The Slum Dweller Appears

Panic set in, and the group turned to flee, their aspirations of heroism crumbling under the weight of their vulnerability.

The Evo, spurred by their fear, gave chase.

With a single hit, it would send students flying and crashing into hard surfaces.

Within moments, about two more students had gone down, and it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.

At that moment, the rest were closing in on the outskirts of the cave and couldn't help but wish that they could move faster than they currently did.

'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm in so much trouble...' Liora noticed the beast turning slightly and coming after her specifically.

In order to leave more distance between

herself and the Evo, she grabbed Eve by the hair and yanked her backward.

The Evo rammed into Eve's spine, sending her crashing across the air as she spat out blood. From the sound, one could tell that something had definitely got broken.

Unfortunately, Liora didn't care and kept running since the Cave's entrance was before her.

However, the Evo's speed suddenly doubled, and it closed the distance between them.

Just as the situation seemed dire, with the beast closing in on Liora, a figure appeared from above.

Wielding a Fiery Drill that glowed with a fierce intensity, the figure descended upon the Evo, striking it with a force that halted its advance. The drill bore into the creature's rear, causing it to howl in pain.

The rest of the students, witnessing the unexpected intervention, were stunned into silence.

Their disbelief was palpable, a mix of shock and awe upon sighting who was responsible for the sudden attack.

It was a familiar teenager around their age with short, black hair and a mixture of silver streaks. He had a tall but slender frame. At that moment, his back looked more imposing than anything they had ever seen.

The person was none other than Atrixus...

The slum dweller believed to have quit Sacred Heights High School was now standing before them as a savior.

Atrixus, assessing the situation with a quick glance, shouted, "Keep running!" His command broke the spell of disbelief that had enveloped the group, spurring them into motion once more.

- Fifty Minutes Ago -

Before Atrixus Timothy's intervention, he was merely a figure wandering through Shunri Paradise, driven by a blend of desperation and determination.

His journey through the untamed world had taken a toll; blisters formed painful symbols on his feet. While his clothes were now tattered, barely clinging to his weary frame.

Despite the physical exhaustion, it was the weight of his unfulfilled quest that pressed heaviest upon him—the search for a green zone.

Every step seemed to take him further from civilization, deeper into the heart of a world that was beautiful and brutal in equal measure.

As he trudged through a particularly dense thicket, Atrixus's thoughts were a whirlwind of self-reproach and resolve.

"How could I have been so naive to think finding a way back would be easy?" he muttered under his breath, each word a puff of vapor in the cool air of Shunri Paradise.

"But I can't give up now. Not when Mom is waiting for me... Not when there's still a chance to change our fates."

It was in that moment of introspection that fate, with its unfathomable design, chose to intervene.

A shadow swept across the ground, drawing Atrixus's gaze upwards. In Shunri Paradise's vast sky, a beast soared with its wings spanning an impossible width. And astride the majestic creature was a figure that Atrixus, even from the distance, could identify as human.

"A System Bearer!"

The sight ignited a spark of hope within Atrixus's chest.

Without a second thought, he set off in pursuit, his steps fueled by the possibility of guidance, of answers.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called out, fully aware of the futility of his words against the vastness separating them.

Though the flying beast and its rider disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving Atrixus with nothing but the echo of his voice, the direction in which they had flown provided him with a new vector of hope.

"They're heading somewhere... Perhaps towards a green zone," he reasoned, his spirits buoyed by the thought.

As he pressed on, the landscape began to shift. High and low lands intermingled, creating a topography that spoke of ancient geological upheavals.

Atop one of those highlands, Atrixus spotted a group of individuals in the distance.

"Silver... scarlet..."

Their attire, even from afar, was unmistakably the uniform of Sacred Heights High School.

A flicker of recognition sparked within him.

"That's... That's the school uniform," he whispered to himself, disbelief mingling with a surge of adrenaline.

"But how...?"

With a newfound sense of urgency, Atrixus began to follow them, keeping to the shadows, a specter driven by the need for answers; for connection.

