The Manaverse

Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

After a quick conversation, the Crusaders decided it was too early to retire for the evening. Yet, they had full inventories and each wanted to check on someone or do something before they met back up at the Adventurer's Guild and heading out to find some Lairs, Dens or Dungeons.

Jut wasn't going to let something happen to Clara before he could talk to her. Not after Dan's sudden disappearance. After a few congratulatory words and a thorough grandmotherly examination from Magatha, she took Jut up to the second floor.

They stopped just before the door. Magatha looked at Jut for a long moment before speaking quietly. "Jut, Clara is not fond of being around people. Take it slow when talking to her and if she doesn't respond, or reacts poorly, we will try again another day. I hope that is okay?"

Jut whispered. "Of course. I completely understand."

The matron walked into the room Clara was in and was gone for a few minutes before opening the door and gesturing for Jut to join her.

Clara shared a room with another little girl who was currently outside playing. Clara herself was sitting on her bed, a blanket pulled up to her chin. Her curly brown hair was as wild as her eyes. If Jut had to guess, he would say she was about eight years old.

When Jut stepped closer, the midday light barely illuminated the room through the slightly cracked curtains, Clara looked away from him. She gripped her blanket a little tighter to herself.

Jut was unsure how to respond. She was clearly terrified he would do something to her. So he thought about it for a long moment before just jumping in and giving the conversation a shot.

"Hi Clara. My name is Jut Zoak and I am an Adventurer. Do you know what Adventurers do?" He asked in as friendly of a manner as he was able while keeping his hands in sight and still.

Clara nodded, but didn't look at him. Her voice was small. "You kill the Monsters."

Jut nodded slowly, giving her a smile. "Good job. That's right. Well, I have a Quest that will help me kill some more monsters. It says I should come and talk to you. Do you have any idea why?"

This time, Clara did look up. Fear was still written across her face. She shook her head. "Why would you have a Quest about me? I'm just a kid. I can't even see the System yet."

Jut was unsure what to say. For some reason, telling this little girl that she possibly had information leading to, if not directly related to, why the Monsters were able to kill so many on the night of the wave didn't seem like a good idea. Not in her current state.

So, he tried something else. "Do you know a man named Daniel Carry? I called him Dan when he was my boss."

Clara's eyes narrowed for a long moment before her expression lost a majority of its fear and curiosity got the better of her.

"Are you Mr. Jaxon?"

Jut's eyes widened in surprise. "I used to be. My name changed after the System arrived. Did Dan tell you my old name?"

Clara reluctantly got off of her bed and reached underneath it. When she reemerged, she was holding a dolly.

"I asked Uncle Danny to look at Kalli because her voice was gone. Uncle Danny gave me Kalli back and told me to expect a man named Mr. Kyle Jaxon to come and that he was the only one who could truly fix her. She does talk again, but now her voice is so quiet I can barely hear it."

Clara handed the blonde doll to Jut and he examined it closely. What the in Hell, Dan? He thought to himself. He wasnt an expert in fixing things like this.

Jut recognized the doll as one that had been sold at the super center. If he remembered correctly, it was so highly sought after that even the grocer carried a few during the rush. So, Jut shrugged and did what any person in his situation would do. He looked to see if he could fix the doll. Even if he didn't get any useful information from her after, he would still try. The toy seemed important to her.

Popping the back of the doll open to get to the voice box was easy. The inside actually took his breath away. The internal parts of the doll looked to have been fixed or replaced with wires made from stone metal. The battery compartment had been adjusted to take Mana Chips, too. It was clear that either Dan or someone Dan knew had made it so the precious treasure would still operate, at least for a while.

Jut examined the front of the voice box. There was a small envelope covering the speaker. He pulled the small envelope out and slid it into his belt pouch as he put the doll back together.

"Your Uncle was a good man. He looked out for a lot of us the best he could before the System. He would be so proud that you asked me to fix this. If I find him, I will tell him how well you did. Thank you, Clara." Jut said as he tested the doll. It's voice had been restored, being loud enough to draw a surprised look from Clara.

Jut rose slowly and left the room. Before he reached the door, he turned and waved at Clara. Despite her doll being held close, she was still cowering under her covers. Magatha followed Jut out after she tucked Clara back in and told her lunch would be ready soon. Clara seemed to settle in easily after that. He turned to Magatha as she closed the door and they started down the stairs.

"Did something happen to her? And how did she get to the point where she called Dan uncle? He doesn't have any siblings."

Magatha shrugged. "She hasn't spoken about Dan much. She has mentioned that humans killed her mom and dad, not Monsters. More detail then that and you'll have to ask her."

"It can't be me, or people like me I'm guessing. She doesn't seem to mind you. Does she react like that with everyone else?" Jut asked, feeling bad for Clara. Monsters were bad enough to have to deal with human ones too.

Magatha shook her head. "No. Just people in armor or those known to fight monsters scare her. That's if I can even get her out of the room. This Mr. Carry disappearing is what brought her to me. Someone had to be taking care of her until then. Likely Dan himself. This reclusive behavior doesn't seem new though."

