《Solo Apocalypse》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    I floated among a neb of stars. Bursting colors, gxies,ary bodies, and space dust dominating a view of creation. The ce seemed to swirl, blurring as if time itself moved differently. Then it slowed,pressed, and my perspective shifted.


    A paragon stood beside me, as if hed been there the whole time, looking out towards space. It was an amicable silence. I had no idea where I was, how I got here, but nothing ever happened without reason.


    Wee to your Genesis, human. The man, his body an exemr of perfection, spoke easily. An undercurrent of intrigue, amusement, and routine were all evident in his tone. He was looking around, at the view. Your kind have interesting notions of rebirth.


    Rebirth? I said slowly, looking around as he did.


    I am a God. The man said simply. And your world is being born again.


    The simple statement, absurdity of the situation, and his calm demeanor managed to convince me to take his words at face value. If this was an illusion or hallucination, was there really any harm in going with the flow?


    Why?


    Instead of some great answer, some final reckoning or cmitous event, the answer was anything but. No particr reason. The god spoke. Im sure your kind will attribute meaning to the years toe but there is truly no deeper meaning than the cycle of entropy. A random chance.


    I see, I said, skeptical. And this rebirth. What exactly does this mean for Earth? And why am I speaking to you?


    For your, it means the destabilization of society as you know it. The altering of the very structure of your world. It means natural disasters the world over, the death of billions. New species and creatures to popte a vastly new world. His words, spoken with such surety as if hed seen it countless times before, made me shiver and grow cold. But with the shadowse the light. Wonders anew, technology and magic beyond your civilization could ever hope. A new frontier. A world that is vibrant and alive, teeming with mystery and new discoveries.


    As for me speaking to you, He continued, my attention on his every word. Entropy once more. A random chance.


    Or, in other terms, hed been bored.


    I suppose it <em>would</em> get boring. I shrugged, gesturing to him. Doing whatever it is you do. A conversation with a mortal might not be terrible for your mental health.


    The god nced at him, smirking. Perhaps not. He smiled,psing intofortable silence.


    You spoke of a Genesis? I eventually asked.


    This ce. He answered. It is your notion of rebirth and renewal. A concept from your subconscious. Here, you shall be given the tools to thrive, if only you seek it.


    What does that mean?


    Simply open to your eyes to what has always been here. A selection. He waved his hand and suddenly, the colors in the astral sky became something else. Pinpricks of light, some dimmer, others brighter. Each one unique. An offering tailored to the life youve so far lived. Every achievement and feat, every demonstration of skill or ability, every habit and tendency. An offering for every moment of significance.


    My eyes took in the entirety of my life and found myself wanting. The colors of space seemed muted now, rather than vibrant. The swirls of light had condensed, shrunk, but left the sky ck and lifeless. Gone was the celestial glory, reced by a candle inparison.


    This was me? I thought to my childhood, the friendships Id made only to be torn away as my family moved. New rtions sabotaged by divorced parents. Their eventual deaths. The way I had barely coasted through high school, then through college.


    Not a single meaning in any of it. Yet, I had raged against it, in my own way. A silent defiance, that <em>something</em> woulde.


    I was waiting. Id been waiting my whole life. For something, or someone, to sweep me off my feet. To hit me with that sudden certainty everyone else imed. The gift of looking forward and knowing which way to step.


    I still didnt know. But that step awaited me.


    The new world sounded dangerous. The way the god spoke, the death of billions, how likely were people to die during the first day of all this? Survival. It wasnt exactly something new to me, trying to live on what amounted to rations, scrounging out an education and schrship. Not new, no. But to survive in the face of natural disasters? Against monsters and dangers that actively sought my life?


    That was new.


    I touched a pinprick of light, so far and yet so close. A gesture, a thought, enough to bring it into newfound focus right in the palm of my hand. One among thousands, despite the dark sky. An offering, as the god had said, a boon.


    I realized I was too calm. The stark rity of that detail was enough to pierce my drifting mind. The entire ce was too dreamlike, too surreal. I wasnt really here. This was all a hallucination. The thought made me panic. The colors swirled, destabilizing.


    The paragon, the god beside me, spoke firmly. You must choose, mortal. Before your time here is over.


    There were too many choices. Too many sensations, too many lights. My eyes zed over, focusing and refocusing, finding what light spoke to me and which didnt. What offering was best? How was I to know? My time grew short and I willed myself to concentrate, centering my focus, searching. Hundreds, thousands, too fast to count and too short to consider them all. I tried anyway.


    I grabbed something, guided by more than my senses, and, in an instant, came away reborn.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    My eyes shot open to screams, yelling, and rumbling. I felt bruised, battered, and I realized I was lying in a pile of rubble. I staggered to my feet, groaning, trying to find out where I was. Desks, chairs, a broken projector, bags, and unmoving bodies.


    The university campus. The lecture hall was ruined, strewn with debris. People were screaming outside and some of what Id feared were corpses were actually waking up, groaning like I did.


    What the hell happened? I rubbed the back of my head.


    Outside, through the ss windows, the campus was destroyed. I saw something stalk through the za, a dog or a wolf, only toorge for the distance. I was entranced, confused, but I couldnt take my eyes off of how unnatural it was, how out of ce, despite the state of the university.


    Then someone ran past, screaming. Out of reach, beyond any attempts at warning, there was nothing I could do. Its attention flicked to the runner, bloody and obviously injured. Its nostrils red and it bounded across the open za


    I looked away, eyes wide. I saw the sh of red, the scarlet blood, before I could fully tear my eyes from the scene. It put everything into perspective, all the stains on the za, the debris. Some of it was I vomited on the floor, coughing, teary-eyed.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained the [Solo] ss.</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained the ss Skill: [Never Alone].</strong>


    The sudden bright lettering was less disorienting than it shouldve been. Solid, smooth, and certain in a world of sudden chaos. His vision blurred but the words didnt.


    Hey! We have to get out of here! Anywhere else, man. Someone yelled, voice shaking.


    W-whats happening? A girl whimpered.


    I looked at them, realizing something had sted through the lecture hall. There was a body smeared across the floor and it wasnt human. I tried to stop myself from hyperventting and suppress my shaking hands.


    I nced around hesitantly, finding my backpack. School supplies, aptop, a water sk, nothing else. I pulled it on, grip white-knuckled on the straps. Vague memories came back to me. A beautiful astral sky, lights. The notion of apocalypse.


    I breathed in and out, deep breaths in a vain attempt to steady myself. People were arguing in harsh whispers but my eyes were glued to the outside. The university was in ruins unrecognizable not for the fact that it had been destroyed but that it had been spliced with some other terrain.


    My heart sped up as some lumbering beast cocked its head towards us. <em>Monster</em>. The word rang in my mind as an absolute.


    We need to go. My voice was shaky. <em>Now. </em>


    I wasnt sure if I was talking to myself or them.


    It got everyones attention regardless. Fear and hesitance. I stared back at them for a heartbeat before shouldering my backpack and getting the hell out of that room. Blood and viscera was bound to tickle the nose of anything passing by.


    Where the hell are you going? Someone called after me. Youre good as dead out there!


    Going outside wasnt the n, thatd be the same as suicide with those things roaming around. The lecture hall was connected to an undergroundb, the type of experiments requiring thick steel doors and other such precautions. I found the ess stairwell, normally unexplored by students and left to professors,b aides, or other staff.


    The hallway below was a bleak affair, old yellow lights and a clean yet in linoleum. It might as well have been heavenpared to above. I found one of the doors to ab room, thick steel with cautionary warnings during active experiments. Unupied, going by the green vacancy card.


    I tugged on it and was met with a groaning creak. Something thumped against the other side, angry and vicious, desperate. With enough ferocity to indicate an absence of humanity. I shut the door rapidly with a hollow thunk, hearing it click back into ce.


    Only to find a green ugly thing staring at me from the end of the hall, deeper into the academicbs. It was an ugly knobby thing, a humanoid withnky limbs and uneven features. No taller than my hip.


    It was enough to make me go cold.


    It hadnt been there when Ide down. And it stood in the center of the hallway with eerie stillness. I stared at it, frozen with fear, my mind deciding between fight or flight, overloading at the decision. But no, it was moving, arm slowly raising, mouth revealing sharp teeth.


    Then it screamed and I was scrambling backward, falling onto the in floors, limbs iling in a futile attempt to run. It loped at me like a beast and I cried in desperation, kicking and wing in my own way. It was grinning at me, at my fear.


    Right up until my foot found its gut. It slid across the floor, hacking, coughing. Keening with pain. Breathing hard, it took a moment for me to figure out what happened. Id kicked it. And it had felt pain.


    A surge of emotion overcame me and I advanced, screaming, reared back and cracked it across the forehead with another kick. Its head rebounded off the wall, groaning until finally stilling. Scarlet liquid staining the floor.


    I stood there, panting.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up: Level 2.</strong>


    What the hell was happening? In the chaos, Id forgotten about the strange screens, attributing them to some kind of sick hallucination. Reality had settled in, some twisted version of it. Id gotten a <strong>ss</strong> called <strong>[Solo]</strong>. And a <strong>ss Skill</strong>.


    Everything came to me in rity with the barest intention. What is this?


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 2</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 6 </strong>


    <strong>CON: 5</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 5</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 6</strong>


    <strong>PER: 9</strong>


    <strong>INT: 10 </strong>


    <strong>WIS: 13 </strong>


    <strong>WIL: 15</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 4</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 4</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 1</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone]</strong>


    I nced around, listening for anything out of the ordinary, before tucking into the shadow of the stairwell. Anythinging or going and Id hear their steps. Then I turned my focus on this whatever the hell this was.


    It didnt take me more than a moment to realize this was <em>me</em>. Evahn Wynst, not particrly fit nor out of shape, no more coordinated or faster than the next, jaded and observant, somewhat studious, determined and resolved, antisocial to a degree, and most certainly unlucky.


    All summarized.


    It almost felt like a game to me. Until I heard the screams above. A girls scream. I closed my eyes and tried not to think. Tried to calm my breathing once more.


    I failed miserably. Distraction and focus, I needed both.


    What was a <strong>Skill</strong>? It had to be useful. Enough to tip the scales of survival. It had to. So I didnt end up like that. I nced upward, shivering.


    <strong>Skill: [Never Alone]</strong>


    <strong>Even working alone, it never hurts to have another set of eyes. Better yet when theyre yours. You are able to replicate yourself to a certain degree and capacity.</strong>


    It came to me in more than just words. Confusion at first, then sudden understanding. An intrinsic knowledge of how to use the <strong>Skill</strong>.


    I didnt take even a moment to consider it. I knew I needed it.


    I took a step to the side, some instance of myself left behind to fork into individualism. And suddenly I was staring at myself.


    Me.


    A man neither short or tall, of average build, and generally non-descript save for a pair of pale green eyes. He had the same messy hair I did. The same clothes too. A pair of joggers and a hoodie,fortable. And from his searching face, exactly my own thoughts.


    He looked at me and both our minds whirled, catching up to what Id just done. I had just <em>replicated </em>myself. The implications danced across my consciousness. I wondered


    Well, I know Im a clone. Thats one question answered. He said to me, looking just as bewildered.


    We didnt even have to mention the absurdity between us. It was in on either of our faces. Whatever was happening outside, I now had myself to watch my back. It was uncannilyforting. Was it my general disposition that made me ept it so fast? Or something altering my threshold for the impossible? Or the knowledge Id never betray myself?


    Maybe it was because with what Id seen above, that good news was so desperately wee. No matter how strange. I didnt dare question a blessing but I was still curious of its nature.


    Is there any difference between us? I asked, wondering if his status as a clone gave him any insight beyond what I knew. What I <em>suddenly</em> and <em>instinctively</em> knew.


    Im weaker, I think. He responded. A fraction of the original. You. This is weird man. Thats what I thought.


    Yeah. I decided, in his shoeswhich were mine Id probably appreciate blunt forwardness in this situation. If were navigating this apocalypse you know, its probably best if youre in the front.


    He took a breath and exhaled. Yeah, that makes sense. I think Im a little less scared of death. Expendable. God thats weird. He said.


    This is crazy, I said, sitting down. What happened up there? The university is destroyed, monsters roaming the campus, and its like a whole forest was teleported in the middle.


    My other self took a seat nearby. You know I know just as much as you.


    I cant be the only one with new abilities, I said, almost sure of it.


    Yeah, I dont think so either.


    Well, youre me so we probably thought the same.


    Yeah.


    Yeah.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    We or I, depending on someone saw it, moved cautiously through the underground wing.


    Id thought the undergroundbs would be infested with those ugly green things. It turned out it was alone. Nothing hade looking for it. When that became clear, the objective shifted to protection or shelter.


    My clone took up point, both of us hesitant at every door. Him less so. Earlier, thered been something in one of thebs strong enough to make an audible knock on thick steel. Wed left that particr room alone, venturing down theboratory wing, and too fearful to try another sealed door.


    The lights above flickered ominously.


    I realized between me and my other self, I needed no words. It was nothing in anynguage I was familiar with. A telepathic intuition that proved itself over and over in the small time I had created him. We were, inexplicably, synced.<em> I </em>was inexplicably synced. Which made a roundabout sense, considering we were both myself.


    My head hurt.


    We pushed down the hallway, clone taking up point. He turned right, then turned left. And from five meters behind, it was like I already knew what was up ahead. My other self didnt turn to me in surprise, seeking a reaction ormunicating anything significant.


    Instead, I <em>knew</em>. To the left, the hallway ended and opened up into something that shouldnt have been. A cave, judging from the stgmites, slick rock, and cold draft. One that most definitely didnt exist under the university before. To the right, was what looked to be a storage closet.


    We started with that. I deemed watching the cave of less risk than opening a door, which spoke to the danger I felt. My clone took to the second task. It was a strange telepathic perspective as he opened the storage closet, bracing. Instead of a wing monster or instantaneous death, a chest that was glowing green, a richer shade than my pale eyes.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have discovered an [Umon Chest].</strong>


    There was that notification again. That chime in my mind. It was something between spoken, written, and felt, and none of them at all. A simple, sudden, knowing.


    The <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong> was ornate. The kind of container youd almost be sure held valuables. With everything going on, the glowing chest could be nothing else but part of this new reality. And if it held valuables


    It didnt take long to decide what to do.


    My clone opened it, unafraid of traps or danger that mightve given me pause. He sat on his knees, undid thetches, and opened up the box of light. The glow faded as he did so, revealing the item within.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained [Spidersilk Backpack].</strong>


    It was a backpack made of ck leather or hide. That was it. In terms of valuables, it wasnt exactly what I was expecting. It certainly didnt detract from the feeling of constant vulnerability and exposure.


    Staring into the cave system, I imagined something moving. Figures behind the stgmites, eyes in the darkness. It wasnt safe here. But it was this or the campus.


    I was torn, shocked into indecision. Hesitance born of fear.


    I took the bag from my other self. It''s lighter than it has any right to be. He whispered. And I think its bigger on the inside.


    Though I already knew it, I think we both knew I needed someone to talk to, even if it was myself.


    <strong>Item: [Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>


    <strong>A backpack crafted from superior light materials. It is enchanted for extra storage and weight reduction.</strong>


    I took the description in stride, trying to make sense of everything, seeing where this fit into my survival. Its good for supplies, I muttered, regarding the description as it appeared in my mind. It was more than just sight thatmunicated what the <strong>Item</strong> was.


    I had looked at my <strong>Skills</strong> description, hadnt I? Could I do the same for my <strong>ss</strong>? What did it mean to be a <strong>[Solo]</strong>? It sounded so much like a game. I wasnt sure whether to embrace it or understand that this new reality was no such thing.


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>The [Solo] excels at what their name suggests. They are self-sufficient individuals who rely entirely on themselves. Their specialty lies in their capacity to act on their own. Their Skills have a wide range of applications and are not necessarily confined to any one field, only that whatever path chosen is walked alone.</strong>


    I looked to my clone. I guess you dont count.


    The other me shrugged. Technically, we are solo. Kind of.


    So <strong>[Never Alone] </strong>is a way for me to move in a group. Without being in a group. I muttered. Actually


    I stepped to the left, leaving another of myself behind. And suddenly there were three of me. He looked at both of us and all three of us intoned. Weird.


    Evahn the Third asked the question on my own mind. Can you do it again?


    I tried but three mes seemed to be the limit. Right now, at least. I couldnt tell what governed that limit but there was a sneaking suspicion.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 2</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 6 </strong>


    <strong>CON: 5</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 5</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 6</strong>


    <strong>PER: 9</strong>


    <strong>INT: 10 </strong>


    <strong>WIS: 13 </strong>


    <strong>WIL: 15</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 4</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 4</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 1</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone]</strong>


    That instinctual knowledge guided me and I had the sense that <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> was primarily governed by somebination of <strong>WIS</strong>, <strong>WIL</strong>, and <strong>CHA</strong>. I looked at the <strong>Skill</strong> more closely.


    <strong>Skill: [Never Alone]</strong>


    <strong>Even working alone, it never hurts to have another set of eyes. Better yet when theyre yours. You are able to replicate yourself to a certain degree and capacity.</strong>


    <strong>- Max Copies: (WIS + WIL + CHA) / 10</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Copies have halved STR, CON, DEX, and AGI.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- All other attributes are retained.</strong><strong></strong>


    More details appeared. Interesting. So you guys have half my physical capability but you keep everything else. I said to myself. Myselves.


    The fact Perception is retained seems the most crucial. More eyes, more information. Evahn the Second added.


    Something werecking, I replied softly, looking at the cave. I shifted my mental perspective of myselves, naming them Second and Third.


    They didnt need anything more to figure out what I was nning. A single nce at the cave, an idea, and the two were suddenly in a very intense match of rock-paper-scissors.


    Second ended up losing. He exhaled but didnt argue or dally. Then with a nce at us, he started creeping into the cave. A forward scout. Expendable. Ideal. I felt bad about sending myself to his doom but I realized I, that is, <em>him</em>, deemed it just as necessary.


    I tracked his progress in that strange telepathic perspective. A second set of eyes. Third had taken to watching the intersecting hallway for anything that might have followed us.


    I nced at him. Can you see what Second does? The same way I do?


    Yeah. Hes moving between the stgmites. He took inhaled sharply, having seen what I saw. I thought that was a puddle.


    We all did. But Second smelled the iron wafting up from the liquid. Too dark for any of the red color to appear. Blood.


    The initial lobby of the cave was empty save for that. Hed walked the perimeter and noted the tunnelsof which there were manythat led in every direction. He chose one at random and continued upward, seeking the surface.


    A breeze of air. <em>No</em>, a breath. Second looked up and I felt his fear as an echo no less real than my own. Something hung on the wall, shining eyes in the darkness, long limbs that came to scythes. A skittering.


    Then he died.


    My perspective snapped back to my own self, so sucked into his eyes that I mmed back into the wall. Hyperventting, wide-eyes looking around, feeling at my throat, my torso.


    I sat, paralyzed, and realized I was screaming.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    Something screamed back at me and I realized it was myself.


    Get a hold of yourself! Third was hissing. Some part of me knew my other self was right. That screaming now was akin to death.


    <em>But Id just died</em>.


    I <em>felt</em> my throat being cut, my chest pierced. The sensations, so fresh in my mind, made my body convulse and squirm. Warm blood covered me, seeping through my clothes


    At some point, I realized I was being carried, hand over my mouth. My vision was blurry with tears, my face covered in snot. I didnt want to move. I wanted to curl up and hide.


    A part of me raged at that. Angry for the first time in god knows how many years. Truly angry. Of all the shit Id been through, this is what breaks me? That stubborn, idiotic, thought cut to me.


    My parents dying? Struggling through school? Working part-time and juggling grades good enough for schrships? The sacrifice of my entire social life? For years and years, alone? And <em>this</em>, a damn apocalypse, was going to shut me down?


    It was so ridiculous I startedughing. Augh so absurd and out of ce, it was enough to snap me back into focus, to center my emotions and mind.


    I stood up.


    Third had taken me to one of thebs, chancing to open the door. It was empty and hed brought me in after checking the fact. I took a step away from myself and greeted Second the Second, technically the fourth, but I stuck to my own convention.


    He looked at me how Id look at myself, which again, was understandable. There was nothing tofort, no words needed to be said, we were all the same. <em>Me</em>.


    Anger burned red hot in others, people lost control, hurt those around and themselves. I would know most of all. I was once that troubled kid prone to violent bursts of anger. I had cooled down since then, found my peace with the world.


    That didnt mean I couldnt be angry at the new one. Now, anger for me was a simmering cold. The kind of cold that burned and hissed. It brought ice to my veins and washed me in sudden rity.


    That was me now.


    I secured theboratory. No other entrances, but no other exits. The thick steel door wasnt ideal. It was still better than being exposed in the hallway, open to the cave monster. I suppressed a shiver as I rummaged through the room in three different ces.


    Boxes of neatly organized safety equipment: goggles, gloves,b coats, masks, amongst others. Two fire extinguishers, two first aid kits along the walls, an emergency shower, an eyewash station. Microscopes, beakers, funnels and bottles, sks, test tubes, pipettes, and other tubing.


    Second grabbed the first aid kit and managed to fit the whole thing into my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>. Third found the other one and did likewise.


    <strong>Item: [Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>


    <strong>A backpack crafted from superior light materials. It is enchanted for extra storage and weight reduction.</strong>


    <strong>- Holds three times its volume.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Reduces weight by half.</strong>


    More details. Id have to make sure to inspect things more thoroughly when they came up.


    Check if the waters running. One of us said.


    Someone turned a knob and we had a stream of water going. Crystal clear and cold. We took to filling the bottles and stored those in my bag too. Survival meant food, water, and shelter. I needed a source of food.


    My mind whirled with ideas but nothing made sense pursuing without an advance of information. Now that I had calmed down, as much as anyone could be expected to given the circumstances, I thought about what was best.


    I didnt think I could survive going through the cave even with forewarning. Whatever that creature was, it had killed me in an instant. I hadnt even seen it before it was just <em>there</em>.


    Which meant that was off the table and actually <em>worse</em> than going back to the surface. Ide all the way down here to find a dead-end. But not without buying myself time to figure out what it meant to be a <strong>[Solo]</strong>.


    That method of using my clones was a stroke of genius. Obvious, in hindsight, but unthinkable for someone in constant distress. And there was the detail ofing across my new backpack.


    Come to think of it, I should check that chest out as well.


    Second watches the hallway, Third checks the <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong>. I think I get the notifications even if Im sitting right here. Then you survey up above. I said, taking a seat at one of theb stations. The position was so familiar I had vertigo, as if I was inb waiting for the one of the aides to lead the experiment.


    I shook it off, handing themb masks. And I think its better I dont advertise I can clone myself.


    Sounds good. Second responded, taking the mask and covering his face.


    Yeah. Third replied, doing the same.


    Both looked the same, unfortunately. Matching outfits, same ck mask, same posture, height, and movements. At least the face was covered.


    I saw them out the door, shut it, then locked it. The metal clicked into ce a deep thunk and I was alone again. I sat there, tracking their progress, quietly piling up chairs or tables against the door.


    Second peered around the corner towards the cave and, after a moment, Third was moving for the storage closet. There he found the <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong>, something wed barely stopped to inspect further.


    <strong>Item: [Umon Chest]</strong>


    <strong>Chests are hidden troves of treasure, capable of holding great boons and riches. This chest has the potential to hold umon valuables, either in effect, rarity, or quality.</strong>


    That was interesting. Hidden troves of treasure. What made something worthy of a notification like this? I wasnt quite sure, but it was obvious nothing ever mentioned in this strange way was normal.


    I was the first piece of evidence. Something had changed me, altered me. I couldve thought about it all day but my mind was outside. Tracking myselves.


    I moved about perfectly in sync, not practiced, no, but my rhythm was evident between each of my clones. One watched, the other moved. I did both, clearing the building. Three times I paused waiting, fearful but ready.


    Then I was moving again. This was the science building. Biology, botany, marine, ecology, pre-med, biomedical, and the like. And there were dead bodies. In theboratory, the original me suppressed the urge to throw up.


    Not all of the bodies were whole. And, clearly, some werent just halved, but half-eaten. Chewed.


    I moved through the building, eyes for anything useful, for any survivors. Both mes paused at the lecture hall Id been attending. A general science course. There was an oddly smooth concrete slope to one side, rubble everywhere else, and I realized I was looking at something that had melted it.


    I didnt see the people I had left behind. They had either fled or died. Maybe both.


    The second me chanced a peek out the lecture hall. A destroyed campus, worse than before. Now that I had more time to look, I saw the terrain that seemed to be spliced with what I knew from the university, was something akin to a forest. Tall trees in the background where there was none before, thick vines hanging between them.


    I frowned, backing away from the exposed lecture hall, and proceeded upwards. To the top of the building. I felt others wouldve done the same, if there were any.


    I stopped at the nurses office, hearing something. Breath. Muffled and pained. I took up both sides of the door and froze, there was a trail of blood leading inside.


    On an invisible beat, I pushed into the room.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    Something ttered loudly as my clones stepped into the room. A painful thud and a muffled, agonizing scream.


    Get the fuck away from me!


    It was a wide-eyed man, sitting on the floor with bloodied bandages around him. He had his hand up, facing me. Not in warning, but in threat.


    His hand was glowing ominously. <em>Other people have powers too.</em> I remembered thinking about it. Seeing it now, my mind backpedaled.


    He had ck hair, brown eyes, and an honest face twisted with something between fear, horror, and pain. His leg was bleeding, a lot.


    His hand came down to grip his thigh. Fuck. He whispered, eyes squeezing tears as he hunched over. Leave man, I could blow you to pieces. I got nothing so fuck off. He groaned, trying to lift his hand.


    I moved without thinking, my clones were expendable and he had no idea how to wrap a proper tourniquet. Or bandage himself. He needed both. One of me ripped the sheets from one of the beds until I realized they had sterile cloth here. The other found the bandages.


    He watched me hesitantly and I realized I hadnt said anything. My mind had been working overdrive, Id been in emergency mode. Rx, Iwere not here to hurt you, I said.


    The other me spoke from the other side of the room, rummaging through the cabs. You need to stop the bleeding.


    I found the materials and paused. Can wee closer? I asked, eyeing his hand.


    With everything Id seen, actually getting blown to pieces, even pseudo-second-hand, wasnt an unbelievable prospect, nor was it attractive.


    He wavered for a moment and then groaned, cursing, before readjusting himself. Fine. Anything sketchy and I blow your heads off.


    I helped him to the bed, my other self moving to stand watch outside. He was heavier than he had any right to be. It only took a moment to realize that wasnt it. <em>I </em>was weaker, half of what I shouldve been. An effect of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>.


    I got him there regardless, him eyeing my other self who had left out the door. Is he gonna be okay out there?


    I secured his leg, wrapping his thigh tight, right above the blood flow. Hell be fine, I said distractedly.


    He got some kind of power too?


    You could say that


    <em>Fucking hell!</em> He hissed, spittle flying.


    Sorry.


    It was a gruesome sight. It was a jagged flesh wound, sharp ws, or teeth, had raked against his thigh, taking flesh along with it.


    Something about being there but not <em>actually</em> being there, let me keep my head. The line between controller and observer blurred, and I was unsure if I was either when looking at my cloneslooking through them. Perhaps I was both.


    First, Second, Third, or just me?


    I couldnt find myself to care at the moment. I wrapped his wound after cleaning it with a bowl of water, much to his swearing. The sink here worked too. He was holding himself together well by the time I finished.


    He was sweating, breathing hard, and currently unconscious.


    I still needed to explore the building. There could be others and I needed to see the state of the university from a higher vantage. I needed to see exactly how my world had changed. I shut the door and left that clone with him.


    The other me ascended the building. I managed to make it to the roof without any problems. And there I found my sense of reality shattered. It was, to put it lightly, absolutely insane. The campus I knew was gone. There was a forest where the rest of campus shouldve been. Trees where the neighboring building was supposed to be.


    It was like a line was drawn right in front of the science building and everything past that was something between a swamp and a forest. I looked down, past the za which had been included up until that invisible line, and found murky waters and muddy ground. Vines hung from trees that wouldve loomed over the campus.


    I hadnt noticed it earlier, but it was humid. Wet.


    After taking aplete look around, I went back inside and swept the building again.


    On the fourth floor, I came upon a gruesome sight, the girl from lecture. Id seen her everyday for the past six weeks. Her eyes were lifeless, dull, dead. Half of her torso was just <em>gone</em>.


    I suppressed<em>whatever</em> it was I was feeling. I pushed it down. <em>Forced</em> it down. There were bodies everywhere, gored and killed. <em>Eaten</em> more often than not. No one else was alive except him, not in the building at least.


    I took his wallet and found his drivers license. Then his student I.D. I paused at that, it reminded me that we were the samestudents caught up in this hell. I couldve passed him countless times on campus, but now we were strangers fighting for our lives.


    Surrounded by the dead.


    I sat there, simultaneously securing the building, watching the unconscious man, and hiding away in one of the undergroundboratories. I found the humor in that absurd sentence and realized I couldnt stay here.


    I would need food eventually. That simple, frustrating, basic necessity would force my hand and propel me into danger unknown. I would have to leave, strike out, and possibly die.


    Not without a fight. I muttered downstairs.


    Hours passed and I sent Third exploring in the forest. Scavenging, exploring, foraging. Another stream of information, invaluable with everything going on.


    I learned a few things.


    My clones didnt seem to have a range on them. They could be as far from as I wanted and would still retain this connection to me. They didnt experience hunger or thirst, but they could eat and drink.


    The forest was lush with berries and fruits, hanging near the water or high in the branches. I managed to grab some as a shadow darted from under the water, just missing me and subsequently retreating. It made my heart race.


    I ate some and it had been a few hours without any side effects. It was a tentative source of food, no matter how unreliable.


    I explored longer, testing berries and fruits as I went. I had climbed arge root, tall enough to oversee the campus. The entire forest was full of them, snaking through the waters they served as footholds and dry spots to traverse the forest.


    My elevated position allowed me to see the threat as it descended on the building.


    I found it to be a group of those ugly green humanoids. That thing I had found underground in the hallway. They spilled onto the campus, moving around in pairs, scavenging and picking at the remains.


    Third was my eyes, Second was my feet on the ground. The unconscious man stirred, groaning. Outside, I saw them move towards the science building. In minutes, this would get extremely messy.


    Id handled one, just barely, but this much?


    All of me grimaced.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5


    I stared at the man in front of me, having tied him down with zip ties. We were both in theb now. My actual self had gone out to help him here, alone Second was too weak. I wouldnt have risked the maneuver without having a set of eyes above that basically functioned as a real-time camera.


    Id had just enough time. I was here and Second and Third were out there. So I was both here and there. It hurt my head if I thought about it too much. My clones and I shared the same mind, but even I wasnt clear if it was three instances of the same will or a single puppeteer. My understanding leaned towards something in between.


    Again, it hurt my head, so I stopped thinkingand started <em>thinking</em>.


    Could I kill? That was the first question. They had tried to kill me, they were openly hostile, and I needed to survive. <em>Yes, I could kill</em>. Did I need to? Considering everything and their numbers, the answer was probably also yes.


    Then how?


    I sat underground, safe and sound, as my clones above worked. I directed them as much as they directed themselves, working off what we all knew. My input wasnt even needed, and I couldnt be sure if Id thought of the n, or if it hade to all of us at once.


    Third yed overwatch. Big Brother. The eyes in the sky. The watcher above. So long as he saw it all, <em>I </em>saw it all.


    Second had to do the fighting. Which meant <em>I </em>had to fight. He would be the boots on the ground, the agent on the field. The hardest job with half my physicality. I grimaced, I couldnt risk my real self.


    Second stopped by the stairwell and opened another storage closet there. It was the likeliest ce to find any kind of metal implement to use as a weapon. I hadnt searched it earlier, but there it was: a crowbar.


    For now, it would be good enough.


    Second waited for any of the information to be useful.


    The creatures moved in pairs and I realized they checked all the boxes for goblin except worse. Grotesque. They moved in pairs, wore simple loincloths, and had ws on both hands and feet, moving about like primates.


    They could speak to each other too. I shivered, a spark of intelligence was enough to worry me. They split up into pairs, leaving one alone. The paired goblins stalked around the building, leaving one behind to watch.


    They were taking it slow which was exactly what I didnt want.


    That gave me a single target. Outside and alone. The risk was minimal, considering the expendable nature of my clones, but losing Second meant Id be blind to going ons of the inside of the building.


    Still, any opportunity to thin their numbers was


    Hey The man, Horace, struggled as he regained consciousness. Hey! What the hell? He stared around and found me sitting.


    Youre safe, man. I calmed him down.


    Why the hell am I tied up? He tensed against his bonds. Wary and hostile, cornered.


    Were in theboratory under the building. And youre tied up because you threatened to blow me to pieces, remember? I jogged his memory. I helped clean up your leg.


    His eyes slid to his thigh, patched up as best it could be. He rxed, minutely. Im not gonna attack you, after that. He said after a moment. Christ, I was gonna die.


    And Im not doing this for anything but my safety. I replied, tracking the happenings above. I have no idea what can you do but I saw you hand glowing and Im trusting you on your threats.


    Second dashed out as soon as Third confirmed the little goblin thing had turned around. I watched myself brain the creature from behind, its body fell in a muffled thump. The other four were on the other side of building. I had enough time to drag the corpse near the murky waters and was just strong enough to throw it in, leaving no trace.


    Im not gonna hurt you, dude. He said, having calmed down. You can untie me. Im not stupid enough to attack the only group of survivors.


    I saddened at that. Theres no one else? I asked quietly.


    I saw them die. He said nkly. His eyes were seeing something else. Then it went for me and, well. He gestured, tried to, at his leg.


    Whats your name? I asked him, though I already knew.


    Horace Wakes. He replied. And you? Where are the others?


    Evahn Wynst. I said. The others are outside.


    The pair of goblins rounded the building and found their other member missing. They gibbered at each other, looking around questioningly, before pointing to the buildings entrance. The two of them approached the door, walked through.


    I was waiting on the other side. I didnt need to hear them to know where they were. I waited for them to fully enter, waited for the right angle. Then I kicked the door shut behind them and swung for ones head, knocking it out in a pile of iling limbs. The other one hissed, lunging for me instantly but I dodged backward and swung again, smashing its skull in.


    Two more.


    Do you see all this too? Horace asked, gesturing loosely. Uh, level, ss, strength, dex, all that?


    Yeah. I replied, his words confirming I wasnt crazy. It looked like everyone had something simr. If they lived long enough to discover it. The thought was sobering.


    So what did you get? He asked pointedly. There was <em>were </em>people with abilities. He grimaced. I think they were <strong>Skills</strong>. I have one too. I saw someone shoot mes from his hands.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up: Level 3.</strong>


    To say I was distracted was wrong. I had my entire attention on the conversation, just as I had my entire attention on the happenings outside. Here, I was sitting having a conversation about the end of the world. Out there, I lived it.


    If you dont mind, Ill keep it to myself. I replied as a w raked across my back.


    Horace leaned back and I brought the crowbar down, breaking bones from the sound of its crunch. The visceral sound of flesh and bone, right in that moment, threatened to overwhelm me. All of me.


    Id clubbed them upside the head but I had never looked.


    Now, I had to. I had to fight this living creature struggling against a killer, with a arm that bent the wrong way, bleeding but alive. Its friendno, I couldnt think of them like that. Yet II saw the lifeless body in the background, one part of my world moving slowly, defending against a creature I could end with a swing of my weapon.


    Second threw up and I screamed.


    W-what the fuck? Horace jumped, pressing against the wall. What the fucks wrong with you? Fear in his eyes.


    I groaned, grabbing my eye, realizing I could see. Blinking. I was still screaming, not here, but <em>there</em>. Bleeding from my eye, crying. My hand was bloodied, my own blood, the crowbar was slick in my grip, but my knuckles were white.


    You fucking bastard.


    Then I killed thest goblin.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6


    One moment of weakness and it had stabbed me in the eye. Its <em>hand</em> had been in my eye socket, ws gouging. I experienced all of it. The pain. The injury. The <em>feeling</em> of wriggling fingers. Of losing an <em>eye</em>.


    I wondered if this was how people missing limbs felt. I was probably the only person ever to experience this, having lost a part of me that I still had.


    All of me was breathing hard. This was worse than dyingno, not really, because Id done that too, hadnt I? Down there in the cave.


    Horace looked at me like was insane and I couldnt even me him. I was putting pressure on my facemy eye. Blinking to make sure it was still there. I mustve looked crazy. Muscles in my eye were working strangely, intimately aware of how it felt to <em>not</em> have the eye, and so my face was twitching.


    Sorry, I replied. It wasnt much of assurance but I had no excuse nor did I owe him one.


    This was the apocalypse and Id fucked up and paid for it. I felt deted, hollow. Spent and wrung out. Dying, and then getting your eye gouged out, apparently did that to you.


    Dude, are you okay? Youre not gonna kill me, right? He said, slightly panicked. His voice cut through a fogged mind.


    No, man. I looked at him, considering everything. My names Evahn Wynst. I took my wallet out, opened it, pulled out my student card and flung out onto the floor in front of him. Im a student here, like you. Or I was.


    Oh, what major?


    The question was so out of ce, so jarringly normal, that cut straight through whatever I was experiencing. Second, above,ughed. Third followed, and then finally me. Like a ripple of slow emotion.


    He looked at me in panic again. Right, sorry. Part of me was bloody, missing an eye, and still screaming and cursing at the world. That was just about the most incredibly mundane thing you could ask. Given all this. I waved weakly.


    Ah shit, yeah. He said quickly.


