Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 62: Esper

Chapter 62: Esper

Fiora, the new rookie Greyman, was now facing the strongest monster ever recorded in the history of their agency. With a power level exceeding the maximum limit of nine thousands, far beyond the capability of any scaling system, it would seem foolish of her to go confront it alone without any help from her comrades. Even though it was unsure they would be of any help. A five thousand power unit would be categorized as an S-rank monster, with the potential damage skyrocketing up to the destruction of a city and would require a minimum of at least five veterans Greymen. The problem was the organisation didn't have many Greymen in the first place.

Greymen were individuals who had developed psychic power through a natural or in some case, artificial mutation of their DNA, turning them into Espers. However, they were incredibly rare with the proportion of finding one in ten millions. Furthermore, not every Esper could control their power properly and could become consumed by it. In that case, their mind would not be able to handle the overload of information coming to their brain and would die as a result. Usually, only one out of five Espers would survive this process, further decreasing their number.

As part of this small minority, Fiora herself was an Esper and was chosen as a Greyman. But there was a reason why she has stayed as an 'office worker' for the last three years, being confined to do odd jobs by Kennedy. Her ability simply wasn't very battle-orientated, or rather, it has not yet developed into one yet.

"Don't move!" the woman shouted at Alastor.

"And what if I do?" the monster said in a ghastly voice.

"What? A talking monster? What are you?" Fiora has just realized something. Unlike the usual creatures she has seen, this one didn't have a monochrome skin like the others. Instead, it was a pure dark skin with some parts that looked like stone while others like some kind of black smoke emitting from it. This creature was not a Monochrome, or at least not like any type that has been observed.

"Shouldn't you say who? Is courtesy not a thing in this place? If you want to ask for someone else's name, then the first thing to do is to give them yours." At this point, Alastor has realized that he wasn't in the same world as Astora. Else how would he explain the strange landscape around him? He remembered that the two Goddesses have said something about how miasma could break the barrier between worlds. That would mean that he was now currently in another world, completely separate from Astora in term of time and space, a parallel universe. 'What a situation I found myself into!' he thought.

"Name? You are a monster. How come you have a name? Don't try to deceive me! That won't work, not against me."

"Monster? Me? .....oh right I am in beast mode. That's why you think I am one. Then how about this form? Does this suit you better?" Alastor changed back to his human form, a small white haired kid with a crimson eye and an azure one for the other.

"A kid? ....No! I still don't trust you. You could try to mimic our appearance just so you can lower my guard."

"You seriously have some trust issues here, do you? But I suppose I would do the same in your place. Then how can I prove that I have no intention of harming you or anyone here?" asked Alastor. If this was a new world, then it would be advisable to not incite any unnecessary conflict the moment he got here. Until he gathered more information about this world, he should stay on their good side. And if he could convince one to be his guide, that may help him in his quest and even find the way to go back to his own world.

"Let me touch you!" said Fiora.

".....Do you like touching kids, lady? I mean I don't mind but I already have someone so....." Alastor enunciated.