《World Merge》


 Prologue: Purple clouds and black rain.

    Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep¡­


    If you ever wondered what makes somebody want to be a doctor I can tell you it¡¯s not the pager. Yes, it¡¯s kind of cool at the beginning, like sticking needles at people or looking inside the nose of a guy but after the first year of internship the magic appeal of the pager disappears very quickly.


    I woke up trashing the blankets around and looked at the bloody invention. Yes, they needed me at 2:45 in the morning. I hoped there hadn¡¯t been an accident or I would be there until tomorrow.


    Yawning I looked around for my clothes, the window was barely open but there was no light coming from outside, not even from the streetlights. It was unusually dark and I guess that should have warned me that something was going on but hey, don¡¯t blame me, I just woke up and if you are pissed imagine how pissed I should be when I was about to be eaten by a zombie.


    The pants were easy to find and the rest followed quickly. I got out of the room in the dark and went towards the kitchen but before I turned the lights on I finally saw what was happening outside.


    There were clouds outside, heavy, glowing, purple clouds that looked kind of like the aurora borealis and if it wasn¡¯t because we were closer to equator than to the poles it might have looked beautiful.


    But it wasn¡¯t beautiful. It looked weird and wrong like one of those descriptions of the apocalypses. There were people outside. I could faintly see them in the darkness, looking at the sky enthralled.


    That was definitely the second clue of something going very badly but again my mind wasn¡¯t making much sense of it. Meh, bite me I was hungry and I didn¡¯t care much about the end of the world.


    There was not much food in the fridge, not meat or beer. I was an almost vegetarian as my brother Knight liked to call it and I only ate meat when my brother invited me to dinner or something. I didn¡¯t drink beer not since¡­


    Well, that doesn¡¯t really matter.


    Suddenly I wasn¡¯t hungry anymore. I looked around in the kitchen for coffee hoping there was some left. There was a bag of one of this awful coffee whose name nobody knows that I¡¯m pretty sure I didn¡¯t buy and probably came with the house. Yeah. Today was going to be a great day for sure. Not much left of it but who cares.


    I made the coffee and it was awful, If I knew what was about to happen I would have enjoyed it more. There was silence outside, too much silence but I didn¡¯t notice until the raining started.


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    I don¡¯t need to tell you that it wasn¡¯t a normal rain, I mean, it was black. Water it¡¯s not usually black but maybe with so many pollution and shit, rain was now black. Yep, that was my mind agreeing with the black rain. After that I guess I was kind of looking for it.


    So there was me, getting out of the house minutes later and it had stopped raining, because there was nothing weird with that.


    People were still there watching at the sky like, wait for it, mindless zombies, and there was nothing wrong with that.


    In fact I didn¡¯t realize there was something wrong until I heard a grunt, almost like a dog, and then a scream. I looked around for whoever was screaming but instead there were people looking at me, people with glowing purple eyes and scarred faces. They looked like zombies.


    And I ran, because everybody knows thanks to the walking dead that zombies are notoriously bad runners. Everyone but the zombies apparently, because immediately one of them ran at me, faster than me, jumped over my head, fell on the ground just on my face and stopped me.


    Well shit.


    Fortunately for me I had one of those old neighbors that had been on the war and everybody knew just by looking he had some relation with Rambo. He was also a very good shot because the face of the zombie literally exploded.


    ¡°GET ON THE HOUSE ADAM¡± he yelled from somewhere.


    I didn¡¯t have the time for that because another zombie jumped at me while the rest moved probably towards my neighbor.


    I fell, the zombie moved closer to me, looking almost normal besides the glowy eyes. My hands were looking for some sort of weapon on the ground, something, whatever it was that could save me. I found a rock I yanked it from the ground and attacked the zombie in the face with it but when I made contact with the face the rock had disappeared and I just slapped him.


    Let me repeat that.


    I slapped a zombie in the face. Ten points.


    It didn¡¯t work, I don¡¯t think he even noticed but some part of me liked to think that I hurt his feelings so much he had to lunge at me and kill me. That was the last thing I saw, blood coming out of my neck and more screams around.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You are dead.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 1: The day before the world went away.

    I woke up again, startled.


    I thought I died. There was even a blue screen of death to confirm it. That was weird I didn¡¯t known Microsoft had a contract with God or something. Okay, breathe.


    Another blue screen appeared then in my vision.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>RESTART ACTIVATED: reverted to 24 hours prior to the moment of death.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Oh, so that¡¯s what had happened. I died and came back in time. Yep, that explained everything¡­ No. I literally jumped for my phone and looked at the hour, three in the morning. Okay, that was good. It had been just a dream. Then I looked at the date, it was the day before.


    ¡­


    Well, fuck


    The blue screen blinked a few times and disappeared. I pinched myself in the arm to see if I was dreaming. It didn¡¯t work. I slapped myself in the face. It didn¡¯t work but it made me remember that I was a doctor. I ran myself through every diagnostic test that I could remember about seeing things that aren¡¯t there. It also didn¡¯t work but it calmed me a bit.


    Okay, Adam, breathe. I was not crazy. I was a perfectly healthy and rational human being. I was just a perfectly healthy human being that for some reason has died, resurrected, traveled back in time 24 hours and now saw announcements screens like if this was some kind of game. I was sure there was nothing to worry about. In the worst of cases I would just make a new religion and take over the world


    Nothing to worry about.


    Wait, like a game? Will there be more information like a status scr¡­


    The moment I thought about it the new screen appeared, floating just a bit closer that my arms could reach.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Name</td>


    <td>Adam</td>


    <td>Class</td>


    <td>None</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race</td>


    <td>Human</td>


    <td>Level</td>


    <td>1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Physical Attributes</td>


    <td colspan="2">Mental Attributes</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>STR:</td>


    <td>21</td>


    <td>INT:</td>


    <td>64</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>DEX:</td>


    <td>34</td>


    <td>WIS:</td>


    <td>86</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>VIT:</td>


    <td>57</td>


    <td>CHA:</td>


    <td>69</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Luck</td>


    <td colspan="2">0</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">Magic Affinity</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">DEATH</td>


    <td colspan="2">LOW</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What the fuck? What kind of stats were those? I had pitiful strength and a ton of wisdom? After slapping a zombie I still had wisdom? And 69 in charisma?! That had to be the game trolling me. Wait, no, I was crazy, that was the only explanation, and this was my mind trolling myself. I was an autotroll and the world had become like reedit.


    That would explain the zombies.


    Okay, no, keep breathing. I tried to access more windows, options, help, log out. Oh, no the log out button didn¡¯t exist, it was a murder game! Who would make a game where you can¡¯t log out? That had to be the worst business idea ever. Who would play it?


    Oh, yes, not a game. I forgot about that. I should keep my critics about that anime for myself.


    I kept trying until I got to inventory. A blue window appeared with twenty empty cells. That was more like it, now I could prove that I was crazy. I took my pants from the floor and try to put them in the inventory. I knew it! If this was a game they would disappear inside my inventory but nothing happ¡­


    A symbol very similar to my pants flashed in the first cell of the inventory. I looked at my hand were the pants were and there was nothing. I tried to make them appear in my hands again and they did. Then I repeated it twenty times just to see if I could.


    Okay, new theory. I was crazy and I had developed magic powers. Nothing weird there. There was one last thing to try.


    ¡°Equip pants!¡± I said to the air with all the flair I could muster.


    I looked down and...


    ¡°YES!¡± I yelled to the world. ¡°Kneel before my obvious superiority to put my pants on without looking!¡±


    No one answered, and for some reason I felt a bit sad inside.


    Well, that settled it. It was undeniable, I was a god. A very weak god with low strength. I¡¯ll have to do something about that, but first things first. Unless now hallucinations also included magic powers, this was real.


    Which meant that tomorrow began the zombie apocalypse and I was fucked. Of course, having 24 hours to prepare for the end of the world was going to be fun, but still¡­


    Civilization was going to end, and it was going to be awesome.


    And sad, but awesome.


    Now came the difficult part. I took the rest of my clothes and equipped them without looking. It was very dark but there wasn¡¯t a purple sky so I interpreted that as a good sign. First I had to eat something because today was going to be busy.


    I walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. The lights flickered on and I prepared something to eat. My house was not very big, it was kind of like the Simpsons house but more tiny and with not much furniture besides the essential to live there. None of it was really mine, it was just one of those things my parents left me and my brother when they died. The only thing that was truly mine in the house was the plants. I had dozens of flowerpots inside the house with different plants in them.


    They were kind of a hobby, and I guess than that and the almost vegetarian thing came together the moment my brother showed me a movie about a slaughterhouse when I was eight. I still hate him for that but it was at that moment that I realized what I wanted to be when I grew up.


    An Eco terrorist. Unfortunately my parents thought that wasn¡¯t a real career and pushed me to be a doctor which I didn¡¯t really like. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I like it now. I like helping people and nothing beats the sensation to enter the hospital with your head up knowing you can do something to help people live a better life. To be ready with all that knowledge and ask that ill person that¡¯s counting on you¡­


    What¡¯s the range of your health insurance?


    Which is the first question always of course. What a hero I am.


    I finished preparing the food, got my laptop and started eating while thinking my next step. Okay, it was obvious that no one was going to believe me so I had to plan how to survive the zombie apocalypse. I thought the simplest way to start was to ask Google.


    The first page was something like this.


    How to survive the zombie apocalypse


    Step 1: If the unholy hordes of hell are unleashed upon the world the first you must do is repent for your sins and donate everything you own to the church of morm¡­


    Yep, that probably wouldn¡¯t work.


    How to survive a zombie apocalypse


    Step 1: you have to get yorself a katana because it¡¯s the most awesome weapon that can hack people heads off and that is awesome and nobody will dare to attack you because of it.


    Step 2: you have to find a loli as a companion ¡®cause there is just so much people you can the heads off before you get bored and a loli will help you spend time with conversation and sex stuff.


    ¡­


    That was¡­ illuminating. And useless.


    Okay, new plan, I didn¡¯t have any idea about how the zombies started but I imagined that getting out of the city where most of the zombies will be was the first step. I needed food, water, medicines, weapons and transportation. Oh, and friends that can help me survive out there. And money to buy everything. That was going to be a problem.


    I looked more things on the internet and made a list of indispensable things. It took me almost two hours to finish the list and I believed I had everything. Then I downloaded lots of books about everything I could think of, from basic encyclopedias to heavy books about mechanics, engineering, maths, all the seasons of Doctor Who¡­


    I doubted the internet was going to survive and I was sure some of those things could come in handy sooner or later.


    It was a simple plan really. It turns out the end of civilization wasn¡¯t so bad when you knew it was going to happen before hand. The biggest problem was going to be the money to buy everything because I was broke.


    And I wanted a Tank.


    So I drove to the nearest bank I could find. It was still dark in the city, not an ominous darkness but a bit creepy. I guess that¡¯s the best you can get when you are either very early in the morning or very late in the night. The closest bank was closed, of course, but had an ATM.


    I got a card from my wallet and prepared for the inevitable.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You are broke.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    No, actually there wasn¡¯t a window to tell me that but it was basically that. I fought with myself for a bit trying not to trash the ATM until the rage won and I kicked the machine with all my strength.


    I only hurt my foot but whatever. Fortunately the pain faded very quickly when a window appeared in my vision.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">You have found a trove of unclaimed money. You have found a trove of unclaimed money. Would you like to claim it?</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Yes</td>


    <td>No</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The confusion lasted as much as five seconds before I smashed the button.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Congratulations you have found 16430 $.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I stood there dumbstruck. Okay, If I was actually crazy and none of this was real I preferred to be crazy. I walked away from the ATM like if nothing had happened and entered the car. Then making sure nobody was looking I opened the inventory. A new tab was flashing with the money on it.


    ¡°Take a thousand dollars from the inventory,¡± I said out loud without thinking.


    A few bills appeared on my hand and I quickly thought to make them go back to the inventory.


    Okay, now I could go for the second step. Buy a tank.


    Needless to say they were out of tanks in the crazy neighbor summer sale, so I had to try to find an alternative.


    I did found more ATM¡¯s and stripped them bare of money. Now for the next few hours I was going to be rich. Huh, weird. I thought if I ever became rich I would be against taxes and the government. I guess it doesn¡¯t work with the zombies and all of that.


    I looked up in the internet vehicles that could be useful during a zombie apocalypse and found that there are actually some companies selling things like that. None close by unfortunately so I¡¯ll have to find something around here. The closest thing I found was a bulletproof car that consumed too much fuel to be of any use.


    No. I needed something else, something that could resist a zombie attack if the zombies were on steroids like these ones seemed to be. Something that wasn¡¯t necessarily fast, but safe and maybe armored. Something like a¡­


    ¡°Adam?¡± somebody called from behind me.


    I was still in the car looking things in the laptop and the sudden yelling startled me for a moment. When I calmed down I looked behind and got out the car.


    ¡°Sam,¡± I said shyly. ¡°You look good.¡±


    Sam was one of my best friends since we were kids and he stole my money for an ice cream. The story is a bit more complicated than that but let¡¯s just say that we became fast friends and for a few years we were practically always together. We grew apart when I went to college and he began to work.


    ¡°You are telling me?¡± he said sizing my up. ¡°You look great. Wasn¡¯t I supposed to be the cool guy and you the whiny one?¡±


    I rolled my eyes and smiled. Maybe that deserves an explanation, if you think my strength is low now you should have seen me when we were kids. Sam was the tall, strong and slightly intimidating boy; I was the little runt that ran behind him every time something happened.


    Now we were almost even in size if not in strength (thanks status screen).


    ¡°Please don¡¯t keep that up or I will get hard,¡± I said. ¡°How are you doing?¡±


    He laughed. ¡°I¡¯m good, busy at the repair shop but I love to work with cars, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you were always good with¡­¡± I said smiling and stopped to look at my phone that marked 7 AM. ¡°Wait, You are going to work this soon?¡±


    ¡°Of course, people here work, not like you,¡± he teased. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not really working, they are rebuilding part of the shop and I have to open it very early on.¡±


    I nodded and said. ¡°For your information I¡¯m a very reputable doctor that gets paid shit and works a lot. So don¡¯t start with that, please.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, the big doctor is very busy,¡± Sam said and I could feel the strain in his voice. ¡°I suppose he is too busy to talk with old friends too¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡± I started to say but stopped.


    Wait, I just found my childhood friend that repairs cars for a living when I¡¯m looking for a car? That¡¯s just too coincidental don¡¯t you think? Something weird was happening. Then I remembered the dying and coming back in time part and I realized that it wasn¡¯t that weird.


    Still, it was a good idea. He is my friend and although we haven¡¯t seen each other for some time I still cared for him. Maybe I could make him come with me, maybe I could save him and his knowledge would surely help us survive. There was only something stopping me for trying.


    He is black. No, seriously. I mean, I¡¯m not racist or anything. The problem wasn¡¯t that he was black, the problem was that he would be the black guy on the team and we already know how that movie ends. I didn¡¯t want to spend the next weeks knowing the intricacies of his personality, how he aims to step over the differences of culture and race just so he can get eaten by a zombie in a heroic sacrifice that teaches us that he was secretly the best of us. Because that¡¯s just rude.


    And racist.


    Or maybe I watched too many movies. I changed my planes in my mind.


    ¡°Actually, I need your help with something,¡± I said smiling. ¡°And if you are not busy this afternoon we could go somewhere and catch up.¡±


    He looked at me a bit startled. I think he was expecting a negative, maybe an excuse or something. His mind seemed to work around the idea and then smiled.


    ¡°That could work,¡± he said. ¡°But it¡¯s your treat.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± I said chuckling. ¡°But I actually need your help with something.¡±


    ¡°You know I don¡¯t like guys,¡± he said taking a step back smiling.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Seriously.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. What does the doctor need?¡± He asked.


    I began trying to find a way to say it without sounding to crazy. Fuck it. ¡°Well, the zombie apocalypse it¡¯s going to begin tonight in about twenty hours or so and I need some kind of armored vehicle to survive.¡± I said quickly without stopping. ¡°Also I want you to come tonight because I don¡¯t want you to die despite that we have been apart for some time.¡±


    Sam stared, looking at me open-mouthed for a second and then laughed loudly.


    ¡°I missed you Adam.¡± He said.


    We talked a bit more of nothing and I explained a bit better what I was looking for. It turned out that there was someone in town that had something like that and may want to sell it. I tried to pry more details but he just entered my car and told me the direction in which to drive.


    We spend almost half an hour driving to there and I was starting to get a bit impatient. I didn¡¯t really have that much time to spare and he still refused to tell me more.


    ¡°I just want it to be a surprise,¡± he said smiling.


    I looked at him and kept driving. ¡°The end of the world is near! I don¡¯t have time for this bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Trust me you are going to like this,¡± said Sam and then pointed at the entrance for a residential area. ¡°Go there, is one of the last houses. You¡¯ll see it immediately.¡±


    The residential area was very big and the moment we entered it was obvious this place was for rich people.


    ¡°Holy shit, that guy has a giant statue on the lawn. Why does he have a statue?¡± I asked but kept driving. ¡°Where the hell are we?¡±


    ¡°You are asking for a car prepared to survive the zombie apocalypse and find that statue weird?¡± he asked teasing.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anything that interests me here Sam. Are you sure¡­¡±


    It was at that moment that I saw the surprise. And it was a big surprise, I could see it peeking over the hedge. It turns out that it wasn¡¯t exactly a car what he was talking about. It was an RV, a big RV painted in camouflage colors, armored and with steel bars protecting the windows. I was in love.


    ¡°Okay, that is a surprise.¡±


    Sam snickered and got out the car. ¡°C¡¯mon I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    We got to the house, which despite the RV looked quite normal and rich, and I thought no one would be awake, much less would want to show us the RV but apparently I was wrong. There was already a guy there that Sam recognized and explained what we wanted. And he showed it to us, just like that. I guess if you had that thing you would like to show it off too.


    And it was amazing, perfect for everything I needed. It was a hybrid that worked both with fuel and electricity. I didn¡¯t knew that even existed, not for an RV at least. You could drive just with electricity although it was slow as fuck and only worked for a few hours. It had solar panels on the roof that could recharge the batteries and even a tiny windmill that you could mount.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly armored, some parts like the windows were bulletproof but everything else wasn¡¯t as protected. It was still tough an after testing it for a few minutes I was sure it could survive a zombie attack. There was also enough space for at least four people and carry provisions for a few months.


    It was basically a moving base, slow and tough, but it was something that could protect us from the elements and the zombies if we were careful. That was everything I needed.


    ¡°How much do you want for it?¡± I blurted out without thinking.


    The owner looked at me like if I just said the funniest thing in the world and smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to sell it, it took me years to put all the custom parts together,¡± he said but then seeing that I was serious he smiled. ¡°Half a million dollars¡±


    Sam whistled appreciatively and started to protest. I didn¡¯t care. I walked out of the RV towards my car and got an empty bag. I looked around. They didn¡¯t follow me so I could do this. I opened the inventory and willed the money to appear inside the bag. Half a million was practically everything I had stolen from the ATM¡¯s but I still had more than enough to buy everything else I needed.


    They were still negotiating when I came back and dropped the bag on the floor.


    ¡°Your money,¡± I said. ¡°Can I take it now?¡±


    Both stared at me. The owner opened the bag and almost dropped it after seeing the money. Sam looked at me weirdly. There was an awkward silence.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You have acquired a vehicle</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Five minutes later I was driving the RV out of the residential area whistling and admiring the vehicle. Sam was silent.


    ¡°Where did you get the money?¡± he asked after a while.


    ¡°A wizard did it,¡± I answered, which was kind of true.


    He looked at me. ¡°No, seriously.¡±


    I groaned. I didn¡¯t want to show him now because it would probably cause more problems than anything so instead I thought of an alternative that would help me.


    ¡°Can we talk about it later?¡± I asked. ¡°I can tell you tonight, okay?¡±


    Sam thought about it and finally nodded not very convinced. We drove in silence to his shop and I left him get out after getting his number and I promised him again that we will talk that night. This way it would be easier to convince him to come and I could explain everything about 5 minutes before the zombie apocalypse started.


    It was close to 9 AM when I got to the biggest mall there was in town. I pulled the list of things I needed that was several pages long and reread it to make sure that everything was there. Then I entered and ransacked the place like a madman. Since this was going to be the last time I was going to buy something I had to make it count.


    First, I started with something that I almost forgot when making the list, clothes, lots of clothes for every possible environment and temperature. I tried to find clothes that fitted me and then I remembered Sam. Both my brother and Sam were coming that was for sure and they would need clothes too. At the end I just carried bundles of clothes that were just loosely fitting and kept going.


    Second, I wanted food and water supplies. I got a ton of food cans that would last more time and boxes of water purifiers both chemicals and machines. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure those were going to be very useful in the long run but it was the best I had.


    Third, I found the weapons section. It was mostly hunting supplies and that sort of thing. There weren¡¯t that many useful things here because I didn¡¯t think firearms were going to see much use once the bullets ran out. A crossbow on the other hand¡­


    Three hours later I finished with the list. I had everything from basic survival supplies to new laptops and external hard drives that I planned to fill with every bit of information that could be useful. I was also carrying a train of carts when I went to pay and the clerk looked at me weirdly.


    ¡°It¡¯s for the zombie apocalypse, it starts tonight.¡± I said smiling.


    The clerk nodded and began the long job of taking every item and passing it through the machine. It took him half an hour and he was sweating by the end of it. I didn¡¯t even listen when he said the price and dropped another bag full with the rest of the money I had. After a few minutes of silence followed by the manager coming down to help I managed to convince them to help me carry everything to the RV.


    It took me another two hours to put everything inside where it wouldn¡¯t bother and I was starting to panic. I had already used half a day with all of this and there were still more things to do. I still had to get medicines and try to convince my brother.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The medicines were easy, obviously. My brother¡­ I would have to worry about that later.


    I sighed and started the engine. The way to the hospital was quick although my new car didn¡¯t help with that, the moment I stopped there was an army of people looking at the RV and taking pictures. That wasn¡¯t very good considering what I was planning to do, but there was not much I could do about it. I didn¡¯t even remember where I left my car.


    I entered the hospital from behind to be as inconspicuous as possible and tried not to meet anyone. I had to do this quickly and silently.


    ¡°Adam,¡± called my boss.


    Shit. Okay, new plan.


    ¡°The end is near!¡± I yelled. ¡°FLY YOU FOOLS!¡±


    My boss and everyone that was close by stared at me. I don¡¯t know why, that wasn¡¯t the weirdest thing I¡¯ve done.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked my boss after a few seconds. ¡°Your turn began a few hours ago.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I know. I¡¯m sorry, but I didn¡¯t feel very well,¡± I lied and then seeing the opportunity I lowered my voice and made the puppy face. ¡°I think I¡¯m crazy.¡±


    He looked at me. ¡°We already knew that but¡­¡±


    ¡°No, no, seriously. Like, I¡¯m seeing things and I¡¯m pretty sure tonight will start the zombie apocalypse,¡± I said and then yelled to everyone that was there. ¡°Purple clouds and black rain! That¡¯s how the end begins!¡±


    I babbled for a few minutes until some people moved away and my boss took me to another room.


    ¡°Okay, okay. You are either crazy or trying very hard not to work,¡± he smiled and gave me a prescription. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a few of this, sleep a few hours and come tomorrow to see how you really are?¡±


    I nodded silently keeping the play and went to the stockroom. One of the marvelous things about a hospital is that we need to keep thousands of medicaments ready but, of course, we couldn¡¯t take them freely. We also couldn¡¯t self-prescribe ourselves so I couldn¡¯t take everything I needed like that.


    I could steal them. Yes, they would probably find out sooner or later but since both the sooner and the later where going to be filled with zombies¡­ I got to the stockroom, there was no one there and I began looking for the good stuff. Antibiotics, pain killers, basic medical instrumental, I send everything that could be useful directly to the inventory and after a while I discovered something useful.


    Every cell in the inventory could carry only one item, even when I tried to bundle several of them in a bag they were pulled in the inventory separated, but I could carry more than a hundred items that were similar. I didn¡¯t really found how much the limit for every cell was before I had finished getting enough meds.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked a voice from behind.


    I looked at him and recognized him as one of the people that worked in here.


    ¡°I want drugs,¡± I said smiling.


    He stared.


    ¡°Actually I wanted this in particular, but since there was nobody at the door¡­¡± I said showing him the prescription.


    He read the prescription quickly and yelled at me for entering the stockroom but at the end he just gave me the pills and threw me out without noticing that I left a few empty boxes behind. The way out of the hospital was a bit complicated because I was sure someone was going to notice immediately and I was going to pass the end of the world in prison, but nothing happened.


    And that¡¯s how you commit the perfect crime, but just in case I didn¡¯t dare to look behind until I was safely in the RV and went back to my house.


    The way back was interrupted by a stop to refuel, recharge the batteries and eat which I had forgotten to do since this morning. When I got to my house I was so tired I just dropped in the bed and slept. I suppose in hindsight I shouldn¡¯t have done that because I lost a few hours until Sam called me to tell at what hour he could.


    I woke up late with barely nine hours left until everything went to hell and I still had to talk to my brother and maybe find a 4th person to come with us. My brother was¡­ complicated. Knight was the old one and liked to do things his way. A sudden invitation tonight wouldn¡¯t work. I started to ponder a way to do it while I took the opportunity to take what was going to be my last warm shower in a while.


    I could drug him and just get done with it, but for some reason I doubted that would end well. I could show him my awesome inventory powers but that was a bit risky and could backfire. I was playing with the inventory still deep in tough when I realized there were probably more blue windows that could help me.


    ¡°Skills,¡± I said.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Skill: Save Point


    Obtained ability</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Able to revert 24 hours back in time after death.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Cooldown: 1 month.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What? Obtained ability? When did I get that ability? I didn¡¯t remembered anything unless¡­


    The fucking rock! The one I tried to use against the zombie! That¡¯s why I ended up slapping him, if this was like a game it could have dropped from the death zombie. Shit. I didn¡¯t really knew if I was incredibly lucky or what, but I hoped that ability was not very common or things were going to be crazy.


    If things weren¡¯t going to be difficult enough with the zombies, now I realized that people could probably obtain super powers or magic or something, and thanks to the awesome teachings of the walking dead I knew that survivors were probably going to be much of a threat than the zombies. And now they have magic.


    Fantastic.


    A sudden knock on the door woke me up from what I was thinking. I froze, if this was really the same day I had already lived by this hour I was already home and nobody had called. What could have changed that?


    I got out of the shower, dressed as quickly as I could and opened the door.


    ¡°What the fuck has happened with you today?¡± my brother greeted me the moment I opened the door.


    Great. He was mad at me for something. Things had just gotten more complicated. I wondered what the luck stat did because I couldn¡¯t be so lucky in some things and be so fucked in others. Fine, I thought that if things had to be bad it was time to take the heavy artillery.


    ¡°I¡¯m pregnant,¡± I said. ¡°The baby is yours.¡±


    His face crumbled, completely broken by the news. He walked inside and dropped in a chair. I could see the pain in his face of finding the truth this way but there was nothing I could do about it. He deserved to know the truth.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you told me sooner?¡± he asked in a whisper that almost sounded like a whimper.


    ¡°I just found out this morning, sorry.¡± I continued.


    He looked at me and I was amazed he almost looked about to cry. ¡°That¡¯s the reason you didn¡¯t go to work today?¡±


    ¡°No, I was busy preparing for the zombie apocalypse,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon!¡± groaned Knight. ¡°You can¡¯t just jump from baby surprise to zombies. You know the rules of the game!¡±


    I grinned. ¡°The rules don¡¯t apply when I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    ¡°You are preparing for the zombie apocalypse?¡± asked Knight slowly staring at me. ¡°It¡¯s that the reason for that monstrosity you have parked outside?¡±


    I looked outside towards the RV. ¡°Yes, I just bought it, it¡¯s the Zombinator.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You have named your vehicle.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Nice touch.


    ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± he asked. ¡°They called me from the hospital telling me you were acting strange and now you have a¡­ Zombinator?"


    ¡°Pretty much, yes.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°How..? Wh¡­? Where did you get the money?!¡± yelled Knight.


    I rolled my eyes and sat in the furthest chair from him. ¡°Why do you always do that? Can¡¯t you¡­ I don¡¯t know. Trust me for once in your life? I don¡¯t need you to babysit me.¡±


    ¡°You bought a Zombinator!¡± he yelled like if that settled everything.


    Okay, that wasn¡¯t working. It was time for a new plan. He was to mad and scared right now. I needed to go into this from another way. Knight had always been very protective and it just got worse when our parents died.


    ¡°I saw Sam today,¡± I blurted out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare change¡­¡± he started to say but stopped and looked at me.


    I admit that was a low blow. Sam was important to me and he knew he couldn¡¯t just leave it out.


    ¡°Okay, look. Something is happening,¡± I began saying, ¡°something weird that might sound crazy to say right now but it¡¯s something important and I need you to stop freaking out.¡±


    Knight didn¡¯t say anything and just waited for me to continue.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really think you can believe me right now even if I tell you,¡± I continued. ¡°I invited Sam to come tonight and I will explain everything, okay? Tonight. But I need you to trust me right now and for the next hours no matter how crazy it sounds¡±


    He looked at me for a few seconds trying to see how serious I was and finally nodded.


    ¡°No matter what I do you can¡¯t stop me,¡± I said looking at him too see if he understood completely. ¡°Even if I ran, or I bleat like a lamb, or I eat a cow, you can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, okay, okay!¡± he stopped me. ¡°But you promise to explain everything.¡±


    I nodded. At least that part was finished.


    After I managed to convince my brother to stay the night I moved my attention to everything else I had to do for today. I went to the Zombinator, I had started to love the name, and got the new laptops to start downloading every book and thing that I could find.


    Hours passed by very quickly while doing that until Sam came and I ordered food. But I didn¡¯t stay to eat with them. The information I was saving was important, it was the legacy of thousands of years of investigation and development. We will need it if we hoped to live one day without fear of zombies and since I was the only who knew what was going to happen the task was mine.


    They didn¡¯t bother me. I think in some way they knew that what I was doing was important. And I wanted to go outside with them and enjoy a nice dinner without worrying about was about to happen but I couldn¡¯t. It was sort of stupid really. They were there worried about me and I was worried about everything.


    I didn¡¯t notice what time it was until 2 AM. For some reason Sam and Knight hadn¡¯t stopped me and were still talking and watching the TV. I closed all the laptops and got out.


    They looked at me when I entered.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready,¡± I announced.


    ¡°Are you going to explain what is happening to you now?¡± asked Knight.


    I nodded. ¡°Yes, but not here. I¡­¡± I blinked thinking of something. ¡°It would be easier to explain if I show you something first. We have to take the Zombinator.¡±


    The looked at each other and followed me. I guess they talked because they weren¡¯t asking many questions. I showed them or at least I showed my brother the Zombinator very quickly and started the engine.


    This was it. We still had an hour before it all started which was enough to get far from the city. Everything was ready, I managed to do it. Then I saw the lights flicker in the neighbor house, the same neighbor that tried to save me when the zombies appeared and I made a decision.


    ¡°Wait a second here, okay?¡± I said and didn¡¯t even bother to explain before getting out and walking towards the house.


    I knocked at the door blaming myself for having forgotten about the guy. For what he showed me in the moments before my death, I knew he was a good shooter which could come in handy, and the fact that he tried to save me spoke for everything else. I wanted him on my team and I had space for someone else.


    The door opened and¡­ It wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting. I was expecting an old man, but he looked barely thirty and fit like a Terminator. I had to stop staring when he asked something.


    ¡°Eh¡­ sorry. John, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, John.¡± He said smiling. ¡°And you are Adam. Are you here for something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, Adam, that¡¯s me,¡± I said shyly. ¡°I¡¯m here because¡­¡±


    I stopped. I didn¡¯t think about what to say now. Okay, options. I could tell the zombie story which didn¡¯t seem to work. I could ask him to come just like that. I could¡­ don¡¯t really know.


    ¡°My friends and I want to go somewhere,¡± I said pointing at the Zombinator. ¡°I¡¯m trying that for the first time and when I saw the light¡­ Well, I thought maybe you may like to come, or something.¡±


    He glanced at the Zombinator and whistled. ¡°Wow, what a machine. I saw it before but I didn¡¯t think it was yours.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the Zombinator,¡± I said without bothering at the look he gave me. ¡°Look I don¡¯t really have too much time. I¡¯m already running in a tight schedule because the zombies are about to appear and I would like to get out of the city before it starts.¡±


    Shit. Damn me and my incapability to lie. For a moment I almost thought I had failed to recruit him.


    ¡°Zombies?¡± he said worried. ¡°Can I carry a weapon?¡±


    I stared. ¡°Yes, actually that could be useful.¡±


    He took it to heart and got out of his house minutes later carrying a rifle and walking hurriedly. I watched him enter the RV and greeting them.


    Wonderful. What I just got myself into? I stared at them for a second before walking back inside the car. Our new companion sat in the seat closest to the door and both my brother and Sam were fiddling around with the supplies I bought. I didn¡¯t mind, I was too worried about the time right now. I moved to the driver¡¯s seat.


    ¡°No,no,¡± Sam said sitting quickly on the drivers position. ¡°I¡¯ll drive, just tell me where are we going.¡±


    Huh. He didn¡¯t trust me as much as I believed. Unfortunately that was going to change very quickly.


    ¡°Just get us out of the city,¡± I said. ¡°Go north.¡±


    He looked briefly to my brother who nodded and then started driving. Then there was silence. I think there was something in the air, something that warned us about what was about to happen. That¡¯s why we were quiet, expectant like a dog with the ears perked.


    I used the time to inspect the Zombinator better. It was a real marvel, there were several seats around that could be folded and hided, there were beds now stored in the walls along with all the supplies I bought. There was an electric kitchen and a tiny sink, there was even a TV that I imagined wasn¡¯t going to get much use.


    My brother was still looking around and whistled. ¡°Are we going to play beisbol?¡± he asked.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked confused.


    He moved around showing me the twenty steel bats I had in a bundle. ¡°You have a lot of things here and this¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said quickly. ¡°They didn¡¯t sell katanas in the mall and for some odd reason I doubt cutting bone is as easy as they make it seem in the movies so¡­ I thought those would be easier to use.¡±


    My neighbor nodded in a silent agreement with me and kept looking out of the windows. Knight sighed and sat in the closer chair to the TV.


    ¡°I hope that explanation you are going to give us is not filled with zombies,¡± he said and turned on the TV.


    I was going answer him when I saw what was on the TV and the answer died in my mouth. The TV was silenced but it was pretty obvious what they were saying. It was a news report showing Times Square filled with people like when the New Year begins. There was a party, a celebration of some kind, dancing and singing.


    And purple clouds on the sky.


    I groaned. Of course! The end of the world was going to come and we will see it in high definition. We would not want to lose a minute of it. I jumped out of the chair and looked at the sky.


    It had started.


    ¡°Guys?¡± Sam called from the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Something weird is happening.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop driving!¡± I yelled at him. ¡°Go faster and out of the city now! Don¡¯t stop for anything.¡±


    He looked at me. ¡°There is people in the middle and¡­¡±


    ¡°Ram them in you have to!¡± I yelled and when he looked at me startled I got closer. ¡°Please, Sam, if you care for our lives, if you ever trusted me. Don¡¯t stop, please¡±


    My pleas seemed to work and although he tried not to kill any of the people that were starting to fill the streets, he didn¡¯t stop for the lights.


    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Knight getting close to me.


    I could see he was scared but trying to hide it. I don¡¯t think I ever saw my brother like that before, so lost.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe me if I told you. I...¡± I tried to say. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know what I¡¯m doing. Trust me, please.¡±


    He nodded absently looking between me and the sky.


    Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep¡­


    I launched the pager to the wall, not bothering to look at it. I knew what it meant. There was no more time left. I looked at the streets that were starting to fill with people curious of the purple clouds and cursed. We were almost out of the city, just a few more minutes at this speed and¡­


    Then it started. The black rain started pouring both here and in the TV. I closed my eyes trying to convince myself that I was crazy and nothing was going to happen. For a second I almost believed it was true. Then the screams started and the streets filled with people a minute before where now filled with glowing points of purple light.


    ¡°RAN!¡± I yelled to Sam a second before the first zombie jumped to the Zombinator.


    Fortunately Sam didn¡¯t panic. He saw the glowing eyes jumping several meters in the air towards us and made the RV run forgetting any issue he had with ramming people.


    Several blue screens appeared then one after another.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Congratulations! For surviving the first 24 hours the system has been unlocked.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>You are the first person to unlock the system. A special reward will be given.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Calculating¡­</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Ability Save point has been erased from the system.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>For your actions trying to warn people of the results of the black rain you have been awarded 25 points of karmic luck.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I stared at the windows. It was insane. I didn¡¯t have the time for it now. I couldn¡¯t concentrate while we were being attacked by zombies. I ignored the blue windows and moved to where I had stacked the crossbows. I took two of them and gave them to Knight and Sam, they didn¡¯t react. My neighbor was armed and looking through the windows.


    The Zombinator was flying through the streets and leaving the city with the occasional zombie ramming at us trying and trying breaking inside. They didn¡¯t manage to do it, only a bump that rocked the RV but didn¡¯t manage to break anything.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Calculations finished. A class has been chosen that fits your knowledge and actions.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Druid</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The druid is a class with powerful ties to plants and animals. They are wardens of nature. Healers and protectors of life.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>+ 25 WIS


    + 5 INT


    + Low life affinity. </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I looked at the new window dazed while another zombie rocked the RV. I didn¡¯t have much choice did I? Maybe this could help us get out of here alive. I pressed the yes button.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">WARNING</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">You already have an affinity with death, since the chosen class has an opposed affinity it will be erased.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Would you like to continue?</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Yes</td>


    <td>No</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Yes, of course. I didn¡¯t have much choice right now. Why would the system ask that if..?


    I fell to the ground yelling in pain the moment I accepted, a window flashed before my eyes. My body was burning and I felt more pain that I ever did in my life.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Erasing death affinity.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Adam!¡± my brother yelled and moved to me. ¡°What is happening?¡±


    I tried to answer but the only sound that came was another scream. I could feel some kind of power burning me from the inside and I understood clearly that the pain was going to make me pass out. So much for that, there was not much I could do to help now, but before I blacked out I managed to say one last thing.


    ¡°Run you fools.¡± I whispered.


    Everything turned black.

 Chapter 2: Know the enemy.

    I woke up again startled, and wondered briefly if the universe didn¡¯t know how to make the transition between chapters easier than to kill me or make me black out. Oh, yes, fourth wall, sorry. Forget about that.


    I opened my eyes, looked around wondering where I was and for the briefest of times I prayed everything about the zombies had been a dream. It was dark but I could faintly see the interior of the Zombinator and cursed silently. Someone had moved me to one of the beds when I blacked out and I was facing one of the walls. It took me a few minutes to remember everything that had happened the other day.


    Shit. I needed a coffee.


    ¡°Oh, shit,¡± I yelled and then started to hit my head against the wall. ¡°Shit, shit, shit, shit.¡±


    ¡°Adam!¡± said my brother from behind. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I forgot the coffee!¡± I stopped and looked at him crying. ¡°I bought everything else, even the duct tape and I forgot the coffee. I can¡¯t believe the last coffee I¡¯m going to taste was that shit that came with the house!¡±


    Knight stared at me openmouthed and after a second punched me in the arm.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± I said. ¡°What was that for?¡±


    ¡°I thought you were dead or transforming in one of those things and now you are joking?!¡± he snapped at me.


    I looked at him more intently. Knight appeared very tired, ragged and confused. He wasn¡¯t mad, he was scared and didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Not much difference to me I guess. I didn¡¯t have answers to what was happening.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said lowering my voice. ¡°I know we have priorities but if I don¡¯t take this as a joke I think I will go insane.¡±


    His face became more relaxed and I tried to get out of bed. It was still dark outside and I couldn¡¯t see much outside but we were the only ones in the Zombinator.


    ¡°How much time did I lose?¡± I asked getting up and walking towards one of the tiny windows. ¡°Where are the others?¡±


    Knight blinked slowly and answered. ¡°They are outside trying to see what is happening in the city and you lost only a few hours. It¡¯s almost sunrise.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least I hadn¡¯t lost much,¡± I nodded. ¡°Wait. Why have we stopped?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know, maybe because someone decided to pass out while the zombie apocalypse started and we didn¡¯t know what to do?¡± he said angry.


    ¡°I told you to keep running!¡± I yelled.


    ¡°I thought you were¡­!¡± he started to say but then stopped, lowered his head and sighed. ¡°Look, it doesn¡¯t matter that we stopped. We are far out of the city and the zombies stopped following us after a while.¡±


    I looked at him tilting my head in a silent question. ¡°Well, at least that¡¯s something.¡±


    I walked towards the door and opened, but the air was cold, colder than I thought it would be. I walked back inside and fiddled with the clothes in the closet until I found a jacket. I was about to put it on when I remembered my new magic powers and equipped it directly under the dumbfounded stare of my brother.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For increasing your VIT over 50 points you have obtained a new ability. Breath of the world</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For increasing your INT over 50 points you have obtained a new ability. Mana absorption.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For increasing your WIS over 50 points you have obtained a new ability. Inspect.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For increasing your WIS over 100 points you have obtained a new ability. Philosophi? naturalis.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For increasing your CHA over 50 points you have obtained a new ability. Empathy.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stopped to look at the announcements windows for a second but I didn¡¯t have more time. I face palmed. Things just kept happening around and I didn¡¯t have the time to focus in every little thing that popped out.


