Chapter 4 Fleeing to Safety (2)
***
A few minutes passed by.
After organizing my thoughts, I went out for a walk.
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Growl~
"Ugh…"
My stomach keeps growling.
"When was the last time I ate?"
I don't know…
My heads going crazy. I think I'm hallucinating.
«—System—»
[Side Quest: Find a shelter.]
'System.'
I kept muttering the same words in my head.
It kept reappearing and disappearing.
I don't know why.
As the day dawned.
A glimmer of sunlight beamed across the vast plain desert.
The light shone through and made its way onto my heels.
A cold breeze swept across me.
"Damn it."
Sweat trickled to my back as I kept walking.
"Hah…"
I kept panting heavily.
"Water… I need it…"
Is this the effects of dehydration?
It's like the world is dancing. My vision keeps getting distorted.
Residue of mana lingered in the sky forming auroras.
Stars were stretched far and wide. Some of them were big and small.
Their colors were diverse and some kept changing.
Other stars attracted each other forming galaxies.
"…"
My pace was slow, but I strode taking a few steps forward.
I looked down.
On the ground itself.
The surface was dry and cracked. Like mud that solified.
I pulled my head upwards.
Cactuses and other plants were spread evenly.
Their green colors appeared as dots in my field of view.
This was the Arahas Desert.
A desert that spanned across 1,000 kilometers in length and 800 kilometers in width.
Devoid of any demonoids and beast. Honestly, finding one is usually rare.
"How long do I need to walk?"
I whispered to myself.
The answer was 'I don't know.' which was expected.
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"Is that a ruined city?"
After marching for a few hours.
A distant silhoutte of a collapsed buildings appeared.
I finally spotted a city.
"Just a little more!"
Before, I could even mutter another word.
Thump.
My legs gave out.
And my back fell forward.
My face landed on the rough soil.
And I passed out.
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"Hnghhh…"
I woke up.
Dust filled my t-shirt and my pants.
The intense heat pierced my skin.
"Ouch.. Ouch…"
My body suddenly jolted upright.
I lifted my right hand and placed it at my forehead.
I took a glimpse of the surroundings.
The hot humid air crept everywhere.
It was as if everything kept burning.
The sun rose upward, producing a shriek of light that lit up the desert.
"Shit…"
I need to move.
Fast.
Dying again? No way, my efforts would just vanish.
I strolled onward taking a few large gaps with my legs.
"Just like this…"
***
Time passed by.
"Finally!"
A wrecked road unfolded into my eye. The gravels faded and some were mixed with sand.
Rusty streetlights filled the sidewalks.
Traffic lights splintered at the corner of highway. Stripped of their color, they were filled with rust and sand.
Electrical post neatly followed the roads. Some were gone, some collapsed and some were left half.
The wires were scattered around the environment.
And some were covered with sand dust.
A ray of demolished buildings lined up.
Some were as tall as a one hundred storey buildings. To put that in comparison, it's approximately one thousand feet in the air.
And some were as short as a ten storey building that served as residential buildings.
Plants circulated around the city. Most buildings were covered in a green moss.
Tall grass covered the streets.
Grasses and other plants filled the terrain, turning this ruined city a green lushscape.
"This place is…"
I vividly recalled my memories.
This place in fact, was a shelter.
The city in the surface served as a disguise. The real city lied below underground.
"District Forty Nine, Charlie."
To find the entrance of the underground city.
You'd usually go find the subways.
That was how I remembered it.
«—System—»
[Quest Complete!]
«—System—»
[Distributing Quest Rewards…]
"Oh… right.. I forgot about this."
Let's see what we'll get this time.
[You have received 30 EXP.]
[You have leveled up!]
[Distributing status points randomly.]
"Tsk."
I let out a disappointed sigh.
Atleast it's better than nothing.
"Status."
[??? (★) Lv. 3 (EXP 0/40)]
[Class: Hero]
[STR: 13/20]
[AGI: 12/20]
[END: 10/20]
[INT: 10/20]
[Mana: 120/120]
[Skills: Metamorphosis Lv.1]
[Fragments: ???]
"Let's try out the metamorphosis skill."
'Metamorphosis.'
