Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 354: Expectations and consequences

"Are you sure?" I ask Tess, my curiosity growing. I want to see how she responds.

"Yes," she says simply.

"Do you have the right to decide that?" I ask though I don't care what happens to the guy. I want to know what the young blonde in front of me is thinking.

"Who cares if I have the right?"

Ok, that’s a good answer.

So I ask again, pushing her, "I killed a real human, I threw that guy on the 1st floor to the Cinderbear."

"Yes, you did."

"Soph and Hadwin also killed the guy who wanted to kill Soph after his friend died."

"Yes, they did."

"And Izzy probably burned a group of people from Hard difficulty who entered Hell difficulty back on the third floor. Are you going to punish all of us as well?"

"I will not." A simple answer.

"That's hypocritical."

"Yes, it is."

"So you want others to follow your rules while acting as judge, jury, and executioner without following the rules yourself?" I continue to push.

"It's not about rules I want them to follow. As I told you before, I will be leading this round of the tutorial. I will take over so our group will be safe when we return in four years. Yes, it's still far off but it will be better to start right away."

Gareth is just listening and the murderer tied to the chair is forgotten. Only when the bound man tries to say something do I hold his mouth shut with [Redistribution].

"No one will want to follow a woman who sets rules she won't follow herself," I note.

"They will have to," another simple answer I like.

"So this man is an example?"

"Yes, we will make an example of him. A lot of them think they can do anything they want during the tournament because they can't die. A lot of them also know about this murderer, rumors have been spreading for a long time and he even bragged in Community."

"Sounds good," I can’t help but be fascinated by this version of Tess. And yet that can't be all there is to it.

Her subclass is Chastity and now here she is, greedily trying to pull everyone under her control. Gareth, other difficulties, and even the people from Hell. All in the name of protecting her friends and maintaining the camaraderie she’s always wanted. It feels greedy but pure at the same time. Such a twisted combination.

So I don't mind helping, "I could forcefully inscribe a construct inside of his body. The kind that would trigger gradually a few days after he leaves the tournament. I could make one that constantly disrupts his mana or one that will make his heart explode. Something impossible for someone of his level to deal with. With a bit of help from Grumpy or Soph and some testing to learn what the system will allow, I should be able to do it fairly easily."

"We can't do that," Gareth finally joins in. "I know where you’re coming from, Sset, but this, this is too much. You won't fix anything if you become a murderer as well."

"I’ve told you before Gareth, but you’re too soft. We saw it all over the previous floors, there was always someone strong keeping the others in check. The second floor had the Champions. The third floor had a king. On the fourth floor, the lynthari kept the order and no one dared to step too far out of line. Even what we learned about the fifth, the Absolute, the Champions, and their powerful guilds," she gestures around.

"I know where you are coming from. But there has to be another way."

"Probably? Maybe we’ll find a utopia on one of the higher floors. But Gareth, Soph, and I looked into his mind, albeit briefly. I felt flashes of his emotions when he killed people. This man is nothing more than a rabid dog to be put down."

She takes a step towards the bound man and looks down at him, her voice turning darker, "We’ve all done things we’re not proud of and I'm sure we will continue to do so. And probably worse. We will kill natives, we’ll even kill people from Earth. Hell, some of us might end up like this man. But right now I want him dead because of the things I saw in his memories. Later I will learn more about the way I want to walk. Then I might regret it, or maybe not."

Instead of talking to Tess, Gareth turns to me, switching his strategy, "And how about you? Have you accepted the idea of killing him so easily?"

"I have," I affirm.

"Would you kill so easily no matter who asked?"

"I only agreed because Sset is the one asking," I clarify. "I trust her," I say, focusing on Gareth, and returning his gaze.

The man seems to be distraught. But he doesn't feel weak or indecisive. It's like he’s honestly trying to find a better way.

Gareth takes a step closer to me, his voice more urgent, "What if she’s lying? You only have her word, and it's a big decision. You should think this over. What if she’s using you or intends to in the future? Perhaps she’s twisting the truth to make you do what she wants."

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think I might kill her."

That shocks Gareth into stunned silence. He keeps looking back and forth between Tess and I.

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When I look at the blonde, she is smiling at me, gentle and understanding.

"How can you say that so easily, isn't she your friend?"

"It’s not easy," I tell Gareth. "Isn’t a betrayal of that magnitude a good enough reason on its own?"

"Even though she’s your friend?" Gareth asks, refusing to let go.

With a sigh, I continue, "Wouldn't that just make it that much worse? I do things she asks of me without questioning her. I gave her my trust and she knows it and can make use of me. But that comes with expectations from my side and consequences should she betray them."

Stepping closer to the bound man, I collect my mana and touch his head, sending it through his natural barrier. I break through easily and place an anchor directly on him, infusing it with enough mana to last for days. It might disappear if he enters the event, but I’ve remembered his mana signature so I should be able to find him quite easily.

