The Ultimate Regressor System

Lucas studied the three golems perched in the trees, mentally cataloguing every possible angle of attack and every way this could go wrong.

’Okay. From what I know so far, the wings could kill me if I get too close. If I manage to get on top of the beasts, they could knock me off and I could die from being impaled by a branch.’

He narrowed his eyes. ’I could also fall to my death if they fly too high and i lose balance.’

’Let’s not forget the fact that I could get surrounded and eaten.’

’There’s also this glitch too. How am I sure [Ignition] won’t fire on its own when I want to do a surprise attack?’

’I’m not even sure it’ll fire at all...’

Several instances went through his mind as he came up with plan after plan, running every version of this battle in his head.

He finally opened his mouth to lay out a plan...

...And stopped.

Why?

The golems weren’t moving....

They weren’t frozen exactly, because their amber could still see them. They were fully aware of Lucas’ presence.

It tracked the three of them below with a strange patience that had no trace of the hungry, predatory focus Lucas remembered from every other Avallion he’d ever fought.

There was no shrieking. No dive. No wings unfolding the way it did before it initiated attack.

They simply watched as they sat still, as if waiting for some kind of command.

"They’re not attacking," Pyra said slowly. Her claws were still extended but confusion was etched into her face. "Why aren’t they attacking?"

"I don’t know." Lucas kept his stance ready regardless, as if expecting something to happen right about now.. "Doesn’t matter. We’re not walking past these things hoping they stay polite."

"Fair point," Mark said. "Though I’ll admit, docile monsters are new. Maybe this is our big break."

"Don’t jinx it," Pyra muttered.

"Docile monsters..." Lucas repeated, turning the phrase over in his head.

Beats didn’t just stand there staring at food and they sure as hell didn’t stay quiet at the sight of them.

"Unless..." The thought arrived without warning.

Either these creatures were blind or someone or something was controlling them...

’No... it can’t be.’ He shook the thought aside almost instantly. As far as he knew, controlling this things was the same as digging your own grave.

He then turned to Mark and Pyra...

"On my signal," Lucas said, lowering his stance.

"We don’t give them the chance to decide otherwise. If something’s controlling them, I’d rather find out after they’re dead not while they’re considering whether or not to keep us alive.."

He waited another moment, watching for any shift in the golems’ stillness or any sign the calm was about to break...

When none came, he raised a hand and spoke:

"Now."

***

Inside the fortress, Eleanor stood near the courtyard well, half listening to a nervous young guard describe the watch rotation, when Ryker’s voice cut smoothly across.

"There you are." He approached with his usual easy stride, dismissing the guard with a glance that sent the young man scurrying off without a word. "I wanted to say I was looking for you but someone of your beauty is easy to spot in a crowd."

The compliment came smooth, like every other time he’s done it. She remained silent as he spoke again. "I’ve been meaning to ask: what was your own Faction like? I imagine leading alone carries its own particular weight."

"I wasn’t alone," Eleanor said. "I lead alongside two other people."

Something flickered in Ryker’s expression— mild surprised that he quickly straightened.

"Three leaders. Interesting. Although, Leadership under shared authority crumblea eventually. Too many voices, too many beliefs and all that."

"Ours hasn’t."

"Yet," Ryker said with the faint, knowing smile of a man certain he understood something she didn’t. "And what did the system make of your companions, if you don’t mind sharing? I’m curious what Modifiers your Faction’s leaders produced."

Eleanor stayed silent for a moment as if considering whether or not to answer. She had along the line told him about her Modifer— not because she wanted to, but because Ryker insisted that if he was going to take advice from her, he should at the very least, learn something about her.

"Mark’s is Mountain King," Eleanor said finally. "He held a line against a horde until it broke around him."

"Fitting." Ryker nodded slowly. "And the other one?"

Eleanor hesitated before answering. "The Terror."

Ryker’s eyebrows rose, genuine interest and curiosity flashing across his face. "Now that’s a title. What’s his ability?"

"Ignition. Fire-based." She kept her tone as flat as she could. "He’s never lost a fight before. Not once."

