1

||[Level 2 Perks Information Unlocked: - View?]

→ Yes||

||Party Formation (Up to 3 members who shared the OLRS System)

Numeral Personal Stats (Not for pure accuracy. Only for analytical purposes to determine a solution in decision-making scenarios)(Can be turned on/off)

Brain Altercations (I) - Slight enhancements to the five main senses.

Catalog - Records fighting tactics and history

Technology Interaction(Lv. 2)

10,000,000 -> 25,800,000 Storage word count limit

Potential Side Effect - Facial skin scars or burns.

Unlocking Dungeon Map.||

Dungeon Map? Kilian read the line again. He then finds one already completed when a pop-up appears [Dungeon I - Cleared]. “Was that a dungeon this whole time?”

His question receives no answer as nobody heads to answer. They are not sure who he is directing to. The woman nudged the CEO, and he was resisting to talk to him. A couple more nudges from her gave all in and answered all in. “Correct…The first one I think,” The CEO said, turning to the woman, fact-checking his answer.

“There’s around at least fifty that we know spread all around the Longhun Continent. For reasons we don’t know, however, our place through its defense protocol for cases such as what happened today,” The woman palm pointing Kilian and Selina. “Many theories popped up about what could be the motives including weapons of mass destruction or simulating brutal training protocols.”

“Who leads this dungeon project?”

“Duan. Surprise huh? There are a couple of individuals that design these [dungeons] around the continent. Duan holds the majority of them all…But we will never know the purpose. The answers have passed on and align with his death.”

“Did they even find his body?”

The woman and the CEO both shake their heads. Denying any news. Bringing more questions to Kilian as the answers he receives becomes a puzzle piece of leading questions. Not wanting to barge further, he asked one more important question, “Considering all the information you provided, Is Duan very close with the loyalists or what is his affiliation?”

Selina and Roland, direct their attention to the lady, wanting to hear the answer themselves. The CEO, expressing to end the conversation, “Yun Empire. Nothing more,” He said, sitting himself down back in his comfy office chair. Kilian shook his head while deciphering the CEO’s internals, knowing well he was still afraid of the consequences due to what happened today. Selina dropped her focus from her book scavenging, curious about what he would do now, learning Duan is Yun Empire's origin.

“Don’t look at me, I still have no memory gain from this,” Kilian whispered, still keeping his mysterious past a secret.

“The fact that you were a loyalist could benefit us. Easier to take the lead,” Selina said.

“Easier said than done.” Kilian stood up from the office desk. “We just went through our first dungeon experience. Turns out there is more out in the open somewhere, and I’m not certain how much will the map reveal once I unlock level 2. That’s our new priority. Take over and complete the dungeons.”

Roland came over, technically eavesdropping a bit, “How about using that purpose of the dungeons for our buildup? You know, bring recruits with us as part of the process. Get them on point with the objective.”

The three concluded and went along with the idea. Satisfied with today, as they were about to leave, The CEO received a phone call. Selina, Roland, and Hirko left the office, leaving Kilian alone, and scanning through the phone.

||[~----~---~---~---|||||]

“-It’s Over. Cloudburn is gone”||

Kilian turns around, heading right up to the curtains, opening them again, revealing all the Hong An White flags, being replaced by the black ones. It’s done. He storms out of the office, pointing left, where the elevator is at. All piled themselves in. Vessa, feeling squished, crawls up the wall, leaving bare space for the remainder to move in. The elevator door finally closes and the phantom drops as the number on the indicator ticks down.

Fifteen floors of agony and stiffness when everyone behind Kilian, non-verbally indicated each other to move. Noises linger like bees hampering Kilian’s mental space, slowly growing uncomfortable. He clenched his jaws while staring at the elevator indicator. Come on ten more to go.

<< It’s too clenched up in here. >>

Should that be not an issue for you?

<< I have a sense of touch. The feeling is not the same compared to blasting thousands of degrees of heat in battle. It’s not the same. >>

It would be convenient if I let off my heat in the elevator, but everybody is here, taking up the damn space. This mentally hurts.

<< Not as bad being stored on the rack with tons of other weapons right alongside you. >>

Oh, thanks for reminding me. You can have senses like organisms can. My fault.

<< Eh. Not amused. Anyway, we are already five floors down. Keep it up by then. >>

Ding!

The elevator door finally opened, and all sprinted out, collapsing on each other, gasping for air. “Get off of me!” Kilian involuntary bursts of shockwave in the open, knocking everyone to the floor. Yikes. He spins around the scene awkwardly. They came up heads throbbing, getting themselves at ease but feeling tense above. “I’m sorry for that. That whole trip elevator down was uncomfortable, and I can’t hold it.”

