Draconic Ascension - System Apocalypse Isekai LitRPG

The days slowly passed.

Every day, Michael would go around destroying every Tree or Sapling in sight. In the first week, he prioritized the smaller Trees and the Saplings, as a way to keep the ordinary people safe to walk the streets. Once he realized that new Trees were sprouting in areas he had already cleared, however, he focused on the larger Trees.

On the eighteenth day since Michael had returned to Earth.

Michael looked at the sky. It was nighttime, but because most of the city lights had been destroyed by the apocalyptic changes that Earth had undergone, the stars could be seen clearly.

It's beautiful.

He mindlessly stared at the moon and stars for more than ten seconds. Then, he lowered his gaze to the scene in front of and around him.

It was a stretch of pure destruction.

All buildings – or what remained of them – within a radius of one hundred and fifty meters had collapsed into rubble, some of which had been forcefully moved by the giant tree roots. Covering the ruined and upturned asphalt were dozens upon dozens of monster corpses, varying in size and damage. Some had had half of their body burned to a crisp, while others had had their heads sliced clean off. Some were giant animals, with a few even reaching almost ten meters in length, while others were monsters straight out of fantasy stories, ranging from green hobgoblins to enormous trolls. The Tree's royal guards.

This is why Trees of Aggression are annoying.

Michael rubbed the back of his neck and looked straight down. He was sitting on what remained of the trunk of the titanic Tree, a small, dim sphere in his lap. It was cracked. With a single movement, he threw it to the side. It shattered once it hit the ground, and its pieces were blown away by the wind, which was free to flow now that the buildings had been destroyed.

Michael stood up.

"I guess that's that," he said to himself.

This Tree had been the last of the giant ones in all of Manhattan and the nearby boroughs, Bronx and Queens. He looked at the nearest cardinal Tree. It was shining faintly, making it look quite beautiful, but he was in no mood to appreciate its appearance.

It's about time. We'll have new giant Trees soon.

He had realized how the Trees' reproduction worked in the second week. The big Trees spread their 'spores' to create Minor Trees, which were then responsible for 'giving birth' to Saplings. In such a fashion, because of the sheer size of each Tree, the massive number of spores quickly spread throughout the entire city and made new Trees appear even in areas Michael had already cleared.

That was when he'd realized what the 'setting' of this new stage that came after the Tutorial was.

The Trees are supposed to be constant, almost eternal enemies.

The System was being abundantly clear. Either humanity slayed the Trees faster than they could reproduce, or they would have to keep encountering the Trees until those dominated the entire city, pushing humanity into a much more precarious position.

Michael sighed at the sky. In the end, he was only one person. There was no way for him to keep up with the Trees' rate of reproduction unless he pushed his firepower to its limits, ruining the city in the process. Of course, destroying his hometown even more wasn't exactly high on his priority list, but he would have done it if it had been necessary.

But the factions are managing it pretty well.

By continuously exchanging information with his friends, he'd been able to keep tabs on their Safe Zone's factions. Simply put, the large gatherings of people were doing a fine job of organizing hunting teams and protecting those who were no longer willing to fight. The fact that the Safe Zones seemed to have infinite food available had also helped quite a bit.

"But the Safe Zones will disappear soon," Michael mumbled to himself.

He jumped off the giant husk and started running toward Safe Zone M36. The factions were part of the reason why he'd decided not to go after the cardinal Trees, back when he realized how the Trees' reproduction worked.

The realization that people also needed to hone their skills and improve themselves to get ready for the world at large had dawned upon him. Simply slaying all the Trees and uprooting this threat would only be partly helpful. Since the Safe Zones would disappear, he needed everyone to be at a high Level and to be capable of defending themselves. Training by fighting the Trees was the best method. Of course, he would rather avoid casualties, but there was no easy way out of this conundrum.

For the sake of humanity, he needed to make sure the factions were ready to handle the end of the Safe Zones.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

***

Michael walked through the Safe Zone's streets, looking around with a grin.

It's almost hard to believe what they looked like back on the first day.

All around him, the streets were lively and bustling with people. Most cars had been pushed or driven off the roads, allowing people to walk through them freely. Men and women shouted from roadside stalls, holding skewers and other types of meat and vegetables that filled the air with the scent of good food. Children – those who had been able to survive the Tutorial somehow, likely through the protection of many people – ran around, giggling and trying not to trip over their robes. The sounds of loud conversations and even shouted announcements filled the atmosphere.

Michael smiled. Finally, he felt like he was back in a human city. Still, he didn't slow down his pace and continued to walk. His destination was the home base of one of the new factions, one that had boldly given itself the name of 'Warriors.'

As always, he kept the Rune of Shadows active. He drew glances from both men and women alike, some looking a bit mesmerized. Shaking his head with a helpless smile, he continued on.

