Koa

The smell of sulfur filled the air. 

Sulfur and steam and a hint of something salty like urine. 

Under the sky of falling snow, Cain, Church, Fey, Jun, and Mei bloodied their hands. They plunged their blades into blue chests, cracked ribs unilaterally, and squeezed their fleshy fingers through the indigo gaps of space that led to the Blue Devil's hearts. 

The final firefight occurred long ago, but the thick clouds of white smoke continued to ruminate in the air. Now, in addition to the smell of gunpowder, acidic blood joined the fray and at first, it wasn't noticeable. 

The Awakened have long grown too many calluses to feel the subtle burn coating their arms as the dark purple blood eroded their hair follicles and singed their dead skin cells. The longer they stayed, however, the longer they spent cracking chests and splattering blood — the more noticeable the acid became. 

The air grew sour. 

Their eyes glowed red and a pungent odor wafted through the valley. Tears struck at their floodgates. A burning sensation assaulted their corneas. Reminiscent of onions, salty water dripped down their chins and evaporated in puddles of blood alongside a distinct sizzle. 

In this time, Cain pocketed twenty-two Magic Crystals. He didn't need them, of course, but he knew their value. Backbone to the Awakened world, Magic Crystals are the currency of the future — at least, Cain prayed for that scenario. 

He was 90% sure the blue shards would come in handy, even if only to pass onto Olive. In Cain's mind, Magic Crystals equal good. 

And good means take. 

Possibly even hoard. 

The others, Church and Fey, received their share of Magic Crystals too. At the moment, laws pertaining to Magic Crystals and Gates had yet to exist. Due to that, Earth or any governing body thereof could not then stake claim to the resources or paraphernalia found within a Gate. 

Of course, Cain and the rest had been hired to explore the Land of Frost and are going to be paid accordingly, but they'll be paid in traditional Earthly commerce. For Cain and Church's score, American bucks. 

"Is everyone ready?" Cain asked. 

Church shot a thumbs up into the air. Fey nodded and Jun replied. 

"Yes, sir." 

Mei, on the other hand, was struggling. 

"I'll be ready in ten minutes!" Her voice echoed far. 

In the meantime, Cain laid in the snow. He propped his head behind his arm and laid his feet across a stone. Contemplation present, Cain scanned his surroundings. 

He felt… unproductive. Like he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing, but that begged the question. 

'What am I meant to be doing?' Cain thought. 

Hollowness gripped his soul. Emptiness consumed him. 

Cain was just doing things. That is what he had always done though, gone with the flow. 

Survive. 

'But surviving has become so simple.' Cain argued. 

In under a year, Cain grew into someone unfamiliar. He was taller, bigger, wider, paler, stronger. 

He was magical, supernatural, demonic, undead? 

'I did die.' Cain reaffirmed. 

So why was he living life like he once had? Why was he still so unenthusiastic? His bleak world escaped him. 

No, he escaped his bleak world. No more did Cain have to worry about scavengers, War Lords, radiation… no more did Cain have to worry about surviving. 

He was surviving. 

In fact, he was thriving. 

'Demon Lord.' Cain thought. 

'Prince of Afterlife.'  

'Royalty.' He smirked.

"Okay!" Mei chirped, "I'm ready!" 

"Good." Cain said, "Let's go." 

'And let's be Kings.' He mused. 

***

"Next." Olive said. 

A man of Asian descent bowed and stepped out from underneath the shade. Then, another man, this one short and thick, entered the bushy tree's shadow. He raised his hand and waved towards a duo leaned against the tree's trunk. 

"H-Hi m-my name is Cl-Clark." The stout man said. 

"Pleasure to meet you, Clark." Isaac said, "So tell me, what do you do?" 

Clark swayed his balance. He fidgeted with his fingers and toyed with the cuff of his shirt. His shirt, by the way, was a white button-down with a black tie and black slacks. All of the men, in fact, were dressed for the office. 

Olive and Isaac noticed, naturally, but they chopped it up as part of the teleportation process. The issue with that reasoning, however, was that Isaac and Olive still wore their mundane clothes. 

Isaac, in his navy blue dress shirt as opposed to the white one the summoned wore, and a pair of light brown pants covered his legs. Meanwhile, Olive was in a black tank-top and ripped jeans. 

Their clothes hadn't changed. Why? Because they were second-time applicants, surely — that was the only difference between the two groups, Isaac and Olive participated in Gate One. 

"I-I work at a-a-a Tele-Telemarketing —" 

"He meant your Status!" Olive interrupted. 