They both bowed their heads. The moment was heavy and thick with sorrow. Then Magatha pat Jut's shoulder gently.

"Time is what she needs for now. I will look after her, be assured. You get what you needed?"

Jut looked at the quest and the objective was not complete. He shrugged. "I'll know in a bit. I'll wait to do so until I get done today. We are going back out there."

"Come back here when you are done. I'll treat you all to dinner." Magatha offered, breaking contact with Jut and nodding to him. "The children would love to see Ms. Isabelle again."

"I am sure she would love that too." Jut said with a small smile before waving and walking towards the Adventurer's Guild, Gunther following him closely. He stopped at the System Shop on his way to unload the stuff the Crusaders wouldn't need.

It's not like you killed her parents...

Alex's words appeared in a blink, the small ball of light that was their being popping into view too.

Maybe not. But fear isn't rational. I don't blame her for being scared.

I guess not. What, exactly, does fear feel like? I can see you feel it in your Lore, but I don't feel it myself.

Hmm... Jut let his thoughts wonder to find an answer to that question. How could he describe fear? Remember when you told me that if I didn't focus, we would both die? Back when the wave was going on? What did you feel then?

It took Alex a long time to answer.

I was worried you, and in turn I, would be dead. It was an uncertain feeling and I couldn't do anything but focus on your actions to see if we would...

That, Alex, was fear. That uncertain, nervous feeling. Now, imagine that, but a million times worse. That is what Clara is feeling everyday, because unlike me and other adventurers, she can't do anything to change her situation.

I see...

Alex's window and figure disappeared again and both of them considered what they just learned. By the time Jut had reached the Adventurer's Guild, he was resolved that he would do everything he could to protect Clara and all the children like her. They were going to grow up in this messed up System and it would take the ones who came before them to ensure they could survive when they came of age.

Jut waited outside the Guild. Gunther laid next to him, panting slowly. Despite the Guild being open, there was only a single request on the board. Either the rest were already claimed or no one had reported anything to generate a request yet. So he propped himself up against one wall in the shade and waited for his team. Gunther was alert but lazed next to him.

Jut's hand kept hovering over the icon in his inventory that was the envelope he had taken from Clara. He wanted to open it so badly. Yet, every time he went to take it out, someone would walk by. The uncertainty of what exactly happened to Dan, leading to the envelope ending up in his possession made him paranoid, so he never brought it out. Instead, he stopped trying and did some rituals on the ground with a ritual board he had made.

The board was a small chunk of stone metal he pounded flat and etched three circles on. One was the more complex circle used for conversions. He began combining his chips until he was able to lift another Skill Upgrade Token from the board which he immediately used on his final combat skill, Consequence.

Jut waived and stuffed his ritual board into his inventory as Joy, Brick, and Diggy joined him right after he had finished. Nox was trailing the group, looking like he was guarding their backs.

"Take care of everything?" Jut asked as he and Brick high-fived before he did his handshake with Diggy. He had to hide his grin when Joy watched eagerly for her turn. Jut obliged and gave her a high-five and a fist bump. She smiled and was pretty enthusiastic about returning the gestures.

"Yep. I wanted to grab this." Brick said, flashing an urn orb to Jut.

Jut avoided grimacing and nodded. "Want to try and find a spot for them now then?"

Joy looked grim and she spoke up. "Can... can I join you guys? You're planning on spreading their ashes right?" Joy was holding two urn orbs of her own.

Jut nodded. He looked at Diggy. "Once we find a spot, we should invite Joey."

Diggy shook his head. "I sent him a message after the barrier dropped. He doesn't want to leave the Safe Zone. He said to go on without him."

"Crimson feels the same." Joy added sadly.

Every person Jut had met since the System initiated appeared in his contact list. The new feature was amazing, but had a few obvious drawbacks. The main one being people who didn't have their own contact list or communications system were either listed as "unreachable" or "known" and he was unable to interact with the names at all.

Joey and Crimson, however, were not part of those groups. Jut sent them an invite but no response was forthcoming. He waited with his chat screens open but no response appeared by the time the fifth and final Crusader arrived.

When Isabelle stepped out from a side road coming from the central clinic, she was out of breath. Lily was in her arms. It looked like she had carried the cat the whole way. "I am so sorry to be the last one. We had a particularly bad injury from the West gate's battle to deal with."

"Girl over there, slayin'. Did they at least pay you in chips for your work?" Joy asked, giving Isabelle a high-five of her own.

Isabelle's expression fell as her hand met Joy's. "They did... but the Adventurer didn't survive."

The mood, which was already on the low end, dropped further. Not letting it run her over, Joy spoke jovially. "Well, let's get this done and kill more Monsters. That way, we can avoid another wave like that."

The Radiant Crusaders all nodded as one and they walked as a group to the East gate and out into the barren ring around the Safe Zone.

The party members all turned to Jut. He, getting the picture, looked around. "We haven't gone further than a few steps out of the wall. So... should we look for a suitable location? I can't see a single bit of the city left, and we decided we would find our old campsite from before the Lock Down. That doesn't seem feasible now. That spot should have been about half way from the East gate to the Southern edge of the barren area."

