《Void & System: Revival》 Chapter 1 : My Dead World Lathea, my homeworld, was attacked by something called The Void¡­ at least that''s what we called It. It came from rifts, rents in the steely fabric of our reality that gave birth to horror after horror of monster and ruin. I was just a child when it started, the Great Corruption, but I remember it vividly. My people fought The Void. We were strong and resisted its corrupting effects, but we could only fight an endless enemy for so long before falling from fighting to surviving. Our technology was useful at first to dispatch the chitinous masses that flooded from the gashes in reality, but as time went on things got worse. Larger horrors, more powerful monsters stepped and slithered out onto Lathea and we couldn''t hold out¡­ not without the World Soul. Gaia, Mother Nature, Earth Mother, whatever name attributed to the soul of our world, she fought back too. We had always treated our world right, balanced our own corruption of her with healing and care, and she fought for us. She began summoning ruins and caves across the world which burst forth with monsters. The monsters left us alone at first, they tore into the ranks of Void horrors with claws, crushed with tentacles and tails, breathed fire and lightning. The monsters were powerful and for a while we could attempt to find a way to fix the apocalypse occuring. Even Lathea herself fighting wasn''t enough in the end though. The greatest monster, Horigand, was born in response to a particular horror of the Void¡­ The Shade of Annihilation. The Shade stepped out from the largest tear yet and the whole world felt its presence. Basically a titanic maw covered in tentacles, it tore the world apart. It dug deep with numerous twisting tendrils, each covered in spikes and blades. The Shade Immediately started for the World Soul in the core of Lathea. It aimed to consume the world core and kill our world, ending the war against the Void. Horigand was everything Lathea had left, a great beast of smooth scales, draconic and mountainous, horn wreathed in lightning and shooting blasts of energy. The two titans battled for weeks, the whole world felt the destruction as Horigand lifted The Shade out of Lathea''s flesh and began tearing into it. The Shade won¡­ On the day I died I had seen a child running outside my safe zone. I yelled out to them, trying to get the child to come to safety with me, but they ran off into the forest. I knew they could be some kind of illusion or mirage, the Void had made them before, but this one seemed different, more real. I had always been good at seeing through the Void''s illusions. The Void didn''t understand people, it made horrors and was good at it, but it couldn¡¯t replicate people very well. The best it could do was the Sapio Voidus, the top of the Voids food chain, and even they were freakish horrors. No, I needed to go find the child and save them, I was at my limit and couldn''t stand that thought of being alone anymore. I grabbed my spear and pack on my way out of the protection circle. I was chasing the child''s trail, still fresh and easy to follow. Frantic steps through the dead dirt, short strides, small, bare feet. I went far from my safe haven and knew it was foolish, I knew the child would already be gone when I found them, an insect likely, if they were even real. I had to keep going, hope was something I had lost and I needed it again to keep going. I came into a clearing and stopped. The clearing had a large stump on the top of a small hill, twisted bushes with branches angling in patterns reminiscent of horrific faces littered the hill. The child''s path lead to the stump, and I moved towards it. Moving past the bushes, the faces seemed to track me and grow sorrowful the closer I came to the stump. I eventually reached it and looked down into a hollow, and against one side of the inner stump cowered a baby. No larger than a toddler, but no¡­ they had the features of an older child, no less than ten cycles. All I could think was they must have been a runt of some kind, small for their age, but I also noticed the child had strange clothes. A bright blue shirt and dark orange pants with many pockets on them, and no shoes. ¡°Young one, don''t fear, I''m here to help.¡± I tried to speak calmly, soothingly, but I hadn''t spoken to another person since I couldn¡¯t remember how long. My voice came out slightly hoarse and the child jumped in fear and whimpered within the hollow stump, seemingly trying to disappear. I heard the child muttering something under their breath and leaned closer to hear. ¡°Just a dream¡­ just a dream¡­ wake up, wake up! It''s just another nightmare¡­ it''s not real¡­¡± I felt sorrow for the child, such a small thing surviving for so long out here in this horrible world. They must have used their small size to hide in crevices and compact places to make it so long. I heard the crack of a stick behind me and turned to see one of the insectoid Void beasts, abominations. I looked back to the child in the stump and was surprised to see they were no longer there. There was no way the child could have escaped the stump without my notice, so I assumed it must have in fact been an illusion. I let out a sigh, realizing the Void had finally gotten me with an illusion so real and perfect I couldn¡¯t tell the difference. I turned to run, my safe haven was my only chance now¡ªbut I knew I had traveled