Choice - 18

Choice - 18

When I arrived at the balcony, chaos greeted me, yet, I cared about two things above everything else.

First, the barrier that was protected the balcony, like invisible glass was gone, I tested it easily by touching it with my fingers.

Secondly, the condition of the barrier was around the floating fortress. I had a long range of tests I wanted to try to see if it was triggered by objects that moving from the inside, by throwing several things to test. If it was triggered, I would've been forced to climb the roof courtyard, to see if I could somehow figure out how to sabotage it before Toross caught up with me.

Luckily, that wasn't necessary. I could see that the barrier was gone, even without throwing any kind of object.

The horde of flying beasts, some barely as big as chickens, others large enough to rival elephants, filling the skies, diving toward the upper courtyard without any impediment was enough to show that, their numbers were enough to cover up the sky.

Just not enough to hide the fact that the flying castle had changed its direction, climbing toward the sky rather than moving down, its speed far greater than what it had been displaying earlier, but I let that slide. I was occupied by the reason for the lack of beasts in the fortress despite the great rush.

An answer came in the form of huge black tentacles, wrapped in the same crimson energy I had seen on the servants.

It was time to leave, I thought as I quickly tied up the blankets I had gathered, this time my haste was not just because of the risk of Toross' approach.

I might not be familiar with the new world, but I guess those giant black tentacles, easily taking down birds bigger than elephants didn't take that much. The spread of the crimson energy was an even worse sign. The two towers previously displaying an elegant sense of beauty, had long corroded into a half-broken state, the crimson energy dancing over their structure even more intense.

Whatever was happening was not good.

"I'm too old for this shit," I muttered, suddenly feeling more empathy for one of my favorite movie characters, and jumped.

It wasn't a suicide attempt, no matter how it might looked to the others. Firstly, I was confident almost that even if I had reached terminal velocity, the combination of a stronger body combined with health would have been enough to recover me.

Secondly, I wasn't falling at terminal velocity. No, I had my homemade parachute which tugging violently to my arms as I floated violently away, my grip a struggle to maintain even with the latest Strength assignment which was part of the reason why I took the risk of leveling but I managed to resist the temptation to assign even more.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

I had no idea what kind of situation I would face as I floated away, into an unknown world, wearing nothing but rattled clothes, and armed with only a dagger.

"But maybe it doesn't have to be," I muttered as I noticed a welcome sight as I moved down. The flying vehicle the intruders had used to arrive at the castle, unaware of the gruesome fate that awaited them, was floating below, still in the same place.

An opportunity that was too great to miss, I thought even as I pulled the blanket, trying to direct my fall. There was a chance the controls were simple enough that I could figure. And even if the controls weren't as smooth, there might be something I could take to make what awaited me slightly easier.

I still remembered the rabid, crazed reaction of the beasts towards me, and while that crimson energy posed a greater temptation towards them, I expected things would change once if I got away from the castle fast enough.

Agility and Strength helped me to change my direction, even more accurately than I had been expecting it to be possible. And, for a moment, a happy, blissful moment, I thought that it would be it.

Then, I heard a cry of rage, one that overcame even the constant cacophony of beasts' desperate battle against the tentacle monster. I glanced up, only to see Toross looking at me

My speed was dangerously fast, but that danger wasn't as scary as the crimson energy gathering in Toross' hand.

I burst through the open door at full speed, with no chance to bleed any momentum, pain hitting me hard as I collided against some kind of device at the center of the room, and several glowing orbs spread around the room.

An injury that would have killed me easily, or at least left me crippled back in my world.

[-9 Health]

Pity, I didn't have the luxury of enjoying the relative invincibility, especially since I was just a few years away from the period where a slip in the shower might prove deadly.

I immediately realized that, in my emergency landing, I managed to destroy a vital aspect of the flying vehicle. The glowing rocks were a small piece of evidence. So was the sudden plunge the device took toward the ground like its strings were cut.

However, that was not the biggest source of my focus as I certainly enjoyed the existence of a cover that traveled with me as I moved toward the ground.

No, that honor went to another set of writing appearing in my field of vision, begging for my attention.

[Energy Source Detected - Promotion Available

Trigger Promotion

Accept / Decline]

I was tempted to accept it, as the System was the sole reason I was able to survive, and Promotion was worthy of testing. Unfortunately, I had no idea whether it would be instantaneous, and it was something that could await my landing.

I tried to stand up, but before I could do so, I felt a flare in the distance, coming from the flying castle. It was a flare of crimson energy, similar to how Toross radiated when he was ordering around the servants.

And, an order echoed in my mind.

ACCEPT.

I had no intention of following such an order and tried to reject it, but I felt a flare in my mind, my sole skill giving the same sense of redness, almost like a trojan horse. My mind filled with a desire to kill, to slaughter, to destroy...

ACCEPT.

I desperately tried to assign all of my free points to Resilience, that it would be enough to protect me from those commands.

It wasn't. Before I could even assign any of my free points, I lost my ability to resist, forced into the mental command, accepting the promotion