    ¡°How did you¡­?¡± started asking Knight.


    ¡°Priorities, brother, priorities,¡± I said without looking at him and walked out of the Zombinator.


    The night was cold and dark, creepily dark, but at least the purple clouds were gone which I thought was something good. There were no lights around. We were completely at dark, nothing in the Zombinator was on, probably to not draw too much attention. I could only see that we were in some sort of grassy area, probably in an open field. I started to move around when Sam appeared from behind the RV.


    ¡°Adam!¡± he said with surprise and ran closer to me. ¡°Are you okay? I thought I heard you yell but¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I cut him smiling. ¡°Knight is being a mother hen, but everything is fine.¡±


    Sam chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, when you passed out we thought you were dying or worst¡­¡± he said without looking directly at me. ¡°We had to stop to see if you would¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Just tell me where we are.¡±


    He looked around and then at me. ¡°It would be best if I show you.¡±


    Sam guided me to the other side of the Zombinator, he was carrying one of the crossbows that I bought which told me that we weren¡¯t as safe as Knight seemed to believe. And then I saw it. We were somewhere high and the city could be plainly seen in the distance.


    The city didn¡¯t look exactly as we left it. The buildings seemed dark, like if all the lights had gone out, which it may have been what had happened, and in some of them bright fires were burning. Brief flashes of light tinted the city from time to time. There was noise, not much, but a constant stream of something between shots and yells could be heard from where we were.


    ¡°It looks really bad,¡± I said after looking at it for a minute.


    John, who was a bit ahead of us looking through some binoculars, turned around when he heard me and smiled.


    ¡°It was worst,¡± said Sam. ¡°At the beginning you could only hear weapons being fired constantly and then when the military arrived¡­¡±


    I looked at him. ¡°The military came?¡±


    ¡°They are gone now,¡± answered John coming closer. ¡°A few helicopters went to scout the situation in the city and then flew back to wherever they came from. I doubt they liked the situation.¡±


    I whistled and John offered me the binoculars. Through them the city didn¡¯t seem very different. There was something that was clearer, some power cables were cut and flashing from time to time. There was electricity but everything was dark which probably meant that the zombies or the people fighting the zombies had destroyed a good chunk of the power lines. It was looking awful anyway.


    ¡°And I guess the TV doesn¡¯t work anymore or we would be seeing this inside,¡± I said giving back the binoculars.


    ¡°It stopped a few minutes after you passed out,¡± Sam said. ¡°The radio is also not working even when John tried some of the emergency channels.¡±


    I looked at John. The decision to take my neighbor with us had been a spur of the moment. Mostly I trusted him because the first time he tried to save me and probably died shortly after me. That said something about him and apparently it had been useful. For now.


    ¡°If the military is still active after all of this and they are still trying to do their job they will try to establish a communication line,¡± said John looking again at the city. ¡°But so far no luck¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They¡¯ll try to save as many people as possible,¡± he answered. ¡°Probably bring them to a safe place.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure they are going to find either.¡±


    ¡°We have seen survivors, actually,¡± said Sam.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked staring at him.


    ¡°Yes, there were some cars abandoning the city a few hours back¡± he answered looking back at the city. ¡°Not many, but there are people that managed to get out alive after all started.¡±


    I nodded slowly. Those were good news I guess.


    ¡°That still leaves the question,¡± said Sam slowly looking intently at me. ¡°What the hell happened?¡±


    I sighed. I knew this was coming but I was dreading the moment that I had to explain the time travel thing. I looked at both of them and I could feel the confusion and curiosity leaking out of them. I promised to give them answers but¡­


    How the hell do you begin to explain that? More to the point, I didn¡¯t really know a lot more than them now. The system or whatever this screens are is probably the only thing that they hadn¡¯t discovered yet and I didn¡¯t know if they could use it yet. ARGH. Usually, right about now my brother tries to take control of the situation and I can relax but now with him having a fit¡­ I had to do it myself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know a lot more than you do, honestly,¡± I said scratching my head.


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± said Sam quickly. ¡°You bought all this stuff, and you told me what was going to happen,¡± he said pointing at the Zombinator. ¡°You knew this was going to happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ yes.¡± I answered. ¡°But not in a very conventional way, I¡­¡±


    A grunt stopped whatever I was going to say. The color went out of the faces of Sam and John. I looked around trying to find the place from where it came and prayed silently it was just a dog or something else.


    The first thing I saw where the glowing purple eyes flashing in the darkness. It was one of them coming from the direction of the city and towards us. It was far away still but running faster than a normal human could. I took the binoculars back to inspect it better, after all I hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to see them very well yet. The zombie didn¡¯t look to different from a normal human, it¡¯s clothes were ragged, but there were no bounds or missing pieces, just the glowing eyes and a face that screamed death.


    It looked oddly normal. I mean, you could tell it wasn¡¯t human just by the expression it had on its face. It looked more like an animal than anything else and the glowing eyes were a dead giveaway, but under other circumstances it might have passed for a human.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ghoul Lv. 5</td></tr><tr><td>A Ghoul is a creature born from the chaotic energies of the Void corrupting a living being.


    Tainted by the touch of death this creatures gains strength, agility and vitality beyond the capabilities of their race at the loss of everything that made them human.


    Now they remain as husks of their former self with the only objective of spreading the corruption that grows inside them.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I read the new screen quickly. Shit. It seemed like I misinterpreted, they weren¡¯t zombies. They were from a cult and were just trying to spread the good news of their faith. Yes, okay, it was a bit different than other religions because they spread their faith by killing people and brainwashing others but¡­


    Actually it was a lot like other religions.


    I took the crossbow that Sam was carrying, preparing to shot, and made a mental note to have one in my inventory at all times. But it wasn¡¯t necessary for me to do anything. My neighbor was already preparing to shot, aiming his rifle at the zombie. There was a loud shot¡­


    And he failed. Well, the arm of the ghoul exploded into tiny bits which I suppose it was not that bad considering he was still far from us and running at that speed. The loss of the arm didn¡¯t seem to stop the ghoul, though, if any it made him run faster and grunt louder.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Shit,¡± cursed Sam.


    I realized then he was still here.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked him. ¡°Get in the car Sam!¡±


    He looked at me confused. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The black guy is always the first to die, get in the car!¡± I yelled and pushed him towards the Zombinator.


    I turned towards John. He was still aiming at the ghoul but not shooting.


    ¡°What¡­?¡± I started to ask but stopped when I saw it.


    The sun was starting to rise and we could see it better. The arm of the ghoul was growing back really fast. Half of it was already back and only a few seconds had passed. Shit. If these things could regrow limbs that fast, survival was going to be really difficult.


    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon, that¡¯s cheating!¡± I shouted without thinking.


    Both John and I aimed our weapons at the ghoul but he was too fast. In a second he jumped over my neighbor, arms extended first like a leopard jumping for the kill. I moved out of the way trying no the get caught, but John couldn¡¯t. He fell to the ground with the ghoul and used his weapon as a way to restrain the ghoul from attacking him. They both fought in the ground for a few moments before he managed to push the ghoul out of the way and tried to get up.


    The ghoul got up faster but didn¡¯t attack. It seemed dazed, like if it didn¡¯t understand how that attack hadn¡¯t work. The arm had grown back completely but it wasn¡¯t exactly the same, it looked scared almost as if his skin had been burned.  He recovered quickly and growled at us. It was like if it was trying to seem menacing, almost like if it had some intelligence. But it wasn¡¯t intelligent, not like that, it was a predator and it knew how to hunt, nothing more.


    I aimed at him and an arrow flew past by to bury in its chest. It wasn¡¯t mine and it distracted me for a second. I saw them walking around the Zombinator, Sam with a crossbow and my brother with a bat.


    Shit. My opportunity to kill it was lost because the ghoul started to run towards Sam. It still had the arrow sticking out of the chest but that didn¡¯t stop it. I saw it fall over Sam when Knight put himself in the middle using the bat to push its arms back.


    I was scared, my brother was strong but he couldn¡¯t survive that. He was about to die and I knew it. I didn¡¯t know if I could aim well enough with the crossbow to hit the ghoul and not him. I didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Then the sun rose over the horizon. At the moment it seemed like something simple, not something important or transcendental but then the skin of the ghoul started to burn. The ghoul yelled. It didn¡¯t sound like a normal yell. It sounded very high pitch almost like when you scratch a blackboard but it made him move back from my brother just a bit.


    Enough to not hit my brother I hoped.


    The skin was burning but it wasn¡¯t killing it. The skin was healing faster than it was burning. I didn¡¯t have more time. I aimed and shot. The arrow flew directly through his head and the ghoul fell to the ground.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have received 10 exp points for killing a ghoul.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I breathed loudly. It was over.


    And we were fucked because one zombie alone almost killed us.


    ¡°Aim for the head! Haven¡¯t you seen any zombie movie ever?¡± I yelled to Sam and then muttered. ¡°It seemed easier in the movies.¡±


    John chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°In the movies they aren¡¯t as strong as this,¡± he said and looked at me like if waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± I said. ¡°And I think is time I explain what I know.¡±


    He nodded and we walked to the Zombinator, but just before I forgot I went back and looked at the ghoul.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Knight breathing loudly and getting closer to me with the bat still in his hands.


    ¡°Looking for loot,¡± I said quickly without bothering.


    There was nothing around which I guessed was not that weird, after all in normal games there¡¯s not always loot. I did take a moment to take the arrow from the head and cleaned it in its clothes.


    I looked at my brother and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go back inside.¡±


    We entered inside and I found a place to sit close to a window. While I glanced through it trying to organize my thoughts the rest followed me and sat in some of the other chairs. How the hell do you tell a story like this? I asked myself that question for a while.


    ¡°Well,¡± said Sam looking at me. ¡°Are you going to say something?¡±


    I stared at him and asked. ¡°What do you want to¡­?


    ¡°We want to know what the hell is happening,¡± Knight cut me quickly. ¡°We want to know how did you know that this was going to happen, and we want to know what are those things.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Well, what you need to understand is that time is not a line, is more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Adam,¡± he said serious.


    I grunted annoyed, if he wanted to know everything fine. I did it, beginning with changing my clothes through the system under the openmouthed expressions of the three. I told them everything, how I woke up and I died, how John tried to save me the first time, how I stole money and spend the last 24 hours trying to find every scrap of resource that could be useful to survive.


    Halfway through my neighbor stopped listening and started fiddling with the radio. I didn¡¯t care if he believed me or not. I just continued explaining everything the best I could. At the end I was more drained than I had been with the fight before and just stared at them daring them to tell me I was crazy.


    It took a few minutes before anyone answered.


    ¡°Like a game?¡± asked Sam still trying to process everything I said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I answered simply.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I see those blue screens then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I sighed. ¡°It said that you have to survive 24 hours to unlock it but mine was already unlocked when I traveled back in time so... I don¡¯t know. Maybe it was a bug and probably you will be able to access it tonight.¡±


    My brother got up scratching his head and sighing. He sat close to me.


    ¡°This has to be the craziest story ever,¡± said Knight. ¡°But there are zombies out there and you can do that with your clothes so for now I¡¯m inclined to believe you.¡±


    I nodded and smiled.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t really zombies,¡± I said. ¡°They are ghouls, they are faster, stronger and can regrow limbs.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we noticed,¡± Sam said grimacing. ¡°If our zombies are like that we are fucked.¡±


    ¡°Not everything is bad, they are not intelligent. Did you notice how he forgot about us when you hurt him?¡± I asked at Sam and they nodded. ¡°Also the daylight hurts them.¡±


    Knight flinched slightly. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡­still alive. I thought when he didn¡¯t finish.


    ¡°Yes, but It didn¡¯t kill it, he was healing faster than the light was burning it,¡± I said. ¡°The light might make them easier to kill but it¡¯s not going to finish them off.¡±


    Sam and Knight exchanged a glance and I tried to understand what they were thinking. Were they happy to be alive? Confused, scared? Angry because I didn¡¯t told them anything and probably lost friends in the city?


    Uh¡­ That was weird. Why am I thinking that now?


    ¡°What now?¡± asked Sam looking at me.


    I blinked and looked at Knight who was looking at me.


    ¡°Wait, you are asking me?¡± I asked.


    They both stared at me.


    ¡°My plan ended right about now,¡± I said. ¡°I just thought we will ran to some place that was safe and survive. I guess if this was a movie we would have to find the cure to the zombies but I doubt there is one¡­ I doubt this is a sickness or a virus to begin with so¡­¡±


    The keep staring at me.


    ¡°I have lots of books, music and movies there,¡± I said pointing to where I kept the laptops. ¡°We won¡¯t get bored for a while and we could¡­ I don¡¯t know. Play some D&D or something.¡±


    They looked at each other and then to me again.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t sound very adventurous or anything but¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Said John.


    He was sitting close to the radio and wore a headset. He didn¡¯t say anything and after a while started writing something on a piece of paper.


    ¡°The military has established a camp at this place,¡± he said giving me the note. ¡°They just started transmitting and are calling for any survivors that can get there on their own.¡±


    I read the note, there was a name and coordinates, and nodded.


    ¡°Bloodmoon Lake?¡± I read and stared at him. ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t sound sinister or anything.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s close by,¡± said Sam quickly. ¡°Like an hour or so.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you want to go?¡± I asked.


    He smiled. ¡°These zombies, ghouls or whatever are a lot stronger than us right now, I don¡¯t think we can outrun them.¡±


    ¡°Hey, the Zombinator can outrun them,¡± I said defensively.


    ¡°Whatever the case,¡± started to say Knight. ¡°I think it will be better if were around more people. You know, just in case, your faith in this car doesn¡¯t protect us for thousands of zombies on steroids. Just saying.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t listen to them,¡± I said petting carefully the wall of the Zombinator. ¡°You are a beauty and nothing can stop you.¡±


    They were staring at me again and I sighed.


    ¡°Fine I guess we should go,¡± I conceded smiling. ¡°If only to find someone alive that still has a sense of humor.¡±


    The crew of the Zombinator took their positions and prepared for the travel.


    ¡°Mr. Sam, set a course for Bloodmoon Lake,¡± I said with all the flair I could muster.


    Sam sighed.

 Chapter 3: Survivors.

    I¡¯m sorry this took so long, I was hoping to release this chapter sooner but my graphics card died and I couldn¡¯t work on the chapter.


    Thanks for the comments and the reviews, they help.


    I hope you like this chapter.


    <hr />


    ¡°Wait, if this is a game do we have HP?¡± asked Sam after a few hours driving the Zombinator. ¡°Because I¡¯m not sure that would make much sense.¡±


    I blinked and opened the status screen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Adam</td><td>Class</td><td>Druid</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>21</td><td>INT:</td><td>69</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>34</td><td>WIS:</td><td>111</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>57</td><td>CHA:</td><td>69</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>25</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Magic Affinity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>LIFE</td><td colspan=''2''>LOW</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit. How the hell I didn¡¯t noticed that before? There is no HP bar, or MP bar, or stamina. Nothing.


    ¡°Huh. There isn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°Wait.¡±


    I hit Sam in the arm.


    ¡°Ouch,¡± he said. ¡°What..?¡±


    ¡°There is no message, nor a flashing bar of health,¡± I nodded. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a bit more realistic than to see how many hits we can take.¡±


    Sam stared at me for a second and went back to driving the RV.


    I opened the inventory looking to see how much space I still had left. I didn¡¯t want to leave the medicines out of it if I could because¡­ you know, right now they could be the sort of thing people would kill for. And also I had a ton of them thanks to the objects stacking up. All in all I had five spaces remaining.


    But was the use of a magical space storage if you didn¡¯t fill it, right? I went to the cabinet where I stored the crossbows and took one of them into the inventory with ammo into another space. I moved to another cabinet and did the same with one of the steel bats. I didn¡¯t want to be taken by surprise again.


    For now I would be always armed.


    I took a seat in the bed and lied down. After taking that decision I didn¡¯t feel weird or strange. I felt completely normal, not like somebody that a day ago went to work like every other day. It¡¯s curious how someone can adapt to a new reality so quickly. Everyone else was quiet and doing their things, probably still trying to process everything that was happening.


    Then I remembered that I still had something to do.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Breath of the world Lv. 0


    Obtained ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Your body is attuned to the natural energies of the world.


    With concentration you can use that connection to draw energy from your environment and recuperate your stamina and health.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Sustained ability.


    +20% stamina regeneration.


    +10% regenerating bounds.


    +5%Blend with the environment.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Mana absorption. Lv. 0


    Obtained ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Your deep understanding of reality takes you closer to the source of mana on the world.


    You can absorve mana quicker from the environment.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Passive ability.


    +10% mana absorption rate.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Inspect. Lv. 0


    Obtained ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Your knowledge and experience of reality lets you recognize patterns more easily.


    You can inspect objects in the world to obtain new information</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Active ability.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Philosophi? naturalis Lv. 0


    Obtained ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Your deep knowledge and experience of nature gives you the tools to apply your magic better.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Passive ability.


    -10% in the mana cost of your abilities.


    +5% in the strength of your magic.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Empathy Lv. 0


    Obtained ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Your connection to people lets you understand them better. You can grasp the emotions of people close by.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Passive ability.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Seed of regrowth Lv. 0


    Learned ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>The gods of light and the spirits of nature have recognized you as a Druid and bestowed you with the knowledge to heal the wounds of your allies.


    You can create a seed completely made of mana that remains in the body until the host dies or runs out of power.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Active ability.


    Duration: 2 hours or until magic runs out.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Barkskin Lv. 0


    Learned ability</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>The gods of light and the spirits of nature have recognized you as a Druid and bestowed you with the knowledge to enhance the defense of your allies.


    You can temporarily transmute the skin to be as resistant as the bark of a tree.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Active ability.


    Duration: 2 hours or until magic runs out.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡­


    Holy shit. Where do I begin?


    Okay, I guess I already used Inspect before with the ghoul and both Mana absorption and philosophi¡­ whatever seemed fairly straightforward. They were just like the basic abilities of a game that give you a bit more oomph. The rest of abilities were another story.


    Empathy must have been what was making me think about how my companions were feeling, which explained a few things. It also seemed an incredibly useful ability to treat with other people. The ability to read emotions was potentially as useful as telepathy.


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure about Breath of the world, it seemed useful but¡­ Well, I tried to breathe deep and nothing happened. Not entirely sure how to use it.


    The big problem were the other two abilities. They were obviously the abilities I got after accepting the druid class but there was something more, something¡­ I have learned them. Not obtained them like the others, but learned. I remembered how to use them, how to draw the mana from nature and create the spells even when I had never done it before.


    And there was more, like four years of classes, entire books of information about mana, about affinities and magic that I had never obviously read. It felt weird and the worst part is that I didn¡¯t understand almost anything. It was like if somehow I had the books in my head, I could remember them word by word but I didn¡¯t understand what they were saying, not entirely. I did understand some parts of it, but it was fuzzy and...


    I moved my hand without thinking and started to create the spell. That¡¯s all it took, it was almost like if I had done it dozens of time before. I started drawing mana from around me and felt the power flowing from nature to my hand to form the spell. It was like making a painting, letting the mana take the shape of a seed and there something more, building what it had to do, what I wanted it to achieve.


    It was beautiful.


    ¡°Adam!¡± said Knight very close me.


    I stopped the spell and looked at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been staring weirdly for a few minutes.¡±


    I looked at him and then at my hand. It seemed that it took some time to cast the spell. Or maybe I didn¡¯t have too much practice. I would have to find some time to try it in the future because both abilities seemed very useful if they did what it said.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine,¡± I lied.


    ¡°Okay,¡± nodded Knight after a second. ¡°Can you answer my question now?¡±


    I got up from the bed a bit dazed. ¡°What question?¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Do we have a bathroom here?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I smiled and showed him the tiny bathroom close to the door. ¡°We have everything here. Well, not a shower but¡­ I guess we can survive without it and we are using the space for food so.¡±


    The Zombinator didn¡¯t have everything but it was close. Knight grunted and entered the bathroom quickly. John looked around the Zombinator and opened one of the spaces that hided the kitchen.


    John whistled. ¡°This vehicle is truly impressive, where did you find it?¡±


    ¡°A guy whit a lot of free time and an obsession with zombies,¡± I said which gained a chuckle from Sam. ¡°He¡¯s probably dead now. And now I feel bad.¡±


    John sighed and moved to do other things. I sat in the front seat of the RV close to Sam.


    ¡°The only thing I would change would be putting spikes in the front or something along those lines,¡± I said and then when my brother came out of the bath. ¡°There is food and water in one of those cabinets if any of you want.¡±


    ¡°We are getting close the lake,¡± announced Sam. ¡°What are we going to do when we get there?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Knight.


    ¡°Well, we have all of this. I know that is better to be with more people, strength in numbers and all that, but I¡¯m a bit scared that if we enter that camp with the Zombinator other survivors will start to think of stealing it or something,¡± said Sam.


    I nodded. ¡°True, but since the alternative is leaving it in the middle of nowhere where anyone could steal it and all of you want to go the camp, well¡­¡±


    ¡°Not a very good choice anyway,¡± said Knight.


    That made us stop for a while to consider what to do.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s better if we take it with us into the camp,¡± said John after a minute. ¡°The military will not let things get out of control so much.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Sure, because they have so much control right now.¡±


    John smiled but didn¡¯t say anything else. I went back to look the way we were going through the windshield. Sam had taken some time to drive around the less populated areas using roads that nobody normally used, but we were almost there. Trees were growing along the roads and we couldn¡¯t see the camp yet but it was close.


    Taking the Zombinator directly to the camp wasn¡¯t the best of ideas but it was the only idea that could work right now. We just had to have somebody inside at all time to make sure nobody get bright ideas.


    ¡°Adam?¡± asked Sam from the driver seat. ¡°I know that I was a bit of an asshole when we met the other day, it¡¯s just¡­ We were friends for so much time and then you stopped talking to me when you started college.¡±


    I looked at him and nodded waiting for him to continue.


    ¡°Knight, told me what happened and I understand so¡­ I want to apologize for how¡­¡± he was stuttering.


    ¡°Oh, great,¡± I sighed. ¡°Of course he told you, because he always has to try to protect me.¡±


    ¡°Adam¡­¡± started to say Sam.


    ¡°No,¡± I snapped. ¡°We are not going to talk about it, because it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m over it. And I¡¯m sorry for ignoring you, I shouldn¡¯t have done that. What happened it¡¯s not an excuse for¡­¡±


    There was loud shot and Sam jammed on the breaks startling me for a second. I looked outside the window and I could see the beginning of a long perimeter fence and a few soldiers armed at the door aiming their weapons at us. Or I tough it was us until I saw four ghouls running against the fence.


    ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed looking at them.


    They were a lot and there were only two guards at the door. That was bad. Regardless of how good those two were they were still too fast to kill four of them. In a second I made a decision, if we had to enter the camp we will do it with style.


    ¡°We have to help them¡± I said walking out of the Zombinator.


    John followed me outside carrying the rifle. I spend a second looking around to make sure there weren¡¯t more ghouls. There were a few bodies around, probably of early attacks but nothing moving besides the other four. I equipped the crossbow making it appear on my hand and aimed at the closest ghoul.


    The soldiers shot and one of the ghouls fell while the other failed and it began to run faster towards the soldiers. I fired the crossbow aiming as best as I could and¡­ failed. The arrow went through the shoulder and it made him turn around. The ghoul looked at me and growled, it ran at me grunting.


    I moved back trying to cover myself from it. John wasn¡¯t there anymore, I didn¡¯t see him move and then I heard a shot. I didn¡¯t have the time to worry about him now, I was behind the Zombinator while the ghoul ran at me. The crossbow was discharged and didn¡¯t have the time to charge it back.  Nobody could help me.


    The crossbow disappeared and the steel bat appeared in its place.  It was a long shot but it was the only thing I had. Knight and I took classes in combat when be were kids so I tried to remember everything about them that could be useful now. I waited for the ghoul to get close to me and aimed the bat at his head. I didn¡¯t strike until he was about to take me and I almost shit myself but it was worth it. The head of the zombie cracked with a loud sound and fell to the ground.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>You have received 15 points of exp for killing a ghoul.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>You have leveled up. You have 5 points to spend.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Adam!¡± said john appearing around the Zombinator.


    He stopped, staring at the dead ghoul.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I said trying to sound more calm than I was and proceeded to take the arrow that was still striking from its shoulder. ¡°It seems their heads are not that tough.¡±


    I made bat disappear in the inventory and walked towards the fence of the camp. All the ghouls were dead already but one of them had gotten dangerously close to the guards at the door and had a knife in the head.


    ¡°That was close,¡± I grimaced looking at the corpse.


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± said one of the soldiers breathing loudly. ¡°Thanks for the help, we didn¡¯t see them coming until they were too close.¡±


    John moved to me hanging the rifle on his shoulder.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t see them either,¡± nodded John. ¡°They are very fast.¡±


    ¡°We were lucky the light was hurting them,¡± I said. ¡°At night they are worst.¡±


    The soldiers looked at me like if I said something strange.


    ¡°The light hurts them?¡± asked one of them and moving in front of me with a look of desperation. ¡°Are you sure? Have you seen that?¡±


    His face was basically on top on me and I didn¡¯t know what to say. My empathy told me he was ecstatic? Like if he just received the best news of his life but¡­ it couldn¡¯t be they didn¡¯t know about the light hurting them, right? Their faces told me everything I needed to know.


    Suddenly any hope I had for the military solving the apocalypse disappeared. I sighed.


    ¡°Yes we¡¯ve seen it,¡± John answered for me. ¡°Daylight hurts them but not much.¡±


    The soldiers looked at each other. ¡°Go inform the commander, he should know.¡±


    The soldier nodded and walked hurriedly into the camp.


    ¡°If you know anything else about these things you should probably speak to the commander too.¡± he said after the other soldier had disappeared.


    I looked at John briefly who nodded. ¡°Sure¡­ we know a few things, but we¡­ Well, John heard something about other survivors and we would like to move or vehicle to somewhere safe first.¡±


    Then he saw the Zombinator and stared dumbfounded. I loved that.


    ¡°Uh¡­ sure. The rest of the survivors are at the east of the camp, just over those tents.¡± he said pointing at them. ¡°Someone will find you when you are settled.¡±


    I nodded and we moved back with John into the Zombinator to enter the camp.


    Bloodmoon camp wasn¡¯t a really big thing nor was it as sinister as it sounded. It wasn¡¯t as close to the lake as I imagined it would be probably for some defensive reason and it was divided into two parts. The first part was from where we entered, the closest to the roads and civilization, it¡¯s were the zombies would come from and it was clearly completely filled with military. Hundreds of green tents littered the floor surrounded by a perimeter fence. Guards patrolled the fence at close intervals, big armored vehicles served as improvised turrets and watch towers.


    It took the Zombinator a few minutes to drive through that part of the camp until we saw the zone reserved for survivors.


    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I muttered with a sudden intake of breath.


    There were thousands of refugees there. Thousands of people that have managed somehow to survive the last night. I don¡¯t know, I guess I was expecting something else, something like in the movies where everybody is dead and running around like crazy. This was different, how the military seemed to have survived so unscathed was beyond me, but this¡­


    This was hope, a new beginning in the works. Sam drove the RV through the camp, trying to pass between the people moving from one place to another that stopped to stare openmouthed to the Zombinator. It was a mess, but there was hope, there were even some kids playing around like if nothing had happened, probably too young to understand yet how the world had changed.


    Sam parked the Zombinator as away from everyone else as he could, a difficult thing considering how much people there were and I got out. There was already a group of people around us.


    ¡°Hi,¡± I greeted with my hand to the people that were surrounding us, which didn¡¯t get a response.


    Knight and John got out too and looked at the people surrounding us, empathy told me they were curious and a bit confused. I guess that was a reasonable reaction to the Zombinator. At least they didn¡¯t seem to want to steal it. Yet.


    Still after a minute they didn¡¯t talk and it was getting creepy. They stared at me, I stared at them.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back inside and make sure everything is fine?¡± I whispered to my brother and neighbor.


    They nodded and walked back inside leaving me alone with the other mute survivors.


    ¡°So¡­ do you come here often?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± yelled a voice.


    I turned back to face the voice. It was a woman in his thirties wearing a doctor¡¯s lab coat. For a second I thought she was someone I knew what I didn¡¯t recognize her. She walked towards me when I was still trying to figure out if I knew her.


    Then she passed me and walked to one of the survivors.


    ¡°I told you not to move!¡± she yelled at him. ¡°You are going to remove your stiches if you keep doing that and we don¡¯t have that many antibiotics. If you get an infection because you couldn¡¯t keep yourself in place I¡¯m not going to help you again!¡±


    The man who she was yelling dropped his gaze and nodded. It was then when I noticed the how the rest of the people were. Most of them were bandaged somewhere or had an ugly still untreated. Those people were clearly survivors in the most literal sense of the word, they had fought those things and survived to come here.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>New quest created:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Path of the druid: Help the survivors.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>The gods of light are aware of the consequences of the world merge and want to help alleviate them as much as possible.


    They have tasked you, the druid, to save as many survivors as possible.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Rewards:


    +Luck and Exp for any live saved depending on the number and help given.


    +??? Reward Depending on the contributions.


    No time limit.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow. Now the gods are offering my quests. I¡¯m awesome or something. Of course, it also told me things I didn¡¯t know yet, like what the hell is the world merge? Also there are gods that do stuff, that¡¯s was a first. As usual the window popped in the middle of something and I couldn¡¯t read it attentively.


    Meanwhile the woman finished her rant and started to move back carrying another wounded person with her.


    ¡°Uh¡­ wait.¡± I said. ¡°Sorry, can you¡­?¡±


    She glanced at me for a second before answering. ¡°Sorry, whatever problem you have will have to wait. I have thousands of people that are waiting medical attention and apparently I¡¯m the only doctor on the whole camp.¡±


    She started walking to a big tent.


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m not hurt. I¡¯m a doctor,¡± I said, which made her stop. ¡°Maybe I can help.¡±


    She looked back and then saw the Zombinator. I smiled.


    ¡°Yes, that''s the Zombinator,¡± I said quickly making her close her mouth.


    ¡°Yes, maybe you can help,¡± she said but wasn¡¯t entirely convinced. ¡°I¡¯m Amelia Walters from the CDC. Treat this man correctly and I will believe you.¡±


    She walked back to the tent and left my with the man she was carrying.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t have the time to watch for you in case you don¡¯t have medical knowledge and are trying to steal medicaments,¡± she said sharply. ¡°Prove me that you are a doctor and I will let you play with the big toys, until then¡­ You should probably know that the guards will shot you if you try to do something funny, we have enough problems as it is.¡±


    I watched her go and sighed. I valued my options carefully. I could walk away and forgot about the quest, I mean, she was hard but her position was understandable. Whatever, people needed help and I had a quest. I wouldn¡¯t stop at this.


    I walked into the tent carrying the man with me and Amelia was already working with another patient. She looked at me briefly but didn¡¯t say anyting. I helped the man sit in an improvised stretcher and started to look for any signs of wounds.


    ¡°What¡¯s the range of your health insurance?¡± I asked without thinking which made Amelia snort and look at me. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s the habit.¡±


    I went back to the man. I saw a wound in his back, it was big wound and it was bleeding but not as much as I was expecting. That could be a good sign or bad one.


    ¡°This wound is not from a ghoul, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The zombies or whatever they are those things,¡± answered Amelia quickly from behind, ¡°didn¡¯t bite him because he would had transformed already. There is no period of incubation between the infection and the transformation, is almost instantaneous. Because apparently we didn¡¯t have enough with zombies that have the strength of superman, they also have to be extremely contagious.¡±


    I nodded and got back to work. I asked a few more questions to the man to make sure he didn¡¯t have any more wounds. There weren¡¯t many things to work with, gloves, clean water, disinfectant, and something to stich wounds which was probably the most common problem they had treat now. I wanted to ask for something else because the man had to be in pain but the funny look the guard gave me stopped me before I did it.


    ¡°Okay, breathe and try to be as still as possible. I don¡¯t want to stitch your arm to your back.¡± I said.


    He did and it took me a few minutes to clean and sewn the wound close. It wasn¡¯t perfect because he was obviously in pain and moving slightly but it would work. I moved back and the doctor was behind me staring at my work.


    She inspected it more closely and after a while nodded to herself.


    ¡°Fine, you stay.¡± She said and walked back to treat another patient.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>You have gained 5 luck and 10 exp for helping.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stared at it. Holy shit, that was the same exp that for killing a ghoul, if I could treat hundreds of people I could¡­ Okay, no. I¡¯m doing this for the people and not the experience, remember that.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Amelia. ¡°Keep working.¡±


    Oh, yes, for a reward like that I was going to work. Another man walked into the tent limping and I helped him to an empty place. It was time to grind exp.


    ¡°Adam?¡± asked Knight entering the tent.


    Or no.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± he asked coming closer to me.


    I smiled. ¡°A quest poppet out and they are low on doctors so I decided to help.¡±


    He looked around, Amelia wasn¡¯t even bothering but some of the guards were wary of my brother.


    ¡°Are you sure this is the time for doing this?¡± he whispered to me.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not safe, John is asking around to see if someone knows something new and Sam is alone in the RV.¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be here alone too, is dangerous.¡±


    I sighed and smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Knight, I have done this before, remember?¡±


    He grimaced and didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Go back with Sam, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I said.


    Knight looked at me sharply and then at the man that I was trying to help. He nodded and walked out of tent, but didn¡¯t manage to walk out before it started.


    There was no indication or warning, not even the dogs started to whine. Suddenly the earth started to move, the tent tilted and some of the beds and tables where knocked over sprawling every material to the ground. The alarm of some car went nuts and people started to yell.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>Merge of the earth element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The earth shuddered.

 Chapter 4: Earthquake.

    ¡°Great,¡± I sighed being knocked down to the ground by the strength of the earthquake.


    The ground moved back not letting me stay in the same place for a second. I looked around and saw my brother in a similar situation. There was yelling, confusion, and fear, my empathy went into overdrive with that emotion and I almost blacked out then and there. I tried to shake out of it and get to my brother.


    The earth shifted again and suddenly I was flying. Then I could see it, just for a second the ground looked like if it was made of liquid, it bent like a wave flowing around the tent and kept going to just stop at the next moment. I fell again to the ground.


    ¡°Knight!¡± I yelled at him trying to get him to move towards me.


    Then as soon as it had begun the earthquake stopped and left me scrambling in the ground trying to get up. After a minute I only managed to maintain something that resembled a vertical position and scanned the area. Somehow the tent had survived the onslaught, but everything and everyone else was down. Fortunately nobody seemed to be very hurt and only¡­


    Shit. My brother was lying in the ground close to on the beds, bent backwards and with a piece of metal sticking from his back. I didn¡¯t think and simply moved to him which almost made me fall again to the ground. I was dizzy and my head hurt, I wanted to sleep.


    No, Knight is hurt, you have to help him.


    Somehow I got to him, and examined the wound. He was still breathing but barely, the metal spike had punctured a lung. I tried to go back to every piece of medical knowledge I had, whatever I could remember to save him. I examined the wound from the other side trying to figure something out, I checked the pulse, I¡­


    I realized I didn¡¯t have the equipment to save him. He was going to die.


    ¡°Shit, Knight,¡± I snapped at him tears falling from my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t do this to me, please, please.¡±


    Hi didn¡¯t answer, unless stop breathing was a new form of communication. I moved him around. He was going to die on my arms and I couldn¡¯t do anything. Shit.


    My mind stopped, I couldn¡¯t think anymore. I don¡¯t know if it was the pain, the fear or whatever emotion I was catching with empathy but my mind just stopped. Everything disappeared from my mind and from a moment I didn¡¯t know anything. I was in automatic mode.


    And that was good, because although my mind didn¡¯t know how to save him my instincts did. I moved my hand to the wound and removed the spike from his back carefully but in one go. He jerked back and breathed sharply from the pain. That was good, but now he was bleeding quickly and probably his lung was filling with blood. He was dying quicker and some part of my mind, some part that still remembered medical things knew that I was doing everything wrong, but that was okay.


    Because I was not playing doctors now. I was doing magic. It was all there. I knew perfectly well how to use it. It was like muscle memory if magic had a muscle. I moved my hand on top of the wound, the blood of my brother pouring through my fingers, and closed my eyes.


    The mana of the environment responded to my call and flowed to me, in that moment I instinctively knew it would take minutes to cast the whole spell. There was no time for that. It didn¡¯t matter, the spell didn¡¯t had to be strong enough to heal him in one go, just to maintain him alive for a few minutes.


    I concentrated and built the shell of the seed, tiny but effective, and poured in it as much mana as I could in the few seconds I dared to maintain it. Then I just let it flow through his wound. There was a sudden and almost unnoticeable flash of green light and the bleeding stopped. Again some part of my mind that had started to wake up, asked what was happening, how was the spell stopping the bleeding but I shut it down. There was no time for that part of me at the moment.


    And in any case if this worked and my brother survived I could always bleed him again and analyze how the spell worked.


    I started to cast the spell again trying to speed the progress of the mana. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn¡¯t notice the ground shaking again. It took almost five minutes but the spell was finished and I let it do his job. I breathed loudly and looked at the result, the bleeding had stopped and the wound was closing quickly. Very quickly, like zombie on steroids quickly, in a moment I saw the muscle and the skin growing back under my eyes.


    When it was over I checked him, he was breathing and his pulse seemed fine. I sighed with relief. If that was the normal effect of the magic it was going to be very useful.


    My mind was coming back, trying to piece what the hell I had done but again there were bigger problems. The ground was shaking again. I looked around. Everyone else was lying down on the floor waiting for the earthquake to stop.


    ¡°Oh, for fucks sake. Can¡¯t we have a nice apocalyptic day for once?¡± I cursed to the sky.


    The tent was still in place somehow and outside people were still yelling but every moment the yells seemed to be getting faint. No, I moved in place my mind working at full speed again. The yells were the same, it was the sound of the ground what was getting louder. I cursed silently, of course, this wasn¡¯t a normal earthquake and the aftershocks had to be worse than the earthquake itself because apparently that¡¯s life now.


    I looked at my brother, he was unconscious but alive. I felt so damn powerless right now. There was nothing I could do to¡­


    Wait, there was, another piece of magic I hadn¡¯t tried yet but something told me could be useful. I moved my hand on top the head of my brother and casted the other spell I knew. The next few minutes the ground kept shaking faster and louder and I almost got distracted but just when I thought I was going to fail the spell finished and released over my brother with a faint green light.


    His skin didn¡¯t change color or texture but I knew it was tougher than before. With any luck it would be tougher that whatever decided to fly towards him this time. And I made it just at the perfect moment because suddenly the earth shocked and everyone in the camp flew a meter into the air.


    We fell again and the earth literally screamed like if it was in pain. For a moment the earth was alive, it yelled, tore, yanked, cried and with a last sharp shock it stopped. There was a sudden silence all around, not even the screams could be heard anymore. I checked my brother and he was still breathing, he was fine. He was alive.


    I left a sigh of relief pass over me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have gained 5 luck and 20 exp points.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Oh, great, there was that too.


    ¡°Is everybody fine?¡± asked Amelia getting up.


    There were grunts of assent all around and I moved my attention to my surroundings. Despite the bluntness of the earthquake everyone seemed unharmed, the guards were already getting up dazed but whole. The only ones that didn¡¯t looked very well were the people already wounded. I guess an earthquake wasn¡¯t a good treatment for when you are bleeding.


    ¡°Hey¡­ you!¡± called the doctor making me look at her. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    It took my head a second to understand what she was saying.


    ¡°My name is Adam, and yes, I¡¯m fine.¡± I said. ¡°My whole body hurts but I believe nothing is broken.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°And your friend?¡±


    ¡°My brother is fine but I think I should move him to somewhere where he can rest,¡± I answered getting up and carrying Knight as best as I could.


    He was unconscious and that was not fine but my knowledge of the magic I used told me he would be fine with some rest. I could feel the seed still doing his job inside, repairing the last pieces of the puzzle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go too far, if this is as bad as it looks I¡¯m going to need as much help as I can get.¡± She warned me.


    I nodded and walked outside precariously, holding my brother as best as I could. I pushed aside the flaps of the tent that for some reason was still intact and stopped staring at what was left of the camp.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± I muttered under my breath.


    The camp was¡­ not a camp anymore I guess. Well, it was if you ignored the huge crevice that passed through the middle and the part of the perimeter fence that was down leaving us exposed to an attack by zombies. Fortunately the crevice looked like the only damage that had happened, cars and people were still around alive. The Zombinator looked fine, it wasn¡¯t close to the crevice.


    The people were starting to yell and cry again, calling for his families and friends. I moved Knight towards the Zombinator as quickly as I could, trying to pass through the moving people. When we were almost there the door of the Zombinator opened and Sam walked out of it.


    ¡°Adam?¡± he asked seeing me walk towards him.


