23 Strengthened

Zero received a window, only it was blank, which he now figured was the guy in whites fault. The blank window suddenly disappeared before another showed up, only this one had words written on it.

-Notice-

Due to the repeated use of the ability <Soul Displacement>, The Hosts soul has been strengthened.

-Notice-

Due to the Host's soul being strengthened, Souls needed to activate <Soul Displacement>has been decreased.

Souls needed to activate Unique Ability (125/125)

Zero looked at the window with a large smile. 'It dropped the cost by an entire cast! That means I'm getting one free cast, right?' The sudden benefit out of no where caused his previous anger to completely disappear, as if it was never there to begin with. Zero walked over and closed the large double doors that separated the domed room and the second one. "We will allow them to open the doors before moving into the room were they will see you in the third room. If you must attack, Make sure to charge head on two times or more before revealing you don't charge in a straight line. This way you will surprise the Host.

"Those will also be used to figure out there ability, as you are the only one with a shield. If your shield even begins to show sighs of breaking, I want you to leave. This way they will chase you, at which point I will stab them in the back." The bull seemed hesitant, before a loud sound came through the closed doors. Zero nodded at the bull, who had turned and was now moving towards the third room. 'I'm glad he's cooperating, It would be more annoying trying to survive this without a melee attacker... and a Tank.'

Zero moved towards the third room as well, hiding directly to the left of the entrance. Zero and the bull made eye contact, each of them nodding before they waited prepared for battle. 15 minutes passed before Zero heard a muffled voice through the door. "Check for any other Hosts!" "Charley is watching over us, we simply have to make it outside and he will aid us."

Zero had heard both of the voices before, realizing it was the group from the hospital. Zero whisper shouted to the bull. "They have automatic weapons, someone that can see how many souls you have, and someone that can create a shield, maybe more." The bull huffed before retaking its stance, ready to charge. The three minutes it took the doors to open felt like an eternity for Zero, his fingers starting to inch once more.

Zero heard the doors open before a small gasp escaped some ones lips. Within an instant the bull started charging towards the door, its image rippling just as it had taken its fifth step. Zero couldn't peak around the corner as he needed to be the ambushing force. He had hidden the duffle bag under one of the display cases that had a drawer and was off to the side were it wouldn't get caught up in a battle. Zero heard a nonhuman roar before the Bull suddenly came running back through the second room, a blood stain going down its left back leg.

Zero had been spacing out for longer then he had thought. He quickly took out his gun and clicked the safety off as quietly as he could. "Come on! We have it wounded!" Zero heard multiple thuds on the floor before what he figured was the clicking of magazines being placed into a weapon went off. From what he heard, there were four magazines inserted into a gun. Without a second thought, Zero lifted his middle finger and quickly peeked around the corner. As soon as he saw the figures standing in a row while aiming there rifles down the hallway, they also saw him.

Zero pulled himself back around the corner while willing the Seeker Beam to target the group. The Seeker Beam shot out of his left middle finger before turning the corner. Zero instantly heard the girl shouting orders, however it was already to late. Zero could some how feel that the beam had connected with something before it reconnected with the same something multiple times. "HENRY! EVERYONE FALL BACK! AUDREY, MAKE A BARRIER!"

Zero heard the shout and was about to sneak a peak when a hail of gunfire slammed into the other side of the stone doorway. Zero pushed himself up against the corner of the wall, willing himself to be absorbed into the wall. He didn't think it was that hard as he had done it all his life when he was hiding. At first he was surprised, however he quickly learned that having a small body and frame helped when trying to disappear.

Zero felt his entire body heat up, as if he had just used half of all his Mana Channels when suddenly the wall he was pushing against suddenly stopped resisting. Zero quickly caught himself before looking around, finding his vision was completely obstructed. Zero quickly started moving forward as all his Mana Channels started to rapidly grow hotter. 'Whatever is happening is destroying all the Mana Channels in my body!'

As Zero moved forward, it was as if he was moving through water, causing him to have to really push forward to simply walk. Zero suddenly saw light before falling forward due to his own force pushing himself forward. Zero took in a deep breath, finding he hadn't been able to breath when he was moving. Zero quickly looked around, finding he was in a room he hadn't seen before. When he looked behind him, he saw a stone wall standing were he was sure he had been just walking. 'I can walk through walls?'

Zero was ripped from the thought when his pinky toe's Mana Channel broke, causing him to wince in pain at the unexpected pain. When he looked down, he found his foot was still half way in the wall. He quickly pulled his foot out before focusing on his entire body's Channels. Zero found that his Mana channels were all on the cusp of breaking, and his middle finger had already broken.

'So much for saving them until I needed them. And what use is an ability that nearly breaks all my Channels?!' Zero groaned in frustration before he grabbed the gun on his thigh and moved towards the door. The room seemed to have a small window in the door that was showing light through, otherwise the room was completely dark.