《A Survivor's Tale》


 Chapter 1: Awakening

    The stench of blood laid thick in the air.


    Shrouded in darkness, Clay Raymond suddenly snapped his eyes open. He didn¡¯t move, as he took his surroundings in, his eyes had yet to adjust to the little light in the room. Breathing in, his nostrils were insulted by an old stench of iron. Confused, he tried to cover his nose, only to feel air.


    Bewildered, he looked down, only to find a stump where his left arm should have been. His breath quickened, and he felt like he was close to a panic attack, but was somehow able to calm down. He didn¡¯t feel any pain, and it seemed like the wound was old, as it appeared to be fully healed.


    Trying to recall what happened, he only found blurry images in a distorted order that didn¡¯t seem to make any sense. He soon stopped himself as the headache became unbearable. Trying to stand up, he failed to move, only after the second time did he realize that he was encased in stone.


    After another strong pull, the stone broke and gave way. Turning around, Clay was shocked to find the huge hole, in the wall, outlining his upper body as he must have lain there far longer than a few hours. Touching the stone out of curiosity, it easily broke, brittle like it was centuries old.


    Rubbing the stone between his fingers, it quickly turned into dust. What the hell happened? In need of answers, Clay stood up, his bones cracking like that of an old man. He took some time to stretch and move his muscles, which strangely felt very strong.


    Besides awakening in such a strange environment, without clear memories on what happened, was he relieved. His body seemed to be healthy and without injuries. Freeing himself from dust, he finally noticed that his clothes were completely torn and tainted in a dried color of red and green-yellowish, as if someone vomited all over him.


    Distorting his face in disgust, he threw his shirt ¨C that was no better than a rag ¨C to the ground. Beneath was his upper body fully revealed in the light coming from one of the few windows in the room, which Clay had by now determined to be a cellar. This whole situation was so unreal that he wasn¡¯t even surprised when he found his well-formed, body to be littered from top to bottom in scars.


    There were a lot of fine stretches that looked almost like they were made by swords, while others were clear claw marks and some appeared to be bites? He wasn¡¯t sure, as some crossed over each other, making it harder to distinguish them. But most striking was a huge claw mark that stretched over his whole upper body, each nail must have been as thick, as a knife. Slowly tracing along the wound, he could clearly feel how deep the wound must have been¨C


    A sudden vision of a huge bear appeared in his mind, as its massive body blocked the sun. He could see how he tripped and what immeasurable fear he felt when the bear stretched its paw high into the air, before it crashed down, turning everything black.


    When his surroundings cleared again, did he find himself leaning against the wall, his breath still uneven and ragged. Looking at the dirty and cobweb infested ceiling, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This situation was strange to say the least, but he knew he had to stay calm. His memories were not gone, just fuzzy, he had to first recover them to understand what was going on.


    Having successfully calmed down, he took a clearer look at his surroundings now that he was standing. The cellar he was in appeared to be normal, filled with a few shelves and random objects, like some old canned food, rope, empty bottles, some boxes¡­


    Looking closer, there seemed to be someone lying against the wall just opposite of him? Coming closer, Clay, immediately flinched when he registered the smell of a rotting corpse. Slowly kneeling on the ground, he was finally able to see the face of the boy that looked in an even worse state, than he found himself in. The body was clearly dead and already beginning to rot, and was swollen like a balloon, but besides that he somehow felt himself drawn to the body as if he knew him.


    When he finally made out his face, with his short kept brown hair, he had another vision, ¡®Live on¡­ favor¡­ sister¡­ thank you¨C¡¯ there were only a few pieces at first, but he soon remembered who the boy before him was. When he finally came to his senses, he noticed how his eyes were covered in tears.


    How could he forget that? The boy before him was Jim Hawk, a friend of him and someone he trusted deeply. They were fighting something before he died, but he couldn¡¯t quite recall what. But it did not matter, he remembered the promise he made to Jim. He had to find his sister Mia. No, first he had to bury him, he couldn¡¯t let him just rot in some old cellar.


    His thoughts were broken, by the loud rumbling of his stomach. Quickly eating the canned food he saw before, he also discovered a few old clothes. They were covered in dust and a bit loose, but it was better than what he had on him, besides were there more pressing matters at hand.


    Wrapping Jim in an old blanket he found, he hauled him carefully over his shoulder, easily lifting his weight. Without much effort, he went up the stairs and kicked the door open, as the daylight blinded him for a few moments. Observing his surroundings, he was greeted by the sight of a ruined village.


    Many houses showed signs of breaking down, while vines and small bushes littered the streets, showing how nature was slowly taking over once again. A few pieces of shimmering black metal that littered the ground caught his eyes¡­ no, that was no metal. He knew these remains, they were an exoskeleton!


    Another vision showed how a two-meter tall ant, with humanlike appearance and shimmering black exoskeleton, severed Clay¡¯s left arm, before it beheaded his best friend, Chris. In the next vision, Clay saw himself clinging to its back, returning the favor by beheading it with a broken machete.


    Opening his eyes again, he could feel his teeth pressing strongly against each other, as he carefully laid Jim to the ground. If the ant was not already completely eaten from flesh to organs, he would have done unspeakable to the remains of that monster. But the only thing remaining was its broken exoskeleton and the shimmering black blade, that was made out of the same material as the exoskeleton.


    Coming closer to the remains, he couldn¡¯t stop the rage welling up inside him. He took another deep breath, as he looked at the cloudless blue sky above. There was no time to be angry, he slowly began to remember, and he knew that it wasn¡¯t safe in this village. When he looked down again, he found the broken machete, which he used to kill the royal guard.


    Picking it up, he remembered that it once belonged to Jim. Stroking over the carefully forged blade, he could feel the silver engravings resembling lighting on the black blade clearly, before they abruptly ended where the blade broke.


    Nodding, he wrapped the machete in some clothes before putting it in a small bag he found in the cellar. Jim would have wanted to be buried with his machete. A little further off, he also found his own arming sword and the black obsidian dagger Jim used. Both the sword and dagger would prove very useful, should he encounter a beast.


    He tucked both the sword and dagger between his jeans and belt. The sun was standing high so he still had a few hours of daylight left, but Clay wanted to move as soon, as possible. He had a feeling that he didn¡¯t want to be out at night.


    Scavenging shortly through the houses, he soon found what he was looking for. A few supplies of food and water and most importantly a shovel. Once he stepped outside, he saw how a red-brownish ant, as large as a wolf, curiously fumbled over the blanket Jim was covered in.


    Furious, he screamed, ¡°Hey!¡± the ant turned to look at him, ¡°Yes you, you ugly piece of shit!¡± It didn¡¯t even take a second for the ant to rush at Clay, and while he fumbled to get his sword free, it was already upon him. Holding his right arm up in defense, he could feel a stinging sensation, as the ant''s mandibles closed down.


    They drew blood, and it hurt like shit, but they were not that sharp, just very strong. As soon as the pain rushed through his arm, Clay felt how something awakened inside of him. He could feel how a very familiar energy rose inside his heart, like a steady lake that was about to erupt, while he felt a warmth spread around his body. With the raising, heat accelerated his pulse. This energy ¨C or, how they began to call it, essence ¨C was continuously moving in his heart as if an engine awakened to life. Soon, the essence was carried along his blood through his whole body, as it gave him newfound power.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    With this power, Clay heaved the ant with one arm high into the air, before slamming it with full force down, crushing it innards and organs under the force. It twitched a few more times before eventually dying, causing essence to leave the body, which eventually entered Clay¡¯s own, replenishing the essence he just burned.


    Looking at the deep mark left behind by the bite of the ant, Clay felt a heavy pain coursing through his arm. He was sure that it would take quite some time before that wound healed¡­ At least that was what he thought before, he felt his essence running along his arm, pushing with each circulation the pain away, as the bleeding stopped in seconds, Clay observed how the wound first clotted, before beginning to form scab.


    The pain vanished soon after, and when he flexed his arm, Clay felt like he could use it without much concern. He slowly began to remember, this essence, was the reason why the world and its ecological system changed.


    Shaking his head to clear his mind, he focused on more important matters. He had to bury Jim, before another beast tried to violate his corpse. Only carrying Jim a few meters, he was forced to a halt, as another ant came around a corner.


    This one was a little larger than the one he just killed, and instead of immediately attacking him it observed him for a moment, twitching with its antenna. Clay¡¯s question to what it was doing was soon answered, as a shrill shriek echoed in the empty ruins of the village. Right away did another ant appear behind a corner, then another and another¡­


    Before long was Clay completely surrounded by ants. Some only reached to his knees, others were as large as wolves, and a few were even larger. He already drew his blade and was ready to defend himself, looking at the ant he couldn¡¯t help himself but laugh. ¡°Very well, bring it on!¡±


    He didn¡¯t quite understand why, but the upcoming fight exited him and in response he could feel the essence in his heart flaring once again to life, empowering his body beyond what a human was capable off. He had confidence that he could win.


    With a shout, he threw himself to the closest ant, initiating a battle of life and death. Without fully understanding his body instinctively moved to the back of the nearest ant, thrusting his sword deep it penetrated the thorax and killed the knee-high ant instantly. He remembered, their weakness was their thorax and joints, he had killed many before.


    In his eyes, the ants moved slowly, while his body reacted to his every thought without delay. The moment he pulled his sword free, he was already upon the next ant, killing it like the first, as he moved to the third he ran out of space to move, but he didn¡¯t frighten. Jumping on the ant, he swiftly pushed his blade through its thorax, additionally avoiding the ants that were about to grab him.


    He wasn¡¯t sure about the number of ants, but he was surrounded on all sides, there was no direct way out, so he had to make one himself. Jumping from the corpse he landed on the next ant, crushing its skull under his boots, he could feel the exoskeleton cracking, and breaking under his weight, with a satisfying crunch.


    Swinging his blade at an ant that was about to close its mandibles, its antennas were severed, causing it to sway in pain. Clay knew that they mostly navigated by vibrations, rather than their eyes or ears. As he continued to avoid the countless attempts to hold him in place, the fewer became the opportunities to attack.


    He had to do something, or he would soon be held down and injected with venom, which would mark his death. As he frantically tried to think of a solution, he could feel the essence inside of him burning ever faster, as some was pushed out of his body. Wait!


    Clay suddenly remembered something, as he closed his eyes and pushed with his mind outwards, feeling his essence that was slowly vanishing into the atmosphere, he instinctively began to reach out with his mind, grabbing on to it, preventing it from moving away from his body.


    While the essence surrounding him thickened he could feel another sense inside of him awakening, he had done this often, even more than burning essence. With a smile, he finally remembered how to use aura and with it, he could clearly feel the essence of the countless ants surrounding him.


    There were about two dozen, and with a deep breath, he quickly found what he was looking for. Snapping his eyes open, he was already surrounded by all sides, but he just let himself fall down, slipping beside a wolf-sized ant, severing two of its joints in the process. With another circulation of essence, he tensed his legs and jumped high into the air.


    Surprised by the sudden height, he flailed with his arms and legs for a moment before catching his balance, landing on top of another ant that he quickly dispatched. He was close now, as his empowered body shot with another burst of speed to the largest ant of the group.


    There was a sudden tuck on his left leg, as Clay felt how a smaller ant grabbed him, but instead of using his sword he just took a deep breath, tensed his muscles and with one heave of force, threw it into its sisters.


    Carefully avoiding another two ants, he was in arms reach of his target, only to feel his sword being grabbed. Without second thought, he abandoned it and drew Jim¡¯s dagger, as he finally reached the commander ant and quickly sliced its thorax from bottom to top. Thankfully, they were not much of fighters.


    The moment the ant died, the others soon grew disoriented, causing larger gaps to be formed, allowing him to move more freely and that¡¯s all he needed. Only equipped with the dagger, he used his higher speed and mobility to move between the ants and slice their joints or thorax.


    It wasn¡¯t long before he was covered in green-yellowish blood from head to toe. Each time an ant died he absorbed their essence replenishing his own, giving him the ability to continue fighting without worry. Her however did not stay unharmed, as multiple claw and bike marks adorned his body, but they were all superficial and didn¡¯t hinder his enhanced body much.


    Suddenly, there was a push from behind, while he was trying to catch his balance from an attack, causing his dagger to be thrown into one of the ruined houses. Getting it wasn¡¯t an option, so he quickly looked for his sword, only to find its shattered pieces lying on the ground. The ants were smarter than he gave them credit for, they recognized that the sword was a threat to them and destroyed it.


    Frantically looking around, he didn¡¯t seem to have any other weapon close by. His search was also kept short, when another ant pounced at him, forcing him to keep its head at bay, which was rather hard with only one arm. With another rush of burned essence, he overpowered the ant, throwing its head aside.


    Using the rest of his body, he toppled the ant on its back and quickly stood up. He reached down to one of its legs, putting his foot above the joint, before pulling with all of his force. There was a horrible screech, as flesh tore and ripped, before eventually snapping. With the lower leg of the ant in hand, he looked at the point, where the joint was moments ago.


    The exoskeleton was ripped open, forming something similar to a jagged spear tip. Clay shook his head, frustrated, but that had to do. With leg in hand, he entered the next mortal combat.


    Before long his wounds accumulated and he began to exhaust. He still had more than enough essence, but there was a limit to how much his body could withstand its burden. Thankfully, the ants were also reduced to a few, all injured like himself. In the chaos it was hard to reach their thorax so he had to resort to their joints, which caused quite the messy scene.


    He was pushed back to the remains of the royal guard that gave him so much suffering. With a burst of speed an ant threw itself on Clay pinning him down at the cost of its own life, as the leg in Clay¡¯s hand penetrated it, he was already on his fourth leg, they broke rather easily.


    The other two ants were quick to use the opportunity as they attacked him from both sides, he had no weapons, so he just tried to grab for anything, even if it was only a stone, before his hand finally found something. He felt a rush of pain, as he held unto the black blade of the royal guard.


    Gritting his teeth, he beheaded the ant on his right with the blade, causing it to bite deeper into his flesh. With another burst of effort, the threw his body to the left, thrusting the sword into the eye socket of the ant to his left, only to feel a searing pain sure from his legs. The last ant managed to push its sting into his leg and release its venom.


    Using his right leg, Clay kicked it with full force away, which gave it the rest, as it stopped moving after that. Dropping the blade that buried deep into his hand, he felt his whole body shivering.


    He turned over to his stomach, heaving himself up with his right arm, laughing, ¡°I win!¡± He moved to sit on his knees. ¡°You hear me! I win!¡± His laughter was abruptly cut short when he spewed a mouthful of blood, that turned into a fit of coughing that caused him to clench his stomach in pain and fall over to the side, before eventually calming down.


    Lying on his back, he raised his right arm into the air, it was completely covered in blood, and he still trembled, but there was a smile on his face, as he clenched his fist and felt the pain rushing through his hand.


    ¡°You see that, Jim?¡± Clay asked, while looking over to the wrapped up body that stayed besides a few stains of blood completely clean. ¡°I will survive, and I will protect your sister, don¡¯t you worry.¡± He pulled himself up on shaky legs, ignoring the heavy stench of iron in the air, and the fact that his clothes were yet again broken and covered in blood.


    It would take days for a normal human to fully heal from such wounds and cleanse the venom, but Clay wasn¡¯t worried. He was no normal human and by slowly burning his essence, he should be able to move just fine after a day of rest. Looking at the sky, he could only wonder on what the future had prepared for him.


    ¡°This will be quite the journey¡­¡±

 Chapter 2: Rot

    With one last shovel of dirt, was the grave completely covered. Taking a deep breath, Clay placed his hand on the massive oak tree, underneath laid the body of Jim. He formed his palms into a prayer.


    He was by now means a religious person, but it felt right at the moment to pray for Jim to have a successful passing ¨C not that he knew what came after death ¨C he just hoped that Jim found a peaceful place he could finally rest at. Kneeling down, he touched the crude cross, made out of thick branches. There was not much more he could do in his current situation.


    ¡°You can rest at ease here. May this tree protect your grave, until your soul passes on.¡±


    He sat there kneeling for a moment, listening to the sound of the wind and the chirping of the birds in the distance. It was such moments that provided him with enough peace to momentarily forget his worries. If he could, he would have stayed longer, but he still had to find Mia, if she was still alive, that is.


    He said he would protect and care for her, but he wouldn¡¯t be as foolish, as to not consider that she could be dead. Over the last few hours ¨C since he survived the encounters with the ants ¨C became his memories clearer. They were still disorientated, but he realized that it was very unlikely for Mia to have survived so long on her own.


    Looking around himself, he could see how the leaves lost their luster, and how it grew colder. It seemed like they were already in the middle of autumn. Concentrating he tried to remember, when all of this began¡­ It took a few seconds but, eventually, he remembered. He wasn¡¯t sure about the date, but he knew it was the end of spring, when this light came and changed everything.


    So about four months have passed since then, maybe longer. Sighing, he decided to not think about it. He just had to go to the city and find out for himself if Mia was still there. But only tomorrow, the sun was already setting and his injuries, were still not healed. Especially, the venom coursing through his system was a real problem. He was glad that burning essence helped his body in cleansing the venom, because if not, he wouldn¡¯t know what he would have done against it.


    He dragged his battered body back to the village, his hand resting on the makeshift handle of wood, that he made for the black sword from the royal guard. It proved to be a pretty good weapon, so he decided to use it as a replacement for his shattered arming sword.


    Choosing an intact building in the outskirts of the village, he decided to settled down there for the night. His abode for the night was a room on the first floor. Sitting down on the bed and relaxing his muscles, he realized how tired he was.


    If he laid down and closed his eyes, he was sure to immediately fall asleep, but he still had to test something. Sitting crossed legged on the bed, he closed his eyes, feeling with his mind inside of him. Quickly, his surrounding diminished, sounds muffled, as he felt his own heart.


    Inside his heart was, something that appeared in Clay¡¯s vision to be something like a lake. He couldn¡¯t physically see it, but in his mind it was a beautiful blue lake, that shimmered from time to time, like a jewel. This lake was his essence, somehow securely stored in his heart, unable to escape.


    Concentrating deeper, he felt a swirling mass of light blue surroundings his heart, flowing around it similar to that of a river. If he waited long enough, he would witness how a drop gradually formed from this river. When the drop was as pure as the lake below, it would fall down, fusing with it. He knew that this liquid was concentrated essence.


    In the past Clay experimented a lot with this essence and even if it was a magical substance it seemed to act similar to a gas. If concentrated enough, it would turn into a liquid.


    Feeling yet again inside of him, he tapped with his mind into the liquid, willing for it to burn. In a flash, the liquid ignited like oil, forming a bright green flame. When his heart bumped, stuck a part of his essence tightly to his blood cells, being carried along his veins through his whole body.


    While the liquid burned and expended itself, he could feel how the river surrounding his heart accelerated, moving faster to replenish the essence he just burned. The essence that was carried through his body continued to burn, releasing a bizarre energy that filled Clay with strength. His previous tired state was immediately pushed away, as his head cleared and his muscles rejuvenated. Tensing them, he could feel the inhuman strength that was hidden in them.


    In other parts, helped the essence with the recovery of his body, burning the venom that was scattered through his body, while in other parts it stuck to cells, accelerating cell division helping immensely in recovery.


    While most of his essence stayed in his body, some was given to the atmosphere, similar to vapor from a boiling kettle. This vapor was the substance that eventually formed his aura.


    Essence can help in both destroying and creating matter ¨C of which Clay didn¡¯t know yet what the long term consequences were ¨C but for now it was the only tool he had to his disposal to give him an advantage over the physically superior beasts.


    As his memories recovered, so did his dormant passion for this mysterious energy, which changed his world forever. Compared to others were the current events not something that bothered him much. He didn¡¯t really understand it himself, but once the grieving for that what he lost passed, remained only one thing ¨C wonder.


    He was always interested in the supernatural and being able to learn it first hand? The feeling was hard to describe, which was also why he was so thankful for Jim ¨C he was the reason he survived after all.


    No matter, the important thing was that Clay knew (thanks to his rather obsessive interest) quite a lot about this essence. There were still large holes in his memories, but those would return eventually. The thing he already remembered, were the two most important techniques he learned over the past four months: aura and enhancement.


    That is at least how he called it. Enhancement is just the burning of liquefied essence, the very process he was currently undergoing to cleanse his body from the venom of the ant. The effect of enhancement was simple, as it improved overall physical capabilities for as long as he could burn essence.


    Aura on the other hand was a lot more complicated. It was a by product of burning essence, a formless mass of essence similar to that of vapor or mist. It could be influenced and guided around his body, which always functioned as an anchor.


    Clay was actually influencing his aura this very moment. Swirling about a meter away from his body was this vapor of essence, his aura. Clay wasn¡¯t able to see essence, but he could clearly feel it.


    It felt like a cooling breeze was surrounding him, clutching close to him, like mist that followed wherever he went. Being surrounded by aura always felt comforting, especially for someone like Clay, who was sensitive to it. It calmed him down like a cozy blanket.


    In truth, this essence wasn¡¯t all that complicated. It just followed its own rules, and only once it began to burn did inexplicable things happen.


    Yawning, Clay stretched his tired body, he could experiment with his aura another time. His body was by now mostly cleansed of the venom, and he felt comfortable enough to sleep without fearing to succumb to the venom.


    Finally closing his eyes after an eventful day, he could feel how his consciousness promptly slipped away. Besides all that happened, there was a slight smile on his face.


    ***


    Snapping his eyes open, awoke Clay from his slumber, frantically observing his environment. Noticing that he was still fine and didn¡¯t lose another arm in his sleep, he sighed in relief. Despite being relatively sure that he wouldn¡¯t be attacked, he still felt thankful for not being awakened by some beast, that tried to devour him in his sleep.


    Stretching his stiff body, he felt like a newborn baby. It was surprising what a good amount of sleep could do sometimes. Feeling inside of him, he knew that the venom completely vanished from his system. His outer wounds, had all formed a thick layer of scab, while the skin beneath began to heal.


    He could definitely fight without problems. Having confirmed that his body was in acceptable condition, he began to scavenge the house for anything remotely useful, on the top of the list being clothes ¨C his current ones were after all covered in blood and torn all over.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Thankfully, he found what he was looking for without a problem and was even able to find a set that fitted him quite nicely. That out of the way, he grabbed his bag, throwing it over his left shoulder ¨C still irritated by his lost arm, that made it quite hard to comfortably hold onto the strap. There was not much he could do besides adapting to the loss. His right arm had to stay free so he could move it without a problem, should he be attacked.


    It¡¯s true what they say. You only realize how important something is to you once you lose it. Shaking his head, he tried to see the positive. It could have been a lot worse, if he for example lost his right arm, (which was his dominant one), as this would have given him a lot more problems. It was no joke how heavily he leaned to using his right arm, so he was grateful that at least his ¡®inferior¡¯ arm got lost.


    Besides, it wasn¡¯t all bad he still had a stump to wiggle around, which was at least enough to keep the strap from slipping away from his shoulder. Holding on to said strap, he checked his equipment one last time.


    On his left side were his sword and dagger strapped to his belt. On the right, he had a hammer that could be useful as a last resort weapon, but mainly to quickly build some sort of shelter. For the same reason were some nails and string in his bag, with all sort of other stuff, but mostly food.


    On the point of food, Clay couldn¡¯t remember the last time he ate so much. He had now ravaged through a few houses and must have devoured something close to ten thousand calories. He faintly remembered that he had done something similar in the past, but he couldn¡¯t quite recall it, seemed like it wasn¡¯t something he really wanted to remember.


    Being satisfied with his equipment, he finally had everything prepared and was ready to look for Mia. Cautiously making his way out of the village, he felt inside of him tapping into his lake of essence and setting it ablaze, mentally trying to guide the mist outwards, which worked to an extent.


    After a few seconds, he stopped holding the essence that left his body in place, forming his aura. It had a size of about three dozen meters.


    If he had to concentrate on other things, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold his aura so far from his body, but just walking didn¡¯t take much concentration. It was a bit risky, but he decided to fully trust his aura, not paying much attention to his other senses. If he remembered correctly, then not many beasts should be able to hide their aura. He himself didn¡¯t yet remember how to do it.


    Like this, he carefully entered into the forest, striding along the road that lead back to the city of Churchville. By now the road was already covered by small grasses and bushes and it some cases it split open, revealing the green that grew underneath.


    The roads between Churchville and the few villages surrounding it never got much attention, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise to him that they broke that quickly. It also seemed like many beasts were still avoiding the road, or they just moved away, due to the threat of the ants.


    But he wasn¡¯t worried, with their queen dead, they would slowly be dispatched over time by the other beasts roaming the forest. They had no means to reproduce and without commander ant, they weren¡¯t, that well organized. He had only ever seen two, so he felt relatively sure that not many remained.


    Besides his expectations, he reached the outskirts of Churchville without encountering even a single beast. That was quite the surprise for him. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t encounter many, because of the mentioned threat of the ants, but not even finding a single one was more than a little ominous.


    Well, he couldn¡¯t really complain about reaching Churchville easily, so he entered the city without prolonging it any longer. Compared to the village, was the city in an even worse state. Several houses were in ruins and nature seemed to take the place over just, as quickly as in the village.


    Further in noticed Clay how the surrounding green becoming scarcer. The inner city seemed to be still untouched, by nature. Sadly, the countless bones littering the street didn¡¯t help in relieving any of his worries. Who could possibly survive in such an environment?


    Nonetheless, he kept on going deeper and after a certain distance he finally noticed something out of place. The corpses or more accurately the remains of various beasts began to litter the streets, but strangely they were not eaten, which was unusual compared to the other remains he had seen that were eaten down to the bone.


    They rotted, and the stench was almost unbearable, even for corpses did they smell strangely strong. Even more peculiar, were the strange deep purple patches that covered each of the corpses, as if they had some kind of disease before dying¨C


    His thoughts were abruptly interrupted, when he smelled something sweet. At first, it appeared pleasant, almost comforting, but it quickly became cloying, going from pleasant to straight up sickening.


    The foul stench of corpses was swept away in an instant, replaced by this new odor that felt disturbingly out of place. His unease deepened, the harmless sweetness now laced with a sense of dread. With each breath, the smell intensified, morphing from sweet to a burning sensation in his nostrils, as if the very air had turned toxic.


    His vision blurred, and he became lightheaded. With another breath, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Something was very wrong.


    He didn¡¯t quite recall what he was doing here, or who he even was, but instinctively he reached inside him, tapping into the lake in his heart. From one moment to the next it awakened to life, burning intensely, as newfound energy was carried through his body, clearing his mind.


    Pulling himself from the ground, he puked a mouthful of blood, that was way too thick for his liking, while the surface of it shined in an unnatural purple. He was poisoned with something and without losing another thought he tensed the muscles in his legs and shot off straight to the direction where he came from.


    No wonder the city and its surroundings were abandoned, the city was a fucking toxic wasteland! As if struck by lighting, Clay remembered, My sister''s condition is rather particular, she is breathing poison¨C how could he forget something so important?! The reason why Mia wasn¡¯t with Jim to begin with was, because she was surrounded by a thick aura of deadly poison.


    Touching over his nose, Clay¡¯s saw his hand stained in a crimson red. It seemed like this poison only grew stronger over time, and he of course had to breathe a shit ton of it. This whole situation was just great.


    How could he be so carless and stupid? Shaking his head, he concentrated on the important ¨C running away. His breath sounded like that of a horse that ran for hours, when he finally reached the outskirts of the city.


    The poison overwhelmed him the moment he entered the region with the strange corpses, so he felt safe in the outskirts that were several hundred meters away. Breaking down onto a beautiful chestnut brown couch, he bled all over it in seconds. Not only his nose, but his eyes and ears too, began to bleed, which was more than a little worrying.


    His whole body felt like it was boiling from the inside out, and he panicked. He didn¡¯t know what to do, the poison just spread too quickly for him to react. Should he try to find some antidote? No, the poison was of supernatural origin, some random antidote would do nothing.


    He had no other option, but to rely on his enhancement and hope that it could cleanse the poison. Lying on the couch, he concentrated into himself, steadily continuing to burn his liquified essence.


    As long, as it burned, he should be able to survive. With this in mind, passed time. Clay couldn¡¯t tell how much ¨C too engrossed in keeping the fire inside of him burning ¨C it could have been mere minutes or hours.


    He soon only had half of his essence remaining, his situation unchanged. He had to do something, so he just felt deeper inside of him, not only concentrating on his heart but observing his whole body.


    It took time, but eventually he noticed what looked to be a deep purple patch of sludge burning hidden besides his lungs, slowly absorbing the surrounding essence. Witnessing this, it dawned on him. No wonder the situation didn¡¯t change! This poison absorbed his own essence to keep itself burning.


    If he hadn¡¯t found out about this, then he would have unknowingly continued to feed the poison exhausting himself, until he would be dead. He was desperate, so he tried all sort of things, like pushing the poison out or stopping his enhancement, but nothing worked. His only option was to somehow overpower it.


    At some point, he focused all of his attention onto his own essence, willing the surrounding essence that flowed through his veins to gather.


    At first, the essence only flickered, but soon they flowed together, fusing into a bigger source. Directing them, he surrounded the batch of poison, quenching it from all sides. The purple sludge burned intensely trying to desperately defend itself, but it was overwhelmed soon enough.


    With rejuvenated hope, Clay continued to find and quench every source of poison he found. His whole body was sweating, and his insides felt like they were eaten from the inside out. Each batch of poison he cleansed caused a deep sting of pain.


    But he ignored it, he had no other choice but to continue, if he wanted to live. He could accept dying in battle, but not like this! Not by some poison! He continued to burn his essence until he finally noticed an effect and felt his symptoms alleviating.


    When he only had a quarter of his essence left, he saw how his own essence adapted to the poison, beginning to slowly absorb it too. Additionally, he could feel how the river surrounding his heart shrunk, as it was refined into more liquid he could burn.


    When only a tenth of his essence remained, did he realize that the river surrounding his heart, was almost completely dried up. The once grand river was by now reduced to a mere stream. His essence and the poison were in a desperate struggle, like that of two armies that didn¡¯t take one step back, while his body functioned as the battlefield


    Once his essence lowered even further, felt Clay, his body weakening considerably. He laid on the couch, which was by no drenched in a color of red. His breath was strained, and his skin searing hot.


    The fight continued on, and he lost track of how much time passed long ago ¨C just focusing in directing his essence wherever he found the poison ¨C until something finally changed. All the poison gathered in his chest, near his heart, like a mass of death that tried to consume him whole.


    With one last strain, he willed all of his essence to surround his heart in a sphere. At some point, neither the poison nor his own essence seemed to gain any ground, unable to defeat the other. He was barely able to keep conscious.


    As both continued to absorb each other happened something unexpected as they began to fuse and condense, but he was finally unable to keep awake, falling into darkness, as his consciousness slipped away.

 Chapter 3: Transformation

    Clay¡¯s eyes abruptly shot open as a sharp pain erupted from his stomach. His whole body convulsed, as he vomited blood all over the floor, suddenly being wide awake, not a trace of drowsiness in his mind.


    Gasping for air, he laid back onto the couch. Resting his right arm on his temple, he took a deep breath, tears trailing down his, cheeks. He did it; he survived. His tears soon turned into an excessive laugh. Oh, it felt so good to be alive! He took a moment, but he eventually calmed down, resting his eyes while a huge smile stretched over his face.


    Glancing over to the puddle of blood, he just threw up moments ago, he wondered how much liter that were? Enough to kill a man, that was for sure. With a grunt, he sat up, looking down, only to be immediately annoyed.


    The couch was covered in dried blood, with a tone of purple mixed in, while his clothes were completely drenched in the same color. For fuck''s sake, not again! Springing up from the couch, he just barely avoided the puddle of blood, before throwing his clothes away. It couldn¡¯t become a habit for him to awake in completely, drenched and tattered clothes!


    Not to mention the several near-death experiences he had without even fully understanding the situation. He promised himself that once he found Mia, that he would take things more slowly. Taking his time to fully understand the situation and try to recover his complete memory before fighting some insane beasts or poison again.


    Thinking of the poison, Clay grumbled. That was a real problem he had to consider. Jim said that a gas mask helped, but he wasn¡¯t too hopeful in finding one. Not to mention that he seriously doubted that it would have a significant effect on the poison. No matter, he first had to get some new clothes again.


    This time they didn¡¯t fit quite as nicely as the last and were a little too tight, but it was better than nothing. He just threw a shirt on when he passed a mirror in the corridor, which connected bedroom and living room, when he suddenly halted in his tracks.


    Taking a few steps back, he observed himself in the river, shocked at what he found. The boy in front of him looked like himself, but something was off. His shoulder long hair was a little too bright for his liking, it even looked like it had strokes of silver in them?


    Rubbing a few strands between his fingers, it felt normal, but Clay was certain that he had purely blond hair, they were definitely not that bright. His memory was fuzzy, not gone. Seeing the reflection of his arm, it also appeared different. He couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it, but he somehow looked much¡­ younger.


    Squirting into the mirror it finally dawned on him, as he pulled his shirt up, only to find his usual well-defined body to have absolutely flawless skin, that was without any form of impurity or scar. Even the huge claw mark of the bear (where Clay still wondered how he was able to survive that) all but vanished.


    Slowing gliding over his skin, Clay was more than confused. The skin was soft to the touch and yet rough. His left arm was still missing, but there wasn¡¯t a single scar that remained on his body. He almost looked like a different person, as if he was reborn.


    Thinking, he roughly remembered that his essence and the poison somehow began to fuse before he lost consciousness. Poison and medicine are closely intertwined, too much medicine can be poisonous and the right amount of poison can be medicine. The effect didn¡¯t seem to be that simple, though.


    That was no normal poison after all and Clay wasn¡¯t quite sure what it did to his body, but it seemed to have him benefited in a stroke of luck. If he continued risking his life like this, then he was doomed to die young, just one reason more to act more carefully, once he found Mia.


    Besides his body feeling healthy, Jim felt quite tired, he had a theory at why that was. Sitting on a chair, he felt inside of him, observing his lake of essence. He paled once he saw the state of it. He was pretty sure that the amount of essence he had left was by no means healthy.


    The river surrounding his heart had completely dried up, while the essence stored in his heart amounted to not even a tenth of what it could hold. Clay realized, while burning his essence, that he is dependent on it. He didn¡¯t seem to need much, but going below a tenth was definitely dangerous.


    He didn¡¯t know what happened once he completely ran out, but he guessed that it would end in his death. There had to be a way to regenerate the essence, he lost. He knew that killing other beasts, allowed one to absorb some of their essence, but he wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to fight in his current state.


    Going to the living room he wanted to grab his bag, before realizing that it was still in the inner city, he lost it when he fell down. Cursing, he scavenged through the house for some food, he was quite hungry, and it stopped him from thinking further into the situation.


    After eating his fill, he eventually calmed down. There seemed no way around killing some beast to replenish his essence, and he couldn¡¯t wait with that. Without essence, he would have died two times over by now.


    Exiting the house, he didn¡¯t need to walk for long before reaching the outskirts of the forest. He wanted to set his essence ablaze before suddenly stopping himself. He didn¡¯t have much left, if he now burned the little essence he had left, then he wouldn¡¯t be sure if he could bear the consequences.


    It was at this moment that it became very apparent to Clay how depended he was on essence. Without the river surrounding his heart, he had no a way of replenishing it. He suddenly felt powerless, his body weak and frail.


    Without the comforting blanket of aura shrouding him, felt he much more declined to enter a shady forest, where visibility was bad and the ground hard to traverse through. How was he even supposed to sense the beasts, without his aura?


    He knew that his human senses were far inferior to that of most beast, so how he should react to them in time? Not to mention that without enhancement, he was much slower and weaker than them.


    Clay¡¯s breath suddenly quickened, before he took a step back, seeing some of the shadows move. There was a rustle from the forest, and that was all that it took for him to turn around and escape to the house where he had come from.


    Slamming the door behind him, he frantically shoved a small cupboard before the door, watching it warily as if a beast could break through it at any moment¡­ He waited for what felt like an eternity, but nothing happened.


    His mind was playing tricks on him. Sitting down on a stool in the kitchen, Clay began to laugh before slamming on the kitchen counter. ¡°Fuck.¡±


    How could he have been so reckless? He was so engrossed in his power that he didn¡¯t even think about what could happen once he lost it, not to mention how careless he wandered around.


    This whole situation, was only a result of his arrogance and incompetence. He should have been more suspicious when he didn¡¯t encounter a single beast, or at the latest once he saw the corpses.


    Taking a deep breath, he calmed down. In the beginning he was able to survive without any supernatural powers, and he could do it again, he just had to be more careful. Killing one beast was enough to stabilize his situation.


    Once he regenerated a bit of his essence, advancing above the threshold of a tenth, he should be safe to burn a little. But he couldn¡¯t possibly enter the forest, that would be too dangerous in his current state, he just had to hope that there were some weak ones roaming the city.


    He had to get his aura back, he didn¡¯t realize before, but without it, he felt naked ¨C exposed. The longer it stayed that way, the larger would grow his worries and paranoia.


    Equipped with the sword from the royal guard ¨C which was more like a short sword, with the blade having a length of about seventy centimeters ¨C and the obsidian dagger, he cautiously made his way through the city. It really seemed completely abandoned at first, but he quickly noticed that it wasn¡¯t quite as deserted as it seemed.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Without his aura, he was much more vulnerable, but he also observed his surroundings a lot more carefully, relying more on his other senses. He saw birds, soaring through the sky unburdened by the happenings below, while the ruins were littered with various insects.


    Strangely, it almost felt like he was being avoided before. It took him not long to find a rat roaming trough one of the ruins, big like a cat. Desperate, he carefully crouched behind the rat, his hand firmly gripping his sword.


    Immersed in scavenging through the trash of the ruins, the rat didn¡¯t even seem to notice him, before he was already a meter behind it, at which point it finally sensed something amiss. It raised its head from the trash pile it was searching through, but it was far too late, as Clay pushed his short sword into its back.


    It still lived for a few seconds as it tried to escape, while impaled, but it soon lost strength, falling limp to the ground. As he hoped, Clay could feel essence entering his body, forming a small stream of light blue circulating around his heart.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the river to accelerate and refine the foreign essence, but Clay could tell that it would take hours for even one drop to form. The essence he just absorbed seemed to be of not only little quantity but also quality.


    That wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough to replenish his reserves, so he continued his hunt, luckily only stumbling about a few small beasts, like rats, cats and some squirrels. They all gave him very little essence, but at least the stream around his heart thickened considerably, still laughable compared to the size he had after killing the ants, but far better than nothing.


    Nonetheless, he was able to get some essence, he only had to wait for it to be refined. Not wanting to risk anything more for the day he returned to the house where he fought the poison, he knew that it was relatively safe there.


    He also seemed to have awoken late at noon, limiting the daylight he could use. He didn¡¯t even know for how long he cleansed that poison, at least for a day, but it was entirely possible that it could have been two or even longer.


    Fortifying the bedroom on the ground floor to the best of his abilities, Clay settled in for the night. Hours must have passed since he first absorbed new essence, but there still wasn¡¯t a single drop refined.


    Thankfully, this refinement happened without Clay having to supervise or control it, meaning that he could sleep soundly, while the essence was refined into a liquid. Having this in mind, he tucked himself under a blanket and soon slept deeply.


    The next day, he awoke for once without any surprises (or torn clothes), which was a nice change for once. Seemed like he finally broke his streak. Stretching his muscles, he felt good. Feeling inside of him, he saw that his essence replenished above the dangerous threshold, which was most likely the reason why he felt so good.


    Sadly, that was still way too little to risk burning it. His river still had plenty left, but it needed more time for refinement. He only had to wait a little longer, so it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem, with the poison still being in the area, it was very likely that Mia was actually still alive and surviving somehow.


    He just went about his day as usual, when he encountered a new problem ¨C he was bored. Suddenly forced to wait, it didn¡¯t take long for Clay to be consumed by boredom. He almost forgot what that felt like between the whole memory loss and life threats, but as soon as the feeling set in, despised Clay it with passion.


    From his observations yesterday, it seemed like most of the strong beasts left the city, which was quite strange. He could remember fighting countless beasts that were far stronger than him, in both physic and essence. The bear he barely survived was a good example of that.


    But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. From the small encounter he had with the ants he knew that they provided quite a large chunk of essence and from what he remembered there were hundreds if not thousands of those things. They had to have gotten this essence somewhere.


    This somewhere was most likely the other inhabitants of the forest, it would be easy for the ants to overwhelm much stronger beast with their numbers and especially with a commander ant that allowed them to utilize advanced tactics.


    It was normal for them to aim for big prey when they had so many numbers, which now benefited Clay greatly. In his current situation, he didn¡¯t want to face any of the stronger beasts.


    Besides coming to that conclusion, stayed Clay vigilant, not daring to be carless again. It would be embarrassing to be sneak attacked by some strong beast, just because he expected to face weaker.


    Even though he had the fear, he didn¡¯t have to, as once the day began to set he didn¡¯t encounter any noteworthy foe. The only thing worth mentioning would be the raccoon he found in one of the houses, he scavenged.


    It was pretty big, way bigger then a normal raccoon and pretty fat at that. It almost looked comical and was more than sluggish when it moved, so it was rather helpless when put against the end of Clay¡¯s blade.


    But to its credit, he did absorb a pretty large chunk of essence from it. He also gathered quite the large amount of food and other supplies from the surrounding houses. Many were still mostly untouched, and the biggest problem was that it proved rather difficult to haul so much stuff, with only one arm.


    Well, at least he had something to do this way and the hours just flew by, before he was forced to settle back into his temporary home, once the sun began to set. The most noteworthy thing he found would be a functional digital alarm clock, with date and all. The batteries were dead, but it was easy enough finding some that functioned.


    Once the clock worked again, he finally knew which date it was. He was right, in it being autumn. October the eleventh to be exact. It wasn¡¯t really necessary to know the exact date, but it was useful in the sense that he now knew he still had some time until winter dawned upon him.


    He really didn¡¯t look forward to that, but it was a future problem anyway. Besides, the alarm clock he also looked for (and found) a mechanical watch because, in comparison to the date, was the time something Clay needed to know.


    He could measure the passing of time with the sun, but he wasn¡¯t good at that, and having an exact time made it a lot easier to plan things. Being out at night was one of the things he wanted to avoid at all costs.


    When he finally sorted all the stuff, he returned to his bedroom, the windows barricaded by planks. It wouldn¡¯t stop a dedicated beast from barging in, but it would at least give him enough time to flee.


    Settling down on the bed, he entered with his mind deep into his body. He gained another drop of essence, but it was quite laughable. At first Clay just planned to wait, eat enough and let his essence slowly replenish, but that was too slow.


    He didn¡¯t plan to stay for days or possibly weeks in that house just so that he could gain a few more drops of essence. There had to be a way to quicken this refinement.


    When he burned essence this refinement also accelerated, but Clay would burn more essence, then regenerate, that was counterproductive, unless he could somehow control¨C


    As if thrown back to the past, he saw himself speaking, You can¡¯t control the amount? Before being ripped back to the present. Curse that memory loss! Clay sighed in frustration, if he had known that sooner, then he would have had way fewer problems.


    He knew there was something out of place when he burned his essence at full force just to form his aura. It felt wrong because it was. You didn¡¯t form an aura by burning your essence at full force.


    Instead of overthinking it, he just tried it out. Feeling inside off him, he ignited his essence without fear, causing a bright flame to instantly spring to life. The moment the flame awakened, so did the river surrounding his heart, turning into a torrent, that quickened his refinement of essence to an incomparable level from before.


    Immediately, he enveloped the flame with his mind, suppressing it directly to half its size before shrinking it further down to a tenth of its initial size.


    Instead of a huge smoldering flame remained something similar to a candle, releasing a cloud of essence that was far too little to have any noteworthy effect on his body, but was perfect for forming an aura. It also moved much quicker outwards, escaping his body in mere moments.


    Feeling the essence escaping his body, Clay smiled. Feeling the mist of essence with his mind, he ¡®grasped¡¯ it, clutching it close to him, forming his aura that enveloped him and instantly calmed his stressed mind. Once he burned a drop, he stopped himself. He still had too little essence to recklessly burn it, but he was exhilarated.


    The good thing about aura was that it didn¡¯t dissipate, as long as he was able to hold onto it with his mind, and Clay knew for a fact that he was very proficient in that. He felt confident to hold an aura of about twenty meters without breaking too much of a sweat, which wasn¡¯t comparable to the meager one meter he just produced, but the feeling of aura around him was more than enough to lift any of his worries. Is that what they called an addiction?


    Unfortunately for him, he would lose control over the aura once he slept, so he had to waste another drop the next morning, but he didn¡¯t care. The amount of confidence he drew from his aura was too much to pass up on, if he could, he would never stop maintaining it.


    More importantly than his raised mental state was the fact that his assumption was right. The flame even if small accelerated the flow of the refinement of essence exceptionally. If he could reduce the flame enough until he gained more essence than he lost, then he would be able to keep his aura up indefinitely.


    Thinking this, Clay couldn¡¯t keep himself from grinning. He knew what he would be doing the next days.

 Chapter 4: Sorrow

    Clay opened the door of his abode. A huge bag strapped over his left shoulder and chest. Letting it fall to the side, a loud clattering resounded through the house, underlining its weight. Circulating his shoulder, he sighed.


    By now his aura penetrated, through the whole house. Feeling for a moment, he sighed in relief when he didn¡¯t feel any noticeable amount of essence. His aura reached two dozen meters by now and was still steadily growing, the same went for his liquified essence.


    There was a sense of accomplishment when he felt inside him and thought of the last six days. It didn¡¯t take nearly as much effort as Clay expected to reduce the flame inside of him to mere embers. Due to this he not only gained more essence, then he burned, his recovery also increased exceptionally.


    Clay wasn¡¯t sure himself if he just found a sweet spot, but slowly burning essence like he did over the last few days, caused not only his refinement to accelerate enough for him to regain one eighth of his reserves, but also to steadily supply him with enough vapor to form a considerable aura.


    His aura was actually slowly reaching a point where it would be hard to hold on to it. But Clay took it as an opportunity to train. He had to hold this aura at all times, even in his sleep, if possible.


    His current aura was the result of only a single day of slowly burning essence. It helped him a lot in sensing all the smaller beasts hiding in the city. He actually hunted so many over the past few days that his area seemed to be abandoned or specifically avoided.


    Looking at his river, he didn¡¯t feel all that worried about not finding enough beasts, there was a sense of satisfaction lingering inside of him. By now, his river of essence reached a newfound peak. He had plenty of essence to refine into liquefied essence.


    Still, there was one thing that worried Clay greatly. It was Mia¡¯s poison. He still didn¡¯t find a way around it, but there had to be one. If not, then he had to make one. Over the last few days, he remembered one crucial thing that aura could be used for ¨C a shield. Mia¡¯s poison was of supernatural cause, so it felt logical for Clay to seek a supernatural solution.


    Shortly before Jim¡­ died. They found something interesting. Jim was able to compress his aura close enough to his body to form something similar to a shield. In theory, Clay just had to guide his aura closer to his body, reducing the space it moved in, which in turn made it denser.


    This dense aura seemed to generally absorb the effect of any other form of energy, be that kinetic, heat or anything else. It was almost adaptive, reacting to sudden peaks of dangerous energy stronger, then too smaller ones.


    Concentrating, he pulled at his aura, willing for it to come closer. It slowly moved to his body, condensing with every additional meter, but Clay knew it had to be as close as a few centimeters for a shield to form. When it shrunk to a meter, he reached his limit.


    When he tried to move it closer, is just rippled before snapping back. He was doing something wrong. It was so easy to spread aura out in comparison, the only challenge there was to hold the aura in place. Okay, that was a little misleading, he didn¡¯t actually force his aura to a stand still, as it always moved, he just slowly rotated it around his body.


    Originally, Clay thought he just had to have better control. The larger the distance or the denser, the harder it was to pull or push his aura after all. But that didn¡¯t explain why Jim was able to do it.


    He smiled, when he remembered how he ¡®tested¡¯ how this aura shield worked with Jim. In comparison to himself, was Jim actually able to form a shield, but Clay knew for a fact that his control over essence was by far better, then the one of Jim, so how was he able to do it?


    Do you always have to think complicated? Whispered Jim, as if he was next to him. Turning to the side, Clay was bewildered. Did he finally lose it? Shaking his head, he tried to concentrate on his aura again, but the phrase resounded in his mind.


    Complicated? He thought to complicated, but how could he do it easier¡­! It suddenly dawned on Clay, as he praised Jim in his mind and focused on his aura again. But instead of pulling all of it at once, like when he pushed his aura out, he just pulled a small fraction of it. Like a magnet, the rest of the aura followed the small stream of aura that effortlessly came closer to Clay, until he strained when it came as close as a few centimes.


    Deciding that this was already a major success began, Clay to guide the small stream of aura, around his body, his aura stubbornly following the small stream like a snake that was pulling its body along. Why didn¡¯t he think of this sooner?


    There was no need to pull all of his aura at once. Aura always moved in one, continues flow, like a river. If he controlled a small part, the rest would be pulled along. This of course prolonged the time it took to form his aura, but this way he at least could form an aura shield. He had to start with condensing one part and then slowly guide this flow along his whole body until everything was covered.


    It eventually stabilized at a distance of about ten centimeters, which was far closer, than Jim ever achieved ¨C not to insult him in any way, Clay was very thankful to him, without him, he wouldn¡¯t even have succeeded in forming this shield.


    If Jim felt comfortable and enveloped in his normal aura, then this shield was comparable to an armor. It pressed heavy on his skin, but not in a discomforting way. He felt protected, like he was more robust.


    Clenching his fist, he could feel the aura adapting and following his every movement. The connection was a lot stabler, compared to when he pushed his aura out. At first, it was quite hard to maintain the flow around his body, but with every passing second it became easier.


    In a sense, it was much more natural to hold his aura close the body than pushing it out. He instinctively knew where to guide the aura along his body.


    The feeling was quite magical, like he had an additional limb he didn¡¯t realize he could use. Pushing his aura out was very useful in sensing other beasts, but was practically useless in battle, at least when he was alone.


    The only reason why he could use his aura against the fight of the ants, was because he remembered that the one with the most essence, was a commander ant, the general he had to eliminate. It was actually quite hard to discern different sources of essence, if they were so closely packed together.


    Focusing on his aura also was never something natural for him. He knew that he could feel it far better than anyone else he had met, but he still had to focus on it when he wanted to use it. It wasn¡¯t comparable to his current aura, that felt more like an extension of his body.


    Forming his aura into a more than successful shield, Clay wondered if he should test it. He was still rather hesitant to return to the toxic area that almost costed him his life, but what other choice did he have?


