“Survival is a broad topic. For one it can mean running away from all of their problems. Another might just want to live day by day, barely reaching the next light of a star. And then there are those that want to thrive. Fighting against anything that comes their way… Which is the right definition? None of them.”

~ Into the Abyss by Lone Traveler

The man stilled, his mouth opening just a bit in a silent scream. Like a puppet with its strings cut he slumped against the wall once again as Leo removed the dagger from his head. The corpse slowly slid to the side, head meeting the ground in a heap.

As if alerted by the death of its host, the body spasmed, spitting out blood from every possible wound. From some places bits of blackened liquid flowed out, mixing with the blood on the floor. It seemed similar to Voidling blood, but not even Leo, who possessed an entire tainted arm, bleed anything other than red.

Definitely not natural. Leo thought, sitting against the opposite wall as he watched the blood create crimson rivers extending in every direction of the shed.

So much blood. Just a few days ago a sight like this was reserved for horrible accidents or crime scenes, but now? It was the new reality. Blood flowing everywhere, painting the world in shades of red. Monsters coming out from every corner, just waiting to tear your throat apart. And now the first living human Leo met, finished by his own dagger.

Leo’s deep seated morals tried to push the growing guilt at the forefront of his mind. But as he directed his empty eyes at the bodies of Voidlings and the lone human, Leo had to ask.

Why?

Why did his emotions try to punish Leo for doing what was right? Why did it really matter? The world he knew was dead. Gone forever. So why was his mind trying to judge him by the rules and morals of the old world?

Because I’m still a human.

Only a bit over a day passed since the world changed and while it was not enough time to shift Leo’s entire mindset, he didn't even try or want to change it. He could repeat a thousand times that he wanted to find and protect his family no matter what. But did he really mean it?

His method of survival depended on avoiding most of the Voidlings. Killing only those that noticed him. Hell, if this little shed had alive monsters inside, Leo knew he would have never tried to kill them. Better to run and leave them behind than have more blood on his hands. Or at least that was what Leo thought was right.

Path like this might prolong his life for a bit longer, but in the end, it didn’t make him stronger, didn’t make him more capable of finding his family. And even after the System warned him, Leo still followed this path. His morals and fears stopping him from doing what was necessary to survive and thrive.

“But now I see,” Leo murmured, his eyes glued to the dead body.

This man indirectly showed Leo that his old mindset had no place in this new world. It only held him back. To truly survive, Leo had to adapt, find the best way to deal with every situation.

Easier said than done, but that's what it's all about, eh? Those who can change and adapt faster to the new way of the world will thrive. While the others will struggle to see the light of the next day. Once again the clone was right.

Leo sighed, head resting on his hand as the dagger fell to his lap. This apocalypse really didn’t want to give Leo a break. Though maybe it was for the best. Deal with all of the problems now so he could focus on his goals after.

Either way, Leo had to change his attitude towards his continued survival. It might take hours, days or even weeks, but he had to try. Too much was on the line to continue acting like a scared boy hiding behind morals.

With the decision made, Leo let his gaze wander to the notifications that still required his attention. Reading the first line, he grimaced.

Awakened Human (Warrior LVL: 2) slain | Experience awarded | 2 Ether absorbed

Changing his mindset to become better accustomed to this new reality was one thing. But killing humans, other survivors? This was the line Leo hoped to never cross again, even if it was just wishful thinking. After all, you could never know how some of the survivors dealt with the end of the world.

Enough of that. Leo shook his head, trying to once more focus on the other notifications.

You are now level three. +2 DEX, +1 PER, +1 MIND. Please assign your 2 free attributes.

Leo’s advancement to the next level was probably the only positive thing that came out from this entire encounter. Now he had a bit more to work with when he encountered Voidlings next time, so no complaining there. Even if the way Leo got it was sketchy to say the least.

