Surviving the Apocalypse with a System.

Shattered Republic ( Part 5 )

She startled everyone , including the two men that had already met her before.

“It’s her , everyone can see her right?,” Hamilton whispered , glad to see that Cynthia could also perceive the bluish butler girl. It confirmed that he wasn’t losing his sanity.

“ Hello fool , Aiko is still not happy to see you in her presence ,” the girl waved at Hamilton with the same big and fake smile dressed up in happy eyes.

“ Say that again ,” Hamilton stood up and tore Aiko a menacing glare.

Cynthia reached out and grabbed at his hand , fearful of where this was going to. With all that had been happening, a person only needed but a moment's slip to cause irreparable harm.

“Bossman , Aiko does not understand why you entertain the fool . She sees no head in it ,” the bashful girl turned to face Jack with hyper energy and brimming expectations.

It made Jack wonder whether she was unable to perceive emotions. That or she was being intentional at making a bad joke out of everything.

Linzy stepped in front of her , then turned to face Jack , “ Bossman?”

Jack sighed , “ I only know that she’s been a voice inside my head for quite a while now. Anything else about her remains a mystery. Aiko , tell us what you are .”

The blue screen flickered in front of Jack yet again.

He had now started getting accustomed to having it popping up in front of him that he did not even bat an eyelid.

[

System Notification,

System Assistant

Name : Aiko

Race : Human

Origin : The world of Praiyas

Threat Level : None

]

“ Aiko is the Bossman's assistant. Bossman has been chosen to save this world and has been given a System, so Aiko is sent to help,” the girl did not even give regard to Linzy , craning her neck to see Jack over the taller woman’s shoulders.

“ After all that you have seen today Jack, she should be the last of your concerns. I can’t afford to wait any longer , anyone who wishes to live should join me ,” Timothy said and turned towards the stairs. He wondered whether he was the only one in the room with a sense of urgency.

“ Aiko still warns you against taking another step down that path , lest you are also a fool like this angry one and would like to test your chances with a Dread Ghost. Either way , Aiko only cares about Bossman , the fools are free to do as they wish ,” the girl turned to Timothy.

Everyone went silent . No one had ever spoken up against the boss in that tongue and lived to tell the tale.

The stakes weighing down on the man , however , did not allow him the luxury of scolding the rude girl. Clicking his tongue in annoyance , he walked down the stairs , not caring whether he was alone or not.

"Arrogant brat ,"

“ I fear that he is making a mistake,” Cynthia worried about Timothy. He had done so much for her already that she shuddered at the thought of one of the lurking monsters pouncing on him. Hamilton turned to her and nodded.

“ What do you mean Dread Ghost ? You better start talking sense, ” Linzy was having just about enough of the new girl and her arrogant disregard for others.

Aiko smiled back but remained silent , eager to see what Linzy would resort to if further provoked.

“ She asked you a fucking question ,” this time not even Cynthia could hold back Hamilton.

“ Yet she is not my master , only Bossman can command me ,” Aiko propped up her pride. Jack gave her an impatient look and she yielded.

“ Ookay , Aiko will grant this fool the favour of enlightenment,” she sighed grudgingly. Hamilton saw red and Aiko’s smile widened the more.

“ What the mighty Bossman has taken down is called a Wailing Hound. They are a vile and disgusting race of mindless beasts from another world far darker than this one. They eat flesh , but obtain nourishment from the soul.

Now listen closely , this is where important information starts going circles around mundane minds , with the exception of Bossman of course,” she smiled for effect.

“ The Bond of Stipulatio , where the beast meets master. Without it , you would have had this building swarmed by the hounds. There can be no more than a maximum of three under Stipulatio , so three Waning Hounds.

And the only creature that can hold a natural Stipulatio with a Wailing Hound , is a Dread Ghost. A thing of more darkness whose flames hate the light, ” she explained, then surprisingly lost her balance for a slight moment as her body started weakening. Linzy got hold of her shoulders and prevented her fall.

