February 2, 2021
The surface of the planet Earth has now been made uninhabitable. All of the radiation, toxicity, pollution, and every other factor has gotten to the point that cursed spirits are having difficulty staying alive. Humans would need the most cutting edge technology and gas protection equipment to go outside in this environment. Their cursed energy, if they are a sorcerer, might help them a little bit with resisting the environment, but only to an extent. However, for those like Waldo and Mara, they are still able to stay on the surface without facing too much trouble. Waldo’s special cursed energy test makes it so it can hollow out and negate any negative or foreign effects from the environment and other energies. Because Mara is by Waldo’s side, she is naturally under his protection. After their fight with Mahoraga, they decided to move to the west in search of… whatever they could find. There wasn’t much of anything on the surface anymore. It has been a year since the Doomsday occurred after all. Any humans that may have survived the Doomsday have probably already slaughtered each other for food and other resources. Mara wanders back to the workers of the gold mine that they stumbled upon a few months ago. She hopes that they’re alright, especially the elderly people. But after seeing that… it may be too much to ask. Yes, about a month ago, in January, Waldo and Mara entered the town of Aspen, Colorado. There, they saw firsthand what the deteriorating environment could do to humans. Some of them had turned into mutants and had already fled. Others suffered cancer and other various diseases. A handful of humans already died before the two of them arrived. They didn’t even bother putting up any resistance against them. What good would it do if they were already going to perish? This sight saddened Mara to quite an extent. She reminded herself once more that she’s grateful for being under Waldo’s protection. If he never came to her, she would be in the same situation as these poor people.
“Isn’t it just the worst, Waldo? Everyone has to suffer because of some people being greedy.”
“That is how the world operates, Mara. Believe it or not, this was how it was even before your Doomsday. Nothing has changed. You humans have never learned to live and coexist in harmony.”
“I… guess that’s true.”
Mara then begins to talk with some of the kids among the humans. It has been a long time since she has met people her age. She looked up at Waldo and sincerely asked him for permission to converse with them. He didn’t see any purpose in it, but he allowed it for a few minutes. Mara wouldn’t be able to train effectively if negative thoughts spiraled in her mind. Perhaps talking to other humans her age would help her with that.
The two of them now find themselves in the town of Provo in the state of Utah. Along the way, there wasn’t anything worth mentioning or remembering. Just some more run down towns and cities. They haven’t come across many humans on the way. Any human they did come across tried to rob them of what they had in their wagon. A handful of them tried to use deception to get through to them. However, it wouldn’t fool Waldo. Waldo would make quick work of the liars and turn them into a midnight snack. Mara didn’t think much of it. She knew that everyone was just trying their best to survive. Seeing a defenseless little girl with so many items would naturally cause them to try to take some. It does bother her that people are willing to kill a little girl with no hesitation. It made her feel a bit better when Waldo took care of it instead of her. Although, he did end up making her fight one of the humans by herself. The human she fought had physical prowess on par with a Grade 2 sorcerer, but Mara was able to steamroll them without much trouble. Her body over the course of this entire year has become the strongest body a kid could ask for. Waldo is pleased by this amount of growth. Mara has turned from a scrawny crybaby into a true sorcerer. If she keeps this up, she might just be able to defeat a Grade 1 threat before she turns 10 years old. That would be quite the sight to see.
Anyway, the duo look around the town for anything worth mentioning. Waldo takes care of the left side and Mara takes care of the right side. Mara jumps from house to house, building to building, and doesn’t find much. She comes across the occasional survival kit or two, but they already have plenty of supplies at the wagon. They have enough to last the rest of the year, in fact. There was really no need to get even more just for it to expire before she can use it. At Waldo’s side, he doesn’t find anything he deems worthy. Food or water he doesn’t need. They have plenty of that. Tools and gas masks are scattered around everywhere, but they have no need for such things. After Waldo finishes scouting and inspecting the first few houses, he decides that there isn’t a point in searching for anything else. All of the other houses are probably the same. Mara’s side must be similar. He turns around as he exits the building he is in and takes to the air. He makes a giant jump across the town and lands on the right side of town. His feet cause a small crater to form as he lands. Mara feels the impact of the landing and runs towards it. Waldo moves forward and sees Mara coming at him.
“Anything catch your eye?”
“Nothing. There’s just supplies that we already have. I don’t think we need to gather those.”
“You’re correct. We have no need for excess resources. They will just slow us down.”
“Should we continue moving forward?”
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“Yes. Let’s continue to move towards another city. I happened to see a much bigger one a few miles north. We might be able to find something there.”