    ¡°A little bit of help would be nice,¡± I said propping up Knight.


    His eyes widened seeing my brother and moved to help. ¡°What happened? I felt the ground shock and then¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said and then started laughing. ¡°A system update maybe?¡±


    Sam grunted and helped me get Knight inside.


    ¡°What,¡± I said looking at the interior of the RV.


    Surprisingly everything inside the Zombinator looked more or less normal, there were a few things that had fallen and some other things were broken but most of it was still in place. The cabinets hadn¡¯t even opened. We let Knight in a bed and I started fiddling around trying to see how the things actually were.


    It turned out everything was still in place.


    ¡°Good boy,¡± I whispered caressing a wall of the Zombinator. ¡°I knew I could count on you for something like this.¡±


    ¡°Should I left you two alone?¡± teased Sam smiling.


    ¡°Shhh, don¡¯t listen to him. He is jealous of our love.¡± I said.


    Sam rolled his eyes and started coughing. Shit, I had forgotten to check if he was fine.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked scanning his body for signs of wounds.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said dismissively.


    I stared at him and forced him to sit on a chair.


    ¡°I told you I¡¯m fine,¡± he protested trying to get away.


    ¡°Would you like to know that in accidents like this the people that say that are fine are usually the ones who are worst?¡± I asked worried. ¡°You may have a concussion or something worst, you may not be registering the pain right now so shut up and let me have a look.¡±


    That got him and I started to examine him more closely. Inadvertently my right hand started to cast the seed of regrowth, somehow it was like second nature to me and in the few minutes I took to examine him the spell was ready. I patted his chest planting seed there with a faint green light.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± he asked after seeing the light.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s just magic,¡± I smiled and looked at him.


    He stared openmouthed. ¡°Sure, if it¡¯s just magic there¡¯s nothing wrong with that¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later but now I need you to make sure that my brother is fine and to check the Zombinator is still working. Can you do that, Sam?¡±


    He nodded slightly, still confused about the seed and I walked out.


    ¡°Wait!¡± He called just before I got out. ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    I smiled confidently. ¡°I¡¯m going to power level.¡±


    --


    A few hours later of mostly sewing skin back together, setting bones back in place and in general trying to keep people for yelling, the most interesting case I had was a woman with a high fever. Well, that and someone tried to stole some meds, but that was solved fairly quickly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have reached level 8. You have unspent points.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I did level up several times and when nobody was looking to closely I casted the seed on a few people that wouldn¡¯t have made it without it., which I guess is what made it level up to.


    All in all it had been a very busy and rewarding day, at least it had started to been so when I convinced Amelia to let other people help with the patients given that most of them only needed to be stitched back together. She being the hell of a woman she seems to be told me that and I quote: ¡°I¡¯m not going to let any idiot that believes to be a doctor after an afternoon of Wikipedia and beer get close to a patient.¡±


    To which I very eloquently pointed out: ¡°You are right, because to be a doctor you need six years of Wikipedia and beer.¡±


    And after that we were friends. Which I guess is not that different to how I made the rest of my friends.


    Sam and John had passed a few times by to tell me everything was fine. The Zombinator didn¡¯t had anything broken and my neighbor was still looking for information into what the military was doing exactly and everything else he could find out.


    It was late and dark outside. I was tired after so many hours working and we were starting to run out of patients to treat. The people that were too bad where treated the first with the few soldiers that were hurt after the earthquake and they were either fine or dead. I finished splinting a broken arm and sat back on a beaten chair breathing loudly.


    ¡°How are things going over there?¡± asked Amelia from the other side of the tent.


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± I answered within raged breaths.


    She snorted and walked to me. ¡°If you overwork yourself to death you are useless here. Get out and rest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said with a sigh.


    ¡°Sure,¡± she said and then looked at a guard. ¡°Soldier, get this man to his vehicle and make sure he rests. Even if you have to knock him out.¡±


    The soldier smiled. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±


    I rolled my eyes and started to get up when the flaps of the tent went open and someone entered. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at him and the soldiers saluted quickly.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Amelia,¡± the man said simply.


    ¡°Commander,¡± she said sharply.


    An old western music started to play, they both squinted their eyes and a dust ball rolled around the tent very slowly. No, actually none of that happened but the tension of the moment went along those lines.


    ¡°How are things going here?¡± asked the commander looking around the tent.


    ¡°We are fine,¡± said Amelia with a certain disdain. ¡°Have you received some new information from¡­?¡±


    ¡°All communications were cut off after the earthquake,¡± he cut off. ¡°The last thing we received where emergency signals about the earthquake happening on all camps and communication centers.¡±


    She stared at him and I didn¡¯t need empathy to know what she was feeling.


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± she yelled and walked to face the commander. ¡°And you didn¡¯t think of informing me?¡±


    ¡°You were busy,¡± he said. ¡°We needed you here and I fail to see the point of telling you unless you could have done something about it.¡±


    ¡°Of course you fail to see the point,¡± she mocked him. ¡°It would have been nice to know that the earthquake was apparently happening all around the world or that everyone competent enough to do something may be dead. Did you think that wasn¡¯t worth mentioning?¡±


    One of the soldiers looked the other way trying not to laugh.


    ¡°It¡¯s irrelevant right now, some survivor brought information about the zombie. Apparently light hurts them and my men have verified it.¡± said the commander. ¡°They seemed unstable and kept saying this was some kind of game but that information at least was true. In absence of new orders we will try to evacuate the survivors from the city tomorrow when daylight will help us.¡±


    Shit. Who of them was so stupid as to tell that this was a game? I mean, I don¡¯t even believe  it completely yet and I¡¯m the only one who can see this windows. Wait, no, what did he said?


    ¡°You are planning to enter the city?¡± I asked without thinking.


    The commander looked at me like if he only noticed now I was there. He glanced at me, sizing me up and then ignored to go back to Amelia.


    ¡°Since you are the second in command of this mission you will remain in control of the camp until we come back from the city.¡± He said.


    Amelia snorted. ¡°Sure, if somebody comes back.¡±


    ¡°Our soldiers are ready,¡± he said simply and walked out of the tent without waiting for a reply.


    We spend a few minutes in silence, I was startled and for what I could see everyone else was too.


    ¡°Well, that went well,¡± I said to break the ice.


    Amelia snorted and went towards the outside of the tent.


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens when half the officers die,¡± she said. ¡°They start to use the stupid ones. I need to yell at him for a few more minutes. Get some rest, try to sleep or something.¡±


    I nodded suddenly feeling very tired. I think the news from the commander tired me more than all the hours healing people. I walked out of the tent. It was dark and the people that hours before couldn¡¯t stop moving from one place to another had joined around improvised fires along the camp.


    I casted my sight to the crevice, it was still there, no one had even tried to approach it or put planks to cross it. The hole in the perimeter wall had been patched though. Several cars were stacked one after another where the fence had been, making a stout wall.


    I moved towards the Zombinator, hoping that John had found less grim news that the ones I had but when I was close I started to hear yells.


    ¡°No, no, NO!¡± said the voice of Sam. ¡°You can¡¯t just come here and¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry. I have orders from the commander and we are going to need your vehicle.¡± Said a soldier. ¡°There is nothing you can do.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can do a lot,¡± Sam continued saying. ¡°I want to see you try taking the Zombinator from us.¡±


    The door of the Zombinator opened.


    ¡°Sam, please, calm down,¡± said the voice of my brother. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can talk about this.¡±


    ¡°There is nothing¡­¡± started to say the soldier.


    I walked in then.


    ¡°Hellooo, I¡¯m back,¡± I said trying to not sound as tired as I was and failing. ¡°What is happening?¡±


    Sam looked at me and jumped. ¡°Adam, thank god! They want to take the Zombinator.¡±


    The soldier sighed and looked at me. ¡°We need it for the operation of tomorrow, we are short in vehicles to transport survivors and yours is big enough to move a lot of them.


    Shit. I knew something like this was going to happen but I was too tired to bother about it at the moment. I walked between them to the door of the RV and looked at everyone.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said simply.


    ¡°Thanks for being reasonable,¡± said the soldier quickly.


    ¡°But,¡± I cut him before he could say something more, ¡°it¡¯s broken at the moment. The earthquake made a job with it. Sam says he can repair it but it will not be ready until tomorrow, right?¡± I lied.


    Sam looked at me confused but nodded immediately when he noticed. I looked back at the soldier waiting for an answer. His emotions told me he didn¡¯t want to do this, the commander was ordering him and he had to do it. I hoped that would be enough.


    ¡°Okay, I will come back in the morning,¡± he said after a tense minute. ¡°And sorry, but we need it.¡±


    I nodded absently and entered inside the Zombinator, I was yawning already and lied in the first bed I found. John was already inside reading a book and nodded to me when I entered, the rest entered shortly after.


    I started to feel how tired I really was.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± asked Sam moving to me. ¡°We aren¡¯t really going to give them the Zombinator, right?¡±


    I yawned and moved my head between the pillows. ¡°Who is now the one in love with it?¡± I teased.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡± he started to say and smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t trust them.¡±


    ¡°And with reason, the commander is a total idiot,¡± added Knight.


    ¡°Yep. You should have seen it talking about how he was going to rescue the city of the evil monsters, for how he talked it seemed there was no doubt about it,¡± I mumbled. ¡°By the way John, have you found something talking with your military buddies?¡±


    He looked at me confused. ¡°They are not my buddies, I was never in the military.¡±


    That woke me up, I stared at him confused. I thought he was in the military, he looked the type with the muscles and the weapons and¡­ Actually there were no more clues he was in the military.


    ¡°I though you¡­¡± I tried to say. ¡°What the hell are you then?¡±


    John smiled mysteriously. ¡°I found something talking with the soldiers, they are in a mission. Operation Citadel.¡±


    ¡°Military names,¡± sighed Knight.


    ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s more,¡± he started saying.


    Over the course of a few minutes John explained everything he had found like the loss of communications with other camps and the earthquake being something that had happened in other places which left my brother and Sam dumbstruck. They had lost control of all the cities and only the places that were less populated had managed to survive more or less unscathed. The most important piece of information to me was the one about their mission.


    Apparently Operation Citadel was fairly straightforward. They were going to set camps and collect as many survivors they could before the zombie become a threat too big to handle and then they would transport all the survivors to a safe zone where there were no zombies.


    ¡°Of course, nobody seems to know where that ¡®safe zone¡¯ is, but that is their plan.¡± Finished John.


    Everyone was silent for a moment processing the information.


    ¡°That¡¯s doesn¡¯t seem like a bad plan,¡± said Sam.


    ¡°Wait, if that is all. Why are they trying to attack the city?¡± asked my brother.


    John sighed. ¡°I think that¡¯s mostly their commander trying to show that he is fit for the post.¡±


    ¡°Which is going to get everyone killed,¡± I summarized yawning. ¡°Good to know.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they don¡¯t have enough soldiers here to do that they want to do,¡± acknowledged John.


    Sam moved back and front in the Zombinator nervous. ¡°Then what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We run in the other direction,¡± said Knight.


    I grunted in assent.


    ¡°I¡¯m serious, we need a plan,¡± said Sam.


    ¡°What hour is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°2:30¡± said John.


    I cursed and got up looking through the window. Hours of monotonous work had left me some time to think and after the earthquake I gathered whatever the hell was happening to our world hadn¡¯t finished yet. If I was right we were going to have problems soon.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have a plan in a few minutes,¡± I said simply.


    At 2:33 the purple sky appeared again.


    ¡°Great,¡± I sighed. ¡°I hate to be right and awesome.¡±


    I looked back at my friends. They were staring at the infinite with surprised expressions. I smiled.


    ¡°HEY!¡± I yelled. ¡°A wild blue window appeared?¡±


    They nodded absently. They were surprised at seeing it, perhaps they were hoping I was lying. Still that finally proved that I wasn¡¯t crazy.


    ¡°Good, the purple sky is back and we have to go now.¡±


    That woke them up. They moved quickly to look at the sky and cursed.


    The yells started then. The people of the camp had noticed the purple sky and started to run around like crazy. Trying to outrun end. They were too late. This time the black rain started to pour immediately and they were bathed in it. I grimaced at the scene. I had a first line seat to watch the apocalypse repeat itself.


    But nothing happened, the people were not transformed, they just kept running in all directions trying to find a place to hide without noticing the rain wasn¡¯t affecting them. I smiled, they were alive, I thought they were going to die the moment the rain fell and nothing happened. It kind of blew my plans to escape in the chaos but knowing that it wasn¡¯t happening again felt good.


    And for over a minute I felt good until the rain started to form shapes where it fell. The people where still running around and didn¡¯t notice how the rain pooled on the ground and grew starting to take the shape of something. No, not something.


    Wolfs, big black wolfs with glowing purple eyes. The wolfs took a few seconds to take full shape, then when they appeared they looked at the sky that had gave birth to them and howled. I tried to inspect them, they were big, bigger than normal wolves, their fur seemed to fuse with the shadows, and in their heads sprouted a black horn.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Chaos wolf Lv. 9</td></tr><tr><td>The Chaos wolves are one of the most common forms of live in the Void, they can dance in the shadows without being seen and like to eat their prey when they are still warm.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit.


    ¡°Okay, time to go,¡± I yelled to everyone. ¡°Sam, take us out of here now. Through the fence if you have to.¡±


    He didn¡¯t even said anything, just jumped to the controls and started driving. In my haste I barely noticed that the wolves weren¡¯t spawning close to the Zombinator, but that didn¡¯t seem to stop them to try to attack us. One of them jumped over the windshield and tried to break it, luckily the steel bars impeded him.


    Sam made the Zombinator run in reverse dropping the wolf to the ground and then ran over it. We were knocked out to the ground by the quick acceleration and I barely saw how we launched through the fence. I got up and look behind through the windows. Two wolves were following us it seemed. And I say it seemed because they were completely black and only the glowy eyes gave them away.


    ¡°Where do we go?¡± yelled Sam over the noise of howls and yells in the camp.


    ¡°East!¡± I yelled back.


    ¡°Why east?¡± yelled Knight.


    ¡°Because west is where we come from and is where the ocean is,¡± I answered still looking behind.


    Even when driving cross-country the Zombinator was outrunning the wolves. I let go my breath in a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t go to the ocean be a good idea?¡± asked my brother smiling. ¡°We could get into a boat and find an island without zombies.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Yes, good idea. By the way I¡¯m not a geologist or anything but I don¡¯t really want to see what happens to the ocean when a global earthquake strikes.¡±


    It took them a few seconds to get it, and everyone went pale.


    Oh, yes, they forgot to think about the possibility of a Tsunami.

 Chapter 5: Water and Lightning.

    After a few hours driving cross-country the fields were starting to disappear, the trees were getting more common but we could still drive around. The wolves had stopped following us after a while and we were still trying to come around what had happened in the camp. Well, at least they were, I was trying to sleep because I was incredibly tired.


    But, of course, I wouldn¡¯t have that luck and just when I managed to get to sleep the Zombinator shocked and jumped slightly driving over something. It started thumping and doing strange noises.


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit,¡± said Sam from the driving seat trying to stop the Zombinator.


    I got up just at the moment the Zombinator stopped completely still with a little shock. I guess I was at that moment when you just woke up that everything seems incredibly clear and confusing at the same time and didn¡¯t even bother to say anything before I walked outside equipping the crossbow. It was still dark outside and I couldn¡¯t see any enemies, not that I could have seen the dark wolves that camouflaged with the shadows even if I tried but not seeing anything made me feel slightly better.


    I walked to the front of the RV with my weapon prepared and I tried to inspect for damages. And failed because it was dark and I had forgotten to bring a light. Someone else walked out from the Zombinator.


    ¡°Need help?¡± said Knight smiling and turning on a flashlight.


    I mumbled something that might had been thanks and inspected the front of Zombinator. Everything seemed fine, the tires were okay, the engine too, and there was no sign of having run over something. It was strange and I was too sleepy to think straight. I kept looking around until an idea popped in my mind and I bent down to look below the Zombinator.


    That didn¡¯t seem to be the brightest the brightest idea I ever had when the wolf that we crushed jumped at me trying to eat my face.


    ¡°Shit,¡± I yelled jumping back and letting the crossbow that I was carrying fall to the ground.


    The wolf howled and gnashed at me. It was trapped by the weight of the Zombinator and couldn¡¯t move far enough to kill me but that didn¡¯t stop it for trying. It kept trying to reach me moving his head up and down biting the air wildly. My mind woke up very quickly after that, just in time to see how my brother crushed its head with the steel bat breaking his head with a loud crack.


    I moved back slightly, still scared. I could see the wolf was already dead, it had stopped moving after that but my brother didn¡¯t and kept hitting it with the bat continuously. The sound of bones snapping was getting worst and in one of the hits he managed to break off the little dark horn that grew over its head.


    John and Sam managed to get out then and stared at my brother still hitting the animal. I got up and walked to him.


    ¡°Knight,¡± I said slowly putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to get his attention. ¡°It¡¯s dead, you can stop.¡±


    He didn¡¯t seem to hear for a moment and kept doing it, but then reacted and stopped. Knight looked at me his eyes blood shot and scared, he seemed almost at the verge of crying.


    ¡°I thought¡­¡± he started saying.


    I didn¡¯t need empathy to know that one.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m alive,¡± I said to him. ¡°We¡¯ve had a few rough days but it¡¯s going to be fine, okay? We are going to survive.¡±


    He embraced me and whimpered. Shit. That was too much for me and I started crying too. Yes, yes, I know. Men don¡¯t cry, whatever. My brother specially didn¡¯t cry but I guess the end of the world was enough of a reason to make him cry. Too many things had happened that if we didn¡¯t let it go now we would probably explode.


    It took us a moment to go back to normal. John was keeping an eye around for more wolves and Sam was inspecting the corpse.


    ¡°It¡¯s stuck,¡± he said after a while. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can get it out without help.¡±


    I sighed and went to help when suddenly I realized.


    ¡°Use your inventory,¡± I said smiling.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked and then remembering what I told him. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to¡­¡±


    The wolf body he was touching disappeared suddenly, there was no flash or a sign of what had happened, it just disappeared. Sam stared at were the wolf had been. Then he bent down looking below the Zombinator and stared at me openmouthed.


    ¡°Cool, right?¡± I said.


    He nodded absently a bit put off by the discovery.


    Knight laughed wiping his tears quickly. ¡°I need to try that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you later,¡± I nodded and went down to help Sam. ¡°Is everything okay down there?¡±


    ¡°It seems so, apparently I took it all from where it was stuck,¡± he said.


    ¡°We should move now then,¡± said John still watching around for possible enemies.


    I nodded and got up when I saw something on the floor. Was it loot? That would be a first given that the actual first time I think I got something I died shortly after. I took it trying to inspect it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Chaos horn


    Crafting material.</td></tr><tr><td>The horn of a chaos wolf. Born from the Void the horn of these wolves is a direct gateway to the Void that absorbs all energies around it to strengthen the body of the wolf</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Okay, I was hoping for a ring with strength or something but I guess a horn is cool too. It wasn¡¯t exactly loot, it was just something that dropped from the body of the wolf, and that was useful in its own way because now I knew something more about how the inventory worked. I moved it around in my hands for a second wondering what could be useful for and made it disappear in my inventory.


    Everyone entered the Zombinator and we drove again towards the east still cross-country. I was going from sleeping to awaken all the time and the trees were starting to make driving complicated, but Sam continued pushing. There was already daylight when we managed to find a road and Sam stopped the Zombinator in the middle of it.


    ¡°Do we have a map or something?¡± asked Sam.


    ¡°The cabinet above the weapons,¡± I mumbled getting up. It seemed it was impossible to sleep.


    Sam opened the cabinet and got a big very detailed map of the country, one of those things I bought thinking of the possibilities. He put the map on a table and started reading it with John. Knight on the other hand was more interested in something inside the cabinet.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± asked my brother.


    I looked at him. He was carrying the laptops I bought.


    ¡°It¡¯s a laptop¡± I answered simply.


    Knight rolled his eyes. ¡°I mean, why do we have this? Everything else you have here is very basic needs but this¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the preserved knowledge of humanity,¡± I sighed and walked to the kitchen.


    I opened a cabinet where the preserved food was and looked around. We didn¡¯t have much variety, it was mostly three different types of cans that could last more than everything else I found. I took the first one I found and opened it carefully going back for something to eat it with.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you were doing when we were about to go that night?¡± asked Sam suddenly interested. ¡°Thanks in the name of humanity, it could be useful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure, most of it was porn and cat videos, but I managed to find some heavy engineering and physics books.¡± I said.


    Knight put the laptops back in their place and I started to eat the ¡®food¡¯ directly from the can. With the first bite I grimaced. It wasn¡¯t the taste that was bad, but it was meat. My brother saw me and went to take another can for himself.


    ¡°So¡­¡± he said opening the can and looking at me. ¡°Did you not manage to find some vegetarian shit? Or were you thinking in the rest of us?¡±


    I glared at him with hatred and kept eating. ¡°I was in a bit of a hurry and this was the best I could find. But don¡¯t worry, if we find an open mall between now and the rest of the apocalypse I will make you eat some of that vegetarian shit.¡±


    ¡°I think you are going to stop being a vegetarian from the time being,¡± said Knight smiling. ¡°And if you feel bad for sacrificing animals we could always eat that wolf, right? I mean, you can¡¯t feel too bad eating something that tried to kill you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡± I started to say and then stopped.


    I thought about that and he was sort of right. The reason why I didn¡¯t like meat was mostly because I didn¡¯t feel right from where it came from. The simple reason of growing animals just for the sake of killing them later always seemed wrong to me, but with these monsters¡­


    No, that line of reasoning was off. I will eat meat because I have to if I want to survive given the circumstances I¡¯m in, but that wasn¡¯t going to change how I felt about the whole deal. I nodded absently and kept eating.


    ¡°I guess, although seeing how everything we find around is lethal that wolf it¡¯s probably poisonous¡± I lied trying to drop the theme.


    Knight smiled and went back to eating. Meanwhile Sam and John where still looking at the map trying to find something. Empathy told me they were confused for some reason.


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± asked Sam to my neighbor.


    John nodded still looking intently to the map. ¡°I think you are right, there is something wrong.¡±


    ¡°Something interesting?¡± I asked.


    Sam looked back at me and made a gesture to make me go closer.


    ¡°According to the map in our way here we should have passed through a river,¡± he said pointing at a river in the map. ¡°But I don¡¯t remember it.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem¡­¡± I started to say studying the map more closely. ¡°The earthquake?¡±


    John nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what we think. It opened a crevice in the camp. It might have changed the course of a river easily.¡±


    ¡°Which makes me a lot more comfortable that we are not moving towards the ocean,¡± said Sam. ¡°Do you really think there could be a Tsunami?¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I sighed and sat on the bed finishing my food.


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± I answered. ¡°But I don¡¯t really want to find out if I¡¯m right anyway. Do you?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t¡± said Sam with a worried expression.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure everything will be fine.¡± I said.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Merge of the Water element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I groaned and started to bang my head against the wall. I had to go and say that, didn¡¯t I? Great, at least I know the apocalypse has a sense of humor. I¡¯m sure I will appreciate it in a few years if I manage to survive today.


    Everyone was staring at me weirdly.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Knight.


    I stared at him confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see it?¡±


    ¡°See what?¡± asked back.


    Huh. They didn¡¯t see the message? I looked at the rest and saw they were equally confused. I was the only one who saw the message, but why? It didn¡¯t make much sense. Unfortunately the apocalypse took priority over my curiosity when it started to rain.


    This was a normal rain. Well, it wasn¡¯t black at least, but it wasn¡¯t normal. It had started fast, without notice and it was massive.


    ¡°We have to run,¡± I said when they were staring outside the windows. ¡°Now.¡±


    ¡°What? Where? We are starting to run out of energy, we can¡¯t¡­¡± started to say Sam.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! We have to move now!¡± I yelled back looking outside the windows.


    He was confused but for some reason took my yelling to heart and started the Zombinator.


    ¡°Where to?¡± asked from the driving seat.


    ¡°High ground, I don¡¯t care, just somewhere high,¡± I sighed and massaged my head.


    Shit, my head was starting to hurt. That wasn¡¯t weird considering I had barely slept the last few days and I¡¯d just been who knows how many hours working after running for my life for a lot more time. I moved back to the kitchen leaving the empty can of food I just eaten and dropped on the bed, tired.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Knight moving close to me. ¡°What is happening?¡±


    I sighed and covered my head with a pillow. ¡°I¡¯m thinking something along the lines of a biblical flood in the best of cases. Something worse maybe. I don¡¯t care anymore, just let me sleep unless we are all about to die.¡±


    Knight looked back at the rain outside and swallowed.


    ¡°I hate apocalypses,¡± I mumbled before drifting to sleep.


    ***


    The next day was more or less the same, I woke up having slept for enough hours to be able to hear my own thoughts. The headache had stopped, but looking around everything was dark. For a moment I freaked out thinking I was dead.


    Wait, no, been there, done that. There hadn¡¯t been an announcement so the more possible explanation was that I was in a very dark place. I decided to do what every character in a horror movie does when they are in situation like this one.


    ¡°Hello? Anybody there?¡± I asked. ¡°If you are serial killer with an ironic mask please kill me without the boring explanation of why you do what you do.¡±


    I heard the door to the Zombinator opening but I didn¡¯t see anything, we were inside some dark place.


    ¡°You know, if you keep blacking out during the apocalypses you are going to miss all the fun,¡± teased Knight.


    I sighed with relief and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry there are about nine apocalypses.¡±


    He stared at me. ¡°Nine? Are you sure? How do you know that?¡±


    I stopped to think. Where did that number come from? Stupid question. I knew it was from all that information I had somehow downloaded into my brain. I tried to look for more information. I remembered there were six mayor affinities. The ones I got, death and life were part of those and below them there were nine minor affinities or elements. Beyond that the information wasn¡¯t very clear anymore. It was fuzzy and difficult to¡­ remember I guess.


    No, there was something more. The major affinities somehow give birth to the minor ones. It was like the light dividing in minor colors, minor parts of the whole. That was interesting and it meant something more. If the minor affinities were merging now, the major had to be already merged.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For obtaining a deeper understanding of reality you have gained 1 INT point.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Huh. Well, I guess that¡¯s a way of knowing if you are right or wrong. The universe outright telling you. That was useful. Of course, it still leaved us with the problem of remaining seven elements that still had to merge.


    ¡°Never mind,¡± I sighed and got up walking outside the Zombinator. ¡°Where are we? And why are the lights off?¡±


    ¡°We are in a cave, and the Zombinator was out of energy,¡± said Sam¡¯s voice coming from somewhere.


    I tried to find where he was when a flashlight was turned on and I could glance around. We were in a cave, glimmering walls of minerals adorned everything around us, I tried to find a way out and saw nothing. I stared at Sam trying to find an answer.


    ¡°Okay, where exactly are we and what the hell happened?¡± I asked a bit annoyed.


    He smiled and pointed at me to follow. We moved through the cave, it was a big place, big enough to move the Zombinator in and out without to many problems. I admit I haven¡¯t been into many caves but it seemed¡­ I don¡¯t know, too regular, like if something or someone had excavated the cave. It didn¡¯t appear to be entirely natural.


    It took us a few moments to see the light outside and saw where we were. It was a mountain.


    ¡°Welcome to the mountain that doesn¡¯t appear in any map we have,¡± said Sam smiling. ¡°Which I think means that earthquake was worse than what we were expecting.¡±


    I stared at the bottom of the mountain. Okay, it wasn¡¯t a very big mountain nor was it too steep or I doubt the Zombinator would have managed to get up and inside the cave, but it was still something big enough that no one would have missed it or forgot to put it on a map. The change the merge of these elements was causing to the world was bigger that what I was imagining.


    I looked better and noticed something more, it was not raining but there were clear marks of what had happened the day before. Not much water, at least not enough to drown us all to death but dangerous still.


    ¡°Huh. I was expecting more water,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°There was more before,¡± said John from outside the cave, ¡°but the water level has been getting lower since the day started.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve been all day sleeping,¡± I sighed and then noticed what was close to John. ¡°Wait, what are you doing with solar panels?¡±


    John got up and moved letting me see better, both the solar panels and the three batteries of the Zombinator were there in a bundle charging up. That explained why we didn¡¯t have light.


    ¡°We were low on energy and I didn¡¯t want to bring the Zombinator outside so¡­ I dismounted the batteries and the panels and we¡¯ve been trying to charge them up. I know it seems a bit rough but¡­¡± said Sam almost apologizing.


    He was apologizing, for what? I nodded absently, it was a good idea to have the batteries completely recharged and having the Zombinator outside when all of that was happening wasn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t understand why he was like that. Sam seemed to relax.


    ¡°And I have been trying to find some radio emission,¡± said John showing me a radio.


    It was giving a static signal.


    I smiled looking at both of them. ¡°I see you have everything in place. I¡¯m glad you are both with me. I¡¯m not sure I could have done half of this.¡±


    Empathy told me they were more relieved that what they actually looked like. Were they scared of me? For what reason?


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you could have survived on your own,¡± said John. ¡°And the only reason we are here is because you¡­¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Merge of the Lightning element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit. That one started sooner than I was expecting. Suddenly seven bright flashes flared in the sky. I didn¡¯t even have the time to warn them before the thunder came bringing a sound almost equal to the earthquake of the other day. The radio went haywire making weird and sharp noises.


    ¡°Get inside!¡± I yelled running back to the cave.


    ¡°Wait, no, the batteries!¡± screamed Sam.


    I cursed and looked back. Okay, we needed that.


    ¡°Okay, we have to get them fast!¡± I yelled and ran towards them followed by Sam and John.


    In a surprising effort of astounding coordination directed by my repetitive yells of ¡®Shit, Shit, Shit¡¯ we managed to get everything safely inside the cave in minutes. Just in time to see the brief flash fall over the entrance of the cave followed immediately by the booming sound that reverberated in the caves and made us drop to the ground.


    I checked my ears, I wasn¡¯t bleeding but almost. Trying to get up I looked at my friends. They were dazed but didn¡¯t appear hurt. I sighed with relief.


    More and more lightning flashed over the horizon and for a moment the flashes looked like a coordinated effort, like if someone was launching lightning strikes in a perfect sync, almost like a symphony of flashes. It was almost beautiful.


    If you forgot the part about or impending doom.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± muttered Sam speaking for everyone.

 Chapter 6: The white rabbit.

    ¡°Try to aim a bit higher, the crossbow does not have a range as large as a gun,¡± said John putting the empty cans back over the table.


    I sighed trying to recharge the crossbow. It was difficult because my hands where trembling. The improvised range had been set up by John inside the cave over the last three days when we reached the consensus that we couldn¡¯t move from this place until the repetitive ends of the world stopped happening, and as always the ironic new world had decided to give us three of the more mild element merges that we had experienced.


    Seriously, after the absurdly big barrage of lightning I was thinking we were all dead and instead the next day the air element merged. The worst that we saw happening was a tree being picked up in the air and flying in our opposite direction. I mean, c¡¯mon, I was expecting hurricanes or tornadoes, or houses flying. I guess that is what happened in some place, but here¡­ Nothing, that day was almost normal given the circumstances.


    The next day was more of the same, the decay element merged and we saw some trees wither and die, but nothing happened to us or the Zombinator.


    And today... Today the spirit element merged. I have to admit my expectations didn¡¯t run very wild because I wasn¡¯t even sure what spirit element meant but... I guess something spiritual was going to happen? Maybe ghosts? And¡­


    Nothing happened, at all. Not even a jump scare or something. We did manage to recharge the batteries back to full and put the lights on. It was a boring day, nothing really worth mentioning.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been doing this for almost three days. I¡¯m tired,¡± I said managing at last to put the damn arrow in place.


    ¡°You are not tired, you are going through withdrawal,¡± said Knight.


    ¡°Yes, I forgot the fucking coffee! Thank you for reminding me!¡± I snapped at him.


    Shit. Yes, I was getting restless without coffee. I knew he was right even then, but I was too tired and angry to be nice at the moment. I shifted my weight and ready myself to shot at the targets again. The arrow flew over the can barely touching it but making it fall to the ground.


    ¡°Okay, yes, better,¡± said John smiling. ¡°You just have to remember to...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. I have to feel the range of the weapon, how far it can go, how the air moves it and how to shoot straight,¡± I repeated the words angry. ¡°And now a pause for my brother to do a joke about my sexuality.¡±


    Knight smiled at me. ¡°You are no fun when you are like this.¡±


    I rolled my eyes and growled. Welcome to addiction problems 101, how to make your withdrawal problems better when the world is ending. You can¡¯t, deal with it. I was fucked and for a while I would be a mess. There was not much to do about it. I breathed deeply and tried to concentrate again making appear an arrow from my inventory and charging the crossbow. The arrow flew again failing completely.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled dropping the crossbow to the ground with anger.


    Now it was getting to me all this apocalypse bullshit when it hadn¡¯t at the beginning and I didn¡¯t know why. Besides the coffee thing everything was fine, great even, there was no reason to get like this now.


    Okay, maybe I did know why.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Knight</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>43</td><td>INT:</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>66</td><td>WIS:</td><td>56</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>53</td><td>CHA:</td><td>69</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Sam</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>42</td><td>INT:</td><td>48</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>58</td><td>WIS:</td><td>77</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>43</td><td>CHA:</td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>John</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>72</td><td>INT:</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>73</td><td>WIS:</td><td>59</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>55</td><td>CHA:</td><td>28</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    What the hell man? Everyone was stronger and faster than me. And the worst part is that the system didn¡¯t lie. It wasn¡¯t like people putting on airs trying to look more than what they are. Their strength was certified by the flipping universe, or the gods or whatever the hell makes the blue screens. That made me a bit mad.


    It also gave me a deeper understanding on how attributes worked.


    Strength was easy, how much you can push, carry or hit. Dexterity was a combination of agility, perception and coordination. It was how fast you could run, but also dodge or attack once there is an opportunity. It was the reason why everyone else was better at shooting than me. Vitality was about how much we could last, from either how quickly we healed or how tough we were to how much we could keep running before dropping to the ground unable to move.


    Charisma was easy too, it was about how to understand people and convince them or manipulate them. Intelligence and Wisdom were interesting and the only department where I was above everyone else. Their names could be somewhat puzzling, but basically Wisdom was the things I remembered, my experiences, from the books I read and memorize in college to that stupid night in summer. Intelligence on the other hand was the things that I understand, the things that I could relation with other and draw conclusions from.


    It¡¯s like when your teacher told you ¡°You have to understand instead of memorize and repeat things like parrots¡±, but you didn¡¯t really do it because that could be more difficult and you were already thinking in something else already like the parrot sketch.


    Luck¡­ didn¡¯t really make much sense, and I have over 300 luck points after that quest which seemed like a loss. Oh, well, someday I would find out and with some luck it will be something OP as hell.


    And guess what? Luckily for us, knowing all of that was going to protect us from hordes of ghouls, wolves and all the other things that had been spawning at night. No. For the moment we hadn¡¯t been molested too much, and the few ghouls that wandered off into the cave were killed quickly by John, but that was going to change sooner or later.


    I sighed and massaged my head, I had a headache again.


    John looked at me worried. ¡°Okay, we can continue tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I nodded and walked back inside the Zombinator.


    I looked around for a bed. The Zombinator had changed in this three days, tables had been moved from one place to another trying not to clutter the way and taking advantage of the space as best as possible. The laptops were on in a table and Sam worked slowly over something. I took a place across him in one of the beds.


    ¡°Have you finished training?¡± asked Sam without looking for what he was doing.


    I mumbled a yes trying to get comfortable on the bed.


    ¡°More like his brain is finished,¡± supplied Knight walking inside. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you heal yourself like you did to me?¡±


    I groaned and looked at him. ¡°I don¡¯t have a hole in my body and neither I¡¯m dying. It doesn¡¯t work like that, the seed enhances the rhythm at which the body repairs and that¡¯s it. I¡¯m not repairing anything, my body is just trying to get used to not have caffeine inside. I can¡¯t cheat.¡±


    He looked at me with amazement. Oh, yes he was amazed, everyone was when I started to talk about magic like if I knew it all my life. Everyone was amazed that I could do magic, that I could heal. Everyone¡­


    For fuck sake, I¡¯m the fucking healer. I was useless in an actual fight and they knew it. I didn¡¯t understand how they could be amazed by that.


    Shit, okay, breathe. My head felt about to explode when a hand touched my shoulder. I moved back ready to snap at whoever had touched me and I saw my brother with a cup of something in his hand. For a second I thought it was coffee and then I smelled it. It wasn¡¯t but I smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the one mom used to do, but is the best we have right now,¡± said my brother passing me the cup of tea.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said smelling it, he won me with that gesture but I was still bitter. ¡°Asshole.¡±


    Knight snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you are like that. You are the one with the magic powers and all that cheat bullshit.¡±


    ¡°I would be happier if I could launch fireballs or freeze people or fly. I can heal a person, that¡¯s about it. Unless the things outside think that is so amazing and let us walk away without fighting I¡¯m useless.¡± I said.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.¡°Yeah, sure,¡± he snorted looking at me.¡± Wait, you are serious?¡±


    I looked coldly back at him.


    ¡°You are an idiot,¡± he sighed and moved close to me. ¡°You¡­ Don¡¯t you realize everyone here is expendable but you? You are the most useful guy here and you saved our lives. You saved my life,¡± added in a whisper. ¡°Just for that I would put my life on the line for you, all of us would. You don¡¯t need to be the stronger to fight, you have your abilities and we have ours.¡±


    ¡°He is right,¡± said Sam giving me a look. ¡°I can¡¯t believe after we spend all those years playing World of Warcraft you forgot we need a healer for the party.¡±


    I groaned at the reference but smiled. They were good at pep talks.


    ¡°And also I want you to inspect this,¡± said Sam giving me a normal arrow.


    In these days I told them about all of my abilities and they told me about theirs, they didn¡¯t have a class but still obtained some abilities with the attributes that were over 50. It was mostly similar things to what I had, passive abilities that added a bit more power.


    I took the arrow confused and observed carefully. It didn¡¯t seem different in any way but I tried to inspect it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Black arrow


    Poor quality.</td></tr><tr><td>Crafted by a novice this arrow holds a sliver of the void and can cause increased damage to the enemies they hit.


    +25% possibility to incapacitate the enemy.


    -15% to the attributes of the enemy.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stared at it openmouthed for a few seconds. ¡°Did you do this with the horn?¡±


    He smiled triumphantly. ¡°It took me a while to find a way to do it but yes.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit, this is amazing. Can you do more?¡± I asked excitedly.


    He looked at the floor embarrassed. ¡°I sort of used all the horn practicing¡­ I would need more.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± asked John.


    I blinked looking at him, I hadn¡¯t even noticed he was inside. Then I told them the characteristics of the arrow.


    ¡°Wow,¡± whistled my brother. ¡°That¡¯s cheating.¡±


    ¡°And necessary if we want to survive,¡± said John.


    ¡°Which means we need to hunt one of those wolves,¡± I sighed. ¡°Not looking forward to go out.¡±


    ¡°Me neither, but these arrows can give us an edge,¡± said John.


    ¡°There is another reason we have to go out,¡± interrupted Sam when I was about to protest. ¡°We are starting to run low on water.¡±


    Shit, time to go back to hell.


    John grunted and nodded. ¡°We will go tomorrow for the water then and we will try to hunt one of those wolves if we can.¡±


    ¡°Great, then tomorrow the merge is going to be awful.¡± I said going back to the bed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be pessimistic,¡± smiled Knight.


    ¡°I¡¯m not. It¡¯s just the way the new world seems to work now. Trying to fuck you when is least convenient.¡± I said.


    We went to sleep that night without too much to say to each other, and I couldn¡¯t sleep. I kept thinking about everything again and again until it was my turn to stand watch at the entrance of the cave. We were out of the way inside the cave but from time to time some monster wandered dangerously close and we had to be sure it didn¡¯t take us by surprise.


    The thing was, even if a monster got close to me I couldn¡¯t do much besides warn everyone else, because I was the healer. Great job, me. I know it might seem stupid but I didn¡¯t really like that position. I was important for my abilities and knowledge, yes, but that was it. I was the piece that had to be protected and it made me feel vulnerable.


    I opened my status screen, I had 35 points from leveling up that I still hadn¡¯t used. The question was were to use them. I was pretty sure WIS and INT were the stats to go being a druid but¡­ I didn¡¯t just want to heal. I wanted to fight and help my friends. I debated in what to spend those points.


    In the end the choice was about more than a few status points, it was about who I was and what I wanted to be from now on. It was about what the hell was the fucking point of my life now that everything had ended. Survival? That was not very interesting. Survival just for the sake of survival was pointless. I needed more, I needed an objective.


    And then I realized I had already made my choice. Not now, but many years ago when I was still a kid that wanted to save the world. Yes, perhaps eco-terrorism didn¡¯t help the world as much as I thought but now it was different. Now I had powers, I had friends that wanted to help me, and I had an opportunity. Yes, the environment didn¡¯t need saving anymore because I don¡¯t think we could fuck it up as much as these few days had done it, but the world needed saving.


    Or at least the people needed it.


    Right now it was about survival, there was no way around that, but some day it would be different. I would make sure of that.


