“Shit, we’ve got another monkey!”

Rich gritted his teeth, raising his Shield of the Ancients just in time to block a devastating blow from an iron-clad gorilla.

It had only been a few days since the Void had arrived, but he had adjusted surprisingly quickly to this new lifestyle. Almost too quickly. He suspected that that had something to do with the Void's 'limit removal', but for now he was just grateful to be able to concentrate entirely on surviving.

The force dissipated out into his Rooted Boots, and the screen in front of him changed to reflect his new information.

Herald Ape - Threat Level: E-

“It’s E-minus, too!”

A man half-made of stone stepped past him, raining a flurry of blows onto the ape. “I’ll cover you!”

He beat a steady retreat, slowly backing into the maze of hallways leading to the center of the complex. Jim was steadily trading blows with the thing, but he knew that the man could only maintain his stone form for so long.

But Jim had learned from his first encounter with a voidspawn.

“Alright, we’re all set!”

Jim landed a final blow onto the thing before booking it straight towards him. Cracks could be seen along his stony exterior, but Rich sighed.

They’d won.

The ape lumbered forwards, and he reached for something in his pocket.

Item: Burning Trap Detonator The trap will release a solid wall of flames onto the target. Single-use.

He and Jim ducked behind his shield, and the trap activated.

Woosh!

The windows blew out with the clinking of shattered glass, and a wave of fire rushed past them.

Credits Earned: 79

Rich grinned, stepping out to survey the damage. “Not bad, considering it took two of us.”

“Yeah. Won’t be enough to replace the trap, though.”

He grimanced. Because of its absurdly high 300-credit cost, the Burning Trap had been bought using his old smartwatch. It had been rendered useless the moment the Void had flooded in, but he had spent months saving up for it during high school.

And now they needed to replace it. They had traps like these in each of the four major entrances to the complex, but as the days dragged on they would get harder and harder to buy back.

The regular F ranked voidspawn just didn’t drop enough credits to help much, and any E ranked threats required the use of such traps in order to defeat them. It was only day three now, but if the Ashely rescue mission didn't show up today, who knew when they would?

“How many credits do you have total?”

Jim frowned, checking his status. “168 now. I’ll need about 20 of those for today’s rations.”

Status.

Rich called up his own System screen.

Status - Richard Wright Titles: None Threat Level: F+ Marks: None Credits: 190 Strength: 20 / 85% Dexterity: 18 / 78% Spiritual Strength: 11 / 69% Endurance: 22/ 89% Perception: 11 / 60% Spiritual Capacity: 17 / 93% Constitution: 16 / 70% Cognition: 14 / 75% Spiritual Regeneration: 12 / 71%

Oh, he had advanced a point in Constitution. That was a welcome surprise.

“190 here. Looks like we can just slip by if we pool our credits together.”

Jim sighed. “Dude, when are those representatives going to arrive? They said they’d be here by today.”

“I don’t know, Jim. It’s bugging me too.”

They walked back to the center of the complex and traded in their credits at the Shop. The representative had told them to use it to their fullest advantage while they were holding out, and he’d taken that message to heart.

His Burning Blade, Steady Boots, and Shield of the Ancients had all been the results of trades with the Shop, and he had plans for more items as soon as he saved up enough credits. They helped even the playing field between him and the Marked warriors, though that gap was also growing small by itself.

A dozen of their number had already either lost their Mark or died because of the costs.

When you had to fulfill strange obligations for half your day or when just the act of sleeping slowly burned you alive, it was a lot harder to fight off voidspawn.

"Ugh." He clenched his fist, cursing his situation.

All he could do was wait here and hope. Hope that help arrived, hope that his friends were safe, and hope that he'd be strong enough to get to them when the time came. It rubbed him raw, being this useless. Despite the dangers, his every instict screamed at him to just go out and look for them himself. Because at least then if he died he'd have done it trying his very best, instead of staying stuck here for who knew how long —

"Attention Second-Wavers!"

A voice boomed bout from outside the complex, and Jim stood up, eyes shining with hope.

"This is the Ashely Scouting Regiment, come to transport you back to our city! Rejoice, because there's no need to worry anymore. You're safe."

Murmurs arose from around them, and a bodybuilder rushed up into the main room, chest heaving with effort. "It's true! Come down, guys! They're really here!"

The murmurs turned to cheers, and they all quickly gathered their things, making their way down to the ground floor.

Rich gripped his still-unplaced burning trap in his hands, looking out at the crowd of seasoned warriors surrounding the building.

"Soon, guys. I'm coming for you."

* * *

In the center of a pitch-black cave, a young man sat with his eyes closed. His breaths came with the even preciseness of a disciplined expert, calm despite the horde of growling creatures just paces away.

He was the darkness. The darkness was him.

He was the darkness. The darkness was him.

He was the darkness. The darkness was —

His eyes snapped open, catching a voidspawn right as it lunged towards him.

