As the crowds dispersed, Asher pulled up notifications that popped up after his mind awoke.
| CHAMPION REPRESENTATION TRIAL #3 |
| Current Challengers: 10/10 |
| Time Limit: N/A |
| Quest Description |
| Destroy the threats on Wesrall (0/2) |
| Receive Contribution Points for moving the Wist along. |
| Quest Rewards: |
| Syscos |
| Experience Points |
| Random Champion Gear |
| ?????????? |
| Contribution Points will be tallied at the end. |
| These points may be used for more Rewards. |
| CONTRIBUTION BOARD | ||
| 1 | Asher | 26780 |
| 2 | Abby | 16791 |
| 3 | Alexandria | 16535 |
| 4 | Atalanta | 16358 |
| 5 | Tiffany | 15551 |
| 6 | Batman | 15273 |
| 7 | Vincent | 15208 |
| 8 | Bishop | 15018 |
| 9 | Ming | 14808 |
| 10 | Nadir | 14488 |
| 11 | Keera | 14045 |
Asher had a nice lead over everyone. Luckily this time it wasn’t a race…although he still planned to win. Surprisingly his mother was still on the list. Hopefully she would get to use her points. He put the screens away as a group of people walked up to Asher.
“What happened?” The pompous Knight Captain asked. Asher still wanted to punch his lights out, but that was fake Asher. Real Asher wanted to do it too, but he held off.
“I got a lucky hit on the Abomination,” he said simply. The groups had disbanded for now. They typically gathered twice a day to try to whittle down the Gone. Asher wanted to call them zombies, he would make the name popular later. All of the captains were now around him, apparently trying to interrogate him. “I gained a lot of levels from the experience.”
“Where did you get the weapon and armor?” Someone asked.
“A loot chest appeared from the chest of the Abomination. The System granted them to me,” he lied easily. All of them were around level 15-18. He could beat them easily. He hoped they knew it since they all had Identification.
“That’s bullshit!” The Knight Captain spat.
“Hey, say it, don’t spray it,” Asher said, wiping his cheek. The man moved closer in an obvious threatening stance. Asher backhanded him and the Knight Captain hit the ground hard. “Whoops,” he said. “Sorry, new stats.” He began to help the man up, but he was knocked out. He stared at the other captains, they backed up.
“Were any of you on the other side of that wall?” They didn’t answer. “Then I’m the one that was there. I killed that thing single handedly while you left me to die. The System rewards those that fight. Not those that cower.” He left it at that.
Already considering breaking character he turned around to see the prince staring at him. Asher bowed and tried to move away. “Boy,” the prince said, stopping him. Asher’s anger flared, he was at least 3 years older than the boy prince since he didn’t have a System.
He gritted his teeth as he said, “My Prince.”
“You should be commended,” he said. “Since you have cleaned up a little, and proven yourself. I think you deserve a new assignment.” The prince looked to the other captains. They bowed and quickly agreed. “Follow me.” Asher inwardly cursed but did as he was told.
—
His fancy new assignment was the Prince’s personal bodyguard. A position created by the prince that very day. Asher was given a tabard to wear over his armor and stuck to the prince the rest of the day. He used Identification on everyone. The highest level was called General Vich. He was an older man with white ornate armor and long gray hair. He was level 25. The king himself was a level 23, and just as old as the General. He was Aoade Truskin. His wife, the queen, was a woman 20 years the king’s junior. She was buxom and hot. Asher may have glanced at her more than once. Her name was Nefr Truskin. And of course Asher’s new ward was their arrogant son. Long blonde hair, 15 years old, and as much of a dick as any prince Asher had seen in movies. His name was Ilonis Truskin.
Asher was able to learn the state of the Truskin city as he stood near the prince. There were 7 districts left of the original 9. There was the Royal District, which of course housed the royal family and castle. That’s where Asher was now. The castle was a good 9 stories tall, and made of stone like most everything. Thick carpeting all around, there were torches and candles lining the walls. The only reason he didn’t much mind the castle was because it was the only place that didn’t reek of piss and shit.
