Zach trudged his way through the endless night. it took him hours, if not days he didn't know. His young mind filled with the pain that hunger was. he felt so very hungry, and the agony those tearing scars brought to his chest and shoulder. every breath felt like acid coursing through his veins. every step felt like it was going to be his last.

  "W-where is the end?" he muttered to himself, hissing at the cold pain that even speaking brought to his body, "how long till this pain heals?" Zach thought, bringing up his status page.

  His health rang full simply because this wasn't a pain that simple numbers could amount to, technically speaking his body was in nearly perfect health. this? no this was the pain of scars, of hunger, and of loss. coupled with his lichhood transformation.

  As Zach pondered his status page, new voices echoed in his ears. those of chatter and, worry and laughter. long had the growl of zombies and roars of beasts been drowned out in this cacophony of emotions reverberating through the air. Zach steeled himself and stepped forward.

  Breaching the woodlands...

  It'd been years since lord Thorim had taken over the bordering town of Asglan, as one of the first to evolve he held a strategic advantage over the previous lord. prowess, He and Caiden, the twin lords could offer something no one else could. protection and power, they offered to teach those willing to learn how to defend themselves in the wake of the horde and protect those who couldn't. for a hefty fee of course.

  In the years that followed this, the two of them developed the meager village of Asglan. settling down and fortifying the land into a thriving townscape. Thorim was never much of a leader, he took the position nearly because he felt it right that the strongest would lead others and therefore would spend most of his time hunting down packs of creatures that could threaten his town before they got the chance to.

  Caiden on the other hand would often take up a role alongside the guardsmen. teaching and training those around him while making sure the city gates remained safe and under control. most of the actual governance was left to those more fit for the job.

  Today like usual Caiden was helping at the gates, when he noticed a limping silhouette approaching the gate. whilst not unusual in itself. the creature's stature was the surprising part to him. It had been before the apocalypse began since the last time he saw someone so young. wearing a ragged ripped hunter's garb the kid couldn't be older than 8 caiden thought to himself.

  "Inspect" he muttered.

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  Caiden sighed to himself in disappointment "Of course the fucking kid is infected", getting up from alongside the palisade wall he walked over slowly, "hey kid come here!" he yelled. turning the heads of the many Asglan citizens.

  "H-hungry, I'm so hungry" Zach coughed out, just barely loud enough for those nearby to hear him. before collapsing headfirst in the mud.

  ...

  Zach awoke several minutes later with his back up against the wall, the area around him empty except for one person.

  'an adult, I think. pointy ears too, should be an elf?" he remembered Uncle Grey's teachings well.

  The man infront of him wore a light set of leather armor, with a multitude of patchwork and cuts embedded into its frame. his near-luminescent blond hair glowed in the dark of the endless night. as he was staring out to keep watch, the man heard rustling behind him, turning to meet Zach's bright cyan eyes with his own yellow ones.

  "Ah good you're awake, eat this, then we will talk" The tall elf produced half a loaf of bread from his bag and threw it to him. Zach devoured it in seconds.

  "T-thank you" he muttered between bites, quickly finishing his first meal in days.

  The elf introduced himself as simply as Caiden, before asking Zach a bunch of basic questions such as age and where he came from.

  "I-I'm 5 sir Caiden, my family lived in the woods. Uncle Grey would often mention coming here for supplies and stuff, maybe you knew him?"

  "Oh, your grey's son? Callum, I think he was called. but Callum should be an adult by now?"

  "N-no Callum was my cousin, I was saved by Uncle Grey. my family died in the apocalypse I think. Uncle Grey and Callum were also killed."

  "Killed? Do you know who or what it was? judging from your wounds I'd guess zombies?"

  "N-no Uncle Became a zombie, the two of them fought off this giant green thing that broke into our house..."

  Zach then slowly used his mana manipulation skill to draw a copy of the creature, it was crude and the mantid looked more like a bright blue plushy than a deadly weapon. but he hoped this picture would help Caiden.

  "F-Fascinating... you will have to show me how you did that, but first I will send a group to see if more mantids or similar insects have breached our side of the forest"

  Zach slowly got up from the wallside, wincing slightly at the movement, "S-sir Caiden can I stay here, Uncle Grey used to talk about how safe this place is".

  Caiden sighed deeply, he was afraid of Zach asking this. "I'm sorry, afraid not. your infected kiddo. you'd be in danger from the other people who live here, and a danger to them".

  "B-BUT I.. I can heal it." Zach was scared. "with enough willpower, I can stop the infection from spreading."

  "IF, and only if you can actually stop the infection can I let you in our doors? you can come here every day till then, I will bring you some spare food. sorry kid."

  Zach stood there. dumbfounded "H-how.. how can I level up fast?"

  "simple. go out there" he pointed behind him to the woods, "and go kill things, anything that moves will help" Good luck kiddo see you tomorrow.

  Caiden then jumped over the 8-meter-tall wooden walls and disappeared. "god it feels so cool to do that" he muttered whilst walking into the town.

  "wow. that was cool when can I do that!" Zach muttered whilst walking into the woods.

  ...

  Zach proceeded to spend the next few days scouring the entry point of the woods for enemies. but found nothing, not even a single rabbit or bug. it was like the natural creatures that couldn't evolve were also decimated during the last few years. he gritted his teeth and decided to push deeper into the forest on his forth day.

  suddenly alongside a surge of heat flowing through his veins. his status began to change before his very eyes.

  His left eyeball turned pitch black, and the veins surrounding it blackened too, those black veins quickly spread down his left arm the scarring wound left there fading away in the process.

  all at once the pain covering his body vanished, and the only remaining wound on his chest stopped throbbing too. the relief made Zach cry out in joy. he celebrated his joy for a couple of minutes before stopping. "okay I definitely need to head deeper tonight, that willpower needs to go up." he thought. stepping even deeper towards where he used to live. the echoes of civilization cast aside behind him. and the roars of beasts unimaginable reverberating through the ground beneath his feet.