Jumping through the open doorway, he slammed it shut behind him. This burst of movement shot magma through his nerves, radiating from his abdomen wound. Finally securing the door, he braced himself for the incoming pain. Using his mana control, he removed the inflammation of the surrounding skin, making the wound let go of the weapon.

He yanked it out with a smooth slide, freeing himself of the accursed object. Quickly grabbing a nearby jacket, he tried to slow the bleeding. Actively casting Heal, the wound started closing up, a feeling of constant itching and poking flaring up. Within about 20 minutes, he was, while exhausted, alive.

Looking up at the other occupants of the room, his eyebrows creased. There were 2 couches sitting opposite the other with a short coffee table sitting in between. The walls were painted an ugly bright green. There were 3 women sitting in the room. The one who’d opened the door was his patient from earlier that day.

One of the other ones was almost 6 foot tall. She had long, smooth legs free of blemishes. Her clothes were very revealing, flaunting the small amount of cleavage that she owned. She was sitting on one of the couches, arms crossed and mouth screwed into a hideous snarl.

“Erm… H-hi. So… erm… do you come here often...?” he trailed off jokingly.

“Are you okay? How are you not dead?” Sachi, who he'd seen earlier that day, asked frantically.

“He’s a fucking freak, I told you we shouldn’t have let him in! He's like those monsters out there!” the blonde screeched out.

“Amanda, shut up! No one asked your opinion, so fuck off!” Sachi replied angrily.

“...You shouldn’t argue.” The other girl whispered.

Sachi whirled around on the person who just spoke up, causing them to let out a squeak and hide behind the unused couch. The quick glance Ashford had gotten showed the girl to be small and mousy. She wore a pair of slacks and a baby blue polo shirt with a nametag that read ‘Mairi’ along with a pair of massive glasses. Her visage was… undesirable as she was rather overweight.

Realizing who had spoken, her face fell and showed remorse. She hadn’t meant to scare the girl, but Amanda had been frustrating the hell out of her with her incessant complaining. When they’d heard Dr. Ashford yelling out, they had started arguing.

They’d been hiding in the room for over 6 or 7 hours now and Amanda didn’t want to give up their hiding spot. The creatures outside had tried knocking the sturdy door down but were unable to get through. None of them had made a peep so they had given up fairly quickly.

Pushing his ear up against the door, he shushed the girls. He could hardly make out several feet padding around on the outside, evoking a stutter in his breath. He also heard the crude, screeching language of the goblins. Looking around behind himself, he took in the three girls.

“Do you perhaps have a father by the name of Canton, ma’am?” Ashford asked, unsure whether it was truly the same person he was looking for.

"Yes, how did you know? Is he okay?!" Sachi shouted out suddenly.

"Yes, yes, no need to worry. I’ve got a plan." Ashford placated her to quiet her down.

"Really? What’s your plan?" Sachi whispered furiously.

"I’m not sure, haven’t thought of it yet," Ashford said with a big grin.

She stared at him, dumbfounded. She had assumed him to be intelligent going by his previous actions, but he seemed just as stupid as Amanda over on the couch. She silently bemoaned her situation. Sagging back into the couch, she started asking questions.

"What are you doing here? What’s outside of that door? Why aren’t you leaving? Why are you here? How do you know my father? Ho--” Sachi barraged Ashford with questions before he interrupted her, “STOP! Look, I get that you are stressed out, but we are all stressed out. I’ve nearly died several times today. I have more important things than to explain the details to someone like you.”

“Someone like me?! What the hell is that supposed to mean? What because I’m a woman? Or is it because I look Hispanic? What, I ‘wouldn’t understand’? Are you fucking serious?” Sachi raged on and on. She had constantly been told she couldn’t do what she wanted throughout her life. Her father may love her, but he tried to get her to do what he believed is right. That didn’t necessarily mean that it lined up with her wants and needs.

“Look, chill! I was just saying that I don’t have the time to explain, okay?” Ashford said defensively.

“No, that’s not okay! I deserve to know what the hell is happening!” Sachi screamed at him.

Right after her loud scream, they heard something banging on the door. Everyone’s heads whipped around to the door as it was beaten off the hinges. Only several seconds left before the door gives, Ashford started summoning Icicle Spikes.

Sachi scurried behind the couch Amanda was now also cowering behind. Her face was ashen in fear, and she started shivering as she heard the beats on the door. Her breathing got more erratic as she started to panic more and more. She felt the walls closing in on her as she sat there, cowering from the unknown.

