The entire base was bustling with life after the addition of the rescued humans. Since their population had doubled abruptly, there was confusion and chaos everywhere. Many people assumed a mob mentality and ran her and there, following after any person who seemed the slightest bit more intelligent.
It took almost another hour before the efforts of the original inhabitants brought back order to their base. They split all the newcomers into teams of five and added them to the teams of five of the original inhabitants, making all the teams that operated in their base from now on to consist of ten members.
They also enforced strict rules for members to not exceed the number of 10 in each team and also assigned a captain and a vice-captain per team. Since these positions were offered mostly based on combat prowess and judgemental capabilities, there was hardly any opposition.
The original residents of the base had a fanatical reverence to Vikram while the newcomers who were clueless about many things decided to unanimously shut up for the moment. For those that sought to sow seeds of chaos into the mix by bringing the previous customs of the corporate world into play, they were mysteriously silenced.
10 people were currently stationed at one corner of the base and seemed to be cleaning their bodies of all the blood that had been smeared on them. Prakash, Vikram, Vidya, and Shreya; the quartet looked at the ten people with complicated gazes.
As they poured water on their bodies, the crystalline water turned purple. They had killed enough people that the purple blood simply refused to be washed off after a single rinse.
"I-is this really necessary?" Vikram sighed as he gazed at the pools of water that had been dyed purple. He was the one who had given the order to execute some undesirables that tried to take advantage of the chaos before.
"This is not necessary," Prakash said.
"T-then why?" Vikram implored. He still couldn't stomach the fact that he had killed people, though indirectly. But still, they had only acted based on his orders.
"This is a necessity. Don't confuse between the two." Prakash said. He was all too familiar with those types of leeches. They acted all harmoniously on the outside but the moment the situation presented itself, they wouldn't hesitate to suck everyone dry for their own benefit.
Even though Prakash and Vikram maintained order until they reached their base, the moment they entered the base and were being oriented by Vidya, these people sowed discord into the populace, using various tactics. They then proceeded to invade into many rooms and tried to access information, all for the sake of getting ahead of the other newcomers.
Some of them even made use of the situation to force themselves on people, both men and women. What they hadn't expected was for many among the original inhabitants to possess a Skill manifestation which lead to their downfall.
When the original inhabitants retaliated, many newcomers died a fruitless death. Vikram then hurriedly assembled a team to execute all the lawbreakers with hesitation, though Prakash's coercion played a major role in deciding his rapid response.
It was like a bucket of cold water was poured over their celebratory mood; the initially harmonious atmosphere died down, replaced by a tensed aura that permeated all through their surroundings.
Short-sightedness! Lust! Destructive Tendencies!
When people experienced abrupt change, they would retaliate with some abrupt response of their own. The nerves of the newcomers that were tensed for a long time while trapped in the cinema hall, with neither sunlight nor water relaxed the moment they entered the base. It made them behave in ways that even they themselves couldn't have expected.
The quartet then brainstormed their ideas and finally decided to establish a hierarchy in the base. Since the number of people had drastically increased, the feeling of a close-knit community was decreasing while the mentality of an organisation was being established unanimously among the populace.
They decided to make some changes to the already established status quo; Vikram would be the leader as the people addressed him while Prakash would be addressed as vice-leader in the future, solidifying his position.
24 people including Vidya, Shreya, and Arvind would form a committee that would oversee the workings of the entire base and would receive direct orders from only the leader and the vice-leader.
Since all of them possessed either a mini shaggy or a mini Victoris, they were the most trustable. Moreover, they could never go against the source of the manifestations they possessed since there was a highly likely chance that their manifestations would rebel if they dared to act against the possessors of the Karmic Art manifestation.
Below them were the team captains, each of whom led 10 people including themselves.
The committee would give out missions while each team sought to fulfil the missions. Upon completion, they will be awarded contribution points accordingly. The contribution points could be used to exchange for meat for the mini Victoris or temporarily loan a captured creature for their mini Shaggy to control.
Moreover, for people who hadn't yet to possess a skill, they could use a certain amount of contribution points to exchange for one.
"This will encourage everyone to work harder. After all, there are barely 200 people who possess a Skill." Prakash said. This was the best they could come up with for the time being. Any monetary system would be pretty much pointless since money didn't have any use for them.
Moreover, they didn't have any requirements for basic necessities. They would survive for as long as they had water and sufficient sunlight. And, anything that could be hoarded like money might actually bring rise to corrupt practices one again. So, they were better off with the contribution point system that could be readily monitored.
"We will leave the management to you guys. The two of us will primarily focus on improving our strengths. Any creature we capture or hunt will be sent here. Just start the necessary arrangements to store them." Vikram said. He was satisfied with this arrangement. All he had to monitor and manage were 24 people. It was significantly better as compared to before.
