Her right arm was still shaking.
She sighed. She’d hoped that an entire day of rest would fully heal her. It didn’t. She didn’t feel any pain, and the ache in her bones had subsided to a dull ringing, but it wasn’t quite enough. She’d need maybe another day of rest to return to fighting. Maybe less if she could keep her mana swirling through her arm.
She glanced at her phone.
05:22
She’d woken up maybe an hour before. She’d made herself a strawberry jam sandwich, took a glance at her backpack, and pulled out a number of the many plastic bags she’d taken from that convenience store she’d gone to.
Under the cover of darkness, she’d crept out onto the streets. The Svels and Vlaids were still asleep in the alleyways, and the airborne monsters that’d appeared the day before were resting on the roofs.
She’d gone to the convenience store she’d gotten her strawberry jam from and began filling her plastic bags with anything she’d need. Some loaves of bread for breakfast. Some snacks she could eat in an emergency. Some bottles of water. Some canned food. A couple can openers. A couple more loaves of bread. And, of course, the rest of the strawberry jam she’d left behind.
She then ran back to her apartment and placed her spoils next to her backpack. She’d turned to stargaze on the roof, only to then remember that the roof was most likely filled by sleeping monsters. She sighed, turned back and dropped onto her bed.
So here she was, laying idly on her bed as she browsed through whatever was being sold on the BIN Auctions. There wasn’t much she could buy with just 300 Coins, but there were always failed items being sold on the cheap.
Basic Healing Pill
Rank: F-
A medical pill created with various ingredients. Consuming the pill increases a Unit’s general healing factor by 5%.
Cost: 200 Coins
Like this. A 5% increase in healing didn’t sound so terrible, but it was its Rank that told the other story. An item below Rank F? Something must’ve really gone wrong during its production. Something the Monolith wasn’t showing.
She scrolled past it.
In the end, nothing had captured her interest, and she dismissed the floating panels and sighed. Another day of resting.
She picked up her phone.
05:47
Hmm. Right. She’d completely skipped seeing those airborne monsters arrive on the earth. A good thing, she supposed.
Raeys. A large bird-like monster, with wings as wide as a car and as heavy as a truck. Their black feathers glowed an ominous purple under the sun. Their beaks were no different to the sharpest mundane swords, and they could easily tear through steel. Though a ferocious and stubborn monster, they could take sharp turns in the air and flee when they needed to.
Unlike Vlaids and Svels however, they were solitary monsters, and would compete against other Raeys for food. Indifferent when nothing was happening, but would willingly tear apart one another if there wasn’t enough food to share. Taking the two injured Raeys just before they could kill one another was the easiest way to hunt them down.
But the Exp they gave was far too small for how dangerous they could be. Only 90 Exp for a single Raey. Not a worthwhile endeavor. It certainly didn’t help that Raeys were even fewer in number compared to the Vlaids.
That wouldn’t remain.
After the first week ended, the arbitrary restrictions placed by those from the beyond placed would be lifted, and the monsters would become capable of growing. They would grow and adapt, and the strong would rise beyond the rest.
Raeys would be the first and only airborne monster for the first few months or so. They would dominate the skies and grow in number. They would grow larger, more powerful, and many would lose their lives when a Titan Raey finally appeared among their kind.
The first attempt at rebuilding civilization would be ended by it.
Another attempt wouldn’t come for a few years.
She glanced at her phone. 06:12, it said. She dropped it and sighed. Time was crawling by. She was resting, immobile on her bed. The ceiling above her felt too close. The walls around her felt too tall. The room felt too small. The bed was too soft.
…
She missed her little hunting group. She missed them. She missed her. They were her little slice of life. The people she would happily share her secret strawberry jam with. The people that would jokingly slam her face into a puddle of blood, and she’d laugh and return the favor.
They weren’t here now. There was always a chance they would never meet.
The walls felt too tall. The bed was too soft. Gingerly, she held onto the metal headboard. It felt as if the bed would consume her if she wasn’t holding on.
She didn’t want to fall. She didn’t want to go away.
