Chapter 55: Chapter 49: OFSO Commence
A/N:
Warning: This Chapter contains graphic content that involves coercion and child abuse.
I do not endorse or promote abuse of any kind, be it mental, physical or sexual on anybody regardless of age, gender, or affiliation.
Do not forget that this is just a dark fantasy novel and even here, abuse is not cool.
You have been warned.
The real title is at the end. Do not rush over there to figure it out. Its better if you wait until you finish the Chapter.
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They had to be really silent and move carefully. Even the slightest sound could startle the deer. They silently followed the deer for almost two hours. Finally, the deer seemed to have grown thirsty and led them to a creek.
As it was drinking water, Zeke picked up a small stone from the ground. He aimed at the deer. The deer’s ears twitched. It seemed to sense something and became alert. Just as it leapt to run away, Zeke flicked his wrist. The stone seemed to instantly reach the deer and pierced its eye, killing it instantly. Zeke said, "Rank 5."
Rank 5 nodded and picked up the body of the deer and put it over his shoulders. Then Zeke started moving forward. He figured that if they went against the current, they could eventually find a river.
They didn’t have to walk much before they reached the river. Now that they had found a water source, they needed to find shelter. That part was easy. They found a cave and decided to spend the night there.
Under Zeke’s instructions, Rank 5 and Rank 9 went to get dry branches while Rank 2 looked for some dry moss. While the rest were away, Zeke took a stone and started grinding it. By the time they returned, he had fashioned it into a somewhat sharp knife.
He made a small hill with few of the dry branches. Then he took a thick branch and split it into two parts lengthwise. He made a groove in the center of the flat side of one part with the stone knife. Then, he placed the moss around the groove. He took a thin branch and shaved one of its ends to make a blunt tip. He put the tip into the groove and started rubbing it furiously. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Smoke started rising from the groove. He rubbed the stick even more furiously and started blowing air at it. Soon the dry moss ignited due to heat caused by the friction. Zeke picked up the branch and put it under the hill of branches, constantly blowing air at it.
Soon, the branches also started burning. With the fire going, Zeke started cleaning the deer. He skinned it, got rid of the blood and the organs, and then butchered it. There was a certain beauty in the way he butchered it with expertise. Like an artist painting.
He then set up two more thick branches to spit roast the legs. He cut up some of the meat into small pieces and made them into skewers and set them up by the fire to cook. The trio were looking at him completely shocked. Rank 9 thought, ’Is there anything Rank 1 can’t do?’
[No there isn’t.]
(Cough-feel humility-cough)
[Dumb Realm_Weaver, I see that you have made your bracket. Good. At least now you won’t barge into mine. By the way, were you saying something?]
(Nope. Nothing. I should move on with your great story.)
[You should.]
While they were waiting for the food to cook, Zeke said, "We should discuss who will keep watch. I think we should take turns. I’ll go first. Then Rank 9, Rank 2, and finally, Rank 5. Any questions?"
Rank 5 said, "What is the plan for tomorrow?"
Zeke said, "We’ll survey the land to find a relatively flat area. Then we’ll build shelter."
Rank 2 asked, "Build?"
Zeke nodded. He said, "If we are to survive here for four years, we need to build a shelter. If I was alone, I would have prefered to keep moving but since I am the leader, your safety is my responsibility..."
He stared at them as he continued, "...as long as you follow my instructions. You try to act on your own and it’s not absolutely necessary, I’ll kill you myself even if you don’t die."
The trio nodded.
Zeke said, "As I was saying, we will build a shelter. You leave the how to me and just do as you’re told."
They talked over some details and the skewers were ready. They each took three skewers and ate them. As soon as he took a bite, Zeke felt his taste buds come alive. He had been eating raw meat for a year now so, cooked meat felt like a delicacy even if there was no seasoning. Soon the leg was also ready to eat. After they had their food, Zeke said, "You guys rest now. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to switch."
The trio nodded. Rank 9 went to sleep while Rank 5 and Rank 2 sat cross legged and started meditating. Zeke sat near the entrance of the cave. A few minutes passed by and he suddenly felt a very repulsive aura from inside the cave. He walked back inside and saw that the aura was coming off of Rank 2 and Rank and Rank 5. Then he saw the manual in their hands and understood what was going on. freēwebnovel.com
In the cavern, he lived separate from everybody else, so he had never had someone cultivate the Seven Emotions Six Desires Mara Demon Technique near him.
They looked as if they were struggling so he materialized the Asuran Neo-Nephilim Primogenitor in the real world. It only had a single pair of wings, no horns, crown, or the vertical eye. The materialization covered him like a mecha and he said in a commanding voice, "Enough!"
