Chapter 323
It's been a few hours now, Kyle and Clyde continued watching the screens as the group of six sprinted toward the basement door.
On the single monitor at the central display, Jacob was leading the charge, ramming through the horde of ghouls that came at him. When they scratched at him, he healed it immediately, and his strength was just unbelievable to watch for an Early-Awakened.
Bernard was right behind him, taking on the stragglers that Jacob wasn't able to get. He sliced through the necks of ghouls that came too close. Beside him was Yuri with her flaming axe of coolness. She had slightly gone off to the right of the group, drawing attention to herself as she continuously cut through ghouls.
Jessica had spent all of her ether, barely any left in her tank after that buff on Jacob. And lastly, Mia was conserving her ether. Only when a ghoul got too close, she'd stun it with her mind attack to let Yuri finish it off.
All in all, they were passing with flying colours. Should they not die, they'd all be ranked in the upper echelons of Sterling Institute. That was certain. The other testing facilities had dumbified their missions to provide too much detail while also putting the least dangerous objects in the basement or shed.
That was when a tear dropped from the corner of Kyle's right eye. It was the second time he'd ever seen the helicopter dullahan. Both times needed the dog tags snapped and the shovel to be touched, otherwise they wouldn't appear.
"That girl, Yuri though. She's smoking," Clyde commented.
"Fuck yeah, she is. She's hot. I mean that literally. Kinda like Rachel," Kyle said.
"Except without the burning your face aspect."
"How old was she again?"
"20."
"Too young?"
"Nah."
"Gotta hand it to them though," Kyle said, leaning back in his chair. "They're actually handling this pretty well."
Clyde nodded, pulling out a twinkie from his blazer, unwrapping it, and taking a bite. "Yep. Thought their powers were too random."
"Off-tank healer's got some mad balls now. Psychic chick creating clutch situations. It's basically a full squad, bro."
"Definitely didn't see that one coming. Fuck Emmerson."
"Fuck him." Kyle spun in his chair. "But this is probably the worst team we've had in years."
"True that. They basically activated every trap card in the shed."
Clyde finished his Twinkie and crumpled the wrapper. "So who wins the bet?"
"Technically? No one."
"What do you mean no one?"
"They didn't touch the demon mirror. That Mia chick just looked at it, and for some reason, it activated." Kyle pulled up the footage from the shed on one of the screens, rewinding to the moment when the group had explored. "See?"
Clyde whistled. "Need to get that mirror checked out. With that kind of activation method, it strictly goes to the maximum containment zone."
"Mirror doesn't count as a bet," Kyle grinned. "And if the mirror doesn't count, then technically the first thing they activated was the dog tags and the shovel."
"Fuck you, anyways."
"Ehhh, blame Jonathan."
Kyle's phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he checked the message.
[Lily: Who won the bet?]
[Kyle: no one on a technicality]
[Kyle: they didn't actually touch the demon mirror]
[Kyle: mia just looked at it and it activated on its own]
[Lily: was the mirror clyde's bet?]
[Kyle: fuck yeah it was]
[Kyle: he's so pissed rn. want me to take a pic of his sobbing face?]
[Lily: Lmao. No thanks.]
[Lily: Wait. Those 3 look familiar though.]
[Lily: The off-tank, the psychic, and the tracker.]
[Lily: Did you do any background checks on them?]
Kyle looked up from his phone. "Lily's asking if we did background checks on the recruits."
Clyde shrugged. "We only got what we got from Emmerson. Didn't bother going deeper."
[Kyle: we only got the basic files from emmerson]
[Kyle: didn't do deep dives]
[Lily: Go check. Something about them feels familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.]
Kyle set his phone down and turned to Clyde. "She says we should check."
Clyde was already pulling up his laptop. "On it."
This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Navigating to the Neutral Grounds Directory and logging in with their username 'numerounoduo22', the central database of every Aurian in the world displayed itself on the main screen.
"Which one first?"
"The psychic. Mia something."
Clyde typed in the name. A file populated on the screen.
SUBJECT: Mia Cortez
STATUS: Registered Awakened (Pending Full Classification)
AWAKENING DATE: December 2069
INNATE: Psychic
MEDICAL HISTORY (FLAGGED):
- Subject was a dust corruption patient in early November 2069.
- Survival status: Confirmed (Anomalous)
- Treatment administered by: Oliver Glory, Sarah Chen
- Treatment method: Undisclosed substance
Kyle whistled. "Ollie's cookin' up something. How'd this one survive?"
"Dunno," Clyde replied.
"Ollie's always involved in weird shit. Anyway, keep reading."
Clyde scrolled down further.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
- Enrolled at Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre (Current)
- Mundane education status: Extra Credits program (In progress)
Kyle and Clyde both looked at each other.
"Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre..." Kyle said slowly.
"That sounds familiar..." Clyde said.
"Yeah."
Scrolling down faster now, they reached the section they were looking for.
KNOWN ASSOCIATES:
- Andrew McLeod (Met September 2069, Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre)
- Jacob White (Met September 2069, Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre)
- Gale Hathie (Met September 2069, Yorkdale Adult Learning Centre)
"Oh shit," Clyde muttered. "That's Gale's friend."
Kyle shot up from his chair. "OH SHIT THOSE ARE GALE'S FUCKING FRIENDS!"
Before either of them could move and start to head out, the alarms of their control room blared. Red lights spun around the room as the klaxon wailed through the speakers.
WARNING. INTRUDER DETECTED IN TESTING AREA. WARNING. INTRUDER DETECTED IN TESTING AREA.
Kyle and Clyde looked at each other.
Then at the screens.
On one of the monitors with a camera that could see through the fog, a familiar figure emerged. Gale was in his nightmare demon void form, at least that's what they liked to call it.
