The Sins

by Pegaz A

  “What about Simon?” John asked. “What punishment will he get for murdering his father, the king?”

  “Oh, that scum?” Rachael’s face showed how much Simon disgusted her. “The law enforcers will jail him until they hold a trial. If found guilty, he will either be hung or beheaded. Either way, it’ll be a public show.”

  “I didn’t know the kingdom had trials.” John blinked. “How are you going to get the proof to convict him? Only thing I can think of is finding the assassin that gave him the poison.”

  “Aye, you’re right about that.” David laughed. “That’s what took us so long to come back. We’ve found the assassin. While I don’t look like it, I used to be an assassin and I’ve still got some connections. It didn’t take too much to get the rat exposed.”

  “What?” John gaped at him. “You were a member of Nobody? You’re right, you don’t look like a former assassin.”

  Rachael and David laughed.

  At this time, John looked over at Luke who had finished transforming. The clothes Luke was wearing had ripped in quite a few places, exposing his arms, stomach, and legs. Strangely enough, Luke didn’t look too much different. Without Silver Grade Life Power, his hair and eyes would be the same colour.

  From what John could see through the ripped clothes and the outline of his body, Luke had become a bit more robust, but not by much. Luke still looked a little slim, but John could see that he had gained muscles.

  “Question…” John looked at David and Rachael and asked, “Will it be possible for Luke to stay here in the meantime? I can’t take him with me for another six or eight months—not until I can make him immortal.”

  John suddenly remembered the extent of human knowledge when it came to immortals. After settling Luke’s housing, he offered to explain how immortality worked to the two. David and Rachael were shocked but grabbed ink and parchment from their bags, ready to take notes.

  He then told them the requirements for becoming immortal, and about where people could find the age crystals. He explained Amanda’s village and how its residents were all beginner immortals and would kill anybody that tried anything against them.

  When they left to copy the information to spread to the world, John smiled.

  Hopefully, I will have more people come from this world to work for me when I’m the sect master. Even one or two extra is good.

  Chapter 23

  New Sider Procedure

  John sat on the throne, waiting for Luke to wake up.

  Half an hour passed, and nothing. At some point, David and Rachael had come back and reported that they were producing copies of their notes to send to every library in the world. This got John thinking.

  “As higher-ups, I’m sure you’ve heard about the Siders who became demons, right?” John saw a look of horror creep onto the two immortals’ faces. “Blood oath got your tongue? You can nod your head to answer as it won’t activate the blood oath.”

  David and Rachael looked at each other, then back at John. They nodded.

  “Thought as much.” Smiling, John continued, “I inherited the memories from one of those demon Siders. His name was Danny and funnily enough, he wasn’t actually a demonic Sider—just a ruthless killer. Please don’t ask me how I got the memories or about the finer details. It’s not something I’m free to elaborate on at the moment, but I’ll tell you the main part of his story while we wait.”

  And so, John told the story of Danny. He told them about the princess and how she’d used him. Her actions drove him to kill people out of anger and revenge. He realised halfway through from David and Rachael’s expressions that they’d both heard this before. When asked if they understood this story, they both nodded again. John then asked them if they believed this to be Danny’s sole reason for killing, and the two could only nod a third time.

  “Well, that’s wrong,” John said plainly. “As a Sider, he could gain strength by killing people. The first few people he killed was because of the princess, but after that, he realised he gained strength from it. So he kept on killing, it’s that simple.”

  John went on to explain that not all Siders were like that. He explained Luke’s system, and how peaceful it was in comparison. Each Sider was different. Danny gained strength by killing, Luke from learning, and John gained strength with time. As he explained this part, he could see Rachael itching to take notes. A little pleased to have such an eager audience, John continued his history lesson.

  “The first Sider of the East Kingdom gained strength by inventing new technology, which was also the reason he gave everything to the kingdom.” John knew this one would strike a chord with them, as the “first Sider” was revered among mortals. “He made all the kingdoms sign the agreement so he could invent new things in peace.”

  Though I won’t tell you how that king was a fake.

  Whenever a new Sider registered with the Adventurers Guild on this world and they received the information, John instructed them to get the Sider to the capital as soon as possible. They were to ask the Sider how they gained their strength. If it was not through killing or any dangerous means, then they were to help the Sider gain strength to become SSS Ranked and eventually immortal. If it worked out, that Sider would then feel grateful to the people of this world and would help them out when needed.

  Even if they became immortals and thousands of years passed, they would come help this world if needed because of the help given to them while they were weak, confused, and new to this universe.

  “Don’t spread this information to the Adventurers Guild, though.” A frown crossed John’s face. “I’m only telling you this because I’m from this world and if more Siders show up, this world will gain more protectors.”

  If the Adventurers Guild found out, then they would help any Sider that showed up, regardless of how they gained strength. That would defeat the purpose of John’s filtering of their skills.

  When John finished speaking, David and Rachael wrote everything down and thanked him for the information. They scurried back out of the room, in a rush to implement John’s word.

