“Ok everyone let's eat!” announced my mother.
“Yay!” cried all of us. For indeed before us was a lovely feast. I looked at the happy faces around the table. Although it was just the four of us, it was still lively. Father started doing some antics, Lylia would laugh or play along and my mother would berate them for making such noise at the table.
I took it all in. I wanted to remember every single detail from this meal. There was even a part of me that wanted to freeze this very moment. Let not another second or day come, let us be in this one moment forever.
I joined in as much as I could, enjoying the moment. The food tasted exceptionally good.
But of course, the meal would eventually end.
After getting my daughter ready for bed, I held her hand as we walked to her room.
“Daddy, I want a story.”
“Sure””
This time I didn't tell her a story of monsters or deaths. I told her a story filled with fairies, butterflies and dancing. It was a simple but beautiful story. I stroked her head gently and watched as her eyes got heavier and heavier, while her breathing slowly evened out. When I blinked, I realized that I had tears in my eyes. The future was going to be tough for all of us and it breaks my heart thinking what this little person in front of me was going to experience in the coming days.
I spent a few moments just staring at her.
I eventually steeled myself and stood up. As I stood, I tried to shed away all the sentimental feelings that plagued me recently.
I then went to my room and started drawing mana into me. I brought up my stats page
—---
Name: Thorwin Delcia
Mana core: Destiny (92%)
Level: 0
Exp: -/-
Stats:
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 5
Vitality: 4
Perception: 5
Cognition: 6
Inflection: 6
Innate Ability: Enhance (Level 2)
Abilities: Iron Will (Level 1), Marksmanship (Level 2), Archery (Level 2), Swordsmanship (Level 1), Axemanship (Level 1), Spearmanship (Level 1), Knifemanship (Level 1), Shield Proficiency (Level 1)
Misc Abilities: Mercantilism (Level 1), Mana Manipulation (Level 1), Tracking (Level 1), Athleticism (Level 1)
Spells: Greater Inspect (Level 2)
Techniques: Yin-Yang Universal Equilibrium (42% to Level 1)
—--
I felt the mana swirl through me and enter into the golden core. Over the past months, whenever I meditated, I reviewed the information given to me by the mysterious man regarding the [Yin-Yang Universal Equilibrium]. It contained many obscure and profound teachings. I slowly digested it as best as I could. Each teaching I learned improved my mastery of the technique.
Even before Level 1, this technique was already pulling mana into me at a much faster rate than the previous method I used.
I found out that to level up [Enhance] all I needed to do was just use it. There may be more stipulations down the line but for now, as long as I keep using it, it would automatically level up.
Hours slowly passed and the entire farmhouse quieted down. The mana filling me was moving rapidly and I felt the core getting filled. I pushed on.
Suddenly, complete silence enveloped the entire farmhouse. My eyes flared open. It had begun. I calmed myself down. I had a single goal right now, and I needed to fill my core completely.
Vibration-like pulses moved through everything and everyone. The first time this happened to me I didn't even realize it. I was fast asleep. It was only later on when talking to other survivors that this was what was termed as the ‘awakening’, it heralded the apocalypse.
Pop Ups suddenly appeared in my mind.
[System awakening beginning…initializing takeover…error error…host alrea-...]
[Destiny core has successfully captured and neutralized invading system…full startup beginning…]
I waited with bated breath. Come on, let me have my levels back!
[Detected multiple semi-redundant skills…simplifying]
[Improving UI…]
After a few moments of nothing happening, I brought up my status screen.
—-
Name: Thorwin Delcia
Mana core: (One Star) Destiny (99%)
Level: 0
Exp: -/-
Stats:
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 5
Vitality: 4
Perception: 5
Cognition: 6
Inflection: 6
Innate Ability: Enhance (Level 2)
Abilities: Iron Will (Level 1), Marksmanship (Level 2)
Skills: Archery (Level 2), Close Weapon Mastery (Level 1), Shield Proficiency (Level 1)
Misc Abilities: Mercantilism (Level 1), Mana Manipulation (Level 1), Tracking (Level 1), Athleticism (Level 1)
Spells: Greater Inspect (Level 2)
Techniques: Yin-Yang Universal Equilibrium (42% to Level 1)
—-
Uhhh…there was nothing new. I was still level 0. By Bavlors Ballsack this is stupid! Will I never be able to level up? Arghhh!! The complications of that were immense. Pushing my annoyance away, I went straight back to meditation. It wasn't long before my core was completely filled.
[Destiny core at maximum capacity].
Smiling at the fruits of my labour, I went to my daughters room. She had turned and tossed whilst she was sleeping, her legs were askew and I knew she was snoring although the world was still enveloped with this strange silence.
I mentally selected [Enhance] and used it on my daughter directly.