There was the Military District where Asher had been staying before he awoke. Luckily for the Royals there was a large bridge that connected the Royal to Military District. Next there was the Church Quarter. There was a large church that preached about some God-King. Once long ago the Truskin God-King united the lands and founded their city. He had become so famous they attributed the strength of their Systems to him. Quickly all priests of their church were Holymancers, and the God-Kings light shined upon all.
After the Religion District was the Mage District. It had once been the Scholar District. After Systems awoke all the scholars were made into Mancers/Mages. They changed the name, and now they were a major power in the city. Next to them was the Profession District. This was where they housed all the non-fighting Systems. The people there were labeled useless and worked tirelessly to use their Systems to give to the Royals. Once the city had been fair and taxed barely enough to not get their own Robin Hoods. Now it was a Communist Renaissance Faire. Everyone was conscripted to help fight the Gone.
Lastly there were the 2 Civilian Districts. These were where the majority of the lower class lived. At first the Civilian Districts were left on their own during the Gone Infestation. That was until 2 Districts were lost and they noticed that there were a lot more people living there than the other districts. Now the Gone had the same population as the citizens. Though the zombies were left in the streets and alleys between districts, they still kept everyone trapped in their district.
Asher was reminded by their situation of the Attack on Titan manga or the Demon Cycle book series. People stuck in their safe cities as the monsters roamed outside. Only going out for the daily skirmish and to act like you were in control. His hands itched to use his sword and mow all the zombies down.
Prince Truskin left the room without a word. Asher cursed as he followed. The Prince didn’t talk to him much, just expected Asher to read his mind. Servants stepped to the side of the halls and bowed as the Prince walked. Becoming lost easily, Asher noticed that it was dark outside already. The day passing in a blur he cursed that he hadn’t found anyone yet. He brought up his Relationship Screen again. He could feel Atty and Tiffany close to the West somewhere. He would go find them when he had a moment.
The Prince stopped in front of a door. Without turning to look at him he announced, “This is my room. You will wait here until morning.”
“What about food and my own bed?” Asher asked. The Prince didn’t answer and walked into his chambers. Asher breathed in and out slowly to calm himself down. Pissed, he whipped his dick out and began peeing on the prince's door. The stream was strong as it leaked into the carpet. The smell was obvious, he rolled his eyes. Casting Cleanliness on the puddle, it slowly disappeared.
Asher pulled out one of his many chairs and sat down next to the door. Withdrawing a meal and his phone out he watched a video as he ate. They had all packed solar chargers before they left Earth, and the Timeless Band made sure their batteries didn’t go dead like they would have in a pocket. Videos on his phone mainly consisted of pictures and videos of he and his girls. He was tempted to watch one of Ely blowing him. She had requested he make it to remember her. Now he was feeling bittersweet. Their romance had been short but he hoped there was potential. A part of him knew she would wait for him, but he still wished there had been time to get to know her better.
Reminded that there were probably trillions of aliens watching him he put the phone away. He hoped no one saw the icon of the video. He brought out his laptop and watched the Constantine movie as he relaxed. No servants walked passed. No sounds came from the Prince’s room. Quickly bored he took a break and began to walk around.
He came to a large glass window and looked out onto the city. Shrieks sounded throughout the night. The streets glowed blue from the zombies' wounds and mouths. Fires were scattered in the living districts. It was quite beautiful. From what he could recall of this world’s Asher the planet was a lot like Earth.
Pine trees covered the land. Grass, boulders, blue water, a blue sky. The only big difference was there were 2 moons. Also a lot of the 4 legged wildlife on Earth had 6 legs on Wesrall. Horses were the one exception. The Wesrallians only knew of a few kingdoms in the immediate area. On one large continent they hadn’t been in touch with anyone else. Wars were fought between the kingdoms.