    I opened the status screen and dumped 16 points into dexterity to make it go into 50.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For having over 50 points in dexterity you have obtained a new ability. Enhanced coordination.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Enhanced coordination Lv. 0


    Obtained ability.</td></tr><tr><td>You perceive and respond to the changes in the world faster and with more accuracy. This ability grows with the DEX stat.</td></tr><tr><td>Passive ability.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I felt my body shift from the inside. It wasn¡¯t painful, but it was weird, like if my muscles were melting and rearranging themselves just slightly. It was a fast process because the change wasn¡¯t too big, but my body had changed. I was leaner. I moved in place trying to feel a difference and it was there. I could feel myself being more responsive to every change. It was not much but it was what I needed to survive.


    And I didn¡¯t care that my choice wasn¡¯t the best for my class because it was just what I needed at the moment. It didn¡¯t matter today or tomorrow because I had a bigger objective.


    I was going to save the world, or at least I was going to try to. I was going to help people survive this change, if I needed friends I would find them and if I needed power I would become the most overpowered motherfucker in the universe. That was my choice. I didn''t just wanted to survive. I wanted something more.


    I wanted answers.


    It was a good dream, like the ones I had when I was a kid, and for a second I smiled.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Do you really want answers?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I blinked looking at the screen.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± I muttered.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The blue screen blinked out of existence the moment I read it. I moved back in place and glanced around trying to catch something moving. It was dark and I turned the flashlight on, some part of my new that was a bad idea because the monsters could see the light and come but I didn¡¯t care.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Follow the white rabbit...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    New screens flashed in and out of existence in my vision while I desperately looked for the rabbit in question. I tried for hours perhaps and I was lucky no monster came to visit but¡­


    There was no white rabbit.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New quest created.</td></tr><tr><td>?%&$/?? AnSweRs"&/</td></tr><tr><td>?%/&?!¡±¡¤$?!%!¡±¡¤¡¤$/$¡±&¡¤/&$/¡±&$/%&¡±/¡¤&//?!¡±$¡±%¡±¡±$¡±$¡±¡±$¡±$%¡±$%&?^a¡§*?&¡¤(!#@[]{


    Follow the white rabbit.</td></tr><tr><td>Rewards:


    ???????????????????????????????


    Unlimited time to complete.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 7: Winter is coming.

    ¡°Adam, are you okay? You seem a little bit distracted,¡± said Knight walking behind me.


    I glanced at him and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t but I didn¡¯t to talk to them about what happened tonight. At the end I didn''t find anything, the quest was a clue to a mystery but nothing more yet. There was something weird with that quest. I wasn¡¯t sure what but I didn¡¯t want to involve them yet, something told me it wasn¡¯t a good idea at the moment.


    I sighed and walked past a tree. I moved as silently as possible and cringed when one little branch snapped under my weight.


    ¡°Careful, I don¡¯t know how well can these monsters hear but we don¡¯t want to bring up attention,¡± said John.


    The place wasn¡¯t ideal to hunt today, or any other day. It was a forest where there were ghouls and wolves and some other things I hadn¡¯t managed to inspect, but we needed water. So here we were, at the crack of dawn trying to sneak between gods knows how many things to find a source of water that due to the change in the world we weren¡¯t exactly sure where it was anymore.


    I heard a growl and my heart stopped, John made a gesture for us to stop and get down.


    ¡°Okay, we are close to the place and there are many monsters, you know the plan. Move separately but in sight of each other. I will try to locate the water source and evade the monsters but¡­¡±


    ¡°You have done this before, right?¡± I asked without thinking.


    John stared at me and grinned. ¡°Trying to pass a forest filled with monsters unseen? No.¡±


    ¡°HA HA, I imagine, but the part about moving unseen in a forest?¡± I asked.


    He simply smiled mischievously.


    ¡°Who the hell are you? Some sort of ranger? You are not from Texas, right?¡± My eyes widened. ¡°Oh god you are the brother of Chuck Norris! Holy shit. I feel a lot safer now.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, Adam,¡± said my brother staring at me.


    I snorted. ¡°I know, I joke when I¡¯m nervous or about to die. Or both.¡±


    ¡°Can we concentrate in what is happening?¡± asked Sam annoyed.


    I sighed and nodded.


    ¡°Are we all ready?¡± Asked John watching our faces.


    ¡°Wait, let me do this first,¡± I said and put a hand over the heart of my brother.


    I casted quickly my two spells over him, they were supposed to last for two hours which I was hoping was enough time to do what we needed and get back. After him I added the two spells to everyone else. It was becoming easier to do with practice and levels but it was still a fifteen minutes job. John nodded feeling the skin, tougher but without a visual change, and gestured to enter the forest.


    The forest was¡­ new. That¡¯s kind of the only thing you could say about it given that it had grew considerably in the last few days. The constant elemental merges seemed to be producing weird changes in the ecosystem. There was enough light to move around but plenty of places were monsters could hide. For what John had told us, from his experience in whatever he was, the forest actually worked in our favor hiding us as much as it hide the monsters.


    We moved in silence for a few moments trying to not bring any attention to ourselves but very soon one ghoul walked around a tree close to my brother. My heart jumped but there was no need, he summoned the bat from the inventory and bashed at the ghoul that fell to the ground with a quiet thump. I looked at his eyes trying to see how he was. He looked back and smiled faintly.


    The way was quiet and when I passed close to the corpse of the ghoul I saw a tiny little rock in the ground.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Soul shard</td></tr><tr><td>A sliver of the soul of the dead.</td></tr><tr><td>Use: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Huh, that was strange. It had a use but it didn¡¯t say what it was. I wasn¡¯t very comfortable having a piece of the soul of anyone with me but it could be useful. I put it aside in a pocket just in time to see a ghoul jumping at me. My instincts took over, the crossbow appeared in my hand while the ghoul made my fall to the ground by his weight. It was trying to bite me in the head but the crossbow was in the middle. I guess if I hadn¡¯t used my points in dexterity I would be dead now. I aligned the crossbow with his head and fired.


    The ghoul stopped moving and fell to the ground. The rest were halfway through already prepared to save me but it wasn¡¯t necessary. I got up taking the arrow back from its head.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± I said quietly.


    John nodded slowly and gestured to continue. A growl stopped him and I looked around. Dozens of ghouls were walking between the trees at us, they weren¡¯t running, just walking. I remained there, still, they were too many even with their abilities unlocked. I didn¡¯t move until John said to run.


    And I ran, I didn¡¯t know in what direction but I ran and lost the sight of everyone else. The ghouls were following my but John was right, the forest worked in our advantage, they couldn¡¯t ran very fast with the trees cutting their path. I managed to let them behind but kept running until I passed between a wall of branches and vegetation, lost my footing on a patch of uneven terrain and fell to the ground.


    ¡°Shit, ouch,¡± I cursed trying to get up.


    My clothes were a bit ragged, torn by the fall and the broken branches. I looked around trying to orientate and to make sure there were no enemies around. There were none but it took me a moment to understand what I was seeing.


    It was a like a duplicate of the garden of Eden, a perfect prairie filled with flowers of all colors. It was stunning and beautiful. It boggled the mind that while the rest of the world was dying this could grow from the ashes. It proved that there was an opportunity.


    There was something more still, something that drew my attention, the flowers were strange, and when I say strange I mean new. I wasn¡¯t an expert in plants but I¡¯m sure there was no flower like that at least in this continent. It was white with almost the shape of a bell and stripes of gold along the stem.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>White dream


    Crafting ingredient.</td></tr><tr><td>A flower born from the light. These flowers have been gifted by nature with the ability to produce sweet dreams to those who smell them.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Okay, that was good to know. I wondered if Sam could do something about them given he had already proved his ingenuity with the wolf horns. I took a few of them and put them in the inventory. I looked around, there were still more kinds of flowers around but these ones where by far the more common. The whole place was filled with them and I didn¡¯t have the time to inspect every flower now. I had to find my friends.


    Which of course meant that, no sooner I thought that, Sam appeared out of nowhere running like crazy towards me.


    ¡°Sam!¡± I said relieved to see him.


    Relieved for a second, immediately I felt his worry with empathy and then there was a loud howl and a huge chaos wolf walked into the prairie.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Alfa chaos wolf Lv. 20</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit. I summoned the crossbow and aimed at the wolf. It was running very fast towards Sam and I was too far away too be able to hit it. I doubted I could do anything before he was on top of him.


    An arrow flew from the forest and I saw the shape of John walking from the trees. It hit the wolf squarely in the back making the animal howl with pain but unfortunately it didn¡¯t make it stop. It was nonetheless moving slower, considerably slower, and I realized he was hit with the black arrow that Sam made.


    But it didn¡¯t matter, that wolf was too fast anyway. I cursed silently trying to think of a way to help. I couldn¡¯t get to him in time. I looked around, there were only flowers and nothing else.


    Something in my mind snapped, it came from the druid knowledge I gained, another piece of the puzzle falling in place. Something just made sense at that moment.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Green hand ability learned.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I dropped to the ground and moved my hand without thinking, the mana of every plant around responded to my call trying to help me but I was doing something different now. Instead of taking the mana I make it move back to the plants and with just a thought I commanded them. The white flowers closer to the wolf danced slightly and I felt them spray their smell to the air trying to drug him, to make him sleep.


    The wolf dropped its velocity but kept going, I needed more. Dozens of flowers followed my orders in concert, not only the ones closer to him but those that were in its path. That was better but I miscalculated, Sam was affected too and started to slow down.


    An arrow flew from the forest, this time it was Knight followed by another arrow from John that firmly pierced in his lower back and leg, but the bastard kept moving. I felt the overwhelming bloodlust coming from the wolf, it wouldn''t stop until it was dead.


    More. I thought to the flowers trying to make them react, but they were already doing everything they could. I move the mana form them towards the grass, I didn¡¯t know if it could help but I tried.


    And the grass answered like a torrent of water growing out of control and flooding the wolf. The grass grew around the legs of the animal trying to stop it from moving while the wolf growled and tried to jump out of it running faster and breaking some of it apart. But it was too much, it grew too quickly for him to run and finally the grass trapped one of its legs making it fall to the ground with a loud thump.


    My brother and my neighbor stared at it while the grass kept flooding the body of the wolf trying to immobilize it. Their surprise only lasted a moment, they were prepared and quickly two arrows flew in the air to pierce the head of the wolf. It was dead.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For killing an Alfa wolf you have gained 537 exp points.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. Sam fell to the ground almost at the same time and I ran to him.


    ¡°Sam!¡± I yelled worried and checked him.


    ¡°Is he okay?¡± asked Knight running behind me.


    His pulse was fine and he was breathing normally, the seed was still in his body not doing anything.


    ¡°He is sleeping, I think that was my fault,¡± I grimaced.


    Knight sighed with relief. ¡°The thing with the plants, was it you?¡±


    I nodded and felt incredibly tired almost as soon as I did. ¡°I think that was a bit too much for me.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine,¡± he said looking at the body of the wolf completely covered in grass.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    I smiled remembering the sensation of controlling the plants. It was amazing, like talking to soldiers eager to follow your guidance. Knight moved towards the body of the wolf and made it disappear in his inventory but then remained still looking at the ground. I followed his gaze and saw a piece of loot in the ground.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Token of the Ranger


    Class item.</td></tr><tr><td>The rangers are a group of people accustomed to live in nature, they survive only by taking the necessary and pay back helping nature thrive. They are an adaptive people capable of surviving in every environment.</td></tr><tr><td>+25 DEX


    + 15 VIT


    +5 STR</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I mumbled looking at the item.


    I walked to the token and took it, a brief message appeared asking me if I wanted to change my class. Maybe yesterday I would have accepted but after the trick with the plants I started to feel the usefulness of my class. I watched John move towards us constantly scanning the forest for signs of an enemy.


    ¡°This is for you,¡± I said without thinking and threw the token at him.


    He caught it in the air and his face turned confused momentarily, then stared at me surprised.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I think it suits you the most,¡± I said smiling.


    He nodded absently and a white light enveloped it momentarily, his body started to change becoming leaner and more tough looking if possible. Knight stared at the change openmouthed.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± asked my brother confused.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Merge of the fire element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Shit! We have to run now,¡± I yelled moving back to Sam carrying him in my shoulder.


    They moved immediately having recognized that tone of voice as ¡®we are about to die¡¯. We run from the place almost flying between the trees without any complication and then the howls started.


    ¡°Shit, I think they just discovered their daddy is dead,¡± said Knight looking behind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop!¡± grunted John.


    The first wolf ran at us with bloodshot eyes, he looked almost crazy, but my neighbor didn¡¯t even give me the time to worry before its head was pierced by an arrow. We ran faster, my brother helping me carry Sam.


    More wolves ran at us while John killed them almost as quickly as they appeared. He was so quick that for a second I swear I saw him recharging the crossbow without touching it. We almost managed to get to the outskirts of the forests when he ran out of arrows. The wolves that had been wary to attack us after the first volley from John howled and ran at us.


    Then the ground shocked and a plume of fire breathed from the earth taking our only way out. As always the universe wanted to fuck with us. A second before the wolves reached balls of fire started to rain from the sky, most of them were far away but one crashed over the tree line almost in the same place as the wolves that yelped scared and decided to run away.


    ¡°Thank you universe!¡± I exclaimed to the sky.


    Which following the rules I thought the universe had now was almost immediately followed by another ball of fire that flew directly at us. I cursed and we moved out the way walking around the fire in the earth.


    We ran while the earth burn apart, and some of the fires managed to burn us just slightly. The seeds that were still active healed us back before it became serious and somehow we managed to get back to the cave in one piece.


    I locked back for one moment and saw the forest starting to burn and the huge plumes of smoke over the horizon.


    ***


    I closed my eyes and breathed deeply the cold night air. There was something mesmerizing about the stars no matter what age you have, no matter how much you travel or how many apocalypses you survive. Or perhaps is that. Perhaps is that after everything that happens the stars are still there, unchanging. A guide for lost travelers.


    I sighed and went back to my meal. It was almost the hour for the black rain to start and the stars will disappear momentarily. But it didn¡¯t matter. The stars will be back like they always were. One bite and I flinched at the taste.


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t like the taste of chaos wolf?¡± asked Knight walking from the interior of the cave carrying a chair.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not my thing,¡± I said with another bite.


    He put the chair close to me and sat. ¡°C¡¯mon, it tastes like chicken. It¡¯s good.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°It tastes like chicken if it was naturally smoked and hard. I¡¯m going to leave a tooth in this.¡±


    Knight smiled, I knew what was about to happen before he did it, and I couldn¡¯t do anything. He took a piece of the wolf and ate it. Then looked at me like if he was confused.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s my duty as your brother to protect you from losing a tooth. I was just helping,¡± he said smiling.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± I sighed leaving my meal aside. ¡°What are you doing out here? It¡¯s my turn to guard.¡±


    ¡°After what happened this morning I¡­ I couldn¡¯t sleep,¡± he said watching the sky. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t really know what it is.¡±


    I winced and glanced at him. ¡°I understand the feeling.¡±


    He laughed loudly and sighed. ¡°Yes, of course you do.¡±


    I moved in place uncomfortable and finished eating the wolf. I knew how he felt because just the other day was feeling the same. He was lost, but I didn¡¯t know how to help him. It worried me. Then I heard the sound of a can of beer opening and looked at my brother.


    ¡°Where the hell did you get that? I didn¡¯t buy beer¡­¡± I asked confused.


    He smiled. ¡°There was just the one inside the Zombinator.¡±


    I sighed, he did that usually, made me worry about him and then do something stupid trying to make me forget. ¡°How are the kids?¡±


    ¡°They are fine, you know, John is giddy with his new super powers and Sam is¡­¡± he made a pause glancing at me. ¡°Already trying to make more arrows and planning on doing some stuff with the plants you found.¡±


    I nodded trying not to show how relieved that made me.


    ¡°By the way, how are your superpowers? Because I leveled up a few times and you did all that,¡± asked Knight gesturing at the air.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t level up, but that doesn¡¯t surprise me, it requires quite a lot of experience the more levels you have,¡± I said and opened the abilities tab.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Skills</td></tr><tr><td>Seed of regrowth Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>Barkskin Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>Breath of the world Lv. 0</td></tr><tr><td>Mana absorption Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Inspect Lv. 3</td></tr><tr><td>Philosophi? naturalis Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Empathy Lv. 5</td></tr><tr><td>Enhanced coordination Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Green hand Lv. 2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stared at the window and opened the new ability.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Green hand Lv. 2


    Learned Ability.</td></tr><tr><td>As a druid all plants beings recognize you as a protector of nature. You can control and feel plants in your surroundings.</td></tr><tr><td>Active ability.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Nothing surprising, I leveled up the spells a bit, but not much,¡± I said and then because I would explode if I didn¡¯t ask. ¡°Are you mad that I gave the class to John?¡±


    ¡°What? No! I mean, yes, okay. I would like to have superpowers, but that class was almost tailored for him,¡± he dismissed. ¡°And anyway now we know how to get classes, I¡¯ll wait until we find something interesting that fits me better.¡±


    ¡°Like a Knight,¡± I snorted and he laughed.


    Time passed in silence, and I looked back at the stars until the sky turned purple and the black rain started to pour. We moved back instinctively even though we were covered by the entrance of the cave and the rain didn¡¯t fell close. It didn¡¯t transform people anymore either but it was intimidating as fuck.


    ¡°Two days more to go,¡± muttered Knight.


    ¡°Two days more to go back there,¡± I pointed at the ground where new monsters started to spawn. ¡°I¡¯m not looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t remain here forever, we are against a wall,¡± pointed my brother.


    ¡°I know, we have to find a safe place to go, like the military was planning,¡± I nodded lost in thought.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Merge of the Ice element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The black rain kept pouring for a second and then froze. Black ice crashed against the ground and exploded in little pieces before joining again giving shape to new monsters. The sound of the ice breaking was overwhelming for a moment and both me and my brother moved back inside the cave.


    ¡°Ice merge,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°So soon?¡± asked Knight worried.


    I nodded and ventured again at the entrance of the cave looking at the purple sky. It looked the same and then it froze too, like a thin sheet of glass suspended in the air for a perfect moment in time. A moment is all it lasted, with a loud sharp crack the sky tore apart like if it was made of glass and huge blocks of purple ice exploded in all directions.


    One of them flew close to us crashing at the foot of the mountain and instead of breaking apart it absorbed the other pieces of ice that fell before and started growing, and growing, and growing¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ice giant Lv. 58</td></tr><tr><td>The giants are king of the hills and valleys. This creatures are not hostile unless their lands are trespassed, but if you do cross them they can be one of the most powerful foes in the world.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It looked like a huge man, not exactly with normal proportions but similar. His big eyes were glowing blue almost white like the sky, like ice, and after it was completely formed it grunted to the sky and moved north.


    ¡°Well, I guess we can say that winter is coming¡­¡± I grinned.


    ¡°Oh, shut up,¡± said Knight.

 Chapter 8: World merge

    Hello. I want to thank to all the people that had been reading this story, leaving comments and reviews, they help me a lot. I also want to apologize for taking more time with this chapter but real life has been acting lately. This chapter could be considered the end of the first arc sort off and it has made me want to change the title of the story a bit. I hope you don''t mind that.


    I hope you enjoy this and if you like this story, if you see something wrong that I should change, or just simply think there is something i could do better, please, leave a comment or something. I write this story mostly to improve. Thank you.


    <hr />


    It was, if I was right, the last day of the merge and we had gone back to the forest for more water just in case we couldn¡¯t do it after the merge was completed. Of course the forest didn¡¯t look the same, it had been burnt and frozen over the last two days but just this morning it had grown back and it may be even bigger than last time


    I breathed slowly following the same rhythm, not too fast, not too quickly, and assessed the situation.


    On the one hand I had managed to use the Breath of the world, which was unlike any other abilities I had. I just had to think the name and it started. It had been very easy actually and if I hadn¡¯t been blind by my druid skills it would have been very obvious.


    On the other hand there was a pack of wolves surrounding me. So, not a very good day. The wolves didn¡¯t saw me thanks to that ability. I was in a sense getting close to the world around me and that was camouflaging me, but it was not perfect or they would have already moved out of the way. Not that I was not going to last to much more before the exhaustion won.


    So I needed a plan. I couldn¡¯t fight all of them in time, John could because his ranger superpowers were bullshit but not me, and they were not here right now. I didn¡¯t have enough space to run from them before they caught me so. My control over plants was not as good as it seemed when I used it for the first time, and after a few tries I had noticed that I needed to be physically touching the plants, at least the same kind of plants. I hadn¡¯t had the time to try anything else but it was time to test something new and see if I survived, because if I waited more I wouldn¡¯t be able to do it.


    I went down to the ground very slowly, maintaining the breath of the world while I prepared the rest. The mana from all life around me opened to my command and flowed to me.


    It was a nice sensation, one that I was sure would never stop being as beautiful as overwhelming, but the mana was not for me and I shoved it back into the plants. I told them what I wanted, it was more difficult that just telling them but it was similar, and charged them with as many mana as I could.


    Nothing happened for a few minutes while I put more mana inside the grass and then when I thought they were sufficiently charged I ran without looking at the result.


    The breath stopped working the moment I moved and the wolves noticed my presence, but it was too late for them. The grass grew all around them, not binding them, they were too fast to get trapped. It could only slow them down.


    I ran between trees and the grass jumped to them taking the shape of webs in the paths I took. Sometimes the grass just appeared over their faces making them difficult to follow.


    ¡°Adam!¡± yelled my brother running at me followed by the rest.


    ¡°About bloody time!¡± I cursed without stopping. ¡°Go to the forest, they said. I would be fun, they said.¡±


    And then for a very stupid coincidence just because the universe decided it would be fun a wild blue window appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Merge of the Blood element in progress.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Oh, for the love of¡­ Blood merge!¡± I yelled and ran towards them.


    The announcement surprised them for a second but they didn¡¯t stop. The wolves growled behind. I wondered if maybe they had also received an alarm about the merge, but that didn¡¯t stop them.


    I ran behind my friends while the grass jumped to embrace the trees around. One of the leaves stopped growing midway and fell. I cursed, the spell was starting to fade.


    Rain started to pour over the forest then. I prayed that helped in some way to lose the wolves but I didn¡¯t dare to look behind. I looked to the front and saw my friends running and the rain soaking their clothes.


    Red rain or¡­ perhaps¡­ I stretched my hand to catch the rain and a single blood drop fell on it. Surprise, it was raining blood, not what was I was expecting but¡­


    No, wait. I felt a strain in the spells I put on me before. They were active, trying to heal or suppress something. I could feel the same happening to my friends.


    ¡°Shit, we need to find some place to hide from this rain now, is doing something bad!¡± I yelled to them.


    Sam and Knight were startled by that, but John didn¡¯t lose his cool.


    ¡°There!¡± he pointed to a thick vegetation area.


    The trees there had grown very close together forming a thick canopy surrounded by low branches. We run towards it without stop when a wolf growled again just behind me.


    There was no time, they entered almost with a jump, breaking branches as they passed and I concentrated in taking mana from the ambient. There was no time for much, just a little mana.


    I ran towards the branches touching them as I passed pouring every little piece of mana I had into them and asking, begging to seal the way behind me and just let myself fall in the interior of the forest.


    Luckily the trees answered and the branches grew thicker changing position over the way I entered, the remaining mana I used in the grass before snapped between the branches. The first wolf that tried to pass through it slammed into a solid wall of trees.


    I fell to the ground passing through the trees and taking some cuts in the broken branches. Knight was already there when I tried to get up and I looked behind. The wolves were still trying to pass.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to last very long, I think,¡± I said breathing loudly. ¡°We need to move out of here.¡±


    ¡°Adam, breathe, we are okay,¡± said Knight trying to calm my erratic breathing.


    ¡°No time,¡± I answered trying to inspect the place we were.


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked John.


    I closed my eyes trying to feel the spells in them, it was easier that way and they had stopped healing them.


    ¡°The rain was doing something, hurting us. The seeds were trying to heal you at the same time. I didn¡¯t feel anything and I don¡¯t know what it was, but the rain was doing something, poison us maybe? I don¡¯t know.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said John grimacing. ¡°Thanks for the warning.¡±


    ¡°You are welcome,¡± I laughed and almost immediately breathed loudly again trying not to black out.


    ¡°I think using so much magic is not very good for you,¡± said Knight looking at me worried.


    ¡°It¡¯s just tiring, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I said.


    My breath started to become normal. We were surrounded by trees and only a few drops of blood managed to pass through the canopy above us. The wolves outside were howling loudly but didn¡¯t manage to make the branches budge. We were safe for now, and my forces were starting to come back.


    I moved back from Knight, keeping myself up without help and looking for a way out of the forest.


    Instead something else drew my attention, the place looked almost like were we had fought the Alfa wolf, surrounded by thick vegetation and with lots of flowers.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Black dream


    Crafting ingredient.</td></tr><tr><td>Tainted by the corrupted energies of blood magic in another time these flowers brought sweet dreams to those that needed them, instead they now use their scent to make their victims fall and drain their life while they sleep.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit, I recognized the flowers, they were the ones from the other day but corrupted somehow.  Sam was kneeling close to one of them examining it closer and John was asking something I didn¡¯t catch.


    ¡°¡­be useful?¡± asked John.


    Sam shrugged touching the flower. ¡°Maybe, I haven¡¯t done anything with the other flowers yet, but it¡¯s worth a try.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I yelled too late.


    He stretched his hand and plucked the flower too quickly for me to say anything.


    ¡°What?¡± asked Sam looking at me, a tint of fear in his voice.


    For a moment nothing happened and then the rest of the flowers released their scent, tiny black specks of pollen flew into the air trying to infect us. I ran to them, grabbed them and forced them to follow. I inspected around while running, surrounded by trees and flowers there was not much we could do. Only one way we could ran where there were less trees.


    We jumped between flowers that kept trying to kill us. The scent, the spores or whatever they were using was affecting us, and the seeds were doing nothing like they didn¡¯t with the Sam the other day.


    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Sam disentangling from my arm but not stopping.


    ¡°The flowers are trying to kill us,¡± I answered. ¡°Don¡¯t breathe too much if you can.¡±


    They cursed and we did a sharp turn around some of the trees. There was a straight path ahead with not many flowers that ended in a clearing. I could see the brightness of the sun lighting the way and I ran guiding the rest with me.


    A howl from behind almost made me lose my footing. I glanced back enough to see the wolves charging through the trees. There was something more, the wolves had changed since I saw them, just slightly, a few stripes of different colors in their fur.


    We jumped into the clearing. The poison of the plants was starting to affect me and I doubted the rest were better off. I immediately tried to find another way to go when¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tainted Sacred tree Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>The sacred trees are gifts of the gods of light to bring strength and life to the land. They are extremely rare and in other times they were symbols of peace and unity, bringing happiness and prosperity to anyone that was lucky to live close to them. The taint has poisoned this one into an abomination, a mockery of life and creation that wants nothing more than to hunt.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The tree was massive and wrong, red veins of something that looked like blood pulsed along its surface and long branches moved like if they were alive. The connection I had with the mana of life told me more, it was dangerous and it had seen us.


    ¡°Shit, there is no way out,¡± said Sam.


    There was no time, I pushed Sam and Knight to the ground at the same moment I felt the earth shift slightly and a wolf jumping to attack us. John dodged out of the way just in time.


    A large root emerged from the ground close to us ready to attack but instead reached to the wolf. The root attacked entangling around the body of the wolf, lifting it up and after a moment of moving it in circles launching it towards the trees.


    The wolf dropped with a thud dead, or almost. The pack howled having found a threat and joined together to attack the tree. I got up taking both my friends with me and ran the way we came but the trees closed our way.


    I launched my hand to the branches that were in our way, taking mana and trying to order them to move. They moved momentarily only to go back in place. I felt another kind of magic acting over the trees, something that was already controlling them, something¡­


    ¡°Magic the fucking branches away!¡± yelled Sam.


    ¡°I can¡¯t! That tree is controlling these ones!¡± I yelled back pointing at the tainted tree.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try from another place,¡± said Knight moving away towards other trees who as soon as he got close snapped their branches closing his path.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he is going to let us simply walk away,¡± I said with a grimace.


    ¡°What the hell do we do, then?¡± asked Knight.


    John summoned the crossbow and said. ¡°We kill it.¡±


    I stared at him dumbfounded. ¡°How? Is a tree, unless you have developed a way to breathe fire I don¡¯t think we can kill it with arrows or hitting it with bats.¡±


    John nodded but said nothing, at a moment notice he was already walking closer to tree ready to enter combat.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Great,¡± I sighed.


    The wolves surrounded the tree, and the tree answered by lifting several roots that tried to attack the wolves. John moved closer trying to do something.


    I just watched, not knowing what to do. My mind knew there was nothing to do, killing a tree was not something that was going to work. Maybe if we had something to cut it with and the roots weren¡¯t trying to kill us¡­


    John launched an arrow, it was clearly one of the modified arrows that Sam made. I hoped that could do something. The arrow embedded itself on the tree and for a moment nothing happened, I close my eyes trying to think of another way. I tried to dive into the druid memories and found nothing.


    Then there was a loud sound, like the sound of bark yelling and dozens of more roots  joined the fight. Most of the new roots moved towards John that dodged incredibly quickly and an idea came to my mind.


    I dropped to the ground and used commanded the grass. It responded quickly  not being controlled by the tree and I instantly most of the roots found themselves attacked by thousands of green tendrils that tried to bind them.


    It was not much, but it gave an opening to the wolves that take advantage of the situation charging straight to the tree and ramming their horns into it.


    The tree yelled again and I could feel the pain coming from it.


    ¡°The horns are hurting it!¡± I yelled to John. ¡°Use the black arrows!¡±


    John nodded and launched the other nine black arrows that Sam had managed to make in the last days. I looked at the tree hoping it would die now, but instead it reacted wildly, moving the roots back and taking all the wolves that were attacking it, lifting then and launching them in all directions.


    The wolves stopped moving and I cursed. The tree was not dead but it was angry. So angry I didn¡¯t notice when the branches got close to my leg and entangled around it. Suddenly I was being yanked over the grass by a root taking my closer to the tree.


    ¡°Adam,¡± yelled my brother who caught my hand trying to help me.


    The root was to strong and it pulled us both.


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± I said snapping his hand away. ¡°The horns hurt it! Use them!¡±


    Knight didn¡¯t protest, he simply walk towards Sam and snatched a horn the moment he summoned it from his inventory. Then went running towards the tree. I cursed silently, that was not going to help. The roots were already moving to stop him.


    I concentrated my mana again and moved my hand down to the root that was dragging me. The sensation was overwhelming. I briefly touched the mind of the tree and found intelligence. It was not just like the other trees, this one was thinking, making plans, and analyzing his enemy. It was as I imagined it would be to enter the mind of a human.


    And it felt me. I released the mana inside his mind, not trying to order it but to confound it, to make it lose a few precious moments.


    It worked, for a precious moment I stopped being dragged away and my brother ran to it. Knight nailed the horn to the tree and before it could react used the steel bat to make it go completely inside.


    The tree didn¡¯t like that and yelled again using his roots to launch Knight to the trees, but it was too late. The tree yelled again with the sound of branches breaking apart and bark cracking. It tore the roots around trying to attack wildly and doing nothing and after a few moments stopped. The roots fell to the ground and started to become ashes that flew into the air.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have reached level 10.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Knight!¡± I yelled getting up and running towards him. He was not moving and I could feel the seed working.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± he said quickly still not moving.


    I dropped close to him and checked. He was bent backwards, an arm was dislocated and some his ribs were broken.


    ¡°You are not okay!¡± I cried casting the seed again over his ribs.


    The spell was fast, and the ribs were in place in moments but not in a perfect state. They were a bit weaker still. The spell was still working and I didn¡¯t know if it was going to do something more.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, seriously,¡± he said trying to get up at the same time I put his arm back in place. ¡°AAAAAAAAGH. Son of a- Did you have to do it like that?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I snapped at him. ¡°Don¡¯t get yourself killed doing stupid shit.¡±


    ¡°I was trying to save you,¡± he grunted.


    ¡°Do it better!¡± I yelled.


    ¡°Guys!¡± called Sam from behind. ¡°You should see this.¡±


    I grunted still a bit mad for my brother but helped him get up. The clearing was still surrounded by trees and branches but it was safe. The tainted tree wasn¡¯t there anymore, it had burn quickly and disappeared without leaving the ashes behind. The wolves were piled around the trees were they fell and John was making sure they were dead.


    I walked with my brother towards Sam. He was kneeling in the ground in the same place the tree had been. I smiled.


    ¡°Something dropped?¡± I asked walking excitedly.


    He laughed. ¡°Yes something dropped but I can¡¯t take it.¡±


    He moved back showing two objects lying in the ground. One was a red spear and the other looked like a glowing white orb.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Spear of redemption


    Weapon.</td></tr><tr><td>When a sacred tree is a miracle, a tainted one is a disease that spreads across the lands killing and corrupting everything in its path. The gods of light recognize your efforts in cleansing this tree before it could grow in strength and swallow the forest and reward you for this action.


    Bind only: Knight.</td></tr><tr><td>5% Fire damage to all enemies.


    25% damage to tainted enemies.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Seed of the sacred tree</td></tr><tr><td>The seed of a sacred tree, rewarded by the gods of light to their druid for cleansing the taint of one of its kind. It can only be planted once. The sacred tree does not give more seeds. Misusing this seed can cause antagonism with the gods of light. Bind only: Adam.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°What are they?¡± asked Sam.


    I stood there open-mouthed staring at the rewards for a moment before moving to the orb, the seed, and taking it into my inventory.


    ¡°A magic tree seed and an overpowered weapon that only Knight can use,¡± I answered and said pointing at the spear. ¡°That¡¯s yours.¡±


    ¡°Mine?¡± He asked looking at the spear with something akin to bewilderment.


    ¡°Yes, it says you are the only one who can use,¡± I nodded.


    He looked at it for a moment and finally moved to take it. His hands barely touched the spear when it lighted briefly recognizing his owner and letting a little flame escape over the tip.


    ¡°Whoa,¡± yelled Sam backing off. ¡°What was that?¡±


    I stared at it for a moment. ¡°I think the medical term is premature ejaculation. I recall your past girlfriends mentioned something about it, and you should-¡±


    Knight hit me in the arm smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about ¡®girlfriends¡¯ shall we?¡±


    I winced. ¡°Yes, okay.¡±


    I explained what I discovered about the spear quickly to them.


    John walked to us then, the crossbow still in his hand.


    ¡°I have the wolf carcasses,¡± he said not surprised in the slightest for the big spear in Knight¡¯s hands. ¡°Can you open the¡­ trees?¡±


    I looked back at the trees closing our ways with branches and nodded.


    ¡°I think so.¡±


    ¡°Good, I believe there is water around here, so we should move,¡± he said glancing around.


    ¡°Wait. You are not even remotely interested in the flaming spear?¡± I asked.


    John turned his eyes upon the spear briefly ogling its magnificent form. Then shock his head and walked back towards the trees.


    I stared at him for a moment and sighed.


    ¡°Someday, probably just a second before he dies in my arms I¡¯m going to understand him,¡± I said following him.


    ***


    The sun was still up in the sky when we made our way out of the mountain that had protected us for so many days. The place was becoming too dangerous to keep living there. We drove in silence, too tired for words or relief. After all this days of constant changes it seemed like an end to a nightmare but we knew it was just the beginning.


    The roads were still there, or at least part of them and I could only imagined how the hell they survived everything that had happened. I sighed. It really didn¡¯t matter, sooner or later we would have to abandon the roads.


    I glanced outside just a moment and my heart stopped.


    ¡°Stop,¡± I said getting up and walking to the door.


    Sam stopped without asking anything, perhaps because he saw the same as me or just because he was already accustomed at my odd requests.


    I walked outside, some trees were covering my sight and I walked past them. The sight made my breath deeply.


    ¡°What are you¡­?¡± started to ask Knight but shut up at the sight.


    Bloodmoon lake, the place where the military had been set up was there. It was not the same lake, this was enormous, huge, mind-bogglingly big. So big we couldn¡¯t see the end of it. Yes, okay, we hadn¡¯t move so far from the military camp but it was not the same lake anymore.


    One part of it was normal, calm waters drifting in tune with the air.


    Part of it was frozen, a thin sheet of ice glinting on the sun covered the west.


    Another part was boiling, steam floating through the air with deep glowing lava at the bottom.


    In the last part, just at the center of the lake where a tiny island lied there was a whirlpool gnashing at the lake and glowing with purple light.


    We didn¡¯t talk, we didn¡¯t whisper or said anything. We just let the moment and the sight sink in silence. Then just to finish the moment the last piece fell in place. A roar broke the silence and the wind shocked with a sharp sound knocking us down to the ground.


    I looked up when the wind started to move faster and saw it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dragon Lv. ???</td></tr><tr><td>Three are the reasons why the gods of light gave birth to the dragons.


    To protect light.


    To protect life.


    To protect order.


    Pity to the ones who dare attack those things for the dragons never rests and the dragons never fail.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The dragon flew above the lake looking briefly at it and then with a loud shock of his wings run over the horizon.


    And we just stood there in the ground, knocked over just by the power of its wings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± I said after a minute of staring, getting up.


    ¡°Where?¡± asked Knight still openmouthed.


    I sighed. ¡°Somewhere safe, somewhere to call home.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>World merge completed.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 9: Training

    Thanks for your patience, here is the beggining of the second arc of the story.


    For all of you who have read Daniel black and love the building aspect of it, I''m planning on taking this story in that direction. The example of using the plants for building here is a bit crude still, mostly because the MC is still learning how to use his abilities but my plan is to improve on that.


    Hope you like this chapter and if you hace any suggestion, please feel free to comment.


    <hr />


    <The video starts showing the figure of Adam changing the position of the camera in the laptop. It takes a moment for it to be centered and then he starts talking.>


    Captain¡¯s log, date¡­ 23 days after the world went to hell or¡­ after the merge, or¡­


    Well, honestly we are not entirely sure what to call it yet, but everyone knows what I¡¯m referring to anyway so¡­


    After the first nine days, the elemental merges have stopped and the world seems to be going back to normal. At least if you ignore the monsters spawning at night. The climate on the other hand has been severely affected, one day is hot like summer, the next day is windy and raining all the day and other days just starts snowing without notice.


    The terrain changes as we move, every day we wake up to see something that wasn¡¯t there the last day and although we can still drive without losing ourselves in this new world I fear the day when our maps can¡¯t help us anymore.


    We tried to use the radio, to reach for other survivors but so long there has been no luck in doing so. Despite our efforts both John and Sam agree that it¡¯s not a problem with our radio. There is simply no one transmitting out there. We are alone and that¡­


    That scares the hell out of me, and we must face a horrible truth.


    The world has changed, the very foundations have shifted to incorporate a new system, a new energy, a new everything. The laws of physics have been reshaped under or very eyes and the world has been upgraded to a new future.


    Welcome to Earth 2.0.


    The crew of the Zombinator is scared and confused, and yes, we¡¯ve been hurt by this change like everybody else, but we remain united and despite our trials and tribulations the mission of the Zombinator remains the same.


    To boldly go where no zombie has gone bef-


    <The video ends.>


    ¡°Ouch! What did you throw at me?¡± I asked touching my arm.


    ¡°A copyright strike in the shape of the TV remote,¡± answered Knight pointing at the object in the ground. ¡°You¡¯ve been trying to rip-off Star trek since we started, you know this was going to come.¡±


    Sam snickered and I glared at him with evil in my eyes.


    ¡°First, if the FBI decided right now to come here and do something about it I would be more happy that anything else,¡± I said and then pointing at Sam. ¡°And second, if you laugh again I will put you to answer the space phone.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care, you already put me driving the Zombinator. That is racist enough and I think I¡¯m going to have a talk with our human resources guy,¡± said Sam smiling.


    I stared at him for a moment.


    ¡°Our human resources guy and probably all human resources guys are now zombies, so good luck with that. And you are missing the entire point of your job,¡± I said walking close to him. ¡°We are the A Team.¡±


    I pointed at him. ¡°You are B.A., the only one allowed driving the Zombinator and a professional mechanic that can turn everything into a weapon,¡± I walked close to my brother. ¡°You are Face, charismatic, useful in battle and outside of it, but for the most part we have you because you are my brother and we needed a fourth guy.¡± I walked further to where John was sitting cleaning his rifle. ¡°John is obviously Hannibal because he is the only one with some degree of knowledge about tactics and fighting in whatever he did before all of this. His plans will fail almost all the times until the ending when everything will go fine, but that¡¯s okay. Unfortunately we don¡¯t have cigars¡­¡±


    John smiled.


    ¡°Which means you are Murdock,¡± finished Knight pointing at me.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it obvious? I¡¯m awesome, funny, and a little bit crazy. I¡¯ve been in a hospital for the last few years, I made Sam mad at me and I took a few classes in how to pilot a helicopter with S-¡± I stopped breathing for a second.


    Knight noticed quickly.


    ¡°I see your point,¡± he said trying to change theme. ¡°So, according to your logic and by the power of the TV rules in the eighties we can¡¯t die if the Zombinator rolls and explodes in midair.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Good to know,¡± he sighed and went back to the book he was reading. ¡°Why are you doing these videos anyway? It¡¯s not like if someone is going to watch them.¡±


    I moved back in place and started the video I just made. It was short and ended with me getting hit with a TV remote. And that was just fine with me, I¡¯ve said everything I could say about what was happening.


