Mayors moulded their settlements to their own tastes. Some had guards stationed at every street corner, ready to lash out for the least of offences, while others committed to free cities devoid of all rules and sensibilities. Either way, public privacy and human rights became things of the past.

Wilfrid Pember - Historian- The Start of the Apocalypse

___

Opening his eyes, Silas woke to the sight of a great owl roosting above him on the translucent covering. Heartbeat thumping, he tumbled down from his seat and scrambled to his feet. He snatched his spear and stood alert while his mind toiled at making sense of the situation. How long had it been there? Why hadn’t it killed him yet? Should he kill it?

The owl had clearly dozed off underneath the beaming suns and left itself vulnerable. All it would take was a spear through its gut and bam, no more pesky owls stalking him. And yet this idea pulled at his conscience: was it not right to spare it after it had spared him?

Then again, this was a predatorial beast grown to epic proportions: who knew when its primal urges would take over and cause it to savage him mercilessly. On the other hand, what if this was a trained owl which took fondly to humans? It would certainly explain why it had kept itself from killing him so far as perhaps it saw humans more akin to companions than food.

Fighting down a sigh, he stared at it for several more heartbeats before quietly collecting his stuff and creeping away. In truth, the matter that had kept his hand was the fact that he didn’t know if this owl was just naive or in fact cunning. He still got a bad feeling from it, and that made him cautious to the point he would rather escape than make use of the opportunity to kill it.

When he was a few paces away, the owl opened its eyes and watched him with glittering eyes, its face pinching up with glee. A few moments later as Silas turned around to check if it was still asleep, he was relieved to see an owl very much drifting through its dreams.

****

Hidden in the crowd, Olivia walked in line, her head dipped with the shadow of her cowl covering her face. She groaned and rubbed at her rumbling stomach as she moved, a wry smile almost making it onto her face as she thought of how she was returning to square one.

Before the Apocalypse, she had been a destitute tool for others to profit off. But she had thought that life was over when she awoke to the tutorial, when she had spied the grounds abound in food and companions who lacked the luxury to judge her for her past. The violence had been present from the start, sure, but her teammates had taken it on for her. All had seemed fine, at least until they had died.

It had been her fortune that others had found their broken group then, eventually pushing through the bosses and closing off the tutorial. She had come to Earth joyous, ecstatic to finally be away from the monsters with their curved claws and their fierce overbites. But it wasn’t to be: this wasn’t Earth, this was Idroa, a planet teeming with ghoulish beasts and just as cruel people.

New Derby had been a fine town at first with plenty of homes to go around and a surplus of food. But then more and more had flocked to the settlement, and she had found herself kicked out of her house, back on the streets, back scavenging for food, and back in the company of monsters wearing human skin. And that was all without mentioning the hordes, the ghastly hordes that washed the streets with blood every week.

Suddenly caught by the shoulder, she turned in horror as a well-armed man stopped her. “Your kind ain’t welcome here,” he said with cold, predatory eyes. He had a bright red armband displaying a gilded circle with two dots inside, indicating his position in the garrison.

“I’m… I’m here for food,” she replied hastily.

Her stomach reeled as his cold eyes undressed her, a sneer forming on his pockmarked face. “Ha, maybe I’ll have you later then.” He released her and slapped her behind as she rushed away, lowering her head further and wiping her dewy eyes.

She felt ashamed to go back to her old life, but how else was she to survive when there was so little to go around? The thought elicited a cruel chuckle from her mouth: foolish Olivia, thinking herself better than she had been her entire life. Sheepishly pushing through the throng, she made it to the greengrocer displaying his fresh produce with high-levelled thugs standing guard.

His cheery, flushed face made eye contact with hers and she found her breath catching in her throat. She forced her voice out, “I’m here for the offer.”

He gave a friendly chuckle as he pointed to an adjacent building, simultaneously gesturing a guard to take her. His attention flitted from her, and she found herself escorted through the giant, gaudily furnished building, smelling sex and hearing grunts as the guard led her to the dressing room.

Foolish Olivia, thinking she could be better.

****

Ish watched Riverside from afar, his eyes darting across its shimmering river, cobbled streets, and its lively populace. Taking the trinket out of his pocket, he raised it to his ear and waited for a connection.

Ding

“Ish, how goes it?” Kore spoke from the other side.

“Silas set out from Riverside yesterday, seemingly for a long trip as he left a woman called Elise in charge in his absence. In truth, she was already mayor in all but name while he was here, but his departure has led to some troubling events,” Ish replied coolly.

“Anything concerning our troops there?”

“Potentially. The development of our sector of the village is going well, and I believe Elise truly intends to give us a permanent place here. We’ve been supplied with ample food and resources so far, and most of the locals haven’t given us trouble,” Ish said, his voice lowering.

“Well, that sounds excellent, but I get the feeling all is not well,” Kore replied.

“There is a faction manufacturing unrest at our stay. They’re led by Michael, a Gladiator of considerable strength, and all signs point to him taking his grab at mayorship tonight. I interrogated one of his underlings and learnt he plans to catch the entire council at once after their meeting.”

Lyfort’s mayor hummed thoughtfully. “Troubling indeed. What are his explicit views toward us?”

“It seems he and his faction believe Riverside can stand by its own feet, and that our increasing influence is something to be wary of. While I’ve heard rumours he means to cast us off when he becomes mayor, I can’t confirm that just yet.”

“And what about the man himself? What have you learnt of him?”

Ish spied upon the Gladiator’s house in the distance. They were several specks standing guard around it, his loyal troops. “Powerful, wily, and careful. A far more dangerous leader than Silas in all. His weakness would likely be his lust or his overly cautious manner.” Right after the ryfin finished, he heard the satyr chuckling from the other side.

“Has he shown any interest in Krisa or any of the other nymphs?” Although the question sounded genuine enough, Kore’s tone gave away the fact he already knew the answer.

Sighing, Ish answered, “Yes, he’s shown interest in them.”

“In which case, it doesn’t matter which side comes out on top from their scuffle,” Kore said in a tone that suggested finality.

Setting his jaw, the ryfin carried on, “But I believe Silas’s faction would be better suited to win. They’re more partial to us, and they’re better used. If you give the order, I can ruin Mike’s plans before he even starts on them tonight.”

Kore clicked his tongue. “The Avatars’ order remains the same: do not antagonise the humans. Even if one faction is more partial to us, we shall maintain impartiality as long as we can make use of whichever one comes out on top.” His voice suggested quiet reproach as if he was reprimanding a child.

It was a while before Ish calmed his tumultuous emotions. “Understood.”

“Excellent. Contact me when it becomes clear who the victors of tonight are. If either faction tries to attack you, kill the aggressors and flee from Riverside. We can always come back, anyway.”

____

Uehara Azumi, the Spectre, was originally a convenience store assistant from Japan. Although she passed the hard tutorial, her teammates had very little to say about her other than that she was quiet and easily overlooked. On arrival to Idroa, she set up Nakano, seemingly by herself, before other people came and populated it. This is a significant point as the majority of Nakano’s inhabitants claimed to have not seen Azumi during their stay.

Instead, the four lords of Nakano ruled the village in her stead while simultaneously searching for her. It is known she made use of her mayoral powers during the nights to spawn building materials, leaving them with notes, and that she helped out with the hordes using her supernatural abilities. However, Azumi remained unspotted for several weeks until…

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age