Ethan stumbled as vertigo assaulted his senses but remained standing as his feet hit rough, cracked pavement. He held something, and as he looked down, he noticed the sword he’d used in the combat Trial. Ethan frowned but shook his head. He looked around and saw the state of his city.
Windows were shattered, and the roads were cracked. Trees and vines grew all over the area. Next to him was a rusted pile of metal.
“Aww,” Ethan lamented as he recognised it. “My car!”
He shook his head and started walking.
“Hmm. I don’t think there’s anything I need in my apartment. Any clothes have probably rotted, based on the amount of time that seems to have passed. I don’t think nature would have reclaimed the city this much within months. I think this is years of time.”
He walked down the street and activated his Spatial Sense. Ripples formed all around him, originating from objects and structures. The bigger the structure, the bigger the waves. As they intersected and struck each other, Ethan received an image of the surrounding area, sort of like echolocation.
“That’s pretty cool,” he muttered. “I can see around corners and through walls with this.”
It had a limited range but still covered a fairly large area.
“I need to find my mom and sister,” he mumbled. “I’ll head to Mom’s place first and see if they’ve returned.”
Ethan picked up his pace and moved through the broken city but stopped after a few blocks as he sensed something approaching.
From his Spatial Sense, he saw a large, four-legged creature approach from a side alley. It was leaning forward and walking slowly as if sneaking up on him.
Ethan gripped the sword in both hands and prepared to channel Qi through his body. The creature walked around the corner, and Ethan saw that it was a huge wolf. It stood almost as tall as him and bared its fangs at him.
Ethan saw its muscles tense and reacted. He activated Void Step, appeared behind and to the creature's side, and stabbed forward.
His Qi-empowered thrust pierced deep and drew a pained yelp from the wolf. It tried to scurry away, but Ethan kept on it, swung the sword in a low, horizontal arc, and hit one of the wolf’s legs. Crippled, it slumped to the ground, and Ethan finished it off with another thrust.
[You have slain a Wolf - lvl 3.]
“Hmm,” Ethan frowned. “That took a lot of Qi; in fact, it spent some of both types. I can’t use that many Void Steps before I’m out. That complicates things. I need a location with both types to cultivate and restore, but I’m pretty sure they’re rare. Where would I find Spatial and Void Qi? Hmm, well Spatial is space, so a very tall mountain? Maybe I’ll find Void there as well, although I get the impression that the Void is a separate thing here and not like the void of space.”
Ethan grumbled and shook his head. He cleaned the blade and looked at the wolf carcass.
“Can I do anything with this?” Ethan frowned but eventually shook his head. “I have no idea how. I’d just waste time to ruin it.”
He turned around and continued walking, paying attention to his surroundings. The city was as broken as he’d first seen. Shattered windows, broken walls, and crumbling facades littered the roads. Some of the damage looked like wear and tear, but some appeared to originate from fighting or something large and strong breaking through the area. The sounds and smells of the city as he knew it were gone, replaced by birdsong, the buzz of insects, and the fecund smells of nature. In the distance, he heard snarls and roars, causing him to take a detour to avoid unneeded risks.
He’d walked for an hour when he froze. His eyes were locked on a building he had been walking past.
“Is that?” Ethan wondered. “That looks like barricades—man-made and not from some collapse.”
His eyes flitted around the street, but eventually, he walked closer. The barricade was a collection of rubble. Piled high were concrete blocks, furniture pieces and other odds and ends. There was a hole in the middle of the barricade, where something had broken through.
Ethan saw parts of the rubble strewn within the entrance hall of the large building. He stopped by the breach and listened.
“I hear nothing,” he thought, peering into the darkness. “But, there’s a metallic smell coming from within. I don’t think anyone is in there, and I don’t feel confident checking it out. Oh, wait! Spatial Sense.”
He closed his eyes and extended his Sense. Ripples formed and expanded around him, revealing the corridors and rooms within the building. He frowned and gritted his teeth as he saw the blurry outlines of humanoid bodies on the floor, some missing limbs or other pieces. Near the back of the building, in a large room, he sensed a creature. It was large but looked to be curled up, so he couldn’t determine what it was.
“Is that-?!” Ethan noticed more shapes in a side room. The only entrance or exit to that room was through the chamber with the beast. He sensed movement within the room. “People! There are people alive in there! Is it keeping them alive for later?”
Ethan ground his teeth as he weighed his options.
“Can I beat that thing?” Ethan pondered as he began pacing. “I don’t even know what it is. It’s big, so it’s probably strong. If I can avoid it, I might be able to do something, but that’ll drain my Qi. But I can’t leave the people to die, can I? Should I leave and return later, hoping they’re still alive?”
Ethan rubbed his neck as he thought but eventually shook his head and walked into the building.
“If I don’t even try, I’ll never forgive myself,” Ethan thought as he moved carefully through the corridor. “I might be able to distract it or draw it away so they can escape, at least.”
As he walked, he looked for any sign of movement from the monster while also trying to ascertain anything about the survivors. The beast hadn’t moved much except for what appeared to be steady breathing, but there was some movement from the survivors. They seemed to move slowly among each other, but a few didn’t move at all. As Ethan got closer, the image grew clearer, and he could count seven people in the small room.
