The Sins

by Pegaz A

  Two months later, he arrived at his destination. It was a planet with no immortals, according to his knowledge.

  The black orb’s power supply still hadn’t faltered in the least bit. John wondered how long this could keep up for. He continued to use it as his sole Life Power source, ignoring his life stones until he could estimate the amount it held.

  John wondered how exactly the orb worked. The metal ball’s Life Power was full of impurities, unlike what he absorbed from Life Stones. This meant that while he was still getting 200,000 Life Power per minute, much more of it was removed by the system.

  Leaving behind his racing thoughts, John stepped off the teleport rune and onto the surface of the planet. He opened his system map and was startled to find a blank screen.

  Oh, the Adventurers Guild didn’t have a world map or even an area map of this place? I think I saw a map on the wall inside the teleport room. Time to study.

  John went back to where the map was hanging on the wall. From what the world map showed, this world had three continents. The land looked like the person who drew it out had drunk, shaky hands while trying to draw three rectangles. Inspecting further, John could see from the jagged edges that they used to be one piece of land.

  The smallest continent was called Cretora; on the map, it was the furthest west. Alongside it was Idera, a larger continent sitting in the middle. The last continent was the furthest east and by far the largest. According to the map, it was over three times the size of Cretora. Its name was Odron.

  The map had different colours on each continent, and John knew the colours must represent the territory of the ruling party. The continent Odron was all coloured orange under the rule of only one empire called the Eabidian Empire. Unlike Odron, Idera had three kingdoms and empires coloured in. The writing was a little worn, but John could make out the names after concentrating. They were the Mebet Kingdom, the Wramebet Empire, and the Craya Kingdom. According to this map, all three empires and kingdoms’ territories formed a triangle with Mebet at the top in blue, Wramebet on the bottom left in green, and Craya bottom right in red. All three were almost equal in size. John’s mind raced.

  These three kingdoms have probably waged war on each other for years, but couldn’t go all out during those wars because of the third party’s threat of attack. That, or I’m wrong and they have a close relationship with each other, maybe even have marriage alliances with each other.

  On the smallest continent, there were only two names on the map: Ucopis Dynasty and Gaening Dynasty. The Ucopis Dynasty seemed to be the larger dynasty of the two, coloured brown. Its territory was in the southern part of the continent, while the Gaening Dynasty had everything north of it coloured in white.

  Other than these three continents and their respective powers, John could see small islands with no information on the map pertaining to them. They were not coloured in any of the rulers’ colours. John wondered about the size of these islands, as the map held no indicators of scale for anything. This planet might even be smaller than Earth, for all he knew.

  Done studying, John took the world map off the wall and placed it inside his Storage Space. The system then scanned it and added it to his directory.

  Wondering about the culture of this planet, John pulled out a 6-foot high, 2-foot wide mirror from his Storage Space. Looking himself up and down, he decided to use his nano helmet to change his appearance again.

  He made sure the seven-sided star pattern around his right eye was covered up, and that the eye colour was as normal as possible. Within a few minutes, John was an old man with a long, white beard. His hair had turned white and reached his hips, but the hair was all messy and looked like he hadn’t washed it in decades. His face, neck, and anywhere else where his skin was showing had turned wrinkly.

  His clothing tattered and his body seemingly frail, John looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. Transformation complete.

  I look like an old beggar. Most people will ignore me or even go out of their way to avoid me. That’s perfect. I can scout out any city I come across, find out about the language and culture of this place all without getting pestered by people!

  Part of John’s plan was also for people to donate money to him, so he could find out what currency they used. If necessary, he would steal, too, since he needed the sin points anyway.

  Now that I’ve gotten that sorted out, I should think of a plan. Odron continent only has one empire, which is not enough. Idera continent has too many for what I had in mind, too. I should go to the Cretora continent first—either dynasty is fine. If my experiments are successful, then this continent is perfect for the next step in what I’ve thought of.

  John packed his items back into the Storage Space. He then walked back on the surface of the planet and opened the world map in the system. He zoomed out as much as possible on the world map. It showed that he was on the Idera continent and would need to fly west to Cretora. With the map open, he could finally judge the scale of this world. Odron, the largest continent, was about the combined sizes of Russia, China, Africa, and Europe back on Earth. Idera was about the same size as America and Canada together, while Cretora was roughly the size of Europe. The whole planet must have been about twice the size of Earth.

  John flew straight into the sky for a few miles, then headed west at the speed of sound.

  While flying, John wondered why no outside forces had come to this planet and taken over yet. Maybe he would find out later.

  Looking down, he could see the land fly by below him. He passed towns and cities of all sorts, vaguely interested in them but steadfast towards his goal. Soon, he went beyond the landmass and was flying directly over water. With his Life Vision, he peered into the water and saw millions of life auras, large and small. He even saw one creature over 600 feet in length and 200 feet wide.

