“This is crazy!” John Let out a surprise yelp.

  “Say This after you experience otherworldly meditation that takes you to the inner realms of endless potential. Am I mistaken?” She addresses Ethan, her eyes burning with curiosity.

  “You are not…” He admits, “I am completely at loss to you, seems like we are in for a talk?”

  “No, we are not, we have spoken enough, go on that two days scavenger hunt, return alive and think things through when you do” she flatly rejected him.

  “If I manage to reach such a level you are More than able to do it yourself, break your feeble mentality per your words and guidance you speak about with us” Dana declined his offer to everyone's surprise.

  This harsh rejection caused the room to fall into a silent maelstrom of emotions, Sarah couldn’t Hide the mixture of admiration to such strong feminism contrasting the disregard to her child, yet, the good intended critique fell short just because of its pitching.

  For the first time after a long awkward silence, Sarah Speaks, “Ethan! I am sorry but she is somewhat correct, this woman insight is bigger than our Wildest imagination, ever since this whole thing started you are warning us of those high and mighty beings, this might be the right attitude”

  “What about putting you all in danger? If this is true, and we are aiming for such grandeur and strength we are certain to meet evil and powerful enemies” Ethan States an obvious flaw.

  A moment of honesty and clarity came glaring at him as he felt the shackles coming along with being part of a loving and caring family, ‘Argh…I wonder how things would have ended had I been on my own’.

  “So you wish for us to wait until a monster we can't defeat pops up from a weird interdimensional gate? Wasn’t that what you told me you were worried about yesterday?” Dana asked innocently.

  Ethan's eyes darted all over the room, his parents and sisters expecting his answer, but it never came, Dana’s words were heard once again.

  “Is it a stray entity to sneeze us from existence by mistake? Or maybe let's wait for a random sentient Race to come and make us his pets or subordinates? Maybe even slaves or sacrifices if they are evil enough per the stories and games, if that’s the logic we are following up with. You thought you could enjoy the power trip slowly and surely and find a piece of heaven And never be found? Are you that optimistic?” The ball is back on Ethan's side, kicked back quite ferociously.

  “I…this…” Ethan froze, mumbling dumbly. Just yesterday he thought he figured out some things to get his mind thrown into chaos and uncertainty once more.

  “I think we should call it a day, especially you, Ethan, tomorrow you have quite a project to pull off, thank you for the warm gathering, you are all very lovely. I will come here tomorrow and show you the mana cultivation method, consider joining me in combat training as well, you know..sport is a healthy kind of a thing…" She smiles with warmth and sincerity towards the family, still in stupor by her great aspirations to the future.

  Waking up abruptly, Sarah walked to the departing Dana stopping a meter from her, glaring with seriousness at the young lady.

  Putting a hand on Dana's shoulder she speaks, “We will support our son and daughters in whatever they want and I wholeheartedly believe my son will take your words in account…being the mother of An emperor Do sound like a nice title, may we come to see this day”, she pulls her in a long hug.

  Embarrassed, Dana return the hug, “thank you, good night, sorry if I spoke inappropriately or scared your daughters”

  As Dana takes her leave first, Sarah looks at the still seated family members, even the snarky Zoe had no heart in teasing her brother after such a scene.

  “Come on, let's go to sleep, we all have a lot of things to sleep and think through tonight. We all have so much to learn from today’s events” Sarah said with a warm smile, hugging and kissing her family members, returning some of the calm to the room.

  Hearing those words caused Ethan to recoil deeper in his seat, his mental calculations are far from over it seems.

  A few moments of silence went on ending with Ethan standing up, “I shall take my leave, thank you for the food” although His lips showing a smile, his eyes couldn't hide his discontent from how things ended.

  “Ethan, it is really okay, nothing is created in a wave of a Hand and heroes are not born out of one battle, legends are born by proving themselves time and time again” Sarah gave him a warm smile and pulled him in for a hug.

  Allowing himself a bit of childish reprieve he returned the hug, his head sank on his mother's shoulder.

  “Whatever we are fated to go through, none of us expected safe and easy life when buildings started collapsing on us and Monsters became real, appearing from gates to other worlds...allegedly, we have all had our talks as well, fear not, we are all scared but unwavering. Son, grow to become strong And live a good life”

  “Each his own, we shall work together and stand against everything that will come against us and what we build. Suffer, defeat and sadness can't be avoided forever, one has to own his mental resistance and pull through challenges To live up to his legend and potential” John echoes Sarah's motivational intention making his opinion known from the backlines.

