On the vibrant streets of the Megapolitian city, Hover cars drove through on the expanse of the vast roads.
Integral structural constructs built with state-of-the-art engineering and futuristic designs littered the urban roads with their technological advancement.
These automobiles barely had the features of a car and were mostly composed of the physical and integral built of a jet. Though much stabilised for short and long term transport on the road, with less tendency to implode and consume gas at a rapid rate.
The roads were structured away and around the tall buildings of the cities, another infrastructure with cutting-edge qualities.
Billboards lie bare on most of the buildings, revealing game consoles, futuristic gadgets, events and appliances that stimulate one's taste to spend money.
Away from the buildings, on the major highway, a sturdy, lengthy car akin to a limousine, yet starkly different.
It housed two girls and an elderly male, one vulnerable to time, yet his sharp gaze spoke otherwise.
He sat opposite the two ladies who glanced at the windows beside them, arms folded and legs crossed.
A stark silence stood palpable within, tension threatening to brew.
The man glanced at his left, there, Molly sat, her attention on the passing vehicles as they sped down the road.
He couldn't care less about the thinking process of his daughter, but he had to admit, he did now.
With the disparity of the situation, he had wished to check for his niece's abilities and quickly update his plans. After all, unexpected variables are a liability to one's decision-making and must be avoided at all times.
At the moment, Dollin served as a key to that liability. Not herself personally, but her action and decision henceforth.
After all, they were never on the same page and had never actually been on good footing.
'Though it was that bastard's decision to lock her up in the bunker.'
His thoughts reeled compulsively when his daughter met his gaze.
She pouted and looked away, scoffing at the same time.
With a slight grin, he turned away as well.
'Oh, my dear Molly. How foolish you are in the grand scheme of things.'
He glanced at Dollina, his gaze narrowing.
'What could she possibly be looking at….or thinking of?'
"Miss Dollina." He called.
Dollina flinched, her eyes flicking shut before she glanced at him.
He raised a brow.
"Where you inspecting your Status? You may do so, but you will have to reveal it during the Test."
Dollina tilted her head, deep in thought for a moment.
"I don't have to."
Molly whipped her head towards her while Fin frowned slightly, a slight clench beneath his jaw.
"What do you mean? You need to do so when taking a test."
Dollina glanced at him for a moment, her fingers reaching for her lips as she tapped them slightly.
"But that's for the common people. I'm different.
I can skip that process and join the guild."
"Yes, you can, as the daughter of the Guild Master, but" – "But nothing. If I remember correctly, my eldest brother did the same. He didn't feel comfortable revealing his status and has remained confidential till now."
Fin' lips curled deeper, a scowl festering on his forehead.
This was a scenario he had not considered. After all, she had been trained all her life to do her father's bidding.
She was called the pet of the family for a reason: a child who only listens to what has been told.
But now, she was—
"Is this a rebellion?"
Dollina glanced away, her lips curled downwards.
"It is not. I am simply stating my rights and conditions. We go to the Guild, but not for a test, but for a contract."
Fin's brows twisted even deeper, his head tilted sideways.
Molly gasped, her hands clasping her mouth shut.
"A contract? Dolly, are you not taking this a bit far? We all serve the Regal Hall. It is our duty as the Oltons."
She remained silent.
Contemplating. Deep in thought.
This was one way of securing her position in the Guild.
Hiding her abilities from her enemies and taking a stand when her father least expects it.
'I bet the man would chuckle and shrug this off as a child's tantrum.'
Well, it could easily be conceived as that, but Dollina was different.
One of a kind, even amongst her brothers. She had been gifted with something much more than just the "status". And that was her character.
She glanced at Fin once more, her lips curled into a thin smile.
"I will tell you at least this."
She said, her eyes flickering with such brilliance.
"My grade is legendary."
Fin jerked slightly while Molly squealed, throwing herself at her cousin in a tight hug.
"Congratulations, Dolly, you really deserved this."
"Thank you."
She said in reply, her smile widening and welcoming. She lingered in her embrace for a bit longer, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she peeked at her uncle.