    It took a minute for my fogged mind to catch up. Emotion and trauma and pain had taken a circuit around my head. He was scared of me, I realized.


    I wasntcouldnt take any more risks though. When my clones came back, that was when hed be released. Not when I could be in danger from whatever power this apocalypse had given him.


    There was a knock on the door. Enough that it sounded like something of a passcode. From the inside, I utched and opened the door. I found myself, half-staring at me, covered in blood. I knew I was there and still managed to be surprised.


    This was <em>me</em>.


    A man neither short nor tall. One pale green eye staring from behind a mask. His hood was down, hed been trying to get fresh air. Impossible, given the gore that covered him, the blood that seeped into his hoodie. Tears and blood.


    My clones, apparently, could handle a little bit of damage. I say little, but the pain was debilitating, consuming. I didnt know how to treat it if I even needed to.


    I was holding the crowbar like a lifeline. Angry that Id lostposure. I couldnt afford to make mistakes. Not when my life was on the line.


    That was the beauty of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>, I supposed. A cruel beauty.


    What the fuck? Horace said softly as I let him in and closed the door.


    Bloody me, Second, walked over. Then he sat heavily against the wall.


    I think its time you told us what you saw up there. Second said. And what powers you have.


    Horace looked at me, the clean, non-intimidating me, and I nodded. We cant let you go if theres even a chance you turn around and kill us. The words left my mouth cold. Kill lingering on my tongue like bile.


    He took one look at Second andplied, shifting in ce. It was an earthquake. I was at the za when it happened. An earthquake that had to max out whatever scale they measure those things on. Everything in view was <em>shaking</em>.


    He took a breath. I think thats when I saw the words. Felt them, heard them, whatever. It said I gained some stuff.


    But I didnt even have time to consider it. I looked up and realized the campus was gone. Then I turned around and found the science building was the only one left. I ran there. So did other students. And, uh, I saw them die. Right right in front of me. He choked.


    Parts of the building broke down and I think a lot of people were stuck. By the time I found people who at least knew what was going on, there were <em>things</em> hunting. Killing and eating. I dont know what happened but I managed to kill one after it killed four people.


    His breathing sped up, so did mine. Id been unconscious in the rubble, along with, I assumed, most of the people attending lecture. I remembered that handful of survivors. Should I have stayed with them? Or would that have condemned me? Or saved them all?


    They were gone when I woke up. I was bleeding and didnt know anything but to go to the nurses office. Thats when you found me. He said. I didnt see a single one of those creatures after.


    He looked at usme. Thank you, by the way. I never got around to saying that.


    It looked like he knew exactly as much as I did. That was to say, nothing. Apocalypse, strange messages, weird powers. Death and survival. But, perhaps I could get some context for it all.


    Were other people using abilities? I asked. What was the scope, here? Could someone have the power to destroy the entire building? Summon lightning?


    Someone shot mes from his hand. I think I already told you that. There was a girl that could uh, she tried to shield herself. Some kind of barrier. It didnt work. Uh, another guy was stronger than normal, enough to stagger the thing with a punch to the side. Thest guy died before doing anything. He ended weakly.


    Were they <strong>sses</strong> like my <strong>[Solo]</strong>? Or just <strong>Skills</strong>? I wasnt exactly sure what the difference was.


    And you? I asked him. What can you do? This time, my voice was raw and it came from the me that sat covered in gore and blood.


    II can just shoot, like, a bolt of energy. Powerful enough to take a head off.


    Just the <strong>Skill</strong>? I asked, somewhat disappointed.


    Yeah. He confirmed, eyeing the gore-covered Second. And you guys?


    It was straightforward, no doubt probably useful, but did it help with <em>survival</em> beyond its application for protection? Because thats what this apocalypse was. Survival. You could starve just as well as be killed, that was the problem.


    He still thought he was talking to two people. I wished I could have that spark of hope in his eyes. That feeling of protection that came in numbers. In reality, there were only two people here, stranded.


    And, paranoid or not, I wasnt nning on disclosing any details.


    Then, how to proceed?

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7


    I couldnt decide whether Horace would be dead weight or not. It was a heartless notion, to even consider what I was considering. Leaving him behind it would be easy. I could argue that Id work better alone anyway, that he was a risk. That whatever this strange <strong>[Solo] ss</strong> was, it clearly described a lone wolf, one who excelled alone.


    And Horace? Horace was a loaded gun that could turn on me at any moment. A risk that could kill me, whether by dragging me down at the neck, or a bolt of energy to the head.


    My decision was ultimately swayed by something I hoped wouldnt change, even in the apocalypse.


    I wasnt a bad person. I could say that confidently. I warred with that morality, cursing myself for acquiescing to it, to putting myself at risk, but prideful at who I was.


    If there was one thing in my life I could be proud of, it was that. No matter how many times the world kicked me down, no matter how hard it got or how angry I felt, I didnt bring it to bear on others.


    Younger me had been hotheaded, emotional, prone to violent outbursts. But that had always culminated in broken furniture or something simr. Never injuries on someone else.


    Now, I looked at Horace and realized hed die without my help. He could barely walk, he was stranded here, and he didnt have the means to explore safely.


    Meanwhile, as I sat here, I had a clone exploring the surrounding area, testing foodstuffs, and scouting the geography. Third was constantly gathering information, assessing the terrain, and watching for threats.


    I tensed as, back in theb, Second cut Horaces bindings. I was ready to react, to dodge, or do anything. Instead, Horace rubbed his wrist. Thanks. Then it looked like the weight of the world came over him. What are we supposed to do?


    My idea was already in progress, exploring the new world from the safety of thisb. To him, however, it couldnt have looked more hopeless. We were both stuck in here for the time being.


    Maybe we should get some sleep. Ill keep watch. Said Second.


    And then what? Horace asked.


    And then well have to see how your leg is feeling, I responded. It made him wince and I could see the thought cross his mind as if it had been written there on his forehead. We wont be leaving you, I assured him.


    He rxed, somewhat, and we both had the pleasure of sleeping.


    The mind was a strange thing, more when split across three bodies. Or was it my consciousness that was split? My will? Nevertheless, I was getting some much-needed shut-eye. The original me, that was.


    Second watched Horace, and Third explored.


    Outside, I was muddy and sore. My stamina was shot but I took plenty breaks. It was humid, a pleasant temperature, but ultimately <em>wet</em>. I was, as a result, sweatingand swearing, as buzzing flies assaulted my face.


    The science building was surrounded by an evergreen swamp. Trees with root systems that werent only expansive, butrge too, some rivaling the size of houses. Moving across the terrain came in only two vors, navigating sucking mud and murky waters, or climbing the roots.


    I stuck to thetter long enough to witness some of the wildlife. I was high above, far from the shoreline after witnessing the shadows that moved under the water. I wondered if Id have missed them if my Perception had been cut in half.


    Thankfully, I had enough to watch it emerge. A squat, four-legged, reptile sharing some traits of an alligator. Only this thing looked more ancient and vicious, <em>thicker</em>, and more reminiscent of something in constant battles.


    It ripped apart a water bird, one which I couldnt tell was alien or not. I wasnt familiar with the kind. But seeing that was enough to keep me away from the shore. The noise of surging water, a snapping maw, the <em>crack</em> of its jaw-closing scattered every other bird within earshot.


    I crouched above, in a nook between roots. Verdant des of grass grew across the top of these roots like a perfect carpet. Moss filled the nk vertical areas where the grass couldnt grow with colors varying from blue, green, purple, and yellow.


    It was nature sublime. The forest felt alive. The trees reached towards the sky and if I moved far enough, the science building disappeared altogether. The air was clean and fresh, in a way that gave me an indescribable rush like Id been inhaling fumes my entire life.


    I kept my eye out for any dangers, resources, orndmarks to use. And that was the thing, there was a lot of each, but no obvious escape other than just going. Striking out into an unknown forest.


    The thought scared me.


    Third returned to the science building, scouring it again for resourcesweapons. Protective gear. Anything. I managed to get my hands on a gun, tucked away in a security guards car nearly eaten by the overgrowth behind the building.


    There were two clips of ammo. I pocketed it, trying not to stare at the body as I stripped the guard of his vest. Then I found a random bag on the za floor and went back into the swamp.


    I filled it to the brim with berries or fruits I found had no discernible side effects. Id spent hours watching small mammals eating them, observing whether the wildlife fed upon them or not, and then tried them myself.


    By the time I came back, it was already hourster. The sun was setting, throwing shadows across what was left of the campus I knew. I moved quietly down towards theb, intending to drop the food off for myself.


    And then I froze.


    Down the stairwell, there were webs. Thick strong strands, pure white, hanging from the walls and stairs. I immediately pulled my gun out and saw <em>legs</em>. Huge, meter-long things that bit into the walls lightly, two, three, then four emerging.


    I was running before I could even think.


    Inside theb, I woke up, staring at the door, breathing heavily. It was like waking up from a nightmare, only it was real. One of me ran, far far from the building, slowing down in the za, staring backward in fear. The other two sat frozen in dread, like a deer in headlights, <em>or flies in a web</em>.


    It was the thing that had killed me. <em>There was no mistaking it.</em> Id gotten enough of a look to know what I saw. A giant fucking spider, except its legs were sharp enough to slice through my chest and take my head off. The memory, so fresh, rushed back at me.


    I started hyperventting. I had <em>died</em>.


    Why hadnt I barricaded the cave? Why didnt I post someone outside? I shouldve kept watching <em>outside</em> theb. I hadnt heard a single thing. It mustve emerged within thest handful of hours.


    Horace blinked. Whats wrong


    My clone grabbed his mouth and pointed to the door. Kneeling beside him, he whispered. Giant spider. Two words, nothing else.


    To his credit, Horace didnt even argue or ask questions, he just went quiet and watched the door, ncing at his leg. I let go of him and he stayed noiseless. We sat there in silence, my mind trying to work through the fear.


    I had a gun. That was something. If it didnt kill me before I could figure out whether a bullet went through its brain or not. I tried to calm down and failed. I knew nothing, not even how it looked, just a vague impression of its form before it had <em>killed me</em>. But it <em>couldnt</em> be anything else.


    My heartbeat spiked again.


    What the hell had I gotten myself into? And how was I getting out?

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8


    I was watching the stairwell from down the hall, searching for anything that might be of use. Of course, I found nothing that I hadnt already run into. Which was to say, I was stuck.


    I was understandably hesitant to try the only course of action that might have some merit. To use <em>myself </em>as a distraction, to sacrifice the clones for the original. It was the only thing that kepting to mind, that wasnt immediately rejected.


    The thought of dyingit was paralyzing. Too much had happened that my mental health was hanging on a thread. The strange side effect of multiple mes mitigating some parts of that trauma.


    Third spoke as an echo of my own thoughts. Its this or true death. He said. The line between me and my clones blurred again. This time, it was like watching someone else. Fearless in the assurance of the originals survival.


    Well, as fearless as I could manage.


    A white-knuckled grip to match the thick strands surrounding the stairwell. I kept the weapon pointed down the stairs, touching one of the strands. It stuck to me like slime, pulling me until finally tearing silently.


    Too much of those and Id be bogged down.


    I passed through the stairwell, checked below, and was greeted with an empty hallway covered in webs. The light was still on, blinking ominously. Working electricity. The building had its own generators and batteries. Come to think of it, that was why there was fresh water too. There was a water tank on the back of building.


    None of that helped me. It just distracted me from the fear. I picked my way through the webs, some thick across the hallway, others lying on the floor, some hanging from the ceiling. They were all gently waving and I realized there was a draft through the cave.


    I froze as I remembered thest time I felt that.


    I whirled aroundand found nothing. No sign of the monster that had been my undoing. My gun was shaking almost as much as my legs. I forced myself onward, clearing the hall. I didnt dare round the corner, it was too much.


    Instead, I kept my gun pointed down the hallway as theboratory began to open. Second greeted me, ncing towards my back, his face was a bleeding mess. A reminder of what this world had done to me, <em>forced me to endure</em>.


    Then came Horace and finally


    The dull thud of a body hitting the floor might as well have been a ring siren. All of me turned, Second from the rear, Third from the front, and the original from the doorway. Horace had fallen over, eyes wide and staring at the webbing caught on his good leg.


    On the other end of the hallwaylegs. They came around the corner like fingers grabbing onto a ledge, slow and methodical as if suddenly roused.


    All of me realized it at the same time.


    <em>Run!</em>


    I bolted down the hallway, maneuvering through the webs I already knew were there. The original me, though heartless, was the number one priority. Second helped Horace up, half-lifting him and half-dragging him.


    Third was firing. Bullets rang down the hallway, pinging off metal to the tune of some high-pitched screaming. The legs twitched backward, then surged around the corner as something with too many eyes appeared, even for a spider.


    Its mouth opened and a tongue dripped hissing acid on the floor.


    I screamed. I wasnt sure which one of me did.


    Third was cursing as Id never done before, fumbling for another clip of ammo.


    Second was pulling Horace, staring backward wide-eyed.


    I escaped to the za, far far away from the science building, and found somewhere safe. And then I watched. I had made it.


    The scythe whipped forward on a leg with more segments and range of motion than I ever couldve thought. I fell to the floor, having tripped on something. A web probably. I red at the monster, faltering at its many eyes, and raised my gun.


    Every pull on the trigger elicited a high-pitched keening, a violent twitch or jerk, but never its death. My eyes caught something on the floor, not two feet from me, and I realized why I couldnt get up.


    I stared in horror at my own leg, severed at the thigh. What the fuck Decapitated. Third didnt see it, but Second did.


    Outside, my hands were over my head, tears falling down my face. Fetal position. I didnt want to scream, not out here. My head had my head had been cut off. <em>People werent supposed to watch themselves die</em>.


    Horace was yelling something. out of the way!


    Second scrambled forward, going for the gun. Horace, go! Ill hold it off.


    What part of me ever thought I could do that? How could I feel so hopeless, yet so absolutely safe? I had escaped but the part of me that died would stay with me forever.


    I wasnt a bad person. Maybe that was it. But could anyone be expected to stay true to themselves, faced with this?


    I was crying, letting the emotion hit me. No, not <em>letting</em>, it just caught up to me, crippling my mental state.


    The other part of me grabbed the gun, as the bleeding monster seized onto my legs. Even as part of its body was blown away by a bright burst of energy that melted its torso. Legs stabbed into me and, screaming, it ripped into me, acid burning away my chest, fangs impaling my organs.


    The pain was like nothing Id ever imagined was possible.


    I shoved the gun into the side of its head and pulled the trigger. Again. And again. <em>Die! Die! Die you fucking</em> I gave out first. And whatever else happened in the hallway, I couldnt see.


    Horace was still down there but I wasnt going back. II couldnt. I <em>wouldnt</em>.


    No.


    Youre free, Evahn, I said to myself, alone now. Just fucking go. My voice cracked. Just leave him, you dont owe him anything.


    Even when I could do it with no risk? When I could just send myself to haul him up? The thing was probably dead now. And if not?


    No risk but my mental health. Second spoke as I shuffled away from him.


    I killed it right? I asked him. Hoping, by some miracle, I could lie to myself.


    Third answered. I dont know.


    And that was the worst part. I <em>didnt</em> know. I didnt want to die again. To watch myselfto feelI threw up, dry heaving, chest twisting. I hunched over the floor, hands syed.


    I nced over to myselves. They looked as terrible as I did. Drained, eyes faded, pale. That wasnt how I remembered myself. I looked like like death.


    We sat there for minutes on end. It felt like hours. Contemting, weighing, warring with myself. Cursing my cowardice, hating this apocalypse, dancing around an answer I both cursed and hated more.


    And then, eventually, my clones stood up and started making their way to the science building. Two versions of myself that knew they were expendable. It didnt stop the fear of death.


    They went down the stairwell, freezing at a weak keening noiseit was alive. It came into view and, above, I threw up again.


    Half-mangled, melted, riddled with bullet holes, it was eating a lifeless Horace. Hed been stabbed once through the leg, another time through the heart.


    That anger came back. The cruelty of this world, the horror. Rage. A me so bright it burned in my chest, so bright that it <em>hurt</em>. The color red lined my vision and suddenly, I didnt care anymore.


    Iunched myself at the weakened thing and tore at its face, bare hands ripping away eyes as it jerked back in pain. Nails scraping flesh and blood. I plunged an entire arm into the exposed socket, fingers ripping and tearing at anything and everything I could feel. My other arm pulled at its other eyes.


    Its scythe-like legs tore into my own. I ignored it, feeling the deep wounds color with blood.


    The other me screamed, cracking its skull with a crowbar, sending it heavily to the floor. Blood leaked on the ground and its mouth opened with a fleshy squelch. I couldn''t say when I stopped tearing at the corpse, when I''d had enough.


    I stood over the mutted carcass and I realized something that tore at my soul.


    I couldve saved him, I breathed, broken.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9


    The morning winks of light came down in sunbeams, piercing the canopy above. The sound of birds and life filled the forest, somewhere something sshed in murky waters. Insects buzzed, trees swayed in the breeze.


    And I stared at the floor, where the brick of the za was cut cleanly, spliced with a muddy shore. None of it was a nightmare. It was all real. That certainty pinged in my head with mounting dread.


    My mind shed back to that horrible scene, eliciting tremors in my hands. His face, lifeless, unaware of being eaten, <em>nibbled on</em>. <em>I couldve saved him. </em>If Id been there earlier and hadnt spent so much time afraid. If Id gotten there quicker.


    If Id killed the thing faster, I whispered, eyes aimless. If I stood lookout. If <em>I </em>stayed and helped dragged him out.


    Id been a coward. If Id paused to help Horace through the webs, he could yet live. Instead, I left it to my clone. To half of my strength. Wracking sobs gripped me, my stomach twisting in pain, gouging sorrow and emptiness like a knife to my chest. <em>Like two fangs to my chest.</em>


    I doubled over, grabbing my sides. <em>Why, why, why,</em> I repeated softly through tears, face scrunched up in indescribable pain.


    I wanted to feel it. I needed to know, for it to <em>mean</em> something other than pointless death. My tears ran dry, the pain faded, and I felt wrong for it. <em>Wrong</em> that something like this could just <em>fade</em>. That I had no more tears.


    Hunger eventually called me back to the present. Third was already there, handing me a bag of berries. And Second?


    HeIwas there again, standing over the body. Forcing myself to remember, crying. I stayed there so long, seeped in blood and gore, that the memory itself burned into my irises. I would never forget the scene, I couldnt anymore.


    The smell, the sight. Dark blood ran across the floor. My eyes stared at Horace and I found myself whispering apologies, my gaze as dead as his.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up multiple times: Level 8.</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained the ss Skill: [Low Profile]</strong>


    <strong>Skill: [Low Profile]</strong>


    <strong>You are immune to unwarranted magical and technological scrying. Abilities, spells, or equipment that reveal your location or details are negated. Your presence can only be detected by the physical senses.</strong>


    It was a punch to the gut. I didnt want it, I wanted none of this to be real. This was nothingpared to what I had gone through, nopensation could ever match the horror. And looking at it, a part of me shattered again, wondering at whether the new <strong>Skill</strong> was tailored to what I had done.


    Hide, run, and cower. Left a stranger for dead. All to escape unnoticed.


    To keep a low profile.


    The guilt hollowed me. Even more when my stomach rumbled, that I had the audacity to feel anything but guilt. That I had the right to feel <em>hunger</em>.


    I ate mechanically, the small motion of picking berries and fruits from the bag, distracting me enough to be functional. I chose a small blue one, reminiscent of a blueberry. The sweetness burst across my mouth as tears fell down my face. It was the most unfair thing Id ever tasted.


    I was crying across all my clones.


    Every now and then, one would pause, stare at something, and keep moving. Gathering firewood, tinder. Bringing it below. It was the only thing I could think of. The only thing I thought might erase the atrocity and purify the evil I witnessed.


    I sparked the tinder and watched the entire scene go up in mes. It became hot, smoky, and I was forced to leave. To stand outside and watch the building burn. I stood near enough that my tears evaporated, enough for the heat to bear pain, to cleanse me of my sin. To rid me of my guilt.


    It didnt work.


    I needed to go. I didnt know where or how, but I needed to leave. I was a man who had died three times over, all in less than a day. A walking corpse with a <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack] </strong>full of water, fruits, berries, and any other useful things I could find.


    I wondered if that had been a hint at whaty beyond the cave. Spidersilk, spider. I watched the building burn down before I left, I needed whatever it was thaty there in the ashes. Closure? Assurance? I needed to know nothing was left.


    I ducked into the ckened stairwell, sending a clone, and found the scene gone. Reced with piles of ash, drifting motes of grey dust filling the air enough that I returned with ab mask. I forced my way into the wreckage and found no bodies, no trace of anything left.


    Even then, I wasn''t sure if it was enough.


    I spent days, <em>days</em>, roaming the swampy forest. I called the thick roots my home, traversing the twisting terrain became easier as time went on. I stared at the sunset, cowered in the night as beasts howled and foreign noises took to the air.


    And I sat in the mornings, staringnguidly at a forest I knew was hell. I hadnt known hell would look so peaceful. So unassuming. In this ce teeming with life, I found myself with only my thoughts.


    I never spoke, not even to myself, not even for the false sense ofpany. Second and Third ranged the forest, on constant lookout, watching for danger or hazard. They often turned the other way, to spot <em>him</em>.


    A broken man, stumbling across the roots, tripping, falling, sometimesying down. He was slow, lethargic as if he walked a world without meaning. It was a harsh truth when you could stare yourself in the eye and see yourself for what you were.


    That man was me.


    It took me up until that moment to find my anger again. To dare to survive, if only that I never looked so pathetic. I addressed my reality, my nightmare.


    <strong>[Notice]: For enduring the mental trauma of death three times over, your WIL has increased by 4. Your WIL is now 19.</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: For indirectly enduring the physical trauma of death three times over, your CON has increased by 2. Your CON is now 7.</strong>


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 8</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 6 </strong>


    <strong>CON: 7</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 5</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 6</strong>


    <strong>PER: 9</strong>


    <strong>INT: 10 </strong>


    <strong>WIS: 13 </strong>


    <strong>WIL: 19</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 4</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 4</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 7</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile]</strong>


    Willpower was my highest value. Would a lesser person have shatteredpletely, never to put the pieces back together? The meaning of the value came to me almost instinctively, like Id know it all along.


    It was a measure of control, determination, and resolve. It was also so much more than just that. I couldnt put its entirety into words any more fitting than those, only know it as an aspect of myself. That part of me that stubbornly refused to kneel before hardship, the part of me that balked at surrendering.


    The rest of the attributes were likewise epassing.


    I knew too little. Should I increase by Constitution? Boost my survivability? My Strength? Or my ability to run away, my Agility? None of those helped me, not really. I realized as a <strong>[Solo]</strong>, I had to use <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> as a force multiplier. To scale what I already had. An extra clone gave me half again of what I had in physical stats, another set of eyes, and another perspective.


    The line of thinking rang true.


    I did the math, brought Wisdom to 17, and said hello to Fourth.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10


    The increase in my Wisdom wasnt something immediately tangible. Over the course of the day, however, I became grounded in myself. An eptance of this reality, my ce in the chaos, and finally how to proceed.


    I thought it was fairly likely I was just one among countless others whisked away by this apocalypse. A part of the university had been <em>teleported</em> into some unknown wilderness. It stood to reason, across the world, simr happenings urred.


    Wisdom was understanding, judgment, and experience. A certain self-awareness of myself and the world. It allowed me to calm down, as much as one could expect to.


    Enough to question <em>what exactly</em> was happening. Despite that, there were few answers forting. This apocalypse came without warning, without preamble.


    I found myself with ample time to ponder it.


    The forest was a swampy expanse. A ce where life lurked under the waters, where howls broke the silent nights, and the rush of sshing waters was a sign of nature running its course. The forest breathed and I was nothing but a speck of dust.


    Four specks of dust.


    There was Second, Third, and Fourth now. I covered a lot of ground, avoided many dangers. I had caught sight of those wolves in the daylight. One of the clones had seen it.


    A dark-furred creature that swam just as fast as it bounded across the roots, four-legged and many-teethed. It was a different, less horrifying sight in broad daylight. Mainly because it was herding around its young. Puppies, no taller than my knee at that.


    The sight was sobering. Wed been dropped into a foreign ecosystem and been immediately identified as prey. The bottom of a pyramid we humans used to stand at the top of.


    I kept away from the mother and its cubs.


    The water bottles Id filled up from the building were barely dented considering the amount Id scavenged. Still, my thoughts drifted to when my supplies of freshwater would run out.


    One of the clones had climbed to a higher vantage after seeing more of those green humanoids. They were gibbering at each other, ugly and knobby. Goblins, I reminded myself. The term was perfect for them. They seemed to be arguing.


    It was a group of five again, a number I wondered was significant or not. It was the same amount that I had encountered back at the campus. The same number IdI shook the thoughts away.


    There was a clear debate going on. I had posted a clone to shadow them. I wasnt sure exactly what was possible in this world but <strong>[Low Profile]</strong> at least, would curb those unknown variables and allow me to stay hidden. I wanted to see what the creatures did for food and water, seeing as they were the most likened to a human, if only just.


    My original body was far from the potential danger, protected by three clones of myself acting as a safety. I slept under the watchful, careful eye of none other than myself, and moved with just as much caution.


    The problem was that I had no idea how to get out of this forest. Or if it was even possible. It could be kilometers of hiking until I found other terrains. Let alone other survivors. That could mean months of istion, weeks if I was lucky.


    I hadnt expected to find another building. Expectations were just another thing to be broken in this reality. The goblins led me there. A building I didnt recognize from my university or city. It was a different style, more modern.


    A library of all things. Its windows were shattered, curved architecture reduced to rubble in ces. It looked like it had <emnded</em> here, cracks over every surface.


    My clone, Fourth, paused as it came into view. It was being investigated by the goblins, prodded at withplete ignorance, as if they were unsure the walls would bite. It was a caution that I didnt ridicule them for, it was necessary.


    The building wasrger than the science building. A true library. A collection of knowledge, and I hoped, people. I perched for long minutes, hoping to see any sign, even bodies hinted at possible survivors.


    I found nothing of the sort.


    The ce was abandoned, empty. The front entrance was copsed but the second story had a balcony. I found a root path that led to the correct elevation and climbed inside. The inside was almost impossibly untouched. Dirt, rubble, moss, bugs, ntlife, but nothing damaging enough to ruin a bookshelf.


    Some of them, however, were taken apart. Windows were boarded, doorways barricaded, there <em>had</em> been people here. Hope surged in my chest like a butterfly quickly preyed upon by the bird of reality.


    The one thing I could rely on was myself. I doubted that was healthy thinking and it didnt help that it was the truth. Still, I continued to explore.


    Eventually, I found the clue Id been looking for. Where had everyone gone? The answer stared a me. A note, lying on an empty receptionist desk in the middle of the library weighed down by a paperweight.


    <em>To any survivors,</em>


    <em>None of us know what happened. Some of us are talking about biblical apocalypses, a reckoning of sorts. The end of the world. No one wants to die, though. If you see this, we left the library because no one felt safe here. We lost people to the wolves, to those green things, alligator-things in the water. We headed north, to try to get out of this damn swamp.</em>


    <em>- Jonathan, 6th day of apocalypse</em>


    And that was it. In this ce, the library was no less than a castle. It was safe. I wasnt sure if they understood what a treasure that was. Yet, I could understand just wanting to <em>leave</em>. In this swamp, humans were prey just like anything else.


    Jonathan had dated the note. The 6th day. How long had it been? A little over a week, I guessed. Theyd left two days ago?


    Without a single word said, three of my clones and the original adjusted their bearing. North it is.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11


    There were five of me now because, in the chaos of everything, Id done my math wrong. The realization hade to me, not because of a careful re-reading of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>, but from an attempt to clone myself further.


    <strong>Skill: [Never Alone]</strong>


    <strong>Even working alone, it never hurts to have another set of eyes. Better yet when theyre yours. You are able to replicate yourself to a certain degree and capacity.</strong>


    <strong>- Max Copies: (WIS + WIL + CHA) / 10</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Copies have halved STR, CON, DEX, and AGI.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- All other attributes are retained.</strong><strong></strong>


    The math amounted to four copies. Id been including my original self in that total but I wasnt a copy. That meant there was room for another. But, the monikers had begun to confuse me. Referring to myself, internally, as First was what had led to the initial misunderstanding.


    I took my original self out of the system. So that there were only the four copiesthe clones. First, Second, Third, Fourth and, of course, Evahn himselfme.


    I questioned something, though. I had tried, hadnt I? To clone myself again, before I knew the limit.


    I remembered it clearly, after creating Third, I had asked myself to do it again. I wasnt able to. Had I really been ignorant as to not try again? All that time? Was there a limitation on the number I could create at once?


    You couldve had an extra set of hands that entire time, First said to me. You couldve saved him.


    Guilt washed over me, pushing me down. No clone of mine had anything to say to that. There was nothing but silent condemnation. I had already failed, this was just another way it had happened.


    Ever since that first day, I hadnt died again.


    Somewhere along the way, that crippling fear of death became a strange eptance. Burgeoning confidence. Courage against that inevitably. I knew what it was like so I could prepare myself.


    I hadnt died but I did see death again.


    I dropped from the tree, three of me, andnded on the pair of goblins. I needed weapons. I grabbed their arms first, twisting their tools out of their grasp. Then, still overpowering despite my halved attributes, I snapped their necks.


    Myselves looked at each other, breathing. The moment washed over me before I crouched down to grab their things. Knives of surprisingly decent make. Short and stubby, the handle was decent and the de was sharp. What else could I ask for?


    Theres no turning back now, Evahn, I spoke to myself.


    It hadnt crossed my mind Id be hearing it too. I looked to my clone, knowing that <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> gave me the unparalleled ability to talk to myself.


    No turning back. I agreed.


    This marked me not as a killer but as a survivor. Someone willing to adapt to this reality and embrace it. I told myself that, unable to escape the wriggling whisper of morality.


    I looked at the men across from me. They were me, of course, but I barely recognized them. Beaten and battered, rugged, I was scraping at life. Not in the physical sense, but the mental. The weight of it all threatened to crush me and yet somehow I was still breathing, ignoring it.


    I killed three more groups of five over the course of the day. With a set of eyes acting as overwatch, three of me on the ground armed with sharp knives, and a determination to do what needed to be done, it was terribly easy. Terrible, because thats what it felt like.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up: Level 9.</strong>


    Nothing apanied the message. It felt empty. I wasnt deserving of anything but that. This new circumstance was twisting who I was and there was nothing I could do tobat it. What part of me remained, which part twisted, and what was lost?


    I couldnt say.


    I found signs of survivors on the second day of traveling. I was moving faster than them, I knew. It only made sense given my ability to coordinate information and terrain. It was the remains of a camp, a fire had been burning between crevasse of therge roots too thick and wet to catch fire themselves.


    There were muddy prints on the ground I recognized as shoes. That simple sight allowed hope to blossom again. People were alive, just like me. That thought aloneforted me but I prepared for the worst.


    This apocalypse had changed me, brought out the worst in me, I hesitated to think what it might do to others. It chilled me.


    On the third day, I managed to hunt a bird. The meat was enough to make my tongue water but I knew nothing of what was edible or not. I ripped the organs out, started a fire, and experienced the delicacy through a clone.


    <em>Meat</em>, I never thought I would miss it so much. My clone, identical to myself, felt no side effects. I turned to the branches above, the shore, with great interest, tracking the locations where Id seen those birds the most. It was no wonder the reptiles ate them so vigorously.


    They were delicious.


    I shared the bounty with my original self the next time and it was heaven. A small luxury eaten with berries and fruit, the meal was so simple yet so perfect.


    On the fourth day, I found them. A campfire, around twenty people or so, and a handful of others watching the perimeter. A lot of people had that dead look in their eyes, staring at the fire. Everyone was muddy, wet, and looked miserable.


    I almost went down in person. Instead, after a moments hesitation, a clone went down in my ce.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12


    Their sentries didnt even notice me until I was already right in front of them. I couldnt be sure if that was because they were relying on some other form of detection that my <strong>[Low Profile]</strong> nullified, or that they were just that unprepared.


    Hey! Raul, theres someone over there! I heard a voice call out.


    Another figure appeared over the root. Lookouts. They held a hand over their brow, blinking in the sunset. I paused, looked up, and the relief in my expression was genuine.


    Survivors. A sign that, even in the midst of apocalypse, humanity persevered.


    Another one? Someone called down. He was waving me over. Get up here man. Did youe from the library? His voice reached me, barely.


    I climbed upward, days of traveling multiplied by my clones, and I was already an expert. A pair of rough hands helped me up towards the end.


    The stranger was among two others, looking me up and down. Youe from the library? There was hope in their eyes, wariness in their posture.


    Yeah. I saw the note. From a Jonathan, I think. I recalled, slightly out of breath. How many are there? I said wearily. How many survivors?


    I wasnt sure why it meant so much to me. Maybe I was holding out hope that there were more than what I saw. Maybe I hoped that no one else had gone through what I had.


    Above, higher still, one of my clones watched.<em> I</em> watched as they weed me with open arms, as one of the sentries broke away and headed toward the main group. I watched me and the stranger, Nichs, converse.


    As he recounted a familiar story, except a library instead of a university building. I grimaced as he described the lives lost, the people killed. The number that was left.


    I saw a dozen dead before I could even react. Nichs was a bearded man. Aside from that detail, he looked exactly the part of a librarian. Because he was. <em>Had</em> been. He was calmer than I wouldve managed talking about it. Wolves but worse, is how we put it. Much worse. We count twenty-two. It shouldve been more. His wandering gaze focused on me, reluctant but curious. And you?


    I took a deep breath, trying to let go of the emotions that came with the memory. Theres a university building, maybe a day or two from the library. Thats where I came from. I replied bleakly. Same story, no survivors. None that I could save. My hands shook as an image of Horace shed through my mind.


    A deep sigh and his hand fell on my shoulder. Well, that at least confirms what everyones been thinking. Were not the only ones. He said, giving me a look. Im still on watch but one of the others wille to bring you to the camp.


    In fact, I saw them moving to us now, from a different set of eyes. The sentry that had left earlier.


    Howd you manage this far? Nichs asked. The rest of us, we pooled together all these strange abilities andwell, I assume you know about them? If you lived this long. He trailed off.


    A <strong>Skill</strong>, I replied. Helps me stay out of danger. But mostly just luck, I guess. And it was the truth.


    Better lucky than not, Nichs responded.


    I saw movement. Not from where I stood next to Nichs, but from high above. From Second, who watched First below. This was the second time Id seen one of those wolves, the one Nichs had just been talking about.


    A wolf but much worse. It was fitting. Larger, faster, deadlier. It even looked somehow more vicious and feral. And, unlike thest time Id seen it, this one was clearly hunting.


    It was moving the same way I had seen it do in the za. Slow, methodical, and locked onto a singr prey. Focused and intent. I traced its gaze and realized it was staring towards us.


    There was time. Id have to find a way to warn


    Wolf! Nichs called out, suddenly standing. He stared down, finding it stalking amongst the roots. <strong>[Intimidating re]</strong>. And <em>red </em>it down.


    It actually snarled at him, something like a cross between a roar and a hiss. There was a pressure to his gaze. I was nowhere near the focus of his <strong>Skill</strong>because there was nothing else it could beand I felt its effects.


    The creature turned away, ncing back, but retreating.


    Above, I sat amazed, quiet, and thoughtful, while the version of me below bombarded Nichs with questions. So this was the power of another <strong>Skill</strong>. I realized the other two sentries had alerted as well and were staring around. It made me wonder what they were capable of. What <em>everyone</em> was capable of.


    They brought me to camp and I let First meet the survivors.


    Meanwhile, my original self was being watched by Third and Fourth. It was a tight perimeter and by now I had armed myself with crude goblin weaponryall of me, that was. There was little in the way of armor but that was what my clones were for.


    As First talked with the survivors, trading stories and experiences, I realized not a single person there was keen on this new world. There wereints, hopelessness, and general unease. Trauma in the form of dead stares.


    As soon as we get back, Im going to take a hot shower and forget all this ever happened. A woman spoke, full of bravado. False hope.


    Im sure the government will find a way to contact us. Tell us what the hell is happening. Someone else replied.


    You think any government will hold after this? For all we know it could just be a couple of buildings. Between us and Evahn, theres only two! A man whose name Id already forgotten gestured to me.


    Im sure theres a perfectly sound reason for all of this. Once we get home


    <em>People have died!</em> I said voice raised. I looked up at them, fear in their eyes, crazy in mine. I didnt care, the emotions caught up with me. The pent-up feelings of thest week in this hell. I calmed myself anyway. There are people dead and youre all acting like we''ll be able to just go home and forget.


    Guilty stares, fearful stares. I realized I wasnt staring at a crowd of people more capable of navigating this apocalypse than I was. I was looking at regr men and women. Men and women who, older than I, were no less ready than I had been.


    It was a painful realization.


    That in this crowd of survivors, not a single one stared at the apocalypse and dared to live.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13


    The apocalypse was real. It didnt help me or anyone else to pretend that it wasnt. That was just a fact in my head, obvious. The survivors from the library, however, clung to hope. Not for survival, but for a return to normalcy.


    I didnt know why I recoiled at that.


    Its because Ive been waiting for this. Third said to me.


    Fourth responded, three of us sitting around a small fire. For something, for <em>anything</em>.


    I looked at them, mirrors of myself, covered in different dirt. Yet undoubtedly me. If I could make it so none of this happened, I would.


    Would you? I said to myself.


    I


    Down in the camp, surrounded by survivors. Hey, you alright? A voice sounded next to me.


