Chapter 2: The City Of Ruins.

Julius had stopped running once he was reached the settlement, he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

However, the blood on his shirt and pants was enough to get unwanted attention despite it being a common sight in the world today. 

Ignoring the gazes, he walked down the dimly lit streets. Poorly constructed brick homes and depressed-looking food vendors surrounded him. 

The eyes around him were filled with despair void of any hope.

'This is the state the world's been in since that day…'

The day he was referring to was the day a great calamity had struck the earth on December 1st 2024. 

Across the globe, portals linking to other dimensions began to appear. Over time they fell into the two well-known categories. 

Labyrinths and world portals.

Monsters flowed out of the labyrinth portals spreading destruction, this caused chaos to erupt as nations collapsed.

In parallel with this event, however, humans began awakening an internal energy source that allowed them to use special abilities.

The awakened were capable of performing physical feats beyond human capability. They fought back against the labyrinth monsters and closed many portals.

But that wasn't enough.

In spite of humanity's best efforts, most nations fell and many labyrinths portals went unchecked. 

These places became known as danger zones. Areas infested with monsters.

The majority of major cities that had become ruins were danger zones, which is why humans fled to more secure locations.

As of right now, Julius was living in a slum settlement south of the City of London.

'--!"

Julius stopped in front of an old run down brick house. Closing the door behind them after he entered, he furrowed his brows.

The three amber-coloured wooden doors down the corridor were all closed, there were no signs of anyone being home. 

'Are they both out till this late? That's odd…' He wondered as he entered the room on the left.

It was a plain old room with a wooden desk, a cracked window, a wardrobe and a mattress on the floor to sleep on.

On top of the desk was a dimly lit candle and an old open letter which read [Mandatory]. The letter was addressed to Julius and had the military crest on it. 

"An enrollment letter, mandatory for every household with a young awakener, huh… doesn't matter if they're from the slums. Just like the both of them, I've finally gotten one too." Julius muttered as he placed the shattered gem pieces on the desk.

As a result of the current state of the world, the mandatory enrollment rule was implemented to train new talents and prevent humanity's extinction. 

Therefore, for humanity's future, specialised military schools were developed.

"Unless you have a powerful ability, most die after enrollment…"

Julius's head which he had hung slowly fell on a poster on the floor. The poster had the face of a handsome blonde-haired young man with sharp green eyes. 

The words 'Luke Dragonheart - Rising hunter of the apocalypse' were written above his face. 

Hunters, a dangerous profession where awakeners constantly put their lives at risk by collecting resources from labyrinths portals.

"Must be nice… to have awakened the most powerful ability…" 

Luke Dragonheart, otherwise known as the child blessed by god. Despite being around Julius's age and also from London, he was stacking up accomplishments left and right and spreading his name throughout the world.

He had awakened an ability far more powerful than others, and with it he recently became known as the youngest S rank hunter. 

"Blessed by god, huh… you could even call him the protagonist of this world. Fortune, recognition, respect, he can have it all…" 

Julius averted his eyes.

"Compared to him, you can say that I was cursed by the devil… a shitty side-character in his story."

Julis clenched his hands into fists.

"But that's fine… being in the spotlight was never my thing… and I have those two… that's enough for me-'

[System Synchronisation… 99%]

Julius was interrupted as once again that very same feminine voice entered his ears.

[System Synchronised.]

'T-This is… that voice from before-'

Startled, Julius leapt back, dropping onto the bed as a blue screen appeared before him.

[Julius Night]

[Level 1 (0/50)]

[HP: 100/100%]

[Energy: 100/100%]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 3]

[Stamina: 2]

[Sense: 2]

Julius stared at the screen, blinking repeatedly. He moved his hand onto it and tapped it, watching as it rippled.

'...I can touch it? For a moment I thought I had finally gone insane but this might be real?'

He narrowed his eyes as he inspected the screen in front of him.

'A status screen like the ones you'd see in games… these stats, aren't they a little low?' He looked down at his fragile physique. 'Nevermind.'

As he analysed his status he noticed that there were three other tabs on the top. By simply thinking of the tab, the screen would change.

'Hm? There's more features.'

[Quests.]

[You have no quests available.]

'Quest… Like tasks you're meant to complete?' 

Seeing as there was nothing available, he moved to the next tab.

[Mailbox.]

[You currently have no mails available.]

'...Mails? I wonder what type of mails I'll receive.'

And lastly the final tab.

