Luke ran for about an hour before he was comfortable that he had put enough distance between himself and the group who had pursued him.
As he crossed the city he was reminded that there had been a time when every street was filled with people going about their usual routines. However, these days it was rare to see a single person outside of the safe zones. If you ever thought you were about to come across someone it was usually best to hide and avoid them. Not many people were friendly and it was never worth the risk. Also, the city which had once had a population of millions only had a fraction of that amount now.
In the time since the Dark Dawn, Luke had spent very little time alone. Gathering in groups you trusted was by far the best way to improve your chances of survival in the Azure world. But right now he was alone and it was more striking than ever before how much the world had changed. With the recent addition of his Completion system, it seemed that the world was only going to keep changing.
Nonetheless, this moment felt like a marker for the end of one chapter of his life and the start of another. He had to decide: What was next? Luke didn't find it an uncomfortable question. He was coming to terms with the fact that the last year had been a waste. He had done nothing but struggle to survive, while also doing his best to make sure others did the same. There was a reason he had been content to die when he had been captured, he had felt trapped long before he found himself in that cell.
He had been taught by his foster father to always help others no matter who they were. But how could he do that if he was unable to look after himself or find something to live for?
The words his jailbreaker said started to hit home. Even if he didn't agree with all his words or appreciate the way he had talked to him, it was true he had pitied himself. He had felt that if he did the right thing he deserved a reward but he had hidden behind that. He needed more than kindness to make it in this new world.
Now though he had the Completionist system. It offered him two things. First, the ability to get stronger, which he desperately needed. However, the second opportunity it brought him felt even more important. The chance for him to enjoy himself and give this bleak wasteland significance.
While he had been trying to escape earlier, he hadn't been sure if he had a better reason for escaping than just avoiding more torture. But maybe that was exactly why he had a great reason to live. He could just focus solely on having fun or at least finding fun. It was too much to decide on just yet but he felt like he was on the right path. He also wasn't just on the right metaphorical path, Luke had found a landmark.
Luke stared at the giant wing of a large passenger plane. It had fallen into the North Eastern part of the city in the first few weeks of the start of the Azure world. People hadn't been told how it crashed, but after it happened no more flights went in or out of the city or at least there were no more flights available to the general public.
With this discovery, Luke knew which area of the city he was in. Unfortunately, it was not an area that he wanted to be in. The city was split up into several different sections each controlled by a different faction and some factions were far less friendly than others. Luke had found himself in the North East of the city, which was home to the worst faction of them all. It came as no surprise to Luke that the gang who had treated him so poorly had been a part of the Silver Reapers.
He would have to leave, but the question was which area he should head to. He had previously called the sanctuary home but it was on the opposite side of the city and he wasn't sure he was ready to face anyone from there yet. Before he saw anyone, he wanted to first get a better understanding of his ability at the very least.
A part of him also wouldn't have minded if he never went to the sanctuary again. Though the sanctuary was safe for the most part, it didn't offer much else, it was closer to a slum than anything else.
Thanks to the tutorial, Luke felt fully rested despite his time being trapped and beaten in a cell. So his first thought wasn't shelter he wanted to get on his legs and enjoy his freedom. Still, he was struggling for an alternative idea and was tempted to ask for advice from his new voice-in-the-head/companion but thought better of it.
"I was always one for learning by trying anyway. Let's see what this Completion system can do."
The hint he had been given was to treat this like a game, so Luke tried to think what the first thing he ever did in big open-world video games was. He had liked games back before the Dark Dawn, but he hadn't thought about them much since. Thankfully an idea still came to him and happily, it would take him out of Silver Reaper territory.
As such Luke set off towards the south. But it wasn't long before he stopped again. The bell rang in his head and he quickly brought up his system menu. He was greeted by a text box.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*
[Ready. Set. Go.] Bronze Achievement unlocked for running for 10km (+2 to Stamina and Speed)
Reading the notification Luke was delighted. He was already making progress, just as the notification said his stats had gone up and he didn't feel like he had done much at all.
This optimism was slightly dampened when he checked the next milestone for [Ready. Set. Go II]. He would need to run for 50 km to receive that bonus which wasn't an insignificant distance, especially when the rewards were the same.
"I guess this is going to be quite the grind." Luke sighed, before getting back to running.
It didn't take long for Luke's destination to start climbing up out of the horizon. It was a collection of high-rise buildings, an area that had been abandoned fairly early on. Nobody had really lived in the area to start with, as it had mostly been full of offices and those who did soon found that an apartment on the 40th floor wasn't of much use when the electricity to the elevator stopped working.
Thankfully his journey was uneventful, but it wasn't completely down to luck that Luke hadn't run into any problems. There was a reason Luke had survived this long. He had uncanny instincts. He had had them ever since he had spent a couple of years on the streets. Avoiding trouble was a skill, one he had honed.
The problem was that although he now had his destination in sight, between him and the entrance to the tallest building in the area was a group of what could only be described as wolves.
The wolf-like creatures might once have been dogs but the azure world had morphed them such that they could no longer be described as such. Plus Luke had always been a fan of dogs so he didn't like picturing the terrifying monstrosities in front of him as such.
Just like the rats they had grown a great deal larger from the effects of the azure light. Their coats were now a dark black that didn't let a single ray of light escape. It was in sharp contrast to their perfectly white teeth. The wolf creatures were currently distracted eating one of their kills, and he was pleased to see that it wasn't a person. However, if he wanted to get in the building there was no way to get past without them noticing. It wasn't his first experience with the Black wolves and he knew they were a much greater challenge than the rats, which were already capable of giving him difficulties.
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to get a little creative with this one," Luke said with a smirk.