《The Pieces We Lost》 The Lost Brothers: Part 1 He sluggishly opened his eyes, and close them back again, resuming his slumber. ¡°Morning, Kizo.¡± A female voice greeted him. It originated not far from where he was sleeping. He reluctantly peeled open his groggy eyes once more. ¡°Mornin¡¯ Em.¡± He slowly sat up and stared blankly at the teenage girl sitting on the other side of the small campfire. ¡°Dreamt of your home again?¡± She throws a water bottle at him. He caught it, drank for a few seconds before answering, ¡°Yeah. I even ate the usual noodles. With eggs. Walked around the neighborhood afterward.¡± He stood up and ambled towards Emily. He rummaged through one of the six black containers behind Emily and grabbed a canned meal along with a can opener out. ¡°Macaroni and cheese again?¡± He sat beside the girl, ignored her question, and pried the can open. He proceeded to place the can on top of the metal plate positioned above the campfire. ¡°Anything happened while I¡¯m asleep?¡± He stood up again and lightly stretched his body. ¡°Except scaring off a few rats and bugs, nothing. It¡¯s pretty boring.¡± ¡°What did I tell you? The underground parking lot is safe, not some midnight club hideout for monsters.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I was trying to be cautious. You never know for sure.¡± ¡°My instincts have grown sharper after ten years, Em. I¡¯m not some amateur anymore.¡± ¡°You do realize arguing with me is pretty pointless, right?¡± She raised her eyebrow, staring at him. ¡°Morning banters are excellent for booting up my big, marvelous brain.¡± He headed over to the sizzling can and picked it up with his black gloves. ¡°Get me a spoon will you, Em?¡± ¡°At least say please, you intelligent barbarian.¡± She reached into the container and pulled out a spoon. Then, she handed it to him as he returned to her side. He began eating in silence. As he filled his belly, she placed back all the camp equipment laid out on the open into the containers accordingly. ¡°Chew slower. You ain¡¯t getting an appointment with a doctor if you ruined your stomach.¡± ¡°Yes, mother.¡± She swiftly slapped him on the head and continued what she was doing. When he threw the empty can into the smoldering fire, Emily has everything stored and was ready to go. He then equipped his backpack, weapons, and helmet before activating the five cubicle containers to levitate closely behind him. ¡°Ready?¡± She held his right hand. ¡°Yeah.¡± X When they reached the open streets, the Sun still hung on the horizon, providing little of its light to the waking world. Kizo turned on the music player built into his helmet as he sauntered through the remains of the city. Partially destroyed buildings and skyscrapers, rusting cars all over the road, a few skeletons strewn over the path they walked on, empty stores raided years ago by scavengers, and so on. Despite the eeriness of the dead city, they both find peace and serenity in the once busy road which has lost its voice. They were in no hurry of reaching their destination. They carefully scanned their surroundings and kept an eye out for any items that could come in handy. Often, their efforts are fruitless, but it doesn¡¯t discourage them from trying. ¡°I guess novelty can wear off faster than one expected, especially when exciting things rarely ever happen!.¡± Emily¡¯s attempt to kick an empty can failed when the wind blew it away. ¡°¡­damn you wind.¡± ¡°I did mention the journey might be dangerous, not that it will be dangerous.¡± He tapped his fingers according to the beat of the song playing. ¡°Travelling the Unknown Zone guarantees danger no? Yet here I am, looking forward to all the epic battles that never came.¡± She did a gun gesture. ¡°I prefer a boring journey over a dangerous one. Look, market ahead.¡± He nodded upwards while staring at the rundown supermarket. He pulled out his modified smartphone and marked the building with a supply symbol in the old world map before putting it away. ¡°Do you think there might be a monster living inside it?¡± ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I hope it does.¡± ¡°Do you really want to fight monsters that badly?¡± ¡°I just want something interesting to happen, doesn¡¯t necessarily need to be monster battles.¡± ¡°Maybe we can find a dragon ball inside. Then our quest to summon Shenlong will begin.¡± He smirked. ¡°Har Har.¡± X The supermarket was, as expected, devoid of any life. The entirety of the building¡¯s interior was incredibly dirty. Everything was disorganized, and destruction was apparent at every corner. There were also skeletons to remind any visitors that people died here horribly. ¡°Food aisle first.¡± ¡°As we always do.¡± Emily¡¯s sped up footstep echoed in the empty hallways. Kizo matched up with her pace while skimming through the environment. When they reach their destination, a large number of shopping carts can be seen gathered at the cash register, but not one single product remained within their sight. Still, they went straight to the food aisle and saw rows of empty shelves. After that, they went through the rest of the place, confirming indeed nothing they can use remained. The both of them, without communicating with each other, simultaneously began their search for the warehouse entrance. In hindsight, It would appear as a wasted effort, but it is often where they come upon their supplies. Most people think it is difficult to obtain various necessity from it and so they overlook it entirely. After 10 minutes of searching, Emily discovered the entrance. ¡°Over here Kizo!¡± She shouted at his general direction and waved her arm to visually capture his attention. He effortlessly slinked his way towards her. ¡°Disappointingly, there are no lifeforms behind this door.¡± ¡°You do know if there is a monster inside, our trip here will be most likely wasted, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re no fun, Kizo.¡± She stuck out her tongue and pushed open the door. He switched on the light on his helmet before following her into the warehouse. The warehouse was in complete darkness. Stacks of crates with varying degree of damage lying on the floor and shelves. Few of it seemed to be violently ripped open with some if its content lying around the crates. There were bodies crushed underneath the crates. There were also a few decayed bodies a couple of meters away from them, hinting at a possible mass murder. ¡°Hmm,¡± He approached and inspected one of the corpses kneeling down, ¡°Stab wounds at the abdomen, but big chunks of meat were torn off the shoulder¡­¡± He glanced at the other bodies, each with smaller, but visible bite marks on their shoulders. ¡°A sudden transformation perhaps? Then, he or she attempted and quite successfully suppress their new animalistic instinct. Impressive.¡± He stood back up again, ¡°Regardless, this doesn¡¯t concern us. Emily?¡± He turned around and saw no one. ¡°Heyo~¡± Another girl, apparently younger than Emily, suddenly appeared beside Kizo and startled him for a quick second. Her skin color is brown and has a tied-up, light caramel short hair. He calmed himself down and took a deep breath. ¡°Could¡¯ve at least give me a warning, Emily...¡± He grumbled. ¡°Where are we?¡± She curiously looked around. ¡°Inside a warehouse. We should start searching for supplies. Find where the forklift is and if it¡¯s still functional.¡± He activated the x-ray scanning function of his helmet and ambled down the first aisle, peeking into each crate¡¯s content. ¡°Okay~¡± She gleefully sauntered away. ¡°Shampoo,¡± his sight moves to the other container, ¡°toothpaste,¡± and another, ¡°frying pans,¡± and another, ¡°servitor parts...I miss having those bots.¡± He then turned to the next aisle. ¡°I found the forklift~¡± Her voice echoed loudly, ¡°There¡¯s a dead body here too! I¡¯m going to check if this is still working.¡± She sprinted towards the forklift, pushed the incredibly rotten body with a knife at its back down to the ground, and assessed the forklift. Her attempt to turn on the forklift failed as there was no fuel left in the tank. She jumped out of the vehicle and began searching for another one. ¡°The forklift doesn¡¯t have fuel! I¡¯m going to see if there¡¯s another one with fuel!¡± He nodded as he turned into the third aisle. ¡°Hopefully a few food crates survived¡­. Oh, tissue papers,¡± He stopped at his tracks, ¡±Won¡¯t hurt to stock up some.¡± He mentally marked down its position before resuming his steps again. The teenager found another forklift, but its roof was partially torn open, most likely by a big, strong claw. As she approached the forklift, multiple bodies were found in close proximity to it. She halted near the bodies and took a quick glance at them. Their skeletons indicated someone forcefully stabbed through their chest, ripping their heart out in the process. She felt a slight chill running down her spine. She ignored the bodies and examined the forklift.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She turned the keys on the forklift and its engine started making noises. She then quickly turn off the forklift and shouted, ¡°Kizo! Kizo! I found another one that worked~!¡± ¡°Got it! Now look for crates that have supply we can use!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± She whipped out a pair stylish and futuristic looking glasses and put them on. The glasses provided her the ability to determine the contents of the crates. ¡°Cookies eh? The twins will definitely be delighted to have some.¡± He mentally marked down another crate and continued. He spotted another forklift, but the front portion of the machine was crushed. Fifteen minutes passed, the two of them finally finished scanning the warehouse. He and the teenager met up at the forklift she found. ¡°Found anything useful?¡± He sat inside the forklift, examining it to see if anything else was damaged. ¡°Yep! I found some potato chips and frozen pizzaaaaaa.¡± Her foxy tail wagged excitedly. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking. Grab on to the forklift, we¡¯ll go the crates I found first, then to yours.¡± He grinned as he switched on the forklift, thinking about the pizza as well. The girl stood on the side of the forklift with her hand tightly gripping the metal frame as he slowly drove the forklift to their destination. When they arrived, Kizo amateurly operated the forklift to bring the crate with tissue papers down to the ground. He exited the forklift and walked towards the crate. He willed one of the containers floating behind him to land on the ground and grabbed the tools required to pry open a crate. Five minutes later, he took out five rolls of tissue paper and squeeze them into another levitating container. He put the tools back to its original container and drove the forklift to the next crate. From each crate, he would take no more than ten items inside and move on to the next. ¡°Pizzaaaaa~¡± She said out loud as she stared hungrily at the still frozen pizzas, thanks to the perfectly insulating crate. ¡°Choose wisely Circe, we only have so much space to fit those in.¡± He picked out two pizzas with ten types of cheese as the topping and placed them into the food container. ¡°Aww. Guess I¡¯ll pick these for myself¡­.these for Emily¡­.and these for the twins!¡± She then stuffed eight frozen pizzas into the container. It barely fit in after the addition of cookies, potato chips, canned meals, and packets of biscuits. ¡°It¡¯s quite a surprise to see most of the crates here are untouched. I guess those bodies did a good job scaring off scavengers.¡± He gulped down the juice he found in one of the crates and closed his helmet again. ¡°Shall we go~?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± He turned on his heels and headed back to the entrance. X ¡°So we spent about two and a half hours inside. Guess we¡¯ll need to walk a little faster after lunch.¡± The clock on his hud displayed it is currently 10:30 a.m. ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡± She held his hand, and the both of them resumed their travel under the scorching sun. Circe brought out a big umbrella, providing a comfortable shade. As they strode past the parking lot, Circe hums along with the song Kizo was listening to. He pulled out his worn smartphone and began studying the map of the old world, planning what route they should take and where they should rest for lunch. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll walk down this highway¡­.and we¡¯ll stop at this M&H shop, which is about¡­.90 minutes, no, 95 minutes from where we are right now.¡± He slipped his phone back into his pocket. He peered idly into the interior of abandoned cars as he passed by them. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty long way! Think there¡¯ll be monsters on the way there?¡± Her fluffy tail curled into a question mark. ¡°Why do you and Emily want to fight a monster so badly? Have you two forgotten what happened last time?¡± He opened up one of the containers and took a few pieces of candy out. He pulled apart the plastic wrapping and popped it into his mouth. He slid the other three into his back pocket. ¡°We didn¡¯t forget, It¡¯s just that it¡¯s been awhile since we had a battle~ I wanna test out a few new tricks!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not risking my life just so you can fight some monsters and test out your new tricks. I know, the journey is quite boring for most of the time, but unlike you, I can die very easily. Why not just do that in the wonderland?¡± ¡°Because monsters in the real world are way tougher, and much more fun to fight with¡± She threw some shadow punches. Well, at least there¡¯s music, else I¡¯d be bored out of my mind too. He thought to himself and turned up the volume slightly. Circe, on the other hand, curiously inspected anything that was remotely interesting to keep herself busy. After an hour or so, they exited the highway and went into another inner city area. There weren¡¯t as many skyscrapers there, but those that were still standing had suffered major structural damage. Occasionally, Kizo would stop, stare at the wreckage of buildings or rubbles with a few skeletons around it for a few seconds, sometimes fingers trembling slightly, before carrying on with their journey. Half an hour later, they arrived at the clothing shop. The door was shut tight and appeared barricaded, but all the windows were shattered, which allowed them to enter with ease. ¡°Even the clothing shop can¡¯t escape the fate of being robbed clean,¡± Kizo remarked as he searched for a clean spot to sit down. ¡°Maybe they used the clothes as fuel?¡± The duo sat down somewhere around the center of the store after swiping away the small number of glass shards. ¡°Maybe. Or they were planning to hold a ¡®Post-apocalyptic beauty contest¡¯ to keep themselves entertained. One of the two.¡± He grinned at his idea as he removed a tiny stove and a flat, circular metal plate from one of the containers. He placed the black plate on top of the stove and switched it on. A strong, blue flame sparked into existence, heating up the plate. Kizo took out the frozen pizza he picked from the crate, laid it on top of the metal plate, and cover it with a small metal dome. A peculiar circle, with intricate drawing within its circular border, etched on the outer surface of the dome lighted up for a quick moment before the light faded away. Kizo removed the dome and the smell of a freshly baked pizza went up to the duo¡¯s noses. ¡°Smells delicious! Can I eat a little bit, Kizo? Please~? Pretty, pretty please~?¡± She stared at him with a pleading look. He lightly shook his head in a nonchalant manner and smiled, ¡°Alright, only one slice okay? The human needs his food to function.¡± He patted her head. ¡°Yay! Love you sooo much!¡± She hugged him before snatching one slice of the pizza and enjoyed its flavor. Her tail wagged excitedly as she ate. The traveller took off his protective helmet, put it down on the ground beside him, and savor the delicious pie he had long for six months. After he finished the first slice, he took another one, then another, then another until the entirety of the pizza had been consumed. ¡°Man, I am getting old,¡± he burped, ¡°In the past, this much pizza couldn¡¯t even fill up half of my stomach.¡± He turned off the stove, letting the metal plate cool down. ¡°At least we could save more food while travelling the same distance yeah?¡± She sat lying against his shoulder. ¡°Not really? It just means that we need to stop more frequently to eat. Despite it would slow down our journey, at least my legs will appreciate the rest.