Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

The volley of frenzied fire did its job at whittling down the first wave of enemies, but the mutants that inhabited the inner circle of the city were much more tenacious than the ones in the outskirts. They kept coming at us despite the heavy losses on their side. It was easy enough for me to deal with them, even in my weak human form, but they were wising up to the fact that fighting me was a waste of time and resources.

Within moments, the wave of monsters circled around my forward position and started to run towards Myra and her party. I would have thought that they would panic at the face of such insane numbers, as that was the state that I saw them in initially, but they remained defiant.

The only good thing that I can say about our current situation was that the foe had engaged at a range and the streets provided the perfect environment to launch a long ranged assault. The mutants couldn’t all pour in the narrow streets at once, and their own numbers worked against them as a few of the more clumsy individuals tripped and fell, hindering everyone else behind them. It also made missing a shot all but impossible.

“Let’s show the guide what we’re made of!” Myra shouted as she unleashed an insane volley of bullets; Alina was ensuring that her leader could continuously output accurate shot after shot.

Whatever ammunition Myra was using was causing her bullets to pass through every body in their path, leaving small holes in the oncoming horde. Unfortunately, it still took a few hits on vital areas to actually down one of the mutants. The ones in the center of town were evidently also more durable as well.

“They’re within range, Myra,” Bishop spat, “I’ll bog down the lead group, that should show everyone else down. You got any of those laser rounds left?”

“Three shots,” she answered, “It’s the last ones I got, but if you can group ‘em well, it’s worth the cost!”

“Got it!” Bishop answered, “Alina, help me out here!”

“Roger!”

“And you probably want to move to the side, sir guide!”

I wasn’t sure what they planned to do, but I moved out of the immediate path of the mutants and fell back with the rest of the party.

Once they saw me in the clear, the rate of fire slowed down as Alina focused her energy on Bishop. He turned his gaze onto the oncoming mutants and started his chants. Almost immediately, a few dozen creatures in the lead started to slow down as every muscle in their bodies started to spasm uncontrollably. No, I looked closer and saw that it wasn’t every mutant that was effected, Bishop was targeting the ones near the sides of the buildings, so that the enemies behind the effected would naturally move closer to the center to avoid their awkward allies.

He was creating a funnel using the incapacitated mutants.

“Now!” he shouted, “Scorch them!”

With a swift, easy motion, Myra swapped magazines and pressed the trigger, aiming right down where the majority of the mutants were. The results were instantaneous. A huge flash of light that almost blinded me passed through the muzzle of her gun and down the line of enemies. Everything in that superheated plasma was instantly vaporized, along with a sizable portion of the building behind them. The survivors quickly lost all motivation to fight after that, and scrambled to retreat.

The actual fight was over within minutes, all things considered, and I could tell by the excited cheers coming from the three Aspirants that they were quite happy with what they did. But… they didn’t really do much to warrant that kind of celebration? All I saw was the use of a very obvious and simple tactic, while they used a limited resource to do the brunt of the work. Were they happy that they didn’t run away this time? I was beginning to have a harder and harder time understanding the thought processes of these lower lifeforms.

“Damned good work,” I said regardless of what I actually thought, “Good use of tactics and your limited resources.”

“Thank you, sir!” Alina beamed, “It was your guidance that allowed us to expand the use of our abilities. We would have never thought to employ those types of tactics otherwise!”

Wait… they wouldn’t employ those tactics without me? How the hell were they fighting before then? Did they just rush in without any kind of plan in mind? I’m starting to think that I severely overestimated the abilities of Myra’s party initially. Sure they were organized and could scout effectively, but they couldn’t strategize worth a damn.

“But we can’t do that for much longer,” Myra grimaced, “I got two of those shots left, and almost nothing else of that caliber remaining. Hope it’s enough to get us to the center, we all need to regroup and rest after this.”

Now that I thought about it, it was odd that none of the members of Myra’s party resented me for placing them in here. I mean, I had been the indirect cause of the loss of at least 2 members of her party, but it was almost as if the three of them were functionally unable to blame me for any of that. Every time they would show even the slightest amount of unease, I would say something generic and they’d perk up immediately.

I never had this issue when I was talking with Rogue, Xalla or even Alice, but with these normal Aspirants, it was like I was an entirely different species altogether. Nothing they did when they spoke to me made any sense in my mind, and it took but a word from me to change their entire way of thinking. It felt like I was dealing with small animals rather than other intelligent beings. At least my interactions with the Abyss guild was still relatively normal, although I think that might be due to how abnormal everyone in that guild was.

“Damn, that whole fight was worth 3 levels as well,” Alina laughed, “How about you two?”

“3 levels here as well,” Bishop answered, “Not too shabby for a few minutes of work. We’re better than I thought.”

“I got 5,” Myra added, “And I bet we’ll get some nice rewards if we clear this stage as well. Let’s not waste any more time and get going.”

“Lets not get ahead of ourselves now,” I interrupted their cheer, “We’re not out of the woods yet. Celebrate when you’re done.”

The three of them immediately stiffened up and regrouped. The way they changed behaviors really did remind me of reprimanding a particularly enthusiastic dog. I could just tell that interacting with them was going to get really grating, really fast.

