World Filter

Mark tipped the water bottle back as he drank thirstily. They were currently taking a break as letting their resources build back up, they’d been pushing it for a while now. Once the day had taken hold, they had begun flying once more. Sam and Mark took turns carrying Cara because they now had an idea of her limits and she started to flag after around ten consecutive jumps. Their speed had improved dramatically since then but they still needed Mana breaks. They’d taken shelter in the basement of an old single-story house to wait for twelve o’clock. Sam had the message ready to go and the moment the lines opened she sent in their questions, confirming if everyone was okay.

All of them stood there in a dark basement waiting for what felt like forever. Finally, the tablet beeped.

“Private Christopher Ridgmend and his team arrived in on the last incoming chopper yesterday. The knights were instrumental to the defense of the camp, though individual names mentioned will need to be verified. Primary wall damage was confirmed to be manageable. Current situation: stable”

Relief showed itself on all their faces.

“Alright, that's good news. I’m almost ready to move again, Jon, Mark where you at?”

Both Mark and Jonathan needed another couple of minutes.

At that point, Cara brought up a topic Sam had been avoiding since she got here.

“Guys, I’ve been looking at the map. We are really close to where the Prophet is. Maybe an hour out”

Sam looked like she was just told to eat a mouthful of dirt.

“Listen, Cara. I know that you want to leave and I respect that but what about heading with us to Prospect Park? Afterward, maybe we scout the location to see if this person you are looking for is actually there”

Cara frowned and shook her head violently.

“No. I’m going. I have to. I’m really grateful to you guys, but I have to see my family and you have to keep going. I’m not changing my mind”

Cara said stubournly.

Sam looked like she knew that would be the answer but still had to try. Finally, she nodded her head.

“Alright, but you have to promise me you’ll be careful and if you run into any trouble, you’ll come find us. And remember to message me if anything bad happens, or even if you just want to talk”

Sam and Cara had exchanged socials, so they could keep in contact.

Ten short minutes later they were on the move once more.

Mark and Sam lifted into the air, it was Sam’s turn to carry Cara and they all took off. They’d only traveled a couple of minutes when Sam suddenly whistled to get Mark and Jonathan's attention.

Looking over Mark saw her pointing towards a group of Corrupted chasing what looked like a small group of survivors.

By the time Sam had pointed them out, they were already close by. So as they were passing over Sam began to form a spell and threw it at the Corrupted. A ball of blue fire shrieked down and detonated in the street below, consuming a good portion of the mob.

Mark began dropping down towards them as Jonathan vaulted over the nearest building and landed in the middle of the road. Putting himself in between the Corrupted and survivors.

Mark landed next to him while Sam remained in the air above them.

[Sculpt Mana] expanded out, causing the charging mass to crash into the pane of force. Jonathan drew his blade and made a large horizontal slash with the sword. A large blade of energy whipped from the blade and shot forward, cleaving through the remaining Corrupted.

The noisy street was silenced in seconds.

“Don’t worry you’re safe now” Sam said as she land next to them, putting Cara down at the same time.

With the threat gone, Mark turned to look at the survivors. They were frozen in shock. Mark counted eight people here. They were all wearing simple clothes and seemed normal enough but something caught Mark's attention. Each one of them wore a black bracelet around their wrists. It was unassuming and Mark would have thought it was a fashion choice if not for the fact that they all had the exact same one. Mark had seen enough insignias back at the base to know these people were part of a group.

A woman came to the front, in fact, she was the only woman in their group.

She was young and had a confident smile on her lips.

“Good afternoon, Thank you for helping us. I’m Maggie”

The others mumbled thanks but still watched their group wearily.

“It wasn’t a bother, I’m Sam and this is Mark and Jonathan. Listen we’re in a bit of a rush right now but if you are ever in need, head to Prospect Park, we have a safe zone set up and warm food.”

Maggie nodded in thanks like she already knew this.

“Ah, yes we know the place you mean but don’t worry we stay nearby and are plenty safe, so honestly don’t worry about us”

Sam frowned but at the same time, Cara’s head to perked up.

“Wait you guys stay in the area? Do you know where I can find the ‘Prophet of the Apocalypse’? Their base is supposed to be around here somewhere”

Maggie didn’t seem to expect the sudden question but recovered quickly she said.

“Yes, I know where the Prophet is currently staying, their group moves around a lot you see. I’ve even met them personally ”

Cara looked at her with excitement in her eyes.

“You have? What are they like? Would you show me the way?”

Mark only just noticed Sam’s Mana subtly flooding the area. Somehow she’d expanded it without him knowing, he recognized the spell as the truth spell she had used on him when they first met.

Maggie's eyebrow rose playfully.

“I thought you guys were heading back home now?”

Cara looked at their group and then back to Maggie as if she hadn’t noticed anything.

“They were helping me get here, I’m looking for my parents and they said to meet up there”

“Oh, you poor thing. If you need I can show you the way it's just a short journey from here”

“Yes! Please!”

Sam crouched down and took hold of Cara’s shoulders. A bubble of air suddenly sprung up around them.

