Xavier’s chest heaved as he took lungfuls of air. His limbs trembled violently, but a thin smile crept up on his dirt-smeared face. A chuckle escaped his lips as he grasped the hilt of the ruby katana that was jutting out of the chest of a huge corpse.
Great Kobold Champion has been slain, +11 Soul Essences.
His whimsical laugh attracted the attention of the people around him. They could only stare at him and shake their heads.
They had all fought a battle, but it was Xavier who had fought like a battle maniac. Ever since destroying the Monster Gate a lot had changed. No longer were they all entering the battlefield wielding just a sword or a gun. All of them wore makeshift armor to grant them some protection against the lunging beasts that would injure them with their sharp claws and teeth.
They gathered safety equipment from tool sheds, factories, a sports equipment shop, and roadside construction that now lay abandoned and wore armor made from monsters, kneecaps, shoulder and shin guards along with padded vests, thick gloves, and just about anything that would add layers of protection on their body against monsters’ bites and scratches. Hockey sticks, long iron rods, and even a chainsaw turned into a weapon.
All of them had adapted to the changes quite quickly and let their surviving spirit quash every little fear and doubt. He pushed a strand of hair behind his ear, the mess of his unruly hair tied in a bun. Who had the time to find a hairdresser when there were monsters to kill?
Xavier wiped the sweat and grime off his face with his sleeve but that was smeared with blood too. His legs were trembling, and he felt like he would collapse on the ground any minute.
The main street of their small village was covered in bits of flesh, body parts and blood flung around in every direction. The temporary blockage they had created from the point that connected their little town to Logwood, a neighboring village, was partially destroyed.
A horde of Kobolds including Kobold Warriors, Kobold Champions, Kobold Riders, and their mounts had charged at their village after razing Logwood to the ground. Their thirst for blood made them turn their attention to Alsburg, Xavier’s village. Little did they know, death awaited them.
Xavier leaned on a nearby tree after checking that the monstrosity lying in front of him was indeed dead. The Kobolds were shorter than the Goblins he had fought before, but peskier. They had a humanoid body, and their skin was a pale shade of brown that was covered beneath thick fur. A hideous face resembling a hyena sat on their shoulders in addition to sharp fangs and claws.
Xavier struggled to stay on his feet and not to faint on the spot, yet he continued to smile.
“You should have picked another Class Path. All you’re doing these days is endangering your life. I cannot even remember the last time you fought without putting your life on the line!!” Leyla’s vibrant green eyes were locked onto Xavier, who could only wince under her threatening glare.
Leyla was as fierce as she was beautiful. Most couldn't say something against her. However, Xavier managed to smile through her lecture.
“Don’t worry about me. I can still keep up with you guys even though you all have chosen your Class Path already,” He retorted lightly.
Leyla scoffed and turned around, her blond hair tied back in a ponytail, swishing behind her.
She was still holding onto her bow, and it was to no surprise that Leyla hadn’t given up on her earlier choice to remain an archer. Her talent, determination, and ambition had been rewarded, granting her access to a special Class Path – Magical Archer. The Magical Archer Path was a Rare Class Path that granted Leyla various benefits, including more Card Slots, 3 Rare Cards related to her Class, an Infinite Quiver, and a considerable increase in her Agility and Dexterity Star.
She could condense various types of arrows with the Infinite Quiver whereas her Rare Cards allowed her to do things that ought to be impossible for anyone on earth…before the apocalypse erupted, changing the world in its essence.
His family and the other Card Holders were also doing quite well. They had shown considerable progress yet some of them would occasionally grow nervous. Luckily, they didn’t behave like a gust of air would knock them out easily.
“Kiddo. Don’t overdo it. I don’t want you to die before me!” Xavier’s grandmother approached her reckless grandson with a green vial of glass in her hands. She removed the cork and pressed the vial against his lips.
Xavier tried to protest but his grandmother had already forced his mouth open and emptied the contents of the vial in it. It was a medicinal syrup, a thick, viscous liquid that was extremely sour to taste. Xavier felt he would puke but he forced it down his throat as the unpleasant taste made him grimace. Though it lasted only for a while.
