It took Fonta two hours to get out of the ruins with all of his spoils. He had moved towards his room, which was a wooden cube with a twin-sized bed and beaten pillows, with patched-together blankets. He had just begun to relax when he heard a scream near the main entryway. The one that wasn’t trapped.

“Serpents and Weasels!” Fonta swore as he shot back up.

The other kids also shot up and ran toward the doorway. Fonta was the oldest present, though he wasn’t currently the tallest. Ventus was a solid head taller than he was despite only being thirteen which only made Fonta look younger than he was. Ventus seemed to have also had another growth spurt. “What have you been eating?”

Still, Fonta arrived first and stopped turning to the others. “If anything happens, move deeper into the ruins and hide. If I’m not back by dinner, bunker down, if I’m not back by next breakfast, it may be time to migrate. Where are Ted and Molta?”

“They went where you told them why?”

“Middle district. How long was I gone?”

“A day and a half. They left this morning.”

“Time is screwy down here. You got your instructions. If you don’t know them, then don’t let them in. Got it?” Fonta put on the beanie he had just obtained and slipped through the gap into the sewers, where non-Ruin Vit was running forward. Instinctively, he grabbed a sewer brush and impaled the creature's throat with the wooden end.

There was another scream.

“Don’t kill me!” The voice was feminine and highly distressed. Why would some woman be running in the sewers?

Fonta heard that deeper. If he went now he’d likely still be too late, the pragmatic side of him stated. The practical side also waited for a reply. That portion of his brain realized it had gotten left behind the second the scream occurred.

Rounding the corner he found a woman being constricted by a large snake with no head…No the woman was halfway eaten? Fonta's eyes were seemingly acting up as he couldn't concentrate on the person snake, or whatever it was. “No…Um.. Did you need help?”

Fonta asked as he looked around and saw no monsters aside from the snake thing,

The woman assessed him and oddly enough the snake vanished as she tried to approach the young man.

“Kid, shouldn’t you be with your parents? I can lead you to them if you tell me what they look like.”

Fonta picked up that this was the screamer, and for some odd reason, she was trying to trick him into giving her the location of his family.

“I-I d-d-don’t know. We got separated…when. When…” Fonta did have experience pretending to be younger than he was. He always seemed to look a lot younger than his twin sister which helped him get money from begging before they found this place.

“Yes, the monster attacks. I saw them come from the west. They also killed some of my family as well. Why don’t we look for your family together.”

“Really?” Fonta said with a false light of hope in his eyes.

“Yes, now come on kiddo. Tell me your name.”

Fonta felt a tug on his mind and parried the influence. “I’m Fon. Who are you?”

“You may call me La’mia”

“That's a pretty name.” Fonta rubbed at his eyes as he felt the sword in his soul and confirmed that it was ready to be drawn.

“Oh thank you. Now where did say you lived.”

“Near the middle…” Fonta stopped as a group of people running in his direction stopped as they made eye contact with La’mia.

La’mia clicked her tongue as black flame pulled over her left hand. “Careful Fon! Monsters.”

“So that's what’s up. Fonta let his voice drop a bit deeper as the pommel of his sword hit La’mia in the back of the head with enough force to hear a crack. The human-looking woman fell into the sewer system and was washed away.

“Now then, there is a dead end ahead, why are you running?” Fonta said to the people.

“Demon attack from the west. Unorthodox cultivators have allied with the demons! We came down here to hide.”

“I see.” Fonta nodded as he walked right past them.

“Young sir! Are you by chance a cultivator?”

“No. Just an orphan I’d get out of here the sewer alligators can get vicious this time of year.” Fonta then ran off towards a ladder and began to climb.

Demons were races of humans altered via magic and other means. Whereas a demonic or dark cultivator was one who practiced techniques that the council saw as too evil to allow and worth execution over. An unorthodox cultivator was someone who didn't follow the straight and narrow path, or used outside-the-box methods in many aspects of their life.

Fonta climbed out of the sewer and was met with an angry orange sky where the blue marble above appeared to be a reflection of the lands below.

This world is known as Val Telis, the twin world. Demons are similar to humans from birth, with deformities that mark where magic alters their form. Like humans they come in varieties, some kind, others cruel.