It reminded Asher of medieval times. The attire was much the same. Cheap cloth. No sanitation whatsoever, there was always some plague going on in the cities. The place wreaked of feces, and they peed in the rivers they drank from. At least they did when they still had access to the river. Now they relied on wells and rain. They just pissed where they stood. They didn’t even try to keep it to a corner of the district. It was simply everywhere.
Biting his lip he headed back to the princes room. Caught in his own thoughts he almost missed the mana leakage. It came from the hall further down. He knew the mana well, it was Shadow with a mix of Death inside. His heart beating he ran to the Prince’s room as the shadow rolled underneath the crack at the bottom of the door.
Asher didn’t wait, he kicked in the door. The prince screamed like a girl. He was wearing a white nightgown like some damsel. Asher confirmed that yes he was a prince, he assumed the gown was simply the fashion of the people. As he ignored the prince the black shadow coalesced at the foot of his bed.
The shadow began to rise up. Candles and a small fire in the fireplace dimmed as the form of Batman appeared. In the full dark knight suit Asher thought that it was his old friend, but Death mana leaked out of him.
“The Black Death,” the prince whined as he stared at Batman.
“That’s racist,” Asher said as his armor covered him. “Carl!” He yelled. The name snapped Batman out of his glare at the prince. Asher was right, he shared the same name as the Batman. Just like he had shared the name Asher. “What are you doing here?”
“Who are you?” The deep baritone voice asked.
“I’m Asher. His bodyguard,” he said pointing at the prince with Dragon Slayer. “Who are you?”
“The Black Death,” Batman growled like Bale. Asher rolled his eyes as he blocked 2 shadow tendrils with his sword. As his view was blocked he almost missed another tendril going for the prince. His mana circulating in overdrive Asher leapt and barely blocked it from going into his heart. “Let me do my work,” Batman ordered.
Asher’s sword became alight with mana. “Let me do mine,” Asher said.
“He has caused enough suffering,” Batman growled. Death and Shadow Mana surrounded him as he channeled.
“He’s a child,” Asher said. “Besides, Batman doesn’t kill people.”
The Batman didn’t have a response to that. He dove at Asher, his black sword coated with Death Mana he meant to kill. It might have worked too if this was really Batman. This current Carl was a level 27. Strong for the city, but not strong to Asher.
Asher swept the flat of his blade in a wide arc. It knocked Batman to the side causing him to hit the wall hard. Asher cursed but shadows surrounded Carl. He disappeared into them and the dark silhouette ran along the floor out the door.
“Fuck,” Asher cursed. He wanted to try to snap him out of his Roleplay.
“You saved my life Warrior,” the prince said.
“That’s my job,” he said with a frown. “Who was that?” He asked. He hoped the prince didn’t hear him say Carl.
“The Black Death. He has been killing nobles one by one for weeks,” the prince said.
“My prince,” a man said walking in the room. He was tall with dark hair. Asher wanted to call him his father, but Bishop wore the thick robes of the Truskin God-King religion. It felt wrong to see his father in some other religion’s attire. “What happened?”
“The Black Death was here,” the prince said. “But he was scared off.” He said the words like the prince had done something amazing to scare Batman off. Asher walked to the door. Bishop had run out with the words and was calling more guards over. He knew the priest was the Prince’s assigned holy man. There would be a chance soon to snap him out of it.
After an hour of guards coming and going, Asher was interviewed by General Vich on what happened. More than once Asher was asked his level, he lied saying he was level 31. Many were impressed, and he was set to be knighted at the next opportunity. It was long into the night by the time the prince was back asleep.
The holy man stepped out of his room and smiled at Asher. “You have done this kingdom a great service,” he said with a smile.
Asher mirrored the smile and punched him in the gut. The level 16 didn’t know what hit him. Folding like a chair Asher threw him on his shoulder. Finding a door that led to the outside he looked around. Noticing a street that glowed blue he jumped toward it with the priest on his shoulder. It took him 3 more jumps to land on the wall over the street.
