Traps

"Why do I have to take care of two grieving women... *sigh...*," said Bruin heavily.

The two women walking behind him were quiet. One of them, Wit, had a sorrowful expression that was not normally shown by her. The usually fierce Wit was nowhere to be seen. Geel, who had always had great empathy for others, was burdened by her own sadness and the others' feeling.

"I'm sorry..." said Geel finally.

Her apologizing made Bruin feel guilty. He instantly regretted teasing them trying to break the ice. Although he looked carefree, he seemed to actually care about what others' felt, especially Geel, the woman with a calm mannerism.

"No, no. No need to apologize. It's just... it's too awkward if none of you are saying anything," he said while scratching the back of his head.

"I'll try to talk more, then..." replied Geel, "It's just... Paars' death was too sudden," she added. Her tone was heavy and she was looking at the ground the whole time.

Bruin sigh again.

"I don't mean to be cold, but in this line of work, someone's death is inevitable. I am also saddened by his sudden passing, but we need to focus on our current mission, so no more victims will fall," replied Bruin. His tone was gentle and understanding.

It was easier for him to get over Paars' death because they were not really close in the first place. However, he could only imagine what Wit was feeling because they had been partners since they joined Kleurs, the Police Contractbounds. As for Geel, she had always been the overthinker, so Bruin couldn't do anything about it. He wasn't the type to like confrontation either, so scolding them was the last thing he would try.

"I'm sorry... I will try to focus," responded Geel.

"Good. Wit, I hope when it comes to it, you'll be ready to fight. Think of it as an act of revenge if you have to," said Bruin.

Wit didn't reply right away. She just kept staring blankly ahead like someone who had lost her purpose in life.

"I know," she finally replied. Her tone was monotonous and cold.

"That's good enough for me," responded Bruin, and then sighed again after putting both hands inside his pockets, "I'm really not suitable for the position of a leader,"

The trio was walking south from the center of the blast and had found nothing so far but empty buildings. All the residents of the area had been translocated using the Brick of Displacement while those outside the area were prevented from entering. Bruin felt like he was in a post-apocalyptic world that he often read in novels during his spare time.

"...!!"

Suddenly, they can smell a thick stench of blood in the air coming from the direction ahead of them. Bruin looked at the other two and nodded, although only Geel nodded back.

They slowed down their pace and sneaked carefully into the location where the blood smell was coming from. It was an advertising company building with five floors that looked somewhat modern, but the size of the building itself was smaller than the others. Judging from the way it looked from the outside, the corridors inside would be narrow and the rooms small. It would be a disadvantageous location for Rood to fight in, but for Bruin, it was not a problem.

"Can't you just destroy this whole building?" whispered Geel.

Bruin shook his head.

"I still don't have enough stamina to do another one of that stunt," he whispered back. "Try your Sleep Ritual."

Geel nodded and then took out a piece of paper from the inside pocket of her blue Police Coat. Using a lighter, she burned the piece of paper while chanting. Her calm and soothing voice echoed with tranquility.

"With the burning of this paper, I wish that the people inside this building were granted peaceful sleep!"

The ashes from burning the paper flowed to the inside of the building and quickly spread around. There was a heavy wave of sleepiness carried by the ashes.

Once the process was finished, Bruin then gestured at the other two to ready their weapons.

"Geel and I will enter from the main entrance. You stay outside and be on the watch for anyone trying to escape," he gave his command quietly and decisively.

Bruin nodded at Geel and the two of them entered the building sneakily with guns in their hands. Wit stayed outside because she needed time for her shapeshifting to finish and to prevent anyone from escaping.

The stench of blood became even stronger and penetrated their noses. It felt like they were in a place where a lot of people had been massacred, although they saw no dead body anywhere. They raised their guard and proceeded deeper into the building very carefully, with Bruin in the lead.

"Watch out!" shouted Geel.

Bruin quickly dodged to his right and on the spot where he had been standing, sharp blood spikes had thrust out of the ground. If he hadn't dodged in time, he would have been badly impaled by the spikes that looked as hard as steel.

Once the blood spikes had served their purpose, they melted back into a liquid form and seeped into the tiny pores on the floor, flowing somewhere unknown.

