Chapter 12: Stereotypical (5)

“You can let go of my sister now.”  Lev said coldly.

The shift in tone was less than subtle.  Jain slid Irina’s arm off his shoulder and Lev supported her easily.

The two stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.

It was Natalia who broke the tension, “Lev, we need to find Papa, and Irina needs help.”

“Most of her wounds are already closed.”  Lev replied, adding something in Russian at the end.

Natalia didn’t quite frown but her smile faded a smidge.  She replied to the youngest Kristoff in English, however, “Not our way, brother.”

Whatever Lev had said, it had been about Jain.  He didn’t need to speak Russian to know that.  Exactly what it had been about though… Well, Jain didn’t want to stick long enough to find out.

Natalia turned to him, speaking without preamble.  “Come with us.”

—

Quest: Rescue the Kristoff Patriarch

Difficulty: A-

Description: Help the Kristoff Heirs find their father.

Success: Rescue Yuri Kristoff

Failure: Failure to rescue Yuri Kristoff or death of two siblings.

Reward: ???

Penalty: Enemy of the Kristoff Bratva

(Y/N)?

—

“Um,”  Jain hesitated, surprised by the frankness.

But he’d already been expecting this and had mulled over his decision for quite some time.

He pressed his answer and with it, another screen popped up; fading into the background a moment later.

—

You have left Natalia Kristoff’s party.

—

“Sorry,” Jain refused to meet Natalia’s eyes.  He felt ashamed somehow, scared to meet the bold eyes of the eldest Kristoff Heiress.  “I’m uh, I think it’s better if I go my own way.”

Lev cursed in his native tongue and made a move.

Natalia stopped him with a look.  “Stay your hand, Lev.”  Her tone was hard.

“He knows.”  Lev muttered.

And suddenly, Jain felt very naked.  

And alone.  Very much alone.

Natalia turned back to Jain, asking a simple question.  But the sex kitten act was long gone.  Jain had seen Natalia’s true face with the goblins and she knew it.  She cut the flirtatious act, asking him one question.

“Why?”

When Natalia asked this question, it was with all the heaviness of the Kristoff Mob’s second-in-command.

Jain wasn’t blind to who or what the Kristoff siblings might be.  He’d dealt with all sorts of clients, albeit he’d never spent this amount of extended time with any of the unsavory sorts.  But it was more than enough to deduce the Kristoff Family’s identity.  The clues were in the quests, using words like ‘Heirs’, ‘Bratva’.  Plus, compared to Jain’s own clumsy attempt at survival, Irina had been too comfortable with fighting for her life.  That went double for Natalia and Lev.

Like they were people who lived side by side with violence.

Gang members.  Mafia.  Mobsters.  Traid.

‘I guess it’s those sort of people who’d survive.’  He noted solemnly.

Natalia was still waiting for him to answer.

Jain had no idea how to answer this.  To tell the truth might bring him unwanted attention.  Lev already didn’t like him, he didn’t want to get on Natalia’s bad side either.

“I’m, uh,”  Jain gave a small laugh, “I need to go get my other gun?”  He joked, pointing at his boxers.  He immediately regretted saying it; as his jokes as went, it was pretty crude.

Perhaps it was a stupid decision.  What else could be safer than being ‘adopted’ into the three siblings’ protection, these people that are optimized for surviving the apocalypse?  People who had no qualms about killing or rushing headlong into danger.  An organization filled with people loyal to the three.

And if the quest was to be believed…

Their father was alive.

It could be the safe choice.  Sure.

But Jain couldn’t ignore Lev’s constant looks.  The greed contained inside those blue eyes everytime he looked at Jain’s gun.  The P38, not the one underneath the boxers.

No.  He wouldn’t go with them.

Natalia dragged her eyes over Jain.  After what seemed like an eternity, she broke a smile.  “Right, you left it at home?”

Just like that, the tension broke.

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Templar.”

‘Mr. Templar now, not Jain.’  

“But Natalia, that gun-”  Lev protested.

“Lev, we’re going to go now.”  Natalia turned, choosing a random direction.  Immediately, her [Aura] changed colors.

“Wait, not that way,”  Jain pointed towards north.  “That way.”

Natalia raised an eyebrow.  “Is that so?  How do you know this?”

“Um.  I used to be a psychic?”  Jain offered hopefully.

Natalia laughed.  “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us?  We could use a man of your talents.”

Jain blanched and the look was answer enough for the eldest Kristoff.

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Templar.  Best of luck, finding your… other sword.”  Natalia then winked, walking off with Lev following after her.  Irina was still slumped, her feet being dragged by her taller younger brother.

“Say good-bye to Irina for me.”  Jain called out but it was too late.

Without waiting, Natalia immediately drew her uzis and began moving from one overturned car to another, at times using a street lamp or building alleyways as cover.  Lev was only a few steps behind, his book out in his other hand.  Jain hid himself in a corner, watching as the Kristoffs got further and further away, until eventually, he lost sight of them.