Let me stay. Let me stay. Please.
She took a breath. Another breath. A third. It wasn’t helping. She was sinking.
She shut her eyes close. What was this? Why was she like this? Why now? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know either. It felt like someone had punched a hole through her chest. A gaping wound that would never heal. She felt too light. Empty. Like a breeze would easily knock her down.
Something felt weird. She wasn’t breathing right. There was a pressure in the back of her throat, like something was clawing out from inside her. Something wet hit her pillow then, and she curiously turned her head.
More water dropped. More and more and more.
Oh. She was crying.
She tried to choke back a sob. It didn’t work. A slow breath left her lips, and she shook slightly as she wiped away her tears. It didn’t work. More kept falling. She was falling too. Everything felt too close. Too silent. Too cold.
Her right arm shook. A jolt of pain.
No one was there to help her.
And no one would be. And she would be alone. And she would rest on this bed and do nothing. And the world above her would rot and crumble. And the monsters above would kill. And more people would die. And maybe her coming back had changed something. And maybe those that had died now lived. And maybe those that lived had died.
And maybe those people she would call hers would be no more.
It’d been four days since she came back in time. Four days of trying to survive. Four days of doing nothing but surviving.
It’d been four days since she lost everything.
Alex let herself grieve.
----------------------------------------
She’d fallen asleep at some point. She woke up with an itch in her eyes and her knees curled against her chest. She didn’t really remember what’d happened before she fell asleep. Most of it was a blurry mess of heat and emotions she couldn’t quite break down. It almost felt like she’d just woken from a fever dream.
But she felt…better, she supposed. She felt more. More stable. More there. She didn’t feel like she’d suddenly crumble into ashes and fly away all of a sudden.
She rose from her bed, and then realized her arm wasn’t shaking anymore. She blinked before she gave her right arm a cursory twist. No dull pain. No twitching. Her right arm was moving as normal. She made a fist. Her fingers moved as normal. They didn’t shake even as she sent a quick jab.
She smiled. Her right arm had fully healed.
She hopped out of her bed and made herself another strawberry jam sandwich. She’d added extra strawberry this time, as a little treat after that little messy whirlwind she’d gone through. She picked up her phone as she made another bite. 14:22, it said. She hummed idly, taking another bite from her sandwich as she did.
She had maybe three hours and a half before the sun would begin to set. Maybe another hour after that before evening came.
Mm. No. She wasn’t heading out today. Healed as she was, she felt drained. Weary in a way she hadn’t ever felt. She could go back out tomorrow. The monster that’d arrived today would be there for her to face the next day.
Mhm. Yep. Making more magical strawberry jam sounded far better in comparison.
----------------------------------------
Slain: Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11,Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, 1 more... Gained 1250 Exp
This Unit has levelled up
Unit: Alexa Hugo Francis Lv 8 Exp: 170/10,935 Health: 30/30 Mana: 35/35 Strength: 10 (+1) Endurance: 6 (+1) Spirit: 7 (+1) Resistance: 3 Dexterity: 11 (+1) Charm: 10 (+1)
She gently pulled her sword from the corpse. Her blade was covered in blood, steam rose from its edge, and the faint smell of rotting flesh filled the streets.
She smiled wanly.
Boro. Rhinoceros-like beasts with yellow scales and a sharp horn. Their scales were as hard as steel. Their horns could easily puncture through meters of concrete. They were relentless, and the moment they spotted their prey, they would continue charging at them until their horns were stabbed through their bodies.
They would come onto the Earth on the fourth day, appearing from those shifting rifts at noon. The restrictions over them would still apply then, and they would be neutral to the Svels and Vlaids. The Raeys would occasionally perch on their backs, but they would shake their bodies to scare them off.
Dangerous beasts. Powerful. They had the power of the Raeys, and the intelligence to work together with other Boros.
The only downside they had was the fact that they were quite heavy sleepers.
Which meant someone like her could come along with a sword specifically meant to kill organic beings, kill them one by one, and none of them would be any wiser.
