World Filter

Graces POV

Six days ago.

The metal hinges of the roof door groaned in protest as Donny slammed them open. Grace waited for Donny to check the roof for zombies before following. When he gave the all-clear she moved out in search of their escape route.

“Damn Mark to hell. He had to go and call these things here” she thought.

“Babe this doesn’t feel right. We need to go back. They could still be alive.” Donny said.

“I’m so sorry Donny, there was nothing we could have done, the zombies are chasing them. If we go back we will be killed too. This is our only chance, we have to escape now.” She said getting closer to him, placing her hand on either side of his neck in reassurance.

Turning [Persuasion] up to full. Mark wasn’t here to see it now, so she used her skill to the fullest.

Looking into his eyes she saw the skill reach into him and guide him to the right answer.

He looked a little dazed but he finally saw it her way.

“Okay. Yeah, I gotta get you somewhere safe. We’ll just have to hope they make it out”

Grace didn’t like that thought.

What if they made it out of there? What If they went to Prospect Park? It was the plan after all. Both she and Donny would be in danger. Daphne might forgive and forget but Mark probably wouldn’t. He seemed like the kind and gentle type but she knew otherwise.

Bitting at her thumbnail she followed Donny.

As it turned out the old bag Ethel was right. There was a plank that led across from the mall to a nearby low-rent apartment.

After Donny carried her across they began searching for a place to lie low.

Eventually finding a room that had no Corrupted in it they settled down for the evening. Donny wanted to keep moving but they had almost just died and she was exhausted.

He agreed to remain put after some persuasion. They rested in the apartment for the night.

Eventually, when she was sure Donny was asleep she went over to her rug sack.

Checking once more that he wasn’t faking it she opened her bag and looked inside. There protected by her sleeping bag were eight pod-like seeds they had seen the Zombies eating.

While everyone had been passed out and Daphne had been too preoccupied with Mark she had gone to inspect the dead tree, finding more of those pods the corrupted had been eating.

When she had gotten closer a system prompt had popped up. Once she read it she had to have them.

Looking at them now she inspected the item to make sure nothing had changed.

Item: Corrupted Fruit of the Broodmother

Item lvl: —

Description:

Enbibes the user with strength upon consumption. Corruption has enhanced the effects of this item. At the cost of a 15% increase to Corruption value, the user gains 35 points toward their primary path.

A connection to the Broodmother will be established(Disabled)

Warning: the system does not condone the use of this item.

Unable to store

World inventory not yet implemented.

Current wait time 4:18:59

The fruit was incredibly powerful but terrifying. The ‘Idiot’ had said that Corruption could be healed. So if she could find another healer she could use more than one of these things.

Picking one up she looked at it. They were soft. Like little lumps of flesh.

At first, the thought of eating something like this scared her but slowly her fear had been overtaken by anger.

Since the start of this whole thing she had been scared out of her wits and to be honest she was tired of it. She was done playing the system's game. She was a survivor.

The answer was to surround herself with strong protectors so that nothing could get close. To do that she had to get more power, to become strong enough that no one would question her orders again.

This thing held the power she needed. System be damned. Why the hell should she have to fight just to live? She’d find her own path in the world. She never chose any of this.

But she could make this choice.

Hesitantly she put the fruit to her lips. Just one wouldn’t do any harm right now. The ‘Idiot’ had about the same Cv without it affecting him. She could do the same.

Biting into it was like sinking one’s teeth into a chunk of rubbery seaweed. Ripping off a piece she chewed and swallowed, feeling slightly nauseous.

At first, nothing happened but soon enough pain arrived. Lurching up she dashed to the bathroom and shut the door. Pain wracked her form as she gripped the edge of the sink. For a moment it was all she knew. Then like a warming wave, a dark pleasure started to course through her. It pulsed through her body in waves of ecstasy and when it started to ebb she had to take another bite. Then another, until the delicious morsel was finished, creating a low ringing in her head. Power flooded her veins. She felt something other than her Mana for the first time. It was dark and willing to move to her desires. She had always fought with Mana to get it to do what she needed but this was something else entirely. This new sensation wanted to help her.

Donny knocked on the door waking her from her trance.

Assuring him she was fine she got a look at herself in the mirror. Black veins were slowly fading beneath her pale skin once more.

After a moment the changes began to fade and she took on her normal tanned complexion.

Moving back into the room she comforted Donny.

For the rest of the night, she lay awake thinking of that incredible sensation. They were right there in her bag she could have another one right now. The only thing stopping her was the ‘Idiots’ warning and her now really high Cv.

In the morning they continued moving. Everything ached slightly. She barely slept so that was to be expected.

As they were rounding the corner they came face to face with another group. Grace was so shocked she didn’t even react.

Donny stood in front of her protectively.

A man wearing a police vest near the front spoke up.

“Woah guys, it’s okay we don’t mean you any harm,” he said showing empty hands.

“We are looking for survivors. If you are interested we have a settlement nearby where you will be safe. The name’s Balin and we are part of Henry's raid party. If you are injured we have someone who can patch you up back at base”

Then and there Grace saw her opportunity. If their safe house was worth it, she could stay there and solve two problems at once. Keep herself and Donny safe from their old party in case they survived and in the meantime, she could gather valuable serfs. When she was ready she could make her way to Prospect Park with a royal guard.

