Attack [4]
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Multiple sources of sound were heard inside Artis's head. Opening his eyes slowly, with his blurred vision, he tried to discern where he currently was.
'Huh? What? What just happened...? Where am I?'
Lying on the hard surface and drenched in sweat feeling the temperature rising slowly and slowly in the room where he currently was, Artis asked himself with no answer coming to his mind.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Oh right! Alice!" he suddenly stood up feeling pain and heat surging in his body as he gritted his teeth trying to calm down and analyze the current situation.
The entire room he was in currently was destroyed, displayed in red light, the furniture burning in flames, holes in the floor, walls destroyed having burn marks on them with photos and maps burnt down, as he could see shattered glass on the floor.
'Th-This is!'
Shocked, Artis recognized the place he was currently in.
It was Captain Fervier's cabin!
[Passive Skill [Calm Mind] is active]
[Passive Skill [Calm Mind] is active]
[Passive Skill [Calm Mind] is active]
'What happened back there? Why did Alice push me? Who were those guys in the dining hall? What happened to Alice? Captain? The Piano Lady? Where the hell is everyone?'
Artis struggled to stand up properly feeling a weight on his back pressing him down. Clenching his fists and pressing his foot against the surface, he stood up, blood pouring out of his nose.
"Huh? What?" asked Artis as he rubbed his bleeding nose starting to walk towards the exit.
Rumble! Rumble!
The door to the hallway was blocked by the rubble, locked in showing no hindsight of any movement in it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Shit! Open up! Let me out!" cried Artis punching and banging the door in hopes for someone to take him out of that position.
Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps back and looked at the door with determined eyes. Covering his right fist with energy and skill, he charged at the door punching and breaking the door with a huge bang.
[Attack Skill [Mach Fist- Level 2] is active]
Ignoring the pain of the impact from the punch, he pushed through the broken door, shards of wood and metal falling around him as he stumbled into the hallway. The corridor was dimly lit, emergency lights flickering eerily overhead, casting long shadows along the walls.
Artis staggered forward in the empty hallway, not a single soul visible there, his mind racing with questions and fears. Where was everyone? What had happened to the ship? And most importantly, where was Alice?
His heart pounded in his chest as he forced himself to focus.
"HELP! GET AWAY FROM ME!"
A piercing scream was heard from the next corridor causing Artis to flinch in his spot as the frightened voice continued to scream.
Artis made his way to the source, hoping to help the person and figure out where he was but what he saw stunned him as he stood frozen in fear witnessing the sight in front of him.
Multiple people were pressed against the wall by tentacles, not showing any visible movement as blood poured out of their mouths and they soon disappeared at that very moment.
And from the corridor, came another unknown sinister humanoid figure with a metallic body, arms, and legs replaced by tentacles, the figure having no eyes floating above the ground as it slowly turned its head to face Artis.
Artis slowly took a step back, hoping that the figure hadn't noticed him, but it was too late. The creature's gaze locked onto him, sending a shiver down Artis's spine.
Without warning, the tentacles shot out toward Artis with alarming speed, aiming to ensnare him and pull him closer. Acting on pure instinct, Artis dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the grasp of the tentacles.
His mind raced as he searched for a way out of this hellish situation. With no time to lose, he sprinted down the corridor, the sound of his footsteps echoing off the walls as he fled from the pursuing creature.
[Utility Skill [Flash Step] is active]
Activating his [Flash Step], he ran even faster in hopes of escaping from this beast as he ran up the stairs and hid in the first room he could find.
Closing the door, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and slid down the door clenching his head.
[Passive Skill [Calm Mind] is active]
"What is even happening?" asked Artis, his voice shaking in fear as he looked around the room hoping to find anything that would allow him to escape from his situation.
Standing up, he stared at the burnt and destroyed room as his sight went towards a broken mirror he unconsciously walked towards it staring at his reflection.
The mirror, still stuck on the wall reflected Artis 7 times showing his distressed and tired face, each reflection showing blood sprayed on him at his right cheek.
Trying to clean his face with his torn clothes, he wiped the blood on his cheeks. But to his surprise, the blood wasn't erased. The blood stain was just stuck in the mirror.
Rumble! Rumble!
'Dammit! What should I do now? I just locked myself in with no way out! What should I do? What should I do?'
"Sigh..." Artis sighed, "The only thing I can do is just run away and fight if those things come to me! Find Alice, then find a lifeboat to run away from this burning ship..."
Standing up, Artis found himself carrying a metal rod, ripped a mirror piece, 4-5 planks, and a burnt cloth around his arms.
"Select Skill- Eye of the Psychos!"
A force field was created around Artis as his pupils turned purple and he went outside of the room he was in.
Figuring out he was on the 4th floor, he opened the door and remained vigilant to his surroundings hearing multiple sources of noises all around him.
Ignoring them, his main focus on escaping his current predicament, he started sprinting towards the 7th floor creating a lot of noise in that process.
Creak! Creak!
Ignoring the sound coming from behind him, Artis sensed that something had forcefully entered his force field as he dodged to his right crashing roughly at the wall.
Thud!
Ignoring the crash, Artis used [Flash Step] to move around the entity and threw one of the planks directly at it.
Momentarily distracted by catching that plank with its tentacles, Artis jumped ahead and pierced the rod directly at its head making the metallic object stop moving.
"Huff...Huff..."
Removing the rod, Artis started running again and reached the entrance of the ship which was blocked by the water entering the ship due to explosion.
"OH GREAT! Now there is a goddamn water block because why not!"
"Be quiet...or else those things will hear us..."
"Screw that! I won't be stuck with those monsters any longer!"
"Then what do you propose we do!?"
"We swim! Ain't no way I'm getting killed here before I reach Aurosia!"
Artis observed various passengers just near the entrance debating how should they escape.
He saw how 2 men from that group started heading towards the exit swimming and opening the gate to that exit but before they could do that, the metallic beast appeared before them and pinned them to the wall they instantly disappeared.
"What the! That guy is still alive!" shouted Artis.
Just at that moment, 2 more metallic creatures which looked exactly like the metallic beast appeared and grabbed the rest of the passengers.
Clicking his tongue, Artis ran away from there, the pain and screams of the passengers ringing inside his head as he continued to run and climb the staircase avoiding the falling debris and scorching fire.
As he made his way towards the dining hall, the doors broken apart, Artis with his heavy heart entered the hall in hopes of finding his sister there.
As Artis entered it, he could see Captain Fervier and his crewmates fighting against the metallic beasts struggling against it. Captain Fervier enveloped in a blue aura punched the metallic beast breaking it apart as his angry eyes went towards the entrance.
"Artis lad! Are ya alright? Where did you disappear to?" asked Captain as Artis hurriedly approached him looking around the dining hall, his face stressed.
"I don't know Captain. What is happening? Where is-?"
"Your sister is safe, don't worry....she jumped down the crater formed here by that explosion to fix the engines. But don't you worry, she's a strong gal. You stay here and with the passengers and just keep them safe!" ordered Captain.
Artis, listening to Captain made his way towards the huge hole formed in the middle of the hall as he looked downwards as to how deep the hole was.
"Artis? Hey Artis? You listening to me?"
Artis not responding to Captain looked ahead and jumped inside the hole.