¡± ¡°Maybe Kizo can go into the wonderland once in--¡± SCREAMS Both of them instantaneously snapped their heads to the road outside. They saw a kid dashing past the store at a distance while screaming. A split second after, they saw what was chasing the child. A horrible creature with green, scaly legs with a lion¡¯s head, who appeared to be large enough to take down a large truck with relative ease. A Monster. ¡°Circe! Guard the supplies, I¡¯ll be right back!¡± He rapidly put on his helmet and grabbed his weapons before sprinting towards the monster at full force. He was quite far behind the monster when he exited the store, but he was able to catch up to it with relative ease. When he got close enough to the monster he dived behind a car and began shooting the beast with his mana-powered rifle. His strategy worked, the monster stopped chasing the kid and turned around to locate its attacker. Unfortunately, the kid also stopped and swerved to his back to see who saved him. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there you idiot! Find somewhere to hide!¡± He shouted as he slowly backed away from his cover while still shooting the beast¡¯s face. The kid heeded his order and frantically ran away searching for a hiding spot. The beast was enraged and roared at Kizo, which he took as a chance to fling a grenade into its mouth right before it closes it. He ducked behind a massive concrete wall as an explosion went out in the beast¡¯s mouth. Even at a moderate distance and behind the concrete, he could feel the shockwave from the explosion. He slowly peeked out from behind the concrete to see if the monster was dead, alas it was still standing, and it immediately tackled the concrete Kizo was hiding behind with its full force. As he realized he could not escape his impending doom, he performed a gesture with his hand before the beast completely destroyed the enormous concrete rubble. After the monster had stopped its movement, it turned around and searched for its kill. However, the body was nowhere to be found. The beast became extremely confused and angry after losing not one, but two preys. ¡°Hey! Dumb lizard cat over there! Looking for me?¡± The beast turned to its back and growled at Kizo, who was standing about 3 meters away from his original position. The beast instantly pounced on him, but it didn¡¯t recognize what Kizo was doing fast enough. As soon as Kizo had a clear shot of the beast¡¯s eye, he let go of the trigger, releasing a charged-up, piercing aetherial bullet that penetrated through the beast¡¯s skull like jelly. The beast¡¯s body slammed heavily onto the ground right beside Kizo, its bodily fluids flowing out from the hole on its face. Kizo lied down on the ground exhausted, rifle still on his hand, as Circe came running to him with all their stuff. She began examining him for wounds despite him claiming he wasn¡¯t harmed. The boy, who was hiding inside a building, after hearing an extremely loud gunshot followed by a loud thumping sound, peeked out from his hiding spot to see if the danger was gone. Luckily for him, it was. He slowly and cautiously walked towards the man who saved him, who was sitting up beside the monster¡¯s giant corpse. When the boy arrived in front of Kizo, he bowed forcefully, ¡°Thank you, mister! Thank you for saving me!¡± It was this moment that Kizo realized the boy he saved is a Demi, a rabbit Demi, based on his mixed features of a rabbit and a human, especially the obvious long, rabbit ears stuck on the boy¡¯s head. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I had nothing better to do anyway.¡± Circe elbowed his arm hard and glared at him. He threw a quick, casual glance at Circe before speaking again. ¡°I was joking. Let¡¯s go somewhere safer to talk.¡± He stood up and lead them into a bakery, and then into its kitchen. After that, he made sure there was nothing else that might pop up and disturb them. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He crouched down and looked straight at the boy¡¯s eyes. ¡°Kellen.¡± ¡°Kellen! That¡¯s a nice name.¡± The emote, ^~^, showed up on his helmet before he sat down. Kellen was slightly intrigued by it. ¡°So, Kellen, why were you chased by that thing?¡± ¡°My mom, my dad, my brother and I were out finding food. We do that every day. But today, we went a little further to see if there was a new place that had food. Eventually we found a big building that has lots of food in it! But we didn¡¯t know there was a big monster living in it, and we accidentally woke it up. My brother and I tried to run with our mom and dad, but it blocked us and we had to run the other way. We managed to get out of its sight for awhile and I told my brother to hide in a secret place, but the monster found me before I could hide so I ran away. And I just kept running and screaming, sometimes hiding to rest a bit before it found me again. I was hoping someone would save me, and then you showed up mister! You saved me! Thanks again!¡± He proceeded to hug Kizo. He hugged back. ¡°But mister, can you help me find my brother and get us back to my mom and dad? My dad will pay you back if you help me!¡± ¡°Of course, Kellen. But I don¡¯t really need to be paid, I¡¯m quite self-sufficient.¡± He stood up and looked at the boy. ¡°Self-su-ffi-cient?¡± Kellen stared at him, confused. ¡°Err, let¡¯s just say I really don¡¯t need to be paid.¡± The boy nodded. ¡°Circe, you got all our supplies?¡± ¡°Yup! All here.¡± She pointed her finger at the containers and handed him his backpack. He put on the backpack and recalibrated the containers to follow him. ¡°So, which direction is the building at?¡± Kellen thought for awhile before pointing his finger towards North, the exact opposite of where he came from. ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°The monster chased me towards this direction,¡± he points to South, ¡°And then back to where we came from!¡± ¡°So it chased you in a straight line and then a U-turn eh? I see. Alright then,¡± he patted the boy¡¯s head, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± X ¡°Hey mister, where¡¯d you get all this cool stuff?¡± He circled around Kizo and admired his gear. They had just started their journey. ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say I have a friend that¡¯s very good at her job. I found most of these and I gave it to her to improve and fix it before it was returned to me.¡± A slight smile emote appeared. ¡°You must have a really good friend!¡± ¡°Indeed I do. Also, you can call me Kizo. And try to keep your voice down, don¡¯t want to attract any other monsters.¡± He placed his finger in front of where his lips were at. The boy nodded enthusiastically and did the same gesture as Kizo, ¡°Shhh¡­.¡± ¡°Kizo, my time is almost up, I¡¯ll be going then~¡± ¡°Alright. Later Circe.¡± She instantly vanished. Kellen, who watched her suddenly disappear into thin air, started panicking. ¡°Mister Kizo, did you see that! Your lady friend just disappeared! Where did she go?!¡± Fear crept up on his body while he glanced around searching for her. Kizo turned, kneeled, and grabbed his shoulders, stopping him from moving. ¡°Hey, hey, calm down. Just calm down, okay? She¡¯s fine. She just went back to...uh...my head...I guess?¡± Kellen stared at him confusingly. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a blonde boy with a dark grey wolf tail jumped into existence, standing beside both of them. ¡°Heyo hostie--¡± Kellen frightenedly leaped away from the other boy and gawked at both of them, terrified. ¡°Wha-what¡¯s going on?!¡± The rabbit demi was on the verge of tears. ¡°It¡¯s okay Kellen, he¡¯s not dangerous. He¡¯s uh¡­.magic! Do you know what is magic, Kellen?¡± The boy nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what he is. He¡¯s made of magic, just like that girl you met before. They¡¯re both made of magic, that¡¯s why they can appear and disappear whenever they want. So, don¡¯t be afraid, yeah? Don¡¯t forget about your brother, we need to keep moving. I can explain more as we walk.¡± He carefully trod towards the boy and offered his hand. A smiling emote appeared. Kellen, despite still in shock, carefully took his hand and all three of them continued their journey. ¡°So, before I explain what is going on, this little guy here is called Eli.¡± He pointed at the boy, only as tall as Kizo¡¯s shoulder, on his left side. ¡°Heyo! Nice to meet you~¡± He waved at Kellen. Kellen waved back timidly. The wolf boy giggled. ¡°Now, Kellen, do you ever heard of the word ¡®tulpa¡¯ before?¡± ¡°No...¡± He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s okay, not a lot of people know, even before the end of the world. To put it simply, tulpas are ¡®people¡¯ that live inside your head. It¡¯s a mind thing, not related to magic.¡± ¡°But you said they are magic?¡± ¡°Well, their bodies are made of magic, that¡¯s why they can appear and disappear out of nowhere. But they actually live in my head. I created them.¡± ¡°You can create people in your head?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s...complicated. Hmm, how about this. Do you know what are imaginary friends?¡± ¡°Yeah! So tul-pas are like imaginary friends?¡± ¡°Close, but not quite. Imaginary friends only act in a certain way if you¡¯re imagining it. They don¡¯t have their own thoughts and they don¡¯t do their own things. Tulpas, on the other hand, act like real people. After creating them, they will slowly have their own thoughts, opinions, emotions, and other stuff like that.¡± ¡°So...you make imaginary friends...that act like real people¡­.and they live inside your head but have magic bodies....and they¡¯re called tulpas?¡± ¡°Yep. But, I didn¡¯t always know they can have their own bodies made of magic. In the past, they only existed inside my head.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re trapped?! Won¡¯t they get bored? Or sad? Or lonely?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t get bored! Or sad, or lonely.¡± Eli stared at him, ¡°We live in the Wonderland! It¡¯s basically an imaginary place that hostie made. It¡¯s very big and we have a lot of fun! There¡¯s also two more of us that you didn¡¯t see, so we¡¯re not really that lonely~¡± ¡°Why do you call Mister Kizo, ¡®hostie¡¯?¡± ¡°Tulpas usually refer to their creators as ¡®host¡¯. And those who can bring their tulpas into the real world, through their magic bodies, are called Tulpamancers. Although, that term used to mean whoever has a tulpa. But since magic has become a real thing, it only refers to people like me.¡± He glanced at the boy, ¡°Still scared?¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s so cool! People living inside your head and they have magic bodies, you¡¯re like a wizard!¡± ¡°Well, technically I am one. And cool, huh? I still remember the times when we were viewed more as freaks than anything¡­.¡± He mumbled. ¡°Can I do it too? Can you teach me?¡± Kellen gazed at him in anticipation. ¡°That¡¯s¡­. How about we focus on finding your brother first? I can tell you more after I get you and your brother back to your parents. Is that okay?¡± The boy nodded in excitement. All of them increased their pacing and eventually reached the building within thirty minutes or so. The Lost Brothers: Part 2 ¡°That¡¯s the big building you told me about? A hotel?.¡± He pointed at the deteriorating structure with a giant hole at the middle of it. ¡°Yeah!¡± Then the Demi turned and stared at him, ¡°What¡¯s a hotel?¡± ¡°You-¡± He stopped himself from completing the sentence. His hand painfully curled up into a fist before it relaxes, ¡°A hotel is a place where people from other places temporary live in.¡± ¡°Why do people leave their home and come to temporarily live in a hotel?¡± ¡°Well...different people have different reasons for doing that. Anyhow, let¡¯s not lose our focus now. Where did you hide your brother?¡± He gestured them to slow down their steps and slightly crouching. ¡°I hid him in the one..two..three..third floor! We were running down the stairs and we thought it couldn¡¯t come to the third floor because it doesn¡¯t have any big hole for it to come down. We saw a room with an open door and we ran towards it, but before I could go in, the monster tore open a hole and jumped down! It instantly saw me and I quickly closed the door so it wouldn¡¯t see my brother. After that, I ran down and out of the building and just kept running until I met you!¡± ¡°I see¡­There¡¯s a huge possibility that there might be a nest inside, would explain why it¡¯s so adamant about killing you. This means it¡¯s likely that there¡¯s another monster living in it, maybe even with their offsprings.¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t need to worry since Mister Kizo is here! You can just shoot the monster to death! Bang bang!¡± He made a gun blasting gesture. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to. The fighting noises might attract other monsters. We¡¯re lucky that it didn¡¯t happen when I killed the one chasing you.¡± ¡°So this is a stealthy mission?¡± ¡°Yeah. Try to stay quiet. I rather not fight another monster today. Eli, go ahead and scout the area. We¡¯ll be right behind you.¡± ¡°Okay hostie!¡± He sprinted towards the hotel, no sound made by his footsteps. The other two approached the hotel in a cautious manner. Before they enter the building, however, Kizo went to the side of the hotel and made the containers floating behind him attached itself to the wall. Then, he activated the containers¡¯ camouflage, which made it almost impossible to discern the containers from the wall. ¡°Hostie, the path to the staircase is clear.¡± He informed Kizo telepathically. ¡°Roger that.¡± He then turned and whispered to Kellen, ¡°Alright, the path is clear, let¡¯s go.¡± The Demi nodded and the both of them crept towards the staircase, slowly advancing up the floors after the tulpa gave confirmation that no danger was spotted. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re on the third floor. Where¡¯s your brother?¡± He asked in a soft volume. Kellen gestured Kizo to follow him for a meter or so before pointing to a door room. ¡°Check the upper floors and see if there¡¯s another monster.¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± When they arrived in front of the door, ¡°I¡¯ll go in first, mister. My brother can be easily scared.¡± An ¡°OK¡± hand gesture emote appeared. The boy slowly opened the door and immediately, the sound of frantic footsteps could be heard. ¡°Allan! It¡¯s me! Your brother! I came back to save you!¡± He tried to keep his voice down as much as possible. ¡°Kellen? You¡¯re back!¡± An even smaller boy darted across the room and hugged him tightly. He began sobbing quietly, ¡°I-I thought you were killed by the monster! I-I thought when you didn¡¯t come back after I couldn¡¯t hear the monster, it had eaten you!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t die that easily Allan. Didn¡¯t I promise you? I¡¯ll always protect you!¡± He then kissed his brother¡¯s cheek. ¡°B-but how did you escape the monster?¡± Tears on the little boy¡¯s cheek were wiped away. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to mister Kizo! He¡¯s waiting outside right now. He killed the monster with his gun! It was so cool! But I didn¡¯t actually see him do that because I was hiding...¡± Suddenly, there were three knocks on the wall. ¡°Can I come in now?¡± ¡°Oh! Yes! Of course! Come in Mister Kizo!¡± The man walked lightly into the room and closed the door. He saw Kellen and another smaller rabbit Demi child hiding behind his back. ¡°This is my brother, Allan! Say hello Allan.¡± He nudged. ¡°H-hello mister Kizo. Thank you for saving Kellen.¡± Said the Demi before he timidly returned to his brother¡¯s back. ¡°Hi Allan, and you¡¯re welcome,¡± He crouched down, ¡°Anyway, Eli found the nest a few floors up and there are some baby monsters there, but no sign of the other adult monster. We don¡¯t know when it¡¯ll come back, but let¡¯s not stay here and find out. Where can we find your parents?¡± ¡°Mama and papa told us to meet at a building filled with books if we were separated.¡± Said Allan. ¡°A bookstore? Which direction?¡± Both boys pointed in the direction opposite of where Kizo and Kellen came from. ¡°I see. Okay, let¡¯s go then. Stay close to me.¡± The boys nodded and followed Kizo out of the room and towards the staircase, where Eli was waiting for them. ¡°That¡¯s Eli Allan! He¡¯s a magic boy! He is mister Kizo¡¯s ¡®friend¡¯.¡± ¡°Hello! Nice to meet you, Allan.¡± Eli was the last in line, guarding the party¡¯s back. ¡°H-hello Eli.¡± He waved timidly. ¡°Guys, don¡¯t slow down. We don¡¯t want to be here when the mamma monster comes back.¡± After his warning, everyone zipped their mouths tight and exited the building as fast as they could. Kizo then went to the side of the hotel and detached the containers. ¡°This way right? How far away are we from the buildings with lots of books?¡± ¡°About ten minutes!¡± ¡°Noted. Eli, watch our backs. Let¡¯s go.