*Chapter Warning: SA*
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"What should we do?" Desperation gave Lacy's voice a trembling vibrato.
He rested a hand gently on her bowed head and looked around at the rest of the family kneeling in the room around him. He was tall and gaunt, with pale blue eyes and pitch black hair that hung in matted strands down to his shoulders. His face was pale and greasy, his fingers long and bony, his nose just a little too long and angular. He'd always known he was ugly - every girl he'd tried to talk to had confirmed it. In high school he'd borne the nickname 'Ichabod Crane' with the quiet stoicism that came from knowing that if he spoke up it'd only get worse.
And it did get worse when he graduated and went to college. What was supposed to be his opportunity to spread his wings and finally experience a woman's touch turned out to be a bigger disappointment than high school had ever been. He hadn't cared about the degree, so he'd signed up for a humanities focus that would put him in the classes he assumed would increase his odds - but no matter how many Women's Studies, Poetry, or even Social Studies classes he'd taken it didn't matter. All the stuck up bitches who harangued him in high school just ignored him in college. The thing he'd learned the most from his classes was that women were all whiny bitches, men were all just a bunch of alpha male pricks, and that he was invisible. At least in high school they'd noticed him enough to hate him. Here he walked among them like a ghost, even while towering over them.
He'd found his people online in forums and on social media. The sheeple classified him as an Incel, but that was only because they had things so easy that they didn't understand what people like him went through. They could just go out and get sex or find a girlfriend or get good jobs, all because they won the genetic lottery. This unfair system that rewarded good cheekbones and nice skin and cared about all the superficial shit like haircuts and daily showering and muscles - all of it was put in place by the Alphas to reward other Alphas with women and money. Even the women were in on it, brainwashed into being vapid Stepford Wives who just went along with the whole fucked up system.
Would it really kill some of them to look at guys like him and give them some physical attention? Was it REALLY so much to ask for them to take some time out of their whoring to treat the guys who weren't physically blessed? All they had to do was fucking spread their legs and lay there and give five minutes of their fucking precious time, and so many unfortunate men like him would have been helped. How many mass shootings could have been avoided if the TRUE victims, the shooters, had been taken care of by even one woman willing to give them a shot?
That had all changed when The System arrived. He had been at a function being held by the school's Baptist Student Union and the lemonade he'd put the pill in had been drunk by his target. He'd made sure to let the air out of her tires so that she'd need a ride home, and he'd spent months building up everyone's trust in him by volunteering with the religious sheep here on campus. The women here were just as stuck up - they'd fuck their boyfriends and their classmates, but not one of them would take any time out for him - even after he'd been doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He had shown up to every event, propping up their idiotic beliefs in some ridiculous deity that they ignored half the time anyway.
These women still fucked plenty, just not him. Today that was going to change. The private Discord server of other so-called Incels had given him a source for the drugs and instructions on the right dosage to make the person pliable and meek, but not so incoherent that anyone could tell that they'd been drugged. When Anna had to sit down she'd blamed her weak legs on the heat. When her head started to spin he told her it was probably the potato salad having sat in the sun for too long. When she said she needed to go lie down he'd walked her to her car and put on a brilliant display of shock after seeing that her tires were flat. Fortunately, his car was parked right there and he could just give her a ride home.
It hadn't even been a fight. He'd worried that she would push him away or scratch him, but he'd dosed it just right. By the time they got to the empty parking lot on one edge of campus she hadn't even noticed that they weren't home. He'd had to help her into the back seat, but she'd been able to get there on her own legs.
The system came just as he did and he took it for the sign that it was: The old gods were truly figments of everyone's imagination, the new gods were here and they were telling him that he'd done nothing wrong. He was, in fact, being rewarded for it.
