Scarlet mark 28

He has finally appeared, together with a large mahogany table and five chairs. Votroadan was sitting on one of them, playing with a pocket knife. One could mistake him for a normal teenager with short, spiky, bleached hair, wearing a denim jacket. However, after taking a closer look, non-human features became more apparent. Votr eyes were like mirrors reflecting everything and everyone. His veins were pulsing with weak red light and he was in the middle of carving a scarlet mark in the shape of 28 on the back side of the left hand.

“Sit down.”

Pointing at one of the chairs the demon urged me to move.

Until he finished his detailed bloody handiwork, we were sitting in silence. It gave me enough time to somewhat recover and cool down.

“You look terrible George. Did someone bully you?”

“Cut that crap. What is this place?”

There was no point in getting angry at him, and as for my frame of mind… ‘unstable’ was the best description.

“Your personal therapy room, also a lobby before the game starts. ”

“Game?”

“Game, a challenge, my entertainment and your chance to die.”

I already had enough, but that didn’t stop the world from pulling me deeper into this swamp.

“Oh~ so it’s the world’s fault again? I was pretty sure you came here by yourself. Did someone force you to do that? Give me his address, I will take care of it.”

You won’t even allow me some respite in my own head. Damn bastard.

“The bastard name’s Votr. Learn it already and cheer up. There’s a prize in store if you win. Something that can’t be obtained in any other way. You were rather envious of Aura’s power hmm?”

“You mean that she had obtained it here?”

“Oh? Got your attentionnn~. Try to guess why my number’s 28. There are 27 other personal demons like me and as for Aura… she doesn’t have one. She’s a natural, a Gatemaker. Remember the black square? She’s one of the only three people that can make’em.”

“So it wasn’t just a kid’s drawing with a black crayon?”

“Allow me to borrow Vio’s words. Brain meltdown? Either it wasn’t a normal drawing or nowadays every kid with a pencil can become a dimensional warping, demon summoner.”

He was right. I wasn’t thinking straight. To focus I slapped my cheeks twice. Votr was watching my antics closely with a smug smile.

“Look at you, as soon as I mention a nice reward, you get your act together in a record time. A shame we can’t say the same when it comes to moral integrity.”

I hated how right he was.

Votr tapped on the table three times. Proudly showing off the back of his left hand. Each tap was made exactly at the same time when the red light in his veins was the strongest.

“Now listen closely. Try not to think too much and disturb me or we will never get anywhere.”

You were the one who-

“Shhh~ told you not to think. Like I’ve said, this is your personal therapy room and lobby. I’m your guide the 28th demon of reflection Votroadan. That black square, or in other words, the ticket, was a single-use item, if you will ever want to come here again you will need a new one and a specific place, but before thinking about the future, let’s see if you will survive this.

By ‘this’ I mean the challenge. Our little game that's different for every person. You may thank your friend Adam for his advice because yours was influenced by his words ‘triple the disaster’.

Ever wondered why no one wanted to share any details? It was to avoid a situation when words influence the inner workings, but you were the victim of a nasty prank. Triple the disaster is the name of the hardest known challenge mode, and yes, it belongs to Viktoria.

Don't confuse those two, challenge and challenge mode are two connected, but different things.

What exactly is a challenge? It’s like a game. One where you bet your life on the line. The exact details are influenced by three things: the place where you use the ticket, your challenge mode and a bit of luck.

As for the challenge mode, it was created the moment you had entered my domain and will stick with you for life.

So far so good?”

I nodded. Votr was explaining things in a fluent, almost melodic manner. Listening to him was the only thing I could do anyway, and I had to admit that it was getting interesting.

“As to why I’ve said that Adam has tricked you? It’s because your original challenge mode, you may as well call it a category, has been modified by the elements from the other one. As a result, its difficulty went up, but the rewards… they depend solely on the mana pool and will remain unchanged.”

“Stop avoiding the most important part. What’s my challenge and the category I’ve been given?”

Votr grinned widely and started tapping on the table regularly.

“It has a simple name ‘Three choices’. You will be given a problem and three solutions. One of them will lead to a certain death, one won’t do anything and one will allow you to resolve the problem.”

“You’re kidding me? One in a three chance of certain death? That’s worse than Russian roulette!”

