As they left the building, calmness abandoned them, and chaos took over.

  Excitement surged through Hunter.

  "Power… real, untapped power."

  He hadn't hit his limit yet, but this... this would push him further, farther than Derick ever could.

  The thought hit him like a punch. His excitement drained, leaving him feeling empty.

  Derick would have loved this.

  Around them, people dropped to the ground crying, screaming, laughing.

  Grief and madness tangled together in the streets.

  Indy started walking.

  Hunter followed, glancing back. Tren stood frozen, staring at the sky.

  Hunter reached out, touching his shoulder.

  "Let's go someplace quieter."

  They trailed after Indy to one of the battered walls. She slumped down against it.

  Hunter and Tren joined her, sitting in the dust.

  Leaning back, Indy examined the sky.

  Tren clutched his shield like a lifeline, knuckles white.

  Hunter couldn't sit still.

  The anticipation gnawed at him. He paced, his stomach flipping, first butterflies, then a jabbing pain.

  Finally, he muttered, "We could get stronger."

  Tren's jaw tightened.

  Shaking his head, Hunter said. "We won't be limited."

  "Limited?" Tren asked, barely above a whisper. His eyes sharpened, latching onto the word.

  "Limited," Tren repeated again and again, his voice rising.

  "Limited! Is that all you think about? Power?!"

  He buried his face against his knees. His voice cracked.

  "They... my family died for this."

  Anger flared in Hunter, and just as quickly, it cooled.

  "He's right. I want power. And it cost them everything."

  Images flashed behind his eyes, the elemental tossing him aside like nothing.

  Hunter clenched his jaw.

  "But I need it."

  A whisper cut into the heavy air.

  "We should use it."

  Tren looked up, eyes red and wild.

  Indy's voice stayed calm.

  "I'm a loner. I haven't lost what you two have. But doesn't it make sense?" She gestured around them. "Make their sacrifice mean something."

  Hunter laid back against the wall. It was cold.

  Above them, the sky bled pink.

  "Come back and decide," Hunter thought.

  Would Derick have taken this chance?

  Derick would use his friends like tools. But sacrifice them?

  Never.

  Take advantage of tragedy?

  Absolutely.

  "I just don't understand," Tren choked.

  "Why did they have to die?"

  Indy stood.

  "It's about time," she said. "Feelings can guide us. But don't let them blind you."

  Hunter and Indy both reached out, pulling Tren to his feet.

  They stood together under the bleeding sky.

  Walking back to the city's center, everyone was quiet.

  Ilian's support stood along the street, heads bowed.

  They all wore somber expressions, keeping their eyes low.

  The city's center was covered with a dark cloud, as if a fog had settled there.

  They walked into it, and this time, their emotions didn't leave them, but their voices did.

  It felt like Hunter's voice got caught deep in his throat.

  They got in line, a line that was too short.

  In the center of the fog was a pillar of light reaching upwards.

  Getting closer, they could see a table in the center with a tablet set atop

  Someone would walk up, read it, then tap and walk away.

  It was Hunter's turn.

  He walked up to the table, looking down at the tablet.

  ————————————————————————————————————

  Please touch the tablet with your palm.

  ————————————————————————————————————

  He touched it.

  ————————————————————————————————————

  Hello Hunter

  Please think carefully, as this will change everything

  Don't choose with grief

  Decided if the sacrifice was worth it

  Choose

  Destroy the Mana condenser

  Yes, No

  ————————————————————————————————————

  The options blinked.

  Power... within reach.

  So why did he hesitate?

  His hand hovered.

  Breath shaky, heart pounding, he thought, "They died for this… All of them."

  His fingers curled into a fist.

  "This wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this."

  A flicker of guilt. A whisper of doubt.

  Was choosing power… betraying their memory?

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Then, the vision returned.

  The elemental towering above him,

  Derick's final breath,

  The way Tren had screamed.

  Weakness.

  Helplessness.

  He swallowed hard.

  "If I'm strong... no one can hurt me. No one can leave."

  "If I'm powerful enough... I can control my fate."

  His hand opened.

  Hunter chose power.

  The screen turned black. His breath finally slowed.

  He walked out of the sunbeam and turned, watching Tren walk in. The tablet was obscured from the outside, but he didn't take long and quickly clicked an option.

  Tren returned and stood beside him, his eyes locked to the device that would change fate.

  Indy walked up.

  She read.

  She froze.

  Indy had seemed so confident.

  She wrung her hands together, then finally tapped the screen.

  Returning to them, they walked back to the dome.

  Sitting down, Hunter felt his heart racing as more people filtered in.