A dangerous monster for beginning Units, the Monolith would explain.
A perfect pinata of Exp, she would counter.
But she needed just about eleven thousand Exp to increase her level. Nearly a hundred Boros. She wouldn’t be able to kill that many before they would finally wake. Grouped as they were, they were few in between. They were somewhat similar to the Vlaids, in that sense.
She glanced at her phone.
05:33
She winced. Half an hour before the Svels would wake, and with their stampede shall too the Boros wake. She doubted she’d make the cut before that happened.
…
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She smiled thinly.
It didn’t mean she’d stop her hunt. Nor did it mean she would stop once they woke up. She’d remained idle for nearly two days, and though the word had escaped for the past eight years or so, she felt bored. Not an easy thing to feel, with the world falling to ruin and people dying at every second. But yes, bored.
So let them come. Let the sun rise. Let them wake and let their legs cause a stampede. Let the great beasts wake from their slumber. Let the wolves be roused from their dreams. Let the monsters of the skies take to the skies. Let them come.
She turned the corner, and her eyes fell onto a small group of Boros sleeping at the middle of the streets. Peaceful. Unaware.
Her sword sang with blood.
Slain: Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11 Gained 375 Exp
She glanced at her phone.
05:48
She turned her eyes up to the sky. There was that bright orange creeping from the east, lighting up the night and driving away the blinking stars. The clouds were thin, and they seemed to glow. It was dawn. The coming of a new day. Another beautiful day.
She smiled. She felt particularly energetic today. It was as if lightning was dancing through her veins, and her mana twisted and burnt hot, desperate to be used. The ground shook slightly as thousands of Svels woke up at once. Screeches rang through the air, before it was followed by the guttural growls of waking Boros.
The tips of her fingers lit a brilliant blue.
A surprised squeak sounded to her left, and she turned to see a recently awoken pack of Svels pouring out from the alley. They were shaking, legs trembling, and some had turned to run back to the comfort of the shadows. She didn’t let them.
In a single move she leapt to the back of the group and slashed at the fleeing Svels. Their bodies hit the floor, accompanied by blood and the faint smell of rotting flesh. The rest turned to see what’d happened. None were fast enough to stop her from tearing through them.
They all died in seconds.
Slain: Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, 3 more… Gained 60 Exp
She could hear it. The sound of approaching steps. The growing tremors spreading beneath her feet. Her encounter had been heard and monsters were approaching. It wouldn’t be long before they came upon her, with blood falling from her sword and corpses laid just behind her. They would come upon her, and she would point her sword upon them.
A group of three Boros came upon her next. Steam blew from their nostrils, and their hooves stomped against the streets, muscles tensing. With growls they charged.
She flipped her sword and threw. It flew just inches past a Boro’s horn and stabbed into their right eye. It stumbled and crashed onto the street. The faint smell of rotting flesh was clear.
The other two hadn’t even noticed one of their kind had fallen.
She retrieved her sword into her hand and threw again. The air whistled as her sword cut through the air, and another Boros crashed onto the street with a sword stabbed through its left eye.
The last Boros had finally noticed that its brethren had died, stopping its charge and turning around. It was far too late for that. It turned back to see the human standing before it, sword raised above her head and mana burning from her fingers.
Her sword fell. The Boro’s head fell onto the street seconds later.
Slain: Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11 Gained 375 Exp
Her arm felt light. She felt like she could walk on air.
Squeaks sounded to her right. She turned. It was a pack of Svels this time, shaking just like the first. They looked even more apprehensive, and that ingrained hostility monsters had against Units had been completely replaced by the desperate need to survive.
They squeaked as they turned and ran. They didn’t make it far.
Slain: Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, 7 more… Gained 80 Exp
Her fingers were twitching. Not from pain. Not from exhaustion.
Her fingers were twitching, with blue sparks lit on her nails like cackling fireworks. Mana swirling inside her, a raging storm of strength and will. It bubbled inside her like a boiling pot, eager to leave, eager to break free. Excitement was rushing through her blood, and had she not bear the will and weight of years of experience, she would’ve started losing herself to the allure of battle.
