Hours had passed since their departure from the police station. The pair had traveled south, venturing deeper into the island, hoping that their university might still be intact and that perhaps other survivors had taken refuge there. Unfortunately, the trolley station had been completely washed away by the receding waters, leaving them with no other choice but to make the long journey to the campus on foot.
As they moved cautiously through the eerily quiet streets, they came across a small group of people huddled together in the remains of a church. Their voices, soft and desperate, could be heard whispering prayers for things to return to normal. Maverick and Emily exchanged a glance, neither saying a word, but the scene served as a painful reminder of how much the world had changed—and how not everyone had accepted it.
Their brief encounter left a heavy feeling in the air, as they pressed on, the memory of their near incident with Thompson still fresh in their minds. It was clear that survival had taken on many forms, but not everyone had come to grips with their new reality.
The sun beat down on them, and the air shimmered with heat, making everything feel heavy. “Can you really believe he threatened to lock me up?” Maverick began, his tone half amused, half annoyed, as he helped Emily up the side of a collapsed wall leading into a grocery store. The wall was jagged, broken bricks and twisted metal making their way difficult, but they had grown used to navigating obstacles like these.
“He was a real asshole, but even he didn’t deserve to get eaten by that Venus flytrap monster,” Emily replied, shaking her head. The memory of Thompson being swept up into those monstrous jaws was still fresh in her mind, the sight of his struggle etched behind her eyes. She couldn’t shake the image of the plant’s fanged petals closing over him, the muffled screams that followed. It made her stomach churn, even now.
The inside of the store was dark and cool, a stark contrast to the blazing heat outside. They moved cautiously, the aisles littered with fallen products and debris. Cans and boxes lay scattered across the floor, the shelves tipped over or broken. The atmosphere felt light, despite the chaos. The quietness of the store helping calm them down from their long walk. They both continued talking about nonsense as they explored the place.
They picked through what was left undamaged from whatever knocked a hole in the building. On the shelves, they searched for what was edible. They hadn’t had breakfast, or lunch and hunger gnawed at their insides. The feeling having become a constant companion. After sometime, they gathered in the center of the store, laying out their findings. They had piled various canned goods, dried pastas, chips, snacks, and many fresh vegetables.
Emily had even found a stash of meats, in a walk in a walk in freezer. “Shame it’ll go to waste by tomorrow, doubt this place will stay cold for much longer.”
Maverick had added onto the piles of food, but also found a camping section and brought over a collapsable table, propane grill and various other useful items.
“I know it sucks, this would be enough to feed us for months, and who knows where we’ll find more. For now, lets put as much dry stuff as we can into the bags to hold us over for a while.”
As Maverick finished speaking, the world noticeably slowed in front of him. A system window just like before materialized before his eyes.
**System Notice**
Chosen of the Azure Flame, would you like to instill the will of Gelidrax the Everfrozen? By using the potential of a carry-over item rewards, originally granted upon slaying the hydra, you can instead infuse its power into a bag of your choosing creating a relic quality item.
**Yes/No**
Maverick figured an item now was better than something later, plus relic quality sounded interesting. He mentally selected yes, and in his hand, a small blue ice crystal appeared. It was cold to the touch, but not overly so. As time slowly began to tick forward once more, he grabbed the duffle bag with his name on it and touched the two together.
**System Notice**
Congratulations, you have created the worlds first Relic. In the time to come, many will be found naturally and others will be gifted as quest rewards. However being the first to achieve a feats so grand comes with a reward. An epic rarity skill book will placed inside of your bag of holding.
Item Acquired: Bag of Gelidrax
Rarity: Relic
Origin: Gelidrax the Everfrozen, Ancient Ice Hydra
Type: Magical Storage Bag (Soul-bound)
Description: The Bag of Gelidrax is a soul-bound magical item formed from the spirit energy of Gelidrax the Everfrozen. It has the unique capability of being split into two or more separate bags, each connected to the same-shared inventory space. All users can store and retrieve items. The distance between for shared space will increase as one grows in power.
Attributes:
- Shared Space: Can be split into two bags, each bound to a different user, granting both individuals access to the same inventory. If distance is too great space will split in two one for each, and will merge once in close enough proximity.
- Inventory Interface: All items placed into the bag are organized into an inventory-like window when the bag is opened or reached into, making it easy to locate specific items.
- Unlimited Capacity: While technically unlimited, inventory space will grow as you gain power.
- Consumable Preservation: Consumables and food items stored inside are kept fresh 4x their normal shelf life.
- Frostbound Protection: Protects against unauthorized access, freezing potential thieves.
