Broken Anomaly

As Eric finished his experiments and as his mana was finally fully recovered, he turned his skill in on itself so that he could better comprehend how to use it. Similar to when he used it on the safe zone, but distinctly slower, his mana bottomed out, leaving him feeling empty once more.

He took a deep breath, ignoring the slight burning sensation he felt as mana entered his body once again, and started walking toward the building, turning to look at his friends.

Alex was breathing heavily as small stones fell from his hands, revealing slight cuts and bruises covering his arms.

When he reached level two, he spent a good long while searching for the skill he wanted. Since his skill was still at level one, the layer of stones that formed around his fists was thin and flimsy, crumbling after a few punches.

The rate at which he killed the barghests had also slowed down significantly as he got used to his skill and the more dangerous range he had to fight them at.

While he could punch them from within the safe zone, only letting his fists go out, part of his arm would still be exposed, and it would just be more inefficient in general. But as the hours went by, he got better and better, even exiting the zone completely to fight lone barghest.

Stella and Marcus, on the other hand, were a different matter all together. As soon as they leveled up and got their skill point, they retreated.

Marcus asked for people’s phones and even left the safe zone to search the dead bodies that were around. He sat on the lobby floor, assembling and disassembling the phones, taking his time to examine each part.

At some point, the mess he was making became too much, so he gathered up his stuff and went upstairs. Probably leveling up his skill, Eric thought.

Stella had followed Marcus inside and sat on the stairs. As she walked inside, she was looking at something in front of her and moving her hands as if touching something before her.

At first, Eric thought she was like him and preferred to look through the system menus manually instead of mentally. However, as he entered the lobby and saw that she was still doing the same thing, he wondered what type of skill she’d gotten.

Once inside the lobby, he saw that both couches were already occupied by other people, so he walked toward the stairs.

Throughout the day, more and more people joined the killing of barghests. Some had grown wary of the increasing number of them that seemed to come out of nowhere. However, as night approached, the rate at which they arrived significantly diminished.

Now, in the lobby, sitting on the couches, were the people that volunteered to be in charge of killing the monsters throughout the night. Eric reached the stairs and sat two steps above Stella, followed closely by Alex, who arrived a moment later and sat on the floor in front of her.

Eric and Alex observed the ones on the couches as they talked casually about their plans and strategies.

One thing had become clear throughout the day, and that was that not everybody was as comfortable as the four friends were with killing the monsters. That being said, it was only the initial reluctance that made them different. After killing a monster for the first time, they realized they didn’t feel as bad as they thought they would.

Convincing them initially was as simple as pointing out the corpses that surrounded the building. Seeing people reach level two and gain skills with a visible effect like Alex had, really motivated those that were still on the fence and were hard to convince.

“So, everyone’s already in?” Eric asked.

“Most of them are, but a small group is adamant that it’s wrong somehow,” Alex answered.

“Where are they?”

“It’s them, the redhead, and the others,” Alex said, pointing at a group of people that was in the gym but were easy to see from within the lobby.

Eric looked at the small group, his eyes narrowing. “Hmm.”

“I’ll deal with them. Leave them alone,” Stella said, looking up at Eric with a serious face. Eric lifted both hands in surrender and said nothing.

As silence began to fall upon the group, Marcus interrupted it as he came down the stairs. “Leveling these skills is hard. I barely reached level two.”

“I know, and I barely feel a difference,” Stella added, echoing his complaint.

“I reached level three just before I came in. Maybe combat skills are easier,” Alex added as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Your skills have already leveled up? What the hell,” Eric exclaimed.

Alex grinned, Stella let out a little chuckle, and Marcus remained impassive. The silence crept up once again, nobody stopping it this time. All four of them checking their status windows in silence.

Eric Aguilar

Mana 100/100

Rank F

Level 3

Experience 228/400

Stats

Vitality 6

Endurance 15

Strength 7

Dexterity 8

Constitution 5

Agility 5

Perception 6

Charisma 5

Intelligence 6

Wisdom 4

Stat points 4

Skill points 0

Skills +

Concepts -

Titles -

Magic -

Oh, mana’s back. Eric once again activated his skill, Mental Focus, and tried to focus it on itself, failing to do so. Eric frowned slightly, but before he tried again, he got a vague sense that told him that something was missing.

It wasn’t that the skill couldn’t be used on itself, it’s that the skill now knew it needed something more to function more adequately and refused to do so without it. Eric tried to get the skill to focus on what it was missing, once again failing.

Maybe it’s not the skill that’s missing something, Eric thought. He activated his skill and took a wild shot, focusing it on the bite wound he’d gotten earlier in the day, failing once again. Eric got visibly annoyed this time, his friends turning to him but not saying anything. That confirms that it’s not what I use it on, at least, he thought.

Suddenly, an idea shot into his head. He activated his skill, focused it on the bite wound once more, this time focusing the skill specifically on how long it would take to heal.

