Apocalypse respawn

Rargnes and his group stood in line, military salute firm as another group leader stood before them, annoyed.

"Well… Since we don't have much time, we'll do the basics." He scrutinized them. "At least you're well-trained physically; that's the most important thing. Anyways, these weapons become less and less effective."

The military group leader snapped and pointed at the weapons on the other side of the hangar. They seemed like AK-47s, submachine guns. "Now take these!"

Rargnes felt his leg hurt even more at these words but hurriedly took his own weapon and a stock of ammunition that flowed from his waist to his feet.

"Now run!" He ran first, followed by the others, who soon overrun him as the group leader yelled. Each step made his leg scream in pain. He grimaced, imagining the wound like a red zone that sometimes turned black and blue, a cold feeling sometimes spreading to his whole body.

"Crawl!"

He crawled, a submachine gun sticking out from beneath him. His hands were cold as they bore the weight of the weapon that, alongside his bag full of weapons and his green military uniform, weighed way more than the armor he had worn.

They did several exercises all day long, hiding in a forest. His sight hadn't improved, and most of the military men possessed near-perfect vision, but even those with good vision in his group could hardly find them while they were hidden, even knowing they were here.

'Without the system and that stupid area-division fog, the Invaders would have had no chance to win.'

The day ended with a small lesson on energy.

"This!" said their instructor as he gave them each a bullet in their hand, "is a magical bullet!"

Rargnes analyzed it, feeling a blue energy emanating from the bullet like they did with their armor and weapons.

Then, the instructor talked about how to use magic and energy, and Rargnes was surprised to see they were even more advanced than the invaders. Maybe that knowledge was a noble thing, and they weren't allowed to learn it, but that would suppose they somehow confronted a noble?

As he asked before leaving, the commandant looked at him and said, "The goblins. They tell a lot of useful things under questioning. Do not believe what they say. They have their beliefs and few rational theories."

Though, they did not know how to make magic potions. They were still working on it, as they told him. Rargnes wondered if the system – or the king – would somehow react to it and forbid it. Maybe they didn't care - they did use teleportation on every human. That meant they could kill them with a thought.

 They were formed for a mere day, barely using a hundred ammunition each for testing purposes, and were directly sent to the front with professionals. 

 The military helmet, which blocked most of the sound of bullets, weighed on Rargnes's skull, but he quickly got used to it.

 They set up ambushes, like what they did, but this time, they were ambushes with prior information. They had allied behind the portals, which was how they had chased their group.

 Rargnes's energy increased, but so did the others in their military base. They had used bullets and torture methods to learn everything they had to know about energy. Most of the people had strength equal to his own. As he counted them, he soon remarked how futile his plans could be. Even with the best strategy, he would never be able to beat them, not alone.

 Only three people, him, Truckdriver, and an invader, had that strength. The majority had less energy and fighting capability. The military did make him learn many things. They even had a day a week where they learned what they had to. It was a one-on-one sparring session where they fought and then talked about energy and magic.

 "So? Is there anything special about the lord class?"

 The military men of his strength looked at him and shook his head. "Nah, I just make money out of it. We tried using those tokens, but even as it has been upgraded, the strength hasn't increased much. Mages can efficiently cast spells and magic on the bullet, and warriors can increase their strength or defense, but because we can't exercise the lord class, the effects are weak. Is it the same in the invaders' world?"

"Yeah. Only the noble has some power. I heard some of his family shared some of his power, but I've never seen it. They said you can't access portals unless the noble allows you to. Maybe they kinda control the system?"

The man nodded.

 ***

 "Group 7," said a soldier into his walkie-talkie, "we need reinforcement over there."

 The group looked at each other. If they fled, they would be pursued. Almost no group wanted to be there, but they could all trust each other thanks to fear.

 "We're coming to join you directly!"

 The attack unfolded similarly; they started with sniper shots on the conductors, followed by smoke and flash grenades. They shot through the fog, then smashed them one by one using maces.

 The captured people were thrown tied in the military car. The commander decided the distribution, killing the strongest himself and boosting his strength.

 Rargnes suppressed his hatred, knowing it had been Sengrar's and Jean's end.

 They sometimes recruited people when the commander took out a policy. It generally happened after he inspected every soldier- around two hundred soldiers were on his orders. 

 Rargnes sometimes wondered if he would get killed, too, when fewer people remained on earth, when their long-standing enemy, the noble, would die. At that time, firearms—even the strongest of all—would become mere clothes-piercing tools. Wouldn't a small genocide of the fat pigs they had raised—himself counted within—make the commandant the strongest man on earth? Only keeping alive his trusted subordinate.

 'I can't hate him, ' Rargnes told himself. I need to believe I actually like him and that I am loyal. Only then might I have the following behavior. Only then would he keep me alive. Then, if one day there was an opportunity...' 

 The ambushes became increasingly numerous and successful—too successful. The commandant was becoming too strong and too quickly.