    ¡°They are important,¡± I said looking at him. ¡°Someday, and someday not very far I will be known as the savior of humanity. I will protect the survivors and guide them across the lands to find a place to call home where they will remember my efforts and courage making me a statue of gold. It will be a horrible statue and I will hate it with a passion but it will bring hope. Some day when I¡¯m gone they will write songs about me and make temples where people will pray in my name. And then they will see a video of me doing stupid shit and they will know that I was never a God. The people will rise to attack the preachers that tried to use my name to gain political power, the temples will be burn and everyone will be back to their happy life without having to worry about religious bullshit.¡±


    Knight and John stared at me. Sam was trying too hard not to laugh.


    ¡°That, or just for people in the future to have an accurate recording of how the world was shortly after the merge,¡± I finished.


    After that they ignored me and went back to their things. I didn¡¯t care, I knew¡­ It was still weird to know how they were feeling at any moment in time. I knew that right know they were fine but there was something else. I felt it before during the first merges, they were worried and scared because of me and I didn¡¯t dare to ask why.


    Mostly because I had a pretty accurate idea, I¡¯ve had more information than them. I¡¯ve come back from the death. I had memories of magic and spells. I had messages telling me about the merges when they had none and although I hadn¡¯t told them I had a mysterious quest that from my suspicions could possibly be from the creator or the game master of the new system.


    I simply had more access to the system than them and it was showing. Apparently it was also a bit scary when I started to talk about mana and read their emotions so, I tried to be inconspicuous.


    I was still thinking about that when Sam talked.


    ¡°Eh¡­ guys. We are starting to run out of energy,¡± he said looking back slightly. ¡°We have to stop and recharge the batteries.¡±


    I looked outside the windows. We were driving cross-country or almost, we were technically still in the road but the grass had started to grow on top of it and some parts were just broken by the earthquake.


    We were not in a good position. For the last days we had been driving close to mountains or hills, places in high ground that were defensible, or caves were we could hide for the night. The Zombinator was tough but it was better if we didn¡¯t get overrun by monsters. For our days inspecting the behavior of monsters they seemed to not like the day and they rarely appeared outside of their hunting grounds but during the night¡­


    The night was scary, and although we had managed some measure of achievement hunting wolves and evil trees the night was another world altogether. You just didn¡¯t fight in the night if you wanted to survive.


    ¡°Not a good place to stop,¡± said Knight summarizing our thoughts.


    I grunted but kept looking. There was something I could do about that but I preferred not to do it because manipulating plants was very exhausting. It would be better to find a place to hide that was already there but after a few moments we realized that today we were not going to find a place like that.


    I walked close to Sam.


    ¡°Can you pass through those trees?¡± I asked pointing at a little elevation on the ground where some trees were growing close together.


    He drove closer and said. ¡°Yes I can pass the Zombinator through that, but why?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll improvise some shelter.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± he asked and then watching the trees his eyes widened in understanding. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    I shrugged again.


    ¡°He is right, Adam. All the times you start playing with plants you almost black out,¡± said my brother looking concerned.


    ¡°Yes, well, I pass out a lot lately. It¡¯s part of my cunning plan to see if I can develop an ability by virtue of losing consciousness,¡± I said.


    The argument didn¡¯t hold much water and Knight looked at me trying to make a point without actually saying anything.


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    ¡°We don¡¯t have that many options, do we? I can do it. It¡¯s still soon and I can take my time. Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°And in any case I think it¡¯s time to grind my abilities. They are too useful to let them sit without leveling them up.¡±


    He was still giving me the look but I could feel his mind changing opinion followed by a slow nod to Sam who started driving again to the trees.


    ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it,¡± said my brother.


    I nodded and the Zombinator pulled between the trees, there was not a lot of space to maneuver but it would work. We stopped and I opened the door after making sure briefly there was nothing outside. The air was chilly but nothing I couldn¡¯t stand for now. From behind I heard the door opening again and my brother walking out spear in hand.


    I gave him a look and he smiled.


    ¡°Just making sure nothing jumps from a tree and kills you.¡±


    I grunted starting to shape the mana in my hand into a seed. I walked to him and planted the seed in him.


    ¡°Just making sure you don¡¯t die protecting me,¡± I smiled.


    His need to protect me had always been annoying, but his fear was real and a few minutes later I had my spells both in me and him as a precaution. Then I got to work. The overwhelming sensation came back the moment I touched the tree.


    ¡°How are you going to do it? They are a bit far away from each other to simply join the branches, right?¡± asked Knight.


    ¡°I¡¯m still thinking this through, give me a few minutes,¡± I said.


    The gap between the trees was big enough for the Zombinator to pass which was bad. I didn¡¯t think I could grow new trees in between without killing myself so that was out too. The roots were a better idea to work with and thanks to the psychopathic tree of doom I had a good guess in how to begin.


    But that was just part of it, this was going to be an slow job and I had to take as much as possible from it. I checked my abilities quickly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Skills</td></tr><tr><td>Seed of regrowth Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>Barkskin Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>Breath of the world Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Mana absorption Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Inspect Lv. 3</td></tr><tr><td>Philosophi? naturalis Lv. 2</td></tr><tr><td>Empathy Lv. 6</td></tr><tr><td>Enhanced coordination Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>Green hand Lv. 2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Despite my efforts in healing and using my other magic abilities they remained at level two. That was weird because I had been using them quite a lot and it was a while since I get level two in some of them. Maybe level two was a bottleneck of some kind. I¡¯ll had to figure something out.


    I activated Breath of the world to regenerate my stamina while I worked. With luck I wouldn¡¯t tire out. I couldn¡¯t move while I was using it but I didn¡¯t care much about that. In comparison, the requirement of Green hand was a lot worse. If I had to drop to the ground every time I wanted the grass to do something I¡­


    I blinked. Shit, I was an idiot.


    I dropped to the ground and started undoing the shoelaces in my boots. Then I realized that I was even more of an idiot and got up again unequipping the bots directly into the last spot in my inventory.


    I moved my feet in the grass breathing deeply and feeling the connection with the grass. It worked perfectly, in fact it worked so well that when I tried to move the life mana from the environment it responded faster. I stopped to think. It kind of made sense, the mana of life comes from life (duh) and a closer connection to life should help me getting more of it.


    A hand waved across my vision and I found Knight staring at me. ¡°Are you okay there?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I just realized that I¡¯m a genius at the level of Einstein,¡± I said smiling.


    ¡°Because you stared at the infinite for five minutes and took off your shoes?¡± He asked with a click of his tongue.


    I sighed. ¡°Okay, maybe not Einstein level but¡­ Apple bar genius level?¡±


    ¡°So you are an idiot,¡±


    ¡°Wow, you got that very quick. Now who is a nerd?¡± I asked. ¡°Okay, never mind. Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    I put my hand over the tree and opened my mind to it and the mana.


    The first step was something simple. I told the closest trees to bring the largest roots outside and then infused my mana into the roots to make them grow faster reaching between them. When the root of a tree touched another I made them join. A quick snap and the roots broke just a little at the tip fusing slowly one to another. In a few minutes the three closest trees were connected by the root and for some reason, perhaps that now I was physically touching those trees too, my control over them grew.


    That was okay because the next step was going to be more complicated. I ordered the roots to splint into more roots growing directly upwards like little poles. My idea was to make some sort of net out of roots but it went wrong very fast. The roots simply weren¡¯t strong enough to stand on their own.


    I focused on the branches and made two of them grow and fuse together making an arch, but it was weak. It could stand the weight of the roots but wouldn¡¯t do much as a defense. I smiled and patted the grass with my foot slightly. With a green flutter the grass jumped to the task embracing the trees until all of it was covered in a thick grass blanket. In many sense the grass was tougher than the tree, it was more resilient and elastic, you could cut it but not break it and here that was going to help. With a thought I made the grass grow around the branches, but not like it was used to.


    I taught the grass to weave and despite how difficult that might have seemed the grass learned quickly. The leaves knitted together to the shape of a simple fabric that covered the branches and strengthened them.


    Then I could go back to the roots. They grew back, their weight being supported by the fabric of grass that was following them and quickly snapped around the branches joining them in a powerful embrace. The result was something resembling a prison cage with bars made out of roots and grass, but I wasn¡¯t done. With a few more orders the roots grew in all directions filling the gaps and finally the grass covered everything in green.


    I moved back form the tree slightly dizzy. I wasn¡¯t sure how much time had passed since I started but I calculated that it took me twenty minutes to complete that wall. That was fast enough and I didn¡¯t feel very tired. I sighed and looked back at my brother.


    Knight was staring at the wall of plants.


    ¡°My eyes are up here,¡± I said.


    ¡°And your wall is there,¡± he said ignoring me. ¡°Do you think that can stand to a pack of wolves?¡±


    ¡°You can try for yourself,¡± I shrugged noncommittally, but then knight brandished his spear at the wall. ¡°With your flaming spear no you idiot!¡±


    He blinked and nodded equipping the bat. There followed a few minutes of non-stop trashing at the green wall where Knight tried to break every part of it and achieved nothing until he stopped.


    ¡°Okay, is solid enough. You think you can do the same with the rest?¡±


    I nodded and went back to work.


    It took me over two hours of work talking to plants but I made a wall surrounding the Zombinator. By the end of it I was tired and breathing with difficulty, even the mana was starting to get thinner around me. That was something new, I guess using so much of it for hours would do that. With a slow and careful movement I disconnected myself from the trees. The alien consciousness vanished like if it had never been there, leaving behind a feeling of completion and thrill.


    It was tiring but addictive. I was still and touching the grass and it was singing, almost begging me to keep going, but I couldn¡¯t. Something told me I shouldn¡¯t keep like that for too much time but just as an afterthought I gathered the little mana that remained around and powered a spell. It was nothing complicated or even new, it was just the logical next step in my ability to manipulate plants.


    I blessed the grass to grow.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Subs-skill from Green hand acquired: Blessing of Growth.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Green hand Lv. 3


    Learned ability.</td></tr><tr><td>As a druid all plants beings recognize you as a protector of nature. You can control and feel plants in your surroundings.


    -Blessing of growth: In other times the druids helped the world blessing the fields with huge harvests.   The growth rate and duration depends on the amount of mana used.</td></tr><tr><td>Active ability.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I nodded to myself closing my eyes slightly. I know what it did without reading it. I could feel it and my memories filled in the blanks.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Knight.


    ¡°I¡¯m great,¡± I said breathing deeply. ¡°I mean, I want to sit somewhere and don¡¯t get up in a week but besides that¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡±

 Chapter 10: Crafting

    ¡°Uh¡­ do you mind?¡± asked Sam.


    I mumbled something. I was exhausted, and just being there lying down on the table let me realize how tired I really was. My body was fine. It was not a physical exhaustion like when you work out too much. It was more like those moments when you spend the last night before the exam studying for hours and when you finish your mind isn¡¯t working anymore. You are just barely aware of your surroundings and you don¡¯t care.


    Of course that meant that I entered the Zombinator and collapsed on top of the first thing I found. The table where Sam was working.


    ¡°You are on top of a lot of arrows. Do you feel okay?¡±


    I mumbled something else.


    ¡°John and I are trying to work here,¡± said Sam.


    Again I mumbled something that my mind managed to interpret as ¡®John¡¯s not here¡¯ and then I found my head being turned around to the opposite way of the table.


    ¡°Hi John,¡± I greeted looking at him.


    He smirked working with something in his hands. Suddenly I was being lifted from the table. A hand was pulling my shirt, and in a moment I was thrown into a bed.


    ¡°The idiot has finished our perimeter,¡± said my brother.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I said.


    ¡°At least you can still recognize you are the idiot,¡± smirked Knight. ¡°It seems solid but you should check it out.¡±


    John nodded and walked outside. I groaned stretching in the bed. Sam was working with a crossbow, slowly checking it from different angles and making annotations in a piece of paper. It took only a moment for John to enter back inside.


    ¡°Not what I was expecting, but it will do for tonight.¡± He said nodding and walking back to the table.


    ¡°Good,¡± said my brother sitting along with the rest. ¡°So what have you been doing here?¡±


    Sam manipulated the crossbow easily pushing it against the table and using the pressure to take it apart. He did it with the mastery of somebody that had done it a thousand times over (which he probably had) and organized the pieces over the table.


    ¡°Can you give me your spear?¡± asked Sam.


    ¡°Again? What fascination do you have my spear?¡±


    ¡°Heh. Dick joke,¡± I snorted and they looked at me. ¡°Ignore me, my mind doesn¡¯t work right now.¡±


    Sam placed the spear on the table and waved a flashlight over the tip.


    ¡°Do you see those lines that run over the spear?¡± he asked moving the light along it. ¡°At first I thought it was just damage or the way the items spawn in the world. Then I realized that these lines are completely connected from one part to another, you can follow them and they never broke.¡±


    He moved the spear around showing it better. The lines were almost invisible unless you were very close and they just seemed like scars. Sam moved the light to point at a particular part of the spear and showed it to Knight. It was filled with little circular patterns and sharp lines.


    ¡°I think this is the way the spear makes flames. It seems some sort of-¡± he began to say.


    ¡°Enchantment?¡± asked my brother looking intently at the spear.


    ¡°Enchantment!¡± I yelled being completely ignored.


    Sam smiled. ¡°I was thinking more along the lines of a circuit, but yes. A magic circuit. I think these lines move the-¡± he looked briefly at me, ¡°mana from the ambient and uses it to create the flames your spear uses.¡±


    Knight stood there inspecting the lines in the spear. It made sense, there was an obvious pattern when you saw all the lines but still¡­


    ¡°And you think you can enchant stuff now?¡± asked my brother.


    ¡°I tried and failed miserably,¡± sighed Sam. ¡°I copied the pattern in these pages trying to decipher it, but no luck. Then I tried copying the pattern directly into a crossbow and didn¡¯t do anything. It doesn¡¯t seem to work.¡±


    Sam sat again fiddling with the pieces of the crossbow. It was not a pretty thing, black and made out of plastic and steel. It was functional that was for sure and for the prize I had paid it better was, but it was not very impressive. With the light close to it you could see the faint lines carved in the surface imitating the lines on the spear. I inspected it quietly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Crossbow


    Weapon.</td></tr><tr><td>A normal crossbow, there is nothing impressive about it. Is definitely not going to start launching flames. Deal with it.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°What the hell?¡± I muttered but nobody noticed.


    What the fuck? Until now the messages had been kind of normal¡­ Or as normal as magic messages appearing in midair could be, but that was different. They had been talking about upgrading the crossbow and now the system referenced that directly? Okay, don¡¯t worry. That is surely how the system works, it reacts to what is happening and gets snarky with me.


    Nothing to worry about. Either that or someone or something was laughing at me. I glanced around quickly. Still not a white rabbit around. Shit. Somehow in some level I realized briefly that this moment meant something important, something transcendental just happened. Something that could shake the foundations of the world and change the meaning of life.


    It may or may not be prove of the existence of a being controlling everything in this new world. It may or may not be prove that the system was alive and funny. It may or may not prove that I was important to the world and instrumental in uncovering the hidden truths of our new reality.


    Of course it was at that moment of absolute thought when I was sure I was the chosen one that a part of my mind, a part that curiously had the voice of Batman, told me to shut up and listen to the fucking conversation that my brother and Sam were having. And I listened to that part of me because it was Batman.


    I would love to tell you that I only hear voices in my head when I¡¯m exhausted and in the brink of passing out but¡­


    ¡°Maybe the enchantment only works with something like a spear and not a crossbow. Have you tried-?¡± started to ask Knight.


    Sam moved out of the table and scrambled a few cabinets looking for something. For a moment he seemed lost until he took a large and straight branch out of one and walked back. The branch had a sharpened point like a makeshift spear and the carved pattern was clearly seen.


    ¡°Yeah. I tried.¡± He said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Said my brother staring at the big carved branch. ¡°Well, do you have more ideas?¡±


    Sam laughed. ¡°A lot of them, too much of them actually, and too little ways of proving any of it. Maybe you need magic in the first place to do this. Maybe only the system can do it. Maybe I need a special material that conducts magic to make the circuits, like copper to conduct electricity. I hope is that last one because that I can make something about it but¡­¡±


    He sighed worried but I smiled. That was the Sam I remembered.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already make the arrow? Because I think that proves it can be done,¡± said Knight.


    He put the makeshift weapon back in the cabinet and  snorted.


    ¡°No, that was nothing like this. There was a book, one of those Adam saved, that showed how to coat arrows with poison. It took me a few tries but I found a way to make something similar with the horn. It¡¯s nothing that difficult as this circuit,¡± said Sam. ¡°The horn is not that strong for something that is supposedly made of bone. It was easy to break it or cut it into-¡±


    That was the dramatic pause that the genius of the movie has the moment he figures out how everything works. It¡¯s one of those things you don¡¯t expect to see happening in reality but was frequent with Sam. I was expecting the system to shine a light bulb above his head at any moment but fortunately nothing like that happened.


    Instead Sam got to work taking an arrow and giving it to John.


    ¡°Can you take the arrowhead without breaking the arrow?¡± he asked.


    John nodded, confusion creeping from him. He deftly removed it without a problem leaving the shaft of the arrow completely fine. Sam for his part took a horn and broke it into pieces. His hands working quickly with a knife carving a piece out of it.


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?¡± asked my brother.


    Sam didn¡¯t answer he just kept working. If somebody had tried to shake him and make him react he wouldn¡¯t have noticed, completely lost in the puzzle he was trying to work out. It took a moment before the shape of an arrowhead was apparent to everyone and a moment more before it was separated from the rest of the horn. It was a crude work and Sam took a few more minutes under the interested eye of the group slowly sharpening it with the knife. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but by the end it had a normal shape.


    To finish it Sam took the shaft of the arrow, took something, a tool I don¡¯t know the name of and I probably bought with the rest of it not knowing it was going to have an unexpected use, and carved a little hole on the arrowhead the size of the shaft. After that the pieces were joined together with some difficulty. The arrowhead didn¡¯t fit perfectly but Sam smashed a tiny nail that didn¡¯t manage to pass through all the arrow fixing the pieces in place.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Black arrow


    Normal quality.</td></tr><tr><td>Crafted by a novice this arrow is a crude work made from a brittle material. Nonetheless the deep connection with the void makes this arrow useful in its own way.</td></tr><tr><td>+5% damage to magical creatures.


    +30% possibility to incapacitate the enemy.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how good this is,¡± started saying Sam showing the arrow. ¡°It¡¯s not as strong as steel and I can cut it so It¡¯s not going to last as long. I don¡¯t think I can sharpen it much more without making it worse and¡­ Well, honestly I think it should have a bigger effect than the other arrows I modified, but I don¡¯t know how it the magic works so¡­¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± I interrupted, everyone looking at me. ¡°It has more chance of incapacitate and makes more damage to magical creatures.¡±


    Sam nodded and smiled leaving the arrow over the table. He sighed loudly.


    ¡°Well, that is something that works at least.¡± He said. ¡°Now I can help you with your problem John.¡±


    He moved over the other part of the table and sat close to John.


    ¡°You are also trying to experiment with magic shit?¡± asked Knight getting closer. ¡°Wait, is that-?¡±


    John lifted the heavy black fur of a chaos wolf. It was strange looking at it. Even at day with plenty of light around the fur seemed to¡­ eat light. It was slightly darker around it, just a little, but it seemed like if it was trying to hide. That was another reason not to go out at night. You couldn¡¯t see the wolves at night.


    ¡°John told me he had experience working with leather tanning and things like that in his last job as a postman,¡± said Sam smiling at me. ¡°Apparently he delivered the mail in a country where people didn¡¯t have dogs as pets but instead had lions so it come in handy from time to time.¡±


    John chuckled. ¡°In all seriousness, yes I¡¯ve been trying to make something out of this. This fur is very good to work with. It¡¯s a bit heavy but if we could make a suit or a cloak out of it¡­ It would be almost impossible to pick someone at night with it. A perfect camouflage. The only problem is that we don¡¯t have many tools to work with.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± I yelled coming back to life. ¡°You are trying to make an invisibility cloak?!¡±


    John looked at me and nodded slowly.


    ¡°Marry me. I call dibs on the first one!¡± I said and then my brain shut off again.


    They stared at me for a second and went back to work.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have to treat the hide or something before working with it?¡± asked my brother.


    ¡°Normally yes, but we worked out a way of doing that without too much work,¡± answered John and then pointed at Sam. ¡°Actually Sam did and it was brilliant. You see, after taking the skin apart of everything else it needs to dry. In normal circumstances without the proper material the skin will grow bacteria and rot. We don¡¯t have those materials but we have a way of taking the bacteria from the skin directly.¡±


    Both Sam and John smiled, obvious pride flowing from them. Knight and I were confused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± said my brother.


    ¡°The inventory!¡± yelled Sam. ¡°It only lets the skin enter while leaving the bacteria behind so we let it dry outside for a moment and we put it back inside before the bacteria causes any damages until the process is over.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ is¡­ so cool,¡± said Knight dumbfounded.


    John smiled. ¡°Yes now the only problem is-¡±


    I shut off their voices and smiled. They were¡­ No. We were adapting. We were not just working with what we had before the change, we were adding the things that these new world was giving us. Looking for new applications and ways of working. That was good. Unfortunately it was going to be necessary too if we wanted to survive.


    The last weeks had been ¡®easy¡¯ to say something. We had some fights with monsters but nothing as big as those first days. We were not relaxed by any stretch of the imagination but we had some breathing space. Something told me that was going to change sooner or later. Every night more monsters were spawning and slowly the world was filling up with those things. The days were going to turn bad soon if nothing changed.


    I watched them work for the next hours. All of them talking and trying to come with ways to make better equipment, about abilities, about the future¡­ And I wondered what would happen in the future. We had been surviving by sheer luck, my bullshit abilities acting at the perfect moment and nothing more. If it wasn¡¯t for my little time travel experience I had no doubt only John would be alive now.


    John was the only one that had an inkling of survival experience. Despite the mystery of his ¡®job¡¯ I knew if not for him someone would be dead by now. He had proved himself despite being ¡®new¡¯ with us. John had knowledge we didn¡¯t and had been using it to help us all the time, like with the shooting practice or knowing how to use a radio for more than changing from a music channel to another. John had been very useful.


    John-


    I got up with a jump suddenly alerting everyone.


    I talked stammering with the words ¡°John, I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I forgot to ask. I didn¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s just that Sam and we¡­ We don¡¯t have any family left and¡­¡± I said watching as John got very tense. ¡°I forgot to ask. I assumed you didn¡¯t have anyone because we don¡¯t and¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The room went silent. Sam and Knight looked at John cold and nervous. They had forgotten too. Nobody moved or said anything for a minute waiting for John to speak.


    ¡°I have a niece,¡± he said finally going back to the wolf fur and not looking at anyone. ¡°But unless we can find a boat to cross the ocean I doubt I can do anything for her.¡±


    I got up and walked to him. Mixed emotions were flowing from him, fear and rage with everything else in between. I didn¡¯t really understood what he was feeling.


    ¡°I understand and I know I can¡¯t promise anything but¡­ I want you to know that during these weeks you saved our lives several times and if there is a possibility to¡­¡± I tried to say. ¡°I will help you.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°I know and we are not in a position to do anything about people in another continent, but I want you to know that I¡¯ll help.¡± I said smiling.


    The flow of emotions diminished letting the just a sensation of gratefulness grow.


    ¡°I¡­ believe you.¡±


    I opened my voice to say something else when the howl of a wolf broke the silence. Followed by a lot more howls. I jumped to the door walking outside and everyone went after me. They forgot their projects lying on the table and walked with me. The howls repeated faster and angrier.


    ¡°They sound close by, a lot of them. Probably a pack and a big one,¡± said John looking at the sky. ¡°Is still soon. We should check and try to thin them down before the night. No offense, but I don¡¯t want to test your wall against a whole pack of wolves.¡±


    I nodded casting the usual spells over them with both hands. It took a few minutes but we walked outside. The wall opened for me just enough to let us pass one by one and we got out following the howls. There was a battle out there. Who the wolves were fighting I didn¡¯t know but it was clear by the constant howls they were fighting. I didn¡¯t hear shooting but my mind imagined it was humans. I wanted to think there was someone else out there alive and unconsciously I began to walk faster.


    It didn¡¯t matter at the end. When we got there the howls had stopped and there were no humans only wolves, dead wolves. Corpses and pieces of wolves smeared along the grass, they had fought between themselves. A group of corpses were lying in a circle around the bodies of the two biggest wolves I had seen. It was awful to see, there bodies literally torn to pieces.


    And just in the middle of everything, surrounded by the bodies of the two big wolves there was a last wolf alive. A little red wolf.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Flame wolf Lv. 1</td></tr><tr><td>The spawn of chaos wolves can be very diverse but the flame wolves are with difference the most rare and powerful of all. Since when they grow they can easily dominate every other type of wolf they are usually killed before they have the opportunity.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was still moving, a tiny thing that looked so pitiful. It just stood there moaning weakly and nudging with his head the body of the big wolf. Trying to make it react, trying to make it come back.


    Sam reacted to the movement aiming his crossbow but John stopped him and looked at me. I ignored them walking slowly towards the wolf. It saw me and tried to howl at me, to make me go away but I didn¡¯t. It was hurt and bleeding and dying.


    I charged the seed and touched the wolf slightly letting the spell heal it. He buffed for the contact but noticed quickly what was happening. His wounds healed. He looked at me just for a second as in confusion or pain or sorrow and then ran into the wild.


    I walked back forgetting about that and everything else. We went back to the Zombinator in silence and that night I couldn¡¯t eat anything.

 Chapter 11: Forest adventure

    <The video starts slow with a frenetic change of lights trying to illuminate the scene. Adam appears centered on the screen.>


    Captains log. Date, one month and a half after the day the world went away. That is, by the way, what we have decided to call it after I threatened them with the silliest name ever. A name I will not repeat here.


    It was Zindependence day. With a Z for zombies.


    Shut up Knight.


    <There is a change in the camera for a moment before it comes back.>


    We have been driving for several weeks now following the remains of roads we found. They are very damaged and almost impassable in some locations, but we have managed to continue for now.


    The Zombinator is still in a perfect state and giving its all for the mission ahead. There had been a few problems with the doors and Sam believes it has something to do with the constant changes of temperature that we have. We can¡¯t do much about it, but is still working without problems. Oh, that and the weird smell that is coming from one couch because somebody and I¡¯m not looking at anyone, Sam, spilled an entire can of food over it.


    <There is a muffled sound coming from somewhere.>


    Whatever the case the point is that it smells weird.


    We have not make any progress with the enchanting thingy yet. Even when I tried to remember things from my magical memory of things I remember we found nothing. It was useless but we will find something with time.


    The roads are getting harder to pass through and according to our maps all the roads ahead are too far apart from any source of water so¡­


    We will have to start moving close to the rivers, there is one close by and we are going to follow it north or wherever is going now given that everything seems to be changing paths. We will just have to hope very hard we don¡¯t find hundreds of monsters or psychopathic plants.


    Oh. Adam, that reminds me. I took your flower.


    <The video ends abruptly with quick snap of the laptop.>


    I closed the laptop with a sharp movement and stare at Sam. He was looking at me completely straight.


    ¡°No offense, but you are not exactly my type. And if someday I can proudly announce that I have done it with a black guy I would prefer to remember the deal so¡­ Where did this happen? And can you elaborate a bit?¡± I said.


    Sam just stood there for a moment before catching up and feeling embarrassed.


    ¡°No, no! I mean, not your¡­¡± he sighed watching me and trying hard to look away. ¡°The flower samples you took, the white dream. Before the evil tree, remember? You gave them to me the other day to experiment and I forgot.¡±


    A tiny white flower appeared on his hand.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>White dream


    Crafting ingredient.</td></tr><tr><td>A flower born from the light. These flowers have been gifted by nature with the ability to produce sweet dreams to those who smell them.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I walked to him and took the flower from his hand. I forgot about them too.


    ¡°Huh,¡± I muttered simply.


    I was moving suddenly, opening the cabinets and being given confused looks from Sam and Knight. I took a bowl and walked outside not saying anything. The day was clear and hot. We have parked the Zombinator on top of a hill that let us see all around us before anything could get closer.


    I dropped to the ground scrapping the soil with my hands for a little dirt and put it in the bowl. I entered back inside adding some water to the mix before finally getting the flower in place. It didn¡¯t took much encouragement for the flower to grow back. The tiny mind of the flower understood what I was trying and almost cried in gratitude. Fortunately it didn¡¯t because the closer it could do to crying was gassing us with sleep powder. In a moment the flower had grown roots back inside the bowl and I put the bowl over the table.


    The flower transmitted a last thought of gratitude before I moved my hand away.


    ¡°So¡­ Are you starting again your collection of rare flowers?¡± asked my brother looking at it.


    I snorted. ¡°No, that was a thing the old Adam did. The new Adam is starting a new collection of magical flowers that will do my bidding and feast in the blood of my enemies. It¡¯s a huge change, before I hugged trees and now I made trees hug people to death. Repeatedly.¡±


    ¡°You still hug trees,¡± pointed Knight.


    ¡°I was doing magic it¡¯s completely different,¡± I defended myself.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t judge. As long as a tree doesn¡¯t take your ¡®flower¡¯ I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    I stared at him completely dumbfounded. ¡°Were you just thinking about weird tentacle porn with trees? Because that is just wrong in so many levels that-¡±


    The sound of an arrow flying interrupted my thoughts. I moved to the door and opened inspecting outside. There was a ghoul in the ground with an arrow sticking from its head. I tried to process that when John appeared out of nowhere running to the Zombinator fast. Like really fast. He took the arrow from the head of the ghoul while running which was impressive and scary as fuck at the same time because I couldn¡¯t imagine what would make him ran like that.


    ¡°Run,¡± he said simply stepping inside the Zombinator and closing the door behind.


    Sam took his place at the drivers set before I had the opportunity to ask something more. John looked at me sharply.


    ¡°There are groups of ghouls moving towards us from all directions. They are trying to surround us,¡± he said taking position close to a window.


    I paled for a moment. The Zombinator moved driving down the hill. The ghouls appeared then, clearly running up towards us, dozens of glowing purple eyes sprinting fast.


    ¡°I was thinking¡­ If they are ghouls why don¡¯t we change the name of the Zombinator?¡± asked Sam driving.


    ¡°Do you really want to talk about that right now?!¡± I asked.


    A ghoul jumped over the Zombinator making it move out of the road.  The Zombinator shocked with a muffled sound. I looked back trying to see how many ghouls were but got distracted. A sound was coming from on top of us, the sound of scrapings and growls.


    ¡°Shit. One is on top of us!¡± I yelled.


    Sam heard me and immediately drove faster trying to make it fall. It didn¡¯t work. In a few moments more ghouls jumped, some of them simply tried to damage the Zombinator hitting it with their bodies, others managed to repeat what the first one did grabbing onto our vehicle and scrapping aimlessly against the walls.


    One of the ghouls somehow grabbed to our side and looked at us through the windows. Then it started hitting it with all its strength, but the bars protected it. I moved back to the center of the Zombinator where I could see everything and tried to concentrate enough time to make a plan.


    Knock. Knock. Knock.


    We stared at the door, every thought we had lost. Nothing happened for a second before we heard the sound of growls and saw the head of a ghoul moving at the window closer to the door. More knocks followed and the door seemed to open just a little before coming back in place.


    We stood there in silence.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose it could be a Jehovah¡¯s witness,¡± I muttered to which the ghoul answered with an incomprehensible loud growl.


    ¡°It imitates them quite well, but we aren¡¯t that lucky,¡± said Knight walking towards the door that socked with the knocks. ¡°Do you think it can break the door?¡±


    I shrugged getting close. ¡°The velociraptor in Jurassic park could open doors. I wouldn¡¯t take a chance.¡±


    John snorted moving to the door. He put the hand over the handle and looked at my brother. ¡°At the count of three I open the door and you kill it. Take out your spear.¡±


    Knight nodded and equipped the spear. John counted slowly to three and with a sudden movement opened the door to the outside. The ghoul shoved his face over the opening, quickly trying to use the opportunity to enter inside the Zombinator but Knight was ready. With a push the spear pierced the head of the ghoul and despite the action the enemy screamed. It was a frightening scream that froze my blood hugely emphasized by the spear still sticking inside his head. I noticed almost immediately that the weapon was stuck and the ghoul tried to wrench it from the hands of my brother making it slip a step towards the door. I tried to act almost at the moment but it was already too late. The spear glowed with a red light for a second and the head of the ghoul became ashes stopping the scream. Knight fell backwards and John closed the door again.


    ¡°Are you all okay?¡± asked Sam trying very hard to maintain his head to the front.


    ¡°Did you just disintegrate the head of a zombie?¡± I asked openmouthed.


    Knight swayed and nodded getting up from the ground. He didn¡¯t bother to answer and the rest kept moving and putting away everything that could get in the way. With time and due to our apparently easy way to get in the middle of lots of monsters we have learned a few things. The first was that when we have to run madly from things its better if we don¡¯t have many things that can break around.


    ¡°Okay, so disintegrating heads is a thing now. Great.¡± I muttered.


    There were many ghouls outside now. I could easily count dozens of them running frantically to us.


    ¡°What the hell is happening? Where did they come from?¡± asked Knight.


    John shrugged. ¡°I only saw them coming when they were already too many to do something about them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s weird they have come in this numbers now when we haven¡¯t seen so many ghouls around,¡± I said.


    I got back to the table and took the flower I just planted. Not a bloody good moment to do it but whatever. The ¡®good moments¡¯ were starting to be less common lately. The flower would have to be secured in a cabinet for the moment. I glanced back watching as more ghouls joined the others and I cursed. Some of them were going very fast, fast enough to catch up to us in little time. Before I could say anything about it John was already on the front of the Zombinator guiding Sam.


    ¡°We can¡¯t outrun them. We have to lose them,¡± he said pointing at the beginning of a forest. ¡°Go there. It will make it more difficult for them to follow.¡±


    ¡°Only because it will probably be filled with even more monsters,¡± I sighed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have many other options do we?¡± asked John.


    I shrugged not bothering to answer. I didn¡¯t have an answer. It took me a second to notice that everyone but Sam was looking at me and waiting for an answer. No, they were waiting for¡­ What, an order? They were doing that, waiting for me to give not my opinion on things, but answers. Like if I had something more to give them they didn¡¯t know about.


    Which I suppose I did but still¡­ It was annoying for time to time to see that face expecting something more.


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t. I guess,¡± I said slowly.


    Sam took that for an answer and accelerated as much as it could into the forest. The ghouls were getting closer by the moment, some of them dropping back unable to follow, but most of them pressing on faster. We entered the forest faster than it was safe to do, bumping into the first root we found and hovering in the air for a second.


    The trees did make it difficult for the ghouls and some got lost on the way in thanks to the terrain. We still had two ghouls glued to the Zombinator. The one in our side couldn¡¯t help but hit frantically the steel bars protecting the window until it seemed the bars were actually breaking. I could see them bending from the hits.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Shit. That was bad. I knew the ghouls were strong but somehow they had gotten even stronger. I panicked for a moment before inevitably something new appeared that made me forgot completely about the ghouls.


    I only managed to barely see it before it attacked. It was big and black. It was that thing that every game developer added to their rpgs for some sadistic fucking reason. Even though everyone hates them. I took a brief moment to curse mentally at whoever added fucking giant spiders to our world and then dropped to the ground when the spider attacked.


    The Zombinator shuddered hurt by the giant spider web that made us change direction. On the positive side, the attack launched the ghouls out of our way. We just had to fight spiders now. Great.


    The next attack didn¡¯t make us wait. More spiders appeared everywhere, some as big as cars and made their way slowly around us. They launched attacks, white streams flying, trying to stop the Zombinator. And for a moment it seemed useless, none of their attacks did anything more than make the Zombinator rock in place.


    Then, one of the attacks went lower touching one of the tires and making it blew with a loud sound. The Zombinator limped some more but more webs were launched blocking the rest of the tires and it was clear we couldn¡¯t go on.


    ¡°Out!¡± yelled John walking outside before anyone could and directly launching an arrow to the closest spider.


    It didn¡¯t took more encouragement to start running in the direction with less spiders. I unequipped my boots while moving and started summoning the mana from life. Sam just ran. John launched arrows while running and somehow my brother used his spear to burn the few webs that were being launched.


    We were in a bad position. Running for our lives inside a forest that could be filled with hundreds of these things. I ordered something simply to the grass making the mana flow back to it. The grass just had to give us time but it was having it difficult.


    Finally it was the moment when one of the spiders, annoyed that none of his long range attacks were doing anything, got close. The arrows that John was using weren¡¯t very useful with an enemy so big and my brother knew he was the only one that could do anything. With a shove he ran at the spider holding the spear over his head and aiming at his head.


    Knight went flying pulled by the spider web that was launched and ended pinned against a tree. His spear went flying in another direction not far away. I could see him trying to free himself but not managing. I cursed turning back and summoning the crossbow ready to face the spiders if that gave enough time to Knight to get out of the web. It turned out to not be necessary.


    As soon as one of the spiders tried to walk closer something stopped it. The spider shrieked lifting his body on its back legs before walking back as fast as it could. The rest of the spiders followed shortly after trying to outrun one another and disappearing inside the forest. I just stood there watching with my weapons ready and a well of mana to command the grass. They were just gone like that. I was confused but I didn¡¯t let the mana go until I was sure we were safe.


    ¡°Oh bloody hell. I hope this is venom because if not I¡¯m covered in spider¡¯s drool,¡± said Knight still pinned to the tree.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± called Sam. ¡°I¡¯ll get you out.¡±


    Sam took a knife and started cutting the web. The spiders did not seem to be coming back, in fact nothing seemed to be getting closer at all.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± I asked mumbling.


    ¡°They looked scared,¡± answered John. ¡°Scared of something that isn¡¯t us I presume.¡±


    I paled and looked at him. ¡°Oh god, this is the moment where the really big monster appears behind us, right?¡±


    I glanced behind and there was nothing. There was a sudden yell when my brother fell from the tree released with a heavy thud.


    ¡°Are we safe?¡± he yelled getting back on foot while massaging his back.


    I nodded and yelled back. ¡°For now at least.¡±


    ¡°That is something, maybe now you can heal me. That hit was not good for my back,¡± he said looking at his hand slowly and frowning. ¡°What the¡­?¡±


    Sam touched his hand trying to see what was wrong and then recoiled with a yelp dropping the knife.


    ¡°Adam, ADAM HELP!¡± yelled my brother.


    I snapped at the sound of urgency in his voice and ran to him. There was something in his hands, something red and growing. It was in the hand of Sam too. My mind entered panic mode trying to do twenty things at the same time.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Blood moss


    Crafting ingredient.</td></tr><tr><td>Moss that grows in the bark of old trees. A dangerous plant gifted with a connection to the element of blood. It will try to eat any living being that comes in contact with it to support its own growth.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°It¡¯s burning!¡± yelled Knight.


    The moss was spreading visibly along his arms. It was fast and for the description I imagined it was eating his flesh. My mind tried to concentrate in the problem. The most obvious answer was to just order the moss to stop, but for that I had to be touching it physically. Remembering our fight with the tree it was a risk and I could very well be unable to stop it and get infected by it.


    Healing him was the other option I had but¡­ I glanced at Sam. His hand was being covered by the moss too. It took two minutes to build the seed for one person, more if I tried to do it for both. At the speed the moss was spreading it will expand to their heads in less time I had to heal both of them. I looked at the eyes of both realizing my problem. I could risk it touching the moss or I could try to heal only one of them, but not both.


    ¡°Adam, do something!¡± screamed Knight.


    I snapped. I was not going to let die one of them. The choice was obvious. With a quick movement my hand darted to Knight¡¯s arm and the moss touched my skin. It burned spreading on my hand quicker than I expected. The pain made me flinch and I forgot for a second what I was doing but I didn¡¯t let it go further. I opened my mind to the moss, a connection enhanced by the fact it was eating little pieces of me. I commanded it to stop and nothing happened.


    I paled, half because of the pain and half from the surprise. I gritted my teeth and tried again opening more of my mind to the moss, trying to deepen the connection. It worked somewhat. For a moment all the moss growing on the trees lit up like a Christmas tree trying to talk back and I listened to it. Overwhelming. It was like the tide of the ocean trying to eat everything. Trying to grow, always growing, never stopping or looking back. That was everything the moss understood and why I couldn¡¯t make it stop. His mind, his vocabulary only had two words.


    Eat and grow.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I screamed from the pain.


    The moss was already in their chests and finishing with my arm. Not much time left to think. I had to face this from another perspective.


    Okay, think Adam. How do you make an idiot that doesn¡¯t understand proper English half of the time do what you want?


    ¡°If you stop we are going to make America great again!¡± I yelled.


    The Trump way didn¡¯t work. I breathed deeply. Think. It just wants to eat. I had to convince a glutton to stop eating in the next seconds or die. Great.


