This Is How The World Works
Nehar saw the commotion in the Communication Channel but paid no heed to it. He already knew this was gonna happen sooner or later as soon as he revealed some of his abilities. The only thing was that it happened much sooner than he planned before. Still, he didn't panic as everything was still under his control.
'If those bastards want to know my secrets, they would have to pay the equivalent price for it. I'll suck you dry if you continue to give me your attention in the coming days...'
Nehar thought in his mind.
Without paying any attention to the outside world, Nehar opened his Status Profile once more and commanded, "Quest Panel".
A new panel opened up in front of his eyes which wasn't there before.
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Quest Panel (New!!) :
Quests: 03
--> Completed Quests: 01 (Emergency Quest: Challenger)
--> Quests to be Completed: 02 (Special Quest 01, Special Quest 02)
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Nehar observed the Quest Panel and then he commanded once more, "Open the Special Quest 01".
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[Special Quest 01: 'Path Of The Fiend God']
[Quest Description]: The forgotten Fiend God of the Legend, whose existence had been erased by the System thousands of years ago, and the only thing was left behind to carry his Legacy, a Remnant Spirit, has finally found a suitable candidate to carry out his will. The Remnant Spirit of Fiend God has decided to test you and if he finds you as the perfect candidate, he will help you to reach the path beyond the Immortals to keep his promise to you.
[Quest Status]: Active.
[Quest Type]: Chain Quest (Part - I).
[Quest Rank]: B
[Quest Completion Criteria]: Remove the First Seal of Bloodkin's Dagger completely which is now temporarily unsealed, by providing a sufficient amount of Energy (in Units) by killing your enemies in the path of your growth (57.43/10000 Units).
[Quest Duration]: 167:51:37 (Total: 7 Days).
[Quest Completion Reward]: Complete Removal of the First Seal on Bloodkin's Dagger.
[Other Rewards]: Unknown.
[Quest Failure Penalty]: You'll be devoured by the Curse of Blood-Fiend completely.
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Nehar looked at the increment in the Energy value silently.
'So, it has increased up to 57 Units, not bad...considering the dagger was also helping me in increasing my Stats via giving me sufficient amount Energy from its share. If I didn't choose to absorb those energies, the current amount of Energy in this meter would be more high...probably close to 110 Units.'
In this world, one could get stronger by leveling up and increasing their Stats continuously, along with increasing their Proficiency in various Skills.
By leveling up, one could feel that their body was absorbing tangible energies from the surrounding environment...which was nothing but a pure form of Natural mana, also known as Ambient Mana.
The System helped those who leveled up to absorb this ambient mana into their bodies and convert it to various other forms of energy, one of such forms was Stats.
In simple terms, Stats which actually defined a Player's Physical and Combat Prowess, were nothing but a sophisticated measurement of stored Energy in their bodies.
The higher the amount of stored energy in their bodies, the higher will be their Stats.
It was the simple formula in this new world.
Although, depending upon various situations, this stored Energy can be used in other ways too...but it would be much later than the current stage.
When Nehar obtained the 'Bloodkin's Dagger' from the shop, he did it with the thought in his mind to increase his Stats more than anyone else. He couldn't waste his precious Stat Points on increasing all of his Stats. Moreover, he didn't have enough Stat Points to begin with as he didn't choose any Class and leveled up faster than anyone at the beginning of the Tutorial Phase with an unnatural speed. Thus, his only choice was to obtain this dagger and increase his Physical and Combat prowess by using its powers for his own.
Although he thought it would at least take some time to unseal the first seal on the dagger and use the first Special Effect: Bloodsucking after obtaining it, reality proved him wrong.
The remnant spirit of the Blood-Fiend pulled his consciousness into his Domain, tested him and gave him two Special Quests, and also helped him to unseal the first seal on the dagger temporarily, for 7 days after some considerations.
This made Nehar's progress much easier as he went on a rampage and slaughtered over a hundred people, absorbing their blood and energy in the process.
At first, when he killed one and absorbed his energy, he chose to divide it between him and the dagger. He did it because he knew he was going to level up and grow continuously from this point on, so he couldn't leave his Stats falling behind.
The Dagger in his hand helped him in absorbing energy from his victims and the System helped him to convert them into Stats, thus increasing his basic Stat values enormously.
Nehar thought about giving all of this energy to the Dagger only when he had maximized his Stats to the limit. Thus, for now, he will continue to absorb a major portion of the absorbed energy and the rest will go to the 'Bloodkin's Dagger', to fulfill the criteria of the Special Quest.
Nehar shook his head and closed the panel. He had already confirmed his guesses about the weapon in his hand.
He silently watched as the people from the outside started coming inside the region, which was previously closed off by the Barrier...but they stopped themselves from approaching the man in front of them.
Nehar was still soaked in blood, and both daggers were also bloody red, faintly emitting a murderous and violent energy.
Nehar didn't bother speaking with anyone else and stood there silently, observing others with his sharp gaze.
People who felt his cold gaze on them flinched involuntarily and backed off.
Nehar shook his head seeing this and mumbled, "Cowards..."
Some people who were closer to him saw his facial expressions and could easily guess what he was saying from that disdaining look on his face, but they couldn't risk their lives just by starting an argument with this madman.
Thus, they swallowed their anger and quietly backed off.
"Nehar..."
Nehar looked back after hearing the known voice from his behind.
"You two are here, finally."
Nehar looked back at them and observed them quietly.
Seeing his sharp gaze landing over them, both women flinched too like all others but they didn't back off from him.
"At least you are braver than those...", Nehar pointed his finger towards those people who hurriedly ran off before to avoid being scrutinized by his gaze.
"Well, we know you from before...", Grace answered him in a light voice.
"That's true."
