The Grey Dragon appearing so early could only mean one thing.
It was an activated card!
Dragons in the New World were just like those in fantasies. Placed at the very top of the food chain, rivaling the Angel Clan and Archdemons.
Moreover, all known dragon sightings were of Western Dragons.
The specific abilities of cards were very close to myths and legends, a phenomenon that scientists called Greater World Resonance. It was an ongoing and unproven theory, but it meant that cards were somehow tailored to the earth in a way. So many fantasy and scientific principles were followed in the card system.
The Grey Dragon was an Eastern dragon which, in Earth's Mythology, are worshipped as gods and not just a powerful monster. So, it was likely an even higher-ranked being than the known dragons in the New World!
Activated cards are described as a set of cards activated without human intervention.
Once activated, they did not return to card form unless killed. Moreover, many of these activated cards with monsters within them had intelligence.
Cards could be activated for several reasons, but the common theme was that they were supplied with unowned energy and could awaken by themselves without human aid, becoming separate beings.
Another theory New World researchers had come up with was the RERT - Real Eyes Realize Theorem. Although cards were tools for humans, it wasn’t difficult to question what their true purpose was. Had they always only existed as cards? Or did they simply take on the form of cards due to the Earth? The mechanisms underlying the magical cards’ existence were still largely undecipherable.
What was certain was that spiritual energy was the common denominator in using cards. Spiritual energy, Evolutionary ki, Nine Phase Mana; this new supernatural energy present in the air had many regional names, but spiritual energy was almost universal.
The spiritual energy present in the atmosphere during the Genesis Card Fall was not that powerful yet, neither was it miniscule. More importantly, it was unowned.
Depending on their card quality and intelligence, cards could gather enough energy to activate within different periods of time by just sitting still. With the intelligence necessary to actively absorb the energy and awaken, they could be self-sufficient. Their card quality determined the geographical distance they could absorb from and how fast they could soak the energy in.
After various tests, it was revealed that Grey Ash cards were less intelligent but, after a while of passively absorbing energy, they could activate in 24 hours.
Blue Stone Cards were smarter, activating in 18 hours.
Black Iron Cards could awaken in 13 hours.
As for the higher-ranked cards, O'Brien didn't know. No one really did, since high-ranked cards were rare.
“The last I heard of a dragon was it wiping out a clan of Red Skin Orcs 50,000 strong,” he mused. “I don't know how high of a rank that dragon is, so I have to be at the spot early."
O'Brien didn't know the exact location where the card appeared, whether it was on one particular floor of the Howard Nelson Tower or on the roof of the building, so he had to give himself time to get there when the Card Fall happened.
Ideally, he would be there within 5 minutes.
"Fortunately, the Card Fall for this city happens to be at the 2-hour mark of the apocalypse and not among the ones that began exactly at 10:15 p.m. I still have time to get to an Altar for the medallion and awaken my aperture."
To use cards and store cards, as well as strengthen human bodies for health, evolution, and survival, the card aperture was an unavoidable obstacle in the way. It was the focal point and fundamental basis for human evolution within the last days, with just spiritual energy running about in your body, you were merely more healthy but also very delicious for man-eating monsters, thick with nutrition.
O'Brien once again had the thought many humans repeated in the New World.
Who made this bullshit system?!
How cool would it be if, like in comics and movies where all it took was one bite or singular traumatic event to awaken your powerful superpowers instantly, there was no tedious work that came with becoming a Card Master?
Instead, they had to put in all the hard work; a combination of studying and parenting.
In the normal progression of events, the average time it took to figure all this out was an entire year. By then, the casualties would be astronomical. While some places were faster, the earliest time to figure out the promotion system was 5 months but the latest...was 3 years.
*
The four women's eyes were all drawn to O'Brien's cell phone now showing the local news.
They were surprised when he suddenly disconnected his earbuds and flipped his phone for them to see. Their eyes slowly widened with shock, not believing what they were seeing and hearing.
"Just in... Breaking news as we all can s-see…” the news anchor stuttered. “It's the seventh consecutive day of disaster, and while we all w-welcomed — I’m sorry, I need a moment..."
The news anchor paused filled with emotion before continuing. "In the wake of yesterday's widespread animal tantrums, this morning the sky suddenly changed, having the sun and moon both visible in the sky as clear as day. A giant rectangular glowing celestial body has just appeared in the sky behind the moon, appearing beneath it are several smaller moon-like objects.”