Finally, after around twenty minutes, Michael arrived in front of a building. Two guards lined the main entrance, one of whom raised his arm to block Michael as he approached.

"Halt, stranger," the guard said. Michael looked at him. The guard was a young man with brown hair and blue eyes, donning a heavy-looking set of armor and holding a long spear. "Please, identify yourself."

Michael grinned at him. He had been to this building several times, but it was only obvious that they wouldn't remember. By now, he had a pretty good idea of what to do to reach the person he wanted to as quickly as possible.

He released a bit of his mana, allowing it to pressure his surroundings.

It was only a fraction of a fraction of what his Mana Field could do, but it was enough. The mana wave pressed down on the two guards and the building behind them, making their expressions change almost instantly. They gripped their weapons tightly, but Michael raised his hands, palms facing forward in an attempt to show that he meant no harm.

"I would like to talk to Adriano," he said with a grin in a soft tone. "It's important."

The guards exchanged a look as they struggled to deal with the pressure.

"I-Is he expecting you?" the blue-eyed young man stuttered out through gritted teeth.

Michael shook his head.

He should've been, but he doesn't remember it.

"No, but," he said. "Don't you think I could force my way inside if I really wanted to? I just want to bring some information to his attention."

The two guards blinked. Michael could almost see the wheels turning in their minds before they nodded at the same time and stepped to the side. He withdrew his mana. It was as if the air had become lighter. The second guard even coughed twice, rubbing his throat. Meanwhile, the blue-eyed young man only stared at Michael with a complicated expression.

"…Do you know the way there?" he asked.

Michael nodded at him with a grin.

"Yeah. I've been here before."

The young man furrowed his brow in confusion, but Michael no longer paid him any heed. He pushed the door open and entered the building, immediately drawing stares from almost everyone inside. Michael scanned the room. There were men and women of all ages, some of whom were frowning at him. As expected, they had felt his mana's movement. The room itself looked like a typical office building's reception, its columns and main desk intact. Four people, two men and two women, sat behind the white desk.

Here comes the annoying part.

It was his fourth time here, but because nobody remembered him, he would need to go through the whole introduction process once more. Sighing, Michael approached the room's main desk and picked a person to talk to, a middle-aged woman. She was staring at him with a frown, just like the three others.

"…There are better ways to enter this building," she snapped at him once he got close enough.

Michael only smiled.

"You always say something similar to that. Either way, I'm here to talk to Adriano about new enemies I found."

She continued to frown at him with a confused edge before raising her hand. A blue, ethereal mouth of mana took shape above her palm. She whispered to it, and it whispered back. Of course, Michael could hear everything because of how sharp his senses had become, but he pretended to be oblivious and only waited with his arms crossed.

After some time, two men walked out of the elevator on the right side of the room. Michael talked to them and followed them back inside. The elevator then brought them to the fourth floor. After a few more exchanges with a few more people, he finally arrived before double wooden doors, on the building's largest office floor.

"Adriano is inside," the blonde woman who was standing behind him said in a firm tone. "Remember that there are many of us on this floor. You won't walk away unscathed if you start anything."

Michael simply nodded.

"Of course."

Without waiting for her reply, he pushed the doors open. The room that was revealed beyond it was one he had already become familiar with. A glass table in the middle with a large office chair behind it and another in front of it. Bookshelves filled with technical law books, and a window that gave him a great view of the ruined Manhattan. Sitting on the office chair, looking at him, was a brown-skinned, middle-aged man with black hair and warm brown eyes. He rose to his full height, revealing himself to be even taller than Michael.

"Not many could force their way inside here," Adriano said. His voice was deep, as usual. "Makes me wonder why you went through the trouble."

Michael resisted the urge to sigh as he met the man's gaze.

You always say that.

"I would like to exchange information," he replied. "Just thought that it would be better to do it straight through you. It'll be worth your while."

Adriano kept his stare.

"You already know who I am, but I don't know who you are."

"I'm Michael Gray."

Adriano furrowed his brow.

"…Your name is familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

Michael shrugged.

"I was a bit well-known in my Tutorial Zone, but nothing crazy."

Adriano narrowed his eyes, then motioned to the free office chair.

"Please sit, Michael Gray. Tell me what information you bring. If that's even why you're here."

Michael sat down on the chair and looked back at Adriano. This time, he would talk about something he hadn't before.

"I have learned a lot about the Trees and Saplings. I can tell you their abilities as well as how to identify each type before you face them, but not to a perfect extent."

Adriano blinked in surprise.

"…It's you, isn't it? The one who's been killing the Trees left and right. The powerful unknown protector."

It was Michael's turn to be surprised. This hadn't happened in the previous times they'd met.