Shadow parasite

Gorn sat down yet again: "I understand. Sorry for all the questions, it's just that these things are important, and I want to clearly understand the situation."

Sara put her hands on the table and leaned toward him: "I gave you the information you wanted, now it is time for you to keep your part of the bargain."

Gorn sighed: "The place you indicated on that map is very far away, and the chances of dying are not small...."

"It is indeed dangerous, but this is for the greater good. We can't just wait for everyone to die without doing anything."

What she said made some sense: "I can't trust you so easily, I need to see that cube that is underground and the crystal to confirm that what you said is true."

"This again?!" screamed Sara.

Gorn remained calm: "If I know about it, why can't I see it? It shouldn't take long to do that."

Sara started to walk around the room, restless: "Commander Norman blocked all access to that place. Even I can't go in there at this moment."

"Your father is the city lord, I'm sure you can convince him somehow," said Gorn in an even tone.

Tears started to fall from Sara's eyes to her cheeks and down to the ground.

"My parents, together with a few other people, left the city a long time ago, and never came back...."

Gorn got up and hugged Sara: "It's ok, they will come back eventually..."

A lot of things happened lately for her, and the pent-up emotions exploded at this moment. She cried in his arms for a couple of minutes before stopping: "I'm sorry, it has been a little hard these days."

Gorn smiled gently: "Don't worry, there is a solution for every problem."

After a few more moments, things settled down.

"This may not be a good time to talk about this, but I think that something is very rotten in all this. I'm pretty sure you figured this out a long time ago."

The situation could not be taken lightly anymore. Sara stared aimlessly at the wall.

"The city's protective energy started to diminish at the same time that Commander Norman restricted all access to the crystals. Furthermore, many of the guards from this place look like machines. It's like they have been brainwashed...."

"That is surely suspicious. Then what about the people from the Mercenary Guild?" asked Gorn with some concern.

"A few strong individuals left the Guild and joined Norman's forces... The Guild master left with my parents a long time ago, so I'm afraid no one can fully stop Commander Norman at this point."

Gorn made an unsightly face, the situation was worse than imagined.

"How strong is this Norman guy?"

"As far as I'm concerned, he is the strongest person in this city at the moment. I don't stand a chance against him," answered Sara with a serious face.

Gorn started to walk around the room, thinking. "There is a connection between all these things. If what you say is true, then using that device to bring energy to this place would be a bad idea."

"Then what?! Leave all these people to die?!" she was concerned about the well-being of everyone.

Gorn calmed himself down, then replied: "Why are you in such a hurry? I don't see any monsters attacking the city yet, so please calm down."

Sara breathed in a huge amount of oxygen and then exhaled slowly, calming herself down.

"That's better! If you think carefully about it, then it makes no sense for someone to fully destroy whatever protects this city. What concerns me the most is why those strong guards look like vegetables," said Gorn.

Sara didn't say anything and waited for him to finish his idea.

"Unfortunately, monsters are not the only threat to humankind, other people are too. From my perspective, losing your freedom is worse than dying. What is the use of the city being safe from monsters if you are brainwashed or forced to do certain things?"

Sara looked at him with eyes opened wide.

"If the opponent is too strong, then we will have to run away. That island is the perfect place to build another city. A city where our enemies won't be able to reach us easily. Destroying such a place would be a bad move."

Gorn scratched his head while adding: "With the information that I have, and the current state of things, there is no way I'm going to take the energy from that place and bring it here."

"Are you serious?" asked Sara with a rather calm tone.

Gorn nodded.

"So you want to say that me opening myself to you, and everything that I told you so far was for nothing?" the volume of her voice increased with every single word spoken.

Gorn felt rather weird: "It wasn't for nothing. I will build a new city there. That place will become a new safe zone for many people, including yourself."

Sara became speechless for a few moments.

"Wait, what?!!"

Seeing his serious face, she shouted: "You asshole!!!"

Gorn grinned, making Sara even more annoyed. She launched herself at him, wanting to punch his face. The strike was swiftly avoided.

"Don't even dream about leaving this place!" cried Sara.

"I will call you in a few hours to discuss further, I hope you calm down until then," said Gorn then disappeared.

A short moment later he was already high in the air, above the city. Since his ability didn't make any noise, and people weren't usually looking upwards, no one noticed him. After a few more seconds, he left the area. That place had an unpleasant feeling to it, making it hard for him to linger any longer. It was only a matter of minutes until his phone started to ring like crazy.

Ignoring the phone, Gorn landed on a huge tree in the upper part of the city. A few moments later, he bought several power-up potions and then headed towards his home.

'I want to test something about this potion.'

More exactly, Gorn wanted to know if the potion could be used to bring another individual to a power level of one thousand, the same as him, or if there were some limitations involved.

'I will build myself an army as well,' thought Gorn while speeding towards his house.

Not abusing such a thing would be a wasted opportunity. Of course, some basic rules had to be followed. For example, he had to be the strongest to ensure everything went his way.