“At least tell us before releasing the burst of yours,” Hirko said, wiping off the dust from his shoulders.

Kilian, hands raised momentarily, realizing all are back at the lobby floor. Heading out to the center of the lobby where the pitch black hallway was, now all brightened. The junk is still all over the floor untouched. The door unlocks itself from its cage, followed by the gear clanking, inviting it to be open. Hirko went up, and thrusted the door open with his foot, hurrying others.

The domino-like concrete walls disappeared into thin air, not leaving any remains of concrete dust on the floor. Minus the blood stain from the one who saved Roland, only to get smooshed. All walked over past it and immediately sprinted back to the road pathway. What is left for them is quietness. Debris lay all over the floor, metal pipes protruding from the ground, and the truck left alone ahead.

My truck, alright. Kilian dashed first into the driver's seat, honking others. With everyone in the truck, while the sole survivor of the men who came along sat in the bed, he drove off the factory. “Can you find where Fredrich is? I can’t sense his qi.”

Roland and Selina went onto detective tactics with their OLRS, and the Truck’s infotainment system interacted with all three, complying with their message, and automatically switching the home display to the map. The blue marker below indicates the truck, the map moves away from the main road, zooming to a residential part of town, west of the town square, in the current direction the truck is in. Roland implements the directions, and Kilian continues driving, following the directions.

2

Minutes passed as they reached the destination, greeted by crowds of soldiers, and new supporters. “Guys, don’t barge around the car,” Kilian said through the window. He then gestured to the soldiers to move these people out of the way so they could open the doors.

<< About to be that elevator again. >>

Nope, we are outside so it’s fine.

Kilian’s one hand on the hilt, the other on the door handle. The soldier raised his finger, signaling the clear, one nod, and he dodged away from the door. The clank of the locks coming with the swoosh of the motion, the door immediately draws out.

“Hey!” one of the citizens yelled after being thrown to the floor, blurting off vulgar words.

“Who the hell is this?” Kilian whispered to one of the soldiers. “A few nonsupporters,” he said. Kilian’s slight exhale ignored the non supporters.

“Watch Out!” from the crowd.

Kilian grew blue, striking the fireball projectile upward. The fire dissipates with the tip of the blade and a small slice, disintegrating the plastic into the asphalt road. The cheers went silent, and movement ceased. Uniform reaction from every person in the crowd. Not missing an inch of focus until Kilian disappears, entering a multi-story residential building. He spins his head left and right while walking in, lifting his sword through the narrow entryway. Selina, also towering over, bent herself through the entryway while not clashing her shoulders. The two waited for the other five to enter. Hirko and Roland have an easy life in this one thanks to their short height. Lucky bastards. Kilian slightly grinned until the last came in, turning back to the entrance.

With glass windows, he can see the whole crowd outside. Leaving his sword inside, he climbed back outside, now noticing many in this residential area when all his soldiers towered over them. Due to being a partially lifted truck, few pass over the hood's height.

Still blue, he pivots through the entrance, understanding its height restricted for unknown reasons while not comprehending why everyone is still standing there. “Get the hell out of here!”

The Soldiers on site went full machine, forcefully directing everyone to leave. Kilian stands watching and slowly reverts from the blue. He can hear the screams of calling Duan, ignoring it. Once it’s nearly deserted and the area resumes normalcy, he pivots himself back in through the entryway. “They're gonna need to increase the height of this damn door. So much room for that to happen.”Grabbing the sword and re-equipping it on his back, following the other six patiently waiting by the stairway.

“The clerk told us it’s the third floor. Should be quick to find,” Selina said, leading the way.

Their footsteps thump over a creaking staircase, signifying the weariness of this residence building has been. Rusty, wood panels peeling off where pests could substitute the painting, and none would notice since the place is white. Kilian yanked a piece of wood from the wall, snapshotting it for his OLRS to analyze. Once captured, he tossed the piece, reaching to the third floor.

All turned right, reaching towards the dead end, with sunlight piercing through the blinds. “It’s this one,” Selina said, knocking on the right door. “Fredrich, you in there?” Tapping on the door again.

“Fuck it,” Hirko muttered, thrusting the door. Finding the place empty, vacated. Only to hear another door opening from behind. Kilian turned around, seeing Fredrich popping out of the door with a confused face, wondering why they were in a vacant room. Vessa hid behind the wall.

“I’m not in that room. That’s just an unrented space.” Fredrich pointed with this thumb back to his entrance. His lips twitch, covering his mouth, and backing himself in, letting others enter Jarek’s residence. His eyebrows raised, noticing Hirko entering last. Looked familiar, but Hirko, tainted with blood on his face and scrapes on his neck, made him unrecognizable. Ironically, he faces the one who dismissed him hours ago. To directly face him in the eye is quite remarkable. Fredrich hasn’t clicked on who it is, “Who is this you bring in?”