It had been a struggle at first, the Chads all got levels by fighting shit and killing things. That wasn't his path though. He reached level five by staying with the people at the BSU, leading them in prayers, convincing them that this was God in a different format. When that lying bitch Anna showed up and started spreading rumors about him he'd gained two whole levels by launching a counter campaign against her. Whispers in back rooms about how she'd always been a little loose anyways, and hadn't she told people that her last boyfriend hit her? Were they really sure that that had happened, or was there just a small chance that her accusations had been false - just revenge for catching him cheating on her? And hadn't Gabriel been helping everyone right there with them, always the first to hand out plates of food and drinks, always next to them in the hot sun passing out flyers to BSU events? Had there been a single other woman in the entire school who'd ever accused him of anything like this?
That alone netted him a few levels, but the coup de grâce had come when a notification appeared, rocketing him straight into level five.
"One human, level 1, has died from self-inflicted injuries due to your actions. Experience gained."
If this wasn't The System blessing his actions then he didn't know what the fuck it was. He'd left Mississippi and started traveling north. He'd always hated the heat and wanted to find areas that didn't have a church on every corner - he didn't want competition for what he had planned. He'd realized that religious leaders were trusted and held great influence in the communities they worked in. He'd changed his name to something that sounded Biblical and that would invoke trust. His Charisma had shot so high that his physical appearance didn't even seem to matter anymore. Hell, even things like showering seemed to not have any impact. By the time he was close enough for them to hear his voice he was in, both figuratively and literally.
After grinding through sheeple after sheeple The System had, once again, recognized him for his achievements and granted him the ability to gain experience from any human kills that people made due to his influence. Now, instead of killing people in their sleep after convincing them to let him stay with them, he could just let them do all the dirty work. He suspected that his influence waned when he got far enough away from the towns, but he wasn't overly concerned. The people who had done the killing were the ones in jail - if they suddenly started ranting that a wandering preacher made them do it they'd only seem even crazier.
This town, though, had been a work of art. He thought he might even get two levels out of this. He'd spent weeks in a sleepy, rural southern Illinois town, holding regular prayer meetings with the entire community and spending each night in a different home. He prayed with them throughout the nights, convincing them not to go outside and try to level, but instead to sit with him and god. The irony of his skill is that he had less influence the higher the other people were, so his best targets were the low-leveled ones - but they also gave the least amount of experience.
In previous towns he'd convinced the men to spend every night outside, power leveling to protect their families. In the best case scenarios the husbands would die, the guilt he implanted in them pushing them to push harder and harder against enemies that were too strong for them. He got quality time with their wives and daughters and they got, well, dead. But a couple of times the men had succeeded with night after night of leveling. He'd had to make hasty exits as their stats increased and they started giving him suspicious looks. Hell, he'd barely managed to get out of the last town with his manhood intact. If he hadn't convinced the wife to try to kill her husband while he slept he never would have made it. The husband had woken up after the first stab and he'd heard them fighting, screams and crashing chasing him into the night.
In this town he'd decided to try something new. Keeping everyone low level would net him less experience individually but would give him total dominance over the entire town. It had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Already about 80% of the town was dead, the only ones left were the dozen or so people in this room and the two dozen surrounding the house.
He met each of their eyes in turn, a warm, loving smile on his face. He fingered the beads on the Blessed Rosary and felt its power flow into him. "Calm, my children, calm." Every person in the room visibly relaxed, muscle tension easing and smiles of childlike faith growing on their faces.
He looked to the large man who owned this house. "Is the van ready?"
"It is," he said as he dipped his head, "fully loaded with enough food for all of us for at least a week."
"And the weapons?"
"Fully stocked too. All the guns and ammo we could find are in there."
"Good," Gabriel said. "I want you to go get them."
They gave him a confused look so he pushed. All questions went out of their eyes and a few in the back ran out to get all the weapons they'd loaded into the escape vehicle. They returned in a few trips, dumping everything onto the floor.
He began to walk among them, touching each in turn, planting subtle emotions and burning away any last remnants of defiance, will, or self protection that they had. He wished he'd had a little more time, there were a few of the women here he hadn't sampled yet, but not everything was meant to work out for him every time he guessed. There'd be other towns.
