The sensation of cold compared to the suffocating heat was drastic. Ansel's eyes shot open wide, eyes fixating on the crackle of fire in front of him. Only this fire was much smaller compared to the world ending flames of Tiamat. The next sensation he felt was weakness.
He could still feel the grit under his nails and the gnawing eternal hunger that came with survival. But the taught ache in his muscles were dulled. More than that was the fragility in his movement when he shifted his legs.
He felt his heart hammer against his ribcage still, and if it weren't for the fact that his lungs still ached from the feeling of drowning in fire he'd believe he was dead and dreaming of better days. Not that he'd call these days better.
No, he recognized his surroundings instantly. The disarray and rubble of the underground parking garage that was the first camp made since the change happened. It was the old parking garage connected to his university and held familiar faces from both faculty and students.
Looking around he even recognized a few faces, though the memory of the interactions they held with Ansel were dulled around the edges. He reckons that 15 years was a long time and to remember every dead man's face was a curse he didn't dare bear.
The room seemed to shift with movement as daybreak peaked from the cracks of old cement. People seemed to click into a routine of pulling on layers to stave off the chill of morning while those who were capable grouped together and spoke in harsh whispers.
Ansel sat up and felt his bones complain. He wasn't used to being so fatigued. He flexed his hand and watched his fingers, now pink and soft without a touch of callous close and open. It was a strange sensation to say the least.
"Hey, the director called a meeting."
A tap on his shoulder made Ansel blink up to the perpetrator. Martin? Mar- Mar something. He couldn't quite remember the name but this person was someone he knew.
"Ah, sure."
I'll find out eventually.
He stretched, feeling the strange contrast of height and muscle again. He needed to fix that before it got him killed. Following Mar- something or other he took a quick scan of his surroundings.
He had assumed so but it seemed that the change hadn't taken root yet which meant that this was about three and a half weeks after it had started. The traces of the guides were absent, and every time he tried to will his system up it was met with silence.
He was glad that he had time before everything was flipped upside down but not knowing when it would really start left himself feeling unnerved.
"So, we've got four able bodied people to go out."
The director started the moment Ansel and Mar- something or other joined them. The group was small, consisting of a middle aged man who was the director.e had his arm in a sling with deep circles under his eyes. A few students and another teacher who obviously didn't want to be there.
"Jean, Ansel, Beau, and Marin are the only ones fit enough go out with Mr. Gervais so i'm not expecting much when you come back alright? All I need is for you to come back."
Marin! That's the name he was looking for. The atmosphere was suffocatingly grim and the moment the director stated only 5 would go everyone looked as if they had been given a death sentence.
Especially Mr. Gervais who scowled and seemed to want to voice his complaints. Which he no doubt already had done seeing as he was cut off almost instantly.
"Food will be too heavy for the quantity we need with just 5 people so what i'm asking for is medical supplies. We.."
The director gazed at the group a few feet away. They were students as well, only compared to those who were curled in on themselves by the fire they laid back against the wall with blood soaked cloth.
"Please, come back alive."
His words were more of a prayer, his voice lacking belief. The others understood it well, biting at their lips and fidgeting in the dust. Only Mr. Gervais tsked and turned to the entrance, cursing under his breath.
"Come on, I'd rather just get this over with. Who knows, maybe we'll find a stash of wiser or something."
Marin bumped his shoulder, smiling at him before trudging after Mr. Gervais. Ansel watched them for a moment before following. He remembered a few things after this small meeting.
First of all, Mr. Gervais was someone Ansel would not forget, seeing as he would be the one to leave the group to die. This would result in almost all of the group dying except for two. One of them being Mr. Gervais himself. The other being him.
Second of all, He knew when the 'change' would start now. Since the reason why the group fell apart and was ditched was that very fact.
To be thrown into the fray the moment he opens his eyes. He couldn't say he was surprised considering all that's happened but not being able to get his footing was somewhat irritating.
Ansel winced when he passed the ramshackle garage door, the sun radiating a soft heat. Even though everywhere he looked was broken in one way or another he found it to be a rather peaceful and nostalgic scene.
Once the 'change' really sunk its teeth into the land beneath, like a disease it would take the familiar city he knows and morph it into a stage fit what it needs. It will devour the plants and broken glass, the crossroad signs and rusted cars. Until eventually it would turn into the world that would be lovingly referred to as Eschaton.
It wasn't an official name. Not given by the system nor the guides, since the one thing humanity wanted was to name their own world.
