If there was one word in the entire dictionary that would accurately describe what an absolute mess this area is, it would be the word train wreck. Why did I use two words instead of one? It’s because there are literally trains with dents on their metallic exterior all over this place. I have no idea how the hell they got here in the first place when I saw no trains nearby. Other than that, the only thing that can be seen here is desolation and destruction.
The air was filled with the smell of death as I saw human and monster bodies piled everywhere. A tremendous battle had occurred here between the two, as many of the human corpses had their limbs and heads ripped off their frail bodies. Each human had a petrified look on their face, their mouths open and their brows pinched. The monster corpses were riddled with holes and cuts, but that’s about it. There was a huge disparity between human corpses and monster corpses, clarifying that the humans were on the losing side of the confrontation. If I had to guess, the ratio of corpses would be 10:3.
“…Let me assess our options first.”
I was confronted with a huge parking lot scattered with trash, cars without drivers, and trains with huge dents and lifeless bodies surrounded by a sea of blood. Down the parking lot was the bunker. Before it was a bunker, it was a memorial pavilion, a place of mourning and remembrance. As for what’s inside, I had no idea. To the right of the parking lot, the Jennie Sealy Hospital stood proudly, a twelve-story structure with peach-colored walls that seemed to stretch up to the heavens. A flock of monsters roosted on the roof of the hospital, picking away at their leathery skin. Three main buildings were connected and arranged in a U, each one having ocean-blue glass windows reflecting in the distance. The original plan was to have the Jennie Sealy Hospital serve as a bunker, but Fiey instantly shot that idea down. She mentioned that holding a building this big would prove to do more harm than good…
“…After inspecting the area, I’d say the only choice we have is to save whoever is inside the bunker.”
Solgac nodded in agreement and said,
I eyed the dragon skeptically. “What makes you say that?”
I quietly stared at Solgac for a moment. “…Do you think I’m a bad person for that?”
Solgac shook her head.
It appalled me that Solgac was already conducting a behavior analysis on me. I was proud and kind of terrified all at the same time. This little dragon is way too intelligent for her own good. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s smarter than me! Huh… Someone who’s barely a year old is smarter than me… That’s a hard pill to swallow…
Ah, damn. I shouldn’t be thinking about this! There are people literally dying in the bunker and I’m twiddling my thumbs like an idiot!
“Save your analysis later, Solgac. Let’s go check things out at the bunker.”
I went into a full-blown sprint as I ran toward the bunker. I hopped over the destroyed perimeter fence and dashed around the heaps of corpses, avoiding the slippery crimson liquid that had spread over the concrete floor. Now that the debuff is gone and I’m at full strength thanks to that magical cushion, it didn’t long for me to reach the bunker. It was a six-story floored building with sand-colored brick walls and dark-glass windows that were hard to see in. The front of the building that housed the lobby had a triangular, sloped roof. The right side of the building was in perfect condition, but the same couldn’t be said for the left. There was a hole as large as a parking garage with a platoon of monsters strolling in. Most of them were demogres and magus demogres, but I counted a few monsters I hadn’t recognized before.
They were small, sickly creatures with decaying pale skin, and their clothes were nothing more than filthy rags. All of them had droopy eyes and sunken cheeks. On their head was hair akin to a dirty mob that has been doused in sludge and sewer water. Each one was carrying hook-like weapons much too big for their bodies, but they had shown no signs of discomfort. They scrambled around like tiny spiders; except they awfully reminded me of humans…
I heard Solgac gagging in my brain.
“Human or not, they’re working together with the monsters.”
I soared into the air and front-slipped onto a nearby street. There was a cop car to my left with all its windows smashed. Inside the vehicle was a mangled corpse with a large hole in its skull. The display had me involuntarily shivering in disgust. As I turned my head, a scream that made one’s blood run cold echoed from inside the building.
“R-RUN AWAY!”
One of the crawling monsters’ heads snapped at the noise. With a wide grin on their face, revealing a pair of pointed teeth, the little creature bolted away with surprising speed, heading deeper inside the bunker. I hadn’t realized it yet, but the right side of the bunker connected to the Jennie Sealy Hospital. I put two and two together and finally figured out why I had seen no living humans yet.
