My name is Alexander I am a 38 year old soldier in the base city garrison, or at least I was a soldier until a week ago when I was discharged from the military because my commanding officer made a mistake during a mission that caused the death of over half of our unit.
Due to him being the kid of a war hero and from a wealthy family he was not held accountable for his actions instead I was blamed for the incident, because I'm an orphan and grew up in a military training camp and had no support.
I'm now looking for a new job...
I had to sell my gear and whatever beast cores I had left from my service just to make ends meet.
Thirty three years ago the world was invaded by monsters from different planes of existence, this led to mutations in native fauna and flora causing humanity to face a near extinction event that led to humanity searching for a way to fight the new creatures that wandered around.
That's when one day, humanity found that by harnessing the energy in the cores of the creatures they can grow stronger and develop enhanced abilities that range from improved strength to controlling the elements.
It then took hundreds of sacrifices and tons of resources to build the base city's that stand as the only safe place for humanity to have a chance at survival. it was during this time that I lost my parents as they fought to get me into the base city but due to them not having powers they died from a surprise attack.
Thankfully I was found by a soldier who took me to the military stagging camp where I was then raised to be a soldier and on my sixteenth birthday I was allowed to merge with my first core.
But sadly I got the "weakest" ability of enhancement it boosted my strength and speed but "limited" my growth and combat abilities, if it wasn't for a old soldier training me in hand to hand combat and the use of different weapons I would most likely be dead by now.
As I was lost in thought about my "happy" childhood I rounded the corner to the only good place to eat in this shithole just to see that like every where else in this god forsaken world its now under "new management" this has taken the small amount of hunger I had.
As I began walking to my run down apartment there was suddenly a massive explosion in the direction of the research district. in a normal world it would have been a call of concern.
But in this god forsaken world its surprising if you go a day without anything exploding. after reaching my rundown apartment that I would say is more like a closet then a place to live.
I was happy to get some rest after job hunting all day. no one was willing to hire a soldier that supposably got his unit killed.
it also does not help that due to years on the battlefield I have become accustom to not showing many emotions so I look imposingly tall and angry like the world owes me lunch money.
and some days I wish I had money for lunch
So far the only job I have managed to get was as a combat instructor for a bunch of nepo twats at the guild who can't even take a bit of exercise seriously; that job only lasted a day.
I miss the days where all I had to worry about was the mission and my unit, just thinking about the poor youths who thought that joining the army was a better option then joining the guild.... little did they know that only days after they joined would be the there last days on this stupid rock.
Just as I was about to close my eyes those damn sirens started going off signalling a beast tide and most likely a rampage event.
That is when my communicator signalled a all hands on deck situation at the north gate, because the army was "busy' they requested all able body fighters to hold the line until they could mobilize any soldiers.
I instantly jumped up and started to run to the north gate as much as I disdain the upper-class idiots in this city there is still family's and children who did not ask to be put in this situation. so even if I have to fight with my bare hands and no armour I will do my best to protect the innocent people who can not protect themselves against the hoard of monsters that are making there way to the base city.
After running for over an hour to reach the north gate I was not surprised to see that the army still had not sent anyone, but what shocked me was that the majority of the people here looked to be no older then eighteen, some even looked younger...but it can not be helped when the army is taking there sweet time to respond.
I had no time to think because as I exited the city to fight all I could see was a never ending wall off beasts, before they could get closer I got ready to fight tooth and nail with the hoard.
I started to move ripping and tearing literally my way forward, every second I stood meant one more second for the people in the base city behind me to live.
Seconds turn to minutes that turn to hours, I could barely tell how long I've been at this. and yet this damn hoard was not getting any thinner. more than a dozen of the people who started fighting to protect this city have already fallen.
…
The worst part is even as night fell the beasts did not stop coming so we kept fighting, it was not until the sun started to rise that we got word that the army and guild was mobilizing units to fight; They would not be here for a few hours at least.
That is when I decided to tell the teenagers to fall back and let the adults handle it since it would not be long until the army and guild arrive. even then some still fought which in comparisons to the foolish and simple guild kids these guys had the courage to keep fighting even after seeing all the dead, most likely including friends and family.
That is when I saw it. a calamity class beast was approaching a section that was full of teenagers.
In that moment I remembered all the squad mates that died and all the friends I have seen die, I did not want these kids to face the same fate so on impulse I ran.
Tearing my way thru the hoard getting stabbed and cut by all manner of beast as I made my way to them in hopes of saving at least one of the foolish kids.
I barely made it when the calamity class beast started its rampage, I threw a group of teenagers back and took a hit head on I do not know if it was dumb luck or due to my ability but I somehow survived the first hit...barely.
I did not get the chance to get back on my feet when the second hit landed causing me to be sent flying coughing up blood and bits of my organs.
I knew I was going to die here.
But I could not let this beast get any closer to the base city, so with everything I could muster up I fought the beast. it took minutes and then hours just to see some form of damage.
It surprised me that I could last this long since I was missing one of my arms from its attacks and just as I was about to collapse, that is when I felt it a pair of arms catching me and a soft voice telling me I have done well that it was finally time to rest.
At the same time the army and guild finally showed up starting to take care of the beasts "finally".
I look up to see who was holding me but I could barely see anything with the blood flowing into my eyes.
But for a moment I saw her, a beautiful looking girl with long blonde hair and tears forming in her eyes, she was trying to say something but all I could hear was ringing.
I reached up with the only hand I had left and gently wiped away her tears and smiled at her. it was the first genuine smile in the past thirty three years I was not happy, but I also wasn't sad...I was at peace with it all.
For the first time since everything happened I could close my eyes and not be worried about tomorrow, that is when I finally heard her voice the most enchanting voice in the world a voice that could start wars or destroy nations, she seemed to know my name as she leaned down and said softly in my ear as everything turned to black.
"I have been waiting for you alexander, it's time to go now... Rest well and when you wake I will be there by your side... Never to lose you again"