“Cara, are you sure you want to follow them? I can confirm she was speaking the truth but the spell isn't foolproof”

Cara wore a bittersweet smile.

“Sammy, I trusted you, didn’t I? Knew barely anything about you guys but I still trusted you. Now these people say they might know where my folks are, I gotta at least try”

Sam still looked like she wanted to argue but in the end, she just released a slow sigh.

“It's your choice, so stay safe, but remember our promise”

Mark knew Sam was struggling right now not to just drag Cara back with them. The two had grown incredibly close in such a short time but things were a mess back at base and the sooner they got home the better. Cara was young but she was old enough to make her own decisions, plus it would be kinda hard to stop her from leaving if she wanted to.

It was this thought that gave Mark some confidence that she’d be safe.

They all said their goodbyes and slowly Cara moved to join the other group.

“Thanks again for helping us out, it's good to confirm there are still kind people out here,” Maggie said as she waved to them.

Sam watched them leave until they were completely out of sight. Jonathan leaned in and nudged her with his shoulder. He didn’t say anything but Sam woke up and they got on the road once more.

Traveling at full speed they charged through multiple Ghast nests. Never seeing an end to their hostility until they ducked out of sight. [Force bolt] was getting a proper workout as Mark kept up a near-constant barrage of projectiles.

Sam had taken to surrounding herself with columns of stone. She had even managed to speed herself up by using them as a physical barrier against the wind resistance. Bringing her speed up to Marks, though at a significant increase to the Mana requirement, but she said with the medallion it was manageable.

They had to land suddenly when an evolved Ghast came out from one of the nests.

“Lavaiathan, drop!” Sam called.

As soon as they hit the ground they dove into the shadows.

They weren't avoiding the creature because they couldn’t deal with it but because of the time they would burn. All three of them had come a long way since the dungeon and if they worked together they could easily take the thing down. However, right now time was of the essence, and it was surrounded by Ghasts.

Luckily the things hated the sunlight and as soon as they couldn’t find the threat to their nest, they retreated back inside.

Mark was about to take off again when he recognized the area they were in. It was the industrial zone Mark had run through the night he had been saddled with the mark. Being in familiar territory meant that the base was not far off now. If he was reading his map correctly he had their next resting spot figured out and they didn’t even need to alter course.

A couple of hours later they arrived at Andy’s old safehouse. They were all running on fumes but they need to keep moving. It was already four in the afternoon and they were still hours away from the base. They were going to be cutting it close.

Mark drifted into the second-story window and landed on one of the beds in the room. It was exactly as he’d left it.

After a short while in [Meditation], they were getting ready to move again.

Mark was just putting on his boots when Jonathan called to them from the other room.

“Yo, guys, come look what I found.”

Following the sound of his voice Mark and Sam moved deeper into the building. Coming out into the walled-off garden. The sun shone through the glass and down onto a large tree. The leaves were incredibly green and vibrant, there were even small red fruits hanging from its branches. However, it was the Mana that flowed in the space that caught Mark's attention. The last time he'd been here nothing but weeds were growing in the dirt below, and now the space was absolutely teeming with fresh life.

Another interesting thing was how the place felt free of Corruption. The thing was Mark didn’t feel the sense of danger he had gotten from the kelp. Looking down he noticed a couple of small red fruits on the ground near the tree.

“I’m going to get a closer look,” Jonathan said as he hopped over the railing and fell into the garden below.

Sam and Mark glanced at one another. Sam looked like she really wanted a sample, but both of them were weary to touch something they didn’t understand yet.

Jonathan got nearer and he suddenly froze, inspecting the fruit. After a pause he grabbed one and then another, finally going around collecting all the scattered fruit. After he was done he jumped back up to them and said.

“You guys gotta look at this,” he said holding a small cherry-like fruit out to each of them. The system suddenly pinged as it registered it as an item.

Item: Saturated Cherry (Bronze)

Item lvl: –

Description: A product of a [Cherry tree - Prunus cerasus] that has stored a small amount of ambient energy within its flesh.

Consumable: Restores a small amount of Aura, Mana, and Prana.

Jonathan had found eight of the tiny fruits. Mark was just surprised that something came out of the apocalypse that didn’t want to kill them. How was this tree even surviving out here? Was it the enclosed space?

“I’m going to try one,” Jonathan said as he brought one to his lips.

Mark sent [Sculpt Mana] to cover him and got ready to cleanse him in case there were any negative effects. Biting into the small fruit Jonathan grimaced.

“Woah, really sour”

Mark never found any reaction in Jonathan's body, so as far as he could tell they were safe to eat. To be honest they needed every advantage they could get.

Mark looked down at the fruit and made his decision, biting into the small morsel.

Sour-sweet juices filled his mouth and he felt his energy levels raising slowly. Over a minute he felt both his Mana and Prana levels rising by about 15 points each. Aura flowed through him and escaped into the room. It wasn’t a lot but just the fact that there were things like this out there was an incredible discovery.

Spitting out the cherry pip, Mark sent it into his inventory.

Sam hesitated but finally decided to take the leap and ate hers too.

“Alright, we need to keep moving,” she said once she was done.

They all headed for the door and back out into the chaotic streets.