too far from it to matter. I ran past the thick, gnarled trees of my home world. The forests were beautiful once, before they became twisted by The Void. Once beautiful, purple leaves and vibrant rainbow flowerings now bare branches, reaching and tangling survivors of this corrupted world. I passed the tree with the ¡®X¡¯ on it, marking I was almost to my safe haven¡ªI wasn''t going to make it. When I was halfway between the ¡®X¡¯ and my safety I heard them, my pursuers quickly gaining on me. An insect the size of a horse rushed out from the trees. Its carapace was beyond dark, seeming to drink in the light around it, a shifting silhouette against the rest of the world. Nine long, thin legs ending in claws that moved with the quick grace of an insect left no marks on the ground below as it moved. It had no visible eyes, just pits on its head of darker shadow. I was fast as a child, and over time I had only gotten faster. I could run down a full speed antler beast, and I was strong enough to bring it down barehanded. But that was in my prime, before I became a gaunt shadow of myself, when the world still had antler beasts. I was not faster than the void skitterer nor stronger, but I had a weapon. The spear I wielded was made from adamant and the horn of the greatest monster of Lathea, Horigand. The shaft of the spear was forged from adamant, the most durable material we had ever found. I knew little of Adamant besides that it was an alloy of some kind. The head of the spear was the horn, wreathed in lightning. I turned around, sliding to a stop, and brought my spear up and pointed it at the insect, aiming for its head. I planted my feet and stood my ground, prepared for the impact, and then took it. The insect slammed into me and my spear, but I stood firm and a flash of yellow lightning surrounded me. The void creature split in half to either side of me and I quickly turned and kept running. I was almost there as I heard more chittering from behind, so close, but I wasn''t fast enough. The insects fell upon me as I turned to face them. I slew them, two and then three, but there were more close by. I turned to run again, but it was too late, I felt it. My gaze slowly rose up, past the leafless canopy above me. A Conqueror was in front of me, towering above the trees, its many hooked limbs hanging low, almost to the ground. Its aura of horror and madness struck me in waves, but I was used to the feeling. As the chittering grew louder behind me the Conqueror lifted its overly bifurcated limbs, ready to impale me, and I knew it was over. The Conquerors were the midsized frontline of the Void, they killed entire groups of people at once with their hundreds of blades and endless stamina, single handedly annihilating unprotected towns and cities. I had survived for so long, yet this was going to be my end, all because I tried to help someone. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°FUCK YOU!¡± I screamed my rage to the monsters, the things that had destroyed my world, people and future. The beings that made my life nothing but survival day after day, not even living. I had lost hope a long time ago, yet I kept fighting every day. The limbs of the Conqueror lashed at me, flashing from several directions at once as they extended like spiked rubber hoses. The insectoid skitterers jumped at me from behind, but I chose to strike down the tendrils. One came from my left, I dodged and cut the hooked blade off its meaty appendage. An insect bit down on my right leg and tore at it as it ran by me, its huge mouth taking a chunk of me with it. More tendrils came from above and below, I struck out at them with my spear taking two more of their blades off, and dodged one losing my pack in the process. The last tendril impaled my right arm, yanking my spear from my hand. Four more hooked blades slashed down and pierced into me, lifting me off the ground. The pain was intolerable to the point I could barely stay conscious. I bled from bite wounds all over my body, and the blades impaling me lifted me higher and higher until I was lifted beyond the tops of the trees. I coughed up blood as I tried to scream more expletives at the monster, but my lungs had collapsed from one of the blades. I reached out, weakly gripping one of the blades in an attempt to pull it out, but I couldn¡¯t fight gravity much and only managed to lift myself slightly before losing strength completely and dropping even deeper onto the blade. My mind swirled, blackness edging into my vision as some kind of purple flash of energy shot out at the Conqueror. The beam was light purple with darker strands of purple lightning arcing across its surface like the flares of a star. The upper half of the Conqueror was burned away, nothing left but the smoking stump of its lower torso and long legs. I felt the air drifting past my face as I fell, the ground coming closer and closer until in an instant the horrible world around me was no more. That would normally be the end of a person, the Void taking another victim to their grave, but it was not my end. My death that day was the beginning of my next life, in a new world, a living world full of the hope I had been seeking. Chapter 2: Havenreach I came back to consciousness slowly, my mind swirling in confusion, pain and then fear. I opened my eyes as I fully came to and noticed a presence nearby, but my vision was blurry. The air felt warmer, and everything was far too bright. I remembered the energy beam, and falling, and the insect beasts still below me. I pushed up onto my hands and dodged to the side, getting to my feet in a second and preparing to fight barehanded. I felt a cool breeze move across my bare body where my clothes were torn. I couldn¡¯t look or focus on anything else though, the enemy, the Void was killing me. Then I heard a voice. ¡°Whoa, whoa lady, peace!