Avarice - 3

In his dream, The Preacher sat on a bench watching the sunset. He beckoned Cor to sit beside him. 

"Now that you have all that you needed, there's no stopping you from becoming whatever you want. However, be cautioned, that in this world, you will find people whose minds are much more difficult to invade than the rest of others. You will get to meet them soon in your journey. Till then, upgrade yourself and your skills so that you are ready to face them."

I am not getting a single word that you are telling, old man. "Why do I have to confront them anyway? I just want my prestige and my rightful place back."

"Son, life often pulls us to places and things that we never ever imagined before and unwillingly, we too become a part of those things. I just gave you a fore-warning. The rest is up to you."

"How do you know whatever happens with me without even being present?"

The Preacher laughed. "Let's just believe that one of my powers is telepathy. And my spies tell me all that I need to know."

He winked. 

"And yes. After you wake up, you will find a ring inside your jacket pocket. It is an important tool in your quest. Wear it as soon as you wake up. I will be unavailable for a couple of weeks, attending to my master's tasks. Good luck to you."

The world around him started to melt. Cor sprang to his feet, frightened. He started running away to safe ground. But the void was too fast. He was sucked into the void sooner than he had expected.

He woke up above the ruins of Bortrys, panting for breath.

He got up and looked around. Dawn had set in. The crimson skies, offering an obscure view of the surroundings. He got up and began to search for the secret passage, but there was no sign of it. Even the symbol inscribed on the pillar was gone. 

I hope I still have my own mind under my control.

Remembering, the Preacher's words from his dream, Cor moved his hand towards his jacket pocket, uncertain of what he will find. Much to his astonishment, he felt a solid object. Inside was a gemstone, which he had never seen before.

Preacher, what are you?

Unsure about all this, Cor brought the ring closer to his face to inspect it. Then he stuck out his index finger to feel the texture. Suddenly, two projections protruded from behind the gemstone and ensheathed it completely, making it look like a ring. He brought back his finger, the ring turned back to gemstone. 

Wow!

He finally put the gemstone on the index finger of his left hand. It enwrapped his finger and became a complete ring. The gemstone was reduced slightly in it's size but the ring felt perfect. He stretched out his arms to admire its beauty. But then it slowly began to turn...

The gem now stood facing towards the palm of his hand. Cor was baffled at this sudden movement. His fingers now started contracting on their own, pulling his hand into a fist. He could feel something from beneath. When his fingers unfolded, the following message was inscribed in his palm in a misty black ink...

Greetings Cor Raganor,

This is just a tutorial.

Clench your fist and open to know 

the status of your powers.

Cor clenched his fist tight and let it lose again.

Abilities:-

Transfix[Impotens] 

Persuasion[Duco]

Memory stealing[Subduco]

Tap your thumb to know more about 

your attributes.

Cor tapped his thumb on his palm.

Attributes:-

Fruit of Endurance: The consumer feels no physical pain.

The gem shall glow to signify any updates.

Tutorial Over.

Cor clenched his fist and opened it again. The texts on his palm were gone. Cor looked at the horizon, watching the rising sun send out its bright beams to the world. It was time to return home.

After six hours of monotonous journey, Cor lay across his bed, thinking about the recent events. Just two days back, he was a normal factory worker. What lay ahead of him, he didn't know. The identities of the demon, the preacher and the lady in the temple of The Blind intrigued him. 

He lifted up his arm and inspected the ring. Then he clenched his fist and tapped his thumb. The misty dark ink flowed from behind his palm and assembled in the form of a script, notifying him of the Fruit of Endurance. Cor immediately shut his eyes tight. The pain that he felt after eating that morbid fruit was beyond human tolerance. However, he had yet to discover something.

Does it really block out all pain?

Cor got up from his bed. On the table by the side, lay a small pin. He picked it up and pricked his finger. Then he pricked it again, slightly hard. Now blood started oozing out from the tip of his thumb. He felt nothing.

Not convinced enough, Cor slapped himself hard on the face. He was rattled by the brute force but the stinging sensation that usually accompanies was missing.

Then he rushed to the kitchen and picked up the knife. Taking a deep breath, he held the knife firmly and proceeded to cut his arm. A neat cut across the veins and the blood started spilling out from his left arm rapidly. He still felt no pain. The fruit has truly made him immune to it. 

Just as he sat down on a stool, staring hysterically at his bleeding arm, someone yelled from behind,"Cor!! What the heck are you doing?!"