"Thank you for your warning," he said with gratitude to Geel, "I am positive this whole area is riddled with traps. I couldn't even feel that one, so we must tread carefully," he warned.

Geel nodded.

They continued walking down the narrow office corridor while keeping a close watch on their surroundings. The traps had no presence for some reason and the smell of blood filled the whole building, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact locations.

Stab!!

Suddenly, from the wall on his right, sharp blood spikes stabbed Bruin's unsuspecting body. Numerous holes were formed there, but no blood came out of the wounds. Instead, his body turned into a complicated pattern made out of various shapes before disappearing and reappearing next to Geel.

"Sigh..." he exhaled tiredly, "We can't keep doing this. I'll do something, but I will be very tired afterward. You will have to guard me for some time in case the enemy shows up," said Bruin annoyedly.

He then placed his hands on the wall and began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Geometry and Alteration, alter this building to get rid of all the traps placed here!"

The whole building began shaking but Bruin didn't let go of the wall. The shape of the building began to undergo a transformation, with numerous parts of the wall crumbling into pieces while another took their place. Some areas of the floors were also crushed by the ones around it and they 'patched' the floor afterward, preventing holes from forming. The same thing also happened to the ceiling. The parts that had traps on them got destroyed and were replaced by the surrounding parts.

The process took less than five minutes to finish, and after it was done, the building looked the same as before. However, if someone were to pay attention, they would notice that the walls, ceilings, and the floors had become somewhat thinner. There were also crushed remains of building materials in several places.

Pant... Pant...

Bruin was breathing heavily after using so much of his stamina. He quickly took a paper pouch containing a yellow powder that Groen had given him before and inhaled it.

"Are you okay?" asked Geel in concern. She approached Bruin who was now sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bit tired. Give me a minute to rest. The traps should all be gone, so it's safer now," he explained amidst his heavy breathing.

Suddenly, the stench of blood became even thicker, and on the floor ahead of them, blood began seeping out of the surface and gathered in one spot. Bruin looked at Geel and the latter quickly drew her gun and shot.

Bang!

The loud gunshot resounded in the narrow corridor. The bullet pierced through the air and instead of hitting the target, it pierced through the liquid blood and hit the floor behind it. The target appeared to be immune to physical attacks in that form.

Geel waited a little longer until the blood solidified more. It quickly formed the figure of a man with a sharp gaze and a devious smile. The suit he was wearing was a little tattered from his previous fight, although it could be said as unnaturally clean, seeing as the explosion earlier had caused a cloud of dust to cover the entire area.

"I wasn't expecting the Police to have another Alterator. And by the looks of it, you are already out of stamina," said Zeger de Witt aka Morbid, whose head had just been formed by the blood while his body was still solidifying rapidly. The Concealment that Valentine had placed on him previously had disappeared for some reason.

Bang!

The moment the man's figure appeared, Geel quickly fired another shot, and this time, the bullet successfully hit the man, who had no time to dodge because his body hadn't been completed yet.

"Don't tell me it's another paralysis bullet. I've been hit by too many today that they have lost any effect on me," he mocked. There was a grin on his face.

The bullet that was lodged in his flesh was spat out and the wound closed rapidly. At that moment, Zeger noticed the piece of a green gemstone on the tip of the bullet and his expression became amused.

"Poison bullet? That's even more useless against me," he laughed sarcastically.

Zeger used his sharp fingernail to make a small cut on his wrist and after a short while, a green liquid was expelled from his body. It was the poison that had entered his bloodstream through the bullet.

"Get back!" said Bruin. He stood up and gestured at Geel to step back, "I'll deal with this man. You move back and provide support, Geel," he ordered.

"Okay," she replied calmly and did as she was told.

Zeger wasn't going to give his enemies the chance to get into position. While they talking, he was muttering something and waved his right hand in front of him. Six blood spikes formed in the air and he shot them at Bruin and Geel.

Swoosh!

The iron-hard spikes pierced through the air and aimed straight at their heads. Bruin, however, was fast enough to finish his chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Geometry and Alteration, alter the state of the blood spikes!"

