=====Vol 2 Chap 11=====

“Hum hum~” Humming a certain song outloud, I walked through the deserted settlement, with broken buildings and tumors growing out in the background.

Previously, I tried popping one out, however, it was a terrible choice, since by being destroyed, they send spores out into the air while releasing poison in it.

Thanks to my high Vitality, or now called Body stat, I wasn’t strongly affected by the poison, but if felt bad nonetheless.

Ever since that time, which was last night, I unconsciously avoided damaging them, scared of the outcome.

With sunlight shining upon me and the tilted, or sometimes destroyed, buildings, I continue walking towards the mall. And no, it isn’t that far, truth to be told, I slept quickly after destroying the tumor, so there were still some tens of minutes till we reach the mall, but obviously less time if it were by car.

Sighing at the complete lack of undamaged vehicles, I continuously scanned for any presence whilst training my abilities in this short walk.

Surprisingly, when I woke up, Rain’s stats increased by a whole ten thousand overnight, and they were still increasing even though her level hasn’t changed.

Although it got me confused for a while, I saw her ‘Farming’ ability increased drastically as well, so I guessed that she found a rare herb and is now cultivating it.

A while ago when we were still on the road to the port, I tried planting a random seed on the ground, then supplied it with mana, making it grow instantly.

Even if it looks extremely efficient and saves a lot of time, it is actually the opposite, since it ate quite a bit of mana, but that isn’t a problem to either of us in the current state.

As for the ‘Farming’ ability, it grows as you cultivate plants and/or find rare types of them and growing.

Obviously this information was not fully from practice since it was a one-time test, the rest is from the books.

If I remembered the effects of my class, I would have made Elixirs in bulk and drank them, but I totally forgot, making me somewhat disheartened.

..Nevermind that, the mall will be reached in 5 minutes, and thankfully, I felt a large number of presences inside of it, so I sighed in relief.

But then I realized.. I have no way to describe my parents other than by words, so I’d rather find a blank paper and draw them.

Oh well, guess I’ll do that when I meet the people, in the meantime, let’s kick it up a notch, no?

….

After the ‘Brisk’ walk, I reached the main gates. Presences were sensed to be behind it, and I could see shadows of people around the windows and such.

“Hello! Anyone there?” I shouted, but I got no response.

I sighed out loud, remembering that if a scenario where an apocalypse happens, there will always be those who come out with thirst for blood, sometimes forming groups and raiding peaceful ones.

Suddenly, I could feel a few people climbing to the roof but still hiding behind the fence, and a group of 5 that are walking in a triangle-like formation, with one in the front and two behind him on each side.

Finally, the door opened yet only the one on the front came out.

He was a tall man with black hair like mine and a pair of blue glasses that complement his blue casual t-shirt and dark jeans.

He felt normal, however, his gaze didn’t seem to be so, alas, it won’t be of any use against me.

“Who are you?” He said, while squinting his eyes.

“I’m Archillies.” I gave a direct answer.

“What is a kid like you doing here?”

“Searching for my parents?” I said, as if it were the most obvious thing.

“Hmm..” His eyes seemed as if they were seeing through my clothes, making me shiver.

“So.. Um.. Can’t I enter? I don’t know any other place to go to.”

Sighing, he motioned me to come with his hand, and I complied.

Although he allowed me to enter, he seems to be still on guard, even though I’m supposed to look like a teenager in his eyes.

Come to think of it, he himself did not look old, as a matter of fact, I’d guess that he is in his twenties.

Anyhow, I straightened my thoughts as I entered the mall, and surprisingly, many people with assault rifles and military clothes were standing guard beside the door.

“What happened..?” I asked with a concerned tone.

“Huh? What are you on about?”

“Just like I asked, what happened that made the world like that?”

“Sigh.. Just where were you when it started?”

“I was away.”

“Hmm..”

He started suspecting me, however, I haven’t lied when I answered. After all, it is a fact that I wasn’t ‘here’ when it started.

“Before that, what is your power?” He asked.

“Power?” I asked back, confused.

“Don’t tell me you also don’t know about that.”

“...”

He spat out a deeper sigh than normal then stayed silent till we reached a room.

“Get in, then I can explain everything.”

Silently, I entered the former storage room, which is currently empty except for the well hidden cameras in the corners and a pair of chairs opposite of each other around a table.

“This looks a lot like an interrogation room.” I murmured, but it was faintly heard it due to the fact that we are in an isolated room.

“Sit there.” He pointed towards the chair opposite of the door.

Thus, we both sat in our respective seats and he started talking.

“The name’s Roland, and I’m this mall’s… Spokesman. Do you know anything about what happened since a few weeks ago?” He asked, but I shaked my head.

“Well then, let’s start from the beginning. One day, everyone suddenly gained their own ‘unique’ powers.”

“What?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Exactly, and a some more days later, strange beings started appearing out of nowhere. One that reigned supreme up until now is the King Slime, currently ruling the largest territory in this city.”

“I-i see..” I said meekly, but I also thought that it is a somewhat difficult monster if someone else was to fight it.

“Anyhow, after a while we were able to specify power types into three : Physical - Magical - Psychic.”

“Please elaborate.”

“Yes yes. Firstly, physical, it is very peculiar and currently ruling 2 out of 3 of this time. An there are many examples and one of them is the ruler of the ‘Dual Eagles’, using two Desert Eagles as his Physical power, and he is at the top due to the ‘Adaptations’.” He took a breath.

“An ‘Adaptation’ is somewhat like an evolution to the powers, so let’s say you are physical and holding that weapon makes it shoot faster, a new ‘Adaptation’ will come, and as another example, it might make the shots stronger, or less recoil, but that is only an example for guns; there are many whose Physical might not be a weapon, might even be a microphone, etc.”

“And Magical?” I urged him to continue.

“Magical is self-explanatory. Basically, some people can conjure fire out of thin air, others can use the infamous teleportation - but this has yet to be proven.- Another famous example would be the leader of the ‘Staves’, known of his ability to fight with a staff, and also conjure numerous types of magic.” He paused.

“Lastly, Psychic, but we don’t have much information, mostly speculation, since they are rare, but anyways, as from what we currently know, some can use telekinesis and the like, but this is as much as we know.”

“By the way, you said Physical wins 2 out of 3, then where is the third one?”

“Currently, we have three factions, the ‘Staves’, the ‘Dual Eagles’, lastly the ‘Whips’. Take note that the name is only there due to the leaders’ powers, it doesn’t limit the entry of people.”

“Which one is this mall affiliated with?” I asked curiously.

“..This is a hopeless zone, all the factions have treated us as dead, since the communications have died for one reason or another, plus the presence of the King Slime making meeting nearly impossible.”

I couldn’t say anything for him, but I had to ask..

“When was the last time a stranger came?”

“You are the first in days, so as long as you want and can help, you are welcome to stay with us.”

“If you don’t mind me, then I’ll gladly join.”

“Of course.”

He held out his hand over the table and I took it, thus came the first time I joined a ‘Survivor Group’...

=====Vol 2 Chap 11 end=====