Redo: Grimoire System in the Apocalypse

By the time morning had come, Filthy had made it back to base. Geth received a transmission from Larz telling him where the next three rest stops should be.

The next few days proceeded smoothly, ending with every team making it safely to the Southern Gate. 

A long line ran back from the gate, with Larz handling the citizenship process as it slowly shuffled forward. Many of the newcomers were impressed with the wall that loomed menacingly over them.

"Is this really where we'll be living?"

"Look at this wall. There's no end to it!"

"What about all of those monsters standing on top?!"

"Is that an Elf?!"

Larz drew more attention than the city did. A torrent of questions were cast his way with each new citizen that he accepted.

Geth chuckled as he moved up to greet the man. Larz smiled as he saw his master's approach.

"Welcome back, my lord. The trouble I mentioned before is still hanging around the East Gate." 

"They still haven't given up, huh?" Geth asked.

"No, and I've made sure that anyone who has gone out hunting left through the West Gate. It will leave a better impression if you handle the problem personally," Larz informed him.

"He has around ten men with him. None of them are above Level 35," The Elf added as if it were an afterthought. 

"Very well."

Geth thought back to the young man he had tossed out. The boy hadn't been particularly outstanding in any way.

He used his Invocation to increase his Agility and Wisdom, which had become a normal combination for him.

"I suppose this will be an excellent chance to see just how far I can go with my Time Delay Skill," Geth mumbled.

He ran around the wall in the eastern direction.

'I hadn't realized just how big this place was. It could easily house everyone who lived in the county.'

Unfortunately, it was unlikely to get everyone together under one roof, even with that truth.

'I would usually take quality over quantity, but the merit system benefits more from an abundance of citizens. Now isn't the time. I'll think about it more later.'

With his enhanced Agility, the Eastern Gate was swiftly coming into view. Geth veered off to the right after deciding to take a dramatic approach.

****

"Attack the door again! Just think of all the treasures a place like this can have!"

"Boss, we've been hacking at these doors for days and have barely put a dent in them."

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd fuckin' ask for it! Hit 'em again!"

Edge watched from the side, a scheming grin plastered on his face. He'd managed to con this small group of thugs into helping him.

The boss turned to look at him, "You should be helping, runt. If we do all this work on our own, I won't even give your gear back."

He'd fabricated the lie that Geth and the others had stolen equipment from many different parties. They were equipped well enough to make his story look true.

"I can't do much without any gear!" Edge complained.

"It's no surprise these guys stol- ackk!"

The big guy dropped to the ground. One moment he'd been fine. The next, he was covered in bruises.

"What the fuck!?"

Edge quickly backed away from the blood that was running towards his feet. He looked towards the other gang members and found that they were all in similar positions.

"Did the wall do this?" He questioned, glad that he hadn't attacked with everyone else.

"I'll just have to find someone stronger to help me then!" He exclaimed.

"That sounds like a great idea!"

"Huh?" Edge turned his body around swiftly and found himself face to face with a grinning Geth.

"Long time no see! Life been treating ya okay?" Geth asked the boy.

"Wha-? Agghhhhhh!"

Edge suddenly felt an immense amount of pain coming from his left leg as his body dropped to the ground. He managed to look and found that his knee was facing the wrong direction.

"Aw man, that looks nasty. Here, let me help." Geth said.

The pain began to ebb as Edge watched his leg twist back to its original position. He looked up at the older man, full of bewilderment.

The bearded man was no longer smiling. A flat and uncaring look overtook his previously merry features.

"You had a chance to live, boy."

His words were flat. Edge couldn't hear any anger or hatred in the voice at all.

An immense pressure poured out of the elderly man. His knees began to shake as a feeling of fear crept into him.

'Why should I be scared of this old man? Wait... I can't move?'

Edge tried to look around and found that he couldn't even bat his eyelids. The man was staring at him with that same creepy look.

'What the hell is going on!?" Edge tried his best to move again but to no avail.

The bearded man moved toward him but at an agonizingly slow pace. It was like watching a movie during some extreme slow-motion scene.

Edge still couldn't move. He watched for almost ten minutes as the cloaked man reached out and grabbed one of his fingers.

Pain surged upward from his hand. His eyes were tilted just enough that he could see his finger bending in some unnatural position.

'Agggghhh! Agghhh! Fuckk!'

He couldn't even cry out for help as he watched this man break his fingers one by one. The cracking of each bone could be heard for a solid minute.

Another twenty minutes passed in Edge's mind as his hands became utterly warped. What made it worse was that the pain had barely started to throb!

****

'Seems like it's working just fine,' Geth thought.

The young man didn't seem capable of moving. He just stood and watched for the full five seconds that it took Geth to fracture each of his fingers.

Geth kicked the young man in his kneecap again, dropping him to the ground. He ended the Time Delay on the young man to recover some of his Mana.

"Aggghhh! What did you do to me?!"

"Oh, found your tongue already? Good, I need you to tell me exactly what you just went through."

It was easy for Geth to speed up time for an individual. This was how he forced people's minds to think that he'd teleported.

Slowing time down, on the other hand... Well, he hadn't really had a way to test that out until now.

"Fuck you!"

Sigh

"You'll answer eventually," Geth stated.

He cast the Skill again. This time he not only broke the boy's fingers but also shattered both of his shins.

The process only took a few seconds for him. If his Skill worked the way he thought it should, it probably felt like close to an hour for the boy.

"Aggghhhh!!!" A blood-chilling scream erupted from Edge.

Geth cast Restoration on the young man and asked him again.

"So, are you ready to help me with my little experiment? I have all day."

Edge curled up into a ball and whimpered.

"This isn't going to get me anywhere," Geth muttered.

He canceled his Restoration and put the boy out of his misery.

'I'll have to find someone willing to cooperate,' He thought.

Geth walked around gathering the storage items and Skill Cards off the dead bodies before making his way through the Eastern Gates.