Chapter 393: Chris Tiu's Rise (VII)
Chris' legs trembled as fear rushed through his very spine. He had never felt this kind of dread–even during the Dementor Invasion when he thought the world would end. Since he used abundant resources to become a Tier 3 Aura Master, Chris has felt confident, happy, and hopeful for the future.
However, when he saw that enormous bony hand that appeared bigger than the entire planet–no, the whole Solar System–he felt his mind overwhelmed by the fear of death. All concepts of joy, health, stability, and goodness were gone, replaced only by the fear of approaching death.
Bang!
Everything shook, forcing Chris to wake up from his immobilized state and balance himself. Luckily for him and all the people in the Solar System, a pure white appeared in space, protecting everyone from the bony palm.
Chris heard an alarm from his watch saying something along the line that the Grand Arcane Shield was activated. However, he was too distracted by the constant earthquakes to pay attention.
He looked at his surroundings and saw magic circles appearing on the buildings, the roads, and above the sky.
Bang!
The magic circles in one of the floating buildings in the area suddenly stopped, and the entire building dropped from the sky. And unfortunately, it fell on poor Chris, who was trying to keep himself afloat amidst the earthquakes.
Punch!
He tore his way out of the debris as a white energy aura surrounded his body. His clothes were dirty, and his left shoulder was bleeding. Chris also felt his breathing was difficult due to breaking a few ribs.
A look of relief appeared on his face after surviving this ordeal. If he did not use all that money on his Aura Master training, he would be a corpse by now.
Chris focused his senses on listening to the people yelling for help. Despite his injury, he rushed to the nearest person. He controlled him [aura] to strengthen his body and dug out a woman.
Ignoring her constant thanks, he prepared to help another person. However, before he could move, countless Arcanists suddenly apparated and began to take action.
Some were in charge of preventing more buildings and cars from falling. Others were responsible for digging out people, healing, and managing the earthquakes. Small spaceships appeared in the sky, beaming people out from the rubble. Legions of golems appeared out of nowhere and began the repair measures with the Reparo Charm.
Someone came to heal Chris. The process took only a few minutes since his injuries were considered minor. He asked if he could help, but the Arcanist told him he had done enough and the government would take it from now. So, Chris asked if they knew what was happening, but he received a negative answer.
After healing, Chris headed home as instructed. On his way, he could see the golems repairing most of the damages, including the falling architecture. If it were not for the constant earthquakes, the smell of blood in the air, the sound of crying, and the bodies properly kept by these Arcanists, he would have thought none of the recent events had occurred.
After reaching his apartment complex, the wailing sounds became more vivid. He guessed many people must have lost someone. But he could only sigh. He opened his apartment room and saw a worried Angela waiting for him.
Usually, it would creep him out when Angela displayed such a level of human emotions. But he felt relieved this time around.
"Master, I'm glad you are okay."
"Me too. Did we suffer any destruction?"
"Yes. The Expansion Enchantment stopped working. We lost the other rooms."
Chris finally realized his apartment was smaller than usual. His bathroom, workout room, and study were now gone since the space was no longer expanded by magic.
"You should check your watch," suggested Angela, and Chris did so since he thought it was appropriate at this moment. He had three messages. The first one was about the activation of the Grand Arcane Shield, which he knew very little about until the message briefly explained it was the Empire's last defensive method in case it faced a catastrophe.
The second message was to ask all citizens to remain calm in this difficult time. In general, it reassured everyone that things were not as bad as they appeared. The third message stated the Empire would reimburse all damages suffered during this catastrophe.
"I guess I don't have to worry about the Extension Enchantment," muttered Chris, satisfied with the government's swift response. Then, he turned the TV on, waiting for any news. Most channels were not functional–including Arcane News which directly reported all news from the government.
After an hour of waiting, the earthquake reduced to a manageable proportion, and some channels began to operate. However, there was no news about the situation. The other news channels were very discreet in their report, not wanting to disseminate false information. Or they would pay dearly.
For the next 24 hours, no official news to explain the situation came forward. Chris spent the entire night before the TV, waiting. He felt relieved when he saw the beautiful face of the anchor, Akana Mikasa.
"Breaking news," said Akana with a somber tone. "A Tier 9 Death God named Guzznad has attacked all the powerful civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Intergalactic Federation and the Intelligens have fallen.
"The Elven Kingdom and the Starskins have suffered terrible damage. And many have been lost in our Empire: a total of 2.7 billion people."
The news proceeded to show a video of Empress Olivier, Bellatrix, Grindelwald, who was hiding his identity, the Flamel Couple, and Dumbledore, who had to turn into Edward's appearance, fighting a shadowy black figure.
