Jose opened his status page and marveled at the information. What he'd achieved wasn't quite the circuit he'd been envisioned, but it was clear he was on the right track.
[Health: 335/335 Ether: 70/70
Level: 9
Soul: Ancient
Race: Sapient
Genus: None
Species: None
Strength: 19
Constitution: 21
Endurance: 21
Agility: 24
Dexterity: 18
Awareness: 18
Wisdom: 17
Capacity: 28
Free Points: 4
Skills: Strike, Volt-Gen, Bolt, Thunder Wave, Null-Bind
Passives: Flux-Bod, Ether-Cell, Crafting (Beginner)]
"Good, the new passives apply the percentages directly to wisdom and capacity. Saves me from having to do math on the fly."
A new section had appeared for passive skills.
"So crafting is a passive... Makes sense since it's only needed during crafting." He tapped the skill and read the note appended to the bottom.
[Crafting (Beginner): Use mundane methods to craft normal items.
Note: This skill is passive and will automatically activate while crafting.]
"Nice," he muttered, glancing around.
"I should probably start moving in the same direction they did; I don't want to lose track of her. I'll work on the mind defense as I travel. Just need to keep my distance if I spot them before I'm ready."
He applied his four free points, bringing all his stats as close to twenty as possible, then closed the interface. Scanning the area, he plotted a northwest course, skirting the desert and forest.
Jose wanted to observe whether the disturbance he'd first noticed was centered in the heart of the desert or along its fringe before diving into a barren wasteland with scarce food or water. His quarry—Karen—had headed northeast, but he needed more time to prepare before facing her again.
Not far into his walk, a rustle in the bushes snapped him to alert. He tensed, ready for a fight—then burst out laughing when a rabbit darted from cover and bolted to another bush.
He watched it with wide eyes. 'I thought everything that wasn't human had turned into monsters.' Then he recalled the crow from earlier. Besides being overgrown, it hadn't been monstrous.
'Maybe not everything has evolved, or mutated. It does seem like not all humans have changed in the same way, some turned to ash, others to Tained, others became galvanized, and others seemed to stay normal.'
His stomach growled pulling him from his revery. '… I wonder how rabbit tastes?'
"Sorry little buddy but I'm going to have to have you and some of your friends for dinner, and by that I mean, you are dinner."
He hurled a dagger—and missed by a mile. He winced. The eskrima skills he'd cultivated in the past had dulled over time, and the rabbit had reacted quickly, bolting out of range before the blade even struck dirt.
Jose set up a trap with a large rock, a stick, and some rope he'd been carrying. The only thing missing was some kind of lure. After watching the rabbit move around for some time he'd found what its favorite plant was and lay some in his trap.
The rabbit sniffed the perimeter, eyed the plant at the center, and then—kicked the side of the trap. The rock toppled harmlessly aside.
Jose stood slack-jawed. "What in the Bugs Bunny shit?" he whispered, half laughing, half fuming. In frustration, he loosed a low-powered Bolt. The rabbit froze just long enough for him to scoop it up by the ear.
***
He reached the edge where desert met forest without further trouble, now with a couple of rabbits ready for cleaning.
Jose dressed them on the forest's edge. "This should keep anything sniffing blood away from me." Then he looked toward the desert. "Maybe move a few hundred feet out before setting up camp and a fire?"
He was excited. "Never had rabbit before. But every story makes it sound great… Shit, anything fresh would be amazing right now. Been running on cans and boxes for weeks," he chuckled.
When he bit into the meat, Jose realized that in all his fighting, surviving, and foraging for supplies, he'd never once thought of acquiring spices. It made sense, of course, who would think to look for salt and pepper while trying to survive in a monster-infested world?
Even without any seasoning, the meat was good. It was lean and gamey but also fresh and filling.
Full and emotionally drained from the anger that had been driving him for the last day, Jose retreated to the edge of the forest. He found a nice high tree away from the spot where he'd prepped the rabbits and climbed to a sturdy branch to get some sleep.
