Janus and Oblivion

by Noam Oswin

  “Janje is back!” I heard Janje’s voice return. “Janje brought food for masakh! Will masakh eat?”

  There was no food. Nothing visible. I was not going to be stupid enough to point it out.

  Thank you for the food Janje.

  “Hehe! Janje is happy! Janje has not had any guests in so long! Janje has been lonely! Come on! Eat with Janje! Eat! Eat!”

  I... what was I supposed to say? What could I say that would not set her off and summon back that... thing?

  It – it is too little! Can you – can you add some more for me?

  “Oh no! Stupid Janje! Cheap Janje! Janje’s first guest in so long and Janje serves small meal! Why did Janje do that? I don’t know – Janje is odd – Janje’ll be right back! Don’t go anywhere Masakh!”

  I noticed it again. A shift from the way she referred herself. From the third person to the first person. She sparingly used the letter I, for some reason, and as much as I wanted to find out more, I needed to think of ways to get stronger and to get as far away from this cave as I could.

  Focusing on my powers, [Earth Control] indicated that the clearer and more precise the knowledge and details, the sturdier and better the earth created. I thought it over. What was earth? What was soil? Sand? I knew that soil was a mixture of different types of organic matter, microorganisms, gases, liquids and... minerals.

  Minerals? I thought about it, and almost dismissed the thought. As though I would have such a ridiculous power. Sand was granular material majorly made up of rock and once again, mineral particles. The most commonly known being silica. I could create sand, did that then mean...?

  I focused sharply on my ability once more. In the air, I focused on creating, this time, I added details. Twelve cm long, three cm wide. Flat ended, conical shaped, white and porous. Sedimentary carbonate, from mineral calcite –

  The accompanying mental drain from using my MP came along with the appearance of a single stick of white chalk.

  The cave felt dead-silent.

  The stick of chalk dropped to the ground and to my surprise, did not break. I suppose chalkboard chalk and raw mineral chalk were not the same in strength.

  “...Did masakh cast?”

  Janje’s voice came out of nowhere and almost had me fleeing. I chastised myself for being so terrified of a woman’s voice that sounded like a little girl, and focused on what she said.

  Cast? Did she mean my magic?

  “Masakh is cool! Only Tier Three masakh and higher can cast!” she sounded excited. “Masakh is a shade! If masakh can cast as a shade, then masakh will be really really strong! Not as strong as Meg, but still really strong!”

  I was afraid to ask. Meg?

  “Meg is Janje’s friend! He’s a masakh like you, but Meg is different. He’s a suuuuper masakh. Meg sticks beside Janje! But Meg doesn’t talk much. Meg is boring. Meg only ever wants to paint blood and switch off lights. He’s grouchy. He doesn’t talk about the mother or other masakh often. Do you want to meet –”

  NO! I shouted. I mean – it’s best if we don’t disturb... Meg.

  “Okay!” Janje chirped. “Meg says you’re funny though.”

  I felt cold. You... you can talk... to Meg... at any time?

  “Yep! But Meg never responded before. Janje wouldn’t be so lonely if Meg did. Meg says that he doesn’t like immigrants. He’s using some naughty words now. Now he’s saying some naughty things. Bad! Bad Meg! What’s gotten into you?”

  I felt even unusually colder.

  “Janje has to go – Meg is being too vulgar. Meg wants to do bad things to masakh. Janje won’t allow it!”

  I was left alone, in relative silence with a piece of white chalk on the floor. I pushed aside the gathering unease and tried to clear my mind to focus on what I was doing. Creating chalk from air.

  Yes, yes, focus on creating chalk, not on the invisible ghost girl and her “friend.”

  Creating minerals from air was not something I ever dreamed about. I knew the specifics of chalk because I had a medical practitioner for a brother, and during his time at medical school, he made mention to something about a child entering the ER for overeating chalk. It brought me some amusement as I researched whether or not classroom chalk was poisonous, and discovered that most classroom chalk was actually made of gypsum because it was vastly cheaper. This was years ago.