  After an hour flying at the speed of sound, he could see land on the horizon. Before the fight with Elder Han, he would have shouted “Land Ho!” but now he wasn’t in the mood to. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a small sense of joy. He had arrived at the Gaening Dynasty’s land.

  Chapter 6

  Resistance’s Elements

  John landed down on the shoreline of the continent. It was a clear, sunny day, and the soft sand under his boots was a golden colour.

  Confident of his disguise, John walked towards the greenery in the distance. With his sight, he could make out trees and plants he had never encountered before. He approached and the sights grew more exotic as they seemed to manifest before his very eyes. There were trees with bright green bark and yellow leaves, almost resembling palm trees. Hanging from the leaves were round purple objects which John promptly gathered for examination. It was more like a peach than anything, and John used his fingers to rip its soft skin apart. Juices came pouring out from its pink insides, splattering onto the floor.

  Is this a fruit? I’ve got the Filter option turned on so it can’t poison me, but if I turn taste off, then there’s no point in eating it.

  Nonetheless, John took a small bite. It reminded him of eating a pear, but much sweeter. He decided to store all the fruit but one, which he needed for another experiment.

  Opening the system, he checked the options. At the bottom was the option Absorb - Off. He took a deep breath and turned it on.

  Minutes passed.

  Nothing happened.

  Knitting his brows, John looked around him to make sure he didn’t miss anything, but nothing had changed at all. John bent down and picked up the fruit, and that was when he noticed the change.

  The fruit began to wither; the purple colour got darker until it turned completely black and shrivelled. It eventually turned into ash. A breeze carried the ashes away from John’s hands.

  John looked at his hand and then at the tree. Placing his hand on the tree, he watched as it withered and turned to ash, too. There was a hole in the ground where the tree’s roots used to be. He’d vaporized an entire tree almost instantaneously.


  He stopped cultivating completely and checked the Life Pool and Toxin Pool. Ready to measure the numbers, he walked to another tree to touch it. He gained 30 Life Power from the tree, converting it into 6 Toxin Power.

  John touched the ground with his hand next. The instant he did so, cracks began to form around him as the dirt dried up. Any grass, bushes or trees within a few feet of him withered, too. After a minute, his direct surroundings were like the desert back on Earth—all broken up into pieces with cracks everywhere. Picking up a chunk of the ground, he measured it had dried up about six inches deep below the surface. Beyond that, however, the soil underneath was normal.

  Still wanting to learn more, John made a single thread come out of his finger and touched a tree almost 100 feet away from him. Surprisingly, the tree quickly withered and the Life Power travelled through the thread to him. He used another thread to dip into the seawater, which had a similar result. John could feel the Life Power coming to him through the threads, but there was too much water to know how much was disappearing.

  So the skill lets me completely absorb everything I’m immune to. I didn’t think it would be so strong… Maybe a little too strong… It’s a good thing I tested this skill before I shared it with Sarah. If I shared it with her while she’s unconscious then in a few years or decades, she could destroy the entire planet.

  How come this skill doesn’t absorb the air since the Resistance skill has time and space, then? Does the space around me not count or does it mean outer space? More questions without answers!

  Within the system, he went into the fifth tab. Below Sarah’s name was the number 20/25. John thought about all the skills he had, but most of them were useless to Sarah now. He decided on the five skills after a few minutes of thinking.

  1 - Impurity Filter. This was the skill that filters the impurities out any food she ate.

  2 - Analyser Eye for the skill Immortal Eye. This one had the ability to see people’s ranks, levels, how many sins a person had. It also displayed their status such as ‘memory manipulated’.

  3 - Sprinter. Though the stamina no longer showed in the system, they still used stamina for running or fighting. As immortals with peak bodies, John and Sarah had a lot more stamina than regular immortals, so this would reduce the amount of stamina she used many times over.

  The fourth and fifth skills were the two Elemental Attack skills. With the new Freedom skill added to it, she could now control the five basic elements with any part of her body. Most of the skills were useless to Sarah for now, but he still gave her the skills for the sake of using the slots.

  Digging deep, John took out the compass he bought from Newbie Town nearly twenty-four years ago. The compass looked like he bought it yesterday. With a smile, he turned it in his palm to make sure it worked. With little hesitation, he then continued his path northeast. His destination was the capital, but he wanted to find a small village or town first.

  Looking around as he walked, John discovered many more new plants. None of them could store Life Power, which was disappointing, but he admired their aesthetic. There were also all sorts of animals running around the trees and on the floor, scavenging for food. They looked like meerkats but with a rat’s tail and coloured green for camouflage.

  Before long, John entered a forest. There was no path, not even a dirt one. It looked like humans hadn’t yet touched the place.

  Treading onward, the first carnivorous creature he encountered looked like a large black panther. It walked on four legs, but it also had a pair of arms near the middle of the body. When it ran, the arms folded together at the top. Its face had whiskers and large teeth so John assumed it was hunting for prey. Of its four eyes, one pair sat at the front of its face like normal, then an extra eye on each side of its face. Its large, black nose was pointing downward. John assumed it must have a keen sense of smell. The creature was sniffing the ground like a hound dog, two small tails swinging up and down behind it in perfect rhythm.