“Aiko only allows the hands of Bossman upon her , but she receives this woman’s gesture .This woman now holds one favour in the great eyes of Aiko,”

“ Are you saying that there is something out there worse than the Wailing Hounds ?” Jack’s concern was on the greater survival of the group .

“ Yes Bossman , and Aiko feels the signs of its presence nearby. Aiko must go back into the System now and she doesn't know for how long she will sleep. Aiko can only advise the Bossman to rely on the System , it is the only way ,” she said as the rest of the group watched the blue haze of the girl glitch into thin air.

[

System Notification,

Assistant recalled.

Side Quest Unlocked , Kill Dread Ghost x 1.

Expected Rewards ; Summoning Tickets x 2 , Point x 400

]

Aiko’s words hit home and Jack decided to finally learn what this System that she kept on talking about was.

He easily noted that the blue screen responded to his mental intentions and started exploiting that fact.

He pulled up a page that had caught his interest a while back.It seemed to give a sufficient overview of what to expect from his supposedly new found abilities.

[

Personal Attributes :

Strength - Level 2

Speed - Level 3

Durability -Level 1

Stamina - Level 1

Talents:

1) Rejuvenation - Stage 1 ,level 1

2) Perception - Max level

]

He recalled how he had been able to run up the stairs at an extraordinary higher speed without getting tired from it. Simple deduction tied that miracle to the attributes of speed and stamina that he was seeing on the screen. He wondered what the levels on them meant and what might happen to him were they to increase.

Then he remembered the rejuvenation talent kicking in when his ankle was healed . The perception talent went off when he understood the traits of the second Wailing Hound by just setting his eyes upon it.

“Speed really comes in handy ,” he reasoned , noticing that he had 200 points from the earlier maintenance notification.

[

Speed :

- Level 3.

- Next level requirement , Points x150

]

He put in the required number of points and watched the blue screen flicker.

[

System Notification :

Speed Level ; 3 -> 4

Points remaining ; x50

]

“ What are you looking at ?” Hamilton asked , being the first to recover from seeing a person vanish into thin air.

He had noticed with concern that Jack seemed to be staring into empty space , smiling a little as he did so.

“I doubt you’ll believe me ,” Jack dismissed the screen and turned over to Linzy.

From the look on her face , he understood that the leading events were pushing her to a breaking point.They were doing so to everyone , in fact. Some like Hamilton were just hard headed and tougher to break.

“ There’s nothing I won’t believe within the walls of this building , if it means we get to survive ,” Linzy spoke up, her words leaning to encouragement. It made Jack wonder what form of resilience she was made of that defied her very outlook.

“ I agree with her ,” Cynthia was still unable to move much of her body , but she needed to air her thoughts as well.

Normally , she would be the typical silent type that preferred keeping to herself and passing by unnoticed. But now with the ever rising danger , she realised that she also needed to start contributing to the group.

A loud shriek came from below them and then a large explosion tore a round gaping hole at the centre of the first floor where the group stood.

A wide roaring flame erupted out of this hole and rose till it hit the ceiling above. Human corpses, charred to the skeleton , spewed out of the flames and scattered all over the first floor .

One of these shot out towards Linzy but Jack swifty jumped in front of her and swiped the corpse aside with his forearm. The fabric on his white shirt burnt away under the intense heat.

“ Thanks , if that had hit me …” she shuddered.

The raging flames only burned for about four seconds then died out. The water sprinkles installed on the ceiling of the second floor immediately kicked into action , drenching the entire space till they had snuffed out the very last of the flames.

“ Is that the boss? Mr Chester ?” Hamilton turned towards the stairway leading to the ground floor. The one Timothy had taken when he left them behind.

Jack looked at the man walking toward them , and his stomach churned again.

Half of his face had serious burn marks and his left hand was missing. According to his Perception talent , he saw that the man was just barely among the living , and shouldn’t even have been moving.

Linzy wanted to go help him but Jack held her back.

“ He’s already gone ,” he told her.