“Morlekai!”

Alice’s awful terror was a palpable thing.

"Hold, Alice! Don't fire. Not until they're in range!" Morlekai hissed, and Eric could taste the edge of the man's panic, eerily echoing his sister's as the sudden upswelling of red-tinged potency filled the air, the Don of their little group finally revealing what he had hid for so long as the air filled with crimson crows…

And Morlekai was gone.

“What’s going on. What the fuck’s going on?” hissed a panicked Drake.

“Lizards. Fucking giant lizards. Bigger than the ones Eric and I… oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, they’re charging. Run!”

Words that seemed to stretch and shift in tone and frequency as Eric felt time itself slow to nothing more than the red hot pinpricks of mana-infused malice in the eyes of the lizards heading their way.

Snapping instantly into even sharper focus as Eric squeezed both triggers of his double-shot in between breaths and the beats of his heart.

Death streaking through the air as one crossbow disappeared, and just a second later, a second took its place. Then a third.

Six crossbow bolts unerringly striking their targets as Eric’s spatial awareness and mastery of his own body grew by leaps and bounds, level 6 slotting a point into Perception and not one but two points into Finesse as Eric embraced True Strike while pushing his odd sense of time dilation to the utmost, summoning a final unexpected gift, right before the monsters crashed into them.

“Fuck!” Louie screamed.

But his voice was drowned out by the crash of lizard against lizard, as the charging monster tripped over the smaller beast suddenly serving as a barrier between Eric’s party and oncoming death.

You have successfully pulled out Lizard Remains!

Alpha Greater Lizard has failed Finesse Check!

Alpha Greater Lizard is temporarily Disoriented!

Eric dared waste not a moment as death slammed down, just feet away, massive yellow eyes taking in the light Alice's glow orb radiated, and Eric could sense its killing intent. Eyes locking on a wide-eyed Drake, frozen in panic as he held his bardiche for dear life.

A single instant for a panicked Louie to spin around, his legs having betrayed him with his fleeing before brotherhood pulled him back. But it was far too late for him to do his friend, the handsome blond-haired former jock, any good at all.

Eric knew it was hopeless, charging forward before his bardiche had even finished manifesting, whipping his weapon around in a fearsome overhand blow he already knew was too late.

No matter that his foe’s monstrous neck was now before him. Maximum extension to snap his friend in half.

Forzare!” Alice screamed.

And the air was alive with the flash and boom of thunder and lightning, and Eric wanted to howl with fiercest glee even as peripheral currents tore into his flesh.

Embracing that hot fiery pain as he stoked his Wrath and cleaved into the neck before him with all the killing fury he had kept bottled inside for far too long.

You have fully embraced your Wrath!

Burst of Strength has been successfully channeled!

You have critically struck Alpha Greater Lizard!

Greater Alpha Lizard has suffered Debilitating Wound!

Greater Alpha Lizard is Bleeding out!

You have achieved Rank 7!

Stat points automatically distributed!

And Eric struck like a demon, dancing and dodging about his foe as the earlier lizard sighed its last, six crossbow bolts having caused sufficient hemorrhaging after impaling both eyes that death had finally claimed it, the tidal wave of potency roaring through Eric like a storm of killing intent as he moved faster than he ever had before, striking with inhuman force and fury, savaging his monstrous foe with a maelstrom of savage cleaving blows, forcing open a geyser of a wound, so many muscles and ligaments torn that the nightmare monster couldn't even turn to strike Eric for all that it hissed, howled, and snaped at the flood of blood red crows now tearing into the gaping wound.

Drinking deep of its blood.

And multiplying as dozens became hundreds, and the cavern was suddenly filled with a wave of crimson death.

Within minutes, a terrifying battle for their lives became the calm after the storm, Alice sobbing over the maimed body of Drake who, against all odds, was actually alive.

Despite missing his left arm.

“Put all your points in Vitality!” Eric screamed in his ear, desperately applying pressure to the spurting wound as Louie did his best to assist. “If you can actually get that fucker to 20, you’ll regenerate like in the comic books! And 3 points right now will boost your healing like you wouldn’t believe. Because you better believe I’ve been where you’re at!”

Eric exchanged a desperate look with Louie as the spurting blood slowly eased to a trickle.

“Unfucking believable. The fucker actually listened,” Louie said with a dry chuckle that didn’t hide the fear in his eyes as he gazed at his delirious friend.