    I tried to transmit more things, tried to make it grow outside of us, tried to convince it to stop in exchange for more food later. It didn¡¯t work. It just wanted to keep eating. I blinked suddenly aware of something obvious. It wanted to eat so I ordered to do just that.


    I ordered to eat itself.


    It worked. It was painful as fuck but it worked. In a moment the moss started eating itself until all of it was dead and the rests fell like red dust scattering in the wind. We were alive. There was only one little problem. Part of my hand was missing, the skin and muscle eaten in seconds and I could see part of the bone. I glanced at my friends and I almost wanted to throw up.


    I managed to hold it and casted the spells on myself and everyone as fast as I could trying not to look. It was harder than I remembered but in moments the healing took effect and the only reminder of what had happened was in the scared looks of Sam and Knight and their labored breathing.


    And aware I just finished my job I doubled down and threw my breakfast.


    ¡°Are you all okay?¡± asked John in my place.


    They didn¡¯t answer still breathing with difficulty.


    ¡°I think-¡± I gasped. ¡°I think we just found what made those spiders ran.¡±


    John nodded gravely walking between the trees, already looking for more threats.


    Knight¡¯s breathing got normal and he went to help Sam, who was still panicking and started puking.


    ¡°I promise to not laugh again at your plants Adam,¡± said Sam after a moment.


    I laughed and both of them followed.


    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s what happens when you are evil and laugh at plants,¡± I said smiling and then blinked. ¡°Although that moss would be a great addition to my collection.¡±


    I took the knife that Sam had dropped before and looked to the trees. The moss had died in the closest ones but some others were still covered in red. Sam and my brother were out of their game and didn¡¯t notice me walking to the closest one.


    It was risky but worthy. I pulled the knife inside the bark yanking it around carefully and cutting a piece of the bark covered in moss. With a snap the bark broke and fell to the ground. I took it barely touching the bark at all and made it disappear inside the inventory. I knew I couldn¡¯t control it, at least yet, but it acted so quickly that as long as it touched an enemy first than me I wouldn¡¯t need to. I grimaced at the image.


    I inspected the rest of the moss. For some reason it only grew on top of the bark and only on some of the trees. It was strange that something so dangerous didn¡¯t just grow like crazy in all directions. I paled.


    ¡°John?¡± I asked running to him. ¡°I don¡¯t think the moss is what makes the spiders run. It only grows around the trees, and they are big but they can pass around it!¡±


    John glanced at me and nodded. ¡°I think you are right,¡± he said pointing at something.


    I got closer and followed his hand choking when I saw it. Sam and Knight walked closer then and stared.


    A white tower stood there in the middle of the spider infested forest. It was an old circular tower built with huge stones. Arches and broken walls were sitting along with it, ruins of other buildings that were completely broken to pieces. The tower was intact. No damage could be seen on it whatsoever. It just stood there surrounded by ruins.


    And over it, hovering in midair a gem floated glowing with a bright white light. Almost welcoming or perhaps daring anyone to enter.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have found the ruins of the Tower of Sorcery.</td></tr><tr><td>One of the old wonders of the world. The Tower of Sorcery was the place where many scholars went to refine and share their knowledge. Now it lays abandoned.</td></tr><tr><td>For being the first to find it:


    x5 more experience inside it.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 12: The tower of sorcery

    Hello, and thanks for reading my story. I want to apologize for any weird thing happening to the tables or the text. The new update has changed things a bit and I''m not sure how everything is working yet.


    And well, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy.


    <hr>


    The tower of sorcery lay proudly inside the perfect canopy formed by the forest, similar to the spiders not even the trees seemed to want to grow closer to the ruins. Speaking for myself I couldn¡¯t feel anything weird about the ruins. Just broken arches, half walls torn in pieces lying in the grass and the tower. The tower was an impressive building, tall, white and perfect like a chess piece. It didn¡¯t look menacing or weird. At least if you forgot about the diamond hovering over the top glowing in white light.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">You are too far away to be able inspect it.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Over the next hour I tried to inspect it before we got closer just in case something killed us, but it was impossible. I was too far away to do it apparently. That didn¡¯t mean I hadn¡¯t tried to look around without getting close to the ruins and spammed the inspect ability until it got pissed.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Grover: Around! Around! Around! Around!


    Over, and Under, and Through


    Near!


    Far!


    Near!


    Far!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°I get it. I¡¯m too far away,¡± I sighed. ¡°Whatever you are, if you can joke around you should be able to just cheat and tell me what I want. Right?¡±


    Nobody answered, and it let me again completely confused about the system.


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± asked John suddenly close to me.


    ¡°Nope. Just that I have to get closer to the ruins if I want to know more,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Do you really want to enter the tower, Adam?¡± he asked.


    I stared. ¡°You don¡¯t? I mean it¡¯s kind of the first building that obviously appeared with the merge. Unless building with magic floating lights existed before, of course. Personally I have never seen a magic tower in the enchanted forest close to my house but-¡±


    ¡°I understand the implications, Adam¡± he stopped me before I could continue. ¡°But if you are right and the tower is what those spiders are afraid off. I think we shouldn¡¯t get to close.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t let you touch your stats!¡± I yelled pointing at him. ¡°You know nothing about games! Do you even know what a dungeon is?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said completely straight.


    I blinked. ¡°Oh. Then I don¡¯t know why- Wait. I meant a dungeon in a game, not¡­ Oh, of course! You were a secret torturer from the government! Or maybe you were in charge of something worse, like a sex dungeon!¡± I walked in another direction trying not to look at him. ¡°Shit. Now I¡¯m picturing you in leather and with a paddle. I¡¯m scare-roused.¡±


    John laughed loudly. ¡°I meant¡­ I¡­ I played dungeons and dragons when I was a kid. No leather.¡±


    ¡°You played dungeons and dragons?¡± I said looking at him again, every disturbing image forgotten. ¡°That¡¯s so¡­ Okay, so we definitely have to talk about your stats later, but¡­ Dungeon, bosses, loot. Basically that¡¯s the tower, preferably with loot in the shape of a magic gun that shots fireballs.¡±


    He snorted and I moved. It was time to try a new approach. I touched the grass feeling that it was somewhat scared of being there, so close to the tower. I moved just as close to the tower as I dared. The grass grew with little incentive still scared but assured by my guidance and easily covered one of the ruined walls. I waited in silence for a second.


    Nothing happened.


    ¡°See? Nothing to worry about. I was expecting a death ray or something, but I think we can safely say that if it is the tower what is scaring the monsters is not because it kills them,¡± I said walking closer.


    ¡°There would have been corpses around the tower if that was the case,¡± he said making feel like an idiot for not noticing that first. ¡°And I¡¯m more concerned about the inside than the outside.¡±


    ¡°You are a lot more comfortable around us now, right?¡± I asked smiling. ¡°The first days you barely speak much less disagree. And I mean, I get it. I just saved you from the apocalypse and you were the only one ¡®new¡¯ in the group. It was a delicate situation but this thing about second-guessing my decisions is¡­ Oh, shit.¡±


    There was the body of a ghoul in the ground covered by one of the walls that had fallen partially over it. The wall falling on it was not the cause of the death though. It was charred and mangled and bloated. Almost like if something had killed it in three different ways at the same time.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Ghoul brute Lv. 32</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    An evolved version of a normal ghoul changed when it consumed several types of monsters. Altough their intelligence is not superior to their basic counterparts they are faster and stronger.


    Did you really thought things were going to be easy forever?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit.¡± I cursed repeatedly.


    The monsters were evolving. Of course! Because why the hell not. I casted a glance to the tower.


    ¡°I think you got your answer,¡± said John at the sight of the body.


    I did. The tower hadn¡¯t attacked us which probably meant it only attacked monsters. I didn¡¯t know what made me more afraid, the horrible way the ghoul had been killed or the fact that below all the deformation the ghoul had claws. The monsters weren¡¯t just taking over the world step by step, they were getting stronger.


    ¡°We can¡¯t keep running,¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± asked John.


    I pointed at the ghoul telling him what I discovered.


    ¡°The monsters are evolving and they are going to keep doing it. Until they are too strong to run from then or hide. We need to take every opportunity we have to level up instead of trying to run like we¡¯ve been doing.¡± I said slowly


    John looked imperturbable as he heard me and nodded. ¡°So we go into the tower.¡±


    The Zombinator chose that moment to slide across the grass closer to the tower. Parts of the camouflage painting in the Zombinator were chipped from the attack and some other parts were damaged. Bumps in the walls were visible and some of the bars around the windows were bent. It was mostly in one piece but a clear testament of the monster¡¯s new strength.


    It parked away from the broken buildings, not very sure if it was safe to move closer, and both Sam and Knight walked out.


    ¡°It¡¯s here and nothing is broken,¡± announced Sam. ¡°I hope the monsters are really afraid of the tower or-¡±


    I stopped him pointing at the corpse.


    ¡°Shit!¡± yelled Sam and Knight at the same time.


    ¡°They are afraid, and that is why we are going to enter the tower.¡± I said explaining briefly the level of the ghoul. ¡°In the worst case we could find the weapon that killed it. In the best¡­ I¡¯m hoping for light sabers and magic guns, but it¡¯s a dungeon so I hope to find something useful nonetheless.¡±


    They nodded somewhat agreeing with me and we moved to the tower while I casted the usual spells. There was a door, big and white as the rest of the building, made with some kind of wood that felt like metal and stone painted with strange symbols. I put my hand over the door about to open it.


    My empathy tinted with worry and fear coming from my friends.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There is nothing evil about this tower,¡± I reassured them.


    The door opened with one of those really long creaking sounds that all evil doors should have, to show us a big circular hall. The hall was impressive, big enough to fit inside every house I ever lived together. Big enough to surpass the obvious dimensions of the tower. Which meant that¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s bigger on the inside!¡± I screamed excited like a little girl.


    Of course that was the moment when the definitely not evil tower closed the door behind us.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">You have entered the Tower of Sorcery.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Long ago this was a place of knowledge where people of every corner of the world came to study and share their knowledge. The merge finished with that when everybody died. Nonetheless the sorcerers laid powerful protections over their tower and it survived the merge. Now it lies alone and forgotten but we warned to whoever wants to claim its mystery¡¯s for although many things have been lost the tower is never powerless or harmless.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The lights in the hall blinked on for a few seconds before finally deciding to go off leaving us in complete darkness. There was an uncomfortable silence.


    ¡°Famous. Last. Words,¡± said Knight very slowly.


    The sound of a flashlight brought my attention as John pulled several lights out of his inventory and illuminated the hall again. Broken statues lay along the walls, and there were signs of something that in other time may had been draperies and rugs. It felt old, almost like walking into an ancient tomb.


    While we walked along the hall I noticed something critical. There was barely any mana of life inside nor any plant, and therefore nothing I could use if we were attacked. It was going to be tricky.


    At the other end of the hall there was an opening. No door this time, just an open way. We followed the only way we had to a long and straight passage that no matter how much we tried to illuminate it always seemed to keep on going forever. Luckily although the passage didn¡¯t seem to have an end, it had other doors in one side.


    The first door we found had something written on it with some kind of runes. We spent a few moments before my brother decided to step in.


    ¡°At the count of three?¡± he asked prepared to open.


    We pointed our weapons and flashlights at the interior the moment the door opened. It was a tiny circular room with a single table and empty shelves. My brother walked inside disappointed there was nothing.


    The second room was equally disappointing. Actually it was a big circular room with long tables resembling the dining hall in Hogwarts. It was cool, and it made me want to re-read the books, but¡­ The most amazing thing inside were tables.


    The third room started to show a trend. It was a cleaning storage.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Cleaning broom


    Enchanted utility.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">It''s a broom that cleans on its own! Incredibly useful to clean rooms. Other people may try to tell you that their brooms are better, but with the new self-cleaning micro-enhanced sun-powered broom we guarantee your satisfaction. And now with our new offer, just for the first hundred people to call, buy one and get two! Precaution, it may randomly insult you in Spanish or ask for more cleaning supplies in an attempt to be racist.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I took a second to breathe deeply and made Sam stuff a few brooms in his inventory.


    By the end of the fifth room we were just disappointed and hoping at the sixth there was a psychopath with a hockey mask. Instead we found a dark room with a single illuminated pedestal holding a sword.


    We stopped. There was something weird about the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap,¡± I said watching the interior.


    John nodded looking at the sword. ¡°We should try given that it¡¯s the first room we find with something.¡±


    I sighed and watched as John attempted to pass inside. The first step was fine, the second launched a bolt from somewhere in the ceiling and he jumped trying to avoid it. That was not enough to stop John who pushed onwards. The sword disappeared suddenly, more bolts launched from the walls and fire breathed from underneath covering the pedestal. Finally John moved back into the passageway closing the door behind him. A final bolt launched piercing through the door.


    ¡°Next door?¡± I asked smiling.


    Seventh room was some kind of training room full of traps. And eight was finally something interesting, a greenhouse. I noticed the great amount of life mana the moment I entered. It was a wide room full of strange trees and flowers that were a paradise for the imagination. Unfortunately, the only thing I can tell you about that room is this. Twenty minutes after we entered we were running back into the passageway.


    ¡°Okay, we are not talking about that one, ever.¡± I said to them.


    Everyone nodded and we continued onwards trying to forget everything just happened. The doors continued appearing, one after the other filled with taps and nothing interesting until we manage to find the mother lode.


    Knight went first making sure it wasn¡¯t a trap.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the library,¡± answered Knight.


    Some lights tried to flick on for a second before giving up, but surprisingly it was not that dark inside. The walls themselves seemed to be giving some light almost like if they were fluorescent. It was enough at least to move inside and see the outlines of the building.


    The library was a big building. No, if the rest of the tower we had already seen was big this was massive. Circular in design as the rest of the tower, but I could count at least seven floors ending in a dome painted with bright stars similar to the night sky. A massive circular hall filled with bookshelves and all of them intact. Something had preserved the books and the entire room with almost no damage.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Of course that wasn¡¯t very strange. The mages or sorcerers that had to build this were presumably interested in knowledge. It made sense that they protected the library better than the rest of the tower.


    We walked inside carefully with our steps even though I didn¡¯t think they would put traps where books could be damaged. As we passed more details were becoming clearer. There were tables and chairs scattered along the room, some of them broken or even pulverized, but the books were fine.


    In a few moments we made our way into what appeared to be the center of the library. A huge table drawn in a circle lay there. Something similar to a pedestal made of stone sat across.


    I glanced at my friends. ¡°It¡¯s obvious we need to check this room out before we move. I¡¯m going to start here and see what we can-¡±


    I walked close to the table to leave the light over it when something moved. I stopped talking and looked. In the exact center of the library something almost human stirred. I pointed my light to it trying not to freak-out completely. The light illuminated the figure of a statue made of stone, gemstones started to illuminate faintly along its surface.


    It was a golem.


    ¡°¦ª¦Á¦Ë?? ?¦Ñ¦È¦Á¦Ó¦Å!¡± said the golem.


    I paled. ¡°Oh c¡¯mon! We find something still on and it¡¯s useless. Couldn¡¯t this be a normal story where the aliens speak English?¡±


    Sam snickered and walked across getting closer to the golem.


    ¡°¦¬¦É¦Ë?¦Ó¦Å ¦Ó¦Ç ¦Ã¦Ë?¦Ò¦Ò¦Á;¡± continued the golem.


    I sighed. Things could never be easy around here. Then the gemstone in its chest brightened for a moment and the stone pedestal shone with green light. We walked past it before thinking it was nothing important but then I saw it shining. A silver book was lying in its surface. Everyone was drawn to it instantly but nobody moved.


    Whatever the book was, it was important, but nobody wanted to risk it in case it was another trap. I was not so troubled and I walked closer. The pedestal was changing light and the book was a mystery ready to be solved. The golem started speaking again in that language and I ignored it. I inspected it hoping to find something else.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Tome of tongues</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The tome of tongues is a holy gift given by the god of knowledge to the Tower Sorcery to serve as a tool of understanding of all common languages in the world. It was the hope of this book to help all new initiates understand the books on this library.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I reached out to the book the moment I finished reading the window.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Do you wish to understand all common languages?</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seconds after I yelled yes like a crazy idiot a flood of information entered my brain. If I hadn¡¯t passed out when I took my class this may have felt similar. It only took a moment and lots of windows appeared in my face.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">+1 WIS acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>+1 INT acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic human languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic elven languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic dwarf languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic troll languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic orc languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic giant languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic wilder languages acquired.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Basic goblin lang...</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    More and more windows appeared.


    ¡°Shit,¡± I mumbled touching my head when it finally stopped.


    ¡°¡­when you are finished. Please understand that we can only offer you a basic understanding of the common languages and some of the books in this library are written in old or rare variants. To learn more languages please consult the books in the third floor.¡±


    I blinked confused trying to regain my balance, and then it was over. I was thinking it would be like the knowledge I acquired with my class, strange and mostly completely incomprehensible. Like a book inside my head, but it wasn¡¯t. It was completely clear and I could understand the languages perfectly without any delay or issue.


    ¡°Remember as long as you remain in this library you have to abide by the rules and follow at every moment the instructions of the sorcerer in charge of the library. Happy reading!¡± said the golem.


    I turned back from the pedestal. The golem was dark again almost as if it had never talked in the first place. My friends were staring at me weirdly.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Do I have something on my face or?¡± I asked passing my hand over my face.


    Knight shared a look with the rest. ¡°You were completely still and glowing for two minutes and then said something sounding suspiciously similar to what the golem was saying. Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Two minutes? ÉñÂ}µÄغÍ衱 I blinked realizing what I just said. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Yeah, fine. It¡¯s a bit like having a fly in your brain buzzing around, but my spells aren¡¯t acting so¡­ It seems everything is fine.¡± I pointed to the book. ¡°It¡¯s like Google translator, but actually working.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± asked my brother.


    I sighed and tried to organize my thoughts better. ¡°The book is not harmful it gives you the languages of this books to people that don¡¯t know then. Everything it¡¯s a bit wobbly right now, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not harmful.¡±


    Sam got very tense staring at the book for a moment before jumping to touch it. He was enveloped in light for several minutes as the languages downloaded in his brain without activating the seed at any moment. Sam and John followed not very convinced. I went to work not bothering with them.


    The golem illuminated again the moment I got closer.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± he said. ¡°New initiates of the tower of sorcery I welcome you between these halls. I am A.R.C. Arcane research compendium. Built with the specific intention of compiling all knowledge we possess, and help you in your research endeavors. I can help you find any book you are interested with as well as offer you a resume on all important facts that you wish to know. As you have been informed your studies here will last for several years and we hope you are confortable. Now, please, if you already have a magical affinity take one of the many exemplars of Mana manipulation that you can find in the bookshelves around you.¡±


    I glanced behind moving the light to the bookshelves.


    ¡°Remember that all means of instant knowledge transfer (or IKT) are not perfect and will not offer whole understanding of the subject nor mastery over any abilities gained. We recommend reading the physical book once the transfer has finished to deepen the understanding on the subject. It is also unadvised to use the IKT function with more than one book a day as it can be disorienting and cause trouble with sleeping patterns.¡± Said the golem in a completely monotonous voice.


    There was a metallic shriek and the gemstones in the golem illuminated a bit more. ¡°Now, please, remain calm as I teach you the 1257 rules of the library.¡±


    I ignored it more or less at that moment. The books in the central bookshelves were all the same and I took the closest one. The knowledge flooded in my mind again, but this time it wasn¡¯t as much as with languages. It was more similar to my class knowledge. It was there, a perfect copy of the book inside my head that I knew somewhat how to use. Just not very clearly.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Mana manipulation Lv. 1


    Learned ability.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    The basic ability of every magician. Every spell is nothing more than the shaping of raw mana into spells.


    By mastering the art of giving shape to mana spells are easier to cast.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Active ability.


    +5% spell casting speed.


    -5% mana cost to all spells.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">By learning the basics of mana Empathy evolves to Communion.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Communion Lv. 9


    Obtained ability.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Long ago ancient sorcerers realized that the art of understanding the emotions of others could be improved with mana.


    Communion is and advanced technique that lets the user not only understand what other living beings feel, but also share their emotions and even establish a crude communication.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive abilty.


    Range increases with CHA.


    +5% more easier to make people agree with you.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    And my brain hurt. It didn¡¯t compare in quantity to the languages, but it was worse for my mind.


    ¡°Adam?¡± asked Knight touching my in the shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± I said with my mouth.


    ¡®I¡¯m okay¡¯ repeated Communion not with words, but with emotions. A single jolt of calmness moved between both of us transmitting the same message. Knight jumped.


    ¡°What was that?¡± he asked, eyes open ready to attack.


    ¡°It was me,¡± I said trying to suppress my ability from repeating it.


    This apparently was very easy to do. No emotion was transmitted when I talked again, but it was still there. I could feel their emotions much more clearly, like if I stepped closer to the fire. It didn¡¯t burn, but there was a certain pressure in my head that made it much easier for me to pick them. It was annoying. I could always ignore the empathy. It was barely there most of the time, but this was different. This was more in my face.


    Knight waved his hand over my face. ¡°Adam!¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said with a shock of my head. ¡°I just got an upgrade. Try this.¡±


    He caught the book that I launched at him and looked confused at me.


    ¡°It says I need a magic affinity to learn it,¡± he said giving it back.


    ¡°Oh, shit. Of course.¡± I cursed. ¡°Okay, well. I¡¯m the only one with a power upgrade, but there has to be something useful for everybody else too.¡±


    A bright light shone from the pedestal where John swayed touching his head. Again like with everyone there was no response from the seed. He was alright.


    ¡°What was that?¡± asked Sam with a hint of annoyance and confusion.


    ¡°It was calming, but it was coming from¡­¡± said John with something akin to fear.


    ¡°Stop feeling things!¡± I yelled letting my annoyance transmit to them.


    They stared at me in disbelief.


    ¡°It¡¯s me. My empathy leveled up, and now I can transmit emotions and feel a lot more about yours so please. Stop having feelings around me¡± I said.


    They just stared and kept feeling things because they were evil or couldn¡¯t disconnect their emotions at will.


    I sighed and dropped the book of magic in Sam hands. He was about to say something when I stopped him. ¡°You can¡¯t use it directly without magic, but you can read it and I¡¯m sure there is something there about enchantment.¡± I looked at the rest. ¡°The golem can help us find useful books, maybe you can¡¯t learn magic, but we could find some useful abilities nonetheless. I¡¯m going to ask and you can try not having emotions close to me because it¡¯s going to take a while to get the hang of it.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that on your own?¡± asked John.


    I stared at him confused. ¡°I suppose¡­ Why?¡±


    He glanced back to the other three doors of the library that opened in opposite places around the library. ¡°You only need one person to ask and find books. Two to be sure nothing bad happens. Your brother and I could scout ahead and come back in case there is something interesting while you keep looking for things here.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. Let¡¯s divide ourselves in groups, said the man when they entered the dark house making it incredibly easy for the murderer to take them one by one until nobody remained.¡± I clicked my tongue.


    Knight snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave Adam behind.¡±


    ¡°No, he is right.¡± I sighed, feeling the strong reaction of my brother. ¡°I don¡¯t think there is anything in the library that will attack us for now. And if something attacks you two¡­ well. Right now neither Sam nor I can make a huge difference in combat.¡±


    Sam nodded simply, and Knight agreed after a moment of being given the ¡®Get on with it¡¯ face that I mastered how to do when I was a kid. While they disappeared through one of the entrances Sam took a seat on the table and started reading the book on Mana manipulation.


    ¡°Where do we begin?¡± he asked.


    I moved back to the golem who was still repeating the rules of the library.


    ¡°Rule 42: If a fire is announced in the library. Don¡¯t Panic. There are safeguards in place for-¡±


    ¡°What can you tell us about magic?¡± I asked to the golem.


    The golem came back to life, the eyes glowing with light. It tried to move but failed due to the damage in its legs. A faint melody started to play repeating in a pattern for a few seconds and then the big white gem in its chest illuminated brightly. The blinding light was maintained for a moment before it dimmed back and projected an image in midair like a hologram.


    It was an image of six bright spheres of different colors. I have never seen it, but I recognized it instantly.


    ¡°Charging magic history 1. Please stand by.¡± Said the golem. ¡°Magic in its widest explanation is the practice, natural or artificial, of mana manipulation. Mana also known as magical energy is the principal study of magic. According to current understanding what we know as mana is a substance that behaves as a gas in its most common forms while also ignoring and being capable of passing through matter. It is attracted and accumulates around a few types of materials. In normal circumstances it moves in patterns known as ley lines, similar to the currents of the oceans.¡±


    The golem stopped making a few more sounds and the images got bigger.


    ¡°There are six types of primal mana and nine minor elements that transcend from them. The six primal types are subdivided in two groups.¡± Three of the spheres glowed brighter in white, green and violet. ¡°The sacred three; light, life and order, are those whose source comes from the gods of light. The pantheon of light is a collection of benevolent gods widely venerated in most parts of the world. Please, if you proceed from a society where the gods of light are not known consult The pantheon of light, magic and the order of things for a wider explanation in the subject.¡±


    The spheres dimmed before the other three glowed in black, brown and purple. ¡°The Void three; shadow, death and chaos are those whose source comes from the old gods and the Void. Not much is known about the treacherous deities known as the old gods, but it is advised to not have contact with any creature from the Void under any circumstances. If you wish to know more, please consult The war of the gods for more information in the subject.¡±


    The spheres disappeared changing to another set, but something brought my attention.


    ¡°Wait, wait!¡± I told the golem. ¡°Can you tell me more about the Void?¡±


    The golem stopped the projection, repeating again the pattern of sound and light. Sam looked at me in confusion.


    ¡°What are you thinking? Why did you ask about the Void?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that most of the things that try to kill us are coming from the Void or have some relation to it.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I want to know more.¡±


    The golem started talking again.


    ¡°The Void, also known as the Abyss or the eternal prison is a dimension completely separated from the mortal realm. Not much is known about it except for its relation with the war of the gods. Initializing War of the Gods archive.¡±


    The image changed showing a planet that didn¡¯t look like ours. Knight walked into the room then.


    ¡°Guys we found something you should see,¡± he said from the door. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know what it is, but you should see it.¡±


    The mix of surprise and excitement was easy to feel now. So much that I was tempted to walk away and follow him to see whatever they had found. But no, the information I was seeing could be more important right now.


    ¡°Give me a minute,¡± I said glancing back for a second.


    Knight nodded and went out of the room. Sam apparently decided staying here was more important too and kept reading the pages of the book while trying to listen what the golem said.


    ¡°The War of the Gods,¡± started the golem again, ¡°also known as the War of extinction or the Zinadariom was an event that occurred in our world approximately 2500 years ago. All contemporary records were lost and all dates that refer to this period of time or before are merely approximations.¡±


    ¡°It is believed that there was a schism between the gods of light that degenerated into a conflict. Two factions were formed amongst their lines and several or in fact all the gods of light took form in the mortal realm in a moment of our history rallying their followers in an all-out war that lasted for several years. The results were catastrophic as, according to current approximations, over 90% of all forms of life were destroyed during the conflict. Gigantic changes were produced to the environment and the shape of the world was remade.¡±


    The hologram changed showing the continents of the world being reshaped by huge cataclysmic events occurring all around the globe.


    ¡°Nonetheless the war was won and the devious gods that had started the conflict were casted away inside the Void before it was sealed for all eternity. Those are the ones we now refer as the Old gods. With their interference stopped the war finished, but the Gods of light, debilitated by the war, were unable to help the survivors and the overwhelming energies that still rallied the world even after their departure. None of the remaining mortals would have survived if not for the help of the elemental lords who graciously-¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, okay. The old gods were the other kind of gods before, but can you tell me more about them and the Void? I¡¯m not really interested in the historical minutia but you haven¡¯t even explained why the war started.¡± I sighed annoyed.


    This was turning to be not very useful. The image changed faster than before showing the shadowed outline of seven figures.


    ¡°It is known that the war began when the collective known as the old gods tried to attack the gods of light. The actual reason that sparked the conflict in the first place is unknown. Most current theories point to a catastrophic error in the system that made possible for the old gods to acquire more power, but many legends had been told about the reason. Amongst those legends many believe that the gods were in disagreement over how to manage their believers, others that there was a mortal involved who some of them fell in love with, a sacred object that was misused, the meddling of mortals with the Void, the white rabbit, a feast where the emperor insulted the go-¡±


    My back went stiff listening to the golem.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± I yelled not bothering about the look Sam gave me. ¡°The white rabbit? I¡­ I need to know more.¡±


    The golem made the now usual sounds before changing the image to that of a completely normal white rabbit.


    ¡°One of the oldest legends of the world it is believed there exist a mystical rabbit able to perform one wish to those who manage to find it. The origins of this legend are unknown and any records of people finding this mysterious entity don¡¯t exist. Its existence has not been proved despite the notoriety of the legend.¡±


    The golem stopped talking and I waited for a few seconds hoping for something more. I punched the table and walked closer to the golem.


    ¡°No, no, no¡­ You¡­ There has to be more information than that. I need it!¡± I yelled to it.


    More sounds that were not accompanied with an image this time and the golem spoke again.


    ¡°Accessing information.¡±


    ¡°Information edited by the Archmage. It is impossible to access the archive without direct confirmation. Attempting to contact the Archmage.¡±


    I sighed. Everyone was dead so it was easy to imagine how that attempt was going to work.


    ¡°Error. Main mana generators offline. Rerouting power from lower levels.¡±


    The lights of the entire library fluttered back on, many of them blinking precariously due to damage. Mana moved all around the library bringing to live all the installations.


    ¡°Error. Unable to contact the Archmage.¡±


    Yep. Well, at least I gathered the Archmage was interested enough in it to hide the information. The white rabbit was definitely something important. I didn¡¯t really believed it was something as simple as granting a wish though.


    ¡°Alarm. Scanner performed. Intruders detected inside the library. Sealing all entrances.¡±


    A shock ran through the building. The lights dimmed slightly. A bright and white mist appeared over the entrances. It slowly pooled in the air for a second, forming a whirlwind before collapsing in itself and taking the shape of a white wall that covered all ways in and out.


    I ran to the closest one and started hitting it with my fists. It was useless and the only thing I got out of it was hurting my hands. The walls were strong and with every hit they made faint sounds similar to those of a bell.


    ¡°Guardian golems online.¡±


    Dozens of statues along the walls lighted up jumping to the ground and readying their weapons for combat.


    ¡°Oh, shit,¡± I muttered.

 Chapter 13: Magic circuit

    So. Thanks everyone for reading. I''m not veru sure about this chapter so some critics would be appreciated.


    This one is from Sam''s perspective. It''s probably obvious but if somebody didn''t got that wel...


    I hope you enjoy it.


    <hr>


    The golems stood up in synch with a metallic and sharp noise that sounded like death. The lights of the library shone over the skin of the statues stealing gleaming flashes on its surface that joined with the changing lights coming from the gemstones growing along their bodies.


    As the library came back to life dozens of artifacts started buzzing around with little tunes and glowing signs as if they were welcoming their long gone occupants. The golems moved, a single step forward that shock through the stones like a thunder strike in a silent valley.


    They performed a perfect choreography one step at a time. As one they brandished their spears and moved slowly to the center of the library where I was. I gulped staring at the display before summoning the crossbow even when I knew I couldn¡¯t figure out what it could do against stone.


    Adam on its part was running back to the center of the room, crossbow in hand too.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± I asked passing my hands over the table.


    He, in its quite normal mode ¡®can¡¯t talk I¡¯m thinking very quickly¡¯, choose to answer only by throwing a table to the ground followed by a second one, turning them so they were facing the golems.


    I caught on quickly, helping throw the rest of the tables and making an improvised barricade between the golems and us. In a moment we were down on the ground covered behind the tables and watching the golems move.


    They were slow, but perfect, not leaving any hole in their formation as they walked the distance between the walls and the center of the library passing through bookshelves without disturbing its contents.


    I watched Adam as his expression shifted from something close to being afraid to being very afraid. For a minute I waited hoping he would answer me, but he showed no signs of having heard me in the first place or being aware I was there.


    Finally he roused himself over the table looking around and asked. ¡°They are magical beings, right?¡±


    I blinked looking back at them over the tables. ¡°They are moving stone statues. I imagine there is magic behind them, yes.¡±


    He nodded gripping hard the table surface and going down. ¡°It¡¯s the same thing as with the tree, we have to attack the magic that animates it. The wolf horns or your arrows should work on them.¡±


    ¡°Adam, that¡­¡± I paled visibly not daring to finish the sentence for a moment. ¡°The tree was soft enough to pierce it, but we can¡¯t pierce stone.¡±


    He nodded quickly as if he had been expecting that answer. The golems were closer, moving at the same speed, not fast, not slow. Just at the same pace, almost as if they couldn¡¯t bother with us trying to escape. Not that it mattered, the doors were closed and escape of the library was impossible. I glanced up seeing for the first time the celling illuminated with thousands of stars.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you use magic?¡±


    Adam sighed turning to look at me. ¡°I could grow the wood into something, but there is barely any life mana here?¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± I screamed a bit louder than I meant to while cursing inside.


    ¡°Because we are the only things alive that had been inside here for a long time Sam!¡± he yelled back.


    I sighed moving my hands nervously trying to come with an answer. Then something in a higher level of the library glowed.


    ¡°What about the upper levels?¡± I asked.


    Adam glanced up the other levels of the towers. ¡°Good idea. Have you seen a stairway?¡±


    My eyes darted faster than ever trying to find it. We have not seen it at the beginning for the darkness in the room, but now that wasn¡¯t a problem with all the lights on. There were hundreds of bookshelves cluttering the way, making it difficult to see where-


    ¡°There,¡± I pointed to a stairway camouflaged within a set of bookshelves.


    Adam took a moment to observe the way. It was dangerously close to some of the golems who despite their slow movement were halfway closer now. If we started to run now we could get to there in time, but it was going to be a close call.


    He jumped over the tables. ¡°Now or never.¡±


    And we ran as fast as we could towards the stairs. The golems didn¡¯t change speed, they just changed direction enough to keep moving in our direction. It made me nervous, as if they didn¡¯t care that we were running.


    The stairs appeared when two of the golems were close enough to barely reach us, and we flew up giving our last sprint in hopes that the stairs would make it difficult for them. It¡¯ didn¡¯t. As we reached the end of the stairs to the second floor another statue jumped from the wall just at the way out.


    Adam stopped completely reaching with his arm to make me do the same. A heavy metallic sound came from below the stairs and I gulped. One of the golems was at the other end of the stairs. We retroceded inside the stairs waiting in the middle as the sharp noises repeated and the golems surrounded us both ways.


    I launched rapid looks to Adam waiting to see a gleam of hope, but there was nothing. The moment one of the golems was visible for our position I aimed the crossbow and fired a black arrow praying for the best. As expected it bounced off the rock directly without doing any damage whatsoever.


    The statues stopped just a few steps from us aiming their weapons slowly. I grabbed Adam¡¯s hand with mine trying to transmit something. I¡¯m not sure what, a goodbye, a silent wish, a last moment of warmth, and closed my eyes.


    Then the golems stopped completely. The lights in the library dimmed down until we were back in darkness. I glanced at Adam smiling stupidly, not believing what just happened.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked confusion creeping from his tone.


    He touched the statue with a finger and when nothing happened flew back down the stairs with me following behind him.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± asked Adam to ARC. ¡°Why did the golems stop?¡±


    ARC repeated his sound pattern. ¡°Not enough energy to maintain the golems and the sealing simultaneously. As per the protocol all available mana is used in maintaining the sealing.¡±


    Adam snorted rolling his eyes. ¡°Great. So you just want to make sure the ¡®intruders¡¯ don¡¯t escape.¡±


    ¡°Negative. Scanner offline. No intruders detected,¡± he said.


    The message hanged in the air for a moment before both us yelled at the same time. ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Scanner offline. No intruders detected,¡± he repeated.


    I glanced back towards the entrance. The shimmering white shield still held in place.


    ¡°If there are no intruders why is the sealing still in place?¡± I asked looking at Adam. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it deactivate too now that there is no reason?¡±


    Adam nodded slowly while ARC talked again.


    ¡°Negative. In case of energy lose the sealing will remain in place until a sorcerer with enough security clearance resets the alarm system.¡±


    I gulped. Adam and I shared a look for a moment.


    ¡°Well, that could take a while,¡± he said with a smirk.


    ---


    The next hours were slow and painful as Adam tried to find a way through the shields, and I spent my time trying to ask ARC how to stop them without actually asking him in case a direct question made the defense golems come back online.


    My vision passed slowly over the table drifting quickly from the flashlights dropped in the table. There was something I didn¡¯t want to think about right now, and I was trying to concentrate instead in what the golem was speaking.


    It ended being a waste of time as ARC couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t stop the shields without authorization, and I started asking about magic hoping to find an answer there. He repeated his presentation the same way as before until the point where Adam had interrupted him.


    ¡°The nine minor affinities or nine elements,¡± ARC announced projecting the blinking image of nine spheres in the air. ¡°It is believed that the nine elements are a conversion of primal mana. As visible light can be divided in several colors, the nine elements are similarly so born in some way from the primal affinities. Since the only way to acquire one of the primal affinities is as a direct gift from the gods, although that fact is still widely refuted in the studies of the old gods, it is acknowledged that most magic performed in the world is of these nine types. Acquiring one of the nine minor affinities by comparison is a relatively easy task.¡±


    I went up in my chair suddenly very interested. I almost believed I heard it wrong. Having magic was easy? I had to stop myself for asking before the golem kept talking. I played nervously with my hands in the table.


    ¡°Over the course of your studies sorcerers will offer opportunities to obtain some of these affinities, but please, remember that although the rituals to obtain an affinity are, in most cases, easy and harmless. Trying to obtain more than one affinity will severely difficult the mastery of them. As a reminder of the rules we hope all students remember that it is prohibited to acquire more than three minor affinities under penalty of expulsion.¡± There was a brief moment of silence as the golem let the words sink in and then the sphere lighted up in different colors. ¡°The nine elements as named by modern studies are: earth, water, wind, fire, thunder, spirit, decay, ice and blood. By advised that-¡±


    ¡°MELLON!¡± yelled Adam behind me at the shimmering shields.


    But the doors didn¡¯t open. Adam sighed and I snickered a bit more loudly that what I wanted.


    ¡°Had to try,¡± he said smiling and turned to hit the shield another time.


    ARC didn¡¯t stop explaining the peculiarities of the elements, but the exposition turned dry very fast when, explaining the element of earth (which lets you control earth, duh) he launched in a wild and long explanation about great geomancers of history, and repeated the pattern with the next element in line.


    I found myself half listening to what he was saying and started looking mindlessly at my status screen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Sam</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>42</td><td>INT:</td><td>48</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>58</td><td>WIS:</td><td>77</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>43</td><td>CHA:</td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>5</td></tr></tbody></table>The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Handicraft Lv. 7


    Obtained ability.</td></tr><tr><td>The ability to manipulate and interact with objects and tools.</td></tr><tr><td>+25% easier to understand new objects.


    -25% probability of making a mistake.


    +5% using tools and weapons.


    Probabilities improvement based in WIS and DEX.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Efficient runner Lv. 4


    Obtained ability.</td></tr><tr><td>For training your your body to whitstand a costant rythm of life you have obtained a resistance to grow tired.</td></tr><tr><td>Passive ability.


    -15% in stamina depletion.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Mr. Friendly Lv. 3


    Obtained ability.</td></tr><tr><td>Your prone actitude to forgive and forget makes you an easier person to befriend.</td></tr><tr><td>Passive ability.


    +15% easier to make a good impression.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    They weren¡¯t very good abilities compared with everyone else, but they were useful, and I got the opportunity to prove that very frequently. In a sense the fact that now I had abilities and attributes was fascinating in and on itself. It was one of the reasons why I spend so much time thinking about the system and all those numbers.


    Because, where do those numbers come from? Did the system just had a random value for how much a point of strength was? How could you calculate that 25% less likely to fuck up when crafting things? And luck? Luck was a one of those things I tried not to think too much about because it always ended the same way all time travel arguments ended.


    With a headache.


    I glanced back as Adam threw a table at the shield and yelled at the top of his lungs. ¡°Alohomora!¡±


    Adam seemed to just go with the flow not trying to freak out too much. He had always been like that since I met him. Just going for it without a care in the world, making jokes so nobody notices he is scared shitless, but that attitude of his seemed to have grown since we grew apart. He had changed.


    Either that or the apocalypse was making him freak out much more than normal.


    ¡°Spirit and Blood are the most esoteric and dangerous of the nine elements,¡± said the golem gaining again my attention. ¡°Spirit is intrinsically connected to the ghosts and fading consciousness of those who have died, but their applications to contact other dimensions (like the Void) makes it a dangerous magic.¡± He said with a strangely deep voice. ¡°Blood it¡¯s the most foul element that exists. Because, although healing applications had been proved useful, its principal use takes shape in the ensnarement and control of minds. None of these two affinities will be shared or recorded in this library. Please, remember that if you have acquired naturally one of these affinities you are forbidden from utilizing them without supervision.¡±


    ARC stopped talking and went black and cold having finished his presentation. There was a happy thought, some day if we survived there would be people trying to control minds. Some days it was almost easy to forget what had happened to the world, and some¡­


    ¡°YES!¡± screamed Adam suddenly. ¡°Here, yes! No! You stupid idiot... Stop feeling! Okay, okay. Calm, calm, calm¡­¡±


    He was kneeling on the ground with his head banged against a part of the wall, as if he was listening to some voice only he could hear. For my perspective there was only an uncomfortable silence that I didn¡¯t dare to break. Time passed, Adam didn¡¯t say anything more just moved uncomfortably in the same place.


