[Sleep Resistance] is now level 3. You gained 1 Path point. Passively decrease need for sleep by 3%.

A night passed after the battle, I couldn’t sleep after getting medical help and getting half of my body bandaged.

General Roxton, the very same man who took over the nation, was the one who saved me and the city last night. It made sense, he had access to free large cores making his mana regeneration massive which allowed him to become strong. Insanely strong.

Weak.

It was a wake-up call for me. When the system appeared I thought that by training alone I would become… relevant. Dreams of long life aside, I hoped that my life would change when that first rectangle appeared in front of my eyes.

Foolish notion. System doesn’t bring equality, it rewards those that have resources with even more power and even more wealth. Power meant everything in this world now. Money and connections just translated into it.

I sat on the very same building that I sat on before, the destruction was massive but centralized, focused on the ground floor with buildings looking pristine on the higher floor levels. Military vehicles were present through the city and on its outskirts, but only a hundred or so. Most were still on the coast, where the true danger lay. Giant monsters appeared almost daily on the coast.

There were hundreds of people below, knives in hands and cutting into the defeated monsters, there were probably a few thousand more on the other streets, the swarms path was kilometers wide when it arrived at the city. The very roundabout was but one of the multiple arteries of traffic. Allegedly there were half a million lesser monsters, dog-like and bear-like beings. All of them had small cores inside, except the main monster that had a large core. It was secured by the army of course.

Only one thousand soldiers died, a low number considering the number of enemies. But the enemies again were mostly dogs, things that seasoned soldiers should take care of easily. Numbers didn't mean much in choke points and with height advantage. Even I, myself, with barely any experience in combat, managed to kill hundreds by myself… Even if they were only dogs.

Civilians didn't fare so well… The large monster threw a boulder the size of a small building into the middle of the city and struck one of the larger highrise buildings. It toppled when thousands were inside and hundreds more were outside it. One of the choke points fell quickly sending a few waves of monsters inside the city, thousands more died then. Some monsters slipped by in the chaos as well, little by little they added to the count.

All in all around twenty thousand people died throughout Gavensburg. There were strikes under military buildings right now, demanding the abdication of General Roxton and return of the elected government as he was blamed for the attack and the deaths. Apparently such strikes and sometimes even riots were present in the capital every week and were ignored.

-

Beep-boop. ‘Have you heard that in the swarm attack on Gavensburg there was one madman that jumped right into the middle of the swarm with only a spear? I wonder who that would be :D’ A phone message on the guild chat sent by Joah. I cringed as I read it, no doubt Joah knew that it was me. Best not to respond.

A thought appeared in my mind, the very same one that I thought about two or so months ago. Where do I see myself in ten years? Previously my thoughts were on only survival, the idea that a battle has to be fought within eyesight clouded my mind. It was wrong.

General Roxton, the old man used a skill that had a range of hundreds of meters without the need to see the target. Whenever he used Detect Presence or the skill itself targeted enemies I didn’t know. Information was only available for lower tier skills and path, with the internet almost gone and better information withheld from the masses.

Magic. Was it possible to become a super mobile rocket launcher? Decisions… I never liked them.

The spear was on my lap, the bow and throwing daggers were laying on the roof, in the very same place that I left them right next to me. Decisions… I had time to decide. With a lazy step I got up and picked up all the armament, for now they would sit safely in my apartment. With a single step I jumped down the building, but this time not to fight but to walk around the town. I needed to think.

-

[Sleep Resistance] is now level 4. You gained 1 Path point. Passively decrease need for sleep by 4%.

“William.” Jake spoke as he opened the doors to his home, a small residence that once belonged to one of the local politicians. “Come on in.” There was a bottle of vodka in my hand.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You told me that you would tell me things. I don’t want to impose though…” I was still hesitant about it, the only reason I really came here was not to drink alone, I still couldn’t shut my eyes despite it being already night. A whole day has passed since the battle and I needed help to fall asleep, hence alcohol. Answers would be of use as well.

Jake led me through the hallway and into the main room, it was nicely furnished with lavish objects from all over the world. A low whistle escaped my mouth as I looked around. Jake looked at me. “My wife demanded that I accept the villa.” Right, he had a wife now. That was the reason he left for the Capital. Though it seemed that she was not here, or was sleeping. “Sit.” He pointed over at the couch as he pulled out glasses for us to drink from. Soon the alcohol was poured in silence.