Using Healing Touch on the priest he quickly stirred awake. Asher stood him up next to him. “What are you-” Asher cut him off by dropping his dad into the horde of Gone. He screamed like a girl and landed with a thud on cobblestone. Rolling his eyes Asher landed next to him. The priest glowed white as he healed himself.
“You work with the Black Death!” The man yelled. Asher chuckled as the Gone hissed at them. Asher cast Sex Bomb causing those around them to drop to the ground, including the priest.
“I work with you, old man,” Asher said, picking him back up. “I need you to remember who you are. I need my healing bitch.” He hoped his dad wouldn’t hold that against him. It was a common term for healers that were dedicated to a tank. The man was the best heals around, and Asher was the best tank.
“What are you talking about?” He asked. His hands glowed white as a large staff appeared. He too had a platinum Timeless Band on his finger. “I am a holy man of the God-King.”
Asher sighed. He felt sick hearing words like that come from his father’s mouth. The man had dedicated his life to one God, and it sure as shit wasn’t this one. Despite traveling the universe, despite finding out that they weren’t alone in the universe, he still had faith as his System entailed. He slowly understood the fact that a life/death situation wasn’t the way to snap his father out of his dementia. The true way was to fight religion against religion.
“Tell me about your God-King,” Asher said. He sliced the head off a Gone that drew too close.
“You should know,” Bishop spat. Backing up to the wall behind him he desperately looked for scouts atop it. There were none. Asher made sure.
“Tell me, or I leave you to these things,” Asher said.
“He is the God-King,” he quickly recited. “He was once a man. Uniting the world under his banner. In his grace he built the city we live in. He kept the world safe.”
“So he united the entire world?”
“No, not the world,” he said. “But this area.”
“So a god ruled this tiny patch of land?” Asher asked. “Sounds more like a king. Not a god.”
“That’s blasphemy,” the man screeched. Asher sliced through a Gone that dove for the priest.
“It’s words,” Asher said. “Words you taught me to say.” A different tactic was needed. He tried to think of one of the old man’s sermons. Maybe one about losing faith? Or maybe about temptation? None stuck out. He could only think of quotes. “You taught me to love my enemies,” Asher said. “Do good to those who hate you.” Asher couldn’t quote Jesus word for word like his father, but he could get close. “You made me believe that those who seek will find. That a preacher should be a shepherd to the people to help guide them. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. That those who exalted themselves will be humbled.” Asher sighed as he turned to stare at him. The old guy had tears running down his face. “You’re supposed to be a fishermen of people, dad. Not the one that casts them to the wolves.”
His dad’s hands slowly went to his head as he screamed. Asher could feel mana circulating in him. A smile coming to his face Asher began slicing through more zombies that wandered too close. It happened quickly. He was yelling, then he was quiet. A white light enveloped him as he got rid of the God-King robes. Putting on his jeans and button down shirt, his father was back in his preacher attire.
“We really have to work on your quoting abilities,” his dad said with a smile. “You butchered the hell out of them.”
Asher laughed. “Snapped you out of it didn’t it?”
“I guess,” Bishop said. “Honestly, the religion was flimsy to start with. Who worships a normal dude? Seriously, I know a lot about their religion that most people don’t. The guy was a few steps short of Hitler.” Asher laughed. His dad was back. “I’ll forgive that punch to the gut this once.”
“Thank you father, I am sorry for my sins,” Asher said. “Do I need to catch you up on anything?”
“No, I think I got it. I think I know where most of the others are too,” Bishop said. “We have our work cut out for us.”
“As we always do. Come on, let’s work on a plan. I have no idea how I’m going to find Batman again.”
“I have an idea on that,” Bishop said. “Supposedly I was the one who put the hit out on the prince.”
“Really?” Asher asked. “Not much of a holy man, were you?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Bishop said. “These people are lost.”
“Oh yeah? I think maybe they just need a good shepherd.”