¡± He started running at a moderate speed towards their destination. The rest picked up the pace without much problem. As they approached the bookstore, Kizo noticed a few hints here and there indicating it is most certainly that the other monster headed towards the same direction as them. It was clear what most likely had happened, but he didn¡¯t want to tell the brothers his theory. Luckily, there was no sign of a monster when they finally arrived at the bookstore. They trodded carefully into the building. Shards of glass and destroyed books covered a large part of the floor. ¡°Mom! Dad! Are you here?!¡± Kellen shouted. ¡°Momma! Papa! We¡¯re here!¡± Ruffling noises could be immediately heard at the other end of the structure. Kizo alertly aimed his rifle towards the door as the knob started to turn. To everyone¡¯s relief, an adult rabbit Demi appeared from behind the door. Kizo aimed down his gun and the two brothers sprinted towards their father. Their mother also came out and all of them hugged each other tightly. Kizo felt his chest slightly tightened, memories of the past flooded his mind. When Eli patted his back, only then he realized both his hands were shaking. He shook away his thoughts and advanced towards the family. The father noticed his children¡¯s saviour, stood up, and bowed formally, ¡°Thank you for saving my children. I am forever in your debt.¡± Kizo resisted the urge to crack a joke and just uttered, ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°Dear...¡± The mother spoke. There was a sense of urgency in her voice. The father stood right up again, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, traveller, but it will be best if we leave this place as fast as possible. There was a monster chasing us, but something else appeared and--¡± BWOOMMM A deafening crash shook everyone to their core. Kizo instantly darted to the front door to see the same four-legged beast fighting with a wyrm of its size. Both monsters were tumbling and crashing into nearby buildings as they wrestle with each other. ¡°Alright, we need to move to now!¡± He power-walked back to the family and urged them to get up and follow him. ¡°There are no other exits--¡± ¡°I got that covered, so just follow me. And don¡¯t mind the blonde kid, he¡¯s magic and is more than capable to fight.¡± Kizo brushed past them and walked straight into the room behind the door. The parents just stared at Eli as he waved at them before entering the room as well. Kizo quickly found a part of the wall with nothing attached to it and proceeded to place a black hemisphere, taken from his bag, on the wall, a few centimeters higher than him. The device opened up four small ports and four smaller hemispheres with legs crawled out before positioning themselves in a way that they formed a large rectangle the size of a door. He pressed a button on the device and the concrete within the invisible border lines vanished, allowing anything to pass through. ¡°Eli, you take the front. I¡¯ll guard the rear. You know which protocol.¡± He turned to the family, ¡°All of you! Follow Eli, he¡¯ll guide you all to somewhere safe while I watch your backs. Go!¡± The family panically nodded and followed close behind the tulpa. After all of them made it out, Kizo grabbed the device inside the building and pushed it out to his side along the surface of the wall and pressed the button again. The concrete materialized back and the small hemispheres crawled back into their ports. Just before he put the device back to his backpack, he heard a scream and immediately turned around. The monster that was brought down by Kizo¡¯s bullets was alive, it¡¯s remaining eye wrathfully locked on the family. ¡°RUN BACK HERE! RUN!!¡± He stuck the device back at the wall again and began firing his weapon at the vengeful beast. Eli, who was the closest to the beast, materialized a giant sword, and flung it to the right without releasing the handle. This caused the sword to split it into many individual parts and revealed a toothy spine underneath the blade. He forcefully slashed upward, giving the beast a massive cut across its face. The beast painfully dodged back, allowing more time for the family to run back to the bookstore. ¡°That damn thing must¡¯ve had regenerative abilities!¡± He then fired a grenade shell at the beast the moment he finished attaching the grenade launcher underbarrel to his rifle. The beast dodged, causing the shell to miss and landed on the ground beside it. The explosion temporarily fazed the beast. ¡°Eli, keep that fucker company. I¡¯m going to call for backup.¡± He then threw another device onto the ground before retreating back to the store. ¡°Roger!¡± Eli leaped into the air and forcefully swung his sword once more, slashing the back of the beast. However, the cut wasn¡¯t deep. The beast slapped its paw towards Eli and missed. The tulpa gracefully landed on its paw for a split second before backflipping away from the beast and hit the ground unharmed. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Let¡¯s play, kitty~¡± He taunted before sprinting towards the monster once more. Back at the bookstore... Kizo quickly removed the dematerialization device and shove it into his bag. ¡°What do we do now?! There¡¯s no way we can escape!¡± The father exclaimed. The family screamed as the two massive beasts in front momentarily crashed into the store before moving again. ¡°From now on, don¡¯t disturb me. I will be calling backup.¡± He removed a heavily modified walky-talky and switched it on. ¡°V! Are you there?! Answer me!¡± The reply was nothing but static buzz. ¡°V! Do you copy?!¡± Nothing but static buzz again. ¡°V, I swear to god if you are ignoring me I will walk back to Sanctuary and personally kick your arse! Answer me goddammit!¡± Still static buzz. Kizo furiously punched the wall, carving a fist-sized hole at the concrete. ¡°Dude, I was just taking a piss. No need to shout.¡± A voice finally came through the device. ¡°So, what¡¯s--¡± ¡°V, listen very carefully. I want you to immediately summon an A rank squad and have them teleport to my location through the teleporter I placed about one meter away from me ASAP. I have a family of four, civilians, at my side. There are two B+ rank beasts fighting with each other in front of the building I¡¯m currently occupying and another one fighting Eli behind the building. I don¡¯t care if that assface denies my request, but if that squad doesn¡¯t come through in less than 8 minutes we¡¯re all dead! Do you copy?!¡± ¡°Copy. The squad will be there in five.¡± He slotted the walky-talky back into his belt and ushered the family to exit the room. ¡°Will help get here in time?¡± The mother asked with grave concern. ¡°They will ma¡¯am.¡± They moved to behind the counter, now two walls behind the beast fighting Eli. Kizo swiftly set his backpack down, grabbed a book out, opened and ripped out a page, and placed it down on the ground. He poked a hole at the center of the ripped page and suddenly, an almost transparent green hemisphere formed around them. He attached the containers to underneath the counter and readied his weapon. ¡°Is this¡­.magic?¡± ¡°It is a shield ward. It¡¯s strong enough to withstand at least 7 standard grenade explosions. Careful not to slip out of the ward, or you won¡¯t be able to get back in.¡± Meanwhile, both the beast and the tulpa were equally exhausted from their battle, now a few meters away from each other. Eli glanced at the special watch on his wrist and decided to finish the monster with his final attack. He murmured a few words under his breath and his contracted sword began to glow. He jumped as high as he could, uttered another word and practically flew towards the beast¡¯s face like a meteorite. Unfortunately, the nimble beast dodged the attack slightly which caused Eli to miss. However, his blade still pierced all the way through its neck, blood gushing out from the wound. Even with that injury, the attack didn¡¯t take down the beast. On the contrary, the monster somehow forcefully tightened up its wound, stopping the flow of its blood. It also ensure Eli¡¯s blade could not be pulled out. The beast grinned creepily at Eli, who was trying to pull his sword back out, and charged towards the bookstore. ¡°Hostie, the monster is going to crash into the building now!!¡± Kizo instinctively turned towards the where he thought the beast would strike and charged up his piercing shot. Mere moments later, the beast assaulted the concrete wall and destroyed it completely. Eli managed to twist his sword, causing the beast to cry out loudly and then slapped Eli away, sending him flying into a nearby building. The beast stood up on its hind legs and plunged his heavy body down onto the ceiling. Concrete collapsed on the ward, causing the family to scream in terror. Kizo took his shot when he found an opening among the concrete rubble. The bullet struck through its cheek, causing it to involuntarily stepped back. However, the beast held back its pain and thrust down its claws at the ward. Kizo tried to think of any other way to push back the beast from destroying the ward, but it was moving too fast. The family closed their eyes in dread, waiting for their inevitable doom. Right before the final moment, the beast was forcefully pushed towards the side, as if someone with incredible strength punched it away. It was then when Kizo noticed the teleporter was finally activated and the squad he requested was, at last, standing a few meters in front of him. ¡°What took you guys so long! Waiting for a dramatic entrance?!¡± He trudged towards them, trying to figure out which squad came to their rescue. ¡°You okay, robotman?¡± A tall, buff looking female orc turned to the soldier as he approached her. ¡°Joan? I thought you lead the fastest response squad.¡± They powerfully slapped and shook each others¡¯ hands. ¡°Klein wasn¡¯t thrilled to fulfill your request for backup. How are the civilians?¡± ¡°Damn assface. The civilians are fine. All rabbit Demis. Two kids, two parents. A wyrm and what seems to be a chimera subvariant are currently fighting at the main street. The chimera¡¯s partner is lying over there. They also seem to have moderate regenerative abilities.¡± He pointed at the beast trying to get up to its feet. ¡°He¡¯s just trying to do his job. Alright, Solas!¡± She clapped her hands, ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯ve gotta do...¡± Kizo marched back to the family, ¡°Where do you guys live?¡± ¡°We live at a settlement around two kilometers away. We came here with our car, but I parked it on the street.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s either pushing the battle between the two monsters away or kill them both¡­¡± ¡°Robotman! Where do the civilians live?!¡± Two of the squad members marched towards the growling monster while Eli staggered back to his host. ¡°Two kilometers away! Their vehicle is parked on the street!¡± Kizo stepped forward and hugged Eli as he collapsed. ¡°You can go back to the wonderland and rest.¡± Eli nodded and slowly dissipated away until his body was gone. His sword dematerialized along with him. ¡°Then we¡¯ll distract the two monsters away and you take the civs back to their vehicle and get them safely back home!¡± ¡°Roger!¡± He turned to the family, ¡°Tear the paper apart, it¡¯ll release the ward.¡± He swiftly ran back to the teleporter. ¡°I¡¯ll call you once I¡¯ve reached the settlement.¡± He disabled the teleporter before shoving it into his backpack. ¡°Instructor Kizo.¡± A teenage elf with orange hair nodded at the soldier. He quickly patted the teenager¡¯s back twice, ¡°We can do some catching up after we¡¯re all at the settlement, Hoshi,¡± Kizo went back in and get his containers to follow him again. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Joan and the remaining two squad members sprint through the bookstore, exiting to the streets and joined into the battle between the two monsters. ¡°What does your car looked like?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a red sedan.¡± With that description, Kizo quickly spotted the vehicle in question and sneakily guided the family to the car. At a distance, all of them could see 3 humanoid figures join in the battle between the two angry monsters. Since Kizo¡¯s containers couldn¡¯t fit into the car, he attached them onto the roof. He called shotgun as all of them entered the car. The car started successfully despite its worn-out appearance, but the engine¡¯s revving sound was quite loud. Kizo hoped it won¡¯t attract any other monsters as the car carried its passengers to their destination. He sighed in relief when the danger was completely out of sight. ¡°Mister Kizo, is it?¡± The father reached out his hand towards Kizo, ¡°I haven¡¯t properly introduced myself, my name is--¡± ¡°I would appreciate it if you focus your attention on the road.¡± He remarked coldly. ¡°Right! Right.¡± The father tightly gripped the steering wheel. ¡°A question I would like to ask. Why did you two bring your kids to such a dangerous place searching for food? All of you could¡¯ve died had I not came across your son.¡± ¡°We were...running short on food, and everything within a 2-kilometer radius has been looted clean. We simply had no choice. And the settlement we mentioned? The place doesn¡¯t really have guards, just people living together. We only had a few rules making sure no one steal from or kill each other. Other than that, it¡¯s every man and woman for themselves. We didn¡¯t want to take the risk that the settlement could not protect our children.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your weapon then?¡± ¡°We ran out of bullets and had to throw them away or risk being too slow to escape.¡± Kizo wanted to lecture them about not discarding their weapons regardless of the circumstances but he just groaned. ¡°Why was the Chimera so persistent on chasing you four? As far as I know, they don¡¯t really pursue anything smaller than three cows stacked on each other to fill their bellies. Did you threatened its young or something?¡± ¡°We did fire some shots near their ¡®nest¡¯ after the monsters discovered us.¡± ¡°And the wyrm? Where did it come from?¡± Right at that moment, they could hear a roaring sound originating behind them. Kizo turned his head back and a wrathful wyrm came into all of their vision, slithering towards them at full speed. ¡°Did. You. Guys. Steal. Its. Egg?¡± He minced his words, stifling his anger. ¡°I told you we shouldn''t have taken that egg!¡± The mother turned her backpack to the front and opened it up, revealing a giant egg with a slightly cracked shell. ¡°I¡¯m not a wyrm expert! I didn¡¯t know it was its egg, and it¡¯s not like we can be picky about what we food we came across!¡± ¡°Everyone, shut up!¡± The car immediately became silent. ¡°Just let me handle this. Evan, you¡¯re up.¡± He knocked the roof. ¡°Evan? Who¡¯s Evan?¡± ¡°Someone that¡¯s going to save us.¡± A brunette child with the same stature as Eli slowly materialized on the roof with a unique bow and a quiver full of arrows hanging on his back. There were faint glows beneath his boots, attaching himself to the roof. He removed an arrow etched with inscriptions and drew the bow¡¯s string with it. The wyrm was only a few meters away before Evan released the arrow trained on its head. When the arrow pierced through the wyrm¡¯s thick skin, a powerful shockwave was discharged by the arrow and it blew the monster¡¯s head apart. The corpse thumped onto the ground as Evan dematerialized. ¡°Please keep in mind that you are not to pick up anything you don¡¯t fully understand in your next scavenging. Is that clear?¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± The father gulped. All of them remained quiet for the rest of the journey back. They eventually arrived at a football stadium with a closed roof. The stadium had some structural damage, but overall, it looked intact. There were makeshift walls set up at each of the stadium¡¯s entry, but no guards to be seen. ¡°Now that all of you have safely arrived at your home, it¡¯s time for us to part ways,¡± Kizo announced once they all exited the vehicle. ¡°What? Why?¡± Kellen loudly asked, his sadness obviously shown on his face. ¡°I¡¯m a wanderer, Kellen. I don¡¯t stay and mingle with every people or community I come across. I helped you because it was a right thing to do, and my obligation ends when all of you are safe.¡± ¡°But! But!¡± ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay for awhile Mister Kizo? Don¡¯t you need rest and a safe place to tend your wounds?¡± The father hugged Kellen back, preventing his child from clinging to the soldier. ¡°I am, for the most part, unharmed. And please don¡¯t try to repay me either. I am very self-sufficient.¡± ¡°....alright then. Kids, say goodbye to Mister Kizo.¡± Kellen hugged Kizo tightly, ¡°Goodbye Mister Kizo. Thank you for saving us. We¡¯ll never forget it.