Nier stirred on the cold, hardwood floor, his limbs stiff and aching from a night spent sprawled in an awkward heap.
His clothes, tattered remnants of yesterday's ordeal, clung to him in shredded patches...threadbare cotton and denim ripped at the seams, stained with streaks of dried blood and caked-on dirt.
The faint scent of sweat and earth lingered on him, as well. He groaned softly, pushing himself upright with trembling arms, his muscles protesting every movent.
After absorbing all that negativity yesterday he was really feeling the kicked back of it now.
As he rose, Nier caught his reflection in his full body mirror in the room, leaning against the wall of his sparse, dimly lit room.
His maroon hair was matted, strands plastered to his forehead with gri. His face, usually sharp and resolute, was marred with smudges of dirt and dried blood, his red eyes dulled by exhaustion.
The blood all his had dried into a crusty, rust-colored map across his arms and chest, mingling with the filth that coated his skin.
He sighed, a heavy, resigned sound that echoed in the quiet space.
"Another day...still I need a damned shower."
He muttered, his voice hoarse, and barely audible.
Shuffling toward the bathroom door, his bare feet scuffed against the expensive looking floorboards.
He turned the sleek, matte-black handle, and the door glided open silently on hidden hinges, revealing a bathroom that was fancy looking, you would wonder if Nier was Multimillionaire, if you didn't know his unique living circumstances.
The vast space stretched out like a private spa, its design a seamless blend of cutting-edge modernity and extravagant luxury.
Jet-black marble tiles, polished to a mirror-like sheen, covered the floor and climbed halfway up the walls, their surfaces flecked with subtle veins of silver that caught the light from a massive, circular skylight overhead.
The skylight frosted glass diffused natural light into a soft, ethereal glow, complented by recessed LED strips that cast a warm ambiance from hidden alcoves.
At the room's center, a freestanding, oval-shaped soaking tub carved from a single block of onyx filled the space, its smooth, glossy surface reflecting the surroundings.
Twin rainfall showerheads, suspended from the ceiling by sleek chro fixtures, flanked the tub, their digital controls embedded in a nearby touch-panel wall.
The vanity, a slab of smoked glass supported by a minimalist brushed-steel fra, spanned an entire wall, its surface adorned with bespoke toiletries in frosted glass bottles, each engraved with fragile monograms.
Above it, a fraless mirror stretched floor-to-ceiling, its edges illuminated by backlit LEDs that shifted colors subtly, casting Nier's grimy reflection in stark contrast to the pristine surroundings.
To one side, a series of floating shelves held plush, monogramd towels and artisanal soaps, while a heated towel rack glead in polished nickel.
A discreet smart-ho panel glowed faintly, controlling everything from the room's ambient temperature to the integrated sound system, which humd with soft, ambient music.
The air carried a crisp, curated scent of oud and bergamot, piped in through an invisible ventilation system.
Nier stood frozen in the doorway, his battered, dirt-streaked form a jarring mismatch against the bathroom's immaculate grandeur.
His gaze lingered on the tub, its inviting depths reassuring a comfortable bathe.
"I wonder what I should eat today though?"
Nier questioned himself as he let his tattered pants drop to the polished black marble floor, followed by his shredded shirt, both garnts crumpling into a filthy heap. The faint scent of blood and dirt lingered in the air, starkly at odds with the sweet slling scent all around him.
Stepping toward another mirror, a towering, fraless expanse illuminated by soft LED backlighting as well.
He caught sight of his reflection and froze.
His eyes widened in shock, a gasp escaping his lips as he whispered.
"Was I?...
He paused, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"…Was I always this muscular?"
Nier stared at his body, scarcely recognizing the figure before him. His physique was chiseled, each muscle defined with almost unnatural precision, his abdominals as solid as stone, his arms and chest sculpted like those of a Greek statue in the museum.
Even his face, once weathered by years of hardship, appeared transford. For a man nearing his forties, he now looked no older than twenty, his skin smooth and taut.
Then a familiar pain hit his hand, as Silence began to speak.