He hadn't yet seen any flying monsters, and aside from the Iron Lions, he also hadn't seen any monsters that could easily climb trees, so this felt like the safest option for sleeping out in the open.
As a precaution, he fed the fire and left the scent of blood as a decoy.
***
Jose awoke with the sun, feeling well-rested and energized.
He resumed his journey north, though doubt gnawed at him. 'Is this worth it? Can I even get my skill back?'
An hour later, he began getting a weird feeling. The hairs on his neck stood on end, his skin crawled, and a sixth sense alerted him to something he couldn't quite place. It was as if the air had become electrified.
He climbed a dune and saw it.
A floating crystal hovered just above the sand, shaped like a diamond and filled with swirling tan energy. It resembled the Echo Shard from the beginning of the apocalypse—but this one was larger—more angular.
"Could this be another one of those Echo Shards?" Jose wondered as he descended.
'What were these Echo Shards anyway? What had the last one shown me? Was it a dream, a memory, a literal echo of some distant past?' He couldn't be sure, but somehow, he knew it in his bones that they werew keys to the truth.
When he came within five feet, the crystal surged.
Jose stopped cold, weary of it, last time he hadn't given much consideration to what would happen should he touch an unknown item, but this time, he was much more cautious.
Its facets folded outward, the center rippled like water. An eight-foot-tall, diamond-shaped doorway now stood before him.
He circled the strange item in front of him. It was the strangest thing, how it looked the same from all angles. It was as if it created a tear in reality itself. As if he was looking at some type of optical illusion that wasn't really there.
Tentatively, he reached out and touched the middle of the entrance. It was cool and wet to the touch.
The ripples rolled out to the very edge before folding back in, disrupting the other ripples as if it were liquid in a bowl. Looking down at his finger, Jose noticed it wasn't wet. Whatever this was, it was not an actual liquid, it merely acted and felt like one.
The space called to him, and he yearned for its embrace.
The Echo Shard had been something unique he knew, even in this new world, he'd not found anything else like it. Maybe, just maybe, this was just as unique?
'This is a chance at something special,' the thought whispered in his mind. He'd promised himself something when he first understood what this apocalypse was: a chance to live the kind of life he'd only dreamed about. One filled with danger. Mystery. Adventure.
He'd promised himself to walk that path laid out for him. To live in the moment. To live a life without hesitation. Without regret.
Would he be happy a week from now if he simply passed this by? A year from now? A few years from now?
He thought of the years he'd spent carrying burdens that weren't his. Taking care of others, giving advice, lending money, always being the counselor—but never the one counseled. After his mother passed, after the depression had swallowed him whole, the fallout with his siblings.
Jose pulled his hand away from the tear and began pacing back and forth. He'd been reckless in the highrise and nearly lost his life for it.
He'd also been reckless in touching the Echo Shard, but that had led to something he couldn't quite quantify just yet. Maybe this would lead to more power, or maybe it would lead to a bitter end. There was no way of knowing until he entered and saw for himself.
Jose couldn't but think of his life. He'd grown cold and bitter in a sense after finding out he was not a father and that he would never be. At the same time, however, he'd somehow replaced the lost son with his nieces and nephews, becoming a mentor for them all.
The falling out with his siblings had happened because he stopped being the counselor they all wanted. He'd recognized that his fall from grace was in part from the pressure of providing everyone with advice, and at times, financial support, while not receiving any of it in return.
His relationship had been hollow. A companionship of convenience, not love. And when the convenience ended—so did she.
A pattern emerged in his reflections.
After he lost his son and his friend, he'd closed off his heart. If he denied himself joy, it could never be ripped from him again. He'd never said it aloud. Never even thought it consciously. But now, it was clear.
That pattern had to end.
It was time to reclaim the joy he'd been avoiding. To embrace the danger, the mystery, the magic of this new world.
He stood, heart beating faster.
Then, without hesitation, Jose walked into the tear.