¡± Allan joined the hug too, ¡°Bye bye, Mister Kizo. Thanks for saving us.¡± Kizo patted their heads, ¡°You¡¯re welcome. And goodbye.¡± ¡°Oh! Take this Mister Kizo, so you won¡¯t forget about us.¡± He handed a shiny card to his saviour. The word ¡°Pokemon¡± was printed in large letters on the back. A genuine, warm smile emerged on Kizo¡¯s face as he stared nostalgically at the card, ¡°I¡¯ll forever treasure it. Thank you, Kellen. I¡¯ll never forget you.¡± Kellen smiled happily. The brothers then went back to their parents. ¡°May the gods protect you on your journey.¡± The mother blessed. Kizo slightly bowed. ¡°Ah, there is one more thing I should tell you all.¡± ¡°What is it Mister Kizo?¡± ¡°The backup I called, they are in an organization called Osiris. Their goal is to rebuild the world. In a few days, there will be more of them visiting your settlement to provide help among other things. When they do arrive, please tell your fellow settlers that they bear no ill will.¡± ¡°I understand. Good luck on your journey Mister Kizo.¡± ¡°You all stay safe too.¡± With that, the family walked back to their home. Evan materialized and stood beside Kizo while he reactivated his containers, ¡°What is our next step, hostie?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll call Joan and her squad here, do some talking, then we¡¯re back on the road.¡± He removed his walkie-talkie, changed the frequency on the device, and activates it. ¡°Joan, you there?¡± ¡°I trust you took care of the wyrm without any problems?¡± ¡°You could¡¯ve given me a heads up.¡± ¡°We were occupied. Plus, we severely weakened it, won¡¯t take much for you to kill it. Why did the wyrm suddenly made you guys its target?¡± ¡°The family stole its egg without knowing it.¡± ¡°Hmph, not surprised. Anyhow, where¡¯s the settlement?¡± ¡°Just walk straight towards the direction we took off. There¡¯s a few turns here and there, but that won¡¯t be a problem when you¡¯re close enough to see a big ass stadium. The settlement is in there.¡± ¡°Roger that. ETA 20 minutes.¡± ¡°Copy that.¡± He switched off his walkie-talkie and began ambling around the area after he carefully stored the card at a safe place. After some time, he decided to sit down and started reorganizing his backpack. ¡°Yo, robotman.¡± Kizo zipped up his bag and stood up, staring at the squad leader. ¡°You killed the chimeras?¡± ¡°Yeah. Wouldn¡¯t want these creatures hanging around. It¡¯s always a pain in the ass to separate their heads from the neck. It got a nest nearby?¡± ¡°It¡¯s inside a hotel a few hundred meters horizontally behind the bookstore.¡± ¡°Guess we¡¯ll need to send an exterminator team to deal with that,¡± She looked down on the bag, ¡°Take out your teleporter. Need to go back to HQ and get another one.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t bring your own?¡± He kneeled down, removed the teleporter from his bag and placed it on the ground a little further away from them. ¡°Fastest response team remember? We only grabbed the essentials if we want to maintain that title.¡± She kneeled down, pressed a few buttons on the protected keypad, and a portal opened once she hit enter. ¡°All of you go back to the meeting room and help me fill in the reports. Hoshi, go grab another teleporter.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± The rest of the squad replied in unison and proceed to walk into the portal. Once all of them were out of sight, Joan hugged Kizo tightly. ¡°Why did you have to leave?¡± ¡°Why do you miss me so much? I thought you couldn¡¯t care even if I lose an arm and a leg.¡± He patted her back. She took a step back and frivolously glared at him. ¡°Well, for starters, the only person who can have nerdy conversations with me is gone. My off-times are now significantly more boring.¡± ¡°And the second reason?¡± A ¡®raised eyebrow¡¯ emote appeared. ¡°You didn¡¯t say goodbye when you left. A letter is not considered as a goodbye.¡± ¡°You would have tied me in the basement until I change my mind otherwise.¡± She chuckled, ¡°True. Anyway, you got anything that can appease Klein¡¯s frustration?¡± ¡°We found a new settlement, so that¡¯s definitely going to make him happy. More people for him to take care of, and he loves taking care of people, doesn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Har, har.¡± ¡°I also found a mostly unsalvaged supermarket warehouse at this coordinate.¡± He removed his smartphone and showed her the coordinates on the old world map. She noted down the coordinates with her own modified smartphone. ¡°Not sure if this will be enough, but at least he can¡¯t complain that you wasted our resources again.¡± ¡°How¡¯s everyone back at Sanctuary?¡± ¡°Most of them are still alive and kicking. Two got married, and one had a child. Steven¡¯s child, a girl, if you¡¯re wondering.¡± ¡°I see. What about you? Got a partner yet?¡± ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t have time to invest in a serious relationship yet. But I have a few options I had considered when the time comes.¡± ¡°Wanna tell me who do you have in mind?¡± ¡°It¡¯s much more fun to let you guess.¡± The elf teenager came back from the portal with a similar but larger teleporter. Joan kneeled back down again and deactivates Kizo¡¯s teleporter and returned it to him. ¡°I¡¯ll set up the teleporter a little closer to the settlement. Don¡¯t you go anywhere yet Kizo! I¡¯ll get you some supplies after teleporter is up and running.¡± She sprinted towards the stadium and installed the teleporter close to the walls. ¡°How have you been, instructor Kizo!¡± Hoshi grinned wrapped his arm around Kizo¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You can drop the ¡®instructor¡¯, Hoshi.¡± He messed with the elf¡¯s hair, a grinning emoticon appeared. ¡°But I want to show you my utmost respect, sir!¡± He purposely deepened his voice and gave him a serious salute. ¡°You cheeky little...¡± He snickered. The elf lets go of his ¡®serious¡¯ persona, ¡°It has been a rather boring six months since you left, instructor. A lot of people still misses you, including General Klein, but mostly because he thinks you still owe him something.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t change my mind, Hoshi.¡± ¡°I know, I¡¯m just saying the days when you¡¯re still with us showing us your porn collection are far more interesting than these days.¡± Kizo attempted to slap Hoshi¡¯s back failed when he leaped away while giggling. ¡°You should be a comedian instead ya bastard!¡± He just can¡¯t stop grinning when he¡¯s around his favourite pupil. ¡°But then I won¡¯t be able to become the most powerful hero and get all the girlz~¡± ¡°Still thinking about girls--¡± A tin can zipped through the air and Kizo catches it with pinpoint accuracy without looking at it, ¡°--eh?¡± ¡°Catch.¡± Joan threw a big pouch to him and approached the two of them as he caught it perfectly. ¡°Got some ammo and ration in there. Thought you might miss some cold soda so I grabbed one for you.¡± She pointed at the can in his hand. ¡°We need to get going, Klein¡¯s been demanding a report from me. Do call every one once in a while, robotman.¡± She hugged him again. ¡°I will, she-hulk.¡± A winking emoticon appeared. ¡°See you, instructor. Don¡¯t forget to fap often.¡± He gave his pupil a long, hard squeeze before letting go. ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡± She said before leading her squad member back to the teleporter. ¡°You too.¡± He watched them sauntered back to the teleporter and vanished into the portal. He then sorted his newly acquired resources into its respective containers. After that, he opened up the can and drank the refreshing beverage. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Evan.¡± The wanderer held his tulpa¡¯s hand and continued his journey into the unknown. Arbor: Part 1 ¡°I¡¯m telling you, ice spells are way more useful than fire spells. When you manage to freeze your enemies, you can take all the time you need to finish them off and they can only watch when you chop off their limbs or gouge out their heart.¡± She lifted her feet and stomped over the huge log, her voice slightly cracking. ¡°And how much time do you think it would take to freeze an enemy? Fire spells can set whoever¡¯s charging at you aflame instantly, and with the added bonus of damage over time. An enemy could kill you before you even froze them halfway through.¡± He accompanied his argument with rapid hand gestures. Emily turned to her host and raised up her forefinger, ¡°Not if I turn them into a block of ice instantly.¡± ¡°What if they have fire resistance armor, hmm? Or if they have wind or water magic to instantly put out the fire? With ice, they can¡¯t even move to defrost themselves.¡± ¡°You do know how long it will take to immobilize someone by using ice spells right? All they have to do is to keep running sideways and you¡¯ll have no chance of turning them into a block of ice.¡± Kizo scoffed, ¡°And have almost half of your mana supply wasted on a single enemy? Even if you plan to freeze an entire group of, let say, hostile goblins, it would work much better as a last resort than anything because you¡¯ll disappear as soon as you finish casting your spell. What if there are more enemies left? What do I do, huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a genius, you can figure out how to save yourself. Oh, and need I remind you that you can be vulnerable to your own fire spell because fire can spread onto you and not just your enemies?. All it takes is one dumb goblin seeking for glory in death, and poof, off to kingdom come you go.¡± He rolled his eyes and tipped his head upwards. At the edge of his vision, the giant tree that was once in far distance has gotten incredibly close. ¡°I¡¯m fireproof, Em. Do you think I didn¡¯t prepare for such scenario before I started my journey?¡± ¡°What about the heat, hmm? You¡¯ll be cooked alive.¡± ¡°Firstly, do you think I wouldn¡¯t try to put out the flame even if I¡¯m fireproof? Secondly, did you seriously forgot I can calibrate the temperature of my suit? And here I thought tulpas, a being literally made of thoughts, is better in recalling memories than anyone!¡± ¡°It slipped my mind, okay?! Also, just because I¡¯m made of thoughts doesn¡¯t mean I can do more than your big, fat brain allow! Blame your hardware, not the AI that lives in it! And I¡¯m sick of walking! Can¡¯t you just find a car or something already?!¡± Her voice was raised louder and louder. ¡°I don¡¯t know where to find a working vehicle! There¡¯s a reason why there are abandoned cars and motorcycles all over the bloody road! They are either out of fuel or their circuitry was fried by that magic shockwave when the apocalypse started!¡± His steps progressively became heavier, and louder. ¡°Well, maybe you should¡¯ve learned a thing or two about fixing vehicles when you¡¯re planning to travel across the entire world!¡± ¡°Well, maybe the tulpa that¡¯s just spending most of the time having fun in the wonderland should¡¯ve tried to learn those things when the host is trying to survive in this bat-shit crazy world!¡± ¡°You know damn well I can¡¯t retain any semantic memory that you don¡¯t already know!!¡± ¡°Perhaps you should have swum the subconscious river and try to find if I had come across such knowledge! You have magic now! Just create a spell that protects you when diving into my subconscious!¡± He forcefully tapped on his helmet. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy! Can you even comprehend how dangerous it would be to you and the others if I do this?! You could¡¯ve gone crazy and we could disappear!¡± As they approached a four-way junction, a pack of devil hounds, with demonic horns and nimble, deadly tails, were attracted to the duo¡¯s loud arguments and sprint towards them, emerging from the right lane. The pack leader, standing in front of its followers, growled at its new prey, but the tulpa and host didn¡¯t even bat the imminent danger an eye. Despite their apparent lack of concern, they still noticed the threat. Kizo lifted up his rifle, aiming at the hounds even as he was still arguing, ¡°You had five years, ten in your perspective, to overcome this problem with all the magic sitting at the palm of your hands! This is just your excuse for your days prancing around, having fun with your body! All while I was busy helping soldiers tormented by their PTSD!¡± One of the hounds was irritated by its preys¡¯ lack of fear and dashed towards Kizo, aiming to bite off his legs. Despite its effort to make its prey miss by running in a zig-zag pattern, it wasn¡¯t difficult for the soldier, who has seen this tactic multiple times, to land his stun bullet on the hound¡¯s forehead. The fainted hound crashed into a nearby car and stopped moving. Emily summoned her opened grimoire as the rest of the pack followed up the initial assault, ¡°EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS HERO OVER HERE! HE HELPED HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS OVERCOMING PTSD,¡± She pointed the ground in front of an incoming hound, a sentence inside the opened page glowed, and the ground shot up, sending the hound flying into the air when she raised her arm, ¡°BUT FORGOT TO SPEND A FEW MORE MONTHS LEARNING HOW TO FIX A CAR, SO NOW HE HAS TO WALK ALL THE WAY TO KINGDOM COME!¡± ¡°UH OH, A HYPOCRITE TULPA HERE!¡± He dodged a charging hound by swiftly stepping aside and fired at its head on a point-blank range, ¡°ALL SHE KNOWS IS COMPLAINING! DID SHE OFFER HELP WHEN HER HOST NEEDS IT? NO!¡± He twirled around as if he was dancing, dodging another hound attempted to bite his face off. ¡°DID SHE TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS STOPPING HER FROM HELPING? NO!¡± When the hound turned around and lunged at him, he powerfully kicked the dog up into the air and delivered a skull-shattering punch to its face. Five hounds remained. The pack leader wanted to escape, but the humiliation, the fact that its prey wasn¡¯t paying attention to any of its members but still took them down as if they were playing, was too great to swallow. It barked with rage, giving the rest of its pack one last order to take the humanoids down. ¡°I think it¡¯s time to settle our initial argument and see which element is the superior one.¡± The pages flipped on its own, displaying the elemental spells Emily was about to unleash. Two lines on the pages glow as the hounds scampered close enough for her spells to hit them. She raised both her hands, palms facing the hounds, and a stream of fire and icy gusts engulfed both of them. The one hit by a stream of fire instantaneously fled when his body was in flames; the one hit by the icy gusts, however, was frozen into a block of ice just as it tried to escape. Emily stepped towards the frozen hound and kicked it, shattering the ice into pieces. The hound covered in flames dropped dead to the ground a few seconds later, its corpse still burning. As for the other two charging towards Kizo, he lazily did a twisting hand gesture while facing the hounds. Those two hounds dropped to the ground immediately, blood flowing out of their mouths like a fountain. ¡°I win. The frozen dog drops dead first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a draw. Both of them still died.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this one died first. The ¡®hotdog¡¯ died later.¡± ¡°Really, Em? A pun? Ugh, fine, you win! Happy now?!¡± He threw up his arms in frustration. Emily smiled gleefully as she despawned the grimoire and made it disappeared. The lone hound, still standing at the junction, was shaking, and indecisive. Should it run and live another day? Or should it avenge its fellow brethren and die in unsung glory? In the end, the desire to survive won over its heart. However, as the hound was about to slip away, a truck smashed into it from the right and it flew for several meters before its lifeless body landed on the ground. The duo stared curiously at the unmoving truck as the driver¡¯s window was slowly lowered. ¡°Are you folks alright?¡± The truck driver, who seems to be a hamster Demi, asked loudly. ¡°We¡¯re fine!¡± Kizo answered back while Emily pointed her fingers at the other hound corpses. ¡°Huh! And here I thought some poor souls are getting eaten when those damn dogs finally left the street! Still, thank you for killing those hounds, strangers!¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Emily replied. ¡°Are you a trader?¡± Kizo asked as the both of them ambled towards the truck. ¡°I sure am! Been doing this for a few years. Just came back from another town heading back to Arbor!¡± Despite the Demi¡¯s appearance, he has a deep and rough voice. ¡°Arbor?¡± ¡°It means ¡®tree¡¯ in Latin or somethin¡¯. You see that big tree over there?