Tiger Stripes (Part 1)

Rowan walked through the next doorway and finally stepped into a room that looked different from the all white stadium-esque rooms that he had been in so far. The room was just as big, but the only difference was that on the far wall there was no more tiny door that led to the next room. There were massive black doors made of an unidentified black metal. The doors themselves were absolutely massive in the way that they were the size of the entire wall, almost.

Rowan was sure that the only reason he would be able to open the massive double doors was his massive increase to his strength. Rowan stared at the doors as, in a strange sequence, 11 animals in the center of rings began to glow on the door before a final twelfth figure in the center began to glow as well. The final figure that lit up on the door was the azure dragon, it radiated a mighty power and captivated Rowan, so he was caught off guard when he heard the voice he had listened to the entire time that he had been going through this experience.

"Amazing isn't it? The double dragon doors are what I've called them ever since Azure brought us here. It was also my first indication of the fact that he had been planning this much longer than his adoption of us. He knew that mana would return, but I digress. If you manage to make it past me, then all of your answers lie behind these doors. It is his private lab. The twelve of us were only ever allowed in when he was directly working with one of us. None of us have even seen the whole thing. We typically are just in one of the experiment rooms that exist in his lab."

Tiger slowly walked into Rowan's view from the side and that was enough for Rowan to take his attention away from the door. Tiger wasn't big, he was huge, easily standing at close to seven feet tall, he was a mass of rippling muscle. Long black hair cascaded down his back and stopped at his waist, which was thicker than two of Rowan put together. He was dressed in a playing black tank top and cargo pants. The oddest part of all was that his face had a more rounded shape that made him look like some type of gentle giant. His cheeks were puffy and stood out, but anyone looking could tell just how sharp of a jaw the man still had.

"So here we are, Rowan Raid, the collision course that you've been waiting for since you walked in here. You have killed every single person that stood between you and this door and you never even thought of sparing a single person, did you? That was probably in part because of the system."

Rowan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Could he somehow tell that he had gotten a quest to clear out the necromancer and all of his progeny? Tiger shook his head, keeping the momentum and not giving Rowan a chance to speak. His voice was a fierce whisper that came out as more of a growl with words than anything else. "The moment you start to interfere with the souls of other beings the system abandons you, you are no longer worth teaching in the eyes of the system it's why despite the clear enhancements made, we are‌ stuck with our mana centers at level 2 because not only does the system abandon you, it scars your mana space, it takes a lot to heal from that, Azure already has of course he's been doing this for years but that is why despite us being level 50 in the eyes of the system, our mana space is in the same spot, Azure could impart the knowledge but until we can heal our mana space we can not put any of it to use. All we needed was another two weeks and the twelve of us would have been able to crush you underfoot, just based on the merit of our higher cultivation. That woman just could not pass up the opportunity and grabbed your friend and ruined the whole schedule."

Rowan could only shake his head. "I did absolutely nothing to any of you, you knocked on my door once and then because of a misunderstanding you all took me as some great target but I only ever wanted to be left alone. Me and my friends weren't long for this place. I was going to finish clearing the zombies and move on. Instead, I've been stuck in here with all of you for god knows how long because you all saw me as a threat that I never was."

Tiger shook his head, this time a weird glint in his eyes. "You made your way onto Azure's radar even before the world crumbled. Now he doesn't have to hide his plans at all and move in the dark. I was the first to be adopted and even then Azure would see you on the Tv and talk about how brightly you shine even through the TV. I think it is the reason that we chose to stay here."

Rowan walked closer to him, but not close enough for either part to strike. "You knew it even back then, didn't you, that he was sick and demented, you knew that he was doing wrong but you ignored all of that, for the sense of family. How many people died unjustly for the sake of your happy family life, Tiger?" Tiger looked down at his feet, but a fierce light flashed through his eyes.

"No, at first I didn't and truthfully I did not confirm it until we ran the first experiment and by then it was too late, I was already part of his schemes, he bolstered me to a point that I would be able to reliable bring him new subjects and in turn I received money from various criminal enterprises so that I could afford to keep sending him new test subjects, I heard the screams I knew something was wrong but more than anything else and above all I just wanted to be a good son, and today as well I will still be a good son."