  “Thank you, really” Ethan thanked his parents, as he headed out he registered their words, ‘When they picked up such a game-like vocabulary, it seemed like I am really wasn’t the only one doing his homework’

  “You are on the right track, don't be discouraged, you saved us all back there on day one, we trust you” Zoe added with a smile speaking kind words neutrally and clearly for the first time after a few years.

  Understanding the atmosphere, Lily added her piece of mind as well, “not just us, everyone around here, Do take Dana’s words as a lesson, we all will”

  Warm hugs were exchanged as he took his leave, a short living smile tugging on the corner of his lips as he was heading to his room, the shackles that was appearing in his mind loosened up a bit.

  ‘The critique Dana just dropped Out of nowhere was intense and somewhat uncalled for, correct, but uncalled for, at least with the way she did it’ Ethan mind thrummed thinking of how she utilized mana on her hand, endless scenarios running in his head of how to take it to the next level - creating a mana projectile, shape it to a weapon, use it a shield layer on the skin…

  'This Roast was needed,' he admitted to himself reluctantly.

  His shaking mind, wavering will, and self doubt, vibrated, he felt something inside churning - his high level of self awareness and self doubt colliding like waves on a stormy sea.

  Dana's abnormal adaptability and decisiveness was showing once more, impressing him to no end, this what he looked for when he picked her up back then and she she stayed true to her nature, evolved it. even.

  A hollow thump echoes in his room, the tiniest of dents formed on the concrete wall, inch from becoming a crack.

  “dammit!” Ethan crashed on his bed defeated, outclassed and embarrassed by Dana’s words.

  Laying in his bed, the one open eye wearing his burning defiance staring so sharply at the wall, a hole might be drilled in it.

  The other was closed and covered by his palm.

  Due to the lack of electricity, Candles and improvised oil torches were made and distributed and Ethan’s room had the light of exactly this lighting instrument dancing on the wall, flickering weakly.

  This whole scene was oddly, yet perfectly depicting his internal struggle and wavering thoughts, a small flickering light in a world of endless darkness fighting to stabilize itself.

  “Me a king? Rivaling the gods? Challenging fate and karma? I can't even pull off what she did with covering my palm with mana” Ethan understood the depth of the deception he was telling himself while playing his little survival game.

  Deep down he knew she was extremely talented, that she was one of a few.

  Her having such a profound state of mind and progression based on his lessons while he was the one left behind tasted bitter to Ethan, like a teacher beaten by his student in something he should have figured out by now.

  ”An empress looking for an emperor to live with and for, she is wild, how can one develop such a mentality within just a week?” he fiddled with his fingers, the flickering light causing his wrinkles filled with deep shadows.

  Rising up abruptly he sat down, He just needed to survive and go for a successful scavenger hunt, he could then figure it all out.

  ‘I am at a loss, but she is not my enemy, I am in no danger, I will sit this through and figure things out’ Ethan took a deep breath and started planning the next few days.

  Ethan knew his current priorities are to turn the base to become self-sustaining, and for this the scavenger hunt must be a complete success.

  Out of nowhere a knock on his door broke his train of thoughts and planning.

  Opening the door, he sees Dana, her gazed lowered with sadness and shame, dried tears on her cheek.

  All traces of whatever ferociousness and grandeur she displayed are nowhere to be seen leaving Ethan flabbergasted, not knowing how to react.

  She wore an expression that was speaking the exact opposite intentions of those she grandly spoke of just an hour ago to a point Ethan would believe she is having split personality.

  Squinting his eyes, clenching his fist, he gathered all of the little confidence he had left and broke the awkward silence, “What's on your mind?” he asked Straightforwardly.

  “I lost my mom, her partner betraying us both, my life before…it wasn’t a piece of heaven as well…at the end of the day, my mom was all I had. It might be me imprinting my loss and cowardice on you, being the person who saved me and showed me the ropes, but…” her calm broke, tears pouring out of her eyes once more.

  Seeing that he couldn't stay apathetic, he pulled her in for a tight hug holding back his emotion to cooperate with her crying and joining the sad festival.

  “You are doing fine, you are also not mistaken, to be honest I was wondering how you managed to get so strong and calm, being so invested in this after such loss, it must not have been easy on you…”

  ‘Such was the toll of her progression, All of the grief, anger and sadness were the fuel of her quick and insane progression, of course, there had to be a price…’ Ethan wanted to face palm himself, but a sad woman had his hand occupied.

  Shaking her head on his chest, her muffled voice came out, “I also spoke impolitely to you all, after you were so nice to me. You parents probably hate me now and think I am crazy…I am sorry!” the stream of tears broke out even more intensely.