¡± He leaned out of the window, looking straight at the gigantic flora, ¡°There¡¯s a town inside its trunk, above the roots. All the buildings in there are made of stone. It appeared out of nowhere a few months after the apocalypse. Nobody knows how it came to be and none of them care. People started moving in, and soon after, a town was born.¡± ¡°What does the town have?¡± ¡°Food, shelter, water, weapons, clothes. Anything that can help you survive another day. The people there are nice too. The security ain¡¯t bad either.¡± He turned to the duo again, ¡°You guys wanna join me? I can treat ya somethin¡¯ for killing those annoying dogs earlier. Saved the town the hassle to take them out.¡± ¡°Are there any information brokers in Arbor?¡± ¡°They sure do! A good fella, that one. He worked hard to gather information from various travellers and gave it to the town council for free so they could defend themselves from potential dangers. Some say he did this as repentance for something he did. However, when it comes to outsiders, the fees he charged for his information can cost quite a penny.¡± ¡°Do they still use the currency from the old world?¡± ¡°Of course! Do you think we¡¯ll use bottle caps or somethin¡¯ as currency?¡± The trader chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s easier to use what we already have, even though they prove to be quite fragile.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll go to the town with you. Hope we aren¡¯t bothering you.¡± ¡°Gah, don¡¯t worry about it! I¡¯ve a feeling you two will bring more luck than trouble. But...I don¡¯t think your fancy boxes can fit into the seats, traveller.¡± ¡°I will attach them to the roof. They won¡¯t fly away.¡± The containers slowly levitated upwards and affixed themselves at the top. ¡°Alrighty. Hop on in!¡± The duo made their way to the other door as the driver unlocked it. They then crawled into seats, Emily sitting comfortably in the middle whereas Kizo beside the door after he closed it. ¡°What are your names, travellers? You can call me Carl.¡± He reached out his hands and shook theirs. Emily estimated Carl¡¯s height to be half of the average adult male height. ¡°Emily.¡± ¡°Kizo.¡± ¡°Kizo? Your name sounds familiar. Think I heard it before from other traders. Are you someone famous?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a wanderer.¡± ¡°Just a wanderer, eh? I don¡¯t think I ever came across such a well-equipped wanderer like you.¡± He pressed on the gas pedals and the heavy truck began to turn its wheels towards the colossal tree. Kizo slouched down on his seat and closed his eyes to rest. ¡°Say, how do you manage to find petrol to keep this truck moving, Carl?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great question missy, but using petrol isn¡¯t being used to keep this baby rolling. Any petrol we could find ran out years ago. I¡¯m using a big mana crystal as fuel.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± She glanced at Kizo, then asked another question, ¡°How did you convert this truck to run on mana crystal then? Doesn¡¯t seem like a task that any ordinary Joe could pull off.¡± ¡°We were lucky, to be honest. Among us that survived the apocalypse were a few engineering students. Wouldn¡¯t be too much of a stretch to call them geniuses. They had been studying how to construct cars powered by mana crystals, but their attention turned to converting conventional vehicles so it would run on mana after we settled down in Arbor.¡± ¡°Managed to drag a few existing mana-powered cars to them and let those geniuses break it apart to learn how to perform the conversion. A year or two later, their project was a success, making trading between towns possible. After that, more towns were discovered and connected via the trade routes.¡± ¡°How did any of you manage to find mana crystals large enough to keep this thing moving? As far as we know, there are no mana crystal mines in this country.¡± ¡°Arbor isn¡¯t the only place that appeared out of nowhere. We found a new underground mine a few kilometers away, suddenly sprung into existence few months after Arbor came to be. There are many other places like this that just...appeared in the following months and years after the apocalypse. However, these mana-powered vehicles would be useless if not for the fact that the world is now filled to the brim with mana.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The truck went silent. To break that silence Carl struck up a question. ¡°Where do you folks come from? You two don¡¯t have that accent when you talk.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not something we¡¯re willing to share, sorry.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay. I was only curious. I knew a few people that came to this country before the world ended. Those poor souls are forever stuck here, unable to return to their motherland. Can¡¯t imagine how they feel.¡± ¡°Must be horrible.¡± She replied hollowly. When arrived at the bottom of the tree, the truck stopped its wheels, right before a giant stone wall, which was blocking the entrance to the town. The wall was rectangular in shape. The roots nearby grew along its straight borders, preventing any openings or tiny entrances into its trunk. Carl pushed the truck horn in a specific rhythm and waited for a few seconds. The stone wall gradually sank into the ground until it disappeared from sight. He drove into the tunnel carved underneath the tree and switched on the front lights. Emily could hear the stone wall rose up and blocked the entrance behind them. The light at the other end was not far. She nudged Kizo to wake him up, but he refused to open his eyes. She sighed in annoyance, then took a glimpse at the roots surrounding them. Instead of being cut off, the roots seemed to naturally grow in a way that created this passageway into the bowel of the tree. ¡°And here we are! Welcome to Arbor!¡± It was a sight to behold. In the hollowed out, lower half of the tree, lies Arbor, a collection of simple and complex structures made of stone. And despite its location, it was well illuminated by sunlight. Emily could see the town clearly with little to no problem. There were many spots of transparency spread across the innards of this titanic flora, allowing light from the outside to enter. One can even see what lies outside the trunk and the roots. The town is roughly two kilometers wide, and most of the buildings were built right at the centre. A few were spread out further from the middle, having farms or plant fields around them. However, what caught Emily¡¯s eyes were the modern infrastructures and vehicles seemingly pushed aside by an incredible force to the very edge of the town, right in front of the inner tree walls. After the driver waved at a passing brown-skinned elf, Emily assumed him to be a town guard, who looked slightly surprised, she quickly asked, ¡°Why are those buildings and cars all jumbled up at the wall there?¡± ¡°Those? Well, someone had a theory saying that when this place emerged, it push away everything that used to occupy this area, but didn¡¯t pushed it faster before the trunk walls appeared. Don¡¯t know how much sense it actually makes and don¡¯t care. If it ain¡¯t a threat, it¡¯s nothing to think about.¡± Kizo peeled open his eyes. The scenery that entered his vision was not at all what he had expected. Instead of an atmosphere filled with despair and a lack of energy, it was cheerful, and lively. There were kids playing around, adults talking to each other, buildings decorated colourfully, and even greenery littered all over the place. Kizo can¡¯t help but grin at a town full of life. The truck progressively slowed down. When what seems to be a circular open market came into sight, Carl parked his truck back into a wide alleyway, just right beside a 2-storey house at the left of the street. The driver killed the engine and jumped down from his seat. ¡°Come on down, travellers! I¡¯ll take you to my home.¡± Emily could barely see Carl when he¡¯s on the ground. Emily pushed Kizo, urging him to exit the truck faster. He stepped down and reactivated his containers. She closed the door after getting down and walked side-by-side with her host to the Demi. The Demi then lead them to his house, the building on the left, and into the living room. ¡°Welcome to my humble home! As you can see here, I¡¯m not a great house decorator, haha.¡± He hung his coat and hat on the wall and shut the door when the duo was inside. The truck driver¡¯s home was humble indeed. There were only two tables, one at the far back and the other at the front. A few chairs around the table at the back, two couch sandwiching the one closest to the entrance, and a shelf full of tableware and cups standing close to the wall. There were two doorways at the other end of the floor leading into the kitchen, and a staircase only a few steps in front of the entrance. There were a few windows, but the source of light inside the house came from the three white neons on the ceiling, with no wires connecting it to anywhere. The same goes for the two unmoving ceiling fans. ¡°I have some errands to run for the moment. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t give you two a tour of the town as much as I want to.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mister Carl. We can take a stroll on ourselves.¡± ¡°Alright then. But first, let me guide you two to your rooms. You won¡¯t want to stride around the town with those containers following behind you. And that heavy bag on your back.¡± ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Carl.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome, traveller.¡± He gave the soldier a warm smile. The duo followed Carl to the second floor. There was a small open space right in front of the staircase. Occupying it were random items and boxes stacked neatly against each other. They turned to the right and was greeted by a hallway with three doors at the left wall. They sauntered to the final door and the trader pushed it open. The room was fairly simple. There¡¯s a medieval king-sized bed positioned against the opposite wall with a nightstand on both sides, a large wardrobe on the left, one large wooden table and chair right beside the window facing the street, and another table with a small shrine on it, few steps to the right from the entrance. ¡°You two can stay here as long as you want. The light and fan switch is over here,¡± He pointed at two crudely constructed switch behind the door, ¡°The bathroom is on the left.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that shrine over there?.¡± Kizo approached the shrine and examined it. An empty golden bowl was placed in front of a statue of a beautiful woman with multiple eyes and a pair of butterfly wings. ¡°We think it might belong to the previous owner of this house, used to worship some unknown god. When we reached this place, not a single soul could be found. There was much evidence showing that people used to live in these houses, but it was as if they just...vanished. No bodies or corpses of any kind.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Kizo wanted to pick up the statue, but was stopped by Carl. ¡°It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t mess with the shrine Mister Kizo. With all those stuff that happened after the apocalypse, I won¡¯t be surprised if a demon suddenly appears if you disturb it.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± Emily replied. Her host pulled back his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll be going now. Try not to bring any weapons outside, at least not the ones that are obvious. The folks here do not respond well to anyone that flashes their weapons in plain sight.¡± ¡°There have been incidents?¡± Kizo inquired. ¡°A few. It was during the first few years of our settlement. People would disguise themselves as friendly travellers, then they would threaten to kill people if their demands are not fulfilled. Dark times, they were. But, that¡¯s in the past. The security¡¯s pretty tight now, so you don¡¯t need to worry if someone starts firing their weapons.¡± ¡°Is that why you don¡¯t lock your front door? Because of the improved security?¡± ¡°That, and everyone here has a strong bond with each other. We all went through the same pain and suffering, and we made this town our home through our collective sweat and blood. We are united as one. Things like stealing rarely ever happen because we look out for each other.¡± Emily clapped gently, ¡°That¡¯s wonderful! We haven¡¯t come across a place as nice as this one.¡± ¡°Heh, thanks for the compliment, missy.¡± He glanced at his watch, ¡°I should really get going now.¡± ¡°Wait, where can we find the information broker?¡± ¡°His house is located at the western part of the town. If you saw a building covered in flowers, then you¡¯re at the right place. See you two later!¡± He scuttled out of the room and into his own. Kizo deactivated the container and left it standing on the ground. He opened the empty wardrobe and placed his rifle, backpack, and coat into it. He pulled up his t-shirt and used it to cover his handgun holster and utility belt. ¡°Been awhile since I saw you without your coat.¡± Emily stared at his muscular body. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s quite refreshing, really.¡± He stretched his arms up high. ¡°Not gonna remove the helmet?¡± ¡°I rather not.¡± He dug up his wallet from the backpack and shove it into his left pocket. ¡°Are you shy~?¡± ¡°I feel comfortable in it.¡± He carefully hid a tiny trap that releases electricity in the wardrobe. ¡°Shy it is then.¡± She pushed her celeste hair, purple on the underside, which was bothering her ear, backward. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They went down and exited the house. Most of the buildings they saw were all, at most, two or three storey-tall, but there was one that reaches over five-storey high when they sauntered towards the market they saw earlier. That particular building seemed to be located at the western edge of town. They were certain it must¡¯ve belonged to the former ruler of this land, given how luxuriously it looked. They entered the market, which was circular in shape due to how the buildings around was built. A unique pattern of tiles lies within the heart of the market, which can only be seen once you pass through the stalls at the sides of the entrances. The pattern resembled eyes and a pair of butterfly wings. There were also benches around the centre; that¡¯s where most of the residents gathered and chatted with each other. The stalls in the market were arranged in two circular layers, with one near the edge of the market, and the other much closer to the centre. The diameter of the market was around two hundred meters, which provided an ample amount of space for different stalls to set up and still allow people to comfortably amble around. Almost all the stalls are comprised of one or two tables with the vendor¡¯s goods placed on it. A majority of it sold food. ¡°Kizo, let¡¯s start from here.¡± She tugged his shirt and they both started walking counter-clockwise around the market. Both of them were incredibly tempted to buy every food they came across as it has been so long since they ate anything that isn¡¯t frozen or stuffed in a can. ¡°Travellers! Come and buy our signature meat skewer! Once you taste this juicy meat with our special hot sauce, you¡¯ll know what heaven tastes like!¡± A wolf Demi practically shouted at the duo when they passed his stall. ¡°Ohmygosh meaaat!¡± She immediately went and stood in front of the grill, inhaling the savoury smell of the meat into her nose. ¡°Woah there, traveller. Don¡¯t get to close or you¡¯ll burn yourself.¡± Emily took a step back, her eyes still fixated on the meat. ¡°Where does the meat come from?¡± Kizo stood beside her, also staring at the grill. ¡°From our farm. We caught some goat-looking creatures a few years back and thought they might be a good substitute for the usual meat. However, we were wrong about it being a substitute. When me and a few other folks cooked and ate its meat for the first time, our taste buds ascended into Nirvana.¡± The Demi dramatically depicted his first tasting, ¡°It was unlike anything we ever tasted, and I went to several five-stars restaurant before!¡± ¡°Sounds like it¡¯s a must-try.¡± Kizo was amused by the vendor¡¯s overacting. ¡°You betcha, traveller. No one has ever complained about these skewers. Heck! A few travellers even came back to this town several times just to taste these babies! Since I¡¯m in a good mood, I¡¯ll give you a discount, 5 skewers for 10¡è.¡± ¡°Only 10¡è? Guess the apocalypse is a good strategy to combat inflation.¡± He pulled out a worn-out 10¡è bill and handed it to the Demi. ¡°It was pretty hard to reestablish the currency at the beginning. Took us around a year to settle the prices for most basic things between 4 towns, including us.