Chapter 65: Building A Faction
Alex believed that Pioneers were simply the first Ascendants summoned by the System to the Land of Origin. Since the new Tutorial Quest asked him to recruit Ascendants, he concluded that both Pioneers and people who awakened later should qualify.
At least, that was the interpretation that made the most sense to him.
With that in mind, Alex compressed mana and reinforced his lungs and vocal cords before taking a deep breath.
His voice carried far across the street as he addressed everyone hiding inside the surrounding buildings.
"My name is Alex Mercer, and I’m an Ascendant. As you’ve already seen, I can fight these monsters. If you follow me, I’ll help you become stronger too. I know most of you are waiting for the military to rescue you, but look at what’s happening outside. Monsters are everywhere, and the military is probably struggling just to protect itself. If you want a better chance of surviving, then come with me and learn how to fight."
His words echoed through the silent street before gradually fading away. Alex waited patiently, watching the apartment windows and listening for doors opening or hurried footsteps.
Instead, all he heard were faint whispers coming from inside the buildings. After another minute passed, he accepted the result.
His social skills really were terrible. Not a single person seemed willing to step outside, and he couldn’t sense anyone even trying to approach him.
Whatever he had hoped to accomplish with that speech, it clearly hadn’t worked. Alex wasn’t particularly disappointed, though. He had offered them an opportunity, and whether they accepted it or not was their decision.
If they chose to stay hidden instead, then they would simply have to live with the consequences of that choice.
A soft paw tapped against his leg.
Looking down, Alex found Mia staring up at him as she gently patted his calf, almost as though she was trying to comfort him.
He flicked her forehead with a small stalk of concentrated mana.
Mana normally had no physical form, but when compressed beyond a certain limit, it became semi-solid.
Mia flinched as it struck her forehead and hissed at him with offended expression, as if angered that he was being rude when she was only being helpful.
Alex only smiled faintly before turning his attention back to the road and taking another step forward.
Just then, a familiar voice reached him from above. "Alex, wait!"
...
"Alex, wait!" Robert shouted from one of the apartment windows. When Alex looked up, their eyes met through the glass, and Robert noticed a hint of surprise appear on his face.
"Come down," Alex called as he waved a hand.
"Okay!" Robert replied before turning back toward the others gathered inside the apartment. Kevin, Tina, Sophia, and Robert exchanged nervous glances before following him toward the stairs.
The five of them had been friends since their first year at college.
Although their personalities were different, they somehow ended up in the same friend group and stayed close throughout college. Earlier that evening, the four of them had gone to a concert in the city.
By the time they returned to campus, the dormitory gates had already been locked for curfew. Since they had nowhere else to go, they decided to spend the night at Alex’s apartment instead.
Tomorrow had been exam day, so they expected him to sleep early, yet they planned to go to his apartment. Waking him up in the middle of the night had always been part of the fun. They would always bet if they could wake him up.
Only tonight, there had been nothing funny about it.
The world changed exactly at midnight. A violent earthquake shook the city without warning, forcing everyone to rush out of buildings before they even understood what was happening.
Moments later, cracks appeared in the air itself, and monsters began pouring out of them.
People who had escaped collapsing buildings suddenly found themselves standing in the open with nowhere to hide.
Panic spread through the streets almost instantly, and the monsters began slaughtering anyone they caught. The peaceful city turned into chaos within minutes.
Kevin, Robert, Tina, and Sophia survived only because an elderly woman living across the street from Alex’s apartment hurried them into her home before the monsters reached the building.
After locking the door, everyone stayed hidden inside with the lights turned off.
From the apartment window, they watched the nightmare unfold. People screamed as monsters chased them through the streets, while abandoned cars crashed into one another in the panic.
Blood covered the roads, and every few moments another desperate scream echoed through the neighborhood before falling silent.
Kevin vomited after seeing one of the creatures tear a man apart. Tina wasn’t much better, and Robert himself nearly looked away more than once. Nobody laughed at anyone for crying or throwing up because the sight outside was simply too horrifying.
Then they saw Alex step out of his apartment building.
Robert’s heart nearly stopped when he spotted him outside. Before he could shout for Alex to run back inside, three monsters rushed toward him. They were the same monsters that had already killed dozens of people on the street.
The fight ended almost as soon as it began. Alex moved calmly, and within moments all three monsters were dead. The image burned itself into the minds of everyone watching from the window.
Alex had always been an ordinary person. He studied hard, spoke only when necessary, and never stood out from everyone else. Yet the person standing outside now felt completely different.
Only a few hours had passed since they had last seen him, but he had changed beyond recognition. There was no fear in his eyes despite the monsters roaming the streets, and he carried himself with a confidence none of them had ever seen before.
Robert didn’t know how Alex had changed, nor could he understand what had happened during those missing hours. Even so, seeing the monsters die gave him an unexpected sense of relief.
Most of the victims had been strangers, but at least someone had finally avenged them.
...
"Hey." Alex greeted them with a casual wave.
His friends nodded back nervously.
Sophia carefully pushed an elderly woman’s wheelchair. A rifle rested across the old woman’s lap, and her narrowed eyes never left Alex for a single moment.
It seemed obvious to him now that his friends had been hiding inside this stranger’s apartment.
..
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