As for where the two free points were going? One to Strength, just like Leo planned yesterday. And the other to Mind. The attribute responsible for the control and regeneration of Essence was just too important.

Even the one point Leo put there after advancing to the second level increased his grasp on Essence enough to activate stealth much faster. With another point Leo hoped to get the time down to two or three seconds and maybe, just maybe try to improve the skill as for now it didn’t help a lot. Leo’s previous encounter with the Voidlings proved that much.

Also he wanted to finally get a grasp on Reinforcement as for now Essence always slipped between his fingers when Leo attempted to force the skill to activate. Besides, Mind was supposed to speed up the regeneration rate of Essence so it could never be a bad choice. Not when Leo wanted to have stealth active permanently.

Nodding, Leo approved his choice. He instantly grunted, all of his muscles tightening as Essence flowed through every inch of Leo’s body. He almost fell to the ground as his muscles relaxed, letting him breathe once again.

I really hope it won’t always be like this. It would be inconvenient if I ever had to assign my points during a fight.

Leo stood up, his joints snapping back into their place after sitting in such an uncomfortable position. He flexed both of his arms and while he didn’t gain bigger muscles out of nowhere, he could feel them working overtime without any additional strain.

This little fact made Leo wonder how the state of his body affected the physical attributes. Could he manually train his body to gain attributes or was he locked in his current state forever. Something definitely worth testing out later on.

Now let’s see if Essence will finally listen.

Like always, Leo closed his eyes and reached deep inside himself. A phantom hand grabbed tightly the flowing crimson energy and forced it to come out. Unlike the last time, Essence only fought for a brief moment, like a child that didn’t get their favorite candy. Then it realized that there was nothing it could do and obeyed, surging out.

And when the familiar barrier encompased his body, Leo gasped as he finally understood a bit more about his ability and Essence both.

Stealth wasn’t magically making him less noticeable. No, from what Leo noticed with his very limited understanding of Essence, the barrier was trying to imitate the natural energy of the environment. Thus giving a weak effect of blending in. Or at least that was what he observed when he felt the skill form once again.

It would also explain why the ability felt so unnatural in the beginning. Leo was used to the feeling of his own Essence, not the almost unnoticeable energy in the air.

Without even opening his eyes, Leo slowly touched every single inch of the barrier, hoping to understand even more about his most used ability. From head to toe, he left nothing unchecked.

Even during his first search, Leo noticed some irregularities. Holes that left the barrier incomplete. Places where the layer of Essence was too thin or thick. Or spots where Leo’s energy formed the barrier, but remained unchanged, refusing to do its job.

That’s probably the reason why this skill is only of a common rarity and doesn’t work too well. I wonder…

Keeping a tight hold on Essence, Leo poked one of the holes in the barrier and forced his Essence to fill the gap. Sweat formed on his brow as Leo’s soul energy moved, slowly entering the hole. It fought against his command, but he pushed until no sign was left of the gap.

With one of the many holes mended, Leo knew that his job was far from done. His Essence might have filled the gap, but it refused to act like the rest of the barrier, and with Leo’s current knowledge he had no clue how to fix it.

And so he moved onto the next hole and then another and another. Leo probably stood there for a few minutes trying to improve his ability. Only when he was about halfway through his task, he gasped for breath, eyes opening as Essence escaped from his grasp.

Leo leaned against the wall, hand on his knees. He tried too hard without enough control over Essence. And when he reached the breaking point, the energy turned on him, the barrier disappearing and leaving him breathless.

Definitely too early. Leo coughed.

Thanks to the newfound understanding of Essence and stealth, Leo wanted to push forward. He hoped to maybe improve the skill, but it seemed that the current state of his Mind attribute was far from enough to achieve such a feat. And now as he once again reached into himself, into the small pond of Essence inside his soul, Leo realized that it was almost dry, with only droplets of energy remaining.

That would explain the backlash. He reasoned, taking a series of steady breaths. Next time I will do it slower. Much slower.