    ¡°Fine,¡± said Adam with a long sigh and then jumped back with a scream seeing me behind. ¡°Shit. I didn¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked giving him my hand to get up.


    Adam smiled looking back to the wall before getting up. ¡°The shield was interfering with communion and I couldn¡¯t pick up Knight or John until I got here,¡± he said pointing to the wall. ¡°They are okay, both of them. At least for what I can pick.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank god,¡± I said letting a breath of relief wash over me. I had been trying not to think about them, but they were okay.


    ¡°Now we just have to open the door,¡± he sighed.


    My eyes perked up looking at the wall. Aware of something obvious I couldn¡¯t let go without checking it. Why he could only hear through that part of the wall?


    ¡°Can you aim the light there?¡± I asked without bothering to wait for him to comply.


    There was nothing that was different in that stone, not to the naked eye at least. My knife was quickly pressed between the slabs. The stone was cold and strong, but it had deteriorated over the years. Something more than mortar had joined the walls, something magical, but not anymore. The magic had faded long ago. With a quick shove the blade did the job, and the stone fell on the ground loudly.


    Behind the stone there was more stone and an inlaid triangle made with a silvery metal that joined to other lines of the same material disappearing inside the wall. A huge black stone decorated the interior of the triangle. It was a magic circuit.


    ¡°Okay. I wasn¡¯t expecting that,¡± Adam said dumfounded moving his hand along the circuit before starting to scrap the rest of the wall around it.


    In a few moments a big chunk of the tiles around the triangle were down and more parts of the circuit could be seen. It was mostly curved lines moving along its surface, but by the size of it I could imagine the circuit covering the entire library.


    I stood there in silence for a second trying to come with words, and turned to look at Adam. ¡°I think I know how to get out of here.¡±


    Adam smiled following me back to ARC. Walking with confidence, with strength in every step as always happened when I started to unveil the borders of a puzzle. The thrill of getting close to an answer kicking in. I found myself back in front of the golem.


    ¡°I need something about magic circuits,¡± I said slowly.


    ¡°Sorry. There is no entry for ¡®circuits¡¯. Please, repeat your search more clearly,¡± said ARC pronouncing the word in strange English.


    Adam sighed. ¡°He means enchantment,¡± he said shocking his head and sharing a look with me. ¡°For a second there I thought this tower was a relic from another world. But no. It was Apple all along.¡±


    I snickered. ¡°Nah, this works to well to be from Apple.¡± I answered turning my head towards the walls. ¡°Although they have problems with the batteries so¡­ Maybe you are right.¡±


    ARC voice boomed again. ¡°Rune crafting or enchantment is the art of creating objects capable of utilizing mana in an autonomous and predetermined way. Although the art itself does not have any requirements to be learned, it is by itself a complex and difficult art than can take many years to master. Please, if you wish to learn more about the art read Rune Crafting I, II, and III.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but where are those books?¡± asked Adam impatiently.


    The golem illuminated brightly and projected a 2D projection of the first floor library with a section colored differently. Adam nodded and gave me a pat in the shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go for them.¡±


    We had work to do and while he went for the books I prepared everything else. I put back a table in place and all the lights I had around to make sure I could read with ease. Adam returned quickly carrying three big books that seemed completely new despite the time they had spent in this library. For someone else the fact that apparently those books hadn¡¯t been used at all could be discouraging, but not for me.


    Adam dropped the books on the table with a sigh and looked at me directly. ¡°I think we have to read them the old way. For me they didn¡¯t show the option to absorb the knowledge.¡±


    I blinked already completely forgotten about that function and nodded opening the first book at a random page. ¡°No, me neither.¡±


    Adam sighed passing his hand along the spine of one of the books. ¡°They are too big to read them in a few hours. And-¡±


    He was talking, but I wasn¡¯t listening anymore. All my attention was swallowed by the book and its contents. In the first page I opened there was a drawn circle. A very complex circle filled with other figures and lines that crossed and connected in a pattern very similar to a circuit. And along the lines there were sketches and tiny annotations of every type.


    In the top engraved in big words there appeared simply the words ¡®Rune of Heat¡¯. And the description basically said it produced a constant amount of heat to maintain the temperature of a room.


    That was it, a magic heater. And it was awesome. I lose myself between the pages for a moment trying to decipher every little bit until Adam touched my shoulder waking me up.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked a hint of a smile painting his face.


    Cheating emotion reader.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said almost without breath.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Well, we should start-¡±


    I stopped him moving his hands from the books. ¡°Leave it to me. I almost know what this is about from sketching Knight¡¯s spear. I can do it.¡±


    I knew that at the moment I must seemed like if I was crazy and rambling, but I knew I was right. Adam seemed about to say something for a moment, but then something changed. Perhaps he perceived how strong I felt about this, or perhaps there was something else, but I couldn¡¯t care.


    I plunged back into the book starting from the beginning and lost myself in it. Even when I heard Adam starting to ask things to ARC I didn¡¯t listen. I couldn¡¯t listen while trying to understand the magic circuits as page by page the mysteries unveiled.


    It turned out that magic circuits weren¡¯t very different to actual circuits. Mana flowed in one direction in a similar way to water and everything else according to the laws of thermodynamics, from a point of high density to a point of low until it reached equilibrium.


    Every magic circuit had one beginning, a circular frame that enclosed the entire circuit, and was made from some sort of material specific to the mana being used. Silver attracted light; copper, fire¡­ On that part at least I had been right with my theory. I needed special materials.


    The other end of the circuit was a triangle holding a material that either absorbed mana or dissipated it. Everything else was secondary, from different types of lines that made the flow faster or slower, to tiny secondary circles that temporarily concentrated mana similar to a capacitor.


    The only really unique part of every circuit was a rune, a symbol of some kind. That was the only part of the circuit that actually did something with the mana, and most of the pages of the book were dedicated precisely to this runes.


    From some runes that made light, to others that made heat or joined to stones together. There were hundreds of different runes, and according to the book those were just the basic ones, and they could be combined in some way. For a moment my mind tried to explode with the possibilities, but I had a job to do.


    The answer to our problem was there. A way to disconnect the shield that locked us in without making everything explode in the process.


    For the corner of my eye I could see as moment by moment Adam disappeared inside the library and came back with books. The display had been repeated several times now, and one of the tables was filled to the brim with different books. I stopped for a moment to stare.


    Adam caught my eye and smiled. ¡°Like good old times, right? You trying to understand how things work, and I-¡±


    ¡°Trying to fuck around with a Superman cape as you try to save the world on your backyard,¡± I finished with a smile.


    He huffed and squinted. ¡°It was a Batman cape, and yes. I¡¯m going to save the world.¡±


    There was something on how he said that last part that made me go backwards. He had changed.


    ¡°Okay Batman,¡± I said grinning. ¡°I think I have a way to disconnect the shield.¡±


    His eyes perked at the mention and followed me. The plan was easy. If the triangle we found in the wall was the ending in the circuit we just had to disconnect it, and the mana will stop flowing.


    I moved my hands against the dark stone embedded inside the triangle and carefully used my knife to scrap it. According to the book this part of the circuit could literally explode if the material was absorbing mana and I accidentally broke it, so I was as slow as I could be. The stone came out and almost fell before I took it and let it in the ground.


    Adam looked at the shield. ¡°Was that all?¡±


    The shield was still up.


    I sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not electricity, it may take a few minutes before it stops working completely. It has its own-¡±


    The shield stopped working then with a loud bell noise and I turned to look at the closest entrance.


    ¡°Adam!¡± yelled Knight running to his brother.


    ¡°Well, that worked,¡± said Adam while his brother hugged him.


    John walked in slowly, and looked at me. ¡°You opened it?¡±


    ¡°It was easy once I had the books,¡± I said nodding.


    Adam yelped. ¡°Books! Right, I found some books for you too,¡± he said looking at the two. ¡°But first things first, are you okay?¡±


    They both nodded, and they certainly looked like it. In a moment we were back to the mountain of books with Adam doing wild moves with his hands explaining his findings. I tried to took the enchanting books meanwhile, but when I touched them again¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New quest created.


    The Tinker.</td></tr><tr><td>In the art of enchanting the Tinkers were the masters of the craft. No one could come closer to the impressive might of their creations. For deducing and understanding the basics of enchantment so quickly you have been granted an opportunity to be one of them.</td></tr><tr><td>Tasks:


    Upgrade 5 items with enchantments.


    Craft 20 objects with different runes, at least one of every element.</td></tr><tr><td>Rewards:


    The Tinker class.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    My brain skipped a second. That was amazing. I¡¯m sure some part of my cheered very loudly for a moment while reading that quest. The group was still busy putting away the books inside their inventories.


    ¡°Hey. I have a quest for a class!¡± I said excited and explained it, probably too quickly for them to follow.


    ¡°Congratulations! Now we just need a Knight class for Knight and there will be peace in our times,¡± said Adam with a pat in my shoulder.


    That was, of course, the moment that everything went to hell. ARC lighted up completely, but this time he didn¡¯t talk. Another voice, a deeper more authoritative voice shocked through the entire tower.


    ¡°Alert! Catastrophic failure detected in the energy levels. Lower levels critical. Trying to re-route power to seals.¡±


    ¡°Impossible to- ALERT! THE VAULT HAS BEEN BREACHED.¡±


    ¡°Not enough power to reseal. Trying other- ALERT! PRISONER V HAS ESCAPED. ALL MEANS OF RESEALING FAILED. INTEGRITY OF THE MAIN SEAL AT 100%.¡±


    ¡°INITIATING MAIN SPACETIME SEAL! ALL MEMBERS OF THE TOWER FOLLOW THE LINES TO EVACUATION!¡±


    We stared in silence unable to understand what just happened. ARC tried to move and instead fell to the ground breaking more parts of his body. It was so pitiful to see I didn¡¯t notice when I walked closer. It looked like a broken doll, mangled and torn to pieces, but somehow almost human. I touched it and with a single thought made it disappear inside my inventory.


    ¡°Sam!¡± yelled Adam close to my ear while forcing me to get up. ¡°Run!¡±


    And we ran following purple lines that appeared along the ground and walls. We ran through rooms that we hadn¡¯t explored and we ran through wonders that we barely had the time to register until finally getting to the room.


    A silent white room whit a big stone arch that was pulsating with colors and mana. A room we barely registered before jumping inside the arch, and disappearing from the tower. Perhaps to never seen it again.

 Chapter 14: Bandits

    So...


    Sorry for not posting in a long time, but I''m...


    I''ve been in a really low mood, and couldn''t write anything worth it that wasn''t depressive.


    I''m going to keep writing this with regularity if I can, but I''m not sure if I can.


    I hope you enjoy.


    <hr>


    Cold was the only thing my mind could understand at the moment. Snow covered everything around us when we were thrown out of the portal one after the other in a pile of bodies. Knight, who apparently couldn¡¯t maintain his mouth close was coughing snow.


    The portal shimmered behind us. It was a white arch of stone whose inside was filled with something akin to water or mist. It took a few seconds for the portal to stop completely turning back to a simple arch.


    ¡°Did you get the books?¡± I asked the moment everything stopped dancing in my head.


    My friends tried to incorporate still dazed by the travel. John was the first to accomplish it who nodded to me.


    ¡°We got them all before Sauron started to yell, don¡¯t worry Adam,¡± said my brother. ¡°But we lost the spaceship¡­¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± I asked in a whisper.


    John and Knight exchanged looks and then helped get up.


    ¡°There was something that looked like a plane. Well, it was¡­¡± he looked at John for support.


    John looked at me. ¡°It was an X-wing.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± I yelled.


    ¡°It was pretty damaged and too big to enter the inventory. We wanted to show it to you, but¡­ The doors closed and then we were running.¡± Said my brother trying to sound convincing.


    At that moment I assured him I believed him and that no matter how many spaceships he loses I would always love him and trust him. Then I accompanied that answer with a hug and a reassuring handshake.


    Of course that only happened in my mind. What it actually happened was that I was about to kick him for losing Luke¡¯s ship when somebody else joined the party.


    ¡°Hands where I can see them!¡± yelled a voice from behind.


    Two men where pointing guns at the other side of the arch. Another man was balancing a top a pile of snow also aiming at us. My friends followed the orders easily. I was too angry to do it.


    ¡°These are not the droids you are looking for,¡± I said letting Communion transmit my fury.


    Which of course, following the rules of this nonsense world almost worked. Two of the men lowered their weapons just for a moment. Confused and a bit afraid, but it was not enough.


    ¡°What?¡± said the not affected man, and the spell stopped.


    ¡°I said hands where I can see them!¡± yelled again the man. ¡°I don¡¯t want any tricks.¡±


    My friends stared at me unable to believe what just happened. I smiled and moved my hands in the air. A man got close and made us follow.


    While we moved I noticed for the first time where we were. It was the same clearing of the tower. For a moment when we took the portal I was afraid we would end somewhere in the other side of the world, but I guess this made more sense. We crossed from one portal to another and this were probably the only portals in the world at the moment.


    The tower was still there, sort off. Snow had started to cover the tower in some sort of dome shape around it. Almost as if it fell over it and got frozen in space, floating in midair. The tower itself looked distorted, like seeing it through a glass that bended the light. At a side of it I could see a body paralyzed inside the area of the tower. Frozen in time.


    I was suddenly very glad of not being in the tower.


    ¡°So¡­ We are having a hell of a time lately, right?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean a few hours ago it was almost summer, and now all this snow is-¡°


    ¡°Shut up,¡± snapped one man.


    Knight tried to bore a hole through my head by looking at me. I mouthed an apology.


    The Zombinator was still in the same place we left it. With the addition of the band of armed thugs that was now inside it. I swallowed trying very hard to not yell at them to stop touching it.


    ¡°Hey, look what we found,¡± yelled one of them.


    The thugs stopped working and stared at us. It was a weird group, some had guns, other had rifles. All were clothed unevenly with what they had managed to find in their way. A man walked out of the Zombinator. Eight in total.


    I glanced back at John. He shocked his head almost imperceptibly.


    ¡°Boss, we found this-¡°


    ¡°Shut up,¡± snarled the boss moving closer. ¡°How did they get so close without any of you noticing?¡±


    The group shifted uncomfortably. The boss moved face to face with John.


    ¡°Where do you come from?¡±


    John just looked at him.


    ¡°Are you from the group in the north? Was this your plan? Attack us before we take you out?¡± he asked and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s not going to work. Many people have joined us. We are ready to go for you.¡±


    I rolled my eyes knowing this was going to be a weird one. ¡°Sorry, but we don¡¯t have any idea what you are talking about.¡±


    The man changed his attention to me. ¡°No? And who are you then?¡±


    ¡°We are here to join you,¡± said Knight quickly.


    ¡°Yes! Yes, we are here to join you against that other group because they are evil.¡± I said. ¡°We heard all about this from other teams, and they told us it was you who we needed to talk to¡­ Join.¡±


    There was confusion and then pride. ¡°They told you that?¡± asked the boss.


    ¡°Oh, yes. You can join without speaking with the boss first, they said,¡± answered Knight.


    ¡°They were adamant about it,¡± I nodded.


    Communion was working quickly trying to make them relax. It was not working perfectly for everyone, but it was working. The men were starting to relax.


    There was not much time to think of a way out. We had to buy time. The Zombinator was still parked there where we left it, but this people had changed it. Tables were brought outside, a camouflage fabric was covering one of the sides, and several cans of food littered the ground around it.


    Too many cans. We had been inside the tower a few hours, and although after the merge the weather was fast and weird there was too much snow too¡­ They couldn¡¯t have eaten half our food in a few hours.


    I tried to reign in the anger and confusion, but it was too late. The boss cocked his weapon to my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t resist it, my anger flared. ¡°Your lack of faith is disturbing.¡±


    Knight looked at me as if trying to choke me to death, but unfortunately none of us had that power. Yet.


    The radio of the Zombinator started then. It was more static than anything else, but the voice of somebody was discernible over it.


    One of them went inside and out. ¡°Boss, it¡¯s from one of the other teams.¡±


    The boss sighed still aiming his weapon at me. He pointed at two people.


    ¡°Make sure they don¡¯t move,¡± he said and then still aiming at me. ¡°If I don¡¯t get an answer when I come back, one of your friends is dead.¡±


    I swallowed and the group minus two people disappeared inside the Zombinator. Looking at both sides I started to make a plan.


    It was a stupid crazy plan, but that was kind of my theme.


    ¡°So¡­ What a hell of a snowstorm, right? Look at this,¡± I said trying to fill them with calm. ¡°In just a few hours is all white already.¡±


    One of the men stared. ¡°It¡¯s been almost a week of snow already.¡±


    I stopped, glanced at my friends. I saw something in John¡¯s face, but I tried to calm him. I had to concentrate to pull it off.


    The discovery of mana manipulation had opened other doors. I launched a tendril of mana towards the grass, and I connected to it without the need for touching.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I meant, a week. The weather is crazy lately.¡± I said trying to get the other to contribute to the conversation.


    It was not as easy as to be touching it directly, but it worked. I reached out with mana to the Zombinator. It was there in a cabinet, exactly where I left it. They didn¡¯t bother to touch it, or perhaps they hadn¡¯t even seen it.


    The white flower flared in welcoming. It was almost dying already, and only days without sunlight would have done that. Not hours. I filled the flower with mana making it grow back and started to pour the somniferous inside the Zombinator as fast as it could while I tried to calm the minds with communion.


    ¡°The weather is completely crazy, yes,¡± added Sam.


    Our wardens looked at each other. ¡°The boss said the snow will stop soon, anyway. It¡¯s from all those earthquakes and fires.¡±


    Knight laughed and it didn¡¯t sound as panicked as I knew he was. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t believe the weatherman too much. You know how they are.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    They laughed, and my friends joined in awkwardly.


    It was the moment. One by one the people inside the Zombinator started to lose consciousness fast. Just a matter of minutes and they were all happily dreaming of other things. Of course no plan survives contact with the enemy.


    ¡°Help!¡± yelled the last man to fall.


    It was enough for the two men guarding us to attack. The grass jumped at my command slow enough to let one escape while the other stumbled to the ground with a green suit.


    The other man jumped back avoiding the grass and aimed at us. To slow.


    John was already aiming with his crossbow and arrow flew to his head killing it instantly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have lost 5 Luck for killing an innocent.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stared at the message. My friends did the same. My stomach burned for a moment and I wanted to throw up. That wasn¡¯t good.


    ¡°What?¡± asked Sam dazed.


    I swallowed and walked to the Zombinator. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, now. Okay? Just- Let¡¯s move out of here.¡±


    ---


    Helping people, like when I healed them in the camp, gives luck. Hurting people (killing people) makes us lose it. I remembered the system saying something about karmic luck. It was fairly straightforward when you thought about it.


    I was nursing the flower that had saved us while the Zombinator moved, letting my mind get lost in the comforting whispers of its tiny mind. The contact with plants was always amazing, and as I was discovering also addictive. It was easy to get lost in the simplicity and not think of other things.


    Unfortunately those other things were inevitable.


    We had moved the unconscious bodies out and left them in the snow. Not like if we could or wanted to take them with us, but the radio was still talking from time to time with other voices. That was supposed to be important. I should be paying attention but¡­


    Why did it said innocent?


    We almost got killed, apparently lost a week inside that tower, discovered a band of thugs trying to raid another group. Discovered there was another group out there surviving after months of nothing more than silence, and that message was the only thing I could think.


    Did the universe know something I didn¡¯t? Did the man that was about to shot us was actually innocent? Was he going to surrender and got killed instead? Perhaps it was something more simple than all that, perhaps there was never a good excuse to kill somebody. That almost made me smile.


    It was both comforting and unnerving that the universe had a moral rulebook.


    ¡°Are you okay in there?¡± asked my brother giving me a cup of tea.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said taking the offering.


    He sat across and looked at me. ¡°You know¡­ You shouldn¡¯t feel too bad about them, we have lost half our foodstuffs thanks to them. And John says they broke one of the water filters trying to filter snow or something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Knight.¡± I said more strong than what I meant to. ¡°Just a bit angry still about the X-wing.¡± I joked.


    Knight snorted even though we both knew that wasn¡¯t true.


    The Zombinator stopped then, slowly driving out of the roads.


    I looked at the front confused. ¡°Why are we stopping?¡±


    ¡°Because we have a problem,¡± said John followed by Sam.


    John dropped a map in the table. It was one of our maps, but it was filled with annotations along the margins.


    He sighed. ¡°According to this we are close to a small town. Or at least what it was before a small town, now¡­¡± his voice broke, but then started pointing at the map. ¡°These men have closed and are guarding all the roads around it. They steal from everybody that tries to escape the town. We are surrounded and we can get out of here without a fight.¡±


    The words took a moment to sink in and Knight spoke. ¡°We can¡¯t drive around without using the roads?¡±


    ¡°Not with the Zombinator, between the damage of the merges to the buildings, the forests growing everywhere and the heavy snow we have. It¡¯s going to be that difficult or impossible to move through. We have to use the roads or wait for the snow to stop, and that could take a while.¡± He said pointing around the map.


    ¡°And I imagine that fighting these groups is not a good idea,¡± said Knight.


    John looked at me. ¡°Not unless you want innocents to die.¡±


    My brother and John glanced at me. Sam didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t- I don¡¯t know what that message was about, but regardless of that I don¡¯t want to kill people if I can-¡±


    ¡°Relax Adam,¡± smiled John. ¡°We don¡¯t have any idea of how many people are in these blockades, or how difficult it would be to attack them. It¡¯s not a good idea to go without more information, and I think we have an alternative.¡±


    His hand moved to a point heavily marked in the map. A mall surrounded by annotations of entrances and plans.


    ¡°The other group,¡± I said.


    John nodded. ¡°They are in a big mall. About a hundred survivors armed and prepared to protect it. They¡¯ve been there for a month, and out little group of bandits has been aching to take everything inside.¡±


    ¡°And what? Why go there and ask: hi we are the new neighbors, would you have a cup of coffee?¡± I asked, blinked. ¡°Actually, when you think about it¡­¡±


    Sam took the map from the table and examined it closely.


    ¡°They are almost a hundred. To get to those numbers they had to accept people, and I imagine everyone that is still in the city and doesn¡¯t want to run into the bandits has joined them,¡± he said. ¡°That means we should be able to join too.¡±


    Knight nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a stretch, but it¡¯s getting late already, and we will have to find a place to stay during the black rain. That people seems our best option.¡±


    ¡°They are also our best option to know something more about these bandits,¡± added John looking at me.


    They were all looking at me. Because again I was their leader. It was getting on my nerves.


    ¡°Okay¡­ I was convinced since the coffee, in the worst case we can always run. We are good at that.¡±


    The Zombinator moved again following the roads inside the town, and it was¡­ Weird. That was the word. Most of the buildings were a wreck, completely broken into pieces along the ways. Others were dominated by trees that have grown around them. Others¡­ were fine. Like nothing happened here at all fine.


    Communion proved his usefulness again showing me where most of the monsters were hiding and we tried to maneuver out of their way until we were close to our target.


    The mall wasn¡¯t in the town proper, more like at a side of it, sandwiched between a giant parking lot and a park. The park of course was more of a forest by now, outgrowing its bonds and eating part of the town. It was, nonetheless, a big mall, and there was somebody in the ceiling. A single guard at first, but soon more followed.


    We were moving straight through the parking lot when the first shot came. It didn¡¯t damaged the Zombinator, just singed it harmlessly, but it was enough for Sam to stop.


    ¡°Now what?¡± asked Sam.


    I was already on it, a tendril of mana reaching all the way to the guards and checking. I didn¡¯t know exactly if Communion could work at those distances, but after a moment the emotions started to flow.


    ¡°They are scared,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, right?¡± asked Knight. ¡°I mean, at least is not vengeful fury or some other emotion. They are scared because they don¡¯t want to fight.¡±


    ¡°Or they scared because they are going to fight, and everyone is scared before a fight,¡± said John.


    ¡°Or maybe- Adam, I just noticed that your magic powers are shit,¡± said my brother.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my Jedi mind tricks are not good enough for you, my young padawan. Time for Plan B.¡±


    I took a white towel and opened the door, and before anyone could stop I was flapping the towel as hard as I could in sign of surrender. I moved slowly around the Zombinator feeling the emotions of the guards at every step in case I had to run back.


    At the sight of the towel they calmed and I capitalized on it with communion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic! We come in peace for all mankind!¡± I yelled not sure if they could hear me.


    They could. Their emotions dropping the fear and showing tints of humor. I dropped the towel to the ground and put my hands in the air.


    ¡°We are a bit lost, and a band of¡­ idiots have closed the roads,¡± I continued carefully as their emotions turned bitter, but calmer. ¡°We can¡¯t get out or find a safe place to stop for the night¡­ so¡­ Could we talk? You know, face to face, not just me yelling and hoping you are listening.¡±


    They talked, or it seemed so from my position and one of then disappeared.


    ¡°Is anybody else liking this idea less and less?¡± I asked just strong enough for my friends to hear.


    Then we played the waiting game. Nobody seemed to move from one side or the other. I was there alone, which was good to me with my friends safe. Nobody talked.


    ¡°Are we going to-?¡± I started to yell.


    ¡°You can come alone to explain!¡± yelled somebody back.


    A big door opened in the mall just enough for a person to pass. Scared whoever it was, but nothing that seemed off or that could indicate a trap. I started to walk.


    ¡°Adam!¡± said my brother poking out of a window.


    I moved my hand in reassurance not looking at him, and went to it. We were already into it. The guard at the door pushed me inside as I got close. It was a dark room filled with people in some kind of police or military uniform.


    ¡°Hands in the air!¡± yelled one of them as they shoved me inside.


    I maintained the hands in the air as they had been for a while and sighed. The conversation of course took a turn for the better after that.


    ¡°Who are you? Why are you here? How many did you brought with you?¡± questioned the same man.


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you with the bandits? Here to attack us?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    ¡°Against the wall,¡± he ordered as another man was kind enough to shove me into it. ¡°We are not going to fall for a trap so easy. Oh, no. If you think you are going to return to give information to your friends-¡°


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    It was then when I noticed my dialogue patterns were getting very similar.


    ¡°We are going to discover everything you know.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    ¡°Search him for weapons!¡±


    Someone started to search me or rape me. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what, and it was also completely pointless given that-


    ¡°Would you stop doing that bloody thing Sergeant?¡± asked a voice. ¡°You have been accusing of being an enemy to everyone that passes this door. And if he has half a brain his weapons are in his inventory which we can¡¯t search anyway so this is pointless.¡±


    I recognized that voice, although I wasn¡¯t entirely sure where¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s the protocol, ma¡¯am,¡± answered the sergeant quick as if he had already repeated it many times.


    ¡°And it¡¯s completely useless in our current situation,¡± sighed the voice.


    I turned to look as much as I could when somebody was pushing me into a wall. My eyes widened.


    ¡°Amelia? You survived after the camp?¡± I asked.


    Amelia Walters looked at me and smiled.


    ¡°Oh. You are the doctor,¡±


    ¡°Doctor who?¡± asked the Sergeant.


    Everybody groaned.


    --


    Really bad jokes aside the next part of the interrogatory was easier.


    They let us move the Zombinator inside the mall. The first floor wasn¡¯t built to house vehicles, but it was filled with them. Dozens of cars and RV¡¯s in perfect state (or almost perfect) filled the place, but strangely nobody was guarding them.


    Then, Amelia, who was the leader of this group of survivors, let¡¯s us explain our story. John explained everything shortly and quick to the point as everything he did.


    ¡°So you want to tell me that, not only you survived completely on your own and without any of you dying in the progress these last months, but somehow managed to dupe the boss of the bandits that had been harassing us for two weeks,¡± summarized Amelia deadpan.


    ¡°Yep,¡± I nodded.


    The Sergeant was inspecting the map with the annotations in silence. A few soldiers snickered.


    ¡°And why in the name of sanity didn¡¯t you kill that bastard? He killed two of my people already!¡± yelled Amelia.


    I lowered my head. My friends were looking at me. I could feel...


    ¡°Because unfortunately I didn¡¯t know that,¡± I snapped. ¡°And because my first instinct when I met somebody new, regardless of how much of an asshole he was, is not to kill. I¡¯m not a murderer. Are you?¡±


    Amelia seemed about to say something when the sergeant intervened.


    ¡°The map is consistent with what we already now, but I¡¯m not sure if they are telling the truth,¡± he announced. ¡°The map may be a trap to infiltrate someone inside our group or-¡°


    ¡°Oh, stop it Sergeant. If you have all this information why did you come here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how well settled they are, and it was too late to figure it out and attack before the night,¡± answered John.


    Amelia stopped. ¡°You just wanted to pass the night here and go in your way? That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°What Adam is trying to say is that we don¡¯t really want to be a problem to your group,¡± said Sam quickly glaring at me.


    Anger was boiling inside the room. Panic and fear from the news growing along with rage. I didn¡¯t understand why.... Oh.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to help-¡° I started.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this ma¡¯am, we can¡¯t just let them go,¡± said the Sergeant.


    After that it was just chaos. People started yelling to one another with recriminations that had little to do with us. In some way I knew that the sensitive thing to do, not only for them, but for us, would be to join them and help them.


    I didn¡¯t really knew much about them, and after my brief encounter with Amelia in camp Bloodmoon she was obviously changed. All of us were changed after what had happened. I couldn¡¯t trust them. I couldn¡¯t know if they were ¡®good¡¯ people. I only knew they were fighting another group that was composed of assholes.


    That wasn¡¯t much.


    On the other hand, with the monsters becoming stronger being in a bigger group could be the best for us. I wanted to believe that they could be our group, but I wasn¡¯t sure.


    I sighed as the yelling became stronger. It was going bad for us.


    ¡°A little bit of help could come in good right now,¡± I muttered.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New quest created.</td></tr><tr><td>The battle of the mall.</td></tr><tr><td>The gods of light have deemed the situation of their druid, Adam, a worthy challenge, and will offer their help. You have one week before the attack of the bandits start to shore of your defenses and protect the innocents of Amelia''s camp.</td></tr><tr><td>Objectives:


    Protect the lives of all the survivors.


    Defend the mall.


    Optional 1 - Craft artifacts to aid in the defense.


    Optional 2 - Find more about the bandits.


    Optional 3 - Obtain food for all the survivors.


    Option 4 ¨C Gather cars and fuel to transport all survivors.


    Optional 5 - ?</td></tr><tr><td>Rewards:


    EXP + Luck to depending of contributions.


    ? to special contributions.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The discussions stopped as the window appeared at everyone¡¯s faces. I blinked slowly reading all of it.


    Amelia looked at me and then everyone else. ¡°Well, that¡¯s new.¡±

 Chapter 15: Personal upgrades

    Thanks for all the comments, they help. I''m still coping with some things, but I''ll try to update as much as I can.


    This chapter is mostly for those that want to improvements in status and abilities as well as well as introducing the new camp of survivors.


    The next chapters will be about Sam fiddling with enchanting and making shit up as well as preparing for the incoming battle.


    I hope you enjoy this, and sorry for any problem with the tables because I''m still a bit lost with them after the update.


    <hr>


    It was already dark when we finished discussing with Amelia and the Spanish inquisition. Once the quest appeared we were able to talk like real people and concluded we weren¡¯t lying bastards that were secretly planning to practice cannibalism.


    The soldiers hadn¡¯t stopped staring nonetheless. John had tried to talk to them with his, I¡¯m not a soldier but I know how to talk to them, and that had help to break the ice. Some of them had even recognized him from the camp.


    All in all it had become the weirdest and busiest day of our life.


    There was a lesson to be learned from skipping eight days of your life in a magical tower. We couldn¡¯t sleep.


    We have moved to the second floor of the mall and it was filled with people. It was clearly where they lived and slept. Stores were used as improvised bedrooms. There were more survivors than what the notes in the map stated, closer to three hundreds than anything else. They were bloodied and scared, and some of them couldn¡¯t sleep either.


    It made and strange picture, people that didn¡¯t have anything left, starved, and cold sleeping in expensive furniture. They had furniture to spare after all. The camp certainly didn¡¯t look like a place filled with ¡®evil¡¯ people as I was afraid. Kids ran around still not wanting to go to sleep, and looking at us with a hint of curiosity and fear. Fathers and mothers tried to rein them without much luck.


    They were survivors, but they weren¡¯t bad people. Movies about the zombie apocalypse had given me the impression that everyone out there was going to be a murderous asshole, but that didn¡¯t seem to be true. This place, this people were good. People that deserved to be helped if we could.


    The real problem was the cold. Although some of the lights were on, pointing that they still had some source of electricity, they couldn¡¯t afford to turn on the heaters. The cold was creeping inside the building, and that could end badly.


    So, after we were forcefully accepted in the group thanks to the quest prompt (not without certain wariness coming from the soldiers) we took a corner of the second floor to spend the night.


    But, we couldn¡¯t sleep.


    ¡°Is anybody here thinking this is going a bit too fast?¡± asked Knight.


    ¡°What is going to fast? The quest, the survivors, the bandits, the tower?¡± I asked smiling. ¡°Please choose four.¡±


    He rolled his eyes and turned shaking from the cold. ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about. What do you think about this people?¡±


    I exchanged looks with everyone.


    ¡°I think they are good. I recognized some soldiers from the last camp, and some other people in this floor too. They had to be traveling together since them. That proves they are capable, and with so many kids I doubt they go abandoning people.¡± John said.


    ¡°Plus with the monsters evolving and getting stronger a bigger group would come in handy. We could do worse than this people,¡± said Sam pointing at two kids playing around. ¡°And if they turn out to be psychopathic cannibals that eat their people when they are low on food¡­ Well I think you would know with your Jedi powers already.¡±


    ¡°Also, between your powers and our abilities I think we can run if things get bad,¡± finished John.


    I glanced at my brother. He was thinking, but for what I could feel he was already convinced.


    I sighed. ¡°You have a point, and we have a quest. I don¡¯t really know what to think of the gods at all, but they haven¡¯t tried to kill us yet, and the exp would be useful regardless. Where do we be begin?¡±


    ¡°We begin with improving ourselves.¡±


    John dropped all the books we got from the tower and Knight followed. I glanced around quickly. There was nobody looking, and from our position it would be hard to spot the books.


    I had put this behind for too long, but it was time.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said pausing and looking at everyone. ¡°Before we go into the books we all have points to spend, right?¡±


    Silent nods came from everyone.


    ¡°I¡­ To be honest I still think we should leave some spare points in case we need them in an emergency. If we are trapped and we need more strength, or more speed¡­ Something like that. But with how quickly the monsters are improving I don¡¯t think we can that that into consideration anymore,¡± I continued. ¡°In any case you should have realized by now that no matter how much stats points we have the monsters are going to own us completely. Things like abilities and weapons are what are going to keep us alive here.¡±


    ¡°Having the power to command plants is more useful than being able to jump over a building. We get it,¡± growled Knight.


    ¡°Not only that,¡± added Sam waving his book on magic circuits. ¡°No matter how stronger we or the monsters are a shot to the head still kills everyone.¡±


    ¡°Until the zombies start to outrun bullets, yes,¡± said Knight.


    ¡°Exactly, now. We get some abilities when we reach fifty and hundred points in something, so we should try to improve to that point and leave some points to spare just in case.¡±


    ¡°You should consider something else too,¡± spoke John looking intently at everyone. ¡°When I took my class I got a lot of dexterity and noticed something. It changed my body, made it leaner.¡±


    I stared at him trying to remember. ¡°You were more buff the first days, true. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I think dexterity makes the muscles more efficient, less heavy. That improves the speed and everything else while strength makes your muscles stronger, but heavier. That may be a problem if you improve too much of one and not enough the other.¡±


    It made sense in some way. If you had a hundred points in strength and none in dexterity you could potentially be too heavy to actually move. That of course opened another can of worms with the rest of stats. I hadn¡¯t necessarily noticed problems with mine, but it was something to think of and experiment with when we had the time and points.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the sensitive thing to do. Not that we have so much points to spare, but we should try to not go completely into one stat.¡± I said.


    It wasn¡¯t a very difficult decision, but it did took some time.


    My brother could barely improve one of his stats, and he did with Strength. It wasn¡¯t much but his body visibly changed becoming thicker.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Knight</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>50</td><td>INT:</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>70</td><td>WIS:</td><td>56</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>60</td><td>CHA:</td><td>69</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Sam was still trying to choose what stats would be best for him. It was obviously by how he nursed his book in enchanting that he wanted to keep that up. And he did so improving his intelligence, but also choosing to improve his strength and vitality.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Sam</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>50</td><td>INT:</td><td>50</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>58</td><td>WIS:</td><td>77</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>50</td><td>CHA:</td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    John was a monster, and with his class and points he improved both strength and dexterity to a hundred points. And it was¡­ scary. His body changed a lot more than before, both adding making his muscles bigger and leaner at the same time. The difference was obvious to anyone looking, but at the end he still looked more or less the same.


    He could probably punch a wall to the ground but¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>John</td><td>Class</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Race</td><td>Human</td><td>Level</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Physical Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Mental Attributes</td></tr><tr><td>STR:</td><td>100</td><td>INT:</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>DEX:</td><td>100</td><td>WIS:</td><td>59</td></tr><tr><td>VIT:</td><td>55</td><td>CHA:</td><td>28</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Luck</td><td colspan=''2''>5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I couldn¡¯t improve in anything worth it.


    Then it was time for our abilities. They had received some useful abilities.


    Knight.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Coordinated strength.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">An ability born from the careful usage of strength. All attacks are measure to cause as much damage as possible.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive ability.


    +10% Damage from any attack. +10% Increase in the effectiveness of STR skills.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Sam


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Basic Mana perception.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Basic Mana perception. To work with magic without touching it directly.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Passive ability.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Iron body.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Your body is protected from most harm.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive ability.


    Your body is protected from most harm. -10% damage received from attacks. +0% chance to not receive damage from an attack.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Hands of the engineer.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Repairing and building machines has increased your skill to find weak points.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive ability.


    +5% to cause special damage to the enemy.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    John


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Natural Steps.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Natural Steps. As a ranger the closeness to nature helps you improve your movements, guiding your steps in the rhythm of the natural world.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive ability.


    +20% accuracy. +20% evasion. +15% to hide in the forest.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Strength of Heroes.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Ability acquired after surpassing the normal limits of your race.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Passive ability.


    +25% Increased damage from any attack. +20 Increased Inventory space. +5% chance of stuning with an attack.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Wait, you got more inventory space? I suppose it makes sense that with more strength you can carry more, but¡­¡± I said looking at the books.


    John coughed.


    ¡°Moving on.¡±


    There weren¡¯t that many books all things said. Not that much time to find everything that I wanted. Most of the books were about magic or had some component that required magic to be used. Some were fairly straightforward in that regard, but others¡­


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The seven flame stances of the spear.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The seven flame stances of the spear. This book contains the condensed knowledge of the Flame Knights. From the basic usage of the spear to the most complex and exoteric trainings devised by the group. Req. 50STR 50DEX</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Aha! Knight I present to you the best book I could find for you.¡± I said taking a big golden book from the mountain. I cleared my throat dramatically and stood. ¡°This. Is. The seven spear stands of the golden fiery sacred book of the sacred phoenix of the holy lotus fire of everlasting brilliance of the morning of the burning dragon¡¯s roar of doom.¡±


    I gave the book to him. Knight looked at my directly for a full minute without blinking. I nodded nervously. The book glowed for a second and then stopped.


    ¡°Thanks for adding more drama to the moment Adam. We needed it,¡± said Knight.


    I smiled. ¡°You are welcome.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that now I know how to fight with a spear and I can beat you in several hundred ways, right?¡±


    ¡°And you blew the moment. NEXT!¡± I said going through the rest of the books.


    ¡°What did you actually got from the library?¡± asked John moving closer and inspecting the books.


    ¡°Not that much, and we can only use one a day if we don¡¯t want to go crazy,¡± I answered. ¡°And most you can¡¯t use until you get magic.¡±


    Quickly I organized the few books everyone could use.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Book of Identification.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Book of Identification. Although the power of the system ability ¡®inspect¡¯ cannot be copied, the mages of many eras worked together to compile all basic information of the world and created and ability to identify it. Information dependent on the user¡¯s knowledge.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Book of threat detection.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">A basic ability for survival. With this ability you can sense the movements of anyone that has ill intentions against you.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Book of the four winds.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Basic footwork skill that can be learned by everyone. Guided by the whispers of the wind, speed and evasion is highly increased. It is best used in pair with a melee fighting skill. Req: 50DEX</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Pathfinder.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Through the greatest efforts of seers and luck-benders a skill was born to read beyond the chances. This ability gives you to create a map and find quest objectives. Req: 50WIS</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Survival of the fittest.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">With great efforts of will it is possible to increase the rate at which your stamina recuperates in exchange for the rate at which your wounds heal or vice versa for a moment of time. Req: 50VIT</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Soul familiar.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Soul familiar. Permanently binds the soul of a mortal and animal or monster. With it, both gain greater understating of each other as well of the use their skills, and status points. WARNING. The death of one will kill both. It can only be used once. Req: 50CHA 50INT</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    There were more, but for the most part it was things that either required magic or needed more status points that we could get soon.