The high school students, including Liora, remained oblivious to the figure tailing them, their attention captured by the wonders and dangers of Shunri Paradise.

"They will lead me to an access point. I can't let this chance slip through my fingers," Atrixus decided.

They soon entered the cave while he stayed outside and watched. As the sound of pandemonium filled the air, he could tell that something had happened.

Atrixus hesitated to help when he finally spotted the Evo chasing them.

'They always treated me unfairly... maybe it wouldn't be bad to watch them get torn limb by limb especially that bitch Liora... God I hate her!' Dark thoughts filled his mind.

However, Atrixus was quick to get rid of the thoughts.

'If I let this happen, I might lose my chance to find the access point,' With that thought in mind Atrixus climbed onto the piece of protrusion he was hiding behind and leaped towards the incoming Evo.

His fiery drill pierced the creature's rear when it was inches away from gnawing on Liora.

All that led to the present...

"Keep running!" His command broke the spell of disbelief that had enveloped the group, spurring them into motion once more.

As they fled, Atrixus turned to face the Evo head-on.

The creature, though injured, was far from defeated. Its eyes, filled with fury, fixed on Atrixus as it prepared to retaliate.

Fwwhooommm~

It darted at him with speed that would be impossible for any of the students to react to.

However, Atrixus responded by thrusting his fiery drill arm forward in a bid to stab through one of the Evo's eyes.

The moment it arrived before him, the Evo swallowed half his entire fiery arm up and spun to swing Atrixus away.

Atrixus spiraled multiple times in mid-air but managed to stamp his feet onto the top of the cave entrance before propelling himself downwards once more.

The Evo did its best to evade as Atrixus drill descended upon it, slashing its side and drawing blood that got turned into mist by his flames.

Atrixus wasted no time in charging at it once more.

The Evo, formidable as it was, found itself at a disadvantage. Atrixus's agility and the unexpected ferocity of his attacks kept it off balance.

The wounds inflicted by the Fiery Drill slowed its movements and dulled its responses.

As the clash between Atrixus and the Evo continued, the students, now at a safe distance, would occasionally turn back while fleeing to watch in awe. The realization that one of their own was standing against the dangers of Shunri Paradise with such valor sparked a mixture of emotions.

"How is he doing that?"

"I don't understand."

"When did he become a System Bearer?"

Their voices of disbelief could be heard in the background.

■■■

The dense underbrush of Shunri Paradise shivered with tension as Kai and his cadre of System Bearers, hastened their pace.

Their mission was clear: find the wayward students from Sacred Heights High School who had ventured too far into the wilds.

For over an hour, they combed beyond the green zone but still hadn't found them.

In this particular location, the sound of frantic footsteps suddenly drew their attention.

Emerging from behind a massive highland up ahead, breathless and wide-eyed with fear, came the students they had been seeking.

Relief at their safety was quickly overshadowed by the urgency of their news.

"The Evo chased us and..."

"It got Rina! It got Rina!"

"Atrixus is battling it now!"

With voices overlapping in their haste to explain, they recounted their harrowing encounter with an Evo and a classmate they had left behind, locked in a life-or-death struggle.

Kai, absorbing their tale with growing alarm, felt a great headache.

"One of your classmates is battling it?" He questioned hastily.

"Yes,"

"Atrixus is..."

The skepticism that clouded his thoughts was tempered by a sliver of hope. Although he had doubts about the situation, there was no time to wait around.

"We have to move, now!" he said to the others.

The group, propelled by a mixture of duty and apprehension, followed the students' lead towards the scene of the confrontation. Kai's mind raced with possibilities, each more grim than the last, as he braced for what they might find.

Upon arriving at the scene, what greeted them defied all expectations. In a clearing that bore the scars of battle, sat a young boy before the lifeless form of an Evo. The creature looked formidable even in death despite being a common Evo.

But it was the sight of the boy, calm and seemingly unharmed, that arrested their attention.

He was dining on the flesh of the Evo, a practice known to grant strength and power to those who partook. Kai and the other System Bearers halted in their tracks with disbelief etched into their facial features.