¡± It was an old voice, deep, grizzled and full of history, like the elders had sounded before I was left alone. My vision cleared and I fully took in everything around me. The grass was alive, not dead and gray, and not purple like home, but green. The dirt was reddish-brown, a comforting sight, and the air smelled of life, fresh and clear. The trees¡­ they actually had leaves, though they were green as well. ¡°You, uh, you okay?¡± The old voice intoned, trepidation in their voice. I realized I was crying. The life around me, and the small man before me, it all was strange but beautiful. It had been years since I had seen another person or a leafy plant. I realized shortly after those thoughts that my clothes were pretty torn up and there was a little sunlight on some of my skin. I reveled in the comforting warmth, my skin drinking up the rays. ¡°Hey, uh, those clothes? They''re all torn up. You need some help, I have extra clothes? Need to contact the authorities?¡± Authorities? Wait, was I dreaming? We''re these the distorted final thoughts of my dying mind? I thought about this existential concept for only moments before I decided it didn¡¯t really matter. Either I would die in a beautiful place, or I somehow survived and came to this place. I looked down at the man before me, he was almost a head and a half shorter than me and quite thin. His soft, blue eyes stared up into my own. He wore brown coveralls, slightly too long, torn and patched and covered in dirt, over a gray hoodie. His face was weathered and sunkissed, showing his years in the outdoors. ¡°Are we safe here? Is this a place the Void can''t reach?¡± I was worried the Void beasts would be here any moment to snatch away this beautiful place, but the old man seemed calm and unhurried. ¡°What? Void?¡± He seemed confused, but continued calmly. ¡°Listen, this place is relatively safe I guess, but not you look like you got into some trouble¡­ Here.¡± The man took off the straps of his coveralls and removed his gray hoodie, and retrieved a pair of sweatpants from a pack on his back. He wore a shirt that said ¡®We love Havenreach!¡¯ on it, which was under his hoodie. He replaced his coverall straps and handed the clothes towards me smiling. ¡°Take these, I know they will be small for you but they stretch. Please put them on. You shouldn''t wear such torn rags.¡± His voice was old and gravelly, like an ancient mountain, but very kind. I studied his face, the smile seemed genuine. I wanted to be able to read him, but I had been alone so long, I couldn''t tell anything beyond the surface. I realized at that moment I could read the Void easier than I could people. I decided to accept the gift and reached out to take the clothes. ¡°Thank you.¡± My voice was quiet, cracked and rough. The old man winced, and then quickly schooled his expression, but I saw and agreed with the sentiment¡ªI sounded horrible. I dressed quickly and noticed for the first time how truly gaunt I had become compared to what I once was. A diet of emergency rations and boiled water for years had not done me good, and the lack of clean air and sunlight hadn¡¯t helped. Even skinny as a ghoul the clothes barely fit me. The length was the main part that wasn''t working for me, the cuffs of hoodie and pants sat higher than they should. My large frame barely fit, and even my skinny muscles almost filled them out. I''d say they were uncomfortable, but they were so soft and warm I let out a contented sigh. These clothes were amazing finery compared to what I wore before. ¡°You know what happened to you? I don''t wanna pry, but torn clothes and unconscious in the park seems like bad news to me. Did someone hurt you?¡± The old man sounded concerned, his eyebrows knitted together, and there was maybe a touch of anger at the end of his words. I thought for a moment, wondering what to say, and decided to ask a question of my own. ¡°Can you tell me where I am?¡± His slight frown didn¡¯t leave his face, and he sighed. ¡°Well, I won''t pry if you won¡¯t tell me. You''re in Torau Park.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He saw no recognition on my blank face and continued, not subdued. ¡°It''s a public park on the west side, the biggest in the city. Homeless camps all over. You really don''t know Old Torau?¡± When no recognition appeared on my face he seemed to slump a little. ¡°Come on lady, even amnesiacs know about Old Torau. Old man fought for the forest for years, eventually got turned into a nature reserve?¡± Still nothing, I had no idea what he was talking about and the confusion showed on my face. ¡°Act like I am an amnesiac, old one, and tell me where I am. Is this the afterlife?¡± His eyes narrowed at my words and I thought maybe he was suspicious of me, but his next words erased that fear. ¡°I''m not that old, dammit. I''m only 62! And what do you mean ¡®afterlife¡¯? This is Havenreach, the independent city and island? You must have hit your head or something to not know where you are, maybe we should get you to a hospital.