Rising Tensions

Chapter: 2

My shock was quickly replaced by complete confusion.

"Hold up, what the heck is going on? Isn't Uriel a part of the biblical/Christianity pantheon and an Archangel at that?" I thought, baffled.

Instead of sitting there in confusion, I decided to ask the Archangel myself.

"Um, Uriel, you can hear me, right?" I asked.

The system screen went from its usual blue and black coloration (the screen was blue and the text was black) to a white and orangish-gold (white screen and the text was orangish-gold), and then the text changed to the following:

Yes, I can hear you, Horraine.

"That's good. If you don't mind, I would like to ask a question. Is that fine with you?" I asked.

Perfectly fine, Horraine. Ask away.

"Right. I have a few questions. First, is there a reason why you are guiding me even though I'm not a part of the Christian pantheon? On top of that, I'm not even good; I'm neutral."

You want me to be honest with you?

"That would be preferred, yes."

Good. You see, yes, I did not have to do this since there were people meant to guide those who did not pick a pantheon.

"Yeah, I would have assumed so, but I sense a 'but' coming."

And you would be right.

"Then what is it?"

To put it bluntly, it would be preferable for you to be neutral good than anything else if we can help it.

"So, in other words, you would rather have me be neutral good than chaotic neutral. And when you said 'we,' you mean God, who has been doing most of the damage control."

Precisely.

"If that's the case, when was the system supposed to disappear then?"

Directly after you chose your abilities.

"In other words, give us powers with no training wheels and no info, and let the madness unfold... Were they high when they made that decision?"

I am in no position to answer that question with a hundred percent correct answer as I wasn't in the meeting room, but I would say most likely.

"Figures as much. But could you tell me who, outside of God if any, opposed this horrible idea?"

To my knowledge, Father only mentioned Amaterasu. There might have been more, but I am unsure.

"... Sigh, at least there was someone else who thought this was a bad idea."

Believe me, a lot of us believe this was a bad idea.

"To be fair, I would be surprised if most of you didn't believe this was a bad idea. Huh, I just realized that this turned into quite the casual conversation."

It became casual after we found some common ground.

"Fair. This isn't going to happen often with other people, is it?"

Seeing as most of the guides are minor gods or just decently classed beings from their respective pantheons, I'd say no.

"Huh, makes sense. By the way, while we are on the topic of being able to hold a casual conversation, don't you think it would be better to at least materialize a small portion of yourself to hold a conversation without the system interface? Because, in my opinion, having a conversation with a floating HUD system screen is kinda weird, not gonna lie."

... Let me see what I can do. I'm gonna go inactive for a while.

"OK, take your time. There isn't any real rush yet."

Yeah, give me an hour or so.

"OK."

With the conversation complete, the system screen returned to normal and then disappeared. I looked over to Theo and Shaheem to see how they were doing. They were still in the middle of a conversation with their guides, both going better than I expected. A few minutes later, Theo and Shaheem had finished their conversations.

"So~ how did it go~?" I asked.

"It went better than I thought it would," Shaheem said.

"She was nice," Theo replied.

"Huh, that's good. That makes things better for you, honestly."

"Yeah."

"Fair."

"OK, now le—"

Horraine was cut off by an explosion from outside the gazebo. Turning their attention to the source, they saw a group of three students standing before another student, each holding spheres of energy.

"You're joking," I said with a sigh.

"Come on, Horraine, you must have seen this coming," Shaheem said.

"I did, but that doesn't make it any less annoying."

"Fair."

"So what do we do?" Theo asked, just as annoyed as I was.

"Sigh, Shaheem."

"Ready when you are."

"Activate: Code Correct."

I activated Code Correct! As my eyes changed and the scarf appeared around my neck, I stretched a bit. I looked over to Shaheem, noting the lack of a weapon. I hummed a bit and then asked, "Shaheem, do you want a weapon?"

"You're giving?"

"Only for this, so what do you want?"

"A spear or scythe would do."

I nodded and held out my hand, thinking of a scythe. The scarf glowed yellow, then turned into energy that flowed into my hand and formed into a simple scythe. I twirled it a bit, then threw it to Shaheem. He caught it, swung it around a bit to test it, then nodded in content.

"OK, let's go."

"Yeah."

Nodding to him, he gripped my shoulder as he activated his ability.

"Exchange."

With that, both Shaheem and I vanished, replaced by two stones. Appearing behind the three students, Shaheem set the blade of the scythe around the lead student's throat, stopping him in his tracks. When I appeared, I snapped my fingers, summoning two Gaster Blasters—skeletal, skull-shaped weapons with lower jaws and two eye sockets, the left eye emitting a yellow light and the right red. Both jaws were opened, each with an orb of energy, one yellow and one red.

