"Apocalypse ges everyone; some just hide it better. Sometimes even I don't reize what I have bee, nor do I want to. There is nothing to gain from reminisg about what is gone."

  ~ Batrak, The only survivor of the 2nd Outbreak

  The angry howls and screeches echoed in the distance as Leo dashed into one of the abandoned houses that had a clear view of the situatiohe woman’s residence. Before sprinting upstairs, he shut the door and blocked it with a broken shelf.

  He couldn't bring himself to feel guilty or bad about leaving the woman to the horde. Leo only wao once again experiene human taaybe even form a group to make survival in this world easier. Instead, he was met with a dy ed by madness, who nearly brought the entire horde after him.

  Just my luck. Leo sighed as he sat in front of the broken window that gave him a nice view of the woman's house.

  Cursed Humans and Runners already spilled into the backyard, sing every inch of the house while the two Hounds sniffed and scraped at the doors. The Crawlers were nowhere in sight, but if the bestiary didn't lie, then Leo knew what was ing, especially when the woman had one of her windows broken.

  The Voidlings tio e; Leo had already ted over twenty. Some just walked around as if they were seg the perimeter, while the rest joihe fight against the doors or windows. Only it wasn't a fight, and in a mihe gss shattered and the hinges broke, opening the entire house to the horde.

  No wohe System didn't aowledge my parent's house as a secure shelter if they could do that. I really o figure something out for the night.

  "Argh!" A scream like no other pierced the air, eg through the entire neighborhood. Leo flinched, dug uhe window as the Voidlings joihe scream like one anized orchestra.

  The chorus alo chills through Leo's spine, so he took a deep breath, eyes closed as he tried to ighe dying scream.

  No matter what, I hope you find peace away from this madness. No one deserved death like this. Even if Leo was almost numb to death after everything he experienced, he still reized how fucked up this world was.

  Time passed as Leo listeo the Voidlings celebrate their hunt. Leo couldn't help but wonder whether the monsters were fighting over the privilege of eating their kill when their howls and screeches became even more ferocious.

  Not so high on the food are we anymore, eh? Leo let out a short, bitter chuckle. Humans were he stro creatures oh, but with teology, there wasn't much they couldn't achieve with time. And now humanity had been reduced to almost nothing, hiding from beasts that only waited to feast on their flesh.

  More positive thoughts inbound. Leo shook his head and took another peek through the window. He had already wasted enough time.

  The Voidlings still walked around the house, but most of them never left the building after the initial charge, and maybe, just maybe, Leo could use this to his advahe rge block of fts seemed like a good pce to find more survivors or something useful. With most of the security go shouldn't be too hard to get inside.

  Just as swiftly as Leo ehe house, he jumped out of it, sprinting deeper into the cleared part of the neighborhood. Leo dropped True Stealth, releasing a deep sigh as the drain on his Esseopped.

  The skill only required a bit of energy to sustaiime, yet with Leo's meager reserves, every seattered. Even the few minutes necessary to travel around the area allowed Leo tee a portion of the Essence he had lost i few hours.

  That's what I get for having a weak Soul and a strong Mind. Definitely o put another point there. The boost from Limit Break is nice, but it almost feels like it doesn't affect Soul as well as every other attribute...

  That was something Leo noticed more and more with every level. While Passive Limit Break stantly improved Grad Might in the same way that additional points from levels did, the same couldn't be said for Soul.

  At first, Leo didn't notice it, but now, he was almost sure that while Passive Limit Break made his Essence burn brighter inside him, it didn't make his reserves bigger. No, that happened only after Leo added one point to Soul after the fourth and sixth levels. Although evehe increase was barely noticeable...

  Maybe I should just add two points? More Essence 't hurt me, and with more skills stantly ing in, I will .

  Deade, Leo tinued his jourhrough the only unexplored street that also led to the block of fts. The screeg tio echo from the opposite side of the neighborhood, yet Leo still mao dirty his cws and dagger with even more blood of Voidlings, whose deaths gave him precisely what he wanted.

  Level 7 reached. Css attributes added. Please assign your 2 free attributes.

  Two to Soul. He aaking a knee behind a fence.

  With only one level up, the pain in Leo's body, associated with the gains from his css, came and disappeared in almost a sed. No more than a weak sting from a blunt stick. Of course, nothing could ever be easy, and thewo additional points to Soul pierced Leo's entire being.

  He groaned as phantom hands grabbed his small pond of Essend pulled it in every dire. Leo bent forward as his soul expanded with every stretch.

  He coughed, his throat dry as desert. Suddenly, like with every power-up after a level, the burning and stretg stopped, leaving him panting for breath as his hand sneaked into his bag.

  Yanking a bottle of water out, Leo drank it in one go, gasping as the liquid traveled through his body. Alright, adding two points when I only have six wasn't the best idea. Got it.

  True Stealth, which failed during the power-up, once again formed over his body and Leo's eyes narrowed as he felt the Esseravel through his veins, burning with renewed fire. This faly served to firm his previous assumptions.

  So Passive Limit Break really has little effe Soul. Weird, especially when its active terpart seemed to work quite well. Definitely, something to test ter, even if I have to pay some Ether for it...