    He still had plenty of daylight left and also had no other urgent matters that distracted him, so he figured he might as well be done with it. Standing up with a grunt, he tightened the coat around his body. It was getting colder and Clay had long switched his clothes to something more comfortable.


    He was wearing simple jeans, a black pullover, with a gray t-shirt, while his shoes were the same (mostly because Clay had trouble finding a pair that fitted). The most useful item he found was the thick gray coat he wore.


    It should not only prove as a good protection, when he got attacked, but it also had plenty of pockets and most importantly fitted like a glove. He never really wore a coat before, but this one just fitted perfectly, and Clay quickly grew attached to it.


    Without needing much else besides his weapons, made Clay the short journey over to the infested area. In only a few minutes, he was close, being at full guard the whole way. As natural the shield around him felt, he still felt exposed knowing that he couldn¡¯t sense his enemies beforehand, especially because he hadn¡¯t yet tested what that shield of his was truly capable off.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Taking a deep breath, he turned over the last corner, seeing the street before him that halfway through was littered with countless corpses of all kinds of beasts that shared one thing among them ¨C the strange deep purple batches covering their body from top to bottom.


    Carefully making his way deeper into the street, he fully concentrated on his shield. He was fully enveloped, not a hole in his defense, if he was correct then he should clearly feel the poison as soon as it touched him.


    Soon the foul stench of the corpses reached Clay¡¯s nose. Just like the first time, he passed some corpses and then eventually reached the poisonous area, but strangely he made far more progress this time compared to the last time. He didn¡¯t smell anything sweet, so it should be fine, but he didn¡¯t dare to relax.


    Without notice, something comparable to a slam hit his shied, reducing some of it powers. Smiling, he fully concentrated on the feedback he felt. He could feel how the poison gathered around him, clinging to him, as if drawn to the shield.


    Shortly, his whole body was surrounded by poison, pressing on his shield from all sides, eating away at it. Both energies seemed to nullify each other. He could feel how his whole shield rippled. The density reduced by each exchange, if this continued he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for long.


    It was obvious by now that he wouldn¡¯t be able to reach Mia, so he quickly started to run back to his house, but even if the surrounding poison stopped growing it also didn¡¯t seem to stop clinging to his shield, as if they were glued together. A shudder ran through Clay¡¯s back. That was bad!


    He didn¡¯t expect the poison to follow him, as if it was sentient. He kept running, both the poison and his shield gradually reducing each other. Clay never extinguished the embers burning inside of him, but the produced essence was too small to keep up with the consumption.


    He soon reached his house, barricading himself inside, the poison still clinging to him. He returned to the couch from the first time, sitting in a crossed legend position. Fully concentrating on keeping his shield up.


    It held on for a few more seconds, but eventually it thinned and was overwhelmed, scattering through the air. Immediately holding his breath, Clay hoped that would, work, but the poison still moved directly through his nostrils into his body. Feeling the sickening sweet smell caressing his nose, he directly stopped preserving his essence, reducing the suppression on his flame.


    He directly felt how a new rush of energy shot through his veins and without Clay having to find the poison his essence found it first, clinging to it and absorbing it, while the poison did the same. His reverses were still very low, so he still suppressed his flame to about half its usual size.


    Thankfully, the poison was far less potent than the first time, while it was also considerably reduced by his shield. It also seemed like that his own essence built some sort of immunity as Clay neither had to find the poison nor had to concentrate on fighting it, his essence moved fully on its own accord.


    This continued on for a while before the poison was fully purged from his system. Looking over his reserves of essence, Clay heaved a heavy size. He almost burned everything he had painfully gathered over the past few days, but he didn¡¯t feel too upset.


    Witnessing how the purging of the poison proceeded this time gave Clay an idea. Instead of fighting the poison, he will just build an immunity against it. The poison only seemed to be able to absorb essence when it gathered to a certain degree, and that could only happen inside the body.


    If he somehow was able to absorb the same amount of poison, as the poison absorbed his essence, then they would nullify each other. His absorption was already very close to that stage, so just a few more repetitions of this and he should be completely immune.


    ***


    Two weeks have passed since Clay had the idea. He only knew this because of his alarm clock, for himself felt the past two weeks like one big blur. While he certainly was able to absorb the poison, it still messed with his senses.


    Each and every single day just consisted of him, attracting a small amount of poison, reducing it until his shield failed, cleansing the poison, eating and sleeping. It was so mind-numbing that Clay at some point just ran on autopilot, not noticing his surroundings, at least until yesterday.


    After his usual purging session of the poison, his head finally cleared in the middle of the night. At first, he didn¡¯t understand where was up and down, but eventually he remembered and when he looked at the date it was already the first of November.


    Too tired to think, and his headache too heavy, he just slept until the next day. Once he was fully awake, he directly returned to the poisonous area. His reserves never went far above a tenth, but he had to test something.


    Feeling the poison enter his body, waited Clay with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. He had no shield up and also didn¡¯t burn any more essence than usual, just using the embers that were always on.


    The poison unobstructed entered his body, Clay clearly feeling it coursing through his system, having developed a sense of feeling it over the past few days. Like always it gathered around vital organs like the lungs, heart and so on, but then it suddenly stopped, something that never happened before.


    Usually the gathered sludge would start to burn, absorbing the essence of the surroundings, but this time it just rested inside his body, not doing anything. Carefully, he guided the essence that he normally used to form his aura around the poison, firmly gathering around it.


    When he determined it grew sufficiently, initiated Clay an assault. The moment his essence started attacking the poison, it suddenly flared, similar to that of a beast that suddenly got awoken.


    Essence and poison both fought bitterly, absorbing each other until his own essence came out on top, not growing, but also not shrinking. Seeing this breathed Clay a sigh of relief. It was a full success. The poison was neither able to identity him as a threat nor do damage once he started to purge it.


    Internally, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be good to let the poison just rest and accumulate inside his body, but that would do for now. He could finally go look for Mia. Venturing deeper into the intoxicated area, Clay found the surrounding environment changing considerably.


    The houses had, at some places ¨C especially those of wood ¨C the same strange deep purple patches as the corpses. Speaking of the corpses, noted Clay that the further in he went, the worst the corpses rotted and decomposed until even bright plants of similar color grew out of them, using the body as fertilizer.


    Touching them they felt normal, looking like grass or fern, some especially old corpses had bushes growing out of their remains reaching far over the corpse, into the ground. They were poisonous considering their origin, but it was strange to see that the poison that killed all of these beasts also gave life to all of this vegetation.


    It was almost like a complete new ecological system was forming. It was quite fascinating to witness, especially now that the poison was harmless to Clay.


    The deeper he went, the more noticeable the transformation, some plants leaving the corpses connecting with each other over roots that creeped all the way to the surrounding houses, ensnaring them. They grew along the walls, through the floor, slowly creeping their way through the surroundings and claiming more land for themselves.


    In just a few more weeks, this place could turn into a completely new forest, that was never seen before, one that originated completely from this supernatural poison. Following the thickening vegetation, Clay soon stumbled over a house, as inconspicuous as any other.


    At least inconspicuous when one ignored the fact that the house, was entirely covered in roots, from floor to ceilings, to walls and interior, at some parts walls already broke, splintered into several pieces that were held together by complex structures of roots.


    To the left of the house was a garden, in the middle of it a huge tree, surrounding it a thick wall of thorny bushes trying to obscure what laid within. It was the central part of the whole ecological structure, the origin of it all.


    Cutting easily through the bushes with his sword, Clay entered the garden. The ground was almost completely covered in thick roots that all turned to a tree ¨C that must have been at least ten meters tall ¨C connecting with it like a complex networks of arteries and veins.


    Besides the tree stump grew patches of flowers, and even if Clay was not well versed in botany, he was fairly certain they were a species from the infamous wolfsbane. He recognized them because they were native to Churchville. There were only a few plants his parents warned him about, but wolfsbane was the first and most dangerous on that list.


    Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, Clay immediately regretted it as the cloying smell filled his nose. Screwing with his senses, until he was able to suppress it.


    Walking closer, he had his mouth open speechless at the sight before him, he stretched his arm out before halting in midair and letting it lifelessly fall down. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what he expected to find when he eventually found the source of the poison, but it still came as a surprise.


    Before him stood a tall tree off what was once a normal oak tree, now an entanglement of vines crossing over countless branches, while deep purple leafs grew wherever was space.


    Embedded into the stump itself was a vaguely human figure, the head leaning to the side resting against the stump, which was also the only part that wasn¡¯t so densely covered in roots. Coming closer, he noticed how the stump itself wrapped around the body of not any human figure, but a girl, securing it safely in place.


    Pushing a few loose roots aside, Clay fortunately saw how the skin underneath, pale and pristine, stayed untouched like a flower. The clothes that the girl may have had were rotted away long ago.


    Most disturbing was the singular thick root that sprouted from the bottom of the tree, crawling from the ground over the girl¡¯s right foot, slinging around the leg going upwards to her stomach until ending in her chest ¨C drilling itself deeply into it.


    The root itself shimmered in a deep purple light, that seemed to pulsate similar to that of a heartbeat.


    He finally found the person he was looking for. He had found Mia Hawk the goal of Clay¡¯s hardship, and yet he couldn¡¯t keep himself from losing his composure. Looking over her embedded figure in the tree, there was only one feeling settling in his mind ¨C sorrow.

 Chapter 5: Abandoned

    Looking at the corpse in front of him formed a deep frown on Clay¡¯s brows. The chest of the corpse was completely cut open from bottom to top, creating quite the gruesome scene, especially with the heavy internal rotting, but he had seen worse.


    The thing that made him frown was the thick root that bore itself into the heart and clasped on to it like a hand. That was enough for Clay to realize what was going on her. The only valuable thing in the heart was the liquified essence it stored.


    That at least explained why there was so much poison in the area, supernatural or not, it was suspicious how much lingered in the region. If the poison really originated from Mia ¨C which Clay now knew was true ¨C then the amount of essence needed to produce such a quantity would be tremendous.


    Well, looking at the dozens of corpses surrounding him knew Clay where all the essence came from. The strange thing was that one normally couldn¡¯t absorb the liquefied essence stored in a body, it would change your body, transforming it into an abomination of both species. Well, at least that was supposed to happen, he only ever witnessed someone drinking the liquefied essence of another beast once and that ended in a gruesome death.


    Remembering the scene caused a shudder to run down Clay¡¯s back, he wasn¡¯t fond of the memory. The death was quite disturbing to witness, and the fact that the essence was forcefully fed didn¡¯t make the situation better. It was always so troubling to interact with humans without causing some kind of conflict.


    Truthfully, was Clay quite awkward around people. Well it didn¡¯t matter now, it was only him and Mia from what he could tell, quite the challenge in itself. Mia seemed to be still very young, maybe twelve or even younger. But her age didn¡¯t matter much, he first had to awaken her, as simply shaking the body proved to be futile.


    Separating her from the main root, could awaken her, but also possibly kill her instantly. It seemed like the root was somehow able to give her liquefied essence without initiating a transformation in her body, which was quite a useful ability, one he would like to study, but can¡¯t without possibly harming Mia. How unfortunate.


    Stroking over his chin, he first decided to observe the situation. If her health seemed to decline in any way he would try to separate her from the tree, if not he would carefully study it to hopefully find a way to free Mia without harming her.


    ***


    There was a rush of pain as the wolf bit into Clay¡¯s shoulder, weakened by his aura shield but still powerful enough to penetrate his skin. Grunting, he threw it with another burst of strength from his shoulder, causing it to yelp on impact. Stepping after it, he buried his sword deep into its stomach, it still wailed on, but Clay twisted his blade until it stopped moving, similar to its five brethren that littered the forest ground with blood.


    Panting heavily, he looked over his shoulder, not worried by the wound, but rather sad about his torn coat that he had to patch up again. The bleeding on his shoulder had, already, stopped while essence inside his body gathered around it. The usual burning sensation of regeneration followed, indicating its work.


    Hissing in pain, he gritted his teeth. He never got used to the feeling of regenerating flesh, not matter how often he experienced it. Especially since it became so powerful. He had found out rather quickly that the immunity to Mia¡¯s poison had a far more significant impact on his body than he initially expected.


    While it was true that body enhancement helped in recovering the body, the amount of wounds Clay healed over the past three weeks would have killed a dozen men over. No matter how severe the wound, with enough essence, it healed without leaving a single mark.


    His pale skin was still as pristine as he found it after his first awakening from Mia¡¯s poison. Whenever his body got injured moved his essence on its own, moving to the spot, clotting around it like some slime, that stopped the bleeding almost instantly. It depended on the wound and amount of essence in the surrounding area, but if he had enough it would stop after only a single second or a few at its worst.


    The slime then began to burn, similar to the poison of Mia, and rapidly healed the wound. Originally, he feared that it would take too much essence to heal, but it turned out that even the energy released from the embers that always burned inside him were enough to heal wounds similar to the one he just got in a few minutes.


    He discovered this ability at an accident where had cut his arm while savaging some old cellar, that had an old nail protruding from one of the shelves. When he had checked on the wound, it was already closed.


    This ability was as one could guess immensely useful. There were not a lot of alternatives to quickly healing wounds besides just burning essence, so it was a real blessing that his body awakened this regeneration.


    It gave Clay the leeway to fight way riskier than usual, which he was forced to do anyway because of the restriction of only having one arm. In the past, he was able to use a shield, but that proved to be rather difficult if not borderline impossible in his current state.


    Walking over to his bag, he had thrown away once he realized he was attacked, he searched it for a while before retrieving a syringe and several vials. He then proceeded to slice the closest corpse carefully open until the heart was revealed. Piercing the syringe with care into a specific spot at the heart, Clay soon drew blood until the vial was full and changed it with another one.


    Each vial could hold ten milliliters, and after he was done with each corpse he had six and a half filled with blood, or how Clay now called it heart blood. This heart blood carried the liquified essence in it, even if it¡¯s hard to distinguish from normal blood. He could feel the foreign essence residing within it when he used his aura.


    It had cost quite a few of tries (and lives) before Clay found out where exactly it was stored and how he could harvest it. This small pack of wolves was the largest he had come across in days and should hopefully suffice for his operation.


    The past three weeks were a constant struggle to find enough heart blood, to keep Mia alive, and he now should have enough to proceed with the operation to separate her from the tree. After studying her for the past few weeks, he came to the conclusion that the tree and Mia somehow ended in a symbiotic relationship.


    The tree provided Mia with the heart blood she needed to survive, while the tree used some of the poison and heart blood to grow further and terraform its surroundings to something more suitable. That worked well in the beginning where many beasts roamed the city, and it had more than enough heart blood to harvest, but times have changed.


    Most beast have either abandoned the region or realized its dangers and avoided it entirely. All the surroundings corpses were dried up by now, and without Clay¡¯s constant supply of heart blood, would have both of them been ¡®starved¡¯ to death.


    By now, the tree grew to such a size that it drew too much heart blood away from Mia and would eventually consumer her, so they had to be separated.


    Just to be sure, he had prepared a stash of heart blood to supply Mia with so she could survive and adapt to live without the tree. Thinking about this escaped, a small chuckle from Clay. If he told this to someone, they would declare him crazy.


    He was really harvesting the blood of several beasts to feed to a girl that fused with a tree so that she wouldn¡¯t die. How truly fucked up the world became¡­


    ***


    With a rush of essence, burning inside him, struck Clay with his blade down, separating the main root of the tree from Mia¡¯s chest in one clean cut. The moment it got cut, it flailed about in the air for a few seconds before losing its purple luster and falling lifelessly to the ground. There still remained a stump in Mia¡¯s chest, but it had to remain there for the moment, Clay didn¡¯t want her to die of blood loss.


    Carefully moving the other roots, aside, he wrapped her naked body into a blanket before moving her in a princess carry out of the toxic area and into his home that had changed quite a bit over the past few weeks.


    He had never bothered to move anywhere else, as it was more than enough. It was a house with just a single floor, so it was easy to defend, which the heavy barricades and spike surrounding it proved. He was only attacked once during his whole stay, and that was more of an accident than a planned action.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    An injured boar came rushing from the forest and didn¡¯t stop before the spikes, running straight into them with its whole momentum. It didn¡¯t win that fight. They were not just some small branches, but whole tree trunks from young trees Clay fell. It was good exercise and one of the several things he did to pass the time.


    Carefully laying Mia on the bed, he dressed her with the clothes he prepared beforehand. Fortunately they fitted, he wasn¡¯t sure he would get the measures right just with his eyes, but it was sufficient.


    He chose gray sweatpants and an oversized pink hoodie. He guessed comfortable clothes would be best when she would eventually wake up. Afterward, Clay went about his day as usual, just sorting some stuff in the house from all the loot he had gathered, before he heard a weird sound coming from the room he just left Mia a few hours ago.


    Rushing in, he saw her sitting on the bed, watching her surroundings in utter confusion. She had deep purple eyes that remembered Clay of the purple patches from the corpses, while her long black hair curled around her face, resting on her shoulders.


    Seeing Clay, she directly crawled away into a corner, putting as much distance between herself and him as possible, fear visible in her eyes, her hands cowering her mouth and nose. Her eyes were teary, and she seemed to be panicking.


    Putting his hands in a calming motion, Clay didn¡¯t move from where he stood, less he scared her even further. ¡°Mia, I don¡¯t want to harm you¨C¡±


    ¡°Leave!¡± Mia screamed, her voice muffled between her hands, closing her eyes as if afraid of something. She seemed like she didn¡¯t even listen to what he just said. At first, he thought she was scared of him, but her reaction was strange. She didn¡¯t seem to fear him but something else, something he couldn¡¯t see¡­


    Right! Due to her condition, she couldn¡¯t have had many interactions with humans without harming or even killing them. Putting his hands down, he explained, ¡°Mia, you don¡¯t have to be afraid I¡¯m¨C¡±


    Not listening, Mia interrupted him with a scream. ¡°Run! Leave! You can¡¯t stay here!¡±


    Seeing no other option, he went over to Mia, held her arms and rested his forehead on hers. She resisted strongly against the touch, but wasn¡¯t able to muster a lot of strength. Her screams and fighting grew weaker over time, until she sat silently down on the ground and finally dared to open her eyes.


    Looking at her deep purple eyes from, so close, saw Clay that a tint of blue shimmered in them, looking like a small galaxy of stars. Her eyelids were red from all the crying and her face flushed in a lively red. As they looked each other into the eyes, she seemed to calm down, her arms moving away from her mouth.


    She watched a while longer before suddenly lunging herself at Clay, startled, he wasn¡¯t able to react to the sudden hug. His arms were still behind her back, frozen in place, Clay had yet not processed what just happened. He was at a loss for words, debating with himself before returning the hug.


    Mia soon began to cry on his shoulders, and Clay couldn¡¯t stop himself from cringing. He really wasn¡¯t good with kids, hell, he wasn¡¯t that good with any person. It seemed like the poison would be the least of his worries in the near future. Just to what did he agree to? He wasn¡¯t the person to care for a child, but what other option was there? He made a pledge, and he fully intended to keep it.


    Mia eventually calmed down and let go of Clay¡¯s, snot covered, shoulder. Holding his hand for a handshake, he said, ¡°Hey there. I¡¯m Clay, nice to meet you.¡±


    Gently giving him his hand she responded, ¡°I¡¯m Mia,¡± she fumbled with her hands for a moment before asking with deep worry, ¡°Are you fine?¡±


    Needing a moment to understand the question, Clay asked, ¡°You mean the poison coming from you?¡±


    Heavily nodding her head, Clay had to chuckle, it looked quite cute. ¡°No worries, I¡¯m immune to your poison.¡±


    Having a sigh of relief, she slumped to the ground exhausted, causing an awkward silence to reside in the room. Scratching the back of his head, Clay just decided not to think too much, it couldn¡¯t be that hard to talk to a child. ¡°Tell, how old are you?¡±


    Mia crooked her head to the side looking lost in thought for a moment before saying carefully, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ eleven years old,¡± saying it she grew more confident with her answer. ¡°Yes eleven years.¡±


    Nodding, he said, ¡°That¡¯s good, I¡¯m seventeen years old. Say, do you remember what happened?¡±


    There was another moment of silence as Mia thought for a moment, ¡°I met my brother. He said goodbye for some journey, but that he would return in a few days, so I waited. Day for day, but he never came¡­¡± There were tears welling in her eyes. ¡°Brother, why didn¡¯t you come?¡± She asked more herself than Clay.


    Looking at Clay, she asked, ¡°Did I do something wrong? Do you know why my brother never came back?¡± She began to cry again, her voice breaking, ¡°First mom and dad, then the nice old man and now my brother. Just what did I do wrong?!¡±


    Not being able to listen any longer, Clay grabbed her by the shoulders. ¡°Nothing!¡± Startled by his sudden outburst, grew Mia quiet, while Clay looked sternly into her eyes. ¡°You did nothing wrong! You were also not abandoned, not by your parents, friends, brother or anyone else. It¡¯s just that the world changed¡­¡±


    Clay stopped for a moment, ¡°...not many survived. But I¡¯m here with you and I won¡¯t leave your side no matter what. I promised Jim that I would care for you.¡±


    Hearing the name of her brother, he eyes visibly widened, while new hope welled up in her. ¡°You know my brother? He sent you? Were is he? What happened? Why didn¡¯t he come personally?Wh¨C¡±


    ¡°Calm down Mia, I will explain everything, it¡¯s just a little¡­ complicated,¡± expressed Clay while looking to the side. Should he tell the truth or lie? No he couldn¡¯t lie, this new world was too hard to hide all the death she has already seen and will continue to see in the future. She had to know the whole truth if she was supposed to have a chance on surviving on her own one day. He just had to be careful with his words.


    Kneeling down, he grabbed both hands of Mia, looking her into the eyes, ¡°Mia, do you know what happened to your parents?¡±


    She looked to the side, saying, ¡°Yes¡­ they are gone¡­ dead.¡± Nodding, Clay felt relief, she knew that they were dead, that was good. She was a lot stronger than he initially gave her credit for, so he could be a little more honest.


    ¡°Mia, your brother, helped a lot of people when the world changed, saved many lives. Besides all that, he never forgot about you. He was always looking for a way to cure you, but there was a sudden threat one bigger than anyone we had faced ever before, we were able to stop it, but at a great cost¡­


    ¡°Your brother sacrificed in the end his own life to safe my own. I was prepared to leave this world behind, but that didn¡¯t prevent him from giving his own to safe mine. To somehow make this up to him, I promised to care and protect you in his stead. We both lost everything, our family, friends and are all alone here far from civilization, but we will survive you and me together all right?¡±


    Clay wasn¡¯t able to see her face as she looked to the ground, was it too much? Jim was the last person she had contact with, the last person she relied on, the last person she put all of her faith in.


    Eventually, she asked, ¡°Was he happy when it all ended?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he died with a big smile,¡± replied Clay, tears welling up on their own, stupid emotions. He didn¡¯t even know him for that long¡­


    When Mia finally looked up, her cheeks were stained by tears, but also formed into a bright smile, ¡°Our parents always told us to never regret our decisions. If he was able to smile, then so can I.¡±


    Witnessing the smile, couldn¡¯t help Clay himself from smiling himself. If a girl of such tender age could be so strong, then so could he, not matter the hardship and pain he had to face. Before, he worried about caring for a child, but all of these worries just vanished in an instant, like a leaf in the wind. He wanted to protect this smile no matter what.


    Grabbing to his belt, he presented Mia with Jim¡¯s obsidian dagger. ¡°Your brother used this dagger, and I think he would have wished for you to have it. See it as a remembrance of him, so that he is always with you no matter where you go. It¡¯s also something you will need very soon.¡±


    Grabbing the dagger, she slowly unwrapped the cloth before watching the gracefully snipped away edges forming a beautiful blade, that shimmered when hold against the sun. She stared at it for a while before suddenly cutting her thump, whining a little before holding the dagger in Clay¡¯s direction.


    Taking it, he was visibly confused. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    Holding her thumb, she said, ¡°An blood oath, I don¡¯t trust normal promises anymore. We will do it with blood.¡±


    Frowning at where, Mia picked that idea up, he just shook his head. If that is what she wanted, then so be it. He was already determined to protect her, with or without blood oath. Cutting his own thump, he pressed it against hers. ¡°I Clay Raymond declare by my blood that I will protect and care for you without leaving your side. Satisfied?¡±


    ¡°Promise not to die.¡± Mia added with utter seriousness, which looked rather funny on her small face.


    Smiling, Clay said, ¡°I vow to never leave your side, to not die before you have seen the world and all the splendors it holds.¡±


    Nodding satisfied, Mia spoke, ¡°I Mia Hawk declare by my blood that I shall follow and listen to you and be a good sister.¡±


    ¡°Sister?¡± Clay asked bemused. This remembered him of his older sister. He never had a younger one.


    ¡°Of course! We are now bonded by blood, so we are family now!¡± Mia declared with a tone that didn¡¯t permit rebuking.


    Smiling he nodded, standing up still holding Mia¡¯s hand, ¡°Very well do you want to eat something my little sister?¡±


    Rising with the help of Clay she smiled, ¡°Of course, lead the way brother. What¡¯s on the menu?¡±


    ¡°Canned food,¡± replied Clay with a mischievous smile.


    ¡°What!?¡± Mia asked in an outrage. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there is only canned food, for the rest of my days!?¡±


    Hearing this, Clay broke into a hearty laugh, one he hadn¡¯t in a very long time.

 Chapter 6: Blue Night

    It was November 23, two days since Mia¡¯s awakening. Today was Clay¡¯s birthday, which he only realized after staring stubbornly at the date for a good five minutes. This meant that he was now eighteen years old. Quite the strange feeling when he thought about what could have been.


    He surly would have had a big party with his family for successfully becoming off age. He was now legally allowed to drive and drink alcohol, but instead he sat in an abandoned house, that was fortified on all sides, letting little sunlight in, while a small girl of eleven years sat depressed before a bar of chocolate.


    Taking a deep breath, Mia ate a small piece, carefully swallowing it, waiting in fear. The seconds ticked by, when suddenly a loud grumble resounded through the kitchen, causing Mia to snatch the beforehand prepared bucket from the counter and vomiting her stomach contents into it.


    When her ragged breath calmed down, trailed a few tears from her cheeks, dropping on the counter. She wasn¡¯t crying loudly, she was depressed in the realization she had come to in the last two days.


    Wiping the tears away with his thumb, smiled Clay. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mia, we will find a solution, don¡¯t you worry.¡± There was only a silent nod in response. It seemed like Mia was unable to digest any form of food, be it crackers, canned food, sweets or meat, it didn¡¯t matter, the only thing that didn¡¯t leave her body was water.


    Clay already tried every thing he could think of, or that he had at the house at least. The only thing they didn¡¯t try yet would be fruits, and fresh vegetables, but he doubted that it would make a difference. This cause of events was quite troubling, it was already the second day without Mia eating anything, and he didn¡¯t know what he should do.


    He had the theory that she needed heart blood, but he would wait a little while longer, for once, to see how long she can do without it and what would happen to her body. If her body really was dependent on heart blood, then that would complicate things quite a lot. Not to mention that he didn¡¯t know what would happen once she consumed heart blood without the help of the tree she was bounded too.


    Thinking of the tree remembered him of the root that was still inside Mia¡¯s chest. By now, it shrunk to a small bump on her chest that densely covered her chest, looking like someone patched a hole in her body with a complicated construct of densely packed roots. It had a deep purple touch, similar to her eyes, but from the outside it didn¡¯t seem to do anything.


    For now, he wouldn¡¯t need to remove it, or specifically he couldn¡¯t. They were too deeply intervened for him to do anything that wouldn¡¯t also harm Mia in the process.


    His thoughts were interrupted when Mia asked, ¡°Clay, why is your hair snow-white?¡±


    Surprised by the question, he rubbed a few strands of his shoulder long hair between his fingers. ¡°It¡¯s something that happened while I built the immunity to your poison.¡±


    ¡°Not fair!¡± Said Mia while pouting. ¡°Why do you get beautiful hair, from my curse and I nothing? I can¡¯t even eat food without throwing up!¡±


    ¡°I think your hair is gorgeous as it is,¡± replied Clay while ruffling through her hair, while she futilely tried to stop him.


    ***


    Another five days passed, and in that time Mia¡¯s situation only worsened. Her hunger grew day by day and not long after came all sorts of ailments, like headaches, nausea, a mild fever, stomach pain and just yesterday hallucinations. That was the moment where Clay refused to wait any longer, it was getting hard to talk to her without her mumbling about something he couldn¡¯t understand.


    With a vial of heart blood in hand, he sat on the chair besides the bed Mia was resting in. She was currently awake and breathing heavy, her eyes staring at the ceiling. Only after Clay opened his mouth to speak did she realize that he sat beside her. ¡°Mia I brought you medicine could you open your mouth for me?¡±


    She gave a small nod before slowly opening her mouth and swallowing the complete vial Clay gave her. The moment the liquid entered her body distorted her face in disgust. ¡°It¡¯s bitter!¡±


    Smacking her lips a few times, she stretched her tongue out, trying to scrap the disgusting taste from her tongue. Giving her a glass of water, she gulped it all down in one go, before closing her eyes to sleep. Waiting patiently besides her bed, saw Clay how her state improved by the minute, not seeing any form of transformation on her body.


    The only thing visible from the outside were the roots covering her chest, which he swore squirmed a little. Sighing in relief massaged Clay, his temple. Well, at least she didn¡¯t transform into some sort of grotesque abomination. Still, Clay couldn¡¯t stop but worry, only time will tell how her health will develop in the following days and weeks, he could only pray.


    There was a heavy tug from behind as Clay rolled his eyes in Mia¡¯s attempts to tackle him. Only a day passed since he gave her the heart blood, and she was already up and as energetic as a squirrel.


    Grabbing her hands that rested on his shoulder, he lifted them up before heaving her whole body over his, cousin a high-pitched scream to resound in the room, before he safely sat her on the ground. Turning around, she softly hit him with her little fist and pouted. ¡°You are no fun.¡±


    Sighing in frustration, Clay cursed Jim in his mind. He never mentioned that his sister was an inexhaustible ball of energy that got way too quickly bored. Well, he had to make it work somehow.


    Putting the matter at the pack of his mind, he turned serious, which Mia seemed to have noticed because she stopped playing around.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± stated Clay simply before sitting on a chair in the kitchen, resting his arms on the simple table waiting for Mia to do the same. Her face immediately told him that she was scared of some sort of berating, which caused Clay to laugh internally. It didn¡¯t hurt to let her suffer for a moment. Not to mention that their conversation was indeed of serious concern.


    ¡°Clay, I didn¡¯t¨C¡± started Mia before being interrupted by him, ¡°Just listen for a moment, I¡¯m not going to scold you.¡±


    Surprisingly, that actually seemed to make her relax. Was she really scared? Anyway, it didn¡¯t matter for the moment. ¡°Mia, I already explained that the world changed a lot since the last time you were under other people.¡±


    ¡°The monsters?¡± Mia asked carefully.


    ¡°Yes, the monsters,¡± confirmed Clay with a nod. ¡°There will be a few rules between us to make sure that we both survive this, you understand that, right?¡± Seeing her nod along continued Clay, ¡°The first rule is to always trust your instincts. Everything outside these four wall is dangerous and when something seems off then it probably is. Always be careful and aware of your surroundings, you can never let yourself be too relaxed, okay?¡±


    After making sure she understood that, he continued, ¡°There will be a lot I will teach you over the following weeks and months, all that I know, but I¡¯m no expert. To be honest I barely qualify as an amateur, but I did somehow survive out there, so I will try to teach you to my best abilities, that means we have to trust each other.


    I want us both to be honest with each other, that means no lies, no matter how uncomfortable the topic. You have to question everything if you want to someday survive on your own, and I will tell you everything I know without holing anything back. I¡¯m an advocate of honesty, but you have to realize that, the truth can be hard sometimes, so be prepared for it.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Nodding, Mia fiddled with her fingers for a moment. Noticing this, Clay asked, ¡°Do you want to ask something?¡± Nodding strongly in response, Clay simply gestured her to ask her question. ¡°How exactly did my brother die?¡±


    Not surprised by the question, Clay asked, ¡°You really want to know every detail?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mia replied without hesitation. It seemed to have bothered her for a while now and from what Clay could observe she was tougher than she looked, it wasn¡¯t that he could hide the cruelty of this new world for long anyway. ¡°The big threat I previously mentioned was a mutated ant colony that drastically rose in numbers, something that we feared if not stopped soon would consume us all¡­¡±


    Remembering the expedition caused Clay to ponder what they could have done differently. Well, he couldn¡¯t change the outcome anymore, it already happened, but it was something he would consider later.


    ¡°... we prepared an expedition of close to forty people. Some of the best fighters we had followed us, each one a brave soul that didn¡¯t have much more to lose. Mia, you have to understand that this catastrophe claimed uncountable numbers of lives, and I¡¯m sure is still doing so this very moment, while we are having this conversation.¡±


    He remained silent for a moment to underline the severity of the topic. ¡°We moved confidently, having passed countless trials that seemed impossible to survive, being able to prevail each time¡­ well this time was different. The way itself to the ant''s nest went smoothly, but then we were caught off guard by a big patrol of ants and the ambush of a despicable psychopath.¡±


    Holding three fingers up, Clay explained, ¡°My third rule is to never trust humans, especially those that you meet for the first time, how casually you were around with me was your luck, if I was someone else you could have well been dead by now or maybe even worse¡­ You have to remember that humans do a lot of things when they are desperate. The thing that eventually doomed us all were not the ants but a single mad human.¡±


    Gritting his teeth, Clay took a deep breath. ¡°This human had an ability to mess with our heads, preventing us from reacting to the ants properly, we were overwhelmed almost instantly. Only a small group of six survived, after being trapped on a mountain for about a month we eventually had an opportunity to leave and encountered in this trip the very thing we were looking for ¨C the queen of ants.¡±


    Making sure that Mia was still listening, he was positively surprised to see how serious she took the story without interrupting him. ¡°Accidentally stumbling over the queen ant that seemed to be moving nests was a pure stroke of luck, but killing it costed the life of my best friend Chris¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± respond Mia hesitantly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, he was always reckless since his parents passed, putting my life over his own, he was a fool, but a kind-hearted one, someone I miss dearly¡­¡± Clay explained, while a single tear unknowingly fell from the corner of his eye, he should hurry and finish the story.


    ¡°The end result was that Clay and I put ourselves against the royal guard of the queen and fought it to the death, in the process your brother got severely injured, and I carried him into a cellar to hide from the other ants that would soon come. He strained to stay awake and talk with me so that I wouldn¡¯t lose consciousness, which eventually was enough for my body to heal, but for Jim was it was too late, causing him to die.¡±


    There was a long moment of silence that Clay didn¡¯t dare to interrupt, before she eventually asked, ¡°Where is his body?¡±


    ¡°I buried him under a tree in a village not far from here,¡± stated Clay before hesitating. Should they visit him? It should be fine, the forest was still rather empty and his own heart blood had recovered to the brim, he could fight without a problem. ¡°Do you want to visit his grave?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Mia replied without second thought.


    ***


    Resting the flowers in front of the crude cross, that presented Jim graves, sat Mia before it silently. Grass already growing over the patch of dirt that Jim rested under. Clay could hear the sniffling of Mia and left her alone for a moment, moving a few meters away, but still close enough to sense her with his aura.


    In just a few weeks, the grave could be hard to spot, with all the vividly growing greenery. A month and a half have already passed since Clay¡¯s awakening, and he felt that Jim deserved a more permanent landmark. Looking around, he soon found a stone that almost reached his hips, with a smooth surface on one side. It would make a good gravestone.


    Tapping inside his heart blood, he intensified the embers smoldering inside him by several times, forming a huge flame that carried newfound strength through his body. Bending over, he embraced the stone (quite the hard task with only one arm) but he still managed to lift it without too much trouble.


    His essence pushed him onwards as he carried the stone over to Mia before slowly dropping it behind the cross he made. His muscles thumped and pulsated from the heavy weight, but with his heart blood still burning, any damage was swiftly swept away. In just two seconds, Clay felt like nothing happened at all.


    Stifling the flames back to embers, he laid his arm on her shoulder, gesturing wordlessly to the stone he carried over. Nodding resolutely, she pulled out her dagger and turned her whole attention to the stone, beginning to diligently chisel away at it.


    Clay watched over the process without speaking a single word, not daring to interrupt Mia in her work. Once she was done she slowly stood up, observing her work one final time before nodding proudly and putting a hand on the grave, she spoke a few words Clay couldn¡¯t make out and then turned around to him, indicating that they can leave.


    The sun would be setting soon, so they would have to hurry, thankfully Clay didn¡¯t need to convince Mia to allow him to carry her. She was mentally exhausted after focusing for so long. One mistake would ruin the gravestone, so she was very cautious when handling it.


    While Mia rested on his shoulder, her eyes closed, smiled Clay to himself. She had outdone herself chiseling each letter with care, in a fancy and yet easy to read writing. From what he could tell, she had quite the artistic talent.


    Turning around to look at the grave, he slightly bowed before the grave. He would never forget Jim¡¯s sacrifice. With that out of the way, he made the way back to their home, leaving the grave behind¡­


    Jim Hawk


    2007~2019


    Savior and Loving Brother


    ***


    Clay decided to make a small detour on their way back. They were currently on a small hike, not far from the city. He wanted to show Mia one of the few spots he visited when ha wanted to be alone. There was a small hill that overlooked a good part of the forest and almost all of Churchville. He had found the spot after discording an old abandoned hiking trail that no one seemed to care about.


    After another few steps, the forest and bushes cleared slightly, giving way to a cliff that Clay positioned himself on. Watching over the forest, he felt a rush of nostalgia and memories rushing up. It felt good to be back.


    Looking over his shoulder, he saw how Mia rested on one of the stones in the forest. ¡°Did I promise too much?¡±


    Taking the sight before her in for a moment, Mia exhaled deeply, shaking her head, while smiling. ¡°No, you didn¡¯t¡­ but the hike was a bit too much...¡±


    Clay laughed at the response, causing Mia to blush, before looking away and saying something under her breath that sounded like a curse. He primarily wanted to visit the place for himself, but also in the hope that it would distract Mia.


    While they watched over the forest, each of them lost in their own thoughts, felt Clay, something ominous. It was already late, and the Moon was hanging leisurely in the sky, providing them with more than enough light to see.


    Was there a beast in ambush? No, his aura didn¡¯t pick anything up, or was he just getting emotional? No, that wasn¡¯t it, then what was it¨C!?


    Snapping his body to the right, he saw a bright light like similar to that of a shooting star flying into his direction at ridiculous speed, causing Clay to feel a d¨¦j¨¤ vu. He knew that light all too well ¨C the origin of all his pain and hatred.


    He followed the light, seeing how it crashed into the Moon in mere moments before shattering it into countless fragments, traveling onwards before eventually stopping. Speechless, Clay watched the sky with his mouth wide agape.


    A huge part of the Moon was splintered away, reminding him of a cluster of meteorites, rather than the Moon he knew of. This might of destruction caused Clay to be left speechless, it looked as if a third of the Moon was suddenly pulled away in one direction, as if it was a simple ball of sand.


    Clay waited in anticipation for anything to happen, but even after several seconds, there was nothing. Just a blue star in the sky ¨C a trail of destruction following in its wake ¨C shining brighter than anything else, strong enough to shroud the Earth into a hue of blue, illuminating the forest below them, turning night into day.


    Clay felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking besides him, he saw Mia looking flabbergasted at the Moon, too shocked to put much outrage into her voice. ¡°What¡­?¡±


    He silently looked at the destroyed Moon and blue star before speaking more to himself than Mia. ¡°A new age is dawning.¡±

 Chapter 7: Winters Grasp

    Taking a deep breath, Clay felt the cold winter gust, freeing his nostrils. He liked the winter, it cleared his mind, cleansed his body, while the silence was a bliss¨C


    ¡°I hate the winter!¡± Mia screamed in frustration, while she trampled through the ankle deep snow and shivered from the cold wind. Looking at her, shook Clay his head helplessly. So much about ¡®blissful¡¯ silence. ¡°It¡¯s not far until home, stop complaining.¡±


    Rolling her eyes, she snorted but stopped complaining anyway. Turning back around, Clay positioned the deer that laid over his shoulder in a more comfortable position. Since winter, it only got harder to find any quarry. Another two months have passed since the meteor crashed into the Moon.


    A lot has happened since, and it didn¡¯t make Clay happy. Feeling inside him, he could feel the never ceasing river of essence flowing around his heart. Since the blue moon formed (Mia named it) was the amount of essence in the atmosphere steadily rising.


    It was hard to notice, and the effects weren¡¯t immediate, but over time it became clear that this steady increase in essence came from the blue moon. This was good in the sense that Clay didn¡¯t have to worry about killing other beasts to absorb their essence, or more specifically, couldn¡¯t.


    In the beginning he was still able to absorb at least a fraction, but these days he couldn¡¯t absorb anything. Not that it mattered now that he had an endless supply of essence to refine. Well, there was one little inconvenience: he was unable to use his aura to sense his surroundings.


    Or to be more specifically, it was far harder. Before the blue moon came, he could easily spread his aura several meters wide, but now he struggled to even reach the ten-meter mark. Only when he condensed his aura to form a shield was it strong enough to ignore this weird foreign influence. In the past, it was like his aura only had to push the air away, but now this air was more like water.


    But even worse was the fact that he couldn¡¯t sense the aura of other beast anymore. The essence in the atmosphere masked their lower aura and made it impossible to distinguish them. Losing this aura sense was comparable to losing one of his eyes, he relied heavily on it after all, but he managed to do without it over time.


    Well, not all was bad, as the new reliance on his shield and the endless amount of essence, allowed him to indefinitely keep his shield up, that included his sleep. By now, it became like second nature for him to guide his aura.


    The few times he had to fight, it also proved very useful, as it straight up absorbed a lot of the power form attacks, leaving him with only mild injuries that he healed in seconds. He felt quite invincible over the last few weeks to speak the truth, not that he complained.


    The biggest challenge these days was to find enough heart blood for Mia, which she still somehow needed. His previous assumption that she just needed essence seemed to be wrong, there must be something different about heart blood that her body needed. The fact that heart blood somehow expired over time didn¡¯t help, storing it longer than a few days was impossible, not to mention that even during that time it loses much of its potency.


    He also found out that not every animal had this heart blood, he could only recall fighting animals that already¡­ mutated, for lack of a better word. He knew that some smaller animals like squirrels and especially insects rarely mutated, but were not all that uncommon. There must be a wide variety of factors that influenced this mutation, but from Clay perspective, it appeared like it just came to chance in the end.


    The deer over his shoulder wasn¡¯t the first he had caught, and he knew for a fact that most of the others he killed had heart blood. On the topic, he found out that the heart actually underwent a considerable change to store this heart blood. If one would compare both hearts then it would become pretty obvious that the mutated one, was considerably larger and had a slightly different structure, that one would overlook at first notice, but was definitely there.


    The problem was not only the lack of heart blood, but also the wide variety of inconveniences that came with Mia¡¯s poison. While Clay spent more time around Mia, so did the poison inside his body accumulate. In itself, that wasn¡¯t a problem, but after it accumulated above a certain threshold, it became one. He would struggle to breath, his body weakening, unable to muster any strength, and his head would feel like it was underwater, perceiving everything under a thick veil of cotton.


    Only after he cleansed the poison with the help of his own heart blood, vanished the various ailments. His own symptoms and those of Mia were actually quite similar when she didn¡¯t get enough heart blood, something he had to look deeper into in the future.


    The next problem was that their house¡­ rotted, quite literally began to rot just like the food, and the clothes Mia wore. It was actually embarrassing for Clay how long it took him to realize that most of the food he had stored over the weeks in his home quickly rotted away. Anything barley organic was especially prone to Mia¡¯s poison. That was also why the wood pillars, which most of the house supported itself on, were the first to rot away. At one occasion, one actually broke and caused some of the ceiling to crash down on them, so they were forced to move houses.


    Twice to be exact, the wood just rotted too soon, which was also the reason why he forced her to spent as much time in the open as possible (to the misfortune of Mia), because after removing her from the tree the poison actually acted similar to a gas rather as if it was sentient. The moment she breathed it out, it was carried away by the cold winter wind.


    But all of this was a temporary solution at best. If he wanted to return with her to civilization one day, she couldn¡¯t possibly walk around poisoning everything and everyone around her¡­


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Mia asked charily from the side, before whispering, ¡°Another Beast?¡±


    Torn out of his thoughts, he just shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing, let¡¯s just move on.¡± She seemed to be confused for a moment, but then just shrugged it off. Clay just played with the thought of never returning to civilization. From his perspective, they offered nothing he couldn¡¯t get himself. They were doing just fine on their own. He was also rather¡­ hesitant to return to any sort of civilization.


    If a group actually managed to survive until now, then only with great sacrifices, and he knew that humans could change and adapt rather¡­ questionable ethics if they were desperate enough, and recent times were very desperate. Clay couldn¡¯t remember a comparable catastrophe in all of humanity than this one.


    Well he actually didn¡¯t know if all of this was on a global scale, but considering a new moon, was now orbiting their planet and emitting an alien energy that had the power to fundamentally change the structures of animals, their very genes? Yeah, Clay, didn¡¯t believe for a second this wasn¡¯t happening on a global scale.


    For now, he couldn¡¯t change anything about their situation, he just had to keep going, keep surviving.


    ***


    It was the fourteenth of March. A monumental day for Mia, as it was her twelfth birthday. The worst of the winter had passed, and the days would only grow warmer and longer as time passed on. Besides it being her birthday was Mia in no mood to celebrate, it reminded her of the family she had lost, the one she would normally celebrate this occasion with.


    The only person she had was Clay ¨C and she was grateful, for all the help he provided ¨C but it was impossible for him to fill the hole in her heart. Clay knew this all too well, and was also the reason why he didn¡¯t even try to organize a big celebration. He himself didn¡¯t really celebrate his own eighteen''s birthday.


    Mia couldn¡¯t even eat anything for the occasion, as she would throw it up in mere seconds. No, Clay had something different in mind and opted for a simpler approach. He woke her up as usual and wished her a good birthday and presented her with two presents. Besides being sad, she still was only a child in the end and was quickly excited and up on her feet to unpack them.


    The first was a simple notebook, bound in thick dark leather, made to withstand long travels and the elements. Over the last few months with Mia, he noticed that she had an artistic talent, when it came to writing and drawing, and he wanted to foster this talent. She already wrote and drew a lot in her free time, but this notebook, had a special purpose, he would explain later.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Besides it being a very simple present, Mai was still very happy about it because she knew Clay made it himself ¨C it wasn¡¯t something he just got from one of the abandoned stores in the city ¨C but it paled in comparison to the second present.


    When she unwrapped it she was greeted by a wooden mask, that was with utmost care carved to fit her face, depicting an owl, Mia¡¯s favorite animal as Clay had found out. The wood itself was of dark oak, that was tinted in a deep purple, giving off a supernatural feeling.


    Touching over the mask, Mia could feel it clearly ¨C credit to Clay¡¯s effort in training her how to utilize essence. By now, Mia was able to feel her own essence and heart blood and thus clearly knew where this mask originated from.


    Knowledge didn¡¯t mean understanding, as her confused expression showed. Smiling, Clay pointed at the mask. ¡°Try it on.¡±


    She was still confused and hesitant, but eventually slowly brought the mask closer to her face and when it was just a few centimeters away, flinched, as the mask escaped her grasp and pulled itself closer to her face, causing it to snap in place, like a magnet.


    Seeing this, a huge burden lifted from Clay¡¯s shoulder. Making this mask costed him over a month of time and tinkering with various things. It was also very hard to hide this whole process from Mia because he wanted (for a reason beyond him) the present to be a surprise, pretty silly when he now looked back at it, but her reaction was worth it.


    He was lucky that she didn¡¯t question why Clay wanted to make a plaster face cast and just saw it as something to pass the time. He actually needed the cast to accurately carve this mask. Even if he didn¡¯t intend to return to civilization, Clay soon realized that he had to stop the poison from spreading. Alone the fact that he had to regularly purge his body was reason enough, not to mention the house and clothes that rotted away, they were forced to move once again.


    He thought long and hard of how he could stop this poison. Initially, he just planned to teach her how to control essence in the hope it would allow her to control her poison. Only after realizing how slow their progress was looked he for other solutions. There were a few ideas, but it eventually all turned back to the tree and the idea of having an object that prevented the poison from leaving.


    In the end, he was able to utilize the oak tree that Mia was stuck on. Originally Clay expected it to die in a few days without her, but due to the blue moon that came not long after it not only survived but was thriving under the constant flow of essence.


    This new ecosystems that grew around the tree never stopped growing since then. It was a slow process, yes, and it would probably take several years for the tree to overtake the whole city, but he didn¡¯t doubt for a second it wasn¡¯t able to do it, it was only a matter of time.


    The wood used for the mask actually comes from the part where Mia was connected the longest to the tree, and they still had a deep connection, both being drawn to each other. Clay didn¡¯t actually know how the mask was able to stick to her without any form of string or attachment.


    He did several dozens of test over the past month with the wood just to make sure it wouldn¡¯t harm Mia or suddenly grow roots that bored into her flesh once again, and he was certain that the wood separated from the tree was essentially dead. It kept some of its magical properties, but was in Mia hands completely harmless.


    The reason why he even believed the mask could work was because of the inherent ability of the wood. It was able to absorb Mia¡¯s poison and turn it over time into a sticky substance similar to that of sap from a tree. This not only stopped the poison from spreading, but also concentrated into a substance Clay was actually able to store.


    He didn¡¯t yet know where he would need it, but having a supernatural poison at disposal that had the ability to disturb and eat away at the essence of others seemed very useful. He actually carved a small pocket into the mask under the chin for the sap to gather, when it trickled down. In theory, Clay just had to scrap this sap into a container from time to time and be done with it.


    Well, only time would tell how effective the mask would be, but he was rather optimistic, all his test lead him to this result after all.


    While he was absorbed in his thoughts, was Mia busy with touching the mask that smugly fitted around her face, at one point she panicked, as she struggled to get it loose. Fortunately, holding her breath for a few moments caused the mask to fall right off, to her relief.


    She looked at the mask in silence, observing every little detail with attention, before she eventually began to silently cry. It seemed like Clay underestimated how much this really meant for her. He knew that she felt sorry for him and that she blamed herself for the suffering he had to undergo over the past few months, which wasn¡¯t entirely¡­ wrong.


    Because of her, Clay was forced to regularly cleanse his body from poison, they were unable to stay in a house for more than a month before it rotted away, Clay stored all the food and carcasses very far from her and the growing forest in the center of the city, and he went almost daily out to find the heart blood she needed to life, but Clay did all of this from his own free will and wasn¡¯t angry about it.


