a passenger while fighting for his life against some weird slime thing that was faster than him, Jordan's train of thought suffered no risk of derailment. No worrying about whys or wheres or hows, just what to do to survive the next fifteen seconds. Instead he focused on the moment.

The left-or-right moment.

Jordan J. Jones was not in a thinking mood, so he didn't even try to justify his decision to himself or to the girl whose name he was sure had a 'Z' in it somewhere.

"Right door, watch your step!"

The darkness of the left corridor promised no reprieve. Humans couldn't run well while blinded, but the slime would have no such problem. They couldn't lose this thing through speed; they'd need a more clever, direct approach. An approach to either entrap it... or take it down somehow. Either way, survival lay through those classroom doors.

Jordan skidded through the door, wildly whirling to spin away from more monsters, hoping the running girl had done the same.

"Don't you dare have another one in there-!"