End of an Era

Inside a dark and eerie looking place which looked like a ruin or some kind of dungeon, there were many people clashing with a large monster.

Each human seemed to possess supernatural abilities which they released once after another.

Some seemed like magic while others were more like skills or special abilities which they possessed.

"Keep going! It is weakening!"

"Quickly heal those who are down!"

"Rebuild the formation!"

"Watch out for the breathe!"

Each of their skills bounced off the tough armour of the monster which counterattacked with its own innate abilities.

A man holding an oversized shield blocked an attack which was intended for many people and managed to hold his ground.

A look of confidence was in his eyes as he shouted. "Now!"

A figure quickly moved in as she cooperated with the man with perfect coordination then began slashing out towards the monsters legs.

It was a perfect execution of teamwork but also the individual ability of the woman who had been able to get close enough and avoid being attacked while inflicting several wounds.

The monster lost its footing and most of its power that came from the support of its lower body.

As it fell, the woman stabbed several double sided spears into the ground so when it fell, the force of its fall helped its body be pierced by the spears.

One had penetrated its eye and the others did to other parts of its body but it seemed to still possess high vitality.

It let out a loud battlecry which pressures almost anyone in the room and caused them to pass out.

Those which had been a high enough level or had high resistances to such attacks were able to stay awake.

"Do not give up!"

"It is trying to regenerate, kill it quickly!"

Just as everyone was panicking, the woman appeared overhead and a strong blade aura covered her twin blades which penetrated into the back of the monster.

The blade aura went deep into its body and broke the core within it so it no longer had the power to go on living.

The monster disappeared then several items showed up in the middle of the floor where the monster was.

Sixty years ago, the age of technology and information was changed forever because strange rifts or gates started appearing which were believed to be dimensional rifts which belonged to other worlds or already destroyed worlds which had been overrun by monsters or faced other forms of destruction.

The gates lead to the spaces which were referred to as dungeons or labyrinths but many dangers awaited those that entered and if a dungeon was left for too long, it would be overrun which would result in the monsters leaving through the gates and causing problems in the world.

The only way to stop the growth of the monsters and close the gates was to destroy the final monster which had the dungeon stone or greater magic stone within its body.

In response to the invasion of hostile monsters, it was believed that it was the work of the gods or the worlds natural order of preserving itself and its inhabitants which lead to humans being granted a chance to fight back but it could also be a result of people fighting the monsters which earned them the opportunity to grow.

Humans brave enough to fight killed monsters and gained experience, skills and drops just like a video game setting.

After many failures and losses, a new group rose up during the troubled times and earned the name of saviours of the world.

They entered the final and most dangerous dungeon so that they could clear it but they had lost many just so they could get to the final boss.

There had been more losses fighting the boss but humanity emerged as the victors.

The woman looked down at the drops and smiled. "It is finally over. I wonder how the world will change after this?"

It was estimated by scientists and researchers that the world would enter a new era and it was unknown if the powers they had gained could be maintained after all the dungeons had been conquered.

The woman looked at the new achievements she gained then turned to run towards the man holding the shield happily.

She jumped into his embrace. "We did it!"

It was something she did every time that she killed a boss because she would be praised by her lover and partner.

The guild which had formed scouted her early in her days as a dungeon hunter along with her boyfriend.

They both had high talents and became the central part of the team which lead the charge towards completing every dungeon and saving the world.

The guild gained a huge following from other guilds and countries which was a great leap forward for humanity and gave many hope for the future.

The woman never had a single secret from her boyfriend and they worked well together in a team but many had often talked behind their backs about how she was the true star of the guild.

As she wrapped her arms around him, the woman caught sight of the surroundings and found that most people were not responding and had strange looks on their faces.

Another woman in the crowd had a strange smile on her face which gave her an ominous premonition but it was too late.

Some among the people which had primarily supported her were no longer showing signs of life and they had a weird colour on their skin as if they had been poisoned.

Something pierced her body and her status flashed before her eyes.

[High Resistance Poison has been removed after being stabbed by special artefact, fatal injury, stat reduction and poison is taking effect.]

She could feel the power draining from her body and a look of despair was in her eyes. "Why?"

She could not must up enough strength to hurt him or put up any further resistance because his body was too durable and she was already weakened and dying.

The man pushed her to the ground and coldly looked down on her. "You were always just a tool for me to rise. I can no longer stand to hear people praising you as a hero when it was me that helped you reach where you were today. Without me you are nothing. Besides… I have long been sick of you. This world will be changing and it needs people to lead during that time."

The other woman walked to his side and linked arms with him while looking down with a proud look on her face. "Sorry cousin but the story of your death in the final dungeon sounds much better for my man. The hero who avenged his loved one to save the world and took on the burden of the new world sounds fitting no? After a period of time spent grieving your loss, we will officially be married."