    Quite the contrary, he was grateful for all the trouble. He would be left without a goal otherwise and succumb to boredom in days. The world may be a more dangerous place now, but it was also a lot more exciting, the constant adrenaline caused his body to be on edge. Something Clay perceived as vital. It was hard to remain vigilant at all time, but if he wanted to survive, he had to force himself to never relax. It was all too easy to die because he underestimated a beast, or failed to react to an ambush in a timely manner.


    The plenty of time Clay had on his hand was often spent in training his use of essence. It fascinated him to no end, and he learned over time how to control the essence inside his body. Stopping it from escaping, forcing it to circulate inside him, it was similar to when his inner flame burned brightly and filled his body with strength, but this was much more delicate in comparison, something he could freely control.


    When he burned, he had no influence on where the essence went, it followed its own will. In the past, he was only ever able to guide his essence to cleanse himself of Mia¡¯s poison. After gaining immunity, this only became harder.


    Well this was in the past, with this new technique he would achieve grander feats in the near future then simple healing. For now, the circulation helped him safe some sleep, six hours were more than enough. The biggest problem were the embers smoldering ceaselessly inside him. They gave too little essence to fuel both his shield and the strengthening, not to mention to strain on the mind to keep control over two different flows of essence.


    In time, he was sure to find a solution, for now he was just anticipating the warmer climate, that would hopefully make his hunt more bearable. He liked the winter, yes, but by now he grew tired of it.


    ***


    There was a warmer breeze than usual caressing the skin of Mia and Clay, both of them wandering along the edges of the forest, not too far from the city, only a few days passed since her birthday. With her mask, Mia could stay in the house without damaging anything, but Clay didn¡¯t dare to let her leave his sight. He couldn¡¯t always watch over her, of course, but right now he didn¡¯t dare leave. He has long begun to train her.


    He wasn¡¯t any expert, but at least familiarizing her with hunting some small animals couldn¡¯t hurt. Most of his time was focused in teaching her how to use essence, which still progressed in a snails pace. Her feeling for essence considerably grew over time, but she was never able to burn her heart blood even once.


    Even with little results he insisted on continuing, to the strong disapproval of Mia, causing more than one quarrel the past few months, but she listened in the end. He knew that Mia had to learn how to burn if she wanted to win against beast that were superior to her in every regard, even more so because of her gender and age.


    The matchup between beast and human fundamentally favored the beast, that was, at least until the human started to use his wit to outsmart the beast. Humans may have no claws, but a well forged knife can prove just as lethal.


    The obsidian dagger of Mia plunged deep into the rat that she just wrestled with moments ago, causing it to twitch and shiver before collapsing dead on the ground. Shoving the dead body away from her chest, she gagged strongly, causing some bile to rise to her mouth, grimacing she threw some curses around ¨C Clay never taught her those.


    If this was the first time, she would have scolded him how inappropriate it was to let a lady fight with animals to the death (no that he would ever allow her to die), but she knew better by now. Sometimes he questioned if his ¡®education¡¯ was appropriate, but he had no one to discuss this with and was left to his own devices.


    Well, he just had to make sure Mia survived, no matter if she liked the process. Even though she complained a lot at first, she was quick to accept her circumstances, not harboring a grudge for longer than a few days. Whatever happened on her own, she was tougher than her appearance suggested, surprising him to this day in how quickly she was able to adapt.


    Coming over, she looked sullen at the ground, clearly dissatisfied by something, but reluctant to voice it. Smiling, he said, ¡°Mia, what is the second rule?¡±


    ¡°To be honest,¡± she replied, her voice muffled under the mask. He didn¡¯t respond, just staring at her until she spoke from her own. ¡°I¡¯m thankful for the mask, I really am, it¡¯s just that¡­ it feels like a prison. Something that constantly reminds me of what I am ¨C a monster!¡±


    Frowning, Clay kneeled down, firmly grabbing her shoulder. ¡°You are no monster. You are the purest and strongest person I have met, you are¨C¡±


    ¡°No!¡± She screamed, pushing him away. ¡°You don¡¯t understand, I-I¡­ killed him! He died because of me!¡±


    Clay¡¯s frown deepened as he looked her in the eyes, that still desperately tried to avoid his own. He knew she hid some things from him, everyone did, even children, but he didn¡¯t anticipate it to be something so concerning. Innately he didn¡¯t want to force her into revealing anything she wasn¡¯t comfortable with, but now that she let her tongue slip, it was impossible to ignore. ¡°Mia, what do you mean, could you explain?¡±


    She still avoided his gaze trying to turn her body away but with her shoulders strongly in Clay hands there was no escape, so she eventually fumbled her words into a response. ¡°I-It was an accident¡­¡±

 Chapter 8: Wilderness Surges

    Stroking a few loose strands of hair from the temple of Mia¡¯s face, couldn¡¯t Clay stop himself from letting out a deep sigh. She was exhausted and her eyes still red from the countless tears she shed when telling him of her story. For this night she slept without her mask, a night without it wouldn¡¯t hurt much.


    Returning to the kitchen of their current home, he grabbed a glass of water before sitting down on a chair, a dirty and dust tainted window on his left. He was lost in his thoughts, when a few strokes of blue light broke his concentration. Looking over his shoulder, he looked out of the window past the planks that he haphazardly nailed in front of the windows. The attacks of beast were too rare and the change of their abode too often, as that he would care much about these fortifications.


    Following the light, he soon ended at its source. It was a cloudless night, with mild wind, very calm. It was in nights like these that the new moon shone at its brightest. Incomparable to the Moon from before. Well they had two moons now, one blue and the other dark gray, appearing almost black, with a veil of mystery that hung around it at all times.


    It was strange to think that something so beautiful was the cause of so much suffering and cruelty. Well, there is no light without shadows or so they say¡­ no that was wrong, how went that saying again?


    Not that it mattered much. In a few more dozens of years, there wouldn¡¯t be much left of the old world anyway. He didn¡¯t know why, but he had a feeling that very turbulent times were ahead of them, and they will be led by one thing ¨C change.


    With Mia opening up to him, a lot of questions that puzzled Clay before were answered. To start, her poison actually developed after some snake bit her, while her parents got attacked. After she ran into her room and huddled under her bed, the poison went to work and transformed her. The pain was too much, causing her to lose conscious soon after.


    She didn¡¯t know how much time passed, but she would have probably died, if there wasn¡¯t that kind old man that for reasons incomprehensible to Clay helped Mia survive. She was too tired and scared to move. The man helped her to get out and brought him to his house, caring over the next few days for her, but good times didn¡¯t last.


    It soon came apparent that the man was suffering from her poison and eventually came to a brutal end before Mia¡¯s own eyes, coughing blood, while the same crimson liquid leaked from his ears, eyes and nostrils. The scene horrified her, and she ran in a panic to the only place she deemed as safe ¨C her room.


    She again fell into a state where she didn¡¯t know what to do besides surviving the next day, thankfully Jim came not long after that, which gave her new hope, until, yet again she was left alone and somehow fused with the tree in the garden when she took a short nap, which ended in a several months long slumber.


    She was abandoned by the world again and again until Clay finally found her and was also only able to survive thanks to a stroke of luck, otherwise he would have ended like the old man, and she would have been left alone yet again, perhaps permanently fusing with the tree to never separate with it¡­


    Shaking his head, he pushed the disturbing thought away. He had to admit that the girl grew on him over the past several months. She was of course annoying in some aspects, as all kids, but she grew on him nonetheless. Who couldn¡¯t have pity when one knew what suffering she had to endure with her tender age. He knew all too well how deep the pain was of losing family, friends¡­ everything you knew.


    When everyone around you dies, you begin to have dark thoughts. What was the point if everyone was gone? Thankfully, Jim not only saved his life but also gave him a new purpose, a new family. Closing his eyes for a moment, he prayed that Jim was happy wherever he was now.


    This story also explained why she blamed herself so much for the pain that Clay had to endure, she already lost someone to the poison and didn¡¯t want to let history repeat itself. It was most likely also the reason why she viewed herself as a monster. Alone, thinking about this caused Clay¡¯s head to throb with a headache before the essence inside him quelled it.


    This was also something he had to look deeper into. After surviving Mia¡¯s poison it seemed his natural healing has increased drastically, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure to what extent yet, but he knew that the inner circulation of his essence strengthened the effects several times over, causing him to feel it more apparently over the last few weeks.


    Since barely surviving the encounter with the royal guard, he never had a noteworthy fight where he could test his new abilities. Well, with the ending of winter, and the infestation of ants dealt with, it shouldn¡¯t be long before some beasts return.


    ***


    Only a few weeks passed and like Clay suspected began the wildlife to return to the forest surrounding Churchville like a surging wave, that took him by surprise with its ferocity. He expected animals to come back, but not in such high numbers.


    Whatever the ants did, it must have had a longer lasting effect than he imagined, because when he before barely encountered large predators like wolves, the forest was now overrun by them, not to mention all the other animals that became a lot more dangerous after their transformation.


    He was lost in thought wandering through the perimeter of the forest, Mia strolling not too far from him, when a shadow rushed from the thicket, and before he could react he felt his aura rapidly decreasing, as a huge viper coiled from his foot, past his waist and over his chest before its fangs plunged into his left shoulder releasing some kind of poison.


    The stiffening of his body, made it clear that Clay was paralyzed, causing him to drop his blade. He could see from the corner of his eyes Mia plunging her dagger deep into the flesh of the viper, which only angered it more, causing the grip around Clay¡¯s body to tighten, if not for his aura his bones would have begun to break long ago.


    Fortunately have the past battles put Clay¡¯s senses on high edge and the moment he noticed something wrong he flared the flame inside him to live, and with it came the familiar rush of energy that pushed the paralyzing poison out of his system and with a shout he was able to barely free his arm and grab the viper by its neck stopping it from pushing its fangs into his eyes.


    The tongue slithered over his face and he could see the drops of poison leaking from the fangs eager to end his life. Keen to prevent that pulled Clay, with another rush of burned essence, the head back before ripping with his teeth into the scales of the viper, causing it to hiss in pain as the crimson blood trailed past the corner of his mouth, while the taste of iron filled his mouth.


    Ignoring the taste, he only bit deeper, ripping a huge chunk of flesh from the viper before spitting it away. He must have ripped some artery, as the blood sprayed into his face like a fountain, forcing him to close his eyes, but all the damage was enough to finally lose the grip around his body. A push from his left foot allowed him to break free from the viper.


    Hitting the ground, Clay moved quickly to wipe the blood from his eyes, only to see the viper flying right at him. Still lying on the ground, he tensed his right leg and with the support from the rest of his body pushed upward, kicking the head of the viper sideways, knocking it out for a few seconds.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Using the time he turned back and crawled to his sword and when he finally had his hand around it, he directly swung around, beheading the viper that yet again had thrown itself at him after it recovered. The body flailed a few more moments around before becoming still.


    Breathing heavily, Clay swiftly stifled the flame inside him, not that he wasted more heart blood than he had to. Putting his arm over his temple, he concentrated on the circulation of energy inside his body, and before long he was sure that his body was completely cleansed of the poison.


    With a foul taste still in his mouth, Clay was sure to cleanse it thoroughly with water, but before he could grab the flask with water, he was interrupted by a shadow that reached over him. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by an owl that looked concerned over him. He could swear that this mask developed facial expressions over time.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Sitting up he replied, ¡°Yeah I think so, the poison was already cleansed so ¨C ah wait.¡± Pushing the clothes away from his left shoulder, he found the blood from the bite wound, but the wound itself was already healed, so he smiled. ¡°Yes completely healed.¡±


    With a sigh of relief, Mia sat down and reached for the thick leather book in her backpack and sat it on her lap, before grabbing a pencil with her right. ¡°So how strong.¡±


    Thinking for a moment, he replied, ¡°Semi-awakened, but it still had a bit to go, it was probably relying on the factor of surprise to kill its prey.¡±


    Going over to Mia¡¯s backpack, he grabbed the flask of water, gurgling the bits and pieces of flesh that were stuck between his teeth away, before sheathing his sword and pulling out the rope he needed to secure the viper for transportation, he won¡¯t waste the flesh he earned so hard.


    Looking over his shoulder, he called out to Mia, ¡°Can you lend me your dagger for a sec?¡±


    Without a word of reply, the dagger came flying, which Clay caught, and then proceeded to head over to the severed head of the viper and began to work on cutting the venom gland free. He was by no means an expert when it came to butchering, but the last several months gave him a lot of practice. You learn quickly if your only real food source is meat. This was definitely not a healthy diet, but he didn¡¯t really have a choice.


    By now, he reached a point where he started to look into biology books from the library (Thank god it survived the onslaught!) to learn about the autonomy of some animals. Because Mia¡¯s own poison also originated from some serpent, he even looked into them and thus knew roughly where the venom gland was.


    While he worked, Mia asked, ¡°What should one be cautious about?¡±


    He paused in his work for a moment before explaining, ¡°The most deadly weapon was its paralyzing poison, if it wasn¡¯t for my potent healing I would have been knocked out for several minutes, maybe even an hour. Second is its camouflage and with it the ability to lay ambushes, lastly would be its overall strength. Its grip was by no means weak, so one should be very careful to not let it coil around you.¡±


    Nodding along, she scribbled into the book, before asking, ¡°Weaknesses?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you survive the ambush, you just have to go for the head. Its scales are not that hard and especially with a longer weapon like a spear it should be easy to kill, it is relatively swift but because it wants to attack with its fangs it opens up for counterattacks,¡± saying this he finally got the venom gland free. ¡°Write also to not forget the venom gland, the poison can be used to coat weapons.¡±


    Wrapping the gland into a piece of cloth, he went over to Mia, peeking over her shoulder to see how far she was. He gave her the notebook so that she could document the animals, flora and fauna they encountered. He didn¡¯t really mean for the book to be used, but saw it more of practice to foster Mia¡¯s artistic talent, as she could draw everything they encountered and who knows, maybe some day it will be useful.


    There was that, but he also wanted to use the opportunity to let her become accustomed to the sight of blood and corpses, because that would be a sight they would see all too often in the future. It also gave her the opportunity to learn how to fight, even if that was risky. If they ever encountered a foe that was far stronger than them, they would have a problem, but well she had to learn how to fight one way or the other.


    The viper Mia was currently drawing looked pretty normal at first glance, with its scales being in a diamond shaped pattern that ran down the length of its back, the color being grayish-brown, with some darker spots that ran along its side. It was a natural camouflage to help it hide in the undergrowth, which it succeeded at greatly.


    Its appearance was normal until one came to the measurements, where one would realize that it was almost three meters long and more threateningly half a meter in diameter. This was definitely one of the more dangerous foes Clay encountered the last few weeks. Without his healing, he could have been dead¡­


    Best not dwell too long into what and ifs. He survived and so did Mia. ¡°You can finish your drawing when we get back home, I fear the blood could attract more beasts, so we should better get moving.¡±


    Nodding, she hastily finished a few more strokes before putting the book and pencil away before shouldering her backpack. Firmly gripping the rope, Clay strained his muscles and began to drag the viper back home. He only took a third of it, as he couldn¡¯t preserve more anyway, and the viper was way heavier than it looked.


    Without the essence that always circulated inside him, which provided him with a constant flow of new energy, he would have been exhausted after only a few dozen meters. After making the two-hour track back home, Mia immediately resumed the work on her drawing, while Clay started to skin and butcher the viper.


    ***


    Another few days passed and today was a great day for Clay. Then today he was finally able to complete his leather armor. It was a simple and yet very complicated process. He had quite a lot of time on hand and tried a lot of new things out, and well there wasn¡¯t much to do in the winter months.


    It was in the middle of winter after hunting another a deer that he became the idea to put all the hide he got from hunting to use. There was a lot of trial and error, but he eventually was able to finish his full set of leather armor. He had everything important, a sturdy chest plate, bracers, shoulder guards and grieves. Especially the shoulder guards would have been useful during the fight with the viper.


    Well, not that it mattered much, he finally finished it. He would have been done a lot sooner if there wasn¡¯t Mia¡¯s mask that got in between, but he didn¡¯t regret focusing on it. It proved more than useful after all.


    Putting the armor on and tightening all the straps, Clay was more than satisfied with himself. This would definitely help to protect himself from the weaker attacks. Next he would make Mia a whole set. He first thought to make her armor first, but after considering it a bit, he chose to test it on himself first.


    Like this, he could get experience and make an even better armor for Mia. In the best case scenario, she didn¡¯t have to face any opponent much stronger than herself, but if the encounter with the viper taught him one thing, then that the best case scenario was not always the case, far from it.


    It was the first real ambush he experienced since¡­ forever. Before, he always relied on his aura sense to feel their presence before any other of his senses could. Now, with the high essence in the atmosphere, it was impossible to distinguish the weaker aura of the beasts he faced.


    The viper was semi-awakend because she reached a stage where Clay was able to feel glimpses of its aura. He knew that his own aura was stronger than the one in the atmosphere, and just began to call this stage awakened. There had to be a moment where his aura changed. It could have been since the beginning or after surviving Mia¡¯s poison, he didn¡¯t know.


    The point is that it changed, and he didn¡¯t quite know yet what it meant, but he had a feeling that it was important. There wasn¡¯t yet a single beast that he faced which¡¯s aura was strong enough to withstand the atmosphere, but he wasn¡¯t too keen on finding out.


    The problem that bothered Clay so much was what if Mia had been first attacked by the viper and not him? Could she have survived? The answer was a definite no. Mia wasn¡¯t able to control her essence to ignite her inner flame, let alone form an aura shield that could have protected her. She would have been crushed to death in seconds.


    He wanted to train her, yes, but he doesn¡¯t want to unnecessarily risk her life. With the animals roaming in the forest increasing each day, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they would be overwhelmed with something that was too dangerous. She needed to learn how to ignite her inner flame and be able to form an aura shield before he would allow her to go with him, anything else would be far too dangerous.


    Thankfully, he also wasn¡¯t too concerned with leaving her alone there was after all a place where she would be safe, even against a whole army of beasts¡­

 Chapter 9: Haunting Memories

    Spring was coming to an end as the days grew only hotter. This time, Clay dared to dwell a little deeper into the boundary of the forest. Since Mia was safe and sound in the poisonous mists that slowly consumed the city, he was a lot more relaxed when it came to his hunt for heart blood.


    Only after she left his side did Clay realize how tense he was around her. There were always chances for ambushes, so he had to keep her in the periphery of his vision. But even then he was still ambushed by the viper or how he realized by now was the reason why he was ambushed to begin with.


    He was so focused on protecting Mia that he ignored what was around him. Now that he was alone, his senses absorbed the surrounding nature in a completely different way. Everything somehow seemed so much clearer now.


    At first, he struggled a little to properly filter all of this new sensations, but he quickly adjusted to it. His highly sensitive senses were returning to him. Even before this apocalypse and the need to fight for survival, were his senses abnormally sensitive. Especially sound and certain smells distracted him heavily unless he focused on something else.


    In the past this distraction was fulfilled by his aura sense. Afterward it was Mia, but now all alone he had nothing to focus on. There was a cracking on the left, then a rustle behind, suddenly a chirp from the front which caused Clay to reach for his sword only to find a small bird that didn¡¯t mutate yet.


    All of this was making him rather uncomfortable as he was on constant edge with each little stimuli. He needed a focus point to properly filter out the different sound, smells or even his own thoughts. Maintaining his aura shield was by now like second nature to him, not much different from breathing.


    Only after he had expanded his aura several dozens of meters could he ignore most other stimuli. Even if there was little use to expanding his aura, Clay did so anyway just to clear his head of the never ending flow of information and thoughts.


    Feeling for his aura, he felt how it endlessly flowed around him in a circular motion like a never ceasing river. Willing with his mind he pushed outwards breaking the smooth structure from before, like a ripple his aura expanded, thinning with each additional meter. He had no idea how far his aura reached he just focused on pushing it further away.


    There was no point to mark distance for him, it felt like an endless sea of black filled with nothing except himself, until his entire being suddenly froze. At last there was a response, and one stronger than he ever felt before.


    To the northeast, this black sea abruptly ended as something took his place ¨C an aura. One that didn¡¯t belong to Clay and the moment he came into contact with it, the aura stirred like a beast that was rudely awoken, swirling and twitching uncontrollably. He could feel its fury, ferocity and untamed bloodlust. Whatever beast this was, it scared Clay, uncontrollably his breath quickened and beneath all these strong emotions there was something else¡­ pain.


    Pain so deep that it awoke memories that Clay had long pushed to the back of his head. Memories that he refused to dwell in, or he may have fallen into a deep hole long ago. Maybe it was his mind protecting him or him running from reality, but there was always something in his mind that kept him distracted from these memories.


    They were locked away so that he could continue to function, to be efficient, to survive. Suddenly confronted with these memories, his surroundings distorted as the black sea that was merely a feeling and not reality morphed and transformed into something tangible, something real.


    Looking below, he stood in a seemingly endless puddle of water ¨C no, this was no water but blood. He took a step back in fear only to push something with his feet, the hand of a woman which Clay recognized instantly, as the image of his sister appeared in his mind. The person that knew him best. She was dead, just like the rest of his family.


    He knew that, and he thought he came to terms with the fact, but the tears that unwilling rolled over his cheek spoke otherwise. Before he could come to terms with the scene, the sword in his right became heavy, the light on the black blade glittering as if mocking him.


    There came small bubbles from the poodle that grew in intensity over time, as a two-meter tall monstrosity emerged from the sea. It towered over him and appeared that much larger, as Clay felt how he was only growing smaller with each passing second.


    Its expression was unreadable behind the natural exoskeleton that formed above its mandible. It slowly opened its mandibles as if pulling a spring and beneath was a crimson mouth that¡­ smiled?!


    *CLANK*


    The mandibles shut down on him as Clay closed his eyes in fear. After opening them, he saw Chris standing before him. His best friend the person he trusted like his family, he looked tired his eyes sunken like he hadn¡¯t slept in days, but what was that at the corner of his mouth?


    It appeared to be a small black spot, that soon glowed brighter as it''s revealed its true color of scarlet red, instantly Chris face distorted in a horrific image of pain as a mouthful of blood flew from his mouth and landed on Clay¡¯s face while the light in his eyes dimmed and his body suddenly vanished with a passing wind that caused ripples to form over the puddle of blood.


    His hair swayed with the wind and as Chris head touched the blood it was consumed at once. Following the head and witnessing its disappearance, Clay¡¯s stumbled away in horror. He began to chuckle in panic as he couldn¡¯t make sense of the situation.


    This wasn¡¯t real, it couldn¡¯t be. It was impossible.


    ¡°Impossible?¡±


    Turning around, he was greeted by a girl that threw herself into him. The black sword piercing her heart. Stroking over his cheek with a finger, she whispered, ¡°You killed me.¡±


    Letting go of the sword, Clay stumbled further backwards. ¡°I didn¡¯t, I mean I did ¨C but I didn¡¯t mean to, It was an accident!¡±


    Hunching over, the girl laughed hysterically with the sword embedded in her heart. ¡°NO! It''s your fault! Your fault alone! I could have lived, but YOU killed me!¡±


    Pushing her away in fear, the girl fell into the blood and vanished, only for Clay to fall backwards as something hard suddenly stopped him. Leaning against a wall, he found himself trapped, as he was embedded in stone.


    In front of him sat Jim¡¯s lifeless body, his eyes unmoving, his face rotted as insects crawled over him and gnawed at his remains. Without his head moving, his mouth opened. ¡°I sacrificed myself for YOU! For what! Sulking around in memories that you refused to come to terms with. You coward! You moron! Do you like to play family with my sister?! It should have been me that survived, not YOU!¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Clay closed his eyes, trying to focus on his aura. This had to be some sort of illusion, a mind trick, no, he knew that this wasn¡¯t real. He just had to ignore it and focus on retrieving his aura. Slowly focusing inwards, he tried to ignore everything around him as he felt for his aura until he eventually found it.


    ¡°NO! YOU can¡¯t leave!¡± came the voice from the dead girl as she laid on the ground.


    ¡°YOU want to steal my sister, my family, everything I have!¡± bellowed Jim as he crawled his way over to Clay.


    Suddenly there appeared the hand of Clay¡¯s sister on his lap as the flesh on the back moved and squirmed, morphing into a blood shot eye. With fury, it stared at him, Clay knew it blamed him for the death of his family, and it brought him to tears.


    With his eyes closed laid Chris head not far from Clay¡¯s feet asking, ¡°Do YOU want to abandon me yet again?¡±


    Like drums, the voices echoed around him, judging him, insulting him, pleading him, mocking him.


    It''s your fault. You have to take responsibility. YOU! YOU! YOU!


    ¡°ENOUGH¡±


    With rage in his voice, there was silence at last as Clay¡¯s aura swirled like a hurricane, breaking and ripping the black that entrapped him into shreds as his surroundings returned to the forest.


    As if awaken from a nightmare, Clay was about to take a breath of relief only to feel time slow down as he interlocked with the eyes of a beast only mere meters away from him. It appeared to be almost entirely black and without time to think much, he moved his body to the left and focused the swirling mass of aura that he just retrieved around his body, forming a shield.


    Barely able to snap the shield in place was there a white tusk not much shorter than his blade in front of his chest and while he wanted to avoid it his body refused to move. Unconsciously, he fueled his inner flame to unprecedented heights, as he prepared for the impact.


    Clay could clearly feel as his aura rapidly plunged as it tried to absorb the impact of the tusk, and for a moment he thought he might be able to hold on, until he realized that his feet were off the ground and the tusk broke through his aura, his leather chestplate only lasted for a moment before it too was ripped open; the tusk impaling his stomach until he was stopped at its base. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The great speed at which the beast ram into him resulted in Clay not only being lifted from the ground, but also to be catapulted over its head. Bewildered and shocked, Clay laid on the ground, not yet able to process what happened.


    Before the realization came the pain, so sudden and piercing that it jolted him from the ground, only for his vision to blacken. When he regained it, he was kneeling on the ground, panting for fresh air, his heart pumping like a drill. With the shock from the hallucination and the sudden pain, he could only scream at the top of his lungs in the hope that it would lessen the pain.


    It didn¡¯t help as he bent over the ground grabbing his stomach, gritting his teeth so hard he thought they may break. By now, his inner flame burned brighter than it ever had before, and he could feel the rush of energy flowing through his body. He could feel it swirling in his stomach as a burning sensation like no other came over him.


    It felt like bugs were crawling over his wound, nicking and biting at it, like a thousand hot needles. Not only was the pain incomparable to anything he felt before, but the itch that came along was almost worse.


    Taking a quick and short breaths, he sat on his knees and tried to rip the chestplate from his body, but to no avail. God, why had he to build this thing so sturdy? Looking at his hand, it was drenched in a color of crimson. Not able to endure by just sitting, he jumped on his feet. There had to be something to distract himself with.


    Looking around, himself, he finally got a proper view of the beast that attacked him. It appeared to be a boar, if you could call the brown mass of fur and muscle before him a boar. It loomed over him even while standing on all fours, the eyes were close to black, its two tusk were comparable to blades, the left was drenched in Clay¡¯s blood as its thick tongue licked over it. Stomping with its right hove on the ground, it prepared for another charge.


    Looking at this truck of a beast, Clay straightened himself, his mouth involuntarily turning into a wide smile, before a small chuckle escaped his lips only for it to grow into a full outburst of laughing. God, what became of this world? What else were you supposed to do but laugh.


    Pushing some of his essence out, Clay regenerated the aura that he lost from the attack, putting his shield back at full force. The wound was still stinging but bearable, he had to survive. Reaching for his left hip, he grabbed air. Quickly surveying the surroundings, he found his sword laying not far behind the boar. Wiping his bloodied hand over his jeans, he slowly moved backwards without breaking eye contact with the boar.


    The moment he took a step, the boar snorted, only to begin its charge. Seeing this, Clay tensed his leg muscles and shot off to the side, moving as fast as he could. From the corner of his vision, he saw the boar shooting behind him, while he felt the wind that came from the charge pressing against him.


    He intended to prevent at all cost to be even grazed by that monstrosity. Using the time the boar needed to halt and begin a new charge, he sprinted to his sword. Just barely able to grasp it with his fingers, he moved on, feeling the wind rush behind him only moments later.


    Damn, that thing could turn surprisingly quick for its size, but it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to match Clay¡¯s mobility, so the moment the boar passed he didn¡¯t ran away but instead confronted it directly.


    He could tell from its eyes that it seemed startled to be challenged directly, further angering it as it took the challenge with a fierce glare. Fully concentrating, Clay perceived his surroundings as if time slowed down, his eyes being able to see each individual hair on the boar, the spit coming from its mouth or the drop of blood falling from its tusk.


    Only mere centimeters away from the tusk, he moved his body to the right side, ducking slightly as the tusk brushed past his cheek before the truck that was the boar followed. Clenching his sword, he sliced the side of the boar, intending to cleave it open, only to feel the strength of his attack leaving him ¨C no, it wasn¡¯t leaving, it was being absorbed.


    When he finally broke through the aura shield of the boar, there was no gaping slice in its side, but a mere scratch that barely caused the beast to bleed.


    They both halted their charge and before the boar could even turn, Clay was once again up and close. Preventing the boar from properly charging, he was circling around it, slashing at it at every given opportunity. He took full advantage of its bigger size and slow movement to make several more attacks, but they were all only superficial, with no real damage being done.


    He had to use something with more force that could break through its shield and thick hide. With only one arm, he couldn¡¯t generate the force to pierce both of it. This fight couldn¡¯t drag on as he had no idea in what condition his body was in, by now he was only registering the pain and couldn¡¯t determine how severe his injuries were.


    Normally he would go for the skull, but this was too dangerous with the tusks being as lethal as they were. After avoiding a sudden bite to his wrist, Clay finally became an idea. If he couldn¡¯t break the trough the defense of the boar, then he would just let it do it for him.


    Moving away he gave the boar some distance which it immediately used to move backwards and prepare another charge. Doing the same, they stared at each other for a moment before moving. Once again Clay was able to barely avoid the tusk and with his body lowered he threw himself into the chest of the boar, using its momentum to drive the blade up to its hilt, causing the boar for the first time to squeak in pain.


    Not able to move out of the way, he let himself get pushed away by the charge, using his shield to absorb the impact. Without it, he may have broken some bones, but fortunately he came relatively unharmed from that encounter.


    Turning around, he saw the boar crashing into a tree, ripping into the trunk, dirt and roots being lifted at once from the ground, as the tree creaked and cracked, before slowly falling to the side. With the thumping of his heart in his ear, he waited in anticipation. Was it dead?


    Before the embers of hope could even grow came a load of dirt flying in Clay¡¯s direction as the boar broke its head free from the ground, staring at him with a hateful gaze. Looking at the blade still embedded into its chest, he froze.


    There was no way he could retrieve his blade without getting pierced by a tusk once again, and he would like to prevent that if possible. Damn, he knew he needed some secondary weapon. Desperately looking around, he didn¡¯t see anything that could be used as a proper weapon. Should he run?


    Not having much time to decide, he trusted his instincts and ran off deeper into the forest. He had to put as many obstacles between himself and that boar as he could. Hearing the bellowing of rage from behind only motivated Clay further to move on.


    He never before moved as such speed, and if his senses weren¡¯t enhanced, he would have run into a tree long ago. Quickly rushing through the forest, he skillfully avoided every obstacle in his way, a feeling of freedom spreading throughout his whole body. Without knowing where to, he just ran as fast as possible for what felt like minutes before reality suddenly came crashing down on him.


    His feet suddenly left the ground, and he felt like a puppet being thrown to the side. Raising his right arm he tried to cushion the fall, but the momentum was too great, causing him to roll on the ground before a tree roughly stopped him, while the air was pushed out of his lungs.


    There was a limit to how much abuse his shield could take before breaking, and the after the initial impact there wasn¡¯t much left. He lay sprawled at the foot of the tree, his legs hanging over him like flowers. Letting himself fall to the side, the pain returned to him, by now it was so omnipresent that he couldn¡¯t even tell from where it came from, everything just hurt. This fall must have broken several of his bones.


    Just as expected, the burning sensation and the unbearable itch soon followed, with the difference that this time his whole body was affected. Groaning in pain, he slowly rose from the ground, only for his left leg to convulse and move before a sudden shot of pain caused him to straighten his leg before a loud crack followed. Did his leg just put itself back into place?


    As if answering his question, Clay felt himself forced to straighten his right arm, seeing it more clearly he saw how the flesh moved and squirmed as if it had a mind on its own. Another shot of pain followed by another loud crack and his arm was back in place. Baffled by his regeneration, he couldn¡¯t dwell too long on it, as the boar was charging once again.


    Throwing himself to the side, he worked relentlessly to recover his shield, not wanting to test his regeneration capabilities further. Upon seeing the trail of destruction the boar left behind, Clay knew that running wasn¡¯t an option. Everything in its path was trampled down or pushed aside with no regard for injuries.


    After taking a closer look, Clay realized that the boar didn¡¯t get unscathed from that mad rush, as it was covered from top to bottom in blood. Wait, could it be?


    Desperate for anything he grabbed the first thick branch he could find and with a kick from his leg broke it at the top causing a sharp and uneven tip. With another deep breath, he ran at the boar, his makeshift spear prepared.


    By now the boar seemed visibly tired, as its charge was slower than before, making it that much easier to avoid the attack. Again he combined his own momentum with that of the boar and pierced the branch deep into the boar, after only losing a little power.


    Seeing the branch embedded into the boar, Clay couldn¡¯t help but smile. Its shield weakened substantially after destroying everything in its path. Not wasting any time, he grabbed the next branch and repeated the process.


    Again and again, the boar threw itself at him, not knowing of a better strategy to kill its prey. Each time it only got slower as another spear bore itself into it. After the fifth one its rage died down, and he could see its muscles trembling, while its aura was completely used up. Suddenly the hunter became prey and with fear taking over the boar tried to flee, but it was far too late for that.


    Following the boar Clay continued to pierce it with spear after spear, and finally after the ninth one it finally gave in and broke down to the ground, with eyes barely open it was clear that it would die. There was just too much lost blood, and one of the spears must have hit the lungs, judging from the way it was straining for air.


    With a seemingless endless flow of energy running through him, Clay didn¡¯t feel tired yet, his senses still sensitive to every twitch of the beast. Carefully moving from the side, he pulled a spear free, causing a trail of blood to gush from the wound. Seeing that there was barely a reaction after retrieving the spear, he was sure that it was on its last leg.


    Moving over to its head, he looked one last time into the black eyes of the boar, they appeared to be glassy, almost sad. It closed them and slightly moved its head as if accepting his fate. Confused by the behavior, Clay just put it out of its misery by pushing the spear through the eye socket and killing it for good.


    After letting go of the spear he broke to the ground focusing on reducing his inner flame. He never had to burn it at full force since surviving Mia¡¯s poison, and he was fearful of how much heart blood he had lost. It took him months to recover it to the fullest and was his trump card for such encounters.


    Slowly diminishing the flame, it was again reduced to mere embers, with him focusing to circulate the essence inside of him to help him recover. Well, that was the idea, but after carefully checking his body he found it to be in perfect condition with no trace left that his stomach was pierced and several of his bones broken.


    Observing the reserves of his heart blood, he noticed that after burning his heart blood at full force for several minutes to continuously recover his shield, strengthen his body and heal himself, he only lost about a fourth. Not nearly as much as he expected, not that he complained.


    Not wanting to provoke another encounter with beasts that could be lured by the chaos and the smell of blood that the boar left behind, he wanted to retreat. Retrieving his bloodied sword, he wiped it clean on the fur of the boar before turning to run away.


    Suddenly halting in his steps, he looked back at the boar and then at the trail that it left behind. Taking a deep breath, he sighed before changing direction and ran back along the trail of chaos.

 Chapter 10: Hidden Law

    It was greedy to return and get the syringe in his backpack, but he just couldn¡¯t let the heart blood go to waste. That was the first beast that had the same strength, no Clay was sure that from raw essence it was even stronger than himself.


    Like he suspected, it didn¡¯t take long before beasts were drawn to the powerful corpse, but they were trivial to deal with compared to the fight he just survived, so he was able to retrieve the heart blood and safely return to the city.


    After making sure that Mia was doing okay, he returned to the room he used for the time being. Well, thanks to Mia¡¯s mask they didn¡¯t have to change houses every month, so the room was beginning to feel like home.


    Undressing himself, he threw his bloodied clothes away before turning his attention to his chestplate. There were some superficial claw marks from his fights, but most striking was the gaping hole in the stomach area, almost big enough for his hand to fit through. Well, he had to repair that later.


    Looking at his chest, he noticed that there was still dried blood on him that began to splinter. Moving to the bathroom connected to his room, he grabbed some towel, dunked it in the water basin and cleaned himself. Under the crust was his pristine skin, revealed without a trace of any injuries.


    Slowly stroking over his skin, it was smooth, yet firm. It was confusing to think that only hours ago he was at death''s door, or was he? What was the limit of his healing and what exactly changed about his body.


    The obvious facts were that his hair turned from blond into a bright silver, all sorts of imperfections like scars, pimples, stretch marks, moles, skin tags and so on all but vanished. Besides that was of course his increased healing capabilities and enhanced stamina.


    Most noticeably was that his body, even without him having to burn any heart blood, was enhanced in various ways, there weren¡¯t that noticeable on their own but the moment he began to circulate even a little essence inside his body they became that much more apparent especially concerning his stamina and regeneration.


    With this inner circulation, he would only need four hours of sleep, and it would be like eight. In the past that was only six, but with his control over essence increasing he was able to keep up this inner circulation even in his sleep, which he couldn¡¯t do before. He could probably even push his sleep down to one or two hours, but he didn¡¯t know how long he could keep that up.


    His stamina in general also regenerated fast enough for him to practically never tire. The only question was what else he could achieve with this circulation. After burning at full force, he realized that he may be able to enhance his body with only his embers.


    He just had to focus the energy at one point and not circulate it around his whole body like it naturally does. The problem was that essence seemed to always move, so it was hard to force it into once small point it always needed to be a circulation¡­


    Thinking about it, he suddenly realized that he may just try to form a smaller circulation. It was hard to force essence into one point, but what if he just guided it along a smaller region like his arms instead of his whole body?


    Concentrating inwards for a moment, he guided the flow of essence that was refined from the spiral in his heart into his right arm before directing it back. He could ¡®see¡¯ the river that usually flowed through his whole body thicken along his arm, and he could feel the immense power that came with it.


    Feeling the energy he had the urge to release it and without much thought punched the wall behind him causing a spiderweb of cracks to dance along the wall. Tiles broke and cracked, parts splintered loudly on the floor, while his fist almost vanished into the wall.


    Well, that wasn¡¯t his smartest idea. Pulling his fist free from the debris, Clay could see his bloodied knuckles healing. Because there was no pain, he almost thought his fist was unscathed, but of course it wasn¡¯t. Opening and stretching his fingers, he was sure that the wound already healed.


    Before he could contemplate further, he heard the door being banged open as Mia rushed in with a pan as her choice of weapon. Seeing her expression turn from shock, to concern before ending in confusion in a span of a few moments, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    After earning himself a kick to the shin, his laughter died down real quick, though. Damn, should he keep up a shield even at home now?


    ***


    Pulling the last threat through the patch of leather over the hole, Clay overlooked his work and deemed the chestplate as functional again. Tightening his fully repaired armor, he secured his sword on his hip, then stored the chef''s knife he got from the kitchen into the sheath on his belt. He just haphazardly sewed it together this morning.


    The boar attack was only yesterday, but he wanted to make a quick trip around the city to make sure everything was fine and still free from any stronger beasts. An ambush on their home was the last thing that he needed right now.


    After his preparations and rather half-hearted repairs, he was sure to look over them again once he deemed the surrounding as safe. As he planned to stay in the city, the safest spot for Mia was by his side, so she joined him on this short examination.


    Once the lock clicked into place, Clay rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. It somewhat became a habit to have the blade close at hand. With a deep breath, he concentrated inwards, pulling some of the essence circulating inside him outwards to form a shield.


    Like usual, it took some time to gather the needed essence to form his shield, but in a minute the circulation would be in place and in a few minutes the density would thicken to the usual strength.


    Before he opened his eyes, there was a tuck from his belt, so Clay turned around. ¡°What is it, Mia¨C?¡±


    Instead of Mia, he saw the sheath he made for his kitchen knife float upwards as if gravity turned upside down. ¡°What the fuck is this now?¡± Clay asked himself more than anyone else. In curiosity, he tried to push the sheath down, but before his finger could even come close, he felt a resistance. It was formless, almost like when you pushed magnets with the same poles against each other.


    Furrowing his brows, he tried to grab the sheath, only to be stopped by the same repulsion. The more force he used, the greater the force of rejection. Tensing his arm, he swung at the sheath, only for his hip to be jerked backwards, causing him to almost lose his balance and fall.


    Stopping in a half spin, he noticed that there was a ripple in his aura. ¡°Mia, could you try to grab the sheath?¡±


    Having witnessed Clay struggle with grabbing his knife, she hesitantly moved her fingers closer. She came closer and closer until she finally had the sheath in her hand and felt the cool leather. Pouting, she punched Clay at the side. ¡°Stop making fun of me!¡±


    Barley feeling the punch, he shook his head in defense. ¡°I¡¯m not making fun of you, could you pull the knife out for me? Make sure you have a firm grip around it, okay?¡±


    Confused, she hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded and pulled out the knife. ¡°Okay, and now what?¡±


    Nodding, Clay explained, ¡°Now take a few steps back.¡± Doing so, she looked at him with a questioning gaze. ¡°Good now you take the knife and throw it at me.¡±


    Mindlessly staring at him, she didn¡¯t seem to register what he just asked. ¡°You want me to¨C¡±


    ¡°You heard me. Don¡¯t worry, just throw it, even if I¡¯m injured it will just heal in a few seconds, okay?¡±


    Looking at the knife for a moment, there was only a sigh before she threw it rather haphazardly at him. When it was around the height of his thigh and only a few centimeters away, there was suddenly the same repulsion and the knife got flung away to the ground followed by a loud clinking.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Bending over, he reached with his arm closer to the knife and the moment it touched his aura, another clink resounded as the knife slid over the ground. Looking with wide eyes, Mia asked, ¡°Is that some magic trick you are practicing?¡±


    Straightening his back, Clay pulled out his sword and flicked it with a finger, causing a sound similar to a thud compared to the ringing you would expect from metal. ¡°Let''s go, I want to use the daylight.¡±


    Dumbstruck by being ignored, she was frozen a moment before she came back to reality and quickly caught up to him. ¡°Hey! What was that with the knife?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure yet, but I will tell you once I¡¯m certain,¡± explained Clay while he messed up her hair, which she tried to prevent to the best of her abilities.


    Protecting her hair with her hands, she ducked away and switched over to his left side. Reaching over with his left arm, he completely missed her head. He had forgotten, for a moment, that there was only a stump where his left arm used to be. ¡°You cheeky little¡­¡±


    Laughing was the only response he got as Mia ran off.


    ***


    The rest of the month flew past peacefully. In this time, Clay didn¡¯t dare to venture deeper into the forest than the borders he was used too and knew by heart. It was impossible for him to secure the whole forest, so instead he began to specifically focus on an area.


    The goal was too somehow mark a territory so that other beasts would avoid it. The problem was that he didn¡¯t have a scent or anything else animals normally used to mark their territory, so he just adopted to carve a curved cross with a vertical line in the intersection into the trees surrounding his ¡®territory¡¯.


    Most mutated animals did get smarter, and at some point they should realize that anyone trespassing over these marks dies. Well, and in the worst case, he just used the trees to let some frustration out.


    This territory which he wanted to mark mainly referred to the west side of the city where the poison originated from and the path to the village Jim laid buried. In the future they will probably move to that village as it is a smaller territory to defend and also far enough from the ever-growing veil of death.


    They never lived close to the center of the city, as Clay preferred the option of retreating to the village than to barricade in the center, which would be consumed by the poison eventually. Even though Mia was immune to it, and he was able to heal it rather easily, he still rather preferred to avoid it. Alone, the housing and food were reason enough, with how quickly they rotted under the poison.


    The focus of his travels was the old road leading from Churchville to the small village, with him killing every beast he encountered, and making a few marks on the spot where they died.


    Walking along the path, there was a sturdy stick under his left armpit which was held in place with his stump, while he used the obsidian dagger, which he burrowed from Mia, to sharpen the stick.


    Having learned the hard way how helpless he was without weapons, he started to make several spears and stored them along his territory so that he could retrieve them if needed. After the fight with the boar, he realized how effective a spear can be, even a shabby wooden one.


    Well, they were meant to be used only once anyway, so he cared little about quality. It would have been best if he could also use some metal weapons, even if it was just a kitchen knife. This now proved to be rather hard, at least if he still wanted to use his shield, and by now he refused to dissipate it. It was up at all times, while he was in the forest, worked on the house or slept. It didn¡¯t matter.


    Absorbed in his thoughts, Clay didn¡¯t notice that he was already back home. Opening the door, he heard hurried footsteps from above as Mia rushed the stairs down. ¡°Clay! You are finally back! I¡¯m so bored! Can¡¯t you take me with you?¡±


    ¡°Mia, I told you that you can only come once you are able to form a shield. I¡¯m just worried about your safety, you remember the viper, right? Also, why are you at home if you are supposed to be at the tree?¡±


    Fidgeting with her fingers, she looked down. ¡°It was just so boring. I was only for an hour, and the poison is not even one street away from us, so I could just have run back if some beast came.¡±


    ¡°You should use the time to train your aura. Holding it in place is the first step in getting your shield, so why don¡¯t you practice when you are so bored?¡± Clay asked with a sigh.


    ¡°Well, I can already hold my aura and I didn¡¯t know what else to do, so I just came back,¡± explained Mia with her head still held low.


    What, so suddenly? She needed a little over three months just to feel essence, and from what Clay could tell the last few months were pretty fruitless with little results to show for. ¡°Show me.¡±


    Nodding, Mia closed her eyes and concentrated inwards, while he did the same making sure that he fully concentrated on the flow of his own aura to detect the slighted anomalies and after a while there was a faint ripple so small that one could mistake it for imagination, but he knew better than to ignore something like this.


    From the faint ripple, he finally confirmed at least one thing. Mia, like him and the boar, was awakened. He guessed as much from the strength of the poison he survived. They had to be similar in strength, else he wouldn¡¯t have almost died.


    Now that this fact became clear, maybe he should allow her to drink the heart blood of the boar. He originally retrieved the blood for Mia but didn¡¯t dare to give it to her in fear of harming her. He still remembered vividly what happened to Emma.


    Even after almost a month the blood from the boar lost little essence which just proved its potency. He didn¡¯t hunt much the last few days and their storage of heart blood was consumed by now, so he could at least buy some time with the boar¡¯s blood to hunt for more.


    Being poked by Mia interrupted his thought process. He almost forgot she was still there. ¡°Clay, did you feel it?¡±


    Smiling, he replied, ¡°Yes, you definitely have an aura now, congratulations.¡± After she made a small jump of joy, he continued, ¡°Could you tell me how you suddenly were able to hold your essence?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot! That damned tree tried to absorb my essence, I could clearly feel it being dragged away. Of course, I didn¡¯t want that, so I just held on to it for dear life.¡± She replied with a clenched fist to emphasize her point.


    ¡°Haha, that was very good thinking,¡± replied Clay while laughing awkwardly. Maybe she just needed a little push to figure it out. He couldn¡¯t quite recall how he was able to form his aura, as far as he remembered he was always able to do it. It was natural.


    But the thing with the tree was concerning. He seemed to have underestimated the danger it could pose to her, or him in fact. He should reevaluate.


    ***


    Summer came and with it came the annoying insect that followed this season of the year, each one being spared mutations. Not that Clay cared much, with his shield, they could not muster the strength to pierce his skin. He never imagined he would use an alien energy, from who knows where, as simple mosquito protection.


    Well, more important was that the blood of the boar gave, like he hoped, enough energy to last Mia for the whole month. This gave them the time needed to move yet again, which would be hopefully the last time.


    In fear of the tree and surrounding wildlife, Clay decided to accelerate his plans and moved with Mia to the village closest to Churchville, where her brother rested. The surroundings were already secured and marked, so he wasn¡¯t too worried about being ambushed, not that he dared to let his guard down.


    Quite sad when he thought that the old house slowly began to feel like home, but there was nothing he could do. So with another circulation of essence in his arms, he rammed the axe deep into the trunk of the tree he was cutting, ripping the axe free he moved close to his cheek before his shield pushed the metal away and added to the force of his swing.


    Well, like with the mosquitos, he found an unconventional way to use his aura shield. He knew that discovering that metal was being pushed away from essence would come in handy, in one way or another, but he hadn¡¯t expected to use it to cut down trees.


    Something like a sword or knife are almost impossible to use because the metal is too close to his aura, but an axe had enough length to use it as an advantage even if it was only used for woodcutting. This meant that he potentially could use metal spears. Well, he didn¡¯t have any, so the wooden ones would have to do.


    Lost in thought, he just hacked away at the tree, an activity he found to be quite relaxing. After some arguing, he and Mia settled for a quite luxuries two-story house with attic and cellar near the center of the village.


    The idea was to use whole logs to build a sturdy wall around the house to act as fortification. It was finally time to secure a house for years rather than months. After some measuring, he decided on a length of close to five meters and a width of half a meter. Being surrounded by an oak forest, it wasn¡¯t that hard to find such trees.


    No, the biggest problem came after cutting them, because then began the process of clearing the trunk of branches and leaves, removing the bark and shaping the tree in a somewhat straight form while also sharpening the tips. With the rope snugly secured around the finished trunk, he moved the essence from his arms to his legs in one smooth motion before dragging it home.


    Around their house was already a small trench that he dug the last few days, by first breaking the road open and then digging a bit further into the dirt. The trunk was then lifted into the correct hole, before being secured by some gravel. He actually had no idea if that worked, but from what Dennis told him ¨C a friend who had a knack for woodwork ¨C it should.


    After a full day only two trunks were placed and seeing what still lay before him, he could only sigh. This could well take the rest of the year, but not that he complained. The work kept his body fit, trained him in his circulation of essence, prevented him of thinking too much or being bored and in the end he will hopefully have a secure wall that will keep any unwanted visitor out.


    Taking a deep breath, he nodded while looking at the setting sun. He will make sure to make this a good place for him and Mia. Everything will be just fine.

 Chapter 11: Cracks in the Dark

    A loud crack echoed through the forest, as if a whip had it the ground. Following was the splintering of wood, as a long limb broke through bark with break neck speed. A wide smile stretched over an elongated snout, which made the beast appear that more unnatural.