  Pig up his bag again, Leo approached the edge of the fend leaned out, sing his path to the side of the block of fts.

  Most of the Voidlings were gone, only leaving a few stragglers walking around the courtyard. Crawlers also weren't there, probably too busy fighting over the right to their kill.

  At least I wasn't wrong. Leo smiled and dashed out of his hiding spot. He crossed the street and jumped behind one of the many trees strewed around the neighborhood. No more than a dozen, or so, meters and one Cursed Human separated Leo from the block's side at this point.

  Dagger in hand, Leo ran again. On his way, he slipped behind the single monster and stabbed it in the head before moving forward. If the other Voidlings noticed the body ter, they would hopefully just use it as another meal, not a reason to search the area.

  Hugging the side of the block, Leo slowly sneaked around it, approag one of the four entrao the building. With electricity long gohe advanced loever mao close the dain and Leo just slipped in, weling the familiar darkness of the short corridor.

  He moved to the end of the hallway and twisted the handle of a door that led to the staircase. The window in the door showed nothing dangerous oher side, but Leo kept the dagger tight in his hand.

  The door slowly slid open, immediately assaulting Leo's ears with a soft creak and a sound so gut-wreng that he froze, all the hairs on his body standing up.

  What the fuck? Cries echoed through the eairway, boung off the walls. It had the tone of a small child and the edge of a Voidling's screech.

  Leo gulped, raising his tainted arm as he finally moved up the stairs at a snail's pace.

  The wooden railing and white walls cked irregurities ns of some creature straight out of nightmares, yet the g tinued. Check the first two floors, and thehe hell out of here. Pop culture taught me enough about pces like this…

  He asded to the slightly elevated ground floor and sed the four closed doors, each leading to a different ft. Leo pced his cws on the handle and twisted it inch by inot even thinking of yanking it with all his strength like he usually did.

  The door didn't budge, and Leo frowned as he focused on f another ball of Essenside his hand. The pulse ehe ground and spread outwards, the entire floor momentarily fshing with a crimson light.

  Keeping his eyes oairs, Leo focused on the feedback. Plenty of live signatures, most probably from Voidlings. He grimaced. And there should be some kind of stronger ons i ft on this floor.

  Leo moved to the chosen door and tried his luck again. Locked, of course. He scowled as he pointed one of his cws at the keyhole and focused on the energy of his stealth. If I could just…

  Before the metal could make any sound from the invasion, Leo pushed the energy of his stealth outwards, direg it straight at the lock. Please work. More and more power moved through his cw, and Leo had to fight the urge to break the skill as the drain on his reserves became rger than ever.

  In a matter of seds, the entire lock glowed with colorless energy. As a slight smirk found its way onto Leo's face, he pushed more of his cws into the lock. He twisted the handle again, and his smirk grew when the door opened just a bit without a sound.

  I'm gettier at this. True Stealth may have colpsed at the end, but Leo was quick to activate it again, the monstrous g never leaving him.

  One more low-powered pulse had Leo closing the door behind him as he shrough the house's entrance corridor. He found doors to the left and right, yet Leo only stopped before the st ohat should hide the only living being ihis ft.

  Raising his hand, Leo knocked on the door, only to receive a short, muffled scree return.

  Of course, it is Voidling. He grumbled. Whatever, I don't o deal with you anyway. The monster didn't try to fight the door, so Leo had no reason to gh the trouble of destroying the lod killing the creature before it got too loud.

  Ign the only trouble i, Leo moved from room to room, trying to find the ons his skill detected. Some extra food was wele, but the slightly chipped tip of his dagger told Leo enough to know that the bde couldn't st much longer.

  When Leo ehe final chamber, his brow furrowed as his arm illumihe several shelves within.

  A colleilitary fanatic?

  Firearms, new and old, knives of all kinds, and military decorations filled almost every shelf. Leo rose to his full height, snatg one of the many guns. Weird, it's too light, even with my rength.

  Identifying the on, Leo snorted. Replica. Great...

  The same went for any other firearm and most knives. In the end, Leo was left with only two ons that weren't fakes or items of a broken quality. Still better than I expected. Leed, looking at the two on knives.

  onry had never really ied Leo in the past, and without Identify, he would have never known that the straight kh a bck bde was a military fighting kill, the other one seemed much more powerful. Made with a clipped edge and a bde as long as the one of his dagger.

  Bowie knife. Iing name.

  Leo attached the leather sheath of the long ko his waist while pg the other one in the spot of his dagger. The broken on might have served Leo well, but it was high time to part ways.

  Armed with something that shouldn't colpse at a moment's notice, Leo walked out of the ft, remembering to e back here if he ever needed more broken onry.

  One more floor, and I'm out. Leo promised as he advanced up the stairs, the g once again sending shivers down his spine.

  The unnatural sound should have probably prepared Leo, yet his entire body froze when his gaze nded oairs leading to the third floor. A string of curses left his mouth, and Leo was never so happy that his stealth muffled any sound he made.

  Without turning around, Leo backed off a step, his gaze never leaving the jungle of dark webs that dripped with fresh blood. Those things covered everything above him, and Leo allowed himself to turn and bolt straight towards the exit only when the dark image left his vision.

  No fug thanks! Go eat someone else, whatever you are.