The golden core inside me pulsed as it released all the mana contained in it. Once more, a vision appeared before me but this time, in the space of it was both myself and my daughter’s sleeping form.
The multi-coloured pole appeared and the lights began to light up. Grey, white, blue, green. It wanted to stop but the golden core pulsed again and the colour above it, yellow was highlighted.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A decision was suddenly put before me - [Destiny Core at One star. Utilize star to improve draw?] I answered yes without hesitation. Everything for my daughter.
I felt the core become weaker.
The colour above yellow lit up. It was the colour orange. The multicoloured pole disappeared and symbols, signs and colours all rapidly coalesced above my daughter's body.
[Incompatibility error found…recipient already has a special Bloodline at the Special level…revising Enhancement…no alternatives at Special level found…searching at Unique level…]
Comically, the multicoloured pole reappeared and the colour pink lit up. I nodded my head in appreciation of the system ensuring that I knew I got a better deal. Perhaps this was destiny as pink was my daughters favourite colour.
[Compatible bloodline found. Enhancing target…]
I suddenly saw flashes of brilliant light mixed with a roaring fire. The heat given off by the fire was excruciatingly hot.
The vision resolved and we were back in my daughter’s room. Strange symbols suddenly appeared above her. I stared at them for a moment before realising that it was a countdown. Improving her bloodline would take time. I exhaled a satisfied breath.
Outside, although I could still hear nothing, I knew that the barn full of animals would be a cacophony of shrieks and squeals.
I put on my leather armor and picked up my bow alongside a melee sidearm. It was going to be a bloody night.
----------------------------------------
I looked down at the barn and all I saw was darkness and chaos.
In the enclosure of the chicken coop were a few beasts of what used to be chickens fighting each other. It was the same for the goats, pigs and cows. So far, none had actually managed to get out of their enclosures which means they were all still contained.
The beams near the roof of the barn allowed me to move all along the barn without having to step foot on the ground. I quickly made my way to the cows.
Inside the cow enclosure were two cows. One was the mother of the Bullhorn. Suddenly one cow decided to charge at the door of the enclosure. It slammed against the wooden frame hard and although I couldn't hear it, I knew the frame was creaking hard.
I knocked an arrow and activated my [Marksmanship] ability. Through the small slivers of moonlight, aimed down at the beast. A breathe in, a breathe out and I let the arrow fly. It struck the beast on the head. It slumped over but then shook its head, its tenacious vitality allowing it to hang on. I shot two more times and both times the arrow managed to penetrate its skull. The beast slumped over and no longer moved.
[30 experience gained…converting to mana…]
My face scrunched up and my shoulders slumped…guess I'm never going to level up.
I surveyed the barn again, the pigs had now rallied and were banging the doors of the enclosure. I hurried over and started shooting. It was going to be a busy night.
When the morning came about, the cover of silence lifted up, except there was no sound of songbirds singing or the crowing of cockerel. I had run out of arrows at one point and had to go down to pick up some before shooting again. Unfortunately all of the animals became aggressive. I heard that in some cases, the changed animal remained in a placid state allowing for cohabitation.
I opened up my status page:
—
Name: Thorwin Delcia
Mana core: Destiny (30%)
Level: 0
Exp: -/-
Stats:
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 6
Vitality: 4
Perception: 6
Cognition: 6
Inflection: 6
Innate Ability: Enhance (Level 2)
Abilities: Iron Will (Level 1), Marksmanship (Level 3)
Skills: Archery (Level 3), Close Weapon Mastery (Level 1), Shield Proficiency (Level 1)
Misc Abilities: Mercantilism (Level 1), Mana Manipulation (Level 1), Tracking (Level 1), Athleticism (Level 1)
Spells: Greater Inspect (Level 2)
Techniques: Yin-Yang Universal Equilibrium (45% to Level 1)
—
The levels from [Marksmanship] and [Archery] allowed me to improve my base statistics. I became more flexible and had better control of my body thanks to the improvement in Dexterity.
As I was about to leave, I heard a shuffling sound coming from the cow’s pen. Knocking an arrow against my bow, I cautiously approached the pen. Inside was the little Bullhorn. It had hidden in a corner and was backing up from me in fear. I pulled back against the string of my longbow and was prepared to strike it…but then I held back.
Let me check if it is definitely aggressive.
I put my bow away and opened the gait. I got onto my haunches and held one hand out. My other hand once more held the Enhanced Dagger. The little Bullhorn cautiously approached me. I think it knew that if it didn't show submission, I would kill it. The bullhorn confirmed my suspicions and started to lick my hand. I grabbed one of its legs and turned it onto its back. The bullhorn went still. It didn't even try to get back up.
“Okay Snowie, you live, but if you ever hurt anyone in my family, I will personally skin you.”
“Moooo,” it cried before turning back over and following me out of the barn.