As the crowds dispersed, Asher pulled up notifications that popped up after his mind awoke.
| CHAMPION REPRESENTATION TRIAL #3 |
| Current Challengers: 10/10 |
| Time Limit: N/A |
| Quest Description |
| Destroy the threats on Wesrall (0/2) |
| Receive Contribution Points for moving the Wist along. |
| Quest Rewards: |
| Syscos |
| Experience Points |
| Random Champion Gear |
| ?????????? |
| Contribution Points will be tallied at the end. |
| These points may be used for more Rewards. |
| CONTRIBUTION BOARD | ||
| 1 | Asher | 26780 |
| 2 | Abby | 16791 |
| 3 | Alexandria | 16535 |
| 4 | Atalanta | 16358 |
| 5 | Tiffany | 15551 |
| 6 | Batman | 15273 |
| 7 | Vincent | 15208 |
| 8 | Bishop | 15018 |
| 9 | Ming | 14808 |
| 10 | Nadir | 14488 |
| 11 | Keera | 14045 |
Asher had a nice lead over everyone. Luckily this time it wasn’t a race…although he still planned to win. Surprisingly his mother was still on the list. Hopefully she would get to use her points. He put the screens away as a group of people walked up to Asher.
“What happened?” The pompous Knight Captain asked. Asher still wanted to punch his lights out, but that was fake Asher. Real Asher wanted to do it too, but he held off.
“I got a lucky hit on the Abomination,” he said simply. The groups had disbanded for now. They typically gathered twice a day to try to whittle down the Gone. Asher wanted to call them zombies, he would make the name popular later. All of the captains were now around him, apparently trying to interrogate him. “I gained a lot of levels from the experience.”
“Where did you get the weapon and armor?” Someone asked.
“A loot chest appeared from the chest of the Abomination. The System granted them to me,” he lied easily. All of them were around level 15-18. He could beat them easily. He hoped they knew it since they all had Identification.
“That’s bullshit!” The Knight Captain spat.
“Hey, say it, don’t spray it,” Asher said, wiping his cheek. The man moved closer in an obvious threatening stance. Asher backhanded him and the Knight Captain hit the ground hard. “Whoops,” he said. “Sorry, new stats.” He began to help the man up, but he was knocked out. He stared at the other captains, they backed up.
“Were any of you on the other side of that wall?” They didn’t answer. “Then I’m the one that was there. I killed that thing single handedly while you left me to die. The System rewards those that fight. Not those that cower.” He left it at that.
Already considering breaking character he turned around to see the prince staring at him. Asher bowed and tried to move away. “Boy,” the prince said, stopping him. Asher’s anger flared, he was at least 3 years older than the boy prince since he didn’t have a System.
He gritted his teeth as he said, “My Prince.”
“You should be commended,” he said. “Since you have cleaned up a little, and proven yourself. I think you deserve a new assignment.” The prince looked to the other captains. They bowed and quickly agreed. “Follow me.” Asher inwardly cursed but did as he was told.
—
His fancy new assignment was the Prince’s personal bodyguard. A position created by the prince that very day. Asher was given a tabard to wear over his armor and stuck to the prince the rest of the day. He used Identification on everyone. The highest level was called General Vich. He was an older man with white ornate armor and long gray hair. He was level 25. The king himself was a level 23, and just as old as the General. He was Aoade Truskin. His wife, the queen, was a woman 20 years the king’s junior. She was buxom and hot. Asher may have glanced at her more than once. Her name was Nefr Truskin. And of course Asher’s new ward was their arrogant son. Long blonde hair, 15 years old, and as much of a dick as any prince Asher had seen in movies. His name was Ilonis Truskin.
Asher was able to learn the state of the Truskin city as he stood near the prince. There were 7 districts left of the original 9. There was the Royal District, which of course housed the royal family and castle. That’s where Asher was now. The castle was a good 9 stories tall, and made of stone like most everything. Thick carpeting all around, there were torches and candles lining the walls. The only reason he didn’t much mind the castle was because it was the only place that didn’t reek of piss and shit.
