Early the following morning, James and his companions embarked on their journey, leaving Fletcher to brood at the window, his gaze lingering on the graceful silhouette of Jess 'If I wasn’t in a hurry, I would've had some fun with you,' Fletcher mused wistfully.
Fletcher ventured further away from his current location, marching northward to increase the gap between himself and any nearby military presence. He had taken James' advice to heart and resisted hijacking a vehicle, which may have served as a beacon for dangerous creatures.
Two days after he departed from Matron City, Fletcher arrived at a small town called Rover Hill. As he approached, he heard the echoes of gunfire and booms in the distance, curiosity sparked within him and he decided to investigate further.
Climbing to the summit of a nearby hill, he had an unparalleled view of the town. He watched in shock as soldiers and tanks battled against a dark figure. 'What on earth is going on down there?' he moved closer to investigate.
The soldiers were up against an imposing giant standing five meters tall, it resembled a gorilla, yet it had no eyes, nose, or ears, just a wide maw of jagged teeth, the beast was cloaked in a thick black tar-like substance from head to toe.
The tar-like substance moved like an extension of its own body, hardening into a protective impregnable armor when threatened or into sharp spears to impale any adversaries nearby.
Fletcher was astonished as he watched a strange man wearing peculiar armor. Standing among the soldiers, the stranger had flames blazing from his palms and hurled huge fireballs. Each fiery sphere burst into pieces upon making contact.
The fight dragged on for nearly a quarter of an hour and the soldiers were no match for the monster. Even though they threw everything they had at it, the creature remained unscathed while many of the soldiers perished in its onslaught. With their ammunition running low, it seemed like they were fighting a losing battle.
The strange man didn’t look any better either, he appeared utterly drained and lacked the strength to conjure any more of those fireballs.
Under the cruel realization that they were fighting a losing battle, the soldiers desperately tried to escape, but the beast was relentless. Fletcher saw it mercilessly pursue each of them until there was nobody left alive, to his shock, instead of devouring the corpses, it only gnawed off the head of the strange man.
Fletcher watched intently as the dark figure dashed away from the town, vanishing into the distance.
**
Fletcher ventured to the battlegrounds, rummaging through the corpses of fallen soldiers for anything that could be salvaged. He didn't want their guns; they were useless against the monstrous creatures wandering about. He found some military rations, medical supplies, and a combat knife.
Fletcher was intrigued by the armor adorning the mysterious man's corpse. It seemed to be made of a leathery material, yet it was as tough as steel.
stealing from the dead was not a problem for someone like Fletcher, it was far more tame than all the horrible things he had done throughout his life, Fletcher grabbed the vest and two pairs of long gloves for himself.
He was surprised to find a mysterious bracelet on the corpse's wrist when he removed the gloves. Geometric shapes and strange lines were etched all over it, so he cautiously picked it up and inspected it more closely. The moment he slipped it onto his arm, it locked in place with a startling click, and a sudden prick of pain shot through his skin, something inside the bracelet had just pierced him.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Fletcher was stunned when he touched the bracelet and a glowing screen suddenly appeared before him, He stumbled back onto his rear end, completely baffled.
His eyes widened in surprise as he read the words on the display, which seemed to be giving information about him. ‘What is going on here? Is this some kind of game? Are these my stats?’
Race: Human (awakened)
Height: 6.2 f Weight: 180 p
Strength: 1.1
Agility: 0.9
Vitality: 1
Intelligence: 1.4
HP: 10 / 10 ( 1 Vit = 10 HP )
MP: 14 / 14 ( 1 Int = 10 MP )
Abilities
Devour (Unknown)
Fletcher was no genius, but even he could figure out what this represented, even though it seemed completely out of the realm of reality, the world was not the same anymore, he needed to adapt to it and fast.
'So my ability is called devour, back then inside the prison when I awakened, they experimented on prisoners, who awakened like me, I never knew what my ability was, and neither did they'
Fletcher stumbled upon a notebook when searching the strange man's trousers. He snatched it and went on his way to find someplace to lay low for the night.
He eventually came across a secluded residence and decided to rest there for the evening. After devouring some nourishment, he began leafing through the notebook's pages.
> Notebook entry N1
>
> First day as an awakened august 23 2025.
>
> My name is William Goldberg and I just made a huge transformation. Today, I attained an incredible ability that lets me conjure fireballs from my hands! The people in charge at the shelter saw potential in me and offered me the chance to join the military's elite teams and help their mission of protecting humanity, something I'm really enthusiastic about. Now, I finally have the power to fight back and make a difference. One of the researchers gave me this notebook and asked me to document all of my experiences throughout the day , even the embarrassing stuff!
>
> Notebook entry N2
>
> Today I woke up at five in the morning…Fletcher skipped the mundane parts, and decided to skim through them until he found something interesting.
>
> Notebook entry N21
>
> … Today, the military elite were graced with a visitor from another realm , they appeared to be human yet had long ears and stunningly captivating elegance. They referred to themselves as elves.
>
> The peace,loving race shared their generous gifts with us, special bracelets that magically show the wearer's attributes! Our scientists modified them so they display data in numbers and our language, just like a character stat window from a video game. Plus, they even gave us tips on how to boost our attributes…
Fletcher beamed with delight as he tucked the notebook into his pocket. He felt incredibly fortunate to get this bracelet, especially when all seemed lost in this chaotic world. Now he had hope, instead of fleeing, he could fight back and take control of his destiny. For once, Fletcher was excited for what tomorrow would bring.