Frank stumbled back, staring in horror. In front of him, kneeling on the ground, was the man whose arm he had just enchanted. He could still see part of the word ‘strong’ peeking out from under his hand, clutched against the bicep. He could still see it, but it was warped; where the bicep had once extended across the entire upper arm, it had temporarily overpowered the tissue connecting it at the elbow joint. The muscle had torn free, pulling itself together under the skin to lump up near his shoulder.

As the man screamed in pain, his grasping hand swiped across the magic word Frank had applied to him, erasing it. Immediately, the muscles in his arm stopped pulling as hard. He gasped in pained relief, tears falling down his face.

Dimly, Frank was aware of others rushing around, calling for help. He stood there, heart racing, mind locked in panic, wondering what he should do to help. He looked around, desperate for someone to tell him what to do.

Anthony stood near him still, hand on the injured man's shoulder as he glowered at Ian. Ian looked on with surprise, which quickly morphed into a considering expression. Beside him, mayor Mindy had her hands up to her mouth in horror, sympathetic tears welling in her eyes.

He panned across all their faces in a daze, hoping to find some clue on how to fix this. He found none.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found Victor standing behind him. He just pulled on Frank gently. “Let’s give them some space, shall we?”

He followed along just in time to step out of the way as a medic came barreling into the room. It was the same woman who had healed him the day before, now with dark bags under her eyes as her hands started glowing yellow over the man's arm.

Victor snapped his fingers in front of Frank, drawing his attention. “Are you okay man?”

He stared at Victor for a second. “Yeah, I’m fine. I–” He paused, glancing at the man being escorted out. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

Victor patted him on the shoulder, nodding. “I know. It was an accident. Honestly,” he lowered his voice, “I blame Ian more than anything, pushing it like that. Bastard gives off bad vibes.”

He gently pushed Frank toward the door. “But don’t worry about that guy, he should be fine. Sasha got her hands on him, and she’s got magic healing abilities. He’ll be fine. Just… Talk a walk. Let the shock pass. Okay?”

“Sure.” Frank felt himself nodding, like it was someone else doing the action. I am in shock, he realized. I feel oddly numb.

Oh. That’s what I should have done. Enchanted him with ‘numb’.

He walked out. It didn’t take long for the meeting to pick back up.

Grant and Ramy sat on the balcony of the apartment they’d both been assigned to, watching as the tents in the street got packed up. The first stop for most of the people who’d made their way to safety with remnants of the Vandenilis city government, there had been lines for processing through the night and well into the afternoon. At night, those lines had been disorganized, the people in them panicked, afraid the shadows they’d been running from might be back. Today, those that made it through the increasingly dangerous streets were more subdued. Resigned.

Now, there weren’t enough people finding their way here to warrant taking the whole street. Anyone still filtering through was sent for a medical checkup, and then sent to their new home. Or, new house, at least. It remained to be seen if any could settle in well enough to call it home.

Grant glanced at the paper in his hand. It was a memo that had been circulated by the city government. He’d felt conflicting emotions when they’d read the news, and what the city had decided upon.

The notice started with what was known so far about the System, and the ‘Integration’ that was ongoing. The first few points were obvious to everyone so far; Their world was, somehow, being changed to fit into some mysterious ‘System’ that seemingly had the power to change and influence their very reality. As part of this change, their world was being terraformed.

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The council’s thoughts on what that terraforming entailed, however, were more interesting.

All who have weathered the storm thus far likely know of the change we’ve seen in the local fauna, animals being warped and mutated away from what we know them to be. Likely fewer know that there have been similar changes seen in plants.

From the information brought to us by you, brave survivors, we suspect these changes are brought about by Aether, this new energy mentioned in the System.

Through some means or methods, the local wildlife has been inundated with some form of this Aether. The changes we’ve witnessed in these animals is a direct result. It is unknown as of now why humans are unaffected by the airborne variant of Aether, as it appears to act like radiation. We suspect it diffuses out from select materials, seeping into the plants and animals and changing them.

To our current knowledge, humans are unaffected by any airborne Aether. We can, however, take in Aether. In an ill-advised experiment, a member of our city ate an Aether-warped berry. Evidently, by taking in a source of Aether such as this, humans can become ‘Aether adapted’. This same individual then received Aether when killing warped beasts in defense of our safe zones last night.

They were then able to use this energy to enhance their ‘stats’, gaining nigh on superhuman capabilities.

We suspect the local wildlife has become aggressive in a hunt for more of this same energy.

We would tell you to rest easy. To trust in our forces, and leave your security in our hands.

We would tell you this, but the words would ring hollow.

You know the world has become dangerous overnight. You know of the monsters that lurk in our city.

We will not abandon you. As you read this, we are putting together defense forces backed by the full power we can wring from this new System whose yoke we bear.

Currently, our city is reorganizing and reprioritizing. Grim as it may be, the disappearance of much of our populace will allow us to pare down to a more efficient, more effective governing body.

You are welcome here, to take harbor in the remains of our great city.

But we cannot do this alone.

We are sorely lacking in the materials and manpower to take back our streets from the beasts that roam them. If you have a fire in your heart to take up arms against the monsters that pushed us out of our homes, join us. Join Vandenilis as its Vanguard, and fight back against the threats that plague our city!

Grant sighed, and glanced at Ramy. “What do you think of all this?”

He shrugged. “Between the Vanguards and the Volunteers, I think there won’t be many who can avoid fighting in the coming days. Personally, I welcome it.” His expression darkened. “I’m not a fan of running or hiding.”

Grant hummed thoughtfully, flipping the page over. There on the back was some information on both the Vanguards and the Volunteers. Two organizations being started up, both aimed at getting people out fighting beasts, getting resources, and generally doing things for the city government.

The Vanguards, front and center, were to work for the city directly. They would be provided gear, training, and the best support the city could provide.

The Volunteers were less advised. To any reading, it seemed like nothing more than a way to let the civilians get Aether while also getting them to work for the council. Minimal training, minimal equipment, and no additional support. You would need to pass a combat test, but any Volunteers would assume the risks of participation themselves.

“It sounds crazy. ‘We grant you the privilege of going out and risking your life to kill monsters, as long as you do some stuff for us while you’re at it’. It sounds crazy, but…” he shook his head. “I don’t think it will take long for people to get restless enough to sign up.”

Ramy nodded, chuckling. “I can think of a few people who might be interested. If nothing else, there are already a bunch of people trying to figure out how to use their Skills. I give it a week.”

Looking out at the street where just this morning survivors had still been pouring in, Grant sighed. “I’m afraid that you might be right. There’s already so many gone… I hope this isn’t a mistake.”

“It may be. But it’s a mistake I’m willing to make for myself, at least,” Ramy said, shrugging. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We’re alive, right? We’re still alive. Everything that comes after today is a blessing. That’s how I want to take things. So chin up, get buzzed, and figure it out tomorrow.” Ramy lifted his half-empty beer toward Grant, grinning.

“Cheers,” he said, clinking his own beer against it. He turned to watch the streets as the sun began to fall, and tried to set his worries aside for another day as this one ended.