    I turned and found Jonathan, the person who had left the note. Id thought that the group of survivors would have some kind of leader. It turned out that wasnt the case. It was just a herd of people trying to decide what to do. Jonathan, like Nichs, was just another one among them.


    Yeah. I saidmely, torn away from the conversation with myself. I looked at the figures huddled around small fires. Wet and miserable. Hot during the day, cold during the night. Its just I dont think things are gonna go back to normal.


    Jonathan was a younger man. Put together enough that I couldnt tell if it was all a farce. It probably was, considering everything that had happened. His presence was stillforting, despite my pessimism.


    Neither do I. He said simply. But some people need to cling to something. Even if it''s hopeless. Thats how you get hope.


    I turned to look at him.


    A couple of us have been experimenting. He began. Were sharing what we learned so far with anyone who bothers to listen. These weird messages? This summary of ourselves? Youve seen it, right?


    I nodded, interested. Had they learned something I hadnt?


    Most of the survivors were given <strong>Skills</strong>. A few were given <strong>sses</strong>. Im not sure if youve realized it yet, and dont be rmed, but youre under one my <strong>Skills</strong>.


    I froze, slightly. What is it?


    Rx, its nothing harmful. <strong>[Veil of Safety]</strong>. Its enough to cover the group and, for the past couple of days, its managed to keep us out of trouble. He said. Im a <strong>[Protector]</strong>.


    I took a breath of relief. That exined what Id been curious about. The swamp was full of danger. Id been ranging it for the past week and I was surprised theyd never attracted more than a single wolf. The goblins and wolves were the most aggressive and theyd barely been bothered by them.


    Nichs found us talking, striding over to take a seat next to us. Ive been putting points into <strong>PER</strong>. Helps me spot anything dangerous before it can be a problem. A couple of others reported the same thing I felt when I ced those points. Incremental changes, just enough to be noticeable. All of my senses were minutely enhanced.


    Jonathan picked up. Strength, Dexterity, all the rest are the same. Its like a video game. He said, sighing. I hate to put it that way, but its the truth.


    Something was bugging me. Why are you telling me this? Im a stranger. Not to mention I was younger than both of them. They shouldnt be trusting me so easily.


    They looked at each other. Nichs sighed. Youre one of the few who see it as we do. He said bleakly. One of the few actually preparing. You wouldnt have made it here otherwise.


    And I understood, right then, what they meant. Everyone else was waiting to be saved. Nichs, Jonathan? They were like me. Trying to save themselves.


    At the same moment, I realized they didnt have anything for me here. They gave me context for this whole disaster, sure, but my <strong>ss</strong>, my abilities, and <strong>Skill</strong>? It was just as the description said.


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>The [Solo] excels at what their name suggests. They are self-sufficient individuals who rely entirely on themselves. Their specialty lies in their capacity to act on their own. Their Skills have a wide range of applications and are not necessarily confined to any one field, only that whatever path chosen is walked alone.</strong>


    I was better off alone, without others to drag me down. I couldnt even argue the other side. It was clear as day. I was self-sufficient, able to traverse the terrain easily, I had an early warning system, I could take risks where others couldnt. The list went on. Alone, I had every benefit.


    I was a <strong>[Solo]</strong>. And I was better off just so.


    Yet somehow I couldnt stop staring at these people. The world had been a cruel ce even before the apocalypse. I knew because I was one such victim of that cruelty. Werent these people the same? Thrust into this uncertain reality, they would sink or swim. Their lives were on the line and while naive to expect to be saved, could I really me them?


    The original me stood up as First did the same, a mirror to our movements across the distance between us. One nestled between roots, the other surrounded by strangers. A perfect reflection. Two choices before me, a path alone and one with others.


    The answer wasnt hard. I had the freedom to choose both. To choose my own path.


    To lend help <em>and </em>move independently.


    The more I thought of it the more it felt right. They didnt have anything here worth permanently tying myself to, true, but I never had to in the first ce did I? A clone amongst a group of survivors wouldnt be wasted. It was another stream of information, another pick against the mountain of mystery brought upon by this apocalypse. It would help. And, in turn, <em>I </em>would help.


    On the other side of the coin, I could explore this new reality with open eyes. It was only a hunch, one that grew the past week in the swamp. Where colorful flowers and moss grew alongside dangerous predators and unfamiliar creatures.


    That this <em>world</em> brought just as much wonder as danger. That amidst all the shadows I had seen, there were rays of light between the storm.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14


    Over the course of the next few days, my course diverted from the survivors camp. I felt the distance like a physical thing. A growing istion even more apparent with my clone there, teaching the few who would listen what was edible and what was not.


    First foraged and scouted, learning what he could and teaching when not. The people from the library had been eating whatever looked edible. A number of them had experienced some side effects that I had already endured myself.


    Apparently, one of the greatest contributors to leveling was oveing adversity. Dangers. Id thought it hade from killing monsters, thats when my own level-ups had urred. This way made more sense.


    I also found out I was the highest leveled person in the camp.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 9</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 6 </strong>


    <strong>CON: 7</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 5</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 6</strong>


    <strong>PER: 9</strong>


    <strong>INT: 10 </strong>


    <strong>WIS: 17 </strong>


    <strong>WIL: 19</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 4</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 4</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 4</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile]</strong>


    I had reached level 9 a few days ago, with no apparent bonuses. The highest level in the camp was 5. And I wondered if it was because they had safety in numbers, or if it was a result of <strong>[Veil of Safety]</strong> effects lessening what they would otherwise have to face.


    Or simply a testament to the absolute hell I had been through.


    I kept my <strong>Stat Points</strong> to myself, entirely unsure where to ce them. inly speaking, the three attributes that affected <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> were the obvious picks, however, I hesitated for the fact that there might be an enemy or danger that no amount of clones couldbat.


    If no amount of my physical stats could ever ovee an obstacle, then the number of my clones would never matter. Did that call for cing points in those stats? Or should I stick to what I knew?


    Instead, I bided my time. Nervous, slightly, at the thought of hoarding something that could potentially save my life <em>now</em> as opposed to making it betterter.


    Still, I hoped I was out of immediate danger. I had been, aside from those first couple of days. So a little preparation for the future might not be a terrible idea.


    How quickly the mind adapts, I said to myself, picking over the gnarled roots.


    I still had nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night. Of gettings beheaded, stabbed, eaten. Of getting my eyes gouged out. The worst part was that the mind could y these nightmares with the knowledge of how it actually was.


    Second, Third, and Fourth were the clones still with me. They were in positions such that I was in the center of a triangle, they at the points. I could admit I was scared, <em>terrified</em>, of this world but Id alsoe to learn the swamp was beautiful, the forest magnificent.


    Giant pools of murky water interspersed with bridges of roots. Vines hung down from the trees above, filled with birds of all kinds. Moss covered every surface it could grow on, touching the dreary palette of the swamp with muted brightness.


    Some of the wildlife, <em>some</em>, were familiar. The birds couldve been from Earth. There were frogs, croaking in the night, that looked no different than what I knew. Fish close enough to the surface of the water I could confirm were the same.


    But then were the dinogators which did little but give the mind an idea of what to expect. Alligators or crocodiles in form, but thicker andrger, <em>longer</em>. More lumbering. Maybe the size of a hippo. Yet with an explosive speed Id witnessed many times over watching anything edible near the waters.


    The wolves, which were less wolf and more something else. They had the fur and the four-legged form, but the creatures were entirely alien otherwise. Tworge eyes set into a predatory head, I avoided them whenever I could. They moved alone aside from when with their young.


    And the goblins, though I equated to them some feral, swampy analog of primates. Only without the fur, but green skin that mud and water seemed to slide right off of. Reptilian, in a way. It wasnt until Id observed for longer I realized that they were amphibious as well. They dwelled in the waters with ease.


    I had been walking on arge root, thergest Id ever found, and had been simply following it. The thickness had been steady until today. Today, it grewrger, which confirmed I was heading <em>to</em> a tree, rather than away from it.


    The forest cleared and suddenly, I was staring at something unimaginable.


    The tree was such that its heights were lost to the mists of sheer distance. Its roots were enormous at the base, stretching and branching into an entirework that dug into the ground or plunged into the pools of water surrounding the base.


    That wasnt what made it unimaginable.


    It was the skyscraper that was spliced into its side. An enormous building made small, cutting right into the side of the tree like it had been transnted there, barely a third as tall as the tree itself. I could see the swamp alreadying to envelop it, moss and vines hanging from its highest points. Birds perched atop its roof.


    As if it had just popped into reality here. The windows and such were still intact, the majority of the structure unbothered. Another building. Whats more, there were figures below at the base. People. More survivors, but so far away and insignificant that my thumb could cover their entirety.


    I took a seat there, on the edge of the root, right before it dipped down below into the pools and twisting paths below. My original self, that is. I sat there, staring at a man-made marvel made to look so insignificant, yet so uprehendinglyrge all at once.


    Holy shit, I whispered, wondering just <em>what </em>had happened to Earth.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up: Level 10.</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained the ss Skill: [Solos Instinct].</strong>

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15


    It was like another set of eyes opened, like my skin breathed, and every hair on my body could speak. And then <em>more</em>. Like another sensory organ had opened itself up to me, only it gave me an awareness of myself and the world around me in an inexplicable way.


    A blessing for someone moving around dangerous ces alone.


    <strong>Skill: [Solos Instinct]</strong>


    <strong>You have an innate sense of your immediate surroundings. An uncanny awareness of potential harm, opportunity, and the world around you.</strong>


    Multiplied further, by the presence of my clones. It gave shape to the way I would be carrying myself in this apocalypse. Awork of stealth and awareness.


    The level-up hade out of nowhere and gave credence to a theory I had. Id leveled when acting in ordance with my <strong>ss</strong>. Id been alone, solo. Sure, First had been with a group of people, but Id chosen a more independent way.


    And discovered a marvel.


    <strong>ss</strong> aside, I wasnt naive enough to think I could brave the apocalypse alone, though I was certain I was among the most capable to do so. It took me an hour to make it to that vast tree, that skyscraper that looked like a bastion of humanity, despite the fact it had been in my view that entire time. The distance between us had been immense,pounded by the uneven terrain.


    I was curious and hopeful. These people seemed less haggard then those from the library. And in truth, I hadnt been expecting to find anyone else. Let alone in these numbers.


    Hey, check it out. A muddied man nudged another stranger. Both wore business attire, ripped at the sleeves and knees. Had they been office workers before all this? Working in the skyscraper?


    Another group. One whispered. There were more?


    There was a handful of whispers around but no one stopped me. Maybe that was because I walked in a group of four, that I seemed so imposing. Or that I hade straight from the wilderness.


    The ce looked like a refugee camp. There was no organization here. People gathered in small groups, congregating around arger whole, but that was it. My presence wasnt questioned, just remarked upon. As if they were blind to the danger of this ce.


    I found a throng of people debating in the open, at the base of the skyscraper. My clones melted into the crowd, listening. I made myself small, standing to the edge of the group.


    We cant stay here forever. A burly man argued, crossing his arms. We need to get out of this swamp or well starve.


    Why would we leave a perfectly good shelter? Jackson gives us freshwater, the building


    I tuned out once I got the gist of the debate. To stay or to go. The same conversation I assume the people from the library had. Only this group was muchrger, and had a much better ce to stay, if they decided so.


    Something itched at my back though. I wasnt sure what exactly it was but <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> was kicking into overdrive. Something was wrong here. The certainty was like a pit in my stomach.


    We cant stay here forever. We need to get out of this swamp or well starve. The pitch, the tone, the volume, it was all exactly the same.


    Why would we leave a perfectly good shelter? Jackson gives us freshwater, the building is all the shelter we need. Came the response.


    What was happening? I looked around and realized people were barely moving. Or rather, they <em>were</em> just in the same motions. All of my clones started looking around, moving closer towards me.


    And then I spotted something that chilled me to my core. A sapling. Embedded into the strangers neck, roots piercing into the skin, spreading like veins. Barely visible under the hair and then clothes.


    Everyone had them.


    One of my clones stared at my original self. I saw it, like some wriggling worm, or a stick bug, just made of roots. A small thing. <em>Crawling up my arm.</em>


    I smashed it in a small spray of sap, the clones checked each other, smashing two more, and then I was running. <em>Running from these people. </em>


    I had walked into a trap. Arge group like this? Why wouldnt they be attacked? They were toox, too easygoing, for this all to be real. I caught my breath, looking backward, and realized nothing had followed me. <em>No one</em> had followed me.


    Whatever it was, it had me dead to rights. Why? What happened? Was it controlling those people? Were they already dead? It looked like a parasite, or something.


    That thing was embedded right in the spinal cord. Id seen the roots spreading upward toward the head, and downward across the spine. Those people were <em>possessed</em> by something. I <em>knew</em> they were.


    So why didnt they chase me?


    <strong>Skill: [Low Profile]</strong>


    <strong>You are immune to unwarranted magical and technological scrying. Abilities, spells, or equipment that reveal your location are negated. Your presence can only be detected by the physical senses.</strong>


    I was breathing hard and any semnce of peace that I had was shattered. Id thought dying would be the worst fate offered to me. Id been wrong, there was more to fear than something so merciful.


    I stared at the dozens of figures across the roots, a shadow across my face. It was some kind of magical parasite then, and it hadnt noted my presence. That little thing, had seen me, crawled on me, but the people who were enthralled hadnt <em>seen</em> me.


    It had to be some kind of other sense, negated by <strong>[Low Profile]</strong>, the only thing that had saved me in the end. And all these people had fallen prey to it.


    I realized that I wasnt just staring at a single group of people transported by this skyscraper, but countless others that had been lured here.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16


    My breath came rapidly as I tried to calm down. I almostughed at myself. I thought Id be used to this by now. But <em>this</em>? It had shattered whatever notion I had about humanity persevering. What I thought mightve been a bastion of survivors was nothing but deathtrap.


    And there were people still stuck in there.


    Something, however, made me stare at the skyscraper. Was it <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong>? The vines and roots that entwined it, curling as if possessive, gnarled. From here, far away, yet close enough to <em>see</em>. A creature, a <em>being</em>, moving and writhing, if only minutely. Like staring at the clouds and not realizing they had taken a new shape.


    Suddenly, I felt small.


    <strong>Field Boss: [Rootmother Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>An enormous organism that subjugates all life around it. It is native to humid environments and often operates from submerged caves, hollowed trees, or otherrge structures. Its roots can spread across an entire ecosystem, effectively dominating thend.</strong>


    What the fuck. I breathed, realizing I was staring at a single living thing. One the size of a skyscraper.


    I was out of my depth and the panic kicked in. A hysterical fear that I barely managed to squash on ount of apparent immediate safety. Still, my hands were shaky as I stared at this thing. My eyes wide, my face pale.


    A <strong>Field Boss</strong>.


    Anyone whode anywhere near wouldnt have stood a chance. It wasnt fair. It was luring others, survivors whod powered through the initial shock, only to end up here.


    I watched mutely, helpless, as a group of people walked into the skyscraper. II couldnt help these people. It was impossible. Unfeasible, even for someone like me. <em>This</em> was that obstacle, where multiple mes were useless.


    I wanted to turn around. Oh I wanted it so bad, to leave these people and condemn them to this hell, to just <em>forget</em>. But I couldnt. I refused, not even daring to shift an inch in the opposite direction.


    Could I ever look at myself again, if I did? It was Horace all over again, I realized.


    This time, if I save a single one, Ill call it a win. I grimaced.


    I spent the better part of the day tackling the biggest problem. That weird insect that was no doubt the vector of this <strong>[Rootmother Hiveminds] </strong>control. It took a careful clone to discover their nature.


    They came from the pools around the skyscraper. They were wriggling right under the water, a few leaving every now and then, only to return back to the pool. I didnt think they could leave for any long amount of time, not unless they found a host.


    I read the description of the <strong>Field Boss</strong> again. They like humid environments, right? Is this why? Staring at the pools sent a shiver down my spine. It mustve been thousands, just in a single pool, waiting for something toe close enough.


    I could trace roots from the skyscraper plunging into those pools, spreading outward. An entirely different root system than the enormous tree in the center of it all. Smaller, if only rtively.


    I climbed to a higher vantage point, on the edge of the immense clearing that the giant treemanded. Far away from the <strong>Field Boss</strong>. From here, I thought I could see the difference in the root structure, the swamp trees roots were thicker and only thinned minutely as they expanded. The <strong>[Rootmother Hiveminds]</strong> was still nascent, stemming from the skyscraper, and much smallerpared to the swamps. I perched there as my clones roamed below, safe as I could manage. Second stayed with me as Third and Fourth did reconnaissance.


    I functioned as overwatch, noting the movements of those possessed, grimacing at the routine I saw. Third and Fourth heard snippets of the same conversations, saw the same movements. The people <em>noticed </em>me, I saw it in their eyes, but the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> did not.


    I watched as Third and Fourth found someone fairly isted, far from any pool of water, and subdued him. As soon as I knocked him to the ground, I spotted three other groups start moving toward him.


    I flipped the unconscious man over, hand going for the sapling at his neck. And I hesitated. There were footsteps now, eerily silent despite the rush to their movements. I was running out of time. I barely had a minute to think.


    Fuck. I grimaced, watching Third and Fourth abandon him.


    Cant be sure it wont kill him. Second spoke from behind me, grave. He was leaning against the trunk, watching my back. But if not that, then what?


    My eyes drifted to the skyscraper as my clones pulled out. The enthralled survivors swarmed around the unconscious man but made no move to follow me, if they even could. I frowned, regarding the swamp and began to make slow circuit of the pools.


    I traversed the gnarled terrain with rtive ease, climbing over roots that ovepped, twisted, and curled every which way. My aim was the side of the clearing closest to the skyscraperto the rootmother.


    Once I got there I had a better view. On the other side of the skyscraper, I found a parking lot full of cars. Employee parking. Vines grew over the entire thing, roots grasping at tires and trying to inch between car windows, breaking apart cement and bursting through any cracks.


    Had the terrain been anything else, a car mightve been useful.


    I held both my palms up and boosted myself up to the next ledge. The clone reached down, pulling me up. Rinse and repeat. Here I was out of range from the thing, at least from its roots. <strong>[Low Profile]</strong> meant I didnt have to worry whether or not it saw me.


    The building had a number of unobstructed entrances though just as many were blocked by the things tendrils. The pit in my stomach grew as I watched another group of survivors herded inside.


    The door opened, people walked in, and I had the barest moment to witness something jerk all of them away before the door closed again.


    Then something stupid crossed my mind. And damn it, I couldnt ignore it.


    My gaze drifted to the parking lot.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17


    Skr Industries. The name meant nothing to me, not here, not now. The silver lettering was far from pristine, caked with dirt, dust, and whatever other particles of swamp matter might be in the air.


    That was thepany that owned the building. Past tense. Because now it belonged to some horror of the apocalypse. Maybe the corporate drones that worked here suffered a fate not so different than their norm.


    My n fell through. It had been a stupid n to begin with. I didnt know how to siphon gas and even had I known, was I supposed to just waltz in and start dousing the ce?


    My eyes, shadowed, drifted over to the wandering people below. Twice Id seen the wolvese for one of the thralls only for the rest toe to their aid instantaneously. Three times Id witnessed the same for goblins, only they hadnt fared well, unable to run away.


    I stared at the parking lot.


    Elsewhere, across the swamp, and far from the <strong>Field Boss</strong>, Nichs raised a brow.


    Siphoning gas? He asked. Whered thate from?


    In case we run into a car, I guess. First shrugged. The question came off as a non-sequitur without context.


    In a swamp. He said inly.


    If we ever get out of here, that is, I replied. It mighte in handy, who knows?


    He sighed. Guess thats just how we have to think about things now. He said. Siphoning gas? All you need is a hose, your mouth, and a container. One end in the car, the other end in your mouth. Suck until the fuel hits then move the other end to the container.


    Huh, I wasnt really expecting an answer, I said, blinking.


    Youd be surprised how many random bits of knowledge you pick up as a librarian. I cant remember if this ones from some mechanics handbook or some guidebook on how to be a man. Nichs said.


    At the same moment, I was frantically going through my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>. I managed toe away with arge stic jug, currently filled with water. It had been empty in one of theboratorys cabs and my best guess was that it was used to holdrge amounts of chemicals.


    It didnt matter. It was a container. At the same time, Second sliced open a vine, revealing the hollow interior that sometimes held water. The hose. A trick Id learned from observing the goblins, a source of freshwater.


    Or, in this case, gasoline.


    I sent my clones down, picking my way carefully across the terrain and towards the parking lot, dodging the <strong>Field Bosss</strong> roots. They plunged into shallow pools here too and I steered clear of the parasitical insects.


    Once I got down, I uncapped the gas tank of a red truck, and looking around, got to work. I fed the vine into the gas tank and managed to get some suction going, spitting out the fuel and redirecting it to the stic jug as my eyes widened.


    It worked, I whispered, watching the liquid flow.


    I was simultaneously filled with hope and terror because it meant my stupid n was now something that warranted a real attempt. And that there was a chance.


    I waited a minute for the jug to fill up. The stic took on a slight yellowish hue when it was full. It was a lot of gasoline and yet not nearly enough for what I nned. My heart was racing because the next step would determine any sess of this n.


    I purposefully avoided the entrance the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> had sent people into. Instead, my clones cleared an emergency exit, pushing open the door and finding a decidedly normal office towards the other end of the skyscraper.


    Except there were roots, writhing and twisting, moving ever so slightly like tentacles, <em>everywhere</em>. They crawled across the walls, curled up on the ceiling, and spread across the floor. They were more active here than outside, and across the room, I spotted one that was particrly prehensile, the kind I had seen before the door had closed on those poor people.


    I kept away from that one.


    And yet, Id gone unnoticed. I scoured the room for other dangers, my clones moving in silent rhythm, watching each others back, moving like a fluid. I checked every cubicle, every wall, every hallway on that floor, tracing the roots.


    They came from above, thickening as they rose into the skyscraper. Which meant the main body of the thing had to be on the higher floors. That was perfect for me.


    I looked at the floorn posted there on the wall, some strange vertigo oveing me, checking something so normal. Was it wrong that being in this building was morefortable than the weeks Id been in the swamp?


    I dumped the gasoline on the floor, around the walls, desks, and anything remotely mmable. I hoped that the <strong>Field Bosss</strong> roots werent as waterlogged as the swamps. But even then, with enough heat, it shouldnt be a problem.


    I stared at the rtively small section of soaked floor and took a breath. It would take a while to cover the whole floor and douse everything. Longer if I wanted to be more thorough and try the other floors. I wasnt naive enough to think I might be afforded a second chance.


    Then I saw the goblin. Wandering down the hall. Oblivious to me, at least, in a general sense. Its eyes followed me, some perceptive instinct ingrained into its body, but its purpose was obviously a patrol of some kind. The <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> saw nothing.


    It walked right past me, a sapling embedded its neck.


    I nearly attacked it on wild instinct but I immediately calmed myself, remembering what happened thest time I attacked a thrall. The ce had been flooded with other simrly possessed.


    That small restraint probably saved me a whole lot of trouble. I needed easy ess to this floor and setting the rootmother off would not be ideal.


    It made sense that the heart of the <strong>Field Boss</strong> would be more protected. And, checking the first floor, I found there were only two other goblins. They hadnt even moved in response to me but then I hadnt bothered to other ends of the floor yet. There were only three and they wandered practically aimlessly.


    Enough for a warning and nothing more, if they were to see something.


    Still, the oversight led me to the center of the building. Arge hole was taken out of the skyscraper. Cored like an apple. In its ce, a mass of roots and tendrils, leading upward to an inky ckness my eyes couldnt prate.


    I saw blood on the floor. I realized I was looking at where the thing ate.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18


    I watched from above as Third and Fourth siphoned more gas. Id lost count of how many trips theyd done but there was certainly no shortage of fuel. Parking mustve been a nightmare for Skr Industries.


    After standing there, in the center of building, right in front of the doors where people had walked in, <em>seeing that blood</em>. Not the scarlet color of life and oxygen but the dark stain of obsidian crimson?


    Emotion bubbled in my chest, unbidden. That simmering chill. Id thought the cold that came with that anger was indestructible. A cier. But this hell had proven again and again that something could shatter it. Id thought anger brought my focus to a razors edge.


    Instead, Id broken down, cried, vomited, and screamed. Ive had nightmares the past two weeks, of dying, of failing, of all the twisted horrors that were still toe. I was paranoid, checking over my shoulder, feeling phantom pains where I was uninjured.


    It wasnt anger, truthfully. How could someone be sure of something like that? Maybe it was just a front. A ruse to distract myself from what I really felt. It was an emotion directed at everything. And yet nothing at all. Pointless and meaningless.


    It was a familiar feeling. That sucking sensation of something worse than just muddy shoes. A ck hole that drained all energy. A bottomless pit of quicksand at the bottom of the ocean.


    It was despair. Hopelessness.


    I knew, <em>I knew</em>, I was just some guy. I knew that. I was no one special, no one near qualified to face whatever the hell a <strong>Field Boss</strong><em>meant</em> beyond the instinctive connotation. I wasnt military, I wasnt some great leader or fighter. I hadnt even graduated college.


    But damn I wasnt about to give up. I didnt think of myself as a hero. The notion suggested I did this out of some desire to y out a fantasy. In a dream, maybe, not this hell. Not this nightmare.


    Where a <strong>Field Boss </strong>existed that could take over someones will. How much more would fall to this trap if this <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> was left alone? Id spent the better part of two days watching it, dousing the floors, <em>three</em><em>of them</em> now.


    It expanded by water. It was just a hunch that I felt more and more confident on. Every body of water, every pool it touched spawned those strange insects, unable to leave the water. It was why I hadnt seen anything possessed up until now. For the same reason I hadnt been outright mind controlled the second I waded through any small body of water.


    By sheer dumb luck, the giant swamp trees root system had isted the creature from anyrger bodies of water. Instead, its roots only ess was to the small pools created by therger root system of the swamp. It was cut off from any major waterways and couldnt spread further.


    But its tendrils were growing, creeping further. Enough to see with the naked eye. Maybe a meter in length over the course of these two days. Id tracked down its longest tendril, watching it. It was still a long way from even the edge of the clearing, but from there it was only a short reach to the waterlogged terrain Id been traversing thest two weeks.


    It was only a matter of time.


    Three floors were doused in gasoline now. From the moment I walked in, the sweet smell was potent enough to give me a slight headache. I was cautious of the fumes, wearing one of those safetyb masks on each of my clones from the science building.


    If there was a smell for mmable fire hazard, this was it.


    You think three floors is enough? I said, outside, watching the building.


    From what I could gather from my observation, the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> was in a somewhat docile state. Its actual body didnt move very much, aside from the passive writhing motions of its roots. I attributed its lethargy to some kind of energy preservation, that it was focusing on growing its roots since I had no other information on its behavior.


    I was apprehensive, weighing thepleteness of mmability against the time until it might summon more innocents to its mouth. It hadnt, not since Id seen them the first time, thankfully. It just served to put more pressure on me, I was on a clock. I had no idea how the fire would realistically take to the building. Three floors were a lot, and fire spread upwards, but I was nervous.


    I began dragging in any dry wood or mmable tinder I could find. Branches, brush, etc. Anything and everything that was dry. I had the manpower andI hopedthe time to spare.


    Might as well do the fourth, I told myself. If Im taking the time to do all this.


    And so I did. Uncap a random car, feed the vine into the tank, suck, siphon, fill the jug. Drag anything I could find that would burn into the building, climb the four flights of stairs, douse the floor. Repeat. It was hard manualbor, all done through my clones who had half my physicality, which meant it felt all the harder and probably took twice as long.


    It was an easy price to pay for safety. I was taking virtually no risk. The problem was that it wasnt my life that was at risk here. It was everyone elses.


    <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> went off. It was something like an itch, a tic, and an achebined. Like something had caught my eye at the edge of my perception, only the equivalent to that as it rted to every other sense I had. Combined.


    A sudden, pressing, and absolutely certain intuition.


    It wasnt my original self that was feeling it. It was my clones.


    Inside, I whirled around, feeling the building groan and creak. The roots and tendrils strewn about the floor and walls, normally dormant and lethargic, began to twist and turn. As if the entire building was <em>stretching</em>. The <strong>Field Boss</strong>.


    That was only <em>one</em> aspect of <strong>[Solos Instinct] </strong>going off. The clones couldnt see exactly what it was that made them worry. What <em>urged</em> them to act. But no single part of me needed to. Only one needed to see for the whole.


    Every single person was walking towards the skyscraper.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19


    We need to leave! I yelled to myself.


    The building was shaking, the roots swaying across the floor like tripwires. I couldnt be sure if the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> could feel but I was thest person who wanted to figure out.


    Was it unhealthy to refer to myselves as we? Anything to keep myself calm. There were people walking towards the doors again. This time <em>everyone</em>.


    We need to light the fire! I told myself, hating it.


    And risk everyone? I wasnt sure why, but giving my clones each one side of my conscious helped me work through the problem. Theyll burn as theye in!


    Both of our eyes widened. The goblins. Where are the goblins? We ran through the halls, scrambling, and found our quarry. Taking one down nowadays was soberingly easy. No one shouldve had this much practice.


    Still, we took it down, and maybe the <strong>Field Boss</strong> wasnt paying attention, but it didnt react. Id never risk this on a human. A goblin, though?


    I stared at my counterpart, holding a lighter in one hand. Put it against any surface and this entire floor, along with the next three would be up in mes. My hand stared at the goblin in my arms, struggling. Wed both pinned it against the floor, face down.


    Then we ripped the sapling out of its neck.


    It jerked, screaming. The noise was ufortable. I held firm, staring at it. I saw the roots spreading up and down its neck, piercing the skin, die. The entire process didnt look pretty, nor peaceful, the thing was thrashing. Genuine cries of pain.


    But it lived.


    I checked the floorn, tracked the survivors outside, nodded to myself, and flicked the lighter. Dropped it.


    It fell almost in slow motion, every sense of mine watching it, the catalyst of fire. A small me, no bigger than a candle, against a <strong>Field Boss</strong>.


    I watched it as I ran. Not for my life. But for everyone elses. The goblin sprinted away


    I didnt expect the <em>air </em>to catch fire first. The first floor? It exploded in a fireball of roaring mes, tearing into my back with searing heat, and sending me forward. mes raced across the floor as if they were alive and hungry. I screamed like I was being boiled alive, my clothes melting into my skin. My world was fire andva.


    Outside, my original self was writhing on the floor, suppressing the scream if only because it was a distant pain. Teeth clenched, knuckles white, <em>something</em> allowed me to power through and I wondered if it were those extra points in <strong>WIL</strong>.


    It still didnt lessen the painthe torture.


    Through inexplicable agony and fire, I stared at the people, eyes flickering between focus and zed pain. They were still walking. From above, the first floor was blown out, ss and debris rained across the base of the skyscraper.


    The next explosion sent me to the ground inside. Outside? The shockwave and heat was a strong breeze and warmth. Below, it was hellfire. I was thrown to the ground, pressed to the floor, mes around me, <em>melting</em>. ck smoke and and water, raining down. Sprinklers, Iughed, useless thankfully.


    I didnt realize it but one of me had died. Instantly. I turned around, staring through the blurry haze of heat, and found the goblin first. On fire and dead. Every movement was agony, torturous hell, and somehow I found my feet.


    I raced to the exit, coughing and hacking, cutting my way through curtains of me and drapes of smoke. Instead, I found the door blocked, a mountain of debrisanother explosion. I staggered, barely conscious.


    Im not gonna make it. I groaned. Not Third, who was down below, his throat was dry, instantly parched. It was Second, beside me, who spoke. Calmer than I had any right to be.


    Go, I spoke. And he did. Leaving me alone, unprotected. It was the most vulnerable Id ever felt since that first day. I couldnt focus enough to produce another clone, to replenish myself. All I could do was watch, eyes glued to the chaos below, <em>melted</em> to it.


    Second rushed across the roots, moving with the grace of months of practice. Two weeks of moving through this terrain, multiplied by my clones. I was no expert but I was certainly experienced by now.


    He collided with the first survivor and ripped the sapling out. It was this or allow them to walk into a burning building. Immediately, perhaps noticing due to proximity, the other thralls swarmed. I dodged around them, <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> somehow allowing me to see the holes between them, the spaces where I could move. <em>How</em> I could move.


    Because <em>I</em> wasnt. I was staring at the <strong>Field Boss</strong>. All of its roots were writhing, curling upward, away from the mes, drying up like worms in the sun. And I hadnt heard, not at first, but there was a noise in the air.


    More than just fire and me. It was screaming. A terribly high-pitched keening, worse than anything Id ever heard once I noticed it. It wouldnt leave my ears.


    Inside, my hand was against the wall, I was limping, coughing, barely conscious. My entire back was charred, my skin was boiling. The heat was scorching. And


    Another explosion and I watched the fourth floor copse. In fact, the entire skyscraper <em>folded</em> into itself, copsing a single story downward. The weight of the entire structure erasing the first floor.


    Just as I watched it, a guttural scream, unbidden, escaped from my throat.


    I was being crushed alive, burned alive, and like a curse, was still conscious of it all. My entire body seized up, as if every bone and muscle shouldnt have been. My brain worked against itself, trying to feel what it knew should be lost. Phantoms spasms conveyed through a clone brought to the brink of death. A pain and existence that was paralyzing.


    The feeling of every organ crushed, my own ribs piercing my flesh. Of knowing exactly how your insides <em>felt</em> on ount of them being impaled, crushed, burned, or otherwise <em>fucked with</em>. I vomited, spewing, as I doubled over in pain, the torture finally enough.


    Second staggered below and he was swarmed.


    <em>Focus</em>. The word was yelled from an internal fog, from the bottom of a well. Echoing upwards in fading intensity. <em>Focus!</em> Part of my brain woke up and Second found his feet, tearing another sapling, punching, kicking, never drawing his knife.


    I needed to make another clone. I was in no shape to watch myself. But maybe <em>I </em>could? That didnt make sense. Why didnt it? My thoughts drifted past me like wisps of smoke. Smoke? Why was that?


    I had the faint certainty I was screaming when I passed out.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20


    I woke up screaming, writhing like a spider set on fire. Like someone had plunged knives into my brain. Unimaginable agony, a terrible sense of <em>wrongness</em> permeating my entire being.


    My mind shattered, bent, and adapted. So many traumas and the mind was stic. I couldnt say if it was the whole of me that endured or the sum of my parts. If my strange abilities could even be considered extra to my self.


    I gasped, sitting up straight. I didnt even have to turn my head to see what was happening. Because the new Third and Fourth already were.


    The skyscraper was on fire. A writhing abomination, trapped with nowhere to go but upwards. Futile tendrils of roots, grasped at the swamp tree, trying to climb, or search for some escape. The thing was half the size of the building, a central core entangled in tentacles of organic mass, a gaping maw hidden between. Hideous


    <em>Help me. Save me. SAVE ME.</em>


    I jerked forward. Ready to throw myself to the fire without a moments thought. Only my mind was stronger. And inside the pce that was my mindscape, I turned, terrified, to stare at the <em>thing</em> inside of my castle.


    A collection of infectious tentacles. A mockery of the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> scratching at my mental walls. No, it was already inside, piercing my walls, embedding itself into


    <em>SAVE ME. SAVE ME. SAVE ME.</em>


    I staggered, staring around wildly. Third checked my neck, then I checked his and Fourths. It had infected me somehow. One of my clones


    <em>SAVE ME. SAVE ME. DYING. DEATH.</em>


    Ahhh! I screamed, clutching my head. Then I screamed louder as the incessant tide of thought ran over my own thinking. My mind was being torn apart with increasing desperation.


    My eyes opened and, for a split second, I was staring at Second. <em>Second</em>. My clone that been down there ripping saplings from the survivors. Trying to save whoever I could. And hed been infected in the process.


    I growled, sick of the pain and torture. I <em>hated</em> this thing. <em>I hated all this pain</em>. I grabbed the cursed thoughts with an effort of mental willpower and <em>squeezed</em>. Emotion sharpened my focus, the staggering thoughts of the twisted intruder dented my own. I didnt care. It was <em>my</em> damn head.


    I was a man who had died three times? Four? I couldnt even remember. The thought was hysterical. I had been beheaded, impaled, crushed to death, burned alive, and more. And <em>now</em>? <em>Now?</em> Now I was supposed to give in to some unholy abomination that was <em>begging for help</em>?


    Yeah. Fucking. Right.


    I didnt even think of how any of this was possible. I just traced the thoughts invading my own, strangled them, and killed them.


    The rootmother screamed, the high-pitched keening lost amongst its other cries.


    Below, Second blinked and I immediately felt at my neck. The sapling had withered and I tried not to pay attention to the burning sensation up my neck and back, the trail the roots had taken through my system.


    Instead, I began ripping saplings again, throwing survivors anywhere there wasnt a pool. There was a whole crowd of people making their way to the skyscraper.


    Up above, I was exhausted, breathing hard. Sweat dripped down by brow, my wide-eyes staring at the rootmother. Then my expression slipped to something like anger.


    Dont let it get a single fucking one, I growled.


    And then my clones rushed down there, gracefully jumping across the roots. Anyone I came into contact with, I took their sapling, reveling in the knowledge that some minor bacsh found its way to the bastard rootmother above.


    There was a group closer than anyone else and I ran for them. All three of me did. They were heading straight for one of those prehensile tendrils, as if the rootmother was beckoning them to its hands. Like mindless drones.


    The root whipped outward and I tackled the first man down, tearing out his sapling before pushing him away and scrambling to my feet. Third shoved another woman out of range and into Seconds hands. I ripped another sapling.


