After lunch, Mark made his way back to the room he battled the ghoul in and continued to watch out the window.
With incredible timing, he witnessed a small group of survivors rush out of the airport. They made their way around the large battleground that was quickly becoming more chaotic as all sorts of avian creatures and grotesque insects filled the numbers.
As they passed one of the planes that had been pried open, a loud roar came from within. The plane shook as a looming figure came into view from the darkness.
'Seems they encroached on something's territory...' Mark pondered, worried for the group.
*Roar!*
The monster bellowed, finally in full view as Mark inspected it.
{Inspect}
{Creature: Troll
Core Density: Hollow
Mana Circuit: Beginner (Stage 2)
Info: A demon with low intelligence, high physical might, and high regeneration abilities. Weak to fire and lightning attacks.}
"Hopefully they have an elemental attack." Mark murmured as he watched the shocked people, a dwarf, an elf, a human, and an incubus.
None of them had weapons, so he hoped they were mages of some sort that figured out how to use elemental attacks.
Unfortunately, reality had other plans.
They all immediately darted back to the airport as the troll began its chase. The stout dwarf falling behind his compatriots was the first target, getting crushed by the large fist of the troll.
Whether fortunate or not, the death of their friend gave the rest of the group enough space to fully escape into the airport, disappearing from sight.
Seeing all this unfold, Mark put himself in their shoes and battled the troll in his head. Quickly he realized he wouldn't be much better off. He needed to improve his strength as much as possible today, lest he will fall behind the monsters outside.
After hyping himself up like a boxer before a match, Mark checked that his mana was full. Taking a deep breath he headed off. Since he cleared this room, he made his way into the next area.
Terminal two, his current location was all but cleared out thanks to the ghoul. Taking advantage of this, Mark began steadily making his way out into the main area.
The sight here was only slightly better than outside. People were fighting or fleeing from the voracious monsters. Those without weapons could only use their fists or weak mana bolts as Mark had dubbed them.
Suddenly seeing someone appear with a sword, many people of many species rushed over to him in an attempt for asylum. This gave Mark a big headache, but he still accepted the people.
"Come here if you seek protection, all I ask is that you back me up as I fight! Fire mana bolts at the monsters targeting me to stun them!" Mark yelled, before realizing nobody knew what he was talking about.
Running out of time, he used one of his precious mana points to explain.
"This!" He yelled firing off a mana bolt at an approaching goblin. The lucky shot struck the unsuspecting goblin in the eye, killing it instantly.
This shot caused the other goblins nearby to freeze for a moment, before becoming enraged and ignoring their current opponents. The small group of them charged at Mark, bloodlust clear in their eyes.
"Fire when you see me in a tight situation, remember you can only shoot so many times! Those that know how to do it explain to the others!" Mark barked orders, as he readied himself to face the small horde.
He had wanted to get stronger, and this unfortunate incident seemed to be a perfect opportunity.
Preparing a slash, Mark charged at the first goblin that approached. Aiming at the neck, he quickly severed it.
Some of the people behind him sucked in a cold breath and watched in amazement as he continued his battle.
'Too many of them at once...' Mark thought, seeing the large group coming together. He looked around and found a wide pillar nearby he could use.
"Clye watch my back for me just in case." Mark asked, as he circled around the pillar.
"I got you!" Clye responded seriously.
The first goblins arrived at the pillar and snickered as they circled both sides. Not realizing they were falling right into Mark's trap, he quickly ran to the right side and attacked the approaching goblins, while Clye fired a mana bolt behind him, accurately hitting another in the face.
The survivors, seeing their savior in a tight situation quickly raised their hands and fired off mana bolts at the backs of the goblins, throwing them off balance and knocking them over.
The goblins were infuriated and planned to react, but unfortunate for them, they lost the chance as Mark circled around the pillar stabbing them each in the eye as he valiantly rushed through their numbers.
Huffing, Mark took a peak at his status and saw he was drained of mana, but his Mana Circuit had progressed to thirty seven percent!
Ecstatic, Mark smiled to the group of people and motioned them to follow him before saying, "All of you guys can follow me. Terminal two is clear and safe for now."
Following behind him, the group looked at Mark's back in amazement.
A burly dwarf walked out of the crowd and approached mark from behind, striking up conversation.
"Kid you are one hell of a fighter to manage all that with that shitty sword!" He said, rubbing his beard as he looked at the dull blade.
"Thanks, it really is tough with this thing. Slash consumes a mana point each use so I only have at max ten cutting hits. The rest of the time this thing is a slightly worse bat." Mark chuckled enjoying having a conversation with another adult.
"If only I had a forge... I was a blacksmith before all this happened and feel like it was a twist of fate I ended up a dwarf." The man chuckled.
"The name is Rick by the way." Rick extended his calloused hand, and Mark grabbed it and shook firmly.
"Mark." He replied with a resolute expression.
"Nice to meet you kid. For saving my life I'll craft you a better sword in the future, just you wait!"
Mark smiled at the man who looked extremely proud of himself, and looked up realizing he was in front of the restaurant.
"Alright everyone eat whatever you want in here, I'm sure you are all hungry." Mark pointed at the kitchen and the survivors all rushed in.
Once everyone had their food and sat down, Mark began to talk in his best authoritative voice.
"Time to chew over the game plan."