    It was the first time since the ants that Clay encountered such a heavily mutated animal, and at first he didn¡¯t recognize the creature before him as a wolf. He was ambushed from the trees by this creature, as it used its long limbs to climb from tree to tree like an ape. If not for the cracking branch, he might not have looked up and would haven been hit by the attack that shredded through the wood.


    Not wanting to waste the opportunity of the failed ambush, Clay drew his blade and slashed sideways, intending to gut the wolf. With a push of its unnaturally bent hint legs, it took a jump backwards with surprising speed. Seeing the creature for the first time in full size, he was startled.


    It was fully covered in dark brown fur and slightly smaller than himself, but not by much. The arms were almost long enough to touch the ground, with hands looking more like his than that of wolves. Before there was time to analyze the strange mutations further, he saw a shadow on his right, but was too late to react.


    Another crack rang in his ear, as his aura tried to absorb the blow, preventing the claws to dig into his flesh and instead only damaged his shoulder pad. To his right, there was another wolf that looked just like the first. Great, they hunted in packs.


    Flaring the embers that so peacefully smoldered over the last two months inside him, Clay could feel his essence once again rushing through his full body, empowering it in every way, as his veins bulged in an attempt to contain the power within. Once it reached his head, it felt like time slowed down and granted him the crucial time he needed to formulate a plan.


    He encountered some kind of mutated wolf. His information was severely lacking, but from the blow he at least knew that they weren¡¯t awakened. They were agile enough to climb trees and the wolf earlier displayed surprising speed, while they used their arms like whips to attack. Additionally, were their numbers unknown, so there was only on logical conclusion: flight!


    With little information, it was better to flee and look for a favorable terrain. Not expecting the speed that Clay displayed, the wolves were startled for a moment, but quickly followed through the thicket of the trees.


    Running at full speed, Clay skillfully avoided every tree, before he eventually felt his shield once again rippling, as a claw slashed at his back. With him burning so much essence, the shield would be back at full force in a few seconds. He knew that he was unlikely to outrun them and just waited for such an opportunity. The moment he felt a disruption on his aura, he immediately halted his sprint and pushed with his legs.


    The claw ripped deep into the back of his chestplate, but in return his blade gutted the wolf in once swift motion, as Clay turned around. The exited smile of the hunt quickly vanished from the wolf, as its intestines suddenly saw the light of day.


    Not stopping after his slash, Clay made a beeline further into the forest, he wasn''t far now. The sudden death of their kin granted him a few precious seconds, but soon the hunt would continue, only this time wasn¡¯t it for excitement or food, but revenge.


    He could feel that the atmosphere somehow changed, and the howling only confirmed his suspicions, as it felt like it echoed all around him. There were much more wolves than two. Clay was feeling more anxious the more time passed, just a few more meters¡­


    Slipping on a wet rock, he stumbled only for a shadow to fly over him, as another attack barely missed him. Scrabbling along the ground, he reached into a bush that seemed like any other, but once the next wolf came flying, he turned around and pierced. There was a yelp, as his wooden spear pierced the head of the wolf. They exchanged blows and Clay could feel the claws of the wolf touching his chest.


    A little higher and his head would have been sliced open. He pushed the wolf, spear included, away from him, before quickly grabbing the next. If he only had his left arm, then he could at least use a shield, but this wasn¡¯t the time to cry over spilled milk.


    He barely stood when the next crack alerted him to another attack and with it being the third consecutive strike there was no time for his shield to recover, so this time the left side of his armor wasn¡¯t only ripped opened, but also drew blood.


    It was only a cut and stopped bleeding the moment the first crimson drop seeped out, but it still undermined the seriousness of the situation. With their long limbs, the spear was definitely the better weapon, but they would break quickly, and their numbers were limited, so he had to make them count.


    Another crack from behind and the moment the claw cut into his back he spun with his spear around, only to hit air, as the wolf already stood a save distance away, and before he could engage further there was another strike from behind. Turning around, he yet again missed and was greeted by another two wolves circling him.


    He was surrounded. A total of four wolves, counting the one that was still in the trees. They just stayed out of range and attacked in circles as the wounds accumulated on his body. They weren¡¯t really deep, but his armor was steadily ripped away, while he was unable to return a single hit.


    Taking a deep breath, he tried to concentrate, only for another whip to slash at his back. There had to be some way, he wasn¡¯t fast enough, so just running didn¡¯t make sense. His spear was also not longer than their limbs, and he needed to severely injure them in one clean hit. With his healing, their attacks weren¡¯t really dangerous, but in the long term his essence would be burned up and he would die.


    With the constant pain it was impossible to think straight, so he just threw his spear at the nearest wolf and sprinted to his sword picking it up on the run, before turning around. Facing all four of the wolves, he smiled. He really must have gone mad with what he was about to do.


    Shaking his head, he took a deep breath before he screamed at the top of his lungs and confronted the wolves directly. Two answered his challenge directly, the one in the trees circled around, most likely to attack from the back, and the last one jumped high to latch onto a tree.


    The wolf on the right attacked him, but instead of blocking he just ignored him and endured the hit to get closer to the one on his left that tried to circle him again, but this time was different. He was close enough and the moment the wolf tried to attack, its arm was cleanly severed as he slashed upwards, not stopping his sprint.


    The blade held high, he brought it down with full force splitting the skull of the wolf in half, as its eyes bulged, close to popping out of its head. Turning his attention back to the right, his smile only grew, causing the wolf to take a step back. The crack from behind alerted him of the coming attack, but he ignored the pain yet again, standing firm, his muscles tense, as he ran at the frightened wolf.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    This time it was really scared and tried to escape to the trees, but Clay wouldn¡¯t allow that. They specialized in jumping, but with his essence infused legs he felt like he could also get a fair distance, so the moment he saw the wolf jumping he followed suit and together with his previous momentum caught up in an arch. His blade pushed on its back and the moment the claw of the wolf held the tree it was impaled, as Clay¡¯s blade first buried itself through the wolf and then into the tree.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± What was there to fear if he couldn¡¯t get injured anyway. Ripping his blade free from the tree, Clay jumped back down intending to kill the next wolf only to see two silhouettes rushing from tree to tree, escaping. Seeing this, he was stunned for a moment before calming down. No matter how much he wanted to rush after them, he wouldn¡¯t catch them, not in a forest at least.


    For a moment, he just stood there at a loss, watching the two shadows get further and further away. After a while, he suddenly remembered to stifle his inner flame back to the usual embers. Considering everything he didn¡¯t lose much heart blood, well at least compared to the fight with the boar, which was much more dangerous.


    Feeling a cold breeze on his back, he finally remembered that his armor was completely cut apart and held on his body by mere straps. Alone, thinking about the time it took him to make his armor caused him to dread the moment he saw the damage in detail. Well that was a problem for later, for now he should retrieve the blood of the wolves.


    ***


    With a last push, Clay was able to heave the corpse of the wolf behind the ongoing construction of the wooden wall. It became a routine to scout the surrounding forest in the morning, carving more marks and built more stashes of spears as he went on. Once home, he would do all the butchering, skinning, curing and tanning needed on the several hides littered around their home with the assistance of Mia.


    Following this was breakfast before continuing with the work on the wall. After all this, he did some reading together with Mia, for once to make sure that her writing and reading didn¡¯t stagnate and for the other to acquire more knowledge in everything he thought might be useful.


    Once the sun begins to set, he would make dinner, while Mia went to bed. With his essence circulating inside him, Clay not only needed less sleep but also wasn¡¯t tired, so he used this time to train in the use of his aura. Since Mia was able to hold her aura, she made steady progress at forming an aura shield, shockingly fast compared to how long it took her to feel essence.


    Well, right now he was more concerned over the corpse of the mutated wolf which he dragged all the way home. His reason for this was for once that he wanted to try to make a cloak for him for the winter. There were enough clothes just lying around, but they offered little protection, so he figured a thick cloak made out of the hide of a mutated wolf would be better.


    The other reason was to study the corpse and see how much had changed, he was by no means an expert, but thanks through the books he read out of boredom on the biology of animals he at least knew what they were supposed to look from the inside.


    The corpse in front of him was nothing like a normal wolf, but all in all it still had the same what every other wolf needed, a heart, liver, lungs and so on, they were larger and strengthened of course but other than that was most special the skeletal structure and the bones itself. After cutting a bone from the arm, he noticed that they were severely more bendable compared to a normal bone, which would break or snap in two.


    This definitely explained their agile movement and weird whip like attacks. This was also notable in the arm overall, as it got gradually smaller the closer it got to the hands and fingers. The legs were, in contrast, a lot thicker in muscle and bone.


    In by itself, these changes wouldn¡¯t have a great effect, but they give one crucial advantage: they are better suited for essence. With the countless times he was forced to fight, Clay noticed that even though his body was enhanced to be able to withstand the greater power, it didn¡¯t magically allow him to move much different compared to before. If he wasn¡¯t careful, it was really easy to dislocate his own bones by accident. His body just wasn¡¯t made to move in the angles he wanted.


    If he had the bones of the wolf, he would have a lot more freedom of movement, the change would be significant in both agility and force he could put into his every action.


    Well he couldn¡¯t change his own body, so he just had to work with what he had and in this case was that his proficiency with essence, the only thing that gave him an edge over the beasts which were able to mutate their body in a way more suitable to the use of essence.


    ***


    Again, time flew by in a river of blurry images, as days fused together, during everyday life. With so many tasks at hand and the constant shadow of death looming over you, it was hard to keep track of time.


    Winter was once again beginning, but with the heavy cloak over Clay¡¯s shoulders, he knew he would keep warm. The leather armor that laid beneath was a mess of several different shades of brown, showing the dozen or so spots which had to be repaired after one of the several fights he had since meeting the mutated wolves.


    The frequency of fights and encounters with different beasts only increased since then. Especially with those of birds, but with the coming winter he hoped they would soon move on to warmer regions. Well, the mutated wolves or how Clay liked to call them dire wolves, were still a real problem and seemingly the new main predator of this region.


    He had several encounters with them and knew they were large enough of a pack to have their own territory. Speaking of territory, wasn¡¯t that the only territory being formed, his idea with the markings actually worked as the amount of dead beast around his symbols increased. By now most beasts avoided these marks like the pest.


    The dire wolves were an expectation to this, as they seemed to have a personal grudge with him after he slaughtered over two dozen of their kin. Not that he complained, as the extra meat, fur and heart blood was always welcome.


    His work on the wall also still continued, even though he was beginning to question its purpose if he knew that the dire wolves wouldn¡¯t struggle to cross it in a mere moment. Not that it was his main focus, this long shifted over to Mia as he began to spar with her ever more often.


    Soon after learning to hold her aura, she was able to form a flimsy shield and with passing time, this flimsy shield grew very dense. In fact was Mia¡¯s aura compared to his own, denser, and this several times over. He couldn¡¯t explain this with anything else but talent.


    They once tested in the past under a selected few how well they are able to feel and utilize essence and there is already became clear that some were just more sensitive to essence like Clay himself. But Mia wasn¡¯t sensitive to essence, quite the opposite as she struggled a lot to maintain her aura indefinitely, which he has done for months now.


    Keeping her inner flame active was something she was rather quickly able to learn, but with her aura, she even struggled to keep it up for an hour.


    The reason for this wasn¡¯t talent alone, but laid also in the way they formed their aura shield. Clay wasn¡¯t able to hold as much essence at once as Jim, so he only condensed a small part and moved it around his body. Mia in comparison did it like Jim and compressed all of it.


    When he asked her to spread her aura out, she just barely reached a meter before failing to hold on to it. The high amount of essence in the atmosphere made it harder to control your essence the thinner it became, limiting his own reach from what used to be several dozen meters to just ten, but this was still far more than Mia.


    This proved that they were proficient in different things. This was very good for Mia, as her generally denser aura meant that she could absorb far more energy than Clay could. He was forced to regenerate his aura after just a few hits, while Mia could take several more of them. It wasn¡¯t like Mia had more essence, instead she just could hold more of it at once.


    This made Clay reevaluate his complete understanding over aura and how he should use it. Especially with the amount of beasts and attacks increasing so much over the last few weeks.


    After discovering his aura shield for the first time he was thrilled, and it is true that it has many uses and advantages, but it became quickly apparent how often it just crumbled even when fighting against beasts which didn¡¯t awaken. Especially after discovering that he could use the mist of essence that came from his natural refinement not only outside his body in the form of aura, but also inside in the form of strengthening.


    When not fighting, he always used his essence to circulate it inside his body to give him plenty of energy. As much as he relished in the comfort of his aura, it may be time to focus on what he was truly talented at.

 Chapter 12: Winters Slumber

    Walking absentmindedly back home, Clay was about to open the door just to stop himself midway as he realized he still had a half carved spear under his left armpit and his knife in the right. Shaking his head, he laid the spear to the side and sheathed his knife.


    Being able to again properly use metal tools was definitely a help since he decided to stop using his aura shield. Putting his wolf cloak away, he shouted through the house, ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±


    Not receiving an answer, he went to the living room, only for him to cross the corner and hear a sudden explosion. ¡°Happy Birthday!¡± Before he understood what was happening, he had already drawn his knife and was ready to defend any sort of intruder, only to be greeted by colorful confetti.


    Only after Mia began to laugh her soul out did he realize what a fool he had made of himself. Well, better be careful than sorry, but what did she just say?


    ¡°You didn¡¯t forget your own birthday, right?¡± Mia asked while she still held the empty confetti popper in her head after seeing the still confused look on Clay¡¯s face.


    ¡°Haha, Of course not, it¡¯s just that you surprised me,¡± was what Clay replied, while he secretly turned over to look at his watch. He had totally forgotten his own birthday. Well, no reason to cry over spilled milk, he was just too occupied with other stuff than to worry about such trivial things.


    Thankfully, Mia didn¡¯t push the topic further and just presented him with the colorful table that she decorated. He didn¡¯t even want to know where she got all that stuff from. But what surprised him most was that there was an actual pie on the table.


    Pointing at it, he couldn¡¯t really believe it. ¡°Is that a real¨C?¡±


    Cutting him off, Mia proudly nodded her head. ¡°A real pie made from flour, sugar and apples.¡± Having already smelled it, he was astonished that she found apples. ¡°Where the hell did you find apples?¡±


    Grinning, she just put a finger over her libs and said, ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Moving over to it, she got him a piece on a plate. ¡°Here try it.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Clay took the fork and ate a piece only for him to melt away, as the sugar caressed his mouth, while the apple dissolved heavenly on his tongue and the flour crumbled with a satisfying crunch as he took the bite. Having only tasted salty meat for the last few weeks, this single bite felt like heaven. He couldn¡¯t even remember the last time he had something sweet to eat.


    Savoring the taste, he heard Mia¡¯s eager voice from the side, ¡°So how is it?¡±. Swallowing the bite, he nodded before replying, ¡°It¡¯s heavenly, I didn¡¯t know I had a pastry chef in the house.¡±


    Seeing the beaming smile on her face was all it took for Clay to forget his worries for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that, because I wasn¡¯t sure how it would taste with me being unable to eat it myself.¡±


    Hearing this, Clay¡¯s mood diminished again, a girl of twelve not being able to savor the tastes of all the different kinds of food out there was not only sad but outright torture. Food was one of the few things that you could still savor in these dire times. Putting the plate away, he pressed her head against his chest, whispering in her ear, ¡°It really tastes great, thank you very much.¡±


    There was a slight sniffle which eventually turned into a weeping, ¡°W-What does it taste like?¡± Getting on his knees, and taking her in a gentle hug, Clay described carefully and as detailed as he could what it tasted like, while Mia slowly calmed down¡­


    ***


    The veins around his eyes bulged as Clay circulated his essence inside them to see several times further, just being able to take a glance at the brown fur of the dire wolf, before it vanished behind the thicket of trees. Circulating the essence from his eyes to his legs, he jumped from the tree he was hanging and landed with a heavy thud on the ground.


    Spreading his essence through his whole body, he continued on his patrol. He still wasn¡¯t able to find the lair of these annoying wolves. They were constantly stalking him and waiting for an opportunity to strike, and this was slowly getting on his nerves.


    If he ever had to fight another awakened beast and got caught off guard in the middle of the fight because one of them attacking from above, he could very well die. At least knowing where exactly their lair was would help a lot in avoiding them, but so far they did a very good job in luring him to a false spot, or he outright lost them during the chase.


    They were way too agile in the trees, and only if he burned at full force could he keep up with them, but he couldn¡¯t afford to lose heart blood just to chase one wolf that might lead him to their lair.


    Reaching the clearing he always crossed during his patrols, he first closed his eyes and pushed his essence inside his ears, immediately causing a new waterfall of information to rush through his brain. The biggest problem with the essence that he got from his ever smoldering embers was that it was just too little.


    He could only ever enhance certain body parts and some took more essence than others, with the brain being the one which took the most, so he could enhance his brain but then nothing else.


    This forced him to filter the huge new rush of information which his enhanced senses provided, with his normal brain. This was especially bad with the eyes, which is why he tried over the last few days to get more information through his ears rather than his eyes.


    Sadly, progress was slow, and it was hard to make sense of the mess of sounds that insulted his ears, if one was able to hear every rustling leaf and cracking branch on a tree. It was important to focus on one sound and filter the rest out, but he first had to find what he was looking for, and that was the true challenge.


    He stood still, listening for something that might be out of place, and finally he heard something. It was faint and in a rhythm, something was breathing¡­ no it was snoring? Intrigued by the sudden discovery, he took off from his usual path and left the clearing further into the forest.


    Eventually he discovered an unassuming cave tugged away in a small mound. It appeared small at first sight, but after getting closer, he realized that it just appeared that way because the cave was sunken into a small valley. The entrance was quite spacey and could easily fit him a dozen times over.


    The snoring definitely came from the cave, and with him being so close it the sound boomed in his ears, as the echos of the cave only enhanced the sound, compelling him to move his essence from ears to eyes.


    The enhancement allowed him to see better in the dark, but the headache that came with it made sure he wouldn¡¯t keep it up for too long, as he knew it would only get worse by the minute. At first, he couldn¡¯t see much as he had to adjust to what he was seeing.


    Laying in the cave was something which appeared to have brown fur, which caused Clay to almost cry out loud. Could he have finally found the lair of the wolves? Staring for a little longer and seeing the mass of brown fur move a little, he suddenly froze in place.


    His breath became dangerous still, and his senses screamed at him, as he felt pain on his chest flaring to live. The deep claw scar on his chest may have healed, but his soul still vividly remembered his encounter with the bear, which now peacefully slept in that cave.


    He had hoped that it must have moved from this region long ago, as he quite frequently traveled through the forest, or that the ants got it when they trampled all over the forest in search of more food to feed their ever-growing population.


    His very being told him that it was the exact same bear that once nearly killed him, and he was sure it awakened by now, he could practically taste it in the air even without feeling its aura.


    At every small movement of the brown monstrosity, his heart plumbed as he slowly moved backwards. Once he felt like he was far enough he took a run for it pushing all of his essence into his legs, feeling the power rush trough them he tensed and shot off.


    He didn¡¯t have the reaction speed to avoid every branch and bush, so he just rushed straight through them, ignoring the several cuts he got on his run, they would heal anyway. Having this bear, so close to their home, made things a lot more complicated. He already had enough problems with the dire wolves.


    ***


    Despite fearing all winter long, a possible attack from the dire wolves or the bear, in the end attacked none of them. The wolves still stalked him from time to time, and there was one failed ambush, but since then, they seemed to avoid him. Maybe they have learned their lesson.


    He still had to be careful, of course, but his bigger concern was the bear. Winter wouldn¡¯t last much longer and once the snow started to melt it wouldn¡¯t be long before the bear got active again and stumbled into their little village.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    He had a lot of time to think about how he should best kill that monstrosity, he had no chance in a direct confrontation, as he didn¡¯t doubt for a moment that it would outclass him in almost every regard, besides maybe agility, and even that wasn¡¯t confirmed.


    The bear could have who knows what mutations. Clay may have more endurance in the long run, as he can close to indefinitely run, but who said he was faster and what if he couldn¡¯t outlast it in the end? Then he would have to face that monster while being exhausted.


    He had only one option, which he wasn¡¯t really able to test much yet, but he was pretty confident it could work. The plan was to finally utilize the liquefied poison of Mia, which he had gathered for months now. Since making her mask almost a year ago, they had accumulated jars full of that stuff.


    From what he experienced himself and what he was able to test, it refined foreign essence into more poison, essentially slowly killing who ever was afflicted with it in a slow, painful way. If you tried to burn it away with essence, the process would only be accelerated, so either your body was able to handle it on its own, or you die.


    Of course, there was always the possibility that both essence and poison balanced themselves out and fused like it had done with Clay, but this seemed very unlikely. That he survived that night was by pure luck, and also during a time when Mia¡¯s poison wasn¡¯t yet as potent as it was now.


    The idea was to poison a dead animal near the cave and hope the bear would eat it. If not, he would be forced to pierce it skin with a poison coated spear and then run. The latter was the part which concerned him to no end.


    Assuming the bear was faster than him and having learned from the incident with the boar, he knew that it wasn¡¯t enough to just put obstacles like trees between them. It would probably rush them over without losing much of its speed.


    Climbing a tree was also out of the question. Not to mention that bears were proficient climbers, it would have no problem just uprooting the tree whole. It was similar with swimming, as this too was something they were very good at.


    Well, knowing all this he prepared something as a last resort, but he would rather not use it.


    ***


    Having prepared the dead corpse, it was time to check up on the bear. He laid it out a few days ago and either it was untouched or the bear dead. Winter still wasn¡¯t quite over, but Clay felt pretty confident it wouldn''t say no to a free meal so close to its lair. Sadly, with his enhanced eyes, he could tell that the corpse was untouched.


    He even saw the footprint of the bear near the corpse, so it definitely took a look and somehow knew that it was poisoned or at least that something was wrong. Taking a deep breath, he reaffirmed the grip around his spear.


    This spear was something he specifically made for this bear using a part of the broken blade from the royal guardian ant. As soon as they moved here, Clay stored all the parts of it¡¯s shining black exoskeleton that were still left safely away. The black blade which he relied on so heavily by now proved just how resilient this material was.


    The upper part of the broken blade was deeply embedded into a firm trunk of a small oak tree, and then wrapped with string to keep it all together. As a finishing touch was the string then coated in glue to really make sure the blade would stay in place.


    He almost expected the bear to not fall for the poisoned corpse, so he came prepared. Having made up his mind, he moved closer to the cave. After a certain point, he started to burn his heart blood at full capacity. He couldn¡¯t afford to make a mistake, so he used his enhanced senses to slowly creep closer to its target.


    After a while he could see the bear sleeping like always, peaceful in its cave. Clay¡¯s aura was completely retracted, fully fusing his essence into his body. The closer he got, the shallower his breath and the slower his steps.


    He halted at every movement and twitch of the bear, while trying to match his steps with the exhaling of its breath to mask the little sound he made. It wasn¡¯t long before he almost loomed over the bear, and its head was in his spear''s reach.


    Standing so close before it, he realized how massive this creature truly was, as its every breath seemed to move a mountain of flesh and muscles. From this close, he could also tell that the thick brown fur had a touch of red on the edges.


    Not letting himself distract from that, he was finally in striking distance and with the closed eye of the bear as his target he stabbed with full force, intending to end this battle in one swift strike. The moment the spear stroke a strain of fur, it suddenly became alive and moved to cover the eye and wrapped around the blade to stop it in place.


    Shocked, Clay desperately tried to apply more pressure pushing the blade a little deeper before the fur magically grew and crawled along the blade up to the shaft, while the bear was awakened from the pain, causing it to quickly rise with a mighty roar.


    With the advantage of surprise gone, he didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment before turning around and making a run for it. He knew the mutation was too big of an unknown factor. Of course, it had to be something strange.


    Still hearing the roar behind him, he didn¡¯t even dare to take a peek behind him. Running was the only thing that could give him the chance to yet live. Time for the backup plan.


    His legs strained as he tried to move even just a little faster, and his senses were running in overdrive to keep up with the surroundings and avoiding the terrain as he zoomed past it. Even more than with the boar, he made sure to put as many obstacles between him and the raging beast behind him.


    Each crack of a tree boomed in his ears and the wind from the crashing trunk was vividly felt on his neck hairs, as he felt how the bear got ever closer, it wasn¡¯t far now.


    Finally, he saw in front a patch of dirt that looked like any other and with a last push he tensed his whole body, ducked and sprang high into the air. Feeling the air behind him, he knew what came and bent his back as much as he could. What followed was a searing pain as the sharp claws of the bear ripped through his armor and flesh.


    Just barely did they miss his spine, as the leg of the bear plumbed to have firm ground and keep chasing, only to keep falling as the ground suddenly gave in. It was fake and with face first it fell into a deep pit filled with whole trunks of trees, which were drenched in a deep purple at the sharpened tips.


    Heavily landing on the ground, Clay rolled two times on the ground before coming to a halt. He ignored the burning pain on his back as his regeneration worked its wonders. Hastily standing up, he wondered if he got it.


    The huge weight of the bear definitely acted to his advantage here, but he wasn¡¯t sure yet. Slowly rising, he crept to the hole, but stopped himself and instead listened. The seconds flew by, and he couldn¡¯t really here anything else besides the rustling of the leaves, so he finally had the courage to move closer.


    Before he even could look inside, a paw came from below grabbing unto the edge as the huge mass of brown and red tried to heave itself from the pit, causing Clay to stumble backwards. There was no way it survived that fall, it couldn¡¯t be!


    No matter what he wished, the rising shadow before him told him otherwise. The eye that he pierced was still completely covered in fur, while the mouth slightly parted to let out a slow growl which would soon turn into a roar. It was dragging several trunks that pierced its body out of the pit, but by dragging them along the ground, and it¡¯s fur wrapping around them, it could tell that it was pulling the trunks out of its body bit by bit.


    The places where it was pierced were covered by dense layers of fur, which filled the open wounds and stopped the bleeding, while the small strands of hair grew and moved with unnatural precision inside the body to temporarily mend blood vessels and organs like a surgeon with needle and string.


    Witnessing this, Clay froze for a moment before coming back to reality and running away as fast as his feet carried him. He couldn¡¯t waste the time the thing needed to mend its own wounds. Before he was still able to keep his cool, but now he was panicking.


    Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and he was in no position to face that monster, as the phantom pain in his chest underlined. It¡¯s laughable how he thought he could beat that beast when he already lost to it in the past.


    Hitting himself on the head while he ran, he began to weep. Fuck, he didn¡¯t want to die! He couldn¡¯t in a place like this, he still had Mia to take care of, he promised it! No matter how fearful or how low the chances, he, at least, had to try to survive.


    Think Clay, think! There had to be a way to come out of this situation alive. Hearing the roar and rhythmic padding of the bear behind him didn¡¯t help in formulating a plan. Before he could come up with something, he felt his feet leaving the ground and his right side carving in, as he was hurled to the side, barely missing trees before sliding along the ground.


    When he finally came to a standstill, he could tell from the constant cracking that his rips were broken and currently assembling themselves back into place. He fucking hated the regeneration of bones the most. The pain was always short but in turn that much more intense.


    While trying to come to his feet, he slipped on the edge of frozen ground. Why the fuck was there ice?! Wait, the pond, that¡¯s it! Stumbling to his feet, he rushed over the frozen pond. The ice was by now pretty thin, and the slight cracking under his feet caused him to laugh wildly.


    Standing in the middle of the pond, he drew his blade and shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Come here, you ugly piece of shit!¡± The bear of course didn¡¯t understand any of his words, but it knew it was being taunted.


    It rushed mindlessly at Clay, ignoring all the loud cracking ice underneath it, which should have told it that something was wrong. Just before it could get the sweet, tender meat between its maw, the ice gave in and broke under the heavy weight.


    The pond itself wasn¡¯t very deep and the bear was able to keep afloat with the trashing of its legs, but the depth wasn¡¯t why he lured that bear here. It¡¯s because of what lived underneath this pond. He himself barely missed them and truth be told didn¡¯t really know what they were as he could just barely make out their shape.


    But that wasn¡¯t important, he knew they were large, and heavily outnumbered the bear, as they filled the whole ground of the pond. Thankfully, the breaking ice and moving water seemed to have awoken these underwater creatures, and they took the bear as its target, as the water quickly turned red.


    It might have been able to fight back if the ice wasn¡¯t limiting its movement so much, or if he could use it¡¯s fur, which was now soaked in water and hard to control. Well, no matter, the bear stood no chance as it was slowly dragged further and further into the pond.


    Soon there was only the head and neck above the surface, while the water turned into a dark color of red. One moment the water was restless like a storm, and in the next a thick black tongue sprang from beneath the bond and attached itself to the head of the bear and dragged it with one tug sideways beneath the pond. Soon after, the pond turned still as the last bubbles of air reached the surface.


    Watching this with a heavy breath, Clay finally let himself calm down as he broke down on the ice. Scared by what he just witnessed, he slowly crept over the ice back to the safety of land. After waiting for a while and really making sure the bear just wouldn¡¯t jump back out of the pond like it had done in the pit, he stifled his flames back to embers.


    Besides all that happened he didn¡¯t lose much heart blood, the chase barely lasted a few minutes even though it felt like hours. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled in relief. Good, one less problem and one more region to avoid at all costs. Whatever things lived in that pond can stay there.

 Chapter 13: The Power of Fear

    Sitting in the dim light of an oil lantern, Clay worked on fixing his armor after the attack with the bear. It was late at night, as he tried to get the string with a shaky hand into the needle before finally giving up and leaning against his chair and letting his head fall back.


    He didn¡¯t have a braid, so his shoulder long hair glided over his shoulder and freely dangled in the air, while he observed the old wooden support above him. He was in the cellar where he had built his small workshop for all the leather work and other tinkering he did for his equipment.


    It seemed like he was spending more and more time down here, and if it was to just think. It was something like his personal space. Before all of this happened, before the world went to shit, he rarely left his room at all. He didn¡¯t quite know why, he just liked to be by himself.


    Sitting there, he thought back to the fight and what he should have done differently. This time he survived by a stroke of luck, but what about the next time? The bear was of course a very strong awakened beast, but there was no telling what else strange beast he had to fight in the future.


    Alone the creatures living under the pond, where something Clay didn¡¯t know how to face. He lacked information, but he also knew that with all the different mutations, it would be hard to gather information before a fight. There was no time to analyze the situation and as experience has proven was running away not a reliable strategy.


    Then how should he fight in the future? He was still quite restless after just barely clinging to his life. There had to be a way for him to reliably fight unknown enemies. He already found out that his strength laid in the enhancement of his body, and trained vigorously at his inner control of essence.


    There was steady improvement regarding his senses and overall control over his body, but there was one thing that held him back: self-preservation. Why did he choose to flee when encountering the dire wolves for the first time?


    Was it truly because of a lack of information like he told himself, or wasn¡¯t it something entirely different? Deep down, he knew that he fled because of fear, because of his instinct to survive and live. To keep the well-being of his body.


    This instinct was something every animal had, and even after mutating, the beasts also had this instinct. Otherwise, the dire wolves wouldn¡¯t have fled, or other beasts wouldn¡¯t avoid his marked territory. They do this because their instincts, their self-preservation, is telling them that it would lead to harm or even death.


    It¡¯s a powerful instinct to protect your body from damage, it ensures your survival, but in Clay¡¯s current situation it does the opposite. Animals can tell if you are afraid and the moment you run they will chase, this too is dedicated by their instincts. As soon as Clay ran, he was practically screaming that he was prey.


    Worst of all, stopped him this self-preservation from fully utilizing the one advantage he had: his regeneration. From the few unavoidable life and death battles he had, he knew that his regeneration was more than abnormal. He easily survived what would have killed others a dozen times over.


    It seemed like it didn¡¯t matter what injury he suffered, as it would only stop his tracks for a few seconds, at most. He got a hole the size of a fist through his stomach and stood after a few seconds like nothing happened.


    Clay was pretty sure he always had a very strong self-preservation instinct, even before he had to fight for his survival. He always avoided every kind of pain, and alone the thought of possible injuries prevented him from doing a lot of things. It was maybe even the reason why he preferred to stay inside than go out.


    He knew that away from the safety of his room was a higher possibility of injuries. Together with his hate for loud sounds, he avoided most crowds of humans and with it most of society. This whole apocalypse forced him to confront every of these aspects.


    With the enhancement of his ears, the problem got only worse, but he needed it if he wanted to hear other beasts. His self-preservation stopped him from doing anything that could hurt himself, but with his regeneration, he has to take risks to even have a chance of surviving.


    The one thing that differentiates humans from animals, is that they are able to manipulate their own instincts. When an animal struggles to make a decision, then only because two of its instincts are fighting.


    For example, struggled the dire wolves with the instinct of preserving their own lives and helping their kin, in the end won self-preservation over kinship and they escaped. A human on the other hand can act in complete opposite ways of their instincts.


    Extreme sports are a good example for this. Doing something like free climbing on a cliff without any safety measures, is extremely dangerous and goes against any form of self-preservation and yet some people did it anyway just for the sake of having fun or getting a kick.


    Being able to go against the own instincts is what makes human appear irrational. Clay had to utilize this ability if he wanted to survive. Only after ignoring his own self-preservation and fighting the dire wolves without taking injuries into account was he not only able to win, but also scare them.


    Overcoming his own fear and instead utilizing it against other beasts was the only way he saw himself surviving in this harsh wilderness. It went against anything he had done his whole life, but he didn¡¯t know how else he would fight beasts that outclass him in any other way.


    ***


    The following days, Clay rarely left the basement, only when he had to eat or needed more materials. Otherwise, he spent all of his time on a project he had been working on since the beginning of winter. Due to the bear, he didn¡¯t have as much time as he would have liked, so he was stressing to put the finally touches on this project.


    The snow was melting, the air was getting warmer and the sky clearer as spring once again began. During the transition from winter to spring, Mia had her thirteenth birthday.


    Clay woke her gently from her sleep before giving her a vial of heart blood as usual. Heaving a heavy sigh, Mia wasn¡¯t yet fully awake and with the thought of having to taste the bitter, iron tasking liquid wasn¡¯t a good way to start the day.


    Stopping her breath, her mask fell off, which Clay routinely caught. Utilizing a wooden spoon, he scratched the deep purple, tar like substance into a jar. Having cleaned the pocket under the chin of the mask, he watched, as Mia finally beat her disgust and drank the vial in one gulp.


    Her expression was first one of disgust as she tried to swallow before her eyes suddenly widened with surprise. ¡°It¡¯s sweet?¡±


    Laughing, Clay nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of this sooner, but I just mixed some sugar into the vial. You can¡¯t eat normal food, but a little sugar mixed into the heart blood shouldn¡¯t have a negative impact.¡±


    There was a big smile on her face, as Clay gave her the mask, while she savored the taste. Putting it back on he laid a hand on her shoulder and said, ¡°Get dressed and come down into the cellar, I have a surprise for you.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Eagerly nodding her head, Mia quickly went to change, while Clay left the room and went to the basement, watching over the covered up present. Shortly after, Mia came down the stairs and looked with curious eyes around before she made her way over to him. He didn¡¯t allow her often to go down here.


    Putting a hand on the blanket, he asked, ¡°Are you ready?¡± Seeing the eager nod, Clay couldn¡¯t stop himself from smiling a little. Pulling the blanket with one smooth motion to the side, was a full set of firm dark brown leather armor revealed. It was unusually thick and came with a heavy cloak from one of the dire wolves.


    Laying against the shoulder was a spear, made from the best oak he could find, and the broken blade of the royal ant. After the fight with the bear, he retrieved it and repurposed it for a spear which fitted Mia needs. There was also a thick heater shield laying against the legs and in the table behind a crossbow.


    He was really lucky to have found a crossbow which used plastic instead of metal, as that was the most important requirement of this equipment. Everything that he prepared was made completely without even a trace of metal.


    Looking over this, Mia was speechless for a moment before saying, ¡°So you did remember your promise.¡±


    ¡°Of course I did,¡± said Clay slightly offended, ¡°I said that once you are able to form an aura shield you can accompany me on my patrols. It''s just that I had to make sure that the equipment would be the best I could make and keep you safe from harms way, I made a promise remember?¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s just¡­¡± interrupting her, Clay said, ¡°You want to help too. I get that, Mia, but you have to understand that you are still only thirteen even if you are stronger than adults. It¡¯s dangerous out there, and you have to promise me to keep yourself back. The shield and spear are there for a reason, I made them so that you can utilize your aura shield in the best way possible and keep away from harms way. When I¡¯m fighting, you would help me most by shooting from the back.¡±


    Sadly, nodding her head, she replied, ¡°Yes, I promise.¡± Grabbing her head into a hug, her ruffled her hair, while she tried to futilely slip from his iron grasp. ¡°Come on do you want to see how it fits?¡± Hearing this made her gloomy mood seemingly disappear as Clay helped her strap on the new armor.


    ***


    Wandering through the forest on his usual path, Clay made little new discoveries. Since the death of the bear, he didn¡¯t have a single battle with a beast, well he also didn¡¯t see many beasts. Usually that would be something to be happy about, but in reality it caused him to worry.


    Not only were they running dangerously low on heart blood, but it was also too calm. He hasn¡¯t seen any dire wolves for close to a month and even if he marked his territory, he didn¡¯t expect most beast to avoid it so diligently.


    This all lead to a very bored Mia, as she didn¡¯t have the opportunity to properly test her new equipment in battle. It seemed like they had to make a small trip further into the forest to get more heart blood.


    Having made that decision, they left early in the next morning, with two fully equipped backpacks, further into the forest. Mia was now carrying a commendable amount of equipment, weighing dozens of kilo, without showing a trace of exhaustion. It was still a weird sight for Clay, as it just seemed wrong.


    A thirteen years old girl shouldn¡¯t be able to carry so much equipment, and yet here they were traveling kilometer after kilometer without her uttering a word of complaint. She grew a lot compared to the first time he had found her, and in some way it made him proud.


    They currently were moving to the north-east, the direction where Clay guessed where the lair of the dire wolves was. It was the direction where he had encountered them the most, and thus guessed most likely lay their territory.


    At first, it was calm like usual, but the further they went, the more he was able to spot claw marks on the trees surrounding them. It seemed like he was correct. This region was definitely frequently traversed by the dire wolves, and not long after he saw the shadow of a passing dire wolf rush through the thicket of the forest.


    Giving a glance to Mia, she nodded, so they gave chase. It didn''t take long for the dire wolf to lose them, but they kept following the tracks until the surrounding sunlight suddenly dimmed. Looking further up the trees, Clay spotted something that looked similar to¡­ strings?


    No, that weren¡¯t just strings, it was a huge web encompassing all the tree tops moving onwards. The further he looked, the thicker the web became until, there was almost no light to make out the ground.


    Seeing this, he finally realized why the dire wolves stopped bothering him. It wasn¡¯t that they got scared, but just that a bigger threat came in the way. He was at the border of a war of two apex predators fighting over hunting grounds.


    Looking over his shoulder, Clay asked, ¡°Mia say, are you scared of spiders?¡± Still looking baffled at the tree tops, Mia swallowed nervously before replying, ¡°Not really, but I never saw big spidies so¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Well, you still know the plan, right?¡± Clay asked again for the dozen time, to the annoyance of Mia. ¡°Of course I do. Keep the aura shield up at all times, stay back and shoot the ones at the border with my crossbow. If they come close, I block and poke them with my spear.¡±


    Raising his one arm in defense, he said, ¡°I¡¯m just making sure. If your shield is about to break¨C¡±


    ¡°I know, for god¡¯s sake!¡± Interrupted Mia angrily. ¡°I know¡­ You prepared me for a whole year for this. We sparred more times than I can count, and the last few times, you were even unable to break my aura shield. I can do this. I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Heaving a heavy sigh, Clay scratched his head, ¡°I know that you are ready, but I¡¯m still worried. We don¡¯t know what these spiders can do, so just promise me to be careful, okay?¡±


    Giving a serious nod, he finally let the topic rest, as they began to move on the perimeter of the webbed forest. It didn¡¯t take them long until Clay stopped in unease, as he moved his essence into his eyes. Resisting the headache, he concentrated forwards, seeing shadows jumping from tree to tree.


    It took a moment, but after a while the blur of shadows turned into the silhouette of a dire wolf as Clay concentrated to follow its movement. It was fighting something, and only after a few seconds did he realize that the other shadows wasn¡¯t another dire wolf but a spider. In comparison, was it much smaller than the dire wolf, about half it¡¯s height.


    Its carapace was in a shimmering black resembling that of the royal ant, but much lighter in tone. There were countless spikes protruding from its body, ending in sharp tips. Between these tips was something strung which looked like bones¡­


    No, after taking a closer look these ¡®bones¡¯ moved in the wind, so they were string. There was an attack of the dire wolf as the spider landed on the trunk of a tree, but instead of avoiding it, it put it¡¯s back in an angle before jumping against the arm. The familiar crack resounded through the forest as the arm hit the spider perfectly on the back.


    To Clay¡¯s shock it didn¡¯t shatter like he expected but instead was deflected by the strings on the back, as the arm of the dire wolf got thrown back. The force of the attack was strong enough to send the spider flying, but in a mere moment two strings came flying, attaching to two trunks, as the spider slowed, while the string stretched like rubber.


    It was getting slower and slower until it halted in midair before the string retracted like a spring and shot the spider with surprising speed back at the dire wolf. Caught midair, it was unable to avoid and with its front leg''s held in an angle the spider flew past the dire wolf, before catching itself on another string.


    Following its path was a line of red, as the dire wolf abdomen was cleanly sliced open, while its intestines trailed down to the ground in a gory mess. Swallowing, Clay had a d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he remembered his second encounter with a beast.


    On the first day of this catastrophe, their school was invaded by a spider which was very similar to this one, just not nearly as much mutated. He always wondered if it that was a one time accident, as he never encountered something similar afterward, but seems like they just retreated further into the forest.


    Insects mutated much more rarely compared to bigger animals, like wolves, but that made every encounter with one such mutated species that much more frightening, as the ants had already proven.


    He was interrupted in his thought process, as he noticed the spider directly staring back at him with all of its eight, unblinking eyes. They were still a few hundred meters apart. He didn¡¯t avoid the eye contact, he challenged it.


    There was nothing he had to fear. He could beat that spider without a problem, he made the decision to make use of fear and not succumb to it and after everything he had faced, he wouldn¡¯t back away from some spider.


    They started at each other for just a moment and with one swift motion the spider broke the eye contact and jumped back to the web covered forest, in short but powerful jumps from tree to tree until it landed on a string and used its momentum to shoot away into the darkness.


    ¡°What is it Clay?¡± Mia asked from the side after he suddenly stood still for seconds without saying anything. ¡°Oh, I just saw one of our new neighbors and as lovely as they seem, I say we should avoid this web covered forest.¡±


    With the spear resting on her shoulder, Mia walked onwards. ¡°Good, I didn¡¯t want to go there anyway.¡±

 Chapter 14: Spiraling Patterns

    With the spider taking its escape, Clay was able to harvest the heart blood of the killed dire wolf. Fortunately, every beast so heavily mutated gave Mia enough essence for a few days, even if they haven¡¯t awakened yet.


    Thinking this, he remembered the bear and felt some regret about the lost heart blood. It would have been the most potent he got so far, but there wasn¡¯t the time to mourn what could have been. He was glad to be even alive, after directly confronting this monstrosity of moving flesh and muscle.


    Pushing this thought aside, they moved on, following the border of the dire wolves territory and that of the spiders. It didn¡¯t take them long to stumble upon something which could only be described as a battlefield. The ground and tree were smeared in a messy picture of red and yellow, while the corpses of both dire wolves and spiders decorated the surroundings.


    The nearby trees and bushes were severely destroyed in what must have been a messy fight of quick jumps and deadly attacks, which each left a mark on the landscape. In some cases, the marks were so evident that Clay was able to imagine the fight before his eyes.


    Surprising was that the spiders didn¡¯t have an overwhelming advantage like he suspected after having just witnessed a duel between the two predators. The loss on both sides seems to amount to about the same.


    Looking over the corpses, he sadly didn¡¯t find any heart blood, one of the sides or maybe even both have taken their share and left nothing but ravaged bodies. This fight also couldn¡¯t have been too long ago, otherwise the corpses would have been picked clean from their flesh.


    ¡°Clay?¡± Ripped back to reality, he turned around to Mia studying one of the corpses of the spiders. She got long accustomed to such sights. It was a good thing he let her help with the butchering since the beginning.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Clay asked while watching over her shoulder at the corpse. Pointing at the front limbs, she said, ¡°The first two legs have a sharpened underside, while the rest six have these claws, so it probably can only attack with these two front legs.¡±


    Nodding, Clay sat beside her and made a few cuts around the inside of the body. ¡°It also doesn¡¯t seem to have any poison glads, so at least we don¡¯t have to worry about that. Good observation, it seems like we just have to worry about the front legs and this,¡± explained Clay while holding up a string spun on top of the legs.


    Standing up and seeing the spider as a whole, Mia remarked, ¡°These strings somehow look like bones, as if had its bones outside its body as some kind of armor, hmm¡­ bone spiders.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Clay asked confused. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look. You named the wolves ¡®dire wolves¡¯ so I will name these spidies ¡®bone spiders¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is a fair point. Bone spiders it is then, do you want to make a sketch?¡± Clay asked while still searching through the body of the dead bone spider. ¡°Of course I do. I have to fill the notebook you gave me, right?¡±


    Laughing, he wanted to pet Mia¡¯s head, put was violently hit away by the shaft of her spear. ¡°Not with these hands!¡± Bewildered, Clay looked at his hands, which were fully covered in yellow blood. ¡°Haha, sorry, bad habit. Could you give me one of the towels in the backpack?¡±


    Sighing in frustration, Mia mumbled, ¡°God where is your head sometimes,¡± but opened her backpack nonetheless.


    ***


    It was a chilling night later that day. Having gotten a rough idea of what was happening and having seen the massacre of the two fighting species, Clay called it a day there. Like usual, he was staying up longer to train.


    Well, currently he was just relaxing against the tree where he buried Jim. He liked to just come by and sit for a while. There wasn¡¯t really any point, it just calmed his nerves.


    With the discovery of these territories, he was in quite a bad spot. In the north resided the dire wolves, to the east were the bone spiders, which as it seemed were waging war with each other for what must have been months by now.


    From just today he couldn¡¯t tell how far their territories reached, but from the little of what he saw from the web covered forest he was pretty sure that he couldn¡¯t go either direction without encountering at least one of them.


    The south was a dead end with Churchville lying there and most of it being submerged in poison. He could still cross it, but south laid nothing more than mountainsides anyway, so there wasn¡¯t really any point in going.


    That only left the west out to explore, where he already knew was the pond with the underwater creatures, so also not the best direction to go in. Scratching his head, he struggled to come up with a save hunting area.


    With Mia now tagging along the patrols, he wanted to make sure that he can protect her in the worst case scenario. Her aura shield would definitely last a while, but not forever. The biggest problem was that each of these new species had one thing in common: they were fast.


    Be it the dire wolves with their strong hind legs, the spiders with their elastic web, or the underwater creatures with their tongue. Each of these beasts has one way or another to attack very quickly, which doesn¡¯t give much room for reaction.


    Should there ever be the situation where Mia¡¯s shield fails, how was he supposed to defend her if he wasn¡¯t nearly as fast as them? That¡¯s something he had to find an answer to at all costs. Enhancing his legs, he was able to reach quite staggering amounts of speed, but that took time and wasn¡¯t as instant as the beasts did it. His body just wasn¡¯t build to move that quickly in such a short amount of time.


    Pushing his worries aside, he took a deep breath and looked at the blue moon, which glowed brightly above him. With the two moons, illuminating the surroundings, the night became much brighter.


    Contemplating, Clay suddenly heard a rustle from behind, only to find Mia standing there. It wasn¡¯t unusual for her to visit Jim¡¯s grave, but normally not during these hours. ¡°Mia, why are you still up? Couldn¡¯t you sleep?¡±


    Strolling over, she touched the gravestone of Jim before replying, ¡°Yeah, kinda. I just couldn¡¯t stop thinking.¡±


    After spending so much time with her, Clay knew she was sulking and something was bothering her. ¡°Mia, you know you can tell me if something isn¡¯t right. You only have to be strong in front of the beasts, right? If it¡¯s just us two, you can say anything that is on your mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ It¡¯s just,¡± fiddling with her finger for a moment she eventually said, ¡°I think I¡¯m lonely?¡±


    Patting the ground beside him, he invited her to sit, which she did. ¡°I can understand that, it''s normal to feel lonely, especially in our particular situation. I¡¯m surprised you were able to hold on for so long without saying anything. I often left you alone for hours, which I wish I didn¡¯t have to, but you know there wasn¡¯t much of an option.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I know. I just miss my friends, my parents, my brother¡­¡± resting her head on her knees she explained, ¡°I just wish it was like before, where I can play with my friends, learn at school, annoy my brother, spend time with my parents¡­ Instead, I learned how to fight, butchered animals and had to be strong.¡±


    Tears started to roll under her mask as she spoke with a broken voice, ¡°I never wanted any of this, so much time already passed, but it''s all just a long blur of a nightmare I just can¡¯t seem to wake up from.¡± Looking directly at Clay, she asked desperately, ¡°When does this end? When does this nightmare stop? When can I finally return to how things were?!¡±


    Putting a hand on her head, Clay pressed her against his chest, which only increased her cries, as she let everything out that accumulated over the past few months. Caressing her head he wanted to say something, words of comfort, but when he opened his mouth the only thing that came out was a hoarse squeak.


    He didn¡¯t know what to say, as he himself teared up. He never took care of a child before and had little to no life experience, he was in no position to give advice, as he didn¡¯t know what would happen in the future. When does this nightmare end? Will it even ever end? He couldn¡¯t tell, and he couldn¡¯t bring himself to lie, so he just sat there holding Mia, while trying to appear strong, masking his own worries behind a mask of bravery he didn¡¯t actually have.


    Strength is what he required both physically and mentally, he had to be strong for her, to ensure their survival. He promised it, and he sure as hell intended to keep it.


    ***


    It was a sunny day, and for once weren¡¯t there any trees to obscure the warming light. Clay was currently standing in the clearing, not far from where the bear had lived. It was a few dozen meters wide and stretched for a few hundred more through the forest. It was one of the few places without tress and was thus the best place for his training.


    In this place, he couldn¡¯t get easily ambushed, as both the dire wolves and the bone spiders relied on trees to quickly accelerate. It also lied in the west, far from their territories, the only close threat were the creatures dwelling in the pond, but even they were quite a bit out so he wasn¡¯t too worried.