  The Siders they help will also join my Rogue Sect since it is the only immortal sect in this world. I can then use the manipulation technique on them and gain loyal, unquestioning subordinates with the potential to become as strong as me.

  The only problem would be how to use the memory manipulation technique without alerting them. If it was classed as a Sider attack, then his targets would be notified by their system. If it failed and the Sider found out that he’d tried manipulating them, he could put the whole sect in danger. Even at a Rank 1 Level 1, the right Sider could pose a valid threat. If he made an enemy of a Sider, then he could become the same thing that Jeremy was to him: a reason to gain strength.

  He couldn’t let his guard down no matter what.

  As John was thinking, he heard Luke making grunting noises. Looking over, John saw the young man opening his eyes.

  “Good morning, sunshine.” John grinned. “Don’t you wish you’d listened to me from the start?”

  Luke sat up and looked around in a haze. He winced at John’s voice.

  “Yeah, just a bit. Can you talk quieter, please?”

  “Oh, right,” John whispered coyly. “You’ll get used to the new senses soon. Stand up and get used to your new body. You’ll find you can walk further, run faster, and jump higher with little effort. Your endurance is up, too.”

  Luke groggily stood up and was shocked to find out that what John said was true. No matter what activity, he could do it much better, faster, and for longer spans of time. After some light exercises, he went to wipe the sweat off his forehead out of habit but felt no sweat at all.

  “And now, a question for you.” Still whispering, John asked, “With your information spheres, are you able to make blank spheres for other people to put information inside?”

  Luke stood there, dazed. John could only chuckle at the new Sider’s ongoing shock.

  “I didn’t before,” L
uke said quietly. “But when you mentioned it, a new skill popped up.”

  Now, it was John’s turn to be surprised.

  “You can use the skill straight away?”

  “Yeah.” Luke nodded and created a white sphere from his forehead. “This is the blank sphere you mentioned.”

  John took the sphere with one of his threads and brought it towards him. Putting the sphere against his forehead, he tried placing a sentence inside and passed it to Luke. Luke put it against his forehead and it disappeared. Luke smiled and nodded.

  The sentence John placed inside the sphere was... Share the new skill, then.

  John’s system suddenly showed him the new skill that Luke added to the shared list. Opening the system, John checked the shared skills information. It had changed since Luke shared his skills.

  Shared Skills: (Sarah)

  Life Toxin.

  Molecule Creation.

  Molecule Storage.

  Create Worker.

  Create Fighter.

  Upgrade Puppet.

  Telepathic Control.

  Shared Skills: (Luke)

  Information Storage.

  Information Sphere.

  Blank Sphere.

  John closed the system and double-checked that they were alone.

  “And now onto business.” Looking at Luke, John spoke, “For the months before I can turn you into an immortal, do you want to wait here or at the immortal village? Remember that you need to learn how to fight while you wait, so where you stay will determine the teaching methods you receive. But on the plus side, you no longer need to eat or drink to survive, so you don’t need to take any survival courses. You will also have much keener senses than your teacher, and no sense of pain or pressure either. While your teacher is showing you how to fight, you need to learn how to get used to the heightened senses or lack thereof.”

  Luke thumbed his chin, deep in thought. John decided to make his case.

  “I personally think David and Rachael would be good teachers, but would only be useful for a month at most. After a month they won’t be able to keep up with you or teach you anything new.” John’s eyes gleamed a bit. “I personally recommend the head of the immortal village to help train you. She should help you if I ask, but the decision is up to you.”

  Luke took another moment to gather his thoughts.

  “I ask you to please have her train me, then.”

  John smiled and stood up.

  “Go say bye to David and Rachael. We leave immediately.”

  John was waiting at the palace steps for Luke. The crowd and the guards were still at the bottom of the steps, waiting for news on what happened. When John had first exited through the palace doors, the guards fell into their defensive stances and waited for John to make a move. At that point, Luke walked out of the palace behind John and waved at the guards to stand down.

  It was unnecessary, though. John ignored the guards, grabbed onto Luke, and flew straight up into the sky. The crowd and guards heard Luke screaming as they flew.

  It took only twenty minutes to fly to the immortal village from the capital. Luke screamed the whole way, which both annoyed and amused John to an extent.

  Landing in front of Amanda’s house, John knocked on the door. When Amanda opened the door, he explained the situation to her and asked if she would train the younger Sider. Amanda only had one question.

  “Do you think he will survive the training?”

  Chapter 24

  Deficits

  John laughed at Amanda’s question, but Luke’s face paled at the thought.

  “He doesn’t need to become an expert at fighting or killing,” John replied. “He only needs the skills to survive against an expert. Luke will not become an assassin—at least not initially. He will help the sect in a different way when I become sect master.”

  “Hmn…” Amanda looked at Luke up and down. “I can help him learn how to survive an expert’s attack, but it will take time.”