    Fourth yanked a little girl away by the arm hard enough to sprain it. Better that than being eaten. I took care to remove her sapling. Third handled another stranger with Second.


    There were too many people at risk, the rest of the crowd catching up.


    Just fucking die already! The original me screamed from above, a smoldering re as if it would burn it faster. The thing was already dead and it was still trying to im lives.


    <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> acted up and one of my clones whirled around. There was a girl around my age, wandering forward, somehow getting past me. Third rushed towards her.


    At the same time, a voice. Get them down! Pull them away damn it. Help him!


    And Second found a pair of hands forcing another mindless thrall down. A pair of hands that werent mine. A man stared up at me, clearly drained in some way, but eyes alive.


    How do we help them? He asked me. His face was stony determination, searching.


    In response, I rolled the unconscious woman over and ripped out the sapling. I looked at him. Stay away from the pools.


    He stood up and I realized there were more people rushing into the crowds. The little nts on their neck! Rip them out! And stay away from the water!


    Got it! Someone called back. Rip the saplings, keep away from the water! He yelled.


    And suddenly, the previously silent clearing was full of voices. Survivors. Extra hands to help, people who were workers before, passerby, or other staff in the skyscraper. Names were thrown out and I realized these people knew each other personally. Why wouldnt they?


    I couldnt think too long on it.


    I grabbed the wandering girls leg just as a tendril wrapped around her torso. It was a smaller one, and along with her weight, I was just able to keep her from being dragged upwards. If Id been my original self, I couldve dragged her down, but my physicality was halved and I was already exhausted.


    Not on my watch, I said through gritted teeth, muscles straining. I shifted my hold, pulling down on her shoulders from under her armpits. Then I reached around her neck and removed the sapling, watching her sensese back to her.


    She blinked, fog leaving her gaze, and started spluttering. W-whats happening? She struggled.


    Stop! I yelled at her. Stay still, damn it. And I reached down for my knife and began to saw at the tendril. The root flinched and up above, another set of my eyes saw another tendriling down to help.


    I cursed. Help! I need help over here! And someone answered.


    My clones were handling other stragglers, unable toe to my own aid. Instead, a stranger. The man that had first helped Second.


    Strong hands found the woman and his voice was hard as rock, helping me drag her down. Stay calm, miss. Well get you down. His eyes nced to my grip, the knife nearly halfway through the damn tentacle.


    Then the other tendril came like a whip, pping around my waist and reinforcing the grip on the woman. All three of us shifted, sliding on the ground. The woman screamed and the man grunted.


    Fuck. I whispered, ncing upward. The knife was almost through.


    You almost done? The man yelled, straining harder.


    I saw the third tendriling down the same time the man did. He <em>pulled</em> desperate, and I cut furiously. And suddenly the tension disappeared, time slowed, and we flew apart like a rubber band. The man yelled as his arm missed mine and the third tendril wrapped me up, the woman stared in horror as I rose into hell.


    And when my clone rose into that ursed things mouth, I tried not to flinch, I tried to calm my fear.


    Youve done it before, right Evahn? I whimpered, terrified.


    I did better than I thought I would.

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21


    I managed to retain consciousness. A feat that I wasnt sure served as a testament to my willpower or a symbol of my misery. Since it was probably both, I shoved that trauma into the small box I mentallybeled deaths. A collection of experiences I doubt anyone could match, not more than once, at least.


    The true driving force behind my ability to stay awake after being eaten alive?


    That abysmal feeling of overwhelming pain and mindblowing nothingness assaulted me as a phantom sensation. A shiver across my skin. <em>A shake</em> in my bones and flesh. I


    I mastered myself.


    I wanted to watch the thing die. That was all. Yet the desire burned inside of me like a fire worse than the one I had set to the rootmother. An all-consuming me that ate away at even the memories of my deaths.


    Anger. No, <em>hatred</em>. <em>Rage</em>. A singr target I could me for all this hell, if only for now. If only for as long as it wouldst before being brought to ash. That was enough.


    My original self stood there, staring for nearly an hour. The survivors below found themselves, their friends, their acquaintances, and organized themselves. Arguments, discussions, disbelief, and horrible recollection.


    Still, I stared. The high-pitched keening of the rootmother a faint music to my ears. I almost wished I could hear it again, that I was infected once more, just so I could hear its cries. Did that make me sick? Or just as twisted?


    The fire raged, an inferno to rival my own, mes licking upward out of the windows. Each fickle part of the fire, a torrent of heat, towering like elemental skyscrapers themselves. Hunting. Searching for fuel.


    For the <strong>Field Boss</strong>.


    It started at its roots, its tendrils which stretched all over the clearing. They curled up, drying and crackling in the heat. When the first lick of me touched the rootmothers main body, it was as if someone had opened a portal to hell, just to hear the sounds.


    The skyscraper copsed, falling away from the swamp tree. With it, the <strong>Field Boss</strong> toppled over, curling up in the heat. A plume of fire, debris, and ash erupted as the impact shook the clearing. Every part of it wriggling, writhing, and dying. When the mes died down, everyone was watching it, wondering who had set the fire.


    Wondering who had killed the thing and saved them all.


    I sent a clone in to make sure it was dead.


    Hey! Careful, that things dangerous. Someone jumped to his feet, calling after me.


    Another voice called to him and he pointed at me but my clone was already lost in the smoke, coughing, going through the ashes. I stepped forward, a figure amongst ck snowfall


    <strong>[Notice]: You have defeated the Field Boss [Rootmother Hivemind]! You have gained the Title: [Hivemind Dominator]</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You are the first in the world to y a Field Boss! You have gained the Title: [First yer]</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You are the first in the world to y a Field Boss alone! You have gained the Title: [Solo yer]</strong>


    <strong>[Notice] Due to the attainment of multiple Titles through a single monumental feat, their effects will be modified and consolidated. You have gained the Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up multiple times: Level 23.</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: You have gained the ss Skill: [Solos Sanctuary].</strong>


    The notices came to me with a gentle suddenness. An easy immediacy. Enough for my mental gaze to flick toward them but not be distracted. I read skimmed through the notices, too tired to care for anything but confirmation, even as my mental perusal paused on some of them. Only one thing mattered at this moment.


    I had done it. I had killed it.


    I dropped to my knees, plopping down in a cloud of ash. Coughing, crying. I did it.


    <strong>[Notice]: Congrattions! You have achieved a feat worthy of recognition on the global scale! Would you like your name broadcasted?</strong>


    <strong>[Notice]: Congrattions! You have achieved a feat worthy of recognition on the local scale! Would you like your name broadcasted?</strong>


    Recognition? None of this was motivated by the need for glory. It was the need for a counterblow against the apocalypse. That <em>something</em> could be done. I shrugged off the notices faintly understanding their significance, and all too tired to really care.


    Emotions flooded me and I navigated my way out of the smoke, finding people staring. Not at me, but at something more. A couple of strangers found me, fussing over me. And then I saw the same thing they did, messages waiting for me to notice in that same unobtrusive manner.


    Only different. Grander, somehow.


    <strong>[World Notice]: Someone has achieved a feat worthy of global recognition! He is the first in the world to y a Field Boss as well as the first to do so alone! </strong>


    <strong>[Area Notice]: Someone has achieved a feat worthy of local recognition! The Field Boss [Rootmother Hivemind] has been defeated!</strong>


    Most of the people were focused on getting their bearings but there were was enough talk in the air, even as I was ferried over to a number of people need medical treatment. There was a multitude of neck injuries.


    Hey, you guys are seeing this right? A man groaned, looking towards the cloud of ashes. This <strong>Field Boss</strong>, thats that was <em>that</em>, wasnt it?


    Someone killed it. A woman said nkly, staring.


    Alone. Another injured person said. Who was it? I heard there was someone saving us, at the end. Did he set the fire?


    But how the hell did they do it? I cant


    The first cheer broke the silence of the aftermath with such lonesome volume as to raise heads and turn stiff necks.


    It turned mine too and I found a woman there, a pair of blue eyes, brte hair. She was just another face among the crowd, tears streaming down her face, pain written across her features. I couldve found the same on anyone else.


    But she was the one I had saved, in thest moments of my clones life. Id remember. It was the first time Id sacrificed myself for anyone.


    And she was yelling. An unintelligible yell, a cry of emotion that was unbing of her. Before all this, she wouldve gotten hundreds of stares. Now? The cry filled the chest with emotion.


    And hundreds of people began to cheer.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22


    In the midst of it all, I turned aroundthe original meand found a glowing chest. I stared at it, my mind immediately shing back to the storage closet in the science building. That <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong>.


    This one was markedly different.


    It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, stylistic roots lined the entire thing, enough to be real themselves. Yet it retained a glossy finish that hinted at promised value. And it wasrger too. Staring at it, I realized it was in the style of the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> and my thoughts caught up to what I was seeing.


    <strong>Item: [Epic Boss Chest]</strong>


    <strong>Chests are hidden troves of treasure, capable of holding great boons and riches. This chest is themed around the Field Boss [Rootmother Hivemind]. This chest has the potential to hold epic valuables, either in effect, rarity, or quality.</strong>


    A strange object had appeared before me. <em>My original self.</em> It gave way to immediate caution, rather than joyous celebration. How had<em> it</em> known? That I was the one? No one else did. No one else <em>could</em>.


    So how had it known to reward me? How had this chest gotten here? I was alone now, without any clones around me, vulnerable. Exposed. It was not a pleasant feeling.


    And yet, the part of me that dared to stare at the apocalypse and question reality had alreadye to a tentative conclusion. Whatever governed my strange new abilities, my <strong>Skills</strong>, the attributes, and these notices? It was a neutral thing, objective and omnipotent, but not hostile. Nor friendly.


    I rxed, minutely.


    I hadnt expected a reward and in hindsight, I probably should have. Thinking on the effects of my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong> which hade from a regr <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong>, I couldnt stopagainst my better judgmentthe shot of excitement that ran through me.


    It was glowing purple. A soft light emanating from the chest itself. I opened it without preamble, intensely curious.


    <strong>Item: [Ring of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>An borately crafted ring of grasping roots. It possesses the psychic energies of the [Rootmother Hivemind], greatly enhancing the wearers mental faculties. It is imbued with the essence of a hivemind, allowing the wearer to support an additionalpanion entity.</strong>


    <strong>- INT, WIS, WIL and CHA increased by 5.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- [Never Alone] total clones increased by 1.</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Regenerators Symbiote]</strong>


    <strong>An organism that binds to a single host. Once bound the symbiote improves all biological functions, increases vitality, and enhances recovery effects upon the host.</strong>


    <strong>- CON increased by 10.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Natural regeneration and recovery effects increased by 80%.</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Living Root Armor]</strong>


    <strong>An armor of living roots that molds across the body. When the wearer is in danger, the roots adapt shifting to reinforce the wearers most vulnerable areas. The suit offersplete protection and coverage, controlled by the wearers will.</strong>


    In order, a small jewelry box, decorated no differently than the chest itself. A small ss jar, corked, containing a moving blue liquid. Andstly, what looked to be a wooden gauntlet, though made of roots.


    These were the rewards, along with the new <strong>Title</strong>, <strong>Skill</strong>, and levels that were deemed worth my effort. I couldnt say if I waspensated fairly, I truly had no benchmark. Instead well, I wondered if being smarter might help.


    I slipped the <strong>[Ring of the Hivemind] </strong>on and felt my world expand. Things became immediately clear. As if Id had days to meditate on things. The ring.


    If these <strong>Items</strong> wereponent pieces of my total effortthe material ones, at leastthen the <strong>[Ring of the Hivemind]</strong>posed eighty-five, no, ny percent of that reward. The other <strong>Items</strong> barelypared to its effects.


    I hadnt thought of it moments before but the ring was worth <em>twenty </em>levels. Five stat points in each mental attribute, approximately two more clones due to the nature of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong><em>besides</em> the fact of its hivemind effect. Three extra clones total.


    Maybe the clones were a minor effect when you took it all into consideration. But for the <em>raw stats </em>the ring gave. Stats that were technically multiplied across every clone I had. And those numbers werent just some values that determined how many clones I could make, they <em>were</em> me. Aspects of my person. And the mental ones had all gotten bumped up.


    I couldnt tell if they were the singr effects or abination of them all.


    Suddenly I could remember math equations, scientific facts, random lectures, and arbitrary articles throughout my life. I could understand why my parents divorced, how cruel that it was, but also see that there was nothing I could do. I could open that box of memoriesbeled deaths and stare into it unflinching. I could cringe at all my past interactions, seeing all the missed social cues, the awkwardness, the advances?


    I took my world in anew and breathed new air. My mind cleared and I realized I was exhausted. But I couldnt rest yet. Not when there were still things to address.


    The <strong>[Regenerators Symbiote]</strong>. I debated its use, my logical braintching onto its objective benefits. In the end, I shed back to the feeling of wrongness when the rootmother had connected with my clone. I wasn''t sure if it would be anything like that but I couldn''t trust allowing some foreign organism to <em>bond</em> with me on good faith alone. Whatever that even meant. For now, it went into my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>.


    And this <strong>[Living Root Armor]</strong>, I said to myself. No additional details, no attribute bonuses, or effects. Is it because everythings right there in the description? At the very least, it didn''t seem as intensive and involved as the symbiote.


    I created a clone and let him put it on instead. Third put his hand in the gauntlet and I watched the roots expand. They crawled down his arm, under his clothes, and shifted over his skin. It felt like Id put on anotheryer, barely noticeable, somehow. I''d leave it on him, for the time being.


    I turned my attention to the new <strong>Title</strong>. Was it <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> or just my own intuition that gave me goosebumps more than anticipating what was in the chest?


    Of <em>all </em>the rewards, the <strong>Title</strong> was the singr reward for the <em>entire feat</em>. For being the first <em>worldwide </em>to kill a <strong>Field Boss</strong>. For doing it alone. For just <em>killing the damn thing</em>. Abination of them all.


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>Few possess the capacity to challenge insurmountable odds as you do. You are the first in the world to defeat any Field Boss and the first in the world to do so alone. In defeating the [Rootmother Hivemind] under these circumstances, you are forever distinguished by your feat.</strong>


    <strong>- All attributes increased by 10.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- You gain the [Telepathy] Skill.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- You are immune to external influences upon your will.</strong>


    The moment I regarded the <strong>Title</strong> my world <em>expanded</em>. Id thought it had earlier. Now the universe opened to me, my eyes going wide, not in shock or surprise, but in absolute awe.


    My body filled with newfound strength and health, my muscles limbered and I felt total control over myself.


    And I <em>saw</em>, for the first time in my life. The world became vibrant, every buzz of an insect, every light breeze, the scent of ash in the air and loamy soil below. Everything was brought to life beyond what I knew.


    My mind didnt stretch, it <em>grew</em> and became more epassing. Enveloping the entirety of my life. I remembered more. Memories of my parents before they died, so clear, so sorrowfully crisp. I saw my patterns through my life, the depression, the anger, and felt the emotion so distinctly. I remembered now, the people I had indirectly caused trouble for.


    And I let it go, all of it, staring at my hands. Unfamiliar hands. Rough, somewhat calloused, I almost didnt recognize them. I stepped away from <em>another</em> clone of myself and took in the stranger, trying to find Evahn.


    Here stood a man who had taken down a <strong>Field Boss</strong>. He had done it alone. And yet, I looked into those pale green eyes and, with a breath, I found myself staring back.


    If I was Evahn Wynst before, then I was more him than ever. One hundred stat points flooded into me and I felt <em>alive</em>.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 23</strong>


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 16 </strong>


    <strong>CON: 17</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 15</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 16</strong>


    <strong>PER: 19</strong>


    <strong>INT: 20 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIS: 27 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIL: 29 + 5</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 14 + 5</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 14</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 18</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile], [Solos Instinct], [Solos Sanctuary], [Telepathy]</strong>


    Thest thing to check were the <strong>Skills</strong>. <strong>[Telepathy]</strong>. That was the reward for doing something so hopelessly against the odds that it was renowned worldwide. The notion sounded so fantastical. My other <strong>Skills</strong> so far I had no reference for. But telepathy? That was something people thought of when prompted with superpowers.


    <strong>Skill: [Telepathy]</strong>


    <strong>The capacity to </strong><strong>perceive and interact with the mind, consciousness, and thoughts of both ones self and others. To sense,municate, and influence other thinking entities.</strong>


    As soon as I regarded the <strong>Skill</strong>, my mind was abuzz. Not ufortably, more like I was feeling something that Id never felt or sensed before. And I realized it wasnt me. Not the <em>original </em>me that is. But Second and Fourth down below sensing the minds of the survivors surrounding them.


    They took to experimenting while I considered the other <strong>Skill</strong>.


    <strong>Skill: [Solos Sanctuary]</strong>


    <strong>A personal space tied to the soul from which one may enter or exit. The size, design, and amenities are directly reflective of ones level, abilities, and inclination. The sanctuary may only be entered by the owner.</strong>


    I walked forward immediately, reality blurring around me. Two steps, three steps, and suddenly I was inside of a building. A modern home with a ck palette, furnished with dark wood and cool ss. A kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom.


    The result of thirteen levels. I couldnt even bother to question the nature of <strong>Skills</strong>, the reason behind <em>this</em> one, and why it was <em>only</em> this one. All I knew was that I deserved this. I fucking deserved it.


    I nearly cried in the shower.


    Then I had the best sleep of my life.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23


    I woke up blearily, feeling more than just rested. I felt <em>good</em>. And when I opened my eyes I explored my sanctuary in greater depth. If the <strong>Skill</strong> description exined anything, it meant this ce was a reflection of myself.


    I threw off the nkets and walked around, barefoot on dark wooden floors. There were nts peeking out of vertical and horizontal nters across the walls. A couch that was perfect to rx. ss windows, sleek ck marble. It was raining outside which was peculiar since there <em>wasnt</em> an outside.


    It wasfortable. Easy. It had running water, which I was amazed at. No food though, the kitchen was empty. But the storage was there, an empty pantry. It was a beautiful calming space, it gave off a sense of serenity and peace. The air was cool, with no trace of ufortable heat or humidity, just like how Id prefer.


    Id acquired <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> the moment I got my <strong>ss</strong>. Followed by <strong>[Low Profile]</strong> after escaping from the university campus. Then I got <strong>[Solos Insinct] </strong>at level ten. It made it hard to determine whether the <strong>Skills</strong> came at certain milestones, or from certain actions.


    This one? <strong>[Solos Sanctuary]</strong>? It felt powerful in a way I couldnt define beyond its logical benefits. The <strong><em>Skill</em></strong><em></em>was powerful. Not just its effects.


    I could stay here, I whispered, sinking into my couch. Mine. I was probably one of the few people who couldy im to any type of safe haven in the world. Id never have to leave. With my clones, I could have everything I want just from this couch.


    As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were wrong. With the <strong>Skill</strong> came the odd instinctual awareness of the capabilities it brought about. Sometimes it was direct and unsettling, other times they came to me as they became relevant.


    Like now. The fact that this ce tired my soul. Where I could rx here, recover both my mental and physical fatigue, I rued another fatigue altogether. A sanctuary indeed, invaluable in this apocalypse, but not without a cost. I felt it now, a peculiar strain on some ethereal part of me.


    If only itd be so easy. I sighed, closing my eyes. I had a few hours.


    Outside the sanctuary, Second and Fourth were furrowing their brows, their faces lost amongst the crowd.


    <em>How the hell did someone take it down?</em>


    <em>My parents what happened to them? My family</em>


    <em>Oh god, what are we supposed to fucking do? I cant live like this. What about</em>


    A tide of thoughts, barelyprehensible. Too many mental voices. I couldnt filter them all. Instead, I weathered them with sheer mental fortitude. I mightve staggered before but my mental attributes had since been enhanced. It was less the acute pickaxe sensation of the rootmothers thoughts and more of an unyielding tide, a general pressure as opposed to a sharp one.


    A piece of firewood fell to the floor and I stared up to find that same woman I had saved. Her eyes were a deep blue, sparkling, but her face was red and puffy as if shed been crying. She looked like shed seen a ghost and it only took me a moment to gather my thoughts to realize why. I had died saving her. In her eyes, she <em>was</em> seeing a ghost.


    The sudden distraction jarred my mind and allowed me to focus, ignoring all other mental voices.


    I-I watched you die. She stammered, unsure and eyes wide. Its you, isnt it? <em>How is he alive? He was taken. Right in front of me.</em>


    I grimaced. Dont remind me. I saw her blink as if she didnt expect I was real.


    How are you alive? She asked, gathering the firewood she dropped, holding me with an ufortable stare. It wouldve been offputting before. Now? I could read her body, understand her motive. I blinked, strangely aware of her posture, the slouch of her shoulders, the expression in her eyes.


    Was that the effect of the <strong>CHA </strong>attribute? I was seeing things Id never catch before.


    You dont have to feel guilty about it, I said slowly, not trusting my intuition.


    I-Im you saved me. She blurted. Thank you. <em>Thank you. </em>I owe you, I owe you so much. If theres anything I can do, just say the word. <em>But how did he escape? A </em><strong><em>Skill</em></strong><em>? Should I ask? No, I cant just ask a stranger for their </em><strong><em>ss</em></strong><em> and </em><strong><em>Skills</em></strong><em>.</em>


    Look, you really dont have to go that far


    How are you alive? She interrupted me.


    Would answering give away my abilities? Did I need to be so cautious with what I could do? Somehow I knew how to navigate the question without a second thought.


    Does it matter? I asked, giving her a small smile. Im happy youre safe. Its a little funny but youre the first person Ive sacrificed myself for.


    She reddened and I had the ufortable certainty to realize she was blushing. I guess it doesnt matter, not really. Im Rosa, and really, thank you. I dont think you realize it, <em>you saved me</em>.


    She put emphasis on it this time and I did straighten a little. Youre wee. Im Evahn. I gave her a small wave.


    Are you the one who killed it? <em>Could it have been him? Parker said he was the first person he saw saving people.</em> Her eyes were searching.


    The <strong>[World Notice]</strong>, I said, pretending recognition. No, that wasnt me. I couldnt even imagine taking that thing on. Apparently, lying fell under charismatics.


    She took a seat next to me. Well, theyre not among the people here. If they are, theyve been keeping quiet. They must have a powerful <strong>ss</strong> or <strong>Skill</strong>. Im only level 3 but I heard some people are up to level 5. But to face that thing? I have no idea how strong youd have to be.


    They were weaker than the group from the library. But that was understandable, given the circumstances. I only hoped it didnt cripple their chances of survival.


    I watched the throng of people. Campfires were lit, a perimeter of watchmen. Theyd organized a defensive formation, some of them butted againstrger roots, but otherwise exposed in the clearing. The main benefit was the long sight line, an early warning for any dangers.


    Have they decided what to do? I asked. I mean, after all this, they cant stay here, can they?


    Rose sobered, quieting as she followed my gaze. There quite a few people just staring nkly, into their campfires, at the skyscraper, at the ground. Trying to process.


    Most people are stilling to terms. This whole thing is unbelievable. She said softly. No ones ready to leave. Even though I think thats what were going to end up doing.


    But where was there to go from here? It was a question even I didnt have the answer for.


    Rose, there you are! Are you<em>you</em>. A man slowed down from his jog, staring. I recognized him as the first person to help Second, to help Third save Rose, and one of the two people who saw me be pulled up towards the <strong>Field Bosss</strong> mouth. A conventionally handsome man, rugged and muscled, with earnest eyes. I saw you die. He whispered.


    I smiled good-naturedly. I survived, somehow. That was the story of my life in the apocalypse so far, wasnt it?


    <em>How?</em> Came the immediate expected question.


    Rose shrugged. Lets not pry, Parker. He saved me. Thats all that matters. Besides, I think being so open about your details might not be a good thing. She answered for me. Though from the side nce she gave me I could tell she was intensely curious.


    A <strong>Skill</strong> then? Parker questioned, looking at me. It was disbelief, rather than distrust, so I weathered his stare as his mind worked through it. <em>It makes sense, if he was risking himself so much he had to have had a way out.</em>


    Hearing their inner monologue was jarring in its own way, now that the other voices stopped. I didnt know how I felt about it but I couldnt deny its use.


    As he came to that conclusion he slumped with relief. Thats good. Thats one more survivor, after all. We might need all the hands we can get.


    He looked at me directly. Thank you, for what you did back there. You saved a lot of people. And it was the curse of charisma that I could see just how genuine and earnest the sentiment was.


    It caught me off guard, how serious he came off. Youre wee, I replied, slightly off-bnce. I I couldnt just let people walk to their deaths.


    I was telling Evahn, Rose cut in, gesturing to me. About whats going on. Did anyone say anything?


    Parker looked at Rose, face grim. Thats actually why I was looking for you. Some folks wanted to at least secure the remains of the skyscraper. Its copsed and some of it hasnt stopped smoldering, but we could still use it as a base. Better than beingpletely exposed or camping out in the swamp.


    Why are they looking for people? I said, sitting up. Was there something else in there? The thought chilled me.


    Parker took a seat on a nearby root as Rose started a small fire. I watched her fingers spark in surprise. Crackling embers rose into the sky, a candlepared to the inferno I had breathed life into.


    Parker exhaled, staring at the campfire and Rose. Well, theres someone with a <strong>[Seeker]</strong><strong>ss</strong>. His <strong>[Search]</strong><strong>Skill</strong> came up with something. Were not sure what is yet but he didnt think it was inherently dangerous. Were gathering people to go inside and confirm it, people who can handle themselves. He nced at Rose and then at me. I came to convince Rose but, if its not too much to ask, you seemed like you could handle yourself too.


    Something in the ruins of the skyscraper? The thought of any unfinished business irked me. I thought the fire had ended things. Was there something more? At the very least, it would be a good opportunity to see what abilities other people gained beyond what First had already seen.


    Ille, I responded after a moment. Wordlessly, two other clones moved among the crowd.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24


    As it turned out, it was a <strong>Dungeon</strong>. I had no context for what that meant, or what it was. Someone did though or at least had a hunch.


    <em>Im telling you</em>. We cant leave, not with this here! A harried bespectacled man was yelling. <em>I have to convince them. Dont they see?</em>


    Youre out of your mind! Its dangerous! A gruff, heavyset man responded. We have no idea whats happening. Every <em>hint</em> of the unknown could kill us! You saw what a <strong>Field Boss</strong> did!


    Lets just wait for the police! The military! Someone chimed in, shrinking at a few immediate res.


    Are you stupid? Were in the <em>middle of a swamp</em>. Our entire building was <em>teleported</em>. You can hope to be saved all you want but I doubt the governments gonna be the one to do it. Everythings gone to hell.


    Someone wille by! Theyll fly jets overhead, send soldiers through the swamp. Well be rescued in no time. The woman didnt even sound like she believed herself. Her voice cracked.


    A few eyes softened, someone sighed. Someone escort her back to the camps.


    A man snorted, stepping up wordlessly. Come on, Julia. Everything will be okay, alright? Well figure it out. He brought her away from the group, bringing our numbers down.


    A few people watched them go, the scene leaving a somber mood.


    Damn apocalypse. Someone muttered.


    Its fine, we cant expect everyone to keep their heads. A voice said. Itstheres no precedent. He said softly, finding his thought.


    Can you imagine whats happening across the world? That <strong>[World Notice]</strong>? Think about what that means. The <em>entire world</em> is experiencing this. Were the lucky ones, we probably A man spoke ponderingly, watching the two leave.


    Lucky ones? Another manughed, fatalist. We got fucking <em>mind-controlled</em>. We were about to run into that thing''s mouth! He yelled. How many of us died? You think were fucking lucky? He scoffed.


    I do, Gary responded, voice steel. Were lucky because the most dangerous thing in this entire swamp is also probably that pile of ash. His eyes drifted to the skyscraper. The worst wed ever have to worry about is already dead.


    That shut the man up.


    Enough, Parker spoke, cutting into the silence. Gary, everyone, lets hear what Rickson has to say. Hes the one who found the <strong>Dungeon</strong>, lets let him talk. He said, gesturing.


    The man in sses, Rickson, took a breath, seemingly nervous with all the attention. He was the <strong>[Seeker]</strong>, which I found to be an interesting <strong>ss</strong>. He looked caught off guard by the sudden prompt but eventually found his words. I leveled when I found it. He said shakily. A few brows raised. We <em>need</em> to level. Thats how we guarantee our survival. <strong>Skills</strong>, attributes, you all saw the screens. If something like another <strong>Field Boss</strong> happens we need to be ready.


    Gary was a middle-aged man with greying hair, strict, but he didnt strike me as unreasonable. He eyed Rickson, whose determined eyes broke through a nervous posture.


    Whats that have to do with the <strong>Dungeon</strong>? Gary asked.


    I think I think, beyond doing things ording to your <strong>ss</strong>, we can level by well, experience. He said. This <strong>Dungeon </strong>is that. Its like a natural resource. Remember that person who found that <strong>[Common Chest]</strong> around the roots? He got an <strong>Item</strong>. I think we can probably get those from the <strong>Dungeon </strong>too.


    Experience? Rose asked. What do you mean?


    Experience, like killing monsters. Surviving dangerous situations. Oveing obstacles. He spoke. We all leveled, just from surviving the <strong>Field Boss</strong>. He said, which got him a handful of thoughtful looks.


    A natural resource, huh? Gary muttered. If we can get <strong>Items</strong> like the kind George found, then it might be worth staying.


    Its risky, Parker warned. And we cant be sure how any of this works.


    No ones ever going to find out if we dont <em>try</em>. How long are we gonna il around for?


    Look, all Im saying is we should be careful. We can just take it slow and easy.


    Slow? Careful I can agree with, to a certain extent, but <em>slow</em>? What happens if some godforsaken monster waltzes through the swamp and decides were all food? We <em>need</em> to do something. Someone has to take that first step, it might as well be us.


    Then we go inside. Everyone turned to Rose. She was thest person Iand everyone else, apparentlyexpected to speak. Im sick of being helpless. We go inside, see if we level, and see what we get. Everyone here can handle themselves, right? Theres no other way to know. Her eyes were a challenge, and no one dared suggest otherwise. She took that as an answer. And then we decide. She finished.


    Parker exhaled, keeping a cool head. Lets check out the entrance first. He looked at the <strong>[Seeker]</strong>. Rickson? Mind leading the way?


    There were ten volunteers total, down from the original twelve. Everyone had proven, one way or another, that they were <em>survivors</em>. It was a small group though, considering the number of survivors, but everyone here had a good head on their shoulders.


    I could attest to that with the random snippets of thoughts I picked up on, even if some had been argumentative orbative, everyone was on the same page. I was still unable to focus that effect of <strong>[Telepathy]</strong>, despite my cursory attempts at practice.


    I knew Rose, Parker, Gary, and Rickson. The names of the rest were lost to me. Id thought Id be the odd one out but not everyone here knew each other despite working in the same building. Some were strangers, unified through disaster. Me among them.


    The <strong>Dungeon</strong> wasnt anywhere I expected. It wasn''t at the rootmothers ashes, nor, <em>technically</em>, in the ruins of the skyscraper. Instead, it was an arched gateway formed from the gnarled bark of the tree itself, inexplicably pristine against the section of the swamp tree the skyscraper had been upying.


    Had it been there the entire time? Blocked by the building by happenstance? Or had the defeat of the <strong>Field Boss</strong> triggered something?


    Though covered in soot and ash, the tree itself had never caught fire. It didnt even look burnt. And the <strong>Dungeon</strong> entrance itself?


    Otherworldly was the only word that epassed what I was seeing.


    Woah. I said dumbly.


    Beautiful right? Rickson responded, staring as I did.


    Its yeah, beautiful, I responded, at a loss for words.


    It was a glowing film, a prismordial sheen over the space that <em>shouldve </em>led somewhere. It had depth, and not. Impressions dancing across the surface. I could almost see a swamp? A forest? Something of nature flitting across the film, like a bubble of soap with more substance.


    Rickson was small against the backdrop of that gateway as he continued, leaving me staring moments longer. I kept pace with him easily, a detail that was not lost on either of us. The roots becamerger the nearer to the base and wed climbed the whole way.


    Most of the group was gging. I was doing only a little better, knowing how to move across the roots. My clones physicality was actually <em>more</em> than my previous original selfs, before Id gotten the <strong>Title</strong>. I dont think my actual self wouldve tired at all.


    Im surprised you can keep up with me, Ricksonmented, looking at me. Ive got <strong>[Terrain Traversal] </strong>as a <strong>Skill</strong>. It helps me move across this like its nothing. Its amazing.


    My mind caught up to what he said, so lost in the sight. <strong>[Terrain Travesal]</strong>? Hows that work? I asked, looking at him.


    Its like Ive always known how. My feet move before I can think. Not really any different than how we normally move around. I dont really think about it. I just do. It sounded like he was more in awe of himself than anything else. More in tune with this world than thest.


    I had the sudden, quiet, realization that that made two of us. I saw him there, one foot a step higher on the root, eyes roaming the path up, and wondered if I looked like that. If someone could stare at me and say that I looked almost like I belonged.


    And you? He asked, turning around to check the others progress. He sat down, waiting for them to catch up and I took a spot nearby.


    Im not from the building, I said after a moment, gesturing to the remains. A marvel of humanitys mastery over nature, sumbed to this new reality. I was roaming the swamp for two weeks before getting here. I guess I learned a thing or two moving across the roots. I tried to help as much as I could when I saw what was happening.


    Alone? Rickson blinked, immediately looking at me differently. Whats your name?


    Evahn, I replied. And youre Rickson, right?


    Nice to meet you. He replied in turn.


    Likewise. And we left it at that, both of us soaking in the sounds of the swamp.


    When the voices drifted upward, Rickson broke the silence and called for a break. Theyd climbed high enough to peek over the ridge of roots and see the gateway. It didnt take long before we started moving again.


    Youll see it soon! Rickson called back, he and I leading the pack.


    I was about to ask what he meant when I <em>did </em>see it.


    <strong>Dungeon: [Sleepywood]</strong>


    <strong>A lethargic de shrouded in twilight, where creatures both wonderful and dangerous stalk freely. A haven for both fauna and flora that thrive between night and dawn. To venture forth is to cast away fear and enter the shadows of looming trees and watchful eyes.</strong>


    <strong>- Vastly increased emergence of twilight-rted, light-rted, and dark-rted rewards.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Greatly increased emergence of nature-rted rewards.</strong>


    <strong><em>Note: This Dungeon has not been explored yet. As such, the first group to enter will have the quality of their rewards vastly increased. Upon the first group''s exit, the [Sleepywood] will undergo a period of 24 hours in which the quality of all rewards will be raised for all who enter thereafter.</em></strong>

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25


    I woke up in the <strong>[Solos Sanctuary]</strong>,ing to consciousness in the most peaceful manner Id ever woken to in weeks. Rxed, syed across my couch. I was fairly certain Id been snoring. A miracle, considering how paranoid Id been.


    This ce truly is a sanctuary, I said, sighing as I stood up.


    It was time to go, if that increasingly burdened part of my soul was anything to go by. That ethereal feeling that I couldnt truly trace with anything but the <strong>Skill</strong> itself. I couldnt pinpoint the exact length of time I spent inside, but it was enough for a night of deep sleep and then some.


    Reluctantly, I took three steps away from the couch, the sanctuary blurring away, reality reasserting itself. And there I stood, right where Id left. Overlooking the arrangement of campfires that some people had attributed tentative nicknames to. That strain on my being immediately faded.


    Near me, Third was still close where I left him, watching over the encampment of survivors. Refugees from an old world. I stared at him, curious, wondering if I looked as Rickson had.


    Third gazed down below with calm green eyes, roaming over the whole clearing, eyeing the positions of the three other clones currently present. He could see across the distance with surprising rity. Second was by the <strong>Dungeon</strong>, Fourth and Fifth were shadowing him, trying to figure out how to use <strong>[Telepathy]</strong>.


    I regarded myself.


    With the boosts to <strong>WIS</strong>, <strong>WIL</strong>, and <strong>CHA</strong>, their total rose to 85. It meant I was five off of increasing the maximum number of copies of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>.


    After all this time, I was still hesitating on using my <strong>Stat Points</strong>. They were an extremely precious resource as they represented an immediate incremental increase to any aspect of myself I ever foundcking. A scarce one too, seeing as only one is given every level.


    I wasnt a fool to think that just because Id been so blessed, it made these points worth anything less. The truth was, I still barely knew anything about this new reality. Sure, these points could bump an attribute now, but as seen with <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> they could potentially mean something more.


    Because of my <strong>Title</strong> and <strong>Item</strong>, I could hoard what I already had with rtively minimal risk. That spoke to some part of me. The one that had adapted and changed along with the world. In this manner, at least, I could be prepared to adjust, immediately.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 23</strong>


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 16</strong>


    <strong>CON: 17</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 15</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 16</strong>


    <strong>PER: 19</strong>


    <strong>INT: 20 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIS: 27 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIL: 29 + 5</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 14 + 5</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 14</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 18</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile], [Solos Instinct], [Solos Sanctuary], [Telepathy]</strong>


    Regarding that strange knowledge of myself was like looking at my being quantitated, with the <strong>Titles </strong>and <strong>Skills</strong> indicative of any outstanding qualities beyond those obvious in the attributes. Objectively, I was someone with experience operating solo and gathering information undetected. Subjectively, I was a man trying to limate. A survivor no different than the rest. As much a stranger to this new world as anyone else. Lost, homeless, and thrust into danger and unknown.


    Leveraging every tool I could.