    Normally such heavy precautions weren¡¯t needed, but he wasn¡¯t quite sure how dangerous his idea was. Hell, it may be a really stupid idea, but he was getting desperate. Beating his own fear and relying on his regeneration to win fights wasn¡¯t enough. He needed a way to quickly overwhelm his opponents.


    During his rigorous training in controlling the flow of his essence, he noticed one particular thing. He already knew that essence always moved and never stood still, so when he was enhancing his body, it was natural to circulate it around the part where he wanted the enhancement.


    If he for example wanted to strengthen his right arm, he would form a circulation which started at the heart went to his right arm and ended again at his heart. During this process essence is gradually given of which strengthens the body part.


    This gradual strengthening made sure that his body was able to withstand this new power. It wasn¡¯t just as simple as gaining more power, his arm literally becomes for this moment stronger in every aspect. Otherwise, his bones could break, and his skin rip after every move.


    His idea was to guide the essence into his arm like usual, but instead of circulating it, he intended to hold it in place. This went against the nature of essence and caused it to become violent and uncontrollable. He knew this because he long ago tried to do the same with his aura, when he freshly awakened it.


    In the case of his aura, it began to move uncontrollably until he couldn¡¯t keep hold of it and violently dispersed in every direction. So he was wondering what would happen if this happened inside his body instead of outside. His aura had the space to freely disperse into the atmosphere, but inside his body?


    Shaking his head, he sharply exhaled. This may be really stupid, but he had to try. With one last breath, he focused inwards as he started to guide his essence into his right arm, but once it filled his arm, he didn¡¯t guide it back. He held it in place.


    As soon as the essence stopped moving, felt Clay¡¯s mind like he was carrying a heavy stone. As the amount of essence increased inside his arm, so too increased the weight and size of the stone. Only the thought of growing this stone, kept his mind in place, as sweat trailed down his brows.


    Unknowingly, he was biting his teeth until he tasted the iron in his mouth. He held on for dear life, but when he suddenly felt his vision blacken for a moment he knew he couldn¡¯t hold on for any longer, so he let go of the stone.


    At once, as if a dam erupted, surged the essence forth and spread violently in his arm. A rush of energy spread through his arm that felt like it was ripping it apart from the inside, so with his last clear thought he punched forward into the tree, before his vision went black for a moment.


    The moment he regained his vision, he saw the tree before him slowly fall, as the trunk was ripped into pieces. In the point of impact was a clear hole and surrounding it was a spiraling pattern that spread outwards, which shredded half of the tree away.


    Slowly he heard the sound of wood cracking and breaking, as the trunk slowly fell forward, or at least that what remained of the trunk. Breathing heavily and still in a trance, Clay just stepped sideways before the tree crashed with a thud before his feet.


    The following rush of wind cleared his mind a little, and he suddenly felt a stinging pain on his right arm. Bewildered, he looked down only to see his arm completely covered in blood, his bracer was completely shredded just like the tree and nothing more than a few straps of leather remained which stucked to his skin.


    The skin itself was also completely ripped open in the same spiraling pattern, as if he had plunged his whole arm into a meat grinder. With another passing breeze, he finally felt the pain.


    ¡°AHHHH!¡± Holding his arm, Clay¡¯s mind was jolted awake, as his breath quickened. ¡°Fuck! Goddammit! Shit! Stupid! Ahhghhrr¡± Trying to calm down, he groaned in pain. You would think that pain gets better if you already experienced being pierced through the stomach, but hell no.


    With ragged breath and non-stop cursing, he grabbed hold of the essence inside him and guided it into his right arm, this time forming a circulation back to the heart. As soon as the steady stream of essence spread to the wound, he could feel his pain lessen as a new pain replaced the old.


    The familiar burning sensation of his healing flesh caressed the wound, as Clay watched in awe as first the blood began to stop flowing before his flesh squirmed and moved, as he felt his bones being pushed pack into place, which he didn¡¯t even know were damaged.


    Feeling the jolt through his arm, he knew his bones were back in place. Followed was the flesh, which quickly shifted and wriggled over the open wound. Lastly, slithered the skin back into it¡¯s place, returning to its pristine state.


    Opening and closing his fist, he moved and shook his arm a bit, causing some last bone pops and cracks. His arm was fully healed again and the only thing that was left to indicate the wound were the leather pieces which littered the ground of what used to be his bracer.


    Laughing to himself, Clay smiled. That wasn¡¯t what he was expecting, it exceeded every expectation he had for this little experiment. It felt like he was holding his essence for hours, but that wasn¡¯t true in reality, just a few seconds passed between him holding his essence and releasing it to punch the tree.


    The pain was of course unpleasant, but the damage was manageable. How long did the healing just take? It couldn¡¯t have been long, maybe a dozen seconds? It didn¡¯t matter, the point was he could totally use this in a battle with a bit more training.


    He just had to train his mind hard enough to be able to hold essence while still being able to move. Looking at the tree in front of him, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from smiling. This wasn¡¯t just some small tree he just punched into oblivion, it was a full-grown oak tree.


    There was no question that everything without an aura shield or extreme mutations would either instantly die or at least get severely injured by an attack like this. This was the first time since learning how to use essence that gave him a real advantage over the mutated animals.


    Up to this point he always had to rely on tools like swords, or his wit by using traps or poison to survive. Apart from his regeneration and endurance, he was always outclassed by the beasts, but this power? It was not only enough to rival them, he finally had a weapon that he could use to completely overwhelm them.


    The attack needed time to charge up, he needed to time it very precisely else it would miss, he sustained severe damage afterward which rendered the limb near useless for a few seconds, but all of this didn¡¯t matter. With enough training, he would learn how to manage these limitations. No more running away, it was time to take the battle to these beasts head on.

 Chapter 15: Muscle Memory

    Holding the essence in his legs, Clay took great care in how much essence flowed or, for better imagination, how large the rock got he had to hold. At a certain size he let go and simultaneously pushed against the ground, shooting off into the open field, only leaving a small crater on the dirt with his footprint.


    With the destructive force of this move, he decided to no wear his boots, otherwise he would have shredded them to pieces long ago. Taking his all to keep his concentration, he landed on his left leg, and released the essence once again.


    In his right leg, he already held the essence for the next step. Upon the seventh step he miscalculated, and his regeneration wasn¡¯t completely finished yet, so upon putting pressure on the leg, the bone broke. He lost his balance and fell before rolling several steps further. A bad try to stop his momentum, caused his wrist to crack, until he eventually lost enough momentum and came to a standstill.


    Lying on the ground, his body was severely bruised and completely twisted up. Used with this situation, he kept his calm and formed an inner circulation around his whole body. Feeling the burning pain of his healing at work, the bruises vanished in mere moments, and lying there for a few seconds more his bones were healed just the same.


    Sitting up, he massaged his neck in frustration. He trained with utmost dedication over the last month, but still was unable to resolve his initial problem. He now had an attack he was confident in could kill practically anything he encountered.


    The better part of this past month was spent on only perfecting this single punch. When it felt like he had to lift a literal boulder just to hold the essence, then he knew he reached its maximum capacity. At this stage, his punch was able to practically explode entire trees and break stones, not much different to a canon.


    Of course, it took time to gather that much essence, and he almost loses consciousness doing so not to mention the damage that followed, but if it landed? Well, he was pretty sure not a lot which was made out of flesh and blood would still stand afterward.


    The attack wasn¡¯t the problem, with a little more training he was sure to master that technique, the problem still laid in his speed. The idea was to use this exploding force to quickly accelerate, like the dire wolves did with their hint legs.


    Turns out that holding a stream of essence and timing it perfectly with stepping from the ground, while also immediately keeping hold of another in preparation for the next step, was a lot easier said than done. Not to mention that the amount of essence had to be the exact sweet spot between giving enough power and reducing injuries to such an extent that his regeneration was able to keep up.


    The issue wasn¡¯t as simple as it was with his arm. After getting his punch off, he didn¡¯t care that he had to wait a few seconds, or close to a minute in case he used his maximum power, until it was healed. That was because he was sure that whatever was on the receiving end of that punch was close to dead.


    His leg on the other hand was a different story. Without his movement he lost the ability to avoid any attacks, and that was in the case of such fast opponents unforgivable. It didn¡¯t matter how good his regeneration was, he was pretty sure that decapitation still killed him.


    If he only had to put as much essence into his legs as possible than he was able to reach speeds, which couldn¡¯t even be matched by dire wolves nor bone spiders, but it was a one-trick pony. Afterward, he would be a sitting duck for close to a minute, which was far more than what was needed to kill him.


    No, instead he adopted for the approach which still gave him more speed without sacrificing mobility. At least that is what he would say if there wasn¡¯t the small problem of not being able to control this new power at all. Hell, he wasn¡¯t even able to take a few steps in a straight line before fucking something up and falling.


    If he now accounted for difficult terrain like a forest and all the different angles he quickly had to adjust to? Well, it felt quite impossible to be honest, especially without enhancing his brain. If he perceives his surroundings faster than it was of course far easier to maneuver around, but he just couldn¡¯t afford to burn heart blood just for the sake of training.


    He barely had enough essence to enhance his legs, so it was out of the question to guide some away for his brain. In the best case, he wins his fights without having to burn heart blood anyway, as its regeneration was just so painfully slow.


    He especially struggled to find the right amount of essence to hold for what distance. It was incredibly hard to gauge how much power you get just from the illusory image of a stone in your mind, not to mention that there was always a small fluctuation, as this technique was literally based around essence erupting uncontrollably.


    For this idea of movement to become feasible, he would have to meticulously estimate the distance to where he would want to go and use the perfect amount of essence needed to reach that distance. This was practically impossible to reach with him consciously thinking about this process, so what was the solution?


    His answer lied in repetition. His idea was to train until his mind knew exactly how much essence to use for what distance, he was planning to rely on muscle memory, just with the difference that he wasn¡¯t using real muscles.


    Besides, the term ¡®muscle memory¡¯ having the term muscle in it, was foremost the brain responsible for gaining muscle memories, as the brain encodes and recalls these movements not the muscles themselves.


    The point was that Clay should be able to gain muscle memory for at least one certain amount of essence. Adjusting the essence to the distance needed wasn¡¯t really feasible at the moment. He needed to be able to use this new movement in battle and that as soon as possible, so instead he planned on first learning the sweet spot between force gained and injuries sustained.


    If successful, he would also have a guideline of what amount of essence he should never surpass, thus making future adjustments easier. It didn¡¯t matter if he came one meter too long or short, what mattered was that he always kept his injuries to a manageable degree and thus preserved his mobility.


    He was close to finding this sweet spot and when he finally had it he just had to repeat, repeat, and repeat, until his mind could manage to hold and release the essence without him having to consciously think about it.


    ***


    Jumping up and down in place, Clay shook his hands in preparation. Taking a deep breath, he thought about running, his muscles tensed and prepared for the sprint, while his mind formed a circulation to his legs and held the essence to a very specific point. The moment he pushed with his right leg, the essence got released.


    Taking the next step with his left leg, the essence got yet again released at just the right time. Following this, Clay sprinted at full force through the field, months of practice had led him here, insufferable pain and countless falls, but it finally clicked.


    All summer he honed this one skill, and finally he had mastered it. The wind was biting at his current speed, and he had to squint his eyes to see, long surpassing at what he deemed comfortable. Fully concentrated, he kept running until he finally reached the last stretch of the field and came to a standstill after several dozen meters of decelerating.


    Jogging back, he gasped for air until his inner circulation was up again and restored his energy reserves. Upon reaching the makeshift finish line, he was back to normal. ¡°So how long?¡±


    Looking at the time stopper in her hand, Mia replied, ¡°You took exactly 20.91 seconds.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Nodding, Clay remarked, ¡°That is pretty consistent with our previous results, so this is the limit of what I can safely run at.¡±


    Spacing out for a while, Mia eventually asked, ¡°You just sprinted about 800 meters in 20.91 seconds, how fast is that exactly?¡±


    ¡°Ahhh, I have no idea, actually. We could surely find some formula in the books, but does it matter? It¡¯s as fast as I can go and enough to make seeing a problem, so I actually have to think of getting some sort of goggles.¡± Stated Clay while straying off with his thoughts.


    ¡°Why not get a mask?¡± Mia asked from the side. ¡°Ah? Sorry what?¡± Repeating herself in annoyance, she explained, ¡°A mask. If I already have to wear one, you could too, if you need goggles anyway.¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Clay eventually nodded his head. ¡°You know, that is quite a good idea. The mask can also offer some protection, just have to find a way how to secure it and what material? Metal is out of the question¡­¡±


    While Clay was already mumbling about this new project, Mia had one last thing to ask, ¡°Also if you are already making you a mask could you make me a new one?¡±


    Ripped out of his thoughts, he looked confused at her. ¡°Is your mask damaged somewhere, or did it get too small? I intentionally made it a bit bigger so it would fit for a while.¡±


    ¡°It did get a bit tighter, but I wanted to ask if you can¡¯t just make a half mask?¡± Now even more interested, Clay asked, ¡°A half mask?¡± Fiddling with her hands, Mia explained, ¡°Well it¡¯s kinda hard to see with the eyeholes, and as I only breathe the poison I thought it would be enough to just cover my nose and mouth.¡±


    Slamming himself on his forehead, Clay apologized, ¡°Of course we can make a half mask. What an oversight on my part. It wasn¡¯t that important before, but with you coming along patrols, it''s important to properly see your surroundings. Damn, I should have thought of that sooner, another problem I have to consider for my own mask. Well, let¡¯s get home, there is a lot of work to do.¡±


    ***


    With the help of another plaster mask of Mia¡¯s face and a short trip to the poisonous tree to get a new piece of wood, Clay was able to quickly make her a new mask, still in the style of an owl just with the difference of it only covering half her face. The peak just ended snugly at her nose bridge.


    His own mask on the other hand was a bigger problem. He already had multiple wooden versions with fitting lenses, which didn¡¯t restrict his own sight too much. The problem was that he wasn¡¯t quite satisfied with the material being out of wood.


    He intended to use this mask in battle, so it should offer some protection. Sadly, wood wasn¡¯t the most resilient material and compared to Mia, he couldn¡¯t just use wood, which was infused with magical poison.


    No, he needed something that was resilient, yet not too heavy and also without having to incorporate any form of metal. Leaning back in frustration, he looked out of the small window from the basement. Straying with his eyes around the room, he noticed a dark reflection in one of the boxes.


    Intrigued, he stood up and cleared the way before heaving the box unto his table. Lying inside were the remains of the royal ant¡¯s exoskeleton. He stored most of it away, as he didn¡¯t know where it could come in use, but sadly most of the black chitin was broken into several uneven pieces and due to its resilient nature it was hard to work with.


    Rummaging through the pieces, he eventually noticed a particular large one. Holding it against the light of the sun shining through the window, a sound of bafflement escaped his lips. Well he didn¡¯t think of using this, but the royal ant had an armor plate above its mandibles, which protected its eyes, and this particular piece was still completely intact.


    Leaning his head to the side, he tried to put it close to his face, only to realize that it fitted surprisingly smugly around his face. The ant didn¡¯t really have a nose, but the shard was fortunately bent enough to not squeeze his nose. His mouth wasn¡¯t covered, but that wasn¡¯t really important as long as his eyes were.


    The underside of the mask below his nose didn¡¯t end in a straight line but consisted instead of rough shards, like teeth of a skull. Slightly gliding over them, his finger drew blood before his healing kicked in and closed the wound.


    He definitely would have to round the edges and file the eyeholes to fit the lenses, as well as inlay the mask with some leather or cloth to really make it fit, but he felt like he could definitely make something out of this.


    ***


    Holding the shimmering black mask in the sun, Clay smiled to himself. He was quite proud of this one. It took what felt like years to file the holes and make the inner layering out of the silk of the bone spiders. After thinking, he thought the best material for the mask would be something made by another beast.


    During the process of building, he struggled in cutting the string to more manageable sizes, but he eventually got the hang of it and the resulting layering was not only really comfortable but absorbed impacts like a spring. He made two straps of the same silk to secure it around his head.


    Putting it on he looked at Mia and asked, ¡°So how do I look?¡± Surveying him from top to bottom, she said, ¡°Quite scary, I suppose. From a distance, you don¡¯t look much different to a beast.¡±


    Offended by the remark, Clay raised his hand in protest. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m sure that you can tell by my silhouette that I¡¯m still quite human, thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°You sure do,¡± replied Mia while giving him an eye. Confused, he went into the house to take a look at himself. Standing before the mirror, he immediately understood what Mia meant. The black mask with the sharpened edges looked like some disfigured black skull and his shoulder-long silver hair dangling behind could easily be mistaken for some mane, as the white silk straps completely blended in his hair.


    From his face, only his mouth gave away that he was a human. Otherwise, he could also just have been another strangely mutated animal. Shaking his head in defeat, he went outside, only to be greeted by Mia¡¯s smug face. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look.¡±


    She didn¡¯t say anything, but he knew she was gloating internally. But she had a point, if he accounted for the huge wolf cloak he wore in the winter, which caused him to appear bulkier than he actually was, he indeed would look quite inhuman at first glance.


    Well, it didn¡¯t matter much, as he didn¡¯t encounter another human being for close to two years now. He just had to remember that once they returned to civilization, that he made himself look a bit more ¡°civilized¡±.


    In the past, he played with the thought of staying here in this forest for the rest of his life, but after seeing the pain Mia went through, he realized that this wasn¡¯t an option. It was too much to ask a child to live in isolation like this for the rest of her life, it would break her.


    Grabbing his backpack, he began to walk to the north-west, while Mia followed behind. With him mastering erupting his essence, he felt more confident than ever. Of course, he still occasionally hunted during his training to get the heart blood for Mia, but the past few months she was practically living from scraps, and slowly she was showing withdrawal symptoms.


    It would be best if he could gather a little buffer, but with how quickly the heart blood of non-awakened beast lost potency, storage was a real problem. Pondering over a possible solution, he heard Mia ask, ¡°You are confident in controlling this eruption, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m confident. I have trained with my all for these past few months and even if I can¡¯t adjust my power perfectly like a muscle I¡¯m confident that I can, for both my punch and my movement, replicate the sweet spot between power and injuries,¡± exclaimed Clay.


    Nodding, Mia asked, ¡°So you are confident that you won¡¯t injure yourself more than intended, right?¡± A little confused, Clay bolstered his arms on his hip. ¡°You were there for a large part of my training, and you know that I have been consistent for weeks now, why the sudden worry?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really worried, I was just wondering¡­¡± said Mia while trailing off, before a skeptical brow from Clay finally made her speak, ¡°Damn, I¡¯m just wondering why you are still not wearing shoes?¡±


    Startled, Clay looked down only to see his naked feet greeting him, as if they could mock him. He stopped wearing shoes for the training, not to mention that all the fighting and walking already did a bad number on his shoes. Additionally, he had pretty deformed feet, which made it hard to find fitting shoes.


    Even before this apocalypse, he only ever really had one pair of shoes, and that didn¡¯t change. But now that he was confident in controlling the eruption of his essence, he could wear them again. So he swiftly went in to grab them, but the moment his feet slid in, and he felt the fabric, and took a few steps it dawned on him.


    He didn¡¯t notice it before, but he went for months without shoes by now and not only was it freeing to not wear shoes, but it gave him greater control over his movement, as each tow could feel the ground and really grip into the dirt to utilize the most of his powers. In the past, injuries might have been a problem, but not anymore.


    If anything, the skin on his feet grew thick enough to be no different to a shoe, if not better, as his skin regenerated in comparison to his shoes. Coming back out still bare-footed, Mia gave him a strangle look. ¡°What about your shoes? You lost them or what?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m going without,¡± replied Clay while passing her. Startled, she needed a moment to process what just happened while Clay kept walking. Hastily catching up, she asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more comfortable that way, we have to hunt so stop thinking about unnecessary things,¡± stated Clay without stopping. ¡°How ironic to hear that from you,¡± mumbled Mia to herself.


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± asked Clay while stopping in his track. ¡°N-No, nothing,¡± stammered Mia before quickly moving on. She knew that he definitely heard her, so she made the wise decision to not press the topic further.

 Chapter 16: Bursting Bodies

    Wandering between the territories of the dire wolves and bone spiders proved to be the best strategy for acquiring heart blood. It was the obvious choice as, Clay knew, it was easier to find beasts between their territories, but that wasn¡¯t the only advantage.


    No, the real advantage was that he knew that no matter if dire wolf or bone spider, each one was mutated enough to last Mia several days. It made a huge difference of having to scour the forest mindlessly in hope of finding a mutated animal that may or may not provide enough heart blood or just going to this war side and get three to four corpses which will last for the whole month.


    Just about an hour after strolling along the territories, he heard the first crack, which he could tell by now belonged to a dire wolf. Quickly pushing his essence away from his ears to his legs, he pushed off to where the sound came from. Startled, Mia, struggled to keep up.


    She wasn¡¯t nearly as efficient and certainly not as quick as Clay in strengthening her body, her specialty laid in her aura, rather than her inner circulation. So she didn¡¯t even strengthen her legs specifically, but just her whole body due to not being able to form an individual circulation.


    He knew that and still didn¡¯t tell her that he heard a dire wolf nor that he would chase it. This was how he trained her: by not telling what she had to do and force her to react on her own, to think for herself.


    Of course, he made sure to slow down enough so that she doesn¡¯t lose sight of him and always stayed in a certain distance, where she might think she will lose him if she ever slowed down, but never really will, as he always kept an eye on her. In case she got ambushed, he was confident to reach her in mere seconds by erupting the essence in his legs.


    They continued like this for a while until Clay slowly slowed down once he saw the silhouette of the dire wolf or wolves to be more specific. Circulating the essence from his legs to his eyes, he saw that they were engaged with another two bone spiders, who seemed to have been caught off guard.


    They might have been spotted while scouting enemy territory, as they were quite a distance off from the web infested forest. Coming to a standstill, he watched while giving Mia the time to catch up.


    Eventually, Mia finally caught up with ragged breath, which would soon return to normal with her inner circulation. In the past she would have complained about him suddenly running off, but that wasn¡¯t the first time he had done it, and she knew better than to speak with dire wolves close by.


    They had incredibly sensitive ears and would immediately notice them even if they were still hundreds of meters away. Well, if they weren''t occupied with fighting, they likely would have been heard or smelled long ago if the wind wasn¡¯t turned in their favor.


    This was another reason why Clay struggled so much to pinpoint where the dire wolves lived, as they always noticed him before he did. Even now, he didn¡¯t know their exact lair, just the rough territory they frequently traversed in. Without turning, he formed a zero with his hands before closing them to a fist.


    Seeing this, Mia nodded in understanding. After learning how sensitive the ears of dire wolves were, he thought it was best to decide on a few hand signs with Mia, you never knew when they might come in handy. This one meant to focus on controlling her aura and compressing it as much as possible.


    Normally he would have drawn his sword by now, but this time he finally wanted to test the power of an erupted punch. So while keeping watch he moved in a steady pace to the wolves, while Mia followed behind a good dozen meters away, her crossbow loaded and ready to shoot.


    One of the bone spiders just avoided another attack before landing on a string spun between two trees, which caused its body direction to overlay with his own and their eyes met, which immediately caused it to freeze. Normally it would have used the momentum of avoiding, to lunch a counterattack from the string or to jump further away to get a better angle.


    Seems like the bone spiders had better sight than Clay thought, another thing to note down. Seeing the bone spider suddenly freeze in its momentum and just dangle from the single string caused the dire wolf to regroup with the others to reevaluate the situation.


    Well, their senses were pretty sharp, as the dire wolves heard that something was wrong before they saw it. The rhythmic sound of crunching dirt under his feet was enough to gave himself away, not that he intended to hide. Besides having made the decision to use fear as a weapon instead of it hindering him, he never really used it so far.


    This time he wanted to test something. The moment the beasts spotted him was the moment their psychology warfare of dominance began. Well for Clay, it already started the moment he decided to walk towards the beast instead of trying to sneak up on them.


    He was confident in winning and by not breaking his pace he made the beasts wary. From this distance they had no idea how strong he was, he could be several times stronger than them or several times weaker, but just walking slowly towards them, made them wary, perhaps even curious.


    For a few seconds, Clay just kept eye contact while continuing to keep his pace, it was a contest of who would crumble first under the pressure? Who was the first to make a move? The beasts weren¡¯t familiar with such a situation, so they were hesitant, it gave Clay time to slowly but surly reduce the distance between them, without them making a move.


    They were still deciding on whether he was a threat or prey. To fight or flight? This continued for a while until Clay was finally only a good hundred meters away and with his muscles tensing for a sprint the bulging veins on his eyes vanished as his essence moved to his legs, accumulating for the coming eruption.


    On one moment he was casually walking the other he suddenly shot off, leaving his footprint in the ground, as he rushed towards his target at frightening speed. The beasts were wary of course, but do to his previous pace they weren¡¯t prepared for the sudden burst of speed and were caught of guard.


    One bone spider even fell from its string in the hurry of trying to escape, so it hastily shot a web upwards, which caused it to bounce and land on the string again before using the momentum of the fall to jump away into safety.


    The other beasts were just as startled and immediately decided to flee after encountering an unknown predator, but it was far too late for that. His target was one of the bone spiders and while it was able to bounce from its web to another tree, the moment it landed a shadow enfolded behind it.


    Giving it no time to react, Clay erupted the essence inside his arm and with the momentum from his jump carrying him onwards, he punched into the back of the spider, hitting one of the strings spun between the spikes. It bent, but with the essence unleashing from inside it was immediately ripped apart while his arm carried on to the exoskeleton, where his fist got buried deep into the body, pinning it to the tree.


    Then the essence finally fully erupted, shredding the spider from inside out in a spiraling pattern, causing whole legs to fly off into the distance while yellow blood, guts and organs sprayed into every direction. The force traveled further into the tree, drilling a deep hole into it, shredding bark which mixed into the messy scene of flesh.


    Using his enhanced legs, he pushed off the tree to stop his momentum, landing on the ground while a rain of wood, blood and flesh followed after him. Turning around he saw that the dire wolves and the remaining bone spider watched the scene and the moment he turned they ran for their life without looking back.


    Looking at his bloodied arm, Clay calmly formed an inner circulation to heal. Standing between this whole mess, he was¡­ smiling? Of course, he was smiling! This far exceeded his expectations. This wasn¡¯t even an erupted punch at full power, and it already did so much damage. It didn¡¯t just injure his target gravely like expected, but instead killed it instantly by practically bursting it from the inside out into tiny little pieces.


    Still at awe by the power he wielded, Clay watched mindlessly as his flesh knitted itself together in seconds. Once the healing was complete, he shook the blood from his arm and removed some of the pieces of flesh and organs that clung to his clothes. Well, the mess it caused was a downside.


    Suddenly remembering something, he looked over the remains of the bone spider only to exhale in defeat. The attack was powerful and performed way better than planned, maybe even too well, as with the other organs the heart and with it its blood were torn to pieces. There was no way to tell what of the yellow mess around him used to be heart blood, no that he could gather it anyway.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Even more shocked than himself was Mia as she stood with wide open mouth besides him. She never actually saw an erupted punch, as he already mastered it once he concentrated on training his movement, and didn¡¯t use it since.


    Completely flabbergasted, she pointed at the mess and said like an exited child at Christmas, ¡°You have to teach me that!¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± replied Clay in an instant, while still trying to get himself somewhat clean. ¡°But you said, I should get stronger and this,¡± Mia stopped speaking while waving her palm over the splatted remains, ¡°Is the power I should have right?¡±


    Straightening his back, Clay explained, ¡°Technically yes, but you have to find this power on your own. Erupting essence gives you for a short moment, as you saw a lot of power, but in return it requires incredibly fine control over essence and results in severe injuries. You have neither the fine control nor the regeneration to heal from the backlash.¡±


    Pouting, she kicked the ground. ¡°I know, but how am I supposed to learn something that gives me that much power, if I can¡¯t control my essence properly?¡±


    ¡°Mia, you have all the time in the world to find your strengths and become more powerful, you still have me for a while and I will make sure to protect you until you have found the power to do so yourself, okay?¡± asked Clay with a smile.


    ¡°Okay, but once I have found my own power it will be several times better than yours, and then I will protect us!¡± exclaimed Mia confidently.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m sure you will,¡± said Clay while trying to pat her head, which she skillfully avoided by side stepping. Damn, she was slowly getting good at that.


    ***


    With no imminent threat appearing and Clay having mastered the eruption of essence, he became invincible in the surrounding region. This caused him to have even more time than before as he now only had to go hunting once or twice a month on the bordering territories to gather the heart blood needed for Mia.


    All of this extra time was spent on tinkering on several small project and ideas, or reading more books on almost any topic at this point. During this, he still continuously trained in the use of his essence. It was getting to a point where he missed another soul he could share his thoughts with and just talk. A thirteen-year-old girl wasn¡¯t the best candidate for the topics he wanted to discuss, especially not the one he swore to care for.


    Mia on the other hand was busier than ever, as she was determined to make a power on her own. She was training a lot more and with more dedication, which helped her to grow a lot quicker, which Clay of course liked to see. Before he had to motivate Mia to train, now she was taking the initiative to improve.


    They grew up so fast, was that how a father felt? Well no matter, since first testing his erupting punch another two months passed, and the golden leaves of autumn have long fallen and in just another short month winter would once again greet them. It was the third one since all of this started, and he wasn¡¯t excited about it.


    In the past, he quite liked the winter, and even if he still was able to appreciate its beauty and calming veil, having to care of his own food, clothes and shelter made it the hardest of the seasons to survive in. Especially because even beasts seemed to hibernate, so the endless war between dire wolves and bone spiders might actually come to a stop for once.


    This would make getting heart blood harder again, but it wasn¡¯t too much of a problem, he just had to look a bit harder again. There was also another idea for a new technique that constantly swirled around his head.


    After having seen how powerful fear can be even without him having to do anything too grand, he wanted to test something. There was this one thing about the boar fight he had so long ago that he just couldn¡¯t seem to understand.


    Once he had discovered the aura of the boar with his own, he was consumed by something he could only describe as a nightmarish illusion. But for that to be true it felt too real, too specific. It showed him his greatest fears, those he had buried deep into his subconsciousness so that they would not hinder him in surviving.


    Once he retracted his aura and condensed it, he was able to break free from this illusion and never saw it again. At first, he thought this might have just been a special ability or mutation of the boar, but the more he thought about it, the less likely is seemed.


    During the short moment when both of their auras touched he could feel what the boar felt, it¡¯s fury, untamed bloodlust but most of all its pain. He suspected he got overwhelmed by this pain, which triggered this illusion showing him his own greatest regrets, his greatest pain.


    But this also meant that aura wasn¡¯t as simple as just absorbing harmful energies, but instead could even convey emotions or who knew what else. He tried to infuse a feeling into his aura, but he had no idea how, as he didn¡¯t even have a starting point. Emotions weren¡¯t something he could just shift and move like his aura, so how was he supposed to control them?


    Without having someone that can give him feedback if they felt something he couldn¡¯t really test let alone train in this technique. He could of course ask Mia, but immediately decided against it. If she accidentally received an illusion like himself, she might develop even further trauma.


    The girl went through too much. From losing her parents, then indirectly killing the old man which saved her, and finally waiting for her brother to rescue her only for him to never come. The risk was far too great, so he buried that idea to the back of his head for now.


    Instead, he focused on the west. After dominating the bordering territories of the dire wolves and bone spiders, he felt confident enough to finally see what exactly dwelled at the bottom of the pond where the bear got eaten alive. He wanted to this before winter began, otherwise they would just bury themselves under ice again, and he couldn¡¯t possibly fight in the water.


    To not risk anything, he didn¡¯t tell Mia about this small scouting mission. It wasn¡¯t unusual for him to leave for the clearing to further train his movement, and that the pond also laid in that direction just made it easier.


    Well, not that she paid much attention to his activities anyway, she was far too obsessed for that at the moment. So with his sword on his hips, the leather chestplate snugly strapped around his body and his mask secured on his head he went to the pond.


    Once he was only a few hundreds meter away, he slowed his run and circulated the essence from legs to ears. His ability to differentiate all the different sounds and ignoring the unimportant one¡¯s steadily improved, as it was slowly becoming the best way for him to sense his surroundings.


    Enhancing his eyes was of course far easier and quicker, but they didn¡¯t give him the advantage of being able to sense all of his surroundings. He could only see 180 degrees horizontally but could hear in a 360 degree radius. The distance he covered with his ears didn¡¯t even come close to his eyes, but being able to hear an ambush from anywhere before it happened was too great of an advantage.


    As time passed, Clay became more and more suspicious. It was far too silent in the surrounding area, normally he would hear far more animals, like the calls of birds or the buzzing of insects. Something definitely hunted in this region.


    Growing ever closer to the pond, he suddenly heard a weird popping, which followed a light whipping sound from his right side. Turning to the source, a thick black tongue filled his vision as it attached itself to his armor before swiftly retracting with a slurping noise, as he was pulled along the ground. The ambush was almost completely silent, and before he could react, he felt the air rushing past him.


    Immediately he flared his inner flame to its full power, as his body was filled with a seemingless endless supply of essence. At the same time he started to hold the essence in his arm, whatever beast dared to ambush him was in for a surprise.


    In mere moments, the tongue retracted, and with another strong pull, he was lifted into the air and briefly saw a huge maw with two rows of serrated teeth before everything went black as he was swallowed. Once inside, the mouth directly closed as the two rows of teeth bit into the leather of his armor.


    The bite itself wasn¡¯t strong, just enough to bite into flesh but not through bone, but unexpectedly began the mouth to suddenly move left and right, causing the teeth to cut deeper into his flesh like a saw. The pain of being literally sawed into two was the worst he had the pleasure of experiencing so far.


    Ripping his arm free from the sticky tongue, Clay punched upwards, releasing the essence stored within. The resulting explosion of aura not only shredded the creature from the inside, but due to the proximity to his face also slashed into his mask.


    The pain caused the creature to suddenly open its mouth, tearing with it more flesh which were stuck on its teeth, while Clay pushed with his legs to escape from its maws. Seeing the light of the sun again, he stumbled backwards, and fell on the ground, while his leather armor had a huge red scar across his stomach area.


    It bit right into his intestines and with no bone in its way it was able to saw deep into it. Fuck a bit longer, and he really would have been separated into two. With his regeneration, his blood directly clotted before his muscles squirmed to push the intestines back, which were about to spill out to the open.


    While slowly standing up, he struggled to keep up with the pain, but seeing the bloodied creature before him at least gave him the satisfaction of having won. The body itself was actually intact, reaching his chest, but being twice as wide as him.


    Both of its eyes popped out of their sockets; one flew away, while the other dangled to the side, barely hanging on by its ocular nerves. It¡¯s light gray skin was cracked, while red flowed from beneath it.


    Fuck, why did he have to meet a new threat every time he gains some confidence in his abilities. Doesn¡¯t really matter much to hear well if the predator is almost entirely silent. Maybe if he could have determined the sound quicker to be something unusual, he would have been able to avoid this horrifying experience. Well, it didn¡¯t matter much now, as he (again) almost died.


    Who knew that toads could be so dangerous if mutated? Thank god he had his mask, otherwise his face would have taken some severe collateral damage from his own punch. The chitin from that royal ant really was something else when it came to sturdiness.


    Looking at his almost completely healed stomach, a heavy sigh escaped Clay¡¯s lips. Why couldn¡¯t the leather be as hard as the chitin? He didn¡¯t want to make another chestplate!

 Chapter 17: Limited Time

    With a heavy thud, the corpse of the toad fell into the small shack at the side of their home. Loosening the rope he had carried the thing with all the way here, he took a glance at the house. To his surprise, he was actually able to avoid Mia, as she was still inside training.


    He of course didn¡¯t want to lie, so if asked he would tell the truth, but if not he would just act like normal. He didn¡¯t want her to needlessly worry. It was a good thing she had something she could dedicate her time to. With her training, she was occupied enough to not think too much about their unfortunate situation.


    She just had to train, and he had to make a new leather chestplate as quickly as possible. Well, and somehow hide the huge body of the toad. It was another very peculiar beast. It heavily mutated into defense as the gray, scale like material on it wasn¡¯t actually it¡¯s skin, it was more like an artificial armor, which he no clue how the toad made.


    Underneath was the real leathery skin of the toad. There was also its long black tongue, which was unnaturally strong, but especially its teeth took him by surprise. They were also the only component of the body where he had a rough idea of what he could use it for. Maybe make some tool out of it.


    He certainly knew they would work quite well. The two rows of teeth were not only sharp but also serrated, making them perfect to saw through flesh and bone alike. If it wasn¡¯t for his leather armor and quick reaction, he would have been halved.


    He might just make a saw out of it, just to see how well they performed on different materials. It may be even strong enough to saw through metal. A beast using such a strange way of hunting certainly promised the future to be interesting, what other strange beast are out there?


    Quite exiting if he thought about it, even if it was dangerous. Well, danger wasn¡¯t something strange at this point. It was more like an old friend which he just couldn¡¯t seem to quite get away from, someone you don¡¯t see for months but then suddenly just stumble upon each other. He couldn¡¯t even remember what it was like to live without danger.


    ******


    The rest of the month passed quickly, and it was almost time for their third winter to begin. During the past month quite some time was spent on making another leather armor, like always improved compared to the previous variant. Over time, did not only increase his skill in handling leather, but also his knowledge in improving the armor little by little each time.


    Be it by making it more comfortable by adding some more patting at some places, or thickening the leather at others. If he had to make some adjustments, he always tried to improve on the design further. The one problem he couldn¡¯t seem to resolve were his arms and legs.


    There was no bracer he could build, which would withstand his erupted punch, while shoes just became too uncomfortable. At least his pants weren¡¯t a problem as the sweet spot of erupting his essence in his legs, largely stayed inside his body and thus didn¡¯t damage his clothes.


    Since he started to make his own armor it saved his life multiple times, and with him not using his aura, he was severely lacking in defense and relying more and more on it. Of course, he was able to regenerate quickly from most wounds, but that didn¡¯t mean that he liked the pain which came with it. Even after all this time, the pain didn¡¯t subside in any form, he just learned how to keep moving besides being in pain.


    How to ignore it, or in some cases even use it to sharpen his senses. It gave him the ferocity to match the beasts and battle them without being hindered by his fear. After he found a reliable way of attacking and movement, he only needed some way to increase his defense.


    Well, that was a matter he had more than enough time to contemplate about in the future. For now, he wanted to help Mia in finding her own power. He didn¡¯t know if it was possible, but he at least wanted to support her ambitions.


    Knocking on her door, there was a moment of silence before he heard a faint voice from inside. ¡°Yes?¡± Opening the door, he saw Mia sitting on the floor in a mediating position, still training her control over essence, but especially aura. Clay told her to first advance on the field which she was most proficient at, before anything else.


    ¡°Mia, I have an idea which could help you with your power, interested?¡± asked Clay while pointing with his thump over his shoulder to the door. Seeing Mia raise one of her brows, he just rolled his eyes. ¡°Then follow me.¡±


    During the way, Mia kept silent. She learned the hard way that asking Clay a question would often result in him blabbering on without end, as he kept jumping from one topic to the next, so it was best to not say anything at all. But the moment they entered the perimeters of Churchville, it became clear where they were going.


    ¡°Do we really have to go there?¡± asked Mia while stopping in her tracks, hesitating to take another step. It felt like years since she last entered her hometown, a place with a lot of happy and even more traumatic memories. The more recent tragedies always overwhelmed the good ones, so she never dwelled long in her memories of the past. It only caused further pain.


    That her memories before being rescued by Clay were hazy at best and completely black at worst also didn¡¯t help in this matter. She just tried to live in the moment, trying to not think about past nor future.


    Stopping and turning around, Clay ensured, ¡°Of course you don¡¯t have to, but I think this might be the only way for you to better understand what happened to you.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just do another few of your experiments and find out on your own?¡± asked Mia, the worry clear in her voice.


    Scratching the back of his head, Clay explained, ¡°I could try some tests, but to be honest I don¡¯t know as much as you might think. Everything I know, I found out through trail and error, often with dangerous experiments which would have killed me if there wasn¡¯t my regeneration.¡±


    Keeping silent, he watched as Mia struggled with herself on what to do, before her troubled expression eventually relaxed, and became confident. ¡°Okay let¡¯s go!¡±


    Nodding with a smile, they moved on, entering the poison filled city. Since he first rescued Mia the poison never stopped expanding, each day it grew a little more, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before the whole city was consumed by it. The moment he entered, the poison swarmed him from all sides like moths to the light.


    There was no aura shield to stop them, so each breath filled his body with more poison, like a waterfall of death. From every direction, the poison gathered into a thick purple slug around his vital organs, before staying still. The poison still wasn¡¯t hostile to him.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Even then the sweet smell which lingered in the air was as sickening as ever and after almost dying to it, he must have developed some trauma. It was by far the worst smell in the world. He would even prefer the smell of a sea of blood and a mountain of rotting corpses over this cloying smell.


    Ignoring it, he focused on the matter at hand. They were here for answers. What exactly was this poison? How was it able to be move even though seemingly no one controlled it? Why couldn¡¯t Mia control her poison like her aura?


    Finding an answer to these questions would be detrimental in helping her better understand her condition and use it to her advantage instead of it being a burden. The closer they drew upon the source of the poison, the stranger and thicker the surrounding vegetation became.


    Each speck of grass ¨C each vine growing along the crumbling houses ¨C and each of the thick bushes mutated into having a mix of colors ranging from deep purple to bright pink, giving the area an otherworldly feel which you otherwise would only get by looking at the second moon circling the sky. Of course, Clay already saw this sight not too long ago when he came for more wood for Mia¡¯s second mask, but it was still breathtaking.


    When they finally reached the area of, the huge poisonous oak tree looming over the surrounding area stopped Mia suddenly in her tracks. The place which she called home for the vast majority of her life was no more. Being so close to the tree took its toll and once the wooden support completely crumbled away it was nor more than a pile of ruined stones.


    With time, this pile and anything with it was absorbed by the surrounding plants, forming a small hill. At some places you were still able to make out some bits and pieces, but in just a few more months or even weeks one would never guess that this small hill filled with purple and pink vegetation was a two-story tall building.


    Shocked, she looked at the hill, while Clay kept silent. He had no words of condolence for the destruction of her home, it was inevitable the moment he understood the poison was eating at the wood. There were more than enough opportunities to tell her about this, but he chose not to.


    It may be cruel off him, but he wanted her to toughen up, even if he didn¡¯t like it. She already lost a lot of things, and he knew she would lose more in the future from how the world was currently progressing; there laid bleak times ahead of them, he was sure of that.


    Why did he force Mia to help in butchering? Why did he demand so much during their training? Why did he take her on patrols? It was all to prepare her to live on her own, to survive this new world even without him, which was also one of the reasons why he needed to learn as much as possible. Knowledge was power, after all.


    Eventually, Mia moved wordlessly on through the bushes to the garden where the oak tree stood. Since she was last her, it grew by quite a bit, far exceeding the pace in which a tree normally grew. Not wasting more time, she went over to the tree and stretched her hand out, midway she shortly hesitated before continuing and laying her hand on the shimmering purple bark of the tree.


    Not long after, she looked over her shoulder and asked, ¡°What exactly am I supposed to do now? You said coming here would give us answers, but how?¡±


    ¡°I said it could give us answers,¡± corrected Clay, ¡°but I do have an idea. Close your eyes, focus on my voice, and ignore everything else. Now concentrate on your aura, you trained hard the past few months and even if you might think there was no progress you are wrong. All of this training honed your feeling for aura, you feel each current of essence more clearly now, right?¡±


    Seeing her nod in response he explained, ¡°Feel your essence, form your aura and slowly move it outwards into the tree. Start from the roots in the ground, gradually move upwards to the trunk, before ending in its rich crown of leaves. Take your time, there is no pressure.¡±


    Watching her, Clay took notice of her every movement and change in expression. Waiting, he eventually saw her eye twitching and brows furrowing. ¡°What do you feel?¡±


    She hesitated for a moment before she described, ¡°I can feel my aura circling the tree, it¡¯s from top to bottom filled with essence, like a bonfire, it¡¯s almost blinding. Like a fire, it flickers, moving without much of a flow.¡±


    Aura? No, that shouldn¡¯t be possible, you need a heart to store essence and a mind to control it. The tree didn¡¯t have either, or did it mutate? Thinking about countless possibilities Clay kept calm outwards, while directing Mia, ¡°Very good, now try to focus on this aura, what does it feel like?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm¡­ It¡¯s thin, compared to my own it''s almost fragile. Yes, it¡¯s like it isn¡¯t even a whole mass but more like a swarm of embers. There is no current which it follows, but more like flickers. I feel a sense of familiarity from it, and yet I can¡¯t control it.¡±


    Hearing this, Clay got lost in his thoughts. Wrecking his brain over countless theories and trying to make sense of the situation, while Mia continuing to sense the tree.


    After a while she retracted her aura and looked over at Clay who was walking in circles, one of his habits when he was thinking too hard. ¡°Clay?¡± not getting a response, she shouted louder, ¡°Clay!¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Shaking her head in frustration, she asked, ¡°So, what do you think? What does this strange aura mean?¡± Seeing that he was once again straying away with his thoughts, she snapped her fingers. ¡°Hey! Just speak what you are thinking.¡±


    Beginning to walk again in circles and moving his hands in irritation, Clay explained, ¡°It''s not that easy. This doesn¡¯t make sense. Aura is still essence, and there are a few rules which it has always followed up to this point, but if what you described is true¡­ then this tree just broke several of them. Essence is supposed to move as one flow which isn¡¯t the case here and without a mind it shouldn¡¯t even be able to form an aura.¡±


    Scratching his head, he rambled on, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be possible for there to be an unstable flow like you just described. If essence moves, then as one continues flow. Of course, you can split this flow, but that doesn¡¯t make it unstable, then you just have two individual flows at once. Such a flickering shouldn¡¯t be possible, it always has to be a flow.¡±


    Kicking around in the dirt, Mia asked, ¡°So what could be the reason?¡±


    ¡°It could be literally anything,¡± admitted Clay in defeat, ¡°Maybe the tree can somehow influence the poison, maybe the poison itself can move on its own, or it might just be something entirely different that we just don¡¯t understand yet. I¡¯m sorry Mia, I really hoped this would give us answers, but in reality it just resulted in more questions.¡±


    ¡°So we aren¡¯t closer to an answer, I still can¡¯t control my poison, probably never will. I will just continue to produce more and more of it until it consumes me whole?¡± asked Mia with unfocused eyes.


    Straightened his back, Clay tried to cheer her up. ¡°Look, I know we don¡¯t have a solution for now, but it¡¯s definitely not impossible, we will find something together in time.¡±


    ¡°Time. How long exactly? I¡¯m dying Clay!¡± stated Mia, her eyes shifting to him, tears welling up, ¡°I''m going to die, aren''t I?¡± At a loss for words, Clay tried to place his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.


    ¡°Stop!¡± shouted Mia, while pushing his arm away, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare lie to me! I¡¯m sure you noticed it. No, you must have noticed it with how carefully you take notes!¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for Clay to realize what she was hinting at, as a heavy sigh escaped his lips. Taking a step back, she said, ¡°I know that it''s getting worse. How could I not if I¡¯m the one experiencing the symptoms?! I just hoped it would stop eventually, I ignored it, focusing on my stupid mediations in hope you would find a solution.¡± Taking a deep breath, she asked, ¡°Be honest, Clay, how¨C how long¡­?¡±


    Coming over and kneeling on one knee, he looked her deep into the eyes. ¡°Mia stop worrying. Yes, I noticed that the amount of heart blood you need is slowly increasing, but there is still more than enough time. I just have to hunt a little more, and I promise you that we will find a solution.¡±


    Tears rolling along her cheeks, she asked, ¡°Are you sure we can do this on our own?¡± Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. ¡°No, and that is why it¡¯s time to move on.¡± Looking up, her eyes filled with new hope. ¡°You mean we will look¨C¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s time for us to see what became of the rest of the world and find those who survived. I¡¯m sure they will have the knowledge we need. I just hope that they are friendly to outsiders.¡±

 Chapter 18: The Void

    Over the past two and a half years, Clay developed a feeling for the time of the day and the current seasons through his senses, rather through a watch or calendar. So while it was still autumn, he knew winter was around the corner.


    A month passed since they had their small expedition back to Mia¡¯s home. She didn¡¯t take it very well to be honest, but he knew how strong she was and that it wouldn¡¯t stop her. They just had to get back to civilization. The plan was to wait the winter out and move once spring began.


    Like usual the sun was vanishing behind the horizon, slowly casting the world into darkness, while the moons became more apparent in the night sky. First would rise the old moon, much smaller than before and sometimes even appearing to be darker, as if to underline that it''s nowhere near its former glory.


    Like an old man who lived too long, who had seen one too many things. Clay didn¡¯t like looking at their old moon, it depressed him and reminded him of what was ¨C no, it remembered him of what he lost.


    The old moon would slowly climb to the peak of the visible sky, followed by the smaller blue moon, which was not even half, its size, but in turn was so much brighter that it always captivated him over the other. He didn¡¯t really know what it was, but he always felt drawn to the blue moon.


    Maybe it was because it inhabited the origin of essence, in its core was after all the meteorite which brought this strange energy to their planet. It never stopped radiating more essence outwards into the atmosphere, it seemed endless, just like the sun gave them light, the blue moon gave them essence.


    Like usually he spent the night training, thinking or tinkering. It was about midnight when he took a break from adjusting his armor and went out to gaze at the moon again. He did this often, simply to marvel at its beauty and calm his mind.


    Eventually, he noticed how the blue moon drew ever closer to the old, before beginning to slowly vanish behind it. Oh, was it already time? About every 42 days, would the blue moon vanish behind the old one, giving it an ethereal looking blue halo around the edges.


    During this time, their old moon would appear even darker like a circular void between the stars. Its surface was filled with deep craters and shadowy ridges which gave this void the illusion of being alive, as if the shadows itself were dancing along its surface and outwards to the edges of the blue halo which entrapped the darkness within.


    Once the blue moon fully vanished and the void fully encompassed their sky, something unusual happened. He suddenly had a strange feeling of premonition, something was off. At first, he wasn¡¯t quite sure where that feeling came from, as it was too faint, but eventually this feeling morphed into something tangible.


    It was hard to describe, but it felt like as if a new weight laid itself over his mind, slowing his thoughts, while his breath accelerated and a deep unsettling feeling of dread slowly unfurled through his whole being.


    The void was surrounded by the ethereal blue halo, which slowly started to squirm. At first only a few tendrils broke off from the normal circular halo, but soon it grew in intensity and speed before turning into a storm of moving tendrils.


    It was as if lighting was dancing along the edges of the void, expanding outwards to the sky, ripping into it so intensely that a soft diffused blue light remained even after the tendrils retracted back to the void, turning the night sky into a something that reminisced the northern lights.