The video was not of good quality and was very short. Nevertheless, it conveyed the seriousness of the situation to the populace. After the Arcane News relayed some basic information, the screen cut to a national address by the Emperor.
The address began with a moment of silence for the fallen. Then, the speech talked about the danger and horror of the universe. The "Emperor" told its people not to despair, that the Empire was ready to face any foreign threats and to prepare for the upcoming war that would envelop the entire galaxy.
Finally, the Emperor promised to use the highest prohibited magic of the Empire to revive the fallen. However, he also warned that not all individuals could be revived due to the nature of Guzznad's death.
Chris had to say home since many things were still shut down. Two days later, he received the news that a quarter of the people could be revived, about 675 million. This news stirred some controversy as the family of the people who experienced true death complained about how unfair it was their loved ones could not be saved.
Chris did not know how to feel about this: some of him understood their pains, but the others did not agree with their selfishness. Nevertheless, he was soon distracted by two things.
The first one was another nationwide message. The ID Watch that all citizens have been updated. Teleportation Enchantment and Technology will be incorporated to allow them to teleport the citizens to another dimension in case of a disaster like the previous one.
The message warned that teleportation might be affected and not possible during these tragedies. So, the government will build special bonkers as the last resort in case the watch fails. These bonkers are designed to survive the planet's explosion, and in the future, they will be upgraded to survive Star, Star System, and even Galaxy Level Annihilation Events.
The second distraction was a call from Doctor King to see him and check on his mental health. Chris stopped seeing her after a few sessions since he felt his mental health was on the right track. But once in a while, he would check with her, so he was not surprised by the call.
Chapter 394: Chris Tiu's Rise (VIII)
Chris observed Dr. Shenice King and noticed she was different today. Her usually well-buttoned shirt was slightly open. Her hair was not as well done as usual, and he swore he could see heavy bags under her eyelids.
"You look tired," he commented.
"I am," she responded, showing some vulnerability. She had to divide her mind into more than 100 million sections to help as many people as possible. This was an incredible feat but also placed quite a burden on her.
"Is the situation so bad?"
"Suicide attempts have risen by 700% in the past few days since the incident."
"So high? I cannot imagine how many people died?"
"Only a few succeeded," reassured Dr. King. It is not so easy to commit suicide in this day and age. The ID Watch on all citizens can monitor an individual's vitals and call for the authority once they reach a dangerous level. If that does not work, the maid golem available in most citizens' households has a similar function.
Furthermore, the government cast a planetary-wide Life Detection Spell to detect the vitals of all citizens in the Empire's territory. If someone tried to take their life, it would be detected, and someone will come to aid them.
"So, the situation is under control?" asked Chris, somewhat relieved.
"You would think so. But it has reached the point that Memory Wiping is being considered as a solution." Too many people cannot get rid of the horror of that gigantic bony palm. Until these days, the Empire citizen knew of the universe's danger but only experienced it a few days ago.
Many people realized some powerful entity could come at any moment and erase their entire civilization from the face of the universe. As a result, a lot of people cannot deal with this fact, resulting in a spike in mental health decline.
The National Bureau of Mental Health has been working non-stop to tackle the situation. They gathered all the trained psychologists and many wizards whose main field involved Spirit or the mind to tackle the problem. Then they officially granted Shenice King the position of Department Chief since she was mainly a foreign adviser.
And one of the solutions to this problem is to remove the experience from these people's minds. The idea is that even if they watched videos of it online or heard people talk about it, they can look at the entire thing from an outsider's point of view–instead of someone who directly experienced it.
"Will that work?" asked Chris.
"I don't… Look at how unprofessional I am. I should not talk about these things with you." Dr. King caressed her temple, feeling more tired. She should not have these kinds of conversations with her patient.
'I'm too relaxed around him,' she thought before reigning in her thoughts.
"How are you doing?"
"I think I'm okay. Shocked at first, but alright."
"And how did you feel…."
Chris spent the next hours in a session. And Dr. King told him everything appeared to be alright so far, but she still recommended a few more sessions.
Chris resumed work but requested to stay home instead of going into the office. One day, while at home, another major news appeared on his TV. It was about a large case of corruption in the government and terrorist activities.
According to the news, all houses in the Empire must include anti-destruction Enchantments to combat earthquakes and other forms of destruction. However, many government agents pocketed the money for the enchantment while using cheap materials and creating flawed methods. And some people neglected these enchantments and did not check and repair them regularly. Additionally, there are suspected terrorist groups believed to have secretly tampered with countless enchantments all over the Empire's territories.
Chris watched in shock as many politicians and government workers were arrested. They all had their faces blurred to hide their identities, most likely to prevent the populace from enacting vengeance on their families.