¡± I was surprised by his outburst, but as he spoke further I knew I had never heard of anywhere called Havenreach. In younger days when I was a child the names of our cities were always something like ¡°Gentle¡± or ¡°Misty Glen¡±, so the name wasn''t out of the ordinary, but I still had no idea where I was or how I got here. ¡°I''m sorry, I do not know where that is. And I am physically fine.¡± I patted my chest where one of the holes the Conqueror had put in me was before and felt not even a scar¡­ Weird. ¡°Better than before¡­ How have you survived the Void for so long with such life all around?¡± The old man rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. ¡°Look, I don''t know what this void and afterlife business is, but you are alive and obviously messed up, we need to get you to a hospital, okay?¡± He seemed genuinely concerned, but I felt fine, better than I had in years. I wasn''t sure if this was fake, a ruse or the afterlife, but there was life and light. ¡°I am okay, friend. Do not worry for me.¡± As I spoke my stomach made a very loud rumble and I sighed, disappointment on my face. Meal time had become something I never looked forward to, with how horrible the ration meals had become. I had grown to hate them, the same thing day after day, but as the animals dwindled and edible plants became corrupted I had no other choices. Then I realized there was life here, and potentially food that wasn''t mashed tubers and dry, barely seasoned jerky. ¡°Is there something to eat nearby? Hunting grounds where game is aplenty?¡± I asked the old man, excited that I might eat juicy meat for the first time in years. ¡°Uh, well if you''re alright then okay. And well I got a couple bucks on me, how about instead of going hunting we get burgers. Jim''s is nearby and he makes em¡¯ the best around here.¡± I smiled and nodded, a buck sounded good, plenty of meat, and whatever a burger was couldn¡¯t be bad if it was meat. ¡°Yes, lead the way.¡± I said to him and followed behind as he moved off. I stretched my arms and back as we went, and took in a deep breath of fresh air. It was so peaceful wherever this was, nothing like what she knew of Lathea. She wondered if this even was Lathea anymore, thinking of afterlives again, but she definitely felt alive still. Either way, she had nobody to miss nor was there anybody to miss her, so if this was the afterlife or just some other place on Lathea she somehow made it to, she would take the good around her until it was no longer there to take. She had been through hardship and terror long enough. After a short while walking through the forest behind the old man spoke. ¡°So, do you remember your name?¡± He asked as he continued walking. ¡°Yes, I do. My name is Kara.¡± I said my name like a strangers, I couldn''t remember the last time I introduced myself to another person. ¡°Good to meet you Kara, even with your circumstances. I''m Samuel, most people call me ¡®Old Sam¡¯ around here, not my choice but it stuck to me like gum on a shoe. Anyway, maybe I can ask around about you and see if anyone knows why you woke up nude in the park.¡± Samuel turned his head to look at me and nodded his head sagely. ¡°Yeah, any lady your size would be very noticeable, and there are eyes and ears all over this park.¡± I continued following Samuel, my bare feet making little sound as I moved. I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect from the bucks and this Jim with his burgers, but it was not what came next. Eventually we broke from the tree line and before me stretched something I had only vague memories from childhood. A city, real and huge, metal and glass buildings stretching as far as I could see. They weren¡¯t destroyed, they weren¡¯t corrupted or distorted, the city was whole and bustling. I stood awestruck and numb, this had to be the afterlife or I had gone back in time or something. There were dozens of people, shorter and thinner than me like Samuel was, and they just went about their business in the sunlight. ¡°Maybe this¡­ isn''t Lathea¡­¡± I realized I may not be on my home world. There were no stories of small people, besides the hair beasts, an extinct creature of Lathea that was humanoid but small and hairy. Sometimes there were those born amongst us smaller, but never in great numbers. I couldn¡¯t believe it, but it was right in front of me, an undestroyed city and no sign of the Void. Samuel didn''t seem to even know what the Void was. I dared to hope that this was some kind of safe place from the Void, Havenreach sounded like the name of a city in the afterlife to me, but everything was real to my senses. ¡°You okay? Memories coming back?¡± I decided to let him continue thinking I had amnesia, and shook my head. He shrugged and waved at me to continue following him. We made it to a building with large flashing sign on it that depicted a sandwich by the looks of it. ¡°A burger is a sandwich?¡± I asked, excited for some real good food for the first time in years. Samuel gave me a funny look, but answered my question. ¡°Uh, yeah, a burger is a sandwich I guess. Come on, I''ll pay so don''t worry about not having a wallet or purse or anything.