    <strong>Skill: [Never Alone]</strong>


    <strong>Even working alone, it never hurts to have another set of eyes. Better yet when theyre yours. You are able to replicate yourself to a certain degree and capacity.</strong>


    <strong>- Max Copies: (WIS + WIL + CHA) / 10 + [Ring of the Hivemind] = 9</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Copies have halved STR, CON, DEX, and AGI.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- All other attributes are retained.</strong>


    Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth greeted me. A wave, a nod, a pat on the back, simple acknowledgment. All the ways I might greet myself. Nine clones, ten Evahns.


    I couldnt produce a copy from another copy, unfortunately. It was an extremely limiting aspect of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> given its scope but I supposed it was only fair. It was the first thing I had tried.


    But I paid attention to the cloning process this time, not ever having the opportunity to really test it before. The clones kept my clothes and appearance, perfect copies of myself. Yet the things I had on me werent necessarily tranted. My <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong> stayed present only on the original, arbitrary objects I held during the process didnt copy over.


    I tested a few things, holding rocks, sticks, and other random items. My phone which I had kept and still had no signal. Every clone came out as only in old me, without any essory beyond my clothes.


    I supposed that had to do with the phrasing to a certain degree and capacity in the <strong>Skill</strong> description. A soft limit on replication. And what exactly happened to my clones when they died? The thought brought dark memories, though I couldnt remember returning to confirm a body or not. I create the clones from basically nothing, do they return to nothing?


    I stared at Ninth, trying to dismiss him, and found nothing forting. Even when the clone himself tried to will it. Instead, the process reversed. Where before I stepped away from myself, a copy of my individualism, retaining my mind, forking away from the original, that copy stepped into <em>me</em> returning to the originator.


    The sensation was oddly familiar as I reabsorbed my clones, looking towards the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>. As Second had just discovered, it had to be the original Evahn to enter the <strong>Dungeon</strong>. Clones were barred.


    It left me with a certain choice I was bound to face eventually. The question of whether or not there was a reason to stay rtively anonymous. If there was merit to revealing my <strong>Skills</strong> and if doing so put me in any danger, or gained me any benefit.


    I wondered how much <strong>WIS</strong> and <strong>INT</strong> affected my reasoning. Recurring social patterns were somehow apparent to me, sifting through my memories. Historical precedent of prominent figures and those around them, even present in my everyday. Jealousy, envy, awe, friendship, opportunity. Id attract all that and more.


    To reveal myself would be dering an ability to help everyone. My mental attributes cursed me with a sense of what would happen. I didnt want to be shackled to the greater good. Burdened with a responsibility like that, Id never have a moment to myself.


    I wasnt heartless, but neither was I that noble.


    I valued my independence more than the greater good. A selfish take, no doubt, but a necessary one, considering the apocalypse. It was hard to feel bad about that when I felt it so crucial to surviving.


    This new world? It was terrible, dangerous, and every moment was one I could die. But looking back, for <em>me</em>, had the old world been any different?


    Here? At least, I was free.


    I thought maybe that was why I was a <strong>[Solo]</strong>. Not because Id been alone in my old life, but because Id always dreamed of the liberty I now had. Unshakeable independence. To be someone more than what I was.


    It was a small, inconsequential revtion. Yet it resonated deeply enough that I looked at my hands, pondering the <strong>WIS</strong> attribute. With it, I felt more grounded, the confusing tangle of emotions Id carried with me my whole life finally unfurling as I regarded them.


    It was like I could breathe again, not realizing I had ever stopped.


    More sure of myself, I made my way to the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, reabsorbing my clones. It was the first time in a while that my original self would be in direct danger. The notion went against my entire approach to the apocalypse. And although the nature of the <strong>Dungeon</strong> demanded my presence, nothing demanded that I enter.


    And yet I <em>needed </em>to know, first-hand, the mysterious reality of this world. The unknown nature of this system people had taken to calling it. Whether wonder or danger, I wanted to see what the world hade to.

 Chapter 26:

    Chapter 26:


    I pushed through the film warily, having watched half the group enter before me. There was a subtle sense of pressure and my senses opened to a world of twilight, a dreamy forest caught between day and night.


    I looked in awe.


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: Congrattions! You are a member of the first group to enter the [Sleepywood]. As the first group to explore this Dungeon, the quality of your rewards is vastly increased.</strong>


    Jesus. Someone whispered, stepping out of that prismordial film. Nearby, Rose, Gary, and the others came through.


    Woah, Rose said, looking around.


    I mentally regarded the dungeon notice, interested there was a local notification system like that. If there were world and area notices, then I supposed it followed there were some like this.


    I rested my hand on my goblin knife, looking around, an eerie sense of being watched. Was it <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong>? Something more?


    It made me uneasy and I resisted an immediate urge to use <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>. It was the first time in a while I didnt have a second set of eyes to watch myself.


    Parker was scanning the treeline while Rickson investigated the only thing of note nearby, the stone formation we had walked out of. It looked oddly out of ce surrounded by evergreen grass so vibrant as to be tinged blue by the moonlight.


    He ced his hand on it as I stared up at the moon, people spreading out around me. It was blue. Gone was the pale grey I was ustomed to. A blue crescent circlemanded the sky. A few people followed my gaze, wordless.


    Here, Rickson said, his voice carrying over through the quiet. Looks like its the exit too.


    A few people walked over to confirm. I joined Parker who hadnt taken his eyes off the treeline, along with a couple of others. Somehow, it felt the most natural to stay watchful for dangers. Probably an effect of the usage of my clones thus far.


    Feels like were being watched, Parker remarked, uneasy. The man didnt have a weapon but he moved with a certain confidence I didnt question.


    It was in the description, I recalled. Watchful eyes. <strong>[Solos Instinct] </strong>prompted me and my gaze slipped left, to the other side of the treeline. The feeling faded near immediately, leaving me wondering what had triggered it.


    I dont like it. He said. I agreed with him there.


    Well, well find out if its worth it in the end, I replied.


    It didnt take long for us to start moving. We stepped into the shadow of the trees with extreme caution, Parker and a couple of others in front, Rickson following. Gary, Rose, and myself towards the back.


    The fact we were so closely grouped made me tense. As the group stepped between the trees, I tended towards the rear. There, I traced the gazes of the group, their squinting eyes against the twilight shadows. As we walked, I stepped away from a clone of myself, materializing into individualism behind me, wordlessly stepping away into the dimly lit shadows. I repeated the maneuver three more times, the clones only moving once everyone was out range.


    They spread out, walking cautiously


    I sensed it before I saw it. I turned fast. One of the vanguards yelled and I saw a shadow crash into Parker. I jerked forward, realizing instantly I had nothing to help him from this distance.


    Instead, I heard something beside me. A crackle of me, the smell of smoke.


    <strong><em>[Firebolt]</em></strong>. My eyes went wide.


    Rose was there, eyes alight, hand syed. An orb of bright fire shot forward, crashing into the figure and setting it alight. It roared, squirming as fur caught on fire, and Parker somehow <em>threw it off</em>.


    It scrambled to its feet, raking grass and dirt as it came to a halt.


    The thing stood like a tiger, except it had six legs and four eyes. Antennae poked over its crown, jaws like mandibles, opening four ways. There was a moment where everyone just stared, it being the only thing moving, roaring at being cornered.


    Attack! Gary yelled just as it lunged for Rickson.


    Stop it!


    Parker mmed into it, fearless, as others piled on and Rickson scrambled back. <strong>[Power Strike]</strong>! He yelled, and I saw his fist <em>blur</em>, pistoning into the alien creatures side. It roared, shuddering, trying to get purchase


    Keep it down, Parker! One of the people in front. <strong>[Bloodletting sh]</strong>! A knife sought out its throat, leaving it choking and bleeding.


    Its movements immediately slowed. It struggled, desperate until eventually, it died. Everyone took a collective breath, some people frozen in movement and hesitance, others staring steely-eyed.


    <em>God</em>. Someone intoned, shaky. What the hell is that thing?


    Looks like a damn alien.


    Parker! Are you okay? Rose ran over.


    Im fine, just bruised, thankfully. He groaned.


    People were standing over it but an equal amount were staring at the few people who had let loose <strong>Skills</strong>. Myself among them. It was surprising witnessing them in action, especially Roses, and I couldnt decide whether they were more or less impactful than my own. There was nothing in my repertoire so directly applicable, Id have been a sitting duck if Id been pounced on like that.


    The thought served as a cautious reminder.


    Parker was breathing hard, looking at the body as Gary and I walked up. My clones scanned the perimeter quietly, eyes on the trees above.


    Parkers voice carried when he spoke, the de returning to that strange quietness. I leveled. He said. I think Rickson was right.


    Rickson was off to the side, breathing hard. Y-yeah, I did too. He chimed in.


    Gary looked at the body. Jack? You said you had a <strong>Skill</strong> for this?


    Yeah. Fair warning, its gonna be a little unsettling. A man said, walking over, looking at the body. He held his hand over the creature. Ugly fe. <strong>[Days Hunt]</strong>. And I blinked as I saw skin and fur peeled back, meat, organs, and bones pulling away as the beast came apart. Even the antennae and eyes.


    Jack saw everyone staring. Im a <strong>[Hunter]</strong>. I can only use this once a day and I have to participate. Processes anything I hunt. He paused. And yeah, I leveled too.


    Thats amazing, I said, genuinely stunned.


    It was a <strong>Skill</strong> that was entirely utility, simr in vein to my own, and looked to skip the entire process of skinning and butchering an animal. In the apocalypse where it was unlikely to find someone who knew how to do those things, it was invaluable.


    Compared to <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>, was it more or less impactful? Before the influx of attributes and levels Id lucked out on, I was only capable of cloning myself two, three times? And Id already been thankfully skewed towards the pertinent attributes.


    Were three weakened versions of myself really any more useful than what Id just seen? The <strong>[Solo] ss</strong>, I felt, was one that lent itself to more maneuverability. Not so much one for directbat, or strictly survival. It couldnt take on that monster like Parker had, not without preparation, nor could it do what Jack had done either.


    I was pulled out of my thoughts as something drew my gaze.


    Guys, Rickson said, turning heads. Im d we confirmed the leveling part. He said, pushing up his sses. But, I think we mightve confirmed the <strong>Item </strong>thing too. Look.


    There was suddenly a chest nearby and Id seen enough of that style of container to recognize it even before the message appeared. It hadnt been there moments before. And somehow, everyone already knew where to find it.


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: For defeating a Gloom Tiger, your group is rewarded with a [Common Chest].</strong>


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: Congrattions! As you are the first group to explore the [Sleepywood] the [Common Chest] reward has been upgraded to an [Umon Chest].</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Umon Chest]</strong>


    <strong>Chests are hidden troves of treasure, capable of holding great boons and riches. This chest has the potential to hold umon valuables, either in effect, rarity, or quality.</strong>


    And so began our exploration of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27


    We sat around a fire and I recalled Rose having sparked one to life. If her <strong>ss</strong> had something to do with fire, as evidenced by that <strong>[Firebolt]</strong>, then it made sense. I was sitting on a log, surreptitiously ncing at the others over a kebab of glistening gloom tiger meat. Apparently, Jack had a <strong>Skill</strong> that allowed him to determine if something was edible. Technically, I had one too, but this method was more convenient.


    Elsewhere in the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, my clones were on reconnaissance.


    The increased <strong>PER</strong> was tangible. Every sound and movement somehow more pronounced. There was ayer beneath the eerie quiet of the woods, a sound unheard, like the buzz of insects lost to the monotony.


    A clone dodged forward as a snarlingthing appeared. This time it was an oddly lithe creature, having been pressed against the shadow of a tree. Two arms came down into scythes and its bug-like eyes wereplimented with horns.


    Its arm came down, aimed for my neck. Idly, I noticed I wasnt panicking. I saw its strike, traced the path in a moment between moments. I was processing it faster, much faster than I should. It was taller than me, <em>hunting</em> me, but I never faltered.


    Sixth dodged again,ing to his feet in half-surprise. Then Seventh came, peeling away from the treeline and approaching from behind. From the other side, Eighth and then Ninth, until suddenly it was surrounded.


    The scythes came down again but I had a view from four different angles. I <em>watched</em> myself dodge, never in danger for a moment, mastery of that singr space unparalleled. An itch across all my senses, <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> working in tandem across all my clones, amplified even.


    None of my clones had any weapons. And if not for the <strong>Title</strong> and boost to my physical stats, my numbers wouldnt have meant much. As it stood, my clones reached the physical attributes of my prior original self, and then a bit more.


    Each of my selves weaved between its strikes and I didnt freeze or panic, locked in a state of flow. I didnt hesitate to get close, oddly confident at being untouched. I grappled the creature down, clones tearing at its limbs with a foot on its joints and a pull with both arms. Multiple arms, at times.


    It died quietly, without sound, and left four Evahnsing down from adrenaline.


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: For defeating a Gloaming Scythe, you are rewarded with a [Dark Wand].</strong>


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: Congrattions! As you are part of the first group to explore the [Sleepywood] the [Dark Wand] reward has been upgraded to a [Twilight Wand].</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Twilight Wand]</strong>


    <strong>A wand crafted from moon-soaked wood. It is perfect for harnessing the scattered rays of the dawn, the soft glow of twilight, and the shadows of dusk.</strong>


    <strong>- 20% increase in the effectiveness of twilight, light, and dark magic.</strong>


    I stared at the <strong>Item</strong>, a shot of excitement at the thought of magic. But the wand itself didnt dere any support toward learning. There wasn''t anything immediately obvious when holding it, no surge of power, or mysterious arcane knowledge. I looked at the wand in my hand, amounting, currently, to nothing more than a stick.


    It was a little disappointing but I held hope, allowing a clone to experiment with it.


    Back with my original body, we were discussing the nature of the <strong>Dungeon</strong>.


    I think its an open space. Rickson was saying. Im not sure if were <em>supposed </em>to defeat anything. We can leave whenever we want, but that will be the end of our bonuses.


    I tore into my kebab and tried to ignore the thoughts so intently directed towards me. <em>He hasnt said anything. I wonder what he can do to have escaped that thing.</em> Rose shuffled beside me and I felt her gaze lift for a moment.


    That being said, I wouldnt be surprised if there was some kind of <strong>Dungeon Boss</strong>, Rickson added, to the effect of ufortable shuffling.


    Risk for reward. Parker intoned, crossing his arms. He was wearing a furred vest that wouldve looked entirely out of ce if we hadnt seen him pull it out of the <strong>[Common Chest]</strong>. It was blue and I couldnt pull up a description on it. Apparently, it was gloom tiger hide.


    Well, now that were here we have no choice but to make the most of it, Gary said gruffly. It may seem greedy but I dont think we can afford to leave empty-handed. Not with so much to gain.


    How long are we talking? Someone asked, concerned.


    Days at least. This time I recognized Jack. Were leveling, getting useful <strong>Items</strong>, if everyonees out stronger weve got more tools to survive once we leave. We cant let an opportunity like this go to waste.


    So what? We just hunt? Go out, search for monsters, and kill them?


    It might be for the best, Parker replied.


    There were a few murmurs and I listened to that buzzing noise, that frequency of thought. It was strange, grabbing snippets of internal monologue. Less daunting, now that I could practice in close proximity. The general sentiment was agreement and nervousness.


    I directed my mental focus on Rose, whose thoughts were already hard to ignore. Reaching for that mental equilibrium, where all other noise was filtered and only a clear stream of thought remained, wouldve been impossible without the increase in mental attributes.


    Evahn, what do you think of all this? She asked once the conversation died down and people spread out. <em>He seems oddly rxed. Is he not nervous?</em>


    I nced at her, catching curious blue eyes. Someone has to take that first step, right? I dont think we can survive without getting stronger. Theres no telling what else is out there in the swamp. Or the rest of the world, for that matter.


    Hes right, you know. Parker joined, holding a skewer over the fire. People need to see that, for their own good.


    He nodded to me politely and I felt his gaze linger before he turned back to the fire. <em>Hes stronger than he looks. He was the first person saving people and he somehow knew how to deal with the rootmothers mind control.</em> His gaze flicked back to me. <em>Im d hes here, at least.</em>


    I scratched my head. Well, lets hope we can make our time here worthwhile.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28


    It was the second day since Id entered the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>. I still retained a connection to the clones outside. First who was the furthest clone from me, was still with Nichs, Jonathan, and the group from the library. Clones Second through Fifth were right outside of the <strong>Dungeon</strong>, observing the survivors.


    My multi-individualism allowed me an unparalleled perspective. The survivors were splintering and clear camps were being formed, groups of people with different interests.


    I supposed it made sense, considering the sheer number of them. More people could fit into a skyscraper than one would think. Arge coherent group would be ideal but people had conflicting interests. Confident in the powers they had, despite everything that had happened.


    I didnt need to read minds to see the trauma. Nearly everyone that had been under the effects of the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> had scars along their spinal column, extending up towards their head and down towards the lower back. Scars that werent just physical. In the chaos, some were taking advantage of this weakness.


    Can I help you, gentlemen? A wary old man croaked.


    Second, Fourth, and Fifth nced around a decentlyrge tent. Thick branches formed the support, ayer of leaves served as makeshift walls. Flimsy, but one of the few structures against the elements.


    I heard you could make simple clothes. Rumor had it this man, Ralph, was a <strong>[Craftsman]</strong>. Or something in that vein. Do you have anything to cover the head?


    That I can. He replied, crossing his arms.


    His gaze flicked to Fourth and Fifth, their faces covered by the hoodies every clone came with. It was a half-hearted measure but no one had bothered to look too closely, let alone the small number of times the clones were ever in the same ce.


    Revealing my face was something I had every clone avoid whenever possible.


    Not for free. I need


    Fourth hefted a waterfowl on a shoddy wooden table,ying it across its belly. Food was amodity now, most survivors not knowing how to hunt or scavenge. The bird was enough to feed a handful for the day.


    Ralph nced at the animal for only a moment. Thatll do. Then he reached below the table and retrieved three cloaks, amongst a crate of other garments. The clones took the clothes, feeling their weight.


    Ralph eyed us, <em>me</em>, as I inspected the garments. Three pairs of hands turning over the cloth, tracing the stitching and material. Mundane items, as opposed to ones recognized by the system. They were good.


    Got some kind of hunter <strong>ss</strong>? Or <strong>Skill</strong>? He asked curiously.


    <em>Strange group.</em> I heard him think. <em>Theyre not with those recruiters, are they?</em>


    Something like that. One of me responded, whirling the cloak over the neck and securing it. The others did the same. Theres talk amongst the camps of leaving. Know anything about that?


    Sure. Ralph snorted. Fools errand, in my opinion. Theres a group going around recruiting anyone over level 5, or with a noteworthy <strong>ss</strong>. They n to leave when the safest ce is right here. If you ask me, we should be fortifying what damn little we have! He raised his voice, smacking the table. This isnt a damn game, no matter how it might convince you.


    Memories shed through my head, making me grimace. I couldnt agree more, I replied, leaving the tent.


    Previously, each clone had taken toward a mass of survivors, spread out amongst them, watching. Waiting for something. For someone to take charge, or a defined group to appear. And they had, if only in small numbers. The same people around a campfire, a pair of strangers, etc.


    Id asked Ralph for context but the truth was I was already aware of two major parties. Representing two primary choices. To stay or to go. Thetter poaching off potential talent or able bodies, seeking unique <strong>sses</strong> or useful <strong>Skills</strong>. They were typically leaving older folks, lower-leveled people, and nonbat <strong>sses </strong>alone, which in turn formed those more willing to stay.


    There probably wasnt anyone among the survivors with a working knowledge of <strong>sses</strong> like I had. There was, however, enough talk, introspection, and spection to fuel everyones thoughts. Thoughts that rose to the surface and understandably monopolized someones mind enough that I could skim them at my rtive leisure. It was the nature of anyone to question their reality and find understanding. Of course, people had their own ideas and opinions regarding the nature of <strong>sses</strong>.


    I formed my own after considering them all.


    A <strong>ss</strong>, generally, had something to do with a persons background. Not everyone had one and I noted people with a <strong>ss</strong> were actually in the minority. Id caught wind of maybe eight people who had one, including Rose and Jack. Across all my clones listening. Though there were probably a bit more considering the nature of my census. But it was still among hundreds of survivors.


    Having a <strong>ss</strong> gave someone a focus for their <strong>Skill</strong> acquisition and abilities. They represent an increased intuition, prowess,petency, and ease regarding a particr field.


    Everyone else had some sort of general <strong>Skill</strong>. One that normally corresponded to some character trait or aspect of their person, though not as epassing enough to merit a <strong>ss</strong>. The <strong>Skill</strong> itself reflected that. Usually, it was something minor, rtive to a <strong>ss Skill</strong>. Id heard, and in some cases seen, the likes of <strong>[Inner Strength]</strong>, <strong>[Acute Sense]</strong>, <strong>[Deft Hands]</strong>, <strong>[Hard Body]</strong>, and more.


    I had my own thoughts regarding the matter. Those general <strong>Skills</strong> seemed less focused than anything I had. Since those people were without a <strong>ss</strong> I wondered what might happen to such <strong>Skills</strong> if they managed to get one. And if such <strong>Skills</strong> were attainable outside the focus of my own <strong>ss</strong>.


    I knew it was possible for the same reason I could read minds. <strong>[Telepathy]</strong>. The fact I had obtained a <strong>Skill</strong> as a reward meant <strong>Skills</strong> were attainable outside of leveling. I doubted such a thing would be easy, but the fact remained.


    With Ralphs cloaks, I could keep my face shrouded better than the hoodies alone. It didnt exactly lend itself to trustworthiness but that wasnt my goal. I was a faceless watcher, observing events as they happened in the camp.


    Small details about <strong>Skills</strong>, <strong>sses</strong>, and the strange system brought on by the apocalypse cropped up with a sample size sorge. Every clone of mine was a sponge, absorbing information.


    Inside the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, they served as extra hands and extra eyes. Hunting while I tested my new limits. There was innate synchronicity across all my clones, a single frequency of consciousness, rhythm, and thought.


    I could lift a finger and every clone would do the same. At the exact same time. I could close my eyes and walk across the ground with confidence if another of mine was watching. I knew myself as only another set of eyes could know.


    My coordination was exceptional.


    Sixth leaned backward, hair rustling with the scythed limb passing overhead. He, along with Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth, kept their distance from the main, non-clone group. Close enough to aid but far enough to pass unnoticed.


    I stood on the sidelines, eyes flicking across the gloaming scythes body, watching its movements as all my other selves did. Four perspectives, one all-knowingbatant. I watched its stance shift and I understood the mechanics of its body, the motion of its muscles and joints. I could process the movement, see the application of force.


    And Sixth stepped to the left, abination of intense precision, foresight, and <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> all working together such that a lethal strike missed by bare inches. It was exhrating. A rush like no other, cheating death by mere inches. I was both dancer and choreographer, leading my opponents every move. I stepped into the things range, closing the distance.


    My arm braced against its neck and two other mes were suddenly there, pinning its arms at the shoulders. The third clone grabbed its head, snapping it at the neck. I stood over the corpse


    And yawned, hands in my pockets. Nearby, the rest of the group had fallen into a rhythm. Parker with the vanguard served as first contact. My increased <strong>PER</strong> did more than affect my clones. Now that I knew what to look for, Id spotted at least four ambushes already, eyes always on the trees. Rose stayed back and there hadnt yet been a moment my intervention was needed, my role was strictly to watch our rear.


    Rose had a particrly interesting <strong>ss</strong>. <strong>[Mage]</strong>. It was information that hadnt been volunteered. Rather, shed been thinking of it quite loudly when there <em>was</em> time to think, as everyone did. It gave me something to think about regarding the sheer scope of <strong>sses</strong> in general.


    Magic. Id already confirmed the possibility just by encountering the <strong>[Twilight Wand]</strong>, an <strong>Item</strong> a clone of mine still had not managed to make any breakthroughs with. Yet, it teased the mind with thoughts of what someone <em>could</em> do, if they survived.


    Parker stepped over another defeated creature. A glow beast, going by the dungeon notices. It seemed that people directly participating in the creatures downfall were most likely to level, lending credence to some type of contributional reward system. As for actual material rewards, these single creature encounters were only rewarding us with minor <strong>Items</strong>.


    I was beginning to think Parker had some analog of the <strong>[Hard Body]</strong><strong>Skill</strong>. He was bearing the brunt of these creatures attacks with surprising ease.


    Parker walked over to a tree, pulling something from the branches. <strong>[Glow Pendant]</strong>. He said. Provides light in a radius, wards off dark-typed creatures. He shrugged, looking around.


    That first <strong>[Umon Chest]</strong>, apparently, had been something of a stroke of luck. From what I gathered, chests were more likely to contain higher quality <strong>Items</strong> and had a chance to contain <em>multiple</em>. It was moremon to gain single <strong>Items</strong>, and non-effectual ones at that. Nothing so immediately useful or powerful.


    I paused with such immediacy for those nearby to notice. A hunch across all my senses. A sudden creeping intuition. <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> was hissing at me, hushed whispers with all the intensity of a scream. My eyes shot across the entire group, looking for the threat, trying to understand what was wrong.


    Thered always been that <em>feeling</em> that it was all too easy. That killing these creatures and gaining rewards was too effortless. If there was anything I learned, it was that levels and valuables had to be paid for in danger.


    The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> woke up.

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29


    It was a prickling across my skin, a shiver up my neck and down my arms. My frantic eyes were drawn to everyone else, moving unaware. I twisted, unable to locate what was wrong when I found Rose and Jack staring at me with wide eyes.


    No, <em>behind me</em>. Screams broke out.


    In a single moment, everything crystalized, and I whirled around. A nightmare loomed. A too-human grin on a creature that was anything but. Angr features as to highlight a <em>sharpness</em> in the air. Hands that stretched to long ws. ck skin that seemed to meld with the dark.


    Eyes that crinkled in malicious glee. It was leaning <em>out of my shadow</em>, emerging as if from some invisible pool. As if my shadow was liquid. And it was about to kill me.


    Its arm swung out and instinct carried me inside its range, daring to <em>approach</em>. <strong>[Solos Instinct] </strong>screamed.


    Theyre in our shadows! I yelled, hearing chaos.


    Parker, behind you! A distant shout. I-its a demon! A demon!


    Evahn! Jack yelled voice desperate, much closer. Rose


    To me! Someones shout pierced the area. The <strong>[Glow Pendant]</strong>! Rickson!


    My body moved before I could even process the danger. A part of me had already learned inaction lead to death. Muscle memory, cultivated through my clones, <em>demanded I move</em>.


    I bent out of the way faster than I had any right to. Quicker and nimbler than Id ever been. A thrusting w met the space I shouldve been and I twisted. A whirlwind of air whipped my hair back.


    It almost seemed surprised it had missed, features just human enough to disy the emotion. Its head cocked to the side to regard me in a way that was distinctly <em>not</em>. I had no time to be surprised.


    Evahn! And a plume of fire exploded across its shoulder, causing it to swing its head to Rose with a hiss of pain and me. It had teeth as long as my fingers, all glistening white. Get back! We need to get to Parker!


    Go! I yelled, making my way backward. I can stall it! My heart was racing and all my attention was on this otherworldly creature. This was on another level than the things we had fought thus far. It was


    It lunged forward with a devilish grin, horns curling up across its forehead. Its ws were reaching, looking to sh and rend. I rolled to the floor as the space I was in exploded in a spray of dirt. Its arm had blurred with speed.


    I scrambled to my feet and


    My eyes widened as I craned my neck upward, finding those nightmarish ws racing for my face. <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> saved me and somehow I <em>seized</em> its wrist with both hands, my own reaction surprising me, surprising <em>both</em> of us. I strained against it as another <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> struck it across the face, melting its skin, and eliciting an unholy roar.


    Run! Rose was yelling.


    But my senses were riding high and I felt more than saw the opportunity. Another aspect of <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> guiding my decisions. I wasted no time in its moment of weakness.


    I yanked it forward in its moment of agony and instantly unsheathed my knife, finally finding the time. Of crude goblin make, I was thankful it was at least sharp. My hand found the handle with ease, fingers more nimble than ever, and I was upon it pulling the knife across its throat before it could even react.


    I stood up, ck blood covering me. Pale green eyes behind a mask of blood. I couldn''t spare a moment to think. There was time to thinkter.


    I heard Gary in the distance, <em>somehow</em> calm despite it all, yelling outmands organizing the chaos. I heard voices, Parker, Rickson, everyone. I saw them harried, ambushed through means Id never thought to expect.


    <em>How how the hell? </em>Jack was staring at me, having been unable to do anything. <em>Heshes insane. </em>H-how? He asked.


    Jack, Rose, stay here. Away from the shadows! I yelled at them.


    Where are you going? Rose looked at me.


    The rest of the group was under attack and I rushed forward without pause. I was faster, my feet more sure upon the ground, a newfound strength in my limbs. I was the closest one to help the middle of the packthe original me, that was.


    Sixth didnt have to pause at the treeline to gauge the situation. He, like every iing clone, already knew what was happening. So it was with that surety that four clones dashed into the clearing, unassuming figures shrouded from notice by the dimness of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.


    No hesitation, not now.


    <strong>[Power Strike]</strong>! Parker roared and I saw the air ripple in that way even I couldnt manage. Instead of a punch, his kick sent the creature a few feet back, grasping its stomach with rage.


    Everyone stay back! His <strong>[Glow Pendant]</strong> seemed to weaken the thing with soft light, brightening the dim twilight. Behind me! Everyone careful!


    The thing was wary of Parker, hesitant. It wasnt the time to retreat but advance, to press the creature further off-bnce. That was how I saw it. But I operated without fear for my life.


    Sixth rammed into the creature with all the force of his weight, a decidedly regr feat of strength. It was enough to send the demonic thing a few feet back. Sheer momentum enough to substitute strength.


    Evahn! We cant fight that thing! Get back! The <strong>[Glow Pendant]</strong>... He trailed off, staring. Evahn?


    How is he doing that? Gary said wide-eyed.


    I ducked under its strikes, weaving between its sharp movements like flowing water. An incredible disy of precision and instinct. A confidence that was a necessity, born on the edge of death. Fueled by fear of pain and agony, but no consequence beyond it.


    Sixth took on the creature as only a madman could. Evasively, cautiously, but with absolute confidence. Aplete disregard for any repercussions a mistake might visit. It was almost as if he had eyes at the back of his head.


    Its a <strong>Skill</strong>! Stop staring, move! Something in Garys voice filtered away my fear, courage rising within me. All my clones moved easier.


    Seventh mmed into the creature, dragging it down. Its head <em>rotated</em> and bit down on my shoulder. The pain resonated, the tearing teeth and rent flesh. <em>Pain</em>. A sh of searing heat across every clone.


    But an agony no worse than anything Id already endured.


    What the hell? Someone whispered. Theres two of


    Dont just stand there! Help him! Rickson yelled, wide-eyed at seeing a <em>second</em> me.


    But theres


    <em>Help him!</em> Parker shouted, rushing forward. <em>Both</em> of them, damn it!


    Slowly, then with increasing speed and urgency, help came. My strength, despite my numbers, was not enough to overwhelm the thing. Instead, it was abination of various <strong>Skills</strong>, disys of power, and strength sheer stats and numbers couldnt exactly match, that left the creature dead upon the tinted blue grass, ck blood seeping through the soil.


    My original self helped a struggling man in the middle of the group. D-demon! He screamed, scrambling backward, waving a knife around. Help me! <em>Help me! </em>He pleaded as the creature approached, enjoying the frantic babbling of its prey.


    Eighth and Ninth each took to an arm, thetter receiving a gash across the chest, the former stabbed in the arm. It was just too fast for my clones to respond. They could react and process the movements, but at a certain point, its reach and maneuverability earned it my cloned blood.


    And yet, together, I <em>moved</em>.


    Three of me, moving in tandem. I could sense its intent, faintly, and moved from where it might strike. My hair whipped forward and backward with the force of its lethality. Angry, it dashed forward, but Eighth was there, ducking under its blows and sticking out his leg.


    It tripped and fell, rolling to the floor. And tried to get up


    Ninth stomped on its arm, shattering the bone at the elbow, then snapping what was left by pulling the arm where it shouldnt bend. It screamed, ck blood leaking. My other clone did the same, the force of gravity a wee friend. It reared its ugly head and I kicked it across the face, mming my foot down on its skull.


    Then I brought my fist down upon its back with all my strength, testing that influx of stats. My fist made contact, faster than the eye, and something within the devilish beast burst. It looked at me, eyes ring even in itsst moments, before going still.


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: For defeating three Nightmare Ifrits, your group is rewarded with two [Umon Chests].</strong>


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: Congrattions! As you are the first group to explore the [Sleepywood] the [Umon Chest] rewards have been upgraded to [Unusual Chests].</strong>


    I let out a breath.


    And found many people staring at me.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30


    I sat as Ninth dug into my backpack. He wordlessly handed me a water sk which I drank from voraciously. It tasted like stic. Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth were leaning on trees around the camp, staring out into the dusk. A few people were checking their shadows, flickering around the campfire.


    Most were staring at an Evahn. Wondering which one was real.


    So you can copy yourself? Rickson was somehow the bluntest. Thats amazing. Is that a <strong>ss</strong>? Something like <strong>[Multi-Fighter]</strong> or?


    I gave him a genuine smile but Gary spoke up before I could respond. What level are you, to be able to have a <strong>Skill</strong> so powerful? He said pointedly.


    Gary. Parker cut in. He owes us nothing. He saved our lives. The blonde man gave Gary a hard stare. If you cant see that then


    So he did, Gary said stonily. And how much closer will he risk us? He said, hushing the clearing.


    If his clones had been here from the start, wed never even have been in danger. Hes hidden his true strength until now. He looked to me across the fire, eyes cold. Holding back mightve cost someone their life. Do you understand that? His eyes caught the flickering me and I realized they were burning. Angry.


    I looked at him, <strong>WIS </strong>and <strong>CHA</strong> allowing me to remain calm and navigate a justified usation with collectedposure. The man hadnt raged at me, just stated facts, throwing the evidence at my feet and calmly telling me to exin. He was angry, but not impolite.


    But Id alreadye to my answer.


    My eyes narrowed. And Im supposed to, what? To hold your hand? I spoke, somewhat coldly, staring at the fire. Someone could have died, yes, but the blood wouldnt be on my hands. Everyone here entered this ce fully expecting the danger, the risks, death among them.


    I held his gaze. I have no responsibility for your lives, were strangers, arent we? And I was still there, jumping in. My clones feel pain, you know. Every time theyre beheaded <em>Im</em> beheaded. When they burn alive, so do I. I threw all four into the fray.


    Miraculously, no one had gotten injured beyond a bruise or cut. I had dealt with one of the creatures almost immediately, the man in the middle had some ability to evade <em>his</em> ifrit, and Parker along with the vanguard were sturdy enough to withstand the immediate ambush. Everyone had stalled enough to get their feet under them and for myself to lend aid.


    We all came in here expecting the support of all, Gary replied, ring at me. Death was one possibility. But we came in as a group. A <em>team</em>, even if strangers. That supposes everyones utmost effort, <em>at</em><em>least</em>. With lives on the line, theres nothing less we can ask.


    I looked at him tly. And you thinkwhat? That my other selves were twiddling their thumbs in the trees? I said slowly, implicative.


    Gary frowned, something crossing his expression. His eyes slipped behind me, to Ninth whose gaze, even during this conversation, never left the flickering shadows of the campfire. Then to the dusk beyond the campfire, to three figures in the shadows staring outward. Silent watchers.


    Jack was quick on the uptake, staring at the clones. They were watching us? <em>How long had they been there?</em>


    I nodded. An early warning system, if we ever needed it. First contact with anything that might be too much for us. I nced at Gary. I didnt expect something like those ifrits.


    Rose was rubbing her shoulder. I dont think anyone expects an ambush from their shadow. Her gaze fell to the flickering shade cast by the fire.


    Gary took it all in before settling into a deep exhale. He looked at me. Im sorry, Evahn. Im out of my element here. Im ustomed to transparency within a team. Not <em>this</em>. <em>I was mistaken. I can admit that.</em>


    I used to be a manager for Skr Industries. He exined, mastering himself. Im used to knowing my team, what they can do, and where I might best utilize them. Im adapting. He saidmely. I suppose something like that isnt realistic in these conditions.


    I sighed. Theres no harm done so dont worry about it.


    Were all adapting, Rose said quietly. Its just not something anyone couldve been prepared for. I mean, those <em>things</em>  She trailed off.


    Nightmare ifrits they were a degree above what we could probably safely handle. Rickson was surprisinglyposed. He was shaken, obvious in the small jumps at every shadow, but only scared, not shocked. Everyone else was subdued. I leveled from that encounter, and I barely did anything.


    Same here, Jack breathed, visibly trying to stay calm. I couldve died. Those things, they didnt waste any time going for the kill. He shook his head. Suppose thats just how it is nowadays. I saw it go right for Evahn, no hesitation. It just slipped out of his shadow like somethinging out of a pool and just swung for him.


    Theyre more dangerous than anything weve faced so far, I replied. And they hadnt appeared until now.


    Rose took a deep breath. It might have to do with how far weve gone. Were a ways away from the exit now. Distance might be a factor in the dangers we face.


    Or time, Parker added, seeming to have kept his wits. Weve been here close to four days now. He said. Considering everything, it might be time to head back. <em>It could potentially get worse from here</em>.


    He said it more in consideration for the rest of the group than himself. Brushing that close with death I could understand how shaken these people were. I could understand it well, four, five times over?


    And leaving, I wasnt necessarily against the idea. I wasnt naive enough to think those ifrits were the apex danger the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> could offer.