[It's because Kaly rebuilt your body. At this mont, it is operating at a superhuman level. You could easily lift an entire cargo truck or outrun a cheetah. You also possess a slight healing factor, akin to that of a lizard. Limbs and organs can regenerate over a few days, depending on the severity of the damage. However, if you lose too much blood or sustain catastrophic injuries, you can still die like anyone else]
Nier opened his hands, staring at his palms as if seeing them for the first ti. His fingers flexed, testing the strength he could feel coursing through him. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI★Fire
"So that's what happens eh?!"
He murmured to himself.
"That's… quite the surprise. Can I even be called human anymore?"
[To be fair, as you are now, you can't even be called a Hesta. As things are your basically a humanoid Flux in it's entirety]
"I see...I would never have imagine things would end up like this... Oh well, what's done is done I guess."
Nier said in a stoic manner.
As he made his way to his bath tub, the water warm and suiting as he began to relax.
Thinking back on everything that has happened so far.
"...I should probably quick my job, if I am going to start a cult... But that would aquire a lot of inco to even start. And even then, how would I even start by making a cult?!"
He questioned himself then an idea hit him.
He would just asked Lisa.
With that in mind he questioned his AI assistant. One that was extrely smart. Given his mother gave it access to the Dark Web. So the information it could dig into was vast.
"Lisa are you there?"
Nier said out aloud as a voice played out into the speakers.
(Greetings Young Master. What do you need help with today)
He didn’t waste ti.
"Alright, say I wanted to start a cult. What is the move? Like where do I even begin?"
Lisa imdiately replied.
(A cult, huh? Well for starters you would need a story that grabs people by the heart...hope, revenge, whatever gets them hooked to your cause. But speaking realistically its not a sure thing either. Still I need more information to work with, to give a proper answer, do you want to do this the ethical way, building it slow and legit, or the unethical way, cutting corners and playing dirty for quick results)
Nier sighed, the steam curling around him as respond by saying.
"The quickest way possible. I am not here to waste ti... I need to start as soon as possible."
(Quickest way is the unethical one, then)
Lisa said, her voice dropping a bit, as she was letting him in on a secret.
(You would have to dive into so shady stuff young master...think stuff like scams, maybe even a life of cri. Are you cool with that)
His pulse picked up, not from fear but from a weird kind of excitent. The idea of calling the shots, of people looking to him for answers, felt like a high he hadn't known he was chasing.
"Well I figured as much...but what kind of cri are we talking here?"
(Start small first gather followers, lool for people who are at the lowest juncture of their life. Maybe start so online scams to pull in cash. Target people who are lost, desperate for sothing to believe in. The Dark Web along has got plenty of tricks for that, it a space where you can find the most weirdest to the muster smartest and sickest of people, plus it also has ways to move money without getting caught. You could step it up later by doing things like blackmail, maybe so underground deals. But once you're in, Nier, there is no easy way out)
Nier leaned back, the water sloshing softly.
"Make sense I guess...but what about the pitch? What kind of story would gets people to follow ?"
(Sothing that hits deep obviously)
Lisa responded.
(Make them feel like you're their way out of a broken world. Tell them what they want to hear, and how you can fixed their problem. Give them a cause to looked forward to basically)
"Followers are the first step, tell what people should I target that would be the easiest to approach instead of relying on the Dark Web. I am kind of broke right now."
(Holess people of course... majority of them would do basically anything for a quick al or to feed their habits, or better yet just to get roof over their heads)
"... Holess people ha?! That does sound like a good idea... Well after I take a bath I fly out and see who I can find."
(Do you want to suggest areas that are overpopulated with the Holess)
"Yes, mark the location on Hestia Maps on my phone."
(As you wish Master)
Ding!
A notification echoed in the bedroom on his main smart phone, since the one from his work was discarded last night.
"Now... Silence I think we will need to talk before I leave."
[About what]
From there Nier speak his mind.
"So with 13,673 and the remaining 119 I had left after making Body Modification magic, that would an my total units altogether is 13,792 if you do the maths... Tell what would be the best magic to create that could help in creating a cult?"
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