Inverse System Chapter 9
Advertisement
"You copied a what?!?" Yelled old man Voron with great surprise, grabbing onto Rein's shoulders.
"Huh? The opposite of Emria's Spring... You know about it, Sir?" Reacted Rein. Voron didn't respond. He started to rummage through his belongings, looking for something.
"The hell are you doing old man? Look, I'm gonna leave now. Take care of Alister and Greeny. You owe both our dads, right? Might as well pay it off now." Said Core, waving his hand as he left the house with D8. Voron put up a thumbs-up sign while still rummaging through his belongings, which Core caught a glimpse of before leaving. As he was heading to the carriage, he heard someone yell behind him.
"Wait!" It was Rein, running after him and D8.
"D8, go on before me and ready the carriage. I'll be there in a bit." Said Core, sending D8 away so he and Rein could talk alone.
"Sup Alister, you need anything else, or do you already miss me?" Core laughed.
"Like hell I'd miss you. I just have one more question for you… If you had won that cooking contest, what would you have made me promise you?" Rein's voice was followed by silence, then Core spoke.
"You ever thought of what would happen if you copied my Spring? I'm unable to end a life, but maybe if you copied my Spring, you could end any life, countering my immortality." Softy spoke Core, removing the playful tone of voice he always had when talking to Rein.
"I thought, maybe if I won that bet, I could have an escape for the future… Being eternally young, you tend to think about not being able to end it all. But who am I kidding? I can never escape," As he said that, he lost all life in his eyes, somehow exuding a torturous aura that was devoid of any feeling.
"You're right. If you ordered me to do that… I would have declined. You have no right to escape after what you've done." Announced Rein.
"Yeah, I expecー"
Advertisement
"However, if I eventually find a way to get rid of that pesky Spring of yours, you bet I'm using it. I wouldn't want to take the risk of copying your Spring myself, since I might die too," Declared Rein to Core, who was standing there dumbfounded.
"Heh, do you realize you're talking to the bastard that attacked your village? You seriously have a screw loose…" Core wearily smiled and looked Rein dead in the eyes. "I expect you to keep up on that promise."
"Usually I'd shake on it, but I only do that for people I like. Also, it's not a promise. Don't misunderstand, I'm doing this for my own benefit. Everything I do from now on will be that way," Said Rein, with a mocking tone in his voice.
"Haha, okay. Whatever you say. Still though, I'm definitely indebted to you," he spoke as he parted away, turning around back to the carriage, walking away as he waved with the back of his hand, Rein releasing his furrowed eyebrows and frown as he returned to the house.
As he entered, he noticed Emria sleeping on the couch, exhausted after the long day she had.
"You're back Rein. I Still haven't found it, so take the girl to my daughter's room and put her on the bottom bunk bed. It's the second room to the right upstairs. You can't miss it." Said Voron, still rummaging through his belongings loudly.
Rein was surprised that Emria could sleep through the noise, but considering how tired she seemed, it made sense. He picked her up and brought her upstairs into the sound isolated room. As he entered, it was almost as if he entered a separate dimension. No sound penetrated the walls of this room.
"Wow, this is amazing." He whispered. That small amount of noise was enough to wake up the little half-elf girl that was sleeping on the top bunk.
She sat up, revealing her long dark blue hair and red eyes, the same as her father. As she sprung up, the lights turned on, revealing the room that Rein had entered. It was full of gadgets, tools, and bits and bobs.
Advertisement
"Who are you. Why are you holding a girl. Why are you in my room." She posed, not sounding like she was asking for an answer, but rather just stating a question.
Her eyes didn't falter off of Rein, as they stayed fixated on him, expecting him to talk. Her voice was high pitched, yet monotone, like a flat note on an instrument, which Rein got an earful of in this quiet room.
"Ah sorry, we're gonna be living here for a while. This is Emria, she's about the same age as you. Do you think she can sleep here for now?" Rein spoke softly, not wanting to wake Emria.
"How old is Emria." She asked emotionlessly.
"About 6 years old."
"I'm 7. She goes in the bottom bunk. *yawn*. Good night." She went back to sleep, and so did the lights in the room.
Confused, Rein tucked Emria into the bottom bunk and left the room, making sure not to make a sound when the door closed.
"I found it!" Rein heard a loud yell come from down the stairs.
He ran downstairs, seeing Voron staring at a broken stone tablet. There seemed to be words carved into it, but Rein couldn't understand that language. Rein knew how to speak many languages, it was one of his hobbies when he was home alone. He knew Common, Elvish, Orc, Dwarvish, Goblin, and Draconic, but none of those seemed to be what was on the stone.
"What's it say? I have no clue what language that is." Rein said, scratching his head.
"This is a language called 'English'... It was in that book that was tabooed a while back. The one written by Albert E."
"Huh?! The tabooed book?! You read it?! If the church or government finds out, they'll kill you!"
"Yeah, I know." Uttered Voron.
"Didn't they do all those memory scans on everyone a couple of years ago? They killed everyone with knowledge about it and took all of the books for themselves. How'd you…" Rein stopped himself from prying any further, seeing Voron's expression worsening.
"Anyways, that's not important right now! The real deal is what it says on this tablet! A lot of it's blurred out, but it looks like you have some sort of ancient power," Voron excitedly exclaimed, Rein hoping that he could help him figure out his power, knowing that he couldn't tell Voron anything further.
"Half of it looks blurred out, are you sure you'll be able to read that?" Rein inquired.
