Straightening up, the spike coming from Lucas’ right arm retracted. He then shuffled past the dead wolf, stepping over the boar and creaking across the shattered fire exit to peek out into the hall, into the alleyway beyond. There was silence—well, as silent as burning cars and building alarms could be. No screams, though, and the growling he’d expected to find didn’t come.

  He glanced over his shoulder, back at the boar and the wolf. Two. There’d been a third creature, a second wolf, one of the two that had chased him into the building, but it hadn’t been present. Had it left? Did it find another target?

  Shaking his head, he stepped back into the building and picked his way over the corpses. He then moved upstairs, back into the room where his capsule was. Resting a hand on the doorframe, he sighed.

  If the streets were quiet, that meant he could leave. That meant he could make his way home. That was good, though if he ran into anything in the street, he’d have to run for his life again. From the looks of it, summoning his capsule wasn’t a quick process, and climbing inside took a lot more time than anything would give him.

  His gaze shifted to the German Shepherd in the corner, and then there was this guy. The dog sat there, wagging its tail, its head cocked to the side as it looked over him. It was as if it was trying to figure out how he’d done it, how he’d slaughtered the threat it was preparing for.

  Lucas shook his head. Though the dog seemed intelligent, he doubted the thing could understand him explaining his sloppy combat method, one that would have surely broken him if he’d done it in his actual body. He probably wouldn’t have even attempted it in his actual body.

  He raised a hand, examining the metal, the seamless creases. In his real body, this sensation wouldn’t have been so muted, almost distant. But in this one, it was, which allowed him to do things he probably would have thought twice about.

  “Give me a moment,” he said to the dog, making his way around the capsule and standing just behind it, his back facing the pole.

  Once he’d considered what to do next, something hooked into his back and lifted his metal frame up. His vision then blanked, and the next thing he knew, there was a soft hiss and the sound of sliding glass. His eyes fluttered open, and he took a deep breath. The blood-soaked air made his nose twitch, and he rested a hand on the side of the capsule, pulling himself out.

  “Well, that’s going to take some getting used to,” he muttered, groaning as he got to his feet and admired the capsule.

  He then felt the words bubble up again and slip past his lips. “Dismiss armament.”

  The capsule, as if placed in a blender, swirled, tightening to a point and then popping out of existence. He blinked for a second, staring at where it had once been; the carpet still bore its impression.

  His gaze then flickered to the dog. “Alright, I’m going to leave now, boy.”

  The dog whimpered. It probably didn’t want him to leave. He provided some safety to it.

  “You can come with me, you know?” he said, raising a hand and reaching towards it.

  The dog took a hesitant step forward, then glanced back at its dead owner, a low whimper coming from it. It then turned to him again, as if assessing him, probably wondering if it would be a good decision to follow a human it didn’t know.

  One, it probably didn’t even trust. But then again, dogs were creatures that trusted easily, at least in Lucas’s mind, they were. Simple creatures. Man’s best friend.

  With a glance at its dead owner, it took a final sniff, licked her face, and stepped towards him.

  Lucas reached forward, patting its head, letting out a heavy sigh. “It’ll be okay, boy. I’ve got you now, alright? We’re going to work together.”

  The dog glanced up at him, and to his utter amazement, it nodded. He did a double-take. This creature was far more intelligent than he thought.

  With that, Lucas harvested the other wolf that was still in the room, and then made his way downstairs with the dog, harvesting the boar and the second wolf. A few more drops from the creatures made him feel somewhat more secure, though that was nothing compared to the XP that he’d gotten.

  He was meant to get stronger—that’s what this system enabled him to do. And with it, he could definitely turn the situation around, at least somewhat.

  So with a bag he’d found in one of the woman’s closets, filled with the drops he’d gotten from the creatures, he left the butcher’s. He’d checked around before he left, and there was no one else in the building.

  Whoever had lived here was probably at work when this all broke out, and to that, he couldn’t say if they were lucky or not. Maybe they had been in the office with a large group of people; they might have defended themselves, survived even. But his gut told him they didn’t.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  For now, his focus was on getting home, and that’s exactly what he planned to do.

  ????ˊ? ·?? ? ? ? ??· ??ˋ???

  It hadn’t seemed like the world could get any quieter after the blue blight sickness forced everyone into lockdown. Lucas’s mother had even said it was as if everyone had gone to live in the country, all isolated and knitting. He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant.

  After all, when he’d peered out the window, he could see the other sixth form students running in the street, breaking curfew, and no doubt going to a friend’s house to get into some trouble.

  The police would arrive a few hours later, and their families would have quite a few fines on their hands. It was a common occurrence, though it lessened as more and more people died. After all, who was there to maintain society if everyone who held it together was falling apart?

  So as he crunched through the warped streets, cars in odd positions, broken glass littering the ground, Lucas marvelled at the silence. There was usually a distant hum you could hear in the world, whether that was planes, engines from far-off vehicles, or something else. There was always noise.

  But now, silence.