Brick nodded. "That's exactly why when everyone else was taking care of important things, I looked out at the landscape from our tower."

Jut felt his eyes widen. He hadn't thought of that. The penthouse would give a great perspective of the surroundings, especially with all of the other buildings outside the Safe Zone gone. The rest of the Crusaders all made similar gestures with Diggy hitting his own forehead in self annoyance.

Brick smiled knowingly at the team. "There is one spot I saw. It's to the North and is the first truly tall ridge of the new mountain range. I believe I saw a route leading up to it along the tree line. What do you think?"

Jut shrugged. "What would the guys want? I know Jonny was stationed here and Barbs was from Granite City." He looked to Joy who confirmed it with a nod.

Brick looked North for a long moment. Jut would let Joy and Brick take the lead on this. They knew their respective deceased teammates better than any of the others. While he had been getting to know the rogue team of soldiers, it was short. Too short to know them well enough to decide a final resting place for their ashes. He knew what he would want, and he doubted it would be the same.

Brick spoke with confidence. "Jonny. He was born in Granite City. He always considered this place home. Our unit wasn't fully stationed here..." Brick trailed off. He coughed into his hand and continued, the slight waiver of emotion changed to his usual positive self. "As this Safe Zone is the only remaining section of his home, I would think he would want to watch over it? Don't you?" He turned to Jut, a curious expression digging into the Drakkin.

Jut nodded. "I am guessing that Randy and Larry would want to join in his vigil. What about Barbs and Fia?" He asked Joy. "If you have a better place for them, we can make more stops while we hunt."

Joy looked into the urns before looking back. "They would agree. We didn't earn the award for the highest amount of Monsters killed because we were just bloodthirsty. We were in it to stop them from hurting people too. They would want to watch what happens going forward."

With the choice decided and no objections, Jut and Brick lead the team North. The dark soil muffled the sound of their footsteps. While crossing the barren area, they only saw two Monsters. However, each turned and fled back into the trees.

Fifteen or more kilometers was still a little over nine miles away, so their trek took them a few hours to get to the first slope after pressing through a gap in the Northern treeline. It took even longer than they expected because they had to slow down and watch for Monsters carefully while in the heavily wooded area. It helped a bit that the animals were on the look out.

Only a few normal ranked Monsters attacked them from behind trees or bushes and none of them were very subtle about it either. Jut and Isabelle took them down easily with their wands.

While Jut theorized each individual Monster had different levels of HP, he assumed Monsters of the same rank, level, and species that were the same size should be about the same. Even if he was off in that idea, they learned the difference between stat points during their hike.

No matter how close Jut was or how hard he tried, Isabelle's wand just did more damage than his. With their wands having identical descriptions and about the same amount of Mana being used per attack, as far as they could tell anyway, they should have dealt the same amount of damage.

With trial and error, they discovered the only difference between them was their intelligence stat scores. Isabelle had fifteen points after her gear was included while Jut was at twelve and she always seemed to kill her targets in less shots than Jut.

Jut congratulated Isabelle as they broke onto the ridge Brick had spotted from the tower. There was a natural cave in the rock wall behind them and the edge was a sheer drop that rounded off on two sides. The area between the wall and the cliff's ledge was at least a hundred square feet and the only way to get there was from a small trail they had to walk single file on.

The Radiant Crusaders crowded around the ledge, looking over the Safe Zone.

Stretching out in all directions below them was a forest. The hole in the greenery was filled with Safe Zone's granite colored buildings and the dark, flat soil. They were high enough that they could see over the wall. They could see the Graveyard and Town Hall pretty clearly. They could even see the System Shop amongst the remaining or modified buildings. The residential towers rose above their cliff by a fair margin.

It was Joy who said aloud what they were all thinking.

"It... uh... looks a little... sad, don't you think?"

It was true. The streets were a reminder of the city that had perished. The pre-system buildings seemed dingy and fragile, like a stiff breeze would knock them over. And despite the glorious castle that was the Town Hall, it felt like what it was now. An over populated village. If the System didn't have the ability to construct buildings like it did, Jut guessed it would take decades to rebuild what once was.

Looking closer, Jut grinned as he saw the setting sun cast its light upon the people of the Safe Zone. While he couldn't make out individuals' shapes or features, their movements in the dimming light made the Safe Zone seem alive. Yes, it was sad, but it was also something else. It was a beacon of hope in the desolation.

"It looks like a new beginning to me. It might be an overcrowded hole for now, but I can see it's potential. Can't you?" Jut said aloud.

The brief moment of silence that followed was the lightest they'd experienced in a long while. Each Crusader, in their own way, saw what Granite City could become or the way they would do it differently this time around.

A growl sounded behind them, shattering the peaceful moment.

As one, they all turned to face the cave opening. They drew their weapons and took a ready stance. Gunther, Nox and Lily each took up a spot between the team, ready to pounce.

From the darkness, a Stone Ranked Monster emerged, growling loudly.