  John carried on walking. Creatures of all sorts were picked up by his Scan, which he took a mild interest in. The black panther looking creature was the largest he’d found so far, which made it best for the picking. It was inevitable that they would meet along their paths.

  John saw the creature first and used the Immortal Eye skill.

  ???

  Rank: 0

  Level: 0

  Mortal creature. I won’t get anything from killing it.

  He planned on letting it go, but as he slackened his shoulders, the creature spotted John and pounced. With a snarl, it aimed at John’s neck with its teeth. John used two threads to stop the animal mid-air, but as the threads wrapped around it, it wailed in pain. Eyes wide, John watched as the creature withered away before him, becoming thinner and thinner as the seconds went by.

  Its nails and teeth turned to dust, its eyes rolled to the back of its head, and it stopped making any noise or resistance. The creature became so thin that the threads couldn’t hold it anymore, and the creature dropped to the ground.

  There was nothing but skin left.

  Opening the system, John realised that the threads had used the Resistance’s Elements skill and absorbed everything but the creature’s skin. He put the hide in his Storage Space in case it was worth some money.

  If nobody donated anything to him, he could sell it rather than steal.

  Chapter 7

  Village

  John kept the Absorb option on while he walked through the forest, leaving a trail behind him. However, when he came across a small village, he turned it off. He didn’t want any accidents to happen on his search for information, after all.

  The village was small enough that his Scan skill could see everything inside it. The people made houses of straw tied up in bundles with wood planks to hold them in place. The houses weren’t that large, either; the biggest house John’s Scan picked up was about 900 square feet.

  As he walked through the village outskirts, he encountered the roads with a start. The “roads” were only muddy paths that many walked on enough to destroy any chance of even weeds growing. John imagined that when it rained, there would be countless puddles on the path and nobody could walk on it without losing their balance or sliding everywhere.

  With his Scan, John could see only women, children, and elders. The children were playing with sticks, rocks, and anything else they could get their hands on. The elders were in a group together and talking, and the women were doing variations of house-keeping.

  Is this village like in the middle ages on Earth? If that’s the case, the men should be out hunting for food or patrolling around the village. No one here is going to have enough money to donate it to somebody they don’t know. I guess the only thing I can learn here is the language.

  John teleported above the largest house in the village. Its roof had a big flat surface in the middle, so he lied down on the surface. He made sure his weight was spread out as much as possible, for fear of collapse. If the roof couldn’t support his weight, then he would turn the hover option on. Fortunately, he didn’t have to resort to that. The roof held and he was out of view.

  Closing his eyes to concentrate on his hearing, John heard the language after a few moments for the first time. It was completely foreign to him. He had no idea what they were saying, or even if it was possible for him to learn. He was a bit discouraged but held his ground.

  Later that day, John saw the men of the village come back. They were carrying many dead animals with them, including the black panther and meerkats he saw on the way here. They also carried stretchers with severely injured men on them. They brought them to a house where women hastily applied medicinal herbs to their wounds. John watched from afar, shocked by how quickly the open wounds reacted to the medicine.

  For mortals, those herbs must be valuable life-saving objects… Did they grow in the forest and I just missed them? Or did they purchase them from another village?

  He was too far away and couldn’t see the herbs with hi
s Immortal Eye, but unless they carried Life Power stored inside then John was only curious at best.

  Since coming to this planet, he had not felt any Life Power on its surface. He concluded that the immortals didn’t want to own a planet that couldn’t produce Life Power to cultivate with.

  It was different for him as he had the Storage Space and could cultivate like normal. He couldn’t figure out why the Adventurers Guild hadn’t come here but marvelled at the possibility that maybe a past attempt had been made. The Adventurers Guild could have set up a branch here then hired the locals before leaving.

  John heard more people talking. After about an hour of constantly hearing them speak, he began to grow more familiar with the sounds. He practiced speaking the language with two parts of his mind talking to each other. Despite being initially discouraged, it only took a few days to learn the language this way.

  Through the course of those few days, John came to understand the workings of the village. There was a leader who people called Village Head, but the people respected those in the hunting team the most since they gathered food. The elders were mixed. If they were on the hunting team and were a veteran, they were respected, too. But if they were normal workers, then they were borderline shunned, the women complaining that food went to waste on them.

  The women were the workers of this town, but even then they had little say as to where the food went or how the village operated. Meanwhile, the children seemed to be following the old English saying ‘Children should be seen and not heard’. Even when they were playing, they tried to keep the laughter down to a minimum. John assumed that when the male children grew up to a certain age, they would help look after the younger ones or assume the roles of their parents.

  While he was learning the language, John kept an eye out for an elderly person he could experiment on. The experiments needed the person to do the work on their own free will, so John figured out the perfect thing to entice an older person. All he needed now was a person who fitted his description.