Chapter Six

Light swirled before Dorian's eyes as he regained some clarity. His mind felt sluggish and his thoughts were dragging through the mud in his mind.

"Ugh-" He blinked warily and pried open his eyes. He was greeted with a blank space before him with faint particles falling in the backdrop. "Where-" His mind was buzzed, filled with white noise and disorderly thoughts. He takes a few moments to gather what little thoughts he can scrounge up, trying to make heads and tails of the situation. Memories of his last thought process filed themselves, slowly painting a comprehensible picture in his mind.

[Welcome back to the world of the living, Dorian.] Psyker's cheeky voice echoed all around him.

"Where am I?" Dorian sat up absently running his hand through his wavy brown hair.

[An illusory world of sorts. This world is a result of your merging with one of the main entities that make up the Oracle System.] The scene around Dorian swirled and several large screens took form as a mass of the white lights in the background merged together. A smaller cluster of light settled in front of him, taking on a slightly smaller human shape. The light faded away to make way for the face and body of a little boy.

A mop of wavy brown hair covered his head, with round brown eyes, and a childish smile plastered on his face.

Gears turned in Dorian's head as he quickly came to a conclusion. "Psyker?"

[Yup!] Psyker's smile grew wide. Dorian took slow steps as he observed the boy before him. What shocked him was that Psyker took on a form that was very familiar to him. Psyker looked exactly like him when he was still a kid!

[Like what you see?] Although Psyker's lips moved with the words, it sounded like his voice was coming from every direction instead.

"Ugh. Please no." Dorian waved in disgust. "What are you doing in my body?"

[It was the most appropriate form I could take.]

"Really?" Dorian was doubtful.

[Well...] Psyker's body broke down into a mass of white lights once again before taking on he shape of something different this time.

"Wha-! No! Change back!" Dorian yelled and covered his eyes. Of all things Psyker could have chosen to turn into, he chose to turn into one of Dorian's female celebrity crushes in a swimsuit.

[Hahahaha! You should have seen your face!] Psyker turned back into Dorian's younger self while laughing. The screens around them rippled and a reply of the previous moment played out on them from Psyker's perspective.

"Stupid..." Dorian muttered under his breath. His cheeks were warm and he could imagine his face being as red as a tomato.

[Well, now that you are mentally awake, it's time to wake up your body.]

Psyker disappeared in a flash of white light and the illusory world around Dorian began to tremble. Although Dorian was a bit worried, he held himself together. The illusory world around him began to fade, leaving him in a world of darkness.

Slowly, Dorian opened his eyes to the ceiling of the half collapsed building he had lost consciousness in.

[Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.]

"Shut up." Dorian groaned as he sat up. His muscles and brain lagged. "How long was I out?"

[Roughly half a day. A few weak monsters have passed through the area since you lost consciousness, but I masked your presence during that time.]

Dorian nodded absently and stood up. He stretched for a bit before speaking.

"If there's nothing more to do here, we best get going."

...

Dorian stared at the complex map that was projected in front of him by his nano-particle collar. Compared to the map he was familiar with from before the apocalypse, the current map was far, far different.

Splotches of color marked different areas on the map, depending on how dangerous the areas were.

[The dangers zones are rated using stars.] Psyker dutifully explained. [Red is a Four Star rating. You should understand how dangerous it is. Yellow is a Three Star rating, blue is a Two Star, and Green is a One Star. The White areas are completely safe and secured. The Black marked spots are unknown areas that are yet to be explored by the exploration teams. It's best if you avoid them completely.

"So, what you mean to say is..." Dorian trailed off as he stared at the map.

[Yes. We are currently in a Blue Zone.]

Dorian just continued to stare at the map in silence.

A Blue Zone. For a normal human, even a Green Zone would be classified as dangerous. The monsters that roamed the world in this apocalyptic era were not to be taken lightly. One mistake could cost a life when dealing with monsters.

"Fine. Let's go." Dorian patted the the strong scale armor that was underneath his shirt.

...

Dorian made his way through the abandoned wasteland. The cold wind blew against him and the air was dense and humid. Dark clouds hung ominously above his head as he walked.

"It might rain later."

He climbed over hills of debris and decomposed waste. Everywhere he looked, the only thing he could see was the gray wasteland.

[Those monsters really did a number on the city.] Even Psyker's childlike voice was tense.

~Patter patter~

Not long after, drops of rain began to fall from the sky. Dorian frowned but continued to walk under the drizzle. A few moments later, the rain had increased in intensity and was now pouring over Dorian.

"Damn rain."

[Be careful, Dorian. I can detect several heat signatures making their way over here. Take cover.] Psyker warned. Dorian immediately ran over to one of the openings that led into a collapsed house. From within the collapsed house, Dorian watched as the unknown figures approached.

...

"Haaap!" Dwayne body-slammed a gnoll before taking two large steps back. Two frozen arrows flew from behind him and struck the shoulder of the fallen creature. The creature screamed in pain before its throat was abruptly slashed.

"That's the last of them." A meek voice called out from behind Dwayne. A petite blonde girl that was no older than twenty stepped out from behind Dwayne's hulking figure. "We should extract the core quickly and hurry back. I have an ominous feeling." The girl looked around nervously. Her eyes shone with a blue light as she used a skill to peer through the curtain of rain. Her eyes roamed through the darkness for a few moments before she abruptly jerked to the side.

Dwayne stepped forward with his round shield to block the axe that was flying towards her.

"Ice Javelin Barrage!" The girl called out. The rain that was pouring over them just a few moments ago stopped above them, forming into numerous spears of thick ice. The spears of ice shot out, battering an empty spot. Dust rose from the disturbance of the earth that had spent months or probably years without change. The wind quickly blew away all the dust, giving a clear view of what the girl had attacked.

A lizardman with a small build was pinned to the earth by the ice spears. The creature's body twitched a few times, its tail flailing widely, before it stopped all movement.

"Damn shamans." Dwayne cursed under his breath.

After confirming that the lizardman was dead, the girl spoke up again.

"Why don't you come out from your hiding place? I can tell you're human." Her bright blue eyes stared right at Dorian through the cloud of rain.