Chapter 4 - Night of the first moon (1)

Zane decided to learn more about his power and its limitations to avoid future difficulties caused by his naivety.

He checked his deck stats and body stats several times, memorising the explanations for each piece of data along with the considerations he needed to keep in mind when using a card.

The system was surprisingly helpful in teaching him, avoiding its usual teasing tone entirely. It acted like a genius professor at Oxford, delivering clear and concise explanations.

Zane found a few connections between his two stats that were unexpected.

'Someone having a unique card in the slot of an Iron deck and another with an Uncommon card in the same quality deck will have a significant power difference, with the latter being considerably weaker.

However, the same isn't true when comparing them to a Copper deck Carder, because the quality of the deck improves a Carder's ability to burn more energy on a single card to shape its properties.

The more energy you burn, the more powerful the properties shaped by it become. A Copper deck can burn 500 energy points on a single card—that level of power is something even a Legendary card in an Iron deck cannot match.'

"What about Ordinary, Common, or Uncommon cards?" Zane asked, remembering that the system hadn't mentioned these cards as if they weren't even worthy of discussion.

'I never mentioned them because they aren't relevant to you.' If the system had a physical form, Zane was sure it would be sighing and shaking its head.

'Most normal Carders start with Ordinary or Common cards. One reason is that they aren't as lucky as you, who obtained powerful cards after getting killed.

But there's another reason as well—their decks simply cannot carry a powerful card.'

Zane was taken aback. "What do you mean their decks can't carry them?"

'That depends on the deck element. Yours allows you to carry cards of any grade, irrespective of your deck. But don't get complacent—you aren't the only one In this world with this blessing.'

"Okay, okay," Zane grumbled.

He then asked in a strained tone, "I just killed a monster, right? Why didn't I receive even an ounce of essence?"

'First, you didn't kill a monster. It was a living, sentient being just like humans.'

"What?"

'Remember the information about the evolution of monsters on Earth. That evolution doesn't only apply to their appearance and strength—it also applies to their intelligence.

Simply put, humans are no longer special. All living beings can shape shift into human form inside the Tower, and powerful beings among them can do the same outside the Tower as well.'

That sentence struck Zane like a hammer. He gulped and asked in a low voice, "Does that mean I killed a sentient creature?"

'Yes. The Tower does not reward you with essence for killing real inhabitants of Earth outside the Tower.

Inside the Tower, it's a different matter. Just remember, killing Mirages is far more efficient—unless you want to start a mass murder spree.'

Zane's attention wasn't on the system anymore as his mind drifted back to the moment he killed that monster—no, a sentient creature with emotions and sensations, just like him.

Its fearful gaze, begging for mercy, replayed in his mind over and over again. Zane felt his heart grow cold.

He recalled how its companions expressed their emotions toward him. They were angry, sad, and most importantly…

'Helpless.'

They felt the same emotions he had felt when he burned alive inside the car—anger, sadness, and helplessness.

They were the same as him. A creature with thoughts, dreams, and aims in life. And he had just killed one of them.

From this day onward, he became a…

'Killer.'

Because…

'You wanted to survive. Stop with all those fucking sentiments, mate. The night is more brutal in the hoods.

I'd suggest you find a hiding spot before the first moon rises in the sky. All I'll say is otherwise your ten slots will be flooded before sunrise.'

"What do you mean?"

'I meant what I said. Dude, just open that map icon in your system and search for a hiding place!

It doesn't matter that you can resurrect even if you die—you will not be the same if you died under the three moons, is all I can say.

Keep in mind that under absolutely no conditions should you ever try to die at night outside of the tower, especially under the light of any three moons.'

Zane wanted to ask questions, but the shifting atmosphere in the woods haunted him so much that he swallowed back his words.

The woods suddenly became silent, like the moment when an apex predator was hunting. He felt all the hairs on his body stand up as goosebumps of pure panic washed over him.

"Map…" he muttered, hurriedly opening it. Everywhere his gaze landed on the map was marked in red.

'These are the areas of danger, probably where a powerful monster is hiding,' the system explained.

'We have no time to waste to fight these monsters or ability to fight them—your health bar is full now, and your energy is sufficient. Run and search for a green dot.'

"What if I run into a monster?" Zane asked while already running. The woods must have stronger monsters than the rabbit from before, right?

So despite the system saying monsters in earth was sentient now, that didn't make them friendly to humans.

After all, the first thing that rabbit—sentient creature or not—had done upon seeing him was attack. If another monster saw him, and attacked him, what would he do?

Fight it?

'Don't worry about that. At night, until the three moons disappear into the horizon, every creature—predator or prey—has one goal: to hide, to have a roof over head or to reach the tower.'

That seemed true. Along the way, Zane encountered creatures that terrified him to his core.

From two-legged T-Rexes to massive eight-legged spiders, he saw monstrous abominations in his path. The sky above was teeming with the shapes of massive flying creatures, all in a state of panic.

None of them so much as glanced at him as they seemed to fleeing from something far more terrifying. Their fear was contagious—Zane felt panic erupting in his own body as he ran.

'The first moon will set in two minutes,' the system said. 'There's no need to search for green dots anymore. Choose any single red dot.'

Zane looked at the map again. His blue dot, representing himself, moved through the terrain surrounded by red zones. Some were lighter, some darker, and most had red dots clustered in groups.

'If there's no single dot in sight, alas, you'll have to choose any of the lighter spots grouped,' the system instructed.

Zane scanned the map again and noticed a group of five or six light red dots clustered together. He turned toward that direction, but before he could rush there, a massive force slammed into his chest.

His magic defence activated automatically, but Zane clearly saw his health bar drop by 50 points.

Another attack followed, more brutal than the first, reducing his health to a staggering 15 points. Zane skidded through the mud, slamming into a tree and collapsing to the ground with a pained yelp.

His vision blurred, but he managed to make out the creatures that had attacked him.

With lean, white, muscular figures and glowing red eyes, a pair of Leaping Lagomors stared straight at him hatefully.

One was larger than the other and had an additional horn above its head. Zane's blurry gaze focused on its mouth as it moved in a disturbingly human-like way, forming the words he read clearly:

"We ruined you before you will ruin us…"

'The first moon gazed upon you,' followed by that voice, a soft glow of white light rained down upon him.