The man sat silent, unmoving as still water.
His expression was a mask of ice, yet the emotions that screamed within were nearly translucent.
She could see it, and she could tell.
This man was furious.
'Hah…..they always did say that, didn't they? Blood runs thicker than water.'
Despite the rags that boiled within, ready to run out like steam, he had to admit.
'A legendary card? A liability indeed.'
*****
There were five classes of Glitches, determined by the amount of destruction they served to humanity.
They arrived on Earth with a liability to cause the extinction of the human race either singly or in groups.
Each class was further subdivided into levels or hives, akin to the chess pieces.
The five classes included Storm, Turbulent, Disaster, Catastrophe and Calamity, and they were further subdivided into pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens and King.
There was a reason for this manner of distribution, and that was because the Glitches tended to move in hives.
Pawns were always found in large numbers, and lone pawns were liable to die quickly.
Rooks were found in groups of five to three, depending on their class, and they tended to act with pawns, serving as a messenger of the commander and leading them.
Knights and Bishops were on the same level of destruction, with Knights being fewer than Bishops.
Knights were short-distance fighters, engaging in physical combat and close-quarters combat.
Bishops were long-distance fighters and engaged in projectile and long-range destruction.
The Queens and Kings were the heart of the hive, with the latter being vastly stronger than the former.
Queens were powerful in their own way and caused both close-quarter and long-distance destruction.
The same could be said about the King, but the King of a hive of Glitches was extremely difficult to find and kill.
Knowing this, Paxton was able to come to his conclusion as he rested on the bark of the onyx tree.
His body heaved with curt breaths, the glowing green orb shimmering in his grasp as he stared at it.
His lips quivered from the frightening cold as the snow began to kick in, dispersing in the skies in a threatening storm.
He scoffed, chuckling at himself inwardly.
'A snowstorm at a time like this? That bitch must be giggling at herself by now.'
What he thought to do was dumb.
Stupid even, as it was a situation never once thought of before.
'Eating a Pixel Ore without a Pixel Hall? Yeah, if any of those Player Scientists heard of this….they would question my sanity.'
Or perhaps wait for the result and record it?
'Yeah, that seems more likeable.'
Glancing up at the sky, his ambient eyes flicked with a crimson intensity.
Scarlet light shimmering across the expanse of the dark skies, clouded by the falling snow.
The moon, malevolent and fearsome, held the weight of the skies, anchoring itself with a majestic pool.
He sat mesmerised for a while, shifting his thoughts away from rationality.
Well, everything so far had been a spur of irrationality on a rewind tape, but preparation for the unknown was….the least he could do.
'Alright! Enough stalling!'
Glancing down, he pulled the ore to his face, hesitated for just a second and then, with slow steps, opened his mouth– widely.
The ore was merely as small as a baby fist, the size of a regular Storm Pawn, so swallowing it was as simple as putting it in his mouth.
In a gulp, he consumed it, then in the next, his world split apart as a fiery pain burning from within shot through his body like a bullet.
He heaved greatly, gripping his neck as he fell flat on his body. The snow gripped him tightly, the biting cold crippling him, but the burning fire within was stronger. Much stronger.
With a sudden gasp, his body shut to his feet, slammed on the bark of the tree then fell flat on his belly once more.
The Fire assaulted his brain, pain bearing teeth at his flesh from the inside out.
Throbbing flames burnt his vessels, pulsed his arteries, stretched his veins, thumped his heart, surged his brain, struck his nerve, permeated his eyes, reached his core, his abdomen burning like red hot iron.
A scream so loud threatened to escape– in fact, it did.
Yet every time, he would stop himself, holding back, clasping his mouth shut, fighting against the pain.
Struggling, losing, struggling yet again and still losing to it. Yet that didn't stop him as his body jerked irrationally on the snow, unforsaken misery taking full control over his body.
This commenced for minutes? Hours? Days? Or maybe not, as time was slowly lost to him, rationality was lost to him, and his bodily senses were lost to him.
He slowly faded with the pain, slipping into a deep unconsciousness.