Chris gritted his teeth in anger. He could only imagine how many people could have been saved if not for these people's greed. He wanted to punch something–even if it was the air. Luckily, a notification from his watch distracted him.
And after reading it, he was again shocked, this time for a positive reason. He received a notification from the government that he would receive the [Honor Citizen Title] because of the woman he rescued.
This title came with a large sum of Arcane Points and 1000 Merit. Additionally, it will grant him many other benefits like higher access to the Arcane Grand Library, discounts on certain products, more job opportunities, and priority for certain resources.
'A 1000 merit. That's all the savings I used on my Aura Training.' Chris did not expect his act of kindness to reward him to such an extent. The next day, he flew to a ceremony with a few others who received the same title.
The event was broadcast to the nation, and Empress Olivier attended the ceremony and even shook hands with everyone: this was a day Chris would never forget.
—-Scene Break—--
A year passed, and today was Chris' graduation. The ceremony took place in Academy City, making Chris very excited to visit the site known as "the cradle of civilization" since ordinary citizens are now allowed to a place like this.
And when he landed, he began to look around. He gazed at the hundreds of towers looming over the entire city. His gaze twinkled as he daydreamed of owning one of these towers one day.
"I will have my own tower," he muttered to himself. He only had a short time for sightseeing, so he did not waste the opportunity. He visited the place he had the authority to. Chris suddenly noticed an increase in the number of undead in this place.
It was not the first time he had made these observations since he had recently noticed them becoming more popular. There are more media, like movies, games, books, etc., about them. And most portrayed them on a positive note.
Chris felt something was fishy. Undead like vampires and ghosts were normal in the Empire. Only creatures like Dementors and Inferi were not as socially accepted. However, recently, there has been a lot of research on the possibility of integrating these creatures into society.
Chris shook his head to continue his tour. The Empire was in a state of mobilization, with an all-out war on the horizon. He did not want to think about these topics. For today, he only wanted to relax.
After the tour, Chris proceeded to the graduation and received his diploma. Nothing exciting occurred. Afterward, he met with one of his friends, his only friend, Jerrard. They had a meal at a restaurant.
Typically. Chris was not the type of person to easily make friends. However, Dr. King warned him about acting asocial like most Arcanists.
"Chris, you never told me if you received any offers?" asked Jerrard.
"I did. I'm going to work for the Military," replied Chris. He found a job programming for the spaceships of the Space Fleet. "It's a hard job involving a lot of secrecy, but it's a high pay and room for promotion." Chris's salary had increased by at least seven times compared to his previous job.
However, what pleased him the most was the probability increase of acquiring more merit. According to his calculation, he only needed 37 years to save enough to buy his potion–and that's only by doing his job and with no other opportunities.
"You're top 30 in the class. I should expect you to get such a good job," Jerrard commented with slight envy.
"What about you?"
"I've got an offer from a small Virtual Reality Game Design Company, and I will take it."
"That's not bad considering your grade." Jerrard was the kind of man who liked to enjoy himself. As such, he missed a lot of classes even though they were online. Luckily, he bonded with Chris over cars while trying to borrow notes.
"Have you heard of the Universe Web?" asked Jerrard.
"No. What's that?"
"It's basically the internet used by the entire universe. It's a prevalent form of communication outside of the Empire. Recently, it has begun to gain traction."
"Is it safe?"
"That, I don't know. What I do know is that it is a method that the Empire cannot monitor–unlike Skynet. So, many people are now using it for this reason."
Chris frowned. He knew the power of the web with data gathering. And when magic and spiritual power get involved, things become even more complex. So, he is weary of this kind of foreign thing.
Yes, the Skynet is heavily monitored. However, Chris can argue that it's being used in the people's best interest. Even if that was not true, so far, there has been no evidence to suggest otherwise.
However, when it came to this Universe Web, he did not know who was in control of it and what purpose they were using it. He knew for sure it was not in the interest of the Empire's citizens.
"What's the government's stand on this thing?"
"Nothing. They haven't stopped or condoned it. They just let it be."
"I'll research it before deciding whether to get one."
Jerrard nodded and did not push the subject anymore. He knew his friend was somewhat of a royalist and quite patriotic. Luckily, he was not one of these patriotic people who refused to accept any criticism of the Empire.
After chatting for a while, Chris returned home, preparing for his employment. He had to pack since the job was on another planet. A week later, he hopped on a military spaceship to his destination.
Time passed, ten years to be exact. Edward had returned home, but it was not announced to the public yet.
(AN: I know I said Chris' story would end in this chapter. But the chapter was longer than expected. It will end in the next. I promise.)
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