[Skills.]

[0 skill points available.]

[Nightmare Level 1: Locked???]

❖ Warning: This skill carries severe side effects that include insomnia, sleep deprivation, mental vulnerability, and nightmares that exacerbate with time.

[Skill locked???]

For a moment there was a pause, Julius re-read the content of the screen repeatedly. His eyes twitching.

"This shitty ability… even though it's been tormenting me with nightmares every night for the last ten years since the apocalypse, it has the audacity to be locked."

He clicked his tongue and dropped onto the bed, laying on his back.

"Well… not like I expected anything else, I've never been able to use it… It's only ever activated on its own if something was hostile towards me while I was in middle of a nightmare or if my life was in extreme danger." 

He raised his necklace and gazed at it, inspecting it's design.

'...That being said, this system thing appeared after the gem shattered… Maybe it has something to do with it'

*Thud!*

Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open, interrupting Julius's thoughts.

By the doorway was a gorgeous woman who was out of breath.

Her long, luscious silver hair was now sticking to her bloody face, her fair skin, and delicate physique was full of wounds while her white clothes were similarly red and ghory.

At the sight of him, her oceanic blue eyes began to tear up.

Julius had his heart fall just at the sight and her panicked shout only made it fall deeper.

"It's an emergency! Ava is stuck in a portal!"

And as if to rain on his moment of peace, the crashing news came, draining the blood from his face in the process.

"What?"

-

-

-

The sound of a car engine resonated throughout the air, as it's inside tremored. 

The driver was a muscular brown haired man who seemed to be in his thirties. In his mouth was a cigarette which he held and smoked while he drove. 

Sat on the two passenger seats were Julius and the injured girl, Lyra. They were on their way to the city of London, a high-ranked danger zone. 

'A high ranking danger zone that gets more dangerous as you approach the centre… I never expected to come back here so soon.'

As they approached from the south, they could see from the distance that the city was in ruins, the scenery around was truly disappointing. 

Collapsed buildings, countless cars lying around, polluted river waters and skeletons of both humans and monsters lying around.

The pavements were filled with cracks making it difficult for cars to traverse. Fortunately this driver was specialised in it.

'Last time I was here it was to kill myself…' Julius thought to himself as he bandaged Lyra's wounds. 

[Main Quest: Rescue Operation.]

[Save Ava who is trapped in the labyrinth within the danger zone.] 

[Failure of the quest will result in a penalty.]

[Will you accept the quest?]

'My first quest happens to be the thing I want to do the most right now, doesn't seem like a coincidence. Either way, I'll accept.' He thought to himself before he glanced up at Lyra.

[Quest accepted.]

Lyra was anxious, her legs bopped up and down rapidly as she gazed out of the window.

"It was my fault. If I hadn't gotten caught in that trap, Ava wouldn't have had to…"

A stabbing sensation ran through Julius' heart as he watched.

"No. It's not your fault. It's mine." 

With a dark expression, he lowered his head.

Lyra and Ava, they were the ones who had been taking care of Julius ever since he lost his family and was homeless during the calamity. 

Not only were they just a few years older than him but they had also lost their families… and yet they still took it upon themselves to protect him and take care of him, when no one else did.

Together the three of them struggled desperately to survive the post-apocalyptic world as orphans with no one to rely on but themselves. From finding food, to a place to sleep, they had gone through many difficulties.

Recently, to earn an income, Lyra and Ava who had awakened powerful abilities had become hunters. 

"Because I was weak… because I couldn't control my ability, you were the ones who had to constantly put your lives at risk. I'm sure living with someone like me wasn't easy and yet you never abandoned me-"

"Julius that's not-"

Julius interrupted her as he clenched his hand into a fist, he could no longer hide the resentment that he felt towards himself.

"It's true. And it's precisely why, no matter what happens… we'll save her." 

Lyra flinched at his expression. In his dark and hollow eyes, rage and self-hatred simmered together.

It was the first time that she'd ever seen him make such an expression.

"Julius…" She called out to him.

'Even though I'm always telling him… He still doesn't understand that only reason we were able to survive this long was because of him-'

"We're here." The driver's husky voice declared, interrupting Lyra's thoughts as the car halted. "This is as far as I can go."

They had stopped just outside of an abandoned collapsed apartment, hidden beside its rubble.

"..Alright… Let's go." Said Lyra.

Julius handed the driver payment before following after her with a nod. With that the two entered the city in ruins.