The street was empty, abandoned, and the buildings were falling apart. Nature had reclaimed its land as grass and trees had broken through the roads, and vines climbed the walls and burst through windows and cracks.
Six months had passed for Mark, but time seemed to have been sped up for the rest of the world.
Roars sounded from the distance as beasts clashed and fought for territory, sustenance, and strength, but nothing approached Mark so far.
He took out the compass, infused some mana into it, and felt a mental nudge. It led him east but told him nothing about the distance. Mark was happy he’d filled his storage ring with food before the final mission, as he didn’t know anything about hunting or gathering. He should have picked up a few books on it, but it was too late for that.
Before he set off, he focused on his Truth and formed a veil around himself. It used some of his Concepts and Insights, Light from Radiation and Phase. Light made him near invisible, though he didn’t have enough control to complete it, while Phase pushed him slightly out of this reality, masking sound, presence, and scent.
Nothing was perfect, but it should let him pass most creatures.
Preparations done, Mark started his journey east.
***
Cecilia held Tracy close as they ran down the street. Sounds of combat came from behind as Derek and Bruce held off the large boars.
Tracy was too young to have access to the System, so it was up to Cecilia to protect her as they ran, but she couldn’t protect anyone from those huge beasts.
They tore through her barriers like they didn’t exist, and only Derek managed to stop their charge.
A bright flash of golden light formed shadows on the buildings as Derek unleashed a skill, and a boar squealed before suddenly going silent.
Cecilia glanced back as they turned a corner and saw Bruce pulling his greatsword from the largest creature while Derek’s shield skill held off the rest.
They turned the corner, and her husband and oldest son left her view, but she focused on her youngest as they ran into a building.
It looked sturdy enough to hold, even if the boars followed. More importantly, there were no windows on the front; it had thick walls and only one entrance.
Cecilia found a single room and pushed Tracy into a corner.
“Wait here, honey,” she said, hugging her daughter. “I won’t go far, but I must help them.”
“Please, be careful,” Tracy said, holding back tears.
Cecilia smiled and returned to the entrance. She looked down the street, ensuring nothing else was near, and activated Send Message.
“Der, I found a place. Down the street, to the left. Large building, single entrance.”
The skill was limited in range and number of words, but it had proven invaluable in the Tutorial.
Cecilia waited with bated breath, keeping her shield and distraction skill ready.
It had taken a lot of practice and pain, but she was immensely proud of her ability to channel two skills simultaneously.
According to the System Guides, it was a skill most learned eventually, but few got it so early.
A twin roar sounded, followed by a crash, then Derek and Bruce came running around the corner a second later.
They spotted Cecilia and rushed toward her, the boars hot on their heels. She unleashed her distraction skill; Shimmering Image.
It drew the boars' attention to a target location while making them ignore their original target. It would only last a second or two, but it was enough.
Derek and Bruce ran past her, and she cast her second skill, Radiant Barrier. It didn’t hold against the patriarch, but it should hold for a bit against the smaller ones, letting the boys take a breather.
They both sported some wounds, but they had plenty of defensive measures. That didn’t stop Cecilia from casting Healing Light on them, and some of their injuries closed up.
“Thanks, hun,” Derek said, looking relieved. “That was rough. Where’s Trace?”
“In there,” Cecilia pointed to the room, where Tracy was peeking her head out the door.
“Good, good.”
They didn’t get more time, as the boars had caught up and slammed into her barrier.
“Well, back into the fray we go,” said Bruce as he hefted his sword.
Cecilia smiled and prepared her spells while Derek took a defensive position and started channeling a skill. Bruce stood to the side, planning to get a good hit in, as the barrier fell.
Cecilia steeled her resolve but couldn’t help but worry. She had her daughter and oldest son, but her third child was still unaccounted for after all.
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***
Mark panted deeply and clutched his side. His hand came back bloody, but he didn’t let himself falter; the beast wasn’t much better off.
He’d traveled for days, leaving the city behind after a couple of hours. He’d been lucky and managed to avoid most hostile creatures, though he’d been forced to fight a few times.
It was mostly weak creatures, but the one who’d found him now was not.
Growling and whining before him stood a massive honey badger. It had launched out of the ground at him and immediately scored a deep wound on him, but he had retaliated instantly as his chakram dug deep into its flank.
A fierce clash followed as Mark defended as best he could. They’d been fighting for over three minutes now, back and forth, circling and pouncing, but they both knew it was coming to an end.
The beast was incessant, stubborn, and aggressive but obviously intelligent enough not to be ruled by instinct or rage.
Mark was equally stubborn and definitely stronger, but he now felt the lack of experience against proper enemies.
The System had removed the training wheels.
Mark prepared his chakram using Spin, Mass, Density, and Spatial mana.
