14 Chapter 14 : Half-Blood

[ You will be put into a comatose state to facilitate your mutations ]

A whitish liquid came out of Maalick's scales. This thing within him began to cover him completely, inhibiting his movements and senses one by one.

He let himself be carried away by these formless blows 'I don't really have the strength to fight... anymore. I might as well let my body do it'

His Moult enveloped the Lizardian, looking more like a chrysalis than a true reptile moult.

***

The Mars candidate found himself on a Victorian road, in front of a flamboyant gothic cathedral.

He noticed that he was under a heavy rain, as he felt the drops falling on his scaly skin.

The building, despite its atypical style, was gloomy because of its appearance. He had the impression that this monument had spent a good part of its time under the bombardments.

Especially the 2 towers. One was destroyed to the foundations. While the other was devastated, as if it had been blown up from the inside.

"I better take shelter" he said as he felt the rain becoming more aggressive.

He went into the building, but the huge black metal doors held his attention. In a small corner at the top right of the door, he saw a drawing describing his arrival at Camp Rosibbo.

"What's with all the illustrations ?"

He inspected the drawings and saw that all the various characters were present, as well as the key events "Maria. Arthur. Raz and Charlotte. They're all there. Even the time I got bitten by the dog"

He opened the heavy doors with his two hands.

Inside the cathedral, a chandelier illuminated the large interior with its weak glow. The many smooth hardwood benches were present.

"I feel like I'm in Westminster Abbey" he said with disgust.

But the stained glass windows were all broken, leaving only incomplete messages and stories with no beginning or end. The cold air entered the room, which did not help his body.

He said "I-I need to find a warm place" as he rubbed himself to create some warmth.

A Rose du Midi illuminated this place with a blood red light.

Maalick sensed the danger in the Southern Rose. But inexplicably, it warmed him. He felt drawn to the stained glass window, almost hypnotized by its different shades of red.

He approached the stained glass window from the middle path, but...

[ End of penalty for candidate Maalick Gamble and the Entity Ares, the God of War and Destruction ]

[ Implementation of the privileges conferred by the General Conditions of Use ]

[ Recovery of your Armada, in progress ]

[ Loading the Armada ]

[ 4,1 % ]

[ 25,7 % ]

[ 69,3 % ]

[ 100 % ]

In the red light and notifications, a man emerged from an orange dimension. It was his Entity, Mars.

"Hello Maalick" he said simply.

In his heart, several emotions were fighting within him to see who would come out first. A flood of relief and anger, like the Ying and the Yang, opposite but complementary, couldn't get him to react.

"If it's too hard to tell, I can use our connection to find out what happened if you want"

Maalick stood in front of the stained glass light, unable to move. Then after a moment, he stepped forward and punched him in the face.

The torrent of his emotions broke the dam and flowed "You bastard ! Do you know what I've been through in the last 24 hours ? I've been tortured, I've seen people die, I've witnessed parents betraying their little girl in the name of a fuicking God !"

The former human felt that he was psychologically broken "I saw the horror in that fucking camp ! The corpses of those people coveringh the floor of that hellhole made me want to hang myself ! Monsters were chasing me. And I'm in the place I hate the most on Earth! A fucking cathedral !"

Maalick still had his fist in Mars' face, but he had no injuries.

In a calm tone the God said "Listen to me. You have to calm down"

Maalick couldn't believe his ears "I need... to calm down ?! You dare to tell me that after all I've seen? I'm going to ask you this question just once and you better answer me honestly, Mars"

Maalick took a deep breath "Did you knew ?'

The Entity shifted his fist with his finger "If you want to ask me something, say the words"

Maalick's entire body tensed under the tension. He looked straight into his dark eyes and asked "Did you know that genocide was going on in this camp ? Is this your definition of fun ? Watching people get beat up, raped and killed ?!"

Mars answered both questions "Yes, I knew. And no, not for me"

Maalick rushed towards him and hit him without really hurting him. Mars felt nothing, and as time passed, the violence in his fists lessened.

Until he clutched his tank top. The Olympian felt the tears of his candidate flowing "Why... ? Why are they doing all of this ? They are exterminating their own people and those they consider as undesirable..."

Mars didn't know what to do 'This is really too much emotion for me'

The former human pulled away from his Entity and dried his tears "Sorry. It's just, I needed to let go and then it all came out at once"

"Don't worry about it. As long as your mind is clear, I'm fine with it. But remember, always keep your emotions in control when you fight"

"I'll try to remember that" he said as he sat down on a bench.