"You know why they're here. You know they want to take me from you. They see the light I've given you and they want to extinguish that," he checked their faces and saw the emotions he was hoping for. "You know they want to take ALL light from you! This world has been cast into hell and they have fallen victims to it. They see me - ME! - as the devil! Can you believe that?"
Choruses of NO!s pushed out of throats tight with anger. "I, who have sacrificed everything to travel this world, saving the poor and unfortunate. I, who have only tried my best to bring peace and love to all those affected by this evil System. I, who have shared only love and peace with each of you. I am the thing they want to take? To kill?"
At that last word a cacophony of voices sprung up all around him, praising him, swearing to protect him at all costs. He waved for them to come closer and they crawled to him on their knees, hands reaching up to touch his clothing. He gave each of them smiles so laden with love and care that they felt their hearts practically bursting with it. If any of them noticed the blood leaking from his nose or the sweat running in beads down his face they could only tell themselves it was because of how deeply he loved them all.
"We can't all fit in the van, but that doesn't really matter anymore, does it?"
"NO!" the voices roared in unison.
"What matters?"
"Protecting you!" one of the sweet pieces of ass shouted. What was her name again? No matter. He brushed the thought aside.
"No, my children. I sit in the loving grace of His arms. He will protect me and if we need to die together then I will die happy knowing that I was surrounded by your love." He was laying it on thick, but his influence was stretched to its limits - he couldn't afford to hold back now.
"What is important is doing His work. Destroying evil. And those godless heathens," his voice rose to a shout as he flung his arm out to point towards the front door, "are an evil like this world has never seen! If there was ever a time and a place to stop evil it was now, and it is here. And it's by you." He leveled his finger and pointed at each of them, blood dripping from his fist where the Rosary's cross had cut into his palm.
"There's more of them than there are of you, so you can't rush them. God will protect you in this house but He wants you to be smart about it. He has blessed this home," he looked at the large man again and saw that he was openly weeping at that, "and He will protect all of you in it."
"God wants you to each grab a gun and any other weapons you can find. Hide yourself around the house. They are going to come looking for me and God wants you to make them pay for every inch. When the Devil storms this house he will be met by God's warriors. Not one of those evil bastards is going to survive this night, you promise me that."
The roaring shouts of affirmations almost made him clench his fists to his ears.
"I am going to hide in the last place they'd expect. You all scatter through the house. Someone needs to open the front door and, when they come inside, someone will need to sneak back and guard the door from being opened again. Once the evil is contained within this house you can't let it escape again. Not ever."
This time he gave them a stern look and they returned it with a fervor that would have made him proud if he'd given a shit about any of these bags of free experience.
Without another word he turned and scooped up a pistol and a few loaded magazines then went to wait in the van.
Not long after, shouts could be heard inside the house quickly followed by gunshots. He heard bodies thumping against the door to the garage and he assumed they were spending their lives to barricade the door against anyone trying to get into the garage. Whistling a low tune he hopped lightly out of the van and recovered some of the fuel cans he'd had them fill up. He started dousing every inch of the walls and floor with it, smiling at the sounds of chaos that he could hear from every floor of the house.
He hopped back into the van, his spirits high, and pushed the remote to open the door. He didn't even pause when the man in the driveway looked at him in surprise, the van bouncing over his body as it shot down the driveway, the flames in the garage already spreading to the outside of the home. He couldn't contain his joyous laughter as the light show of gunshots and fire in the rearview mirror celebrated the experience and kill notifications rolling across his screen.
Chapter 57: Character Sheet Chapter: Father Gabriel
Father Gabriel, Level: 8
System Note: Name changed by user.
Class: Acolyte of Domination
System Note: This class will appear as Faithful Servant to anyone whose Intelligence stat is less than your Charisma stat.