    Is that how essence looked at its purest? Was that how the atmosphere would look if I could see essence? It¡¯s so¡­ beautiful.


    Standing there, he watched in awe, not knowing what to do. This was on a scale so much greater than himself, that he didn¡¯t even try to do something, to worry or even understand, he just allowed himself to be completely consumed by this spectacle.


    This stalemate was abruptly broken, once the blue hue reached down the roof of their house, down its walls and to the ground, finally submerging everything, himself included. Gravity multiplied at once, and he felt as if the atmosphere itself was trying to make him bow. Like he was underwater, and the pressure pressed down from all sides.


    His enhanced body fought against it, and subconsciously he took a hold of the essence released by his refinement and guided it outwards to form a shield. Once it snapped in place, the unsettling feeling vanished at once, together with the heaviness of his body and the headache which had started to grow like a tumor.


    Opening and closing his fist, he looked at the sky again. What he saw there couldn¡¯t be described as a moon, it had more similarities to a black hole than anything else. Too confused to act, he just kept watching, which was soon interrupted by a distressed voice from behind. ¡°Clay! What the fuck happened to the sky?!¡±


    Not responding, she ran at him and repeated herself while pointing at the void that was ripped into the night itself, ¡°Clay! Please tell me that is something normal! We are gonna be fine, right?!¡±


    Still not responding or even diverting his gaze, she got even more anxious and started shaking him, as if he lost consciousness. ¡°Clay, please tell me you know what this is?!¡± beginning to cry, she slowed her shaking. ¡°Please tell me that you know what to do¡­¡±


    Letting her arms fall down, she fully broke into tears, looking at the ground, sniffling uncontrollably while gasping for air in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. Feeling a firm hand on her shoulder, she looked up with a blurry vision and saw Clay smiling warmly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what this is, how it happened what it does, when it will end. But I promise you one thing: you¡¯re going to life, no matter what,¡± Clay vowed confidently and without a hint of hesitation.


    Feeling his hand on her shoulder, she immediately calmed down, and hearing him being as calm and collected as ever gave her confidence. With one deep breath, she wiped the tears from her eyes and exhaled. ¡°Okay, but you have to stay alive too. I won¡¯t accept you sacrificing yourself.¡±


    Laughing, he patted her on the head, which she surprisingly didn¡¯t resist. ¡°Of course I won¡¯t die, I still want to see what became of the rest of the world and just because the sky turned all weird, doesn¡¯t mean it will stop me.¡±


    Having calmed down from their normal interaction, Mia asked, ¡°So what do we do?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Clay replied, ¡°Foremost, we won¡¯t do anything but observe and try to understand what exactly is happening. Maybe it will finally pay off that I built that wall around our house. Oh, and never let your aura shield down.¡±


    Raising a brow, Mia asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    Walking past her, he went to their shack, saying, ¡°The atmosphere itself turned hostile, and your aura is the only thing between you and death.¡± Taking a moment to process what Clay just said, she quickly followed behind, asking, ¡°Why the hell became the atmosphere hostile?¡±


    Shrugging his shoulders, he said, ¡°Dunno, ask the hole in the sky. More importantly, hold this¨C¡± Turning around, he let the wooden spears he just scooped up with his arm fall unto Mia which she struggled to catch, causing the spears to roll around in her arms before she finally got a hold of them all.


    ¡°What the hell am I supposed to do with these?!¡± Mia asked angrily. Looking past him, she finally noticed that the shack was filled from top to bottom with wooden spears. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me you actually never stopped making these spears?¡±


    Looking over his shoulder, Clay saw the collection of spears with a different eye and couldn¡¯t keep himself from laughing. ¡°Well it somehow stuck with me, I never quite noticed, but I did grow quite the collection didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me, do you have a hidden army somewhere to supply?¡± asked Mia skeptically.


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not even all of them, I just didn¡¯t know where else to stash them,¡± explained Clay while grabbing another arm full of spears.


    ¡°You have more?!¡± Mia asked in outrage.


    ¡°Yeah, I had to do something while on patrol, but that¡¯s not important at the moment, follow me,¡± ordered Clay while walking to their wooden palisade. Shaking her head to free herself of these unnecessary thoughts, she followed behind.


    Clamping the spears between his left stump and armpit, he freed his right arm to lean one of the spears with the sharp end pointed upwards against the wall. ¡°I do the right and you the left side, I want a spear between each trunk.¡±


    Nodding, Mia moved left and placed the spears along the wall and once they were done they moved the rest of them against the side of the house, and in small barrels around their small compound. Looking at the sight, Mia exhaled. ¡°You really think that is gonna help?¡±


    Nodding, Clay stated, ¡°I don¡¯t only think it will help, I know it will. Don¡¯t underestimate the power of a spear, besides I can¡¯t fully rely on my erupting punch, it renders me helpless for too long if I don¡¯t know against how many opponents I have to fight,¡± looking at the sky he added, ¡°at least I hope that I can fight whatever awaits us.¡±


    ******


    Time passed, minutes felt like hours, and every sound made their heart skip a beat and turn them into startled animals as they frantically looked around to see if they were under attack.


    But worst of all was this subtle feeling of dread that was growing and with the void nearing its apex so too neared this feeling its peak. Refusing to blink, Clay watched on, his hand clenching the sword between his fingers until his knuckles turned white.


    Eventually his hand began to tremble and once the black hole finally reached the center of the sky, his breath stopped and his eyes widened further, turning bloodshot as he expected something horrible to happen at any moment.


    One, two, three, he counted the seconds, eleven, twelve, thirteen, his heart began to race, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, his breath turned rugged, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, his shield flickered, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    A full minute passed when he finally realized that the void continued moving across the sky. He forced himself to break eye contact looking on the ground, blinking, a sudden burning pain shot through his dry eyes. Tearing up, he pressed his hand on his chest. He was hyperventilating, ears ringing, heart racing, each thump felt like a hammer that resonated through his skull.


    Closing his eyes, he tried to take a deep breath only to feel the leather breastplate pressing against him, like a stone that weighed on his gut, pushing the air from his lungs while he sunk deeper into the abyss.


    Crouching over, he fiddled with the straps of leather to the side until he eventually got them loose and ripped the whole thing away to finally take a deep breath, Calm down Clay! Breath! In and out. In and out¡­


    With eyes closed, he just focused on breathing. Eventually was he able to calm down and stabilized the circulation of his shield. It would have been very bad if it had given in, but fortunately it stood firm.


    Slowly opening his eyes, he was startled to see Mia¡¯s face, her temple against his own and a hand on his shoulder, her eyes closed, which opened shortly after his own. He was on his knees, and too shocked with the situation to feel embarrassed.


    ¡°Are you fine?¡± Mia asked worried.


    Lying his hand on her arm, he straightened his head and smiled. ¡°Yes, thank you. I just got a little overwhelmed.¡±


    Nodding, she raised from her squat and looked at the sky again. ¡°It¡¯s still moving. So maybe it will pass soon, right?¡±


    Following suite, Clay rose to his feet, and stood beside Mia watching the moving void. ¡°I¡¯m sure it will pass, let¡¯s just¡­ enjoy the view, okay?¡±


    Nodding absently her head, Clay soon lost himself in his own thoughts, If my shield broke just now I could have died¡­ it would all have been over. Just like that. Why did it suddenly affect me so heavily? He looked over his shoulder at Mia, with a frown. Mia seems to be doing just fine. What in the heavens is happening?


    Completely lost in finding answers, time passed, until the void finally vanished behind the horizon and the golden light of the dawning sun blinded their eyes, and they finally allowed themselves to relax. During the night, the atmosphere never stopped suppressing them. Luckily, their natural refinement was enough to supply their shields with enough energy.


    As longs as they didn¡¯t have to fight during this time, it really wasn¡¯t that bad. The question was how long this anomaly was going to last. Also, how are the beasts going to react to it? Clay knew that most beast didn¡¯t have a noteworthy aura shield, they had an aura, yes, but rarely one dense enough to be considered a shield.


    Putting his sword at an angle, the rays of light reflected his own face on the blade, as he pondered about their next course of actions. Since the void vanished, he could feel that the effect that ate at his shield was slowly decreasing. Should he get out and see what was going on in the forest, or stay and wait what happens?


    Going through a lot of potential scenarios in his head, he eventually settled on staying. He was of course curious what was going on in the forest, but he shouldn¡¯t unnecessarily risk his life and potentially invoke the wrath of some beasts. If the effect of suppression didn¡¯t get any worse, they should be able to just wait until this anomaly hopefully passed by.


    Just like when you stay put in your house during a hefty storm, they will stay put and wait until the worst of this ¡°magic storm¡± has passed.


    ******


    Nervously and filled with angst, the day eventually passed without anything of note happening. The effect of suppression lessened substantially once the void had fully vanished, but Clay wasn¡¯t dreading the day, but what followed it.


    And as if to spite him once the sun set, and he looked upon the horizon the golden strings of light merged with the rising ethereal blue halo that surrounded the void, submerging the sky into an otherworldly soft green hue with tints of aquamarine.


    With the rise of the void, he could feel the suppression rising, while the green hue spread through the whole sky. It really looked like the northern lights, yet it felt nothing like it. The sense of awe was the same, but he couldn¡¯t appreciate the sight if he constantly felt like the air itself was trying to crush him to death.


    This time, he had far better control over his emotions and watched in high alarm as the void yet again climbed to it¡¯s peak. Once there his heart still made a jump, but he was able to quickly regain his composure, while the moons moved on.


    They waited all night, but the second night passed just like the first, with nothing happening apart from the suppression growing in intensity. The violent atmosphere made it harder to refine essence, and if this continued they would soon need to burn their heart blood just to withstand this strange suppression.


    How long is this anomaly going to last? What even is happening?


    ******


    All day, Clay tried to make sense of the situation, but came to no plausible explanation. Something in the blue moon must have changed, and he just hoped that, whatever that was, would soon stabilize.


    They still had quite the stash of supplies, so he wasn¡¯t worried about running out of food, water or heart blood in the case of Mia, but if the crushing atmosphere around them kept growing at this pace they would not survive another week.


    This wasn¡¯t a situation where they had to save on supplies, so Clay did the exact opposite, eating and drinking as much as he wanted. If there really happened something, he didn¡¯t want to face it with an empty stomach nor dry lips.


    He tried to be as casual about the situation as he could for Mia¡¯s sake, but they both knew it was just a pretty lie. Nothing was fine and Clay was sure their life was more than a little endangered, but sometimes a small lie was all it needed to keep you going, so he wouldn¡¯t shove his usual honesty in her face.


    In truth, he wanted to believe in this lie himself. There just happened too much shit over the past two and a half years for him to take whatever¡­ this thing in the sky was.


    Time eventually passed, no matter how much they wished for it to stand still. Once again, the sun vanished behind the horizon, causing the same play of pale green and aquamarine light to decorate the atmosphere.


    Closing his eyes and feeling along the edges of his shield, he concentrated on the pressure and gauged how bad it was¡­ Shit, it rose in power again.


    That really wasn¡¯t good, especially if he considered¡­ Trailing off with his thoughts, he took a glance at Mia. He didn¡¯t want to think about it, but if this didn¡¯t stop soon he would be the first to give in, after all was Mia¡¯s shield several times stronger than his own.


    He couldn¡¯t allow her to see him die like this, not after she just barely recovered from the loss of her brother. Fuck, he was lying to himself, she didn¡¯t recover from her parents nor her brother, he didn¡¯t mention it because he didn¡¯t know how to help. He wasn¡¯t really good at the whole feelings compartment of being human.


    But he wasn¡¯t oblivious to the fact that Mia still woke up at night, bathed in sweat and with haggard breath, awakened by another nightmare. He was superhuman, he could hear her sobs from the cellar as if she was beside him if he enhanced his ears.


    To be honest, he didn¡¯t really understand what kept her going, but a small part of himself told him that he was the reason ¨C or at least a large part of it. If he were to die, it would¡­ break her.


    For him to fulfill his promise to Jim he had to stay alive at least until she was able to move on and life her own life. Hopefully in an environment with others friends her age and more normal stuff than a lesson on butchering mutated wolves or how to control the strange magic that turned their whole lives upside down and shattered everything they considered to be common sense.


    Something like a normal, boring school would be nice¡­ Damn, I think I¡¯m actually missing school myself. Took only the end of the world, snickered Clay in his mind.


    Heaving a sigh, he concentrated back on his task of observing the village. He was currently sitting on their rooftop, where he was able to see most of the crumbling and overgrowing houses. He swore that plants grew faster. It was impossible for ivy to grow that quickly.


    Most of his essence was directed into keeping his shield up, but a substantial amount was also used to singularly enhance his left eye while he covered his right one with his hand. Normally he had enough essence to enhance whatever sense he needed to the fullest, but with this suppression he had to dedicate most of what he refined to keeping his shield up.


    The fact that he refined essence slower didn¡¯t help in that matter at all. Even that one eye together with the shield was pushing it for what he refined. The next night, he would be forced to increase the intensity of his inner flame and begin to lose heart blood.


    Maybe he should have built some sort of watchtower or at least some sort of battlement, but he didn¡¯t deem it necessary to be honest. Once he encountered the dire wolves, he figured the wooden palisade would be useless anyway, so he didn¡¯t bother.


    And their rooftop fulfilled the job of the watchtower just as well, if not better. There was no reason to got out and build something if you could just causally climb the roof.


    Surveying the surroundings, the night fully rose, and he half expected nothing to show up. Nothing did the first two days, so he didn¡¯t think now of all days something would, if anything he thought it was less likely. With the pressure from the atmosphere increasing, there wouldn¡¯t be a lot of animals that could be bothered with anything else but trying to stay alive themselves.


    That was until he saw a shadow dragging its body around a corner of a house in the distance. He immediately recognized it as a dire wolf, but upon a closer look he froze. Its veins were bulging, even twitching from time to time like they had a life on their own.


    It¡¯s left hint leg was twisted all wrong, and it was just dragging it along the ground. It missed a hand on its right arm with only bits and pieces of flesh hanging along, and its body had claw marks all over, even on the face which seemed to have blinded one of its eyes.


    Feeling his heart begin to accelerate caused Clay to slowly increase the intensity of his inner flame. Something was wrong about this dire wolf. He knew it should have died from such wounds, and it was way too silent, almost as if it were a puppet on strings.


    Each of its movement was far from natural, too mechanical and clumsy for it to be anything close to the agile and evasive hunters he remembered fighting. He rose from his crouch and straightened his back.


    Soon the dire wolf stopped pulling it¡¯s battered body along the concrete and snapped its head in his direction. It watched for a moment before an unsettling canine grin settled on its snout as a low growl started to rise from the depth of its throat.


    Suddenly there was an unsettling sound of squashing flesh as the leg of the wolf turned violently and pushed itself back into its normal position with a loud crack. The claw marks all over its body knitted itself shut and the pieces of flesh around its hand formed a stump, showing capabilities of healing only matched by himself.


    Oh, so they regenerate now¡­ That¡¯s all just fucking great, lamented Clay to himself. Moving his neck around, he moved his sword in lazy circles before pushing his essence into his legs and jumped from the roof over the palisade and safely on to the road.


    Almost at the same time, the wolf sprinted at him with an unusual aggressiveness, compared to the usual calm he was used to from the hunter. It definitely was faster than usual. He watched as the beast raced towards him, using all of his limbs ¨C even the stump ¨C to reach him as quickly as possible.


    Having strengthened his whole body by now, Clay gripped the handle of his sword firmly, as he waited for his opportunity. Holding his essence, he observed every movement of the beast, until he finally saw it.


    At once, he erupted the essence inside his legs and shot off at impossible speed for the dire wolf to react to and with an iron grip sliced through the neck of the thing in one slice and beheaded it smoothly, as a trail of blood followed behind his blade.


    Taking a few steps to slow his dash, he felt the burning pain on his legs. He overshot it a bit, but he wanted to make sure he was faster. Turning around, he saw the body of the beast falling down with a heavy thud, which prompted him to quickly stifle his inner flame.


    So it couldn¡¯t regenerate, being beheaded. It lets me wonder if I would survive being beheaded?


    Shaking his head, he pushed the absurdity of that question out of his mind and concentrated on the dead body. This didn¡¯t seem like a normal mutation, and he guessed that the whole anomaly with the moons was behind it. The only question was: ¡°How many of this new beast are there?¡±

 Chapter 19: Brutal Night

    Observing the beast a little longer, Clay could see its body practically falling apart. Wounds that seemed to have healed opened again as crimson flowed like a river, while the body turned into a bloody puddle of flesh, organs and bones.


    It was decomposing at a speed visible to the eyes. Seeing this, he realized that the dire wolf wasn¡¯t awakened, but must have burned its essence at a frightening pace to reach the regeneration and speed it had shown.


    Crouching down, he was mesmerized by seeing each part of its body slowly falling apart in a gory mess, which made it hard for him to decide if he should vomit or be fascinated with the process. Catching a whiff of the stench coming from below he gagged, vomiting it is then.


    Concentrating to ignore the stench, he focused on why the dire wolf burned what was essentially his own life force in such a wasteful manner. The only thing that came to mind was to withstand the pressure from the atmosphere.


    From what he could feel, it would be hard if not impossible for non-awakend beast to withstand this pressure without burning their heart blood to get more essence.


    Realizing this, he froze, If they need to burn heart blood just to survive, then doesn¡¯t that mean that everyone who hasn¡¯t awakened will¡­


    Taking a deep breath, he pushed the thought aside. It didn¡¯t matter, he had to focus on the moment, on what was truly important: surviving. It will surely pass soon enough. There was no reason to worry.


    With an enhanced jump, he was up in the air and back over the palisade and made his way into the house to be greeted by a worried Mia, shooting questions at him. Staying calm, he answered them one after the other before hushing her back behind the makeshift barricade they had built in the hall of their entrance. Every other possible exist, like the windows or the backdoor, were nailed shut with planks.


    This wouldn¡¯t stop the beasts if they tried to get in, but he assumed from the intelligence that he had seen so far that they hadn¡¯t the mind to attack anything that wasn¡¯t directly in front of them. As long as she stayed as silent as possible, she should be fine.


    At first Mia objected, the idea of hiding, she had trained hard with him and had experienced her fair share of battles, on their patrols, but he was insistent of her staying. This was too much for her to handle. Hell he wasn¡¯t qualified to handle this situation but he at least had to pretend that he was.


    She would only stand in his way. If he really had to fight for his life, he knew he worked best alone. Having stifled her worries he asked, ¡°You still remember our plan right?¡±


    ¡°I do, but I still think I shouldn¡¯t hide down there if you have to fight for your life up here¨C¡± Interrupting Mia with a hush, he smiled. ¡°Mia, I promise you that nothing will happen to me. I will be fine, but should we get surrounded you get into the bunker, and patiently wait until I get you, okay?¡±


    She hesitated before giving him a slow nod. Kissing her on the forehead, he said, ¡°Get behind the barricade, I will go back to watching the streets.¡±


    Keeping his smile he turned around and went outside, closing the door behind him, when he heard the click of the lock his smile faded. It will pass soon, it had to.


    ******


    The third night was not even halfway over when Clay spotted the second beast of the night. Another dire wolf and just like the first its veins were bulging from the overflow of essence rushing through its body, burning to fight against the building pressure of the atmosphere.


    Not wasting any time, he jumped from the roof and headed straight to it. This time he didn¡¯t even wait for the beast to make its attack, he just rushed in while he held the essence in his legs. Once he was close enough, he erupted, catching the dire wolf off guard, and pushed his blade into its chest where he knew its heart was.


    Missing the gap without bones, he could feel, his blade pushing against the rips of the beast, stopping it momentarily before his momentum and strength broke right through and pierced the heart. Wincing at the force his sword just had to withstand, he quickly withdrew his blade before walking a few steps back.


    Stunned by the sudden attack, the dire wolf took a closer look at its assailant. Locking eyes for just a moment, it immediately turned feral as rage fueled howls filled Clay¡¯s ears, and he saw it rushing at him without a care in the world for the supposedly fatal wound it just had received.


    Dashing to the side with another eruption in his legs, he evaded the tackle. Swiftly recovering its stance, the beast shot around after him mindlessly. He was prepared to evade again, but the eyes of the beast suddenly widened as it missed a step and stumbled.


    Falling on the ground, it slid a few meters before coming to a stop. Observing from a distance, he could see it was still breathing but much harder compared to before, not long after it drew its last breath and ceased to exist, as its body began its quick process of decay.


    So the head it is, thought Clay to himself. He had to know if the beast''s regeneration was really as powerful as he guessed, and this just proved that it was. It had its limit, as the heart had proven, but everywhere else beside the heart and brain would probably be non-lethal.


    Nodding, he made a mental note on the three ways he knew how to kill these heavily enhanced beasts. The first was to disturb the connection to the body by smashing the brain beyond repair, or just outright beheading them. The second was to cut off the supply of new essence by destroying the heart, and the last and most tedious was to just wait until the essence was exhausted and all burned up.


    He was so confident about these methods because they were the only things he assumed would kill himself. The last two and a half years had put him in a lot of unwanted close calls with death and from all the injuries, be it broken bones, torn flesh, pierced organs or crushed nerves he always recovered.


    There was even the possibility that ripping the brain to shreds wouldn¡¯t be enough and that they could recover from it, but the chance was low, not to mention that the cost of healing the most complex organ in the body must be more than a little costly on the essence.


    Whatever these dire wolves were doing to their body, it certainly didn¡¯t leave anything but a puddle of organic matter behind. It was a warning to himself to never burn too much essence. So far, he had the luck to never fall to the low that he had when he survived Mia¡¯s poison, and he intended to keep it that way.


    If he saw another of these beasts, he would certainly target the brain. Adjusting his mask, he went back over the palisade, but just when he landed he caught the reflection of a shining black surface. His body tensed at once, as he flared his inner flame and moved to the side before a shadow shot at him, missing his neck barley as a deep gash was left on his chestplate.


    Having adjusted to the sudden spike in power, his eyes were able to catch the bone spider quickly jumping to the side of one of the tree trunks in preparation for another attack. With no time to draw his blade, he held the essence in his arm, fuck he shouldn¡¯t have sheathed the blade in the first place.


    The spider took its jump, which Clay followed by leaning inwards with his body, moving his arm barely past the sickle-like front leg of the spider, his punch erupted in front of its face, causing ripples of force to shred through his own bones and flesh into the body of the spider, as it was pulverized into a bloody mist of yellow.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Organic matter exploded outwards, most of it being shot back at the palisade, carrying enough force to make a small dent in the wood and push the trunks ever so slightly to the left and right. Shacking his right arm the few droplets of blood from the open wound flew away, as it closed itself shut, while his cracked bones shifted back into place.


    No matter how much he used this eruption, the pain was just the same. Well, seems like it would be hard to get used to feeling your own bones and flesh being torn to shreds, but he had to say that the effect was well worth the pain. It surprised him time and again what power a single erupted punch held.


    Shifting his attention from his own body, he looked at the remains of the spider. Encountering two different beasts so close to his home never happened before. Something was strange, and he didn¡¯t have a good feeling about it.


    Drawing his blade, he waited, and it didn¡¯t take long before a figure jumped effortlessly over the palisade as yet another dire wolf locked eyes with him. Its target was clear, and it made Clay shudder.


    It can¡¯t be that these beasts are targeting me specifically, right?


    But before he could pursue any more thoughts the wolf was on him with another fight breaking out, which ended just as quickly as the rest, when Clay sidestepped one claw swipe and swung his sword upwards cleaving deep into stomach and chest, before striking the sword straight down, unto it¡¯s neck in a sideways angle, severing the neck halfway before burying the blade deep into the body stopping just before a bone.


    Seeing that its regeneration was still heavily at work, he ripped his sword free, by pushing with his leg, causing the wolf to fall backwards, as he continued to watch. Could it recover from such a wound?


    It was quickly losing a lot of blood, and he could see the flesh squirming in an effort to close the wound on the neck, but together with the slash across the body it seemed like it was too much, as the flesh stopped moving and instead gave away old wounds, as the body broke down into an organic puddle.


    So this one ran out of essence it seems, Clay figured while stifling his inner flame. Way more problematic was the fact of how determined the dire wolf had targeted him. He was sure that the beasts have never set foot into this small village, let alone close to the center where their house laid. This was more than a little worrying.


    Before he could worry further, he heard a creak, as Mia sheepishly opened the door to see what the ruckus was about. There was a small gasp once she saw the dissolving dire wolf. Furrowing his brows in irritation, Clay berated, ¡°Mia, I said you should stay¨C!¡±


    A loud crash sounded as something heavy tackled the wall and caused the trunks to bend dangerously close inwards. Quickly putting distance between himself and the palisade, he moved his head slightly over his shoulder. ¡°Go back!¡±


    Startled, Mia quickly shut the door, before a weird yet strangely familiar popping sound made Clay bend his head a little to the side, as a black tongue nearly missed him and impacted onto the door.


    He stumbled a few steps to the side from the shock of being nearly caught by one of these toads again, before his mind calmed, and he quickly moved his sword in a downward slash and severed the tongue in one motion.


    The tongue flailed in the air before being retracted by the toad, who finally toppled the trunks over with an angry and deep croak. Seeing a toad so far from its home finally confirmed it for him. He didn¡¯t know why or how, but these beasts were targeting him specifically.


    Knowing that his sword will have little use here, he concentrated and held a stream of essence in his right leg. Moving without hesitation, he confronted the fat and heavily armored creature. From the motion of the thing he saw that it was about to jump long before it did. So with a small sprint, he too jumped right above the toad.


    When the legs of the heavy creature finally found the strength to lift it¡¯s body, he was already above it and erupted the essence in his leg and kicked the toad right back into the ground, causing wide fractures to ripple along the concrete, as a loud crash resounded, as if stone clashed with stone.


    The force of the kick rippled downwards, leaving cracks in its skin wherever it traveled, which soon were filled with red, like streams running along a mountain. Pushing off from the body with his left leg he landed on the ground beside it, carefully supporting his right leg on the ground, with only his toes touching the ground, as he waited for his regeneration to do its magic.


    Before the wound even fully healed, he saw a small black object jump from an opposing rooftop right into his direction. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, he carefully angled his sword and caught the bone spider right in its maw, as its momentum skewered itself. The body pushed itself to the halfway point of his blade, its eyes turning wide in shock before it¡¯s eight legs turned limp.


    Swinging his sword to the side, the body slid off and rolled along the ground. Taking a look at the carnage around him, that just transpired in mere minutes, he couldn¡¯t help himself but sigh.


    This wouldn¡¯t continue like this, right? An ominous howl of the wind hushed along the ground, Right?!


    ******


    When the first rays of the dawning sun creeped free from the cracks of the door and planks hammered in front of the windows, Mia finally had the courage to leave her hiding place. Tenderly opening the door, a creek resounded, as the door stopped after only a slit opened.


    Putting more force into her push, she felt something sliding along the door as it finally gave away to the open sky. Almost stumbling through the door, she was momentarily blinded by the sun. When her vision cleared, and she was able to take her surroundings in, she gasped in shock, before the smell finally reached her nose and caused her to gag.


    Covering her mouth and nose with her shirt, she quickly looked for Clay and saw him resting on top of a literal mountain of corpses. He was sitting on what appeared to be a gray rock, with streams of blood flowing down, into the puddle of brown, red and yellow goo that surrounded him.


    His temple was resting on the hilt of his blade, supporting his frame and preventing him from toppling over. Slowly taking a few steps closer, Mia came to the conclusion that he was taking a nap, that was until he moved his head slightly to the side and opened lazily one eye to look at her. For a moment, they just stared at each other, until he suddenly smiled and rose from his fleshy seat.


    Standing, she was able to fully take Clay¡¯s appearance in. His mask was hanging from his neck, covered in a mix of red and yellow, the same color smeared his whole body, his pants were almost completely ripped off, while his leather chestplate was hanging with mere scraps to his body. Jumping down, he rested the blade on his shoulder, instead of sheathing it.


    ¡°See, I told you I would be fine,¡± said Clay as casually as he could. This night was more than a little close, and he burned way too much heart blood. He didn¡¯t even have a third left and if the next night was the same as this one, he couldn¡¯t guarantee for his own survival, but Mia didn¡¯t have to know that.


    Completely perplexed by the situation, Mia needed a moment to process until she asked, ¡°Are you really fine? I mean this¡­¡±


    Looking down at himself, Clay became wide-eyed, as if he had only noticed now that he was completely drenched in blood. ¡°Oh! You mean the blood. It¡¯s fine, it isn¡¯t mine¡­ mostly.¡±


    Opening her mouth, Mia was about to say something before stopping midway. ¡°Forget it, can we do something about this,¡± thinking about the smell caused her to gag again, ¡°we must do something about the smell!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they did decompose really quickly, but cleaning this up¡­¡± he trailed off with his voice as he looked at the close to two dozen bodies around him, the destroyed palisade, the spears which were littering the ground or impaled bodies. The one bone spider he kicked onto their roof caught his eye, when it slowly trailed along the roof tiles and fell on the ground with a loud splash.


    ¡°You know what? Why don¡¯t we move for now to a different house in the neighborhood? I mean, the palisade is destroyed, and we can just quickly forticate some house,¡± suggested Clay.


    Happily nodding along, Mia stopped asking questions. ¡°Yes, that sounds lovely, I will get my things.¡±


    ******


    Clay decided to settle on a house in the southern rear of the village. It was a single-floored house with a small basement, so he half-heartedly turned the wooden interior into planks to barricade the windows.


    It was messy and quick, but sufficient for obstructing the vision and hindering the beasts for the mere moments he intended for it to hold. The basement had an exit which directly lead to the outside, in case they were overrun.


    The idea was to send Mia back to Churchville into the heart of the poisonous territory when the worst case scenario came into being. Well, he just had to survive. What is one more night after all?


    Looking at the makeshift leather armor on his body, his smile stiffened. They were just prototypes he never got around to finishing, they were not properly tanned or had the layers he normally deemed sufficient, but he figured it was still better than nothing.


    Fumbling around his belt, he was caught by surprise as Mia suddenly stepped through the door frame and asked, ¡°Are you done with the fortifications?¡±


    Acting as if he was straightening his belt, he smiled, ¡°Yeah, I think so.¡±


    ¡°Good then finally go to bed, you need to be rested for tonight.¡± Seeing that Clay was about to say something, she raised a brow. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear any more excuses like, ¡®preparation¡¯, or more ¡®fortification¡¯, you are going to bed¡­ Now!¡±


    Raising his hand in defeat, he got comfortable on the couch before closing his eyes for a moment to think, but before he could hold another thought he was gone and fast asleep.

 Chapter 20: Last Resort

    Clay was abruptly awakened by Mia shaking his body. He immediately jerked into a straight posture, about to reach for his sword, before he realized who awoke him. Sighing, he tried to mask his shook, he must have been more exhausted than he dared to admit.


    From her expression, he also knew that Mia already knew, she wasn¡¯t stupid, but he kept the act nonetheless. ¡°Hey there, what¡¯s up, I was just dozing a little.¡±


    ¡°Clay, you¡­¡± biting herself on the lower lip, she stopped mid-sentence, ¡°Never mind it¡¯s about to turn night.¡±


    Nodding in understanding, he rose from the couch, a blanket sliding away that he never put there. Circling his shoulders and stretching his neck, he grabbed his scabbard and went outside. Stopping at the door, he turned around to speak with Mia, but she just nodded her head slightly, her gaze directed to the ground.


    He was about to say something, but when he opened his mouth the words refused to come out, so he just patted her on the head and closed the door. With a push of essence, he was on the roof and drew his blade, looking over it carefully. The double-edged blade had some small nicks and dents along the edge.


    Just another night, my friend, just another night to survive. Nothing new, nothing to be afraid of.


    Taking a deep breath, he tried to stifle the bad feeling that was only getting worse since he woke up. He just had to be efficient, kill every beast with as little essence as possible. On cue, he felt the crushing feeling around his body raising, as the atmosphere pressed against his aura.


    As if tensing a muscle, he drew his aura closer, steeling it for the coming night. Feeling the comforting pressure of his aura, he calmed a little. The blue void barely rose from the horizon when he heard the first howl of a dire wolf in the distance. What followed was an orchestra of howling which sounded like a war cry to the heavens itself.


    Upon the sound, each hair on his body rose in anticipation, his every sense giving him a warning. He stood there for what felt like minutes, having a lengthy argument with himself on what to do, weighting the pros and cons of several options and eventually came to a conclusion.


    With a plan in mind he moved his legs, grabbed his scabbard, sheathed his sword jumped from the roof, opened the front door, practically kicked the one to the cellar in and saw a startled Mia quickly raising to her feet in confusion. ¡°W-What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Grabbing her with one arm, a high squeal escaped her lips, as she was suddenly lifted from the ground, causing her cheeks to redden in embarrassment. ¡°C-Clay! I¡¯m not a child anymore!¡±


    ¡°Hold on, we have to leave,¡± the sentence was short and spoken with a coldness, unusual for him. This was enough for her embarrassment to fade and be replaced by fear of what might happen as she embraced him with arm and legs, burrowing her head in his shoulder, her head racing with bad scenarios, each new one worse than the last.


    Keeping her secure with his arm, Clay kicked the cellar door open which directly lead to the outside, and walked to the torn and overgrown road back to Churchville. Once his bare feet touched the concrete, he erupted into a sprint. Releasing his essence at just the right moment for his regeneration to keep up, as his inner flame rose to fuel this endeavor.


    Fully concentrating he fell into a trance of running, ignoring everything else as he moved, occasionally jumping over bumps or avoiding the few cars which were long ago abandoned.


    Only a few hundred meters from Churchville, the city already in sight, he heard the rustling of something huge jumping alongside him. It was using the trees near the road to follow him. Ignoring it he kept going for as long as he could, but eventually it overtook him and with another jump left the thicket of the trees and jumped into his way.


    Seeing the creature in the full light of the void, Clay directly recognized it as an awakened dire wolf. It was the reason for his sudden departure and even with his head start it was able to catch up. Its body was littered with scars, painting a strange picture as streaks of fur were replaced with pale skin.


    With a loud crack, it swung with his left arm. Seeing this, Clay let himself fall, letting his momentum carry him along the ground as his pants, and skin were ripped open. Wrapping his hand around Mia¡¯s head, he pressed her face closer to his shoulder.


    As the arm moved closer to his face, he bent closer to the ground, until he could feel his lower back touching the rough concrete, before the claws barely missed him slicing through his hair, as a few strands were cleanly cut off.


    Moments later, he lost his momentum and carefully sat Mia on the ground, before drawing his blade, while he turned around and jumped to a stand. What greeted him was the first dire wolf, which towered a good head over him, as it held the few bright silver strands of hair between its long claws.


    It was grinning dangerously, fletching it¡¯s teeth in the process. For what felt like an eternity they were gazing at each other, gauging the strength of the other, as they prepared for battle. Clay didn¡¯t have much heart blood left, but he couldn¡¯t show fear. He knew how these beasts hunted showing fear meant admitting defeat, it was the moment where it would strike.


    Observing its every movement, he noticed its gaze shifting. What? Suddenly realizing where it was looking at, he turned around to see Mia sitting trembling on the ground, her eyes wide, her breath haggard, turning quicker with the moment.


    ¡°No!¡±


    It all happened too quickly for Clay¡¯s brain to process. Before he came to a coherent thought, his body moved and jumped in front of Mia, stopping the dire wolves arm just before her face. A drop of blood fell from one of the claw¡¯s on her nose, as she fell backwards. Watching, she saw her eyes turn from glossy to wet, as tears trailed along her beautiful rosy cheeks.


    Tensing his muscles, he made sure to keep the arm of the dire wolf lodged into his body, as his right arm held unto the arm. Looking down, he saw that it ripped through his stomach, thankfully it missed his heart.


    Seeing Mia¡¯s body tremble involuntarily, her limbs giving away, he knew she was close to a breakdown. ¡°Mia?¡± She seemed confused by where the sound came from, as her eyes focused on his wound.


    ¡°Mia!¡± Hesitantly moving her head upwards to his face, Clay smiled, while locking eyes with her. ¡°Just focus on me, okay? You can stand up, right?¡± Her head slowly shock in defiance of the situation.


    ¡°Shh, Mia, everything is okay, I told you that,¡± taking a glance at his wound he reminded her, ¡°Mia my eyes! Just my eyes, okay?¡± Slowly nodding her head, his warm smile returned. ¡°Try to slowly stand up. Just ignore everything else.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Tenderly and with shaking legs, she stood up. Seeing this, the gloating dire wolf from behind suddenly realized something was wrong, as it tried to rip its arm free from Clay¡¯s body, only to realize that it didn¡¯t even budge. Clay kept it firm in his body with both his muscles and arm.


    Trying to get its arm free with more and more force, the dire wolf slowly began to panic as it latched with his other arm out on his back, as each crack caused Mia to flinch. ¡°You are doing¡­¡± concentrating to keep a steady voice as another slash ripped along his back, he continued, ¡°good, now turn around.¡±


    With slow steps and lowered head, she turned around. ¡°Great Mia. So, you see Churchville, right? Our nice and cozy hometown?¡± Sheepishly nodding, she was tilting her head a little to the side, ¡°Clay¨C?¡±


    ¡°Keep your head straight!¡± Startled, she corrected her posture, ¡°I¡¯m fine. You know, I¡¯m not that easy to bring down. You will now go back to your house and wait by the nice tree in your garden. It was where I found you, you remember that?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do,¡± replied Mia with teary eyes and broken voice.


    ¡°It sure feels like an eternity since we met there, right? I¡­ haha,¡± suddenly falling into a laughing fit he said, ¡°Do you remember your hair when I found you? You looked like a crow!¡±


    Remembering their first encounter, Mia smiled, ¡°Yeah, I was asleep for so long. But then you awoke me¡­ rescued me.¡±


    There was another crack, as flesh was torn, causing Mia¡¯s smile to stiffen. ¡°Mia, I know how strong and brave you are. Just focus on my voice, and walk towards the city. You will wait for the night by the tree and in the morning I will get you, how does that sound?¡±


    Taking a deep breath, she sniffled one final time and wiped her tears and asked, ¡°You promise?¡±


    There was a moment of silence, ¡°Of course I promise. You remember our blood oath, right?¡± Seeing her nod, he reaffirmed her, ¡°I promised to life, so I will, it¡¯s as simple as that. So now go on.¡± It was a kind lie.


    Taking a tenderly first step, he cheered her on, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good! Just one step after the other!¡±


    Soon the small steps turned into a walk before ending in a sprint. Seeing her small figure leave behind the horizon, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. During their conversation, he had crushed the arm of the dire wolf to keep himself from crying out loud from the pain, which in turn agitated the wolf to attack with more ferocity.


    Erupting the essence inside his arm, he crushed the joint of its elbow into pieces, before ripping its forearm with one fell swoop out. Finally losing the iron grip, the wolf got his arm free and jumped back in fear, as Clay¡¯s regeneration finally got to work in closing the hole in his stomach. Healing all the wounds on his back took a heavy toll on his heart blood and by his blurry vision and unsteady stand, he knew his reserves had fallen dangerously low.


    He was feeling light-headed and with a dangerous smile he threw the arm in front of the dire wolves feet, causing it to take a small step back. He used that moment of hesitation to reach behind his belt, retrieving a vial of red. Downing it in one go, he threw the vial to the ground before reaching for another. After the fourth he was barely able to think straight, as a newfound rush of essence filled his body, as his body immediately burned the pure essence the moment it reached his heart.


    The never ceasing river around his heart was rotating at an unprecedented speed and force, it was more akin to a torrent that took everything in its way with it. In one moment, he went from being on death¡¯s door to vibrating with energy. Never in his life, felt he so¡­ alive!


    But he also knew that this state would only last for a short duration, the heart blood he just drank was impure and a mix from various beasts, the worst possible combination, but it was his last resort anyway. It didn¡¯t matter what came after, what mattered was killing that beast, by becoming one himself.


    Bending down, he grabbed his sword and with a fully erupted dash was from one moment to the next in front of the wolf as it rose his mutilated arm to defend, only for it to be severed completely off as Clay¡¯s blade moved further to cut into its chest. The wound clotted right away, but didn¡¯t heal.


    Laughing at this, he ignored the whipping that met his body, as they healed seconds after he received them. Scared, the dire wolf retreated further and further, his body being littered with slash wounds all over.


    Suddenly one claw strike got his hand, causing him to lose his blade, which gave the wolf some hope until it realized that Clay moved closer instead of away as he threw his body to the right, punching with his maimed left arm an erupted punch into the chest of the wolf, causing it to cave in as the sound of bones cracking echoed through the forest, as it was sent flying.


    Suddenly feeling the enormous strength leave his body, Clay fell over during the punch ¨C he never registered the fall. His body was feeling numb all over. He was about to lose consciousness when he remembered the blood oath he had made with Mia. His eyes snapped open, and he dragged his body along the ground to force it to stand.


    With unsteady steps, he stumbled towards the wolf, and slumped in front of it to the ground. It was heaving, its lungs were probably crushed. Concentrating, he placed with blurry vision his fingers on top of where its heart was supposed to be. With effort, he slowly pushed his fingers into the body of the wolf as its eyes widened, and it began to wail.


    Smiling smugly, Clay whispered, ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel nice, right?¡± Eventually he felt the squishy heart around his fingers and with a last push of essence ripped it out. He was feeling numb all over, there was no smell, or sound, as his body slowly broke down and his senses shut down one after the other.


    Kneeling, he looked upon the void which was nearing its apex, as he rose the heart above his head, the act feeling like lifting a boulder. Slowly opening his mouth, his vision finally turned black, as he squeezed.


    *THUMP*


    In this all encompassing darkness there was no pain, no suffering, no feelings, just him and his thoughts.


    *THUMP*


    He didn¡¯t know how much time passed, if time passed at all. Who he was, what he was doing. It was a state which seemed distant yet familiar.


    *THUMP*


    Yes, he knew this place. This wasn¡¯t the first time he was here, he just had forgotten about it. It was a serene place that invented him to rest. To finally let go, to put all of this hardship aside. He wanted to relax, he wanted to let it all go, but he somehow couldn¡¯t.


    *THUMP*


    Something was preventing him¡­ No, not something but rather someone. He had made a promise, a promise he had to keep. The thought of leaving this person with all this hardship alone felt even more frightening than taking it on for himself.


    *THUMP*


    It wasn¡¯t time yet. He couldn¡¯t relax just yet! There was still so much to see, so much to do!


    *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*


    At once, Clay rose to his feet, as his thumping heart echoed in his ears, his head, throughout his full body. Gradually his senses returned to him, first his blurry vision stabilized, then his ears cleared, and he heard the sound of wind, before his feeling returned, and he felt the breeze gliding along his skin.


    He could taste the note of iron lingering in his mouth and feeling inwards he saw his inner flame burning brightly, and yet steadily. The river surrounding his heart calmed as it widened in length, and felt fuller and steadier than ever.


    He couldn¡¯t believe it, but he¡­ survived. Taking in his surroundings he finally realized that he was surrounded by dire wolves, or to be more specific they surrounded their dead leader and were growling at him, and howling against the sky.


    They all circled him, but never took a step closer, too scared to attack. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated, guiding the refined essence from his flame outwards to thicken his aura. After it reached a substantial amount he concentrated on conveying his will to fight, to kill if needed, and pushed it outwards against the dire wolves. The moment they felt his aura, they yelped, grabbed the corpse of their leader and scrambled away in defeat. Fear was indeed powerful.


    Grabbing his sword, he sheathed it and made his way towards Churchville, looking at the void, which seemed to have lost it''s edge, as Clay watched without fear. He didn¡¯t want to think, to fear, for at this moment he felt invincible. Comfortable enough to hum a little tune as he went.

 Chapter 21: Hope On The Horizon

    It didn¡¯t take Clay long to reach Mia¡¯s old home. She was lying against the tree, just like the first time he had found her, with the difference that she had grown a lot since then, both physically and mentally.


    Maybe a bit too much for her age, but the circumstances left them little choice. Her eyes were red, cheeks puffed, and he knew she cried all the way before falling asleep next to the tree. Walking over quietly, he decided to let her rest. They were safe around the poison, he could feel the pressure on his aura lifting noticeably once he had entered.


    Of course the poison would accumulate inside him during his stay, but this was still far better than having to deal with the mess going on out there. The last time he had to face a foe this strong was the red furred bear. These awakened beast were still far too dangerous to just fight on a whim.


    Without his Eruption and drinking all of that heart blood, he would have surely died. Thinking of this, he concentrated inwards, observing his inner lake, the place where his own heart blood was stored.


    It was on a critical level even after absorbing the awakened dire wolf, but he already felt back then that something had changed, and now he had the time to get a grasp on what it was. Surrounding his inner lake was the river which purified the essence from the atmosphere and turned it into his own, essentially distilling it to the liquid he called heart blood.


    This river had somehow enlarged and strengthened, it wasn¡¯t a lot by any means but with how sensitive he was towards essence, it was impossible not to notice. The problem wasn¡¯t the river nor the lake, but the countless streams, which ran from the lake through his body like a complicated network of veins.


    These stream were what he used when circulating his essence inside his body to strengthen it. Now some of these streams had dark spots clotting them up. It wasn¡¯t serious enough to stop his flow of essence, but certainly enough to hinder it, slow it down, resulting in a decrease in efficiency.


    He could feel that just the circulation of essence, shaved away at these impurities, a bit after each rotation, but the process was painfully slow. If he held this pace he would need days if not weeks to fully purge these impurities, but that was the price he had to pay for burning essence that wasn¡¯t his.


    He skipped the whole process of distilling essence into heart blood and just burned that of someone else. He knew there were severe consequences for burning foreign essence, but he wasn¡¯t able to pin it down. After experiencing it for his own, he definitely came closer to an answer. To his knowledge, there were only three people who had consumed the heart blood of another.


    The first was of course Mia, as she needed it to live, her body only digesting heart blood and water. It had something to do with the roots covering her chest and heart. What exactly happened during the time when she was partially fused with the tree was still mostly a mystery to him, he lacked too much information to come to any coherent conclusion. I didn¡¯t matter, the roots are a part of her and must have had a beneficial effect, else she wouldn¡¯t have survived.


    The second person was Emma, an old classmate of Clay, who died a brutal death, transforming halfway into some grotesque abomination of two species before dying. The last and most interesting was¡­


    What was her name again? It was something with ¡®Isa¡¯. Well he didn¡¯t really have a connection with that crazy woman, he was only intrigued by her appearance at the time, as she was what he would call a mutant. She somehow was able to fuse herself with a mutated cat, altering her outer appearance and presumably whole biology.


    Most likely the amount and purity of heart blood consumed, played a big role in what happened, as well as your own purity. Emma clearly consumed too much and too potent heart blood, resulting in a gruesome halfway transformation.


    Drinking some in similar strength or less would result in a short influx of essence, but would leave impurities. But how was that Isa able to fuse with another¡¯s beast''s heart blood?


    Absorbed in his thoughts, Clay didn¡¯t notice Mia¡¯s poison clotting and gathering inside of him into the usual sludge, but instead of resting inside of him like usual it moved throughout his system, along his streams, gathering around the impurities.


    He watched in awe as he witnessed the poison, clot around the dark spots as they once had to his own heart so long ago. After, the sludge formed substantially around the spots, it slowly began to burn as it absorbed them, feeding off the foreign essence to fuel its own growth.


    The poison stopped seeing him as foreign, once he had survived, probably assimilating partially with him. These impurities were different, they were impurities to begin with because they were foreign and not his, and so the poison absorbs them.


    Of course, he still had to deal with all of this poison later, but cleansing it was far easier and quicker than the impurities. His thoughts began to race, as his breath quickened, and he saw the potential of this discovery. He didn¡¯t want to get exited too soon, but if he understood this correctly, he just found a way to remove all side effects from ingesting heart blood, while keeping all the benefits.


    Thinking about the power he had when he drank the heart blood caused a shudder ran down his back. He still wasn¡¯t quite himself, feeling the lingering effect of having burned so much essence at once, it was¡­ intoxicating.


    Placing his hand on his chest, he took a deep breath. There was no need to think, he should concentrate on recovering and finalizing his plan. The decision to look for other people had already been made, they just had to push the plans a bit ahead of time.


    The problem were the moons. He didn¡¯t know when or if they would return to being normal, but it didn¡¯t matter, he now had a way to have unlimited essence, as long as he had heart blood and Mia¡¯s poison. The former can be easily acquired from any beast, and the latter was stored in jars upon jars in their cellar, not to mention that he had the source with him.


    Wiping a few loose strands of Mia¡¯s hair to the side, he gently placed her head on his chest, slowly coming up with a plan, as he waited for her to awake.


    ******


    A few hours later, Mia awoke with a startle. Shock turned into relief, upon seeing Clay, before anger took over, and he was barraged with an onslaught of hits. When she finally calmed down, she just laid against his chest, relishing in the fact that he was still alive. They both stayed like this until the sun rose from the horizon,


    ¡°You lied, didn¡¯t you?¡± A bit startled, Clay first wanted to come up with another excuse, but decided against it. ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The question was simple, and yet he hesitated to answer. He valued honesty. Yet besides the high chance of dying, he lied. No, he even expected it and did everything in his power to prepare Mia to survive on her own. She was strong, and internally he knew she would have continued without him. So why did he lie?Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°To be honest, I wanted to ¨C No, I needed to believe in this lie. It wasn¡¯t like you needed it, but more so that I had to convince myself that I would survive this. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, but in the future there will be no more kind lies.¡± She spoke with an unusual coldness to her voice, but Clay didn¡¯t refute her nor comment further on the topic, she had to be strong. Sometimes he wondered if he wasn¡¯t the one being taken care off.


    Standing up, he held his hand out to her. ¡°No more lies.¡±


    Grabbing on to it, she gave a resolute nod, before raising to her feet, before proceeding to grab the spear from the royal ant. She kept on to it, even during the chaos.


    Resting it on her shoulders, she asked, ¡°What are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°Well due to the current¡­ circumstances we have to push our plans ahead, so we will go back home, and prepare to leave everything behind,¡± replied Clay with a bit too much enthusiasm.


    Mia knew that he was just coping by showing that much enthusiasm, he hated it when things didn¡¯t go after plan, but would never admit to it in front of her. Not that she complained, enthusiasm was better than fear. She preferred to go with the flow of things anyway.


    ******


    The initial plan was to just quickly grab what they could and leave, but Clay hesitated. Since the sun rose, the pressure around his aura shield had noticeably decreased. That could be just the calm before the storm, but that was the first time since this anomaly started that the pressure decreased.


