The Manaverse

Slatewell Casino Safe Zone

Granite City

Jut and Diggy sat for a while in silence, the blue barrier giving off a soft light. Neither were able to truly process the immense influx of emotion from the Monster wave. The rage, blood lust, grief, and exhaustion were just too much.

Diggy was the first to speak. His tone was flat and empty. "We should find our remaining party members and regroup."

Jut only nodded. He wasn't injured badly enough that he couldn't make his way to the orphanage. He couldn't go to his tower room. He would have to go to let his pets out, but Jut wasn't able to stop yet. If he did, he didn't know if he'd be able to function.

"Want help finding the Fists?" Jut asked, having fought along side each of them over the last few hours.

Diggy looked around mechanically. They hadn't seen another living Monster since the barrier went up. He shook his head.

"Nah, bro. Go get Brick and Kit. Think they would retreat into the bunkers?" Diggy brushed off the offer gently, likely wanting to be alone, even if it was for just a moment.

Both men stood as one.

"No way. Not during all this. They would be in the thick of it." Jut said, brushing off his clothes, not that it did any good.

In the glow of the barrier, Jut saw Joey not too far off. He was sitting, just staring out at the barrier like they had been. Jut pointed him out to Diggy before going over to him. Joey's eyes were hallow when he looked up at their approach.

"Joey. You made it." Jut said, a small smile forcing it's way onto his face. He allowed himself a fraction of relief. He offered an open hand to Joey. "Thank you for saving my life."

To Jut's surprise, the gratitude came easy. He was a wreck, but he was very happy he hadn't died.

Joey's expression didn't change. He took Jut's hand and shook it in a robotic manner, not bothering to stand up. After a long moment, he processed who was speaking to him.

"Oh, Jut. I'm glad you made it. It was nothing." The smile Joey gave Jut was as forced as his own.

Jut turned to Diggy. "Here's a leed for you. I'll catch up with you later, Digs."

Diggy only shooed him away before turning to Joey and helping the man stand.

Jut didn't hesitate. He turned and walked towards the North East. As he was leaving earshot, he heard Diggy ask the question Jut knew he would also have to answer soon enough.

"What happened to the rest of the team?"

Jut was sad and a little relieved he didn't hear the answer. He would learn the truth soon enough. He needed to find Brick, Kit, and Randy.

Jut willed his party list to appear as he walked. He almost missed a step when it didn't open.

Alex? Why won't my party list open? Jut asked.

Alex's chat box opened but the words took long moments to appear.

I'm not letting it open. You're not ready.

If Jut wasn't numb from so many raging emotions, he would have been furious. Instead, he just willed the list to open. His will overrode Alex's easily. If he had to explain the feeling, it was like the resistance popped like a bubble when poked with a finger.

Jut started walking again and he unconsciously increased his pace as he looked at each name on the list.

Jonny and Larry's portraits were greyed out, their HP bars empty. While very hard to look at, Jut had expected it. He looked at the others.

Brick's HP was at forty percent, but steady. It was Randy that made Jut sprint towards the Orphanage. His HP was higher than Brick's but it was noticeably reducing every few moments. Randy was dying and Jut had no way to find him.

Jut only encountered one living Monster as he made his way. It was a badly wounded Cat Monster with red and yellow fur. Despite the carnage he had just experienced, Jut killed it out of pity, not revenge. No one should be made to suffer in the end.

Jut could see the orphanage when he heard a familiar bark. Anxiously looking around, Jut called out.

"Nox?"

A whining sound made Jut spin in place. He spotted the German Shepard when the dog appeared from around a car. He looked mostly uninjured. Another positive moment for Jut. Jut was going to need as many of those as he could get in the near future.

"Nox, buddy. Where's Randy?"

The question wasn't necessary because the dog whined and tried to lead Jut away. When he didn't move, the Shepherd pulled his pant leg. When Jut walked, Nox walked forward, letting him go. Jut shrugged and did the only logical thing, he followed.

It only took a few moments for Jut to find Randy. When he did, Jut sunk to his knees next to the rogue. Another wave of grief crashing over him.

Randy was lying on his back. A giant Scorpion stinger that had been ripped off the Monster was skewered through the man's chest. Blood pooled heavily under him.