Donny started speaking to tell them they weren't interested when Grace shut him up and pulled him off to the side.

Eventually, he agreed but he looked worried. He didn’t need to be, this was where she shined.

***

Mark stood on the wall now just hours after his meet-up with Daphne.

Eventually, all good things must end and soon enough Mark and Daphne had to make their way back to the main camp.

They had spent hours together but eventually, when seven o’clock neared they could not ignore their duties any longer.

Mark brought himself back to the task at hand and sent an orb of light forward in a beam. Burning a hole through half a dozen Ghasts.

Behind him, he had the twins Isabel and Sofia directing the defensive casters.

So far from the looks of things the walls were holding strong. If it continued this way then Mark wanted someone who could direct the unit while he was gone.

Letting the light wink out he turned his attention to a cluster of Ordinators.

Using [Telekinesis] he brought it down.

Unfortunately, he did not have that much practice with the spell yet so using it as a hammer or driving force was his limit. But he had visions of being able to precisely apply pressure to the necks of Corrupted and snap them like twigs. He had the strength, just not the fine control to target something so specific.

The result was suddenly crushing the group of Corrupted like he had dropped an invisible car on them at a large cost to his Mana.

Mark could have rotated in to help with the shields but he needed to see if they could handle it. So he remained ready to help should they need him. In the meantime, he used excess Mana to reduce the numbers.

He was relieved to see that during the whole night, they didn’t need his help. Even with the increase in the number of Ghouls, they were seeing.

After the shift, Mark went to Jonathan and told him that he would participate in the mission if there were still openings. To which Jonathan told him he’d make sure there were.

As Mark was about to rest for the evening he opened his prompts. He hadn’t checked in two days so a large amount of exp showed up.

56 x Corrupted humanoid cleansed [56]

168 x Corrupted Ghasts cleansed [336]

392 System Points awarded

Partial exp awarded to (98 users - expand list) [412]

Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young) [412]

199.5 System Points awarded

729/729

Level up!

+2 Prana, +2 Resistance

71 x Corrupted humanoid cleansed [71]

13 x Corrupted Ordinator cleansed [26]

2 x Corrupted Ghoul cleansed [6]

206 x Corrupted Ghasts cleansed [412]

515 System Points awarded

Partial exp awarded to (152 users - expand list) [288]

Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young) [288]

136 System Points awarded

784/784

Level up!

+2 Prana, +2 Resistance

Seeing as he got two levels he distributed 10 stats to Mana and Prana each.

Name: Mark Young (22 - M)

Level: 28

Next level: 380/841

Stats:

Resistance

Aura

Mana

Prana

903 (+4) [815]

0 [+25]

133(+5,+10) [+20]

Half milestone reached

347 (+4, +10)[+90]

Unspent stat points - 0

Corruption value: 0.00%

System Points: 4117.5

Skills: Meditation, Limit release(Physical), Limit release(Mental)

Spells: Passive Regeneration(Self)[6], Force bolt[11], Prana Pulse[5], Regenerate[5], Draw Corruption[5], Corruption recovery[6], Sculpt Mana(Force)[1], Invigorate[5], Cleansing surge[5], Read Memory[1], Mind Spike[2], Earth Control[3], Light Control[3], Telekinesis[1].

World inventory. Marketplace. Trade

Looking at his gained exp and attributes he really felt his constant efforts were paying off. Mark had pushed himself since day one of the apocalypse and it was starting to show.

The average Corrupted posed almost no threat to Mark at this stage unless they grouped and even then they would take significant losses just to inflict any lasting damage. As he was now he had a number of different ways to defend himself. That did not mean he would take it easy, there were still so many things that could kill him out there, but at least Mark could look back and see how far he’d come.

He noticed that his Mana had also reached its half milestone. So he figured that Mana must just have a different scale than Prana. Why he wasn't sure, but he made a note to see what Sam had to say.

It looked like he needed 200 base Mana just to tick up his regen once. Whereas his Prana had been 100.

Early the next morning Mark headed off to the choppers but not before stopping at The Knight's tents to tell Daph he was off. She had a ton on her plate already, so he made it short. The area buzzed with activity. Everyone doing their last-minute weapon checks. Mark wished them luck and headed toward the meetup zone.

When he got there he realized there were more people here than he had expected. Taking a head count he clocked their group in at close to twenty people. Fifteen fighters including Mark and Three engineers. The engineers were designated as important resources so the team protecting them was larger this time.

Sam was running around doing last-minute checks. As Mark signed in his eye caught on a very sour-looking woman. She gave off a staunch librarian feel with her hair tied up in a neat bun and her glasses hanging from a chain around her neck. She was in civilian clothing but Mark knew she was one of the engineers on the team. If he had to guess she was probably the engineering lead on this as she bossed around two junior engineers. Shouting at them when they didn’t load the equipment to her liking.

At this stage, Mark spotted Jonathan walking towards him.

“Mark lets go, you’re upfront with me and Sam”

Losing interest in the engineer's last-minute preparations he boarded the chopper. After a short while the engines began to pick up and they left the safe zone once more.