“That depends. You’re lucky that this place is a really low-level one. There’s not enough mana here to maintain a big and flashy manifestation, this may help you a lot. Of course, there's also a demerit, don’t expect much from the reward.”

“Can I go back without accepting the challenge?”

“Nope~. Don’t be a coward. Let’s start! First round ever of a new challenge mode ‘Three choices’. The problem to resolve is... defeat the enemy!”

Votr made a lazy move with his left hand and an old wooden door has appeared ten meters away from the table. Three identical crystal balls were placed neatly right in front of it.

“Pick one of them and throw it at the enemy. One will defeat it immediately, one won’t do anything and the last one will make it invincible.”

“Just throw it?”

“Yeah, breaking it near the enemy will do. All you need to do is to defeat it.”

I finally realized a major flaw in the rules of this game. It wasn't one, but two in a three chance of death! If I picked a ball that doesn’t do anything I would still have to beat whatever is behind that door with my bare hands!

“Don’t give up without even trying. Just treat it as an external factor I've mentioned. If you die, that's like picking the first option right?”

“Same option my ass!”

“Want me to help you decide faster? I can just open the door and let the enemy come here.”

Without any other option, I stood up, grabbed the nearby chair, and moved to pick one of the crystal balls.

“Huh?”

For the first time, there was a note of surprise in Votr's voice.

“Not reading my mind anymore?”

“No… it’s just that you moved faster than I could read it. Is this what they call act first, think later? Anyway, suit yourself. You can take the chair.”

As a left-handed person, I picked the leftmost orb. The other two had disappeared within a small flash of light. With a crystal ball in the left hand and a chair in my right, I was standing in front of the wooden door.

“...”

“Hmm~? Not going in? Try opening it with your teeth... alright, alright. I will give you a freebie. Geez, what an irritable person.”

Behind the door was a dark room similar to the one I just came from. There was something small moving inside.

“That’s... my enemy?”

I carefully put down the crystal on the ground and remade my grip on the chair. I would really have to be an idiot to risk one in a three chance of death against 'this'. Yeah, one in a three. Because, even if I threw an orb that did nothing, I could still win. After all, my enemy was…

“That’s a fucking naked goblin!”

... no bigger than a child, green, naked and scared to death. He was shivering in the corner of the room. That didn’t mean that I was going to show him any mercy. I moved slowly. Step by step. Observing his every move, in case it was a trap. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the crystal near the entrance, but it was too late to think about it. I was just three steps away from the goblin and my body started pumping the adrenaline.

I decided to throw the chair at him first and press the attack later.

As soon as I took aim, the goblin started running. This unexpectedly fast move allowed him to slip past me. After turning around I realized that he was going for the crystal.

“Oh no you don’t!”

I threw the chair at him and started to run as well. Luckily for me, the goblin was hit right in the back of his head and fell over. A second later I caught up and started kicking with all my might.
The difference in strength was too big. Without even a chance to fight back, among many shrieks of pain, the small goblin's body was kicked over to the wall. With no more space to roll, it was suffering even more damage from my sturdy winter boots.

*Thump*

A powerful blow to his stomach. I could feel it sinking deep into flesh.

*Crunch* *Thump*

When he released his guard from the pain, I stomped hard on his head.

*Splat* *Crunch* *Thump*

Some of the blood has splashed right on my cheek.

*Thump* *Thump* *Crush* *Splat*

He stopped reacting, no more shrieks, no more spasms or desperate attempts to crawl.

*Thump* *Crush* *Splat* *Thump* *Splat*

There was a bloody, sharp bone sticking out from his right arm.

*Crush* *Splat* *Thump* *Splat*

After repeated stomping, his skull caved in.

*Splat* *Thump* *Splat*

The chest stopped making crunching sounds.

*Thump* *Splat*

How come there is so much blood everywhere?

*Splat*

I nearly toppled over.

Breathing heavily, with streams of sweat dripping down my face, I had to lean against the wall to keep my balance. There was blood in my mouth, I didn’t even notice how hard I was biting on my lips.

I was afraid to look directly at the corpse. Afraid of vomiting. Just the smell alone was already hard to bear, especially when I realized that it was me who did that.

“It was just a goblin… it was just a goblin… it was just a goblin… a fantasy, a monster.”

