4 Taking On a Mission

Shura sat down next to a large tree on an open courtyard. He held a cup of steaming hot tea in his hands. It was now winter and every exhale of his shot white puff of air.

After an entire turbulent year after the Great Destruction, Shura's life was resuming its stability. Humanity wasn't entirely powerless to resist the changes. A group of people calling themselves Slayers were already aware of what was to come before the Great Destruction had even occurred. Their preparation had prevented the extinction of humanity.

Shura was now living in a walled-city under the jurisdiction of the Slayers. When the demons began massacring everyone and everything, he had thought that the good days were gone forever. He was wrong. The terror and fear took hold of people for a while, and he had seen some morally disturbing things committed by survivors.

But that atmosphere eventually gave way to something else. Something unexpected. There were still helpless people out there dying each moment because they were weak and couldn't adapt. The fear and terror would be strong within those people. Death was very real to them.

Then there were others who weren't any different from cultivators. There could be no fear nor a sense of terror for something that was incapable of being a threat. These people were strong. And while there were some truly powerful and scary demons out there, for most of the weak ghouls and normal demons, these people weren't afraid of them.

They weren't afraid because they had the power to kill and destroy those beings.

Nothing had truly and irreversibly changed. Most of the world was in ruins, but what was left of humanity were still killing each other while defending themselves from the onslaught of the demonic hordes.

Cultivation as the world had known it was gone. But the path to survival and becoming stronger still existed, albeit in another form and name. Society was also patched back together, smaller and more compact than before. The world became both smaller and larger.

"We're going to be forced out if we don't complete a mission soon," a girl's voice sounded behind Shura.

Shura took a sip of the tea. "Give me some more time. I feel like I'm almost there. If I break through to the…"

"To the…?" A young girl in white with short brown hair walked in front of him.

"I… there's nothing to break through to, I can't force it at all," Shura said and sighed.

"Stop being silly, this is serious. We finally have it easy living here in the city. Come on, get up. We're going to the mission hall right this instant."

The girl—Claira grabbed Shura and pulled him to stand up.

Shura had met Claira during the early days of the Great Destruction. Doing things with others was more convenient and offered an advantage over being alone, provided they were someone trustworthy. Any group larger than two and the dynamic would be too complicated and unreliable. That was what the both of them thought. So they stuck together ever since.

Weird things had happened recently to Shura. The demonic energy in him had hit critical mass. He would be able to reach a higher level soon. But when exactly he wasn't sure. He had started becoming weird since then. His senses were oddly disturbed. He would see most people in a vague, and dried-out color. Their voices would also sound like low whispers. He could see and hear them, but it was very awkward. It was as if they weren't really there.

On the other hand, his senses when it came to demons and demonic things were heightened. He could see and hear them very clearly. He had also developed a sort of sixth sense where he could feel the presence of demons.

Shura looked at Claira. "You know that it's just the two of us. The world outside the wall is still dangerous, any extra advantage we have could mean the difference between life and death."

"I know, that's why you're anxious to break through to the next level right? But it's not something you can control. It will happen on its own. Maybe today, maybe a month from now. We can't be sure, and we can't wait. The deadline is soon," Claira said. She had an understanding look on her face.

Shura knew that she was right. As much as he wanted to increase his strength and have more confidence in going outside, he couldn't wait. He would have to act now. They had to complete missions for the Slayers to be able to continue living in the city. People of no value had to fend for themselves outside.

"Okay, let's go then." Shura finished the tea.

The two of them left their house and headed for the mission hall. The mission hall was a large building in the central plaza of the city. There were many people out on the plaza. Some were selling their wares, others were looking to group together.

They all looked and felt faint to Shura. Only Claira next to him was bright and radiant as the sun in the sky.

He had always wondered why it was like that. He had first thought that maybe one's demonic energy levels had something to do with it since he could sense demons very clearly. But it wasn't the case. He had seen people stronger than him who were faint and indistinct in his senses.

Claira was only slightly weaker than he was, yet she was so dazzling compared to someone who was stronger than the both of them. His theory about demonic energy wasn't right.

They entered the mission hall. The hall had a high ceiling and was very vast. Sunlight only entered through the central doorway and it did not illuminate the rest of the building. The inner portion of the hall was thus supposed to be dark. But the hall was illuminated by torches so he could still see just fine.

Seeing as how they were burning tens of torches during the daytime, it finally dawned on Shura that the shadow of the Great Destruction was receding. Survival was always important. But the role of scarcity in life was lessening. There were no worries of a shortage of supplies now, at least in the larger and heavily-defended settlements and cities.

Claira went to the mission board and took one of the papers down. She came back and handed it to Shura.

Shura took a look at it.

Shura raised his brows. "An escort mission…?"

"An escort mission."

He continued to look at the details. It was an escort mission. The mission would be deemed successful if the person reached the designated destination.

As long as he completed this mission, the two of them would not have to worry about being able to continue living in the city for a while. That was all that he cared about.

"Where are we going and how far is it from here?" Shura asked. Claira was the strategist while he was the executioner. It didn't mean that he couldn't think for himself or that she was bad at combat. They had their specialized area and they stuck to it.

"Not far, it's a small settlement 30km to the west of the city. We should be able to reach it within a few days. The path is well traveled. There shouldn't be any problem during the journey."

"And when we get there?" Shura asked.

"When we get there we would have completed the mission."

The two of them met up with the escort target at the city gate. He was a swarthy and bald middle-aged man. But that wasn't what surprised Shura. This man wasn't a pale presence like everyone else. He was shining brightly in his vision. This man wasn't normal.

The mission detail had stated that he was a merchant. But he was alone. Where were his wares? And what did he sell?

After pleasantries and small talk, the three set off for the settlement. Although it was an escort mission, the escort target was not a helpless person who needed to be cared for and defended at all. The bald man was strong. Shura couldn't tell how strong he was but he was sure that the bald man was at least as strong as he was.

But why did someone as strong as he needed an escort, and why had he agreed with just the two of them? The path to Entel Settlement was a well-traveled route. There were always people coming and going. It was relatively safe compared to the wilderness routes. He shook his head. The detail didn't matter.

They just had to get this man to the destination, and then their job would be done.

Shura trusted that Claira had everything under control. She was conscientious and good at keeping track of things. No matter what happened, he could trust her to get them out of it.

When it became dark they rested for the night. Shura felt very tired. His state of being in between levels was erratic. He could break through at any time, or he could stay where he was. It caused him to become very tired. He felt very sleepy.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he sensed the vague presence of 'normal' people. At least a dozen of them was closing in on their position.