It took his body mere seconds to absorb the energy-rich liquid and some strength returned in his legs. They were not wobbly anymore and the exhaustion seemed to have disappeared. His eyes weren’t droopy anymore either and his energy and stamina level were being rapidly replenished.
Mark Vador approached his son with large strides. He smiled mischievously at Xavier and patted his shoulder.
“If you can stand without losing your balance now, you might as well help us out there. A helping hand is certainly better than more baggage to carry,” His father made Xavier recall the last few hunts.
The hunts had been successful, but Xavier had collapsed more than once. Even if he didn’t collapse on the ground, Xavier was usually unable to recall what happened after the final battle of the day as exhaustion would turn the last bits into a hazy blur.
Xavier grinned forcefully and was about to get up to help when Walter, the old hunter, intervened, “I can help. Give your kid some time to breathe, Mark! You know better than anyone else that this little freak is the sole reason why everyone is still alive.”
Mark grumbled something under his breath, but he gave the old hunter a curt nod. His eyes traveled to the corner of Xavier’s shirt. Xavier’s collar was exposed, and so was a small fraction of a scar he had sustained a few weeks ago.
Mark’s expression soured but he swallowed his comments and turned around to help the others collect usable monster parts and dissect the corpses.
“Your suffering will be over soon. There is no need for you to worry,” Zora Vador, his grandmother, commented. She cursed her son-in-law silently before she chuckled lightly, “You will be more useful soon.”
Xavier joined his grandmother and grinned lightly. His grandmother was right. It will be over soon. Finally!
As his grandma laughed cheekily, Xavier observed her. The wrinkles on her skin seemed to have lessened and the hollow cheeks seemed to have filled in a little. Her eyesight had improved too, and she could locate objects from a short distance easily.
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Zora Vador had always been vibrant and full of energy, but she looked as if she was reverse aging. Her skin did not sag as much, and she seemed much more confident as well. It was not just Zora, Xavier noticed, who looked youthful and charming. It was almost as if everyone had taken a dip in the proverbial fountain of youth.
This was actually a fairly recent phenomenon the survivors discovered not too long ago. Card Holders with a higher Vitality Foundation and a Class Path looked healthier and younger than before.
It was necessary to research the phenomenon properly, but most Card Holders presumed that their Vitality rejuvenated their cells and that by picking a Class Path they could prolong their lifespan. Some even said that their terminal illnesses and other diseases stopped affecting them after choosing a Class Path.
A light swishing sound told him that his companion had returned. Xavier looked up to see Glut chirp before diving down at him. Though he looked angry. Glut began pecking at Xavier’s cheek while making loud chirping noises.
“Ow, what’s that for?”
Xavier massaged his cheek as Glut chirped again. The little Ember Sparrow was annoyed that Xavier put himself in danger, especially without him. Despite Glut’s anger, Xavier smiled at the little fellow. He was glad to see that Glut cared about him so he only watched him with a smile as the Ember Sparrow circled his head a few times, chirping loudly to show how annoyed he was.
“Yeah, okay, I get it. Calm down now.”
Xavier said as he caressed his companion’s soft plumage. That seemed to pacify the bird as he finally landed on Xavier’s shoulder after giving him a disapproving look.
Both Glut and Xavier had yet to improve their strength on a fundamental level. They were far from weak, but the two odd partners spent the last 10 weeks fighting powerful opponents with their lives on the line almost on a daily basis.
At first, they collected Soul Essences to integrate them into their Foundation in order to meet the requirements of their Evolution Path and Class Path, but that requirement was quickly met, leaving both Xavier and Glut with hundreds of Soul Essences left to integrate into their Evolution Path and Class Path.
It was annoying to spend weeks farming Soul Essences merely to pick the Class Path of his choice and for Glut to evolve into a stronger being, but the most frustrating was that almost everyone had been lecturing him about his ‘grave mistake’ of picking Tamer’s Desire as his Class Path.
Compared to the other Paths of Ascension, Tamer’s Desire required almost three times more Soul Essences than one of the Rare Class Paths he had been recommended to pick.