As the door gave out a loud groan, the door hit the ground. Throwing an initial Fireball at the lead enemy, he saw something he wasn’t expecting. A massive 6-foot muscle-bound monster stood behind the door frame. Rushing his fireball, it impacted the creature’s chest, hurtling it back several yards. In its stead, several smaller goblins jumped through the open doorway. Each got an icicle spike to the chest, while another one strayed away and luckily speared the fallen behemoth’s head, killing him instantly.*

The three goblins were killed with the class C spell, this exchange gave enough time for the last opponent to enter the room, blocking the way. Upon seeing the last opponent, all he could feel was dread and despair.

The abomination that entered the room was a 9 foot tall monster with a protruding belly and distasteful pectorals. Despite his apparent figure, his arms were clad in tight, powerful muscles lending a sense of power to this grotesque monster. Its head was short and stout with a face that not even a mother could love. It also had short tusks protruding from its disgusting mouth.

He charged towards Ashford’s stalwart figure. Boosting his mana empowerment to maximum, Ashford body checked the ogre. Due to his massive increase in strength, the troll was sent flying. Knowing that he only had less than a minute with this power, he charged after the troll.

When he finally arrived at the ogre’s crumpled body, it jumped to its feet in a flurry of activity. He slashed out several times with razor sharp claws, drawing long, deep agonizing gashes in the chest of Ashford, causing him to cry out in pain. Looking at his health, he noticed that he was all the way down to 2 HP left. The monster had nearly obliterated his health with that one hit. Panicking, he threw all of his spells on standby after dropping empowerment. The ogre was pummeled with spell after spell until finally his mana was fully depleted.

Ashford collapsed on the ground, exhausted. He’d actually won against the horrible monster.

Letting out an exhilarated breath at the events, he looked over at the direction of the body to see a sight that froze him to his bones. The ogre started groaning before standing. Struggling to move his immobile arms, he lay there, helpless, as he watched the ogre approach. He thrashed against the mental barriers as hard as his frenzied mind could, trying to regain control of his body to no avail. As the ogre arrived above his body, he raised his gargantuan arm to deliver the final blow to Ashford.

His mind started whirling at top speed, trying to find a way out. A lone tear drifted its way down his dirt covered face. He'd been so close to surviving. So close, but he just wasn't strong enough. He'd once again die. At this moment, he heard a loud ‘SCHLUCK’ as he watched the ogre disintegrate into dust particles scattered along the wind.

Standing behind the ogre was Sachi. She was standing in a static pose, with what seemed to be a small dagger in her hand. He was able to see that her face was soaked in tears before she crumpled into a ball on the ground. Dragging himself up off the ground, he limped frantically to her.

Laying her on his lap, he slowly drew a strand of her lush hair away from her face. Her eyes started to flutter open during this and locked onto Ashford’s storm-blue eyes. Eyes watering up, Ashford whispered, “Thanks…”

Staring up into his eyes, Sachi felt her heart starting to beat against her chest. Glancing down at his lips, she licked her own. Her cheeks started reddening as her body started blazing in heat. Leaning up towards Ashford, they were interrupted by Amanda's screeching, “What the hell are you doing?! What if they come back? Get up!"

The moment ruined by the bitchy blonde, Ashford slowly helped Sachi get up. Once he checked her over for any wounds, they found their bearings again.

“We need to go. I’m here with your dad, Sachi. The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can get safe.” Ashford declared to the group of women before turning around and walking out.

“Should we follow him?” Mairi asked cautiously.

“What are you on about, of course, we should!” Amanda declared imperiously.

“O-oh… o-okay.” Mairi said timidly.

Continuing after Ashford’s receding back, they came across many horrible sights. Bodies were strewn across the floor, all turned on their backs, with their eyelids closed.

“We… we should go.” Ashford said.

“Yeah, we should go.” Amanda parroted mournfully.

Ashford looked at Amanda strangely for a moment before turning around and walking out of the store. Giving Canton the keys, Ashford let him drive so that he could defend them. They slowly got back onto the highway when a discussion broke out between the group. Speaking through the back window to Canton, Ashford asked, “So where should we go now? I was thinking we should go somewhere easily defensible. Any ideas?”

Ashford started thinking of possible hideouts, but he couldn’t think of any obvious places nearby that would really answer their problems. They needed someplace safe for the children and kids. There wasn’t anywhere to go. They couldn’t try a supermarket as they had too many entrances and exits, plus they would be targets for looters. They couldn’t just use a house as they were incredibly fragile in the face of these monsters.

Then, an idea popped up in Ashford's head. His face split into a grin as he started scheming. Delving into meditation, he spilled out large amounts of personal mana into a dense cube. He wasn’t sure what type of stone he wanted to create though.

Thinking for several minutes, he realized that it was something probably theorized on the internet. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he saw that there was still reception.