  His palms felt clammy.

  Will stood up from the front row.

  He walked up on stage with Bryan following close behind.

  Bryan looked worse, his head low, his eyes set on the floor.

  "The votes are in," Will said, his voice clear and concise. "Let it be known on this day that the survivors of the Manarith disaster have chosen to usher in a new time."

  His voice deepened.

  "You have chosen to rebuild a path carved in blood. I know it wasn't easy."

  Silence hung in the air like poison gas.

  Then, a voice, quiet and cracked, barely more than a whisper.

  "I'm sorry," Bryan muttered. "I failed you all."

  His breath caught. "If I could take it back, I would. I lost so-"

  He stopped. His breathing quickened, voice raw.

  "I… killed my family with this decision."

  He opened his mouth again, but no words came.

  Just clenched fists. And tears. Silent, steady.

  Will turned to him.

  "Even though they have chosen to move forward, this does not excuse the casualties."

  His voice dropped.

  "It does not make the sacrifice worth it."

  A pause, voice heavy.

  "Bryan, you will be demoted. You've proven your brilliance in research, but you are not a leader."

  Will gestured to one of the front seats.

  A man dressed in a crisp, dark butler's uniform, eyes calm and bright.

  Will nodded to the man, saying, "This city is a precious stronghold, but will never again be led by greed. Henry, I want you to purge the impurities in this city."

  He boomed, "Henry, defend this city's honor and people; show us what a man who never steps down from his duties or wavers in the midst of battle can do."

  A dagger fell into Henry's hand. The dagger sprouted flames that licked upwards. He faced the crowd, his voice steady. "I, Henry, choose to protect Manarith through trial and tribulation.

  If monsters come, I will fight.

  If trials overtake us, we will stand together."

  Cheers erupted like an earthquake, cheering their leader on, the flicker of light, that trail of hope.

  After the cheering died down, someone stood on Hunter's left. The man's voice cut through the silence like a stab through the heart. "Only a demotion? That's ridiculous!" Some shouts of agreement followed.

  Another person. "He should have to pay for what he did."

  "He," came a voice from Will. "He has a name: Bryan. He has lost what he loves, but… if you truly wish for more pain, more death from all this, then know you are opposing me."

  Will slowly met all the men's eyes who were standing. "If you wish to hate. Hate me. If you want more death, aim your malice at me. I'm the judge, and what I say goes."

  The sounds quieted, and the questioning stopped. People slowly got up and walked to the exit, unprepared to accept the world they had voted for.

  Hunter followed; he didn't have anywhere to be but needed some time to think.

  On his way to the wall, a group of soldiers, the normal rowdy group, was sitting in a circle, their armor shiny but their faces solemn.

  The men passed a flask to each other as they sat in silence.

  "This world…" Hunter shook his head. "Is there a reason I'm here? Is this my punishment?"

  Fist clenching, Hunter felt the need to fight something.

  Turning to go and find his team, he stumbled backward. Indy and Tren had been following him. The start of a smirk tried to play at his mouth. "Am I really that unreliable?"

  Tren mirrored his grin. "Yup."

  Indy shook her head at the two of them, "When I saw you walking away. "She stopped looking at her fist as it started glowing red." I had a feeling we would all want to blow off some steam."

  Following Indy, she led them back to the adventurers' guild. The guild had been destroyed and rebuilt, so a new building stood in its place.

  Unlike before, the guild wasn't folded space anymore. A real building stood in its place, solid, grounded, and scarred.

  The building was made of white stone, like the wall. Some stones were broken, and some were held together by the mortar around them.

  A large white slab was on the building's left face, and as they walked closer, Hunter read it. (These stones represent the lives lost in the Mana disaster.)

  Something else caught his eye; the stones had carvings on them.

  He paced, looking at each one.

  There were so many.

  He saw it near the bottom, easy to miss, nothing special. Derick Holder.

  Hunter looked at it for a few minutes, then looked behind him; Tren and Indy were gone.

  "Where did they go?" he wondered, walking around the building.

  He saw Indy first; she stood away from the building, throwing test punches.

  Tren stood alone at the back, his hand slowly grazing over the cold, rough surface of the stones.

  Hunter walked up and stood beside him.

  Looking away for a second, Tren glanced at him with red eyes, gave a slow nod, and looked back.

  Time passed... that much Hunter was certain, but he didn't count minutes. He had learned that when it comes to grieving, time has no place.

  The team eventually made it inside the building; it was larger than the folded reality one from before.

  The building was simple; the stone walls stood tall, and a wooden roof steepled off high above.