Panic blossomed in Jut at the sight of the blood and he cursed not having a healing skill.

"Fuck. Randy. Shit." Jut swore. The stinger wasn't barbed, so it was likely he could pull it out and put pressure on the openings. However, Jut doubted it would matter. Randy was losing too much blood and HP too quickly.

He tried anyway.

"Hold on, buddy. I'll get it out." Jut said as he pulled random items out of his inventory that might help. He had water and clothes he could use to make bandaging.

Randy's breathing was ragged and sounded very wet. Yet, he was still conscious.

"Is... that you, Jut?" Randy said with a gurgle.

When Jut reached for the stinger, Randy shook his head and grabbed at Jut's wrists. His grip was very weak.

"Nah, man." Randy said, choking briefly. "I want as much time as I can get. I need you to listen." His tone turned urgent near the end.

Jut leaned in closely. "What is it?"

"It was ordered. All of it... was ordered...." Randy said. As if his words were his HP, when Randy's words cut off, so too did his HP bottom out. His grip faded completely and he fell back, his eyes going distant and empty.

Jut sat Randy down gently, crossing his arms. Nox was lying next to the corpse, whining softly. The dogs ears were flat.

Jut blinked, stood, and turned towards the orphanage once more. Before he took his first step, he spoke to Nox.

"You should come with me. If not, I'll come back for you later."

He didn't wait for the German Shepard. The dog didn't follow him either. Jut was not one to mess with a dog's grief. Nox was likely safer now than he had been for over a week so there was no reason to try and force him away from his owner's body.

The sight Jut came to at the orphanage was as bad as everywhere else. Only more personal.

The front door of the building was caved in and every light was out. As Jut crossed the threshold, he stepped on a plethora of mana chips. They were strewn across the floor as if piles and piles of Monsters had been allowed to dissipate over time instead of being looted.

Amongst the scattered shards of magic, Fia and Barbs lay lifeless. They had gone down fighting from what Jut could see. Someone had straightened their body out and closed their eyes. He didn't find anyone else in the room, dead or alive, so he went upward.

There was nothing of interest on the next two floors. Jut found the signs of combat from when the kids and Magatha were holed up, probably from before Brick and the Vixens arrived.

Interestingly enough, the barrier cut through the building. It didn't just cut off the room, it actually sliced through the building, the walls smoking where they rested against the blue wall. Jut figured that once the barrier fell, so too would the building.

When Jut crested the stairs to the roof, he found Brick sitting there, staring at the barrier. Jut's footsteps drew the soldier's attention. Brick tipped his head but he did not turn from the barrier.

"Did you see them?" Brick asked, his voice neutral.

"Yes." Jut said with surprisingly little hesitation. Jut figured Brick had been watching the party list.

"Did they go down fighting?"

Jut sat next to Brick, not looking at his teammate. "Randy did. Jonny was taken by surprise and Larry went into a black out rage." He said flatly.

Brick let out a weary sigh. His words were not what Jut expected. "I lost Kit, man. She was trapped on the other side of the barrier when it came down."

Jut froze for a long moment then shook his head. That news almost broke the dam of emotions, threatening to swallow him whole. How many more straws could his back hold? He wasn't sure anymore. Yet, he managed to keep his composure.

"It wasn't our fault, Brick."

"Maybe not, but they're still gone." Brick said sadly.

"Yeah." Jut said, just as sadly.

Brick turned and met Jut's gaze. "We can't leave them out there alone. Can you take me to them?"

Jut nodded solemnly before turning and leading Brick down the stairs and out of the building.

It was multiple hours later before Jut and Brick stumbled into their assigned room. They had found each of their party members and moved them somewhere that wasn't the middle of the street or the gutter. Brick had pulled long white sheets out of his inventory that they had used to cover their friends' corpses with.

They had also spent some time gathering any loose mama chips they could grab, especially where their groups had fought. They weren't going to let them disappear or be gathered up by someone else.

Afterward, they retreated back to their tower room for rest and to try and deal with their ravaged emotions.

Gunther and Lily seemed to know what had happened. They were hunched over and looked sad. He didn't even bother to put their leashes on. Instead he just walked with them and opened the doors for them.