¡± I remembered loving sandwiches before the Void attacked. Regrettably I couldn¡¯t remember what they tasted like though, bread and other plant foods having been one of the first things to stop being made with the plants all being corrupted or killed. Samuel opened the door and it jingled with a sound reminiscent of the sound traps my uncle used to make when he was still alive. I felt the urge to run, to go into fight or flight, but then a waft of air exited through the door and snapped me out of my panic. Cooking meat, seasonings, bread and all kinds of other delicious smells assaulted me and I staggered back a bit. My mouth salivated, my stomach gurgle in rage and my mind went blank as I slowly continued to follow Samuel into the building. Chapter 3: Food & Protection The smells were driving me to a form of insanity I had never felt before. It had been years, maybe over a decade, since I had smelt anything this good. The building was small compared to some of those in the distance, the ones that seemed to scrape the very sky with their rooftops. The broken cities of my world looked like that once, though more in tune with nature. The floor was some kind of tiled, checkered pattern of black and white, though some of the tiles were stained a shade of brown or yellow here and there. There were several tables with chairs all about the open floor of the room, and on the edges there were more tables in a booth style. At the very back of the room was a large bar with stools all across it. Behind the bar was another older man, taller than Samuel but even thinner and less dark skinned and wrinkled. He wore a white apron over red slacks and a white button up. He had salt and pepper hair and smiled as he spoke, talking to someone sitting on a stool. Samuel led me over to an empty stool and say down, I followed suit. ¡°Jim and his partner Herald make the best burgers, but if you don''t want a burger their steak and eggs are good too.¡± Samuel sat down and pushed a menu towards me and I looked down at it. I could tell the words were a language, but I wasn''t sure which one. I only knew Common Lathean. After staring at the words for a while I started to feel something, a warmth in my body, and then I saw them change. They twisted and curved into different shapes and symbols until they matched my home language. I stared in shock, my mind rebelled against what my eyes saw, but the words had¡­ translated? ¡°A burger would be great. Thank you.¡± I said to Samuel, very ready to taste the thing making that wonderful smell. Jim came over after finishing with the other person and sighed upon seeing Samuel, though he had a slight smile on his face. ¡°What¡¯ll it be Sammy? Gonna pay this time?¡± Jim said and raised an eyebrow. Samuel gave a sheepish smile and placed some kind of blue paper on the bar. The paper had a ¡®24¡¯ on the top left and bottom right of it, as well as an image of a island with a very long bird flying across the top and a smiling bald man with small features on the bottom. ¡°I got a decently paying odd job in Westown recently, so I can pay you for today and some of my tab!¡± He smiled broadly and slid the paper across to Jim, whom grinned less jokingly and more appreciatively. ¡°Nah Sammy, you know your money is no good here, we love ya.¡± As Jim said this another man with midnight black hair and sparkling green eyes behind round glasses walked out from a swinging door to the kitchen and snatched up the bill. The new man had a square jaw and larger build, but was shorter than Jim, and had muscles visibly showing from underneath his clothes. He wore an apron same as Jim, but his said ¡®Kiss The Cook¡¯ on it, and he wore multicolored shorts and a shirt that said ¡®Maiden Steel¡¯ on it with fire all around. ¡°But you do owe us, Old Sam.¡± The new man said, putting specific emphasis on the last two words, a crooked, broad grin on his face. Jim just put a hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. I just sat, still wanting food and finding the antics of these people overwhelming. ¡°You okay, miss? Harald and Sammy are unbearable together, but they will calm down in a bit. You hungry? A new friend of his?¡± Jim had noticed my eyes glazing over and snapped me back to reality before I could start drooling mindlessly in a hunger based fugue state. ¡°Yes¡­ yes Samuel is my new friend. And I am starving, and would like a burger. This place smells so delicious, I need a burger.¡± The intensity of my words seemed to startle Jim a little as I leaned over the bar. He cleared his throat as he stepped back and behind Herald and grabbed one of his ears. ¡°This lovely lady would like a burger, love. Get to it! We have a business to run!¡± He pulled Herald away from a small argument he and Samuel were having and pushed him through the swinging door. Samuel called out about wanting a burger as well and then turned back to me and smiled wistfully. ¡°Well, I''m sure you can tell but these two and I go way back. Anyway, speaking of the past, we should find yours out as soon as we can, find out where you are from and get you back there and all that.¡± I stopped looking around the restaurant and turned quickly to Samuel, fear evident on my face. ¡°Please don''t make me go back¡­¡± I said almost too quietly to hear. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I can''t go back to that place¡­¡± Samuel calmly looked at me, studying my reaction, and then nodded. ¡°Don''t worry Kara. Wherever it was, you don''t have to return there. Out here we protect each other, and I''ll help you.