Marked Viper - Threat Level: E-

His body screamed at him to move, to wave his arms and conjure up a storm of blades, but he stood perfectly still.

A Master didn’t need to move to defend themselves.

And he was a Master.

Time seemed to slow as the foolhardy viper shot towards his prone form, completely oblivious to its upcoming fate. With just a flick of his wrist, his Adept Mark of the Umbramancer could skewer the creature a dozen different ways.

But he needed more. In his past life, he could have slaughtered a hundred of these snakes without opening an eye. And while he hadn’t kept his stats, he had certainly kept his experience.

He was the darkness. The darkness was him.

As the venom-coated fangs of the voidspawn inched closer to his face, something changed within him. Enlightenment flooded back into his being, and a spike of shadow emerged from the ceiling, impaling the thing with a squelch of blood.

Credits Earned: 79

It had happened. And much smoother than his first time, too.

The cavern stirred, and the snake’s brethren circled him, ready to avenge their fallen comrade.

He blinked.

Shadow fell like an executioner’s blade, bisecting half of the creatures in a single strike. The other half hissed in horror, their forms slowly being strangled by a swarm of ephemeral hands.

A swarm of credit notifications blinked in the corner of his eye, but he ignored them in favor of another, more important screen.

Your understanding of the Mark of the Umbramancer has reached the Master Level. Title Gained: Master

It was confirmed. He was now a Master Umbramancer, which meant that…

As the bodies of the voidspawn dissolved, he pulled with his spirit. Their essence rushed towards him, and he inhaled it all in a breath.

He could feel his spirit getting stronger, but this little wouldn’t be enough.

He required more.

He slammed his palm onto the cavern floor, and a pool of Void sprung from it, coalescing around his arm.

“Come.”

The energy of the ley line surged, and his spirit swelled with raw, unrefined power.

This was the grand secret of the Mark of the Umbramancer, the technique which had lead him to become one of the foremost Champions of Humanity in his previous life. The power of darkness permeated his every fiber, and, as his body reached peak capacity, the Void started saturating his very being.

He kept pulling.

Half an hour later, he collapsed onto the floor, the Ley Line fully drained. His body was in shambles after conducting such powerful energy, but his spirit was strong.

It had been completely reforged in the fires of the Void.

“Status.”

He could have simply willed it to appear, but there was nothing here to hear him. Even if something would have wandered in while he was distracted, the raw energy of the Void would have dissolved them in an instant.

Status - Brandon Dean Titles: Marked, Giantslayer, Titanslayer, Master... Threat Level: D- Marks: [Hidden], The Mark of the Umbramancer Credits: 1429 Strength: 12 / 78% Dexterity: 11 / 89% Spiritual Strength: 40 / 113% Endurance: 9 / 60% Perception: 10 / 63% Spiritual Capacity: 23 / 91% Constitution: 10 / 67% Cognition: 20 / 90% Spiritual Regeneration: 27 / 94%

That was good, especially if you considered that he had done it all in three days. His Spiritual Strength had nearly doubled, and his other spirit stats had gained quite a hefty boost as well.

Still, when compared to the elite First-Wavers before him, he was barely noticeable. His physical stats were beyond pathetic, and while he was a Master, he didn’t have the armies of men behind him like he used to.

But all of those could be solved with time. He exited the cave, pulling up a crude map of the surrounding area. His next destination took him north, towards a small city just bordering the countryside.

It was time to pay the city of Ashley a visit.

* * *

Liz barreled through a stretch of woods, coming out into an open highway. The blue aura surrounded her even thicker than usual, and a sheen of sweat dripped from her skin, a clear testament to the physical strain she had undertaken. Despite that, as she stopped to catch her breath, she held a furious grin.

Half a day of running should have left her with aching legs, but with her healing energy, all she felt was some mild mental fatigue. Everything else was swept away in a wave of soothing blue light. This was the true power of healing — the power to go on and on without any worry of injury.

Nothing could catch her anymore. All the insects were too slow, and all the mammals too afraid of her.

She was actually dangerous now, wasn't she?

Yes, her body was slowly being deconstructed by her power, but that was fine. Her aura faded to nothing but a few wisps, and she looked out at the emerging city skyline.

Area: Ashley City - Minimum Rank: F-, Maximum Rank: E+

"I'm finally here..."

Something moved in the corner of her vision, and she saw an abnormally armored ant moving towards her.

Irregular Voidspawn, Knight Ant - Threat Level: F+(?)

"Oh hey... you're a perfect opponent to test out my new ideas with the hammer!"

She waited for it to approach her more, but the thing must have sensed her confidence, because it backed away with a nervous chitter.

"Wait, where are you going?"

She started after it, Breaker poised to strike, and it broke out into a full-on run. Despite its armored appearance, it was surprisingly quick in fleeing from her wrath.

"Huh."

Liz cracked her neck, the blue aura reappearing around her. She always liked a little race.