《The World Ended: Abnormal Magic》 Chapter 1: Normal no more Chapter 1 I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. I reached for my soda by my bed and took a swig of cola. The liquid went down my throat, and I could feel my body slowly come alive as I broke the fast with the caramel liquid. Getting out of bed, I walked over towards the bathroom to take a shower. I looked into the mirror and beheld myself. At six feet, tall and two hundred and forty pounds. I wasn¡¯t built like a brick house, and I wasn¡¯t lean, my body was flabby but not fat. I had black hair that would be considered ¡°medium¡± per most video games. My eyes were a dark blue, and my face still had traces of baby fat. Overall not attractive, but not entirely ugly, just a normal eighteen-year-old. I went about my morning routine of taking a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on deodorant. I walked into my kitchen and prepared myself some breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, and another cola. I sat down and began to dig in and turned on my television and set it to the news. I took a look at the clock in my kitchen, and it read it was eight in the morning. All of the sudden I heard a ¡°ding.¡± Followed by a strange voice, and letters appeared in my head, ¡°Hello mortals, it is time to start your planets evolution. It has been put off long enough, about a thousand years too late. Your race has grown exponentially in the last millennium, but you lost something in turn. You have lost your instincts that your ancestors had honed to survive. The evolution of this planet might mark the extinction of your race, or it may not. I can and will guarantee this, many will die, and your base nature will rear its ugly head. Lastly, you need to grow and live or die; it¡¯s that simple.¡± My mind was blank I was at a loss of what to do, and what to say. That soon changed, when a feminine voice decided to fill my skull. She said ¡°Congratulations! Your planet has been chosen to evolve. The lowest level of evolutionary energy is being injected into your planet. Mana is now available for you to use. Animals will have a jump start evolution because of the mana in the air. One month will be given to prepare before new species will be migrated towards your planet. Think status to show you your status. As of right now no one else but you and deity class beings can view your status. When the new species migrate, some will have the capability or tools to see your status.¡± ¡®Status¡¯ I thought, and a chart of numbers and words appeared in front of me. Name: Duwei Ashbend(lv.1) Titles: Abnormal, Wrathborne, Coward Class: None Health:100/100 Mana:200/200 Stamina:100/100 Level:1 Strength(STR): 10 Dexterity(DEX): 10 Constitution(CON): 10 Endurance(END): 10 Intelligence(INT): 20 Wisdom(WIS): 20 I had a title that said I was normal, and at the same time, the feminine voice from earlier spoke in my head once again. ¡°Congratulations on having multiple titles, as you are the first person to look at your title by .000000000000000001 milliseconds you have been awarded for your curiosity. You have been given additional status points at random.¡± I decided to look at my status once again. Name: Duwei Ashbend(lv.1) Titles: Abnormal,Wrathborne, Coward Class: None??Sin:0 Health:100/100 Mana:200/200 Stamina:150/150 Strength(STR): 10 Dexterity(DEX): 10This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Constitution(CON): 10 Endurance(END): 15 Intelligence(INT): 20 Wisdom(WIS): 20 Skills: Rage(MAX) I had been given ten status points in both my wisdom and my intelligence. My title had gone from normal to abnormal. Shame I never go to see what normal gave me. I decided to take a look at my new title. Abnormal: You are not normal, the standard the others have doesn¡¯t apply towards you. Effect: Increase chance of loot drops and an additional five status points awarded per level, other effects unknown. This might be broken at the start and lose strength later on in this so-called evolution, but it will help. The unknown effects do worry me.Wrathborne: A child of the deadly sin of Wrath, grants skill Rage and adds a sin count. Fear started to grip my heart a the repercusions for the so-called sin count and rage didn''t sound like a good skill either. I then took a look at my last title, Coward: The stoic face you show the world is nothing more than a facade to ward others away for one reason or another. It''s nothing more than a mask to hide your fragile mind. Effects: Fear is twice as effective, and title holder is easily scared.Sweat started to form on my back, fear started to grip my heart. My breath became ragged as I tried to rationilze or at least divert my attention to something else. Magis came to mind. I was curious, as mana is now available, magic by default of my gamer logic is no in existence, and I have more mana than ¡°normal¡± so does this mean I have a disposition towards magic. The voice appeared once again ¡°Once again, Congratulations! You have a brain greater than the size of a peanut and figured out that magic is now available. With you being the third person to realize that this is possible awards have been granted to you. Check your status to see your awards.¡± I looked at my status with an eager expression on my face to see what I had obtained. Name: Duwei Ashbend(lv.1) Titles: Abnormal Class: None??Sin:0 Health:100/100 Mana:250/250 Stamina:150/150 Strength(STR): 10 Dexterity(DEX): 10 Constitution(CON): 10 Endurance(END): 15 Intelligence(INT): 25 Wisdom(WIS): 25 Skills: Rage(MAX),Mana Manipulation: Novice(lv.5) Affinity: Abyss(???????)