“Right,” Myra said after calming down, “Let’s get going. Distribute your attributes on the move, you two.”

“Roger that!” Alina replied.

The party moved again, but this time I stayed a little further away from the rest of the group. I just couldn’t stand being in the presence of their useless chattering. The second they made any sort of minor achievement, whether that be avoiding a fight, doing a little magic show to trick the monsters here, led to so much useless self-praise. They had to do this horrible cheer whenever a new level was achieved. I couldn’t stand it. I just wanted them to stop talking for even a second!

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 29.99% -> 34.51%

Why was it so bad? They were making headway towards the exit now, having bested every foe before them with relative ease, and the goal was practically already in sight, but none of these achievements made me feel any bit better. In fact, the constant cheers and worthless praise the three threw on me was grating to the extreme. What the hell was wrong with me?

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 34.51% -> 38.02%

“It is natural to feel this way, my Host, you are already agitated from the stress of the current situation, so listening to the lesser Aspirants talk will cause continued mental distress,” Noe’s welcoming voice said over the continued drone of the other three, “You are starting to understand the drivel that make up the inferior species. It shows welcoming growth.”

If this is growth then it’s damned unpleasant…

“As all true growth tends to be,” Noe replied cryptically. I swear it was getting harder and harder to understand what she was doing lately, “All of the accumulated stress has accelerated this process, and you are at a critical stage currently, my Host, but do not worry. Unit Noe will ensure that you complete this transition safely.”

Yeah, that was certainly one way of putting it. If I didn’t survive this “growth period”, and allowed the Overseer’s plans to destroy Pandora, then I’d certainly have no other opportunities to advance further. Since I’d be dead! I felt welling frustration just thinking about that bastard and all the work that I still had to do just to survive these next few days.

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 38.02% -> 43.87%

But it was more than that. It wasn’t because I had to face all of these impossible odds, I’d done that again and again after arriving at Central all those months ago, and I was fine then. And if I was honest with myself, I wasn’t even afraid that Pandora would be destroyed and the Regressor being sent away. Sure my identity as an Arbiter would be under fire if I had to work closely with the Overseer, but I knew in my heart that I’d somehow bullshit my way out of that situation one way or another.

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 43.87 -> 46.27%

No, what was pissing me off more than anything else was just how damn helpless I felt. For the first time since arriving at Central, I had all of my agency taken away from me, and I was running around one step behind the Overseer, always trying to play catch up. Just when I thought one of my plans were working, I’d be hit with something else, and I hated the feeling of leaving things incomplete, or ironically, up to luck. Well, at least luck that I didn’t create myself.

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 46.27% -> 48.07%

Yeah, I’ve come to realize that I hate it when things don't go my way. I hated when my Truth was disrupted. I hated when my sleep was disturbed.

Primary Soul Title: It That Sleeps at the Edge of Dusk (??? Rank)

Progress to Awakening: 48.0̶̒̏͋́̀͊̓͗͑̄̕͘7̶̡̡̡͉̬̩̣̝̗͕̯̋͊̔͒̈́̋̐̔͠%̵̝͎̭̺̃̿̈́͌ ̷̢̧̣̖̈́͛͑̉̈́͐̃͒̎̈́͠-̵͚͕̎̅͛̅͌̃̎̓̾̅̄̕͠͠>̵̮͇̟͚͆̾̑̈͘͜͝ͅͅ ̴̨̢̤̦̰͓̩͍̳̮̈́͂̄4̴̧̢̢͖͈̪̖̰̥̙̘̩̈́̉̇̓̈́̍̿̏̀̆̒̽9̷̥̊͒͂̚.̵̧̭̓̀͗̌͛̿̆͂̍̂̀̚̕͠͠9̸͇͕͚̳͕̥̳̜͉̀̂͊͒̍͗͒͂͛̓͝9̶̡̯͈̙͇̟̯͉̭͖̼͔͉̎̎̈́̐̓͘͘͜9̵̨̬̠͍̣̩̠̻̦̉͒̃̈́̈́̈́̀9̵̬̰̤̫͐́͐̄̐́̚͘͝…̶͇̘̐̄͊͋̏́̍%̴̗͍͓̟̈́̈́̏̋̒̃̎̏̈́̕̚͝

“Rest for now, my Host,” Noe’s calming voice said, “It is not yet time.”

No… but soon.

I shook my head free of those annoying thoughts and sighed, which caused the other three to look like sad puppies, wondering why I was in a foul mood. I had to dismiss them again before they asked any annoying questions. I knew that I had to ensure these Aspirant’s survival, and I was doing a pretty good job of it so far, but the whole thing just felt empty and boring. Coupled with the chaos that was going on with Central in general, and I was starting to miss the comforts of Hope’s Memorial more and more. I’ll find a way to go visit again someday.

I was trying my best to keep my ever-growing displeasure down, but whatever was the cause of my unease seemed to grow hour after hour, even though there was no logical reason that I should be feeling this way.

Before I knew it, Myra and her little comrades had made it to the last of the obstacles on their way to the center of the town, and all that was left in their way was a row of those gargantuan beasts who were responsible for guarding the streets. They didn’t look so big to me now.

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