¡± He placed the meat skewers on a plastic plate, then poured half ladle of thick, red-brown sauce from the pot, sitting beside the grill, onto the meat before giving it to the duo, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could you finish those here and give me back the skewers and the plate when you¡¯re done?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± Emily snatched one of the delicious skewers and took her first bite at the meat. Her mind went blank. The taste was so overwhelmingly pleasing to her tongue that she did not realiz she had consumed the rest of the skewer. She closed her eyes and clenched her fist, resisting the urge to scream out how unfathomably tasty it was. ¡°You okay, Em?¡± ¡°Haha, worry not my friend! That is the expression of a satisfied customer. Go ahead and try one traveller.¡± Kizo opened up his visor, picked up one up, and chewed. The vendor refrained himself from asking why did the human wear a Kitsune mask inside a helmet. That moment when the meat landed on his tongue, its divine taste blown his mind away. It reminded him of the scenes in a food-themed manga he read before the apocalypse. He devoured the rest like a whirlwind. ¡°I now understand why you said people are willing to come back to this town just to eat more of these.¡± Emily licked the plate clean. ¡°Like I said, the taste will bring you straight to heaven. You¡¯re pretty lucky today, traveller. Usually, people would stand in lines so long that I¡¯ll be sold out before noon!¡± The duo takes another one and ate much slower this time, to savor its taste, ¡°Why isn¡¯t there a line today then if this is so popular?¡± ¡°Not just today, it¡¯s been three days since I had a line that long. I heard there is a pack of devil hounds chasing away anyone that tried to enter the town. Those bastards aren¡¯t easy to kill either. With their speed and strength, you¡¯ll be dead before you could scream. It¡¯s why the guards have been delaying their extermination plan; they haven¡¯t made one that doesn¡¯t involve any of them suffering heavy injuries. Say...how did you two manage to get into town?¡± The Demi narrowed his eyes. The duo turned to each other, then looked back at the vendor. ¡°We killed the hounds.¡± ¡°It was pretty easy.¡± He gawked at them, and then quickly closed his mouth, ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right? You two took on a pack of devil hounds without a scratch?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t believe us, you can ask the truck driver, Carl.¡± Emily tried to take the third one, but Kizo was faster. ¡°Carl? He¡¯s back? He brought you two into town?¡± His eyes widened, his tail was stiff straight. ¡°Yeah. We didn¡¯t even know there was a town under this huge tree until he asked if we want a ride in.¡± The tulpa glared at her host. ¡°THANK YOU TWO SO MUCH!¡± The tulpa and host were visibly startled by the Demi¡¯s sudden outburst, his tail wagging at high speed, ¡°I would hug you both, but it wouldn¡¯t show my appreciation nearly as much. You two can take as much meat skewer as you want!¡± ¡°Really?!¡± Emily¡¯s eyes shone in excitement. ¡°Is Carl supposed to be someone important?¡± Kizo raised his eyebrow. ¡°We have been waiting for him to bring us supplies from other towns, but he¡¯s been a few days late. We thought he might¡¯ve been in an accident, but it seems to be because of the hounds. They could¡¯ve slashed the tyres and topple the truck.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Kizo eyed at the sizzling meat, ¡°We¡¯ll take ten more of these please.¡± He returned the plate and the empty skewers. ¡°With pleasure!¡± The vendor swiftly served up ten more meat skewers on a larger plate, ¡°Just put the skewers and plates on the table once you¡¯re done. I¡¯m going to spread the news!¡± He quickly covered the sauce pot and the grill before dashing towards the northern part of the town while shouting ¡°Carl is back!¡±. ¡°Do you think we might be a little too OP for solving a problem that the town guards couldn¡¯t for the past three days?¡± They continued eating that delicious meat. ¡°I think it might be more on the fact that you¡¯re a mage and I¡¯m an experienced soldier with a powerful gun.¡± ¡°I still wouldn¡¯t call you an ¡®experienced soldier¡¯. More like ¡®a soldier that knows what he¡¯s doing¡¯.¡± ¡°So, an experienced soldier.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Whatever.¡± They promptly finished their meat and puts the skewers and plate on the table. ¡°Soooo, where to next--¡± ¡°ATTENTION EVERYONE!¡± Emily covered her ear reflexively, ¡°THE PACK OF DEVIL HOUNDS THAT HAD BEEN WANDERING AROUND THE TOWN ENTRANCE HAS BEEN EXTERMINATED. THIS IS ALL THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF TWO TRAVELLERS, A MALE WHO WEARS A BLACK HELMET, AND A HUMAN FEMALE BESIDE HIM. THANK YOU, TRAVELLERS!¡± Immediately, everyone in their surrounding set their eyes on the duo. ¡°ALSO, CARL IS BACK. HE¡¯S THE ONE THAT BROUGHT THOSE TWO TRAVELLERS INTO TOWN. TRY NOT TO DESTROY HIS HOUSE AGAIN, OKAY? LIZ OUT.¡± People began to cheer. Then, they started to crowd around the duo, thanking them. They got increasingly uncomfortable when more and more approached them as they tried to leave. Eventually, someone shouted that they should give the travellers some space and shouldn¡¯t bother them anymore. The crowd dispersed, and the duo was able to continue their tour around the market. The duo was in for a lucky treat as Kizo doesn¡¯t even need to pull out his wallet when they wanted to buy something because everyone insisted that they should receive a ¡®gift¡¯ from them as their gratitude for the trouble they had saved the town from. Over the course of their tour, they had received free food, some are desserts and drinks, others were more savoury, like meat pies. There were a few stalls that sold non-essential items scavenged from the ruins, such as books and toys, and even they offered something to the tulpa and host. But, they declined, seeing that they can¡¯t carry much when traversing the land. However, Kizo changed his mind when he saw a fully functioning, high-quality electronic book. The vendor hesitated to give him such a valuable item, which was fine with him as he didn¡¯t plan to accept that for free. He paid the vendor with a high price, and both parties separated in delight. After an hour or so, they sat on the benches at the centre of the market. ¡°Man, how long has it been since I was this full? I¡¯m going to miss this.¡± He gently slapped on his bulging stomach. ¡°Same for me, but even longer. I think the last time I was able to eat this much food was what, 2 years ago? Anyhow, I think I can handle a few more hours with this much tasty stuff inside me.¡± ¡°Circe¡¯s gonna get pissed~¡± ¡°Nah, she won¡¯t. She¡¯ll probably have fun hanging out with the twins in Wonderland.¡± ¡°We should go to the broker now. Hopefully, those outside the Red Zone are as good as those on the inside.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see soon enough.¡± Both of them stood up, hands holding, and headed towards their destination. They took their time too, slowing their pace to soak in the beauty of the ancient city and, occasionally, talked to passing strangers, especially kids. When they arrived, the building was as the trader described, covered almost entirely in flowers, among other plants. If they didn¡¯t know better, they would easily mistake the broker¡¯s house as a fancy florist shop. Still, they couldn¡¯t help but admire the beauty of this flowery structure. It was painfully apparent that the broker spent a lot of effort planting and taking care of these florae. ¡°This guy even have lilies.¡± Emily walked close to one and smelled the flower. She could barely remember the last time she saw a flower. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Come on.¡± He tugged her arm. The building resembled a shop more than a house, as evident by the fact that the front wall was not aligned with the end of the two side walls, but was rather positioned near the middle of the building, and there¡¯s a stone counter at the left. There were two metallic tables at the middle and more than a handful of plastic chairs around them. There were two doors lead into the interior at each end of the front wall. There¡¯s a big sign at the middle of the wall with the words, ¡°FEN¡¯S INFORMATION BROKER AGENCY¡±, and a small note beneath it. When they took a closer look, it said, ¡°If you don''t see me outside, go through the left door and ascended the stairs. I¡¯ll be in my room doing things. If you¡¯re a traveller, don¡¯t try to steal anything or you¡¯re not leaving this town. Thanks!¡± The duo entered the house and was greeted by a well-decorated living room. It was a stark contrast from Carl¡¯s living room. The first major difference was the wall has a cartoonish, watercolor drawing of the ocean on its surface. The artist also included several sea life such as dolphins in their work. Pots of plants occupied many corners of the room floor. There were also elegant curtains covering the windows. Other than those features, the tables, chairs, cupboard, lights, and fans were the same. Emily wanted to examine the room longer, but Kizo dragged her upstairs. The second-floor layout was nearly identical with the trader¡¯s house¡¯s, with one major difference. There were a large variety of plants in pots of different sizes on the hallway and the empty space in front of the stair. Even Kizo couldn¡¯t help but to popped open his visor and took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scent of the flowers. However, his enjoyment was cut short as the broker decided to exit his room at that moment to see if someone was outside. Kizo shut his visor tight just before the stranger could see his mask. ¡°Ah, welcome travellers. My name is Fen, the one and only information broker in this town. How can I assist you?¡± The broker was an elf. His smooth skin was pale in a natural way, and his voice was silky and pleasing to the ear. He had a tied up long hair, which made him looked even more androgynous. He wore a black t-shirt with a band name on it, and a pair of short pants. ¡°I¡¯m here to buy any and all information you possess. I have the money to pay for all of them.¡± The elf was taken aback by his monstrous request. He stared uncertainly at Kizo, ¡°You wish to buy all the information I have? Even those that might seem pointless?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It will cost you far more than an arm and a leg. Not even the wealth of the entire town can purchase all the information that I own.¡± ¡°I have valuable information I can trade with you if you think I am incapable of paying.¡± The broke felt reassuring hearing such determination in Kizo¡¯s voice. Arbor: Part 2 The elf scanned him with scrutiny. He observed Kizo¡¯s shoes, despite its dirty appearance, there were no signs of heavy wear and tear; his hidden tight suit under the torn, yet largely pristine clothing; his athletic body, an obvious result of a rigorous military training; and finally, his helmet, which the elf guessed to be more than just a simple headgear. He arrived at the conclusion that the man standing in front of him was not just another ordinary traveller, and does potentially carry beneficial information. ¡°I trust that you are not lying, traveller. Please head down to the living room then. I will be with you shortly.¡± He bowed slightly before returning to his room and closed the door. The duo descended the stairs and sat on the springy couch. Kizo pulled out his smartphone and began to record everything he saw in the town so far. ¡°You have a working smartphone? Amazing! How do you manage to get one working?¡± The broker exclaimed as he stepped down the stairs, both of his hands carrying a stack of files. He approached Kizo and stared at the device with great interest. ¡°It has been modified to run on mana instead of electricity.¡° The broker set down the files on the table. ¡°Oh? How long did it take for you to modify it?¡± He ambled towards the cupboard, ¡°Tea?¡± ¡°Sure, and I didn¡¯t modify the phone. Someone else did.¡± Fen removed three cups and a teapot from the cupboard and placed them on the dining table. ¡°That¡¯s a shame. We would have benefited greatly from that knowledge. Although, I suppose the geniuses that helped us convert our petrol-fueled vehicles into mana ones could achieve what you have in your hand in time.¡± He went into the kitchen and came out with a transparent tea leaf container and a kettle of hot water. He uncovered the container and put a few leaves into the teapot. ¡°Carl mentioned that to us. We didn¡¯t think anyone else had done the same with far fewer resources.¡± Fen was, yet again, surprised by the travellers, but he kept his hands steady as he poured the hot water into the teapot. ¡°My, my! The community you came from is astounding! I am now convinced you do perhaps possess valuable information that could rival my entire collection.¡± With the cups and teapots on a tray, he lifted it up, brought it to the table, and place it down beside the files. He cautiously poured the tea into the cups, its aroma slowly filling up the floor. ¡°Now, before we start, would you kindly share your name and age? If you don¡¯t mind, of course.¡± The elf opened up a notebook and readied his pen. ¡°My name¡¯s Kizo. 35 years old.¡± ¡°You can call me Emily! As for age, you¡¯ll have to guess from my appearance~¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he grinned humorously, ¡°And...Kizo. That¡¯s not your real name, I assume?¡± He stopped scribbling. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I see.¡± He nodded slightly, then took a sip. ¡°So, what kind of information do you have?¡± The human straightened his posture. ¡°All my information are filed into three categories. Information about resources, such as supply cache and whatnot. This is what most travellers seek when they came to me. Next is the information about various dangerous locations, creatures, plants, and many other things that can pose a threat to anyone¡¯s or everyone¡¯s safety. The third is everything else that does not fit into the previous categories. There¡¯s technically a fourth category, but it won¡¯t be of interest to you as it concerns only the town¡¯s residents¡¯ affairs.¡± ¡°How do you manage the payment?¡± ¡°Normally, the price of the information on sale depends on two major factors,¡± He lifted up his forefinger, ¡°First, the difficulty of obtaining the information. If I have to ask a lot of people to confirm what someone is true, or if I have to pay someone to acquire the information,¡± He raised up his middle finger, ¡°Second, the value of the information. I determine the second factor, but, I assure you, I do not bloat my prices just to fill my pocket with money. For example, a supply cache location would have a higher price than a secure safehouse, which will be higher than a monster¡¯s nest location.¡± ¡°Carl said you hand in any information you possessed to the town council? Won¡¯t it essentially compromised the value of the information itself? Using your example, won¡¯t the supply cache be immediately visited by the town¡¯s authority?¡± She gulped down the exquisite tea. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it, miss Emily. It is true that I give the town council information for free, but Carl had misled you. I don¡¯t give away every information I have, only those that I deemed could greatly benefit the town as a whole at that moment. Should they act upon the information, I will remove that information from my catalogue. If they didn¡¯t, then anyone could still buy the information, unless the council forbids me from selling it.¡± ¡°Your town council trust you this much?¡± ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t know if Carl told you this, but all of us have a strong bond with each other. I¡¯m not saying there is absolute trust between all of us, but after all that we¡¯ve been through together, we won¡¯t hurt our own community that we built.¡± ¡°Hmph, if only our community is nice as yours.¡± Kizo emptied the cup, ¡°We should start with the resource information.¡± ¡°Before we begin, could I ask you a question?¡± The elf stood up and poured his client another cup. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Do you pledge your allegiance to a specific organization? Is that why you wish to buy all the information that I have?¡± ¡°One of my missions is to collect as much information as I could. That is all I am willing to share for now.¡± ¡°Understood. I will start with the cheapest info, all the way up to the most expensive. I will first list out the price, then a summary of the information. After that, you can decide if you wish to purchase it, just in case it is too expensive and you changed your mind. I trust you, so don¡¯t try to cheat me after I give you everything.