"Shouldn't I save my mana in case we have to fight?"

I stop for a second, there's an instant rush of anger rising up from my gut but I suppress it. I have to look at this in a logical manner. This concerns my survival after all.

I sit down and think about my plan. In theory, it does sound great. Just hide and let the horde pass by, but without enchantments, it's a useless endeavor. Without the enchantments, those zombies will discover us with ease.

I reach a decision. "Yes, this is a stupid idea. Reinforce the two doors and just relax. Let's hope the city wins the siege. We'll think about what to do afterward." Shera heaves a sigh of relief and collapses down on the sofa beside me.

The other two boys start moving around to reinforce the doors. They get some tables and chairs and start stacking them a wall to wall the way we did in the church.

It makes me think of what I did down there. Decisions based on incomplete information. I'm not saying that a lack of information is all to blame. I am. Whatever let's just hope it doesn't come back to haunt me.

"What do you want to do once all this is over?" It's Shera. I look at her golden-brown hair and her eyes. I see a speck of red in there. She has a thick set of lips. Her body oozes vitality. Am I attracted to her or something? No way.

"I want to learn things and travel around."

"Do you want to get on a merchant caravan or something? I can't imagine you as a merchant."

"Not exactly a merchant. I don't know, maybe something like a guild." I check to see if she understands what I mean by a guild. I think she does. "I'm not going to follow them per se, maybe I'll make my own guild, settle down in a village."

"I can't imagine you as settling down either." That draws a light laugh from me. "Why's that?"

"You have this chaotic frenzy about you. I can't place my finger on it." She leans over and places her hand on my arm.

I don't know about that. I just want to get away from all this conflict though wherever I go, violence is sure to follow me. It might be a product of who I am.

"What do you want to do when this is over?"

"I want to get a house in the Grid, The Capital. I haven't thought of anything much after that. I'll try to legalize and normalize blood magic." She knows that I've seen her use that magic. Is she opening up to me about that because she thinks I don't care?

"Why don't you teach me this skill first." I hand her the [Mana Storage] booklet I got from Ryland. I have to learn how to read in this world's language. "Actually, teach me how to read as well."

"Ok, ok...hold on for a second. Am I just someone who reads off manuals to you?" She's looking me straight in the eyes. I'm not going to respond to that question.

"It'll be noon in another hour or so. We don't have much time."

...

..

.

Helion placed his hand into the giant ghost's body. A burning sizzling sensation started running over the submerged parts. He would've smelt rotting flesh being roasted if he could still smell.

The ghost's body contorted down with a painful howl. It shoved its face all the way down to his and hissed, "Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

Helion held on for about a minute or so before stopping. That would teach it enough respect. The flesh on his hands was black and charred now but it didn't matter. He would get it fixed.

"Go prepare the meal."

Helion raised his hand up into the sky and cast the same spell meteor spell he'd cast on the previous city. It was almost like a signature for him. A mark representing him that he left behind on every single one of his crusades.

He sat back on his table and clasped his hands with his thumbs in the air. He wanted to view how the meal was prepared.

The ghost chef ascended above the sky of the city. She frowned at the state of the city wall. He'd killed some people, she liked all of her materials intact, thank you very much.

She unfurled a giant canvas paper. It was made by a thousand dryads, sea mermaids, and numerous arachnids to create this seaweed-esque canvas.

She retrieved her knife out of thin air and slashed in a wild arc. She had no direct physical target right in the knife's path but underneath, people's heads were sliced off. Their torso's split in half and slid off their bodies.

They screamed and shouted but the ghost woman pulled her hands up into the air and the dead bodies started withering. Their bodies turned into a dried husk with their essence pulled out and their souls screaming in anguish.

She retrieved a small calligraphy pen and started writing onto the canvas. Her ghost body started splitting off into hundreds of tinier versions of her. They chopped up the onions, pulled the sauce up into the air.

They placed the sauce on their pens and started writing. From dusk till dawn, the citizens of Fort Kane were slaughtered, pulled up, and turned into a bizarre meal.

Some of them tried to run away from the city. What they found was the horde encircling them from every single direction.

Dried husks lined the streets, the houses, the mansions, the gardens, the slums, everything.

Once the canvas was covered in a dark red tapestry of magical formations formed with the blood of thousands of humans it was rolled up.