Tornavoi?

Father and son walked along the empty paved street. There were no cars driving around, at least not on this block. As they lived in a neighborhood farther from the city center, the streets were deathly silent. Although they could hear a few shots and ambulance sirens in the distance, on the street they were on, only their own footsteps could be heard.

A few minutes had already passed since they had cleaned the house where, possibly, there were survivors. The small block around his house was basically cleared, making Nikolas feel calmer. It would still take a day or two to completely clear the block of zombies, but they wouldn't be an immediate threat to his family.

Nikolas let his father take the lead and was soon lost in his own thoughts. It could be said that the first feel hours into the apocalypse was a success, yet he couldn't be careless. There were so many uncertain things that happened in the first year, even for him, that could pose a threat to his family. Moreover, he was very well aware of the fact that it would send unthinkable ripples into the future, changing things in an unforeseen way.

He sighed, anyway, there was no need to worry about that now. As they walked carefully, Nikolas decided to take a second look at his status screen.

[Status!]

Suddenly, many notifications popped in his eyes.

*DING! You have killed a Royal Zombie!" x4

*DING! You have killed a normal Zombie!" x4

*Congratulations, you have leveled up! One free attribute point awarded!" x2

[Status!]

*Name: Nikolas Drachen // Title: Not Fast Enough // Level: 3

Body Type: Mortal

STR: 7 AGI: 6 + 2

CON: 6 INT: 9

CHA: 6 ???

Points available: 8

Skills [3/5]:

-Swordsmanship [Master]

-Five Dragons Facing the Heavens [A]: Unavailable

-Shadow Steps [C]

Nikolas moved his hand slowly, feeling the slight change from the extra two points of agility in his body. He had already completely adapted to that change, of course, his stats in the past used to be dozens of times what they were today. In the end, he felt weak. Even with some of his most important skills already unlocked.

[Weak…] He looked at his Five Dragons Facing the Heavens Skill and immediately understood that it was deemed unavailable because his stats were too weak. [...but full of potential! ] Complex feelings filled Nikolas' heart as he remembered the first time he looked at his status.

[At that time, my constitution was a meager three points and my strength was four...] He smiled at that thought. [Every single stat went up, even intelligence by one...]

He wasted no time pondering about how weird that might sound, because now he had the potential he never had, not only that, but a head start as well! The world was in chaos now but he had his family and would do anything to protect them. Nothing could stand in front of him and his future plans!

At that moment, Nikolas' thoughts were interrupted as muffled sounds and voices reached his ears.

"Get her into the damn van…" a hushed male voice broke the silence. It came just around the corner.

Without saying anything, Reginald and Nikolas exchanged glances. Immediately the duo went silently towards the nearby corner.Somewhat concealed in the fence nearby, the father and son peeked out.

They saw two men dragging a girl towards a minivan and, at the same time, trying to take her clothes off. She was struggling hard but they held her tight and covered her mouth.

"Father…" Nikolas could almost feel his father's fury. He could see the flames burning in his eyes, partially hidden by his medieval helmet. The man was just a single step from taking action.

"We need to help her!" Reginald replied, which sounded more like a growl, without taking his eyes off the two men.

Nikolas didn't have enough time to think things through or else the men would escape. He knew that Reginald would never forgive him if that happened.

"Okay, let's do it quickly!"

If it was in the past, he would just turn around and walk away. But now, together with his father and during the first hours of the apocalypse, it wouldn't hurt to save someone and eliminate that kind of encumbrance.

There were people who would only harm others and taking care of them in the beginning was the best option. Furthermore, building a Heaven required people, a resource Nikolas' group lacked the most.

Without waiting any longer, Reginald hushed off from the fence, gun in hand. The two men were distracted trying to put the girl in the minivan and didn't notice their arrival.

Nikolas, using the shadow skill, made his own way.

Reginald arrived at the first man's back after five big strides. The man was wearing all black and using both hands to hold the girl tight.

"Release her before I explode your brains, motherf****!" Reginald shouted between his teeth, in fact, he was controlling himself to not do so.

The man froze, the angry commanding voice came just behind himself and at the same time he felt a cold pipe touching his neck.

"Shit!" The second man, who was opening the minivan's back door exclaimed and tried to get his revolver. However, he wasn't fast enough, and a fist quickly made contact with his face.

*PUNG!*

The hard punch made his head hit the car and he passed out immediately afterwards.

"I... I surrender!" The other man immediately released the girl slowly and knelt down, not having any courage to raise his head and look at his attackers.

"Nicely done son. Doesn't it feel good to get them?" said Reginald elated. He was referring to the feeling of arresting bad guys, something that made him feel tremendous pride in his career, even if justice wasn't so effective in Brazil.

"Hmm." Nikolas nodded unsure of what to say, at least it felt good to see his father so full of energy.

"What should we do with them?" Reginald asked, unsure if he should follow his desires or the old protocol.

"I really don't care dad, do what you want. The old laws are no longer effective... In a way, I don't think they ever were."

Leaving his father aside, Nikolas went to help the girl. He hadn't paid any attention to her and only now could he calmly inspect her.

She had a slim figure, and seemed to be of similar age as himself, perhaps in her twenties. The blending of her long dark hair, the pointy nose and the small freckles on her face gave her an unusual appearance. Nikolas could tell that she didn't look like the typical Brazilian girl, she wasn't ugly, but she wasn't pretty either. Just a normal looking girl.

"D-Don't!" She cowered in fear near the sidewalk as he approached. The girl had snot in her nose and her clothes were a mess.

"Okay okay, you are safe now!" Nikolas tried to comfort her. "We came here to save you, we won't do you any harm…"

She nodded and stopped crying, taking a glance at the unconscious assailant and then back to Nikolas

"What is your name?" He tenderly asked. Even though he was the sole survivor of the apocalypse and titled as the Dragon King, Nikolas was no mad man and still had a few soft spots. In those mere seconds, he remembered the day Yuemura saved him, wasn't he in a way worse state?

"I...I'm Sara Tornavoi…."

"TORNAVOI!?" Immediately, Nikolas backed away in fright, his hand holding tight the katana, trembling.