    Their preparation were still in the early stages, and leaving so abruptly might not be the smartest idea. Especially when he considered that he had to idea what awaited them on their way to the next city, there might be countless more awakened beast, while he was rather certain that around their village were at most two.


    Only the bone spiders and toads could have an awakened beast like the leader of the dire wolves he had killed last night. If so, it wasn¡¯t unlikely that one of them comes visiting this night, should the void rise once again. But at least they are an open enemy which he can prepare for, beasts he has experience fighting against.


    With the effect that Mia¡¯s poison had on him, he can also now ¡®safely¡¯ consume heart blood to give him a temporary boost which far exceeds his normal capabilities. With this power, he felt like he had a high chance of winning against both the bone spider and toad, should they dare challenge him.


    The only problem was that they were pretty much out of heart blood. They never stored much, as it would lose its potency anyway, and against the leader of the dire wolf he chugged every single vial they had left. They would need more, but going out into the wilderness and stirring up the hornets nest, also didn¡¯t seem like a good plan.


    Not to mention that most beast would have exhausted most of their heart blood by now, in trying to survive this anomaly. Biting into his thump, Clay tried desperately to come up with a plausible plan of action, but they were really stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    Seeing how Clay struggled in making a decision became Mia, an idea. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go into the bunker?¡±


    ¡°The bunker¡­?¡± Frowning in confusion, Clay suddenly turned to face Mia with a look of realization. ¡°The bunker! Of course, we could use that. I already forgot about it, good that you are thinking along.¡±


    Going into the cellar, he stood before their bunker, his initial excitement stifling a little. What they lovingly called bunker, was nothing more but an old metal cooler, long cut off from any power, not that there flowed any more power anyway.


    The idea was to make use of the fact that metal pushed essence away from it, which included the influence from the atmosphere. They already tested it and even though the metal didn¡¯t shield them completely from the atmosphere, due to lacking in thickness, was the protection still substantial. But now it even served a second use.


    It would keep their own aura inside the cooler, stopping it from leaking away. After thinking it over, Clay realized that the dire wolves must have sensed his aura somehow, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have been able to pinpoint his location so accurately.


    Standing beside him, Mia asked concerned, ¡°You sure that we are both going to fit?¡±


    ¡°Pff, no problem we will just make some more room¡­ somehow,¡± replied Clay mumbling the last part.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing, let¡¯s continue with our preparations, shall we?¡±


    Going back up, Clay quickly gathered some essentials like rope, cord, a flint and steel, a waterskin, the map (which he still hadn¡¯t quite figure out), some bandages, a good portion of the dried meat and his trusty hunting knife.


    Looking at the bag, he was quite satisfied until he saw his own clothing. Mia still had the heater shield and leather armor he had made for her, not much more than dust staining it¡¯s polished glimmer. It hasn¡¯t even experienced a single real battle yet.


    But he himself was already desperate enough to use his unfinished prototype, of which the last was destroyed during the fight with the leader of the dire wolves. Of course, he still had the cloak from the dire wolf he had made so long ago, but that was it.


    There was no more leather armor he could use and even if he had, he would be reluctant to use it, as past fights have shown how little protection it offers. The damage which the leather armor absorbed was compared to his regeneration meaningless.


    Hours upon hours spent in his little workshop repairing and refining, armor was often reduced to scraps in but a single fight. Well there was this one thing he had in mind, not even a prototype, but more so a concept he had started to work on long ago.


    For months now he had gathered the silk from the bone spiders, but not the one they used to traverse on the forest and graced every tree in their territory, but specifically the strong threads spun between their spikes, which they used to absorb trauma.


    If he learned one thing when fighting against the bone spiders, then that he never once was able to cut these threads. He already used them for the straps of his mask, which also gave him this idea. A fabric made out of their silk, would not only be close to impossible to cut, it would allow to just sew patches of leather or other fabric unto them.


    The fabric itself would work like a cushion for trauma, and if he was cut, the loose structure and flexible nature of the silk would allow claws to pass through, instead of severing the threads. The leather or other fabric on top would be just replaceable patches to better protect against the elements and injuries.


    Gathering this much silk was more than a little challenging, but he should have enough by now. Which made it that more unfortunate that there wasn¡¯t any time left to make grand preparations. Well, he had to work with what he was given.


    ******


    Time quickly passed during their preparations, the short day ending, in a beautiful twilight, as Clay and Mia stood before the cooler, cushioned with blankets and pillows on all sides. Seeing the size of the box made him wince a little. He really didn¡¯t want to spend an entire night in that box.


    As the sun finally fully vanished and dusk passed, Clay suddenly halted in stepping into the cooler. Mia who was already sitting inside looked at him in confusion, then out of the small window and then back at him. ¡°Hurry up already! The sun is gone.¡±


    Relieved, Clay smiled, letting himself fall to the side against, the railing of the stairs. Startled, Mia jumped up from the cooler, ready to stop his fall, but he signaled with his hand that he was fine. Stroking through his hair, he rested his head on the railing, looking at the dirty and with dust coated ceiling. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    Getting out of the cooler, Mia looked through the small window, seeing the moons not rising in union, forming the void, but instead the old moon rose darkly alone to the peak, looking darker than usual as if it had exhausted itself, followed by the blue moon who too seemed to have lost some of its glimmer.


    Pulling out a notebook, Clay made a single stroke with his pencil. ¡°We have 42 days. After that, we will most likely have to manage this void once again.¡± Turning to Mia, he laughed. ¡°We should make the best out of that time, right?¡±

 Chapter 22: Riverton

    The clock was ticking, and before the sun even began to rise started Clay to turn his concept of a silken underlayer into reality. The process would take all that he had learned about leather work. All the techniques developed during patching his clothes more times than he could remember.


    He started by cleaning the silk. A shallow basin with water was mixed with ash and fat from a dire wolf. He dipped the silk into the mixture, rubbing it to remove dirt and spider residue, then stretched the cleaned threads between two upright sticks to dry for the rest of the night. The result was a gleaming, almost otherworldly material, smooth to the touch yet resilient like steel.


    The next step required a bit of ingenuity. To weave he needed a loom, which he unfortunately didn¡¯t just have any lying around off, so he had to make his own. The morning was spent in fashioning a simple frame from branches lashed together with cord.


    It wasn¡¯t much to look at, he wasn¡¯t even sure if it was correctly made, but it had to suffice this once. Anchoring the first threads to the frame, he began weaving. The design in his head was loose ¨C a lattice of interlocking diamond shapes with enough spacing to let air and movement through. The underlayer wasn¡¯t meant to shield him from harm, only to stay on his body no matter how brutal the fight.


    Hours passed as he worked. The silk slipped between his fingers, as he knotted intersections of the weave. The silk was too strong to cut, so he used a heated tamping iron, carefully pressing against the threads to fuse them at the joints.


    It was a risky method, as too much heat could ruin everything. Causing him to wince every time one of the fusions left a charred spot but in the end, if not pretty, held most of the intersections strong. By the time he was done, he had a lattice that resembled a loose net.


    He slipped it over his shoulders, adjusting the fit. The underlayer clung tightly to his skin, its flexibility ensuring it wouldn¡¯t tear when he moved. It covered his whole torso and reached all the way to his wrist and knees. A few adjustments with extra silk reinforced the shoulders and knees, where the most strain would occur. Satisfied, he set it aside to cool and harden fully overnight.


    The next morning, he began attaching the patches. His supplies were varied to the scraps of leather which mostly came from dire wolves, to bits of cloth scavenged from the surrounding houses. Using thread, he sewed the patches onto the underlayer, one at a time. He worked quickly, knowing how little time they had and that each patch would eventually need replacing. The patches didn¡¯t need to be perfect ¨C they just needed to keep him covered for now.


    By midday, the garment was complete. He stood and tested his movement, stretching and twisting to ensure the framework wouldn¡¯t shift or restrict him. Satisfied, he threw his dire wolf cloak over his shoulders, providing him the protection against the elements, in which the silken underlayer lacked. It wasn¡¯t armor, but it was enough to keep him from standing naked under the sun. That was all he needed.


    The whole process took about two days, so they still had forty to go. Venturing into the spider infested part of the forest, Clay and Mia hunted the remnants of the bone spiders and dire wolves for their heart blood. The toads unfortunately retreated back into their pond, staying out of reach.


    Like he expected, was there little blood to harvest, the pressure of the atmosphere had forced them to burn most of it. After five full days of scouring the forest, they only gathered a few vials, which had to suffice, there was no time to lose. They just had to hunt more on the way.


    The only good thing about this situation was that the beasts were just as weakened as they were. It was unlikely that they would be ambushed during their journey, when most beast would focus on recovering their strength.


    During their small excursion, was the forest eerily silent, showing the huge aftermath of this catastrophe. Should this phenomenon of the moons really repeat itself every 42 days like he suspected, then he saw little hope for life to thrive on Earth, but he shouldn¡¯t judge too soon. Maybe the world out there was doing better than he imagined.


    A week passed since the moons returned to normal. Their preparations were complete, traveling mostly light, with Clay having already thought long before what would be best to take and what to leave.


    It definitely helped that they were super human and could allow themselves to prepare somewhat lax for certain situations. They were strong on their own, and he was fairly confident he could push through with only a single tool.


    Thinking this, he felt for his hunting knife, making sure that said tool was secured around his belt. The belt was of course made by him, with a sheath for his sword on the left and a smaller sheath for his knife on the right, both easily reachable even if he was only one-handed.


    The more he fought, the more he missed having two arms. It would be great if he could just replace it with some sort of prosthesis, but he lacked the knowledge, material and time to make one. Maybe someone out there could help him. Nodding, satisfied at his equipment, he took one last glance at the house, which they called home for the past one and a half years.


    The palisade was torn and broken a large chunk caved in, due to the attack of the toad. The place still smelled of blood from the mushy mountain of flesh, blood and organs. They couldn¡¯t be bothered to clean up, when they intended to leave anyway.


    One wouldn¡¯t believe it, but you actually got used to the smell¡­ somewhat. Turning his back, he smiled at Mia. ¡°Ready to go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fucking raring to go, I can¡¯t smell this place anymore!¡± Without looking back, she began to walk towards the exit of the village, leaving Clay taken aback. Since when did she curse so much?


    Well, it didn¡¯t really matter, he cursed too from time to time. He had to focus on the task at hand to make as much distance as possible. They would surely find more people soon enough. He was quite excited to go out, as he actually never left Churchville and its surrounding villages that often. Resulting in him having seen very little from the country, not to mention the rest of the world.


    ******


    Not even fully leaving the village behind the horizon, they ran into their first problem. The only proper road leading out of the mountain basin, in which Churchville was located, ended in a huge mountain of rubble and stones. A pretty big landslide, blocked their path forward, reaching all the way into the river on their left, which the road followed.


    To their right was a large mountain, or you could outright call it a cliffside. Dropping her backpack, Mia cursed, ¡°Of course there had to be a landslide! Nothing is ever going to plan, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tapping his foot, Clay tried to think of a solution, mumbling, ¡°Everything is going to be fine. This is just another small hurdle.¡±


    There was his fake enthusiasm again, but at least it usually led him to finding solutions, which Mia didn¡¯t have. She just wanted to finally be back into society.


    Putting his own backpack down, Clay loosened the ties which kept the dire wolf cloak on his shoulders, and laid it over his pack. Going over to the huge mountain of ruble, he took a hesitant step until he somewhat found hold and then took another step and then another, each with more confidence, until a stone which promised hold gave away after he put his whole weight on it.


    The stone brought a chain reaction to live as he stumbled and rolled all the way to the bottom, scraping and bruising himself all over, landing on his back, legs dangling over his head. Seeing the smug smirk on Mia¡¯s face, he sighed. ¡°Keep your comments to yourself.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say anything!¡± she defended herself.


    ¡°Oh, really? Your Face tells me otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± she trailed off before settling on what she wanted to say. ¡°It was a pretty stupid idea.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you warn me then?¡± asked Clay with feigned curiosity.


    ¡°I had hope that you would somehow succeed,¡± she lied.


    ¡°You wanted to see me fall?¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I wanted to see you fall,¡± confirmed Mia with a slight smirk.


    Good that this was out of the way. She must have some leftover grudges in her, or it was her general cheekiness, he couldn¡¯t tell either way. Well, just walking over the landslide wouldn¡¯t work. Shifting his gaze to the left, he let out a heavy sigh.


    Walking over to the shore of the river, he began to undress himself. Seeing this, Mia began to frantically shake her head. ¡°You are not serious, right? Please tell me you don¡¯t really want to cross the river?!¡±


    Without turning his back, he replied, ¡°If you don¡¯t grace us with another option that allows us to continue on our way, then yes, we are going to cross that river. Because we both know that this is the only way out of this valley.¡±


    Mia¡¯s was frantically looking around for a better solution, but eventually gave up in defeat. Walking over to Clay and beginning to undress herself beside him. They both stripped to their underwear. With Mia sticking her feet tenderly into the river. It was cold.


    Really cold, like freezing cold. Suddenly there was a cold touch on her shoulder. Looking up, they were greeted with the first snowflakes of the winter, as if the heavens themselves were mocking them.


    Too flabbergasted to speak, Mia just made a series of sounds and gestures that could have well been come from some new species. Hearing this, Clay couldn¡¯t hold his laughter. The following fist was quickly dodged, as he escaped into the river. His clothes balanced on a pile upon his head and held in place by his arm.


    It was cold, but compared to the pain he had to endure during his fights it was rather refreshing, the coldness shaking away any rest sluggishness he might have had, he was focused. He made the trip two more times, brining his cloak and backpack over.


    Mia watched all of this unfold while clasping her shoulders with her hands, shivering on the shore. Standing on the other side, Clay shouted, ¡°Come already! You will catch a cold if you keep standing there.¡±


    The river wasn¡¯t even that deep, with him being able to barely walk, Mia had to swim, but she also had two arms so it seemed fair to him. Making his way over again, he waited before her.


    Looking up, she asked with pleading eyes, ¡°Could you bring my stuff over? I need a moment longer to prepare.¡±


    He was about to rebuke her, seeing it as a challenge for her to further grow, but upon seeing her pleading eyes, he just couldn¡¯t say no and relented. Another three trips and her stuff was safely on the other side. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn. You just have to quickly swim over, and then we can dress ourselves and be warm again, okay?¡±


    Standing beside her, and seeing that she still wouldn¡¯t budge, he sighed. Some people had to be given a little push. With that in mind, he pushed her straight into the river, a high-pitched scream foreboding the torment he would have to endure for the rest of the day.


    Breaking through the surface, Mia looked outraged, her owl half mask still clinging to her face even after being pushed into a river. That was good news at least. She was about to make her way over to him, when he asked, ¡°Do you really want to go out and then have to get back in to get over?¡±


    Realizing that she held in her stride, fury burning in her eyes, soon replaced by a sly spark. Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have provoked her so much?


    She quickly swam to the other side, placed her foot on the shore, and dashed for his clothes. When he realized what she wanted to do, it was far too late as his clothes were misused as a towel.


    Slowly walking over, he could practically feel the smugness on her face. Not commenting further on the matter, he dressed himself with his wet clothes and continued on. Mia followed behind him with a small spring to her steps.


    ******


    After passing the landslide, their way was mostly undisrupted as they made good progress on their way towards the next city. I was a long track to the next city, about 150 kilometers, not a distance they can just travel on foot in a single day, especially with the road being as broken as it was.


    Luckily, the way forward was easy to follow as they just had to walk along the river, it winded through the whole valley, reaching all the way to their goal, so he was saved for understanding the regional map for now.


    He never realized how hard it can be to read a map until he didn¡¯t have a digital one, which was much more convenient. The size alone with all its wrinkles and folds made it unnecessarily hard to even pinpoint where you are, while the wind only threw more stones in your way.


    Their journey started early in the morning and the goal was to make as much progress in a day as possible. They both circulated their essence inside to constantly replenish their energy and to prevent their aura from leaking, to avoid any unnecessary attention.


    It was still a mystery to Clay how the dire wolves and other beast were able to pinpoint his location during the alignment of the moons. But he suspected it had something to do with his aura. In general, acted the beasts strange during that night, but this whole thing was a huge anomaly, so it didn¡¯t surprise him that they freaked out a bit.


    They just needed to find more people, who hopefully had more answers. All day, they walked at a brisk pace, stopping only occasionally to fill up their waterskin to stay hydrated.


    Once the sun had fully set and their surroundings fully vanished in a veil of darkness, they didn¡¯t stop. Solar-powered flashlights provided them enough light to continue deep into the night. Eventually they found a small natural overhang where Clay finally decided to stop for the day.


    Once it was clear that they would camp, Mia broke down, sitting on the ground, her breathing heavy and feet beyond sore. They traveled quite the distance and with Mia not being as proficient in inner circulation as Clay, was the trek hard on her. She struggled, but refused to complain nonetheless.


    They quickly built their tent up, placed their foam pats on the ground, laid their sleeping bags above and lastly the dire wolf cloaks on top for even more insulation and warmth.


    Mia went to bed as soon as they finished, while Clay stayed awake. He would do the first night watch, lasting six hours, while Mia took the second, lasting two hours. With his inner circulation he didn¡¯t need as much sleep, four would be best, but in their current situation he figured two had to suffice.


    ******


    After three full days of walking from the crack of dawn to the deepest of night, they finally reached the abandoned road leading to the city of their hopes: Riverton. It couldn¡¯t be compared to the small backwater city that was Churchville. It was a proper city with well over two hundred thousands citizens.


    With how close it was to Churchville it was the only proper city Clay had frequently visited and seen all his life. Every time he was here he was overwhelmed by the tall houses, seemingless endless streets and numerous shops that adorned every corner. Due to Churchville¡¯s isolation, it often felt more like a large village rather than a proper city.


    This time he was struck in awe, just as always, but because of a completely different reason. Seeing Riverton in the distance, he was greeted by a picture of destruction and misery. The grand, spotless city in his memory was washed away and replaced with ruins. The closer they got, the clearer became this picture.


    He knew how damaged Churchville was after the first light of the meteor, but he hadn¡¯t expected the difference to be so stark. In comparison to the sight before him was the damage on their home city harmless. Most buildings were a pile of rubble and debris, while those that still stood had cracks running all over them or were partially damaged, with whole parts crashing away.


    All around and along the mountains of rubble, new vegetation was growing, like in Churchville at an unnatural speed. Slowly walking along the streets they saw the birds soaring above, insect clawing around the houses and between the scarce vegetation, but no humans.


    Riverton had not many noteworthy buildings or things that would invoke many people to stay over the holidays. Like the name suggests, was it famous for its nature and countless rivers, with many bicycle tracks, golf courses, parks and so on.


    From the damage, the city must have been hit with an earthquake of high magnitude. Small crevices and cracks followed them as they walked. No matter where they went, the land was torn and ripped open. The few walls that still stood were smeared with various drawings and writings¡­


    ¡°The end is here!¡± written in blood.


    ¡°God will bring us salvation!¡± preached another. Someone else crossed the word God out and wrote instead, ¡°There is No God.¡±


    ¡°Here lies Garry Evans, Beloved Father and Protector.¡±


    ¡°In the ashes, we wait.¡± Underneath, someone wrote, ¡°Help never came.¡±


    ¡°Survival is all that remains.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t make it, don¡¯t forget the heroi¨C¡± the rest of the writing abruptly cut off.


    ¡°Hope is a lie.¡±


    It was this last writing, plastered in big letters over a partially broken wall, with orange paint from a spray can, that made Clay stop. They finally made it to the city. The place where they hoped to find more people to begin a new life. It didn¡¯t even accrue to him that it could be destroyed and that maybe no one was left.


    It¡¯s just that everyone wanted to go here. All the people they had sent away before fighting the ants, they all planned to journey to this city and yet seemingless no one remained. Was there still hope?


    Forcing himself to look away from the writing, they continued on and eventually wandered into the city hall. Maybe it was because of habit or just by chance, but the only grand building in Riverton and one of the few that still stood proudly came into view.


    Still lost in thoughts was Clay¡¯s gaze directed downwards, until he felt a tug from Mia who pointed at something. Looking up, he saw the city hall in all its glory, it was almost like he had remembered it. Written all over the front in light blue color stood:


    ¡°Salvation awaits in the Vanguard. The last hold of humanity.¡±


    Exchanging glances, they refused to be too hopeful but made their way over and surely enough found a small stack of maps leading them to this place. Looking over the map, he still struggled, but eventually had a rough idea of how far away it was. He checked again and again, but he always came to the same result.


    ¡°This Vanguard place is just a little over 1,000 kilometers away from here.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, how much?¡± asked Mia.


    ¡°A thousand kilometers,¡± repeated Clay.


    There was a moment of silence before Mia said, ¡°Well, then let''s go. We don¡¯t have much time now, do we?¡±

 Chapter 23: Interlude - The Scavanger

    Liam was a scavenger. A very good scavenger. He would go as far and say he was the best in the camp, even if others disagreed. They didn¡¯t know the outside world anyway. He was no fighter, clumsy with his hands, bad at cooking, he was even too weak to be considered helpful labor, but he was perceptive.


    It was this perception, this gut feeling, that kept him alive outside of their little enclave. Surrounded by far larger groups and camps they had to stay hidden if they wanted to survive, hiding was the only proper way of living these days.


    Well of course you could also try to dominate others and try to solve your problems with numbers but that never worked. Groups came and went, but only they stand tall since the beginning, because of their way ¨C the way of hiding.


    Some people would say they are cowards, but these people are stupid! There was no fighting against the endless stream of beasts, especially not after what¡­ happened. Thinking about that night still caused a shudder to run down his spine.


    They were never found by beasts before, but that night was different. They streamed their camp as if possessed, slaughtering each they came across, especially their warriors. In the end, what use was their supernatural power? It¡¯s useless! They were fools for thinking they could fight back, they should have hidden like he did.


    And now he had to scavenge for more supplies, because they were too stupid to follow the way! Well, not that it matter now, he would just have to convince them that they had to be even more careful. Some are thinking about leaving, because of what happened, to look for this Vanguard place.


    Fools, they are. Fools for trying to abandon the way! Trotting a thousand kilometers along no man¡¯s land was nothing but a death sentence. They worked so hard to create this enclave, he worked so hard for it, and they just want to abandon it like that?!


    They lacked nothing and with Riverton not far they had an endless treasure trove to scavenge what they needed. Even after so long, it was mostly untouched and full of all kinds of useful things. Everyone that said they were only living off scraps and pieces ¨C the trash of the old civilization ¨C didn¡¯t understand how dangerous it was out here!


    After all, what happened to the madman that told them about this Vanguard? Who smeared their city hall with that hateful sentence of hope! He was dead, Liam saw himself how the Redfangs dragged him away.


    He came to their little haven, spread this false hope to their people, and then just left to die in a ditch! Many times he thought about removing this hateful sentence of hope, but it did prove useful for the only thing more dangerous than the Marauders or even the Redfangs; strangers.


    Strangers were not predictable like the Redfangs or could be reasoned with like with the Marauders, they were wildcards. For their enclave to work it must stay hidden at all cost and strangers happen to wander too often into the city, looking for other people, eventually stumbling into their haven by accident.


    Of course, the only option for these people was to either stay at the camp or never leave at all. Sadly, these strangers rarely choose to stay¡­ Which meant that he had to clean up after the warriors, and he hated nothing more than cleaning up the dead!


    Strangers always meant trouble, that was why this sentence of hope was still there. Everyone who stumbled into Riverton would eventually see it and make their way in its direction, see the maps and follow them like moths to the light, only to run right into the Redfangs.


    The madman who told them of this Vanguard place had a map with him that showed the way towards this place. The map was even half decent, of course not as good as Liam¡¯s. He was proud of his skills in making maps and his sense of directions, he must have the most detailed map of Riverton and the surrounding area in existence!


    So he didn¡¯t just copy the map but made some adjustments. Warning strangers about the patrolling Marauders, even being so kind as to mark a safe route forward. Well, he did withhold the tiny detail that on the way was the very camp of the Redfangs. What a blunder on his part.


    Liam hoped that with enough time, the Redfangs would be weakened enough to finally vanish like all the others. From all the camps that stayed near them, proved the Redfangs, besides their cavemen like stupidity, to be a very tenacious bunch. They were as dangerous as they were predictable.


    It was a mystery to him how they managed to survive so far. They were a sort of primal religious tribe of people, worshiping some cursed being, eating human flesh, or really anything they could get their hands on. Even the beasts were better, but he couldn¡¯t deny their strength.


    They had the fiercest fighters in the region, and even the Marauders try to evade them like the plague. Well eventually they too would perish and for now they didn¡¯t do anything else but clean up anyone that dared to wander into their haven and disturb their peace.


    Too Liam they were nothing more but fierce guard dogs, they were dangerous without the proper leash, but if you knew how to handle them they were quite the useful tool.


    Over time, he developed a routine where he would check up on the maps to see if anyone took them and stock them up if needed, before continuing on his run. On the way, he stopped momentarily before an epitaph before shaking his head and continuing on. Suddenly stopping when he spotted a pair of people standing before the city hall, causing him to flinch as he ducked behind a broken wall.


    Pressing his back firmly against it, he made himself as small and inconspicuous as possible, his self-made clothing helping him to blend into the ruins. Taking controlled breaths to calm himself, he moved with routine and without making a sound into a nearby ruin and peeked in a man-made hole at the newcomers.


    The ruins were his home and territory, especially the region surrounding the city hall. He had it fully mapped out, both physically and mentally, he knew the best escape route from every ruin or house. With over half a dozen hidden bases not too far away that could shelter him if needed, with enough supplies to last him a week if pushes comes to shove.


    After a quick survey, he was pretty sure that it was only a pair of two people, one male, the other female. Already an unusual site. No one sane would dare to travel in a pair. A group of six was considered to be the minimum to cover all angles, it was rare to see a group of four, not mention a pair.


    Even more strange were their masks, after first seeing the black mask on the man, that resembled a skull Lima first thought he met a high ranking member of the Redfangs, but that was impossible.


    There were no red tattoos and the girl had some strange owl mask, they were definitely from the outside ¨C strangers. The Marauders didn¡¯t have any business in the city. They knew of enough camps and roads they could rob.


    The longer he observed them, the stronger his gut feeling became that something was wrong. This pair was unusual to an unprecedented degree. Something was strange, and he didn¡¯t mean the clothing. He has seen all sorts of people during his observations. People did crazy things if they thought it would protect them.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    No, something else was off, he couldn¡¯t tell what until it finally dawned on him. Their demeanor was too lax. There was no tension in their posture, no fear or wariness. They walked casually to the maps, and grabbed one. The girl must have said something, as the man suddenly began to laugh.


    There could have been a trap for all they knew, they were too loud, and they were lax enough to make jokes. Others might think they were just stupid or had a death wish, but Liam knew better. They were strangers, which meant they came from somewhere else and traveled here as a pair, on their own, without appearing to have any battle wounds.


    The further he analyzed, the quicker his heart began to beat, until the man suddenly turned around and crossed for but a moment eyes with him. A moment that felt for an eternity as a shudder ran down his back, his body tensing as his muscles refused to budge, before the gaze continued on, surveying the rest of the ruins.


    The moment their eye contact was broken, kept Liam low to the ground. It wasn¡¯t possible for the man to have seen him! It must have been a mere coincide or his mind playing tricks on him! He tried to reason with himself, but his heart wouldn¡¯t stop beating until he breathed, like his father had shown him.


    Taking another peek, he saw the pair walking on without a care in the world. He knew it wasn¡¯t possible for the man to have seen him. It was just his senses going crazy to warn him of the danger.


    His very being told him to leave and stay in one of his hide-outs until the danger moved on, but something told him to follow, some strange feeling of premonition that he needed to see what was about to happen. They took the map and were making their direct way over to the camp of the Redfangs.


    Keeping as much distance as possible, he followed them, blending into the ruins, becoming one with them as he followed. Eventually they left the city and entered the periphery of the forest. Normally he avoided the forest, too many risks with the roaming beasts, this wasn¡¯t his domain, but his skill to hide was nonetheless more than enough to keep out of sight.


    It helped that he knew the route and the surrounding area of the Redfangs territory like the back of his hand. Following this pair took all of his bravery, as every muscle in his body protested after each step, tensing at their every hold or movement. But he still continued on, until the inevitable finally happened.


    They came across a totem adorned with many skulls, fangs and claws from a variety of beasts. It¡¯s noteworthy that none of them were of humans, as the Redfangs only considered beasts to be worthy trophies to warn others of their territory, humans were mere sustenance, offering too little of a challenge.


    The man looked curiously at the totem, pointing at one of the skulls, and saying something, which Liam was too far to pick up on. They seemed to discuss something shortly before continuing on. This was their death sentence. He was sure that one of the hounds must have spotted them already and a hunting party would appear shortly.


    As expected, only mere minutes after passing the totem, came a party of six which confronted the pair openly. It consisted of four men and two women, all wearing their traditional attire. Even in the winter, the Redfangs were very lightly clothed, with scraps and pieces of leather and fur.


    Especially the chest were left with little clothing to show off their tattoos, which told of their past kills, one of the woman even refused to cover her breasts, walking bare chested, the tattoos picturing three fangs. The number of fangs, of which each tale spins around, shows the standing of the person in the tribe.


    Three fangs meant she was one of the elite warriors, and the leader of this hunting party. There were another four two fangs and a single one fang. This must be one of the best hunting parties the tribe had at the moment and must have been about to leave, when the hound informed them of the intruders.


    Hidden in the thicket of the foliage, Liam concentrated as he watched through his binoculars. His muscles tensing in anticipation of what would happen next. The leading woman was resting a heavy axe, carved out of the bones of some beast, on her shoulder. The others also had a variety of weapons; from makeshift machetes, made out of scraps and pieces of metal, to simple cudgels.


    The man seemed to be wary, but rose his arms in a sign to avoid conflicts and loosened the cord on his cloak. As the cloak slid away, realized Liam that the man seemed to be one-armed. This further fueled his wariness, no normal man can survive out in the wilderness with only a single arm.


    From his posture it seemed like he was talking, and in return the hunting party began to burst out laughing, they seemed to exchange a few more words before the one fang ¨C a man who was most likely eager to get back to his first proper hunt ¨C decided they had talked enough.


    With confidence, he went towards the front, rose his large cudgel and smashed it down towards the man who met the strike with his arm to defend himself ¨C was what Liam thought until the wood splintered as if meeting stone, and the arm of the man continued on without losing momentum, his backhand landing on the side of the head.


    Upon impact, the head violently twisted to the side, accompanied by a cracking sound that could be heard all the way to where Liam was hiding, as it echoed through the forest. Before the head could spring back to its original position, faltered the body and dropped dead to the ground.


    As if trying to deescalate the situation was, the man shaking his head and raising his arm, but it was far too late as the party erupted in a series of screams and charged at the pair. Frightened, the girl retreated backwards raising her shield and spear defensively, one of the man was about to strike her with his makeshift hatchet, before halting midair.


    Bewildered, he took the hatchet in a double grip but failed in moving it forwards, as if stopped by an invisible barrier. With a small scream, the girl pushed the spear forward, impaling the assailant with ease. Behind the impaled man rushed a woman with a bone knife towards the girl, trying to gauge her eyes out, but in the last moment the girl moved backwards only getting a cut on the side of her temple causing her to yelp, as she retreated further.


    In the meantime, the man with the black mask had already drawn his blade and disemboweled another man, and upon hearing the scream turned to his companion and with unnatural speed dashed towards the woman and decapitated her in one swift motion before continuing on. His next target was the leading woman of the party, who was barely able to intercept the blade, before he rotated and threw a sidekick towards her chest and sent her flying.


    With a desperate scream, the last man of the hunting party brought his makeshift machete down with full force to split the head of the masked man, only for him to raise his elbow to meet it. The machete was repelled, as if struck by an invisible wall of force, meeting the head of the owner right in the center, burying deep into it.


    With wide and shocked eyes, the man collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Rushing to his companion, he knelt down and checked if she was doing okay, all the while the leading woman was barely able to stand up, her chest was visibly carved in and blood was trailing from her mouth as a savage grin formed on her face.


    Grabbing her axe she went over to the pair and with the man obstructing her vision the girl saw far too late the woman raising her axe behind them, she tried to warn the masked man but was too late in the end, as the axe sliced deep into the shoulder of the man.


    With an outraged scream, he turned around and threw an uppercut at the woman, which dislodged her spine and sent her back to the ground, this time dead for good, all the while the axe was still lodged into his shoulder.


    Kneeling beside the girl, he said something before she rose to her knees and after a little struggle pulled the axe with shaking hands free from his shoulder. Before breaking down towards the ground. In the meantime, the man was rotating his shoulder like he hadn¡¯t just pulled an axe out of it.


    With a racing heart and haggard breath, Liam slowly placed the binoculars down, realizing that he was shaking all over. He laid low to the ground, hoping that it would swallow him, just to further increase his chances of not being found.


    After all that happened, after all that he had seen, he had gained some sort of confidence. That he knew everything. He knew the Redfangs, the Marauders, the strangers, the beasts, his own people. They were all things he knew and more importantly knew how to deal with, he understood them.


    But this masked man was different. He was so inherently different to anything he had seen so far that he was¡­ scared. Even more so than the Redfangs or beasts, he feared that man. There was supernatural in the world, he knew that. The beast were mutating, people were doing strange things considered impossible in the old age.


    What the man did wasn¡¯t even the strangest thing he had seen so far, but it wasn¡¯t his action that caused this fear, it was his demeanor, his behavior ¨C his aura. It all just didn¡¯t seem right, it felt out of place, as if the very world didn¡¯t want him to exist¡­

 Chapter 24 (End of Book 1): Towards Civilization

    Blood clung to Clay¡¯s hands, as the smell of iron filled his nostrils. This all too familiar smell that remained thick in the air after a fight. At this point, it almost felt nostalgic. Like an old friend that just wouldn¡¯t leave his side no matter what path he treated on.


    Killing humans was¡­ different. That was at least what he thought until the inevitable happened, and he killed his first human. He also imagined his first murder to be something grand, a great struggle, followed by guilt that would haunt him for months if not years, yet he felt¡­ nothing.


    There was no guilt, at least not for the ones he had killed, if there was any guilt then only that he hadn¡¯t struck sooner, instead of trying to talk with these lunatics.


    If he had attacked first, Mia wouldn¡¯t have that nasty cut on the side of her temple. It wasn¡¯t anything life-threatening, but deep enough for Clay to be certain it would leave a scar.


    Thanks to her inner circulation, the wound clotted in mere moments and scab was already forming over it and would completely heal in a few days time, but it still bothered him.


    This was the first human interaction, other than with Mia, that he had in well over two years. He was nervous, didn¡¯t want to escalate the situation but met the wrong kind of people, if you could call them people. They dressed like savages, fought like them, and didn¡¯t act any better.


    He just killed five humans, and the only regret was that he didn¡¯t do so sooner. Was he going crazy, or was the world going crazy? Well it didn¡¯t matter, they wanted to hurt them so he defended himself, it was as simple as that, no reason to overthink it.


    They had it coming for them with that savage behavior, he was surprised they weren¡¯t already dead with how weak they were. None of them used aura, at least none he could perceive. The woman with the big axe must have used inner circulation, otherwise she wouldn''t have been able to stand up after the sidekick, but other than that they were weak.


    Or they were still too weakened from the alignment of the moons, but it still was a surprise to him that they survived thus far. In his mind, anyone without aura or self-healing capabilities comparable to his own wouldn¡¯t survive long in a fight with¡­ any beast, really.


    That was the biggest surprise in this fight, how easy they were to kill. That first strike against the man wasn¡¯t even meant to kill him. He acted on reflex and wanted to block that cudgel, only to break right through it, and the neck of that dipshit just happened to be in the way.


    Rushing in like that was beyond stupid. Not to mention some of the guys using metal. They either have no idea about the concept of aura or they are beyond stupid. The biggest problem behind this accident was that they couldn¡¯t trust that map. It was obviously a trap, and he felt quite stupid for not suspecting it right from the start.


    Who in his right mind would just leave a map lying around that led to a safe haven? At least when it had that note on avoiding some Marauders, he should have suspected something. If the map was really legit, it wouldn¡¯t just lie around in some ruin and especially not in such quantities.


    This was clearly hand-made from someone who wanted them to walk into these cavemen, and he had a strong hunch it wasn¡¯t the cavemen themselves who were lying this trap, but instead a third party. It wouldn¡¯t surprise him if these ¡®Marauders¡¯ were behind this themselves.


    This whole situation got him riled up. No, he was pissed. He would crush the little shit that made that map if he could, but going back to Riverton and scouring the ruins for the culprit seemed like a big time waste. The groups here clearly didn¡¯t belong to Churchville, so they must have traveled further. There was no time to waste with the possibility of the moons aligning once again.


    Taking a long look at the map, analyzing every detail, the finely made strokes, the professional style, the accurate location of cities¡­ it didn¡¯t make sense. This map was a trap, but maybe not entirely a lie. What did people say, ¡°All good lies are based on the truth,¡± or something similar?


    The map was just far too detailed to be only a trap. Maybe it didn¡¯t lead to the safe haven it promised, but it definitely led somewhere. On the way were quite a few more towns and cities they could check, so there really wasn¡¯t any reason not to go.


    Turning to Mia, he saw that she mostly recovered. Besides her trying to act indifferent to most situations, was she at heart still a kid. A kid that tried her best to cope with what was happening, but there were limits. She wasn¡¯t prepared for this, and killing her first human seemed to have hit her far harder than him.


    Leaning over her bandaged head, he asked, ¡°Do you feel guilty?¡±


    Startled, she turned around before relaxing and returned to hugging her knees, taking a while before replying, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ know. I mean not really right? He attacked us, so I had to defend myself?¡±


    ¡°Is that a question or your answer?¡± asked Clay while sitting beside her.


    Realizing that she wasn¡¯t sure, she just let out a heavy sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Resting her head on her knees in frustration.


    Keeping silent, she eventually said, ¡°I know that I had to do it. You said it would happen, I knew it myself. But seeing his face? As my spear drove deeper into his stomach, his eyes widening? The shock as he looked at the spear in his body, and then back to me with these big pleading eyes. It¡¯s just¡­ different, you know? Compared to the beasts.¡±


    ¡°Is it though?¡±


    Confused, Mia turned to look Clay into the face, who in turn kept staring into the distance. ¡°Do you remember the first time you killed a dire wolf?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. It was alone, you exhausted it, and I only gave it the finishing blow.¡±


    Turning to look into her face, he asked, ¡°Describe in more detail. What happened, what did the dire wolf look like in his last moments? What did it do?¡±


    Thinking for a moment, Mia recounted, ¡°I drove my spear into it¡¯s chest, close to the throat. It was making choking noises, looking at me, his eyes¡­ pleading? It clawed desperately at the shaft, barely any strength behind it, before its eyes finally glazed over, and it slumped down, sliding off my spear¡­¡±


    Nodding, Clay turned back towards the forest. ¡°There is no difference, I think. The man is no different to the dire wolf or any other beast or animal for that fact. We are all living beings who when in the face of death, see our past life. Some will be content, others in regret or in the disbelief that it will all end soon. It doesn¡¯t matter how they react, the only thing that matters is how you react.¡±


    ¡°How I react?¡± repeated Mia, confused.


    ¡°Yes, how will you go about the death of others? Will you cry? Will you feel guilt? Will you be happy or angry? It doesn¡¯t matter how they die. What matters is how you handle what comes afterward,¡± explained Clay.


    Frowning, Mia asked, ¡°What do you even know? You are not even that much older than me.¡±


    Ignoring the rebuke, he asked instead, ¡°Did I ever tell you what happened to my family?¡±


    Startled by the sudden change of topic, she pouted, ¡°No. You refused to talk about your past every time I asked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± replied Clay, while a strained laugh escaped his lips. ¡°I¡¯m not really good with¡­ people. I never had many friends, only one to be honest. But I was content, I had a loving and supporting family, and that one fried was to me more worth than every person in my school combined. I didn¡¯t need more.


    ¡°When the light first hit us and animals were wildly mutating at random, was our dog one of them. At the time, I was still at school, but my family wasn¡¯t, they were at home. My dad must have picked up my sister like always, my mum would be preparing lunch for us, most likely spaghetti as I know her¡­


    ¡°Well, I can only hope that their death wasn¡¯t too painful, as our dog mutated and ripped them apart. I only found them days later, when nothing but bones was left. At first, I didn¡¯t even recognize that the mutated dog I was fighting was the same one that I have cared for more than nine years. Only after I was about to give the finishing blow did I realize who I was about to kill.


    ¡°The first mutated animals were driven by unnatural bloodlust and instinct, killing everything on sight. Nothing compared to the beasts we face now, they are a lot more controlled ¨C efficient. Well that is how my family died, my Dad, Mum and Sister all but gone.¡±


    Too stunned to speak, Mia hesitated a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t really mean what I said.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± replied Clay with a smile, ¡°I have come to terms with it, but I know what it feels like to lose your family and friends. You know, after my family died, I only had this one best friend ¨C Chris. We both lost everything, but we still had each other. This might sound a bit corny, but it felt like us against the rest of the world.¡±


    Laughing, he thought back to that blurry time. ¡°It was strange. But somehow we made it out there, surviving day after day, until I too lost him. Beheaded by the royal ant¡­ I did tell you about the ants, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you said that a whole ant colony mutated and was a threat to all of Churchville so you joined the party intended to kill the Queen. You succeeded, but this one ant, stronger than any other, survived and hunted you down for it, but I didn¡¯t know you lost your friend to it¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, he was the one who killed the Queen in the end and paid with his life¡­ And later on as you know succumbed your brother to the injuries received by the very same ant. I just hope that Max, Dennis and Jake caught up to the others,¡± said Clay with an earnest expression.


    Nodding, Mia said, ¡°I wish I could see Jake again. We were always together. Jim, Jake and me. I miss these easy days. They feel so¡­ distant now. Like a hazy dream. Sometimes I question if they existed at all.¡±


    Resting his arm on her shoulder, Clay said, ¡°That is your answer.¡± Giving him a confused look, he explained, ¡°You killed the man because he wanted to hurt you. He was just another small hurdle on your path to Jake.¡±


    ¡°You believe that he is still alive?¡± asked Mia with a slight spark of hope.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I haven¡¯t seen his corpse, so why not look for him?¡± asked Clay helpfully.


    ¡°I suppose you are right¡­¡±


    Standing up, he smiled. ¡°Of course I¡¯m right. I¡¯m always right.¡± Rolling her eyes, she stood up. ¡°Yeah, sure you are. So what now?¡±


    Turning to the corpses behind them, he said, ¡°We should probably move before more of these caveman show up. They seem to mark their territory with these totems, so we will just walk around them.¡±


    Picking up her spear, backpack and heater shield, she nodded. ¡°Sounds like a plan. Onwards, mister always right.¡±


    They continued on their path, leaving a terrified man hidden in the bushes, and a few drops of Mia¡¯s blood which eagerly purified the plant it landed on.


    Walking along the periphery of the territory of these cavemen proved easy, with all the totems showing which direction to avoid. It took quite the detour, but eventually they left their territory behind without encountering any more of the lunatics.


    It didn¡¯t take much longer before they got out of the forest and unto a road that would take them to the next town, maybe this one was a bit more livid.


    ******


    ¨C 963 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    After traveling for the rest of the day, they entered a new town. They were greeted by ruins not much different to the one they came across in Riverton. The city was dead, with seemingless not a single soul living in it. The signs of destruction and fighting were apparent.


    The remains of barricades, discarded weapons ranging from makeshift spears to firearms. Some parts had shells littering the ground, as numerous as pebbles. People fought fiercely in this place yet not a single soul remained, at least none they came across.


    There was still time until dusk, but they wouldn¡¯t reach any settlement in that time, so they decided to camp in the town for the day. Camping outside wasn¡¯t really pleasant, and they still had more than enough time left to reach this Vanguard place, now that they had a direction to follow.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¨C 927 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Traveling through a small village, there was little damage for once. Being a bit away from the beaten path, it surely hasn¡¯t seen many visitors. Yet like any other place it seemed abandoned, besides the graveyard which seemed to have been expanded not too long ago, with dozens of newly dug graves spotting the land.


    Not long after, they came across the presumed culprit. An old lady sitting on a chair on one of the verandas, eyes half opened, a shovel resting on her lap.


    She seemed more dead than alive, but upon coming closer, she suddenly blinked, causing Clay to flinch. Her eyes lazily meet his own, without her body moving but a muscle. Under the haggard clothes he could spot old and new wounds, some blood trails dried to the skin, and standing so close there was some kind of foul smell.


    ¡°...eave.¡± Leaning closer to hear the old lady better, she repeated herself more clearly, ¡°Leave.¡± The voice was raspy and old, rough, like scratched bark. ¡°There is nothing left, but death.¡±


    Gathering her courage, Mia peeked over beside Clay. ¡°Do you need help? We don¡¯t look like it, but we are doing quite alright.¡±


    Turning to meet Mia¡¯s eyes, the lady smiled slightly. ¡°What a kind flower you are. But there is nothing for you here. Let this old woman rest, and continue on your way.¡± Gazing back towards the horizon, she closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m content.¡±


    Sinking into her chair, Mia tried to grab her, only for a firm hand to stop her own. Shooting a confused look towards Clay, he only shook his head. ¡°Is she dead¨C?!¡±


    Letting go of her hand, he signaled to be silent. After a quick check, Mia sighed in relief as the old lady turned out to be just asleep. Even through Mia¡¯s protest, pushed Clay forward without staying at the village for the night.


    ¨C 851 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Their journey continued, the landscape changing as they went, ranging from beautiful nature, to abandoned highways like the one they were traversing at the moment. It stretched seemingless endlessly, but every few steps, it turned into a minefield of upheaved asphalt and gaping cracks. Some fissures were small enough to step over, but others plunged so deep they swallowed the light.


    A small misstep and your leg could be eaten by a hole of black. Some of them being large enough to swallow parts of cars, that could crash into the abyss at any moment. It wasn¡¯t nice to traverse on, but most paths weren¡¯t. At least the highway provided a straight way towards their goal.


    ¨C 735 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    They finally left the highway behind, and at the moment Clay was gutting a strange creature. A mix between cat and dog. He mostly ignored the appearance, concentrating on getting what meat he could and roasting it for the night.


    As they traveled, Clay used every opportunity he could to hunt what animals or beasts he could find. By now ignoring their appearance as many were a mismatch of animals. Some he recognized, but others seemed alien and like nothing he has ever seen before. Either he didn¡¯t know the original animal or they were something new all together.


    He was no skilled hunter with bow and arrow, more like a brute that used the eruption in his legs to accelerate to speeds, no awakened beast could hope to outrun. They were not feasting in excess, but were also far from starving.


    ¨C 622 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Having to take a detour, they were forced to travel through a forest, which wasn¡¯t full of new and strange life, as the usual scenery had presented them so far. Instead of green, they were greeted by devastation as the forest floor was fractured into irregular plates, each jutting upward at odd angles. Trees leaned awkwardly, some uprooted entirely. Each step was a risk, as beneath the moss-covered ground, hidden crevices waited.


    Stumbling upon such a crevice, Mia badly twisted her ankle. The wound would heal in a few hours, but for that time he decided to give her a piggyback ride. They were still following schedule, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it. There was still the possibility that this Vanguard place had already fallen, if it existed at all.


    ¨C 496 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Crossing over a small hill, a valley opened before them. Transformed from a picture of pristine green to a murky swamp, as rain-swollen rivers, flooded the valley. Fallen trees floated among the waters, and the smell of decay, hung heavy in the air. Wading through the mire risked being sucked down by mud or bitten by unseen predators lurking below.


    His experience with the toads told him better than to dare to cross such a long distance of mud ridden water. Another detour, but nothing they couldn¡¯t manage. They were getting good distance each day. Their conversations becoming shorter and shorter as a routine formed.


    The ever-changing scenery blended out by the goal that came closer by the day. With each passing day, they were becoming more focused on their task, ignoring everything else. This place was their hope towards a stable life among other humans¡­ Well, hopefully humans that didn¡¯t want to kill, steal, rape or eat them.


    ¨C 373 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Entering another city that seemed to be little different from the other dozen cities they came across thus far, Clay was quickly proven wrong, as they walked upon a¡­ wall. He hesitated to call the construct a wall, but it was definitely too large to be a mere palisade.


    It didn¡¯t really seem that sturdy, a mismatch of wooden scraps, hollowed out cars and pieces of metal all over to keep the construct together. Rust was beginning to creep across the edges. On top stood multiple people on guard duty, looking over the streets.


    Exchanging glances, Clay and Mia approached carefully, trying to keep out of sight. They came across quite a few people during their travel, some escaped upon sight, a few attacked them, one even tried to rob them. Little tried to talk, and the few that did, did not dare to exchange too much. All on edge, refusing to sit or relax for even a moment. Not once was there a trace of trust.


    Their exchanges most often didn¡¯t last for more than a couple of minutes before they moved their separated ways. Each group they came across was so different from the next that there was no inherent pattern, but that they were traveling in groups. It seemed like society broke into hundreds of smaller communities and groups that all fought for themselves.


    Some were larger, others smaller. He just wished there was a place where people still had some form of trust and security. The group he was currently supervising definitely seemed to have the latter, as the guards were armed with guns.


    This was making Clay quite nervous if he was honest to himself. He knew that bullets probably wouldn¡¯t damage him much more than the next beast, but having grown up with the knowledge that guns could kill you in a single shot, wasn¡¯t easy to just blend out.


    After a short discussion, he was able to convince Mia to stay behind as he approached alone. Not long after leaving his hiding spot was a commotion on the wall as they saw him closing in. Rising his one good arm to signalizing he didn¡¯t want any harm, he stood before the ¡®gate¡¯.


    ¡°What do you want?!¡± A rough looking man asked, gun pointed straight at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m seeking shelter and wondered if you could¨C¡±


    ¡°Bulshit! Where is the rest of your little group? Do you think I¡¯m stupid?! We don¡¯t want anything to do with outsiders, so I¡¯m giving you a chance to leave.¡±


    Seeing that Clay was frowning at the response rather than leave, the man lost his composure, a tear of sweat trailing between his brows. ¡°I¡¯m counting to three, before I put a hole between your eyes! You hear me?!¡±


    ¡°One!¡±


    Tilting his head to the side, Clay felt confusion rising inside of him. A feeling that something was off, strong enough to blend out the threat of being shot.


    ¡°Two!¡±


    There was this unusual calm and the confidence that nothing would happen. It was strange, but looking directly at the barrel, he felt¡­ curious. What could a gun really do? In the past it may have been a dangerous weapon, but with essence?


    ¡°T-Three!¡±


    Refusing to budge, the grip of the man around his gun was tightening. Was the gun even loaded?


