Daphne’s POV
It had taken them the whole morning to sneak back into the mall. She had only needed to kill a good few dozen inside. Mark dashing out of here had done exactly what they wanted, clearing the majority of the monsters out.
She was pissed at him for that but more so for lying to her.
The arguments on whether to stay or leave raged on around her.
She blocked it out and thought back to last night. Remembering the conversation she had had with Ethel.
“You know he left for the better right?” Ethel had broken the silence in the room.
Daphne stopped stocking the fire and looked up at Ethel.
“You heard him, it was all for his own convenience. He never trusted us, never trusted me,” she said with venom in her voice.
“Hmm, I wonder about that”
“What’s there to wonder about? He’s a manipulator just like Grace. I don't need that right now” Daphne said.
“Well, what could he have said to get you to leave?” Ethel asked.
Confusion hit Daphne.
“What do you mean? I wouldn’t leave anyone to die” she said.
“That's my point Daphney. You’re an incredibly righteous woman. Would you have left him behind, if he asked you honestly to leave him to his fate?” Ethel asked.
“Yes-” she said
‘No’ she thought. She would never leave a friend in that state. They could have escaped together or died trying.
The pieces started to fall into place and her pupils narrowed in realization.
Daphne’s head snapped up to stare at Ethel. Never mind the fact that Ethel looked like she didn't believe her.
“Did you know?... Did you know he was acting that way to get me to leave?” she asked.
Ethel pursed her lips and nodded.
Daphney sighed as her shoulders sagged. The anger she had been holding onto escaped her and a new one took its place.
“That asshat, if I see him again I’m going to punch him so hard” she cursed.
Ethel laughed.
“Save some of that energy for tomorrow, we’re going to need it”
They lapsed into silence once more, and eventually, Daphney let sleep take her. She woke up once in the night when Ethel had let out a violent string of curses.
Daphne had gotten ready to fight right away but Ethel told her it was a false alarm. She had looked pale and shaken. So Daphne had offered to take the rest of her watch, but Ethel told her it wasn't necessary.
Daphne brought her mind forward to the present. They were sitting in the Walmart surrounded by thirty-some people, currently arguing amongst themselves.
“We should just stay here, we have months of food and nothing’s bothered us till they showed up!” a woman shouted.
“No, let's grab everything here and make our way to the safe zone! Where the actual army is!”
They were going in circles at this point and just wasting time.
Impatience churned in her chest and when she couldn't take it any longer she stood up.
Aura moved up from her abdomen as if answering her desires. Her eyes glowed a reddish-gold light. Her presence descended on the room.
“Listen to me everyone, I know you are scared. These are hard times, but if we are to survive we need to stick together. If you all put your trust in me, I will make you a promise now, to get each and every one of you to safety. But we need to leave, staying here is a death sentence.”
Reining in her Aura, she waited next to an approving-looking Ethel for their decision.
One by one they joined her group until the vote was unanimous. Within the hour, they left the mall, heading for Prospect Park.
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Mark awoke to the rays of the afternoon sun streaming into his room. It took a moment to figure out where he was.
Realizing he was in the skyrise apartment he got up off the floor.
He expected some pain, but when he looked down at his arms, all he saw was a collage of fading scars.
Some were worse than others, but all were sealed or at least scabbed over.
Boe got up from his place next to Mark with a wagging tail.
Mark was so thirsty.
Grabbing a bottle of water from his inventory, he unscrewed the cap and drank greedily.
Panting and sated, he made sure Boe had some too
Mark checked his phone, it was 2:13 PM.
He had only slept for three hours. He felt himself out and couldn't feel any problems physically.
He felt much more mentally awake after that power nap. Not 100% but the difference was really noticeable.
Had he really recovered from all of that, that quickly? Did it have to do with his stats?
His Prana was sitting just over halfway. To be honest he’d done more with less.
Mark let out a slow breath like a deflating balloon.
Just sitting there for a moment taking in the quiet.