Mars sat on the back of the cathedral bench next to him "Good. Now tell me in details everything that happened to you"

At his request, Maalick told him about his journey. His arrival in Lockarte, his meeting with Raz and Charlotte, the different levels of the camp and his walk through the Hole.

"I see... you've been through a lot. Fortunately, I have something that should make it go away"

[ Armada Ques t: Complete Your Moult ]

[ Your molt will make you stronger. But are you willing to pay the price ? ]

[ Reward : Skill [ Ultimate Soldier ]

[ Failure : ??? ]

"So... your gift to make up for all I've been through is a skill?" asked Maalick as he squinted, unable to understand his logic.

He made up for it by telling him "By Zeus, no. Your Armada's skills can only be unlocked by this kind of quest. We're lucky to have gotten one so quickly"

"Are my skills that hard to get?"

Mars explained to him "Imagine that the System is like an independent extension of the Designer. This kid is the God of Entertainment and Video Games and therefore anything 'fun' becomes a quest. The harder the quests, the better the reward"

Maalick was beginning to understand his explanation " To put it simply, the higher the risk the higher the reward"

"Exactly"

Maalick sighed "If we go by this principle, then why are we here? A cathedral is not really my favorite place..."

"The mind is a battlefield just like war, Maalick. And seeing yours, I can absolutely assure you that the word 'damaged' would be an understatement"

Maalick turned back to the elements of the setting "I think if it was my mind, I would have taken something more friendly"

Mars turned around as well "Except, it doesn't work like that. The human mind works by association, and in this kind of state, it's your unconscious who talking. This place is a huge image in relation to your life. For example, the red and crimson stained glass windows, do you know what they represent ?"

Maalick paused for a moment before answering "...My Wrath" he said in a low voice.

"Right. The room is mostly dominated by this color. Which means that most of the time, you find yourself dominated by your own wrath. But maybe the chandelier above you could save you"

He looked up and saw the white light "Charlotte"

Mars nodded his head "It's very likely in your case. A child tenderizing your anger against... I don't know who. But he should be careful that you don't come looking for him"

Maalick clenched his fist "He's not here. At least not in this world. I'm sure of it"

"Besides, you found something else to fight for, didn't you?"

Maalick stood up and made a statement that will go down in the legend "I'm going to rescue the prisoners of Camp Rosibbo. Do you agree with that ?"

"I've already told you. I didn't wish to be here. You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't break your word" replied his Entity.

[ Your Moult will end soon ]

Mars stood up "Looks like it's time. See you on the other side" he said, cutting through the space with his sword belt.

He rushed in. As the elements around Maalick contorted.

The whole cathedral was coiling into a point.

In the pitch black, he saw two horizons. A dark yellow and a bright black separated, as if they would not and could not merge.

But they did anyway. They drowned into each other and began to condense into a ball of energy composed of these 2 colors.

She slowly descended in front of him.

"I guess I have to touch you" he said as he touched the basketball sized ball with his fingertips.

The object blinded him and then he saw nothing.

***

In the arena, an agoule jumped into the seats filled with skeleton in search of food.

In the middle of it she saw Maalick, still covered in the liquid that had hardened.

He was now defenseless, at the mercy of the monsters of the Hole.

The algoule felt the smell of the Lizardian under his chrysalis. It was much stronger and more enticing, like a giant Christmas turkey.

The monster charged to taste the buffet. But before she could reach her transforming layer, a huge, muscular arm sprang out of its shell, grabbing the algoule's throat.

He squeezed her until her head was separated from her body.

[ You have killed Algoule ]

[ You have won 15XP ]

The new Lizardian pushed the shell away from its former skin with its prominent arms and stepped out.

Maalick had radically changed.

Maalick was 6'0 tall and weighed 85 kilos of pure muscles. He had the physique of an olympic athlete with a bottom that was slightly more developed than his top.

His shoulders were broad, his back was monstrous and his six-pack of rock-hard abs were further enhanced by his bulging pecs.

The new Lizardian was black and spotted with yellow, which is typical of some reptiles.

But the most important changes of his Moult were two external elements.

The first, was that he had small pointed horns on the back of his skull.

The second was his tail. It had spikes of different sized bones, which reminded him more of a morgenstern than an actual body part.

Finally, his eyes were an incredibly beautiful amber yellow.

[ Congratulations, you're a Half-Blood ! ]