I reflexively uttered in my head.
Then, I felt my body converging.
Something began moving.
My skin hardened and the color changed to a gray charcoal tone.
Horns burst out from my forehead.
My bones began to rearrange themselves.
Muscles grew bigger from all over my body.
All of this happened in less than a span of second.
"Wow."
There was no pain that I had received whatsoever when transforming.
When I came to look at my arms and legs.
I noticed that they were considerably longer.
My field of view also extended a bit further.
I could see more upright.
"…?"
This weird sensation.
As if someone is draining my energy pool.
"Mana."
Yes that's right, my mana reserves.
I had one-hundred twenty mana points.
Metamorphosis costed five mana to maintain per minute.
Calculating all of that, it meant I could maintain this form for roughly twenty-four minutes.
'I must use this carefully.'
This meant, I'd only use this when on a mission.
Either to infiltrate, kill, steal and anything in the demonkind society.
'Metamorphosis.'
The transformation wore off.
My skin returned back to its pale tone.
The horns vanished off my forehead.
My muscles contricted and shrunk to it's default appearance.
My limbs decreased returning back to its original length.
Everything was restored to its initial resemblance.
"It's time to go."
With everything planned out.
I began walking.
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The faint aroma of jasmine and moss.
The smell of nature.
"They smell so nice."
When was the last time I felt like this?
Connected to nature.
Not those dirty polluted air in urban settlements.
Not those cars blaring at the traffic.
Not those noisy neighbors having a party in your apartment.
But just pure silence.
The beatiful green scenery filled the landscape.
It's sad to think this was once a city.
Inhabited by living people.
According to the game's lore.
This city was abandoned before the war reached here.
Despite that, it was wreak havoc by the demons.
Now this place only served as a past reminder.
What demons did during the war.
"Sad…"
My eyes felt heavy.
I may not be able to fully emphatize what happened.
But sorrowful emotions lingered within me.
Even an outsider like me should have no place in here. But I felt like I have a purpose now.
«—System—»
[Main Quest: Save the world!]
Right before my eyes, a new translucent window appeared.
"Main Quest."
It finally appeared right in front of me.
"Is this because of what I felt?"
In the game, the main quest was not explicitly stated, but implied.
You had to make the hero meet various conditions to see this window.
But it appeared right before my eyes.
This meant the condition was "having a goal or purpose".
I clenched my fist.
I've come to a conclusion…
Despite the looming destiny that I have…
"I'll save this world, no matter what it takes…!"
I will do what it takes… To become a hero…
«—System—»
[Hidden Quest Complete!]
«—System—»
[Distributing Quest Rewards…]
"…"
My eyes widened.
My breathing gasped for a second.
There was a reward for this? No, I have never seen this once in the game.
[You have obtained the "Hero's Crest".]
[Please check its details.]
"Hero's Crest."
Without further ado, I shouted the words "Hero's Crest".
«—Hero's Crest—»
[This signifies the qualification of a Hero. The crest can be seen on your right wrist.]
[Effects include: 10% stats boost, increased persuasion.]
[Misc: Can be seen by humans and can't be seen by demons.]
I raised my right hand and lowered my eyes.
A crest was engraved in my wrist.
It glowed faintly blue.
It was a four-pointed star with eight asterisk spread uniformly as its rings.
The size was approximately two inches in length and width.
Tap—
My feet came to a halt.
A subway came to my sight.
It was covered in roots and moss coated the edges.
The plants spread further down the stairs and the metal railings were full of rust.
A dusty sign hung on the center.
It read as.
"Ortem Station."
I nudge my legs forward.
The eerie silence and cold swept across me.
My hands strode along the railings.
Darkness filled the view.
The faint fragrance of concrete and dust poured my nose.
"It feels spooky."
It's like I'm about to enter a scene where the ghost is waiting for me.
Click—
My steps came to a stop.
There it is…
The train stop.
A glimmer of light from the surface cracks pierced through the dark underground surroundings.
Illuminating the trains and its railway tracks.
Dust moved slowly within that light.
Across those railways, there's a hidden entrance that leads to the underground city.
"…"
I continued my pace.
***
"It's here."