CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 93: CARL’S NUMBERS

When Lillim skipped back into Carl and Klaire’s home after returning the committee staff to the SAT-Station, everyone who was conscious looked at her knowingly.

"Lillim, do we even want to know why you look so pleased with yourself?" Kyubi asked the question whilst busy tending to Leanna again.

"How is my daughter? We left her as she requested but we both know that time can be the difference in full recovery for a mortal."

"Yes, just like we both know we won’t know until she tries using the arm, now what were you doing?"

"Just helping a couple of humans home, I’m only chipper because I have faith in my daughter’s strength and now know what my grandson can do when he puts his mind to it... Not to mention mine and Faylorna’s shared interest."

"Don’t forget, Carl might not be as happy with what he done in that moment as you are." Kyubi warned.

"Yes, yes, I know. I won’t upset your fancy with my glee."

"Lillim! That’s enough." Kyubi barked, a little too aggressively to play it off as general irritation after a mess day.

"Kyubi, for what it’s worth, the only one who doesn’t know already is Carl. Speaking of fancies; I should go tell Scylla what happened, or I’m going to die and Blanc, you should go find yours and tell her what happened." Gillian pointed out the latter with the gentle prod a guy who is not used to being in a relationship needs when he finds himself in one.

"Yeah, may not have the whole story, but Carl didn’t have a scratch and that area was glassed. Think it’s safe to assume he won’t be keen to take Carl on again."

"Yeah... I should go check on Klaire..." Alysse said, moving towards the hallway that branched into a couple rooms and a staircase until Lillim grabbed her collar.

"My dear, I have no desire to have my soul ripped out by whatever the hell she is now. I will say this once, don’t antagonise her, she may kill accidentally. Nergal, I think it’s time you joined on a training basis, only you and Faylorna can reign her in safely now."

"Safely? She made my arms rupture with that new howl of her’s, but I see your point, I am responsible for the banshee. Can you call the twin dragons here? Tiamat would be good emotional support for her and Bahamut would be good medical support for us and Leanna."

"Tiamat, yes, unfortunately Bahamut has yet to state intentions."

"Tell him if he doesn’t I’ll kill him. The realms cannot survive the power of these two running rampant and there is now no guarantee any of us could survive a clash against Carl."

"Do not talk about fighting my son!" Alisha yelled unexpectedly, "You lot have done enough to him already!"

"I’m not, I was saying the exact opposite, I apologise for not being clearer. Whatever you all can’t tell me, I had my eyes blown out of my sockets simply trying to observe the disturbance reflexively. I imagine right now every immortal is holding their breath, likely having experienced the same thing."

"Carl asked me to make sure Gaia and our allies know that HQ is gone, but particularly Gaia in case Rhea wants to visit and she stumbles across the destruction." Sis said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs Nergal appeared next to her, his posture robbed of the usual confidence and bravado he carried himself with. "Sorry, for a second there... I am Nergal, apologies if I startled you, you reminded me of someone for a moment."

"I know who you are Jerk-al, thanks to you picking and choosing when to interfere my ability to calculate Carl’s rewards and growth was gravely diminished. Ishtar made sure to include how trustworthy you are on a personal level."

"Ish- Who exactly are you?..." Nergal’s fists were whitening with the growing tension in his fists.

"I’m Sis, Carl’s system and sister. Another orphan created by how quickly you pre-Carl immortals pick scheming and violence over co-existence and leaving things be. Yes, I am aware I look and sound like her, just enough I could be her daughter with minimal inheritance."

Nergal backed away slowly, hands dangling impotently at his sides. "Apologies, I’ll leave... Lillim, just call me when Klaire is ready for training."

Whilst they were waiting for Carl and Klaire to come round, Lillim had Alysse construct a system viewing station as an outbuilding. She felt it was the highest priority now, for to truly understand that they had changed.

It wasn’t long after that, that Blanc returned with Sophie, who collapsed into a breakdown upon seeing Leanna’s condition.

"Alysse, a little help? I have no idea how to help with human emotion. Never thought I’d say this, but I need to remember to ask Gillian."

"Blanc, shut up, you children are hopeless." Alisha said as she moved to comfort Sophie. "Do kids just have empathy bred out of them these days?"