  “I’m leaving him in your care.” John turned to Luke with a grave face. “You need to do everything she tells you, even if you don’t understand it. Amanda has killed more people than you’ve met in this new life of yours.”

  Luke nodded and was about to walk inside the house after Amanda when John stopped him. He had one question he wanted to be answered, and since Luke was a university student, he might know. He waited until Amanda was in the house and the two Siders were alone.

  “If the electric charge of a lightning hits the forehead and travels to the brain, could that cause the brain’s electrical signals to become scrambled?” John’s gaze deepened as he thought of Sarah. “Could that cause somebody to be in a coma?”

  Luke’s eyebrows arched. He thought for a few minutes before answering.

  “I’ve never heard of anything like that back on Earth, but it’s plausible.” Luke ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought. “Usually, a lightning strike has enough force to kill a person. If it’s just the charge and not the destructive force of a typical bolt…. Well, I’m not sure. If you think about it from a neurologist’s point of view, then there must be a certain amount of electricity needed to scramble the electric signals in the brain, but not completely fry it. There have been plenty of people put into comas because of being electrocuted, but those were under different circumstances.”

  John was quiet with contemplation.

  “So if the electric signals in the brain were scrambled, there is a possibility of the victim to wake up from the coma, right?”

  “Well, yes, I should think so.” Luke tilted his head, wondering about the circumstances that caused John to ask him all these questions. They were far too specific. “The brain only needs to recover enough and then it would do what you could call a reboot. The brain will heal and reboot itself if given enough time.”

  “Good.” John smiled. “But how long would it take for the brain to heal and reboot itself?”

  “Well, that’s the thing…” Luke shook his head. “I have no idea. If it’s only the electric signals, maybe four years at most? If it’s been longer than four years, then the electric signals are not the problem.”

  “I see.” John was somewhat relieved. “Thank you for the information. I’ll come and pick you up when my private matters are finished. Until then, train well.”

  “Wait!” Before John disappeared, Luke caught John’s sleeve. “I’ve got to add... In cases that involve damage to the brain, there could be minor or even major deficits.”

  John’s breath fell short.

  “What deficits?”

  “I can’t say for sure.” Luke bore a worried look. “There might be nothing wrong, but the worst outcome could be complete amnesia, random seizures, or even the loss of basic functions like speech.”

  Another pause.

  John sighed and thanked Luke for the information. Within moments, he teleported away. Suddenly feeling very alone, Luke turned around and steeled his nerve. He prepared himself for the hellish training that was coming, then entered Amanda’s house.

  A few miles away, John was headed in the direction of the capital. He recalled a cave system the last time he’d walked through the SSS ranked monster’s territory. He didn’t bother with it last time, but this time it was a perfect location to place the teleport rune.

  Reaching the caves, John used his earth element to make a small room big enough for him to stand in. It had been just over a year since Sarah fell into her coma. If Luke was right, then she could potentially wake up three years from now. If she isn’t awake after three more years, then he needed to find another way to wake her up.

  But if it is only a matter of time before she wakes up, then maybe that’s why the system didn’t give me a skill to help speed up the process? I’m assuming the skills healed the brain because of her twitching, but according to Luke, it needs a reboot of some sort. Will the brain reboot in time?

  He knew little about the systems or where they came from, but could his system judge a
situation? Could it have judged that Sarah would wake up on her own? If that was the case, John was glad but a bit pissed off at the same time. He was glad that Sarah was deemed to be fine and would wake up on her own, but pissed off that the system wouldn’t give him a straight answer.

  John finished making a 9-foot high, 5-foot wide room. He placed a metal chest down and filled it with poison, then placed the stone teleport rune down. He made the room airtight by making a huge boulder cover the front, filling it with the same poison. Making sure the poison couldn’t destroy the metal chest, the stone, or the rune, he stepped on the platform and disappeared.

  John made his way into Sarah’s room and sat down next to the bed. It had already been a year since the lightning struck her, but since John had completed the Absorption - Nutrients skill, she had lost no strength or body mass. When he checked the holes in the ceiling, he asked the cook puppet on guard how many times they’d closed up. Because the puppet couldn’t speak, he had to write it down. He wrote the number 14.

  John went pale thinking that one of those fourteen times could have caused Sarah’s death. Coming up with a better alternative, he used his earthen element to coat all five tunnels with rock so they couldn’t collapse and made a few bars that crossed the holes but let the air in every hundred miles so animals couldn’t crawl inside.

  Because the tunnels were over a hundred and fifty miles long, it took a huge amount of Toxin Power to complete each one. When he finished, however, he noticed the Recovery skill had activated. John was now receiving 700,000 Life Power every minute, with the Recovery skill giving him 500,000.

  After he finished with the holes, he went to his first three farms and took all the seeds he could from all the plants, then planted them in the second farm. He was a little late with the timing, but a few months wouldn’t matter much in the long run. As long as they were over one hundred years old when he sold them, they would still fetch a good market price.