It was late into the night.

Two of the Walkers came after the first, drawn by the banging and wailing a while back. This time, it was dead quiet, with the three staggering around the shop like dead men walking. Their long shadows crept through the gaps in the barricade, looming over the floor like claws in the dark.

The shadows stretched and joined the darkness of the night. It's been hours since Mateo woke up, sitting on standby as he traced the silhouettes of the Walkers outside. Since then, the three of them took turns sleeping throughout the night, and now it was his turn for watch duty. The two were fast asleep beside him on makeshift beds.

Mateo fixed his gaze to Hans, fast asleep in his bed with a snore. It was going to be a long night in the cold, damp air–at least, it was supposed to be, until something caught his attention at the corner of his vision.

He darted his eyes. There was a small orange wisp floating–a speck of light through the air. It shimmered like a firefly, drawing Mateo in to take a closer look. It wasn't a bug or any of the sort. It was just… light, shining against the darkness around.

A white orb then appeared beside him, the same orb from earlier. Jan taught him the ropes on how to control the orb, making it disappear and reappear with a snap of his fingers, but this was one of the many times it materialized all on its own without him doing anything.

The orb then dashed with zigzags leaving a trail of letters.

Fractal detected. You have three available Fractal slots. Would you like to absorb the Fire Elder's Fractal?

There it was again. White text, clear as day in front of him. It talked gibberish, like the ones he sees in RPG games. Even before, the texts talked about race, rank, magic, and all those other things only people who played video games would have the know-how to understand. But 'Fractal?'

"What the hell is that?"

The orb zigzagged again.

Fractal

A fragment of an Elder's power. Allows individuals who absorb Fractals to be able to harness the magic of Elders.

Magic?

True, seeing the things happening all around, there was no way any of this was normal–in the word's most native sense. But, out of all the possible explanations, it had to be magic?

If what the orb wrote was true, Mateo got a gist of the situation the world was in. The things happening around, this apocalypse… it was caused by magic. Not a secret science experiment gone wrong, nor a biological weapon let loose, but magic.

Things really were going haywire.

Mateo turned again to the orb. "Is Ana safe?"

Mateo waited for the orb to write something, anything but there was no response. It only floated nonchalant with a hum. The orb had answered his questions so far, so why didn't it answer him this time?

"Have it your way then." Mateo threw up his hands in surrender. His gaze then slid to the floating texts, then to the wisp wandering around, then back again to the texts.

Would you like to absorb the Fire Elder's Fractal?

Mateo sighed. "Yes."

The wisp turned to a stop, suspended in midair. It then dashed, leaving an orange laser trail behind before crashing straight into Mateo's chest. Mateo recoiled, flinching, before a warm fuzzy feeling welled up inside him like an ember kindling, driving away the cold.

Absorbed Fire Elder's Fractal.

Due to the Fire Elder's attributes, you have increased Soul attribute gain.

The Fire Elder's Fractal is found to be imbued with a Combat Mage Magic Shard. You have gained the skill: Helios Hands.

As if in bliss, Mateo let out a sigh of comfort as the numbing cold left his body. He could feel a fire, a furnace, a kiln, crackling and burning inside his chest, keeping him warm against the cold.

He then turned back to the new set of texts. Reading them, there were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but he went for the most obvious first.

"Helios Hands?"

Helios Hands

Coats your arms with the burning fire of a deity. Allows the user to gain access to a number of sub-skills. Drains low mana per second. No cooldown.

Sub skills:

God's Strength (Passive) - The divine fire grants your arms increased strength and fortification.

Immolate (Passive) - The fire burning around your hands is no ordinary fire. They last longer, burn stronger, and spread faster.

Flashball - Manifest a small fire orb in your hands. Release to activate the orb, effectively placing a blinding debuff on enemies caught. Medium mana cost. Low cooldown.

(Upgrade skill to unlock more sub-skills.)

Mateo immediately stood up, pushing against the floor. He pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the warmth of the fire inside before closing his eyes.