There was the Military District where Asher had been staying before he awoke. Luckily for the Royals there was a large bridge that connected the Royal to Military District. Next there was the Church Quarter. There was a large church that preached about some God-King. Once long ago the Truskin God-King united the lands and founded their city. He had become so famous they attributed the strength of their Systems to him. Quickly all priests of their church were Holymancers, and the God-Kings light shined upon all.
After the Religion District was the Mage District. It had once been the Scholar District. After Systems awoke all the scholars were made into Mancers/Mages. They changed the name, and now they were a major power in the city. Next to them was the Profession District. This was where they housed all the non-fighting Systems. The people there were labeled useless and worked tirelessly to use their Systems to give to the Royals. Once the city had been fair and taxed barely enough to not get their own Robin Hoods. Now it was a Communist Renaissance Faire. Everyone was conscripted to help fight the Gone.
Lastly there were the 2 Civilian Districts. These were where the majority of the lower class lived. At first the Civilian Districts were left on their own during the Gone Infestation. That was until 2 Districts were lost and they noticed that there were a lot more people living there than the other districts. Now the Gone had the same population as the citizens. Though the zombies were left in the streets and alleys between districts, they still kept everyone trapped in their district.
Asher was reminded by their situation of the Attack on Titan manga or the Demon Cycle book series. People stuck in their safe cities as the monsters roamed outside. Only going out for the daily skirmish and to act like you were in control. His hands itched to use his sword and mow all the zombies down.
Prince Truskin left the room without a word. Asher cursed as he followed. The Prince didn’t talk to him much, just expected Asher to read his mind. Servants stepped to the side of the halls and bowed as the Prince walked. Becoming lost easily, Asher noticed that it was dark outside already. The day passing in a blur he cursed that he hadn’t found anyone yet. He brought up his Relationship Screen again. He could feel Atty and Tiffany close to the West somewhere. He would go find them when he had a moment.
The Prince stopped in front of a door. Without turning to look at him he announced, “This is my room. You will wait here until morning.”
“What about food and my own bed?” Asher asked. The Prince didn’t answer and walked into his chambers. Asher breathed in and out slowly to calm himself down. Pissed, he whipped his dick out and began peeing on the prince's door. The stream was strong as it leaked into the carpet. The smell was obvious, he rolled his eyes. Casting Cleanliness on the puddle, it slowly disappeared.
Asher pulled out one of his many chairs and sat down next to the door. Withdrawing a meal and his phone out he watched a video as he ate. They had all packed solar chargers before they left Earth, and the Timeless Band made sure their batteries didn’t go dead like they would have in a pocket. Videos on his phone mainly consisted of pictures and videos of he and his girls. He was tempted to watch one of Ely blowing him. She had requested he make it to remember her. Now he was feeling bittersweet. Their romance had been short but he hoped there was potential. A part of him knew she would wait for him, but he still wished there had been time to get to know her better.
Reminded that there were probably trillions of aliens watching him he put the phone away. He hoped no one saw the icon of the video. He brought out his laptop and watched the Constantine movie as he relaxed. No servants walked passed. No sounds came from the Prince’s room. Quickly bored he took a break and began to walk around.
He came to a large glass window and looked out onto the city. Shrieks sounded throughout the night. The streets glowed blue from the zombies' wounds and mouths. Fires were scattered in the living districts. It was quite beautiful. From what he could recall of this world’s Asher the planet was a lot like Earth.
Pine trees covered the land. Grass, boulders, blue water, a blue sky. The only big difference was there were 2 moons. Also a lot of the 4 legged wildlife on Earth had 6 legs on Wesrall. Horses were the one exception. The Wesrallians only knew of a few kingdoms in the immediate area. On one large continent they hadn’t been in touch with anyone else. Wars were fought between the kingdoms.