The badger probably sensed the buildup of magic and chose to launch its attack before he was prepared but proved inexperienced with magic casters. Mark wasn’t casting a spell, he was simply channeling mana and his Truth into the weapon, and when the badger dove at him, teeth bared, he moved the chakram into an intercept position.
The increased Mass and Density increased the weight of the chakram while Spin made it spin incredibly fast. The Spatial mana created a thin edge along the chakram, enhancing the cutting edge.
The badger took the chakram to the face, and it carved through it, splitting it in half, from snout to tail.
Mark was drenched in gore and viscera and struggled to keep his lunch down. The stench was unbelievable, and he scrambled away.
He slumped against a tree a few hundred meters from the battle site and took out a potion, but before he drank it, he took out a crystalline cube.
It was his earliest success in enchanting and a staple for adventurers in the Multiverse. A cleanser would wash away the grime, dirt, and blood, leaving him squeaky clean. It would even remove dirt, and stuff from his wounds, reducing the risk of infection.
His enchantment was of low quality, though, so it only had a few uses before it crumbled, but it was a godsend.
The crystal crumbled in his hand, but it did its job, and Mark chugged down the healing potion before taking out some food. Healing potions always made him hungry.
Ten minutes later, Mark was once more on the move. The forest had grown to insane proportions during his time in the Tutorial.
The trees were unbelievably tall, with trunks the width of a house. The undergrowth was dense and limited vision significantly, and there was a sense of ferocity all around. Life was running rampant in the forest, and Mark felt everything was out to eat him. Plants swayed around in invisible breezes, branches moved around, grasping for something, and beasts were everywhere.
Fortunately, his isolation veil proved sufficient for most of them.
Like this, Mark wandered for days. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months until he finally saw another city in the distance.
***
Derek watched Bruce cut the man in twain, and his heart broke. Seeing his son forced to kill a fellow human to defend their family was hard to see, but it was necessary in this new world. People fought for resources, and some had decided to use their fellow man as a resource.
Almost five months had passed since the Tutorial ended, and they had been thrown into one hell after another. They’d been pushed to their limits repeatedly, but they had prevailed.
They eventually found a decent group of people led by the Daughter of Light.
She was a powerful cultivator who had set up a safe zone in the heart of the broken city.
The Brightest Dawn, she called it, and she wanted it to be a beacon for humanity, a hope for a bright future, a brighter dawn following the darkest night.
It was a reasonable ambition and a hope they could get behind, and they were making progress, finding hope and purpose in the community, but it all stopped when the Deep Horizon showed up.
They had come from the south and immediately started capturing people. The men and women of Brightest Dawn were taken off guard, not expecting danger from their own kin.
That was two months ago, and they were still fighting.
The Daughter of Light had been severely wounded by an ambush a couple of weeks before, and now the rest had to pick up the slack.
A roar shook him free from his thoughts as another ravager charged him. The madness in the man’s eyes made it easier for him to fight them, as they fought more like beasts than humans.
His shield rose and stopped the man’s axe, while Derek’s hammer slammed into the crazed man’s chest, sending him flying back. A quick follow-up crushed his head, and Derek looked around.
His son, Bruce, stood on a pile of corpses, and he saw his wife, Cecilia, in the distance, healing the wounded. The battle was winding down, and many lowered their guard, which was a mistake.
The ground buckled and exploded upward, sending warriors flying.
A dozen new fighters rushed from the crater, roaring madly and charging at the disoriented opposition.
People were cut down, and Derek watched with horror as four enemies charged toward Cecilia and her fellow healers.
The healers didn’t have much combat potential, only some shielding and self-preservation skills. They were supposed to be protected, but their defenders had lowered their guard and started looting. They had been among the first to fall, which left their wards wide open, and Derek was too far away.
He and Bruce had their hands full with three savages, and Derek’s heart fell when he saw the man climbing from the hole in the ground.
Wroth, he called himself, and he was the leader of the Deep Horizon. The man wielded a savage, serrated axe meant to rip and tear, and he started cleaving into those who remained and made a beeline for their healers as well.
They had learned quickly that the Horizon didn’t have any healers. Healing didn’t mesh with their philosophy, so they always tried to capture as many as possible. Nobody knew what they did to their captives, but none returned.
Derek desperately fought, and Bruce mirrored him, but their opponents were strong, blocking, dodging, and parrying.
Derek’s heart sank as he knew they wouldn’t arrive in time.
But, by some miracle, Wroth stopped in his track, and Derek soon learned why. An aura had appeared, one none of them had felt before, and as if from thin air, a spinning ring of metal appeared. It flew into Wroths chest and carved through him, like a hot knife through butter, before it flew back and removed the man’s head from his shoulders.
The ring spun a few times, and blood flew off it before it moved to rest behind the shoulders of a new arrival—a man with alabaster skin, pitch-black hair, and an Inverness cape in black and purple.
The most striking thing for Derek, though, was the man’s resemblance to his son, Mark.