Iron-grade is the level that most humans can be classified in. This can be said for the locals of earth who had no access to internal energy and their innate abilities before the first event. No-grade is for those that are unwell, either through being obese, having asthma or any form of physical inhibition that would leave them in a state of weakness. Basic Iron-grade is for the physically able, those that are fit enough to at least run for a few miles without needing to take a break. At the moment even in his tired state, this is where Travis is at.
Intermediate Iron-grade is where athletes and those that are addicted to the gym can be classified. While very few humans are at the Elite Iron-grade. Upon gaining access to a martial technique those at the intermediate and elite stages will have the optimal physical base for the new techniques. As such they are the ones that are likely to survive, if one does not count the two other factors.
The first factor is Innate Ability, abilities that can spell life or death for most creatures during the initial opening of their reality. Those that gain the ability to manipulate elements, gain psychokinesis or simply just supernatural traits. While most of the innate abilities are said to be trash, they can still play a role in one's survival. With close to 8 billion local inhabitants, there's bound to be those who gained powers that others could only dream of.
Travis has a mediocre innate ability but he more than makes up for his lack of it with the second factor. The gift of a god, in most realities the gods either abandon it or simply stay as its guardians. On earth, the goddess overseeing everything decided to leave only after giving each and everyone of her children one parting gift. While the gift varies from person to person, she ensured that these gifts were suited to her children. Instinctively, Travis knew this sentiment.
Which is why he laughed upon seeing his companion decapitate a bipedal creature with the head of a lizard. 'Elite Bronze-Grade huh? It seems that I was too blinded by the options.' He thought as he followed her lead.
'I underestimated her abilities despite not seeing them myself, I'm trash at judging people huh?'
[Your mercenary has slain a Basic Bronze-Grade Lizardman, 50 merit points have been awarded.]
'What the fuck are merit points?' He thought as a few more notifications of the same kind appeared with smaller rewards.
[Merit points contribute to your Local ranking, gaining enough can give a title or a physical item based on the user's performance!]
Putting aside the convenience of the system's answer, he focused on his surroundings. Now learning of his companion's true abilities, his plans have changed accordingly. "Mira! Head to that building over there, we're stocking up on supplies!"
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She quickly deduced what he meant, earlier he underestimated the gap between Iron-grade and Bronze-grade, which made him assume that they were far too weak to do anything worth their time. The building that he was referring to had a broken front door, she led the way clearing a path for him.
Dings of notifications, with a lower number of merit points popped up. Each from a kill on a smaller monster. The ones that did reach him were shoved to the side or pushed off of him with his PVC pipe. The grocery store was in chaos, the humans he saw earlier were all dead. Dog-headed creatures filled the area. "Can you take them on?" He asked her, while unsure of how strong they were, he was now confident in her skills.
"Of course, Master!" She shouted out as she cleared the area of threats.
"Keep them off of me, I'll get us some supplies!" He ran for a shopping cart, chucking in canned goods, instant noodles and whatever else he could get his hands on.
Travis forced everything he could get to the cart. In just a couple of minutes he filled it with supplies. "Come on, we're headed to the dumpsite!"
The dumpsite was only three blocks away, a light jog on a regular day. On this particular night, with all of the portals and the different kinds of creatures visiting. It's a minefield that spelled death for those with a weak innate ability. Mira's current grade, Elite Bronze, is one that can take regular humans close to 10 years of constant training to even try to achieve. A state of power that would have landed her a position as a commanding officer if she survived a few more battles.
Pushing the shopping cart with all his might, Travis made his way to the dumpsite without much trouble. They reached their destination, a dumpsite with a few abandoned warehouses off to the side.
"That's where we're going." He pointed out, as a boy who lived on this side of the city he was well aware of spots that most people would simply ignore. "The gangs in the area used to have a base here, they moved to the abandoned buildings in the west. We can use their old camp, the only problem here is the smell."
The warehouse that they entered had working lights and a few mattresses on the floor. "This will be our base of operations for now." The sound of alarms blaring and the screams of agony from outside were not lost on him. Though his attention was still on something else, his own safety.
"I'll rest here for now, you can patrol the area if you'd like. We can discuss the rest tomorrow morning."
Travis slept knowing that his companion had him covered. The same couldn't be said about the rest of his city, the city of Lindburg fell within the first two hours of the new era. The bunkers were of no use and only a handful of groups managed to survive the first night.
[Your mercenary has slain an Elite Iron-Grade Snake Demon, 30 merit points have been awarded.]
[Your mercenary has slain an Elite Iron-Grade Snake Demon, 30 merit points have been awarded.]
[Your mercenary has slain a Basic Iron-Grade Imp, 5 merit points have been awarded.]
[Your mercenary has slain an Intermediate Iron-Grade Snake Demon, 15 merit points have been awarded.]
A multitude of notifications would ring in his head but Travis slept like a log. The 2 packs worth of beer finally caught up to him.