The air horn in Derek’s hand let out its intermittent blasts, a harsh sound that cut through the eerie silence of the deserted streets. Derek navigated the urban maze, stepping over cracks in the pavement and weaving between abandoned cars that littered the road, marking the end of a peaceful era. Each store he passed bore the scars of looting, with shattered windows and doors hanging ajar, silent representations of the new world’s chaos.
After a trip to half a dozen specialty goods stores, a couple of warehouse stores, a few grocery stores, and the food delivery warehouse, he walked north, blasting the annoying horn to gather the attention of anything in earshot. He had killed a few dozen goblins and orcs, but nothing very strong. Even the armored orcs weren’t giving him much trouble after all the advancements he had recently. He hadn’t fought a bunch of them yet, only a few small packs of patrols. That designation was based on their military like behavior and tactics, but he hadn’t been able to find a central organization or camp of them.
The other monsters threw themselves on him with any care for tactics and died by his hands. When he approached the medical supply store, a chaotic sprawl of overturned ambulances and police cars, their emergency lights long dead, filled the street. Blood smears and body shaped dents told a story of violence. The store’s shattered windows and ajar door hinted at the frantic looting that had taken place. It was here, amid the strewn medical kits and spilled pharmaceuticals, that he encountered the pair of trolls.
Derek carved them apart without taking a single hit. He swung his sword, dodged, blocked, and rolled out of the way from their clumsy swings as he carved off limbs and cut deep, leaving wounds that would have killed any other monster. The wounds closed and limbs regrew continuously, as Derek used them for practice. They were perfect for training as they had near limitless stamina and self-healing that was borderline a cheat ability.
After that round of looting, the frequency of monsters increased, and he went from having a few combatants to have dozens in every fight. Not that a score of goblins was any different from a score of trolls. Once Derek had fought four trolls at once, they stopped being a challenge. He was really wanting to fight a minotaur.
By the time noon rolled around, Derek found himself in an abandoned furniture showroom, once a bustling atmosphere, now eerily silent. He settled onto a plush sofa that seemed out of place amidst the chaos outside. Surrounded by rows of untouched chairs and tables, each piece casting long shadows in the sparse light filtering through the dirty windows, he unwrapped his lunch. Between bites of roast beef sandwiches, he washed down the grit of battle with a lukewarm protein shake, the mundane act oddly grounding. He swiped through his notifications. Each monster slain, each level gained, brought him a step closer to his goal. Alaska’s wilderness, teeming with dangers, stood between him and the item that promised to secure his unborn child’s future. With every notification that popped up on his screen, he saw not just achievements, but milestones on a path fraught with lethality.
Congratulations:
Over the course of thirty-four battles: You have killed 256 goblins, 121 orcs, 35 advanced orcs, and 47 trolls.
Rewards:
19,032 experience
7,973 credits
Congratulations:
You have gained 2 levels and reached level 18.
+2 stat points
Congratulations:
You have received the title: Orc Slayer (rank 3)
For killing 500 Orcs
Orc Slayer: You are a known enemy of orcs everywhere. Warning: Your reputation precedes you.
Rewards:
+5 stat points
Well, that was nice. The extra stat points were driving his progress forward, but not as fast as he wanted. He wanted those minotaur, and he wanted them dead. He spent his stat points and the one milestone point he had unused into his magical capacity stat.
Milestone Ability
Divine Dragon’s Celestial Mantle:
Channeling your Divine Dragon lineage, cloak yourself in a shimmering celestial barrier. This mantle reduces incoming damage while radiating bursts of elemental energy to nearby foes. Active for 15 seconds with a 4-hour cooldown.
That was interesting. This was the first ability he gained in relation to his race. He wished he had more information on the Divine Dragons. Even the reading material from the Elementalist’s library and questioning the two instructors only resulted in a whole lot of nothing. Apparently, the Divine Dragons had died out so long ago that most of the multiverse only thought of them as myths and legends.
At the height of their power during the Epoch of the Abyss they rivaled Gods in power. Together they fought back the forces of the Abyss. Leading to the end of the epoch. Derek didn’t know why the Divine Dragons died off, but the unmistakable reverence shown to them was forever etched into the minds of the multiverse.
