Chapter 956 - Test subject 99 (Patreon)

POV Nathaniel

I want to reread the notifications, but a presence I feel nearby draws my attention. It continues to move at a slow, walking pace, still a mile away from me.

It feels familiar and yet very different from the usual attendees. So I turn and start walking towards it at a similar speed.

I part the undergrowth blocking my path with kinetic energy and keep my pace across moss and grass. There is no pathway, and the entirety of this place feels untouched by any living beings. There are no animals, insects, or anything else. Just a huge number of attendees spread over a very large area.

After jumping over a pile of large roots, I walk left, avoiding a dense part of the forest. I enter a short clearing where the light shines right at me, no longer blocked as much by the tree crowns. Since I appeared here, the lighting hasn't changed, as if this place the system recreated is locked at sunset.

The presence approaching me also makes a small detour, likely avoiding a dense part of the forest or a huge tree. I sense somewhat clumsy senses touching me. Well, clumsy at first, but just by observing me, they continue to improve bit by bit over these minutes.

When I change the way I use my senses, that presence changes its method as well. It doesn't even realize I made it worse on purpose and is still mimicking my way.

The walk ends up with both of us standing on opposite sides of a huge oak tree, unable to see each other because of the wide trunk.

The man on the other side gives a short chuckle. "Nathaniel Gwyn, I assume?"

"Correct. Two stigma guy?"

"I have a name, you know," he says, and we begin to walk at once. Amusingly, both of us choose to walk to the right, still unable to see each other. That fact gets another chuckle from the guy.

"Since I don't know your name yet, you're the two stigma guy," I say, and pause. "Honestly, probably even after you tell me."

"Well, if that isn't rude." He comes to a halt, and I stop as well. "To be perfectly accurate, it would be test subject 99, but surely you agree that makes an awful name."

"I do agree with that," I say, beginning to walk. I notice a flash of his skin and hair before he walks in the opposite direction, staying behind the tree. That skin was pale green, almost pastel-like, a sort of color some might call moss green. And his hair was light gray.

"So," he says playfully. "If it were up to me, I would choose the name… Tannatar. Yes, that fits perfectly."

"That is a cool name."

"Agreed. By the way, how do you do that thing where you briefly touch my senses just enough to distract me, then slip in a different scan? The one that leaves a tingle on the back of my head."

"Oh, that? Like this." I increase the mana feeding the scan.

"Ah, I see," Tannatar says. "Like this, right?" He copies the feeling almost perfectly.

"Kind of. You screwed up at the end."

"Yeah, it felt a bit off," he says and suddenly starts walking in the other direction, popping up from behind the tree and approaching me with quick, energetic steps.

Tannatar looks to be around my age and height. His skin is pale moss green, and his hair is short and gray. One of his eyes is orange, and the other is the same velvety indigo as Victoria's right arm.

He possesses the exact same striking handsomeness as the Last Elf. Even his ears are pointy. He looks like an angel descending to earth to herald the apocalypse. It is the sort of flawless face that makes you instinctively want to punch it.

"Since I believe I am older, it is only proper I introduce myself first. My name is Tannatar," he says, extending a hand toward me. "This is how Earthlings greet one another, correct?"

"Correct," I answer, looking at him.

His hand hangs in the air for a moment as my thoughts accelerate. I observe his skin, which seems to be interwoven with some sort of extremely durable barrier. It is something way beyond my defensive layers and something filled to the brim with gods' powers. Likely the powers of both godking Endless War and godking Starless Sky.

Still, it is foolish of him to let someone like me touch him. My eye trait activates, and I know my pupils take on that pale blue glint as I reach out to shake his hand, keeping [Jüdrajil] on the brink of activation.

"My name is Nathaniel," I say.

"Nice meeting you, Nathaniel," he answers formally before asking curiously, "How do you know when to stop shaking hands?"

"It is usually just both of us letting go at once after a second or two."

"We are still shaking hands, and neither of us seems willing to let go. I cannot help but wonder if this greeting doubles as a test of strength."

"I think some people might do that," I say, feeling the effect of the barrier woven into his skin attempting to spread into my body. It carries a feeling akin to Victoria's, yet slightly different.

Tannatar doesn't seem to be causing it, and it is just a natural effect of that barrier, but he observes me curiously. His eyes squint a little as he gives a smile, using more force to squeeze my hand.

This makes me use reinforcement to support my hand as well as to focus on pushing against the effect of his barrier. There is mana inside his body. A proper Mana Heart beats in his chest, powering his skills and passives.

