RD 4 Ch 3

Only once we were safely inside the instance, the women around me all jumped at the chance to give their thoughts.

"Why didn't you mention the inscription, the enchantment, before?" Circe scowled.

“Bran what was that?” Gloria tried to speak over her.

I held my hands up and patted the air for them all to calm down before more of them jumped me. “Oh, that's because it doesn't work nearly as well as I may have just led them to believe. Though that’s because they don’t understand inscriptions well enough to see the fatal flaws in trying to copy an ability like this. It works less effectively than they're currently thinking. If they actually use this enchantment to awaken a bunch of bloodlines, the best they're going to get is A-rank, and they're going to get a lot of low-rank ones as well." I answered.

Circe scoffed, but seemed less ready to barge out and report to the others. "Of course the inscription can't be as good as you doing it yourself. So, it really is just a crappy stop gap, that you didn’t clarify its limits." 

"Of course they should know that themselves." Simone defended me. "Right, Bran?”

“Inscriptions are wildly versatile. However, when it comes to making physiological changes to people, it doesn't always work quite as well as, say, a potion. So I'm not saying that an inscription couldn't do it and couldn't do it better than the one that I'm making, but to make them better, it's going to significantly increase the cost of activation, to the point it wouldn’t be worth it." I answered.

Circe nodded and rolled her eyes. "Cost, cost, cost. If I didn't know better, I would say the system was an accountant.”

“She might be the type. Syssy certainly loves numbers and spreadsheets. But the point is, this will work. The clan won’t realize that it is less effective until they’ve had lower results a few times in a row. So even if they test this before I leave, I'll come out in the clear." I glanced over at Circe. "But hopefully that won't happen." I raised an eyebrow at her as if asking if this was going to be a problem.

"You dragged me along to the instance just so that I would not ask that question when I hung back.” She rolled her eyes. “Zeus and Hercules are many things, but their word is good. They told you you could leave if you made this enchantment, and since you're making an unfinished product that they would have to build out on their own. They can't exactly test it, now can they?" 

I smiled, more of my plan coming into place. "Of course, that was the plan." As soon as I saw the two of them, I knew that I was going to need to give them everything to get out of here without a fight. 

Circe looked up at the sky inside the instance while I used a spatial ring to drain all of the red medical liquid from the pool so I could get to work underneath. "Well, that's good. They'll just have to bring in all of the young hopefuls this time.”

I nodded. “I'll knock out Awakening their bloodlines and then we'll be off to Denmark.”

“To save the mysterious lady from your past life." Simone added on.

"Yes, well, she's not the lady from my present life." I glanced over the women around me. “And she won't be.” I went back to work, but was aware of all the eyes currently focused squarely on my head.

It was like they were trying to puzzle out what was going on inside of it.

I waited to see if they would move on, but sighed as that did not happen. "My life, and the life of anyone I may have known in my past, are going to deviate heavily. I may have palled around with Bobby quite a bit in my first life, only to watch him die two decades later, but I'm not going to be a grunt for the Nesters this time, working for Bobby and sharing drinks afterwards. No, by the time I'm back in Vein City, my level and my strength will be likely equal to the entire Nester family's, so I won't be in a roughly equal position of power to Bobby like we were last time, and as a result, the same sort of bonds won't form. Instead, it’ll be a very different power imbalance. So then what am I supposed to do?" I asked the rest of the group.

"If you two had both been hares in your past life, then of course there can be friendship among hares. However, in this life, if you're a lion and she's a hare, there's no way your approach doesn't seem anything but predatory.” Merlin offered in a strange analogy.

“Not exactly how I'd like to describe how I approach women, Merlin, but the sentiment is shared, if possibly in far better words," I said, really not liking the idea of ‘predatory’.

"Then you'll have to put it into words yourself, rather than relying on mine," Merlin replied with a smirk.

"Does that make sense, Simone?" I asked.

The saintess frowned, a slight pout on her lips. "I really wanted to go hunting for your past life lovers," she said.

"Can you please not refer to it as hunting?" I urged. "If I stop the initial onslaught in Denmark, she won't be nearly the same person I met years later. We bonded over our scarred start in this new world. The darkness that was inside both of us brought us together to find some comfort. Like two broken pieces finding someone who could make you whole.

“That woman is gone and because I loved her so damn much, Simone, I would even stop her from coming back. I would take those scars and those jagged edges that we shared and make sure they never broke her. Even if it makes her never exist as I loved her." I felt tears swell in my eyes and blinked them away.

I had lost her, but somehow saying this made me feel like I’d lost her again.

Those words made Simone close her mouth, with a quick click of her teeth. "Understood. I think I can understand that sentiment." Her eyes filled with warmth as did the rest of the ladies here.

"Good.” I turned back to the task at hand to hide my face and blink a few times. “Now, can someone do me a favor and go outside to understand when I'm going to be getting a bunch of young hopeful Heros clan members?" I asked.

Nyx quickly snapped a salute and headed back out of the instance.

Meanwhile, Merlin and Circe settled in on either side of me, watching the process as I worked to make the inscription.

"You know," Simone said after a long moment, "what if you fall in love with the version of her in this life?” It seemed she had a new bone to gnaw on.

“Could I ever really be in love with the version in this life, given that I've been so influenced by my past life?" I asked honestly. "It's a little too complicated."

Yet it seemed my Saintess didn't want to give up so easily. "Even if it's complicated, that doesn't mean you can't make it work," she said.

I didn't look up from my work. "Hi, Simone. I'm Bran. In our past lives, we were lovers. I know everything about you. From when you took your first steps, to what your first words were, what your favorite color was, and what makes the butterflies flutter in your stomach. Oh, and by the way, you have a mole above your left-ass cheek that you're particularly self-conscious about," I said.