  He shifted his weight, leaning against the wall as he checked his shoes. The sides of his trainers were slightly ruined; that chase had done quite a number on them. He was glad he actually kept them on inside the house, though his mother would often tell him off for such actions. That had saved his feet this time, though.

  Shaking his head, Lucas sighed. Was he even heading in the right direction? Across the street, a shop that looked oddly familiar stood out. If he had to guess, it was the one the man had shouted from before someone pulled him inside.

  From the looks of it, something had broken through the shop window, blood—or what at least looked like blood—trailing from the wreckage. Something had dragged something out, or more specifically, someone.

  Shaking his head, Lucas glanced at the dog, who looked up at him and let out a low whine.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I think this is the right way.”

  He pushed off the wall, tapped the front of his shoes on the pavement, and then continued walking. At the edge of his vision, a notification that he’d been ignoring lingered. He glanced around. Surely nothing would attack him. All the animals seemed to have disappeared, and the pesky crow was nowhere to be seen.

  Focusing on it, the notification expanded into a system message.

  ══════════◆◇◆══════════

  SYSTEM MESSAGE

  ══════════◆◇◆══════════

  | Congratulations on defeating 2x [Flameback Wolf - Novice 1]!

  | Congratulations on defeating [Firetusk Boar - Novice 1]!

  | You have gained 30 XP.

  | You have gained harvest XP: 45

  ══════════◆◇◆══════════

  He’d gained quite a few XP indeed. Harvesting gave slightly more XP than actually defeating the beasts themselves.

  Was that some sort of incentive, maybe? If you were going to defeat something, make sure you harvest it. In some regards, it made sense. After all, it wasn’t clear if this system forced these creatures into existence, but it definitely wanted him to hunt them.

  Closing the view, Lucas continued across the street, but then his eyes caught sight of a man sitting on the ground leaning against the wall, a puddle of red at his feet. He frowned, scanning one side of the street, then the other. There was nothing around.

  “Come on, boy,” he said, signalling the dog to follow.

  He stepped out onto the road, the habit of checking his left and right triggering instantly before he crossed. It was odd, to say the least, but he’d learned that since he was five, and it was an instinct that probably wouldn’t go away anytime soon, no matter how much the world changed.

  Upon arriving on the other side, the man’s situation became clearer. The puddle of blood was his own, leaking even now from his ruined leg. The man’s head shifted slightly as Lucas got closer, and his eyes peeled open.

  “Hello,” he croaked, voice barely a whisper.

  How had he even survived? With that much blood loss, the man should be more than dead.

  “Can you hear me?” he croaked out again.

  Lucas nodded, stepping closer. Each of his steps was careful. Maybe this was a trap. Could animals like that—man-eating and coordinated—even lay traps? They’d seemed fairly intelligent.

  Lucas took a hesitant step back, foot crunching on shattered glass. Wind curled past him, brushing against his cheek as his gaze shifted around the street. Had that lamppost always been there? Did he hear something? Where was—

  His heart began racing, pounding in his chest, like a wild animal. Something was watching him. Something had to be watching him.

  “Can you hear me?” the man spoke again, pulling him back from his growing panic.

  Resting a hand on his chest, Lucas sighed and took in the street again. Discarded litter blew from overturned bins that spilt their contents onto the warped streets. But aside from that, the place had a strange stillness to it. Lucas’s gaze shifted back to the man.

  “Yes, I can hear you,” he said, kneeling and moving an inch closer, stopping just before reaching the small puddle of blood.

  While he wanted to help, getting blood on him wouldn’t exactly be ideal. How would he even clean it?

  “I need to ask a favour,” the man said, voice shaky.

  With some apparent effort, the man raised his hand and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a pendant of sorts. He held it towards Lucas, his expression becoming more determined.

  “Please, I need you to bring this to my daughter,” he croaked.

  Lucas frowned. His daughter? He didn’t even know who the man was. How would he find his daughter? Never mind the fact that, with everything going on, it was highly likely a wolf had dragged her away and eaten her by now. Had he not seen that?

  Lucas’s gaze settled on the pendant, swinging there as the wind blew against it. These were the man’s dying moments, the last time he’d experience anything in this world, his last request. Could Lucas really deny him such a favour?

  Reaching out, Lucas took the pendant from the man. Using his sleeve, he rubbed the light smears of blood against it, and then slipped the pendant into his pocket.

  “Thank you,” he said, hand falling to his lap. He then looked to the side and spoke. “If you head a little further down the street, you’ll see a house. There’s a sign just above it. It says ‘Bennies.’ Go upstairs; my daughter should still be there. Just tell her Abram sent you. She’ll know it’s me.”

  “She will?” Lucas asked hesitantly. Would the man’s daughter really buy such a casual greeting, especially in a situation like this? At least Lucas wouldn’t. After all, just because you knew someone’s name didn’t exactly mean they sent you.

  Lucas nodded at the man and went to get up, but paused. Did this man have a phone? Did he perhaps have a way to contact others?