Through the chaos, Lee took off from the ground and reached the top of the wall with a single leap. An was safe in his hands as she gripped onto his jacket in fear. After standing steady, he let his sweetheart stand firm on the stonewall as he sighed with a frown. He didn't look back as he saw the horrors reflecting in An's eyes. As he quickly glanced around, he became aware of the direction of fissure development. Sadness and helplessness veiled the face of An as he took her into his arms. Lee treated An like a little child to which An didn't bat an eye.
With a moment's preparation, Lee began to float up in the air, hanging a few inches above the wall. At the same moment, the part of the wall where they stood collapsed. Luckily, about 20% of the total survivors had escaped through the eastern gate. The four gates conjointly aided in evacuation and the chaos was down by a notch. Lee glimpsed at the collapsed walls and the bodies of those that lost life in an attempt to save themselves, in a distance.
Lee knew that floating in air would bring unknown dangers and suspicions, so he quickly descended in a controlled manner. The fleeing residents of Lorin did not have a moment to spare watching others. They only had one word flashing in their minds - survive!
Lee let An back on her feet. He did not flee through the usual brown path, but hurriedly walked towards the forest he saw in the south eastern direction. After making sure that he and his love is in no man's view as they slowly advanced, he seeked D's help.
'D, is this forest safe? I ran at it in a hurry.'
[It is safe. The largest beast you will encounter is the Spikehogs. That too is rare to come across in this vicinity.]
Hearing this, Lee calmly sighed as he took a glimpse of An. She was shaken from the sudden turn of events. The courage she had mustered was not enough to hide it from Lee. He brought her near as they walked in a calm and collected pace. His right arms went over her shoulders and gave a comforting sensation. The frown on her face was still unfazed.
An was contemplating over the things she saw happening. Her thought process was so intense that the resultant emotions and expressions were evident. She thoroughly linked the information she had acquired from the Dimension Sovereign and today's phenomenon. Lee did not interrupt her and let her mind be itself. D advised to let her be undisturbed as she was processing and obtaining some vital information.
As she came to the final conclusion, she was already inside the forest with Lee. Her mind still posed doubts and concerns on several things. She reserved them for an occasion to ask the great cultivator!
=====
11 A.M.
1700 Essence harvested.
=====
The notification popped up as they walked quietly through the forest. Peeping at the Map, Lee can see some refugees and caravans at the border of the Map. As a forest, the place was particularly calm. The abundant starlights seeped through the leaves to illuminate the ground below them.
"Are you tired?"
Lee posed a doubt as he looked over his shoulder to An who was closely behind him. She shook her head after a moment's hesitation and did not utter anything. Even if one is a cultivator, there is a limit to which one can suppress the fatigue, hunger and thirst. Contrary to her reply, a short growling came up from her. An instinctual blush crept up her face as she tried to cover it up.
'D, any cave-like structures or sort of things in the vicinity?'
[I have just upgraded the Map function to explore the whole planet. Take a look at it!]
Lee decreased his pace as he stared at the Map in his mind for a couple of moments. After zooming out, he noticed a rocky formation deep inside the forest. The lithic hills were surrounded by thick vegetation and were more than 11 to 13 miles far away. A confident smile rose up Lee's face as he expected it to have caves.
'D, pin the formation and show the optimum displacement route towards it.'
As Lee said, a blue meandering line lit on the Map. With the path visible as day, he took hold on to An's soft hands. She was confused by his action.
"It's daytime and best suited for travelling forward bravely. Let's not slow down."
An nodded in response as she held sighed lightly. Lee took the lead and walked ahead while An followed right behind him. The green dots of refugees and caravans went farther and farther from them.
--------------------------------------
=====
12 Mid-day.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
Halfway through the journey, some hostile beings started to appear. As An tried to unsheathe her sword, Lee tapped her shoulder and signalled to be at ease. Then, he would flash forward to scare and chase away the beasts. It seemed so, but Lee was actually absorbing them into his EsGen storage when out of An's line of sight. An beamed as she saw Lee 'scaring off' beasts by causing no harm.