"Wait, is this all about her?" Simone grinned, leaning forward with excitement to get even random tidbits.

"No, this is a fictitious example, Simone. What I'm saying is that how do you even start a relationship if you know everything about a version of her while she knows nothing about you? It's just wrong, Simone," I explained.

She wiggled her nose. "What if there's a version that's the exact same? I don't know. Maybe there's one of your lovers that won't be greatly impacted by the changes you're bringing to the demon war."

I glanced off to the side, not meeting her eyes for a second. "Sure, perhaps if that exists and they understand who I am and accept all of that without being weirded out, then… maybe." I gave in begrudgingly.

Simone smiled, seeming satisfied at the slight relenting on my part. I wasn’t entirely sure what she was digging at, but she also had that scarily boosted intuition thanks to the system. I trusted her, even if she was digging at something sensitive.

"So what is coming in Denmark?" Merlin changed the topic, thankfully.

"Demons. Interestingly enough, they're blood demons," I replied. "But not vampires, either. No, think more along the lines of octopus or perhaps Cthulhu-inspired blood demons. They have tentacles on their faces, and their hands can warp into a mass of tentacles as well. They'll also find humans with unawakened bloodlines and terrorize them in hopes of shocking their bloodlines awake so that they can feast on more powerful blood.”

"Honestly sounds like a vampire," Simone said.

I rolled my eyes. "They're dangerous and they particularly go after humans that have the greatest chance of survival in the early days. Of the hell gates they are particularly damaging to humanity.”

“Bloodlines are that important," Circe said after a moment, seeming to process my words.

"Bloodlines are one of the top three ways to predict survival in the first few months," I emphasized.

"What are the other two?" Merlin asked.

"Distance from a hell gate. And then..." I hesitated. "Will to live."

A dark look passed over everyone's faces.

"It really is an apocalypse, isn't it?" Gloria voiced what many of them were feeling.

"Yeah, Gloria, it is. The internet only lasts a few weeks. Shipping lanes not much longer. Over-the-air communication crumbles in record time. It only takes a few months before nothing is working.

“Humans take for granted how absolutely interconnected every part of their lives is with each other. It's like a house of cards, and if a few vital pieces fall from that tower, the whole thing comes crumbling down." I shook my head at all of them.

"People really don't have a clue how many systems and how much work goes into them being able to use and utilize even the most basic technology. It's going to be a real shock for a lot of people, especially those close to the hell gate. They're going to be running for their lives away from all manners of demons and demonic monsters. Those who get bloodlines will learn firsthand just how powerful Darwinian logic and what the survival of the fittest looks like in practice. And then finally, those that desperately want to survive will find a way because that's the brilliance of humanity. We are so adaptive that even when our entire world changes in the blink of an eye, people will find new ways to organize, to cooperate, and most importantly, to survive."

The ladies all looked at me with mixed expressions, some sorrowful in their understanding of what was coming, while others looked slightly inspired. After all, surviving that was a feat.

"And those of us who already have considerable power before everything comes to pass?" Merlin asked.

"Many of them will come to discover that they have the power to become a leader, but not the intelligence. Ruling through force is very easy, however, it rarely leads to the best outcome. There always seems to be a lack of sympathy for those who lack power but are unfortunately vital. No. What'll happen is they'll become leaders, they'll struggle, and then more often than not, many of them will go back to being fighters, especially when there are battlefields where they can utilize their full strength, like SSS rank dungeons, for example." I continued to work on the inscription, carving into the stone with a Blood Blade.

"Right," Circe nodded, already understanding the crux of the matter. "Because it doesn't matter how many people they have feeding them resources, them going into an SSS rank instance is something they're going to have to do themselves, and is probably going to become their main priority. The resources there are just too great."

I pointed a finger gun at Circe. "Bingo. And once they start doing that, then they'll give someone, who has the capabilities, the reins of leadership and then from there, real organizations will begin." Of course, that person will be back by the powerful person in the end. Things can get a little dicey depending on how willful the power is.

"What about the Trial of Kings?" Gloria asked. "Will we be heading there soon?" 

I gave her a quick shake of my head. "We're still too weak for that. Circe, how strong were the old Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades when they entered it and never came out?" 

She closed her eyes. "Six hundred. And significantly buffed from gold." 

I turned back to Gloria. "There you have it. Think of the first area that Tartarus was using to farm as a slowly escalating power ladder. Technically, it's an army made of statues. They get stronger the deeper the further in a person goes. But it's also a warning that gives an out. If you can't beat the next level of statues, chances are you can probably run away. Thus, you could be dissuaded from trying the Trials. However, once you step into the second Trial," I shivered, "good luck getting out. At that point, you're either going to stay in the Trials forever or you're going to get through the other end. Odds are, for most people, they'll stay in the Trials." 

"It's that hard?" Simone asked. "So we don't have to worry about the Demon King or someone else doing it?" 

"No, not the demons," I chuckled. "We learned during the Second Demon War when other planets came that the Trial of Kings or similar things exist in every world as an advantage for those who were born in it and them alone. The Demon King cannot, thankfully, go and sweep them up. He might actually be strong enough to go do them now. No, perhaps the only human right now that would be strong enough would be Shiva, and I am positive he has bigger problems on his hands. After all, India's about to get very, very busy."

AN - Still not entirely sure what I'm going to do with past live lovers. But I don't think they are going to be a romantic target for Bran. If he gets a decision in the whole thing? Well that's still up in the air.