It reminded Asher of medieval times. The attire was much the same. Cheap cloth. No sanitation whatsoever, there was always some plague going on in the cities. The place wreaked of feces, and they peed in the rivers they drank from. At least they did when they still had access to the river. Now they relied on wells and rain. They just pissed where they stood. They didn’t even try to keep it to a corner of the district. It was simply everywhere.
Biting his lip he headed back to the princes room. Caught in his own thoughts he almost missed the mana leakage. It came from the hall further down. He knew the mana well, it was Shadow with a mix of Death inside. His heart beating he ran to the Prince’s room as the shadow rolled underneath the crack at the bottom of the door.
Asher didn’t wait, he kicked in the door. The prince screamed like a girl. He was wearing a white nightgown like some damsel. Asher confirmed that yes he was a prince, he assumed the gown was simply the fashion of the people. As he ignored the prince the black shadow coalesced at the foot of his bed.
The shadow began to rise up. Candles and a small fire in the fireplace dimmed as the form of Batman appeared. In the full dark knight suit Asher thought that it was his old friend, but Death mana leaked out of him.
“The Black Death,” the prince whined as he stared at Batman.
“That’s racist,” Asher said as his armor covered him. “Carl!” He yelled. The name snapped Batman out of his glare at the prince. Asher was right, he shared the same name as the Batman. Just like he had shared the name Asher. “What are you doing here?”
“Who are you?” The deep baritone voice asked.
“I’m Asher. His bodyguard,” he said pointing at the prince with Dragon Slayer. “Who are you?”
“The Black Death,” Batman growled like Bale. Asher rolled his eyes as he blocked 2 shadow tendrils with his sword. As his view was blocked he almost missed another tendril going for the prince. His mana circulating in overdrive Asher leapt and barely blocked it from going into his heart. “Let me do my work,” Batman ordered.
Asher’s sword became alight with mana. “Let me do mine,” Asher said.
“He has caused enough suffering,” Batman growled. Death and Shadow Mana surrounded him as he channeled.
“He’s a child,” Asher said. “Besides, Batman doesn’t kill people.”
The Batman didn’t have a response to that. He dove at Asher, his black sword coated with Death Mana he meant to kill. It might have worked too if this was really Batman. This current Carl was a level 27. Strong for the city, but not strong to Asher.
Asher swept the flat of his blade in a wide arc. It knocked Batman to the side causing him to hit the wall hard. Asher cursed but shadows surrounded Carl. He disappeared into them and the dark silhouette ran along the floor out the door.
“Fuck,” Asher cursed. He wanted to try to snap him out of his Roleplay.
“You saved my life Warrior,” the prince said.
“That’s my job,” he said with a frown. “Who was that?” He asked. He hoped the prince didn’t hear him say Carl.
“The Black Death. He has been killing nobles one by one for weeks,” the prince said.
“My prince,” a man said walking in the room. He was tall with dark hair. Asher wanted to call him his father, but Bishop wore the thick robes of the Truskin God-King religion. It felt wrong to see his father in some other religion’s attire. “What happened?”
“The Black Death was here,” the prince said. “But he was scared off.” He said the words like the prince had done something amazing to scare Batman off. Asher walked to the door. Bishop had run out with the words and was calling more guards over. He knew the priest was the Prince’s assigned holy man. There would be a chance soon to snap him out of it.
After an hour of guards coming and going, Asher was interviewed by General Vich on what happened. More than once Asher was asked his level, he lied saying he was level 31. Many were impressed, and he was set to be knighted at the next opportunity. It was long into the night by the time the prince was back asleep.
The holy man stepped out of his room and smiled at Asher. “You have done this kingdom a great service,” he said with a smile.
Asher mirrored the smile and punched him in the gut. The level 16 didn’t know what hit him. Folding like a chair Asher threw him on his shoulder. Finding a door that led to the outside he looked around. Noticing a street that glowed blue he jumped toward it with the priest on his shoulder. It took him 3 more jumps to land on the wall over the street.