Core Stats:
● STR: 8
● AGI: 8
● END: 12
● INT: 23 (20)
● LUC: 10
● CHA: 25 (20)
Combat Skills:
● Melee Combat: Basic 1
● Ranged Combat: N/A
● Defense: Basic 1
● Tactics: Basic 2
● Attack: 1
● Defense: 1
Magic and Technology:
● Magic Affinity: Basic 3
● Tech Savvy: N/A
● Spellcraft: Basic 2
● Enchantments: Basic 3
Ancillary Skills:
● Leadership: Intermediate 1
● Survival: Basic 2
● Crafting: N/A
● Stealth: N/A
Enhancements/Impairments:
Dominion
Achievements:
True Scavenger (Hidden)
Description: Through your relentless and cunning manipulation, you have dominated the minds and emotions of numerous individuals. Your unparalleled ability to instill fear and paranoia has led entire families to steal, attack, and even kill on your behalf. They defend you with their lives and succumb to your influence, allowing you to sacrifice them when they fall into deep despair and hopelessness. Your mastery in bending others to your will has earned you the achievement of True Scavenger.
Effects: You siphon off all the experience points gained from human kills made by your dominated targets, allowing you to grow stronger without personally committing the acts. The experience points are transferred to you regardless of your proximity to the event, as long as the kill is a direct result of your manipulation and influence.
Skills and Abilities:
Skill Name: Dominion (Level 2)
Type: Mental Influence
Description: This skill allows you to exert mental dominion over anyone whose Intelligence stat is lower than your Charisma stat. Intended targets of this skill will feel a compulsion or emotional shift that appears to originate from within themselves. Enhanced by the Blessed Rosary, your Charisma receives a +3 bonus when using this skill.
Abilities:
● Trust Aura: Enhances your perceived trustworthiness, making it difficult for others to see through your deceptions. Commands given within your aura seem reasonable and necessary.
● Persuasion Mastery: Doubles the effectiveness of persuasion attempts, making it easy to sway opinions and decisions in your favor.
● Guard Down: Those affected by your influence are less likely to suspect or notice deceitful actions, lowering their vigilance.
Limitations:
● The skill's influence diminishes if individuals are exposed to strong contradictory evidence of your true intentions.
● The aura requires regular interaction to maintain its effectiveness.
● Attempts to compel the target to act against their moral code or engage in actions they typically avoid have a higher likelihood of failure and will plant a seed of distrust in the target.
Special Items:
Item Name: Blessed Rosary
Type: Accessory
Description: A rosary infused with subtle mental influence magic. It enhances the wearer's ability to project a calm and trustworthy demeanor, making others more susceptible to suggestion.
Stats:
● Charisma: +2
● Mental Influence: +1
Abilities:
● Calming Presence: Emits a soothing aura that calms those around you, reducing their resistance to your manipulative attempts.
● Suggestion Whisper: Allows for subtle mental suggestions, planting ideas in the minds of others without them realizing it.
Item Name: Tome of Whispers
Type: Tome
Description: This book appears as a simple Bible on the surface, with its pages remaining blank to anyone besides the owner who opens it. When not in the owner's presence, anyone opening the book will feel an urgent sense to close it and leave the room. Its pages contain spells and incantations that amplify the user's persuasive abilities and mental influence. The Tome's power can only be cast on a single target if they are alone and engaged in a conversation with the bearer, such as in a confessional or an individual conversation. The spell's influence breaks when the book is closed, dropped by the holder, or others engage the target, disrupting the Tome's influence.
Stats:
● Intelligence: +3
● Charisma: +3
Abilities:
Words of Conviction: Enhances the potency of persuasive speech, making it nearly impossible for listeners to refuse or deny the user's words.
Moral Adjustment: Once per target, the holder of the book can attempt to implant a thought or feeling in the target. The target has a 50% chance to resist if their Intelligence stat equals the holder's Charisma stat. The chance to resist lowers based on the disparity between the Intelligence and Charisma stats, becoming 0% if the holder's Charisma is double that of the target.
● Once implanted, the holder can continue to influence that specific implantation without the book, although it requires active effort and one-on-one communication.
● The implanted idea or feeling will strengthen if the target's environment or actions of others reinforces or validates it.
● This can be broken through an act of will when the Tome of Whispers is no longer in the vicinity of the target. The success of breaking the influence relies on the target's Intelligence stat.