A wet and crunchy sound echoed in the bar, followed by a screeching sound, as if the world had just glitched.
Noara turned to the source of the sound in time to see the guy who had asked her out earlier fall to the ground with a thud, his head detached from his body, and a faint distortion shimmering around his body.
She saw the blood splashing and sensed the smell of death for the first time in her life.
A humanoid shadow had detached from the wall and was stumbling towards the corpse, grinning. The smile formed an opening in the shadow's 'face' through which she was able to see what was behind it.
All that happened in a fraction of a second, as if the world was in slow motion. It was a moment that the brains of the people needed to be able to process what was happening before the bar fell into chaos.
People screamed and cursed as they ran towards the only exit. A pair of other shadows used the moment to kill some, while the first shadow was feasting on the corpse of the person it killed.
Some people slipped in pools of drinks that had spilled in their hurry, their shadows on the walls glitching and flickering, increasing people's panic.
Clara made a mention to also rush towards the exit, but Noara quickly took her hand.
"Don't go yet."
Clara turned to her, bewildered.
"Huh? Why?"
Her hand was trembling, and she was hyperventilating. In comparison, Noara looked like the embodiment of calm. But, inside she was…
Fuck. FUCK! The Survival Directives from earlier was very clear about avoiding this... Yet, here we are. I need to do something…
Unable to speak for a moment, she answered Clara's question just by pointing to some of the people who were trying to flee.
There were at least forty people trying to pass through the same single-door at the same time, and it didn't take long for shoves and punches to break out. Yet, nobody had yet managed to pass through the door.
While both stared, the doorframe bent, curving outside and then inside, before falling back into the normal form. It all lasted less than a second, but the two of them saw it clearly.
That sight only highlighted the meaning behind Noara's actions. They wouldn't be able to cross that door… not with the panic going on.
"I know, Noara, but the shadows…"
"They are only three, and they are busy eating."
Her gaze flicked from the door to the windows, wondering if that could be a way out if she broke the glass.
No, Julia is downstairs. I can't just leave without making sure both she and Clara are safe.
Julia was one of Noara's best friends, who worked as a barista at the club, making drinks. And Noara knew that she was on the clock tonight.
While all those thoughts passed through her mind, Noara was already taking her backpack and taking a military knife she had in it for personal safety.
She bought it some years ago, as walking alone in the city night was often too dangerous. She had actually used it in a real fight only once, but she often trained with it.
She was physically weak, and she knew it. But being weak wasn't a good excuse to not learn to protect herself.
It was at that moment that a cold feeling ran down her spine, as if someone was watching her.
The entire room flickered with colorful echoes around people. But, before she was able to take hold of what was happening, a new pop-up window appeared in front of her eyes, surrounded by a faint violet shimmer.
[SYSTEM INITIATION — CLASS SEED RESONANCE DETECTED]
Emotional Density Threshold exceeded.
Boundary-Perception Trait confirmed.
Symbol Layer alignment: Desire / Shame / Gaze.
A Class Seed has formed.
Your actions, intentions, and psychological imprint have shaped the following outcome:
You have unlocked the Class:
✦ VELVET WITNESS — Tier A (evolvable)
A class born from:
— your refusal to look away
— your instinct to protect without domination
— your ability to read intent beneath masks
Accept Class?
[YES] [NO]
Huh? A Class?
"What's it, Noara? Did something happen?"
Clara noticed the way her eyes shifted out of focus and assumed that she was seeing another system notification.
"Oh, it seems that I received a class…"
Noara mentally 'clicked' on the [YES] option, and the pop-up disappeared. In its place a new window appeared.
[CLASS - VELVET WITNESS (A)]
An observer who controls the battlefield by weaponizing emotions and desire.
[TALENTS]
Eyes Behind the Curtain (passive)(A)
Boundary Sense (passive)(B)
Velvet Snare (control)(A)
[STAT SCALING]
Primary Stats: Will, Mind, Perception
Secondary Stats: Agility, Presence
Weak Stat: Strength
Ookay, I guess… Well, I hope there's something useful for this situation…
Clara was trying to ask some questions, but Noara raised her hand to ask for silence, then opened the talent descriptions, one by one.
[EYES BEHIND THE CURTAIN (PASSIVE)(A)]
Allows the Velvet Witness to perceive emotional currents as colored silhouettes around people.
Nope.