Using Healing Touch on the priest he quickly stirred awake. Asher stood him up next to him. “What are you-” Asher cut him off by dropping his dad into the horde of Gone. He screamed like a girl and landed with a thud on cobblestone. Rolling his eyes Asher landed next to him. The priest glowed white as he healed himself.
“You work with the Black Death!” The man yelled. Asher chuckled as the Gone hissed at them. Asher cast Sex Bomb causing those around them to drop to the ground, including the priest.
“I work with you, old man,” Asher said, picking him back up. “I need you to remember who you are. I need my healing bitch.” He hoped his dad wouldn’t hold that against him. It was a common term for healers that were dedicated to a tank. The man was the best heals around, and Asher was the best tank.
“What are you talking about?” He asked. His hands glowed white as a large staff appeared. He too had a platinum Timeless Band on his finger. “I am a holy man of the God-King.”
Asher sighed. He felt sick hearing words like that come from his father’s mouth. The man had dedicated his life to one God, and it sure as shit wasn’t this one. Despite traveling the universe, despite finding out that they weren’t alone in the universe, he still had faith as his System entailed. He slowly understood the fact that a life/death situation wasn’t the way to snap his father out of his dementia. The true way was to fight religion against religion.
“Tell me about your God-King,” Asher said. He sliced the head off a Gone that drew too close.
“You should know,” Bishop spat. Backing up to the wall behind him he desperately looked for scouts atop it. There were none. Asher made sure.
“Tell me, or I leave you to these things,” Asher said.
“He is the God-King,” he quickly recited. “He was once a man. Uniting the world under his banner. In his grace he built the city we live in. He kept the world safe.”
“So he united the entire world?”
“No, not the world,” he said. “But this area.”
“So a god ruled this tiny patch of land?” Asher asked. “Sounds more like a king. Not a god.”
“That’s blasphemy,” the man screeched. Asher sliced through a Gone that dove for the priest.
“It’s words,” Asher said. “Words you taught me to say.” A different tactic was needed. He tried to think of one of the old man’s sermons. Maybe one about losing faith? Or maybe about temptation? None stuck out. He could only think of quotes. “You taught me to love my enemies,” Asher said. “Do good to those who hate you.” Asher couldn’t quote Jesus word for word like his father, but he could get close. “You made me believe that those who seek will find. That a preacher should be a shepherd to the people to help guide them. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. That those who exalted themselves will be humbled.” Asher sighed as he turned to stare at him. The old guy had tears running down his face. “You’re supposed to be a fishermen of people, dad. Not the one that casts them to the wolves.”
His dad’s hands slowly went to his head as he screamed. Asher could feel mana circulating in him. A smile coming to his face Asher began slicing through more zombies that wandered too close. It happened quickly. He was yelling, then he was quiet. A white light enveloped him as he got rid of the God-King robes. Putting on his jeans and button down shirt, his father was back in his preacher attire.
“We really have to work on your quoting abilities,” his dad said with a smile. “You butchered the hell out of them.”
Asher laughed. “Snapped you out of it didn’t it?”
“I guess,” Bishop said. “Honestly, the religion was flimsy to start with. Who worships a normal dude? Seriously, I know a lot about their religion that most people don’t. The guy was a few steps short of Hitler.” Asher laughed. His dad was back. “I’ll forgive that punch to the gut this once.”
“Thank you father, I am sorry for my sins,” Asher said. “Do I need to catch you up on anything?”
“No, I think I got it. I think I know where most of the others are too,” Bishop said. “We have our work cut out for us.”
“As we always do. Come on, let’s work on a plan. I have no idea how I’m going to find Batman again.”
“I have an idea on that,” Bishop said. “Supposedly I was the one who put the hit out on the prince.”
“Really?” Asher asked. “Not much of a holy man, were you?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Bishop said. “These people are lost.”
“Oh yeah? I think maybe they just need a good shepherd.”
