[~3 YEARS LATER]
The night was dark. Stars glittered above the ruins, bathing it in its glory. Tall stone pillars stood across the field. Wind whispered and whistled through the cracks, carrying dust and the faint smell of burnt metal.
Then he walked – he walked out of the shadows.
A whitecoat fluttered behind him. His hair was silver-white, spiky and more elegant than beautiful. His eyes were as sharp and cold as thunder, each staring a piercing strike into your soul.
His chest was bare, lined with dark cables that pulsed faintly beneath his skin. Metal plates ran along his arms, joining with his flesh like he was born with it. In his hands, two heavy guns, black and shining with faint red light. They looked more alive than a weapon should.
He stopped and looked up to the sky for a moment, lowering his head and whispering to himself, "coming into this world to think I would still be an orphan and a loner, tsk!"
Then a red beam cut through the dark. He tilted his head just in time for the beam to graze his cheek, splashing blood out as he took cover behind a stone pillar. The ground behind him burst into sparks.
"Come on, why can't you just bear with it that we are now strangers in this world?" He shouted behind the pillar.
"Perhaps you are forgetting something my friend, the currency here is way richer than the euros we used to spend in the old world," came from the shadows an eerie voice.
***
After the fall of the world and the birth of a new world, things have changed a lot. Instead of spending money, they spend credits. The credit has variants, ranging from brass all the way to gold.
After arriving in this world, all humans were granted with the Realm, a mystery that can never be resolved, granting them super reflexes and abilities.
Every realm is powered by the Force, this force is like nature in this world of codes, allowing its users to bend reality depending on how well they adapt to it and merge with it.
If something is a code, it could be exploited – hacked, patched, maintained and so on and so forth. This can basically be said to be the power granted by the Realm in this world.
Perhaps, it all depends on ones understanding of their Realm and self-awareness which will influence their actions in this mundane world.
The Realm has some attributes. Perhaps, in everything, there is superiority and inferiority. Hence, these attributes come in the form:
NAME:
PHYSIC: F- to A+
MENTALITY: F to SSS
REFLEXES: 0 to Infinity
RESONANCE: F to SSS
GROWTH: F to SSS
PROFICIENCY: 0 to Infinity
SKILLSET: 0 to Infinity or names of skills.
These attributes also signify the strength of each combatant, and each has the potential to progress.
***
"I can't believe you punk brought your greediness to this place. Instead of surviving, you are trying to exploit instead." Silver grumbled as he rolled to the other side of the pillar.
"Perhaps, human beings are very adaptable creatures. Hence, we live to adapt. Kikiki." Another voice rang in the shadows.
Another wave of red beams rained down the pillar, breaking it piece by piece until it turned into rubble.
Silver crawled on the ground and hid behind a pod, flickering his HUD to view his stats:
NAME: Silver Ash
PHYSIC: B
MENTALITY: A
REFLEXES: 18
RESONANCE: A
GROWTH:???
PROFICIENCY: 30
SKILLSET: Guncraft, Swordsmanship.
"Damn, I must try. I pray they shouldn't be too powerful," Silver said as he exhaled through his teeth like fumes coming off steam.
Raising his head a little above the pod, he spotted a shadow. He aimed, gripped and braced his gun on his right wrist before firing it. Pew went aloud, followed by piercing cries as loud thud was heard.
With one down, the battle officially began.
He jumped over the pod, approaching his pursuers as he slid and darted through the ruins like a seasoned warrior.
"Let's see how you escape this kid," a boulderer said as he shot a heavy weaponry.
It was a rectangular gun with four circles at the end- each circle bearing a missile. He discharged all four at the same time.
Left with no other option, Silver quickly took his stance. His left eye sparkled, everything moving at his own pace as though time was static. For that split second or so, he locked on three of the missiles, squeezing the trigger as the strikes from each side collided.
The one missile missed its target.
Silver then approached through the night light like a nocturnal, moving as agile as a monkey as he took out an enemy with every turn and twist.
---
"I can't believe we are losing to a child." A bald man unholstered his gun, drifting at insane speed towards Silver.
Getting close to each other, they all aimed at each other, their reaction times the same. There was a standoff, each party analyzing his opponent.
[INSPECT]
NAME: Jayden Cole
PHYSIC: A
MENTALITY: A
REFLEXES: 25
RESONANCE: A
GROWTH: A
PROFICIENCY: 20
SKILLSET: Guncraft, Close Combat.
Silver was a little shocked, but this was not the time to argue. Jayden was also wondering about why Silver was having question marks in his stats.
Silver pulled his trigger first, Jayden steps sided as the bullet flew past him. Crouching, he held Silvers hand as he tossed him over, his gun skidding on the floor.
Silver, wasting no time rolled on the floor as bullets rained on him. Getting closer to his opponent, he drew his belt, lashing it out at the feet of Jayden. He tried to jump but was a little too slow as he was pulled to the ground.
His gun skidded away. Reaching into his side pocket, he drew a knife, rolled and knelt on his knee. Silver did the same. Silver flexed his belt, and it turned into a myriad sword, exuding a deadly aura.
Jayden pounced, slashing at the chest of Silver who parried his strike and countered it with his. Sword and knife danced under the moonlight, creating sparks with every contact.
***
"Sir, at this rate, I am afraid-" The speaker was interrupted. A grey-haired man waved his hand and shook his head.
"Let's allow him to find us. After all, he will need our help very soon." With this said, they entered the shadows.
***
Choke. Jayden gasped for air as Silvers sword protruded through his chest. He tried to speak, but the words weren't coming.
At long last, he fell lifelessly to the ground, a small badge falling off the ground too.
Silver picked up the badge and looked at it, the inscription on it was a toxic head. "The Shadow Allianz. What do they want with me?"
Not brooding too much on it, he left the scene.
***
[Shadow Allianz – Sector 9]
"Report! Agent Jayden Cole has been eliminated." A man reported to a scruffy man sitting on a box made from steel. The man clenched his fist, biting his lips and he bellowed, "is the victim known?"
"Silver, Sir." "Silver? That nobody? Humph, we will see about that." The scruffy man stomped out of the room.
***
The Shadow Allianz is an org that deals with bounty hunting. They are elite combatants that are specialized and well versed with their Realm.
It has nine sectors in all, with Sector 1 being the most formidable.
They now have a simple motive, "all loners have to be executed, unless otherwise, joining the alliance."
Silver is someone who has led all his life on his own. No parents, friends, pets, nothing. As a result, he has become detached, the life that people live happily, he has never for once become happy in his life but the interesting thing is, he has began to feel it, something exciting.