Rowan's gaze seemed to blaze with mana as he stared down Tiger who had now brought his head up with his deep gray cat eyes staring right at Rowan, he had not noticed it before but the gray of his eyes made it look like the eyes of a dead cat instead of a living one. "I still need to buy some time, and there is no point in any more conversation. Make it by me and you will have all the answers that you want answered right from the source. I did what I had to, not only for me, but for my siblings. I did what I needed to do to live this long and, given the chance, I still would."

Tiger's skin began to darken until a layer of black fur that shined like metal coated his entire body. A bright orange that looked like superheated metal started tearing open on the black fur while his hands grew into claws and his and his normal features were replaced with the head of a tiger. He roared in at Rowan in defiance and his voice seemed to come from everywhere as the stripes on his fur split in half to me, mouths that all spoke with his voice. He spread his hands apart and let out a growl that shook the room. "Come forth Tiger Might!" The vocal trigger for his Astra caused mana to swirl throughout the room, but the mana had this blackish gray hue that Rowan had never seen before. A war hammer took shape in his hands.

It was large enough that it was dual headed and both heads on it were shaped to be like a tiger's head cast in some type of molten metal that glowed orange. The shaft of the weapon was pure black and striped in orange, just like his skin. Rowan flicked his wrist, and the weathervane stretched into shape while still a cloud before becoming weathervane in its bolt form. Rowan had no ever put his weapon away, there was no need for the verbal device to summon it. He entered a lowered stance while Tiger did the same, both ready to push off at the same time.

They both pushed off and the second to last battle with the zodiac gang started with a shout and a boom as their weapons collided with the explosion deafening most would be watchers.

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Far, far away in a place that neither part could reach or fathom, a butler walked through the halls of a magnificent futuristic castle with his head held high and a mischievous light in his eyes. He walked into the throne room and with a crisp snap of his fingers; the doors closed behind him. The man he was looking for was sitting on his throne going over documents with several aides when he noticed the butler. He said a couple of quick words and the aides melted into the shadow and vanished from sight. The butler spoke up first, "Young master, I offered the reward that you told me to and it seems the young boy has almost completed it, but I fear there will be some complications."

The man on the throne shifted, and it almost seemed like their surroundings shifted with him before he stood up and approached the butler. "If he completes the task, then I will handle any complications myself, but also I have had the time to view your system, you should have worked with Furia he knows a lot more about games then you, I've decided to take your system and improve it with my own knowledge of games, I've removed drops and kept quest rewards, everyone should have to work for what they get no more chance, also I've refined the system so the stat page will point out tier and at the same time I've made it so that a being must properly move through the cultivation stages to remove level caps."

"The new version is good enough that I plan on applying to the whole Ark, it works in the interest of information for everyone, everyone within the bounds of the Ark will have the opportunity to reach for the pinnacle, but they need to have the skill. Quest rewards will include mana applications as well, but lower the cost of information. I get enough info already. Every time someone feeds you their levels, it comes back to me in the form of their experiences. While it made it rather interesting, it's invasive, properly explain the weight of asking questions of the system in version 2."

The butler, at some point, had begun tapping on the air on a holographic screen as he prepared the changes that the man on the throne had just talked about. "Young master, is it the same way the system is closed to anyone that practices the necromantic arts? What about the faction that has begun to grow on the second layer?" The king shook his head, Necromancy will always be outlawed and they should be killed on contact, if this situation with Rowan did not point me in their direction I wouldn't even know that the aftermath of me battling the specter race would introduce necromantic mana into the ark. It's important that everyone retain the freedom to make their own choices, now whether anyone that comes in contact with them is given a quest with bountiful rewards that include personal tutelage from me, well that's just up to the system at this point isn't it?"

The butler smiled back at the man he referred to as young Lord as he flung his wrists forward and a massive screen lit up the room. "I figured the young master would like to see the way that Rowan raid ends this quest that has been given by you personally." The king nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, I'd like that a lot."