[Path of Ascension]
Warrior(Common) – (50 VIT/ 50 STR) – (0/100)
Archer(Common) – (50 AGI/ 50 DEX) – (0/100)
Assassin(Common) – (50 AGI/ 30 DEX/ 20 PER) – (0/100)
Tamer(Common) – (20 PER/ 50 ENERGY/ 30 WIS) – (0/200)
Samurai(Uncommon) – (75 STR/ 75 AGI/ 40 PER) – (0/200)
Knight(Uncommon) – (100 VIT/ 75 STR/ 25 ENERGY) – (0/200)
Berserker(Uncommon) – (100 VIT/100 STR) – (0/200)
Mage(Rare) – (100 ENERGY/ 150 WIS) – (0/350)
…
…
…
Tamer’s Desire (300 Foundation/ 200 S/Foundation) – (980/1000)
Nobody will tell me that I made a mistake by choosing Glut. You guys just wait and watch!!
The scream in his heart echoed through his entire body, and it didn’t take long before his hair stood up on its end. A foolish grin formed on his lips, resulting in a slap on the back of his head from his grandmother.
“Stop grinning like that. It’s creepy!”
Xavier pressed his lips together and mumbled in a disgruntled tone, “Okay…”
Nobody allowed him to be happy. Only Glut felt with Xaiver. The Ember Sparrow chirped happily and rubbed his head against Xavier’s cheek.
After Xaiver and Glut spent the last two and a half months together, the duo had grown much closer. They started to rely on each other a lot after destroying the Monster Gate.
Even though it had been oddly silent for a few weeks, allowing everyone to recuperate from the deadly threats the changes of the world had thrown at them, Xavier and Glut never stopped training together. They realized quite early that the silent weeks were merely the calm before the storm.
And the storm arrived shortly with the arrival of a resident from Logwood. The resident was a young man, who had barely managed to escape the terrors within Logwood. He warned the survivors of the quaint village about the threats of the neighboring villages, which helped everyone to regain their focus and go back to work – to hunt and grow stronger.
It wasn’t until three weeks ago that fearsome monsters in bigger numbers began to charge into their little village from all directions. It was terrifying and many of the survivors died…too many.
However, Xavier and the others had been working tirelessly to keep the casualties at a minimum. The only issue was that they’d never expected to be hit by such large waves of monsters – monsters that had evolved once, or twice.
Following the initial waves of monsters, a second and third wave of monsters arrived. Fortunately, the strength gained from annihilating the first wave allowed the Card Holders of the quaint village to retaliate better than before. Their strength allowed the villagers to repel the incoming monster waves and grow even stronger though the strength of their enemies increased alongside.
Mark Vador and a few other Card Holders progressed rapidly. Their progress accelerated even further after they filled the progression bar of their Class Path. Their Classless Card Deck received a major upgrade, and the Card Holders’ strength increased accordingly.
In a matter of weeks, the other Card Holders surpassed Xavier’s prowess as they upgraded one of their Foundation Stars a second time.
Xavier didn’t envy them. He knew that he could catch up to them once he completed all conditions to pick his Class Path.
The Class Path he had chosen was a little bit unique. He had to integrate more Soul Essences into his Class Path to finalize his pick than others. But Xavier was not worried because he would receive various benefits once it was all over. All he needed was patience.
Xavier was far from weak, either way. His Foundation Orb was still strong.
Foundation Orb
[Star of Vitality – Novice 50/100]
[Star of Strength–Novice 40/100]
[Star of Agility – Novice 40/100]
[Star of Dexterity – Novice 25/100]
[Star of Perception – Novice 25/100]
[Star of Energy – Novice 70/100]
[Star of Wisdom– Novice 50/100]
Even with their Foundation surpassing Xavier’s Foundation, his father and colleagues continued to have one issue or another. They struggled against their opponents as much as Xavier did. Some were even worse combatants than Xavier despite their superior Foundation.
The constant fights against the monster waves turned into a struggle. The monsters that obliterated the neighboring villages were far from weak. They destroyed everything and left little to no survival chance for the villagers.
When Xavier and the others heard about the hardships the neighboring village had faced from the Logwood’s refugees, they were happier than ever to have dealt with the Goblin Monster Gate before it could stabilize. Their swift actions gave them enough time to create a somewhat safe hideout in their quaint village.
Slowly, it became a sanctuary that retained a trace of mankind’s determination to survive whatever obstacle fate threw at them.