He could hear a whisper inside his head. It had no ill intent, but was only there to guide Mateo with his newfound magic. He heeded the whisper, envisioning the fire inside his chest spread to his arms, the burning sensation flowing from his heart to the tips of his fingers. He could now feel the warmth throughout his arms, a pool of raw energy dormant in the fibers of his muscle and bone. He then released that energy.

Opening his eyes, his arms burned orange fire, crackling and forking their newfound tongues against the air. His skin radiated a faint glow, but to Mateo's relief, his skin didn't burn. That was good. He didn't know what he would do if Jan and Hans woke up to an armless Mateo.

He flexed his arms.

This was it. The missing piece to help him get back to Ana.

Mateo extinguished the fire around his hands with a mental assert, with the energy in his hands flowing back to his chest. Time to get going.

Careful not to wake the two sleeping, he headed for the back of the shop with his steps light on his toes. He paused under the hole in the ceiling, staring above where the giant tower pierced the sky before moving on.

He reached the back. He opened the door already half-open, entering a small rustic room with a single light bulb already turned on. Beyond the dusty tables, machinery, and tools, there was an exit door to the far corner. Taking a closer look, it was shut tight with riveted metal panels. No way in, but no way out.

Mateo sighed. An idea then popped, like a light bulb turned on inside his head. His eyes darted around, looking for something, with the search stopped at a double ladder folded at the corner of the room. It was hidden along with a few of Hans' engineering projects.

"That's the one."

Mateo took the ladder, shoved his way back the door he came from, then paused under the aperture in the ceiling. He set it up, careful not to wake either of the two sleeping.

He then stiffened. Just when he was about to take a step, he froze. He was about to go outside, into the jaws of death, away from the safety of the barricade. Whatever awaited him then, he needed to face it alone.

Am I ready for that?

He wasn't. He knew that. But the thought of never seeing his family again was much, much worse than that.

Taking a deep breath, he climbed the ladder. With one step after the next, he then reached his hands out, grabbing the rim of the aperture to pull himself out.

He was outside.

The wind whipped by, cold as ever. Along with the heavy snow, it threatened to bite, even with the magic fire inside Mateo's chest. The air smelled dead, as if the weather wasn't enough as it was, carrying with it a faint scent of a rotting corpse nearby.

Mateo could only hope there was something wrong with his nose.

The first thing that caught his eye was the tower. A giant architecture, standing in the middle of a forest a couple miles away from the city proper. Its white glow was dim, but enough to transpire a sense of wonder to anyone who laid their eyes on it.

He then turned to the orb following behind him. He had a lot of questions about the tower, among other things, but he saved them for later, snapping his fingers to dematerialize the orb into thin air. He was a man on a mission right now.

He then crouched, his eyes peeking through the side of the ceiling down to the streets below.

There it was. Uncle Pedro's motorbike, piled on by thin layers of snow, the same exact place it was three days ago. But there were also them. The Walkers. Three, wandering aimlessly in its vicinity under the flickering light of a street lamp. Through the snow, it was still hard to see their exact features, but their staggered, uncoordinated movement proved they were no more than mindless zombies.

Mateo grinded his gears, thinking of a way to get past the Walkers. His eyes darted around–there was a wooden stake, sticking out of the roof, and then a car opposite the streets. He got the idea. He yanked the stake out before eyeing the car again. With a windup, he threw it at an angle, barely hitting the car's window before it successfully sent shards of glass flying. The Walkers then turned with reared heads, starting towards the noise that came from the broken window.

"This is actually easier than I thought." Mateo climbed down the side of the shop, clutching onto small holds like a mountain climber descending, careful not to make any noise. He then jumped to the grass below with a tumble, and peeking through a shrub, the Walkers were still busy with their car problem.

He took the chance to sprint for the motorbike, up the fence, and through the shadows of the walkway. He jumped on, kicking back the stand, taking out the keys, and with a twist, the engine rumbled.

But then it died.

"Of fucking course."