20 minutes later, they sat under a tall and thick tree with dense foliage that provided ample shade in the heat. Lee peeked at the Map and saw that they are very close to the greyish patch of land. After making sure that the area is devoid of hostile beings, Lee took an aerial sight of the city of Lorin.
The devastated city of Lorin remained as a masterpiece of an all-powerful psychopath's skillset. The enormous fissure that ran diagonally, right through the middle of the city easily resembled the outpour of an orc's wrath. The pitch black abyss ran long beyond the citywalls, and towards the capital city. His mind slightly trembled with a hint of horror. Lee did not zoom in on the magnitude of destruction, as he was not strong enough to see burned and scattered organs. With his mental command, he moved the Map around Lorin in a large circle.
Desolate! Forsaken! Bleak! If anything can be said about the situation, it is these words. What happened in the city of Lorin was only a fraction of the total occurence. The same fate was shared by the capital city Yeuvis, but much worse. The city was almost upside-down with the rapid terrain displacement. The instantaneous caving in of the top soil marked the beginning of destruction. Above 95% of residents fell and vanished into the pitch black devourer. The most important factor that escalated the incident to its culmination was the sturdy foundation on which the buildings and the whole city were established. Mana imbued bricks and other magically enhanced ingredients were used to create a foundation that can withstand earthquakes. This complex and efficient foundation that span more than 80 meters into the ground held the city up above until it failed to hold the widening. The expansion beyond its threshold by the overwhelming power of nature ripped it apart. The resultant was sudden loss of support and the rest is history.
The cities of Festa and Culett were relatively safe as a gigantic fissure made its way right beside the city walls. The city walls collapsed to a great extent, but the damage was nowhere near to that of Lorin or Yeuvis. It was enough to plunge the cities to chaos as they were aired of the information that the capital city and Lorin had fallen into abyss. Minutes later, the city guards of Festa and Culett reported numerous refugees approaching from a distance. They opened their city gates wide in order to receive the homeless residents of Lorin. A good amount of resources were used by the cities to treat the incoming waves of men, women and children.
Cities of Crogh and Alls did not experience any tears or cracks in their vicinity, but intense vibrations gifted cracks over most buildings. When all were puzzled by the disturbing tremors, guards at the gates rang distress bells and revealed the appearance of many caravans. The gates were raised and the misfortune that fell on Yeuvis and Lorin fell into the residents. Panic and unrest rose among the commonfolk.
--------------------------------
==========
Name: Lee
Age: 20
Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator
Fame: 2015
Essence: 39680 (12 Mid-day)
Money: 953 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper
----------
Partner: An
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Health: 320
Strength: 320
Vitality: 320
Agility: 320
Defense: 320
Endurance: 320
Sense: 320
Intelligence: 320
Resolve: 320
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Immunity:-
• Greater Poison Immunity (191/1000000)
• Medium Lightning Immunity (3229/10000)
• Medium Air Immunity (200/10000)
Affinity:-
• Greater Poison Affinity (11884/1000000)
• Greater Lightning Affinity (12385/1000000)
• Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)
• Greater Rock Affinity (11975/1000000)
• Greater Metal Affinity (11974/1000000)
• Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)
• Greater Nature Affinity (11984/1000000)
• Medium Air Affinity (1049/10000)
• Greater Sound Affinity (11985/1000000)
• Greater Dark Affinity (11797/1000000)
• Lesser Light Affinity (0/100)
----------
Mastery:-
• Absolute Blade Mastery
• Absolute Nunchuck Mastery
• Medium Bow Mastery (778/10000)
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Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm
Qi: 0/1100
Mana: 0
----------
Innate Skills:-
• View
• Foresight
• EsGen
• EsConv
• Curse Remover
• Flight
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INVENTORY:-
QUESTS:-
MAP:-
SHOP:-
RE-MODEL:-
==========