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

Fonta wasn’t one to act on collective brainwashing. Though La’Mia was likely planning something malicious, which was why he struck first. They were too close to his family, and he didn't live this long by trusting strangers who couldn't see the city for the buildings.

Looking about, the young man saw the city ablaze as Cultivators fought demonic mages. Balls of fire were sliced by flying swords.

Tornadoes were created and dispersed consistently. And various minor engagements led to massive amounts of property damage. Many dead on both sides littered the field.

Fonta approved a dead human guard. The man had been bisected vertically with entire right side missing.

Fonta picked up the man's spear and a dao sword. He did a brief test of his ability with the spear and found that it was good but his reach was much too short to use it effectively against another spear user. Thus he equipped the dao.

After a few practice swings, Fonta determined that the weapon was somewhat cheap. He’d need to be careful.

A howl caused Fonta to turn around and watch as a woman with red hair, ivory horns, pointed ears, and purple eyes appeared flanked by two large wolves with ashen fur.

“Oh hey. Feel free to ignore me. Imma just loots these soldiers. Ya should get going.” Fonta said with an accent befitting his banditry. He was still speaking with a nice tenor tone. Mostly because he was annoyed when his voice cracked while acting his age.

“What is a kid doing here?”

“M-my little sister is missing. Ima go find her. Then hide together.” Fonta didn’t lie, but he did consider that he would have to start fighting if the demon was a nosy type.

“Is that so? Do you know where she is?”

“W-well no but.” Fonta took a step back mentally as he realized he’d have to search the entire middle district.

“I see. Well sorry kid, but I’ve been ordered to leave no survivors.”

“Ah. Well, it sucks to be you.” Fonta said from behind the demoness. His tone is a bit deeper than before.

His new dao severed the head off one of the wolves as he rolled to the next one wrapping his legs around its neck slid the dao across its throat and severed an artery in its throat causing it to begin bleeding out.

The demoness hardly had time to blink as the beast in human skin attempted to sink its fangs in her throat with the Dao as his left hand summoned the silver sword which struck lower. The blade then vanished soon after as Fonta felt a good amount of his energy disappear.

With a puff of ashen smoke, the demoness disappeared and reappeared a good distance away.

“What are you?”

“A human, an orphan. Your worst nightmare. Since you can do that fast-moving thing I’m sure you can get away why don’t you run away and say a powerful cultivator appeared and injured you greatly.”

“No one would buy that if I show up uninjured.”

Fonta let out a tired smile that betrayed his true exhaustion. He didn’t know how much energy just summoning and maintaining the weapon used.“I severed a blood thingy(artery) in your leg if you don’t get that healed you’ll likely bleed out.”

“Powerful cultivator?”

“What do you think? I am very dangerous.” Fonta said he turned to leave.

“This is war!”

“One I’m a civilian. Two I don't care so long as my family is safe. Now are you going to run away or do you want to risk it.” Fonta bluffed, if he so much as ran towards her he’d likely collapse. But she didn’t know that, as far as she was concerned he was an enigma. Street fights were as much about bluffing as power and technique.

Fonta watched the young mage, around his age flee. Fonta was happy he called it right. His opponent was the bird in a gilded cage type. No experience in near-death battles, or fighting people strong. Likely sent here after someone much stronger…

“Serpents and Weasels.” Fonta spat as the presence behind him immediately put him on edge. A pointed finger poked him an inch below his cerebellum. A symbol is drawn on the skin on the surface above it.

“I’ll let you live today, this was foolishness on the part of the young one. We don’t execute children here. She’ll receive some re-education on which orders to follow. Now then I want to make things clear. Next time you run into her or someone you notice is likely a noble. You run, even if they challenge you. So long as they don’t back you into a corner, don’t fight them. If they are dumb enough to leave you with no options then what happens is on them, if you can leave them alive.” The voice was monotone, as though it was from a professor who was forced to chaperone on a field trip they didn’t want to be on.

Fonta felt the pressure fade as the professor was no longer behind them. However, it didn’t mean that they were free just yet.