No monsters were trying to kill him or people attacking him. Just the warm afternoon sun at his back and a calm apartment.
Mark’s daze was eventually shattered when he noticed Boe’s once silky coat was matted with dried zombie blood and gunk. There were some areas that he had gotten to by licking clean, but overall he looked gruesome.
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Mark's eyes traveled the room until he found a nearby mirror, and the Mark that looked back at him now was not one he had seen before.
The arms of his jacket were almost completely torn away revealing the litany of scars and scabs below. His bracers had lost much of their luster, covered in hundreds of small nicks and scratches. The stained gloves gave off a dark air.
His jeans were ripped in multiple places, but they were jeans, so maybe if one ignored the blood stains, people would think it was style rather than damage.
Splatters of blood covered his face like freckles.
He had a heavy six o’clock shadow and if you looked carefully enough. One could spot the dried clumps of blood, sitting in his dark brown hair.
However, it was his eyes that showed the biggest changes. They were still the same brown that had stared back at him all his life, but now they seemed to hold a strength that wasn't there before. An unwillingness, to break under the pressure of this new messed-up world
Altogether he gave off an office worker turned biker, vibe.
The only thing he needed now was the Mad Max outfit and he’d be right at home in the apocalypse.
Mark snorted and moved to the bathroom. Clicking his tongue to call Boe.
There was only a shower, but Mark had to stop himself from hugging the bathroom feature.
It took a minute to wash the dried mess out of Boe's hair and he only had people shampoo, but on the bright side, Boe’s coat now smelled of apples. So there was that.
Mark toweled Boe off and let him roam the room still damp, what did he care if the water ruined something?
Jumping in the shower himself. He washed the layers of grime and blood away. Watching as the stream of pink water, slowly spiraled down the drain.
His mind wandered back to the church and its inhabitants.
He kept expecting to feel guilty but he never did. Those people had chosen their path. Same as Mark had chosen his.
He couldn't help everyone, he knew that. There was just too much pain to go around.
But he knew, if he could stop people from bringing more into this world, he would. And he wouldn't think twice about it.
Mark got out of the shower and toweled off. Looking at his old clothes he decided to rummage through the cupboards and draws.
Padding over to them he found a new pair of jeans and jacket to replace his old ones. He was a little taller than their pervious owner but they'd work.
Not wasting any time he sat down and dropped into his [Meditation] skill. It took him a couple of hours but he managed to top off his Prana.
Source: Mediation (+1 Prana, +2 exp points)
Once he was done he bought Boe and himself another treat at the cost of another 2.2sp.
While he crunched on his apple he looked at the spell and skill he’d gotten. He hadn't exactly been in the best head space this morning so he took another look at them again.
The [Read Memory] was a little dark when it came to the warning, but he couldn't argue it was a useful skill. Not necessarily in combat but he could see himself using it like a lie detector. If someone were to willing let him he could solve a lot of disputes.
Of course, there were the less savory uses.
He wasn't really sure how he had gotten the [Limit release] skill because it seemed like something an Aura user would have as a last-minute hail mary.
Mark wasn't complaining though.
If fact he was in a unique position to use it repeatedly. A normal Aura user would no doubt be able to get more out of the skill from one use, however, after that one use they would be crippled.
Mark on the other hand would be able to use it as fast as he could repair the damage.
Sure his wouldn't be as strong, as it was only enhancing the strength of a base human. But if he used this right it was still an overall boost in strength.
He was feeling better than he had in hours.
Of course, the Corruption chose this moment to make itself known. The aches flared and sharp pin-like pain traveled down his spine. Causing Mark to let out a grunt as his back muscles spasmed. Twisting into knots that would not unclench. Mark had to breathe through his teeth until the crippling vertigo passed.
Mark got up panting, flushing his back with Prana. He found signs of damage to the muscle, tendons, and ligaments. Almost like they had tried to rip themselves apart.
He smiled.
“Nice try, but I finally think I have an answer for you,” he said to the air.