[BOUNDARY SENSE (PASSIVE)(B)]
The Velvet Witness senses when someone is about to cross a boundary.
Argh, that's just stupid!
[VELVET SNARE (CONTROL)(A)]
The Velvet Witness is able to manipulate the emotional pattern of any target.
Damn! Not a single thing I can use??? If I don't find anything useful, Clara might…
Seeing that the UI became unstable as her emotions spiked, she shook her head, avoiding finishing that thought, and then she looked around.
She immediately noticed that she was able to see faint auras around everyone. She could see acid neon yellow, jagged and throbbing, with several blobs of burnt orange pulsating and strands of crimson that appeared and disappeared like lightning.
Apparently, the system had already ingrained the knowledge of the meaning of those colors in her brain, so she was able to understand them at a glance. The acid yellow was pure fear, the burnt orange was anxiety and stress, while crimson was rage.
How useless… It isn't like I couldn't understand their emotions without it…
She shifted her focus to the shadows, and the sight made her take a deep breath without noticing.
Those shadows had gained some sort of physical form, as if the shadow itself had grown a weird black leather coating, the 'eyes' being two holes of pure darkness. Yet, she could see that inside that coating, their bodies were composed of pure pitch-black flames.
But her aura was different from humans in the fact that humans had those colors appear faintly around their bodies, but the shadows seemed to be made out of that color. As if its body was, in itself, the emotion.
The crunching sound of their munching plus the blood trickling down the creature's chin created an icy knot in her belly, but she tried to ignore it.
Wait, if they are made out of emotion patterns, then I can…
"Velvet Snare."
She muttered the name of the ability with a cracking voice, while her eyes were locked onto the first shadow, which had almost finished eating its prey.
For some reason, inside her consciousness, she knew instinctively how to activate it.
She forced the black flame to change, imposing a soft white glow onto it. Soft white was the color of hope and moral clarity, emotions that clashed fundamentally with the principle of the shadow, which was predation.
The creature immediately stopped eating and stared at Noara, letting out a screech. Yet, she didn't falter.
"Noara? That thing's looking at you? Are you doing something?"
Please, not now, Clara!
She didn't speak, as she didn't want to lose her focus as she put even more intent into her skill, while her hand gripped the knife she had taken out of her bag earlier.
The shadow rose and tried to run at her but staggered.
The soft white glow was taking hold on its body, transforming the very essence of its being.
It took another step, then fell to its knees, at arm's reach of Noara. It tried to lunge forward to bite her, but Noara stabbed the knife into the midst of its eyes with a reverse grip.
The thing screeched again, and then, in a matter of seconds, it disintegrated.
[SHADOW ENTITY DISPERSED]
Lesser Spirit (Tier 1) defeated.
Emotional residue unclaimed.
+15 XP
The screech the creature shouted was so high that everyone stopped what they were doing - humans and shadows alike - and witnessed the scene.
Noara closed her eyes, hyperventilating. But she knew she couldn't stop after taking the first step.
She ignored the notifications and took a deep breath to steel herself. The second shadow was already standing up, she had no time.
Suddenly noticing the improper position she was in, still sitting on the chair, she stood up suddenly, nearly tripping on her own chair. She gritted her teeth and focused on the second shadow, activating her skill again.
This time, she already had a better understanding of how the skill works, so the activation was faster. The entity ran towards her but staggered and tumbled like the first, becoming an easy target for the finishing blow.
[SHADOW ENTITY DISPERSED]
Lesser Spirit (Tier 1) defeated.
Emotional residue unclaimed.
+15 XP
Dark ichor had splattered on her and the surroundings when she slashed its neck with the knife, but it quickly evaporated, along with its body.
THUNK!
The unexpected sound was too close to her left. She turned to see Clara in desperation, attacking the remaining shadow with a chair. She had intercepted what would have been a deadly blow.
Some of the patrons that had been trying to flee got encouraged by her standing and began to throw things at the shadow and taunt it. Soon, someone else also produced a knife and lunged forward.
The shadow was disoriented by the change in attitude of the people and hesitated. Noara took the chance to use her ability a third time. The effect of the skill was instantaneous this time, fully immobilizing the creature in time for the guy with the knife to finish it up.
Seeing that, Noara opened a smile, but her knees wobbled. The next thing she noticed, she was falling limp to the ground, but someone managed to catch her in time.