Fonta continued towards his destination being more alert than usual as he snuck about. There were times he saved people and sent them to one of his hideouts throughout the city save for the one near the ruins and eventually made it to the middle district housing area.

What looked like a meteorite size of half the district had landed here leading to a massive amount of corpses and injuries. Looking about Fonta couldn’t find his sister.

“Help, me.”

Fonta turned to see the cultivator brat who he fought the day before crushed by fallen debris his back against it as he concentrated on not collapsing.

Fonta bent down and looked at him. The desperation was there, the panic was there. The injuries from his grandfather were still there. But the arrogance was gone, he’d been humbled so many times that he didn’t bother with the pompousness he held.

“Why would I help someone who nearly got me killed?” Fonta asked.

Silence as he strained to think of a reply. “Help, my brother at least. Sorr-”

Fonta realized that there was an unconscious form under the young man’s chest.“Vrix! Fine.”

Fonta grabbed a pole which seemed durable then a piece of wall to create a lever which he then used to wrench the debris up a bit allowing for the cultivotor to pull himself out with the person under him still alive. Though the young man he’d fought previously had lost both of his legs in the process.

He’d been crippled in the early stages of cultivation, another humbling event.

“Do you wish to continue living?” Fonta asked.

“If I can survive then I won’t give in just yet.”

“I go by Fonta Pain. How much money do you have? Also, can you read?”

“Huh?”

“Later, then later.”

Fonta opened his book only to notice the world around him had stopped moving, no not stopped, slowed to crawl.

The shop screen appeared before him and Fonta swiped until he found a common wheelbarrow for 500 Ducarates(Ducks).

The item appeared in front of his hands as time resumed. The item was second-hand but quite useable.

“Where did that come from.”

“Where is my younger sister?”

“Who is that?”

“The girl you picked on yesterday?”

“Oh she was near the outskirts of this district a good two blocks south was the last time I saw her, she could have gone further, but I didn‘t want to get close.

Fonta put the brothers in the wheel barrel and began to run them around toward the the area he had been told.

After some maneuvering through backstreet alleyways and through a fight between cultivators. Fonta arrived at what looked like a field hospital where various healers were moving about.

“I’m going to leave you here. This was 500, so pretty cheap. I’ll charge you 250 each for the ride, make sure you survive long enough to pay me back later.”

“Right, thanks. I’ll pay this back someday.”

Fonta waved over and in moments the injured masters were taken to get treated as a woman in white clothes appeared. “Is this contraption yours?”

“Yes, I don’t know what it’s called but I paid for it.”

“As you know there are injured people all over the place. If you could ferry them to this location…”

Fonta held up a finger. “Do you have people more qualified to act as runners?”

“We do have some cultivators sittin' around and scouting.”

“Good 1 sec” Fonta opened the book again and summoned 9 more of the devices.

“Where did?”

“It's like a talent. Have those people use these. I’m looking for a woman taller than me with blue hair and eyes like mine. She should be with a lanky brown-haired boy around her age.”

“I have seen someone like that headed a bit to the west past my clinic earlier but they were close to ground zero.”

“Serpents and weasels!” Fonta figured the woman was a cultivator of some type and thus had a superior memory than most so she was likely right.

Fonta took the wheelbarrow and ran towards the site where the meteor fell.

It took him an hour of running with the various detours he made helping strangers as he got closer and closer. Eventually arriving at an area surrounded by a dome of power. Outside the dome demons were blasting away at it trying to get in.

Quite a few dead cultivators littered the area. Most of them were quite old and in ornate robes.

“Molta what's going on!” Fonta yelled like an idiot.

Faster than the young man could react, a hand gripped his throat from behind and began to squeeze.

“How do you know the conduit?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Fonta said as he felt the hand squeeze.

“The escaped precursor. How do you know it?”

“What is that?” Fonta stated as his consciousness dimmed.

“Stop! I’ll surrender! Just don’t kill him.” Molta yelled.

“Was that so hard?” The figure dropped Fonta as the barrier went down.

“Molta. Don’t.”

“Ted, take care of the others for me, ok?” As Molta said that, a ray of light enveloped her and she vanished.

“No!” Fonta felt something hard hit him on the neck and everything in his sight faded to black.