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t. You have my word.¡± In the hours that followed, the duo sat and bought every piece of information Fen has to offer, even those with prices that boggled their mind. Kizo logged everything he listened neatly into his smartphone. Emily, on the other hand, wandered around the room, sat back down, then stood up again and repeated the process over and over to kill her boredom. Sometimes she stared at the drawing on the wall, sometimes her attention was on the plants. ¡°.....as for rumors, I¡¯ll give it to you for free. Consider it as a special offer for a generous customer.¡± The elf smiled softly. ¡°Thank you, Fen.¡± Kizo¡¯s neck started to feel a little stiff. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Now, let¡¯s see here...¡± He opened up a thin file, ¡°First, someone reported that they met the Norse god of war, Tyr. The source claimed that he covered himself in a robe, not allowing anyone to glimpse at his face, and was searching for a girl somewhere in the southern part of the country.¡± Kizo¡¯s ear perked up. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s his internet date from before the End? And he¡¯s trying to get laid? Now that¡¯s some dedication¡± Emily sarcastically remarked as she sat back down again. ¡°That is quite an interesting thought.¡± He stared at the second half of the paper, ¡°Next, a few wanderers came from a faraway land was spreading their story where they saw a band of travelling circus traversing the lands. They insisted that it¡¯s the House of The Devil, as no souls will ever be fortunate enough to return to the land of the living after their entry to the tents.¡± ¡°Sounds far-fetched, but it could be true, with all the things happening around us.¡± Kizo kept typing away as his tulpa replied. ¡°Speaking of the devil, two survivors from an unknown attack were discovered repeating that they saw a demon, not the ones you see walking down the streets mind you, but a truly powerful being of darkness, wiping out a city from the face of the planet and that they barely escaped. They were horribly wounded when one of the towns found them. The two died soon after they were brought into the emergency room, and so no one could confirm if what they said actually happened..¡± ¡°Sounds like Aterna would know something about it...¡± Kizo nodded slightly in agreement. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Nothing. Please, continue.¡± ¡°Alright. There¡¯s a sighting of a ghost woman singing to herself whilst occasionally spouting something along the line of ¡®Where are you,¡¯ followed by a name. The source said she couldn¡¯t remember the name the ghost was muttering other than it was obviously a boy¡¯s name. But, she commented that the ghost sounded incredibly hollow and sad, and that the song resembled a nursery rhyme. She suspects it could be the ghost of a woman who died searching for her son during the apocalypse.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­.really tragic.¡± ¡°It is.¡± He paused, ¡°The source of the next rumor supposedly originated from a person that claimed they came from the far edge of the country, saying that they saw the tower of Un was standing beside a military base near a seaport.¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying that the main communication tower moved hundreds of kilometers away from its original location to beside the sea?¡± Kizo finally peeled his eyes away from the screen and was facing the broker. ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe it either. The rumor also mentioned that the entire place was completely overrun by monsters and people who lost their minds during their transformation. This would mean all the equipment used by the military may very well still be sitting in that base, gathering dust.¡± The tulpa and host stared at each other, before turning to the elf. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°Did the rumor include the location of the base?¡± Kizo got up and launched the map app before showing it to the elf. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t get my hopes up if I were you, Kizo. I heard this rumor came from the mouth of a crazy old man in another town. This could just be one of his delusions.¡± ¡°Did the rumor include the location of the base?¡± ¡°In a way, yes, but--¡± ¡°Show me.¡± The elf sighed, ¡°Even if it¡¯s true, it is impossible to break into the base without getting torn apart.¡± He zoomed out the map and dragged the border of the land to the center of the screen. He then zoomed in, searching roughly where the base was before zooming in for the final time and pointed to its location. ¡°Thank you.¡± The soldier marked down the base location on the map and typed in his mental notes. ¡°Any more rumors?¡± ¡°There¡¯s one more. Multiple people had told me that there have been an organization attempting to take control of multiple settlements, forcing them to do their bidding. They are trying to build an empire on top the ruins of this broken world. Nobody knows where their base of operation is, but groups of people with the insignia of a bloody crown can be seen killing and robbing people. I, for one, hope this is not true. But if it is, someone needs to stop them.¡± ¡°A bloody crown? I bet someone was feeling edgy after the end of the world.¡± Kizo groaned at Emily¡¯s incessant amount of commenting on every single information Fen gave them for the past few hours. He only hoped that the broker is as enduring as he is. ¡°Kizo, my gauge is almost empty. I¡¯ll be drawing out mana from you.¡± Her host mentally nodded. ¡°Kizo, it is time for you to fulfill your end of the deal.¡± ¡°Of course. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am an agent of Osiris, an organization with the sole goal to rebuild the world. I was sent out to the Unknown Zone to collect any and all information I could get my hands on and report it back to my, let¡¯s just say, ¡®superiors¡¯. However, that is not my main goal for travelling the world, it is merely a responsibility that I have to uphold. I cannot disclose my main goal as it is not something I am willing to share.¡± ¡°Wait a second. You¡¯re telling me that there¡¯s an organization out there trying to rebuild society? How large is this organization of yours are we talking about?¡± ¡°After 10 years? I would say we have somewhere between 1 to 1.5 million active staff in our entire organization.¡± The elf just gawked. His expression remained unchanged for a whole 5 seconds before barely holding himself together at the shocking revelation, ¡°Are you...are you serious? How is that even possible?¡± ¡°Our founder, Bane, was the CEO of a major weapons development and manufacturing company. Do you still remember Sage River?¡± ¡°Of course! One of the world¡¯s most famous city and a major contributor to the global technological advancement! That¡¯s where your organization was founded?¡± ¡°Yes. Bane was the first to gather the remaining survivors in the city and provided everything we need. It seemed he had access to a hidden doomsday bunker buried underneath the city. We would all be dead if it wasn¡¯t for him. So, when he proposed to build an organization to help more people, and asked us to join him in his quest, we did not hesitate. A lot of things happened after that, like recruiting survived veterans to train us, establishing two major settlements, expanding the organization exponentially that lead to the birth of the three main branches, and many, many more.¡± Fen slumped back on to the couch and stared at Kizo in disbelief, ¡°Wow...To think all this happened without none of us knowing. Granted, we could not have known given it is halfway across the country, but...¡± He stayed silent before scoffing lightly, ¡°If only there was someone to save us when we needed help.¡± Kizo painfully understands how the broker felt. He was once there himself, but luck was not cruel to him, not as much as the man in front of him. The elf took a deep breath, ¡°But, I¡¯m relieved. And for the first time in forever,¡± He chuckled, with a dash of bitterness, ¡°I feel hopeful, knowing that there are a million people out there, fighting, trying to restore the world back to what it once was.¡± He stayed silent, again, for a long while. Then, he quickly rubbed away his tears and raised his head up. ¡°You mentioned ¡®Unknown Zone¡¯. What does that mean?¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Simply put, Unknown Zone refers to the rest of the world that lies beyond the area of Osiris¡¯s control. There are only a handful of agents, such as me, that roams the Unknown Zone, collecting information that can aid Osiris. All of us are considered dead unless we report back to the organization.¡± ¡°That is...disturbingly grim.¡± ¡°Not an unreasonable expectation to have. Save the people who knew us the sorrow when we could never report back again.¡± ¡°Why did you leave then?¡± ¡°I have my personal reasons, none of which I will tell you.¡± ¡°...I see. Is there anything else you like to add? As much as I am delighted to know about your organization, that still doesn¡¯t balance out the cost value of my information.¡± The broker scribbling down everything he just heard on his notebook. ¡°There¡¯s also this organization working along with Osiris that deals with the new mystical side of the world, Aterna. Where Osiris deal with the people and the world in general, Aterna is responsible for everything related to magic. It is not as big as Osiris, but their contribution has been substantial to the progress of rebuilding the world.¡± ¡°Do you mean...they are wizards? Witches? Do they use spells and stuff? That¡¯s...¡± The broker made a weird face before looking defeated, ¡°Why did I think that sounded ridiculous. I turned into an elf for god¡¯s sake. Nevermind me. Please, continue.¡± ¡°Their origins can be quite suspicious. They claimed to be a once-secretive group that descended from the most powerful mage families during the time when gods still roamed our mortal plane. They had preserved their knowledge of magic, which has been passed down from generation to generation, knowing that one day those knowledge will serve them well when the world was set aflame. ¡°Some say they had a prophecy that foretold the end of the world but did nothing to stop it just so they could use their ancestor¡¯s powers. Others don¡¯t care what their goal is as long as they are helping people and not abusing their power. The organization¡¯s current leaders are Lily and Aster.¡± ¡°I...I think I need some time to process all of this.¡± He stood up and shakily ambled into the kitchen. Emily poured the last drop of tea into her cup and drank it. A few minutes later, Fen returned to the couch, his face slightly wet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this, but.that information is still not enough. I need something that is more valuable, more beneficial. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. There are a lot more I can tell you, but it would be better if you visit our information center after Osiris establish a gateway here.¡± Fen stared up at him, ¡°....what?¡± ¡°It is our protocol to install a teleporter that connects to either one of our major settlements. Haven or Sanctuary, at a settlement with at least 200 residents. Normally, my ¡®superiors¡¯ doesn¡¯t like to deal with more settlements than they can currently handle. But, considering--¡± ¡°You have a fucking teleporter?!¡± Fen rose up to this feet, his voice slightly broken. ¡°Yes. Osiris managed to perfect the teleporter prototype that was in Sage River. Although, they could not mass produce it due to a lack of materials.¡± Fen weakly crashed down on the couch, almost whispering, ¡°....continue.¡± ¡°As I was saying, we don¡¯t usually take in more settlements than we could handle. However, since this town has established a trade route with other towns and that there is also a mana crystal mine not too far away, they would most likely be willing to provide support to all of you. I know I made Osiris sound selfish, but ignoring the reality of things would not benefit anyone.¡± ¡°Carl told us about the mana crystal mine by the way.¡± What followed Emily¡¯s sentence was silence. Both of them could see many emotions passed through the elf¡¯s face. Joy, anger, conflicting, sorrow, and eventually, regret. ¡°Do you need a moment?¡± Emily asked in a tiny voice. A single tear dropped down. Then another, then he started sobbing. ¡°I need--I need a hug.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Emily stood up, walked towards Fen, and sat down before gently hugging the crying elf. He bawled uncontrollably, hugging the tulpa as he did. ¡°To think....sniffs¡­.to think....there are still so many people alive, helping....trying to rebuild this world...I thought... all hope was lost after that day...sobs...That nightmare haunted me every night....I could still hear those screams....and I...I kept blaming myself for not able to save them...¡± Both of them remained muted, letting him weep as long as he did. ¡°.....I apologize, miss Emily. Sniffs. I am usually not this emotional.¡± He wiped away his tears, letting go of Emily. He gestured her to return to her companion, which she reluctantly did. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We all need to let out our emotions from time to time.¡± The elf solemnly nodded. Kizo waited until he was emotionally stable again before speaking. ¡°I could make an arrangement with my ¡®superiors¡¯ right now and discuss the future of--¡± Kizo¡¯s loud stomach growl cut off his sentence. Emily just laughed, whilst the elf barely failed to contain his. He embarrassingly turned his head away. That lifted Fen¡¯s spirit up. He glanced at his watch, ¡°My, it¡¯s already time for dinner. This is the first time I have a meeting that took up the entire afternoon. I feel the arrangement can be made later, after we have a filling dinner together. What do you say, Kizo? Emily?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± A smiling emote appeared. ¡°Yes please!¡± He stood up, ¡°There¡¯s a restaurant at the edge of town. Many had praised their food, saying that it could rival that of a Michelin five-star dish, but with a significantly lower price. We will go there once I bring these to the kitchen.¡± He lifted the tray, swiftly entered and exited the kitchen with empty hands. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Fen promptly switched off the lights and the fan before opening the door for the duo. ¡°Oh! Hey, Fen! And the travellers too! Did you three just concluded your business?¡± Carl ambled closer to them from the street. ¡°Hi, Carl. And yes, we did just wrap up our discussions. Kizo and Emily have brought us much delightful news. I am more than eager to share it with all the others in town once everything has been settled.¡± He smiled gleefully like a child. ¡°Heh, now you got me curious. Where are you guys heading anyway? Dinner?¡± ¡°Yes. I am planning to take our travellers to Jacob¡¯s. Do you want to come along?¡± ¡°What a coincidence! I was planning to ask if you three want to go to Jacob¡¯s. Let¡¯s go then!¡± The group sauntered through streets bathe in the light of the setting sun, heading to the famous restaurant. Along the way, Fen told Carl all the good news the duo has brought. Osiris, Aterna, and how they would no longer need to worry about the safety of the town. Kizo noticed that everyone they passed by would greet them, and Carl and Fen would do the same. They arrived in front of a structure larger than the regular houses. There¡¯s the main stone building, which is two-story high, with a sign hanging on the front wall with the words, ¡°Jacob¡¯s restaurant¡±. The smaller, one-story building was attached to the right side of the main building. Carl later explained that it was where the kitchen is. ¡°Wow...¡± Emily exclaimed in a small volume. It was as if they entered a magical place exist within the tales of fairies. The interior of the first floor resembled that of a medieval tavern despite the lack of wood. As the day gradually turned dark, many of the town¡¯s residents found themselves right where they want to be, creating a rowdy yet welcoming atmosphere in the restaurant. The duo followed Fen and Carl, whilst they greeted anyone they came across as old friends, and entered the second floor. Unlike the first floor, the atmosphere here was much softer and relaxing. It was comfortable for those who seek to enjoy their dinner in peace. It would¡¯ve been a perfect place for dining if not for the fact that it lacked music to enhance the ambience. ¡°Hey, Tammy. What¡¯s today special?