Chapter 7: Ethan Grey and The Government

The world zooms out from the small apartment complex that Lucas had been staying at and finds itself traveling across the country of Forendel and appearing in a small town known as Hope. It was a small urban town filled with people that were tight nit and fierce. There was pretty much only farmland for the eye to see outside the main small town center. Small houses dotted the hills of the horizon and not much was left to the imagination.

At least that was what used to be of Hope. Instead of fields filled with lush wheat, it is now filled with a forest like no other. One of the largest farmlands in Forendel had been turned into the thickest forest that had been known to man overnight and with it came a divide between the people.

People were trapped in houses that were separated by miles of forest and the forest wasn't the only problem they had...

Instead of beasts that roamed the town like in Lucas's city, there was instead thousand of plant monsters of all shapes and sizes.

The town square had been an epicenter for all of these terrible monsters to huddle and drink from the plentiful amount of water wells that filled the town. Many small houses were littered among the small town and filled to the brim with the different organic life of a type that none would dare set foot into their domain. That is all but one individual.

Ethan Grey was someone who traveled town to town searching for his fix of poker with a game of old-timers. He had an itch that just couldn't be scratched if he wasn't in the game. He had just parked in Hope in the middle of the night. The night that the world went to hell.

It was strange seeing the plants grow up out of the grounds in a matter of seconds and even stranger to see shadows turn into monsters. They hunted people and if he hadn't stayed in the back of his van that night he would have died.

He sat inside the back of the van holding a shotgun and even after the van got tipped over by some beast he didn't move. He just stayed still holding the gun at the window shield in wait for some beast to come to kill him. But none came.

He waited all night until morning had come and felt weariness overcome him. He felt drained and exhausted and that is when the System first showed its face to Ethan Grey.

He had earned the <Stamina Sense> from exhausting his energy and after taking a nap Ethan decided to give it a look over. He found that he had a class that seemed to be unique. It was called the player and he started off with a title of the same name. It gave him abilities that he couldn't even dream of and made it to where he thought he might be able to survive this hell hole of a world that he now lived in.

Ethan Grey found himself leveling up like nobody's business and after what felt like forever he had gained a lot of stat points and had evolved both of his classes but that didn't seem like enough.

"How did this fucking idiot pass me in stat points?!" Ethan shouted as he blasted a plant creature with his shotgun.

<Ding!~ The user has killed a <Frenzied Sproutling: LV: 13> And has gained 130 XP>

"Still not enough," Ethan said as he loaded his shotgun again. He was running low on ammunition and wasn't sure how much longer he could last. Soon enough he would have to change out to his pistol and though it would last him much longer it would be of no use against these beasts.

He stared at the screen that showed the tournament's information and pondered for a moment.

---

<Tournament Tab>

<Current Task>: Level a single stat as high as possible in an unknown period of time.

<Current placement>: 2nd Place

<Current Reward>: 75 stat points + 1 Skill Point.

<Current Top User>: Michael Wrought (Demigod)

---

"I need to get back on top no matter what!" Ethan shouted as he looked for more things to kill. Each time he killed something he would increase his luck stat by a small amount and each time he increased his luck stat he got stronger. It was an amazing title but he felt like it wasn't being used to its fullest potential. Killing humans was the only thing holding him back. If he kills another human... he gains a large number of temporary luck points that greatly increase his strength.

"I wish someone would have survived in the town..." Ethan thought as he walked through the town square and looked around for more creatures to kill.

He walked to the town hall and found it to be one of the only buildings in the town that was fairly untouched.

"Hmm..."

He kicked the door open with his amazing strength and heard a light whimpering coming from inside.

'I wonder...' Ethan thought as he made his way further into the building.

"Another Survivor!" A shout echoed through the building as a man stood up behind a counter and motioned Ethan forward.

He had a bright smile on his face and seemed to be the mayor of the town as he wore a very nice suit that seemed tattered.

Around him were many people that had been hiding in the room in the back and seemed to be waiting to make sure it wasn't a creature that had broken in.

"Ah! People, Finally..." Ethan said as a vicious smile appeared on his face...

---

We go from the small town of hope and go back to the city where Lucas lived in. It was a pleasant city that happened to be known for its factories and construction work. It was known as Ironwrought and was a city that lived up to its name as massive steel buildings filled it.

Instead of going to the apartment complex that Lucas lived in, however, it moved to a compound on the outskirts of the city.

The wind blew past the gates of the small compound that was built in what looked to be an open field of sand and patches of gravel.

No creatures wandered through this wasteland and no plants had sprouted from the ground.

The wind blew through the gates and shuddered the window of one of the reinforced rooms to the compound and inside was a man staring at the outside world before him.

He was a dark-skinned individual who wore a military suit that held a general's patch on his shoulder and many lapels on his chest.

He stared out into the open world and found himself pondering about what to do.

'My men have reported beasts of enormous size spreading out from the main cities of our land.'

'What am I supposed to do?!' He thought as a drop of sweat appeared on his brow.

'I'm not even in the top 50 of the tournament and the ones above me must be crazily strong.' The general thought as he stared down at his stats that were fairly high.

'I'm strong but not strong enough...'

'Who the hell is this person?!' The general said as he stared down at the tournament screen in front of him.

---

<Tournament Tab>

<Current Task>: Level a single stat as high as possible in an unknown period of time.

<Current placement>: 87th place.

<Current Reward>: 10 stat points

<Current Top User>: Lucas Walker (Forge's Heir)

---

He found himself pacing in his office but before getting very far thought went through his mind. He immediately sat down at his desk and began typing up a storm on his computer.

The wind picked up in the room as a printer buzzed a life as a sheet of paper came to be. A paper that would make Lucas's life very, very difficult.