  Breaking the hug silently, he went to his Camping bed, put the Mattress And blankets on the floor, “come here”

  Her cheeks Reddened by his actions, hot tears still falling down her cheeks, yet she kept on moving towards him until he was less than a meter away.

  To her surprise he wasn't trying anything shady, he laid her down and hugged her.

  Spooned, hugged and warmly covered by a blanket, her crying going up and down and intensity, getting treated was the medicine she needed and a grim reminder of what she lost.

  Complete Serenity and warmth enveloped her entire being by Ethan’s touch, actions and words.

  “So shall we try to defy The world for being an ass?” He asked slowly in a low voice being too close, the short Distance between made him practically whisper in her ears.

  He wholeheartedly aimed his voice to her, talking to her ears but aiming deeper.

  “Yes, I won't let anyone harm you or m...your family” she answered resolutely, almost completely fixing her slip of her tongue, “next time when the earthquake Or monsters appear I will break them”, mentally regressed by his words, she spoke in childish words and tone.

  [Ding! Charisma increased by 3!]

  Speechless, Ethan was absolutely speechless.

  “I will Give you and my family the safe haven you deserve and more” Ethan left his critique on hold and gave Dana the attention she needed.

  Turning to him, she gave him a small peck on his lips, “please do” she spoke and returned to her cozy place enveloped by his hug, her tone practically pleading for what he offered to come true.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Her touch, her smell and heat, her words, swallowed in the melancholic euphoria, ‘I promise’ he made a vow to himself.

  “Don't wait for your important things to be taken away in order for you to understand when a change is needed” she spoke in low volume, sleepiness taking over her.

  This was exactly What he needed, his mind calmed down, ‘her motive and needs Became crystal clear, her change, her aspiration Became justified and understandable - she wants to be strong enough to keep everything close from being taken away once more’

  “I am sorry” saying to the Sleeping lady.

  With Dana sleeping he gave the system the mental reprimand she required, ‘Seriously, at times like this…why now?’

  Ethan’s eyes widened, his thoughts struck their roots growing deeper and deeper, reaching places they mentally shouldn’t have gotten to.

  ‘What’s Charisma, actually? What happens in complex social interaction that allowed my stats to increase…I…changed his opinion…’ The wording was off to Ethan.

  ‘I affect people using my words and actions, people are objectively external sentient objects in my surroundings, so to speak…so can it be said that charisma is the ability of one person to affect his environment? And if so, does that just mean it happens on sentient beings alone? Will I be able to let my mana and thoughts affect inanimate objects easier with higher charisma? Will i…Will?’

  In Ethan's mind a plan for inappropriately testing this fact came to be, with the slightest hesitation he decided to try it out anyways.

  He cleared his thoughts, and pulled out his truest and sincere will and wishes for Dana to be happy, when he felt he discarded most of his self interest he tight his hug on her, hoping for her to be happy.

  For what felt like a long time, his thoughts pure and caring, he conveyed those with his touch.

  He eventually gave up seeing no results, he gave her a final caress on her sleeping face and prepared himself to call it a day.

  Breaking contact with her, a sound rang in his mind as Dana let out a small sigh of relief in her sleep.

  [Ding! Charisma increased by 2!]

  Ethan's mind turned blank, staring daggers and the room ceiling noticing the screen popping up only when he willed it.

  Another understanding came to him, the screen interaction was his mental way of ‘seeing’ the system subconsciously, trying to receive the data information without the screen working perfectly.

  He could read and have all the information without the hologram screen in his mind just as clearly, but intuitively and collectively such things came in the form of a screen to read from so it appeared before he knew it.

  Giving it a shot before calling it a day for real, he tried to “read” his stats without the hologram screen, instantaneously in his mind information poured over.

  [Ding!

  Class: None

  Level: 7

  Race: Human

  Stats:

  Strength: 16 (+2 + 0.5%)

  Constitution: 8 (+2 + 0.5%)

  Agility:14 (+2 + 0.5%)

  Mind: 17 (+2 + 0.5%)

  Charisma: 10 (+2 + 0.5%)

  Free point: 2

  Skills:

  - spirit of a warrior (uncommon)

  This is a passive skill that increases the efficiency of any living being wielding a weapon

  Buff: Efficiency is increased when wielding , training , or studying a weapon

  - danger sense (uncommon) - passive

  dangerous moments and ill intentions toward the user triggers the user awareness

  Buff: sixth sense that alarms the user from dangerous experiences and ill intentions directed towards by someone or something else.

  Bloodlines:

  - a spark of unknown origin (rare)

  A bloodline originating from ???, with the potential to ???, capable of ??? beyond limits.

  Talent 1: guided by ???