¡± Fen asked a waitress not too far away after they¡¯ve chosen their table, next to the window facing the front road. The blonde demoness approached them and laid down 4 pieces of paper menu, ¡°The Mushroom Meat.¡± ¡°Oh ho ho! Boy, do I miss that dish. Do you two like mushroom and meat? If you do, I highly recommend you to get this. It is simply superb!¡± ¡°Ooo~ That sounds delicious. What else do they have here?¡± Emily inquired. ¡°Let¡¯s see here, they have the...¡± As Carl introduced the dishes to Emily and Kizo, the waitress whispered to Fen. ¡°Are those two the travellers Liz mentioned in her announcement a few hours ago? They helped Carl and killed those hounds?¡± ¡°Yeah, and they just bought all the information I have on sale.¡± He whispered back. ¡°What?! They can¡¯t possibly afford all that information even if they¡¯re dragging a bag of gold!¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t pay me with money; they traded my information with their own.¡± ¡°Really? What did they tell you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say much for now, but it is something that will forever change our lives. All the lives in all the towns. Just wait for Liz¡¯s announcement in a few days. You won¡¯t be disappointed.¡± ¡°Tammy, is it?¡± Kizo abruptly ended their whispering conversation. ¡°Y-yes?¡± She stared at the helmet with a bit of daze. ¡°I would like to have the ¡®Mushroom Meat¡¯, please. And the Berry Mix drink. Thank you.¡± The waitress quickly penciled down his order on her notepad. ¡°I¡¯ll have King of the Mountain, please! And the tea with the highest price on the menu as I don¡¯t know how to spell the name.¡± ¡°Are you sure you want to have King of the Mountain, miss? The portion is incredibly large.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I have a large stomach.¡± The waitress nodded. ¡°Carl?¡± ¡°Mushroom Meat with lemonade.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have the usual then, Tammy.¡± She scribbled all their orders, took the menu back and away she went to the kitchen. As they waited for their meals, Fen and Carl chatted away about what was going on in all the towns, including this one. Emily inserted herself into the conversation a few times, but the duo mostly acted as listeners. Kizo quietly recorded everything he heard into his phone. When their meal finally arrived, it was then the duo knew why the restaurant was famous. The smell alone made their mouths water, and the display of the dish itself was fascinating. Even the mountain of fried rice, mixed with various ingredients, appeared fabulous on Emily¡¯s plate. The meat and the large mushrooms of Carl¡¯s and Kizo¡¯s were sprinkled with spices and gravy that brought their tongue to dance in joy. And though Fen¡¯s pasta seemed plain, it was, in every aspect, magical. The four of them chatted as they thoroughly enjoyed their dinner. They reminisce about the things that happened before the world collapsed. The movies they watched, the hobbies they had, the silly stuff they did. This was the first time in months since Emily saw her host genuinely enjoying himself, free of the weight on his shoulders. After all the talking, the laughing, and the drinking, it was time to leave. Carl insisted to pay for all of them, and despite Fen¡¯s and Kizo¡¯s decline, he out-stubborn them and paid for their meals anyway. They then took a long, relaxing stroll through the town¡¯s scenic route back to Carl¡¯s house. Floating balls of light instead light poles illuminated the streets, casting long stretches of shadows under the moonless night. ¡°....After we return to Carl¡¯s house, I will contact a few people and make arrangements for a meeting tomorrow. I am unsure of the procedures required to bring this and the other towns under the protection of Osiris, but you can assure your town council that they won¡¯t take advantage of you. I will leave this town once they arrived here through my teleporter.¡± ¡°Alright. I will inform the council of this arrangement tonight.¡± All of them halted their steps as they reached the trader¡¯s house. ¡°Well then, goodnight Fen. The council will definitely be ecstatic to hear the news.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they will. Goodnight, you three.¡± ¡°Goodnight.¡± ¡°Goodnight~¡± The elf turned and left, while the trio entered the house and up the staircase. ¡°If you two need anything, just knock on my door. I¡¯ll be up until two or three in the morning.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± Just as Carl was about to enter his room, their attention was turned to the sudden shouting at the streets. They couldn¡¯t make out the words shouted by the frantic female voice, so they had to sprint down the flight of stairs and burst into the streets. ¡°PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP! MY DAUGHTER HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED! HELP!¡± A woman could be seen running frenziedly down the street at a distance. One of the guards standing in their post caught her before she fell down, still pleading for help. They saw Fen dashed past the house, and they followed behind his trails. ¡°May? My god, May, what happened?¡± Carl recognized the wounded human female once they got close enough and immediately went to her side, supporting her weak body. ¡°It was the raiders, Carl! They, they took Amy! They ambushed us a-and they took over the truck! W-w-we tried to run, but they were fast Carl! They were fast a-and I wasn¡¯t and they just snatched Amy! Th-they threw me to the ground and just, and they just left! With my truck and my daughter! Please! Send someone to save her! Please!¡± She sobbed loudly on Carl chest as he holds her. ¡°Dammit! I knew we should¡¯ve killed them when Sal reported their presence! And now...¡± The elf curled up his fists in anger. ¡°Fen, you need to report this to the council right now. It¡¯s very likely they won¡¯t be at their base anymore after tonight. I¡¯ll call the others to meet at the hall.¡± The elf guard who was at the woman¡¯s side stood up and was stopped by Kizo before he could run to round up his companions. ¡°Where is their base?¡± ¡°This is--Wait, you¡¯re the one that helped us kill the hounds.¡± ¡°Yes, I am, now tell me where is their base. I will go there and save this lady¡¯s daughter.¡± His voice deepened. ¡°Y-you will?¡± The woman grabbed his leg, ¡°You will save my daughter, traveller?¡± Kizo kneeled down, ¡°I will save her, ma¡¯am. Rest assure. She will be back in no time.¡± ¡°Thank you, traveller! Thank you!¡± She hugged him tight, ¡°I¡¯ll give you anything you want if you bring my baby back here safely.¡± Kizo patted her back as comfort before letting go. ¡°I will take you to their base, traveller. Those sons of bitches made a home for themselves at an abandoned apartment not far from here.¡± ¡°Good. Before I go and get my weapons, I need you to find 3 other people that can move fast and stay quiet.¡± ¡°There are at least ten raiders there, traveller. Even if you and your partner manage to defeat the hounds all by yourselves, this is suicide!¡± Kizo grabbed the guard¡¯s shoulder and stared right at his eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t need four extra people to help me take them down, I need four extra people to help me tied them up when I beat their ass senseless.¡± X It took 45 minutes for Kizo to strap his weapons and equipment to himself, wait for the elven guard to get 3 of his colleagues, and sprint full speed to the raiders¡¯ hideout. When they arrived, the guards could barely catch their breath while the duo was barely fatigued. They crouched, slowly approaching a car and hid behind it. They could saw two raiders, with flashlights in their hands, guarding the entrance. The stolen truck was right beside the building. It was difficult for the town guards to perceive anything in the darkness, so they had to depend on the duo, who was unaffected by the lack of light, to navigate their movement. ¡°See that window over there? The only one with light inside? That¡¯s their main room. They probably kept May¡¯s daughter there.¡± The elf guard whispered, pointing at the illuminated window on the fifth floor. ¡°Acknowledged. Emily, how many enemies are in there?¡± A line in her floating grimoire shone. The guard¡¯s eyes¡¯ grew big when a large tome suddenly appeared out of thin air. ¡°13....no, 15. There are 16 people in the entire building, but only one was bound by something, probably a rope, and is lying down.¡± She deactivated the spell and transferred what she saw with the spell to her host¡¯s mind. ¡°How--¡± ¡°Sush.¡± The guard leader silenced his partner, knowing that this is not the time to indulge in their curiosity. ¡°When I give you my signal, run to my location and tie up all the raiders I took down as fast as you could. Understand?¡± All the guards nodded. Kizo raised up his rifle, with a literal suppressor attached, and aimed slightly upwards as he faced towards his right. Once he crouched down in a stable position, with a twist of his left hand, he fired a stun bullet right at the raider¡¯s face, and hold his body before it reached the ground and make a sound. When he turned back to see his previous hiding position, Emily had knocked the second raider unconscious. He could see the guards froze after watching what just went down, but his tulpa urged them to quickly get their job done. The two raider guards had been bound. They proceeded into the building, discreetly navigated their way through the hallway. They saw one of the doors was opened, shadows cast on the hallway walls by candlelight. Kizo stealthily approached the room, thinking how to take down the raider inside. However, the humanoid shadow stood up and walked out towards the doorway unexpectedly. Just as Kizo was about to get spotted, Emily slinked through the hallway and shocked the raider with her hand until he fainted. The light on her grimoire dissipated. The body was quietly let down onto the ground and bounded. There were two raiders standing against the wall when they reached the second floor. The first is right beside the entrance to the floor, and the second in front the other staircase, at the opposite end of the hallway. Kizo pulled out a small pebble stuck to his shoes and threw it to distract the raider. When the raider went to check what caused the small noise, Kizo snuck up to him, covered his mouth with his right palm and elbow lock his neck. The raider passed out after a few seconds of suppressed struggle. Emily, on the other hand, silently treaded her way to the ajar door, near the middle of the hallway. She could hear the raiders inside talking as she cast a spell that released an invisible, odorless sleeping gas through the crack. It drained her mana gauge significantly, but it was the easiest way to knock them unconscious. When the others arrived after securing the previous raider, all three inside the room was already deep into their dreams. Kizo shot the last raider at the floor on the head, and Emily levitated his falling body for one second before the raider kissed the ground. Once that raider was tied up, they ascended the staircase. The third and fourth floor only have two raiders guarding the two staircase entrances, which made it relatively easier to take them down and bound them in ropes. The fifth floor was the hardest. There were two more raiders in the hallway guarding the room where the kidnapped girl was. However, it was barely a challenge to the duo. First, Kizo switched places with the raider closest to them, letting the town guards choked her until she fainted. Emily then crouched beside Kizo. In three seconds, Kizo consecutively knocked out the three raiders by shooting them in the head, switched places with their falling body, and repeating the process twice. Emily telekinetically levitated the unconscious body towards her and be tied up. The tulpa used her spell and saw one raider was lying down on a couch and the other circling around the girl. Kizo checked his gauge and revealed he still has 60% mana left in his body. He patiently waited for the circling raider to stop at the perfect position. It took awhile, but that raider finally stood behind the girl, facing the other raider. He did the gesture, and gave the targeted raider a headshot. Unfortunately, that raider was tougher than expected as he was only dazed. So, Kizo immediately grabbed something and threw it towards the raider¡¯s head before they could react, and dashed to their position. He leapt and pushed the raider down to the ground as the kidnapped girl screamed. The raider managed to fire their gun in confusion, but three bone-shattering punches to the face ensured there won¡¯t be any more shots. It was over. All the raiders were defeated, and the kidnapped girl, now in Kizo¡¯s consoling embrace, was saved. X ¡°Good job finding such a thriving community, Kizo. I¡¯m positive Klein wouldn¡¯t be complaining the next time you request for backup.¡± The hawk Demi smirked as he shook Kizo¡¯s hand. ¡°Like I give a rat ass about what Klein thinks.¡± The snickering emote appeared. ¡°Until next time.¡± Both of them hugged. ¡°You too.¡± They let go of each other. The Demi then went into the town council hall with his other two colleagues and Fen. The elf waved goodbye before he left. ¡°We¡¯re leaving now?¡± The tulpa and host headed back to Carl¡¯s house. ¡°We could grab a couple more of those meat skewers~¡± ¡°Yesh! Let¡¯s go!¡± She grabbed his hand and ran towards the market. The area seemed more lively than yesterday when they arrived. As they headed towards the stall, all the people they passed by greeted them cheerfully, some even loudly thanking them. ¡°Ah, my favourite customers! How many skewers would you two have?¡± The wolf Demi asked as the previous customer he served ambled away in satisfaction. ¡°!0 for each of us, please.¡± ¡°You got it!¡± The vendor skillfully prepared twenty skewers, put ten on two plates, and drench the meat in his appetizing sauce before serving the duo. Emily balanced the plate on her hands and ate her first skewer, ¡°Delishhhh~¡± Kizo started eating too. ¡°I wish I could do more for you two, travellers. First, you killed the pack of hounds which allowed Carl to come back, then you beat, what, twenty raiders all by yourselves and saved May¡¯s daughter. Then, you bring your organization¡¯s people to help us! You two have done more than anyone in this town for all of us. I, sincerely, thank you two.¡± The Demi took a step back and bowed. ¡°You¡¯re welcome~¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, really. It is our duty to aid those who are in need. If we could just make one person smile, well, it¡¯s worth it. After all, this world needs more hope than ever before.¡± ¡°That is true. If only there are more people like you, traveller.¡± Both of them eventually finished all their meat and bid goodbye to the vendor. They sauntered back to Carl¡¯s house, planning what should be their next move. ¡°Mister Kizo! Miss Emily! Look what May got for the both of you!¡± They heard Carl and saw him standing in front of his house, an older and a young woman beside him, and a shining motorcycle in front of them. The duo dialed up their pace. ¡°This is a muscle bike. Where do you get a functioning muscle bike?¡± Kizo placed his hand to feel the surface. ¡°I stumbled upon it when passing through a motorcycle shop. It was the only one left inside, so I figured I could get those geniuses to convert this to run on mana and sell it to travellers at a high price. Guess I won¡¯t be making a fortune with this...¡± Her dried voice turned melancholic. ¡°We talked about this, Ma. No traveller can afford this, which is why it is the perfect gift for these two that saved my life and the truck!¡± ¡°I know, I know, but I still feel attached to this bike. I paid good money to the geniuses, you know?¡± ¡°Ma. Come on. You know how we do things. Equivalent exchange.¡± ¡°Alright. Alright. Just...take care of my baby, okay, traveller? And thank you, for saving my daughter and my truck.¡± ¡°You are welcome. And I promise to take good care of it.¡± ¡°Thank you for saving my life travellers! I¡¯ll never forget it.¡± She smiled brightly. ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Emily replied. After that, both of them went back to their room and grabbed all their stuff. They came down and said their goodbyes to Carl, May, and Amy. ¡°Stay safe, Mister Kizo, Miss Emily. May the gods protect you on your journey.¡± ¡°We will.¡± Kizo spent a few minutes trying to attach all his levitating containers securely to the bike. It was quite embarrassing for Kizo when May and Carl helped him to do that. Finally, Kizo fired up the engine, with Emily sitting at his back, hugging him, and left the town. They rode past the root tunnel and into the street, resuming their adventure, now with new goals to reach along their journey.