Searching it up, he came across a treasure trove of information on rocks. He finally decided on Granite, as the Wikipedia page said it’d been used for buildings such as the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest pyramid of the Pyramids of Giza. With such an outstanding resume, there was no way he could deny it’s usefulness. Reading further into its properties, he found that it was comprised of a ridiculous amount of detail that he read just to be able to pump into making the material.

He found the exact composition. He also found the weathering patterns amongst other things. Memorizing it all, which came easily due to his now rather high intelligence, he delved into meditation again. He grabbed the personal mana that he’d left floating in his aura, his personal sphere of influence, and started to press the ideas of granite into it.

He pressed the image of granite creation through magma created from the incredible pressure caused by the start of the earth, stewing on the inside of the earth for millennia, finally reaching towards the surface, certain elements being drawn out from the substance to finally create granite. He imbued the feelings of resolute stone, unmoving throughout the thousands of thousands of years. Always weathering the storm. Finally, he opened his eyes to see a massive chunk of granite several feet wide weighing down the middle of the truck bed. He saw people directing gazes that ranged from curious to terrified towards him. Ignoring them, he pulled up his notifications.

New Skill Created!

Item Creation Level 1(7%)

Classification A, Rank 5

Using your knowledge of the natural world around you, you are able to copy the nature of objects around you. If you have more understanding of the object you are trying to create, it will cost less Mana. The more complex the material, the more expensive.

Mana Cost: Dependent

Experience Awarded!

+100,000 Experience Awarded for Class A Skill Creation

You have leveled up x10!

LVL 4 > LVL 14

+30 Attribute Increases

Achievement Awarded!

A is for Archmage!

By using the natural mana around you and personal mana produced by your own body, you have developed a spell that has produced effects rivaling that of the gods’ own capabilities, if not capacity.

Reward: New Class Choice; Archmage

Status Screen

Name:

Ashford Meyers

Level:

14

Class:

Choice Available

Titles:

Mana Master

Experience:

100,810

EXP to LVL UP:

99,290

Health:

16/26

Mana:

29/32 > 83/84

Statistics + 30 > 0

INT: +10

E-1 > C-1

AGI:

G-1

WIS: +8

F-5 > D-3

DEX:

G-3

MND: +12

F-2 > D-4

STR:

G-2

CHA:

G-2

VIT:

G-3

Titles +

Skills +

Spells +

He was shocked by everything that had happened recently. He’d just created something. That wasn’t supposed to be possible by the law of conservation of mass. It made him scared for the possibilities from monsters.

He realized that his little group was extremely susceptible to any monsters that were rank D and up. He also realized just how hard it would be to truly have a safe life. He needed to get stronger, and fast.

“Hey, Canton, I need to talk to you,” Ashford called out.

“What’s up?” Canton responded nonchalantly

“I have something to tell you that you cannot tell anyone else about. Got it?” Ashford said discreetly.

“Yeah, I understand. What is it?” Canton perceptively.

“I need you to be on the lookout for an easily defensible place because I got a new ability. Now that I think about it, I still need to guide you on how to get the system,” Ashford pondered out loud.

“What system?” Canton asked curiously.

“Nothing, I’ll explain it later. Just look for places, preferably against a river or cliff face,” Ashford said mystically

“Roger that,” Canton said.

After several hours of driving around in the lush forest, Ashford and the group came across a sizable peninsula at the intersection of the Edisto River and Hope Creek. Stopping the truck, Ashford continued on foot to the desired location. Looking around and testing the ground, he decided that the location was suitable.

After getting the truck down onto the peninsula, he started talking with Canton about the castle.

“Before we decide to settle, we need to get the basic necessities. A small amount of firewood along with camping equipment such as tents and/or sleeping bags are a must. We should also get some food. I don’t know about you, but I’m currently starving.” Ashford ranted to Canton. Canton had quickly become his goto man, surprisingly enough.

“Alright everyone, let’s get going,” Ashford commanded everyone.

“Who the hell are you to order us around?!” Sachi raged at Ashford. Despite their earlier moments, it was obvious that his recent actions had annoyed her beyond belief.

“I am the man who saved your pretty little ass, and also the one who will continue to see it to safety. Now, I understand that we may all be high-strung, but you need to listen to me. If you don’t listen and do exactly what I say, as I say it, when I say it, you will die a horrible, painful death at the hands of the predators, monster and human alike that surround us!” Ashford ranted. He’d been getting the stink eye from Sachi ever since they had left the Walmart, and it rankled his pride that he let it get to him.

As Ashford went on, and on, Sachi started shrinking back at his onslaught. It was obvious her overbearing presence was ephemeral, coming and going on a whim.

“Oh,” is all Sachi replied with.

“Well, I’m very thankful, Mr. Ashford,” Amanda said sweetly.