    Somehow, the ce gave off an aura of motionless danger that put me constantly on edge. Like a sleeping beast that, if disturbed, could mean a swift death. The ce was calm and quiet, but not to be underestimated. I felt like the second anyone fell into that lethargic serenity was the moment they died.


    Head back? Rickson said incredulously. Just look at what we got from those things! A few more encounters like that, with the bonus from being the first group in here, and were set. These <strong>Items</strong> could be literal life or death in the future.


    He pointed to the three <strong>Items</strong>,id on a log nearby. A <strong>[Darkwoven Cloak]</strong>, <strong>[Twlight Saber]</strong>, and a <strong>[Coolshade Bracelet]</strong>. They each had interesting effects surrounding light and dark, dark mostly. An unusual chest variant was seemingly the step up from umon. Each of the <strong>Items</strong> seemed more impactful.


    We could be facing death <em>now</em>, Rickson, Parker responded, grave. Dont forget that.


    This stuff only has value when theres someone alive to use them, I cautioned, looking them over. If we die here, then more equipment means nothing.


    Parker nodded arms on his knees, sitting heavily. Its a matter of when to cash in. He added. But, I suppose we should count our gains in the meantime. He spoke, ncing at the rewards. We might as well make use of them.


    <strong>Item: [Darkwoven Cloak]</strong>


    <strong>A cloak made of light-absorbent material, resulting in a color darker than ck. It is further enchanted against the light such that it seems to be made of shadow itself.</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Twilight Saber]</strong>


    <strong>A de crafted from a metal that glitters under the moon. Its edge rests between dawn and dusk, effective against creatures of both night and day.</strong>


    <strong>Item: [Coolshade Bracelet]</strong>


    <strong>A bracelet with an epassing enchantment. In the harshest suns, it offers an escape from the burning rays and a shield against all else.</strong>


    Jack was staring at the <strong>Items</strong> as well. If were distributing them, I think Evahn has the right of the first pick. He proposed, looking around. Im sure we can all agree on that.


    I nced around the campfire and found no one gainsaying him. I barely took a moment to think about it before Ninth wordlessly walked over and retrieved the saber, to everyones bemusement. My only real reasoning was that the saber beat a goblin-made knife. A real sturdy weapon was something Icked.


    Ninth handed it to me and I felt the odd metal in my hand, thefortable grip. I guess Ill take this then. I was clueless when it came to des but even I could tell the saber was beautiful.


    In short order, the other two <strong>Items</strong> were given to Rose and Rickson. The former was given the <strong>[Coolshade Bracelet]</strong> and thetter the <strong>[Darkwoven Cloak]</strong>. The cloak fit with Ricksons <strong>ss </strong>but the bracelet was up in the air in terms of best usage. Rose eventually ending up with it.


    Once that was done, it was a discussion on whether to continue or withdraw. There were reasons for both.


    Evahn, what do you think? Rickson asked me. He was a slimmer man, an office worker. His sses were dirty, clothes a mess. He looked at me with an inquisitive gaze, interrupting the conversation to address me directly. Thest person one might expect to be the most adjusted. I think that youre the highest level person here. Logic dictates youve survived through more than us.


    I heard a stray thought from him. <em>He said hed been roaming the swamp alone. What else is out there? And to do it alone</em>


    Despite me calling them strangers, Ide to learn some things about these people. Parker was strong and steadfast, Rose was passive but purposeful when pressured, Jack was quiet and observant. Rickson despite his withdrawn demeanor had a naturally sharp intuition.


    I looked at everyone. Strangers Id only slightlye to know in this short time. Other faces whose names I hadnt bothered to memorize. Its what you said Rickson, you cant get stronger in this godforsaken world without putting yourself at risk. Thats just the way of things. I spoke after a moment. To me, that means staying here as long as possible.


    Gary spoke after me. Anyone who wants to leave, we can escort you to the exit. Not all of us have to stay. He looked up to the perpetually moonlit sky. It''s about time someone went back and briefed anyone wholl listen. I think weve aplished what we came here to confirm, at the very least.


    There were nods all around, more conversation, and then we broke camp.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31


    We fell into a rhythm. My clones acted as forward scouts, apanying both Jack and Rickson, as we made our way back to the exit.


    If we run into trouble, dont hesitate to leave me behind, Ninth told Rickson.


    You said you feel everything your other selves do are you sure? He asked, uncertain.


    Positive. Eighth replied, having a variation of the same conversation with Jack.


    There was no need for them to apany my clones but both imed it would help them level. Their lives werent my responsibility and so as long as they were aware, I had no right nor reason to stop either of them.


    Meanwhile, my original self walked ahead of Sixth who allowed me a third-person perspective of myself. By watching my original selfs entire surroundings, nothing by way of a regr approach would go unnoticed. Including one from my shadow.


    Ahead of me, Parker along with some men and women with applicable <strong>Skills</strong> in actualbat took the vanguard. Nearby, Rose and Gary. Seventh took the rearguard, further back than even Sixth.


    Our trip back was actually less eventful than before although there was a renewed sense of uncertainty and paranoia in the air. We were able to navigate away from most dangers, only taking fights we werepletely ready for. I wasnt sure how that affected our gains, but we didnte away empty-handed.


    The ce gives me the creeps, Jackmented, his quiet voice easily carrying across the silence.


    The forest was tinged blue, shrouded in just enough shadow to make people see things. Sometimes things that were <em>actually</em> there. The lowlight, along with the unfamiliar flora and fauna, made everything uncanny. Normal one moment, alien the next. Id realized over the course of the week that I was actually seeing <em>better</em> than everyone else, my <strong>PER</strong> attribute at y no doubt.


    Its not exactly weing, is it? I said pausing slightly as I caught a pair of eyes along the treeline. They disappeared as I spotted them. And that was <em>normal</em>. Its like the entire ce is watching us. I wasnt sure if anyone realized how true that rang.


    Eventually, we came to a stop. It was hard to gauge the day and night cycle here. Gary took the lead in those matters, either having an impressive internal clock or somehow understanding the fatigue of the group as a whole. I was leaning towards thetter, almost certain he had employed some kind of <strong>Skill</strong> during the encounter with the nightmare ifrits.


    I found myself with rtive privacy for the first time in a while. I shrugged off my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong>. Rolling my shoulders, I reached inside and came away with the small container that had been dominating my thoughts recently.


    I held up the small ss jar against the moonlight. The blue liquid moved on asion, minutely, almost as if it were nervous. Or perhaps weakened. Dormant. Yet unmistakably <em>alive</em>.


    <strong>Item: [Regenerators Symbiote]</strong>


    <strong>An organism that binds to a single host. Once bound the symbiote improves all biological functions, increases vitality, and enhances recovery effects upon the host.</strong>


    <strong>- CON increased by 10.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Natural regeneration and recovery effects increased by 80%.</strong>


    I shuddered, staring at it, but I couldnt disregard its effects. Seeing as the thing came from an <strong>[Epic Boss Chest]</strong>, I couldnt even estimate its worth. That epic modifier, that purple glow Id witnessed, was in a realm of its own. Not to mention it came from a <em>boss</em> chest, which likely connotated greater rewards in and of itself.


    With bothbined?


    Every single thing received from my encounter with the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> was a precious treasure. Aside from the <strong>[Ring of the Hivemind]</strong>, Third had been testing the <strong>[Living Armor]</strong> to great effect. It turned away the mundane des of goblins and was semi-reactive to his thoughts. Sturdy beyond reason, breathable, adaptable. It was hard to find any downside to it.


    The symbiote was more invasive than any of the others, not something to just put on. It was undoubtedly powerful if I were taking the system at face value, though I couldnt be certain there were no consequences of letting something <em>bond</em> with me on a biological level. Essentially letting an alien lifeform tie itself to me, in whatever form that took.


    What consequence beyond just extra stats would that entail?


    The nightmare ifrits, along with the uneasy danger I was constantly feeling, had forced the issue. I was acutely aware of any injury, <em>three </em>of myselves were currently wounded. Seventh had been bitten across the shoulder by a mouth asrge as his head, Ninth had a more superficial gash across the chest, and Eighth had been stabbed in the arm.


    If my original body suffered those injuries


    I was keeping it together. The problem was I felt <em>everything</em>. It did <em>wonders </em>for my mood. I suspected that was the reason <strong>WIL</strong> factored into the <strong>[Never Alone]</strong><strong>Skill</strong> because it was needed to withstand negative sensory overload.


    I popped the cork, watching the symbiote react. It bubbled as I brought it to eye level, roused. It wiggled and sloshed, moving to one side of the bottle as if fearful. Inching forward as if curious.


    That tant disy of even <em>slight</em> intelligence gave me immediate pause.


    Evahn.


    I nearly jumped to my feet.


    I somehow missed his approach and jerked slightly, covering the jar. Jack caught my surprise. Ah sorry. He said sheepishly. Its a new <strong>Skill</strong>, <strong>[Silent Approach]</strong>. Came with the levels. He exined.


    Though it was less his sound and more the <strong>[Darkwoven Cloak]</strong> covering his figure that allowed my surprise. Most of my clones were looking outward and the one looking inward had been focused on the edges of the camp.


    Sorry. I breathed, rxing my posture. My free hand had instinctively gone for my knife, a sad reflection of my reality. Did you need something?


    Nothing, just to talk, if you dont mind. He said, holding two skewers of meat. Dinner using the processed meats from his <strong>[Days Hunt]</strong><strong>Skill</strong>.


    I smiled, grabbed the offered skewer, and gestured nearby. Be my guest.


    Jack took a seat beside me. You sure youre staying? He asked me. This ce is maddening.


    Already made up my mind. I shrugged, biting off a morsel of sweet and savory meat. I think the best thing for anyone right now is to be strong enough to survive. The <strong>Dungeon</strong> might be a blessing in that regard, something for us to throw ourselves against.


    Memories of Horace and bodies came unbidden, of ruin and destruction. All the helpless people. Mindless thralls walking around the clearing, walking to their deaths.


    You know the majority are leaving, right? Jack asked, ncing at the mingling people. And the more people that go means fewer people are left. It gets more dangerous.


    I might have dealt with worse, to be honest, I said, softly.


    Somehow I dont doubt that. Jack looked at me oddly. How old are you?


    Twenty-three.


    Jesus, youre three years younger than me. He chuckled, leaning back, looking towards my small fire. Worlds gone to hell, man. It truly fucking has.


    Youre just realizing that? A genuineugh at the sheer uracy of the statement escaped me before I settled down as it sunk in. No kidding.


    We spoke about nothing for quite some time. It was a conversation with no meaning, no context or substance, but it simply <em>was</em>. And for that, it was something more. I found myself unwinding, letting down my mental burdens, if only for a single conversation.


    In the end, he took his leave after the better part of an hour, having to take his turn on the rotating watch. I felt confident watching with just my clones but extra eyes werent unwee.


    Once I was alone again, I pulled out the jar, my hand covering it.


    And the symbiote wasnt there anymore.


    Slightly panicked, I checked my status as Rickson had been referring to it. That strange culmination of my person. My eyes darted to the <strong>CON</strong> attribute.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 23</strong>


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>Traits: [Regenerator]</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 16</strong>


    <strong>CON: 27</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 15</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 16</strong>


    <strong>PER: 19</strong>


    <strong>INT: 20 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIS: 27 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIL: 29 + 5</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 14 + 5</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 14</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 18</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile], [Solos Instinct], [Solos Sanctuary], [Telepathy]</strong>


    I immediately found the value had risen from 17, heart speeding up. Then I saw something else entirely, mental gaze drawn to a new section of the status. <strong>Traits</strong>. And I was immediately flooded with what they entailed. A <strong>Trait </strong>defined an exceptional quality or characteristic, generally one which was inherent to an individual.


    In my case I took a breath, resigned to ept the conclusion Ide to after seeing the empty jar, perfectly sealed off with my hand and with no symbiote within. I wanted to p myself, realized I could, and then instead took a breather with that mental image.


    <strong>Trait: [Regenerator]</strong>


    <strong>You are, in some way or another, exceptionally suited to recovering from injury. A mutualistic symbiont lives within you, improving your constitution and enriching biological functions. The symbiont enhances natural recovery and coordinates external healing effects.</strong>


    <strong>- CON increased by 10.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- Natural regeneration and recovery effects increased by 80%.</strong>


    It had the exact effects of the <strong>Item</strong>, only it was now an intrinsic part of me. I stared at my hands, my arms, <em>waiting</em>. Waiting for some wave of nausea or <em>wrongness</em> to hit me, some feeling under my skin, in my flesh. I focused my perception inward, leveraging every sense I had to focus on my internal understanding of my body.


    And I felt better than Id ever felt. <em>Alive</em>. Back then, when I had be the <strong>[Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>, the influx of stats was mind-boggling. Id barely had time to trace them all, and with each one increased simrly, it was as if Id just be suddenly <em>more</em>.


    Now I felt my body as biology intended. I remember reading somewhere that very few people could im they knew what <em>health</em> felt like. I understood that now. There was living as one did, and there was <em>this</em>. It was like my body was brimming with energy, inexplicably restored.


    I opened and closed my hands, amazed.


    It was funny how weak I could feel, how vulnerable, with so many instances of myself running around. That had always just been nine more mes. As odd as it sounded, they didnt make me feel anymore capable in the strength of my person.


    This was different than any of my <strong>Skills</strong>. It was <em>me</em>, in and simple. And, slowly exploring my raw capabilities, it was reassuring to see tangible growth. To not just see these numbers but be certain in their application.


    In this apocalypse, I was sure that was something precious.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32


    In the end, enough people decided to leave the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> that it passed some invisible threshold whereupon the rest decided as well. I watched them leave. They stepped through the prismordial sheen framed by the stone portals and, on the other side, I watched them in return.


    Inside, Parker was one of the few left, along with Rose and Rickson. He looked at me. Shall we head out then?


    I blinked. Youre not leaving?


    Parker looked at me and I saw genuine surprise in his posture. <em>He thought we were all going? And he chose to stay?</em> I thought you knew. He replied, looking at me astonished.


    I guess I didnt. From what Jack told me, just about everyone was leaning towards leaving. I reflected.


    Rose gave a soft smile. I still owe you for saving my life, Evahn. She said. Not that I can im to be much help, but the <strong>Dungeon</strong> is a way to get stronger. I dont want to be put into that position again.


    Rickson looked at me and I already knew why he was here. The same reason we were all here, if not so direct and true. We have to level. He said, shrugging.


    Parker nodded, looking at all of us. You saved a lot of peoples lives, I was probably among them. The least I could do is stick around, especially when it''s to my benefit.


    I looked at these survivors, thrown into hell, and found people whod never given up.


    I nodded, smiling. Be ready for anything then. And I turned around and began walking.


    Outside, events were less heartwarming. The darker side of humanity reared its ugly head. The inevitable depths of character that rose in times of distress.


    Clones Second through Fifth were just a handful of faces among the crowd. Watching a scene I judged to be unavoidable. Where the disagreement betweenrge groups became physical.


    I watched from multiple angles as men paraded around, interrogating survivors. They were asking levels, <strong>sses</strong>, <strong>Skills,</strong> and more. All information that I was convinced were deeply personal and revealing. The likes of which no one should share freely.


    At least, not voluntarily.


    The <strong>[Thug]</strong> was high-enough level to harass these people without consequence. There was no doubt in my mind it actually <em>helped</em> him. And, in a twisted way, that was his path to survive.


    Hey, Im talking to you. He grabbed a man by the cor, yanking him backward with more strength than he shouldve had. Name, level, <strong>Skills</strong>, and <strong>ss</strong> if you have one. Now.


    Thats not The man hunched over, air knocked out of him. He fell to his knees.


    Answer now. We need high-level people if were getting out of this damn swamp. Anyone who wants to stay can rot here for all I care, but if youre useful youreing with us whether you like it or not.


    I-Im level 5. I have the <strong>[Quick Steps]</strong><strong>Skill</strong>. He groaned, rolling over.


    Eh. He released the man, allowing him to moan. Comply and you wont end up like him. He said, addressing the crowd.


    People immediately began to disperse and quickly found themselves surrounded by a handful of others. Apart enough that it was clear they were with the <strong>[Thug]</strong>. One stepped up to a woman who had tripped on a root, he reached out


    You alright? Second asked, helping her up.


    Y-yeah. She said, wide-eyed. But theyre


    Hey. The man said. Name, level, <strong>Skills</strong>, and <strong>ss</strong>. Now.


    I ignored him. You better be on your way, miss. Theres a bad crowd today. I smiled at her, too sharp I think. She flinched and ran off.


    The man watched her go. Then he eyed me. Think youre hot stuff huh? You might be a good fit then if youre that confident. Then he frowned when I showed no reaction. More so when I started walking away.


    Hey. Hey! Im talking to you, you bastard! He reached out, trying to grab my shoulder. I stepped out of the way and he fell off bnce, ring at me in surprise and anger. Get the fuck over here. He lunged for me.


    And my elbow mmed into his face, dropping him, Fourth and Fifth watching from the sidelines. I continued walking. I heard him mumbling, cursing, and groaning on the floor.


    Theyd put enough fear into these people that the mood had drastically fallen. Anyone speaking out had instantly been silenced. Appearing the next day with bruises so ck and blue they wouldve been invisible in the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.


    A single name kepting up.


    Later, Ralph sighed as I nced around his newer tent. His names Blitz. I stared at him and he put his hands up. Dont ask me, thats what hes calling himself. It was fine when he wanted to just leave but I think hes starting to like what he sees.


    I was in a section of the clearing where semi-permanent structures were being set up. The very bare requirements of an actual settlement or town. It felt more like an outpost in the middle of nowhere.


    There was an actual chair for me this time around. Id been visiting Ralph fairly often and had gotten to know him better the past week. At least one of my clones would stop by daily, usually bringing in food. Or goblin tools. Either was heavily appreciated.


    Hes gonna try to take over? I thought their whole schtick was leaving the swamp?


    Theyre a bunch of thugs and criminals. A little bit of power and suddenly theyre lording it over anyone weaker. Its disgusting. He spat. Theyve taken toing here every day. Thankfully therere always a fewds nearby. Theyd steal everything if they could.


    You have to expect the worst in people, I guess, I said, disappointed. A sudden displeasing thought came to me. Actually, they might have more of a reason to stay soon. I groaned.


    Fantastic. Ralph joked. Oh and Ive got that thing ready for you. The wood you found was actually perfect. And the string it was spider silk, wasnt it? The material itself was thick, but luckily I could process it to the right tensile strength, thin it down.


    He ced the item on the table. An honest-to-gods bow. A curved, smooth wood, bent by the tension of that ursed spider silk. I had actually found another one of those caves on my survey of the area. The same horrible spiders inhabited it.


    It had been the most nerve-wracking thing Id ever done. Even if it was a clone. Just the memories alone I didnt stay any longer than I needed to. And I wouldnt have risked it otherwise. My <strong>PER</strong> and <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> guided me and I escaped without catching even a wink of the arachnids I <em>knew</em> were in there, deeper.


    How big was the spider? Ralph broke my thoughts, looking at me.


    Really big. I chuckled after a moment of surprise. I nearly died the first time.


    And you killed it? He asked, impressed. That kind of


    Not without paying in blood, I said, morose. The first time didnt go so well. This time I only went for its webs.


    Ah. He said softly. A shame. And that was all he said.


    Ralph was an older man, muscled, advanced in age, yet somehow hearty. He was wise enough to allow a moment of silence as I inspected the bow.


    I picked up the weapon. I doubted anyone among the survivors would have the technical skill to create medieval ranged weaponry. Ralphs <strong>[Craftsman] ss</strong> was invaluable. This kind of craftsmanship wasnt exactlymon knowledge.


    Its a good weapon, I tested it myself. Shoots straight, draw strength is incredibly high, anything you shoot from that will pack a punch. Ralph said. Not that I know much about bows. I made about a three dozen arrows.


    Good, I said. I need eight more of them. The bows.


    He blinked.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33


    Is this not ever strange to you? Rose asked me<em>asked Ninth</em>.


    Ninth shifted. Honestly, this is the first Ive done this. He said. Believe me when I tell you its pretty disorienting.


    My original self was testing the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong>, facing against Sixth, the only uninjured clone. It was strange setting myself against myself. I knew every movement, every thought of my opponent because it was my own.


    And yet, there was a strange mental remove Id never been aware of until now. The punch came at me and I blinked as it stopped at my nose. Simultaneously grinning at a triumph and frowning at the strangeness, one emotion on each face. Confusion apparent on both.


    I saw everything, every perspective, and yet it was at that odd mental remove. The peculiar state of my consciousness through <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> being shed light upon. Each clone was undoubtedly me, but that certainty guaranteed my independence in each of them.


    I was every clone. They were also me. It was like touching two fingers together and trying to understand what each was feeling. Or something like that. It was one of those things too convoluted to think about and easier to <em>feel</em>.


    Was that wisdom or intelligence, to understand that?


    Perhaps it was the way I could trust my hand to grab something, that same notion applied to the fight. I didnt need specifics, neither my original self nor my clone. But one never doubted their own hand. I <em>could</em> feel every muscle, every movement if I needed to. I just didnt.


    I had <em>surprised</em> myself. And two parts of me adjusted, both rising to the bizarre challenge.


    I was both David and Goliath, original and clone. I dodged as Sixth came at me. Fearlessly, aggressive, the element of surprise. Its what I wouldve done. I stepped to the side and found him there but I was ready, dodging again and bringing my sword in a wide sh up his neck.


    We both paused.


    Again. We said.


    The same exact person, but one just <em>more?</em> The result was a foregone conclusion. But loss or victory neither added nor stole from my ego. It was all me. And so we went again.


    Every swing of my sword I saw looked wrong, I corrected. Every inefficient movement of mine, I attempted to optimize.


    As David, I poked at every weakness, every opening. I moved into blind spots, exploited the uncertainty of my form. I yed every mind game I could, went for whatever would work. A handful of dirt, a reckless tackle. I approached my superior self with my death as a given, and then with my life as a treasure.


    As Goliath, I pressed every inferiority. I became overwhelming. Speed, power, and strength of body where simple technique failed. I challenged strength with strength, speed with speed when I <em>knew</em> I would win. I was cocky, confident because here my power demanded it.


    An incredible disy of coordination, even in a spar. Each bout ended in sometimes two or three moves before Sixth found a de at his throat, his arm, or his leg. An injury was all it took. As much as an underdog story was loved, it was never realistic and I proved it to myself over and over.


    Sixth defeated me <em>once</em>, a goblin knife to my wrist. It had happened in a split second, at the apex of my swing, the knife had been there. At this point, I was only slightly taxed. Sixths breath wasbored.


    Eventually, I realized that Ninth had better use for the sword in these circumstances and weapons were swapped. The utility of the sword was pointless when I had overwhelming attributes to lean on, at least in this fight. It was a better tool when actually needed.


    Again. I didnt go easy on myself.


    Sixth held the <strong>[Twilight Saber] </strong>against my neck, the deadly edge twinkling softly like the night sky. And I simultaneously stared down, gulping at the very real cold unearthly metal upon my neck.


    Again.


    Ninth watched nearby, analyzing every move as I reset. Seeing movements neither of my battling selves did, noting them down. Ninth observed the original with the same quiet intensity as Id been watching myself. Trying, as all my clones did, to discover any inconsistency in my physical expression. My <strong>Title</strong> covered any mental bids of subjugation.


    The symbiote had not made itself known to me in any perceivable manner. And yet I felt good. Good enough to put me on edge. Nothing came without a price and it felt like I was waiting for a shoe to drop that simply <em>wasnt</em>.


    How are you moving like that? Rose asked, pulling me from my focus. It must be a <strong>Skill</strong>, of some sort, obviously. But its it looks choreographed.


    Rather, it was my raw stats. I think we have to assume everythings possible.


    Its odd, talking to you here, and seeing two of you there, Rose said shaking her head. Its so uncanny. I can almost convince myself youre triplets. At least, when theres only three.


    You get used to it. I chuckled. Now imagine watching yourselfwell, enough to say its not always just strange. Its horrible, sometimes. I said softly.


    She looked at me, eyes searching. When they get beheaded you get beheaded. When they burn alive so do you. She quoted me, voice gentle anding to a conclusion. Youve seen yourself die. Youve <em>watched</em> yourself. Back then in the fire, the <strong>Field Boss</strong>. You didnt escape, did you? She said, eyes going round. When you told me you sacrificed yourself you meant that you literally


    I gave her a wan smile.


    You feel it all? She asked, wide-eyed.


    Yes. I said, staring as my original body shed with Sixth. At the spar I <em>felt </em>every inch of. Saw from the perspective of bothbatants as well as observer. Everything.


    I was both there fighting, and here as Ninth. I shifted again, that stinging sear acting up. A bright line of pain across Ninths chest, just one of the injured clones. I groaned, regretting the noise, and Rose immediately noticed.


    It took her only a second of scrutiny.


    My god. She whispered. Your chest! You need medicine! That needs to be treated! She eximed, moving my clothes to see the extent of the injury. Her eyes were focused, gauging the damage.


    Its okay, its not lethal. Not in this body. I said, giving her a pained smile.


    Youre insane. She looked up at me. Youre in pain! If I had a first aid kit I could help She said worriedly.


    In fact, in my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong> I did have some first aid kits. Pilfered from the science building before I burned it down. I wasnt keen on using it on my clones though. It wasnt worth it.


    I guess theres something I could try. I said trailing off.


    Without any particr fanfare or obvious signal, the sparring session ended and Ninth approached my original self. I stared at him.


    And he merged into me as if our steps and breath became entirely the same. That we moved in such a perfect resonance as to be one. And then, barely a heartbeatter, he stepped out of me, forking once again into individualism. Tougher than the rest of the clones.


    And importantly, Ninth was now whole. Undamaged.


    Woah. Rose said, watching quietly. Thats that. She said, looking at me. And this is normal for you?


    Its getting to be, One of me replied.


    <strong>Items</strong> didnt copy over when I used <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>, I had tried. But without a doubt, the new Ninth had an increased constitution. So why did the stat bonuses from the symbiote apply to my clone? It didnt take me long to figure out why. It was because I wasnt wearing any <strong>Item</strong>. I had gotten a new <strong>Trait</strong>.


    Because the symbiote was now part of me. I wasnt sure how to feel about that. It was a roundabout way to confirm an unsettling truth and I opted to focus on another revtion instead.


    With the boost to my statistics, I had to update the clones. They retained the physical attributes of their conception, meaning clones Sixth through Ninth, the ones I had created <em>after</em> gaining the <strong>Title </strong>anding into the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, were the only ones benefitting from the physical attributes. The others outside, after checking, were indeed more limited.


    I recognized that truth instinctually, some aspect of my <strong>ss</strong> or <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> itself lending some inherent intuition. Since my consciousness was pseudo-shared across every clone, the mental attributes were constant regardless of what they were at the time of each clones creation.


    So this is your <strong>Skill</strong>, Rose said, attentive. Is it some kind of magic? She looked at me curiously, watching my clones walk about.


    I dont think its like your <strong>[Firebolt]</strong>, if thats what youre wondering, I said contemtively. Then, after a moment. Theyre here, by the way.


    I stopped further sparring as Rickson, Parker, Seventh, and Eighth returned. The ce we had chosen to shelter in was a particrly thick copse of trees, with a single unobstructed exit such that the small area could be watched with rtive ease. It was our current base of operations.


    Rose looked at me, the original who hadnt left the clearing. Run into any trouble? She asked. <em>He sees what they see, feels what they feel. That means this Evahn should know what those ones do.</em>


    Troubling, more like. I replied to her, greeting Parker and Rickson as they returned.


    I absorbed the injured Seventh and Eighth, the motion so smooth it looked as if they simply stepped <em>through</em> me. And it was with the addition of them that I realized this particr interaction didnte without a cost.


    I felt a fraction of the injuries. No, I <em>recieved </em>a fraction of them. I pulled my clothes forward and nced down my chest. A shallow cut across it. A small wound in my arm. My shoulder was stinging in a circle, the shape of a bite mark. All diminished versions of the injuries Ninth, Eighth, and Seventh sustained, respectively.


    If I had a hunch, it was that the fraction was an even ninth of each injury. The exact number of my clones. I winced, the pain lesser overall though more consequential. This was the cost of absorbing an injured clone.


    It was also the first time I felt some small fatigue from using the <strong>[Never Alone]</strong><strong>Skill</strong> in such quick session. Both absorbing and creating.


    I sat on a log, rummaging through my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong> and took out a first aid kit. Then I pulled my jacket and shirt off as two my clones broke away to assist. They popped open the kit, inspected the unfamiliar contents for a moment, before simply starting unprompted.


    I held my arms up as Sixth and Seventh bandaged my chest and arm, sterilizing and applying antibacterial ointment. I closed my eyes as my shoulder was wrapped, the stinging across my wounds subsiding minutely. It itched and my movements were stiff, but it was better.


    Meanwhile, Parker and Rickson updated Rose on what they had found. Naturally, I already knew the result of their scouting since two of me had been there. Technically, all three of us were updating Rose.


    We had found a ruin.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34


    My eyes glided across an otherworldly scene of modern man in the close spaces of a ruin framed by a forest tinged blue. A space removed and alien, washed with moonlight.


    Sixths <strong>[Twilight Saber] </strong>glinted in the twilight, sleek with scarlet blood. A stark contrast against the blue-green backdrop of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>. My clones had wordlessly taken to the front without anyint. They were, after all, expendable.


    It was a good thing that they did. The monsters here were thicker in number. A degree more dangerous.


    The trap we had found was a rather conspicuous ruin, with tall walls in a state of disrepair with a single broken stone gate. In fairness, it was so obvious a trap as to instead be a challenge. Like we had been prompted by the <strong>[Sleepywood] </strong>itself to dare try it.


    I saw them as shadows first, more fluid, deeper than any others. A minute difference in their shade of ck against the shadows of the ruins. They clung to the walls of what mightve been a small fort or keep, now covered in blue moss and rubble.


    Ifrits, Rickson called out before me. It was his <strong>[Search]</strong> that had initially brought us here. A vague confirmation of something of immense interest, ording to him. Apparently, his particr <strong>Skill</strong> had a reliance on <strong>PER</strong>, <strong>WIS</strong>, and <strong>INT</strong>. In the shadows.


    His <strong>PER</strong> attribute was as high, if not higher than my own after these days leveling.


    Get ready, Parker said, just as a shadow shot forward from the walls. The edge of the light from his <strong>[Glow Pendant]</strong> dissuaded the ifrits incorporeal form. Instead, he blocked another one of the creatures slipping out from a shadow nearby.


    Sixth stabbed the squirming shadow, a violent hiss escaping the pierced ground. Smoke rose up from the edge of the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong>, like the barest edge of a ray of sun. Burning. The ifrit crawled out of the shadow, face twisted in anger.


    <strong>[Firebolt]</strong>, Rose voiced beside me. And the bolt of me was brighter than I remembered. It exploded on another shadow snaking towards one of my other clones.


    Everyone had at least one offensive or defensive <strong>Item</strong> now, if minor. Parker turned around as a clone warned him of an ifrit, striking the creature in the chest with a pair of chitinous gauntlets that hade from defeating a gloaming scythe. My clone moved in tandem, using an ill-fashioned wooden spear to stab forward between his strikes. It was enough to draw blood and eventually its death.


    Rickson had two clones supporting him, taking on another ifrit. It emerged from a shadow nearby but Rickson and my clones were ready for it, stabbing it with makeshift spears. I wouldve been happy with Ralphs bows but this would do in the meantime. Without real weapons Ricksons idea of spears was ideal.


    An ifrit appeared behind Rose, wing its way from her shadow. My eyes went wide as <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> prompted me. Rose behind


    She whirled around. A ck w fell, apanied by smiling teethand rebounded off a barrier of shadow. The ifrit recoiled as Roses <strong>[Coolshade Bracelet]</strong> twinkled. It was enough of a distraction for me to nt my own spear into its neck, driving it to the ground. It struggled, unholy screams filling the quiet woods.


    Its eyes shot to me, a spark of malicious intelligence


    I twisted the weapon, killing it immediately. ck blood dribbled down and I took a breath, looking around. Three ifrit corpses and no rewards forting. And this was just the outside.


    So far everything had been handled as best as we couldve. No injuries, no freezing up, no costly mistakes. Just enough to learn. These days, we were working well as a team. My clones acted as a kind of multifunctional glue, filling every role unmanned, or covering every mistake they could.


    These werent here when we scouted the ce earlier. Parker frowned, kicking an ifrit corpse. One which had been pummeled to the ground after being stabbed down.


    We never got this close before, Rickson said, studying the ruins. He didnt wear his sses anymore, theyd broken a while ago and he imed he could actually see better without them now. They mightve seen us and went into hiding.


    Its dangerous. Parker sighed. The cautious demeanor shed with the ck blood stter across his face. He looked like a mess but his eyes were constant, unyielding.


    Its always dangerous. Rose smiled. She perhaps had the same dose of reality as I did. The apocalypse weighed on her, drained the light from her eyes, but propped up her back. Steeled the nerves.


    Rickson shuffled, oddly more confident without the sses. Its something incredibly valuable. He said inly. Thats all Ill add. But I could see the eagerness in his posture.


    Its alright, Ill lead, I said, gesturing to my clones.


    And we entered the ruins, stepping through a gateway that was missing its arch. Buildings stood the test of time, some reduced to empty space, others standing tall, the majority between either state. There were fading symbols on every inch of stone, any pattern or meaning lost to the rubble.


    A bright sh of <em>something</em> was our only warning against our enemy. Ahead of us, Seventh was missing an arm, blinking at the limb that had been instantly cauterized. He screamed and I powered through the pain to stare at something I could only describe as a ghost.


    If it were made of sunlight.


    They stepped between rays of twilight in some kind of inverted version of the ifrits movement. And they had weapons, albeit made of the same sunlight. A sword and shield, a spear. ded weaponry made from the sun, bright enough to blind our adjusted eyes.


    Run! I yelled, immediately recognizing a new foe.


    Watch out Rose! Parker grabbed Rose as her <strong>[Coolshade Bracelet]</strong> flickered again, rebounding a sword strike made of sunlight.


    Rickson ran after them, calling out ahead. There! He yelled. That building! It was one of the only ones still intact.


    I was right behind him. One of them swooped down with a scream like a banshee and I yanked Rickson out of the way, into the shadow of the building, staring at the creature.


    Human features, twisted by something. Ephemeral, as if made from light itself. It hesitated as we tensed, running, but it didnt move. And I slowed looking at it, then at the border of the buildings shadow. Then it screamed and flew off.


    I lingered but followed Rickson into the building.


    What are they? Parker asked, looking through a stone window. He was grimacing, treating a burn across his arm. Their sword burned me.


    Rickson was out of breath. The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> is a haven for creatures of night and dawn. He said, repeating the description of the <strong>Dungeon</strong>. Im betting those are the creatures of the dawn. But damn. He finished, slumping.


    They looked like ghosts, Rose said, ncing out the window. Everyone was in slight shock, but for better or worse, they were used to these situations now.


    Evahn, you okay? Parker asked me. I saw they took an arm.


    Ill be fine, I replied wincing, idly rubbing the phantom pain of a missing arm. We have a bigger problem.


    Eighth blinked as his spear went <em>through</em> the creature. It rushed down, moving freely in the twilight dimness, and swung for him again. He dodged, their movements widely projected.


    It flew right into Ninths fistand phased through it.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35


    From what Ive gathered, most <strong>Skills</strong> are affected in some way by the attributes. Rickson was telling us, looking out the buildings windows. The group had taken to specting about the system and theorizing how it might function in our free time.


    The structure used to be some kind of study or warehouse. There were more of those faint symbols on the stone. Tables strewn with diagrams, scrolls, and odd containers. Shelves full of oddities and trinkets, chests and trunks ced against the walls.


    Wed already been here long enough to confirm rtive safety.


    <strong>[Power Strike]</strong> uses my <strong>STR</strong> and multiplies it by a function of my physical attributes.  Parker supplied, looking around the building.


    That might lend credence to the careful allocation of <strong>Stat Points</strong>, Rickson replied. Beyond using them for just the raw effects, I wouldnt mind being physically strong, but the <strong>[Seeker]</strong><strong>ss</strong> revolves around reconnaissance and speed. The <strong>Skills</strong> I have benefit from certain attributes.


    Thats my experience too, I said, distracted.


    I swiped my finger across the table,ing away with dust. Then my eyes alighted on the diagrams, tracing odd patterns. A browned scroll, pinned t, detailing some strange system of symbols. Words in anguage I didntprehend.


    Rose spoke nearby. I can see them. She said calmly. Theyre noting close to the buildings. Theyre fighting, in the middle. She nced at me and I knew why.


    Parker looked up, Evahn, how about your clones?


    I answered without turning. Physical attacks dont work on them. The sabers able to cut them and Roses <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> did <em>some </em>damage. Theyre staying away from patches of deep shadow like the ones the buildings cast. As for my clones


    Sixth rolled forward, dodging the swooping ghost without ncing back. The <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong> flicked outward and I beheaded one of them, their body evaporating as the de passed through their neck, an edge of sharp shadow.


    Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth watched from the sidelines, monitoring the fighting and surveying the area. Sixth fought.


    I stepped forward, twirling with my de, aware of three other ghosts. They flickered in the twilight, like some optical illusion. One charged at me with a sword of his own, the one that had delimbed Seventh. I red, watching every movement.


    There was no cadence to his step, no indicator of attack. He flickered, then <em>rushed</em> forward, gliding across the air with no respect to the ground. He still swung though. And the deep shadowed edge of my saber caught his sword.