Repeating this aloud somewhat helped to calm me down.

Now that the red mist was gone I went out of the room as fast as possible. I couldn’t understand it myself.

Where did all that rage and anger come from?

As soon as I was out - the small room with the corpse, orb that was left there, wooden door and all the blood covering me - started to disappear. After ten seconds it was all gone. All except the vivid images in my head.

*Clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap*

Votr was clapping slowly, with ever bigger grin than the one he had before.

“You won your first challenge, wasn’t that hard right? But I got to admit that this was an overkill. Well~ you had a lot of pent-up anger inside.”

“That… that wasn’t me. I couldn’t control myself.”

“That was a penalty.”

“Penalty?”

“Sit down and let me explain.”

I took his invitation. Now that it was over, I really needed to sit down and rest.

“It’s really simple. If you ignore the rules of your ‘Three choices’ and try to win by using other means, it will activate a hidden penalty. In this case, it was a berserk state.”

“What the… how is this fair?!”

Despite those words, I was glad. Glad that a suitable way to escape the guilt has appeared.

“That’s just the way it is. Let me say it again, you’re lucky that this place is at a beginner level of mana density, otherwise, there’s no way that all you had to do was to fight a goblin. You should thank those guys for picking it for you.”

“Whatever…”

I really just wanted to get my reward and leave this place already. For some reason Votr no longer mocked me or said how pathetic I was, but seeing myself clearly reflected in his mirror eyes was still creeping me out.

“Yes, let’s wrap it up. As for the reward, it’s connected with your ‘Three choices’. You may either get an original skill, receive help with your soul reformation or get a one time action.”

Not that it tells me much.

“Explain.”

“Original skill is a mystery~ and for the rest-”

“Wait, what mystery?”

“Mystery is a mystery, all I know is that it will be your original skill, or rather a seed of one that will need much more mana than this place can offer to fully develop. What exactly it will do? Good question.”

“You really don’t know?”

“Ask yourself and your mess-of-a-soul that doesn’t even know what route to follow.”

Is it really like that? Is this the reason behind all that tormenting at the beginning?

“And the others?”

“Let me say it this way, a mystery active skill, a mystery passive skill, a mystery one use item.”

“Can I get a re-roll with less mystery?”

“Hoo~ you’re feeling good enough to joke? Shall we start the second round of your soul reformation?”

Votr narrowed his eyes and started to play with the pocket knife. Pulsating red light of his veins sped up. Cold shivers went down my spine.

“No need…”

To avoid his reflective eyes I kept my head down and started thinking about which reward to choose. I was never a fan of disposable items, and between an active or a passive usually, the latter was a better choice.

I wonder how many-

“One. One active skill and one passive skill, that's the limit. Once gained can’t be changed.”

The demon has answered my questions before I could even verbalize them.

“I will take the active skill.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. While picking them blindly, I would like to avoid a situation of getting stuck with a troublesome passive skill that can’t be turned off.”

“Hmm… if you say so. You will get it after leaving. Don’t worry, you will know how to use it by instinct.”

Finally, it was over. Now, how do I leave this place?

As if to answer my question, a new door had appeared behind Votr. Not wanting to stay here any longer, I stood up and went to it.

“Wait.”

“Is there something else?”

“Actually yes. I want to make a deal.”

“What deal?”

“If you will ever want to raise your power, you will need to find more mana spots like this one. Trust me, they’re not easy to find unless you’re a Gatemaker, but I can make you able to perceive them.”

“Sounds too good to be true. What do you want in exchange?”

“One thing.”

He showed the back of his left hand with the crimson 28 on it.

“Help me raise my rank.”

“How?”

“By getting rid of other demons of course. Find other people with personal demons, lure them near power spots, use a ticket at the same time they do, win a challenge against them, erase their demons. Simple.”

“Like hell it is!”

“I’m not saying that you have to do it right now, just don’t be a coward when the time comes. You will profit from this as well. The higher my rank becomes, the more I can offer you. For now, it’s only a mana spot detection, but later… a lot, lot more.”

His offer was tempting, but making a deal with a demon… I was sure that he wasn’t telling me the whole truth.

“Sounds good, but sorry I can’t. Try harder next time.”

Without waiting for him to answer, I went through the door, back to the real world.