Derek Irisson
Level:
18
Titles:
Goblin Slayer (rank 4)
Orc Slayer (rank 3)
Troll Slayer (rank 1)
Race:
Echo of the Divine Dragons
Classes:
Elemental Berserker
Physical Ability:
50
Mental Ability:
18
Emotional Capacity:
12
Magical Capacity:
33
Passive Abilities:
Elemental Awareness
Abilities:
Ravager’s Fury
Divine Dragon’s Celestial Mantle
Aura: Bloodlust
Elemental Infusion
Elemental Impact
Experience:
6,294 XP / 9,507 XP
Stat Points
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0
Milestone Points
0
Active Quests
Path of Evolution (Divine Dragon)
Prodigal Child of Legend
Since he added his points, his muscles were powerful and his flexibility was increasing, as well as his endurance. He felt he was ready to fight a minotaur. He finished his box of sandwiches and resumed his trip north. He passed through a craft store on his way north, picking up some heavy linens for clothes and sewing supplies.
The Asian market, its entrance a gaping maw of shattered glass and splintered wood. Inside, chaos reigned. Shelves lay in disarray, their contents spilled out like a gutted fish. The once vibrant produce section was a graveyard of decay, where the pungent stench of rotting vegetables mingled with the sour tang of spoiled sauces. In the meat section, the carnage intensified. Packaging lay shredded, as whatever monster devoured what used to be choice cuts was now just fodder for vermin. The air, thick with the coppery scent of blood, a grim painting on the checkered floor tiles. Amongst of the wreckage of the checkouts lay the remains of unlucky looters, their lifeless shredded forms adding a morose stillness to the pandemonium.
Derek blasted his air horn as he walked through the shattered glass of the doors, then waited. A few goblins were loitering, and he ended them with three slashes with his sword. Nothing worth taking remained and anything that was glass was shattered. Moved on, he hurried, stopping by two furniture stores and two cooking supply stores before arriving at an outdoor sporting goods store, one of his primary stops.
The mall’s parking lot was hauntingly quiet, with the large parking lot littered with abandoned cars and the occasional shopping bag fluttering in the wind. Blood stains and aged body parts covered the area where the shoppers had been attacked. In front of the once-bustling burger restaurant, a massive minotaur loomed, its shadow casting over the cracked pavement. It wielded an axe that’s blade was nicked from countless battles. The minotaur’s gaze was fixed on the restaurant’s entrance, too small for its hulking form to pass through.
Derek grinned as his body shot across the parking lot without an ounce of hesitation. His footsteps thundered across the open space. As he ran, Derek drew upon his mana, shaping it into a spell without breaking stride. A bolt of fire arced from his fingertips, catching the minotaur off guard as it turned, the movement causing its axe to fall off its shoulder. The clash of metal followed the impact of the spell as Derek’s weapon found its mark, driving deep into the creature’s flesh. The momentum carried them both forward, crashing through the glass doors of the restaurant in a cascade of shards.
Tightening his grasp on his sword’s hilt, Derek wrenched the blade through sinew and slid across spine, opening a grievous wound in its abdomen. He leapt back, narrowly evading the minotaur’s wild, pain-fueled thrashes. The beast, driven more by instinct than thought, struggled to its hooves, one hand vainly attempting to contain the spill of its own vitality. It slipped as its hooves failed to gain any purchase on the greasy, blood-covered floor. Its massive axe lay discarded. Regaining its precarious balance, the minotaur lunged, desperation lending it speed. Derek met its charge with a deft sidestep and a swift, precise cut across its reaching arm, cutting the bicep to the bone.
Derek was rather surprised at the lack of challenge. Despite the monster being significantly stronger than a troll, it was still an easy fight. The new stat points since his last battle carried him far. With a few more, this fight would be trivial. Recognizing the dwindling threat, Derek saw his opening as the minotaur made a desperate, uncoordinated grab for him. It collapsed the cheap restaurant table as it tried using them for support, but the monster’s desperate fumble was ended with a swift, practiced motion. The blade sliced through the minotaur’s neck, severing arteries. The minotaur staggered, then collapsed, its lifeblood staining the already marred tiles, mingling with the remnants of past battles.
