Surviving the Apocalypse with a System.

Fading World ( Part 1 )

“With the abrupt declaration of a State of Emergency , people all over the country are fearful of the outcome of this crisis.

And now we go live to the State House , where the president is just about to address the nation,” the news anchor said as the hundreds of survivors huddled together in the basements of the Parliament building , all eyes glued to the news.

Jack held Linzy’s hand , its warmth calming her nerves down a bit.

“Citizens of Rein , today our great nation has suffered a loss greater than anything else in history. Within hours after the first portal was sighted in Rein City , countless others have appeared across all states , with them monsters that have decimated millions of our people.

Reports of such sightings are coming from all over the world and right now over a thousand cities have collapsed .

But even as other countries fall , we still stand strong and united.

Our nation is the greatest in the world for a reason . Our national heroes fought for the freedom of our land. They fought so that we may be the first democracy , a beacon of freedom and prosperity.

We have the most powerful military and our mages make the earth tremble with their might. As I speak , they are working together to combat this crisis.

Plans are underway to ensure civilians are rescued from the red zones . Telecommunications companies are being directed on how to relay crucial government alerts and make sure information reaches each and every single person.

Major hospitals will keep their doors open to help the injured and we are making efforts to boost security around these critical hubs.

Citizens are being encouraged to avail themselves at the closest public outpost and this includes schools,police stations , public stadiums and even religious buildings of worship like churches.

Take heart my people , this is just another stumbling block on the road . One that we will soon rise above , just as we have always done before .”

When the speech was over and the news broadcast channel returned back to the anchors at the panel and Jack turned his attention to his System.

[

System information

Stamina Residue - 100%

Rejuvenation bars - 1/1

]

Rejuvenation required 100 points to get to the next level. With 400 points gained from killing the Dread Ghost , he decided to be a little more extravagant by taking Rejuvenation two levels higher.

Amongst all of the Talents he had , this one had proven itself to be the most important.

The second upgrade cost him 200 additional points , but it would be worth it. Surviving was better than winning.

[

System notification

Rejuvenation ; stage 1 level 1 -> stage 1 level 3

Rejuvenation bars - 4/4

]

300 points were consumed there, leaving him with a hundred left.

He took note that talents , unlike personal attributes , had stages attached to their power scaling. These stages would probably require additional materials to ascend , and he assumed that’s where materials like Dread Ghost bones came into play.

It had been a small detail he failed to notice in the heat of battle against the Dread Ghost when he upgraded the Constricted Surface talent. This talent was registered by the system as a four star talent , the highest ranking in talents being five star.

Rejuvenation was a three star and Perception was a five star.

The high ranking of Perception made sense when he remembered how the talent had allowed him to manoeuvre around monsters far more powerful than he was and actually win. It was a pity that the System categorised it as already maxed out , that talent could have become a really broken ability if it had been given room for growth.

“ How are we going to get through this ,” Linzy asked , stifling her heart which was aching with the death of Timothy.

The man had been more than her boss , he had sponsored her course in business management when the Association of Mages retired her for losing her healing elemental power.

She was an orphan and thus had nowhere to turn to when the Association sacked her without any severance package or benefit. Timothy was the only person who had come through for her when the world shuts its doors .

“ At least the government seems to be doing everything possible to protect us. We should stay out of trouble and hope that this crisis goes away ,” he replied , then went on , “ I want to apologise for earlier. Asking you to turn on the water sprinklers on a hunch that they would distract the Dread Ghost was a risky thing to ask of you,”

Linzy frowned , “ Like I told Hamilton , the decision was mine . Cut the guilt before I get mad at you .”

“But Linzy , this is life and death and you are just a ..”

“ Just a human , I know. You don’t need to remind me that I no longer have my elemental healing magic ,”

“ I just don’t want to lose more people than I already have,”

Linzy , though still on the defensive , understood the meaning in Jack’s words.

He was trying not to be rude about it , but the facts were there. She was just a simple plain human while the monsters prowling about were dangerous supernatural entities . She had only survived the Dread Ghost because of Jack’s bravery , the next encounter would probably not be as forgiving.

She put her pride aside and pulled Jack to a tight embrace , “ I too , also don’t want to lose more people.”

Cynthia and Hamilton were hurled a distance away , but still had a clear view of Jack and Linzy.

“ You have to eat food otherwise the medicine will not help you,” Cynthia scolded him with her soft voice whose melody made it hard for Hamilton to take her seriously.

“ But these are your rations ,”

“ I already ate when you were out cold . And plus , the amount of food they are giving us now is far less than what was going around last night, and you need a lot of nutrients right now.

So take what I’m giving you and complain only when you're back on your feet ,” Cynthia was showing him a new side of herself that he had never seen. It was affectionate and selfless , yet strict and firm like a mother would be.

Hamilton tried to put up a fight , but after a few more rounds of back and forth exchanges , he conceded.

Later on he came to learn that Cynthia had remained awake the entire night watching over him while he was recovering. It made him rebuke himself for having gotten her so worried .

According to him , he was the one that was supposed to be protecting and caring for her.

“ That blue woman , she still hasn’t appeared to you again?” Linzy asked.

“ Ever since the military brought us into the Parliament safety bunkers , she sounded a warning about getting an ominous feeling of the place then went silent on me ,” Jack replied.

“Warning?”

“ Yes , and she seemed quite frightened by it too. It was something about feeling the presence of another person with a System just like mine nearby ,”

“ You could have said this earlier ,” Linzy started getting the same shivers that had been raking her while they were still in the company building.

“There was no need to burden you guys. I mean look at how peaceful Hamilton and Cynthia are right now , it would be cruel of me to have them worried about something that might not even be true ,” Jack gave her his reasoning.

“ Your heart is in the right place Jack , one of the reasons that you are amongst the very few people I hold dear. What you fail to realise is that your safety is a big priority to me as well,”

“And what if I am the only target , concerning you guys would only put you in harm’s way ,” Jack was still coming to grips with having used Linzy in the fight with the Dread Ghost.

Linzy wanted to go on with this but then some soldiers appeared and informed everyone that lunch was ready.

From the experience that they had gotten at breakfast , Linzy knew that those last in line would be lucky to find scraps.

“ We will revisit this conversation after I get back. Stay here and continue recuperating,”

She got up quickly and joined by Cynthia on the way , they made haste for the mess hall.

Jack was left staring at Hamilton with a pitiful smirk. The man looked like a child who’d just come from a serious lecture.

After having a good time with that , he summoned the System screen again to have a look at the new artefact he had gotten,

[

System Information

Talent Description;

Bag of Domicile

- Stores anything in virtual space.

- Refinement rank - 1

Next refinement rank benefit - perpetual preservation.

]

Though he had no use for the bag at the moment , he guessed it would come in handy in the future. With the ever increasing food shortage , it would be nice to have a private stash of his own to share with his friends.

“ Bossman , Aiko no longer feels the evil presence of another System user. Aiko can now talk with Bossman without fear of discovery ,” the girl vibrantly chimed like a fresh bell in his head.

Jack sighed with a smile. He still believed Aiko had gotten all worked up for nothing , “ Can we talk about the System Aiko ?”

“ Yes yes of course ! This is Aiko’s duty and she will spare no decorum in fulfilling it,”

“ Thanks for the enthusiasm , I guess ,” he laughed , “ Tell me ,why did you say that I was chosen?”