¡± His words touched a long forgotten part of me, a place I thought had died along with my uncle and my world. I stared down at the man before me and the tension I had been holding as I waited for the ball to drop and for everything to go wrong lessened. It was still there, it would be overwhelming if I wasn''t so used to it, but it hadn''t lessened like this in years. I smiled for the first time in ages, and then I lost that smile. Why did I deserve this? Because I was the best at running and hiding? My uncle, the Hero of Lathea, should have been the one to find safety like this. He fought to the bitter end for our world¡­ for me. I left him to die as he screamed at me to run. I had thought for years that we should have died together, only recently being able to not think about it as much. ¡°Two burgers and fries.¡± Jim came back out and set the plates down in front of us. I must have spaced out because looking at Samuel he had this worried look on his face. I smiled at him, still trying to get used to it, and when he took a deep breath and reluctantly smiled back I looked back to my burger. I leaned down and sniffed it, it was unbelievable how good it smelled to me at that moment. There was the bread, then a green plant of some kind, I would have to get used to these strange green plants. Then the next layer was a tomato, I knew what that was, and cheese on the hot meat layer. ¡°Dig in then! Want some coffee or anything else?¡± Jim asked me and Samuel. I looked to Samuel to see what he would say and he asked for a coffee, which I agreed to as well, whatever it was. I saw Samuel pick up his burger and did the same, the bread was soft and warm in my rough hands, and I brought it up to my mouth and took a bite. The sensations were electric, savory and salty, sweet, tangy and acidic. I chewed that first bite far less than I should have as I went in to take more bites, Jim and Samuel giving me curious looks, but I didn''t care, this was definitely the afterlife. ¡°You, uh, want another one?¡± Jim asked as I finished the burger in record time, and I nodded my head in affirmation. ¡°Alright, coming up.¡± Jim chuckled as he went into the back, giving Samuel a look of some kind I couldn¡¯t read. Samuel just shrugged and laughed lightly himself, he wasn¡¯t even half done with his burger. ¡°Try the fries. Jim mixes his own seasoning and I haven''t been able to figure out what is on them.¡± He whispered conspiratorially. I looked down at the plate and picked up a fry, it was crispy and I could feel the reddish seasoning on my fingers. I smelled it, it smelled almost like the tubers from the ration packs, and was brought back to those days in that one single safe place. I took a deep breath and took a hesitant bite, the flavor was worlds beyond the ration tubers. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, seasoned with something salty, sweet and slightly spicy. I quickly ate all my fries as well and then looked over at Samuel. ¡°I have no idea what''s on them, but they are amazing.¡± I said as he had just reached halfway done with his burger. ¡°Well, someday I will figure it out.¡± He shrugged and popped a fry in his mouth, chewing methodically. Just as my second burger was coming out held by Jim there was a ruckus from the front of the building. Three people swaggered, a tall, blond man wearing a muscle shirt, a short, blue haired woman wearing short leggings and a sports top, and in the front was an aggressively muscular guy wearing a cheap suit. The patrons of the restaurant all stopped eating and talking all at once as the three walked in. The tall blond picked up someone''s burger and started eating it as they went. The blue haired woman held a scowl on her face, looking like she wanted trouble. The muscular man in the front was neutral in all but his walk, which screamed ¡®I''m in charge¡¯. They got to the bar and the muscular man stepped up next to me, looking at Jim with a smile that showed several golden teeth. ¡°Well well, Jimmy boy. How you doin?¡± Jim looked angry for a moment, and then passified his features. ¡°Ollie, can we discuss this in private?¡± He asked, fear in his voice and eyes. I flicked my gaze over to the muscular man called Ollie and waited, unsure what was happening. ¡°No, we can''t do that Jimmy. You owe us more money, and we need to make an example.¡± The two goons behind Ollie snickered as they looked at eachother. Herald apparently saw or heard what was going on, because he stormed out from the kitchen and pointed a finger at the thugs. ¡°Hey! We paid you already! Get the hell out of here!¡± He was enraged, and Jim reached out and vainly tried to hold Herald back. ¡°Herald, stop.¡± Jim said quietly to Herald, worry on his face. ¡°No! They have stepped all over us for too long! And now, when we finally start getting close to paying off the debt they come in here and try to pull some obvious extortion shit! No!¡± Herald was pissed, and I thought rightfully so, based on what I thought was going on here. The thugs seemed to think this whole situation was amusing, especially Ollie. ¡°Listen, you can have your marital spat all day for all I care¡ªafter we get our money.¡± He lifted up one hand and started counting phalanges with his thumb. ¡°Let''s see¡­ a hundred bucks for extra protection, a hundred for security, and a hundred for quality insurance, that''s three hundred Jimmy. You know we can guarantee your safety without money.