After a night of meditation, my Destiny core was around 80%. A little bit more and I would be in a position to improve the physique of my mother.

My father was once more outside, holding his spear and practicing. I was sure he was at least at Spearmanship Level 1. There was a competence to his attacks that I didnt see a couple of days ago. I admired his focus as he tirelessly stabbed and jabbed although his magical physique was no doubt helping him immensely.

He had also found time to craft a wooden axe for Lylia. I further [Enhanced] it so that it was a balanced weapon. I showed Lylia a few strikes and moves and she took to it much more swiftly compared to the bow. It seems this was a weapon more to her style.

I should go pull a few of the scarecrows and transform them into targets for everyone to practice on. Let them build some confidence before I expose them to the real thing.

After a brief discussion with my parents, I told them that I planned to scout the nearby farms. These farms were not too far from ours so I should be able to make it back before nightfall. However, if I dont return, dont come looking for me. My father realized the implications as he was the the only defender should I go and if he were to leave, it would leave both mother and Lylia defenseless.

It was late morning when I set out to the nearest farm - Farmer Murdok. He and his family of six were good friends with my father. It would take me 10 minutes if I took the usual path but this time I crept in under the trees.

After the start of the apocalypse, trees and bushes also changed in bizarre and frightening ways. Most were harmless but there were a few plants that became carnivorous and would actually prey on you. This made traveling in the apocalypse a dangerous endeavor. A skilled Bushman were worth their weight in gold.

The journey to the farm was fairly uneventful except that I spotted a small family of Jackrabbits. These were edible and their meat tasted just like rabbits. They had a small twisted horn on their head that could deliver a strong incapacitating electric shock to their assailant. Their strong hind legs allowed them to sail through the air and hit their targets effortlessly. I marked them on a map as this is a renewable food source.

I also found tracks of Loapers but I couldnt tell how old they were. I would have to strengthen our defenses when I got home seeing that there was one on the prowl.

The Murdoks farm was in disarray. Their barn was completely destroyed and their silos were knocked down. All kinds of frozen tracks could be seen. The animals inside must have rampaged after awakening.

Their farmhouse, once a source of pride for the family, was still standing but just barely. One of the walls had collapsed.

As I got closer to the house, I tried to listen out for any signs of life but unfortunately there was none.

Bloodstains on the walls. Old from how faded it was. Still, I drew my sword.

The inside of the house was freezing. Chairs and tables destroyed. Blood everywhere. In one of the rooms I found a body in a state of decomposition. I think it must be Murdok as the overalls and size of feet were of an adult male. Something had torn out his throat.

In another room I found Mrs Murdok and beneath her the bodies of two young children.

So far I had found four members out of the six. Had the rest fled the house?

I returned to searching the house. I was not only looking for survivors but also food and anything that could be of use. As I carefully searched around, something caught my eye. In the kitchen there was something on the ground, a path to the basement perhaps except that it was buried under rubble and furniture.

Moving the pieces away, I opened the hatch leading to the basement. The smell of human excrement wafted up the second I opened it. I slowly descended into the murky darkness.

It took me a second to adjust to the darkness. But the basement held a myriad of containers, but in the middle of the large basement were two human forms. There was a boy glaring at me fiercely. Next to him was an older girl. The shared features suggested they were siblings.

“My name is Thorwin, I am Farmer Delcia’s son. I think we might have met before, isnt that right?” I tried to engage with the boy.

He seemed uncertain whether he should reply but his older sister started coughing and the concern for her was evident.

“I think she needs some help dont you think? I can take the both of you back to Farmer Delcia’s farm. We have food, hot water and warm clothes.”

At the promise of comfort and food, the boy finally relented.

“I…I am Norn and this is my sister Tamly…my mother…and father…” He broke into sobs then. I took that as an invitation to get close to him.

It took a while to get them both out. They were dehydrated, hungry and cold. They were wearing thick but soggy woolen pajamas and between them was a dirty fleece blanke. I wasnt sure how long they had been stuck underneath. I gave them all of my pack rations which they devoured quickly.

I took further stock of the area as they ate. They had quite a lot of stockpile and rations left over. Securing all of this would be important.

Further attempts at conversation with the siblings didnt yield very much. The older sister, Tamly seemed very guarded but the poor girl must have gone through so much suffering and death that it didnt seem out of place.

I gave them a chance to get their final belongings but the two didnt want to head back into the house where the rest of their family died. As they strapped their packs on, I casted [Greater Inspection] on both of them.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

—-

Name: Tamly Murdok-Gerring

Mana core: ??

Level: 1-2

Exp: ??

Status: Weakened…undernourished…cold…significant fatigue

Stats:

Strength: feeble

Dexterity: normal

Vitality: normal

Perception: low

Cognition: normal

Inflection: normal

Innate Ability: ??