Eric nodded. “Now let’s fucking sprint the hell out of here! Sooner we get back to town… please tell me we have some kind of fucking healer!”

“We don’t have shit!” Alice hissed. “Despite all our efforts, trying to recruit the best of the survivors...not even the greenmages are at a level to grow herbs any more potent than pot!”

Eric winced, right now feeling the strain of holding not 1 but 3 massive lizards in his Extra-Dimensional Storage space. What before had felt like content fullness with 2 carcasses and way too many rats, now felt like he was stuffed to the point of bursting with 3 lizards and no rat at all, and he had thought nothing of spitting back out all the other corpses they had killed.

But that pressure was all in his mind, he thought, thinking nothing of grabbing a Drake now stripped of all his equipment and carrying him back as they ran at a sprint. And he was relieved to find that he was right, the awful pressure he associated with overstuffing his ES Space soon easing to a content sort of fullness, sensing that the skill was close to leveling up once more.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Louise said with an awed shake of his head, and Eric flashed a grimace of a smile, grateful that they were currently being shielded by what seemed to be a hundred crimson crows, and nothing dared fuck with them, for the moment at least.

“Do you have 20 Vitality, Louise?” Eric said between measured inhalations.

“Fuck no. 14 and damned glad to have it. But I have 19 strength!”

Eric smirked. “And mine just shot up to 16. I’m more fucking famished than you can believe, and my build just got fucked to hell, at least as far as snapping up that last Strength point goes. But with 20 Vitality, if you were to ask me if I can run a fucking marathon with this guy in my arms? The answer’s yes. So let’s fucking go.”

Louie just shook his head, sharing a look with Alice. “Thank fucking god. Because I sure as shit don’t want to run with him in my arms.”

Alice gave a helpless, exhausted chuckle. “Good, because you’ll be carrying me soon enough, lover. Too much smoking and a week clean sure as hell didn’t get me ready for… oh shit, I’m gonna puke!”

And despite the deadly seriousness of their situation, racing against time and the risk of even more horrors at their back or just around the bend, Eric couldn’t help but laugh as Louie groaned under the weight of his puke-covered girlfriend.

“Just had to go triggering those flags, Louie. Have you never played a JRPG?”

“Shut the fuck up, boy scout. I don’t have the breath for your shit,” Louie gasped.

Eric smirked at that before putting all his focus on the man shivering in his arms, doing his best to ignore a panicked town guard, flinching before a massive murder of crows, or the mayor screaming for everyone to back away, or any of the terrified glances as they raced for their quarters and within minutes a shivering Drake was in bed with an IV drip in his arm, being tended to by a haggard-looking woman scratching at her arms through the sleeves of her sweater, taking deep drags from her cigarette as she kept a careful eye on a groaning Drake.

“Give me some fucking space. Your friend lost a lot of blood, and your damn lucky some idiot brought plenty of normal saline solution and dextrose, because the blood sure as fuck didn’t keep.”

Louie frowned. “Who is she?”

“Former nurse! And we’re fucking lucky she was in the last batch of refugees, so take two steps back,” Alice hissed.

Louie scowled. “She doesn’t look like a nurse.”

The woman gazing at Drake with a professional eye let loose a bitter chuckle. “That’s because I was a junky, up until I came here. You should have seen me two years ago. Hot as shit until it got to be too much to handle, and I did exactly what I shouldn’t have to cope. A mistake that cost me everything, but I’ll spare you the details. Because the world’s already ended, and you don’t need another refugee crying about everything she’s lost. I’ve been down that road for two solid years already, and damn if I’m not ready to give something back. So if you kids would kindly get the fuck out, I’ll do my best to keep your friend alive.”

Alice gazed down at the woman, gently squeezing her hand, and Eric could see the tears in her smile. “Thank you.”

The former nurse squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No, girl. Thank you. For giving me a second chance.” She swallowed, gaze growing haunted. “For seeing something in me I could no longer see in myself.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “Now leave me to your friend. You said he needs ten hours of rest for a miracle? By hell or high water, I’ll give him those ten hours, no matter what it takes. And if I need your over-muscled boys for some CPR, you better believe I’ll give you a holler. But if you wanted to make me a pot of coffee and slide me some smokes, I wouldn’t say no.”