    The ghost screamed as my de rode up his sword with the ringing noise of burning sunlight and beheaded him. It was the third or fourth one that I had killed.


    Then I got stabbed in the back, burning pain shooting through my chest. <em>Literally</em> through my chest. I turned and thrust my own sword into my enemy, the ghost screamed, jerking away. Even <em>knowing</em> where the enemy was, I was too slow. They were faster, more agile, a difference in speed and number my sheer awareness couldnt ovee.


    It was the first time I could so clearly watch a clone die. Sixth, after some time, degenerated into nothing, the same effect of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> only as if winking out of existence instead ofing into it. The other clones moved


    Back in the building, I found Rose ncing at me worried. I was bracing myself against the table and clutching my heart. I took a breath as my other clones worked to recover the saber. Seventh first, as he was already missing an arm.


    The conversation continued as part of me died.


    Theyre the opposite of the ifrits, Parker grunted, arm resting on his knee. He nced at his gauntlets, a faint glow to them. I should be able to hit them with these, then.


    Does it have an effect to do with darkness? Rose asked curiously.


    Imbued with shadow and sunlight. He replied. My strikes were burning the ifrits earlier.


    Then it should work like my saber, I responded, slightly depleted. That still leaves us with embarrassingly little to retaliate with. And those thingse in numbers. I said gravely.


    It might be safer to leave, Parker said after a moment.


    That same danger is what makes us level. Rickson yed the other side. But yeah, we might want to cash out. Whatevers in the middle of this ce is protected and we dont really have a reliable way to fight ghosts made of literal sunlight.


    Parker nced out the window. Are we leaving the <strong>Dungeon</strong>? He asked simply.


    I nced around. Everyone here wanted to stay as long as possible, to be stronger. But there was mental fatigue in the group that I saw in their postures. A weariness stemming from constant alertness.


    It was in the way Parkers breaths came. The bags under Ricksons eyes. The slouch and weight to Roses posture. I felt better than I had any right to. These people didnt have my constitution or levels.


    Well head back tomorrow. Weve stayed here long enough. I looked at Rickson. Whatevers here isnt worth out trouble, not as we are. He nodded without argument.


    There was some relief in that, knowing we were leaving. I took the first watch that night, Eighth was the only clone that returned, handing me the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong>. Every other clone had died. My mind shed to images of death, searing wounds and cauterized flesh. The sweet smell of burning meat.


    I shook my head and renewed the clones, feeling that faint drain of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> before I fell asleep. I slumbered fitfully, but I managed.


    The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> didnt <em>exactly</em> have a day and night cycle, just varying degrees of twilight. One where dawn reigned, brightening the surroundings, and one where dusk dominated, throwing the forest in more shadow than normal. Neither far from the other.


    I woke up and found everyone more or less awake, Rickson and Rose inspecting the room.


    The clones had been quietly surveying the ruins in my sleep, watching each other move, acting as lookouts for an incredibly efficient one-man scouting party. Going as far as they could out of in curiosity. I hadnt seen anything that aligned with Ricksons <strong>[Search]</strong>.


    Morning, Rickson said, catching me wake up. Then he looked around. Its weird, the entire existence of these ruins implies some kind of civilization <em>within</em> the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>. At least, some history to the <strong>Dungeon</strong> itself, which is strange.


    Rose yawned. I thought this ce was just entirely removed from Earth.


    I think it is, Rickson replied. This stuff is alien. Rather, not human made. He said, picking up a scroll. But that means this ce is static.


    I stretched, minding to speed. Only more reason to treat the system as an unknown, I said, waking up. Is Parker awake?


    Hes outside, Rose responded. We went through the ce, scavenging. Its all literature or the like, nothing useful.


    Right, I said, distracted.


    I got up and walked over, feeling something faint. It took me a few minutes of moving through the area before I realized it was that particr aspect of <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> acting up.


    <strong>Skill: [Solos Instinct]</strong>


    <strong>You have an innate sense of your immediate surroundings. An uncanny awareness of potential harm, opportunity, and the world around you.</strong>


    Opportunity. I took a moment, picking through the shelves until I found a single tome. It didnt appear to me as an <strong>Item</strong> or anything like that. It was just a book. But to my senses, it was like a lighthouse if I focused.


    I pulled it off the shelf, took a look at it, and found it was in that unintelligiblenguage. I could almost swear the symbols were movings. I rubbed my chin and put it in my bag.


    Rose and Rickson were staring at me. What? It might be worthwhile.


    Rickson chuckled. I didnt say anything.


    Me neither, Rose smiled, eyeing the book. Why that one? She asked.


    Just a hunch, I said, looking out the building. Dim twilight, like every other day so far. Everything was awash in moonlight, the world in a palette of grey-blue.


    Our conversation was cut short. Parker walked through the door. Hey, are we ready? I dont see a single one of them, we could leave right now. My clones confirmed that.


    We were out the door within minutes, feet light as we swept through the ruins, tracing our path back. Retreating from danger, clones above as overwatch, eyeing the twilight beams. The bright ghosts werent the only danger, as we spotted nightmare ifrits roaming around the ruins, along with other monsters.


    We dealt with them easily, using our spears to keep them at bay, and the clones as an early warning system. They followed us out. But nothing was watching their backs.


    Outside the ruins, I turned around, suddenly stopping. The cold hand of fear grabbed my spine.


    Evahn? Whats wrong? Rose asked me. The relief in her posture froze as she looked at me.


    What the hell? I said, eyes wide. My arms went limp, my face was pale.


    What is it? Rickson asked, pulling me forward. We cant waste time here! Lets go!


    All the clones are dead, I said bluntly. Somethings following us.


    I had just died four times, and it had been the most painless Id ever felt. Somehow, that made it worse.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36


    <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> warned me just a moment before the ground exploded and the world was thrown to dust. My head snapped back and something ripped at my flesh, tearing a scream from my throat.


    I heard shouting faintly, as my head lolled. It took me two seconds to realize my hearing was shot. Two more to realize I was on the ground. I forced my eyes open, seeing double vision. Parker was dragging me away, blood dripping down his forehead. His mouth was open, veins bulging, yelling and I barely heard it.


    I followed his gaze and found Rickson racing, scrambling, amidst showering soil and debris. Rose stumbled backward, <strong>[Coolshade Bracelet]</strong> shing, a veil of shadow around her. Stone fell from the sky. Small bursts of fire erupted behind them and I stared at Roses target. Arge shining figure behind, struggling at the border of the ruins. Rose was unleashing everything she had. I saw Rickson throw away his spear.


    I kicked out, trying to master my limbs. Parkers gaze shot to me, seeing my lucidness. My eyes were locked on the enemy. A being of pure moonlight. Only this creature was no ghost, it looked solid. Like dawn and dusk made flesh, an organic being of twilight.


    <strong>Area Boss: [Twilight Elemental]</strong>


    <strong>A being of twilight. A creature that exists between dusk and dawn, equilibrium in the moonlight. Caught between the everbright and evershade, its form is constantly shifting, like the phases of the moon.</strong>


    Another boss.


    It shone in mute reflective radiance, a swarm of sunlight ghosts surrounding it. Its form was fluid, flickering between impressions ofrge beings. Monsters, creatures, beasts, and figures I couldnt name. The only thing static was its size, and it was regrettably the size of arge van.


    It paused, organic twilight shifting into the form of some gigantic lizard. A pale blue pallor, the grey of the moon. An intense shining


    I heard the <em>vibration</em> from Parkers yell as he hurled me toward the treeline. I rebounded off the ground, rolling to a stop. And then the ground exploded again and the force pressed me to the floor, scraping me across it like the crash of a wave.


    I was dazed, breathing hard. My back was against a tree trunk, a handful of thinner trees near the treelinepletely splintered. Parkery nearby, unconscious, bleeding. I stared down at my body as Rickson and Rose slid to a stop nearby, getting a shoulder under each of us.


    I was a mess. It was the most bloody Id been. The pain engulfed me. Lances of fire rushed down the flesh of my torso. It didnt burn like fire, it was sharper, colder. Somehow softer than frostbite. No less intense.


    My ears popped and I realized Rose was talking to me. My hearing was back. okay? <em>Evahn</em>, can you hear me? There was a roar in the distance, an answering surge of ghostly wails. Rickson, I dont think he can walk!


    I tried to speak but a headache assaulted me. A wave of vertigo. A concussion, I thought, idly.


    Rickson had Parkers arm over his shoulder. Theres no time, Rose! Just pull him the best you can. Its a damn <strong>Area Boss</strong>! That things guarding whatever the hell is in those ruins. We need to leave the <strong>Dungeon</strong>!


    Oh my god, oh my god. Rose was panicking, head snapping back to the ruins.


    He was in the middle of the st. That thing shot a <emser beam</em> at him. Im surprised hes even alive. Rickson was staring backward too, shaking, adjusting Parker on his back. Parker was on the edge and look at him. Fuck.


    I felt my world turn upside down and I almost threw up. Okay, I got him. Hes lighter than I thought hed be. Came Roses voice, practically in my ear.


    I heard Rickons shaky breath. Alright, here goes. <strong>[Safest Route]</strong>. Follow me, stay close!


    I cked out for a few minutes because the next thing I knew we were moving. I hadnt been this close to death since the very first day of the apocalypse. I closed my eyes and wrapped myself in my mind, isting myself from the physical unpleasantness, and regarded it with clinical eyes.


    I had taken a hit that shouldve killed me. That was immediately obvious. Then, I wouldve died if Parker hadnt thrown me from the <em>second</em> st. My bones werent broken, but my flesh suffered from those odd burns. I let the pain pass through my mental filter, a sharp pain more than a stinging heat, yet with the characteristic breadth of some kind of nerve damage.


    I floated away from that. Towards something else. Something new.


    Something helping me recover. To say it was a foreign entity was intuitively wrong. It was a part of me, like an addition to the whole, no less valid than any of my limbs. Only my symbiote was specialized in one thing only, recovery.


    It had been working on the injuries I sustained from previously absorbing the clones. Minor damages, all things considered. And under the bandages and first aid efforts, those wounds were already healing.


    But now I could feel its deliberate motions, the movement of my bodys resources. A vague weakness came over me, fueled by energy sourced from healthier parts of my body. I wondered how much of this was the symbiote and how much were the raw effects of <strong>CON</strong>.


    I had 27 points in the attribute. A measure of hardiness, endurance, and health. A rough understanding of the attribute. Every point helped me now. The worst part was I couldnt rely on my clones, anything I made right now would be just as useless as I was. And they had all instantly died back at the ruins.


    I could only focus on recovering. And so I watched the symbiote, lost to consciousness.


    It felt like tendrils of warmth suffusing my body. I couldnt tell what form my symbiote took within me, whether it spread across my body like some oveidwork, if it moved within me, or if it was simply diffused into my flesh and bloodstream. Or if it did something else entirely.


    I could experience its effects. The jolt of fear and pain Id felt had triggered it, I think. It was working overdrive, taking my body into its own hands and molding my recovery. The pain noticeably lessened after the first couple of hours.


    Eventually, I found the strength to open my eyes. It was dim, which was expected. I found Rose nearby, there was a first aid kit between me and Parker. <em>My </em>first aid kit. I vaguely recall her apologizing in advance.


    She was tending to Parker so I rested back, staring at the stars. Iughed a little, then winced, immediately drawing Roses attention.


    Evahn! Dont move, youve got burns all over. She said concerned. Why are youughing?


    No reason, I said lightly. Its just a good reminder, I guess. That death is just around the corner. For anyone.


    I used your first aid kit, sorry about that, Rose said, checking my bandages. I felt like a mummy.


    I know, I replied. Hows Parker? Is he?


    Hes fine. Less damage than you, fortunately. I think he has some kind of <strong>Skill</strong> to mitigate damage. His bodys tougher than it should be. She nced at me, predicting my next question. Ricksons making sure its not following us.


    What the hell was it? I groaned, trying to move.


    A <strong>[Twilight Elemental]</strong>, whatever that means. AndI said <em>dont move</em>. Rose chided me. Youre gonna make it worse. Just lie down, Evahn. She eyed me. It was the right move leaving. Were not equipped to face an <strong>Area Boss</strong>, not if its anything remotely as dangerous as the rootmother. Stay still!


    Im sorry. I just I feel blind. I finishedmely, stilling.


    A single perspective in an unknown ce. This wasnt how I operated. This feeling of exposure, of not knowing my surroundings. Was this how everyone had been navigating the <strong>Dungeon</strong>? It was sobering.


    If I stay in ce too long I trailed off, mind shing back to the science building. To the spider. To Horace in the hallway


    Rx Evahn. A hand pressed against my chest, forcing my breath to slow. Calm your breathing. Its just another day in hell. I found Rose giving me a small grin. Well all get through it.


    I took a deep inhale and heard the rustling before I saw it. I tensed, then immediately rxed.


    Rickson broke into the camp silently, his words came softly and direct. Its sticking to the ruins. We definitely woke something up. He said without preamble. He saw me awake and nodded to me.


    Any idea what happened? I asked him, giving up on propping myself up.


    We have to have woken it up somehow. He said. It couldve just been our presence that triggered it. Maybe the ghosts we killed.


    It''s dangerous, Rose said.


    Some kind of shapeshifting moon beast more than Id consider an elemental, Rickson nodded. Is what I <em>would </em>say if that didnt imply a werewolf. He sighed. Its not a normal monster thats for sure, if anything weve fought so far even constitutes normal. Im convinced it''s guarding whatever valuables are in that ruin.


    Rickson gave Rose a pained look and I extended that sense of my mind, curious. <strong>[Telepathy]</strong>. I think it was easier now that Id gotten ustomed to the faint frequency of other minds. Before it had been overwhelming but here with so few people Id had enough time to practice some measure of precision when perceiving the minds of others.


    I heard his internal monologue. <em>How are we supposed to leave like this? I might be able to make it out myself, but Rose and the rest not injured like that. If I went for help, could Rose manage? No, I cant leave them, not like this.</em>


    The thought of actually abandoning the group never crossed his mind, only leaving for help. Not that it had <em>never</em> crossed his mind, I couldnt always be listening. But I didnt peg anyone in this group as the type to do that.


    Can they move? He asked Rose.


    I can I gasped, reclining back.


    She frowned at me. Not Evahn, at least. She grimaced and I focused on her. Not any time soon. <em>If we run into anything like this itll be bad. I could handle maybe one or two enemies, depending. Rickson doesnt havebat capabilities other than the spear and he doesnt even have that anymore.</em>


    The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> was only sleepy if one convinced themself it was. There were creatures roaming the twilight everywhere, not enough for constant harassment, but enough that any lull in alertness would lead to a potentially fatal encounter.


    It was only a matter of time before something stumbled upon us. That quiet, unspoken understanding slowly sunk in and a mood to match the twilight gloom fell over the camp.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37


    I faded in and out of consciousness. General weakness and the natural desire of the body to recover forced me to sleep, to rest. When my original conscious slept, everything else seemed like a dream. Stark points of realism, lucid dreaming with the vague awareness everything I did was somehow real.


    Because it was, actually.


    I lowered the bow, watching the arrow quiver in the wood. Ten feet from my wooden target. I frowned, adjusted, and loosed another arrow. The whistling projectile sunk into the gnarled wood of a nearby root. Closer.


    I nodded, readjusting the way I held the bow and calcted the arc.


    Elsewhere, I harvested edibles. Berries and fruits growing on the wayside of enormous roots. The swamp was bountiful if one knew where to look. Id cultivated some manner of goodwill by bringing foodstuffs from the swamp, showing whoever would listen what was edible and what was not.


    I was also within the camps, watching for the aggressive recruiters. Gary, Jack, and the rest had since returned, their presence somewhat stifling any action on the mysterious Blitzs part. Rumors about the <strong>Dungeon</strong> have been spreading, met with eagerness, fear, and skepticism of equal parts.


    Some people <em>had</em> entered. No one had stopped them, only warned them of the dangers. The timing was such that I wouldve seen them days ago. It led me to believe they entered an entirely different <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, or at least a faraway part of it.


    Even if there had even been anyone equipped for a rescue, it looked like it was unfeasible. Let alone the obstacle of convincing any group of people I somehow <em>knew</em> there were people in peril within the most hazardous topic of talk around. No one would be willing, not voluntarily.


    My perspective shifted. I was above, carving a small ce high in the canopy to dwell. More exposed, yes, but I hoped the altitude would deter most dangers. It afforded me an overwatch of the entire clearing. I could pinpoint each of myselves, the harvester to the north, the archer among the semi-permanent buildings, and the observer nearer to the crowds mingling around the <strong>Dungeon</strong> and the ruins of the skyscraper. Most people were still scared to approach.


    Likewise, with a nce upward and towards the looming trees of the swamp, I could spot myself there, barely a speck among the canopy. Watching.


    It was a great way to monitor how the conglomeration of survivors moved. Here, I could see distinct groups, trace with my finger the implicit territories eachmanded. See the crowds ebb and flow, the foolish or brave that tested the edges of the swamp. The few who regrly left and returned. Those who didnt.


    It all happened at a strange remove. A certain awareness of my person that wasnt exactly grasping the danger of my original body, or at least, one that didnt <em>feel </em>it. An objective worry and logical understanding, but no emotionalponent. Efficient but not personal. Right until


    I opened my eyes to dull pains, staring at a dim twilight sky. I groaned, trying to move my body. Stiff. I was covered in camouge. Leaves and branches, really. Enough that I looked like a bush. Why?


    I didnt immediately see Rose or Rickson, but it didnt take me long to realize Parker was nearby. He was nketed simr to me, both of us stashed deep in the brush. My physical senses were not the only ones I had at my disposal, however.


    With constant proximity to others in the <strong>Dungeon</strong>, I managed a working understanding of telepathic perception uninhibited by the chaotic nature of hundreds of minds. I reached out with that perception, extending my senses toward that mental frequency, scanning for the cognitive buzzing Ide to know as other intellects. The working minds of something thinking.


    I found them quite easily actually. My gaze followed my mental senses and I saw they were hidden, not too far from where Parker and I were camouged. They were hiding which immediately rang rm bells.


    <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> kicked in, everything crystalizing as I came to a sudden unpleasant certainty. It was in the air, a heaviness. A tangible certainty as much as a presence. The <strong>Area Boss</strong>. It had followed us.


    Minutes passed. Eternity. Not a single movement. Until


    A debilitating sense of dread and danger. I froze, daring to turn my head, ever so slightly. Motion. And then a giant paw made of moonlight descended on the space near my hiding spot. Slow, soft, but with weight enough topact the very dirt itnded on. Quiet.


    I saw Parker, awake and staring at me, between the passing legs of a creaturerger at the shoulder than I was tall. Both of us were deathly silent, lest any noise draw its attention. His eyes were hard as the <strong>[Twilight Elemntal] </strong>passed through the shrubbery, like a phantom bereft of noise.


    A shifting figure of moonlight. A beast of twilight, fluid between forms that flickered between light and shadow. Sometimes two-legged, other times four-legged, oftentimes caught between. Humanoid, bestial, feathered, scaled. Dynamic, every form flowing into the next, creating a smooth impossible movement across the grass.


    Hunting.


    It stopped, exactly between all four of us, <em>too perfectly</em> at our center. Cocking its head, staring at the moon, then slowly dropping its gaze towards the trees. Uncanny and alien, a creature of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>. Not so much seeing anything, but sensing


    Its head snapped right, form shifting to somethingpletely new. Its mouth opened, silver light shining from its maw. Screams. Rickson was already diving away. A <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> exploded across its face, jerking its aim to the side.


    An entire tree was obliterated. Wood, splinters, and soil exploded, raining. I saw Rickson get thrown to the side. I propped myself up on the trunk, getting to my feet, shaking off the camouge. I could move, <em>painfully</em>, but I could move.


    The roar threatened to deafen my already ringing ears. More silver light, I went for Parker as my other hands grabbed my <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong>, clones forming as I moved.


    It followed us. Parker grimaced once I found my way to his side.


    I worked to get his arm over me, situating his weight. God, we need to get out of this fucking <strong>Dungeon</strong>. I cursed.


    We cant leave them


    Im not, I assured him.


    And Sixth stabbed the creatures nk, de hissing as it entered the moonlit flesh. The elemental screeched, its entire body jerking.


    Sixth ducked as Seventh ran past, seeing the blow as Seventh did. The creature glowed with silver light, head tracking thetter clone. Eighth whacked it with a branch. It hissed and the w that eviscerated Eighth came too fast to track, let alone react.


    It struggled to reach Sixth, shifting to strange forms, before a tentacle eventually found its way around Sixths throat. Ninth dashed forward, grabbing the dropped saber, and shed the tentacled moonlight, releasing the former clone.


    Ninth hacked and shed at the creatures nk, glittering pale blood seeping into the ground. Seventh found Rickson unconscious, bleeding. Rose nearby.


    Evahn! She yelled tears in her eyes, casting <strong>[Firebolts]</strong>. It crashed against the iling creature, eliciting violent thrashing, born of frustration and pain. Youre awake! Youre awake She repeated, eyes wide, sparkling in the twilight.


    Rose! Seventh called, scrambling behind the trunk Rickson had been dragged to. Its alright! Lets get him out of here. I immediately got under him, trying to move him. Quickly now!


    She nodded, wasting no time even under pressure. <strong>[Lesser Shield]</strong>! She mumbled. And I felt something insubstantial pass over me and Rickson. That was new. We dont even know the way back! Ricksons the one who


    Ive got a good memory. I interrupted her. Lets go!


    Sixth and Ninth, and now another Eighth harried the beast. Physical attacks worked, to an extent, but the only real damage came from the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong> and Roses <strong>[Firebolt]</strong>. And even then, it was minute.


    This was a creature that sheer stats couldnt match. I needed a weapon, a <strong>Skill</strong>, <em>anything</em> than just bodies to throw against it. An enemy that could kill me instantly if my attentionpsed.


    Seventh met up with my original self and Parker, Rose, and Rickson in tow. What even happened? I asked.


    Rickson was clearing our tracks and he ran back to camp, telling me something was following. We thought it was roaming the area but it was somehow heading <em>straight </em>for us. We picked up the pace for hours, I dont know. Ricksons <strong>Skills</strong> We couldnt run, our best bet was to hide and both of you were unconscious. She said breathlessly, grimacing. The rest


    It was then I noticed the dark bags under her eyes. The fatigue etched into her posture, her expression, and every other inch of her. How long had I been asleep? Something was wrong. How long had we


    The beast screamed and I was at least thankful it killed fast. I groaned, dizzy. I checked my status, stared at the precious stat points, and dumped them across my physical stats. The dizziness receded, my vision became sharper, and I stared backward.


    I stepped away from the new Sixth, who immediately went to support Rickson. Fatigue fell over me, more than my weary body, one born from excessive usage of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>.


    Eighth and Ninth died too, a st of silver energy that burned for a single moment of terrible agony. I made them again, the new clones forking to my left and right, stepping away from the original. And then, I sent myself to die.


    Rose and Parker saw them start running, wordlessly, two more Evahns into the fray. <em>Toward</em> the beast, who in its frenzy seemed to have lost our position. I could still see it through the treeline. Too close forfort. The clones had their task.


    They looked at me in askance. A question on Roses face, the answer in Parkers set jaw.


    Distractions, The man said, making a solemn face. I nodded, ncing toward the <strong>Area Boss</strong>.


    Rickson said we were close to the exit, Rose said, exhausted.


    I thought I recognized where we were. The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> wasntpletely monotonous. There were enough wispy trees, flower beds, odd nts, or other stone formations to be noted asndmarks. We were not far at all.


    I stared at Rose, something not adding up. We were further along than we should be. How long were we unconscious? I asked, gaze heavy.


    She slumped. Two days. She said, tearing up. My heart froze as it all came crashing down. The perspectives of my clones outside the <strong>Dungeon</strong>, the timeline asserting itself. Two days. She repeated.


    Parker inhaled. Whatthats


    I unwrapped a bandage over my arm, slowly, with mounting dread. Where burns should be. And found pink flesh, bruises that were in the process of healing. Aches and dull pain, scabbing, where injury and wounds shouldve been fresh and stinging.


    Alone. Theyd done it alone, for <em>two whole days</em>. Protecting two unconscious people? They couldve abandoned us. They <em>shouldve</em>. I stared at Rickson, limp, and found his body entirely rxed, a certain restful peace on his face, breathing lightly. Bags under his eyes too.


    Parker, can you stand? I asked, gazing at Rose and Rickson. These two fools.


    He took to his own feet and I got a look at his injuries. He hadnt healed as much as I had, nowhere close, but hed been better off from the start. He stared at me with determination, tense, but standing.


    I nodded. With my clones, we could do it.


    Onest stretch, Rose. After that, Ill build you a damn bed and the whole house with it. You <em>and</em> Rickson.


    The moment we started running, our moonlight adversary howled into the gloom.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38


    The howl was piercing. It shook bone and rattled the twilight sky. A shimmering of light in the air, a nket of <em>something</em> falling over the forest. The woods became altogether dimmer, sinking <em>deeper</em> into that equilibrium of light and shadow.


    Suddenly <em>awake</em>.


    The first gloaming scythe appeared from the treeline, peeling away from its natural mottleda <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> mmed into it, setting it on fire. Stronger and brighter than I remembered. Hotter. It practically exploded.


    That was just the first. A slew of enemies, as if lethargic, began to converge. I spotted them throughout the treeline, gloom tigers, scythes, moving cautiously. Sunlight wraiths flickering like beacons between the trees, wailing, causing creatures of the dark to flinch and those of the light to gather.


    Shadows lengthened as we were pursued. The entire woods under a richer twilight, a stark contrast between dawn and dusk. The odd flora of the forest seemed more vibrant, seeming to drink in the moonlight, thriving.


    Our hurried pace trampled them, our rushed feet loud among the muted noise. It wasnt so much that it was silent, but rather that a pregnant <em>quiet</em> filled the air. The sound of breathing, footsteps, and the rustling of our passing was too loud.


    We had nothing. No weapons, no way to fight beyond an exhausted Rose and an injured Parker. I could handle a random stray but that wasnt realistic for the horde of enemies we faced.


    So we ran. Dodging between an enclosing of enemies only I could see. A suffocating nket of monsters, born to the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, lying in wait. Creeping up on us. Someone less aware wouldve led us right into the poised six-legged tigers prowling the canopy, the ded creatures pressed against the trunks, the lesser creatures and hazards, obstacles in our path.


    The pace we set was faster than wed normally dare. We didnt have a choice.


    The roar was like a physical thing, a pressure on our backs. It sent creatures in the canopy into a frenzy, winged figures taking to the sky, higher than the tops of the trees. Things answered back, alien sounds, the uncanny noisemaking of denizens of a silent forest.


    My back itched and I eyed the shadow rushing to me. The ifrit didnt even have time to fully emerge from its shadow before my foot collided with its face, snapping its neck. Id learned that was their most vulnerable. A clone broke away and forced another one back with his leg, releasing Rose and Rickson from danger.


    Rose turned, readying her magic.


    Save your strength! I told her, faring much better than her. She was dead on her feet, but with dogged determination. She didnt even bother to respond, only listened, pulling away.


    Watch out! Parker yelled, and his fist collided with a screaming ghost of sunlight. A flicker of a shadow upon his gauntlets made manifest. Enough to touch the ephemeral nature of the wraith. Were not outrunning these, Evahn!


    We have to! I yelled back, looking up.


    A tiger leapt from the canopy but I was ready. Amon foe, dangerous, and much more unsettling than ones normal idea of a tiger. I was faster than it was, ready for its attack. So when it fell upon me, I was already shifting, and my elbow cracked its skull. It fell to the floor limp.


    Parker was there. <strong>[Power Strike]</strong>. Its head exploded in blue blood.


    I looked at Rose, helping Rickson along with Sixth. Seventh caught back up to us. She was too tired, I grimaced. Let me take him, Rose. Just stay on your feet.


    We never had a moment to rest. The forest leaned on us, breathing down our necks. Enraged. Why had the thing left the ruins? It was sending everything that heard its roars into a frenzy. Eighth and Ninth tracked it, grabbing the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong> and running.


    It was bleeding silver light, a trail of silver buds where its life flowed. Blossoming flowers reaching towards the twilight. The clones harvested them curiously, a swish of the saberting some cuttings.


    Eighth and Ninth followed the creature, tracking its progress. It had a slow, strange pace. Flowing into forms, taking a number of steps, before the moonlight shifted and it was walking between the trees as something else, enraged.


    It was faster than we were. The two clones werent undetected but both had enough independent movement to stay out of trouble. The same couldnt be said for us. Through them, I watched the creature move in absolute silence, but with a deadly speed. <em>This</em> was how it had killed my clones so easily, without alerting a single one. Speed and silence amidst the close quarters of the ruins.


    Its shifting forms were lethality in motion. If it wasnt for my clones keeping an eye on it, it couldve snuck up on us again. Although, it seemed enraged, giving up the pretext of stealth.


    We had bitten off more than we could chew. We had overstayed our wee, got cocky, and now there was a price to pay. It was something we all knew could happen. And we had moved to avoid it in thest moments, toote evidently.


    Twenty minutester, the howl was enough to shake our bones. It changed depending on its form, sometimes deep, sometimes screeching, but always with that inexplicable quality of moonlight. That pale chill.


    I turned and saw it flowing between the trees, a bright silhouette of moonlight. And


    The line of silver light sheared a tree width-wise, the crackling of timber and falling leaves shocking us with the sheer volume. Then the trunk exploded in a painfully familiar explosion of splinters. I shielded my face but the debris exploded outward.


    I ducked as I felt the explosion of another tree. A silver sh to my right. Streams of silver light. Another one exploded to the left, an orb of silver, the ground erupting.


    Its on us! Parker yelled as the beast of twilight sted <em>through</em> a tree, taking the form of some spiked, ted creature.


    The elemental charged us, a deep guttural roar. It tore through the forest like a machine, no longer adopting lithe forms. It rammed into a tree hard enough to shake the entire canopy and the <em>ground</em>. Then the silver light appeared again as it opened its mouth.


    Get down Parker! I screamed at him as the beam of light ripped overhead. He dove to the floor as another tree exploded.


    Eighth, catching up, tried to stab it in the face with the <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong> but found the organic moonlight <em>hard</em>. Like the ted creature was just that. It had manifested actual armor. The sword rebounded and it swatted Eighth with a blunt tail, breaking ribs and knocking him painfully to the side.


    Ninth ran forward, taking his ce. Its form shiftedand a sh of moonlight sent Ninths head rolling, too quick to glimpse. The afterimage of a scythe.


    I grimaced as a <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> struck the creature, distracting it. It roared, shaking the mes off its hide and face. It destroyed another tree, trampled the ground, and charged Rose. I had to pull Rickson away, <em>far</em> from this danger.


    Rose! Get out of the way! I screamed, carrying Rickson off.


    I could only watch as the beastwas tackled by Parker. No, not tackled. <em>Rammed</em>. <em>Intercepted like a missile</em>. The creature <em>bent</em> at the point Parker struck it, violently arresting its momentum. Rose screamed.


    I didnt realize it at the moment, but at some point, Id gone partially deaf again. Parkers face was twisted in something I could only ssify as a battle cry, veins on his neck pronounced, muscles flexed. His entire body was glistening, sweat or blood. I realized the man was screaming at the top of his lungs, hair caked with grime.


    <strong><em>[Rallying Cry]</em></strong><em>! </em><strong><em>[Battle Rage]</em></strong><em>! </em>A mental voice so booming I couldnt have missed it. Raw, exhausted, and so full of wrath.


    I heard it then, dull, muted, but enough to send a shock down my spine. It was undeniably his <strong>Skill</strong>. It was Parker, shouting. I didnt know what the hell it did, all I knew was I could move easier. A surge of stamina and strength.


    I saw Parkers wild eyes jump to us, Rose and I. That face I knew exactly what he intended, what he wanted. Emotion bubbled up from within my depths, so unexpected I had to regard it for a half-moment before deciphering it.


    I pursed my lips. Annoyance. Why were these people risking so much? I stared at Rickson, unconscious, Rose beyond exhausted. Theyd struggled <em>two whole days</em> with dead weight around their neck. And Parker?


    The fool was trying to sacrifice himself.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39


    I was a survivor.


    The apocalypse had killed me countless times, it had taken things from me. My peace of mind, my ignorance of hardship. It stole my illusion of potential happiness. It had stripped everyyer of my morals, my mind, and my body. Challenged me with unbearable torment, pain, and agony.


    It had broken me, thrown me the pieces, and demanded I make something of myself or die.


    I whispered to myself, inaudible. Youve already decided, Evahn, I said. Never again.


    And all of me moved. I stood, the original, beside Rose and an unconscious Rickson. The rest of me charged forward.


    We would fight here. Parkers strength was incredible, he <em>matched </em>the thing for a glorious moment. <em>A moment</em> against a van-sized behemoth. It wasnt just his stats, but whatever effect of his <strong>Skill</strong> too.


    Then it found purchase and roared, the sheer weight of its body enough to throw him off.


    Sixth retrieved the <strong>[Twilight Saber] </strong>from Eighth, looking at him looking at me. I nodded to myself, both ways. He was dying, bleeding internally from a punctured lung, wheezing. I felt it all. He had a perfect view of the beast.


    That was for the best. That was all I needed.


    Evahn! Youre supposed to be running! Parker yelled, eyes bulging once he saw meall three of me. Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth rushed forward. The beast roared and he was thrown into a roll, kicking up dirt and soil. His head swung up to re at me. Get the hell out of here! He yelled. Escape with Rose and Rickson! With your clones, you could


    I didnt stop running, didnt pause. You dont get to sacrifice yourself here, Parker! You dont decide that! I yelled at him, dashing forward. My face was a mixture of rage and focus, a dichotomy. Whichever clone it was, he grinned. Im the better sacrifice anyway!


    I <em>felt</em> the limb before it even manifested, a partial form change, a second prehensile whipping at me. I caught its arc, severing the thing. The creature roared, moonlight blood pouring from an open wound.


    I shed again, finding the soft flesh between its armored tes. The other clones harried it, distracting. They created openings, dancing between its attacks, dodging what only another clone could see.


    Were <em>all </em>getting out of here. <em>Alive.</em> I growled, pacing. Three of me circling like vultures.


    Parker groaned, getting up. His clothes were torn from debris, and though it looked superficial, he was still bleeding. Then get behind me! Damn it.


    The creature reared, charged. And its head was forced to the ground by a st of fire.


    Rickson and I did not <em>ve for two whole days</em> for us to throw our lives away! Rose stood at a distance, eyes somehow burning brighter than her fire. She staggered but Sixth was there, helping her.


    Anger momentarily burned away whatever fatigue shed built up. <strong>[Lesser Shield]</strong>! <strong>[Firebolt]</strong>! And a wayward ghost evaporated in a plume of fire.


    Rose! Parker grimaced. Someone needs to take Rickson He punched another sunlight wraith, vaporizing it.


    I <em>cant</em>, Parker! She said, that dead-tired exhaustion making itself known. She was breathless, just from talking. Were caught! We cant run from this thing, look where that got us! We make a stand here or die trying!


    I stood near her, guarding Rickson. It was true, we couldnt move at this pace safely. And to slow down would be to die. There were already creatures inching up. I had killed another two ifrits, shadows dancing at the edges of the treeline, eyeing Rickson.


    Parker didnt respondhe couldnt. He dodged the battering ram that was the beast. Eighth saw him <em>pivot</em>, turn and watched his entire arm <em>blur.</em><strong>[Power Strike]</strong>. The twilight beast lurched. And I was already moving into a blindspot, dodging every patch of soil I felt dangerously within its reach.


    A clone distracted another spiked limb, ducking under its fatal point. Another supported parker, acting as bait. And


    My sword tasted blood again, plunging into its nk, away from the armored tes. Non-lethal, but damage nheless. Silver light built up again, blinding. Parker <em>mmed</em> into the beast, heedless of the danger and its focus faltered, silver moonlight dissipating. He drove his fist into its gut repeatedly, every strike eliciting pained roars.


    The clones flitted about like annoying flies. There were ces of soft moonlight flesh. I couldnt tell if my fists had any effect on the creature but when given the opportunity I took the chance. Not as effective as my <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong> but enough to serve as a distraction.


    I stabbed it again. And again.


    Silver liquid leaked, spreading across the floor like a mercury pool. Shining blood, staining our clothes, painting us in moonlight gore. Parker elerated, for just bare moments, to match the beasts overwhelming strength. I danced between its blind spots, using my enhanced perception and instinct, finding every opening made. Drawing blood, more and more.


    Even then, it took its pound in flesh. Its shifting was somehow limited, maybe from its own injuries, maybe from us upying its focus. Still, it had enough leeway for potentially lethal counters. Let alone its sheer mass.


    A barbed spike to the shoulder, a serrated section of its flesh, sharp tes. The blunt end of its tail. Parker and I suffered them all, sometimes a sh of some shimmering barrier would spare us the wound, sometimes not. We didnt stop. We couldnt. My clones tired, slowing.


    But I felt Roses <strong>[Lesser Shield]</strong> upon me. Blunting sharp edges that shouldve drawn blood. Mitigating damage that I shouldve taken. A cracked bone instead of a broken one. A small cut instead of gored flesh.


    And if ever it had a moment to rest, a <strong>[Firebolt]</strong> exploded against its face.


    The clones fell into a rhythm. No, they were consumed by it. Fatigue, injury, focus, their mind had only the capacity for one thing. My clones were marites, puppeted by instinct, by a watcher at the treeline with an overview of the entire fight.