Abilities: none

Misc Abilities: Cooking (Level ??), Food preparation (Level ??)...

Name: Norn Murdok-Gerring

Mana core: ??

Level: 1-2

Exp: ??

Status: Weakened…undernourished…cold…haunted

Stats:

Strength: feeble

Dexterity: low

Vitality: low

Perception: normal

Cognition: quick

Inflection: low

Innate Ability: ??

Abilities: none - unawakened

Misc Abilities: Basic Cleaning (Level ??),

—

The status screens revealed the statuses of two famished, chill-bitten children. The only thing that stood out was that Alwin was ‘haunted’. I had a few ideas what that meant but I needed to confirm it.

In the meantime, I wanted to get them back to somewhere safe and warm.

We took a little detour to avoid a few areas where I thought there would be danger but that wasn't enough.

As we were passing by a small overhang, two aberrant spiders ambushed us.

Name: Stone Skitter

Type: Aberrant

State: Normal

Lifeforce: Strong

Weaknesses: ??

Powers/Abilities: Web manipulation (Level 1), Sting shot (Level 1), Reinforced skin (Level -)

These two spiders blended in so well with the stones that I didnt event see them. The first thing they did was throw webs at us. The two kids got webbed straight away and it was their cry that made me quickly do a forward roll. The web got part of my hair but I managed to pull free.

As I turned back, I saw two gray, stone-like spiders moving slowly down the stone wall. At the back of their bulbous abdomen was a long hooked stinger. The two spiders rapidly approached the children that were caught.

I pulled out my bow and shot them. Thankfully, the arrow lodged but it wasnt deep enough to cause any major internal damage, all it did was make one of them angry.

Hisss

The wounded spider turned and charged at me. The charging speed was slow, it seems these beasts had high defense and low mobility. This fact was something I needed to abuse.

The slow charge allowed me time to keep shooting arrows. Instead of blindly shooting, I took my time to aim. I trusted in my experience, [Archery] and [Marksmanship].

Swishhh, swishhh

My arrows flew true and embedded themselves in the eyes of the beast.

Sccrrriiii

The beast barrelled straight into my direction but I managed to leap to the side. With preternatural senses, the blinded spider was still able to shoot its hooked stinger at me. Like a cannon, it blasted out from the abdomen. I just managed to move my head in time, a nasty scratch went from the side of my face to my ear.

I dropped my bow and drew my sword swiftly.

SHING

I slashed at the bit of entrail that connected the hook to the beast and then stabbed it straight at the opening of its abdomen. The sword penetrated the beast easily.

A shout came from the children, “WATCH OUT!”

I dove to the side as webbing flew past me. The other beast was nearing. Seeing that its companion was dead, this one held back. I took stock of my weapons: my bow was on the ground and my sword was up a spider’s ass, by Bawers Ballsack, the only thing I had left was my trusty Swift Iron Dagger.

Keeping an eye on the beast, I grabbed the dagger from its sheath at my side. I considered my options. Should I attack directly or maybe make an attempt to get either my bow or sword…actually I cant use the sword as there was webbing around it making it hard to extricate.

Okay the bow it was.

I tried circling towards it but the beast somehow felt something amiss and started to shoot webbing at me. That sticky stuff would really get me in a bind if it got on me. I did my best to dodge them and after three shots, the ground around me was webbed but there was none on me.

My mobility was getting severely hampered and the beast knew that it had me cornered. My bow was now under a web too. I thought I could see a sense of triumph in its four beady eyes. Well, it's too soon to think that way you stupid beast.

I charged at it.

The spider turned around and shot its stinger at me. But now that I had expected it, I dodged it easily. A few paces out, I leaped and successfully landed on its back.

The skin of the spider was cold and rough, not unlike the stone it mimicked. The beast started to twitch and buck madly. I held the dagger and stabbed it in its head. The Swift enhancement allowed my blows to occur at a faster speed. I even threw my mana onto the blade - making the strike deadlier. I stabbed and stabbed until I felt an ache in my shoulder and arm.

Huff huff

Another desperate fight. This fight made me realize that although I had my experience from my past life, I still lacked proper battle experience. Most of the time I would either shoot arrows or cast spells from a safe distance. If danger got too close, I would run, I would let my teammates rescue me.

Shit.

I put my reflective thoughts aside now. I needed to get off this battlefield.

I quickly freed the children and my weapons. I cut off parts of the spider I thought may be useful such as the curved bladed stinger and sharp claws. I would have loved to skin the creatures but time didnt permit it.

Tamly and Norn looked shocked and kept rather quiet on the rest of the journey.

Soon, my farmhouse came into view. It was late afternoon and the sun cast its golden glow on it. It was a beautiful sight.