"We're headed to 27th street, there should be a pharmacy somewhere there."
Ansel saw Beau, who was walking only a step behind Mr. Gervais, frown. He then noticed the rest of the group turn sour, but decidedly kept their mouths shut. He knew there would be nothing there, as it seemed everyone else did too considering 27th was planted in a location that had been picked over a dozen times.
With being picked over a dozen times came the fact that any monsters that lurked around were also picked off. My. Gervais was being a coward.
The walk was not long, nor was it short. The sun got hotter as the day moved on, the end of spring leading into the hotter season.
Not as if we'll see summer.
Once the change started to shift things into Eschaton seasons and weather would become obsolete. Instead it would be raining fire and they would be drowning in creatures from beyond their own.
"We're almost there, be alert."
Most scoffed at his warning knowing full well he had chosen the safest place. More than that, they should already be alert as is. This was just insulting.
"I'll take the front, Beau watch the alley's we pass. Ansel takes the rear. We're heading onto main roads."
Ansel lagged back, glancing around but not bothering with his full attention. He knew there wouldnt be an attack. Truthfully nothing major would happen until the turn of things started. Instead he mapped out the buildings around them. This time he didn't want to survive alone.
I honestly don't know if I'm able to make an impact with the body I have now. Saving everyone might be impossible.
The pharmacy was a small one. It was more of a convenience store labeled as a medical facility if anything. The windows long smashed in and the shelves tipped into each other. The lights have long since stopped working so Marin and Jean sifted through their bags and took out a flashlight.
As expected it was basically empty. A few trash boxes here with dried blood there. Even so they searched in hopes of finding even a single roll of bandages. Mr. Gervais took to 'watching the front' for any strays while the pack of ex-students got to scavenging.
"Tsk, I don't even know why we bother. The director should have just made us search the dumpsters behind the school, we would've had more luck there."
Marin complained under his breath but despite the playful sarcasm Ansel could see the tension in his jaw.
"I think the real issue is Gervais. That bastard would lick a dog's ass if it meant saving his own skin."
Jean came up with empty hands and a sigh.
"Going back with empty hands is…"
Beau joined the four and now the group in the building stood in the middle of the destroyed store at a loss. Jean scratched his head with another huff.
"Ill check the back again."
As Jean headed back and the rest slowly split off again to try once more. Marin turned to Ansel with a grim look.
"Do you think we should just tell Mr. Gervais it's pointless?"
As Ansel was about to respond he felt a tingle in his hand. It started as pin pricks from the tips of his fingers trailing up his arm and filling his chest with a buzz akin to bee's. Flickers of blue formed beside them.
"What the-?"
Marin leaned closer to the ball of blue fuzz, only for it to spread across the scattered shelves. While Marin was focused on the static, Ansel tried calling for his system window again. A blue screen appeared before him flickering in and out before closing.
Although it failed it had given the answer Ansel needed.
"We need to get to the others."
Ansel grabbed the back of Marin's shirt, who let out a squawk of surprise before dragging him to the back of the store where both Jean and Beau were standing in shock. Blue foamy static surrounded them in the room, devouring the old cardboard boxes and trash that was left.
"What is… we need to-"
"They're here."
Ansel cut them off and pushed Marin forward so they were all together. A growl akin to a screech resonated off the walls and into the room. Though it sounded far off it was loud enough to make them wince and Marin cover his ears.
"I thought there weren't supposed to be monsters!"
"Well there are, so I suggest you get ready."
Everyone scrambled to grab the weapons they came with, if you could even call them that. They were mostly just old pipes and bats from the school grounds.
The change doesn't affect actual weapons until a few hours in. If only I could see stats.
Surprisingly Ansel found himself to be quite calm in this situation. Perhaps the aspect of death helped.
"Shouldn't we get to Mr. Gervais?!"
"You really think he stayed?"
"I- I don't want to die!"
The emotions in the group on the other hand seemed to be getting out of control and Ansel gave a single solid clap, grabbing the attention of those around him. A skill he learned from his old team leader.
"We all agree we need to get back to camp, yes? A fight is inevitable but-"
"Why? Inevitably my ass, why not just stay here? I'm not gonna just throw myself into a monster's mouth for a snack."
"So you want to sit here like canned sardines?"
Marin was the one to speak up this time which surprised Ansel considering he remembered his personality being lackluster.
"I'm not saying we need to fight all the way there. First we need more information. I'll head out to take a quick look. If I'm not back by 5 minutes just assume I'm dead."