  How was it, I could recall this seemingly random conversation that happened years ago, and remember the details that followed and the few minutes I spent perusing the details of chalk, and yet, I could not recall my own name?

  The piece of chalk was firm as I tried to touch it with the limits of my ghostly body. Firm, and slightly heated. Matter, created, by me. If only my father could see me now.

  MP: 2950/3000

  It took me about four seconds create the chalk, and one second for the lump of sand. I still possessed enough energy rearing and available to go, but I felt as though I was still underutilizing my ability.

  The clearer and more precise the knowledge and details... I repeated to myself as I focused, harder, on creating what I wanted to create. It was something that I had seen dangling off the necks of the various women by prick of a brother brought home for dinners and business meetings.

  Size – 12mm. Density – three point five three grams per cubic centimeter. Native mineral. Cubic crystal system. Octahedral crystal habit, irregular fractures, Mohs scale hardness of ten.

  As I began molding, pouring all the details I knew about the mineral, I remembered that the bats were still hanging there, and I needed to take down at least one. I needed amazing aim, unlike when I was tossing rocks at the wolves in the water and missed. That annoying woman that yanked my tie and led to my death had precise aim, as I remembered her firing my phone out of my hand with a single shot.

  If... if I could mold... then...

  Additional Details: Cut. Sharp. Conical structure. Rotate clockwise, six-hundred miles per hour. Thrust forward at one-thousand nine hundred miles per hour.

  [Earth Control] ready, set – Fire.

  The cave echoed with the thunderous crack that sent vibrations travelling through my incorporeal form and brought down the inimitable sound of an object breaking the sound barrier. The waves of displaced air and cloud of mist came after a clear hole punctured itself squarely through the forehead of a bat, and then it went through it, piercing four more bats in a line behind it.

  The remaining screeched, the suddenness of the loud sound waking them from their slumber and sending them flying haphazardly around, as the five bats with holes in their skulls collapsed to the ground. They thrashed for several seconds, several short, brief seconds of agonizing consciousness.

  [Common Bat x5 Killed]

  [900 Experience Points Gained]

  The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Common Bat].

  [325 Genocide Points Earned]

  [You have created a subsidiary skill through concentrated effort.]

  [Subsidiary Skill: [Diamond Bullet] has been created!]

  Sub-Skill: [Diamond Bullet] Lv. Max

  Details: A subsidiary skill of Earth Control. This skill enables the user to instantly fire a [12mm] conical projectile made of cut diamond at the currently set speed of [1900mph] at the cost of 250MP. Increasing the speed and size of the projectile increases the MP Cost at a rate of 50 MP per millimeter, and 300 MP per mph. Reduction in speed or size reduces the MP Cost by 10MP per millimeter and 100MP per 500mph.

  Note: Once a reduction has been made, it cannot be reversed without paying the higher MP Cost.

  I pondered at the damage caused to the bats, the perfectly clean entry and exit holes. As though someone used a scalpel or a laser to carve out the skull, flesh and brains. Unless I would always be making headshots as I did now, then diamond was not an effective choice of material for bullets. Firing these against a humanoid opponent would not be as lethal as a regular bullet because the diamond would pierce straight through flesh and emerge out, rathe
r than hitting my target and dispersing the full concussive weight of the shot as normal lead bullets did.

  It was amazing and awe-inspiring, but alas, impractical.

  I could shoot diamond bullets from air. I knew I was supposed to feel thrilled at this development, but I couldn’t. Diamond bullets won’t save me from “Meg.”

  Ignoring the morbid thought, I found the remains of my bullet, shattered across roof of the cave, confirming that despite diamond’s hardness, it was, paradoxically, a brittle little thing. I suppose anything would be considered brittle when propelled at more than twice the speed of sound.