It is mana that I wonder if I could take. My eyes, after seeing his barrier, tell me there is no chance in hell. I would have a better chance of taking mana from some Absolute due to that barrier.

Yet there is a part of me that cares so very little about that. I know it. I feel it. If I wanted to, I could use this touch to take all of his mana, even if I wouldn't be able to do anything else to him.

Tannatar lets go of my grip first. Rather than a sign of backing down, the release comes across as a simple courtesy. I decide against escalating things and leave the gesture untarnished.

I turn to the side and send out a long range scan, finding thousands of attendees nearby while searching for the frequency of the marks I placed on group 4 members. I know the notification said we will be moved to our own tutorial territories after one day, but I still search for them, if only out of curiosity and being unsure of what to do until then.

"You said you are older than me?" I begin walking in a random direction and ask the gods' chosen.

"Very likely. If I remember correctly, pre-tutorial humans get to live up to 100 or so years?"

"Something like that."

"Considering I am 211, it is safe to assume I am the older one here."

"You are older than any human from my planet currently alive. Aren't you going to search for people from your tutorial?"

"I am alone," he says, causing me to look at him. "I was the only living being on the planet that got awakened to the system." He passes by me and walks ahead, and this time I follow behind him. A few times he attempts his own scans, mimicking the way I do them.

After a few minutes of trying, it isn't that bad, though he lacks that certain punch, as his mana reserves are much smaller.

"Three questions and answers for three questions and answers?" he asks out of nowhere, stopping in one of the clearings.

There, a light falls on him while I remain in the shadow below one of the trees.

"Deal," I answer.

"Are you scared of death?" he asks me.

"I don't plan to die."

"I did not mean due to your physical state. How are you still alive, anyway? Wait, do not count that as my second question. I simply meant to ask if you fear death itself."

To that, I give the question a bit longer thought before answering. "Currently, I wouldn't say so? But it might change when I get older or closer to death. Who knows."

"I find it fascinating how quickly humans and other shorter lived races can change their emotions. Even their personalities. Just a few months is enough, and you almost wouldn't recognize them. You can ask your question too."

"Are you some sort of clone grown from and based on the Last Elf?"

"I am not. I wonder, did you get a quest to try to kill me?"

"I did not. Did you spend all 211 years alone on the planet you came from?"

"There were a few others like me, but they are all dead now. Most of my time was spent with replicas of the Last Elf who studied for millennia to master various subjects before teaching them to me."

I watch him while he talks about that, curious about his reactions and the chances that he is lying. Yet he doesn't seem to. Not because he is naive or incapable of that, but rather because he feels no need to do so.

I imagine he is some sort of clone of a long-dead elf, cooked up in a lab by one of the Prime Replicas of the Last Elf and engineered to possess a body powerful enough to handle two stigmas from two godkings.

He was likely provided every possible advantage to allow the strongest traits, too. A chosen of the gods and the Last Elf, made to possess system powers as well.

"You won't ask me if I got a quest to kill you, or if I plan to kill you?" he asks me, his last question curiously.

That brings my attention back to his orange and indigo eyes, and I shake my head. "It doesn't matter to me if you have such a quest. As for my last question, I plan to keep it for now. I might use it sometime far in the future."

A soft chuckle escapes his lips. "I've been got." But even as he says so, his eyes linger on me with a firm intensity. Though not actively threatening, both of our presences rise just that little bit more as we measure ourselves against each other.

The shadow under the tree where I am standing becomes just that little bit darker, and the light continues shining on him. His moss green skin seems more solid, and all the grass around us stops moving, bending down as if something is pressing on it from the top. In the silence of the forest, the wood of the trees groans and cracks like an old stairway under a heavy boot.

But neither of us have our heart in it. Though wary of me, he seems to be fully confident in winning if it came to it. In a way, it feels like he is seeing me as an angry dog, wanting me to bite him so he can slap me away.

I could attack him and force him to change his mind. However, unlike with Nyssa, Morwag, or Adrian, I don't feel that urge to fight him. It is a bit of a weird feeling that I have a difficult time identifying, even as Tannatar waves at me and turns around to walk away.

Before he leaves my range, I hear him saying out loud, "Dear system, can you please show me the notifications again?" And then he is away.

Musing over all of this, I watch him walk away before turning to head in a different direction myself.

In the end, I conclude that at least this gods' chosen does not enjoy fighting. Yes, he will fight, but rather than finding joy in the thrill of combat, he would rather think of it as a tool to get him closer towards his goal, whatever it is.

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