Closing his eyes he brought his will forward.
Over the last couple of hours, he had kept the ward up out of necessity. His survival depended on it. But with the practice he’d gotten from maintaining the ward he was sure he’d be able to use this for something he’d long since put off.
Mark moved to his pool of Prana and saw it brimming with life. He was full. However, he could still see the Prana slowly seeping in from outside.
His regeneration, the excess just burned away and dispersed.
This was exactly what he was looking for. He began to move a small amount of the regen to one of his spells.
Feeding the Prana into [Corruption recovery] and holding it there. Mark opened his eyes and felt the slow battle taking place in his body. As a small constant charge of Prana burned at the Corruption.
He had originally deemed this too distracting to use constantly, but things were different now. His mind was stronger. Whether it was the stats or something, else wasn't worried about it taking too much of his concentration.
Moving around without any difficulty confirmed it, he would be able to keep his [Corruption recovery] running full-time. With his current regen, he’d be able to drop his Corruption value by 1.5% every hour. It did slow his regen to nothing again, but he could do it whenever his Prana was full.
With that sorted Mark took his Glock out of his inventory and loaded it. Slipping it into his holster.
When he was done another thought occurred to him.
He pulled the Corrupted seed out of his inventory to inspect it.
As the seed appeared a black layer of slime coated his hand. The seed was producing ichor.
He moved to the tap and plugged the drain, letting a stream of water wash it off.
The majority slogged off into the basin, however, the ichor that had come into contact with his hand became waxy, bonding to his palm.
It was a very small amount, hardly noticeable if one was fleeing or in combat. But it was there.
It was slow, but he could feel his Corrution value raising as the ichor was fading. As if being absorbed into his skin.
Watching it disappear he stoked his Prana to build a wall at his palm. Right away the consistency changed. The slime suddenly beaded up as if his skin was a hydrophobic material and the Corruption simply slide off his hand into the basin.
Mark looked at the seed.
After a moment of thought he triggered [Draw corruption].
He could feel the Corruption sitting in one large compressed ball right away.
The seed held an absolutely massive amount of corruption. He could also tell it was inert. Waiting for something.
When he began to pull the smallest amount of corruption towards himself, he felt it awaken.
Then completely against Mark's expectations, it began to fight him for the Corruption. Trying to pull back what Mark had taken. Its pull was much weaker than his, but if he let it, the inky blackness would slick back toward the seed.
Mark wanted to test something.
[Draw corruption] would only let him pull the Corruption toward himself, but what happened if he let it take it?
He stopped pulling and let the seed draw all its corruption back. But he kept the link open.
As if sensing it the seed began to pull from Mark's Corruption. He felt it ebbing slowly out and joining with the seed.
Mark was surprised and was about to happily let it continue when he heard a cracking sound from the seed.
Turning it over he saw a single black root poking out. It was only about an inch long, but the moment he saw it he said.
“Nope!”
Reversing the flow and drawing back everything it had taken from him. The small root withered and died in seconds.
So he couldn't do that right now, but what about if he burned away a little more of the seeds of corruption? Would he be able to use this thing to store excess Corruption? Or better yet, what happened when it was completely empty?
Of course that might take a while.
Right now this thing had enough Corruption in it to bring Mark to 100% at least ten times over. Mark brought the seed back to the main room and lost track of time during some tests.
Mark was resting on the bed with Boe snuggled up against his feet.
He was just thinking about how he could best take advantage of the seed when the sounds of gunfire came from the street below
Frowning Mark stored the seed and moved to the window.
The evening sun brought an orange glow to the room.
Moving along the road was what looked like a small squad of soldiers surrounding an even smaller group of civilians.
They were moving out in the open at a constant pace, killing anything that got close.
Although the light was fading. Mark could make out a couple of things.
One, they seemed pretty kitted out. Not some ragtag bunch of locals.
Two, the streets were emptying rapidly as they killed anything that got in their path.
And three, they were wearing blue armbands.