A retelling of Orlean Piercer's story to Jackal and Flaze.

The apocalypse started when I was just at home, working peacefully by my bed. I was making a small figurine out of wood that someone had commissioned of me online.

That was when suddenly, all my sensations were replaced with pain. I vaguely realized a moment after, that it was because all my attention became focused on my brain, and the head-splitting headache that came with it.

I thought I was going to die. I wished, to some level, to fucking die right there, if only to be freed from that torment.

It lasted for either a second or an infinity. Before slowly, my faculties started to return. The first thing I saw, were what I would later come to know as status screens.

My senses came back, I was still reeling from the abrupt experience. I questioned what the fuck had happened, as I'm sure many other people did.

Some never got the chance to.

Upon my hearing becoming a bit more functional again, I noticed the constant screaming coming from outside. The prevalent noise of collapse; certainly not the good kind.

Curiosity, confusion, alarm. I'm not sure which exactly carried my feet forward back then, but carried away they were.

I found myself staring out the window.

Everything was chaos.

Broken vehicles, defaced buildings. Dead people, those close to dying. I learned later that the sudden headaches hit everyone, nearly at the same time. That caused a lot of the infrastructure to break, mainly thanks to those who were driving. They didn't quite cover this scenario in driving school.

Those were the things that I could actually comprehend.

And then there were the monsters.

And then there were the status screens.

And then there was magic.

I ran.

I backed away and ran.

I cowered on my bed, by virtue of sheer incomprehension.

Another noise was what got me to move my ass again.

Voices that were familiar. My aunt and my uncle. They were here. They were alive. But they were screaming

What if they die, like those I saw outside!?

I moved. I quickly made my way over to them. They were afraid. They were shouting over each other. There was a pool of blood. There was a goblin.

I backed up and ran that over again in my head. I reexamined the scene instantly, and got a better picture. My aunt was bleeding from a deep cut on her leg. Uncle was hovering protectively over her. I was on the second floor and they were on the first.

I jumped, before I could think better of it.

I landed on the small green person. She squealed in pain.

I broke my foot, but I was running on pure magical adrenaline at that point. A mere flesh wound could no longer hope to stop me. The Power of Friendship fueled my every action.

I wasted no time and yanked the sword out of the goblin's hand, before I used it to stab into its general head area over and over. I also screamed for good measure, and the extra buffs that bring.

Yes, that is indeed true. Scream for buffs. I am Orlean truth-teller.

I cried, and tears marred my face. The world became a blur, and my perception of time warped for the second time that day. I only stopped murdering the monster that had come into our home, once my arms literally couldn't move anymore.

I passed out.

What followed was me waking up to my aunt watching over me. We had a talk about what had happened, and the fucked situation… everywhere. No authorities had come for hours, they had done what they could to barricade the house while I slept. I concluded that we were likely on our own.

I also noticed that my legs were already fixed and functionall by then, when I should've snapped some bones based on what I remembered. That was when I learned about how Aunt Ori had taken some kind of healer Class, meanwhile Uncle Rick picked up a warrior one.

If we were to survive, then I better pull my weight.

The game-like System was more familiar to me than it was to them, and it didn't take long for me to skim through my options. It was an easy choice in the end, the moment my eyes landed on Class titled 'Metallizer Dwarf'.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

If I'm being honest, the choice I settled on had more to do with my own desires. Which wasn't to say that I didn't think about it properly, of course. Metal was a very strong material that I just so happened to have a readily available source of.

The many ruined cars and buses. The appliances at people's homes. Fences, poles, warning signs, everything around the streets. Perhaps it may have been crass to just consider them up for grabs, but I wasn't wrong was I? It was a Class that played to my strengths, the skills I already had, what I already knew, and it made a lot of logical sense.

