The Gamer's System

Chapter 213: The Insignia of Darkness

Kaguya woke up feeling her whole body as light as a feather. She has never felt such a sensation for a long time that, it was almost foreign to her. She was still regaining consciousness slowly and, upon completely coming to her senses, all the memories of the fight came flooding back to her. How she was fighting Samael and, how she blacked out during the fight.

"What happened?" Kaguya thought as she was about to leave the room but then, someone suddenly entered. The same person who gave them the trial. Zeke Elwood.

"Uhmm you're not supposed to move yet. Although I wasn't able to tell you because you were unconscious." There was no hostility nor indifference in Zeke's voice that time. It was his usual calm and lax voice that spoke to Kaguya. And this was enough for Kaguya to calm a bit down.

He had food placed on top of a palte as if he already knew that Kaguya woke up.

"Just wait for a sec." Zeke sat on a stool positioned near Kaguya's bed. There was food on his hands so he first placed this on top of a nearby table.

"Mister Zekedid we"

"Win? You sure as hell did." Zeke began, with Kaguya shocked from the words.

"I was actually thinking of stopping the fight as soon as Samael enters his [Infernal] form. But man, imagine my surprise when you destroyed my [Conjure] even before it could transform." He furthered with a grin drawn on his face.

"So does that mean that you'll help us again?" There was a look of hopefulness on Kaguya's eyes. One which she didn't bother hiding and in fact, wanted Zeke to read her intentions entirely.

"Of course I would. That's part of the deal after all. I mean, I did put you kids to that state so it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I still abandon you." Zeke simply said as he offered the food to Kaguya.

"Before you even ask, your teammates are on the other rooms and also recovering. Unfortunately, you're the only one who has woken up." Zeke continued, looking at the insignia on Kaguya's hand. 

The reason why Zeke needed to talk with Kaguya was because of the blessing Nisha gave. As soon as the fight ended, Allesiah told Zeke that, the dark mana user was not compatible with her own skills. In fact, she was having difficulty gathering dark mana which was weird for Zeke to hear. After all, Kaguya was the chosen human of Nisha and thus, would not hesitate to bountifully bless the human.

"I need to check your wrist for a bit." He furthered, offering his hand for Kaguya to place hers on.

"My wrist?" Kaguya repeated wanting to offer the other hand as she tried hiding the disappearing mark.

"If you're thinking that I'm going to change my decision because of that then you've got me all wrong." Zeke said as he understood how Kaguya was thinking.

"You already produced results. Now I'm just doing what I can in order to ensure that your statistics go higher and, I can't do that without getting the proper information out of you." Zeke finished which made Kaguya stare at him for a moment; trying to figure out if what the gamer was saying was true. 

Then she remembered that Zeke was not the type to lie about things like this. So, Kaguya decided to gamble and offered her hand to the gamer. [Analysis] immediately worked; showing Zeke the information regarding the fading insignia.

[Name: Blessing of Darkness]

[Rank: SSS]

[Skill Type: Blessing]

[Mana Cost: None]

[Information: The blessing emanates from the goddess of darkness herself. As such there is no limit to the potential of its welder.]

[Information: Due to the goddess being killed, the blessing has began weakening and will soon lose effectivity entirely. Due to the same cause, dark mana will become lesser and lesser making darkness attributed attacks even weaker than they were before.]

"Just as I thought." Zeke said, letting go of Kaguya's hand and proceeding to his inventory window.

"Kaguya can you give me a rough idea how long this has been occurring?" Zeke didn't waste any time and proceeded to asking the necessary questions.

"I'm not sure, ever since we finished the mission on the rift, I felt my power rapidly decreasing as the days passed by. I even performed a few tests myself but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't muster the same amount of power that I had before."

"I see." Zeke simply said as he tried piecing together all the he currently knew about.

"So, why is this happening exactly?" Kaguya asked knowing that, if there was someone who can explain it to her, it was Zeke.

The gamer looked at Kaguya and understood right away that, the knowledge he gained won't benefit the elite. If she knew that a goddess was killed then, it may greatly affect her state of mind. Rendering her incapable of fighting as even her self-confidence may drop. Hence the gamer formulated a half-truth answers as quickly as the question was asked.

"There's nothing wrong. It's just that the gods have been busy in the creation of new worlds. That's why Nisha couldn't focus her mana on your blessing anymore. I'm guessing that it may even be removed entirely." This was already fabricated to lessen the impact on Kaguya yet, the elite was already looking down.

"But you shouldn't worry about that. I can make you some new items and equipment while also providing you some proper training." Zeke furthered, regaining the spark on Kaguya's eyes.

"Isn't that too much of a special treatment?" The leader of the elites asked. Thinking that all the members should be treated fairly.

"Far from it. I'm treating all of you based on the level of your needs. As the new leader of the elites the other members look up to you. In fact, if someone else became your leader, I'm guessing that there may be some division among your ranks. But it is because of your level headedness and your power that the other trust you. One cannot exist without the other so we need to restore that power of yours." 

Kaguya brooded over the things which Zeke said. The gamer was still there, clicking on some buttons within his [Gamer's Window] which even Kaguya could see. 

"Oh you need to eat for now. Don't be shy, I'm gonna stay here a bit longer for the data collection." Zeke said, looking at the food he brought. Kaguya immediately took this up thinking that it would be bad manners if she didn't accept the offer.

Zeke stayed for another thirty minutes. He suggested that Kaguya should eat slowly as the effects of regeneration may kick in and nauseate her. She didn't ask how this was and only did as instructed. She looked at the gamer and thought how composed he was in that situation. As if everything was always within his range of expectations. Then, as if feeling her stare prolong too much, Zeke stared back at the elite. Closing the [System Window] with an item on his hands that Kaguya recognized to be:

"Gloves?" It was black in color and there was nothing noticeably strange about it. Except for the small gems that seem to be embedded in the middle of both gloves.

"Yup. I was thinking of a way to hide your hands without actually looking like we're hiding them. So, I made those for you, gloves that converts other forms of mana and turns it into dark mana. That should help in both hiding the fading insignia and sustaining your strength until I revise the equipment I made for you."

"Wait, we have new equipment?" Kaguya said in even more surprise.

"Of course you do. I can't expect any results if all you have are sticks and stones now do I?" Zeke furthered, smiling at the elite as he took the plate and got up.

"I'll be taking this." Zeke said as he got the empty plate from Kaguya's hands. 

"You should rest for a couple more hours. It may seem like you are fully healed but, even regeneration has consequences on the body if frequently used."

"I understand Mister Zeke." Kaguya simply said, bowing her head down as the gamer finally left the room. 

The smile on Zeke's face immediately disappeared. As if everything he showed to Kaguya was a faade. Things weren't going well. In fact, there was too much to think about that Zeke thought about how little rest he'd have over the course of the next days.

"Now what am I supposed to do with this?" Zeke thought to himself, opening the [System Quests] which notified him as soon as he got the information on Kaguya's Insignia.

[You have received the Main Quest - Retribution for the Goddess of Darkness.]

[Quest Information: There are two sides to the same coin. One resides in the heavens while the other has descended on earth. Kill either one and the quest will end.]

[A crucial memory piece will begiven as a reward.]

[20% of the Ancient Spell Completion will be given as reward.]

[Entry to the realm of the gods will be given as a reward.]

"Were finally entering the endgame huh." Zeke said, staring at the screen as if it was an ominous sign to some great calamity approaching them.

"I hope that those kids are ready by then." The gamer said, walking away and thinking of the god that he needed to murder.