    I had my own problems to deal with, defending both Rose and Rickson. Creatures of twilight, dawn, and dusk, inching at the perimeter of the fight. Waiting like scavengers, sometimes fighting their own. The clones didnt bother with them. Anything that inched too close would catch fire, bursting into me. Roses work.


    I watched from the sidelines, dealing with most confident of them trying to sneak up on Rose. Sixth and Seventh had their own bloodbath, taking bare fists and body against the elemental. Fighting in tandem, keeping the <strong>[Twilight Elemental]</strong> within their vision as much as possible.


    Eighth, dying, watched from the opposite end of the battlefield. The battle consumed me, if only that part of me. The clones pushed their physical capabilities to the limit. Minds in overdrive, watching everything, understanding the flow of the battle, <em>aware of everything</em>. Living on the very edge of their lives.


    I shed, stabbed, hacked, plunged, and tore at the beast. Mechanical. Yet somehow artful, the way my de was coated in the moonlight. The way my body was. The stter upon Parkers face, the flowers blossoming from the liquid life.


    I moved without fear of death, only aware of its consequence. A false mechanism. TheyIknew I could die. That fear, that knowledge, brought my focus to razors edge. And yet, Id died so many times, I bnced upon that edge with mastery beyond what anyone could hope to match.


    Another <strong>[Power Strike]</strong>. Another roar, this time from Parker. Something <em>cracked. Snapped</em>. A rib, a piece of moonlight, shattered. And the noise of agony elicited from the beast was all too familiar. Id screamed it myself countless times. The clones focused on its bruised areas, where the twilight body dimmed, relentless striking it whenever the chance arose.


    It struggled to move at this point. We all did. Parkers chest rose like a piston, heavy, fast. Steam came off of him, the pale rays of moonlight shining down, reflective on the blood covering us. The fatigue threatened the copse of my clones. I was breathing just as hard, gasping in the end, fighting off the rest of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> with my bare fists and stats.


    I realized the creature had shrunk. Somehow, its blood, that liquid moonlight, had been like a leak in a balloon. It was <em>made</em> of moonlight and twilight, and it had been bleeding ever since the first stab. Parts of it were now dim, like broken smoky ss, darkened and dulled beyond any recognition of light or relief of shadow. Brittle.


    Its death wasnt climactic. It was a slow bleed. A drawn-out thing. In fighting it, we were forced to retreat, reposition and move. It felt neither victorious nor triumphant once Parker stomped on its head, ending the beast in a visceral ssh of shattered light.


    There was only a sense of relief. And the irony, once we realized the stone formations nearby were familiar. The exit. We had fought all the way here, somehow. Rose was copsed against the stone, Rickson unconscious nearby but unharmed.


    Parker and my exhausted selves stood, catching our breath, watching flowers bloom, drinking in the moonlight. A cool breeze caressed us, like ab of wind through the woods. A deep exhale of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.


    The dungeon notices came like an afterthought, a hysterical aside. A polite, unobtrusive reminder of rewards merited for simply <em>surviving</em>. As if simply existing in this world warranted praise. A mark of this twisted thing I knew as reality.


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: For defeating the Area Boss, [Twilight Elemental], your group is rewarded four [Unusual Chests]!</strong>


    <strong>[Dungeon Notice]: Congrattions! As you are the first group to explore the [Sleepywood] all [Unusual Chest] rewards have been upgraded to [Scarce Twilight Chests]!</strong>


    I raised my head. A part of me registering it was over.


    <strong>[Notice]: You have leveled up multiple times: Level 25!</strong>


    Eventually, I found myself walking to one of the chests, utterly exhausted. Parker? Rose?


    Parker looked at me, heaving. Rose looked up, eyes barely staying open,pletely slumped.


    Lets get the fuck out of here.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40


    A single step was enough to say goodbye to that twilight sky. We wasted no time in leaving the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, taking our rewards, <strong>Items</strong>, and anything else before pushing through that prismatic portal. There was a subtle sense of discement before the world reasserted itself. The constant buzz of insects, the humid warmth, and the new surroundings slid into rity. It was a wee change in atmosphere, better this than the feeling of constantly being watched.


    And even though I was ready for him, having seen him keeping watch through Third. I found myself giving Jack a tired grin, Parker, Rickson, and Rose in tow. We all but copseding out, barely managing to stay on our feet.


    About time, He said, grinning. He took one look at us though and was already moving, concern etched across his face. What happened? Serious injuries?


    Well live. Parker gave a heavy smile, to which Rose and I hummed our agreement. None of us looked particrly well which Jack immediately picked up on.


    Shit. Lets get you situated then. Jack exhaled. You look like youve been through hell.


    We have, I replied, exhausted.


    From there, it wasnt long until we were escorted to the semi-permanent structures that were erected by Ralph and his people. Rose and Parker looked around in tired awe. It was amazing what people could do if given the motivation. They were actual buildings constructed from wood, insted with an assortment of shrubbery and leaves. There were resourceful people among the survivors, even without <strong>Skills</strong>. I was just as impressed the first time seeing them.


    We were shown torge basins of water nearby these structures where we could rinse off the worst of the gore. Jack introduced us to a healer, a woman with the <strong>[First Aid]</strong><strong>Skill</strong>, who treated the worst of our injuries with surprising efficiency.


    Well, none of you should be doing anything strenuous for a few weeks. She was saying. Between the three of you, two concussions, two instances of fractured ribs, internal bruising, countlesscerations, cuts, and scrapes. Sleep deprivation and extreme fatigue. That <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> looks like it took its namesake from you. Get some sleep, shut-eye is the fastest road to recovery.


    She sighed and I picked up on her surface thoughts. <em>So these are the ones Gary and Jack were talking about? I wonder what level they are. They look like theyve been through it.</em> Her eyes took in our injuries.


    Jack blinked at us. I trust it was worth it? He asked, staring at us.


    We all gave him tired smiles, faint but triumphant. That was enough for him.


    When it was time to finally rest, I tuned into that frequency of mind, using <strong>[Telepathy] </strong>as a gauge to sense anyone nearby. It was incredibly easy to swap myself out with none the wiser, leaving a clone in my midst, and slipping into the soulspace that was <strong>[Solos Sanctuary]</strong>.


    <strong>[Solos Sanctuary]</strong> was just as Id left it. Tranquility born from ss and ck marble, hints of green nts poking out from nters in the walls. Soft lighting. Modern, simplistic, and beautiful. A muted space, free of worry.


    I wouldve been tempted to retreat here but things werent so simple. As far as I was aware, I entered and exited the sanctuary in the exact same ce. If I had left the group to hide in the sanctuary, leaving my clones to them, then upon exiting Id be stranded. If one of those clones died, only my original self could renew him. That wasnt to mention the cushion I provided as another body, particrly one with decent physical stats.


    But more than that, the <strong>Skill</strong> had been recharging. I couldnt have stayed long even if Id wanted to, not for days at a time. It was a reprieve, not a solution. But one which I dly indulged in.


    I stepped into the sanctuary from the front door. It felt the most natural, despite the sureness I couldve materialized anywhere within the sanctuary. There, I made my way across the living room, through the bedroom, and into the bathroom.


    And, finally, the shower. I undressed, tossing the filthy clothes onto the shower floor. Hanging my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack]</strong> on a hook nearby. It was the only thing I could think about ever since being doused in moonlight blood. A shower. A blessing amidst this hell.


    <strong>Skill: [Solos Sanctuary]</strong>


    <strong>A personal space tied to the soul from which one may enter or exit. The size, design, and amenities are directly reflective of ones level, abilities, and inclination. The sanctuary may only be entered by the owner.</strong>


    I wondered what part of the <strong>Skill</strong> afforded running water, this quality of life. Was it a certain level that allowed a bathroom here? Or the fact I simply <em>really</em> appreciated a nice shower?


    Nheless, I let the clear water wash the rest of the grime off, sloughing away like caked mud. I carefully undid my bandages, hesitant and curious. Blinking through the steam of hot water I saw only healthy flesh, my skin clearer than before.


    The aches were fading now, the worst of my bruises dull pangs. The smallcerations or cuts gained from the raining debris or random shrubbery were long gone. The symbiote was effective, even now, but it took its toll.


    I was exhausted beyond belief. The shower calmed my mind and I took the moment to nce at my status, eyeing the haphazard distributions.


    <strong>Name: Evahn Wynst</strong>


    <strong>Level: 25</strong>


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>Traits: [Regenerator]</strong>


    <strong>ss: [Solo]</strong>


    <strong>STR: 20</strong>


    <strong>CON: 31</strong>


    <strong>DEX: 19</strong>


    <strong>AGI: 20</strong>


    <strong>PER: 21</strong>


    <strong>INT: 20 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIS: 27 + 5</strong>


    <strong>WIL: 29 + 5</strong>


    <strong>CHA: 14 + 5</strong>


    <strong>LUK: 14</strong>


    <strong>Stat Points: 2</strong>


    <strong>Skills: [Never Alone], [Low Profile], [Solos Instinct], [Solos Sanctuary], [Telepathy]</strong>


    Somehow I could trace where Id ced everything. The 18 <strong>Stat Points</strong> Id saved were all thrown into my physical stats. Four in <strong>STR</strong>, <strong>CON</strong>, <strong>DEX</strong>, and <strong>AGI</strong>. Two into <strong>PER</strong>. It felt like a loss but maybe that was the hoarder in me, an instinct Id had even before the apocalypse. To hold onto what was valuable and precious, in case Id ever lose it again.


    I had done the math a while ago. Allocating my stats for the purposes of <strong>[Never Alone]</strong> resulted in linear growth, in terms of stats. That was all well and good, if not for the limits of each individual clone which presented a unique dilemma. If the <strong>[Twilight Elemental] </strong>or <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong>, for example, were equated to a bear, then even a thousand ants would do little to harm it. That would be for the case of allocating my points towards my clones, countless copies of myself, though weak physically. On the other hand, striking a bnce wherein I invest in my physical stats would cut the number of my clones, but make each one individually stronger. Rather than a thousand ants, thered instead be say a hundred rats? It sounded better, initially. There was, obviously, more to consider for each side. Much more.


    I didnt think there was a right answer here, nor was there a wrong one. I recognized the benefits and demerits of both paths, my <strong>[Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind] Title</strong> gave me an incredible boost that helped me along <em>both </em>paths which was a boon. It was personal preference, but truthfully, I couldnt discount the utility of sheer numbers.


    I <em>was</em> a little bit disappointed that I hadnt gotten another <strong>[Solo]</strong><strong>ss Skill</strong>. Id been holding out for another defining <strong>Skill</strong> that might merit the allocation of <strong>Stat Points </strong>to a particr attribute simr to <strong>[Never Alone]</strong>. Id leveled twice from level twenty-three, and gotten nothing but the extra <strong>Stat Points</strong>. It didnt really matter anymore though, since Id allocated just about everything I had saved up.


    I suppose I should be happy with just that if leveling worked the way I thought it did. Wed killed an <strong>Area Boss</strong> and Id leveled only twice, which should be telling. My progress was bound to slow down. I could only imagine how much Parker, Rose, and Rickson did.


    I was too tired to think more and focused on the feeling of running water.


    Once I was done, I took a towel off the wall and dried off. Then without ceremony, I found my way to my bed, low to the ground and cool. It wasnt far off to say I passed out as soon as I found its embrace. Sweet oblivion took me, my body spreading over the mattress.


    I woke up blissfully, taking in my sanctuary, closing my eyes, and seeing the world outside as well. I spent the better part of the day resting in my sanctuary, poking at its limits, trying to understand the <strong>Skill</strong>. Resting.


    My clones couldnt ess this ce. Only my original self was granted that ability, regardless of my clone''s apparent ability to use other <strong>Skills</strong>. The sanctuary, however, was also useful to store things, something I discovered that made my <strong>[Spidersilk Backpack] </strong>obsolete. Id been able to partially ess it, like some interdimensional inventory, and had shoved my rewards through.


    I stared at the <strong>[Scarce Twilight Chest]</strong>. It glowed a burnished orange. A separate illumination entirely apart from the moonlight it emitted, glowing silver as well. It was ornate, as these odd chests were, that implied promise of valuables within. I had nudged it into my sanctuary without even thinking, so tired that Id been.


    I sat on my couch, looking at it on the plush carpet of my living room, along with everything else Id reaped from the <strong>Dungeon</strong>. Without further ado, I opened thest chest of the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.


    It clicked open and it was only a singr <strong>Item</strong> resting on silver silk. But, somehow, I could already sense the value of it, beyond anything Id attain from ying a mere ifrit.


    <strong>Item: [Hardlight Shelter]</strong>


    <strong>A consumable item that instantly produces a semi-permanent structure made of solid moonlight. The resultant structure is affected by INT, CON, and STR. The shelter takes shape as one wills it but will dissipate if not fueled with energy.</strong>


    I cocked my head at the silver disc. Well, thats not exactly what I was expecting, I said. I picked it up, feeling at a rather conspicuous button. Huh, weird.


    Oddly, Id been expecting something fantastical. But this was more technological? It looked like a piece of sci-fi, themed around light. I hummed, trying to parse what I knew about the apocalypse.


    If magic was on the table then was everything? I wasnt sure. I put the <strong>[Hardlight Shelter]</strong> aside and considered the other <strong>Items</strong> Id received from the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>.


    The <strong>[Twilight Saber]</strong>, twinkling metal on a lethal edge. The <strong>[Twilight Wand]</strong>, a beautifully carved wooden thing. A <strong>[Manalight Potion]</strong> that gave bonuses to mana regeneration and potency under the moonlight. A <strong>[Silkroot Sash]</strong>, <strong>[Shroomshade Seeds]</strong>, and a slew of misceneous <strong>Items</strong> that didnt serve a particr purpose for me.


    Certainly, though, I could use them to barter for things, or perhaps I could just hoard them. Not all of the rewards werebat-oriented, which was telling. Some were just <em>useful</em>, like the <strong>[Hardlight Shelter]</strong>. Others werent even that, like the <strong>[Shroomshade Seeds]</strong>, which, as far as I could tell, were just the seeds for some type of mushroom.


    But those werent the only things Id gotten. That book that <strong>[Solos Instinct] </strong>had alighted upon, of moving symbols and slippery words. I took that out and nced at it for as long as it took for my eyes to strain. There was something about that scratched the brain, a piece of alien literature.


    There were also the flowers. Those silver petals that drank the moonlight, sparkling with something of the stars. I considered them for a moment, wondering if the nts which had sprouted from the <strong>[Twilight Elementals]</strong> starlight blood had any uses. In the end, there really was no way to be certain.


    I shrugged, renting them into the walls of my sanctuary, enting the greenery with pops of silver. They took easily to the shallower nters along the walls, a light mist spraying over them from the walls, watering the greenery.


    I hummed, looking at the instation, then looking around the sanctuary. My life had drastically changed over the course of thest month. It was incredibly ironic that this sanctuary was <em>nicer</em> than my previous apartment.


    <em>How</em> exactly was it all possible?


    Even the kitchen had a working stove and fridge. Regr electrical appliances as the result of an inexplicably foreign power. This strange and alien system. Somehow all of this was within its power.


    The past month, it wasnt something I had time to really ponder. Nor did most people, I imagined. But, if my entire reality was flipped upside down, the system was the only <em>fundamental</em> aspect of life that had changed, like the addition of another force of gravity.


    The system permeated everything. It was enough for me to be sure. Whatever the advent of this apocalypse meant, the system was at the core of it.


    Elsewhere, one of my clones looked up as a crowd of people approached the <strong>Dungeon</strong> entrance.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41


    A crowd had formed as people elbowed their way forward, pushing and shoving to get a better view. I took my ces among the crowd, watching from different vantages. A group of armed men, swords, clubs, and other crude weaponry in hand.


    Arge man with scarred arms climbed above the roots, staring down at the masses as his group shouldered and suppressed the crowd. His eyes were dark and his face just as scarred. A jagged smile.


    Wee to the apocalypse! He boomed, his voice carrying farther than it shouldve. Starting today, anyone who wants to enter the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> does so only with my permission! Cries of outrage, scoffs, and grumbling. A man was beaten down and the speaker stared down at a quieted crowd.


    Its not toote to join my group. If youve been approached before, Ill give you the rest of the day toe groveling back. <em>Im</em> going to be the one to lead you all out of these dark days! With the rewards we get from this <strong>Dungeon</strong>, Roothaven will be a shining beacon for other survivors! He smiled, a crazed glint in his eye. <em>If </em>youre with me.


    Someone pushed through the crowd near to one of my clones. Whats happening?


    I pulled my cloak down, recognizing him. Some crazy is iming the <strong>Dungeon</strong>. One of my clones said, eyeing the speaker.


    The man turned, blinking at me. Evahn?


    I gave a small smile. Hey, Gary. Good to see you again. I nodded at the familiar face. Any idea who this is? Ive got an idea myself but Ive never actually seen him.


    Gary took a moment to gather himself but then grumbled, focusing on the man speaking. Thats Blitz, no doubt. Hes been giving everyone here a hard time. He confirmed my suspicions. His group was supposed to set out and leave. I thought wed only have to endure their crap for a while longer before they did. Turns out they liked what they saw here.


    Slimy bastard, I said, staring up at the man.


    Theyve been shaking everyone down for food and other essentials, Gary exined, though I was already aware of some of the stuff going on around the camps.


    They were also borrowing some buildings Ralphs people built and confiscating useful items like water sks, among other things. Not exceedingly violent, but that didnt make him an angel. His presence was a constant threat to anyones safety.


    Hey! What gives you the right? A man in the crowd yelled. We should be able to do what we want! Why the hell are you suddenly controlling the <strong>Dungeon</strong>? Thats bull He choked as one of Blitzs men grabbed him by the throat. W-what are you


    A handful of people went to help but they were pushed down by what was apparently decently leveled thugs. And actual <strong>[Thugs]</strong>, if my guesses were right. I recognized strength beyond the mundane at work.


    This, Blitz grinned. Gives me the right. And if anyone has any problems they can dly take it up with my men. He smiled.


    Damn bastard. Someone cursed nearby. I know a couple of people who got some pretty useful stuff from there.


    Its a treasure trove, Ive heard. If youre willing to risk it. Another whisper. I heard a group just got back. Apparently, it looked like they came with some <strong>Items</strong>.


    And hes just taking it over?


    Well, what do you want us to do? Were not in a position to argue with him. All his people have high levels. Im only level four. Another said.


    Gary looked around, sighing. He took to standing next to me fairly easy and he whispered something as Blitz was apparently done talking. <strong>[General Sentiment]</strong>. He spoke evenly, my level of <strong>PER </strong>easily catching the words, gazing across the crowd and towards Blitz.


    He crossed his arms. Most people think its unfair. He answered my questioning eyebrow.


    Some kind of social <strong>Skill</strong>? I cocked my head, listening to the thoughts of the crowd from multiple clones.


    Obviously, I replied. The <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong> might be these peoples way of bing strong enough to protect themselves.


    Gary grimaced. Thats the other thing. Its certainly unfair but Blitz and his thugs have also demonstrated their strength. Theyve already been fending off those goblins and wolves poking at the edges of the clearing, a couple of other creatures too.


    They think throwing their support behind him means protection. I said after a moment, following his logic.


    Exactly. Theyre all high-level. Gary nodded. Then he looked back at me, reconsidering. Rtively high-level, that is. With everything going around the clearing, especially the <strong>Field Boss</strong> so fresh in everyones mind no one knows what to expect from the swamp, let alone the rest of the world.


    I sighed as three other versions of me rxed their weapons. More than those in the crowd, there were others hanging around the roots, even behind Blitz. A couple watched the entire procession.


    Blitz wasnt exactly the ideal oue but he wasnt the worst person that couldve appeared. Besides that, injuring him, let alone in front of so many people, wasnt conducive in assuaging anyones fears.


    Gary looked at me. Well handle it. He said. The people wont take this sitting down. Everyones already realized the importance of the <strong>Dungeon</strong>. A couple of groups have already been showing off their rewards, not to mention the levels.


    I wasnt nning on doing anything anyway. I shrugged. So long as people can take care of themselves, its not really my problem. Now, if he was going around killing people itd be a little different.


    Didnt say you were, Gary said simply, watching Blitz step down.


    I followed his gaze, watching the man. A couple of my clones were close enough to listen in on his thoughts, near the front of the crowd. There, the jostling was wilder, the shouting louder. But my mind could pierce it all and skim the surface of the mans thoughts.


    He faced everyone without a trace of fear, smiling, smug. There was a depth in his eyes though as he looked over everyone.


    <em>We have to be stronger than this. Stronger than these weaklings. Look at them, too scared to step away from the crowd, cowed by a mere man. There are things worse than me that walk our world now.</em>


    I watched him go, unable to disagree.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42


    On the outskirts of Roothaven, where the meager illusion of civilization faded and the swamp seeped, I perched above in a canopy meant for birdsrger than human. Moss every branch such that any wrong step could be fatal.


    Fatal for the regr climber, that was.


    My clone was one of many, scouting the area, and eyeing the wildlife. By now, all my clones save for the unreachable were renewed. First was still with the group from the library, vying for the end of the swamp. I checked in on him, on asion, watching through my own eyes a journey I might make myself in truth.


    In the meantime, I did my best to catalog the wildlife and, more importantly, the dangers of this apocalyptic swamp. As Gary had said before, the most dangerous thing to roam the ce was probably burnt to a crisp, but that didnt mean the swamp was any less hazardous. One of those not-quite-wolves could kill just as easily as rootmother mind control.


    I ducked as a <emrge</em> insect buzzed around my head, swatting it away. Somehow, the bugs were the worst annoyance. My increased <strong>CON</strong> came with an improved ability to regte temperature. Normally, Id be sweating right now, but with the influx of stats, along with the symbiote, the humidity and heat were only a small nuisance. The bugs, however


    My clone was among three others in this particr scouting party, crouched low in the branches above, observing a group of goblins from three different vantages. A wooden bow with string made of spider silk in each of their hands, a dozen arrows to each quiver.


    The breeze shifted, arrows pulled against bowstring. I sighted and


    cant have them do this! A man, one who had just recently returned from the <strong>[Sleepywood]</strong>, albeit for only a day, wasining among a gathering of people whod actually delved the <strong>Dungeon</strong>.


    Its a huge natural resource. Gary nodded. Blitz wont be able to hold control of it, not with too many of usining about it.


    Weve managed to gather a number of useful <strong>Items</strong> from it. Said a person wearing what looked like a leather cuirass. If Blitz controls it his power will cement.


    Then we overthrow him, easy. Another person.


    And risk bloodshed?


    And why the hell not? Ive already seen people die! That <strong>Dungeon</strong>, I swear it spawned as a result of the <strong>Field Boss </strong>dying, it has to be our key to survival! His voice elicited a chorus of agreement.


    Ive got a new <strong>Skill </strong>too!


    Shove off, man. Theyre higher level, which means they have more stats. Theyre stronger, faster. We cant just fight them without risk! We already have the swamp creatures to worry about!


    I sat towards the back, higher up on the roots. The meeting took ce between two of therger ones, gnarled and branching enough that they formed a likeness to tiered seating.


    It was true, Blitz and his gang acting now was a little inconvenient. The death of the <strong>Field Boss</strong>, the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong>, freed up this entire clearing. The clever creatures of the swamp had been avoiding the ce at first. Now they were creeping back in, the swamp reiming the parts of itself lost to the boss. Even the ruins of the skyscraper were already covered with vines, lichen, and moss, the few campfires of those unbothered by the charred remains of the hivemind around it.


    The arguments droned on and, weirdly, I found myself unfocused. Or rather, focused entirely on another perspective. The feeling of freedom, exploration, and roaming. Id never felt so unchained in my life, despite what these thugs were doing.


    Was it really my problem?


    The answer was easy enough. I had already nned to leave the swamp. The <strong>Dungeon</strong> had been a detour, and it still is, considering the rewards it could give me. But the end goal? What else was out there?


    In my sanctuary, I loungedfortably. Rays of sunlight shining through the windows, lying on my couch. The moonlight flowers bloomed silver, almost perking up at the sun. Id gathered they liked the shade though, which made sense given their origins, so they were sheltered from direct sunlight.


    But those small trophies werent my focus though. I was paging through the book. The only thing Id pilfered from those ruins the <strong>[Twilight Elemental]</strong> was protecting. The one thing the aspect of <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong> having to do with opportunity had reacted to so far.


    Not an <strong>Item</strong> at all, just a mundane book. Mundane as far as the system was concerned, that was. To my senses, it was like a beacon if I focused. To the naked eye, it seemed unobtrusive and unassuming, but the longer I stared the more I could almost imagine the symbols moving.


    Speaking without sound, dancing in my senses as if to spell out


    I blinked, gently shutting the book and looking around. My inner, paranoid self darted to the description of my <strong>Title</strong>.


    <strong>Title: [Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind]</strong>


    <strong>Few possess the capacity to challenge insurmountable odds as you do. You are the first in the world to defeat any Field Boss and the first in the world to do so alone. In defeating the [Rootmother Hivemind] under these circumstances, you are forever distinguished by your feat.</strong>


    <strong>- All attributes increased by 10.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- You gain the [Telepathy] Skill.</strong><strong></strong>


    <strong>- You are immune to external influences upon your will.</strong>


    I confirmed thest effect and nced back down to the book. What exactly are you? I said slowly, trying to remember the room I had found it in.


    The memory came easy, likely an effect of my enhanced mental attributes. It had been some kind of study. A storeroom of academic objects, oddities, and peculiarities. Literature, mostly. But this book, among all the scrolls, containers, diagrams, and all else stood out the most to me.


    And the moment we had left the ruins, the <strong>[Twilight Elemental]</strong> had killed my clones. Just a sh of moonlight, that was all I could remember before we were being chased.


    Did me leaving the ruins with something trigger the <strong>Area Boss</strong>? I asked myself, the timing fitting. I doubt it was this book in particr.


    I sighed, opening it once more. This time I weed the dancing symbols. Symbols that seemed to dance in my minds eyes, crawl across the pages, and wrap around the iris. Symbols that curled around the ears, flooded the nose and caressed the skin.


    Symbols that spoke to each sense and told me of


    My eyes widened as I was suddenly reading. The symbols no longer danced, they took shape instead, formed images, sounds, scents, and touch, flittering at the speed of my own thought andprehension. They fluttered <em>fast</em>, moving on between concepts, taking full use of my mental capacity.


    And then three things happened.


    First, there was a feeling. A new one beyond even <strong>[Solos Instinct]</strong>, like a spark of electricity, a rush of energy from my very being. Then it faded before I could even grasp it. My attention whisked away to more important matters.


    The second came from the perspective of my clones. I stood upon the branches, familiar perches by now, and spotted what was perhaps thergest gathering of goblins Id yet seen. The noise, the din of their being, was enough to drown out the buzz of insects, recing it with chatter and gibberish. There were easily hundreds of them, crawling across the roots, hooting at each other, brandishing weapons, and stripping the swamp.


    I stared, recalling the increased patrols. Thats why I was seeing more of them. Forward scouts. Its a whole tribe. Were they reiming the area lost to the <strong>Field Boss</strong>?


    Andstly, an ember of hope. That humanity wasnt yet lost.


    <strong>[World Notice]: Gerard Malou has achieved a feat worthy of global recognition! He is the first to establish a Settlement, [Skyeward], and the first to settle the Floating Inds of Allow!</strong>


    I blinked as the meeting quieted. Murmurs all around, the arguments stilled. I cocked my head and the question I had was in everyone else''s thoughts. It took only a few moments for someone to voice it.


    Whats a <strong>Settlement</strong>? And when he asked it, the word had the ring of the system about it.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43


    <strong>[World Notice]: Gerard Malou has achieved a feat worthy of global recognition! He is the first to establish a Settlement, [Skyeward], and the first to settle the Floating Inds of Allow!</strong>


    The magic from the book, that spark of energy, faded. Like sugar dissolving into water, lost to all my senses, despite how I grasped for it. I tried to reignite the feeling to no effect. Other things took precedence.


    The <strong>[World Notice]</strong>, for one.


    It was strange seeing it from this perspective. Like everyone had heard something or noticed a detail. Not enough to pause or lose focus, but enough that anyone looking wouldve seen an expression cross someones face. A raised brow, a low whistle, an open mouth.


    As if the same thought had struck dozens of people at once.


    Whats a <strong>Settlement</strong>? Someone asked, cocking their head and speaking over the mutters.


    It has to be rted to the System. Another voice called. Its got that ring to it. Maybe its something like our <strong>Skills</strong>? Or <strong>Items</strong> from the <strong>Dungeon</strong>? Theres gotta be some significance to it.


    You think there might be bonuses for Roothaven if we can figure out how to establish one? Jack nudged me.


    I shrugged. You know as much as I do. He raised a brow. I sighed. But it looks that way. There might be something to that, so long as people figure out what to do with Blitz.


    The Floating Inds of Allow? Jack said, contemtive.


    Down below Gary was arguing with some of the key people in Roothaven, Ralph among them, on how to proceed. There were other key figures, some men who took it upon themselves to hunt out in the swamp, a collection of people with healing abiliites, a number of individuals suited to acting as sentries and more.


    I listened with my full attention, although I doubted anything would truly interest me. Full attention, meaning just about one ninth of my attention, as it rted to my clones.


    <strong>[Skyeward]</strong>. I had to admit the name was better than Roothaven. And these Floating Inds sounded like a much better ce to experience the apocalypse than the damp and humid swamp we found ourselves in.


    The <strong>[World Notice]</strong> served to remind me of how small I was. There was nothing familiar anymore and I couldnt tell whether our world was spliced with some other one, or the whole of it had been irrevocably changed. I could see it on their faces, hear it in their thoughts, that same uncertainty, that feeling of insignificance.


    <em>Floating Inds? Where the hell is that supposed to be?</em> I heard the thought and followed Jacks gaze through the swamps canopy upward towards the sky. Only the distant shrieks of birdsrger than us answered our gaze.


    For a moment, that smallness dominated the conversation, guided the meetings thoughts. Until it didnt.


    <em>Someone did it. </em>Another consciousness. <em>There are other people out there. Struggling, fighting, and living.</em>


    And with that single thought, something else was sparked. There are other people out there. Someone cut in. There are people out there besides us!


    That person caught a few surprised gazes. Someone chuckled. Gary. Might be hope for us yet. He said.


    I suppressed a small smile, turning the notice over in my head. That was the other perspective to consider. The <strong>[World Notice]</strong> didnt speak to our insignificance, it spoke to humanitys determination to survive. Somewhere, out there, people found sess. If there was at least one other group of survivors out there, I could count on more.


    The whole world saw that message.


    Is this how people felt when they saw my achievement? I wondered suddenly. A candle of hope against the storm of the apocalypse? I hadnt been thinking of it like that, only as another quirk of the System.


    Those simple words broadcasted to the entirety of the world were symbolic of something much greater. The tenacity of humanity. When I had killed the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong> were the effects the same?


    What was that? Jack asked me, curious.


    Nothing. I smiled.


    Blitz wasnt my problem. I was fairly certain I could find my way into the <strong>Dungeon</strong> if I wanted to, regardless of any thugs stationed there. No, that was a problem for the people who nned to stay here in Roothaven.


    Besides, thugs were the least of anyones worries. They hadnt noticed yet but Roothaven did have dedicated patrols. Id run into them before, though keeping out of sight. My physical stats allowed me to traverse the terrain easier than anyone should have had a right to, barring some specialized <strong>Skills</strong> like Ricksons <strong>[Terrain Traversal]</strong>.


    Elsewhere, I beheld a horde. The dangers of the swamp had been rtively muted since the death of the <strong>Field Boss</strong>. That couldve stemmed from the territory itself garnering a reputation from the local wildlife, or something else entirely. Either way, it had been the calm before the storm.


    Of course, thered been cases of people mauled, or shot with arrows. Messy wounds from wolves and goblins, people bedridden from eating the wrong thing, or incapacitated from touching something poisonous. The swamp wasnt exactly safe, it never was.


    <em>This</em> was different.


    I held my arrows silently, palm against the tree trunk, far above the perception of any of these monsters. They were twisted caricatures of a humanoid. Green, brown, the mottled colors of the swamp itself. Their faces were ugly and their beady eyes held a certain maliciousness, a horrible glee Id witnessed firsthand.


    My fingers itched at my arrows upon seeing them. I nced up, looking across the canopy, relying on that uncanny awareness of myself, and found another of my clones doing the same.


    I <em>hated</em> goblins.


    Another of me was scouring the branches, traveling alongside the horde. These particr clones were already a days travel from Roothaven. The horde itself? It was on a direct course for the ramshackle gathering of survivors. Evidently, the small groups or pairs of goblins people had been reporting were scouts.


    I grimaced, images of the dead floating to the fore. Roothaven wasnt yet the haven people like Gary wanted it to be. Even Ralph and the rest of the craft-savvy people could only do so much in the way of real shelter. People died. Some people have adapted, most were still trying to ignore it, and others were burying the bodies.


    Maybe establishing a <strong>Settlement</strong> might do something, I muttered. To help against this.


    Another me watched one of Roothavens patrol. A cobbled-together trio of survivors with <strong>Skills</strong> suited to the wilderness. They wore some of Ralphs cloaks and were equipped with <strong>Items</strong> from the <strong>Dungeon</strong>.


    I saw them hear the horde before they glimpsed it. One of them cocked their head and all three went silent before cresting a root and ncing down at the front of what Id been monitoring. They went pale white and quickly scrambled away, conversing amongst themselves before darting towards Roothaven.


    I could have ryed the same information instantly but Thered be too many questions. I nced at the trio again. They were moving fast enough. The horde, inparison, was taking its time.


    Goblins, evidently, were not the most organized. They were tripping and falling over each other, picking fights between groups I couldnt distinguish, and generally getting into enoughmotion to stall their march.


    Besides, theres something I need to test.


    <strong>Skill: [Telepathy]</strong>


    <strong>The capacity to perceive and interact with the mind, consciousness, and thoughts of both ones self and others. To sense,municate, and influence other thinking entities.</strong>


    The reason Id found the damn horde in the first ce was from the absolute mess of conscious thought emanating from it, not that I wouldnt have found it otherwise. Like the actual noise, their mental state was a constant buzz, with waves and peaks of emotions like anger, hunger, annoyance, anticipation, and more.


    As much as Id like to explore whatever energy that book had sparked within me, I had a <strong>Skill</strong> Ive already neglected experimentation with for too long.


    Thered always been that <em>little</em> caveat in the description. This was the <strong>Skill</strong> granted alongside the <strong>[Rootmother Hiveminds]</strong> demise, the one that was an intrinsic part of the <strong>[Trailzing Vanquisher of the Hivemind] Title</strong>. And connotating the <strong>Skill</strong> to the <strong>Field Bosss</strong> mind control wasnt that big of a logical leap.


    Id steered away from people, feeling it wrong to dabble in the minds of other survivors but these? These things didnt hesitate to take someones eye. Didnt hesitate to plunge their wed hands into someones eye socket and <em>yank</em>


    I pressed a palm to my eye and stared downward.


    <em>Good prey! Good prey! Kill! Laugh! Food!</em>


    The tide of thought washed over me, practice among the survivors and the increased mental attributes helped me stand my mental ground. They didnte in words that I knew. Instead, the context, the emotion, and the shes of images allowed me incredible insight.


    Through it all, I picked out the thoughts of a signal goblin. Arger specimen that parted the goblin crowd like it was natural. I couldnt tell if the goblin itself was any different, or it just had size. The jostling didnt seem to bother it, although it wasnt shy to stomp on any of its kin that annoyed it.


    <em>Will kill flesh things. Yummy goblin-nots. Pink, red, food, big! </em>Its thoughts just about matched its ugly mug. And its internal perspective of what a human was, was not exactly inspiring.


    In two other ces, my clones found their own targets, picking through their thoughts.


    I dived into myself, drawing on that ice-cold me deep within. That frozen fire that I used to contain the earliest days of the apocalypse. The science building, Horace, the goblins, the spider. It was anger, hate, and hopelessness. An emotion that bubbled up from the abyss and made onesh out, unable to reconcile it.


    I <em>breathed</em>, mastering it as I always did.


    Hate. Anger. Hopelessness.


    That bundle of emotion, that searing de of memoryI opened my eyes and found the goblins mental frequency, piggybacked the emotions that lined up, hijacked its reasoning, and <em>stabbed it</em>. And I felt its mind, defenseless, vulnerable. Resisting, twisting, a natural confusion that tried to reconcile a foreign influence. I felt like the <strong>[Rootmother Hivemind]</strong>, as it had when it had nted itself into one of my clones, invading my mind, only now the goblin was me.


    A nket of disgust covered me, a breach of my morality, but then I stared at the creatures below, heard the thoughts of the horde, and allowed the apocalypse to win once more.


    I paused, watching the goblin jerk in ce, eyes suddenly confused. Then destroyed whatever semnce of logic it still held onto.


    <em>Rage</em>, I whispered, voice hard.


    And the goblin,rger than the rest, <em>howled</em>. Its eyes burned with sudden fervor, alight with a bloodlust I recognized. Immediately, the surrounding goblins scattered, screaming. And it grabbed one of its kind by the throat, an unlucky runt, and smashed him into the ground before throwing the body at the rest.


    Another howl. It hade from another point in the horde.


    Another.


    I sat above, a ghost and a specter. A hovering wraith haunting the minds of the living. I stared down at the chaos below. The scattering of small sections of the horde, the traffic, the bloodshed, the blood<em>lust</em> that was spreading. In those small sections, absolute carnage.


    So this is the result of a world-worthy achievement. Of defeating a <strong>Field Boss</strong> solo. I said to myself.


    With a grimace, I followed the horde, experimenting.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!