Chapter 11: Stages of Demise

It was unbelievable.

Everyone in the temple including the priests and the village head was left in shock, dumbfounded. It was as though they were observing the most realistic film tricks in the whole wide world.

"Oh... My," one of the priests with bald hair said with widened eyes.

However, Tyler only tried to act like it was his normal move. Deep within his mind, he was utterly stunned.

'I fucking raised the dead!'

Gradually, the wounds on the village head's daughter began to heal, and her skin slowly revived. Every single part of her body was brought back to life, and thus, the whole Southern Villages witnessed a dumbfounding miracle from a mere Strider.

The village head quickly rushed to his daughter and hugged her with a tight force, tears trickling down his temples.

"Nia, I can't believe you came back to me and your mother," the village head said while sobbing. Suddenly, the village head's wife came out of nowhere from the crowd and approached her daughter.

Her cheeks were soaked in tears.

Truly, Tyler was slightly disgusted as he watched the emotional scene. He only wondered how it would be if this event happened to the latter. If it was the village head and his wife that had died, it would have been more tragic.

Just as it was for him.

Sigh...

Tyler took a few steps backward and summoned the system. He had recently noticed the alien name "First Stage of Demise on the system screen and wanted to know what this really meant. Literally, he needed to know all about Bliss Zone and its consumption of Impulse Points.

Well, he knew raising the dead was quite a huge task, so he expected less consumption of Impulse Points for other "Bliss Zone" moves.

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[Stages of Demise:

First Stage> Second Stage> Third Stage> Fourth Stage (Extinction).

When NPCs die, depending on the severity of the cause of their demise are the stages of demise. However, with the passage of time, one's demise situation can advance to the next stage.

First Stage: This a simple demise stage where the deceased is killed by a mere source like thorough injuries or plagues, and if this individual isn't awakened after three days, his/her situation shall advance to the next stage.

Second Stage: This is a demise stage with death sources like gunshots or magic attacks. The deceased requires immediate awakening to reach the First Stage of Demise in 24 hours or else he/she shall advance to the Third Stage of Demise.

Third Stage: Only high-ranked individuals or great awakening substances can revive someone in this stage. This stage takes just sixty minutes... And after, the deceased situation shall advance to the next stage: Extinction.

Once a situation is in the Extinction Stage, the deceased shall vanish without a trace].

[Note: The Stages of Demise only applies to NPCs].

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"Err," Tyler muttered.

He frowned.

'I can't believe I spent my precious time reading this... I have no concern for NPCs' demise, I only want to win this damned game.' He thought.

Tyler made the system screen vanish.

Sigh...

'I'm out of Impulse Points now.'

Sigh.

He scratched the back of his head and returned his gaze to the awakened daughter of the village head.

Even Nia herself couldn't believe her eyes... She hugged her mother tightly as though it was the last time and wept loudly, a rain of tears trickling down her soft pale cheeks.

Seeing that the emotional drama wasn't stopping anytime soon, Tyler decided to explore the effect of his skill. After spending quite a while with the system, he came to discover many things.

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[Skill Effectiveness:

The more Impulse Points applied to use a skill, the more effective the skill works. For instance, Bliss Zone is a skill that affects an area with good occurrences. Once activated, it can make everything bad good in an instant, however, the effectiveness depends on the Tier Level of this skill.

A Dormant Tier Level Bliss Zone can only affect an area that's as small as a coffin. In that coffin, everything good could happen...

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That's why Nia was awakened.

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[However, not just by expanding the effectiveness can the Impulse Points be used, there are cases when a huge amount of Impulse Points shall be required to make a particular move happen.

For Instance, raising Nia from the First Stage of Demise is quite a huge task, so it consumed Three Impulse Points.

The higher the expansion of effectiveness, the greater the cost of Impulse Points used.

Nonetheless, all can only be made with Impulse Points, nothing else.

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Tyler nodded slightly.

After spending some time studying the features of his skill, he finally understood everything about it.

'Probability Influence is really... Cool!'

'And unique.'

Tyler couldn't help but remark.

'I might be really lucky to have this thing as my Ability.' He added inwardly.

Sigh...

Now, he knew how important getting Impulse Points was... He really needs them. If he really wanted to make it to the top and save the people in this dangerous world, then he would have to perform his Class Duties no matter what it could take.

Tyler was ready...

Very ready.

'I'm damn ready. No matter what, I'm gonna thrive in here!' Tyler declared inwardly with determination, his lips forming a very serious smile that showed a clear hint of his heart.

He was really ready.

******

"Sir, I must be on my way back to the Strider Station at this moment, I hope the souls of the deceased find peace," The Hangman said in a gentle tone.

"Oh thank you so much Officer for bringing my daughter back to us. I, my family, and the entire Southern Villages would be forever grateful to you," the village head said with a very polite and thankful tone.

Tyler only nodded, trying to fake a smile.

"We hope you can come to the Southern Villages some other time... Please, by then, we will show our gratitude in full."

Tyler smiled at the village head's words.

"Don't you worry, sir? You don't need to. It's always my duty to save the people, so I just had to do my job," Tyler spoke.

The village head nodded positively with a wide smile on his face.

"Thanks once again, Officer Hangman!"

"I have something to give you," the village head said and brought a golden ring from his pocket.

"I know this is small compared to what you have done for the entire Southern Villages, but I hope you'll like it."

Tyler faked a smile again.

"Sure... Sure," he replied and placed the ring in his shirt's pocket.

Meanwhile, inwardly, he muttered, questioning.

'What the hell is this?'

After accepting the golden ring, he left the Southern Villages with the village head accompanying him to the exterior of his home. Tyler met his men at the spot where their Strider vehicle was packed, and they really couldn't believe that he was still alive.

Enzo thought.

'Did he kill the Demonic Beast God???!'

Well, The Hangman didn't have much to say to his weak crew.

"Get in the car and let's get outta here!" He ordered.

The whole team was so shocked that no one uttered a word until they got back to the station. Even James, his favorite man, didn't dare to lift his lips open much less say a word.

It was almost evening when they arrived at the station, so The Hangman spent the rest of the day in the room in his office, not wanting to go back to the problems of his girlfriend.

He only had a sleepless night, due to thinking about other missions and how to gain a lot of Impulse Points, and these caused dark circles under his eyes.

However, when it was exactly midnight, a sudden voice sounded across the world.

It wasn't the system. Nah, it wasn't even the voice of the Vice president of America. It was a calm and official female voice that seemed to sound boldly across ApexRise Online.

[Attention, Players!...]