8 Cat And Mouse (1/2)

Looking at Gabriel, Mark steeled his heart before saying, ”Can I look at the full body structure of my avatar? Everything that is inside it.”

Gabriel's face froze. She didn't respond for a few seconds, completely ignoring Shesmu. Although she didn't say anything, Shesmu knew what was going on in the angel's mind.

Right at that very moment, she was sending thousands of requests to a higher tier system—one with more clearance. That was because that simple question Shesmu asked was something that none of the AIs governing Ashes of Gods expected to be asked, especially so early in the release.

Gabriel's frozen face finally cracked into a smile.

”Interesting, really interesting. I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, or if you have some kind of information. Either way, yes, you can see the full body, with everything that is inside it.”

Gabriel's words made Shesmu's heart sink. Goosebumps spread all over his body. Even with such a very simple request, she was able to deduce that he was hiding something. This kind of sharp mind worried Shesmu to no end. Even the slightest, most unnoticeable mistake slipped past him, she would find out.

Gabriel swiped at Shesmu's naked avatar and strange things happened. A shadowy figure that had the same frame as Shesmu stood next to his avatar. White flames dotted his body, making a vertical line from his head to the nether region, and a horizontal one across his shoulders. The flames formed a cross inscribed on the shadowy body.

However, that wasn't the end of the changes. Shesmu's naked avatar also had multiple colored balls appear all over his body. From his head, to his heart, to his lungs, to his stomach.

”I'm sure that you're dying to know what all of these things are, what secrets do they hold. Unfortunately, I'm only allowed to give you the most basic information about them. That's of course, unless you ask nicely again, like you did last time.”

Gabriel winked at Shesmu with a smile. The latter couldn't help but shiver in response. Shesmu's mouth hang slightly open, and his lips were dry. He didn't say anything. He knew that no matter what he said in response, it wouldn't help his situation in the slightest.

As if she enjoyed the mental torture she put Shesmu through, Gabriel started bouncing up and down with her wings.

”So, what are these things? These are the physical representations of the most basic power systems of this world: Ki, Mana, Nodes, and finally shadows,” She said while pointing at the shadowy figure.

”Not that great in terms of originality, now is it?” Gabriel smirked while looking at Shesmu. ”Any questions for now?”

Shesmu shook his head left and right, ”No, not for now.”

She then turned her attention towards the avatar. ”The same is true for the other power users. The more cores they unlock, the stronger they become. As for which cores are for which system? They are classified here by color. The blue ones are for mana, green for ki, golden for nodes.”

Shesmu took a closer look at his avatar. The blue orbs, or cores as she named them, were all in the head area. The golden ones were at the heart, while the green ones were spread out between the lungs and the belly.

”So, any question about what you just learned?” asked Gabriel. ”Do you wanna change them?” She winked while smiling peacefully.

However, peace wasn't the best adjective to describe what was happening Shesmu's mind. She was playing with him. She knew that he was hiding something, and she was using that knowledge to bait him and taunt him.

Interesting, Shesmu fought hard the urge to grin. The fact that an AI was challenging him to a battle of mind, anyone would be terrified of such a prospect. However, Shesmu lived for this kind of thrill.

”C-can I change them? How?” Shesmu asked innocently, feigning ignorance.

Gabrield chuckled in response. ”Ahh, that's a loaded question. Unfortunately, I can't show you.”

Shesmu understood that this was his cue to change the subject. ”Ah, that's a shame then. All of them seemed so interesting, I can't wait to play and see how they all work.”

”I can't wait to see which route you choose,” replied Gabriel while floating up and down with her purple wings.

Shesmu smiled in return before changing subjects. ”Ahh, while this is interesting. We probably should continue with the character creation. That way I can experience the game first hand.”

”Definitely.” Gabriel swiped with her hand and the shadow disappeared. The avatar also turned back into its normal form. She turned around and asked Shesmu smiling, ”So, what part of your body do you want to change? Maybe your eye colors? Turn them golden, those would fit you so well.”

Shesmu gulped in response. Scary… Gabriel had observed his every move since the start. As such, she could predict Shesmu's every step to a frightening accuracy.