Drawbacks:
- Item Consumption: Items left unused for more than three months are consumed by the hydra's endless hunger.
- Experience Tax: Consumes 2% of each user's gained experience to maintain its magical properties.
- Soul-Bound Limitation: At current level, only the two bound users can access the bag's contents.
“Hey Em, I think I found a solution to our problem. Come over here for a second.”
Emily walked over, carrying a bag of spicy nacho flavored chips. “This better be good, you’re disturbing my personal time with these chips, and its going to get R rated real quick.”
“Your weirdness aside, I think the system just helped us out in a big way with our food problem. But it may have cost us those rewards from the hydra.” Maverick finished talking as he tossed Emily a frost-blue backpack.
Its surface was covered in a thin layer of ice that shimmered in the dim light.
“What is this?” Emily asked, holding the backpack in one hand like it was something she had just fished out of a dumpster. Her nose wrinkled in disgust, as if the bag were a crime against fashion itself.
“Its essentially a bag of holding, er just think of it as a shared bag we can both put our stuff into. I have its twin, see?”
"Well, this isn’t going to work for me," Emily muttered, her eyes narrowing as she held the bag at arm’s length like it was contagious. "If it's granted by the system, maybe I can change how it looks." She tilted her head, imagining the bulky backpack transforming into something smaller, more... stylish. A crossbody bag, maybe? Or a sleek, chic satchel. Anything but *this*. The two continued foraging for supplies now that a solution to their problem had been found. As Maverick shoved random items into the bag of holding he thought about the police station again, not sure why exactly.
As it turned out, the police station had been attacked by an assortment of plant like monsters. The origin of the disturbance had been more of the roaming swine, ramming into the makeshift barricades. But when they had gone out to deal with their attackers, the plants erupted from the ground without warning. Nowhere was safe as they rose from the soil and broken chunks of road. Their massive vine extremities and colorful flowers petals of death quickly swept up the helpless pigs, pulling them into their chlorophyll-filled bodies.
It had been a wild moment, as the watching humans knew they were outmatched. Their pilfered weapons would do nothing against the thick bark like exterior of the plants. Guns fired off uselessly, a few Molotov cocktails joined after some time, damaging the largest Venus flytrap monster.
Only three had been lost in the first few moments of the attack including Sgt. Thompson the provider of the flaming attacks. Maverick and Emily had fought side by side, the rhythm of their strikes and movements revealing the expertise they had gained during their decade long training in The Veil Online. Maverick's strikes were deliberate, each blow from his flaming rune sword slicing plant fibers and setting it ablaze.
Emily, meanwhile, darted in and out of the fray, her agility and quick thinking keeping her just ahead of the snapping vines. Her glowing fists, struck at the attacking tendrils, blowing massive holes in them with each attack. Together, they worked in tandem, their actions almost instinctual—Maverick drawing the monsters' attention while Emily struck at their weaknesses.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The fight was brutal but swift. Maverick's focus never wavered, and Emily's movements were fluid and precise. It wasn’t long before the majority of the plant monsters lay motionless, their once writhing forms now nothing more than heaps of shredded vines and leaves.
Eventually the only plant left rooted was the flytrap. It towered over the rest and the crumbling buildings. Four of its seven fanged leaf traps were closed, having captured its prey.
The pair quickly realized that none of their attacks were leaving a scratch on the likely boss level monster. So they ran, no shame in self preservation. Seeing the futility of the fight, the rest of those gathered turned and ran in their own directions.
During the long walk to their present location, Maverick had noticed the once open rifts that spilled forth the monsters; seemed to have closed. The mass of concentrated monsters had likely dispersed out into the wider island and surrounding areas. Likely claiming territory for themselves.
They had found a few untouched buildings filled with various survivors hold up inside. But they refused to let anyone else into the building claiming some excuse or another. Times had really changed, were before anyone on the island would always give out a helping hand.
“Hey Em, time to wake up. The sun will be down in a few hours. Something tells me we shouldn’t stick around here when it gets dark.” Maverick spoke as he folded up the camping gear tossing it into his bag.
“Just five more minutes… My feet hurt from all the walking.” Emily groaned as she sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Soon after the pair exited the grocery store, having taken all the food they could leaving some of the more shelf stable items behind incase others came across the sanctuary. They started the walk once again headed towards their university.
As they walked, the once bright and hot sun began to slowly sink in the sky causing shadows to form all around them.
“Maverick, are we almost there? Why’d we have to go to the dumb school anyways. Why didn’t we just go back to the apartment?” Emily groaned as she dragged her feet.