¡± The two goons behind Ollie laughed, eyeing him and Herald. I liked Jim and Herald so far, and they fed me such delicious food, so I came up with an idea to help. ¡°I can provide security and protection for free Jim. Well, not exactly free, maybe a meal or two here and there. That means you only have to pay the third one, right?¡± I smiled at Jim, but he looked even more frightened as my words entered the quiet of the room. Herald was surprised for a moment and then smiled, Jim noticed and shook his head in horror¡ªbut it was too late. Chapter 4: Fighting & Surviving ¡°That''s right, this lady here is our newest security guard.¡± Herald had an aggressive glee on his face, but Jim just sighed and closed his eyes. Samuel meanwhile hadn''t moved, facing forward, but with a menacing look on his face. I stared down at the muscular man as I stood up, the three thugs looking up at me in surprise. ¡°Really now? You got yourself a bit lady and think that''s going to scare me off?¡± Ollie stepped back between his goons and shrugged, he was smiling crookedly but it didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°Aud, Pan, show Jim and Herald what happens when they aren''t protected by me.¡± The two of them grinned and began upending the nearest tables to them, the patrons yelling in surprise and most getting up to leave or move to the walls of the restaurant. One man stood up from his table, a stocky, beefy looking guy with a receding hairline and rage on his small featured face. ¡°Hey! We''re trying to eat here! Fuck off and leave em¡¯ alone!¡± The newcomer said, stepping towards the tall blond man with balled fists. The tall man didn¡¯t even have a chance to do anything as the short woman pounced. She grabbed hold of one of his fingers and twisted, breaking it and eliciting a yelp from the man. He staggered back as she, quick as a flash, punched him square in the nose, a spurt of blood gushing from his face as he fell on his backside. ¡°Stay down, or you''ll have more than some fingers and your nose to worry about.¡± The short woman flashed a knife his way and smiled down at the man. He started crawling backwards away from her. ¡°You crazy fucks!¡± He yelled as he quickly got up off the ground and staggered out the door. I took this opportunity of distraction to walk calmly over to the tall man, he turned and looked at me standing above even his height. ¡°Aren''t you a tall glass of water? How¡¯s about you quit security and join up with me, eh?¡± He said, but I wasn''t really listening as I wrapped my long arms around his body and squeezed. He laughed at first, struggling against me, and then when he realized he stood no chance at breaking free he panicked. He started flailing in my grip, yelling to let him go and then begging when he started to feel his elbows pop. I dropped him to the ground, disappointment on my face. In my better days I could have squeezed this man so hard his bones would break, I had fallen low. Wherever I was, the people here were not only smaller but weaker than even the weakest of mine. I was malnourished, dehydrated and lacked sleep and yet I just squeezed this man so hard he passed out. ¡°Hey! What''d you do to him!?¡± The small woman said, brandishing her small blade at me. She started towards me and my eyes met her unflinching. She came to a stop and her constant scowl faltered for a moment before she steeled herself and charged me. She slashed out with her weapon, I sidestepped, they were slower than me too. I sent my knee in a trajectory to land in her face, but she saw it coming and managed to move out of the way at the last second. She slashed out at me and managed to graze my thigh, but the blade barely penetrated. I threw out a left hook and she dodged again, though this time she was late. My fist half connected with her side and she hit the floor holding the spot where I felt ribs crack. ¡°That''s enough of that.¡± The now calm, serious voice of Ollie came from where he hadn''t moved nearby. I turned to see he was holding something, a handle attached to a cylinder at a ninety degree angle. He was pointing a gun towards me, a frown creasing his square face. I remembered guns, though they had little effect against anything higher than a lesser Void beast. There was a way normal weapons could be purified in some way to work against the more powerful beasts, but I didn''t understand how it worked. I took a deep breath and didn''t move, unlike most of those Void beasts I was flesh and blood, a bullet would be bad for me. ¡°You two okay? Get up, come on, we''re leaving.¡± The woman was trying to stand again, though struggling with the pain of cracked ribs, and the man didn''t move in any way besides the steady rise and fall of his breathing. ¡°Fuck! Just you wait till there aren''t any witnesses bitch! I''m gonna find you again!¡± He slowly backed away and out the front door. I let out a breath I hadn''t realized I was holding and looked over at Jim, Herald and Samuel. Jim looked terrified, Herald looked ecstatic, and Samuel looked perplexed and surprised. I walked back over to where I was sitting before and sat once more. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°My burger?¡± I said, and then looked over to see Jim had dropped it on the floor at some point. I looked on in disappointment, I hated waste, especially after living as I had for so long. My mood brightened when I had a thought though. With how many people seemed to be in this city there must be plenty of food. Jim moved to stand behind Herald, he seemed scared for some reason. I realized then that maybe it was bad manners to fight people in someone else''s building. ¡°Oh, I''m sorry, was I not supposed to do that?