He stood over it, watching it struggle as it slowly bled out, helpless. Derek shifted his attention to the axe and picked it up. The heavy weapon was light in his hand and he could swing it around as if it were light as a feather. He stored it in his bracelet and his gaze returned to the minotaur, now still, its final breath a whisper on the wind. The silence that followed was a stark contrast to the chaos of battle, a brief respite before the storm resumed.
As the dying cries of the minotaur faded, a sudden cacophony shattered the brief respite. Derek barely had time to register the source—a chorus of enraged bellows from a half-dozen minotaur came into view, drawn by the dying cried of their kin. Their heavy hooves pounded against the pavement, causing the ground to vibrate. Axes in hand, they bore down on him, a united front of fury and muscle. Derek grinned with bloodlust as he shot out of the building. They all bellowed in response to the first and charged toward him, each with their axes ready. Asphalt ripped up from the parking lot as Derek activated Stone Skin.
As the minotaur closed in, an arcane glow emanated from their axes, hinting at some magical enhancement. Derek, relying on his honed reflexes and battlefield awareness, navigated the chaos with agility. He entered their group and released the power he had been building. A thunderwave erupted from his body, sending powerful electricity in every direction. The wave passed over the surroundings beasts, tossing them back as the air exploded with power. Their bellows of determination turned to grunts of disorientation as they struggled back to their feet.
Heedless of brief respite as they reeled, Derek pressed his advantage, his sword finding flesh and bone with ruthless efficiency. But the tide turned momentarily when an axe, aglow with malignant energy, broke through his Stone Skin’s asphalt armor. The impact was jarring, hurling him across the cracked pavement, bouncing like a skipping stone. Derek was already twisting as his advanced body shown its agility. He bounced, twisted, and landed on his feet like an acrobat wearing heavy armor. He slid to a stop as his backward momentum ended and he shot forward.
The impact had left a visible dent in Derek’s shoulder armor, yet it was stone skin that mitigated what could have been a crippling blow. Seizing the moment, Derek retaliated with a firebolt, its searing path ending abruptly in the bellowing bull that charged toward him. The firebolt caused the minotaur to trip, but Derek didn’t even have time to watch it hit the asphalt as another came in, glowing axe swinging.
But the battle’s tide was relentless. Another minotaur, its axe wreathed in a sinister aura, charged. Derek summoned an ice shield in a desperate bid for protection. It was a race against time, but the shield crystallized too late. The enchanted axe, unstoppable in its momentum, shattered the feeble barrier and connected with Derek’s opposite shoulder, sending him hurtling towards the mall’s exterior. The collision with the wall was a crash of destruction, bricks and mortar yielding to the force, dust clouds billowing into the air.
As Derek regained his footing, he conjured a blade of pure flame in one hand, its crackling energy illuminating the bright surroundings. His sword hummed with charged electricity, a deadly counterpart to its fiery twin. In a brutal dance with a warrior’s fury, Derek re-engaged, his movements a blur of precision and lethality. Each pass through the minotaur ranks left a trail of grievous injuries. A wave of ice slammed into the herd like a sleet storm of needle-like shards. Hundreds of bleeding wounds wore down the minotaur as the ice pulled energy from their bodies.
The battle reached its crescendo as Derek, undeterred by the overwhelming odds, became a whirlwind of destruction. His body moving as fast as he could push it. The hide and muscle that had seemed so impenetrable gave way under the relentless onslaught of elemental fury and steel. Derek flowed under, over, and around the wild swings. The minotaur bellowed in anger and frustration. Each cut was shallow but painful. One by one, the powerful creatures succumbed, their fall marked by the heavy thud of their massive forms hitting the ground. In the aftermath, Derek emerged from the chaos with everything coated in blood and viscera, including Derek. He stepped out of the melee, leaving blood soaked footprints across the ground.