It didn't take long for me to secure our homes, after I had my Class. I reinforced the walls however I could, adding spikes and ramparts to strategic positions. We fought very defensively, at first; all three of us armed by my creations. There were far more monsters around during those early days, and there was always something to kill, albeit far weaker than what you'd find now. We even took in a pair of children, who we found nearby.

It was only when we had pulled way ahead of the tide, and the monsters around our area had thinned out significantly, that we began going far outside to explore, instead of just taking the shit lying around nearby. We stocked up on supplies and even met a few humans. We took in a precious few survivors, those with a sufficiently good sob story to make me feel story for them, and too weak both in power and spirit to be a threat.

It was a shitty thing to do, perhaps. But I knew that if we grew big then it'd spell trouble. I was no leader, and neither was my aunt or uncle. It was best that we stuck with a small group, so I purposely didn't come inviting people, and I convinced my folks not to either. Fuck being kind. Fuck humanity. I protect my own.

Some tried to invite themselves over regardless. They died to 'mysterious means'. Perhaps some monster that only targets those who piss me off. Weird that.

And then everything changed, when I reached Level 50, and my second Class arrived.

Okay, that might be just a smidge hyperbolic. But I did get super excited about it. I spent like, days just crafting. That was when I made my armor, and it was already able to float on its own back then, albeit far slower and a lot less refined than what I'm able to accomplish now with my pillars and the extra levels I've gained.

But even slow, unrefined, and unstable flight is still flight!

I got so excited about it that I went on a whole slaughter fest right after making my armor. I shot past my uncle's level in no time, and even further beyond.

That was also the first time I truly went solo, with much discussions and arguments between us, but at the end of the day I'm a fucking adult, so I decide what I fucking do. Actually, even if I'm a child, it may not matter any longer so long as I am strong, because who's going to fucking enforce anything on me?

I returned all bloody and happy after my numerous hunts. I was already nearing level 70, after only a sparse few days. Everyone defended the house well, but then I realized that I forgot to update the defenses with my new abilities, the enchantments I can make. I did beat myself up a little because of that oversight, it could have potentially made the difference in an actually close battle, but nothing really happened so it was fine. A mistake that I had the time to correct, so I placed my new enchantments around, and gave the walls and defenses new effects. Particularly those to do with electrocuting would be attackers and fiends.

The pillars were a later addition. I wasn't quite that good yet back then, but I was getting there.

More battles followed, I had lots of fun, and it didn't take long for me to decide to set out on my own for a longer while, and maybe find the rest of the squad. I flew around semi-randomly, just in case those I sought weren't in their homes. And well, I was right.

It happened in one fateful night. I wasn't actually flying around, shit's even more dangerous once the sun goes down and certain nocturnals come out to play. I was tucked inside a building, idly watching the road, when I saw this man running away from some fleshy monster. Real nasty looking. The monster, I mean. Not the man. Although he wasn't exactly a looker either.

But that's not what's important. It's that I never actually got to fly to the rescue because a loud voice just boomed from afar, startling me, the person being chased, and even the rabid monster.

"Fear not, for I am here!" He said, in a familiar and completely serious voice. It was Halbert in tattered tights, with a cape floating down his back

My brain froze, at the sight. I watched the entire fight in a daze. Halbert was fast, and he could fly in short bursts. I identified them both, without either noticing, for I had a specific Skill for it. Halbert was 2 levels below me at that point, sitting at 69, meanwhile the monster's level was even higher than my own at 74.

Despite the gap, Halbert had little trouble, as he fought like the most generic superhero ever. The monster's limbs flailed around and he dodged it with impressive bursts of speed, albeit with lacking technique as he clearly went far wider than he needed to. Some still managed to hit him, particularly because there were a lot and Halbert wasn't the most proficient in planning his dodges and sneaking into the tiny spaces created. His costume became even more tattered because of that, I saw welts form along with bleeding wounds. The impacts definitely seemed like they should've done more damage, which spoke to Halbert's toughness, and the injuries that did manage to get through immediately started closing in a visible manner. I was suitably impressed.