As the lady spoke, clips and images of her reports were displayed on the screen. “Moreover... Tears in the very fabric of space have appeared on the sky around the moon and even the sun and close to Earth... Small asteroids have also been falling to the earth at irregular periods. Scientists remain baffled by the current environmental phenomenon. In these past seven days, we've all constantly asked ourselves this question and now the thought is stronger than ever... Is this the end?"
The nightly news reporter was abruptly cut off from reporting a robbery at three corner stores near a pet store that had a particularly violent outbreak of the 'Madness Syndrome', the hallmark of the previous day with animals globally going crazy and attacking everything.
The owner of this shop made the news because his store happened to have a mutant poison dart frog three times the normal size that somehow spit acid and burned through its cage.
Oddly enough, this was far from the most bizzare occurrence. That was more up the alley of the millions of ants who ate a concrete four-floor building almost to the ground. Although more than half of them died, it was far from mildly concerning.
But as if this wasn't crazy enough already, the news shifted to today's chilling occurrence. At first, people were subconsciously at ease with the sky disappearing as this was much better than the hurricanes and volcanic eruptions that started off these days of terror. However, the sense of relief was now replaced with the ominous foreboding present in the heart of every man.
Many could only pause and look upwards in deep shock, uncertain of what to do. Others would continue what they were doing with a stiff smile, their hearts uneasy as they tried to turn a blind eye.
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O'Brien was unperturbed, whipping out several more devices, including phones and tablets, and placing them on his lap and the floor.
Seeing his attitude, the women were brought back to reality. They had barely gotten to experience the first day of disaster as that was just after they were kidnapped.
The different news stations were meshing all 7 days of catastrophe and asking what was next, all while O'Brien was deep in thought and kept switching stations on different devices and checking social media.
"Whoa dudes, this is crazy! This undersea museum statue thing just popped out of nowhere, all of a sudden.” The lanky skateboarder stepped closer to inspect the shrimp-like stone, his phone camera shaky as he walked. “Totally ruining my stunts, dude. It looks like one of them cartoon things come to life or a movie prop with mad CGI , though I don't see any wires and shit in this rock. Mad creepy fam!”
Setting his skateboard aside, he went even closer, daring to hover his hand over the glowing rock. "Look at all these weird voodoo looking markings. It's like Black Magic or some shit. Maybe it's a witch's tombstone from th 18-1300s or something..."
O'Brien's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing the item. It was an ancient altar covered in moss, broken vines, and dust. Its earthy appearance was reminiscent of a newly uncovered ruin from thousands of years ago, untouched by all except the elements. It spanned less than 200 square feet, claiming the center of attention wherever it appeared.
A 7-foot-tall monument stood at the center, cracked in several places with mystical runes and markings covered its smooth surface. A bright yellow light was emanating from a circular crevice in the upper region of the monument, reminiscent of a miniature noonday sun.
O'Brien ignored all other devices and focused on this one, pushing the bad Google audio translation to the back of his mind. He listened to the skateboarder and waited patiently for him to move around so he could use some landmarks to pinpoint the location accurately.
The official language of Monvec was French and German, with both languages being influenced by the other in slang and accents which the complementary Google Audio Translate obviously couldn't decipher all that well.
Divalo Grande Skatepark.
Rue se Gartenstrasse.
Left central path.
"Found it."
O'Brien quickly stood up and glanced at his captives. Sparing any nonsense, he blindfolded them immediately. Leaving only Rose behind, he lifted them all in a large push cart used for transporting crates.
‘It's hard getting used to a mortal body,’ he thought, feeling how much strength he had to exert just to do the simple task.
Jules tried to protest. "What are you do— Umph!"
Well prepared, O'Brien simply gagged them as well before pushing them out.
"Settle down. You're free now,” he informed them. “If you want to come back, you should remember the meeting spot; Three Ring Tower. I'll place each of you in different areas of the city so you can cover more ground."
O'Brien paused, meeting the eyes of his still dumbfounded former teacher for a while, then he pushed his captives out and pulled down the garage's metal door.
***
3:46 p.m, December 25th, 2028
Celes Greymore felt that these seven days of stress on her brain pre-apocalypse could match the scale of each part of Mother Nature's fury that had come to pass.
At this moment, countless pairs of eyes were staring at her with hunger.
Despite leading an apocalypse base with over a million people before, her nerves were the most tense they had been for quite a while. The number of people wasn't the problem… It was their identities.
Her mother who stole glances at her.