“Might be awkward, but that’s the one you abandoned hours ago,” Kilian said, picklocking a small chest. “He realizes holding back might be why you went solo.”

“That’s not possible. He can’t even come close to menacing. This isn’t him. All news to me, be honest who are you,” Fredrich questioned, in denial.

“What else can I say…I’m still Hirko. It’s only been a couple of hours at most. Nothing has changed. I’ve been holding back too long, which I can understand. That is all, I have no ill-intents. Somehow one day I’ve been offered to join your squad again, I would have to politely decline.” He pivots away, heading into the kitchen. “Now one of us can fill you in on what the hell happened the past couple of hours to who knows what you've been doing.”

Fredrich gathered with Kilian and Roland in the living room, exchanging prior information. Selina and Hirko undergo scavenging hunts for any that could benefit magical usages. Vessa eventually heads inside, unintentionally provoking Fredrich, leading Kilian to freeze his heavy calves on the sofa.

Making it less intimidating, Vessa crawled for the rest of the time, curious about the human side of the world, investigating the shelves and toy figurines erected on a spare table. Eventually meeting up with Selina, who's still in the kitchen, now sitting at the dining table filled with mysterious medicines, herbs, and condiments.

“...So I missed all the fun…shikes,” Fredrich disappointedly said, requesting his legs to be unfreezed. Kilian looked to the other side. “Not happening. You're gonna go against Vessa.”

“No way. I won’t,” Fredrich confidently said.

Kilian shakes his head, again denying his request. “You say you will, but you desire to do things your way. Listen, if you are truly against the Yun Empire, collaborate with us. Otherwise, you will be stationed back in Jinsu and doing something you dislike…teaching recruits. What is it going to be?”

Reluctant to answer, giving a few looks at the two. He sighed in defeat to Kilian’s stare, “Fine…you win. Continue then.”

For the next twenty minutes, Fredrich was forcefully focused on the book-worth of information speaking to him. Kilian made sure of it, no disturbances, and all verbally transferred. When they finished with Roland presenting the final remarks, Selina announced she completed exploring Jarek’s kitchen and the private room. Hirko with a new fit, to his surprise, fit his stature well. Styles as an overcoat with no zippers or buttons, intending to wear open, revealing the interior. Interesting paint job, looking like laminated stone.

Kilian unfreezes Fredrich’s legs. He stood up, asking Hirko to smell the overcoat. Hirko gave a whiff, “Heavy. Smells like dust, but more pleasant.”

That's Ostahlium all right. “Sure sounds like Ostahlium, let me see.” He heads up smelling the overcoat. “Yep, it is. Are there any of these jackets left?”

“Nope. The only sole one in the closet.”

“Darn, Well not an issue. We have the production control at Cloudburn, so we can mass produce. I’m still fishy that now we know its name, there’s much disclosure to know the full purpose.”

Fredrich, hearing the name, his eyes went up, “Ostahlium you say?” He also felt the overcoat before thrusting one side back to him, recognizing the brand. My, they are still making them. Finally something good. “So that’s what it was. This is the most I’ve seen on clothing, but not nearly one hundred percent.”

“Do you still have any of that clothing mentioned?” Kilian turned to Fredrich. He shook his head, seventeen years without much of the former residence’s lifestyle. The clothing he had before when he was still in social status, wears these clothes a lot. Fits the story, Jarek is a soldier just like Fredrich.

“What did you get from your scavenging?” Roland is keen on Selina’s new bag.

“A lot of condiments, herbs, and some toy figurines coming from Vessa’s insistence.” She looked at Vessa, crawling on the wooden floor. She was holding one plastic bag, filled with black powder.

“I found another Ostahl-ah, whatever you said it was,” Vessa said, lifting it to Selina while flapping her wings and returning to the air. “Aren’t we all done?”

All wanted to get out of the residential place despite the room of residence being much better than the irregular, dark main lobby and decaying stairway. Fredrich, followed by Vessa, Hirko, Roland, and the other guy, sped out to the door. Tumbling down the stairs with their loud footsteps heard by Selina from inside. She and Kilian were too focused on what she found. “Let me read some of it later. Have you reached the revealing of Level two perks yet?”

“I did. I read them during the scavenging in the kitchen,” Selina replied. “Let’s hurry, we don’t want them to wait too long.”

Both headed out of the room, Kilian locking the door with the keys he got from the vault. They, too, sprinted down the stairways, heading out to the truck.