The woman who lay on the ground looked up and them then looked disappointed. "So it was like that.."

She suddenly understood everything as she remembered everything up to the present from when their relationship started.

They went on a couple of dates but their relationship went sour when they argued about him becoming a dungeon hunter because he often came back injured.

Back then it was difficult to join a decent guild without being taken advantage of so many beginners had to form their own groups or go solo.

When the relationship was at its worst, they had an argument which lead to him criticising her about not trusting him and that it was not something she had the bravery to do so her duty was to stay at home and support him unless she had the guts to enter the dungeon herself.

Their relationship reached a point where she had no choice but to respond to his remarks with action to show that she did not fear entering the dungeons and she found that she had talent for it.

At first, their relationship was quite difficult to repair but they worked together to survive so it was slowly repairing on the surface.

As they gained more popularity and had achievements of their own, they joined the guild and she believed their relationship had become much better.

Her cousin asked for a favour to join the guild since she had a skill for a mage spell and had survived in a dungeon so she allowed it without a thought which lead to her growing quickly.

She never knew that her kindness would result in her being stabbed in the back by her cousin and that her boyfriend who promised to marry her after clearing the dungeons had chosen to be one one to actually stab her once she served her purpose.

After she died, the survivors which had close ties to her boyfriend and cousin had become heroes of the world.

There was a short period of celebration for everyone because the world was supposed to return to normal after the gates were removed.

A strange phenomenon took place around the world as dungeon hunters gradually lost their strength and skills.

The special items were no longer possible to use or had the previous special effects so they were just items or weapons which were sharper or tougher than most others.

The next was an announcement to the people of the world by their systems.

[The world will undergo change and the energy from the rifts will be used to repair and rejuvenate it. Humanity may need to find a new way to live on and survive in the future. The world had a protection period of five hundred years but with the possessor of the world essence no longer being alive, earth only has two hundred years of time for preparation before the defences fall.]

The killer of the final monster would become the owner of the worlds essence and would be given the task of leading the world to adjust to the new era and changes but also the potential threats which would be brought on by the changes outside of earth or other threats.

The first threat that started appearing was animals which had gained power of their own and the remnants of the monsters which had survived in some parts of the world regaining some power too.

Humans were forced to confront the new threats without the system which had supported them.

Many of the heroes which had survived had gotten a lot of backlash from many people and with the loss of their power, they became targets for those that already had hatred or a grudge towards them.

Those who had been able to survive had gathered to form a group to put their resources together to solve the new threats.

The new era began which involved the reemergence of monsters and animals which had grown in power but also new mineral veins, magic stone veins and all kinds of different plants.

In addition to the many new resources emerging, humans later discovered that the energy of the earth had become very abundant which started to affect humans and strengthen their bodies.

Scientists referred to the energy as spirit energy, magic energy or just aether but the main point was that they gradually came up with a method to absorb and refine it into the human body which allowed humans a chance to regain their footing in the world.

Those who had a body which had become used to power and skills seemed to adapt quicker than others almost like the system had prepared their bodies for to accept the aether better than others.

Those that had gained insights into magic and other skills gradually started to take their insights applied them to the use of aether.

Some individuals gained great power and reached a stage where their lifespans were lengthened so the effects of the aether affected their vitality greatly along with providing other useful effects.

Warriors, mages, priests, witches, hexers, black magicians, warlocks, druids, spirit magicians and other aether pathways started to be opened up once again even without the system being around because those skilled enough had developed skills or spells based on their past experiences and insights.

Some clans started to form as humans started to become divided once again as the lingering threat on earth no longer seemed that important until a new war began when the barrier no longer remained around the world.

The world was invaded by many strange aliens and creatures which came from the other planets which had been affected by the rifts to take over or seek refuge on earth which was free from the rifts.

The period of peace ended and the world started to integrate other intelligent species with them while fighting off any which wished to overthrow the humans.

Aether Era year 400, a child was born who had the thought. 'I knew that this skill had an unknown timer and was too unpredictable so it was better not to tell him about it but.. how long has passed? How old are those two now? I hope they are not dead yet. That would be unfortunate.'

The skill she gained from killing one of the end bosses was a reincarnation skill but the details were filled with question marks.

There was no specific time for the reincarnation after her death and it was unknown how she would reincarnate.

She could reincarnate as anything and at any time but it was completely out of her control so she she decided against mentioning the skill to her boyfriend because it was a useless skill to her.

If she reincarnated after her death then the age difference would be very large between them but if there was a larger time for it to happen then he may have already passed away.

It was also unknown if she would reincarnate as a human so the idea of using the skill was a big risk while she had always had the idea of continuing to live on, get married and enjoy the rest of her life until she was betrayed.

The skill automatically activated and she was reincarnated, through the passage of time and the changing of an era, the effects of the skill continued to work because it had activated before everyones skills had been taken away.