  Large wooden beams stretched the distance above them.

  Instead of the couches from last time, desks with cushioned chairs sat facing each other like at a dealership.

  The uniforms of the staff had changed as well.

  Their vests were crimson red like the bleeding sky, and their pants were a deeper crimson, almost black like dried blood.

  "Welcome, my name is Gage," a neat young man said behind the desk. The man's brown hair was neatly brushed over.

  The man stood before, gesturing to the seats on the other side of his desk.

  He offered a practiced smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You can sit here."

  They sat down, and he moved a tablet out of the way as he leaned forward. "What can I do for you today, adventurers?"

  "I'm Indy; we want to kill some monsters."

  The man nodded, moved the tablet slightly closer, and tapped on it. "I can do that for you. Is this still the same team that was recently put together?"

  Indy nodded.

  He paused, looking at each of them. "We have put a limit on how many quests each person or team can do per day. Most people don't need it, but it stops anyone from overdoing it."

  He waited till each of them nodded before continuing. "I have a few different quests you could take."

  Indy chose two quests for them, one where two Salagers were sighted and the other was a group of (Insert monster here), but both were in different directions.

  Following Indy out of the Guild, Tren said. "Hey, Hunter, let's take your cart?"

  Hunter thought back to the large wooden cart. "I don't think it would be very good off the road."

  Tren stepped beside him, "Could you show me?"

  Leading them to the cart, Hunter took another good look at it. It was mostly made of wood, and the large wooden wheels looked like they'd break on the smallest rock.

  Tren walked up to it, touching the wheels and looking under it, studying it like a puzzle he needed to solve.

  "This won't handle anything off-road," Hunter said.

  But Tren didn't back down. There was something different in his eyes; he looked confident.

  Tren walked up to Louie and whispered, "Take us to my home," placing a hand on the Lorid's side.

  The cart rumbled to life, pulling forward toward the edge of the city.

  They stepped into a once-beautiful garden. The road split in four directions, but only one led to a large, mostly destroyed house.

  It had collapsed in on itself. Blackened stone and charred wood jutted upward like broken ribs, as if trying to hold up the heavens. The road ahead was torn and clawed apart, a silent warning not to get too close.

  White flowers bloomed defiantly, survivors of ruin and flame.

  They stood tall, reflecting the sky's soft pink hue, the only color left in a world stained crimson.

  Tren walked past them slowly, his gaze locked on the broken house ahead.

  As he passed, he let his fingers trail across the petals softly, as if he feared they, too, might fall apart.

  Tren led them down another path, which curved right to a small shed with a large door.

  They opened the door and walked inside. The familiar tightness in Hunter's head told him it was a folded reality.

  On the inside, the small shed was a whole warehouse; large dock-like lift bays were set up along its length.

  Tren led them to the closest dock and had the Lorid stop. The walls of the bay were up to Hunter's shoulders.

  Pulling metal beams from the side, Tren pushed them under the bottom of the cart.

  He worked mechanically for a long time.

  Tren would ask Hunter to hand him tools with names he had never heard of, and the man would methodically dissect it, taking each piece off.

  He slowly removed each piece and set it aside, and even though the parts were wooden and looked durable, he was gentle with each.

  Tren was starting to put the parts back together using parts from his warehouse, but one part didn't make sense.

  "Where is the wheel?" Hunter asked, confused.

  Tren stood up, a smile inching at the corners of his mouth. He pointed to metal spokes similar to a bike wheel, but the spokes came to a point. "It's really cool. My family focuses on making carts and recently moved here to pioneer new tech."

  His grin lowered as he continued, his voice losing steam. "It's really amazing. The Mana tampers use Mana to create a cushion that acts as the wheel."

  Indy walked closer, rubbing her arm absentmindedly. The dim glow of the markings there flickered once before dimming.

  She stared at the new wheels, her expression unreadable.

  "Will they still work away from Mana-dense zones?" she asked, her voice casual… but something in it didn't quite match.

  Tren finished tightening a wheel, then stood up, a slow smile creasing his lips. "See, that's the part people couldn't figure out. You know when you blow through tight lips and the air comes out more focused? It's like that—but with Mana."

  Indy kept looking at the spokes momentarily before she shook her head. She held her hand in front of her mouth, blowing, and then nodded.

  Tren continued pointing from the center of the spoke and running his hand downwards. "It's like that for Mana. We aren't focused on using all the Mana but concentrating it, so in the end, it uses less."

  Hunter watched him work. That smile had returned, for just a moment.

  "I wish it were this easy to heal scars."