He felt the mana in his body rushing toward his brain, slower this time. Eric watched his status screen as the mana points decreased. After a few minutes, the mana consumption stopped, leaving him with only eighteen points of mana left. As he looked at his wound, he got a vague sense that told him it would be fine before tomorrow morning.

So that’s what it was. It needs a specific objective. Just telling it to find out how it works is too vague. I would need to focus it on a specific part of how it works. Something like how it consumes mana or how it analyzes things without it taking a toll on my normal functions. To complete the tiny ordeal he had just gone through, a system window had appeared before him.

Mental Focus has reached level 2.

“What was that all about?” Alex asked.

“Skill was being wonky. All fixed now,” Eric answered. The others accepted his simple response and nodded. The group remained on the stairs, speaking about random things until night fell.

Time passed. The ones who had volunteered to patrol during the night left. As soon as they did so, Stella took over the couch opposite the entrance and laid down, ready to sleep. Marcus and Eric laid down in front of the couch Stella was on, and Alex laid down near the stairs.

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Eric opened his eyes and looked around carefully, to not disturb anyone. He saw that everyone was still asleep peacefully, snoring could be heard from somewhere in the gym.

Sliding his hand under the couch, he reached for his axe and took it out. He got up carefully, making as little noise as possible. He cracked the door, avoiding opening it completely, and squeezed through.

Once outside the building, he saw that the ones that were patrolling were huddled up in a group near the entrance. He nodded at them and walked forward.

As he walked, he realized that there were no monsters around. This’ll be easier than I thought.

When he approached the edge of the safe zone, he could feel the ones who were patrolling looking at him. Eric stretched, twisting his body in every way he knew how, feeling his body wake and shake off some of the stiffness he felt.

He glanced up to the night sky, realizing that there were now 3 moons in the night sky: two white moons and a completely green one. No, one of them is not exactly white. Is it… blue? Eric thought to himself.

Moments passed, and as Eric yawned, he felt the gazes that were focused on him disappear. Not missing his opportunity, Eric walked hastily into the small forest that was rapidly taking over the previous school grounds, careful not to make any loud sounds.

As Eric entered the trees, the tension he had previously was only heightened, as he now had to be wary of monsters. He gripped the axe handle tightly and walked forward.

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Alex kept getting an uncomfortable feeling: no matter how he twisted or turned his body, the feeling would just not go away. It kept gnawing at him until, finally, it forced him awake.

He slid his hands against the floor, thinking that maybe something was poking him. Having no luck, he opened his eyes, still groggy, and looked around the lobby, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Then he shot up, his eyes wide as he stared at the now empty spot where Eric had been sleeping. He hastily got up and walked outside, not caring about the noise he was making. He turned his head rapidly from side to side, not seeing Eric anywhere.

“Have you guys seen Eric?” he asked the ones patrolling, his expression a weird mix of emotions, worry clearly being one of them.

“He was just stan—” the one who answered cut himself off as he turned to see that Eric was no longer where he had last seen him.

Alex followed the man’s gaze and walked toward the edge of the safe zone, in the direction of building C, which was also the new dungeon. Shortly after, he was joined by both Stella and Marcus, who had been woken up by the noise Alex had made.

“Couldn’t he have just waited?” Alex asked.

“It’s my fault,” Stella said. “I was too distracted. Of course, he would find a dungeon interesting.”

“Are we going after him?”

“No. If the monsters are anything like they were here, he should be fine—unless he gets overrun. But I don’t think he’s dumb enough to allow that to happen.” Stella stared into the forest for a moment and walked back into the building.

Alex and Marcus watched as Stella left, when they were sure that she was too far to hear. The first to speak was Alex.

“Do you agree with her?” he asked.

“Yes. Nobody knows him better than her. If she says he’ll be fine, then he will. Come on, we still have to catch up to him tomorrow, and we still don’t know if the monster numbers dwindled because of the time or something else,” Marcus said, patting Alex on the back and walking away.

Alex looked at the forest one last time before heading back in.

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The box opened to reveal a blue crystal, about a foot long, within. The crystal was hexagonal, with each side forming a cone on both ends. It lay within the box, immobile, as if waiting for something.

The ringbearer extended his hand and touched the crystal. When his hand touched the crystal, all three of them felt the density of mana around them increase as it gathered in response to the crystal being touched. The cold mana that was in the air around them, rushed into the crystal.

The crystal began to float, gaining a blue glow as it did so. The crystal hovered perfectly vertical above the box, directly in front of the ringbearer, as windows appeared between them.

You have activated a Hub crystal.

Congratulations! You are the first to activate a Hub crystal.

You have earned the title: Pioneer

The survivor dismissed the windows, not caring about their contents. They touched the crystal once more, new windows appearing before them.

Activate Hub: Yes/No

They chose yes.

You have earned the title: Settler

Mana gathered towards the crystal once more, and after a few seconds, a rush of mana shot out of it, enveloping the entire husk and much more.

You are now in a safe zone.