“So… General Roxton...” I started losing my voice or conviction in a matter of a second. Perhaps I was just embarrassed. The host scoffed before chuckling softly, no doubt finding my antics funny. He raised his glass, a toast. I met his glass halfway clinking it. ‘To the dead.’ Went unspoken.

“Straight to the point, huh?” He sighed, as if preparing himself mentally. “I need people whom I can trust… That’s why I asked your group leader for you to stay.” That’s reasonable, I expected it, but I asked about Roxton, why is he... “Democracy is over, autocracy is back.” Jake spoke as if speaking of a great secret. It was common knowledge, officially General Roxton took over the nation, almost every nation in the world was now run by dictators.

Jake sighed again. “I rule Gavensburg. There is an additional menu for those who rule and additional rewards. Tax, if you will.” That was interesting, not because it mattered to me but because I have never heard of it, the internet, and all the forums that I have read didn’t have such information. I raised my eyebrows and waited for Jake to continue.

The host instead took the bottle and poured vodka to himself and me once again, once again raising the glass. “To the living.” I spoke as we made a toast once again. It was a mournful one, if I felt responsible for so many people dying then what Jake felt when it was his city to protect.

“Mana. Depending on how many people believe that you rule you get mana tax. It doesn’t show on people’s status screen and we believe it’s the System’s mana that is provided as tax. The whole nation believes that General Roxton rules millions of people that provide him strength, no matter if they favor him or not.” Oh, connections brought even more power than I imagined.

But what does it have to do with me? “And me? How does it connect to you asking me to stay here?” Jake smiled, expecting the question.

“This city was not built to host one million people, the inland infrastructure has to be rebuilt and patrolled. Production lines have to be restored, while General Roxton is a powerhouse he cannot be everywhere everytime. According to analysts that made the calculations on the System even with using medium cores or even large cores it will take years to match his power and there will be enough resources for only a few to do so.” Jake spoke as he poured another glass.

[Sleep Resistance] is now level 5. You gained 1 Path point. Passively decrease need for sleep by 5%.

Ugh, annoying notification. “We need to restore arms production and we need leaders, people that will rule the towns where important infrastructure has to be restored and those that will either support or ignore General Roxton. Old politicians are a no go, there is a reason for that but I won't bore you with politics now. Since we lack people who we can trust…”

-

[Sleep Resistance] is now level 6. You gained 1 Path point. Passively decrease need for sleep by 6%.

I had many things to think over. Things that Jake told me about.

First, whatever Alex, Josh and others are doing in the Capital is enough for the ‘Guild’ to get a town of its own to ‘rule’ and for some reason they picked me for it, or maybe it's because Jake chose me myself since the ‘town’ will be under his own jurisdiction.

Allegedly there are three levels of rule, King, Baron and Knight. It is self explanatory really, there is one King, few Barons and multiple Knights. The lower you are the less ‘tax’ you get. There are apparently other bonuses for controlled territories like crop growth etc but it was considered negligible.

Secondly, crafting classes. Apparently no one has received a ‘class’ and no one knows why. Crafting classes though are considered different to classes and are passive skills really, in short you use mana to infuse crystal into whatever and you get a class to it. It takes a bit of mana and a lot of time though. Fuse crystals with growing potatoes? You get super potatoes. It works the same with almost everything. Fuse crystal with boots? You get super boots.

Third, our western allies, the superpower that held a continent on its own on the other side of the ocean, were experimenting… Infusing crystals into humans in order to create super soldiers, but not in the same sense as people used crystals during meditation. No, they used them the same way as crafting classes, by force, to change the body itself. Apparently there were few successful tries, but the rest… Perhaps I should thank Endurance for stopping me from throwing up when Jake showed me the photos, it didn’t look right.

Some of the tests left abilities such as mind control or even monster control abilities. Though it had nothing to do with Allie. There were theories that mana after death could retain memories of the living with the mana itself being able to possess beings of low mana, such as monsters.

Fourth. The monster spawn was increasing steadily and the monster's goal was not to kill humanity but everything that is considered ‘alive’, plants included. Apparently there were areas taken over by the monsters where only ground was left, even grass was stopped from growing.

It was a lot to take in with important matters and many more things that were not important for me right now. Decisions… I never liked them.

I didn’t want to end up as a fly, to be too fast to hit but someone that could do nothing to you if ignored. Should I focus on magic? Becoming a mobile missile launcher-man sounded cool, I think.

Not now though, it was time to sleep.