Aeron woke up back on Earth. He lay there for a few seconds holding his breath, trying to hear the breathing of anyone else in the room.
After confirming there was no one else in there with him, he looked at the clock: 11 AM, eleven hours since the crystal shattering incident and almost one and a half days in the Heaven Domain.
Aeron noticed a remote for the room's TV on his bedside table so he turned it on and went to the news. It was just coming off the commercials as Aeron tuned in.
"So, for any new watchers out there, here's our latest news stories: "
"The Otherworld: Real, or a mass hallucination?"
"Scientists discuss the Crystal Phenomenon."
"And, 23 dead in police shootout."
"I'm Debra Adams, and this is 11 o'clock news."
The screen switched to the logo of the news channel as a nurse walked in, attracted by the sound of the news.
They rushed over, grabbing the remote from Aeron's unresisting hands.
"It won't do you good to watch this. Here, I'll switch it to something better."
The nurse flipped the channel to a cheesy Rom Com before walking out the room saying something about how they'll be back in a few minutes with something for him to eat.
Aeron endured the next few minutes of cringe antics on the TV by distracting himself with thoughts of the Heaven Domain.
If what he knew was true, then he would have to build up a solid power base for when the Heaven Domain devoured the real world.
Not long later, the nurse came back with lunch. He ate in silence after shrinking away from the nurse's hand after they tried to feed him, allowing him to eat it by himself.
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Half way through, a doctor walks in.
"Your condition is stable; we'd like you to leave before night falls."
The doctor said.
"But doctor, he's still in shock."
The nurse replied.
"I know, but we need all the beds we can get. The hospitals been filled up by car crash and other accident victims. That Crystal Phenomenon caused people to fall asleep at the wheel or during other activities. The ambulances have been going out nonstop since this morning."
The doctor explained.
"But still..."
"He's fine, you checked his condition yourself. Now get back to work."
"Ok..."
The nurse and the doctor left the room together.
Aeron finished eating before getting out of bed and leaving as well.
...
Back in his flat, Aeon pulled out a flip phone and dialled a number.
It rung three times before the called person picked up.
"Viper, what happened? I heard the South Streets got into a shootout with the police."
A voice was heard from the phone.
"Mamba, next time tell your boys not to stick their noses where they don't belong."
Aeron replied.
"I don't know what you mean, I didn't tell the, to do anything."
The voice said.
"Mamba, I know you've been trying to find out my identity for a while now but this is too far. Try this again and your head will roll."
Aeron growled.
"You know Baba won't allow that."
The voice spoke again after a small pause, seeming a little scared.
"Oh, my poor poor Mamba, you remember what happened to Cobra right?"
"T-that was you?"
The voice was audibly trembling now.
"I'll leave it up to you to figure that one out Mamba. You've always been good at using your head."
Aeron closed the flip phone, taking out the SIM card and crushing it in his hand before hooking the phone itself into the trash.
...
3 PM: back in the Heaven Domain, it was morning again.
Aeron lightly sparred with Edmund, practicing his newly gained skill.
Each time he attacked, it looked like he swung from two different angles, only one being real and the other an illusion.
Edmund couldn't tell real from fake, instead opting to block both in some fantastic displays of swordsmanship.
It would of course be different in a real battle. Aeron was not striking to kill, and as such his swings were not as fast or strong as they would otherwise be. He was purely focusing on practicing the skill, wanting to be able to use it naturally in combat.
Close to 3 hours passed like that. Aeron and Edmund finished their spar and went to greet the new arrivals.
As it was the third day of spawning, a D grade villager was spawned, but that wasn't the only thing different about this batch.
There were 5 people in total: 1 D grade, 1 E grade, and 3 F grades. However, one of the F grades had a profession. They were a [Militia].
[Militia] was an F- grade profession that only gave the [Basic Spear Technique] Skill and no stat bonuses.
Aeron took the villager to class change into a [Spearman] since they already had system-given knowledge of how to use a spear.
He then got the new [Spearman] and Lance to teach each other their spearmanship so that they could learn and improve their own.
One's spearmanship was born of desperation and the need to kill to survive whilst the other’s was refined and simple. They could integrate moves from each other’s style to further their own.
Walking into the [Village Hall], Aeron checked the new stats of his village with satisfaction.
Village Name: None (Iron)
Level: Grade 1 Village (57/1000)
Village Area: 1 Square Kilometre
Residents: 20/300
Soldiers: 4/120
Popular Support: 86
Village Special Stats: +20% soldier stats
He was still a long way to go off a Grade 2 village, and to speed that process up he needed to conquer other villages out here in the wilderness.
His military might wasn't much so he would have to resort to cunning if he wanted to do so. The first step, however, was to find another village first.
Aeron left the injured knight to recover, Edmund to patrol the walls, and the two spearmen to train together.
He went off once again into the forest looking for any traces of activity, human or otherwise.