Once they were outside and before he could protest, both animals took off in different directions. Jut would have given chase, but his stamina was at forty percent and wasn't climbing any higher. He was just too tired. So, he waited for them to return.

While he was waiting, Jut watched as a pillar of white light rose to the North of the main building. He decided to check it out.

The light was coming from an area not too far from the Northern edge of the Safe Zone. It was a perfect circle of light about the size of three or four of the abandoned residences, obscuring the mansions Jut knew were there. The light was emitting an awful racket that sounded a lot like the pounding of hammers, the cutting of saws, and other various power tools. Around him, a group of people had started to amass, watching the spectacle.

After a long few minutes, the light dimmed, the sounds stopped and brand new structures emerged as if they had always been there. The mansions were gone.

There were two buildings next to a side yard. The first building looked like a chapel with a steepled roof and a cross standing on top. The other building was the same size with a flat roof and a tall chimney. Both buildings were made of stone. The yard had multiple headstones in rows that were blank.

This had to be the System granted building that they had been told about. He didn't need the confirmation from Alex. It was the following Lore that piqued his interest.

The Graveyard.

There's Lore about it that unlocked the instant the construction was complete.

Graveyard, Lore found: Graveyards are used to put the dead to rest. Should an [Ascendant] [Being] die and not be put to rest properly, their corpse will rise once more as a [Zombie] [Monster].

Is there more? Jut thought. That doesn't seem like everything. Is there a time limit or what?

There is.... but... it isn't really useful. So, I didn't include it. See:

Lore Continued: Each individual corpse will rise in it's own time. The resulting [Zombie] will remain the same [Rank] as the body was in life. The longer the [Zombie] lives, the more of the original [Beings] unequipped [Skills] and [Spells] the [Monster] will have access to.

I appreciate your attempt to not waste time, but please always give me the full Lore on a topic when you present it, will you? I'd rather know as much as I can, and if I skip over it then my ignorance is my fault.

Jut was a little annoyed. He made sure to force as much true appreciation with his thoughts so Alex knew he was happy about the Guide's consideration. Yet, he knew knowledge was power and if he didn't have all the information, it could bite him in the ass. He would rather have too much information than not enough.

Okay.

His guide's window disappeared. Jut hoped he hadn't been too harsh. He wasn't sure if he was in complete control of his reactions.

Jut walked back to his tower. On his way there he saw two more columns of light to the South and West. He assumed those would be the Adventurers' Guild and System Shop buildings. He decided to check those out later. He'd had enough for one day, or ten.

When Jut arrived at the Tower, Gunther was sitting by the front door. Sitting next to him was Nox. Lily was nowhere to be found, however. He was concerned.

"No Lily?" He asked Gunther, not expecting anything more than the usual response of begging to be pet from the dog. He needed to stop letting himself be surprised.

Gunther hesitated then shook his head in a very understanding manner. The rottweiler whined a couple times but didn't move. He didn't even get up to come over to Jut.

"Oh. Okay." Jut said. He walked over to Gunther and pet the dog.

Gunther wagged his nub and leaned into the attention, his tongue lolling out.

"Should we wait longer or go and find her?"

Again, Gunther shook his head. He looked briefly at Nox then the door.

Jut cocked his eyebrow and decided to play along. "So, don't wait, and we should go upstairs instead of looking for her?"

Gunther rose to his feet and spun in a tight circle, barking softly and excitedly.

Jut was taken aback. He was unsure how to react or what to say. So, he just nodded and opened the door.

Gunther nudged Nox who didn't move. The German Shepard even growled at Gunther. Then the Rottweiler proceeded to bully Nox until he got up and went through the front door sullenly.

Jut followed, awestruck and even more confused.

Brick was asleep, or at least he was pretending, and Jut's blonde roommate that he didn't even know hadn't been seen in days. So, Jut laid down, not even bothering to undress. He would take care of the bedding in the morning. He just didn't have the energy or desire to do anything about it just then.

Sleep, however, was a long time off. Instead, he nearly drowned in his emotions and the memories of what should have been a fun evening out on a date with a girl he'd been into for a long time.