"OK, that's enough," I said.

The students froze, their eyes widening in shock as the unexpected confrontation unfolded. Shaheem maintained a firm grip on his scythe, and my Gaster Blasters hovered threateningly, indicating their readiness for action.

"Whoa, whoa, chill out, man! We were just messing around!" one of the students stammered nervously.

I narrowed my eyes and said in a cold tone, "Your grade now."

The middle student stuttered out, "T-the n-ninth g-grade s-sir."

Shaheem and I exchanged glances, clearly unimpressed. The tension in the air lingered as the other two students tried to process the situation.

"Leave now," I said with a sigh, deactivating Code Correct. The scythe disappeared from Shaheem's hands, and the Gaster Blasters dissipated into thin air. The released students stumbled backward, visibly shaken by the encounter.

As the students hastily retreated, I turned to the student who had been targeted. "You good, kid?"

The targeted student, a bit disheveled but seemingly unharmed, nodded in gratitude. "Yeah, thanks for helping."

"Hurry along now."

The relieved student quickly scampered away, and as the commotion settled, Shaheem and I turned to face each other. I let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"Really, can't we catch a break?" Shaheem grumbled.

"I wish, but it seems like chaos is just attracted to us," I replied, shaking my head.

"You know what? I'm heading out," I said.

Shaheem raised an eyebrow. "Heading out? Where?"

"Home, where else?"

"Fair point. Do you think they will let you leave the campus?"

"How exactly are they going to stop me?"

"Fair. Later then. I'm gonna tell Theo."

"Yeah, later."

I walked away and out of the school compound. The school security didn't even try to stop me. I walked home with a sigh, entered my house, and changed out of my uniform into some casual clothing. Once I was in more comfortable attire, I decided to take a moment to relax and reflect on the events of the day. The encounter with Uriel and the subsequent confrontation with the students had left me feeling a mix of frustration and curiosity. I wondered about the responsibility that now rested on my shoulders and the challenges that lay ahead.

"Sigh, hmm. I wonder if I should go to school with all this happening."

"Oh well, I'll think about it tomorrow. For now, I'll just do some energy manipulation exercises."

I spent two hours practicing summoning and unsummoning my Gaster Blasters, trying to amplify the speed at which I summoned them. This improved my energy control. After I finished my training, the system screen appeared before me unannounced, changing the coloration to orangish-gold and white associated with Uriel.

"Hmm, hey Uriel."

Hello, Horraine. I see you've been keeping yourself busy.

"Yeah, just trying to get the hang of this power and all. By the way, any progress on materializing yourself?"

Yeah, give me a sec.

Light energy was released from the system screen, taking the form of a small figure around the size of a fairy or something similar. It was a woman with golden blonde hair, delicate wings shimmering with an ethereal glow, and an aura that radiated wisdom and warmth. Uriel had materialized, albeit in a smaller, more manageable form.

"Well, this is certainly more personal," I remarked.

Uriel smiled, her voice now carrying a gentle resonance. "I hope this form is more comfortable for our conversations."

"It is, thanks. So, what's next? Any divine instructions?"

"For now, you must continue to train and adapt to your abilities. The real challenges will come soon enough," Uriel said, her expression serious.

"Right. The system update mentioned monsters appearing in four months. Any idea what we'll be dealing with?"

Uriel nodded. "Yes, the introduction of multiple types of energies on Earth has disrupted the balance, giving rise to various monstrous entities. They will be formidable, but with proper preparation, you can face them."

I nodded thoughtfully, absorbing her words. "And what about the pantheons? How will they play into this?"

"The pantheons will offer guidance and support, but their involvement will also bring new complexities. Alliances and conflicts between different pantheons could influence events significantly," Uriel explained.

"Great, more politics," I muttered.

"Also, thanks to the energies being introduced to the planet, some—well, all—of the beings Father had sealed are being unsealed," Uriel said, looking away embarrassed.

"Excuse me, what? You don't mean beings like Leviathan, the fallen, and more?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Uriel confirmed.

I felt a chill run down my spine. This was worse than I had imagined. Not only were we dealing with the chaos of newfound powers and emerging monsters, but ancient beings of immense power were being released as well. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my thoughts.

"So, what do we do about that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do at the moment."

"Why did they agree to this stupid idea? Now I'm going to tell Shaheem and Theo about this. This is going to be a headache."

'Joy.'

Chapter 2: End

AN: If you were in this world what powers would you pick or create tell me in the comments.