He leapt from his sit, the knife nearly slipping from his hands, and turned around. It was Andrei, his only true friend from the factory. 

"It's nothing, Andy-"

"Have you gone insane or what! Who cuts his arm like that?" Andrei was terrified.

Realising he had nothing for his defence, Cor did the only thing he could in such a circumstance. He looked straight at the eyes of Andrei and whispered," It is nothing my friend, just a small accident while I was chopping some carrots."

Andrei's pupils dilated, his jaw dropped down. "Oh. Alright then."

Cor let out a deep sigh, but he turned around and clenched his jaws. He never wanted to hack the minds of his good friends. After a few moments of awkward silence, Andrei said," It is bleeding fast, go tie a bandage around it or you will lose a lot of blood."

He was right, for a small pool of blood had formed right beneath Cor's outstretched arm. They both went to his room and Andrei helped Cor do the dressing to the wound.

"Some kind of problem Andy?" Cor asked.

"What?" Andrei replied, unable to process what was being said.

"You came to my house... to just see how I am doing or.. do you need something?" Cor tried to be polite.

"Oh, yes. I just came to tell you that Fischer, your supervisor is mad at you. He kept nagging me to tell why were you absent for without an official leave. Since I had no knowledge of your whereabouts, I just told that you were probably sick. You better meet him tomorrow or things might not turn out well." Andrei replied, looking concerned.

"Oh yes, I definitely will meet him," Cor said staring blankly at the floor. 

The next day, Cor met Fischer and before he started yelling, Cor showed him his bandaged arm and told him that he had an appointment with a doctor. It didn't take long for him to be fully convinced. 

During the lunch break, Andrei and Cor sat beside each other while they ate their meals along with two other friends, Lenny and Keith.

"I wonder what sort of magic you did to Fischer. He isn't a man to be easily convinced." Lenny said from across the table. Cor just shrugged and grinned.

"And what about that cut on your arm? Dying for a girl?" said Keith.

"It was just a little accident last night. Never cut vegetables when you are high on Vodka." Cor gave a hearty laugh.

"Nice ring bud!" remarked Lenny.

Andrei looked at Cor's arm. "Hey, I didn't see it yesterday. Perhaps I was too troubled seeing your bleeding arm. Where did you get it from?" he asked.

"Nothing big. Just an old ring of my father." Cor said, avoiding eye contact.

"Have you checked on Ylvis? After his promotion, he feels like he is superior to all of us. I just saw him yesterday, and waved at him, he kept walking straight, pretending that I don't even exist!" said Lenny.

The conversation about Ylvis went on, Cor didn't hear anything else further. He realised he had an unfinished business to attend to.

At 8 o' clock in the evening, Cor knocked at the door of Mr Peter Drekick, the President of the Factory Committee. 

"Who are you?" said Drekick, unable to recognise Cor.

"Me? I am just a humble worker at your factory. One whom you missed in your list of promotions."

"What the hell is this?! Who do you think you are-" Drekick stopped short in his sentence.

"Have patience, Sir. It will only take a few minutes for you to discover how worthy I am." Cor replied in a grim voice. He pushed Drekick inside and locked the door behind him.

The next day, when everyone was assembling for work, it was announced that the President had to make an important announcement.

"It is with deep regret that I have to inform you all that we have had missed two great employees of ours in our list of promotions." said the President to the assembled crowd. Cor watched indifferently.

"However, they won't suffer for this. I hereby announce on behalf of the Committee that Cor Raganor and Andrei Uran are promoted to the ranks of Managers in the Sales Department and the R&D fields respectively. That's all for now gentlemen. Please continue your work"

The crowd started to clap slowly, never having seen such an announcement before. Some of them patted Cor and Andrei in their backs and shook their hands vigorously. 

Cor arrived at his new, finely furnished cabin. The job of a Manager was what he was looking for. Less work, more pay. Besides, he could thrust his work on his subordinates if he wanted to. He sat down in the chair, outstretched his legs and gave a sigh of contentment. 

An arrow came darting from the window and struck the smooth table, right near Cor's left knee. He sprang up to his feet terrified. He stood paralysed, breathing fast, unable to comprehend the cause of such an act. He had no enemies. Not yet, at least.

Upon closer inspection, he found a small piece of paper entwined just below the arrowhead. He proceeded to recover the piece of paper, filled with uncertainty and began to read it:

I know what power you possess.

Meet me at the Central Park at 5:00 am sharp. 

We have a mutual friend.

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