Now Jain was really alone.

***

The sun cast a mystical reddish glow.  The rays of light bounced off the mailboxes, overturned cars and everything else, forcing Jain to once again look at the state of this city.  Everything was either broken, burning or both.

Jain had wanted to escape the Museum so badly, but now that he was actually out, he wasn’t too sure.  It was just that in there, everything felt so rushed.  So dangerous.  Jain knew that he’d been extremely lucky.  The fast-paced movement from one-danger into another had been slowly wearing down on him; and Jain knew he’d slip up sooner or later.

But the streets of New York City gave off a different sense of danger.  He had expected screams, gunshots or maybe even the National Guard.  But everything was so quiet.  The eerie silence was felt like it was filled to the brim, about to overflow at a moment’s notice.  It made Jain hesitate, unsure of what to do next.  He briefly debated ducking back into the museum.

‘No, it’s better to be out here.’  Jain shook his head.  Being trapped in the museum with the goblin horde, Tsutsugamushi or the Karajà (Jain shivered, remembering the thing) would have been a certain death sentence.

Still, where could he go?

‘Family.’  

The word sent a hollow pang across his chest.  He didn’t have a lot of family or friends.  But because they were so precious few, there was an indescribable bond.  Even if his father and mother weren’t the best parents, they were his.  

‘The last I heard, mom was back in China.  And Dad… he should be traveling up the west coast with the Carnival.’

Jain imagined himself, riding in on a red cape to rescue his father and mother from certain doom.  The momentary joy was short-lived, however, as he considered just how much effort that would take.

‘No cars.  No planes.’  Jain thought of the strange bird-creature that ate Dr. Erste in a few gulps.  ‘Especially if there are things like that running around.  I’m supposed to cross the country and ocean on nothing but foot?’

Jain looked at the heap of overturned cars, many of them on fire.

There were just so many things he couldn’t do.  He couldn’t fix a car, call a cab, buy plane tickets or even call to check on his parents.  So many things in his world had relied on the infrastructures set in place by his ancestors, and his ancestors before them.  Humans, as a race, had built an unshakeable empire through innovation and technology; greed driving forth great breakthroughs through the centuries.

Humans could fly, for god’s sake.

And overnight… it was gone.  Just like that.

Jain found it hard to breathe as the imagery of him rescuing his parents splintered into a billion pieces, crushed underneath the weight of his new reality.

A breeze whistled, lonely and tired.  Feeling the chill in his legs, Jain looked down.

“Pants.”  He said at last.  “I need pants.”

Jain quickly transversed the streets, trying his best to imitate what Natalia had done.  He looked for cover, waiting a few moments before moving onto the next.  It was painstakingly slow, but he made progress.  He also learned one thing.

Without the [Aura] of others to guide him, Jain felt blind.

In that short amount of time, he’d grown used to seeing the outline of color around Irina, Lev and Natalia to guide his path.  To determine whether it was the right direction, or whether it was fraught with danger.  By himself, he had to rely on his own senses.  The non-magical ones.

It took Jain the better part of an hour to find a place that he could call safe.  Finding an unlocked car, he slid into the backseat.  Taking a quick look out the windows, he sat on the floor –afraid that something might see his head through the window if he say on the chairs.  It was cramped and dusty, but it slowed his heart rate somewhat.

“How the hell are people supposed to get around now.”  Jain said hoarsely, his voice cracking from disuse.  

People, that’s what he needed.  He needed other people.

Already, he regretted rejecting Natalia’s offer.

Regardless, walking around like this in broad daylight was nerve wracking.  Deep inside, Jain knew that he wouldn’t be able to do this for long.  Especially when he didn’t have any combat skills like the others.  If a monster even chanced upon him–

“I’m so stupid.”  Jain gasped and immediately pulled up his character screen.

The familiar box popped in his vision, visible but not visible, like an illusion that existed only to him.  Overlaid on top of the world, but not really a part of it.  Jain looked over the screen, finding exactly what he was looking for.

Name: Jain Templar

Race: Human (Base)

Level: 5

—

• Class (New!)

• Stats (New!)

• Abilities (New!)

• Quest

• Help

Pressing an eager finger to ‘Class’, Jain almost jumped back as the screen shifted to a video.

It was the boy and girl again, the pair wearing the dinosaur onesies.

The boy blew on a party blower, and a little sound effect played.

“Congratulations on reaching level 5!”  He blew on it again, the little ‘toot toot’ making Jain peek outside the car window nervously.  Even though he knew only he could see and hear, it still worried him.  “Having a Class is a big step.  So we thought we’d help out!”

“For those of you who read the Help section,”  His sister continued, ignoring her brother who was obnoxiously playing the party horn and jumping around.  “You should know that there are hundreds of jobs!”  

The screen flashed, and the little girl was in front of a chalkboard.  She wore wide-rimmed glasses now, and had a comical pointer in one hand.  The kind with those little miniature hands with the pointer extended.