"But, at the same time, I...no, we feel that we really don't know you, or your current nature...", Grace commented absent-mindedly.
Seeing Amelia was gripping Grace's hands tightly, Nehar lightly chuckled.
"Well, thank you both for your previous assistance to me."
Nehar changed the topic subtly and thanked them for their efforts in the last part of the Quest.
He knew both women killed people for the first time in their lives just to help him.
He couldn't help but thank them from his mind.
Grace and Amelia slightly nodded their heads after hearing him.
Nehar added, "I'll make sure to repay your kindness in the future."
"We too received the same Quest as you and just helped you once at the end because the time was short. You managed to complete the Quest almost by yourself...", Grace replied.
"Still, it doesn't make your efforts short. So, do you want to talk about it...you know the killing..."
Before Nehar could complete his sentence, Amelia asked him, "You've killed before, right Nehar?"
Nehar stopped talking and looked at Amelia closely.
Amelia flinched, but still, she mustered her courage and said those words that were bugging her continuously, "I've watched you killing them...you didn't flinch, your hands didn't shake for a single moment. Every time you swung your daggers, heads rolled off. You're a natural killer, am I right about you Nehar?"
Nehar observed the woman, who was still sweating and gripping Grace's hands tightly and asking him such questions.
He felt amused.
"To survive here, you've to become a Natural Killer. The System gave us a Quest to kill 113 people and survive, or face Death. And death here means getting erased from existence. The System never considered that it was a fight 3 against 113, it just ordered us to do it or die. Amelia, if you still have such a soft heart about the others after seeing all these, it would be you next, whose head will fly..."
Nehar paused for a moment and saw Amelia's hands were shaking constantly.
"You're an Archer yourself Amelia, and before all of these happened, you even participated in some Tournaments for showcasing your talents to the world. That was for fun, prestige, and money. But now, it's for Survival. Understand this fact very clearly, if you don't kill them, they'll kill you.
You two must have seen the commotion in the Communication Channels by now, right?"
Nehar asked.
Both women nodded their heads without uttering a single word.
"They are here to watch our fights, our desperateness, our decisiveness, our killing intent, our victory, and also our death. Our struggles are nothing but an entertainment to them. If they become happy and think that you're someone they should take under their wings, they will grant you a Blessing or even a position in some cases...but if you fail to receive their attention, they will not bat an eye if you're to be killed by a human or a monster.
They are here to watch me, observe me and if I fail to give them what they want, they will not care about me anymore...this is how this World, the Tutorial World, and our new World, Edoria, the 117th World under the System will operate in future, Amelia.
So, if you want to live long here and achieve a position of power and command, steel your nerves and stop that nervous shaking of your hands, otherwise even I couldn't guarantee your safety in the future."
Nehar started walking towards Amelia and kept talking, "The System gave us Stats, Skills, and Weapons ; Everything so we could develop our fighting spirits and survive long enough by killing our enemies, monsters, and humans alike..."
Nehar placed his hands on her shoulders gently, "This is how the world works...Amelia, I think you know very well that I had to fight to keep you both and myself safe from any harm, just like at the end you two fought and killed for me. I don't know about the others, but in this new world, we can keep ourselves safe this way, working and fighting together, caring for each other...do you understand me now, Sister?"
Amelia looked at his face, despite being soaked in peoples' blood, his caring and warm gaze quieted down the turmoil in her heart. She could feel from Nehar's affectionate and soft voice that he was speaking the truth. He had no choice other than to fight. He had no other way to become a Natural Killer to slay over a hundred people to save themselves from harm. If he hadn't killed them, those people would never leave them alone.
She stopped her body from shaking anymore and straightened her head, looked directly into his eyes, and nodded her head in understanding.
Not only Amelia, but Grace also understood Nehar's words.
They understood the cold hard truth very easily which Nehar had shown them, as they were the first ones who had participated in a battle against their fellow humans and killed them too.
Without strength, their moral values wouldn't matter to anyone.
The rules are for the Weak, while the Strong would sit atop of those rules and change them to their perspectives.
They understood how this World will work in the future very clearly.
Nehar didn't speak anymore. He just stood there and silently observed both women.
'For now, I'll let them follow me. As for later, we'll see when that time comes...', he thought in his mind.
While watching them in silence contemplating his words, Nehar looked over the screen panel to see how much time was remaining before the Lackeys would appear before the start of the 1st Tutorial.
[System: Remaining Time for the Start of Tutorial - 01 (Zombie Horde): 00:04:02]
Suddenly he felt something and looked above.
It was not only him, almost everyone felt the change in the air and looked above the sky.
Three figures appeared out of thin air, just like before when Administrator Andrea had appeared behind Nehar.
Nehar watched them carefully. Two of them looked identical as they were wearing two similar-looking Wolf-faced masks and dressed in complete Black. Two Long-Swords could be seen hanging from their waists respectively. They looked similar to humans in appearance.
'Lackeys, two of them...'
Nehar observed the last person more carefully as he was visibly different from the other two. The man wore Jade White clothes and his face was covered by a Lion-faced mask. A total of four Swords could be seen hanging from his waist and back respectively. He was emitting a different kind of pure but violent energy in all of his surrounding space.
'An Observer...although he is nothing compared to Administrator Andrea, he is still quite strong. The energy he is emitting is similar to a Lord-ranked being. Why did he appear here? There's no need for an Observer to appear this early...'
While Nehar was observing the man, he saw the man looking at him too.
Nehar didn't show any emotion or surprise on his face, maintaining the same cold, stoic feeling around him.
After a second, the man retracted his gaze from him.
Nehar asked them, "The real show is about to begin. Let's head over there, shall we?"
Both women silently nodded and started following Nehar's footsteps, towards the center where other people were standing and observing the figures in the sky with anguish and fear.