"Mhmmmm.... I can imagine. That ability of his must be very powerful."

"Glitched, actually. His system’s broken. Misfires half the time, sometimes doesn’t work at all. [Ignition] is his only ability apparently."

Ryker blinked and then, slowly, began to snicker. "You can’t b serious. You’re joking, right?"

She wasn’t.

He laughed harder this time when he realized a mocking laugh escaping his lips.

"A broken system and a single fire trick.. The world then decided to call him Terror? Hahahahaha. Truly, the system’s sense of humor knows no bounds." He shook his head, still laughing and wiping at eye clean from the tears that had formed in it. "Honestly, I’d have expected something more—"

A shriek cut through the courtyard, sharp and sudden then followed by the heavy, unmistakable sound of something huge hitting the ground beyond the walls.

Ryker’s laughter died instantly....

A guard came sprinting from the gate, breathless. "My Lord. The Avallion Golems. Dead. All three of them... Just outside the wall."

"Dead?" Ryker’s easy composure cracked for the first time since Eleanor had met him, genuine shock creeping into his voice.

"That’s not possible. That’s not supposed to be possible."

"Apparently something changed," Eleanor said, a faint smile appearing on her face. She had a feeling that she knew whatever was responsible for the deaths of the beasts...

Ryker’s eyes narrowed slightly, still refusing to believe... "That’s not..."

"Should we head to the gate then?" she asked, cutting him off and they both went to the gate as the guard opened it for them...

***

They reached the gate just as it swung open, and Eleanor’s breath caught at the sight beyond it.

Lucas, Mark, and a young woman she faintly recognized, standing amid the scorched, unmoving corpse of a golem, two more dead a short distance behind them.

"Lucas!" Relief and joy flooded her body instantly, and she crossed the distance at a run, throwing her arms around him forcing him back. "You’re alive. You’re actually alive..."

"Of course I’m alive. What’d you take me for" Lucas replied hugging her back. Though he knew he had already died and would probably be dead if it weren’t for his [Regression] ability...

She didn’t need to know that...

"Mark!" Her attention shifted, and she also pulled him into a hug. "I’ll be honest, I’ve missed your terrible jokes more than I want to admit."

"See? I knew you loved me," Mark said, grinning as she broke the hug.

Then he sighed dramatically. "Unfortunately, I’m still a virgin."

Eleanor didn’t bother stopping the laugh. "Focus, Mark."

Eleanor’s eyes landed on Pyra next, faint recognition flashing in her expression. "You’re that girl we met back at the gas station."

"Pyra," she said nodding. "Lucas and Mark adopted me somewhere around a desert full of flaming sinkholes."

"Desert? Flaming sinkholes?"

"Long story." Mark said sighing.

"That tracks," Eleanor said, something almost like another laugh escaping.

Beside her, Ryker had gone rigid, staring at Lucas with an expression that had lost every trace of its earlier amusement.

He glanced at his system, then at Lucas....

His composure faltered for the first time since Eleanor had arrived as something calculating and considerably more anxious settled in his gaze as he studied the man he’d just spent the past several minutes mocking.

His gaze flicked briefly to the dead golem near them, then to the fire still clinging to its corpse.

"You didn’t mention," Ryker said slowly, addressing Eleanor without taking his eyes off Lucas, "that he already arrived."

"Didn’t know he had," Eleanor said, unable to keep the satisfied smile from growing on her face. "Guess it was just the timing..."

Lucas glanced between Eleanor and the stranger studying him with such sudden wary expression and his brow raised slightly.

"Seems something interesting happened while Mark and I were trying to escape a flaming desert."

"Right?" Mark added, staring at them. "Spill the beans Elle. What have you been up to?"

"Later," Eleanor said, walking beside Lucas. "Right now, I’m just glad you’re here. Both of you...."

Ryker was speechless as he watched the whole scene unfold.

He glanced at his system again, hoping the was merely just hallucinating.

He wasn’t...

Because what he saw looked less like a notification and more like a warning...

[You have encountered The Terror.]