“If you’ve survived so far, I’m going to assume you saw your stats.  They are Body, Mind, and Spirit!”  She pointed to each of the subjects on the board.  “Of course, there are a bunch of sub-stats.  But until your job advancement, you don’t really have to worry about that.”

“Sisss!  The advancement was a secret!”

“Oopsies!”  She winked at the camera.

Her brother quickly ran over to the chalkboard.  “The point is that everyone has a different allocation of stats!  It’s not random either! Your stats reflect the type of life you led until now!”

“10 points only though! Split up between the three!”  The girl zoomed in on the camera, until only her face was showing.  She brought her hood up and zipped it all the way up, so that only the pink dinosaur face was visible.  “And it’s those a…allo… allocatuations? Allocatuations that you should pay attention to when choosing your class!”

“I know, I know.  The [Help] section only lists the classes, but doesn’t really give descriptions.”  The boy shook his head, his tone regretful.  “We tried to get that changed, but we’re not trying to give handouts here.”

“Give me a break.”  Jain complained.  He had been hoping to look at the [Help] section to see what class he could choose.

“Not that it’s much help.  There’s only so many Classes you could choose from.”  The girl started chasing her brother around, making growling noises.  “Most people can only choose from between two.  Three if you’re lucky.”

“Unless you’re super-duper-ultralicious lucky!”  He threw a bunch of confetti in the air.  “Then you get one of those super-rare-secret Classes!”

“Teehee! Just like Quests!”  The girl got a mischievous look on her face and placed both hands on her mouth as soon as she said it.  “Oops, The super-duper-rare-secret quests are supposed to be a secret!”

“Now we’re even!” said the blue-disnosaur onesie boy, holding a placard that said ‘1:1’.  “Just know this! When choosing your class, choose what you're good at!”

“Even the most boring class can shine in the hands of a master.”  The visual effects were dizzing, one moment the girl was a pink-dinosaur-onesie wearing child and the next, she was cosplaying as a japanese samurai.  “It’s all about that Shokunin attitude.  And even the sharpest of katana is dull in the hands of a fool.”  

“Well, that’s all the advice for today!”  The boy and his sister held hands, giving a grand bow.  “Congratulations on making it this far, and see you on the Rankings!”

The screen blacked out.

“...What the fuck…”  Jain cursed.

He vaguely remembered seeing the two children in the initial video.  But back then, Jain had been panic-ridden; thinking he’d been drugged or getting a stroke or something.  This time, he made sure to pay attention.  Yet, he wasn’t sure he absorbed everything that they said.

“Ok, so stats.  Look at stats.”  Jain muttered.  Saying things out loud helped him organize the information in his head.  “Stats relate to Jobs.  And stats are what you’re good at.  Which is bullshit, because my stats are– huh?”  

Name: Jain Templar

Race: Human (Base)

Level: 5

—

Body: 2

Mind: 3

Spirit: 5

SP: 1

“I have a stat point.”  Jain said and automatically brought his hand towards [Body].  He couldn’t remember how many times he wanted to be faster or stronger.  If he the stats truly correlated to how his body worked, then it wasn’t impossible to become like Irina one day.

“Wait, no.  That’s not right.”

He bit into his fingernail, immediately tasted salt and spat to the side.  It was a disgusting habit he didn’t want to envelop.

“Can I ever be like Irina?”

The answer was a resounding ‘No’.  Jain knew deep down, that no matter what happened he would never catch up to Irina’s raw strength or Natalia’s reflexes.  It just wasn’t possible, especially if stats reflected the life they led.  They already had a head start on him, how could he catch up?

“And why am I worrying about other people?”  He wondered out loud, “It’s not like I have to compete with them.”  

Even as he said it, he remembered the feeling from only hours ago.  That feeling of being so naked in front of Natalia and Lev.  If they had decided to do something…

Actually, Lev had wanted to do something.

That moment of unsurety between Jain and Lev, right after the mood had shifted from tentative allies to strangers.  Jain was beginning to think that if Natalia hadn’t been there, Lev would have tried something.  If not for the gun, just because.  Jain wasn’t blind to the fact that Lev wanted to keep things from Jain and it was only at Irina’s insistence that he ended up sharing valuable intel.

Jain’s guts told him that moment had been one of immediate danger.  A lethal one.  If either Lev or Jain had been more consciously aware of the current state of the world… and had been more experienced in surviving in this New Earth…

He shook his head, not wanting to go down that road.

“Ok.  Let’s put that on standby now.”  Unsure of what to do with his stat point, Jain turned back to the class screen.

This time, there was no intro video.

Three choices lay before him.

“Sweet baby Jesus and the Donkey of Legend.”  Jain swore.

Name: Jain Templar

Race: Human (Base)

Level: 5

—

Mage Initiate

Cult Initiate (Hidden)

Spirit Gambler (Hidden)

—

Not one.  But two.

Two Classes said the words [Hidden] next to them.