  Realizing that I could create mineral elements did open up several new avenues for me that were exciting and lackadaisical. Exciting, because I could not only create them, I could mold them into whatever shape I desired, as any geologist knew, cut diamonds were not naturally occurring. Lackadaisical, because I was no geologist, and my knowledge of minerals were limited to the most popularized ones, or the ones I may have casually read about at one point or another.

  Still, this was just the start of my experimentation. The utilization of bullets as an offensive mechanism meant that the enemy was close enough to for me to eliminate them. I would prefer to only utilize bullets for long-range decimation rather than close range protection. I would prefer to have minions that would do my fighting for me, whilst I merely backed them up.

  And so, I began to play god.

  Clay-base. Mold into bipedal shape. Height: three meters. Separate lower form into two. Extend upper form. Spherical shape above upper-form head.

  I was going to need more information than that. Floating before me was a basically a man-shaped blob of clay lacking any definition and features. I tapped deep within the well of knowledge I possessed and tried to remember my brother when he was cramming for his anatomy exams. Tried to remember my own biology and anatomy lessons with my tutor.

  Enable flexion and extension, abduction and adduction, internal rotation and external rotation, dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, palmarflexion, pronation and supination, eversion and inversion.

  I knew they were all terminologies relating to movement, varying from movement of the neck, to movement of the feet and wrists. The skill said that the more details I possessed and gave to what I created, the stronger and better it came.

  Angular jawline, segregated phalanges, curved lips thin –

  I could feel my MP draining as I poured as much focus and detail as I could into making something slightly worthy of Michelangelo or Donatello. There was a benefit to adding aesthetic value to a sculpture that was more than my own vanity speaking, and that benefit was that people tended to avoid or hesitate in destroying that which was beautiful. It was why looks mattered, and attractive people were treated better than their unattractive peers.

  Finish, harden, and –

  [Earth Control] – create!

  The nine-foot tall clay stood firmly on the ground. With a chiseled jawline, broad chest and details that gave the impression of abs and muscles, it was my greatest work yet. It was my greatest work – ever.

  It was not moving, however. It was not alive. It was just a mound of clay in the shape of a nine-foot tall handsome man. Once I was done with clay as the base, I changed it to granite. A grayish tint covering the entire sculpture until it was done.

  It still was not moving. It was entirely unanimated, although I knew it could be.

  Hence, I started adding some basic logic cues and commands. It was not alive, but if I could make a piece of diamond into the shape of a bullet and fire it faster than the speed of sound, there was no reason for me not to be able to code a set of basic instructions into a granite man. Floating above it and activating my powers again, I started extremely simple with conditional statements.

  IF: enemy present; THEN: attack. ELSE; sit. End IF.

  ...Too simple; too broad. What constituted an ‘enemy?’ would it even be able to tell? What type of attack was it supposed to render? Charging forward blindly could constitute an attack. Furthermore, ‘sitting’ was not clearly defined either.

  First test. [Earth Control] activate.

  Granite Man turned his neck around. He turned his body around as well. He turned around again, and again, and again – until he collapsed flat on his back and began to roll around in circles. As I expected, if this was going to be anything like the brief time I spent learning to code, this was going to be difficult. I started adding details.

  IF: biological object exuding heat within 50ft; OR: biological object moving greater than or equal to 2.4mph; THEN: pursue at 120mph; AND: strike with 20,000N of force. ELSE: advance to point of origin. End IF.

  Granite Man stopped rolling. He stood straight, turning his ‘gaze’ toward the entrance of the cave, and before I could stop him, he raced out of the cave at a speed that I did not believe a construct of his size and shape could have possessed. I chased after him as quickly as I could float, cursing my stupidity at telling it to run at a hundred and twenty miles per hour. Had I possessed access to my [Cheetah Sprint] I might be able to move that fast.

  Granite Man charged out of the cave and into the sunlight and I could not follow it lest the sun burned me into nonexistence. My work, the work I spent several dedicated minutes and consumed all my MP on, ran out of my reach.

  It was a good idea to have inputted a statement telling it to return.