¡± I was worried they would be angry with me, the first people I had met and spoken to in years had treated me so nicely. ¡°You did great!¡± Herald exclaimed and practically jumped over the counter to hug me. I was surprised but happy, I had done the right thing then. ¡°No! No, no, not good, Herald! We''re screwed now! Ollie and his goons are just the beginning, you know that! He''ll tell his boss and his boss will tell his bosses boss and so on up the chain! We''re gonna get killed or run out of Westown all for what? Three, maybe four Hundred Currents?¡± Jim was fuming, and scared, and Herald turned to face him. ¡°We''ve wanted to escape Westown for years Jim, and she might be our ticket! Look what she did to them! The three of us are past our prime, but she''s a damn monster! We just get her in some fights and¨C¡± ¡°No, Herald! We barely know this person, not even her name, and you want to sponsor her in the ring? When are you going to give up on this!¡± Jim tore his apron off and threw to the ground, storming off to the back. Herald stood for a moment before rushing off to follow him. I looked down at Samuel and saw him clenching his fists on the bar, eyes closed and face looking down. I was worried for a moment that he got hurt or something in the scuffle, but then he raised his head again and looked over at me, a fire in his eyes. ¡°Why did you help them?¡± He asked in a calm voice, his gaze unwavering. I thought about that, why had I helped these basically total strangers, putting myself at risk. I had avoided risks for so long before, why did I stop here and now? ¡°Because it felt right.¡± I said simply, shrugging. The tall goon started groaning and stirring and the small woman crawled her way to a stool and stood up, wincing with pain. She looked at me for a heartbeat and then slowly made her way towards the exit, rage bubbling greater than the scowl she held truly showed. ¡°It felt right, huh?¡± Samuel never stopped looking up at me and he finally smiled. He stood up from the bar stool and stretched his back and neck before walking towards the door to the back and waved me to follow, and I did. ¡°Well if you want to make your way in this world you have to have conviction, guts and be good at something. You seem to have all three, same as I did when I was young.¡± He pushed through the door and walked through the kitchen to another door, which led out to a back alleyway. ¡°Do you like fighting?¡± He asked me as we walked down one end of the alleyway. Jim and Herald were nowhere to be seen. The question was a hard one to answer for me. Fighting is all I have known for a very long time. Surviving is different from fighting, surviving means there is hope, a chance to win, fighting can be done and you can still die. ¡°It is something I can do, and as long as I survive then yes, I think I like it.¡± ¡°I knew I had a good feeling about you, kid.¡± He turned his head to look at me, a smirk on his face. ¡°How about we find a bench somewhere, my knees aren''t what they once were and I''m tired of walking for today.¡± He angled off towards the forest we came out of and we walked down a sidewalk next to it in silence for a time. I listened to birds sing, the wind rustling leaves on trees, people far off just living their lives. This place was real, not the afterlife or some trick of the Void, I could feel it. Eventually Samuel found a bench that wasn''t being used or unclean and sat down, I sat beside him. ¡°I don''t want to just pull you right into the deep end, so I am going to explain some things to you and we can go from there, you get some knowledge and can make your choice. That sound fair?¡± He was speaking casually, but it felt like this was a serious conversation. I nodded and he continued. ¡°First I want to ask you some questions. Do you remember anything from before I found you?¡± I sighed and looked up at the blue sky above us. Nobody here knew of the Void, that felt obvious to me. I couldn¡¯t come up with an explanation as to why I knew nothing of this place, so having no memories before that point would potentially be the easiest way to skirt questions. ¡°You really don''t know what the Void is? And where on Lathea is this place, Havenreach?¡± I tried one more time to get something out of the man, and frowned in unrecognition. ¡°No, the Void doesn''t ring a bell. Is it a gang of some kind? A company or group? And I don''t know what Lathea is, but the world is called Terra. Havenreach is a couple hundred miles give or take off the West coast of Lokne. Ring any bells?¡± Nothing he said made sense to any knowledge I hadn''t forgotten about Lathea. There wasn''t a place called Lokne, nor had I ever heard of somewhere called Terra. ¡°No, nothing. I really don''t remember anything.¡± He let out a hum of contemplation and scratched the scruff on his chin. ¡°Well, I guess if you have any questions just ask. I''ll try to explain things to you as best I can.¡± He thought for a few moments, getting his thoughts together. After those moments he then started in on what Havenreach was, and a little about it''s neighbors, basic information that usually any kindergartener would know. The more he talked about the deeper it sank in¡­ I was not on Lathea anymore.