Age of Asura [Progression, LitRPG, Apocalypse]

The crowd of people flowed like a river through the empty streets, guided by several people who had responded to Bhadra’s call. Uruvi stood against the hood of the Camry and quietly watched them move, her eyes constantly watching the surroundings for any signs of danger.

A mix of emotions swirled inside her stomach, which made her slightly nauseous. She tried to not think about it too much, for every time she did, it only made it worse. Suddenly, the phone in her pocket began to buzz. She pulled it out and saw the face of her father on the screen.

“Oh wow. This thing is working now,” she told herself before picking up the call. “Hello, Dad?”

“Where did you go?” She could sense the restraint in his voice.

“Erm… You know… doing stuff. Trying to stay alive. The usual stuff,” she said, clenching her teeth.

“I heard that you climbed to rank 1… Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Dad… I am fine. I am completely fine…” She wanted to cry. She wanted to tell all the terrible feelings she felt. But she knew crying over the phone was only going to make things worse.

“Okay… Where are you now?”

“Me… Somewhere near the north… actually, I am not far from Mom’s place!”

“That is good. She has been asking for you. You can head over there tonight?”

“Yes. And Dad. You got the other news, right?”

“About the second apocalypse? Yeah.”

“Let’s hope it is not that bad this time. Don’t stray out of the safe zone, okay?”

She could hear him scoff. “Yes. Yes. You don’t either, okay?”

“Yes. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too…”

She set the phone down onto the hood of the car when suddenly Rambha appeared beside her.

“Was that your dad?” she asked as she leaned back against the bumper.

“It was.”

“How did he sound?”

“Calm. As always.”

Rambha snorted and said, “Lucky you. If it were my Dad, he would be panicking, and I would have been the one calming him down.”

Her lips curled into a soft smile. “Yeah… In my household, it is my mom and me who are the storm, and Dad was the one who kept us grounded.”

“Must have been good to hear from him then.”

She nodded. “It was. It always is.”

Rambha’s eyes scanned her face and saw a deep sadness in her eyes. “Babe. You alright?”

For a moment, there was no reaction from her. But then she slowly shook her head. “No. I am not.”

Rambha’s expression turned to one of concern. “What happened?”

“I don’t know… A lot happened today. For most of it, I was angry, and my mind was… messed up. But as things cleared up… I feel like I lost a piece of myself.”

“I understand. We all did…”

“I wish,” Uruvi began. “I could go back to my old boring office job. Finally have the courage to quit and do my own thing.” Her eyes turned misty, and a scoff escaped her lips. “How foolish of me…” She sniffled as she wiped away the tear that rolled down her cheek.

Rambha put her hand around her shoulders and gently pulled her in. “Hey. It’s… It’s alright. Let it out. You have been through a lot, more than any of us… At least the four of us.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine. I am fine.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Ashwin walk up to them wearing a stoic expression as always.

“Look who is here! Ashwin, why don’t you help cheer her up?” asked Rambha.

He shot a glance at both of them and said, “If you are looking for words of condolence, I might be the wrong person to ask.”

“Dude? Seriously? You could have just cheered up Uruvi. Tell her everything will be alright!” Rambha exclaimed.

“Babe, please. He has been through enough torture already,” said Uruvi.

He casually shrugged and said, “I will survive.”

Rambha grunted angrily, while Uruvi snorted.

Ashwin looked at the river of people walking through the street and the few others guiding them. Signs of destruction peppered the streets. “Times have changed. The world we once knew is gone. And unfortunately, those days are not coming back.” He turned toward the ladies and asked, “But you know what we can do?”

“What can we do?” asked Rambha.

“Keep moving forward,” said Uruvi.

A faint smile appeared on his face, and suddenly the somber mood began to slowly disappear.

“Try and build a new future,” Uruvi added.

Rambha scratched her head and said, “Man. You guys are way too philosophical for the likes of me?”

***

The crowd had all but disappeared, and Vishwas walked back to the car. “Well. That is the last of them.” He saw the three of them looking slightly somber. “What’s going on?”

“Philosophy lessons,” said Rambha.

“Seems like I didn’t miss anything,” he retorted. “So, what is the plan now?”

“Now? We just lay low and wait for the convergence,” said Ashwin.

“Is there no way of stopping it?” asked Rambha, who looked visibly frightened.

“If there was, Bhadra would have told us,” said Uruvi.

She cupped her cheeks and looked down at the ground before her. “I can’t bear to see more people turn into Pisacha.”

“Hopefully, with everyone inside a safezone, we won’t see that happen,” said Ashwin.

“What about those who can’t make it to one?” asked Rambha.

Ashwin did not reply.

“Which reminds me. How did Madhu manage to turn his man into a Pisacha?” asked Vishwas, trying his best to change the topic.

“He didn’t. According to the people in his cult, Deva was transforming into one when Madhu interrupted his transformation. We don’t know how he did it, but it appears he could also let it progress,” said Ashwin.

“Wait. Does that mean others too could have turned back to humans?” asked Uruvi. Her chest turned cold at the thought of it.

“Probably not. Once transformed, it looks to be permanent. Humans don’t turn to dust after they die, the way these things do,” said Ashwin.

She let out a dull sigh, relieved but also disappointed.

Ashwin looked down at his phone and said, “We are going to be seeing sunlight soon, and I feel like we could use some rest.”

“And we deserve it!” said Rambha. “But where do we go?”

“Let’s head to my Mom’s place. Her entire apartment complex has been turned into a giant safezone,” said Uruvi.

“Sounds good to me.” Rambha looked at Vishwas and asked, “You coming too?”

“Well… I got nowhere else to go,” he said, flashing his teeth awkwardly.

“Alright then. We march on,” said Uruvi.

We made to the end of book 1! Woohoo!

Stay tuned. We will back after a short break.