    There was a small boom, upon which Clay reflexively tightened the aura around himself, intending to reduce the impact of the bullet, only to feel a small push upon his aura. The next thing he knew was the bullet deflected at the point of contact. It ricocheted off unpredictably, drilling into a piece of wood from the wall.


    Confused, the man quickly shot a second shot, only for the scene to repeat itself. Looking at him in shock, the man opened his mouth, but no words came out. Beginning to slightly tremble, he swallowed and tried to steady his aim.


    ¡°Stop,¡± stated Clay simply before turning around. ¡°Stop wasting your bullets. I¡¯m already leaving.¡±


    They continued to aim their weapons as Clay went back towards Mia, who didn¡¯t bother looking over his shoulder, the guns couldn¡¯t harm him. This place was another bust, and he didn¡¯t have the nerve to try and communicate with a skittish group that shot at strangers. They just had to double down on the Vanguard.


    Looking at the cloudless sky, he smiled. At least he learned something new.


    ¨C 219 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Resting between ruined houses, Mia began to scowl, ¡°You didn¡¯t fix your clothes again!¡±


    Following her gaze, he looked on his shoulder where a patch of leather was hanging by the thread, as two nasty lines arched across it. One of the mutated beasts, probably. ¡°Don¡¯t make such a fuss. The clothing barely protects me anyway.¡±


    Pouting, she stood up and got the sewing kit from his backpack. Kneeing beside him, she reached for the damaged patch, Clay lazily waving her off.


    ¡°Let me.¡± Her voice making it clear she wouldn¡¯t be rejected. So he silently subjected himself to the treatment.


    Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have let her help him repair his clothes as often, not that she developed some sort of tick to keep their clothes undamaged and pristine at all times, otherwise they would only be occupied with repairing rather than walking.


    First she worked on cutting the small threads, then removed the damaged patch of leather and replaced it with a new from their reserves. His prototype of the silken underlayer had proven sturdy so far. The patches ripped and broke as intended, while the threads of the bone spiders held strong.


    Perking his head up, he heard Mia mumble something as she worked. ¡°Sorry?¡±


    Finding her courage, Mia repeated herself louder, ¡°You have to be more careful!¡±


    Giving her a questioning look, Mia locked eyes with him. ¡°You are too careless with your body. I know that you can heal, but that is no excuse to throw yourself at each opportunity to hurt yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hurting myself?¡± repeated Clay with uncertainty.


    Stopping her work entirely, Mia looked dumbfounded at him. ¡°I hope that is a joke.¡± Seeing his blank stare, she almost had an outrage then and there. ¡°Clay, you sleep two hours a day. You use your own body as a shield. Like that one bandit, that swung a knife at you, which you didn¡¯t avoid, but instead intentionally ran into to close the distance. Or with these cannibals, where you rather took the hit of that cudgel instead of just side stepping it. Just a few days ago, when you had the smart idea to take firearms head on! Or when you¡­ threw yourself between me and that dire wolf.¡±


    The longer he listened, the deeper got his frown. Was he really that careless? Hearing her say it like that did make him wonder why he didn¡¯t dodge some of these attacks. With his current speed and reflexes, he definitely would have been more than capable to do so.


    Realizing that Mia waited for a response, her nodded his head. ¡°You are right. I will try to be more careful from now on.¡±


    Satisfied, she went back to sewing.


    ¨C 136 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    It wasn¡¯t long before they would finally reach the mark of the map. He was tiring if he was honest. Time was of essence should his fear come true, but just as Mia said, he might have pushed himself too far.


    Two hours was definitely not enough sleep, he could feel his essence burning in larger quantities to compensate. His reserves of essence were still at a critical level, not having regenerated much. He was relying on the fact he could drink heart blood to gain a surge of essence, but was that the right call?


    It was true that it gave him incomparable power, but it also only lasted for what felt like moments. The anomaly lasted for four nights, with the last two being especially bad. They were practically swarmed by beasts, and he had to fight almost all night in both occasions. Mere moments wasn¡¯t enough.


    They were currently resting in a small clearing and Mia was watching the surroundings warily, so he closed his eyes for a moment and drew inwards. His current problem was a lack of information. He didn¡¯t know if this anomaly would repeat itself, he didn¡¯t know what beasts he would face and what they can do. Hell, he couldn¡¯t even gauge his own abilities properly. Against any human he encountered so far, he seemed like some unbeatable demigod, while awakened beasts toyed with his body like a dog played with a ball.


    His biggest advantage was his Eruption, which was both effective and costly. The two main ways of using it would be an all out eruption to shred anything in his path but also rendered him weakened for too long, the other was the sustained use of spacing his erupted steps, to accelerate immensely in speed, the problem was that gauging the distance was still too hard. It didn¡¯t even really feel like running, but more like small jumps from foot to foot. Point was, he still wasn¡¯t able to use it in a fight.


    He might have become too complacent after discovering that he could consume heart blood. No, he became reckless. His regeneration, made him gloss over most wounds, but he can¡¯t forget that a lack of essence also meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to regenerate. Essence, which he didn¡¯t have much left of, he was practically running on fumes.


    Feeling anxiety creeping up, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Everything will be fine.


    ¨C 13.4 Kilometers until Vanguard.


    Walking along a clearly used path, they crossed a small hill, a small plateau expanding before them. The sky was clear, the air chilling yet refreshing. They have seen a particular mountain range all day, and standing atop the hill, Clay was finally able to exhale in relief.


    Forming an inner circulation to his eyes, his vision immediately cleared, and he felt his vision expanding, like binoculars he was able to see the happenings in the distance at much greater detail.


    Towering in the distance was a mountain range, with a large valley in between, it was hard to make out from this distance, but he could see vast expanding fields that laid fallow. The few stems dotting here and there suggested that it had been cultivated and harvested before.


    It hadn¡¯t this perfect square structure that modern fields usually had, which meant they were freshly planted and by the size of it by no small number of people. Indeed, he could spy well ¨C he hesitated to call them houses as they reminded him more of shacks, but they at least seemed to be lived in, judging from the small columns of smoke rising from a few of them.


    Straining his eyes further, he was able to make out moving shadows, no, not mere shadows, but silhouettes of people! Following the paths around the fields, he came ever closer towards the valley, with increasing distance the shacks seemed to multiply in number.


    Until finally, shack after shack was aligned against a towering ¡®wall¡¯, stretching twice over the tallest shack he could spot. If you could call the pristine mix of stone, a wall, rather than an extension of the surrounding mountain. Yet it was neither rugged and sharp nor stretching high enough, to be natural, it was clearly man-made.


    Smooth like polished iron, the sun reflected upon it¡¯s surface, and Clay knew of only one thing that could accomplish such a feat. Even modern technology wouldn¡¯t be able to make a wall that looked as if it was formed by wax rather than solid stone.


    Finally having seen enough, Mia let out a happy squeal. ¡°This is it!¡± Pulling Clay along his arm, she smiled brightly, her teeth fully showing, ¡°We found proper civilization! The Vanguard exists!¡±


    When was the last time he had seen her smile like that? ¡°Should we race?¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a moment of hesitation as Mia sprinted downhill, leaving only the words ¡°You bet!¡± in her trail. Giving her a small head ups, he smiled before holding his essence in his right leg and shot off. By the third step, he overtook Mia.


    ¡°Not fair!¡± raged Mia as Clay shot past her and towards civilization. Maybe there was yet hope, as he laughed against the wind rushing past him.


    ¨C End of Book 1:  A Promise takes Roots

 Chapter 25: The Vanguard

    Having reached the foot of the hill, Clay slowly came to a halt, waiting for Mia to catch up to him. Shortly after she stood beside him her hair ruffled from the wind and her breath ragged beneath her mask, but after a few short breaths it returned to normal, her inner circulation doing its work.


    ¡°You remember the plan, right?¡± asked Clay, seriously, before she could say anything. The smile on her face stiffened, as she matched his seriousness and nodded in acknowledgment.


    After their first unfortunate encounter with other humans, they have talked at length what to do in a variety of situations. Nonetheless, they were taking a risk by approaching other humans, but there was no other option.


    Either this worked out or they would be thoroughly fucked. With anxiety creeping up, he took a deep breath and started to move at a comfortable pace, his back straight and chin up, trying to appear confident. His mask was stashed in his backpack, and Mia had her half mask hidden behind a scarf. With winter at full swing, it didn¡¯t appear out of place. He wore his blade openly on his left hip, while his hunting knife stayed hidden behind his back, just like he tried to hide his maimed arm under the thick dire wolf cloak. He wanted to appear like an experienced traveler that knew what he was doing, else people would start picking a fight.


    Not long after leaving the sparsely grown forest surrounding the foot of the hill, they reached the first of many fields. Not far from them worked a man thin like bones upon the fields. His skin was hanging low and his eyes sunken.


    He spared them a short glance before heaving his crude hoe over his shoulder and for his appearance drove it with surprising force into the ground, plowing the stalks from the last harvest under the earth. The man was clearly superhuman yet worked the fields and looked no better than a beggar. Not only his physical frame, but his clothes too were little more than rags. The worn cloak he wore over his shoulders couldn¡¯t have provided much warmth.


    As they neared the city so too increased the surrounding people and shacks, some gave them a glance, others ignored them entirely, and none dared to strike a conversation. This didn¡¯t set right with him, it seemed strange, but they continued nonetheless. What other choice was there?


    Eventually they reached a long line of people waiting before the city gates. Standing so close towards the walls, they felt dominating, almost oppressing. They must have been over a dozen meters tall, and Clay was yet again struck in awe by the clean surface of the mismatched stone. Magic was clearly at work here. But it wasn¡¯t only stone, as whole trunks of trees every few meters helped to support its structure.


    Above, he could see guard upon guard dotting behind the merlons. Instead of modern firearms, they wielded quiver and bow. With his aura drawn inwards, he kept his strength hidden, but in turn could not gauge if anyone among the humans had awakened.


    With no one striking a conversation and too nervous to start their own, they just lined up like everyone else. Looking over the hunched man before him, Clay was able to make out the happenings in front. A large portcullis acted as the main gate to the city. Compared to the clean blend of one type of stone to the next of the wall, it looked hideous. It was a mismatch of iron, steel and other metals which he couldn¡¯t recognize. Its colors ranged from orange-brownish, to shining silver and deep gray.


    It looked as if it had been repaired multiple times with whatever metal the people could get their hands on. At the moment it was drawn up only showing the lower portion, so he could only imagine how the whole thing would look. On either side of the gate stood four guards, for a total of eight. If placed side by side, they could easily cover the entrance, something he was sure to be no mere coincidence.


    Looking at their armor, he saw that they all wore something resembling a uniform. They wore some kind of gambeson, above a chain mail hauberk, which almost reached their knees, and above all that was a long tunic of faded yellow. Their arms were clad in metal bracers, and they wore leather gloves and boots, while a nasal helm crowned their head.


    Absorbing this whole scene, Clay was sure of it. He traveled through time and came back towards the Middle Ages. He must be. They were wearing a one to one replica of medieval armor. Their hands held spears and heater shields, there was even a symbol on the shields that resembled a sun. That was a freaking coat of arms!


    Shacking his head, he stopped questioning the situation and focused on a more pressing matter. Besides the eight guards, there was one more. A man seated behind a wooden table, a list in front of him, pen in hand. He wore the same armor as the others but didn¡¯t wear the helmet as it rested besides him on the table.


    They waited patiently until it was their turn, and through his observations he was already able to gauge the rough procedure to enter the city. The old man that stood before them was refused entry, like so many others. He threw himself to the ground and begged to enter. The man behind the table gave a simple nod towards one of the guards, who heaved a heavy sigh before kicking the man in the groin, causing him to topple over in pain.


    Wincing in pain, a spear drove close to the man''s head into the ground. Seeing the weapon, he finally gave up and scoured away on all fours. This wasn¡¯t the first person that was rejected in such a manner, but it still bothered Clay as he watched. To the side, he saw Mia clenching the shaft of her spear strong enough for her knuckles to turn white, placing his hand on her shoulder she relaxed. They couldn¡¯t afford to draw attention to themselves.


    ¡°Next!¡± shouted the man behind the table.


    Walking up with Mia in tow, the man sounded to be bored out of his mind as repeated a phrase he must have already spoken a thousand times. ¡°Your identification plate.¡±


    Now came the moment of truth. ¡°I don¡¯t have one.¡±


    Looking up from the list, the man leaned into his chair, examining Clay from top to bottom with a sharp look. ¡°You are new here.¡±


    Giving him a short nod, the guard smiled. ¡°What is your purpose of visit?¡±


    ¡°Seeking refuge,¡± replied Clay simply.


    Playing with the pen in his hands, he concluded, ¡°So you two are travelers. Probably even siblings and lost your group on the way or abandoned them. I don¡¯t really care either way, I have heard the story a hundred times by now. If you want to enter the city, you have to pay the entry fee and abide by the rules.¡±


    Having expected as much, Clay beckoned the guard to continue. ¡°The rules are simple. No killing, no stealing, no rape, yada yada yada¡­ really, just use your head and you will be fine. Do anything out of line and the patrolling guards will catch you.¡± The last part was spoken like a fact rather than a threat.


    ¡°If you really intend to stay, you should look for the Hearth. It''s the governing building of the city and will get you all settled. There you will get evaluated to see if you are fitting for our ¡®small¡¯ community. If so, will you receive an identity plate and your accommodations with it. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Where exactly¨C¡± Cutting him off, the guard smiled. ¡°That was a rhetorical question. I don¡¯t get paid to answer questions, state them to the Hearth if you reach it.¡± Lazily stretching his hand out, he demanded, ¡°The fee, then.¡±


    Looking unsure towards Mia, she only gave a questioning look not having spoken a word, like they agreed beforehand. Turning back towards the guard, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t really have money on me.¡±


    Hearing this, the guard gave him a hearty laugh, ¡°Boy, I didn¡¯t expect you to give me any of the old paper shit, we called money. Just give me something out of metal, preferably a weapon, like that nice sword on your hip.¡±


    Slowly drawing his blade, the guards in the back tensed, ready to move if needed. Turning the blade around, he gave it towards the sitting man. Who inspected it carefully, a whistle escaping his lips as he let the sun reflect from the black surface of the blade. ¡°Any other weapons?¡±


    Placing his hunting knife onto the table, the man gestured towards Mia, ¡°And the girl?¡±


    ¡°Just the spear,¡± replied Clay swiftly.


    Tapping the blade, the man asked, ¡°That is no metal, what material is that?¡±


    Clay thought about feigning ignorance, but decided against it. They would take their weapons, most likely, anyway. ¡°It¡¯s chitin, I believe.¡±


    Scrutinizing the blade, the man commented, ¡°That must have belonged to one nasty fucking beast then,¡± before turning the blade around and giving it back.


    Confused, Clay frowned, but sheathed his blade anyway. ¡°You are not taking our weapons?¡±


    Grinning, the man explained, ¡°Of course not. I even advise you to keep them close. You will never know when a beast sneaks past the walls or some lunatic goes on a rampage. We can¡¯t be everywhere at all times, you know.¡±


    Bewildered by the contradiction, Clay asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the guards will find us if we break out of line?¡±


    Suddenly turning serious, the gaze of the guard darkened. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, we will find you should you do something stupid. No one who breaks the rules leaves the city unpunished. I just said that we can¡¯t be there immediately, so it¡¯s better if each citizen can protect themselves.¡±


    Frowning at the threat, Clay became very curious as to why they felt so confident about supervising the city, but he knew better than to ask. Seeing that he made his point clear, the guard lifted the knife. ¡°This should suffice for your entry fee. Keep in mind that if you leave the city without an identity plate, that you will have to pay the fee once again.¡±


    Nodding, Clay waited for the man to continue, who just blankly stared at him. ¡°What are you waiting for? Don¡¯t block the line and get going!¡±


    Startled, he quickly moved past the man and the gate, finally reaching the inside of the city. The ground was not paved with stone, instead the ground was flattened into a broad path leading further into the city. Well, that was until their way forward suddenly ended after a turn before a crude building of wood and clay. Even without having any idea about construction was it obvious that the building was freshly made.


    Which seemed strange. All around them were crude houses, not much better than the shacks lining the outside wall. They came during their journey across many crumbling houses and ruins beyond repair, but making a new city between the ruins of the old made more sense, alone for the ease of being able to recycle the resources.


    These houses were built with a mixture of wood and clay, while the ruins would have provided finished bricks. Why the hell ended the path even in front of a building? Was that already the Hearth the guard mentioned?


    Peeking between the wooden shutters ¨C there was no glass on the buildings ¨C he saw more people hustling about, one dressing himself with the armor of the guards. So this was some sort of barracks.


    Trying to avoid any guard and possible questions, he grabbed Mia by the hand and went into an alley on the left of the building. At the end he could see a great flow of people. Intrigued, they got closer until they reached the end and were obstructed by the people, he couldn¡¯t see far into the road and what the hustle was about.


    Standing on his toes, he tried to look over the crowd and why the fuck this road was so crammed with people, only for a woman with a large basket to accidentally run into him, causing Clay to lose his balance and fall right into the flow of the people.


    At once, he was drowned in a cluster of noise, a dozen different smells assaulted his nose; freshly carved wood, waxed leather, the reek of the people, smoke from freshly ignited tobacco, some mixture of flowers. Smells he hadn¡¯t smelled in months suddenly came all at once, with his inner circulation they were only amplified as each sound and smell felt more vibrant.


    A hundred different activities fell into his vision, a man pushing a cart, making the already small road almost suffocating, woman and man carrying a variety of things in crates, basket, backpacks, suitcases or bags. It was such a random assortment of items that he couldn¡¯t process it.


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    Some just carried food, others had tools ranging from hammers and axes to shovels and hoes. There was a crate filled with freshly harvested herbs, a draft of the wind brining such a mixture of smells towards him that he felt light-headed.


    Being pushed and shoved, he was swept away in the flow of the people as he tried to not run anyone over. Mia was long gone, and his senses were too overloaded to worry about anyone else but himself. Once the cart finally moved on, the road was again split by a rickety wooden scaffold from a house under construction, looking as though it might collapse at any moment. The people were hard at work; hammering, shouting, building and mixing the paste of clay, sand, water and straw that was smeared over the wooden frame.


    Overwhelmed the smells slowly faded away, too much to process, he tried to not smell at all. Once the smell faded, the sounds grew clearer, and he caught fragments of multiple conversations at once.


    ¡°Edric give me the¨C¡±


    ¡°Have you seen what Sir Degen¨C¡±


    ¡°Ah, there you are! Don¡¯t you run¨C¡±


    ¡°Here are the tools you¨C¡±


    ¡°Open up! Don¡¯t let me hanging, I just want¨C¡±


    ¡°Move we are going to be¨C¡±


    Slowly the sounds merged and fused, becoming louder and louder until a high-pitched ringing was the only thing he could hear. Unconsciously, his mouth opened, some of his salvia drooling out as a sickening feeling filled his stomach. Not caring anymore he pushed anyone aside as he moved to a back alley, this one being so small that not even two people could walk side by side.


    The houses on the side were built so tall that they blocked the light, turning the surroundings dark. Clutching his stomach with his arm, he fell to his knees and vomited all over the ground. He shortly blacked out before blood came rushing back, and he saw the puddle of vomit. A strand of saliva almost stretching all the way to the ground, before it finally snapped.


    Oh, fuck. Disgusted by the scene, his stomach clenched as he tried to vomit again, but it being empty there didn¡¯t come much out besides bile, as he retched a few times more before finally feeling better. Spitting, he tried to get the foul taste from his mouth. Slowly standing up, he wiped his mouth clean from the saliva and vomit.


    Letting his backpack down, he leaned against the wall, resting his arm on his temple as he took long calming breaths. Smelling the sour and acidic smell of the puddle below, he had to concentrate to not bend over again.


    He could feel that his inner circulation was disrupted, so he concentrated on stabilizing it again, else his aura might escape. Once in place, the energy cleared his senses and he felt better at once. Taking one last breath, he slowly opened his eyes. Glancing to the side, he saw Mia, passing him his waterskin.


    Giving her a thankful nod, he took a gulp, rinsed his mouth of the last of the foul smell and spitted the water away, before taking a few sips to hydrate himself.


    ¡°You feeling better now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Overwhelmed by your senses?¡± asked Mia.


    Nodding, he straightened himself, put the waterskin away and shouldered his backpack. ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared for that onslaught of sensations, but I¡¯m fine now. Let¡¯s go find someone that knows where this Hearth is.¡±


    All the time he wondered what this Vanguard place really was, but after that short trip he finally had a clear picture. The Vanguard was a jagged and broken reflection of humanity. A city born from desperation and the will to survive.


    These meter thick walls of solid stone, were the only thing that stood between the inhabitants and the chaos of the outside world. Inside the wall, narrow streets and alleyways twisted between structures that seemed to have been thrown together in a rush ¨C shacks, shelters, and makeshift homes piled on top of one another. Built hastily, there was no time for a proper foundation, as people built wherever there was space. The whole city was a fickle thing that may crumble under its own weight at any moment.


    The people moved quickly and spoke in urgent tones. The constant threat of beast outside kept them on edge. Yet there was a silent understanding among them. He could feel it. Everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest elder, was in this together. There was no room for infighting or pride. The only goal was survival, and everyone played their part. Hands that once worked in a sheltered office now built homes, mended walls, and scavenged for supplies.


    There was solidarity. People, despite their individual struggles, shared whatever they could. Here, everyone was as equally desperate as the next, each person looking out for the other. In this broken world, no one could afford to be alone.


    The Vanguard was a city on the edge, built with the remnants of the past and the fragile hope of a future. Its walls, while far from perfect, stood tall as a testament to the resilience of its people. The future may be uncertain, but the will to survive and rebuild was the force that bound these people together.


    This was what they were looking for. The place he longed for. The people were on a thin rope towards civilization with an all enclosing abyss around them, one wrong step meant complete annihilation, but he could see it in the eyes of the people.


    They had hope. There wasn¡¯t the crazy glints of the caveman, the utter desperation of the travelers or the fear of the sheltered that worried about anything that was new. This was the place where they could live. They had found their sanctuary ¨C proper civilization.


    It almost brought a tear to his eyes, but he swallowed it down. They still weren¡¯t done yet, they had to settle in first, to really make this their home. Walking along the small back alley they came across a woman in her forties, with an apron throwing trash into a bin. The backdoor to one of the several houses on the side stood open, almost taking up the whole alley.


    ¡°Sorry, do you know where the Hearth is?¡±


    Turning around, the woman gave them an inspecting gaze before relaxing. ¡°Sure sweetheart. You just have to follow the alley until its end then go right, then left, past Brock''s bakery towards the market. Before the entrance, you go left, then right to the direction of the forge district, there you take the fourth alley on the left, and then you are basically there.¡±


    Seeing the empty stare of Clay, she began to smile, ¡°I¡¯m just jesting. I will bring you. Without a guide, it can be pretty hard to navigate these streets. I¡¯m guessing you are new, then?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you for showing us the way, we were just pretty overwhelmed with¡­ everything,¡± explained Clay.


    Giving him a knowing nod, the woman closed the door without locking it and started to guide the way, ¡°That doesn¡¯t surprise me. The place has changed quite a bit since I started living here. Even residents sometimes get lost in the streets. No worries, we have to stick together, right?¡±


    Giving her a simple nod in agreement, she moved on. This whole place was just too overwhelming to process anything. They first had to settle down and slowly explore from there.


    ******


    After a long, widening walk through the city avoiding several thousand people, they finally reached a small plaza, which at last didn¡¯t feel suffocating. Pointing to the building at the center their guide said, ¡°That¡¯s your destination as you may have guessed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I figured,¡± replied Clay as a grand building stretched over most of the plaza before them. It was three stories tall, built with logs and the same mismatch of stone from the wall. It was one of the few building that had proper windows, but most impressive was the tall tower in the center, which reached high towards the sky. They would have surely found the building on their own had they only looked up.


    Seeing their startled expression, their guide laughed to her heart''s content. ¡°Next time, just look up. You can see that tower wherever you are in the city. I just needed an excuse to take a walk. The city can feel suffocating if you stay at one place for too long. Sadly, I still have things to do, so I will have to leave you here.¡±


    As she turned around, Clay waved at her, ¡°Thanks for guiding us anyway.¡± Returning a lazy wave and half a smile, she left them alone.


    ¡°What a nice lady,¡± muttered Mia from the side.


    ¡°Fells nice to meet normal people for once,¡± stated Clay. Even if not nearly as crowded as the streets, was the plaza, by nor means devoid of people. ¡°We should get inside.¡±


    Stating that they wanted to settle down was enough for the guards to let them through. Besides the wall was this by far the heaviest guarded building they came across. Despite its grand appearance was the inside pretty modest. There was a large reception area, behind a simple wooden counter were three people seated, two women and one men. They all wore formal white blouses or shirts, with a black bow tie complementing the fit.


    Once inside another man to the side gave them a wooden plaque with a number on, ¡°Please take a seat and wait until your number is called out.¡±


    Nodding in understanding, he took the plaque and settled with Mia on one of the several chairs placed along the wall, already a collection of other people awaiting their turn. Settling besides them, Mia sat down with a sigh of relief. She tried to hide it, but the city also took a toll on her.


    Looking at her, he had to keep a laugh in. She was still carrying her spear and while seated it reached well over her head, while she rested her heater shield upon the side of the chair. They still haven¡¯t taken their weapons away, which seemed like a stupid thing not to do, even with guards around the place.


    Looking at the other people waiting, he saw that several others also had some kind of weapon on their body. What a strange place, everyone seemed armed, and yet he hasn¡¯t seen anyone getting into a fight. Letting his eyes wander around the place, he saw a guard, catching his eye. He had a similar armor to the rest, but silver ornaments decorated his helmet. He also wore a much larger sword, a longsword if he didn¡¯t see wrong. Definitely no normal guard.


    The man was bowing with discretion to the side of one of the receptionist and whispering something into her ears. He saw her taking a glance at him before quickly averting eye contact. That couldn¡¯t be good.


    Moments later he heard the woman call out, ¡°Number 44 please.¡± That was their number. Taking a quick glance to their neighbor, he could read that they held the number 41. Standing up, he pinched Mia twice. In response, her eyes momentarily widened before she calmed down.


    Moving calmly, he went towards the receptionist. ¡°Good day sir, how can I help¨C¡±


    Putting the plaque on the counter, he interrupted her. ¡°Are we allowed to leave?¡±


    ¡°I¨C sorry?¡± Pressing his hand upon the counter, he repeated his question with more force. ¡°Are we allowed to leave?¡±


    Smiling stiffly, she explained, ¡°Of course you can leave, but didn¡¯t you have a request?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we will come back later,¡± turning around he said to Mia in passing, ¡°let¡¯s get going.¡± All the while he kept his hand close to his blade, and even if the guards seemed nervous, they didn¡¯t obstruct their way. Before the doors closed behind him, he heard the receptionist call out, ¡°Number 45 please.¡±


    Was he wrong? He may be paranoid, but he got a bad feeling from that whole situation, better be safe than sorry. He didn¡¯t want to get into a fight. Not with his essence as low as it was. Feeling with his hand, he felt the vial of heart blood tugged behind his belt. There was no need to rush. No harm in observing the city for a few more days.


    Once outside, he went into the first alley he found, only to see two guards coming from that direction. Better to avoid them, he turned around and went for the street on the side, only to see another three guards coming their way. Quickly turning around, he froze in his steps. The bustling plaza from moments ago, all but vanished, as the last of the people hushed behind walls.


    Instead, small groups of guards closed in on them from all sides. Should they make a run for it? Feeling a tug on his sleeve, he saw Mia¡¯s pleading eyes. Fuck, this wasn¡¯t the place to shed blood. He really felt like this place could work for them. This was where they could finally settle down and rest.


    Slowly walking into the center of the plaza, the doors of the Hearth opened and the man with the silver helmet walked out. Clasping his hand firmly behind his back, he stood straight like a tree. Slowly, the other guards surrounded them, but neither did they make a move nor did anyone strike a conversation.


    The tension was palpable and even if they tried to appear firm, he could see that the guards were nervous, well all but the silver one. Good, if they didn¡¯t want to talk, he would. ¡°Could you tell me what this is all about?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, to stop you two on your way, but we have to kindly ask you to wait here,¡± replied the silver guard sternly.


    ¡°Why?¡± demanded Clay at once.


    ¡°The Mayor wants to have a conversation with you. He should arrive short¨C¡± the silver guard stopped talking as a rhythmic thumping came from inside the building. With each step it came closer and with it grew Clay''s anxiety. He knew that whoever came out of that building would be extremely dangerous, and that he needed to be prepared for everything.


    After what felt like an eternity, a bald man stepped through the door, wearing a dusted and worn leather coat, the man was limping on his right leg and with a heavy thud planted a cane entirely made of stone to his left. Looking at his face, he was met with unsettling wide eyes. From the top of his right eyelid, he could see a crevice of basalt forking over his skull, all the way down to his neck.


    Staring for a moment, he reached into his pocket, causing Clay to almost draw his sword right then and there, but he only retrieved a small vial. Tilting his head backwards, he let two drops fall into his right eye, spreading them with the help of his lower eyelid.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s better,¡± spoke the man in a deep voice that somehow held the power of the mountain range, surrounding them. He could feel them looming over him, warning him. To him, it felt like the mountains stretched into the sky, filling his vision, ready to crush him if needed.


    Not the one to back down, from such an obvious contest of strength, he smiled. There was no reason for him to keep himself hidden. He wanted a contest of strength? He could have it!


    At once, he redirected his circulation outside, causing his essence to flood the plaza like a broken dam. With all the stress that gathered during the day, it felt good to finally let loose. It wasn¡¯t hard to infuse his aura, he was thoroughly pissed with the whole situation, and he wouldn¡¯t buckle down before some bald dude.


    As his aura swirled and solidified he could feel the mountain range surrounding him shrinking, he could still very much feel it, but matched with his own aura he knew the man was only a little stronger than himself.


    The moment his aura pressed towards the soldiers, they took a step back, as their mail began to clink and sway as if hit by a strong wind. They were visibly taken aback, and they knew well to keep out of whatever would happen next.


    For a few moments, they just stared at each other before the bald man broke into a laughing fit, having to rest on his cane to prevent himself from toppling over. During his laugh, he could feel his aura retreating. ¡°What a feisty Intent you have! Seems like Darren was right to warn me. You can rest at ease, I only wish to speak with you.¡± With a wave of his hands, the guards retreated back into the city, seemingly with relief. All but the silver one went on their separate ways.


    Seeing him hesitate, the bald man gestured with a hand into the building, ¡°I promise upon the earth that I just want to talk with you. I believe there is much that we should discuss.¡±


    Thinking it over, Clay eventually followed along. They had to make this place work. They were both tired of constantly moving, fighting for their life and living with the uncertainty of tomorrow.

 Chapter 26: Ascended

    The bald man guided them into a small side room, which was lavishly decorated in fine wooden furniture, contrasting the mixture of stone that were the floor and walls. No longer was there a mismatch which¡¯s only purpose was to hold strong. What decorated the walls could be called art.


    Several different types of stone formed, at some places sceneries of mountains, at others strange swirling and curving symbols and at some just simple notes ¨C carved into the very wall.


    Letting himself fall with a heavy sigh into a stone seat, laid with pillows and blankets, the bald man gestured them to take a seat. They should have stayed outside, Clay knew very well that it would be easy for the man to let the very room crush upon them, or for the ground to open up and swallow them whole.


    With a gesture of the man''s hand, the silver guard that had followed them thus far, closed the doors behind them and left. Well it was too late for regrets, so he just took the seat that was offered and without much hesitation got to the point. ¡°So, what do you want to discuss?¡±


    Leaning back, the man made himself comfortable, the seat shifting to better suit his needs. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be afraid or to stress, boy, I really just want to talk.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me boy,¡± rebuked Clay calmly. He went through too much to be not taken seriousness just because he was still young.


    Nodding seriously, the man said, ¡°Noted. Didn¡¯t want to offend you, just bad habit. I know that you probably went through more horrors than the people that call themselves men these days. So let us start with introductions. I¡¯m Oliver Hill, or often just called the Mayor. You could say I¡¯m the leader of this lovely little haven.¡±


    ¡°I would say I¡¯m pleased to meet your acquaintance, but after that small debacle outside, I can¡¯t say I am. Well, not that there is much choice for us. I¡¯m Clay Raymond.¡±


    Seeing that Oliver¡¯s gaze shifted to Mia, she simply said, ¡°I¡¯m Mia Hawk.¡±


    Taking a breath, Oliver exhaled, visibly relaxing as his bulk of a body sank into the chair. ¡°I know we started on the wrong feet here, but you have to understand my position. I have to guarantee the safety of my people, especially when talking to a fellow Ascended.¡±


    Frowning, Clay repeated, ¡°Ascended? What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, there¡¯s much to discuss,¡± replied Oliver with slight annoyance. ¡°I don¡¯t even really know where to start, but I guess that¡¯s as good of a starting point as any. You and I are what we call Ascended. Why Ascended? Because our essence became denser than the one surrounding us. We ascended above the essence in the atmosphere, thus the name.¡±


    So what he called awakened, they called ascended, not that he cared much for it. ¡°Good for you, I¡¯m more interested in knowing what we have to do to stay here.¡±


    For the first time, showing confusion upon his unblinking eyes, Oliver leaned forward, ¡°In what community were you before?¡±


    Scoffing, Clay threw himself against his seat. ¡°Community? Don¡¯t make me laugh there was no community, the first real humans we met tried to kill us, behaving like some caveman. What followed were bandits, travelers that ran at sight, and communities that were hostile to anyone new. For the last two years it was us two, no more, no less.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be,¡± said Oliver matter-of-factly. ¡°Where were you during the Conjunction?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just assuming that you refer by the Conjunction to the anomaly of the two moons aligning about a month ago. We were alone at that time and is the whole reason why we are here,¡± replied Clay before muttering, ¡°wish that wasn¡¯t the case.¡±


    Letting himself fall back to his seat, Oliver had disbelief written all over his face, in turn confusing Clay. ¡°What is that face supposed to tell me?¡±


    ¡°Clay right? I don¡¯t think you realize how hard it is for me to believe that you two survived the Conjunction all on your own.¡±


    ¡°Well wasn¡¯t easy, we almost died, okay mostly I almost died, but we did make it somehow. I won¡¯t deny that a good portion of luck played a part, but what does it matter?¡±


    ¡°What does it matter?¡± repeated Oliver with ridicule. ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t think you get the seriousness of your claim, we lost thousands that night! First, the one¡¯s with weaker essence were crushed by the atmosphere, then came the beasts, an endless onslaught which wouldn¡¯t refuse to budge until day came, there we had a moment of respite only for the same thing to repeat the next night.¡±


    Seeing the blank stare of Oliver, probably remembering the night, Clay too went back, reliving what happened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I won¡¯t ask what you did or how you two survived the Conjunction, but I do need you to understand how important it is that you are an Ascended. Let me try to make it clear by asking how many people in this city do you think have ascended?¡±


    Well he and Mia were both ascended, he fought a boar, bear and dire wolf who were ascended and there were probably more beasts who just hid. All in all was Churchville pretty small and he saw thousands of people alone on his way towards the inner city, so there must be quite a few. ¡°I¡¯m guessing a few dozen or so?¡±


    Smiling, Oliver raised two fingers, ¡°There are two. Besides myself, there is only Degen.¡±


    Taken aback by the small number, he felt shocked by the implication. Well, that at least explained why every other human they came across felt so much weaker compared to the beasts ¨C because they are. That humans were inferior to beasts was nothing new, but that the contrast was that apparent? It didn¡¯t speak well for humanities future.


    ¡°I understand that it¡¯s unusual for us to have survived on our own and have ascended as you call it, but what exactly does that mean and why is it so important?¡± asked Clay with raised eyebrows.


    Clasping his hands together, Oliver explained, ¡°It means many things, but most important for us is that an Ascended attracts more essence during the Conjunction. The biggest enemy that night were not the beasts, but the atmosphere. You can fight a beast, run from it, or try to hide. There is no fighting the atmosphere, nor running or hiding. You can only wait as you feel how your body is slowly crushed. Some lose their senses one after the other, a few lucky one¡¯s die directly from heart failure, but many more suffered for hours until the last of their organs finally gave in. It¡¯s a very gruesome death.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine,¡± replied Clay. So that would have happened if his aura shield had ever failed. Those without it had not much choice but to patiently wait for their suffering to end, not knowing wherever they lived or died.


    ¡°Believe me, you can¡¯t,¡± stated Oliver. ¡°The only good thing that came out of that night was the discovery that we Ascended, draw in a much larger portion of the atmosphere¡¯s essence, meaning that the burden for everyone else becomes easier. I don¡¯t want to think how much higher the casualties would have been if Degen and I weren¡¯t there.¡±


    Their survival seems to be a bigger feat than Clay originally anticipated, but he didn¡¯t really care for it, for him mattered one thing only. ¡°As I see it you have use for us right? Can we stay if we help you defend against the beasts?¡±


    ¡°Of course, but we would never force such a thing, the only thing that I ask is that you stay during the Conjunction inside the city,¡± said Oliver quickly before adding, ¡°Of course you will be compensated for your efforts, I¡¯m sure we can work out details that would satisfy you¨C¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± interrupted Clay while holding his temple. ¡°You only want me to stay during the Conjunction and defend against the atmosphere ¨C something which I would have to do anyway ¨C not having me fight any beasts, and compensate me on top of it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Oliver seriously. ¡°As I just have explained, are lives at stake here, and your presence alone could save thousands.¡±


    ¡°Our presence,¡± corrected Clay.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Well, Mia and I have both ascended,¡± explained Clay casually.


    His smile widening, Oliver said, ¡°The Sun must have answered our prayers after all by sending the two of you!¡±


    ¡°The Sun? I didn¡¯t know there were other people worshiping the Sun,¡± wondered Clay.


    ¡°You are full of surprises,¡± stated Oliver, surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to know of it. The belief of the Sun wasn¡¯t really a common religion here, but it quickly grew in believers after Dave introduced the religion about two years ago. Oh, I can still remember the frenzy once the beasts had escaped after sunlight, since then it practically grew on its own. People crave hope and salvation these days more than anything, so it''s steadily gaining believers.¡±


    Dave? Why did that name sound so familiar? Clay was sure he heard that name somewhere, and he came here about two years ago? ¡°Oliver, do you know by chance where this Dave comes from?¡±


    ¡°He actually came here with a whole caravan of people, it was quite far from here I believe, from a small city called¡­ Churchcliff or so?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean Churchville by chance?¡± asked Mia, shocked.


    ¡°Yes, that was it! How do you know of the place?¡± asked Oliver.


    Smiling, Clay buckled over before bursting out laughing, Oh the world can be so small. ¡°We two also come from Churchville.¡±


    Hearing the conformation, Mia eagerly sat up, asking, ¡°Was someone named Jake among them?¡±


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Jake? Do you mean Jake Adler?¡± Seeing Mia eagerly nod, Oliver smiled. ¡°That must be the biggest reunion I have seen in a while. Yes I know him, in fact he is in this very building, he is our strategist and logistician after all.¡±


    Eyes widening, she almost jumped from here seat right then and there, but was able to contain herself, as the door opened and the silver guard strode in whispering something into Oliver¡¯s ears.


    Nodding along to whatever the guard said, he slowly rose from his seat. ¡°You have to excuse me, I have matters to attend to. Rolland here will lead you to Jake, so that he can give you a rundown on what happened and get you all settled. It¡¯s what he does anyway.¡±


    Still left with a million unanswered questions, Clay refrained himself from asking and just nodded in agreement. He knew how important it was for Mia to meet Jake again. You could say he was the only person she could call a family, the only person she shared a connection with from the past.


    They walked silently as Rolland guided them to the second floor, halting before a large wooden door. Knocking once, he opened the door without waiting for a response. Inside was a spacious office, far larger than the one of Oliver, but in turn not nearly as lavishly decorated. The walls were lined with shelves, each filled to the brim with books and folders. While the middle of the room was taken up by a large wooden desk that had towers of papers lined up, each wavering to topple over.


    Behind sat a man with an unkept shaggy fringe of brown hair, while a messy bear grew on his face. His clothes fared little better, wrinkled and flicked, they presented a clear contrast to the formal attire downstairs. Besides the appearance looked the man healthy if a little bored and annoyed at being disturbed. ¡°Rolland, please don¡¯t tell me you have more fucking papers for me.¡±


    Looking up, he was startled at having more company than only Rolland. His glance quickly swept over Clay, ignoring him mostly, but the moment it wandered downwards and his and Mia¡¯s eyes met, he dropped his pen.


    With wide eyes he quickly stood, losing his balance in the process, luckily he was able to catch himself on the table. During the catch, he accidentally knocked one of the paper towers over, sprawling papers all over the room. The storm of flying paper and the loud rattle, that came with it, were none existent to him as he closed and opened his mouth, failing to articulate a sentence.


    Nearing tears Mia took a few hesitant steps forward, Jake tried to do the same with much more difficulty, not able to take a step without supporting himself on the desk. Which was no wonder as two finely crafted wooden prostheses acted as his legs, and at his next attempt of a step he broke down to the ground, refusing to avert his gaze during the fall.


    Spreading his arms, Mia finally let go and fell into his embrace, both bawling their eyes out. Awkwardly standing in the back, Clay shot a pleading look to Rolland, who just slowly took a step back, closing the doors behind him, leaving Clay helplessly alone.


    Fuck. He wasn¡¯t the person to consult about emotions, and had struggled greatly with helping Mia out of her sorrow. At the time he just tried to distract her with tasks and daily life, which worked well for a while, but internally he knew very well that he was never able to really help her come to terms with her losses.


    Hell, he doubted that he came to terms with his own losses, but maybe Jake could finally help her with that. Luckily there was a seat in one of the corners, and he just tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, pretending to read in a random book he had grabbed from one of the shelves.


    After a while they calmed down and Jake asked, ¡°It¡¯s so good to see you heathy! What about Jim, did he¨C?¡±


    Seeing Mia vigorously shake hear head and tear up again, he pressed her head against his chest, ¡°Shhh. It¡¯s all fine now, let it all out.¡±


    Eventually they broke their embrace, interlocking eyes, Jake asked, ¡°Better now?¡± Quickly averting her eyes, Mia nodded before hastily standing up. Pumping into Clay, who stood behind her. Patting her on the head, he said, ¡°I told you he would still live.¡±


    Grabbing crutches that were leaning against the desk, Jake slowly rose, before pulling a latch on his prothesis, locking them so that he could stand. Taking a better look at Clay, he looked lost before asking, ¡°Sorry, but who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Clay. Don¡¯t you remember? I was the guy that originally warned you about the ants.¡±


    ¡°Clay?! What happened to you? Did you dye your hair? What happened to Jim? It¡¯s been so long, how did you make it here?¡± asked Jake.


    ¡°Whoa calm down Jake, I think there is a lot we have to share with each other, so why don¡¯t we all take a seat and talk. I hope you don¡¯t have anything to do?¡±


    ¡°Nah, any plans for today are out of the window. I still can¡¯t really grasp the situation,¡± replied Jake and if to prove his point stretched out his hand which trembled vigorously from the shock.


    Settling down onto chairs, Clay started to recount the events since they had departed ways so long ago, with Mia occasionally adding things. Jake listened to each and every word intently.


    ******


    ¡°¨Cand that is how we finally found the Vanguard,¡± finished Clay after talking for what felt like hours. He left a lot of things out, but the most important events were mentioned, so he asked, ¡°What happened to you three after we went our own ways?¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Jake replied, ¡°I think I need a moment to process what you two just said. You could write a whole book about that journey¡­ you are sure that your memory is fully recovered?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± confirmed Clay. ¡°It was really only the first few days, that were confusing and besides my missing arm I¡¯m as healthy as ever.¡±


    ¡°Well, that makes us two cripples,¡± said Jake with a chuckle that ended in a bitter smile. ¡°But we didn¡¯t fare much better, to be honest. I don¡¯t remember much, due to blood loss, I was unconscious most of the time and if awake I couldn¡¯t bear the pain for long before falling unconscious again. The times I was awake we were either running or fighting, there wasn¡¯t much rest. The ants were everywhere, and without their queen it was pure chaos. Max had to fight endlessly. He¡­¡±


    Hearing the hesitation in his voice, Clay urged him on, ¡°He what?¡±


    ¡°Well we all didn¡¯t take this journey well, Dennis had to carry me during the fights so we both were nothing but a liability for Max. He basically carved a path towards the others all on his own, leaving nothing but corpses in his wake. It changed him, especially when we lost Dennis¡­¡±


    ¡°Dennis is dead?!¡± asked Clay shocked. Jake nodded in conformation, causing Clay to slowly exhale, momentarily closing his eyes. So he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep the promise he had made after all. Opening his eyes again, he asked, ¡°How did he die?¡±


    ¡°Shortly before reaching Riverton we were ambushed by a whole platoon of ants with commander ants and all. You know how dangerous these monsters get when properly organized, so we never really stood a chance.


    ¡°Max still fought valiantly to defend us, but there is only so much a single person can do, superhuman or not. Eventually ants slipped past, Dennis was able to take out the first, the second too, but by the fifth they got him, and I would have been next, if the others hadn¡¯t found us through a stroke of luck. The ants weren¡¯t there for us but the others, it just so happened that we were in between them,¡± recounted Jake with a distant stare.


    Letting the information sink in, Clay didn¡¯t speak. Eventually, Jake continued, ¡°You can imagine that Max didn¡¯t take that well. He gave himself the fault and fought more rigorously than ever, never resting since. Becoming by far the strongest fighter we have. If not for Max, we might not have survived the Conjunction.¡±


    ¡°Wait, is Max that Sir Degen I heard about? The one that ascended besides Oliver?¡± asked Clay.


    ¡°Of course, Max surname is Degen after all,¡± said Jake before giving Clay a worried look. ¡°You sure that your memory is fine?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Sorry, I meant that I¡¯m fine. I always had a bad memory for names, that¡¯s nothing new,¡± explained Clay.


    ¡°If you say so. Most address Max that way because¡­ Actually, I don¡¯t know who started it, but it somehow stuck with the people. He works himself like a dog each day to train and help wherever he can, he is probably the most liked person in the city together with Oliver and Dave. It¡¯s funny really. This whole community is largely supported by these three people. Oliver built the walls that would keep us safe, Dave gave the people the faith to keep working, and Max is the spear tip that exterminates everything that threatens the peace.¡±


    That was good to hear, but Clay wasn¡¯t really too eager to meet Max once again. They just didn¡¯t agree with each other. He could only ever remember arguments with his past class representative, even before the world went to shit. But time had passed, maybe it was different now.


    Interrupting his thoughts, Jake said, ¡°But I diverge. After meeting up with Dave and the rest, we tried to settle into Riverton, but the ants made it impossible, so we fled, eventually coming across this place. As you can see, we haven¡¯t moved since, and now play each our own role in making this place work. I for example are responsible for strategies and logistics, mostly logistics to be honest, but it¡¯s work that suits me, so I¡¯m not complaining, most are doing far worse.¡±


    ¡°So what now? Do we like built a home?¡± asked Mia curiously.


    ¡°Oh no, for the time you can sleep at my place, until we get your plaques and with it, your housing sorted. As you might have seen, is housing inside the walls not easy to manage, having me giving many sleepless nights already. This whole city is one giant construction site, each requiring different materials and labor. It¡¯s a nightmare to organize,¡± stated Jake with clear frustration.


    ¡°Do you manage the whole city on your own?¡± asked Clay, bewildered.


    ¡°God no! That would be impossible, the whole Hearth is filled with people trying to organize this monstrosity. I¡¯m just the one responsible for relocating resources to the correct places. If you need anything, you issue a request to the Hearth, which eventually will to go through me. I work very closely with Oliver in deciding what is most important at the moment and issue based on that the resources to where they are needed the most.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­ pretty important,¡± replied Mia.


    ¡°It is, and draws the ire of many people,¡± explained Jake. ¡°Which is also the reason why I don¡¯t leave the building much, can¡¯t do so anyway with my legs. Most people actually don¡¯t know that I have the final supervision over the resources. People can get pretty feisty if they don¡¯t understand why their request for resources was declined, so we keep my involvement hidden. But coming back to our original discussion, I would heavily recommend that you first look for Finnian Voss.¡±


    ¡°Who is that?¡± asked Clay.


    ¡°You could say he is our head alchemist. As I understand, you haven¡¯t resolved Mia¡¯s poison problem, but merely stopped it from spreading. I¡¯m sure he wants to take a look at it, especially the purple stuff in the jars you showed me. If someone in the city can help you, then it¡¯s him.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment, did you just say alchemist?¡± asked Clay, bewildered.


    ¡°Right, you couldn¡¯t know. Ah, there is so much you don¡¯t know yet. But don¡¯t worry, you will understand with time, the city can be overwhelming the first few days¡­ or weeks. Times have changed after all,¡± said Jake with a smile.


    Stopping himself from delaying further with questions, Clay thanked Jake and turned to leave, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the sun would set, they talked too much. Just as they turned their back, Jake called out, ¡°Just ask Rolland to guide you and Mia?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to have you back. We will see each other in the evening. Rolland can take you to my home,¡± said Jake with a smile.


    Returning the smile, she replied, ¡°Of course, see you then.¡± Before swiftly turning around and leaving the room. Saying his farewell, Clay closed the doors behind him and stopped Mia by the shoulder, as she practically rushed to the stairs. ¡°What was that about?¡±


    Stopping in her track, Mia looked down and fumbled with her thumps. Clay may not be good at helping Mia with her trauma, but he could tell when she was uncomfortable. It seemed like she couldn¡¯t really relax in Jake¡¯s presence after the initial burst of emotion after their reunion. She was also strangely tame. Normally, Mia asked more questions and was just as curious as him.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange,¡± replied Mia eventually. Seeing Clay¡¯s questioning gaze she tried to explain, ¡°Jake feels strange, of course his hair changed, he grew a beard but more than that it just feels wrong. He still speaks the same, smiles the same, but I don¡¯t know¡­ it just feels strange.¡±


    Well, that wasn¡¯t a surprise. Well over two years passed since they last met, two years filled with changes that would leave no person the same. Mia herself isn¡¯t comparable to the girl he found bonded to that tree. ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fine, Mia. You haven¡¯t seen each other in such a long time. You changed, Jake changed, and that is fine. Changing is part of life. Give it some time, and I¡¯m sure you will be able to reconnect.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are right. Let us go to that alchemist, maybe he can help me,¡± urged Mia, obviously trying to divert away from the topic. Clay happily obliged, feeling a huge burden lifting from his shoulders. They could finally take it slow, no longer had they to fear for their life each and every day. They could finally settle down in peace.