“Well first off our building is mostly in the ocean, didn’t really seem structurally safe and if there is one place with others it’s there. Im sure we’ll find some friendly faces at least.”
“Okay, I guesss that makes sense… But I call dibs on the air mattress you found. You can sleep on the floor.”
It wasn’t until they came to the schools athletic center, that Maverick and Emily found some semblance of safety. They had been ambushed in a small valley, just outside of the universities massive grounds. They had been walking when a half dozen wooden monkeys had attacked. The wooden primates had launched wind attacks at them making it hard for Emily to get in close with her fists. Maverick had infused his blade with the azure flames and swung releasing blasts of wild fire in all directions. But they monkeys were too fast as they melted into the tress avoiding his attacks.
Maverick had a sudden idea, if he and Emily couldn’t get close, why not attack from afar. He reached towards his chest, freeing the handgun from its holster. Figuring it was already a wild crazy idea, Maverick infused the weapon with his flames. At first nothing had happened, until he fired off the first shot. The rounds, exploded from the barrel, burning bright in the waining sunlight. As the infused round collided with the first foe, blue flames erupted from the wound, quickly engulfing it. From there the battle did not last very long, as each was reduced to charcoal.
As they approached the Athletic Center, they observed a large group of people moving about quickly.
“Alright everyone, time to move out. Does everyone have a weapon and a gym bag?” A calm but resolute voice spoke.
“Make two lines over here, anyone not carrying supplies help move the wounded into the UTVs, we need all hands on deck.” A portly woman holding a clip board spoke up, addressing those standing around.
It was clear that this group of a dozen or so people had been through a recent battle. The aftermath lay before Maverick and Emily in a chaotic scene of blood and broken bodies. Scattered across the ground were the twisted corpses of monstrous creatures, their insect-like exoskeletons glistening with sticky fluids. Some were grotesque, with elongated limbs and serrated mandibles, while others resembled giant beetles, their shells cracked and shattered. Javelins protruded from many of the fallen beasts, like skewers at a grisly barbecue, impaling them with deadly precision.
Some of the survivors stood amid the carnage, still catching their breath. Their makeshift armor, a patchwork of everyday sports gear, told of their desperation. Football pads strapped awkwardly over their torsos, baseball helmets perched on heads, and various other protective gear from hockey gloves to kneepads gave them an almost comical, yet resourceful, appearance. The ragtag ensemble looked out of place, but it was clear this group was doing whatever they could to survive. Their expressions were a mix of exhaustion and hardened determination, eyes darting around, ever wary for the next threat.
While many worked at assigned tasks, others lay on the floor covered in blood, or worse. The others lucky enough to have made it out with minor wounds lay wrapped in bandages, and in some cases, makeshift tourniquets were wrapped around arms or legs.
“You two, over there, quit your gawking and come help out or make yourselves scarce.” The resolute voice spoke up once again.
Maverick and Emily were surprised, realizing the man in a tight athletic ensemble was speaking to them. Maverick quickly realized who this man was, it was Professor Archer. He was in charge of the physical education program on campus and served as the campuses athletic director.
“I won’t ask again, get a move on, or turn around and be someone else’s problem.” Archer spoke, seemly not use to having to speak twice.
“Right, coming.” Maverick spoke with hesitation as he turned to Emily, who nodded her head in approval.
Walking up to the group, who were all on seemingly on edge, Maverick introduced himself and Emily.
“Im Maverick Garcia, and this is Emily Evans, we were in the residential area when all this went down. We’ve been running around for hours.” Maverick started as many from the group watched them.
A voice spoke up from a young blonde girl, “I can’t imagine what that was like. Thankfully we were lucky to be so far away from the main campus.”
“Lucky my ass!” A dark skinned man spoke up, “Shit we barley managed to kill a few of those things, and half the people we had are dead or fucked up.”
The portly woman from earlier came over and disbanded the onlookers having everyone get back to their task.
“Its true what Jordan said, the football team, track teams and a few others were out here getting some workouts in when they showed up. And well you can see the rest for yourself.”
Maverick and Emily gave their condolences as the group seemed to have all been rather close, being on a few sports teams in high school and in his childhood Maverick understood the close bonds one can make with teammates.
The trio continued to talk and fill bags with miscellaneous supplies as the remaining athletes finished loading up these same supplies onto the UTVs, the electric carts used by maintenance and coaching to get around the area.
The duo had been informed that several miles away, on the coast where the universities aquatic center was, that no monsters had been spotted by the runners that got sent out earlier and they planned on making their way there before night fully came shortly.
