Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Attribute Awakening
[Retrieving Attribute.]
[Your Attribute is...]
Alex waited with anticipation for the System's answer.
He was so excited!
Receiving a regular Attribute like Earth or Fire would have left him crying for joy. Let alone a Special Attribute!
A Special Attribute was just as it sounded, Special.
It was hard to give an example of what a Special Attribute is like since they are so diverse.
Some of the more famous Special Attributes were Order, Chaos, Space, Reality, and Time.
There were also some unusual ones like Joke, Nightmare, Sound, Physics and Puppet.
Then there is also the infamous "Plague Attribute" wielded by the legendary Plague Doctor.
Decades ago, at the height of the Cataclysmic Wars, the united countries of Earth, the Otherworlders, and the different Mythological Pantheons that revealed themselves were all in a brutal deadlock with one another.
The countries of Earth can easily hold off an invasion from the Pantheons and Otherworlders combined due to having a far larger population and superior technology but would have a hard time going on the offensive since they lacked talented individuals to go toe-to-toe with Gods and Heroes.
Otherworlders had less population and relied on outdated technology like horse-drawn carriages, gas lamps, and siege equipment like catapults. This shortcoming was resolved by magic, which allowed a conscript with basic training in Basic Magic to beat up a squad of three or four veteran U.S Marines.
The strongest Otherworlders were often referred to as "Heroes" due to their extraordinary prowess and abilities on the battlefield, even by Otherworlder standards.
One Hero has the power to level Los Angeles within one day. With this power, most of them were classified as S-ranks.
Thankfully, the number of Otherworld Heroes barely reaches ten thousand.
Although ten thousand Heroes who can destroy a major city like Los Angeles sounds frightening. They are still humans and can be killed with a bullet to the head when unaware of their surroundings.
Due to poor technology, low population, magic, and the existence of Heroes. The Otherworlders were also in a stalemate with the countries of Earth and the Pantheons.
The war situation with the Pantheons was quite unusual. Like the Otherworlders, the Pantheons had magic and still used outdated technology.
However, that's where the similarities end. Combined, the total population of the Pantheons, including the various Heavens and Hells, outnumbers the combined population of Otherworlders and countries of Earth by at least a hundred to one. Plus, Gods like the famous Thor or Shiva can destroy a medium-sized country by themself.
So how come the Gods and Demons haven't enslaved humanity yet with their sheer numbers, ridiculous/overpowered magic and powers?
The reason lies in diversity and disunity.
Even though the power of the combined Pantheons could easily defeat humanity, the Pantheons weren't united under a common goal and were split into three categories on the matter.
The first category belonged to Pantheons like the Christian God and different Heavens who were sympathetic to humanity and would provide aid in a fight against hostile Pantheons (namely Hell) whose goals were to enslave or drive humankind to extinction.
The second category belonged to the Neutral Pantheons. They were neutral because they were bickering amongst themselves or had a lot on their plates, such as the Norse Pantheon, who worked day and night to ensure Ragnarok would get delayed as much as possible and the Greek Pantheon, whose domestic situation was in constant turmoil.
Finally, there is the last Pantheon faction which is just Hell (usually). The very same Hell from the Bible. Even though they are one of the many factions in the world, the population of Hell is ridiculously high, at least fifty to sixty times higher than humanity's total population if excluding the Otherworlders.
Most of the demons in Hell were hostile to everyone and had the cliche and cheesy goal of taking over the world and destroying/enslaving humanity and the other pantheons.
Then there was the minority who just did whatever they wanted and didn't want an all-out war. Although they didn't want an all-out war, that didn't mean they were against it. They were willing to butt heads with the Angels and God, but their attitude to humans and the other Pantheons was a bit more tolerant.
Thanks to the minority, the warmonger demons of Hell were usually engaged in a civil war and too busy to commit all of their troops to fight against the humans and the Pantheons.
Due to this balance between the disunited Pantheons, technologically advanced countries of Earth and the magic superiority of the Otherworlders. The whole world was in a stalemate.
After years of brutal conflict, a man dressed in black robes and a simple white raven mask wandered from battlefield to battlefield. This man wasn't some benevolent priest on pilgrimage to comfort despairing soldiers or some charitable doctor who saved everyone he could.
This man,
brought
Death.
On every battlefield he travelled to, he would eliminate every soldier deployed in the area with a plague/virus/disease/sickness of his concoction, regardless of whose allegiance they belonged. None were spared, humans, demons, angels, demihumans, monsters, and even gods.
Naturally, when word of his deeds spread like wildfire to every country and Pantheon. Everyone was out to get him.
Unfortunately, all of their attempts to capture or kill him failed, and the bounty hunters, assassins and soldiers who were unluckily enough to run across him would find themselves falling victim to an incurable and torturous sickness that would cause them all to succumb to death within a week.
The side effects and symptoms of the disease and virus vary depending on the victim, ranging from high fevers to horrifying disfigurations and skin conditions. One of the most infamous and highly debated cases was when the strongest Otherworlder Hero at the time, Adam Ard, Hero of Light, happened to stumble across him on the battlefield during another one of the Plague Doctor's excursions.
It was said that Adam Ard fought with the Plague Doctor for three days and nights nonstop until the Plague Doctor retreated due to Adam's ridiculous passive ability that made him invulnerable to all damage in the sunlight.
When Adam returned to his comrades and kingdom, they were jubilant at the news of the Plague Doctor's apparent defeat. That joy soon turned into mourning and despair when Adam was found dead in his bed after three days.
Many suspected the Plague Doctor's involvement in Adam's death, but the theory was never confirmed, and the cause of his death was labelled as heart failure.
After this incident, the Plague Doctor would return to the battlefields and claim the lives of several prominent figures on all three sides, which sparked the eventual close of the Cataclysmic Wars.
The deaths of powerhouses like Adam Ard caused by one man paved the path to peace.
Shortly after the war ended, the Plague Doctor never appeared in any conflict or battlefield again.
Many speculate that he was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; others say he was a mad scientist who met his end due to old age; some say that he was a member of a secret organization that kept the world at peace from the shadows.
However, if there is one sure thing, it is undoubtedly that he was strong.
That strength was only made possible by the Special Attribute Plague.
(For those curious about how people know the Plague Doctor's gender and Attribute, it is through skills such as Appraisal or Investigation.)
If he had a regular Attribute like Fire or Water, he would have been a lower-ranking S-rank mage at best.
It was through the Special Attribute Plague that the Plague Doctor became one of the most feared individuals on the planet.
Back to the present.
Alex stared intently at the screen for what Special Attribute he would receive.
*DING!*
[The Host has received the Clockwork Attribute]
???
"What?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DAMIAN_POWERS
DAMIAN_POWERS Sorry again for the long updates! I know I promised to post this last week, but my wifi went out on me, and I had to spend so much time to get it fixed.
I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but be prepared for the next two chapters. It's going to get exciting!
And thank you to all the fans who stayed with me for the two months that this novel has been started!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone