Chapter 81: Crystal

The entire apartment was a single giant room that was much larger than it should be. The ceiling reached 10 meters high and was diffused in a diffuse dark fog that resembled a black storm cloud.

In the center of the room stood a stone altar carved with the figure of a Windrunner, which gave off such absolute power that the Breeder even felt the urge to kneel. Above the altar rested a black rhomboid crystal that emanated a faint light, like that of the moon in the sky.

But that was not all. Behind the altar, there was a figure five meters tall. It was like a shadow, but made up of the spots The Breeder had seen on the other floors. It took the zombie a while to recognize the silhouette, as the distorted substance it was made of made it difficult to identify.

The first thing Luna recognized were the wings, from there it didn't take it long to realize that it was a giant Windrunner. It was the personification of the Breeder in this world of shadows.

The second thing was a thin chain connecting the waist of the giant shadow to the crystal on the altar. Luna knew at once what it had to do, but the problem was that, at that instant, the crystal began to glow and the giant shadow became alarmingly distorted.

Luna felt the urge to open its eyes, return to the real world and go kill all the humans. But luckily stopped in time and took a step forward. The crystal seemed frightened, so it tried to control the zombie's mind and force it to protect it. But Luna refused even harder.

The Breeder was filled with overwhelming anger. First the Siamese dared to consider it an idiot and now a pathetic crystal believed it could order to defend it without any consequences. No, this had to end now. Step by step it approached the crystal, and with each step Luna felt a huge weight settle on its back.

On the fourth step, the distorted shadow began to eat away at the room, weakening the foundations of the haven. A horrible scream echoed through the shelter and all its inhabitants could hear it outside. The Siamese felt a chill, but did not avert its gaze from where the zombie knew the Breeder was located inside the superblock.

In the New Sun Haven, the humans noticed that the zombies were paralyzed for a second, which allowed them to gain a huge advantage and kill a large number.

Luna, meanwhile, took another step and the fog on the ceiling began to move, turning into a terrifying whirlpool that descended and covered everything. The Breeder could barely see the crystal in front of it, but kept moving forward. Each step represented such an effort that It felt like the veins marking its arms would burst at any moment.

Finally, Luna took the last step and was within reach of the chain. From so close, it could feel the crystal beating like a heart. Each beat sent a ripple of pain throughout its body. The Breeder reached out a hand and then slammed its fingernails into the chain. The blow pierced it and released a burst of bright light that sent Luna flying.

The zombie hit the wall and fell to the ground, just in time for an intense pleasure to immobilize it. Luna felt free, free to go wherever it wished and do whatever it wanted. The Breeder looked up to find that the room had returned to normal and its shadow now resembled those outside. The crystal was intact and seemed incapable of doing anything to the zombie. Before he could think of anything else, a message from the System startled him.

[Congratulations, you have succeeded in freeing yourself from an imposition placed by the System on your race. As a reward you will receive a title once the next phase of the planet begins. Now you can do whatever you want, but remember, a Breeder without a shelter of his own is doomed to die in a few weeks].

Luna felt a chill as it heard the message. The last time it heard one, the zombie wasn't smart enough to understand what it meant, but now the meaning of the words were clear.

The Breeder looked at the crystal suspiciously. There was no doubt that the thing represented the refuge. At first Luna thought of destroying it, but the words of the System made it change its mind. If the zombie wanted to live it would have to maintain a connection to a shelter. The problem was that if it didn't get the hell out of there, Luna was dead.

The zombie approached the crystal and touched it lightly with its fingernails. Luna waited a second to see if anything happened and then touched it again. The crystal glowed once and then went still. The Breeder touched it again and it began to flicker again and again.

Luna thought maybe it had disturbed the crystal, so this time the zombie decided to hold it in its hands. The breeder felt a shiver and then encountered another message from the System.

[Windrunner Shelter, level 0. As the owner of the shelter you have the ability to destroy it, reposition it or absorb its power].

The Breeder concentrated on the most interesting option and could feel how the Crystal emitted a faint glow, as if it was frightened.

[You can absorb the power of the shelter for yourself, your strength will increase a little, but you will lose all the benefits that a shelter brings. System alert: if a Breeder consumes the shelter whose foundation stimulated his evolution, it will gain a little power, but it will limit his potential forever].

Luna stopped considering this option as valid, it was obvious that it was not worth losing its potential for some power. So the zombie concentrated on the option of destroying it, partly to watch the crystal glow again from fear.

[You can destroy the shelter and assimilate the empty territory to your own territory. System Alert: the subject is attempting to destroy its only shelter, which is a futile action. Also, the subject is a Breeder, destroying the original shelter will lead to loss of potential].

The situation was starting to get annoying, Luna thought. So the zombie quickly thought of the last option, which seemed to be the only one.

[You can change the position of the shelter by planting the crystal in another building that meets the requirements. System alert: a breeder can change the position of his shelter, but will die if it takes more than 4 weeks to relocate it. In addition, the crystal will manifest in reality and will be vulnerable to destruction. Moreover, when replanted, it will be weakened for a while].

This alert was also annoying, but at least it would allow him to keep its potential, so the Breeder decided to choose this option, but stopped just before doing so. Luna remembered the Siamese. It knew it would attack as soon as it sensed the crystal, so The Breeder had to prepare for that.

Luna approached the crystal and tried to sense the inhabitants of the shelter through it. To its surprise, it worked, but it proved much more difficult than before. The feeling was very different, as if it could see the shadows from far away and they were all very difficult to distinguish. To find the Siamese, The Breeder had to concentrate on distinguishing between all the inhabitants of the shelter and separating the strongest presences. It managed to identify Shadow, who would have to be next to him, unconscious. Luna continued searching and finally found the zombie it was looking for. The Siamese was in the garden of the same building where it had seen it before. However, this time it was approaching the superblock floating in the air and at a very slow speed.

Luna knew right away that it had to act fast. The Breeder moved its hands away from the glass and then chose the option to move the haven.

Luna opened its eyes outside and without even paying attention to Arnold, Shadow or the black glass that had appeared in its hands, aimed at the window. The Breeder concentrated all its energy and fired a tiny tornado that shattered the glass and then exploded outside, creating absolute chaos.

Arnold almost died of fright, but he avoided dropping the special package he had found and the precious potions inside.

"Heal me," said the Breeder.

Arnold awkwardly opened the box and took out a potion. Luna snatched it from his hand and swallowed it whole, even with the glass vial. The Breeder's powerful stomach soon destroyed the container and the potion finally came into direct contact with the Zombie's organism.

Its wounds healed, but not as much as Luna and Arnold had hoped. Worse, The Breeder felt unprecedented hunger and exhaustion.

Luna stood up with some difficulty and held Shadow and Arnold in one hand, while holding the crystal with the other.

"Let's go, I don't think that will stop the Siamese, and besides, I spent what little energy I had on that attack."

Arnold was at first annoyed that the Breeder was carrying him like that, but soon resigned himself to it. It was partly a relief, for he had also taken a potion and now what he wanted most of all was to eat and sleep.