Bruin waved his right hand in front of him and the blood spikes that were shooting right at them suddenly turned into a liquid form and flowed down to the floor. The blood then seeped into the pores on the floor before disappearing.

"It is indeed tricky to face a fellow Alterator. But it is apparent that you're not blessed by the blood," said Zeger.

Geel slit her wrist and let her blood flow out. After that, she quickly shouted.

"I offer you this blood to give a horrifying nightmare to my enemy!"

Then there was silence.

Geel's ability had failed!

"How?!" she asked in confusion.

Bruin had a chance to observe the whole thing and noticed that the moment Geel's blood flowed out and was about to be used as an offering, Zeger had made a swiping motion with his hand and the blood disappeared. Bruin wasn't sure if it was a Thief's ability or a blood manipulation ability.

"Don't use abilities using your blood. That man can 'steal' it from you," warned Bruin.

There was a smile on Zeger's face.

"What an acute observation," he praised Bruin jeeringly.

Bruin didn't pay attention to the man. He quickly waved his right hand in front of him and chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Geometry and Alteration, alter the state of the floor beneath Zeger de Witt!"

The floor that was solid before slowly liquified and Zeger's weight caused it to sink. Once the man was halfway down, Bruin quickly waved his right hand in the opposite direction to cancel the 'Alteration'. He could do it without having to expend another use of his ability as long as the object he altered hadn't completely turned into another state of matter or another form that he had designated.

Because of Bruin's ability, Zeger de Witt was now stuck in the floor!

"I place you under interrogation!" shouted Bruin.

However, his ability didn't seem to have any effect on the man.

Blob!

The man melted into liquid blood and seeped into the pores on the ground. There was a gaping hole on the floor where his body had been which exposed the thick concrete ground below.

Zeger then reappeared under Geel's feet in the form of blood, rapidly trying to encase her whole body in the crimson liquid. The calm woman quickly tried to jump out of the encirclement around her, but the blood tangled around her right leg.

Crush!

"Aargh!!" Geel shouted in pain as her right leg was crushed by the blood around it. The sound of her bone being squashed was audible, which multiplied the pain she felt.

Seizing the opportunity, Bruin quickly slit his wrist and shouted.

"I offer you this blood to give a horrifying nightmare to my enemy!"

The blood that flowed from the wound on Bruin's wrist quickly evaporated and Zeger de Witt rapidly returned to his normal form. The blood around Geel's leg withdrew and entered the man, who was writhing on the floor, seemingly in terror.

Bruin's nightmare had worked!

However, seeing how powerful Zeger was, an ability from a lower-ranked Deity wouldn't be as effective. The effect would wear off very soon, so they had to make use of the opportunity.

"Geel, you're a liability right now. Leave this building as fast as you can," said Bruin. He had suddenly become very serious; his carefree and gentle attitude from before had disappeared.

Seeing the truth behind the man's words, Geel nodded heavily and grabbed the gun that she had dropped before quickly leaving the corridor with difficulty. Her right leg was broken so she could only hop around using her left leg and the help of the walls.

Zeger de Witt recovered soon after and the moment he realized that Geel was trying to escape, he seemed to want to try and stop her. However, Bruin had slit his wrist and let the blood flow out of the wound. There was a smug smile on his face.

"You have the option of chasing her down or stop me from using my ability," said Bruin provocatively.

Zeger knew that if he chose to run after the escaping Geel, Bruin's ability would activate and stop him in his track, thus allowing the woman to flee to safety. If he chose to stop Bruin from activating his ability, the time he needed to do so would also be enough for the woman, who was already far away, to feel to safety. Whichever option he chose would lead to the woman escaping, so he decided to stop Bruin's ability for his own safety.

Zeger made a swiping motion with his right hand and the blood that was flowing out of Bruin's wound disappeared before it could evaporate. He did so a couple more times because the blood was still flowing whereas the man hadn't even chanted his ability yet. After a while, the wound began closing rapidly and Bruin's attempt to activate his ability had failed.

"There. I've fulfilled your wish. Now it's just the two of us here," said Zeger with a sinister voice.