Now, he could raise his strength freely. Moreover, it was they who needed to depend on him. Not the other way round. So, Vikram could enjoy the benefits of being the leader without needing to spend too much of his time on them.
"Brother is an expert in management, no doubt. As expected of a merchant," Vikram had a sense of admiration toward the youth who had played a major role in creating such a system.
When the decision of such a system being implemented was passed on to the people, they were actually supportive of it. None of them were people who had their heads in the clouds, and after facing numerous battles, most of them had now opted for realistic approaches.
24 people stood before 4000 people and each of them presented a small speech about the roles they would be undertaking, the field they would be in charge of, etc.
"Have some confidence. You did fairly well," Shreya patted the shoulders of Arvind, the lad whose legs almost gave out under stage fear.
"….Really?" Arvind placed a hand above his chest in an effort to cull his thumping heart. He was practically a nervous wreck now.
"Yeah…"
Shreya looked at the figure of Vidya who chose to be the last person to give a speech. She was just laying out the new rules and the contribution points system in detail to everyone. Even though Shreya wanted to be the one to take charge of laying out the groundwork, Prakash and Vikram nominated Vidya for the role and disappeared off to somewhere.
"I feel like the distance between us and the two of them are constantly widening." Shreya thought and pledged to work harder to raise her strength faster.
In a place within the shopping mall where the murky waters had almost reached the ceiling of the first floor, two humans gazed at the rising water levels with a frown.
The initially reddish-brown waters had been considerably diluted due to the influx of rainwater that had mixed into it and also raised its height until it almost reached the ceiling of the first floor and still continued to slowly but steadily increase. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before it began to flood the second floor.
"At this rate, we would be completely trapped within this shopping mall. Our dependence on flying creatures will further increase," Vikram said.
"And it would be difficult for us to hunt other insects. After all, they would have either died or escaped to weather out this storm." Prakash said.
"We will deal with it when the time arises. What do you plan to do now?" Vikram asked.
"Hmm," Prakash gazed at the reddish-brown waters and noticed the absence of fishes swimming within it, probably because of the waters being too much polluted for their tastes.
"I plan on raising my Minor Art to higher levels," Prakash said as purple smoke gushed out of his body and materialised into the figures of Ugly shaggy, mini Victoris and Prachi.
"Alright, call for me if an emergency arises," Vikram said as he walked towards a secluded corner and materialised his manifestations: Victoris, mini Shaggy and Pranchal.
"Can you tell me if you discover anything out of the ordinary?" Prakash whispered as he gently held the outstretched hands of Prachi.
"Guee!"
Prachi gave him a high pitched laugh in response and continued to enjoy breathing in the surrounding air. She also picked up a nearby piece of plastic clip that was as big as her body and began to play with it.
The mini Victoris rushed into the reddish-brown murky waters and began to devour all the flesh and blood remains mixed into it while Ugly Shaggy entered his body and began to convert the gained Fish Karma into Dog Karma.
Prakash decided to spend some time first to observe Prachi, the manifestation of the 'Skill: Gain'.
"Gain, what will I gain?" Prakash murmured as he decided to just observe her activities for now. Since he got the time and opportunity, he might as well make use of it. As he continued to observe it, he found a startling detail that he had glossed over before.
A small purple thread was attached to his heart, the other end of which was attached to the bellybutton of Prachi, just like the umbilical cords of babies through which nutrients were supplied to them by their mothers.
It wasn't this fact that startled him, but the thin stream of purple smoke that flowed within the umbilical cord. The flowing stream of purple smoke was so thin that had he not been observing it so minutely, he wouldn't have noticed it.
The thin stream of purple smoke originated from Prachi, flowed through the umbilical cord and entered his body. Prakash hurriedly materialised his 'Record' but failed to find any difference in it.
'Tap' 'Tap'
'Tap' 'Tap'
His concentration was disrupted by loud knocking sounds that echoed through the surroundings. As time passed on, the echoing sound got closer and closer, as if something was approaching them.
Prachi suddenly gazed at a certain direction in fear, as if her entire existence felt threatened by whatever was approaching them. She stopped breathing and dissolved into purple smoke, entering him.
A moment later, the mini Victoris too emerged out of the murky waters and entered his body, all the while shaking like a leaf facing a storm. Ugly Shaggy emerged out of his body and gazed at the same direction Prachi looked at earlier with wariness clearly present in its eyes.
"Brother,"
"Shush," Prakash motioned for Vikram to quiet down as he materialised a pair of dog ears and continued to listen to the sound.
"A bipedal creature; Judging by the intensity of the sound produced, it is really huge."