  Allows the user to use the ??? of the ??? to guide the user to a preferred and optimal outcome, based on duration and amount of guidance it receives, there shall be a weakening period after use.

  Talent 2: Devour

  Consume external energies, tames them and makes them one with ???.

  Talent 3: ???

  ???

  Achievement:

  - Bloody start - rare:

  Killing an enemy at the first minute of the world awakening.

  Buff: +2 to all stats.

  - Outer circle I - rare:

  Killing an enemy from one circle of power higher than yours.

  Buff: 0.5% to all base stats]

  ‘Seems like there is a lot more researching to do than I imagined…’ he let out a deep sigh and let the sleepiness take over, a small tug on his lips showing his overall satisfaction from the baby steps he successfully took this evening.

  The next thing he knew, morning came and Dana was in his embrace already half a wake shyly smiling at him.

  In the meeting room, everyone is seated, looking at Ethan, waiting for him to reveal His plans.

  His voice calculative his accountant is one of seriousness “Good morning, for the next two days I will attend with 20 people to an harvesting journey, resources shall be picked up and be taken here, when ever we are fully packed we come here unload and leave once more, the farthest point will be hour and a half away, the main target a ware store, hopefully tools and concrete will be found”

  “Take this” Guy Slides down on the floor a box, “these are backpacks that have been modified to gather more efficiently different materials“ he points at the bags Ethan takes out.

  “3 Old school Backpacks with light metal frames to load metal and wood, either bars, planks or plates.

  3 backpacks with a place to hold 3 large water containers in a carriable manner. there is also a four people stretcher modified as a carriable rectangle container For longer pieces of wood and metal or Whatever.

  Also, Zevik wishes to see you” Guy concluded.

  “I shall take my leave, Rob, gather some men and take the backpacks and the stretcher, I will go see Zevik and we take leave immediately” authoritative Tone like never before was spoken from him, yesterday’s events burned in his memory, in every breath he took.

  He was rushed and didn’t delay with pleasantries finishing the meeting in speed that left not only him content - no one is a fan of meeting, it seemed.

  All he wanted was to finish the scavenger hunt as soon as possible, ‘This could be saved if I will find myself in an interesting fight’ , an evil grin tugged at the corner of his lips, already thinking of the wolves they planned to fight on.

  Clenching his fist, a promise to change things over made his will burn stronger than ever, the thoughts of sitting down and meditating alone made his inside quiver, quite literally, the mana barrier shook just by his new found will to break it.

  There is no reason to wait for the world to put challenges in his way, he will go and seek them. He will paint the future like he wants it and he wants his future limitless.

  At Zevik’s workshop, now manned with two more people, A metal bar is presented to him.

  “This is the weapon I wanted?! So fast?” Ethan exclaimed.

  Full metal, one and a half meter sleek black Bar.

  On both of his sides there are screwing sockets and two patches of leather at convenience axis points.

  Just a bit beneath the bladed area a piece of red cloth was resting gravitated downwards, not waving due to the stale air in the room.

  It weighs 8kg, not idle for a pre-system human, but with Ethan stats and future increase in strength he could move it around efficiently enough.

  “what about the r..” Ethan's words got cut by Zevik stop gesture.

  “Right here, Jed please” he signaled Jed to pick up the box in front of him.

  “May I?” Ethan's excitement was barely concealed.

  “why of course..” Zevik and Jed gestured to him to the table the box was on with a pleased smile.

  Polearm head, long blade, spear head, axe, war hammer, long pointy metal head and a pick axe.

  All were as sharp as the blacksmiths managed to sharpen it with their current tools, full metal, And screwing attachment, allowing to switch the weapon heads to Ethan's will and needs.

  With a closer look, three circular sockets on each end and the center, in each a dull green mana Core could be seen.

  Taking note of his wonder and happiness, Jed poured cold water on his hopes, “the mana cores added like this have zero Effect on the weapon…we failed to succeed forging the power of the mana cores to the weapon”

  “Next Time then, I trust you to Figure this out. Also what about staying on script and calling it mana forging?” Ethan shrugged, bolting the spear head on the metal bar and a short spiky end on the other

  Zevik and Jed exchanged a look and nodded seriously approving the name of the technique of what they tried to achieve.

  “I thought that would be too much on the nose so I didn’t want to give it such a name but it does sound cool and there is no need to invent the wheel all over again” Jed chuckled.

  Taking a distance Ethan tried the weapon, not going crazy with long and wide ranged movement due to the small room leaving a crisp shriek of the wind getting split apart.

  The power and speed that came from Ethan's simple movement caused the four people looking at him to take a few steps back, even the two new people in the back.