She wouldn’t. She couldn’t afford to. This was not a spar. This was a hunt, and all hunts will end with blood. It just depends whose blood it came from.
Growls came from behind. She turned to see Vlaids, growling, drool falling from their jaws.
Her blade was uncannily bright under the growing sunlight.
Slain: Vlaid Lv - 4, Vlaid Lv - 4, Vlaid Lv - 4 Gained 120 Exp
Battle Fervor Units would call it. This rush of excitement. This near-addicting feeling of strength. The heat coiled under her chest. The eagerness to move, to fight, to strike. It was something all Units struggled with, and one that would grow the more a Unit used their Mana.
And despite the fact she’d only used two points of Mana to subtly enhance her arm’s endurance, she felt like she’d been spoon feeding herself with strawberry jam for the past hour.
Many lost themselves to the haze, found comfort in it. Just as many died from it.
Squeaks from her left. Another pack of Svels. Chittering. Shaking. Quivering. Afraid. Some ran towards her. Some ran away. Some remained frozen, instincts fighting against instincts. They all died the same.
Slain: Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, 2 more… Gained 55 Exp
A squawk. She turned up to see her first Raey, its wings large and expansive, casting shadows on the ground below. Its beady eyes latched onto hers, and the wind shrieked as it dove down. It then smashed its beak down into the street, cracks expanding from the hole it carved. The hole was quickly filling with blood.
She recalled her sword back to her hand. The Raey flopped onto the side, eyes wide and tongue split right in half.
Slain: Raey Lv - 8 Gained 90 Exp
She glanced at it. Its body may be strong, but its insides were not. A precise arrow through its mouth could easily end a Raey’s life. Not that many would know. It would take months before someone would land a lucky shot and share their discovery.
Stomping to her left. Squeaks to her right. Growls from her left. Even more stomping from her right. Another squawk from above. Each growing louder. Coming closer.
Her fingers tightened around her sword, blue sparks growing to a flame. The blood inside her demanded her to spring forth, to spill blood and to color the gray buildings around her, screaming with the need to kill and kill and kill.
She didn’t listen.
Instead, she hopped onto one of the few remaining cars around her. An army of monsters swarmed towards her, drawn by the commotion. The Raey above finally began its descent, the whistling of the wind clear to hear. Alex waited, watched them come closer.
Then, she stabbed her sword into the car’s engine, sent a shock of Mana through her sword, and leapt onto the roofs above.
The car below exploded seconds later.
Slain: Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, 82 more… Gained 1685 Exp
She glanced down. All Svels had died from that Mana-enhanced explosion. Most Vlaids were burnt to dust. No Boros were killed from that explosion, but all were majorly injured. They turned their heads right and left, confused as to where she’d gone.
A squawk sounded below, and from the dust cloud came the Raey. She threw her sword just before it could close its mouth.
It fell onto the street. It died with a sword lodged through its throat.
Slain: Raey Lv - 8 Gained 90 Exp
The Boros were still turning around, confused. None had looked up.
The air burnt blue as she threw.
Slain: Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11,Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11 Gained 1125 Exp
Her fingers were caked in blood. There was dirt and grime on her shoes. Her clothes smelled faintly of gas and ash. There was a tingle running across her arm, growing and growing and demanding her to move. The sparks of blue on her fingers were bright, and the reflection it cast on her sword was almost blinding.
There was a whisper in her mind, demented and foreign, urging her to spill more and more. It demanded her paint the dull concrete jungle an off-putting red.
She ignored it.
The ground trembled, and she saw another group of monsters rush into the street, drawn by the noise and the smell of smoke and mana. There were easily over a hundred of them. An army of Svels, Vlaids, and Boros. Each curiously looking at the carnage left behind. None with enough awareness to simply look up.
She threw her sword just inches from a car. The pitched sound of grating steel rang through the air, and she quickly called it back into her hands. All the monsters turned to the car, confused as to what that noise was. Some began approaching, and soon that car was surrounded by monsters.