The two instantly woke up, cold sweat covering their backs. Rank 9 also woke from his sleep. By the time they came to their senses, the materialization had disappeared. They looked at Zeke and said, "Thank you Rank 1."
Zeke said, "If you want to thank me, stop cultivating that disgusting technique. You too, Rank 9. Do not cultivate that shit in my presence."
Rank 5 said, "Rank 1, we are grateful to you. But without this technique, we can’t break through and become Third Rate Warriors."
Looking at the three of them, Zeke felt that Rank 5 wasn’t wrong. They were not him. They didn’t have knowledge of runes, or even know what runes were. They couldn’t create their own cultivation techniques. They could practice the one technique they had and to practice it, they needed to practice another technique to strengthen their soul. Looking at them, Zeke suddenly got an idea. A terrifying idea.
He unconsciously started laughing...creepily. Then it turned into a full blown evil laughter full of insanity. The trio stared at him, with fear in their eyes. They thought that he was going to kill them because they had talked back to him.
What they didn’t know was that Zeke’s laughter had nothing to do with them. You see, he had been thinking. Was he really at fault? Was it wrong to try anything and everything to save the people he loved? To save his home?
If he hadn’t done anything and let history repeat, he and Cass would never have become the Neo-Nephilim Primogenitors. He was a bit confused before but after the incident with the Mara demon, Zeke had become resolute.
He was not wrong. Protecting his home was not wrong. So what if two cosmic entities got fucked over. If even he could mess with them so easily, maybe they weren’t all that omnipotent. And the System, it had neither right nor reason to fuck with him. But it did. So now, he would fuck it over. And a place where the System had no jurisdiction was the perfect place to begin.
He stopped his inner monologue and came back to the real world, just to see the trio looking at him with fear in their eyes. He realized that had been laughing maniacally and coughed. He said, "I’ll give you a better technique. But there are some conditions. To cultivate this technique, you need to worship its creator."
The trio looked at him and asked, "Who is the creator of this technique?"
Zeke’s eyes became proud and a manifestation appeared behind him. Because it was only a manifestation, it appeared in all its glory. The trio looked at the figure behind Zeke in horror as they could feel palpating power from it. Zeke spoke, "He who exists outside the jurisdiction of Heaven and Hell. He who hunts Demons and Angels alike. He who dominates all emotions. He who reaches untold worlds. He who rules the Celestial Sky. He is...the Asuran Neo-Nephilim Primogenitor. Do you accept his grace and vow to become his faithful believers?"
[Peak bullshitting.]
The trio didn’t know what an Angel or the Celestial Sky was. They just knew that this was an opportunity of a lifetime. They said, "We do."
Zeke said, "To become his believers, you need to undergo a ritual. Each of you go and hunt an animal. To prove your faith, you must bring that hunt back to the cave. Now go. I need to prepare for the ritual."
The trio picked their weapons up and hurried out of the cave. They would definitely prove their faith. After making sure that they had left, Zeke finally let go and laughed. He had been controlling his laughter while making up the bullshit. He just over exaggerated some of his Innate Skills and System Achievements. But he really did have to prepare for the ritual. He picked up his weapon and started deeply carving his Totem on the floor.
When it was carved, he bit his finger and channeled the Intent of the Asuran Neo-Nephilim Primogenitor through it. He traced that finger through the carving leaving a trail of Intent filled blood. When he completed tracing, the Totem glowed as if it was trying to connect to something but was unable to.
He took off his shirt and sat in the middle of the Totem. An hour later, Rank 9 returned. He was dragging a....tiger over. A bit later, Rank 2 returned with a large stag. It was big, most likely the leader of its herd. Seeing them bring these animals, Zeke thought, ’What the hell?’
Finally, Rank 5 returned. And with him, he brought a giant grizzly bear. Zeke thought, ’These crazy fuckers! I thought that they would bring a hare or something. Are they trying to kill us right now? The smell of blood...wait. Why don’t I smell blood?’
Then he saw that all of the animals were still breathing. They were just unconscious. He thought, ’Did these insane fuckers knock these beasts out and drag them all the way back to the cave? At times like this, I and my bullshitting scare even myself.’
Seeing him not responding, the trio thought that their offerings were not enough. At this moment Zeke said, "You’re weak. But at least you’re smart. Living sacrifices are always better. Now, listen..."
He told them what they had to do. Then, they waited. The ritual could only be performed at either dusk or dawn, when the sun, the moon, and the stars were all present in the sky. They all sat down and meditated, occasionally hitting the animals to make sure they remained unconscious.
Finally, it was dawn. Zeke opened his blood red eyes. He said, "We will begin the ritual now."
Title: Operation Fuck System Over Commence