Waldo and Mara get back to their wagon and organize their items. After making sure everything is in place, the two of them march forward. Waldo gets out his rolled up map and opens it. The city to the north that he saw is most likely Salt Lake City. It is emphasized more on the map than most of the other cities. It must be an important one, or at least some kind of capital. Places like those are bound to have some kind of population. Where people mingle, there will always be those few that are good at finding solutions. Perhaps they dug a hole for themselves and are hiding out there. The only way for Mara and Waldo to find out is to head there. The two of them exit the town of Provo and walk along a paved road heading north. The sun is descending towards the west. It should be around five hours past noon. They can arrive before midnight comes for sure. After they walk on the road for a little bit, Mara asks Waldo a question.
“Waldo, don’t you think it’s a bit weird that we haven’t seen any cursed spirits? There’s nothing in this area.”
“I see you have figured that out. Yes, I do find it quite strange, especially when there is a capital not far from here. This state of Utah has decently sized towns and cities. There should have been more cursed spirits in this area. There could be a talented sorcerer that has exorcised them all.”
“That’s true, but they’re hard to find. One person can’t do it by themselves, can they?”
Waldo thinks back to his past memories. He recalls several human sorcerers that had abilities and techniques that far outclassed the current state of sorcerers today. Those excellent Special Grade sorcerers were akin to one man armies. Especially those that hailed from the three great clans: Kamo, Zen’in, and Gojo. Apparently, the Zen’in clan was wiped out a little more than 2 years ago. The current strongest sorcerer of the Gojo clan is nowhere to be seen either. It seems that the great clans are in quite the predicament. However, if Mahoraga still existed, that must mean there are still Zen’in members alive.
(Oh well, let’s not dwell on that for too long. I never got myself too involved with those arrogant clans anyway. Humans are difficult to work with.)
Once the sun has set farther to the west, Waldo can see Salt Lake City much clearer than before. It certainly beats the other towns in terms of size and structure. There must still be humans residing there. Waldo creates some clones out of his cursed energy and looks at them, issuing orders.
“Head over to that city and scout it out. Look into every nook and cranny for any sign of life. Report back once you have found something worth noting.”
The clones immediately scatter and go ahead of them. One of them clones even permeate themselves into the ground. Mara takes a bite out of an apple as she watches Waldo give his orders. Waldo takes a moment to scan what he can at this distance with his own eyes. After seeing nothing, he pushes onward. Mara grabs the wagon and follows behind him.
Once the two of them arrive in the city’s outskirts, Waldo receives a signal from one of his clones. They discovered some kind of hatch leading down into the ground. It’s located in the middle of the streets. It’s what humans call a sewer. A sewer seems like the type of place that humans could hide out in. Several feet underground, mostly protected from the surface, and easy passage to and out of the surface. It’s far from an ideal base but what else could they work with? He turns around and glances at Mara.
“Signs of humans have been spotted in the sewers. We’ll head there immediately. Some a secluded area to park the wagon.”
“Yes!”
Mara heads off into an area in the city with plenty of protection and coverage. She enters a large building that is shut off from the outside and hides the wagon in there. Thankfully, some of the wall had crumbled away so getting the wagon inside was not too hard. After getting back outside, she grabs several pieces of the wall and places them together. She uses her cursed technique to weld the pieces together to form a makeshift wall. It’ll stand on its own until they need to come back for the wagon. Once Mara is done hiding the wagon, she runs back to Waldo and nods her head. Waldo then gets onto the street and sprints straight ahead. Mara promptly runs after him. They only run for a couple of minutes before they arrive at the entrance to the sewers. The clone stands beside the entrance and motions towards the hole in the ground. Waldo recalls the clone and all of the others that he had created. Mara crouches down and looks down at the sera. The smell suddenly wafts up and she pinches her nose in disgust. Waldo raises an eyebrow.
“Is there a problem? You’re clenching your noise and you’re clearly repulsed.”
“No, no, nothing! I just have to… get used to the smell down there.”
Waldo hops down through the hole and lands on the ground. Sure enough, the environment here clearly suits the oder that Mara smelled. There is garbage at every turn and the water here reeks of poison and pollution. Mara swiftly comes down the ladder, still clenching her nose. Waldo gives her a quick side glance and walks forward. Mara follows at his back. She looks at the horribly colored water with a sense of wonder but also disgust. She curious as to what made the water that color. She learned a while back that the sewers have to do with how bathroom pipes connect down here to dump waste. After being down in the sewers personally, she can see how that is true. Waldo stops and perks up. He can clearly hear some activity up ahead. Cursed energy signatures also appear, some larger and denser than others.
“You sense that? Humans up ahead.”
The two of them follow the sewer paths. It is slightly confusing and Waldo has surely run into more than one dead end. After coming across another dead end, he starts to get irritated. He ends up taking a step back and outright punching through the wall itself. There, they stumble upon a decorated, color scene. A large steel chain ring in the middle, several bleachers and seats for an audience, multiple groups of humans, and two cursed spirits inside of that ring.