"O-Oh!" Clark scratched his head. 

"I-It says [Tinker]" 

Isaac leaned off of the tree trunk. His eyebrow raised and his body language changed. 

"A Class holder —" Isaac smiled, "excellent!" 

Three hours and thirty-seven minutes later, Isaac and Olive finished interviewing the over sixty summoned men. Of sixty-four, eighteen were Awakened. The rest remained mundane. 

Isaac naturally fell back into his leadership position. He directed the mass of men around the perimeter of the forest in search of a place to establish basecamp. Thus far, no adversaries had been met. 

They discovered a range of hills that split the forest — minor hills covered in grass, a far cry from mountains — and yet the aerial advantage tempted Isaac. The hills spread in a line through the forest with the mightiest toppling over the trees themselves. Like camel humps, the hills remained smooth and unblemished by the growths of the forest. Bushes, flowers, trees — the hills were void of them all. 

As the group of men explored the open plains and experimented with their newfound power, night came to replace day. The overzealous sun sunk behind the forest and cast the sky into a range of water colors: oranges, pinks, and magentas alike brushed the setting sky. 

With night fast approaching, Isaac was caught in a predicament. Was it safer to rest in the open fields or under the guise of the forest? Are their adversaries bipedal, quadrupedal, can they fly? 

Where even are their adversaries?

The Status spoke of an opponent, a term not thrown around in the previous Gate — in the Tutorial. Isaac had yet to consider the implications behind the word "tutorial." 

He kept occupied, it was a lot of work after all, trying to control/lead a group of rambunctious men who half of which didn't listen while the other half possessed an IQ below seventy. 

He was familiar, of course, with the word "tutorial," but given the context — what could it mean? 

In what way was the previous Gate a tutorial? So far one thing stood out, the specific reference of opponents naturally, but beyond that tidbit of information, what? 

The summoning, although having summoned plenty more, still solely called upon a single gender. It still dressed them in a ridiculous outfit and still graced only a minority of them with power. 

'Enough!' Isaac interrupted. 

Time was a luxury beholden to the safe and secure. Two adjectives the group of summoned could not claim. 

His mind made up, Isaac led them to the main hill found within the range of humps. By the time they arrived, the cotton-candy sky had turned to midnight and now stars, tinted in strange colors, filled up above. 

Most red, some yellow, and a few purple — the stars twinkled in the night sky, their radiance like jewels of treasure — ruby, topaz, and amethyst.

Isaac led a small team of men into the outskirts of the forest bordering the hill of grass they claimed. In no time at all, they returned with the trunk of a tree laid rested upon the men's shoulders. Six of them, beefy men with veiny forearms and thick necks, carried the tree up the hill to the center of the gathered crowd. 

It was there where one of the new Awakened made a name for himself. A teenager, average height and build with brown, straightened hair and eyeliner still reminiscent above his cheeks. The boy had his ears pierced and his nails painted, soft skin, tan complexion, and amber eyes. 

"Koa!" Isaac shouted above the murmurs.

The teenager stepped out of the crowd and approached Isaac. Next to them, a pile of sticks, branches, and twigs was erect. 

Koa spread his hand above the pile of wood. He concentrated for a moment and felt a surge of coolness spread through his chest and down his forearm. Then, a bubble slicked yellow bloomed off his palm. 

The golden bubble grew on the surface of his hand and blew like a balloon before peeling off his skin and fluttering down towards the wood below. Behaving entirely as a bubble would, the bubble delicately swayed in the wind and cautiously approached the branches yonder. 

The golden bubble pressed against a branch and popped. 

Immediately, an inferno of flames rose into the air and smothered the pile of sticks and twigs. The flames spread across the wood and consumed the pile whole, strengthening the already lit flames from Koa's bubble. 

Isaac slammed his palm against Koa's back, pushing the lad over and exposing his poor balance to the crowd. The men around laughed and patted Koa on the back as well. In fact, each of them thanked Koa with each pat. 

Meanwhile, Olive had her hands full in another section of the fields of grass. Left alone to scout their vicinity, Olive moved quickly and stealthily through the nighttime forest. She made sure to stay near the cluster of hills, but now that a fire had been lit, Olive could perceive the light it exuded from a much greater distance away. 

That being so, Olive extended her search further into the forest. 

She had received the Status's message too. 

There were opponents out there somewhere. 

In the forest? 

Perhaps. 

Olive simply wanted to find them first. 

///LostNoteFound///

Thank you to WalkingBush and DevilGod_of_Chaos for the stones!!!!!!!