2. Kukuru [Part 3/16]

—What are you talking about? —Ruby asked, bewildered.

—Prisoner number 407 of the CCWF, a women's prison in California. —explained Azrail, surprising Ruby —Ruby Hills.You are charged with drug possession, vandalism, theft, and... Murder. You killed a man. Am I right?

—...Who are you? How do you know that about me? —on guard, she grabbed the magic staff and stood up, pointing it at him. Azrail remained seated, watching the fire.

—I know you better than you know yourself. I know and have known many people, without them even knowing who I am. I even know that rabbit. And he doesn't know me. Almost all the information said about me was incorrect.

—What do you mean?

—That, so far, the only thing you know about me is my name. —Ruby took a deep breath, still pointing at Azrail. Could she trust him? She gritted her teeth, but he stopped looking at the fire and looked at her, smiling in a calm yet wicked manner.— Your cellmate's name was Belle, wasn't it? You loved her.

—...! —Azrail stood up, coming face to face with his ally. She swallowed hard, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

—And, about that favor...Did you have a brother? Clover. He is here. I saw you talking a bit with him.

—Shut up! You're not going to do anything to my brother! And I don't know how you also know Belle, but I don't want to hear anything come out of your mouth!

—Oh, for God's sake. I wouldn't do anything to the kid. But I do know that he... —he leaned down to whisper something in her ear, and she, shocked, opened her eyes wide.

—Cain? Cain, are you there? —Noah had gone out to look for Cain. Previously, Aike went out hunting since they hadn't eaten yet, and now they were cooking a large bird they had fortuitously caught. He wasn't very hungry, but his friend probably was. He carried the mask with him, just in case.

—What do you want? —he heard above him. He looked up. He found Cain sitting on a tree branch, playing with the leaves. He had several in his hand, broken and crumpled.

—Talk. Does it matter if I go up there?

—Stay there. I'll come down. —with a leap, he landed beside him as if nothing had happened. At first, that surprised Noah, but he remembered that Cain had a strength of 2, and that it was probably easy for him to do.— Explain it to me.

—You start first. What did you see? —Cain gave him a cold look, trying to intimidate him. But he knew it wouldn't work. Noah was a very calm person.

—I was reading your mind. It's one of the properties of that mask, which I see you're carrying with you. —he pointed with his gaze, and then got quite close to his friend, whose expression didn't change.—Tell me, what the hell were you doing imagining the kid dead like that? Why was I there, like that? What are you implying, huh, "genius"?

—I didn't imagine it. I dreamed it. Before waking up here, in this floor. And I also dreamed of this damn mask before it appeared.

—How do you prove it to me? You could have created that excuse while you were coming here.

—Lie? Why would I lie? We don't even know where we are! Not even how it's possible what's happening here! Look at us! A floating, talking stuffed rabbit, strange systems appearing out of nowhere, and now non-existent animals and zero-gravity zones, like you and Clover described before?! In what universe is that possible?! Why would I lie in a situation like this?!

—... —Cain looked him in the eyes.The reason they had a purple hue is because his eyes underwent a very rare genetic mutation, being a rather uncommon occurrence, known only in an actress named Elizabeth Taylor. But those eyes...They reflected anger.— What else did you see in that dream?

—Nothing else. Just that. —he lied. He wanted to talk to him about what he had said in the dream, about how it was related to a letter he had received the day before, but it was better to leave it for another time. He felt bad about what he had literally said less than a minute ago. But he had to handle the situation and find out what was going on. He had very little information, and every time he thought about it, he was consumed by strange theories.

—And if... you had seen the future? —he said, drawing Noah's attention —My mask can do that too. It has a seer ability. Maybe you could do the same. You haven't told me your identity yet, by the way.

—Forget that. I am a "shadow mage," and when I read the information, there was nothing related to that. Just something called "Shadow Extraction. I still don't even know how to activate it.

—... Have you opened your box? Maybe it will help you with something. —he said. Noah remembered that and immediately opened the System, claiming the box.

[You have obtained a very rare item!] it came out of the System, along with an orange glow. From there, a powered magical staff fell, which was still made of wood but surrounded by silver threads, adorning it.

—Great! You've been lucky, that might help you! —he took the stick and gave it to Noah, then pointed to a shadow of the tree he had been sitting under before.—Aim that there.

Noah did it, but nothing happened.

—And now what?

—You have mana. Imagine that you have power in your body, and then, channel it into that staff.

—How do you know all this? We haven't been here for just a day.

—I play a lot of games and read a lot of comics —he replied, proudly. —It's more or less the same. Have you read Harry Potter? Think that you are in that universe. But without reciting the spells out loud, of course.

—... —Noah tried to concentrate. Suddenly, he felt an energy emerge from his body. It was a kind of purple aura, which, with a little effort, he placed on the staff. A message from the System appeared beside him.

[This ability will cost 10 mana. Proceed?] He accepted, and the shadow of the tree began to separate from the ground, leaving them very surprised and excited.

—Damn! You're doing it! Try doing anything! Like... Mold it! Try shaping the shadow! —Noah lifted the shadow and began to move the staff, with the shadow moving at his pace. Easily, he was able to shape a silhouette of a person.

—Ava would give me something if she saw me doing this... But I suppose she would be eating now, carefree. —he said, while imagining her eating very sweetly. The shadow turned a rosy color. —Huh?

—Oh, so feelings also play a role... —Cain pondered—I have an idea. Try making an arrow, and make it touch the ground.

Noah tried to do it, and, upon physical contact of the arrow with the ground, it solidified, still controllable by Noah.

—You can easily make weapons. Just what I thought...

—This benefits us a lot. —he said, moving the arrow. —We could make weapons in case they break. Or protection.

A message appeared on either side of them.They looked up.It was already night.

[Night 1. / Difficulty: K+ / Objective: Survive the monsters that are around you. / Monster drops x1 / Reward for surviving night 1: 5 mystery boxes per individual. / Good luck]

—W-what...? —Cain exclaimed, seeing the message. The last message, the one wishing them luck, was written in red. He looked at Noah, then made a face that expressed terror.

—Cain, let's go back to the others. —he said, looking at the System, then at Cain —Why do you have that face?—Cain pointed behind him, and he looked in that direction.

A giant, drooling monster with many fangs was behind him, mouth open, ready to eat him.