He woke up well rested, got dressed, and went downstairs to grab some breakfast. As he approached the kitchen, Ronny heard a crackling noise akin to electric shocks. Afraid something dangerous was happening, he sped down the remaining stairs and threw open the door.

Alone inside was Theo sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. Sounding the boy were little bursts of electricity that appeared to be a sort of miniature lightning. He didn’t seem to notice Ronny entering, despite how noisy he’d been.

He got a little closer and spoke, “Is that magic?”

Theo flinched in surprise, and the electricity did the same. It gave Ronny a painful shock as the kid opened his eyes, “You! How long have you been standing there?”

“Just got here. I’m grabbing a little bread before I head out for work. So was that magic or not?” Ronny had been hearing about magic and its useful applications since he’d arrived, but that was the first time he’d seen someone use it. As such, he was quite curious.

“And why do you care if it is?”

“So it is magic. Got it. It’s just the first time I’ve seen someone use it.”

That caught Theo off guard, “You’ve never even witnessed it?” Such a notion didn’t seem possible to someone like him, who’d grown up around it.

“Not until now! Say… how do you do it?” Ronny remembered that his magic stat was still a big, fat zero, and wanted to see if there was anything he could do to remedy that.

“There’s no point in teaching a talentless commoner like you. Magic is something you have to start learning when you’re young. Otherwise, it’s hopeless.”

Because Ronny understood the power of System by that point, he doubted the validity of Theo’s claims. He knew that all he had to do was practice something magic-related for a while. As such, he didn’t bother trying to get Theo to teach him anything, “Is that right? Well I’ll just be having breakfast then. Care to join me?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself.” Ronny ate his loaf alone that morning. He wished Theo a good day as he left, and of course, didn’t get a response.

The weather outside was windy and overcast on that day, but that weather conditions didn’t bother his as long as it didn’t rain. He arrived to his destination after an uneventful walk, said good morning to some coworkers, and started working.

He worked tirelessly though those dull morning hours, up to the onset of Overworked. Before continuing in his weakened state, he took out a piece of bread he’d stuffed into his pocket that morning and ate it to refresh is Well Fed buff.

He’d found little tricks like that over the past week, just small things to improve his growth in both the monetary and stats-related sense. Things like picking up only the lightest-looking bricks or looking for easy-to-reach places on the wall to put them were minor on their own, but together, the differences added up.

After his lunch, he continued. It was strangely quiet on that day, but he didn’t think much of it. There was always a sense of quaintness in the construction site, so it didn’t feel that different.

Progress on the wall was slower the city had wanted it to be, but steady. There were still a few holes in it in some parts, but none that wouldn’t be filled by the time the war began. At least, that was how things appeared to be.

The nasty truth was that the Demon Army had already learned about the wall’s weak spot from a certain someone. If someone looked over from the top at that moment, they would have experienced an all-encompassing dread. There was a force of a few thousand demons standing just outside the wall, waiting patiently for it to fall. They’d approached quietly on foot as to not be heard and nobody had a clue that the only thing separating them from death was a damaged wall.

The cannons fired. In seconds, dozens of explosions hit the wall’s base. The damage destroyed the scaffolding many masons were working from. Dozens of innocent people fell to their deaths.

Ronny—and a few others—instinctively ran to help the survivors. They’d just managed to start clearing the rubble when the second round of cannonballs came. Now, parts of the walls began to topple. A few dozen more died in that instant. Ronny himself just barely managed to dodge his death by jumping as far as he could the moment the explosions hit. The other people he’d been standing next to were dead.

It had only been twenty seconds since the first round of fire, but almost one hundred innocent people were already dead. All of the coworkers Ronny had come to be friends with were dead, but he didn’t have time to acknowledge that.

He scurried to his feet and got further from the wall. Most of the people that had survived had already run away. It was just him, The Boss, the elite masons, and a bunch of injured people that had no chance to survive.

The Boss spoke frantically, “Kid, you’ve got to get yourself away from here!”

“What about you!?”

One of the elites answered, “We used to be adventurers, Ronny! If others might live because of our sacrifice, there’s no option. We’ll try to hold them back.”

“You’ll die!”

“We know!” She pulled out a knife, “Just go!”

Just as Ronny was about to run away, the cannons fired a third time. This time, the wall began to collapse in its entirety. Another couple dozen died.

Demons came flooding into the city, seemingly indifferent to the rubble collapsing around—and above—them.

“All of you, not just Ronny, r-“ she didn’t get to finish.

The Boss’ severed head flew from her body. An unarmed hand had split her in two.

“The weak don’t need to die.” The man responsible for the brutal execution was a demon sporting ornate, jeweled armor and a long, steel halberd, “Run while you can.” His voice expressed no emotion at all.

The other masons who stood there, the one’s that had been The Boss’ close friends didn’t heed the demon’s advice. They lashed out at him with their fists.

Their heads laid landed on next to the what remained of The Boss.

The merciless demon turned to Ronny, “And what will you do, human? Retaliate or run?”

Ronny could barely stand. His knees shook ferociously, “You… killed them!”

“Correct.” The Demon wiped his halberd, “Now make your choice.”

He hesitated for a moment. Running was the obvious option, but his emotions didn’t give him the luxury of rational thinking. “I know I can’t kill you, much less any of your soldiers… but I can’t run either.” He made up his mind, “Let me check for survivors. Some people might still be alive, under that rubble.”

The Demon remained emotionless, “You’re a noble man. Very well then, look as you please. My men won’t harm you.” He added, “I’m Risitro of Sundenspur. The first son of the Demon King. Who are you?”

“What does it matter!? I can’t waste any more time talking to someone like you. People are dying!” Ronny ran to the wall, running through the Demon Army to get there. The crowd parted as he came through.”

Risitro murmured, “An interesting character…” He raised his voice to a shout, “Men, I ask you. Let this be as bloodless a conquest as possible. The King will meet his end within the hour.”

With that, Risitro and his men began their invasion. Soldiers behind the vanguard continued filtering into the city seemingly without end.