(high) I was excited at the new skill and the fact that I could use magic, or at least manipulate mana. I didn¡¯t waste any time to view my new skill. Mana Manipulation: Have the ability to manipulate mana, and use the magic of your affinity. Curious I took a look at my affinity section of my status. Affinity: The types of magic that you can utilize, current affinity: Abyss(high), affinity with the element can grow. I was glad that I wasn¡¯t stuck at with a seemingly average amount of talent. I doubt that I would survive for very long. Screams awoke me from my inner-monologue that was planning my future that may or may not happen. I turned and looked out of the window of my one bedroom apartment, and saw a grown man being torn apart by a dog. It seemed like a dog if a dog was the size the motorcycle. My blood ran cold at the sight, I know that we were told that animals would have an accelerated evolution, but it is just ridiculous. Are we supposed to kill these things right off the bat? This is fucking insane! I closed my blinds and ran to lock my door. After locking my door, I ran to my bedroom and crawled under my bed. Barking echoed outside followed by a symphony of screams and crying. I was frozen; fear had taken over my body. Slowly a warm feeling left traveled from my pelvic region towards the rest of my body. A foul stench filled my nose. My heart was racing, and my breath turned ragged.Slowly the screams were reaching a crescendo before coming to an abrupt end. *BAM* Tears started to drip down my face as the door to my apartment was destroyed, aches resounded from my body. With every passing second, it became more and more difficult to breathe. THUMP THUMP THUMP The footsteps of whatever broke down my door were getting closer. With every step it took, the more I lost control of my body. I don''t want to die. I am terrified of that beast, but the thought of dying causes an emotion so profound and disconcerting that it cannot be put into words. Looking out from under the bed I saw the beast; it was the same dog as the one I saw outside. It slowly walked over to my bed while sniffing the air. I can''t take it anymore. I am terrified. I don''t want to die ''So don''t.'' ''HHHHOoooWwww!?'' ''Just let it all out, I''ll guide you this once.'' The crippling fear that had once overtook me before faded into oblivion. What replaced it was anger and explosive anger that was slowly reaching its peak. When my anger had hit its peak a single word came out of my mouth. "Rage." Everything went to black. UPDATE Not a chapter, but rather an update and a redirect. Please reread the first chapter as it was rewritten, and the authors note as it is importantanother chapter should be out later in the evening. I am sorry if the story won''t turn out like you expectand will turn a bit dark at parts, but for those who stick with it, I hope you will enjoy it.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 2: Nature Prevails 1 Chapter 2 I slowly opened my eyes and struggled for what seemed to be minutes to keep them open. A series of messages bombarded my mind in the same feminine voice from before. ¡°You have slain Evolved Dog: A Caucasian Ovcharka (lv.3) and gained enough experience to level up. Five status points were given thus an additional five status points were given because of the Abnormal title. Please allot the status point to confirm level up. Mana Manipulation has leveled up twice.¡± ¡®Status¡¯ I thought. Name: Duwei Ashbend(lv.1) Titles: Abnormal, Wrathborne, Coward Class: None Sin:0 Health:100/100 Mana:137/250 Stamina:47/150 Strength(STR): 10 Dexterity(DEX): 10 Constitution(CON): 10 Endurance(END): 15 Intelligence(INT): 25 Wisdom(WIS): 25 Skills: Rage(MAX), Mana Manipulation: Novice(lv.7) Affinity: Abyss(???????)(high) Looking at my magically inclined stats, I had decided to go full magic. ¡°Add five to both intelligence and wisdom,¡± I croaked out and then decided to look at my new status. Name: Duwei Ashbend(lv.2) Titles: Abnormal, Wrathborne, Coward Class: None Sin:0 Health:100/100 Mana:300/030 Stamina:150/150 Strength(STR): 10 Dexterity(DEX): 10 Constitution(CON): 10 Endurance(END): 15 Intelligence(INT): 30 Wisdom(WIS): 30 Skills: Rage(MAX), Mana Manipulation: Novice(lv.7) Affinity: Abyss(???????)(high) I turned my attention away from my mind to look at my surroundings and immediately regretted it. I briefly glanced at my surroundings before bile started to rise in my throat. I then emptied out the contents of my stomach on the ground. My apartment was in an abysmal state. Not one piece of furniture was left untouched be it by destruction or blood they covered the entire apartment. Nausea filled my body once again until I puked out more stomach acid, this action proceeded until nothing came out. I looked up from the puddle of bile and regurgitated food to behold my surroundings once again. I didn¡¯t vomit, but I had difficulty looking around and maintaining consciousness. My twin bed was destroyed, shredded to be exact. The once blue sheets had turned a dark purple. My couch was destroyed, as its entire frame was crushed till it was nothing but a pile of wood and leather. I could barely make out the splintered remains of my table. Slowly as I continued to bask in the ruin of my apartment, my gaze came upon the beast. It was a massive creature that looked to have been a dog at one point in time. It is hard to tell as there were lumps of flesh dangling off its corpse, a disgusting smell assaulted my nostrils, and I wretched but alas nothing came. Covering my nose, I once again turned my attention to the body of the beast. There was black smoke being emitted from the parts of flesh that were dangling from the decaying, putrid body. Something about stuck out to me, in its eye there was a stick that resembled a table leg.