All Kyle and Clyde could do was watch the screen, horrified at the massacre about to happen in front of their eyes. Just the thought of it made their wallets already feel sore.
Kyle's phone buzzed once again. Pulling it up, they both saw the message.
[Lily: I knew it. They did feel familiar...]
Whenever Gale went into serious mode, he literally looked like a monster. The man didn't even bother dodging the branches and twigs that hit him. It looked like the branches and logs hit him, but he just seemed to pass through them seamlessly.
Bambam was on a mission, moving at least 100 miles an hour with his bare feet. He wasn't about to pull any punches.
"Holy shit..." Clyde whispered.
Kyle gulped.
Gale reached the cabin in record time. The ghouls that had been swarming the area turned towards him.
The first thing he did was reach into what looked like thin air. A small pouch materialized in his palm, and then he sprinkled it onto his dark ghost sword, coating it with an ethereal sparkly haze.
It was the ghost dust they had bought together.
Then he moved, aiming directly at the banshee that was behind the cabin, hovering near the back windows and bedrooms. One moment, she was there, the next moment, her ectoplasm neck had been sliced cleanly off. Her ghost body laid on the dirt for a couple of seconds before it melted and faded.
"The banshee's gone," Kyle said, mouth gaping.
"At least 2 months' worth of paycheque," Clyde said.
"Yup."
Turning his attention to the ghouls, they had already charged at him. Gale replied with a lunge of his own, turning himself into a tornado that decapitated every standing ghoul.
His sword moved in a blur. He was so hard to see that it looked like the ghoul heads were just falling off their shoulders.
"Carl's not gonna like that."
"At least 3 paycheque's worth."
On the screen, Gale paused. He was doing his spider senses thing. Once he opened his eyes again, he turned to the north. That was where the stupid dumb fuck zombie witch was.
Arriving at the edge of the testing zone, Gale met the hunched figure that was wandering through the trees. That one was a doozy of an item. She was a real witch turned zombie. In a freak accident, she was sealed into a mug.
No questions asked, the Path took the mug. And now, it was broken as Gale appeared behind her.
Before she could even cast a spell, her head detached off of her shoulder, thudding onto the ground.
"Poor dying witch," Kyle muttered. "Didn't even stand a chance."
"That's 9 months of salary, combined."
"I know."
Kyle's phone buzzed.
[Lily: Are you guys ok?]
Kyle stared at the message for a long moment. Then he typed back.
[Kyle: Is there any room in the blue witches?]
[Lily: What?]
[Kyle: like for employment]
[Kyle: asking for me and clyde]
[Lily: Are you serious?]
[Kyle: dead serious]
[Lily: I'll ask Witch Ashen.]
On the screens, Gale had moved on to the possessed helicopter. The dullahan soldiers had descended from the aircraft, their headless bodies wielding spectral weapons. They were supposed to be one of the most dangerous entities in the testing zone. The absolute top tier of the bunch against Awakened and even Early-Attuned.
But Gale was no mere Attuned. He was Bambam, destroyer of the Tekanimantus, breaker of bones, the Dark Hunter of the night.
The dullahan managed to parry one of Gale's arcs, but it was all for naught. The man looked more confused at not having anything to decapitate. Instead, he opted to cut through the three dullahans right in the middle.
And the next thing he did was also destroy the helicopter with his 'Whoosh, I'm in your face, SLASH' skill.
"That helicopter was irreplaceable," Clyde said, his voice hollow.
"I know."
Kyle watched his sacred recruitment grounds get desecrated for the power of friendship, and he wanted to cry. Actually, he was crying. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Are you crying?" Clyde asked.
"No."
"You're crying."
"Shut up."
The group chat buzzed.
[Rachel: wait was the recruitment test supposed to be today?]
[Lily: Yes]
[Lily: The twins are crying now btw.]
[Rachel: Oh]
[Rachel: praying for your jobs 🙏]
[Clyde: is the ann family taking in talented investigators?]
[Rachel: depends]
[Rachel: how low are you willing to go on pay?]
[Clyde: youre evil]
[Clyde: the most evil]
[Clyde: evilest of all women]
[Rachel: you ruined my meal with Gale]
[Rachel: we were having LOBSTERS]
[Rachel: Do you know how hard it was to get him on a plane?]
[Rachel: this is karma]
Kyle smirked. "She's not wrong."
"Whose side are you on?"
"The side that doesn't get fired."
A new message appeared in the chat from Erin, but she was typing very slowly. Then it disappeared, then appeared again. This continued for about a minute until a picture was sent to the group chat.
[Erin: <image>]
It was Erin. Looking directly at the camera. Her face completely blank with the same lack of expression she had always shown. Just her deep blue eyes staring into the lens like she was trying to analyze it. The picture was slightly blurry. Off-center. Like she had no idea how to take a selfie.
[Rachel: ignore her]
[Rachel: she doesn't know how to use the phone]
[Erin: t=device isboirdering barbarci]
[Erin: istheren0 way to interface wth it directly?]
[Erin: whymst I use myhands to makeitfunction?]
[Erin: primtiive]
[Rachel: IGNORE HER]
Kyle and Clyde looked back at each other, then slowly turned their heads back to the screens where Gale had finished destroying basically everything. There were no more hostile entities within the recruitment grounds.
Kyle pocketed his phone.
Clyde did the same.
How were they going to explain this one?
Hey, Jonathan, Carl, or whatever you call yourself. Looks like the recruits had called in for back up. Not a bad thing. Actually part of the test. Survive at all costs. No biggie. But their back up destroyed all of our assets. Please buy us more. Kyle thought.
That sounds like the perfect excuse. Let's go with it. Clyde thought.
Fucking hell, man.
Fucking hell, indeed.