He looked around for more enemies before relaxing. A quick spell washed a majority of the blood from his body. Derek collected the minotaur’s weapons and stored them away. They would make a suitable gift for Leroy.
Derek’s boot connected with the backdoor of the sporting goods store, sending it flying open with a loud crash that echoed off the silent aisles. The air inside was stale, filled with the untouched scent of rubber and fabric. Apparently, this sporting equipment wasn’t valuable during the apocalypse because the place was surprisingly untouched. Rows of kayaks and bicycles stood in neat order, a stark contrast to the chaos outside. He swiftly moved through the aisles, his footsteps the only sound, picking up all the dehydrated food, climbing ropes, and swimming gear he could find. An expensive GPS caught his eye. With the shatter of glass, the device was promptly handed over to the interface, integrating a higher quality GPS system.
With the addition of the GPS his mapping system was restored and he was able to use the interface to merge the GPS mapping software with online mapping software. He didn’t understand how it worked, but the interface could manage some incredible things if asked properly. Now that his location wasn’t relying on the internet, the satellite used positioning information to merge a lot of online information into an offline format for Derek’s interface. He could track stores and locations, browse, making notes, and link specific notes to certain places.
Back in the real world, his eyes scanned the store, taking in the untouched shelves and the oddly pristine gear, a reminder of a world that no longer existed. Anything that seemed remotely useful, he stored away, for what his family might need.
Once he was done, he was off to another location, which were dead ends being two previously looted grocery stores. The first was a ‘settlement’ of sorts occupied by orcs of a wide variety. Regular orcs were being treated as servants as they brought in food for the stronger orc warriors, orc shamans, and orc mages. That food was exclusively of the human variety, both alive and dead. The parking lot was a makeshift barricade of cars that were moved to building a fortification around the entrance.
As Derek neared, the air filled with the discordant clamor of orc shouts and the clatter of poorly maintained weapons. The door guards, orcs with a false sense of authority, were no match for Derek’s resolve. His weapon of choice for this battle was the two-handed minotaur axe that could split their helms like they were gory piñatas.
Derek stood out front of the store and used his air horn to lure the orcs outside into a one-sided battle that turned the parking lot into a blood-soaked cataclysm. His axe, pretending to be a blender, chopped orcs apart with relentless fury. The horde of orcs slammed into him like an army of cannon fodder, only to meet their end.
The orcs dispatched, Derek stepped over their fallen bodies, his boots crunching on scattered debris. The automatic glass doors ripped from their hinges, the frames lay shattered on the floor, glass covering everything. Once the store had been brightly lit, but now was dark. Its layout was vastly different from the original. Fruit stands that lay in the entry to catch customer’s attention were now laying off to the side, leaving the entrance clear. Shelves that once held packaged salads were laying on their side and shoved against the wall, creating more space in the center. Packages that once held food were crushed and flattened from the pounding of feed. A pile of dead humans sat in the center, blood pooling around the corpse pile. A group of humans, the living kind, sat bunched up in a corner where fresh bread had once been neatly arranged. They were beaten and abused, not even looking up as another flood of orcs met the impenetrable wall of his axe.
The shaman’s spells splashed against Derek’s elemental shields. When the shamans cast localized earthquakes and stone spikes, Derek simply dodged, sending bolts of lightning toward them. Mages fared much the same, as his own spells were much more powerful than theirs. Derek spin an arcane shield spell together, completely changing the tide of the magical battle as their spells splashed useless against his more powerful barrier.
The inhabitants of the grocery store were completely wiped out without effort. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any food left, and he had to move on empty-handed of supplies. At least their loot would help his family. A makeshift cage was constructed of rubbish that held animals, mostly household pets and humans. All of which were obviously food.
“Thank you!” A man cried as Derek ripped the door from the makeshift cages free.
Most of the captives had been wary about him, but his slaughtering the orcs had been enough for them to show that he was on their side. Derek glanced at the freed survivors. He felt a flicker of satisfaction knowing his actions had saved lives, but he didn’t dwell on it. He couldn’t afford to get attached or distracted. The world was too dangerous, and he had to stay focused on his mission. Without a word, he turned and left, moving on to his next destination.