Ignoring Amanda, he helped everyone get back into the truck before driving off again. He knew that he had to find people who had his back, and quickly. Of his little group, only 4 of them were even remotely reliable. One of them, a coward, another a brown noser, another an unruly bitch and finally to top it all off an emotional old man. His nose rankled at the idea of what he had to work with. He knew once he had gotten their home base setup, there would be a decent stretch of time where all he would be doing is teaching.

Surfacing from his thoughts, he found they were already back in town. On the way, they’d seen several obvious predators, however, they completely ignored them, thundering on by. Stopping at the nearest Dick’s, he started looking for what he needed.

Quickly finding the camping section, he searched for everything ranging from cooking equipment to tents. He quickly accrued a large pile of abandoned goods that he’d requisitioned. He’d often questioned the distinct lack of people around, but it didn’t have much to do with his immediate survival and so he ignored it.

After they had loaded everything they needed from that area, they started off again. Continuing to the nearest Walmart Supercenter, they came across a bizarre sight. There was a completely packed parking lot, and yet no one was walking about. Walking into the deserted store, they started picking up as many non-perishable foods as possible. Arriving at the extensive technology section of the store, he started realizing that he would need information for this new world of his. He knew that he would need extensive technological items to get this knowledge. Before the power was knocked out and the internet destroyed, he decided that he would try to get all the information that he could. Grabbing all of the laptops and any cords or essential components he could find, he started looking for Canton.

“We need to visit a technology store soon,” Ashford stated.

“Why’s that? What’s the poi--ah… I see,” Canton replied. “We should get all the information available, right?”

“Correct. Have everyone grab the last of what they can find and get outside.” Ashford ordered.

He looked around for a few more minutes before he realized that they would need a sustainable food source. Using his mana, he figured he might be able to accelerate the speed of growing food, and as such he started looking in the gardening section. Finding various seeds and the like, he loaded them up before they left.

Finally arriving at the tech store, he walked in. Looking around, he tried to find the origin of the loud rumbling sound in the store. Unable to figure out where it was coming from, he just figured it was the loud truck outside and threw the thought to the side. The parking lot was deserted and when they went inside they saw that it was also deserted. Looking around, he decided that he would use this place as a temporary base of operations. At the very least, until the power turned off. Grabbing the best display computer, he started searching the internet. He knew that he would need to download the web pages on Wikipedia along with other sources, he started wishing that he had paid attention during his computer programming class. Sitting there, he stared off into the distance for a short while.

“What’s wrong?” Mairi, the shy girl, asked. He’d apparently been spaced out long enough to worry the girl. The others had disseminated into the store.

“I need to find a way to download the information on Wikipedia and sites like that, but I don’t know where to start,” Ashford replied wistfully.

“Uh, I mi--” Mairi started.

“But we don’t have anyone savvy in computers. I don’t know where to start but I need all of the information.” Ashford interrupted.

“Can I interr-” Mairi tried again.

“After all the only reason we are the top of the food chain is due to our inventions and smarts. I just don’t know what to do!” Ashford interrupted again.

“Ashfor--” Mairi said to him.

“What do you think, Mairi? What should we do?” Ashford asked.

“ASHFORD!” Mairi screeched out.

Staring at her like she’d grown a third eye, he hesitantly said, “Yes?”

“If you would listen, you would learn that I am ‘tech savvy’ as you called it, but you just can’t shut up can you?!” Mairi ranted.

“I-I’m sorr--” Ashford said.

“Yeah right…” Mairi grumbled out.

After making up with Mairi, he let her get to work. Within the hour, information was flooding in over the several computers she had set up. Things ranging from butterfly species to the etymology of the word 'word' was downloaded.

Knowing that these computers would require power to run back at the castle, he began looking into types of energy that he could produce. He eventually came upon a simple alternative that would work with his magic.

Using his mana, he hoped that he would be able to create some type of sustained fire. If he was able to do this, he could use water to spin a turbine connected to an electricity generator that was hooked up to massive batteries.

He figured that by using his mana, he should be able to create these things even if he didn’t know everything possible. Making up for his ignorance with raw power would fix the problem. After hashing out these problems in his head, the power suddenly switched off. Thinking about it, he wasn’t quite sure why there was power in the first place. The power had been off for Walmart, so shouldn’t the power here be off? After investigating for a short while, he realized that the rumbling that he had heard was likely the massive generator he found. Looking at the inside with his mana sight, it seemed that it harnessed the explosive power of gasoline to produce mechanical energy. Using the alternator, it turned it into electrical energy. He started thinking about all the power he needed. Theoretically, he thought that he could adapt items they currently had for various modern conveniences to use mana for fuel. He had been experimenting with turning the mana into individual electrons to simulate electric current, so he knew that these generators were just a temporary stop-gap.