I nodded grimly at Solgac’s deduction. “You’re right Sol. If we’re lucky, maybe Officer Fiey, Chen Ling, and Sam are alive and protecting the civilians inside the hospital. I don’t see those three dying anytime soon.”
The dragon cocked her head sideways.
Sol released a high-pitched screech in my brain. She probably done it out of happiness. I wanted to tell her to stop cursing so much since she’s a child, but I couldn’t say anything when Sol was brimming with happiness. Her wings twitched and her tail flickered back and forth. I had to look away so she wouldn’t notice my facial expression. She’s way too damn cute!
“…I have a gut feeling that those screams are strays who have wandered into the building searching for safety. They’ll meet with Officer Fiey and the others deeper inside the hospital.”
“You think Chen Ling died?” I chuckled, edging closer to the destroyed building.
One of the magus demogres spotted me drawing nearer. The red-skinned monster alerted its peers, and they all turned their attention to me. A demogre pointed its meaty arm and guffawed at its companion.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“1,7,24…”
I counted 36 monsters right in front of me. The crawling humans were nowhere in sight, so I assumed they were inside the hospital. I’ll deal with them later if it comes to it. Right now, I should focus on the monsters in front of me.
There are 12 magus demogres and 24 demogres. The red-skinned ones are carrying staffs and staves of either bone, wood, or metal. A single Torqinite crystal gleamed at the tip. The demogres carried clubs, longswords, and axes, all dripped with blood and human matter. They must be the ones responsible for the carnage outside. I still don’t see how bunker five fell to these monsters… Am I missing a crucial detail?
A blue message emerged while I was deep in thought.
[Your pet has activated one of their Skills!]
[Gluttony Skill has been activated!]
As Sol had done so previously, the dragon opened her mouth wide at a highly concentrated beam of mana heading my way. One of the magus demogres must’ve launched an attack while I was distracted, and Sol noticed that quickly. In just a few seconds, the little dragon swallowed the beam up. She let out a small burp as she wiped her mouth.
Sure enough, the melee demogres were steamrolling their way to my location while the magus demogres are rooted in the back, chanting as they prepare their next spell.
“Sol, what got you so worked up? These monsters are just fodder.”
The corners of my lip quivered. “Aren’t you a little cutie? Don’t worry about it, Sol. The monsters are already dead.”
Sol whipped her head back toward the monsters just to see the demogres slouched over. Each one had a blue katana sticking out of their eye sockets. The little dragon screeched in amazement.
“Use your imagination,” I said with a wink.
The time it takes to summon one of my mana blades depends on the length. The shorter the blade, the more quickly it appears, and vice versa. Summoning many of them at the same time doubles the timer, though it’s barely noticeable. If I had to put it into perspective, materializing twenty daggers simultaneously takes about .5 seconds while twenty katanas would be a second at most. It used to be three seconds for the daggers and six for the katanas, but through hard work and continuous mana training, I can shorten the time tremendously. It’s only a matter of time until the action would be near instant…
Beep!
“Achievement? So this is what it meant by you can earn achievements…”
“Status.”
Name: Laila
Rank:3rd
Points:5180
Strength:62 Agility:88
Durability:48 Mana:72
Masteries: Marksmanship Lvl 5 Swordsmanship Lvl 6 Mana Weapon Construction Lvl 7 Heat Resistance Lvl 4 Night Vision Lvl 5 Poison Resistance Lvl 3 Aura Blade Lvl 3 Frost Resistance Lvl 4 Dragon Tamer Lvl 1 Mental Fortitude Lvl 1 Thought Transmission Lvl 1
I’ve wracked up a good number of points now that I could buy a lot of things from the Point Store. I couldn’t buy the potions I wanted since I was interrupted, but now is a great time to do it before I charge inside the hospital.
Tapping on the Point Store, I was greeted with a fine selection of armaments that I had no intention of utilizing. The Damastril rapier is the best item I’ve ever received, and I have no intentions of switching to an inferior weapon. I also have the ability to summon blades and guns out of thin air, so what’s the point? The Weapons section might as well be useless!