  “I recommend not traveling with all five weapons heads” Zevik Finalized after being briefly stunned, “Good luck, stay safe out there”.

  Zevik was as cool and professional as ever, his words displaying his belief in Ethan returning alive, bearing good results and resources for him.

  With final formalities Ethan made his way To the entrance.

  The fancy black spear On his back drew a lot of attention among his people as he moved closer to the group of 20 people already waiting For him, most of them equipped with what Could undoubtedly Called swords in various forms.

  Katanas And more delicate forms are still not present But crude versions of greatswords, spears, Gladius, and short Swords and shields are a thing now, yet Ethan’s weapon, was like the flag from old armies of the distanced past, it made sure who was the leader of the group.

  Walking among the crowd, for a moment, ‘danger sense’ flickered his attention to somewhere in the crowd, ‘seems like it’s almost time to do some cleaning’.

  per the instructions, everyone wore Black clothes, adding the mighty looking group a touch of fearsomeness to them that was by no means lacking as they were.

  “Looking sharp, are we all ready?” Ethan drops the point of His weapon on the ground.

  words, shouts and vocal responses coalesced into a war cry that shook the heart of the observing crowd of survivors from the inside.

  “We go” Ethan declared And turned away.

  A few moments after walking in formation he stops and creates a circle with his men.

  “Be advised, we are gonna start with the basics, wood, metal, daily use items in good condition and food to be picked up.

  As soon as we reach full capacity we return, unload and go back. We are heading to the collapsed apartments building area. We're gonna move through open areas, look around to make sure we are not being followed or ambushed” Ethan briefs his cohort and moves onward when they respond in acceptance to his words.

  Taking a route Ethan hasn't been to before, he understands the amount of chaos the city fell into.

  One area showed a good natured and heart aching scene of an improvised burial site that was built using planks, the planks had the most simple and general words one can think of written on them with black ink or charcoal, honestly, no one had the heart or time to check this out.

  The others were a wild, graphic and undeniable token of humanity's dark hearted side taking shape in the form of unsightly corpses, beaten up and violated.

  After ignoring the first few they came across a couple that died while holding hands, the state of their bodies made the blood of the group boil in rage and disgust.

  To this Ethan and one more older man in his cohort couldn’t stay indifferent and they fixed the bodies in a modest and more respectable manner, giving them a moment of silence.

  Following this, they did the same when coming across similar cases, looking with wrathful calmness at his groups, no words were needed - they will not become this, this is what they fight against, those people who did this were worse than beasts and monsters.

  Another layer of the old times humanity peeled over, for every similar scene they came across.

  Walking fearlessly, some people blatantly show hostility and murderous intent held back to take action due to the size and equipment of Ethan’s cohort.

  Fueled by what they saw, knowing that those people are among those survivors made the cohort want a good fight to start, but the prowess they displayed was too much of a deterrent for enemies to even say a word to them and they couldn’t just pick a fight with whoever looked at them dirty.

  Approached by desperate people, they needed to ignore or scare them away in order to carry on the mission successfully and efficiently.

  There was this one person, so insistent in joining them and asking for help Ethan had to punch him away for getting too close.

  “There will be time to help around, but it's not now” Ethan reassures his men, making sure the man on the ground heard him.

  With their hearts aching, and Their minds in emotional turmoil, they arrive at the first ruins.

  Food and easy to pick items and materials have been already gone, they aim for less looked After items, wood and metal.

  “One man’s trash is the other one’s treasure, ain't it? Let's get it started” Ethan takes the initiative picking a metal bar.

  Understanding his words they all soon had their backpacks full with workable wood, metal and usable items.

  On their first way back to empty their backpacks, they already had some attention and stalkers poorly hiding behind them, their shopping center settlement was soon made known even fiercer and looked for by many roaming survivors that were denied entry until an expansion begins.

  The more resources they picked the wider they could spread, the more solid the base would become and more people could be saved.

  They walked back and forth for hours bringing a staggering amount of wood, metal and cloth, even some drinks and foods were found.

  It was time to take the next steps, it’s time to hunt.

  Walking around the private houses area, they figured the location of where the wolves were coming from, and not long later the bloody scenes lead them to a building that caved over himself from the earthquakes, the ground around it was made of uneven stone surface and close to the cave like ruin site a glowing greenish-blue portal was hovering - the wolves den and the portal was discovered.

  Using inspect was impossible because of the distance.

  Four wolves that were patrolling around the ruin’s entrance and deep howls echoing from inside made the group go back to scavenge some resources and delay the attack for the next day, a plan of attack and less heavy equipment were required.