  [Common Deer x1 Killed]

  [900 Experience Points Gained]

  The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Common Deer].

  [25 Genocide Points Earned]

  The notification brought me an immediate pause. A deer? I did not kill –

  The realization slapped at me instantly.

  [You have created a subsidiary skill through concentrated effort.]

  [Subsidiary Skill: [Golem Creation] has been created!]

  Sub-Skill: [Golem Creation] Lv. Max

  Details: A subsidiary skill of [Earth Control]. This skill enables the user to create a non-sentient golem that can be programmed by a set of instructions to act out the user’s bidding, at a base cost of [1000MP], which increases and reduces based on size. More complicated instructions may be programmed and given to the created golem, and the golems may be edited for minor MP Costs, created out of different minerals, or made from combinations of minerals.

  Note: As the Golems are not sentient, sapient or summoned creatures but simply extensions of the user’s magic, they are considered ‘weapons’ and hence, all of the user’s Titles and Stat Modifiers apply to the created golems. Therefore killing enemies with Golems will grant the user with the same experience as killing enemies themselves.

  You currently have (1) Humanoid Golem.

  Would you like to name your Golem?

  Granite Man was a name that sounded like something a child would come up about their fictional superhero. What I had on my hands was a giant lump of granite that could outpace horses and was capable of punching at forces superior to those of a direct collision between a speeding car and a brick wall. A moving force of destruction that would not stop until there was nothing exuding heat or moving within fifty feet of it. It was created with the goal of earning me as much Experience Points and Genocide Points I could gather. With that in mind, I named it.

  Your Golem has been named [Adolf].

  I doubt there was anyone in this world who would appreciate the morbid humor. Then again, I would. I would, and that was all that mattered.

  Interlude V

  Adventurer

  “UP AND AWAKE YOU COCKROACH INFESTED SLIME!”

  The hardest day was surely going to be the first.

  “UP! UP! UP!” she heard the Corporal bark. “IF YOUR ROOMMATE IS THE LAST PERSON TO ARRIVE AT THE GROUNDS, EVERYONE IN YOUR ROOM GOES WITHOUT DINNER!”

  She was assured of her ability. There was no doubt in her confidence and her aptitude. However, the same could not be said of the people around her. The rooms were large and cramped, six bunk-beds i
n a slightly open corridor made for a total of twelve people per room, and with a little over one sixty rooms that made for three hundred and sixty beds, and seven hundred and twenty people.

  And of that potential seven hundred people, she was cursed to have been allocated in a room with a slacker, a daydreamer, three perverts, two cowards, two entitled brats, one criminal, and one junkie. None of which possessed any idea as to what the AAA would do to them.

  Leaping down from her bed and arranging it took only six seconds. Dental care and bathing was done earlier so as to restrain herself from personally neutering the three perverts from their pathetic attempts to ‘score.’ She was robed in the AAA training gear before the lieutenant arrived to wake them up at the earliest signs of sunlight, and she was prepared to rush out to the field and begin the start of a stellar military record.

  All of which were defenestrated as she realized that no one else in her room had taken the same logical preparations for the start of their training camp. She felt the spark of her anger, and she did her best to quell it. Her bunkmate, daydreamer, was just waking up, sleep still groggy in his eyes, and she knew that she did not have time to start convincing them all nicely to do what they were supposed to.

  The fastest solution was a bucket of water she grabbed from a person rushing past, ignoring their complaints, and proceeding to splash the water in a wide arc into the room. Several shouts and shrieks followed her action, as she noted the now soaked individuals were wide awake, the majority of them glaring in her direction.

  It mattered little. She was certain more than half of them would die or be critically injured during the training. The other half would most likely be transferred to logistics departments. They possessed no future here. She could manage their hatred for the short time they would have it.

  “Fucking bitch!” Pervert one.

  “What the fucking hell?” Entitled brat one.

  “I’m soaking wet! My things are soaking wet!” Entitled brat two.