    ¡°This is amazing,¡± gaped Knight.


    ¡°Yes...¡± said Sam taking Identification directly.


    I took it from his hands quickly. ¡°Before we start making decisions, you should remember we are going to be in danger soon, and we should choose what skills to learn with a bit more care.¡±


    Sam scoffed.


    ¡°He is right,¡± nodded John. ¡°We have a mission to complete, and we need a plan.¡±


    ¡°That and we have to make sure the people here doesn¡¯t realize you are completely crazy and kill you,¡± said Knight.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not crazy. I have an interesting and different outlook of life.¡±


    Knight just went up and punched me in the arm with almost enough strength to break it.


    ¡°What were you thinking going alone inside the mall? They could have killed you!¡± expressed my brother coldly.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    But I stopped unable to continue. He was kind of right, I was acting stupid. I had been doing it since the beginning. But I couldn¡¯t just stop. Stop would mean to accept all the crazy shit that was happening.


    ¡°That,¡± started John slowly looking directly at me, ¡°is something we can¡¯t deal with tonight. Now we have to take care of other things.¡±


    ¡°Not if my brother is going to keep pulling crazy stunts like that!¡° yelled Knight


    WAAAAAAAAAAA.


    The cry of a baby resounded in the mall like a wakeup call. We turned around. People started to move in their rooms getting up, moving around. In a moment the entire floor was filled with people talking quietly.


    It was a weird scene. It was late, very late, and people were waking up. Behind all the noise I could hear the faint sounds of alarm clocks going on at the same time. It was intended and I exchanged a look with my group.


    They didn¡¯t even notice we were there, too busy in their own world preparing for something.


    It¡¯s not like we hadn¡¯t developed some strange behaviors since all of this started. Little things to keep ourselves sane, but¡­ This was weird even by my standards.


    ¡°Okay, what¡­?¡± I said.


    Someone noticed we were there and walked closer. I paled, turned around but luckily John had already hid all the books.


    ¡°Are you new?¡± asked a woman.


    I turned smiling. ¡°Yes, sure, we just got a¡­ here a few hours ago.¡±


    The woman smiled. ¡°We are preparing for the night. There is still time, but you-¡±


    ¡°MOMMY!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    The woman sighed and turned. Two children were fighting over a small toy, trying to take out of the hands of the other. Yells and whines all around and suddenly we were alone again as the mother took the children back inside one of the stores.


    I stood there and watched as people kept moving, living, fighting. They wore filthy and ragged clothes. They were skinny and weak, shivering in the dark. They were tired, and sad. They had lost people. I could feel all their emotions like a sea rising around me. Beaten but not broken, and I realized one simple truth. They were right, most of the time I acted like an idiot.


    But no more.


    ¡°Sorry, Knight.¡± I said slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll try another way next time. Something¡­ not crazy, but we have something to do here.¡±


    I pointed at all the people around.


    ¡°We are four people Adam,¡± sighed Knight. ¡°Even with all the bullshit powers we are only four, and we don¡¯t even know how many bandits there are.¡±


    I sat again opening the quest again to see all the objectives.


    ¡°We have a week according to the quest,¡± I said looking at them.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t trust that too much,¡± said Sam.


    John sighed. ¡°Perhaps, but we leaved their leader in the middle of a forest. That has to give us some time.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s focus in the important parts first,¡± I stopped them. ¡°This people have symptoms of starvations already. Food should be our first problem. You think you can help them with that, John?¡±


    John watched the people, mentally calculating.


    ¡°If the soldiers help me perhaps,¡± he said. ¡°With luck we could get enough at least for a while.¡±


    ¡°Good, once the people here are good we can think about the rest,¡± I said nodding. ¡°I just hope the cold doesn¡¯t get worst.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Good luck with that.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Great. I sighed while my friends looked at me.


    ¡°I think I can help with that, if we can get some copper wire it would be easy to rig something,¡± said Sam fiddling with his book.


    That was probably for the best considering how things were around here. Looking around I doubted they could heat the room any other way.


    ¡°Do you think you can make weapons too? Having a few weapons like Knight¡¯s spear could be very useful in a fight.¡± I asked. ¡°If we can replicate things like that it would be-¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve got the book a few hours ago. It¡¯s going to take some time before I¡¯m making magical nukes and take control over the world,¡± snapped Sam smiling. ¡°But, yes. I think I can get magical weapons with the right materials.¡±


    My mouth twitched.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s concentrate in keeping people alive for now, but I¡¯m going to make a list of things I want,¡± I said. ¡°It begins with light sabers, and magical iron man armors.¡±


    Sam was going to answer when the people began to move. Amelia entered the floor from the one below followed by a group of soldiers. The floor filled with people talking and moving. I looked at my friends briefly and got closer.


    Amelia saw me but ignored me talking with somebody else.


    They were preparing to do something. That much was clear by their movements, but whatever it was it wasn¡¯t good. I could feel their emotions shifting to fear and determination. That wasn¡¯t good.


    I squeezed between the mass of people that was between me and Amelia. Someone shifted making me lose between the group an I started the panic. It didn¡¯t matter, suddenly I was in front of Amelia.


    I staggered. ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Doctor,¡± she nodded.


    She and his companion looked at me.


    ¡°You know after our conversation before I believed the cannibal party was on Mondays,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Was I wrong or¡­?¡±


    They looked at each other.


    ¡°It¡¯s Monday,¡± she said.


    I blinked. ¡°Huh, look at that. That¡¯s what happens when you time travel too many times. And I believe this is the moment you say that was a joke and tell me what the hell is happening before I run and shot people.¡±


    Someone snickered and she rolled her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time for the rain,¡± she said walking past.


    I noticed all the people were moving to the stairs going up the building. The soldiers organized them and gave weapons as they walked.


    ¡°The rain?¡± I moved following here.


    She stared at me. ¡°The black rain. You know the one that spawns monsters every night?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but why are we¡­?¡±


    ¡°Just follow the line like the rest, and try not to die,¡± she said walking past everybody.


    I stopped there as the people kept moving. I didn¡¯t really get what was happening but it was probably best to just go and see it. I pointed to my group and we followed up.


    The third floor of the mall was dark. No one had bothered to illuminate it, but I could see the outlines of hundreds of shelves and things stashed in the floor. They were keeping the floor filled with all the spare things in the mall.


    We kept moving up until we got the ceiling. A flat black surface with the purple sky. The people were joining in groups back to back, armed and ready. I was getting vibes of an old move that ended very badly. Knight touched my arm stopping me and giving me a look.


    I shrugged and moved to Amelia.


    ¡°Excuse me, but what the hell is happening here?¡±


    She barely blinked. ¡°When the monsters spawn we kill them before they can get dangerous. Get in a group and don¡¯t hurt other people.¡±


    ¡°Monsters?¡± I asked.


    She just pointed at the sky.


    The look of my friends was the only thing telling me I wasn¡¯t completely crazy. In all our nights out there, the monsters had never spawn close enough to see them. It didn¡¯t make any sense. They just didn¡¯t¡­


    My eyes widened as the rain started to fall.


    ¡°The monsters don¡¯t spawn near us,¡± I said slowly.


    ¡°What?!¡± asked Amelia behind me.


    That was it. I barely remembered the first night at the camp. The rain fell and the monsters spawned closer to people, but not us. Never in all our days of travel had they appeared close enough to hurt us or hurt them for that matter, but in the camp they had appeared around the people.


    ¡°That¡¯s how lucks works,¡± I smiled looking at Knight. ¡°The system can¡¯t just control people, but it can spawn monsters if they have bad luck. Is¡­ Like an infamy system. Be good and you get loot, be bad¡­¡±


    ¡°And a zombie eats your face¡­¡± Sam¡¯s eyes widened turning around to see.


    ¡°A legal system that works quickly. That¡¯s new,¡± said Knight.


    The rain fell and no monster spawned over the ceiling. The survivors looked around expecting something to appear at any moment, but nothing came.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually going to be bad for us, considering what we have to do,¡± I sighed.


    John snapped his head back. ¡°The bandits, if we killed them we lose luck. Yes, that could make things difficult.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. I didn¡¯t want to kill anybody anyway. See? Everything has a bright side I guess,¡± I smiled.


    Finally the rain stopped, and the people waited in silence for a moment. Amelia just looked around. Soldiers and people started to move looking at me. They had heard our conversation, and again I started to feel the creepy vibes.


    ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± asked Amelia moving closer.


    ¡°Do you want the short or the long explanation?¡± I asked.


    She glared.

 Chapter 16: Adams Four

    Thanks for all the comments, they help.


    This chapter was going to be bigger, but given that I wanted to add a part from Sam''s perspective tinkering with magic I thought it was better this way. The next chapter is halfway done and I hope to release it soon.


    <hr>


    Apparently the night where no monster appeared gave us some sort of name between the survivor¡¯s people. The night was filled with discussions, yelling, cheering and stupidly great amount of lust heading my way. Which given my story was getting quickly on my nerves. The people were nice once you get to talk to them, just a bit obsessed with what happened.


    Not to say they didn¡¯t have a reason to be happy. Despite how organized they might seemed last night the fact remain that the monsters spawning had made wounds in them. Some people had died inevitably, and others were hurt. Every night they had to face that knowing someone may die, and being free from that certainly helped.


    Fortunately the whole thing had its perks, and with my new found fame I had asked everyone to come and talk about my plans.


    ¡°Alright gentleman this is a map of the town,¡± I said. ¡°The plan is simple, we are going to travel through the town avoiding the big groups of zombies, wolves, spiders, trolls, bandits, orcs, more zombies, knights that make ni!, and evil plants of doom.¡±


    My friends, the soldiers, Amelia and a few survivors stared at me.


    ¡°Once we have passed through the infested hellhole the plan is simple. Here and here are the banks and jewelry shops that should have gold, silver and other things if no one had bothered to steal it.¡± I continued pointing at several points in the map. ¡°Which they shouldn¡¯t because it¡¯s useless right now.¡±


    They stared at me again openmouthed.


    ¡°And we are going to steal it,¡± I said slowly giving time for my words to sink in.


    Knight blinked, looked around, and then asked. ¡°What?¡±


    I shrugged and ignored him. ¡°This is a map of the only bank in town. The vault is protected by cameras, heat detectors, lasers, automatic turrets, fembots, god on Fridays, and it¡¯s impossible to open without the right combination of numbers that changes every twenty seconds. Any questions about that part?¡±


    Silence ensued.


    ¡°Good, well, this is the plan,¡± I continued clearing my throat loudly. ¡°Sam cuts the power to the lasers. Knight seduces the fembots. Your soldiers ran towards the turrets like idiots and die. I pray to distract god, and finally John stuffs himself into a tiny box that somehow manages to enter into the vault and gets everything inside.¡±


    ¡°And if all of that works are we supposed to walk out without the authorities noticing something is off?¡± asked Knight.


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I¡¯m in,¡± said Sam.


    Everyone looked at us for a minute.


    ¡°What?¡± asked John.


    Knight and Sam lost it, and started laughing. I smiled looking at them, glad they still get me.


    ¡°Plebs, they never get it.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°When you asked us to come here I thought it was to discuss something important. Not to do¡­¡± Amelia sighed. ¡°Whatever this is. We have to prepare for a battle.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I said.


    And then I took a knife and slashed my arm open with it. The soldiers jumped almost at the same time ready to stop me, and then stopped seeing what I have done.


    ¡°What are you-?¡± started asking Amelia.


    With my other hand I casted the seed over the wound. A single green outline floated over it before the wound closed fast enough for everyone to see it. The soldiers stared and Amelia frowned. She walked closer ignoring the soldiers trying to stop her and touched the skin, inspecting it carefully.


    ¡°Start from the beginning,¡± she said.


    And so the meeting started with me explaining my healing powers over the surface. I didn¡¯t want to explain everything. I trusted them but I was not an idiot, and I left out some of my powers. The faces of my audience were priceless as I demonstrated it again.


    John took the opportunity to point out the need for food, hunting enough monsters for everyone to eat. He started using the map I brought to suggest a rudimentary plan on how to start, pointing possible places to trap animals and where to find them in big enough numbers according to his brief look at the town the day before.


    Then Sam continued explaining about magic circuits. Again in very wide terms that didn¡¯t compromise anything, but left it clear he could help with their temperature problems and ¡®other things if needed¡¯.


    Knight was trying very hard not to laugh every time the soldiers gaped.


    ¡°So to recap,¡± coughed the sergeant a bit put off. ¡°You can heal, and you can make magic equipment.¡±


    ¡°And John is a postman,¡± I nodded.


    The soldiers looked at each other. Amelia planted her face in the table


    ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining on having you on board. Given your abilities I¡¯m a lot more confident on surviving the next week,¡± said the Sergeant, ¡°but why did you start all of this with your plan to rob a bank exactly?¡±


    Knight coughed. ¡°Please forgive my brother. He tends to jump a few steps of the plan because he is an idiot.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Sam raised his hand timidly. ¡°Actually not taking into account his wild assault into the vault it¡¯s a good idea. I will need some materials to work with and both silver and gold are on that list. Getting food should be the priority but if you could get some of that it will help.¡±


    John nodded. ¡°We will.¡±


    ¡°I think I will be the one to decide that,¡± said Amelia rapping her fingers on the table. ¡°What do you think about the plan?¡±


    The sergeant bowed over the map slowly. ¡°We haven¡¯t had much luck with hunting, but I will be the first to admit that I don¡¯t have much experience in that regard. His plan seems solid, and for what I see he has more idea on this than me¡­ I think we should try.¡±


    Amelia made a weird face. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s the first time I see you being nice to somebody Cooper. I thought you didn¡¯t have it in you.¡±


    Cooper growled. ¡°Not many reasons to be nice since the camp fell ma¡¯am.¡±


    The soldiers cringed visibly.


    ¡°Well,¡± I coughed awkwardly. ¡°When do we go?¡±


    And somehow after all of that and half an hour casting the seed for every soldier that wanted to go I found myself following Amelia while Knight and John prepared to go out without me.


    ¡°Can you explain to me again why I can¡¯t go with them?¡± I asked.


    She growled. ¡°I have sick people that I can¡¯t help but apparently you can.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that,¡± I turned to Sam. ¡°And Sam?¡±


    ¡°Where you actually in that meeting?¡± asked Sam. ¡°They have some copper cable that I can use.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I nodded. ¡°That makes sense, but I still don¡¯t remember why I offered to do this instead of going with Knight¡­¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t,¡± said Amelia.


    ¡°That explains it.¡±


    Most of the soldiers were already preparing to go out following Knight and John. We continued until the third floor. The dark room that wasn¡¯t so dark in the morning with some light filtering through the closed windows. There was enough light to see the chaos that was the entire floor filled with crap from top to bottom. High end computers decorated the walls all around along with giant TV¡¯s, spare electronics and furniture.


    Some soldiers remained inside saluting to Amelia when we passed until we made it to the room. It was a wide room with a big Playstation sign. Well illuminated and filled with beds we arrived at the infirmary, and I¡­ broke a little.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯ve seen plenty of awful things. Working at the hospital is inevitable to come across some pretty messed up stuff, and unfortunately some of those things are done by people which kinds of make you lose any remaining faith in humanity, but this¡­ The first person I noticed was missing a hand, bandaged almost completely and writhing in his bed from either the pain or the fever. About thirty people on the room and they were all more or less in that level.


    I breathed deeply trying to rein my emotions. It didn¡¯t help matter that I could feel how bad they were at the moment. I turned to look at Amelia.


    ¡°I tried to stop the infections, but without medicaments it¡¯s impossible,¡± she said looking for the first time lost and hopeless. ¡°Can you do something?¡±


    ¡°Sam can you do your thing without me?¡± I asked.


    He looked around inside the room, pale. ¡°I... Yes, if someone points to where I can find the wire.¡±


    I nodded absently.


    ¡°Tell one of the soldiers,¡± she said.


    Sam went his way looking torn, and I went to work.


    The situation wasn¡¯t good. They were at the brink of death only held by a thin line of will and determination. They actually looked better than they were which said everything I needed to say. I walked to one bed and made a few quick checks.


    ¡°How much time had they been like this?¡±


    ¡°Some of them days, some of them weeks. Not many had managed to survive much time in any case,¡± she said.


    ¡°What?¡± I yelled, causing a few people to wake up in pain. I whispered closer. ¡°If you wanted the infections to stop why did you put them all in the same place?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have more space, and I didn¡¯t want to infect the entire camp,¡± she snapped. ¡°The people in the camp are weak enough to die from a cold. I didn¡¯t want to take risks, and this was the only option given the circumstances.¡±


    I grunted moving to another that looked somewhat better. I closed my eyes and started to concentrate casting the seed over his heart. A pale light vanished as the tendrils of magic started to work inside him repairing the damages. In a brief moment the skin returned to a healthy color, wounds that had been bandaged closed as if they never existed, the heartbeat turned normal, and the respiration became steady.


    Amelia stared flabbergasted.


    ¡°That is amazing!¡± she said moving and checking the quicker heartbeat.


    ¡°Nah, I always have that reaction in men.¡±


    She looked at me.


    I blinked. ¡°I admit I didn¡¯t think that one, but is still true.¡±


    ¡°It is unbelievable,¡± she continued ignoring me. ¡°The fact that you just used magic is unbelievable for starters, but this is¡­ A miraculous recuperation. And you said this lasts for hours? Have you tested it?¡±


    ¡°Well, not exactly. I didn¡¯t have much time with the thing about running for our lives, but I did test in my brother,¡± I coughed. ¡°Cutting him repeatedly. He didn¡¯t like it much, but it was for science¡­¡±


    She started removing the bandages, and passed a hand at the new skin. The stitches that had held the wound closed were now there out of the flesh in one piece.


    ¡°Your magic takes stitches outside the body? Impressive.¡± She muttered.


    ¡°Huh¡­ That¡¯s new.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°We will have to test your ability more thoroughly.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, as I was saying. The seed remains in the body for about two hours but it can run out of power if it has to heal too many things.¡±


    ¡°Good to know. Now we just¡­¡± she started to say.


    Amelia frowned a hand over the forehead of the patient. Her expression changed and I could feel the doubt and rage bubbling on the surface. I gulped fearing the worst and cheeked. The temperature was still high, and the seed was still repairing the damage.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    ¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± Amelia added. ¡°Your¡­ magic is repairing the damage the infection is doing to the body, but is not touching the infection itself. Is fighting the symptoms but not the cause.¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± I started and then blinked. ¡°That actually would explain why I couldn¡¯t heal the somniferous from the plants.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Long story,¡± I shrugged.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Seed of regrowth. Lv. 2 Learned Ability.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The gods of light and the spirits of nature have recognized you as a Druid and bestowed you with the knowledge to heal the wounds of your allies. You can create a seed completely made of mana that remains in the body until the host dies or runs out of power.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Active ability. Duration: 2 hours.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was a problem, but on the other hand it was an opportunity to try something new. I already knew that some my abilities had some secondary effects that I could unlock like with my green hand. It was just a matter of figuring out how to do it, and it wasn¡¯t a stretch to think the healing abilities of a druid couldn¡¯t do it. Given that it was just a matter of keeping them alive until I could heal them. Or¡­


    With a swift movement I took some of the medicines that were in my inventory and dropped on Amelia¡¯s hands. She stared for a moment in confusion only for her eyes to widen at the sight.


    ¡°How?¡± she asked blinking rapidly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to stabilize them and figure out a way to help them, but that should help in something,¡± I nodded ignoring the question.


    Tendrils of mana danced in the room as I closed my eyes. I knew I couldn¡¯t cast the seed in everyone today. I was too tired after doing that with over a dozen of soldiers, but I could cast something a bit of it on everyone. Just enough to keep them alive. The ordeal was still exhausting, but it wouldn¡¯t kill me.


    Half an hour passed from one blink to another. I opened my eyes looking around, they patients seemed better. Still dying, but better. Amelia passed from one to another helping them swallow the pills. I dropped down in one of the chairs with a heavy sigh looking at her.


    ¡°Tell me something,¡± I started. ¡°How did things became so bad here? I thought¡­ Well¡­ I thought if you got out alive from the camp you will have some medicaments. You had some there and¡­ What happened?¡±


    She didn¡¯t stop nor reacted to my words and continued to work, but communion warned me instantly. The tension coming from her grew, pain and rage lashed.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I muttered going back to work.


    What I wanted to do wasn¡¯t easy. I wasn¡¯t even sure how to do it, but I had a better idea where to start than last time. I glanced quickly to Amelia for a second and started.


    With mana manipulation I had much better understanding of what I was doing. One thread of life mana appeared around my hands. I twisted it making a circle, and then made it spin slowly. I grinned, it was completely useless but cool as heck.


    With another twist I made the circle stop and made the letter A. I breathed deeply and slowly made the shape a seed looking as all the parts were formed. A round seed appeared between my hands, dozens of little pieces of magic interwoven. With a flick of my fingers I took the pieces a part separating them in the air. I knew what all of them did, one recognized the body and all its parts, one healed the cells that could be repaired, one grew new ones, another replenished the blood in the body¡­


    There was nothing there to kill things that were harmful, just to repair damage. A few minutes passed by as I spun the several pieces of the seed in the air trying to come with something.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t save them,¡± said Amelia.


    The seed disappeared with the sudden change. Pain filled the air and I looked at her. Amelia was bowing over a patient still working.


    ¡°When the fall camp fell,¡± her voice broke just for a second. ¡°It was chaos, a wolf ripped the commander¡¯s head right beside me and I almost¡­ The soldiers that tried to contain the situation died, and only the ones who¡­¡±


    She stopped trying gulping visibly.


    ¡°Only the ones who ran survived.¡±


    I winced. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°No you don¡¯t understand!¡± she snapped looking suddenly at me. ¡°I was the second in command of that operation. I was supposed to keep them safe, to make sure the camp survived until they could be moved to a more secure location and¡­ I ran.¡±


    I nodded grimly. ¡°Not like you could have done anything, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I could have organized the soldiers. I could have tried to hold a position to help the rest of the camp ran, but¡­¡± she sighed. ¡°There were three thousand survivors in that camp, and by the next day there were less than a hundred.¡±


    ¡°And you think that a few soldiers working together could have made something different? I mean, they may be good, but if thousands died I doubt they could make a huge difference at the end,¡± I said.


    ¡°I made an oath,¡± she continued weakly.


    ¡°To protect humanity from the zombie apocalypse if it ever happened?¡± I grinned. ¡°Me too! The Hippocratic oath was a bit dry for me and I added the zombie part. Of course I wasn¡¯t expecting an actual zombie apocalypse when I did it, but now I¡¯m set for life.¡±


    Amelia snorted turning back to the patients. The pain weakened.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t have the medicines after that,¡± she continued. ¡°Well, sure some of our people knew something about plants and medicinal properties, and I remembered something from my studies. But with all the monsters and magical crap it seems all ¡®normal¡¯ plants are out of commission from the time being.¡±


    ¡°I thought something similar,¡± I smiled. ¡°Actually I have a flower with sleep inducing properties.¡±


    Amelia frowned. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I can show you later, that and a carnivorous moss,¡± I blinked.


    ¡°A what?¡±


    I ignored her suddenly thinking of something. With a thought a piece of blood moss appeared in a metallic stool. A knife appeared in my hand and I cut a few hairs, then I tossed close to the moss. I looked at the reaction in the magic seeing as the magic attacked the hair and started to eat it. It was very quick process and it took a few seconds to catch it.


    I smiled. The seed reformed again around my hands and I pulled new strands of life magic resembling what the moss did. It was almost the same thing copied perfectly with an only exception, it was tied to the piece that recognized the body as benign. The seed reformed under my hands quickly around the new piece.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Sub-skill of Seed of Regrowth acquired:


    Purge


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Eliminates harming elements from the body.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Okay. Show time.¡± I smiled turning my eyes to the first patient and starting to cast.

 Chapter 17. The birth of the Salamander

    Thanks for the comments, reviews and everything.


    I hope you enjoy this chapter.


    <hr>


    The wire took some time to find between all the crap that filled the entire floor. They weren¡¯t in need of it given that there was not much use of electronics at the moment, and I got everything. In essence I now had enough copper wire to cover the Zombinator twice. Not all of it was useful, at least not immediately being too soft, but even so I had enough for everything I needed to make and something more.


    And I had a few ideas already.


    I gathered everything I could in my inventory and walked back stopping briefly to see Adam working in the infirmary. The image inside was not something I wanted to see again and I went down all the floors to the ground floor where the Zombinator and every other car was parked.


    I looked around quickly. It was a good idea to have cars for everyone to escape if necessary. For what we¡¯ve seen the life of this people had not been a walk in the park, and the assurance that they had a way out if necessary was good. It said something about this people that nobody was trying to stole one and run.


    The Zombinator was cold like everything else in the mall. The temperature had only gone up a little when the sun came only to drop low again a moment later. My hands were shaking. It wasn¡¯t the ideal conditions to work, but there were no more options. I started the laptop, brought the book on magical circuits, cleaned one of the tables, and started to work.


    First things first, I consulted the book. Given that I spent months trying to decipher the whole process from the spear I kind of understood what I was doing. Nonetheless given that it was my first time doing it and that I was freezing I started with the basics. The book did describe and drawn some of the most basics circuits like creating heat.


    It wasn¡¯t a very difficult work, but it required some measure of patience and finesse for the details. I took the wire and started to shape it creating a wide circular frame for the work, which was always the beginning of all circuits. That collected the fire mana from the ambient. The next part was to build the channels that carried that mana from one part to another, several lines entwined along the frame some were straight, and others sharp with edges like a thunder. A small triangle at a side, and to finish it the rune of heat.


    Runes were the only thing that actually made anything, everything else just moved mana. They looked like Kanji. Not quite, but almost. It would have been difficult to write, and it was much more difficult to shape with the wire, but after a few minutes fighting with my tools I finished the damn thing. I put everything together making sure I hadn¡¯t fucked in the process, and added the last details.


    The only problem was that there were not many details in the book about what happened if the circuit was wrong. It basically said in many words: Don¡¯t. I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to find what that meant, but¡­


    ¡°No time like the present¡­¡± I muttered.


    The last part of the circuit needed something that absorbed mana, which thanks to all the wolves we had killed I had plenty. I added a sliver of horn inside the triangle and the circuit closed¡­


    Burning my hand in the process.


    ¡°Crap!¡± I said dropping the thing without thinking, and jumping out of the way.


    ¡°Look out!¡±


    Someone chose that time to push me out of the way and pinned me to the ground with his body. I groaned, pain and fear making it impossible to understand for a moment. Then I recognized the military uniform, and blinked in confusion.


    ¡°What the hell are you-?¡± I started to yell.


    I didn¡¯t finish because as soon as I started to talk there was a shockwave. The air pushed against us like a hammer, hot and dry making the walls of the Zombinator creak like if they were breaking. A blue flame appeared in the air over the circle just to vanish a second later.


    The table started to hiss loudly and an acrid smell filled the Zombinator. I didn¡¯t bother to explain moving the soldier out of the way. The table was burning under the circuit, so hot that it was glowing slightly red already. The instinct built over the years working with machines kicked in fast removing the piece of horn. Soon the circuit was cooling down nicely. Fortunately after a brief inspection nothing seemed to be broken or out of place.


    It had worked, it almost killed me from the intensity, but it had worked. The Zombinator was warm and the smell of burn plastic was overwhelming, but it had worked. It also solved one of the holes in the book. I made a quick annotation to remember: <u>Don¡¯t fuck circuits.</u> Now there was just one small problem that could be easily solved.


    ¡°Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?¡± I asked turning to look at the soldier.


    The soldier blinked. ¡°I¡¯ve helped you bring the copper. I¡­ You asked me for help and I¡¯ve been here all the time?¡±


    ¡°You were here when I was working?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Huh¡­ Yes?¡± He said looking at me directly. ¡°Are you okay? We can go back to the infirmary if-¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said before he could finish. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Fine. I just didn¡¯t notice you were there.¡±


    He shocked his head. ¡°I mean for your hands.¡±


    I looked down at my hands, they were burnt and bleeding from several points. My stomach turned by the sight, but only that. There was no pain. I could feel my hands, but there was no pain. It was one of the effects from Adam¡¯s magic, slowly the damage started to heal regenerating the cuts and burns on the skin until they were as good as new.


    I sighed in relief.


    ¡°What was that?¡± asked the soldier staring.


    ¡°Adam¡¯s paranoia,¡± I said turning to my work. ¡°He likes to make sure we are always covered which usually is annoying but¡­ I suppose he has a point.¡± I turned to him. ¡°Don¡¯t say that to him, please.¡±


    ¡°Was that the magic sergeant Cooper was talking about?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes, it lasts for a while.¡±


    He nodded. The soldier was young, nothing more than a boy. To be completely honest I was not much older myself, but he looked underage to be in the military. That was what the apocalypse did to people.


    I went back to the circuit. ¡°Identify.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Magic heater (Incomplete)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    An straightforward magical circle that produces heat. It lacks an end component.


    Mana tension ¨C High(Danger).


    Mana fluidity ¨C Fast.


    Heat produced ¨C Dangerous.


    Imperfect circle: Diameter 7.7321114 in - 19.63956296 cm.


    Weight: ...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I read it slowly. Some of the information was useless to me and as soon as I thought that it disappeared. The reaction had been too fast to see it properly. I looked back at the circle trying to see what the mistake was.


    ¡°Aw shit. The easiest part and I forgot,¡± I said.


    A single connection in the circuit that regulates the velocity at which the mana can move was wrong. It only needed a touch to enlarge it until the identification window changed and all the danger labels disappeared. I moved the piece of horn back into the circle and it went on. Not burning me, but instead producing a pleasant amount of heat.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Enchanting. Profession ability.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The ability to create magical wonders. Enchanters were highly regarded in other times for their abilities. The art of enchanting is one slow, in need of creativity and work.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The soldier moved on top of the circle waving his hand over it and feeling the heat. He looked at me with some sort of wonder in his eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just copper, how¡­ How does it work?¡±


    ¡°Magical bullshit and the crushed hopes of everyone that saw the ending of The Sopranos,¡± answered Adam entering the Zombinator ¡°At least that¡¯s what I think.¡±


    Adam walked inside slowly maneuvering between table and pieces of wire. He seemed tired and slow.


    ¡°Adam? Are you finished?¡± I asked looking at a watch.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been two hours up there Sam. There are still a few people that aren¡¯t completely fine, but I¡¯m too tired to use magic. And you?¡± he asked.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I finished the first which is the worst given that I wasn¡¯t entirely sure of what I was doing. Now I just have to copy the parts and assemble them.¡±


    ¡°Nice. Do you need any help?¡± he asked dropping on a bed.


    ¡°Not really. As long as no one jumps on me again¡­¡± I said looking at the soldier. ¡°This part is easy so¡­ Adam?¡±


    Moving closer I checked Adam was already sleeping. It only took a moment for him between touching the bed and being lost in his dreams. It seemed to be one of the after-effects of using too much magic that we had already seen for a while.


    I sighed.


    The soldier stared walking closer to Adam. ¡°Is he okay?¡±


    ¡°No. He is completely crazy, but there is nothing we can do about it.¡±


    Pulling the finished circuit to a place where it could warm the Zombinator better I went back to work. Making a dozen runes of heat in a row was incredibly easy and it only took a few minutes. The frames were even easier. After checking the book I noticed it wasn¡¯t necessary for the frame to be circular. The civilization that had built these things seemed to have an odd fixation with circles, but the shape of the frame didn¡¯t matter.


    Square frames were easier to manipulate later so I went with that finishing them faster. The soldier was giving me weird looks during the whole thing, as well as passing his hands over the already functioning heater.


    ¡°So¡­ How are things around here?¡± I asked.


    The soldier stopped in place. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well we just joined here, and I would like to know more about your group,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, giving I¡¯m spending my time making sure you don¡¯t freeze to death. I thought it would be nice.¡±


    Turning my hand I started to assemble one of the circuits. The process was easier this time.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much to tell really,¡± said the soldier.


    I glanced at him stopping my work for a second. He wasn¡¯t looking at me, but at everything else. There was a story there he did not want to tell me.


    I shrugged and finished the circuit. One by one I continued to work in silence easily checking with Identify. I added the last touches repairing all the easy mistakes I had done in the process and turned them on with a piece of horn. This time none of them exploded or overheated, they just gave a faint glow and started to work heating the air around.


    The soldier was waiting behind me, and I passed them on.


    ¡°Make sure they are put in places where they can work best if you can,¡± I said.


    He nodded and I moved out, then stopped over the door and looked at me. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I sighed and he went out.


    Going back to my annotations I began working in the important stuff. When I began I had drawn all the circuit in Knight¡¯s spear. I remembered perfectly the entire shape. I was sure to be able to copy it without too much trouble, but I didn¡¯t want a spear exactly.


    The book had most of the information I needed didn¡¯t understood all of it yet. Going from one thing to another I noticed there were a few holes. Patterns that were probably more advanced and didn¡¯t appear in that book. There were other patterns, little things that appeared in the book but were used in ways I didn¡¯t get.


    And then there was something odd. With a start I glanced back at the magic heater, and read in the book. Something wasn¡¯t right. I noticed before but forgot given I was still working. When I finished the heater there had been a flame and a shockwave, which wasn¡¯t something that should have happened. The rune only produced heat, not flame. Much less a shockwave.


    The book didn¡¯t appear to have more information in the matter. No explanation of why, and everything it did said made the whole occurrence either bizarre or impossible.


    ¡°Unless¡­¡± I muttered.


    I opened the laptop and starting looking in some of the physics books. I couldn¡¯t work with the heavier stuff, but much of the knowledge Adam preserved was fairly simple. A few moments going from the magic book to the computer left me with an answer.


    I started working quickly in another heater adding a few little details in the middle. I walked out with a watch and left the device on the ground turning it on before moving back as far as I could. It was even colder now, but that was better for what I was trying. Nothing happened for a few minutes and I checked the time. It was already past the time I set.


    I sighed moving to the device.


    The air burst into bright blue flames over the device. It was fast barely lasting a blink, and as soon as it appeared dissolved. The air shocked suddenly turning in a wall that blasted over everything. Even being cautiously far away I was pushed against the Zombinator before I could even notice what was happening.


    ¡°AW¡± I grunted hitting the wall hard.


    I coughed, the damage I received was barely enough to make the seed remnants heal me.


    ¡°SAM! What the hell?¡± Adam opened the door with a bang. ¡°Oh shit. Are you okay?¡±


    I nodded and laughed hard. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°I was trying to sleep there. What was that?¡± he asked helping me get up.


    ¡°I discovered an error in the matrix,¡± I answered walking to the circuit.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Prototype heat explosive (Broken)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A manipulated magical heater. The device is too broken to tell how it works.


    Mana tension ¨C High(Danger).


    Mana fluidity ¨C Fast.


    Heat produced ¨C Dangerous.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The device was badly broken, there was no sign of some of the pieces, and the small horn part used to finish had pulverized completely. The explosion had caused more damaged cracking the floor around it.


    ¡°So were you trying to kill me or just left me deaf?¡± asked Adam.


    ¡°I admit I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be so powerful.¡±


    ¡°And? How does that work?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s complicated,¡± I said taking the rests of the device on my hands. ¡°It¡¯s a byproduct of how the heater works. It somehow magically changes the temperature of everything around it directly. I don¡¯t know exactly how it works, but since the air is so cold the sudden change makes it burst into flames and¡­¡±


    ¡°Explode?¡± he asked blinking rapidly.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Marry me.¡±


    I looked at him smiling. ¡°No thanks. Now, if the cold continues until the attack¡­¡±


    Adam¡¯s expression changed suddenly looking into the horizon for a moment.


    ¡°It will,¡± he nodded.


    ¡°You have to tell me how that works someday, but¡­ I can make a few of this, change them a bit so that they only activate when we want, and mine the ground around the mall for when the bandits come.¡±


    Adam laughed. ¡°I leave you alone five minutes and you make a magical explosive. Actually this bring back memories, remember that time with the corgi?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to forget about that,¡± I said shivering.


    It was at that moment when people started to pour from the stairs, armed and packed into groups walking slowly. The young soldier and Amelia leading the troops. They stopped looking at the broken ground.


    ¡°Do I want to know?¡± she asked exchanging a look with Adam.


    ¡°It was an accident,¡± he said smiling. ¡°We were testing a weapon and the explosion was a bit more powerful than what we were expecting.¡±


    ¡°No enemies?¡± asked the soldier looking around nervously.


    ¡°No, nothing of the sort. Just an accident,¡± I said.


    Amelia sighed. ¡°And all of you are okay?¡±


    We nodded.


    ¡°Good. Now,¡± she walked closer to Adam. ¡°What were you thinking when you made an explosion inside the mall?! The whole damn place shocked, and everyone is scared shitless!¡±


    ¡°You are right, sorry,¡± he winced. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what I was doing. Heh. Sometimes I don¡¯t think. Sam would have thought that testing something dangerous inside the building was perhaps not a good idea, but not me. Right Sam?¡±


    I gulped. ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Amelia looked back at me. ¡°At least someone has a brain here. Make sure your friend doesn¡¯t kill himself. Or us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± I said slowly.


    ¡°Okay! Everyone can go back now. It was just an accident,¡± announced the soldier.


    Amelia shoed everyone going out of the room. The people started to disappear with the exception of some kids that stared wide eyed at the damage in the ground. Adam put his hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°So¡­ do you need supervision or¡­?¡± he smirked.


    ¡°It was a stupid mistake. I didn¡¯t think-¡±


    ¡°I know, but I really need to sleep now. I think if I don¡¯t I¡¯m going to explode and although I¡¯m sure that would be good research material for you¡­¡± he said. ¡°I hope I don¡¯t have to wake up again with a bang¡­ Even though I¡¯m really proud of you for that bang.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Fine.¡±


    In silence Adam went to sleep and I went back to the book. One mystery solved, and one new device made. Now I had something a bit bigger that I wanted to try.


    The most simplest application of the rune of fire was the one drawn in the spear. It was just a flare of fire appearing around the head of the weapon and moving forward. Basically the fire wasn¡¯t actually a fire, not a physical at least one which is nothing more than a chemical reaction, it was literally made of mana and didn¡¯t consume oxygen. It did burn things, but that was just about it. The book recorded that along with more elegant uses of the rune.


    With a few changes to the rune it was possible to make the fire take other shapes, like an arrow. I started working with the crossbow drawing a frame along the entire weapon. The shape didn¡¯t make it easier, and at the end it looked more like an improvised Mad max weapon than anything else.


    Like the explosive the crossbow needed something to condense the mana for a moment before releasing it, and that part was easy. The trigger not so much. The book had hundreds of different triggers to make a device stop or start, from buttons to voice commands or different frequencies of mana¡­ Whatever that was. The trick was the trigger of the crossbow to the trigger of the circuit which took hours and ended looking like a silly ball of copper below the actual trigger.


    The rune of fire was almost easy compared to that. I wanted it to make something special so I had to modify it carefully making a swirl with one of the tails of the letter, and some of the lines straight and smaller. I added it to the crossbow body and assembled everything with care. It took hours and by the end of it was tired of pouring every ounce of me on it.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Would you like to name your creation?</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    A window appeared by surprise even though it hadn¡¯t before. I thought about a name. I wasn¡¯t very good at naming, but I went with the first thing I got.


    ¡°Salamander.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations. You have created a rare weapon. The system recognizes your efforts and awards you 2500EXP.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">You have leveled up.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Salamander. Magical weapon.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">The first of its class the Salamander is a magical crossbow capable of making arrows of fire rain over its enemies. It was created by the novice enchanter Sam.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Creates 1 arrow every 4 seconds. Can carry enough mana to preserve up to 5 arrows at the same time</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I took it on my hands carefully aiming at a wall, checking the weight and the circuit. Adam whistled loudly behind me scaring the shit out of me.


    ¡°Wow. That is amazing,¡± he said. ¡°Should we try it outside before it explodes and we die?¡±


    ¡°It works fine!¡± I protested. ¡°Most of it¡¯s just a copy of the spear, and I checked already to make sure everything is connected where it should.¡±


    ¡°Good, we are still trying it outside,¡± he opened the door pointing at me to follow.


    I followed him outside when a soldier let us. It was snowing heavily outside, trees and buildings on the horizon were white and it was difficult to move when every step we sank into the snow.


    A streetlight appeared not far away and I aimed the crossbow. I pulled the trigger and observed as red fire floated over the crossbow quickly taking the shape of a big arrow and easily launched towards the target.


    And flew completely off the mark from where I was aiming.


    ¡°Good shot,¡± said Adam.


    ¡°Shut up. The aim is off,¡± I said adjusting it slightly.


    The rune was sideways just a little. I tried again, this time a metallic sound announced the hit and we walked closer. In the middle of the streetlight there was a hole the size of a finger, blackened, and just at the other side the metal was black and just slightly broken.


    ¡°I definitely want one of those,¡± said Adam smiling.