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Eventually, he could see the monster clearly enough, too. It was a massive bear. Lying down, it would be taller than Ethan.
“Holy shit!” Ethan’s eyes widened, and his breathing quickened. “That’s insane!”
Ethan stumbled due to the shock and kicked a broken piece of the wall, sending it clattering through the corridor. He froze as he heard a snort, and saw the giant bear move through his Spatial Sense. It rose to its feet, looked around and started walking toward him.
Ethan took a few steps backwards before he stopped and frowned.
“Wait,” Ethan looked around. “This corridor is narrow. The bear should struggle to fight here. If I lure it into the corridor, then Void Step behind it.”
His planning was interrupted as the bear burst into motion and dashed through the broken doorway into the corridor. It locked eyes with Ethan, and he shivered. The bear's eyes were filled with hatred and a disturbing intelligence. It roared and rushed at Ethan.
He activated Void Step and reappeared behind the bear, slashing and stabbing while empowering his body with Qi. Wounds appeared but closed quickly.
“Shit! It regenerates?”
Ethan was sent flying by a backward kick and smashed into the far wall. He coughed blood as he slid to the floor and watched the bear struggle to turn around before simply smashing the walls to give itself enough space.
“Urgh. Guh!”
Ethan could barely breathe as the bear growled and approached.
“Fucking hell. Is it laughing?”
He clutched his side and stumbled to his feet. His sword hung loosely in his hand.
“I need to deal a significant blow, preferably kill it in one go. Or, I could try to escape. If I do, it’ll probably take its frustration out on the survivors… Fuck!”
The bear was taking its time, moving slowly as if savouring Ethan’s despair.
Ethan kept channelling his Qi, trying to breathe and recover while maintaining his focus on his adversary. Qi-filled blood dripped down his arm onto the blade, and Ethan’s eyes widened.
“Blood! Qi flows through my blood. Can I use that?”
He focused and pushed Qi through his veins into the wound on his side, causing a spray of crimson to coat his arms and sword. He managed to maintain a tether, linking the external blood to his internal control, and Ethan grinned.
Channelling Void Qi through his blood, he coated the edge of the sword with the Void and dashed forward. The bear looked surprised and rose on its hind legs.
Ethan used Void Step to move past its guard and appeared very close, already thrusting. The Void-enhanced sword pierced deep into its chest. The bear roared in pain, and Ethan twisted the blade before Void Stepping away. The bear fell and slammed into the floor where he’d been standing. It tried to move toward him, but he Void Stepped once more, appearing on the other side of its head, and swung the sword down on the beast’s neck, almost severing it entirely.
[You have slain a Dire Bear - lvl 8.]
[Level Up!]*3
Ethan fell to his knees, clutching his side as he channelled the remainder of his Qi to seal the wound. His sword fell from his hand as he panted and heaved for breath.
“Fuck this hurts!”
He groaned and grumbled as his breathing gradually steadied, and Qi began flowing into his body again. He dragged himself toward the wall and slumped against it with his eyes closed. He kept Spatial Sense active, but nothing came to check on the event. The survivors had heard the scuffle and huddled together in the room, and nothing else moved within his sense range.
“Heh. I'm glad I fought it, then. I don’t think the survivors would have dared to move if I had lured it away. Anyway, levels. Let’s check my status. Hmm. Five points to allocate per level. Haah. Alright. I think I need to focus on my physical capabilities a bit, but I shouldn’t disregard my Spiritual stats. More Qi capacity, even if I can’t fill my core space with attuned Qi, would be useful.”
He put three points into Vitality, Strength and Agility, then three into Essence and Attunement.
After he was done, his status looked like this:
Name:
Ethan Marshall
Race:
Human
Class:
N/A
Level:
4
Stage:
1 - Spirit Initiation
Stats
Body:
Strength
4
Agility
5
Vitality
6
Mind:
Intelligence
3
Wisdom
2
Willpower
1
Spirit:
Essence
6
Harmony
2
Attunement
6
The rush of energy flooding his body was intoxicating, and Ethan found himself grinning after the sensations faded. His breathing eased further as his body grew stronger and better able to heal his injury.
He took a few more minutes to recover before he got to his feet.
“My side feels strained, still,” Ethan thought, quickly wiping his sword on the bear’s fur. “But, as long as I don’t do anything too strenuous, I should be fine.”
He walked slowly through the corridor, toward the room where the bear had slept, and crossed it toward the isolated room on the opposite side.
Once he got close enough, he could hear soft mumbling coming through, but his knock was answered with silence.
“It’s alright!” he said through the door. “The bear’s gone. You’re safe.”
The door opened slowly, revealing a haggard, harried man looking at him with a desperate gaze. The man’s eyes flitted around the room and locked onto Ethan’s bloodied side.
“It’s dead?” he asked.
Ethan nodded, and the man cried in relief. Ethan heard sobs from behind the man and stepped back.
“I’ll give you some space,” he said. “But, I think some air would do you good.”
It had not smelled nice in the room.