Leaving the Acácia Building was like emerging from a cave into a world on fire. The Salvador air, normally thick with the salt of the sea and the smell of palm oil, now reeked of burning, ozone, and something sweet and rotten that Luan's brain, for its own protection, refused to identify. The sound was an infernal cacophony: police sirens that ended in abrupt crashes, human screams that turned into monster screeches, and the distant roar of something that was definitely not a goblin.
Luan felt a knot in his stomach. He instinctively checked his interface, a habit forged over years of gaming, now a desperate necessity.
HP: 155/155
MP: 145/155
The numbers were a cold, insufficient comfort. In Elysium, he would enter a fight with a near-infinite mana pool. Here, every Spark had a cost he felt in his soul. Every point of health was precious.
They took their first steps outside, their feet crunching on the glass that covered the sidewalk. And then they saw it. The first victim. A man, slumped beside a destroyed bus stop, his body horrifically mangled. There was no digital blood or a body dissolving into light. It was real. The sight hit Júlia like a punch; she, the medical student, looked away, her hand covering her mouth, her breath caught in her throat.
For Luan, it was different. It was a wave of icy apathy, the old, familiar companion of his depression. This is it, a dark part of his mind thought. It's the end. Everything ends. It was a dangerously comfortable feeling, an invitation to simply stop, sit down, and wait for the inevitable to come. But then, the image of his mother's terrified face, Leo's voice on the phone, and the subtle warmth of Júlia's aura beside him fought against the numbness. He couldn't stop. Not anymore.
"We have to go," he said, his voice steadier than he felt, gently pulling his sister's arm.
They started to run, or the closest thing to it that Luan's sedentary body could manage. His lungs burned. In Elysium, stamina was just a yellow bar. Here, it was a needle in every muscle, a fire in his throat. They moved through the streets, using wrecked cars as cover. His Dragon Eyes were both a curse and a blessing, showing him the red lines of goblins hiding in alleys and behind dumpsters.
"Two on the right," he gasped, pointing.
They hid behind an overturned sedan. Luan peeked. Two goblins were devouring something he forced himself not to recognize. He raised his hand. One Spark. Costs 15 mana. I have 130 now. The potion restores 50. I have to conserve it.
He fired. The projectile hit one of the goblins, which turned with a shriek of fury. Both of them charged. The fight was quick and ugly. Luan used his dagger, his movements still clumsy, but Júlia was there, her "Soothing Touch" glowing in her hands, healing a nasty cut one of the goblins managed to inflict on his arm before he could finish the creature.
HP: 142/155 MP: 115/155
They didn't stop to pick up the crystals. There was no time.
Turning a corner, they froze. A battle was underway in the middle of the street. A group of four Awakened, much better equipped than they were, was fighting a small horde of goblins. There was a man with a heavy shield, one with a two-handed axe, and two people firing arrows of energy. They moved with brutal efficiency, each one protecting the other. They were a guild in the making.
The group's leader, the one with the shield, saw them hiding. His gaze swept over Luan and Júlia, assessing their normal clothes, their basic weapons. He said nothing. He simply dismissed them with a look. They weren't a threat. They weren't help. They were just obstacles on the map. The indifference was more frightening than Ricardo's hostility. In this new world, to be weak was to be invisible.
They moved on, Luan's heart hammering with humiliation and fear.
Finally, they reached the bakery's street. The "Fresh Bread 24h" sign was flickering erratically, one of the few lights still working. And there, in front of the shattered glass door, was Leo.
He was alone, fighting three goblins. But he wasn't just surviving; he was dancing. He wielded two simple daggers, and his body moved with an unnatural speed. He wasn't strong, his blows didn't kill in a single hit, but he was fast. Almost untouchable.
[Dash!]
He disappeared in a blur, reappearing behind a goblin and driving a dagger into its nape. His other skill was passive, but visible in the way his feet barely seemed to touch the ground. [Fleet-Footed].
One of the goblins managed to corner him, and for a second, panic flashed in Leo's eyes. That's when Luan acted.
"Leo!" he yelled, firing a Spark that hit the goblin in the face, making it stagger.
Leo turned, his eyes widening in relief. "Guys! Finally!"
With the distraction, he recovered. Júlia ran to his side, and the aura of her passive enveloped him. Leo blinked, feeling the sudden influx of strength and vigor. "Whoa! What is this?"
"On the house," Júlia said, a small smile forming on her tense face.
With the three of them together, the fight ended in seconds. Luan and Leo flanked the last goblin, a dagger from each side, and the creature fell.
They gathered in the precarious shelter of the bakery, panting.
"Dude, I thought I was gonna die like five times," Leo said, running a hand through his sweaty hair. He was the same skinny, good-humored guy as always, but now there was a feverish intensity in his eyes. "This class, 'Shadow Blade,' it's fast, but I have no damage at all. And what the hell is this?"
He showed them his interface. There it was.
Name: Leonardo "Leo" Costa
Class: Shadow Blade (Rare)
Level: 2
Additional Status: Awakening: ?????
"You guys don't have this?" Leo asked, pointing to the mysterious status.
Luan and Júlia checked. Nothing. Just their classes, levels, and attributes.
"No," Luan said. "Only you have that."
"So weird. You think my system came with a factory defect?" he laughed, but there was a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
The relief of their reunion was quickly replaced by the harsh reality. The timer in their vision glowed mercilessly: 22:51:16.
They were together. An Heir to an ancient power he could barely control. A Priestess whose main function was to heal the wounds of a world bleeding from every corner. And a Shadow Blade with phantom speed and a mystery in his soul.
They were level 3, 3, and 2. And in less than 23 hours, a level 5 monster, empowered by items, would come to claim their territory. They weren't heroes. They were just three scared friends in a wrecked bakery on the first day of the end of the world.