She raised her arm, and the blade of her sword glowed a light blue tint as she surged her mana forth. She threw.
The sword struck right through the car’s engine, the mana she’d given it pumping right into the building sparks inside its machinery. She called her sword back into her hands just as the car lit up in a mana-enhanced explosion. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into the air.
Slain: Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, Svel - Lv 1, 103 more… Gained 1925 Exp
The surviving Boros were clearly startled and injured by the sudden explosion, their skin singed and covered with rising steam.
Her fingers were bathed in light as she threw.
Slain: Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11,Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, Boro Lv - 11, 1 more... Gained 1250 Exp
Her fingers were shaking. Her entire body was as well. She took a deep breath and thumped a fist onto her chest. She gave another thump as she let the breath go. She was still shaking. She took another breath. Another thump against her chest. Let go. Another thump.
She was still shaking.
Slowly, she grabbed her phone from her pockets.
09:57
She raised an eyebrow. Nearly ten, was it? Had she really spent that much time hunting? She glanced up and winced. The sun was high in the sky now. It wouldn’t be long before it hit noon.
She turned down to the streets below. There was fire covering the ground, growing as it fed on the many corpses strewn about. She glanced to the right as a small pack of Vlaids peered from the alleyways, curious as to what had happened. Her fingers twitched, and that whisper in her mind grew loud with the demand to kill.
She turned away and began running across the rooftops. She was headed back to her apartment.
She could continue her hunt. She could continue and increase her level. But she knew it wouldn’t end well. Though her mind was familiar with Battle Fervor, her body was not, and there was a definite chance she could lose herself if she continued. Doing so would mean an early death.
That, and she was sure that whisper wasn’t one she imagined. It was cold, a foreign grip on the back of her mind. It felt familiar to the overwhelming presence those who had convened with those from the beyond had.
And more than anything, she was dirty, tired, and in desperate need for a good strawberry jam sandwich.
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17:12
It was just past five in the afternoon. The sun was soon to set. The monsters would begin to find their place to rest.
Alex laid on her bed, a nameless tune playing in her mind as she scrolled through the BIN Auctions.
The seventh day would bring with it just a single monster. Given the chance, that single monster would be capable of bringing down thousands of fledgling Units.
Gramatoa. A massive cyclops-like monster, taller than most buildings, with horns protruding from every side of its head. Its skin is an angry red, and its one eye is a sharp yellow. It was a slow juggernaut. It didn’t need the speed, really. Its immense strength allowed it to bring down the tallest buildings with a single swing, and its endurance allowed it to endure even the impact of a hundred missiles.
It was not a monster new Units were meant to face. It was a monster to flee from. A monster sent to the Earth to forcefully pull out any hiding Units.
She wanted to bring it down.
She didn’t know if that would do anything. She wasn’t sure if she would even receive any experience for the endeavor. But she wanted to. She’d come back to change things. If she couldn’t defeat something as simple as this, then how could she overcome the insurmountable task of changing destiny itself?
She had to try.
Rune Stone -Enchanted-
Rank: F
A slab of stone, engraved upon it a magical rune.
Enchantment: Rotting -Extremely effective against unenhanced flesh-
Cost: 200 Coins
Coins fled from her status, and a small perfectly round slab of stone dropped onto her hand. It fit right in her palm, and on its surface was the same rune she could find on the guard of her sword.
Of course, something like this wouldn’t do much against the Gramatoa. A single rune stone wouldn’t be enough. It was like attempting to bring down a tower of titanium with nothing but fireworks. It would be pointless.
But Runes were special. They were not dissimilar to plants. Feed them mana, and they would grow in power. If they had space to spread into, the rune’s magical properties would spread until it could grow no more. It was why, despite the rune only being engraved on her sword’s guard, the blade was still able to inflict its rotting against her enemies.
Her eyes glanced to the plastic bags she’d yet to organize, and to the pack of water bottles peaking just above the plastic. The water shook slightly as the earth rumbled, the light passing through twisting and wobbling.
The rune stone she’d just bought felt both warm and cold in her hands.
She smiled thinly.