Chapter 7: Lookout

In the midst of a bleak landscape, a little boy sat in the shadows of an enormous run-down, crumbled church.

The kid was a timid and weak boy with snowy white hair and eyes. His scrawny body reflected his shy demeanor, often making him look smaller and more fragile than he was. Easily frightened, the kid tended to avoid confrontation and prefered to stay in the background.

Beside him, an elderly woman kept a vigilant watch with cautious breaths with a huge rucksack on her back. Her name is Eve Silvermoon. Her eyes seemed to carry a weight of sorrow, as if having lost everything dear to her.

All around, Dreadspawns lurked, their monstrous forms casting shadows that crept closer with each moment.

The inside of the church was full of ruins. The windows, once painted with different colorful mosaics, were shattered and jagged, their shards and huge pieces of debris were scattered across the floor. The air was heavy, with mixed scents of damp earth and human blood.

"Auntie Eve, how much longer do we have to stay here? I'm so tired of constantly being on guard already, this is torture!"

"Shh, quieter. Sigh, Villy, can't you see the situation yourself? We are completely surrounded, the only way of escaping is blocked, and the only hope for us is to remain hidden and.. Hey, give me your hand for a sec."

Silently whispering with each other, Villy Silvermoon reluctantly showed his hand to his aunt.

".. Honey. Come on now, we are literally in a nightmare of a situation, and it couldn't get any worse, and you have got the leeway to draw some doodles? And.. why is it so bloody?

Finally taking a look, Villy noticed that something like a tattoo was drawn on the back of his hand.

"What the- Wait, I didn't do this. I'm sure my hand was clean a moment ago. And you know very well I don't have anything to draw with."

"Whatever, just scrub it away already."

Doing what he was told, Villy fell in thought.

'Did I graze it somewhere when we were looking for a place to hide?'

Out of nowhere, Villy screamed, as if he saw a ghost.

Closing his mouth, Eve uttered.

"What's wrong with you? Do you want to get us killed?!"

'I swear, if I lose this little rascal too, I won't be able to keep my sanity intact..'

Not answering her question, Villy concentrated at the screen in front of him.

A display materialized before him.

***

After what felt like an eternity, Malte emerged from the forest and found himself on the outskirts of a small, abandoned village.

His face was filled with grim. It looked chaotic. People's corpses laid all over the place. Blood was splattered everywhere, and dozens of Dreadspawns stood back to back. The buildings were old and ruined, windows shattered, and doors hanging off their hinges. The place had a ghostly silence.

It was really different from what he had in mind. The reason being that he had already come to this place in the past.

Back when he was a tiny little kid, he used to regularly visit this lively street with his mother. The bustling markets, buzzing sounds of chatter and children running around created a sense of community and life. Despite the poverty, the atmosphere was maintained vibrant.

After he finished reminiscing the memories, he decided to look for Villy.

'Damn.. I'm a bad friend, am I not?'

Despite never having visited him even once, Malte atleast knew the general direction where his friend lived.

The path there was pretty straightforward and mundane, and nothing interesting happened.

As he walked, less and less houses appeared. Occasional Dreadspawns could be seen walking around, but Malte simply used Teleport to avoid them. Since he got kind of bored, he decided to check his profile in the meantime.

[General Description:

Shaft: Mimicry ↓

Shaft Stats: 20 (+1) ↓

Shaft's Mastery: 0/5 ↓

Shaft Evaluation: V ↓

Personal Description:

Abilities Copied: 1 ↓]

'Seems like I've gotten some additional points. Probably in Wisdom, after overloading my brains.'

Malte thought he still had a long way, so he decided to check every Shaft section. Nothing much was changed, though.

[Shaft's Stats: 20 (+2)↑

Strengh: 1 (+1)

Agility: 2 (+1)

Endurance: 5

Wisdom: 7

Deception: 5]

'Nice.'

Malte closed the tab, and opened the next one. Out of nowhere, he stopped, his eyes were filled excitement and a smile appeared on his face.

[Shaft's Mastery: 1/5 ↑

Ability 0: Identify (CD: 15s.)

The ability sends an undetectable sphere around the user up to 5 meters, which allows the user to detect and discern Shafts.

Ability 1: Copy (CD: 94h. (23h.))

Permanently replicate another Shifter's ability upon contact. The user can only copy a single ability from a Shaft, which will be chosen at random and stored in the "Abilities Copied" section.

Ability 2: Imprint [Unlock]

Ability 3: Mirror (Locked)

Ability 4: Fuse (Locked)

Ability 5: Resonate (Locked)]

'What the.. Since when could I unlock the new ability?'

Not wasting any time, he clicked on the button.

Nothing happened.

"M-"

As soon as he was about to curse, something appeared below the ability.

[.. Ability 2: Imprint [Unlock]

Requirements:

Upgrade Agility to 5. [In Process]Upgrade Strengh to 5. [In Process]Upgrade Endurance to 5.Find and Save Villy. [In Process]]

His excitement disappeared in an instant. The first 3 requirements didn't bother him at all, but the last one bamboozled him greatly.

"What in the world?"

'Is this.. system thingy able to read minds or something? How does it know?'

Malte was puzzled. He didn't know how to feel after reading the text. It also meant that each and every action could unknowingly influence the possible requirements. But more than that, he wondered what would happen if he failed to complete the task.

'The way it was phrased is so confusing. Was Villy in some sort of danger?'

'..Okay, let's think positively now. The other 2 requirements left aren't too difficult. I'm sure I'm going to find Villy safely soon. And let's hope that he has some food. I can't deal with this any longer.'

After closing the screen, Malte continued on his way. With nothing else to do, he decided to speed up a little bit by using Teleport more often.

Around 5 minutes later, he arrived to the end of the road, and a peculiar shack stood before him.