Opening the side door revealed my father and mother. They were in their sleeping attire. My father looked at me with heavy eyes while my mother had a concerned look on her face.
“Son, whats going on?”
They must have heard the squeals and shrieks as I killed the beasts.
Instead of answering them directly, I said, “Follow me, let me show you,”
We went back into the barn. The stench of blood was overwhelming and my mother had trouble going in. I still insisted because I wanted them to see it firsthand that the apocalypse was upon us. However seeing her look queasy made my legs go weak for a second. There was a lot of blood as well as bodily excretions in the barn.
Inside the chicken coop were strange birds that had elongated beaks and scales instead of feathers. Some pigs had eight legs and a stinger for a tail while others had an extra pair of clawed arms coming out from their sides.
It was strange and frightening. At the end of the tour, my mother started shrieking because she caught sight of Snowie. I reassured her and asked Snowie to go over to my father. Snowie obediently went over to my father and flopped over onto its belly.
I looked my father in the eye and said, “It seems tame for now but if it ever shows any signs of aggression, kill it without hesitation”
My father ran a hand through his hair and said, “You think it wise to do so? Why not kill it now?”
A small tremor ran through Snowie. Could it actually understand us?
“I dont know, I dont really want to kill indiscriminately and I think if I do so, Lylia would be rather sad,”
“Oh I cant take all this,” said my mother, “I need to go in and make myself some nettle tea to calm my nerves,”
My father grunted in reply while I said, “Oh please make me a cup too, I'm rather parched myself,”
After my mother left, we stood in silence for a moment.
My father was the first to speak, “There was no raid coming by the Plains People was there?”
I shook my head slightly and replied in a heavy voice, “Unfortunately no. Something much worse has happened. I only knew about it from a friend. Something terrible has affected the entire world and today is the start of it.”
My father didnt reply. He merely stared at a corpse.
I pressed on, “Lets go in. I want to explain this to everyone, yes even to Lylia. I don't want to keep her in the dark.”
He looked at me and squinted his eyes, “You sure? Shes only a small kid. This seems too nightmarish for such a young mind” he said while gesturing to the myriad of strange beasts surrounding us.
“Keeping her in the dark wont do anyone any favours, especially her. She needs to learn about the dangers of this new disaster. Just as I teach her about the dangers of fire or sharp knives, so too will I guide her in this world.”
“Hmph you sound like you know what’s going on,”
“Not really but my contact did share enough to make me confident,”
I had decided to keep my second life a secret. I dont want to tell them that I had seen them dead before.
With that, we went back to the house, Snowie also followed us.
After going in, I checked on Lylia and was surprised to find her still asleep. My mother came through and said, “Is Lylia ok? She normally never sleeps this late,”
“Its ok, I know what's going on with her and she is absolutely fine.”
“Are you sure we dont need to call Myra to check on her?”
“No I’m sure and Im pretty certain Myra is going to be busy for a long time. We should try to get out of the habit of depending on others Mom, the changes that have happened have happened to everyone. We need to depend most on ourselves.”
She tilted her head before saying, “Yes we need to survive and you are right that we need to be self-sufficient. I know that, I'm a farmer's wife. But don't forget that we are part of a community and even if we dont depend on others, we should allow others to depend on us.”
I stroked my daughters head a few times before joining them at the table.
There I explained what was going on in simple terms. I showed them the status screen and they were bamboozled at it. I gave them a brief rundown and tried to explain the attributes to them.
“So you’re actually saying that I can get strong enough to lift a heavy boulder on my own?!”
“Yea but you need to level up and have the right equipment to have a strength of that magnitude.”
“How about this ‘level up’ you keep talking about? How does it happen?”
“Well the most straightforward way is to kill monsters, there are some other ways such as making potions or crafting armor but Im not entirely sure,”
I tried not to reveal too much from the getgo lest they suspect the information I have.
After about 30 minutes of questions and answers, I left my parents to digest the information whilst I took Snowie back to the barn. I did ask my mother to stay by Lylia.
The stench of blood had died down and some frost could be seen on some of the bodies close to the door. I expanded my knowledge base by casting [Greater Inspect] on all of them.
Based on the spell, the meat of the Bullhorn and Vishak (small scaled beasts derived from chickens) were edible. The rest I took to the back and burned. I did think about burying them but it would take too long and too much energy. Night was coming and I had to be prepared.
After a light lunch, I asked my father to try to harvest the meat of the Bullhorn and Vishaks. I left it to them on how they wanted to preserve it. They understood that food would be scarce in this new age. I left Snowie in their care and went to sleep on my daughter’s floor.
I woke up after a few hours. Looking outside, it was evening and close to dinner time. I sniffed the air and the smell of cooked meat was evident.
By Baxxors Ballsack this is bad!
I rushed downstairs in a hurry.