I ignored the excited dragon and went on over to the Consumables section. Each item listed had a graphic picture on the left side of the menu. I quickly found the health potions–a rectangular crystal bottle filled with a glowing red liquid. When I read the price, I scowled deeply. A health potion was a whopping 500 points apiece and a mana potion 250! There’s also a stamina potion for 200, a small vial of Greek Fire for 600 points, and others that I have no interest in. To summarize the item description for Greek Fire, it said it’s a combustible item that lights things on fire and burns for hours. The special property it has is that it’s able to ignite water too! And even burn underwater! All you gotta do is chuck it and it’ll do the rest. I can tell through the description that this thing is dangerous if someone with ill intentions were to gather a ton of Greek Fire.
“…Why not?” I mumbled, tapping on the white lettered BUY button near the Greek Fire. Soon as my index finger touched the button, a spherical crystal vial materialized under my feet. A yellow cloud swirled inside the vial. I reached down and stored the vial inside my Dimensional Pouch strapped to my hip. After that, I bought five health potions, two mana potions, and one stamina potion. One by one, each one appeared with a small clink.
“Not anymore,” I grunted as I rose to my feet. “This is way beyond the confines of logic, and I will never understand how it’ll work unless I ask the creator of the S.O. itself. If you think too deeply about it, you’ll get brain cramps.”
I checked how many points I lost after that little shopping spree.
“Status.”
Name: Laila
Rank:3rd
Points:1380
Strength:62 Agility:88
Durability:48 Mana:72
Masteries: Marksmanship Lvl 5 Swordsmanship Lvl 6 Mana Weapon Construction Lvl 7 Heat Resistance Lvl 4 Night Vision Lvl 5 Poison Resistance Lvl 3 Aura Blade Lvl 3 Frost Resistance Lvl 4 Dragon Tamer Lvl 1 Mental Fortitude Lvl 1 Thought Transmission Lvl 1
Hm… it’s not so bad. I got points to spare. If I get into a tight situation, I’ll use more of my points. I’ll use them as a lifeline. No use in spending them all.
Speaking of spending them all… I wonder how Isaac is doing? I can’t help but worry for my brother’s safety. I’m 100% sure he finished earlier than I. That boy must’ve seen the Tower of Strength as a speed-running challenge. Pretty sure if you finish the First Stage first, it will reward you with a generous amount of points. Isaac would gun for first place if that was true. If I think back to the messages that appeared when I finished the last challenge, one particular message caught my eye.
It said I was the third person to have completed the First Stage which I find odd. If I’m third and I assume Isaac got first, then who’s second? Who was the individual that finished before me? I don’t want to toot my horn, but I’m the second strongest, am I not?
Yes… Sol’s right. Before the First Stage, I was clearly second, but that changed once I got out. A ton of scenarios come to mind, but the ones that make the most sense would be that the person who was originally first or second had gotten much stronger and they passed us. The other plausible scenario is that someone from Athiens gained access to the S.O. just like us and was able to grow leaps and bounds. These two seem the most reasonable to me, but I could very much be wrong…
Even then, deep down, I feel as if I’m terribly off the mark. There’s just too much information jumbled up in my brain! Not only that, but I’m still thinking about those damn trains that somehow wound up in a car parking lot!
I massaged my temples while taking deep breaths. “Gotta stop standing around and look for the others… They’ll know more than I do.”
I took the first step toward the memorial pavilion until a sudden, sharp sound broke the silence. To my right, one window located near the fifth story of the hospital shattered. Two black figures emerged from the wreckage and were now free-falling out. Moments later, both plummeted straight into the concrete, their bodies exploding like pinatas. Blood, gore, and glass shards spilled everywhere, leaving behind a dark red pit of entrails. I felt my stomach turning at the sight.
From where the two had fallen, a cloaked figure poked their head through the opening and stared at the mess below for a brief second, until finally leaving. I glared at the spot they were just standing on.
“I don’t know who that is, but that cloaked figure must be responsible for this.” I hissed. “Hold on tight Sol!”
“Nope. Even better.”
I used [Mana Weapon Construction] and summoned a longsword of about 150 cm. Carefully, I lowered the weapon and then stepped onto the blade, feeling the smooth surface beneath my feet. I then willed the blade to rise higher and higher until we were fifty feet off the ground. Zeroing in at the target location, I whispered to the blade: Go.
There was a loud whoosh as the mana blade raced across the air, its movement so quick that cars, bodies, and other items seemed to shrink. Inside my mind, Sol was screaming bloody murder and begging for me to slow down as we inched closer to our destination.