I'd been walking for a week without seeing a single soul, and then twenty-five humans appeared out of nowhere. It could just be a coincidental encounter, but I doubt it. I believe this is like being a lost person in the woods. You search and walk everywhere, never to find any wild life. However, through fortunate means, you found a person, and through that person, you managed to go back to society.
While it is not exactly the same as the event described, it has a similar feel to it. As a wild guess, I believe the reason I haven't been able to find even a single demon or human is because the humans have congregated in a single area and formed something of a society, and these guys have formed military units that travel around the forest hunting down demons in order to keep the place safe and strengthen themselves.
If I were to entertain the idea that my speculation is true, I would say what follows is the question of how large is the population and military. The military force will be far larger than the civilian population due to the fact that we are living in an apocalyptic time period. Every human possesses a card that grants them abilities that are beyond their normal capabilities. It would not be surprising if a large proportion of the population served as soldiers or warriors. But although many of the cards provide fighting capacity, others serve as a supporting role.
Someone without a card to defend themselves may be a civilian who aids in the distribution of weaponry to warriors fighting on the front lines. I would reply that preparing food and getting water are also important aspects of their role, but I recognize that these are no longer necessary. The reason for this is due to the power of magic. In addition to providing energy, magic that circulates about the universe and within a person also enables them to perform without the need for rest, sleep, or food. Exhaustion can no longer be obtained by traditional means like walking, working, or jogging among other activities. You will only become fatigued if you use a large quantity of magic.
You might wonder how I came to know this. The explanation for this is fairly simple: as my magic level increases, I am more sensitive to the presence of mana around me. Mana, from what I'm sensing is a higher form of energy that is both everlasting and limitless. This is in contrast to thermal energy, kinetic energy, or any other form of energy. Mana does not dissipate into other forms of energy, as does all of the other energy we are familiar with. It's more similar to the oil used to fuel a vehicle. Mana may be compared to a fuel that can be burned in order to generate magic. When mana is acquired in a spell, it is consumed until the spell no longer has any mana. Mana being eternal implies that when you breathe in mana, you are essentially given endless energy that will sustain you indefinitely, leaving you feeling euphoric and energized. That's the reason why if you use spells too carelessly you will give yourself fatigue.
Don't be fooled into thinking that mana will be destroyed whenever a spell is used. When mana is used to power a spell, it is as though the mana is losing its skin before creating a new one after some time. This would result in it being unusable due to the fact that they are not charged enough to be utilized. Even if you were to employ it, your spell would be unable to accomplish the goal you had in mind.
So if food and water isn't a problem we can only say that the civilians are most likely crafters, blacksmith, doctor, and any other profession that would help the warriors. If this was the case in a war scenario, I could kill them first before going for the warrior to crippled the soldiers in those civilizations of their armors, weapons and medicines. However, strategy doesn't matter if I am the strongest.
A day went by quickly as I journeyed forward in search of the human civilization I suspected would be around here. I started to think that my speculation was wrong, until I met another group, but this time there were only five of them. They didn't have as strong a team as the one I encountered the day before. None are utility support; they either have a healer or a damage dealer. Sadly, the damage dealer dealt no damage to me, and the healer could not heal someone that died in a single attack.
I walk ahead, leaving the pool of new blood in my wake, confident in the knowledge that I am now guaranteed to find civilization. It didn't take long, only around two hours, until Crimson Light began to buzz, signaling the presence of humans close. I followed it till I came to what appeared to be an iron wall with a height of twenty meters in front of me. When I first saw it, I was taken aback by the speed with which the wall had been constructed. Years, not months, are required to construct an iron wall of this height. My admiration for it, on the other hand, is diminished when I learn that it is almost certainly the result of a card ability.
While I was admiring the wall, a guard wearing extravagant medieval armor and holding a sword noticed me. He begins to shake and tremble in fear of my presence. I started walking toward his direction, to which he responded by shouting, with a shaky voice, "Requesting Help at the Northern Wall. There's a black demon, 10 meters tall. Come quickly!!!!"
After his yell, he closed his eyes, which I thought was a bit silly. The act of closing his eyes seemed to have strengthened his resolve in some way. The man finally quit shaking' and rushed at me with an intensity that no one could have predicted based on his previous exhibition. When he was closed, he yelled, "Demon Smiting Sword." The sword wielded by the guy began to light with heavenly brightness, blazing in my direction as it approached me. My body began to itch like if hundreds of ants were swarming about me and biting me at the same time. I'm presuming that his card ability may have provided him with some type of power that was made against demons. However, it doesn't matter since, just as his blade was ready to strike, I quickly deflected it, giving him a taste of actual strength in the process. I slapped the man's torso with my enormous arm, to which he responded with a shriek of "Holy Armor." In the same way that the blade shone, his armor shone with a brilliant golden light. My arm did melt to a considerable bit when it came into touch with it, but that was about it. The guard, on the other hand, was hurled in the direction of the tall wall, colliding with it with great force, causing a big smoke cloud of earth and soil. The sounds of bone and iron cracking can be heard from the guard's position, followed by agonizing screams of anguish. You can see a shattered metal scrap with blood oozing out of it as the smoke clears.
After the man was dead, a few more soldiers came into sight. They all wear the same uniform armor as the holy man. They looked in horror at the corpse of the man before diverging their eyes toward me. Like the saying of people feeling stronger when they're in a group. These men weren't shaking, they went into action right away charging at me with great confidence. One of the soldiers came five meters near me, before his sword extended in lightning fast speed toward my heart. The sword impacted my steel like body resulting in it snapping in half. I might not see his face because of the helmet, but shock can be one of the emotions. The others, like well trained warriors, didn't flinch, both activating their power respectively. One seems to be gathering fire, surrounding his sword with it, before swinging it sending a flaming wave toward me. The result was obviously ineffective. Following the flaming wave, a wind blade also was sent upon my body, which had better result than the flaming wave, it managed to scratch my skin.
The guys charged forward with the conviction that they would emerge victorious, only to lose their resolve after the first wave of attacks. Having lost confidence is like giving one's life to death, which is exactly what they will receive right now. I dash towards the flaming swordsman before slamming him to the ground with my hand, completely decimating him. Boom! Every inch of his body was splattered into crimson paste, which painted the ground with a dark red hue. After that, the other soldiers launched another series of strikes. A wind blade and a sword that was half shattered were hurled in my way. I greet it with Expansion Style: Thundering Clap the enormous shockwave from my move pushed the two fighters over a meter away from where they were stationed. While they were staggered, I jumped toward the guy with the sword extended ability, grabbing his legs, and throwing him toward the guy with the wind blade. Cling! The sound of steel crashing together sounded out before two pieces of metal debris shot at breakneck speed through the air, knocking into and shattering dozens of trees on their approach to the ground. Death was their fate.