Time had gone by so quickly since The Oracles message to everyone. The running, fighting and mental overload of it all put the day on fast forward, every second rushing by and only speeding up.
The portly woman led them to a storeroom, apparently the sports teams had their own cafeteria inside the athletic center. Inspecting the room, it was evident all the dry easy to store items had already been packed away for their departure.
The woman, named Jane, had told them to help themselves to anything they found as they were at max capacity on what they could take. Shrugging they pillaged the room for more supplies, but still leaving some for any future visitors.
As they walked out, Maverick saw Archer leading everyone in prayer, just like he did before many games. This time however Archer also prayed for the safety of those lost and alone, he hoped that whatever was causing this chaos on their world, would be settled quickly.
As the prayer concluded, everyone quickly gathered their last few items and made their way to the convoy of waiting UTVs.
Maverick noticed that a small group posted on look out duty, had brought down a flying snake like creature. It had a javelin lodged down its throat with various chipped and broken scales, likely the handy work of the baseball bats they each carried.
A shiver ran though his body, it was a nasty sight. In TVO he was always the one protecting others, or leading the raid groups. It felt nice, having a group of others watch his back for once. While he conceptually understood everything that was going on and what was happening to their world; it still felt weird seeing in game monsters walking the same ground as him. He still felt like the monsters weren’t exactly real though, like all they were was a condensed glob of mana that took shape.
A voice broke Maverick away from his thoughts.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, there is safety in numbers after all…” Jane spoke as she prepared to head off, the last UTV remaining.
“Yeah we can manage from here; this little oasis was more than enough for us. Thank you again for your hospitality not many would be willing to share so openly given the situation” Maverick warmly exclaimed, trying to push Janes worries away.
“Well if you’re sure… You always know where to find us…” Jane smiled at the pair, as she waved goodbye and set off with Jordan at the wheel.
"Maverick, you know I will always trust you," Emily began, her voice steady but laced with underlying concern. "And I'm sure you have your reasons for not going with them. But are you sure this was the right call?”
While they raided their second stockpile of supplies, they had talked about their next step and what to do.
She looked him in the eyes, searching for the conviction she knew he had. "She has a point about safety in numbers," she continued, her tone thoughtful. "And with Archer being ex-military, we know he has an idea of how to handle this kind of situation."
Emily took a deep breath, the weight of their decision pressing heavily on her mind. "I just want to make sure we're making the best choices, not just for us, but to stay alive for our families." Her green eyes softened as she reached out to touch his arm gently. "I trust you, Maverick. I just want us to be as safe as we can be in this mess."
She hoped her words conveyed the balance she was trying to strike—her unwavering trust in him, coupled with the practical concerns of their survival. It was a delicate dance between loyalty and caution, one she was determined to navigate with him by her side.
“I appreciate you trusting me Em, but something deep down like a gut feeling told me not to go with them.” It was more than just a gut feeling Maverick tried to explain.
His conviction solidified, he pulled Emily into a hug once again that day, “You know I would never do anything to get you hurt, I just know this was the right call.”
The sun was almost entirely gone, slipping behind their surroundings. A beautiful sunset washed over the world, if not for the monsters Maverick couldn’t recall a more beautiful time.
Maverick and Emily sat on the roof of the athletic building watching the sunset burn itself deeper and deeper into the sky. It was almost enough to make them forget about their day, and slip back into old habits just like any night sitting together watching a similar sunset.
“Hey Em, what are you thinking about right now?” Maverick asked from out of the blue.
Emily resting her head on Mavericks shoulder sighed as she spoke. “Honestly Mav, nothing. Today has been so much, and all I want to do is get warm in my bed and go to sleep. But if I did that some weird ant monster would probably eat me.”
“Honestly with our luck, that would happen. Im just worried about mom, and how she’s dealing with all this. I know she’s fine, but honestly in some weird way probably enjoying herself.”
“That woman is sweeter than liquid sugar, but you have a point. Ive seen the pictures of her time in the military and she looked like a person you don’t mess with. Ive seen how she handles a knife when cooking. Honestly Maverick, I don’t know how your dad lasted so long when she got mad.” Emily spoke raising her head off his shoulder as she realized her words. “I didn’t… Mav…”
“Its okay Em, really. Its honestly better dad isn’t around to see the chaos our little blue marble is dealing with right now. His lifes work up and became real, leading to the apocalypse. Dad may have been a lot of great things, but fighting was not his strong suit. Let’s find somewhere to set up for the night.”
Maverick stood from their hideaway on the rooftop and placed their chairs back into storage. Emily tried to apologize again, but she knew it was better to just move on. The pair walked into the athletic center ready to put the first day past them.