"Yes, most of it is blurry to the point that I can't read it, but the parts that I can read can give us some valuable information. Firstly, the title is mostly blurred. It says "4 S...". I can only assume that it means Springs," Voron concluded, Rein getting a different vibe from the tablet, but keeping to himself.
"Down here, there are 4 different lines, three of them are blurred out. The only thing legible is the description of the bottom one, 'the power to copy the opposite of all Springs', it says," Voron spoke as he looked closer at the shabby rock.
As he took a closer look, he noticed a small inscription on the bottom of the tablet that he hadn't noticed before.
"Oh, what's this? Here it says '... command: Menu'. I bet that has something to do with your power, don't you think?" Voron gushed as if he just had a huge revelation.
"What does? That all sounded like nonsense to me." Rein thought that if Voron had said something that made sense, something would click in him again like that time with Core. But this time there was nothing, which lead Rein to believe that it was nothing of worth.
"Hey Rein, I want you to focus your mind, and say the word 'Menu'." Instructed Voron.
Confused, Rein adhered to Voron's instructions. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body. He took a deep breath in, and out.
"Menu"
Advertisement
- In Serial118 Chapters
Ten Lives Nine Deaths
Humans rule their known galaxy. They look upon primitive worlds like a benevolent parent and decide they can assist their advancement until developed sufficiently to join the happy human galactic family. Abiding by strict rules and subject to governance the Galactic Planet Agency (GPA) on behalf of humankind manipulates the development of planets by inserting a new life, a Galactic Planet Agent, into the native inhabitant’s community. Biding their time, the Agent rises to a position of power to exert the required influence to guide the native population in the appropriate direction: Civilisation -> Technology -> Trade -> Exploitation. Oops scratch that last one … For one Agent his expected leave is cancelled, and his next mission is orchestrated by an unknown sponsor for a different purpose, this is his story (First Person POV). Note: Log Cabin Background from David Maltais N.B. The sexual content flag is definitely innuendo.
8 109 - In Serial30 Chapters
Hazel
Despite pressure from the gaming community, professional gamer Hazel Hops has refused to get the computer implant that everyone promises would take her game to the next level. When her best friend, Sophie, falls into an unexplained coma a few weeks before the biggest tournament of the year, Hazel has to decide if she will do what it takes to beat the competition or step out of her comfort zone and dig in to save Sophie. She hopes that if she plays her cards right, she might manage both. Her plans are hijacked, though, by two compelling forces – one man who will do anything to stop her, and one who will do anything to save her.
8 109 - In Serial18 Chapters
Wrath of The Dragon Slayer
Arma Blood is neither a hero or a villain. He is an avenger. In a world plagued by disasters known as dragons, young man must rise, driven by vengeance and wrath, he vows to hunt down every dragon or die trying. An epic combat of a human against the gods of his world.
8 73 - In Serial711 Chapters
After the End: Serenity
We all want to believe we are heroes of our own story - unless we want to be the villain, of course. At the end of everything, the Final Reaper decided he hadn’t been a hero. Driven by a desire to right the wrongs he was subjected to, he killed everyone who wronged him or his people - which turned out to be everyone that wasn’t killed by someone else first. He'd won - but it was a hollow victory. Eventually, Order’s Voice found a way out. If the only existing being would agree to give up most of his power, the Voice could reset the multiverse to an earlier time with a few minor changes. Of course, the Voice couldn't ask it that way. It could only ask if the Final Reaper was willing to start over from when Earth was first brought into Order. It was an easy decision, and yet it wasn’t. Was he willing to go through eons of pain again to not be alone? Yes. In a heartbeat. Not that his heart beat anymore. Now it would. Perhaps he could even be a hero, this time. When he landed in his old body - more or less - on Earth, the Final Reaper once again became Thomas. He was both and neither. He needed a new name for a new life. Serenity. ------------------------------------------ While this is technically a System Apocalypse story, it's a System Apocalypse that is designed to have a large percentage of the population survive and prosper. There are a lot of problems that come with the appearance of the Voice, and it's entirely possible to lose. Earth has some special opportunities, but also special challenges. The first time around, Earth won the first round and lost the second. Serenity has ten years from when the Voice arrives to prevent that from happening. It will be a group effort; Serenity can't win alone - which is difficult for someone who's been alone for as long as he has. Of course, that's only his second priority. ------------------------------------------- Updates Daily A note on the nonhuman lead tag: He isn't human, and hasn't been human for a very, very long time (or maybe not long at all, depending on how you count it). He still thinks of himself as human, either way. The content warnings are mostly to give me room to write; this fiction is not intended to be edgy, but once in a while a character will swear or someone will get seriously injured. The cover image is a Chandra/Hubble composite image of VV 340 / Arp 302 / UGC 9618. While we're not going to space itself any time soon in the story, people from elsewhere are coming to Earth and Serenity will visit other planets. Plus, I like space imagery. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 509 - In Serial11 Chapters
Gur-dun: Grey's Selection.
Afterlife advocates have a difficult job, they never get the easy assignments. Balancing the Benefits, Penalties, and Goals for each client's new life is tricky, every time Mr. Grey must do what he can with what he has. Mr Grey's latest client has been royally screwed by his previous life, and worse, by interns to the reincarnation system.The only solution Mr. Grey could find might be worse than his clients previous life...This is the unfortunate and amazing life of Gur-dun, Son of Suffering.
8 179 - In Serial33 Chapters
King's Corp
What's a little bunny in a cage full of lions? Fresh meat, that's what. Jungkook just wanted to work his dream job at the world-renown company, King's Corp. But the CEO, Kim Taehyung, proves that to be a difficult task. A story about racism, homophobia and of course, Taekook ; )
8 204

