the project, the refugees, the mourning

the project was quite simple I was going to make 4 pillars one for each school and then carve the names of all the deceased with my blades.

my first problem is what to make the pillars out of thinking for a bit I remembered how some earth ability users used pillars to fight the goblins so I decided to search and after a bit I found a large group of circular stone pillars and found four of a similar size with a width of around a doorway and with a height around that of 3-4 metres I was just strong enough to drag them to the camp with some difficulties along the way.

finally after reaching the grave yard I got them upright after a few arduous struggles I could finally start my training breathing in I snapped my pinkie finger and thought of a dagger of light and just as my thought a floating dagger appeared midair next I thought of one of the names and the dagger carving it out of the stone that was the start of my ability training.

it took four days to finish the four four pillars at the top I put the school names then the names of the students names next and next to them the ages of the students I could find the age of then a line with space below to seperate those that didn't make it through the tutorials from the next people I will put the name of on the pillar but it still didn't feel like enough then a flash of inspiration hit me and I decided to write a prayer not a religious one but one of my wishes it reads as follows:

for the ones we lost, for the ones who have lost, for those we do not know are lost, and for those yet to be lost have a restful death.

it was a bit plain but plenty good enough for now then something unexpected happened.

{ding! you have made a artefact.

creator: kai Sanctus

kingdom: four schools holy empire.

reason: has honoured the dead that reside in the area and they now rest in the pillars

effect: protects surrounding area (1 1/2 kilometres) from undead, records all deaths in the kingdom of the four schools holy empire, can create a strong barrier ten metres around the pillars, unable to be destroyed.

bonuses for creator: unable to become an undead, able to turn certain undead back to life, can use spell purify and bless when in the protection radius of one of the pillars, able to pass ownership to apprentices while maintaining all benefits as original owner.}

'I made a artefact?'

I'm feeling like I made an irreversible mistake but oh well it helped me train both my blades and main ability speaking of which I am very happy with my status.

************************

name: kai Sanctus

age:14

titles: the strongest weakling, the sacrificial masochistic saint

abilities: eternal life regeneration SS4, strongest weakling aura A(special), effigy healing B(special), pain blades B4

ability description: eternal life regeneration= slowed ageing then eternal youth also hyper regeneration and  the inability to die,

strongest weakling aura is a title ability which gives user the ordinary aura ability but also reflects any auras that are directed at the host back to the caster/source,

effigy healing is a very unique healing ability where in the user or consenting party can be used as an effigy and transfer the damage of an injured to themselves it is mostly used as a last resort/ultimate sacrifice it can heal almost anything as long as the caster can withstand it.(note: if it gets to a certain level the caster can make the target feel the pain and bypass the need for consent from the effigy.)

pain Blades are blades of light and or blood conjured using the voluntary destruction of users body or pain of user the more destruction or pain the more powerful the blades

stats:

Strength 15 normal

Speed 12 normal

Stamina 13 normal

Perception 22 intermediate

Endurance 53 advanced

the apocalypse advice tag: listen to your ruler

skills:

medical knowledge-(first aid and foundational human anatomy)-basic 6

staff like weapon fighting-(staffs, pole-arms, light spears, metal rods, bats etc.)- basic 5

throwing-(aims, throw strength, accuracy, speed, precision of throwing objects)-basic 4

wordplay-(diplomacy, verbal deception, eloquence)- basic 1

pre apocalypse general knowledge-(science, math, architecture, history etc.)-beginner 1

music-(singing, instrument playing, etc.)- adept 1

battle sense-(reflexes, insight of fighting styles, understanding of possible sequences of events in a fight)-basic 4

life skills and utility-(sewing, blacksmithing, cooking, cleaning, etc.)-beginner 3

traits: (given to people based on their actions harder to earn and less effective than abilities)

living zombie: earned through looking like you are working hard and am motivated while empty minded without any real goal effect; allows the host to go into a state of flow wherein their choices and action are turned into autopilot and senses are dulled temporarily it needs a sense of difficulty without being too easy or any strong attachments.

spells: (magic invocations that triggers an effect i.e energy+will+action/desire=effect)

current known spells: 6

current usable spells: 2

magic energy: 4

barrier: creates magic Shield cost: the more energy the stronger the shield

reinforcement: strengthens body cost: 0.5 energy a second.

***************

there are improvements throughout my status even magic was increased and I was able to find out the answer to a question Luke asked me in casual conversation a while back.

walking towards camp I noticed a few hundred people nowhere near original numbers but still a decent number and finally I found Jase and told him about the artefact.

"hmm I think that I know what I'm going to make you do now and I can't wait to see your project"

and after that the camp started to fill up for nearly a month some students didn't come back and I noticed how a few names were added to the pillars but students also brought their families back it seems that primary schools had modified versions of the tutorials and same for work places we also accepted a few wanderers and orphans but the demographic was still around 90% high schoolers and the few adults that did come weren't arrogant because of their age.

whilst that was happening I was studying books from the school libraries interestingly they weren't that damaged and I learnt quite a bit Afterall just because the world has changed doesn't mean past knowledge is irrelevant I particularly focused on medicine and herbology since those were things that we needed to start working on we couldn't just rely on abilities.

the reason? I learnt from some main healers that abilities take energy either from the caster or the target this actually killed a healer recently when they tried to heal a large group of people also aside from some special cases diseases and curses cannot or are hard to heal sure maybe it is fine now we only have a few thousand people but when we grow it is unrealistic that there are going to be enough of a rare type of healer to heal everyone.

the refugees that came to the camp did have a little trouble adjusting but settled quite well I also had a few chats with Luke and answered his question.

"Luke I have the answer to a question you had it turns out that yes and no the stats and system do give you strength but if it were to go you would still be powerful it measures your strength and rewards you but that means that if it goes we wouldn't be any weaker because it is our own strength"

"kai why did you say that so confusingly? you're such a weirdo"

that was a while ago and Luke has called everyone to the pillars for some reason it took but a moment to walk there.

Luke and the other king's were up there equally distributed two on jases right and two on his left and with quite a domineering tone he started making his speech.

"i have gathered you all here to mark a milestone for this settlement from now on we won't just accept anyone who enters we as a settlement started as four groups of high school students and have learnt so much in a short span of time and now we have welcomed many new people but look at these pillars all the names on them are now deceased the lives you have had are gone now we have to change so instead of ignoring this you have one last chance to leave or you can stay mourn your loses and move on you have exactly one minute to decide"

pretty much nobody left side from a few outliers and so he continued his speech.

"now that is over I am going to cover a few things one this settlement is going to be semi caste system with movement I have assigned each and every one of you a rank or rather a caste based on skills, knowledge, usefulness, and attitude I made no mistakes and finally I have made a decision though we won't adopt any religion we will have a church where anyone may worship or mourn their lost and care take orphans and ceremonies and the leadership is hereditary based on the leaders final wishes and I have decided that leader is kai Sanctus for his numerous accomplishments and selflessness.