Turning to Tess, I reach to the anchor I placed in the common area, "I will return home and will come up with something later."

"See you later," Tess says.

"Sure," I activate the anchor and disappear, appearing in the middle of a crowd.

My sudden appearance makes some people jump, while I continue towards the house where I felt Min-Jae's signature. Walking for a minute I reach the patch of trees and start cycling mana to hide my presence. Min-Jae has become better at detecting people lately.

Silently I enter a small patch of trees and when I hear his voice I slow down, carefully stopping as the view opens up. There I can see him. Min-Jae is around 16 years old I think and at the moment he’s facing down a few men from Hard difficulty. Three to be exact.

Lootenant is with him or Jakub if I want to use the name Gareth doxxed.

The Korean boy seems to be excited about something, though Lootenant looks like he doesn't want to be there.

"We told you you’re wrong," one of the men from Hard difficulty group tells Min-Jae threateningly. "We cursed at that lightning bit... woman, but so does everyone else. So what do you want."

"I don't like that you call her that. She is my friend," Min-Jae doesn't seem to be impressed at all and faces the three men easily.

I'm sure he wouldn't be able to do this without the powers he now possesses. Thanks to them even a thin boy can face three adult men.

They seem to realize it as well. They aren't exactly weak, but people from Hell difficulty are just different so they hesitate.

"Look," their leader says in the end, "I got it. I'm sorry, okay? I understand that she is your friend so I apologize." The man is surprisingly reasonable.

Min-Jae, on the other side, seems to be disappointed. I can see how he watches them. The stance he takes is something that reminds me of mine and I could swear the expression too. He is even releasing a bit of his mana.

I can see a thrill in his eyes as three much older and bigger men apologize to him, but immediately I can tell it won't be enough. I've known people who acted the way Min-Jae is now.

"That's not enough," Min-Jae calls to them as they turn to leave.

His skill activates and his gravity field surrounds the men, slowing them down as they fight to keep standing.

"Enough Kim, we don't…" Lootenant tries to stop him, but Min-Jae shakes him off.

Taking a few steps towards the men he says, "I don't think you were honest enough. As you said, she’s my friend." Even as he is saying so, I can see a tenuous smile on his face.

That smile and the way he pushes away their efforts to escape his gravity field tell me enough. I don't even have to watch as he uses the excuse of defending his friend to put these men under his boot. Especially now that he is also angry because they insulted Tess and probably called her even worse names. I already know the reputation she has.

As Tess said before, Min-Jae is young and because of his past, it's no surprise he turned out this way after getting all these powers.

Having seen all I wanted to see, I use an anchor I left in the common area to teleport away. There, I start walking around and checking for some things I could buy. Maybe some interesting stone that would prove to be a damaged arcane item, a ring with the personality imprint of someone powerful, or a talking sword.

Bored and wanting to take my mind off my useless ponderings, I gesture for a young boy who’s watching me from a porch nearby to come closer.

"Do you want something?" I ask. The boy was following me for a good minute.

"Are you Noname?" he asks.

The boy sounds even younger than Isabella, and he feels much weaker. Easy difficulty probably.

"Yes," I say.

"The Cheater Noname?" he asks curiously.

Damn, some people just really lack survival instinct.

"Why do you think I’m a cheater?" I ask just in case, knowing it's most likely the result of Channeler's efforts.

"I heard your group got an arcane item and you stabbed them in the back to take it for yourself. And even then you lost to Savant who was tired because he already defeated like 20 people from Hell difficulty."

Oh. My. God. I love you, Channeler my dude.

The boy doesn't let my silence stop him, "During the second event too! You have some leech skill you used to steal mana from other people. Mom said it would be impossible to have so much mana otherwise! You also stole mana from the mines and the natives. All while you waited for the others to weaken the monsters and because you were scared!"

"Be careful," I add with some urgency in my voice. "I don't want people to know about my cowardly [Mana Steal] skill," I say, stealthily handing him some candy I traded for a common item.

"I knew it! A nice lady was telling my father about it and I overheard! Is it true that you also have an item higher than arcane, but to use it you have to sacrifice 10 years of your life?"

This is getting ridiculous.

The boy doesn't stop, "And you are such an asshole that you are sacrificing the life of your group instead!"

There I pause him, "Kid, wanna learn something funny?"

The weird kid nods and steps closer.

How the hell can you talk about me in such a way and then just listen?

I lower my voice to add more dignity, "There is one word I heard the most powerful Absolute I’ve ever met say. That word bought her the respect of her enemies and the love of her friends."

His eyes expand, "There is such a word?"

"Yes," I gesture for him to come closer and whisper. "Don't tell anyone. You promise?" I hand him another candy.

"I promise! My dad said to never break a promise!"

I nod and look around, like I’m making sure no one’s listening, "That word was 'nya.' She added it to the end of every second or third sentence she said, gaining the respect of everyone who heard it."

Then, unable to resist, I flick his nose and teleport away.

Silly kids.