I approached their group then, just to make sure, in case Halbert actually loses and becomes in need of help. A needless worry, it turned out, for once he got close, the monster had little recourse. Its whip-like limbs didn't do very well in close quarters, and while it too was built for regeneration, Halbert was clearly outlasting it.

It didn't take long from there, Halbert's blows clearly carried with them a lot of power. Muscles and tendons broke apart with each hit, the monster's body slowly went slack. I felt strong gusts of wind, and I realized that another part of Halbert's build was an ever present wind that just aided all of his movements, and even allowed him to fly with some difficulty.

The monster finally died, after a kick to its core, only one of many strikes that landed on the same area. Its head was actually there, hidden under a thick coating of amorphous flesh.

I had to hold back a chuckle when Halbert raised his arms in some sort of victory pose. It's always the quiet ones. What he said next to the man he had rescued made my brain halt for the second time that evening.

"Do not worry, dear citizen! I swear to keep you safe. I swear in my good name as The Apocalypse Breaker!"

It took a couple of seconds for that to fully sink in, but when it did, I bowled over in laughter.

"Who's there!?" I heard him shout and ask, head on a swivel. It didn't help and I just howled harder.

He eventually found me, and was predictably surprised at my appearance. Which, for the record, I didn't particularly want a makeover, but I won't let that stop me from becoming stronger. If becoming a fucking horse like Jackal is what it takes, then I'd fucking do it!

It took a while, but I did inevitably calm down from a severe case of the giggles, albeit it took much longer than it would have pre-apocalypse. Stats and Skills are no joke, and I didn't just tire myself out.

Once I had finally regained my composure, I and Halbert got to learn how the apocalypse has been for the both of us so far.

Gone was the meek nerd of before, Halbert took the opportunity to remake himself and achieve his dreams, no matter how childish. In hindsight, it was always obvious in the plays he'd written for us, that his heart wasn't that into it, when we had the more… evil protagonists. He always wanted to be a true genuine hero, and I'm happy that he got to do that, no matter how cringe it can be. The people that he's saved certainly don't view it that way.

More good news, is that Briella is perfectly fine! In fact, she's doing better than ever, no matter how much the person herself tries to deny it.

Halbert told me all about it, how Briella was doing such a good job, and that they were working together. She was the de facto leader of a settlement, and that they were really bringing back a sense of normalcy under all this chaos; Much to her dismay because all she ever wanted to do, and I quote, 'was to be badass on stage and in bed.' That was where Halbert was leading those he rescued–The settlement, not Orlean's stage or bed–and while I needed no rescuing, I went and followed along.

After a day or so of traveling, I and Halbert arrived at the old college where Briella attends. Except it would be quite hard to recognize it, for the fortress it has become.

It was like they couldn't decide what kind of wall to build, so they just layered everything on top of each other. From bars and spikes and fences, to big constructions of brick and mortar. I would later on add my own pillars and enchantments into the mix.

The inside, wasn't all that different, although the buildings were fortified and there were now watchtowers dotting the area. Most people stayed indoors, because fliers still come by sometimes, and not everyone's built for battle. Even those who were couldn't or at least didn't want to stay hyper vigilant all the time. Although perhaps they still should. The world's changed drastically now.

In what was formerly the principal's office, that was where I found Briella. We talked, and I ultimately decided to join up their little group of thousands of survivors. I made a quick skip and a hop over the ruins of the city right after, and brought my family and the few survivors we took in with us back to the college.

That's why the house is now empty, at least of people. But it still serves as my base, because I… well, I like the place, and I need a base of operations somewhere near where I hunt. I do it in shifts with Halbert, because we decided that as the strongest of Friendom(Don't ask. But also yes, the name was my grand idea.), either one of us always needs to be guarding Briane. It's still an apocalypse, and you never know what humans might pull.

God knows they were already braindead, before even all this shit happened.