Ansel turned away from the fear filled group and cracked open the door to the store before slipping out. There were a few cries of defiance but most of them didn't stop him. The blue static of the 'change' had died down and moved on to other places.
Ansel tried calling his window again but it merely flickered and closed again. He huffed and crept toward the front, keeping his feet light. After years of practice it was as if he wasn't even there.
Silently speaking from the cover of scattered shelves he scanned the streets. It was empty beside small balls of static here and there. It was also noticeably darker. Even though there was a lack of life Ansel knew better and slightly crouched down and pressed his palm to the rubble covered flooring.
With a grunt he felt warmth fill his palm before scattering. It was much smaller than he used to be able to do but considering that the world hadn't yet reached the level of Eschaton and he wasn't even capable of opening the guide's window, that was a given.
But small as it was it did the trick and Ansel felt mental ticks as the wave spread out. Every tick being underground. There were more than a dozen of them.
These used to be so intimidating back then.
Ansel carefully stood up and turned back around and crept back to the room. Instantly everyone's face filled with relief.
"So it's clear?"
"No, I saw several creatures start burrowing into the ground. The main street might be a no-go."
The relief was replaced with dread once more, Jean leaning back against the wall and roughly rubbing his eyes.
"Instead we'll take the back roads. While on the way I saw that several of the Alley ways connected with each other. We can at least get a few blocks that way."
Ansel pointed to the door on the opposite side of the back room leading into the back alleys of the stores.
"I'll take the lead but I can't promise there won't be anything in the alleys."
Although despair was starting to take root everyone nodded without argument, picking up their things and gripping the weapons they carried.
"Did you see Mr. Gervais by chance?"
Beau spoke up but winced at the volume of his voice, lowering it into a whisper.
Ah, right. That guy.
"Uh, no. But I didn't see any blood or anything so I'm sure he's safe."
And I really don't care.
The group all huddled behind Ansel as he cracked the door open and looked around. As before it was empty, but if it was truly empty only time would tell.
"Follow quietly, keep your footsteps light."
Ansel turned to them with a harsh whisper and everyone nodded quickly. The first few steps were the most stressful, everyone seemingly holding their breath. But after a few moments of walking they seemed to regain confidence.
Blue static was still all around on the walls and ground, but it was significantly less than before. With another try, Ansel called the system. This time it flickered on and stuck, only to be blank with a few words.
'Connecting…'
Ansel kept it there for a moment more before closing it with a sigh. He didn't want to be impatient but it wasn't as if he had the time to be so tolerant.
"What is it??"
Marin behind him murmured as quietly as possible with wide eyes filled with fear and Ansel realized his sigh had put them all on edge. He kind of wanted to laugh. Instead he shook his head and kept his gaze forward.
The alley ways were actually pretty peaceful. There was no noise after the initial screams of beasts but Ansel knew that those underground creatures were not the real threat.
The food pyramid always starts with the ground.
This world was changing, and that meant the ecosystem too. Which meant-
SCREEEAA
A loud screech sounded from overhead and the group ducked covering their heads. Ansel stared at the sky as feathers passed over the gap in the buildings. A shift in the air made Ansel whip around to the rest of them.
"RUN."
Not caring for quiet anymore the group bolted down the alley and through a twist and a turn. Then came the dreaded exit into the main road.
"Stay on the sidewalk and dont turn back!"
There was a deafening roar when they broke into the open road, the bird beast sitting in the middle pulling what looked like a mole out of the ground before swallowing it whole.
Once finished with its meal it turned its head to the new group that had just arrived. Its size rivaled a city bus.
To think we'd run into a roc so soon.
Now was not the time to fight things. Without the System, without the guides, they were just human.
With another scream the roc stretched out its wings and took a step towards them. The scream shook the air around them, the others fully covering their ears. Ansel stared at the roc and held its eye contact.
"Go, head for the mall on 23rd."
Everyone seemed to startle out of their stupor.
"What?! You're going to fight it?!"
"There is no time, just go. I'll catch up after I shake it off."
"But-"
"GO damnit!"
As much as Ansel wanted to make sure they didn't die, currently they were just baggage. He heard them turn and their footsteps disappear. The roc's eyes followed them as they ran but Ansel grabbed a piece of rubble and dispensed as much mana as he could into it before chucking it at the bird.
It seemed to be enough considering it yelled out and turned to him, pissed. It was not an ideal fight considering it was considered a C rank monster and Ansel was without the system. But for some reason.
Some reason I feel like I can do it?