Her sister who was still ignoring her.
Her father, who she had brushed off a few minutes ago, started his detective work, looking at her up and down with fine scrutiny.
Her cousins, aunts, and some distant relatives, as well as their friends were all present. Minnie's family and their own circle of friends and families were also invited.
Of course, more than just a few people were missing from each category, so this wasn't every single one, but still...
How was she supposed to protect these one hundred and thirty plus individuals while also grabbing more power?!
Celes Greymore hadn't been this stressed since she had to fight an injured Spark Archdemon after bringing her troops through a hostile territory.
"This is gonna be a bigger headache than I first thought…" Celes pouted slightly. Minnie was quick to hit her with the 'I told you so' gaze.
Thirty was the ideal traveling size to maneuver the dangers of the apocalypse, while also teaching them how to fish, instead of handing it to them on a silver platter. One hundred was the max, difficult but doable with detailed planning and role assignments.
A hundred and thirty? An overkill.
But it somehow ended up this way after she made a few calls. She barely had enough space to recruit the essential people she needed. Those individuals with rare and useful skill sets, trustworthy character, who were loyal, talented, and powerful. Those were the most important to here. There were many options, but she could barely scoop up a handful for their current team due to the number of relatives and friends.
"I'd like everyone's attention please!" Celes banged her table with a sigh.
She slowly opened her mouth, spewing the most absurd thing anyone in the room must have probably heard. The silence afterwards was deafening. She chugged a bottle of water, waiting for anyone to say anything. Then the mutters came.
"Is this a joke?"
"Some sort of play?"
"Well, the news was playing not so long ago and we all saw it. These past few days have also been very strange."
“Kids these days. Probably using that as an excuse to play an elaborate prank.”
“She sounded serious, though…”
"No matter what, the Apocalypse seems a bit far-fetched, isn't it?"
"I still want to make it for the rest of Christmas, although most people have canceled it with all the disasters going on.”
“Us too, but my family still wants to retain a sense of normalcy with all this craziness going on."
Celes explained the situation the best she could in the time she had. The monsters, descent of magic cards, portals to new realms, aliens and mutants, and a bit about the savagery of humanity.
Several strangers unfamiliar with Celes looked at her with strange eyes and discussed the absurdity of the so-called news.
"This is bullshit. I'm leaving. I still have a million dollar deal to finish by tomorrow. I don't have time for a little girl's shenanigans." A fit man with a perm in business attire quickly spat while fixing his collar. His physique was well maintained despite his age, and his well-lined collar bones were weighed down by a gold necklace. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had a rough yet refined face.
"Gale," A tall bespectacled man in pitch-black formal attire called out with little emotion in his voice. His blue eyes were as piercing as Celes’s.
Trevor Gale quickly froze up.
"I'm sure my daughter has good reason and evidence for her seemingly absurd claims,” Mr. Greymore stated before turning to Celes with a measured smile. “Isn't that right, Dear?"
Celes felt a chill run down her spine. Her father was quite scary when he wanted to be. Without their mother actively in their lives, he played the role of a strict yet loving parent, but she recognized the thinly veiled reprimand in his tone. Evidently, even her father doubted her, and she could not blame him at all.
"Yes, of course,” she answered him. “If you'd direct your gaze outside, you’d see that it has already begun." Celes walked calmly to the door, each of the three layers opening in a second. The slope leading to higher ground was not steep and they quickly followed her to look outside.
To the horror of the onlookers, space in the sky was rippling like water and gash-like open wounds in the fabric of space shook like the sky was in pain.
It was just after 4 p.m. here and yet the blue sky was absent. The night had descended, but the stars seemed to be far too close, the sun and moon even more so, all blazing in their brightness.
The newly appearing celestial bodies that were not there before brought an even larger impact.
Since when were there so many things in the night sky apart from stars?!
Unknown to these onlookers, the earliest bestowal of cards had already begun in Athens, Greece.
There, in under 30 minutes, the first alien monster would appear.
It looked similar to a rat but was covered in scaled armor, the size of a small child. It crawled out from a dark space in confusion, but its instincts quickly kicked in as its eyes turned red, smelling a unique fragrance in the air. It felt its body being slightly weaker than normal, but it could smell a lot of delicious food nearby to regain its energy. The creature slapped its tail on the pavement and appeared several steps away, continuing until it disappeared.
This first alien had appeared so suddenly, but it was just an appetizer.
For in an even shorter time, this 'first' monster would no longer be alone.