Alice grinned, handing her a crumpled pack of cigarettes. “My last. Just take care of our boy. And when you’re ready to quit these too… I got your back.”

The former nurse swallowed, wiping her eyes. “Thanks, girl. I won’t let you down.”

Alice gave the worn-looking woman’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, before leading Eric and Louie to the kitchen, fixing all of them plates of spaghetti and tomato sauce, filled with savory chunks of lizard meat. Because one thing Morlekai’s pantry was not was lacking in was grub.

Eric smiled his gratitude and inhaled three heaping platefuls of spaghetti and meatballs before he finally eased back with a smile. “Thank fucking god. I swear I felt like I was starving.”

Louie nodded, the gravity of their friend's situation muting the normal levity and cracks Eric knew he would otherwise be getting. Instead, he earned a nod between equals, which was all Eric could ask for. "Get some rest, kid. I'll let you know if we need you...for anything."

Eric clenched his jaw but nodded, knowing that at this point, there was nothing he could do except rest, fully quantize his growth, and do his best to get faster, stronger, and more powerful in every way he could. Because the only thing that was certain was that their world had been overrun by predators, and if they didn’t power up as fast as they possibly could, they would inevitably become the prey.

With a final glance at his character sheet, Eric fell into an exhausted slumber, embracing a few blissful hours of peace before life pulled him back into the thick of things once more.

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Eric Silver Level 7 Conscript

Physical Characteristics

Strength – 16 (86%) (You’re now stronger than 98% of all unleveled mortals still fighting for their lives!)

Vitality – 20 Your Vitality is now superhuman! (Don’t expect to be able to train this any further in the gym!)

Finesse – 19 (Your grace and coordination make you a deadly opponent with spear, sword, bardiche, or crossbow! You’re now surprisingly handy with longbows as well.)

Quickness – 15 (You’re now faster than 95% of all unleveled mortals fighting for their lives!)

Appearance – 10 (Healthy skin now shows between scars that looking increasingly like tattoos! Your lips are fully restored, and you finally have eyebrows and a full head of fiery red hair!)

Mental Characteristics

Scholarship – 12

Perception – 17 (You’re more perceptive than 99% percent of your mortal peers when it comes to spotting and drawing a bead on your target, or sensing someone trying to draw a bead on you!)

Willpower – 16 (You have the determination and focus to push your body to the limit, and resist a Rat Queen’s Compulsion!)

Charisma – 13

Stamina – 220 Points (Your stamina and rate of recovery are now super human! You could easily get gold for distance running in the Olympics, if the modern world hadn’t ended!)

Health – 286 Points.

Potency Pools

Arcane Potential – 14 Your arcane potential exceeds that of 90% of Conscripts hoping for a better class.

Spiritual Energy – 16 Your ability to harness spiritual energy exceeds 98% of novice supplicants. You have managed to discover the rudiments of a Trash Tier cultivation technique!

Soul Reserves – 22 None can question the potency of your soul. You found it within yourself to embrace essences few on any world will ever sense, and resist a Rat Queen’s compulsion!)

Resistances & Recovery

Physical Resistance – 1 (Your bones are exceedingly tough to break, and you now resist a portion of all damage that penetrates your armor!)

Physical Regeneration – You recover 1 Health Point every 14 seconds.

Elemental Resistance – 0

Qi Resistance – 0

Mental Resistance – 1

Interface Recognized Skills

Acting – Rank 2

Bardiche (Glaive) – Rank 9

Bardiche (War Blade) – Rank 9

Bow (Compound) – Rank 9

Bow (Yew Longbow) – Rank 9

Crossbows – Rank 12 (True Strike)

Dagger – Rank 3

ESS Manipulation – Rank 7

Find Weakness – Rank 4

Negotiation – Rank 4

Repair – Rank 1

Saber – Rank 11 (Doom Slice)

Spear – Rank 11 (Piercing Strike)

Stealth – Rank 8

Swimming – Rank 2

Unarmed Combat – Rank 4

Interface Enhancements

Full Neuro-Linguistic capabilities

Extradimensional Storage Space

Essences Claimed:

Fire (Rank 1, White Tier)

Wrath (Rank 1, White Tier)

Essence Related Skills:

Burst of Strength: Rank 5

Infravision: Rank 5

Heat Surge: Rank 3

Unformed (Trash Tier) Cultivation Technique (Flame Origin) – Rank 1

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