Sighing, Leo promised himself to come back to this subject when his Essence regenerated. For now, he still had a shed full of bodies to deal with.

He approached the Voidling crushed underneath the metal shelf. Leo grabbed the object with both arms and grunted as he dragged the bundle of metal off the body, the additional point in Strength already showing its value.

Leo crouched next to the dead Voidling and just like with every monster before, his claws dug deep into the creature’s stomach. The Essence flowed through his arm, but it left like a small stream instead of the usual wave of power when he drained a Voidling.

Does Essence disappear over time? If so then for how long did this man lay there, half dead.

Leo shuddered. Was this the reason why the other survivor wanted Leo to kill him? If he had to lay there for hours, waiting for death then Leo couldn’t even fault him. But that raised an important question. Just how long could the System or Essence keep someone alive after suffering mortal wounds.

Leo hoped to never find out and moved to the other Voidling, wanting to forget about this subject.

Like with the other one, Leo gained only a bit of Essence from the corpse, pushing the sated status back to eight hours. Not the best outcome, but it wasn’t Leo who killed them, and besides there was still one more Voidling left.

Stopping by the last monster, Leo grabbed the hilt of the straight short-sword and pulled. The weapon slid out without a fight, black blood dripping from its rusty double-edged blade.

A quick Identify, let Leo know that just like his dagger, the weapon was a gift from the System for a warrior class. He took a few test swings and frowned when unlike his dagger the sword just didn’t sit right in his hand.

So without a respective weapon mastery, I can’t wield any other bladed weapon or what? I didn’t have this problem with dad’s pistol, though that might be because I already shot a firearm before… This system is really making this confusing.

Sighing, for now Leo placed the sword on the floor and raised his claws over the master's chest.

Ca-Caw! Caw!

Voidling left forgotten, Leo almost jumped away as his eyes snapped to the opened door, “A crow? What the hell?”

With his Essence reserves still almost empty, Leo tiptoed to the entrance and peeked out. His gaze jumped from tree to tree, branch to branch as he searched for the damned bird that almost gave him a heart attack.

Leo had to take a step out of the shed to take a look at the other side of the clearing and when he did, he also found the creature that definitely wasn’t a crow.

Shit.

The bird hung high in a tree. Hugging the bark with its claws attached to leathery wings. The black almost serpentine body lacked any feathers or limbs other than the two wings. If it wasn't for the color and the four red glowing eyes, the creature would blend perfectly with the tree thanks to its bark-like skin.

The monster opened its large beak and cawed again, another series of similar sounds soon echoing through the forest clearing. Letting Leo’s poor heart know that more beasts were near.

Seeker (Voidling) | Rank: F-

LVL: 2

Could be worse. At least it is only as large as a normal crow and seems weaker than me. But just how many of you are here.

Leo returned inside the shed, leaving the door open. In a matter of seconds, he drained the last Cursed Human. With a bit of torn clothing, he tied the sword to the side of his bag. The warrior’s weapon might not suit him, but it still could be useful.

Grabbing the trusty shovel with his claws, Leo’s normal hand landed on the holster of his firearm, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice. He once again took a peek outside and cursed when he noticed two more of those weird Vodilings.

Okay, just three birds with very sharp claws and beaks. Definitely doable.

With a deep intake of air, Leo stepped out of the shed only to stop in his tracks as twelve glaring eyes landed on him, caws once again filling the woods. Just to test something out Leo took a step back inside the shed and the birds immediately quieted.

Weird. I really hope they aren’t calling for reinforcement. That single thought made Leo move out again. Three flying monsters were enough, he didn’t need an entire flock.

And so Leo dashed towards the same path from which he came, the cawing coming back in full force. A quick look over his shoulders let him know that the birds definitely weren't planning on letting him run away

Leo jumped behind a thick trunk and flipped the shovel to his other hand as he brandished his claws.

Alright, you little fuckers, let’s play.