"No, but the committee orphanages do a pretty good job of excising it. Can’t control people that like they and their people are being exploited."

By the time Carl and Klaire woke up, everything had calmed down downstairs.

"Carl, before we go down, I want to apologise for bei-"

"Klaire, shoot me, howl at me, stab me with your armblade... This meek version of you is terrifying." Carl chuckled, trying to comfort her.

"Seriously, I need to say this. Carl, I’m sorry I’m not strong enough to be at your side for every battle. I never really thought about it before, but you’re the hero of this story, there were always going to be some fights that you went into alone.

What I want to say is; don’t worry, when you have a fight I can’t support you in, I’ll use my strength to make sure you have a home to come back to."

"Talking of strength, what the hell happened? I feel like your aura’s pulling me in."

"Well, that’s a bit hard for me to explain, I heard them talking a second ago about taking bets on the "System-Viewing room", so if I had to guess we’re about to find out a lot about each other."

"Yeah that sounds about right..." Carl took a deep breath. "Okay, Screw it, think we should get everyone’s blood pumping a bit and show-off the kids? Might also help put everyone at ease after the Dracula incident."

"Before you put him on a pedestal, you owe Tiamutael an apology, he was crying after you disabled his abilities."

"Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to scare him, I knew what was happening, but any attack that I could think of at first was destroying the area. Things got really messy after the volcano melted. I’ll need to apologise to everyone who had stuff in their bedrooms and for wasting all of Blancs work and to the Lugarians."

"Yep, you also need to know, Nergal is here and sulking thanks to Sis... Carl, be nice to him."

They went downstairs and Carl apologised to everyone, explained the situation, including to Nergal after Lillim showed him the emergency instructor contract he signed to stop Klaire killing accidentally.

"Right, now the bit we all want to get to. You tw-"

"System reading room?"

"yes." Lillim said curtly, annoyed at having her thunder stolen.

Carl quickly stopped beside Leanna, who Kyubi assured him was just sleeping and then they went out to see what the numbers looked like.

[ SYS BUILD = NEO PRIMORDIA MK.2 V -3.0.0 ]

[ NAME = CARL BASHE-REAGA ] [RACE = HUMAN *** ] [LEVEL = 230 ]

[ VIT = 1,600,000 ] [ DEF = 1,450,000 ] [ INT = 1,520,000 ]

[ STR = VIT + DEF ] [ DEX = 1,575,000 ] [ CHA = 1,489,000 ]

[ MP = INT x LVL ] [ HP = VIT + PET VIT ] [ DIV = LVL / 3 X 1000 ]

[ CREATOR CULTIVATION = 0/50 ]

[ SKILLS = NEO CELESTI, , NEO DIV CREATOR, FINAL NEO SPEAR TECHNIQUE, NANITE WEAPON EXPERTISE MAX, LAW OF DIVINITY*, LAW OF CREATION*, LAW OF CHANGE* ]

[ SKILL RANKS = UNQUANTIFIABLE ]

[ ABILITIES = ANALYSE ]

[ ADDITIONAL...]

[ MERGED = 0/5 ]

"What the hell? Has Carl’s screen always been that plain?" Gillian asked with blatant knowledge to the contrary.

"No, but it makes sense. He has been recognised by three laws, laws I’ve never heard of... That alone would make him above such things as titles and talents, since those are granted by beings that embody laws, only a favoured child of the laws he knows could grant him one." Nergal replied in abject horror of what he was witnessing.

Lillim was speechless, never having dreamed to see him grow so quickly, but equally worried. "Carl, you must monitor your health closely. The journey and spiritual development to ten stars isn’t simply to make it more appealing. It is because a vessel must be carefully honed and prepared to contain that level of power..."

"Klaire, before you step up there, what I have to ask is not affected by your stats and abilities in the slightest. When you are trained, I wish to challenge you." Kyubi’s announcement stopped the whole room dead, everyone but Carl painfully aware of the reasoning.

"I look forward to it Kyubi, I hope you get what you need out of it. Can we talk after this?"

"Of course, I know you know, but I understand if you wish to discuss it more directly. It won’t change my mind though, the challenge stands."