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I got up from the ground and slowly sauntered over to the beast¡¯s corpse, and found difficulty in walking. My entire body ached as if I had just gotten done with one of those extreme full body workouts. Walking correctly was an impossible task as every step I took my legs locked up, and I had struggled to maintain my balance. I took another step, and lost control of my leg as an intense pain attacked. I fell into a pool of blood, and a cold metallic taste entered my mouth. I put the disgust I had felt aside as I tried to alleviate the cramp in my leg. I began to extend my leg and tried to hold the stretch whilst fighting back tears. After some time passed, I tried to stand up once again, while trying to be careful of creating any more instances of pain. I had gotten closer towards the beast¡¯s body and could identify the objectthat was protruding the eye socket of the animal. It WAS my table leg, but it gave off a sick feeling the previous brown coated wood leg had turned black. I felt chills running down my back and began to wonder if this was the result of my abyss magic. I tried to recall the fight with the creature but found I was drawing a blank. The only thing I could remember was one word I spoke before the fight. ¡®Rage¡¯ I thought. Before the I was attacked I had never looked at the skill and decided to look at the skills description. Rage: Awarded to those born of hate and anger for a period allows the user to double their stats at the cost of their sanity. Cost 50 mana. Cooldownis 1 hour. Looking at the skill description it slowly dawned on me that the ability was incredibly powerful, but it wasn¡¯t without repercussions. Sadly, it is the best skill for me to survive this hell. Thinking back to one of my titles, Coward, this power easily circumvents the effect of the title in combat. A sort of reprieve from the barbarity of violence and blood. I looked at my status again and saw that mana manipulation had leveled up twice. I don¡¯t know what sort of effect this will have, but I can only assume that it makes it easier for me to use magic. I don¡¯t think I would know the difference as I never used magic before the attack. I had decided to attempt to use magic. I decided to follow what all protagonists in novels do and try to meditate to sense the mana in the atmosphere. Nothing. I felt absolutely nothing. I then turned my attention towards the inside of my body as if to find my mana pool. More nothing, I feel absolutely nothing. I decided to keep at it to learn my second most valuable tool in the ongoing evolution. Hours go by and slowly a cold feeling enters my body a numbing cold that I felt would consume all the heat in my body. Growing scared I removed my attention from that and opened my eyes. I heard sirens off in the distance, and I slowly stood up and walked towards the oversized hole that looked like it was once my door. As I got outside of my apartment, it looked to be the afternoon, and despite the apocalypse, the sun was still out beating down its oppressive UV rays causing me to sweat. I gazed upon the apartment complex and it¡¯s many buildings, to put it mildly the outside looked to be the exact same as my apartment, but on a much grander scale. There were a few smaller beasts prowling around munching on the corpses of the diseased. Laying all across the street there were bodies of women, men, and children being torn apart by the evolved animals. It¡¯s ironic to think that just earlier this morning someone was playing fetch with their pet, and now the pets are playing fetch with each other using the owner''s body parts. Fear gripped my heart when I looked up and down the street. I couldn¡¯t see or hear a single living human. I walked back into my ruined apartment to contemplate what to do. I smelled, really bad, it was a smelly smell that you would often smell while going by a sewage plant. Take that smell and add in the smell of copper and iron and you have one smelly person. My clothes were in caked in the blood of the beast, it was funny as aside from the blood and smell there was not a single thing wrong with the clothes. I walked over to my bathroom, and slowly took off my clothes and turned the nob for a hot shower. Luckily the water systems were still working. After a few minutes the water had warmed up and I stepped into the shower. Letting the water embrace me in a separate world away from the apocalypse going on. After a while I stepped out of the shower, and walked over towards my dresser pulling out a black t-shirt and blue jeans. I then walked over and put on some brown work boots. I looked outside and it was slowly growing dark. *GRRRLL* My stomach was growling. I got up and walked over toward the ruined kitchen to see if there was anything edible remaining. I couldn¡¯t open up my fridge door because of the huge dent in the refrigerator. I then turned and looked over at my pantry to find it in shambles. Cans of fruit were smashed, chips were nothing more than a pile of crumbs. I walked over in hopes of just one thing surviving. *GRRRLL* My stomach continuously made its self and desire known. Nothing had survived that would be considered edible. I sighed and walked back to my room. I heard a chorus of animal calls, frightened at the idea of dealing with any more of these creatures I ran to the bathroom and laid down in the tub. For hours on end their calls had kept me awake, but slowly exhaustion overcame the terror, and I finally fell asleep.