Surviving the Apocalypse with a System.

“ Aiko ?” Jack got a bit worried when she prolonged her silence.

“ Aiko is still here, Bossman . She is sorry , Aiko is just reminded of her life in Praiyas ,” the girl finally spoke , fighting hard to wear off the melancholy now seriously weighing down her voice.

Her answer reminded Jack of the information that the System had earlier on provided about her. By race she was human and he remembered the origin being the world of Praiyas. This was strangely, the same place the Wailing Hounds came from.

“ What happened to you Aiko , why are you inside this System?”

The conversation was cut short when Hamilton barged into the room , looking angry and frustrated. He yelled some corrosive repugnatives at the guards manning the door before slamming it in their faces.

“ I can’t believe these damn fuckers ! They are arresting you yet none of the people from the bunker would have fucking made it out alive if you weren’t present?” he spat out taking the seat opposite Jack.

“ Listen man , I will not let them take you anywhere. The commander of the mages has agreed to restore my former position in the association. I will use this power to force sense into these dipshits !” he continued .

Jack smiled ,“ Well you know I can bust out of this place anytime I want .”

“ No man , that’s a shit idea. They have called in a First class Warrior mage just for you ,”

Now that was cause for Jack to worry.

The Mage Association normally ranked mages starting from the third class going up. Individual countries only had a handful of first class mages , just going to show how rare and powerful this group was. And of course , a super power nation like Rein obviously had the highest number of first classes.

“ I am only a third class mage , and you saw what I can do with my Raging Furnace . Trust me , you don’t want to cross paths with any first class,” Hamilton stated what was already obvious to Jack.

This new realisation had brought his brief moments of bliss to an abrupt end.

On one side , he had a dangerous enforcer who had given only him one day to level up before he came for blood. Now , as Hamilton was informing him , he also had to worry about dealing with a first class mage. Things were starting to stack up against him again and he did not like it one bit.

He summoned the blue screen.

[

System Information

New Talent

Flowing Paradise - reduce effective damage from enemy attacks.

Installing new talent…

]

He clicked his tongue, seeing that the new talent was still unavailable.

“ This mage that they are sending , do you know of his abilities ?” Jack asked.

The Mage Association normally concealed information about the elemental capabilities of its mages. Only its registered members were privy to this and even then , it was still very limited.

The main reason they gave for this was to protect state secrets , since the Mage Association was an international body to start with.

“ He is a warrior element. The specifics are unclear so I will have to ask around . My plan is that we don’t even get to the point of confrontation with him.

Answer every question they throw at you truthfully , you cannot risk purging yourself. In the meantime , Linzy and I will call on every connection and favour we still have in the Association and get your ass out of this mess ,” Hamilton advised .

He was doing such a great job that for a moment Jack thought that the man should have pursued a career in law.

This conversation too was interrupted with the unannounced entrance of a tall slender man with a thick beard. Hamilton immediately stood up and gave a salute to his superior.

“ Hamilton Brook , you’ve certainly changed for the better since I last laid eyes on you . See yourself outside , we shall talk after I’m done here ,” Henry Wilberforce commanded as he took the seat Hamilton had been on.

The arrival of the commander himself took Hamilton by surprise . He had been expecting one of the other mages or a soldier from the military to take up the investigation on Jack.

Having a man so high up in the hierarchy decide to handle the affair personally meant that the scope of Jack’s case was much higher than he had initially thought.

It now made perfect sense why even a first class was being brought in , the national government itself was now involved.

The commander cleared his throat after Hamilton was out of the room ,“ Now , Mr Jack Kamphar , we have much to discuss. Before we begin , there are two laws I need to lay out.Act accordingly , and we may find an amicable solution for the both of us.

The first is my most basic rule , you only tell the truth. I’d rather you remain silent than disrespect me with lies. The second one is more of a reminder than a rule. I may not know what the truth is , but I certainly do know what it is not . Do we have an understanding?”

“ We do ,” Jack stilled himself.

“The survivors brand you a Heretic , they say you exchanged words with that gunslinger mage , Caesar ,” the commander started, “ The survivors also reported seeing a blue apparition appear before you . All this is confirmed by surveillance footage by the way .”

Henry took another pause , letting the reality of the situation sink in for Jack.

It was a strategy that had proven itself useful to Henry over the many years he had spent in the service. First show the suspect that you knew everything that they had up their sleeve , then when hopelessness had started to set in , offer them an underhanded alternative that they would have no choice but to accept.

Jack wondered why the commander had failed to include Hamilton in the apparition part. If the Mage Association had access to surveillance footage , they must have seen Aiko beef with Hamilton before Caesar appeared.

“ So , let us finally get to the questions. One , are you a Heretic ?”

Heretics was the universal title given to the semi religious group that doubted the history of the origin of Mages. Where the Mage Association insisted that elemental power was an inheritance passed down through families and bloodlines , the Heretics believed that the elemental power possessed by the mages originated from an evil deity from an alternate world.

“ I am not ,” Jack kept his words brief. The more he said , the more he risked telling Henry something he shouldn’t know.

“ That is good for you. The government is currently debating on whether to start rounding up the delusional pariahs ,” Hassan kept his gaze sharp on Jack , “ Tell me how you and your friends made it out of the company building when nearly all staff and personnel that were present were killed by the monsters.”

“ Hamilton is still a mage , he protected us ,”

“ Hamilton possesses a truly powerful attack, I agree. If it wasn’t for how limited it is in practical warfare , he’d already be a first class mage.

As it stands however , he is simply incapable of having fought all of those monsters that were reported. Maybe he can take one , but that’s the limit ,” Henry rejected Jack’s answer , “ So I want a different answer to my question.”

Jack remained silent .

“ So this is how it is then . I appreciate the fact that you chose to follow my rules , but then again this is national security that is at stake.

I am giving you one last chance to tell me what you know , and we may perhaps find a way to work out an immunity agreement for you with the government.”

“ What happens if I don’t cooperate ?” Jack now started considering taking on the first class mage if he was used as a threat.

Though he didn’t know anything about the Warrior mage’s ability , he could start the fight with a slow pace and buy the Perception talent enough time to read his opponent.

“ If you don’t , then we will resort to my earlier plans. The only reason I even agreed to this was because you were one of Timothy’s employees. But even though the man and I go way back , if you see our terms as unreasonable , then I’m ready to let the government take over your case ,” Henry seemed delighted .

The government was more unpredictable than the Mage Association . The association was regulated by international law and thus had to operate under strict rules and regulations. But the government , however, was autonomous with more discretion as to how it conducted itself.

“ I’ll take my chances with the government ,” Jack decided.

“ Fine then , the decision has been made. A military van will see you to army headquarters shortly . Oh , and in case you have something funny up your sleeve , don’t even think of trying it.

I don’t know if your buddy Hamilton informed you of this , but there is a powerful Warrior mage sent in just for you.”